Annual Report for Charity Commission 2022
- Structure, Governance and Management:
Membership of the Trust: Trustees and year of appointment are as follows,
Miss Janet Cox 2017 Mr John Creasey 2017 (Chair from September 2018) Miss Heidi Fletcher 2017 (Vice Chair from September 2018) Mrs Marie Mead 2012 (Secretary) Mrs Jane Spencer 2017 (Trustee for Safeguarding) Dr. John Stafford 1990 (Assistant Treasurer from April 2020) Mrs Jacqueline Vickers 2015 (Treasurer from April 2020) Mr Darren Chubb 2022 (Appointed January 2023)
Employees of the Trust:
Mrs Hayley Bailey primary school worker appointed 01/01/2022 Mrs Trish Horwood primary schools worker appointed 01/01/2017 Mrs Becky Guynn primary schools worker appointed 01/09/2019
- Objectives and Activities: methods may have changed but objectives haven’t.
The stated aim of the Trust is: The advancement of the Christian Religion among young people in the Bedford Area, particularly in schools, in conjunction with local churches and volunteers. A year of “nervous anticipation” as schools began to concentrate on catching up after two years of covid restrictions. Workers were once again able to get into schools on a more regular basis, with limited access into some. This required them to continue working electronically, something they had successfully mastered and used throughout the previous two years.
Impact’s aims and objectives, enabling children and young people to achieve their full spiritual, moral, social and cultural potential, were once again being carried out through personal contact within schools.
- Achievements and Performance: building on the successes of previous years.
The achievements of 2022 were only possible through the team spirit that had evolved between the workers during the covid years and they began to increase the number of schools they entered, something that proved to be time consuming and not always easy. At the same time they began to streamline their ways of working, something that was necessary to ensure that additional schools could be accommodated in their programme of work.
Meanwhile, the Trustees ensured that the Impact Vision Plan was being fulfilled and, where appropriate, modified and updated to meet the requirements of the workers’ developing workload. One of the greatest achievements of 2022 was the live production of the Barn Nativity in St. John’s, Church Bedford, only possible through the generosity of the members of St. John’s, the dedication of Impact volunteers, and the determination of the workers. Enacting this was an encouragement to all involved and greatly appreciated by teachers, pupils and parents alike. It also laid the foundations for enacting the “live” Easter Experience, due to be held at St. John’s in March 2023. Throughout the year, information continued to be sent into schools and churches electronically and, as it in the previous two years, it was gratefully received by all recipients. Feedback from schools continued to be a great encouragement to both Trustees and workers alike.
- – Core Activities and Materials: they remain the same but presented differently.
Although some home working was still necessary occasionally, and with contact with some schools proving to be difficult, the workers were again being asked to do assemblies, carry out creative prayer sessions, prayer spaces and Godly-Play - as well as self esteem and relationship sessions - help run Christian Unions, run voluntary lunchtime and after school clubs, and take RE lessons. At the same time they began to refine their daily working programme, enabling them to streamline their appointments and reduce their travelling time between schools.
t was yet another year of creative and innovative development by our workers, supported by the Trustees, that ensured the Christian message was still being heard in schools in Bedfordshire.
- Special Projects and Seasonal Activities: a time to celebrate.
Leading up to the beginning of covid restrictions in March 2020 our workers would have been involved in the following activities – helped and supported by volunteers and in conjunction with Scripture Union and the John Bunyan Museum in Bedford. In 2022 the following activities were again possible:
Easter Experience (Video only) Life Path: Footsteps of Bunyan: Barn Nativity:
As schools were still reluctant to attend a “live” Easter Experience in March 2022 our workers and volunteers produced a video version, similar to that produced for the Barn Nativity in 2020. It too was enthusiastically received and has been shown in many local schools and churches, as well as viewed by numerous individuals locally and around he world.
Workers and volunteers became involved in Lifepath in May 2022 in Olney, when the theme for the activities was John Newton’s hymn, Amazing Grace – due to celebrate its 250th year on 1st January 2023. It was a wonderful three day event with around 800 children taking part. Lifepath 2023 will be in Elstow when the life of John Bunyan will be celebrated using his famous book “Pilgrim’s Progress” as the theme. Impact workers and volunteers will again be taking part. Footsteps of Bunyan, was enacted on only one day in July 2022, with one school taking part. Despite this, it was a great success, made possible through the joint effort of the workers and the staff and volunteers at the John Bunyan Museum in Bedford. A video was produced on the day for use by the school and the museum to promote the event.
In December the Barn Nativity was enacted live at St. John’s Church. In its new venue it involved a great deal of organising by the workers, support from members and staff at St John’s, as well as new and regular volunteers. Whilst pupil attendance was lower than in previous years for a variety of reasons, the enactment was enthusiastically reviewed by all who attended.
- Church and Volunteer Communications: an ongoing dilemma.
In early 2022 attempts were made to get existing and prospective volunteers to join workers and Trustees for a thank you tea, something that had not been possible in the previous two years - unfortunately without success. Meanwhile, our workers continued to make regular contact with existing and new schools and Churches they were involved in, ensuring that the material they had been receiving from Impact was relevant and appropriate. Although the response was encouraging, it has yet to produce the increase in number of volunteers Impact needs to carry out its activities throughout the year.
In addition,and to ensure that our volunteers and supporters are kept fully aware of what our workers are doing, we have continued to send out our newsletter once a term, plus an e-mail update once a month – including our praise and prayer requests.
As a small Christian charity our volunteers and supporters are incredibly important to us and keeping in touch with them is essential. It is their prayers and financial support that has enabled Impact to continue presenting the Christian message in Bedfordshire schools for over 30 years.
- Training and Reviews: an encouraging year
Throughout the year the workers have again each carried out a variety of on-line training courses, monitoring their content to ensure that they are appropriate to their work in schools.
Workers have also continued with the development of “Out of the Box”, something they have found to be beneficial to their ways of presenting stories in schools.
Workers have each taken part in Trustee-led Annual Performance Reviews as well as reflection / retreat days. The latter are viewed by the Trustees as essential to the workers’ well being and they are also encouraged to find time in their busy lives to “take time out” to pray into their work and to pray for the schools they work with.
Regular Team Meetings continue to be held to help bond the workers, and to built upon the team spirit that developed during the covid years. This is an opportunity for all of them to review their work with not only each other, but with the two Trustees who lead the meetings.
The Trust is mindful of its responsibilities for the welfare of pupils in schools and workers, volunteers and Trustees are all DBS checked. In addition, our safeguarding strategies and policies are regularly reviewed to ensure the charity is fully up to date, and fulfils current legislation.
– ’ The Future: the same objective presenting Christianity to today s pupils in schools
With covid restrictions having eased at the beginning of 2022, and with a new worker (Hayley) having joined the team in January, the charity prepared itself for a busy 12 months ahead. The encouragement our workers received throughout the year from teachers, assistants, Church leaders, volunteers and supporters, as well as pupils, was gratefully received.
In addition to face to face involvement in schools, on-line social media platforms, including Facebook, have continued to be developed and are proving to be very helpful in spreading the word about what Impact can do, and is doing.
The Strategic Vision Plan, begun in August 2020 to further prepare Impact for it’s mission and objectives in an ever changing school environment, continued to be developed, and refined throughout the year. A full review of our future aims and goals, including an appraisal of our current and future finances, existing and future ways our workers carry out their work, plus an assessment of our management needs, is ongoing. It includes a strategy for increasing our income as well as an increase in the number of Trustees, volunteers and supporters we have at present.
Financial Review
Please see Income and Expenditure Accounts and Balance Sheets attached.
Independent Examination:
The Examiner’s Report is attached.
Public Benefit:
The trustees affirm their conviction that considerable numbers of children and young people are benefiting from the above activities in line with the aims of the charity and guidelines of the Charity Commission.
John Creasey – 28.04.23
Bedford Area Schools Christian Support Trust Receipts Payments Accounts 2022
| 2021 INCOME 2022 17,760.00 Gift Aid donations 15,055.00 4,152.75 Reclaimed tax 3,854.00 21,912.75 18,909.00 Regular donations: 1,345.00 Individuals 2,972.00 19,198.25 Churches 15,663.00 20,543.25 18,635.00 Occasional donations: 742.56 Individuals 2,007.00 1,575.00 Churches 2,095.00 2,317.56 4,102.00 5,992.93 HMRC Furlough Payment 1,500.28 Just Giving/Easy Fundraising 5.00 183.62 Bank interest 189.24 income from events 390.00 60.00 miscellaneous 175.00 other income 1,000.00 |
2021 INCOME 2022 17,760.00 Gift Aid donations 15,055.00 4,152.75 Reclaimed tax 3,854.00 21,912.75 18,909.00 Regular donations: 1,345.00 Individuals 2,972.00 19,198.25 Churches 15,663.00 20,543.25 18,635.00 Occasional donations: 742.56 Individuals 2,007.00 1,575.00 Churches 2,095.00 2,317.56 4,102.00 5,992.93 HMRC Furlough Payment 1,500.28 Just Giving/Easy Fundraising 5.00 183.62 Bank interest 189.24 income from events 390.00 60.00 miscellaneous 175.00 other income 1,000.00 |
2021 INCOME 2022 17,760.00 Gift Aid donations 15,055.00 4,152.75 Reclaimed tax 3,854.00 21,912.75 18,909.00 Regular donations: 1,345.00 Individuals 2,972.00 19,198.25 Churches 15,663.00 20,543.25 18,635.00 Occasional donations: 742.56 Individuals 2,007.00 1,575.00 Churches 2,095.00 2,317.56 4,102.00 5,992.93 HMRC Furlough Payment 1,500.28 Just Giving/Easy Fundraising 5.00 183.62 Bank interest 189.24 income from events 390.00 60.00 miscellaneous 175.00 other income 1,000.00 |
|---|---|---|
| 52,510.39 TOTAL INCOME 43,405.24 |
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| EXPENDITURE 41,600.65 Workers' salaries 57,538.87 4,056.36 Superann. 5,699.48 1,801.82 Employer's NI 1,271.62 47,458.83 64,509.97 1,959.91 Workers' expenses (Note 1) 3,508.42 1,486.07 Trust administration (Note 2) 2,822.43 |
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| 50,904.81 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 70,840.82 |
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| **1,605.58 ** | surplus/deficit -27,435.58 |
|
| Note 1 Workers' expenses 500.64 Motor + travel 1,985.70 64.79 Consumeables 407.24 91.73 Materials 147.83 34.65 Postage 24.65 103.10 Telephone 72.00 495.00 Office heat/light allowance 405.00 670.00 Training 466.00 1,959.91 Note 2 3,508.42 Trust administration 13.00 DBS 26.00 563.70 Insurance 562.97 costs of events 30.00 70.00 gifts (Christmas worker gifts) 135.00 362.29 Trustee expenses(Zoom pyts) 375.00 Subscriptions 1,000.00 miscellaneous 477.08 Workers Hardware Software 693.46 1,486.07 2,822.43 |
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| 2,822.43 |
Bedford Area Schools Christian Support Trust Balance Sheet : 31 December 2022
| 2021 | 2022 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Balances at bank | |||
| 9,021.35 | NatWest current A/C | 18,281.53 | |
| 13,501.33 | BarclaySavings A/C | 6,621.41 | |
| 67,150.45 | Nationwide 90 day | 37,334.61 | |
| 8.94 | Cash in hand | 8.94 | |
| 89,682.07 | 62,246.49 | ||
| 88,076.49 | BALANCE atyear start | 89,682.07 | |
| 1,605.58 | Surplus / deficit of income | 27,435.58 - |
|
| over expenditure | |||
| 89,682.07 | BALANCE atyear end | 62,246.49 | 0.00 |
2022_accounts_In&Exp, Bal_Sh Final 270222.xls
updated 28/02/2023
Independent ExamlneVs Report Report to the trustees of: Bedford Area Schools Christian Support Trust (otherwise known as BASCST and Impact), Registered Charrty No. 1010472 on the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022. Re8pectlve responslbllitles of Trustees and Examiner The trustees are SponsIble for the preparation of the accounts. They consider that an audil is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to.. 1. examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act, 2. to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Charities Act), and 3. to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. Basis of indopondent examinorfs statomant My examination was carried out in accordance with general Dire¢tions glven by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a VIeW of the accounting records kept by the trustees and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disdosures in the accounts. and seeking explanations from the tnjstees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequenly no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair, view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. Indepondont examIne9 statement In connection with my examination, no matter has come to rny attention: 1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in. any material respect, the requirements: to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Charities to prepare accounts whtch accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act have not been met., or 2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed.. Indw*Klent Examinerfs Name.. . LJL Relevant professional qualification or body.. Address: QL4) IMK&S JL&