## **New Life Community Church (North Walsham)** Registered Charity No. 1037991
**Annual Report and Accounts for the year to 31 January 2026**
**Prepared by: Mr I Dallain (Chair of Trustees)**
**Approved by: Mr N Lawrence (Trustee) Mr B Lee (Trustee) Mrs L Owen (Trustee) Mr T Greene (Treasurer)**
## **New Life Community Church (North Walsham) Annual Report and Accounts**
1 February 2025 to 31 January 2026
## Contents:
**New Life Community Church (North Walsham) ....................................................................... 2** Aims and Purposes ................................................................................................................... 2 Objectives and Activities ............................................................................................................ 2 Achievements and Performance ............................................................................................... 2 Other Activities and Achievements ............................................................................................ 3 **Financial Review ......................................................................................................................... 4** Structure, governance and management .................................................................................. 4 Organisation .............................................................................................................................. 4 Trustees ..................................................................................................................................... 4 Administrative Information ......................................................................................................... 6 Trustees Approval ..................................................................................................................... 6 Receipts and Payments Account ............................................................................................... 7 _**Receipts Schedule ...................................................................................................................... 7**_ Notes ......................................................................................................................................... 9 1 – Tithes and Offerings ............................................................................................................ 9 2 – Gift Aid Returns ................................................................................................................... 9 3 – Restricted funds ................................................................................................................... 9 4 – Grants .................................................................................................................................. 9 5 – Building purchase and development ................................................................................... 9 6 – Salaries ................................................................................................................................ 9 7 – Youth/Children’s Work ......................................................................................................... 9 8 – Gifts ................................................................................................................................... 10 9 – Accommodation ................................................................................................................. 10 10 – Equipment and Resources .............................................................................................. 10 11 – Professional Fees/Subscriptions ..................................................................................... 10 12 – Reserves ......................................................................................................................... 10 13 – Payments made to Trustees during the Accounting Period ............................................ 11 **Independent Examiner’s Report to the trustees ............................................................................ 12**
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**New Life Community Church (North Walsham) Annual Report and Accounts**
1 February 2025 to 31 January 2026
## **New Life Community Church (North Walsham)**
## _**Aims and Purposes**_
New Life Community Church is a Christian church based in the Norfolk market town of North Walsham. The Church works together with local churches and community groups across North Norfolk and the Eastern Counties.
The principal activities of the Charity during the year to which this report refers were to build up the church members in Christian worship and teaching, to serve and to communicate the Christian message to non-members in the surrounding community, and to administer the Church. New Life Community Church operates primarily in the town of North Walsham and the surrounding towns and villages.
## _**Objectives and Activities**_
The church holds regular services, primarily on Sundays, involving worship and Bible-based teaching, as well as other activities such as children’s groups and midweek small groups.
As well as serving its own members the church runs various activities and groups throughout the week. The church attempts to use its resources (whether in time offered by its members or other facilities) to benefit those living in the area, and particularly those in the greatest need. Youth clubs, a Parent Café for carers of children with additional needs and a weekly tots group are examples of this.
## _**Achievements and Performance**_
## _Sunday services_
The church is keen to hold services that are beneficial to all, particularly welcoming those who do not regularly attend the church.
As many people as possible are involved in the running of each service, so each week different people will lead worship, oversee the meeting, bring teaching from a bible passage, and undertake various practical tasks such as welcoming people as they arrive and serving refreshments.
## _Children_
The church includes a large number of families and runs a lively set of engaging children’s groups. These are led by a team of volunteers, and Thirtyone:eight _(www.thirtyoneeight.org)_ guidelines are followed, including use of their guidance to form the church’s safeguarding policy, to ensure the safety of the children among us.
## _Youth_
A particular area we concentrate on is the youth of the town, both those involved in our church and those who aren’t. We therefore run various youth activities; some are religious in nature; others are purely social.
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## **New Life Community Church (North Walsham) Annual Report and Accounts**
1 February 2025 to 31 January 2026
The ‘Harvest’ youth group provides teaching and support to the young people in the church, and ‘The Attic’ on a bi-weekly basis provides an ‘open door’ youth venue for young people on a Friday night.
Young people from these groups regularly attend the ‘Newday’ festival, for fellowship and teaching organised by the Newfrontiers family of churches.
## _**Other Activities and Achievements**_
- Social events, meetings and meals together
- Christmas and Easter events
- Various conferences and regional Relational Mission events.
- Other groups run during the year, including New Life Tots; a weekly parent and toddlers’ group, and Parents Café, a group supporting those responsible for children with additional needs.
- Weekly small groups
## _New Life Building_
The church purchased the New Life Building in North Walsham in 2023. Almost all activities are based either here or in people’s homes.
## _Ecumenical Relationships_
New Life Community Church is self-supporting and autonomous, and as such is not part of a denomination. However, it does have an affiliation with a family of evangelical churches with similar aims and beliefs called 'Relational Mission' (www.relationalmission.org), which numbers around 100 churches across the UK and abroad.
The Church maintains close links with other Relational Mission affiliated churches in the local area, especially Aylsham Community Church and Life Church, Sheringham.
Through ‘Churches Together in North Walsham’ New Life also works closely with the other churches in the town and surrounding areas.
New Life Church is a member of the Evangelical Alliance UK (www.eauk.org).
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## **New Life Community Church (North Walsham) Annual Report and Accounts**
1 February 2025 to 31 January 2026
## **Financial Review**
New Life Community Church is financially dependent on the voluntary donations of its members. The church is currently attempting to increase its reserves with the intention of developing the building that it purchased in 2023.
Income for this year was £116,560. This year the most significant sources of income were regular donations (£79,919) and a gift day which raised £15,065.
Expenditure for the year was £54,307 (£85,824 – 2024). The largest areas of expenditure during the year were: Salaries (23%), Gifts (13%) and Accommodation running costs, including servicing the mortgage (45%).
A grant was secured by the church which would pay 75% of the cost of items purchased. Through this grant £21,314 of equipment was purchased in the previous accounting period, of which £15,989 was reimbursed in this year’s accounting period.
As at 31 January 2026, New Life Community Church had a total cash balance of £120,799 (£58,450 – 2025) along with a Gift Aid debtor outstanding of £11,359
The Trustees have a formal reserves policy to ensure availability of sufficient resources for the continued running of the charity. The charity currently maintains more than is required by the policy with the aim of developing the building in the future.
The Trustees have considered the risks the charity could face and have taken the necessary steps to mitigate or eliminate these risks. For example, all major insurable risks are subject to normal churches and employers’ insurance. Contractual risks are reviewed before being entered into to ensure that they could not significantly impact upon the church’s ability to fulfil its objectives.
## _**Structure, governance and management**_
## _**Organisation**_
During the year the Church was led by a team of four Elders; Mr I Dallain, Mr T Greene, Mr J Schaitel and Mr G Owen, and a wider team of Deacons, supported by the Trustees listed below, and a wider leadership team. There is a close working relationship between the Elders, the Deacons, and Trustees ensuring financial accountability.
## _**Trustees**_
The Trustees of New Life Community Church (North Walsham) during the accounting period were:
Mr I Dallain (Chair of Trustees) Mr T Greene (treasurer) Mr N Lawrence Mrs L Owen Mr B Lee
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## **New Life Community Church (North Walsham) Annual Report and Accounts**
1 February 2025 to 31 January 2026
The principal aim of the Trustees is to ensure effective governance of the financial, reputational and legal obligations of the Charity, enabling the Church leaders to oversee the pastoral and evangelistic ministries of the Church. The Trustees perform their roles for the sole benefit of the Church and give their time freely. They did not receive payment for their duties and only claimed ‘out of pocket’ expenses.
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**New Life Community Church (North Walsham) Annual Report and Accounts**
1 February 2025 to 31 January 2026
## _**Administrative Information**_
New Life Community Church is based in North Walsham, Norfolk.
Registered Charity: No.1037991 Governing Document: Declaration of Trust dated 5[th] May 1994.
Church office and correspondence address: New Life Building Laundry Loke North Walsham Norfolk NR28 0BD Bankers: HSBC Bank 18 London Street Norwich Norfolk NR28 9BH
The Trustees have opted (under S42(3) of the Charities Act 1993) to account on a receipts and payments basis.
## _**Trustees Approval**_
This report has been approved at a meeting of the Trustees of New Life Community Church (North Walsham), on 3[rd] June 2026 and is signed on behalf of the Board of Trustees.
SIGN …………………………………………..
Mr I Dallain (Chair of Trustees)
3rd June 2026 Dated …………………………
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## **New Life Community Church (North Walsham) Annual Report and Accounts**
1 February 2025 to 31 January 2026
Financial Statements for the year ending 31 January 2025
## _**Receipts and Payments Account**_
## **Receipts Schedule**
|**Receipts Schedule**|**Receipts Schedule**||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||**2025/26**|||**2024/25**||
||||Unrestricted
Funds||Restricted
Funds|Unrestricted
Funds||Restricted
Funds|
|**RegularGiving**||**Notes**|**£**||**£**|**£**||**£**|
|Tithes and Offerings (Gift Aid)||1|45,112||302|42,004||12,613|
|Tithes and Offerings (Non Gift Aid)|||34,505||0|10,720||3,910|
|Gift Aid Returns||2|11,708||0|11,715|||
||||**91,324**||**302**|**64,439**||**16,523**|
|||||**2025/26**|**2025/26**||**2024/25**|**2024/25**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||Unrestricted
Funds||Restricted
Funds|Unrestricted
Funds||Restricted
Funds|
|**Other Receipts**||**Notes**|**£**||**£**|**£**||**£**|
|Gifts Received||4|395||0|30||0|
|Grants||3|15,989||0|1000||0|
|Miscellaneous Income|||0||6,026|4||0|
|Bank Interest|||2,524||**0**|268||**0**|
||||**18,908**||**6,026**|**1,302**||**0**|
||||||||||
|**Total Receipts**|||**110,232**||**6,328**|**65,741**||**16,523**|
## **Payments Schedule**
|||||**2025/26**|**2025/26**||**2024/25**|**2024/25**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||||||
||||Unrestricted
Funds||Restricted
Funds|Unrestricted
Funds||Restricted
Funds|
|**Direct Charitable Payments**||**Notes**|**£**||**£**|**£**||**£**|
|Salaries||4|12,813||0|10,069||3,239|
|Church Events|||657||0|765||0|
|Youth Events||5|1,630||0|15||11,772|
|Children & Youthwork|||1,183||0|1,794||3,582|
|Training|||75||0|25||0|
|Gifts||6|6,761||302|12,179||0|
|Publicity|||146||0|202||0|
|Accommodation||8|11,069||0|15,335||0|
|Equipment and Resources||9|778||0|71||2,330|
|Administration|||36||0|68||0|
|Insurance|||1,147||0|1,037||0|
|Professional Fees/Subscriptions||10|2,245|||1,739||0|
|New Building professional fees||10|0||500|0||2,080|
|Buildingimprovements|||0||703|0||5,417|
|Buildingdevelopment|||0||383|0||0|
|Mortgagepayments|||13,879||0|14,105||0|
|**Total Payments**|||**52,419**||**1,888**|**57,404**||**28,420**|
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## **New Life Community Church (North Walsham) Annual Report and Accounts**
1 February 2025 to 31 January 2026
## _**Statement of Assets and Liabilities**_
||||**2025/26**|**2025/26**||**2024/25**|**2024/25**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Categories**|**Details**|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**||**Restricted**
**Funds**|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**||**Restricted**
**Funds**|
|||**£**||**£**|**£**||**£**|
|||||||||
|**Cash Funds**|Current Account Balance|30,229||0|10,405||0|
||Reserve Account Balance|5,126||0|5,045||0|
||Savings Account Balance|78,004||7,440|43,000||0|
||**Total Cash Funds**|**113,359**||**7,440**|**58,450**||**0**|
|||||||||
|**Other**
**Monetary**
**Assets**|**Debtors**|**11,359**||**0**|**10,501**||**0**|
|||||||||
|**Assets**
**retained for**
**the Charity's**
**own use**|New Life Building|325,000||0|325,000||0|
||Disabled ramp|480||0|600||0|
||Tables and chairs|2,400||0|3,000||0|
||Catering and kitchen equipment|3,200||0|4,000||0|
||Speakers and Wireless Mic|2,500||0|3,100||0|
||PA equipment|800||0|1,000||0|
||Attic equipment - TVs, Sports Tables & Consoles|4,000||0|5,000||0|
||Church Tents and marquee|6,400||0|8,000||0|
||Church laptops|1,000||0|300||0|
||Tots sensoryplayequipment|2,800||0|3,581||0|
||**Total Assets retained for Charity's use**|**348,580**||**0**|**353,581**||**0**|
|||||||||
|**Total**
**Liabilities**|Mortgage on New Life Building|179,466||0|181,891||0|
||Lovewell Blake|76||0|72||0|
||HMRC PAYE|0||0|55||0|
||Sarah Johnson (reimbursement of expenses)|13||0|0||0|
||James Schaitel (reimbursement of expenses)|194||0|265||0|
||Glen & Lysa Owen (reimbursement of expenses)|44||0|38||0|
||**Total Liabilities**|**179,793**||**0**|**182,321**||**0**|
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## **New Life Community Church (North Walsham) Annual Report and Accounts**
1 February 2025 to 31 January 2026
## _**Notes**_
## _**1 – Tithes and Offerings**_
The total amount received through Tithes and Offerings for the year ended 31 January 2026 was £79,919 (£69,247 - 2025). Of this figure, £45,414 qualified for Gift Aid (£54,617 - 2025). Included in this was £25,812 raised by the church in two gift days towards the development of the building and to support the various activities run by the church.
## _**2 – Gift Aid Returns**_
During the year the Church received £11,708 from Gift aid returns, which represents the period of February 2024 to January 2025. Included within Debtors is £11,359 for Gift Aid receivable for the period of February 2025 to January 2026.
## _**3 – Restricted funds**_
A gift day in 2024 raised £16,523 specifically for improvements to and development of the New Life Building. £7,479 was spent on these in the period of February 2024 to January 2025, £1,586 in the period of February 2025 to January 2026. At the end of this period £7,440 remains as funds restricted for these purposes.
## _**4 – Grants**_
A grant was secured by the church in 2025 which would pay 75% of the cost of items purchased. Through this grant £21,314 of equipment was purchased in the period of February 2024 to January 2025, of which £15,989 was reimbursed in this year’s accounting period.
## _**5 – Building purchase and development**_
The church owns the New Life Building in North Walsham. £13,878 was spent on mortgage repayments. The church intends to develop the building to use it to its full potential and is increasing its reserves in order to do so in the future. In this accounting period £703 was spent on costs involved in downgrading the electricity supply and £383 on a planning application fee.
## _**6 – Salaries**_
Salary expenditure at £12,813 provides New Life one part-time member of staff, Suzie Schaitel (Children’s and Families Worker) who is employed by the church for two days a week.
## _**7 – Youth/Children’s Work**_
The Youth Events that the Church financially supports each year are: The Attic, Newday, Youth Weekend Away (YWA) and Harvest. The Attic is a fortnightly youth club serving an average of 40 children each time. Newday is a festival held each year for around 10,000 young people. YWA is the Relational Mission youth residential weekend and Harvest is our weekly Church youth group.
During the year £2,510 (£1,809 - 2025) was spent on supporting these groups and events, which continue to serve hundreds of young people every year.
The church contributed towards the cost of Newday tickets for leaders serving and children who could not afford to go themselves, but most of this was recouped by donations towards costs made by all attendees, and by church members ‘sponsoring’ an attendee.
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**New Life Community Church (North Walsham) Annual Report and Accounts**
1 February 2025 to 31 January 2026
Youth and children’s work continue to be an area that the leaders of the church see as important to the life of the Church and resources and activities were provided for Youth and children to engage with during the services and in their midweek groups.
## _**8 – Gifts**_
The Church gave gifts totalling £7,062 (£12,179 – 2025), most of which was made up of regular giving to Relational Mission (£3,600) and donations to Good News Church in Serbia for the ongoing work there (£3,000).
Giving to others continues to be very important to the Church and the trustees had previously agreed to make an emergency fund available to those people being served by the Church, who had immediate financial need. Nothing was paid out during the year, but the trustees anticipate that the fund may be utilised during 2026.
## _**9 – Accommodation**_
£11,771 was expended on the New Life Building (£8,192 - 2025) on items such as utilities (£9,143), catering and cleaning costs (£1,864), and fixtures and fittings for the building (£61). The increase in utilities costs is largely because North Norfolk District Council had not previously arranged business rates payable on the building, but once arranged these needed paying, plus back-pay owed.
## _**10 – Equipment and Resources**_
£778 was spent on equipment to furnish and use the New Life Building (£3,512 – 2025) including Christmas decorations (£201) and a replacement laptop (£516).
## _**11 – Professional Fees/Subscriptions**_
£2,244 was spent (£1,739 – 2025) on general processional fees including copyright licenses, Evangelical Alliance membership fees, DBS checks, website and domain renewal, independent examiner fees, payroll costs.
## _**12 – Reserves**_
Sufficient reserves have been retained (£120,799). This is greater than the amount needed to meet the requirements of the reserves policy.
The trustees intend to maintain sufficient reserves to cover foreseeable costs associated with the building. The heating system, for instance, is nearing its end of life with anticipated future costs of around £4,000.
The New Life Building includes a warehouse section, currently used for storage, which the church intends to develop into space for use for its activities and for the benefit of the community. The church has applied for grants to finance the development of the New Life Building but have not been able to raise sufficient sums so far in this way. Given the expectation that the church will need to fund this itself, it intends to increase reserves to build sufficient funds to commence the work.
The church opened a savings account with Hampshire Trust Bank in order to achieve a better interest rate on its reserves.
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## **New Life Community Church (North Walsham) Annual Report and Accounts**
1 February 2025 to 31 January 2026
## _**13 – Payments made to Trustees during the Accounting Period**_
During the year, £1,727 was paid to Lysa Owen, and £383 to Barney Lee, and £164 to Ian Dallain, to reimburse them for Church expenses paid directly, wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the Church. Receipts or Invoices were received to ensure the validity of these claims.
None of the other trustees made any payments on behalf of the Church during the accounting period, and therefore did not receive any reimbursement from Church funds.
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