## Annual Report of Community Bible Study International UK for the year ended 31 August 2021 **Registered charity numbers :** Charity Commission: 1044255, Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator: SC0037863 ## **Structure and governance** - The charity is established by a trust deed and is governed by a board of trustees (listed below). - The trustees are individuals appointed under the trust deed or subsequently by the board. - The charity operates in the UK but had acted as charity sponsor for CBS Europe & MENA. CBS Europe and MENA become a separate registered charity and will produce reports and accounts independently with effect from 1 September 2021. ## UK Operations ## Operating name: Community Bible Study UK ## **Contacts :** National office correspondence address: 6 Warren Lane, Witham St Hughs, Lincoln, LN6 9US. Telephone: 01522 869092. Email: info@cbsuk.org Other contact details are on the website at www.cbsuk.org ## Governance and management Day to day management is in the hands of the National Coordinator and the National Servants Team (NST) which comprises: Simon Baker – National Coordinator - Virginia Aspinall – Midlands Regional Coordinator and National Study Library Supervisor Simon Baker – Northern Regional Coordinator Dinah Ball Regional Coordinators for North West England Kieth and Natasha Doughty – Regional Coordinators for Wales and the Bristol area Ann Baker – Children and Youth Supervisor Bonnie Fletcher – Regional Coordinator South Trustee and National Coordinator appointments are reviewed for reappointment every three years. Trustees are recruited from within the CBS UK family and people recommended by them. They initially have discussions with the existing chair of trustees or National Coordinator before attending a trustees meeting as observer where they have chance to meet the other trustees and consideration can be made on both sides whether an appointment would be appropriate and useful. All officers and staff are unpaid volunteers. Although the charity is independent, it is associated with Community Bible Study International and uses study material under licence. The objects of the charity are the advancement of the Christian Religion and the advancement of education by: - (a) developing and publishing study and devotional material of a religious nature and in particular Bible study notes and commentaries and other teaching materials pertaining to the Bible on the pattern established by Community Bible Study International; - (b) establishing training classes for Bible study class leaders utilising the materials referred to above; - (c) establishing and promoting Bible study classes utilising the said materials and conducting such classes in co-ordination and co-operation with Christians of all denominations. ## Focus The focus during this period was initially on growing the work of CBS UK. However the pandemic forced a focus on restructuring to deal with the changed situation from March 2020. And during the course of the year the charity developed a programme of online groups and study which allowed CBS UK to grow. ## Leadership The Board of Trustees met formally twice during the year (14th Nov 2020 and 27th March 2021 online). There were communications by email and telephone between meetings. The NST met monthly. The Trustees are very grateful to the NST for all the work they have done in continuing the work of the charity. ## Classes There were more than 74 fully operative classes including 17 online during this period. In March 2020 many classes were suspended but by the end of August 2020 many of those had been able to start to meet online. Some however did not continue and there is little chance of them restarting. Classes with senior leadership were especially at risk. Children and youth classes were especially affected by the pandemic. CBS UK has English, Russian, Welsh, Spanish and Arabic speaking groups. Classes are established and run by local volunteers with training, resources and support from the national organisation. ## Conference 2021 The year's conference was held online over Zoom. Participant numbers were excellent for this event and we were grateful to our speaker Stephen Gaukroger. The Annual General meeting was held at a later date online. ## Europe A grant based on 10% of the UK income is paid to support the European work in line with the licensing agreement. Veronica Alvarez is the Chair of Trustees for Europe and MENA and keeps the UK Board up to date with developments in those regions. ## Ambassadors The Ambassador connection draws people experienced in the work of CBS to particular regions or countries to start new work or to extend existing work. We are privileged to have a team working with us in Scotland, Wales and in Northern Ireland. Our Ambassadors were not able to travel during the pandemic but have stayed in touch with the ministry online. Additionally, several folk from the UK serve God through CBS in Europe in a parallel role. ## Training All training this year was carried out most successfully online and the curriculum adapted suitably. A module on using zoom for online meetings was added. This again increased the number of people trained for a second year. ## Class Visitors The arrangements for class visits were disrupted again in most regions by the circumstances of the year. ## Safeguarding Safeguarding training is given to all leaders who have Adults with additional support needs or children in their groups either locally or online. Awareness training was given at our annual conference. Changes are implemented regularly updating the Policy Documents and manual and a system for obtaining DBS checks is in place, and a Safeguarding Coordinator is responsible for these actions. ## Study materials Studies are now available in printed format, spiral bound, electronic format (pdf). ## Financial The trustees are pleased with the net income for the year, despite the pandemic. The charity’s reserves policy is to maintain sufficient funds to continue to complete the current class studies if the income were to cease, to cover the advance costs of the annual conference and accrue for capital costs of irregular large projects (such as bulk folder purchasing done every few years). Additionally, the current NST members use their homes as offices. Should there be a need in the future for an office, reserves might be needed to help cover such costs. The trustees did a detailed review in 2017 and it was clear that the reserves needed to be increased over the next couple of years to meet the policy. The trustees are satisfied that this aim has almost been met and expect this to continue. A donation has again been made from the UK body to support CBS Europe in accordance with the agreement with Community Bible Study International. The charity does not make any other grants. ## Special projects We received a grant that enabled us to supply tablet devices to people, especially the isolated, to join groups studying the Bible. Nine such devices were supplied during the year. ## Europe and MENA Operations ## Contacts: Office correspondence address: Community Bible Study (Europe), Kestin House, 45 Crescent Road, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU2 OAH. Telephone: 01582 450559. Email: office@cbseurope.org Other contact details are on the website at www.cbseurope.org ## Governance and management Regional Director for Europe: Antti Ronkainen Senior Director for Europe: Veronica Alvarez Europe Administrator: Liz Mattocks Europe Materials Coordinator: Ana Lubascher Europe Children and Youth Learning Community facilitator: Ann Baker Europe Special Projects and Study Library: Virginia Aspinall Contact for MENA can be made through the Europe office. There are significant personal safety risks involved in the MENA work and therefore individual contact details cannot be made public. ## Europe CBS Europe is active in the UK, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Greece, Italy, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Belarus, Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Ukraine and Central Asia. We have also continued to be active within the refugee community in Europe, particularly in Greece, the Netherlands and Germany, using our Arabic and Farsi translated studies. We have been actively translating our studies into the following languages – German, Albania, Romanian, Slovakian, Czech, Russian, Ukrainian. We have also translated our online video and workbook into most European languages. Also during the pandemic we have been able to offer a comprehensive system of training providing leaders with the tools to run classes online. This is called Together Online and originates from the UK; it is now in use throughout the region and because of this we have been able to maintain a healthy presence in all our countries. Post pandemic, we plan to go forward with a mixture of online and face to face classes. ## MENA CBS MENA is active in fourteen countries in the Middle East and North Africa, including Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey and Iran. During the period August 2019 to August 2020 we have carried out the followng actrvities having successfully transferred most of them from face-to-face tr) online when the pandemic broke out We have translated several studies into ArabiG Hebrew and Farsi. We have had three conferences- one in Turkey. one for leaders from North Africa and one partnering another organisation. We have had several training events throughout the year using transSators as appropriate. We helped facilitste several children's camps in Upper Egypt for ages ranging 5 to 18, using our children's material and involving several thousand children each time. Having had training. we have continued working in Jordan with adults. We are working in the Juba mountain regions of Sudan and have prowded technical equipment to help train leaders. In Israel we have stsrted classes in e￿sting churches with ethnicalty mtxed congregations and also in Lebanon, mainty wtth refiJgee& In Syria our work 15 predominandy with the deaf community and in Pakistan we have four fijll time representatives and our rnaterial is used in two bible colleges. In Turkey we are working with displaced people. In Iraq we partner with another organisation who provide practical hdp, we prowde curriculum material. In Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia V￿rk continues wrth IcKal leaders. Signed on behalf of the trustees: Paul Hudson 26 March 2022 ## **The Trustees of Community Bible Study International UK** The following served as trustees during the year and are appointed solely by the Board. Veronica Alvarez _(chair)_ Paul Hudson – Treasurer Grace Wort Dr Simon Baker _(National Coordinator)_ Stuart Crossley Alison Bagg _(appointed 1 March 2020)_ **Independent examiner's report on the accounts** ## **Section A Independent Examiner’s Report** |**Report to the trustees/**
**members of**
**On accounts for the year**
**ended**
**Set out on pages**
**Responsibilities and**
**basis of report**|Community Bible Study International UK|Community Bible Study International UK|Community Bible Study International UK| |---|---|---|---| ||||| ||31stAugust 2021|**Charity no**
**(if any)**|1044255| ||||| ||9-10||| ||I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above
charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/08/2021
As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the
accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011
(“the Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out
under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I
have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission
under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.||| **Independent** The charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000 in 2020 and I am qualified to **examiner's statement** undertake the examination by being a qualified member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: - the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or - the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or - the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. |**Signed:**
**Name:**
**Relevant professional**
**qualification(s) or body**
**(if any):**
**Address:**
||07/06/2022| |---|---|---| |||| ||Mark Plane|| |||| ||ACA|| |||| ||Whittaker Plane Ltd|| ||78 Bute Street|| 1 Luton, LU1 2EY ## **Section B Disclosure** Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). **Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose** . N/A 2 Community Bible Study Internatlonal UK Charity Commission number 104455, Office of the Scottlsh Chority regulattJrnumberSC0037863 Re￿Ipts and Pa￿nents accountfor the year ended 31 August 2021 2021 2020 RestriLted Tottl nrestriLted Re*￿£ted INCOME DothaJoThs Conferen Class Registratlon&Offerlngs GIftAldon the above Increase Moneywith Clwes Interest Received bank ch rebate Cotton bass etc GratEts- CBSI US 7.234 475 18,299 22.648 Z9,882 475 18.299 1,687 18,187 17,214 10.463 12.150 18.187 17.214 3.013 3.013 17 17 153.501 153.SOI 252.878 252,878 Total IDuime 29,022 176.149 205.171 40,5911 263.342 303,932 EXPENSES Advertlsljjg Audit &bookkeeping Donation". C8SWestern Europe Fundralslng t¥adlngcosts Conference currentyear Evangelical Alllance &5ubscriptions Insurance CCPAS costs Office Costs l AdTnin Professional fees Computer equlpme*tJmaitrte]Jance Materia15 1 Study booklets Meeting5: Nsrrrrustee. Postage Prlhtl*g Stationery Sundry Trdining Translation Travel Expenses AV ND 1.107 1.107 2,414 2,414 5.429 L192 5.429 1.19Z 499 166 103,951 968 8.631 24,149 573 sos 304 3.361 24.149 573 505 304 118,795 1.815 9,533 153 263 351 12.672 658 233 1,242 28.129 132 69 166 soo 968 103.452 115,434 1,815 9.533 8,631 153 263 318 397 318 397 351 12.672 658 188 1,233 28,129 139 loo 14,489 14.628 loo 27,079 128 45 27,079 128 132 69 Telephone Youth and Chlldren CBSI Website Baak charges Profit& tAFS5 on Ex£hat Training & Event Meals Accommodaison Conferethte Hostess costs Operatiortal cost5 Travel 4,317 4,317 476 792 2,247 5,364 5,364 476 792 1,651 1,302 1,401 2,953 1.401 2,247 726 726 6,037 3.316 24.927 6.037 3.316 24.927 2.772 2.772 5.799 1.372 5.799 1.372 5,872 27.117 5A72 27,117 Totsl Expense5 11.495 171,601 183,1197 35,093 245.3S4 280.447 14Ef INCOME 17.5Z7 4,547 22.074 5,497 17.988 23.485 caShh￿d$lattYearttsd 21.400 40.744 62.144 1&904 22,7SS 3&659 Cash hmtsth15yearend 38,927 45.291 84.218 21.400 40.744 62,144 Community Bible Study Internatlonal UK Ch£Trity Commission number104455. Office ofthescothsh Charity regulatornumberSC0037863 Statement of assets and Ilabllities at 31 August 2021 2021 2020 irted Totsl Restt7rted Total Cash FuThds CuTrentAccount COIF Charitie5 Account Cash with cL2sses EuroAcEtsUht DEpD5ltA4￿Tht Zftr,750 4.$89 I3￿89 28.917 &507 4,588 10575 28,606 io 15,140 82.991 SO.288 Dcbtor5 3h75 15,838 IS*38 Liabilitses -2.448 -270 -3.712 -3.982 Statement of balances as at 31 Au8USt 2021 2021 2020 UhrEStricted RcstriLYcd Yotal Unre5tricred Restiicted Total OpenlDgCAsh & BaDkb&LAnct# Unre5trirt¢d Restricted Totsl Unrestrirted Restrftted Toral 6.507 4,588 10,575 28.606 6.573 1,071 7.090 11.931 COIFCharnies Account Cash with dasses Euro Acwunt DeptssitAccr*krtt io -65 70ts1 21,67Q 28.618 50,28B 14,734 I1￿6B 26.601 ChanEes Debtots& Ctedit￿¥ Dcbtors CreditOT5 IZ.162 .1,264 12.162 -1￿84 1.440 1.790 4J)54 3,230 -4.054 -270 DefiCitTEr0rd￿ inth¢ycar P&L Non A¢trualBasL% 17,527 4.547 22,074 5N97 19.014 24,511 Cltss*ngCèsb Bank Balances 38.927 44.064 82,991 21.670 Z8ffj18 SD,288 Closinxcash & Bankbaiances Curreni Account COIFCharisies Acrount 5hwth ckasses EuroAccouTht D¢posftA¢count 20,750 4.589 13.588 28,917 6,507 4588 10575 28h06 15.140 38,928 44.064 82.991 31,670 28￿18 50.288