## Alsager Community Church ## 5 Lawton Road ## Alsager Stoke on Trent Staffordshire ST7 2AA Alsager. pao Church Registered Charity : 1052554 www.alsagercommunitychurch.org.uk Report and Accounts For the Year ending 31% August 2025 ## Index of Pages **----- Start of picture text -----**
Report of the Trustees and Activities Review
Report of the Independent Examiner
17-18
Notes to the Accounts 19-20
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Registered Charity: 1052554 Page 1 of 20 ## Alsager Community Church ## Report of the Trustees and Activities Review The Financial results are set out in the enclosed accounts on pages 17 to 18. The Principal activities throughout the year under review were - e To advance the Christian faith in accordance with the Statement in such ways and in such parts of the United Kingdom or the world as the Church Council from time to time may think fit: - e To advance education in such ways and in such parts ofthe United Kingdom or the world as the Church Council from time to time may think fit: - e To relieve sickness and financial hardship and promote and preserve good health by the provision of funds, goods, services of any kind including through the provision of counselling and support in such parts of the United Kingdom or the world as the Church Council from time to time may think fit. ## CHURCH TRUSTEES Rev Peter Howard (appointed 28" August 2013), 27 Woodside Avenue, Alsager, Stoke on Trent, ST7 2DL Contact via Church office Telephone 01270 873859 Andrew Collet (appointed 17 January 2023), 5 Elanor Road, Sandbach, Cheshire. CW11 3FZ Jackie Tideswell (appointed 29" September 2025), 57 The Bank, Scholar Green, Stoke-on-Trent, ST7 3LF Ian Tideswell (appointed 10 September 2022), 57 The Bank, Scholar Green, Stoke-on-Trent, ST7 3LF Michael Keenan (appointed 4‘ September 2022), 45 Sydney Road, Crewe, Cheshire, CW1 4HQ Alan Roper (appointed 4 September 2022), 16 Kingfisher Court, Thwaite Street, Cottingham, HU16 ## 4QA Mrs Laura Smith (appointed 9" November 2020), 36 Alfred Moseley Place, Alsager, Stoke-on-Trent ST7 2ZL Sarah Humphries (resigned 29 September 2025) also served as a Trustee during this financial period. The Holding Trustee of the churches property (appointed 2" August 2023) is the Official Custodian for Charities. Holding Trustees simply ‘hold’ the deeds to the building for us as required by law. The Rev Howard’s term continues until he ceases to be Minister of the church. The Data Protection Officer continues to be Mrs Vanessa Howard and the Trustee responsible for Safeguarding is Ian Tideswell. Registered Charity: 1052554 Page 2 of 20 ## Alsager Community Church ## Report of the Trustees and Activities Review - continued ## RESERVES AND OTHER POLICES The trustees have recently reviewed their reserves policy on Organisational Risk to ensure that adequate funding is available to allow the church to deal with unforeseen expenditure, replacement or repair of equipment and six months building and staff running costs. Other policies in place and approved are Safeguarding, Building hire terms and conditions, Code ofconduct, Complaints management, Confidentiality, Data Protection, Equality and Diversity, Health and safety, Health and safety Risk assessments, Organisational risk management, Pastoral Care, Prayer and Prayer Ministry, Financial Reserves, Staff handbook, Trustee conflict of interest and Volunteering. ## STATEMENT REGARDING THE ACCOUNTS We certify that the books, vouchers and information produced to enable the independent examination of our accounts to be conducted contain a full and accurate record of our financial transactions and the activities to the best of our knowledge and belief. In view of the scale of the charities activities, the Trustees consider it appropriate to prepare the accounts on a receipts and payments basis rather than an accruals basis. Signed on behalf of the Church Council and Trustees **----- Start of picture text -----**
WL ce. Michael Keenan
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Dated: 1° April 2026
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Pastor’s9 and Trustees church activitye ° reviewo
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## Introduction The material included below is taken from the Vision Sunday meeting reports of 26" January 2026 presented by the various groups. Registered Charity: 1052554 Page 3 of 20 ## Alsager Community Church ## Leadership Team and Trustees (Pete Howard) Our Leadership Team are responsible for vision, ministry and mission, whilst our trustees take responsibility for more practical matters and therefore, support them. Over the last year, we have, we believe, seen growing success learning what roles belong to which and in functioning in these accordingly. The Leadership Team currently consists of Nessie Howard, Laura Smith, Peter and Janice Bird, Wendy Walker and myself and our intention in the next 12 months, is to seek God concerning how this may be further expanded in the future as God reveals the right people. Part of the work we have been doing has been to begin to evaluate different areas of church life and ministry, as we identified at last year’s Vision Sunday. Initially we intended to evaluate a different area every month but in reality, we have instead chosen to take more time than this to ensure it is done more robustly. The following areas have been evaluated and repurposed: Sundays including leading of meetings and worship (whilst at the same time work has been done in the area of hosting and welcome outside of the team meetings — Alan and Marie Shaw have largely led this and are taking responsibility for this area), Partnership (and on our Vision Sunday, we will be relaunching this), and prayer. We will be continuing with this process of evaluation this year. In addition, we have completed writing a course for new people joining the church called Heart for the House, which has been tested out in one of the Life Groups. The Trustees have grown in confidence in terms of their work and main areas of focus this year have been finance and fire safety. Many will be aware that we discovered that we were not in as financially strong position as we had previously been. This was not due to poor management but rather decreasing income and more especially increased costs. As a trustee’s team we have closely monitored spending and discussed different strategies to respond to this. God has helped us, and we were able to finish the latest financial year with a surplus as the church has grown, and matters have been addressed. We received a further boost when we held our Love Offering in October 2025 and as a congregation you generously invested over £6500. This has meant we have been able to look forward with much greater confidence, and it is our hope that this money can be used not just for general purposes but for vision. A change in the law meant that we had to have a formal fire risk assessment completed for the building. This required us to bring in a professional to complete it at a cost, and obviously to respond to the different matters the assessment identified. This is an ongoing process which has involved some alterations in the building, and we are grateful to Rob for the work he has done. We are also grateful to Darren and his company for the donation of new lights including those with emergency lighting, etc. The biggest commitment is that we are informed of the need for a fire alarm and we have been exploring quotes, one of which we have now accepted. We now need to move this forward. We have struggled to recruit new trustees as different trustees have, for different reasons, stepped down but are now bringing new trustees on board. We are still seeking to recruit more and particularly some ladies so if you think you might be able to serve us in this way, please speak to me. Registered Charity: 1052554 Page 4 of 20 ## Alsager Community Church ## Laura Smith We have appreciated Laura’s input into the life and leadership of the church both before and since we employed her first as Assistant and then as Associate Pastor on Staff. Congratulations to her on the completion of the AoG Minister’s in Training programme back in May, giving her full status as an AoG Minister. We are extremely proud of her and thrilled that she will continue working with us. ## Worship I include worship in this report because while we are privileged to have lots of people involved, there is no single designated department leader although Graeme Smith is in practice completing this role more and more. He currently takes responsibility for the first Sunday ofthe month and also leads our monthly worship practice and this is now including dealing with some useful matters such as standardising the keys songs are played in which will help us to coordinate between band members better. Darren and Veronica Spencer take responsibility for the last Sunday and I generally take responsibility for all other Sundays, with Graeme and Darren and Vron leading additional weeks when needed. We are supported by a good group of musicians, many of whom now play most weeks. This is our standard pattern unless it is changed for particular purpose. The Worship continues to go from strength to strength with new members joining the team anda real sense of unity and connection between members. The monthly practices are fun, and team members are learning each other’s styles and learning to play together well. As a church we can again say that we are also getting better at worship - by this I mean are engaging with God as we learn to do so, rather than just singing songs. We have experienced some beautiful times in the presence ofGod. ## Services in Residential Care Homes We currently regularly hold services for the residents of two of the local care homes. The first is New Milton House, where our turn for the service happens on the 1st Sunday of the month with other churches taking some of the other weeks. Eric and Miriam or Anne often take the lead with this service supported by Laura and a faithful team including, occasionally myself. Our last report commented on frustrations this ministry as we were moved from the lounge to the ‘activities room’, which effectively resulted in no one coming as the staff didn’t have the capacity to bring the residents up to the meeting. That the meeting happened at change-over time did not help. This was resolved now with a move in time to 1:30pm and a change in venue to the Dining Room, so that residents can choose to stay after lunch. As a result of this, while numbers can still be a bit hit and miss, they are increasing and the service therefore more established. An exciting new development for this year is a new service in Twyford House happening fortnightly on a Tuesday afternoon. The service is enthusiastically supported by a member of staff and so a good-sized group of residents attend each time. I tend to lead this service supported by Laura and a faithful team. ## The Annexe Once again, we have to report that there hasn’t been much movement forward in terms of vision and repurposing of The Annexe as we had hoped this year. One reason for this was the decision to delay this so that we could move things into the space while we sorted through and reorganised cupboards and storage in the main building as part of a wider sort through. Registered Charity: 1052554 Page 5 of 20 ## Alsager Community Church This has largely been completed (thank you to Anne Beard), actually without the Annexe really being used but there is some reorganising still to do. We have used The Annexe for prayer and other activities during this time, and the Foodbank has been able to use the larger area available. This has been particularly useful during Harvest and Christmas where toys for Foodbank clients from the Alsager Community Support Toy Appeal and extras we provided were sorted out and hampers, etc prepared. We also received a call from two other Toy Appeals who then delivered all their left-over toys and the room was filled again until it was sorted out. ## Funerals This last 12 months saw the loss of three more respected and beloved members of the church family, Phil Scoggins, Olive Pitcher and Chris Collett. They were each examples of unassuming but hardworking servants who contributed to the life of the church in valuable and practical ways over the years and we will continue to miss them. We honour them in this report. The funerals of Phil and Olive were both held here at ACC, Chris’ funeral is still to take place at time of writing but will also be at ACC. ## Other activities and matters arising ## There are separate reports included below for some of these activities and matters. ° Continued with our Life Groups, weekly prayer meetings and monthly Reflective Prayer sessions and in addition, prayer days, weeks of prayer and fasting and new for this year, Encounter evenings ° Continued to run our coffee shop 4 days a week and to run our monthly Play Church. ° We ran a successful Alpha in the Autumn term and Held regular Men’s Breakfast events ° Continued with our monthly after-church fellowship lunches on the 3rd Sunday of the month. ° Continued with our involvement in local schools with assemblies and occasional lessons. ° Along with the other Alsager Churches, we distributed Hot Cross Buns at Easter on Holy Saturday. ° Restarted Churches Together events such as the Easter Sunrise service and Unted service between Christmas and New Year. ° We have continued to hire our premises to local organisations: U3A, Slimming World, Alsager Spinners and Weavers, and others. ° We again helda stall at the Alsager Carnival distributing hundreds of poppet toys to the children and advertising the presence of the church. ° We have had guest speakers: Anthony Bhunu and Richard Brunton ° We have continued to work with Christchurch and Wesley Place Methodist Church to run a youth group on Thursday evenings and took young people to the 3generate youth event. We also took some young people to the AoG Awaken Youth Conference Day. ° We moved to a supporting role at Sandbach Community Church, which became part of Middlewich Community Church which has renamed itself Mid-Cheshire Community Church ° Held a term-time Summer Kids Activity Day and partnered with Christchurch and Wesley Place to hold 2 summer fun days in Wood Park. Registered Charity: 1052554 Page 6 of 20 ## Alsager Community Church Church Manager’s Report (Nessie Howard) The church building continues to be a busy place whilst trying to remain a welcoming and God filled space. We employ Sue who works as our cleaner for 12 hours a week and Rob and David have continued to provide a level of maintenance and care for our building as well as completing our 6 monthly H&S reviews. We have 4 groups who regularly use and hire the building, as well as some that use us occasionally. We would like to increase this back to previous levels as a revenue stream. This year has seen us having a fire risk assessment which was legally required from new legislation. We are working through the points raised which have included some work needing doing in the building and installing a fire alarm, quotes for which are being worked through. ## Kids church/Ablaze on Sundays (Nessie Howard) We currently have 3 children and 5 young people who regularly attend church. It is a wide age range, but the children care for and support each other well. Once a month we have Ablaze on Sundays where we connect with the young people from Christchurch, alternating between meeting at our venue or at theirs. On that Sunday Kids church hasa different feel as we make the session bespoke for a younger age which the children have enjoyed as much as the youth have. On Sundays we use the TV for worship songs, have access to craft activities, have bible studies, play games, share and care for each other, provide space for faith to deepen and meet with God. All whilst having fun. Our curriculum has continued to be adaptable and bespoke this past year as we have responded to a wide age range and a smaller number of children. We are currently following the church’s curriculum in the main meetings and continue to design our own sessions. We have a great team ofteachers who love both God and our youngsters. They lead with compassion, laughter and skill. ## Pastoral Team (Pete Bird/John Hammond/Anita Wilson/Laura Smith) Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd", (John 10:11). He is the Good Shepherd that loves us completely and unconditionally. He also said, “this is my commandment, that you love one another, in the same way I have loved you” (John 15:12). At Alsager Community Church, we want to be those who show love, care and friendship to everyone that comes through the door ofthe church. The global church is in fact, (although perhaps not in name), the church of the Good Shepherd. We are blessed to have a Pastoral Team that work to undergird and support Pete and Nessie in the work that they do. The team help with home visitation, hospital visitation, pastoral telephone calls, and generally are available for anyone that needs prayer or just a chat. ## The Meeting Place Coffee Shop (Nessie Howard) This continues to be open Tuesday to Friday mornings between 9am and 1.30pm. Some days are quieter than others, but this has given the opportunity to get to know people better. “The Meeting Place’ is a place we hope that people will meet and connect with each other and perhaps more significantly, where they might meet ## Registered Charity: 1052554 Page 7 of 20 ## Alsager Community Church Jesus. There have been opportunities for prayer and conversation, and we pray this might happen more and more. We have a ‘help yourself? bookshelf with second hand/donated Christian books which has continued to be popular. We also have two people who produce cards for us to sell as a way of fundraising. We are so grateful for the volunteers who serve each week, with again, new volunteers coming on board this year, and are also grateful for the kind volunteers who bake/bring us cakes. They are always so popular and add something special to our menu. We are desperately in need of more cake volunteers and if you can help us with this, please speak to me. We would also appreciate help with washing tea towels, shopping and even having you as customers! As with last year the car parking charges have affected the footfall coming into the Meeting Place, although Asda providing 2 hours free parking has helped. we have again produced some vouchers for Little Treasures parents to use in an attempt to attract new customers. Our play area is a brilliant, yet under used attraction. We introduced a card payment system last year which has been helpful, although we have experienced technical difficulties with it at times and it has not been used as much as we thought it would be. Finally, we are really pleased to report that we continue to hold a level 5 in our food safety inspection. This is something we have consistently done but it is always a source of celebration for us to feel we are doing things well and this is recognised. Here are some quotes from some of our customers... ‘Family atmosphere!’ ‘The highlight of the week!’ ‘A place of friendship.’ ‘An important part of our weekly routine...come from Newcastle every week because it is an Oasis and as place of fun!’ What next? It would be fantastic to have a manager of the coffee shop again- someone who could lead it forward! We always try to have a church rep on each shift too. ## Foodbank (Nessie Howard) ) We were able to help feed and support 150 referred households during 2025 consisting of:- 213 Individual Adults and 164 Individual Children in 2025. We also gave out 55 Christmas Hampers to the clients we had, in the lead up to Christmas, having nominated 48 Households for children's toys and issuing Toys provided by Alsager Community Toy Appeal to 111 Children. Our data shows that so far this year, we have been asked to support a mixture of households including those with | or 2 people, as well as families. Households referred to us in 2025 have been with us for longer periods of time than in previous years, as their situations are seeming to take longer to reach a conclusion . We continue to be blessed with many donations — both monetary and goods. These donations come from individuals, churches, schools, charities and businesses in our area. One of our biggest challenges was physically stocking the shelves but we have seen many groups not only raising funds for us but also actively shopping on our behalf. We continue to be very grateful for the community support we receive. Registered Charity: 1052554 Page 8 of 20 ## Alsager Community Church We continue to work in partnership with other organisations, referring people on to other organisations if appropriate. We still operate on a referral basis which means people receive help from ourselves as a result of them being referred to us. This can be from schools, medical or welfare teams, housing associations and churches to name but a few. We continue to give fresh fruit and/or vegetables, bread, cheese and eggs when we can. We are enrolled with Neighbourly, so Sainsburys give us their surplus bakery most days and occasionally fresh fruit and veg. We have also enrolled with Olio, a scheme used to reduce waste from shops which has helped on an ad hoc basis with bread, potatoes and vegetables. We currently have 4 Coordinators, all taking a week at a time to run the foodbank and we have 13 volunteers helping to pack and sort stock on a rota basis. We have continued to have 6 people who will deliver, a few folks we can call on to help sort stock and others who have offered to shop for us. We have also continued to give out vouchers for drinks and food at the Meeting Place and for the Big Breakfast at Christchurch. We also give vouchers to those with preschool children so that they can come along to our Little Treasures on Thursdays. Recently, a member of the public asked us how we were getting on, and we explained that we were busy, and she asked how we carried on. We responded that it was the kindness of the people of Alsager that kept us going. We are so fortunate to live in such a good community and to be part of a great Church. We would like to say a'BIG THANK YOU' to all who regularly donate, without whom we really couldn't do what we do. Please continue to remember that we are there for those in need and contact us through our referral system if help is needed. ## Prayer (Wendy Walker) Past/present : Over the past 12 months we have had an average of 10 attending Thursday evening intercessory prayer, which is again slightly down from last year. Prayer and Fasting. We have had 4 periods of 7-2-7 prayer and fasting weeks. Attendance dwindled towards the end of the year. Prayer days : In April we had a prayer day focussing on God raising a prayer army. 22 people attended [not including Anne and myself]. In November we had a second prayer day, focussing on 2 Chronicles 7:14 and challenging people to seek His face. 20 people attended [not including Anne and myself]. ## Other prayer events. 15th February — ‘How to be Un-successful’ course. A 24/7 Prayer International course. Attendance was quite low. If we run this course again it will be spread over 2 or 3 sessions rather than in one day. 15th March — the first Ladies Prayer breakfast. We held 2 prayer breakfasts at the beginning of the year but attendance wasn’t great, although we did have a blessed time together. I have decided to shelve this for the time being. Registered Charity: 1052554 Page 9 of 20 ## Alsager Community Church ## Looking forward. Pre-service prayer on Sunday’s will start to be held in the church hall from 10:00 til around 10:20, alongside the worship team. ‘Be Connected’ prayer will start on 8th January 2026. A daytime opportunity for people to find out about different ways to pray. Using mostly resources from 24/7 Prayer International. Pray 500 will start on Ist February and run until 30th November 2026. Seeing encourage people to pray for our church 500 hours during these 10 months. That is only around 5-10 minutes per day. Anne and| intend to continue going away on retreats, roughly quarterly, to seek the Lord’s guidance for us as individuals, and for ACC. Our next retreat is 9th to 12th February 2026. I am always listening out for new ways to encourage our folks to engage in corporate intercessory prayer. The boiler house of the church needs to be continually stoked, so that we keep moving forward. ## Wendy Walkers’s Life Group Over the last 12 months our numbers have again fluctuated. We are now 16 members although it is rare that we are all there at the same time. We are a diverse group who love to study The Word together. We are very much a family and our Whatsapp group is a place for us all to share and reach out. During 2025 we completed a study on Nehemiah, explored the persecuted church and completed a video series on the letters to the seven churches in Revelation. AND we still have cake on birthdays — most of which are baked by Rob and are yummy!! Leadership of a small group of believers is an incredibly humbling and privileged thing, the responsibility of whichI do not carry lightly. The following was on previous years’ reports and still very much stands: At the beginning of my ‘tenure’ as leader of this group, I declared Ephesians 2:22 over us all. ‘ .....in Him you too [as a group] are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit’. I also gave a promise, to God, to myself and to the group. “to be a leader who doesn’t seek to ‘climb the ladder’, but who digs deeper; to be a servant to all”. The declaration and promise are still and always will be at the very heart of the wonderful group of brothers and sisters I have the awesome job of leading. We will encourage one another; grow together; and praise our Heavenly Father for all His blessings. ## Anne Beard’s Daytime Life Group Our Friday Life group meets in ACC every two weeks 10.30am -12md or as the Holy Spirit takes us. Six to twelve people gather in fellowship, prayer and worship as we study God’s word. Here are personal reflections on the last year...... “Two things stand out for me — one is that I feel our group has become closer this year. It’s a blessing to meet together and share good and not so good times together, as families do. Secondly, I’m always amazed at the way the Holy Spirit leads you (and us). We’ve experienced it several times now and it’s becoming the “norm” Enjoyed delving into Ezra hearing everyone’s thoughts and input. Looking forward to what will transpire during 2026.” Registered Charity: 1052554 Page 10 of 20 ## Alsager Community Church “Enjoyed gaining insight and knowledge and very much enjoyed the life group sessions. I am grateful to the group who have made me feel at home. I love the way the Holy Spirit is centre stage and it’s helping me to be more conscious of spiritual guidance day to day.” “] feel it is inspiring and feel it’s wonderful to be able to attend.” “I look on our group to be very important to our spiritual growth and guidance. Not forgetting our loving God, who by his Spirit has inspired us...” “Our group isa little oasis.....as the year has passed there has been a shift in our group....a strong feeling and recognition of us as a family. Love, care, understanding and support at all times. The Holy Spirit works through each of us to lovingly be there for one another, the scripture we read and reflect on, the songs and lessons we share all carry a deeper meaning. A word or prayer shared constantly shows the Lord is right with us. Our life group is a spiritual oasis.” “] don’t usually have much to say, but can I add to the group’s thoughts please. When joining a new group, I am often not able to get comfortable and take part. In this case, I have had such a feeling of understanding, welcome and warmth, I have been overwhelmed at times, I could not have a better church family which shows such love and thoughtfulness. God bless you all, and so many thanks.” ## Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts. We look forward to studying Nehemiah.......Restore, Renew and Rebuild. Thank you, Father God, for your everlasting faithful love which endures forever. ## Graeme Smith’s Life Group L is for Learning. We usually follow a video-based course which involves listening to teaching and then discussing the subject. The courses we have used this year include How to be unsuccessful by Pete Portal of 24/7 prayer, Anxious for nothing by Max Lucado, and currently the Bible Course by the Bible Society. It is great to get new insights from the videos and each other, and to be challenged about how to live out what we are learning. I is for intercession. We always have a time of sharing and prayer for one-another, our families and friends, and the church. We also use a WhatsApp group to share urgent prayer requests. We keep a record of our prayers, and over the last year have seen some wonderful answers. F is for fellowship. We don’t just learn and pray. We enjoy light-hearted quizzes with variable relevance to what we are discussing! We had a Christmas meal together, with some festive games. And we share what is going on in our lives, and encourage each other. E is for everyone welcome. We currently have 10 members and meet at Tony and Laura’s house. There is room for a few more, so if anyone is interested you would be welcome to join us. Do come and havea chat with me. ## Mike Keenan’s Life Group (Crewe) We meet in Crewe on alternate Wed Mornings commencing 10.30 am The emphasis of the group is fellowship, sharing, testimony and prayer so as to encourage one another and build up our faith without being too formal. Also, if a member of the group has a problem or burden, we are free to share and pray about it. We also spend time in worship with my keyboard as accompaniment. We often Registered Charity: 1052554 Page 11 of 20 ## Alsager Community Church each bring a passage of Scripture to share and discuss with the group which always works well as we can all contribute. Over the last year we have continued to look at the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount and also the parables ofJesus from the Gospels. We have looked at some videos produced by Gary Kent from his Incredible Journeys series which are true life stories. Also looked at videos of past revivals such as John Wesley in the 18th century and the ministries of Moody and Sankey and Billy Graham all of which are very inspiring and challenging. ## Alpha (Janice Bird) Alpha 2025 was advertised through social media/website. Two thousand five hundred leaflets were posted through doors, however there was no response from the community from this method of publicity. We also put posters in various places throughout Alsager, along with the PVC banner at the back of the church, and an A board outside the foyer. We initially gathered twenty names of people who were interested, and at the start of Alpha, twelve guests had signed up. Two from the website, one from the A board poster and the rest were from personal invitation. On the first evening however we had three apologies, and two no shows. One person joined part way through the course. The course itself went well, even though some guests were infrequent attendees. Every session began with a meal, or food of some kind. This was precious time spent, enabling us all to get to know each other, which helped to break down any barriers. The team really worked together well. There was a strong sense of unity and purpose as we worked together to make the guests feel welcome, sharing the gospel and practicing hospitality. Each session was covered with prayer, led by Wendy. Once again, we felt the power of this throughout, however, as a team, we recognise how the enemy looks for opportunity to close the gospel down to those seeking. When we measure success of an outreach programme, we should consider that God does so much more in people’s hearts than we can ever see, and the gospel seed is good seed. God’s word never comes back empty, but always returns producing whatever He set it forth to do. It is a joy to be able to meet the community in this way and share the wonderful message of the gospel. We count it a privilege. ## Little Treasures Playgroup (Gina Poole) Runs every Thursday 0930 until 1130.Term time only. No need to book in advance — come along and have fun. Only £1.50 per session. Little Treasures is directed at all children from 0 years up to school age. Each week we have an activity for any child who enjoys doing crafts (Mums and Nan’s also). The first half of the morning is free play for all the children, while Parents and Grandparents enjoy a chat and a coffee or tea. At approximately 1030, all children and their carers, are invited to go to the cafe, where the children enjoy listening to a story, while enjoying toast and juice. After which, when returning to the playroom, all the toys have been put away, however, ride on toys as well as a soft play area is still available. Registered Charity: 1052554 Page 12 of 20 ## Alsager Community Church The parents and grandparents have often shared how much they love Little Treasures, it is a treat that they would not miss.’ It is lovely to see that all parents and grandparents feel so welcome. We want Little treasures to be a place where friendships between adults, as well as children grow, and we are aware that individuals do meet up regularly outside of the group, attending other play groups, having lunch and arranging play dates. We would love to see greater connection with the parents and grandparents who come along and would love, for example, to encourage visits to the coffee shop. The availability ofthe card machine has madea difference and also providing our parents with vouchers will hopefully play a part in making this happen. ## Ablaze Youth-Group (Pete Howard) We work with Christchurch and Wesley Place, two other churches in the town to run a youth group. The group meets at Wesley Place and is very much one youth group among 3 churches. This last 11 months we have seen the group continue with a programme which includes games, interaction, Biblical teaching and is interspersed with social activities. The programme also regular includes eating meals together and we ran the new Youth Alpha in the last year. We have had the opportunity to take the young people away. A large group went to 3generate, which is the Methodist Youth and Children’s Congress. This last year’s event was truly excellent, being very God focused with high quality worship sessions. Our youth particularly enjoyed the band SAINTS, who some had encountered before and the concert they put on was excellent with the gospel powerfully presented. An equally great event we were able to take a car full to was AWAKEN, the AoG Day Youth Conference. Those that went loved it and I was especially impressed with how it was led by local youth leaders. We sadly can’t go this year as the date clashes with another weekend we are taking the young people to. We are encouraged that some of these young people continue to attend ACC on Sundays and others attend other churches. ## Men’s Breakfast Group (Steve Noble) The ACC men’s group has now been meeting for about 18 months, meeting for breakfast every six weeks. We see an attendance of around twelve people, however, there are approximately 20 who attend regularly. We make time for the guys to chat with each other as this is an important focus. There is then a short time with a reading and short reflection. One of the aims of the group when it was first set up was to also have social evenings and work towards events where people could invite friends to join us. These additional times have been slow to start; however, we recently enjoyed a meal out together on a Saturday evening. The aims over the next year are to increase the frequency and variety of social events but also to look for a new leader. I will be stepping down in September when Ill be moving away from the area so will be looking for someone else to take on organising men’s work at ACC, in the same format or in whatever way they feel led. ## Play Church (Pete Howard) As reported last year, we rebranded and revamped what had been started as Café Church to create Play Church. This event contained many of the same attributes as Café Church such as craft, worship, teaching and food, but increased the play element and made it less formally structured. We began to have activities in both halls Registered Charity: 1052554 Page 13 of 20 ## Alsager Community Church and centred our teaching and worship time around the stage which made it more manageable and focused. This year however, we have led teaching in the coffee shop due to restrictions swapping computers in the sound room. Attendance has fluctuated quite a lot, with some weeks full and other weeks with quite low attendance. All who come express enthusiasm about how good it is but often don’t seem to come again, which is disappointing. What has been really nice, is to see some of our former CRASH TIME families come along. Crash Time was a monthly event run for families which gave a particular welcome to those who has children with special needs. The kids are older now of course but still fit in very well. ## Missions (Pete Howard) We continue to support 4 ‘missions’: Hope Uganda, Living Hope Ministries, Andrew Cannon — Gospel Grenades and UCB. Mission’s giving is due to be evaluated this year. ## Maintenance (Rob Walker) Throughout the year maintenance is an ongoing activity, i.e. toilets get blocked or stop working, taps leak, things get damaged, light bulbs, plugs break etc; These things usually get fixed in the background. Last year we have had children climbing on the church roof, and the annex roof, a few times. Climbing up via the iron gates at the back and side of the buildings. I have painted all the areas where they have climbed up with black anti climb paint to try and dissuade them. Also I have put up warning signs to warn against climbing, to cover ourselves legally. The hedges at the back and side of the building have been cut several times during the year. Weeding along the side of the building, clearing gutters of leaves etc. During the summer break, I repaired the gable end window frames of the church hall. Removing loose paint, loose putty, and loose / rotted wood. Filling with wood filler and putty where necessary. The gable end windows were then under coated and painted twice with weather proofing paint. At the same time, I painted under the eaves along the side and front of the church. During the summer break, a group of volunteers from the church helped out, by painting ie, walls, skirting and radiators where needed inside the building. This work was organised by Sarah Humphries. We have also had the building checked for fire safety requirements and are in the process of updating where needed. The door to the loft in the coffee shop has been renewed with a new door and protected with fire retardant paint, Also door between the coffee shop and foyer has had new fire seal fitted along the edges along with a new closer. We will be fitting new safety lighting and fire exit lighting soon. ## Sandbach Community Church (Pete Howard) We launched SCC on 17th March 2024, in equal partnership with Middlewich Community Church and this was the only Church Plant in AoG, which wasa partnership initiative of its kind. Since the launch we have met consistently at 4pm every Sunday including over the Christmas periods. We have sought to keep things simple, with a single musician or use of ‘ising’ when this is not possible. Preaching is run on a rota (as with both ACC and MCC) and followed by refreshments. In our last report, the vision for year 2 was identified as probably being to seek to see... ° Establish local leadership including possibly a primary leader (Pastor) Registered Charity: 1052554 Page 14 of 20 ## Alsager Community Church - ° See some families come into the church (as well as others) - ° See our first salvations - ° Begin a regular outreach project of some kind and possibly run an Alpha. - ° ACC take responsibility for managing SCC’s finances However, since that time the basis upon which Sandbach (SCC) operates has changed completely. Following some complications with Church Annual registrations, AoG expressed a desire for us to place SCC under one ofthe two churches as a campus. This may have been intended to be informally, but it was felt that this wasn’t something that could be done without being official. In addition, it was felt by some, that this was the right course of action and so the decision was taken to change the basis of the partnership. As each church considered whether they should be the ones to take on this responsibility, it was decided that Middlewich was in the strongest position to do this and so from October this year MCC have taken full responsibility for the church plant and Alsager has moved into a supporting, non-decision-making role. MCC has rebranded as Mid-Cheshire Community Church with Middlewich and Sandbach locations. Some from Alsager still attend and may have some leading, preaching or other roles. Signed on behalf of the Church Council and Trustees ## LOWS Sarthe Laura Smith, Associate Pastor Dated: 1% April 2026 Registered Charity: 1052554 Page 15 of 20 ## Alsager Community Church ## Independent Examiners Report on the Receipts and Payment Accounts To the Trustees/Members of Alsager Community Church, Registered Charity 1052554, on the accounts for the year ending 31° August 2025, set out on pages 17 to 18. ## Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act’). The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year (as per Act Accounts and Audit Order 2015 SI 2015 No.321) so that an independent examination is needed and the accounts are to be prepared on a receipts and payments basis. It is my responsibility to: - e Examine the accounts (under section 145 of the Act): e Follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145 (5) (b) of the Act; and - e State whether any particular matters have come to my attention ## Basis of the independent examiner’s report My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with these records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently | do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts. ## Independent examiner’s statement In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention: - (1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements e to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Act, and e to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Act and the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by Charities Financial Reporting Standard FRS102 have not been met: or - (2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable proper understanding ofthe accounts to be reached. ## Signed Date 1* April 2026 Paul Barnsley B.A. (Econ) (H 7A.C.A., F.T.C.L. (Chartered Accountant) Heart Notes Ministries, 125 Crossefield Road, Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, Cheshire, SK8 5PF Telephone 0161 485 3088 = paul@heartnotes.org.uk Page 16 of 20 Registered Charity: 1052554 ## Alsager Community Church **----- Start of picture text -----**
|||||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |INCOME &|EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT|Note|Unrestricted|Designated|Restricted|Total|Funds|Total|Funds| |2025|2025|2025|2025|2024| |Church|Income| |Offerings|18,405.42|0.00|7,896.72|26,302.14|20,615.04| |Gift|Aid|Offerings|30,198.00|0.00|450.00|30,648.00|24,037.00| |Tax|Recovered|Gift|Aid|9,543.19|0.00|202.80|9,745.99|7,963.47| |Accounts|Interest|416.51|0.00|0.00|416.51|378.59| |Other|Income|1|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|2,359.23| |Room|Hire|2|11,703.50|0.00|0.00|11,703.50|11,112.00| |Subtotal|Church|Income|70,266.62|0.00|8,549.52|78,816.14|66,465.33| |Coffee|Shop| |Total|Takings|13,290.24|0.00|0.00|13,290.24|9,866.26| |Cost|of Goods|for|resale|(3,589.48)|0.00|0.00|(3,589.48)|(3,938.65)| |General|Expenses|(257.72)|0.00|0.00|(257.72)|(200.25)| |Subtotal|Coffee Shop|Net|9,443.04|0.00|0.00|9,443.04|5,727.36| |NET|INCOME|church|and|coffee|shop|79,709.66|0.00|8,549.52|88,259.18|72,192.69| |Church|Expenditure| |Pastors|Salary|(35,772.48)|0.00|0.00|(35,772.48)|(35,439.08)| |Church|Ministry|Costs|3|(15,862.09)|0.00|(1,957.42)|(17,819.51)|(17,521.51)| |Missions|4|(3,583.22)|0.00|0.00|(3,583.22)|(4,228.22)| |Building|Running|Costs|5|(20,098.61)|0.00|(1,875.00)|(21,973.61)|(19,567.62)| |Building|Capital|Costs/Refubishment|6|(1,224.99)|0.00|(491.00)|(1,715.99)|(1,584.99)| |Subtotal|church|expenditure|(76,541.39)|0.00|(4,323.42)|(80,864.81)|(78,341.42)| |SURPLUS/(DEFICIT)|for church|3,168.27|0.00|4,226.10|7,394.37|(6,148.73)| |ALSAGER|FOODBANK| |Foodbank|Income| |Donations|-|regular|0.00|0.00|12,041.61|12,041.61|12,845.49| |Donations|-|irregular|0.00|0.00|300.00|300.00|1,460.75| |Donations|-|gift|aid|foodbank|0.00|0.00|1,635.00|1,635.00|1,135.00| |Tax|reclaim|Gift|aid|claim|foodbank|0.00|0.00|384.22|384.22|266.73| |Subtotal|Foodbank|Income|0.00|0.00|14,360.83|14,360.83|15,707.97| |Foodbank|Expenses| |Food|Purchases|0.00|0.00|(12,268.35)|(12,268.35)|(34,415.26)| |ACSC|Rent|0.00|0.00|(600.00)|(600.00)|(600.00)| |Mobile|Phone|Costs|0.00|0.00|(93.56)|(93.56)|(97.59)| |Subtotal|Foodbank|Expenses|0.00|0.00|(12,961.91)|(12,961.91)|(35,112.85)| |SURPLUS/(DEFICIT)|for|Foodbank|0.00|0.00|1,398.92|1,398.92|(19,404.88)| |ALSAGER|SUPPORT|CENTRE| |Receipt/(Repayment)|of funds|ex|ASC|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|233.12| |SURPLUS/(DEFICIT)|for Support Centre|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|233.12| |GRAND TOTAL|SURPLUS/(DEFICIT)|3,168.27|0.00|5,625.02|8,793.29|(25,320.49)| **----- End of picture text -----**
Registered Charity: 1052554 Page 17 of 20 ## Alsager Community Church ||Note|Unrestricted|Designated|Restricted|Total Funds|Total Funds| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||2025|2025|2025|2025|2024| |STATEMENT OF INCOME||||||| |Sunday Offering & Donations||18,405.42|0.00|7,896.72|26,302.14|20,615.04| |Gift Aid Offerings||30,198.00|0.00|450.00|30,648.00|24,037.00| |Tax Recovered - Gift Aids||9,543.19|0.00|202.80|9,745.99|7,963.47| |Accounts Interest||416.51|0.00|0.00|416.51|378.59| |Room Hire||11,703.50|0.00|0.00|11,703.50|11,112.00| |Other Income||0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|359.23| |Coffee Shop Takings||13,290.24|0.00|0.00|13,290.24|9,866.26| |Alsager Foodbank Income||0.00|0.00|14,360.83|14,360.83|15,707.97| |Grants||0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|2,000.00| |TOTAL INCOME||83,556.86|0.00|22,910.35|106,467.21|92,039.56| |STATEMENT OF EXPENDITURE||||||| |Pastor/Administrators Salary Costs||(35,772.48)|0.00|0.00|(35,772.48)|(35,439.08)| |Church Ministry Costs||(15,862.09)|0.00|(1,957.42)|(17,819.51)|(17,521.51)| |Missions||(3,583.22)|0.00|0.00|(3,583.22)|(4,228.22)| |Building Running Costs||(20,098.61)|0.00|(1,875.00)|(21,973.61)|(19,567.62)| |Building Capital/Refrubishment Costs||(1,224.99)|0.00|(491.00)|(1,715.99)|(1,584.99)| |Alsager Support Centre Costs||||||| |Running cost||0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|233.12| |Coffee Shop||||||| |Cost ofGoods for resale||(3,589.48)|0.00|0.00|(3,589.48)|(3,938.65)| |General Expenses||(257.72)|0.00|0.00|(257.72)|(200.25)| |Alsager Foodbank Expenditure||0.00|0.00|(12,961.91)|(12,961.91)|(35,112.85)| |TOTAL EXPENDITURE||(80,388.59)|0.00|(17,285.33)|(97,673.92)|(117,360.05)| |TOTAL SURPLUS/(DEFICIT) foryear||3,168.27|0.00|5,625.02|8,793.29|(25,320.49)| |Opening Funds||18,994.22|36,000.00|22,149.90|77,144.12|102,464.61| |Transfers in/(out)||101.00|0.00|(101.00)|0.00|0.00| |TOTAL CLOSING NET FUNDS|7|22,263.49|36,000.00|27,673.92|85,937.41|77,144.12| |Breakdown of Fund balances||||||| |General Reserves||22,263.49|0.00|0.00|22,263.49|18,994.22| |Stardust||0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|491.00| |Sandbach church||0.00|0.00|5,399.13|5,399.13|1,147.12| |Unforseen cost Reserve||0.00|36,000.00|0.00|36,000.00|36,000.00| |CRASH time||0.00|0.00|2,310.66|2,310.66|2,396.57| |AlsagerFood Bank||0.00|0.00|19,964.13|19,964.13|18,115.21| |Total Fund balances||22,263.49|36,000.00|27,673.92|85,937.41|77,144.12| |REPRESENTED BY||||||| |Cash in Hand|||||436.85|368.90| |Current Account|||||50,610.38|42,301.55| |Savings Account|||||34,890.18|34,473.67| |TotalNetAssets|||||85,937.41|77,144.12| Registered Charity: 1052554 Page 18 of 20 ## Alsager Community Church |NOTES TO THEACCOUNTS|Unrestricted|Designated|Restricted|Total Funds|Total Funds| |---|---|---|---|---|---| ||2025|2025|2025|2025|2024| |1. Other Income|||||| |Contributions from Middlewich church for Sandbach|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|209.23| |Grants - Cooker ex Sainsburys|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|2,000.00| |Sundry Other Income|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|150.00| |Subtotal OtherIncome|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|2,359.23| |2. Room Hire|||||| |Slimming World|8,310.00|0.00|0.00|8,310.00|6,510.00| |U3A|1,200.50|0.00|0.00|1,200.50|1,862.00| |Rhythm Time|1,128.00|0.00|0.00|1,128.00|2,269.00| |Sundry Hires|135.00|0.00|0.00|135.00|75.00| |Guild ofSpinners & Weavers|690.00|0.00|0.00|690.00|156.00| |Cheshire East Polling Station|240.00|0.00|0.00|240.00|240.00| |SubtotalRoom Hire|11,703.50|0.00|0.00|11,703.50|11,112.00| |3. Church Ministry Costs|||||| |Ministry Gifts - Visiting Speakers|20.00|0.00|0.00|20.00|1,400.00| |Ministry Expenses|2,211.92|0.00|0.00|2,211.92|948.22| |Ministry Resources|136.92|0.00|0.00|136.92|273.58| |Administration Salaries|12,813.94|0.00|0.00|12,813.94|12,812.48| |Communion Expenses|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|31.67| |Copyright Licence|577.86|0.00|0.00|577.86|552.72| |Childrens Church|38.97|0.00|0.00|38.97|52.20| |Child Protection Advisory Senices|150.00|0.00|0.00|150.00|235.48| |Website Costs|148.75|0.00|0.00|148.75|22.00| |Christmas costs|24.49|0.00|0.00|24.49|0.00| |Alpha|65.95|0.00|0.00|65.95|160.28| |CRASH Time (Messy Church)|0.00|0.00|85.91|85.91|0.00| |Flowers, Gifts and Presentations|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|10.00| |Publicity and Advertising|22.00|0.00|0.00|22.00|224.30| |Data Protection Registration|35.00|0.00|0.00|35.00|35.00| |Sandbach Community Church expenses|(383.71)|0.00|1,871.51|1,487.80|763.58| |Subtotal Church Ministry Costs|15,862.09|0.00|1,957.42|17,819.51|17,521.51| |4. Missions|||||| |Hope Uganda (HDCC)|750.00|0.00|0.00|750.00|750.00| |AOG Annual Offering|1,200.72|0.00|0.00|1,200.72|4,200.72| |Living Hope Ministries|812.50|0.00|0.00|812.50|1,287.50| |Andy Cannon|600.00|0.00|0.00|600.00|750.00| |UCB|220.00|0.00|0.00|220.00|240.00| |SubtotalMissions|3,583.22|0.00|0.00|3,583.22|4,228.22| Registered Charity: 1052554 Page 19 of 20 ## Alsager Community Church |NOTES TO THEACCOUNTS (cont'd)||Unrestricted|Designated|Designated|Restricted|Restricted||Total Funds|Total Funds| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||2025||2025||2025||2025|2024| |5. Building Running Costs|||||||||| |Caretaker/Cleaners Pay||7,096.55||0.00||0.00||7,096.55|6,770.40| |Cleaning Materials and Window Cleaning||58.94||0.00||0.00||58.94|0.00| |Office Telephone and Broadband||788.57||0.00||0.00||788.57|623.62| |Computer Software and consumables||302.99||0.00||0.00||302.99|408.74| |Office Printer/Copier||965.60||0.00||0.00||965.60|515.10| |Postage and Stationery||52.49||0.00||0.00||52.49|17.36| |Insurance||1,983.09||0.00||0.00||1,983.09|0.00| |Gas||1,998.45||0.00||0.00||1,998.45|1,454.20| |Electricity||2,999.31||0.00||0.00||2,999.31|3,215.64| |Water Rates||767.35||0.00||0.00||767.35|721.97| |SITA Wheely Bin Charges||1,424.21||0.00||0.00||1,424.21|1,221.45| |Accountant (Independent examination)||702.00||0.00||0.00||702.00|1,450.00| |Equipment Purchases||0.00||0.00||0.00||0.00|1,181.90| |Sundry Admin expenses||30.00||0.00||0.00||30.00|9.95| |General Maintenance||814.06||0.00||0.00||814.06|964.49| |Fire Extinguisher Maintenance||360.00||0.00||0.00||360.00|75.60| |Repairs to Heating System||355.00||0.00||0.00||355.00|0.00| |Gas Boiler Sericing||0.00||0.00||0.00||0.00|115.00| |Legal and Professional fees||0.00||0.00||0.00||0.00|1,042.20| |Hire ofPremises for Sandbach Church||0.00||0.00|1,875.00|||1,875.00|380.00| |Recovery ofheating costs from Foodbank
Subtotal BuildingRunning Costs||(600.00)
20,098.61||0.00
0.00|0.00
1,875.00||”|(600.00)
21,973.61|(600.00)
19,567.62| |6. Building Capital Costs/Refubishment|||||||||| |Café Refurbishment||1,224.99||0.00|491.00|||1,715.99|1,584.99| |Subtotal Building Capital Costs/Refubishment||1,224.99||0.00|491.00|||1,715.99|1,584.99| |7. Fund Movements|Balance C/fwdBalance|Balance B/fwd||Income||Expenditure|||Transfers| |General|22,263.49|18,994.22||83,556.86||(80,388.59)|||101.00| |Subtotal Unrestricted funds|22,263.49|18,994.22||83,556.86||(80,388.59)|||101.00| |Unforseen cost Reserve|36,000.00|36,000.00|||0.00|||0.00|0.00| |Subtotal Designated funds|36,000.00|36,000.00|||0.00|||0.00|0.00| |Sandbach Church|5,399.13|1,147.12||8,099.52|||(3,746.51)||(101.00)| |CRASH time (Messy Church)|2,310.66|2,396.57|||0.00|||(85.91)|0.00| |Alsager Food Bank|19,964.13|18,115.21||14,810.83||(12,961.91)|||0.00| |Subtotal Restricted funds|27,673.92|22,149.90||22,910.35||(17,285.33)|||(101.00)| |GrandTotalAllFunds|85,937.41|77,144.12||106,467.21||(97,673.92)|||0.00| Registered Charity: 1052554 Page 20 of 20