Charity registration Number: 1095786 CHALLENGE COMMUNITY CHURCH Receipts and Payments Accounts For the year ending 31 August 2023
CHALLENGE COMMUNITY CHURCH Financial Statements For the year ending 31 August 2023 Contents Page Trust Information Trustees, Report Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees Receipts and Payments Account 10 Statement of Assets and Liabilities 11 Notes to the accounts 12-16
CHALLENGE COMMUNITY CHURCH Trust Information Status Challenge Community Church, Hereford, is registered with the Charity Commissioners (No. 1095786} and constituted by a Deed of Trust dated 19 July 2002. Trustees The Charity is administered by the Trustees, who are at the time of signing this report.. Mr S Sully Mr SWJ Grisman Mr C Over Mr IJ Cracknell Mr JGM Etwin Mr FD Etwin Western Counties and South Wales Evangelisation Trust is the custodian trustee of the church premises at 40 Belmont Road, Hereford. Elders Mrs Sully Mr M Roberts Mr FD Erwin Outreach and development leader Ms F Roberts Church Office 40 Belmont Road Hereford HR2 7JW Registered Office 131 St Peter's Close Moreton-on-Lugg Hereford HR4 8DW Bankers Lloyds TSB High Town Hereford HR12AE Page 1
CHALLENGE COMMUNITY CHURCH Trustees, Report For the year ending 31 August 2023 The trustees submit their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2023. The trustees have adopted the The Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 in preparing their annual report. The financial statements have been prepared in accordan with the accounting policies set out on pages 10 and 11, and comply with the charity's governing documentation, The Charities Act 2011 and Charity Comrnission Guidan and notes. Constitution The charity is an unincorporated charity and is governed by its Trust Deed. Object of the Gharity To advance the Christian fatth, in accordan with the Statement of Doctrines and Practices set out in the Schedule appended to the deed, mainly but not exclusively in the Hereford area. Structure, governance and management The charity is ultimately run by the Trustees. The Trustees have the authority to exercise their powers to further the objects of the charity. The Trustees meet at least once a year but delegate the day to day decision making on the running of the Church to the Elders of the Church, some of whom are also Trustees. The Elders meet fomally lee a month to consider the management and pastoral needs of the fellowship. The Elders have taken collective responsibility for the pastoral work and Miss Faye Roberts has been appointed as the Outreach and Development Leader. Every future Trustee shall be appointed by a resolution of Trustees passed at a special meeting. Training is available for Trustees as the need arises. The Elders take responsibility for the management of risk and have set up a team to identrfy, assess and mitigate areas of risk. Objectives and activities The church meets every week al 40, Belmont Rd, Hereford. Our objective is to reach out to people in the surrounding community, witness for, teach aboul, and demonstrate the love of, Jesus Christ and trust and pray that He becomes their own personal saviour. This is undertaken through weekly meetings for teaching and worship., specific evangelistic and outreach events., The Storehouse Ministry (provision of foodstuffs to people in desperate need)., Koffee and Kids club., Who Let The Dads Out,. Friday Family Fun., coffee mornings., and various children's ministries. Gifts to external organisations and individuals are considered by the Elders from time to time on the basis of need and fulfilment of the chafltable objectives. There are no upper or lower limits of support. No commitmenls have been made for long term support. Related parties The Trustees received no remuneration as a result of their office during the year. No Trustee, or other person related to the charity, apart from as detailed in note 7. had any personal interest in any contract or transaction entered into by the charity during the year. Page 2
CHALLENGE COMMUNITY CHURCH Trustees, Report (continued) For the year ending 31 August 2023 Review of developments The Church is led by Elders, Steve Sully, Foster Erwin, and Malcolm Roberts. Faye Roberts is employed as the Outreach and Development Leader, this role was expanded into a full-time role, incorporating day release theological training. Faye started at Crosslands Bible College in January 2023. The Elders, along with the Outreach and Development Leader, meet $ce each month, once for regular business and once for prayer. In addition, the Elders are also supported by volunteer Ministry Leaders and the Outreach and Development Leader. Regular activities continue to run with Sunday services which continue to be livestreamed enabling those that can't make church to access our ServIS weekly. Wè have continued to see an increased number of families attending on a Sunday and they have started to become more involved in the work we are doing as they volunteer in different areas of the church. We celebrate that we have seen teenagers volunteering to help out in relevant areas, in particular with the audio visual system. We have been meeting regularly as a church for prayer meetings- three times a month including a half day of prayer in January. Monthly prayer meetings include a Saturday morning, a Tuesday evening and an evening prayer walk. Our half day of prayer was led by a variety of church members and was well attended and gave us a refreshing start to 2023. Life groups continue to run and we have encouraged people to be a part of these. We have also begun a new life group for those that went through Alpha. Friday Family Fun {FFF) has continued to engage well with families, seeing our Friday evenings busy with relationships growing. We are also seeing more of the families and young people involved in helping as they lead the activities or help tidy up afterwards and set up for the Sunday service. We have continued to take FFF outside during the summer months so that we can be a witness within the heart of the community. Our outdoor sessions help us to do more as a family seeing parents getting involved with the games that the kids are playing. It's great to see the families working and playing together. Koffee and Kids has seen a busy year of lots of parentslcarerslchildminders coming in with their kids and we havé continued to develop relationships with them. We have begun more crafts with a faith aspect, maybe just a verse attached, colouring sheets with simple verses and singing 'our God is a great big God,. It's so encouraging to see the adults joining in the singing of our Christian song. We have also seen some of the families come along to outreach events and our Christmas meal. We continue to run Who Let the Dads Out (WLTDO) monthly for men and their kids. It ha5 been a fruitful ministry as we see families coming in that are linked to other ministries but also new families as well. It has been encouraging to see the dads that attend move into a volunteering role as they lead the kitchen team serving fo¢)d for those who attend. Page 3
CHALLENGE COMMUNITY CHURCH Trustees, Report (continued) For the year ending 31 August 2023 Afterschool Club started back up with us consistently being full with 20 signed up to our club and on average 15 attending each week. It has been good to build relationships with the children and having an impact within the school. We also started doing assemblies with each year groups attending 3 within th8 y6ar. We continue to run yearly outreach events that are our way to connect with a wider cross section of the community. In September 2022 we started with a new outreach event Galled 'At the Movies, (Atm). Atm was a month long event which included decorating the church into a film set, running our fun day and having 4 Sunday services using film clips to preach the gospel. The aim was create something different and interesting that would intrigue those especially in our ministries to Gome along and see what we were up to on a Sunday. We used conneGt groups to help build relationships ready to encourage people to attend Atm. We also had 'the big build, which was eveningsldays where we created scenery for our Atm outreach. We saw people from the church and ministries come together to design, build and decorate what we needed, it was great to see different people interacting with each other, it also created a buzz about what was to come and gave people a sense of ownership to the Atm as they contributed. It was a real encouragement to see so many families attending Atm, families we've been working with for years that we've never seen come through the door on a Sunday. What was even better was to see the families continuing to come after Atm finished 8nd we returned to our normal style programme. Followng Atm we ran an Alpha course which was well attended as we offered childcare as well. People gave their hearts to God on the Alpha course and we also saw one of these being baptised along with others on Easter day. On 31st October we ran our Light Party to provide Children wth a safe altemative at Halloween. We ran this on Hunderton green at the heart of the community as we brought the light of Jesus to Hunderton. This year it was quieter than the previous year but great to see new faces from the community as well as families from the different ministries we run. The Light Party was another example or where we saw our 'new' families getting involved in the setting up and running of the event. We went back out onto Hunderton Green as we ran our Carols on the Green Christmas seNice. We had readings and carols and a short talk which were all very successful. We had a good turnout even though the weather was miserable and it was the same night as the football world cup final! At Easter we brought back our holiday club. We ran the holiday club for 3 days bLrt this year did longer days as we ran it as part of the councils 'Holiday Activities Food Programme, (HAFI who gave us a grant to run our Club. As part of HAF we offered breakfast and lunch to those who attended. We had a good turn out of children and due to HAF we saw new children sign up that we haven't interacted with before. The 3 days were very successful with very happy kids, parentslcarers as well as the council representative Ihat Came to see what we were doing. Page 4
CHALLENGE COMMUNITY CHURCH Trustees. Report (continued) For the year ending 31 August 2023 On the back of the holiday club we ran our Easter Trail which took the families along a path to hear stories from the Bible and lead them to church where there were refreshments and prizes. We gave away to each child an Easter egg as well as an age appropriate Easter story book. We saw lots of families join in and families that we interact with across ministries as well as some new families too. During the summer we ran our Sunday series alongside our summer events. There were three weeks of different activities after the service. We saw a good number of families interacting with the events although less of the older generation. We also went camping with our teens group. This was very low key as we went in one of our families gardens but it worked well giving us the opportunity to be away from distractions, have fun and try new activities. We also intetwove themed talks around the activities we were doing. It was great to spend time with our teens who grew stronger together. We have been more proactive this year at running men's and women's events. The men have gone golfing. The women have done bowling, an escape room and brunch. We have worked closely with Putson Baptisl Church (another South Wye church) in delivering an average of 60 food parcels each week to families who are referred to us through schools, social services and other intèrmediaries. Looking ahead to next yèar we will be ¢ontinuing with our weékly ministries. We need to look at better ways of publicising our weekly events with a view to seeing an increase in new families attending. In FFF we will look to try new activities to encourage the families to do more together, for example a monthly game night and themed evening around the light party and Christmas etc. We will be running our fun day in September, Light party on 31st October and Carols on the Green at Christmas. We will also look at ways to include our after school club children in the Carols on the Green. We hope to repeat our summer events including the summer camp for the t88ns. We will look to run our Easter holiday club as part of the council's HAF programme. We will also begin to plan and prepare for another year Atms. This will include using the summer to prepare, build and decorate a new film setl During the year we want to find more ways to interact with our community and build better relationships with other local charities and businesses within the community. We also encourage our members to serve beyond our own church with members volunteering with Vennture, Good News for Everyone, Counties, chaplaincy and oth&r activities. It has been an incredible year where we have seen God's hand at work within the different work we hav8 been doing. Together with the Outreach and Development Leader we have taken risks that God has blessed more than we could ever have imagined. We need to continue to be ready lo take God ordained risks as we look to the future and seek to do God's work and see Him do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. Page 5
CHALLENGE COMMUNITY CHURCH Trustees. Report (Continued) For the year ending 31 August 2023 Public benefit statement Identifiable Benefits, related to the aims of the charity Through the regular worship & prayer meetings, Bible studies, children's clubs, social action programmes and personal visitation the Christian Faith is shared and people in the community helped. Individuals have become Christians, had their faith developed and lifestyles impacted. As part of community life families have been supported. Beneficiaries In addition to Church members, families, other regular attendees and frtends anyone is welcome to attend appropriate events without restriction. We seek to be available to all in the community. The Trustees consider that they have complied with their duties under the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to public benefit guidance published by the Charities Commission. Reserves policy It was agreed at the Trustees meeting on 19 April 2022 to aim to hold reserves in the General Fund equivalent to three months expenditure lapprox. £11,000} and a base level of rese]ves of £6,000 (only necessary expenditure below base reserves). The Trustees review this policy from time to time and agree that it is still appropriate. ReseNes are currently higher than this due to the need to hold a balance to meet an anticipated shortfall on regular monthly income and expenditure. No limit has b8en put on the Restricted Funds (Building, Mission, and Storehousé) as these are being held for a specific purpose and spent when the need arises. Risk management policy The operations team have reviewed and updated the risk management policies of the church., when finalised these are passed to the Elders for adoption. The policy is to review the risk assessments on a year rotstional basis. The principal risks currently identrfied, and strategies for managing those risks are as follows.. Adequate funds to meet commitments. Addressed through the preparation of an annual budget,. regular monitoring of income and expenditure by treasurer.. periodic review by Elders at finance meetings. Safeguarding vulnerable adults and children. Addressed through a Safeguarding Officer,. Child Protection and Safeguarding policy kept up to date through review and being a member of CCPAS,. training. Health and safety on church premises. Addressed through a member being tasked to monitor the condition of premises-, fire drills,. regular maintenance- promoting the need to consider health and safety during activities. Page 6
CHALLENGE COMMUNITY CHURCH Trustees, Report Icontinued) For the year ending 31 August 2023 Results and financial review The financial statements for the year to 31 August 2023 have been prepared on a Re[Pt$ and Payments basis. Net movement of funds for the Church were a total of £5,602 increase for the year. This is made up of a £6,918 inGrease on the General Fund, and a £1,316 decrease wth respect to restricted funds. The General Fund received income of £62,272 (2022 £62,994) which is remarkably similar. even when one looks at the detail there is a lot of similarity. One area worth commenting on is that grants fell as we only reiVed one from the Council for running the holiday bible club, this was replaced by rents as we let the building out to third parties on a limited basis. The General Fund running expenditure was £52,30412022 £56,850) which was an 80/0 decrease from last year. The cost of running church activities was on fact very similar which is very encouraging during this inflationary period. There are some variances which can be seen in note 3 to the accounts., ministry expenditure and running costs increased significantly, we also made a commitment to support Faye Roberts through bible college. Set against this were significant reductions in repairs (painting the inside of the building last year} and building improvements (new blinds and kitchen equipment last year). The main transfers between funds was £3,050 from the General Fund to the Mission Fund to supplement the gift to the missionaries we support, in the light of reduced cash collections. The balance on the general fund at the end of the year was £29,477. The Restricted Funds showed incoming resources (reIVed or transferred) of £11,308, which are shown in more detail in note 8. £10,950 was given or transferred to Mission Fund and was passed on during the year to the mission works that the church supports (see note 5). Therefore in total 15.5°A of the church income was gifted to mlssionary works during the year. The Mission Fund shows a deficit of £100 which will be cleared by Gift Aid claims in the coming year. The Storehouse Fund continues to be active with income in the form of gifts received 01 £358 and expenditure of £390. These accounts only refleGt the financial gifts to the Storehouse Fund and how they were spent. It was not practical to value and record in these accounts the provisions that are given by members and passed on to those in need. Total restricted funds carried foward are £686. During the year the opening balance of £979 on the Bundles of Hope Fund was returned to the donor as we had not been able to use the funds for the restricted purpose. The funds remaining on the Hereford Community and Hereford Grant Funds were fully expended during the year and these funds have been terminated as they are no longer needed. At the year end the only designated fund was the 'Project Fund, which had a balance of £2,282. There was no movement in the year. Page 7
CHALLENGE COMMUNITY CHURCH Trustees. Report (continued) For the year ending 31 August 2023 Statement of Trustees responsibilities Charity law requires trustees to prepare accounts for each financial year which state the affairs of the Gharity and of the payments and receipts of the Charity for that period. In preparing these accounts, the Trustees are required to.. Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently. Prepare the accounts on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation. The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and enable them to ensure that the accounts comply with the Charities Act. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence take reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. The Trustees confirm that the accounts comply with current statutory requirements and those of the Charity's Trust Deed. Signed for and on behalf of the Trustees of Challenge Community Church te Date Page 8
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF CHALLENGE COMMUNITY CHURCH I report on the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 August 2023, which are set out on pages 10t0 16. Respective responsibilities of trustees and examlner The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 14412) of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to.. examine the acGounts under s6ction 145 of the Charities Act; to follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section145(5llb) of the Charities Act}., and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. Basis of the indèpendènt examiner's r0POrt 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 those records. It also inGludes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the eviden Ihat would be required in an audit, and Consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair view, and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. Independent examiner's statement In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention.. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements.. to keep accounting records in accordan with section 130 of the Charities Act- and to prepare accounts which aGcord with the accounting records and to comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act have not been met- or to which. in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Independent Examiner Date Mr D Hill Jalna, Chapel Lane Bodenham Moor Herefordshire HR1 3HR Page 9
CHALLENGE COMMUNITY CHURCH Receipts and Payments Account For the year ending 31 August 2023 Total Funds Total Funds General Desig- nated Funds Rest- riGted Funds Fund 2023 2022 Notè Receipts Voluntary Receipts Regular giving from members Tax effective giving Collections Income Tax recovered 39,150 6,478 11,716 7,745 274 239 46,895 6,752 11,955 42,193 5,695 11,072 Other voluntary receipts Receipts from church activities Rent reiVed Grants received Investment income Total income 2,214 1,570 1,020 124 62,272 2,214 1,570 1,020 124 3,538 3,794 8,258 70,530 66,294 Payments Costs of generating funds Church activities Grants payable (mission gifts) 50,007 470 50,477 1,827 1,674 51,681 10 950 12,624 63,101 1,827 49,969 56,669 Purchase of new equipment Building improvements Total payments 7,058 63,727 52,304 12,624 64,928 Excess Receipts over Payments 9,968 (4,366) 5,602 2,567 Transfers between funds 6,8,9 (3,050) 3,050 Net movement on funds 6,918 {1,316) 5,602 2,567 Funds brought forward 22,559 2,282 2,002 26,843 24,276 Funds carried forward 29,477 2,282 686 32,445 26,843 Page 10
CHALLENGE COMMUNITY CHURCH ststement of Assets and Liabilities As at 31 August 2023 2023 2022 Note Fixed assets Premises at 40 Belmont Road, Hereford Fixtures and fittings Equipment 423,023 7,226 3,347 433 596 423,023 10,253 3,542 436 818 Western Counties and South Wales Evangelisation Trust is the custodian trustee of the church premises at 40 Belmont Road, Hereford. Cash funds Lloyds Bank Current account Lloyds Bank Deposit aGcount Storehouse petty Cash Ignite tuck shop petty cash 3,156 29,023 3,504 23,001 253 325 32,445 Signed for and on behalf of the Trustees of Challenge Community Church Trus ee Page11
CHALLENGE COMMUNITY CHURCH Notss to the accounts For the year ending 31 August 2023 1 Accounting Pollcies The principal accounting policies are summarised below. The accounting policies have been applied consistently throughout the year and in the preceding year. Basis of accounting The financial statements are prepared under the historical cost convention, and using the Receipts and Payments basis. Fund aecountlng The church maintains various types of funds as follows: Restricted Funds Restricted Funds represent gifts received for specific purposes. Challenge Community Church has six such funds. The Mission Fund represents monies given to support missionary works which is reviewed on an annual basis. The church does not enter into Gommitments to support any given beneficiary beyond the end of its financial year. The Storehouse Fund represents monies given lo fund of people in the local community, mainly in the form of food parcels. The beneficiaries are brought to our attention by local social services. The Hereford Community Fund rèpres8nts grant monies given to purchase tablets to give the community on-line access in a community café. During the year all remaining funds were spent. The Hereford Community Grant Fund represents monies given to help provide food to those in need as a result of COVID-19. During the year all remaining funds were spent. The Bundles of Hope Fund represents monies given to support mothers with new born babies in need of practical support throught the gift of necessary goods. During the year the remaining grant was returned to the donor as we no longer undertake this ministry. Designated Funds Designated Funds are amounts that have been put aside out of unrestricted funds at the discretion of the trustees. Challenge Communty Church has two such funds. The Project Fund has been set up to ring fence some larger one off gifts to the church. The Trustees wish these funds to be used for specific evangelistic projects that we would normally find difficult to fund from regular giving or to release to general funds in a planned way. Page 12
CHALLENGE COMMUNITY CHURCH Notes to the accounts For the year ending 31 August 2023 Unrestricted Funds The General Fund represents unrestricted income that is expendable at the discretion of the Trustees in the furthèrance of the objects of the charity. Fixed assets Western Counties and South Wales Evangelisation Trust is the Custodian Trustee of the ¢hurch property at 40 Belmont Road, Hereford, HR2 7 JW. The £423,023 premises costs shown in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities represent the purchase and refurbishment costs of these premises and continues to be an asset of Challenge Community Church under this arrangement. Equipment, fixtures and fittings are recorded on the ststement of assets and liabilities at Gost less an estimated decrease in valu6. 2 Analysis of Restricted Fund Receipts Building Mission Store- house Fund 2023 2022 Fund Fund Total Total Receipts from donors Tax effective giving Collections Income Tax recovered Total income 7,700 45 274 39 358 7,745 274 239 8,258 2,868 100 332 3,300 200 7,900 3 Analysis of General Fund payments - Church Activities 2023 2022 Wages and expenses Bible Co116ge Speaker expenses Evangelism and outreach costs Ministry expenditure Running costs Repairs Utilities 26,461 2,697 75 1,820 3,006 6,670 3,665 5,613 26,618 330 2,642 1,843 3,755 8,447 5,657 49,292 Page 13
CHALLENGE COMMUNITY CHURCH Notes to the accounts For the year ending 31 August 2023 4 Analysls of Restrlctsd Fund Payments Hereford Community Grant Fund Mission Store- house Fund Sub Total Fund Church activities Ministry expenditure Running costs Repairs 232 390 622 232 390 622 10,950 11,572 Grants payable (see note 5) 10,950 10,950 232 390 Bundles Hereford of Hope Community Fund Fund 2023 2022 Sub Total Total Total Church activities Ministry expenditure Running costs Repairs 622 979 73 1,674 677 622 979 73 1,674 10,950 12,624 677 6,200 6,877 Grants payable (se8 note 5) 11,572 979 73 5 Grants payable General Fund Mission Fund 2023 2022 Bodenham Christian Fellowship Counties Close House Craig and Georgie Dowling Esther Price Good News for Everyone IGideons} Joel and Emily Thibault Project India Solomon Nathaniel Three Counties Show Tough Talk Vennture Other grants 150 150 1,600 300 150 1,800 1,600 300 600 300 600 300 300 1,000 300 300 900 150 6,700 300 700 300 300 650 300 300 6.200 300 700 300 300 650 300 300 6,200 320 11,420 320 470 10,950 Page 14
CHALLENGE COMMUNITY CHURCH Notes to the accounts For the year ending 31 August 2023 6 Transfers between funds £3,050 was transferred from the General Fund to the Mission Fund to help meet our commitments to the missionaries we supported in the year. 7 Related party transactions Elders and their spouses have claimed reimbursement, from tim6 to time, for sundry expenditure incurred in relation to church activ£ties. 8 Analysis of restricted funds Mlssion store- house Fund Sub total Fund Balan brought forward (100) 818 718 Receipts Payments Transfers inllout) 7,900 (10,9501 3,050 358 {390} 8,258 (11,340) 3,050 Balance carried fotward 100 786 686 Sub Hereford Hereford Bundles total Community Community of Hope Grant Fund Fund Fund Total Balance brought forward 718 232 73 979 2,002 Receipts Payments Transfers inl(out) 8,258 (11,340) 3,050 8,258 112,624) 3,050 {232} {731 {979} Balance carried forward 686 686 The Mission Fund is showing an overdrawn positions at the year end due to funds being distributed and based on Gift not yet reiVed by the church. Page15
CHALLENGE COMMUNITY CHURCH Notss to the accounts For the year ending 31 August 2023 9 Analysis of designated funds Proje¢t Fund Total Balance brought fOard 2,282 2,282 Receipts Payments Transfers inllout) Balance carried forward 2.282 2,282 Page 16