**Charity number: 1099595**
## **River of Life Ministry**
**Trustees' report and financial statements**
**for the year ended 31 March 2023**
## **River of Life Ministry**
## **Contents**
||**Page**|
|---|---|
|Legal and administrative information|**1**|
|Trustees report|**2 - 3**|
|Independent examiners' report|**4**|
|Statement of financial activities|**5**|
|Balance sheet|**6**|
|Notes to the financial statements|**7 - 11**|
## **River of Life Ministry**
## **Legal and administrative information**
|**Charity number**|1099595|
|---|---|
|**Registered office**|2 Tarragon Gardens|
||Birmingham|
||West Midlands|
||B31 5HU|
|**Trustees**|Cassandra Dockery-Pirouzi|
||Mikael Axelsson|
||Salako Adedamola|
|**Secretary**|Mrs Pamela Aggrey|
|**Accountants**|Yevs & Co|
||Yevs House|
||130 Cape Hill|
||Smethwick|
||West Midlands|
|**Bankers**|Barclays Bank Plc|
||3RD Floor , Westgrove House|
||38- 40 Hagley Road|
||Edgbaston|
||Birmingham B16 8PE|
## **River of Life Ministry**
## **Report of the trustees for the year ended 31 March 2023**
The trustees present their report and the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023. The trustees who served during the year and up to the date of this report are set out on page 1.
## **Structure, governance and management**
## **Objectives and activities**
1. To Advance the Christian Faith in accordance with the Statement of Beliefs appearing in the Schedule hereto in Sandwell and the surrounding area and in such other parts of the United Kingdom or the world as the trustees may from time to time think fit and to fulfil such other purposes which are exclusively charitable according to the law of England and Wales and are connected with the work of the charity.
2. To relieve persons who are in conditions of need or hardship or who are aged or sick and to relieve the distress caused thereby in the said location and in such other parts of the United Kingdom or the world as the trustees may from time to time think fit.
## **Achievements and performance**
In 2022/23
SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS:
- (1) The Ministry successfully launched six Home Groups in September 2022. These include two groups in Northfield, two in Ladywood, one in Rowley Regis, and one in Dudley.
- (2) In October 2022, the Ministry confidently disaffiliated from the Free Methodist Church UK, establishing itself as an independent church. It now operates exclusively under the charity status of "River of Life Ministry (Sandwell)."
- (3) Alisha Aggrey began her PhD candidacy in Divinity in September 2022 at St Andrews University in Scotland.
- (4) The Brecon Tower in Ladywood was flooded. The residence was relocated to a temporary location. River of Life Ministry feed the residences for two days on 4th & 5th March 2023
## **Financial review**
## **Plans for future periods**
- (1) Our ministry with Minister A. McBride is planning an open-air meeting called "Church in the Park" in June.
- (2) The Ministry is planning to restart "Friday Breakfast Club", a morning serving free breakfast to vulnerable adults in late 2023
- (3) The government is discussing Regeneration for Ladywood, the neighbourhood where our church building is located.
- (4) The Ministry plan to restart Christmas Community Feeding in December 2023.
## **River of Life Ministry**
## **Report of the trustees for the year ended 31 March 2023**
## **Statement of trustees' responsibilities**
The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that year. In preparing these financial statements the trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
- prepare the financial statements on the 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 financial statements comply with the Charities Act 1993 and the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
On behalf of the board
Mrs Pamela Aggrey **Secretary**
## **River of Life Ministry**
## **Independent examiner's report to the trustees on the unaudited financial statements of River of Life Ministry.**
I report on the accounts of River of Life Ministry for the year ended 31 March 2023 set out on pages 2 to 11.
## **Respective responsibilities of trustees and independent examiner**
As the charity's trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts, you consider that the audit requirement of section 43(2) of the Charities Act 1993 (the Act) does not apply and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to examine the accounts under section 43(3)(a) of the Act, to follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 43(7)(b) of the Act, and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
## **Basis of independent examiner's statement**
My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission. 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 includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I 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:
- (i) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:
- to keep proper accounting records in accordance with section 41 of the Act; and
- to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and to comply with the accounting requirements of the Act
have not been met; or
- (ii) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
...........................................................
**Sylvanus Dzotsi BA(Hons),FCCA ACCA**
**Independent examiner Yevs House 130 Cape Hill Smethwick**
## **B66 4PH**
## **River of Life Ministry**
## **Statement of financial activities**
## **For the year ended 31 March 2023**
|**Unrestricted**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**funds**
**Notes**
**£**
**£**
**Incoming resources**
Incoming resources from generating funds:
Voluntary income
2
42,048
-
Investment income
3
209
-
**Total incoming resources**
42,257
-
**Resources expended**
Staff costs
4
20,205
-
Establishment costs
4,446
-
Motor and travelling expenses
4,050
-
Hire of Equipment
-
-
Missionary Giving
732
-
Professional-Bookkeeping
-
-
Telephone
240
-
General expenses
4,447
-
Printing,Postage & Stationery
53
-
Gifts
-
-
Subscriptions
-
-
Depreciation and impairment
164
-
Charity donations
-
-
**Total resources expended**
34,337
-
Total funds brought forward
11,066
)
(639
**Total funds carried forward**
18,986
)
(639|**2023**
**Total**
**£**
42,048
209
42,257
20,205
4,446
4,050
-
732
-
240
4,447
53
-
-
164
-
34,337
10,427
18,347|**2022**
**Total**
**£**
40,692
-|
|---|---|---|
|||40,692|
|||17,954
5,801
3,251
18
388
-
313
3,417
740
115
260
164
549|
|||32,970|
|||2,703|
|||10,425|
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses in the year and therefore a separate statement of total recognised gains and losses has not been prepared.
All of the above amounts relate to continuing activities.
**The notes on pages 7 to 11 form an integral part of these financial statements.**
## **River of Life Ministry**
## **Balance sheet as at 31 March 2023**
|**Notes**
**Fixed assets**
Tangible assets
6
**Current assets**
Debtors
7
Cash at bank and in hand
**Creditors: amounts falling**
**due within one year**
8
**Net current assets**
**Net assets**
**Funds**
Restricted income funds
Unrestricted income funds
**Total funds**|**2023**
**£**
**£**
2,012
11,822
4,103
15,925
411
16,336
18,348
)
(639
11,066
10,427|**2022**
**£**
**£**
2,175
5,763
1,515
7,278
971
8,249
10,424
)
(639
11,065
10,426|
|---|---|---|
The financial statements were approved by the trustees on and signed on its behalf by
## **Cassandra Dockery-Pirouzi Trustee**
**The notes on pages 7 to 11 form an integral part of these financial statements.**
## **River of Life Ministry**
## **Notes to financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023**
## **1. Accounting policies**
The principal accounting policies are summarised below. The accounting policies have been applied consistently throughout the year and the preceding year.
## **1.1. Basis of accounting**
The financial statements are prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities' issued in March 2005 (SORP 2005) and the Charities Act 1993.
## **1.2. Cashflow**
The charity has taken advantage of the exemption in FRS1 from the requirement to produce a cashflow statement because it is a small charity.
## **1.3. Incoming resources**
All incoming resources are included in the statement of financial activities when the charity is entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy. The following specific policies are applied to particular categories of income:
Voluntary income is received by way of grants, donations and gifts and is included in full in the statement of financial activities when receivable. Grants where entitlement is not conditional on the delivery of a specific performance by the charity, are recognised when the charity becomes unconditionally entitled to the grant.
Donated services and facilities are included at the value to the charity where this can be quantified. The value of services provided by volunteers has not been included.
Gifts donated for resale are included as incoming resources within activities for generating funds when they are sold.
Income from investments is included in the year in which it is receivable.
## **1.4. Resources expended**
Expenditure is recognised on an accrual basis as a liability is incurred. Expenditure includes any VAT which cannot be fully recovered, and is reported as part of the expenditure to which it relates.
Costs of generating funds comprise the costs associated with attracting voluntary income and the costs of trading for fundraising purposes including the charity's shop.
Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them.
Support costs are those costs incurred directly in support of expenditure on the objects of the charity and include project management.
## **River of Life Ministry**
## **Notes to financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023**
## **1.5. Tangible fixed assets and depreciation**
Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost less residual value of each asset over its expected useful life, as follows:
|Books,Music & Library|-|5% straight Line|
|---|---|---|
|Fixtures, fittings and equipment|-|10% straight line|
|Motor vehicles|-|10% straight line|
|Computer Equipment|-|20% straight line|
## **1.6. Defined contribution pension schemes**
The pension costs charged in the financial statements represent the contribution payable by the charity during the year.
## **2. Voluntary income**
|**Voluntary income**|||
|---|---|---|
|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**£**
Offerings
4,590
Tithes
1,047
Other Donations
30,561
Gift Aid
5,850
42,048|**2023**
**Total**
**£**
4,590
1,047
30,561
5,850
42,048|**2022**
**Total**
**£**
6,697
807
27,425
5,763|
|||40,692|
## **3. Investment income**
|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**£**
Repayment interest on Gift Aid
209
209|**2023**
**Total**
**£**
209
209|**2022**
**Total**
**£**
-|
|---|---|---|
|||-|
## **River of Life Ministry**
## **Notes to financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023**
## **4. Employees**
|**Employment costs**
Wages and salaries
Pension costs|**2023**
**£**
19,424
781
20,205|**2022**
**£**
17,222
732|
|---|---|---|
|||17,954|
The average monthly numbers of employees (including the trustees) during the year, calculated on the basis of full time equivalents, was as follows:
|
Total|**Period**
**ended**
**2023**
**Number**
2
2|**Period**
**ended**
**2022**
**Number**
2|
|---|---|---|
|||2|
## **5. Pension costs**
-The company operates a defined contribution pension scheme in respect of the Nest. The scheme and its assets are held by independent managers. The pension charge represents contributions due from the company and was as follows:
|follows:|||
|---|---|---|
||**2023**|**2022**|
||**£**|**£**|
|Pension charge|781|732|
## **River of Life Ministry**
## **Notes to financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023**
|||**Books,**|**Books,**|**Fixtures,**|**Fixtures,**||||**Computer**|**Computer**|**Computer**|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**6.**|**Tangible fixed assets**|**Music**||**fittings and**|||**Motor **|**Equipment**||||||||
|||**& Library**||**equipment**|||**vehicles**||||||**Total**|||
||||**£**||**£**||**£**||||**£**||**£**|||
||**Cost**|||||||||||||||
||At 1 April 2022 and|||||||||||||||
||At 31 March 2023||3,289||29,169||674||12,584||||45,716|||
||**Depreciation**|||||||||||||||
||At 1 April 2022||1,117||29,168||674||12,583||||43,542|||
||Charge for the year||164||-||-||||-||164|||
||At 31 March 2023||1,281||29,168||674||12,583||||43,706|||
||**Net book values**|||||||||||||||
||At 31 March 2023||2,008||1||-||||1||2,010|||
||At 31 March 2022||2,172||1||-||||1||2,174|||
|**7.**|**Debtors**|||||||||||||||
||||||||||**2023**||||**2022**|||
||||||||||**£**||||**£**|||
||Trade debtors||||||||11,822||||5,763|||
|**8.**|**Creditors: amounts falling due**|||||||||||||||
||**within one year**||||||||**2023**||||**2022**|||
||||||||||**£**||||**£**|||
||Church Member Loan||||||||(200|)|||(200|)||
||Corporation tax||||||||781||||-|||
||Other taxes and social security||||||||(864|)|||(643|)||
||Other creditors||||||||(128|)|||(128|)||
||||||||||(411|)|||(971|)||
|**9.**|**Unrestricted funds**||||**At**||||||||**At**|||
|||||**1 April**||**Incoming**||**Outgoing**||||**31 March**||||
||||||**2022**|**resources**||**resources**|||||**2023**|||
||||||**£**||**£**||**£**||||**£**|||
||Unrestricted Fund||||3,342|40,692|||)
(32,968||||11,066|||
## **River of Life Ministry**
## **Notes to financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2023**
|**10.**|**Restricted funds**|**At**||**At**||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**1 April**||**31 March**||
|||**2022**||**2023**||
|||**£**||**£**||
||Description for Restricted Fund 1|(639|)|(639|)|
## **River of Life Ministry**
**The following pages do not form part of the statutory accounts.**
## **River of Life Ministry**
## **Detailed statement of financial activities**
## **For the year ended 31 March 2023**
|||**2023**||**2022**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
|**Incoming resources**|||||
|**Incoming resources from generating funds:**|||||
|_Voluntary income_|||||
|Offerings||4,590||6,697|
|Tithes||1,047||807|
|Other Donations||30,561||27,425|
|Gift Aid||5,850||5,763|
|||42,048||40,692|
|_Investment income_|||||
|Repayment interest on Gift Aid||209||-|
|||209||-|
|**Total incoming resources from generating funds**||42,257||40,692|
|**Total incoming resources**||42,257||40,692|
**Resources expended Costs of generating funds: Fundraising trading: cost of goods sold and other costs**
## **River of Life Ministry**
## **Detailed statement of financial activities**
## **For the year ended 31 March 2023**
|**Charitable activities**
**Activity 9**
_Activities undertaken directly_
Charity donations
Charitable activities - Activity 9 - Support
**Activity 9 total expenditure**
**Total charitable activity expenditure**
**Governance costs**
_Activities undertaken directly_
Staff costs - Wages & salaries
Staff costs - Pension costs
Establishment - Rates & water
Establishment - Repairs & maintenance
Establishment - Insurance
Motor vehicle expenses
Foreign Mission
Hire of Equipment
Professional -Bookkeeping
Missionary Giving
Telephone
General Expenses
Printing, Postage & Stationery
Interest - Other loans
Other charges
Subscriptions
Depreciation & impairment
_Support costs_
Support - Establishment - Light & heat
**Total governance costs**
**Net incoming/(outgoing) resources for the year**|**2023**
**£**
-
-
-
-
-
-
19,424
781
-
1,444
-
3,831
219
-
-
732
240
4,447
53
-
-
-
164
31,335
3,002
3,002
34,337
7,920|**2022**
**£**
549
549
3
3
552
552
17,222
732
38
2,581
995
2,989
262
18
156
232
313
3,417
740
98
17
260
164
30,234
2,184
2,184
32,418
7,722|**2022**
**£**
549
549
3
3
552
552
17,222
732
38
2,581
995
2,989
262
18
156
232
313
3,417
740
98
17
260
164
30,234
2,184
2,184
32,418
7,722|
|---|---|---|---|
||||552|
||||552|
||||30,234
2,184|
||||32,418|
||||7,722|