**CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER: 1111562** 

**St. George Indian Orthodox Church Receipts and payments accounts For the year ended 31 March 2022** 

## **XAVIERS ACCOUNTANTS LIMITED** 

Chartered Certified Accountants Suite 3J Recycling Lives Centre 1A Essex Street Preston PR1 1QE 



## **St. George Indian Orthodox Church** 

## **Financial Statements** 

## **Year ended 31 March 2022** 

||**Page**|
|---|---|
|Trustees' annual report|**1**|
|Independent examiner's report to the trustees|**9**|
|Receipts and payments accounts|**10**|





## **St. George Indian Orthodox Church** 

## **Trustees' Annual Report** 

## **Year ended 31 March 2022** 

## **Vicar's Message** 

Dear St George Indian Orthodox Church Parish Members, 

I would like to take this opportunity to look back and reflect on the year, giving thanks to God for all that has happened and also a time to look to the future and what we would like to see happening in the coming year. Once again it has been a challenging year, with our church family gradually regaining confidence in returning to our church both for worship and social activities. 

There was a time that we were unable to worship together in our Church building and we have relied on technology especially for the Holy Qurbana, Evening Prayers and conducted many meetings of Spiritual Organizations. As restrictions were gradually lifted, we were able to resume services as normal. 

It's a privilege for me to serve you all as a Vicar of Our Parish, I have joined at the End of this Financial year. In this Report book you can see all the activities conducted and the financial report of the Church. 

There are many people I would like to thank, I would particularly like to thank Former Vicar Rev Fr Happy Jacob, Trustee, Secretary, Managing Committee Members, all the Spiritual Organization Leaders and all Parish Members for your continued support and prayer. 

Romans 15: 5-7: - ''May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.'' 

May God Bless you all. 

## **Rev.Fr Eldo Parakkottil Varghese.** 

**1** 



## **St. George Indian Orthodox Church** 

**Trustees' Annual Report** _**(continued)**_ 

## **Year ended 31 March 2022** 

**Reference and administrative details Registered charity name** St. George Indian Orthodox Church **Charity registration number** 1111562 **Principal office** Belgrave street Bolton BL1 3RF **The trustees** Mr Biben John Mr George Verghese Mr Shaji Varghese Mr Roy Samuel **Independent examiner** Mijos Xavier ACA FCCA Xaviers Accountants Limited Chartered Certified Accountants Suite 3J Recycling Lives Centre 1A Essex Street Preston PR1 1QE 

**2** 



## **St. George Indian Orthodox Church** 

## **Trustees' Annual Report** _**(continued)**_ 

## **Year ended 31 March 2022** 

The trustees present their report and the unaudited financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2022. 

## **Structure, governance and management** 

We continued to meet the primary mission of the church, to meet the spiritual necessities of our community in the area. We continued pursuing our vision, notwithstanding the worldly challenges facing us, reflecting Faith, Hope and Charity at all times. 

## **Governing document** 

The trust is an unincorporated trust, constituted under a constitution adopted on 24 April 2005 and is a registered charity, number 1111562. The trustees who served during the year and up to the date of this report are set out on page 2. 

## **Objectives of the Charity** 

Charity's objective is to promote the Orthodox Christian faith. In setting our objectives, and planning our activities, we have given careful consideration to Charity Commission's guidelines on public benefit. 

## **Vicar** 

We had the privilege of Rev. Fr. Happy Jacob as our serving Vicar for the best part of this financial year, till 31st of January 2022. Under his leadership and guidance, we were able to overcome the difficulties of the pandemic and resume regular services, increasing from twice monthly to three a month. Rev. Fr. Eldo P Varghese took over as the serving Vicar from February 2022. Due to the Vicar's commitment, the 3rd Qurbana was celebrated by Rev. Fr. Josen John.  With the leadership and Guidance of the Vicars, we are currently a full-fledged church with Qurbana being celebrated on all Sundays and all the Moronayo Feasts. 

## **Holy Qurbana** 

With the relaxation of the pandemic restrictions, the Church resumed its normal services beginning with the Passion Week.  The recommenced services started with Hosanna Service.  We had to limit the number of attendees in accordance with the regulations set by the Government for the period. 

From the month of May 2021, the number of Qurbanas increased from 2 a month to 3 a month, and from February 2022, the Qurbanas were celebrated on all Sundays and also on all the Canonical inter services. 

Prayers for birthdays, wedding anniversaries, sick and the departed were offered during the Qurbana's. Online Prayer Request forms by members and worshippers were continued through the year. 

## **Acolytes** 

On behalf of all the members of the Church, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the dedicated service rendered by all the church acolytes starting from Mr. George Thomas, Mr. Daniel Varghese, Mr. Abraham Joseph, Mr. Shaji Varghese, Mr. Rueben Paul, Mr. Kurian George, Mr. Joshi K Eapen, Mr. Vinu George, Mr. Jinoj Philip, Dr. Christie Cherian, Mr. Benoyi Mathew, Mast. Sherwin Samuel, Mast. Ken Renji, Mast. Toby Shaji and Acolyte Initiate Mast. Ashlin Roy., Newly joined Acolytes Mr. Sleeba P Thomas and Chris Sleeba had taken great efforts to continue the altar services. Special mention to Mr. Shaji Varghese for co-ordinating the Acolytes Rota system for all the Holy 

**3** 



## **St. George Indian Orthodox Church** 

## **Trustees' Annual Report** _**(continued)**_ 

## **Year ended 31 March 2022** 

Services.  I would also like to express gratitude to those Acolytes who visited our Church during feasts and special occasions. 

## **General Body** 

Our Church is governed by the General Body directives in accordance with our Church Constitution. In accordance with a directive from H.H BavaThirumeni, there was no elections conducted for the forthcoming financial year, the office bearers and the committee were authorised to continue for the year 2021-22. The Members are as follows. 

## **Office Bearers** 

- Trustee - Mr. Biben John 

- Secretary - Mr. Suresh Daniel 

## **Managing Committee are as follows:** 

- Mr. Benoyi Mathew (Ex - Officio Member) 

- Mr. Litto Titus (Ex- Officio Member) 

- Mrs Liby Roy (S S Head Teacher) 

- Mrs. Susan Sajin (MOMS Secretary) 

- Mr. Rubin Saji (Youth Secretary) 

- Mr. Shibu Varghese 

- Mr. Binu Kurian - Mr. Manoj Daniel 

- Mr. Mathai P Panakath - Mr. Raju Samuel - Mrs. Annie Varghese - Mr. Ginu Kurian 

- Internal Auditor: Mr. Jinoj Philip 

- Diocesan Representatives: Mr. Daniel Varghese 

## **Annual General Body Meeting 2021-2022 (5th Sep 2021)** 

The First General Body of this financial year was convened to present the Financial Statement and the Annual report for 2020-2021. The GB was presided by Rev. Fr. Happy Jacob.  Due to the pandemic, all the activities of the Church were very restricted for the entirety of this financial year.  The Financial Report was presented by the Mr. Biben John (Trustee).  The Annual report was presented by Mr. Suresh Daniel. The GB passed the Annual Accounts and Report and authorised it for submission to the Charity Commission. 

## **IMPORTANT G.B. DECISIONS TAKEN IN THE FINANCIAL YEAR OF 2021-2022** 

1.  Following the long-term Lease of burial plots from the Bolton Council, the GB decided that in future in the event of a family member or descendent of the plot owner is requesting to be interred in the burial plot, the church will be obliged to provide a consent letter to the request parties, without any prejudice or reservations regardless of the Denomination or faith the person belongs to. 

2. The Use of Church - Charges 

a) Church members will not be levied any fees for the use of Church for special occasions, either on service day or non-service day. 

**4** 



## **St. George Indian Orthodox Church** 

## **Trustees' Annual Report** _**(continued)**_ 

## **Year ended 31 March 2022** 

b) Non-Church Members - Orthodox & Oriental Orthodox Members 

- Marriage - £150 for Church, £100 For Hall plus any additional charge for Cleaning. 

- Baptism - £75.00 Plus certificate Charge, £50 for Hall Plus any additional charge for Cleaning. 

- Married Children of Members if in Orthodox Faith - No Charges if on Normal Service Day, non-service days donations can be accepted on a voluntary basis. 

The Secretary reported that one of the main important achievements of this term's committee was the completion of the purchase of the 16 Burial Plots in Overdale Cemetery, resurfacing of the approach road to the Church and the walkway around the Church. Purchase of HD Projector for the parish Hall (Sponsored by Dr. V M Sandeep Mathews).  Successful transition to a full time Church, the committee was able overcome these challenges with a united front. 

**5** 



## **St. George Indian Orthodox Church** 

## **Trustees' Annual Report** _**(continued)**_ 

## **Year ended 31 March 2022** 

## **Objectives and activities** 

## **Activities of the Charity - Special church events** 

## **The Great Lent** 

The Great lent period started in the previous financial year on the 23rd of Feb 2021.  There were online prayers on all days led by Fr. Happy Jacob.  And for the financial year of 2021-2022, the Great Lent started on 28th of Feb 2022.  There were daily evening prayers online from Sunday to Friday, and Saturday prayers were in the Church.  The Prayers were led by Rev. Fr. Eldo Varghese. 

## **Great Lent Retreat (2021 - 22)** 

Due to the Pandemic and Lockdown the Service was called off. 

## **Passion Week** 

The Passion Week services commenced in the beginning of current financial year.  We had the Hosanna, Pesaha Vyazhan (Maundy Thursday). The Good Friday and Easter services were led by our Vicar Fr. Happy Jacob.  The attendance for the services had to be controlled due to the restrictions and surging Co-Vid cases.  We were able to manage this by the use of online forms. 

## **St. George's Feast (GeevargheseSahadaPerunnal)** 

Due to the Pandemic and Lockdown the Service was called off. 

## **Pentecostal Feast** 

Due to the Pandemic and Lockdown the Service was called off. 

## **OVBS** 

The OVBS was a spiritually enriching program with plenty of learning, fun and good fellowship and it was a positive experience for the children who attended and the Teachers who led. OVBS was held from 28th October 2021 to 30th October 2021. The theme of OVBS was "Discern the will of God" -1 Thessalonians 5:18. We had 38 children, 12 teachers and 7 Volunteers. 

This year we were blessed with the presence of Reverend father Happy Jacob and our local priest father Stephen and Melanie. On 29th of October as planned the day started with the registration and the inauguration ceremony which was commenced with the lighting of the lamp ceremony. Reverend Father Happy Jacob gave us a theme-based speech and Mr Joshi Eapen taught us the prayer which kids all participated in actively. Following that day, they had a sing and praise session by the teachers. After that, they had their classroom activities, and of course the game session and the afternoon action song session which I believe the kids enjoyed. 

On day 2, our session commenced with morning prayer joined by our local Father Stephen and Melanie for a meaningful workshop to show our kids that each one of us is special and unique in our own way. OVBS concluded with English Qurbana on Sunday. 

## **St. Gregorious Feast (ParumalaThirumeni's Feast) & Harvest Festival (Adhiphalam)** 

With easing of restrictions, we were able to conduct the Harvest Festival on the 14th of November.  This year 10% of the Proceeds from the Auction was donated to The Children's Charity.  We managed 

**6** 



## **St. George Indian Orthodox Church** 

## **Trustees' Annual Report** _**(continued)**_ 

## **Year ended 31 March 2022** 

to raise £6,745.17. There was also a raffle draw with the Prizes Sponsored by Staff Giant, Royale Healthcare Pvt Ltd, Vivir Enterprises. 

## **Christmas Carol Visits** 

Due to the ongoing Pandemic situation the Service was called off. 

## **Christmas and New Year Services** 

The Christmas Service was commemorated on the 24th of December led by Rev. Fr. Happy Jacob, and the new year service was led by Rev. Fr. Josen John.  We were also able to conduct the Annual Christmas and New Year get together on the 15thof January in our Church Parish Hall.  There were variety of performances by the different spiritual wings and individuals.  Rev. Fr. Josen John was the Guest Speaker. There were variety of programmes followed by dinner. 

## **Food Festival** 

As a community we were all blessed with minimal impact of the Pandemic and the Lockdown.  Our Christian values teach us to help others in a time of need.  Keeping this core value at heart, the MOMS wing conducted a Food Festival on the 27[th] of Feb 2022, where variety of food were sold, and funds raised for a charitable cause.  We raised £1801.50.  50% of the proceedings will be donated to charitable causes. 

## **Charity Donations** 

This year's Charity Donation from the Church was made to the families of Binz Rajan & Archana, who were affected by a serious accident.  These 2 families had recently arrived in UK and had bereaved. 

## **Other Church Events** 

**New Arrivals** - The Church was blessed with a surge in new members joining during the year. 

**Baptisms** and **weddings** were also conducted through the year. 

**Memorial awards** were presented to GCSE and A-Level students achieving the highest grades. 

In summary, the church has grown in membership and has extended the various religious and charitable activities. Truly a great show of unity and strength from all the members. 

## **Financial Review** 

The charity's principal funding source is from donations and from other activities. 

**7** 



## **St. George Indian Orthodox Church** 

**Trustees' Annual Report** _**(continued)**_ 

## **Year ended 31 March 2022** 

## **Reserve policy** 

It is policy of the charity to maintain unrestricted funds at a level which equates to approximately six months unrestricted expenditure. This provides sufficient funds to cover management and administration and support costs. 

The trustees' annual report was approved and signed on behalf of the board of trustees by: 

**Mr Biben John Trustee** 

## **Date: 13 November 2022** 

**8** 



## **St. George Indian Orthodox Church** 

## **Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of St. George Indian Orthodox Church** 

## **Year ended 31 March 2022** 

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of St. George Indian Orthodox Church ('the charity') for the year ended 31 March 2022. 

## **Responsibilities and basis of report** 

As the trustees of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts  in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’). 

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out  under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. 

## **Independent examiner's statement** 

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: 

1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or 

2. the accounts do not accord with those records. 

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. 

## **Mijos Xavier ACA FCCA Independent Examiner** 

Xaviers Accountants Limited Chartered Certified Accountants Suite 3J, Recycling Lives Centre 1A Essex Street Preston PR1 1QE 

## **Date: 13 November 2022** 

**9** 



## **St. George Indian Orthodox Church** 

## **Receipts and payments accounts** 

## **Year ended 31 March 2022** 

|**Year ended 31 March 2022**||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Section A Receipts andpayments**||||||
||**Unrestricted funds**||**Total funds 2022**||**2021**|
||**to the nearest      £**||**to the nearest £**||**to the nearest £**|
|**A1 Receipts**||||||
|**Subscription-Current Year**|**24,310**||**24,310**||**22,160**|
|**Subscription-Last Year**|**525**||**525**||**415**|
|**Offertory**|**12,132**||**12,132**||**1,285**|
|**Christmas Donation**|**335**||**335**||**135**|
|**Diocese Day Collection**|**215**||**215**||**280**|
|**Diocese Day Collection - Last Year**|**110**||**110**||**220**|
|**Catholicate Day Collection**|**210**||**210**||**300**|
|**Catholicate Day Collection - Last Year**|**110**||**110**||**270**|
|**Food & Refreshments-Donations**|**10,175**||**10,175**||**475**|
|**Food & Refreshments-Lastyear**|**-**||**-**||**750**|
|**Birthday**|**1,875**||**1,875**||**600**|
|**Wedding Day Offerings**|**530**||**530**||**185**|
|**Passion Week Donation**|**325**||**325**||**520**|
|**Family Conference**|||**-**||**-**|
|**Marthamariyam Samajam**|**1,783**||**1,783**||**-**|
|**OVBS**|**480**||**480**||**-**|
|**Sunday School Receipt**|**1,060**||**1,060**||**110**|
|**Other Donations**|**3,345**||**3,345**||**300**|
|**Church Building Fund Donations**|**540**||**540**||**1,688**|
|**Gift Aid**|**7,600**||**7,600**||**13,820**|
|**Harvest Festival**|**6,745**||**6,745**||**50**|
|**Harvest Festival - Lastyear**|**65**||**65**||**635**|
|**Interest Received**|**3**||**3**||**10**|
|**Seminary Day Collection**|**-**||**-**||**10**|
|**Baptism**|**95**||**95**||**-**|
|**Entertainment Donations**|**-**||**-**||**-**|
|**Charity Donations**|**550**||**550**||**1,586**|
|**Wedding Registrations**|**150**||**150**||**-**|
|**Burial Plot Receipts**|**7,383**||**7,383**||**-**|
|**Auction**|**21**||**21**||**-**|
|**Sneha Sparsham Charity - Donations**|**-**||**-**||**549**|
|**Christmas expenses-Unclaimed cheque last**<br>**year**|<br>**-**||**-**||**15**|
|**_Sub total_** _(Gross income for AR)_|**80,671**||**80,671**||**46,369**|
|||||||
|**A2 Asset and investment sales,**<br>**(see table).**||||||
||**-**||**-**|||
||**-**||**-**||**-**|
|**_Sub total_**|**-**||**-**||**-**|
|||||||
|**_Total receipts_**|**80,671**||**80,671**||**46,369**|
|||||||



**10** 



## **St. George Indian Orthodox Church** 

## **Receipts and payments accounts** 

## **Year ended 31 March 2022** 

|**Year ended 31 March 2022**||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Unrestricted funds**||**Total funds**||**Last year**|
||**to the nearest      £**||**to the nearest £**||**to the nearest £**|
|**A3 Payments**||||||
|**Vicar's Salary**|**13,566**||**13,566**||**6,620**|
|**Payments to visiting clergies**|**1,046**||**1,046**||**-**|
|**Charity event expenses**|**-**||**-**||**2,008**|
|**Christmas Expenses**|**1,176**||**1,176**||**-**|
|**Diocese Contribution**|**900**||**900**||**900**|
|**Catholicate Day Donation Paid**|**650**||**650**||**650**|
|**Refreshments**|**10,575**||**10,575**||**110**|
|**Gifts & Presentation**|**2,193**||**2,193**||**-**|
|**Sacremental Expenses**|**614**||**614**||**-**|
|**Passion Week Expenses**|**62**||**62**||**62**|
|**Marthamariyam Samajam**|**763**||**763**||**100**|
|**OVBS**|**1,039**||**1,039**||**-**|
|**Sunday School Expenses**|**1,848**||**1,848**||**690**|
|**Miscellaneous Expenses**|**15**||**15**||**468**|
|**Sacremental expenses**|**-**||**-**||**357**|
|**Water**|**306**||**306**||**276**|
|**Gas & Electricity**|**4,828**||**4,828**||**2,649**|
|**Insurance**|**860**||**860**||**843**|
|**Harvest Festival - Expenses**|**483**||**483**||**-**|
|**Printing, Stationery & Postage**|**405**||**405**||**187**|
|**Telephone**|**864**||**864**||**354**|
|**Repairs & Maintenance**|**674**||**674**||**690**|
|**Groceries**|**686**||**686**||**61**|
|**Seminari Day Contributions**|**250**||**250**||**250**|
|**Travelling Expenses**|**118**||**118**||**98**|
|**Bank Charges - Card Payment Fee**|**340**||**340**||**-**|
|**Mission Sunday Contribution**|**250**||**250**||**250**|
|**Fixtures & Fittings**|**2,457**||**2,457**||**2,514**|
|**Light & Sound System Expenses**|**354**||**354**||**-**|
|**Waste Collection**|**561**||**561**||**267**|
|**Accounting Charges**|**300**||**300**||**300**|
|**Video Conferencing Subscription Zoom**|**-**||**-**||**258**|
|**Incidental Expenses**|**36**||**36**||**120**|
|**Construction Work-Landscape**|**25,003**||**25,003**||**8,594**|
|**Accommodation**|**230**||**230**||**-**|
|**Bank Charges - HSBC**|**43**||**43**||**38**|
|**Alarm Monitoring & Service**|**492**||**492**||**492**|
|**Burial Plots**|**15,408**||**15,408**||**-**|
|**Charity**|**500**||**500**||**7,003**|
|**_Sub total_ **|**89,895**||**89,895**||**37,209**|
|||||||
|**A4 Asset and investment purchases,**<br>**(see table)**||||||
||**-**||**-**|||
||**-**||**-**|||
|**_Sub total_ **|**-**||**-**||**-**|
|||||||
|**_Totalpayments_**|**89,895**||**89,895**||**37,209**|
|||||||
|**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**|**-                          9,224**||**-                           9,224**||**9,160**|
|**A5 Transfers between funds**|**-**||**-**||**-**|
|**A6 Cash funds lastyear end**|**70,973**||**70,973**||**61,813**|
|**_Cash funds thisyear end_**|**61,750**||**61,750**||**70,973**|
|||||||



**11** 



## **St. George Indian Orthodox Church** 

## **Receipts and payments accounts** 

## **Year ended 31 March 2022** 

|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Categories**|**Details**||**Unrestricted**<br>**funds**||**Restricted**<br>**funds**|
||||**to nearest £**||**to nearest £**|
|**B1 Cash funds**|**Cash in hand**||**-**||**-**|
||**Cash at the Bank - Card Account**||**-**||**-**|
||**Cash at the Bank - Current Account**||**39,129**|||
||**Cash at the Bank - Building Fund &**<br>**Family Support**||**22,620**||**-**|
||**_Total cash funds_**||**61,750**<br>**Unrestricted**<br>**funds**<br>||**-**<br>**Restricted**<br>**funds**|
|||||||
||**Details**||**to nearest £**||**to nearest £**|
|**B2 Other monetary assets**|||**-**||**-**|
||||**-**||**-**|
||||**-**||**-**|
|||||||
||**Details**||**Cost (optional)**||**Current value**<br>**(optional)**|
|**B3 Investment assets**|||**-**||**-**|
||||**-**||**-**|
||||**-**||**-**|
|||||||
||**Details**||**Cost (optional)**||**Fund to which**<br>**asset belongs**|
|**B4 Assets retained for the**<br>**charity’s own use**|**Church building - Purchase cost**||**90,224**||**Unrestricted**|
||**Church building -  Construction**||**246,553**||**Unrestricted**|
||**Church building -  Professional fees**||**11,883**||**Unrestricted**|
||**Church building -  Security & CCTV**||**6,473**||**Unrestricted**|
||**Church building -  Electricals**||**7,119**||**Unrestricted**|
||**Church building -  Landscape**||**57,312**||**Unrestricted**|
||**Church building -  Decoration**||**14,065**||**Unrestricted**|
||**Church building -  Accessories**||**8,174**||**Unrestricted**|
||**Church building -  Appliances &**<br>**Furniture**||**9,528**||**Unrestricted**|
||**Church building -  Sound system**||**9,232**||**Unrestricted**|
||**External hard disc. Camera, laptop**||**2,705**||**Unrestricted**|
|||||||
||**Details**||**Amount due**<br>**(optional)**||**When due**<br>**(optional)**|
|**B5 Liabilities**|||**-**|||
||||**-**|||
||||**-**|||
|||||||
|Signed by trustees on behalf of all<br>the trustees|Signature||Print Name||Date of<br>approval|
||||**Mr Biben John**||**13-Nov-22**|
|||||||



**12**