2021-08-31-accounts - West Cambridge Christian Youth Ministries

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

ANNUAL REPORT

West Cambridge Christian Youth Ministries (WCCYM) Registered charity No. 1116603 | www.wccym.org | info@wccym.org

WCCYM is a partnership of churches in villages to the west of Cambridge, working together for young people in a manner that they could not do individually.

WCCYM ’s key values are: To work in partnership Build trust Show respect Bring hope To be Christ-centred.

WELCOME

Thank you for reading this report and for your interest in the work of WCCYM.

Thank you to all those who have made possible the activities that you'll read about in this report.

Thank you to the team of youth workers (employed and volunteers) who have supported young people.

Thank you to the young people who have engaged with us, encouraged and challenged us, despite Covid restrictions.

Thank you to the churches, schools and individuals who have partnered with us, offering practical, prayerful and financial support. A recent grant has enabled us to expand our work in the year ahead and we are grateful to God for his faithful provision. Please read on, give thanks, be encouraged, and consider how you could be involved.

Nigel Taylor

On behalf of the WCCYM Management Team

A NEW FRAMEWORK

Over 2020 and 2021, a lot of how WCCYM has worked has had to adapt and - change, but not just due to the Pandemic. We have re evaluated our strategy for all areas of our work helping us to better support young people, schools and local churches. We found Scripture Union's "Revealing Jesus" framework helpful and are using the words Connect; Explore; Respond and Grow as a way of explaining our ministry. This has helped us to focus our thinking behind each and every event, activity and group that we run to ensure we are seeing young people develop.

CONNECT

to feel connected to a supportive community

Games & Quiz nights in October & January

During the year we had two online games & quiz nights for young people. These online gatherings on Zoom were popular with the young people and we had a great time together.

Rumble: Live Action Gaming at Grafham Water

By the time we reached the summer term, it was brilliant to be able to organise a few events in person, but we planned these to be outdoor activities to ensure they were as Covid-safe as possible. We took a group to Rumble at Grafham Water, for some live action gaming. The young people loved it, and it was great to be able to meet up and have fun!

Kintsugi Hope small group with Year 11s

During June and July, we ran a Kintsugi Hope wellbeing group for young people in Yr 11 at Cambourne Church. They had just finished their time at collegec and it had been a stressful time with lockdowns and changes in plans for exams, so it seemed to be an ideal time to run a group specifically for them. Kintsugi Hope is a fantastic organisation and some of our leaders took part in the training, and we have enjoyed being able to run courses including the Christian perspective on wellbeing.

to explore the Christian faith and learn about Jesus

EXPLORE

Online Christmas party

Our usual Christmas party was moved online to Zoom, but we still had a group of young people come together to play some games, hear a short talk from Jon Sanders (from Romsey Mill, previously a youth worker with WCCYM), and

----- Start of picture text -----
t
----- End of picture text -----

there were also some challenges that leaders had - pre recorded to show at the event.

This challenge saw the youth workers and volunteers trying to create Father Christmas on their face using a variety of unhelpful items BUT without using their hands.

Hopefully you can tell that the outcome was quite amusing!

Online Easter party

In April we had an online Easter party, following a similar format to the Christmas one, with games, challenges and Amy Bland (a previous WCCYM/ Lordsbridge young person, now a vicar) gave a short talk about the Christian faith.

Summer Social in July

For our annual summer event, we went for a low key version of what we would usually do, meeting outside for a shorter time together. The new cabin at St Mary’s Church, Hardwick, provided us with some great outdoor space where we had games, craft, a leaders’ challenge, refreshments and a time of leaders sharing ways in which they had known God to be with them recently.

WCCYM Small Groups

In the summer term, we trialled a few WCCYM small groups. These were opportunities to meet together with a few other young people focused on a particular activity, including a short discussion time on an aspect of the Christia Christian faith. We had groups for online games, craft and sports. As Covid restrictions were gradually being lifted, it was a particularly good time to have small gatherings, and to be online or outside. It also meant that with the groups being deliberately small, we were able to focus on working with just a few young people at a time, which enabled us to see how they were doing after a difficult year, and to talk about faith.

to grow as a disciple who disciples others

GROW

Thirst

Throughout the year, we had our monthly ‘Thirst’ youth service. The majority of the sessions were on Zoom, and included games, a time to chat and pray, a short talk, and some sung worship (either live or pre-recorded by leaders). Numbers for the Zoom sessions were less than when we met in person, but we felt that it was an important activity to continue, for the smaller group of young people. Speakers included Keith Tarring, Tim Williamson, Hannah Fytche, Adrian Semerene, David Newton and Neil Thompson. In June, we were very pleased to be able to meet in person, outside the cabin at St Mary’s Church, Hardwick. Clare Cronin was our speaker, and it was great to be able to

worship and sing together in a way that many of us had not been able to for months previously.

Uni prep session

In September, we ran a University Preparation session for a couple of young people on Zoom. We invited two University students to come and share some practical tips for settling in, particularly thinking about being a Christian at Uni.

Deeper

The discipleship group for Sixth Form young people was a brilliant group of committed young people, who were supporting each other in their personal lives, and their faith. The group met fortnightly on - Zoom mostly, with a few in person meetings at the end of the year. Session themes included influences, sharing faith with friends, apologetics, and the Kintsugi Hope wellbeing course. The group became very close, being open and honest, and praying for each other.

Online WCCYM Weekends in both Sept 2020 and March 2021

This year, we had two WCCYM weekends, both online. One was the postponed one from March 2020, and happened in September 2020. It was a great way to start the new academic year, and the young people were enthusiastic to get involved with the different sessions. We had 23 young people signed up, and - the weekend involved live Zoom sessions, pre recorded videos, sung worship, options of craft, baking and games, and the usual gunging of a leader! Elaine Grant from Cambridge and District Youth for Christ was our speaker, and her talks were great!

In the spring term, we would have had the usual WCCYM weekend. Covid restrictions meant that we could not - have an in person residential so we planned another online one. This time we had 26 young people sign up, and again had great engagement in the different activities. It was a similar format, including more challenges and an escape room activity. Luke Bacon was our speaker for this one, and most of the talks were live on Zoom. Luke had previously been with the Lordsbridge team of churches as an Ordinand, so it was great to have him involved with WCCYM again in this way. The weekend ended with the leader gunging again, with competitive talk from leaders about campaigning for each other to be gunged next time!

WCCYM IN SCHOOLS

Despite all the restrictions and changes over the past two years, we have continued to be passionate about supporting schools in a holistic way through the provision of pastoral and spiritual support as well as to enhance wellbeing and personal development within the student and staff population. We continue to work in Comberton Village College, Cambourne Village College and Comberton Sixth Form College and have even been able to share our experience of schools work with youth workers from across the area.

encourage to flourish

PASTORAL SUPPORT

One-to-One

One-to-one pastoral support was more complicated this year, due to the changing situation of the schools. We continued our service level agreement with Comberton Village College throughout the year, and the support sessions were either on Zoom, or Microsoft Teams, on the phone, or outside in person. The needs of the young people varied throughout the year, as always. It was clear, however, that for some young people, lockdowns and being at home more, brought additional problems and anxiety. For some, though, when they went back in to college in person, that was a time of more anxiety and stress. It was an important part of WCCYM’s work to be able to continue to support students throughout this difficult year, including through the challenging time of exam plans changing.

PHSE &PD Lesson Delivery

The start of the academic year was a great opportunity to be physically in the colleges again, and one of these occasions was our annual Yr 12 Personal Development lesson on Healthy Relationships at Comberton Sixth Form. Due to social distancing in the lecture theatre, we repeated this lesson four times, rather than the usual two times. It felt like a significant moment of seeing many young people again in person after what felt like such a long time, and we adjusted some of the plans to ensure that we were being careful with the Covid restrictions in place.adjusted

Primary to Secondary School Transitions

WCCYM helped to support a few of our local churches to deliver a Yr 6 lesson in a few of the primary schools, focussing on the move from Yr 6 to Yr 7. As we have previously done, we used the brilliant ‘It’s your move’ resource from Scripture Union, and enjoyed being able to visit schools again in person this year.

Towards the end of the school year, we had conversations with the CAM Academy Trust about support for the schools, which included discussing the transition process from Yr 6 to Yr 7. We decided to trial a Yr 6 group with some students at Gamlingay Village Primary School, with the plan to continue to follow up with support at the start of Yr 7 at Comberton Village College. Youth workers in the churches and with WCCYM have done transitions sessions or groups before, and we were able to use a mixture of resources we had used before, and new resources, for this group.

explore spiritual development

SPIRITUAL SUPPORT

Christian Union Groups

The last year has been a challenge for WCCYM’s Christian Union groups. For a time, they were on Zoom when the majority of students were at home. When we were able to run the groups in person, they had to be individual year groups rather than mixed, due to the year group ‘bubbles’ for Covid restrictions. It was a challenge to have enough leaders for groups, and some year groups had very few or no young people, so it was a frustrating situation to be in, but understandable considering the circumstances. There were times of encouragement though, particularly with getting to know Yr 7s in both Cambourne and Comberton Village Colleges!

RPE Days

This last year involved two RPE (Religion, Philosophy and Ethics) days. We were unsure whether we would have the opportunity this year, so were very pleased to be able to work with young people in this way.

At Comberton Village College, we took a lesson on Medical Ethics in April 2021. As we did not have any specialist knowledge in this, we

en ensured that we involved others in the planning and delivery of this lesson. Our WCCYM team members and local volunteers led the lesson, but it included video input from three Christian medical professionals who spoke - - - - about beginning of life and end of life issues. One of these medical p professionals was previously a young person involved with WCCYM when he was a teenager, and went to Comberton Village College.

At Cambourne Village College, we ended the academic year with an RPE day on the subject of Human Rights and Social Justice. This lesson included one of the Sixth Form students sharing her passion for wanting to challenge injustice, and it was brilliant to have someone closer in age to the young people, to inspire them.

Assemblies

This year just involved one main assembly for the colleges, which we created as a video resource in February 2021, on the - theme of self esteem and resilience.

Christian Staff Gatherings

At both Comberton and Cambourne Village CollegesColleges, , wewe keptkeptinintouchtouch with Christian staff, and were able to meet in person or on Zoom to pray. We did not do this as often as we would usually like to, but it was helpful to keep in touch.

CHAPLAINCY TEAM

additional support offered to all

WCCYM Chaplaincy Team

Throughout the year, we had been considering what it would look like to expand our pastoral and spiritual support in the colleges, and had some helpful conversations with a few staff members of the CAM Academy Trust. This led to WCCYM putting a proposal to the governors of Comberton Village College towards the end of the academic year for a Pilot WCCYM Chaplaincy Project, which was accepted. The plan is to continue the service level agreement with the college contributing to the costs of some of the pastoral work we do, but we will be increasing the support we give to the school, in both pastoral and spiritual ways, funded by WCCYM to begin with. Cherie completed a ‘Chaplaincy in Education’ course in May 2021 with CYM (The Institute for Children, Youth and Mission), and is going to be heading up our Chaplaincy team work in the college.

----- Start of picture text -----
.
----- End of picture text -----

Working in partnership with local churches

LOCAL CHURCHES

We work closely with our partner churches and are fortunate that there is a great sense of unity, for the good of working together for young people in the area and sharing the good news. We keep in touch with what is happening with youth work in our local churches, which may involve youth workers or volunteers attending team meetings, or it may

involvei meeting with youth workers or individuals separately, to offer encouragement and support in different ways. We want to encourage as many young people as possible to be part of our activities, to be part of the wider WCCYM community.

We are very privileged to have such an excellent team of volunteers in our local area, who help with WCCYM and church youth work. Some come to events and activities to help with the young people. We are so grateful to those who were happy to do this on Zoom as well, which was not always easy! We also have those who practically help out those who give financially, those who pray, and those who give their time behind the scenes. We are so grateful for God’s provision of every one of these volunteers, and for the encouragement they give to both young people and to WCCYM youth workers. We had two volunteer team evenings on Zoom during the year; one in October and one in January. Our preference would have been to meet in person, but this was a good opportunity to connect with a few people and encourage one another. We also had regular prayer meetings on Zoom, particularly during the spring term when schools were mostly working remotely. We felt that it was important to commit to praying for our local schools at that time, and appreciated those who joined with us on Zoom to do that.

MANAGEMENT

WCCYM has a management committee made up of representatives from Cambourne Church, Comberton Baptist Church, Hardwick Evangelical Church, and the Lordsbridge team of Anglican Churches. This committee usually meets 4 times a year to oversee the work of WCCYM. Susie Thomson reports to the management committee, on behalf of the WCCYM team of youth workers. This last year there were additional meetings, and we're very grateful to those on the WCCYM management committee, for giving their time, experience and expertise.

For the academic year 2020/21, the management team has included: Steve Gaze - Chair, Hardwick Evangelical Church (T) – until June 2021 Kate Gaze - Hardwick Evangelical Church – from June 2021 Sue Chase - Treasurer

Keith Tarring - Comberton Baptist Church (T) Alison Myers - Lordsbridge Team (T) Bill Miller - Cambourne Church (T) Nigel Taylor - Cambourne Church (T) – chair from June 2021 Susie Thomson - WCCYM Team Leader Ruth Gildersleve - Secretary to the Management Team

T signifies Trustees of WCCYM

GIVING TO WCCYM

If you would like to give towards the work of WCCYM, please go to www.give.net/20029793 or contact: Sue Chase (WCCYM Treasurer), c/o Manor Farm, 14 Alms Hill, Bourn, CB23 2SH.

Please email info@wccym.org to find out more.

We had to think creatively about fundraising during the year, so ran our second online quiz in September, and then in May, we created some cake boxes for local supporters. These boxes contained scones with jam and cream, and different cakes. This proved to be very successful, and may be something that we repeat!

THE FIGURES

WCCYM continues to be funded by local churches who support and encourage our work and from individuals in the west Cambridge area who share our values. Our sincere thanks go to those who give financially to support the valuable work that WCCYM does.

As with last year, dealing with months spent in lock-down and a slow return to face to face working, the pattern of our income and expenditure has seen a change from the norm. However, we have kept our focus on the service we provide and have maintained a higher than usual level of staffing to enable us to provide a broad and creative package of activities and experiences. Our youth workers continued to work with Comberton Village College, either with individuals or groups, and the College helped towards the cost of the pastoral work that we provided.

Income
Churches	£23831
Gifts & Donations	£11164
Pastoral Support	£6100
Other Income	£1378
Events & Activities	£375
Fundraising	£1025
Total	£43873

We are very grateful to all those churches and individuals who are currently giving or who have promised to give, in order to finance WCCYM in the coming year. We have many plans and ideas for our work with the young people in our area.

Expenditure
Staff/Workers	£33068
Events & Activities	£2971
Overheads	£1302
Staff Training & Resources	£1438
Bookkeeping	£1059
Travel	£630
Safeguarding & Insurance	£464
Total	£40932

the faces of WCCYM

TEAM

Susie Thomson is WCCYM’s Team Leader, and is employed for 20 hours per week. She links with the local churches, youth workers and volunteers. She is involved in pastoral support work at Comberton Village College, and is the main contact at Cambourne Village College.

Sally Coxall worked for WCCYM for 16 hours per week. She was responsible for activities such as Thirst and the CU - - groups, and involved in various aspects of face to face youthwork including pastoral support work in schools. Sally finished working for WCCYM in August 2021, and we are very grateful for all she brought to the team and the young people over the 3 years she was with us.

Cherie Williamson works for WCCYM for 18 hours a week, which has increased since last year. She currently heads up our Chaplaincy Team work at Comberton Village College, supporting both students and staff pastorally and spiritually. She is also responsible for Deeper, the discipleship group for young people of Sixth Form age.

Jonathan Buwert only spent a short time working with us in the last academic year, before he moved on from his position at Cambourne Church, to work full time for Romsey Mill. He had been a great team member and we are thankful for his work with young people across the WCCYM area.

Lydia Sings has been an integral part of the WCCYM team in the last year, with various WCCYM activities, but also bringing her creativity and skills to the publicity and communication side of the work. She is currently taking part in a discipleship programme in another part of the country but plans to rejoin us partway through the year.

Abi Graham was the youthworker at Gamlingay Baptist Church, and a great part of the wider WCCYM Team. Abi helped at various WCCYM activities, and was brilliant with making videos and putting together content for online events. In May she went on maternity leave after the birth of Florence, and in July, Abi, Sam and Florence moved to Buckingham.

Nick Slater started working for WCCYM in August 2020, with a focus on Discipleship and Outreach, and also some time dedicated to digital communication, including WCCYM’s social media presence. Although Nick is new to this role, he is familiar with WCCYM, having previously been a local church youth worker part of the team, a volunteer, and originally a young person involved in WCCYM!

WCCYM WEST CAMBRIDGE CHRISTIAN YOUTH MINISTRIES O O @wccym

Charity No: 1116603 WEST CAMBRIDGE CHRISTIAN YOUTH MINISTRIES FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

WEST CAMBRIDGE CHRISTIAN YOUTH MINISTRIES FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021 CONTENTS 1 Profit & Loss Account 2 Balan Sheet 3 Approval Statement

WEST CAMBRIDGE CHRISTIAN YOUTH MINISTRIES PROFIT & LOSS ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31 AUGUST 2021 2021 2020 Income Notes Gifts & Donations Churches and support organisalions Joint Service Special Events & Activities Pastoral Support Fund Raising Events Other Income Bank Interest 11,164 23.831 19931 1,368 6,100 1,025 3.096 9,857 13,458 534 2,175 5,626 6.733 45,591 38,384 8nditure Staff Costs Special Events & Activities External Events Insurances Staff Training staff travel Hospitality Resources & PR Literature General Office Expenses Printing & Photocopyin9 Bookkeeping Professional Fees incl Child Protection Sundry Expenses Bank charges Depreciation 33,068 2,664 307 451 711 630 436 727 445 71 1,059 142 93 26,766 2,531 528 425 873 368 856 314 57 1.331 178 220 60 130 173 41.060 34,637 Net Proflt l (Lo$s> for the period 4.531 3.747 Exce tional Item Henry Smith Foundation - Grant for the financial year 2021-22 received 31 August 2021 21,200

WEST CAMBRIDGE CHRISTIAN YOUTH MINISTRY BALANCE SHEET AT 31 August 2021 Fixed Assets Office Equipment (Less Depreciation) 1,574 531 1,043 Current Assets Debtors & Prepayments Bank Accounts & Cash in hand 48,844 48,844 Less Liabilities Creditors - & Accruals PAYE Joint Service Fund 3,650 438 500 4,589 NET ASSETS 45,299 ReseNes Reserves Profil & Loss Account 19,568 25,731 45,299 Reserves are made up of: NEOS restricted funds Henry Smith Grant General funds for use 3,001 21,200 21,098 45.299

INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS REPORTTO THE TRUSTEES OF WEST CAMBRIDGE CHRISTIAN YOUTH MINISTRIES I report on the accounts for the year ended 31 August 2021 which are set out on pages l and 2 of the Financial Statements. Respective responsibilities of the Executive Commlttee and the Examiner The Charivs trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The Charit¢s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144121 of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act, follow procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners section 14515llbl of the 2011 Act, and state whether particular matters have come to my attention. Basis of the Independent Examinees Statement My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charlty 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 the management committee concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in a full audit and consequently no opinion is gwen as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fairf view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. Independent Examiners 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 accordance with section 103 of the 2011 act, or. to prepare accounts which accord with these accounting records have not been met, to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Verity Risby 151 Caxton End Bourn Cambridgeshire CB23 2ST Date: 10 lune 2022

Charity No: 1116603 WEST CAMBRIDGE CHRISTIAN YOUTH MINISTRIES FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

WEST CAMBRIDGE CHRISTIAN YOUTH MINISTRIES FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021 CONTENTS 1 Profit & Loss Account 2 Balan Sheet 3 Approval Statement