TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR CORNERSTONE (BRAINTREE) 2020/2021
Aim and purposes
The trustees of Cornerstone (Braintree) have the responsibility of cooperating with the eldership of the church in promoting the objects of the Trust as laid down in its governing document:
To advance the Christian faith for the benefit of the public through the worship of God, the instruction and edification of Christians, the care and Christian instruction of young people and children, the evangelisation of non-Christians and the relief of sickness and poverty
We seek to follow the Commission’s guidance on public benefit, and specifically that offered to charities for the advancement of religion. The varied activities of the church, as described below, are all designed to provide a secure and welcoming environment for those with faith as well as those still seeking. Through worship and prayer, teaching, encouragement, pastoring and outreach we aim to offer spiritual, emotional and physical support to the residents of our village.
Trustees are further responsible for oversight of the church buildings and for maintaining good standards of budgetary management.
Objectives and activities
Please note that as a result of coronavirus, restrictions on meeting numbers have severely curtailed group activities for adults and children through large periods of this year. Church Sunday services were maintained throughout lockdown by means of zoom and recommenced in September with suitable mitigations in place. Other groups have also restarted but with reduced numbers and appropriate distancing.
The details below refer to periods when more normal services could be offered.
The trustees are committed to encouraging maximum participation in the life of our church by all the local residents. Sunday morning services take place every week and are specifically designed to bring an experience of God to every age group. Transport is provided for the elderly or disabled who require it, and children’s activities of a high quality are provided by a team of dedicated and experienced Sunday School teachers. The atmosphere of the church services is very informal and lends itself to families with young children feeling comfortable and welcomed.
Evening services provide an opportunity to focus more on worship and prayer.
Events during each week draw in children from the community whose parents do not necessarily attend the church and provide fun and activities as well as an introduction to Christian principles. In this respect, a widely-used event called Messy Church is staged 3 times a year. Up to 100 children and adults from the village participate in these, many of them otherwise uninvolved in church life. The trustees
of Cornerstone, and all involved in caring for children and youth or vulnerable individuals, are required to undergo CRB checking and the trustees are monitoring the current changes in government legislation to ensure that any new guidelines are complied with.
Groups are also arranged from time to time for those interested in discovering more about the Christian faith, such as the Alpha course.
Regular meetings during the week take place for fellowship between members of the church.
Achievements and Performance
Worship and Prayer :
The past year has seen a more variable attendance at morning services of between 60 and 100 adults and children. Some services see the church filled to capacity. If adults and children that take part in weekday activities are included, we estimate that some 250 people in the village are regularly receiving from the church. Worship is informal and in a mixture of styles so that it can be relevant for the whole spectrum of individuals who make up the church. Teaching is Bible-based and with a strong emphasis on challenging both character and lifestyle.
Prayer is another important element in the life of the church, and takes place within regular small groups, as part of our Sunday services, at specific prayer events and via an email prayer link to members. Whole church 24-hour prayer events now take place quarterly, allowing everyone to take part at the level they are able to commit to.
For special events such as Easter and Christmas the residents of the village are invited by personal invitation or by door to door leafleting to family friendly services and Messy Church events. All members of the public, whether of the Christian faith or not, are welcomed to the church at these times and indeed to all of our Sunday services throughout the year.
Pastoral care:
The church is now employing one of the elders for one day per week. He has oversight of pastoral care within the church, including responsibility for a newlyformed pastoral care team. Pastoral care also takes place within weekly fellowship groups, which have now expanded in number to six. Strong and supportive friendships often develop in these groups over time.
A social space and activities are provided for secondary school age children every month, called The Retreat.
Once a month a cooked Sunday lunch is provided after the morning service in the church for all ages – this is particularly valued by the older members of the congregation and often sees 70 people sitting down together for lunch.
The church also runs a weekly Mums and toddlers’ group to welcome and provide support for young families in the local area. This has grown enormously in popularity, now attracting up to 70 parents and their children. This is in addition to regular groups catering for children up to the age of 18.
The church has now realised its plans to create a coffee shop for the use of the general public as well as church members. Known as The Coffee House, it serves excellent hot drinks and delicious cakes three mornings per week and one Saturday per month. There are no formal prices but a voluntary donation is encouraged. The cost of establishing the facilities has been borne by the church from its building fund, however we anticipate that Coffee House will become self-funding in the short to medium term. The finances are monitored and are currently showing a small surplus. This space is also used for meetings, social events and youthwork and is proving a tremendous asset in furthering the church’s aim to show God’s love to the community around us.
Buildings and facilities :
The church buildings and car park are held in trust for the benefit of the church members and the wider community. Vesting of the buildings with the Official Custodian service of the Charity Commission has now been finalised, as recognised in a new Register of Title EX803386 dated 12.06.2017.
The trustees take seriously their responsibility to maintain the standard of these assets. To this end, refurbishment takes place on a rolling basis to ensure that the condition and facilities provided are of a good standard. With continued growth of the church, the leadership have been considering ways to provide more space. Although architect’s plans were submitted for planning consent and rejected, a further application has been successful. Without realising the full plan, more space has been created for worship, and the new coffee shop area is also used for older children’s work. A proposal to create a conservatory room along the side of the church has unfortunately been rejected on appeal. This space has now been redeveloped as an area for outdoor use by Coffee House customers on weekdays and children on Sundays.
Outreach:
Cornerstone places a strong emphasis on reaching the local community and underprivileged groups around the world.
Numerous weekday activities take place in the church buildings that appeal to all age groups from pre-primary school children (Mums and toddlers group) through to the more senior members of our community (coffee and lunch clubs, games afternoons).
A well-established Repair Café one Saturday a month in the church invites local residents to bring along items to be fixed and provides advice and help for people who want to reduce their utilities costs. This recently attracted a visit from Braintree District Council’s officer for community involvement who was very impressed with what is offered.
The church is very aware of the enormous needs in the wider world, and has strong links with the charity Stand by Me (formerly known as Kids Alive) which provides care, education and medical treatment for orphaned children in a number of sites across the world. Several teams from the church have travelled to Kenya and Nepal in recent years to help the permanent staff at the children’s homes with practical projects and to give time and love to the children. The most recent volunteer team visited a children’s home in Romania in April 2018. In addition to providing holiday activities for the local children, the team also gave much needed food supplies to their families. Another trip to Romania scheduled for July 2020 has been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Overall, the church is committed to giving away 20% of its annual income directly to outreach and humanitarian projects in the UK and abroad.
Financial control :
The Trustees are responsible for maintaining proper and prudent control over the financial affairs of the charity. Annual accounts are scrutinised by an accountant to ensure that correct procedures are being followed and both the Trustees and the church leadership would be alerted by the Treasurer should any significant imbalance between income and budgeted outgoings arise. To provide further security, the Trustees receive a quarterly report from the Treasurer to include the following details – income, expenditure, tax refunds, bank balances, budget comparisons, any recommended actions.
The Trustees’ aim, in the current financial year, is to maintain a reserve balance of unrestricted funds representing 3 months outgoings, a figure in the region of £20,000.00. The reserve at the 2020/21 year end was £17,889.30* with an additional sum on deposit of £100,002.38 representing a building fund.
- Funds have since been transferred from the building fund to bring unrestricted funds back above the £20,000 mark.
Management and governance arrangements :
Cornerstone (Braintree) is a charitable trust established by Trust Deed on January 16th 2007.
The trust deed was established with five trustees and requires a minimum of three. Were there a requirement for new trustees, these would be identified and appointed by resolution at a meeting of trustees at which a majority of trustees is present.
The induction of any new trustee involves awareness of a trustee’s responsibilities, the governing document and administrative procedures. A new trustee would receive copies of the previous year’s annual report and accounts and the Charity Commission leaflet ‘The Essential Trustee: What you need to know’.
Philip Hale was appointed as a Trustee to Cornerstone (Braintree) on April 19[th] 2011.
Bridie Mariae Cousins resigned as a Trustee to Cornerstone (Braintree) on January 1[st] 2020.
Christopher John Smith resigned from Trusteeship on January 1[st] 2014
Rowland Dawe has signalled his intention to retire on December 31[st] 2021
This will reduce the trustees to three in number and accordingly two new trustees are actively being sought.
The remaining trustees have held office since the inception of the Trust. The trustees annually review the risks that the charity faces. To date these have mainly related to budgetary management, as the main source of income is through the regular giving of the church congregation. Budgets are monitored and revised to stay within the available income of the Trust
The Trustees have undertaken to provide advice to the church leadership on fulfilling the Charity’s obligations under GDPR. Suitable guidelines are now in place that satisfy those obligations.
There are minor areas of risk relating to employing staff, which have been covered by implementation of proper contracts and procedures.
It should be noted that the Trustees have liaised with the church leadership to ensure compliance with Government guidelines relating to Covid-19 throughout 2021.
Declaration
The Trustees declare that they have approved the Trustees’ Report above.
Signed: Mr Robert Thompson – Trustee to Cornerstone (Braintree), on behalf of the Trustees
CORNERSTONE (BRAINTREE)
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES
YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021
| Unrestricted Notes funds £ INCOMING RESOURCES Voluntary income 62,756 Investment income 406 TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES 63,162 RESOURCES EXPENDED Governance costs 2 65,803 Grants payable 3 11,704 TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED 77,507 NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS -14,345 TOTAL FUNDS BROUGHT FORWARD 132,923 TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 118,578 |
Total 2021 2020 £ £ 62,756 83,154 406 513 63,162 83,667 65,803 52,123 11,704 12,965 77,507 65,088 -14,345 18,579 132,923 114,344 118,578 132,923 |
|---|---|
(charity number: 1120051)
CORNERSTONE (BRAINTREE)
BALANCE SHEET
31 MARCH 2021
| Unrestricted funds £ CURRENT ASSETS Debtors 1,281 Cash at bank 117,735 Creditors -438 TOTAL ASSETS 118,578 TOTAL FUNDS 118,578 |
Total 2021 2020 £ £ 1,281 1,733 117,735 131,481 -438 -291 118,578 132,923 118,578 132,923 |
|---|---|
Signed on behalf of the trustees:
Print name: S R Thompson
Date: 23/01/2022
CORNERSTONE (BRAINTREE)
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021
1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES
a Basis of preparation
The accounts have been prepared on the basis of historic cost and in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011.
b Incoming resources
These are included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) when:
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the charity becomes entitled to the resources;
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the trustees are virtually certain they will receive the resources; and
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the monetary value can be measured with sufficient reliability.
c Donations
Donations are only included in the SoFA when the charity has unconditional entitlement to the resources.
d Tax reclaims on donations
Incoming resources from tax reclaims are included in the SoFA at the same time as the gift to which they relate.
e Volunteer help
The value of voluntary help received is not included in the accounts.
f Liability recognition
Liabilities are recognised as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to pay out resources.
g Grants payable
These are recognised in the accounts when a commitment has been made.
h Fund accounting
Funds held by the charity are either of the following :
Unrestricted - these can be used in accordance with the objects of the charity at the discretion of the trustees.
Restricted - these can only be used for restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.
CORNERSTONE (BRAINTREE)
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021
| 2 GOVERNANCE COSTS Leadership Administrator Administration Evangelism Adult ministry Buildings Other expenses 3 GRANTS PAYABLE Christian Youth Outreach Stand By Me Hope House Tear Fund Braintree Youth Project Other Youthwork |
2021 2020 £ £ 5,040 4,851 3,960 5,814 2,716 3,758 72 2,001 1,605 5,976 183 575 46,609 11,749 5,618 17,399 65,803 52,123 £ £ 7,920 8,204 3,212 3,058 0 83 0 1,000 0 550 572 70 11,704 12,965 |
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Independent examiner's report on the accounts to the trustees of Cornerstone (Braintree)
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2021.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity’s trustees, 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 charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all 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 which give me cause to believe that, in any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act; or
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the accounts do not accord with the accounting records; or
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the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
N K Smith FCA
19 Highbury Way, Great Cornard, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 0HE
19 January 2022