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← Woodlands Group Of Churches

2025-03-31-accounts

ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

CONTENTS Pages
Trustees’ Annual Report 2 - 23
Report of the Independent Auditor 24 – 27
Statement of Financial Activities 28
Summary Income and Expenditure Account 29
Balance Sheet 30
Statement of Cash Flows 31
Notes to the financial statements 32 – 51

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

INTRODUCTION

This is the Board of Trustees’ combined annual report for the year ended 31 March 2025 under the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Act 2011 together with the audited financial statements for the year. The charity has followed the requirements of the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (FRS 102 SORP 2019) in preparing these financial statements.

WHO WE ARE

Woodlands Church Family is a vibrant, growing, church-planting movement, with eight sites located across the city of Bristol.

Each site is distinct in its style, but shares the same vision and mission:

…to see Bristol transformed by the love and power of God as we create spirit-filled, visible communities of faith in neighbourhoods across the city.

Our values are to be welcoming to everyone, authentic in our faith, empowered by the Holy Spirit and expectant of all that God will do in us and through us.

Our eight sites are:

Woodlands Church Family has a Senior Leadership Team who work with the Trustee Board to lead the charity. Each of the sites has its own leadership team.

Woodlands Church Family is the working name of Woodlands Group of Churches, a registered charitable company limited by guarantee (charity number 1125029 and company number 06569993). These names, ‘the church’ and ‘the charity’ are used interchangeably throughout this report.

Woodlands Church Family has several linked churches around Bristol with whom it partners. Each of these associated and affiliated churches are independently governed charities.

The declared charitable purposes of Woodlands Church Family are:

“The proclamation and furtherance of the Gospel of God concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord and the preaching and teaching of the Christian Faith throughout the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and elsewhere.”

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Trustees may decide for the worship of God, the instruction and edification of Christians, the care and instruction of young people and children, the evangelisation of non Christians, the relief of poverty and sickness and the advancement of the Christian Faith generally.”

WHAT WE DO

Our principal activities to achieve our charitable purposes for the public benefit are:

More detailed descriptions of the activities of the church, together with how these deliver public benefit and our achievements for the period, are set out below. The financial resources deployed towards each of these principal activities is set out in the Statement of Financial Activities on page 27.

OUR ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Woodlands Church Family is committed to enabling as many people as possible to participate and become part of the life of the church. As such, we operate no formal membership structure and all are welcome, whether ‘just visiting’ or wishing to get connected and involved. We say, ‘You join by joining in!’ In practice, the opportunities to attend services and take part in other activities in person are most accessible to those who live in Bristol and the surrounding region though we have a large number of regular online participants for those services that are regularly streamed, and one interactive Zoom congregation which has a wider reach.

In addition, our prayerful and financial support of national and international institutions, individuals and projects which advance the Christian faith, means that the church does impact and bring benefit to sections of the public well beyond Bristol and the surrounding region.

Throughout 2024-25, the Senior Leadership Team and Trustees of Woodlands Church Family have continued to process and act on agreed recommendations from a ‘Strategic Review’ completed in March 2023. Rachel Riddall and Nigel Savage have successfully transitioned into leadership of our Woodlands Central congregation, freeing David Mitchell up to better fulfil an oversight role for the whole of Woodlands Church Family.

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A major rebranding exercise has taken place as an outcome of the review, re-enforcing our coherence as a church family, and the next phase of that rebrand will take place in Summer 2025 with a new website acting as a landing point and signpost to all our eight sites.

The Woodlands Academy, bringing together training resources and leadership development for Woodlands Church Family as suggested in the review, has been launched (more on this elsewhere in the report).

As we look back on 2024/25, the following are examples of our key ministry activities throughout the year as we sought to put faith into practice in a variety of ways:

Global Partnerships

One of our strategic aims is ‘to bless the nations of the world, especially the poorest and persecuted and to care for the planet’.

Woodlands Church Family actively supports several individuals and charities who we refer to as ‘global partners’.

Currently, there are 36 active global partners working in 16 countries across the world, including 6 based in the UK, focused on international work.

Financial support : We made grants totalling £236,696 (2023/24: £229,229) to a significant number of individuals/families and institutions. Further details can be found in note 7 of the accounts;

Our partnership with Hands at Work in Africa, shared with the George Muller Charitable Trust, has continued to deepen, with grants in total given of £45,559 (2023/24: £24,820);

Supporting short-term mission : We believe that long-term calling to mission often starts with a shortterm trip. In 2024/25, our short-term fund supported six volunteers to Romania, France, and US/Uganda/Argentina for young people to undergo mission training and outreach or to support our global partners.

In February 2025, we launched four more short term mission trips for the Summer, supporting global partners in France, South Africa and Peru as well as a sister organisation in Cambodia. At time of writing each team has a dedicated leader and over 20 volunteer sign-ups from across Woodlands Church Family.

Pastoral support : We regularly contacted our global partners for personal and ministry updates, via their local ‘champions’ and directly. To support this further, our global advocate Johnny Walker was funded to visit more locations (North-West Africa, France and the Middle East) to pastorally support 10 global partners. A “Signal” App group was also started, which allows for free and secure discussion between all global partners and the Bristol-based leaders.

Sustained prayer: This continues to be the bedrock of global partnerships work, with monthly prayer meetings which continue to regularly draw 25-35 attending in a hybrid format (face-to-face and virtual), where two global partners ‘Zoom’ into the meeting each month to share their needs. There is also

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regular international focus in weekly Sunday gatherings, on monthly offering Sundays and in the prayer rooms during our 24/7 prayer weeks.

Accountability: We continued our ‘Life Ministry Reviews’, with 36 of our global partners submitting formal annual reviews in March to church leadership, highlighting areas of success, growth life changes, as well as ongoing concerns and need. This continues to be a very helpful exercise in supporting their ongoing pastoral and financial needs and assessing the effectiveness of their work.

Global partners’ accommodation in Bristol: This year, a Henleaze two-bedroom missions flat (formerly owned by the Lloyd Johnstone (Bristol) Trust), was, along with an accompanying financial endowment, donated to Woodlands Church Family for the ongoing stewardship of this resource. A management committee of three people manages bookings and maintenance of the property. It continues to be dedicated to the sole use of returning mission partners linked with Woodlands Church Family and other churches and is free at the point of use. The property is fully booked until March 2026.

Enhancing global partners’ digital skills: To upskill global partners in sharing their news visually and digitally, the church funded a number of wireless microphones so that smart phones could be used to record and share their news to supporters and in services, with high quality sound. A film producer also created a training manual for taking short videos on smartphones and held a training course for returning global partners in June 2024 which was enthusiastically received.

Annual Global Partners weekend : This continues to be a fixed calendar event in June each year. It serves as a time of refreshing for returning global partners and an opportunity for the congregations to focus on giving, praying and going to those who are yet to hear the gospel.

City and Community Outreach

Woodlands Church Family is committed to social action and evangelism in the Bristol region through our own activities and in partnership with many local agencies. Much of this work is with the most marginalised members of our local communities and we aim to support them through practical expressions of God’s love as well as offering them the opportunity to get involved in church life and encounter Jesus.

Examples of this during the year were:

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place, where events and community activities will take place throughout the year.

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• Once again, a highlight of the year was the Single Parents Fair in November 2024. Over 60 volunteers from across Woodlands Church Family blessed over 100 single parent families in the area with donated second-hand clothes, books and toys, as well as family portraits, professional haircuts, refreshments, and cookery lessons - all provided free of charge. There were also a wide range of advice stands representing a variety of organisations.

• The Community Church weekly Wellbeing Cafe provided a safe place for members of the community struggling with their mental health and

wellbeing to connect with others, enjoy a range of arts and craft activities, and hear helpful input about managing their wellbeing.

City and Community Outreach Charitable Loans

Over the years, Woodlands Church Family has employed a strategy to see thriving churches in local communities by providing short-term secured loans to enable key workers and volunteers to be able to purchase a house in those communities. It has been our experience that having people living in the heart of communities, getting involved in community life and resourcing local outreach makes a significant difference in fruitfulness and growth. These loans have typically been 3-5 years in duration and, once repaid, were being recycled to enable further loans to be made. These loans are classified as programme-related investments in these financial statements because their purpose is not to generate a commercial financial return but to enable people to enhance ministry by living and serving Christ in the community to which they are called.

In 2022/23, in light of the emerging cost-of-living crisis and escalating inflation and interest rates, the Trustees decided to close the scheme to new applications given the challenges of assessing applicant

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loan affordability in an uncertain economic environment. Once existing loans have been repaid, alternative uses for the funds will be determined on a case-by-case basis in order to further the purposes of the charity. The Trustees are thankful for the charitable benefit and fruitfulness that this strategy has yielded over the years, but recognise that the specialised skills required, the inherent risks, and the opportunity costs associated with its continuation render it no longer appropriate to pursue.

However, as an exception in the prior financial year, the Trustees decided to extend a short-term housing loan to a member of key management personnel, in order to ensure stability during a period of transition of leadership at our Woodlands Central congregation. Details of this loan are included in note 25 of the financial statements.

The current carrying value of loans outstanding is shown as a designated fund in these financial statements. There were eight such loans outstanding at the year end (2024: eight), with none disbursed or repaid in the year. The value of the outstanding loans was £1,951,040 (2023/24: £1,981,040).

Gathered Church

Woodlands Church Family exists to enable people to find and grow in their relationship with God and the Christian faith, and to bless the city of Bristol, serving people of all faiths and none.

At the core of this vision is a strategy to plant congregations in neighbourhoods all over the city and region, in partnership with the wider Church in the City as representatives of ‘Churches Together’. This January, as part of that vision, we have begun a new congregation in Easton, at the request of an ageing church to take over their building and legacy. This has been, so far, a very positive initiative. Under the leadership of Matt Dobson, about 70 people have re-located from Central to Easton joining with a handful of members from the previous congregation (Chelsea Christian Centre) and attracting a number of newcomers already.

Woodlands Church Family continues to gather on Sundays at the large central location of Woodlands Church in Clifton which runs four regular services on Sundays, and in six other neighbourhood sites in Bristol and now into North Somerset. Our model is based on an understanding that church can exist in the modes of Cell (the small group, or ‘Church in the home’), Congregation (‘Church in a neighbourhood’) and Celebration (‘Church in the City’). Our Woodlands Central 6:30pm service provides that gathered Celebration context. It is also the home for our student and young adult cohorts. A typical Sunday will see 1,000 people through the doors at Woodlands Central.

The visibility of large church feeds into the prominence and success of our events, including our termly Alpha courses and our Wholeness courses which hundreds of people will attend over a year. At our 3[rd] Sunday evening services, a number of churches associated with Woodlands from around the region are specially invited to join us when the service includes a ‘Bible School’ option during the sermon, hosted by the Woodlands Academy.

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It was wonderful to celebrate Christmas and Easter services this year and to see large numbers attending our suite of services, as well as participating online. Our portfolio of Christmas services included Contemporary Carols, Carols by Candlelight, ‘Folky Christmas’ and a midnight service. Our Easter events included family Good Friday services and events as well as a beautiful reflective service, and Easter Sunday saw full buildings with baptisms to celebrate.

On a typical Sunday there will be twelve public worship services conducted over all the sites where Woodlands Church Family congregations are based. In the nearby North Somerset village of Backwell we hold a family service at ‘Hillside’ that attracts up to 100 people. This increased to twice a month from May 2024 with a planned trajectory to begin weekly Sunday services in January 2026.

Woodlands Church Family congregations are very easy to find through on-line search engines, and our online services attract hundreds of watches each Sunday. Indeed, we have discovered that many people who are looking for a church explore online services

first before making in-person connection. We continued to be encouraged by the attendance of new people at our gatherings each Sunday and indeed sense a genuine spiritual hunger and curiosity growing in society at the moment, especially among young people.

Around the congregations

As well as Woodlands Central, our largest and most established congregations are Highgrove Church in Sea Mills, and the Community Church in Southmead. The leaders of those churches are part of the Senior Leadership Team of Woodlands Church Family. Our smaller and newer congregations, or ‘Church Plants,’ are Branch Community Church in Henbury, Woodlands Metro in the city centre, Woodlands Southside in Bedminster, Hillside Church in Backwell and our newest, Woodlands East in Easton.

Highgrove Church in Sea Mills continues with two morning services on Sundays and a range of programmes through the week, including youth work, a Friendship Café, Little Acorns parent and toddler group and Soul Space, an outreach particularly to women in the community. The church works closely with the Anglican Church and Sea Mills Community Initiatives in serving the whole estate and beyond.

The Community Church in Southmead has strengthened the inclusion of Hong Kong Cantonesespeaking migrants, and their presence has helped foster an increasing ethnic diversity. The church presence in the hub of a large social housing estate creates opportunities to serve. The Single Parents Fair this year was again a real example of tangible blessing to a community, and the Community Church were supported in this endeavour from across Woodlands Church Family.

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Woodlands Church Family has recently completed the purchase of Emmanuel Chapel on the large estate of Henbury as the home of Branch Community Church . Branch has regular midweek activities, including Friday’s ‘Lunchbox’ which has grown out of the Warm Spaces initiative. The church is full on Sundays for worship, and it too has grown in ethnic diversity reflecting changes in the estate itself.

Woodlands Metro appointed an interim leader, Laura Harris, to replace Philip & Kate Jinadu as Metro leaders. Post-sabbatical, the Jinadus have left Woodlands Church Family, with Philip moving to be a director of Care for the Family, and Kate as an associate pastor at Fishponds Baptist Church. Metro has held its own numerically and is currently about 70 young adult members, gathering on Sunday mornings, with a vibrant midweek ‘hub’ life. 15 members of Metro volunteered to help service the Bristol Churches’ Night Shelter and, recently, over 60 gathered for a successful weekend away.

During the year, Ruth Morgans was appointed to a permanent role as leader at Woodlands Southside which meets on Sunday afternoons in Bedminster. The Church has collaborated with other South Bristol churches to run a successful youth Alpha Course and has also opened a weekly Community Cafe in partnership with Brislington URC Church. Both initiatives have really helped promote church unity in South Bristol.

Hillside Church has moved its Sunday gatherings to Backwell 6[th] Form Centre, which provides a great opportunity for growth as the church heads towards weekly services in 2026.

A distinctive element of community at Woodlands Central has historically been the large church-linked community houses. These buildings are being sold by the charity that owned them. Woodlands Church Family has bought the final flat in the building ‘Hellier House’ next door to Woodlands Church on Belgrave Road. When tenancies in this flat end in the summer, plans are being made to refurbish the building to allow facilities lost in the community houses to have some expression here. Plans have also been approved to build a garden room as an extension of the Woodlands building into the rear church garden.

Unity and prayer underpin Woodlands Church Family, and as well as our regular congregational prayer events, the new year always begins with a week of prayer and fasting. The Tuesday of Prayer Week was again an opportunity to come together after a day of fasting, for worship and prayer, with hundreds of people from around Woodlands Church Family.

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Children and Youth Ministry

Children

Woodlands Church Family offers a wide range of activities which children and families join in with to make friends, discover and use their gifts and learn more about being disciples of Jesus.

Recruiting a paid team has been a focus most recently, as we need to replace and strengthen our existing staff team, as well as have leaders who can support our smaller congregations. We have also spent time articulating our shared values and theology around children and family ministry, which will guide us as we develop shared strategy and practices.

The following are other examples of key activities and developments that took place this year:

Youth

As the youth team in its new form moved into its second full year the collaborative youth strategy has continued to be established and is starting to bear fruit. Each site has reported growth not only in youth attendance but also with depth of relationships, maturity and with young leaders taking initiative to serve and develop their gifts.

Woodlands Central appointed two new youth ministers to serve alongside the Youth Director and the youth ministers serving at the Highgrove and Community Church congregations.

• As well as supporting or leading Christian Union clubs in five local secondary schools, the youth team provided weekly youth well-being support groups for some year 7 & 8 students in two local secondary schools.

• Three youth residential weekends away were facilitated for nearly 100 young people as well as a community day for all young people in Woodlands Church Family and one specifically for 6[th] formers, all of which are significant moments in the year to strengthen the sense of community.

• Five new youth alpha courses were facilitated to provide young people an opportunity to find a

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safe and welcoming community and a chance to explore deeper questions around life, faith and purpose.

Student Ministry

University students are at a strategic time of their lives in terms of experiences that inspire and shape the rest of their lives, but we are aware that thousands of students in Bristol have little involvement with church or the Christian faith. We want to play our part in reaching this demographic with the Good News of Jesus.

Our Woodlands Central building is strategically located near Bristol University which gives us a

great opportunity to welcome thousands of students to our Big Hot Dog Give Away during Freshers week. We were able to connect personally with hundreds of students new to Bristol, many of whom have never set foot in a church building before. It has been exciting to welcome many into our student community and a joy to see some of them being baptised. A particular encouragement has been the coming together of students from a variety of churches to worship and pray together in unity for the spread of the gospel in our universities in the city.

Discipleship, Teaching and Leadership Development

We are committed to raising up a new generation of leaders to impact the city, the region and the world with the Good News about Jesus. A key part of this is discipleship. This involves learning to imitate and obey Jesus Christ in every aspect of our lives.

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The Woodlands Church Academy was launched in September 2024. It has five schools linked to deliver training for all (Bible School, Leadership and Ministry School, Church Planting and Evangelism School, School of the Spirit and Worship School).

Several training courses have been run over the first eight months including training for mid-week church leaders, training for the new church plant at Woodlands East, worship musician workshops and the production of two online video training resources.

We relaunched the Discipleship Year for those wanting to take a gap year and serve and train within Woodlands Church Family.

The Bristol Westminster Theological Centre (‘WTC’) Hub has continued this year meeting in Woodlands Foyer and their two residentials were held at Nottingham University. There have been 25 students in this year’s hub. Four of our church plant leaders have studied with WTC which has had a positive impact on their confidence in handling the Bible and think through issues that have been very relevant to them as they have led church plants over the past year.

Woodlands Bible School has run each 3[rd] Sunday, and it has been good to have visiting speakers who have brought some great insights. There have been

opportunities for young leaders to speak and bring their passion and enthusiasm for Scripture to the group. We have expanded the Bible School by running three month-long weekday evening sessions each year.

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This year’s cohort of 13 leaders on the Leadership Learning Community have brought a lot to the discussions and have made the most of the learning opportunity. As in each year, this has been greatly appreciated.

Pastoral Care

Woodlands Church Family congregations have mid-week small groups as key elements of what it means to belong, grow as a disciple of Jesus and find contexts for serving the church. We hope that people who find faith and find their way to our church will be invited to be involved in loving and caring smaller communities. We see small groups as the first line of pastoral care and initial development of gifts and the primary place to get to know others and to be known. Many pastoral issues are picked up and managed in these small group settings.

Our second line of pastoral care includes the following:

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anxiety.

The contribution of volunteers

Most of what happens in the congregations is driven by volunteers, whether that is worship, youth and children's work, practical jobs or roles requiring specialised skills. It is not possible to quantify the contribution of volunteers to Woodlands Church Family except to say that we would not be able to carry out many of our activities without them. The church seeks to provide as many opportunities as possible for volunteers to grow in their gifts and abilities and has hundreds of people

volunteering in at least one role within church. The way in which volunteers have continued to serve faithfully and creatively throughout the last few challenging years is something for which we are so thankful to God.

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OUR FINANCES

The finances of Woodlands Church Family are stewarded and administered by the Finance Committee, ably supported by an excellent finance team of staff and volunteers, on behalf of the Trustee Board and Senior Leadership Team. The leadership teams of the more established Woodlands Church Family sites operate with their own budget which is based on core giving from those committed to that site, local spending priorities and contributions to shared costs across the charity.

In 2024/25, total income and endowments received was £2,727,385 compared to £1,975,879 in the prior year, an increase driven primarily by the donation of assets and liabilities from the Lloyd Johnstone (Bristol) Trust at the start of the year of £644,495. In the context of a significant one-off gift received, donations have increased, but core giving to free funds (an internal key measure we use to budget for future spending) decreased by 3%. Whilst this is not a surprise in the face of a continued difficult economic environment, the Trustees are prayerfully confident that the underlying health of Woodlands Church Family will lead to steady growth in financial giving in future years.

Income from Charitable activities increased from £229,062 in the prior year to £259,782 with increased rental income and an increase in the number of events and weekends away.

Investment income remained static at £248,365 (2023/24: £248,478, with falling interest rates on cash deposits offset by increased dividend income following the donation of an investment portfolio from the Lloyd Johnstone (Bristol) Trust) at the start of the year (see note 20).

Total expenditure was £1,747,421 (2023/24: £1,624,254); a rise of 7.6%, driven by increase mission giving at home and overseas, continued investment in staffing and the ongoing development of our infrastructure. A total of £324,163 (2023/24: £282,608) was spent on grants for mission and blessing the poor and persecuted both in the UK and overseas.

Our Financial Reserves

Free reserves available for use by Woodlands Church Family are deemed to be those that are readily realisable, less funds whose uses are restricted or else designated for particular purposes. The calculation thus excludes £3,886,884 representing tangible fixed assets that will continue to be used in the day-to-day running, endowed investments of £297,815 and restricted funds of £168,504. The calculation also excludes the carrying value of charitable loans held as programme related investments of £1,951,040, which are not readily realisable assets and are held in designated funds. It also excludes other designated funds of £4,081,552 including the Capacity Development Fund of £1,510,608, which exists to enable the development of the charity’s properties, meet any unexpected, exceptional asset repairs and replacements and the redevelopment of a recently purchased property for the charity’s work.

The purpose, balances and movements of each designated fund are explained clearly within note 18 of the accounts.

Each year the Trustees review the level of free reserves and the appropriateness of the free reserves policy. The Board considers our exposure to major risks in terms of their likely impact on its income sources and planned expenditure in the medium term. They also consider the opportunities available to them for expansion and growth in the facilities and activities of Woodlands Church Family.

The target range for free reserves reflects the uncertain economic environment and the higher commitments relating to permanent employed staff arising from an expanding team and rising building costs.

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The target range for free reserves is £563,467 to £845,201, equal to between 6 and 9 months of reported expenditure in the Free Reserves fund. At the year end, the actual free reserves, as clearly shown within the financial statements, were £726,427 (2023/24: £672,842), which is equivalent to 7.7 months of reported expenditure in the Free Reserves Fund. This is within the target range.

Financial Impact of Significant Events

The Trustees are conscious of the challenging economic and social conditions brought about by the continued global uncertainties caused by geopolitical events in Europe and North America. As well as seeking to use the charity’s resources to meet some of these needs, the Trustees are thankful to God that we have not seen a significant drop in giving income or a sustained drop in other sources of income in recent years. The Trustees will be budgeting carefully for the coming financial year given these factors but are satisfied that the level of reserves held by the charity will enable the continuation of the charity’s activities into the future.

The Trustees confirm their assessment that the charity is a going concern as at the date of the signing of the accounts, despite the ongoing global uncertainty.

Our Investment powers and policy

The Memorandum and Articles of Association allow the Trustees to invest in any stocks, funds, shares, securities or other investments of whatsoever nature as the Trustees shall, in their absolute discretion, think fit.

The Trustees have an Investment Policy covering the charity’s Financial, Programme Related and Mixed Purpose Investments. In particular, the Trustees have sought to ensure that the time horizon of the likely use of all funds is matched well to the investment vehicle used.

In the case of Financial Investments, the charity seeks to produce the best financial return within an acceptable level of risk and has sought to articulate its responsible investments approach within its investment policy, taking into account the social, ethical and environmental impact of investments. The Trustees have joined other faith charities in signing a pledge not to invest in fossil fuels.

The investment objective for funds needed in the medium to long term is to generate a return in excess of inflation over the long term whilst generating an income to support the ongoing activities of the charity. For funds needed in the short term, the investment objective is to preserve the capital value with a minimum level of risk. Assets should be readily available to meet unanticipated cash flow requirements.

Our approach grant-making

The charity has a grant making policy and makes grants to individuals and organisations engaged in mission and ministry and primarily with whom we have developed long term partnerships. Most of these partners are members of the church family serving on short-term, medium-term or long-term mission trips. With the exception of members of the church family going on short term mission, there is not a

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formal application process for grant funds. Missionary financial support is instead just a part of a wider range of on-going communication and prayer support for the work.

The charity also makes grants from the Needy Saints Fund to individuals in the church facing financial hardship as a result of redundancy, loss, relationship breakdown or low income.

Our approach to charging for events and activities

Woodlands Church Family is committed to making its activities accessible to as wide a range of people as possible and so seeks to minimise the cost of events and, where a charge is levied, subsidies are offered by congregational leadership teams where appropriate to ensure that money is not a barrier to people participating in activities. Church services are entirely free with no obligation to pay or give and the church offers many activities, courses and services without charge.

Our approach to fundraising

Whilst the primary source of income for the charity is voluntary donations, the church does not regularly engage in significant public fundraising. Most of the giving is from committed attenders who express their ‘belonging’ and commitment to the congregations through regular and one-off giving to share in the ministry costs of church life. The church prayerfully teaches about the biblical principles of financial stewardship and generosity in the context of discipleship. From time to time, the leaders encourage giving towards particular global or local partners or mission projects and, very occasionally, hold offerings for special projects such as building developments. The charity does not subscribe to any particular fundraising scheme or standards but regularly reviews the charity’s practices to ensure that any incidental fundraising is carried out appropriately.

Each congregation has monthly Sunday service offerings to support global and local mission. All gifts collected, including any attributable Gift Aid and Gift Aid on Small Donations relief, is used to support our global and local mission partners without deduction. In addition, at the discretion of the local congregation leadership teams, a discretionary percentage of up to 50% is sometimes added from free reserves to such offerings.

OUR FUTURE PLANS

Woodlands Church Family has been excited to see the growth and development of new and recent church plants this year and is continuing to invest in leadership capacity and enabling the sharing of resources together to enable all sites to thrive and multiply.

Woodlands Church Family is also continuing to further develop the organisational and administration structures appropriate to a growing group of congregations in the current environment. The launch of new Woodlands Church Family websites in 2025-26 will help reinforce all of the work that has been going on to bring about coherence and unity to our vision, mission and values.

The redevelopment of the Hellier House building next door to our Woodlands Central building will be a key focus, to ensure that this asset can best serve the church going forward.

Leadership development and succession planning are always high on the agenda, and we will continue to develop the Woodlands Academy to equip leaders in all spheres of ministry and for future church planting and growth.

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Following a Board Effectiveness review in 2045-25, the Trustees plan to undertake an open recruitment process to select and appoint an additional Trustee, bringing the Board to nine.

OUR STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

The charity was formed in 2008 by the merger of four previous charities: Highgrove Christian Charitable Trust, Highgrove Fellowship Centre, Woodlands Church and Henleaze & Westbury Community Church.

The charity is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association adopted on 18 April 2008.

Under the Memorandum and Articles of Association, all members of the Company are Trustees, and all Trustees are members. No other formal membership is operated. The minimum number of Trustees is three; there is no maximum. Trustees are required to meet at least once a year but in practice meet 4-5 times each year.

Any new Trustees are recruited in light of the mix of skills and experience needed on the Board. Vacancies are advertised, with invitations to apply encouraged from across Woodlands Church Family. Applicants are interviewed and invited to sit in on a Board meeting to help assess chemistry and fit and to allow all to engage in prayer and listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit. In selecting persons to be appointed, the Trustees take into account the benefits of appointing a person who is able by virtue of his or her professional qualifications or experience to make a contribution to the pursuit of the purposes and governance of Woodlands Church Family. Selected candidates are appointed by a simple majority of Trustees at a meeting or by a formal resolution.

Any new Trustees receive an Induction Pack appropriate to their level of existing knowledge of and involvement with Woodlands Church Family. As a minimum, new Trustees receive a copy of the Charity Commission publication CC3 – The Essential Trustee together with the charity’s governing document and the latest Annual Report and Accounts.

The Trustees are aware of the importance of maintaining their knowledge of current charity and related legislation and best practice, so Trustees take advantage of external trustee training sessions and, where not all members of the Board of Trustees are present, circulate any relevant information and guidance to the other Trustees for due consideration.

The role of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and the Trustees

The SLT is responsible for the overall spiritual and day-to-day operational leadership of Woodlands Church Family. The Trustees have overall legal responsibility, taking account of the spiritual direction of Woodlands Church Family set by the Senior Leadership Team, who themselves are always to act in accordance with the Memorandum and Articles of Association and the general law.

The Key Management Personnel of the charity consists of the Trustees and the Senior Leadership Team. Four Trustees are also members of the Senior Leadership Team. Where, as permitted by the Memorandum and Articles of Association, such individuals or those closely connected with them are remunerated by the charity, their pay is set by the non-remunerated members of the Trustee Board each year.

David Mitchell, the leader of Senior Leadership Team, is line-managed by the Chair of Trustees and reports to the Board at each meeting on key developments and challenges across Woodlands Church Family. The Board of Trustees delegates some of its functions to a Finance Committee meeting four times a year, and to a Property Strategy Group which meets when needed. Agreed terms of reference are in place for both.

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WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Church leaders and teams

Woodlands Church Family has delegated the day-to-day oversight and direction of its eight sites to congregational leadership teams. These teams meet regularly to oversee delivery of activities in accordance with the vision, mission, values of Woodlands Church Family as it pursues its charitable purposes. Members of the Trustee Board and Senior Leadership Team regularly meet with the congregational leaders to review progress, provide any advice and assistance as required and provide accountability around goals, vision and values.

PUBLIC BENEFIT

The Trustees have taken account of the Charity Commission’s guidance on Public Benefit where appropriate when exercising their powers and duties, planning and reviewing the aims, objectives and activities of Woodlands Church Family. Throughout this report, the Trustees have sought to demonstrate the many ways that it delivers benefit to the public – whether they are members of one of the congregations that are part of the church, another church or have no church or other religious affiliation.

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

The Trustees (who are also directors of Woodlands Group of Churches for the purposes of company law) 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).

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for the year. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as the Trustees are aware:

20

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Corporate Governance

Internal controls over all forms of commitment and expenditure are continually reviewed to improve efficiency and enable the Trustees to discharge their responsibilities around safeguarding the charity’s assets. Processes are in place to ensure that performance is monitored and that appropriate management information is prepared and reviewed regularly by the Senior Leadership Team, the Finance Committee and the Board of Trustees.

The systems of internal control are designed to provide reasonable but not absolute assurance against material misstatement or loss. They include:

Risk Management

The Trustees have a formal risk management process, which has been reviewed and kept updated during the current financial year. This involves identifying the types of risks the Charity faces, prioritising them in terms of potential impact and likelihood of occurrence, and identifying means of managing or mitigating the risks and the individual responsible for managing each risk.

The Trustees have a formal incident recording process to identify incidents that can inform the risk management process.

The Trustees carry out an annual review of the principal risks to which the charity is exposed, and systems have been established to manage those and other risks.

The Trustees consider the principal risks facing Woodlands Church Family to be as follows:

  1. The risk that a lack of clarity on vision impedes our ability to deliver on our charitable purposes. This may arise from the loss of key leaders, an organisational focus drowning out the church being Spirit-led, poor succession planning or failing to empower the next generation of leaders. This risk is being addressed through the development of leaders through the Woodlands Academy, the establishment of a succession working group, regular times of worship and prayer across all our teams (including the Senior Leadership Team) and the implementation of a 360 review process for all staff.

  2. The risk of inconsistency and inefficiency across our sites leading to wasted effort and a lack of unity .

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WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

This risk is being addressed through an increase in relational and operational overlap between congregation leaders, the articulation and reinforcement of shared values in 2024/25, the development of platforms to share resources and the proactive priority given by the Senior Leader in maintaining good communication and unity across all sites.

Auditors

A resolution proposing that Gravita Audit Western Limited be reappointed as auditors of the charitable company will be put to the Annual General Meeting.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small companies.

Signed by order of the board of Trustees:

Mr E J Marsh (Chair of Trustees)

Mr D J Mitchell (Senior Leader and Trustee)

17 July 2025

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WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Company registration no: 06569993 Charity registration no: 1125029 Registered office address: Woodlands Christian Centre Belgrave Road Clifton Bristol BS8 2AA Website addresses: www.woodlandschurch.net www.thecommunitychurch.net www.highgrove.church www.woodlandsmetro.church www.branchchurch.co.uk www.woodlandssouthside.church www.woodlandseast.church www.woodlandschurch.net/hillside

Members of the Board of Trustees

The trustees, who are also directors for the purposes of Company law, that served during the year and since the year end, are:

Mrs A Addison Vice-Chair Mr S Bodley Mrs A Dawson Mr T J Dobson Mr E J Marsh Chair Mr W Matthews Vice-Chair Mr D J Mitchell Mr D Roderick Senior Leadership Team (SLT) of the Woodlands Church Family Mr D J Mitchell (Senior Leader of the Woodlands Church Family) Mr T J Dobson Mrs K Jinadu (until May 2024) Mr P O Jinadu (until May 2024) Mrs D A Marsh Mr E J Marsh Mr R Pollard (until April 2024) Mrs R Riddall Mr D Roderick Mr J Saunders Mr M Smith Mr N Savage Mrs H C Thompson

Principal Service Providers and Professional Advisers Auditor

Gravita Audit Western Limited, Bath House, 6-8 Bath Street, Bristol, BS1 6HL

Solicitors and Employment Advisers

Capstone Law, 62 Gloucester Road, Bristol, BS7 8BH Keelys LLP, 28 Dam Street, Lichfield, Staffordshire, WS13 6AA

Banking and Investments

The Cooperative Bank plc, PO Box 101, 1 Balloon Street, Manchester, M60 4EP Lloyds Bank, 15 High Street, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, BS9 3DA

Bank of Scotland, 2[nd] floor, Pentland House, 8 Lochside Avenue, South Gyle, Edinburgh, EH12 9DJ. Epworth Investment Management Ltd, 9 Bonhill Street, London, EC2A 4PE

Evelyn Partners Investment Management, 4[th] Floor, Portwall Place, Portwall Lane, Bristol, BS1 6NA

23

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Woodlands Group of Churches (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 March 2025 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, the Statement of Cash Flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the trustees’ annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial

24

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of our knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the directors’ report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 20, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

25

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Explanation as to what extent the audit was considered capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below:

Because of the inherent limitations of an audit, there is a risk that we will not detect all irregularities, including those leading to a material misstatement in the financial statements or non-compliance with regulation. This risk increases the more that compliance with a law or regulation is removed from the

26

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, as we will be less likely to become aware of instances of non-compliance. The risk is also greater regarding irregularities occurring due to fraud rather than error, as fraud involves intentional concealment, forgery, collusion, omission or misrepresentation.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the FRC's website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditors/audit-assurance-ethics/auditors-responsibilities-for-the-audit. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Matthew Bracher BSc FCA (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of Gravita Audit Western Limited, Statutory Auditor Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditors

Bath House 6-8 Bath Street Bristol BS1 6HL

17 July 2025

27

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Unrestricted
Free
Reserves
Note
£
Income and Endowments from
:
Donations and legacies
Offerings and donations
2
1,253,828
Assets from The Lloyd Johnstone Trust
20
-
Charitable activities
3
67,651
Investments
4
-
Total
1,321,479
Expenditure on
:
Charitable activities
Global Partnerships
34,600
City and Community Outreach
122,218
Gathered Church
377,160
Children and Youth Ministry
227,199
Student Ministry
127,897
Discipleship & Leadership Development
154,140
Pastoral Care
62,656
5
1,105,870
Raising funds
8
21,064
Total
1,126,934
Net gains/(losses) on investments
15
-
Net income/(expenditure)
9
194,545
Transfers between funds
18
(140,960)
Other (losses)/gains
-
53,585
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought forward
672,842
Total funds carried forward
18
726,427		 Unrestricted
Designated
funds
£
44,177
-
187,395
237,064
468,636
60,393
59,828
60,663
102,805
35,793
30,623
15,705
365,810
-
365,810
55,883
158,709
141,813
-
300,522
9,293,954
9,594,476		 Restricted
funds
£
276,738
25,696
4,736
11,301
318,471
170,670
64,660
3,951
4,554
2,837
212
4,231
251,115
-
251,115
-
67,356
(853)
(95)
66,408
102,096
168,504		 Endowment
funds
£
-
618,799
-
-
618,799
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
3,562
3,562
6,936
622,173
-
-
622,173
-
622,173		 Total funds
2025
£
1,574,743
644,495
259,782
248,365
2,727,385
265,663
246,706
441,774
334,558
166,527
184,975
82,592
1,722,795
24,626
1,747,421
62,819
1,042,783
-
(95)
1,042,688
10,068,892
11,111,580		 Total funds
2024
£
1,498,339
-
229,062
248,478
1,975,879
252,764
201,770
424,094
272,367
189,299
181,678
84,320
1,606,292
17,962
1,624,254
204,194
555,819
-
(509)
555,310
9,513,582
10,068,892

Fund comparatives are disclosed in note 20.

The notes on pages 32 to 51 form part of these financial statements

28

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES SUMMARY INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Income from
:
Donations and legacies
Charitable activities
Investments
Income in the reporting period
Expenditure on
:
Charitable activities
Raising funds
Total expenditure in the reporting period
Net gains on investments
Net income for the financial year		 2025
£
1,600,439
259,782
248,365
2,108,586
1,722,795
21,064
1,743,859
55,883
420,610		 2024
£
1,498,339
229,062
248,478
1,975,879
1,606,292
17,962
1,624,254
204,194
555,819

The Charity has no recognised gains or losses other than the results for the period as set out above. All income and expenditure has arisen from the continuing activities.

The notes on pages 32 to 51 form part of these financial statements

29

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

BALANCE SHEET

AS AT 31 MARCH 2025

Note
Fixed assets:
Tangible assets
12
Programme related investments
13
Financial Investments
15
Current assets:
Debtors
16
Programme related investments
13
Mixed purpose investments
14
Cash at bank and on short term deposit
Liabilities:
Creditors : Amounts falling due within
one year
17
Net current assets
Total assets less current liabilities
Total net assets
The funds of the charity:
Unrestricted income funds
Free reserves
Earmarked Giving Funds (designated)
Fixed Asset NBV (designated)
Charitable Loans NBV (designated)
Capacity Development (designated)
Housing the Homeless (designated)
Property Purchases (designated)
St James/UPA (designated)
Mental Health and Wellbeing (designated)
South Bristol Church Planting (designated)
Strategic Projects (designated)
Woodlands Church Family Staffing (designated)
Unrealised Investment Gains (designated)
19
Restricted income funds
19
Endowment capital funds
19
Total charity funds		 3,886,884
1,583,540
3,570,558
66,501
368,350
500,000
1,201,179
2,136,030
(65,432)
726,427
84,886
3,561,884
1,951,040
1,510,608
500,000
878,640
59,552
33,121
-
20,431
139,217
855,097		 2025
£
9,040,982
2,070,598
11,111,580
11,111,580
10,320,903
168,504
622,173
11,111,580		 2,607,278
1,981,040
3,216,860
73,377
3,206
500,000
1,747,949
2,324,532
(60,818)
672,842
123,062
2,607,278
1,981,040
408,302
511,000
2,644,218
59,018
14,511
36,000
50,000
60,311
799,214		 2024
£
7,805,178
2,263,714
10,068,892
10,068,892
9,966,796
102,096
-
10,068,892

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small charitable companies and were approved by the Trustees on 17 July 2025 and are signed on their behalf by:

Mr E J Marsh Chair of Trustees Company registration number: 06569993

Mr D J Mitchell Trustee and Senior Leader

The notes on pages 32 to 51 form part of these financial statements

30

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

Note
Operational cash flows
Cash flows for
operating activities
Receipts from Donations and Legacies
22 (A.1)
Payments for Raising funds
22 (B.1)
Net inflow for operating activities
Cash flows from
operating activities
Receipts from Charitable activities
22 (A.2)
Payments for Charitable activities
22 (B.2)
Receipts from Programme-related investments
22 (C.1)
Receipts from Mixed Purpose investments
22 (C.2)
Additions to Programme-related investments
13
Repayments from Programme-related investments
13
Net inflow of operating activities
Non-operational cash flows
Investing activities:
Receipts from Financial investments
22 (D.1)
Purchase of tangible fixed assets
12
Net cash (used in)/generated by investing activities
Net cash (outflow)/inflow for the year
23		 Total funds
2025
£
1,600,446
(21,064)
1,579,382
276,179
(1,714,710)
77,426
21,000
-
32,125
(1,307,980)
271,402
150,865
(969,037)
(818,172)
(546,770)		 Total funds
2024
£
1,493,300
(17,962)
1,475,338
236,637
(1,576,199)
78,517
22,000
(173,560)
365,944
(1,046,661)
428,677
148,492
(35,896)
112,596
541,273

Charity law prohibits the use of net cash flows on any restricted fund to offset net cash outflows on any fund outside of its own purposes, except on special authority. In practice, this restriction has not had any effect on cash flows for the year.

The notes on pages 32 to 51 form part of these financial statements

31

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

1 Accounting policies

a) Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost basis with the exception of financial investments which are shown at fair value. The financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis and in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019) – (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Companies Act 2006.

The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined under FRS 102. The presentation currency is pounds sterling.

The Statement of Cash Flows has been prepared on the gross/direct basis, as permitted by the Charities SORP. Cash has been defined as cash in hand and short-term deposits of less than 3 months for the purposes of the Statement of Cash Flows. The Balance sheet additionally includes short term deposits of less than one year within cash in hand.

There are no material uncertainties about the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, despite the economic uncertainties and inflationary pressures over the last few years. The charity has sufficient reserves to be able to meet these challenges and have also observed how well core giving income has held up over the last few years.

There have been no management judgements or any key sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date in the financial statements that give rise to a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next reporting period.

b) Funds

Unrestricted free reserves are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in the furtherance of the charitable purposes of the charity.

Designated funds form part of unrestricted funds and have been identified as being for particular purposes by the Trustees. They are not restricted and can be transferred to free reserves at any time at the discretion of the Trustees. Material designated funds are identified and explained in note 18.

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the purposes of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes. Expenditure which meets these criteria is charged to the fund. The purpose and use of each material restricted fund is set out in note 18.

Endowment funds are funds to be retained for the benefit of the charity, although these funds can be converted into income and are therefore expendable.

(c) Income

All income is included in the Statement of Financial Activities when the charity is legally entitled to the income, when the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy and receipt is probable. The following specific policies are applied to particular categories of income:

Donations and Legacies are included in full in the Statement of Financial Activities when receivable, except as follows:

32

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

1 Accounting policies (continued)

Gift Aid relief on eligible donations is recognised on an accruals basis at the same point as the original donation.

Investment Income represented by interest on bank deposits, dividends receivable, interest on programme-related investments and interest on mixed purpose investments is recognised when receivable. Investment income from Mixed Purpose Investments and Bank Interest is added to the ‘WCF Staffing’ designated fund, with the remaining investment income being allocated to the ‘Property Purchases’ designated fund. The purpose of these funds is described fully in note 18.

Rental income is recognised within Income from Charitable Activities as the promotion of student community living and the hiring of the buildings for weddings and other Christian conferences and events is considered part of the activities the charity undertakes to achieve its purposes. The rental income on student rooms is recognised when invoiced (usually on a monthly basis) and, for events, is recognised in the period the event takes place. Net rental income is apportioned to the ‘WCF Staffing’ designated fund.

Donated services and facilities are included in the Statement of Financial Activities at their value to the charity at the date of the gift. Donated assets which are capitalised are included in the financial statements at fair value. In accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice, no amounts are included in the financial statements for services donated by volunteers.

(d) Expenditure

Expenditure is recognised on an accruals basis as and when a legal or constructive obligation arises.

Expenditure is allocated to the identified Charitable Activities directly, where applicable. Shared and support costs relating to employing church workers, administration costs and premises costs are allocated to Charitable Activities as follows:

Shared or Support cost Basis of allocation Church workers Estimated time spent on each activity Administration costs Estimated usage of the resource Premises costs Estimated usage of the resource

These estimates are reviewed on an annual basis.

Grants payable are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in the accounting period in which communication of the award is communicated to the recipient.

Governance costs include those costs associated with meeting the constitutional and statutory requirements of the charity and include the audit fees and costs linked to the strategic management of the charity. Governance costs are included within Support costs.

33

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

1 Accounting policies (continued)

(e) Foreign currency

The microfinance element of the charity’s programme related investments are managed in US$. In view of there being a very large number of small loans, the transactions are not converted to £s at the transaction date but the US$ balances at the year-end are converted to £s at the year-end rate. Gains and losses on exchange are treated as other gains and losses within the Statement of Financial Activities.

(f) Tangible fixed assets and depreciation

Fixed assets are stated at cost and new items costing more than £3,000 are capitalised. Depreciation is calculated so as to write off the cost of fixed assets on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives on the following basis:

Freehold property: No depreciation charged (see below) Audio, Visual and office equipment: 20% Furniture and Fittings: 20% (with some assets being depreciated at 10%)

No depreciation is charged in the year of acquisition and a full year’s depreciation is charged in the year of disposal. No provision for depreciation has been made for freehold property as it is the view of the Trustees that the estimated residual value of each property is not materially different from the carrying value. The Trustees undertake an impairment review whenever they identify any indicators that impairment may have occurred.

Donated properties have been included in the Balance Sheet at their current value at the date of the gift.

The charity owns three residential properties located adjacent to two of its church buildings. These properties were purchased and are held for the charitable benefit derived from their proximity to the church. Such benefits include better parking and access to church premises, the use of gardens for church events and activities and the ability to offer housing to staff and volunteers, where the proximity to the churches is to the benefit of its operations. Where vacancies arise, the charity seeks to rent rooms to such volunteers or staff. Where no such tenants are in prospect, the charity makes short-term lets to other members of the public in order to steward its resources well. As the charity holds the properties primarily for the benefit of its charitable purposes rather than for rental, the properties are held as functional fixed assets and not as investment properties.

(g) Financial instruments

A financial asset or a financial liability is recognised only when the charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at the amount receivable or payable including any related transaction costs.

Debt instruments are subsequently measured at amortised cost.

Where investments in shares are publicly traded or their fair value can otherwise be measured reliably, the investment is subsequently measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognised in income and expenditure. All other such investments are subsequently measured at cost less impairment.

34

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

1 Accounting policies (continued)

Other financial instruments, including derivatives, are initially recognised at fair value, unless payment for an asset is deferred beyond normal business terms or financed at a rate of interest that is not a market rate, in which case the asset is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest for a similar debt instrument.

Any reversals of impairment are recognised immediately, to the extent that the reversal does not result in a carrying amount of the financial asset that exceeds what the carrying amount would have been had the impairment not previously been recognised.

(h) Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount due after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

(i) Financial investments

Listed investments are held in both a common investment fund and as separate portfolio managed under the discretionary mandate. Investments are stated at market value at the balance sheet date. The Statement of Financial Activities includes the net gains and losses arising on revaluations and disposals during the year.

(j) Programme-related and mixed purpose investments

Programme-related investments consist of charitable loans; some of which carry an interest rate and some which are interest-free. These investments are carried at cost less any provision for impairment less any repayments received. Mixed purpose investments are held for a financial return but also contribute to the charity’s purposes.

(k) Lease contracts

Rentals applicable to operating lease agreements where substantially all of the benefits and risks of ownership remain with the lessor are charged to the Statement of Financial Activities on a straight-line basis over the period of the lease.

(l) Creditors and provisions

Creditors and provisions are recognised where the charity has a present obligation resulting from a past event that will probably result in the transfer of funds to a third party and the amount due to settle the obligation can be measured or estimated reliably. Creditors and provisions are normally recognised at their settlement amount after allowing for any trade discounts due.

The charity makes grants to financially support global partners overseas and to UK-based missionaries and mission organisations. Where an individual or organisation has been supported by the charity for a number of years, strict compliance with the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice may regard some arrangements as constituting constructive obligations such that future years’ support is accounted immediately as a liability.

The Trustees are confident that the individuals and organisations supported would not view their support as an open-ended obligation on the part of the charity as they are aware that all support is reviewable annually.

(m) Pension costs

The charity contributes to a defined contribution pension plan on behalf of its eligible employees. The contributions are recognised as an expense in the period in which the related service is provided.

35

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

2 Offerings and donations

Unrestricted
Free
Reserves
Year ended 31 March 2025
£
Tithes, offerings, donations and legacies
1,024,094
Gift Aid tax reclaims
229,734
Grants receivable
-
1,253,828
Previous year ended 31 March 2024
Tithes, offerings, donations and legacies
1,009,797
Gift Aid tax reclaims
222,539
Grants receivable
-
1,232,336		 Unrestricted
Designated
funds
£
41,311
2,866
-
44,177
70,630
9,975
-
80,605		 Restricted
funds
£
237,709
31,148
7,881
276,738
158,672
26,726
-
185,398		 Total funds
£
1,303,114
263,748
7,881
1,574,743
1,239,099
259,240
-
1,498,339

Grants received in the current year included £3,720 of government grants in support of a Welcome Hub for Ukranian refugees and the first tranche (£2,100) of a Bristol City Leap grant towards the costs of an Eco-Friendly survey at Highgrove Church. No grants were received in the prior year.

3 Income from Charitable Activities

Unrestricted
Free
Reserves
Year ended 31 March 2025
£
Student rooms rents
-
Other rents and building hire
1,194
Church events and weekends away
66,457
67,651
Previous year ended 31 March 2024
Student rooms rents
-
Other rents and building hire
249
Church events and weekends away
57,242
57,491		 Unrestricted
Designated
funds
£
105,868
80,656
871
187,395
96,824
74,729
-
171,553		 Restricted
funds
£
-
-
4,736
4,736
-
-
18
18		 Total funds
£
105,868
81,850
72,064
259,782
96,824
74,978
57,260
229,062

36

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

4 Income from Investments

Unrestricted Unrestricted
Free
Designated
Restricted
Total funds
Reserves
funds
funds
2025
£
£
£
£
Bank deposit interest
-
55,389
475
55,864
Loan stock interest
-
20,667
-
20,667
Programme related investments return
-
76,833
-
76,833
Dividend income on financial investments
-
83,663
10,826
94,489
Feed in Tariff from solar panels
-
512
-
512
-
237,064
11,301
248,365
All prior year Income from Investments was incurred in Unrestricted Designated Funds.
5
Expenditure on Charitable Activities
Church
Grant
Activities worker and
funding of
undertaken
support
activities
directly
costs
Total funds
£
£
£
£
Year ended 31 March 2025
(note 7)
(note 6)
Global Partnerships
236,696
-
28,967
265,663
City and Community Outreach
87,467
25,812
133,427
246,706
Gathered Church
-
60,420
381,354
441,774
Children and Youth Ministry
-
33,052
301,506
334,558
Student Ministry
-
13,461
153,066
166,527
Discipleship & Leadership Development
8,455
24,846
151,674
184,975
Pastoral Care
4,062
1,409
77,121
82,592
336,680
159,000
1,227,115
1,722,795
Previous year ended 31 March 2024
(restated)
(restated)
Global Partnerships
229,229
-
23,535
252,764
City and Community Outreach
53,379
23,253
125,138
201,770
Gathered Church
-
46,565
377,529
424,094
Children and Youth Ministry
-
28,122
244,245
272,367
Student Ministry
-
14,561
174,738
189,299
Discipleship and Leadership Development
10,485
33,754
137,439
181,678
Pastoral Care
8,479
870
74,971
84,320
301,572
147,125
1,157,595
1,606,292		 Total funds
2024
£
63,498
22,000
77,986
84,580
414
248,478

Prior year Pastoral Care grant funding included some direct costs. These have now be re-allocated to Activities undertaken directly.

37

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

6 Church worker and Support costs

Church worker
costs
£
Year ended 31 March 2025
Global Partnerships
24,217
City and Community Outreach
99,241
Gathered Church
261,235
Children and Youth Ministry
242,634
Student Ministry
89,444
Discipleship & Leadership Development
117,488
Pastoral Care
74,746
909,005
Previous year ended 31 March 2024
Global Partnerships
19,854
City and Community Outreach
91,181
Gathered Church
254,583
Children and Youth Ministry
183,693
Student Ministry
110,504
Discipleship and Leadership Development
103,482
Pastoral Care
73,130
836,427		 Admin
costs
£
4,750
7,125
11,876
4,750
9,500
7,125
2,375
47,501
3,681
5,522
9,204
3,681
7,363
5,522
1,841
36,814		 Premises
costs
£
-
27,061
108,243
54,122
54,122
27,061
-
270,609
-
28,435
113,742
56,871
56,871
28,435
-
284,354		 Total funds
£
28,967
133,427
381,354
301,506
153,066
151,674
77,121
1,227,115
23,535
125,138
377,529
244,245
174,738
137,439
74,971
1,157,595

Included in Admin costs are Governance costs of £5,520 (2024: £5,262).

Church worker costs are allocated to activities on the basis of time spent on each activity.

Admin and Premises costs are allocated to activities on the basis of usage estimates.

38

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

7
Grant funding of Charitable activities
Global
Year ended 31 March 2025
Partnerships
£
Grants to Institutions
94,614
Grants to Individuals
142,082
236,696
Previous year ended 31 March 2024
Grants to Institutions
101,006
Grants to Individuals
128,223
229,229		 Discipleship
City and
and
Community Leadership
Outreach
Dev't
£
£
81,932
-
5,535
8,455
87,467
8,455
49,559
-
3,820
10,485
53,379
10,485		 Pastoral
Care
£
-
4,062
4,062
(restated)
-
8,479
8,479		 Total funds
£
176,546
160,134
336,680
150,565
151,007
301,572

Prior year Pastoral Care grant funding included some direct costs. These have now be re-allocated to Activities undertaken directly.

Analysis of grants to institutions

Institutions receiving over £2,500 in either the current or prior year or with Trustee links have been disclosed.

Total funds
2025
Institution name
Charitable activity
£
Beloved
City and Community Outreach
6,305
Bridges for Communities
City and Community Outreach
2,500
Bristol Noise
City and Community Outreach
3,600
Home For Good
City and Community Outreach
901
InHope (Bristol)
City and Community Outreach
12,578
L4 Enterprises CIC (Grace Network)
City and Community Outreach
25,000
Sixty One
City and Community Outreach
2,960
Urban Pursuit
City and Community Outreach
10,950
Victioria Park Baptist Church
City and Community Outreach
4,586
The George Muller Charitable Trust
Global Partnerships & City/Comm'ty Outreach
53,923
Ripple Effect
Global Partnerships
3,780
KIVA
Global Partnerships
2,097
Frontiers
Global Partnerships
-
Tearfund
Global Partnerships
5,750
ForEthiopia
Global Partnerships
2,750
Hands at Work UK
Global Partnerships
18,819
 Bristol International Trust (BISC)
Global Partnerships
4,290
Other Institutional grants
Global Partnerships & City/Comm'ty Outreach
15,757
176,546		 Total funds
2024
£
7,120
3,001
2,400
4,657
8,198
-
2,950
4,650
1,719
59,998
-
13,075
17,520
2,800
2,750
580
6,223
12,924
150,565

Institutional grant recipients marked * have a close connection with Woodlands Group of Churches by virtue of having trustees in common or key management personnel who are also on the Woodlands Group of Churches Trustee Board.

A Dawson is part of the key management personnel of Bristol International Trust (BISC). T J Dobson is a Trustee of Bristol Noise.

39

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

7 Grant funding of Charitable activities (continued)

The George Muller Charitable Trust facilitates prayer and financial support for a number of global and local mission partners. Woodlands Group of Churches partner with The George Muller Charitable Trust in supporting many of these partners, who also have a close partnership with our churches.

Included within the grants made to The George Muller Charitable Trust are grants totalling £26,740 (2024: £24,240) in respect of the charity's two partnerships with Hands at Work in Africa. An additional £18,819 (2024: £580) was given directly to Hands at Work UK bringing the total to £45,559 (2024: £24,820).

8 Expenditure on Raising funds

Unrestricted
Free
Reserves
Year ended 31 March 2025
£
Online donation processing fees
21,064
Investment management fees
-
21,064
Previous year ended 31 March 2024
Online donation processing fees
17,962
Investment management fees
-
17,962
Net income/(expenditure)
This is stated after charging:
Depreciation (see note 12)
Auditor's remuneration for statutory audit services		 Unrestricted
Designated
funds
£
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Restricted
funds
£
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Endowment
Fund
£
-
3,562
3,562
-
-
-
Total funds
2025
£
14,431
5,520		 Total funds
£
21,064
3,562
24,626
17,962
-
17,962
Total funds
2024
£
14,820
5,262

10 People resources

A summary of the cost of church workers for the current and preceding financial year is below:

Wages and Salaries
Social Security Costs
Pension costs		 2025
£
825,574
55,136
15,328
896,038		 2024
£
768,790
46,222
13,128
828,140

In the year to 31 March 2025, the average number of staff employed was 48 (2024: 51)

No employee received employment benefits of more than £60,000 in the current or preceding year.

40

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

10 People resources (continued)

The charity is heavily dependent on volunteers to conduct its activities and achieve its mission and aims. As voluntary involvement is encouraged for all those who consider themselves a part of the churches, it is impossible to reliably quantify the numbers of people or hours that the charity receives. The Trustees' report further illustrates the impact that volunteers have on the work of the charity.

The key management personnel of the charity includes the Trustees and the Senior Leadership Team. The employment benefits paid to key management were £346,865 (2024: £345,918).

The charity operated a defined contribution pension plan for its employees. The amount recognised as an expense in the year was £15,328 (2024: £13,128). The defined contribution liability is allocated between activities and funds on the same basis as the salary of the individual to whom those contributions relate.

11 Taxation

Woodlands Group of Churches is recognised as a charity for UK tax purposes and is therefore exempt from Corporation Tax on its income and gains provided that these are used for charitable purposes only.

12 Tangible fixed assets
Freehold
Property and
Improvements
£
Cost
At 1 April 2024
2,548,328
Additions
1,285,998
Disposals
-
At 31 March 2025
3,834,326
Depreciation
At 1 April 2024
-
Charge for the year
-
Disposals
-
At 31 March 2025
-
Net book value
At 31 March 2025
3,834,326
At 31 March 2024
2,548,328		 Audio,
Visual
and office
Equipment
£
184,899
-
(1,500)
183,399
164,538
7,464
(1,500)
170,502
12,897
20,361		 Furniture
& Fittings
£
84,053
8,039
-
92,092
45,464
6,967
-
52,431
39,661
38,589		 Total
£
2,817,280
1,294,037
(1,500)
4,109,817
210,002
14,431
(1,500)
222,933
3,886,884
2,607,278

Additions of £1,294,037 include property and other asset purchases of £969,037 and properties donated to the charity of £325,000 (see note 20).

41

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

13 Programme related investments
Global
Partnership
Microfinance
loans
£
At 1 April 2024
3,206
Written off loans (charged to Charitable Activities as grants payable)
(162)
Exchange rate losses
(69)
Amounts repaid
(2,125)
At 31 March 2025
850
Included within:
Fixed assets
-
Current assets
850
850		 City and
Community
Outreach
loans
£
1,981,040
-
-
(30,000)
1,951,040
1,583,540
367,500
1,951,040		 Total
£
1,984,246
(162)
(69)
(32,125)
1,951,890
1,583,540
368,350
1,951,890

Global Partnership Microfinance loans include small short term loans to entrepreneurs in poverty.

City and Community Outreach loans include short term loans to individuals to assist in their ministries linked with the charity's City and Community Outreach activities. A fuller explanation on the nature and basis for these loans is included within the Trustees' Annual Report.

14 Mixed purpose investments
At 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025
Included within:
Current assets		 Loan
Stock
£
500,000
500,000
500,000		 Other
Loans
£
-
-
-		 Total
£
500,000
500,000
500,000

Mixed purpose investments includes £500,000 of interest bearing loan stock issued by Green Pastures Community Benefit Society (an exempt charity). The funds are used to help house the homeless and are unsecured. Under the charity's investment policy, the maximum that can be invested for this purpose is limited at any one time to £500,000. These funds are held in a designated fund: 'Housing the Homeless'.

The interest earned on these investments is used to contrubute towards the costs of WCF staff.

42

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

15 Financial Investments
Market value brought forward
Acquisitions at cost
Proceeds on disposal
Movement in cash held for investment
Gains/(losses) in the year
Market value carried forward		 2025
£
3,216,860
396,215
(111,207)
5,871
62,819
3,570,558		 2024
£
3,012,666
-
-
-
204,194
3,216,860

Financial Investments consist of:

16 Debtors
Other debtors
Gift Aid tax reclaims
Prepayments and accrued income
17 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Other creditors
Taxation and social security
Accruals and deferred income		 2025
£
29,853
28,061
8,587
66,501
2025
£
4,653
12,783
47,996
65,432		 2024
£
36,770
26,217
10,390
73,377
2024
£
3,763
14,746
42,309
60,818

43

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

==> picture [509 x 646] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
18 Movement in funds
Year ended 31 March 2025 At Transfers At
1 April Income Expenditure between 31 March
2024 and gains and losses funds 2025
£ £ £ £ £
Unrestricted funds
Free reserves 672,842 1,321,479 (1,126,934) (140,960) 726,427
Earmarked Giving Funds (designated) 123,062 44,671 (82,847) - 84,886
Fixed Asset NBV (designated) 2,607,278 - - 954,606 3,561,884
Charitable Loans NBV (designated) 1,981,040 - - (30,000) 1,951,040
Capacity Development (designated) 408,302 - (14,021) 1,116,327 1,510,608
Housing the Homeless (designated) 511,000 20,667 (11,000) (20,667) 500,000
Property Purchases (designated) 2,644,218 324,312 (52,985) (2,036,905) 878,640
St James/UPA (designated) 59,018 23,293 (22,759) - 59,552
Mental Health and Wellbeing (designated) 14,511 127 (11,204) 29,687 33,121
South Bristol Church Planting (designated) 36,000 - - (36,000) -
Strategic Projects (designated) 50,000 - (29,569) - 20,431
WCF Staffing Fund (designated) 60,311 55,566 (141,425) 164,765 139,217
Unrealised Investment Gains (designated) 799,214 55,883 - - 855,097
9,966,796 1,845,998 (1,492,744) 853 10,320,903
Restricted Funds
Hands at Work (Bhandeni) 10,954 9,610 (13,302) 1,469 8,731
Hands at Work (Houtbos) 11,929 18,374 (28,440) - 1,863
Hands at Work (Missionary support) 140 7,813 (8,131) (140) (318)
Highgrove Global Partner Fund 1,344 11,697 (14,328) 3,728 2,441
Woodlands Global Partner Fund 8,193 31,363 (39,648) 11,718 11,626
The Lloyd Johnstone Trust Fund - 38,309 (8,535) - 29,774
Microfinance 3,207 - (2,355) - 852
Local Care and Mission Fund 9,493 29,110 (29,869) 8,137 16,871
Needy Saints 20,732 - (2,055) - 18,677
Reach (Single Parents Ministry) 14,894 2,259 (10,635) - 6,518
Community Church Southmead ministry - 36,621 - - 36,621
Woodlands East church plant - 29,000 (8,708) - 20,292
Sunday Mission Offerings (Branch) 347 5,000 (5,035) (271) 41
Sunday Mission Offerings (Community Church) - 13,902 (11,287) (2,615) -
Sunday Mission Offerings (Highgrove) - 3,782 - (3,782) -
Sunday Mission Offerings (Metro) - 301 (301) - -
Sunday Mission Offerings (Woodlands Central) - 17,368 - (17,368) -
Sunday Mission Offering (Southside) - 2,675 - (2,675) -
Sunday Mission Offering (WCF Offering) - 11,180 (11,486) 306 -
Other restricted funds (see description below) 20,863 50,107 (57,095) 640 14,515
102,096 318,471 (251,210) (853) 168,504
Endowment Funds (expendable)
The Lloyd Johnstone Endowment fund - 625,735 (3,562) - 622,173
- 625,735 (3,562) - 622,173
Total funds 10,068,892 2,790,204 (1,747,516) - 11,111,580
----- End of picture text -----

44

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

18 Movement in funds (continued)

Previous year ended 31 March 2024
At
1 April
2023
Unrestricted funds
£
Free reserves
688,603
Earmarked Giving Funds (designated)
127,902
Fixed Asset NBV (designated)
2,594,613
Charitable Loans NBV (designated)
2,160,225
Capacity Development (designated)
350,000
Housing the Homeless (designated)
500,000
Property Purchases (designated)
2,239,606
St James/UPA (designated)
52,370
Mental Health and Wellbeing (designated)
27,170
South Bristol Church Planting (designated)
51,000
Strategic Projects (designated)
-
WCF Staffing Fund (designated)
-
Unrealised Investment Gains (designated)
595,020
9,386,509
Restricted Funds
Hands at Work (Bhandeni)
6,151
Hands at Work (Houtbos)
10,546
Hands at Work (Missionary support)
662
Highgrove Global Partner Fund
3,700
Local Care and Mission Fund
8,158
Metro Special Offering
3,104
Highgrove Special Offering
-
Central Special Offering
-
WCF Special Offfering
-
Microfinance
16,882
Needy Saints
23,691
Reach (Single Parents Ministry)
23,930
Sunday Evening Offerings (Woodlands Centr
-
Sunday Mission Offerings (Branch)
878
Sunday Mission Offerings (Community Churc
-
Sunday Mission Offerings (Highgrove)
-
Sunday Mission Offerings (Metro)
-
Sunday Mission Offerings (Woodlands Centra
-
Sunday Mission Offering (South Bristol)
-
Woodlands Global Partner Fund
11,630
Other restricted funds (see description)
17,741
127,073
Total funds
9,513,582		 Income
and gains
£
1,289,827
80,606
-
-
-
22,000
336,448
23,718
-
-
-
37,864
204,194
1,994,657
9,384
14,823
24,142
10,604
27,611
450
7,572
15,926
-
457
2,293
2,718
4,507
9,738
3,512
2,551
10,092
3,419
29,685
5,932
185,416
2,180,073		 Expenditure
and losses
£
(1,182,596)
(85,446)
-
-
(22,194)
-
(43,968)
(17,070)
(12,659)
(9,044)
(41,106)
-
(1,414,083)
(9,530)
(13,440)
(24,952)
(16,472)
(32,099)
(3,554)
(5,025)
(15,926)
(13,675)
(3,416)
(11,329)
(95)
(4,317)
(5,510)
-
(2,551)
(754)
(300)
(40,284)
(7,451)
(210,680)
(1,624,763)		 Transfers
between
funds
£
(122,992)
-
12,665
(179,185)
80,496
(11,000)
112,132
-
-
(15,000)
59,044
63,553
-
(287)
4,949
-
288
3,512
5,823
-
(2,547)
-
-
-
-
(2,623)
(721)
(4,228)
(3,512)
-
(9,338)
(3,119)
7,162
4,641
287
-		 At
31 March
2024
£
672,842
123,062
2,607,278
1,981,040
408,302
511,000
2,644,218
59,018
14,511
36,000
50,000
60,311
799,214
9,966,796
10,954
11,929
140
1,344
9,493
-
-
-
-
3,207
20,732
14,894
-
347
-
-
-
-
-
8,193
20,863
102,096
10,068,892

Description and purpose of funds and transfers

All funds with an opening balance, closing balance, income, gain, expenditure, loss or transfer greater than £10,000 have been separately disclosed. With the exception of monthly mission offerings which are disclosed in full regardless of size, all other funds have been included within 'Other restricted funds'. The charity accounts fully for all restricted funds and a summary of the movement on any smaller fund is available upon request.

Free reserves

These funds represent the free reserves of the charity. Transfers out include £49,000 from Woodlands Central's budget surplus to the Capacity Development fund to help cover costs associated with the upcoming Hellier House redevelopment, and an additional £78,700 from annual congregational budgets to ensure funds are available for the development of buildings and the exceptional and unexpected repair and replacement of assets.

45

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

18 Movement in funds (continued)

A further transfer out of the fund of £59,375 relates to a large gift received from an individual donor to be used at the Trustees' Trustees' discretion. These funds have been allocated to two designated funds to support training and mental health initiatives.

Transfers into the fund include the annual depreciation charge of £14,430 met by the Fixed Assets NBV fund and £36,000 from the wind down of a designated fund related to the secondment of the previous Southside congregation leaders.

Earmarked Giving Funds (designated)

From time to time, the charity receives unrestricted donations and allows the donor(s) to express wishes as to their ultimate application within the charitable purposes of the charity. The application of these funds is at the full discretion of the Trustees, but they take account of the expressed wishes of the donor. The Trustees have determined it appropriate to hold these 'earmarked' funds in a designated fund.

Fixed Asset NBV (designated)

This fund represents the net book value of tangible fixed assets held by the charity. The transfers in and out of this fund relate to additions, depreciation and profits and loss on disposal. This year additions include £952,500 relating to the purchase of buildings, including a property next door to Woodlands Central and Emmanuel Chapel used by Branch Church.

Charitable Loans NBV (designated)

This fund represents the carrying value of the charitable loans held by the charity. These exist to further the City and Community Outreach dimension of the charity's work. This scheme is closed and no new loans have been dispersed under the scheme. The eight outstanding loans will be called in as they mature.

A capital repayment of £30,000 against one loan balance was received in the year and transferred to the Property Purchases fund.

Capacity Development (designated)

This fund enables major capital developments of existing buildings that provide increased capacity, usage and to ensure funds are available for unexpected/exceptional repair or replacement costs that may be incurred.

Transfers into this fund include a proportion of each congregation's general funds income being set aside to meet future building developments and unanticipated large emergency capital expenditure costs (total £78,700).

This year £1.05m has been transferred to the fund to cover costs related to the redevelopment of Hellier House, as we look to expand Woodlands Central's campus. These funds have been transferred from the Property Purchase fund (£1,000,000) and Woodlands Central's year end general fund surplus (£49,000).

Housing the Homeless (designated)

This fund is used to support housing for the homeless, currently through Green Pastures loans. The interest payments from these loans are being used to contribute to the WCF Staffing designated fund.

Property Purchases (designated)

This fund exists to enable the purchase of properties that will serve to help expand our Woodlands Central campus and establish church plants. After extensive work to assess the viability of several properties as potential venues for Central, Hellier House flat 3 was purchased. Woodlands now own all three flats in this building and work to develop this site to meet the needs of the Central congregation are under way. £1m funds from this fund have been transferred to the Capacity Development Fund in support of this work. This year also saw the purchase of Emmanuel Chapel (Branch Church site).

Net rental income is transferred monthly from this fund to contribute to the WCF Staffing fund (£114,410). Transfers into the fund relate to the repayment of loan capital (£30,000).

St James/UPA (designated)

The charity started renting out accommodation in their St James building in 2021. The net rental is included within this designated fund in order to help meet the costs of future upkeep liabilities for the ageing building.

Mental Health and Wellbeing (designated)

This fund was created from a gift of £30,000 received from a donor for 'use by the Trustees as deemed fit'. As Mental Health is a key priority for the Trustees, they have set aside this gift for this purpose. This fund was used to employ an in-house Well-being facilitator two days a week, and to support the running costs of a Well-being cafe at the Community Church and the WCF Well-being website.

The fund was bolstered this year by a transfer of £29,690 from general funds arising from a large one off gift received for use by the Trustees' at their discretion.

South Bristol Church Planting (designated)

This fund was created for the monthly contribution towards the stipend being paid by the West of England Baptist Network to R&N Pollard to work with Woodlands to plant a congregation in South Bristol. The Pollards have moved on from this role and this fund has been wound down and funds transferred back to general funds.

Strategic Projects (designated)

Following the Strategic Review in 2022, this fund has been created to set aside funds to meet the costs associated with the recommendations from the review that the trustees and SLT have prioritised. Costs to date relate to Rebranding, a safeguarding transformation project, website development and WCF Academy expenses.

46

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

18 Movement in funds (continued)

WCF Staffing (designated)

A number of staff do not fall solely into one congregation but serve the whole of the Woodlands Church Family. This fund was created to meet the costs associated with employing these members of staff. Income into this fund is from sources other than general giving: mixed purpose investment loan interest, bank interest and net rental income from properties. This year transfers into the fund include £29,690 relating to a large one off gift received for use by Trustees as they see fit.

Unrealised Investment Gains (designated)

This fund represents the cumulative unrealised investment gains from the charity's unrestricted equity investment portfolio.

Hands at Work (restricted)

Woodlands Church Family has two partnerships to support the work of the charity Hands at Work in two needy communities in Africa. These funds represent the monies raised from our congregations in support of these partnerships. Additional funds have been raised to support missionaries serving with Hands at Work.

Highgrove Global Partners Fund (restricted)

This fund arises from offerings and is held to enable Highgrove global and local mission partners to be supported both on a regular and on an ad hoc basis, as needs arise.

Woodlands Global Partners Fund (restricted)

This fund arises from offerings and is held to enable Woodlands global partners to be supported both on a regular and ad hoc basis as needs arise.

The Lloyd Johnstone Trust Fund (restricted) and Lloyd Johnstone Endowment fund (expendable endowment)

These funds have arisen from the donation of assets and liabilities from The Lloyd Johnstone (Bristol) Trust (see note 20). The property and financial investments have been recognised in these accounts as an expendable endowment, with the income derived from the financial investments being recognised in the Lloyd Johnstone Trust Fund (restricted). This restricted fund is being used to fund the operation and maintenance of the property and occasional grants to mission organisations.

Microfinance (restricted)

These are funds given specifically for the purpose of investing in microfinance initiatives. Any microfinance repayments received are now being donated to a microfinance organisation called KIVA for their work.

Local Care and Mission Fund (restricted)

This fund was established for the Trustees to make discretionary gifts to local mission and care projects and organisations. The funds arise from regular offerings at the Woodlands Central congregation.

Needy Saints (restricted)

The Trustees have established a fund to be spent at their discretion on grants to those who are in financial hardship or particular need. Other members of church are invited to give into this fund.

Reach (Single Parents ministry) (restricted)

This fund arises from restricted giving to support the activities of Reach, a single parents outreach and includes the activities associated with the annual Single Parents Fair. This year the fund was used to support the cost of a community worker to reach and support single parent families in the Community Church campus.

Community Church Southmead ministry (restricted)

This fund arises from a restricted gift from a donor earmarked for sole use to expand and support the work and ministry of the Community Church in the Southmead area.

Woodlands East church plant (restricted)

Two restricted funds relating to the Woodlands East Church Plant have been created from gifts earmarked from donors for:

WCF Offering (restricted)

The fund was established to faciliate co-ordinated giving across all congregations in response to global disasters or key appeals for which the Senior Leadership Team earmark a special/one off offering. This year, an offering was taken at Christmas for InHope (in support of the homeless in Bristol) and Tearfund (in support of the ongoing Middle East crisis).

Sunday Offerings (restricted)

Across the church, an offering is taken once a month during morning and evening services. These offerings are taken for the benefit of global partners serving overseas or for nationwide or city-based community care and outreach initiatives. Gifts are either sent directly to recipients from these funds or transferred to other funds as appropriate to their ultimate application.

47

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

19 Summary of assets and liabilities of each fund category

At 31 March 2025
Unrestricted
Free
Reserves
£
Tangible assets
-
Programme related investments
-
Mixed purpose investments
-
Financial investments
-
Cash, deposits and other current assets
791,217
Other current liabilities
(64,790)
726,427
At 31 March 2024
Unrestricted
Free
Reserves
£
Tangible assets
-
Programme related investments
-
Mixed purpose investments
-
Financial investments
-
Cash, deposits and other current assets
733,660
Other current liabilities
(60,818)
672,842		 Unrestricted
Designated
Funds
£
3,561,884
1,951,040
500,000
3,272,743
308,809
-
9,594,476
Unrestricted
Designated
Funds
£
2,607,278
1,981,040
500,000
3,216,860
988,776
-
9,293,954		 Restricted
Funds
£
-
850
-
-
167,654
-
168,504
Restricted
Funds
£
-
3,206
-
-
98,890
-
102,096		 Endowment
Funds
£
325,000
-
-
297,815
-
(642)
622,173
Endowment
Funds
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Total
funds
£
3,886,884
1,951,890
500,000
3,570,558
1,267,680
(65,432)
11,111,580
Total
funds
£
2,607,278
1,984,246
500,000
3,216,860
1,821,326
(60,818)
10,068,892

20 Donation of assets from the Lloyd Johnstone (Bristol) Trust

During the year, The Lloyd Johnstone (Bristol) Trust donated its assets and liabilities to Woodlands Group of Churches to enable the continuation of the work of that Trust upon its winding up. This activity relates to the provision of a flat for the short-term use of global partners returning from the mission field. This is now overseen by a small management committee on behalf of the Woodlands Group of Churches Trustees and Senior Leadership Team.

A summary of the assets and liabilities receivable at that date is below. The property and investment portfolio donated have been treated as expendable endowment funds in these accounts. The trust deed stated that the capital represented by these assets could be converted to income at the discretion of the Trustees, but has been maintained as capital until now to enable the continued funding of the ministry. The bank balance donated has been treated as a restricted income fund in these accounts called the Lloyd Johnstone Trust Fund. Any conversions of capital into income would also form part of this restricted fund.

Tangible assets (property)
Financial investments
Cash balances
Creditors (accrued investment management fees)		 Restricted
income
funds
£
-
-
25,696
-
25,696		 Expendable
Endowment
funds
£
325,000
295,452
-
(1,653)
618,799		 Total
funds
£
325,000
295,452
25,696
(1,653)
644,495

48

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

21 Prior year fund comparatives for the Statement of Financial Activities

Unrestricted
Free
Reserves
£
Income from
:
Donations and legacies
Offerings and donations
1,232,336
Assets from The Lloyds Johnstone Trust
-
Charitable activities
57,491
Investments
-
Total
1,289,827
Expenditure on
:
Charitable activities
Global Partnerships
46,299
City and Community Outreach
128,752
Gathered Church
381,688
Children and Youth Ministry
214,125
Student Ministry
162,538
Discipleship & Leadership Development
169,149
Pastoral Care
62,083
1,164,634
Raising funds
17,962
Total
1,182,596
Net gains on investments
-
Net income
107,231
Transfers between funds
(122,992)
Other gains / (losses)
-
Net movement in funds
(15,761)
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought forward
688,603
Total funds carried forward
672,842		 Unrestricted
Designated
funds
£
80,605
-
171,553
248,478
500,636
62,822
20,701
42,406
56,853
18,558
12,529
17,618
231,487
-
231,487
204,194
473,343
122,705
-
596,048
8,697,906
9,293,954		 Restricted
funds
£
185,398
-
18
-
185,416
143,643
52,317
-
1,389
8,203
-
4,619
210,171
-
210,171
-
(24,755)
287
(509)
(24,977)
127,073
102,096		 Endowment
funds
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 Total funds
2024
£
1,498,339
-
229,062
248,478
1,975,879
252,764
201,770
424,094
272,367
189,299
181,678
84,320
1,606,292
17,962
1,624,254
204,194
555,819
-
(509)
555,310
9,513,582
10,068,892

49

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

22 Reconciliation of the Statement of Financial Activities to the Statement of Cash Flows

A.1 Receipts from Donations and Legacies
Donation of non-cash assets by LJT
Decrease in debtors
A.2 Receipts from Charitable activities
Decrease in debtors
Increase in deferred income and other creditors
B.1 Payments for Raising funds
Investment management costs met by portfolio
Increase in accruals
B.2 Payments for Charitable activities
Depreciation eliminated
Non-cash grant on charitable loans
Decrease in prepayments and other debtors
Decrease in creditors and accruals
C.1 Receipts from Programme-related investments
Non-cash foreign exchange movement
Increase in debtors
C.2 Receipts from Mixed Purpose investments
Increase in debtors
D.1 Receipts from Investments
Income from programme-related investments
Income from mixed purpose investments
Balance sheet movements
23 Analysis of changes in cash and cash equivalents
Cash in hand
Notice deposits (less than 3 months)
Total cash and cash equivalents
Cash in hand
Notice deposits (less than 3 months)
Total cash and cash equivalents		 Statement of
Financial
Activities
£
2,219,238
(618,799)
259,782
(24,626)
2,920
(1,722,795)
14,431
162
76,833
(26)
20,667
248,365
(76,833)
(20,667)
2025
£
272,456
928,723
1,201,179
2024
£
314,530
1,433,419
1,747,949		 Debtors
£
7
4,800
1,117
619
333
6,876
2024
£
314,530
1,433,419
1,747,949
2023
£
188,546
1,018,130
1,206,676		 Creditors
Cash flow
£
£
1,600,446
11,597
276,179
642
(21,064)
(7,625)
(1,714,710)
77,426
21,000
150,865
4,614
Change
£
(42,074)
(504,696)
(546,770)
Change
£
125,984
415,289
541,273

50

WOODLANDS GROUP OF CHURCHES NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2025

24 Commitments

The charity had no capital or non-cancellable lease commitments at the end of the current or preceding period.

25 Payments to Trustees and other related party transactions

Remuneration and benefits paid to Trustees and other related parties

Under the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Trustees have the authority to employ or engage under a contract for services a Trustee or any person connected with a Trustee as long as certain conditions are met and procedures followed. Below is a summary of these payments and those made to other related parties:

Payments
for services,
Gifts and Grants
£
Year ended 31 March 2025
D J Mitchell
-
T J Dobson
-
D Roderick
-
Close family members of Trustees
300
Senior Leadership Team(if not included above)
-
Year ended 31 March 2024
D J Mitchell
-
T J Dobson
-
D Roderick
-
Close family members of Trustees
1,154
Senior Leadership Team(if not included above)
15,000		 Salary
from
employment
£
41,250
31,482
27,518
52,725
157,786
40,045
30,425
23,679
51,325
166,378		 Pension
costs
£
1,050
757
638
1,145
3,640
1,014
726
523
936
3,543		 Total
£
42,301
32,239
28,156
54,171
161,426
41,059
31,151
24,202
53,415
184,921

Close family members of Trustees comprises: D J Mitchell (son of D Mitchell), S Mitchell (daughter in-law of D Mitchell), D A Marsh (spouse of E J Marsh) and M Dobson (son of T Dobson).

The above disclosure of payments to Senior Leadership Team members comprises the following individuals who were not Trustees or close family members of a Trustee during the year: N J Savage, R Riddall, P Jinadu, K Jinadu, H C Thompson, J Saunders and M Smith.

Included in the prior year church worker costs are payments totalling £15,000 to the West of England Baptist Network as a contribution towards the stipend received by R and N Pollard.

R Riddall and N Savage, both members of the Senior Leadership Team and Key Management, are each in receipt of a charitable loan from the charity. The outstanding balance of the loans at the balance sheet date is £402,288 and £171,315 respectively. Both loans are secured on a property.

Donations from Trustees and related parties

The aggregate donations received from Trustees, SLT and related parties (including any related gift aid) were £55,599 (2024: £65,059).

Trustee expenses

No expenses were incurred in the current year by any trustees (2024: £127 paid to one trustee for trustee training expenses).

26 Company limited by guarantee

The charity is incorporated in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee having no share capital and, in accordance with the Memorandum of Association, every member is liable to contribute £1 towards the costs of dissolution and the liabilities incurred by the charity in the event of the company being wound up.

51