## **ANNUAL REPORT 2021 – 2022** ## **of Elvet Methodist Church** ## **Church Business Address** : Elvet Methodist Church Old Elvet Durham DH1 3HL ## **Correspondence Address:** Mr. Paul Harrison 28 Kira Drive Rosemount Durham DH1 5GU (Church Council Secretary) ## **Church Council (Managing Trustees) as at 1[st] September 2021** Mrs Alison Ainslie Mr J. Gibson Mrs S. Mein Mrs J. Ball Mr C Harder Mrs H Phillips Mrs P. Bissell Mrs V Harder Mr M. Phillips Mrs A. Bradbrook Mrs M Harris Mr D. Ramsden Mrs J Bygate Mr P. Harrison Mrs A. Scott Mr J Chamberlayne Mrs S. Harrison Mr J. Scott Ms H Charman Mrs C. Higham Mrs D. Slater Mr T. Coburn Mr M Higham Mr B. Thompson Mr M Clough Mary Hogg Mrs M. Thompson Mrs J. Dundee Mrs D. Lawson Mrs K Turner Miss J. Fielding Mr S Lawson Mrs L Underwood Deacon R. Lackenby, Rev J. Squares, Revd. C. Jackson, Rev Lawrence Law; Revd A. Longe, Deacon Esther Longe ## **Aims and Organisation** The aims of Elvet Methodist Church are to: - Inform people about the love of God manifested in the giving of his Son, Jesus Christ - Bear witness to that love by showing care to those in need - To provide opportunities to worship God, through Jesus Christ - To explore and demonstrate ways to follow Christ and promote God’s love in contemporary society by the power of the Holy Spirit The Church attempts to fulfil these aims by: - Having well organised and meaningful services of worship each Sunday and on other special dates in the Christian calendar - Providing services of baptism, marriage and funeral - Helping those in need, by providing a Foodbank and fundraising for charitable purposes - Maintaining an orderly and welcoming building which can be used by other organisations - Giving young people the opportunity to learn about the Christian faith in a safe and supportive environment, through Junior Church, and by giving adults the chance to explore their faith through house groups and meetings on church premises e.g. midweek prayer group, café-style/ discussion/reflective worship. ## **Organisation** The managing trustees of the church are the members of the Church Council, who are responsible for the activities of the church and the up-keep of the premises. They appoint the following committees to ensure the efficient running of the Church: - Finance Committee - Property Committee - Pastoral Committee - Church Growth & Mission Group ## **Activities in 2021 – 2022** During the 2021 – 2022 year, Elvet Methodist Church has maintained its life of worship and of service in the community and beyond for the most part virtually. Most of its activities are of an ongoing nature. In its remit of worship, these consist of - Sunday morning worship service - a celebration of Holy Communion - Junior Church, meeting each Sunday during school term times - Prayer groups mostly virtually until face to face could resume - House groups mostly virtually until face to face could resume - Baptism, wedding ceremonies and funerals as permitted during the pandemic. All of these activities are open to the public but by booking during the pandemic. Its service to the community is manifested in many ways as possible emerging from the pandemic; - The church is both a collection and distribution point for Foodbank - Each year, a charity is chosen as a special project and we hope we can work on this in the future as one church on two sites.. - It supports a number of charities (e.g. special collections in aid of Action for Children, Methodist Homes for the Aged and in response to world disasters and areas of developing humanitarian need). In addition, when possible offerings at communion services are donated to nominated charities each month. - Marriage Preparation classes are run as necessary - Funerals are conducted in church, at the crematorium and cemeteries. - A creche is provided during Sunday morning services when possible for baptismal services - The church has a Uniformed Organisation Group - It has an associated Art and Crafts Group - Its members visit the sick and elderly. Birthday cards are sent to those over 80 years of age. - Every Wednesday (except for the holiday periods) a lunch is prepared and provided, attended by people from the local community this hopes to restart soon - It is the focal church for the Durham University Methodist Society which is now incorporated in JAM (Joint Anglican Methodist Society) and also welcomes students from many countries. - It incorporates a Traidcraft stall - It is a popular venue for concerts and other public events ## **Of special note in the 2021 – 2022 year were the following** : During the year we will be combining with our sister church at North Road and becoming Durham City Methodists, one church on two sites. We formed our one church council in November 2021. - Despite not being able to hold fundraising events as in the past we raised funds for local and national charities at our monthly coffee mornings and other fundraising and social events including ‘North East Mission – the Durham Winter Night Shelter’ and Mary’s Meals - Over the past year a number of charities have received donations from our communion and other special collections. - Durham City Methodists and the District supported three young people on a trip to Kenya and The Spurgeon’s Academy in Kibera along with several others from our circuit. - Several members holding identified relevant positions within the church (staff, preachers, stewards, worship leaders, pastoral visitors and anyone working with or having contact with young people or vulnerable adults) have refreshed their safeguarding training with an updated module, in accordance with guidelines from The Methodist Church. - The Chinese church under the pastoral charge of Coco Liu and now Pastor Ada Lam, continues to meet and grow with the influx of Hong Kongers. This is still a class of Elvet. - We have a small prayer area to be available for private prayer in the church when the church is available to be open. - We have reviewed our action plan for future growth and events, under the heading of ‘every church growing’. - We are looking to increase our community engagement and we hosted a film crew on Miners’ Gala Day as Ken Loach was filming his latest production The Oak Tree. ## **Objectives for 2022 – 2023;** - The Durham City Methodist Trustees will be working, to see how we can work grow God’s kingdom as we all face the challenges before us and continue to become one church on two sites. - We will continue our ongoing commitments, implement relevant aspects of the circuit plan and support areas of activity arising from our Open Doors hospitality group meetings, both virtual and face to face when possible. - We intend to make Elvet and North Road sites more visible in the community. We are considering installing artistic structures in the front garden to highlight church seasons e.g. Easter, Pentecost, a Nativity scene for Christmas etc. - As the largest church building in our circuit we seek to offer alternatives for congregations of other churches, as well as students and visitors to the city. - We continue to provide variety of worship, offering occasional café-style, Iona and Taizé style services, introducing new hymns and hosting joint services with other Methodists, Anglican and Chinese churches. We will explore expanding mid-week services and developing ‘Messy Church’ worship for young families. - Our Methodist Students have amalgamated with students from the Church of England to form JAM (Joint Anglicans & Methodists) meeting regularly at both the Elvet site and St Oswald’s C of E as well as virtually during the pandemic and are open to those with or without any faith to come and explore. - We hope we can hold Open Church evenings for refreshment when the Lumiere returns to Durham in 2023. - The Chinese Church congregation continue to meet on Sundays and during the week – worship being offered in Mandarin, Cantonese and English when appropriate. - . **CHURCH** # **RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS** ## **THE METHODIST CHURCH** ## **STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS** **Durham City Methodists (Elvet and North Road Methodist Churches)** FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 August 2022 Durham and Deerness Valley Circuit Circuit no: **13/11** **Registered Charity - Registration number 1126844** ## **Minister:** Rev John Squares ## **Church Stewards:** Penny Bissell Jackie Fielding Anne Firth Christine Higham Norma Nevin Joan Portrey Brian Thornton Lynda Underwood ## **Treasurer:** Hilary Phillips 1 of 7 ||**ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUG 2022**
|**ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUG 2022**
|**ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUG 2022**
|**ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUG 2022**
|**Durham City Methodists**
**(Elvet and North Road Methodist Churches)**|**Durham City Methodists**
**(Elvet and North Road Methodist Churches)**|**Durham City Methodists**
**(Elvet and North Road Methodist Churches)**|**Durham City Methodists**
**(Elvet and North Road Methodist Churches)**|**Durham City Methodists**
**(Elvet and North Road Methodist Churches)**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||||| ||**SECTION A**|||**Unrestricted**
**Funds**|**Restricted**
**Funds**|**£**
**82,771**
**646**
**145,175**
**6,414**
**Totals this**
**year**||**Totals last**
**year**|| |a1|**RECEIPTS**||**Note**|**£**|**£**|**£**||**£**|| |a2|Offerings and Tax recovered|||82,771|0|**82,771**||84,908|| |a3|Bank and CFB interest and
Investment income|||642|5|**646**||238|| |a4|Lettings, Wayleave & Other
Property|||99,263|45,911|**145,175**||80,053|| |a5|Bequests, Donations & Other
Receipts|||1,944|4,470|**6,414**||10,700|| |a6|||||||||| |a7|||||||||| |a8|**TOTAL RECEIPTS**|||**184,620**|**50,386**|**235,007 **|**(a7)**|**175,899**|| ||||||||||| ||**SECTION B**|||||**109,856**
**4,975**
**99,043**
**28,884**
**10,369**|||| |b1|**PAYMENTS**||||||||| |b2|Circuit Assessment|||109,856|0|**109,856**||95,326|| |b3|Donations|||4,975|0|**4,975**||10,206|| |b4|Repairs, Maintenance &
Improvements|||39,946|59,097|**99,043**||37,272|| |b5|Utilities (Insces, water rates,
heating& lighting)|||28,884|0|**28,884**||20,416|| ||||||||||| |b7|Other items|||6,906|3,463|**10,369**||21,958|| |b8|||||||||| |b9|**TOTAL PAYMENTS**|||**190,567**|**62,560**|**253,127 **|**(b9)**|**185,178**|| |||||||**-18,120**|||| ||**SECTION C**||||||||| |c1|**(a8-b9)**
**NET RECEIPTS/ PAYMENTS**
**FOR THE YEAR**|||-5,947|-12,174|**-18,120**|||| ||||||||||| |c2|Total funds brought forward
from lastyear|||99,862|23,284|**123,146 **|**(c6)**|132,425|| |||||||**105,025**|||| |c3|**Sub total**
**(c1+c2)**|||93,915|11,110|**105,025**|||| ||||||||||| |c4|Transfers and adjustments|||0|50,500|**50,500 **|**(c8)**|0|| ||||||||||| |c5|**(c3+c4)**
**TOTAL FUNDS AT END OF**
**YEAR**|||**93,915**|**61,610**|**155,525 **|**(c7)**|**123,146**|**(c6)**| ||||||||||**5**| ||**SECTION D**||||||||| |d|**(these amounts are not included in total receipts/payments figures above)**
Balance brought forward from lastyear
1,984
2,350
4,592
8,182
6,476
8,548
**100**
**1,984**
**FOR INFORMATION ONLY:MONEY RECEIVED AND PASSED ON TO EXTERNAL ORGANISATIONS**
Offerings/Gifts -received for external organisations
Offerings/Gifts -passed to external organisations
**BALANCE STILL TO BE PAID** (d1+d2-d3)||||||||| |d1|Balance brought forward from lastyear|||||1,984||2,350|| |d2|Offerings/Gifts -received for external organisations|||||4,592||8,182|| |d3|Offerings/Gifts -passed to external organisations|||||6,476||8,548|| |d4|**BALANCE STILL TO BE PAID** (d1+d2-d3)|||||**100**||**1,984**|| 2 of 7 Durham City Methodists (Elvet and North Road Methodist Churches) ## **SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH COUNCIL** ## **SECTION E Please follow the Guidance Notes to complete this page** Summary of the Church accounts for the year ended 31 August 2022 and internal organisations reporting to the Church Council. All internal organisation funds are unrestricted funds. ||**INTERNAL**
**ORGANISATIONS**|Receipts||Payments||Net Receipts/
Payments||Adjustments||Openingbalances||Closingbalances|| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |e1|**Arts & Crafts**|172||162||10||0||0||10|| |e2|**Elvet Flower Fund**|345||245||100||0||601||701|| |e3|**Lunch Stop**|800||3,500||-2,700||0||5,018||2,317|| |e4|**Thursday Club**|0||0||0||0||663||663|| |e5|**Messy Mornings**|0||100||-100||0||252||152|| |e6|**North Road Fairtrade**|41||0||41||0||291||332|| |e7|**Shakespeare Fund**|2||1,208||-1,206||0||1,206||0|| ||**Chinese Church**|22,629||17,592||5,037||0||43,341||48,378|| |e8|Sub total of Internal
Organisations funds|23,989||22,807||1,182||0||51,371|**(e11)**|52,553|**(e12)**| |e9|**Church accounts (totals**
**brought forward from page 2 -**
**totals column)**|**235,007**|**(a7)**|**253,127 **|**(b9)**|**-18,120**||**50,500 **|**(c8)**|**123,146 **|**(c6)**|**155,525**|**(c7)**| |e10|**TOTAL CASH FUNDS**
**HELD BY CHURCH**|**258,996**||**275,934**||**-16,938**||**50,500**||**174,517**|**(x)**|**208,079**|**(y)**| ||Continue on a separate sheet if
necessary and bring the totals
forward|**TOTAL RECEIPTS**||**TOTAL PAYMENTS**|||||||||| ## **SECTION F** ||**SECTION F**|**SECTION F**|**SECTION F**|**SECTION F**| |---|---|---|---|---| ||**STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES**
CHURCH - CASH FUNDS HELD
Cash in hand
Bank Current Account
Bank Deposit Account
Central Finance Board
Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes
Other funds
**SUB TOTAL - Church accounts**
**TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH**
Total funds held by Internal Organisations (the
closingbalance total from above) (e12)|**At 01/09/2021**
0
34,029
3,252
59,953
25,910
**123,146**
(c6)
**51,371** (e11)
**174,517**
(x)
**OPENING**
**BALANCES**|**At 31/08/2022**
**CLOSING**
**BALANCES**|| |f1|Cash in hand||172|| |f2|Bank Current Account||21,474|| |f3|Bank Deposit Account||3,625|| |f4|Central Finance Board||104,343|| |f5|Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes||25,911|| |f6|Other funds|||| |f7|**SUB TOTAL - Church accounts**||**155,525**|(c7)| |f8|Total funds held by Internal Organisations (the
closingbalance total from above) (e12)||**52,553**|(e12)| |f9|**TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH**||**208,079**|(y)| |||||| ||**SECTION G**
**OTHER ASSETS and LIABILITIES**
Investments(include Endowments)
Other Assets
Loan(s)- show amount outstandingatyear end
Other Liabilities
Land & Buildings (see notes re
Insurance value)|At
1 September 2021
9,094
13,689,652
730,029
18,000
0|At
31 August 2022
**Note**
8,522
14,549,363
**6**
783,327
**6**
68,500
0|| |g1|Investments(include Endowments)|9,094|8,522|| |g2|Land & Buildings (see notes re
Insurance value)|13,689,652|14,549,363|| |g3|Other Assets|730,029|783,327|| |g4|Loan(s)- show amount outstandingatyear end|18,000|68,500|| |g5|Other Liabilities|0|0|| f4 Include only Funds held at the Central Finance Board f5 Include only Funds held at Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes g1 Include any other investments 3 of 7 **Durham City Methodists (North Road and Elvet Methodist Churches)** ## **Loans** At 31/08/2022 the church had outstanding loans as follows: |**Lender**|**Date of**
**original loan**|**Interest**
**rate**|**Capital**
**remaining**|**Notes**| |---|---|---|---|---| |Methodist Chapel Aid|2014|2.5%
(variable)|£12,000.00|This loan for the refurbishment of the former manse at
No. 27, North Road is being repaid at £3,000 plus
interest per 6 months, the income used for this purpose
being rent received for that property.| |Durham & Deerness Valley
Circuit|2022|1.5%
(fixed)|£40,000.00|These loans from the Circuit and from church members
to pay for refurbishing the former caretaker’s house at
No. 8, Old Elvet will be repaid through rent received for
that property over the next few years. The Circuit is
expected to be repaid within 5 years and the church
members will be repaid as soon as possible after that.| |Three church members|2022|0%|£16,500.00|| ## **Endowment Funds** |**Endowment Name**|**How the capital is**
**invested**|**Current**
**Capital**
**Value**|**Income**
**2021/22**|**What the income was used for**| |---|---|---|---|---| |Trust 8312: Surplus Funds|755 CFB Managed
Mixed Fund Units|3,964.51|90.61|Income to General Church Fund| |Trust 15370: Mrs Margaret
Hopper|868 CFB Managed
Mixed Fund Units|4,557.87|104.18|Income to General Church Fund| ||Totals|8,522.38|194.79|| ## **Payment to Trustees** |Number of trustees (i.e. members of the Church Council) who were paid expenses.
Payments made to trustees for additional services provided to the Church by
agreement with the Church Council.||**This year £s Last year £s**|**This year £s Last year £s**| |---|---|---|---| |||500.00|500.00| ||||| |||1|1| ||||| |Nature of the expenses:
Payment in lieu of expenses to Mrs P Bissell in her capacity as Church Secretary.||500.00|500.00| ||Totals|500.00|500.00| ## **Paid employees** The Church has no paid employees. 4 of 7 ## **Notes Accompanying the Accounts** ## **1 Merger of Elvet Methodist Church and North Road Methodist Church to form Durham City Methodists** In 2021 it was agreed by the Church Councils of Elvet and North Road Methodist Churches to become one church on two sites: the opening balance on the accounts are therefore the combined closing balances of Elvet Methodist Church and North Road Methodist Church on 31/8/2021, and the receipts and payments figures for the previous year are also the combined figures for both churches as detailed below: |both churches as detailed below:|||| |---|---|---|---| ||Elvet|North Road|Total| |Total receipts 2020-21:|103,011|72,888|175,899| |Total expenditure 2020-21:|105,640|79,538|185,178| |Total funds at 31/8/2001:|86,080|37,066|123,146| Elvet Methodist Church formerly reported to the Charity Commission but North Road did not, so on the merger of the two churches the registered charity name of Elvet Methodist Church was changed to Durham City Methodists. ## **2 Basis of accounting** With annual total receipts falling below the £250,000 accounting threshold, the accounts have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis in accordance with Charity Commission rules. There have been no changes in accounting conventions from the previous year. ## **3 Donations from Church Funds** The following donations were made from general funds: |To Methodist Funds
Action for Children
Methodist Property Office
The World Mission Fund
The Mission in Britain Fund
MRDF (All We Can)
The Leybourne Trust
Total|£s
To Other Recipients
115.00
Durham Churches Together
345.00
St Margaret’s Centre
2,290.00
Bible Society
1,490.00
St Cuthbert’s Hospice
230.00
100.00
4,570.00
Total|£s
60.00
115.00
115.00
115.00| |---|---|---| |||405.00| ## **4 Adjustments** The following adjustments have been made to restricted funds, as loan income and repayments are not included in the ordinary income and expenditure of the church: |income and expenditure of the church:|| |---|---| |Loan income received in year
Loan capital repaid in year
Net adjustment|56,500.00
(6,000.00)| ||50,500.00| ## **5 Money Received on Behalf of External organisations** |Brought forward
Received Passed on
Church Project: Durham Winter Night Shelter
1,894.35
1,055.00
2,939.35
Collections and coffee morning proceeds:
Uncleared cheque from last year (North Rd)
89.80
0.00
89.80
Action for Children
282.90
282.90
St Cuthbert’s Hospice
241.88
241.88
DEC – Afghanistan
610.00
610.00
Foodbank
376.45
276.25
All We Can
895.73
895.73
Easter Offering
152.00
162.00
_Note: we passed on £10 in Gift Aid for the Easter Offering, which was not received until Oct 2022_
Traidcraft
214.90
214.90
Christian Aid
150.05
150.05
MHA
201.50
201.50
JMA
150.00
150.00
Dementia UK
261.80
261.80
Total
1,984.15
4,592.21
6,476.16|Outstanding at 31/08/2022
10.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
100.20
0.00
-10.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
100.20| |---|---| ## **6 Value of Buildings & Assets at 31/08/2022** |**6 Value of Buildings & Assets at 31/08/2022**|| |---|---| |Elvet Methodist Church
North Road Methodist Church
House at No. 27 North Road
House at No. 8 Old Elvet
Total buildings
Organ at Elvet Methodist Church|£s
9,621,968
4,005,012
663,330
259,053| ||14,549,363| ||783,327| The churches and other buildings are in excess of 100 years old and are listed at their insurance value together with that of the organ, in accordance with guidelines issued by the Methodist Connexion. Note that the organ at North Road is not separately valued in the North Road insurance policy. Total 15,332,690 5 of 7 ## **DECLARATIONS** ## **Treasurer** I confirm that I have prepared the accounts from the records of the Church and that they include all funds under the control of the Church Council |Name
Address
Signature of
Treasurer|||| |---|---|---|---| ||||| ||H M Phillips||| ||||| ||35 Archery Rise,
Durham,
DH1 4LA||| ## **Presentation to the Church Council for approval** I confirm that the Accounts have been presented to the Church Council on and were approved. Signature of the Chair of the meeting Name of the Chair of the meeting Date ## ___________________________________________________________________________ **Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of** ## **Durham City Methodists** This Report is on the Church Accounts for the year ended 31/08/2022 carried out under Section 43 of the Charities Act 1993, or in Scotland Section 11 of the charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. ## **Respective responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner** As Trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The Charity’s Trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under Section 43(2) of the Charities Act 1993 (the 1993 Act) or under Regulation 10 (1)(d) of The Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (the 2006 Accounts Regulations) and that an independent examination is needed It is my responsibility to: - examine the accounts under section 43 of the 1993 Act and section44(1) of the Charities and - Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005; - to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission under Section 43(7)(b) of the 1993 act; and - to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. 6 of 7 ## **Basis of Independent Examiner’s Report** My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission and is in accordance with Regulation 11 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as Trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a “true and fair view” and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. ## **Independent Examiner’s Statement** In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention: - (1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements: - to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 41 of the 1993 Act and Section 44 (1)(a) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of the 2006 Accounts; and • to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 1993 Act and Section 44(1)9b) of the 2005 Act and Regulation ( of the 2006 Regulations) have not been met; or (2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Name Signature Relevant Professional qualification or body Address Date 7 of 7 ## DURHAM CITY METHODISTS ## ACCOUNTS 2021/22 ## Matters arising from Independent Examination I have carried out the Independent Examination for 2021/22 and give my comments for consideration by the Durham City Methodists Treasurer/Church Council/Minister. The Treasurers of both the Elvet and North Road original societies are to be congratulated on keeping detailed and accurate accounts and successfully merging the two records into a combined year-end set of results. The amount of careful work required to achieve the combination, and to keep the on-going accounts, is considerable. The accounts give an accurate picture of the finances of the Church, as required for Charitable bodies. The congregation and those using the building have continued to give strong financial support, leaving the financial position stronger when compared with the previous year. Looking ahead, two significant changes are noted. (I) income from the way-leave from the Three Tuns Hotel will not be available from 2022/23 onward. (ii) there is a new venture in the renting out of the modernised property No. 8 Old Elvet. The property has been brought up to appropriate standard at a cost forecast to total around £70.000. This work, now largely complete, has been paid for from the church accounts which have been supplemented over the past year by loans of £40,00 from the Circuit and £16,500 from church members. The Circuit loan is at a 1.5% interest rate and is to be paid off over 5 years; the other loans are interest free and are expected to be paid back once the Circuit loan is cleared, expected to be in years 6 to 8. The loans are planned to be paid back out of the letting income from the property. The building is now let at a rent of £260 per week, or £13,520 per annum. This is in excess of the sum needed to repay the loans over the planned time-scale, but clarification has not yet been seen for any ongoing costs in relation to the building, including any fees for letting agent if used, for insurance, on-going repairs and maintenance, and services (gas, electricity, communications, annual gas safety checks etc. Consideration also needs to be given to the possibility of loans being withdrawn early in unforeseen circumstances. As managing trustees, the Church Council needs to be fully aware of the situation, and to be clear as to how the development meets with the Charitable Purposes of the Church. ## L. Clark Circuit Independent Examiner for Durham City Methodists, 2021 – 22