2024-08-31-accounts

ANNUAL REPORT 2023 – 2024

Durham City Methodists

at Elvet and North Road

Registered Charity Number 1126844

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 2024

Mrs Alison Ainslie Mrs S. Harrison Mr M Phillips Mrs M Best Mr P. Harrison Ms J Portrey Mrs P. Bissell Ms M Hart Mr A Purvis Mr S Bissell Mrs C. Higham Mrs G Purvis Mrs A. Bradbrook Mr M Higham Mrs A. Scott Mr J Chamberlayne Mary Hogg Mr J. Scott Mr T. Coburn Pat Johnson Mr C Rutherford Mrs J. Dundee Mrs D. Lawson Mrs M. Thompson Ms T Davidson Mr S Lawson Mrs Angel Tsang Miss J. Fielding Mrs S. Mein Mrs K Turner Mrs A Firth Mr J Niven Mrs L Underwood Mrs J Fraser Mr G Parkinson Mr R Warne Mr J Gibson Mr Alastair Phillips Mrs H Harris Mrs H Phillips

Deacon R. Lackenby, Rev J. Squares, Revds. C. & J. Jackson, Rev F. Weir

Aims and Organisation

The aims of Durham City Methodists 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:

• Property and Finance Committee

• Pastoral Committee

• Open Doors (Mission Team)

Activities in 2023 – 2024

During the 2023 – 2024 year, Durham City Methodists have maintained their life of worship and of service in the community and beyond, both virtually and face to face. Most of the church’s activities are of an on-going nature. In its remit of worship, these consist of

• Sunday worship services

• the celebration of Holy Communion

• Junior Church, meeting each Sunday during school term times

• House groups meet face to face

• Lunch Stop offering inexpensive meals weekly during term time.

• Baptism, wedding ceremonies and funerals.

All of these activities are open to the public.

Its service to the community is manifested in many ways.

• The church is both a collection and distribution point for Foodbank.

• Each month, a charity is chosen to be supported by our monthly coffee mornings. We also regularly support Global Care projects and Suubi Africa

• 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 Uniformed Organisation Groups

• It has an associated Arts 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.

• It is one of the focal church venues for the Inclusive Christian Student Movement (Durham) and also welcomes students (and other visitors) from many countries.

• We are a Fair-Trade church.

• We belong to the Inclusive Church network.

• We are working towards a gold Eco Award

• It is a popular venue for concerts and other public events.

Of special note in the 2023 – 2024 year were the following :

We have combined the two Methodist churches in the City Centre, North Road and Elvet, and are now Durham City Methodists, one church on two sites. We formed our one church council in November 2021. We are an Inclusive Church and as such we are on the membership map of inclusive churches in the UK. We have been granted our Silver Eco Award by A Rocha UK and are actively seeking to cut our carbon emissions and be more energy efficient.

• Despite not being able to hold fundraising events for a single project as in the past we raised funds for local and national charities at our 10 monthly coffee mornings and other fundraising and social events including charities such as ‘North East Mission – the Durham Winter Night Shelter’ and ‘Global Care’. We were open from the morning till early afternoon to offer refreshments to members of the public during the Miners’ Gala in July.

• Over the past year a number of charities have received donations from our communion and other special collections.

• 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.

• Several members holding identified relevant positions within the church (staff, preachers, stewards, worship leaders, pastoral visitors) have undertaken EDI training and this is ongoing.

• The Chinese church, is under the pastoral charge Rev John Squares and TC Luk, continues to meet and grow with the influx of Hong Kongers. This is still a class of Durham City Methodists.

• We have a small prayer area ~~e~~ available for private prayer in the church when the church is open.

• In our Open Doors team we are reviewing our missional and business plan for future growth and events, under the district heading of ‘every church growing’.

• We are looking to increase our community engagement and ~~/~~ have actively sought ways to become more involved in the local community.

Objectives for 2024 – 2025;

• The Durham City Methodist Trustees will be working to see how we can 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 and welcoming to the community. We are an inclusive church welcoming all. We have a presence on social media.

• We hope to be working more in our local community eg during the year partnering other local people in the missional opportunities that arise with FREE provided by DAAC charity (Durham Agency Against Crime) and the Asylum Seekers Drop-In run by the Church of England.

• Having one of the largest church buildings 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 and other denominations and are now named the Inclusive Christian Movement Durham (ICMD) meeting regularly at both the Elvet site and St Oswald’s C of E as well as virtually. The group is 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 2025.

• The Chinese Church congregation continue to meet on Sundays and during the week – worship being offered in Mandarin, Cantonese and English when appropriate.

• To hold rehearsals for our second pantomime after the fun and success of our one in January ’25, which was in support of ‘Daft as a Brush’ charity.

Elvet Methodist Church Old Elvet Durham DH1 3HL

North Road Methodist Church 28 North Road Durham DH1 4SG

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 2024

Durham and Deerness Valley Circuit Circuit no: 13/11

Registered Charity - Registration number 1126844

Minister:

Rev John Squares

Church Stewards:

Penny Bissell Clare Coburn Trevor Coburn Jackie Fielding Christine Higham Joan Portrey David Ramsden Kath Turner Lynda Underwood

Treasurer:

Hilary Phillips

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ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUG 2024

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)	Durham City Methodists (Elvet and North Road Methodist Churches)
	SECTION A			Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds		£ 84,645 9,495 94,347 674 Totals this year		Totals last year
a1	RECEIPTS		Note	£	£	£		£
a2	Offerings and Tax recovered			84,145	500	84,645		92,615
a3	Bank and CFB interest and Investment income			9,345	150	9,495		5,867
a4	Lettings, Wayleave & Other Property			82,645	11,702	94,347		137,200
a5	Bequests, Donations & Other Receipts			489	185	674		6,113
a6
a7
a8	TOTAL RECEIPTS			176,623	12,537	**189,160 **	(a7)	241,796
	SECTION B					104,320 4,975 81,268 31,181 26,806
b1	PAYMENTS
b2	Circuit Assessment			104,320	0	104,320		102,048
b3	Donations			4,975	0	4,975		7,875
b4	Repairs, Maintenance & Improvements			46,809	34,458	81,268		39,439
b5	Utilities (Insces, water rates, heating& lighting)			31,181	0	31,181		30,890
b7	Other items			11,946	14,860	26,806		21,656
b8
b9	TOTAL PAYMENTS			199,231	49,318	**248,549 **	(b9)	201,908
						-59,389
	SECTION C
c1	(a8-b9) NET RECEIPTS/ PAYMENTS FOR THE YEAR			-22,608	-36,781	-59,389
c2	Total funds brought forward from lastyear			144,470	50,943	**195,413 **	(c6)	155,525
						136,024
c3	Sub total (c1+c2)			121,862	14,162	136,024
c4	Transfers and adjustments			-4,672	4,672	**0 **	(c8)	0
c5	(c3+c4) TOTAL FUNDS AT END OF YEAR			117,190	18,834	**136,024 **	(c7)	195,413	(c6)
									4
	SECTION D
d	(these amounts are not included in total receipts/payments figures above) Balance brought forward from lastyear 985 1,093 4,956 7,371 5,942 7,479 0 985 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					985		1,093
d2	Offerings/Gifts -received for external organisations					4,956		7,371
d3	Offerings/Gifts -passed to external organisations					5,942		7,479
d4	BALANCE STILL TO BE PAID (d1+d2-d3)					0		985

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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 2024 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	234		234		0		0		10		10
e2	Elvet Flower Fund	360		250		110		0		794		904
e3	Lunch Stop	2,670		140		2,530		0		4,031		6,560
e4	Messy Mornings	303		303		0		0		100		100
e5	Chinese Church	15,288		19,274		-3,987		0		50,856		46,869
e6
e7
e8	Sub total of Internal Organisations funds	18,855		20,201		-1,347		0		55,790	(e11)	54,443	(e12)
e9	Church accounts (totals brought forward from page 2 - totals column)	189,160	(a7)	**248,549 **	(b9)	-59,389		**0 **	(c8)	**195,413 **	(c6)	136,024	(c7)
e10	TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH	208,015		268,751		-60,736		0		251,204	(x)	190,468	(y)
	Continue on a separate sheet if necessary and bring the totals forward	TOTAL RECEIPTS		TOTAL PAYMENTS

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 01/09/2023 0 11,570 608 157,300 25,936 195,413 (c6) 55,790 (e11) 251,204 (x) OPENING BALANCES	At 31/08/2024 CLOSING BALANCES
f1	Cash in hand			0
f2	Bank Current Account			1,721
f3	Bank Deposit Account			693
f4	Central Finance Board			107,647
f5	Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes			25,964
f6	Other funds
f7	SUB TOTAL - Church accounts			136,024	(c7)
f8	Total funds held by Internal Organisations (the closingbalance total from above) (e12)			54,443	(e12)
f9	TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH			190,468	(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 2023 8,160 15,332,690 0 60,478 0	At 31 August 2024 Note 8,792 15,808,068 5 0 46,141 0
g1	Investments(include Endowments)		8,160	8,792
g2	Land & Buildings (see notes re Insurance value)		15,332,690	15,808,068
g3	Other Assets		0	0
g4	Loan(s)- show amount outstandingatyear end		60,478	46,141
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

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Durham City Methodists (North Road and Elvet Methodist Churches)

Loans

At 31/08/2024 the church had outstanding loans as follows:

Lender	**Date of loan **	Interest rate	Capital remaining	Notes
Durham & Deerness Valley Circuit	2022	1.5% (fixed)	£25,640.52	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 aspossible after that.
3 church members	2022	0%	£20,500.00

Endowment Funds

Endowment Funds
Endowment Name	How the capital is invested	Current Capital Value	Income 2023/24	What the income was used for
Trust 15370: Mrs Margaret Hopper	868 CFB Managed Mixed Fund Units	4,701.96	119.41	Income to General Church Fund
Trust 8312: Surplus Funds	755 CFB Managed Mixed Fund Units	4,089.84	103.86	Income to General Church Fund
	Totals	8,791.80	223.27

Payment to Trustees

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
		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.

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Notes Accompanying the Accounts

1 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.

2 Donations from Church Funds

The following donations were made from general funds:

To Methodist Funds The World Mission Fund The Mission in Britain Fund The Property Fund Action for Children All We Can Total	£s To Other Recipients 2290.00 Durham Churches Together 1490.00 Inclusive Church 345.00 Bible Society 115.00 St Cuthbert’s Hospice 230.00 St Margaret’s Centre 4470.00 Total	£s 60.00 100.00 115.00 115.00 115.00
		505.00

3 Transfers and adjustments

£4672.21 has been transferred from General to Restricted funds to prevent overspend of restricted funds.

4 Money Received on Behalf of External Organisations or Individuals

The following amounts were raised and passed onto other charities through special collections, coffee mornings etc.

The negative figures brought forward are from collections where the GASDS (Gift Aid on Small Donations) for the collection in summer 2023 had already been passed on to the charity but we were not able to claim it from HMRC until April 2024.

Easter Offering – World Mission Fund Christian Aid Water Aid British Red Cross – Libya and Morocco appeals Nepacs Circuit trip to 3Generate Transform Trade Durham Winter Night Shelter (North East Mission) Sir Bobby Robson Foundation Samaritans Durham Durham Otters Swimming Club St Cuthbert’s Hospice Mary’s Meals Great North Air Ambulance Leprosy Mission Total 4 Value of Buildings & Assets at 31/08/2024 Church Building (Elvet) Church Building (North Road) House at No. 27 North Road House at No. 8 Old Elvet

Brought forward Passed on Outstanding at 31/08/2024 (37.14) 37.14 0.00 0.00 (6.75) 34.75 28.00 0.00 37.00 829.31 866.31 0.00 0.00 260.00 260.00 0.00 0.00 185.44 185.44 0.00 992.37 625.00 1,617.37 0.00 0.00 238.60 238.60 0.00 0.00 441.55 441.55 0.00 0.00 700.00 700.00 0.00 0.00 318.90 318.90 0.00 0.00 335.30 335.30 0.00 0.00 33.75 33.75 0.00 0.00 219.90 219.90 0.00 0.00 343.35 343.35 0.00 0.00 353.30 353.30 0.00 985.48 4,956.29 5,941.77 0.00 £s 10,727,903 4,129,184 683,896 267,085 15,808,068 Received (including Gift Aid & GASDS where appropriate)

The churches and other buildings are in excess of 100 years old and are listed at their insurance value, in accordance with guidelines issued by the Methodist Connexion.

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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 Signature of Treasurer Date tlic)l L4 Name H M Phillips Address 35 Archery Rise, Durham, DH14LA Presentation to the Church Council for approval I confirm that the Accounts have been presented to the Church Council on and were approved. 10 Signature of the Chair of the meeting Name of the Chair of the meeting JCFR Date /GI Independent Examinerfs Report to the Trustees of Durham City Methodists This Report is on the Church Accounts for the year ended 3110812024 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 Charits'es 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. 2023-24accounts.ods 6of7

Basi8 of Independent Examinerfs 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 s￿kIng explanations from you as Trustees Con￿rning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the eviden￿ that vrfould be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a "true and fair viev/' 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 ￿quIrernents of the 1993 Act and Section 44(1)9b) of the 2005 Act and Regulation { of the 2006 Regulats'ons) 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 PAUk( fvtA Signature Relevant Professional qualification or body Address Tr8 fft£LH-EAy RISE Dc)RkhqM Date 2023-24accounts.ods 7of7