## **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 2023-24accounts.ods 1 of 7 ## **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**|| 2023-24accounts.ods 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 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 3 of 7 2023-24accounts.ods ## **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. 4 of 7 2023-24accounts.ods ## **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. 5 of 7 2023-24accounts.ods 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