St LawrenTr's., QJkniL*) BIDDULPH Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Parochial Church Council St Lawrence Church, Biddulph for the year ended 31 December 2023 Registered Charity: St. Lawrence Church charity no: 1127353 Incumbent: Will Drain Bank: National Westrninster Independent Examiner: Mr. K.R. Salt BK Plus Limited 2-6 Adventure Place Hanley Stoke on Trent ST13AF Contents Page 1 Index Pages 2-3 PCC Treasurers Report Page 4 Independent Examiners Report Pages 5-6 Receipts and Payments Account Page 7 Stalement of Assets and Liabilities Page 8 Notes to the Accounts Finance Report for 2023 Accounts General Comment on the Accounts The method used to prepare the accounts is on the Payment and Receipt system. The software used for keeping the accounts is called "MyFundAccounling.Online" which is produced by a company called Data Developrnents. The Lichfield Diocese decided they would encourage churches in the Diocese to use this soflware and pay the monthly fee for its use. Lichfield Diocese are also encouraging churches lo use "MyGiving.Online" {also produced by Data Developments) lo maintain Gift Aid records and make claims directly with HMRC rather than through the Diocese. These claims are made monthly and during the year the church have received £22,818. There is an outstanding amount owed by HMRC of £1562 for the month of Decemberwhich will arrive in the church account mid-January. An overview of the accounts shows that our Cash balances across all funds has decreased by £6,529 and the value of investments increased by £981. All invoices have been paid, with none outstanding. The expenditure was £14,000 more than what was included in the budget. The income was £34,000 greater than what was include in the budgetl This meant that the expected deficit of £53.600 was greatly reduced. This deficit was reduced even further by a legacy of £19,000 received early December which was not included in the budget figures as al that time we didn't know about it. As stated above the deficit for the year was £6,529. A Gift Day look place in March which was a majorfactor in the income received. The Gifl Day also prompted rnany people to increase their regular monthlylweekly donations. Increased giving helped greatly in reducing the deficit for which we praise God. Individual Fund comments for 2023.. There have been several major costs throughout the year.. Church Hall Kitchen £38,000 Church Hall Velux Windows £1,020 Church Roof and Building Work £7,500 IT equipment was also needed for the Church Office and Youth Worker, but these were covered by donations specifically given for that purpose. Thankfully the increased energy costs (Gas and Electric) were considerably less than what was expected. We have maintained our giving to charities,. people have been very generous at various times throughout the year and combined with the money agreed by the PCC from the general fund the total given to a variety of charities was £11,893. Outlook for 2024 We start 2024 in a reasonable financial position. However, the budget agreed by the PCC for 2024 shows a deficit of approximately £13,000. This budget does not include any major Work lo be carried out on the Church or Church Hall as there are currer)Ily not sufficient funds available for such work. Please consider this as you review your giving lo the work of God at St. Lawrence's during this coming year. Finally, please may I say thank you to the many people who are involved in the various different aspects of the Church finances.. Funeral and Wedding Fees, Gift Aid, Collection Counters, members ofthe Finance Committee, those who bank the cash offerir)gs and donations, Church Hall Fees., all jobs that are so important to the smooth Nnning of the Church finances. Paul Roebuck January 2024 Independent Examinerfs report to the trustee of St Lawrence Church, Biddulph I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of St Lawrence Church (Biddulph) for the year ended 31 December 2023, which are set out on pages 5 to 8. Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements at the Charities Act 2011 ("the Act") I report in respect of my examination of the Trustees accounts carried out under s.145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under s145(5}{b) of the 2011 Act. Independent examiner's statement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect.. {1) accounting records were not kept in respecl of the Trust as required by s.130 of the Act. or {2) the accounts do not accord with those records I have no concems and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached K.R. Salt BK Plus Limited Chartered Certified Accountants 2-6 Adventure Place Hanley Stoke on Trent ST13AF St. L¥wrence Chuich, Biddu1ph Flhahclal statements forthe year endlni 31 Decernber2023 Re¢elpls and Payments Account OÈslin4ièd FUM RislrlGtod Fund$ Funds Tots12029 701& 2022 RF¢elpts Dtshgtlon$ lega¢1¢6 0101- GIftJMd-8a 0110- GIftAid-EnV8l￿￿S 0201- (A￿rp1a￿ed givl 0301- Laos8 plai8 cdlec1￿ns 0401- Missi￿lcha￿lie3 0550- DC￿￿tIOnSap￿setc 0601- YÈxTèeoverèble￿GIft￿l 0701-Legacies 0801-Re¢wring grarts DonatlQn5 and legaGi¢S T¢tèl$ 67,740 10.651 7Q391 &56B 187 6&174 &B4 .16D &102 6.627 7.740 7.74D 2.345 Z240 5,752 168 133.502 17,341 150,843 128,888 ltt¢ome Ir¢th ¢hèrdablÈ actlvlt5os 1.432 12.699 1)01-Fw 10rwethw45a￿funora 1210-C￿T￿ Events 1230-ChuTthpndtrbFll*mg¥ Incomtfrom chaTft4ble a¢tivitie5 TDts1s 1& le.8 30.431 30,431 21,55) Othgrtradlng ad￿ltIes 1240-ChurchhBIR8n*AablèEnérgy 158 Oth¢riradlMg a¢tfvEtlÈs Totals lTrvéstm&nts 1001-LW￿d5 1,538 1030. RontfrWkndScr￿Hth Invg5tmentgTot415 10,037 10.037 7.346 13)a- Is￿. Wur OthArlncom8Totals 7,627 7.627 4.931 Total Rqc•lpts 182,4 17.340 199,791 183.747 St. Lawrence Church, Blddulph Financial statements for tha ￿ar èndlng 31 Dècdmber 2023 Recelpts and Pa￿￿entS A¢¢ount Funds Funds Fund£ Total 2023 Tolal 2021 PayThenls Expendituro QD tharitsblg?clivlties l720-o￿￿ehC($16 1801-G1VN￿ iomlsswtys(rt1o11ès l￿0-6￿g-Chri5IlEn l￿o- Horne le70-G￿er£Ich5￿kne5 1910-lthistyOJnmoTrFu 2￿2.y￿1￿￿rt Stuart Hackney
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## **St Lawrence's Church Safeguarding Report** This is my third Report as Safeguarding Coordinator for our Church of St. Lawrence, Biddulph, and thanks be to God that I am able to declare that although there have been two matters requiring guidance , there have not been any issues of concern which I need to bring to your attention. I consider this to be a very positive situation, as our congregation continues to grow and we welcome newcomers into our Church, for which thanks must go to our Vicar Will Drain and his family, and our Youth and Children’s Leader, Chrissi Thompson, not forgetting all those wonderful people who so generously give their time to ensure the smooth running of all the many activities that our Church has to offer. I remain as the first port of call should there be any matters of concern, and my details are on display in the Church and Church Hall, our website, and on the St. Lawrence’s Link which gives news on all the forthcoming week’s activities. _Eileen Cox Safeguarding Coordinator_ ## **Small Groups** This year has seen a change in the name and the make up of our groups. The Vicar invited and encouraged every church member to sign up to join the newly named _**'Small Groups'**_ . At the same time the old Home Study Groups were disbanded. These new groups meet every week and enable mutual support, encouragement and prayer for one another. The first programme of study for the new groups has been the _**Alpha Course.**_ Most groups have now completed this course and are now engaging with ' _**The Lectio Course'.**_ This is a five week 18 course on prayer. _**Keith Jones**_ ## **PRAISE AND PRAYER** We give thanks for the growth in numbers attending the new groups and pray that many more church members will consider joining a group. ## **Worship** ## **Sunday 9.15 Worship Team and the Christmas Choir** We have a small team of dedicated singers and musicians who lead sung worship at our Sunday at 9.15 service. If you’d like to be added to the team, please let me know. You’d be most welcome. Special thanks go to Janet, Barbara, Maggie, Mike and particularly to our organist, Linda. We were very sad that John Gibson, who had been a faithful member of the group, passed away earlier this year. John was an enthusiast for hymns and church music in general and was an excellent tenor. We will miss him. Our condolences go to Alison, Clair and James and to John’s wider family and friends. Our two Carols by Candlelight Services took place again on the Sunday evening a week before Christmas Day. There were many very positive comments about the services and there was a full church for both. We were blessed by the traditional Christmas readings and by beautiful singing from our Christmas Choir. _**Andrew Shuff**_ 19 St llawrence's Church BIDDULPH THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND