2025-08-31-accounts

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

The Methodist Church

SHIRLEY METHODIST CHURCH

www.shirleymeth.org.uk

Registered Charity Number 1127524

Minister: Revd Richard Lowson Deacon: Revd Al Henry Shirley Methodist Church Eldon Avenue Croydon CR0 8SD

Annual Report May 2026

Our Mission Statement

As followers of Jesus Christ, our mission is:

To honour God by our daily living as individuals and our corporate life as a church.
To offer God worship which is both lively and dignified.
To offer welcome and care to all, regardless of age, status, gender, ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, ability or disability.
To stimulate one another to grow in our faith and develop our discipleship.
To work with our fellow Christians in Shirley, to serve our neighbours and share with others our experience of God’s love.

	Page
Minister’s Report	4
Church Council	4
Senior Stewards’ Report	5
Work with Children and Young People	5
Church Music and Powerpoint	6
Pastoral Report	6
Property Report	7
Shirley Methodist Matters magazine	8
Church website	8
Guild	8
Prayer Chain	10
Hall Grange MHA	10
House Group	11
Prayer Breakfast	11
Shrublands Trust Food Bank	11
Croydon Churches Floating Shelter	11
Churches Together in Shirley	12
World Service and Neighbourhood Committee	12
Shirley Neighbourhood Care	12
Christian Aid	13
Tools with a Mission	14
The Leprosy Mission	14
Safeguarding	15
Health and Safety	15
APPENDIX Accounts for year ended 31stAugust 2025	17

MINISTER’S REPORT

Since 1993 I have been asked to write the Minister’s letter for the reports to be presented at the Annual General Church Meeting. Here goes for my last time:

Keep up the good work and thank you for your commitment and contribution to church life. I encourage you to be the worshipping community that God has called you to be. We need to keep wrestling with the question: What does it mean to be the Methodist presence in this community? What can we bring/add to community life?

It also means we need to keep our finger on the pulse – what are the needs of our changing community and how are we responding? Our community and society have moved on and we need to reflect that as a church. It is the new and pioneering things that are exciting.

We need to be realistic about what we can do with the limited resources we have, do a few things well rather than trying to do everything that every other church/organisation is doing. We do need more people to get involved at all levels of church life – what is God calling you to?

Build on what we can do with other churches in our section, we were never meant to be self-focused congregations. We were born out of a movement, our connection at circuit and connexional level is important. There is strength in unity.

Finally, can I just say a big Thank You for supporting and encouraging my ministry among you. It has been a pleasure to share life and ministry with you over these last few years. Keep stepping out and taking risks – God is not finished with us yet.

Rev Richard Lowson

CHURCH COUNCIL

Twenty-seven members of the church council, who also serve as trustees of Shirley Methodist Church, meet two to three times per year to oversee the running and mission of the church. This includes the circuit superintendent Rev Richard Grocott, and a circuit representative Toyin Ogunyemi. We are grateful for their time attending our meetings and advising us when needed.

We love debating things big and small, from how to allocate money for property repairs and improvements, to what events should be held at Christmas and Easter. If you have any suggestion that you feel would contribute to the life of the church, please speak to me or one of the stewards.

This annual report serves to document the activities of this church and the people who are behind it. It takes many people to make Shirley Methodist the thriving place it is, and whilst no attempt is made to mention all the individuals who have contributed, this time round I have been asked to make a special mention of all those people on the tea & coffee rota, those who manage the lets, and run the fitness class.

Thanks must of course go to Rev Richard Lowson, whom we have been fortunate to call our minister over the last four years. We wish him a very happy retirement!

Tau Wey Church Council Secretary

SENIOR STEWARD’S REPORT

This has been an interesting year with a few key services. At Christmas we had a lovely Christmas candlelight service. During the Lent period, there were many different events. We are so grateful to Richard and Al for leading us through this period with such a variety of activities. We had an interesting visit to two churches in London, and the sun shone brightly for us. On Good Friday there was a nice service in the Wilderness, which was well attended, taking us through the stations of the cross. The culmination of our Lent and Easter service was a lovely Easter service.

We are currently busy preparing to hold a coffee morning on Saturday 2nd May to raise money for the church.

Mildred has been a steward for a number of years but will stand down at the end of this session. We thank her for her excellent service.

The stewards and the many people who help by counting the collection and stewarding the service have worked efficiently to ensure that our services run smoothly. We thank them for their hard work.

Christine Elliott, Senior Church Steward

WORK WITH CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE Sunday Morning Club Report

We continue to run Sunday Morning Club on a weekly basis as we consider it important to provide consistent, stimulating and educational sessions for our young people, even if we only have one Sunday Morning Club member in attendance.

Our weekly numbers haven’t changed in the last four months and generally range between three to six young people. Although the majority are regular attendees, we also welcome some slightly less frequent visitors.

Since our last report we have covered a diverse range of subjects. These include:

How to use power and influence in the right way.
The Christmas story.
The start of John's gospel - a promise kept.
The baptism of Jesus - the importance of water and those around the world who don’t have clean water.
Jesus in his local Synagogue and the reaction of the crowd.
Calling the fishermen.
Growing strong spiritual roots.

As always, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Rosemary and Jenny for their support and considerable effort.

Simon Tayler, Youth Committee Convenor

CHURCH MUSIC and POWERPOINT REPORT

Again this year church music has been provided by David Tayler, Tau Wey and Shin Wey. Music has been mainly on the organ, but where appropriate our piano has been used instead. We are also indebted to Tau and Shin who have enhanced our worship by playing pieces on the piano and cello and this has been thought provoking as we contemplate the message of the sermon.

PowerPoint presentations have been provided every Sunday in the last year by Bhu Kalsi and David Tayler. Increasingly this has proved difficult as visiting preachers provide slides or videos suited to a modern format in line with ipads or laptops rather than that of the screens which we have had in place for many years. This has caused a lot of extra work in adapting material to fit our current screens whilst keeping text big enough to be read by our congregation at the back of the church.

We also need more volunteers so, if you can use PowerPoint and can give us a few hours, please get in touch.

David Tayler

PASTORAL REPORT

It is with sadness that we have recorded the deaths of the following members of our church family – Stanley Nalliah 24[th] June 2025, Doreen Platt 21[st] July 2025, Anthony Vigurs 8[th] September 2025, Gwen Richardson 7[th] January 2026 and Paul Davies 30[th] March 2026. Tony Cane, a Friend of Shirley Methodist Church died on 16[th] December 2025. We remember them and give thanks for their Christian witness and hold their families in our prayers.

Joy Funnell has transferred her membership to Addington Methodist Church. The membership is now 94 and friends of SMC 28.

Keeping in touch with the members of our church family is an important part of the pastoral care that we strive to do and we say thank you to those who have chosen to take on the role

of Pastoral Link. Each Member/Friend of SMC can choose to have a Pastoral Link/or not. If you do not have a Pastoral Link but would now/or at any time in the future wish to have someone who will keep in touch with you please speak to me. If you wish to know more about how the Pastoral Link scheme is managed please do not hesitate to come and have a word with me.

The Emergency Contact Scheme which was put in place last year at the request of the Church Council is also available to anyone who wishes to take part – it is entirely voluntary and if you wish to know more please speak to any of the Pastoral Team: Rev Richard Lowson, Elizabeth Smart, Tau Wey, Ray Roberts, Ruth Dodoo and Alison Hunt.

Home Communion can be taken to those who are unable to come to church or for other reasons and is much appreciated. Please continue to have a word with Rev Richard Lowson, our Church/Communion Stewards or myself if this is needed.

We warmly welcome all who worship with us and hope that they have felt at home in our church. Spending time after the service over refreshments in the Lounge or in the quieter space in the Prayer corner in church is a time when conversation and pastoral care can be shared. Please continue to let Rev Richard, Deacon Al and myself know of any pastoral needs so that we can continue to support and care for our church family.

The General Data Protection Regulations mean that we must have consent for prayers on the weekly Notice Sheet or the family news in Shirley Methodist Matters. Consent forms are available from Ruth Dodoo or myself.

Elizabeth Smart, Pastoral Secretary

PROPERTY

Over the past year we have made good progress with a number of important property issues. Difficulty renewing our gas-safe certificate was resolved by replacing the gas oven with an electric one, which allowed the remaining gas appliances to work within safe limits. In addition, a number of repairs were completed around the building, including work to damaged roofing and guttering, improvements to the front portico, repairs to the rear hall emergency exit and handrails, and fixing the main corridor ceiling after it partially collapsed. These jobs helped keep the building safe and usable, but expenditure on essential repairs such as these tends to divert funds away from longer term maintenance & improvements.

At Richard’s suggestion, the church council agreed to a Property Gift Day appeal, which started this month [May’26] and will help us plan towards improvement projects for the coming months and years. These include fire safety and accessibility improvements, such as better exits, footways and ramps, as well as work on a relocated waste bin area. There is also a need to refurbish the ladies’ and gents’ toilets, modernise the Corner Room and add facilities for Children’s Club, and continue work towards our carbon net zero targets. In addition, general redecoration and repairs to floors can finally go ahead.

The coffee morning & Gift Service were wonderful, with gifts totalling £8768 just in that first weekend. The appeal continues, so if you were not around for the Gift Service please consider giving.

As always, my thanks go to all members of the property team, who share the load.

Steve Hunt, Property Steward

SHIRLEY METHODIST MATTERS (SMM)

Jenny Crook and I are joint editors and continue to produce the magazine in alternate months. Producing the magazine is quite a task and this arrangement makes it 'manageable'. We strive to keep the magazine interesting and relevant to its readers and welcome articles by members and friends of the church. We print about 60 copies to keep costs down. We encourage people to read the magazine on our Church website. You will find previous magazines (back to March 2020) on the website. Thanks to our regular contributors, we are reassured of a core of content each month. Elizabeth as Pastoral secretary keeps us in touch with our church friends, both those we see at Shirley and those who have moved away. We have a letter each month from one of our Circuit presbyters. We are so privileged to have a monthly article by Revd Leslie Griffiths. Thanks too to Jean who has been faithfully keeping Christian Aid to the forefront of our minds; and to Heather for keeping us informed about the work of The Leprosy Mission. We are always pleased to receive additional contributions - readers' experiences, stories, poems, prayers, photos – to share with church friends.

Kate Marsden, SMM joint editor

CHURCH WEBSITE

The Church website is an important point of contact for Church members and for the community. The monthly magazine, weekly notices, recording of the Sunday service and details of events can be found there. More than 250 photos taken over the years have been put in the online archive. I look forward to adding more as Church friends send them to me. The website is updated twice a week to ensure it is always up to date. There are links to the Circuit and Connection website. Important documents eg Safeguarding and the Annual Church report can be found there. Prospective 'lets' regularly make contact through the website.

Kate Marsden, Webmaster

THE GUILD

As ever, Guild season has happily run for 6 months between September and March, enjoying a wide variety of speakers and interesting topics.

In September, Leslie (Griffiths - who else?) ‘kicked off ‘ for us, treating us to an evening centred around current affairs in the national and international landscapes. Amongst other things, he described the work of the International Refugee Council and widened our personal views on related topics with comment borne from one with good understanding of international perspectives.

What a super thought provoking evening - and a great way to start our six month Guild journey.

Our deacon, Al Henry, came to speak in October to reveal ‘What Al Henry Did Next’. This was a sequel to the fascinating talk he gave us last year when he told all about his daily life and development of belief in St Lucia. We saw pictures of the several churches in the UK where he has worked after leaving his home country and what he did for each of them.Many of us came away thinking “We could do that!”. We came home afterwards appreciating Al’s commitment to his work; it is good to have him with us.

One of our lets at Shirley is the Croydon Astronomical Society and Tony Roberts is one of their leading members. He gave us a wonderful talk in November entitled ‘Lets Talk Astronomy’, firstly telling us how CAS began and then going on to show amazing pictures of all manner of stars and planets in our night sky, some visible with the naked eye and others seen through powerful telescopes. He carefully chose the order of highlighting these so we could understand the progression through time of one thing leading to another.

One of Tony’s comments has remained in the mind ever since; in the face of such developing of the universes (still developing!) he said in the face of such evolving wonder he was convinced that it showed an intelligence behind it that convinced him of the existence of God. Tony is already booked for next year!

Karen Adegbite came in January to tell us all about how Child Rescue in Nepal was progressing.

Just before the Pandemic, Jo Bega, a local Christian from Addiscombe, had come to Guild to explain the enterprise she was setting up in Nepal. She had learned that many children in Nepal were being taken from very poor families by those who promised paid work for the youngsters and a better life often many miles away. These children were in fact being made to work in appalling conditions with little food and utterly miserable living conditions. Jo went to Nepal and set up a charity to rescue children and to either provide schooling and appropriate accommodation or to take them back to their unsuspecting families - whichever was most needed.

Karen, a Co - worker with Jo, came to tell us of their progress. We saw pictures and heard stories of their astounding success. They have rescued literally hundreds of children in these intervening years.It was an example of true Christian witness - we sang with much feeling our closing hymn “ when I needed a neighbour were you there?” and took a collection to aid their work.

In February, we enjoyed a book review presented by Francis Miles. She told us about the book she had written ‘Rooted, Loved, Affirmed’ , what motivated her to write it and how she had set about doing so. This proved to be an inspiring evening, so much so that members

purchased copies of her book which they took away and have reported, thoroughly enjoyed reading!

Our last session of this Guild season was presented by Ruth and David Tayler telling through photographs of their travels from Venice to Greece, taking in Croatia , Patmos, Nazareth , Jerusalem , Alexandria, Egypt , Ephesus and Athens. Although not planned as such, it turned out to be a experience of following in the footsteps of those in the early history of Christianity - John the Divine, Jesus, the Coptic Christians, and St Paul. Ruth and David really enjoyed re- living their journey and sharing with others how significant it felt to “stand where they stood and see what they Saw”.

Thus our Guild season came to a close until next September.

Ruth Tayler

PRAYER CHAIN

The Prayer Chain is an ongoing means of prayer for any who are in need of prayers for whatever reason. At present there are 2 groups who circulate names to each other. Requests come from the church fellowship, the neighbourhood and much further afield and are only put on the chain with the consent of the person for whom prayer is requested. Names remain on the chain for one week unless otherwise requested.

All information is treated in strictest confidence. Consent forms must be completed due to the General Data Protection Regulations and are available from Elizabeth.

If you feel you would like to be a member of the Prayer Chain please have a word with Elizabeth. Referrals are made to Elizabeth and are passed to both sides of the Chain.

Elizabeth Smart

HALL GRANGE MHA

The spring Coffee Morning will have happened by the time of the church AGM. Thank you if you attended. The home is more or less full and there is the usual turnover of residents. Staffing is up to the correct level on both sides. They also have a bank of staff if they need to save employing agency staff. The chaplains are the listening ear to the residents and staff a like. They hold regular morning prayers and other events. The activities team have a full programme and there is usually some sort of activity on both sides a couple of times a day. Caring staff usually work in the same area to help to keep a balance in the area they are working. The home is grateful for the time given by the volunteers who support the home in so many ways.

MHA Sunday will be on the 14th June serving tea from 3pm and the service starting 3.30pm. There will be a collection for MHA. Please come if you can. This service will be at Hall Grange either in the garden or in the home.

The Wilderness garden will have had the Rhododendron open day and they are open a

Sunday usually once a month. Please check the website for further information. The Good Friday vigil was held in the garden and about 50 folk attended there were hot

drinks and hot cross buns. The coffee money once a month is given to amenities fund to support the residents in various ways. Please keep the residents and staff in your prayers.

Fran Byard, MHA Representative

HOUSE GROUP

We continue to meet at 10 am normally every 3[rd] Thursday in the Church Lounge.

Recently we have concentrated on ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ by Hazel Offner.

Jonathan Baxter

PRAYER BREAKFAST

We continue to meet for an hour at 9 am normally on the 2[nd] Saturday in the Church Lounge

We enjoy a croissant and a cup of tea or coffee followed by a time of open prayer when we can share our concerns for our churches and the world.

We are regularly joined by Gillian and Karen Goldsmith from St John’s.

Jonathan Baxter

SHRUBLANDS TRUST FOOD BANK

The Food Bank continues to be needed by more and more families as the increased cost of living affects so many. All the churches support the project. There is a box in the Welcome Area for contributions and a monthly list of goods needed is available.

Jonathan Baxter

Croydon Churches Floating Shelter (CCFS)

CCFS has not operated a shelter for rough sleepers since March 2020 mainly due to lack of volunteers, especially folk being prepared to stay overnight. An AGM was held on 16[th] May to discuss the future. A Shelter was opened at West Croydon Baptist Church for several weeks early in 2026 but under the auspices of Croydon Voluntary Action.

Jonathan Baxter

Churches Together in Shirley (CTIS)

At the recent AGM it was decided to meet together most months for prayer. SMC hosted this in May and will host the December Meeting.

Jonathan Baxter

World Service & Neighbourhood Committee

This Committee has not met since September 2020 as there have been few funds to distribute to charities and worthy causes.

Jonathan Baxter

SHIRLEY NEIGHBOURHOOD CARE (SNC)

Shirley Neighbourhood Care continues to serve the elderly of Shirley and West Wickham with medical drives, twice weekly lunch club, film club, shopping bus, various outings and ad hoc support.

The biggest piece of news this year is that SNC moved offices from St George’s Church in Shirley to the new Shirley Library Hub. This move will save us a substantial amount of money in rent each year and will place us at the heart of this new initiative in Shirley. We were grateful to St George’s for the use of their office but we felt that this move is the right one for us. The first three months have been a great success, not only saving money but making us more accessible for the people of Shirley.

In November we held a Volunteers’ Coffee morning which turned out to be a great success. We are grateful to Shirley Methodist Church for the use of the lounge for this event which was extremely well attended. Not only was it a good advert for the charity but it was a way to say thank you to our current volunteers and to try and attract some new ones. So far we have confirmed 6 volunteers into their posts with a further 4 waiting for clearance.

In the coming year we will be running a further recruitment campaign specifically to find more volunteers for medical drives.

We are delighted to say that the Christmas bags also went ahead in December 2025 after we had thought that we wouldn’t have funding to go ahead. A Just Giving Campaign raised £1400 for which we are extremely grateful. It also showed us that the people of Shirley are happy to support our work. We also received generous donations from Shirley Townswomen’s Guild and the West Wickham and Croydon Rotary Club.

We have also been given a further £2000 by the Ros Harding Trust which means that we already have enough funds to complete the Christmas bags in December 2026. This is great news as it’s very clear that the bags are valued by all our clients who not only like to receive

a bag but like to get a visit from one of our delivery volunteers at what can be a very lonely time of year.

Finance continues to be a problem since the withdrawal of financial support from Croydon Council. New sources of funding continue to be explored as well as trying to make sure that services cover their costs while still keeping contributions from clients as low as possible. We have managed to keep the Monday lunch Club going after combining with Addiscombe Neighbourhood Care.

We will continue with our regular activities but may also start to consider other ways of supporting older people in Shirley and West Wickham from our new base in the library. Chris Hennis, Business Director of Play Place is keen to work with us to extend our activities for the older people of Shirley at the Hub and we will be looking into this in the coming year. We will be holding our yearly quiz in October and hope to see many of our supporters for a fun evening that raises essential funds for us to continue our work.

Alison Hunt, Trustee of Shirley Neighbourhood Care

CHRISTIAN AID

Last year’s Christian Aid Weed AGM featured women farmers in Guatemala.The final total was £1,515. £415 was raised from the envelope collection and £1,100 from the London sponsored walk. This included £64 from the sale of the Sunday Morning Club’s cakes. Thanks to Robin and Hilda Burnhams, the organisers, and all who took part.

Last summer a number of people signed a petition requesting our government make polluters pay for the damage they cause, and to re-negotiate the debts of the world’s poorest countries.

2025 celebrated Christian Aid’s 80th birthday. £400 was sent from money raised from our weekly stall and donations. This went to aid people fleeing violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

We sold Christmas cards produced by ‘Transform Trade’ and raised £69. A retiring collection after this year’s covenant service resulted in £256. Generous friends have also donated during the year.

Christian Aid week 2026 featured urban farmers in Nairobi, Kenya. The service was taken by Deacon Al Henry. 24 People took part in the London sponsored walk (results not out yet).

After many years I am giving up my work with Christian Aid. We welcome Milton Moore to the job, and wish him every happiness in the role.

Jean Beecher, for the Christian Aid Committee

Tools With a Mission (TWAM)

The Christian Charity Tools with a Mission (TWAM) has continued to increase its good work over the past 12 months.

We recently marked the 1000[th] carpentry tool kit to be sent to Africa from our ‘new’ Rugby depot, this one to Uganda. This brings the total number of carpentry tool kits from the midlands area to 2,500. Please see this link for more details: https://www.twam.uk/post/marking-the-1-000th-twam-carpentry-kit-from-rugby.

Other news include the opening of tools requests from appropriate training groups in the UK seeking tools and extended our reach in Africa with the first container of tools and sewing machines etc sent to Tanzania.

We continue to work in an unstable geopolitical world which impacts on container shipping availability, routes and timings resulting in increased costs.

There have been some issues in the South East area with the operation of the van collection network which meant reduced local collections between November and April. Thankfully this issue seems to be resolving meaning that the normal local tools collection rates should resume from June.

Thank you once again to the Church for its continuing support in making space available on the premises for the local community’s tools donations and also to our church family for their donations of tools, sewing equipment and materials, stamps, old coins and of course money.

Ray Roberts

The Leprosy Mission

In July 2025 we once again welcomed Community Partnerships Manager Wendy Piccinini to lead our annual Leprosy Mission service. Wendy spoke of the challenges facing leprosy sufferers in some of the poorest parts of the world, and in particular the plight of those living in the leprosy colonies of Odisha, eastern India.

After the service, members of our congregation made generous donations and Sunday Morning Club sold delicious ice cream in aid of the Leprosy Mission. In total, the wonderful sum of £586.60 was raised.

In October we held a quiz night with the aim of increasing our donation sufficiently to provide a community well for the people of Odisha and a community farm of vegetable plants and fruit trees. It was a very successful and enjoyable evening and raised the fantastic sum of £737, bringing the total for the year to £1,323. Thank you so much on behalf of TLM for all the generous support our church has given over this last year.

If you’d like to read more about the work of the Leprosy Mission and the projects they’re involved in, copies of New Day magazine are available in the Welcome Area together with LM prayer diaries – please help yourselves.

Wendy will be coming back to Shirley on Sunday 22[nd] November (her first available date!) when no doubt we will hear all about her trip to India planned for October.

Heather Tarling TLM Representative

Safeguarding

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility in the church family. Also please see the safeguarding policy for our church and circuit around the church premises. If there any concerns please refer to the safeguarding officers Milton Moore and Fran Byard. Also if you ask for information from either of us please copy both into any email or message. It is important we have the information as quickly as possible. We are under the circuit safeguarding officer and there is a time limit to report any concerns to the circuit.

Recently there was Foundation Training in circuit and a fair few were trained. Also there has been quite a lot of action on DBSs and quite a few of our number have completed both the training and their DBS is up to date. If you are asked to attend any training please make every effort to attend.

Shirley Methodist church is committed to safeguarding all our visitors, staff and volunteers. If someone you know is at risk of abuse, harm, neglect or exploitation please contact Milton or Fran immediately.

Similarly if you witness something you find worrying it does help to share it with the individuals mentioned above.

Milton Moore and Fran Byard, Safeguarding Officers

Health and Safety

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 (Martyn’s LAW)

Further to the interim update provided to the Church Council last year, the implementation of the Act is gradually progressing toward its implementation date of April 2027. Home Office Guidance has been issued and the SIA (regulator) is commencing consultation on its fuller guidance. In the meantime the Methodist Church has also issued central guidance assisting Methodist churches, large and small, to prepare measures to comply.

As there can be occasions when there are more than 200 persons on our premises the church falls into the definition of ‘Standard Duty Premises’ of the Act and we will need to be prepared for the new law. Even if we consciously decided to limit numbers in the buildings to 200 or fewer it may still be sensible to take a range of simple low or no cost precautions aligning with the requirement for over 200. While still subject to the emergence of formal

guidance, we can safely assume that the new requirements are unlikely to be overly onerous on our church and should not require physical alterations to the buildings.

In terms of the Act the Church Trustees will become the responsible person for virtually all of the activities of the church and our lets. There may be occasions where the whole of the premises is occupied for an event and when this responsibility can be handed to the event organiser but they will still have to work with the church.

I suggest a small working group of two or three is established to formulate a proposal for the Church Council to consider.

Ray Roberts

APPENDIX

Accounts for year ended 31 August 2025

Commentary

Total offerings are on a downward trend £5k (last year £63k vs this year £58k). This is largely attributed to a reduction in standing orders £4k (last year £36k vs this year £32k) and fall in envelope payments £3k (last year £9k vs this year £6k). However this is partially offset by an increase in card payment £2k.

In the accounts there is a prior year circuit assessment payment £11.5k.

Sukh Kalsi, Treasurer

18 CHURC RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS THE METHODIST CHURCH STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS SHIRLEY METhODIST CHURCH Church FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 August 2025 Circuit Clrcuit no 1129515 Registered Charity - Charlty Règlstration numbef If not a registered Gharity Her Majestys Revènue and Customs Gift Aid number IThe HMRC number is equivalent to a registered d)8rity number in terms of evidence of charitable status and may be used to give to dorTrors or grant fvnders wishing to see eviden of the organisation's charitable status. Methodist charitiès in England and Wales Ihal a not registered charities are excepted from registration under Statutory Instrument 2014 No.2421 1127524 Minister". Revd Richard Lowson Church Stewards: Ruth Dod chri5ti.ne Elliot Sandi Ka151 Mildred Ge Aison Hunt Yvonne Hanson-mills Treasurer: Sukhvindei Kalsi

19 ACCWNTSF(XIThEVEAR E1rn31 ALW2 SHIRLEY IAETHODIST CHURCH RECEIPTS 50rdTa¥tec•w Bank CFB tyestar lfjwoslnwl Incomè 5B924ffj2 9x02 S?52 13 1.224 gs824 2.11120 I85.53 41224J5 412x35 40..41 [4rrec£ 1.011 7 1•7.BBI.B1 TOTAL RECETS 11sJag.5J PAYfdENTS 558939) 55.OSD 46.197 50 b3 1 (O)JYI l.OPJ. 35.V1fj6 eJ1.86 24.6¢9.11 ong & 24.39T.07 11.3Z4.TZ ments 4573 IX.4Y6.T8 4.5t3.95'. TOTAL PAYklEMTS 131.44&16. It41 41.S¥J.OJ SECrnM C NEf RE¢EPTs1PAYMlS FC TAE YEAR 41 16X.78 111.3336e 117.IM.46 ¢1rt7 lts.D16 6.702 112.776.05 87391 73.94 48.20 t5 TOT•LFUIItsSATEMDOF YEAR 113,649.99 TRUE SECTk)M O I1.01 d2 3.74225 3.ts4.Q5 BALANCESrnL TOBEAD l¢1*¢241Jl 4JqQ.Vi

20 IIL17 5Tr4 S77A 117.IIIL46 11 IIF.TII 114ZZ7 Iv) E2517A •IL17

CHURCH RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS THE METHODIST CHURCH STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS SHIRLEY METHODIST CHURCH Church FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 August 2025 Circuit Circuit no 1129515 Registered Charlty - Charity Registration number If not a registered charity Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs Gift Aid number (The HMRC number is equivalent to 8 registered charity number in terms of evidence of charitable status and may be used lo give to donor5 or grant funders wishing lo see evidence of the organisation's charitable status. Melhodisl charities in England and Wales that are not registered charities are excepted from registration under Statutory Instrument 2014 No.242} 1127524 Minister.. Revd Richard Lowson Church Stewards.. Ruth Dodoo Christine Elliot Sandi Kalsi Mildred George Alison Hunt Yvonne Hanson-mills Treasurer: Sukhvinder Kalsi Church R and P 2015.xls 1of5

ACCOUIITS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 202S SHIRLEY METHODIST CHURCH P.4fJT. nrqsbSei#d fQ•StrKIEd Fn Tolalsth SECTION A RECEIPTS 82 Offerin s Tax reCoVed Bank and CFB Intbyesi a Inv&slmenl Jrfome 58.924.82 SB.9XB2 63 2.13 1.224 96 958.24 2.183.20 2.D85.53 41.224 35 41224.33 40 W2.41 Olher letti TOTAL RECEIPTS 14,83E.40 11fj.209.53 t4835.4Q t17,167.77 1 N1.74 958.24 1117,881.81 SE¢TKJN B b1 PAYMENTS b2 CiicuilAss8$sryx>ni or Share $5.893 50 55.893.5fy 46,197.SO Donaiions 1.OWOO Re airs and IdainlBnanco UtIlit$ Ilnsuranc8s, wAieT charges, 35.631.66 3$ 6J1.66 24.649 11 b5 24.397 07 24.397.07 14,324.72 b7 Olther TOTAL PAYMENTS menis 4.573 95 0.00 4 573.95 121,496.18 8.427 70 91,$99.I3 121.495.18 0.00 SECTION C NET RECEIPTSIPAYMENTS fOR THE YEAR c1 5.286.65 958.24 4 328.41 18.282 78 Total funds bDJuyhtforwpFd fr 1 yeèr Rts-VnThJ5 5.T71.78 117.1•4.40 IOD.773 48 Sub total c1+c2 106,046 03 6.730.02 112 776.05 117 0%26 Tran&fEf3 and ad slrnents 873.94 873.94 4820 TOTAL FUIIDS f4T END OF YEAR Ic1+1 1O6.919.97 6.730.02 113.649.99 117.101.46 TRU SECTION D FOR INFORPAAnoN ONLW. MONEY RECEIVED AND PA88ED ON TO EXTERNAL ORGANISATIOPIS amounts are not io be Included in totsl rgceiptslpayments urey abDv•I Balance brou ht foward fvom sl Oar 4.300 D1 4.251.81 ONEri slafts. received fOreXM8 aniSatnS 2.177.82 3.742.25 d3 Omeri sIGIfts 5Sed to èxièmai 3.6Y.05 8ALItICE STILL TO 8E PJ0 [dI+d23) 5,173.95 4,300.01 Church R and P 2015.xls 2of5

SHIRLEY METHODIST CHURCH th&h SECTN)W E ThI558V OTES FIRhAL0Ats1u1jFll Cwiing eFwÈhGui 28.68 LkYna1 5J1 17 873.Y 117.1016 TofALCAsHFuwD8MELD 121.¥4 14.35TOg 87JJ4 11T.710.63 114.217.48 TOTALREP1¥ TOTAL PAYMEM SEC710MF OPEp4FK4 ALAtICES CMURCM.C4HFUIID6kWJilJl Aw . B*LAwCES 1n ZQ.541 77 21 517.VD I..05 FP75P5 SUB TQTAL.ChurEhucquTr 117.1Q4.4ts elE 806.17 577.49 TOTALC4SH FUtID$TrELDèyChR %17,110.61 ¥RUF OTHER L•nd& 3ffj31.270 3M26.8gÉ 1.751 IA61 r luJL+t 2015 Church R and P.xls 3of5

Name of Church . Shlrlgy Methodist Churc 1129515 Declarations and Scrutiny I confirm that these Receipl and Payment based accounts for the year to 31 August 2024 have been prepared from the records ol th8 Church and that they indude all funds under the control of the Church trustees. Signature of treasurer Name and address of treasurer . .Sukhvinder Kalsi .58 Verdayne Avenue, Shirtey. Croydon.......... Post Code...CRO 8TS.............. Presentation to thè Church trustees I confirm that the annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 Augus12022 WerelkWlk- presented to the meeting of the Church tnjstees held on aE.l..2.j2.ts Signature of the Chair of the meeting Name of the Chair of the meeting Date . .si.15.l. Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of the .Shirley Methodi5t..Church Charity Number . .1127524........... Responsibilltles and basis of report I report lo the trustees on my examination of the accounls of the Shidey Methodist Church for the year en(ted 31 Augtjst 2022 sel out on pagès 1 to 3. As the Church's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in a¢¢ordance wth the requirements o* the Charities Act 2011 I'lhe Act'l. l pOrt in respect of my examination of the Church s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and, in carrying out my exainination. I have followed all the applicable Directions given by th& Charity Commission under section 14515llbl of the Acl. delete or circle as appropriate 2015 church R and P.xls 4ofS

Name of Chufch .. Shirley Methodist Church 1129515 Independent Examinerfs Statement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examinalion which give me cause lo believe Ihal In, any malenal respect.. the accounling records were not kept in accordan wth sectson 130 of the Act., or the accounts do not accord wth the accounting recofds. I have no concems and have come across no Other matters in connection wilh the examination lo which attenlion Should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper underslanding of the accounts to be reached. I have not obtained independent venficalion of all invesimenls with the Tnjslees for Methodist Church Purposes or held in other trusts, bank balan$ and funds at Ihe Central Finance Board of the Melhodisl Church which are Individually in excess of £10,000 (len thousand pounds) at the balance sheet date. Signature of independent examiner Name of independent examiner ..Graham Marsden............................................................ Relevant professional qualification of independent examiner Public Finance and Accountancy Name of fifm (where appropnale} -chartered Inslitute of .NlA................................................ Address .8 Edgewood Green. Croydon, CRO 7PT Date delete or c4rcle as appropriate 2015 ¢hur¢h P& Sofs

The Methodist Church

SHIRLEY METHODIST CHURCH

Annual Report May 2026

Our Mission Statement

Contents

MINISTER’S REPORT

CHURCH COUNCIL

SENIOR STEWARD’S REPORT

WORK WITH CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE Sunday Morning Club Report

CHURCH MUSIC and POWERPOINT REPORT

PASTORAL REPORT

PROPERTY

SHIRLEY METHODIST MATTERS (SMM)

CHURCH WEBSITE

THE GUILD

PRAYER CHAIN

HALL GRANGE MHA

HOUSE GROUP

PRAYER BREAKFAST

SHRUBLANDS TRUST FOOD BANK

Croydon Churches Floating Shelter (CCFS)

Churches Together in Shirley (CTIS)

Jonathan Baxter

World Service & Neighbourhood Committee

SHIRLEY NEIGHBOURHOOD CARE (SNC)

CHRISTIAN AID

Tools With a Mission (TWAM)

The Leprosy Mission

Safeguarding

Health and Safety

APPENDIX

Accounts for year ended 31 August 2025