# **Wealdstone Methodist Church Trustees’ Report and Accounts 2022** ## _**WEALDSTONE METHODIST CHURCH**_ Address: Locket Road, Wealdstone Harrow. HA3 7ND Church email: wealdstonechurch@yahoo.co.uk website: www.wmclr.org.uk The Church halls telephone: 020 8861 0913 Registered Charity No: 1127748 Wealdstone Methodist Church comes under the auspices of the Methodist Church in Britain whose governing body is the Methodist Conference. The authority by which the Conference acts is laid out in the Methodist Church Act 1976. Wealdstone Methodist Church is part of the group of Methodist Churches in the Harrow and Hillingdon Circuit and is accountable to the Methodist Conference. It is also a separately registered charity reporting to the Charity Commission. All activities are undertaken by volunteers, other than the work of a stipendiary minister, appointed by the Circuit to provide guidance and oversight for the work of this and other local Methodist Churches. ## **Objectives and activities** Wealdstone Methodist Church exists to provide regular public acts of worship open to members of the church and non-members alike. It provides a sacred space, a building, for prayer and contemplation. It explains and commends Christianity through sermons, courses and small groups. It carries out pastoral work, including visiting the sick and the bereaved. It provides a weekly “Friendship Café”, a fellowship meeting (The Wesley Guild), a Toddlers’ Group and a Baby Bank. It also hosts “Digital inclusion Courses” run by an expert to train people on how to access local social services through online technology. It offers its halls for hire, subject to availability, to community groups. ## **Minister** The Revd Stephen Poole Tel: 07760 490606 email: steveej55@hotmail.co.uk Services for Marriage, Funerals, Baptisms and Confirmation are arranged directly with the Minister. ## **Church Council Secretary** David Milne, 38 The Avenue, Harrow. HA3 7DE Tel: 020 8954 7248 email: themilnes@sky.com ## **Treasurer** Malcolm Aldridge, 35 Boxtree Road, Harrow. HA3 6TN Tel: 020 8954 1619 email: Malcolm.Aldridge@btinternet.com ## **The General Church Meeting** All church members are entitled to attend the General Church Meeting which has a responsibility to consider the whole ministry of the church. It appoints the Church Stewards and elects representatives of the congregation to serve on the Church Council. ## **The Church Council (Managing Trustees)** The Church Council has authority and oversight over the whole area of the ministry of the church, including the management of its property. Aims and methods, the determination and pursuit of policy and the deployment of available resources are its responsibility. It appoints committees which have authority, in their own areas of responsibility, to initiate action, co-ordinate the work done in the church, advise the Church Council and report to it. Membership of the Church Council is either “Ex-officio” or by election at the General Church Meeting or by co-option by the Church Council itself. The Church Council members are the managing trustees of Wealdstone Methodist Church. The Custodian Trustees for property matters are the _Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes_ (TMCP), located in Manchester. On appointment, Trustees receive training in their responsibilities through guidance produced by the Methodist Conference and the leaflet ‘The Role of a Trustee’. The trustees are responsible for maintaining proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the church for ensuring that financial statements comply with current legislation. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the church and their proper application under charity law and for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud. Risks are regularly reviewed by the Church Council and recommendations followed up. Where necessary, advice from relevant professionals is sought. The Trustees have adopted a Safeguarding Policy in relation to children and vulnerable people, and all trustees are subject to DBS clearance. This is reviewed annually. There is no bar to anyone engaging in the activities of the church on the grounds of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation, saving that the trustees must by law be church members. The Church Council is responsible for producing this Trustees’ Report for the General Church Meeting and the Charities Commission. This Report for 2021 – 22 was approved by the General Church Meeting on 27 November 2022. ## _**THE AREAS OF CHURCH WORK**_ The Church Council has identified three “areas” of church work. The names of these areas are: - Worship, Learning and Care - Mission - Administration _Previously, there were two groups called “Ministry” and “Local and World Mission.” These were combined into “Mission” in July 2022._ ## _**WORSHIP, LEARNING AND CARE:**_ This working area includes all the worship and learning activities that happen on a Sunday as well as discussion groups, Guild and the mid-week communion services. Pastoral Care is monitored by the Pastoral Committee. ## **Services of Worship** Sunday: 10.45am. _(The service start time was changed from 10.30am in March 2022)_ Holy Communion is included on the second Sunday in the month at 10.45am. Midweek Communion: A Communion service is held at 2.00pm on the third Monday of the month. _This is a trial arrangement, replacing the Wednesday services that were held previously._ ## **The Church Stewards** The General Church Meeting annually appoints as church stewards, two or more persons who are members of the Church. The church stewards are corporately responsible with the minister for giving leadership and help over the whole range of the church’s life and activity. This includes being responsible for ensuring that all services appointed on the circuit plan are duly held. ## **Communion Stewards** The Church Council annually appoints persons to serve as communion stewards who will make provision for the proper celebration of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. ## **The Pastoral Committee** The Church Council annually appoints pastoral visitors and a Pastoral Committee secretary to share in the pastoral care of members and adherents. ## **Fellowship and Discussion Groups** **Wesley Guild** meets on alternate Thursdays at 7.30 pm from October to February. **House Groups:** Two groups previously met monthly in a member’s home but during the pandemic one group met online. This group now meets face to face in the Guild Room. It is planned to return to house meetings in the future 2 ## _**MISSION**_ Mission includes the outreach and social interaction of the church with its members and adherents, all those who meet on or use the halls during the week and local or national charities. _The Local and World Mission Committee has not met for three years and is now discontinued. Its role is now taken on by the Church Council._ _The Church Council employed a Church Development Worker for five years. This employment ended on 31 August 2021. Efforts to find a new “Church Community Worker” were unsuccessful so this role is no longer in place._ ## **Social Activities Group** The Church Council annually appoints a Social Activities Group to arrange occasional social activities and outings for Church Members, adherents and friends. ## **Church Community Groups:** **The Friendship Café** offers a social activity and café on Wednesdays. **The Online Learning Centre** is a new group offering digital training to the community. **Toddlers’ Group** offers mid-week activities for young children and their parents or carers on Monday and Thursday at 10.00 am. **Baby Bank** offers equipment and support to local families with small children on Fridays from 9.30am. **Shamwari** is a social group for members and adherents who normally live alone. ## _**ADMINISTRATION**_ ## **The Finance and Property Committee and the Church Treasurer** The Church Council annually appoints a church treasurer who keeps a record of all church income and expenditure and produces the Annual Accounts. The Church Council annually appoints a Finance and Property Committee to work with the treasurer on the financial planning of the church and to maintain the buildings and property. The Finance and Property Committee meets three times a year. The main sources of funds are weekly and monthly offerings, tax recoveries under Gift Aid, donations and some legacies. The church policy is to maintain in its General Reserve an amount equal to six months normal expenses. The Church Council annually appoints two Property Stewards. The role of Lettings Officer is to manage the letting of the premises to organisations who rent the premises for their own purposes. This role is now being carried out by the minister. 3 ## _**Achievements During The Year**_ During the financial year, 1 September 2021 – 31 August 2022, the Church Council met four times. The Church Council has appointed a Safeguarding Officer and the annual review of the church’s Safeguarding policy took place in October 2021. The following gives an indication of the work overseen or initiated by the Church Council during 1 September 2021 – 31 August 2022. Most of the church activities that were curtailed due to the Covid pandemic the previous year resumed after September 2021. _Mission Plan_ : The church has produced a Mission Plan outlining the intended key activities for the year. Progress against this plan is reviewed regularly by the Church Council to ensure that planned actions take place. The plan itself is reviewed and re-issued annually. _Church Services_ : Sunday morning services take place every week. The service start time was changed from 10.30 am to 10.45am from March 2022. This change was made because the church is also used by the LifeSpring Romanian Church or their Sunday morning service. Their start time changed to 7.45 instead of 8.00 and so this allowed more changeover time between the services _Communion Services:_ The administering of communion by the Minister and Steward returned to the pre Covid procedure from Easter onwards, ie those participating come forward to the communion rail to receive the bread and wine and return to their seats after a short prayer. Average attendance was 54 at 12 morning services. Last year the average attendance was 50. The range of attendance was from 42 in October to 69 in November when there was a joint service with North Harrow. Ten of the 12 monthly services had over 50 communicants. 12 people attended the Ash Wednesday Communion at 5.00pm but there was no Easter Morning Communion this year. There were only 6 Wednesday Communion Services during the year with an average attendance of 5. Several were cancelled due to low attendance or the Minister being unavailable. The midweek communion is being moved to the third Monday of the month at 2.00pm. Hopefully, this time suits more members as we have recently held House Group meetings at church on the first Monday afternoon of the month with encouraging attendance. There were no baptisms this year. Once again, Young Church has not met as there are no children and so this activity has been discontinued for the time being. The _Worship Forum_ met twice in the year, as planned, after a morning service. This gives the congregation an opportunity to provide feedback on the services, _Pastoral Committee Work_ : Pastoral visitors care for our members and adherents and distribute our church magazine. This workload has now returned to normal as there are no longer any Covid restrictions. The current membership of the church is 110 which is 4 lower than for the previous year. _Fellowship and discussion groups_ provide a means of sharing, discussion, bible study and prayer in people’s homes. The _Afternoon House Group_ and the _Evening House Group_ , did not meet this year but a Bible Study group met monthly. Initially, this group met online but now meets face to face in the Guild room at church. It is hoped to return to the House Group format later. _The Wesley Guild_ restarted in October 2021 and met on alternate Thursdays until February 2022. This pattern worked well and will be repeated for 2022 – 2023. _The Social Activities Group_ arranged outings to Windsor and Southend. Both were very successful and enjoyed by those who took part. _Shamwari_ is a church group for people who live on their own. It has restarted meetings and outings. _The Church Magazine, Dawn_ , was back to normal with six editions published during the year. _The Friendship Café_ on Wednesdays and _The Toddlers’ Group_ on Mondays and Thursdays are now run by church volunteers as we could not recruit a Church Community Worker. 4 The _Wealdstone Baby Bank,_ which started in April 2021, has proved to be very successful with many young families coming for support, baby clothes and small items of baby equipment. It meets in the hall on Friday mornings from 9.30am – 12.00 noon. _The Online Learning Centre,_ run by a “Digital Ambassador” from the Enderley Road Patients’ Association, has continued to be very successful. This group offers digital skills training to local people who need access to government and health services which are available online, eg the NHS or surgery appointments. The work has expanded to include a _Diabetic Community Club_ , which offers similar support especially designed for diabetic patients. These courses have been so successful that to some extent they have now “saturated the market” in the local area and the number of courses at the church may decrease next year. ## _Charities supported and funds raised:_ At Christmas 2021 the church raised a total of £1,099.40 for _Action for Children_ from the annual gift service (including vouchers), the Christmas Card distribution, a church donation and carol singing outside the church. The Annual Bread and Cheese Lunch was held in the church halls but a “Take Away” lunch was offered as an option. This raised £228 for _Crisis at Christmas_ . A further £54.50 was raised at the Christmas Day service. _Christian Aid Week_ collections were held this year by distributing Christian Aid envelopes to the Sunday congregations. We collected a total of £235.00 and Christian Aid will be able to claim a further £22.50 as Gift Aid. _MHA_ : The annual envelope offering and box collection for Methodist Homes raised £420.20, including Gift Aid. The church also donated £7,500 to our regular list of local and world charities, which enables us to help people on the margins of society in Harrow and in the wider world, including Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeals. The church still supports and promotes _Fair Trade_ by enabling the sale of _Traidcraft_ products. The _Finance and Property Committees_ has met three times during the year. The committee, including the treasurer who is also the Property Secretary, has maintained accounting records of the financial position of Wealdstone Methodist Church. (See attached accounts). Major financial decisions have to be approved by the Church Council. ## _Use of Premises by other Groups_ The church sponsored Scout Group continued to meet on Friday evenings. At present, they only have Scout and Cub sections. The premises were let to various community groups: the Montrose Pre-School, a Parkinson’s UK Group, the Harrow African Caribbean Association, Kumon educational group and a Zumba class. The premises are also let to other Christian denominations. _The Arise Church_ no longer meets on our premises but the _LifeSpring Romanian Fellowship_ Church, which started in February 2021, continues to meet regularly. They hold several mid-week meetings as well as Sunday services. At Christmas 2021 there was a united carol service for both churches. 5 THE MEfHODIsfcHURCH STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS For the year ended 31 August 2022 WEALDsfoNE MEfHODIsf CHURCH inthe HARROW AND HILLINGDON CIRCUIT OF THE LONDON DIsfRIcf no 35136 Mlnlst The Rev. Stephen Poole Helen Riley Church Stewants Paul Phillips David Nixon (from lrt May 2022) David Mllne Malcolm Aldrfdge Reglstered Charity No 1127748 TREASURER'S REPORT FOR THE YEAR TO 31 AUGusf 2022 IntroduL*ion The finanaal has sh)wn a st• r￿ery from the COVID 19 pa￿lC and a)nsquential l¢xkdown{s) of 2020-21. IrKmie frC￿ all Sour￿ has sFthvn a substanbal improvement of 25% as compared wrth last year where IT￿ne had inaEased by 1%. EyThJiture has also i￿￿eased by 28% as compared with the previous year, prinorkilly due to an increase in property repairs maintenan mission grant ck)nations. The re9Jttant (vrt-tum is a £3,300 suryyus. This sU￿lUS has l￿en large gtherated by ts¥o substsntial irKDTne strwns fr(Mn of premises. Tr thurth ￿nts are P￿[13r&I on the receipts and ￿Yments methc3nists paKI at the rate of £28 s￿1￿, at a totsl cost of £1,428 (2021. £28 & £924). 8. Capital Commltments At 31st August 2022, Tr) (aytsl c￿m￿rnthts e￿$te£l, (2021, £Nil). 9. Treasurer'5 Dedaratlon T conflm that I have tryared the ￿counts fr￿n r￿(¥￿S of WeabJ5fv Methodist thurch and that they indude all fijnds uThJer the control of the Church cour￿1. Makolm Aldridge, Treaswer M ,T E. Jllid*Q 10. Ded•rntion by the Chlr af the Churth Coundl I confim that the ac£ounts V￿11 ￿ tresented to Chjrth Cwndl whith I intend to chalr on 19th October 2022. The Rev. Ster*￿1 Pcde, O)alr of the thurch Signed: Datgj: 1g.10.Z Wealdstone Methodlst Chureh - 1127748 Balanee Sheet detailed Asat 3110PJ2022 A$at 3110812021 Flxod assots s,LI￿.00 2.775.00 5,OtKI.OD 2,775.00 7.776.00 7,776.00 Current assets 15.297 ( 6,050.65 72.108.58 13.949 5B 3,014.98 48.580 60 10 011 63.46 5007. C•sh n Hofvj. T￿rffift gYJ8. Cash in H8TrJ. Caf• 13.15 21.54 $7.187.26 fj8.754.65 5010.. fjenèral OebtOT5 5011.. Futsj MirNsty 5012.. Cash H8TrJ. Tothy 17.22 18.l¥J ZOS.. Aw)Lmt8 Rowabl• 100,195AI lJ4,381.24 Liabllltle• 151.251 Toi*l Ll•bllltl•¥ 151.20) 14•tA•••t•urplw Id•ftcttl 158A70. 142,207.49 R•sorv•s ExrEss I Idefvjll lo d* Zol. Slarfry ￿anC 16.262. 142.207 49 0.01 110.879 en 153.087.36 Tolal Rwp I￿470.46 141207.49 01 Qdober2022 Page 4 Asat 3110812022 A5at 3110812021 Represented by Funds 55.077.46 72.401.21 30.991.79 51,7n.71 $5.095. 22.338.95 tkwnated 158N70.46 142,207.49 01 October 2022 Page S W•oldstone Methodlst Church- 1127748 Statgment of Flnanclal Acttvities Forthe ￿rIOd from 01 September 2021 to 31 August 2022 Totsl Prior year fijnds total fund5 funts Ineomlng resoure•s Offerirws tax recoverabl Inlewl and investment in(**ne Lettings Other Ir￿ft Intern81 organsatlon5 lir￿￿) Lea?￿eS 51.925.12 559.07 44.617.06 10.W.96 1.174_78 141.sj s2.￿.82 559.07 44.617.95 10,969.96 40,235.67 54.143 40 370 15 28.303 31 3,394.05 11.e60.71 39.CffjO.89 Total income 10I24&89 39.20139 148.449.28 97.87t.62 Re￿urceS us•d Circuit 8s88s8ment or ih•re Grnnts and dOnat￿r Repair8 and mainien$nco Uliliww. Insurances 01¢ Prov￿0 Othef •xp•ndtture Inlem81 organB8110rn 10xpe￿I￿oI L•gaty ProJef#8 4S.W.ryJ 9,650. 15,Y8 87 11.e81.13 45.980.00 10.495.20 15.348.87 11.881.13 45.980.(KI 5.850.00 15.231.05 10.858 08 10.788.49 1.352.27 6,636 C(1 10,788 49 31.056 63 6,836 00 5.504.09 6,036.00 19,492.27 29.704. Totsl •xpondi￿re G81n8 I losses on inv•stmam as8etS 101.6x71 30,S49.16 0.01 131188.32 0.01 106.751.49 N•t income I lexpofiditut•l feaources bofor•tran8f•r Y,610.13 8.85184 11.￿197 110.879.871 Gros8 transfe15 beh4*en fvrKls. in Gro$$ tr8nsfer8 ¢yA 32.836.L (32,836.NJl 32.836.tsJ 132.836.001 20,132.88 (20.132.861 Othernwnis•dg•ln•/loM Gain$ on revaluatson, a￿18. ¢h•ntrlsi*wn Nèt mw¢m•rtln fund• 7,110.1J 16.26197 110.879.871 R•con¢lllrtlon ollunds Tot•1 funds brought fowrd 119.868.54 22J38.95 141207.49 153,087.38 Ttstsi funds carySed forwLrd 127.478.67 30.991.79 158,470.46 142,207.49 01 OrtobÈr2022 Page Wealdstono Mgthodist Church - 1127748 Fund movement summary Selectod period: 01 September 2021 to 31 August 2022 Fund Fu￿d B*lArt h)corJry É*rMk and Eno•6 FuThd balance6 •r￿ad lofw*rd Flat- Chwch Aa¢ Improvement FurKI DHvJgitts- David Higgir IYOUNJ Peop￿) Fund DiaComC1- Diabetes Cornrnun5ty Club Fund DIGTF- DkJital IrdusVJ (Good Thiffjs Fdnl FuTrJ OniLeam- Orfine LeamiTrJ Furnl Ben&volenc- Ben&vol&nca Furyl 6uildiws- Church 8Ul￿dIng$ FuTrJ ChurthHols- Church Holiday Fund DFlenvng- DethL* Flerning Fu FrCaf¢Pri- FA¢ndthip Cafelprqttt FLmd Gen8ral- General fund IniEve- Inlemalional Evening Fund LegProJ. L8gw Proloal Fund Lund)oon. Lunthon Club Fund Organ. Organ FLxbl Prinling- Printfftg Fw Propaty. Property FufvJ Soaal- Aeimty Fund Toddbr¥- TtrJd*B Fund Traidcr¥ft- Trahlaaft Fund G￿ld- Wesley Fund YoungCh- Yow C￿jrth FLnd 4.C¥)J.l¥J 4.WO.00 3.¢XQ.C 3.￿0.00 3.c￿.TrJ {3.(((l. S.1￿$.01 37.710. 24,875.78 18,024.23 944.12 141.xl 845.20 240.42 7,775.fKJ 7.775.QJ 017.45 617.45 393.98 393.96 752.58 537.72 51.772.71 11)8,072.11 95.203. (9.564. 55.07T.46 62.837. 16,636.( $6.201.eo 0.01 0.01 2.OM.C4J 1.318.64 1,820.81 278.88 1.174.78 1.3$2.27 5.081.13 1.542.80 1.2￿.LI) 11,OCII.fpJ 2.341 15 7.739.68 79.08 1.345.CQ 178.29 581.24 132.52 191.40 1.248.79 1.638.e3 449.30 449.30 118.58 118.58 Talal• 14U07A• o.o* 118.470.48 n1 ottO￿r 2022 Pag8 7 WEALDsfoNE METHODIST CHURCH Thi5 r￿rt is on the a)urch the yEar athj 31 ￿guSt 2022 are set out ￿ the acaThpanying pages 2-7 a￿1 is In rewt rf an eyaminaliffi (arrial urKJw sectw)n 145 of tt 0￿rItieS Act 2011. apprcyrfate accounts Und￿ 130 c( the kt It is my re4xY&bilty to IS￿ this retK¥t i)n those ty exarninatiL￿ VRS carr*d C￿ in acttrdan￿ ¥￿th tre DfjreLti￿ 145 {5) (b) of the Att. Thls examinaljon ITKJudes a review of ￿ acc(MJntir#J rEc￿lIS kq)t by the thurth Treasurer and a comparI￿n of ts ￿nts thc6e wocgjures urnlwtrken do not kY0v￿e ev*Jen￿ that woukl be ￿uir*S in an wjit l th) exrYe55 an a￿￿£ IWnh)n ¢m the v￿1 by the Kcounts. (l) whlch gwes me reasonaL* cawe to tdlthe that mateJial rtsp* the requ1rvn￿ts . to twre accwnts N*hkh a(£ord wlth the reAYts to oynpty wlth ts aCc￿ntIr￿j requlranents of the P£t have met; or {2) to whith, In my opimn. att￿t￿￿ Stvxjkl ¢*J•m In (xd¥ to enth a ur)J¥5tsndlng of the accC￿nts to be reac￿4. (3) I have obtalned iTMleF*tht verificakn ￿ all In￿5b￿￿ts with the TnJst*s ts MetJKKlist thurch Purt#)ses (ThCP') ￿ hdd in cther Twsts, Bank balan￿ Funds at the Central Anan￿ Board of the Mthxlist Churth ("CFB?, whlth a￿ I￿ual￿ n excess crf £IO,(KKI (￿ tr#)JsarKI kxxjnds) at the balan￿ dats. Sign￿. 202 EARMARKED DONATIONS The amounts raised for other charities and organisations which do not forni part of the Chun*'5 Income or EXpendi￿re, were as follow& 2021122 2020121 654.40 898.60 Oryanlsation Acbon for Children Akim Swedw MetFKKlist Churth. Ghana All We Can Centre Point Chrtstran Crisis at Christmas Cystic Fibrosis Tnjst DEC Ukrdine Appeal Fimi Foundation Friends of Amasaffjo Great OrMC￿l Street Flo Harrow FcKxlbank Hamw Mencap Hanuw arKI ￿'nner L￿5 a Karibuni Trust Macmilkin Cancer Relief Methodist Home5 (MHA) Meth(xli5t Wesley Guild Methc*Jist Churth Wcwld Missk)n Fund (MWI8 Eastw Offerlng) Mufakose Methc*Jlst ￿urth Nigeria Health ca￿ Project Paul Strickland kanner Centre RNU Salvatyon Arniy V￿M SuFfrfrt RJTrJ SIc￿e Cell Sodety St Lukes HospKe Sttllblrth arKI Neonatsl Death (SANDS) Traldcraft Exchange Traidcraft Falr Trade Fortnlght uNI￿F - Tonga Emergency Ap￿1 (£250.W from Eenev01en￿ Fund) uNl￿F - Afghanlstsn Conflict ApFeal (E250.CQ from Benevolen￿ Fund & £140.IXI We5* Guikl coffee m(¥niro) Wealdstone Baby Bank Zimbabwe Vthms SupFort FuThJ 501.60 **235.00 265.00 536.50 **257.50 282.50 438.62 5Ck8.00 125.00 158.00 150.00 205.00 256.75 403.00 668.15 122.50 175.92 *471.45 23.C *538.67 *393.75 111.20 194.30 125.50 458.00 87.50 121.20 ioi.00 147.80 213.00 I{￿.(￿) 92.(10 250.00 2W.00 £8.189.64 £3,866.77 *Include5 Gift AKI ￿laim￿l Lry WMC on LEhalf of the tharlty aTrJ Ind￿ with the amcunt ratsed. **Includes Gift Aid to te redalM￿ by the thirity.