OpenCharities

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

2023-12-31-accounts

Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night’ Isaiah 60:11

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204 TRUSTEES REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Administrative Office Barn House, Station Road, Burgess Hill West Sussex, RH15 9EQ, England Telephone: 01444 233050

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Station Road Congregation

Email: churchoffice@gatewaybaptist.org.uk Website: www.gbclive.net Charity No: 1129204

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

TRUSTEES REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Pastor: Revd. Steve Hobbis

Church Office:

Gateway Baptist Church Barn House Station Road Burgess Hill West Sussex RH15 9EQ

Tel: 01444 233050 Email: churchoffice@gatewaybaptist.org.uk Web: www.gbclive.net

Prepared by Deacons & Elder, GBC PRB Accountants LLP

Examined by

PRB Accountants LLP

CONTENTS Page Number
Trustees Report 2-13
Independent Examiners Report 14
Statement of Financial Activities 15
Balance Sheet 16
Notes to the accounts 17-28

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204 TRUSTEES REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

1. Legal and Administrative information

Minister Revd. Steve Hobbis Elders Mr D. Salisbury Deacons Mrs S. Benefer (Treasurer) Mrs L. Mayne (Secretary) Mrs P. Draper Mrs A. Groves

1.3 Address Church Station Road, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9EQ. Church Office Barn House, Station Road, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9EQ.

1.4 Custodian Trustees The Baptist Union Corporation Limited, Baptist House, PO Box 44, 129 Broadway, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 8RT. Registered Charity No. 249635

Our current account and a connected savings account are with HSBC. One other savings account (building fund) is with NatWest.

HSBC Bank Plc, 125 Church Road, Hove, BN3 2AN.

National Westminster Bank plc, 1 Muster Green, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 4AP.

1.7 Solicitors

Where required the Church appoints the Solicitors retained by the Baptist Union Corporation Ltd. to act on its behalf.

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204 TRUSTEES REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

2. Management Report for the year ended 31 December 2023

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 to the requirements of the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities SORP (FRS 102) and the Baptist Union of Great Britain Guidelines F03 (10/2020).

3. General

4. The Church's Mission, Activities and Future Strategy

2023 was a year of steadily building on the progress of the previous year. It was a year of stability in the makeup of the leadership team. The core leadership team and spouses had an away-day focusing on personal relationships with God and the encouragement to stir the desire to not settle for the status-quo but be hungry to know God better.

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204

TRUSTEES REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Sunday morning services continue to be the main gathering of the whole church body. The team of worship leaders and musicians continues to lead effectively and has taken up the challenge of introducing new songs to the repertoire. Preaching has been linked with other aspects of church life: Once again, the first third of the year the Sunday morning sermons were followed up with life-group studies. The series for this was called ‘Deeper’, where ten key verses that provide a framework for understanding the overall message of the Bible were explored in detail. During the year, as well as the Pastor teaching, others within the fellowship and beyond including some new guest speakers provided ministry. More opportunity for testimony and prayer ministry was introduced. Advent and Christmas involved the whole Sunday morning services including worship, teaching, youth and children’s groups exploring the theme of ‘Journey with us… to Christmas and beyond’. Social media, website and printed material also reflected these topics. Periodically, we have held all-age Sunday morning services, and these have grown in creativity and participation, culminating in an all-age Christmas service as part of the Journeys theme. Earlier in the year, we had the joy of baptising two people. These are the first for a few years. We continue to grow in ethnic diversity and have had people join us who are exploring the claims of Christ, faith and church for the first time.

Evening services have taken place twice a month and provide a less structured and more song-based opportunity for worship. We had a joint service with Sheddingdean Baptist Church and took the opportunity to pray for their needs. Once a month an afternoon gathering ‘Tea, talk and prayer’ took place which was an opportunity for all but especially for those who might not be fully connected into other aspects of church life.

GBC morning church services and several other activities have continued to be available as hybrid, with Zoom being used. It proved very valuable to a few regular users and helpful to many who may use it for one or two weeks. The transcript facility was also useful for a member with hearing loss.

The life of the community of the church has continued to grow with meals, ladies and men’s events, games events, other social occasions and acts of collective worship. The regular backbone of this community aspect being life-groups which meet in people’s homes, except for a larger daytime group, Lighthouse, which generally meets on church premises. One new life-group was launched during the year for newer people. We had a church away-day to Dalesdown, (West Sussex) which included worship and teaching. Some of the more physical activities were cancelled due to the extreme hot weather on the day. Despite this it was a good community building and faith developing day.

The main midweek meetings continued the pattern of each of three terms having a different element. Spring and summer terms being life-groups, all following the same study material in the Spring, each setting their own agenda in the summer, with the Autumn term set aside for courses and activities. This gives an opportunity for a variety of activities, spending time with different people and welcoming in people who are not normally part of the life of the church. The activities ranged from more traditional studies on various themes including ‘The Grace Course’ to shared evenings of craft and conversations, and a choir. The choir sung at Carols by Candlelight. One Autumn Course, table tennis, ran for most of the last half of the year and is continuing as a weekly event, involving coaching and group members from church and beyond.

A training event and then regular, twice monthly, meetings of ‘Healing Rooms’ has been hosted, with GBC church members participating alongside members from other churches. This ministry is part of the National Healing Rooms England and Wales. Prayer ministry for healing is offered both in-person and over Zoom.

GBC hosted and helped with monthly tea parties as part of the local ministry, Befriended’s suite of offerings to combat loneliness amongst the elderly. These regularly have over 50 guests, with substantially more on occasions.

We addressed some of the most pressing needs in terms of the external appearance of the church and put in a new heating system for the sanctuary and main hall. As well as being more economical, this allows us to host events more adequately in the colder months of the year, so is significant for that aspect of our mission. We host U3A events, a small predominantly Asian church and other churches and community events. We also continue to host and have trustee responsibility for the very highly regarded pre-school, Fish & Bricks.

Support of and engagement with missionaries, mission organisations and other appropriate causes continued, both financially and in prayer. This includes ongoing links with Christian mission in Nigeria and in central Asia.

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204 TRUSTEES REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Aspects of church life continued to steadily develop. There is a growing sense of community, willingness to be actively involved and a sense of expectation as we move forward

4.2.1 Administration

Day to day administration is performed by the church office which is open 3 mornings a week and handles the distribution of information across a wide range of the church’s activities. The weekly prayer diary is used as the primary source of informing people of forthcoming events, this has been both via email and paper copies available on a Sunday morning. In the absence of a Deacon for Administration a member of the Deaconate, Mrs Linda Mayne, undertook the role of Church Secretary.

4.2.2 Children's Work

Sundays

The children join with their parents and the rest of the congregation in the sanctuary for approximately 30 minutes on Sunday mornings after which they leave for their own classes called Trekkers. These sessions include worship, a story, some craft and games, as well as refreshments. The children are aged between 3 and 10 and are currently taught as one group. Under 3s are cared for by a dedicated Crèche team, giving parents the opportunity to concentrate on the service without distraction. Where necessary, these young children are introduced gradually to Trekkers, supported by their helpers.

Regular ‘All Age Services’ have been held this year, when children and adults alike stay together for the whole service. They tend to be more interactive than the usual Sunday mornings, and the children really enjoy them.

Other events

An Easter Egg Hunt was held on Good Friday at a local woodland and hall, with about 40 families taking part, and a Bright Light’s Party took place on 31st October. It has been good to be able to invite children from outside the church to these events.

On 20th December, an afternoon Christingle Service took place, and again, our contact families were invited.

Little Fish Toddler Group

This continues to be a very popular group with around 15 children (our maximum number is 25) under the age of 3 welcomed into the church hall to come and play together, along with their parents/carers. The children can stay until the end of the term in which they become 3 years old. Parents/Carers must register with the church office each week to book their space in the session, although priority is given for those children who have registered with, or are already attending, Fish & Bricks Pre-School. The children have a wide variety of toys to play with and a craft activity is available each week. Refreshments are served for the adults, who bring drinks and snacks for their children to have during snack time, and there is singing at the end of the session. It is felt that, as well as providing fun for the children, it is wonderful to be able to offer friendship and support for parents. The attendees often comment on the welcoming atmosphere.

Fish and Bricks Pre-School

The pre-school is part of Gateway Baptist Church, although it is a separate charity. It continues to be supported by a Management Team of Church members and a Friends’ Group comprised of parents.

The Manager, and many of the staff team, are either members of Gateway Baptist Church or other churches in the town. The group is openly Christian but demonstrates inclusion for children of all backgrounds, beliefs and abilities. This is appreciated by all parents, whatever their faith, and results in Fish & Bricks having a good reputation in the community. The latest Ofsted inspection rated Fish & Bricks as ‘Good’.

Gateway Baptist Church operates a ‘Safeguarding Children’ policy and the church seeks to ensure all its children’s workers are DBS checked.

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204 TRUSTEES REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

4.2.3 Evangelism

Communicating the message of Jesus Christ continues to be a theme within the teaching aspect of church life. We have a long way to go in living this out more fully, but there are encouragements. Some progress has been made through personal contacts and special events. The Good Friday Easter Egg Trail was restored to its larger scale of around 100 children and their families this year. A large proportion of the church membership was involved in organising and hosting as we welcomed many to Wivelsfield Village Hall and Green. This was our first large scale outreach since lockdown times and provided both a pointer to Jesus and an opportunity for family fun.

At a craft fayre we showed a video testimony from one of our missionaries which linked the craft fayre fundraising to her mission and her motivation being Christ.

Regular services, all-age services and special Sunday services including café style Mothering Sunday, Baptism, Easter and Christmas provided opportunities for visitors to be invited and we have seen some occasional and some regularly coming. Leaflets were delivered for Easter and Christmas to houses throughout the Chanctonbury Estate with the addition of the Hammonds Ridge Estate. These contained a Christian message and invitations. They did result in some visitors over Christmas. We also hosted a Christingle service for local Scouts and related groups which was very well received.

4.2.4 Fabric

During 2023, despite the budget constraints we started to address the long list of essential work required to the Church premises.

Early in 2023 the sliding partition in the Community room was professionally repaired and restored to working order as far as was possible. The southern exterior window frame of the sanctuary received a topcoat of paint that had to be delayed from 2022.

Throughout the year the fire alarm, fire extinguishers, emergency lighting and intruder alarm have been serviced. Some of the emergency light units were replaced as were the exterior security flood lights around the Church building. Unfortunately, the intruder alarm has subsequently failed, and plans have been put forward to replace the fire alarm and intruder alarm into one combined system which is due for installation in early 2024.

Over three Saturdays and an evening in April and May, a group of willing volunteers were able to get to grips with the demolition of a couple of the old derelict outbuildings at the rear of the Church, although the demolition of the final shed had to be postponed due to an active wasps’ nest being found. The metal content of these buildings was donated to a local builder to help with his Mission trip to South Africa.

There was one workday in September, during which a variety of tasks such as gardening, cleaning and painting were undertaken. Following on from that the vertical blinds were inspected and repaired as far as possible. Unfortunately, 3 of the 4 sets require either new sliders in the head rails or preferably new headrails and would benefit from completely new blinds, which are on the wish list for future works. The window winding gear to the windows on the south side of the sanctuary failed and had to be replaced as they posed a security risk.

During late summer and autumn, under the guidance of a member of the church a small group of volunteers started work on the Church Health and Safety Policy, and a site wide Risk Assessment, which has identified more items that require attention and these together with the findings of the professional Fire Risk Assessment of the buildings recently carried out, will be prioritised in the coming months. A number of people also attended a Fire Training course to enable them to undertake the role of a Fire Warden.

However, the main activity in the latter period of 2023 was the Heating Upgrade Project which saw a small team led by two members of the church family to run new pipes to extend the boiler driven heating system to the back and middle halls as well as the foyer and Sanctuary. A local builder and plumber installed the radiators, connected up the pipe work and connected to the boiler so that just before Christmas we were able to worship in the warm.

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204 TRUSTEES REPORT (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Due to water ingress, the floor in the sanctuary became raised and a trip hazard over quite a wide area. Fortunately, it was possible to repair the damage, prior to the Christmas services. Right at the end of the year the fire doors at the end corridor by the cleaners’ cupboards were replaced with new external grade doors.

Thanks to everyone who assisted in any of the above activities in 2023. Without your help none of the above could have been achieved. In conclusion 2023 was a fairly busy year in the Fabric world but there will be plenty of opportunity for more activity in 2024 as the “list” only seems to grow!!

4.2.5 Finance

This is covered within section 5 of this report.

4.2.6 Media & Communications

The Media and Communications ministry’s work continues with technical support and service input as a vital part of the resourcing work at GBC. Much of it is background input which is vital to the ongoing work of all ministry streams. We thank God for the finance that has been available to maintain this area of the work.

In 2023 we improved the ZOOM outward presentation service by introducing additional cameras to give varied viewing angles. This has been quite popular amongst online attenders. Inevitably, it has, again, increased the complexity of the task for video projection operators for our main meetings but they have all taken it in their stride.

The Digital signage systems are working well. The plan to network all the displays so that they can run a common ‘signage show’ from a single digital signage media unit to cover the whole premises is still pending with other priorities taking precedence in 2023. A new, more powerful Wireless Access Point has been installed in the Community Room with the older unit transferred to the Barn House Lounge (a provision requested by Fish & Bricks) and there is a plan to install another in the Back Hall. This year we hope to instantiate the system of service recordings on a PC, instead of CD/DVD disks, to make it easier for those who upload to the website to access the recordings remotely. As always we pray, looking ahead, that this work would continue to operate efficiently, effectively, and near-invisibly for the sake of all the other ministries.

4.2.7 Pastoral Care

Pastoral care is at the core of life of GBC, as we seek to both care for and build up those who are in our church family. Whilst caring for the housebound, the needy and the sick, an obvious part of pastoral care, we seek also to build up the spiritual life and social skills of the church family. The wellbeing of all is our on-going commitment.

In order to ensure effective pastoral care, the daily concerns of the church family are overseen by the Pastor and Elder working with a small ‘pastoral oversight team’. This group meets regularly to share needs and concerns, reviewing all church members, regular attendees and newcomers, to ensure that nobody ‘falls through the net’. They also visit the sick and those in residential homes and administer Holy Communion where appropriate.

Newcomers are invited to a newcomers’ tea which is held as required. These are an opportunity to socialise and meet other new people together with some of the ministry team leaders who are available to answer any questions about their area of service.

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204 TRUSTEES REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

We believe that regular worshippers are best cared for and supported if they are members of our Life Groups. These are formed of, on average, six to ten people, meeting weekly for Bible study, spiritual nurture and practical support and to engage in local outreach into their communities. At the end of 2023 there were around 60 people in six such groups meeting in locations across the area. A high commitment to Life Groups has been maintained with some 80% of active and able members attending these groups. The first line of pastoral care is by Life Group leaders for the people in their group. Where appropriate and without breaching confidentiality, the leaders share information with and seek advice from the pastoral oversight team.

Sunday Morning services are still available on zoom for members of the fellowship who are unable to attend in person. These people are contacted regularly by the pastoral care team and members of the fellowship.

Where necessary, limited financial support is also available to church members and the wider church family through distribution of its ‘Communion Fund’; money made available through an offering taken up at Sunday communion services.

During the year, we hold fellowship meals, a travelling meal, men’s meals, lady’s evenings, arranged barbecues, picnics and walks and social evenings with entertainment – all designed to encourage fellowship and enable newcomers to become integrated at a social level. We plan to continue to meet in these ways during the coming year, so that we draw closer together as a family, and encourage one another in our walk with the Lord. Those planning and working together, to make these things happen, have found it to be a valuable way of getting to know others as well as serving the church family. During this year we would encourage life groups or individuals to consider organising a fellowship gathering.

A Prayer Needs section in our weekly printed Prayer Diary keeps people informed of others’ pastoral needs so that they can be prayed for throughout the fellowship. A Pastoral Care review is a permanent item on the agendas of our monthly Leaders' meetings and quarterly Church Members’ Meetings.

4.2.8 Social Action

The Christian faith is about a Christ-led Community. At Gateway Baptist Church, we seek to honour our name and live as Gateway people who carry Kingdom values through the gateway of our church community to the wider community around us as we serve our neighbourhood. Sometimes we are called to speak into the wider issues of our society and nation as we discern God’s voice and will to act.

Prayer

Prayer is our working of priestly intercession as we bring the needs of the local community and wider society to God in prayer. But prayer is at is richest when prayer and action combine, so in 2023 we continued to seek ways to serve our community.

CAP Money [Christians Against Poverty] https://capuk.org/

“Our service literally saves lives. It keeps families together, relieves stress, restores health, keeps families in their homes, provides friendship and can connect people to church and to the God that loves them”

The CAP course was revamped in 2023 and is now much more flexible. It can be run over 3 or 4 sessions but can also be tailored to a single day. One of our church members has been trained in the new course although we haven’t purchased any of the new resources yet. We are happy to run sessions in 2024 if needed either for church members/regular attendees as well as members of the wider community.

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204

TRUSTEES REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

The HAVEN - Pregnancy advisory service and Schools work

The HAVEN is an independent local charity with Christian volunteers from across churches in mid Sussex - with Gateway members also heavily involved. This includes two of the Trustees, both of the Treasurers, one of the trained counselling Advisors, several schools’ workers and many of the church family faithfully supporting the work financially with monthly giving as well as with prayer support. Gateway also provides premises for team meetings such as the AGM free of charge - which is a great help and blessing to us.

With our five trained Advisors fully up and running in 2023, we have again been able to provide over 200 hours of Counselling support in the form of crisis pregnancy support, post abortion counselling or miscarriage support. This has been provided free of charge to anyone who has needed it, thanks to the financial support we receive from donors, including from Gateway - for which we are hugely grateful.

We were also able to continue our schools work - growing the numbers of children we have been able to engage as we continue to recover from the COVID hiatus, engaging over 1,000 students in the year from Warden Park, Oathall, Burgess Hill Girls School and - newly for 2023 - Haywards Heath College.

We are grateful for God’s provision through these challenging times and remain excited about His plans for the work in 2024 - our 25th Anniversary! - and beyond.

Christmas Hampers Project – local organisations and churches working together to

provide and distribute Christmas hampers to people in need

We were once again able to provide a more active support of this imitative this year. We hosted a collection point for food donations in the church foyer which was quite well used. Individuals from Gateway were also involved in the planning, packing and delivering of the hampers. It was great to be able to practically support the community through a much needed & appreciated project (272 hampers were packed/distributed).

Befriended – Local churches bringing people together

This local Christian charity aim is to reduce loneliness and help people feel more connected. We have continued to host monthly Sunday afternoon tea gatherings in our premises. These have been well attended & very popular. A number of church members are involved in this aspect of the Befriended ministry.

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

TRUSTEES REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

There are also a number of church run activities that can potentially fall under more than one ministry stream. One of the main ones is our work with children/families that live in our community for example Little Fish (parent & toddlers’ group) and Fish and Bricks Pre-school (a separate charity). These are both covered under the Children’s work section of this report.

During 2023, our premises, or part of, were hired/used by an increasing number of external groups.

4.2.9 World Mission

In 2023 the church gave 10.45% of its general income to support mission work both overseas and in the UK (note this includes the Social Action amount).

Our Aims

GBC's aim within the area of World Mission is to:

Gateway supported the following organisations in 2023 on a regular basis:

The Baptist Union Home Mission BMS World Mission

Nicky Brand - serving with SIM International in Jos, Nigeria

We have a policy in place where every mission organisation has a support group, or a single supporter in our church, who undertakes to maintain regular contact with it. Part of their role is to keep the church family up to date with information, by posting it on the notice board in the Church entrance area, in the Barn House prayer room and on GBC's website.

4.2.10 Worship

Worship is central to the activities at Gateway, whether it is formal, informal, sung worship, readings or a variety of contributions from the church family. The church meets every Sunday morning and twice a month on a Sunday evening and worship is an integral part of those meetings. This year we have been increasing our all-age worship services and have seen an increasing engagement in the worship from across the age ranges. Worship is also an important part of our monthly Prayer meetings. The worship ministry team consists of Worship Leaders, musicians and singers, PA and VP operators. This team meets twice a month to practice and pray.

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204 TRUSTEES REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

4.2.11 Youth Work

Seekers have met regularly during 2023. We join with the congregation for the first part of the Sunday service then meet separately for about one hour. Sometimes staying in for the whole of the service.

Sunday morning activities include games, quizzes, video clips, music and bible teaching. Occasionally we have a Seekers breakfast where we are separate for the whole service. Seekers have also had trips out on a Sunday morning to the park or McDonalds for a coffee. We also have occasional Saturday evening activities which include games, activities, music, video clips, an epilogue and food.

Numbers have been consistent during the past year with 9 regular attenders with occasional visitors. At Christmas we gave them a Why Christmas? booklet.

There have been some changes in leadership in 2023 with one leader stepping down from his role and another joining the team as a helper and a couple of volunteers who are willing to help on a Saturday evening when needed. We are thankful to all those who are involved in Seekers. In 2024 we are looking to build on the relationships we have with the group and encourage them in their walk with God using a wide range of activities.

5. Financial Activity

5.1 General Finance

At the end of 2023 the church operated with a surplus of £718 income in the year. Income for the year to 31 December 2023 was 18% over budget, while the Expenditure for the same period was 16% over budget.

5.2 Building Extension Programme

In addition to the day-to-day income and expenditure the members continued to contribute towards future phases of the building extension programme. In the year to 31 December 2023 a total of £6,883 was given and giving a net increase of £6,883 to the building fund.

5.3 Levels of Borrowing

GBC did not pursue any borrowing in 2023.

5.4 Financial Statements

The financial statements forming part of this report conform to the requirements of the Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Charities Act 2011 and the Church Accounting Regulations 2017 and comprise:

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204 TRUSTEES REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

5.4 Financial Statements

The financial statements forming part of this report conform to the requirements of the Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Charities Act 2011 and the Church Accounting Regulations 2017 and comprise:

6. Funds

The church maintains a number of "Funds" to manage its accounts. A Fund represents money set on one side for a specified purpose and the Charities Act 2011 and FRS 102 Section 1A require these to be shown as "unrestricted", "designated”, “restricted" or "endowment". These are shown in the financial statements and comprise:

• The Kingdom Fund. This is a designated fund used to support the Church's commitment to Missionary Work overseas and in the UK. It is also used to support ministerial training for selected church candidates and for general social and disaster relief at home and abroad. Allocations are determined through the church budget and by the World Mission Group in consultation with the Treasurer.

• The Communion Fund. This is a restricted fund. It provides gifts of money to church members, and others closely associated with the church, in times of need or hardship. It is administered confidentially by the Elders in consultation with the Treasurer.

7. Reserves Policy

The Church currently accepts the view taken by successive Treasurers that a cash flow balance in the general fund of 2 to 3 months expenditure provides an adequate reserve. Currently this amounts to about £30,000. Sums significantly over that level will be used prudently to reduce the church's borrowing requirement, where debt exists, to contribute to future phases of the building extension programme where agreed by the church members or for specific projects.

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204 TRUSTEES REPORT (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

8. Responsibilities

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the church will continue to operate.

15 Apr 2024

This report was agreed by the Trustees on …………………….. and signed on their behalf.

…………………………….

Sharon Benefer

Treasurer

On behalf of Gateway Baptist Church.

REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT EXAMINER TO THE

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity ("the Trust") for the year ended 31 December 2023.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ("the Act") and the Church Accounting Regulations 2017.

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner's statement

I am qualified to undertake the examination by being a qualified member of the ICAEW.

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

I have no concerns 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 reached.

15 April 2024

………………………….

Kingfisher House Hurstwood Grange Hurstwood Lane Haywards Heath West Sussex RH17 7QX

Kim Lo BSc. FCA. PRB Accountants LLP Chartered Accountants

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Unrestricted
Funds
Note
£
Income and endowments from
Donations and legacies
2
104,703
Incoming resources from operating
activities
3
7,513
Investments
4
1,611
Other
10
2,436
Total
116,263
Expenditure on
Grants
5
231
Activities directly relating to the work
of the church
6
109,168
Other
7
2,520
Total
8
111,919
Net income (expenditure)
4,344
Transfers between funds
9
(10,875)
(6,531)
Other recognised gains/(losses)
Actuarial gains/(losses) on defined
benefit pension
11
-
Net movement in funds
(6,531)
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought forward
107,307
Total funds carried forward
100,776		 Designated
Funds
£
900
-
-
-
900
11,775
-
-
11,775
(10,875)
10,875
-
-
-
1
1		 Restricted
Funds
£
2,583
1,756
5,733
-
10,072
2,823
-
-
2,823
7,249
-
7,249
-
7,249
1,155,233
1,162,482		 Total
2023
£
108,186
9,269
7,344
2,436
127,235
14,829
109,168
2,520
126,517
718
-
718
-
718
1,262,541
1,263,259		 Total
2022
£
92,513
8,344
1,250
2,451
104,558
14,779
81,504
2,520
98,803
5,755
-
5,755
20,571
26,326
1,236,215
1,262,541

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2023

Note
Fixed assets
Tangible assets
12
Current assets
Debtors
13
Cash at bank and in hand
14
Liabilities
Creditors: Amounts falling due
within one year
15
Net current assets excluding pension liablity
Defined benefit pension scheme liability
Total assets
18
Funds
Restricted
16
Designated
17
Unrestricted		 £
£
673,183
5,155
590,078
595,233
5,157
590,076
1,263,259
-
1,263,259
1,162,482
1
100,776
1,263,259
2023		 £
£
674,129
3,785
590,278
594,063
5,651
588,412
1,262,541
-
1,262,541
1,155,233
1
107,307
1,262,541
2022		 £
£
674,129
3,785
590,278
594,063
5,651
588,412
1,262,541
-
1,262,541
1,155,233
1
107,307
1,262,541
2022
1,262,541
-
1,262,541
1,155,233
1
107,307
1,262,541

15 Apr 2024

Approved by the Trustees on …………………………………. and signed on its behalf:

………………………………… Sharon Benefer - Treasurer

The notes on pages 17 to 28 form part of these accounts

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

1.1 General information

The charity is registered charity in England and Wales and is unincorporated. The address of the principal office is Barn House, Station Road, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9EQ.

1.2 Statement of compliance

These financial statements have been prepared in compliance with FRS 102 Section 1A, 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland', the Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Charities Act 2011 and the Church Accounting Regulations 2006.

1.3 Accounting policies

Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention except for the re-valuation of certain assets as described below.

Going concern

There are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue.

Judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty

The preparation of the financial statements requires management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported. These estimates and judgements are continually reviewed and are based on experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.

The judgements (apart from those involving estimations) that management has made in the process of applying the entity's accounting policies and that have the most significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements are as follows:

Incoming Resources

Donations and grants

Income from donations and grants, including capital grants, is included in the SOFA when these are receivable, except as follows:

i) when donors specify that donations and grants given to the charity must be used in future accounting periods, the income is deferred until those periods.

ii) when donors impose conditions which have to be fulfilled before the charity becomes entitled to use such income, the income is deferred and not included in incoming resources until pre-conditions for use have been met.

When donors specify that donations and grants, including capital grants, for particular purposes, which do not amount to pre-conditions regarding entitlement, this income is included in incoming resources of restricted funds when receivable.

Interest receivable

Interest is included when receivable by the charity.

Registered Charity No. 1129204

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Accounting policies (continued)

Charitable Expenditure

Resources expended are included in the SOFA on an accruals basis, inclusive of any VAT which cannot be recovered.

Certain expenditure is directly attributable to specific activities and has been included in those costs categories. Where costs cannot be attributed to particular headings they have been allocated activities on a basis consistent with use of the resource.

Governance costs are those incurred in connection with administration of the charity and compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements.

Tangible Fixed Assets and Depreciation

Up to 31 December 1999 the church operated without capitalising purchases of furniture and equipment. From 1 January 2000 new furniture and equipment is capitalised. Depreciation is provided on the furniture and equipment at the rate of 20% per annum and computer equipment at a rate of 33.33% per annum on the straight line basis.

Prior to 2000 the church did not include the value of any property in its accounts. From the beginning of the year 2000 the more modern church properties, (excluding the church and historical ancillary buildings on the Station Road site which are considered a different class of tangible fixed asset), have been included as described in note 12. The design and construction of the new extensions to the church buildings have been capitalised.

No depreciation is provided on freehold buildings or land. The Trustees consider that the estimated useful life of the buildings is 50 years and the residual value will be sufficiently high to render a charge in the accounts for depreciation to be immaterial. However buildings are tested for impairment. There is no indication of major impairment of the buildings.

Operating leases

Rentals payable under operating leases are charged against income on a straight line basis over the lease term.

Value Added Tax

As a rule VAT is not recoverable by the church and as such is included in the relevant costs in the Statement of Financial Activities. Specific elements of the building expansion programme have, in previous years, been exempt from VAT: no such instances occurred in 2022 or 2021.

Taxation

No taxation is payable on the income of the church as it is treated as an exempt charity under the Baptist Union Corporation.

Pensions

The church operates a defined contribution plan for its employees. A defined contribution plan is a pension plan under which the charity pays fixed contributions into a separate entity. Once the contributions have been paid the church has no further payments obligations. The contributions are recognised as an expense when they are due. Amounts not paid are shown in accruals in the balance sheet. The assets of the plan are held separately from the charity in an independently administered fund.

Prior to 2012 pension provision was made through multi-employer defined benefit pension plans. Where it is not possible for the charity to obtain sufficient information to enable it to account for a plan as a defined benefit plan, it accounts for the plan as a defined contribution plan.

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Accounting policies (continued)

Where the plan is in deficit and where the church has agreed, with the plan, to participate in a deficit funding arrangement, the church recognises a liability for this obligation. The amount recognised is the net present value of the contributions payable under the agreement that relate to the deficit. The unwinding of the discount is recognised as a finance cost and any other change in the measurement of this liability is expensed to the Statement of Financial Activities

2 Donations and legacies

Offerings
Tax refunds		 Unrestricted
£
89,219
15,484
104,703		 Designated
£
720
180
900		 Restricted
£
2,356
227
2,583		 2023
£
92,295
15,891
108,186		 2022
£
78,686
13,827
92,513

These amounts are the gifts and donations to the Church received through collections at services and by gifts or automated bank transfers from donors. Allocation is to the General Fund unless specified via the envelope scheme or by agreement with the Treasurer that the money should be put into one of the other funds. These amounts include donations from external organisations towards the building extension programme.

3 Income resources from operating activities

Use of premises
Special events and fundraising		 Unrestricted
£
6,924
589
7,513		 Designated
£
-
-
-		 Restricted
£
-
1,756
1,756		 2023
£
6,924
2,345
9,269		 2022
£
6,530
1,814
8,344

4 Investments

Bank interest Unrestricted
£
1,611
1,611		 Designated
£
-
-		 Restricted
£
5,733
5,733		 2023
£
7,344
7,344		 2022
£
1,250
1,250

Registered Charity No. 1129204

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

5 Grants

Grants
Overseas missionary work
UK missions and evangelical
workers
Social welfare and relief
Communion Fund gifts		 Unrestricted
£
-
-
231
-
231		 Designated
£
7,005
2,970
1,800
-
11,775		 Restricted
£
1,756
-
867
200
2,823		 2023
£
8,761
2,970
2,898
200
14,829		 2022
£
8,099
2,594
3,354
732
14,779

These amounts divide into 2 categories.

i) The Church's support for the Baptist Home Mission Fund and the training of selected church candidates for the ministry; the support of UK and Overseas Evangelical Missionary work and Christian based social work. These costs are allocated out of the Kingdom Fund.

ii) The relief of hardship within the church fellowship. These costs are allocated out of the Communion Fund on a strictly confidential basis.

The following grants were in excess of £1,000.

£
SIM International (N Brand) 5,400
Home Mission 2,970
Kings Kids 1,756
The Haven 1,800

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

6
Activities directly relating to the work of the church
Unrestricted
Designated
£
£
Administration
12,760
-
Children's work
88
-
Evangelism
665
-
Fabric
54,560
-
Finance
6,773
-
Media and communications
1,700
-
Pastoral care
32,346
-
Youth Work
163
-
Worship
113
-
109,168
-		 Restricted
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-		 2023
£
12,760
88
665
54,560
6,773
1,700
32,346
163
113
109,168		 2022
£
10,982
61
160
28,185
7,605
2,424
31,964
111
12
81,504

The ministry streams identified above are led by deacons with defined roles and elected by the church.

Administration

These amounts include all running costs of the Church office (allocated out of the General Fund).

Children's work

These amounts include all childrens work activities (allocated out of the General Fund).

Evangelism

These amounts include all outreach and evangelical activities (allocated out of the General Fund).

Fabric

These amounts include all maintenance, upkeep and insurance of church properties and the building extension programme (allocated out of the General Fund and Building Funds respectively).

Finance

These amounts include support salaries, loan repayments and the building extension programme finance (allocated out of the General Fund and Building Funds respectively).

Media and communications

These amounts include all hard and electronic forms of communication, net of capital purchases (allocated out of the General Fund).

Pastoral care

This amount is in addition to Communion Fund gifts included at note 5 (allocated out of the Communion Fund) and includes ministerial salaries and pension (allocated out of the General Fund).

Social Action

These amounts relate to GBC's activities in the communities around the venues where our congregations meet for worship (allocated out of the General and Kingdom Funds).

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

6 Costs of activities (continued)

Youth work

This includes all Youth Work activities undertaken by Gateway Baptist Church (allocated out of the General Fund).

Worship

This amount is for music and associated resources used in church services (allocated out of the General Fund).

7 Other

Unrestricted
£
Fee of the independent examiner
1,440
Accountancy fees
1,080
2,520
Total resources expended
Staff costs
£
Administration
6,275
Children's work
-
Evangelism
-
Fabric
-
Finance
6,015
Media and communications
-
Pastoral care
32,311
Youth work
-
Worship
-
Grants payable
-
Governance costs
-
44,601		 Designated
£
-
-
-
Depreciation
£
-
-
-
107
328
511
-
-
-
-
-
946		 Restricted
£
-
-
-
Other costs
£
6,485
88
665
54,453
430
1,189
35
163
113
14,829
2,520
80,970		 2023
£
1,440
1,080
2,520
2023
£
12,760
88
665
54,560
6,773
1,700
32,346
163
113
14,829
2,520
126,517		 2022
£
1,440
1,080
2,520
2022
£
10,982
61
160
28,185
7,605
2,424
31,964
111
12
14,779
2,520
98,803

8 Total resources expended

9 Gross transfers between funds

The Church policy on transfers is to allow the treasurer to transfer sufficient resources from the General to the Kingdom Fund to end the year with approximately a zero balance in the Kingdom Fund. Other transfers are only made following agreement at a church meeting.

Transfers made within 2023 accounts £

General to Kingdom Fund 10,875

Registered Charity No. 1129204

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

10 Staff costs and trustees expenses

Staff costs and trustees expenses
Salaries
Social security costs
Pension costs
Mileage
Employers allowance
The average number of employees during the year was		 2023
£
38,790
2,436
3,375
-
44,601
(2,436)
42,165
3		 2022
£
37,343
2,451
3,013
-
42,807
(2,451)
40,356
3

No employees received emoluments in excess of £60,000 during the year or the previous year. Staff costs are reported against the appropriate ministry stream, refer to note 8 above. Other staff costs are for travel expenses (mileage). 4 Trustees received reimbursed expenses of £3,275 (2022 £1,902) in total.

The Minister acts as one of the church's trustees in accordance with the Trust deed and received remuneration and other benefits in respect of his services as Minister, including the provision of manse accommodation owned by the Church.

11 Pensions

The Church is a participating employer the Baptist Pension Scheme (“the Scheme”), which is a separate legal entity administered by the Pension Trustee (Baptist Pension Trust Limited). The assets of the Scheme are held separately from those of the Employer and the other participating employers.

The Scheme, previously known as the Baptist Ministers’ Pension Fund, started in 1925, but was closed to future accrual of defined benefits on 31 December 2011. Prior to this date the main benefit provided through the Defined Benefit (DB) Plan was a pension of one eightieth of final minimum pensionable income for each year of pensionable service together with additional pension in respect of premiums paid on Pensionable Income in excess of Minimum Pensionable Income.

From January 2012, pension provision is being made through the Defined Contribution (DC) Plan within the Scheme. In general, members pay 8% of their Pensionable Income and employers pay 6% of members’ Pensionable Income into individual pension accounts, which are operated and managed on behalf of the Pension Trustee by Broadstone Corporate Benefits Ltd. In addition, the employer pays a further 4% of Pensionable Income to cover Death in Service Benefits, administration costs, and an associated insurance policy which provides income protection for Scheme members if they are unable to work due to long-term incapacity. This income protection policy has been insured by the Baptist Union of Great Britain with Aviva Limited. [Members of the Basic Section pay reduced contributions of 5% of Pensionable Income, and their employers also pay a total of 5%.]

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Pensions (continued)

The Scheme is considered to be a multi-employer scheme as described in Section 28 of FRS 102. Because it is not possible to attribute the Scheme’s assets and liabilities to specific employers, the scheme is accounted for as if the Scheme were a defined contribution scheme.

The Minister is eligible to join the Scheme.

Actuarial valuation as at 31 December 2019

A formal valuation of the DB Plan as at 31 December 2019 was carried out by a professionally qualified Actuary using the Projected Unit Method. At the valuation date the market value of the DB Plan assets was £298 million, whilst the level of assets needed to pay benefits was £316m, giving a deficit of £18m (equivalent to a past service funding level of 94%). The Church and the other participating employers in the DB Plan are collectively responsible for funding this deficit.

The key financial assumptions underlying the valuation were as follows:

Type of assumption % pa
RPI price inflation assumption 3.20
CPI price inflation assumption 2.70
Minimum Pensionable Income Increase Adjustment (above CPI) 0.50
Pre-retirement assumed investment returns (gilt yield plus 1.75% pa) 2.95
Post retirement assumed investment returns (including benefits matched 1.70
by the insurance policy) (gilt yield plus 0.5% pa)
Minimum Pensionable Income increases (CPI plus 0.5%) 3.20
Deferred pension increases (based on RPI)
Pre April 2009 3.20
Post April 2009 2.50
Pension increases
Based on CPI with an annual floor of 0% and annual cap of 5% 2.70

Mortality is assumed in accordance with 80% of the S3NA standard mortality table. Future improvements projected from 2013 in line with the “CMI 2019” projection with a long-term rate of improvement of 1.75% p.a. for males and 1.5% p.a. for females with the core smoothing parameter and with additional initial mortality improvement factor A=0.5%.

The next actuarial valuation of the DB Plan within the Scheme is due as at 31 December 2022.

Recovery Plan

In addition to the contributions to the DC Plan set out above, where a valuation of the DB Plan reveals a deficit the Trustee and the Council agree to a rate of deficiency contributions from churches and other employers involved in the DB Plan. Following the 2019 valuation a Recovery Plan was signed in September 2020 under which deficiency contributions are payable until June 2026. These contributions were broadly based on each employer's membership at 31 December 2014 and increase annually in line with increases to Minimum Pensionable Income as defined in the Rules.

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204

Pensions (continued)

On 30th June 2022 the Baptist Pension Scheme signed an agreement with the insurance company Just Group (“Just”) to secure DB Plan members’ pension benefits. Just are now providing financial backing for all pensions provided through the Scheme’s DB Plan and following this transaction, the Scheme no longer has a shortfall. An updated Recovery plan was then signed in August 2022 under which recovery contributions from each participating employer in the DB Plan reduced to £1 per month from August 2022.

Registered Charity No. 1129204

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

12
Tangible fixed assets

Cost or valuation
At 1 January 2023
At 31 December 2023
Depreciation
At 1 January 2023
Charge for the year
At 31 December 2023
Net book values
At 31 December 2023
At 31 December 2022		 Freehold property
Church
premises
Manse
£
£
378,035
295,000
378,035
295,000
-
-
-
-
-
-
378,035
295,000
378,035
295,000		 Furniture &
equipment
£
188,337
188,337
187,243
946
188,189
148
1,094		 Total
£
861,372
861,372
187,243
946
188,189
673,183
674,129

The freehold property above, The Manse at 29 Pinehurst, is shown at an estimated gross market value at December 2003. For the purpose of the accounts this is now the deemed cost. The church premises comprise Phase 1 of the building extension programme (new kitchen and toilets) and Phase 2 of the building extension programme (Community Room). Excluded are the existing buildings at Station Road i.e. Barn House and the Main church building and site which were donated and are considered a different class of tangible fixed asset. These existing church buildings at Station Road have a combined insurance value of £1,720,626.

The premises and land at Station Road were professionally valued in September 2007 (Clifford Dann). This estimated a market value, including development potential, of £1,450,000. The Baptist Union Corporation is the legal Trustee for all of these properties.

The furniture and equipment values shown above comprise the insurance values of the contents of the properties at 1 January 2000 (deemed to be cost value for the purposes of the accounts) with subsequent additions at actual cost.

13
Debtors
Income tax recoverable
Debtors for goods and services
Prepayments and accrued interest		 2023
£
3,532
235
1,388
5,155		 2022
£
2,474
25
1,286
3,785

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

14
Bank and cash balances
National Westminster Bank - Business Reserve Account
HSBC Bank
15
Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year
Creditors for goods and services
Accruals
Other creditors
16
Restricted Funds
1 January
Incoming
2023
resources
£
£
Property Fund
295,000
-
Communion Fund
5,960
616
New Building Fund
854,273
6,833
Offerings and tax refunds
-
867
Special events and fundraising
-
1,756
1,155,233
10,072
17
Designated Funds
1 January
Incoming
2023
resources
£
£
Kingdom Fund
1
900
18
Analysis of net assets
Fixed
Current
assets
assets
£
£
Restricted Funds
673,035
490,314
Designated Funds
-
1
Unrestricted Funds
148
104,918
673,183
595,233		 Resources
expended
£
-
(200)
-
(867)
(1,756)
(2,823)
Resources
expended
£
(11,775)
Current
liabilities
£
(867)
-
(4,290)
(5,157)		 2023
£
480,059
110,019
590,078
2023
£
1,770
2,520
867
5,157
Transfers
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
Transfers
£
10,875
Total
2023
£
1,162,482
1
100,776
1,263,259		 2022
£
474,325
115,953
590,278
2022
£
1,752
2,520
1,379
5,651
31 December
2023
£
295,000
6,376
861,106
-
1,162,482
31 December
2023
£
1
Total
2022
£
1,155,233
1
107,307
1,262,541

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

19 GBC Proposed Rebuild

The church continues to explore and review options for the future of the building, and the site, which will ensure God’s work in the locality will be sustained.

22
Organisation Accounts
1 January
2023
£
Fish & Bricks (note 2)
69,554
Little Fish Toddler
Group
826
70,380
20		 Income
£
112,516
414
112,930		 Expenses
£
(104,248)
(636)
(104,884)		 Net surplus
(deficit)
£
8,268
(222)
8,046		 Transfers (to)
from GBC
£
-
-
-		 31 December
2023
£
77,822
604
78,426

Notes

1. The above amounts are excluded from the SOFA and the Balance Sheet.

2. Fish and Bricks is the pre-school attached to the Church. It has a year end of 31 March and the figures included above are for the year to 31 March 2023