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2024-12-31-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 2024

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GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

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

Station Road Congregation

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

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 2-11
Independent Examiners Report 12
Statement of Financial Activities 13
Balance Sheet 14
Notes to the accounts 15-26

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GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204

TRUSTEES REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

Trustees Report

1. Legal and Administrative information

1.1 Status

Gateway Baptist Church (GBC) previously called Burgess Hill Baptist Church was founded in 1873. The church registered as a charity in its own right in 2009 under the terms of the Charities Act 2011, Registered Charity Number 1129204. It is governed in accordance with its Foundation Deed and its own written Constitution, which determine the appointment of Minister, Elders and Deacons. The Minister is appointed by the Church Meeting and has a contract of appointment. Elders are appointed to serve for 4 years and Deacons are elected to serve for 3 years; all confirmed by the Church Meeting in accordance with the Constitution.

1.2 Management Committee (Diaconate)

The church's leadership team consists of the Minister, Elder(s) and Deacons, with all 3 parties also being the Charity Trustees within the meaning of the Charities Act and the BU guidelines. Elders are appointed to share leadership for spiritual matters whereas Elders and Deacons have fiscal responsibility. Those serving during the year ended 31 December 2024 were:

Minister Revd. Steve Hobbis Elders Mr D Salisbury Deacons Mrs S Benefer (Treasurer) Mrs L Mayne (Secretary to 17[th] April) Mr T Coffey (Secretary from 17[th] April) Mrs P Draper (to 23[rd] October) Mrs A Groves (to 23[rd] October) Mrs N Cooper (from 23[rd] October) Ms C Lindsay (from 23[rd] October) Mr Alan Partridge (from 23[rd] October) Mr Crispin Rogers (from 23[rd] October)

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 Ltd., Baptist House, PO Box 44, 129 Broadway, Didcot Oxfordshire OX11 8RT Registered Charity No 249635

1.5 Independent Examiner

Mrs K Lo BSc. F.C.A of PRB Accountants LLP, Hurstwood Grange, Kingfisher House, Hurstwood Lane, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH17 7QX

1.6 Bankers

Our current account and a connected saving account are with HSBC. We also have savings accounts with NatWest.

HSBC Bank Plc, 40 South Rd, Haywards Heath RH16 4LA National Westminster Bank Plc, 1 Muster Green S, 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.

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GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

TRUSTEES REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

2. Management Report for the year ended 31 December 2024

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Charities Acts 2011 to the requirements of the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and Reporting by Charities (SORP 2005) which was published in March 2005.

3. General

3.1 Throughout the 150 years of its history Gateway Baptist Church (GBC) has maintained a witness in the town to the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. All major decisions and appointments are made by the Church Meeting on the duly considered recommendation of the Leadership. Church meetings were held four times a year and additional church meetings can be called in accordance with the church constitution.

3.2 At the end of the year 2024 the church had a membership of 63 (previous year 62). We met in person with a Zoom option available for those unable to attend in person. The typical attendance has been around 75 at the Sunday morning services. During the year, three people resigned their membership, two people moved out of the area and transferred their membership to another church, and six new people were welcomed into membership. In 2024 the church, had one full-time minister and also employed two part-time administrators, one to work in the church office and one to assist with the church treasury and accounting needs.

3.3 The church is a member of the Baptist Union of Great Britain[1] and has been so continuously since 1921. GBC is also a member of the Evangelical Alliance.

3.4 The Baptist Union Corporation Ltd. is the Custodian Trustee of all properties beneficially owned by Gateway Baptist Church. The Baptist Union Corporation Ltd. is a registered charity[2] .

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

Gateway Baptist Church (GBC) aims to respond to the grace, truth and love of God shown supremely through Jesus Christ by being a community of disciples of Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit and seeking to live in line with the truth revealed in the Bible. The day-to-day focus of the church is local, but it recognises that it has a part to play in worldwide Christian mission by supporting appropriate organisations and missionaries further afield.

2024 was another year of steadily building on the progress of the previous year. The overall leadership team of the church remained the same in terms of elders but has changed completely in terms of deacons as all previous deacons naturally came to the end of their substantial terms of service. The transition has been smooth, with an acknowledgement of what the previous team had achieved and anticipation with the new. The overall team is now seven rather than last year’s six, with a good mix of gifts and personnel.

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 some gentle steps towards more spontaneity on occasion. There are often short discussion slots within the service, within with the preaching section.

Preaching themes have included following Jesus; God’s kingdom; Lessons from the book of Amos and values for our church: freedom, commitment and transformation. These particular values came from a leaders’ away day early in the year. During the year, as well as the Pastor teaching, others within the fellowship and beyond provided ministry. Advent and Christmas fit into the overall specific focus on Jesus – the centre of our faith – and we explored the specific theme of ‘Great Expectations’.

Periodically, we have held all-age Sunday morning services, and these continue to embrace creativity and participation. The congregation has grown in number slightly overall.

Evening services have taken place twice a month and provide a less structured and more song-based opportunity for worship. We continue to have good links with other churches, particularly Sheddingdean Baptist Church. We took part in a Burgess Hill week of prayer hosted by 7 different churches including GBC. This led up to Pentecost and was a very positive experience, as was GBC’s own week of prayer at the beginning of the year. The latter had three foci: global, local and church.

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GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

TRUSTEES REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

After discussions prompted by material from the South East Baptist Association ministers’ conference, discussions on church life, mission and prayer led to monthly prayer at a local landmark overlooking Burgess Hill, and some other smaller changes in some areas.

GBC morning church services, Church prayer and planning meetings and some other activities have continued to be available as hybrid, as are 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. The Sunday, ‘Tea, talk and prayer’ was not fulfilling its intention, so it has been closed, but another group now meets in a member’s home. We held a church weekend, with the main away-day part being at the local YWAM venue of Holmstead Manor which included worship and teaching. There was a good sense of people engaging with God and a relaxed sense of community and fun.

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 studies on Jesus to an outstanding experience for several people using 40-day devotional: Be Fruitful, to the continuation of other activities such as evenings of board games, craft and conversations, and a choir. The choir sung at Carols by Candlelight. One Autumn Course, table tennis, continues to flourish as a weekly event, involving coaching, competitions and group members of all ages from church and beyond.

Twice monthly, meetings of ‘Healing Rooms’ has been hosted, with GBC church members participating alongside members from Centre Church. 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 60 guests, with substantially more on occasions. GBC’s involvement in staffing this has increased slightly.

We continued to address some of the most pressing needs in terms fabric of the church building with work days and more specialist involvement. We hosted external groups including U3A table tennis, a recorder group and provide a venue for some parties – particularly for children, and for 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 included BMS world mission and personal links with Christian mission in Nigeria and in central Asia.

During September we began to embrace a statement to help encourage and focus our life and mission: a very simple statement, but one that is showing some creative and inspirational potential: ‘knowing Jesus and making him known’. In the latter months of the year, we began to explore how this can shape how we think and what we do. That will continue in 2025. The preaching for the whole year will be shaped by the statement, with life groups reflecting this during the Spring term. Work is now taking place within the leadership team to identify what God is already doing and how we can co-operate strategically to help people who are on the fringes of church life to ‘know Jesus and make him known’.

4.1 Administration

Day to day administration is managed by the church office which is open 3 mornings a week. The office handles the distribution of information across a wide range of the church’s activities and is the first point of contact for enquiries from the local community. The weekly prayer diary, available by email and in paper copy, helps to inform people of forthcoming events. In the absence of a Deacon for Administration a member of the Deaconate, Mrs Linda Mayne, undertook the role of Church Secretary until April 2024. Mr Tim Coffey was elected as Deacon for Administration (January 2024) and subsequently appointed as Church Secretary in April 2024.

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GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

TRUSTEES REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

4.2 Children's Work

Sundays

The children join with their parents and the rest of the congregation in the sanctuary for approximately the first 30 minutes on Sunday mornings after which they leave for their own classes, called Trekkers. These sessions include worship, a Bible story/scripture and related crafts and games, as well as refreshments. The children are aged between 3 and 10 years 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 Trail 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 23rd December, an afternoon Christingle Service took place, with 30 children and their families participating. The majority of these were our contact families and people invited by Church members, although some regular church attendees also attended.

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 attendees 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.

4.3 Evangelism

Communicating the message of Jesus Christ continues to be a theme within the teaching aspect of church life. Some progress has been made through personal contacts and special events. The Good Friday Easter Egg Trail was encouraging. Around 100 children and their families attended and there was a short, well received presentation to back up the Easter message of the trail itself. A large proportion of the church membership was involved in organising and hosting as we welcomed many to Wivelsfield Village Hall and Green.

One of our missionaries attended a craft fayre fundraising for her mission, giving an opportunity for people to meet the Christian worker that they are supporting with the event.

Regular services, all-age services and special Sunday services including café style Mothering Sunday, Easter and Christmas provided special opportunities for visitors to be invited. Advent and Christmas were particularly positive with more visitors at Christmas events, especially carols in the car park and carols by candlelight. We staged a high-quality Advent concert with the local Christian musicians and songwriters ‘Celtish’. Sheddingdean Baptist were also involved in inviting people, and we had an audience of around 90, many being visitors.

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 to events. We

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GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

TRUSTEES REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

also hosted a Christingle service for local Scouts and related groups which was very well received.

A new development this year has been two and then up to four people over the last few months of the year engaging people in Burgess Hill town centre gently and respectfully in conversations about life, faith and Jesus. This is one way in which we are developing our actions in line with ‘knowing Jesus and making him known’.

4.4 Fabric

Throughout 2024 we continued to focus on the priority items of maintenance and update works. At all times we try to maintain the right balance between three things:

Rather than be just where you go to church, we feel it is good for the members to have the opportunity to demonstrate a sense of ownership of the premises, chiefly by participating in one of our regular “workdays” which continued through 2024. There are always a great time of fellowship together.

Throughout the year the fire alarm, fire extinguishers and emergency lighting have been serviced. The emergency lighting units in Barn House were replaced as part of church wide update and we upgraded some of the main hall lighting to new energy efficient LED units. As planned, the intruder alarm covering both Barn House and the main church building was replaced.

Over three Saturdays and several evenings groups of willing volunteers were able to complete various tasks including demolition of the final derelict outbuilding. repairs and repainting of the church sanctuary window frames and repairs to the sanctuary floor. Redecoration of the right-hand side vestry room and the middle hall was completed as part of our series of autumn courses.

There has been regular gardening, cutting back of overgrown bushes and removal of dead trees around the station road premises.

Thank you to everyone who assisted in any of the above activities and the numerous smaller repair tasks, in 2024. Without your help none of the above could have been achieved.

We continue to be blessed by God’s response to our prayers for the practical needs of the church premises.

4.5 Finance

This is covered within Section 5 of this report.

4.6 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 2024 we introduced the new service recording systems. This has allowed us to process service recordings remotely and has been a great benefit. Additional cameras have enhanced the online viewers’ experience. The use of these cameras has opened our eyes to greater potential for presentations at services and events in the future.

We continue to pray for the efficient and effective operation of the Media and Communications ministry stream and, whilst that should mean what we do remains near-invisible, we hope to see great improvements in and a positive reception to the visible elements.

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GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

TRUSTEES REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

4.7 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.

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. When appropriate newcomers are encouraged to join a Life group.

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 2024 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 available online 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.

In September we held a special church weekend where on the Saturday many of the church family (all Ages) went to Holmstead Manor for a day of teaching, games and fellowship. This theme continued on Sunday, in our church worship followed by a picnic and games at Beech Hurst Gardens.

During the year, we held 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.

4.8

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 2024 we continued to seek ways to serve our community.

CAP Money Course [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”.

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GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

TRUSTEES REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

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 2025 if needed either for church members/regular attendees as well as members of the wider community.

The HAVEN Pregnancy Counselling Centre

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.

The need for our work not only continues but is growing - with the latest government statistics showing a sharp increase in the number of abortions in England and Wales in 2022 to 251,377, a year-on-year increase of 17% and the highest on record.

These bare statistics hide a considerable amount of human worry, upset and trauma which our work seeks to alleviate as much as we can, where we can.

Our work has a significant - sometimes transformational - impact on the lives of the women we work with. A recent miscarriage client outlined the impact of our counselling sessions with her was that: "It’s been transformational. Helped me to process and deal with the grief and accept what has happened. I feel good – it is sad, but I feel I sit comfortably with it, with colour and joy in my life." And a recent post abortion client similarly reflected on the very significant impact our work had had on her life: "Coming to The Haven has changed how I am; people have commented on how ‘relaxed’ and ‘chilled’ I am. You have turned my life around. Thank you!"

It was wonderful to celebrate 25 years of God’s provision for the Haven in 2024 and are deeply grateful for Gateway’s ongoing and faithful support for the work.

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 (253 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.

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 2024, our premises, or part of, were hired/used by an increasing number of external groups.

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GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204

TRUSTEES REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

4.9 World Mission

In 2024 the church gave 12.46% of its general income to support mission work both overseas and in the UK. This includes the fundraising for Kings Kids (SIM) and the Social Action amount.

Our Aims

GBC's aims within the area of World Mission are to:

Educate and inform the Church family so that they may have a heart for World Mission through: Supporting Missioners in the field

Supporting Missionary Societies

To go as an individual or as part of a church group to serve short term. Administer the budget carefully and prayerfully to support the work of World Mission. To uphold all those on the mission field in prayer.

Gateway supported the following organisations in 2024 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 and on GBC's website.

4.10 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 had six all-age worship services across the year, involving a wider group involved in planning and delivery of the services.

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.

4.11 Youth Work

The Seekers youth group continues to meet regularly on Sunday mornings. We join with the congregation for the first part of the service then meet separately for about one hour. Occasionally we have an All-Age service where the young people stay with the rest of the congregation for the whole morning.

Sunday morning activities include games, quizzes, video clips, music, drama, bible teaching and application. During the year we have held a few Sunday morning breakfasts where we meet separately for the whole service. We also have occasional Saturday evening activities which include games, music, video clips, an epilogue and food.

Numbers have varied during the past year with about 8 regular attenders and the occasional visitor. In 2025 there will be 3 young people moving up into the group from the younger group at the church.

At Christmas we gave the group a daily bible study book “Dig into Matthew” based on studies in Matthew’s gospel.

The leadership has been constant during 2024. We are encouraging other members of the church to get involved with the youth group in 2025 by leading and helping.

In the coming year we will be teaching the young people about getting to know God better and challenging them in their personal walk with God through a variety of activities. We will also be looking to build on the relationships within the group.

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GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

TRUSTEES REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

5. Financial Activity

5.1 General Finance

At the end of 2024 the church operated with a surplus of £29,610 income in the year. Income for the year to 31 December 2024 was 147.3 % of the budget, while the Expenditure for the same period was 102.6% of the 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 2024 a total of £16,210 was given, or interest received, and giving a net increase of £16,210 to the building fund.

5.3 Levels of Borrowing

GBC did not pursue any borrowing in 2024.

Financial Statements

The financial statements forming part of this report conform to the requirements of the Statement of Recommended Practice - Accounting and reporting by Charities (SORP 2005) 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 SORP 2005 require these to be shown as "unrestricted", "designated”, “restricted" or "endowment". These are shown in the financial statements and comprise:

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, with an additional £10,000 set aside for emergency building works, provides an adequate reserve. Currently this amounts to about £40,000. 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.

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GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

TRUSTEES REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

8. Responsibilities

8.1 The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and the Financial Statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Generally Acceptable Accounting Practice. Charity law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the church and of its income and expenditure for that period. In preparing those financial statements, these trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

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

8.2 The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the church and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the church and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

29 March

This report was agreed by the Trustees on ………………. …………..2025 and signed on their behalf.

……………………………………..

Sharon Benefer

Treasurer for 2024

On behalf of Gateway Baptist Church.

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GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204

REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT EXAMINER TO THE

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity ("the Trust") for the year ended 31 December 2024.

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.

………………………….

Kingfisher House 31 March 2025 Hurstwood Grange Hurstwood Lane Haywards Heath West Sussex RH17 7QX

Kim Lo BSc. FCA.

PRB Accountants LLP Chartered Accountants

12

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

Income and endowments from
Note
Donations and legacies
2
Incoming resources from operating
activities
3
Investments
4
Other
10
Total
Expenditure on
Grants
5
Activities directly relating to the work
of the church
6
Other
7
Total
8
Net income (expenditure)
Transfers between funds
9
Other recognised gains/(losses)
Actuarial gains/(losses) on defined
benefit pension
11
Net movement in funds
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
104,558
10,834
1,956
2,644
119,992
184
91,285
2,520
93,989
26,003
(12,425)
13,578
-
13,578
100,776
114,354		 Designated
Funds
£
900
-
-
-
900
13,325
-
-
13,325
(12,425)
12,425
-
-
-
1
1		 Restricted
Funds
£
2,086
1,722
15,610
-
19,418
3,386
-
-
3,386
16,032
-
16,032
-
16,032
1,162,482
1,178,514		 Total
2024
£
107,544
12,556
17,566
2,644
140,310
16,895
91,285
2,520
110,700
29,610
-
29,610
-
29,610
1,263,259
1,292,869		 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

13

AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2024

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204 BALANCE SHEET

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 liability
Defined benefit pension scheme liability
Total assets
18
Funds
Restricted
16
Designated
17
Unrestricted		 2024
£
4,696
619,722
624,418
4,658		 £
673,109
619,760
1,292,869
-
1,292,869
1,178,514
1
114,354
1,292,869		 2023
£
£
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
£
£
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
595,233
5,157
1,263,259
-
1,263,259
1,162,482
1
100,776
1,263,259

29 Mar 2025

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

…………………………………

Sharon Benefer

Treasurer for 2024 On behalf of Gateway Baptist Church

The notes on pages 15 to 26 form part of these accounts

14

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

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.

15

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

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.

16

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

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
£
89,894
14,664
104,558		 Designated
£
720
180
900		 Restricted
£
1,772
314
2,086		 2024
£
92,386
15,158
107,544		 2023
£
92,295
15,891
108,186

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
£
9,912
922
10,834		 Designated
Restricted
£
£
-
-
-
1,722		 Designated
Restricted
£
£
-
-
-
1,722		 2024
£
9,912
2,644
12,556		 2023
£
6,924
2,345
-
1,722		 12,556 9,269
~~_____~~

4 Investments

Investments
Bank interest Unrestricted
£
1,956
1,956		 Designated
£
-
-		 Restricted
£
15,610
15,610		 2024
£
17,566
17,566		 2023
£
7,344
7,344

17

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

5
Grants
Overseas missionary work
UK missions and evangelical
workers
Social welfare and relief
Communion Fund gifts		 Unrestricted
£
-
-
184
-
184		 Designated
£
8,360
3,165
1,800
-
13,325		 Restricted
£
1,722
-
1,264
400
3,386		 2024
£
10,082
3,165
3,248
400
16,895		 2023
£
8,761
2,970
2,898
200
14,829

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 3,165
Kings Kids 2,222
The Haven 1,800
St Peter and St James Hospice 1,264

18

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

6 Activities directly relating to the work of the church

Administration
Children's work
Evangelism
Fabric
Finance
Media and communications
Pastoral care
Youth Work
Worship		 Unrestricted
Designated
£
£
12,641
-
56
-
787
-
32,261
-
6,692
-
3,857
-
34,876
-
115
-
-
-
91,285
-
___
~~___~~		 Unrestricted
Designated
£
£
12,641
-
56
-
787
-
32,261
-
6,692
-
3,857
-
34,876
-
115
-
-
-
91,285
-
___
~~___~~		 Restricted
2024
£
£
-
12,641
-
56
-
787
-
32,261
-
6,692
-
3,857
-
34,876
-
115
-
-		 2023
£
12,760
88
665
54,560
6,773
1,700
32,346
163
113
-
__
~~__~~		 -
91,285
____
~~___~~_______		 109,168
~~__~~
__

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).

19

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

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
6,979
Children's work
-
Evangelism
-
Fabric
-
Finance
6,442
Media and communications
-
Pastoral care
34,876
Youth work
-
Worship
-
Grants payable
-
Governance costs
-
48,297		 Unrestricted
£
Fee of the independent examiner
1,440
Accountancy fees
1,080
2,520
Total resources expended
Staff costs
£
Administration
6,979
Children's work
-
Evangelism
-
Fabric
-
Finance
6,442
Media and communications
-
Pastoral care
34,876
Youth work
-
Worship
-
Grants payable
-
Governance costs
-
48,297		 Designated
£
-
-
-
Depreciation
£
-
-
-
-
-
74
-
-
-
-
-
74		 Restricted
£
-
-
-
Other costs
£
5,662
56
787
32,261
250
3,783
-
115
-
16,895
2,520
62,329		 2024
£
1,440
1,080
2,520
2024
£
12,641
56
787
32,261
6,692
3,857
34,876
115
-
16,895
2,520
110,700		 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
48,297 126,517

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 2024 accounts

£

General to Kingdom Fund 12,425

20

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

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		 2024
£
42,021
2,644
3,632
-
48,297
(2,644)
45,653
3		 2023
£
38,790
2,436
3,375
-
44,601
(2,436)
42,165
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).

5 Trustees received reimbursed expenses of £1,853 (2023 £3,275) 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%.]

21

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

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 was due to take place not later than as at 31 December 2022. However, the DB Plan is to be wound up, and the process to wind it up was started with effect from 31 March 2024 and therefore no formal valuation is due to take place.

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. 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. These ceased in November 2024, as the scheme was no longer in deficit. The outstanding deficiency contributions due under the Recovery Plan up to November 2024 are not considered material and therefore have not been included in the balance sheet.

22

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH Registered Charity No. 1129204

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

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.

23

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

12
Tangible fixed assets
Cost or valuation
At 1 January 2024
At 31 December 2024
Depreciation
At 1 January 2024
Charge for the year
At 31 December 2024
Net book values
At 31 December 2024
At 31 December 2023		 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
188,189
74
188,263
74
148		 Total
£
861,372
861,372
188,189
74
188,263
673,109
673,183
,
~~____~~

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		 2024
£
2,961
250
1,485
4,696		 2023
£
3,532
235
1,388
5,155

24

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

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
2024
£
Property Fund
295,000
Communion Fund
6,376
New Building Fund
861,106
Offerings and tax refunds
-
Special events and fundraising
-
1,162,482
17
Designated Funds
1 January
2024
£
Kingdom Fund
1
18
Analysis of Net Assets
Fixed
assets
£
Restricted Funds
673,035
Designated Funds
-
Unrestricted Funds
74
673,109
~~_~~
_
_
~~__~~_
___
__
_
____		 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
2024
£
Property Fund
295,000
Communion Fund
6,376
New Building Fund
861,106
Offerings and tax refunds
-
Special events and fundraising
-
1,162,482
17
Designated Funds
1 January
2024
£
Kingdom Fund
1
18
Analysis of Net Assets
Fixed
assets
£
Restricted Funds
673,035
Designated Funds
-
Unrestricted Funds
74
673,109
~~_~~
_
_
~~__~~_
___
__
_
____		 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
2024
£
Property Fund
295,000
Communion Fund
6,376
New Building Fund
861,106
Offerings and tax refunds
-
Special events and fundraising
-
1,162,482
17
Designated Funds
1 January
2024
£
Kingdom Fund
1
18
Analysis of Net Assets
Fixed
assets
£
Restricted Funds
673,035
Designated Funds
-
Unrestricted Funds
74
673,109
~~_~~
_
_
~~__~~_
___
__
_
____		 Incoming
resources
£
-
222
16,210
1,264
1,722
19,418
~~_~~
__
____		 Resources
expended
£
-
(400)
-
(1,264)
(1,722)
(3,386)
~~__~~_
__
____		 2024
£
2023
£
498,056
480,059
121,666
110,019		 2024
£
2023
£
498,056
480,059
121,666
110,019
619,722
590,078
2024
£
2023
£
874
1,770
2,520
2,520
1,264
867
4,658
5,157
31 December
Transfers
£
2024
£
-
295,000
-
6,198
-
877,316
-
-
-
-
-
1,178,514
~~____~~
____
______
1 January
2024
£
1
__
____		 Incoming
resources
£
900
__
__		 Resources
expended
£
(13,325)
___
_____		 31 December
Transfers
£
2024
£
12,425
1
____
______
Fixed
assets
£
673,035
-
74		 Current
assets
£
506,743
1
117,674		 Current
liabilities
£
(1,264)
-
(3,394)		 Total
Total
2024
£
2023
£
1,178,514
1,162,482
1
1
114,354
100,776
673,109
~~__~~_
___
______		 624,418
_
_
_____		 (4,658)
__
__
_______		 1,292,869
1,263,259
____
___
_____

25

GATEWAY BAPTIST CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1129204

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

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.

20
Organisation Accounts
1 January
2024
£
Fish & Bricks (note 2)
77,822
Little Fish Toddler
Group
604
78,426
___		 Income
£
128,158
545
128,703		 Expenses
£
(113,858)
(659)
(114,517)		 Net surplus
(deficit)
£
14,300
(114)
14,186		 Transfers (to)
from GBC
£
-
(490)
(490)		 31 December
2024
£
92,122
-
92,122

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 2024

26

Issuer

PRB Accountants LLP

Document generated Fri, 28th Mar 2025 13:47:20 GMT

Document fingerprint 73b5a32ad7781e25acac768a18bb1c42

Parties involved with this document

Document processed

Party + Fingerprint

Sat, 29th Mar 2025 19:15:50 GMT

Sharon Benefer - Signer (f0b88f84c869c4ac93640916f3586b9a)

Audit history log

Date

Action

Mon, 25th Feb 2019 16:27:58 GMT Mon, 25th Feb 2019 16:27:58 GMT Fri, 28th Mar 2025 13:47:20 GMT Fri, 28th Mar 2025 13:47:20 GMT

Fri, 28th Mar 2025 13:50:39 GMT

Fri, 28th Mar 2025 13:50:40 GMT Sat, 29th Mar 2025 19:11:54 GMT Sat, 29th Mar 2025 19:12:39 GMT Sat, 29th Mar 2025 19:15:50 GMT Sat, 29th Mar 2025 19:15:51 GMT

Job created (81.144.194.173) Job queued to start (81.144.194.173) Envelope generated by Kim Lo (20.49.156.27)

Document generated with fingerprint 73b5a32ad7781e25acac768a18bb1c42 (20.49.156.27) Sent the envelope to Sharon Benefer (sharon.benefer@gmail.com) for signing (20.49.156.27)

Document emailed to sharon.benefer@gmail.com (18.168.199.199) Sharon Benefer opened the document email. (81.155.72.130) Sharon Benefer viewed the envelope (81.155.72.130) Sharon Benefer signed the envelope (81.155.72.130) This envelope has been signed by all parties (81.155.72.130)