## **Heswall United Reformed Church Annual Report for the year ended 31st December 2024**
## **Administrative Information**
Heswall United Reformed Church (Registered Charity No. 1129285) is a Church on the Wirral Peninsula within Mersey Region Synod of the URC. It is centred on the village of Heswall. The Church Office is at the church at 199 Telegraph Road, Heswall, Wirral CH60 7SE (tel; 0151 342 8522). The Elders who were serving on 31[st] December 2024 until the date this report was approved are as follows:
Stephen Chantler (Secretary) Ray Craig (Treasurer)
Dave Lock, Dave Dixson, Jonathan Gregson, Faith Hardie, Jenny Smith, Avril Lock, Ian Murphy, Sheila Wadhams.
Minister: Revd. Dr. Nick Jones
The church buildings are vested in the name of URC (Mersey Province) Trust Ltd from 1[st] January 2024 to the date this report was approved.
## **Structure, Governance and Management**
The United Reformed Church is governed by the Scheme of Union of the URC its Constitution, set up under Section D: The United Reformed Church Acts 1972, 1981 and 2000 as amended from time to time by its Governing Body.
The Eldership is not a body corporate. Its composition, procedures and powers are regulated by The United Reformed Church Manual… Section B: The Structure of the United Reformed Church Clause 2.(2). Elders are elected at the AGM of the Church Meeting by the Members of Heswall United Reformed Church. The Eldership met 11 times during 2024 (70% average attendance). It dealt with all the affairs of the Church and received and considered reports by the Worship Group, Fabric and Finance Committee, Pastoral Team and Junior Church.
## **Objectives and Activities**
Heswall United Reformed Church is a Church within the United Reformed Church and seeks: (i) to further the Church's mission in the locality; (ii) to develop local ecumenical relationships; (iii) to further the Church's compassionate ministry in the locality and throughout the world; (iv) to consider and support the wider work of the Church at home and abroad; (v) to consider public questions in relation to the Christian faith; (vi) to bring concerns for consideration by the Elders’ Meeting and wider councils of the church.
The Eldership’s objectives are: (i) to foster in the congregation concern for witness and service to the community, evangelism at home and abroad, Christian education, ecumenical action, local inter-church relations and the wider responsibilities of the whole Church; (ii) to see that public worship is regularly offered and the sacraments are duly administered, and generally to promote the welfare of the congregation; (iii) to ensure pastoral care of the congregation, in which the minister is joined by elders having particular responsibility for groups of members; (iv) to nominate from among its members a Church secretary (or secretaries), to be elected by the Church Meeting, to serve both the Church Meeting and the Elders’ meeting; (v) to arrange for pulpit supply in a vacancy; (vi) to keep the roll of members and (as an aid to the discharge of the congregation's pastoral and evangelistic responsibility) lists of names of adherents and children attached to the congregation, and in consultation with the Church Meeting to maintain standards of membership and to advise on the admission of members on profession of faith and by transfer, on the suspension of members, and on the removal of names from the roll; (vii) to be responsible for the institution and oversight of work among children and young people and of all organisations within the congregation; (viii) to call for the election of elders and advise on the number required; (ix) to consider the suitability of any applicant for recognition as a candidate for the ministry or for service as a CRCW and to advise the Church Meeting about its recommendation to the synod; (x) to recommend to the Church Meeting arrangements for the proper maintenance of buildings and the general oversight of all the financial responsibilities of the Local Church; (xi) to act on behalf of the Church Meeting and bring concerns to the wider councils of the United Reformed Church; (xii) to do such other things as may be necessary in pursuance of its responsibility for the common life of the Church.
The Eldership is aware of the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit in _“The Advancement of Religion for the Public Benefit”_ and have regard to it in their administration of Heswall United Reformed Church. The Eldership believes that, by fulfilling its responsibility to work together with the Minister and cooperate in all matters of concern and importance for the promotion of the whole mission of the church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical, it provides a benefit to the public by:
• providing resources and facilities for public worship, pastoral care and spiritual, moral and intellectual development, both for its members and for anyone who wishes to benefit from what the church offers;
• promoting Christian values, and service by members of the church to their communities, to the benefit of individuals and society as a whole.
The Eldership is responsible, _inter alia_ , for the Church budget and all expenditure thereunder, the care and maintenance of church fabric and its buildings, and for any action or other matter referred to it in accordance with the Constitution, and is the normal channel of communication between members and the Mersey Synod.
## **REVIEW OF HURC ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS**
## **Minister**
The Revd Dr Nick Jones provides a Joint Pastorate ministry to Heswall United Reformed Church [HURC] based on a 75% scoping and with Chester Road, Ellesmere Port URC on a 25% scoping. The minister provides both spiritual and pastoral leadership to the members and adherents of HURC.
## **Church Roll**
The membership was 84 members compared to 86 in January 2024.
## **Elders’ Elections**
The Church Members voted on the re-election for Jonathan Gregson and Dave Lock. Both candidates were duly re-elected. Marion Boden chose not to stand for re-election. Ian Murphy stood for election and was duly elected.
## **Employed Staff**
The church employed one part-time staff as an Administrator.
## **Churches Together**
HURC gave its ecumenical support for the activities of Churches Together in Heswall. The annual all denominational walk of witness through Heswall on Good Friday took place, followed by a joint service at HURC. A Christmas Coffee Morning was hosted at HURC to raise funds for Christian Aid. During Advent ecumenical Carol Singing took place in Heswall high street.
## **Web Content**
The content of the Church Website is continuously reviewed to reflect policy and information is regularly updated.
**Hiring Agreements for Church Premises:** The documentation for those hiring the premises was reviewed and updated. Public Liability insurance extends to Church events only, it does not cover outside hirers and this was clarified in the documentation. In 2024 room hiring charges and on-site parking charges have remained unchanged.
## **Scales of Fees**
The transparent fee scale agreed for weddings and funerals held at HURC remained unchanged.
## **Security of Confidential Information**
The security of confidential information is continually reviewed. Old Church Directories are now brought to the office for shredding. HURC continues to review the currency of its compliance with the Data Protection Act and, from May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). The New Church Directories contain only such information as permitted by the individual, for which a signed GDPR Consent Form has been received and securely filed. The New Church Directories are issued to individuals in a controlled manner, rather than being displayed for collection. The office computer has an updated PIN number to restrict access to sensitive information. All the filing cabinets have been checked to ensure any confidential information is segregated and contained within a locked cabinet.
## **Church Fabric**
Progress has been made towards improving the environmental footprint of the church. Following a routine review of the lightning protection, for insurance purposes, further additional works on the earthing arrangements were undertaken to improve the earth resistance.
## **Charity Commission Trustees.**
Five Elders nominated by the Church are the designated trustees. The trustees were appointed at the AGM 2019.
## **Social & Spiritual Achievements**
Live and online services continued throughout the year.
Contact with the congregation is also regularly maintained through either email or by post. The Pastoral group, regularly visit or telephone the members and friends of the church and where appropriate provide in person support.
The Second Sunday Lunches and the Monthly Midweek Communion with a Souper Lunches, and Healing Services continued throughout the year. The church organised regular Bible Study classes continued either in person or using online conference facilities. Prayer Days continued during the year. In addition, there is an established Prayer Group and support is provided for prayer time on an ad hoc basis to anyone who might wish to make use of the Quiet Room.
Open Table service, which commenced in 2023, continued through 2024 on a once per month basis. The Open Table Network is an ecumenical grouping, and registered charity, which began in Liverpool and aims to create communities where LGBTQIA+ people are made welcome. More than 40 churches now host Open Table Communities, and this has brought a number of people into the life of the church through a different style of worship. This is one of the ways we are seeking to live out our mission statement and ensuring that everyone is welcome in church, and has led us to engaging with a group who have historically often felt marginalised from church life. The congregation has grown over the months and the services have attracted strong support from within the existing church congregation.
## **Outreach**
Weekly Keep Fit for the over 60s and Badminton together with regular Afternoon Guild meetings took place throughout the year. Regrettably there has been little scope for Youth activities due to the lack of youth presence at the church. Support is given by members of the church to a local Foodbank.
The Greet, Eat and Meet (GEM) initiative took place once per week throughout 2024 for individuals from the community to meet and socialise.
The church gave to charities and individuals were encouraged to donate to various local charities and to Christian Aid or alternatively contact charities directly.
HURC has continued with its policy to offer to provide ceremonies for same sex marriage. During the year one same sex marriage was performed.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Heswall United
Refomied Church.
I report on the accounts of the church for the year ended 2024, set out on the next
pages.
Res
ective res
onsibllttles of trustees and examinar
The church's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The
church's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section
144(21 of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination
is needed.
It is my responsibility to..
examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act,.
follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Chanty
Commission {under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act),. and
state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basls of Inde
ndent examinerfs re
ort
My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by
the Charity Commission. An examination includes a VIeW of the accounting records
kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records.
It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts,
and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The
procedures undertaken do not provide all the eviden that would be required in an
audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a
'true and fair view, and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement
below.
Independent examlnerfs ststement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention which gives
me reasonable cause to believe that in any material resFect the requirements
. to keep accounting records in aco)rdance with section 130 of the
2011 Act. and
. to prepa accounts which accord with the accounting records and
comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act have not
been met.
In order to enable a proper understsnding of the accounts to be reached, attention is
drawn to the additional expenditure of £19,394 in Church running costs over the
2023 level. This increase mainly arose from a fault in the gas boiler which has since
been rectified.
Malcolm Cranfield F.C.A.
2*March 2025
8 Foxcover Road, Heswall, Wirral, CH60 1YB
**HESWALL UNITED REFORMED CHURCH Page 1**
## **FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT**
|**HESWALL UNITED REFORMED CHURCH**|**HESWALL UNITED REFORMED CHURCH**|**HESWALL UNITED REFORMED CHURCH**|**HESWALL UNITED REFORMED CHURCH**|**HESWALL UNITED REFORMED CHURCH**|**HESWALL UNITED REFORMED CHURCH**|**HESWALL UNITED REFORMED CHURCH**|**HESWALL UNITED REFORMED CHURCH**|**Page 1**|**Page 1**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024**||||||||||
|**RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT**||||||||||
||||Unrestricted
Funds £|Designated
Funds £|Restricted
Funds £||This Year
2024
Total £|Last Year
2023
Total £||
|||Note||||||||
|**RECEIPTS**||||||||||
|Offerings|||35,714|0|0||35,714|36,578||
|Fund raising and donations|||4,190|0|0||4,190|2,659||
|Monies raised for outside causes||3|0|754|0||754|503||
|Gift Aid tax repayments|||8,233|0|0||8,233|7,856||
|Legacies|||1,000|0|0||1,000|1,200||
|Property - church/hall users||4|23,232|0|0||23,232|24,110||
|Afternoon Guild|||0|150|0||150|0||
|FURY group|||0|0|0||0|0||
|Grants received|||725|0|0||725|0||
|Loans received|||0|0|0||0|0||
|Offsets to payments made|||5,222|0|0||5,222|2,399||
|Flower Fund|||0|100|0||100|0||
|Bank interest & investment transfer|||30,000|0|0||30,000|20,021||
|**Total receipts**|||**108,316**|**1,004**|
**0**||**109,320**|**95,326 **||
|**PAYMENTS**||||||||||
|Ministry & Mission Fund|||35,067|0|0||35,067|35,678||
|Minister expenses inc Petrol|||1,200|0|0||1,200|1,396||
|Church running costs||5|50,650|0|0||50,650|28,589||
|Programme activity costs||6|2,971|0|0||2,971|225||
|Support of outside causes||7|0|0|0||0|503||
|Maintenance of church buildings||8|19,075|0|0||19,075|28,701||
|Maintenance of manse||9|2,671|0|0||2,671|3,254||
|Flower Fund|||0|23|0||23|0||
|Afternoon Guild|||0|44|0||44|57||
|**Total payments**|||**111634 **|**67 **|**0**||**111701 **|**98403**||
|**NET RECEIPTS / (PAYMENTS)**||2|**-3,318**|**937 **|**0**||**-2,381 **|**-3,082 **||
|**TRANSFERS between funds**|||**0**|**0**|**0**||**0**|**0**||
|**CASH FUNDS b/fwd**1 January|||**22,257 **|**2,491 **|**1,373**||**26,121**|**29,204 **||
|**CASH FUNDS c/fwd**31 December|||**18,939**|**3,428**|**1,373**||**23,740**|**26,122**||
|**STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES**||||||||||
|**Monetary assets**||||||||||
|Cash|||0|0|0||0|0||
|Bank current account|||18,940|3,428|0||22,367|24,748||
|Kalifi Current Account|||0|0|0||0|0||
|Deposit accounts|||0|0|1,373||1,373|1,373||
|Synod Trust deposit|||0|0|0||0|0||
|**Total monetary assets**||10|**18,940**|**3,428**|**1,373**||**23,740**|**26,121**||
|**Other assets**||||||||||
|Gift Aid recoverable|||0|0|0||0|0||
|Other monies due to church|||0|0|0||0|0||
|Investments at market value||12|168,157|0|0||147,761|168,157||
|**Assets used for church purposes**||||||||||
|Buildings under statutory trusts||11|Church buildings and manse|||||||
|Church contents||11|Furnishings and equipment|||||||
|**Liabilities**||||||||||
|Loans outstanding|||0|0|0||0|0||
|Significant creditors|||0|0|0||0|0||
|**APPROVED by the Trustees**on|
04/5/2025||
and signed on their behalf by|||||||
|||||||||||
|_The notes onpages 2 and 3 formpart of this financial statement_||||||||||
**HESWALL UNITED REFORMED CHURCH FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 NOTES**
**Page 2**
## **1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES**
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 1993 Section 42(3), using the
Receipts and Payments basis available to small charities, and the United Reformed Church guidance.
- **2 FUND ACCOUNTING**
**Unrestricted Funds** may be used by the church for any of its ordinary purposes.
**Designated Funds** represent unrestricted funds set aside by the church for specific designated purposes; they can be transferred back into general funds at the church's decision.
||Fund name & purpose:|Balance
Receipts||Payments
Transfers|Balance|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||b/fwd £
inyear £||inyear £
foryear £|c/fwd £|
||Afternoon Guild|904
150||44
0|1,010|
||Flower Fund|921
100||23
0|998|
||Donation for Premises / Repair|0
0||0
0|0|
||FURY FUND|456
0||0
0|456|
||**Totals for designated funds**|
**2,281**
**250**||**67**
**0**|**2,464**|
|||||||
||**Restricted Funds**represent income which may be expended only on those restricted|||objects provided in the terms of a||
||trust or bequest, or donations or grants received or invited for a specific purpose. These funds can only be spent on the|||||
||specific purpose for which they were given. Any balance|remaining unspent must be|carried forward as a balance on|||
||that fund for future expenditure on that specific purpose, or returned; it cannot be absorbed into general funds.|||||
||Fund name & purpose:|Balance
Receipts||Payments
Balance||
|**HESWALL UNITED REFORMED CHURCH**|**HESWALL UNITED REFORMED CHURCH**|**HESWALL UNITED REFORMED CHURCH**|**HESWALL UNITED REFORMED CHURCH**|**HESWALL UNITED REFORMED CHURCH**|**HESWALL UNITED REFORMED CHURCH**|**Page 2**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024**|||||||
|**NOTES**|||||||
|**1**|**ACCOUNTING POLICIES**||||||
||The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 1993 Section 42(3), using the
Receipts and Payments basis available to small charities, and the United Reformed Church guidance.||||||
|**2**|**FUND ACCOUNTING**||||||
||**Unrestricted Funds**maybe used bythe church for anyof its ordinary purposes.||||||
||**Designated Funds**represent unrestricted funds set aside by the church for specific designated purposes; they can be
transferred back into general funds at the church's decision.||||||
||Fund name & purpose:|Balance|Receipts|Payments|Transfers|Balance|
|||b/fwd £|inyear £|inyear £|foryear £|c/fwd £|
||Afternoon Guild|904|150|44|0|1,010|
||Flower Fund|921|100|23|0|998|
||Donation for Premises / Repair|0|0|0|0|0|
||FURY FUND|456|0|0|0|456|
||**Totals for designated funds**|
**2,281**|**250**|**67**|**0**|**2,464**|
||||||||
||**Restricted Funds**represent income which may be expended only on those restricted objects provided in the terms of a
trust or bequest, or donations or grants received or invited for a specific purpose. These funds can only be spent on the
specific purpose for which they were given. Any balance remaining unspent must be carried forward as a balance on
that fund for future expenditure on that specific purpose, or returned; it cannot be absorbed into general funds.||||||
||that fund for future expenditure on that specific purpose,|or returned; it cannot be absorbed into general funds.|||||
||Fund name & purpose:|Balance|Receipts|Payments|Balance||
|||b/fwd £|inyear £|inyear £|c/fwd £||
||Kalifi Fund|0|0|0|0||
||Youth Fund|1,034|0|0|1,034||
||Benevolent Fund|316|0|0|316||
||**Totals for restricted funds**|
**1,350**|**0**|**0**|**1,350**||
||||||||
||||||This Year|Last Year|
|||Unrestricted|Designated|Restricted|2024|2023|
|||Funds £|Funds £|Funds £|Total £|Total £|
|**3**|**MONIES RAISED FOR OUTSIDE CAUSES**||||||
||Christian Aid|0|503|0|503|349|
||Jamie's Fund|0|0|0|0|0|
||McMillan Cancer Support|0|0|0|0|0|
||Charles Thompson Mission(Birkenhead)|0|181|0|181|0|
||Ukraine DEC|0|50|0|50|154|
||CharityCoffee Morning|0|20|0|20|0|
||Iona AbbeyAppeal|0|0|0|0|0|
||Kalifi Fund|0|0|0|0|0|
||**Totals raised for outside causes**|**0**|**754**|**0**|**754**|**503**|
||||||||
|**4**|**PROPERTY INCOME**||||||
||Lettings income|23,232|0|0|23,232|24,110|
||Weddings and funerals|725|0|0|725|0|
||||||||
||**Totalproperty income**|
**23,957**|**0**|**0**|**23,957**|**24,110**|
||||||||
|**5**|**CHURCH RUNNING COSTS**||||||
||Gas, Electric and Water|25,215|0|0|25,215|8,359|
||Insurance|2,956|0|0|2,956|2,795|
||Cleaning|4,090|0|0|4,090|3,003|
||
Telephone & Internet|2,073|0|0|2,073|2,080|
||
Administration|958|0|0|958|720|
||Photocopying|2,668|0|0|2,668|1,669|
||
Staffing|12,588|0|0|12,588|10,328|
||
Bank Charges|104|0|0|104|111|
||
Licences, music & conduct of praise|0|0|0|0|2,192|
||
Items moved from 2023 report||||||
||
into Programme activity costs||||||
||||||||
||||||||
||**Total church running costs**|
**50,650**|**0**|**0**|**50,650**|**31,257**|
||||||||
||||||||
||**HESWALLUNITED REFORMEDCHURCH **|**HESWALLUNITED REFORMEDCHURCH **|**HESWALLUNITED REFORMEDCHURCH **|**HESWALLUNITED REFORMEDCHURCH **||||||**Page 3**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||||||||
||**FINANCIALSTATEMENTS YEAR ENDED31 DECEMBER 2023**||||||||||
||||||||||||
||**NOTES –continued**||||||||||
|||||||||This Year||Last Year|
||||Unrestricted|Designated||Restricted||2024||2023|
||||Funds £|Funds £||Funds £||Total£||Total£|
||**6**|**PROGRAMME ACTIVITYCOSTS**|||||||||
|||HeswallChurchesTogether|75|0||0||75||0|
|||Missionary & Outreach|212|0||0||212||0|
|||Licenses &Refreshments|2,684|||||2,684|||
||||||||||||
|||**Total programme activity costs**|**2,971**|**0**||**0**||**2,971**||**0**|
||**7**|**SUPPORTOF OUTSIDECAUSES**|||||||||
||||0||||||||
|||Dispersalof moneyraisedforoutside causes|0|0||0||0||0|
|||Christian Aid||0||||0||349|
|||DEC-Ukraine||0||||0||154|
|||**Total support of outside causes**|**0**|**0**||**0**||**0**||**503**|
||**8**|**MAINTENANCE OF CHURCH BUILDINGS**|||||||||
|||Repairs &Renewals|11,589|0||0||11,589||25,263|
|||Maintenance Costs|2,788|0||0||2,788||2,619|
|||Gardens|4,698|0||0||4,698||1,819|
||||||||||||
|||**Total maintenance of church buildings**|**19,075**|**0**||**0**||**19,075**||**29,701 **|
||**9**|**MANSE MAINTENANCE /RUNNING COSTS**|||||||||
|||ManseMaintenance|0|0||0||0||0|
|||CouncilCharge|2,425|0||0||2,425||2,209|
|||Water Rates|246|0||0||246||181|
||||||||||||
|||**Total maintenance of manse**|**2,671**|**0**||**0**||**2,671**||**2,390**|
||||||||||||
||**10**|**MONETARY ASSETS**|||||||||
|||The church monies are not held in segregated accounts, but for the sake of this financial statement the total
ofeachaccountis allocated appropriately overthevariousfunds.|||||||||
||**11**|**ASSETS USED FOR CHURCH PURPOSES**|||||||||
|||The church building and the manse are vested in URC Mersey Synod Trust as trustees and are not church
assets. They are held for the benefit of Heswall URC in accordance with the statutory trusts applicable to
URC properties under the URC Acts. For insurance purposes the church buildings are insured by the
church for £2,816,439 The church contents are insured by the church for £285,558|||||||||
||**12**|**CCLA – INVESTMENT FUND**|||||||||
|||At 31/12/2023 Number of unit held was 33,128.45 valued at a mid-market value of £168,156.70, this
increased in Value to £175,358.82 by 30/06/2024. On 28/08/2024 4,312.11 units were sold at a value of
£10,000 as per church meeting for decoration to the building. On 27/12/2024 units were sold at a value of
£20,000 to cover Utility bills. At 31/12/2024 Number of unit held was 27,543.2742 valued at a mid-market
value of£147,761.40Ayearly decreaseinthevalue ofour investment of£20,395.30|||||||||