## **WESLEY CHURCH CAMBRIDGE Trustees Annual Report - year to 31[st] August 2023** ## **Required information** |**Required information**||| |---|---|---| |Charity name|Wesley Methodist Church, Cambridge|| |Charity registration number|1129303|| |Address:|Christ’s Pieces, Cambridge CB1 1LG|| |Trustee names|Paul Ashley
Graham Burghall
Angus Campbell
Geoff Batty
Kathy Batty
Janet Davis
John Papaloizou
Janet Davis|Elaine Papaloizou
Adrian Mackintosh
Dottie Haslett
Malcolm Haslett
Phil Howie
David Taylor
Jenny Izzett| |Ministers (not trustees)|Revd Rose Westwood, Deacon Ian Murray|| |Structure and management|Wesley Methodist Church, as a charity, incorporates the physically
and numerically larger Wesley Church and the smaller Chesterton
Methodist Church.
Wesley Methodist Church is governed and managed in accordance
with the standing orders of the Methodist Church. The church is led
a minister who chairs the Church Council, the governing body. The
members of the Church Council, excluding the minister(s) and
representatives of external organisations, are the trustees of the
charity. Members of the Church Council are chosen by one of the
following processes: (1) Ministers appointed to the church by the
Methodist Church (2) ordinary members elected by the annual
General Church Meeting (3) stewards of the church, elected by the
annual General Church Meeting (4)_ex officio_officers of the church,
such as the treasurer, who are appointed by the Church Council
itself (5) representatives from the Methodist Church in the local
circuit.
The Church Council meets normally three times a year, and
receives reports from officers and organisations within the church.
Day-to-day management is devolved to the ministers, stewards, the
Finance & Property Committee, the Pastoral Committee, and the
officers of the church, such as the pastoral secretary, treasurer and
property steward.
Trustees must all be members of Wesley Methodist Church or
Chesterton Methodist Church. They serve for a period of six years
at a time, and may be reappointed.|| ## **Objectives in the year** Our objectives are summarised in our mission statement: Our mission is to be a... _Worshipping Welcoming Witnessing Christian Community_ - with a distinctive Methodist character serving Cambridge and district. To that end, we intend… - To maintain a centre of Christian worship in the Methodist tradition, of high quality and in a wide variety of styles - To strengthen expressions of our fellowship and unity in Christ, through growth and nurture and pastoral care - To deepen the Christian knowledge and faith of the church community - To engage in effective outreach to those who live, work, study or play in central Cambridge - To serve the local community through individual participation and the use of our premises - To co-operate with other Churches and Christian workers in the city and in our circuit In particular, we intend to increase our efforts… - To reach out to children and young people - To welcome and integrate those who join our community - To provide adequate resources to reach our targets – resources of people, premises and money to reach our targets in: - Increasing small fellowship groups and extending other opportunities for Christian Education - Extending the use of premises for outreach and improve interaction with users - Improving and extending the use of technology for worship, administration and promotion. ## **Activities and achievements** The year ending 31 August 2023 was a period of consolidation and reassessment following the covid pandemic and the appointment of a new minister, Revd Rose Westwood (who is also circuit superintendent). Deacon Ian Murray remains in charge at Chesterton. ## _**Wesley Church**_ Sunday worship has been maintained through the year. An increasing number of services at Wesley Church are now live-streamed. The practice is to stream services on the second and fourth Sundays of the month. Bible study and prayer groups are an important aspect of church life, as are one-off study sessions connected to significant times in the church calendar, such as the Lent study group. Wesley Church plans to restart two activities which were important before covid: the Science Meets Faith lecture series, which drew an audience from across the city, and the Thursday Lunch club for older people. These both started in in the year following the period covered by this report. Wesley Church has seen a steady increase in use of the premises by non-church groups, this income has not yet reached pre-covid levels. Wesley Church retains a full-time residential caretaker, and a part time centre manager. Following the departure of the previous centre manager in June 2022, a new centre manager was appointed from January 2023. ## _**Chesterton Methodist Church**_ Sunday worship has been maintained through the year. It’s membership and congregation remains small, but is growing slightly. It is recognised as an important institution in the community of East Chesterton, and area of significant inequality and deprivation. Chesterton is used by two organisations that offer an increasingly valuable service to the local and regional community. It is a hub for the Cambridge City Foodbank, demand for which is growing. The charity Headway also uses Chesterton as its primary centre of activity in Cambridge. The Foodbank pays no fee for using the premises. Headway’s letting fee is an important component of the church’s income. The local Headway branch went into receivership during the year, but it’s services have been taken over by a new branch of the charity; we have lost a small sum of income during the year (which we may have to write off), but this is expected to be just a one-off issue. Chesterton Methodist Church continues to employ a part-time administrator, whose hours have increased in line with the increase in use of the premises by outside groups. During the year plans were being developed for a new community café to be constructed on the church site, to be run in partnership with the New Meaning Foundation, a social enterprise. After the period of this report, the project was cancelled, owing to increasing costs and the administrative burden. ## **Financial review for year ended 31[st] August 2023** ## _**Form of accounts**_ The registered charity consists of Wesley Church proper, and Chesterton Methodist Church, which is formally a ‘class’ of Wesley Church. The accounts ‘books’ are kept separate for each church. Our formal financial statements are combined with Chesterton Methodist Church for reporting to the Methodist Church and The Charity Commission. Even combined, our income is normally still below the threshold (£250,000) above which we would be legally required to employ professional experts to examine our accounts. Nevertheless we do so because the size and complexity of our accounts makes it difficult to find a suitable ‘lay’ independent examiner. Prentis & Co has acted as our independent examiner. In 2021-22, our income was sufficiently high that we could no longer use the Receipts & Payments form of accounts, which were thus reported on an Accruals basis. This was seen as a one-off measure, as the high income arose from a grant paid to Chesterton Methodist Church for its planned community café (since the café project has been cancelled, this grant will be repaid in 2023-24). With the reduction in income in 2022-23, we have reverted to the Receipts and Payments form of accounts. ## _**Financial performance**_ The combined charity made a substantial deficit of £57,191 across all funds, compared to the previous year’s £58,153. The General Fund deficit of £36,270 is attributable to the steady loss of income from a declining membership and an increased assessment (transferred to the Cambridge circuit to pay for ministers’ stipends and accommodation, and the national church organisation). During the year the King Street Pre-School ceased activities; we have thus lost a small proportion of their lettings income for 2022-23, and will lose it entirely in 2023-24. The overall deficit was increased by expenditure on a new AV system at Wesley Church (which has been well-received), partly funded by a legacy from a former member. The deficit is entirely attributable to Wesley Church. Chesterton Methodist Church’s receipts and payments are approximately in balance and stable. The charity’s financial reserves remain strong (£304,218), though declining. We anticipate that the Cambridge Methodist Circuit, which has responsibility for all Methodist churches and ministerial staff in the area, will review undertake a review of assets and resources in the coming year with the aim of placing all churches on a more sustainable footing. WESLEY CHURCH (INCLUDING CHESTERTON METHODIST CHURCH) RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS THE METHODIST CHURCH STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS Wesley Church (including Chesterton Methodl$t ChU￿h) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 August 2023 Cambrid Circuit Circuit no. 14126 Registered Charity- Charity Registration number If not a registered charity Her Majesty's Rovenue and Customs Gift Aid number (The HMRC number is equivalent to a registered ¢harity number in terms of evidence of charitable status and may be used to give to donors or grant funders wishing to see evidence of the organisation's charitable status. Methodisl charities in England and Wales that are not registered charities are ex￿pIed from registration under Statutory In$trumen* 2014 No.242) 1129303 Minister. Revd Rose Westwood Church Stewards.. Graham Burghall Phil Howie Angus Campbell Jennie Jenks Malcolm Haslett Adrian Mackintosh Treasurer.. Paul Ashley Wesley & Chestsrton SOFA and annual accounts 2022-23 - final lof5 ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023 Weslgy Church Ilncludlng Chestèrton M•thodlgt Church) Unre8trl¢ted Restrictsd Totals th Furtds Funrts y•ar Tot#Fs Idst SECTION A a1 RECEIPTS Note a2 Offerings and Tax recovared Bank and CFB inter&sl and Investment income 95,115 95.115 93.903 a3 9,160 99,959 14,860 219.094 301 9.461 99,959 14,860 219,396 a4 Lettings Othèr receipts TOTAL RECEIPTS 86,493 93,584 277.064 a5 86 301 la71 SECTION B b1 PAYMENTS b2 Cir¢urt Assessment or Share 100,662 221 100,662 221 ,123 b3 DonatK>ns 193 Repairs and Maintenance Utilities Ilnsurances, watei char es. heating & l- htingl 44.121 21.223 65,344 30.899 b5 27.949 27.949 62.579 19,833 276,587 25,448 55.008 11,239 218,911 Staff 62,579 19,633 255,364 b7 Other payments TOTAL PAYMENTS b8 21,223 b91 SECTION C NET RECEIPTSIPAYMENTS FOR THE YEAR ¢1 la6-b81 136,2701 20,9211 157,191} 58,153 Total fvnds brought forward from last y8ar 228,233 99,924 328,157 (¢61 270,004 c3 Sub total Ic1+G21 191,963 79,003 270,966 328,157 Transfers and adjustments 33,252 33,252 {c71 ¢5 TOTAL FUNDS AT END OF YEAR Ic3+¢41 225.215 79,003 304,218 {c81 328,157 Ic61 SECTION D FOR INFORMATION ONLY: MONEY RECEIVED AND PASSED ON TO EXTERNAL ORGANISATIONS Ithes8 amounts are not to be Included In total recelptslpa ments fi ur&s above) dl Balance bTought foNvard from last year 2.118 1.622 d2 OfferingslGifts- receNed for extemal organisaltons 2,342 12.104 d3 OfferingslGifts - passed to external organi5ations 2,543 11,608 d4 BALANCE STILL TO BE PAID Id1 +d2431 1,917 2.118 2of5 w&sky&CFrts*rt￿ SOFA 4￿￿￿￿2022.13. ffr Church e￿AcCOUNT AND INTERNA RGANI CH SECTSON E thB Guidancd N CDM Summ3ryo1tr*ch￿￿h wJuDtsfor tr*ye8rended 31 Augu9120238nd lntemallkg9ni￿Ik￿SreWUn9 to churtheoLYKxVC￿J1ChMeeti￿j. Notethatthefunds Of sn Org￿$￿I￿n￿￿1d bo R4¥tr￿t0d FundSun￿&S itctyJdb&d8arty shMithÈtthwixauh5 ￿uled f0rsnymetl￿￿￿lpUrpo8e. Th￿ be FJnve allhe 9rossinwme art eypgndiwre iota*of ole Chulth Wgross wwmeexceeds thèAccpJaIslhresF￿d. Ihén thèA¢walsrnethodof ND A DIFFERENT FORM mugt beL*8d lo Ise4 K4ÈWsiw¢b*l. P￿?8&re[￿r LQ re9JFdlrfj transfernLrM￿ the D￿￿￿land ￿￿￿ted D1$kn￿ QrganEaUon5. INTERNhL c¥trJANISATIOMS N9t Openiny bAl￿ed% Pa Clos ¢3 e7 SubtOtsl*f Intem sabDns (￿d& e11 912 Cthureh accounts (t¢Aals b￿ght10¥w￿fd fromwp 2-totals GDlumTrl 219.396 2Y6,517 {67.1911 33.252 328.157 Ic61 304,218 BY CHVRCH 219.396 276,S87 {5T.1911 33.252 328.157 304.218 Oniitsueon asepar*eshe rfne¢e$Sary￿ the tota15foNéatd TOTALRECEIPT$ TOTAL PAYMENT SECllON F ATEMENT OPENING 84LANCES CLQ$INts DAL4NCES CHURCH. CASHFUNDS HELD a131 8tX23 Cash li hand D￿k CLITentA￿￿L% kD Central Finan￿E0￿d 118.638 109 594 Twstees IN￿1￿(￿1$1 Pwtwes 1246S7 126,237 7.821 3,256 SUB ToTAL.¢￿r£h accowt6 328.157 304.218 Totsl fund? held tylniemal Oroaniaations DaiarKethi atyovei Ip12} TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELO BYCHVRC 328.157 304.21¢ 8Ecnoi4 G OTHER ASSEtS*idUABILttlE5 1 Swlwnbw2022 31 h4us12023 1￿304 Land & Bu1￿1 ¥8fthsrolThwran¢x v*ue 17578321 fj8 105 659 f4 Inck￿￿7￿ h* al Cthl FlTrAnceBoatd Fu￿5 hdd aiTtustees lor ￿eth￿￿ChUrCh pthwses 91 In¢￿¢4￿Y￿h￿rInV￿￿fflutrt0(￿t1￿ ￿￿¢￿t￿Ent9fTMGP bwiJa[x)Jurtottlsbl￿ed In Nncfo Name of Church.. Wesley Church {Ineluding Chosterton Methodist Church) Declarations and Scrutiny I confirm that these Re￿Ipt and Payment based accounts for the year to 31 August 2023 have bèèn prepared from the records of the Church and that they include all fvnds under the control of the Church trusteès. Signature of Ireasurer .............. Name and address of treasurer '. Paul Ashley 59 Gilbert Road, Cambridge. Post Code CB4 3NZ Presentation to the Church trustees I confirm Ihat the annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 Au ust 2023 werelwill be" presented to the meeting of the Church trustee$ held on .2F. Ji x013 Signature of the Chair of the meeting Name of the Chair of the meeting tsvj LJEsf tyJcDJ Date. o).....G 6: .).oJ Independent Examlner's Report to the Trustees of the Wesley Church (InGludlng Chesterton Methodist ChurGh) Charity Number 1129303 Responsibilities and basis of report I report to the trustees on my examination of the receipts and payments accounts of the Wesley Chureh {including Chesterton Methodisl Church) for the year ended 31 August 2023 set out on pages 2 to 3. As the Church's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities 2011 (Yhe AcY}. I report in respoct of my examination of the Church's accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and, in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Oirections given by the Charity Commission under section 145(51(b) of the Act. W4s1gy &crthrton SoFAand aMv814srowts2022-rJ-fitwl 4of5 Wesley Church (including Chesterton Methodist Church} No 14126 Independent Examin8r'8 Statement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which give me cause to believe that in. any material respect: the accounting records were not kept in accordance WFth section 130 of the Act; or the re￿iptS and payments accounts do not accord with the aGcounting records. I have no concems and have come across no other matters in connedion with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper undefstanding of the receipts and payments accounts to be reached. I have obtained independent verification of all investments with the Twstees for Methodist Church Purposes or held in other trusts, bank balances and funds at the Central Finan￿ Board of the Methodist Church which are individually in excess of £10,000 (ten thousand pounds} at the date of the statement of assets and liabilities. Signature of independent examiner Name of independent examiner .lan Shipley FCCA........................................... Relevant professional qualification of independent examiner ..FCCA.................................... Name of fimi .Prentis &Co LLP................................ Address .115C Milton Road, Cambridge............................................... Post Code .CB4 1XE....... Date Wes* & Chesterton SOFA and annual accounts 2022-23- final 5of5