## **DRAFT** ## **TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT FOR YEAR 1 SEPTEMBER 2024 to 31 AUGUST 2025** # **CHARITY NAME: LIDGETT PARK METHODIST CHURCH Registered Charity Number 1129423** # **CHARITY’S PRINCIPAL ADDRESS: Lidgett Place** **Leeds LS8 1HG** ## **OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES** The purposes of the Methodist Church are and shall be deemed to have been since the date of Union, the advancement of – - 1) The Christian faith in accordance with the doctrinal standards and the discipline of the Methodist Church; - 2) Any charitable purpose for the time being of any Connexional, district, circuit, local or other organization of the Methodist Church; - 3) Any charitable purpose for the time being of any society or institutional subsidiary or ancillary to the Methodist Church; - 4) Any purpose for the time being of any charity being a charity subsidiary or ancillary to the Methodist Church. The principal activities of Lidgett Park Methodist Church are the provision of opportunities and facilities for regular Christian Worship and associated activities and provision of facilities for youth and other community activities. To this end we: 1.Provide corporate worship and related activities for spiritual growth and the deepening of faith in God through Christ. 2.Express Christian love through mutual care and support and provide for fellowship for members and for others within the community. 3.Provide outreach of faith and witness within and beyond the local community and to extend the church family. 4.Raise the awareness of the church family of concerns experienced by our fellow Christians and others, in other countries, in this city and the neighbourhood. Sadly, over the last year the Church has said good bye to friends, and others coping with illness and our thoughts and prayers go to the families and friends The Ecumenical Lent Group went well this year for those attending from LPMC a lot of thoughtful discussion took place. Messy Church ebbs and flows, we never know who and how many are coming, a session being held each school holiday, however, it is always enjoyed! We have shared various bible stories. My thanks to the team who help run this, it is a team effort and couldn’t run without them! Teddy Praise continues to take place once a month after Toddlers. It is fun and chaotic! We share songs and a bible story through my story basket. Everyone takes a craft home to do, reinforcing the story message. It is always amazing at how well those little children sit and listen and join in! The stewards and Minister continue to work together to lead the planning and delivery of the Church activities. From September 2025 each month we have shared worship with Alwoodley Park and Shadwell, alternating at the different churches. In March 2026 we had a review of how things were going, there was a lot of positive comments, with one of the only concerns being times of worship. Thanks go to Shadwell for willing to be flexible and when it is at Shadwell, from September 2026 worship will begin at 10am. At the March Circuit meeting 2024 it was decided that we reduce to four presbyters from September 2025, along with other decisions. Also with these decisions, The Circuit Leadership Team asked the circuit meeting to urge and encourage each church within the circuit to discuss as a church how these bold and radical changes can begin to take place so that we as churches across the circuit, continue to move towards being more intentionally missional and evangelistic. When planning our activities for the year, the Church leadership team considered the Commission’s guidance on public benefit, and in particular the specific guidance on charities for the advancement of religion. In particular, we try to enable ordinary people to live out their faith as part of our church community through: Worship and prayer, learning about the Gospel, and developing their faith through participating in house groups, and church activities Provision of pastoral care for church members, their families and friends Community and outreach work and supporting the Church project. To facilitate this work, it is essential that the trustees maintain the fabric of the Church and its ancillary buildings. This is financed in part through letting many of the rooms to local groups and organisations. Activities run throughout the week and provide direct benefit to the local community (such as the provision of playgroups) as well as benefitting the Church. The membership of the Church and those attending regular worship has been broadly stable with a few new attendees balancing out the deaths and transfers. The Church continues to support ‘Churches together in Roundhay’ which is an ecumenical collective , and has strong ecumenical relationships with St Edmund’s Church and St Andrew’s church as covenanting churches, worshipping frequently together and organizing annual shared events. In April 2026 we began a process within the circuit of thinking ‘A Way Forward’, how, as a circuit can we do this differently to liberate those tired and exhausted from caring for buildings and filling multiple roles within their Church, so they have the energy to engage in mission in the community. The process and group will last a year, it will be a time of listening, discerning and coming up with various ideas, with the aim of these ideas being heard at the Summer Circuit Meeting in 2027. And so, we move forward, God calls us, and we continue to respond. At times we don’t know where our journey takes us, which is both exciting and daunting, but we know that we are safe in God’s hands with his guiding love surrounding us. ## **FINANCIAL REVIEW** The Church’s main source of funds is from freewill offerings by members and others, supplemented by income from rents paid for the use of rooms. Expenditure is needed for contributing to the maintenance of ministry in the local Methodist Circuit, for property expenses, for selective grants and for worship. For 2024/25, the accounts have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis rather than an accruals basis . The accounts attached to this report for the year show that during the year 2024/25, the general (unrestricted) fund for the Church decreased by £8,172 with the closing balance at £ 16,067. Total assets (excluding buildings) including project funding, endowments, and restricted funds, fell from £67,304 to £52,693. For 2024/25, the Church had a reserves policy that stated that the General Fund balance on the last day of the financial year should be at least 25% of the General Fund’s expenditure for that year, but should not exceed 50% .Our general reserves are now 16% of our annual general income ( in cash terms) so the financial objective is to slightly increase the reserves over the next couple of years if possible in line with our policy. However, this is likely to be challenging given the overall financial situation. General Funds may be transferred to a property repair fund on the advice of the finance committee. The amounts transferred and the overall value of the fund will relate to the predicted extra-ordinary items of maintenance and repair which can reasonably be expected to be required in the next five years. The value of that fund at 31 August 2025 was £2789. ## **STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE and MANAGEMENT** The governing document is the Deed of Union (1932) and the Methodist Church Act (1976) The Local Church is governed by a Church Council consisting of Church members acting as Trustees. The Trustees consist of the Circuit Ministers, designated Church office holders ex officio and a number of other members by election. The Church Council makes all key decisions relating to the day to day running of the Church unless delegated to one of the committees, (though it retains ultimate accountability). Some key decisions including the appointment of circuit ministers and the contribution that Churches shall make to the local Circuit, are made by the local Methodist Circuit (Leeds North and East Circuit of the Methodist Church). The key committees of the Church which support the work of the Church Council are: Finance Committee Property Committee Pastoral Committee Worship Committee The names of the current members of the Church Council (Charity Trustees) as at the date of this report are as follows : |**Trustee Name**|**Office held (if appropriate)**| |---|---| |Rev Tanya Short|Minister and Chair of Church| ||Council| |Mrs J Sanders|Church Council Secretary| |Mr A Wittrick|Church Treasurer| |Mrs P Brooke|Church Steward| |Mrs D Barton|Church Steward| |Mr P Bennett|Church Steward| |Mrs J Roberts|Church Steward| |Mrs C Pritchard|Church Steward| Mr G Albiges Mrs R Albiges M/S B Ashton Mrs B Belsham Miss J Bennett Mr P Bennett Mrs K Benson Mrs P Brooke Mrs P Davies Mrs V Faint Mrs M Farrar Mrs C Firth Mrs H Fry Mr Paul Berry (circuit rep) Mrs K. Illingworth Mrs P Nolan Mr G Saunders Dr S Pearson Miss J Bennett Mrs E Pearson Mrs C Pritchard This annual report was approved by the Chair of the Finance and property committees, the Church Treasurer and the Minister on behalf of the Church Council in May 2026. . Dated 20 May 2026 UDGETh PARK METHODIST CHURCH RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS THE METHODIST CHURCH STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS LIDGETh PARK METHODIST Church FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 August 2025 LEEDS NORTH AND EAST Circuit Circuit no. 2712 Reglstsrnd Charlty - Charity Roglstration numbèr If not a registered charrty HIS Majestys Rov•nuo and Customg Glft Ald number (The HMRC number is equivalent to a regist8r8d chanty number in t8ms of evidence of charrtable status and may be used to give to donors or grant funder5 wishing to see eviden¢e of the organisation's haritable status Methodist charities in England and Wales that are not registered charities are excepted from registration under Statutory Instrument 2014 No.242) 1129423 Minister: REV. TANYA SHORT Church Steward8.' MRS JOAN ROBERTS MRS DAPHNE BARTON MRS PAT BR(X)KE MRS CHRISTINE PRITCHARD MR PF.TF.R BENNErr Treasurer-. MR ALAN WIThRICK Copy of Church-receipts-and-payments-stsndard ac¢ounts 1of5 LIDGETh PARK METHODIST Accoupifs FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2025 Church Totals last ear SECTION A Funds a1 RECEIPTS a2 Offerin s and Tax recovered Bank and CFB interest arkd Invesknent income 78.771 81,771 89.539 a3 501 973 1,474 18.428 15,711 117.384 1.489 19.209 17.1¢)0 127.337 a4 Lettin 18,428 2,168 a5 Other receipts TOTAL RECEIPTS 13.543 17.516 (a71 SECTION 8 b1 PAYMENTS Circuit Asse8qment or Share b2 55.200 b3 Donations 13.385 10.353 18,335 22,359 17,736 Re airs and Maintenance Ulilrties Ilnsurances, water char es heatin hlin 3.647 bs 22.542 22.542 b7 Other payments TOTAL PAYMENTS 10.494 108,040 277 10,771 132.055 17,583 113,265 b8 24.015 (b91 SECTION C NET RECEIPTSIPAYMENTS ¢1 a64 6,499 14.671 14,072 Total funds brought fotward from last year 21,234 44,437 65,671 e6 51.599 c3 Sub total ¢1+c2 13,062 37.938 51,000 65,671 Transfers and ad"ustmen18 3.CQ5 3,Cw)5 ¢7 c5 TOTAL FUNDS AT END OF YEAR (c3+c41 16,067 34.933 51,000 c81 65.671 Ic6) SECTION D FOR INFORMATION ONLY: MONEY RECEIVED AND PASSED ON TO ExfERNAL ORGANISATIONS th880 amounts are not to bg Includ•d In total recel ents 11 urgs abov0} d1 Balance brou hl forytsrd from last ar d2 Offerin sIGifts- receNed for extemal o nL8atK￿$ 1.413 2,472 d3 OfferingslGifts - passed to extemal organis*N)ns 1.413 2.472 d4 BALANCE STILL TO BE PAID (d1+d2-d31 2of5 uDGE￿ PARK METHODIST ChuT¢h su TOThECTrW COU SECTION Please fdlow theouidance this Summaryoflhe Church accourts fortho 31 a￿j fBPt4tty *JthÈi￿ c￿￿0￿Church Meebw. Nthth*th&fund# ot an Internal woukj nomidtybe Re*JKtyJ itcwid bedwty be u5edfrr*7y k4thdiStpw section rnL￿t at¢ountsnoANDA DIFFERENT FORM rnu5tbe used to rqx¥t1J***￿¥I5 Is¢eM*ht•*tTr*￿s1kn). Flo￿ rthtothggu¥Ja￿ rKtss rèwding tsansfors the Th51r￿tand conn£ctsd ChaIrKt(kG￿**b(ll¥. INTERNAL oRGAN￿ATioNs Cbsi boknc LAtMES GROUP 219 ¢3 ¢4 ¢5 nt•[n an15atio￿ 2.718 .x< e12 Chureh K¢wntr Itotsls broughtforward trorn p•yt 2-tOtsli column) a9 117.384 132,010 {T46711 Ic71 65,671 51.000 BY GHURCH 120.100 134.711 114611) 67,304 OZ.893 Conllnu•¢n * sèyrate ?ht•t If n•r••**ry•nd bnrvJ th• totols forwllrd TOT￿ RECEHITS TOTAL PAYMENTS SECTION F CLOSING L414CE8 CHURCH. CASH FUPKIS ￿L0•t)1 8•nkCurrentkerAlnt 8•nk D• f4 ¢•ntrnl FlnllrK• Trustèèsfor Pkn)th•tChur Oth•r lundts SUB TOTAL. Church Kcounts Tr￿ lunds h71d by1nt¢rMI OrganHabcrt f*• closlnll ￿lI￿¢t10t•ll￿•b￿}l•l2) 1,633 1¢12 TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD BY CHURCM 67.304 Ixl 62.693 SECTION G 31 Augu* 2025 OTHER AY$ETS and LLWnFS Land & n¢tssrnhsLYW value Loen Othw LiAknIth05 r4 Includèonly Fundshdd *tth• Central FrAnce8c¢rd Indudè tsnly hdd *tTIL%tèès fvrmethothstchurch Purposes 3ofS Name of Church ..... . LIDGE￿ PARK METHODIST CHURCH Declarations and Scrutiny I confinn that these Receipt and Payment based accounts for the yéar to 31 August 2025 hav8 be8n prepared from the records of the Church and that they include all fijnds under the control of thé Church trust88S. Signature oftreasurer.......... Date... Name and addre￿ of tr8a8urer ...... Alan Wittrick . 9 the Ddve . Adel ,Legds LS168BG Presenlatlon to the Church trustse$ I confirm that the annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025 wereAvill b8" presented to thè m8etino of the Church trust88s held on .......... . Signature of the Chair of the meetir Name of the Chair of the meeting Date.. Independent Examlnerf8 Report to the Trustees of the . LIDGE￿ PARK METHODIST Charity Numb•r. 1129423 Regponslbllltles and ba818 ol roport I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of . . L￿￿gett Park Methodist . Church for the year end8d 31 August 2025 set OLrt on pages ... to As the Church's truste8s, you are responsible for the preparation of the accourrts in accordance v￿th the requirements of the Charits'es Act 2011 ('the Act,). I report in respect of my examinatton of the Church's accounts carried out under seth'on 145 of the Act and, in carying OLrt my examination, I have follo￿*d all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. delete or circl8 as appropriate 4of5 Name of Church . LIDGErr PARK METHODIST CHURCH Number 2712 Indepandent Examinerfs Statement I have completed my examinab'on. I confinn that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that disclosed below") which give me cause to believe that in, any malerial respect.. the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act. or the accounts do not accord with the accounting records. I have no COn￿rnS 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 to be reached. I ha¥elhave not. obtained independent verIf￿atIOn of all investments with the Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes or held in other trusts, bank balances and funds at the Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church wthich are individually in excess of £10,000 (ten thousand pounds) at the balan￿ sheet date. Signature of independent examiner Name of independent examiner A TrJPKE_w LAYCQC*( Relevant professional qualrfication of independent examiner Name of fim (where appropriate) Address 80 C)LE?I HOW iAw£, LEe Post Code Lg * Iw.T Date delete or circle as appropriate Copy of Church-receipts-and-payments-standard ￿}Unts 5of5 Name of Church . LIDGE￿ PARK m￿HoDISTCHURCH Number 27r2 Independent ExamineVs Statsment I have completed my examination. I confimi that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that disclosed belo￿} vthich give me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. the accounting records were not kept in accordan￿ with section 130 of the Act; or the accounts do not accord with the accounting records. I have no COn￿rnS and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be dravm in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. I Iwelhave nol" obtained independent verification of all investments with the Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes or held in other trusts. bank balances and funds at the Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church which are individually in excess of £10,000 (ten thousand pounds) at the balance sheet date. Signature of independent examiner Name of independent examiner AtsJTrts_w LAYCOC Relevant professional qualificalion of independent examiner Name of firm (where appropriate) Address 8Q C)LEDHOW LAW&, LEfrTr Post Code L£g Iw,T Date delete or circle as appropriate Copy of Church-receipts-and-payments-standard o¢c￿nts 5of5