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2023-12-31-accounts

ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023

Reports relating to the main themes of Worship, Community, Mission and Finance

Structure, Governance and Management of the Church

Castle Hill Baptist Church is a registered charity set up under Trust Deed and governed by the Deed and its constitution.

The principal Purpose of Castle Hill Baptist Church (the Church) is the advancement of the Christian faith according to the principles of the Baptist denomination. The Church may also advance education and carry out other charitable purposes in the United Kingdom and/or other parts of the world.

The governance of the Church is on Baptist principles and centred on the Church Members’ Meeting to which all Members of the Church are encouraged to attend. The Church Members’ Meeting usually occurs monthly, with a Special Church Members’ Meeting in November to elect new trustees to start in the new year and an Annual General Meeting in March to present the accounts and reports.

The Church Members’ Meeting is also responsible for calling the Pastor, electing the Church Secretary and Treasurer (on an annual basis) and electing deacons (for a three-year term). These offices all comprise the Trustees of the Church.

The Trustees normally meet eleven times a year. Training for Trustees is provided by the Heart of England Baptist Association and the Baptist Union.

Public Benefit

When reviewing the activities of the Church, the deacons have considered the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit and, in particular, the specific guidance to charities which are for the advancement of religion. The public benefit is fulfilled by enabling ordinary people to live out their faith as part of the Church and wider community. The Church fulfils its public benefit primarily by worship, to which any member of the public is welcome.

The Church runs a wide range of activities led by various Members of the Church. As well as public worship, the key activities comprise work with children and young people, including with local schools; running a coffee shop and outreach centre; and enabling meetings and groups for older people, particularly those now living alone. More details of our wide range of activities are set out later in this report.

Notwithstanding the appointment of persons to accept responsibility for any of the activities, all individuals, organisations, groups and committees operating within the life of the Church and their leaders shall be accountable to the Charity Trustees and also through any specific direction of the Church Members’ Meeting.

As of 31st December 2023 there were 80 Members on the Church Membership roll.

Objectives and Activities

The Deacons are committed to enabling as many people as possible to worship at our Church and to become part of the fellowship of the Church. The services and worship put faith into practice through prayer, scripture, teaching, music and sacrament.

In fulfilling the Purpose and Objectives, the Church will engage in a range of activities either on its own or with others that will vary from time to time, with activities being initiated, expanded, or closed, as appropriate.

The activities include, but are not restricted to:

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Affiliation and Relationships

The Church is a member of the Baptist Union of Great Britain (Baptists Together), the Heart of England Baptist Association (HEBA) and Churches Together in Warwick (CTW). The church is also a Fairtrade Church and in 2021 set up a ‘Fair and Green’ group following the A Rochá Eco Church guidance to help us consider our creation care responsibilities. In December this year we achieved a bronze award.

The Church will normally promote, encourage, support and enhance the work of the Baptist Union, the Association and BMS World Mission through prayer, financial contributions and, where appropriate, by making personnel available from the Membership of the Church. When it is able, the Church will also support local Baptist and ecumenical gatherings.

Achievements and Performance

Trustees/Diaconate Report (Rev’d Kevin Johnson)

On behalf of the trustees, our Pastor give thanks to God for the many ways he has blessed our church and the local community over the last year (as demonstrated in the reports below). It is so encouraging to see the many ways we are learning to be beacons of hope in Warwick and beyond, both as a gathered church and through individual stories.

As a church, one of our priorities is to enable a variety of approaches to worship each week and throughout the year which our community find both beneficial and spiritually fulfilling. This has included specific days of prayer helping those who ‘need permission’ to slow down and focus on God, house groups which appeal to those who enjoy discussion-based worship, monthly all-age worship and special services at Christmas and Easter.

As well as our regular times of worship, we also seek to help those within the community who want to mark milestones in their journey through life. We held two dedication services — giving thanks to God for these new lives and praying a blessing on their parents, we celebrated the baptism of one young person as they publicly committed to following Jesus, and we joined with four different sets of family and friends in grieving and giving thanks for the lives of their loved ones as we commended them into God’s care.

Our verse for the year was from Psalm 145 verse 4:

One generation shall commend your works to another, they shall declare your mighty acts.

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This verse has been a helpful reminder to us that we are called to share our faith and witness to what God has done for us and not just to focus on ourselves. We have particularly developed this idea by partnering with Thrive Youth Ministries to create a Manifesto for 21st Century Youth Work — securing what we already do and seeking to improve how we engage with the local community. This is a long term commitment as we trust the Lord will lead us into new ways of connecting with young people to share his love with them (the report below unpacks this more).

Pastorally, we support one another through our House and Connect Groups. Our Pastor and Pastoral Lead work together to ensure those who are not connected in this way or are unable to get out due to illness, life circumstances or being in hospital are visited and prayed with, including taking home communion to those who want it. Where a family (sometimes loosely connected with our congregation) is under particular pressure, we seek to be good news by offering support in practical ways, such as delivering meals and helping with washing.

In reaching out to the local community, our Pastor continues to support one of our local primary schools in leading assemblies, class sessions, and welcoming their Year 6s to our church building each term for three special events. In April, one of our members organised a successful fundraiser for MND, with a number of our congregation involved in a sponsored sun-rise walk. We partnered with the British Motor Museum to host one of their interest days and enjoyed hosting our Holiday At Home day event in August for those who might find it hard to get away for a holiday. In October, Warwick Words hired our building for their history festival with several of our members welcoming those attending this event, and on Remembrance Sunday our Pastor led a special service for the 7th Warwick Scout Group.

Missionally, we have continued to raise money for a number of Christian projects — both in the UK and abroad (the detail of these has been itemised in the Financial Report), including a new venture hosting a Tearfund Quiz. We have continued to fill shoeboxes with gifts for the Romani community in Romania through our partnership with the Amen Trust. Our specific link BMS missionaries have now come to the end of their term of service so we will need to explore new avenues for how we support world mission in the year to come. Some of our members continue to connect to online Baptist prayer meetings and share news with us of the challenges in places like war-torn Ukraine.

As a Leadership Team, we were delighted to welcome three new deacons — Keeva Austin, Elaine Randall and Sarah Poole, alongside the reappointment of Nick Wylie for a second three-year term, Martyn Colliver as Church Secretary and John Levick as our Treasurer. Sadly, due to increasing workloads in his employment and at church Martyn resigned from his role as Church Secretary in February. Since then, the leadership team has been considering how to make the operational side of church life more sustainable due to the increasing administration involved in today’s world. A catalyst for this was how the feedback we received following his resignation echoed a number of the thoughts of the previous Secretary. To this end, the church members have taken seriously the challenge to find a sustainable solution and are discussing potentially employing an Operations Manager. Sadly, in July, our brother and deacon Nick Wylie lost his fight with leukaemia and was promoted to glory. This all came very quickly and his amazing service to Jesus through this church is a great loss to us all. Our prayers and support continue for his wife and family.

At Easter, the members agreed to take part in the Baptist Union of Great Britain’s consultation process around a potential change to the Ministerial Recognition Rules. In September we adopted our fully revised and combined Safeguarding Policy and Procedure for Children and Adults at Risk. This was followed in October with members adopting a Complaints Procedure to ensure better transparency.

As a church we are blessed with a number of properties. Alongside the general maintenance and annual safety checks we maintain each year, a number of minor health and safety improvements have been made internally to the main building, including new nosing on some stairs and uprating some handrails. Externally, redecoration and repair work was carried out to the windows and doors at street level, including the Gateway Cafe. Quotes have been gathered to replace the rotten front windows and main door at the Manse and we anticipate this work happening in early 2024. In November we had our two induction loop systems professionally serviced and tuned.

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Since April, the members have agreed to hire our Gerrard Street Hall on a part time basis to a new venture called Warwick Family Connect. This new charity has formed to offer a hub for local families to meet and access a range of activities linked to home schooling. This agreement will be reviewed after 12 months but was appealing as it offered a home for a local community group.

Finally, we’d like to celebrate and thank all those who serve the Lord through this church, making it the welcoming, loving and generous community that it is. There is so much that happens week on week, both seen and unseen, and we are so blessed by the willingness of our members and those in our congregation to give of their time, talents and treasures so freely to enable this work to flourish. May God continue to use us for his glory as a beacon of hope in Warwick and beyond.

Membership

This year we have welcomed 7 people into membership, 5 have resigned their membership due to relocation and 1 Member has been promoted to glory.

Year Members Baptisms Notes
2023 80 1 1 dedication
2022 78 0 1 dedication
2021 77 0 Covid,significant revision of roll
2020 89 0 Covid
2019 88 2

Reports relating to WORSHIP

Sunday Worship

Whilst a variety of different acts of worship happen throughout each week, month and year, Sunday continues to be at the heart of when we gather to be fed, recharged and sent back out for the week ahead. We continue to offer a hybrid approach to worship, enabling those who are unable to get in the building with an opportunity to connect via Zoom (with recordings also uploaded later onto YouTube). Many thanks go to Mike Dray for his continued hard work in this area.

We enjoyed a selection of visiting preachers and leaders, including Rev Dr Helen Paynter (Bristol Baptist College), former member Chris McNee (Nottingham) and Andy Castle (CEO of Thrive Youth Ministries), alongside the much appreciated contributions from our own fellowship.

Of course, so much happens — both seen and unseen — to enable Sunday worship. To every person who serves as ‘part of the body’, we thank Jesus for your gifts and willingness to offer them back in service to Him.

Children’s and Youth Work

We continue to be really blessed to have so many children and young people as part of our church family. We know that regular children’s and youth ministry on a Sunday is very important to parents both in helping their children to meet with other young people who have a strong Christian home influence as well as offering them nurturing in their Christian faith.

Children’s Work

- Groundbreakers (Age 2 ½ Yr 1)

Groundbreakers meet in the downstairs room of the church hall on Sunday mornings. While the logistics and timing involved in moving between the church building and church hall during the service are not to

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be underestimated, we feel blessed to have a large indoor space as well as the garden, which we make the most of during good weather.

We mostly work from the Scripture Union Bubbles resources, and aim to provide a balance between learning from the bible, song, prayer, bible-based activities and free play. Throughout the last year we learned about Jesus’ life and work, the Easter story, Adam and Eve, Noah, Jacob, Joshua and the Christmas story.

The calendar year started with a usual attendance of around 10. 4 children moved up to XStream in September, leaving a smaller group and a fairly even split of boys and girls, which has led to a slightly more boisterous dynamic. Currently we have around 7 regular attendees. The children enjoy each other’s company and most are happy to take part in all activities.

The Groundbreakers group is blessed to have a number of leaders, in particular since some of those who have previously helped with the group have agreed to lead some sessions. This is much appreciated and allows the responsibility of planning and running sessions to be shared out. Currently we have around five people who lead and a further four who help in the group.

There are 2 regular leaders and 3 others who help to lead occasionally as well as a team of helpers.

- Xstream (Yr 2 Yr 6)

Xstream meet on Sunday mornings with 21 children registered with us in 2023. Attendance is variable with an average of 10-15 on most Sundays. Sessions based on resources produced by Energize, an online provider that allows the leader to select activities that suit the wide age range and ability, included topics such as: how we can live our Christian lives in the challenging environment of school. We also asked the children what they would like to discuss including questions they wanted to ask God. This enabled us to explore in the summer term: what was it like for Jesus to come to earth; why do we face challenging situations like SATS; when will Jesus return and what happened before the world began? Not for the faint hearted! It is so good to see these children engaging with their journey of faith and growing week by week. They readily pray for one another and enjoy spending time playing competitively and collaboratively, the older ones encouraging and supporting the younger members. In September we were thrilled to see 4 move onto AYP! and welcomed 5 children from Groundbreakers.

We are grateful to God for all those who share in this vital aspect of our church family life.

Youth Work

AYP! (Yr 7+)

AYP! meets weekly during the Sunday morning gathering. Approximately 7 young people regularly attend with a number of other young people who attend on an ad hoc basis. No two AYP! sessions are ever the same although we always start with an icebreaker game or challenge. A few highlights for the young people have been the chocolate game and the polo game. We study the Bible together, pray together and have a giggle. We have recently started to encourage our young people to journal their thoughts on particular passages, and giving out a number of journaling bibles to enable them to study the Bible in a deeper, more meaningful way.

We started 2023 with one of our young people getting baptised which was incredible. We have loved watching one of the group in particular grow in confidence and in her relationship with God. She has become a member of the Thrive Coordinating Group and the Thrive Growing Leaders Course. We are all really excited to see where God takes her next.

Over the year, other young people got involved in the wider life of the Church ranging from being involved in Sunday worship upfront or serving, whether this has been through Gateway or doing the refreshments after our normal Sunday gathering. We have also seen a number of our young people engage in community events.

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In January we took a group of young people to the Thrive Base Camp for an enjoyable weekend meeting with other young people, worshipping and studying the bible together and getting to know each other better. It was an honour to lead this event, to watch their relationship with God deepen, amazing to see them giving it their all during the worship sessions and having a go at all the activities that were provided. We are looking forward to the next base camp!

Thrive Base Event in September was hosted at St Paul’s in Warwick. It was a great way to get to know some of our newer AYP members, as they were able to relax over games, a bbq and worship.

Our thanks must go to all the leadership team of AYP! over the year; without their support it would not be possible to run AYP! on a weekly basis.

Prayer Ministry

Prayer Team

The prayer team continue to support the ministry and leadership team in this important part of our worship. Prayer undergirds all we do, including when we regularly gather on Sunday mornings, and each Thursday morning (in Church and on Zoom). We give thanks for the ministry of those who facilitate our Prayer Link email ministry, another member for her weekly devotions and for the many who pray as part of our house groups.

We have had several prayer and fasting days throughout the year, prayer walks too. At one prayer walk there were only 2 people, but instead of cancelling they decided to walk down Smith Street and go into any place where a door was open, and most people they met were very happy to be prayed for. Another prayer walk was held in the Church lounge as it was pouring with rain!

One of the most successful events was our 24 hours of prayer held during our Thy Kingdom Come initiative. This was held on a Saturday and there were various prayer stations, for both children and adults. One of the popular stations was washing the stones and placing them at the foot of the cross. For the creative amongst us there was Lego and hopscotch prayer, and a prayer postcard station, alongside some quiet spaces where you could just sit and reflect.

Prayer for the Persecuted Church

We joined with other churches around the world for the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church on 5[th] November. During an evening of prayer, we took part in an online event hosted by the Evangelical Alliance, Open Doors UK, Release International and CSW. Speakers from the different organisations shared moving stories about the courage of fellow Christians in Eritrea, Nigeria, Nicaragua and India. Hearing directly about people who are being ill treated, imprisoned or even killed for following Jesus led us to intercede with greater understanding and compassion.

Reflect and Remember

Christmas can be difficult for those who have been bereaved. This may not just be the loss of a loved one but could also relate to the loss of a significant desire that can no longer become a reality. This simple service was accompanied by a time to remember - either by lighting a candle, posting a memory, or just talking or praying with someone. The people who came appreciated the reflective time to be able to share memories and cry together.

Prayer Link

This is a group of committed prayer warriors who seek to pray promptly for requests, big or small, in confidence. Anyone can ask for prayer for themselves or others in need of prayer by writing to prayer@warwickbaptists.org.uk. Nothing is too small to ask for prayer for. Hundreds of people are prayed for each year including the families of those needing prayer. We have seen many remarkable answers to prayer. Updates are encouraged but never required to glorify God and encourage those praying.

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Many people we pray for are not yet believers so it is a valuable outreach overlapping with other outreach ministries of the church as their leaders offer prayer to their participants. Most non-Christians (and some Christians) are amazed that strangers often far away are willing to pray for them. For instance, one church member met a man at hospital whose wife had a terminal cancer diagnosis. The member asked if we could pray for them both and he gratefully accepted. We may never know the outcome but one man knows God’s love through a believer’s love for him.

Churches Together in Warwick

CTW continues to be active within the community, including hosting monthly prayer breakfasts (averaging 20 worshipers), four evangelistic concerts entitled The Big Local Night Out , and a week of prayer for Christian Unity (January).

At Easter, we held a Walk of Witness which was well attended by around 200 people in Warwick Market Place. Another 300 were estimated to have watched on Facebook.

Mark Leonard continues to faithfully serve as the CTW Secretary and rep for CHBC.

Deeper

We had the privilege of welcoming Rev Dr Helen Paynter to lead three evenings on the topic Bad, Mad and Dangerous to Read? Each talk helped us engage with three thorny issues in scripture (violence, sexual violence and domestic abuse) and to consider how we might discover God’s goodness and grace even in these ‘hard’ texts.

Feedback after the event included words like: challenging, thought-provoking, relevant, equipping, humbling. Helen really helped to bring these topics to life, offering teaching on how to read the Old Testament in context and what this means in today’s world. My thanks to the many hardworking hands behind the scenes who enabled these three nights to go so smoothly.

Thrive Manifesto Project (Thrive Coordinating Group)

Thrive Youth Ministries is a local organisation which supports churches to become more effective in reaching out to young people and discipling them in the Christian faith. CHBC set up our own ‘Thrive Manifesto Group’ in February 2023 to coordinate and develop how the wider church fellowship can build up the faith of young people already connected within our church and reach out to other young people within our community.

The group meets once a month and consists of 5-6 members of CHBC together with a mentor from Thrive Youth Ministries. We have worked through a programme written by Thrive Youth Ministries to help us explore what God’s vision is for youth work at CHBC, to be ‘fit for the 21st century’. We have presented our progress and invited contributions from the church fellowship at church services, via white board displays and feedback forms and at a recent church meeting.

In December 2023 we ran a ‘Movie Night’ in the church sanctuary for our Young People to invite their friends along as a social ‘connection point’ with the church. AYP group contributed to planning this event. The Movie Night was a big success with 17 young people attending, 10 of whom were guests of our young people.

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House Groups

We have eight house groups that regularly meet in Member’s homes on different days throughout the week, either fortnightly or monthly, mostly in the evening. Each group has one nominated person who intentionally encourages pastoral care within the group—this care is extended to family and friends, as appropriate. Our Pastor and our Pastoral Care Lead also make themselves available to offer support to those in these roles, as needed.

These groups intentionally meet to share and grow in friendship, study the Bible and consider how this applies to our daily lives. We also pray for one another and encourage each other in our walk as Christians in this world. Leaders of House Groups normally choose their own material in discussion with those who attend but as a launch to our commitment to thinking about our responsibility with creation care our Pastor provided a four week series for each group to follow.

We are so thankful to God for those who take on these important roles in the life of our fellowship, facilitating discussion and pastoral support, as we seek to root ourselves in Christ and grow up in Him.

Reports relating to COMMUNITY

Connect Groups

Connect groups are those ministries which seek to build relationships and share God’s love in a variety of practical ways. Whilst they contain little to no explicit Christian content, all those who lead them are practising Christians who are willing to share their faith, as the opportunities arise.

CAMEO

CAMEO continued to meet during 2023 on the third Tuesday of each month from 1.30pm for a couple of hours starting with refreshments and conversation with the odd quiz paper thrown in as people gathered. At 2pm the arranged speaker for the day or perhaps our own DIY activity would take over for the next hour. We have been especially thankful for the support of people from the fellowship who have encouraged friends on the fringe to be most supportive.

During the year, usually August, we arrange an event called “Holiday at Home” when we come together in the morning for coffee and games, then lunch, more activities (ten pin bowling, archery, craft work) before afternoon tea and closure.

At the end of the year, our Christmas meeting involved various sketches and Christmas carols, alongside a challenging reflection on Mary and the birth of Jesus led by a member.

When we meet, friends make a freewill donation in thanks for having such good facilities to use. Throughout this year, those present chose to support the work of the local Crossteach charity — a total of £280 was raised and is added to the money raised via our Penny Jar.

Cameo is open to all who are available on the third Tuesday of each month.

Craft club

We have continued to meet on the 2nd and 4th Friday of each month, 10am-12pm. Numbers have fluctuated each week but we do have a small loyal group of regulars. We have done a variety of different crafts including making cards, Christmas decorations, decoupage and diamond art as well as knitting

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and counted cross stitch. During the morning we pause to have a ’thought for the day’ as we aim to keep Jesus at the centre of all we do. We would love to have more people join us, everyone is welcome.

Gateway to Gaming (G2G)

G2G is a group for 11-18 year olds, held on a Saturday evening once a month in our Gateway Café. On average, it attracts 6 young people, 4 of whom don’t have any other contact with CHBC. Each session aims to offer the young people and their friends a safe place to play a wide selection of board and tabletop games (e.g., Uno and Jungle Speed), socialise, eat cake but most importantly, to just be kids again.

Due to holidays and volunteer illness, we have only managed to open 7 times this year but all were well supported. However, for us to continue being successful in 2024 we will need more helpers to come on board. Being a helper involves being around to aid setting up and making sure that everyone is having a great time. At the moment there are 2 leaders and 4 helpers.

Home from Home

Open every Monday in the church lounge, Home From Home (HfH) offers a warm safe place for anyone of any age to come and meet, to complete a jigsaw, knit, read a book, play a game or just chat together. We offer warm and cold snacks and drinks. We have a core group of 5-6 people who generally come weekly (3 of whom don’t attend on a Sunday morning) but on occasions this group is joined by others from within the fellowship and visitors to Warwick town.

Since opening in October 2022, numbers have continued to grow and we give thanks for the core group of people who attend weekly. We keep a weekly log and, looking back, this gives insight into how we have seen God at work: our visitors express gratitude for a place to come in and meet others. There’s lots of chatter before the Scrabble ladies start a game. Crumpets are a real hit! On several occasions there has been the opportunity (where appropriate) to pray with others and on 2 occasions a visitor has received bad news whilst with us and we have been able to support them. This year we’ve also welcomed visits from the British Motor Museum, CHBC Craft Club to do card making, and the Snitterfield handbells.

We plan to continue in the current form and give thanks for the WRCC grant that has not just blessed us, but any Connect Group within the church.

Meet ‘n’ Eat

This group was set up almost seven years ago as an outreach project offering affordable hearty meals to local residents who possibly live alone and to give them the opportunity to socialise. Over the years, the numbers have grown considerably and we’ve been encouraged by the friendships that have developed.

We now meet every week on a Friday, and alongside our 5 regular volunteers, the number of guests has averaged between 20 and 25 this year. Of those, probably 14 or 15 don’t come to Church on a Sunday, but several have now started attending other activities, travelling from beyond Warwick!

Baby Basics

Baby Basics Warwick is a CHBC Project partnering with Baby Basics UK. 2023 has been busy both in terms of referrals and receiving donations. A total of 204 referrals have been distributed including items such as Moses baskets/Bath starter packs, clothing packs for ages 0-5 years, pushchairs, cots, feeding

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bottles, sterilisers, play gyms and bouncy chairs. The number of referrals has significantly increased — over double compared with last year — thought to be due to the Cost-of-Living crisis, together with BB becoming more known to the referrers by word of mouth and our social media presence. God has been amazing in enabling us to meet the needs of some of the most needy in our local community.

Donations

The number and quality of donations (including beautifully knitted items) have been truly amazing, from both the CHBC family and our local community (gathered through our website and Facebook and Instagram pages). Gateway donation days have continued to be very successful and it’s a great opportunity to be in a church space and take time to listen to the donor's stories. Our thanks go to David Ho and his team for their assistance.

We have been back to both Tesco and Asda every 4-6 weeks collecting donations, as well as telling people about BB and our partnership with Castle Hill Baptist Church. We also continue to receive support from Morrisons via their Grab Bags project and local companies such as Lillets and Little Green Sheep.

This year has also seen a significant success in being awarded grants, with £15,947.40 received predominantly via Warwickshire County Council and the King Henry VIII Foundation (see accounts below). We give thanks to God for this, as this money makes a substantial difference to the time and effort necessary in sourcing and processing consumables and goods.

Stories of encouragement

God has been good to the project providing what we’ve needed on a ‘just in time’ basis. This has enabled us to meet nearly every need we’ve faced. For example, an emergency referral for a lady escaping domestic abuse came in, she had nothing for her baby and we didn’t have some of the items requested in stock. We posted an appeal to social media and the response was amazing (reaching 5,000 people due to sharing)! Within 3 hours we had been offered all the items needed.

Progress to date

We have continued to receive requests on a weekly basis. Over 30 separate agencies now refer to us. These include many Health Professionals such as Community and Maternity Ward Midwife teams, Social Workers, Health Visitors, Family Nurse Practitioners, Associated Health Professionals at WCC Care Leavers, Early Help and Peri Mental Health Teams, together with referrals from other Churches and Charities.

We give thanks for our core team of volunteers who continue to meet twice a week to process requests, spend many hours sorting donations, preparing the requested items, and giving of their spare time to enable this project.

We are also thankful for how our partnership blesses us with such wonderful storage and parking. This is the equivalent of circa £20,000 / year of “in kind benefits”, with the additional provision of both Gerard Street office and particularly the old creché room.

Future initiatives

Looking forward, we intend to work with Warwickshire County Council to build a partnership to support those in care and care leavers who are having babies, as well as review how we might improve the resilience of the team through additional administration/operational support.

Gateway Café

Gateway is open to the public on Saturdays between 9.30am and 3.30pm. We serve hot drinks and light meals and have customers just visiting Warwick and many regulars who live locally (about 60 – 80 customers in a day). We are staffed by 8 adult volunteers and 4 young persons under 18 who are

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connected with the Church. The young persons are paid a nominal rate and work in shifts according to the Warwick District Councils’ guidelines and approvals.

We aim to be a beacon of hope for the Lord, for all to see. It is clear on the menus and wall decals that we are a Church café. We also have a discreet prayer box and someone on hand if private prayers are requested. In fact some of our adult volunteers’ main role is to speak with customers (not to preach), to offer a listening ear and stimulate conversations, however is appropriate. We welcome single persons and families alike and many have become regulars to the café.

For example, a single man has a weekly routine of coming for a small breakfast and a piece of cake; he even brings his son if he is in town and not working abroad. We also have a group of local hospital workers who meet up once a month with their young families. We get to know them by name and we catch up on what’s been happening.

We have a good time chatting with all the customers — new or regular — and, whatever their circumstances, we make sure we speak to everyone visiting the café. This is a joy to our volunteers and apparently also to our customers.

We offer our menu at deliberately lower than commercially viable prices, not to be competitive, but to allow more people to be able to use our café. We also offer free meals and drinks for those in need and we are known in the local less-than-privileged communities for doing so.

For our Church members, we offer a space for ministry in the public sphere. We provide a safe and loving space for young people to have work experience that is positive and encouraging. All of our young people gain confidence and many go on to work in the commercial world.

We rely entirely on volunteers to run and manage the café and without them we cannot open. This means that there had been days we could not open the café. In the coming year 2024, there may need to be changes to the opening days and times.

Green and Fair Group

The group consists of eight people who meet on-line, approximately bimonthly, to encourage individual and collective responses to the need to care for our environment, to practically respond to the climate crisis and to help us, when shopping, to be aware of unfair and unethical trade practices, especially when goods come from other parts of the world. New people are very welcome to join us.

Last year we participated in the Great Big Green week, we encouraged the church to support agricultural overseas mission, and we regularly offered the congregation ‘Green Tips,’ initially in the weekly notices and more recently in the monthly news sheet. We marked ‘Fairtrade Fortnight’ with a Fairtrade shopping hunt, and a letter to local supermarkets that was later offered to other churches for their use. We produced a summer photograph display about the beauty of nature and have encouraged prayer about environmental concerns. Also, our newest team-member, Carolyn, has produced some stunning displays in the church windows reflecting environmental issues.

Last year we had a consultation with one of the Church of England’s diocesan advisors on environmental issues. Recently, we finally achieved the Bronze Eco-Church Award from the international environmental network called ‘A Rocha.’

The Big Help Out

Inspired by King Charles’ challenge to get involved in community action the deacons felt this was a good opportunity to engage our church family in the task of preparing the Gerrard Street premises for use by the Home School hub. Why not, what else is there to do on a wet bank holiday in May!! 46 adults and children aged between 4 and 90, armed with cloths, brooms, buckets, pressure hose, garden forks and cleaning products tackled the challenging task of removing several layers of dust, dirt, and grease inside;

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while outside there were weeds and moss in abundance to contend with. Efforts were rewarded by the sight of the amazing transformation and a delicious barbecue meal shared by all. Food and fun along with the satisfaction that we had saved ourselves the cost of a huge cleaning and gardening bill while growing our church family’s appreciation of one another made the whole experience a tremendous privilege. Thank you to all who helped.

Reports relating to MISSION

Alongside those mission reports below, the church has missional partnerships with the local Christians Against Poverty (CAP) centre, a local Christian charity called New Hope Christian Counselling, and Thrive Youth Ministry. We also raised money for Christian Aid by hosting a Big Brekkie in our Gateway Café, and continue to support the work of Warwick District Foodbank.

As our membership continues to change, we recognise the need to regularly review those we support— practically, prayerfully and financially, to ensure the whole church is aware and able to get involved in supporting these missional partnerships.

Amen Trust Shoeboxes

This year we collected 59 shoe boxes which made their way to Romania. A small group of volunteers from this country went out to Romania to help the local church to distribute the boxes and to share the story of Christmas and to let the families know how much God loves them. The boxes were very well received by all who received them. We do hope that many of you will be able to join us again this year in supporting this ministry.

BMS World Mission

The Church’s involvement with BMS World Mission has continued to focus on 2 main areas:

Sharing in prayer has been a privilege and CHBC has been able to support the work of BMS World Mission through the regular prayers of individuals as well as corporate gathered prayer. Prayer letters from our link missionaries have informed us of the difficulties they faced in teaching online throughout the pandemic and beyond and to gain some insight into the challenges they faced.

In the autumn of this year, we learned that our link missionaries, having explored an opportunity to relocate to Chad, discovered that this would no longer be viable and so their overseas service through BMS had come to an end. We rejoiced in what we had learned from them and for the privilege of having been able to partner with them in sharing the gospel. We look forward to new opportunities to partner and recognise that this will look somewhat different in the future.

Giving to BMS has once again been strong this year, not only through the annual budget but also through the special Advent appeal for the BMS Harvest Appeal, Days of Plenty supporting farmers in Uganda. We have a generous God and we rejoice that we can share with those in need far from Warwick.

At the start of 2023 we ceased collecting stamps as a way of fundraising for BMS as they had ceased this ministry.

12

BMS Birthday Scheme

Thank you to all of you who have given to the medical work of BMS world mission through the Birthday Scheme. The gifts that are given in celebration of your birthday really do make a difference.

Penny Jar

An “Old Sweet Jar” has occupied the table in the foyer for the last twenty years and each year the donations given support a chosen charity. In 2023 it was to support the work of Crossteach whose services and ministry the Church has used at Christmas and Easter time to connect with a local school.

Thank you to all who have supported this ministry. By your donations, and in spite of the lack of coins in circulation, the amount donated was £130.

Schools’ work

Alongside our partnership with Crossteach (see below), Kevin has continued to visit Coten End Primary School to support their education of children in their understanding of the christian faith. This has been done by leading a harvest assembly, using music in another assembly to teach Year 1 the basics of what Christians believe, and by having a lot of fun making Christingles!

In April, Kevin also supported All Saints Junior School by leading a class lesson on The Role of a Minister whilst the normal link minister was on sabbatical. It is always a privilege to be able to support the local schools and talk with the staff whilst visiting, offering simple pastoral support as is appropriate.

CrossTeach

Crossteach is an educational charity which has been teaching about the Christian faith in schools since 2001. CHBC partners with them each term to host various interactive ‘Experiences’ within our buildings, using our own volunteers, to teach about significant Christian festivals. This year, we hosted an Easter event exploring ‘Who killed this man?’, and a Transition event helping explore the challenge of change as Y6 prepared to move into Y7.

We have continued to pray for their work, particularly with the challenge they faced around recruitment. We financially support this charity each time we partner with them (see report below), and there have always been willing helpers to serve for any of the Experience events held at our Church.

Scouts’ Remembrance Service

7th Warwick Scout Group Remembrance Day Gathering on Sunday 12th November 2023.This was the first of hopefully, an annual visit by our Scout Group.

Over 100 young people and leaders attended an informative and interactive gathering led by Kevin Johnson, before the normal morning worship gathering. Each section presented and collected their flags at church before going to Gerrard Street Hall for Breakfast laid on by The Gateway Team. Following this, they joined the Parade through the town, with other uniformed organisations and service people, to include the 2 minute silence at the War Memorial and laying of wreaths.

Most of those who attended are not church-goers, but it opened conversations for the young people and leaders alike. Comments included, “It was very friendly and welcoming.”

13

The youngest children attending were nearly 6 years old, and the Group included Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Adult Leaders. There was something for everyone, and it was seen as a very positive event. It is hoped that this will establish further links with our Scout Group, following on from previous guided tours of the church for the Beaver Age Group.

Window Display

Our big window displays are placed over the front door of the main entrance to the church. This big window overlooks one of the main thoroughfares into Warwick with a large number of people passing on the footpaths or driving past. It is a prime position to display a strong meaningful Christian message to encourage people in their daily lives and to remind them of God’s daily love and care for them.

There have been six displays this year; Day and Night, FairTrade, Easter, Creation (Green and Fair Group), Harvest and Christmas (Nativity\Light). Many people of all ages have been involved by contributing pieces of art work made at home using paint, collage, printing, on-line graphics etc.

One really special activity this year was a Saturday workshop in November when about 20 Church people (younger and older!) met to design and paint large images of candles for the Christmas display. Comments included: “I haven’t painted since I was a child and that was such fun”, “I really enjoyed that!”, “We must do this again”.

It was encouraging when a hairdresser (who is known to a member but is not part of CHBC) said her little boy always points out the display to her when they stop at the traffic lights and reads the words to her. A doctor tells she always looks for the display when she passes by and many other people have said how lovely the artwork is.

This is a very eco-friendly project as most of the art work uses recycled paper and card (cereal boxes etc) and contributors provide their own materials. Very little funding is needed from CHBC.

Thank you to the large number of people who again have provided artwork over the year. Many people have re-discovered long forgotten talents and everyone says how much they enjoy contributing. We look forward to another year of being creative and providing vibrant displays to demonstrate to passers-by that CHBC is a beacon of hope in Warwick and beyond.

14

Community Outreach Events

Light Party

Castle Hill Baptist Church holds an annual Light Party to provide families from the congregation and wider community with an alternative to Hallowe’en. This is aimed at families with primary aged and younger children, although older children are welcome.

On 31st October 2023, 25 families joined us in the church hall, beautifully decked out in fairy lights, for craft activities, games, music, a short talk about Jesus Light of the World, delicious food and home-made cakes. There was a real feeling of joy, and families were clearly happy to be with us. Guests were sent home with their completed crafts, party bags, leaflet about Jesus, invitation to our Christmas events and reflective pendant to remind them of their experience.

41 children and around 30 adults joined us, of which we believe around 11 families may not be regular churchgoers. The event was advertised through the CHBC Events mailing list, local primary school newsletters, the church website, Facebook page and word of mouth.

We are immensely grateful to the 36 members of the congregation who were involved in preparing for and running the event, including several of our young people.

Stir Up Sunday

Our community Christmas pudding making was once again possible this year due to the fantastic team of volunteers who assisted with the many aspects of the event. Preparing craft materials, welcoming visitors, serving refreshments, providing wonderful seasonal music and helping with ingredients to make the puddings and complete craft projects, all made this festive occasion run smoothly and bring joy to those involved. Visitors who joined us, some for the first time, others who are now regular participants all comment on the friendly welcoming atmosphere and how this marks the start of the Christmas celebrations for their families.

As part of this event, we were pleased to be able to raise significant funds for BMS’ Harvest Appeal, Days of Plenty, supporting farmers in Uganda, and a local charity called Flourish which helps teenage girls and their families with well-being.

Treasurer’s Report & End of Year Accounts

In 2023 our total receipts were £164,041 (2022: £157,368) and our payments £138,895 (2022: £179,106) resulting in our overall funds increasing by £25,146 before gains on fixed assets and changes to the pension fund liability. These figures include receipts and payments for Baby Basics, Gateway and Noah’s Ark Christian Pre-School (NACPS) (for part of 2022 only). The main reasons for the increase in income were higher grants received in 2023, particularly for Baby Basics, increased rents and letting income and higher donations, more than offsetting the loss of receipts from NACPS reflecting its closure from July 2022. Reduced expenditure was mainly due to costs no longer being incurred following the closure of NACPS and the one-off purchase of new chairs in 2022. General Fund receipts were £119,545 (2022: £108,884) and payments were £108,034 (2022: £103,178) before transfers. In addition, there were net transfers out of the General Fund of -£7,805 (2021: £4,000) with £10,000 of the surplus for the year being transferred to the Building Reserve reflecting expected expenditure on the buildings needed in the future, offset receipts from Gateway towards running costs.

15

We can give thanks to the Lord for His financial provision over the year. 2023 has again been challenging with the increase in inflation, particularly gas and electric costs, following the impact of Covid-19 and the impact of the war in Ukraine. There has been an increase in giving from the fellowship as people have responded to the financial needs. Fixed term gas and electric contracts are in place which protected the church from the highest costs. There was a net surplus of £3,717 on the General Fund after the transfer of £10,000 to the Building Reserve’ before the change in outstanding pension liability. With the Defined Benefit Pension Fund now in surplus and moving to buy-out and wind-up there was a small reduction of £12 in the outstanding liability which currently runs to June 2026.

Designated Funds (excluding the Manse fixed asset) increased by £3,837 before the transfer of £10,000 from the General Fund relating to the Building Reserve. The increase arose primarily from Gateway where both the Friday lunches and Saturday café saw higher volumes.

Restricted Funds (excluding the church buildings fixed assets) increased by £23,385 due to grants received for both Community Activities, (including Home from Home, our Warm Space) and Baby Basic.

Baby Basics had a surplus for the year of £4,925 reflecting grants received which are available for spending into 2024.

Receipts of £8,272 (2022: £8,902) were given through the Appeals Fund which was all for Wider Mission work. The total giving (grants) to external mission organisations was £28,413 comprising

16

Local Mission Local Centre Pathershi nnual Sub￿lp￿0 General Fu General Fun £5,50 £85 £21X) £142 £750 £660 £1,2 ChurthesTogether in Warv Crosstea Helping Hand Mylon Hospi New Ho General Fun In MerTh) ent N>peal 20 General Suppo General SupF Appeal F Appeal F General FLU) General F Nation81 Mission Baptist Home Mis Bristol Baptist Colle Faming in the Comrrnn. General GÈ4ryn General Fun Generdl Fun Appeal Fun £5,6 £2,00 £1,00 Annual Overseas Mission BMS Worfd Missi General (￿in Christsan Aid Week and Earlhquak Child Suppo Big Qu Deeper donatic General Fun £5.60 £2.83 Christian Appeals Fu Compass Tear Fu rff General Fu )peals Fu

peals Fu £4 £4 Ponslon Uablllty The Defined Benefft (DB) Stheme of the Bapts'st Pension S￿￿rne of th8 churth is dassed as an employer has been in deficit over many years resulling in the thurch having to make de￿￿t o)ntributions. In 2022 the Scheme came ￿ to surplus ￿ a tethnical provisions basis. As a resull the deftit Contributions were reduced to a nominal £1 per rTh)nth. The PensTh S(eme intends to arrange buy out of the DB stherr in 2024 but until that time Ihere is a risk that a small shortfall couk1 re￿r hence maintaining the contributions. Reserves Pollcy To cover three month's essential e￿end11Ure needed for an orderty run dovm. £19,023 i8 required. Free resefves at the end of 2023 were £76.753. The Trustees La)nswJer the ￿serve position is acLeptable given that a deficit budget has tr￿en sel for 2024 refle(aing the need to appoint an additional member of staff to cope wth an inueasing volume of vK)rk. Si￿1 on belwlfofthe 17

REPORT OF TRUSTEES

Reference and Administrative Information

Registered Charity Number Registered Charity Office

1129504

Castle Hill Baptist Church, Castle Hill, Warwick, CV34 4EX

Names of Trustees

Minister Rev K Johnson Church Secretary Mr M Colliver (to February 2023) Treasurer Mr J D Levick Deacons Mrs K Austin Mrs K Hewitt Mr D T W Ho Mr R Molloy Mrs S Poole Mrs E Randall Mr C Williams Mr N Wylie (until August 2023)

Legal Adviser Shakespeare Martineau, 1 Colmore Square, Birmingham, B4 6AA

Independent Examiner

Bankers HSBC, The Parade, Leamington Spa Barclays Bank PLC, The Parade, Leamington Spa Custodian Trustees Heart of England Baptist Association 480 Chester Road Sutton Coldfield West Midlands B73 5BP

18

Independent examiner's report on the accounts

Section A

Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees/ members of[Castle Hill Baptist Church ]

On accounts for the year 31 December 2023 Charity no 1129504 ended (if any) Set out on pages 21 to 28 (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31 / 12 / 2023 .

Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

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 the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have examiner's statement come to my attention (other than that disclosed below *) 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 order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed: KB Simango Date: 06/10/2024 Name: Blessing Simango (FCCA) Relevant professional Association of Chartered Accountants qualification(s) or body (if any): Address: 12 Field Close Warwick CV34 4QD

19

Section B

Disclosure

Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).

Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .

N/A

20

Castle Hill Baptist Church

Analysis of receipts and payments Selected period:

01 January 2023 to 31 December 2023

Receipts and Payments Account

General
Designated
Restricted
Total
Prior year
Note
funds
funds
funds
funds
total funds		 General
Designated
Restricted
Total
Prior year
Note
funds
funds
funds
funds
total funds
Receipts
Donations and legacies
2
Income from charitable activities
3
Other trading activities
4
Investments
5
Other income
6
Total receipts
Payments
Raising funds
7
Expenditure on charitable activities
8 to
15
Total payments
Surplus for the year
Transfers
Gross transfers between funds - in
16
Gross transfers between funds - out
16
Net Transfers
Net movement in funds after transfers
Total funds brought forward
Surplus/(Loss) on fixed assets
Change in Pension Fund liability
Total funds carried forward
Represented by
Unrestricted
General fund
Designated
Buildings Renewal Fund
Fixed Assets - Manse
Gateway Cafe Trading Fund
Legacy Funds
Restricted
Agency collection
Appeals Fund
Baby Basics
Community Activity
Fixed Assets - Buildings		 95,585
1,079
8,905
105,569
102,034
0
0
277
277
22,779
4,131
14,092
0
18,223
11,873
19,482
129
0
19.711
16,237
347
747
19,258
20,362
4,704
119.545
16,047
28,450
164,042
157,627
1,294
8,000
0
9,294
8,303
106,740
2,210
20,651
129,601
171,675
108,034
10,210
20,651
138,895
179,978
11,511
5,837
7,799
25,147
(22,351)
2,195
10,000
0
12,194
16,763
(10,000)
(2,000)
(195)
(12,194)
(16,763)
(7,805)
8,000
(195)
0
0
3,706
13,837
7,604
25,147
328,182
30,866
312,146
3,130,974
3,473,986
3,145,804
0
54,456
315,782
370,238
330,166
12
0
0
12
20,366
34,584
380,439
3,454,360
3,869,383
3,473,986
34,584
0
0
34,584
30,886
0
25,264
0
25,264
16,053
0
335,150
0
335,150
280,694
0
18,303
0
18,303
14,756
0
1,722
0
1,722
644
0
0
85
85
85
0
0
3,822
3,822
3,086
0
0
6,258
6,258
1,333
0
0
2,442
2,442
500
0
0
3,441,753
3,441,753
3,125,971

21

ststomont of Funds ¥ at 31 D•combw 2023 No¢os Cash 8 17 18 2,294 576 92,870 67.448 576 68.024 Total Curr•nta••ets Lknbilities C￿￿￿orS ¢JJe vthhwi 1 Cre(btors t1ue over 12 18 18 312 312 Fixed Assets Tangiile F￿a￿S88￿ 19 3,77T.093 3,￿6,855 Tolal Net Awts 3 473 986 Excess I IdefKitl to st8rts.ng bakin Change in Pension L*b Other ￿￿YjI￿5se$) Gains and lossas 25.147 11,9831 3.473.￿ 3,145,804 12 370,239 330,166 3.869.383 3.473,986 R•Pr•￿n￿ byfur#ts Unrestr￿ed Desonaled RestrKl•d Totsi 380,440 312,146 3130974 21 3 869.383 22

Castle Hill Baptist Church

Analysis of receipts and payments Selected period:

01 January 2023 to 31 December 2023

Notes to the Accounts 1. Accounting Policies

a) These accounts have been prepared on a ‘receipts and payments’ basis and in accordance with Section 133 Charities Act 2011.

b) The Church and Hall at Gerrard Street and the Manse at Norton Drive are shown at the latest insurance value.

c) Funds. Income received for specific purposes is considered to be restricted and may only be applied to those purposes. Income which may be applied to any of the charity's objectives is treated as unrestricted. The Noah's Ark Christian Pre-School funds are treated as restricted as virtually all the income is purely to cover the activities of the pre- school and cannot be used for other purposes. Similarly Baby Basics is treated as restricted as most donations are given specifically for that work.

d) Tax recovered reflects funds claimed under the Gift Aid scheme. This includes tax reclaimed under the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS) for cash gifts under £20 per individual.

e) The pension liability reflects the deficit contributions payable until June 2026 in accordance with the Pension Fund valuation of 2019. The current rate is £1 per month.

RECEIPTS

RECEIPTS
Total
Unrestricted Designated Restricted 2023 2022
2.
Donations and legacies
Regular Giving 79,580 0 434 80,514 72,783
One off gifts and legacies 1,801 1,079 7,711 10,591 13,575
Tax recovered 14,204 0 760 14,964 15,676
Total
95,585		 1,079 8,905 105,569 102,034
3.
Income from charitable activities
Fundraising 0 0 277 277 1,356
Fellowship Meals 0 0 0 0 137
NACPS Nursery Education Fees and 0 0 0 0 21,286
Funding
Total
0		 0 277 277 22,779
4.
Other trading activities
Gateway Takings 0 14,092 0 14,050 11,152
Hire of Premises 4,131 0 0 4,131 720
Total 4,131 14,092 0 18,181 11,872
5.
Investments
Bank Interest 1.582 129 0 1,711 1,081
Rents from property 17,900 0 0 17,900 15,156
Total
19,482		 129 0 19,611 16,237

23

6. Other income

6.
**Other income **
Grants
Stripe Commission
Miscellaneous Income
Gateway travel
Income to offset costs
Total		 0
0
19,147
19,147
500
62
0
120
182
63
0
350
0
350
3,996
0
253
0
253
145
285
145
0
430
0
347
748
19,267
30,362
4,704
INCOME TOTAL 118,486
16,006
28,449
162,941
157,627

PAYMENTS

AYMENTS
7.
Raising funds - Fund Raising		 costs
Flat Management Fees 1,044 0 0 1,044 1,044
Flat maintenance 250 0 0 250 100
Gateway consumables 0 6,099 0 6,099 5,432
Gateway Staff 0 ,1,803 0 1,803 1,149
Gateway travel 0 98 0 98 578
Total 1,294 8,000 0 9,294 8,304
Expenditure on charitable activities
8.
Ministry
Stipend & Associated costs 35,643 0 0 35,643 31,595
Pension Deficit Contribution 12 0 0 12 2,535
Other Ministry Costs 3,637 0 0 3,637 4,452
Music 16 0 0 16 6
Manse Costs 3,235 0 0 3,235 3,216
Total 42,544 0 0 42,544 41,794
9.
Own Mission
Benevolent Grants 103 0 0 103 521
Noah's Ark 0 0 0 0 43,192
Children & Young People 912 0 0 912 973
Other Activities 221 0 0 221 128
Total 1,237 0 0 1,237 44,815
10.
Wider Mission
Churches Together in Warwick 85 0 0 85 75
New Hope 660 0 0 660 660
Christians Against Poverty 5,499 0 0 5,499 5,499
Thrive 1,200 0 0 1,200 600
Warwick Foodbank 0 0 0 0 1,245
Various Mission Local 200 0 892 1,092 1,211
Home Mission Fund 5,600 0 0 5,600 5,379
Various Mission National 2,000 0 1,000 3,000 2,000
BMS World Mission 5,600 0 0 5,600 6,490
Christian Aid 0 0 2,830 2,830 2,248
Tear Fund 0 0 439 439 1,000
Various Mission Worldwide 348 0 2,060 2,408 2,989
Total 21,192 0 7,221 28,413 29,396
11.
Support Costs
Safeguarding 540 0 0 540 235
Subscriptions 1,146 0 300 1,446 1,349
Hospitality, Refreshments & Trips 153 495 582 1,230 241
Supplies 149 0 11,619 11,768 330
Miscellaneous 0 0 0 0 1,040
Insurance - Church 3,028 0 0 3,028 2,622
Equipment 94 138 521 753 14,775
Payment Fees 163 124 120 407 219
Total 5,273 757 13,142 19,173 20,813

- Expenditure on charitable activities

24

12. Governance

12.
Governance
Legal Fees 600
0		 0 600 0
Professional Fees 0
0		 0 0 415
Independent Examination Fee 200
0		 0 200 0
Total 800
0		 0 800 415
13.
Maintenance & Repairs
Church Maintenance 1,662
0		 0 1,662 1,475
Hall Maintenance 3,234
0		 0 3,234 0
Manse Maintenance 2,531
789		 0 3,320 2,669
Gateway & Smith St Maintenance 966
450		 0 1,416 400
Total 8,393
1,239		 0 9,632 4,544
14.
Premises Running Costs
Computing & Sound 624
0		 10 634 1,462
Electricity & Gas - Church 6,531
0		 0 6,531 8,172
Electricity & Gas - Hall 2,091
0		 0 2,091 2,632
Water 1,344
0		 0 1,344 1,103
Fire & Security 277
0		 0 277 2,774
Heating Service 867
0		 0 867 204
Cleaning 2,959
0		 0 2,959 5,076
Healthcare & Waste 2,873
0		 0 2,873 2,979
Council Tax - The Gateway 0
215		 0 215 364
Total 17,566
215		 10 17,791 24,766
15.
Administration
Printing and Stationary 755
0		 69 824 1,290
Telephone Internet & Postage 4,237
0		 0 4,237 2,676
Secretarial 4,648
0		 0 4,648 1,113
Bookkeeping 94
0		 208 302 0
Total 9,734
0		 277 10,011 5,079
otal Charitable Activities
108,022
10,211		 20,651 138,883
159,611
16. Transfers
s transfers between funds - in 2,195 10,000 0 12,194 16,763
s transfers between funds - (10,000) (2,000) (195)
(12,194)		 (16,763)
Transfers 7,805 8,000 (195) 0 0

Total Charitable Activities

17, Cash & Bank

Cash and bank 2023 2022
HSBC Current - 52,950 43,402
HSBC Current - (30,000) (30,000)
HSBC Deposit Account - 36,282 30,758
HEBA Deposit Account - 6,811 6,616
HEBA Thomas Hurd Income Account 3,235 2,370
Barclays Current Baby Basics - 6,089 0
Barclays Gateway - 1,781 1,361
Barclays Gateway Reserve - 14,370 12,241
Coventry BS NACPS - 0 0
Cash Gateway - 97 324
Cash - 213 0
Stripe - 410 371
SumUp - 11 0
Total 92,294 67,447

25

Current assets and liabilities

18

19

Current assets - Debtors
Deposit Protection Scheme re Smith St Flat
Totals
Liabilities - Creditors: Amounts falling due
after more than one year
Pension Liability within 1 year -
Pension Liability over 12 months -
Smith Street Tenant deposit
Heart of England Baptist Assoc Loan -
Totals		 2023
2022
576
57
576
576
12
12
18
30
576
576
550
85
1,156
1,468

Assets held for Church Use

Fixed assets
2023
Church Building -
2,159,651
Gerrard Street Hall and Flat -
1,282,292
Manse 11 Norton Drive -
335,150
Totals
3,777,093		 2022
1,961,513
1,164,648
280,694
3,406,855

20 Unrestricted Funds

Unrestricted Funds
Balance Balance
1/1 2023 **Receipts ** **Payments ** Transfers Gains/losses 31 /12/2023
General - General fund
Unrestricted 30,908 119,545 (108,034) (7,805) 0 34.614
Pension Fund deficit (42) 12 0 0 0 (30)
Total for General 30,866 119,557 (108,034) (7,805) 0 34.584
Designated Funds
Gateway Cafe 14,756 14,969 (9,421) (2,000) 0 18,304
Buildings Renewal 16,052 0 (789) 10,000 0 25,263
Legacy Funds 643 1,079 0 0 0 1,722
Total Designated cash funds 31,451 16.048 (10,210) 8,000 0 45,289
Manse 280,694 0 0 0 54,456 335,150

26

21 Restricted Funds Balance Receipts Payments Transfers Gains/ Balance 1/1/2023 Losses 31/12/2023

Appeals Fund
Baby Basics
Community/Home from Home		 3,085
8,272
(7,341)
(194)
0
3,823
1,332
16,976
(12,051)
0
0
6,258
500
3,200
(1,258)
0
0
2,441
Agency
Total restricted cash funds
Church & Hall Properties
Sub-total for Buildings
Grand total		 85
0
0
0
0
85
5.002
28,448
(20,650)
(194)
0
12,606
3,125,971
0
0
0
315,782
3,441,753
3,125,971
0
0
0
315,782
3,441,753
3,130,973
28,448
(20,650)
(194)
315.782
3,454359

Appeals Fund Baby Basics

Funds raised for specific purposes almost entirely for Wider Mission Receipts and Payments relating to Baby Basics providing a service to new mothers in need

Community/Home from Home Grant funding and related payments for local community action Agency Includes legacies with restrictions on the use of funds

22. Gateway Cafe

Receipts

Saturday Takings
Friday Lunches
Gateway Other Takings
Total trading activities
Bank Interest
Other income
Miscellaneous Income
Gateway travel
Total receipts
Payments
Gateway Consumables
Food Supplies
Coffee Supplies
Gateway Non-Food Consumables
Gateway travel
Gateway Staff
Staff Costs
Support Costs
Trips
Equipment		 2023
2022
9,668.20
6,800.68
4,019.80
3,962.00
404.47
116.16
14,092.47
10,878.84
129.00
12.52
350.00
0
397.75
145.00
14,969.22
11,036.36
5,340.77
4,816.50
373.00
550.00
385.36
65.99
98.55
578.40
6,197.68
6,010.89
1,802.19
1,149.24
1
495.00
—
137.97
1,919.23
632.97
1,919.23

27

Finance
SumUp Fees
Professional Fees
Maintenance & Repairs
Premises Running Costs
Council Tax - The Gateway
Administration
Printing and Copying
Total payments
Excess of receipts over payments
Brought forward balance
Transfers to/(from)
Total carried forward balance
23
Baby Basics
Receipts
Donations
Donations
Gift Aided
Tax recovered
Non Gift Aided
Total Donations
Fundraising
Grants
Stripe Commission
Total receipts
Payments
Subscriptions
Supplies
Equipment
Computing & Sound
Bookkeeping
Total payments
Excess of receipts over payments
Brought forward balance
Total carried forward balance		 124.44
76.85
2023
2022
0
28.80
449.64
390.00
3
215.03
363.76
0
48.00
9,421.95
9,986.77
5,547.27
1,049.59
14,756.22
14,706.63
(2,000.00)
(1,000.00)
18,303.49
14,756.22
2023
2022
0
1,310.00
16.18
551.81
990.01
581.29
1,006.19
2,443.10
14.70
0
15,947.40
0
8.15
15.02
16,976.44
2,458.12
300.00
300.00
11,532.61
0
0
2,450.28
9.59
48.79
208.80
—
208.80
—
12,051.00
2,799.07
4,925.44
(340.95)
1,332.69
1,673.64
~~6,258.13~~
~~1,332.69~~

28