BRAMHALL METHODIST CHURCH FINANCIAL REPORT YEAR ENDED 31"AUGUST 2024 BRAMHALL METHODIST CHURCH FINANCIAL REPORT and ACCOUNTS YEAR ENDED 31st AUGUST 2024 INDEX Page 1 Truslee5 Roport 2 Independent Examlner's Report 3 Summary SOFA and Incorn& and Expendllure Account 10 4 Incomè Account 14 5 Expendilure Account 15 6 Balan￿ Sheet 16 Ish Flow statement 17 8 Ac(x)unting ￿lI￿cleS 18 9 Notes lo the Accounts 20 10 Thrift and Coffee Shop Accounts 22 11 Pre-school Accounts 23 Bramhall Methodist Church Trustee5 Report Achlevements and Performance Bramhall Methodist Church is a welcoming church of around 250 members that reaches out to the Bramhall Village Community with a wide range of opportunities to nurture faith and to share fellowship. It is a registered charity, part of the The Methodist Church in Britain, one of ten churches that make up the Bramhall and Wythenshawe Methodist Circuit, and a member of the eight-strong Inter- denominatlonal Churches Together in Bramhall and Woodford network that promotes unity among Chrlstian Churches. The church is also connected to the Messy Church movement that fosters informal, famlly-friendly worship for those who might shy away from more traditional church services. The numerou5 charitable and socially responslble causes it embraces Include: Christian Aid- that fights to bring an end to poverty around the world. Fair Trade- whlch aims to secure better prices, decent working condition5 and fairer terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world; Actlon for Children- a charity actively supported by the Methodist Church that strives to make life better for the UK'S most vulnerable children and young people. Eco-church: A Rocha UK'S award scheme for Churches-we hold the silver award, recognising the importance we place on caring for God's world. We seek to be a people who love God each other and the World. We alm to be a church that Ilves out the love of Jesus, where everyone can., belong and feel at home; discover and grow In faith. receive support for daily life; contribute and get involved in church life. We assess our performance under 4 domains (as set out in the Income and Expendlture account),. Worship Prayer and Christianity Explored; Children and Young people; Fellowship and Supporting Life's Journey and World Neighbourhood and Community. The annual report whlch is filed with these Financial statements sets out in detall the activities of the Church and we set out in this report the key highlights. The Church has a large suite of buildings, the Church itself, the Church Centre and the Centrepoint building and is located in the Centre of the Village of Bramhall. Our aim is to be a community hub: key activltles are regular worship; service to the Community through the running of a Pre-school lin the Church centrel and a Coffee shop and Thrift shop (in the Centrepoint building};and hiring out our facilitles for community activities. Worship Prayer and Christionlty explored We currently have around 250 members. Worship services In our main building are held weekly on Sundays and Thursdays. These are often live-streamed and services in church can also be heard by phone. Worship takes a variety of traditional and contemporary forms, with Connect, our more informal seNice, tsking place in Centrepoint. A relaxed and informal evenlng service is held on the flrst Sunday of the month In the Welcome Area. Messy Church is a very different format designed for families and takes place monthly. A new short Informal service Is held in the Welcome Area on the 3 Sunday in the month at 3pm, followed by refreshments and fellowship. There have been some joint Sunday morning services with Connect, alternating between Church and Centrepoint. Holy Communion is celebrated monthly in both buildings and on Easter Sunday jointly on the Forecourt. Membership services have been held in both Sunday morning service5. Weddlngj Funeral and Baptism services are held as required. We regularly meet in small groups to explore our faith with over 100 members attending Llfe and House Groups regularly, Prayer is a vital aspect of church life. The Church Prayer diary remembers a church member each day and offers other Ideas for personal prayer. Opportunity for personal prayer at each Connect service A zoom prayer meetlng each Tuesday at 9.30am The BMC email prayer network has people ready to respond to prayer requests. There are a number of Connect4 WhatsApp prayer groups. We also run other special classes includlng Lent lectures. Children ond Young People As well as our regular Sunday morning Sunday school we run a monthly Messy Church service attended by over 15-20 children and their parents. We employ a part time youth and family worker who is re-lnvigorating our work wlth children. We run Baby Chat which provides a warm and welcoming space, and has successfully created a supportive community for new mothers, enabling them to connect on a personal level. In addition in October 2023 we launched Seedling5. This is for Pre-school children and offers a lively and engaging environmentwhere children can play, participate in craft actlvities and enjoy storytelling sessions. The Church is also linked to: 12 Bramhall th th Rainbows; Ilth and 12 Bramhall Brownies; and 11 Bramhall Guldes. In addition, the Church runs its own Pre-school, rated 'Good' at Its last Ofsted inspection. This has been open throughout the year. Fellowship and Supportlng Life's Journey The annual report sets out the many activities of groups that meet to give fellowship to one another. These range from choirs to rambling and everything in between. Our Pastoral care visitors continue to provide a hugely valued service to individuals across the church family. World Neighbourhood and Community and Mlsslon Bitesize Church was launched in September 2023. Following an extended period of planning, preparation and prayer, on Sunday 10 September 2023 Bitesize Church met for the first time. Bitesize Church is a new form of church e5tabllshed at the heart of the community of the Coleshaw Farm estate near Handforth. Bitesize meets on the Second Sunday of each month from 10.00am. The Coffee shop provides a service to the local community where people can meet and chat. It continues to welcome customers from 10-15am-12.30pm six days a week. It Se￿eS a variety of bean-to-cup Coffee. Tea, Hot Chocolate, freshly baked scones, toasted tea cakes etc. by wllling volunteers in a friendly atmosphere. The Thrlft shop provldes an opportunity for re-cycling goods as well as being a point of social contact, As a charlty shop It sells goods at reasonable prices and supports other charities with specific goods, e.g. Manchester mission with warm men's clothing. After a donation to the Church, for use of the premises, money raised by the Thrift shop is dlstrlbuted to local, national and international charities, The Thrift shop was fully operational during 2024 and the accounts contain a record of the giving to charity. Communlon Collections are held monthly to support a wide range of Charitable and other good causes. In particular, the Church supported two local foodbanl