BETHEL BAPTIST CHURCH LALESTON
TRUSTEES REPORT & ACCOUNTS
YEAR ENDING 5 APRIL 2025
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Bethel Baptist Church High Street Laleston CF32 0HP
Charity No: 1131135
Trustees Report & Statement of Accounts For the Financial Year ending 5t* April 2025
CONTENTS: -
Pages 1-4
Trustees Annual Report.
Page 5 Legal & Administrative Information. Page 6 Receipts & Payments Account. Page 7 Notes to the Accounts. Page 8 Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Page 9 Independent Examiners Report.
Be lhe Baplist Church
Bethel Baptist Church Trustees Report – 2024-2025
Objectives and Activities
Our stated charitable objective is “to glorify God by the advancement of the Christian Religion for the benefit of the public in accordance with the basis of faith of the church.”
The trustees work alongside the pastor and deacons of the church to promote the ministry of the church in every way. This includes pastoral ministry to members and other attenders, evangelistic ministry to those outside the church and mission ministry supporting friends who are working in several other parts of the world. We are committed to following the teaching of the bible in our activities and the basis of faith of the church reflects that commitment.
Public Benefit
When planning our activities for the year, the trustees, pastor and deacons have considered the Commission’s guidance on public benefit and the specific guidance on charities for the advancement of religion. More information on this guidance can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/public-benefit-rules-for-charities
We benefit the public by providing a safe, accessible and welcoming environment for Christian worship in the village of Laleston. This is achieved through our regular weekly meetings, some less frequent but regular activities and through special events at various times throughout the year. We meet a valuable social need in providing opportunities for local people to meet together.
To meet these objectives and to continue to run activities, we also need to maintain and upgrade our buildings and facilities.
Achievements and Performance
During the last year, we have continued our weekly programme of services on Sundays (10.30am and 6.00pm), various ladies meetings on Mondays and bible study and prayer meetings on Thursday evenings and Friday mornings. In addition to those weekly events, we also hold monthly coffee mornings and occasional men’s breakfast events. A few times a year we host free lunches, either on Sunday or mid-week and then usually in the summer, we hold a garden party to provide an afternoon of social time, activities for children and an event to publicise the church. We also occasionally visit two local care homes (Newton care home and Breaksea care home in Porthcawl) to take worship services for their residents.
Our Sunday services have been well attended during the last year with a small increase of people attending, especially on Sunday mornings. We have continued recording the morning sermon and sending out the YouTube link and notes to members and friends in case anyone was not able to attend. This has been helpful for some members who have been kept from services for various health reasons or have been away on holiday.
The ladies meetings continue to alternate between a craft meeting attended by local ladies and a worship meeting with an invited speaker. Both meetings usually have around 10-15 people in attendance and are run by church volunteers.
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Be lhe Bap a Cl eston
Craft meeting - many thanks to Mary Isaac for organising this meeting and for the report details following. New members have been added over the last year and are very welcome. The group knit, sew and crochet items donated to the people of Ukraine through Anne and Godfrey Morris who deliver them to a collection hub in Maesteg.
The group has made blankets and children’s clothes to support this work throughout the year. Many thanks to Godfrey and Anne for their help.
The group gave £50 out of their funds to two charities, RNLI and Guide dogs for the blind. They also enjoyed food together on a couple of occasions. The meeting is enjoyed by all those who attend and is a helpful benefit to those who live alone or may be lonely.
Worship meeting - on the alternate weeks, there is a worship service for ladies. Many thanks to Marilyn John for organising and arranging this meeting. Over the past year, a number of guests have been invited to come and speak along with a few people from within the church. The group sings hymns and songs together before the speaker brings a message from the bible. The time is followed by refreshments and as with the craft meeting, serves a very beneficial purpose for those who attend.
Our monthly coffee morning is a free event organised by church volunteers and is attended by around 15-20 people, many of whom live in our local community. We serve drinks and other refreshments, all offered free, and give a short talk from the bible for about 10 mins.
The men’s breakfast events are an opportunity for local men to meet up and chat and listen to someone give a short talk, often an invited guest. During this last year, we held a total of four events, attended by around 10-15 men each time and again, this event was offered for free.
As an active part of our local community, we attended the Laleston Village Fete in June to publicise the church and provide activities for children. We also gave away a number of bibles and other books to those interested to know more about the Christian faith.
We held a garden party in July to invite local people into the church to enjoy a free community event. The event was well attended and enjoyed by all who came.
In addition to other local events, we started a free walking group during 2024. This is an opportunity for people to enjoy a 2-3 hour guided walk around the local area, ending with refreshments in the church. Numbers fluctuated, but between 3-8 people attended this new event and we plan to continue this from Spring to Autumn in 2025.
Mission – during the year we continued to support a number of missionaries working in S. Ireland, Hungary and also in the UK. As some of our former mission partners finished their work, we began supporting the work of Grace Rural Wales Partnership (Y GRWP), working with rural farming communities in the heart of Wales. We also support Union, the organisation that runs the theological college, Union School of Theology in Bridgend.
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Be lhe Baplist Church
Building work – we made some progress in our building project, looking to extend the present buildings with a new main meeting room in our garden space to the rear of the church. Following a positive response from the local council to our preliminary enquiry, we put in an application for planning permission in July. The planning department has been very delayed in responding to this application and we are still waiting for permission to be granted.
Some regular maintenance work was carried out during the year, including repairs to parts of the roof damaged over the winter. We also continued to maintain the graveyard and garden area.
Financial Review
The giving for the year was again increased from the previous year which is encouraging and we are grateful for the gift aid money recovered from those who are taxpayers. Our accounts for the year show a surplus of just over £7,000 which we plan to use for possible building work in the future.
We are thankful and grateful for the faithful way the members and friends of the church support the church in all that we seek to do.
Our total income for the year was £56,664, comprising £49,629 into the unrestricted fund and £7,035 into the designated fund. Our total expenses were £48,042, leaving us a surplus of £1,587 in our unrestricted fund and £5,451 in the designated fund (£7,038 total). The designated fund stands at £14,427. With money already in the unrestricted fund of £32,647, the total at the end of the year was £34,234. As mentioned above in the section on future building work, we have longer term plans for some expansion and the surplus money in the unrestricted fund will be used for that purpose along with any extra money from grants that we hope to apply for as soon as planning permission is granted.
Reserves Policy
The trustees along with the deacons and pastor have agreed together to maintain a reserve fund of £5,000 to cover running costs of the church for a period of approximately 3 months in the case of any financial emergency affecting the current account finances of the church. The level of this fund will be reviewed annually by the trustees and members of the church.
Volunteers
Many of the activities of the church rely on the time and energy given by volunteers. Activities include organising speakers for ladies meetings, setting up the rooms for meetings, cleaning, preparing flowers, serving refreshments, playing piano, recording and banking money and auditing the church accounts. The trustees would like to register their sincere thanks to all those who work so hard to make the church run smoothly and who give their time so freely.
Structure, Governance and Management
The trustees are appointed annually at the AGM. The day-to-day running of the church is under the pastor and the deacons, appointed by the members. Deacons serve for 3 years and must then be appointed by the members to continue to serve for 3 year periods. The deacons and pastor meet monthly to discuss the life and ministry of the church and to review the finances.
The current deacons are Marilyn John and David Laviers.
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Be lhe Baplist Church
The church is now administered by two trustees, Jim Grindell (Pastor) and Kevin Green (secretary) and we are hoping to add to the number of trustees soon. To further help the church in the future, we would like to change our status from being a Charitable Trust to becoming a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. We will be formally discussing this at our AGM this year.
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Be lhe Baplist Church
Administrative Information
Bethel Baptist Church is situated in the village of Laleston, just outside Bridgend. Our postal address is:
Bethel Baptist Chapel
High Street Laleston CF32 0HP
Trustees:
Jim Grindell (Pastor) Kevin Green (Secretary)
Pastor:
Jim Grindell
Deacons:
Marilyn John David Laviers (treasurer)
Report approved by the Trustees on 4th June 2025 and signed on their behalf by Jim Grindell (Pastor).
Signed…………………………………………………………………………………………
Page 5
Bethel Baptist Cherch Laleston
Registered Charity Mo: - 111135
:
Receipts& Payments Account
Year Ending Sth April 2025
Year Ending 3h April 2024
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Receipts Noes UnrestrictedFund DesigFu n atedd UnrestrictedFind DesigFu n atedd
£ £ £ £
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Payments
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Suanelries Expenditure EEEmE aSdDaag
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Total Payments nee#502 Boe14 aS39,612 eea
Ponds on. ot hs Age Eb: CLES)a| SSeS Seraas MUneee
Ponds os ot Sth April 2005 & 2004 ae Rae e ae! Siaees
48,6601 41,629
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Page6
Aacsurttd 2024 - 2025
Bethel Baptist Chorch Laleston
Registered (Charity Mo: = 1157155
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,
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Nobes bo Accounts
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Note
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| Note | Year Ending 5th April 2025 | Year | Ending Sth April 2024 | Ending Sth April 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ | E | ||||
| I | Union | 750 | a | ||
| B, Griffin-100Fold | vo | a | |||
| J. MecMlasber- Eire | 7o0 | ve | |||
| 5.Bowkett-YGRWE | Toul | ||||
| T. Burgan-Hungary | a | 600 | |||
| Total | 3,600) | 2550 | |||
| Fs | PayrollSoftware CCL MusicCopyright |
101 oF |
178 oF |
||
| Financial Assistance | 300 | ||||
| Paper Towels #& Handwash | 15 | ||||
| Garden (Chairs | ft | ||||
| Miscellaneous | & | ||||
| Cleaning Materials | Pa | ||||
| Vacuum Cleaner | 29 | ||||
| Flowers Total |
Fa) a79 |
aa | ay | Fa |
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Bethel Baptist Chorch Laleston
Registered Charity No:- 1131135
Assets & Liabilities
Year Ending 5th April 2025 Year Ending 5th Apeil 2024
| Unrestricted Fund |
Designated Fund |
Unrestricted Fund |
Designated Fund |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| E | é | E | E | |
| Fixed Assets | ||||
| Church Building,Graveyard&Grounds | 400,000 | 400,000.00 | ||
| Liquid Assets | ||||
| Santander BankAccount BarclaysBankAccount Barclays Bank Account TotalFunds |
4556 2,178 46,734 —— |
1,927 1,927 456] |
26,175 7.or2 7Are M4147 7476 ————en 41,623 |
|
| UnrestrictedFunds Designated!Poms |
oo 14427 |
S207 8,976 |
||
| TatalFunds | 45,661 | 41,623 | ||
| Note: -re Desipnated Fund | ||||
| BarclaysBank Accountfor theDesignatedFundcontains TheSantanderAccount also holdsfunds fortheDesignatedFund TheSantanderAccount gives interest Barclaysdoesnot |
1,927 12.500 14,427 |
7476 1300 8,976 |
||
| Notes | ||||
| ContingentDebtor forUnclaimed (GiftAid Overpayment re Electricity |
5,559 | 6467 33 |
||
| ContingentLiabilities | ||||
| Electricity | 48 | |||
| Cas | a1 | 38 |
Page 8
+ CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES
Independent examiner's report on the accounts
section A Independent Examiners Report
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ReportRT to theeee)trustees! cere 4APTIST ceuech LALea Stea i
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On accounts for the r
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| report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above
charity (“the Trust’) for the year ended :
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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 2077 (the Act. | 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, | have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. Independent | have completed my examination. | confirm that no material matters have examiner's statement come to my attention (othecthan-that-diselesed-petow) in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
-
accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
-
- the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
| have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in onder to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. * Piease delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply.
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Name:| SOZAMING HeLren ARAN
qualification(s)Relevant‘ professionalor body K eTife)=j) CYARTESLES- —epe ACceunsT: a? AADee
(if any):
Address:| “2C) PAAKE IELDS Petw-y-FAD
Bes DOCEND > Fi) AAG
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IER
October 2018
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:
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1
Tage +
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,
| | | = |
IER
2
October 2018