2021-12-31-accounts

Birtley Community Church Financial Statements For the period ended 31 December 2021

Charity Registration Number 1133513

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Contents

Item	Page No.
Legal and Administrative Information	3
Trustees’ Annual Report	4 - 9
Independent Examiner’s Report	10
Statement of Financial Activities	11
Balance Sheet	12
Signature on behalf of Trustees	13
Notes to the Accounts	14 - 15

Charity Registration Number 1133513

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Legal and Administrative Information.

Name: Birtley Community Church

Charity No: 1133513

Address:

Edward Road Birtley Chester-le-Street Co Durham DH3 1HG

Trustees:

Prof Patrick Roy Briddon Bsc Phd (Chair) Mr Rowan Marsh Phillimore (Secretary) Mrs Joanna Rachel Snaith Mr Joseph James Clifford. (Treasurer)

Document Prepared by:

Mr Joseph James Clifford. (Treasurer)

Governing Document:

The Charity is operated under the rules of its constitution adopted 6 November 2009

Bankers:

Lloyds TSB Whickham Branch 44 Front Street Whickham Newcastle Upon Tyne NE16 4DS

Independent Examiner:

Kate Tully FMAAT FCIE AATQB 20 Ennerdale Crescent Winlaton Blaydon on Tyne NE21 6PS

Charity Registration Number 1133513

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Birtley Community Church Trustees’ Annual report 2021

Objects:

The objects of the Birtley Community Church Trust (referred to as “the Trust” below) are as follows:

1. To advance the Christian faith in accordance with the Statement in such ways and in such parts of the United Kingdom or the world as the Church Council from time to time may think fit

2. To relieve sickness and financial hardship and to promote and preserve good health by the provision of funds, goods or services of any kind including through the provision of counselling and support in such parts of the United Kingdom or the world as the Church Council from timeto-time think fit

3. To advance education in such ways and in such parts of the United Kingdom or the world as the Church Council from time to time may think fit

Summary

The year 2021 has been a second successive year which has proved to be different from all our previous experience in our Church. The long lockdown and restrictions that characterised the first half of the year again meant that many of our activities had to be either cancelled or rearranged on-line. It once again put to test a number of questions regarding the resilience of our Trust in the face of difficult circumstances. It has been pleasing that Birtley Community Church has been able to continue in its work, even when entirely deprived of access to indoors physical infrastructure for a significant part of the year.

In spite of these difficulties, we have finished 2021 without losing any members and contrary to many churches experience, we now have an increased attendance at our meetings, both in Sunday worship and in community children’s activities. We can therefore approach the coming year with some confidence. In summary, the Trustees believe that the Charity is continuing to thrive and to fulfil its objectives.

Charity Registration Number 1133513

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Leadership and Oversight

The leadership of Birtley Community Church is unchanged in 2021. The trustees (alphabetic order) are:

Patrick Briddon (Chairman), Joe Clifford (Treasurer), Phil Phillimore (Secretary) and Rachel Snaith.

The elders responsible for spiritual leadership remain Patrick Briddon and Phil Phillimore.

We continue to receive support and oversight from Taking Ground, formerly a regional sphere of Salt and Light, but now an independent network of churches.

Church Worship and Teaching

The year 2021 began with several months of lockdown and we continued our activities with Zoom meetings. Attendance at these was generally in the range 30-40. The meetings were planned with shorter worship and preaching messages, but with the opportunity for wider participation in leading communion, praying and sharing each week. The ability and willingness of members to interact and share together has been a very positive development over this period. Sunday School also continued using a breakout group from the central Zoom meeting. Zoom gave additional opportunities, for example using visiting speakers such as pastor Yesupadam in India.

Attendance in zoom meetings remained very steady throughout the first part of the year. This was unlike the experiences of other churches with zoom, where attendance had typically fallen markedly as the lockdown continued. As such, the trustees felt there was no reason to rush to reopen the church building, partly in view of the risk still posed by Covid given the age profile of the congregation but also because the limitations that were still placed on face-to-face meetings at that point. Our ethos remains to promote spiritual growth in our members and to encourage all of us to share and participate in meetings and ministry, and this would not be possible in the front-led format initially prescribed by government guidance.

From July, the Trustees agreed to restart face to face meetings, initially meeting outside in our large scouting tent, purchased for the Royal Rangers camp two years

Charity Registration Number 1133513

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before. This enabled our first uninhibited pause and worship without face masks for 15 months, a profound release for us all. These outdoor meetings were also very well attended, with again 30 or more present on average. Outdoors worship also gave an excellent spiritual dynamic of witnessing to the community and a few visitors living nearby came to listen or to join us. In summary, meeting outdoors was a positive thing in itself. Use of the tent also gave the opportunity to enjoy a barbeque, Fijian style provided to us by the Cama family.

In October, we recommenced our indoors meetings, with the trustees agreeing a protocol for the meetings to be compliant with Government guidelines and broadly following similar practice to other local churches. Attendance was good with typically 40-45 people coming. It became clear that we had not only come through the pandemic without losing anyone, but our congregation had actually increased in the process. The age profile of the church continued to balance over the pandemic period, with three younger parents and six children having joined us, giving a Sunday school class of nine children when all are present, up from three in 2019. We believe this will continue into 2022.

Bible teaching and its application has continued through Sunday ministry, but also in mid-week housegroups, and I will return to these later. A central church prayer meeting attended by an average of approximately 15 people ran over the first half of the year. This focused mainly on outwards facing issues, prayer for the country, the NHS and the developing Covid crisis around the world.

The Ladies Breakfasts have also continued, initially with zoom and later a face-to-face Christmas meeting in December. These were attended by about 30 ladies, these being a mixture of church members and visitors.

The Trustees consider that in these ways, we have continued to make progress with the first object of our Trust.

Pastoral Care and Housegroups

Clearly pastoral care was especially important in view of the lockdown restrictions and the resulting physical separation between members at the start of the year. We therefore continued the strategies from the previous year:

• Special attention has been paid to the church members who were not able to use Zoom, as they were cut off from a lot of our on-going activities.

• Particular attention was given to people who may have been particularly vulnerable or badly affected by the lockdown.

• A social group was run on zoom in addition to the usual church activities. This was intended to add light-hearted fun to the program, and this proved popular with a group of members throughout the year.

Charity Registration Number 1133513

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• All members were encouraged to stay in touch by phone or other means, and it was very clear that this had functioned well throughout the year.

• Home visits by leaders have also taken place in situations where this was needed.

Housegroups continued on-line for the first part of the year, but moved to face-to-face meetings after the summer. We currently have three groups led by the Briddons, the Camas and the Phillimores.

After leading small groups in Birtley for many years, Russell and Edith, asked to step down in December 2020, and this finally happened at the summer break in 2021. Patrick felt that God had spoken to him previously about moving to a new generation of leaders, and we believe God is continuing to work this process in us. It is with a lot of affection and appreciation from the whole fellowship that we thank Russell and Edith for their faithful and self-giving service in leading their housegroup over so many years.

Church Ministries: Youth and Community

Royal Rangers (https://www.royalrangers.co.uk/) started in January-March with Zoom meetings led by Karol based in Germany. From April onwards, Rangers moved back to face-to-face meetings at the church, led by Patrick and Denise. The numbers of children at these gradually built up from 10 to about 30 by the start of the summer. Karol returned from Germany to plan and lead our summer camp. This was held a summer camp over 4 days in August and 45 children registered for this, 28 from our regular group. It went very well indeed, with lots of very positive feedback from both children and from parents.

We were more cautious in restarting our Messy Church ministry

(https://www.messychurch.org.uk/), with this being an indoors event with provision and sharing of food being a very significant part of it. We have so far held two meetings in October and December and look forward to this continuing to build strength in 2022.

These activities promote the first object of the Trust, with the Rangers ministry also contributing to education and growth in social and leadership skills of young children from our community.

Birtley Churches Together

Birtley Community Church remains part of Birtley Churches together, and we will look forward to meeting more with our local churches in 2022.

Church Staff

Karol continued to work for the church until August 2021. She returned to Germany for Christmas in 2020, but wasn’t able to return because of the covid situation. We agreed that she would continue to run five zoom sessions each week until March.

Charity Registration Number 1133513

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After that, she provided remote suggestions to Patrick and Denise when Rangers moved to faceto-face meetings. She returned to Birtley in July for 10 days of isolation, 10 days of planning with Patrick and Denise and then led the 4-day summer camp very well. She was offered options for an extension to remain here, but decided to return to Germany to continue her life there.

Our church administrator, Rachel Snaith, is now in her third year with the church. The main projects she has worked on during 2021 are

• Conducting Human Resources activities relating to the employment of staff, including policy development and implementation, and administration of the furlough scheme.

• Running the church payroll, updating and maintaining our Safeguarding policy and procedures. This included undertaking training, developing of policies and guidelines for engagement of children and vulnerable adults using social media or on-line

• platforms and updating policies and procedures we will follow when face-to-face meetings recommence

• Continuing a fresh round of DBS checks, and setting in place new policies needed to do this.

These activities are crucial to our efficient and legal operation as a trust.

Estates

No substantial projects of work have been conducted on the Church premises during 2021.

Gifts

Birtley Community Church has continued to support a number of external organisations. We give a monthly gift to support our regional sphere of Salt and Light (2% of our donation income) and, in addition to this, have given particular support (£3,899) to covid relief and support to education in India. The total of the gifts was £2,165 that is 11% of the donation income during 2021.

Financial Review:

The income from Sunday morning offerings and standing orders was £20,187 compared to £18,756 in 2020. This is an increase in giving of £1,429. Overall income amounted to £29,462 compared to £25,452 in 2020. Gift aid provision, based on donations in 2021 is £2,242, whereas in 2020, was £2,508

The overall expenditure in 2021 was £31,277 compared to £35,761 in 2020. This is a reduction of £4,484.

A freewill offering was taken to support Pastor Yesapadam of Narasapuram, India regarding the appalling conditions his Ministry Team were experiencing in that region due to Covid. This offering, amounting to £3,899, was forwarded to India through Kathleen Homes. This appears as restricted income and expenditure.

Charity Registration Number 1133513

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Salaries and expenses amounted to £12,347 in 2021 compared to £15,057 in 2020.

The loan, which was authorised in 2019, has continued to be repaid.

The Church’s finances were in deficit of £1,815 in 2021 compared to £10,309 in 2020.

The total of our bank balances in deposit and current accounts was £282,470 at the end of December 2021.

The value of our land and buildings was continued to be estimated at £230,000 as at the end of December 2021.

The use of Internet Banking, which was implemented during 2019, has allowed Birtley Community Church to meet its financial responsibilities during the period of lockdown.

The Trustees consider the financial position of the charity to be stable.

Risk Management:

The Trustees continue to monitor for major risks, which the charity faces in relation to external factors, governance and management, internal operations and business, giving consideration to the likelihood and the impact of risks, and review what systems should be in place to control and reduce those risks. The systems are designed to provide reasonable, but not absolute, assurance against material loss or misstatement of loss.

Reserves Policy:

It is the policy of the charity to try to build up unrestricted funds, which are free reserves of the charity, to a level that equates to approximately 6 months unrestricted expenditure. This will provide sufficient funds to cover management and administration support costs and any emergencies that may arise from time to time.

Trustees’ responsibilities:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy the financial position of the charity and which enable them to ascertain the financial position of the company and which enable them to comply with applicable law. The Directors/Trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Signed on behalf of the Trustees

Name Prof. P R Briddon Position: Chair Trustees Signature P R Briddon Date 2/4/2022

Charity Registration Number 1133513

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Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees/members of Birtley Community Church on Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2021 set out on pages 11-15.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year (under s.144 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’), and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

• Examine the accounts under s.145 of the 2011 Act;

• Follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145 (5)(b) of the 2011 Act; and

• State whether particular matters have come to my attention

Basis of examiner’s statement

My examination was carried out in accordance with General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with these records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view’ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner’s statement

In connection with my examination no matter has come to my attention:

• (1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:

• to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; and

• to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act ; or

• (2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Kate Tully FMAAT FCIE

Date…………………………………………………………………………… 4/4/2022 K A Tully Signed.......................................................................................................

acie association of charity independent examiners

Kate Tully is a Fellow Member of the Association of Charity Independent Examiners and a Fellow Member of the Association of Accounting Technicians

Charity Registration Number 1133513

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Statement of Financial Activities Birtley Community Church for the period ended 31 December 2021

Note Income and Endowments from: Donations and Legacies Charitable Activities Other Trading Activities Investments Other Total Incoming Resources Expenditure on: Raising Funds Charitable Activities Other Total Net income/(expenditure) Transfers between funds Net movement in funds Total Funds brought forward Total funds carried forward	Unrestricted Restricted Funds Funds £ £	Total	Total
		Funds 2021	Funds 2020
		£	£
	22,471 2,211 3,899 27 854
		22,471	21,272
		6,110	741
		0	0
		27	102
		854	3,337
	25,563 3,899	29,462	25,452
	0 27,378 3,899
		0	0
		31,277	35,761
		0	0
	27,378 3,899	31,277	35,761
	(1,815) 0	(1,815)	(10,309)
	(1,815) 0	(1,815)	(10,309)
	517,263	517,263	527,572
	515,448 0	515,448	517,263

Charity Registration Number 1133513

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Balance Sheet

Birtley Community Church as at 31 December 2021

Note Fixed Assets Land and Buildings Current Assets Debtors Hardship Loan HMRC Cash at Bank and In Hand Total Current Assets Total Assets Liabilities Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year Hardship Payment Creditors: Amounts falling due after one year Total Assets less Total Liabilities The Funds of the Charity: Restricted income funds Unrestricted income funds TOTAL CHARITY FUNDS	Total Funds £ 230,000	Total Funds 2020 £ 230,000
	230,000	230,000
	886 2,242 282,470	1,923 2,508 282,982
	285,598	287,413
	515,598	517,413
	150 0 0	150 0 0
	515,448	517,263
	0 515,448	0 517,263
	515,448	517,263

Charity Registration Number 1133513

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Signed by one or two of the Trustees on behalf of all the Trustees:

Print Name Prof. P R Briddon Signature P R Briddon Print Name Signature

4/4/2022 Date of Approval

Charity Registration Number 1133513

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS For the period 1 January to 31 December 2021

1 Accounting Policies

Basis of Preparation

These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with:

• the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) issued on 16 July 2014;

• and with the Charities Act 2011

There has been no change to the accounting policies, valuation rules and methods of accounting since last year.

No changes have been made to accounts for previous years.

Incoming Resources

These are included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) when:

• the charity becomes entitled to the resources;

• the trustees are virtually certain they will receive the resources; and

• • the monetary value can be measured with sufficient reliability

Grants and donations are only included in the SOFA when the charity has unconditional entitlement to the resources.

Resources expended have been analysed using a natural classification. Investment Income is included in the accounts when receivable

The value of volunteer help is not included in the accounts but is described in the Trustees Annual Report.

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Expenditure and Liabilities

Liabilities are recognised as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to pay out resources.

Governance costs include costs of Trustee meetings and relevant travel expenses.

Grants are recognised in the accounts as they are paid to the charity.

2 Funds

The Charity has one fund: An unrestricted general fund.

Charity Registration Number 1133513

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