Finchley Methodist Church Circuit Number 35135 Registered Charity Number 1133907 TRUSTEES, REPORT AND ACCOUNTS ST YEAR ENDING 31 AUGUST 2025 REGISTERED CHURCH OFFICE Finchley Methodist Church 227 Ballards Lane Finchley London N3 1NB TRUSTEES Rev Ben Tsumasi (Chair) Rev Martin Wellings Christine Luvele David French (Treasurer) Dorothy Moir Barbara Heatherington Deborah Lynch-shyllon Lindi Lewis Henry Forde Hannah Lynch Shyllon Annu Varghese Mary Campbell Dr Sarada Viieratnam Tony Gossett Dr Latha Thangari Dr Rajan Vijeratnam The above individuals served as TrUSt￿S during the reporting period or at the date the a￿Unts were pproved. INDEPENDEpif EXAMINER David Evans 38 Galley Lane. Arkley. Herts. . EN5 4AJ. BANKERS HSBC pic 333 Vauxhad Bridge Road London SW1V 1EJ Central Finan￿ Board of the Meth¢)dist Church 9 Bonhill Street London EC2A 4PE TRUSTEES. REPORT The Trustees wesent their report and the financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2025. These have been prepared in ac￿rdanCe with the Charities Act 2011. We're incredibly grateful to each person who contributes time. energy, wayer, or finances to the life of Finchley Methodist Church. These figures are more than number5- they represent lives touched, worship made possible. and a community SUStained_ As we look forward, we'll continue to steward these resour￿ responsibly while seeking opportunities to grow our impact and strengthen our mtssion. STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT Finchley Methodist Church is a constituent Society of the Bamet and Queensbury Methodist Circuit, based in the London Borough of Bamet. The activities of the Church are governed by The Constitutional Practice and Discipline of the Methodist Church which incorporates the Methodist Church Act 1976. The goveming body is the Church Council, whose members are Ihe ministers (p￿$bYterS and deacons) appointed to the Circuit by the Methodist Conference, officers and representstives elected annualty by the General Church m￿lIng. a CircuTI Steward and co-opted members. The Superintendent Minister chairs the Church Council. The Church Council meets a minimum of tw.ce a year and agr￿S on the broad strategy and areas of activity for the Church. including consideration of grant making investment, reserves and risk management policies and perfomiance. The more detailed management of the Church is entrusted to the Church Stewards, elected annually by the General Church Meeting. and responsible with the Minister in pastoral charge for the day-to- day lrfe and work of the Church. OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES The principal objective of the Church is Ihe advan￿ment of the Christian faith in accordan￿ with the doctrinal standards and discipline of the Methodist Church. {Sectit)n 4a Methodist Church Act 1976). This is done for as many people as possible wtthin the geographical area the Church Se￿es. In addttion, the Methodist Church Act allows for the advancement of other charTtable purposes 'for the time being. of any subsidiary unit of the Methodist Church. (Sections 4b -4d Methodisl Church A(a 1976) Based on the above objectives, with due consideration of the Charilies Commission guidanrE on public benefit and, in particular, the spectfic guidan￿ on the charities for the advancement of religion. the Church has the following aims.. The provision of Christian worship. spiritual devdopment and pastoral care t)oth to the members of the Church and to the wider Communty in which tt is located. To raise funds so as to make grants to advan￿ the Christian Faith. or for other chartlable purposes as for the time being the Church Council deems appropriate. both local￿. nationally and intemationally. To support the advancement of the christs.an Faith through ecurnenical liaison with other Christian groups. The majorty of the aims fall wtthin the charitable actrvty 'mission and ministrl {i.e. the overall advan￿rnent of the Christian Faith) wrth a small amount of grant funding being for other charitable purposes. In support of these aims The Methodist Church owns propety in the fom of church premises, and manses for staff accommodation. The Custodian Trustees. who hold legal title to these properties are: The Trustees for Metho(list Church Purposes Central Buildings Oldham Street Manchester M1 1JQ. The Managing Trustees for church premises are the Church Council members of the local society. Reserves policy The Church Council has established a reseprfes policy that ensures that Finchley Methodist Church can continue to support its commitmerrts in the event of a downtum in the Church's income and can support its more immediate obligations in the event of a delay in the receipt of committed funding. The policy also addresses the Trustees, responsibilty for the Maintenan￿ of extensive premises. most of which are more than one hundred years old. The Trustees have set a policy that reserves must not fall below six months operating wsts. At 31"August 2024 the Trustees had no concems about this. Investment Policy In common with other Methodist Cir￿lts and Churches. funts not required for imm&diate use are deposited with the Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church 'CFB'. This produ￿$ a minimal level of retum while maintaining minimal risk and a high degree of liquidty. This is reviewed annualty. RISK MANAGEMENT The Church Council regularly reviews and assesses the risks that affect the wellbeing of the Church and its finan￿$. Action is taken to miti.gate risks where appropriate. The main financial risks identtfied are as follows.. Loss of income from property tettings Unexpected propety repairs to churches resulting in an inabilty to pay circutt Assessment The Church Council considers that the cajrrent level of reserrfes is sufficient to meet any unplanned expenditure in the event of the above and when planning the budget for future years. TRUSTEES The members of the Church Counal are appJint&J in accordan￿ wilh the Standing Orders of the MethcKJist Church. The trustees on page 2 are those who seNed during the reporting year or were serving at the date the accounts were signed. A range of guidan￿ produced by Methodist Connexion to supwt the effective running of the Church, specrfically the leaflet 'The Role of a Trust& in The Methodist Church, is given to all new Church Council members as induction to th&r role as trustees. The Trustees are also committed to ensuring that the COnne￿Onal Safeguarding Policy is implefflented in accordance with govemment legislation, to provide a safe environment for young people and vulnerable adU￿s. STATEMEprf OF TRUSTEES. RESPONSIBILITIES IN RESPECT OF THE AccouKrs Charity law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial period which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of Finchley Methodist Church and of the results for that period. In preparing those financial statements. the trustees are required to.. select suitable accounting poliaes and then apply them consistentty", make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and pruden( stale whether applicable accounting standards have b￿n followed. subj.ect to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements.. prepare the financial statements on the going con￿rn basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Circuit will continue to function.. and comply with the Statement of Recommermjed Practi￿ on accounting and reporting by charities issued in 2015. The trustees are responsible for keetNng proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial posib.on of the Church. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Church and hen￿ for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularitEs. The trustees confirm that they have complied wtlh the above requirements and responsibilities. Independent Examiner5 Report 2023-2024 I report to the trustees on my examination of the a￿OUnts for the year ended 31" August 2024 that are set out below. Responsibilities and ba￿S of opinion As the trustees of the CharTty, you are responsible for the preparation of the a¢￿Unts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011- The Act). I report in respect of my examination of the Tnjstees accounts ￿[rEd out under Section 14S of The Act and in carrying OLrt my examination I have followed all the applicable directions gwen to me by the Charity Commission under section 145(3Mb) of The Act. Independent Examiners Statement I have completed my examination and confinn that no material matters have come to my attention in connection wrth the examination that give cause to believe that in any material respect of: 1. Accounting records were not kept in resFert of the charity as required by Section 130 of The AL#. 2. The accounts do not accord wth those records. I have no concems and have come acTOSS no other matters in Connecti￿ with the examination to which attention needs to tE drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. David Evans Date: 10th March 2026 Declarations and Scrutiny I can confimi that these accruals based accounts for the year to 31"August 2025 have been prepared from the records of the church and that they indude ail funds under the control of the church trustees. Signature of Treasurer. 10th March 2026 David French Presen￿￿10n to the Trustees I confim that the annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 st August 2025 w¢pe presented to the meeting of the Trustees held on 14 I&LL Signature of the Chair of Meeting Date.. i il-"11 Reverend Ben Tsumasi Overview" Financial Summary At the end of the financial year. the Church held totsl funds of approximately £453k, compared with £468k in the previous year. The reduction reflects a deficit for the year of approximately £15k, where expenditure exceeded income. Vvhile this represents a modest draw on reserves. the Church continues to maintain a strong financial position, with reserves equivalent to several years of operating expenditure. The Trustees recognise that the Church estste is old and that these reserves may be required over time for refurbishment, repair. or modernisation of the buildings. The Trustees also recognise thal the Church holds a relatively high level of reserves. However. this reflects the responsibility of maintaining an older and substantial church estate, where signfficant repair or refurbishment works may arise at relatively short notice. Holding adequate reserves allows the Church to plan responsibly for future building maintenance, modernisation and unforeseen repairs, wtthoLrt placing sudden pressure on congregational giving or operational income. In this context, the Trustees consider the current level of reserves to be prudent and appropriate. The financial resources of the Church exist to support its mission and ministry within the local community. The Trustees therefore seek to balance careful stewardship of the Church's assets with ensuring that resour￿$ remain available to sustain worship. community engagemenl and the upkeep of the Church's buildings. Income & Expenditure The following Income and Expendrture Account summarises the Church's financial activity for the year ended 31st August 2025. YearEr•Jlr48ts14lw*2025 YearENllr¢31 YwEThIi￿3lSt 21. 18.501 21.224 55. T(ialI￿r*￿e Salar￿& Or¢uit(thrge IndependeThiE%arThnatknn BankChaTges Bookkeewr¢Fees RepairsatM1Mainkn)a￿t (Jeaning Esi8teAgentsFees In5uiance 14,891 47.12) &7n 7.591 8.514 7.472 7.711 7.281 Ir&Jprort& Te*[ 6,781 4356 P￿0￿Fee5 150 17.976 115.Q521 14675 Total income for the year was £128k. Income from rents and lettings continues to provide a signfficant financial base fr>r the Church. However. there has been modest reduction in a&hoc lettings income, wrth the majority of bookings coming from organisations who use the facilities on a more regular basis. The Trustees will continue to monttor the viability of the current lettings model and consider whether further devebpment of these income streams is appropriate. Donations were slightty lower than the previt)us year. As in previous years, giving tends to fluctuate depending on congregation pattems and on&off contributions. Inlerest re￿Ivable remains a helpfvl source of income following the increase in interest rates in recent years. although this will naturally vary depending on wtder economic conditions. Total expenditure during the year was £143k. The Circuit Assessment of £45k remains the largest single item of expendrture and represents the Church's contribution to the W￿er work of the Bamet arKI Queensbury Methodist CircJJii. including ministry. mission and shared activities across the Circuit. Repairs and rna1ntenan￿ costs fluctuate frcth year to year depending on the woths required to maintain the buildings. Given the age of the Church estate. TrLtstees recognise that eX￿ndItUre in this area may vary over time. Overall, expendtture exceeded income during the year results.ng in a deficrt of aFproximately £15k, which has been met from reserves. Some expenditure recorded during the year relates to a wider programme to address the Church heating system. Further works were planned after the year end. including rePla￿￿ent of boilers serving both the Church and Essex Hall and flushing of the pipework to improve system perf0rrnan￿. As with other building- related works, these costs are treat￿1 as maintenance expenditure when incurred rather than caprtalised. which reflects the Church's established accounting approach to property maintenan￿. Property Accounting The Church does not apply depreciation to tls buildings in the acwunts. This reflects common practice among many churches and charitable organisation5 that hold propety primarily for worship, ministry and communty L￿, rather than as depreciating commercial assets. Instead of applying an annual depreciation charge. the Church recognises the actual cost of repairs and maintenance when works are undertaken. This approach ensures that the accounts reflect the real costs of premises upkeep. Balance Sheet FlnclWMethodtSl Church 8alanceSheetlorYearEThliry3tstA•2025 CurrentAccounts DeposiiA¢coufjrs TotalBank &Cash 51.488 411,( $81 51.488 431792 Oebiors 581 TotslAssets CurrentLiabllilles Accruals TwaLUablllttes i&oc TotaiNeiAssets FuThJsAnalysls Unrestricted FurKts Re5tricted- Ber￿wianceFU￿d Tfrtal Funds 451.749 1.478 465.801 2.478 Its,0521 The Church continues to maintain strong reserves. largely hekj on deposrt wrf(h the Central Finan￿ Board of the Methodist Church arvj in bank accounts. These funds provide financial resilien￿ and allow the Church to meet unexpected costs. particulady those associated with the maintenance of an older estate. Fund Breakdown Unrestricted Funds. £451k Restricted Benevolen￿ Fund.. £1 k The majority of funds remain unrestricted and therefore available for general Church purposes, including maintaining the premises and supporting the work of the Church and Circuit. A small amount of funds is held in the Benevolen￿ Fund. which is restricted for charitsble support and giving. Year-End Movement The year reSu￿ed in a net reduction in funds of approximately £15k While Ihis represents a deficit for the year, the Church remains in a financially stable position, with reserves available to support future Maintenan￿ of the tyjildings and to manage any fluctuations in income. The Trustees continue to review the Church's financial wsition regulaty through reports presented to the Church Council. ensuring that income. expendtlure and reserves are monitored throughout the year. Financial Outlook The Trustees will continue to monitor income. expendiiure and the condition of the Church estate carefully over the coming year. Particular attention will be given to maintainirtsJ Sustainab￿ levels of income from property lettings while ensuring that the Church's buiklings remain propaly maintained. While income streams such as donations and ad-hoc lettings can fluctuate from year to year. the Trustees believe the Church remains in a financialty stable position. supported by prudent reserves and careful financial management. The Trustees ￿maIn satisfied that the Church continues to operate on a sound financial footing.