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Fulwood Methodist Church Fulwood Methodist Church Annual Church Meeting Annual Church Meeting
Sunday 27 Sunday 27™[th] April 2025 April 2025
following Morning Worship following Morning Worship

April 2025

Dear Friends

I am writing to invite all members of Fulwood Methodist Church to attend of the General Church Meeting (GCM) after worship on Sunday 27[th] April 2025. At this meeting we will appoint the Leadership Team Stewards, Sunday Stewards, members to the Church Council and representatives to the Circuit Meeting.

Our work as a church should be focussed on our Mission of spreading God’s love throughout our community and we urge you to be part of that mission.

The Church Council and Leadership Team are pleased to present the following reports of the activities which make up the life of our church at this time. If you wish to see a copy of the end of year accounts for 2023/24 please contact me by email (margaretsquire@gmail.com).

Please read the reports and support the various groups in any way that you feel able. This could be by your prayers, volunteering to help with some of the activities on a regular or occasional basis, or joining a group to make new friends. We are always looking for new ways of reaching out to our community and if you have any suggestions please do bring them to us for consideration by the Church Council.

Margaret Squire Leadership Steward for Governance

Church Activity Reports

Learning and Caring

Pastoral

The Pastoral Care of our Church family and the different groups who meet on our premises is very important. Each member of the Church family is part of the Pastoral Care Team who look after each other. The various groups within the church care for each other and each Sunday morning there are people who look out for people who are missing.

Those who are not able to worship or be part of groups get magazines, the leaflet ‘A Month of Sundays’ delivered, and are visited and get telephone messages where appropriate. The church tries to support everyone through prayer, being welcoming, sending cards, texts, emails, making phone calls, making meals, giving lifts, sending flowers and cards, using the minibus, delivering of magazines and the ‘Month of Sundays’.

Everyone is able to contact Rev Jane, Sue Penrith, Denise Johnson or Carolyn Hothersall (contact numbers are in the magazine) if they feel there is a need that should be addressed. We can only respond to these needs when we are told and always keeping confidentiality.

The church family list is looked at by the Minister, Pastoral Care Secretary and the Circuit Pastoral Care Worker to see if there is anyone who we feel needs more support.

We continue to care in many ways and thank everyone who plays their part in the caring of this community.

Sue Penrith,

Leadership Steward for Pastoral Care

Learning

In November a meeting was held with some of the Learning Group Leaders. Jane thanked everyone for the things they do for the church life and a general discussion was had around learning, identifying any barriers and gaps in learning. Some of the main points that came out of the discussion were as follows:

How the groups advertise their activities - do these need promoting again and do people really understand what they are about?

What is being learnt, who directs this learning and how this might fit in with worship? Resources - could these be shared out to other groups so not duplicating work? Gaps in learning - after Sunday Club what is the next stage?

What learning would people like to see - ask the congregation for their views and ideas?

These questions above will be the focus of my work that I will take forward in the coming months. Laura Ayles,

Leadership Steward for Learning

Worship

In the Leadership team we discussed how we might broaden the scope of our worship trying to offer variety and awareness of other cultural backgrounds within our community whilst following an outline regular framework of services.

The first Sunday in the month usually includes Holy Communion and more traditional hymns whilst the second is All Together, so mixed ages and the format would reflect that, often with interactive elements and worship songs as well as hymns.

We are experimenting with Forest Church as a new experience for the Sunday Club but with a possibility of extending this to the wider congregation in the future.

Messy Church continues to attract families and is of course open to all ages and individuals in the church family. We meet, discuss, do activities and enjoy food and get to know each other better.

The Wednesday Morning service includes Holy Communion, prayers and discussion often based on a bible passage and is very much enjoyed by the small number of people who attend. You are encouraged to come and join in or just listen and be part of the fellowship from 10.30am–11.15am, and maybe have a coffee or one of our famous bacon rolls afterwards in Welcome Wednesday.

Music is an important part of worship. We vary the styles of hymns and songs and recently have included items from round the world as well as tunes from our home nations. The choir meet regularly on a Monday morning (11am–12noon) to learn new hymns and anthems. This is very much an open invitation for anyone to come and learn with us. We regularly introduce new tunes by the singers and on the organ before the service. When the band lead, they too will play before the service and introduce new songs. We have discovered some gems which we would love to share! We are fortunate to have the band to lead worship as well as two organists BUT we could do more with extra singers and players. We include other instruments to accompany the choir from time to time. Please share your talents.

We would like to include a children’s song whilst we are together in church and are working towards this. We also plan to let the congregation select the hymns for a service from a prepared list as we did once before so watch out for the whiteboard! We would love ours to be a singing church with the confidence to try new songs and hymns.

We are indebted to the Rev Jane and all our worship leaders for their imaginative and inspirational work with us. We welcome ideas from all members of our community. It is our worship. Mavis Fletcher,

Leadership Steward for Worship

Sunday Club

Our Sunday Club continues to thrive and there are currently 52 children on the register with 10 leaders; however, there is a weekly attendance of between 15-20. We divide into 4 groups – Seekers, Explorers, Pathfinders and PathfindersPlus and follow our curriculum at an appropriate level. In line with best safeguarding practice there are two leaders working with each group. The enthusiasm and commitment of the leaders are key to the success of the work, and we thank them for all they contribute.

Our themes from September 2024 have been ‘Getting to know you’ (mini theme), ‘How to live’, the Christmas story and currently ‘The life of Jesus’. The latter forms a major part of our work this church/academic year. Our theme in October/November not only allowed us to explore the Ten Commandments and Jesus’ commandments to love God and love our neighbours but also provided a structure to look at ‘The Methodist Way of Life’. The latter complemented work being done across the different sections of the church; it also enabled PathfindersPlus – our over 11s group – to follow the same theme as the rest of Sunday Club. All our sessions are organised to meet the needs of the different age groups, and we ensure that our sessions are activity based – games, crafts, drama, baking, discussions etc as well as reading/listening to stories and thinking about how we worship and relate to God.

Our Advent Celebration at the beginning of December was a huge success and over 100 people attended. It was good to see all the age groups in the church interacting and learning together as they explored the Christmas story in different ways. Our thanks go out all the many people who helped this to be such a positive experience.

Our plans for the rest of the year involve several sessions of Forest Church – always a popular event with families - and our final theme will be ‘The Living Church’, reminding us that the church is really the people who meet here and not just the building. We shall explore the different roles within our church family and also consider the building and the various services that are held here.

Our challenge continues to be how we can grow the provision for the pre-school children and how we facilitate continuity and coherence for the young people who may attend regularly but not every week. One way in which the Pathfinders group (7-11years) is dealing with this is to follow 2 weeks on a theme and then a workshop session, which enables us to cover material twice but always in different ways eg drama, baking, etc. The outcomes seem to be positive and will be evaluated more fully at the end of the year.

Our overall aim continues to enable children and young people to grow in faith and the knowledge that they are loved by God, they are lovable, and they can love and care for others, following the example of Jesus, our Saviour. Sunday Club is a vital part of the whole church and, as always, we rely on your prayers and support. Janet Wales, Sunday Club co-ordinator

Messy Church

Our overall theme for Messy Church 2025 has been the Methodist Way of Life programme. We began in January with ‘Flourish’, thinking God’s world need to grow. We followed this with ‘Tell’ where we explored ways of passing on the good news about God and Jesus. December saw us undertaking ‘Messy Nativity’ when we concentrated on ways of showing ‘Love at Christmas’ without spending lots of money. January’s theme was centred on thinking about how we live and how that ought to draw others to Jesus. Our February meeting was in half-term, so we did a film and pizza! March centred on ‘Prayer’ and our WOW prayers certainly lived up to our name of Messy Church!

Future meetings include ‘Serve and Notice’ plus a Forest Messy Church.

This year we have used lanyards for our name badges and for each session attended we get a badge of that name.

Our Good Friday session will be open to everyone in the Church Family and will take place early on Good Friday Afternoon.

We do appreciate the prayer support of the Church family. We meet on the third Tuesday of each month.

Delma Whitman,

Messy Church Leader

Alternative Church

We have met monthly throughout the year at the Black Bull Pub. There are usually around 10-14 people who meet together. We have a great meal and Jane always leads a thought-provoking reflection, which is often themed around art and relates to the present world. We have welcomed 2-3 new people who now attend regularly. We also have people who come occasionally and welcome anyone who would like their meal made for them and chat about their faith in an informal way. If you would like to know more, please speak to Wendy Bennett or Jane. Wendy Bennett, Coordinator

Children and Young People

Youth and Family Work

Escape has an attendance of 20/25 youngsters of mixed age (8-11years) most weeks, activities include craft, table tennis, games, pool, archery, darts, badminton, music room and Lego, plus access to food and tuck shop.

3generate - six youngsters attended the full weekend and four went on the Saturday for the 4–7 year-old session. A good time was had by all. Some quotes from the weekend – “fun”, “tiring”, “lots to do”, “exciting”, “good experience”, “a must do”, “recommend going”, “best weekend ever”, “a bucket list thing for children”. Following on from this we held a circuit event at Fulwood called ‘Unleashed’ where we looked at what potential the youngsters have. With the help of Becca from ‘All We Can’, the weekend ended with the youngster’s helping take the Circuit Service. This year’s 3generate will be advertised very shortly.

Puppets – Lunchtime sessions have been run at Ribbleton Avenue on two occasions: Christmas and Easter – we usually have about 6 sessions with a group of 10 children to teach the basics of puppetry followed by an end of session assembly where they perform what they have practiced.

WLTDO (Who Let The Dads Out) is going well, even though numbers are small. The importance of men getting together and talking is essential and one of the objectives of the group. We once again held an open Christmas social for all.

Connexions is usually the 1[st] Sunday of each month, it is open to all, and we take a bible passage chat about it, answer questions, and build with Lego whilst having coffee and pastries.

Toddler group is very busy and continues to serve the community, during holiday’s it is always open as a coffee morning because we see the need for parents/carers to still get out. Many thanks.

Darren Arnold, Youth, Children’s & Family Worker.

Uniformed Organisations

Fulwood Guide Group

Rainbows

As a result of a recent recruitment drive by Lisa Wright, my co-leader, we now have 14 Rainbows. This is more members than we have had at any one time since before the pandemic. We maintain a strong relationship with the Brownie leaders and the majority of our Rainbows go on to join the Brownie pack.

Olivia Parkinson, who joined us last year as a Young Leader, has shown great commitment and has worked hard to achieve the adult leadership qualification. She will be able to be counted as a leader when she turns 18 later in the year. She is a great asset to our team.

Over the past 12 months the girls have gained a number of badges and in doing so have learned about first aid, ocean life and the negative impact of rubbish as well as dealing with emergencies. We also celebrate Christmas, Mothers’ and Fathers’ Days. Rev Jane will be joining us at the beginning of April to help us engage with the message of Easter. We are grateful for her input and support. At Christmas we enjoyed taking part in Strictly Nativity with the church family.

We have spaces in September so we would welcome enquiries from families of girls aged between 3yrs and 6yrs who could do on our waiting list until then.

Jayne Myatt, Rainbow Leader

Brownies

The Brownie Pack goes from strength to strength and has been full throughout the year. Spring term 2024 featured the Local History Badge with a guest presenter, followed by a noisy Burns night celebration (complete with a bagpiper). We had a circus themed sleepover at Fulwood Methodist Church, joint with another pack. The girls had a great time with the instructor, and we managed to give the church a sizeable donation. We have played lots of games, sung songs, had a science night and done plenty of crafts and activities during the term.

Summer 2024 saw some new starters and we were straight into preparations for our Pack Holiday at Waddecar Scout Camp at the beginning of May. Twenty-two girls from our pack had a great time doing archery, crate challenge and a number of water-based challenges to complete our “Under the Sea” theme. Back at our normal meetings we did more science, a dance challenge, a games night, a music night and completed the jobs badge (many thanks to the outside instructors who came in to share their expertise with the girls). In July we took part in a “Sporty Saturday” at UCLan Sports Arena with girls from across Preston North Division and we ended the term with a party.

A number of our girls moved up to Guides in the summer, but we also had several new starters in September so were still up to maximum numbers. The highlights of the autumn term were a visit from a representative of Lancashire Cricket Club who taught the girls some cricket skills, a Gold Award evening run by one of our senior Brownies, a visit to the Fire Station on Blackpool Road, the completion of 23 Christmas boxes for International Aid, a stall at the church Christmas Fair, a cinema trip to see ‘Moana 2’ and a disco with the Rainbows. These were in addition to our usual crafts, games and songs.

As of March 2025 we have 28 girls, 5 qualified leaders, 2 Unit helpers (who intend to become qualified leaders in due course), a Young Leader and a Brownie helper (a Guide who comes along to assist). We are very grateful to the volunteers who give up their time to make Brownies such an enjoyable experience for the girls. Diane Bird, Brownie Leader

Guides and Rangers

No report.

4th Fulwood Scout Group

Following on from the success of last year, it has been great to see each section continue t provide a fantastic and memorable experience for all our young people within the group. From section evenings to days and district/county events to camps, there has been lots of variety, which has provided an action-packed adventure.

This year we welcomed back our Family Camp which was held at Waddecar. The Camp was an action packed, fun filled weekend and all families who took part had a fantastic time. There was lots of activities and bases on offer and parents were also able to participate in all the activities on offer, such as: Archery, Canoeing, Kayaking and many more! The weather was also fantastic, which made the weekend even better! The camp was organised by Ketran, Section Leader with the Squirrels who did an excellent job of planning, organising the leading the camp and I’d like to thank Ketran from putting together such a memorable weekend.

Also returning this year, was Red Rose 2024. This was a special camp to celebrate 50 years of scouting within West Lancs. The weeklong camp, held at its usual location at Westmoreland Showground in Cumbria, hosted around 3,000 Scouts. We as a group were proud to take part, with 3 or our newly invested Scouts, who have only just moved up from Cubs attending for the full week, led by myself and the Preston district contingent. They had a fantastic and memorable experience taking part in all of what Red Rose had to offer, from adrenaline, aqua and culture trips out around the country. The Beavers and Cubs also joined us for a two-night mini’s camp, participating in the Mission to Mars theme and getting involved in all the onsite activities. We were also joined by the Squirrels on the Wednesday to take part in all the fun!

The group currently has 75 you people, which is a slight increase from last year. It is fantastic to see the group growing and thriving providing the skills and opportunities for all our young people to enjoy. Our waiting list also is beginning to fill up with those awaiting their new adventure and we aim to provide a place as quickly as possible.

The Trustee Board has continued to meet and approve big expenditure as well as liaise with the Group Lead volunteer as to where support is needed within the group. We continue to give thanks to the Church for providing us with a safe environment for our sections to meet and are grateful for the storage space we can use too. The leaders of our group are all awesome volunteers. Some are around every week, some less, but we value and thank them for the time and effort they put in every week.

Communications

We have a new church logo, which has been approved by the Church Council and is being implemented across church. This new logo seeks to present a more up-to-date image of our church community than the previous logo, which was considered to be exclusive.

We are still working on finding a tool which will allow good communication across the different groups using church during the week. After a trial period with the Leadership Team using Slack, it was decided that we would instead try to use WhatsApp and begin to add additional groups to the Fulwood WhatsApp community.

A meeting has taken place with Sue and Beryl who put together the church notices each week. Their work is vital and our thanks go to them for their time and effort. Several matters were raised for further consideration.

A similar meeting with those involved in putting together the church magazine has been suggested to seek areas for growth.

The large notice board adjacent to the Cedar Room has been proposed as a potential place to display key information about all the different activities happening in church across the week to encourage participation and information sharing. We are negotiating how to move forward with the uniformed organisations who currently have exclusive use of this board. Sonia Philips,

Leadership Steward for Communications

Outreach

The Outreach work in our church takes many forms and involves many volunteers. Some activities are the weekly, fortnightly or monthly events which take place throughout the year. Others are ‘one off’ fundraising or community involvement events. This year we have held an Orchestral Concert including a hot meal for over 130 people, the Christmas Fair, as well as providing the food for 100 people for the Advent Trail organized by Sunday Club. All of these events involved an enormous amount of time and effort from many people including, ticket sales stalls, and food preparation. Please consider offering your help when you hear of any of these types of events being organized. The more people who can help, even in small ways, makes it easier to make sure that a small amount of people do not experience ‘burn out’ or fatigue with all the extra responsibility.

We are pleased to say that throughout the winter months we have been part of the Lancashire County Council Warm Spaces initiative where people are welcome to come and share our warm space on all the days we are open. We were awarded two grants towards our fuel and food bills for taking part in the initiative.

A big thank you therefore to all those involved in bringing our church family and our local community together in this way. Some ideas for future projects would be an Art Club and using art as therapy, and a Games Evening as a family fundraising event. If you have any ideas for ways in which we could offer more activities for our church and community, please contact Karen Hunt. Karen Hunt,

Leadership Steward for Outreach

Tuesday Coffee

Each Tuesday from 10am-12noon the Church is open for Coffee and biscuits. There is a regular Alzheimer support group which meets to enjoy chat, drink tea and coffee and a browse around the New to You stall. All are welcome for this quieter session than the bustle of Welcome Wednesday the following day.

Welcome Wednesday

Welcome Wednesday is still going strong. We are seeing new people use our facilities every week. However, this is not always easy with the limited number of volunteers. Having lost two of our cooks, Alison and Katie, we were in desperate need of someone to step in and help out. That help came from Maggie and Barbara who work as a team on the cooking side. Maggie also helps as a hostess with the ‘New to You’ staff, such is her commitment. Eva also has some new helpers on our ‘New to You’ stalls, and this makes a huge difference to their workload. We are so lucky and fortunate to have such good quality items donated to our Church. Of course it is teamwork that makes it all passible: to sort, display and sell at very, very low prices.

Welcome Wednesday refreshment side is still very popular with great homemade scones, soup, crumbles and breakfast style lunches. Margaret, Delma, Martin and Sue take care of all the buying and catering side of things. We continue to uphold our 5-star rating certificate which is awarded by Preston City Council Health and Safety Department. This is compulsory for all catering establishments. Keeping our kitchen fit for purpose is not an easy task. Our cooks must know and carry out all Food Hygiene regulations, so we must remember when using the kitchen to respect these regulations and leave our kitchen as you find it.

It is so important that we keep our doors open to everyone. Providing a safe and welcoming environment. Many people have little or no connection with our Church but have heard of Welcome Wednesday and come along to check us out. It’s important that we listen to people if they want to talk and where we can offer help or suggest or guide a way that others may help.

So please keep us in your thought and prayers as we strive to welcome people into our Church premises.

Edna Armstrong Coordinator

Farmers’ Market

The Farmers’ Market continues to thrive on the 4[th] Saturday of every alternate month from January – November throughout each year. There are varying stalls of delicious foodstuffs, fairtrade goods, craft stalls, and our own New to You items are for sale too. Hot snacks and drinks are served from the kitchen and are always well received.

Interest Groups

WOW (Ladies group)

Wow is a source of support to the group. We don’t meet too often but keep in touch through WhatsApp. We have had a couple of sad times during the year where members have lost members of their family. When we get together, we have a lovely time catching up and this is often round a table creating crafts or a having a drink.

Over the years we have become friends and share the good and the sad times. If anyone would like to join the group, please speak to Wendy Bennett or Amanda Latham. Wendy Bennett Coordinator

Friends at Fulwood

This group was originally made up of ladies from Women's Fellowship and Ladies After 8. First called Tuesdays at Two and now changed last year to our present Friends at Fulwood. This was to reflect that all are welcome.

This year we have had a few new members with 30 now on our register and average attendance of 19 at our meetings. Tuesday at 2pm until around 4pm, with tea or coffee and biscuits to round off our meetings.

Our speakers have been varied from within our own church family, sharing their work or life experiences. Also, we have had recommended speakers from different walks of life, i.e. Ribble Valley River Trust; Age UK and First Aid at Home delivered by Andrea; Living with an Indian saint by Helen Frost.

Our Christmas meal was at St Catherine’s “The Mill Café” for Christmas Afternoon Tea. This was very well supported and an enjoyable outing. Jane drove the mini bus for us which helped enormously keeping the need for cars down to two. (However, we didn’t have a sing-song on the way back home which I was looking forward to!)

We still have some interesting speakers to come this programme. Hospital Imam; John Kay - Hollywood Stars and WW1; Terry Kilgarriff from Gambling Harms Alliance; before our AGM on the 27[th] May.

Can I encourage and invite new members to join us, we are a friendly lot and our subs are only £2 per session. Edna Armstrong, Secretary

AM Club

The AM Club meet on alternative Tuesdays between September and May. We gather between 10am and 10:15am for tea and biscuits before listening to a speaker at 10:30am for about 40 minutes.

Recent sessions have included talks on different travel destinations, Photography, Memorabilia, PNE Community Trust and Health related issues.

The difficulties are getting speakers to give us their time (some charging up to £50) also finding a variety of interests from the speakers. Our membership is declining with a maximum number of 18 attending with a scarcity of "younger, semi-retired men. This is a major worry for the future of the AM Club.

Dave Topping, Coordinator

Community Choir

We continued to meet every Wednesday evening from 7pm - 8:15pm.

Our range of songs is eclectic, varying in style of music ranging from Pop to music from the shows, interspersed with some country and folk songs. We do this to suit all our members from young to more senior.

Our attendance ranges from 10-20 although the winter nights do have an effect, 3 of our nonchurch members even come by taxi! We do encourage anyone who enjoys singing, (regardless of musical ability); sharing a smile or laughter is our priority. Dave Topping Co-ordinator

Flower Arrangers

We arrange the flowers in church every week and also on special occasions ie Easter, Christmas etc. Recently we have welcomed Ruth to the team, after an appeal in church. We said a big thank you and goodbye to Barry on his retirement after many years of service.

We continue to do our arrangements without the use of Oasis Flower Foam in accordance with our Eco Church values. We try to be as economical as possible with our arrangements especially for the major festivals and our creativity has flourished.

We welcome donations at any time and if you have a special occasion to celebrate, please contact one of the team.

Jan, Veronica, Janet, Delma, Ellen, and Ruth

Book Club

Our Church Book Club happily thrives: Fun, books and buns help us survive. A rich range of these Meets most of our needs, Even God seems sometimes surprised.

The Book Club meets in the Cedar Room at 7pm on the second Tuesday of each month. All are welcome - just turn up for fun and fellowship (and bickies). Only small brains required!! Watch out for next year’s programme, starting in September. Ken Wales Coordinator

Knitting Group

What a fantastic year for us. Lots of new members, old members returning and in general a very stable sociable and supportive group.

Our projects have included Minions, apples, Baptismal gifts, Christmas trees and ornaments and wait for it - Paddington Bears. We’ve made blankets which were donated to some Afghan Refugees. Over 300 poppies were crocheted and sold at Sharoe Green Post Office and Church so over £200 was sent to the Royal British Legion, the rest being donated to church funds. Items have continued to be made for and sold on our stall in Willow Grove. From all these activities, considerable sums have been raised as well as the profits from a very successful Christmas Afternoon Tea attended by many from our local community.

We have made specific donations to the following: General Church Funds, to 316 Band for specific equipment, Jean Dearnley’s nephew Graham to sponsor his Benidorm and back car race in aid of MS and others.

Our latest joint project is to knit/crochet tea cosies to be given away for National Tea Drinking Day on Easter Monday. Of course, our members continue to make things for themselves, friends and families and have a lot of fun doing it.

If you ever want to pop in to see what we do, have a cuppa, a laugh and a natter then come to Knitwits on Thursdays at 2pm. Veronica Frost and Jan Astley, Coordinators

Property and Finance

Property Group

The Property Group continue to meet regularly to ensure our buildings are managed and maintained to ensure we have a safe environment for our numerous building users. Over the past 12 months our membership has remained the same with all members playing an active role in the various responsibilities that rest with the group.

Our main item of expenditure since the last AGM has been the replacement of sensors for the Willow Grove porch front doors. An annual maintenance contract has also been entered into to ensure the doors remain trouble free! Items highlighted on the 5 year quinquennial inspection are being addressed and the 5 year electrical installation test didn’t throw up any significant issues. A programme of decoration work is being implemented and a number of volunteers have offered their time to help with these activities.

The insurance survey highlighted the need to regularly inspect all our ladders and stepladders and control their use. They have all been inspected, tagged and locked. If you need to use these items please contact any members of the Property Group or our Cleaner.

With new 2-year energy contracts in place, the costs are expected to fall from £19k in 2023/24 to about £17k for the year 2024/25 in spite of us using 2.6% more energy. That will still be £5.6k more than we paid in 2022/23. The building is being used more than last year with a number of new regular bookings.

The Group have also considered various ECO Church initiatives. A water butt has been installed and contact has been made with Community Energy Preston to consider the installation of photovoltaic panels. The firm are expanding into church work, but an installation would only be feasible if substantial grants were available.

The Group have also made contact with the Local Council as we are keen to work in partnership regarding the maintenance and use of the garden area at the crossroads.

A further area has been established in church to accommodate wheelchair and pram users and a further handrail has been fitted to assist with access to the chancel.

Thanks need to be expressed to our ‘Monday morning’ team who continue to keep our buildings in good order.

John Ferris

Chair of the Property Group

Report from the finance committee – July 2024

This report includes the following content:

2023-24 – General Fund
Designated funds
Restricted funds
External funds

General Funds

The table shows the movement in General Funds between 1 September 2023 and 30 November 2023. It also shows the full year budget against the actuals for last year.

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----- Start of picture text -----
Budget
2023-24 2022-23 2023-24
Bank balance b/f 21,035 33,961 21,003
Offerings and tax recovered 86,056 90,723 95,259
Gift aid 34,020 0 19,950
Interest 1,024 831 679
Lettings 6,515 7,001 7,351
Donations 12,624 7,957 8,355
Church Activities 25,320 26,398 27,718
Other receipts 537 763 802
Total income 166,094 133,674 160,113
Circuit assessment -92,106 -90,500 -96,000
Grants and donations -5,093 -3,265 -5,050
Utilities (Gas, Electric, Water,
-27,042 -19,934 -31,887
Insurance)
Repairs and Maintenance -3,800 -14,881 -6,378
Worship resources -2,292 -2,599 -2,760
Church Activities -6,723 -5,564 -5,842
Minibus -4,463 -2,444 -2,566
Hygiene and vermin services -2,392 -2,467 -2,590
Wages and salaries -11,878 -11,551 -12,129
Administration costs -995 -1,125 -1,307
Other payments -1,256 -1,228 -632
Total expenditure -158,040 -155,558 -167,142
Transfers -2,360 8,958 1,200
Movement in the year 5,694 -12,926 -5,829
Bank balance c/f 26,729 21,035 15,174
----- End of picture text -----

General Funds have increased by £5,694 since the start of the year. However, £19,053 of the Gift Aid related to 2022/23. If we adjust the figures for this Gift Aid, it would show that expenditure in 2023-24 actually exceeded income by £13,359

==> picture [207 x 94] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
2023-24 2022-23
Gen Fund b/f 40,088 33,961
Income 147,041 152,727
- -
Expenditure 158,040 155,558
Tansfers -2,360 8,958
-
Net change 13,359 6,127
Gen Fund c/f 26,729 40,088
----- End of picture text -----

This adjusted deficit of £13,359 is less than we budgeted as the increase in utilities was not as bad as feared. Also, the level of spending on repairs and maintenance was minimised. These savings were partly offset by costly repairs to the minibus.

In 2024/25 we expect income to be higher than expenditure, helping us rebuild the General Fund. This is due to a reduced Circuit Assessment. Assessments across the Circuit were halved to to enable us to deliver our Missions. WE can now focus on plans for each area of Church rather than worrying about money in the short term.

Longer term, however, the issue of annual income not covering expenditure will continue to be an area of focus for the Church Council. It is also a key area of discussion at Circuit level as we are not the only church in this position.

Designated Funds

These are general funds that have been set aside for a designated purpose as decided by Church Council.

	Balance b/f	Income	Expenditure	Transfers from general fund	Balance c/f
Special Project fund	7,318	0	0	0	7,318
Repairs and Maintenance	1,511	0	-636	1,500	2,375

We currently have no plans for the Special Project Fund.

As agreed at last church council we have transferred £1500 into a fund to for repairs and maintenance. This will be an annual transfer from General Fund to help us to smooth the impact of non-routine expenditure. In 2023-24, we used the fund to pay for new microphones.

Restricted Funds

We hold a number of funds which are separate from the general funds as their use is “restricted”. This is because the money has been raised for a specific purpose – or it belongs to one of our internal groups. We can only spend this money on the purpose for which it is held.

The movements on these balances are set out below – for information only. We hold this money in our Church Bank Account.

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----- Start of picture text -----
Transfers
Balance b/f Income Expenditure from general Balance
fund c/f
Benevolence fund 680 5 0 0 685
WOW 33 0 -20 0 13
Tuesdays at 2 562 935 -17 0 1,479
Youth club 2,818 150 -421 -300 2,246
Toddlers 218 0 0 0 218
Alphabites 50 0 -62 0 -12
Knitting club 1,164 2,426 -455 0 3,135
Building imp't fund 135 90 0 0 225
Church project fund 517 0 -1,000 1,457 974
Total 6,177 3,606 -1,976 1,157 8,964
----- End of picture text -----

10% of all net income from Church Activities is paid into the Church Project Fund. Every time the fund reaches £1000 we make a grant. In 2023-24 we made a grant to Cardiac Risk in the Young using the fund.

External Funds

We sometimes collect money on behalf of external organisations. We only hold the money temporarily until we pay it over to the external body. We pay funds over as soon as possible.

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----- Start of picture text -----
Bal B/fwd Income Paymenrts Bal c/fwd
All We Can (fomerly MRDF) 0 357 -357 0
MWiB 0 265 0 265
Action for children 0 197 -192 5
Total 153 1,225 -1,108 270
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CHURCH RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS

THE METHODIST CHURCH STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS

Fulwood Methodist

Church

FOR THE YEAR ENDED

31 August 2024

Circuit Circuit no. 21/11 1133929

Registered Charity - Charity Registration number

If not a registered charity His Majesty's Revenue and Customs Gift Aid number

(The HMRC number is equivalent to a registered charity number in terms of evidence of charitable status and may be used to give to donors or grant funders wishing to see evidence of the organisation's charitable status. Methodist charities in England and Wales that are not registered charities are excepted from registration under Statutory Instrument 2014 No.242)

	Treasurer: Angela Dunnett Sue Penrith Laura Pavlikova Margaret Squire Oladipo Adepoju Mavis Fletcher Rev Jane Wild Church Stewards: Minister: Karen Hunt Amanda Latham Sonia Phillips

Fulwood Methodist SOFA 2023-24

1 of 5

Church

ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024

Fulwood Methodist

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----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted Restricted Totals this Totals last
SECTION A Funds Funds year year
£ £ £ £
a1 RECEIPTS Note
a2 Offerings and Tax recovered 120,075 120,075 90,723
Bank and CFB interest and
a3 Investment income 1,024 1,024 831
a4 Lettings 6,515 6,515 7,001
a5 Other receipts 38,480 4,901 43,381 38,942
a6 TOTAL RECEIPTS 166,094 4,901 170,995 (a7) 137,497
SECTION B
b1 PAYMENTS
b2 Circuit Assessment or Share 92,106 92,106 90,500
b3 Donations 5,093 1,079 6,173 5,463
b4 Repairs and Maintenance 3,800 3,800 14,881
Utilities (Insurances, water
b5 charges, heating & lighting) 27,042 27,042 19,934
b6
b7 Other payments 29,999 1,532 31,531 27,273
b8 [TOTAL PAYMENTS ] 158,040 2,612 160,652 (b9) 158,051
SECTION C
NET RECEIPTS/PAYMENTS
c1 FOR THE YEAR (a6-b8) 8,054 2,289 10,342 (20,554)
Total funds brought forward from
last year
c2 21,035 15,006 36,040 (c6) 56,595
c3 Sub total (c1+c2) 29,089 17,294 46,383 36,040
c4 Transfers and adjustments (2,360) 2,360 (c7)
c5 [TOTAL FUNDS AT END OF YEAR ] (c3+c4) 26,729 19,654 46,383 (c8) 36,040 (c6)
SECTION D
FOR INFORMATION ONLY: MONEY RECEIVED AND PASSED ON TO EXTERNAL ORGANISATIONS
d (these amounts are not to be included in total receipts/payments figures £ £
d1 Balance brought forward from last year 153 604
d2 Offerings/Gifts - received for external organisations 2,832 3,205
d3 Offerings/Gifts - passed to external organisations 1,373 3,656
d4 BALANCE STILL TO BE PAID (d1+d2-d3) 1,612 153
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2 of 5

Fulwood Methodist SOFA 2023-24

Fulwood Methodist

Church

SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH COUNCIL

SECTION E Please follow the Guidance Notes to complete this page Summary of the Church accounts for the year ended 31 August 2024 and Internal Organisations reporting to the Church Council/Church Meeting. Note that the funds of an Internal Organisation would normally be Restricted funds unless it could be clearly shown that they could be used for any Methodist purpose. This section must be completed to arrive at the gross income and expenditure totals of the Church. If gross income exceeds the Accruals threshold, then the Accruals method of accounting AND A DIFFERENT FORM must be used to report the accounts (see Methodist website). Please refer to the guidance notes regarding transfers between the District and connected District Organisations.

==> picture [570 x 250] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
INTERNAL Net Receipts/ Opening
ORGANISATIONS Receipts Payments Payments Adjustments balances Closing balances
e1
e2
e3
e4
e5
e6
e7
Sub total of Internal
e8 Organisations funds (e11) (e12)
Church accounts (totals
brought forward from page
e9 2 - totals column) 170,995 (a7) 160,652 (b9) 10,342 (c7) 36,040 (c6) 46,383 (c8)
TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD
e10 BY CHURCH 170,995 160,652 10,342 36,040 (x) 46,383 (y)
Continue on a separate sheet TOTAL
if necessary and bring the TOTAL RECEIPTS
PAYMENTS
totals forward
----- End of picture text -----

SECTION F

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 g1 g2 g3 g4 g5	CHURCH - CASH FUNDS HELD at 31 August 2024 SECTION G OTHER ASSETS and LIABILITIES Other Assets Cash in hand Bank Current Account Bank Deposit Account Land & Buildings (see notes re Insurance value) SUB TOTAL - Church accounts Loan(s) - show amount outstanding at year end TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH Central Finance Board Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes Other funds Other Liabilities Total funds held by Internal Organisations (the closing balance total from above) (e12) Investments (include Endowments)	OPENING BALANCES 55 11 27,896 7,641 437 36,040 (c6) (e11) 36,040 (x) At 1 September 2023 1,015 TBC TBC	CLOSING BALANCES 33 18 39,193 6,703 437 46,383 (c8) (e12) 46,383 (y) At 31 August 2024 1,015 TBC TBC

f4 Include only Funds held at the Central Finance Board f5 Include only Funds held at Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes

g1 Include any other investments (not the cash element of TMCP trusts accounts this is included in line f5

3 of 5

Fulwood Methodist SOFA 2023-24

Name of Church …………………………………………………………… No………..

Declarations and Scrutiny

I confirm that these Receipt and Payment based accounts for the year to 31 August 2024 have been prepared from the records of the Church and that they include all funds under the control of the Church trustees.

Signature of treasurer ……………………………………………………… Date……………………..

Name and address of treasurer ………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………. Post Code………………

Presentation to the Church trustees

I confirm that the annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 August 2024 were/will be* presented to the meeting of the Church trustees held on ……………..

Signature of the Chair of the meeting ……………………………………………………………………

Name of the Chair of the meeting …………………………………………… Date ……………………

Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of the

……………………..……………………..Church

Charity Number …………..

Responsibilities and basis of report

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the …………………………………. Church for the year ended 31 August 2024 set out on pages … to …. As the Church’s trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

I report in respect of my examination of the Church’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and, in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

delete or circle as appropriate

4 of 5

Fulwood Methodist SOFA 2023-24

Name of Church ………………………………………………………………………… No ………….

Independent Examiner’s Statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that disclosed below*) which give me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act; or
the accounts do not accord with the accounting records.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

I have/have not* obtained independent verification of all investments with the Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes or held in other trusts, bank balances and funds at the Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church which are individually in excess of £10,000 (ten thousand pounds) at the balance sheet date.

Signature of independent examiner ………………………………………………………………….

Name of independent examiner ……………………………………………………………………….

Relevant professional qualification of independent examiner ………………………………………

Name of firm (where appropriate) ………………………………………………………………………

Address …………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………….. Post Code ………………

Date …………………………………………

delete or circle as appropriate

Form Reviewed Aug-24

Fulwood Methodist SOFA 2023-24

5 of 5

CHURCH RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS

THE METHODIST CHURCH STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS

Fulwood Methodist

Church

FOR THE YEAR ENDED

31 August 2024

Circuit Circuit no. 21/11 1133929

Registered Charity - Charity Registration number

If not a registered charity His Majesty's Revenue and Customs Gift Aid number

	Treasurer: Angela Dunnett Sue Penrith Laura Pavlikova Margaret Squire Oladipo Adepoju Mavis Fletcher Rev Jane Wild Church Stewards: Minister: Karen Hunt Amanda Latham Sonia Phillips

Fulwood Methodist SOFA 2023-24

1 of 5

Church

ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024

Fulwood Methodist

==> picture [573 x 712] intentionally omitted <==

2 of 5

Fulwood Methodist SOFA 2023-24

Fulwood Methodist

Church

SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH COUNCIL

==> picture [570 x 250] intentionally omitted <==

SECTION F

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6 f7 f8 f9 g1 g2 g3 g4 g5	CHURCH - CASH FUNDS HELD at 31 August 2024 SECTION G OTHER ASSETS and LIABILITIES Other Assets Cash in hand Bank Current Account Bank Deposit Account Land & Buildings (see notes re Insurance value) SUB TOTAL - Church accounts Loan(s) - show amount outstanding at year end TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH Central Finance Board Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes Other funds Other Liabilities Total funds held by Internal Organisations (the closing balance total from above) (e12) Investments (include Endowments)	OPENING BALANCES 55 11 27,896 7,641 437 36,040 (c6) (e11) 36,040 (x) At 1 September 2023 1,015 TBC TBC	CLOSING BALANCES 33 18 39,193 6,703 437 46,383 (c8) (e12) 46,383 (y) At 31 August 2024 1,015 TBC TBC

f4 Include only Funds held at the Central Finance Board f5 Include only Funds held at Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes

g1 Include any other investments (not the cash element of TMCP trusts accounts this is included in line f5

3 of 5

Fulwood Methodist SOFA 2023-24

Name of Church …………………………………………………………… No………..

Declarations and Scrutiny

Signature of treasurer ……………………………………………………… Date……………………..

Name and address of treasurer ………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………. Post Code………………

Presentation to the Church trustees

I confirm that the annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 August 2024 were/will be* presented to the meeting of the Church trustees held on ……………..

Signature of the Chair of the meeting ……………………………………………………………………

Name of the Chair of the meeting …………………………………………… Date ……………………

Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of the

……………………..……………………..Church

Charity Number …………..

Responsibilities and basis of report

delete or circle as appropriate

4 of 5

Fulwood Methodist SOFA 2023-24

Name of Church ………………………………………………………………………… No ………….

Independent Examiner’s Statement

the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act; or
the accounts do not accord with the accounting records.

Signature of independent examiner ………………………………………………………………….

Name of independent examiner ……………………………………………………………………….

Relevant professional qualification of independent examiner ………………………………………

Name of firm (where appropriate) ………………………………………………………………………

Date …………………………………………

delete or circle as appropriate

Form Reviewed Aug-24

Fulwood Methodist SOFA 2023-24

5 of 5

2024-08-31-accounts

Dear Friends

Church Activity Reports

Learning and Caring

Pastoral

Learning

Worship

Sunday Club

Messy Church

Alternative Church

Children and Young People

Youth and Family Work

Uniformed Organisations

Fulwood Guide Group

Rainbows

Brownies

Guides and Rangers

4th Fulwood Scout Group

Communications

Outreach

Tuesday Coffee

Welcome Wednesday

Farmers’ Market

Interest Groups

WOW (Ladies group)

Friends at Fulwood

AM Club

Community Choir

Flower Arrangers

Book Club

Knitting Group

Property and Finance

Property Group

Report from the finance committee – July 2024

General Funds

Designated Funds

Restricted Funds

External Funds

CHURCH RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS

THE METHODIST CHURCH STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS

Fulwood Methodist

31 August 2024

Registered Charity - Charity Registration number

ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024

Fulwood Methodist

SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH COUNCIL

SECTION F

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

Declarations and Scrutiny

Presentation to the Church trustees

Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of the

……………………..……………………..Church

Charity Number …………..

Responsibilities and basis of report

Independent Examiner’s Statement

CHURCH RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS

THE METHODIST CHURCH STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS

Fulwood Methodist

31 August 2024

Registered Charity - Charity Registration number

ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024

Fulwood Methodist

SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH COUNCIL

SECTION F

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

Declarations and Scrutiny

Presentation to the Church trustees

Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of the

……………………..……………………..Church

Charity Number …………..

Responsibilities and basis of report

Independent Examiner’s Statement