2021-08-31-accounts

Sherwood Methodist Church (Registered charity, number 1133934) Financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2021

Page	Contents
2 - 5	Trustees’ annual report
6	Independent examiner’s report
7	Receipts & payments account
8	Statement of assets & liabilities
9 - 10	Notes to the accounts

Sherwood Methodist Church Trustees’ annual report for the year ended 31 August 2021

Full name Sherwood Methodist Church

Registered charity number 1133934

Principal address

Sherwood Methodist Church, Devon Drive, Sherwood, Nottingham, NG5 2EN

Trustees

Rev. John Wiseman John Saxton Robert Thomas, Treasurer David Slinger Paul Lewis, Secretary Rachel Tavener Anthony Brunt Katherine Thomas Marguerite Carter Gregory White Robert Chandler Colin Wignall Jane Lewis Richard Cooper Alice McGregor Jane Edwards Brenda Nix Josephine Williams Stephen Paling Julie Compton Robert Rattigan Thomas Boakye

Independent examiner

John O’Brien, employee of Community Accounting Plus, Units 1 & 2 North West, 41 Talbot Street, Nottingham, NG1 5GL

Governance and management

The charity is operated under the rules of its Deed of Union (1932) and The Methodist Church Act (1976).

Some trustees are appointed by being approved into specific positions of office by either the General Church Meeting or the Church Council; other trustees are elected from the church membership at the General Church Meeting.

Objectives and activities

The purposes of the Methodist Church are the advancement of:

• The Christian faith in accordance with the doctrinal standards and the discipline of the Methodist church;

• Any charitable purpose for the time being of any connexional, district, circuit, local or other organisation of the Methodist church;

• Any charitable purpose for the time being of any society or institution subsidiary or ancillary to the Methodist church;

• Any purpose for the time being of any charity being a charity subsidiary to the Methodist church.

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Sherwood Methodist Church

Public benefit statement

The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit, 'Charities and Public Benefit'.

Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit

• Offer a wide variety of acts of public worship. These include; traditional, contemporary, reflective, All Age, communion services and worship associated with our Messy Church at various times during the week, with the main 10.30am worship attracting a congregation of approx. 85;

• Pre pandemic more than 12 different groups for children and young people met regularly (almost all weekly) at the church, providing for their spiritual and developmental needs. We are hopeful that many of these groups will restart in the New Year, restrictions permitting;

• At least 10 groups comprising of over 70 adults met regularly (almost all weekly) for discussion, prayer and fellowship;

• Events were organised to focus on specific needs and charities, operating locally or world-wide, and money raised to support their work;

• Pre pandemic more than 45 groups were hosted at the church, providing for a wide variety of local needs, e.g. Alcoholics Anonymous, Sharing Sherwood, guide dog trainers, healthy eating group, ME support group, Congolese congregation, Ghanaian Fellowship, 2 parent & toddler groups, craft group, knit and natter (making prayer shawls). Again it is hoped that many of these groups will restart in the New Year, restrictions permitting;

• The church premises are made available for the local community to hire at modest rates for social gatherings, with children’s birthday parties being the most popular;

• As a Christian body we encourage and embrace diversity. This is demonstrated by the wide range of our community in terms of age (1yr-100yrs), physical ability and ethnic background (Congolese Congregation and Ghanaian Fellowship) who regularly attend activities and worship at our church;

• The church relies on and receives tremendous levels of voluntary support from members and friends so that its ministry and service to the community can be delivered at the level that it is;

• A number of church members are actively involved in the meetings and work of Nottingham Citizens, a multi faith and multi-agency group that campaigns on subjects and issues of social justice on behalf of the residents of Nottingham;

• Through the provision of training to appropriate volunteers and staff, the church is able to maintain its high level of commitment to the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults.

These activities benefit the public as follows :

• This section has been completed to give a picture of the church life pre-pandemic. At present some of these activities are suspended due to Covid-19 restriction but it is hoped that many will recommence once the situation returns more to normal: As one of the largest Christian faith congregation within the community of Sherwood, SMC provides the major focus in the local community for the spiritual needs and development of local people;

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Sherwood Methodist Church

• By actively promoting values of inclusiveness and tolerance, SMC encourages the enhancement of integration within the local community and the minimisation of conflict;

• By making its building available at modest cost to the wider public and local groups SMC enables community groups to function and flourish and provides a centre for community activities;

• By its support for people in need, such as through the Food Bank, it helps reduce the impact of poverty in the neighbourhood.

Summary of the main achievements during the period

• Like all churches our activities during the past 12 months have been dramatically affected by the Covid-19 pandemic which has forced the closure of our building for worship and use by community groups for a large part of this period;

• The church has played a central role in providing paper worship material not just for our own members but also across the circuit. This has included 350 printed acts of worship each week that have been delivered/posted to our members. These acts of worship have also been available on our circuit website as well as being distributed by our extensive email links;

• Zoom worship has also been used extensively, not just to allow people to worship together in a virtual space but also to share fellowship and keep in touch with each other. This has also been used for House groups and to offer various quizzes during lockdowns;

• Our Junior Church team worked tirelessly to provide a safe space in which our children/teenagers could meet to continue their faith journey and also to maintain friendship links;

• We provided worship material specific to Advent and Lent across the circuit including a guided walk for Holy Week in the local Woodthorpe Park that was used by six ecumenical partners in the Sherwood/Carrington area;

• The church has devised and begun to implement a new Mission plan for the church, originating out of an extended house group that met on Zoom throughout the summer. This has been launched and implemented;

• Our church has been used throughout the pandemic as a drop-off point for collections for our local food bank. This has helped to maintain our link with the local community and also to assist those struggling with food poverty;

• Together with several other local churches, members of our community set up and ran a food initiative called Nourish which provided freshly cooked meals to those in the community who were struggling with isolation/food poverty;

• As we have been able to open up, we have done so in a safe and Covid secure way, enabling several of our groups to recommence their activities back in the building;

• As a church, we continue to reach out into a community to be a visible sign of God’s grace and love. We are an active part of Nottingham Citizens and are currently engaging with their three areas of concern;

• As part of our creative outreach we have continued to improve our Quiet Garden to offer a space of refuge and reflection for members of the local community and have attempted to utilise our roadside notice boards to offer messages of hope and light during what have been dark and difficult times for all.

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Sherwood Methodist Church

Financial review

The financial position appears to be strong, even though the income from lettings has been greatly reduced since March 2020 by the closure of the building following Government restrictions due to Covid-19. This has been offset by a reduction in building maintenance costs during the closure.

The charity’s policy on reserves

The church’s policy on reserves is to aim to hold a level of uncommitted free reserves equating to six months of General Fund expenditure. These reserves are held in case of unbudgeted expenditure on repairs to property, replacement of damaged or faulty equipment, or additional investment in church activities and initiatives. Reserves are also required in case of a short term shortfall in income. The policy is reviewed annually.

Financial risks

Reduction in income due to members leaving or having reduced circumstances, or an increase in outgoings which are most likely to be due to unexpected repairs to buildings or equipment. Income from letting the building to community groups normally forms a large proportion of income, but this will be greatly reduced for an unknown period of time due to user groups ending or finding other premises during the closure of the building during the Covid-19 lockdown period.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:

Signed ______ Date _ John Wiseman, Trustee

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Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Sherwood Methodist Church for the year ended 31 August 2021

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Sherwood Methodist Church (the charity) for the year ended 31 August 2021.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the trustees of the charity 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 charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 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.

Independent examiner’s statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or

2. the accounts do not accord with those 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.

Signed ____ Date _______ John O’Brien MSc, FCCA, FCIE Employee of Community Accounting Plus

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Sherwood Methodist Church Receipts & payments account for the year ended 31 August 2021

2020 Total Unrestricted Funds Funds £ Note £ Receipts 93084 Grants & donations 2 76281 16000 Gifts & legacies 4000 27 Fundraising & events 20 16529 Lettings 2025 372 Coffee bar 6 901 Bank interest 219 4710 Sundry income 3861 131623 Total receipts 86412 Payments 696 Accountancy fees 708 150 Benevolence fund expenditure - 5756 Cleaner's wages 5897 924 Cleaning materials 119 10405 Donations 6470 - Encounter groups 44 - Equipment, repairs & renewals 1300 33 Family worker expenses - 6166 Family worker wages - 228 Hospitality & coffee bar - 2452 Insurance 2458 709 Licences & music, worship resources 728 381 Messy & junior church activities 38 49000 Nottingham East Circuit Contribution 44492 - Outreach 110 8064 Premises maintenance & improvements 3323 286 Publicity 197 3854 Stationery/photocopying/IT 3644 413 Sundry expenditure 215 390 Training 40 6508 Utilities 4631 6500 VFX Project 7000 102915 Total payments 81414 28708 Net receipts/(payments) 4998 66465 Cash funds at start of this period 90922 95173 Cash funds at end of this period 95920

2021 Restricted Total Funds Funds £ £ 115 76396 - 4000 - 20 - 2025 - 6 - 219 150 4011 265 86677 - 708 - - - 5897 - 119 10 6480 - 44 - 1300 - - - - - - - 2458 - 728 - 38 - 44492 - 110 - 3323 - 197 - 3644 - 215 - 40 - 4631 - 7000 10 81424 255 5253 4251 95173 4506 100426

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Sherwood Methodist Church Statement of assets and liabilities at 31 August 2021

2020			2021
£	Cash assets	Note	£
95173	Bank accounts		100426
95173			100426
	Other monetary assets
27461	Debtors & prepayments	4	18709
27461			18709
	Assets retained for the charity’s own use
	Land & buildings at insured value £2,350,000.
	Other assets at a cost of £152,430.
	Chairs purchased June 2016, cost £5,747.
	Data projector purchased October 2016, cost £1,494.
	Defibrillator purchased August 2017, cost £780.
	Seating purchased May 2018, cost £1,489.
	Chairs purchased January 2019, cost £534.
	Storage units purchased September 2020, cost	£1,300.
	Liabilities
(2935)	Creditors	5	(1032)
(2935)			(1032)

These financial statements are accepted on behalf of the charity by:

Signed _____ Dated _____ Robert Thomas, Trustee

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Sherwood Methodist Church Notes to the accounts for the year ended 31 August 2021

1. Receipts & payments accounts

Receipts and payments accounts contain a summary of money received and money spent during the period and a list of assets and liabilities at the end of the period. Usually, cash received and cash spent will include transactions through bank accounts and cash in hand.

2. Grants & donations

Unrestricted £ Gift Aid 18228 Sundry donations 58053 76281 Funds analysis Opening balance £ Unrestricted funds General fund 23818 Gifts & legacies 67104 90922 Restricted Benevolence fund - Collections for external funds - Family worker 4251 4251	Restricted £ - 115 115 Receipts £ 82271 4141 86412 105 10 150 265	Total £ 18228 58168 76396 (Payments) £ (73030) (8384) (81414) - (10) - (10)	Closing balance £ 33059 62861
			95920
			105 - 4401
			4506

3. Funds analysis

The Benevolence Fund is for the purpose of holding funds given or designated to be used for the benefit of people in financial need.

The Collections for external funds are funds collected by us specifically for other bodies until we have sent those funds on to those bodies.

The Family worker fund is for the purpose of holding funds designated to support the family worker.

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Sherwood Methodist Church

4. Debtors & prepayments

Grants & donations - Gift Aid Insurance Licences & music, worship resources Nottingham East Circuit contribution Premises maintenance & improvements Stationery/photocopying/IT Sundry income Utilities Creditors Independent examination Premises maintenance & improvements Utilities	£ 3934 1380 476 11018 384 63 1104 350
	18709
	£ 708 135 189
	1032

5. Creditors

6. Trustees’ remuneration

Trustees received no expenses, remuneration or benefits in this period.

7. Related party transactions

There were no related party transactions during the year.

8. Glossary of terms

Creditors: These are amounts owed by the charity, but not paid during the accounting period.

Debtors: These are amounts owed to the charity, but not received in the accounting period.

Prepayments: These are services that the charity has paid for in advance, but not used during the accounting period.

Restricted funds: These are funds given to the charity, subject to specific restrictions set by the donor, but still within the general objects of the charity.

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