Oundle Baptist Church Accounts and Trustees Report Year ended 31st December 2024
Introduction Oundle Baptist Church is a registered charity. charity number 1134043 which, as stated in the Charities Act 2011, is not required to produce a full annual report, but must submit a Trustees Annual Report and Accounts, the latter of which must be independently checked. The accounts have been compiled using the cash accounting method and the information provided here is for general purposes only. The Trustees Annual Report on the activities of the church fellowship in 2022 is incorporated into the body of this report. The trustees of the church during this year have changed and the current detai15 are set out below. Minister The Rev Martin Hi115 was called to the pastorate in October 2016 The Trustees The following trustees were in post at 31" December 2024 Rev Martin Hills (Minister) David Gent as Secretary Juliet Lamar as Treasurer Jane McDonald Served as trustee but retired on 161 November 2024 after competing 3 years of service Michael Brookes Robin Croxon Church Office The church office is located at I, St Osyth's Lane, Oundle PE8 48G in premises which were purchased to serve as a community outreach centre, shared with the church office. All correspondence from the charivs banks 15 currently addressed to the treasurer at I, St Osyth's Lane, Oundle PE8 48G Affiliatlon The church is a full member of The Baptist Union of Great Britain and is also a member of the Evangelical Alliance Bankers The church maintains two accounts with Santander plc, Bridle Road, Merseyside, L30 4GB and a deposit account with the Baptist Union Corporation Ltd, Baptist House, PO Box 44, 129 Broadway. Didcot, OXII 8RT
Independent Examiners The church is required to have its accounts independently examined and for this purpose it has appointed Mr Graham Darbourne of TC Group, The Old Town Hall, Market Place. Oundle, PE8 48A. Reserves Policy The trustees are aware that the income of the church is heavily dependent upon voluntary giving which can be variable. The trustees continually monitor the level of giving and expenditure and seek to try to maintain resenies that would equate to approximately two months of known expenditure. The resenies at the end of 2024 are in excess of the amount but the trLtstees consider it prudent to maintain reserves at a higher level as the regular income of the church is heavily dependent on members who are over 70 years of age Mission statement The mission statement of the church is- Connecting to: Jesus Each other Our communities
Overvlew of the year In the year 2024, the church continued meeting in-person as well as providing an online option through Zoom to allow the inclusion of not only church family who were unwell or preferred not to mix with others, but also individuals who had become part of the congregation online. We are grateful to our minister and members and friends who have provided technical support as well as participating in the services. The church also has a very active pastoral care team who assisted the minister in offering and providing pastoral support as needs arose. Outside of Sunday worship service, OBC continued to offer many opportunities for engagement, corporate prayer, and Bible study as well as outreach to the greater Oundle community. - The small-group network in the church called 'Connect Groups, continued to meet weekly either online via zoom and/or in-person for Bible study and prayer support. In 2024 the monthly 'Beathing Space. event held at Oundle Methodist Church came to an end and we are looking at new ways to involve the church family in prayer and reflection. Engage, a twice monthly youth club, continued to run on Friday evenings at Oundle Methodist. We have seen numbers grow from 2 to 14 young people in the year. Stitchat, a twice monthly sewing and social gathering, continued to run on Mondays at OBCS No.1 facility. A Jigsaw exchange club was also piloted at No.1 during 2024 alongside Stitchat but low levels of support saw the pilot come to an end. Between January and March we ran a 'Bereavement Journey Group. with 12 participants. The group was held at St Peter's Church and was run in conjunction with a team from St Peters. - Walk Through the Bible. a two-day exploration course, was hosted by OBC in mid-march at Oundle Primary School, providing an engaging and fun overview of the Old Testament and was followed by a shared meal and evening entertainment. Our voluntary Children and Families worker, appointed in 2020, continued to be active in the community, hosting a weekly 'tots' group and term time after school clubs in both Laxton Junior School 'Quest Club, and Oundle Primary School 'Bible Heroes,. She was also heavily involved in the provision of activities for the children attending the church seniices week by week. Our Ukrainian outreach effort, started in 2022, continued to provide support and encouragement to a large group of refugees and their sponsor families. As the year progressed it became obvious that the drop-in facility and immediate support needs had changed and the group disbanded but online support is still available as needed. In-person church members, meetings were held every bi-monthly in 20243, primarily at the Oundle Methodist Church and occasionally immediately following the Sunday worship Service, to address matters arising and enable in-person voting in accordance with Baptist Union regulations. Leadership team meetings were held on second Tuesday evenings at No.1 and occasionally on Saturdays to provide longer focus days. th The leaders (trustees) also held a prayer meeting for an hour each week on the 1st , 3rd , and 4 Tuesdays, with the meeting on the 1st also open to the church family.
Independent Examinerfs Report to the Trustees of Oundle Baptist Church I report on the accounts of Oundle Baptist Church, charity number 1134043, for the year ended 31 December 2024. Res ective res onsibilities of trustees and examiner The Charitys Trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The Charit¢s Trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act), and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to: examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act. follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commission {under section 145151(bl of the Charities Act); and state whether particular matters have come to my attention. Basls of Independent examlnerfs report My examination was carried out in accordan with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the Charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as 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 examinerfs statement In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention: 11) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respect, the Trustees have not met the requirements to ensure that: proper accounting records are kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act. and accounts are prepared which agree with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act: or {21 to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Graham Darbourne TC Group The Old Town Hall, Market Place, Oundle, Peterborough, PE8 4BA Date: .
Statement of Financial Activities Year to 31st December 2024 Unre5trirted funds Designated funds Total Funds 2024 Total Funds 2023 Income Incoming resources from generated funds (Note l) Donations and legacies (Note 1,3) 3,500 80,760 87,404 97,030 Gift Aid (Note 1,31 Other income Total incoming resources 13,104 1.727 95,591 277 13,381 1,727 102,512 11,937 780 113,247 6.921 Expenditure Ministry (Note 4) No I building (Note 9) Administration (Note 8) Other Ministries (Note 7) 49,076 5.102 20.844 3,784 49,076 5,102 20,844 3,784 45,056 6.319 17,017 2,001 Worship (Note 5) Giving To Others (Note 61 Disaster Fund {Notes l & 10) Fellowship Fund (Notes l & 11) Buildings Fund {Notes l & 12) No. l Roof Fund (Notes 1 &12) Ukrainian Refugee Fund (Notes I &14) Equipment Fund (Notes 1&14) Agency Fund (Notes 1 & 15) Total expendlture 9,048 10,438 9,048 10.438 I,0 1,593 8,695 7,801 9,107 1,250 2,400 5,540 28,332 3,735 1,593 8,695 299 299 8,345 2.350 22.282 8,345 2,350 120.573 98.292 128,558 Net income / expenditure {2.701) (15,361} (18.061) {15,311) Transfers between funds General fund (note 14) Disasters Fund Ukraine Fund Equipment Fund Net Movement in Funds I9.0} 19,0001 4,589 14,589) 4.589 14,589) (9,000) Net Income After Transfer Total funds brought forward (11,701) 685.067 16.361) 20,036 {18,061) 705,104 (15,3111 720,415 Total funds carried forward 673.336 13,676 687.042 705,104.
Balance Sheet 2024 2023 Fixed Assets Notes 7 Wentworth Drive I St Osyth's Lane Total Fixed Assets 340.000 340,0 280,000 280,000 620,000 620,000 Current Assets Santander current a/c Santander savings alc BU Deposit a/c I BU Oeposit a/c 2 BU Deposit 3mth Cash Total Current assets 2,340 42,287 30,055 33,832 10,547 10,548 22,367 48 122 85104 Net Current Assets 67.042 85,104 TOTAL ASSETS 687.042 705.104 Represented by Unrestricted General Fund Designated Building Disasters Equipment Fund Fellowship Fund Restricted Ukrainian Refugees Agency Fund TOTAL These accounts have been approved by the Trustees 673,366 685,067 2,392 6,001 1,655 3.371 11,087 654 3,408 4,888 257 687,042 705104 Rev. Martin Hills Minister and Trustee Date: Ms Juliet Lamar Treasurer and Trustee
Fund Balances Opening Incoming Outgoing Transfers Gains/losses Closlng Unrestricted Funds General Fund Sub-totsl for Unrestricted Funds 685.067 685.067 95,591 95.591 98,292 98.292 (9,0001 (9,(100) (11,701) (11,701) 673,366 673,366 Designated and Restricted funds Bui Iding Oisasters Fund Fellowship Fund Ukrainian Refugees Equipment Fund Agency Fund Sub-total designated and restrirted funds 11,087 654 3,408 4,888 8,695 1,000 1,593 299 8345 2,350 22,282 (8,6951 5,348 (371 (4,888) 1,655 256 (6.361) 2,392 6,001 3,371 1,758 1,556 4,589 (4,589) 1655 256 13,676 2,606 6,920 20,037 TOTAL ALL 705,104 102,512 120.574 (18.062) 687,042
Report and notes to the Accounts l. Accounting Policie5 These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Charity SORP (FRS102) and the Charities Acts of 1993 and 2011. They have been based on a historic cost convention. Incoming and outgoing resources have been recorded on a receipts and payments basis as at 31, December 2024. The general fund operates to receive the general donations to the church and to meet the normal running expenses. There are a number of designated funds as follows: Dlsaster Fund- this fund enables the church to make a rapid response to provide financial support in cases of national and international emergencies. Fellowship Fund- this fund has been available for a number of years to allow the Minister to provide funds to individuals for urgent needs within the wider church familv. Building Fund- This fund is available to meet the costs of work on the two buildings owned by the church Ukrainian Refugee Fund-Thi5 fund was established to help finance support work for Ukrainian refugees who had settled in the area. That work has now been concluded and the church members agreed at a meeting on 17 November 2024 that the balance of funds should be transferred to the Disaster Fund to enable the church to respond to other situations. Equipment Fund- it was agreed that fund5 should be made available to fund the purchase of new sound equipment to enhance the worship at Oundle Primary School and the trustees therefore set aside £9,000 from the surplus accruing in 2023 for that purpose. In addition to the purchase of sound equipment the fund has also been used to purchase a new printer for the church office. Agency Fund- from time to time members make donations to the church which are to be passed on to other charities. These pass into a re5trirted fund in accordance with HMRC guidance on Gift Aid. Where appropriate Gift Aid or GASDS is claimed on the donation and this is also passed on to the recipient charity. 2. Property The church owns two properties- the manse at 7 Wentworth Drive and the community building at No I St Osyths Lane. These are both shown in the accounts at historical cost. 3. Donations The church is entirely dependent on voluntary giving to fund its activities. It receives no funding from any external source. A number of members make regular payments by standing order and the Trustees are grateful to them for enabling a core of funding to be available. Many of the regular donors are taxpayers and the church is able to recover tax under the Gift Aid scheme. Additional funds come from ad hoc donations from members arid friends of the church and congregation and from the cash offering that is taken up as a part of weekly worship. A card machine was purchased in this year and this enables contactless payments to be made at Sunday seriice5 and other gatherings. The
Government's Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme IGASDS) has enabled a further sum to be received in respect of both the cash offerings and contactless payments of £30 or less. The trustees are aware that many of the regular donors are aged over 70 and future income is by no means certain. The trustees are aware that new younger givers will be required by the church to secure financial security. 4. Ministry Rev Martin Hills who was appointed to the ministry of the church in 2016 has continued to lead the church. and the trustees are grateful for his leadership and for the development of the vision of the church during the year. The Trustees also wish to express their thanks to his wife. Carita, for her support of Martin. The employerfs NIC payments have been covered by the government's Employment Allowance. The church continues to pay pension contributions into the defined contributions scheme with The Baptist Union Pension Fund in respect of Martin, and he also makes contributions each month. The church provides the Minister with funds to make payments to those who may be in need from the Fellowship Fund. The church is responsible for the council tax, water rates and building insurance on the manse. During the work further work was done at the manse and this has been dealt with through the Buildings Fund (see note 12) The expenditure under this head comprised the following: Ministry Expenditure 2024 2023 Employment Costs comprising: Salary Employer's pension cost Expenses Manse expenditure Training and conferences Other expenses MINISTER COST 37.182 4,479 1,349 4,434 1,032 600 34,364 3,991 4,424 425 1,851 45,055 49.076 5. Worship and teaching Being able to meet together for regular worship is an essential part of being a church and is a key part of our mission statement in enabling us to connect to each other and to Jesus. We meet each week at Oundle Primary School and we are grateful to the Head Teacher for making this facility available. Services are mainly conducted by our minister, but other members have been encouraged to take serlices. The services are usually aimed at all ages but separate activities are held for children on a regular basis. Sunday worship is in person and also available online through Zoom. 10
Times of prayer are held before the service each Sunday. With few exceptions, we have been able to have a social time over coffee/tea, usually before the service. Once a month we also have 'soup Sunday, whereby we share some home-made soups and bread to fellowship together. It is necessary to set up the hall before the service and set down aftenKards. We are very grateful for the people who do this. For some time we have encountered problems in making the PA and av system in the hall work satisfactorily. A decision was taken at the start of the year to make funds available to purchase the equipment necessary to resolve the problems and this has now been done (Note 14). We are grateful to the Small team that has put this equipment together and to those who run it each week. Most members of the church family also meet in 'connect groups. during the week for study, prayer and social times The main areas of expenditure under this heading were as follows: Worship and Teaching Expenditure 2024 2023 Premises hire 6,449 687 4964 Events 821 Equipment Licences 180 424 840 874 Refreshments 467 450 Resources 425 268 TOTAL 7801 6. Giving to Others The church is part of the Baptist family and provide5 SUPPOrt to the two main mi55ion works of UK Baptists at home and overseas. The church is helping to support The Souster Trust who reach out to young people locally and at school. The church has continued to provide regular financial support to Bethany Children's Trust for its work in Africa. The church continues to support the work of the Leprosy Mission of which one of our members is the UK director. Support was also given to a charity in Myanmar. In addition to the sums budgeted for giving in 2024 the church made additional payments to the charities to make up for the shortfall in payments in 2023. li
Giving to Others 2024 2023 Baptist World Mission Baptist Home Mission The Souster Trust 2,530 2.630 740 1500 3600 601 Bethany Childrens, Trust Myanmar Leprosy Mission TOTAL 1,484 1,570 1,484 10,438 1023 1360 1023 9107 7. Other Ministries lincluding children and young people) Mr5 Carita Hills, our unpaid families and childrens, worker, has been building up contacts with children and families connected with the church and has started a number of initiatives. A thriving Tots group has expanded on Tuesday mornings. Carita is now engaged with two after-schools clubs each week. During the year, a monthly event called Explore was held on Sunday mornings in the school gim. This has now been discontinued. A family Nativity ser4ice was well attended and over 40 Ad vent calendar5 were distributed to families in December. A youth group called 'Equip' meets regularly at No l on a Tuesday evening for study and discussion.ln addition a fortnightly youth club-'Engage' runs at the Methodist Church premises. Attendances at this event aimed at those in secondary school have been encouraging. Under the heading of other ministries, we have included pastoral care which is offered to the attendees and their families of the church as well as to the wider community when needed. Other Ministries 2024 2023 Youth expenses Families and Childrens, work 1,194 2,300 290 276 1,458 168 Pastoral ministry TOTAL 3.784 1,902 8. Church adrninistration Mrs Judith Brashaw has continued to act as church administrator and manager of No I during the year. The Trustees are very grateful to her for all her work and in particular for the assistance she has given to Rev Martin Hills. A number of members are involved in producing a range of communications though our website, social media and two publications. The Trustees are grateful for all their labours. During the year the contract for our photocopier was terminated with some additional termination costs and a new printer was purchased (see note 14) 12
The church continued to rent a storage container during the year but notice has now been given to terminate this rental. Administration 2024 2023 Administration and finance software 1,278 8,950 3,275 921 Administrator's S313ry Computer support Equipment Insurance 6,208 3,174 21 1,534 414 1,451 1,032 615 Subscriptions Telephone Professional Fees 661 582 558 Printing & Stationery Rent 2.695 1.354 1,870 948 Training TOTAL 219 20,843 16,895 9. No l Building No.1 St Osyths Lane provides accommodation for a nurnber of activities of the church and for the community projects as well as providing counselling and office accornmodation. No.1 Building expenses 2024 2023 Utilities 2,830 870 3,103 867 Cleaning Repairs Sundries 1,145 2,349 TOTAL 5.029 6,319 10. Disaster Fund Thi5 fund exists to enable a rapid response to be made by the church to financial needs arising from major disasters. Members are then encouraged to top up the fund with donations. Wherever possible donations are routed via recognised aid agencies. During the year donations were made in reaction to worldwide disasters through the following agencies. Recipient For the One Cause 2024 Myanmar disater Nepal landslide £500 Leprosy Mission TOTAL £500 £1,000 13
At a church members, meeting on 17 November 2024 it was agreed that the funds remaining in the Ukraine Wraparound project should be transferred to the Disasters Fund. 11. Fellowship Fund The fellowship Fund has been in existence for many years to provide funds for the minister to help those in the fellowship, or further afield, when in need. Payments are made at the discretion of the Minister and Trustees. 12. Buildings Fund The Buildings Fund exists to provide funds for SiEnificant building work at the two properties owned by the church. During 2024 the boiler at the manse was replaced at a cost of £3,640 and substantial decking work costing £4,572 was done to improve access to the property for the Ministerfs disabled son. Electrical work at No I cost £482 13. Ukraine Wraparound Support Fund Immediately after the outbreak of the Ukraine war, the church began a project to provide support for Ukrainian refugees who had come to the town and surrounding villages. This has proved to be very successful and a number of families have been helped. Weekly gatherings of the refugees and their hosts were held but these stopped in 2023. During 2024 help has been provided in one situation and those involved in the project felt that the time had come for the project to be closed down. The project still had funds of £4,589.50 and the church agreed at a member5, Meeting on 17 November 2024 that these funds should be transferred into the Disasters Fund so that they could continue to be available to meet urgent situations where relied was needed. 14. Equipment Fund For some time the worship experience at Oundle Primary School has been hampered by a lack of adequate sound and AV equipment. Early in 2024 it was decided to use some of the surplus obtained in 2023 to fund the purchase of equipment that would remove the problems that had been encountered. The sum of £9,0( was set aside for this purpose. A small team has researched and resourced the acquisition of the equipment and we are grateful to them for their patient work. The new system is now running and the congregation has noticed the improvement. In total, £7,250 has been spent on this equipment. Also during the year, it became clear that the deal the church had with DEOS Group for the supply of a photocopier was no longer economic. Following advice from OC5 {UK) Ltd our computer advisers, a high quality printer was purchased at a cost of £1,094.34 and this has also been charged to this fund. 15. Agenry Fund For many years the church has operated a restricted fund, known as the Agency Fund through which members can make donations to other charities. This is a restricted fund and operates in accordance with the guidance produced by HMRC and so gift aid can be claimed where appropriate and that gift aid is also passed on to the relevant charity. At the end of the year there was an item which had still to be paid over and so this fund appear5 in the accounts. 14
- Reserves At 31 December 2024 the total current assets of the church amounted to £67,042 of which £13,676 represents designated and restricted funds. The balance available for the general fund is £53,366 which is higher than would be nece55ary to meet the reserves policy. The trustees consider it prudent to hold this level of reserves as there is continued conrn as to future levels of income give the age profile of the church. 15