2023-12-31-accounts - The Parochial Church Council Of The Ecclesiastical Parish Of St James (Hope)

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St James’ Church HOPE Salford M6 8EJ

Trustees Annual Report And

Financial Accounts 2023

Charity No. 1134822

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2023

The Financial Accounts (as verified by our Independent Examiner Bronwyn Roby) show that whilst total income in 2023 was £55,650 total expenditure was £63,634; the shortfall was met by withdrawing from church reserves in order to cover costs.

It was a year of progress with much costly work being achieved during the year including the completion of the upgrading of heating system in the church and the refurbishment of the Community Hall.

Points to highlight from the financial accounts include:

 Direct giving from church members was down from £12,389 to £9,462 (a 24% reduction) which reflects the loss of income previously received from generous givers who are, sadly, no longer with us.

 The church family responded generously to an appeal for funds towards the cost of refurbishing the Community Hall with £2,523 being donated for this cause.

 Salford Elim Church contributed £7,580 for specific projects, generously project led and covered half the costs of refurbishing the Community Hall and paid £2,042 towards shared energy costs

 Community Hall income from bookings at £12205 was on a par with the level of income achieved in 2022.

 Church maintenance costs were down from £24,882 to £9,237 reflecting that the majority of the costs for the heating upgrade were borne in 2022.

 We honoured our commitment to the Diocese and paid our 2023 Parish Share of £12,681 in full (a figure of £12,441 is shown in the financial accounts as we received an encouragement scheme discount of £240).

 We received a grant of £330 from the Diocese towards increased energy costs; energy bills were up by £667 but this was due to increased consumption, being on a fixed priced contract the price of the energy consumed has remained static.

 £2,630 in income was received from an insurance claim relating to emergency remedial work in the toilet area of the Community Hall. However, the amount paid in insurance premiums increased by 21% to more than £8,000 per annum.

 Charitable giving at £700 was up by £270 from 2022 with support being provided for The Children’s Society, Christian Aid, the Olive Branch Hub and the local foodbank.

We pay tribute to the tireless work of the members of the church who also act as Trustees for Charity number 11348222.

Tony Wood

On behalf of the Board Of Trustees

REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT EXAMINER

The Treasurer for the PCC maintains the following accounting records:

Manual Weekly Record Book

Computerised Accounts

Bank Statements for all accounts

Folders of vouchers to support expenditure

Cheque counterfoils and paying in stubs

Financial controls in operation:

All cheques to be signed by two from a total of four authorised signatories

Cash collections are checked by the Churchwardens and Treasurer

Preparation of accounts:

A full bank reconciliation was carried out on all operating accounts

Bank deposits checked with cash book entries

Expenditure vouchers checked with bank and cash books

Bronwen Roby ACCA 41 Wilderswood Close, Whittle le Woods, Chorley PR6 7SH

Telephone: 07773 768 210

ST JAMES CHURCH HOPE: FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS FOR 2023

2022 £ 9,377.00 1,797.00 1,215.37 0.00	2023 £ 6,347.65 1,804.20 1,145.25 165.00	£ 9,462.10 3,434.21 561.00 9,742.51 700.50 14,778.74 0.00 12,000.00 2,011.00 330.00 2,630.00 0.00
260.00 454.00 23,920.00 1,905.93	100.00 20.00 7,580.00 2,042.51
0.00 225.00 100.30 0.00 105.00 0.00	100.00 0.00 170.50 205.00 125.00 100.00
8,127.50 3,842.50 200.00 140.00	6,685.00 5,520.00 50.00 2,523.74

		55,650.06* 8,800.00
		64,450.06

2022 £ 24,882.70 1,035.00 1,623.00	2023 £ 9,237.91 1,140.00 1,885.00	£ 12,262.91 3,946.16 8,018.61 559.93 1,200.00 129.46 12,441.75 600.50 21,007.39 1,870.48 1,040.00 544.77 0.00 12.78
609.53 2,660.44 0.00	726.19 3,219.97 0.00
225.00 100.30 0.00 105.00 0.00	0.00 170.50 205.00 125.00 100.00
168.34 907.54 1,215.10 693.06 1,500.44 2,110.08 11,485.00	176.96 1,166.04 1,428.18 899.48 1,067.23 2,298.90 13,970.60
1,161.60 353.84	1,352.71 517.77

		63,634.74

It is noted that if the transfers from church reserves are excluded then:

The difference of expenditure over income in 2022 was a loss of £2,412.05 The difference of expenditure over income in 2023 was a loss of £7,984.68

ASSETS AND NOTES

CURRENT ACCOUNT	2023	Total Assets
Opening balance at bank 01/01/2023	£29,189.33
Income received during 2023	£55,650.06*
+ Transfer from CBF Deposit Fund	£ 8,800.00
Total Resources	£93,639.39
Expenditure paid out during 2023 £63,634.74
2022 cheques presented in 2023+	23,905.30
Sub-total	87,540.04
2023 cheques not presented in 2023 -	125.00
	£87,415.04
2023 Total Income less Expenditure	£ 6224.35
Closing balance at the bank at 31/12/23	£ 6,224.35	£6.224.35
COMMUNITY HALL ACCOUNT
Opening balance at bank 01/01/2023	£ 78.65
Closing balance at the bank at 31/12/23	£ 78.65	£ 78.65
(No transactions during the year)
CBF CHURCH OF ENGLAND DEPOSIT FUND (Church Reserves)
Opening balance as at 01/01/2023	£13,552.07
+ Interest received during the year	£ 321.20
	£13,873.23
Less Approved Withdrawals	£ 8,800.00
Closing balance as at 31/12/23	£ 5,073.27	£5,073.27
TOTAL ASSETS AS AT 31/12/2023		£11,376.27

This compares with Total Net Assets of 18,914.75 as at 31/12/2022 reflecting the reduction in church reserves during 2023.

NOTES - Income

Planned Giving covers regular donations given via standing order or weekly envelopes. Collections are the cash given on the open plate and now we have the opportunity for digital giving using a contactless card machine . We are thankful for the support of church members who continue to honour their planned giving commitments.
Tax Refunds is the money recovered from HMRC on all gift aided donations. The government now allows us to claim a tax refund against small cash donations under the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme. This includes some of the weekly envelopes which are not Gift Aided, cash given on the plate and other donations.
Gift Day and Donations are not counted as Planned Giving as they are one-off donations but these can still be included under the Gift Aid Reclaim Scheme.
Salford Elim Church contributed £7,580 for specific projects, generously project led and covered half the costs of refurbishing the Community Hall and paid £2,042 towards shared energy costs
Charitable Giving is presented as the total received for each organisation. These are not divided into Gift Aid and Non-Gift Aid although some donations received are gift aided. The amounts sent to the charities are the cash amounts received. The envelopes for donations given under Gift Aid are forwarded to the charity for them to reclaim this directly.
Community Hall income comes from the hire of the Community Hall to both regular and occasional users.
There were no specific fundraising events in 2023 for general church funds. Some fundraising was successfully carried out for the Hall Refurbishment Fund.
The church receives an income from being able to hire out the car park to the NHS. This is at a fixed fee of £1000 per month billed quarterly at £3,000 per quarter equivalent to £12,000 in a full year.
Fees cover monies received for occasional services such as weddings and funerals. Only a portion of these fees can be retained for use by the PCC. The remainder is passed on to the Diocese; please see Fees – Non PCC under Expenditure.
We received a grant of £330 from the Diocese towards increased energy costs; energy bills were up by £667 but this was due to increased consumption, being on a fixed priced contract the price of the energy consumed has remained static
£2,630 in income was received from an insurance claim relating to emergency remedial work in the toilet area of the Community Hall. However, the amount paid in insurance premiums increased by 21% to more than £8,000 per annum.
There was no income in 2023 that we were not able to allocate to a specific purpose.

Expenditure

£7,935 was paid to HeatinGlobal as the final instalment for the upgrading of the heating system in church plus a further expense of £546 was paid in relation to an expansion pipe.
Grounds maintenance relates to the cost of grass cutting and upkeep of the garden areas.
Cleaning costs are recorded separately for the church and for the hall. The cleaner’s wages costs are normally shared equally between the two whereas the cost of cleaning materials is charged to the hall (toilet and kitchen requirements).
As little water is used in church, all the costs of water were allocated to the hall (note 20).
Costs of music covers a monthly fee paid out to our organist who generously donates much of this fee back to the church.
Payments to charities were significantly higher in 2023, with support being provided for The Children’s Society, Christian Aid, the Olive Branch Hub and the local foodbank.
Community Hall Expenses includes the cost of the boiler service and payment to Salford City Council for an extra bin.
Community Hall Maintenance includes the cost of the CCTV contract and work carried out on parts of the ceiling before the full refurbishment took place.
Major refurbishment work was carried out to the Community Hall during the year with the costs shared by Salford Elim Church. For the record, there were other generous donations in kind towards this refurbishment where the PCC would wish to record their appreciation.
Amounts shown under Vicarage are our share of the costs for the Incumbent’s residence, where some costs are shared with St John’s Pendlebury.
Printing & Stationery includes the cost of the maintenance contract for the photocopier and the cost of ink cartridges.
The small amount under Sundry Expenses relates to some handling charges for the usage of the Digital Card Machine.

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE PCC OF ST JAMES, HOPE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st] DECEMBER 2023

This report on the financial statements of the PCC for the year ended 31[st] December 2023, which are set out on pages 2 to 5, is in respect of an examination carried out in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 (“the Regulations”) and S.145 of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year (under section 144(2) of the Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

examine the accounts (under section 145 of the Act)
to follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity
Commissioners (under section 145(5)(b) of the Act); and
to state whether particular matters have come to my attention

Basis of this report

My examination was carried out in accordance with General Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act and to be found in the Church Guidance, 2006 edition. 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 the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and, consequently, I do not express an audit opinion on the accounts.

Independent Examiners Statement

In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention

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 Act); and
accounts are prepared which agree with the accounting records and comply with the
accounting requirements of the Act; or
to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable proper understanding of the accounts to be reached

Signed

Name: Bronwen Roby ACCA Date: Address: 41 Wilderswood Close, Whittle Le Woods, Chorley PR6 7SH