## **THE METHODIST CHURCH – HIGH WYCOMBE CIRCUIT** ## **CHARITY COMMISSION TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT 2021** ## **Section B – Structure, Governance and Management** The Circuit is one of 21 Circuits in the Northampton District. The Circuit is ultimately accountable to the Methodist Conference. Risk management is considered as part of its overall duties by the Circuit Leadership Team which takes appropriate professional advice whenever it feels that this is necessary. The Circuit has for many years adopted a safeguarding policy in respect of children and has encouraged and indeed ensured that all Churches within the Circuit have also adopted a suitable policy. In 2012 it adopted and has since annually updated a revised policy covering both Children and Vulnerable Adults. Suitable training is arranged to support those holding office. ## **Section C – Objectives and Activities** The objects are set out in The Methodist Church Act 1976 (Clause 4), a synopsis of which is “advancement of religion and any charitable purpose of the Methodist Church or Church organisation (see Methodist Church Act 1976).” The Circuit provides advice, support and resources to the 9 Churches that form the Circuit and through them undertakes a range of religious activities for the benefit of the general public/mankind. Methodist Circuits are not defined as external grant making bodies. Surplus funds, both short term and longer term are invested with the Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes as required by Standing Orders. The majority of the work of the Circuit, other than that undertaken by ordained ministers and paid lay workers, is undertaken by voluntary lay people. ## **Section D – Achievements and Performance** The Circuit has continued to support a wide range of activities undertaken by the Churches within the Circuit. In 2020-21 this has involved substantial investment in digital resources to assist churches in coping with the effects of the Covid pandemic and enable them to provide and share in online worship. In addition a one-off rebate of the quarterly assessment was implemented to shield churches from the fall in income resulting from the lockdowns. The Circuit continues to look for areas of proven growth and where there is potential for development. This has continued the support of lay workers in two churches and the funding of the Superintendent’s PA. The Circuit has continued its commitment to fund a diaconal appointment up to at least September 2023. The appointee is developing outreach work both by encouraging and training lay people, and by working alongside ecumenical partners. In addition he is actively involved in supporting the work of local Work Place Chaplains. ## **Section E – Financial Review** The Circuit aims to maintain in a general fund at least three months routine expenditure to cover timing delays in receipt of funds. There are a number of other funds which support defined activities. The other main fund is the Circuit Model Trust Money (formerly known as the Circuit Advance Fund) which is derived from the sale of redundant properties within the Circuit and its use is governed by the purposes defined in Standing Orders. The Circuit raises funds through the Circuit assessment which is contributions from all the Churches within the Circuit to meet the agreed budget for the year. The majority of the Circuit’s expenditure is related to the employment of staff and their associated accommodation etc. expenses plus a contribution to the costs of both the District and the Connexion collected through the District Assessment. ## **Section F – Future Development** The Circuit continues to seek an effective strategy for its future development and direction. In 20202021 the Circuit engaged in a review of activities under the banner of the Connexional God for All initiative, and by the end of the year all churches had reviewed their plans for the next twelve months. The work identified through these exercises will continue to be developed as a priority and appropriate financial plans developed to enable them to be taken forward over the coming years both by the churches and the Circuit Leadership Team. -o0o- Name of Circuit Circuit No 23/27 ## **HIGH WYCOMBE** ## **Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) for the year ended 31 August 2021** |**Notes to**
**the**
**accounts**
**Income**
1 Donations and legacies
2 Income from monetary investments
3 Income from investment properties
4 Assessments on Churches
5 Capital Receipts
6 Grants received
7 Other charitable income
8**Total income**
**Expenditure**
9 Grants and donations
10 Salaries and associated costs
11 Property maintenance
12 Connexional assessment & model trust levy
13 District Assessment & Levy
14 Depreciation
15 Office expenses
16 Other outgoings
17**Total charitable expenditure**
18 Gains/(losses) on monetary investments
19 Gains/(losses) on investment properties
20**Net income/(expenditure)**
21 Transfers between funds
22 Other gains/(losses)
23**Net movement in funds**
24 Total funds brought forward
**25 Total funds carried forward**|

**General Fund**
**(Unrestricted)**
**Circuit Model**
**Trust**
**(Unrestricted)**
**Designated**
**Funds**
**(unrestricted)**
**Restricted**
**Funds**
**Endowment**
**Funds**
**Total**
**2020-21**
£
£
£
£
£
£
0
247
92
10
**349**
**0**
189,220
**189,220**
147,827
**147,827**
45,450
**45,450**
39,954
445
**40,399**
**274,872**
**147,918**
**445**
**-**
**10**
**423,244**| |---|---| ||68,705
30,000
**98,705**
154,177
**154,177**
33,413
**33,413**
**0**
53,540
22,329
**75,869**
**0**
1,581
**1,581**
7,123
55
-
445
10
**7,523**
**318,539**
**52,275**
**445**
**0**
**10**
**371,268**| ||**0**
**-43,667**
**95,644**
**0**
**0**
**0**
**51,977**
**0**
**-43,667**
**95,644**
**0**
**0**
**0**
**51,977**| ||67,556
441,650
50,000
2,829
**562,035**
**23,889**
**537,294**
**50,000**
**-**
**2,829**
**614,012**| Name of Circuit **Circuit No 23/27** ## **HIGH WYCOMBE CIRCUIT** ## **Balance Sheet as at 31 August 2021** GN |**Fixed Assets**|**Notes to the**
**Accounts**|**General Fund**
**(Unrestricted)**
£|**Circuit Model**
**Trusts**
**(Unrestricted)**
£|**Designated**
**Funds**
**(Unrestricted)**
£|**Restricted**
**Funds**
£|**Endowment**
**Funds**
£|**Totals**
**2020/21**
£|**Totals**
**2020/21**
£|**Totals**
**2020/21**
£| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Circuit Manses & Equipment||3,359,625|||||3,359,625||| |Investmentproperties||||||0|||| |Investments|||||||0||| |**_Total fixed assets_**||**3,359,625**|**0**|**0**|**0**|**0**|**3,359,625**||| |**Current Assets**|||||||||| |Debtors|||||||0||| |Loans bythe Circuit|||||||0||| |Investments with TMCP|||426,358|||2,830|429,188||| |Central Finance Board Deposits||28,212||50,000|||78,212||| |Cash at Bank and in hand||80,619|||||80,619||| |**_Total current assets_**||**108,831**|**426,358**|**50,000**|**0**|**2,830**|**588,019**||| |**Current liabilities**|||||||||| |Creditors (due in under 1 year)|||||||0||0| |Grantspayable within 2018-19|||||||0||0| |**_Total current liabilities_**||**0**|**0**|**0**|**0**|**0**|**0**||**0**| |**_Net current assets/liabilities_**||**108,831**|**426,358**|**50,000**|**0**|**2,830**|**588,019**||**651,006**| ||||||||||| |**_Total assets less current liabilities_**||**3,468,456**|**426,358**|**50,000**|**0**|**2,830**|**3,947,645**||**3,677,696**| |||**0**
**0**
**0**
**3,468,456**
**426,358**
**50,000**
**0**
**2,830**
**3,947,645**
3,468,456
3,468,456
426,358
426,358
50,000
50,000
**3,944,815**
**0**
0
**2,830**
2,830
**3,468,456**
**426,358**
**50,000**
**0**
**0**
3,947,645|||||||| |**Long term liabilities (due**
**after more than one year)**|||||||||| |Grantspayable after 2018-19|||||||**0**||| |Loans to the Circuit|||||||**0**||| ||||||||**0**||| |**_Net assets_**||**3,468,456**|**426,358**|**50,000**|**0**|**2,830**|**3,947,645**||| |**Funds of the Circuit**|||||||||| |General Fund(Unrestricted)||3,468,456|426,358
50,000
**0**
**2,830**||||3,468,456||3,183,216| |Circuit Model Trust Fund (Unrestricted)|||426,358||||426,358||441,650| |Designated Funds(Unrestricted)||||50,000|||50,000||50,000| |**_Total Unrestricted Funds_**|||||||**3,944,815**||**3,674,867**| |Restricted Funds|||||**0**||0||**0**| |Endowment Funds||||||**2,830**|2,830||**2,829**| |**_Total Funds_**||**3,468,456**|**426,358**|**50,000**|**0**|**0**|3,947,645||**3,677,696**| Signed Circuit Treasurer ## **The Methodist Church - High Wycombe Circuit** ## **Statement of Financial Activities** ## **for the Year ended 31st August 2021** |||Unrestricted|Restricted|Total|Total Funds| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |||Funds|Funds|Funds|2020| ||Notes|£|£|£|£| |**INCOMING RESOURCES**|||||| |Circuit Assessments||189,220||189,220|186,651| |Manse Rental Income|7|37,140||37,140|37,140| |Grants Received|2|45,450||45,450|50,666| |Bank and Trust Interest||247||247|950| |Special Collections|||445|445|8,470| |Sundry Income||2,814||2,814|1,246| |**Total incoming resources**||274,872|445|275,317|285,123| |**RESOURCES EXPENDED**|||||| |Stipends, National Insurance & Pensions||142,668||142,668|139,447| |Lay Workers & Supernumerary|6|5,700||5,700|5,220| |District Assessment||53,540||53,540|51,863| |Manse repairs and maintenance|9|33,413||33,413|69,838| |Travel||2,267||2,267|2,047| |Administration||1,581||1,581|1,630| |Quiquennial inspections||5,712||5,712|0| |Telephones and internet||3,543||3,543|3,079| |Training||0||0|893| |Pulpit supply and plans||0||0|251| |Grants and Donations|8|68,705||68,705|13,228| |Collection paid over|||445|445|8,470| |Removal costs||0||0|0| |Other expenditure||1,411||1,411|8,992| |Depreciation||0||0|0| |**Total resources expended**||318,539|445|318,983|304,958| |**NET INCOMING RESOURCES**||(43,667)|0.00|(43,667)|(19,834)| |**INCREASE / (DECREASE) IN VALUE OF**|**FUNDS**||||| |Manse revaluation|5|332,936||332,936|107,992| |Model Trust Fund|3|(15,329)||(15,329)|238,042| |Other Trust Funds|4|38||38|179| |**NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS**||273,977|0|273,977|326,378| |FUNDS BROUGHT FORWARD||3,608,539|0|3,608,539|3,282,161| |**FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD**||3,882,516|0|3,882,516|3,608,539| ## **The Methodist Church - High Wycombe Circuit** ## **Balance Sheet at 31st August 2021** ||**Notes**||**2021**||**2020**| |---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||£||£| |**Tangible Fixed Assets**|||3,359,625||3,026,690| |**Current Assets:**|||||| |Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes|||429,188||444,480| |Central Finance Board|||78,212||144,619| |HSBC|||28,080||26,503| |CAF Bank Cash|||32,481||15,349| |CAF Bank Gold|||20,058||20,056| |Stipends paid in advance|||11,994||11,487| |Manse rental fees paid in advance|||0||0| |Sundry debtors|||0||0| |Manse Refurbishments paid in advance|||0||0| ||||3,959,638||3,689,183| |**Less Current Liabilities:**|||||| |Circuit assessments prepaid|||46,936||48,153| |Manse Rental Income|||0||0| |Manse repair and maintenance reserve|9||50,000||50,000| |Accrued manse maintenance expenses|||0||0| |Accrued General Expenses|||0||0| |Accrued Quinquennial costs|||0||0| |Accrued special collection|||0||2,305| |Sundry liabilities|||0||0| ||||96,936||100,458| ||||3,862,702||3,588,725| |**FINANCED BY:**|||||| |**Unrestricted Funds:**|||||| |General Fund||23,889||67,556|| |Manse Refurbishment Fund||50,000||50,000|| |Manse Fund|5|3,359,625||3,026,690|| |Model Trust Fund|3|399,055||414,384|| ||||3,832,569||3,558,629| |**Other Funds**|||||| |Trust 17252 Chilton Memorial Trust Fund|4|2,830||2,829|| |Trust 12975 (Sale of Land) Fund|4|6,191||6,183|| |Trust 20825 Alma Stevens bequest|4|21,112||21,084|| ||||30,133||30,096| |**TOTAL FUNDS**|||3,862,702||3,588,725| **The Methodist Church - High Wycombe Circuit** ## **Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31st August 2021** ## **1. Accounting policies** ## **a) Basis of accounting** The Accounts have been prepared under the Historic Cost Convention except where assets have been stated at valuation. This is in accordance with applicable accounting standards and the Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (the FRSSE) (effective 1 January 2015). ## **b) Valuation of Manses** The six manses owned by the Circuit have been valued on the basis of the market values of comparable properties situated in their respective areas, taking account of the change in house prices during the year. ## **c) Designation of Funds according to Charity Law** The General Fund is an unrestricted fund. The Manse Fund is an unrestricted designated fund. The Chilton Memorial Trust Fund is a Permanent Endowment. The Model Trust Fund, Trust (Sale of Land) Fund, and the Alma Stevens bequest are unrestricted funds. ## **2. Grants Received** £30,000 was taken from the Model Trust Fund to cover the cost of employing the Deacon. A further £15,450 was taken to fund projects under the God for All digitial initiative. ## **3. Model Trust Fund (formerly the Circuit Advance Fund)** Movements on the Model Trust Fund during the year were as follows: |Balance brought forward
Interest received (net of TMCP charges)
Net proceeds of sale of properties
Less amounts drawn to support mission and outreach:
Diaconal appointment
Circuit - Any Other Purpose
Less District Levy
Balance Carried Forward|**2021**
£
414,384
49
454,191
-30,000
-434,936
-4,632
399,055|**2020**
£
176,342
2,619
271,740
-30,000
0
-6,317| |---|---|---| |||414,384| ## **4. Other Trust Funds.** These comprise monies which were originally donated, collected or allocated for a specific, purpose. Movements during the year were as follows: |**a) Chilton Memorial Trust 17252 (permanent endowment)**
Balance brought forward
Interest credited (net of TMCP charge)
Interest paid to Circuit
**Balance carried forward**
**b) Trust 12975 (sale of land)**
Balance brought forward
Interest credited (net of TMCP charge)
**Balance carried forward**|**2021**
2,829
4
-3
2,830
6,183
8
6,191|**2020**
2,829
19
-19| |---|---|---| |||2,829| |||6,142
41| |||6,183| Trust 12975 resulted from the sale of land by the former Bourne End Methodist Church. Following the closure of the Church, the Trust was transferred to the Circuit and the capital is available to the circuit as laid down in standing orders. ## **c) Trust 20825 Alma Stevens bequest** |Balance brought forward/Capital Transferred
Interest credited (net of TMCP charge)
Interest paid to Circuit|21,084
29
0
21,112|20,945
138
0| |---|---|---| |||21,084| Trust 20825 was a bequest to Naphill Methodist Church. Following the closure of the church in July 2018 the Trust was transferred to the Circuit and is now available to the Circuit as laid down in standing orders. |5.Tangjble Fixed Assets - Manses|2021|2020| |---|---|---| |Balance brought forward|3,026,689|2,918,698| |Increase/Decreaseinvaluation|332,936|107,992| |Balance carried forward|3,359,625|3,026,689| ## ## ## ##