The MIDLANDS GOSPEL PARTNERSHIP TRUST
ANNUAL REPORT & FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
for the year ended 31[st] August 2023
CONTENTS
| Page | |
|---|---|
| Report of the Trustees | 1 |
| Receipts and Payments Accounts for year ended 31st August 2023 | 7 |
| Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees | 9 |
Midlands Gospel Partnership Annual Report and Accounts 01/09/2022 to 31/08/2023
REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Charity Name The Midlands Gospel Partnership Trust Status Trust Registered Charity with effect from 12[th ] November 2010 Registered Charity Number 1138999 Registered Office Stapleford Baptist Church Albert Street Stapleford NG9 8DB
Trustees
Trustees who served during the year are set out below: -
Rev C Hobbs Rev R Hopkins (Chair) Mr J James Mr J Russell Mr P Sweeting (resigned March 31, 2023) Mr A Upton (resigned January 1, 2023)
None of the Trustees has any beneficial interest in the Trust and all served without remuneration in their capacity as Trustees.
Administrator
A Deane
Independent Examiner
Mr S Adam 1 Sherroside Close, Allestree, Derby DE22 2HN
Bankers
Lloyds TSB Bank plc - Commercial Banking P O Box 10000 Bexhill BX1 1LT
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Midlands Gospel Partnership Annual Report and Accounts 01/09/2022 to 31/08/2023
Trustees Annual Report for the period 01/09/2022 to 31/08/2023
The trustees are pleased to present this Annual Report and Financial Statements for The Midlands Gospel Partnership (charity number 1138999) for the year ending 31[st] August 2023.
STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
Governing Document
The Trust is a registered charity governed in accord with its Declaration of Trust dated 25[th] May 2010. The Charity Commission granted registered charity status on 12[th] November 2010.
Organisational structure
The Trust is governed by a Steering Committee (Trustees) comprising of those involved in the leadership of evangelical churches across the Midlands. They meet monthly to set policy and review the activities of the Trust.
Recruitment and Appointment of Trustees
Trustees are elected by nomination and resolution of the existing Trustees. Trustees don’t receive remuneration or any other benefits from their work with MGP.
Trustees Induction and Training
New Trustees are given training and an induction process that is overseen by the existing Trustees, who may delegate certain elements of the induction process to staff members.
Risk Management
The Trustees examine the major strategic and operational risks which the Trust faces regularly at their monthly meetings, and formally before the end of the financial year.
OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES
The Trustees apply the income of the Trust in furthering the following objects, namely for the promotion and the advancement of evangelical, protestant, reformed Christian religion (“the Faith”) including in particular but not so as to limit the generality of the foregoing by:-
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i) The support and furtherance of the religious and other charitable work of congregations meeting for religious worship in the counties of Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire, and such other counties as the Trustees may from time to time determine.
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ii) The establishment, support and furtherance of new congregations meeting for religious worship in the said or such other counties by way of Church plants and otherwise.
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iii) The support of presbyters, deacons, youth workers, pastoral workers, teachers, evangelists, musicians, and administrators.
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iv) The advancement of religious education in accordance with the Faith by means of ministry, children’s and youth workers, and other training courses, classes, seminars, lectures, conferences, and other events, and otherwise.
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Midlands Gospel Partnership Annual Report and Accounts 01/09/2022 to 31/08/2023
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v) The holding of public meetings and assemblies.
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vi) The award of grants to, and otherwise supporting those training for the Ministry, or other religious positions as youth workers, pastoral workers, teachers, evangelists, musicians, and administrators.
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vii) The production, publication, and dissemination of religious work.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE
Review of activities and impact for Public Benefit
The Midlands Gospel Partnership is a network of local churches committed to expanding gospel ministry across the Midlands through training in biblical ministry, co-operating in evangelism and partnering in church planting initiatives.
The main activities of the Midlands Gospel Partnership Trust for the year ended 31[st] August 2023 included-
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i) A leaders’ conference (the Leaders’ Conference), which is open to senior ministers and other leaders. This annually recurring event was designed to support and encourage those involved in Christian leadership, and other church members and to assist them in leading and building up the wider church family.
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ii) A partnership day conference (MGP Partnership Day), which is open to senior ministers of partner churches, bringing one colleague. The day provides a chance for partnership members to get together and see our development in achieving our vision of seeing healthy local churches in every Midlands community.
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iii) An affordable Bible training course, the Midlands Ministry Training Course (MMTC). The course is designed to help church members, including ministry trainees, to better understand how to read and teach the bible.
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iv) Specific MGP Youth and Children’s ministry training day courses (Big Day Out, Next Generation Conference) as well as an annual event for young people and their youth group leaders (Midlands Youth Convention). These are designed to support and encourage Christian fellowships across the Midlands and enable them to be more effective in their Christian ministry and their walk with God.
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v) Midlands Women’s Convention and Midlands Men’s Convention provide a place for men and women to hear God speak through His Word, to sing His praises and to think together what it means to live for Christ in today’s world.
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vi) Involvement in national Gospel centred initiatives alongside other Regional Gospel Partnerships.
The Trust aims to continue to deliver services and benefits through the key activities outlined above, and to see growth in the number of partner churches. In the 2022-2023 we welcomed four new churches into the partnership, and we have also partnered with three organisations.
The Partnership Day was held in October 2022 at Holy Trinity Church, Hinckley. About 30 different partner churches were represented by 60 delegates. The speaker was Ed Stetzer, Wheaton College (USA) professor, speaker and an author of hundreds of articles and a dozen books. Ed’s topic was titled Renewing our Mission.
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Midlands Gospel Partnership Annual Report and Accounts 01/09/2022 to 31/08/2023
The Leaders’ Conference’s 2023 aimed to look closely at the reasons we serve and even more closely at the Saviour who came to serve us. John Hindley from BroadGrace Church in Norfolk spoke on topic Serving without sinking; How to serve Christ and keep your joy.
The day conference also included seminars with the same “serving” theme (Serving and those experiencing anxiety; Serving and our fellow leaders; Serving and our time). The evening event was a free event and John Hindley delivered shorter versions of his morning talks to those serving in a voluntary capacity in local churches who could not attend during the day due to various other commitments. In total, the conference which was held at Monyhull Church was attended by 137 people from across the Midlands region.
The MMTC course 2022-23, was held both on Wednesdays in Birmingham (MMTC West) and Thursdays in Nottingham (MMTC East). There was a 1[st] year group in Birmingham and 1[st] and 2[nd] year groups in Nottingham. Students delved into studying the Bible, learning how to understand it and getting practice in teaching it to others. Sadly, student numbers were again lower than in previous years but the cohort in both places was pleasingly diverse: church apprentices, volunteer workers and congregation members (both working and retired) of a range of ages and backgrounds joined us from different churches and organisations.
In February 2023 it was announced to partner churches that MMTC 2023-24 would be held only in Nottingham, mainly due to the reduced number of students and increased costs of running the course. A short survey was sent out to MGP partner churches who have previously sent people on the course, asking for their input to find the best way forward in a reboot of MMTC. MGP remains committed to running MMTC and serving local churches in this way.
The Next Generation Conference which strives to equip children and youth workers to serve, was successfully delivered by the MGP Youth & Children’s team in March 2023. Telling the Story was the theme for 2023, and Tim Thornborough from The Good Book Company served as the keynote speaker. The conference also featured five different practical workshop sessions that explored how to use and appropriately adapt a story to teach children and youth of various ages. The conference was very popular, 165 delegates from across the Midlands attended the day at Cornerstone Church, Nottingham.
Big Day Out , a termly event which aims to inspire and encourage excellence for those in or involved in fulltime children’s ministry. These all-day training and encouragement events, held at St Stephen’s Church Birmingham in October ’22, March ’23, June ‘23, continued faithfully deliver wise, practical, and worthwhile teachings to a small group of interested participants.
The Midlands Youth Convention (MYC), titled Good News, was held in July 2023 at Cornerstone Church, Nottingham. It is a day of teaching and worship for youth groups and their leaders and this year it attracted 67 young people and their leaders.
Midlands Women’s Convention in 2023 took place in the East Midlands on Saturday 7th October at Cornerstone Church Nottingham with around 450 women attending and in the West Midlands on Saturday 21st October 2023 at the Ruddock Centre Birmingham with 350 women attending. Each day ran the same programme starting at 10 and finishing at 3:30 pm. Two main Bible talks were given by Clare Heath-Whyte on John Chapters 3 & 4 with the Title. “God So Loved” We also had a seminar session including
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Midlands Gospel Partnership Annual Report and Accounts 01/09/2022 to 31/08/2023
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A Youth seminar led by Debs Hunt in the East and Chloe Harrison in the west with around 10 young women attending each.
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Navigating Gender Identity led by Susan Marriott
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Listening Well to God’s Word led by Abi Coward
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The amazing life of Elizabeth Fry led by Clare Heath Whyte.
A bookstall form 10ofThose ran at both conventions. The feedback was very positive with women enjoying the talks and seminars and finding them all very helpful.
Midlands Men’s Convention (MMC) hosts two conventions, one in Birmingham in May and the other in Nottingham in November. These were attended by over 200 and 300 men, respectively. The same programme was run at both conventions. In 2023 we had Graham Beynon encouraging us to live in light of the future. We also had workshops exploring the topics of our emotions, being a father and talking about death. It was encouraging to see a good number attend the Youth Stream as we seek to equip teenagers to grow as disciples of Christ. The MMC exists to encourage men across the Midlands to live for Christ.
Public Benefit
As set out in our objectives, we exist for the benefit of individuals primarily in the Midlands region of England through the promotion and advancement of the evangelical protestant Christian religion.
The Trustees are once again grateful for the immense amount of work done by our volunteers and supporters alongside our staff members. We recognise that it is the gospel that truly changes people and brings them into relationship with Jesus Christ and from this life-changing relationship flows the generosity of so many which supports and sustains the ministry of the MGP.
We seek to make our courses and events affordable and make further concessions to ensure the courses are accessible to all.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
Having regard to the size and turnover of the Trust, the financial statements for the year have been drawn up on a receipts and payments basis and should be viewed in conjunction with this Trustee Report.
Income is derived primarily from charges for events and the training course and through donations from partner churches and individuals. We are grateful to these organisations and people for their financial support.
MGP’s total receipts in the year ended 31 August 2023 were £53,999 and its total payments were £64,958, resulting in net deficit of £10,959. The Trustees are carefully monitoring the financial situation and planning for various future scenarios.
Expenditure includes salaries, cost for running events, and the costs of general initiatives to support and encourage interested churches and individuals across the Midlands. We seek to make all events
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Midlands Gospel Partnership Annual Report and Accounts 01/09/2022 to 31/08/2023
self-funding but will consider running events at a loss (supported by partner church and other donations) if it furthers the proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ across the region or makes courses accessible to those who could not ordinarily afford to attend.
RESERVES POLICY
The Trustees are committed to establishing a level of reserves for General Funds that will cover three months of operational costs, subject to sufficient funding being available to achieve this, while not hampering the ongoing development of the ministry of the Trust.
This is designed to enable the charity to continue to operate its essential services, remunerate its employees and pay its necessary expenses in the event of an unanticipated reduction in donations or unforeseen expenditure.
On 31 August 2023, the reserves totalled £27,614.
DECLARATION
The Trustees declare that they have approved the Trustees’ Report above
| Signed on their behalf by: | Chris Hobbs | 20 June 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| _________ | Date____ | |
| Rev C Hobbs, Co-Chair of Trustees |
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Midlands Gospel Partnership Annual Report and Accounts 01/09/2022 to 31/08/2023
RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS for the year ended 31[st] August 2023
RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS
| Unrestricted | Restricted | 2023 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Funds | Funds | Total | Total | |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| RECEIPTS | ||||
| Gifts, donations, legacies and other | 8,626 | 8,626 | 7,948 | |
| MGP conferences income | 1,444 | 1,444 | 970 | |
| MGP YC conferences income | 2,542 | 2,542 | 2,919 | |
| Midlands Men’s Convention income | 5,626 | 5,626 | 5,451 | |
| Midlands Women’s Convention income | 7,056 | 7,056 | 2,274 | |
| MMTC fees | 26,535 | 26,535 | 26,950 | |
| MMTC gifts | 2,170 | 2,170 | 3,020 | |
| Sub total | 53,999 | 53,999 | 50,032 | |
| Asset and investment sales | - | - | - | - |
| Total receipts | 53,999 | - | 53,999 | 50,032 |
| PAYMENTS | ||||
| Grants and gifts | 1,300 | 1,300 | 1,600 | |
| Managements and administration | 1,679 | 1,679 | 1,099 | |
| Staff costs (salary, pensions, expenses) | 7,435 | 7,435 | 6,134 | |
| MGP conferences costs | 1,848 | 1,848 | 1,310 | |
| MGP YC conferences costs | 2,426 | 2,426 | 1,554 | |
| Midlands Men’s Convention costs | 4,597 | 4,597 | 5,805 | |
| Midlands Women’s Convention costs | 5,802 | 5,802 | 1,229 | |
| Sub total | 25,086 | 25,086 | 18,731 | |
| MMTC Hire costs | 6,720 | 6,720 | 4,790 | |
| MMTC Speakers costs | 1,808 | 1,808 | 2,056 | |
| MMTC Publicity costs | 110 | 110 | 254 | |
| MMTC Printing, stationery, catering | 123 | 123 | 125 | |
| MMTC Staff costs (director, admin) | 29,894 | 29,894 | 28,891 | |
| Sub total | 63,742 | 63,742 | 54,847 | |
| Asset and investment purchases | 1,216 | - | 1,216 | - |
| Total payments | 64,958 | - | 64,958 | 54,847 |
| Net receipts / (payment) | (10,959) | (10,959) | (4,815) |
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Midlands Gospel Partnership Annual Report and Accounts 01/09/2022 to 31/08/2023
RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS for the year ended 31[st] August 2023
| STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES | STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted | Restricted | 2023 | 2022 | |
| Funds | Funds | Total | Total | |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Transfer between funds | - | - | - | |
| Cash Funds last year end | 38,572 | 38,572 | 43,387 | |
| Cash Funds this year end | 27,614 | 27,614 | 38,572 | |
| Cash Funds | ||||
| Lloyds TSB Bank plc | ||||
| Total cash funds | 27,614 | 27,614 | 38,572 | |
| Other monetary assets | - | - | - | - |
| Investment assets | - | - | - | - |
| Assets retained for the charity’s own use | ||||
| Data projectors (x2) | - | 805 | ||
| Laptop (x2) | 1,216 | 1,216 | ||
| Liabilities | - | - | - | - |
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Midlands Gospel Partnership Annual Report and Accounts 01/09/2022 to 31/08/2023
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE MIDLANDS GOSPEL PARTNERSHIP TRUST
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