2024-12-31-accounts - Buckingham Chapel, Bristol

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BUCKINGHAM CHAPEL BRISTOL FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Year Ended 31 December 2024

Charity Number: 1140327

BUCKINGHAM CHAPEL BRISTOL

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

Contents	Pages
Reference and Administrative Information	1
Trustees’ Annual Report	2-5
Report of the Independent Examiner	6
Receipts and Payment Account	7
Statement of Assets and Liabilities	8
Notes to the Financial Statements	9

BUCKINGHAM CHAPEL BRISTOL

REFERENCE & ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

Status

The Church was created by Trust Deed on 18 December 1847, as an Independent Baptist Church.

Previously an excepted charity, the Church was first registered with the Charity Commission in 2011 under the Charity number 1140327. Its constitution was adopted on 26 November 2010 and was most recently amended on 22 April 2016.

Trustees

During the reporting year, there were 6 Trustees:

Pastor O Gross Mr J Martin (Secretary) Mr J Norris Dr S Benham (Treasurer) Mr A Collins Mr J Lewis (Retired 31/12/2024)

Principal Address

Buckingham Chapel, Queens Road, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1LQ

Web Address

https://buckinghamchapel.org.uk

Independent Examiner

Joshua Kingston, Bsc (Hons) ACA Burton Sweet Limited The Clock Tower 5 Farleigh Court Old Weston Road Flax Bourton Bristol BS48 1UR

Bankers

Charities Aid Foundation CAF Bank Ltd Kings Hill West Malling Kent ME19 4JQ

BUCKINGHAM CHAPEL BRISTOL

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

The Trustees present their report and the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2024.

Structure, Governance and Management

Organisation

Trustees meetings are normally held monthly and Church members meetings are normally held quarterly. The church members meeting is the decision-making body for all aspects of financial expenditure and all appointments to positions of office in the Church. All organisational leaders are subject to the approval of a Church meeting. Anyone dealing with children is vetted to conform to our Safeguarding Policy. The Church and its safeguarding policy are registered with the DBS (disclosure and barring service). We recruit trustees from suitably-qualified men within the membership of Buckingham Chapel, and submit these for approval by the membership.

Ministry Team

Rev. Oliver Gross is our Pastor and leads the men’s breakfast ministry.

Mr John Norris is a fellow elder, the Sunday School Superintendent and Young Adults Bible Study Group leader.

Jonathan Lewis is our missionary secretary.

Rev Adrian Carey-Jones works with Romanian Ministries and in Bristol leads our Romanian Gypsy children’s work and pastors a Romanian Fellowship.

Mrs Christine Lewis is leader of the Ladies meeting.

Mrs Sandra Benham and Mrs Naomi Gross lead the Tiger Tots Ministry. Dr Simon Benham leads the children’s Lighthouse group.

Mr Julian and Mrs Alison Royle lead the outreach table ministry.

Church Membership

Anyone seeking membership must believe in the Church’s doctrinal statement and have been baptised by immersion professing repentance towards God and their life must bear evidence of the new birth. The membership at 31 December 2024 was 41 (down from 44 in 2023), this included 5 associate members. These include 4 missionaries who are active on the mission field; 2 in Peru, 1 in South Wales and the other in Bristol.

Risk Assessment

The major risks to which the charity is exposed, as identified by the Trustees, have been reviewed and systems have been established to manage those risks. The regular review of the risk register is undertaken by the Trustees at their monthly meetings. This work is recognised as an on-going responsibility by the office bearers as managing Trustees.

Objectives and Activities

The charitable objects of the charity as per the constitution are as follows: “The principal object of the charity is the advancement of the Christian faith according to Baptist principles and in accordance with the basis of faith as stated in our Statement of Faith. The charity may also carry out other charitable purposes in the United Kingdom and/or other parts of the world.”

Mission

Buckingham Chapel exists for three purposes:

BUCKINGHAM CHAPEL BRISTOL

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

To worship our Almighty Redeemer God: to proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvellous light – (1 Peter 2:9)
To take the Good News of Salvation in and through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to those who do not believe – both locally and world-wide, in obedience to Christ’s command: - “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” – (Mark 16:15)
To nurture believers in their faith by means of the teaching of God’s Word, church discipline, pastoral care, exercise of the ordinances of Baptism and Communion, prayer and fellowship, in obedience of Christ’s command : “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19:20).

Public Benefit

The trustees have complied with their legal duty of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission.

The Church is satisfied that it has met the public benefit test through:

The availability of the church to any member of the public to attend worship services on each and every Sunday during 2024 as well as other services each week.
The preaching of the word of God each week to the saving of souls.
The distribution of evangelistic literature in the neighbourhood during the year.
The provision of a number of community activities during term time including:
a. Sunday School
b. Young Adults Fellowship
c. Tiger Tots: carers and children playgroup
d. Lighthouse: for 10-16 year olds
e. Ladies meetings
f. Men’s breakfast meetings
g. Romanian Gypsy children outreach programme. This has involved the church in providing transport to bring between 15 and 25 children to the weekly Sunday School meeting; the provision of lunch following the Sunday School meeting and some social activities during the week.
h. A Saturday Special event was held for primary school children.
The maintenance of the church building as a Grade II listed building during the year.
The distribution of aid to Christians worldwide.
A free Christian literature table for passers-by and within the church.

Worship at Buckingham

The preaching of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and the exposition of the Word of God is central to all the preaching both at our Sunday services and Wednesday night meeting. The New King James Bible version is used and hymns are taken mainly from Christian Hymns and our internally produced Supplement.

Young People

Our Sunday School meets on a morning sharing the first part of the service with the Church before going to their classes. The young people meet regularly for both spiritual and social activities.

BUCKINGHAM CHAPEL BRISTOL

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

Church Life

There are regular meetings of the Ladies on Tuesdays, Bible study and prayer meetings on Wednesdays and Young Adults Bible Study meetings and men’s breakfast meetings on Saturdays. A prayer meeting is also held on the first Friday of each month.

The church continues to provide a childcare service to the local community: Tiger Tots. It meets on Friday morning from 10.00am till 11.30am during term time and provides a playgroup facility for children from birth to school age. In addition to play and craft activities the children also sing choruses, nursery rhymes and hear stories from the Bible.

For older children the church provides a youth group called “Lighthouse”. Lighthouse meets every Friday at 5:45pm to 7:15pm during term-time. The activities include play and craft activities as well as Bible teaching.

We ran a Saturday Special during the first quarter for primary school children following the pattern of a holiday bible club.

We have again had the privilege of having a number of students worshipping with us who have made Buckingham their spiritual home from home as well as an increasing number of international regular attendees.

At Christmas we undertook a range of evangelistic activities including distribution of Christmas tracts and advertising of Christmas services.

During the year we continued to provide prayer and financial support to missionary work in Peru, European Missionary Fellowship, Equipping Pastors Worldwide, Blythswood Trust, Open Air Mission, WEC work amongst Asians and Romanian Ministries.

Reserves Policy

The Trustees have established a policy whereby the unrestricted funds ("the free reserves") held by the charity should be between 3 and 6 months of the annual payments, which equates to £29,966 to £59,931 in general funds. At this level, the Trustees feel that they would be able to continue the current activities of the organisation in the event of a significant drop in funding. It would obviously be necessary to consider how the funding would be replaced or activities changed accordingly. At 31 December 2024, free reserves amounted to £233,561, which exceeded the target level. The excess funds will be used on future building projects which will be decided on in due course.

Grateful thanks and praise

We are grateful to God for all that has been achieved. Although a small Fellowship God’s people have proved faithful both in their attendance and in their giving. We give 12.5% of our weekly offerings and gifts not otherwise designated to the support of our missionaries and the European Missionary Fellowship .

BUCKINGHAM CHAPEL BRISTOL

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

Statement of trustees’ responsibilities

The trustees are responsible for keeping sufficient accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the trust deed/constitution. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

22 May 2025

Approved by the Board of Trustees on …………………………… and signed on its behalf by:

………………………………………….

Mr J Martin Secretary (since Apr 2025)

………………………………………….

Dr S P Benham Treasurer

BUCKINGHAM CHAPEL BRISTOL

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Buckingham Baptist Chapel

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Buckingham Baptist Chapel (the Charity) for the year ended 31 December 2024.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity 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 material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

accounting records were not kept in respect of the Charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or
the accounts do not accord with those records; or
the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.

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.

Joshua Kingston, Bsc (Hons) ACA Burton Sweet Limited The Clock Tower 5 Farleigh Court Old Weston Road Flax Bourton Bristol BS48 1UR

22 May 2025 Date: …………………………

BUCKINGHAM CHAPEL BRISTOL

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT

Unrestricted Funds £ 74,159 913 8,057 434 124 16,711	Restricted Funds £ 11,311 4,786 5,317 1,661	Total Funds Total Funds 2024 2023 £ £ 85,470 94,957 - - 5,699 5,517 8,057 7,047 5,751 4,876 124 1,409 18,372 17,907 123,473 131,713 5,234 3,820 803 852 2,196 2,148 131,706 138,533 12,757 13,922 625 366 14,124 14,654 1,708 6,015 30,707 29,505 3,290 3,100 60 60 2,566 36,738 2,785 1,554 8,767 10,790 7,675 8,020 647 305 4,148 2,275 522 7,609 12,037 8,629 625 479 554 823 314 - 354 351 330 186 825 2,988 1,133 931 3,746 2,767 - 89 4,818 5,006 3,343 2,623 328 314 118,788 160,099 1,074 1,026 119,862 161,125 - - 11,844 (22,592)	Total Funds Total Funds 2024 2023 £ £ 85,470 94,957 - - 5,699 5,517 8,057 7,047 5,751 4,876 124 1,409 18,372 17,907 123,473 131,713 5,234 3,820 803 852 2,196 2,148 131,706 138,533 12,757 13,922 625 366 14,124 14,654 1,708 6,015 30,707 29,505 3,290 3,100 60 60 2,566 36,738 2,785 1,554 8,767 10,790 7,675 8,020 647 305 4,148 2,275 522 7,609 12,037 8,629 625 479 554 823 314 - 354 351 330 186 825 2,988 1,133 931 3,746 2,767 - 89 4,818 5,006 3,343 2,623 328 314 118,788 160,099 1,074 1,026 119,862 161,125 - - 11,844 (22,592)
100,398 5,234 803 2,196	23,075 - - -	123,473 5,234 803 2,196	131,713 3,820 852 2,148
108,631	23,075	131,706	138,533
- - 13,276 580 30,707 3,290 60 2,566 2,567 8,767 7,675 647 4,148 522 12,037 625 271 165 234 330 825 807 2,878 - - 3,273 328	12,757 625 848 1,128 - - - - 218 - - - - - - - 283 149 120 - - 326 868 - 4,818 70 -	12,757 625 14,124 1,708 30,707 3,290 60 2,566 2,785 8,767 7,675 647 4,148 522 12,037 625 554 314 354 330 825 1,133 3,746 - 4,818 3,343 328	13,922 366 14,654 6,015 29,505 3,100 60 36,738 1,554 10,790 8,020 305 2,275 7,609 8,629 479 823 - 351 186 2,988 931 2,767 89 5,006 2,623 314
96,578 1,074	22,210 -	118,788 1,074	160,099 1,026
97,652	22,210	119,862	161,125
-	-	-	-
10,979	865	11,844	(22,592)

BUCKINGHAM CHAPEL BRISTOL AT 31 DECEMBER 2024 STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

Fixed Assets Property, Improvements & Fittings Current Assets Current account Gold Account Deposit (prepayment) Church Holiday Loan Total Assets Liabilities Other Creditors Accruals - Accountancy Total Liabilities CASH RESERVES Unrestricted funds Brought forward Net receipts/(payments) for the year Restricted funds Brought forward Net receipts/(payments) for the year Total reserves Signed on behalf of the trustees on …............. 22 May 2025	2024 £ 275,381 275,381 22,282 213,939 500 34,793 271,514 546,895 - 1,152 1,152 222,582 10,979 233,561 1,795 865 2,660 236,221	2023 £ 275,381
		275,381 15,630 208,747 500 36,990
		261,867
		537,248
		- 1,026
		1,026
		241,911 (19,329)
		222,582 5,058 (3,263)
		1,795
		224,377

Mr J Martin Secretary (since Apr 2025)

Dr S P Benham Treasurer

BUCKINGHAM CHAPEL BRISTOL

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Related party transactions

Oliver Gross, trustee received payments of £30,907 (2023: £29,118) in respect of pastoral services.

These payments are permitted under the Charity's constitution.

During the year six (2023: 6) trustees were reimbursed expenses amounting to £5,129 (2023: £5,880) in respect of travel and meeting expenses and other charitable expenses.

There are no other related party transactions apart from those already disclosed.