## **BIGGLESWADE BAPTIST CHURCH**
## **ANNUAL REPORT**
**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022**
**Independent examiner's report on the accounts**
**Section A Independent Examiner’s Report**
**Report to the trustees/** Charity Name **members of** Biggleswade Baptist Church **On accounts for the year** 31 March 2022 **Charity no** 1144614 **ended (if any) Set out on pages** 2 to 9 (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)
- I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended **31/03/2022** .
- **Responsibilities and** As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation **basis of report** of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
**Independent** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have **examiner's statement** come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
- accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
- the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
**Signed: Date:** 24/01/2023 **Name:** Alison Smyth **Relevant professional** ICAEW **qualification(s) or body (if any): Address:** 4 High Street, Langford, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, SG18 9RR
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## **Trustees' Annual Report for the period**
Period start date Period end date Day Month Year Day Month Year **From** 01 04 2021 **To** 31 03 2022
## Section A Reference and administration details
**Charity name Other names charity is known by Registered charity number (if any)** 1144614 **Charity's principal address** 24 London Road
Biggleswade Baptist Church
Biggleswade Beds **Postcode** SG18 8EB
**Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity**
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20|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for**
**whole year **|**Name of person (or body) entitled**
**to appoint trustee (ifany)**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||Rev Martin Ceaser|Minister|||
||Mr Cliff Andrews||||
||Mrs Ellen Andrews|Children and Family
Worker|||
||Mrs Clare Botterill||||
||Mr Gareth Godfrey||||
||Mr John Ingrey|Treasurer|||
||Mrs Gill Reeves||||
||Mr Mike Sladen||||
||Mr Bill Swale||||
||Mr Julian Thomas||||
||Mr Kevin Wilkes||||
||Mrs Yvonne Tobin||||
||Mrs Ibim Banigo||From 20 April 2021||
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**Section B Structure, governance and management**
## **Description of the charity’s trusts**
Type of governing document
Standard Baptist Union Constitution adopted 2009
- (eg. trust deed, constitution)
Church fellowship of 120 members and approx. 200 total congregation How the charity is constituted
- (eg. trust, association, company)
Appointed by Annual Church members’ meeting held in June. Trustee selection methods
- (eg. appointed by, elected by)
## **Additional governance issues (Optional information)**
You **may choose** to include additional information, where relevant, about:
- policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees;
- the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works;
- relationship with any related parties;
Child protection Policy is in place based on national Baptist Union guidelines. All youth workers hold CPC accreditation.
The Church is in membership of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and is a member of the Evangelical Alliance.
The Church is also a partner with other churches in Biggleswade through Biggleswade Churches Together.
Monthly leadership meetings are held involving all trustees to consider the on-going work of the Church and any relevant governance and operational issues that may arise. During ‘Lockdown’ periods remote meetings were held using ‘ZOOM’ software, in the current period a growing number of meetings have been held ‘in person’.
- trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them.
## **Section C Objectives and activities**
**Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document**
The principal purpose of the Church is the advancement of the Christian faith according to the principles of the Baptist denomination. The Church may also advance education and carry out other charitable purposes in the United Kingdom and/or other parts of the world.
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Weekly meetings on Sundays. During the week small groups meet for bible study, prayer and fellowship. During Covid restrictions, meetings were streamed over the Internet. In the current period more meetings have been held in the church buildings with appropriate safeguards in place.
**Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit)**
The church runs a Baby Group and Toddler group which provides support and play facilities for a large number of families in Biggleswade., these have now re-started with restricted numbers and appropriate safeguarding measures. Weekly lunchtime meetings are arranged in the town’s middle schools for pupils with a relevant topic theme. It is proposed to re-start these meetings later in the year. Breakfast Club for children aged 8 – 11 years normally runs once a month, with food and games. This will re-start during the current period A ‘Mens Breakfast’ is normally held monthly on Saturday morning and attracts between 25 - 30 men for a full breakfast and an opportunity for conversation and sharing together. A similar ‘Ladies Breakfast” meeting is held on the subsequent Saturday morning with around 45 ladies attending. These have re-started after Covid restrictions have been lifted. A Holiday Bible Club is normally arranged during the first week of the annual school summer holidays for 240 children involving bible teaching, games, craft and music. Applications for places are often oversubscribed. A limited one day event was held in the current period once Covid restrictions had been lifted.
The Church is also involved with the other churches in Biggleswade to facilitate the joint worship service on Good Friday, supporting the Town Christmas Lights event, Christian Aid and other joint events. Biggleswade Baptist Church is the local centre for a food aid Food Bank in conjunction with the local social services and is supported by food gifts by local supermarket collection points and other organizations. This continued throughout the Covid pandemic.
Biggleswade Baptist Church seeks to serve the community in which it is situated and to share God’s love with the town. The Trustees review the church activities to ensure that this is a primary aim.
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## **Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)**
The Church through voluntary giving, supports a full time minister and the part time office manager and a full time Church and Community worker. A part time Children and Family worker and full time Youth Worker are employed by the Church. A tenth of all general income is given to five Christian charitable organisations supporting work both in UK and overseas developing nations.
You **may choose** to include further statements, where relevant, about:
All support activities and work in the church is provided voluntarily by the church members and congregation. Over 70 volunteers are normally involved with the annual Holiday Bible Club..
- policy on grantmaking;
- policy programme related investment;
- contribution made by volunteers.
The church also hosts the weekly bereavement support group run by trained counselors.
A Drop-in-Centre and Community Hub was opened in February 2020 on a large new housing estate in Biggleswade to provide a contact point for residents. This has re-started on a limited basis following the lifting of Covid restrictions.
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Section D Achievements and performance
## **Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year**
Open worship and teaching meetings held on Sundays and mid-week.
Sunday Club activities for young people.
Food Bank support in conjunction with the local organisations.
A pioneer Drop-in-Centre and Community Hub was opened in February 2020 in a commercial office/retail facility in the main square of the very large new Kings Reach housing estate under construction on the east side of Biggleswade. This is staffed by volunteers and the Church and Community Worker to provide support for families and signposting to other agencies. This continued during lockdown restrictions on an appointment basis only but was opened again for three days/week with safeguarding measures from April 2021.
Covid restrictions and ongoing concerns over Covid have significantly affected the day to day operation of many activities which have tentively re-started in this period. New ways have been sought to continue the work and witness of the Church during the year and gradually activities are returning to pre-pandemic levels.
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## **Section E Financial review**
The charity normally maintains a bank deposit account of funds to cover **Brief statement of the** unexpected requirements. This deposit sum is targeted to have a **charity’s policy on reserves** minimum value equivalent to an average monthly expenditure. During the Lockdown periods, almost all giving to the work and witness of the church has been made via direct bank transfers or Standing Orders.
**Details of any funds materially in deficit**
## **Further financial review details (Optional information)**
You **may choose** to include additional information, where relevant about:
- the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising);
- how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity;
- investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted.
## **Section F Other optional information**
## **Section G Declaration**
**The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.**
**Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees**
**Signature(s) Full name(s)** John Ingrey **Position (eg Secretary, Chair,** Treasurer **etc) Date** 24 January 2023
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**----- Start of picture text -----**
No (if any)
Biggleswade Baptist Church 1144614
Receipts and payments accounts CC16a
For the period Period start date Period end date
To
from 01/04/2021 31/03/2022
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
Total funds Last year
funds funds funds
to the nearest
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
£
A1 Receipts
General Offering 26,356 - - 26,356 24,208
Covenanted Income - General 143,702 - - 143,702 158,454
Donations - Restricted - 22,654 - 22,654 7,967
Bank Interest Received 3 - - 3 9
Use of Premises 1,395 - - 1,395 -
Other Income - - - - 2,230
Sub total (Gross income for AR) 171,456 22,654 - 194,110 192,868
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
- - - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total receipts 171,456 22,654 - 194,110 192,868
A3 Payments
Wages and Salaries (Incl NIC) 102,066 - - 102,066 101,802
Training and Conference Costs 1,469 - - 1,469 655
Travel Expenses 1,459 - - 1,459 505
Membership Fees and Subscriptions 1,617 - - 1,617 1,669
Catering Expenses 279 - - 279 186
Printing, Postage and Stationery 827 - - 827 1,320
Teaching Materials and Study Books 786 - - 786 916
Visiting Preachers - - - - 150
Outreach Costs 2,978 - - 2,978 1,501
Holiday Bible Club Costs 152 161 - 313 77
Other Direct Activity Costs 1,727 1,360 - 3,087 3,391
Building Maintenance 3,658 - - 3,658 7,300
Rent 12,145 - - 12,145 7,200
Light, Heat and Rates 9,031 302 - 9,333 8,071
Insurance 2,722 - - 2,722 2,689
Telephone Costs 1,839 - - 1,839 1,512
Pension Costs 23,502 - - 23,502 21,152
Consultancy Fees - - - - -
Grants 5,400 18,357 - 23,757 18,743
Sub total 171,657 20,180 - 191,837 178,839
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
Assets - - - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total payments 171,657 20,180 - 191,837 178,839
Net of receipts/(payments) (201) 2,474 - 2,273 14,029
A5 Transfers between funds - - - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end 34,591 10,686 - 45,277 31,248
Cash funds this year end 34,390 13,160 - 47,550 45,277
**----- End of picture text -----**
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## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**
|**Categories**
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
**B1 Cash funds**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**
**B5 Liabilities**
**B3 Investment assets**|**Details**
Signature
Acer TC-885 Intel Core i5 desktop PC 1TB
HDD 128GB SSD 26/05/2020
19/09/2020 Laptop for J Sharman
02/11/2020 Song Pro Computer A
Anderson
**Details**
Garage Conversion
Chairs
Sound, visual and music equipment
Computer equipment
Chairs 2018-19
Cash at bank
**Details**
**Details**
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
**Details**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**34,390**
**13,160**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**34,390**
**13,160**
OK
OK
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Cost (optional)**
General
**19,857**
General
**11,056**
General
**3,865**
General
**1,269**
General
**864**
General
**579**
General
**499**
General
**719**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**liability relates**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
Print Name
J Ingrey|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**|
|---|---|---|---|
||||**-**|
||||OK|
||||**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Current value**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Current value**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**When due**
**(optional)**
Date of
approval
24/01/2023|
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees
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## **Virtual Cabinet Portal Digital Signatures**
## **Digital Signature Verification**
You can verify that this is a genuine Virtual Cabinet Document Portal signed document by uploading it to the following secure web page:
https://www.virtualcabinetportal.com/VerifySignedDocument
## **Signature Dates and Times**
All dates and times shown in the signatures below are expressed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is generally equivalent to GMT. You can find out more about UTC at the following web page:
http://www.virtualcabinetportal.com/WhatIsUTC
## **Signature 1**
Signed by John Ingrey using authentication code ZlpJd2ReZyRcVVFv at IP address 86.11.10.253, on 2023/01/25 19:06:53 Z.
John Ingrey's e-mail address is: john.ingrey@ntlworld.com.