2025-08-31-accounts - Westminster Methodist Circuit

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Church Accruals Accounts 2024/25

THE METHODIST CHURCH

STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS

ACCRUALS BASIS

For the year ended 31 August 2025

METHODIST CENTRAL HALL WESTMINSTER

Registered Charity No 1145076

SUPERINTENDENT MINISTER

Revd Tony Miles

CHURCH STEWARDS

Esther Buckman Abdul Bah Regina Boye Comfort Golightly Shirley Bernisto Grace Kermah Doreen Aidoo Jocelyn Boafo Maame Doku Djan-Krofa Nana Ama Larbi-Amoah Stafford Thomas

CHURCH TREASURER

Ama Ackah-Yensu

METHODIST CENTRAL HALL WESTMINSTER CHURCH TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

Introduction

This Annual Report gives an account of the mission and ministry of Methodist Church Central Hall Westminster. It represents considerable commitment on the part of its members, who both gather for worship and learning, and disperse in witness, being involved in a variety of means of service.

Aims and Organisation

Our vision statement declared on the order of worship each week states: “Methodist Central Hall Westminster is a global Christian family following Jesus at the heart of London.”

Our mission:

The worship, mission, and witness of MCHW is healthy and our work is focussed upon ‘NURTURE’ and ‘OUTREACH’, maintaining, and growing our existing work but also adding new initiatives during the year.

The knock-on effect of the financial challenges that the Conference Property Trust and Central Hall Westminster Ltd are facing, presents the church with a huge challenge. Nevertheless, with God’s help, MCHW is determined to do all we can to maintain and extend our work.

To achieve our vision, we aim to focus on what we need to NURTURE in our church.

This includes:

Church Family Life and Pastoral Care
Discipleship
Spirituality, Prayer, and Healing
Work with Children & Young People
Worship & Music
Greater participation and the sharing of gifts (finance/Talents)

How we need to extend MCHW’s work and influence through OUTREACH - locally and globally.

A. Locally:

1) Evangelism
2) Church In Society – social action

B. Globally:

1) Online, Live Stream, & Broadcast Ministry
2) Nurture our International Family
3) Connexional & Global Issues – Social Justice

We want the Central Hall building to be used not only by the worshipping community at its heart, but also to engage with the beating ‘heart’ and life of London, and especially Westminster. We aim to deepen our existing relationships with Westminster Abbey,

Westminster Cathedral, Church Together in Westminster, the Houses of Parliament, Scotland Yard, etc.

We are seeking to:

Engage with local issues and support local charities: The Saint Vincent Family Project (which we host on site), The Westminster Food Bank, Night shelter projects, The Passage (helping homeless people), The Abbey Centre, the London Prison’s Mission, and working at establishing and developing a Methodist presence in the Palace of Westminster and offering pastoral care to those working on the Parliamentary estate.
Build links with the Church worldwide as a ‘cathedral for Methodism’.
Grow MCHW’s social media presence and developing a respected and popular online ministry, including livestreaming regular bespoke services, serving our housebound members, and Methodists around the connexion and globally. Initiatives include online Lent, Advent, Alpha, and Bible study courses online.
Develop MCHW’s respected and balanced healing ministry (including our annual Healing Conference) and extending our pastoral care.
Provide Visitor Services (in conjunction with our Conference Property Trustees) – with visitor hosts offering giving tours of the building (mainly on Thursdays), and maintaining Archives for Mission, helping us to tell the story of methodism and especially the Forward Movement.
Host MCHW’s own special events (including Daffodil Day, the Methodist Parliamentary Covenant Service, a Traditional Carols service (with the Premier Media Group, Jazz Carols, Jazz Vespers, a Saying Goodbye Service (with the Mariposa Trust) and other gatherings. We seek to partner with other organisations where we can, like Premier Radio, the BBC, and helping to facilitate other Christian and other charity events.
Maintaining relatively new initiatives, including developing as an Eco Church, implementing our Neighbourhood Evangelism Team, our house groups, and a group called Interim, a group for university aged young people.
Grow MCHW’s wide-ranging worship on Sundays and mid-week, including MCHW’s renowned choir, and the hosting of organ matinee recitals once a month.
Maintain and grow our work with families, children, teenagers, and Young Adults (Sanctuary).

REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2024-2025

Church Staff

Mark Williamson has served us well but also stepped down this year from being our Youth and Young Adult leader at the end of February 2025 and we wish him well with the charity he founded with his wife, Dr Joanna Wiliamson: One Rock International. Mark will also be missed and currently we have volunteers coordinating YPF and

Sanctuary (our young adult congregation). We successfully applied to the District Advance Fund for funds for a full-time Families’ and Youth worker. This work is essential to cover the workload and to support our Superintendent Minister and Deacon. We are delighted that our Church Secretary, Liwia Kaszewska was moved to a permanent contract when she finished her one-year fixed contract. We are reviewing our staffing needs and functions in the light of our finance. We moved our Payroll Bureau from Central Hall Westminster Ltd to Stewardship in April 2025 as part of the current governance review. There were no other changes to our Church staff this year.

Annual Review – for our 112th Year 2024-2025

Our illustrated published annual review can be found using this link https://sway.cloud.microsoft/QfKhTHjDacZr1F9D?ref=Link

112th Church Anniversary

The Revd Dr Reynaldo F Leao-Neto, the General Secretary of the World Methodist Council was our guest preacher for our morning services for 112[th] Church Anniversary. This was followed by a successful church anniversary lunch in the Lecture Hall. Revd Dr Leao-Neto now has an office at MCHW, and we look forward to working with and alongside him.

London Open House and Back to Church Sunday

Once again MCHW played its part in the Open House season when many buildings in and around London opened their doors to visitors on 15th September. We had many guests at our services, and, in the afternoon, we welcomed hundreds of visitors to look round our great church, to listen to the organ recital, and to climb to the top of the dome.

Lunch-time Services

Our midweek lunchtime services on Wednesdays continue to be valued by a wide range of people, some from our own congregation along with frequent visitors from around the globe. During the last year the number of local office workers attending has gone back to pre-Covid levels. Bible passages, at the heart of our services, have included Ruth and Jonah, Psalms of Ascent and Characters of the Passion. During this summer we are completing a read-through of the Acts of the Apostles, covered over a three-year period, and finding stories from the Early Church relevant to our own mission.

Online Services and AV

£90K grant from a trust to upgrade our online broadcast facilities and another grant of £50K from the Connexion, we have successfully completed the first two phases of a new installation in the Great Hall and Chapel. So far, this has included installing new projectors and portable screens in the Great Hall, new cameras for use in our services and organ recitals, new wiring, the provision to stream from the great Hall when needed and to capture audio for use on our online services. We have also simplified and enhanced our broadcast facilities in the Chapel. We still have funds in place for phase three of this project, which should be completed in due course. Our aim is to develop our online services and content available online and via social media.

Visit of the President and Vice-President of Conference

On 1[st] September 2024, we welcomed Revd Helen Cameron (President Conference) and Mrs Carolyn Godfrey (Vice President) to a tea in the President’s room followed by a Healing and Communion service. Our new Chair of District, Revd Dr. Jonathan Dean was also present, together with our Church Choir.

Harvest Festival

Harvest Festival was held on Sunday 29[th] September 2024. We collected Harvest Gifts for Westminster Foodbank and The Passage.

Saying Goodbye Service

In November 2024, we hosted another service with the Mariposa Trust for those who’ve lost children in infancy - before birth, during birth, or soon after birth. Once again, this was an emotional event, which was well-received by those who would rarely enter a church.

Traditional Carol Service and Jazz Carols

We estimate that we had about 1,200 people attending our Traditional Carol service 2024 with orchestra and choir. The service was broadcast on Premier Christian Radio on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Our Jazz Carols 2024 service was, once again, advertised amongst the Jazz community and we had many people attending who don’t normally attend a church. This was well-attended, with over 600+ people present. Both these events are extremely worthwhile with a considerable reach. We will continue to see if Jazz Carols can be broadcast on Commercial Radio in the future.

Parliamentary Covenant Service 2025 and Engagement with Parliament

On Tuesday 21[st] January 2025, we hosted our 30[th] Methodist Parliamentary Covenant Service at the St. Mary Undercroft Chapel, Palace of Westminster. 119 people confirmed their attendance, but on the day only 80 or more people were present. This included 6 MPs, 3 from the Lords, several special guests, members of the Connexional Team, together with staff and church members from MCHW. The Very Revd Dr. David Hoyle, the Dean of Westminster, preached a very relevant sermon, Lord Leslie Griffiths of Burry Port was interviewed, Revd Tony Miles presided at Holy Communion, and MPs, Lords, members of the Connexional Team and MCHW Team took part in the service. Our Superintendent Minister hosted a meal after the event for the President and Vice president of Conference, together with members of the Connexional Team with MPs and Lords after the service. This was a constructive networking occasional. In addition, our Superintendent Minister is working for Lord Griffiths of Burry Port, which will mean he will have a pass to enter the Houses of Parliament, which will be a help in developing our presence and pastoral care in

Parliament. Conversations are in progress with the Connexion about how this might develop in the future with Connexional and JPIT support.

Ash Wednesday & Lent

We had two well attended Ash Wednesday services and had an online Lent Course on the Thursday evenings during Lent on the theme of “Transform the Nation”, focussing on Justice and Law, Education and Learning, The Arts, Evangelism and a Missional Church, Community cohesion, and Governance and Democracy. Holy Wednesday, we visited our Roman Catholic friends at Westminster Cathedral for Stations of the Cross. On Maundy Thursday we had a Communion service with significant input from our Choir and after a reflective service on Good Friday, many of our congregation took part in a Prayer Walk from MCHW to Trafalgar Square to watch the very popular 90-minute Winstersall Passion Play at noon. Our Easter Day services were joyous with record attendances since the pandemic.

An evening with Bear Grylls

About 700 people attended the launch of Bear Gryll’s new book, ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told” on 18[th] June 2025 in the Great Hall for church leaders, Christians, and others. MCHW hosted this evening for Share Jesus, together with a host of Christian charities. The event was very well received and is part of a wider mission project.

Ecumenical - Commonwealth Service

Revd Tony Miles was privileged to lead a prayer at Westminster Abbey’s Commonwealth service again, which was broadcast on BBC 1. We continue to value our relationship with the Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral. We are a part of Churches Together in Westminster and Deacon Ali McMillan is on the exec. We have held ecumenical services for Advent and Pentecost, as well as our AGM, at St Saviour's, Pimlico, featuring a talk on ‘Cathedral Music in Prisons’.

Daffodil Day 2025

Daffodil Day (MCHW’s spring festival for encouragement and Christian Renewal) on Saturday 1st March (St. David’s Day) was successful – numbers increased, but numbers were not as high as we hoped (c.700). Special guests included Pam Rhodes, The Gwalia Male Voice Choir (Welsh), Lord Griffiths of Bury Port, the President and Vice President of Conference, the Methodist Youth president, the Lord Mayor of Westminster, The Marie Curie Trust, our Chair of District, and the MCHW staff team.

Wesley Day Songs of Praise

For the third year running, "Wednesday@Westminster" hosted a well-attended Wesley Songs of Praise service featuring Charles Wesley’s hymns. This included teaching and reflections on John Wesley's "heart-warming experience" by Revd. Dr Martin Wellings – a Wesleyan scholar and the Superintendent minister of the Barnet & Queensbury Circuit. Earlier in the day there were various special activities at Wesley's Chapel (City Road), including visits to John Wesley's House, and worship with the President & VicePresident of the Conference.

Prayer and Healing Ministry

services. Our Annual Healing Conference, in partnership with Premier Lifeline, took place on 17[th] May 2025. We had nearly 300 people attend what proved to be a Spiritled and Spirit-filled day of learning and equipping, threaded with powerful, prophetic worship led by Dave and Pat Bilbrough. Roy Godwin was our speaker, and the theme was ‘The Transforming Power of Spoken Blessing’. Through the feedback forms it was evident that many found it to be an inspiring, healing and spirit filled day. As a Church, we are mindful of our physical and mental health. We continue to offer free blood pressure checks each month after a Sunday morning service.

Music

Music at MCHW continues to illuminate our services alongside scripture: together they are two essential elements of worship, and we take great care to match the two as we plan anthems and hymns to suit the themes of each Sunday morning service. The choir continues to provide an excellent and varied musical diet, and there is a strong sense of fellowship within the group. A new initiative this year has been the monthly Informal Evening Choir, currently taking place on the last Sunday of the month in the chapel. This is an opportunity for anyone in the congregation to help lead the singing at an evening service. The choir gave a welcome performance of Vivaldi's Gloria in the Great Hall at Easter and, together with our musicians, made a significant contribution to many events during the year. Our programme of monthly organ matinees continues, and they are well-received and well-attended. we helped launch the Royal College of Organists’ ‘Play the Organ Year’ in January, when 350 came to hear and try the organ for themselves! We are discussing and exploring the possibility of establishing a Christian community choir/Gospel choir in the future and beginning to explore hosting a Church musical of some kind. We are now recording the best of our Sunday hymns and songs to use online and hope to produce another CD.

Alpha, Lent Course, and Ambrosia Prayer Group.

Revd Lansford Penn-Timity led another online Alpha Group this year, which was greatly appreciated and highly successful. Audrey Nipah will lead when Revd Lansford moves on. Revd Dr G. Howard Mellor and the ministerial team hosted a wellattended Lent Course (94 signed up – 30-45 each week). We explored the gospel teaching concerning a number of community and policy issues confronting our country under the title ‘Transforming the Nation’. Revd Dr Joyce Popoola has started an online prayer initiative, ‘Ambrosia’ from 5:30am to 6:00am every Monday morning.

Church Membership, Baptisms and Funerals

As always, the heart of MCHW is our pastoral care. We are extremely blessed to have a team of over 40 pastoral leaders who play a vital role in our pastoral care for one another in the life of the church. On June 15[th] 2025, we publicly welcomed 14 people into church membership (six by way of confirmation). This is in addition to the 12 new members and seven received by way of transfer in November and last June. Thankfully, due to the success of our imaginative and effective “church online’ ministry during Covid, we have rebuilt our congregational attendance. Our record post-Covid attendance was on Easter Day this year with c.430 across our in-person services. Our regular congregations are still building, and we regularly have about 200 at our communion services. Sadly, we have had a lot of funerals recently at MCHW and elsewhere. Baptisms are also returning, with six baptisms at a service from one family!

Pastoral Committee

We are pleased to report that during this period, no safeguarding or data breach concerns were raised, affirming the team’s diligence and adherence to protocols. Efforts are currently underway to ensure that all pastoral leaders complete the mandatory training required for this role. This training is not just a formality but a crucial step in equipping leaders to serve effectively and responsibly. We recruited and appointed through the Church Council four new pastoral leaders. With great sadness, we also report the passing of four of our beloved members during this period, together with several others who have died who were associated with MCHW.

Local Preachers

We held a Service of Admission for Ruth Imbo as a ‘Fully Accredited Local Preacher at MCHW on the evening of 16[th] March, 6.00 p.m. in our Chapel. We are also delighted that our Church Secretary, Liwia Kaszewska, is now On Note as a Local Preacher.

Safeguarding

The protection of children and vulnerable adults is important to us. We seek to ensure that the services and space we provide are safe. We have a Safeguarding Officer working with the Leadership Team to check everyone who has a role with children and adults has the necessary checks and that they receive the necessary training, thereby ensuring that everyone is able to identify concerns and knows how best to respond. We work closely with the London District Safeguarding Team.

Leadership Team Away Day

On Saturday November 16[th] , we held our Leadership Team away day to further develop our priorities and focus to our Mission. This was a helpful and constructive occasion.

Work With Children, Young People and Young Adults

Crèche: this has been picking up slowly each week, which is a very good sign. Babies are coming back into the crèche with their parents after a long absence, and some continue to come as regularly as before. Three regular helpers come to assist with the babies, which is a great asset. Parents are also encouraged to sit with their children if necessary. Each child is made to feel welcome, and they can play with the toys provided, which are suitable for both the very young and the older children who still attend.

JC Live: continues to be a joyful and welcoming space where children explore the Christian faith through fun, creativity, and community. Celebrations such as Christmas, Easter, Harvest, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day brought the children together in love and reflection, with songs, prayers, and thoughtful crafts. This year, lessons included Pentecost, Joseph’s forgiveness, and Jesus calling His disciples to become ‘fishers of people.’ The children made cards, created Pentecost flames, and illustrated Bible stories—engaging in hands-on learning that deepens their connection to God’s word. They also explored themes like true friendship, forgiveness, kindness, and loving our enemies, helping children apply Christian values in everyday life. JC Live continues to nurture faith and fellowship, helping children to know they are loved, valued, and part of God’s family. Our dedicated volunteers feel privileged to guide and encourage them each week on their journey of faith.

YPF: We are so grateful to all those who volunteer with our children and young people at MCHW week after week. To support this vital work, we were very thankful to the

District Advance Fund for providing a grant to appoint a ‘families and youth worker’. We are hoping to appoint someone to begin in September 2025. As well as enabling and developing the current work, the appointment will also enable us to develop new strategies for outreach with families and youth locally, including schools and community engagement.

Interim: is a group for university aged young people that gives an opportunity for its members to meet with their peers to talk openly in a place of security and vulnerability. As summarised in their 2025 theme, ‘My Spiritual Journey’, they have been encouraging one another to maintain our personal faith with each other’s support. They tried their first one-day Lenten fast together, and they are persevering with their Two-Year Bible Plan. They have been blessed with visits from members of the ministerial team and pastoral leaders in the church, who have generously shared from their own lives and faith journeys.

Sanctuary is our young adult congregation - a community of people in their 20s & 30s following Jesus by exploring spirituality, justice and leadership.

Visitor Hosts and Archives

We are still only able to offer limited Visitor Services, due to a reduction in staffing levels. However, we are still able to offer some tours of the building, and resource our Archives for Mission, helping us to tell the story of Methodism and especially the Forward Movement.

Church in Society and Social Action

Over the last year we have continued to build links with our community and to live out our gospel call to reach out to those in need, in partnership with others. We continue to partner with Westminster Foodbank to provide food for those in need in the community. Westminster has the second-highest unemployment rate in London. More than 41% of children in Westminster live in poverty. The Foodbank, in partnership with Trussell Trust, provides three days ' worth of nutritionally balanced (non-perishable) food to residents in the Borough of Westminster experiencing financial crisis. This year we worked with Kings Cross Methodist Church, providing volunteers for their Night Shelter, offering a meal and overnight accommodation for those who would otherwise be sleeping on the streets of the city. Deacon Ali McMillan continued her work with London Prisons Misson, that works to connect volunteers from London Churches with volunteering opportunities in prisons and with those leaving prison. Revd Gordon Newton works with Change for Good, a charity that seeks to work with men leaving prison, offering mentorship and peer-support groups. Both Deacon Ali and Revd Gordon attended the Change for Good AGM, seeking ways to build on this relationship.

St Vincent’s Family Project (located in the building)

The SVFP continues their important work with local children and families, being a safe place for gathering and offering a range of courses and support. Deacon Ali is trustee of the project, and chaplain, seeking to support staff, volunteers and families.

Environment

The Eco Church group has been working hard to enable us to reach Bronze Award, and then to move on from there. We have been giving regular tips in our Grapevine email and keeping sustainability on the agenda for meetings. Members of the group have spoken with our young people and are highlighting all the good that already happens

(for example… use of recycled paper, used book stall, sustainability awards the building has won, used stamp collection).

Religion Media Centre

Revd Tony Miles serves on the Council of Reference for this Religion Media Centre and we hosted their interfaith ‘The Religion Media Festival’ on 9[th] June 2025 at MCHW. It focused on the intersection of religion and media. This was their best attended conference for many years. The event included interviews with Cathy Newman, Channel 4 News; Lord Russell Rook, adviser to the Faith Minister; and Sir Mark Thompson, CEO of CNN and former BBC Director General. Panels discussed Millennials, Faith and the Digital Space; the role of local media in creating connections across society; British Muslims; the British Media and British Jews.

New Initiatives

Interim, a group for university aged young people, and our Men’s Fellowship are developing gradually. Our Women’s Ministry are planning a conference on the theme of AI, and the Neighbourhood Evangelism Team has continued to reach out to our local community.

Areas currently in need of Development

Finances – to increase giving – seek to become more self-sufficient but will still need support.
Children’s, Youth, Families and Young Adults ministry – important now, and it is our future.
More effective Pastoral Care.
Greater Lay Commitment and involvement/assistance.
Our understanding of what it means to have a Cathedral-like mission – the need to develop civic and social engagement through strategic partnerships.
• Lacking a community hub and a better Visitor Services offer (Museum status?).
Music – need to develop a children’s, youth band, community choir, gospel choir, etc.

Church Tithe

Despite our challenging financial situation, MCHW tithed 15% of our giving to organisations that the Church Council and Circuit Meeting agreed to support. This is made clear when people give to MCHW and this year we paid out £27,205 (the 2023/24 allocation), spread across 11 good causes. Under our own Tithe rules, 15% of money allocated went to organisations in London. Other countries that benefitted included Myanmar, Sierra Leone, Indonesia, Nigeria, Malawi, and Ghana.

Plans for 2025/26

Financial plans have been prepared on the basis that staff levels within the Church will remain the same as 2024/25, except that the part-time Youth Worker left during 2024/25 and a full-time Families and Youth Worker have been appointed from October 2025. In 2025/26 there will again be no grant from the Conference Property Trustees and in order to compensate for this, a Mission Investment Anniversary (MIA150) Appeal will again be launched, with the intention of raising £150k, reducing to £75k in 2026/27, which will incorporate what previously would have been anniversary giving. We are initially budgeting for a deficit of £41k in 2025/26, which will result in there being a Contingency of £23.8k at the end of 2025/26. There will however be approximately £63.5k in other Designated Funds (excluding Tithe Fund) that could be used as Contingency if needed. The Church Trustees continue to explore other sources

of funding and grants, as well as looking to increase membership through evangelism and outreach.

The existing membership are also considering prayerfully how to increase their giving in order to move forward with the Kingdom Agenda. We continue to trust in God, who has faithfully brought us thus far!

Financial Review

The Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025 is attached. It shows the Church ending the year with a deficit of £114.6k (compared with a surplus of £32.8k in 2023/24). This resulted in total funds decreasing from £399.3k in 2023/24 to £284.7k in 2024/25. The total deficit of £114.6k comprised a surplus of £2.6k in the General Fund, offset by a deficit of £117.2k in Designated and Restricted Funds.

Income reduced by 5% from £612.6k to £583.9k.

Within that reduction, General Fund income increased by 20% £88.5k from £419.5k to £508.0k.

The Church increased its regular giving and raised an additional £150k through its Mission Investment Appeal.
It also received grants from the District Advance Fund to the tune of £53.4k.
Income from some Special Events increased due to increased attendance.
These increases were offset by the loss of the grant from the Connexional Trustees as well as the annual Church Anniversary Appeal (this was subsumed into the MIA 150 Appeal). Interest income also fell in line with reserve balances.
Income in 2023/24 that was not repeated in 2025/26 included donations for the Church Retreat and the one-off refund of extra pension contributions made to the Methodist Connexion in prior years.

For Designated and Restricted funds, income fell from £193.1k in 2024/25 to £75.8k in 2025/26.

One-off grants of £50k and £96.4k in 2023/24 to support the Online Ministry and broadcasting infrastructure were not repeated in 2024/25. This was offset by an increase in special offerings to be paid out to other organisations or for specific causes.

Expenditure

General Fund spending decreased by £37.2k to £476.9k (£514.k in 2023/24).

Key areas of decrease were:

Circuit assessment, where net expenditure was lowered due to transfers from the Live Stream Fund to reflect the true costs of delivering the Online Ministry.
Costs incurred in 2023/24 that were not repeated in 2024/25 – Church retreat and Neighbourhood Evangelism costs, as well as a mission trip abroad and donations to other organisations.

These decreases were offset by increases stemming from the impact of the complete withdrawal of grant support from the Connexional Trustees and a reassessment of the true cost of admin salaries.

Designated and Restricted Fund expenditure increased by £155.9k to £221.6k (£65.7k in 2023/24).

The bulk of the increase related to the spend on the Great Hall Broadcasting Project.
Costs relating to the production and delivery of the Online Services that had previously been borne by the General Fund were correctly charged to the Live Streaming Fund.
Finally, there was a significant increase in expenditure from the restricted Special Donations Fund, reflecting the paying out of donations for other organisations and special causes.

Total Funds for the Church have decreased to £284,677 (£399,341 in 2023/24) with £2,609 in the General Fund (£0 in 2023/24) and £282,069 in Restricted and Designated Funds (£399,341 in 2023/24).

In 2024/25, £28.5k has been transferred from Church General Funds to Designated and Restricted Funds, being:

the allocation to the Tithe Fund was £30.5k, which is a small increase from 2023/24 due to increased levels of giving.
£2k was transferred from the Hymn Sheet Fund to General Funds to cover the cost of printing.

The year has been financially challenging, but as usual, God has been faithful to us. Our thanks go to the Connexion, the London District, the staff of Central Hall Westminster Ltd, our members, regular worshippers (including our online congregation) and all our supporters whose prayers, generosity and support have sustained us throughout the year. To God be all the glory! We look forward to what He has in store for us.

METHODIST CENTRAL HALL WESTMINSTER CHURCH

Trustee’s Annual Report on Finance and Governance

The Charity’s annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 August 2024 have been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 and the Statement of Recommended Practice 2015 applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard in the UK and Republic of Ireland issued in July 2014.

Full Name of Church :

Methodist Central Hall Westminster

Charity Registration Number: 1145076 Date of registration: 15 December 2011

Main communication address: Methodist Central Hall, Storey’s Gate, Westminster, London SW1H 9NH

The members of the Methodist Central Hall Westminster Church Council are the Charity Trustees, membership being made up of circuit and church office holders, ministers and representatives appointed by the church at the Annual Church Meeting. A full list of Council membership is shown in the notes to this report.

Circuit Stewards: Helen Tudor (Senior) John Bernasko Genevieve Patnelli Grace Sangmuah Ekoh West Ama Ackah-Yensu Treasurer: Ama Ackah-Yensu Independent Examiner: Buzzacott LLP 130 Wood St London EC2V 6DL Bank: HSBC The Peak 333 Vauxhall Bridge Road Victoria London SW1V 1EJ Investment Bankers: Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church

Aims and Objectives

The charity’s objective is to act as a resource provider within the area around Westminster for the Methodist Church.

Our vision is to be a global Christian family following Jesus in the heart of London.

The purposes of the Methodist Church are, and shall be deemed to have been, since the Date of Union, the advancement of:

The Christian faith in accordance with the doctrinal standards and discipline of The Methodist Church;
Any charitable purpose for the time being of any Connexional, District, Circuit, local or other organisation of The Methodist Church;
Any charitable purpose for the time being of any society or institution subsidiary or ancillary to The Methodist Church and
Any purpose for the time being of any charity being a charity subsidiary or ancillary to The Methodist Church.

Public Benefit

We confirm that the trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit.

Structure, Governance and Management

The governing document for the Methodist Church of Great Britain is the Deed of Union (1932) and Methodist Church Act (1976).

Detailed governance arrangements are outlined within the Constitutional Practice and Discipline of the Methodist Church by order of the annual Conference (CPD).

Day to day management of the Circuit is undertaken by the Circuit Stewards and Ministerial Team with input from the Circuit Leadership team. Trusteeship is exercised by the elected members of the Circuit Meeting.

Trustee Training

Trustees are pointed to a range of guidance produced by The Methodist Connexion to support the effective running of the church and the role of Trustees.

Related Parties

The Circuit is part of the Methodist Church of Great Britain. It consequently locates itself in both its polity and structure. In structural terms the Westminster Circuit is one of some 35 circuits (groupings of local churches) making up the London Methodist District. In terms of Polity and Constitution it, like all Methodist circuits, is accountable to the annual Methodist Conference.

Somewhat unusually, the Westminster Circuit consists of only one local society (church): Methodist Central Hall Westminster, which consequently is constituted so that wherever possible, local church and local circuit matters share the same constitution (by applying annually Methodist Standing Order 511).

A third related party, in addition to the Circuit and the Trustees is Central Hall Westminster Ltd, a not-for-profit company formed in 1999 to run events and conference business using the large and prestigious premises in central London. Regular meetings of each of these three entities take place, with the Superintendent and minister being members of each of the three, thereby having a strategic overview of the total ministry of the Circuit and its related parties.

Risk Management

The major risks associated with the life and ministry of the Circuit, located in Methodist Central Hall Westminster, are identified and recorded by the Trustees, with professional advice taken as required. An annual review process is undertaken and recorded. In terms of financial governance, income and expenditure are regularly and routinely monitored and are compared with the approved annual budget on at least a quarterly basis to detect trends as part of the risk management process to avoid unforeseen calls on reserves.

We note the following items, all of which are on the Risk Register.

An annual grant to the Church, which is one of the main sources of funding for the Circuit is given by the Trustees. This is made possible by profits made by Central Hall Westminster Ltd. Any ‘lean years’ – and particularly several lean years – would affect the ability of the Trustees to award the grant.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the operations of Central Hall Westminster Ltd was immense. The building’s closure and consequent hibernation of the business has meant that profits which would have been tithed to the Trustees have dried up, thus impacting their ability to provide the same level of grant to the Church, as with previous years.
The as yet unknown plan relating to the ‘decanting’ of the House of Commons and House of Lords from the Palace of Westminster. Methodist Central Hall Westminster is, because of its proximity, was one of a handful of buildings that was considered.
The ever-present risk of terror attacks and security breaches, given the location of the church. For the past four years the Metropolitan Police have estimated the risk of such as ‘severe’ and give regular security briefings to Circuit officials as to office holders of other large buildings in and around Parliament Square.
The damage to reputation, given the high usage of the premises by very many clients.
Safeguarding risks, exacerbated by the very high numbers of people using the building each week. In line with Methodist rulings, safeguarding procedures have, and continue to be, improved and overhauled.

Safeguarding

Every person has a value and dignity which comes directly from the creation of male and female in God’s own image and likeness. Christians see this potential as fulfilled by God’s re-creation of us in Christ. Among other things this implies a duty to value all people as bearing the image of God and therefore to protect them from harm. Methodist Connexional practice outlines commitment to the following principles:

The care and nurture of, and respectful pastoral ministry with, all children, young people and adults.
The safeguarding and protection of all children, young people and adults when they are vulnerable.
The establishing of safe, caring communities which provide a loving environment where there is informed vigilance as to the dangers of abuse.
We will carefully select and train all those with any responsibility within the Church, in line with Safer Recruitment principles, including the use of criminal records disclosures and registration with the relevant vetting and barring schemes.
We will respond without delay to every complaint made which suggests that an adult, child or young person may have been harmed, cooperating with the police and local authority in any investigation.
We will seek to work with anyone who has suffered abuse, developing with them an appropriate ministry of informed pastoral care.
We will seek to challenge any abuse of power, especially by anyone in a position of trust.
We will seek to offer pastoral care and support, including supervision and referral to the proper authorities, to any member of our church community known to have offended against a child, young person or vulnerable adult.
In all these principles we will follow legislation, guidance and recognised good practice.

The Methodist Central Hall Westminster Church commits itself to: -

Ensuring the implementation of the Connexional Safeguarding Policy; government legislation, guidance and safe practice in the circuit and in the churches.
The provision of support, advice and training for lay and ordained people that will ensure people are clear and confident about their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults who may be vulnerable.

The Safeguarding Policy is approved annually by the Church Council and revised in line with guidelines and directives from the Methodist Church of Great Britain.

Reserves Policy

The policy is for the Church to hold a designated contingency fund at a level, which can sustain three months’ worth of average expenditure for both Church and Circuit. The Contingency Fund has remained unchanged in 2024/25 and is £62.8k, which represents less than three months’ average expenditure.

It is expected that the Church will have a significant deficit for 2025/26, which will reduce the level of contingency to £23.8k. However, there is approximately £63.5k in other Church Designated Funds. The Church Council will continue to monitor this and endeavour to take measures to maintain reserves at a healthy level.

Signed:

_______ Revd Anthony Miles (Chair of Trustees)

Date: 16th April 2026

METHODIST CENTRAL HALL WESTMINSTER - CHURCH ACCOUNTS

Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) for the Year Ended 31 August 2025

	Notes	Unrestricted Fund (General)	Designated Funds	Restricted Funds	2024/25 Totals	2023/24 Totals
		£	£	£	£	£
Income and Endowments From:
Donations and Legacies
Offerings andTax recoverable	10	204,131	0	0	204,131	184,507
Donations	10	39,738	0	0	39,738	52,128
Anniversary Giving		0	0	0	0	20,776
Special Appeal		150,000	0	0	150,000	385
Grant (Trustees)	11	0	0	0	0	75,000
DonationsforUse of Rooms		3,110	0	0	3,110	3,160
Visitors Services & Catering	12	1,264	0	0	1,264	1,058
Legacies		5,000	0	0	5,000	7,000
Interest and Investment Income	13	12,136	0	0	12,136	17,507
Other
Special Events	14	39,214	0	0	39,214	31,364
ChurchGroups	15	83	0	0	83	310
DistrictAdvancementFund Grant		53,358			53,358	26,291
DesignatedFunds (SeeNotesFundDetails)	9	0	2,613	0	2,613	2,445
Restricted Funds(See Notes Fund Details)		0		73,213	73,213	190,652
Total Income and Endowments		508,034	2,613	73,213	583,860	612,583

METHODIST CENTRAL HALL WESTMINSTER - CHURCH ACCOUNTS

Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) for the Year Ended 31 August 2025

			Notes	Unrestricted Fund (General)	Designated Funds	Restricted Funds	2024/25 Totals	2023/24 Totals
Expenditure				£	£	£	£	£
Office &Ministry Staff				150,120	0	0	150,120	123,617
Travel Expenses (HealingMinistry)				948	0	0	948	1,099
	Circ	uitAssessment		225,727	0	0	225,727	232,934
	Offic	e Supplies	16	23,825	0	0	23,825	22,289
Internal Organisations and Events
Sanctuary				977	0	0	977	1,306
ChurchGroups			17	999	0	0	999	3,705
Special Events			18	35,899	0	0	35,899	50,504
Other Expenditure
MusicAccount			19	55,565	0	0	55,565	55,349
Otherexpenditure			20	22,465	0	0	22,465	25,023
Grants &Donations			21	200	0	0	200	19,280
Designated Funds(See Notes Fund Details)			9	0	33,903	0	33,903	30,166
Restricted Funds(See Notes Fund Details)				0	0	187,736	187,736	35,542
Circuit Payment for Services Provided				(39,840)	0	0	(39,840)	(21,000)
Total Expenditure				476,885	33,903	187,736	698,524	579,814
Net Income / (Expenditure)				31,149	(31,290)	(114,523)	(114,664)	32,769
Transfers Between Restricted Funds and General Funds				(28,540)	30,510	(1,970)	0	0
Net Income after transfers				2,609	(780)	(116,493)	(114,664)	32,769
Total funds brought forward				(0)	158,572	240,770	399,341	366,573
Total funds carried forward				2,609	157,792	124,277	284,677	399,342

For information only Money received and passed on to External Organisations

	2024/25 £	2023/24 £
Balance brought forward from last year	2,589	0
Offerings/Gifts - received for External Organisations	41,497	11,003
Offerings/Gifts-passed toExternalOrganisations	(40,029)	(8,414)
Balance carried forward	4,057	2,589

The balance of £4,057 represents monies donated at funeral and memorial services. As at the year-end, the church was awaiting information from families on how they were to be allocated.

METHODIST CENTRAL HALL WESTMINSTER - CHURCH ACCOUNTS CHURCH BALANCE SHEET for the Year Ended 31 August 2025

	Notes	Unrestricted Fund (General)	Designated Funds	Restricted Funds	2024/25 Totals	2023/24 Totals
Current Assets		£	£	£	£	£
Debtors and prepayments	22	74,040	0	0	74,040	68,654
Cashat bankandin hand	23	(55,480)	89,271	0	33,791	19,424
Central FinanceBoard deposit	24	0	68,521	124,478	192,999	323,266
*Total current assets*		18,560	157,792	124,478	300,830	411,343
Creditors (dueinunder 1year) & unusedfunds	25	(15,948)	0	(200)	(16,148)	(12,003)
Net current assets		2,609	157,792	124,278	284,681	399,340
Total assets less current liabilities		2,609	157,792	124,278	284,681	399,340
*Net assets*		2,609	157,792	124,278	284,681	399,340
Funds of the Church
UnrestrictedFund (General)		2,609	0	0	2,609	0
Other Funds (restricted & designated)		0	157,792	124,278	282,071	399,341
*Total funds*		2,609	157,792	124,278	284,681	399,341

I confirm that these accrual-based accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025 have been prepared from the records of the Church and that they include all funds under the control of the Church Council.

Signed:__________ Ama Ackah-Yensu (Treasurer)

Date: 16th April 2026

Signed: __________ Revd Tony Miles (Chair of the Church Council)

Date: 16th April 2026

METHODIST CENTRAL HALL WESTMINSTER - CHURCH ACCOUNTS

Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) for the Year Ended 31 August 2024

	Notes	Unrestricted Fund (General)	Designated Funds	Restricted Funds	2023/24 Totals
		£	£	£	£
Income and Endowments From:
Donations and Legacies
Offerings andTax recoverable	10	184,507	0	0	184,507
Donations	10	52,128	0	0	52,128
Anniversary Giving		20,776	0	0	20,776
Special Appeal		385	0	0	385
Grant (Trustees)	11	75,000	0	0	75,000
DonationsforUse of Rooms		3,160	0	0	3,160
Visitors Services & Catering	12	1,058	0	0	1,058
Legacies		7,000	0	0	7,000
Interest and Investment Income	13	17,507	0	0	17,507
Other					0
Special Events	14	31,364	0	0	31,364
ChurchGroups	15	310	0	0	310
District Advancement Fund Grant		26,291			26,291
DesignatedFunds (SeeNotesFundDetails)	9	0	2,445	0	2,445
Restricted Funds(See Notes Fund Details)		0		190,652	190,652
Total Income and Endowments		419,486	2,445	190,652	612,583

METHODIST CENTRAL HALL WESTMINSTER - CHURCH ACCOUNTS

Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) for the Year Ended 31 August 2024

Expenditure	Expenditure	Expenditure	Notes	Unrestricted Fund (General)	Designated Funds	Restricted Funds	2023/24 Totals
				£	£	£	£
Office &Ministry Staff				123,617	0	0	123,617
Travel Expenses (HealingMinistry)				1099			1,099
	Circ	uitAssessment		232,934	0	0	232,934
	Offic	e Supplies	16	22,289	0	0	22,289
Internal Organisations and Events					0	0	0
Sanctuary				1,306			1,306
ChurchGroups			17	3,705	0	0	3,705
Special Events			18	50,504	0	0	50,504
Other Expenditure					0	0	0
MusicAccount			19	55,349			55,349
Otherexpenditure			20	25,023	0	0	25,023
Advertising				0	0	0	0
Grants &Donations			21	19,280	0	0	19,280
DesignatedFunds (SeeNotesFundDetails)			9	0	30,166	0	30,166
RestrictedFunds (SeeNotesFundDetails)			9	0	0	35,542	35,542
Circuit Payment for Services Provided				(21,000)	0	0	(21,000)
Total Expenditure				514,106	30,166	35,542	579,814
NetIncome / (Expenditure)				(94,620)	(27,721)	155,110	32,769
Transfers Between Restricted Funds and General Funds				55,008	(54,907)	(101)	(0)
Net Income after transfers				(39,612)	(82,628)	155,010	32,769
Total funds brought forward				39,612	241,200	85,761	366,573
Total funds carried forward				(0)	158,572	240,770	399,341

METHODIST CENTRAL HALL WESTMINSTER - CHURCH ACCOUNTS CHURCH BALANCE SHEET for the Year Ended 31 August 2024

	Notes	Unrestricted Fund (General)	Designated Funds	Restricted Funds	2023/24 Totals
Current Assets		£	£	£	£
Debtors and prepayments	22	36,187	0	32,468	68,655
Cashat bankandin hand	23	(24,183)	43,607	0	19,424
Central FinanceBoard deposit	24	0	114,964	208,302	323,266
Total current assets		12,003	158,572	240,770	411,345
Creditors (dueinunder 1year) & unusedfunds	25	(12,003)		0	(12,003)
Net current assets		0	158,572	240,770	399,342
Total assets less current liabilities		0	158,572	240,770	399,342
Net assets		0	158,572	240,770	399,342
Funds of the Church
UnrestrictedFund (General)		0	0	0	0
Other Funds (restricted & designated)		0	158,572	240,770	399,342
Total funds		0	158,572	240,770	399,342

METHODIST CENTRAL HALL Westminster Church

Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 August 2025

1. Basis of accounting

These financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis, under the historical cost Convention.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102). The Charity is a public benefit entity for the purposes of FRS 102 and therefore the Charity also prepared its financial statements in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (The FRS 102 Charities SORP) and the Charities Act 2011.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest pound.

The principal accounting policies adopted in the preparation of the financial statements are set out below.

Going Concern

Following the suspension of the grant from the Connexional Property Trustees, the Church Trustees have put in place the Mission Investment Anniversary Appeal to raise extra funds for the next five years to plug the gap in the finances. Grant funding has been secured for subsequent years, and further sources are being pursued. These measures, along with existing contingency funds for the next twelve months, will ensure the operational existence of the Church. A review of the Church’s mission plan and ways of working for the medium term is also being undertaken. Overall, therefore, the Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the Church has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future and do not consider there to be any threat to the going concern status. Therefore, the Trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements and confirm there are no material uncertainties at the date of the approval of these financial statements.

2. Funds

The funds held constitute: General Funds for any purpose of the Church which are Unrestricted. Restricted funds, which are held for a narrower purpose including those for internal organisations. Details of each material fund are disclosed in the notes to the Accounts.

3. Accounting Policies

Basis

These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention except that investments are shown at their market value at the end of the year, on the accruals basis to show a true and fair view of the Church’s financial position and activities.

Income

Income is included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) when the Church becomes entitled to the funds, the receipt is probable and the amount can be measured reliably.

Expenditure

This is recognised when a liability is incurred, or a constructive obligation arises, that results in the payment being unavoidable. Liabilities are recognised as soon as an outflow of economic benefit is considered more likely than not under the legal or constructive obligation committing the Church to pay out resources.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other shortterm liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.

Grants

Grants made by the Church from its own funds are recognised in full at the time of agreement or when the Church accepts that there is a legal or operational obligation to make the payment. When the grant is recurrent over more than one year the balance payable in future years is treated as a provision for future commitments in the Balance Sheet against the appropriate fund, the provision being released in future years as instalments are paid in accordance with the originally agreed terms.

VAT

Since the Church is not VAT registered, all input VAT is charged with the expenses to which it refers.

Tangible fixed assets for use by the Church

These are capitalised if they can be used for more than one year and individually cost at least £10,000. There is no freehold property owned by the Church.

Financial instruments

Basic financial instruments are measured at amortised cost.

Debtors and creditors

Debtors and creditors receivable or payable within one year of the reporting date are carried at their transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost less any impairment.

Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgement

In preparing financial statements it is necessary to make certain judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts recognised in the financial statements. There are no judgements and estimates are considered by the Trustees to have a significant effect on amounts recognised in the financial statements.

4.Trustees

None of the Trustees, or persons connected with them, received any remuneration or other benefits from the Church or any connected organisation as a result of their office during the year ended 31 August 2025

2024/25 2023/24 Number of trustees who were paid expenses 5 5 £ £ Total amount paid 5,990 5,932	2024/25 2023/24 Number of trustees who were paid expenses 5 5 £ £ Total amount paid 5,990 5,932	2024/25 2023/24 Number of trustees who were paid expenses 5 5 £ £ Total amount paid 5,990 5,932
	Number of trustees who were paid expenses Total amount paid	2024/25 2023/24 5 5
		£ £ 5,990 5,932

Nature of expenses claimed: Car mileage, public transport, hospitality and miscellaneous. These expenses have been incurred by the trustees in the course of fulfilling their pastoral responsibilities.

5.Independent Examiners Fees

.Independent Examiners Fees
	2024/25	2023/24
	£	£
Fees for reporting the accounts	2,010	1,950

6.Paid Employees

Staff costs (excluding stipends) during the year were as below: -

Gross wages, salaries and benefits in kind Employer’s National Insurance Pension costs Total Staff Costs Average number of full-time equivalent employees in the year were	2024/25 2023/24 £ £ 165,507 134,288 7,880 9,449 8,101 5,392
	181,489 149,129
	4.4 4.2

7. Reserves Policy

Reserves Policy
	2024/25	2023/4
	£	£
General Funds held	62,810	62,810

The current level of reserves is equivalent to less than 3 months of average expenditure including payments made to the Circuit.

Policy for Restricted Funds

No policy as such except that such funds may only be used for the purpose for which they have been given / donated.

Terms relating to Endowment Funds

No such funds are held by the church.

This Reserves Policy has been approved by the Church Council.

8. Related Parties

Name of related party	Description of transaction	Income from related party during the year	Payments to related party during the year	Loans to related party during the year	Amounts owed by related party as on 31 Aug 2025
		£	£	£	£
Fund for Support of Presbyters &Deacons	Giftmade by Church	0	200	0	0
Total		0	200	0	0

9.Details of Designated and Restricted Funds

CHURCH FUNDS	Balance B/Fwd 01/09/24	Income	Expenditure	Transfer Between Funds	Balance C'Fwd 31/08/25
FUNDS	£	£	£	£	£
General- Designated
Sunday Catering	565	2,613	(2,275)	0	903
Tithe	30,300	0	(30,205)	30,510	30,605
TitheReserve	3,400	0	(500)	0	2,900
CD Project	14,517	0	0	0	14,517
AVA& Server Replacement	10,122	0	0	0	10,122
Church Space Refurbishment & Maintenance	23,858	0	(923)	0	22,935
Digital Outreach and Engagement	12,000	0	0	0	12,000
ParliamentaryFellowship	1,000	0			1,000
Contingency	62,810	0	0	0	62,810
TOTAL DESIGNATED	158,572	2,613	(33,903)	30,510	157,792

Restricted
Flower&HymnSheetFund	5,033	4,730	(2,778)	(2,020)	4,965
SpecialOfferings to beDonated	2,411	32,070	(36,713)	6,238	4,006
Fees to Be Paid Away for Special Services	177	1,149	(1,226)	-50	50
Night Shelter	1,303	0	0	0	1,303
Christian Aid	0	1,206	(1,206)	0	0
JMA	0	328	(328)	0	0
Action forChildren	0	0	0	0	0
WorldMission EasterOffering	0	556	(556)	0	0
Benevolent Fund	8,161	6,505	(5,661)	(6,238)	2,768
Music & WorshipLegacy	45,700	0	0	0	45,700
Organ Recital Fund	(59)	2,632	(4,557)	0	(1,984)
Friends of Westminster	200	0	0	0	200
Ghana Fellowship	2,148	4,382	(4,104)		2,426
Sierra Leone & Gambia Fellowship	509	3,930	(4,386)	100	153
Nigerian Fellowship	0	500	0	0	500
JC Live	0	1,000	0	0	1,000
Men's Ministry	0	292	0	0	292
ECO Fund	0	100	0	0	100
LiveStreaming-Online Services	55,760	12,338	(47,619)	0	20,479
Great Hall Broadcasting	119,427	0	(78,602)	0	40,825
Guild Fund - CAF Balance	0	1,495	0		1,495
Total Restricted Funds	240,770	73,213	(187,736)	(1,970)	124,278

TOTAL RESTRICTED & DESIGNATED FUNDS	399,342	75,826	(221,638)	28,540	282,070

General Fund	0	508,034	(476,885)	(28,540)	2,609

TOTAL FUNDS	399,342	583,860	(698,524)	0	284,678

The balance of Designated and Restricted Funds has decreased by £117,272, which was mainly due to expenditure on the Great Hall Broadcasting project and Livestreaming Fund contributing towards stipend costs. There has been a net transfer from the Church General Funds of £28,540, being £30,510 to the Tithe Fund for distribution to other charitable organisations nominated by church members and £2.020, being the transfer from the Flower and Hymn Sheet Fund to the General Fund.

CHURCH - NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

£ 52,092 63,327 44,721 39,797 0 4,194 0 0 0	2023/24 £ £ 49,540 57,041 39,389 34,524 1,048 2,965	2023/24 £ £ 49,540 57,041 39,389 34,524 1,048 2,965
	5,250 7,500 62,250	184,507 52,128
		236,635

1,264	1,058	75,000

11 12,125	19 17,488	1,058

3,903 4,310 5,140 2,001 4,492 3,235 0 0 1,833 860 13,440	3,154 3,422 3,044 2,325 4,755 2,894 9,658 160 1,659 0 293	17,507

239 45 0 -201	182 0 128 0	31,364

		310

CHURCH - NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

£ 2,820 2,478 3,208 2,037 322 303 1,824 8,223 2,184 426	2023/24 £ £ 2,914 2,411 2,873 241 310 1,435 3,043 7,742 1,222 98	2023/24 £ £ 2,914 2,411 2,873 241 310 1,435 3,043 7,742 1,222 98
594 0 405 0 0 0	530 59 0 24 48 3,044	22,289

5,862 6,080 3,434 5,252 0 372 293 10,125 35 4,446 0 23,674 31,162 729	6,163 4,739 3,086 5,399 12,460 0 1,862 10,651 0 5,644 500 24,146 30,651 552	3,705

		50,504

		55,349

CHURCH - NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

CHURCH- NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
RESOURCES EXPENDED *Note 20 - Other expenditure* Pulpit supply Lay training Website development & maintenance Ministers Hospitality Church Members Hospitality Bank charges Miscellaneous Church Insurance Materials and Items for Services Subscriptions Bookstall Expenditure Life Insurance Independent Examiners Fees *Note 21 Grants & Donations* The Fund for the Support of Presbyters and Deacons Property Fund St Vincent's Family Project	£ 2,109 1,813 539 890 310 3,015 9,079 300 1,037 200 1,163 0 2,010	2024/25 £ 22,465 200 0 200	2023/24 £ £ 2,705 1,830 4,823 666 301 3,221 6,134 286 2,384 322 401 0 1,950
	200 0		200 330	25,023

				530 18,750
				19,280

CHURCH - NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

£ 62,536 0 0 5,000	2023/24 £ £ 29,768 0 0 5,000 34,768 250 453 715 32,468 0 0 33,886 68,655 -23,771 309 -746 25 43,607 19,424 114,964 208,302 323,266 323,266 1,950 7,053 0 2,433 73 164 330 0 0 12,003 0 0 12,003	2023/24 £ £ 29,768 0 0 5,000 34,768 250 453 715 32,468 0 0 33,886 68,655 -23,771 309 -746 25 43,607 19,424 114,964 208,302 323,266 323,266 1,950 7,053 0 2,433 73 164 330 0 0 12,003 0 0 12,003
251 0 0 0 3,048 3,205 68,521 124,478 2,010 2,402 31 2,533 36 594 0 156 200 8,185	250 453 715 32,468 0 0 114,964 208,302 1,950 7,053 0 2,433 73 164 330 0 0 0
		34,768
		33,886
		68,655
		-23,771 309 -746 25 43,607
		19,424

		323,266
		323,266

		12,003
		0

		12,003

Church Trustees as at 31 August 2025

The following served as trustees during the year and/or were trustees at the date of signing the accounts.

Revd Tony Miles Ollie McEwen Revd Dr Joyce Popoola Joe Awotwi Deacon Alison McMillan Tony Ackah-Yensu Revd Stephen Poxon Alison Bryan Deacon Myrtle Poxon Claudia Cummings Revd Gordon Newton Philippa Muir Helen Tudor Lisa Barrett Grace Sangmuah Charlotte Rankin Genevieve Patnelli Elizabeth Gosling John Bernasko Esther Thomas Ekoh West Mark Williamson Ama Ackah-Yensu Norman Guerzon Esther Buckman Kate Jones Abdul Bah Seth Kofi Otoo Regina Boye Helen Onilado Comfort Golightly Rose Senny Grace Kermah Chika Unaka Doreen Aidoo Charles Bushell Shirley Bernisto Claudia Milton-Cole Jocelyn Boafo Kim Myoung Soon Stafford Thomas Omotayo Roberts Nana Ama Larbi-Amoah Daniel Larbi Maame Doku Djan-Krofa John Philips Ho Namgung

Independent examiner’s report to the Trustees of Methodist Central Hall Westminster

I report to the charity Trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 August 2025.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the 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

Since the charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, which is one of the listed bodies.

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with my 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 the accounting 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.

Katharine Patel ACA Buzzacott Audit LLP Chartered Accountants 130 Wood Street 26 May 2026 London EC2V 6DL

Circuit Accruals Accounts 2024/25

THE METHODIST CHURCH

STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS

ACCRUALS BASIS

For the year ended 31 August 2025

METHODIST CENTRAL HALL Westminster

Registered Charity No 1145076

London Mission (Westminster) Circuit No. 35 / 03

SUPERINTENDENT MINISTER

Revd Tony Miles

CIRCUIT STEWARDS

Helen Tudor (Senior)

Grace Sangmuah

Genevieve Patnelli

John Bernasko

Ekoh West

Ama Ackah-Yensu (Treasurer)

LONDON MISSION (WESTMINSTER) CIRCUIT 35 / 03 TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

Introduction

This Annual Report gives an account of the mission and ministry of The London District (Westminster) Methodist Circuit 35/3, through its single society Methodist Central Hall Westminster. It represents considerable commitment on the part of its members, who both gather for worship and learning, and disperse in witness, being involved in a variety of means of service.

Aims and Organisation

Our vision statement declared on the order of worship each week is: “Methodist Central Hall Westminster – a global Christian family following Jesus at the heart of London.”

Our mission:

We have established two foci for our work as a Church - NURTURE & OUTREACH

To achieve our vision, we aim to focus on what we need to NURTURE in our church.

This includes:

Church Family Life and Pastoral Care
Discipleship
Spirituality, Prayer, and Healing
Work with Children & Young People
Worship & Music
Greater participation and the sharing of gifts (finance/talents)

How we need to extend MCHW’s work and influence through OUTREACH - locally and globally.

A. Locally:

1) Evangelism
2) Church In Society – social action

B. Globally:

1) Online, Live Stream, & Broadcast Ministry
2) Nurture our International Family
3) Connexional & Global Issues – Social Justice

We are seeking to:

Engage with local issues and support local charities: The Saint Vincent Family Project (which we host on site), The Westminster Food Bank, Night shelter projects, The Passage (helping homeless people), The Abbey Centre, the London Prison’s Mission, and working at establishing and developing a Methodist presence in the Palace of Westminster and offering pastoral care to those working on the Parliamentary estate.
Build links with the Church worldwide as a ‘cathedral for Methodism’.
Grow MCHW’s social media presence and developing a respected and popular online ministry, including livestreaming regular bespoke services, serving our housebound members, and Methodists around the connexion and globally. Initiatives include online Lent, Advent, Alpha, and Bible study courses online.
Develop MCHW’s respected and balanced healing ministry (including our annual Healing Conference) and extending our pastoral care.
Provide Visitor Services (in conjunction with our Conference Property Trustees) – with visitor hosts offering giving tours of the building (mainly on Thursdays), and maintaining Archives for Mission, helping us to tell the story of methodism and especially the Forward Movement.
Host MCHW’s own special events (including Daffodil Day, the Methodist Parliamentary Covenant Service, a Traditional Carols service (with the Premier Media Group, Jazz Carols, Jazz Vespers, a Saying Goodbye Service (with the Mariposa Trust) and other gatherings. We seek to partner with other organisations where we can, like Premier Radio, the BBC, and helping to facilitate other Christian and other charity events.
Maintaining relatively new initiatives, including developing as an Eco Church, implementing our Neighbourhood Evangelism Team, our house groups, and a group called Interim, a group for university aged young people.
Grow MCHW’s wide-ranging worship on Sundays and mid-week, including MCHW’s renowned choir, and the hosting of organ matinee recitals once a month.
Maintain and grow our work with families, children, teenagers, and Young Adults (Sanctuary).

REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2024-2025

Circuit Staffing

This year, Revd Lansford Penn-Timity, our Deputy Superintendent, entered the stationing process and was matched with the Staines and Feltham Circuit and left the ministerial staff team towards the end of July 2025. Lansford will be hugely missed, and we assure him and his wife, Grace, of our love and prayers as they plan for the future.

In addition to this, Revd Gordon Newton our Associate Minister, aged 80, gave notice that due to health concerns he would step down in August 2025 from offering the Circuit one day a week and one Sunday a month. Gordon has served us splendidly over many years and we wish him well too. Gordon will remain a Supernumerary in the Circuit, but naturally his support will be limited in future.

We decided NOT to submit a profile seeking a presbyter for September 2025. This will mean the Westminster Circuit will have to re-think how we cover the necessary work when we move from three to just two full-time Ministers (Revd Tony Miles and Deacon Ali McMillan). Whilst understandable, losing Revd Lansford and Revd Gordon will place a considerable burden on our existing staff in the coming year 2025-2026, but we are exploring possible support from September 2025 from other supernumerary ministers. We plan to enter stationing in 2026 for a full-time presbyter but understand there is a shortage of ministers connexionally.

Our Probationer Minister, Revd Dr Joyce Popoola is progressing well, and her ministry is greatly appreciated, but her deployment is limited (two/three sessions a week). The District Probationer’s committee and Ministerial Synod agreed to her entering her third year of probation.

Circuit Manses

In liaison with the Trustees, we still plan to sell our Battersea manse which is owned 51% by the Westminster Circuit and 49% by the Conference Property Trustees. There is some interest from the Connexion buying it to help the Trustees and Circuit, but time will tell if this becomes a reality. We will also need to buy a new manse for the Circuit.

Annual Review – for our 112th Year 2024-2025

Our illustrated published annual review can be found using this link https://sway.cloud.microsoft/QfKhTHjDacZr1F9D?ref=Link

112th Church Anniversary

London Open House and Back to Church Sunday

Lunch-time Services

workers attending has gone back to pre-Covid levels. Bible passages, at the heart of our services, have included Ruth and Jonah, Psalms of Ascent and Characters of the Passion. During this summer we are completing a readthrough of the Acts of the Apostles, covered over a three-year period, and finding stories from the Early Church relevant to our own mission.

Online Services and AV

In August 2025, we marked our 300th online service. That’s a significant milestone considering how quickly everything had to come together in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic. Since then, our digital outreach has grown beyond anything we imagined. We’ve become a global Christian community— gathering not just in the Great Hall, but in homes around the world. Since March 2020, over 9.2 million people have seen our content on YouTube. We continue to average 700 - 900K views to church online each week, with about 200 watching live every Sunday morning at 9.30am and the rest tuning in later. This ministry reaches our own congregation, others around the Connexion, and members of the World Church – including places like Australia, France, Sicily, USA, Sri Lanka, Jamaica, Canada, Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Philippines, Hong Kong, etc. New Laser Projectors have been installed in the Great Hall, which has greatly improved the resolution. With the benefit of a significant £90K grant from a trust to upgrade our online broadcast facilities and another grant of £50K from the Connexion, we have successfully completed the first two phases of a new installation in the Great Hall and Chapel. So far, this has included installing new projectors and portable screens in the Great Hall, new cameras for use in our services and organ recitals, new wiring, the provision to stream from the great Hall when needed and to capture audio for use on our online services. We have also simplified and enhanced our broadcast facilities in the Chapel. We still have funds in place for phase three of this project, which should be completed in due course. Our aim is to develop our online services and content available online and via social media.

Visit of the President and Vice-President of Conference

Harvest Festival

Harvest Festival was held on Sunday 29[th] September 2024. We collected Harvest Gifts for Westminster Foodbank and The Passage.

Saying Goodbye Service

Traditional Carol Service and Jazz Carols

We estimate that we had about 1,200 people attending our Traditional Carol service 2024 with orchestra and choir. The service was broadcast on Premier Christian Radio on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Parliamentary Covenant Service 2025 and Engagement with Parliament

Ash Wednesday & Lent

An evening with Bear Grylls

with a host of Christian charities. The event was very well received and is part of a wider mission project.

Ecumenical - Commonwealth Service

Daffodil Day 2025

Wesley Day Songs of Praise

For the 3[rd] year running, "Wednesday@Westminster" hosted a well-attended Wesley Songs of Praise service featuring Charles Wesley’s hymns. This included teaching and reflections on John Wesley's "heart-warming experience" by Revd. Dr Martin Wellings – a Wesleyan scholar and the Superintendent minister of the Barnet & Queensbury Circuit. Earlier in the day there were various special activities at Wesley's Chapel (City Road), including visits to John Wesley's House, and worship with the President & Vice-President of the Conference.

Prayer and Healing Ministry

We have had a Call to Prayer in the chapel between 1-2 pm on one Sunday afternoon each month, since 2022. We pray in small groups for two themes connected to the life of MCHW, taking time to listen to and share what the Spirit may be saying to us as a church. This is then shared with the ministry team. Our Healing Prayer Team continue to offer personal prayer ministry at Healing Services and also after the 11.00 a.m. services. Our Annual Healing Conference, in partnership with Premier Lifeline, took place on 17[th] May 2025. We had nearly 300 people attend what proved to be a Spirit-led and Spirit-filled day of learning and equipping, threaded with powerful, prophetic worship led by Dave and Pat Bilbrough. Roy Godwin was our speaker, and the theme was ‘The Transforming Power of Spoken Blessing’. Through the feedback forms it was evident that many found it to be an inspiring, healing and spirit filled day. As a Church, we are mindful of our physical and mental health. We continue to offer free blood pressure checks each month after a Sunday morning service.

Music

Sunday morning service. The choir continues to provide an excellent and varied musical diet, and there is a strong sense of fellowship within the group. A new initiative this year has been the monthly Informal Evening Choir, currently taking place on the last Sunday of the month in the chapel. This is an opportunity for anyone in the congregation to help lead the singing at an evening service. The choir gave a welcome performance of Vivaldi's Gloria in the Great Hall at Easter and, together with our musicians, made a significant contribution to many events during the year. Our programme of monthly organ matinees continues, and they are wellreceived and well-attended. We helped launch the Royal College of Organists’ ‘Play the Organ Year’ in January, when 350 came to hear and try the organ for themselves! We are discussing and exploring the possibility of establishing a Christian community choir/Gospel choir in the future and beginning to explore hosting a Church musical of some kind. We are now recording the best of our Sunday hymns and songs to use online and hope to produce another CD.

Alpha, Lent Course, and Ambrosia Prayer Group.

Revd Lansford Penn-Timity led another online Alpha Group this year, which was greatly appreciated and highly successful. Audrey Nipah will lead when Revd Lansford moves on. Revd Dr G. Howard Mellor and the ministerial team hosted a well-attended Lent Course (94 signed up – 30-45 each week). We explored the gospel teaching concerning a number of community and policy issues confronting our country under the title ‘Transforming the Nation’. Revd Dr Joyce Popoola has started an online prayer initiative, ‘Ambrosia’ from 5:30am to 6:00am every Monday morning.

Church Membership, Baptisms and Funerals

As always, the heart of MCHW is our pastoral care. We are extremely blessed to have a team of over 40 pastoral leaders who play a vital role in our pastoral care for one another in the life of the church. On June 15[th] 2025, we publicly welcomed 14 people into church membership (six by way of confirmation). This is in addition to the 12 new members and seven received by way of transfer in November and last June. Thankfully, due to the success of our imaginative and effective “church online’ ministry during Covid, we have rebuilt our congregational attendance. Our record postCovid attendance was on Easter Day this year with c.430 across our inperson services. Our regular congregations are still building, and we regularly have about 200 at our communion services. Sadly, we have had a lot of funerals recently at MCHW and elsewhere. Baptisms are also returning, with six baptisms at a service from one family!

Pastoral Committee

of our beloved members during this period, together with several others who have died who were associated with MCHW.

Local Preachers

Safeguarding

Leadership Team Away Day

On Saturday November 16[th] , we held our Leadership Team away day to further develop our priorities and focus to our Mission. This was a helpful and constructive occasion.

Work With Children, Young People and Young Adults

YPF: We are so grateful to all those who volunteer with our children and young people at MCHW week after week. To support this vital work, we were very thankful to the District Advance Fund for providing a grant to appoint a ‘families and youth worker’. We are hoping to appoint someone to begin in September 2025. As well as enabling and developing the current work, the

appointment will also enable us to develop new strategies for outreach with families and youth locally, including schools and community engagement.

Sanctuary is our young adult congregation - a community of people in their 20s & 30s following Jesus by exploring spirituality, justice and leadership.

Visitor Hosts and Archives

Church in Society and Social Action

Over the last year we have continued to build links with our community and to live out our gospel call to reach out to those in need, in partnership with others. We continue to partner with Westminster Foodbank to provide food for those in need in the community. Westminster has the second-highest unemployment rate in London. More than 41% of children in Westminster live in poverty. The Foodbank, in partnership with Trussell Trust, provides three days ' worth of nutritionally balanced (non-perishable) food to residents in the Borough of Westminster experiencing financial crisis. This year we worked with Kings Cross Methodist Church, providing volunteers for their Night Shelter, offering a meal and overnight accommodation for those who would otherwise be sleeping on the streets of the city. Deacon Ali McMillan continued her work with London Prisons Mission that works to connect volunteers from London Churches with volunteering opportunities in prisons and with those leaving prison. Revd Gordon Newton works with Change for Good, a charity that seeks to work with men leaving prison, offering mentorship and peer-support groups. Both Deacon Ali and Revd Gordon attended the Change for Good AGM, seeking ways to build on this relationship.

St Vincent’s Family Project (located in the building)

Environment

all the good that already happens (for example… use of recycled paper, used book stall, sustainability awards the building has won, used stamp collection).

Religion Media Centre

New Initiatives

Areas currently in need of Development

Finances – to increase giving – seek to become more self-sufficient but
will still need support.
Children’s, Youth, Families and Young Adults ministry – important now, and it is our future.
More effective Pastoral Care.
Greater Lay Commitment and involvement/assistance.
Our understanding of what it means to have a Cathedral-like mission – the need to develop civic and social engagement through strategic partnerships.
Lacking a community hub and a better Visitor Services offer (Museum status?).
Music – need to develop a children’s, youth band, community choir, gospel choir, etc.

Church Tithe

Plans for 2025/26

Circuit financial plans for the coming year have been prepared on the basis that there will be two full-time and two part-time ordained staff members in 2025/6.

Circuit expenditure is expected to decrease by 10% in 2025/26, which includes a contribution of £22.7k to Designated Funds (Manse Maintenance and Removal) and inflationary increases in stipends and manse costs, but

excludes any major works on manse properties that would be met from the Manse Maintenance Fund.

Financial Review

The Circuit’s statement of accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025 is attached and reports a total surplus of £19.9k, comprising a Designated Fund deficit of £2.8k, and a General Fund surplus of £22.7k, but in addition £22.7k was transferred from the General Funds to Designated Funds. The deficit in Designated Funds was due to Manse Maintenance and Repairs, mainly for Shirley Avenue Manse including redecoration and garden maintenance.

Income

Circuit income has been drawn primarily from the assessment paid by the church (there being only one church within the Circuit). Income of £21.7k was generated from the temporary renting of a manse. There was an increase in income of £22.8k (from £260.1k in 2023/24 to £282.9k in 2024/25).

Investment income decreased by £4.4k due to the funds invested being significantly decreased and reduced interest rates.
The assessment paid by the church decreased by £7.2k.
A payment of £33.7k was made from the Church Live Stream Fund to the Circuit towards the cost of Ministers Stipends in delivering the weekly live streamed services.

Expenditure

Circuit expenditure decreased by £12.8k, (from £275.8 in 2023/24 to £263.0k in 2024/25), mainly as a result of the following:

Stipends and Associated costs increased by £4.6k, reflecting salary increases.
District Assessment decreased by £0.5k.
Decrease in Manse Maintenance and Repairs of £30.1k, significant works were conducted in 2023/24 on Shirley Avenue manse, which were not repeated in 2024/25.
Professional Fees decreased by £3k due to work on Exbury lease extension and survey on Cotton Row being carried out in 2023/24.
The recharge of costs from the Church to the Circuit for services
provided increased by £18.8k following a review of the cost of the services provided.

The District Assessment of £43,892 accounted for 16.7% of expenditure (there was a small decrease in the Assessment from 2023/24 to 2024/25). A significant part of the assessment is passed on by the London District to the Connexion to fund the work of the wider Methodist Church.

Fund Balances

The balance on the Circuit General Fund is £1,932,585, all of which represents the book value of the manses. Circuit General Fund has no cash funds.

Circuit Restricted and Designated Funds have increased by £19.9k to £323.4k in 2024/25 (£303.5k in 2023/24). The increase is due to transfers from

General Funds into Designated Funds in 2024/25 (£7.5k into the Removals Fund and £15.2k into Manse Repair and Maintenance Fund).

The advance made in 2022/23 to the Trustees of Central Hall of £230k for major building works has not yet been repaid, although the work was carried out in 2023/24. This advance has been made from Designated Funds and will be repaid with interest on the sale of a manse, which is jointly owned by the Circuit and the Trust. The Trust will pay the Circuit £230,000 plus interest in addition to the proportion of the surplus that is due to the Circuit.

Trustee’s Annual Report on Finance and Governance

The Charity’s annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025 have been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 and the Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard in the UK and Republic of Ireland issued in July 2014.

Full Name of Church :

London Mission (Westminster) Circuit

Charity Registration Number: 1145076

Date of registration: 15 December 2011

Main communication address: Methodist Central Hall, Storey’s Gate, Westminster, London SW1H 9NH

The members of the London Mission (Westminster) Circuit Meeting are the Charity Trustees, membership being made up of circuit office holders, ministers and representatives appointed by the church at the Annual Church Meeting. A full list of members is shown in the notes to this report.

Circuit Stewards: Helen Tudor (Senior) John Bernasko Genevieve Patnelli Grace Sangmuah Ekoh West Ama Ackah-Yensu

Treasurer: Ama Ackah-Yensu Independent Examiner: Buzzacott LLP 130 Wood Street London EC2V 6DL Bank: HSBC The Peak 333 Vauxhall Bridge Road Victoria London SW1V 1EJ

Investment Bankers: Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes

Aims and Objectives

The charity’s objective is to act as a resource provider within the area around Westminster for the Methodist Church.

Our vision is to be a global Christian family following Jesus in the heart of London.

The purposes of the Methodist Church are, and shall be deemed to have been, since the

Date of Union, the advancement of:

The Christian faith in accordance with the doctrinal standards and discipline of The Methodist Church;
Any charitable purpose for the time being of any Connexional, District, Circuit, local or other organisation of The Methodist Church;
Any charitable purpose for the time being of any society or institution subsidiary or ancillary to The Methodist Church and
Any purpose for the time being of any charity being a charity subsidiary or ancillary to The Methodist Church.

Public Benefit

We confirm that the trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit.

Structure, Governance and Management

The governing document for the Methodist Church of Great Britain is the Deed of Union (1932) and Methodist Church Act (1976).

Detailed governance arrangements are outlined within the Constitutional Practice and Discipline of the Methodist Church by order of the annual Conference (CPD).

Trustee Training

Trustees are pointed to a range of guidance produced by The Methodist Connexion to support the effective running of the church and the role of Trustees.

Related Parties

Another unusual aspect of the Circuit/Church is the fact that its Trustees of the Building are appointed annually by the annual Conference of the Methodist Church of Great Britain, rather than, more commonly, the circuit meeting. A third related party, in addition to the Circuit and the Trustees is Central Hall Westminster Ltd, a not-for-profit company formed in 1999 to run an events and conference business using the large and prestigious premises in central London.

Regular meetings of each of these three entities take place, with the Superintendent Minister being a member of each of the three, thereby having a strategic overview of the total ministry of the Circuit and its related parties.

Risk Management

We note the following items, all of which are on the Risk Register.

An annual grant to the Church, which is one of the main sources of funding for the Circuit is given by the Trustees. This is made possible by profits made by Central Hall Westminster Ltd. Any ‘lean years’ – and particularly several lean years – would affect the ability of the Trustees to award the grant.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the operations of Central Hall Westminster Ltd was immense. The building’s closure and consequent hibernation of the business has meant that profits which would have been tithed to the Trustees have dried up, thus impacting their ability to provide the same level of grant to the Church, as with previous years.
The as yet unknown plan relating to the ‘decanting’ of the House of Commons and House of Lords from the Palace of Westminster. Methodist Central Hall Westminster is, because of its proximity, was one of a handful of buildings that was considered.
The ever-present risk of terror attacks and security breaches, given the location of the church. For the past four years the Metropolitan Police have estimated the risk of such as ‘severe’ and give regular security briefings to Circuit officials as to office holders of other large buildings in and around Parliament Square.

The damage to reputation, given the high usage of the premises by very many clients.
Safeguarding risks, exacerbated by the very high numbers of people using the building each week. In line with Methodist rulings, safeguarding procedures have, and continue to be, improved and overhauled.

Safeguarding

Every person has a value and dignity which comes directly from the creation of male

and female in God’s own image and likeness. Christians see this potential as fulfilled by

God’s re-creation of us in Christ. Among other things this implies a duty to value all

people as bearing the image of God and therefore to protect them from harm. Methodist Connexional practice outlines commitment to the following principles:

The care and nurture of, and respectful pastoral ministry with, all children, young people and adults.
The safeguarding and protection of all children, young people and adults when they are vulnerable.
The establishing of safe, caring communities which provide a loving environment where there is informed vigilance as to the dangers of abuse.
We will carefully select and train all those with any responsibility within the Church, in line with Safer Recruitment principles, including the use of criminal records disclosures and registration with the relevant vetting and barring schemes.
We will respond without delay to every complaint made which suggests that an adult, child or young person may have been harmed, cooperating with the police and local authority in any investigation.
We will seek to work with anyone who has suffered abuse, developing with them an appropriate ministry of informed pastoral care.
We will seek to challenge any abuse of power, especially by anyone in a position of trust.
We will seek to offer pastoral care and support, including supervision and referral to the proper authorities, to any member of our church community known to have offended against a child, young person or vulnerable adult.
In all these principles we will follow legislation, guidance and recognised good practice.

The London Mission (Westminster) Circuit commits itself to: -

Ensuring the implementation of the Connexional Safeguarding Policy; government legislation, guidance and safe practice in the circuit and in the churches.
The provision of support, advice and training for lay and ordained people that will ensure people are clear and confident about their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults who may be vulnerable.

The Safeguarding Policy is approved annually by the Church Council and revised in line

with guidelines and directives from the Methodist Church of Great Britain.

Reserves Policy

The policy is for the Circuit itself to hold minimal free reserves, as it is able to rely on the reserves held within its one church. The aim, therefore, is for the Church to hold a designated contingency fund at a level, which can sustain three months’ worth of average expenditure for both Church and Circuit. The Contingency Fund has remained unchanged in 2024/25 and is £62.8k, which represents less than three months’ average expenditure.

Signed: _______ Revd Tony Miles (Chair of Trustees)

Date: 16th April 2026

London Mission (Westminster) Circuit 35/03 Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) for the Year Ended 31 August 2025

	Notes	General Fund (Unrestricted)	Designated Funds	Restricted Funds	Endowment (Restricted)	2024/25 Totals	2023/24 Totals
Income and Endowments from:		£	£	£		£	£
Bank Interest		351	1,383	0	0	1,734	6,112
Circuit Assessment		225,727	0	0	0	225,727	232,934
Contribution to Stipends for Live Streaming		33,720				33,720	0
Lettings(Manse Rental Income)	10	21,700	0	0		21,700	21,101
Total Income		281,498	1,383	0	0	282,881	260,147
Expenditure
Stipends,Salaries and Associated Costs		137,031	0	0	0	137,031	132,407
District Assessment		43,892	0	0	0	43,892	44,464
Travel Expenses		5,100	0	0	0	5,100	5,266
Ministerial Training		201	0	0	0	201	591
Insurance,Utilities,etc.	11	26,056	0	0	0	26,056	27,217
Maintenance on Manses	12	4,669	4,132	0	0	8,801	38,887
Other Expenditure
Administration,Staff & Copyingetc.	13	0	0	0	0	0	899
Independent Examiner Fee		2,010	0	0	0	2,010	1,950
Professional fees		0	94	0	0	94	3,147
Payment to Church for Services Provided		39,840	0	0	0	39,840	21,000
Total Expenditure		258,799	4,226	0	0	263,025	275,828

Net Income/ (Expenditure)		22,699	(2,843)	0	0	19,856	(15,680)
Transfer between Funds & General Account		(22,700)	22,700	0	0	0	0
Total Funds brought forward		1,932,585	303,521	0	0	2,236,106	2,251,784
Correction for Prior Year			0			0
Total funds carried forward at end of year		1,932,584	323,378	0	0	2,255,962	2,236,104

London Mission (Westminster) Circuit 35/03 Balance Sheet as at 31 August 2025

	Notes	General Fund (Unrestricted)	Designated Funds	Restricted Funds	Endowment (Restricted)	2024/25 Totals	2023/24 Totals
Fixed Assets		£	£	£	£	£	£
Manses etc.	14	1,932,713	230,000	0	0	2,162,713	2,162,713
Total Fixed Assets		1,932,713	230,000	0	0	2,162,713	2,162,713
Current Assets
Debtors andprepayments	15	15,593	0	0	0	15,593	17,002
TMCP Deposit Account	16	0	30,280	0	0	30,280	28,991
CFB Deposit	16	0	13,166	0	0	13,166	14,751
Cash at bank and in hand (HSCB & Barclaycard)	17	(13,712)	49,932		0	36,220	17,535
Total current assets		1,881	93,378	0	0	95,259	78,279
Creditors (due in under 1 year) & unused funds	18	(2,010)	0	0	0	(2,010)	(4,887)
Net current assets		(129)	93,378	0	0	93,249	73,393
Total assets less current liabilities		1,932,584	323,378	0	0	2,255,962	2,236,104

Net assets		1,932,584	323,378	0	0	2,255,962	2,236,104
Funds of the Circuit
General Fund(Unrestricted)		1,932,584	0	0	0	1,932,584	1,932,585
Other Funds(Restricted)		0	323,378	0	0	323,378	303,521
Total funds		1,932,584	323,378	0	0	2,255,962	2,236,104

I confirm that these accrual-based accounts for the year ended 31 August 2025 have been prepared from the records of the Circuit and that they include all funds under the control of the Circuit Meeting.

Signed: _____________ Ama Ackah-Yensu (Treasurer)

Date: 16th April 2026

Signed: _________

Revd Tony Miles (Chair of the Circuit Meeting)

Date: 16th April 2026

London Mission (Westminster) Circuit 35/03 Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) for the Year Ended 31 August 2024

	Notes	General Fund (Unrestricted)	Designated Funds	Restricted Funds	Endowment (Restricted)	2023/24 Totals
Income and Endowments from:		£	£	£		£
Bank Interest		502	5,610	0	0	6,112
Circuit Assessment		232,934	0	0	0	232,934
Lettings(Manse Rental Income)	10	21,101	0	0		21,101
Total Income		254,537	5,610	0	0	260,147
Expenditure
Stipends,Salaries and Associated Costs		132,407	0	0	0	132,407
District Assessment		44,464	0	0	0	44,464
Travel Expenses		5,266	0	0	0	5,266
Ministerial Training		591	0	0	0	591
Insurance,Utilities,etc.	11	27,217	0	0	0	27,217
Maintenance on Manses	12	2,716	36,171	0	0	38,887
Other Expenditure
Administration,Staff & Copyingetc.		899				899
Independent Examiner Fee		1,950	0	0	0	1,950
Professional fees		0	3,147	0	0	3,147
Payment to Church for Services Provided		21,000	0	0	0	21,000
Total Expenditure		236,510	39,318	0	0	275,828

Net Income/ (Expenditure)		18,027	(33,708)	0	0	(15,680)
Transfer between Funds & General Account		(20,200)	20,200	0	0	0
Total Funds brought forward		1,934,756	317,028	0	0	2,251,784
Correction for Prior Year			0			0
Total funds carried forward at end of year		1,932,583	303,520	0	0	2,236,104

London Mission (Westminster) Circuit 35/03 Balance Sheet as at 31 August 2024

	Notes	General Fund (Unrestricted)	Designated Funds	Restricted Funds	Endowment (Restricted)	2023/24 Totals
Fixed Assets		£	£	£	£	£
Manses etc.	14	1,932,713	230,000	0	0	2,162,713
Total Fixed Assets		1,932,713	230,000	0	0	2,162,713
Current Assets
Debtors andprepayments	15	17,002	0	0	0	17,002
TMCP Deposit Account	16	0	28,991	0	0	28,991
CFB Deposit	16	0	14,751	0	0	14,751
Cash at bank and in hand(HSCB & Barclaycard)	17	(12,243)	29,778		0	17,535
Total current assets		4,759	73,520	0	0	78,279
Creditors (due in under 1 year) & unused funds	18 & 19	(4,887)	0	0	0	(4,887)
Net current assets		(128)	73,520	0	0	73,392
Total assets less current liabilities		1,932,585	303,520	0	0	2,236,105

Net assets		1,932,585	303,520	0	0	2,236,105
Funds of the Circuit
General Fund(Unrestricted)		1,932,585	0	0	0	1,932,585
Other Funds(Restricted)	20	0	303,521	0	0	303,521
Total funds		1,932,585	303,521	0	0	2,236,106

London Mission (Westminster) Circuit 35 / 03 Notes to the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 August 2025

Basis of accounting

These financial statements are prepared on a going concern basis, under the historical cost Convention.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest pound.

The principal accounting policies adopted in the preparation of the financial statements are set out below.

1. Going Concern

After making reasonable enquiries the Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the Charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future and do not consider there to be any threat to the going concern status. Therefore, the Trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements and confirm there are no material uncertainties at the date of the approval of these financial statements.

2. Funds

The funds held constitute: General Funds held for any purpose of the Circuit, which are unrestricted, and restricted funds, which are held for a narrower purpose including those for internal organisations. Details of each material fund are disclosed in the notes to the Accounts.

3. Accounting Policies

Basis

These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention, except that investments are shown at their market value at the end of the year, on the accruals basis to show a true and fair view of the Circuit’s financial position and activities.

Income

Income is included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) when the Circuit becomes entitled to the funds, the receipt is probable and the amount can be measured reliably.

Expenditure

This is recognised when a liability is incurred, or a constructive obligation arises, that results in the payment being unavoidable. Liabilities are recognised as soon as an

outflow of economic benefit is considered more likely than not under the legal or constructive obligation committing the Circuit to pay out resources.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.

Grants

Grants made by the Circuit from its own funds are recognised in full at the time of agreement or when the Circuit accepts that there is a legal or operational obligation to make the payment. When the grant is recurrent over more than one year the balance payable in future years is treated as a provision for future commitments in the Balance Sheet against the appropriate fund, the provision being released in future years as instalments are paid in accordance with the originally agreed terms.

VAT

Since the Circuit is not VAT registered, all input VAT is charged with the expenses to which it refers.

Tangible fixed assets for use by the Circuit

These are capitalised if they can be used for more than one year and individually cost at least £10,000.

The freehold property comprises the Circuit’s manses and is shown in the accounts at 2014 deemed values, with the exception of the Shirley manse, which is shown at the purchase value in 2016.

At the time of valuation, purchase and disposal, the value of the properties was not spilt between land and buildings. However, based on an estimate of 25% land and 75% buildings, the total land value at 31 August 2025 would be £483,179 and the total building value would be £1,449,534. No depreciation is provided on the buildings because the trustees consider the current residual fair value of the manse buildings (on the assumption that it had reached the end of its useful economic life by the year-end) to be not less than its current value.

Investment Properties

Investment properties - no property is currently deemed not to be held for the long-term purposes of the charity.

Investments

Investments are valued in the balance sheet at market value at the year-end. Investment income is included in the accounts when receivable and any gains or losses on revaluation at the year-end are shown in the SOFA.

Financial instruments

Basic financial instruments are measured at amortised cost.

Debtors and creditors

Debtors and creditors receivable or payable within one year of the reporting date are carried at their transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost less any impairment.

Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgement

In preparing financial statements it is necessary to make certain judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts recognised in the financial statements. There are no judgements and estimates considered by the Trustees to have a significant effect on amounts recognised in the financial statements.


4.Donations and legacies	Unrestricted	Restricted	2024 / 2025 Total	2023 / 2024 Total
	£	£	£	£
Legacies	-	-	-	-
Total	-	-	-	-

5. Investment income	Unrestricted	Restricted	2024 / 2025 Total	2023 / 2024 Total
	£	£	£	£
Central Finance Board /TMCP	351	1,383	1,734	6,112
Other			-	-
Total	351	1,383	1,734	6,112

6. Payment to Trustees

2024/25 2023/24 Number of trustees who were paid expenses 5 5 £ £ Total amount paid 5,990 5,932	2024/25 2023/24 Number of trustees who were paid expenses 5 5 £ £ Total amount paid 5,990 5,932	2024/25 2023/24 Number of trustees who were paid expenses 5 5 £ £ Total amount paid 5,990 5,932
	Number of trustees who were paid expenses Total amount paid	2024/25 2023/24 5 5
		£ £ 5,990 5,932

7. Independent Examiner’s Fees

	2024/25	2023/24
	£	£
Fees for reporting the accounts	2,010	1,950

8. Paid Employees

The Circuit has no paid employees. A fixed monthly fee is charged to the Circuit by the Church each month for services provided including services provided by Church employees and contractors.

The charity considers that the key management personnel comprise the Trustees. Other than Stipends paid to Ministers, there was no remuneration paid to the Trustees during 2024/25.

9 Fixed Assets

9 Fixed Assets
Cost or valuation	Residential Land	Manses	Total
	£	£	£
Balance brought forward	483,179	1,449,534	1,932,713

Balance carried forward	483,179	1,679,534	2,162,713

Accumulated depreciation	0	0	0
Net Book Value brought forward	483,179	1,239,534	2,162,713
Net Book Value carried forward	483,179	1,679,534	2,162,713

The value of Manses includes £230,000, which is the cash advance of £230,000 made in 2022/23 by the Circuit to the Property Trustees of Central Hall to enable significant building work in 2023/24. The advance plus interest will be repaid upon the sale of a manse jointly by the Trustees and the Circuit. The value of manse properties reflects this to include both the repayment that will be received and the proportion of the property value that would be due to the Circuit from the joint ownership.

9a Investments

No other investments are held by the Circuit.

London Mission (Westminster) Circuit 35 / 03 NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

CIRCUIT - NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

2024/25 £ £ 21,700 21,700 £ £ 2,136 1,201 2,075 10,337 6,324 3,983 26,056 4,669 4,669 0 0	2023/24 £ £ 21,101	2023/24 £ £ 21,101
£ 2,136 1,201 2,075 10,337 6,324 3,983	£ 2,224 1,129 1,708 12,529 6,019 3,608	21,101 £
4,669	2,716	27,217

0	899	2,716

		899

London Mission (Westminster) Circuit 35 / 03

CIRCUIT - NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

2024/25 £ £ Property Value Circuit Value £ £ 550,000 137,500 1,485,000 746,213 400,000 400,000 649,000 649,000 230,000 2,162,713 1,142,685 1,020,028 9,304 6,133 156 15,593 13,166 13,166 23,756 6,524 30,280 (13,503) (209) 49,932 36,220 2,010 0 2,010 0 0 0	2023/24 £ £ Circuit Value £ 137,500 746,213 400,000 649,000 230,000 2,162,713 1,142,685 1,020,028 11,239 5,690 73	2023/24 £ £ Circuit Value £ 137,500 746,213 400,000 649,000 230,000 2,162,713 1,142,685 1,020,028 11,239 5,690 73
		2,162,713
		1,142,685
		1,020,028

13,166	14,751	17,002

23,756 6,524	22,467 6,524	14,751

(13,503) (209) 49,932	(11,891) (352) 29,778	28,991

2,010 0	1,950 2,222	17,535

0	715	4,172
		715

		715

20. Details of Designated and Restricted Funds

CIRCUIT FUNDS	Balance B/Fwd 01/09/24	Income	Expenditure	Transfer Between Funds	Balance C/Fwd 31/08/25
FUNDS	£	£	£	£	£

TOTAL RESTRICTED FUNDS	0	0	0	0	0

Designated
Removals Fund	11,674	0	0	7,500	19,174
Manse Maintenance Fund	39,380	0	(4,132)	15,200	50,448
Manse Replacement Fund	22,467	1,383	(94)	0	23,756
Manse Replacement Fund Fixed Asset	230,000	0	0	0	230,000
TOTAL DESIGNATED FUNDS	303,521	1,383	(4,226)	22,700	323,378

TOTAL RESTRICTED & DESIGNATED FUNDS	303,521	1,383	(4,226)	22,700	323,378

GENERAL FUND	1,932,585	281,498	(258,799)	(22,700)	1,932,584

TOTAL	2,236,106	282,881	(263,024)	0	2,255,962

London Mission (Westminster) Circuit 35 / 03

Circuit Trustees as at 31 August 2025

The following served as trustees during the year and/or were trustees at the date of signing the accounts.

Independent examiner’s report to the Trustees of Methodist Central Hall Westminster – London Mission (Westminster) Circuit No. 35/03

I report to the charity Trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 August 2025.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the 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’).

Independent examiner’s statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with my 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 the accounting 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.

Katharine Patel ACA Buzzacott Audit LLP Chartered Accountants 130 Wood Street London EC2V 6DL

26 May 2026