2020-12-31-accounts - Hollywood Christian Life Centre

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REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER: 07905909 (ENGLAND AND WALES) REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1146306

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR YEAR ENDING 31[st] DECEMBER 2020 FOR HOLLYWOOD CHRISTIAN LIFE CENTRE

Registered Office 185, Shawhurst Lane Hollywood Birmingham B47 5JR

HOLLYWOOD CHRISTIAN LIFE CENTRE

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

for the year ending 31[st] December 2020

Registered Charity Number

1146306

Registered Office

185, Shawhurst Lane Hollywood Birmingham B47 5JR

Website

www.hollywoodchristianlifecentre.org.uk

Trustees

D R Foster A J Wright

Secretary

D R Foster

Bankers

The Co-operative Bank P. O. Box 250 Delf House Southway Skelmersdale WN8 6WT

Independent examiner:

Mr. Brian Wilkins, ACIB 43 Ellesboro Road Harborne Birmingham B17 8PU

Landlords

Church Growth Trust The Barn 1Manor Farm Barns Baines Lane Seaton Oakham LE15 9HP

HOLLYWOOD CHRISTIAN LIFE CENTRE

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

for the year ending 31[st] December 2020

The Church became a Registered Charity and Company Limited by Guarantee in January 2012 with the appointment of 3 Directors/Trustees who are also its Members. In addition to the Trustees we now also have a full time pastor and assistant pastor who are also elders.

The Church is governed by the Directors/Trustees (Elders) and the pastor who are appointed and make decisions in consultation with the Church members. Day to day running is conducted through the pastor, assistant pastor, the elders and leaders of the different activities. Training is offered to trustees through day courses and encouragement to read the Charity Commission guidance on the website. Trustees are also, where seen necessary, given the opportunity to attend training.

We are seeking to appoint an additional Trustee in the future.

The Charity’s objectives are for the public benefit to advance the Christian faith in accordance with the Statement of Beliefs, in the Hollywood area, United Kingdom or the world as the Trustees from time to time may see fit, to fulfil such other purposes which are exclusively charitable in connection with its activities.

These objectives are achieved through Church services, Children’s and Young Peoples activities, weeks and weekends away, coffee mornings and ‘Time for Tea’ for the older generation. These activities are advertised to and engaged in by the wider community in the local area. Help is also given for social and practical needs of individual church and non-church members. We also support and work with other local Churches and groups for the benefit of the local community. We are developing our links with the local senior school and junior schools.

Many of the Church activities have had to be curtailed this year due to the pandemic. While contact has been maintained with Church Members and other individuals in the area, meeting to gather has been controlled by the regulations. Due to the needs of local people we set up a food bank and conducted a carol singing march around the local area. Most of the church activities, for all ages, have been conducted through zoom. Unfortunately this was not possible with coffee morning so when allowed door step visits have been made to individuals.

We have a church congregation that covers the complete age range which helps us to cater for the different needs within the church and the local community. Despite the issues limiting our activities we have been encourage by the vast majority of the church maintaining involvement.

On a wider scale financial support is also given to carefully selected national and international charities and appeals. For example, British Heart Foundation, Marie Curie, Birmingham City Mission, The Leprosy Mission. As we have links with a church in Mississippi. We have maintained our support in Zambia. Through a church member from Zimbabwe we have been able to help her start to set up a school in he home village.

Our financial position at the end of the year is healthy, even though there was a decrease in the reserves.

The building we occupy is in a separate trust (Church Growth Trust) to whom we pay an annual rental of £64. One of our Trustees is a member of that Trust.

On behalf of the Trustees Dave Foster (Honorary Secretary)

HCLC Financial Report 2020

The Headlines

In numbers…

In numbers…
	Income	Expenditure	Difference at Year End
Forecast	£71,000	£106,000	-£35,000
Actual	£90,500	£92,000	-£1,500
Difference	+£19,500	-£14,000	+£33,500

In words…

We forecast an income of £71,000 at the start of 2020 but received £90,500 in the year – so that is an improvement of £19,500.

We forecast an expenditure of £106,000 at the start of 2020 but actually spent £92,000 – so that is a reduction of £14,000 on our outgoings.

In summary, we forecast a total loss of £35,000 at the start of 2020, but this loss is now only £1,500 – so we have effectively broken even on the year. This is a swing of £33,500.

In ‘pictures’…

----- Start of picture text -----
Actual Monthly Income / Expenditure 2020
----- End of picture text -----

----- Start of picture text -----
Income Expenditure Total Income Total Expenditure
£18,000 £100,000
£16,000 £90,000
£80,000
£14,000
£70,000
£12,000
£60,000
£10,000
£50,000
£8,000
£40,000
£6,000
£30,000
£4,000
£20,000
£2,000 £10,000
£0 £0
Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20
----- End of picture text -----

The graph shows the individual monthly income and expenditure (vertical bars) read against the lefthand axis.

It also shows the monthly running totals for income and expenditure (black and red lines) read against the right-hand axis.

The spike in income in May is due to the Gift Aid payment from HMRC being reclaimed.

Questions…and Answers…(I hope)…

I recognise that you may have some questions about the accounts (you may not!!) but I have tried to second guess what you might ask, and these are detailed below. There may be other questions that come to mind, so please drop me an email and I will try and answer as best I can.

My email is ajandjrwright@outlook.com

Q1. Has the church applied for furlough payments under the Job Retention Scheme?

A. Yes. At the start of the first lockdown, we were uncertain as to how the pandemic would impact Steve and Gille’s workload, as well as a drop in giving, particularly through the weekly offering at church.

We initially placed both on furlough, which upon reflection, we were slow to communicate to the church. Both were continuing to undertake some pastoral duties, but as voluntary members of the church – similar to what Dave or I do as Elders or indeed any other members of the church with responsibilities. We were a little uncomfortable about this arrangement, but after various discussions with FIEC and Stewardship Services (who operate our payroll) we were reassured that we were operating within the framework of the furlough scheme.

Subsequently, the furlough scheme introduced part time working and we were then able to ask Steve and Gille to undertake full or part time roles as Pastor / Assistant Pastor.

Up to December 2020 we have claimed approximately £17,000 under the furlough scheme.

This has obviously helped underpin our financial position this year.

Q2. Has the general giving by church attendees reduced or increased this year?

A. We have seen a £3,000 reduction in giving this year compared to 2019.

Q3. How much financial support has been given to the foodbank?

A. The foodbank has raised the local profile of the church within Hollywood and Wythall. As well as receiving food donations, we have also received several financial donations from church members, members of the general public and local government (Bromsgrove District Council (£500) and Wythall Paris Council (£500)).

At the end of 2020 we had received total financial support of £2,180.00 of which approximately £600.00 had been expended on replenishing the foodbank. There is approximately £1,600.00 to be carried forward into 2021. All donations to the foodbank are ringfenced for that purpose.

Q4. There has been a significant reduction in expenditure in 2020. What are the areas mostly affected?

A. The pandemic has clearly had a significant impact on the church programme in 2020. I have set out below the original budgets of expenditure at the start of 2020 and details of what we actually spent …

----- Start of picture text -----
Budget Actual Progress Against Budget
Staff Costs £ 69,830.00 £ 66,978.23 96%
Mission Orgs & UK £ 11,750.00 £ 9,997.14 85%
Donations / Events £ 250.00 £ 645.85 100% 158%
Children / Youth £ 2,040.00 £ 1,135.36 56%
Catering £ 560.00 £ 245.40 44%
General Expenses £ 4,027.00 £ 2,087.24 52%
Governance £ 2,390.00 £ 1,165.82 49%
Building £ 12,348.00 £ 9,769.70 79%
Contingency £ 3,096.00 £ - 0%
Total £ 106,291.00 £ 92,024.74
----- End of picture text -----

A quick summary: -

Staff Costs – these were down as general expenses reduced from March to December
Mission Organisations & UK Mission – we were able to maintain our giving to all our mission partners over the year, but the reduction in expenditure relates to UK mission activities such as coffee morning, time for tea, Christmas market, carnival etc all of which stopped in March.
Donations – this relates to the foodbank expenditure which increased against our budget (see Q3 above).
Other categories – expenditure was down approximately 50% against the budgets due to the reduced programme during the year.
Building – Although we were not paying Meadow Green for the hire of the school hall, we have had to undertake some major work on the electric installations / mains at Simms Lane which has partially offset the saving in expenditure at Meadow Green. The reduction here is therefore not as high as expected.

‘Thank you’

2020 has been a turbulent year, yet despite the financial pressures the church has continued to be faithful in its giving.

Several of you who gave regularly through the ‘weekly bag collection’ have now set up Standing Orders into the bank account because we have not been meeting in person, or you have personally arranged to give your gifts directly to me. Several of you have also increased your regular giving or set up Standing Orders. This is greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much as I know that there have been financial pressures on many of you during 2020.

The Lord recognises your giving

Mark 12:41-44…

41 Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. 42 Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins.

43 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. 44 For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.”

Final Word (almost)

I know money and finances can be a little ‘dry’ and difficult to communicate, so I hope this report has helped you understand a little more about the accounts at HCLC.

We are not always comfortable talking about ‘money and church’ because of the negative connotations, but fundamentally, the finances ‘oil the wheels’ of everything we plan to do as a church – employ pastors, support mission partners, undertake local outreach events, support orphans in Rwanda, undertake children and youth work, maintain the church building…the list goes on.

A small appeal…

I do not often raise the issue of giving at HCLC, but perhaps at the start of 2021 it is an opportune time to review your giving to the work of the Lord at HCLC?

Perhaps you do not give regularly or even at all? Perhaps you give regularly, but have not reviewed the amount for some time and your circumstances have changed financially for the better?

Can I propose that you ask the Lord to show you what you should be giving financially – no amount is too small (see the Bible passage above) but it is faithful, sacrificial giving that pleases the Lord.

Let me know if you would like to set up a Standing Order and I can send you details.

Yours in Christ,

Andrew