ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT,-2022 IRiNiIY WELCOME... 11 s 1)tl4Trri .11) t xcitini, Vi thr ()1 r* Im.i%iiiiiiK Wt Vlslon St4)leiiiv.nl. .1 Ivlno Illv to tli# liill ljy iliiiwlfiy iiii shurliia Je>'iii ¢1) ii¥iiiiluiiii rfpiii. iivlqht)()Ilf hi)c)d. tollow*)d HIGHiIGHTS FROM 2022 W0￿h1p.. 11.1 Mid-week- Teachln8'. Included.. HongKongers Minlstry.. H05ted a UKHK Welcoiiie cotirse lor Iiboul JO Iiiilvoil IIKvr%. 01) 16 Oclober, I youtli aiid 8 iidiills woro lJill)Il i('(I Team: o New operations leam IAriiialLlsal, arid tiow l 1 These include some activities of other organisations which the church has been supporting. 2 See Reference 2 for an official interpretation of this statement. 1 ## **Examination Method** The method is described in Ref.1. In line with common practice to examine at least one aspect in more depth, an examination was made of the newly associated activities of ‘Torch’ and the Hong Kong church. ## **Findings** ## Independent Examination Requirements The church’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for the church’s accounting year 2021/22 and that an independent examination by an unqualified person is adequate, on the grounds that the church’s gross income was less than £250,000. I confirm that the church’s gross income (turnover) of £218K[3] is in that range. ## Treasurer’s Summary of Accounts This is a fair summary for the financial year. The accounts have been prepared using payments and receipts, as is appropriate to the church’s turnover. The use of more complex accrual accounting would not alter my view on the accounts. Although the finances of the associated activities are included in the turnover stated above, the accounts clearly identify them under separate headings. ## Payments All expenditure was properly incurred in the church’s activities (including associated activities – see below) or as donations to charities. In addition, money collected directly for charities was passed on without deductions and, in many cases, supplemented from the church’s ‘Mission Giving’ fund. The organisation and labelling of invoice and payment files has been improved and they are now much easier to identify, pair up and examine. {Observation – no response required.} ## Receipts Inspection of the income records showed that all income had been transferred to the appropriate accounts and ‘restricted’ where donors specified this. The former youth worker was re-employed as an associate pastor and the restricted ‘youth worker’ funding has been re-allocated to that role with the consent of the donors. The new role largely includes the previous youth worker role. Most of the income from church members now comes through regular standing orders or through the new Parish Giving Scheme. Both enable the church to recover an additional 25% tax rebate on donations from standard rate taxpayers. Over the whole year, 55% of the regular donations were made through the PGS. Receipts from room rentals and the Manse rental have fully recovered from the Covid stoppages. ## Solar Panels This was the eighth year of operation of the solar panels. All repayments of interest-free loans were completed in this year. Solar income (feed-in tariff and export sales) at £4.8K slightly exceeded the final annual repayments (£4.45K) and will in future become an effective additional income for the church. However, it should be noted that the first major expenditure (£1.8K) on maintenance was required and that £5.3K was needed for pigeon proofing[4] . > 3 This figure is the turnover and differs from the church income because £40K of income is also handled by the church for the Hong Kong church activities, Torch, the Earley Help Hub and earmarked donations. 4 Prevention of pigeons nesting under the panels. 2 ## Mission Giving and other Charitable Donations The long standing policy of giving 10% of the church’s ‘voluntary income’ has been maintained. The donations are entirely voluntary and do not create any legal obligations to make future donations. Some special collections were made and passed on directly to charities, sometimes with supplements from the general Mission Giving funds. ## The Effects of the SARS-Cov-2 (‘Coronavirus’) Pandemic The finances for the previous two years were strongly affected by the pandemic although the net result was an increase in balances caused by the large reduction in activity and expenditure while the members’ donations were largely maintained. In 2021/22 the residual pandemic effects were minimal and the church’s activities have expanded relative to the pre-pandemic levels. ## Manse Finances Normal operation of the manse was restored before the start of 2021/22. The manse is managed by the Methodist church as equal partner and the costs deducted from the annual rental income are reasonable and fully documented. The Trinity half share of net income was £8.4 K and this level can reasonably be expected to continue. ## Associated Activities For many years the church has had minor associated activities, reported in previous independent examination reports under the title (Financially) Minor Activities, amounting to less than 5% of the total church finances. These activities were run by individual church members with their own mini-accounts (including some bank accounts) but reported annually to the church treasurer and occasionally donated surpluses to the church funds. Two of these minor activities, Chalfont Club and Thursday Toddlers closed in this year and transferred residual balances to the church funds. Ladies Club and Monday Toddlers remain active. However, several new activities have been added and the scale of the associated activities is no longer financially minor. The activities at the end of 2021/22, with approximate turnovers (£K), were: |Hong Kong Ministry and Fellowship|30 (for a part year: May to August)| |---|---| |Torch|6| |Earley Help Hub|2| |Previous activities|4 (including the two recently closed)| The first three organisations are not run solely by Trinity church, although the incorporation of the Hong Kong activities with Trinity is being considered. However, the nature of Earley Help Hub and Torch is such that they will continue to be responsible to several organisations. Use of the Trinity bank account for these purpose is not sensible in the long term as Trinity payments should be under its control. Therefore it is recommended that: _Earley Help Hub and Torch, and the Hong Kong activities, if not amalgamated with Trinity, should make arrangements to have their own financial accounts and bank accounts, and to be responsible for their own payments. This need not interfere with Trinity accepting designated donations to its own account and passing them on, as it has done for many charity collections and fundraising events._ ## Income and Expenditure The church’s income fell from £190K in 2020/21 to £178K in 2021/22, but this was mainly due to exceptionally high one-off donations in 2020/21. Recently, though, there have been several large ‘one- 3 off’ items in both income and expenditure, so the income and expenditure for the year 2021/22 should not be presumed accurate predictors for next year. Expansion of the church’s activities involved an increase in employment and correspondingly increased costs, resulting in a modest excess of expenditure over income. This used up some of the extra reserve accumulated during the Covid pandemic. The deficit of £12K was less than the £25K planned in the budget for 2021/22. Although planning for a deficit is not normally to be recommended, the substantial increase in the reserves during the pandemic meant that the planned deficit was a reasonable way to promote the expansion in activities. ## Financial Reserves |Financial Reserves||| |---|---|---| |The end of year position for 2021/22 is:|(£) {with last year’s figures for comparison}|| ||31 August 2022|31 August 2021| |Bank accounts|110,504|105,463| |Solar project loans (owed)|(0)|(4.450)| |Balance attributable to ‘associates’5|(19,354)|N/A| ||-----------|-----------| |Net balance attributable to Trinity|91,150|101,013| The Trinity net balance was 48% of the annual expenditure (£190K). This is reduced from the 57% on 31 August 2021. The working reserve is the same, now that the fixed term solar loans have been repaid The working reserve is still well above the recommended minimum of 25% and very close to the recommended ‘norm’ of 50% which is usually regarded as fully sufficient for all reasonable contingencies. Given that the pandemic related uncertainties have reduced in the last year, this level of reserve is very satisfactory. ## **Matters of Material Significance Reportable to UK Charity Regulators** In the course of my independent examination I have found no matter of material significance reportable to UK charity regulators. {See Reference 2 Section 5 for the relevant criteria}. ## **References** - 1 Trinity Church, Independent Examination of Accounts, FY September 2021 to August 2022. Examination Method. [Nigel Holloway, December 2021.] - 2 Independent Examination of Charity Accounts: Directions and Guidance for Examiners. Charity Commission document CC32 (as amended). ## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S FORMAL STATEMENT** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: - 1 proper accounting records were not kept or, - 2 the accounts do not accord with those records. 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. > 5 Hong Kong Ministry (£10.005), Hong Kong Fellowship (£2,763), Torch (£5,081), Earley Help Hub (£1,505). 4