2024-03-31-accounts - Townhill Baptist Church (Swansea)

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

Trustees’ Annual Report for the period

From 1st April 2023 to 31st March 2024

Charity name: Townhill Baptist Church (Swansea)

Charity registration number: 1148030

Objectives and Activities

	SORP reference
Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document	Para 1.17	The objects of the Church for the public benefit are to advance the Christian faith in accordance with the Statement of Beliefs appearing in the Schedule hereto in Swansea and in such other parts of the United Kingdom or the world as the Church may from time to time think fit and to fulfil such other purposes which are exclusively charitable according to the law of England and Wales and are connected with the charitable work of the Church.
Summary of the main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts.	Para 1.17 and 1.19	The church is committed to sharing the message of Jesus Christ with the community. We use our building to provide a wide range of activities to benefit the community. To facilitate our community work, we take care of and maintain our council-owned building. Our activities as a charity take account of the Commission’s guidance on public benefit and the specific guidance on charities for the advancement of religion. We seek to know God more in our lives through prayer, praise, reading and applying God’s Word (the Bible) and to see people come to faith in Jesus Christ and to know Him more in their lives. The church buildings provide many activities of benefit to the public. In addition to our regular Sunday services and weekly prayer meeting and Bible study, we also have a weekly club for children from Reception to Year 6 and a bi-weekly youth club open to children from Year 6 to Year 13. A toddler group runs once a week and is open to all children and their carers from the

community. A Friends and Neighbours group is held once a week reaching and supporting members of the community.

Looking back over the year (April 2023March 2024)

Our Friday Fun Club has had another successful year, with attendance remaining steady at around 25 children per week. The Christian gospel message is shared every week by various leaders, and it has always been well received by the children, most of them listening well. Craft and activity time are always fun and exciting, and many children get extremely creative and excited to show off the crafts that they have produced. We have seen a few new children come into the group and we hope that the older ones will move up into the Friday Youth Group . We continually thank God for his safe keeping and know that the church is constantly praying for us as a group. We provide snacks for the children every week and at Easter and Christmas we give gifts to the children.

During the year we have had over 40 different children at Townhill Toddlers , with the spring term often hosting 20 or more toddlers per week along with their parents, grandparents and carers. During the sessions we have play, singing, snack and craft. We had Easter and Christmas parties for the children and parents and gave them gifts. We do not charge anything for our toddler group, but we took a collection for Samaritan’s Purse so that as a toddler group we could buy some chicks and bees for a developing country. We are grateful for a couple of Christians among those who attend. We have had some attendance in church from those who attend Toddlers, and some older siblings attending the Friday Fun Club .

The number of young people of comprehensive school age attending Friday Youth Group has been consistent. The numbers have varied from 4 to 18, but there are usually about 12-15 young people attending. The majority of young people who now attend are from the community while at the start of the year it was a roughly 50:50 split between church and community young people. There are some young people who attend very regularly and have

formed a core group of well behaved youngsters.

The behaviour has been good and a growing relationship between the young people and leaders has led to minimal behavioural issues and an increasing number of personal questions in response to the gospel message.

The club has changed in nature with less organised games such as volleyball and more individual games such as table tennis, pool and table top games. The change in games works best for the current group of young people, some of whom do not want to participate in a team game. Some young people will just enjoy having hot chocolate and a chat with leaders. Craft is undertaken by the majority of young people. The two remaining young people from the church are now much more active as leaders rather than attendees and their presence has been a big help in organising, preparing and maintaining a calm atmosphere.

We are grateful to God that the young people now listen very attentively to the gospel talk, ask meaningful questions and offer very good answers to questions. The talk is given by a number of different leaders.

Our prayer is that each of these young people will become Christians, that the safety of all will be maintained, and that there will be enough helpers to keep this gospel work going.

As a church, we seek to be positive about disability inclusion. We are linked to the Roofbreaker project run by the Christian disability charity ‘Through the Roof’ whose main aim is 'transforming lives through Jesus with disabled people'. Kerry and Phil Tamlyn are the church Roofbreaker contacts, seeking to be available to discuss any disability issues and find solutions.

The Good News group is a monthly inclusive service for adults with additional needs. This year, we have been exploring the gospel of Mark using simple communication approaches, including reading short passages in easy to read versions of the bible. We seek to create a safe environment for members to honestly express their thoughts and questions. Some of our members would describe themselves as

believers, others would not, but it is a safe space to think about important things.

We have six regular members that have consistently attended the group since it started in 2020 and have formed strong friendships with each other. This year, we have also welcomed a new member who lives in the local area. We encourage social interaction through games, refreshments and informal chats. We celebrate birthdays and hold some parties throughout the year at Christmas, Easter and summer. All our members also regularly attend Sunday services at the church, knowing their needs will be understood and that they are welcome. After the service, our members really enjoy the refreshments and opportunity to chat with people.

Several avenues of community work and outreach have continued during the year to 31.3.2024. Our community worker finished several years' service with the church in December 2023, and until that time he was actively involved in supporting a number of people with whom he'd had contact via local community centres and networks. He was also leading the food share scheme hosted by the church with the support of a grant from the local authority and practical support from the church (with some financial support earlier in the project). This scheme finished in March 2023 once the allocated grant funds were exhausted, with support for onward referrals to other local schemes, and the church is still in supportive contact with some of the people who had been supported through it.

The local FAN (Friends and Neighbours) group continued to meet in the church, supported by the now former church worker and others from the church, as a means of reaching and supporting a number of people locally.

The church has remained active in seeking to reach people in the local community through informal networks, including those which had previously been established, and to offer practical and spiritual help where we can.

A new initiative this year has been the community “parties” to replace the Saturday Fun Days , which have made good use of our limited time, energy and resources. These

take place during the Friday Fun Club time slot, with parents and older/younger siblings invited to stay. The first “light” party around Halloween was open to Friday Fun Club and Youth Club , with the Christmas and Easter parties opened to Toddlers. Games, activities, crafts, competitions and refreshments are provided free of charge, with a very short message at the end. Attendance has been consistent at around 50 children.

Phoenix Fun Day (May 2023) – the church had a table with some free gospels and goodie bags, with some church members also wandering the field as the number of workers permitted. There were opportunities to invite children and young people to clubs, to reconnect with some families and to have a few conversations about spiritual issues.

Fireworks Night – over 260 bags distributed to families watching the fireworks from Pantycelyn Road. The goodie bags contained glow sticks, a small packet of sweets, a balloon and a leaflet publicising church activities.

Our Christmas carol service was attended by people with whom we’ve had contact over the years, as well as a few newcomers through the distributed leaflets. The service was designed to be inclusive with as wide a variety of church members as possible, including members of the Good News Group. The informal table set-up enabled good conversations over refreshments at the end.

Our Easter service was publicised to the community by leaflets and through the clubs etc., with a few visitors. The informal table set-up enabled good conversations over refreshments at the end, which included cakes, hot chocolate and chocolate eggs for the children.

Anne Rees continued with her English Classes until these classes finished at the end of 2023 and the Ladies’ Bible Study continued to meet until it also finished at the end of 2023.

The church building

The church continues to carry out maintenance work on the building as part of

		our stewardship of the building. In the next few years we will carry out further work recommended in a building survey we commissioned. We continue to seek new organisations who are compatible with our aims and who would like to hire our building thus extending our services to the Townhill community. Missionaries supported We continue to support a range of missionaries and their organisations, all through prayer and most also with some financial support. We are very grateful to God that we can share in the work of these missionaries, bringing the good news of Jesus to people here in the UK and around the world. We receive regular updates including prayer requests. We have recently started to have a brief update from one of our missionary organisations each week at our mid-week meeting, ensuring we pray for them all on a regular basis. Due to a fall church income, we have had to make the difficult decision to review the financial support for the missionaries. We have communicated with all the missionaries and/or the organisation to find out how much of an impact any change in our giving might have. We have been able to establish that the impact on most will be minimal and the respective missionaries/organisations have been informed of the change in our financial support. We will continue to support them in prayer and will review the position regarding existing and new avenues to support, if and when our financial position changes.
Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit	Para 1.18	The trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit: ● they are aware of the guidance ● they have taken it into account when making a decision to which the guidance is relevant ● if they have decided to depart from the guidance, they have demonstrated that they have good

reasons for doing so

Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:	Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:	Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
	SORP reference
Policy on grant making	Para 1.38	No statement provided.
Policy on social investment including program related investment	Para 1.38	No statement provided.
Contribution made by volunteers	Para 1.38	Much of the work in our church is carried out on a voluntary basis. We give thanks to God that he has provided many gifted people to work in the church and we continue in prayer for more workers.
Other		● The church currently has 14 members ● Between 10 and 40 people regularly come to our Sunday Services including children from the community and people from countries who are part of the global majority. ● A core group of 25 children come to our children’s club each week ● 12-15 teenagers enjoy the youth club ● An average of 20 children come to Townhill Toddlers.

Achievements and Performance

	SORP reference
Summary of the main achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole.	Para 1.20	Summary Despite financial challenges, Townhill Baptist Church remains committed to its charitable objectives and continues to play an active role in the local community, providing spiritual guidance and practical support to its members and the wider public. The Lord has enabled us to maintain a presence in the community during a difficult time, we have been able to respond to the needs of families and individuals, and more importantly been able to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Community Engagement and Outreach ●Maintained regular Sunday services with 10-40 attendees, including community members and international participants ●Operated weekly children's and youth clubs, serving approximately 25 children and 12-15 teenagers respectively ●Hosted a well-attended toddler group, supporting over 40 different children throughout the year ●Continued the Good News group, an inclusive monthly service for adults with additional needs We had 6 regular members plus 1 new member this year Special Events and Activities ●Introduced community "parties" replacing Saturday Fun Days, with attendance around 50 children. ●Participated in Phoenix Fun Day, distributing gospels and goodie bags, and inviting families to church activities. ●Distributed over 260 goodie bags during Fireworks Night, promoting church events. ●Hosted inclusive Christmas carol and Easter services, attracting both regular attendees and newcomers. ●Used informal table setups at services to encourage conversations and community building.

Missionary Support	Missionary Support
●Continued	support	for various
missionaries	through prayer and financial
contributions
●Implemented	new regular missionary
updates during mid-week		meetings

Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

Achievements against objectives set	Para 1.41	No statement provided.
Performance of fundraising activities against objectives set	Para 1.41	No statement provided.
Investment performance against objectives	Para 1.41	No statement provided.
Other		No statement provided.

Financial Review

Financial Review
Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period	Para 1.21	●The church experienced a significant deficit this year, with expenditures exceeding income by £18,390.
Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held	Para 1.22	●Our Special Reserve is for real emergencies e.g., significant building repairs, loss of ongoing donations if a number of members were to leave at the same time (as has recently happened), or if there was a significant change in the financial circumstances of several members. By maintaining this reserve, the church can continue its work for some time whilst dealing with serious financial pressures such as these. When we spend part of the special reserve, we need to set the budget in the following years to restore it. ●Our General Reserve funds such things as maintaining the manse, the church building, the minibus, the church laptop, the dishwasher, church chairs and the church projector. ●The reserves of the church mean that the church does not face a crisis if there’s a major expense such as replacing the heating system or the church roof and provides funds to take advantage of short-term opportunities. A survey of the church building has identified work that needs to be carried out, and some of the reserve is being used for this purpose as well as continuing with the required maintenance on the manse. ●As in previous years, we will also maintain at least £2000 in our current account to ensure we are always in credit.
Amount of reserves held	Para 1.22	●Our Special Reserve is maintained at half our annual spending. For the new 2023/2024 financial year it will be set at £28,550. ●Our General Reserve for the coming year will begin at around £40,000. Our

		General Reserve is currently decreasing, and we will need to restore a balance between income and expenditure.
Reasons for holding zero reserves	Para 1.22	Not applicable.
Details of fund materially in deficit	Para 1.24	Not applicable.
Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern	Para 1.23	Not applicable.

Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

The charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising)	Para 1.47	No statement provided.
Investment policy and objectives including any social investment policy adopted	Para 1.46	No statement provided.
A description of the principal risks facing the charity	Para 1.46	No statement provided.
Other		The church has continued to implement its Safeguarding Policy and all those working with children and vulnerable adults have up to date DBS checks and will receive training from the ThirtyOneEight (previously Churches’ Child Protection Advisory Service) in Child Protection and safeguarding.

Structure, Governance and Management

Description of charity’s trusts:
Type of governing document (trust deed, royal charter)	Para 1.25	Trust deed
How is the charity constituted? (e.g unincorporated association, CIO)	Para 1.25	Unincorporated association
Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees	Para 1.25	While existing trustees are responsible for recruiting new trustees, they actively seek input and recommendations from both elders and deacons in this process. In selecting new trustees, we seek to identify members of the church who are willing to volunteer their time and effort. Potential trustees can be invited to attend trustees’ meetings as observers and are given more details of the charity’s aims and activities. If all agree, they are then proposed as new trustees at the subsequent trustees’ meeting. The process allows due consideration of the person’s eligibility, personal competence and specialist knowledge/skills.
Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:
Policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees	Para 1.51	Following appointment, new trustees are introduced to their new role and given copies of the trust deed and a guide to the policies and procedures adopted by our charity. Several publications from the Charity Commission are also provided including the guidance on charities and public benefit and on the advancement of religion for the public benefit. This ensures that new trustees are aware of their Trustees’ responsibilities under the Charities Act.
The charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works	Para 1.51	No statement provided.


Relationship with any related parties	Para 1.51	No statement provided.
Other		No statement provided.

Reference and Administrative details

Charity name	Townhill Baptist Church (Swansea)
Other name the charity uses	None
Registered charity number	1148030
Charity’s principal address	Powys Avenue Townhill Swansea SA1 6PH

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

Trustee name	Office (if any)	Dates acted if not for whole year	Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (if any)
John Idris Baker	Elder		Church Members’ Meeting
Andrew Trevor Brown	Deacon and Treasurer		Church Members’ Meeting
Allan David Rees	Elder	1st April 2023 - 30th November 2023	Church Members’ Meeting
Robert Geoffrey Wellington	Elder		Church Members’ Meeting
Philip Tamlyn	Deacon		Church Members’ Meeting

– Corporate trustees names of the directors at the date the report was approved

Director name None

Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity

Trustee name	Dates acted if not for whole year
None

Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others

Description of the assets Not applicable. held in this capacity

Name and objects of the Not applicable. charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects

Details of arrangements for Not applicable. safe custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets

Additional information (optional)

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)

	Type of adviser Name Address	Type of adviser Name Address	Type of adviser Name Address
	None.



	Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)
	Not applicable

Exemptions from disclosure

Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details

Not applicable.

Other optional information

No statement provided.

Declarations

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

----- Start of picture text -----
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
Signature(s)
Full name(s)
Position (eg
Secretary, Chair, etc)
Date
----- End of picture text -----

----- Start of picture text -----
Townhill Baptist Church (Swansea) 1148030
Receipts and payments accounts CC16a
For the period 1st April 2023 31st March 2024
To
from
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
Total funds Last year
funds funds funds
to the nearest
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
£
A1 Receipts
Donations and legacies
Donations and grants 47,184 1,945 - 49,129 55,556
Other trading activites
Buildings Hire - - - - 45
Buildings Rent Received - - - - -
Other income
Other income - - - - 190
Sales 71 - - 71 -
Investments
Interest Received 353 - - 353 40
Sub total (Gross income for
47,608 1,945 - 49,553 55,831
AR)
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
- - - -
- - - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total receipts 47,608 1,945 - 49,553 55,831
A3 Payments
Expenditure on charitable activities
Activities (Sundays & Midweek) 3,155 - - 3,155 1,751
Activities (Good News Group) 118 - - 118 83
Activities (Kids Club) 317 - - 317 242
Activities (Townhill Toddlers) 106 - - 106 243
Activities (Youth) 39 - - 39 188
Activities (Special events) 779 - - 779 918
Activities (Mission) 5,055 445 - 5,500 6,073
Activities (Food Bank) 286 1,500 - 1,786 1,905
Activities (Food) 165 - - 165 88
Activities (Licencing) 227 - - 227 -
Activities (Misc) - - - - -
Activities (Accommodation) - - - - -
Financial Hardship Assistance - - - - -
Salaries (Community Worker) 11,175 - - 11,175 8,705
Salaries (Pastor) 11,639 - - 11,639 8,147
Training 131 - - 131 566
- - - -
Other Payments - - -
Administration Fees 2,587 - - 2,587 569
Advertising and publicity 336 - - 336 654
Buildings Fixtures and Fittings - - - - -
Church Insurance 1,034 - - 1,034 924
Manse Insurance 1,070 - - 1,070 747
Church Maintenance 4,561 - - 4,561 3,363
Manse Maintenance 8,624 - - 8,624 11,469
Bank charges - - - - -
Church cleaning 1,040 - - 1,040 1,048
Cleaning supplies 132 - - 132 7
Electricity (Church) 537 - - 537 535
Electricity (Manse) 121 - - 121 74
Equipment Maintenance (General) - - - - 9
Equipment (General) 1,134 - - 1,134 910
Gas CCXX R1 accounts (Church) (SS) 1,930 - 1 - 1,930 1,947 15/06/2024
----- End of picture text -----

----- Start of picture text -----
Gas (Manse) 163 - - 163 74
ICT Hardware - - - - 147
ICT Software 144 - - 144 7
Internet - Connection 619 - - 619 407
Internet - Hosting 115 - - 115 107
Legal costs 618 - - 618 470
Publications 35 - - 35 -
Stationery and Supplies 151 - - 151 165
Minibus Fuel 286 - - 286 300
Minibus Insurance 1,051 - - 1,051 1,022
Minibus Maintenance 3,630 - - 3,630 3,059
Minibus Tax 165 - - 165 165
Council Tax (Manse) 2,348 - - 2,348 3,136
Water (Church) 252 - - 252 78
Water (Manse) 122 - - 122 134
Sub total [ 65,998 ] 1,945 - 67,943 60,435
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total [ - ] - - - -
Total payments 65,998 1,945 - 67,943 60,435
Net of receipts/(payments) - 18,390 - - - 18,390 - 4,604
A5 Transfers between funds - - - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end 68,609 - - 68,609 -
Cash funds this year end 50,219 - - 50,219 - 4,604
----- End of picture text -----

CCXX R2 accounts (SS)

15/06/2024

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

Details	Unrestricted funds to nearest £	Restricted funds to nearest £	Endowment funds to nearest £
Cash Current Deposit	149 19,430 30,640	- - -	- - -
Signature Church library Audio/Visual equipment Details Details Freehold property Minibus Toys Laptop Football equipment Details *Total cash funds* (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Gift Aid Details	50,219 - OK OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 6,525 - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - 12,165 1,500 800 500 3,000 5,750 - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name		-
			OK
			Endowment funds to nearest £ - - - - - - Current value (optional) - - - - - Current value (optional) - - 150 320 50 50 2,300 - - When due (optional) Date of approval

CCXX R3 accounts (SS)

15/06/2024

CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Roport to the trustoosl members of apEJ chufc Charity no {If any) On accounts for th6 year endgd '. 4Pt)so g I . mcL(Cki 2C)Z Sot out on pages I r8POrt to the trustees on my examination of the 8¢count5 of the above charlly {Ihe Trust") for the year ended Réspon8lbllltle8 and As the Gharity trustees of the Trust, you are responslble for the preparation basls of report of lh8 accounts in accordance with th8 requirements of th8 Charitles Act 2011 {"Ihe Act"). I report in respect of my examinatlon of the Trust's accounts carried out under sectlon 145 of the 2011 Act and In carrylng out my examination, I have followed the applicable Dlroclions gfven by the Charlty Comrnission under section 145(51{bl of the Act. I hav8 completed my examination. I conflrm that no material matters have come lo my attention (other than Ihal disclosed below '} in ¢onneclion with the examination which gives me cause to believe that In, any material respect.. accounting records were not kept Sn accord8nce with $ection 130 of the Act or the accounts do not 8¢cord wilh the accounting records Independent examlnerfs 8tatoment I have no concerns and have come across no other mattèrs In connects'on with the examination to whlch attention should be drawn In order to enable proper understanding of the accounts lo bè reached. Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply. Date: 9.7. Zl+ Signed: Name: SAQA14 e>wJCG Relevant profosslonal qualifi¢ation(s) or body (ff any}: Addross: I DYfrJÉK50L PLACG IER October 2018

Section B Disclosure Only complète if the examiner needs lo highlighl matters of ¢oncem (see CC32, Independent examination %f charity accounts.. directions and guidance for examiners). Give here brief details of any item$ that the examiner wishes to dlscloso. IER October 2018