TABERNACLE BAPTIST CHURCH
(a Registered Charity in England & Wales – Number: 1154127 )
Dyffryn Road Llandrindod Wells Website: www.tabernaclebaptist.co.uk
Trustees’ Annual Report and
Statement of Financial Activities
(Annual Return and Accounts)
for the year ending
31[st] December 2024
Tabernacle Baptist Church, Llandrindod Wells Trustees Annual Report 2024
The Trustees have pleasure in presenting their report and financial statements for the year ending 31[st] , December 2024. The Trustees believe that the financial statements comply with the current statutory requirements and the Charity’s governing documents.
Charity Objectives
The objects of the Church are:
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1) the advancement of the Christian faith in accordance with the Confession of Faith, primarily but not exclusively in Llandrindod Wells and the surrounding neighbourhood;
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2) such other charitable purposes as shall, in the opinion of the managing Trustees, further the work of the Church.
It does this for the public benefit by means of its main activities which are as follows:
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Regular Sunday morning and evening Services.
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Mid-week Bible Study, Prayer Meetings and occasional Missionary Meetings, on Tuesday evenings. At the start of the year, the plan was to have three Bible Studies/Prayer Meetings a month and one missionary meeting. When there were 5 Tuesdays in the month, the additional Tuesday would be a Prayer Meeting. Initially, the Bible Studies focused on a series of Biblical Modules e.g. the Old Testament Tabernacle and Priesthood. This was followed with a series of studies focusing on the articles of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, the basis of the Church’s Basis of Faith, and learning from their contents. These studies continued for the rest of the year with a break in August and December, when prayer meetings were arranged. During the year, the Church followed its usual practice of providing members with books of daily readings in preparation for Lent and Easter, and Christmas. Members were also provided with a helpful book to read over the summer break. These were much appreciated by the whole Church.
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Sunday School, during the Sunday Morning Services.
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Parent/Carer and Toddlers’ group on Thursday mornings (“Tab Tots”).
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Bi-Monthly Coffee, Cake and Chat Meetings on Friday mornings.
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Friday evening Children’s Meetings – the Church Junior Club for children aged from 4 years old to the end of Primary School.
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Friday evening, after Junior Club, young people’s meetings for youth of Secondary School age (Tabernacle Youth Club – TYC).
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Visiting of and distribution of literature to the local community. This included the distribution of the Church Calendar for 2025.
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Support (financially, practically and in prayer) of other Christian workers/organizations in the UK and overseas.
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Church Camps (currently this is through arranging places for Tabernacle young people at externally organized camps).
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Annual Holiday Bible Club.
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Gospel Tent outreach at local shows.
The above list of activities reflects the normal position in the Church, post the Covid-19 pandemic. Although the Covid-19 restrictions were removed during 2021, the advice provided through the weekly notice sheet to those attending the Church reflects the ongoing need for the use of hand sanitizers and the freedom for those attending to wear face coverings if they wish.
Charity Details
Address of the Charity:
Tabernacle Baptist Church, Dyffryn Road, Llandrindod Wells, Powys LD1 6AN
Correspondence Address:
Mr. John Mitson, “Carneddau”, 4 Highbury Fields, Llanyre, Llandrindod Wells, Powys LD1 6NF
Trustees of Tabernacle Baptist Church
Elders: Rev. Robert Thomas and Rev. Tom Baker (Joint Pastors until 14[th] March, 2024, when Rev. Tom Baker resigned from his post with immediate effect).
Deacons: Mr. Matthew Butterfill, Mr. Kevin Lewis, Mr. Gerald Hughes, Mr. John Mitson (Secretary), Mr. Josh Thomas and Mr. Andrew Wilson.
Deaconesses: Mrs. Hilary Bowen and Mrs. Eleri Halliday (Treasurer).
Independent Examiner
The independent examiner for Tabernacle Baptist Church is currently Mr. Eryl Jones, B.Sc.; F.C.C.A.; C.T.A. 12 Station Terrace, Llanybydder, Carmarthenshire SA40 9XX
Bankers
HSBC PLC Middleton Street Llandrindod Wells Powys LD1 5EU
Organisation
The charity is administered by the trustees listed above. New trustees are appointed by resolution of the members of the charity in accordance with the constitution. They remain in office until their resignation, disqualification or until their term of office expires, in accordance with the church constitution.
Paid Trustees
Rev. Robert Thomas and Rev. Tom Baker (Joint Pastors until 14[th] March, 2024) Following the resignation of Rev. Baker, Rev. Thomas continued as the only paid trustee.
Staff
At the beginning of the year, the Church had in place a joint Pastorate. One of the Joint Pastors decided to resign his post on 14[th] March, 2024, as he no longer wished to work in the Church, and this ended the joint Pastorate. The remaining Pastor continued as the Church Pastor which re-instated the position prior to the introduction of a joint Pastorate on 23[rd] January, 2023. The Church intends to continue with its Assistant Pastor (in training) programme, and to make available the post of Intern to work in the Church but no appointments were made to these posts during the year.
Activities
Regular Meetings
The regular meetings on a Sunday continued throughout the year with a morning service at 10.30 am, preceded by a Prayer Meeting at 10.00 am, and an evening service at 6.00 pm. The Sunday School meets at the same time as the morning service, with the children joining the service at the start and then departing for their own programme including
their classes. The average attendance at Sunday services was 70 – 80 people of all ages, with around 10 children attending Sunday School. The live streaming of the Church services continued throughout the year and a number of people continued to watch the services from across the country.
Our Mid-week meeting is held on a Tuesday and comprises Prayer Meetings and Bible Studies, together with the occasional, usually monthly, Missionary Meeting.
Other weekly activities include Tab Tots (our Parent/Carer and Toddler Group), Junior Club (for children aged 4 to the end of primary school) and Youth Club (for young people of high school age). The twice-monthly Coffee, Cake and Chat sessions have grown in popularity while our bring and share Fellowship lunches continue to be held on the first Sunday of each month and remain as popular as ever.
The Church Membership on 1[st] January, 2024 amounted to 53 and during the year it decreased by 7 and increased by 4 so the total number of members by 31[st] December, 2024 amounted to 50. Although there is always an element of movement in Church membership as friends move in and out of the area, it is encouraging to report that our Church Membership has remained reasonably steady. The main ministry is provided by our Pastor but, during the year, we have been ministered to by one of our Church Deacons and, occasionally, by a visiting speaker.
Outreach Activities
A variety of different outreach activities have included a Harvest Supper, held in the Church and a Church Bonfire and Fireworks Evening which started on a local farm and then continued with refreshments and a meeting at a local community hall, close to the farm and our partner Church, the Pound Baptist Church. Other outreach activities comprised a series of Carol Services, including an outside Christmas Eve Carol Service; a Christmas Sunday Fellowship Lunch; the distribution throughout the town and surrounding area of the Church Calendar, which contains landscape photographs of the local area, taken by members and friends of the Church, and appropriate Bible Texts and embedded helpful thoughts; and use of the Gospel Tent at local shows as well as the distribution throughout the town of invitations to our events and activities.
Children’s and Youth Work
The young people’s work continued to have good numbers attending, with 20-40 adults and children at our ‘Tab Tots’ toddlers’ group, 30-35 primary school aged children at ‘Junior Club’ and 5 - 10 teenagers at ‘Tabernacle Youth Club’ on a weekly basis. A Holiday Bible Club was held in the first week of the school Easter Holidays when the theme was ‘Good News’, the same as last year. Many in the church helped and a pleasing number of children attended. The format, adopted in 2018, of holding 2 full days, with the provision of lunch, rather than 4 half days, was maintained and a good time was enjoyed by all.
Mission
On various occasions throughout the year, we hosted visits from representatives of Christian missionary societies who updated us on their activities. These meetings were held in the Church and, on occasions, were live streamed.
We have continued to support Christian missionary organizations and individual Christian workers in prayer and through financial support. Some of this support has been in the form of one-off gifts while others have been supported on a regular basis. During the year, specific gifts have been sent to support ministry in Ukraine, Peru, Philippines, Poland, India, Jordan, Turkey, Syria, Mongolia and Papua New Guinea.
Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals.
We have held a number of funeral services during this last year for members of the Church and members of the Community. We have had no weddings or baptisms in the Church this year.
Use of the Church Building.
In addition to our own services and activities, the Church building has been made available, in the past, to Christian organizations including ministers’ fraternals and mission organizations. However, no such use took place in 2024, partly because of a general reduction in face to face meetings and the increase of virtual activities.
Buildings and Facilities
Ongoing work has been undertaken on the structure and fabric of the building and the surrounding premises so as to maintain them in a safe condition and to ensure that they are fit for purpose. During the year, the lighting in the main sanctuary was changed to new units and this has resulted in a significant improvement to the meeting environment.
During the year, the Church completed its annual review of its Safeguarding arrangements. The Church continues to be a member of Thirtyone:eight, formerly the Churches Child Protection Advisory Service, and uses their service for DBS checks. It also uses their model documents to assist in reviews.
The Church also reviews its Health and Safety risk assessments on an annual basis and this process also ensures that on-going advice regarding use of hand sanitizers, originally received during the Covid-19 pandemic, is included in the Church weekly notice sheets.
Funding
Our funds are received mainly from the members and those attending our services. The trustees consider the financial position of the Charity to be satisfactory, and that sufficient
and appropriate reserves are held to safeguard the future operations of the Charity. Our reserves policy is to have 9 months expenditure in hand, or more if we think appropriate. We recognize that the current reserves exceed that amount as we are now seeking to employ an Assistant Pastor (in training). During the year, the Church Officers undertook and completed a further Financial Review using the Charity Commission questionnaire on ‘Internal Financial Controls for Charities’ and this was found to be a useful exercise for the Church. No adjustments to the Charity’s financial controls were deemed to be necessary on this occasion.
Financial Report – for the financial year ended 31[st] December 2024 This report is provided as a separate attachment.
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Kony]|CHARITY|COMMISSION|[CharityName|NC~=~i*CrzCST|
|FOR|ENGLAND|AND|WALES.||TABERNACLE|BAPTIST CHURCH,|LLANDRINDOD WELLS|1154127|
|||Receipts|and|payments|accounts|||CC16a|
|i|For|the|period|||"eriod|start|date|T|Period|end|date|
|icc|cnc gc|from|01/01/2024|31/12/2024|
|iSection|A|Receipts|and|payments|oo|
|/|/|Unrestricted|||||Resticted|//|Designated|Lf|sesaeanas|df|Last|
|||General|funds|
|ee:|as|||i re|issionaearojects|en|eS[||aeast|year|
|||a||:|tothe|nearest£|——|to the|nearest£|||{|tothe|nearest£|—|tothenearest£|tothe|nearest£|
|Ai|Receipts|||1|tt|iz|Lt|
|Donations|& Offerings|129,210|19,286|a)|148,496|143,145|
|Gift|Aid|Claims|15,190|3,798|a)|18,988|22,244|
|Premises|| ee)|
|MscSSSSSiFess|||at ee|||||sa|
|Sub|total|(Gross|income)|147,214|aosa])|170,298|167,988|
|i|Total|receipts|147,214|23,084|4|170,298|167,988|
|a|an|n|ia|—|=|=|
|RWT Wisteria Costs|(inclusive|of|pension,|42,596|40,541|
|Employer's|NI,|mileage,|book|allowance)|Z||if|
|TLB Malolstetial|Costs|(inclusive|of pension,|40,620|38,918|
|Employer's|NI,|mileage,|book|allowance)|z|;|
|Children's|Work|vere] {Tt|1,329|
|Bank|Charges|PCO TC|200|209|
|Building Rep|
|Fittings|&|Maint|726}2oa7] [TP[|[|2,047||[3,615]|eT)|
|CD|Recording|a)|ee|
|IT,|Wifi|& Web,|Licences|A)|a|2,038| [1.168||
|foes}|{oP|4,068]|1,050||
|Youth|Camp|Subsidies|TO|TTC‘|
|Kitchen|Supplies|
|ThityOne:Eight|(Safeguarding)&|Food|Poofa) POi a|4,000]6s|OC)|
|Ministry|Support|a) NN|A]|
|Project|expenditure|es|4,771|
|||Sub total|87,968) ||49,519|eel|137,487| ||178,462|
|i|Total|payments|87,968|Lae|137,487|178,462|
|(_Netofreceipts(payments)[|5,24|TS|32854|
|||A6 Cash funds|last year end|.|85,780|e204||17,190|103,174|113,648|
|||Cash funds|this year end|418,795|oe|||17,1901}|135,985|103,174|
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||Section B Statement ofassets||Section B Statement ofassets|assets and liabilities attheend ofthe|assets and liabilities attheend ofthe|assets and liabilities attheend ofthe|assets and liabilities attheend ofthe|assets and liabilities attheend ofthe|period|period||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|i||i|i
i|Unrestricted||||Restricted||||Designated|
|||i|||tonearest£|||||tonearest€||||— tonearest£|
||B1 Cashfunds||Cash AtBankand in Hand|||118,795]||||==||||17,190|
||||:
Totalcashfunds||}418,795,||||||||17,190||
|;
||||
|||
Unrestricted
funds|||||=|Restricted
funds||||Designated
Fund|
||B2 Othermonetaryassets||Outstandingvoucher||
RR|||||||||
||
||_s|:
Details||
| Fundtowhich
|
_asset belongs
|||||||Cost {onilonal)
P||
iz||Current value
(optional)|
||
/|ee|:
‘Details||
|
|
||Fundtowhich
|
|
asset belongs
iz||||Gost:(opdionali
e|||
i||Currentvalue
(optional)|
|'B4Assets retained forthe||Building at historical cost||Unrestricted||||112,990||||
|jonanity's ownuse||ee|||0|||||||||
|i||‘Details|||liability relates||||(optional)|7||(optional)|
|'B5 Liabilities||||||||||||
|Signed by oneortwo trustees on
i
‘
:
i
ignature
‘behalfof allthe trustees |
Signa|||ri
|
ie|F
Print||Name|||il
iG
i||Date of
approval|
|||Gilles,||Eleri|Halliday||||||2.4.25|
Page 2
:
Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of the Tabernacle Baptist Church, Llandrindod Wells
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Tabernacle Baptist Church, Llandrindod Wells (the Trust) for the year ended 31‘t December 2024.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity trustees of the Trust 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 Trust’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 examiners 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:
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e Accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the act; or
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e 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. i
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ER NES
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Date: Q2. Ql; IS
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B.Sc. ke CA-C FA. 12 Station Terrace Llanybydder Carms SA40 9XX
Chartered Certified Accountant / Chartered Tax Adviser
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||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Kony]|CHARITY|COMMISSION|[CharityName|NC~=~i*CrzCST|
|FOR|ENGLAND|AND|WALES.||TABERNACLE|BAPTIST CHURCH,|LLANDRINDOD WELLS|1154127|
|||Receipts|and|payments|accounts|||CC16a|
|i|For|the|period|||"eriod|start|date|T|Period|end|date|
|icc|cnc gc|from|01/01/2024|31/12/2024|
|iSection|A|Receipts|and|payments|oo|
|/|/|Unrestricted|||||Resticted|//|Designated|Lf|sesaeanas|df|Last|
|||General|funds|
|ee:|as|||i re|issionaearojects|en|eS[||aeast|year|
|||a||:|tothe|nearest£|——|to the|nearest£|||{|tothe|nearest£|—|tothenearest£|tothe|nearest£|
|Ai|Receipts|||1|tt|iz|Lt|
|Donations|& Offerings|129,210|19,286|a)|148,496|143,145|
|Gift|Aid|Claims|15,190|3,798|a)|18,988|22,244|
|Premises|| ee)|
|MscSSSSSiFess|||at ee|||||sa|
|Sub|total|(Gross|income)|147,214|aosa])|170,298|167,988|
|i|Total|receipts|147,214|23,084|4|170,298|167,988|
|a|an|n|ia|—|=|=|
|RWT Wisteria Costs|(inclusive|of|pension,|42,596|40,541|
|Employer's|NI,|mileage,|book|allowance)|Z||if|
|TLB Malolstetial|Costs|(inclusive|of pension,|40,620|38,918|
|Employer's|NI,|mileage,|book|allowance)|z|;|
|Children's|Work|vere] {Tt|1,329|
|Bank|Charges|PCO TC|200|209|
|Building Rep|
|Fittings|&|Maint|726}2oa7] [TP[|[|2,047||[3,615]|eT)|
|CD|Recording|a)|ee|
|IT,|Wifi|& Web,|Licences|A)|a|2,038| [1.168||
|foes}|{oP|4,068]|1,050||
|Youth|Camp|Subsidies|TO|TTC‘|
|Kitchen|Supplies|
|ThityOne:Eight|(Safeguarding)&|Food|Poofa) POi a|4,000]6s|OC)|
|Ministry|Support|a) NN|A]|
|Project|expenditure|es|4,771|
|||Sub total|87,968) ||49,519|eel|137,487| ||178,462|
|i|Total|payments|87,968|Lae|137,487|178,462|
|(_Netofreceipts(payments)[|5,24|TS|32854|
|||A6 Cash funds|last year end|.|85,780|e204||17,190|103,174|113,648|
|||Cash funds|this year end|418,795|oe|||17,1901}|135,985|103,174|
----- End of picture text -----
||Section B Statement ofassets||Section B Statement ofassets|assets and liabilities attheend ofthe|assets and liabilities attheend ofthe|assets and liabilities attheend ofthe|assets and liabilities attheend ofthe|assets and liabilities attheend ofthe|period|period||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|i||i|i
i|Unrestricted||||Restricted||||Designated|
|||i|||tonearest£|||||tonearest€||||— tonearest£|
||B1 Cashfunds||Cash AtBankand in Hand|||118,795]||||==||||17,190|
||||:
Totalcashfunds||}418,795,||||||||17,190||
|;
||||
|||
Unrestricted
funds|||||=|Restricted
funds||||Designated
Fund|
||B2 Othermonetaryassets||Outstandingvoucher||
RR|||||||||
||
||_s|:
Details||
| Fundtowhich
|
_asset belongs
|||||||Cost {onilonal)
P||
iz||Current value
(optional)|
||
/|ee|:
‘Details||
|
|
||Fundtowhich
|
|
asset belongs
iz||||Gost:(opdionali
e|||
i||Currentvalue
(optional)|
|'B4Assets retained forthe||Building at historical cost||Unrestricted||||112,990||||
|jonanity's ownuse||ee|||0|||||||||
|i||‘Details|||liability relates||||(optional)|7||(optional)|
|'B5 Liabilities||||||||||||
|Signed by oneortwo trustees on
i
‘
:
i
ignature
‘behalfof allthe trustees |
Signa|||ri
|
ie|F
Print||Name|||il
iG
i||Date of
approval|
|||Gilles,||Eleri|Halliday||||||2.4.25|
Page 2
:
Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of the Tabernacle Baptist Church, Llandrindod Wells
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Tabernacle Baptist Church, Llandrindod Wells (the Trust) for the year ended 31‘t December 2024.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity trustees of the Trust 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 Trust’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 examiners 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:
-
e Accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the act; or
-
e 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. i
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ER NES
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----- Start of picture text -----
Date: Q2. Ql; IS
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B.Sc. ke CA-C FA. 12 Station Terrace Llanybydder Carms SA40 9XX
Chartered Certified Accountant / Chartered Tax Adviser