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2021-08-31-accounts

Trustees’ Report

And

Financial Statements For the year ended 31[st] August 2021

Administrative Information

Minister: Rev Robin Selmes

Stewards:

Mr Paul Abel

Mr Mark Frost Treasurer: Mrs Carol Waldock Secretary: Allison Clarke Contact details:

Address: Gillingham Methodist Church

100 Third Avenue Gillingham Kent ME7 2LU Telephone: 01634 575139

e-mail address: church@gillinghammethodists.uk

Website: www.gillinghammethodists.uk

Banker:

CAF Bank Ltd 25, Kings Hill Ave West Malling Kent ME19 4JQ

External Auditor:

Keith Scudder

Trustees’ Report

Governance and Management

Gillingham Methodist Church (GMC, known as Third Ave Church & Community) is governed by the Methodist Church Act 1976, the Deed of Union and the Model Trust Deeds of the Methodist Church.

The purposes of the Methodist Church are and shall be deemed to have been since the date of union the advancement of:

The Church is one of a group of local churches with the North Kent Methodist Circuit. Circuits combine to form about 30 districts in Great Britain. Although there is some autonomy, all Methodist organisations in Great Britain are governed by statutes determined by the Methodist Conference and which are published in the Constitution, Practice and Discipline of the Methodist Church. Both Conference and Council consists of lay and clerical members.

Organisational Structure

  1. Overall control rests with the Methodist Conference

  2. The Connexional Office implements decisions made by Conference and is also responsible for the stationing of Ministers in individual Circuits.

  3. Connexional decisions are passed to the chair of the District and the appropriate Officers of the District for regional implementation.

  4. The District pass the control down to Circuit level for local implementation by the Superintendant Minister, Ministerial Staff and Circuit stewards, and authority is delegated to the circuit meeting for certain matters.

  5. The Circuit Meeting passes control down to the Church Councils for local implementation by the Minister, the Church Stewards and other officers, and authority is delegated to Church Councils acting as Managing Trustees.

  6. The Methodist Connexional year runs from 1 September to 31 August.

Charity Registration

GMC was registered as a charity (number 1155212) in January 2014.

Public Benefit

The Trustees confirm that, in setting objectives and planning our activities, the Church Council Meeting has complied with the duty under the Charities Act 2011, giving careful consideration to the Charity Commissions’ general guidance on public benefit.

Decision-making Process

During the year, the Church Council met three times via zoom to keep under review the life of the Church. Financial and Property reports were received and considered at each meeting.

Objectives and Activities

Our mission statement which was adopted by the Church Council in autumn 2012 is:

Sharing the love of Christ, stepping out in faith and serving our community.

Through:

Worship, discipleship and teaching- providing biblical teaching, nurturing spiritual growth and encouraging participative, expressive worship.

Reaching the community-working with and in the local community, serving others to make a real difference in Gillingham; encouraging equipping and supporting each other to exercise our faith where we live, work and relax.

Young people- building on our work with children and young people, helping them grow into confident and responsible adults and bringing more people into a relationship with God.

We seek to be:

We aim to do this through:

Trustees

Robin Selmes Paul Abel Mark Frost Carol Waldock Helen Young Steph Smith Jim Hancock Kirsty Bottiglieri John Amoah Bryan Clarke Lesterlyn Clarke Karen Willing Amos Dougan Earnest Forsom David EllisJohnson Sarah Johnson Albert Kwakye Sally Murphy Diana Smith

Review of Achievements 2020-21

Our site comprises the worship hall, community hall and two meeting rooms and footfall from the various users has grown through this year. Due to limited finances during the COVID 19 pandemic only essential maintenance took place, however our caretaker was able to freshen up most spaces uses paint previously purchased. The refurbishment of the Church Foyer is now complete and ready to be used by rental/Church groups when government regulations to manage the current COVID19 pandemic have been relaxed.

The Church reopened for worship on Easter Sunday and then weekly from Pentacostal Sunday on May 23[rd] . Risk assessments took place, as required by the Methodist Church, and a cleaning regime put in place as an adjunct to that normally undertaken by the caretaker. The Chinese Church (who use the building after the Third Ave congregation) were responsible for their own risk assessments and cleaning regime. To comply with government guidelines face coverings were worn by all and the Church set up so that social distancing could take place with ease. Recorded music was used and no singing took place.

The worship group have continued to record their singing and playing remotely, using the skills and talents of our group (and learnt new ones) to produce worship songs and videos to

date, as well as planning and producing several complete Worship Services, for the use of not only Third Avenue but also the Circuit, to live stream and utilise during and after the pandemic. Although the group obviously miss singing and playing together, we realise this is a valuable resource that reaches way beyond our church building. The group will begin to lead worship again in the church at the beginning of September 2021.

Our relationship with our Methodist Circuit continues promoting a deeper understanding of how our church 'fits' is being gained, such that our whole church seen as part of a bigger picture. The pandemic has invited us to view Church differently and the live streamed services on a Sunday morning available to the whole Circuit and taken by the Circuit Ministers in turn has certainly given a feel of inclusion within the Circuit, and also inclusion of those who may not normally be able to attend a church building on a Sunday morning. As part of an ongoing commitment to continue online worship, in conjunction with the circuit, we aim is to start a live stream from the Church on a Sunday to allow greater inclusion.

Our website https://gillinghammethodists.uk and facebook pages/groups are updated regularly.

We intend to continue with ‘hybrid meetings’ (a mix of face to face and zoom) to facilitate greater inclusion.

The building of teams has always been important, and it is known how much more can be achieved by teamwork than through individual endeavour.

As confidence returns as the pandemic decreases, we are working on rebuilding new teams for our activities and encouraging people to step forward to help create and reshape the vision of our church and its mission.

In June, Allison Clarke was appointed as church secretary.

Mission.

Our Charity of the Year on which we voted for during our AGM 2019 for one year, we have decided to extend this to three years due to the pandemic so Medway Street Angels remain our Charity. We continue to sponsor a child monthly via the Compassion organisation

Marriage and Relationship

A report on marriage and relationships, ‘God in Love Unites Us’, was received by the Conference in 2019 and the District Synods were asked to consider the provisional resolutions and report back to the 2021 Conference. The Conference received a report on the results of the Synod votes (which showed that 29 out of the 30 Synods confirmed support for the provisional resolutions) and on the range of views expressed in the Synods and by ecumenical and overseas partners. The Conference confirmed provisional resolutions on the principles or qualities of good relating, understanding of cohabitation and same sex marriages conducted on Methodist premises or by Methodist office-holders. A vote will take place in each church to decide whether they wish to conduct same sex marriages, we hope at Third Avenue this will take place later in the Autumn.

Youth Ministry Report by Youth Pastor Helen Young

This has been a year of challenges, but also of hope and discovering new ways of doing youth work. Doing youth work online has become the norm over the last year and we have discovered the benefits of this. As we move ahead, we look forward to mixing our youth work to be that of online and in person. Videos were sent weekly to those of Sunday school age and also posted on the Third Ave facebook page.

Safeguarding

The church follows the Connexional policy on safeguarding as detailed in Creating Safer Space, ensuring adoption of safe practice amongst children and vulnerable adults. Safeguarding remains important and our church continues to review this area to ensure we protect individuals and trustees alike in the compliance and execution of policies. Helen Young, Youth Pastor has worked closely with the safeguarding officer on a ‘Social Media Policy’ for the Church, which has now been ratified by Church Council.

Property and Users

Gillingham Methodist continues to employ a caretaker on a part time basis. From April 2021 we applied for furlough and he worked 8 hours a week from April but topped up his wages to ensure he received his normal monthly salary. His hours were increased to 18 hours/week from July 2021.

The Property and Finance Team led by the Rev Robin Selmes consisting of Paul Abel and Jim Hancock (Property Stewards), Carol Waldock (Treasurer), Roy Adams (caretaker) and Albert Kwakye (Bookings Manager), continues to meet quarterly using zoom.

The site comprises the worship hall, community hall and two meeting rooms and footfall from the various users has grown through this year. The site is also another year older and attention has been made to make efficient use of time & financial resources by the property and finance team to ensure our buildings are fit for purpose and compliant. The Church continues to rent the Wesley Rooms at the rear of the main Church building to the Family Trust. The Main Hall and Blue Room continues to be rented by Kiddiwinks pre-school in term time. A Dance School rents the Main Hall on a Saturday morning, Monday evening and Wednesday afternoon. The Blue Room is used for hire by the NCT, NRAS, Pulse First Aid on a adhoc basis. The properties were closed to comply with the governments’ regulations for managing the COVID19 pandemic. In April, after risk assessments complying with the Early Years Alliance, Kiddiwinks reopened.

The past year has been quite a challenge for obvious reasons, but the pandemic has given us opportunity to examine and refocus. Out of this process we have redoubled our environmental awareness and are taking a lead in the establishment of a wildflower garden

and use of indigenous tree planting. We are also looking at greater recycling on site and use of green cleaning products & energy tariff and also liaising with other environmental groups such as Eco-Church and Eco-Hub and have been led & inspired in recent sermons and teachings.

Trustees Expenses 2020-21

None

Trustees Responsibilities

The Trustees are required to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the Church’s activities during the year and its financial position at the end of the year. In preparing these financial statements the Trustees have:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the position of the Church and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the law. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the church and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Trustees have the right to advise the Independent Examiner of any concerns; none has done so and the Church Council meeting therefore concludes that there are no issues.

Financial Review

The Church prepares payment and receipt accounts. The Church budget is prepared by anticipating the expenditure for the forthcoming year-around 50% of expenditure relates to the Circuit Assessment which is fixed some months in advance of the new year; other expenditure is generally set on a historic cost basis, using actual spend in previous years as a predictor of future needs. In this financial year we were aware that all income would be decreased with both rental and offerings/tithes income have been greatly reduced during 2020-21 due to the pandemic. Weekly emails have gone to Church members and adherants explaining the financial situation and encouraging them to continue their giving if at all possible.

The Circuit Assessment for 2020-21 was £54,280. This is a far lower assessment than in previous years. Initially the Circuit requested £64,000 which we knew we would not be able to meet so they graciously accepted the £54,280 we offered.

Reserves Policy

This policy draws on the guidelines written by the Methodist Church to assist Church Councils as trustee bodies with the preparation of their reserves policy; to assist them in managing their reserves well; and to ensure that the reserves benefit the mission of the church as part of the wider Connexion.

What are Reserves?

A reserve is an amount of money that is part of a church’s unrestricted funds that is freely available to the church for its general purposes once provision has been made for its other commitments. Part of a reserve may be set aside for a specific purpose, which sets out what a church intends to do with the money that it has designated for this purpose.

Why should we hold Reserves?

Having a reserves policy is necessary because it highlights good planning of resources, time management, and consideration of the impact of risks on a church’s existing commitments. The practicalities of having a reserves policy in place ensure that the unforeseen is considered as part of the trustees’ mission and developmental strategy.

Legal Basis for Holding Reserves

All local Methodist churches, circuits and districts are individual charities and as such are subject to charity law. There is no specific legal rule which states what proportion of funds may or should be held as a reserve. Trustees are under a general legal duty to apply charitable funds within a reasonable time of receiving them. If reserves are held without reasonable justification the trustees may be in breach of trust.

Trustees Annual Report

The Charities SORP requires trustees to include a statement in their annual report about the charity’s reserves policy, the level of reserves held and the reasons for this. Reserves Policy Planning Process

The reserves policy should include, but is not limited to:

The Charity Commission states that holding up to six months expenditure for reserves is appropriate.

Background:

The Church seeks to use its financial resources wisely and to predict future needs.

The Reserves Policy deals with:

Other funds held which are NOT required to be included in our reserves are:

Our Reserves

In 2017 Church Council agreed that £25,000 only will be held in the reserve fund to cover the costs. In November 2019, this rose by £5,000 to £30,000. During the COVID 19 pandemic of 2020 reserves were used to ensure there were enough funds to cover the youth worker and to cover extra costs required to complete the Foyer project (there were not enough in this fund to cover it).At 31[st] December, 2020 £21,500 was in the Reserves Fund. This decreased to £11,500 by 31[st] August 2021 as £11,500 was transferred to the general fund in the summer of 2021. Our aim is to achieve £50,000 in our Reserves Fund ( 6 months expenditure on 2019-20 figures). As of 31[st] August, 2021, £29,145.35 was held in the general fund,

Financial Recovery Plan

The aim of this plan is to build up the reserves fund (RF). Pre-pandemic it was set at £30,000, currently it is £11,500. The reserves policy written in December 2020 and submitted to the circuit suggests the reserves fund should sit at £50,000

The ability to build up the reserves fund is dependent on the monies in the general fund (GF).

Pre-pandemic the GF averaged at £20,000

Pre-pandemic: monthly income approx £5-7,000; monthly expenditure £3-5,000. This allowed some flexibility in spending.

The Circuit Assessment of £54,000 is paid quarterly to the Circuit from the GF: in September, December, March & June (£13,500/quarter).

I suggest that funds are transferred from the GF to the Reserves quarterly, after the Assessment has been paid if the GF is in excess of £25,000

Financing the Youth Pastor

The Youth Pastor remains an employee of the North Kent Methodist Circuit. The agreed contribution of £6,000 was made to the Circuit from Third Ave Church. There is one and a half years left of this five year post.

Approvals

The Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements were approved by the Church Council meeting, held on

Rev Robin Selmes Carol Waldock Minister Treasurer

CHURCH RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS

THE METHODIST CHURCH

STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS

Gillingham Methodist Church

Church

FOR THE YEAR ENDED

31 August 2021

Circuit
North Kent		 Circuit no 36/21
Registered Charity - Charity Registration number
1155212

If not a registered charity Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs Gift Aid number

(The HMRC number is equivalent to a registered charity number in terms of evidence of charitable status and may be used to give to donors or grant funders wishing to see evidence of the organisation's charitable status. Methodist charities in England and Wales that are not registered charities are excepted from registration under Statutory Instrument 2014 No.242)

Minister: Rev Robin Selmes Church Stewards:

Paul Abel Mark Frost

Treasurer:

Carol Waldock

Church R and P 2015.xls

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Gillingham Methodist Church Church

ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

SECTION A Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds		 Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds		 Totals this
year		 Totals this
year		 Totals last
year		 Totals last
year
£ £ £ £
a1 RECEIPTS Note
a2 Offerings and Tax recovered 43,754 1,835 45,589 49,646
a3 Bank and CFB interest and
Investment income		 45 45 370
a4 Lettings 28,807 28,807 25,009
a5 Other receipts 10,331 1,123 11,454 16,283
a6 TOTAL RECEIPTS 82,937 2,958 **85,895 ** (a7) 91,308
SECTION B 54,280
7,116
5,437
12,787
16,557
96,177 (b9)
b1 PAYMENTS
b2 Circuit Assessment or Share 54,280 54,280 62,034
b3 Donations 336 6,780 7,116 6,315
b4 Repairs and Maintenance 4,785 652 5,437 23,110
b5 Utilities (Insurances, water
charges,heating& lighting)		 12,787 12,787 13,323
b6
b7 Otherpayments 16,557 16,557
**96,177 **		 18,856
b8 TOTAL PAYMENTS 88,745 7,432 (b9) 123,638
(10,282)
SECTION C
c1 NET RECEIPTS/PAYMENTS
FOR THE YEAR
(a6-b8)		 (5,808) (4,474) (10,282)
c2 Total funds brought forward from
last year		 70,707 **70,707 ** (c6) 103,037
60,425
c3 (c1+c2)
Sub total		 64,899 (4,474) 60,425
c4 Transfers and adjustments (24,252) 24,252 (c7)
c5 TOTAL FUNDS AT END OF YEAR
(c3+c4)		 40,647 19,778 **60,425 ** (c8) 70,707 (c6)
SECTION D
d £
FOR INFORMATION ONLY: MONEY RECEIVED AND PASSED ON TO EXTERNAL ORGANISATIONS
(these amounts are not to be included in total receipts/payments figures above)		 £
d1 Balance brought forward from last year
d2 Offerings/Gifts-received for external organisations 310 307
d3 Offerings/Gifts -passed to external organisations 310 307
d4 BALANCE STILL TO BE PAID (d1+d2-d3)

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Church R and P 2015.xls

Gillingham Methodist Church

Church

SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH COUNCIL

SECTION E Please follow the Guidance Notes to complete this page Summary of the Church accounts for the year ended 31 August 2021 and Internal Organisations reporting to the Church Council/Church Meeting. Note that the funds of an Internal Organisation would normally be Restricted funds unless it could be clearly shown that they could be used for any Methodist purpose. This section must be completed to arrive at the gross income and expenditure totals of the Church. If gross income exceeds the Accruals threshold, then the Accruals method of accounting AND A DIFFERENT FORM must be used to report the accounts (see Methodist website). Please refer to the guidance notes regarding transfers between the District and connected District Organisations.

Receipts Payments Net Receipts/
Payments		 Adjustments Opening
balances		 Closing balances
1,000 603 397 7,743 8,140
1,653 1,653
85 82 3 221 224
1,085 685 400 9,617 (e11) 10,017 (e12)
**85,895 ** (a7) **96,177 ** (10,282) (c7) **70,707 ** (c6) 60,425 (c8)
86,980 96,862 (9,882) 80,324 (x) 70,442 (y)
TOTAL RECEIPTS

SECTION F

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

SECTION F
STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
CHURCH - CASH FUNDS HELD at 31 August 2021
Central Finance Board
Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes
Other funds
Total funds held by Internal Organisations (the closing
balance total from above) (e12)
Bank Deposit Account
SUB TOTAL - Church accounts
TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH
Cash in hand
Bank Current Account		 OPENING
BALANCES
39,174
31,533
70,707
(c6)
9,617 (e11)
80,324
(x)		 CLOSING
BALANCES
f1 Cash in hand
f2 Bank Current Account 31,126
f3 Bank Deposit Account
f4 Central Finance Board 29,299
f5 Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes
f6 Other funds
f7 SUB TOTAL - Church accounts 60,425 (c8)
f8 Total funds held by Internal Organisations (the closing
balance total from above) (e12)		 10,017 (e12)
f9 TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH 70,442 (y)
SECTION G
OTHER ASSETS and LIABILITIES
Other Assets
Other Liabilities
Investments (include Endowments)
Land & Buildings(see notes re Insurance value)
Loan(s)- show amount outstandingatyear end		 At
1 September 2020		 At
31 August 2021
g1 Investments (include Endowments)
g2 Land & Buildings(see notes re Insurance value)
g3 Other Assets
g4 Loan(s)- show amount outstandingatyear end
g5 Other Liabilities

f4 Include only Funds held at the Central Finance Board

f5 Include only Funds held at Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes

g1 Include any other investments (not the cash element of TMCP trusts accounts this is included in line f5

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2015 Church R and P.xls

Name of Church …………… Gillingham Methodist Church

Declarations and Scrutiny

I confirm that these Receipt and Payment based accounts for the year to 31 August 2021 have been prepared from the records of the Church and that they include all funds under the control of the Church trustees.

Signature of treasurer ……………………………………………………… Date……………………..

Name and address of treasurer ………Carol Waldock

…………………………………22, Glebe Road, Gillingham, Kent

ME7 2HU

Presentation to the Church trustees

I confirm that the annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 August 2021 were/will be* presented to the meeting of the Church trustees held on ……………..

Signature of the Chair of the meeting ……………………………………………………………………

Name of the Chair of the meeting …………………………………………… Date ……………………

Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of the

Gillingham Methodist Church

Charity Number … 1155212

Responsibilities and basis of report

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Gillingham Methodist Church for the year ended 31 August 2021. As the Church’s trustees, 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 Church’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 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.

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2015 church R and P.xls

Name of Church Gillingham Methodist Church Independent Examlner's Statement I have completed my examination. I confirm Ihat no material matters have Come to my attention in connection with the examination (other Ihan that disdosed below.) which give me cause lo believe that in. any material respe￿.. the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Acl.. or the accounts do not a¢cord with the accounting records. Ithe [the I have no concems and have come across no other mallers in conneclion 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 havelhave not. obtained independent verificalion of all investments with the Trustees for Melhodist Church Purposes or held in other trusts. bank balances and funds at the Central Finance Board of the Methodisl Church which are individually in excess of £10,01)O (ten Ihousand pounds) at the balance sheet dale. Signature of independent examiner Name of independent examiner Keith Scudder Relevant professional qualification of independenl examiner ICB Address-. 42 Frobisher Way. Gravesend, Kent Post Code: DA12 4RA Date: 18th November 2021 delete or circle as appropriate Sep-20 201$ thuith R 8nd P xls 5015