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2025-08-31-accounts

Trustees’ Report And

Financial Statements For the year ended 31[st] August 2025

Administrative Information

Minister: Rev Robin Selmes

Stewards:

Mr Kevan Day Mr Mark Frost Mr Sam Sackeyfio Mrs Karen Willing 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 within 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 four times via hybrid (zoom/face to face) to keep under review the life of the Church. The AGM was held in the heart of the Sunday service on Sunday 18[th] May, with the theme of ‘Worship and Pastoral care.’ This was the fourth year of holding the AGM, within the service with the aim of allowing more members/congregation to participate. A questionnaire was given out during the service asking for everyone’s thoughts and ideas on the theme. Financial and Property reports were received and considered at the 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.’

We seek to be:

We aim to do this through:

Trustees

Sam Sackeyfio Kirstie Bottiglieri (Safeguarding Lead)

Allison Clarke Bryan Clarke Lily Dada Amos Doughan James Hancock Sarah Johnson Robert Simon Lynn Moon. Sally Murphy Diana Smith. Carol Waldock Karen Willing Manny Amoah David Marshall Mark Frost

Review of Achievements 2024-2025

The ‘Prayer & Praise’ service continues on the fourth Wednesday of the month beginning at 11am and ending with coffee and chat in the Foyer. This is designed as a more traditional reflective service. ‘Tea at 2’ also continues the second Wednesday of each month, proving great enjoyment for those attending.

In June the Church held its third Summer Fair. This was an opportunity for the community groups who use our buildings to be involved. It proved incredibly successful, not only with people having a great time but also raising a good sum of money in support of the Church.

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. With District and Circuit assistance we have upgraded the audiovisual and wifi equipment which allowed occasional live streaming of services.

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

The building of teams has always been important, and it is known how much more can be achieved by teamwork than through individual endeavour. ‘Hybrid meetings’ (a mix of face to face and zoom) have continued to facilitate greater inclusion. Teams include:

We are still very short of volunteers to be part of these teams and ongoing work to grow these teams continues.

A monthly prayer meeting before the Sunday service has been well attended.

Mission.

Our Charity of the Year for the year has been ‘Carer’s First’. We continue to sponsor a child monthly via the Compassion organisation.

Youth Ministry Report

Our part time Youth Pastor, Karen Willing completed her two year contract on 30[th] September. This post will not be replaced. Over the summer, two people were identified to take over the Sunday Squads; Karen will continue to volunteer at the fortnightly youth group. The more streamlined teaching/sessions in the Sunday Squads, using Urban Saints Energize teaching materials, became very successful with all Sunday school helpers being able to access the material before the Sunday sessions, thus feeling more involved and prepared.

A ‘Holiday Club’ took place for four mornings at the end of July with the theme of ‘Christmas’. Forty-eight children and a large team of helpers organised and took part in games, craft, cooking, music, storytelling and so much more. This again, was a massive success, with the majority of the children coming from the community.

The Christingle was held on 24[th] December and run by Karen. This is an event that always attracts large number of families from the community groups who use our halls.

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. Our safeguarding lead is Kirstie Bottliglieri.

Property and Users

The Property and Finance Team led by the Rev Robin Selmes consisting of Jim Hancock (Procurement steward), Kevan Day (Property Steward rejoined Aptil,2025) Carol Waldock (Treasurer), Albert Kwakye (Bookings Manager) and Colin Ball (Finance Steward) continues to meet quarterly using a hybrid format (zoom/face to face). Our cleaning post vacancy was advertised in August, 2024, and two people job sharing were appointed at the end of September. Both Trudy Christian and Esther Murphy were employed for 6 hours/week.

The site comprises the church (auditorium), foyer, Prayer room and office space, large community hall and two meeting rooms and the separate Wesley Rooms. 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.

As the Family Trust left the Wesley Rooms empty, we were fortunate that a church member Daniel Lambouzi began to rent them as a base for his business ‘Known Events,’ including a drumming club and Fencing club.

The Main Hall and Blue Room continue 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. Girl Guiding use the halls on a Thursday evening. The Blue room and the Foyer are used for hire by the Trefoil Guild, NRAS, a Stroke Group and a new group the Women’s Institute. St Paul’s Drama Group continues to rehearse in the halls and have productions two or three times a year.

We continue to host the Chinese Methodist Church on a Sunday afternoon and for various groups during the week.

A new boiler was installed in the Community halls, replacing a very ancient boiler installed early in the 2000’s. The cost was made up of the Abel gift, a small gift from Medway Council the residue of the Foyer Fund and our Reserves Fund.

In the early spring, the old photocopier that had been gifted to us many years ago, stopped working. After many discussions it was decided that the Church would lease a photocopier for £386/quarter, with copies paid on top. This would enable our quarterly magazine, ‘The New Messenger’ to be printed at a suitably professional standard.

Trustees Expenses 2024-5

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. Over 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.

Tithes and offerings exceeded the anticipate budget by £3,000. Weekly emails continue to go to Church members and adherents updating them on the financial situation and encouraging them to continue their giving if possible

The contactless card machine that had been was installed in the Church Foyer during 2022 continues to be used frequently.

All renters/users were advised during spring of 2025, that their rental costs would increase by the CPI at that time, with the changes effective from 1[st] September 2025.

The Circuit Assessment for 2024-5 was £60,027. As of 31[st] August 2025, there was £32,549 in the general fund.

Reserves Policy

This Reserves policy covers the period 1[st] September, 2025 to 31[st] December 2026 as requested by the North Kent Methodist Circuit.

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 advised. However, with the limited funds given to the Church and the amount of work needed to maintain our old buildings Church Council made the decision that around £12,000 should be held in the reserves fund.

At a meeting of the Finance & Property Committee in October,2025, the church treasurer aired concerns that this amount would not even cover one quarter of Circuit Assessment (£14,256.25), let alone ensure payment to the cleaning staff. As of 1[st] October,2025 £23,667 was held in the general fund. It was decided that £3,000 would be transferred to the reserves fund immediately. This would at least, cover one months Circuit Assessment. This will be reviewed quarterly by Church Council. The Reserves Policy deals with:

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

The Circuit Assessment of £60,027 was paid quarterly to the Circuit from the GF: in September, December, March & June.

Approvals

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

Rev Robin Selmes Carol Waldock Minister Treasurer