WRBC Treasurer Walsworth Rd Hitchin Herts SG4 9SP
ANNUAL REPORT & ACCOUNTS 2023
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ANNUAL REPORT - WALSWORTH ROAD BAPTIST CHURCH
This is a summary of some of the activities which took place during the year, with a particular focus on events which demonstrate our public benefit as a registered charity:
Walsworth Road Baptist Church (WRBC) is a friendly and welcoming church which celebrated its 150[th] anniversary in 2019. The church invites the whole community to worship God with us. There are regular Sunday services each week and a number of events, activities and groups to appeal to people of all ages. Throughout the year there was a Zoom broadcast of our services for those unable to attend in person. Our premises are used regularly for weddings, infant dedications, blessings and funerals.
WRBC employs a part-time youth worker and runs a youth club for young people in years 6 to 11 on Sunday evenings. In 2023 we once again ran our popular Holiday Club in August.
WRBC is the home of the 3[rd] Hitchin Scout and 9[th] Hitchin Guiding groups, playing a part in the lives of over 150 young people across six ‘sections.’
WRBC aims to provide pastoral care for the wider community around the church and employs a church worker to help our full-time pastor with this task. We organised regular prayers for peace in Ukraine and in the Holy Land. We continued to support Ukrainians living and arriving in the area. A Saturday morning coffee drop in was expanded to support local homeless and lonely folk. We run a group on Monday afternoons specifically focussed on the mental well- being needs in our community. In 2023 this became part of our response to the Warm Spaces initiative responding to the cost -of- living crisis. We also offer a warm breakfast on Sunday mornings for families and others. Through our twinning arrangement with a Baptist church in Israel we were able to offer relief support
The church maintains its Victorian and Edwardian buildings and offers them to a wide range of local groups including an exercise class, a toddler group, a recorder group, a camera club, a local choir and a local residents’ group. We were pleased to welcome back concerts from the North Herts Guild of Singers, The Orpheus Choir and the Stotfold Christian Choir.
We ran a series of well attended events for the local community including a Pancake Party in Lent, Gingerbread decoration at Christmas and a Barn Dance to celebrate the Coronation of HM King Charles III.
We continue to have close links with two local charities, the Hitchin Churches Schools Worker Trust (PHASE) and Churches Together in Hitchin.
WRBC continued to run its annual Shoe Box Project in collaboration with local schools, delivering a substantial number of shoe boxes for the charity Link to Hope to distribute abroad at Christmas time.
The church collects funds for other charities who give aid to people both in the UK and abroad. See note 4c for full details
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Accounts 2023 v1.1xlsx.xlsx
Printed 25/06/2024
1a Receipts & Payments
January - December 2023
| Income Building Use Mission Ad Hoc Income Offering Other Income Traidcraft I&E Total Income Expenses Adminstration Church Groups & Activities Church Upkeep Manse Ministry & Payroll Ministry Expenses Mission Ad Hoc Expenditure Mission Regular Support Utilities Total Expenses Net Operating Income Net Income Change in value of Stock Net Profit/Deficit |
Designated Restricted Unrestricted TOTAL 2023 Previous Year |
Designated Restricted Unrestricted TOTAL 2023 Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 7,124.00 7,124 £ 8,841 3,672.59 3,673 £ 2,664 70,062.08 70,062 £ 69,897 20,229.57 20,230 £ 19,347 750.34 750 £ 155 |
||
| £ 0.00 £ 0.00 £ 101,838.58 101,839£ 100,903 |
||
| 4,234.04 4,234 £ 4,266 128.46 3,822.53 3,951 £ 3,208 18,824.18 18,824 £ 14,364 18,181.61 18,182 £ 8,769 61,204.90 61,205 £ 54,695 5,261.87 5,262 £ 1,951 2,852.04 2,852 £ 3,472 591.32 7,808.68 8,400 £ 9,450 9,061.90 9,062 £ 6,937 |
||
| £ 0.00 £ 719.78 £ 131,251.75 131,972£ 107,112 |
||
| £ 0.00 -£ 719.78 -£ 29,413.17 -30,133 -£ 6,209 £ 0.00 -£ 719.78 -£ 29,413.17 -30,133-£ 6,209 -30,133-£ 6,209 |
||
| -30,133-£ 6,209 |
| Transfers between Funds Christmas Tree Twinning Link to Hope Lezhe Flower Fund Pastoral Gifts Youth Worker Total Funds Last Year End Total Funds This Year End Total Change in Funds |
Designated Restricted Unrestricted |
£ 133,986 £ 103,853 |
|---|---|---|
| £ - -£ 591 £ - £ - -£ 128 £ - |
||
| -£ 30,133 | ||
| 0 £ |
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Accounts 2023 v1.1xlsx.xlsx
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1b. Notes to the Receipts and Payments Statement
-
1 Building Use describes income from a wide range of people and organisations who use the premises, primarily the Church Hall. This was of course heavily reduced over the pandemic.
-
3 Mission Ad Hoc Income includes gifts received by the Church with the intention that those gifts are forwarded to other charities. The main charities supported by WRBC under this heading are BMS and Link to Hope; plus, each year, we hold a Christmas Tree Appeal for charity.
-
4 The Offering includes monies received through Monthly giving (mainly Standing Orders), Weekly giving (through an envelopes giving scheme), and any other gifts received via the website or in cash
-
5 Other Income includes monies received from the Hitchin Youth Trust (on an annual basis as part of an access agreement), Gift Aid reclaimed on donations and legacies or one-off donations.
-
6 Traidcraft income is derived from a stall run by volunteers which sells ethically-sourced products from the Traidcraft organisation. This scheme is intended to cover its costs & to make a small profit. The figures quoted include items used by the church which are tracked separately via a receipts system and are entered into the software.
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7 Administration costs include a wide range of expenses including licences, subscriptions and conference costs, as well as straightforward administration costs such as paper, ink, posters, etc.
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8 Church Groups and Activities includes expenses for Youth Work as well as catering & kitchen costs.
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9 Church Upkeep includes services costs needed to maintain the church buildings such as PAT testing, boiler servicing, etc; equipment costs to replace old or damaged items, cleaning costs and insurance costs.
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10 WRBC owns a Manse which is used to house our Minister and his family. Manse costs include council tax, water rates, heating, lighting, etc. Some of these costs are paid directly by the church, others are paid by the Minister and an agreed proportion claimed back through the Minster's Expenses system.
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11 Ministry and payroll costs are the costs to the church of employing a Minister including stipend, employer's National Insurance, employer's pension contribution, etc, and the costs of employing a part time youth worker, a part time church worker with a special emphasis on pastoral care and outreach, and a cleaner, who was the only member of staff on furlough when the building was closed.
-
12 Ministry Expenses are split into two areas - expenses claimed by employees in connection with their duties (such as books, mileage, pastoral, etc) and external expenses associated with running services (fees for visiting preachers, organists, etc).
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13 Mission Ad Hoc Expenditure is directly linked to item 2, and is the distribution of gifts received by the Church for other charities.
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14 Mission Regular Support includes monies paid on a regular basis to organisations with which WRBC is linked such as the Baptist Missionary Society (BMS), the Central Baptist Association (CBA), PHASE Schools Worker, and via the Baptist Friends of Israel, to our twinned church in Tu'raan, Israel.
-
15 Utilities comprises the costs of gas, electricity, water, etc consumed by the church.
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16 Restricted Income is a term defined by the Charity Commission to describe money which has been given for a specific purpose and so cannot be used for a different purpose. So the WRBC accounts have to split out our Receipts and Payments into Unrestricted and Restricted monies.
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Accounts 2023 v1.1xlsx.xlsx
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1c. Analysis of Fund Movements for the Year
| Date Memo Fund Sub-Categories Christmas Tree Opening balance Receipts during the year Payments during the year Closing balance General Opening balance Receipts during the year Payments during the year Closing balance Operation Agri Opening balance Receipts during the year Payments during the year Closing balance Twinning Opening balance Receipts during the year Payments during the year Closing balance |
£ £ £ |
Amount - - - - - - - - - 591.32 591.32 - |
Date Memo Designated - Flower Fund Opening balance Receipts during the year Payments during the year Closing balance Restricted - Youth Worker Opening balance Receipts during the year Payments during the year Closing balance Designated - Reserves Opening balance Receipts during the year Payments during the year Closing balance Restricted - Justice Fund Opening balance Receipts during the year Payments during the year Closing balance |
Amount 128 £ 128 -£ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ | - £ |
|||
| £ £ |
6,000.00 £ |
|||
| £ | 6,000.00 £ |
|||
| £ | 35,000.00 £ - £ - £ |
|||
| £ | 35,000.00 £ |
|||
| £ -£ |
7,185.00 £ |
|||
| £ | 7,185 £ |
|||
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2. Statement of Assets & Liabilities at 31st. December, 2023 20
| . 20 |
. , |
|---|---|
| Cash at bank and in hand Baptist Union Deposit Account Barclays CAF Bank Cash Account HSBC Total Cash at bank and in hand Current Assets Equipment Investments - Other Stock Undeposited funds Total Current Assets Net current assets Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Current Liabilities Payroll Liabilities VAT Liability Prepayments Total Current Liabilities Total Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Net current assets (liabilities) Total assets less current liabilities Total net assets (liabilities) Capital and Reserves Funds Designated BMS Birthday Christmas Tree Flower Fund General Reserve Mission Ad Hoc Gifts Fund Pastoral Gifts Twinning Total Funds Designated Funds Restricted Justice Youth Worker Total Funds Restricted Unrestricted funds brought forward Net movement in unrestricted funds Total Capital and Reserves Balances at Start of year Total Receipts Total Payments Balancing item Balances at End of year |
As of Dec 31, 2023 Previous Year |
| 37,035.25 35,664.72 5,348.44 3,678.71 0.00 0.00 55,864.90 87,173.70 |
|
| £ 98,248.59 126,517.13 0.00 0.00 5,604.00 7,219.11 249.30 0.00 0.00 |
|
| 5,604.00 7,468.41 |
|
| 103,852.59 133,985.54 |
|
| 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 |
|
| £ 0.00 0.00 |
|
| £ 0.00 0.00 |
|
| £ 103,852.59 133,985.54 |
|
| £ 103,852.59 133,985.54 |
|
| £ 103,852.59 133,985.54 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 128.46 35,000.00 35,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 591.32 |
|
| £ 35,000.00 35,719.78 7,185.00 7,185.00 6,000.00 6,000.00 £ 13,185.00 13,185.00 85,080.76 94,959.46 -29,413.17 -9,878.70 |
|
| 103,852.59 133,985.54 |
|
| 133,986 101,839 -131,972 |
|
| £ 103,853 |
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Accounts 2023 v1.1xlsx.xlsx
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4. Notes to the Financial Statements
4a Basis of Accounts
These accounts have been prepared on a ‘receipts and payments’ basis as described in the Charity Commission document CC16 and accord with S.42(3) Charities Act 1993. The format of these accounts is further based on the recommendations produced by the Association of Church Accountants and Treasurers (ACAT) and the Baptist Union.
4b Incoming Resources - Charitable activities
Income from donations and other voluntary income are recognised on a received basis. The charity has not given any financial consideration for voluntary help received during the year, and is not able to quantify such assistance.
4c Grant making policy
Grants, gifts and donations were made to various charities in the furtherance of the church's objectives. Monies received for specific causes are held in a restricted fund, pending remittance of monies to the appropriate beneficiary. The charity provides funds each year to support BMS World Mission, the Central Baptist Association Home Mission Fund, Churches Together in Hitchin, our twinned church in Turaan (via Baptist Twinning in Israel, a UK charity) and the Hitchin Schools Worker project.
4d Pension costs
The Church is an employer participating in a pension scheme known as the Baptist Ministers' Pension Fund ('the Ministers' Fund'). The Minister(s) are eligible to join the Fund, which is a multi-employer defined benefit scheme, which is funded and not contracted out of the state scheme.
The main benefit provided by the Ministers' Fund is a pension of one eightieth of final Minimum Pensionable Income together with additional pension in respect of premiums paid on Pensionable Income in excess of the Minimum Pensionable Income.
The profit and loss charge for the period represents the employer contribution payable.
4e Investments
Investments are quoted under the Statement of Assets and Liabilities at the market value on the date these investments were donated to the church. All are in LSE quoted funds. It is intended to revalue these investments every 5 years, the next revaluation being in 2025. Income from investments is accounted for when receivable.
4f Fund accounting
Funds held by the charity are classified as :-
Unrestricted general funds - these are funds which can be used in accordance with the charitable objects at the discretion of the trustees;
Designated funds - these are funds set aside by the trustees out of unrestricted general funds for specific purposes. In order to simply these statements this category will be discontinued from 2022
Restricted funds - these are funds that can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Expenditure which meets these criteria is charged to the funds.
4g Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities
Charity law requires the Trustees (Deacons) to prepare financial statements that give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity at the end of the financial year. In doing so the trustees are required to:
i) Select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently;
ii) Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
iii) State whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
iv) Prepare the financial statements on the ongoing concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
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The Deacons are responsible as trustees for maintaining proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enables them to ensure that financial statements comply with charity law. The Deacons are also responsible for safe guarding the assets of the Church and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
4h Property Assets Retained for the Charity's Own Use
The church is the beneficial owner (subject to the relevant trusts) of the following assets, the legal title to which is held by the church’s custodian trustee [the Baptist Union Corporation Ltd]:
Walsworth Road Baptist Church, Walsworth Road, Hitchin, SG4 9SP
The Manse, 13 Ninesprings Way, Hitchin, SG4 9NQ
4i Reserves Policy
The Reserves Policy was last reviewed in 2018 where it was agreed that a figure of £35,000 would be seen as a minimum amount and this is treated as a designated fund within the balance sheet.
4j Related Charities
The custodian Trustee of the church is the Baptist Union Corporation Limited which is charity number 249635, and which is controlled by the Baptist Union Council. The church is also a member of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Central Baptist Association and Churches Together in Hitchin.
4k Banking
There were two bank accounts in use during this accounting period. The Barclays account is used as the main day-to-day banking account & almost all bills are paid from this account. The HSBC account is used as the account for paying in via standing orders. The church also has an interest bearing deposit with the Baptist Union.
The accounts package used during this accounting period was the 'QuickBooks Online' product supplied by Intuit Inc.
All the banking transactions are held exclusively in QuickBooks and are reconciled on a monthly basis with the Bank Statements. Thus the year's closing balances are maintained in QuickBooks and accord with the Bank Statements.
4l Funds
The church accounts have a number of Funds which are maintained in QuickBooks which allows reporting by Restricted Funds and Unrestricted Funds as required by the Charities Commission. (WRBC does not currently have any Endowment Funds).
4m Reporting
The format of these accounts is based on the use of the standard business reports which are available within the QuickBooks software, such as the Comparative P&L Report (which is the basis of the Receipts & Payments Summary); and the Balance Sheet Report (which is the basis of the Assets & Liabilities Report).
4n Signature and Declaration
The Accounts and Statement of Assets and Liabilities relating to the year ending 31 December are as approved by the Deacons of Walsworth Road Baptist Church.
I declare, in my capacity of charity trustee, that the trustees have approved the report above: and have authorised me to sign it on their behalf.
Signed: ……………………………………………………………
Rev Andrew Henton Pusey 13 Ninesprings Way Hitchin SG4 9NQ
Dated: ……………………………………………………………
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Independent Examiner's Report
To the Trustees of Walsworth Road Baptist Church
I report on the financial statements of Walsworth Road Baptist Church for the year ended 31 December 2023
This report is made solely to the charity members, as a body, in accordance with Charity law. My independent examination work has been undertaken so that I might state to the charity members those matters which I am required to state to them in my independent examination report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, I do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the church charity and the charity members as a body, for my independent examination work, or the opinions I have formed.
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
As the charity's trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements; you consider that the audit requirement of section 43(2) of the Charities Act 1993 (the Act) does not apply. It is my responsibility to state, on the basis of procedures specified in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners under section 43(7)(b) of the Act, whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent examiner's report
My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.
Independent examiner's statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements to keep accounting records in accordance with section 41 of the Act; and to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and to comply with the accounting requirements of the Act have not been met; or
(2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed: ……………………………………………………………. Date ……………………………………