Oxford Churches, Debt Centre Trustees, Annual Report and Accounts Year Ending March 2023
CONTENTS Contents Trustees & Supporting Churche5 Chainnan's Report Manager's Report 6-10 Independent Examiner's Report li Statement of Financlal Artivities 12 Balance Sheet 13 Notes to the Accounts 14 Charity Information 15
TRUSTEES AND SUPPORTING CHURCHES The Trustees who have served during the year have been: lames BloRce-Smlth (Chairperson) Claire Bishop (appointed 23 September 2022) Matt Partridge john Price lenni Williams The Trustees meet on a quarterly basis. The churches which In various ways support our work in Oxford are.. Barton Community Church Cornerstone Church Cowley Church Community Emmanuel Church Headington Baptist Church Magdalen Road Church Oxford Frlends Actlon on Poverty St Clemenvs Church St Matthe$ Church St Nicholas Church Wheatley Community Church Woodstock Road Baptist Church
CHAIRMAN'S REPORT A5 15 true for so much of our society, we are finding that our post-covid experience is settling into a new iiormal. For our chariry, rhis new nortnal has included some challenges, whicli we will mention below. As last year. we wish ro thank our Centre Manager. Aiidrew lohiison, aiid the staff team for pi-oviding high quality work. aloiig with our able volunteers. to alleviate povei-ty in Oxford. Olir Centre Manager will give more detail below. but I can recount conversations with grateful clieiits who liave found conci'ete help to get out of debt, or in other ways deal with their finai)cial pi'essLire5, tlii-OLigh the woi-k Df our Lharity. This is exactly what we want to hear. We liave been able to take forwai-d sonie of the specitic tt'ansitions nientioned in last yeai s I'eport, iiamely. to see additional volunteers traiiied to run tlie sei-vices CAP Money and CAP Life Skills, to use our network of churclies in addressing one-oft client iieeds, and to find others who can lielp us deal with the increasing coniplexity of i)eeds which accompany the fiiiaiicial probletns. Thi-ee objects of our chai-ity are, the i-elief of poverty. education about the inanagement of personal finances, atld the advdnLenient of the Christian faith. In Ol-der ro do this. we woi'k in forillal partnei-ship witl) Christiai)s Against Poverty (CAP), who train our staff, pi'ovide the expei-t advice wliicl) underpins our work witli thuse in debt, and produce high quality resources to help with our educatiuii object ICAP is aiithorised and i-egulated by the Financial Conduct Authoi'ity). We are pleased to have signed a new partnei-ship agreement with CAP in the past year. However, of equal impoitance are our party)er.ships with local churches who enable us to otter our clieiits the CAP debt seivice holistically, witl) the support of an appropi-iate befriender, behind whoin 5tdnds the I'riendship and love of local communities of people. We consider t]iis to be a uJJique feitui'e of die service we are able to provide to those facing wliat is often a difficult ai)d stressful life cii-ciinistaiice. How lar clients niake iise of tliis support is offered without condition and is depeiideiit on how far they find this helpful. Tlie niain challeiige ol tliis pnst-C(Ivid woi'ld i.£ that client take-up has not I'eturned to pre-covid levels. We Lontiiiue to exploi-e avei)ues by which to increase our pi'ofile, so tliat those in iieed can fiiid us easily. However, we will Iieed to explore other avenues in the coming year to ensui-e tliat we al-e offeriiig what Is most helpful, whilst not losing the core work of debt counselling.
CHAIRMAN'S REPORT In conclusion, there are many we need to thank. Fii'st, our paitnei- churches. withoiit whom we would not exist and who have einbi-aced mol-e responsibility over the pastyear. Secoiid, to the ti-ustees who have thought carefully about the issues we face and the cause we are trying to carl'y forwai'd. Third. tnany thanks to our voluiiteei's who have worked alongside oiii- staff and w()nderfully supported our clients. Finally, oiir thaiik5 also to our Slippurtei's and charitable donors who have provided the financial resoui'ces to undei'take the work of the past year. Cash for Kids Garfield Weston Foundation lamlar Trutt Millfield Trust StAldate's Parochial Charities Doris Field Trust Lord Faringdon Charitable Trust Lady Tangye Trust Pye Charitable Settlement Stanton Ballard Trust Signed.. James Blolce-smith, Chairman Date: . 2023.
MANAGER'S REPORT The pandemic is now officially over and we are back to functioning more nornially and with our full capacity available. However. the year has continued to be Challenging in various ways. Even with this we can confidently say that we have continued to provide a first class service to our clients and group members. As expressed by the chairman above, our 3 aims remain the same and mirror those of CAP. As in previous years we have used SiTnilar activities to put these airns into practice in conjunctiOD with our strategic objectives. CAP Debt Help.. This service continues to be our core activity. We pride ourselves in offering a professional service where we care for the whole person. Our distinctives are thatwe accompany our clients through their entire journey out of debt and we seek to connert them with local church communities. Since the Oxford Central CAP Centre opened 9 years ago we have served 405 debt clients. This last year we saw 23 of these as new clients. We rejoice that 73 clients have now gone debt free, with 5 of these happening last year. At the time ofwriting we have 24 client accounts on our books. To our surprise we have so far failed to reach our monthly allocation of 6 new clients. In fact, we have been well short of this probably receiving just 1-2 on average. All statistics continue to show that there are many people outthere with unmanageable debt who need support. Our best guess for the low numbers are related to people feeling shame and guilt and believing that they can cope by themselves with the hope that at some point the landscape will improve and their debts will go away. Also. as mentioned prevlou51y rhere Is now another CAP Centre In Oxford at St Ebbe's Church which has an allocation of 4 new clients a month. So to be up to monthly capacity we need 10 new clients which we have never got close to achievin& "CAP have beeii aina2ifvi9 - ainaziiig sui)poi-t right throii9h~ CAP Debt Client
MANAGER'S REPORT Even wlrh the low numbers we have had plenty to keep us busy. The clients we do have often have a plethora of complex needs and they thernselves present with multiple issues which, being linked to the reasons for the debt, we need to address and offer support where possible or refer or signpost on to others. CAP Money.. We continue to run CAP Money which is open to anyone and offers advice on good money management along with use1 tips. This year we have organized 3 Courses around the city which have drawn around 8-10 people each time. The course itself has received a significant revamp with brand new up to date material and name making it fresher and even more relevanL This will be available from June 2023 and will be called Money Coaching. We are wanting to take CAP Money into schools and to offer It to parents but also to look at the possibility of adapting it to make it accessible to children In their classes as well. CAP Life Skills: This course aims to help people to live happily. healthily and well on a low incorne. Our new strategy has been to invite our partner churches to consider hostlng and running this group service. This means finding the resources from within their communlty to do this themselves, including the leaders and volunteers. Emrnanuel Church, under the leadership of Helen and Steve Gallagher, committed to doing this and ran their first 8 week course starting in February. 12 people signed up and started and 8 stayed until the end. Excitingly, the group members enjoyed being together and so wanted to continue to meet at the same time each Tuesday rnorning. They have time for a coffee, chat and the chance to look ata story of jesus fromthe Bible. Emmanuel are starting their second course from 9th May. In the city, St Ebbe's are also set up for running Life Skills and so far have run one course. They start thelr second course on 9th lune. We are hoping that we might be able tr) offer up to 4 courses a year, running consecutively.
MANAGER'S REPORT Client Events As specified in the last report. like Life Skllls, we have also changed our way of organizing client events in order to align ourselves more closely with CAP'S vÈsion and strategy. This has meant decentralizing whatwe do and encouraging our partner churches to keep CAP clients in mind when they plan outward looking events. This has two main adwantages. Ir takes the pressure of our team having to organize several events each year and it also automatically connects clients with local church communities which up to know ha5 been a big challenge for us as a multi-church centre. In the autumn there were events run by different churches in consecutive months which clients attended and enjoyed. These included, a quiz night. Bonfire Night and a ceilidh. We still organize a few events centrally. In February over 20 clients attended a pancake party where there was a quiz and an explanation of the Christian period and practice of Lent. Looking ahead we are repeating our coach trip to the New Forest in lune after a wonderful time last year. We have 60 places available and are ofFering the day. including food, completely free. We regularly take part in the community café {an initiative of SL Ebbe'5 Centre) at Grace Church Cowley which runs for l % hours on Wednesday afternoons. It is open to current CAP clients and group service members as well as those interested in finding out more about how CAP can support them. Attendance is still low but the time and space seems to be appreciated by those who do come. We are looking for more ways to make the café fuller and more vibrant. Meeting clients there to tslk through their cases is proving to be attractive to some. As we openly and intentionally share our faith whenever we can, and regularly pray for and with our clients, we are aware of God at work We know of several clients who largely, through individual relationshlps and testimonies have moved forward in their faith journey over this lastyear and others who have experienced God's love in a fresh way and have become more open to consider the life He offers.
MANAGER'S REPORT Referral Agencles and publicizlng our services WÈ are grateful for the referral agencies we collaborate with in Oxford. We continue to connert with them regularly sharing and updating them on our services. However, dt the end of March. lohn Livingstone, our Community Links Coordinator. stepped down from the role he had filled since the Centre began 9 years ago. He is transitioning into retiremenL We are very grateful to lohn for his great work in connecting us with huge numbers of people and for publicizlng our services in many contexts around the city. There are clear plans to replace him as soon as posslble. We are intending to invite one referral agency to come and give specific targeted training to our volunteers each year. This time it will be Turning Point (working with people with addiction). For our part we continue to refer people to foodbanks and signpost some to other agencies and charities as necessary. We continue to publicize our services in the public arena when we can. Once again we have had at least two opportunitie5 to speak on local radio - BBC Radio Oxford and lack 3 to speak live and comment on the Governments Autumn Statement and how our clients are coping with the current Energy Crisis. Furthermore, in order to reach a greater number. we have committed to delivering 12.000 CAP publicity Postcards through house letter boxes around variou5 housing eststes. At the time of writing we have distributed around 10.000. We will looking carefully at the impact ofthis effort before continuing with the campalgn. Partner Churches: We are once again extremely gratefi]I for our 8 partner churches who continue to show support for this ministry in prayin& givin& supporting clients and encouraging volunteers. Two of our supporting churches, Cowley Church Community Northway@5. have closed in the lastyear. Six CAP Sunday events were held last Autumn {most ofwhich included contributions from staff members) and at least a couple of other churches have had a focus on CAP in a Sunday service more recently. These opportunities allow us to Share the CAP vision and to encourage churches and individuals to stay/get involved. Where we could arrange it, the highlight was to hear the testimonies of clients whose lives have been changed through the involvement of CAP. We have introduced another strategy change called'wrapping around the clieny where we are deliberdtely allocating each client to one of our partner churches. We are asking them to take more of a responsibility for supporting, caring and praying for the client and connecting them where possible to church activities in order to draw them more into the community. Ideally the befriender will also be a member of that church to enable this process. This support could see the church providing practical items too as required including furniture and clothes. Centrally we continue to run a bike donation
MANAGER'S REPORT scheme whereby bikes, donated by sUPPOrters and others are offered to clients who want them. Around 10 bikes have been given away in the last month. Volunteers: We give huge thanks for our arn]y of volunteers who get involved in the CAP work in a variety of ways including.. befriendin& facilitating and supporting the courses, prayin& and givin& We currently have around 45 volunteers actively involved. As always a key part of our service to our clients is the personal sUPPOrt of our befrienders who accompany them on their journey out of debt. This group ofvolunteers have faithfijlly continued to offer emotional support in a variety of ways including through phone c311s, going for walks, meeting for coffee and offering practical help. l This year we went back to carrying out our annual Christmas hamper packlng In the normal way. In total we made up 33 hamper5 which feedback tells us were much appreciated as always. We are back in a pattern to provide regular training for our volunteers Includlng an Induction sesslon and a topical session each year. The toplcs wlll Include addiction. mental health, and evangelism. We are also drawing our Church Reps together from time to time for training and support. "Tl?e CAP Debt Ceiiti-e is jiist 01?e of the w(iys we otjtwofr-k ourpa55EoIT~. Church leadei- We are confident that we are in a good place and. wfith God's help, we are ready to Serve all our clients and group participants over the coming year with energy, enthusiasm and compassion. Signed: Andrew lohnson, Centre Manager Date,, . 2023. io
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT Independent examlner's Teport on the accounts I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the PCC for the year ended 315E March 2023. Responslbllltles and basls of report As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts ITh accordance wlth the requlrements ofthe Charities Act 2011 ["the Actl. The trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144[2) of the Act and that an independent examination is required. I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the ACL In carrying out my examination. it is my responsibility to examine the accounts under section 145 ofthe Act- follow procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Comtnissioners under section 145(5)(b) of the Act; and state whether particular matters come to my attention. My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission under sertion 145[S)tb) of the ACL An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. Italso include5 consideringanyunusual items or disclosure in the accounts and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required Èn an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a "trne and fairf, view, and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. Examiner's statement I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: the accounting records were not kept in accordance wlth sectlon 130 of the Charltles Att,. or the accounts did not accord with the accounting record5.' or the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the ftbrni and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Report5) Regulation5 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts g]ve a'true and fairf view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connertion with the examination towhich attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed.. Yvonne Kinyanjui Date: o*... 0.É.............................. 2023. li
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES For the year ended 31st March 2023 2022 Sources of Funds GifLS from churches Other gifts and grants Gift Aid tax recoverable 17,608 53,072 4,683 19,054 57,797 4.772 Total Incoming Resources 75.363 81,623 Expenditure Salaries CAP head otTice Office rent Travel expenses Client give-awdys Miscellaneous 62,769 10,600 4.873 974 3.145 2.455 63,489 13.080 3,700 834 1,477 2,399 Toral Outgoing Resources 84,816 84,979 Surplus/(DeficitJ for the year (9,453) [3.3S6) 12
BALANCE SHEET As at 31st March 2023 2022 Assets Bank accounts Gift Aid tay recoverable 71,607 3,074 82,587 1,643 Total assets 74.681 84.230 Creditors HMRC Other credltors 239 692 835 Total creditors 835 931 Total NetAssets 73,846 83.299 Financing General Fund brought forward Restricted lob Clubs Fund Surplus/(Deficit) this year 82,299 iooo (9.453] 85.655 1.000 (3,356) Total Financing 73.846 83,299 Signed: lohn Price. Treasurer Date: IE . 2023. 13
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS Reserves Policy The trustees have agreed that it would be prudent to hold at all times cash reserves sufficient to last for six months. As at 31sr March 2023 our cash reserves amounted to approximately ten months of the following yearf5 expenditLtre. Other Pollcles The charity has various policies including those coverlng.. Safeguarding Children Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Equal Opportunities Data Protection Health & Safety These are available for inspection and can be provided to anyone who would like to see them. Funds Most ofthe charity's money flows through its General Fund; there is also a restricted Cap Job Clubs Fund which results from a donation to set up such a club in the near future. Sources of Funds All income is recognised when it is received wtth the exception of Gift Aid tax recoverable which is recognised at the time the gift to which it relates is recelved. Fixed Assets The charity only capitalize5 individual fixed assets costing over £l.000. Minor item5 are written off in the accounts when they are purchased. Trustees. Remuneration All the trustees received no payment or other remuneration for their services during theyear (2022: £0). 14
CHARITY INFORMATION Charlty Informatlon The charity is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered on 18th February 2014 with the Charlty Commlsslon, number 1155834 Oxford Churches Debt Centre (OCDCJ working title: Oxford CAP Centre St Clemenvs Centre Cross Street Oxford OX4 IDA Tel: 01865 249008 Bank CAF Bank Ltd. 25 Kings Hill Avenue Kings Hill West Malling ME19 4IQ Sort code 40-52-40 Account no. 00025483