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2025-12-31-accounts

Looking Up | Looking In | Looking Out

TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[ST] DECEMBER 2025

Charity: New Life Church, Great Cornard Charity No: 1162045 Charity Address: Community Office, CloverLink [Off Clover Court], Minsmere Way, Gt. Cornard, Sudbury, CO10 0LL Trustees: Richard Soper, Matt Warnock, Graham Jack, Faith Marsden & Stu Clarke

New Life Church is a registered charity acting on behalf of the congregation known as New Life Church [NLC]. The Trustees are pleased to present their report for the year ended 31[st] December 2025.

This report has been prepared in line with the church’s policy of following best practice, the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities, and applicable law.

CHARITABLE OBJECTS:

New Life Church, Gt. Cornard is a charity for the advancement of the Christian faith in Gt. Cornard, Suffolk, and in other parts of the world where we have developed relationships with churches sharing similar beliefs.

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ORGANISATION & GOVERNANCE:

The Elders [Matt Warnock, Stu Clarke and Ben Troughton] meet weekly to consider the day-today life of the church, and bi-monthly for matters requiring further discussion. In alternate months, the Elders meet with the wider Leadership Team to consider the strategic direction of the church. The Elders also hold responsibility for pastoral care and oversight. Day-to-day leadership of various works and ministry areas is delegated to ministry leads, who have budgetary accountability for their areas of responsibility.

The Trustees are responsible for legal and administrative matters. The Elders continue to identify and recommend potential Trustees with relevant expertise, experience or standing in areas of business, ministry or community life.

The following section summarises the main areas of church life, community involvement and charitable activity during 2025.

REVIEW OF ACTIVITIES:

As we entered 2025, we continued to develop our gathered ministry at Thomas Gainsborough School on Sundays, alongside our CloverLink Community Office in Gt. Cornard. Both have been valuable resources as we have sought to serve the church family and the wider local community.

For ease of reading, this review is divided into four areas: NLC | Church; NLC Community; Community Engagement; and Abi’s Footprints Baby Bank.

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NLC | CHURCH

Our gathered life as a church continued to develop throughout the year, with Sunday meetings at Thomas Gainsborough School providing the main weekly rhythm for worship, teaching, prayer, fellowship, and children’s and youth ministry.

Teaching remained central to this gathered life, shaping our worship, discipleship and shared vision. Throughout the year, we sought to provide teaching that was biblically rooted, pastorally relevant and practically connected to everyday life, helping the church family grow in faith and live out the gospel in worship, service, community and mission.

The weekly teaching plan drew on speakers from within our Eldership and wider Leadership Team, alongside friends from other churches and ministries. Contributors included Mogs Jones, Emma Denton, Matt Levett, Andy Malcolm from the Fishermen’s Mission, Stuart and Jude Ayling from Eden’s Project, Victor Jack, Sarah Jane Harknett, Andy Jelfs and Faith Marsden. Together, they brought encouragement, variety and depth to the teaching programme across the year.

We began the year by returning to our vision and unpacking the core elements of who we are as a church. This included reflection on vision, teaching, tithing and generosity, worship, the Furnace of Prayer, and servanthood. These themes reminded the church family of the foundations of our shared life together and encouraged us to consider how each part contributes to worship, discipleship, mission and service.

Is’ series, which explored the depth and practical outworking of God’s love, and ‘Transformation from the Inside Out’, which encouraged us to consider how God shapes character, faith and everyday life. During Lent, leading up to Easter, we also considered lament, expectations, examen, intercession and spiritual warfare, helping the church engage prayerfully and thoughtfully with the journey towards the cross and resurrection.

Further series included ‘Authentic Faith’ from the book of James; ‘The God of the Old and New Testament’, exploring judgement, sovereignty, sacrifice and mercy; a recap of LICC’s themes of gathered church, scattered church and frontlines; an Apprenticeship series looking at Elijah and Elisha, Moses and Joshua, Jesus and the disciples, and Paul and Timothy; and teaching on Hannah and Ruth. Together, these provided a varied and rich programme, equipping the church family to grow in faith, deepen discipleship and live out the gospel in daily life.

Alongside our regular Sunday rhythm, we held our annual church trip to Sizewell in May. This continues to be an important opportunity for fellowship, worship, teaching and time together across the wider church family. Sarah Jane Harknett led our sessions during the weekend, helping us to reflect, pray and spend unhurried time with one another away from the usual

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generations to connect, and the church to be encouraged in its shared life and calling.

In July, we gathered again at Sudbury Baptist Church for our yearly baptism service, where we had the joy of baptising six young people. This was a significant and encouraging moment in the life of the church, as we celebrated personal stories of faith and gave thanks for God’s continued work among us.

We are in an encouraging position as a church family, with all generations represented and approximately 36 children and young people under the age of 18 regularly connected with the church. This has enabled us to continue running weekly provision for creche, children and youth. As children move through the different age groups, we reviewed our approach during the year to consider how we can continue to meet the needs and challenges of those attending.

As more people made NLC their home, our Life Groups also grew. Six groups met during the day and evening, with two more expected to begin in 2026. These groups continue to provide important spaces for people to explore faith practically, ask questions, discuss Scripture, build relationships, pray together and share life at a more personal level.

Further support and discipleship took place through weekly youth activities, one-to-one and group discipleship, the youth mentoring network, home visitation and prayer meetings. Together, these areas helped provide pastoral care, encouragement and opportunities for spiritual growth across the church family.

NLC their home while others moved on to new fellowships. As a church that does not hold a formal membership structure, we understand membership as those seeking to be part of our church through gathering, whether on Sunday mornings or through weekly connection in Life Groups. For 2025, that number stood at 151 contacts.

Meeting in a school building means that we rely on a committed monthly volunteer team to set up, serve and make Sundays happen. Each month, 48 people undertook different volunteer roles, welcoming people into the church, supporting Sunday activities and helping create a hospitable environment for worship and fellowship.

a Community Support Worker for 14 hours a week, supporting the development of our community work through CloverLink and the wider local community.

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NLC COMMUNITY

With the introduction of our new Community Support Worker role, we took time to listen, learn and better understand the needs within our local community. The role was developed to identify where NLC could offer practical support, build relationships and work alongside existing local services that were already stretched.

The aim is to provide practical help while also coming alongside some of the most vulnerable people on the fringe of our community. Through this work, we seek to build confidence, selfworth and self-respect, while helping people address some of the underlying causes of financial and social poverty.

Practical support has included providing opportunities to volunteer locally, helping people complete benefit forms, offering transport and advocacy for medical or probation appointments, and providing one-to-one support for those attending counselling or AA/NA meetings.

Our involvement with Pot Kiln Primary School has continued to develop as we respond to the changing priorities and needs of the school. In September, we were again able to support their three-day residential trip to Mersea Island. We were also invited to support lunchtimes once a week, helping to create additional capacity for teachers and the SENCO lead. These opportunities have enabled us to build stronger relationships with both pupils and staff, while offering practical support to the wider life of the school.

Aware of some of the more practical and pressing needs in our community, we expanded our LoveFund budget so that we could offer practical support to local families, schools and community projects. This support was provided through food, clothes and gift vouchers.

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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Our vision continues to be shaped around three simple movements: looking Up, looking In and looking Out. We believe that we gather together as a church in order to be scattered into the places God has called us — at home, in schools, workplaces, neighbourhoods and social settings.

engagement. Through monthly litter picks, prayer walks in the surrounding area and CloverLink-Up Coffee Mornings, we have been able to build relationships with local residents and offer a regular, welcoming presence in the community.

The building also provides valuable opportunities for pastoral support, meetings and informal connection. It has become a place where conversations can happen naturally, where people can be listened to, and where practical or relational support can begin.

Also developing relationships, Monday Night Football has continued to grow as an important point of connection for dads, young men and others in the local community. More than 45 contacts have been involved during the year. Football provides the starting point, but the social aspect has helped the team get to know people, hear their stories and build friendships. As trust has developed, this has also created opportunities to offer deeper support where more complex issues have arisen.

One of the key dates in our church calendar continues to be our Sizewell weekend away, which provides an opportunity to invite those connected through community activities to spend time with the wider church family. This has helped strengthen relationships and allowed people to experience the hospitality, worship and shared life of NLC in a more relaxed setting.

Stay & Play events have also enabled church volunteers to work alongside the Abi’s Footprints team in connecting with families, carers and young children in the local community. These sessions have provided a welcoming space where relationships can grow, practical support can be offered, and families can feel more connected to the wider life of the church and community.

Part of our vision has also been to encourage individuals within the church to recognise their own frontlines — the places, relationships and everyday contexts where they live out their faith. LICC has helped provide helpful language around the gathered and scattered church, reminding us that discipleship is not limited to Sundays but continues throughout the 168 hours of each week.

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ABI’S FOOTPRINTS BABY BANK

meeting the needs of 273 pre-school children and indirectly impacting parents, siblings, friends and wider family. 75 families we served were new to Abi’s Footprints Baby Bank in 2025.

The vast majority of the sorting of the resources given so generously by members of the public and the preparation of the resources for the families in need is done by the volunteer support team which meets on Tuesday mornings in term time at the unit from which the baby bank operates. This team also welcomes families who have accepted our invitation to select for themselves the resources most appropriate to their children. In 2025 we gave away, free of charge, approximately one tonne of clothing (with a value of over £34,000 if bought new) and over 1300 other items ranging from baby wipes to buggies. It is not unknown for new mums to go away with resources which would have cost well over £1,000 if bought new.

Footprints Stay & Play is our group for mothers/carers and babies/toddlers which meets on Thursday mornings weekly in term time at the Stevenson Centre, again free of charge. In 2025 this ran 39 times with an average attendance of 24 adults and 25 children spread over at least 80 families. We consistently get very good feedback from those who attend, including that we are “the best group in the area.” Our Family Support Worker sits in the Sensory Room engaging in conversations with and facilitating conversations between the mums there, generally seeking to get across the message, “you’re doing a good job.” As she left, one mum was heard saying to her friend, “I feel so much better about myself.”

The work of Abi’s Footprints Baby Bank could not continue without the generous support of a number of grant-awarding bodies. We are extremely grateful for the support in 2025 of:

£800 from the Stevenson Centre Charity

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FINANCIAL REPORT:

Balance
End 2024		 Receipts 2025 Payments
2025		 Transfers Balance End
2025
Abi's
Footprints
General £ 5,313 £ 9,118 £ 6,406 £ 1,060 £ 9,085
Other Funds £ 5,896 £ 15,925 £ 18,586 £ - £ 3,235
Total £ 11,209 £ 25,043 £ 24,992 £ 1,060 £ 12,320
NLC
General £ 2,776 £ 72,064 £ 71,076 -£ 2,060 £ 1,704
CSW £ 11,279 £ 3,021 £ 11,262 £ 46 £ 3,084
Other Funds -£ 147 £ 13,430 £ 13,588 -£ 46 -£ 351
Reserve £ 12,000 £
-
£ -		 £ 1,000 £ 13,000
NLC Total £ 25,908 £ 88,515 £ 95,926 -£ 1,060 £ 17,437
Grand Total £ 37,117 £ 113,558 £ 120,918 £ - £ 29,757

Notes:

‘Other funds’ comprise: Sizewell Weekend, Monday Night Football, Friendship Church, Charity Collections and the Covid Fund (see below).

At the end of 2025, the balance of the Abi’s Footprints Funds was greater than it had been at the end of 2024, even though we made five SVBC rent payments, including one owing from 2024. The majority of the payments were rent (£13,750) and employment costs (£5,600).

There were only small variations in the ‘Other Funds’ , which I do not propose to discuss in detail here, except to note that all receipts for the Charity Collections Fund, set up for appeals made for outside charities, were passed on to the nominated charity after Gift Aid reclaimed was added and financial charges incurred on card payments were deducted.

The Elders agreed that we could transfer the Covid Fund balance (£45.75), which has not been used for several years, to the Community Support Worker Fund.

The Community Support Worker Fund receipts were boosted by £2,021 through the appeal made in October. The corresponding Gift Aid reclaim of £225 will be added when received in Quarter 1 of 2026. Most of the payments for 2025 were employment costs (£10,617). The NLC General Fund needs a little more explanation.

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The balance of the fund at the end of 2025 reduced by just over £1,000 compared with the end of 2024. We paid off the £5,555.57 owed to the Pension Fund, which had not been budgeted for, and increased the Reserve Fund by £1,000. Receipts were higher than budgeted because of a one-off donation of £5,000, plus £1,250 Gift Aid, and £1,617 of backdated Gift Aid claims. The Quarter 3 Gift Aid payment from 2024, approximately £2,300, which was not paid into our account by HMRC until January, was included in the budget.

Receipts were £7,664 greater than budget. Payments were also over budget by £6,426. The largest overspend was employment costs; most of this related to the repayment of the unpaid pension payment, but a further £2,000 of the overspend arose because the budget did not include Stewardship costs or Ben’s monthly expenses. These have been included in the 2026 budget.

There were also some items for which we didn’t budget!

Of the remaining costs, the main overspends were:

There were also some underspends, the main ones being:

2026 Budget

Opening
Balance		 Receipts
Payments		 Difference Transfers Closing
Balance
Abi's
Footprints £ 12,320 £ 25,000 £ 24,400 £ 600 £ 1,000 £ 13,920
NLC -
General £ 1,704 £ 69,800 £ 71,905 -£ 2,105 -£ 1,000 -£ 1,401
CSW £ 3,084 £ 13,125 £ 13,168 -£ 43 £ - £ 3,041

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Sizewell -£ 731 £ 6,500 £ 6,500 £ - £ - -£ 731
MNF £ 240 £ 2,500 £ 2,000 £ 500 £ - £ 740
FC £ 140 £ 600 £ 600 £ - £ - £ 140
Reserve £ 13,000 £ - £ - £ - £ - £ 13,000
NLC Total £ 17,437 £ 92,525 £ 94,173 -£ 1,648 -£ 1,000 £ 14,789
GRAND
TOTAL £ 29,757 £ 117,525 £ 118,573 -£ 1,048 £ - £ 28,709

Please note that the budget for the Community Support Worker assumes a balanced budget.

The NLC General Fund receipts budget for 2026 is £69,800. This is a £7,500 increase on 2025 after removing the exceptional items.

The payments budget is £71,905. This is approximately £4,500 higher than 2025 payments after removing the £5,556 pension payment.

£1,400.

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DECLARATION: Following the Trustee< meeting on 18th March 2026. the above Trustee¥ Report was approved as being a true and fair representstion of the work carried out by New Life Church. Signed: Dated: i• Signed: Dated: 17 2D2 Signed: Dated: li

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Independent examiner's report to the trustees of New Life Church, Great Cornard on accounts for the year ended 31 December 2025

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31 December 2025.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity’s 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 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 examiner's statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which give me cause to believe that, in any material respect:

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.

N K Smith FCA

19 Highbury Way, Great Cornard, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 0HE

5 August 2026