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2025-08-31-accounts

Charity Number: 1163017

JOURNEY COMMUNITIES (A CHARITABLE INCORPORATED ORGANISATION)

UNAUDITED

T �5�8�6�7�(�(�6�¶���5�(�3�2�5�7���$�1�’�� RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2025

JOURNEY COMMUNITIES

CONTENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2025

Page
Reference and Administrative Details 2
7UXVWHHV¶
Report		 3–9
Independent([DPLQHU¶V
Report		 10
Receipts and Payments 11
Statement of Assets and Liabilities 12
Notes to the Accounts 13

1

JOURNEY COMMUNITIES

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2025

The Trustees Jazz Shaban Chairman Luke Hatcher Treasurer Alexandra Sweeney-Lui Shelbey Hunt Christie Lothamer

Principal Address 2 West Circular Road Ambrosden Bicester Oxfordshire OX25 2BB

Registered Charity Number 1163017

Independent Examiners Morgan Accountancy Solutions Suite 16 Enterprise House Bicester Business Centre Telford Road Bicester Oxfordshire OX26 4LD

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JOURNEY COMMUNITIES

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FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2025

The Trustees have pleasure in presenting their report and the unaudited financial statements of the charity for year ended 31 August 2025.

Structure, Governance and Management

History

Journey Communities, a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, was incorporated on 5 August 2015 (charity number 1163017). On 5 August 2015, it achieved charitable status and was entered onto the Register of Charities with the Registered Charity Number 1163017.

Prior to this, Journey Communities had been meeting as a church formerly known as The Crowded House Bicester informally beginning in Spring 2011. In the Autumn of 2014, under the guidance of minister Steven Caton on behalf of the church staff, 7 members of the church met regularly to arrive at a name for the church which communicated its identity. In the winter of 2014/2015, the approved name of the church formally became Journey Communities.

In the Autumn of 2015 Journey Communities staff and elders at the time elected to join the Fellowship of the Churches in Great Britain and Scotland (simply known as FCC). FCC provides consultation, support, encouragement and is ready to assist the church should it need and ask for it. Steven Caton was ordained as a minister in the FCC October of 2016.

In the Spring of 2017 Journey Communities started FLTR Coffee Ltd., a community café in the Langford Village neighbourhood of Bicester, to promote and fulfil such other charitable purposes beneficial to the community in Bicester.

In the Autumn of 2021 Journey Communities was continuing to grow and in order to better achieve the charity objectives the church organised into two communities meeting in different neighborhoods in Bicester. We called these communities micro churches. The Microchurch Network was established under the charity as an arm to serve these micro churches to help them achieve the charity objectives.

In January of 2023 a 3rd microchurch was planted in the Kingsmere estate in Bicester. In 2025 a 4[th] microchurch was planted in Old Place Yard in �%�L�F�H�V�W�H�U�¶�V town centre. Both the Kingsmere and Old Place Yard Communities seek to achieve the charity objectives in their respective community and lead and organise activities within their respective areas: a basketball club that meets at a local school in Kingsmere and the local neighborhood community in Old Place Yard. All four microchurches are technically under the name Journey Communities and seek to achieve the charity objectives in their respective communities.

Constitution updated in June 2024 with the Charity Commission.

Recruitment and Appointment of Trustees

Upon pursuit of charity registration, new trustees were (and are) selected on the basis of their experience and skills, normally from amongst the members of Journey Communities, Bicester, but also from those with skills, familiarity and goodwill towards the church who are outside the church congregation. It is seen to be desirable that the Core Leadership team (Staff) of the church should be represented on the Trustee Board. Simon Loo formally, a trustee member and co-Director of Journey was appointed as Director in October 2024. Simon has been attending trustee meetings as an officer during the current year. Jeff Lothamer stepped down as a Journey director, but remained director of FLTR Coffee during the current year.

Jeff and Christie Lothamer, Sarah and Steve Caton as well as Simon Loo, who were elected elders of Journey communities continue to be elders. They and the Trustees aim to meet together on a regular basis to ensure effective governance of the church and discuss issues of mutual concern or decision.

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JOURNEY COMMUNITIES

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The Trustees regularly consider the composition of the Trustee Board in order to ensure that the Board has access to the right balance, diversity and spread of expertise needed to govern the affairs of the Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Trustees are officially appointed at the Journey AGM. If a Trustee vacancy arises during the year potential candidates are identified and approached following discussion at a �7�U�X�V�W�H�H�V�¶ meeting. They are offered the opportunity to meet the existing Trustees and attend a board meeting with a view to remaining on the board until their official appointment at the next AGM.

Organisation of the Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)

The Trustees meet three times per year to administer the affairs of the CIO; there are no sub-groups acting for them. During the year, two Trustees financially benefited from the CIO's operations. Clear expectations for their participation in financial decisions, as well as details regarding services provided by Trustees and other related party activities, are outlined in our Governance Policy.

Journey Communities currently employs two part-time staff members The four missionaries, two fulltime and two part-time, Jeff and Christie Lothamer and Steve and Sarah Caton, stepped down in March 2025. With their resignation as paid staff members funded through the US partnership agreement, additional funding to enable dedicated activity and travel ended along with the relationship with Greater Europe Mission, with which Journey Communities had a grant agreement and partnership with. Andy Boxall was employed part-time and stepped down in December 2024 when the Microchurch Network Initiative was transferred to KX.

Jeff and Christie Lothamer and Steve and Sarah Caton continued to fulfil the church's leadership roles as volunteers, funded through their individual US partnership agreements according to areas of expertise. These were worship leading, congregational teaching, financial and organisational leadership, leadership development, community ministry, and youth and �F�K�L�O�G�U�H�Q�¶�V programs.

Qualification for church membership is currently based on Christian commitment, commitment to the Church, and a desire to be formally recognised as a member of Journey Communities. Decisions regarding the overall direction and care of the Church are made by the Core Leadership, with input as necessary from other individuals or groups. Key issues are discussed widely within the church.

The church community gathers regularly for worship, community, mission, and discipleship. Each leader is trained to practically guide groups of people in life. Their training is a hybrid of theological, social, and practical strategies designed to strengthen individuals and families. Each leader and potential leader is encouraged, equipped, and resourced through participation in the Leadership Collective (TLC), a community of leaders that meets monthly. Facilitation of The Leadership Collective passed to the Service Platform when Jeff and Christie Lothamer resigned as staff members.

Objects, Mission and Aims

The objects of Journey Communities are:

To advance the Christian faith in Bicester and in such other parts of the United Kingdom or the world for the benefit of the public in particular, but not exclusively through the holding of prayer meetings, lectures, public celebration of religious festivals producing and/or distributing literature on the Christian faith to enlighten others about the Christian religion.

To Promote and fulfil such other charitable purposes beneficial to the community in Bicester and in such other parts of the United Kingdom or the world as the trustees may from time to time think fit. The Trustees confirm that in setting their objectives they have complied with their duty under the Charities Act 2011 to have a due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission.

4

JOURNEY COMMUNITIES

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Activities, Achievements, Development

ACTIVITIES

Journey Community operates on a structured rhythm of gatherings and leadership meetings with an overarching vision to "Saturate Bicester with microchurches and micro-missions". This vision, termed "Journey Strong," underpins all activities through Microchurches (MCs) and Micro-missions (MMs) , where the community's "heart, mission and service" reside, with a goal to support the "birth of new micro-missions/microchurches".

Journey Church aims to balance support (caring, celebrating birthdays, interactive feedback) with challenge (asking tough questions about mission definition and comfort zones). This includes equipping individuals for evangelism and leadership.

The church utilizes a distributed model focused on fostering community, deepening faith, and expanding its mission. Key gatherings and rhythms include:

Monthly Rhythms: These are designed to foster community and spiritual growth, but does not replace individual Microchurch Rhythms:

Operational details include using Langford Village Hall as a primary venue for gathering the four microchurches who are part of Journey Communities, often featuring "Bring and Share" meals, integrating children into events, and utilising sound equipment and projectors. Leadership roles involve Simon, Becky and Shelbey who are part of the Journey Communities service platform in leading Communion, Worship, social activities and services. Journey mainly uses WhatsApp and its own website to communicate upcoming events.

Service Platform

The Service Platform is a team that is tasked with organising events, trainings and activities that help support the microchurches who are part of the Journey Communities church. The Service Platform has three staff: two part time paid staff and one part-time volunteer.

The responsibility of the Service Platform (SP) can be divided into two main areas:

  1. The overall running and development of the combined services and support of the microchurches.

  2. Development and support of the combined services required by the micro churches

  3. Support any specific needs of Microchurches.

  4. Support combined youth and �F�K�L�O�G�U�H�Q�¶�V services such as Bible school.

  5. Organise and run the combined regular gathering of microchurches and communications

  6. Organise and run the monthly meetings of the collective of leaders (TLC) of Journey microchurches.

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JOURNEY COMMUNITIES

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  1. The ongoing financial and safeguarding operations of Journey Communities as a charity.

  2. Financial management

  3. Safeguarding training for those members who work regularly with children or vulnerable adults.

The Service Platform continues to develop the collective microchurch spaces that strengthen the Journey DNA such as the monthly gathering space (Family Time) and leadership support and accountability space of The Leadership Collective. These spaces have grown into the purposes that they were created for.

FLTR Community Microchurch

The FLTR Community continues to be a life-giving presence by connecting with neighbours through our coffee shop, FLTR Coffee and in individual homes. A number of activities and missions continued to meet either in the coffee shop itself: crafting group, games groups or in individual homes such as the workplace mission prayer group.

As a way of bringing business and missional purpose together FLTR introduced the �‡�7�U�\�3�U�D�\�L�Q�J�· promotion ultising the �V�K�R�S�¶�V notice board to ask people to put up a prayer request, etc.

Business viability challenges remained throughout the year as FLTR Coffee struggled to keep pace with rising costs, poor mental health of staff and increasing business rates. As a result the Trustees and Leadership Collective along with FLTR staff held a discernment process to help guide the future of the coffee shop as a going concern and discern what that means for the FLTR microchurch. At the end of the year the process was ongoing with a number of options being proposed.

Graven Hill Microchurch

The GHMC (Graven Hill Microchurch) streamlined its combined social gatherings to five key events per year: Autumn Launch, Christmas, Chinese New Year, Easter, and Summer BBQ. Each event has a tailored invite list�† some more intimate, others with broader reach.

The GHMC is experiencing a period of gradual expansion, with its capacity to serve growing, and relationships within the community maturing. Two new individuals within the neighbourhood are drawing closer to the group and will soon join the bi-weekly rhythm of �‡�/�L�V�W & ’�L�D�O�R�J���·H�Q and �‡�3�U�D�\�� Listen, �6�F�U�L�S�W�X�U Both P�H Q�¶�VH�·� and �Z�R�P�H�Q�¶�V DNA groups meet regularly and have expanded with two new families that joined during the reporting period.

Kingsmere Microchurch

The Kingsmere microchurch has grown and our Sunday brunch rhythm for our church continues. At this Sunday brunch we used the time to worship, read and study the Bible, pray, and remember Jesus by taking communion together. Storytimes have been added to the Sunday gathering to accommodate the growing number of children within the community. We also began gathering in DNA's (3s meeting together for discipleship)during the week.

The Kingsmere microchurch continued leading a basketball club on Tuesday nights at our local school, formally named the club the Bicester Badgers. Besides training and playing together on a Tuesday night we ran a couple 3v3 tournaments where we invited all the players' families to come and watch and had a half-time talk on something related to our mission. We also were invited by a local prison to come and play some of the inmates as a way to encourage them.

In September it launched a 45-minute women's session with up to seven participants, and one of our players has organised an additional Thursday night session. The basketball community remains strong with the summer BBQ attended by 50 attendees.

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JOURNEY COMMUNITIES

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Saturday kids' training sessions, run in partnership with Hoop Heroes, have 50 children across two sessions. Two additional head coaches have been developed and a new Thursday night Hoop Heroes session has begun.

Old Place Yard Microchurch

Old Place Yard Community is located within the town center straddling a social housing estate and high-end private houses. The group has continued to increase in numbers since it launched in January 2025 with 8 regular attendees. The principal approach is community and serving each other. Focusing on friendship and fun.

Worship/prayer and teaching sessions occur alternate Thursdays. Monthly socials on Sundays.

Socials are mostly attended by residents of Old Place Yards Sanctuary Housing Scheme with a number of interlopers from the ���R�W�K�H�U side of the �Z�D�O�O�¶ and dog walkers from Pingle Field with an average of around 15 people joining in a range of activities mostly centered around food.

During the Summer most MC members camped at the Big Church Festival in Sussex and were joined by some members of the Kingsmere Microchurch.

The Leadership Collective Activities

The Leadership Collective meets monthly for support, encouragement, prayer, and equipping for the microchurches. These crucial monthly meetings, which the source defines as "Training, Learning, and Coaching/Community," are typically held on the third Monday of the month. Their purpose is "a space to receive input, support, and prayer from the collective," focusing on leadership development, accountability, and strategic alignment. It has always been envisioned that TLC would be a space where we come together to learn, support, and challenge those who are in leadership within the Journey churches..

Journey Microchurch Network

The Microchurch Network continued to function in an overlapping capacity with the Journey Service Platform Staff until January 2025 whereupon it transitioned to be part of Kairos Connexions. The investment that Journey Communities made in supporting the Microchurch Network has resulted in significant learning regarding collaboration, charitable functions, developing systems for teamwork, assessing area needs, and providing support through equipping and prayer.

Leadership and Team development

Governance for the Journey Communities Churches are governed by the Leaders of the churches, accountable to The Leadership Collective and, ultimately, the trustees.

Leadership Collective is a group of leaders in Micro-churches and micro-missions that meet monthly for the purpose of encouragement, development, and mutual accountability.

The Service Platform is governed by the Co-Directors for strategic leadership and functions with a peerled team ethos. There is still quite a gap in organisation effectiveness due to insufficient man-power - this related to an underdeveloped funding model.

Financial Performance

Funds held by the charity are:

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JOURNEY COMMUNITIES

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Financial Activities

The Trustees are grateful to the members and regular donors within the church for the (often) sacrificial way in which they contribute to meet the financial needs of the church. Many of the donors are family or young people, so limited in their ability to give. The gifts given for unrestricted general funds were similar to the previous fiscal year and met the needs of the budget and community projects. However, the trustees continue to dream about greater impact in our community. Therefore, the Trustees are committed to encouraging a continued commitment to increase giving so that the church can develop its local community work in the future and also its financial support to Christian workers and organisations in the UK and abroad alongside its other activities. We are convinced that we will have the sufficient resources through the faithful giving of our members to continue to meet our objectives. Financial support from Greater Europe Mission (North American) used to support four members of staff concluded in March 2025.

Reserves

The Trustees believe the Charity should maintain financial reserves equivalent to three months of operating costs which currently amounts to £6,500. At the end of our fiscal year on August 31st, 2025, the Charity had total funds of £11,254.

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The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees���¶Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law applicable to charities in England & Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the income and expenditure of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

The trustees are responsible for keeping sufficient accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the constitution. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

General Conclusion

The Trustees look forward to the future with confidence and continue to see much need for the Church's charitable activities in seeking to fulfil its aims, mission and objects. We will remain committed to our social and spiritual investment in young people and families in our community. The Trustees consider that the Charity is on a proper footing both organisationally and financially. They welcome any enquiries in respect of clarification of the Charity's work or its future plans or financial and organisational arrangements.

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JOURNEY COMMUNITIES

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Enquiries should be directed to the Chairman - Ms Jazz Shaban, c/o the registered office.

2 West Circular Road Ambrosden Bicester, Oxfordshire OX25 2BB

Jazz Shaban Chairman of Trustees

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JOURNEY COMMUNITIES

I �1�’�(�3�(�1�’�(�1�7���(�;�$�0�,�1�(�5�¶�6���5�(�3�2�5 T FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2025

�,�Q�G�H�S�H�Q�G�H�Q�W���(�[�D�P�L�Q�H�U�¶�V���5�H�S�R�U�W���W�R���W�K�H���7�U�X�V�W�H�H�V���R�I�� Journey Communities

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Journey Communities (the charity) for the year ended 31[st] August 2025.

Responsibilities and Basis of Report

As the charity trustees of the charity, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ���‡�W�K�H��A�F�W�·��.

I report in respect of my examination of �W�K�H���F�K�D�U�L�W�\�¶�V accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed 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 gives 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 order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Marie Morgan FCCA

Morgan Accountancy Solutions Suite 16 Enterprise House Bicester Business Centre Telford Road Bicester Oxfordshire OX26 4LD

Date: 09/01/2026

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JOURNEY COMMUNITIES

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2025

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS
RECEIPTS
Donations and gifts
Grants
Greater Europe Mission (North
American)
FLTR
Microchurch network donations
Interest
Charitable activities
TOTAL RECEIPTS
PAYMENTS
Direct costs
Church resources
Leadership development
Personal development training
Travel and entertainment
Equipment
Denominations/networks
Marketing/communication
Gathering/events
GC Support/mission
Mircochurch Network Building and
Development
Payroll services
Salaries and staff costs
Youth activities
Special project
Benevolent giving
FLTR Generosity Investment
Fleetwood grant
Support costs
DBS
Website and technology
Retreats
Insurance
Governance Costs
Independent examiners fee
TOTAL PAYMENTS
Net of receipts/(payments)
CASH FUNDS LAST YEAR END
CASH FUNDS THIS YEAR END		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
Restricted
Funds
£
Total
Funds
2025
£
Total
Funds
2024
£
24,318
-
24,318
25,480
561
-
561
499
80,990
-
80,990
128,454
898
150
-
-
898
150
300
1,826
232
-
-
-
232
-
378
1,775
107,149
-
107,149
158,712
736
346
-
-
-
2,460
-
1,143
3,335
3,399
-
101,537
29
210
-
499
-
-
163
941
-
485
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
736
346
-
-
-
2,460
-
1,143
3,335
3,399
-
101,537
29
210
-
499
-
-
163
941
-
485
555
759
-
-
6
2.285
100
4.966
1,199
2,597
-
157,194
544
988
-
-
2,589
-
315
1,160
2,250
434
1,136
-
1,136
1,747
116,419
-
116,419
179,688
(9,270)
-
(9,270)
(20,976)
20,446
11,176
78
78
20,524
11,254
41,500
20,524

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JOURNEY COMMUNITIES

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS AS AT 31 AUGUST 2025

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

CASH FUNDS
Journey Communities Current Ac
Journey Communities Savings Ac
TOTAL CASH FUNDS
INVESTMENT ASSETS
FLTR Share Capital
ASSETS RETAINED FOR THE
CHARITIES OWN USE
Equipment		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
Restricted
Funds
£
2,136
78
9,040
-
11,176
78
26,682
-
2,083
-

09/01/2026 their behalf by:

Jazz Shaban Chairman of Trustees

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JOURNEY COMMUNITIES

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2025

RESTRUCTED FUNDS

TRUCTED FUNDS
There has been no movement in restricted funds during the year:
Hardship Fund		 2025
£
78
78		 2024
£
78
78

Hardship Fund represents monies donated towards neighbourhood aid for those at risk and in need during COVID-19 lockdown.

INVESTMENTS

During the 2017 accounting period the Charity set up a wholly owned trading subsidiary, FLTR Coffee Ltd, in which it owns 100% of the £26,682 issued share capital.

RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

Transactions with Trustees

There were no trustees included on the payroll within the financial year.

13