2024-12-31-accounts - Cottage Lane Mission

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CLM Annual Meeting

2 CLM Church Annual Update Meeting 2025

Senior Leader’s Report:

And as quickly as that, here we are looking back on another 12 months at CLM. There is so much activity on a weekly basis at CLM, and for that we give God thanks. But we never forget that we do all of it for His glory and to make Jesus known to more people. Our motto for the year was ‘We all have gifts’. God not only gives us all gifts, but also Our motto for the year was ‘We all have gifts’. equips us to use them. Our heart was to see everyone using their God-given gifts.

Sunday teaching series were varied in 2024. Initially we concluded our series on Ephesians before following ‘Mission Shaped Living’ topics and covering topics like ‘Being Sent’, ‘Compassion’, ‘Courage’ and ‘Continuing’ among others. We also covered some Bible characters learning important lessons from them for the way we live, behave and think today. Over the summer we covered a few of the parables ‘The kingdom of heaven is like…’, ‘The Lost Sheep/Coins’, The Rich Man & Lazarus’, ‘The Good Samaritan’ and the ‘Wise & Foolish Builders’. In the Autumn we looked at the ‘7 Letters to the Churches’ in Revelation.

We had Andy Barclay-Watt from the Life Centre in Sale and Tristan Sherwin from Metro Christian Centre in Bury speaking on Sundays. Andy leads the Maximise family of Churches and ‘Metro’ are part of it too. Sue Latham came and led worship for us.

Easter is always special for us as followers of Jesus Christ and a packed weekend of events started with the Maundy Thursday meal when we also had communion together. Eating together features a lot in the Bible and we’ve tried our hardest at CLM over the decades to keep that tradition going! Fellowship, just being together but not in a ‘service’ , is important for us all (see Acts 2).

For Father’s Day we were grateful to a few people for bringing ‘vintage’ cars for people to view in the Car Park and to give ‘Fathers’ something to look at and do. Can’t remember who won the darts competition but it’s the taking part that counts! Mei was baptised and Joanna and Brandon got married (in Sheffield).

We have been part of the ‘Maximise’ group of churches for a few years now and we attended events over the year mainly at the ‘Life Centre’ in Manchester. Matt and I participated in the fortnightly Leadership meetings and I continued to serve on the ‘Core Team’ of Maximise Churches meeting once a month. I have also served as the Chair of ‘Churches Together in Ormskirk’ for the last 12 months.

Luke was formally invited to become part of the Leadership Team. It’s always sad when people who have been a big part of us move out of the area, and Luke and ...We were also delighted to see new Kylie moved to Northwich towards the end people across all age ranges joining us... of the year. We pray that they will find a

great spiritual home where they’re now living. We were also delighted to see new

Charity No: 1163611 CLM Church, Cottage Lane, Ormskirk L39 3NE

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people across all age ranges joining us and for getting involved in the life of the church so quickly. Thank you. We continued to enjoy some students attending from Edge Hill University, and then the hard part, saying goodbye to those who have finished their course. To see them playing an active part in the life of the church was wonderful.

While Matt and I are the ones who write reports about Church Leadership, there is a ‘Leadership Team’ who work tirelessly to ensure everything works as smoothly as possible. A big ‘thank you’ from me to Jackie, Geoff , Pam and Luke, and of course Matt for all that you do for the Lord. We meet fortnightly and the first item on our agenda is ‘The spiritual life of the church’, when we talk about what’s happening and what God is doing and saying to us here at CLM. We are so encouraged by his faithfulness to us and for answered prayers. Let’s not forget to give him thanks for everything.

Paul Griffiths

Associate Leader’s Report:

Overview

It is truly amazing to see God continue to bless CLM. I am very proud of the church as we welcome exciting growth, in numbers, in their own faith journey, and grasped new opportunities to serve.

...I am very proud of the church as we welcome exciting growth...

CLM is a very active and growing church. There are lots of activities and groups and various opportunities to be part of.

Leadership

I have continued to take on further leadership responsibilities for the church over this last year and I am grateful for the ongoing support and blessings. I continue to attend a weekly leadership Bible course all day on Thursdays and to grow in ministry. I have enjoyed exploring God’s Word in a deeper context.

Maximise and Further Faster Network

It’s been great to establish our relationship further over the last 12 months and be part of the Maximise sessions, days out, Quinta 2024 weekend away, and to meet other churches as we walk together and learn from each other. I continue to preach at churches within Maximise.

In September 2024, I was blessed to travel to Bulgaria with other leaders from Maximise. This was a powerful and humbling experience.

Matt Bentley

Charity No: 1163611 CLM Church, Cottage Lane, Ormskirk L39 3NE

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Worship Report:

Our Church, Our Body of Christ, Our Weekly Gathering. We love to praise and we love to worship. Thanks to a few faithful musicians and singers, and to the tech team, as we continue to do this in our Sunday Service.

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation .

Praise God for all He gives us now, and pray that He will continue to bless us in the future.

Roger Currie

Prayer:

Personal and group prayer underpins all activities at CLM and requests for individual prayers are regularly sent out through the broadcast group.

Invisible but Access to God in Prayer!

Friday/Sunday Morning Prayer

A faithful few pray on a Friday Morning and Sunday Morning, before the Service. We welcome God’s presence as we ask for God to bless and to intercede for others.

Too busy not to pray, or too busy to pray? All are welcome.

Roger Currie

Missions:

Helen informed us about a need to build a house in Bukoyani, Kenya, where CLM has a long term relationship. The generosity of the church was so great that more than enough money came in and it

The generosity of the church was so great that more than enough money came in.

was a real joy to see both its building and completion. We also responded to the earthquake in Turkey and sent out funds via the ‘Taits’ who are based there and were active in the relief programme. We continued to support Lynn and Neil in Spain and the ‘Taits’ in Turkey and then Northern Cyprus on a regular basis. We maintained contact with Dereje in Ethiopia and plan to actively support the evangelistic events he has planned. A gift was also sent to Julie Noble, Angel Tree Project, Oruro, Bolivia, to purchase track suits for the children’s Christmas Camp.

Paul Griffiths

Church’s Charity, Community Lives Matter:

‘Community Lives Matter’ was registered as a charity in May 2020 by CLM Church in order to access a broader range of funding and to grow our work in the community.

Charity No: 1163611 CLM Church, Cottage Lane, Ormskirk L39 3NE

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Areas of current activity remain supporting those with dementia and their families/carers, luncheon club, asylum seekers, and financing one-to-one reading sessions for children who would benefit from it at Asmall Primary School.

We receive lots of small grants from a wide range of sources which helps enormously to do what we do. Jo McGonigal leads it as Manager and in developing it as well. Salaries are harder to secure funding for and for the last three years have been met by ‘The Community Fund’. A big challenge in 2024 was that this 3 year funding came to an end. Jo did a wonderful job, and secured more funding than we’d previously received for an additional member of staff, and for four more years, from The Community Fund.

Moving forward we are very clear that the path ahead in regards to funding is to only secure it from Trusts who are sympathetic to our Christian faith. We want Community Lives Matter to be a wonderful example of what it means for Christians to be active in their community as a demonstration of their faith in Jesus Christ.

We look forward to how this takes place over the next four years.

Paul Griffiths

Church Structure

The Trustees have legal oversight of the charity, with the day-to-day running of the church delegated to the ‘Leadership Team’. Numerous people then take responsibility for areas of the church on behalf of the Leadership Team.

Trustees’ Report :

Trustees provide governance of the church and are a requirement to ensure we stay true to what we are founded to do. We strive to ensure that the best available resources are available for its mission and practices, resources of property, policies and leadership. Generally this is a monitoring and guiding role but the need for critical decisions also arises from time to time.

resignations from Ted and Jenny Whitfield. John Roberts came to the end of his nine year tenure. Matt was invited to attend trustees meetings, pending his election in 2025.

Philip Walker, Chair of Trustees

Charity No: 1163611 CLM Church, Cottage Lane, Ormskirk L39 3NE

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Cottage Lane Mission 2025 Financial Statements 1

Financial Report 2024

The Income & Expenditure Account shows a breakdown of our sources of unrestricted income and the analysis of our areas of expenditure, both compared with the budget for 2024. The actual figures for 2023 are also presented.

Income for the year at £98K was £11K better than budget. Praise the Lord. For the second year running, we received substantial one-off donations; total: £6K. Regular giving to CLM was £66K, an encouraging 16% up on 2023 and £7K better than budget.

Total expenditure in 2024, as expected, exceeded £100K for the first time! At £103K, it was £23K more than 2023 but £13K less than budget, the main reasons being:

The budget included £8K for one off major items: £6K for new windows and doors and £2K for improvements to our technical equipment. We postponed replacement of windows and doors in favour of the refurbishment of Café Leaf, which cost about one half of the £8K.
The budget provided £5K for photocopying in the light of the significant increase in both copier rental and printing costs. As promised in last year’s report, the drive to reduce the number of copies, particularly colour which is 10 times more expensive than black/white was successful in that we beat budget by £2K.
Missions spend was £10K, substantially less than the budget of £15K.

Overall, in 2024, expenditure exceeded income by £5K compared with a budget overspend of £29K, a very healthy and welcome out-turn. Our funds total £76K, compared with a budget of £52K.

I make no apology for repeating yet again my pleas of previous years for folk to consider legacies to CLM in their wills. If you do decide to leave CLM a legacy, it is important that you let me know. Legacies to CLM are something we should prayerfully consider; they make a real difference as we have seen in the past. Of course, anybody can leave a legacy to CLM but, as far as I am aware, nobody has done so.

Charity No: 1163611 CLM Church, Cottage Lane, Ormskirk L39 3NE

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Cottage Lane Mission 2023 Financial Statements 2 Charity No: 1163611 CLM Church, Cottage Lane, Ormskirk L39 3NE

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Cottage Lane Mission 2025 Financial Statements 2

Financial Report Budget 2025

The 2025 budget was prepared last November and was approved by our trustees at the end of that month. Again, we can praise God that, as at May 2025, we are on track to end 2025 in a much healthier position than predicted.

The budget schedule compares our 2025 budget with our actual income & expenditure for 2024.

Total income is budgetted at £95K.

General giving is predicted to total £64K.
Rental income is budgetted at £2K plus £10K from Community Lives Matter.
Gift Aid is expected to generate £14K.
Total Expenditure is budgetted at £120K, £17K in excess of 2024.
Maintenance budget at £20K provides for routine maintenance, £5K for replacing windows and front door, £3K for resurfacing the car park, £2K for technical issues and £2K for renewals.
In addition, £3K is set aside for much needed improvements to audio/ visual equipment
The budget assumes our continued participation in Maximise, and provides for an increase in the rate of member contributions.
Missions giving at £10K reflects our continuing commitments.

The total deficit assumed in the 2025 budget of £25K, although significant, is sustainable. Funds are now predicted to fall to £50K by the end of 2025, comfortably above the minimum required to meet our commitments.

GE Maitland, Treasurer

Charity No: 1163611 CLM Church, Cottage Lane, Ormskirk L39 3NE

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Pastoral: Charity No: 1163611 CLM Church, Cottage Lane, Ormskirk L39 3NE

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The objectives of the church are :

The advancement of the Christian faith for the benefit of the public in accordance with the statement of faith appearing in the schedule.

Such other charitable purposes as shall, in the opinion of the charity trustees, further the work of the church.

Pastoral Report:

It is a privilege to be part of the body of Christ with each one bringing the gifts we have into the fellowship.

Those gifts are many and varied. One being pastoral support. This can take the form of a gentle inquiry after the Sunday service of ‘how are you?’ to recognise after a conversation that someone might need some extra time of sharing.

Telephone conversations, cups of coffee, home visits all provide that network of support within the fellowship that are so crucial to us functioning as the body of Christ within this current generation as the Lord intended.

Undergirding it all is to bring the reality of the Word of God and the Lord Jesus Christ into our lives demonstrable by practical means, prayerful support and sharing one another’s burdens. wonderful church!

Marion Walker

Life Groups:

2024 started with five life groups running weekly, each with ten-fifteen people involved. Three groups met in people’s homes, one at CLM, prior to luncheon club, and one for young people. They studied various Bible topics, allowing deeper searching into the passages studied and giving opportunities to ask questions and learn together.

Those attending a group got to know each other better and were able to share joys and tears, praying for one another. The small groups joined together at CLM once a month for our All T ogether.

Life groups are about real life, living as a Christian beyond Sundays. This is made easier with the love

Charity No: 1163611 CLM Church, Cottage Lane, Ormskirk L39 3NE

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and support of other believers. I would encourage anyone who is not yet part of a group to consider joining one. You will be very welcome.

Pam Smith

Young People’s Activities

Toddler Group

It was 1989 when CLM opened its doors to Toddler group and is still popular with an average of between twelve & sixteen families attending each week. The Christmas events, which run over two weeks are very much appreciated and we made over forty-two parcels for our ‘Breakfast with Santa’ morning.

We are a team of 6 people, We also appreciate occasional help from others. Sadly though, In December, we had to say goodbye to Mauren, who after many years retired, and Ann, who had been with us for 2 years. A big thank you to both ladies, also to John Roberts, who continues to put the toys out each week.

We pray that God continues to bless this group and ask for you to pray that we continue to bless our community

Dorothy Rawsthorne

CLM Kids

Sunday work

We are grateful for the leadership of the kids work at CLM. CLM kids is during the service on Sundays (excluding toast) when the children have been exploring the Bible using a resource called, The Greatest Story Ever. This resource helps children develop their Bible knowledge and understanding, but also allows them to grow and lean closer to God. There is a lot of hard work and discussion behind the scenes that goes in to the children’s work.

Lego Club

In May 2024, we launched an after school Kids Lego Group, which is held once a month and involves games, Lego, as well as a Bible story and reflection time.

Kids’ Events

CLM launched a Light Party , Christmas party

and also ran a successful Easter Egg Hunt , open for the community. All these kids’ events have been free to the community to bless families and with fun activities. These have all

There is a lot of hard work and discussion behind the scenes that goes into the children’s work.

Charity No: 1163611 CLM Church, Cottage Lane, Ormskirk L39 3NE

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been enjoyed by the community and we will continue to develop these further for 2025/2026.

Youth

Youth club

It’s been great to see the youth work go from strength to strength. We were blessed to see numbers increasing (age 11-16) and to increase sessions from running monthly to twice a month. The youth are building friendships and growing in faith. The Christmas youth party went really well.

The youth are building friendships and growing in faith.

Sunday Youth Work

Youth currently explore the Bible with Youth for Christ’s Rock Solid resource. This uses games, videos and topic-based discussions to help them understand and explore further. These sessions aim to be fun and enjoyable.

Students/Young Adults

Young Adults

The Young adults (Ages 18-30), meet together as Encounter. These are bi-weekly sessions run by Becca Hughes. The sessions are split into Spirituals and Socials.

Currently, during the spiritual session, they watched ‘ The Chosen’ and had an opportunity for discussion. The group continues to enjoy fellowship together and has fun on their socials!

Student Programme

We enjoyed having students from Edge Hill University with us and we look forward to an increased Student programme in 2025.

Matt Bentley

Social Activities:

Walking Group

In 2024, up until May, we had some good walks. These included going to Croston, Southport, Ladies Walk to Ruff Woods in Ormskirk, New Brighton and Burscough Warf to the Ring of Bells.

They were well attended and enjoyable and always finish with fellowship and a chat over coffee.

Charity No: 1163611 CLM Church, Cottage Lane, Ormskirk L39 3NE

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Regrettably after, ten years running the CLM Walking Group, it was time to hang up my walking boots, in May 2024.

I would like to thank everybody for their support in making the walks so enjoyable.

Ginny Salkeld

Ladies’ Craft Meeting

Throughout 2024 we have produced some good crafting. We always start off the evening with a prayer before we get on with the activity which has been planned. We always start off the evening with a The ladies who come don't all attend prayer before we get on with the activity church, so it is our aim to share God's love which has been planned. as we get alongside them and help them with the craft.

ladies attend regularly, and we can get up to fifteen. Some of the things we have made are, Wind Chimes, Suncatchers and Decorated Tiles with Mosaics, which they all enjoyed making.

We had to have a break as from September but look forward to starting up again in 2025.

Ginny Salkeld, Jane Durban & Ruth Morris

Women Rock:

‘He is my rock and my salvation’. Psalm 62 verse 6

Women Rock (WR) is a Christian women’s event that takes place at CLM four times a year, usually on the fourth Friday of the agreed month.

It is a combination of a wellbeing theme, worship and teaching session. Usually an outside female speaker brings God’s word alive to us relating to the relevant theme.

For example, this year we’ve looked at perfume, how it’s made, and its uses, and were challenged about the fragrance of our lives- are they pleasing to God?

Themes this year

January we looked at hair - a big thank you to Joanne and Deb for bringing our wellbeing talk and giving fabulous spiritual input.

April we looked at perfume - a big thank you to Tina for asking us what we smell like to God

Charity No: 1163611 CLM Church, Cottage Lane, Ormskirk L39 3NE

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July we looked at wellbeing of the mind - thank you Charlotte for an excellent thought-provoking evening

October we looked at being a women - Sarah and Myra brought great insight to encourage us and the importance of being a women in God’s image

God’s word is vital to encourage and speak to Christian

women in today’s society, so we can all say ‘He is my rock and my salvation’ in all of life’s ups and downs and bits in-between. This is the main purpose of WR.

It is open to all Christian women within the surrounding areas.

We have been running the event for 3 years now and a big thank you to those who stand beside us to make this event happen and the success it has been. We want to serve Jesus in all we do.

Diane Griffiths & Pam Smith

Administration:

There are many different aspects to church administration, all equally important and all come under the umbrella of the Leadership Team.

We persevere to try and communicate church activities through social media sites, noticesheets, flyers, broadcast group, rolling notices on the screens in the Hub & Cafe Leaf and even by taking DVD’s out to those who can’t attend church.

We are in the process of introducing a new church programme called ‘Church Suite’ which will help to alleviate time spent on administration and hopefully this will be fully operational in 2025.

Church rotas, of which there are many, are also part of the smooth running of our Sunday Services and we are always looking for people to serve on these. Please speak to me if you want to find out more.

Other areas on administration include DBS checking, data protection control, keeping on top of church policies, annual service checks, food hygiene certificates to name but a We thank the many people who carry out these tasks. few.

There are other areas which have not been mentioned. This is just a window into the many areas of life a busy church. We thank the many people who carry out these tasks and ask for your prayers as we endeavour to keep Jesus central to all that we do so that it is His name which is glorified.

Jackie Currie

Charity No: 1163611 CLM Church, Cottage Lane, Ormskirk L39 3NE

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Building & Technical:

This year has seen a concerted effort to spruce up parts of the church and make it feel warmer and more welcoming. The re-designation of the Meeting Room

This year has seen a concerted effort to spruce up parts of the church

as The Hub with living wall, wall text and media screen has created a more interesting and flexible meeting space. Café Leaf has been renovated with new chairs and a media screen, and the new (heavy – I know, I fixed it on the wall!) mirror has created an allusion of more space. The “welcome” script sign in the foyer, like the media screens, comes on automatically when it monitors someone entering the church and turns off again after the last person has left.

Our commitment not only to our members but very much to the community has been demonstrated by the defibrillator erected on the outer front wall of the church. Check it out if you haven’t done so already; you never know when you may need to offer vital assistance to someone else.

Our Sunday services, streamed to YouTube are increasing in popularity. To my critical technical judgement we could still make improvements but I think it’s serving its purpose well enough. Please see this as an outreach ministry and support it by subscribing to our channel and giving our broadcasts a Like.

Finally, I was saddened to lose Luke from my team as he and Kylie moved away for pastures new. Luke’s great gift was he always saw technical problems as challenges and remained cool until together we found solutions. He was a real support.

Philip Walker, Property Manager and Technical Team Leader

Health & Safety:

Over this past year we have seen a growth in people coming through the doors into CLM. This has meant that systems we had in place had to be looked at to ensure we were still keeping everyone safe when moving around the site.

When on the church site we all need to be aware of our own safety and also of others, so that if you see something unsafe, please report it to me, a trustee, or someone on the leadership team. Never ignore anything which could be deemed as an unsafe item or an unsafe practice. Always err on the side of caution and report it. We have a lot more cars around particularly on a Sunday morning.

Points to consider:

If parking in CLM car park, please ensure your car is parked between the white lines. Also, is the car parked safely and such that people can get past it in the event of an emergency We have quite a few older & disabled members who need a space in the church car park. The Farm car park is available for others to use. (please speak with Roger Currie.)

John Roberts, Health & Safety Officer

Charity No: 1163611 CLM Church, Cottage Lane, Ormskirk L39 3NE

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Charity No: 1163611 CLM Church, Cottage Lane, Ormskirk L39 3NE

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Cottage Lane Mission 2025 Financial Statements 1

Financial Report 2024

Total expenditure in 2024, as expected, exceeded £100K for the first time! At £103K, it was £23K more than 2023 but £13K less than budget, the main reasons being:

The budget included £8K for one off major items: £6K for new windows and doors and £2K for improvements to our technical equipment. We postponed replacement of windows and doors in favour of the refurbishment of Café Leaf, which cost about one half of the £8K.
The budget provided £5K for photocopying in the light of the significant increase in both copier rental and printing costs. As promised in last year’s report, the drive to reduce the number of copies, particularly colour which is 10 times more expensive than black/white was successful in that we beat budget by £2K.
Missions spend was £10K, substantially less than the budget of £15K.

Overall, in 2024, expenditure exceeded income by £5K compared with a budget overspend of £29K, a very healthy and welcome out-turn. Our funds total £76K, compared with a budget of £52K.

Charity No: 1163611 CLM Church, Cottage Lane, Ormskirk L39 3NE

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Cottage Lane Mission 2023 Financial Statements 2 Charity No: 1163611 CLM Church, Cottage Lane, Ormskirk L39 3NE

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Cottage Lane Mission 2025 Financial Statements 2

Financial Report Budget 2025

The budget schedule compares our 2025 budget with our actual income & expenditure for 2024.

Total income is budgetted at £95K.

General giving is predicted to total £64K.
Rental income is budgetted at £2K plus £10K from Community Lives Matter.
Gift Aid is expected to generate £14K.
Total Expenditure is budgetted at £120K, £17K in excess of 2024.
Maintenance budget at £20K provides for routine maintenance, £5K for replacing windows and front door, £3K for resurfacing the car park, £2K for technical issues and £2K for renewals.
In addition, £3K is set aside for much needed improvements to audio/ visual equipment
The budget assumes our continued participation in Maximise, and provides for an increase in the rate of member contributions.
Missions giving at £10K reflects our continuing commitments.

GE Maitland, Treasurer

Charity No: 1163611 CLM Church, Cottage Lane, Ormskirk L39 3NE

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Pastoral: Charity No: 1163611 CLM Church, Cottage Lane, Ormskirk L39 3NE

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