**Gateway Church Northumberland** _(A Charitable Incorporated Organisation)_ Annual Report Report and Financial Statements For the Year Ended 31 March 2024 _Charity number 1164586_ **Gateway Church Northumberland** _(A Charitable Incorporated Organisation)_ ## **Financial Statements For the Year Ended 31 March 2024** ## **Contents** Legal and Administrative Information Annual Report of the Trustees 2023 - 24 Financial Report and Accounts 2 ## **Gateway Church Northumberland Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31 March 2024** The Trustees present their report and audited financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024 ## **Reference and Administrative Information** **Charity Name:** Gateway Church Northumberland ## **Charity registration number:** _1164586_ ## **Registered Office and operational address** : Dene House Shilbottle Alnwick Northumberland NE66 2HS ## **Church Eldership** Joss Bray Dave Harbertson Ray Middleton ## **Trustees** Mr D Harbertson Chair Mrs J Verity Minutes Secretary Mrs G Bray Treasurer Dr J Bray Mr W Ritchie **Auditors** - Lucid Accountants and Business Advisors Ltd Lee Moor Business Park Alnwick **Bankers** - Lloyds Bank, Bondgate Within, Alnwick 3 ## **Structure, Governance and Management** ## **Governing Document** The organisation is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), registered as a charity on 1st December 2014. The charity was established with a constitution who’s only voting members are its charity trustees. In the event of the charity being wound up the trustees have no liability to settle its debts and liabilities. ## **Recruitment and Appointment of the Trustees** Under the requirements of the Constitution, except for the initial Trustees, every Trustee must be appointed for a term of three years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the Trustees. There shall be a minimum of three and a maximum of twelve Trustees. Any person retiring as a Trustee is eligible for reappointment. All members of the Trustees give their time voluntarily and received no benefits from the charity. ## **Organisational Structure** Gateway Church Northumberland has up to 12 Charity Trustees who are responsible for ensuring all legal requirements of the charity are met. The strategic and spiritual direction and pastoral oversight of Gateway Church Northumberland are the responsibility of the Church Elders. ## **Responsibilities of the Trustees** The Trustees prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the charitable company as at the balance sheet date and of its incoming resources and application of resources, including income and expenditure, for the financial year. In preparing those financial statements, the Trustees should follow best practice and: - select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; - make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; - prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is not appropriate to assume that the charity will continue on that basis. The Trustees are responsible for maintaining proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the CIO and to enable them 4 to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 1985. The Trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the CIO and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. ## **Members of the Trustees** Members of the Trustees, who served during the year and up to the date of this report are set out on page 3. As the CIO’s Trustees, we certify that: • so far as we are aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the charity’s auditors are unaware; and - we have taken all the steps that we ought to have taken - in order to make ourselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charity’s auditors are aware of that information. ## **Our Aims and Objectives Purposes and Aims** Our charity's purposes as set out in the objects contained in the CIO’s constitution: - the advancement of the Christian Religion in the United Kingdom and overseas in accordance with the statement of faith produced by the Evangelical Alliance - to relieve people who are in charitable need because of: - sickness or poor health - age - financial hardship or - some other reason by any proper means as the trustees think fit and including (where appropriate but not by way of limitation) the provision of advice, the promotions of good practices to combat such conditions and the provision of resources to alleviate or prevent need. ## **Ensuring our work delivers our aims** Each year we review our objects and activities to ensure that what we are doing meets the objects of the charity. In reviewing the year, it helps us focus on what we need to do in the coming year in order to further our aims. ## **The focus of our work** The work of Gateway Church Northumberland is always to “Love God, Love Each Other and Serve the Community.” We seek to ensure we achieve these by meeting together to worship God both in a weekly large gathering and during the week in small groups, through meeting up for coffee in friendship groups, holding social events and by helping out members of our community when it is needed, whether they are part of Gateway Community Church or not. 5 ## **How our activities deliver public benefit** ## **Who used and benefited from Gateway Church Northumberland?** Gateway Church Northumberland gathers people of all ages, from a wide variety of backgrounds and nationalities, from twenty miles in all directions and is open for anyone to come along to any of our meetings, events, and activities. Sunday meetings have regularly been attended by 40+ people. We gather families and singles, people with a wide range of health issues, those in financial need and those who have the ability to help support people in their own community and beyond. People from the church help out at the local food banks, work with Gateway into Life, give practical help to their neighbours and raise money for local, national, and international charities. ## **The last 12 months ~ from the Chair** It seems to me that this has been a year of mixed blessings, with the excitement of seeing Callum and Grace baptised, to the sad passing of Seana but the guarantee that for her, a place in Heaven, and the closing of the Seahouses Sunday Meeting for the moment and the imminent closing of the church’s involvement with the Gateway into Life house. In all of our activities though, our heart is still to see God glorified and His Kingdom increased. We put on record, year after year, that God continues to remain faithful and continues to bless us. We are so grateful to Him. God, who has provided our needs thus far, will continue to do so in all the areas of the church’s work . Our commitment is to prayer, particularly seen in the new Wednesday morning prayer group, and we believe that God will use us as a body of believers to further His purposes in Northumberland and beyond. Our numbers have remained constant this year, although Callum and Leah have moved to pastures new. We wish them God’s blessing. However, we must remind ourselves that growth is not measured in terms of numbers. Sundays continue to be a day when we have been aware of His presence, and we again acknowledge the outstanding work put in by Joss and Gill. Gill has ably and sensitively led us in worship, and she has been ably supported by the worship team. We continue to be thankful to those who manage the sound desk and words for the screen and also those who set up the chairs and tables. Washer uppers and driers have been indispensable in their service. We are also thankful for the commitment that Julian and Gill showed us in the use of their home. There are now five teams that prepare the Sunday lunch, who are ably assisted by others. Wonderful food, great family commitment to us as a church and the meals and fellowship add so much to us in our church family life. The preaching continues to be shared out between the elders. Over the last year, at Gateway, we have journeyed our way through excerpts from the Psalms, the armour of God, the promises of God, and we are continuing our study of 1 John. At Cornerstone, we examined the main characters from Judges and started on the life of Elisha. In addition, we have had our Easter and Christmas emphases, alongside our joint Christmas service with St James.’ Our prayer continues to be that we would be doers of the Word, and not hearers only. 6 The children have continued to benefit considerably from Susan’s leadership and dedication over the year and we just want to thank her for her commitment. Our prayer is that she also may know God’s blessing in all that she does along with all those who support the work. There has been a fully committed team of teachers and helpers this year. I’m sure the parents echo my thanks to those who work with the children. We continue to have communion every 2 weeks with many being involved in leading us to the Lord’s table. In terms of midweek, the elders continue to meet on Thursdays and have one meeting a month with the wider leadership team to pray for all aspects of the church’s work. The elders continue to be supported by Regions Beyond through regular contact with other leaders across the country and world and through our ongoing relationship with Ray Lowe. There is a regional hub for northern church leaders which adds that extra support. Dave is now involved with the Northeast Gospel Partnership, which involves leaders from evangelical churches across our region. Our Easter Sunday morning service on Alnmouth beach was again a great occasion. Our church weekend was wonderful, with a real sense of family togetherness and more importantly, a real sense of the presence of God. Ray Lowe’s preaching was so encouraging with the real challenge to allow the Holy Spirit to have greater sway in our lives. We have said it before, but we so much appreciated Joss and Gill’s hospitality. It seems that this year, even more was available, even table tennis. The discipleship groups continue, and these meetings cannot be overemphasised. Good relationships are being maintained and a good grounding in the scriptures has taken place. Prayer continues to be part of the groups’ life, and we as a church will die if we are not committed to prayer. Sadly, with the departure of Graham B from the church, the men’s group at his house no longer functions as part of the church. The Monday Alpha group has now successfully become a discipleship group led by Graham and Susan. Brian’s Big Breakfast continues to be highly successful and damaging to many waistlines! It is just so good to meet around the area, blessing local cafes or golf clubs and using the opportunity to invite friends along to the meal as well. Outside of the regular church activities, there have been other activities. We have had a fascinating and inspiring visit from Geoff and Sue Smith from Australia. The Badminton group continues with additional members and the Gateway Bikers have occasional get togethers. We continue to have strong links with Freedom Church in Waddington, where Joss and Gill have steady input into the leadership team. Also, the youth had an encouraging time at New Day where they met up with those from Freedom Church. 7 The work with G2L has been challenging. We had a second tenant again in the house who struggled to adjust to life in the house. There has been weekly support for the tenants, and we continue to believe that God has great purposes there, although not necessarily with our involvement. Sarah continues as the paid empowerment worker, and we are sure that God will bless her in her endeavours. Heather has led the friendship and support group with passion and commitment and Steve has become a trustee of the charity. Joss and Gill have continued to develop their close relationship with Letsema in Lesotho, going across there to celebrate his wedding. The personal support of Letsema from many members of the church has been great to see. We trust to hear much more of God’s work over there in Lesotho. There continues to be a tremendous amount of unseen pastoral work done, many lifts offered to those without cars and all of this loving service is genuinely appreciated. Finally, can I thank my fellow trustees for their invaluable work, handling the financial and administrative side of the church. The addition of Susan and Sarah to the Trustees can only strengthen the team. We are one body, and we all have our part to play and all of us must continue to have our focus on Jesus and our hearts filled with compassion for those who as yet do not know Him. ## **Contribution of Volunteers** Gateway Church Northumberland is run by volunteers as we have no paid workers. Everything we do is reliant on these volunteers: cooking Sunday lunch, setting out tables and chairs, setting up the PA, playing in the band, washing up, preaching God’s word, visiting people, giving lifts to appointments, transporting people to events, gardening for community members, setting up Zoom meetings, delivering food parcels and much more. Everyone can and does do something to help out, whatever their age, ability, or gender. ## **Carrying out our Plans for the future** As we continue through 2024 and into 2025, we will continue to Love God, Love Each Other and Serve our Communities and Desperately Expecting God to Breakthrough into our lives and into the lives of the people around us. We will continue to learn to be relaxed in God, be reliant on God and be ready for God. We will continue to meet on Sunday afternoons at Shilbottle Community Hall. Through the week we will continue to support each other as part of God’s family through the Discipleship Groups, the use of WhatsApp and in person where appropriate. We will continue to support each other practically, where possible, and also reach out into our communities to demonstrate God’s love to all. The Big Breakfasts which happen monthly in various locations continue. As we go on through the next year and beyond, we expect the discipleship groups to continue to grow and that new groups will be formed as we seek to find the best way to 8 organise the groups. We would like to run more ALPHA courses and hope to run a Marriage Course to offer time for couples to strengthen their marriages. We expect the links between ourselves and Freedom Church in Waddington to continue to strengthen and for us to support the leadership there as they establish their church and the people that are part of them. We are also continuing to see our relationship with other leaders across the Regions Beyond group of churches deepen and strengthen, receiving and giving support to each other. In particular we will be maintaining and building our relationship with Ray Lowe as an apostolic input into the church. Dave will also continue to develop relationships with leaders from evangelical churches from the North East. Our support of prison ministry will continue both financially, through Junction42, and with people being involved in a variety of ways, including through voluntary work and those employed by NEPACS. We will continue to support “Gateway into Life” including providing some of the trustees. We will also continue to support Christian work - in particular supporting the Glorious Tabernacle church in Lesotho and the group of churches we belong to, Regions Beyond – which is part of Newfrontiers. We also continue aim to use the Gateway Bikers, Gateway Badminton, Gateway Golfers, further church walks and other social events to build relationships with people in our communities. We continue to aspire to use at least 50% of our income to help others. ## **Financial review Overview** We began the financial year (April 1[st] 2023) with £42200 in the bank and ended the financial year (31[st] March 2023) with £53840 in the bank, giving us a profit on the year of £11640. This was due to an increase of generous giving over the year, an increase in our Gift Aid income and not reaching our target of giving 50% of donated income away. Our income from donations from church members has increased on the previous year, more members are continuing to give through the bank. Our Gift Aid payment from HMRC also increased to £6535!! Our outgoings have also increased over the last year. This is partly due to the increase in living costs. We also had our Church Weekend, our normal outgoings for licences and subscriptions with thirtyone:eight (formally CCPAS), Worship Extreme (online song projection facility) and CCLI plus the monthly subscription for the children’s work along with our licences for Zoom and online streaming permissions. We set out with the intention of trying to give 50% of our donation income away. 50% would have been £22025; we gave away £13758, 30% of our income. This was to the charities we are committed to giving to and to members of the church in need of support. Donations are made regularly to Regions Beyond Churches, the Bible Network, Gateway into Life and Junction42. We have also given donations to the Royal British Legion (wreath for Remembrance Day), members of the church, Letsema Thejane (Church Leader in 9 Lesotho), a school in Nigeria we have contact with and people struggling in our communities. The recommendation is that we continue to try to give at least 50% of donated income away, but that we also aim to keep 6 months out goings in reserve ~ i.e. £22060 with the current rate of monthly outgoings (for 2024-25) and the extras we are committed to. In the current financial year, we are expecting both income and expenditure to continue to increase due to rising living costs and new people joining the church. We also support the work of Cornerstone Church as it reaches out and becomes established in the north of the county. ## **Principal Funding Sources** Gateway Church Northumberland’s only funding source is the donations of the church members. ## **Reserves Policy** The Trustees have examined the charity’s requirements for reserves in light of the main risks to the organisation. It has established a policy whereby the unrestricted funds held by the charity should be at least 6 months of the expenditure. Budgeted expenditure for 2024-25 is £44120 and therefore the target is £22060 in the general funds. The reserves are needed to meet the day-to-day expenditure requirements of the charity, and the Trustees are confident that at this level they would be able to continue the current activities of the charity in the event of a significant drop in funding. At the end of 2023-24, the general funds had £53840 easily giving us our 6-month buffer going forward. The strategy is to continue to maintain a 6-month buffer whilst aiming to give away at least 50% of our donated income, which includes the Gift Aid claim from HMRC. ## **Auditors** Lucid Accountants and Business Advisors Ltd were re-appointed as the charitable company’s auditors during the year and have expressed their willingness to continue in that capacity. This report has been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities (issued in March 2005) and in accordance with the special provisions of Part VII of the Companies Act 1985 relating to small entities. Approved by the Trustees on November 15[th] 2024 and signed on its behalf by ## Dave Harbertson Mr David Harbertson (Chair) 10 ## **Section B Balance sheet** |**Fixed assets**
**Tangible assets (Note 9)**
**Investments (Note 10)**
**_Total fixed assets_**
**Current assets**
**Stock and work in progress**
**Debtors (Note 11)**
**(Short term) investments**
**Cash at bank and in hand**
**_Total current assets_**
**Creditors: amounts falling due within**
**one year (Note 12)**
**_Net current assets/(liabilities)_**
**_Total assets less current liabilities_**
**Creditors: amounts falling due after**
**one year (Note 12)**
**Provisions for liabilities and charges**
**_Net assets_**
**Funds of the Charity**
**Unrestricted funds**
**Restricted income funds (Note 13)**
**Endowment funds(Note 13)**
**_Total funds_**
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all
the trustees|Note
B01
B02
B03
B04
B05
B06
B07
B08
B09
B10
B11
B12
B13
B14
B15
B16
B17
B18
B19
B20|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**£**
F01|
**Restricted**
**income**
**funds**
**£**
F02|**Endowment**
**funds**
**£**
F03|**Total this**
**year**
**Total last**
**year**
**£**
**£**
F04
F05|**Total this**
**year**
**Total last**
**year**
**£**
**£**
F04
F05| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||-|-|-|-|-| |||-|-|-|-|-| |||-|-|-|-|-| |||-|-|-|-|-| |||||||| |||-|-|-|-|-| |||-|-|-|-|-| |||-|-|-|-|-| |||54,340|-|-|54,340|42,200| |||54,340|-|-|54,340|42,200| |||||||| |||-|-|-|-|-| |||||||| |||54,340|-|-|54,340|42,200| |||||||| |||54,340|-|**-**|54,340|42,200| |||||||| |||-|-|-|-|-| |||-|-|-|-|-| |||||||| |||54,340|-|-|54,340|-| |||||||| |||54,340|||54,340|42,200| |||-|||-|-| ||||-||-|-| |||||-|-|-| |||||||| |||54,340|-|-|54,340|42,200| |||||||| |||Signature||Date of
approval
Print Name||| |||||Mrs G Bray||15-Nov-24| |||||Mr D Harbertson||15-Nov-24| CC17a (Excel) 18/01/2025 1 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of Gateway Church Northumberland On accounts lor the year ended 31 March 2024 Charity no (If any) 1164586 Sot out on pages I report lo the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity ("the Trust.) for the year ended Responsibilities and basls of report As th8 charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 Iyhe Acr). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 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 examinerf3 Statement apphÈaw￿. Delete I l rf not applicable. I have completed my examination. I confimi that no material matters have Come to my attention in connection with the examination {other than that disclosed below ') which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. the accounting records y￿re not kept in accordan￿ with section 130 of the Charities Act. or the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or the accounts did not comply with the appliGable r8quirements concerning the fomi and content of accounts set out in th6 Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair, view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other rnatte￿ in connection with the èxamination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply. Slgned: Dats: 9 January 2025 Name: Russell James 8ambling IER Oct 2018 Relevant professlonal qualification($1 or body (if any): Charterèd Management Accountant (ACMA) Addr888: Lucid Accountants & Business Advisors Ltd, One Trinity G￿en, Eldon Street, South Shields, Tyne & Wear NE33 1&4 Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity a¢counts.' directions and guidance for examiners). Glve here brlef detalls of any items that the examiner wishes to dlsclose. IER Oct 2018