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← Acomb Methodist Church

2024-08-31-accounts

Annual Report for Period 1[st] September 2023 to 31[st] August 2024

Charity Commission Registered Number 1166757 You will find us on Front Street, Acomb, York postcode YO24 3BX

The governing documents of the Methodist Church are the Deed Of Union (1932) and Methodist Church Act (1976).

Section 4 Methodist Church Act 1976 states

The purposes of the Methodist Church are and shall be Purposes deemed to have been since the date of union the advancement of—

The Mission Statement of Acomb Methodist Church

Our Church’s calling is to encourage growth through:

Worship

Learning and Caring

Service

Evangelism

The Administration of Acomb Methodist Church

The Church is held on the 1976 Model Trust by the Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes, and the Church Council act as Managing Trustees.

Managing Trustees at 31[st] August 2024

Managing Trustees at 31ging Trustees at 31ing Trustees at 31g Trustees at 31 Trustees at 31[st] August 2024gust 2024ust 2024
Name Role(s)
Rev. Andy Lindley Minister, Chair
David Blamire Steward, Communion Steward
Robin Taylor Treasurer
Gillian Mason Steward
Joan North Pastoral
Olive Waterfield Member
Sheila Blamire Communion Steward
Joan North Member
Rob Harrison AV for worship
Fran Taylor Member
Geraldine Ferry Steward
Richard Grosberg Member
Sarah Stone Member
Ruth Setchell Member
Lois Broadbent Member
Naomi Prince Member

The Church Council will appoint annually all Church Officers as determined from time to time by the Council whether on the nomination of a committee or otherwise; all such appointments being for the year commencing 1 May, apart from the Church Treasurer, whose appointment will commence on 1 September. The Council will also appoint the committees of the Church, again as from 1 May each year.

Church Council members (managing trustees) are appointed by the Annual Church meeting at which all church members are eligible to vote. Organisation of the Church

Reports from Church Outreach, Groups, Projects, and Ministries AGM 18[th] May 2025

Garden (Kath Musgrove):

The Acomb Methodist Community garden is now in its 10th year and has truely gone from strength to strength.

In the beginning there was a small; but determined and dedicated group of people carving out a garden from reclaimed land. The garden gradually evolved round a central cross shape defined by the paths. The 4 quadrants were productive, playful, prayerful and colourful. In addition to these main areas, we have a winter interest garden, the lockdown bed, a herb bed, and in the centre, a water feature which trickles delightfully over cobble stones.

We have a great cohort of people on the Saturday morning monthly sessions mainly from church; but some from the wider areas who all find it offers them something, people come and tell me how much they have benefited from the sessions. The morning coffee and cake is a great opportunity for everyone to chat and get to know each other. The garden is used and enjoyed by many other people from Acomb who just come to sit and enjoy the peace and solitude it provides - a great asset for the church and everyone in the area.

Property (Robin Taylor):

It has been a fairly dramatic couple of years for our property and resourcing it. Last year Rev Andy was caretaking the property role and oversaw two fairly major updates. The windows adjacent to the side entrance and associated guttering were replaced. To be fair this was initiated by Gill Mason while she wore the property hat but she had stood down before it bore fruit. Then we spent a lot (relatively) of our reserve money updating the fire alarm system, and adding new fire doors which had been mandated by a fire risk assessment.

Coming into this Methodist year and Rev Andy had moved on and I handed over treasurer responsibilities to Fran after last year’s accounts were examined in October. Richard, Fran, and I formed a resources group to look after finances and property in this big impact year as we sought to enact the vision of ‘Building Sustainable Hope’ to transition the building for the next 50 years. Thanks to Sue Wrenn, who has been giving us consultative support on property matters.

I am carrying the Property hat notionally, but it is fair to say we have worked collaboratively on finance, property, and project management.

As is clear to all, the construction phase of what we have been working on is upon us! As you may recall last year, we were intending to replace the pitched roof and rainwater goods over church, add on substantial solar panels (44kWh), replace the windows in church with double glazed units and replace the suspended ceiling and lighting in room 4 at a cost of c £300,000. We started working the detail with District, D3 (architects and contract manager), Circuit Resources manager Angie and our resources team. Everything went well until just before planning permission was about to be approved when we were asked to carry out a bat survey. The survey found evidence of bats in the roof. Now the grant money available has to be spent by June and planning permission would not be forthcoming without a spring survey to determine mitigations for the bat presence so the project had to pivot substantially to retain the grant money.

Long story short we decided to substitute the flat roofs over room 2 and corridors for the pitched roof, reduce the amount of solar panels to fit the flat roof space and retain the rest. District found other churches who could soak up the shortfall on solar panels as that was a key condition of the grant money. So far, we have £272,000 in hand of a project cost of £286,000 so we may end up having to find shortfall at the end depending how much contingency is used up. Fran can speak to how we do that if necessary.

So to repeat, we are replacing and insulating the flat roofs over room 2 and the corridors and that is in progress now. From the 16th May, the windows in church will begin to be replaced and continue for just over 3 weeks. The church will still be useable in the evenings and at weekends. On the 20th May, work will begin to replace the ceiling in room 4 (about 2 weeks we hope). At the beginning of June work on the solar panels will start. Projected completion is scheduled to be 13th June.

Obviously behind the scenes Richard and Linsay have been working with all the groups that use our church trying to keep the disruption to a minimum and keeping everyone informed. It does mean we have had to suspend Friday Cafe until the church windows are complete.

All our thanks to Linsay and the caretaking team as they cope with the disruptions that inevitably arise from having a live construction site, while still keeping all our lettings going.

In other property news a few things have been repaired (taps, urinal flush and sadly a leak in the flat roof – if only we had known!). Some things have been maintained and serviced – coffee machine, central heating in church and bungalow and the organ.

When the current work is complete we will get the fire alarm system and fire extinguishers serviced and start to pick up ongoing work from there. One issue we want to resolve is the curtaining in room 4 and possibly room 5. We are all aware we will be very short of money until the anticipated energy savings kick in and we can fill the money drain that is the bungalow while it is unoccupied. Richard has been in contact with the York Council’s social housing department YorHomes again to see what they can do now they are in a new financial year.

Going forward, we would like to find the money to replace the roof on church, but are concerned that some of us are feeling run down from the efforts thus far; it might be a long haul of church fundraising if a magic bullet grant cannot be found. So, if you have a passion for what the church does and want it to be around for the next 50 years come and join the resources team. That goes double if you have a passion for fundraising!

Cinema (Robin Taylor):

The cinema continues to meet monthly and there is a sense of a steady adherence with maybe a gradual increase. It continues to be a place for socialising and has the feel of a night out. We try to be as accessible as possible and always run with subtitles as that helps many of our attenders.

A double header film sandwiching a splendid high tea (thanks to Sarah!) did duty as a fundraiser and a celebration of the Community Cinema. Many plaudits were given and received so it may be something we attempt again.

Numbers vary month to month in the range 30-70 and they tend to be ‘regulars’ for the most part but we often welcome first timers.

We are always on the lookout for helpers – particularly for serving refreshments before the film and at the half time interval. If you are interested, speak to Andrew Wrenn or Robin Taylor.

Safeguarding (Gerry Ferry):

Safeguarding is the responsibility of every one of us. Training is available, indeed mandatory, for certain roles in the church, but it is open to all who want to learn more about protecting children, young people, and vulnerable adults (warmly invited!) The two types of training are Foundation and Advanced. There is a Foundation session planned for 18 June at Haxby. Please book through the Circuit Office. Details of all these courses can be found on the District website and renewal is every four years. For details of who should go on them, please look at the Safeguarding noticeboard by the door into church. DBS checks have been undertaken for people who have changed or gotten new roles, and they have been safely recruited. Volunteer role forms are now being rolled out for all who have a role in the church. Please fill them in and return them to me. This is so that we can see where the gaps are.

I know that this seems to be a lot of form filling, but, as I said earlier, we want people to be safe, so a big thank you to everyone who works hard to make this community what it is and to continue to grow.

Boardgame Church (Isaac Broadbent):

Board Game Church has had a rocky, but promising start. I took a while to get to grips with what the afternoons should be like. This meant that it has not been advertised as much as it could, and church members have not often been given adequate notice. This has led to slightly lower turnout from church members and members of the public compared to the potential. Even still, we have had a lot of people from the wider Acomb and York areas attend. This has meant that people who might not otherwise come into the church have begun to engage with us. We have also had people kindly donate board games to the collection.

I waited to properly advertise the afternoons until I was able to update the website with the current information. There was no point telling people to look at the website for information when it was still giving Andy’s contact details. This is now updated, and I will start pushing the events properly to both church members and the wider community of Acomb.

There is the possibility to raise more funds for the church with the sale of refreshments during the afternoon. This does need more thought though, and I think that a joint refreshment store with other church events could be a good method to ensure that catering supplies are not duplicated and are less likely to expire. Stock use and levels would need to be recorded accurately and communicated between church events.

I am excited for where Board Game Church is going to go, but I would love input from the Church as to what the goals of the afternoons should be and what would make it easier or more appealing for them to attend.

Friday Café:

The Pop up Cafe continues to be busy when it’s open on Fridays during term time between 10am and 1.30pm. Our main customers are the parents and children who attend the classes that run at Church that morning – Tumble Tots, Rhythm Time, Sing & Sign, and Treasure Chest – but the café is open to all and we have a wide range of people who come in, either occasionally or on a regular basis. We believe that we host several dozen people on average each week while we are open, including both adults and children. We do not particularly push a church message to them, but we believe that the café is an important part of building

relationships and community with the users of the building. We also have the screen up giving information about all church events whilst the café is open.

Lizzie led a wonderful Christmas singalong in December and many parents and children followed the Easter Trail that Louise set up in the garden.

Sarah works extremely hard as the café manager, baking wonderful cakes every week as well as serving whilst we are open from 10 to 1.30. Richard and Robin also help in serving and working as baristas whilst Lizzie and Gerry are excellent at front of house – talking to people, serving and clearing tables. Katie has joined us this year as barista and front of house! Joan continues to bake amazing cakes each week – she is definitely our “star baker”! If you have not been to the café at all – please come on down, we would love to see you. We tend to be busiest between 10.30 and 12.

Pastoral:

  1. We currently have…. Members 55 Adherents 30 Total 85

These figures include Katie and Steve Hobson, and Lois Broadbent who have transferred their membership to AMC, and Jo Lindley who has transferred out.

Also we sadly lost two of our congregation this year. Pauline Alexander and Mary Pearson. Their long and precious lives were celebrated at their funerals here in February this year.

  1. Our pastoral team consists of 12 members. Geraldine Ferry also joins our meetings as safeguarding officer and we value her input. All the team do an excellent job of care. We all benefitted from taking part in a dedication service in the new year led by Rev John Hayward too.

  2. At our latest team meeting, Rev John initiated a training session for us all on how to care for the bereaved or those who were grieving for whatever reason. This included “10 Best things to say to someone in grief” and “10 Worst things to say to someone in grief”. This training was very beneficial to us all.

Eco-Church:

Our Eco Church journey has taken a back seat recently and unfortunately we were not in a position to make an application for silver by the deadline of End Jan. Therefore, when we do apply, we are not subject to the more stringent requirements of the new Eco Church survey. As a member of ACT NOW, we have changed how we are operating and are no longer offering the talks, conference and fair. Instead, we are going back to our roots in supporting each other with becoming sustainable Churches and congregations whilst looking for opportunities for collaboration.

The new Eco Church Gold requirements involve a lot of policies and procedures and need to show that care for creation is embedded. It is no longer a tick box exercise and requires a real and focused commitment to everything we do. We therefore need to consider as a Church if this is truly something we want at the heart of our mission and what that would look like for us as a community. I am concerned at present that Eco Church is a want held by relatively few and not core to who we are as a Church.

However, it might be that our current Building Sustainable Hope project and new Minister might inject some passion into this area of our mission. Looking forward, we need to do

some work as a community in articulating our vision as a Church, and I am hopeful that environmental concern and care for creation will be a key part pf this. Something to consider over the next year.

Tea To Go:

This project continues to be a real blessing to the community with over 40 healthy home cooked meals being prepared every week. We have run every week except for where there has been a bank holiday and have an excellent team of volunteers. The community Is really very supportive and looks after each other. We are indebted to Mikey, customer turned head chef, for helping so regularly.

Funds are looking quite good as the Food Bank grant covers 45% of our costs but we will need some community donations to meet the rest of the yearly £6k budget. We have struggled with volunteers but have had a number of new people starting over the last few months. A few under 18’s are doing their Duke of Edinburgh with us (following an update to our safeguarding policy) which is great for us and them.

Personally, I am still struggling with the pressure of too many roles and do need some more people to help with the administration of this key mission. There is a paid role of 2 hours per week (at Real Living Wage) for the right person, to take the orders from customers, order stock items, and recruit and manage volunteers. If anybody knows of someone who would be a good fit for volunteer management then I would be very interested in talking to them.

Other things that need doing:

Any help in these would be gratefully received.

Youth Work:

Children and Youth sessions are going well with young people engaged in our time spent out of the main worship space. Some families have to organise their weekends around this offering, and we are very glad it is working well.

We have a good volunteer base who have been safely recruited. There is scope for more (especially a doorkeeper for Godly Play), but we are able to function. It would also be useful for the young people to have a more diverse input, so all would be welcome to volunteer to help with our offering.

Katie and I had a discussion with the Young People about development of Youth work and what they like and dislike. She is going to write this up as a report, but we do feel that we need to have a 10-year development plan for Children and Young People. It is important to bear in mind that whilst there are many young people in our church congregation currently, in 5 years time many of them will be adults. An area for development is perhaps how we engage with and invite families from our communities and outreach offering to join us on a Sunday, especially those who are unchurched. We also may need to look at if there is anything different we should be doing.

As part of this, we are delighted that the Circuit is intending to make some more hours available to us from the Children, Youth and Families Team. It is likely that over the next year, Amy will have more time to work with our youth and their families and develop our offering to

better meet their needs. The youth fund is also looking quite healthy (at about £8k) which will help us build this area of our ministry so we can continue to grow and develop both as a church, and the faith of our young people.

Minister’s Message:

Grace and peace to you all in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

It is my privilege and pleasure to write a short review of the year so far. First, my thanks to all of you for the way I was welcomed into the church. It has never felt anything less than “our church” to me rather than “your church”.

Before I get into my reflections on Acomb, significant changes are happening in the Circuit. Reverends David Bidnell, John Schofield and Judith Stoddart are leaving in the summer. Reverends Jill Pullan, Alex Middleton-Laing and Kate Paterson will be joining the circuit. Of course, Jill will be your minister. I have already had a handover meeting with her, and she attended our last leadership meeting and had a long conversation with the team after I left. I know she is very much looking forward to joining you in September and I hope you will be just as excited to welcome her. My last Sunday service as your minister will be on Sunday, 31st August. However, I will be Superintendent Minister for York from September, so you haven’t seen the last of me.

With regards to Acomb, I don’t know any other church that is as busy as this one and so well established in its community. It has been humbling to walk alongside you all through the year. I am not going to single people out by name and the details of what happens in all the different activities in church is properly left to those who run them and you will have had reports from them. However, I would like to pay tribute to all who volunteer week in and week out to ensure the smooth running of the church. Thank you to you all.

As we look around today, we see that the building work has commenced, and we are encased in a veritable spider’s web of scaffolding. Very soon we will have new windows, repaired flat roofs, extra solar panels and batteries. That is good, but as I said at the beginning of the year the physical building work is in some ways the least important part of Building Sustainable Hope. The most important part is the building of hope. Hope in our church and hope in our community. I deliberately chose “Let us build a house where love can dwell” as our final hymn at this morning’s service as a challenge for all of us. I pray that in the days, months and years ahead you will be that house, where love can dwell, where prophets speak, where love is found, where we reach out from our walls to our community and beyond. A house where all are named, their songs and visions heard. A place where all are loved and treasured as Christ loves and treasures each one of us.

May the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. Amen.

CHURCH RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS AGomb Methodlsl 'Church FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 August 2024 York Circuit circult.no Reglstered Charlty - Charfty Reglstratlon number 1166757 If not a registered charity HerNajesty'S.R￿enue.a￿d Customs Glft Ald number (The HMRC number 16 equivalent to.a Fegistered charity number in terms Of.eViden￿ of charilable status and may be used to give to donors or grant ftjnders wishing to see evidence of the organisation's charitable status. Methodist charities in England and Wales that a￿ not registered charities are-excepted from registration under Statutory Instrument 2014 No.242) Minister.. Rev Andrew Lindley Church Stewards". David Blamire Gillian Mason Geraldine Fery Lois.Broadbent Treasurer. Robin Taylor tofs

ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024 Acomb Methodist Church Unrestrlcted RestrEcted Totals thls FundB Funds year Totsls last year SECTION A a1 RECEIPTS Note a2 Offerings and Tax recovered Bank and CFB interest and Investment Income 36,920 727 37,647 35,532 116 116 Letungs Other receipts TOTAL-RECEIPT 51,586 61,586 42,634 a5 9,217 97,839 12,302 13,029 21,619 110,868 69.038 147,317 la7) SECTION B b1 PAYMENTS b2 Circurt Assessment or Share 40,848 40,848 38.498 b3 Donatlons 206 Repairs and Maintenance Utllitles (Insurances. water charges, hea￿ng & Ilghtlngl 33,691 33,691 11,167 b5 16,776 16,776 12,781 b6 b7 Other payments TOTAL PAYMEprr.s 36,003 127,318 5,496 5,456 41,499 132,814 97,964 f60,616 b8 (b91 SECTION C NET RECEIPTSIPAYMENTS FOR THE.YEAR c1 (a6-b8) 129,479) 7,533 121,946) (13,2991 Total fvnds brought forward from lesl year c2 45,039 16,092 61,131 (c6 74,430 Sub total Ic1+c2) 15,560 23,625 39,185 61,131 Transfers and adjustments 9,441 (9,441) (c71 ¢5 TOTAL FUNDS AT END OF YEAR Ic3+c4) 26,001 14,184 39,185 (c8) 61,131 (c6) SECTION D FOR INFORMATION ONLY: MONEY RECEIVED AND PASSED ON TO EXTERNAL ORGANISATIONS (these amounts are not to be Included In total recelptslpayments flgures above) d1 Balan￿ brought forward fram last.year .1,557 1297 d2 Off8ringslGifi&- r8ceiv8d for 8Xtemal organi68tion8 1,662 1,736 OfferingslGifts - passed.to' extemal orsanisations d4 BAIANCE STILL TO BE PAID (d1 +d2-d3) 29 1,557 2of5

Acomb Methodist Church RCH ACCO 14T AND N15A S REPOR NG TO THE CHURCH COUNCI SECTIONE Plea￿lO￿OW Gith18￿ Note5 to coffl Svmm8ry Ot the a￿￿UnIS for the year ended 31 Augusl 2U19 and Inlemal OFganis3tiDn5 reporlnll to Ihe Church Cout)allChurch Meets"ng. Noie thal th8 fund6 of gn Intemal Orllenls8Uon would normally be Restrtcted lunds unles3 It could be deatfy shown that they could be ￿sed for any Methodist purppse. This section must bg eompleled lo afflve al the gross Income and expendllure Iotals or the Church. Ifgross Income excee(Is tre Accruals threshold, then the Accruals Tnelhod of aceounung AND A DIFFERENT FORM musl be u5¢d to report the ucc4uftt81see Methodlst*tbgllel. Pieaaefefer to the gUIdan￿ note¥ trangfer8 tet%w Ihe DiatnGI 8nd connected Dl¥tsld Organi5allon8. INTERNAL ORGAWSATIONS Nel Re￿ P#yments Openlng lJaianceB ReLxipts Poymen AdjuBlments Closing baL8nct5 r7 Sub ol IDlemal Oro8nl$8tson$ fvnd8 le121 Church •¢¢o¥nts Itot41$ brought lo￿￿Td Irtsm pag• 2- totals column) TOTAL"CASHFUNUS PIELI) Y CHURCH ¢9 110,868 a7 132.814 Ib91 21,9461 61,131 39,185 c8 110868 132.814 21.946 61,131 39.185 Continue on a 88p8rale sheet if iiec2ssary aiid briijg th4 tolalg lotW8r TOTAL RECEIPTS TOTAL PAYMENTS SECTION F 'OPENING BALANCES tLOSNG BALANCES CHURCH-CASHFUNDg HELD•t31 Au vlt 2022 Co$h In hand eank CuTrenlAccounl 80,871 38,025 8ank OepJsKActount f4 Central Flnance Board Trustees for Methodl8t Church Purpoia# 260 280 Othei lunds SUB TOTAL. Church accounts 61,131 Ic81 39,185 (¢81 Tol31 funds helEI ty InlemAI Orgonlyallons Ilhe do8lnq balano toial fmm abDvel le121 e11 e12 TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH 61.131 39,185 SECTION G At I September 2023 OTHER ASSETS •nd LIABILMES 31 August 2024 gl InvBslrnpnt¥ lindude Endtswmentsl Land & Bulldlngs160e notes re Insurance value) 4150.156 ¥4 Loanlsl- show amount outstsnding at year end Other U&bllil'es f4 InclLk1e only Funds held al Ihe Central Finance Bosrrl f5 Include only Funds held al Twstee5 forMpthDEIi51 Churth Purposès g1 Indudo 6ny other tnv￿trnents (not the rash elpment of TMCP trLt&ts Eccounts th1$ 18 Included In line rs 3rrf5

Dedaratlon end IE- Name of Church Declarations and Scrutiny I confirm that these Receipt and PayTnent based accounts for the year to 31 Augusl 2024 have been prepared from the records af the Church and Ihat they include all funds under the control ofthe Church trustees. Signature of treasurer Date... 1..6.1 O-zoz Name and address oftreasurer . Post Code... Pre•éntatlon to the Church tru8te88 I confimi that the annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 August 2024 w8rehvilLkn' presented to the meeting of the Churth trustees held on .1,7.-..10.- i èL4 Signature of the Chair of the meellng Date Indep8nd8nt Examlner's Report to the Trustees of the ..Church Gharlty Number Respon8lbllltles and ba515 of report I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Kon¢..M£THQL)I.￿•T Church for the year ended 31 August 2024 set out on page5Z to 3. A5 the Church's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance wllh the requlremenls of the Charttles Act £ui i iineACI J. I report In respecl of my exarnlnatlon of the Church's accounts Barried DUI under section 145 of IhB Acl and, in carying out my 8x3minalion, I have followed all the appIl￿ble Directlons glven by thè Charlty Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. Page 4Df5

IE Ststement Name of Church A￿l￿N￿..M￿T￿ts￿j￿.T....￿H.￿.￿.￿..trj........ No. Independent Examlner's Statement I have completed my examination. I confimi 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: the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act. or the accounts do not accord with the accounting records. I have no conc£ms 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. Church Purposes or held in other trusts, bank balances and funds at the Central Finance Board of the Methodlst Church which are individually in excess of £10,000 (ten thousand pounds) at the balance sheet date. Name of Independent examlner ..E l.L.&Ehi...ELJ.ZA&&T.FI..... H. Af4N.AJ-l..,.. Relevant professional qualification of independent examiner Rzr.i AQwiJMT.S...T EI Name of firm (where appropriate) Address S....W,h.N.D.H..l.L.L. ... . .￿￿.K.T..H....Y.￿.E.￿.S￿.I.￿.E.................................... Post GodeY.¢saZ..IF.W Date .l.l•...,... Ztsz.+......, delete or circle as appropriate FomiPe%4e*•d r-￿￿ 3U%O