2021-10-31-accounts

GOOD NEWS FELLOWSHIP UK

Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1167287

ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st] OCTOBER 2021

GOOD NEWS FELLOWSHIP UK

Registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation No. 1167287

ANNUAL REPORT FOR YEAR ENDING 31[st] OCTOBER 2021

The work of producing and distributing the Good News newspaper has continued consistently for another year as we continued to navigate through the Covid-19 pandemic, and we thank God for His leading and provision.

Our priorities for 2021 were:

1. Continue promotional efforts, especially through some Christian conventions and exhibitions, speaking at churches, limited advertising in Christian publications and promotions on Christian radio.

2. Maintaining our current customers, restarting the paused customers and looking to extend personal outreach with new customers

3. Work in cooperation with Outreach UK and Pocket Testament League on the Casting Your Nets programme

4. Continue to grow the ministry to prisons, Christian half-way houses and rehabilitation centres, working through Christian chaplains

5. Ensuring the monthly publication of the Good News paper meets the needs of those using the paper as well as those reading about the Christian faith

Activities

The Good News newspaper was produced each month and sold to missions, churches and individuals as a means of helping them in Christian witness, testimony and outreach. Some city missions, plus a number of churches and individuals, were unable to restart outreach and volumes only recovered to around 49,000 per month by October 2021 – lower than anticipated in our budget. Before Covid the average monthly circulation was 78,000. However, there have again been many encouraging reports of lives being changed by God as people receive the paper and talk about articles it contained.

As part of our thrust to grow the work, we planned stands at a number of Christian exhibitions and events. Due to Covid, the only event which went ahead was the Christian Resources Exhibition at Sandown Park in October, which proved a worthwhile time with many requests for papers, contacts made and at the end of October, several new orders.

We advertised in several publications including Keeping the Faith, CRE Handbook, Evangelical Alliance and through interviews with the UK representative, on two Christian radio stations.

We are indebted to a friend of Good News, Martin Hodder, for producing a promotional video with the UK representative, Rev Andy Godfrey. This is a short introduction to Good News and is used on

the website www.goodnews-paper.org.uk and on the stand at events, and is available on YouTube. Copies on DVD are also available to send to individuals.

The gospel leaflet we produced, ‘Good News For Everyone’, continued to be well received and a second printing was required. We are grateful for the team at Outreach UK for assisting in posting orders to customers. The feedback continues to be very encouraging.

We continued to work in cooperation with two other Christian charities, Outreach UK (OUK) and Pocket Testament League (PTL), on a programme titled ‘Casting Your Nets’, which aims to train and encourage Christians and churches in personal evangelism for all. OUK lead this, with the training involving the use of the Good News paper and a PTL edition of the Gospel of John. The take-up of the paper from churches receiving training, which moved online during Covid, has been steady.

We continued to maintain an active presence on Facebook and Twitter, seeing it as a means of outreach and raising awareness of the paper. These social media posts were carried out by a new provider in August when the previous provider changed career.

The paper was printed by Newsquest and packed and mailed by Parcel Hub. Both businesses provided excellent service and worked well with Good News.

Instead of holding a regional supporters’ day in person we decided to hold an on-line supporters’ evening at the start of September. Around 50 delegates attended, with a variety of contributions from both team members and those using the paper. This was a great encouragement, and it is planned to hold another in 2022.

The prison ministry work continued to grow with 4 new prisons requesting papers and others increasing their quantity. With the help of free-will gifts, both regular and occasional, papers are sent free of charge to Christian chaplains at UK prisons. By the end of October 2021, we were supplying 2,375 copies to 82 prisons, youth offenders’ institutions and repatriation centres, one secure training centre and three Christian half-way houses run by the Langley House Trust.

The gifts for this ministry during the year were higher than 2020 at £5,869, and we are grateful to a number of churches who asked for their regular standing order to be allocated for this ministry whilst they had paused ordering the paper. Two churches which were closing also sent gifts as they dispersed remaining funds. Gifts designated for the prison ministry are ring fenced so they can only be used for this work and as a charity, we are able to reclaim gift aid tax on gifts from donors who have signed a declaration. We never fundraise or approach people to ask for gifts. 100% of all such gifts are used 100% for the cost of the prison papers and postage out. We are grateful to a team of volunteers from a church in north-east England, who faithfully pack and post the papers each month. It was encouraging to receive a report through one of our retired trustees about a prisoner he has been able to help through correspondence, and how the man’s life has been changed by God. We also receive many letters from prisoners over the year, some of which tell of how Good News has helped to develop their Christian faith.

Our longstanding correspondence counsellor, Brian Ward, had to stand down from August 2021 because of his health and age. We are indebted to Brian for faithfully responding to letters from readers over many years, whether in prisons or generally. We are thankful that this important follow-up work is now being carried out by Rolf Burnie with prisoners (Rolf is a member of the Prison Fellowship) and Sheila Johnson, a Christian writer.

Roger & Jenny Crates have supported the distribution of the Good News newspapers each month by packing and posting copies to customers who pay an annual subscription for a handful of copies. Due to poor health, the Crates asked if we could find someone else to take on this work and one of our trustees, Ian White, took over the subscriptions posting from early 2021. We are grateful to Roger and Jenny for the many years of support and to Ian for becoming more involved.

The trustees have agreed to publish a short booklet explaining who Jesus Christ was and is. Whilst other booklets exist, we considered an easy to read, attractive but simple booklet at an affordable price would meet a need. Having assessed content written by the editor and costs, the booklet is at the design stage with publication expected early 2022.

A bi-monthly newsletter is distributed to customers and prayer supporters to keep them updated with the work.

A customer survey was carried out between August and October 2021 giving valuable feedback on satisfaction (high), content (high), quality (high) and how customers use the paper personally. A separate survey was sent to prison chaplains and all responses have been collated and summarised for the trustees and editor to consider actions.

People

The trustees throughout the year were:

Mr Phillip Bounds (Chairman and Finance Officer) Mr Andrew Halloway (Editor) Mr Paul Olise Mr Stephen Leedham Mrs Susan Cuthbert Mr Ian White

Mrs Amanda Halloway, the Good News Fellowship administrator, attends Trustees meetings and acts as minutes secretary.

Rev Trevor Dickerson, National Field Director for Outreach UK, acts as an adviser for the work, is consulted on articles proposed for publication, and attends meetings.

Rev Andy Godfrey, who is UK representative on a contract basis, also attends meetings and contributes to the promotional strategy as well as being actively involved in promotional work.

Other committed people actively involved in the Good News ministry but who don’t attend meetings are:

Mr & Mrs Roger & Jenny Crates - dealt with all subscription orders

Mr Rolf Burnie – prison correspondence counsellor

Mrs Sheila Johnson – general correspondence counselling and social media support Mr Kevin McCadden – honorary representative in the Tyne & Wear area, contacting churches, and also sends Good News to those on our complimentary copies list

David & Cath Thompson plus a team of helpers – pack and post the prison papers Mr Brian Ward – dealt with all correspondence with enquirers about the Christian faith till August Mr Donald Banks – deals with requests for the ‘So Who is This Jesus?’ DVDs we give to enquirers

The following people continue to be on the Council of Reference: Rev David Cole Mr Victor Jack Rev Dr Sam Gordon Mr Terry Puttick

Finance and Governance

The financial statement for the year ending 31[st] October 2021 is attached. The accounts were examined and approved by Mr Neil Towers, an accountant with vast experience with charity accounts.

Designated income for the prison ministry was £5,869 plus £317 tax reclaimed and for general operation was £108,303. There was a deficit for the year of £11,961, less than 2020 but higher than budgeted. The deficit was met from reserves. Reserves at the year-end were £72,473 (£4,051 prison ministry, £68,422 general funds). The deficit is slightly more than was budgeted because circulation had not recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic as well as expected. We are thankful to God and several churches and individuals who gave specific gifts for the ongoing work of Good News, totalling £7,398 in the year.

The trustees will take additional steps to improve finances by increasing the cost of the paper by 5p per copy from February 2022 and have budgeted to increase promotional activity to regrow the circulation. The proposed 2022 budget is based on a circulation of 53,000 average per month and plans for a reduced deficit of £7,263 for the year ending 31[st] October 2022. We believe this to be a wise course of action given the uncertainties around Covid and expected price rises of newsprint paper and deliveries. The actions and finances will be reviewed monthly, and changes made as needed. The deficit will be met from reserves or from a circulation increase.

During this fiscal year, the trustees advertised for a new Finance Officer to take over the duties carried out by the Chairman. Having interviewed and taken references, the trustees appointed Mrs Julie Reeves to the position from 1[st] November 2021. Julie has experience as a church treasurer and has been employed in the finance industry.

The Good News Fellowship UK is accepted by HMRC for reclaiming gift aid tax from donors completing a declaration. Such gifts were received throughout the year.

The Trustees continued to ensure compliance with the General Data Protection Regulations.

Looking forward

The Trustees are aware that the ministry of Good News is God’s work under His guidance. The plans for 2022 major on:

1. Expanding promotional efforts, especially through some Christian conventions and exhibitions, speaking at churches, limited advertising in Christian publications and promotions on Christian radio. (A £12,000 budget is proposed but will be reviewed midyear.)

2. Maintaining our current customers, restarting the paused customers, and looking to extend personal outreach with new customers

3. Work in cooperation with Outreach UK and Pocket Testament League on the Casting Your Nets programme

4. Bring the new booklet ‘Jesus Unmasked’ to publication and promote through contacts

5. Continue to grow the ministry to prisons, Christian half-way houses and rehabilitation centres working through Christian chaplains

6. Ensuring the monthly publication of the Good News paper meets the needs of those using the paper as well as those reading about the Christian faith.

Phillip Bounds

………………………………………………….

Phillip Bounds Chairman on behalf of the Trustees 10[th] November 2021

i R e c e i p t s	2	0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1	2020
S a l e s o f G o o d N e w s p a p e r		£ 9 8 , 2 0 0 . 8 8	£94,569.14:
S a l e s o f t r a c t s		£ 1 2 9 . 0 5	£173.55
R e f u n d s o n p r o m o t i o n a l e v e n t s +		£ 1 , 7 9 5 . 0 0	£1,770.88
A d v e r t i s i n g r e v e n u e a n d o t h e r i n c o m e		£ 5 1 0 . 0 0	£340.00
I n v e s t m e n t i n c o m e g e n e r a l		£ 2 7 0 . 1 9	£649.62;
i I n v e s t m e n t i n c o m e d e s i g n a t e d p r i s o n s		£ 0 . 5 2	£17.74
T a x r e f u n d P r i s o n IVIinlstry		£ 3 1 7 . 7 0	£241.84
D e s i g n a t e d Gifts f o r G e n e r a l f u n d s		£ 7 , 3 9 8 . 3 0	£2,176.45
D e s i g n a t e d Gifts f o r P r i s o n IVIinistry		£ 5 , 8 6 9 . 0 3	£5,601.38
T o t a l	£	1 1 4 , 4 9 0 . 6 7	£105,540.60
P a y m e n t s
C o n t r a c t S e r v i c e s ( E d i t o r , A d m i n , P r o m o t i o n )		£ 4 7 , 2 2 2 . 0 0	£48,678.00
H o n o r a r i a ( F i n a n c e , a d v i s o r s , o r d e r s )		£ 4 , 8 2 7 . 0 1	£4,558.00
D i s t r i b u t i o n c o s t s p r i s o n m i n i s t r y		£ 2 , 4 2 1 . 0 7	£1,910.92
1D i s t r i b u t i o n c o s t s ( P a r c e l H u b , p o s t + )		£ 1 9 , 5 3 7 . 5 1	£19.819.58
\g c o s t ( N e w s q u e s t )		£ 2 5 , 1 0 0 . 0 8	£24,376.57
E d i t o r a l c o s t s ( c o n t r i b u t o r s , d e s i g n , p r o o f r e a d )		£ 1 5 , 2 1 1 . 0 2	£12,672.79
A d m i n i s t r a t i o n ( t e a m m e e t i n g s , l e g a l , i n s u r a n c e , n e w e q u i p e t c )		£ 2 , 2 4 1 . 3 7	£2,195.03
i B a n k c h a r g e s		£ 0 . 0 0	£0.00
P r o m o t i o n		£ 8 , 2 7 9 . 6 3	£11,205.84
C o m m i s s i o n & Gifts & r e f u n d s		£ 1 , 1 4 5 . 4 1	£378.25:
C o u n s e l l i n g / f o l l o w u p		£ 4 6 7 . 5 1	£451.00
	£	1 2 6 , 4 5 2 . 6 1	£126,245.98
S u r p l u s / d e f i c i t o n y e a r	- £ 1 1 , 9 6 1 . 9 4		-£20,705.38
S t a t e m e n t o f A s s e t s		3 1 / 1 0 / 2 0 2 1	2020
S a n t a n d e r O p e r a t i o n a l ( C u r r e n t )		£ 8 , 5 4 5 . 8 7	£8,684.44
S a n t a n d e r O p e r a t i o n a l ( S a v i n g s ) i n c i £ 4 , 0 5 1 . 3 3 P r i s o n M i n i s t r y		£ 3 1 , 8 9 4 . 1 3	£13,549.11
K i n g d o m B a n k B o n d 1		£ 3 2 , 0 3 3 . 0 0	£51,851.74
K i n g d o m B a n k B o n d 2		£ 0 . 0 0	£10,349.65
		£ 7 2 , 4 7 3 . 0 0	£84,434.94
The above statement reflects the true financial position of Good News Fellowship UK as	of
31 St October 2021 based on the bank statements, receipts and records examined by us.