The Hub Trust
Report and Accounts Year ended 31 December 2024
1 Lamb's Passage, London EC1Y 8AB www.stewardship.org.uk
THE HUB TRUST
LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE 11 Trevor Road Hitchin Hertfordshire SG4 9TA GOVERNING DOCUMENT CIO Constitution incorporated 21 July 2016 CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER 1168348 TRUSTEES RESPONSIBLE FOR Jeremy Seymour Burrowes MANAGING THE CHARITY Daniel Oakes David Holmes Ben Kellard Rev Nicholas William Smith Lindsey Wheeler
BANKERS The Co-operative Bank plc. INDEPENDENT EXAMINER Sarah Crispin ACA Stewardship 1 Lamb's Passage LONDON EC1Y 8AB
INDEX
Page 1 Legal and Administrative Details Pages 2-8 Trustees' Report Page 9 Independent Examiner's Report Page 10 Receipts and Payments Account Page 11 Statement of Assets & Liabilities Pages 12-13 Notes to the Accounts
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thehubchurch.co.uk
The Hub Trust
Trustees’ Report
For the Year ended 31st December 2024
Charity Purposes
The purposes of The Hub Trust are for the advancement of the Christian faith in Hitchin, Hertfordshire and such other parts of the United Kingdom and the world as the charity trustees may from time to time decide. In planning the activities, the Trustees have applied the guidance on public benefit issued by the Charity Commission.
Governance
The Hub Trust is governed by trustees who meet regularly to review activities and the terms that the Trustees commit too. Many of the day-to-day decisions about operations are delegated to the church leader where suitable.
New trustees are appointed by the existing trustees and the church leader.
Main Activities
Advancement of the Christian faith in Hitchin, Hertfordshire.
The Hub Trust has continued to provide a number of services in Hitchin throughout the past year. We have continued providing a safe place where people can come and explore the Christian faith, while belonging to a community of people.
Morning Community
The purpose of the Morning Community is for people of all ages to attend church together. We want to make sure it is fun and engaging for those you might otherwise find church boring or irrelevant to their lives. We believe that everyone has something to contribute so want to give opportunities for everyone whether they are young or old.
Over 2024, our youth group continued to expand in size due in part to our children growing and maturing but also the addition of new families. We have also seen our
The Hub Church. Registered charity no. 1168348
11 Trevor Road, Hitchin, SG4 9TA
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two children’s groups increase in size. This has been due to a few new families joining the congregation. We have seen people with no children (or grown-up children) join the church.
We have continued to use St Johns Community Centre as our venue for this community. We’re grateful for this space which enables us to both meet altogether and then to split up into the necessary groups. Whilst the limited capacity of the building is sometimes a challenge, we are making the most of the space we have. The morning gathering is run mostly by volunteers, from the brunch available each week, to the children’s groups. This helps to give the sense ownership to a wider group of people as they contribute to the activity of the community.
Evening Community
The work of the evening community is orientated around attempting to engage with 20s and 30s, many of whom have left church in the past or have never been connected with one.
The majority of people who attend are in the 20s and 30s, however we do have a small group who are slightly older but find they like the style of the service. This service is funded predominately by people giving to the church and outside funders, the money is used to pay towards staff costs and venue hire.
Over this year, as per last year, there has been a fluctuation in people attending but this seems to have settled to a critical mass of around 20 people each week. This is in the context of a changing demographic across Hitchin with an increase in younger families and professionals. A big part of this community is the social side of it as many people attending do not have family close by or may have moved to the area for work. For example, each week after the service has finished, a group will head to the pub next door for a drink and some food. We have also been able to do much larger social gatherings and throughout the summer we were able to do a different social each Sunday evening where historically we had only done one service.
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As was the case last year we have also had a number of new people join this community from a variety of places, some of whom have joined through other initiatives we run such as Bridge the Gap (see below).
Midweek Gatherings
Ensuring that what we do goes beyond our Sunday gatherings, we run a number of midweek activities. These are hugely important as we realise the need to socialise together, help one another in times of need and create a safe space for new people to come in to.
Mini Hubs
Mini-Hubs are the main opportunity for meeting during the week and link specifically with our value of ‘be social’. These are smaller groups that meet for a specific purpose, usually around a particular topic, course or activity. These ideas are suggested by people within the hub and are also led or hosted by these people. We find that this helps make sure they are relevant and enjoyable for those involved. They are time limited, usually running for a term which helps keep them fresh and open to all.
Journey Groups
Our Journey Groups are another opportunity to meet together during the week. These are aimed at a more intentional discipleship process, for those who are wanting to take their faith deeper and journey with others in the church. Through the Journey groups, members of the Hub meet to pray, read the Bible and explore how to grow in their relationship with God and each other. They run for 6 months at a time and then each group has a chance to continue their journey or finish it at this point. Over the last year we have seen more groups form, some which have decided to continue and others that haven’t. We hope to continue these groups and see how much people grow through them.
Alpha
The Hub Church. Registered charity no. 1168348
11 Trevor Road, Hitchin, SG4 9TA
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Alpha continued to run at the Hub Church in 2024. We experimented with a couple of new ways of running Alpha with limited success. Our aim is to pick the discussion up again in 2025 and experiment with new ways of running Alpha.
Bridge The Gap
We launched Bridge the Gap with the aim of establishing a footballing community that would be a bridge between unchurched young men and The Hub in 2022. We begun meeting for weekly football sessions in September 2022 with 12 young men and since then we have grown in 2024 to a community of over 120 on the books with a weekly attendance of 35 and on average each person attends roughly half of all sessions on a monthly basis with approximately 90% of those attending not having any current church affiliation.
We grew in 2024 following on from the 2023 rollout of our second full mini-pitch (another third) in the same slot which gives us capacity to grow to upwards of 32 individuals per session. This capacity has been useful in allowing individuals to invite friends and the growth across 2024 has been sustainable with growth in both leaders and attendees. Our plans for 2025 include joining a friendly league in the local area with other churches and more wider friendlies.
We have already seen upwards of 15 individuals engage in Church as a direct result of Bridge the Gap and conversations around faith have increased across 2023.
Socials
Our ad-hoc socials have continued to be a huge part of what we do and we enjoy spending time together, often with our two communities mixing. These give opportunities for friendships to be built and sustained, for people on the fringe to feel more integrated and for the church to feel more united.
HubFest is our annual church weekend away camping. This ran for the third time and we were really pleased with how it went. We spent the weekend socialising, eating
The Hub Church. Registered charity no. 1168348
11 Trevor Road, Hitchin, SG4 9TA
thehubchurch.co.uk
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and learning together. It was a weekend of fun activities and also church-related activities. Since the first time that we ran this, we saw new people come along and others join just for the day.
Another key moment for us is around the time of Christmas. This provides us with lots of time to spend together whether that is during our Christmas Dinner, our Nativity service or Carols at the Pub which was a huge highlight for us including in 2024 the addition of a second Carols at the Pub venue.
Wider Church Engagement
As part of our wider church engagement, we have continued to play a part in the ‘Churches Together in Hitchin’ initiative. We take part in the ‘Preacher Exchange’ year where a member of the team is sent to another church and we are given someone else in return. We are also involved in supporting a local schools work charity, called Phase which was initially started by CTiH over 20 years ago.
Advancement of the Christian faith in other parts of the world
The Hub trust aids in the advancement of the Christian faith abroad both directly through trips and time spent with other charities abroad, and also indirectly through financial support and donations to charities working throughout the World.
Soul Action - South Africa
We have for some time now supported Soul Action - South Africa, a charity that works with leaders - of business, charity, the Church, and education - to establish a more equitable, equal, and integrated South Africa; a society where everyone has the opportunity to fulfil their God-given potential. Throughout the year we have continued to support their work and sent them a financial gift after the year end.
Lebanon Refugee Support
We continued to financially support the great work carried out by the team at YFC in Lebanon after the year end. We also keep in relation with them and hope
The Hub Church. Registered charity no. 1168348
11 Trevor Road, Hitchin, SG4 9TA
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to re-visit them at some point in the future.
Financial Review
In 2024, we completed our first full year into our Bishop’s Mission Order (BMO) which commenced 1st October 2023. This committed us to pay a much larger Parish Share to the diocese than we have previously done. In order to help cover this liability, we engaged the church community in explaining the full financial implications and explained ways in which they could help in meeting our increased commitments.This resulted in increased giving from many families and a modest increase in the number of new donors and at the year end, it was not necessary to dip into our reserves.
At year end, our actual income was 9% more than had been budgeted. This was mainly due to increased giving described above. Our actual expenditure was 3% less than was budgeted mainly due to reduced anticipated staff salaries. It should be noted that that we continued to pay staff the published Real Living wage.
During the year, we signed up for the Church of England Parish Giving Scheme(PGS) whereby donors make monthly donations to the church by Direct Debit to the PGS. These donations are totalled and transferred to our account soon after. The benefits of the scheme are, Gift Aid is claimed by the PGS and paid monthly to us which cuts the administration for us. In addition, when an account is setup by the donor, they are given the option to annually increase their donation in line with inflation which should help us in future years. By the year end, 15 donors were giving through the PGS scheme while 20 donors were continuing to give by bank Standing Order.
Outgoings continue to be controlled as far as possible without unduly hindering activities.
The overwhelming majority of monthly donations from worshipers are received by
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bank Standing Order plus PGS and alongside the PayPal, Zettle and SumUp facilities, negates the need for us to take cash. However, we still retain the capabilities and financial checks to receive cash if required.
The trustees have determined that the charity should aim to hold unrestricted cash of no less than £20000 (which equates to about 3 months of unrestricted expenditure) so that the charity can continue to operate should income and/or expenditure vary adversely. At the year end, the charity held unrestricted cash of £31920 and the charity is complying with its reserves policy.
Trustee Responsibility
Charity law requires us as Trustees to prepare financial statements for each accounting year which record the receipts and payments of the charity for the year.
We are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable us to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011. We also have a responsibility to safeguard the assets of the charity and to take reasonable steps to prevent fraud or any other irregularities.
This report was approved by trustees on:
Jul 30, 2025
and signed on their behalf by:
J. Burrowes
J. Burrowes (Jul 30, 2025 09:55:29 GMT+1)
Jeremy Burrowes
The Hub Church. Registered charity no. 1168348
11 Trevor Road, Hitchin, SG4 9TA
thehubchurch.co.uk
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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT
TO THE TRUSTEES OF
THE HUB TRUST
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of The Hub Trust ('the charity') for the year ended 31 December 2024 on pages 10 to 13 following.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the trustees of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’).
I report in respect of my examination of the charity’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 2011 Act.
Independent examiner’s statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: 1. accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; or
- the accounts do not accord with the accounting records.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Sarah Crispin
Sarah Crispin (Aug 6, 2025 17:07:24 GMT+1)
Sarah Crispin ACA
Stewardship 1 Lamb's Passage LONDON EC1Y 8AB
Date: Aug 6, 2025
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THE HUB TRUST
RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024
| Notes Income receipts Donations Gift aid receipts Grants Church events Other charitable activities Interest Capital and similar receipts Total receipts Payments 2 3 Total payments Transfers between funds 5 Net movement in funds Cash funds as at last year end Cash funds at this year end A Sale of fixed assets Net of receipts / (payments) before transfers Grants paid in relation to charitable activities undertaken by others Payments in relation to charitable activities undertaken directly |
General Designated Funds Funds £ £ 54,846 - 10,583 - - - 5,731 - 7,008 - 777 - 78,945 - - - - - 78,945 - 69,589 - 4,628 - 74,217 - 4,727 - (6,198) - (1,471) - 33,391 - 31,920 - Unrestricted Funds |
Restricted Funds £ - - 1,000 - - - 1,000 - - 1,000 7,198 - 7,198 (6,198) 6,198 - - - |
Total 2024 £ 54,846 10,583 1,000 5,731 7,008 777 79,945 - - 79,945 76,787 4,628 81,415 1,471 - - 1,471 - 33,391 31,920 |
Total 2023 £ |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Funds £ 54,846 10,583 - 5,731 7,008 777 78,945 - - 78,945 69,589 4,628 74,217 4,727 (6,198) (1,471) 33,391 31,920 |
|||||
| 46,808 8,602 4,950 3,543 6,505 334 |
|||||
| 70,742 | |||||
| 350 | |||||
| 350 | |||||
| 71,092 | |||||
| 63,371 4,917 |
|||||
| 68,288 | |||||
| 2,803 - |
|||||
| 2,803 30,587 |
|||||
| 33,391 |
The notes on pages 12-13 form part of these accounts.
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THE HUB TRUST
STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES AS AT THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024
| A Cash funds Held at bank Notice deposits B Other monetary assets Gift aid due to charity Other debtors C Liabilities Falling due within one year: Fee for Independent Examination Accrued expenses Parish Share D Assets retained for charity's own use Equipment |
General Designated funds funds £ £ 1,864 - 30,056 - 31,920 - 10,053 - 243 - 10,296 - 1,050 - 836 - - - 1,886 - Unrestricted Funds |
Restricted funds £ - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs General |
Total 2024 £ 1,864 30,056 31,920 10,053 243 10,296 1,050 836 - 1,886 Value 2024 £ 11,214 11,214 |
Total 2023 £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,557 30,834 |
||||
| 33,391 | ||||
| 9,885 - |
||||
| 9,885 | ||||
| 960 1,357 4,232 |
||||
| 6,549 | ||||
| Value 2023 £ |
||||
| 11,214 | ||||
| 11,214 |
The trustees have used insurance values for contents and equipment as the trustees are unable to reliably estimate current values; insurance values may differ materially from current values.
E Guarantees and secured debts
The charity has not given any guarantees and has not provided its assets as security for any liabilities.
The accounts were approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf
J. Burrowes by _____ J. Burrowes (Jul 30, 2025 09:55:29 GMT+1) date Jul 30, 2025 ____ Jeremy Seymour Burrowes
The notes on pages 12-13 form part of these accounts.
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THE HUB TRUST
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024
1 Accounting policies
The accounts have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis and comprise a statement that shows the charity's receipts and payments, a statement that summarises the charity's assets and liabilities and related notes. The accountancy profession have determined that only accounts prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards present a 'true and fair' view and, as these receipts and payments accounts have not (and cannot) be prepared in accordance with accounting standards, these accounts do not present (and are not intended to present) a 'true and fair' view of the charity's financial activities and state of affairs.
General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity. Designated funds comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the trustees for particular purposes. Restricted funds are donations which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors; they include donations received from appeals for specific activities or projects.
| 2 Payments in relation to charitable activities undertaken directly Employment costs Rent Church ministry activities Church Away events Parish share Insurance Support and administration Equipment Independent examination Other costs 3 Grants and gifts paid to others Organisations: Soul Action Organisations < £1,000 |
Unrestrict | Designated funds £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ed Funds |
Restricted Funds £ - - 7,198 - - - - - - - 7,198 - - - |
Total 2024 £ 16,057 9,897 9,719 6,416 30,400 523 2,142 621 960 51 76,787 2,762 1,866 4,628 |
Total 2023 £ |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General funds £ 16,057 9,897 2,521 6,416 30,400 523 2,142 621 960 51 69,589 2,762 1,866 4,628 |
||||||
| 29,482 10,747 10,030 5,022 1,097 506 3,008 1,780 768 932 |
||||||
| 63,371 | ||||||
| 3,292 1,625 |
||||||
| 4,917 |
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THE HUB TRUST
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024
4 Transactions with related parties
Jeremy Burrowes, a trustee, received £126 [2023 £961] for his role as finance manager, not in his role as trustee, as permitted by the governing document.
| 5 Movement of funds General funds Restricted funds Bridge the Gap Total funds |
Opening balance £ 33,391 33,391 - - 36,194 |
Receipts £ 78,945 78,945 1,000 1,000 79,945 |
Payments £ (74,217) (74,217) (7,198) (7,198) (81,415) |
Transfers £ (6,198) (6,198) 6,198 6,198 - |
Closing balance £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31,920 | |||||
| 31,920 | |||||
| - | |||||
| - | |||||
| 31,920 |
The Mission grant was given by the St Albans Diocese to support the Bridge the Gap football project to support pitch bookings and other costs.
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