Bethel Church Northwich Report of the Trustees for the year ending 31° December 2023 Charity Number1168359 Reglstered Office and Operatlonal Address Bethel Church, Northwich, Hargreaves Road, Off Middlewich Road, Northwich, Cheshire, CW9 7BL Trustees David Neal Hill (Appointed 13th Sept1993) Robert lan Plant (Appointed 17th June 2010) Howard Leonard (Appointed 17th June 2010) Shane Gray (Appointed 17th January 2019) David Michael Philpot (Appointed 1P January 2019) David Gordon Herd (Appointed 1P January 2019) Reporting Accountsnt Ambient Accounting Ltd - Suite 6 Ellesmere House, 1 Pennington Street, Worsley, M28 3LR Bankers Lloyds TSB Bank PLC, Altrincham Structure, Governance and Management Governing Document The Church was first registered as a charity in October 2008. The Church was established as a charity with a constitution and trust document. In 2017 the Church changed its status from Bethel Evangelical Church, a registered charity to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation called Bethel Church, Northwich. Recruitment and Appointment of Trustees Trustees are self-appointing. Pastor The Church has a Pastor who is paid an annual salary. Risk Management The Church has an Insurance policy which covers assets and liabilities of the Church. Bethel Church is GDPR compliant, has a written Health & Safety policy, up to date Certification for Fire, Electrical and Gas safety. We continue to be wary of the challenges we face, in particular our premises costs steps have been tsken to minimise the effect of increased utility bills. We continue to explore the possibility of the Church being eligible for grants to help with the day to day running costs but also the cost of proposed building improvernents. Organisational Structure The Church has a Pastor, 6 trustees and a leadership team of 8. Objectives and Activities The objective of the church is to worship God and to show His love in practical ways, bringing the Good News of Jesus into people's lives. The church offers a range of activities including: Family service with children's Sunday School, every Sunday morning Mid-week small groups for prayer and bible study Weekly parent and toddler group Support the local Foodbank Christmas and Easter celebrations Weekly holiday play sessions in August and a Light Party in October Many activities carried on a similar vein to the previous year In addition, the Warm Space Project continued until March, with support from Rudheath and Witton Together, with 15-20 people in attendance each week This then led into the launch of the 'Light Bites, cafe on Thursdays and Fridays (from April). After the summer it also opened on Wednesdays to run alongside the revamped 'Playtime' session of the parent and toddler group. The counselling service commenced wrth the involvement of thr￿ trained counsellors. Referrals come via the church and through an ongoing relationship with the local GP surgeries. Achievements and Performance The Church overall conts'nues to thrive. The transition to the new fomiat for the parent and toddler group saw15-25 families attending each week. The cafe has slowly been growing the number of trained volunteers alongside the employed manager. This meant a significant investment in time and equipment in order to set this up to the required food hygiene standards, which resulted in a 5 star rating from the council hygiene inspector. Sunday rnoming services have seen a rise in attendance to approximately 80 people each week and regular online attendan￿. Following the warm space, we ran the Alpha Course and several people came to faith in Jesus, resulting in the celebration of several baptisms. Worship nights became a monthly feature. Financial Review Principle Funding Sources The prime source of income is covenants and donations from within the church. This was subsidised with the income from the cafe. We received small grants from Rudheath and Witton together towards the Warm Space initiative. A further grant was received towards the cost of some counselling sessions, split between 2023 and 2024. There were two significant increases in costs. Alongside employing the cafe managerlcommunity engagement coordinator, there was also a significant increase in cost was that of the utility expenses. These costs will reduce in 2024 alongside other new income streams. Responsibilities of the Charity Trustees The Charity Commission requires that the charity's trustees prepare financial ststements for each financial year which gives a true and fair view of the state of the affairs of the charity as at the balance sheet date and of its incoming and application of resources, including income and expenditure, for the financial year. In preparing those financial statements the trustees should follow best practice: _ 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 concem basis unless it is inappropriate to assume that the company will continue that basis. The Trustees are responsible for maintaining proper accounting records which disclose, with reasonable accuracy at any time, the financial position of the church and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the requirement of the charity commission. The Trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the church and hence for tsking steps for the preventi'on and detection of fraud and other irregularities. Statement of accounts for the year 0110112023- 3111212023 Cash Inllow Cash Oufflow Transaction Detalls Amount Tran5artion Details Amount Covenants 46.252.72 Pastors £xpeNJlture 20,952.26 17.011.59 1.304.28 1.546.17 2,591.00 .00 Covenants Sunday Offerings Donations frorn Church Group Miscellaneous 7532.45 175.lY) Subscriptlon5 In5uTrrKe 3.624.72 DonatK)ns OLrt M15cellaneou5 Visitin8 Preachers Equlpment Catering Malntenan Miscellaneous 1.185.32 305.23 Event 710.C(I Event 2.899.20 3.279.88 852.08 MMRC Cale 7.606.99 4166.75 Bank Accowt Evenls Church Gifts 380.00 Bank Interest Retdved Grants Received 178.51 Stationery HMRC Caft 161.65 9,734.C 3.876.33 6.659.22 310.00 Accountsncy Employee'5 28.014.78 Totsl Income £ 80,681.14 Total E endltures £ 91,728.99 Cash Book Summa Cash Inflow £ 80.681.14 Cash Outflow 91,728.99 Cash movement -£ 11,047.85 Cash blfwd- Lloyds Treasurers Att 3,074.12 Cash blfvid- Uoyds Instant Att £ 28,483.44 Cash movement .£ I I,U.l 1 11- Cash clfwd £ 20,509.71 Cash dfvid- Lloyds Treasurers Acc 4,613.76 Cash