Beth hurch Northwich sl Report of the Trustees for the year ending 31 December 2024 Charity Number 1168359 Registered Office and Operational Address Bethel Church, Northwich, Hargreaves Road, Off Middlewich Road, Northwich, Cheshire, CW9 7BL Trustees David Neale Hill (Appointed 13th Sept1993) Robert lan Plant (Appointed 17th June 2010) th Shane Gray (Appointed 17 January 2019) David Gordon Herd (Appointed 17th January 2019) Reporting Accountant 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 covering the assets and liabilities. 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 the current economic climate, in particular our premises costs. We have managed to significantly reduce our energy costs by swapping suppliers and ensuring we control our energy usage. 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 improvements. The Church has a strict safeguarding framework in place including full DBS checks for any employees or volunteers involved in playtime at Bethel, Sunday School or youth work. Organisational Structure The Church has a Pastor, 4 trustees and a leadership team of 5. 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 Financial support to Foodbank, Care for the Family, Bible Society, Open Doors, Wycliffe Bible Translators Christmas and Easter celebrations Weekly holiday play sessions in August and a Light Party in October We continue to offer a community 'warm space, which is particularly welcome with a new 380 home local housing development under construction. Light Bites, cafe continues to thrive and is attracting those from the community who wish to spend time chatting over a coffee or wanting to know more about the other Church initiatives.
Our counselling service sits within the context of our Wellness team who continue to offer a pathway to wholeness in mind, body and spirit. The counsellors offer a professional and ethical service, they have all undergone appropriate training, are members of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and adhere to BACP'S 'Ethical Framework, for the counselling professions. Our counsellors volunteer their time and expertise as part of the Bethel Wellness Team with sessions being offered FREE for a specific time period, We continue to see referrals from the Church congregation and our ongoing relationship with the local GP surgeries. Achievements and Performance The Church overall continues to thrive, The transition to the new format 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. Continued 5 star rating from the local council hygiene inspector. Sunday morning services continue to see an attendance of approximately 80 people each week and regular online attendance. We continue to run the Alpha Course for those wanting to know about Jesus, the Bible and our Church. Worship nights became a monthly feature. Other events open not just to the existing Church family but also the wider community include, Mens night held monthly, Ladies afternoon Tea, Youth group. We are delighted to be able to employ an additional team member solely to head up the toddler and youth group resulting in additional events being held and structured learning. We are proud to announce that the Church community has been able to raise the funds for building improvements. We plan to commence phase 1 of the works in 2025 which will bring much needed additional space for storage and the various activities being held.
Financial Review Principle Finding Sources The prime source of income is covenants, donations and gift aid. Additional income being received from the cafe. 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 to our utility expenses. Utility costs have been significantly reduced by greater control and change of suppliers. New income streams have come in the shape of paid use of the car park, the Church building and advertising boards for the new housing development. Responsibilities of the Charity Trustees The Charity Commission requires that the charity's trustees prepare financial statements 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 concern 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 taking steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. This report has been prepared in accordance with the Statement of recommended practice: _ Accounting and Reporting by Charities Act. Approved by the Trustees on 27, October 2024 David Herd (Trustee)
Do(yJsign Envelope ID.. 2068708C-3A4D4D8D-B564-BA5D63055A77 Statement of accounts for the year OI/01/2024- 3111212024 Cash Inflow Cash Outflow Transaction Detalls Amount Transaction Details Amount Covenants 46,846.74 Pastors Expenditure 20,408.84 9,796.50 1,589.01 2,002.64 3,833.50 Covenants Sunday Offerings Donations from Church Group Miscellaneous- Rental 8,587.22 Subscriptions Insurante 3,000.00 400.00 Donatlons Out Mlscellaneous- Car Park Hire Miscellaneous- Room Hire Mlscellaneous- Donation5 Event Vlsiting Preachers Equipment Catering Maintenance 600.00 725.00 1,119.12 159.14 356.70 636.27 HMRC Cafe 8,194.53 10,727.78 Bank Account Events 3,285.38 280.45 Church Glfts Bank Interest Recelved Grants Received Glft 137.21 ij Statlonery HMRC 250.05 73,000.00 10,306.00 6,669.99 6,190.37 270.00 Cafe Accountanry Employee's Trainin8 34,193.94 2,189.00 £ 92,874.20 Total Income £ 162,881.18 Total Expendltures Cash Book Summary £ 162,881.18 Cash blfwd - Lloyds Treasurers Acc £ 92,874.20 Cash b/fwd - Lloyds Instant Acc £ 70,006.98 Cash movement Cash c/fwd Cash ¢lfwd- Uoyds Treasurers Acc Cash clfwd- Lloyds Instant Acc Cash c/fwd - HTB Cash c/fwd Cash Inflow Cash Oufflow Cash movement 4,613.76 15,895.95 70,006.98 £ 90,516.69 4,597.53 17,919.16 £ 68,000.00 £ 90,516.69 Signature th Treasurer IDated 5 September 2025) SP_Bethel Church s1 by.. Signature . a... Accountant IDated 5, September 20251 4e02C¢55C2489...