NEW FELLOWSHIP CIO ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDING 5 APRIL 2021
CHARITY DETAILS
| Trustees: | Mrs S Whitbread (Chair) |
|---|---|
| Mrs R French (Treasurer) | |
| Mr A Macey | |
| Mr N Whitbread | |
| Mr D Minnaar | |
| Governing Document: | Foundation Model Constitution – 20 October |
| 2016 | |
| Charity Registration Number: | 1169803 |
| Registered Address: | 84 Gilbert Road |
| Cambridge | |
| CB4 3PD | |
| Independent Examiner: | Mr G Mann |
TRUSTEES’ REPORT
The trustees have pleasure in presenting the following report on the activities of New Fellowship CIO (the CIO) in the past year.
Objects of the CIO
The CIO’s stated objects are:
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The advancement of the Christian religion in the UK and overseas, but principally within Cambridge through the operation of Arbury Community Church (the Church);
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The relief of poverty in the UK and overseas, but principally in the Arbury area of Cambridge;
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The advancement of the education of individuals in the Arbury area of Cambridge and the wider city of Cambridge; and
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Such other charitable purposes that shall in the opinion of the trustees facilitate the CIO’s work.
The CIO seeks to achieve these objects in a number of ways, focusing on the Church’s vision statement of: ‘Jesus: bringing hope and life to our community’.
Key elements of the vision, which feed into the CIO’s objects, are to:
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Grow a worshipping community
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Use and grow our God given gifts for the glory of God.
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Show others Jesus in our schools, colleges, workplaces, community and neighbourhoods.
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Show Jesus’ love in practical ways to one another and to our communities.
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Develop future leaders.
Structure and management
The CIO is run by a group of five trustees, who have oversight of the overall running of the CIO and who meet regularly to monitor the activities of the Church and the wider activities of the CIO.
The day-to-day running of the Church is the responsibility of the Church’s Elders, who during this period were Dr A Males and Mr N Whitbread.
Following a church review in late 2019, it was agreed that it would be desirable to have less of an overlap between the Elders and trustees, and that a clearer division of labour between the two groups should be established. As a result, for
the last year only one Elder has also been a trustee (which is felt to be beneficial for communication and continuity purposes) and the trustees agreed upon a rolling programme of topics for discussion over each year, with two meetings being joint meetings with the Eldership team to discuss the Church’s vision. It was planned to meet in person formally on six occasions. These meetings in fact took place via video conference, with decision-making between meetings continuing by electronic means, as permitted by the constitution.
Trustees are customarily appointed following consideration by the existing trustee body and consultation with key stakeholders, principally the Elders and the eldership team. New trustees are now appointed for an initial term of three years, and any long-serving trustees (of whom there are three) will have their tenure reviewed after a nine-year period.
The Church is part of a network of independent churches called Synergy, and the Elders and trustees hold themselves accountable to the leaders of Synergy, meeting with them on a regular basis.
Public benefit
In reviewing and monitoring the CIO’s activities, the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit.
Funding
The CIO relies almost entirely on donations by members of the Church and the associated Gift Aid payments to support its activities.
Review of activities
The CIO’s activities are reviewed with reference to each of the five elements of the Church’s vision, as referred to above.
Growing a worshipping community
The principal activity of the CIO is the running of the Church, which – in normal times - meets each Sunday morning at Arbury Community Centre for a morning of fellowship, worship and teaching. Sunday meetings are a friendly and relaxed time, where visitors are warmly welcomed. Children and young people go out to their own focused groups mid-way through the meeting, so they can benefit from developing their own faith with suitable activities.
Another key element of the Church’s community are its many mid-week groups, ranging from Bible study groups to prayer meetings, and including a group for
the youth in the Church. These regular meetings, combined with ad hoc events (including children’s prayer parties, Christian camps, an annual trip to the seaside and other social gatherings), help to foster community and encourage those attending in their worship of God.
From mid-March 2020, in common with other churches and places of worship, the Church had to cancel all face to face gatherings. However, Sunday meetings and mid-week groups have continued online, allowing the Church to continue to have community together. Sunday morning meetings have been interactive and participation has been encouraged, with ‘breakout rooms’ available after the formal part of the meeting has ended to encourage further fellowship and community time. Groups for children and young people have also been able to continue online.
When face to face gatherings were permitted again, the Trustees, in consultation with the wider leadership team, took the decision not to return to face to face meetings for its main Sunday meeting. This was because it was felt that the restrictions that would have to be put in place to enable such meetings to happen would have a detrimental impact on the fellowship and community that the Church had been able to enjoy online. However, a face to face prayer meeting now takes place on a Sunday morning, and many of the midweek groups have returned to outdoor or small indoor face to face meetings.
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, the leadership team worked hard to ensure all those connected with the Church were allocated to the responsibility of one of a number of support group leaders, who would take responsibility for maintaining contact with them, particularly with those who did not wish to or found it difficult to engage with online meetings. This system has worked well to keep those people connected with the Church and to act as a means of supporting all within the Church community, practically, emotionally and spiritually.
The Trustees and Eldership team have kept in regular contact with the Church community, including through the use of surveys to gauge the appetite for a return to face to face meetings in order to ensure we are serving the community as well as we can, as well as to establish any needs not already highlighted, financial or otherwise.
Using and growing our God-given gifts for the glory of God
The Church is committed to encouraging every member to use their gifts and talents for the benefit of the community. As such, a large number of people are involved in Sunday morning meetings, and this has continued to be the case as the Church meets online, indeed more people have become involved in contributing to meetings, including leading prayers, choosing songs for worship,
speaking and running the meeting from a technical point of view. Others lead within small groups and some have stepped up for the first time to lead the support groups referred to above. All of this helps to bring more people into the community.
The fact that the Church has no paid leaders means that a large number of the Church community are very actively involved in leading and serving the community.
Showing others Jesus in our schools, colleges, workplaces, community and neighbourhoods
The Church has always had a strong emphasis on connecting with its community as a first step in sharing the love of Jesus, and this has continued this year, despite the restrictions in place.
Christmas was an ideal opportunity to show the love of Jesus to others, and we sent a Christmas card to 2000 people in the local community, introducing the Church, and sharing a little of the Christmas story, as well as advertising the Church’s ‘Street Nativity’. This event involved one church member riding his brightly lit bicycle around the local area, stopping every few minutes to be joined by a small group of others, appropriately costumed, who would sing a carol. In this way, the Christmas story was told in a fun and engaging way. The route was detailed in the Christmas cards so residents knew to look out for the event, and it proved to be a wonderful way of engaging with the local community.
At an individual level, individual members have reached out to their friends and neighbours to show the hope of Jesus during the last difficult year, and we have seen a number of visitors to meetings over that time, and have even been able to carry out a socially-distanced baptism of one new member.
Many individuals within the Church community partnered with Besom, a local charity, which enabled them to give a hamper of Christmas food and gifts to families in need.
Show Jesus’ love in practical ways to one another and to our communities
During the course of this year, the Church has for obvious reasons been unable to engage in any face-to-face activities to support one another in practical ways. However, it has been committed to providing financial and other support to those within the community and beyond, at a time when many have been adversely affected by the global pandemic, and it has seen its giving in this regard increase significantly.
During the course of the year, the CIO made financial gifts to those in the Church and in the wider community where individuals and families have been struggling to pay rent, or to buy food or other essentials. The CIO has also helped individuals to access its meetings by providing or subsidising suitable IT equipment.
The CIO has continued to support a number of local charities and projects supporting the community, including Besom, GenR8 and the Hope Food Hub. The CIO has also supported Agape, a Christian charity providing a link to University students and young families in the city of Cambridge.
Looking further afield than Cambridge, the CIO continues to support a family from Cambridge working in Siberia for a Christian charity. Various gifts have also been made throughout the year to churches in India, with which the CIO has connections, with the CIO matching contributions from church members to support those churches during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Developing future leaders
The CIO is committed to supporting the Church in developing leaders in all areas of its activities. A wider Eldership team has now been in place for over a year, to help support the Elders, provide a more diverse representation of the church community within the leadership team, and to ensure the leadership of the Church is sustainable in the long-term. The Church is committed to the development of a broader team of leaders outside of the Eldership team and, as noted above, has been encouraging a wider range of individuals to participate in leading its activities, taking on roles in Sunday meetings and in leading small groups or taking responsibility for projects.
The CIO continues to fund a Church member in undertaking a three-year theology course, with a view to them using their skills within the leadership of the Church. The CIO will also be supporting the Church in running a regular programme of evening theology workshops over the coming year, on a variety of topics.
The CIO provides in-house training for volunteers on safeguarding and data protection. All adults supporting work with those under the age of 18 took part in refresher safeguarding and data protection training during the course of the year. In addition, Ruth French, the deputy Safeguarding Co-ordinator attended a 2 day training session pertinent to this role. Andy Macey and Sophie Whitbread completed training in respect to their responsibilities as trustees. Relevant policies and practices were reviewed in light of actions arising from all the above
training sessions. A whole church focus on safeguarding is to be planned into the teaching schedule in the coming year.
Future plans
The CIO will continue to support the Church in achieving its vision, with a focus on drawing in and serving the local community. The CIO anticipates making more financial gifts to local families in need in the coming year. It also anticipates an increase in expenditure on rent and community activities, as society gradually reopens following the various lockdowns, and has budgeted accordingly.
The CIO continues to consider alongside the Eldership team whether it may be appropriate to employ one or more paid workers (in addition to the part-time administrator currently employed) to focus on one or more particular areas of the Church’s activities. This is still at the planning stage and has had to be put on hold over the last year, but it remains on the Trustees’ agenda.
Financial Review
Income for the period was £34,799.75, which was slightly above the level of income during previous years. Expenditure was £22,238.58, which was down on previous years, largely due to the fact that very little expenditure on premises rental has been required, and the fact that very few face to face events or activities have been able to take place. Cash in the bank as at 5 April 2021 was £45,809.67, which the trustees believe puts the CIO in a healthy position moving forward, taking into account its reserves policy noted below.
Reserves Policy
The trustees consider it advisable to hold reserves to cater for two eventualities, namely (1) a drop in the CIO’s income, in which case it would be desirable to be able to continue with the CIO’s core activity in running the Church and (2) the possibility of employing one or more individuals to focus on particular projects, as referred to above. In order to address these needs, the trustees consider that it would be prudent to hold reserves of between 3 and 6 months’ budgeted operating costs (in respect of item 1), plus a sum of £15,000 (in respect of item 2, taking into account that this may need to cover a number of years). At current levels, this would support the holding of up to around £30,000 in reserve. The sum held in reserve is higher than this, as a result of a lack of costly activities over the last year. It is envisaged that this level of reserves will be reduced gradually as the Church is able gradually to resume various activities over the coming year.
Approval
This report was approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf on 25 July 2021 by Sophie Whitbread
New Fellowship CIO - Arbury Community Church Charity Number 1169803
Receipts and Payments Account for the year ended 5th April 2021
NFCIO FINAL SUMMARY 2020-2021
| YEAR | 2019/2020 | YEAR | 2019/2020 | YEAR | 2018/ 2019 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | £ | ||||||
| EXPENDITURE | EXPENDITURE | EXPENDITURE | ||||||
| Vision/Sphere | £1,227.98 | Ministry | £2,263.20 | Ministry | £1,846.00 | |||
| Office | £0.00 | Office | £0.00 | Office | £0.00 | |||
| Friends in Need | £5,089.74 | Car | £0.00 | Car | £0.00 | |||
| Print/Post/Stationary | £0.00 | Print/Post/Stationary | £0.00 | Print/Post/Stationary | £98.97 | |||
| Refreshments | £0.00 | Refreshments | £855.16 | Refreshments | £1,349.18 | |||
| Premises-hall hire | £31.29 | Premises-hall hire | £4,599.69 | Premises-hall hire | £4,640.20 | |||
| Premises-other | £0.00 | Premises-other | £0.00 | Premises-other | £251.87 | |||
| Books/Music/DVD | £170.43 | Books/Music/DVD | £88.73 | Books/Music/DVD | £401.46 | |||
| Overseas gift-India | £1,600.00 | Overseas gift-India | £2,500.00 | Overseas gift-India | £0.00 | |||
| Overseas gift-Other | £2,200.00 | Overseas gift-Other | £1,900.00 | Overseas gift-Other | £1,753.90 | |||
| Local gift-Other | £6,442.00 | Local gift-Other | £6,804.00 | Local gift-Other | £6,120.00 | |||
| Overseas Mission Travel | £0.00 | Overseas Mission Travel | £0.00 | Overseas Mission Travel | £0.00 | |||
| Transport/ Travel | £0.00 | Transport/ Travel | £484.10 | Transport/ Travel | £722.86 | |||
| Insurance | £950.12 | Insurance | £942.85 | Insurance | £1,183.50 | |||
| Speakers | £0.00 | Speakers | £460.00 | Speakers | £1,032.60 | |||
| Equipment | £43.17 | Equipment | £783.95 | Equipment | £496.77 | |||
| Hire equipment | £0.00 | Hire equipment | £213.00 | Hire equipment | £297.00 | |||
| Salary | £2,155.42 | Salary-(youth worker end Oct and Admin start No | v £2,063.08 |
Youth-YFC salary | £3,212.29 | |||
| Youth-other (includes some bulgaria costs ) | £320.51 | Youth-other (includes some bulgaria costs ) | £2,232.54 | Youth-other | £1,533.20 | |||
| ss/creche | £284.57 | ss/creche | £14.22 | T-shirts | £121.28 | |||
| Grant | £0.00 | Grant | £0.00 | Grant | £0.00 | |||
| Licences/subscriptions | £1,259.37 | Licences/subscriptions | £778.32 | Licences/subscriptions | £1,018.98 | |||
| Bank charges | £27.00 | Bank charges | £155.75 | Bank charges | £647.12 | |||
| Conference fees | £0.00 | Conference fees | £1,300.00 | Conference fees | £1,177.00 | |||
| Parenting course | £0.00 | Parenting course | £0.00 | Literature | £2,161.28 | |||
| Outreach | £301.98 | Outreach | £1,075.62 | Outreach | £1,351.61 | |||
| Accounts | £135.00 | Accounts | £132.00 | Accounts | £129.00 | |||
| TOTAL EXPENDITURE | **£22,238.58 ** | TOTAL EXPENDITURE | **£29,646.21 ** | TOTAL EXPENDITURE | £31,546.07 | |||
| INCOME | INCOME | INCOME | ||||||
| Ad-hoc gifts-no gift aid | £0.00 | Ad-hoc gifts-no gift aid | £506.00 | Ad-hoc gifts-no gift aid | £506.00 | |||
| Direct Credits-No Gift Aid | £1,545.00 | Cash & Cheques-Gift Aid | £320.00 | Cash & Cheques-Gift Aid | £320.00 | |||
| Direct Credits-Gift Aid | £21,835.00 | Direct Credits-Gift Aid | £23,699.20 | Direct Credits-Gift Aid | £23,699.20 | |||
| Direct Credits-Other | £2,763.44 | Direct Credits-Other | £694.37 | Direct Credits-Other | £694.37 | |||
| Tax Back | £8,127.31 | Tax Back | £5,536.46 | Tax Back | £5,536.46 | |||
| UKET/CAF | £0.00 | UKET/CAF | £0.00 | UKET/CAF | £0.00 | |||
| Events (contributions to Bulgaria) | £0.00 | Events (contributions to Bulgaria) | £865.00 | Events (contributions to Bulgaria) | £865.00 | |||
| Refunds | £529.00 | Refunds | £0.00 | Refunds | £0.00 | |||
| Misc | £0.00 | Misc | £0.00 | Misc | £0.00 | |||
| Parenting course | £0.00 | Parenting course | £4,279.85 | Parenting course | £4,279.85 | |||
| £34,799.75 | **£31,167.10 ** | TOTAL INCOME | £35,900.88 | |||||
| £12,561.17 | **£1,520.89 ** | Excess of income over expenditure | £4,354.81 | |||||
| Lloyds Bank Account (Ac. No. 40670537) Opening Balance (ob) £26,906.05 Closing Balance £40,414.22 Difference (cb -ob) £13,508.17 Barclays Bank Account (Ac. No. 40670537) Opening Balance (ob) £6,342.45 Closing Balance £5,395.45 Difference (cb -ob) £947.00 Outstanding expenditure Adjusted closing balance (cb) Difference (cb -ob) Unreconciled Total |
£12,561.17 **£0.00 ** |
Lloyds Bank Account (Ac. No. 40670537) Opening Balance (ob) £24,437.16 Closing Balance £26,906.05 Difference (cb -ob) £2,468.89 Barclays Bank Account (Ac. No. 40670537) Opening Balance (ob) £7,290.45 Closing Balance £6,342.45 Difference (cb -ob) £948.00 Outstanding expenditure Adjusted closing balance (cb) Difference (cb -ob) Unreconciled Total |
£1,520.89 **£0.00 ** |
Lloyds Bank Account (Ac. No. 40670537) Opening Balance (ob) £17,919.39 Closing Balance £24,437.16 Difference (cb -ob) £6,517.77 Barclays Bank Account (Ac. No. 40670537) Opening Balance (ob) £9,453.41 Closing Balance £7,290.45 Difference (cb -ob) £2,162.96 Outstanding expenditure Adjusted closing balance (cb) Difference (cb -ob) Unreconciled Total |
£4,354.81 £0.00 |
NEW FELLOWSHIP CIO CHARITY NUMBER 1169803 INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 5 APRIL 2021 TO THE TRUSTEES OF NEVV FELLOWSHIP CIO I report lo the trustees on my examination of the Receipts and Payments Account of the charity for the year ended 5 April 2021. RESPONSIBILITIES AND BASIS OF REPORT As the trustees of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the wuiremenls of the Charities Act 2011 {'the Acr} I report in respect of my examination of the charity's accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions glven by the Charity Commission under section 14515llbl of the Act. INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S STATEMENT I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my allenlion in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect.. accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act.- or the accounts do not accord with those records. I have no concerns and have come aeross no other matters in connection with the examination to which allenlion should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Geoff Mann F Geoff Mann Limlted Dee House Highworth Avenue Cambridge CB4 2BQ 9 November 2021