NEW FELLOWSHIP CIO ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDING 5 APRIL 2023
CHARITY DETAILS
Trustees: Sophie Whitbread (Chair) Ruth French (Treasurer) Andrew Macey (retired 14 May 2022) Zoe Smith (appointed 14 May 2022) Emma Atkins (appointed 10 July 2022) Nathan Whitbread (retired 18 September 2022) Daniel Minnaar (retired 27 February 2023) 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:
-
The advancement of the Christian religion in the UK and overseas, but principally within Cambridge through the operation of Arbury Community Church (the Church);
-
The relief of poverty in the UK and overseas, but principally in the Arbury area of Cambridge;
-
The advancement of the education of individuals in the Arbury area of Cambridge and the wider city of Cambridge; and
-
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:
-
Grow a worshipping community
-
Use and grow our God given gifts for the glory of God.
-
Show others Jesus in our schools, colleges, workplaces, community and neighbourhoods.
-
Show Jesus’ love in practical ways to one another and to our communities.
-
Develop future leaders.
Structure and management
The CIO is run by a group of four to 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 Tony Males and Nathan Whitbread, supported by an Eldership team.
In order to provide a link between the trustees and the Eldership team, one of the Elders has until recently also been a trustee; currently a member of the
Eldership team attends trustee meetings for communication and continuity purposes. The trustees have continued with their 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. These meetings have taken place in person and 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 two) have their tenure reviewed after a nine-year period. Two new trustees were appointed during the period to which this report relates, with two retirements. The two remaining trustees each have over nine years’ service. Given the two recent recruits, it was agreed by the trustee body that this provided a good balance of experience and fresh ideas. The trustees would ideally like to recruit at least one further trustee in the coming year.
The Church is part of a network of independent churches called Synergy, and the Elders have started to meet regularly with leaders of Synergy churches most local to it. It continues to collaborate with other churches in North Cambridge and is also a member of the Cambridge Christian Action Network.
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 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. The Church continues to meet in person, but the meeting is streamed by Zoom to enable those who are not able or prefer not to attend to participate.
The format of Sunday meetings has changed over the course of the last year in order to increase the sense of community during those meetings. Chairs are grouped around tables in order to facilitate group discussion at appropriate times during the meeting. A number of Sundays have also been given over to more community-focused activities, such as a Sunday meeting introducing the Christians Against Poverty (CAP) Money Course. Regular shared breakfasts and lunches give further opportunities to build community on Sundays.
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 and youth social events, 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.
A team of support group leaders continues to take responsibility for maintaining pastoral contact. This system works well as a means of supporting all within the Church community, practically, emotionally and spiritually, and it remains in place even though face to face meetings have now resumed.
The recently appointed Community Development Worker, through the support group leaders, has facilitated a ‘check in’ with everyone in the Church community who would like one. These check ins have given everyone the opportunity to discuss how they are faring, emotionally, physically and spiritually. This has enabled support to be targeted in the right places and it will inform future planning of events and activities.
Several members of the Church are planning to attend the New Wine summer conference in July – August 2023, which is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy large-scale worship and benefit from teaching, at the same time as developing a greater sense of community as the group camps together for several days. The CIO has subsidised tickets for all attendees, with greater subsidies for those in particular financial need.
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.
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 wider community as a first step in sharing the love of Jesus, and this has continued this year.
The Church partnered with two local churches for an outdoor Good Friday service in a local shopping area and worked with another local church to plan and run a joint Christmas Day service. The Church had a presence at the Arbury Carnival, a local community event, which it has attended for a number of years. This year, for the first time, the Church partnered with a number of other North Cambridge churches and combined resources to share something of the Christian story at this event.
In the summer of 2022, the Church obtained a grant to run a football project for local youth, which provided an opportunity to reach out to that section of the local community and to provide meaningful activities over the summer holidays.
Christmas was once again an ideal opportunity to show the love of Jesus to others, and the informal retelling of the Nativity story was well attended by local residents.
In November 2022, the CIO appointed a part-time Community Development Worker who is exploring ways in which to enable the Church to engage further with its local community. This includes partnering with others in similar roles in other local churches to strengthen bonds with those churches and increase the impact of those roles.
The CIO has also agreed to support a series of family breakfasts, where members of the local community with young children are invited to a breakfast with craft and other activities. The first of these breakfasts, held in March 2022, was very popular, with almost 100 attendees, demonstrating the need for such provision in the local community.
The CIO has continued to support the running of a parenting course, the ‘Parenting Puzzle’ and will be funding a similar course for parents of teenagers in the next financial year. The CIO also makes regular contributions to the charity Kintsugi Hope. This has enabled two leaders to run Kintsugi Hope wellbeing
courses, and have free access to their course materials and other resources . Several courses have taken place already among Church members and the wider community, with the hope that more will be rolled out in the future. The CIO has also funded a number of individuals in undertaking training from Christians Against Poverty (CAP). Courses are now being run by these volunteers to support finance and budget planning within the community.
All of the above projects are enabling the Church to connect with those in the local community and to show love to them in a variety of ways
Show Jesus’ love in practical ways to one another and to our communities
The CIO has remained committed to providing financial and other support to those within the Church community and beyond, at a time when many have been adversely affected by the global pandemic, and the recent cost of living crisis. Members of the Church community regularly help one another out in practical ways, for example by offering lifts to hospital appointments or helping with a house move. One of the community Sundays this year was given over to undertaking activities in the local community, including litter-picking and handing out hot drinks in a local shopping area.
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. Some of these have been over a period of time, where those needing support have needed more than a “one off” gift. Good communication within the wider leadership of the church and the support group structure described above has enabled those needing help to be identified sensitively.
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. Payments were also made to a church with close connections to the CIO in India, to enable them to purchase PA equipment and to support a family with their medical bills.
Developing future leaders
The CIO is committed to supporting the Church in developing leaders in all areas of its activities. The wider Eldership team continues to help support the Elders, providing a more diverse representation of the church community within the
leadership team. During the course of this year, members of that team have continued to take on more responsibility, including leading the Sunday morning meetings and preaching.
The Church remains 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 provides regular in-house training for volunteers on safeguarding and data protection. Trustee training in respect of their safeguarding responsibilities has continued on a rolling programme,
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 community activities, and has budgeted accordingly.
Financial Review
Income for the period was £36,649.98, which was slightly below the level of income in the previous year. Expenditure was £42,225.41, with the appointment of the Community Development Worker now starting to use the considerable reserves that had built up over a number of years. Cash in the bank as at 5 April 2023 was £45,107.20.
Reserves Policy
Our reserves position:
| Current Year | Previous Year |
% Increase / (Decrease) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted Funds | £45,107.20 | £48,927.24 | 6.5% decrease |
| Restricted/Designated Funds: | £0 | £1,755.39 | 100% decrease |
| Total Funds | £45,107.20 | £50,682.63 | 11% decrease |
Why are reserves required?
-
Income continues to be stable but in the event of the church closing, reserves would be needed for:
-
redundancy and notice payments to pt. time staff (estimated 1.3K)
-
giving 3 months’ notice for support to key projects locally and abroad (2K)
-
• paying outstanding bills/allowing time for various standing orders and debits to be cancelled – roughly equivalent to one month’s expenditure (average 3K)
Therefore, the minimum reserves needed should the church cease to exist would be 6.5K.
2. In order to reduce accumulated reserves and further meet the charitable objects of the CIO the trustees have created and filled an additional role within the church. The funds required for this role will not be met fully by income, when considering current projections. It will therefore be necessary to fund or at least part-fund this role using accumulated reserves. The trustees agree that this is an appropriate use of the reserves given the vision of ACC. If it is considered desirable to continue with this role in the long-term, the trustees would look to ensure if it could be funded from regular income, either by seeking an increase in income (potentially to include grant income to support the specific role) or by re-prioritising other expenditure.
Reserves Policy reviewed: May 2023
Approval
This report was approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf on 9[th] July 2023 by Sophie Whitbread
New Fellowship CIO - Arbury Community Church Charity Number 1169803
Receipts and Payments Account for the year ended 5th April 2023
NFCIO FINAL SUMMARY 2022-2023
| YEAR | 2022/2023 | YEAR | 2021/2022 | YEAR | 2020/2021 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | £ | ||||||
| EXPENDITURE | EXPENDITURE | EXPENDITURE | ||||||
| Vision/Sphere | £720.00 | Vision/Sphere | £838.75 | Vision/Sphere | £1,227.98 | |||
| Office | £45.85 | Office | £0.00 | Office | £0.00 | |||
| Friends in Need | £4,065.09 | Friends in Need | £2,628.25 | Friends in Need | £5,089.74 | |||
| Print/Post/Stationary | £85.00 | Print/Post/Stationary | £206.24 | Print/Post/Stationary | £0.00 | |||
| Refreshments | £684.97 | Refreshments | £78.68 | Refreshments | £0.00 | |||
| Premises-hall hire | £5,106.47 | Premises-hall hire | £2,368.21 | Premises-hall hire | £31.29 | |||
| Premises-other | £110.00 | Premises-other | £23.50 | Premises-other | £0.00 | |||
| Books/Music/DVD | £0.00 | Books/Music/DVD | £289.69 | Books/Music/DVD | £170.43 | |||
| Overseas gift-India | £1,009.50 | Overseas gift-India | £6,600.00 | Overseas gift-India | £1,600.00 | |||
| Overseas gift-Other | £1,200.00 | Overseas gift-Other | £6,230.00 | Overseas gift-Other | £2,200.00 | |||
| Local gift-Other | £3,600.00 | Local gift-Other | £3,600.00 | Local gift-Other | £6,442.00 | |||
| Overseas Mission Travel | £1,250.00 | Overseas Mission Travel | £0.00 | Overseas Mission Travel | £0.00 | |||
| Transport/ Travel | £589.97 | Transport/ Travel | £0.00 | Transport/ Travel | £0.00 | |||
| Insurance | £1,295.38 | Insurance | £1,022.07 | Insurance | £950.12 | |||
| Speakers | £400.00 | Speakers | £500.00 | Speakers | £0.00 | |||
| Equipment | £1,730.95 | Equipment | £123.95 | Equipment | £43.17 | |||
| Hire equipment | £0.00 | Hire equipment | £0.00 | Hire equipment | £0.00 | |||
| Salary | £7,190.12 | Salary | £3,014.48 | Salary | £2,155.42 | |||
| Youth | £265.09 | Youth-other (includes some bulgaria costs ) | £302.00 | Youth-other (includes some bulgaria costs ) | £320.51 | |||
| ss/creche | £479.51 | ss/creche | £533.69 | ss/creche | £284.57 | |||
| Transfer | £417.79 | Grant | £0.00 | Grant | £0.00 | |||
| Licences/subscriptions | £1,735.21 | Licences/subscriptions | £1,630.76 | Licences/subscriptions | £1,259.37 | |||
| Bank charges | £169.79 | Bank charges | £51.00 | Bank charges | £27.00 | |||
| Conference fees | £2,182.41 | Conference fees | £2,910.75 | Conference fees | £0.00 | |||
| Parenting course | £2,112.54 | Parenting course | £209.45 | Parenting course | £0.00 | |||
| Outreach | £4,817.00 | Outreach | £309.55 | Outreach | £301.98 | |||
| Accounts | £141.00 | Accounts | £138.00 | Accounts | £135.00 | |||
| Kintsugi Hope | £821.77 | |||||||
| TOTAL EXPENDITURE | **£42,225.41 ** | TOTAL EXPENDITURE | **£33,609.02 ** | TOTAL EXPENDITURE | £22,238.58 | |||
| INCOME | INCOME | INCOME | ||||||
| Ad-hoc gifts-no gift aid | Ad-hoc gifts-no gift aid | £20.00 | Ad-hoc gifts-no gift aid | £0.00 | ||||
| Direct Credits-No Gift Aid | £7,606.25 | Direct Credits-No Gift Aid | £7,584.00 | Direct Credits-No Gift Aid | £1,545.00 | |||
| Direct Credits-Gift Aid | £16,732.00 | Direct Credits-Gift Aid | £21,831.88 | Direct Credits-Gift Aid | £21,835.00 | |||
| Direct Credits-Other | £3,823.84 | Direct Credits-Other | £3,820.72 | Direct Credits-Other | £2,763.44 | |||
| Tax Back | £5,120.10 | Tax Back | £5,225.38 | Tax Back | £8,127.31 | |||
| Grants (football) | £2,805.00 | UKET/CAF | £0.00 | UKET/CAF | £0.00 | |||
| Events | £0.00 | Events (contributions to Bulgaria) | £0.00 | Events (contributions to Bulgaria) | £0.00 | |||
| Refunds (closure of Barclays) | £417.79 | Refunds | £0.00 | Refunds | £529.00 | |||
| Misc | £0.00 | Misc | £0.00 | Misc | £0.00 | |||
| Parenting course | £145.00 | Parenting course | £0.00 | Parenting course | £0.00 | |||
| £36,649.98 | £38,481.98 | £34,799.75 | ||||||
| -£5,575.43 | £4,872.96 | £12,561.17 | ||||||
| Lloyds Bank Account (Ac. No. 40670537) Opening Balance (ob) £46,707.98 Closing Balance £35,087.59 Difference (cb -ob) -£11,620.39 Lloyds Bank Account (Ac. No. 40670537) Opening Balance (ob) £0.00 Closing Balance £10,019.61 Difference (cb -ob) £10,019.61 Barclays Bank Account (Ac. No. 40670537) Opening Balance (ob) £3,974.65 Closing Balance £0.00 Difference (cb -ob) -£3,974.65 Outstanding expenditure Adjusted closing balance (cb) Difference (cb -ob) Unreconciled Total |
Combined Llloyd -£1,600.78 -£5,575.43 **£0.00 ** |
Lloyds Bank Account (Ac. No. 40670537) Opening Balance (ob) £40,414.22 Closing Balance £46,707.98 Difference (cb -ob) £6,293.76 s Barclays Bank Account (Ac. No. 40670537) Opening Balance (ob) £5,395.45 Closing Balance £3,974.65 Difference (cb -ob) £1,420.80 Outstanding expenditure Adjusted closing balance (cb) Difference (cb -ob) Unreconciled Total |
£4,872.96 **£0.00 ** |
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 |
NEW FELLOWSHIP CIO CHARITY NUMBER 1169803 INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 5 APRIL 2023 TO THE TRUSTEES OF NEW FELLOWSHIP CIO I report lo the Iruslees on my examination of the Receipts and Payments Account of the charity for the year ended 5 April 2022. RESPONSIBILITIES AND BASIS OF REPORT As the Iruslees of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance wilh Ihe requirements of the Charities Act 2011 I'lhe Acl'l I report in respect of my examination of the charity's accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out rlly examination I have followed all the applicable Diieclions given by the Charity Commission under section 14515}Ibl of the Act. INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S STATEMENT I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material mallers have come lo my allenlion in ¢onne¢lion with the examination giving me cause lo believe that in any material respect.. accounting records were not kepl 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 across no other mallers in connection with the examinalion lo which allenlion should be drawn In this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accou s to be reached. Geoff Mann Geoff Mann Limiled Dee House Highworth Avenue Cambridge CB4 2BQ 13 January 2024