NEW FELLOWSHIP CIO ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDING 5 APRIL 2024
CHARITY DETAILS
Trustees: Sophie Whitbread (Chair) Ruth French (Treasurer) Zoe Smith Emma Atkins Peter Cairns (appointed 24 September 2023) Deborah Kisekka (appointed 3 March 2024) 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 four to six 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, Nicholas Cairns, a member of the Eldership team, has recently been appointed as a trustee
in order to provide continuity and to aid communication between the trustees and the Elders/Eldership team. 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 decisionmaking 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 currently two) have their tenure reviewed after a nine-year period. Two new trustees were appointed during the period to which this report relates, further boosting the size and diversity of the Board. Two of the other trustees have under two years’ service. The two remaining trustees each have over nine years’ service. Given the two recent recruits, and with two other trustees only relatively recently recruited, it was agreed by the trustee body that this provided a good balance of experience and fresh ideas.
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 change in format for Sunday meetings to ‘café style’ has been successful, increasing the sense of community during those meetings, so has continued in the last year. Chairs are grouped around tables in order to facilitate group discussion at appropriate times during the meeting, with some chairs away from the tables for anyone who does not want to participate in this way. This format has also helped Sunday talks to be more interactive, and it has been particularly useful in the various ‘all age’ meetings that take place periodically, with attendees able to move around the tables to participate in different activities at each table. 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. This year, a new ladies’ prayer meeting has started (‘Cuppa and Prayer’). 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.
An important focus for the Church at the beginning of 2024 was a 7 week period of ‘hearing God together’ when as many people as possible prioritised meeting once a week in order to seek direction for the Church. These meetings are set to continue on a less frequent basis.
This year, a dance group has started. This group is likely to meet on an ad hoc basis to encourage worship through dance and potentially to perform at Church events.
Several members of the Church are planning to attend the New Wine summer conference in July 2024, 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. The round-table format of several recent ‘all age’ meetings referred to above has encouraged even greater participation and several individuals have stepped up to lead discussions around a table.
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, the Church once again partnered with a number of other North Cambridge churches and combined resources to share something of the Christian story at this event.
Christmas was once again an ideal opportunity to show the love of Jesus to others. The Church put on a variety performance to share the Christmas message, which was well attended by local residents.
Outreach to the local community has continued to develop under the leadership of the Church’s Community Development Worker. Once again this year, the Church partnered with two local churches to run children’s trails at Easter and Christmas as well as an alternative Halloween light trail. A ‘coffee and kindness’ group has also started at a local primary school, giving an opportunity to meet local parents, particularly those who may be lonely or vulnerable. This has been an opportunity to show kindness, to teach useful skills and to signpost to helpful courses and support in the Church community and more generally.
The CIO has continued 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. These breakfasts remain popular and are another opportunity for creating community, signposting to sources of support and sharing the Christian message.
This year, a group from the Church has started to meet regularly at a local care home to be ‘communities together’. The group spends time with residents once every month or so, chatting, sharing refreshments, and taking part in singing and other activities together.
The CIO has continued to support the running of two parenting courses, the ‘Parenting Puzzle’ and ‘Talking Teens’, although Parenting Puzzle is now largely funded by a Council grant. The CIO continues to make regular contributions to the charity Kintsugi Hope. Two Kintsugi Hope wellbeing courses were run this year. The CIO also continues to fund Christians Against Poverty (CAP) with more courses planned for the future 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.
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.
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 Eldership team itself also has expanded. The wider leadership team, consisting of the Eldership team and the trustees, has met together several times this year in order to strengthen the group and encourage one another, as well as to receive some training.
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. A number of the Eldership team have attended leadership events organized by Synergy and one Church member is undertaking part-time theological training with King’s School of Theology (partly funded by the Church).
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 with the support of the Community Development Worker. The CIO anticipates making more financial gifts to local families in need in the coming year and is mindful of the fact that based on current projections, the CIO will be in a position to continue fully to fund the role until FY 2025-2026. It also anticipates an increase in expenditure on community activities, and has budgeted accordingly. In light of the above, it is unlikely to be responding to requests for funding from outside the immediate local area, including overseas (other than those already budgeted for).
Financial Review
Income for the period was £32,442.04, which was slightly below the level of income in the previous year. Expenditure was £42,045.18, almost exactly the same as the previous year. As anticipated, expenditure exceeded income, with the appointment of the Community Development Worker continuing to use the considerable reserves that had built up over a number of years. Cash in the bank as at 5 April 2024 was £35,504.06.
Reserves Policy
Our reserves position:
| Current Year | Previous Year |
% Increase / (Decrease) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted Funds | £35,504.06 | £45,107.20 | 21.3% decrease |
| Restricted/Designated Funds: | £0 | £0 | No change |
| Total Funds | £35,504.06 | £45,107.20 | 21.3% decrease |
Why are reserves required?
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Income continues to be stable but in the event of the church closing, reserves would be needed for:
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redundancy and notice payments to pt. time staff (estimated 1.3K)
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giving 3 months’ notice for support to key projects locally and abroad (2K)
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• 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.
Last reviewed: May 2023 [figures updated June 2024]
Approval
This report was approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf on 8[th] July 2024 by Sophie Whitbread
New Fellowship CIO - Arbury Community Church Charity Number 1169803
Receipts and Payments Account for the year ended 5th April 2024
NFCIO FINAL SUMMARY 2023-24
| YEAR | 2023/2024 | YEAR | 2022/2023 | YEAR | 2021/2022 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | £ | ||||||
| EXPENDITURE | EXPENDITURE | EXPENDITURE | ||||||
| Vision/Sphere | £720.00 | Vision/Sphere | £720.00 | Vision/Sphere | £838.75 | |||
| Office | £4.75 | Office | £45.85 | Office | £0.00 | |||
| Friends in Need | £3,053.03 | Friends in Need | £4,065.09 | Friends in Need | £2,628.25 | |||
| Print/Post/Stationary | £125.61 | Print/Post/Stationary | £85.00 | Print/Post/Stationary | £206.24 | |||
| Refreshments | £943.27 | Refreshments | £684.97 | Refreshments | £78.68 | |||
| Premises-hall hire | £6,351.22 | Premises-hall hire | £5,106.47 | Premises-hall hire | £2,368.21 | |||
| Training/Safeguarding | £685.22 | Premises-other | £110.00 | Premises-other | £23.50 | |||
| Books/Music/DVD | £161.01 | Books/Music/DVD | £0.00 | Books/Music/DVD | £289.69 | |||
| Overseas gift-India | £0.00 | Overseas gift-India | £1,009.50 | Overseas gift-India | £6,600.00 | |||
| Overseas gift-Other | £1,660.82 | Overseas gift-Other | £1,200.00 | Overseas gift-Other | £6,230.00 | |||
| Local gift-Other | £3,600.00 | Local gift-Other | £3,600.00 | Local gift-Other | £3,600.00 | |||
| Overseas Mission Travel | £0.00 | Overseas Mission Travel | £1,250.00 | Overseas Mission Travel | £0.00 | |||
| Transport/ Travel | £1,206.87 | Transport/ Travel | £589.97 | Transport/ Travel | £0.00 | |||
| Insurance | £1,245.11 | Insurance | £1,295.38 | Insurance | £1,022.07 | |||
| Speakers | £720.00 | Speakers | £400.00 | Speakers | £500.00 | |||
| Equipment | £133.68 | Equipment | £1,730.95 | Equipment | £123.95 | |||
| Hire equipment | £0.00 | Hire equipment | £0.00 | Hire equipment | £0.00 | |||
| Salary | £12,080.50 | Salary | £7,190.12 | Salary | £3,014.48 | |||
| Youth | £441.47 | Youth | £265.09 | Youth-other (includes some bulgaria costs ) | £302.00 | |||
| ss/creche | £610.13 | ss/creche | £479.51 | ss/creche | £533.69 | |||
| Licences/subscriptions | £1,581.90 | Transfer | £417.79 | Grant | £0.00 | |||
| Bank charges | £0.00 | Licences/subscriptions | £1,735.21 | Licences/subscriptions | £1,630.76 | |||
| Conference fees | £2,362.38 | Bank charges | £169.79 | Bank charges | £51.00 | |||
| Parenting course | £907.31 | Conference fees | £2,182.41 | Conference fees | £2,910.75 | |||
| Outreach | £2,329.06 | Parenting course | £2,112.54 | Parenting course | £209.45 | |||
| Accounts | £144.00 | Outreach | £4,817.00 | Outreach | £309.55 | |||
| Kintsugi Hope | £977.84 | Accounts | £141.00 | Accounts | £138.00 | |||
| Kintsugi Hope | £821.77 | |||||||
| TOTAL EXPENDITURE | **£42,045.18 ** | TOTAL EXPENDITURE | **£42,225.41 ** | TOTAL EXPENDITURE | £33,609.02 | |||
| INCOME | INCOME | INCOME | ||||||
| Ad-hoc gifts-no gift aid | £10.00 | Ad-hoc gifts-no gift aid | Ad-hoc gifts-no gift aid | £20.00 | ||||
| Direct Credits-No Gift Aid | £6,092.00 | Direct Credits-No Gift Aid | £7,606.25 | Direct Credits-No Gift Aid | £7,584.00 | |||
| Direct Credits-Gift Aid | £14,693.83 | Direct Credits-Gift Aid | £16,732.00 | Direct Credits-Gift Aid | £21,831.88 | |||
| Direct Credits-Stewardship | £6,799.44 | Direct Credits-Other | £3,823.84 | Direct Credits-Other | £3,820.72 | |||
| Tax Back | £3,900.79 | Tax Back | £5,120.10 | Tax Back | £5,225.38 | |||
| Grants (football) | £500.00 | Grants (football) | £2,805.00 | UKET/CAF | £0.00 | |||
| Events | £0.00 | Events | £0.00 | Events (contributions to Bulgaria) | £0.00 | |||
| Shared Church events | £175.00 | Refunds (closure of Barclays) | £417.79 | Refunds | £0.00 | |||
| Parenting course | £132.00 | Misc | £0.00 | Misc | £0.00 | |||
| Refunds | £138.98 | Parenting course | £145.00 | Parenting course | £0.00 | |||
| £32,442.04 | £36,649.98 | £38,481.98 | ||||||
| Lloyds Bank Account (Ac. No. 40670537) Opening Balance (ob) £35,087.59 Closing Balance £0.00 Difference (cb -ob) -£35,087.59 Lloyds Bank Account (Ac. No. 40670537) Opening Balance (ob) £10,019.61 Closing Balance £35,504.06 Difference (cb -ob) £25,484.45 Unreconciled Total |
-£9,603.14 | -£5,575.43 | £4,872.96 | |||||
| -£9,603.14 **£0.00 ** |
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 Lllo -£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 yds 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 |
NEW FELLOWSHIP CIO CHARITY NUMBER 1169803 INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 5 APRIL 2024 TO THE TRUSTEES OF NEW FELLOWSHIP CIO I report to the trustees on my examination of the ReiptS and Payments Account of the charity for the year ended 5 April 2024. 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 Act,) I report in respect of my examination of the chariws accounts carried out under section 145 of the 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 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.. 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 across no other matters in connection wth the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the acco to be reached. Geoff Mann FCIE Geoff Mann Limited Dee House Highworth Avenue Cambridge CB4 2BQ