NEW FELLOWSHIP CIO CHARITY NUMBER 1169803 INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 5 APRIL 2025 TO THE TRUSTEES OF NEW FELLOWSHIP CIO I report to the trustees on my examination of the Receipts and panents Account of the charity for the year ended 5 April 2025. 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 charity's 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: aOUntIng 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 with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the acc nts to be reached. Geoff Mann Geoff Mann Limited Dee House Highworth Avenue Cambridge CB4 2BQ
NEW FELLOWSHIP CIO ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDING 5 APRIL 2025 CHARITY DETAILS Trustees: Sophie Whitbread (Chair) Ruth French (Treasurer) (resigned 3 1 January 2025) Zoe Smith Emma Atkins Peter Cairns Deborah Kisekka Daniel Carlson (appointed 19 January 2025) Governlng Document: Foundation Model Constitution - 20 October 2016 Charlty Reglstratlon Number: 1169803 Reglstered Address: 84 Gilbert Road Cambridge CB4 3PD Independent Examiner: MrG 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: l. The advancement of the Christian religion in the UK and overseas, but principally within Cambridge through the operation of Arbury Community Church (the Church); 2. The relief of poverty in the UK and overseas, but principally in the Arbury area of Cambridge; 3. The advancement of the education of individuals in the Arbury area of Cambridge and the wider city of Cambridge; and 4. Such other charitable purposes that shall in the opinion of the trustees facilitate the CIO'S work The CIO seeks to achieve these objerts 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 lesus 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 SIX trustees, who have oversight of the overall running of the CIO and who meet regularly to monitor the activlties 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, is also a trustee. This provides
continuity and aids 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 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 have their tenure reviewed after a nine- year period. One new trustee was appointed during the period to which this report relates. Four of the other trustees had under three years, service by the end of the year. The one remaining trustee has over nine years, service. This trustee is planning to resign towards the end of the next financial 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 benefiL 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 worshlpplng 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 warnily welcomed. Children and young people go out to their own focused groups mid-way through the meetin& 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. We have maintained our café style forniat for Sunday meetings that has been Successful. increasing the sense of community during those meetings. Chairs are grouped around tables 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 forniat has also helped Sunday talks to be more interactive, and it has been particularly useful in our regujar'all age, meetings, 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 and a recently formed youth prayer group. This year, a new ladies, prayer meeting has started ('Cuppa and Prayer,). Alongside this have been regular men's breakfasts. These regular meetings, combined with ad hoc events (including children's and youth social events, Christian camps, an annual church day out 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 2025 was a 6-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. Several members of the Church are planning to attend the New Wine summer conference in July 2025, which is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy large-scale worship and benefit from teaching, at the same time as developing a greater sense ofcommunity as the group camps together for several days. Using and growing our God-given glfts 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 many people in the Church community are actively involved in leading and serving the community. The round-table forniat 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 tsble. Our musicians and singers continue to meet to practise and learn new songs for our Sunday meetings. They also received training funded by the CIO in the form of a vocal workshop. Showing others lesus 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 joint Easter and Christmas Day services. The Church had a presence at the Arbury Carnival, a local community event, which it has attended for several years. This year, the Church once again partnered with two other North Cambridge churches and combined resources to share something of the Christian story at this evenL Christmas was once again an ideal opportunity to show the love of Jesus to others. Our Community Sunday saw a number of groups from the church visit local care homes and shopping areas to share the Christmas story with local people. The Church also put on a Christmas party to share community and the Christmas message, which was well attended by local residents. Outreach to the local community has continued to develop under the leadership ofthe 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 continued each week 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 continued to meet regularly at a local care home to be 'communities togetherf. 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 oftwo parenting courses, the 'Parenting Puzzle, and 'Talking Teens,, although Parenting Puzzle is now largely funded by a Council grant. The CIO continued to make regular contributions to the charity Kintsugi Hope. We hosted a Brighter Days tour event with Kintsugi visiting Cambridge. The event drew a good attendance of 60 people. The CIO also continues to fund Christians Against Poverty (CAP) Money coaching courses to support finance and budget planning for those most in need within the community. CIO has partnered with other Cambridge churches to take part in a Pentecost event in central Cambridge. Other events included an International night hosted by CIO with guests attending from the local community for an evening of
networking over bring and share food and entertainment from different countries. A board games café, which was also hosted by the Church that proved popular with the local community as a chance to gather and build links with the community. All ofthe above projects are enabling the Church to connect with those in the local community and to show love to them in a variety ofways. Show Jesus. love in practical ways to one another and to our communitfies 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 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, gifL 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 several 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 developrnent 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 tsking 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 ofthe 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 ofthe 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). Flnancial Revlew Income for the period was £33,848.29, which was slightly above the level of income in the previous year. Expenditure was £40,282.31, slightly less than in 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 2025 was £29,070.04. Reserves Policy Our reserve5 Position: Current Year Previous Year £35,504.06 £0 £35,504.06 % Increase I (Decrease) 18.1% decrease Unrestricted Funds Restricted / Designated Funds: Total Funds £29,070.04 £744.67 £28,325.37 20.2% decrease Why are reserves required? l. Income continues to be stable but in the event of the church closing, reserves would be needed for".
redundancy and notice payments to part time staff (estimated £l,SOO} giving 3 months, notice for support to key projects locally and abroad (£1,000) paying outstanding billslallowing time for various standing orders and direct debits to be cancelled- roughly equivalent to one month's expenditure (average £3,500) Therefore, the minimum reserrfes needed should the church cease to exist would be £6,000. 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.. Moy 2023 tfigures updated June 2025] Approval This report was approved by the trustees on 6 July 2025 and signed on their behalf on 11 }uly 2025 by Sophie Whitbread
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