## **WORKSOP CHRISTIAN CENTRE** VICARS WALK | WORKOP | NOTTS | S80 2HJ 01909 489521 | life@wcc-church.com Registered charity no 1169816 Worksop Christian Centre Trustees' Annual Report – for the period 1 October 2020 30 September 2021 ## **Administrative Information** Worksop Christian Centre, which is also known as ‘WCC’ and ‘WCC Life’, is situated on Vicar's Walk, Worksop S80 2HJ. The registered Charity number is 1169816. Trustees: Tracey Bladen, Chair Andrew Greenfield Susan Chalmers The Trustees met formally on numerous occasions (due to extra-ordinary circumstances) as trustees and also on additional occasions as a leadership team (along with the elders) in the period 1[st] October 2020 to 30[th] September 2021. (Dates of meetings: 5/10/20, 3/11/20, 7/1/21, 11/1/21, 8/2/21, 22/2/21 and a series of HR related meetings through September and October. ## _**Structure, governance, and management**_ ## **Description of the charity's trusts** Worksop Christian Centre is a Christian church which became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation on 23[rd] September 2016, and which is governed by its Constitution, whose only voting members are its Charity Trustees. Each Charity Trustee must be appointed for a term of five years by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the Charity Trustees. In selecting individuals for appointment as Charity Trustees, the Charity Trustees must have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective administration of the CIO. All Charity Trustees must subscribe and adhere to, in belief and lifestyle, the Statement of Faith. The pastor and elders are responsible for (and are recognised by the Church Fellowship as being responsible for) the spiritual leadership of the Church Fellowship in accordance with its Statement of Faith (Schedule to Constitution). The spiritual government and leadership of the Church Fellowship for the purposes of which the CIO has been established shall remain with the Spiritual Leadership and to the extent to which the Charity Trustees are not synonymous with the Spiritual Leadership their powers shall be confined to the proper management and administration of the CIO in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution and in furtherance of the Objects and in so doing they shall have full and proper regard to the Spiritual Leadership provided always that they shall not act outside their powers as conferred by this Constitution and by general law. ## **Additional governance issues (Optional)** The Charity Trustees will make available to each new Charity Trustee, on or before his or her first appointment: 1) a copy of this constitution and any amendments made to it; and 2) a copy of the CIO’s latest Trustees’ Annual Report and statement of accounts; and 3) any other relevant documents for training and induction purposes. Worksop Christian Centre is a member of the Evangelical Alliance. Regarding the consideration of risks, and management procedures to manage them, Worksop Christian Centre has in place a Safeguarding policy and holds a risk register, both of which are maintained and implemented by a safeguarding manager. ## _**Objectives and activities**_ **The Objects of the CIO** are, for the public benefit, the advancement of the Christian faith in accordance with the Statement of Faith; and the provisions of facilities for recreation and other leisure-time occupation for the inhabitants of Worksop and the surrounding area in the interests of social welfare and with the object of improving the conditions of life for the said inhabitants. As a church, we encourage and equip people to serve in the community in Jesus' name through worship and prayer; studying the Bible; developing knowledge and trust in Jesus; providing pastoral care for people living in Worksop and the surrounding area; outreach work and practical assistance for all who need it. ## **Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year** From October 2020 to February 2021, Sunday meetings were confined to online meetings, due to Covid restrictions. From February we started to introduce ‘hybrid’ meetings, with 20 people allowed to book a place at church, and others to continue to watch online. During the summer months, we met at the local park on Sundays for open air gatherings. Gradually and with careful consideration of revisiting risk assessments, by September we were back to meeting in person only, but at much reduced numbers much due to people’s reluctance to re-engage in face to face settings. Our social media presence has been crucial during the Covid pandemic, as we strived to engage with all ages and sectors of the community. As a church, we continued to serve our local community by offering online and in person Sunday services when allowed, along with Zoom meetings to connect socially in smaller groups (men’s meetings, women’s meetings, youth meetings). The prayer group continued to meet on Wednesday evenings on Zoom, to pray for the knowledge of Jesus to extend in Worksop and the surrounding area; for healing of the issues affecting each town and city in the UK; for each other; for the church throughout the world; for world disasters and events. This group is open to all those who are interested in praying for their world, and for those who wish to meditate on God's power in action, and all are made welcome. In December we employed a youth pastor, who is currently studying for a BA in Practical Theology at CYM (the Institute for Children, Youth and Mission, which is affiliated with Newman University). WCC will be the youth pastor’s placement for the duration of his course. Also in December, following a successful grant application of £10,000 from the Covid 19 Recovery Fund, we launched Lifeline. Lifeline is a means of supporting families that have Free School Meals in Worksop and surrounding villages. We provide free food - sandwiches (supplied by local sandwich factory, Samworth Brothers) and additional food (such as homemade soup in the winter) - three times a week during school term time. Lifeline launched by giving away 100 generous Christmas hampers for free school meal families in the locality. We have also been working with other local businesses and charities to meet needs, such as Worksop Techcyclers and From the Heart Foundation (providing laptops for home schooling) and Morrisons (provided pizza making kits in half term - February 2021). We have supported families in other practical ways, such as buying a brand new cooker for one family and provided second hand clothing and kitchenware to many of the families. In addition we have been building relationships with the parents and children on a regular basis and providing emotional support and advice where appropriate. One of the parents that accesses Lifeline is now a volunteer with us, which has been a massive achievement for her due to her struggling with social anxiety. We have a great team of volunteers, who are generous in their offering of time, skills, and commitment. WCC was a drop off centre for shoeboxes for Samaritan's Purse and at the end of November 2020, just over 100 shoeboxes were collected from WCC. Whilst Christmas was online, we managed to organise an outdoor scavenger hunt for families at Easter, which was a great success and many of the Lifeline families joined in too. During the summer months we were able to renovate much of the church building, due to a generous match funded grant from Nottinghamshire County Council’s Local Improvement Scheme. We repaired damage from the leaking roof, painted inside and outside, laid new floors, installed a new sound system and upgraded the kitchen and food serving areas. ## **Additional details of objectives and activities** All activities are run by volunteers to whom we are grateful for their dedication and skills. We would also like to thank all those who carry out the administration, maintenance and operational tasks which are essential to the smooth running of the church. In September 2021, the pastor was suspended from pastoral duties pending further enquiries, to which subsequently his contract was terminated in October 2021. ## **Financial Review** Total income for the year amounted to £87,962 which was gratefully received as giving from generous members. The expenditure amounted to £118,632, which was higher than budgeted due the match funded grant that we won and a decision to invest in the building further at a time when work was being carried out. We decided to invest further whilst renovating, to include washable floor coverings, a redesign of the church layout kitchen serving area. This resulted in maintenance costs showing significantly higher than usual, with expenditure at £27,017. This included roof repairs. Health and safety expenditure included the replacement of CCTV and alarmed security system and upgraded emergency lighting, which reflect in the total annual expenditure of £10,529. The other significant annual spend was in upgrading the sound and electrical equipment (£12,564), which was part of the commitment to the match funding spend. As the building at Vicars Walk is an old primary school built in 1890, it needs regular planned maintenance. Each year, the maintenance budget is set at a level to include planned maintenance, and to provide for repair costs, which arise in such an old building. During lockdown and while the building was not fully utilised, various members have been regularly checking on security and ensuring everything is in good order, in line with the insurers' requirements. It is WCC policy to maintain a balance on funds which equates to 3 months' expenditure, that is £22,500, to cover emergency situations that may arise. The funds are retained for - emergency repairs caused by extreme weather conditions, such as flood damage (as seen in Worksop in November 2019), for H&S upgrades, and unplanned emergencies. ## WCC is dependent upon gifts of money from regular donations and weekly offerings. Planned giving is made through bank transfers and gift aid envelopes. Gift aid was claimed from HMRC for April 2019-2020 and received in November 2020 to the sum of £9093.76. In October 2020, the Covid 19 Recovery Fund gave us a grant of £10,000 to kickstart our Lifeline project, as discussed earlier. In June 2021 we received £15,000 from the Nottinghamshire County Council Local Improvement Scheme as a match funded award. ## **Other optional information** Over the period 2020-2021, WCC supported a number of Christian charities at home and overseas to a total of £2,651.87 in regular gifts which include Compassion, London City Mission, Fusion and Christians Against Poverty. Wofksop Christian Centre harity numbtr 1169816 Receipts and Paymen15 Accounts For the yea¥ended JO S¢pt¢mbtt 2021 2021 2020 Re¢*ipts Donations Non Gift Atho Gran15 ljtter Income GIR AM1 iecovere Oonaiion$ Gift Arded 29Y7 52CO) ?C￿j 5216 9283 23728 30540 Tot•1 rte¢*pts 87*2 91049 Paymen Chufch E¥2n15 105 d281 3788 1258 1738 4129 2104 24 Health & Safety Office Rclfeshrnenis & HousekeepiNJ Maintenance Souno & Eiethneai orsnio Advertising ChildieD & Youlh OulTeach & MISSiQn IT & Copyrkgnt 105X* 1491 27016 1245 11362 750 579 479 Legal & Aomin 472 183 Vi5iTing Spea*er& Communicationl WCC Lapiop & Pioiecii Employmeni Cosi8 In$uTan¢e5 2Tr) 1301 41S99 2144 253 41151 Eider Accwnl Tr4¥ 255 Tolal paymenls 118632 78917 EA¢¢•• ¢1 r*¢•ipty ov¢r p•ym•rb 1306711 181J2 Calh lundl bll l October Ciih funds crt JO ScptombEr 109347 7867P 91Z15 109J41 51atemenl ot Asjets and Liabilit￿% 1021 2020 C•¥h funds Co oo c0￿munity Oirectyus Aruwl NaNves1 Rthtve 44114 34481 81 78671 1523 109347 Awoyed by Ihe Iru51ees on l? XL ￿ sKJned behall by darbys ctsrteBJ ￿r￿[led xuNJntanls Independent examinerfs report to the trustees of WoTk50p Christain Centre Charity numbor 1169816 l ieport on the financial slalernent5 01 Ihe charjty lor the year ended 30 SeplernbÈi 2021 wh￿h arÈ Sel oul on page 2 R•ip•etlvo re8ponoibililifr• ol lh• tru•l••s and lh• Ind•pendont Examin•r As the ch3TIty Iru51ees you are responsib￿ lor the preparation ol the Iinanc*l slalernenls. you con51dt¢ Ihal an 8udil Is noi feouireo foi Ihis yeai undei section 144121 ol Ihe Chafilie5 Act 2011 Ilhe 2011 Acll and Ihal an Indepen¢Jenl exarninal￿n Is needed 11 Is my responsibility lo - examine Ihe accounls under section 145 ol the 2011 Act. - 10 fallow the procedures lo￿ dtr*n In Ihe Gencial Directions gwen by th8 Ch811ty Commissionefs seclK*n 14515llbl ol IhÈ 2011 Act. and - lo stale whether partKulai mallers have corne lo my attenlKJn Basis ol Indep•nd•nt Examin•r'• Slalement My exarninalion w35 cafFie