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2020-12-31-accounts

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

FOR

LIGHTHOUSE CENTRAL

Registered charity in England & Wales with registration no: 1169839

Registered charity in England & Wales. No: 1169839 Lighthouse Central, Bridge House, Station Approach, Great Missenden, HP16 9AZ

LIGHTHOUSE CENTRAL

CONTENTS OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the year ended 31 December 2020

Page
Report of the Trustees 3 to 8
Section 1: Structure, Governance &
Management
Section 2: Objectives & Activities
Section 3: Achievements & Performance
Section 4: Financial Review
Section 5: Declaration
Independent Examiner's Report 9
Statement of Financial Activities 10
Balance Sheet 11
Notes to the Financial Statements 12 to 13

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LIGHTHOUSE CENTRAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

for the year ended 31 December 2020

The trustees present their report together with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2020. The trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015).

ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Registered Charity number 1169839

Registered address:

Lighthouse Central Bridge House Station Approach Great Missenden HP16 9AZ

Trustees:

Charles Vernon - Chair (Resigned 21 November 2020) Graeme Slocombe - Chair (Appointed Trustee 4 October, Appointed Chair 21 November 2020) Kent Anderson Ian Branch Peter Collins (Resigned 29 August 2020) Colin Hingston (Resigned 29 August 2020) Jane Knight Cathy Rayner Ben Sharp David Knights (Appointed 11 December 2020)

Director:

Patricia Reading

Patron:

Gary Grant

Independent examiner:

Mr Paul Nye Sandford House Lucas Road High Wycombe Buckinghamshire HP13 6QG

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Section 1: Structure, Governance & Management

Governing document

Lighthouse Central is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) governed by its Constitution dated 19 October 2016. The members of the CIO are its trustees and membership cannot be transferred to anyone else. Therefore, only the trustees of the CIO are able to vote on any matter relating to the CIO. The CIO is also governed by its Bye Laws dated 21 October 2016. The Bye-Laws can be changed, but only by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the trustees.

Appointment of trustees

As set out in the Constitution, trustees are appointed by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees. The chair of trustees is nominated by the trustees of the CIO and may at any point revoke such appointment. When considering the appointment of trustees, the board has regard to the requirement for any specialist skills needed for the effective administration of the CIO.

Trustee induction

Having mostly had personal contact with a local Lighthouse, new trustees are often well aware of our objectives and the work we undertake. As such, the induction of new trustees is minimal. New trustees receive a copy of the current version of the Constitution and Bye Laws, a copy of the most recent Trustees’ Annual Report and statement of accounts, and the Charity Commission’s ‘Charity Trustee Welcome Pack’ and ‘The essential trustee: what you need to know, what you need to do (CC3)’ guide. All of the Trustees are also required to complete the NSPCC on line training course for charity trustees.

Organisation

The board of trustees, which can have up to eight members, administers the CIO, with responsibilities for different areas. The Director reports to the Chair of Trustees, Volunteers with management responsibilities report to the Director. The board meets at least three times a year, in accordance with the Bye Laws.

All trustees, and members of committees, give their time voluntarily and received no benefits from the charity.

Key management remuneration

Key management staff received remuneration of £38,281 (2019: £35,616) during the year. The salary was decided by the trustees and will be reviewed annually and benchmarked against national rates for Youth and Community workers.

Section 2: Objective & Activities

Lighthouse Central has been set up to:

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Significant activities

During the last 12 months we have:

Public benefit

In shaping our objectives for the year and planning our activities, the trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit, including the guidance ‘Public benefit: running a charity (PB2)’.

Lighthouse Central facilitates the provision of free children’s holiday clubs which are open to all irrespective of beliefs. They provide a great week of fun activities and teaching and strengthen relationships in the community with several churches working together.

In 2020 due to the pandemic we were unable to run the physical Lighthouses on site but continued to deliver public benefit to children, young people and parents with a Lighthouse experience on line open to everyone and provided free of charge.

Section 3: Achievements & Performance

Due to Covid-19, the local Lighthouse sites were not able to run the usual week-long holiday club in July/August 2020. Lighthouse Central was able to support the families that would normally attend by providing a week long programme accessible to all on line. This included:

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The local Lighthouses remained closely involved in the programme and generously supported with the funding requirements. In addition, one off on-line events were produced at Christmas and a “Light Party” was offered as an alternative to Halloween celebrations.

Chairman’s Report for 2020

Lighthouse is a non-residential week long holiday club for children run by Christians from local churches working together, bringing churches and communities together around children. In most years we reach around 5,000 children across 12 sites, supported by 3,000 volunteers.

We are passionate about seeing children from all walks of life and abilities, those with faith and without, encountering God in a fun-filled week with teaching, sport, craft, performing arts and music.

Lighthouse Central brings together everything local churches need to run a Lighthouse, delivering administrative support, content and leadership.

Each one of the 12 established Lighthouses is an independent charity who raise their own funds and make all local arrangements.

Our model shows financial self-sustainability for the central charity once there are around 50 Lighthouses using our package and until then, we are reliant on financial donations from both existing and new supporters.

Our expectation for 2020 was that we would see more communities commit to launching new Lighthouses and that the target of 50 Lighthouses could be achieved within ten years. In 2020 we had two new Lighthouses ready to launch in South Bletchley and Shelswell, a group of rural churches north of Bicester. Unfortunately, the Coronavirus pandemic meant that we could not launch these Lighthouses, however they remain ready to go as soon as restrictions are lifted.

We continue to talk as widely as possible to potential new sites and are looking forward to establishing more new locations in 2022.

With the lockdowns and other restrictions imposed on public gatherings due to the pandemic, our plans for Lighthouse week 2020 had to change radically and no Lighthouses ran as physical entities.

Rather than cancel Lighthouse 2020, we looked for an innovative way to deliver the fun, faith and engagement of Lighthouse with an online daily live TV show hosted on a child friendly Christian app, that contained as much of the usual Lighthouse content as possible – Bible teaching, worship songs with actions. Craft, Drama, Games and Gunge.

In a ‘normal’ year Lighthouse will host 5,000 children supported by 3,000 volunteers. Lighthouse Live was watched by over 17,400 individual households and we estimate each of those had at least two children and an adult participating.

In addition to two daily live TV shows we produced ‘Safe Harbour’, with content designed for children that present with challenging behaviours. This included bible stores with sign language, a daily Prayer Craft and a contemplative prayer mindfulness session each day

Not only did Lighthouse Live connect with the existing twelve Lighthouses, it also reached a far wider audience as people tuned in from around the country and beyond, with 59 locations outside the current Lighthouse catchment zones.

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We can now build on this relationship to share our faith as widely as possible and have a proven, flexible, creative format that truly engages children and families. We have already produced a Light Party alternative to Halloween and a Christmas Show and are working on Easter activities for 2021.

Section 4: Financial Review

Financial position

Due to the impact of Covid-19, none of the Lighthouses were able to run the usual holiday weeks in July. The funding model of the Lighthouse subscriptions covering the running costs of Lighthouse Central and a proportion of the director costs was therefore not appropriate this year. Faced with having no Lighthouses running in 2020, Lighthouse Central decided to use crowd funding together with generous donations from the local Lighthouses and churches to fund a professionally produced on-line alternative. These two funding sources were able to cover the production expenses of the summer, Christmas, and Light Party events. Most of the local Lighthouses were also able to pay a subscription based on 2019 attendance. This together with reserves have enabled the on-going funding of the full-time director costs. This role is essential to grow the numbers of Lighthouses with the aim that in the long term, the increased subscriptions will enable the charity to be self-sustaining. We were very thankful, at the end of a difficult year, to receive notification of grant awards from The Oxford Diocese and Allchurches Trust as well as a generous gift from an individual. This has enabled us to end the year with a surplus. We recognise however, that 2021 will be just as challenging. It is very difficult to achieve growth in the number of Lighthouses during this current period of uncertainty and without additional external funding we may be unable to fund the director full time. From January, the director is being flexibly furloughed for 3 months. We remain optimistic however after the recent funding awards and in January 2021 we have started to work closely with professional fundraisers.

Principal funding sources

The principal funding source for the CIO are donations from the beneficiaries of the CIO. Donations from individuals and trusts have also been sources of funding.

Reserves policy

None of the £31,671 reserves are restricted as to their use. The trustees regularly review the reserves of the charity which are held to meet the ongoing salary costs of the director together with running costs incurred prior to receiving subscriptions from the Lighthouses. The trustees consider that reserves should cover 6 months running and salary costs in normal circumstances.

Going concern

In 2021 we will continue to develop a network of “Friends of Lighthouse” to raise further funding from individuals as well as continuing to work with Christian organisations and trusts. We will also be working with two professional fundraising companies to raise significant funding to support growth and sustainability. We plan to hold a fundraising lunch hosted by our patron when Covid-19 restrictions permit. The trustees have a reasonable expectation that fundraising efforts together with the current reserves will enable Lighthouse Central to continue in operational existence for at least one year from the date of approval of the accounts.

Funds in deficit

There are currently no funds in deficit.

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Principal risks and uncertainties

In light of the ongoing Corona virus situation it is again unlikely that the local Lighthouses will be able to run in their usual format in 2021. It is also difficult to grow the numbers of Lighthouses in the current climate of uncertainty. Whilst “face to face” events would be the preferred option, an on line offering may be required in summer 2021 as in 2020. This means that subscriptions from Lighthouses will again not be paid to Lighthouse Central in the normal way. In 2020 all of the local Lighthouses generously contributed to the production costs of the on-line offering but with reduced reserves of their own, may not be able to support Lighthouse Central in 2021 to the same extent. It is for this reason that we have started to work with professional fundraisers to assist us with targeting new areas of funding to sustain us through this period and to put us on a more secure financial footing. We have also taken the decision to flexibly furlough our director 2 days a week between January and March to reduce costs. The trustees have deliberately not committed to significant overheads such as premises, to minimise costs. Indeed Lighthouse Central continues to rely heavily on the work of volunteers and services generously donated by Peters Research Ltd such as IT skills and administrative time as well as office space and computer hardware and software.

Section 5: Declaration

The trustees declare that they have approved this trustees’ report.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:

Full name: Mr Graeme Slocombe Position: Chair of Trustees Date: 20 February 2021

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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT O THE TRUSTEES OF LIGHTHOUSE CENTRAL

I report on the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2020 set out on pages 10 to 13.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year (under Section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act)) and that an independent examination is required.

It is my responsibility to:

Basis of the independent examiner's report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair view ' and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statements below.

Independent examiner's statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

have not been met; or

Mr Paul Nye Sandford House Lucas Road High Wycombe Buckinghamshire HP13 6QG

20 February 2021

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LIGHTHOUSE CENTRAL STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

for the year ended 31 December 2020

2020 2019
Total funds Total funds
£ £
INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM
 Notes
Donations 55,810 17,949
Gift Aid on donations 652 238
Charitable activities
On line music sales 115 0
Sale of merchandise and volunteers’ t-shirts to Lighthouses 0 11,851
Membership subscriptions and service costs from Lighthouses 14,954 20,985
Fundraising income 242 910
Investment income 2 7 21
Total 71,780 51,954
EXPENDITURE ON
Charitable activities
Staff 38,281 35,616
Travel and subsistence , course attendance 2,053 3,752
Purchase of merchandise and volunteers’ t-shirts 0 11,784
Fundraising expenses 588 750
Annual conference 396 403
Teaching material development & delivery 22,721 3,757
Computer costs 0 566
Administration costs 1,206 1,553
Charity donation 100 1,000
Total 65,345 59,181
NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) 6,435 (7,227)
Net movement in funds 6,435 (7,227)
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS
Total funds brought forward 25,236 32,463
TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 31,671 25,236

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LIGHTHOUSE CENTRAL

BALANCE SHEET At 31 December 2020

2020 2020
2019
Total funds Total funds Total funds Total funds
Notes £ £
CURRENT ASSETS
Cash at bank and in hand 24,158 24,158
26,610
Debtors 5 8,525 8,525
237
CREDITORS
Amounts falling due within one year 6 (1,012) (1,611)
NET CURRENT ASSETS 31,671 25,236
NET ASSETS 31,671 671
25,236
FUNDS
Unrestricted funds 31,671 31,671
25,236
TOTAL FUNDS 31,671 671
25,236

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees on 20 February 2021 and were signed on its behalf by:

G Slocombe - Chair of Trustees

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LIGHTHOUSE CENTRAL NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

for the year ended 31 December 2020

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparing the financial statements

The financial statements of the charity, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the Charities Act 2011. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

Financial reporting standard 102 - reduced disclosure exemptions

The charity has taken advantage of the following disclosure exemption in preparing these financial statements, as permitted by FRS 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland':

Income

All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities once the charity has entitlement to the funds, it is probable that the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.

Expenditure

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all cost related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Taxation

The charity is exempt from tax on its charitable activities.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes. There were no donations received during the year which were restricted in their use.

Pension costs and other post-retirement benefits

The charity has made contributions to a pension scheme totalling £895 during the year to 31 December 2020. (2019: £750)

2. INVESTMENT INCOME

Deposit account interest 2019
2019
£
£
7
21

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LIGHTHOUSE CENTRAL

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - CONTINUED for the year ended 31 December 2020

3. TRUSTEES' REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

There was no trustees' remuneration or other benefits in the year ended 31 December 2020. (2019: nil)

Trustees' expenses

During the year to 31 December 2020 no Trustee expenses were reimbursed. (2019: £NIL)

4. STAFF COSTS

The average monthly number of employees during the year was as follows:

2020 2019
1 1

No employees received emoluments in excess of £60,000.

5. DEBTORS

Diocesan Development Fund Grant
Grant from Allchurches Trust
Gift Aid receivable from HMRC		 2020
2019
£
£
2,500
0
6,000
0
25
237
8,525
237

6. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

Tax, national insurance and pension
Director’s expenses- travel & subsistence		 2020
2019
£
£
813
794
199
817
1,012
1,611

7. RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES

Donations totalling £1,796 were received from trustees or close relatives of trustees of the charity. (2019: £1,700)

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