## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period** ## **From: 20[th] October 2023 To: 19[th] October 2024** ## **Charity name: Romanian Orthodox Church on Merseyside** ## **Charity registration number: 1170197** ## **Objectives and Activities** ||SORP reference|| |---|---|---| |Summary of the purposes of
the charity as set out in its
governing document|Para 1.17|The Advancement of the Christian religion by
the provision of a place of worship on
Merseyside.
Activities in furtherance of this will include:
a) Provision of financial support and
governance to maintain a Romanian
Orthodox church parish on Merseyside
for use by the public of the region and
elsewhere. This will include:
b) Raising awareness and understanding of
the Orthodox Christian church in the
local community.
c) Enabling Orthodox Christian religious
devotional acts in the church.| |Summary of the main
activities in relation to those
purposes for the public
benefit, in particular, the
activities, projects or
services identified in the
accounts.|Para 1.17 and
1.19|Provision of a functioning church which itself
provides regular services of the orthodox
Christian faith in its own church building. Wirral
Council have provided the church building (it
was previously derelict) and the charity was
established (under a legal framework) to raise
and manage funds for the repair, improvement
and maintenance of the church.
The charity considers that it been successful so
far and that the church is continually improving
as a Christian and cultural support facility for
Romanians living in the NW of England and
North Wales.
All church services are free and open to the
general public.| |Statement confirming
whether the trustees have
had regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity
Commission on public|Para 1.18|The trustees have regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity Commission on public
benefit and are complicit with its requirements.| benefit ## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: ||
SORP reference|| |---|---|---| |Policy on grant making|Para 1.38|We do not provide grants for other
organisatons| |Policy on social investment
including program related
investment|Para 1.38|We are not involved in any social
investment programmes| |Contribution made by
volunteers|Para 1.38|Volunteers make a huge diference to the
charity’s actvites and this takes many forms.
These include provision of free professional
building skills eg plastering and electrical work.
Also included are maintenance, cleaning and
transport roles and provision of a Sunday
school. They also assist the priest in his many
dutes.| |Other||| |**Achievements and Performance**||| ||SORP reference|| |Summary of the main
achievements of the charity,
identifying the difference the
charity’s work has made to
the circumstances of its
beneficiaries and any wider
benefits to society as a
whole.|Para 1.20|At Bebington, the charity has made many
contributions to our church (St Paisie)
fabric, facilities and activities over the last 8
years. Indeed, there are very few
improvements which need to be made.
Post pandemic, the numbers attending
services have steadily risen back to what
they were previously. Indeed, this small
church is often overwhelmed on Sundays.
Consequently, following advanced
discussions with the Liverpool Catholic
Diocese ROCOM has been granted a 25
year lease on a vacant church building in
Liverpool, in Bootle and we took over this
building in early 2024 and refurbished it to
make it suitable for orthodox church
services. This church (St Ephraim)
accommodates 150-200 worshippers. We
use both churches regularly. This has
enabled greater church attendance and
made travel easier for worshippers as we
now have churches in 2 distinct sites on
Merseyside.| **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |
Achievements against
objectives set|
Para 1.41|| |---|---|---| |Performance of fundraising
activities against objectives
set|Para 1.41|| |Investment performance
against objectives|Para 1.41|| |Other||| ## **Financial Review** |**Financial Review**||| |---|---|---| |Review of the charity’s
financial position at the end
of the period|Para 1.21|As the Bebbington church fabric is now
more or less settled, we have relatively little
expenditure beyond running costs. At
Bootle, we have considerable utilities costs
but we are still financially very stable| |Statement explaining the
policy for holding reserves
stating why they are held|Para 1.22|We have a reserve to replace some poor
roof timbers at St Paisie and to cover any
emergency. At St Ephraim, we do not have
a separate hall, making Sunday school a
very difficult activity and we are
campaigning for funds to either buy or build
a hall locally. We may need to relocate St
Ephraim to satisfy this need.| |Amount of reserves held|Para 1.22|£100,000| |Reasons for holding zero
reserves|Para 1.22|N/A| |Details of fund materially in
deficit|Para 1.24|N/A| |Explanation of any
uncertainties about the
charity continuing as a going
concern|Para 1.23|N/A| ## **Additional information (optional)** ## You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |
The charity’s principal
sources of funds (including
any fundraising)|
Para 1.47|
Principal income is from the parishioners and
their donatons| |---|---|---| |Investment policy and
objectives including any
social investment policy
adopted|Para 1.46|**None**| |A description of the principal
risks facing the charity|Para 1.46|Very few issues; our income and planning
strategy works very well. The major risk
would be loss of priest as we only have
one. There is the possibility we will be
granted another priest in the future. Any
government restrictions on immigration
from EU countries could affect numbers of
church goers.| |Other||| ## **Structure, Governance and Management** |Description of charity’s
trusts:||| |---|---|---| |Type of governing document
(trust deed, royal charter)|Para 1.25|Constitution| |How is the charity
constituted?
(e.g unincorporated
association, CIO)|Para 1.25|Foundaton Model CIO| |Trustee selection methods
including details of any
constitutional provisions e.g.
election to post or name of
any person or body entitled
to appoint one or more
trustees|Para 1.25|Selected from the Church Council and
appointed as agreed by chair and secretary.
We maintain a 50:50 gender balance.| ## **Additional information (optional)** ## You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |
Policies and procedures
adopted for the induction
and training of trustees|
Para 1.51|| |---|---|---| |The charity’s organisational
structure and any wider
network with which the
charity works|Para 1.51|The charity is a key part of the church
organisaton and reports to the church council
whose main purpose is ecclesiastcal maters in
the parish. The charity maintains governance of
church fnances.| |Relationship with any
related parties|Para 1.51|| |Other||| ## **Reference and Administrative details** |Charity name|**Romanian Orthodox Church On Merseyside**
**(ROCOM)**| |---|---| |Other name the charity uses|| |Registered charity number|1170197| |Charity’s principal address|4 Victoria Drive, West Kirby, Wirral, CH48 0QT| ||| ## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity** |1
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3
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20|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for whole**
**year**|**Name of person (or body) entitled**
**to appoint trustee (ifany)**| |---|---|---|---|---| ||Fr Florin Voinea|Chair||Church Council appoints all| ||Prof Stuart Carter|Secretary/Treasurer||| ||Ms Cristana
Andrada Pintrijel|||| ||Dr Dorina Carter-
Timofe|||| ||Ms Ana Oltean|||| ||Mr Daniel Cobel|||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| – Corporate trustees names of the directors at the date the report was approved **Director name** Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity **Trustee name Dates acted if not for whole year** ## **Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others** Description of the assets held in this capacity Name and objects of the charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects Details of arrangements for safe custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets ## **Additional information (optional)** ## **Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)** **Type of Name Address adviser** ## **Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)** ## **Exemptions from disclosure** Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details ## **Other optional information** ## **Declarations** **The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.** **Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees** **Signature(s)** **Full name(s)** Dr Stuart David Carter ~~ee~~ **Position (eg Secretary,** Secretary & Treasurer **Chair, etc)** ~~ee~~ **Date** 18[th] July 2025 ~~pF~~ ||||**Charity Name**||||||**No (if any)**|**No (if any)**||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||**Romanian Orthodox Church on Merseyside**||||||**1170197**|||| ||||**Receipts andpayments accounts**|||||||||**CC16a**| ||||**For the period**
**from**
~~ee ~~||Period start date
10/20/2023
~~ee~~||**To**|Period end date
10/19/2024
~~ee~~||||| ||**Section A Receipts and payments**|||||||||||| ||||**Unrestricted**
**funds**||**Restricted**
**funds**||**Endowment**
**funds**|**Endowment**||**Total funds**||**Last year**| ||||**to the nearest £**||**to the nearest £**||**to the nearest £**|||**to the nearest £**||**to the nearest £**| ||**A1 Receipts**|||||||||||| ||Startingcash balance||**119,060**||**-**||**-**|**-**||**119,060**||**79,868**| ||Church Collections||**18,652**||**-**||**-**|**-**||**18,652**||**18,480**| ||Candle/icon sales and donations|Candle/icon sales and donations|**119,013**||**-**||**-**|**-**||**119,013**||**68,936**| ||Gift Aid refund||**11,047**||**-**||**-**|**-**||**11,047**||**15,014**| ||||**-**||**-**||**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**| ||||**-**||**-**||**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**| ||||**-**||**-**||**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**| ||||**-**||**-**||**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for AR)_|_(Gross income for AR)_|**267,772**
_(Gross income for AR)_||**-**||**-**|**-**||**267,772**||**182,298**| |55437
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**_Sub total_ -**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**_Total receipts_ 267,772**
**-**
**-**
**267,772**
**182,298**
**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**
~~———=—~~||||||||||||| ||**A3 Payments**|||||||||||| ||Insurance||**793**||**-**||**-**|**-**||**793**||**748**| ||Religiousgoods||**47,110**||**-**||**-**|**-**||**47,110**||**22,008**| ||Funerals||**22,461**||**-**||**-**|**-**||**22,461**||**5,025**| ||Hall/church hire||**790**||**-**||**-**|**-**||**790**||**1,159**| ||Electricalgoods|||||||||||**810**| ||Runningcosts||**60,437**||**-**||**-**|**-**||**60,437**||**33,488**| ||||**-**||**-**||**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**| ||||**-**||**-**||**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**| ||||**-**||**-**||**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**| ||||**-**||**-**||**-**|**-**||**-**||**-**| _**Sub total**_ **131,591 - - 131,591 63,238 A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) - - - - - - - -** _**Sub total**_ **-** ~~—~~ _**Total payments**_ ~~——=—~~ **131,591 - - 131,591 63,238** _**Net of receipts/(payments)**_ **136,181 - - 136,181 119,060 A5 Transfers between funds - - - - - A6 Cash funds last year end - - - - -** _**Cash funds this year end**_ ~~SSS~~ **136,181 - - 136,181** ~~=~~ **119,060** ## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period** |||||**Unrestricted**
**Restricted**||**Endowment**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |**Categories**||**Details**||**funds**
**funds**||**funds**| |||||**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**||**to nearest £**| |**B1 Cash funds**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**136,181**
**-**
**-**
**_Total cash funds_**
~~—====~~|||||| |||(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))|(agree balances with receipts and payments|OK
OK||OK| |||||**Unrestricted**
**Restricted**||**Endowment**| |||||**funds**
**funds**||**funds**| |||**Details**||**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**||**to nearest £**| |**B2 Other monetary assets**|**-**
**-**
**-**
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~~===~~|||||| |||**Details**||**Cost (optional)**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**||**Current value**
**(optional)**| |**B3 Investment assets**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
~~ee~~|||||| |||**Details**||**Cost (optional)**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**||**Current value**
**(optional)**| |**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
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**-**
~~ue~~|||||| |||||**Fund to which**
**Amount due**||**When due**| |||**Details**||**liability relates**
**(optional)**||**(optional)**| |**B5 Liabilities**
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
Signature
Print Name
Dr Stuart Carter
7/18/2025
Date of
approval
~~———~~|||||| ## **Independent examiner's report on the accounts** ## **Section A Independent Examiner’s Report** **Report to the trustees/ members of** **Charity Name Romanian Orthodox Church on Merseyside (ROCOM)** **On accounts for the year ended** 19 October 2024 **Charity no (if any)** 1170197 ## **Set out on pages** (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets) ## **Responsibilities and basis of report** I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended **19 / 10 /2024** . As the charity trustees of the Trust, 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 Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed 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 (other than that disclosed below *) in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: - accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or - the accounts do not accord with the accounting records I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. * _Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply._ **Signed:** **Date:** 24/07/2025 **Name:** **October 2018** 1 **IER** Ana Oltean ## **Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any):** Master of Science in Management and Finance **Address:** 17 Ascot Drive Ellesmere Port CH66 2NB ## **Section B Disclosure** Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). **Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose** . **October 2018** 2 **IER**