==> picture [284 x 88] intentionally omitted <==
RAMSEY CLOSE, NORWICH, NR4 7BQ
Pastor: Stuart Bailey 01603 465309 TODCFPastor@gmail.com
Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Review
==> picture [495 x 265] intentionally omitted <==
1 April 2023
to 31 March 2024
Trustees Annual Report for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
Registered Charity Number
1170592
Charitable Objectives
The Object of the CIO, is for the public benefit, the advancement of the Christian faith in accordance with the Statement of Faith in such ways as the Charity Trustees may from time to time decide.
Charity’s Principal Address
The Open Door Christian Fellowship Ramsey Close Norwich NR4 7BQ
www.eaton.church
Names of the Trustees who managed the Charity during this reporting period
Mr Stuart John Bailey Trustee, Chair, Pastor
Mr Simon Nobbs Trustee Mr Alan John Donnelly Trustee
Trustee Selection
Trustees are selected and appointed by the current body of Trustees.
Description of the Charity’s Trusts
Type of Governing Document: How the Charity is constituted: Trustee Selection Method:
Constitution, 2 December 2016 Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) Appointed by existing Trustees
Governance Structure
The Constitution states that:
“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.”
Spiritual leadership in the Fellowship resides with the Pastor and Elder(s). Stuart Bailey, as well as being a Trustee is also the Pastor.
Simon Jeczalik is currently the Church’s only Elder; as such, he shares Spiritual Oversight responsibility with the Pastor
As the Pastor of the Church, Stuart Bailey is given permission to reside in the Manse. He therefore absents himself from decisions concerning either the Manse Property or his remuneration as Church Pastor.
The Trustees met three times in this reporting period to discuss the management and administration of the Charity, including (but not limited to) major decisions on spending, safeguarding and the proper maintenance of properties held by the Charity.
Minutes of all the Trustees meetings are available.
Bankers
The Co-operative Bank PLC PO Box 250
Delf House Southway Skelmersdale WN8 6WT
Legal advice and assistance with Charity formation provided by:
Stewardship, and Anthony Collins Solicitors LLP 1 Lamb’s Passage 134 Edmund Street London Birmingham EC1Y 8AB B3 2ES
Safeguarding advice and training provided by:
Christian Safeguarding Services 6 Marshalsea Road London SE1 1HL.
Summary of activities and achievements in this reporting period
Overview
-
In this reporting period, our activities have fallen into three main areas:
-
Ministering to the Spiritual needs of the existing congregation through regular Worship Services and Bible Study Groups.
-
Reaching out to the local community with the Christian Gospel through Children’s Activities and Special Events.
-
Providing practical help and care to families associated with, and known to, the Church.
Regular Activities
We meet every Sunday in the Church Building for Worship. The Service is open to all and advertised through local media, our own on-line presence and posters. In this year, we have been joined by a number of International Students studying at the University of East Anglia who found us through the web-site.
Each week, we have two Bible Study Groups which meet in people’s homes or the Church Building. One of these groups meets on a Friday Morning to cater for people who prefer not to venture out in the evenings.
During the School Summer Break, we ran the “Discipleship Explored” course for our members. This course, provided by “Christianity Explored Ministries” was a Bible-based course designed to help Christians live out their faith and proved very popular with the congregation.
Community Outreach Work
Having recently experimented with having the children’s (age 5-11) and youth groups (1218) meeting concurrently, we took the difficult decision to only run a single group this year for the younger children. Although numbers at this group remained very low, those who attend love coming and have learned substantial Biblical truths enabling them to maintain faithful lives in the very challenging environments of the modern educational system.
During the School Summer Holiday we ran a Holiday Club attended by a large number of children from the local estate, helping us build relationships in the community. Like all our children’s work, we were able to provide this free of charge.
At Christmas we combined the Carol Service with a Nativity Play performed by the children. Attendance was above our expectations as many families and friends came to see the children and sing traditional carols.
This year, we also held an Easter Holiday Club. Lower-key that the Summer version, it enabled us to share the Biblical Message of Easter with a number of children. The Holiday Club concluded with an all-age activities day to which the children’s families and members of the Coffee Morning were invited.
The Coffee Morning began in April 2023 with the aim of helping us connect with local adults. Attendance has varied from six to fifteen people, many coming from the adjacent sheltered housing complex.
Occasional special events at the Coffee Morning have included Christmas Carols, Games Mornings and the Easter Activity Day. This group continues to grow as it becomes more widely known across the estate.
Social Assistance
The Church has been able to provide practical help to a small number of families. We have assisted several to move home and been able to provide some basic provisions for those struggling to afford them.
In one case we have worked alongside Social Services to provide emergency, temporary care for two at-risk siblings. We continue to work with the parent to offer guidance, support and assistance where necessary. This work has resulted in positive commendations from Social Services, the Police Service, Local Councillors and from within the community.
Other Agencies
We have been pleased to continue supporting Norwich Foodbank. We act as a collection point for food and deliver to their warehouse on a Monthly basis. So far, we have donated 1,000Kg to this excellent cause.
We have had visits from the leadership team of Aid-Africa and have been pleased to provide a financial contribution to their work and to support them in prayer. Their amazing practical work in Malawi is an encouragement to us all.
The Church Building is also a collection point for Barnabas Aid. As the only Collection Point in East Anglia, people have travelled some distance to drop off food, clothing and medical items which are then passed on to the Barnabas Aid warehouse in Swindon. From there it is delivered across the globe to partner Churches who use it for humanitarian purposes.
Pastor and Trustee Remuneration
The Charity makes no remuneration on the basis of Trusteeship (indeed, at present it has not made any recompense of expenses).
However, one of the Trustees (Stuart Bailey) serves as full-time Pastor for the Church. The remaining Trustees decided to make remuneration to Stuart in consideration of his work. In total, he received £2,400 this period.
The Trustees have also made it possible for Stuart and his family to reside in the Manse free of charge and to pay the Council Tax and Building’s Insurance. Repairs and improvements to the Manse are discussed on a case-by-case basis by the Trustees.
Stuart remains responsible for all other utility bills at the Manse.
Fulfilment of Charity Objectives
The Constitution states that:
“The Object of the CIO, is for the public benefit, the advancement of the Christian faith in accordance with the Statement of Faith in such ways as the Charity Trustees may from time to time decide.”
The Trustees are satisfied that, despite the very difficult circumstances placed upon us this year, we have fulfilled our Charitable Objectives; we have served the public benefit and have continued to advance the Christian Faith.
The Trustees are further satisfied that the two properties owned by the Charity are being used for the benefit of the Charity and its objectives and will do so all the more as we emerge from Covid restrictions and as the cost-of-living crisis takes hold of more people on the estate.
Financial Review
Overview
The outgoings for this Reporting Period came to £12,297 including all bills and maintenance of a large Building, Council Tax on the Manse.
Income has been predominantly from the generous giving of our small membership, but has been added to through the use of The Building. We have been able to offer it as a training venue for Med PTS Ambulance Services (for whom Stuart is an employee) and have rented space for Bananalink to store their office materials (Bananlink is a Charity for which Simon Nobbs is a Trustee). Together these enterprises contributed £792.
Total income this year was £11,674. This slight overspend was below what the Trustees had allowed for in the Budget. This reduced overspend can be attributed chiefly to:
-
An increased level of giving from the Church congregation
-
Investigations on a suspected damage drain revealed that the expected work was not necessary.
The Trustees continually seek to gain best value for money in all our outgoings as well as considering various possibilities to increase income.
Reserves Policy
The Financial Reserve was last reviewed by the Trustees in February 2024 and remained at £3,000, allowing for 3 months’ outgoings.
Statement of Account for the Period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
Income and Expenditure
General Fund
| Income | |
|---|---|
| Contributions (from members) | 9,136.58 |
| Gifts (from non-members) | 200.00 |
| Gift Aid | 1,544.96 |
| Building Hire and Storage | 792 |
| Total | £11,673.54 |
| Expenditure | |
| Ministry Costs and Resources | |
| Pastor’s Remuneration | 2,400.00 |
| Catering | 188.55 |
| Children’s Work | 181.88 |
| Local Outreach | 116.75 |
| Publicity | 44.00 |
| Worship | 32.21 |
| Teaching Resources | 64.62 |
| Sub-Total | £3,028.01 |
| Practical | |
| Building Maintenance, Repair and Cleaning | 2,630.93 |
| Building Utilities: Gas, Electric, Water, Alarm, Fire, Brown Bin | 1227.25 |
| Church Insurance | 1,684.42 |
| Sub-Total | £5,542.60 |
| Manse | |
| Manse Council Tax | 1,698.80 |
| Manse Buildings Insurance | 280.93 |
| Manse Maintenance | 442.20 |
| Sub-Total | £2,421.93 |
| Admin | |
| Web-Site | 248.41 |
| Stationery / Admin (office Costs) | 30.64 |
| Safeguarding | 292.81 |
| CCLI License | 232.42 |
| Sub-Total | £804.28 |
| Missionary Giving | £500 |
| Sundries | £0 |
| Grand Total | £12,296.82 |
Surplus/Deficit General Fund
- 623
Balance Sheet as at 31 March 2024
| Notes Fixed Assets Add Current Assets Debtors and prepayments Current Account Balance Cash in hand Less Current Liabilities Creditors and Accruals Net Current Assets Net Assets |
2024 £1,357,600 £0 £8,599 £0 __ £8,599 £0 £0 £8,599 _ £1,366,199 |
2023 £1,357,600 £0 £9,222 £0 __ £9,222 £0 £0 £9,222 _ £1,366,822 |
|---|---|---|
Fixed Assets
The Open Door Christian Fellowship owns two properties:
-
The property known as “The Building” on Ramsey Close, Norwich, NR4 7BQ. Estimated value (for insurance), £1,100,000
-
The Property known as “The Manse”, 90 Buckingham Road, Norwich, NR4 7DG. Estimated Value £250,000 (based on recent local sales)
The Open Door Christian Fellowship also owns the contents of “The Building” including:
-
digital piano (valued at £600)
-
2 pianos (combined value approximately £7,000)
Affirmation
The Trustees affirm that they have approved the Trustees Report and Financial Statement above:
Alan Donnelly Trustee Date
Simon Nobbs Trustee Date
==> picture [282 x 12] intentionally omitted <==
----- Start of picture text -----
Stuart Bailey Chair of Trustees Date
----- End of picture text -----
(Pastor)