Kirby-le-Soken Evangelical Church
ANNUAL REPORT 2025
A. Reference and Administration Details
The church is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) called Kirby-le-Soken Evangelical Church, registered charity number 1170625.
This report covers the period from 1-Aug-2024 to 31-Jul-2025.
The address of the Church is The Street, Kirby-le-Soken, Frinton-on-Sea, Essex CO13 0EE.
The managing trustees of the charity are:
Mrs Sandra Stevens Trustee Mr Keith Munford Elder Mrs Maralyn Lamont Trustee Pastor Peter Law Pastor Mr Peter Millist Elder Mrs Christine Cooper Trustee
All the trustees served for the whole year.
The Pastor is the only permanent employee of the charity. For all its other activities, the church relies on willing volunteers who give their time as and when they are able. Volunteers include church members and regular attenders.
The Church is affiliated to the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC).
The Church bankers are Barclays Bank PLC and Saffron Building Society. Professional advice is received from WRS Limited (Insurance Broker), Christian Safeguarding Service (Child Protection) and FIEC.
B. Structure, governance and management
Kirby-le-Soken Evangelical Church began in 1968 as a Charitable Unincorporated Association. A new Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) was set up in 2016 and the church transferred to this on 28 February 2017. At the same time the church property was purchased by the CIO from the previous holding trustees.
The church’s governing documents are its Church Constitution and Handbook that were adopted by the members on 13 November 2016 and accepted by the Charity Commission on 8 December 2016, when the CIO was registered.
The Church welcomes into membership anyone who satisfies the requirements specified in its Constitution and Handbook. Members have voting rights and decisions by the membership are made in accordance with the requirements set out in those documents.
The Trustees are appointed by the church members in accordance with the governing documents. The Pastor is appointed indefinitely. In August 2024, Keith Munford was reappointed to serve for five years, and Peter Millist was reappointed for two years. The other three managing trustees were elected in June 2023 to serve for a three-year term.
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The trustees aim to meet monthly to discuss the way forward and make recommendations to the membership and to transact the business of the Church in line with the decisions taken by the members of the Church at general meetings which are held quarterly.
C. Objectives and Activities
The purposes of the Church are the advancement of the Christian faith in accordance with the Basis of Faith primarily but not exclusively in Kirby-le-Soken and the surrounding neighbourhood, and such other charitable purposes as shall, in the opinion of the members of the Church in general meeting, further the work of the Church.
To achieve these purposes, the Church holds a number of regular meetings and activities which members of the public are welcome to attend. Every Sunday the church meets to worship God and proclaim His Word. Sunday School is now available for any children who attend the Sunday morning service and broadcasting the Sunday services online is now a regular feature, used frequently by people who are unable to attend the meetings in person. In addition, there is a weekly meeting for prayer and Bible Study, a coffee morning through most of the year and a mums and toddler group, although, because of ongoing building work, this has only been able to meet for one half term this year.
During the summer we hold special events, such as Songs of Praise and Harvest Thanksgiving services. A church lunch was held in May to celebrate the eightieth anniversary of VE day. In addition to these public meetings, smaller groups meet from time to time for studies tailored to particular needs such as preparing for baptism. A number of ladies meet regularly for fellowship and Bible study. We make these activities known through a variety of communication tools, leaflets, invitation cards, email notifications, website and social media, plus personal invitation.
The church trustees regularly review the policies on Safeguarding, Finance and First aid and arrange training for volunteers involved in activities including food hygiene.
D. Achievements and performance
The Church seeks to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the neighbourhood through the services and other activities. The church membership and size of congregation fluctuates as new people come along and others move away, but numbers have been maintained.. There continues to be a diversity in the age and background of the congregations. A baptism service in the autumn brought much joy to us all.
During this year a new hall has been built, costing in total £128,530, to replace the old prefab hall that was demolished in July 2024. The new hall was opened with a church lunch in May 2025. The church is grateful to Ursell Builders for managing and completing this project. The project was delayed and costs increased by the planning requirement to have deeper foundations than originally planned, but apart from this the expenditure was kept to the estimate.
The building work meant the Toddler Group had to be suspended until it restarted in June. Good numbers attended the Summer Songs of Praise and teas and also the Harvest Lunch.
The church also provides support to various elderly friends who need help with transport or who need regular visits because they are no longer able to regularly attend the church services.
Missionaries and representatives of several organisations have visited during the period and the church has been pleased to help support them. Speakers have come representing AsiaLink, SASRA, AEM, Zambesi Mission and EMF.
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E. Financial review
The Church is supported entirely by voluntary contributions (mostly made by standing order) and is grateful to those who give of their time and money to support the work. The accounts cover the year from 1-Aug-2024 to 31-Jul-2025.
Over the year receipts were £95,217 which was a third lower than the previous year when income was boosted by £82,000 donated to finance the building of the new hall. Expenditure was £185,048, which was two and a half times the expenditure the previous year, but most of the increase was the £127,000 spent on the building project. The end of year balance was £44,915 which is two thirds of the previous year total. The building project has skewed the finances over the past two years but if you strip it out the building project expenses, the income and expenditure of the church is roughly in balance.
A legacy of £15,685 was received from the estate of the oldest member of the church, who died early in 2024.
At the end of the year the general fund was £23,821 which is slightly above the policy to have between two and four months expenditure in reserve.
The Pastoral support fund, which is closed to new income, stands at £9,486. Over the year £8,400 has been transferred from the pastoral support fund to the general fund to help to pay the Pastor’s stipend. This transfer of £700 a month is expected to continue for another year until the fund closes with a balance of zero. It is expected that the general fund will be able to support the pastor’s stipend from that time.
The Building fund had started with a balance of £104k and, after expenditure of £127k on the building project closed with a balance of £11,365. Ten percent of offerings and donations are transferred from the general fund to the building fund each month and other donations are gratefully received to keep the church property in good order.
The twenty thousand pounds held across the Pastoral and Building funds provides the church with an adequate reserve to cover unforeseen expenditure.
As part of the wider ministry of the church, donations of £8,300 have been made over the year to support various missionaries, churches and mission organisations including EMF, NTM, One Mission, AEM, AsiaLink, SASRA, CFL and Zambesi Mission.
The funds are held in accounts at Barclays Bank and at Saffron Building Society. There are small cash funds used by the coffee morning, Mums & Toddler group and the new Searchers group being set up for junior school children.
A monthly stipend is paid to the Pastor. No other payments have been made to trustees during the year apart from reimbursement of expenditure.
F. Declaration
I declare, in my capacity of charity trustee, that:
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the trustees have approved the report above: and
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have authorised me to sign it on their behalf.
K C Munford 8-October-2025
Signature ___ Date ______
Keith Munford (Treasurer)
Kirby-le-Soken Evangelical Church is a charitable incorporated organisation (registered charity n umber 1170625)
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Kirby-Le-Soken Evangelical Church The Street, Kirby-le-Soken, Frinton-on-Sea, CO13 0EE Church Accounts 2024-25
Receipts and Payments Accounts Kirby-le-Soken Evangelical Church for the period from 1st August 2024 to 31st July 2025
Section A Receipts and payments
| 2024/25 | 2023/24 | |
|---|---|---|
| A1 RECEIPTS | ||
| Offerings and Donations | £66,943.50 | £129,154.60 |
| Legacies | £15,684.80 | |
| Tax reclaimed | £8,541.07 | £8,581.54 |
| Interest | £4,047.36 | £1,599.31 |
| TOTAL RECEIPTS | £95,216.73 | £139,335.45 |
| A3 PAYMENTS | ||
| Activities | £3,868.90 | £2,756.02 |
| Donations | £8,300.00 | £10,415.00 |
| Ministry | £38,486.20 | £36,648.13 |
| Building upkeep | £134,393.00 | £25,022.64 |
| TOTAL PAYMENTS | £185,048.10 | £74,841.79 |
| Receipts less payments | -£89,831.37 | £64,493.66 |
| A5 Transfers between funds | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| A6 Cash funds last year end | £134,746.03 | £70,252.37 |
| Cash Funds this year end | £44,914.66 | £134,746.03 |
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21-Aug-2025
Kirby-Le-Soken Evangelical Church The Street, Kirby-le-Soken, Frinton-on-Sea, CO13 0EE Church Accounts 2024-25
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| 2024/25 | 2023/24 | |
|---|---|---|
| B1 Cash funds | ||
| Cash held by Treasurer | £25.00 | £0.00 |
| Cash held in Coffee Morning float | £120.08 | £177.61 |
| Cash held in Mums & Toddler float | £22.08 | £22.08 |
| Cash held in Searchers float | £100.00 | |
| Barclays Current Account | £3,714.05 | £4,160.25 |
| Barclays Savings Account | £8,206.12 | £16,504.03 |
| Saffron Building Society Account | £32,727.33 | £113,882.06 |
| TOTAL | £44,914.66 | £134,746.03 |
| Representing balances on the following funds | ||
| Church General Fund | £23,821.34 | £12,135.01 |
| Missionary Fund | £0.00 | £82.00 |
| Building Fund | £11,365.16 | £104,443.33 |
| Pastoral Fund | £9,486.00 | £17,886.00 |
| Coffee morning fund | £120.08 | £177.61 |
| Mums & Toddler fund | £22.08 | £22.08 |
| Searchers fund | £100.00 | |
| TOTAL | £44,914.66 | £134,746.03 |
| B2 Other Monetary assets | None | None |
| B3 Investment Assets | None | None |
| B4 Assets retained for the charity's own use | ||
| shown at insurance value | ||
| Church building and land | £849,051 | £825,925 |
| Chapel Contents | £39,175 | £39,175 |
| TOTAL | £888,226 | £865,100 |
| B5 Liabilities | None | None |
| Signed on behalf of all the trustees | ||
| K C Munford | 21/08/2025 | |
| Signed: _______ | Date: _______ |
Keith Munford (Treasurer)
Kirby-le-Soken Evangelical Church is a charitable incorporated organisation (registered charity number 1170625)
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21-Aug-2025
Kirby-Le-Soken Evangelical Church The Street, Kirby-le-Soken, Frinton-on-Sea, CO13 0EE Church Accounts 2024-25
Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Kirby-le-Soken Evangelical Church
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Kirby-le-Soken Evangelical Church for the year ended 31 July 2025.
Responsibilities and basis of report
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 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:
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accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or
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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 accounts to be reached.
Simon Nobbs 28/10/2025
Signed: ___ Date: ____
Name Simon Nobbs Retired Treasurer Prettygate Baptist Church
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21-Aug-2025