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2023-03-31-accounts

Registered Charity Number 1171395

Christ Church Cambourne

Trustees Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31[st] March 2023

Registered Charity Number 1171395

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Registered Charity Number 1171395

Contents

Page Legal Details of the Charity..................................................................................................... 3 Managing Trustees’ Report for the Year Ending 31[st] March 2022 ......................................... 4 Charity Structure, Governance and Management ........................................................ 4 Objectives and Activities for the Public Benefit ............................................................. 4 Achievements ................................................................................................................ 5 Financial Review………………………………………………………………………………………………………….10 Financial Statement…………………………………………………………………………………………………….12 Independent Examiner’s Review…………………………………………………………………………………………15 Declaration…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…………….18

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Registered Charity Number 1171395

Legal Details of the Charity

Charity Name: Christ Church Cambourne Charity Number: 1171395 Administrative Address: 8 Playcross Close Great Cambourne Cambridge CB23 5AF Principal Activity Address: Hardwick and Cambourne Community Primary School Sheepfold Lane Great Cambourne Cambridge CB23 6FR Charity Website: www.christchurchcambourne.org.uk

Managing Trustees: Matthew Baalham, 22 Sterling Way, Upper Cambourne, CB23 6AR [from September 2022]

Richard Brown, 8 Playcross Close Great Cambourne, CB23 5AF Stephen Robinson, 39 Mayfield Way, Great Cambourne, CB23 5JA [from September 2022, stepped down subsequent to March 2023]

Geoffrey Selley, 5 Coleridge Court, St Neots, PE19 7LY [stepped down subsequent to March 2023]

Benjamin Twiss, 24 School Lane, Lower Cambourne, CB23 5DQ

Principal Banker: Nat West Bank Community Banking Centre PO Box 575 Rotherham S63 3FJ Independent Examiner: Immanuel Kemp, 7 Miller Way, Great Cambourne, CB23 5FJ

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Registered Charity Number 1171395

Managing Trustees’ Report for the Year ending 31[st] March 2023

Charity Structure, Governance and Management

The church is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation with a constitution that was adopted on 20th January 2017. Registration with the Charity Commission was confirmed on 30th January 2017. The church became fully independent from its parent church, St Neots Evangelical Church, on 6th April 2017.

The managing trustees are responsible for the management of the affairs of the church and consist of the elders, including the full-time pastor, together with any others who may be appointed to ensure there is always a minimum of three trustees. New elders are appointed according to Christ Church Cambourne’s Statement of Current Practice. Proposals for new elders are made by the existing elders to a business meeting of the church members. After a period of time for prayer, reflection and feedback, if the church should deem it appropriate, an appointment will be made. Where complete unity of members cannot be reached, the existing elders have the responsibility of deciding how to proceed and whether to appoint or not.

It is anticipated that any new elders appointed will become a trustee. New trustees will be appointed by the passing of a resolution at a formal business meeting of the managing trustees. The managing trustees who have held office during the period from 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2023 are set out on page 3.

Elders’ meetings are usually held on a bi-weekly basis where church business is discussed and every member of the church family is regularly prayed for. These two activities are focussed on, on an alternative meeting basis. For this year, we were able to revert to these meetings being held in person.

Objectives and Activities for the Public Benefit

The objectives of the church are:

  1. the advancement of the Christian faith in accordance with the Basis of Faith, primarily, but not exclusively, within Cambourne and the surrounding neighbourhood; and

  2. such other charitable purposes as shall, in the opinion of the charity trustees, put into practice the Christian faith in accordance with the Basis of Faith, including but not limited to: the prevention and relief of need, hardship and sickness; the advancement of education; and the provision of community facilities (provided that the advancement of such purposes must be undertaken in a manner that is consistent with the Doctrinal Distinctives and Ethical Statements as may be adopted and amended by the church from time to time).

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Registered Charity Number 1171395

Since January 2019, the church has been fully affiliated with the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches.

As a church we exist to glorify God by

When planning the activities of the church for the year, the trustees consider the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and, in particular, the specific guidance on charities for the advancement of religion.

Achievements

Loving Jesus, Loving One Another and Loving the Community

Throughout the course of the year, in both Sunday services and Home Groups, as strong a focus as was possible was maintained on these core objectives of loving Jesus, loving one another and loving our community.

We were able to appoint two additional elders to assist with pastoral oversight of our members and a deacon to help with the practical area of church communications (such as our website). These appointments took place in the autumn of 2022. As is CCC’s practice, the elders became trustees of the church, though one subsequently stepped down as an elder, whilst remaining as a trustee until after March 2023.

We have continued to welcome regular visitors to our meetings, including increasing numbers of people from Hong Kong. Our membership continues to reflect many different nationalities.

We continued our emphasis on informal fellowship and one-to-one discipling in addition to the activities listed below.

Sunday Services held at Cambourne Village College or Hardwick and Cambourne Primary School

Our normal Sunday morning meetings were held between April and December at Cambourne Village College. However, following a heating failure at the College, the church started using the neighbouring Hardwick and Cambourne Primary School from December. The new site had many advantages besides a working heating system. The church had exclusive use of the school site which improved security. It also had access to kitchen and classroom facilities better suited to the church’s needs. One key positive about the change was that the site used the same car park as Cambourne Village College and so the change of venue also had a sense of continuity. After a few weeks of meeting regularly, the church decided to move permanently to the primary school for the foreseeable future. One outstanding issue was that the school had no piano which could be used in

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Registered Charity Number 1171395

the main hall to accompany singing. Eventually the church was able to pay for the school’s piano to have suitable casters fitted which has made moving the piano into the main hall very easy.

These meetings followed the general pattern of previous years with singing, prayers, Bible reading and the preaching of God’s word (sermon) which included systematic, expository and practical Bible teaching from the books of 1 Timothy, 1 Samuel, Psalms and John’s Gospel 13-21.

Communion is normally organised every two weeks and the first Sunday of the month is designed to be for ‘all ages’. This means children stay with the adults for the whole meeting and the preaching is to be more deliberately accessible for them. On other Sundays, it has been the norm that primary-aged children separate from the adults and attend ‘Sunday Groups’ during the latter part of the meeting. Refreshments are provided at the end of the meeting. Once a month there has also been a bring-and-share lunch.

The number of people attending Sunday morning meetings has fluctuated during the year. Typically, we had around 80-100 adults and children attending during the summer of 2022 but this was more like 50-70 at the end of 2022 and into the first months of 2023.

Sunday Groups for Children

The purpose of these groups is to teach children about the Christian faith in age-appropriate ways during the Sunday morning sermon. During the 45 minutes session, they learn about a Bible story or Bible passage with age-related activities, such as games, worksheets and craft activities, as well as songs and a memory verse of the term. Children often have a take-home sheet with questions or a memory verse to share at home with their family. From April 2022-March 2023, we have studied 1 Timothy, Ruth, some Psalms, the story of Samuel, the Christmas story, and a series about the life of Jesus in John's Gospel. Most of these topics have followed along loosely with the main teaching series of the adults, whilst some sessions/series have been chosen to provide balance and an adapted curriculum for the children of both Old and New Testament knowledge.

Sunday Groups cater for the age range of 4-11 (primary school age). For the first half of the year we met as two groups, Infants (Reception-Y2) and Juniors (Yr3-6), however since the Spring Term 2023 we have met as one large group instead of two. All of our leaders are DBS checked, and we ensure we meet expected ratios as per our Safeguarding Policy. We have a regular group of 15-20 children with 3 leaders on rota each week (and a standby).

We have used pre-planned Sunday School resources from Mustard Seeds and Faith in Kids, alongside some materials being written by the Sunday group leaders from scratch or amended from other resources.

Sunday Creche Facility

Creche caters for 0-4 year olds and allows them to benefit from age appropriate teaching during the main talk of a Sunday service. It also provides them with a space to play, sing and do craft activities related to the Bible story being told. Over the year, the children looked at a Faith in Kids resource about Jesus caring for people (summer term), a Scripture Union Bubbles resource about heroes in the Old Testament and Christmas story (autumn term) and another Bubbles resource about stories about Jesus (winter term).

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Registered Charity Number 1171395

Creche had, on average, 5 children who regularly attended during this period.

Creche runs each week with 1 leader and 1 helper all of whom are DBS-checked. Ratios are in line with the national guidance and are regularly checked.

Home Groups

Three Home Groups were operational, one in each of Lower, Great and Upper Cambourne. These were often helpful in reinforcing the teaching and lessons learned the previous Sunday as well as organising independent Bible studies. For the summer term a series on Ruth was followed, in the autumn term groups followed a DVD and booklet series called Hope Explored, and in the winter groups studied the Gospel of John.

Home Groups provided opportunities for fellowship, encouragement and mutual support as well as learning about God’s word

Prayer Meetings

Meetings have been held in various member’s homes. The meetings started with a very short message based on our Statement of Faith, specifically geared to the children present, followed by a prayer time. This was then followed by a communal tea provided by the host.

Week of Prayer

We commenced 2023 with a special week of prayer. Church members were encouraged to pray in accordance with our church aims at various extra times during the week as well as during regular activities.

Ladies Ministry

The Ladies Group met on Friday, meeting in a different home each week, with the host usually leading a Bible study. The ladies studied the books of Proverbs (summer term), James (autumn term) and Jeremiah (winter term).

Each week consisted of a Bible study, a time of prayer and informal fellowship where the ladies could share their lives together. At the end of each half term, a social was held, either at a garden centre or at one of the women’s houses for coffee and cake. This was a further opportunity for informal fellowship and encouragement. Approximately six ladies attended on a fairly regular basis.

There was also a seminar organised one Saturday morning in May for women on the subject of reading the Bible one-to-one. This was to encourage more of this to take place among the women of the church and breakfast was also provided.

Men’s Ministry

There have been ad hoc breakfast meetings for men held on various Saturdays through the year. These have mostly been social with an informal atmosphere and good times of spiritual conversation.

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Registered Charity Number 1171395

Young People’s Group - Ignite

The Ignite group started in September 2021 and is designed for young people (ages 11-16) to explore the Christian faith more. The group also aims to allow the young people to feel integrated into the life of the church, getting to know their peers and our church members more. The group ran on a Friday evening at a member’s home and consisted of a combination of games and fun, Bible studies, discussion and prayer with drinks and snacks freely provided. Social events were also incorporated at appropriate times.

For the Bible studies, some were specially prepared by the leaders and some were purchased preprepared. The group have looked at Jesus’ ‘I am’ sayings and the Easter story. Members of Ignite have also helped out at the Light Party/Easter Eggstravaganza, running games and activities.

An average of 5 young people attended Ignite each week. The group is a mixture of young people who profess faith and those who are still exploring the Christian faith for themselves. Ignite is open to young people to invite their friends along to.

Ignite always runs with 3 DBS-checked adults in attendance.

Community Outreach Events

The church has run two events designed with local families with children in mind, as a way of communicating to them the gospel and showing love to the community. These events shared the same format with craft activities and games for the children and an age-appropriate talk explaining an aspect of the gospel. Both events were held at the ‘The Hub’ community centre in Cambourne. The first in April was called Easter Eggstravaganza and the second was called Light Party and was held in October. Both events were well attended by visitors who do not normally come to church meetings.

The church also hired ‘The Hub’ for our annual carol service because of the heating problems at Cambourne Village College. This was another opportunity to specifically invite newcomers along to a church meeting, perhaps for the first time.

Again ‘The Hub’ was hired for an evening of Christmas craft activities for women in December. This was another opportunity to invite people along who did not regularly attend other church meetings and besides the craft activities, a speaker from another local church (Sarah Angel) was organised to give a gospel message part way through the evening for the benefit of visitors.

Church Day Away

A special day was organised in June 2022 with Catherine Haddow, a writer and Christian counsellor, to speak on the subject of mental health and anxiety from a biblical perspective. The event took place in Gamlingay at a community centre and a programme for the children ran alongside with helpers from St Neot’s Evangelical Church.

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Registered Charity Number 1171395

Annual GDPR Report

We are committed to the following from our data protection policy: “An annual report on the level of compliance with or variance from good data protection practices will be produced by the Data Protection Officer.” The following was submitted:

In July 2022, the church received two complaints regarding the sharing of personal information within the FIEC. While we are an FIEC-affiliated church, the personal data was shared outside the organisation [i.e. Christ Church Cambourne] without consent.

The church made a self-referral to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in May 2023. While the ICO chose not to take further action, we have been given recommendations to ensure compliance moving forwards, including training needs. We will report further on these recommendations and our actions in the 2023-24 Trustees Report.

Stephen Robinson, Data Protection Officer

Cultural Review and Safeguarding

In January 2022, following discussions with the church safeguarding leads, the elders commissioned a church ‘cultural review’ to be carried out by Christian Safeguarding Services (CSS). The report was written by CSS specifically as an internal document to be seen by church members only.

The basis of the report consisted of an electronic survey filled out by church members and attendees on a number of topics relevant to the culture of CCC. The survey allowed people to comment on their experiences of church life at CCC with the idea of informing the elders about areas which could be improved. The surveys were collected between May and June 2022 and were fed into a cultural review report written by CSS which was made available to church members in November 2022.

The report touched on various aspects of church life and concluded with a number of recommendations. These recommendations then formed the basis of an action plan which the elders drafted and adopted in December 2022. The action plan is a mixture of specific short- and long-term goals to make improvements at CCC. Work began on implementing the action plan immediately and was ongoing at the end of March 2023. CSS, however, made it clear that it would take a number of years to work through the action plan and to see certain specific changes embedded in the church culture.

The elders sought long-term support and advice from a retired and experienced church leader to assist them in thinking through the outworking of the action plan. He attended many of the elders meetings in this capacity from January 2023 and was also able to visit the church on some Sundays.

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Registered Charity Number 1171395

Staff and Church Membership

For the duration of the year, the church employed Ben Twiss as pastor/elder on a full-time contractual basis.

Ben Twiss attended the FIEC Leaders Conference which was held in November in Blackpool. He also attended a Living Leadership pastoral refreshment conference with his wife in February 2023. He has also been part of a book group that meets monthly to discuss a book called Biblical Critical Theory by Christopher Watkin, organised by Crosslands.

Manse Purchase

The church successfully purchased 24 School Lane in Lower Cambourne for use as a manse to house Ben Twiss and his family. The property has five bedrooms, two reception rooms and an office as well as a double garage, and will be able to be used for a number of church activities. The property was acquired on 5 July 2022 and Ben and his family moved in immediately.

Financial Review

The balance carried forward from 2021/22 was £60,750, which consisted of £26,000 unrestricted funds, £3,750 restricted funds for safeguarding costs, and £31,000 endowment funds held for the purchase of a manse.

The receipts for the year included a loan for £100,000, which was a temporary loan to facilitate the actual purchase of the manse whilst a mortgage from Kingdom Bank was being put into place.

In addition to the above receipts, a further £25,000 was received from the FIEC to support the future employment of a Women’s Worker.

Payments for the year included voluntary member contributions to the FIEC of £1,260 and payments totalling £3,000 to Al and Rachel MacInnes, our mission partners working with SIM international in Athens, Greece. Throughout the year we continued to set apart 10% of our regular income to support missionary work elsewhere and at the end of the year we had a balance in our missionary fund, waiting to be allocated, of £2,743.

The final balance for the year was £56,108 including restricted funds and residual cash funds for the manse purchase held in the endowment fund, which will be retained for manse maintenance purposes. Receipts were generated solely from members regular freewill giving and one-off gifts from individuals.

It is the aim of the trustees to adopt a reserves policy of maintaining reserves at a minimum level of three months of staff costs and we were enabled to consistently achieve this objective for this current year. This figure was set at £13,400 for the current year.

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Registered Charity Number 1171395

Mr Ben Twiss (Pastor) was employed by the church on a full-time basis and is also a trustee. The remuneration of the Pastor is reviewed by the trustees each year. In accordance with the church’s constitution, the Pastor does not attend the meetings at which the staff salary reviews take place. None of the other trustees received any remuneration from the church during the course of the year.

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Registered Charity Number 1171395

----- Start of picture text -----
Christ Church Cambourne 1171395
Receipts and payments accounts CC16a
For the period 01-Apr-22 31-Mar-23
To
from
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
Total funds Last year
funds funds funds
to the nearest
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
£
A1 Receipts
Tithes and Offerings 47,606 - - 47,606 43,205
Gift Aid Received 11,823 - 2,625 14,448 10,261
Safeguarding Gift - - - - 3,000
Book contributions 140 - - 140 -
Manse Gift from PBS - - 388,022 388,022 -
Manse Gifts - - 20,500 20,500 3,500
FIEC Womens Worker Contribution - 25,000 - 25,000 -
Sub total (Gross income for
59,569 25,000 411,147 495,716 59,966
AR)
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
Manse Loans - - 170,000 170,000 -
Mortgage - - 100,000 100,000 -
Sub total - - 270,000 270,000 -
Total receipts 59,569 25,000 681,147 765,716 59,966
A3 Payments
Pastors Salary and NIC 31,083 - - 31,083 37,644
Hire of rooms for Church services 5,615 - - 5,615 3,072
Pastor expenses (books and conf's) 1,149 - - 1,149 190
Licenses, insurance, 523 - - 523 921
Safeguarding/Cultural Review 3,415 3,750 - 7,165 -
FIEC Contribution 1,260 - - 1,260 1,140
Expenses for church events 1,237 - - 1,237 419
Refreshments and other expenses 276 - - 276 271
Publicity ,books, legal packs etc 759 - - 759 27
Mission Support 3,000 - - 3,000 6,287
Travel and Visiting Preacher costs 599 - - 599 211
Manse Legal Fees - - 11,173 11,173 -
Manse Fabric, Maint & Monthly Costs 3,093 - 756 3,849 -
Mortgage & loan interest 4,550 - - 4,550 1,573
Sub total 56,559 3,750 11,929 72,238 51,755
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
Manse Purchase - - 595,000 595,000 -
Loan Repayments - - 103,120 103,120 -
Sub total - - 698,120 698,120 -
Total payments 56,559 3,750 710,049 770,358 51,755
Net of receipts/(payments) 3,010 21,250 - 28,902 - 4,642 8,211
A5 Transfers between funds - - - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end 26,000 3,750 31,000 60,750 52,539
Cash funds this year end 29,010 25,000 2,098 56,108 60,750
----- End of picture text -----

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Registered Charity Number 1171395

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

Categories Details Details Details Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Endowment
funds
to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £
B1 Cash funds Bank balance as at 31/03/2023 29,010 25,000 2,098
-
- -
Total cash funds 29,010 25,000 2,098
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
OK OK
Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Endowment
funds
Details to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £
B2 Other monetary assets Gift Aid to be claimed 2,515 -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
- - -
Details Fund to which
asset belongs
Cost (optional) Current value
(optional)
B3 Investment assets - -
- -
- -
- -
- -
Details Fund to which
asset belongs
Cost (optional) Current value
(optional)
B4 Assets retained for the
charity’s own use
Sound Equipment Unrestricted 400 -
5 bedroom Manse Endowment 595,000 -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
- -
Details Fund to which
liability relates
Amount due
(optional)
When due
(optional)
B5 Liabilities Pension Unrestricted 298 08 April 2023
Manse Loan Unrestricted 70,000
Mortgage Unrestricted 100,000
-
-
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees
Signature Print Name Date of
approval
RICHARD BROWN 24/11/2023

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Registered Charity Number 1171395

Notes to the accounts

The charity trustees have elected to prepare the accounts on a Receipts and Payments basis.

The charity operated two restricted funds over the course of the year. One of these funds was created in a prior period upon receipt of a restricted donation towards the safeguarding and culture review, and was spent during this accounting period. The other consisted of the grant received during the period from the FIEC for the Women’s Worker staff position.

In addition, the charity has been operating an endowment fund consisting of monies handled in respect of the purchase of the manse, and of the manse itself as a fixed asset. A correction for prior periods has been applied to the opening balances for the period, to transfer £31,000 previously accounted as restricted funds to the endowment fund to correctly account for its fund status in this year’s accounts.

A designated fund for mission exists within the unrestricted funds as noted in the Trustees’ Annual Report.

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Registered Charity Number 1171395

Independent examiner's report on the accounts

Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees/
members of
On accounts for the year
ended
Set out on pages
Christ Church Cambourne Christ Church Cambourne Christ Church Cambourne
31/03/2023 Charity no
(if any)
1171395
1-2

Respective responsibilities The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The of trustees and examiner charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Charities Act”) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

Basis of independent My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by the examiner’s statement 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 the 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 statement below.

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Registered Charity Number 1171395

Independent examiner's statement

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

  1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the requirements:

  2. to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; and

  3. to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act

  4. have not been met; or

  5. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

----- Start of picture text -----
Date: 27/01/2024
Signed:
----- End of picture text -----

Name: Aaron Immanuel Kemp

Relevant professional Foundation Certificate in Accounting (AAT, Level 2) qualification(s) or body (if any):

Address: 7 Miller Way, Great Cambourne

Cambridge

CB23 5FJ

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Registered Charity Number 1171395

Section B Disclosure

Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material problems.(E.g. accounting records have not been kept in accordance with s132 of the Charities’ Act 2011 and those accounts do not comply with the requirements of the 2008 Regulations setting out the form and content of charity accounts; any material expenditure or action which appears not to be in accordance with the trusts of the charity; any failure to be provided with information and explanations by any past or present trustee, officer or employee; and any material consistency between the accounts and the trustees’ annual report.)

Give here brief details of any n/a items that the examiner wishes to disclose .

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CHRISTCHURCH Number 1171395 CAMBOU RN E Declaratlon8 The trustees declare that they havg approved thtr trusteès. ￿port al￿e. Signed on behaff of the chartys trustees Sl8nature: Full Name: Rlchard 8rown Matthew 6aalhim Position: Elder and Trustee Elderand Trustee Date: Page 18 of 18