A united congregation of The methorf￿t Churth and The United Trinity Church, (Methodist United Reformed) Russell Street, Leek, Staffs., ST13 5JF Churth Telephone: 01538 398483 Email: trlni churchleek uwclub.net RegiSte￿d Charity Number: 1171597 Trinity Church, Leek Accounts for the year September 1st 2024 to August 31st 2025 Pages 1-7 Ministers ReporL Rev Denlse Williamson for Church Annual General Meeting. 25th January 2026. In 2025 we rene￿d Trinity's Misslon Statement which is n¢M: Trinity is a welcoming and inclusive church: Living and sharing God's love and serving community. Trinity Church has been on a journey this year which has seen it open its doors and it hearts to many different people and opportunities. We supported the Leek Pride Festival with our window display which received many positive comments. It encouraged a transvestite female to join us for several weeks for worship and Wednesday coffee before she moved back to sCo￿and. Many got to know her during her time with us and we were able to learn from her as well as love, encourage and support her. We also hostsd Beresford School for the Hope Journey at Chrislmas as well as hosting Holiday Club Days during the summer and during the half ternis and also on Christma3 Eve. We had many families come to join us who enjoyed the warnith of the welcome they reGelved. We opened the doors of the Church on the Totalty Locally Sunday In Advent and welcomed people in to have a coffee and make Chrislmas tree decorations. We l•)ok forward to making this a regular activity. We have appointsd a Church and Community Worker who will begin working with us on March 19th 2026. We have much to look forward to in the coming year. A Steering Group for the Lay Worker comprising of church members wlll help to develop the work and mission of the post holder. One of the biggest projects thls year has been the provlslon of a drop in centre for people who arg on the edges of our community due to various reasons. This will open on Thursdays between 9.30am and 12.30. Trinity has fornied a partnershlp with Saltbox which is a Charity began in 1983 based in Burslem which supports paople on a journey towards independence and empowermenL We have the support of local Police. housing and many other charities and both the Methodist and URC churches for this projecL The project based In the Russell Street Annexe will be called The Grace Centre and will run for a trial period of 6 months. If successful and further funding can be found we will be looking at continuing the project beyond 6 months. We have been fortunate to have been able to invite leaders of worship from outside the Circuit. including Rev David WJlli5 the Methodist District Mission Enabler. In the coming months we will be receiving Rev Andrew Willetts. the URC Mission Enabler, Rev Steve Fa￿r the URC moderator of the West Midlands Syn¢xl and Rev Richard Pope in September to lead worship. Numbers attending worship have remained steady with a very good attendance at the Carol Service and Christsnas Day services where many non -church folk attended and said how they had enjoyed the services. Trlnity remains committed to the Churches Together in Leek group and last week had been hosting the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity midday prayer gatherings. It has been good to Invite new Clergy to churches in Leek and in the wider area. We continue to meet for Sunday Worshlp With St Edwards and this year will share worship on the 5th Sundays of the month. This glves us 4 occasions this year where we will meet together. We are also planning a weekend retreat together at Shallowford House near Stone. Dates to be confirmed either for this year or next Bible Study groups were held during Lènt and Advent which were thought provoking and well attended. However it would be good to see more people engaging with the word of God by attending these groups. Much work has been done during the past year to reduce our running costs and raislng our income. The Finance report will show that we are still carrying a hefty debit each year, Fund raising events have boosted income but an increase in regular giving is what is needed to ensure security In our finances. A letter was sent to every member asking if they could consider increasing their giving to the church. Please do prayerfully consider if you can contribute more to Trinity. It has been a joy to get to know you better over the last year. We have much going on during 2026 as Trinity seeks to be a welcoming and incluslve church, Ilving and sharing God's love and serving community. I hope that you all feel part of God's mission through Christ in our church and excited and inspired to continue your faith journey led by the Holy SpiriL Every blessing Rev Denise ¢) ¢ri CJ t4 ¥¥% aa 8&888 O o TRINITY CHURCH, LEEK: YEAR ENDING 315fAUGusf 2025 Attount e. CONTINGENCY FUND (Central Rnano Board. CFB) f Balan￿ brought forvrdrd Sept 1" 2024 Interest CFB IA06) Transfer from Nat West General 6/Iy2024 Transfer from Nat West General 1310V2025 Transferfrom Nat West General 2yOII2025 Transfer from Nat West General 2310512025 Transfer from Nat West General 516/2025 Transfer from Nat West General 271812025 Other Accounts and Funds £3,24238 £4,IXM).QO £16.IXK).IXI £4,1)00.00 £7,000.00 £8,000.00 £5.(KM).00 Asstssment > ar￿1t (D/DI Code IN02) £52,OIKI.00 BalaFKe df 3110812025 £67.375.29 £119.375.29 £119,375.29 Account I: CAPITAL RESERVE FUND (Leek Unked Bulwing Sothty) Balante brought fo￿ard sept 1 2024 Interest Added {A071 £39,274.74 Cheques-john Hunt/De￿k Rushton £992S7 Transfer from Natwest Gen Blanche Bentley No TF5ts to NATWE5f 2024-25 Balance ¢lf at 3110812025 £51&50 £44036.21 £44X136.21 £44.036.21 Ac¢ount m: CHURCHES MUTUAL CREDtr UNION (CMCU) Balance Brought FoThward Sept i* 2024 £5J146 Divldend Credited 2012 £76.06 Dividend Credited 2215 £25.07 No viithdrawals 2024-25 £0.00 B?kn￿ clfat 3UW2025 £5.14&01 £5.14&01 £5.148.01 Funds wlthln Natwest bank account= n (general). t (tax). b (Ixnevolent) y IV￿> Fund t TAX TO HMRC (Designated) Start balance 11912024 Tax on Funerèl Fees It/A181 Tax + NEST pen5ion+NIIStaff Wages) IVS03) £7.20 £1.204.89 Payments to HMRC ITAXI + NEsf from tnAX 8alano c/f at 311812025 £920.49 £364.03 ££28452 £1,284.52 Fund b BENEVOLENT FUND (Restrltted) Start balance 11912024 Interest from TMCP IblB04) 3927 £8L70 vtithdrawa15 2024-2025 b/B05 Balan￿ rffat 3YP812025 £0.00 £42Q97 £420￿7 £420.97 Fund y Yoimi EVEpifs FUND (D Start balan￿ 11912024 £ 71Q13 Holiday aubslyouth Events M05. M07 Balan￿ c/f at 3110812025 £76.94 £ 637.19 £ 71413 £714.13 (') Our assessment to the Methodist fjrcuit and URC Synod is transferred from our generdl account (alc n) to the Mèthodist Central Finance Board (CFB) (a/c) during the COUT5e of year. from where it is debited by the Stsffordshire Moorknds Circuit (£52.IxKI). This year. has seen a )Inall profft of£LIX19.67 ofrere￿ts￿ah* •*olng Paym￿ (x)mpared to ￿ yeafs deftcit of £ 4533.77. As I say each year l 8reatlyappreo* the Apport of every￿ for ctyrtinuin& and In cases even Inueasln& your very generous offertortes durfng these ongoing challenong time& It is a W help. Theytotal £52.119A9 thls year - a decrea* of £ 1.753.14 from 2023-U due to the Sad knss of some of our membw& Thanks a% well. to the dedicated teams of counters who do an excellent lob of rttordl￿th@ cdknions and paying into the bank eath fortnig￿ and to Steve and Jean Thompson, who store and collate all the Gift Akl recordsw metiLvlou*. Yax redalrne￿ on Glft Aid and GASDS was £11024.34, a redurtioTr of £59175. Coffee Mornln85 raised £ 6.538.90. a ¥Èry 4nificant knty¢a* of £&57UII on la5tyear. Many thanks to iiz for cwrdlnatlng along with her team ￿Very dedicated l*lws- It is alm05t£EllknE bxktr• Pr&Co¥id now when openlng hour5 were lonEerl Wlea15'Just have a minor defirit oF£35 this ￿. tompard to last defldt of £7fj2SO. iettingg continue to be a major thallenge. unfortwwtely. and only ralsed £5.6ZL75 thts year- a reduttlon ot £ 2,928.25 from 2023124. This is a challenge. not unique to us as organisatlon5 elsewhere are experiendng ￿rn11ar Issues. We contlnue to have a re8ularyoEa group who use the bull dlng and all Saturdayfoyer coffee Mornings contlnue to get booked Upi along wlth many Friday& Otr*r bookings are for contert5 The Lick of bOo￿nES do4 h•)wever, have a knockwon beneflt of helpingto reduce ourouthv on Utlllties The Trfnlty film rjub rnised £ZA￿78 a reduction of £4￿56 on last y•r. althou8h 01￿ agaln It Is a maNellous achievemenL Attendance5 at some films wwerft hélped by the Eood we experi￿ In early sprin& Mary Thanks to Chrls Birch for Or￿￿ngthe prngranMThe offflmsas usual whlth provlde a s￿r¢e ofenJoYn￿ and muth needed companyi for many people. transforoffunds whith had been held in the old SPARK I*wspw account Maureen Wladn is am¢knuing to the No￿daY Mealsand hos managed to obtaln fjrants from several source5 during the year. £171XI Grants rn recelved plus a small surplu5 of £67 ort the MaundyThursday meal. £51Ml was transferred from here in order to offset energy Costs Also duringthe ￿ar we received £15,000 from the R5C for Rentsl Plus £ 889.63 forthÈ us• of UtilKtes co5￿ As we know, we will no longer be getting these receipts as the Russell Str* Centre b now uThkr our (ontrol with the upcomlng unpald project. We were mort grateful to re￿IVed two kgacie5 dwh¥the yw. £4WO from the &MeofMrJohn Huirt and £500 from the estate of Reg and Blanthe Bentley. The Ilne Yransfer frcmn CFV pf £ relates to the quarterfy as%¢*n￿nts pald to the drcuiL Wtth other outgoinss I wasn't able to transfer thts amount over to the Central Finano Board account whve the Dirett Debit comes from so It has come from our reserve& £ 7￿00 was transferred from the Trustsfor Methodkt Churth Purposes DNCP) Gladys Narrop Fund. Following the change of mlnlstry from URCto Methodist ￿ thquent dIs￿n5 wlth the relevant l)odie5 durln8 the summer of 2024, our share pledge forAsSts5M￿to the Qrcuit (to the P•lethodlst Oratt and the URq was redU￿d to £51000 based on our current membershlp. The bulk of this goes from the arcuit to the denornlnatlon pro¥￿Ing mlnistry. Our outlay to nominated charitles reduced slighdy to £5000. whith 15 based on approximatdy IOX of OUT directgivinE. In additlon a one off donatknn of £50was paid outto the Diocese of Lithfield in reeoBnlUon forthe work carried out by Robert Mourrtford. Ecurneniral Offker. Our 4>e¢ial ap￿lS £ivingthB ywwas £ 4WJ with Gift Aid added of £ 746.25. maklng OUT total gkvingto outside groups of £￿￿.2& Please not• that some donors nNide8lfts dlrectty to the dmrfty. or vla Trinlty wlth a cheque payable to the charrty. so the ovÈrall 8i¥in8 wasa¢tu*ity h161￿ than fi8uww IndlE4te. Salary: Wages costs for thls year have reduced by£ 77632 as the final settlement of £ 930 was pald to sylvia Balnbrldge at the be8lnning of the par and all sick pay had ¢4ryleted. AfterTere5a had kept the Thiyty Office manned durin8 last year, with the unfortunate situation. it was a def¥ht to fomMIIy T*elcome her a5 our new admlnistrator. Tere5a keeps all ol our can8re8atlon up to date wlth newkn and c*￿it NrtI￿ is muth appredated. well as beingthe first polnt of call lor people wntactingthe thurch. We atso thank Paults￿ ourdwer, far her uwal excellertwork Page 4a The entry"Mlnlstry under Cov1￿ of£207.50 covers the costsof poslage of Mtiosto thurth unable to receive them by e4mall. whlth is a reducti¢>n d£11650 from last y￿. Wegrtstly appreoate the hdp of the people who deliver qulte a numberof these by hand. inisterfs Pastoral Support Ferf ￿£46 is part of a requlrw*fft bythe URC to support aN thelr mlnlsters and was paid on Rlchard Popds final expew-Churche5 are ableto daim b*k some otthe c05l If require(l. but fortunately our flnancial Position has enabled us to ¢overthe* cos 'Fwrst Aid Tralnln¢ was umipleted byTwesa Pdrker and Peter Slth at a cost of £240 * therewere two further tralnlng wurses carrled out tOtsllinE £49. eals durin8 hoJiday< of £ L04430 Telatesto expwses In￿tted forthe afrnentioned Holiday meal to see a st&7dylng followingthe c(thct TheGas/ffethf¢ shows a decrease of£6.15L51 from 2023/4 whllst the Water rates show a small increase of £IOA8 (NB: As prelious ￿ somewater cthcontinue to be involced on estimated readlngsl. trelephone ¢05W show an Inrnse of£5L 'Ll￿nceS and Subscriptiong have reduced by E120.68 on last ytsr. when a late ￿￿froM 2022n had been pld(ed up. 'Repalrs and Renewav and 'MaioT Wory show an ¥￿taSe of £I227A) durfngthe year. Signifxant costs were Incurred for a replacement control box for the automatk door £3JM98 and Ran*dlal wor&s fortho fke alami S￿¢•M £ 2￿?6.71 A repalr vrns also carrkd out to the wall at the rear of the churth at a t(st of £T1&￿ Therewere the usual outgolngs for servlclng Igas boller. rrft Inspectlons fire exttn8uFsher thed4 PATTes11ry etc). We are L￿Inually￿atd￿l to tha work undartaken by Dennls Johnson, Steve ThOrnp5￿ and Andrew Parker, with1￿ whlth these ffjsts would be C(m￿derab￿ more. 'Qrgan Tunln< was reduod by £111 as thwe were ontyivM vl4ts from Jardines durfn8 the year.'aeanlng cosw have increased by £245 as there wa5 a late Invol(e that (ame tlwouth *frkh rekted to 202314 Worshlp Materfaw have Increased efjsts of £37421 thlsyw ￿1th Tr￿uded the purthase of Advent packs £Z71.95, Pea Popples £68 and Palm lknsses £43A). and Coffed costs h￿fallen bv£ 206A4 helped to a large extent byTere5a managing to obtsin betterd•lsthr*i bulk buyH¥ 'Paper and PrfntÉng slM)wa lar8p reductton of £ I36￿ThIS h45 abou4 Prffflar￿. by redudng colour printing to a very mlnlmal amounL resultlng in a cost s3￿ng0f £ 81)OA Statlonffjcosts have also reduced by £464.98 on 202314. ower Fun￿ hasa ￿lured 4)end of£8153 'SundrycosW show a derx&ise of£ In7.75 thls year as In 202314 we were havin8 to pay ontr off Profe￿onal fees for our p￿VIoUS adrnlnistrator as reported (m In last y￿rf5 account& Makn items whith drop Into this a￿a indude the Independent NaTE(l): The church gas contratttontirnto bè wlth Regert Ga5whlch Is now on a fixed 24 month contrart untll the end of July 2026. Our Eletyluty contrart switched to Smartest Ener£yfrom whith ts on a 36 month fixed ¢ontra¢t untll 3019127. We contlnue to use Cost Ad¥ke swvirns I*1￿ deal T*lth a larye number of URC thurth￿. arnongst others, and do thelr best to ensure a good deaL The elearfdty ts I(K￿ Gree￿ tsrt zasls Wdllable In bulL (from 2025126 accounts we wlll start Incurring utirrty cwts on the Rus5eV Street C￿ttre. as Th>ted e•rller. indudlng some quTte hefty costs for when It was out of contractl r40TE (21: £ 3 76&50 was tra1￿tredto our Leek Bu1*￿araMAt NOTE(3): A5 usual the Sub acciwnts In. b. L aThl y) are rep(xted on one paE& Tlyare akn broken down on Page 2 NOTE {4): Weals for HolIda￿ hold5 a knilano of £ 29U9 as at3U8125. thB atc¢xFntsfor next Y￿r thi¥ vrfll Sub account on Page 2 aswlll the R5C PTOiert Robln McDuell 29/1212025 Page 4a Treasurerfs Report forTrinlty awrch. Leek (Methodist and Unlted Refornied) to the tharlty Commissw Sept 1st 2024-Aug 31st 2025 (Charlty Number. 1171597) Generdl: This year has a small profft between Re￿Ipts and Paymeirts of £l.(M)9.67. Offertorfes have ecreased from 20&24 by £ 1.75%14 due to the sad1055 of Several lo￿ stsndlng churth members We have ¢irculated a letter to (hurch members in September 2025 requesting that they look at thelr current level of glvi The dedicatlon of Church Members in ern1rf￿ thelr Offertory envelope5 reach Trinlty ts an enonnous help. It Is proving Increa5inEty dKficutt to get Bookiwfor our Lower Hall and Foyer space and as suth income has reduced by £ I9￿15 from lastyear. Saturday coffee momlngs continue to be fully booked as arè a number of Fridays. We also have a Yoga group who ￿ the premises on a reRular basis and occaslonal ad hoc bookings. It does have a knock-on benefft though of reduelng our spend on Utili Our own regular coffee mornings which provide a social environment as well as in￿rne. have Increased sIEnificantly this yearwith £6 538 rdised and our regular film dubs have orKe ardln provlded an excellent return once again of E2.41 Our nomial practlce of maklng appea15 at Festlval tkne5 took plKe at Harves¢ Chrfstmas and Easter and several people also made donations dlrectty to our supN)rted Charities as well a5 via Trinity. (See Page 7 for details). Recèlpts: Our Ollertory ￿ntInUed to be sufficTent for Trfnity to pay its pledged Assessment to the Methodlst arCu￿ whl¢h. as Trlnlty is an LEP (Local Ecumenlcal Partnership). transfers Mlnlsterfal costs to the United Reformed Churth for our Mlsslon and Ministry. Thls was reduced by £3.OOOto £52.iXXJ following the change of Jii Ministrytt• a Methodist denominatlon September 2024. GivinEfor special appeals throughout the year was pakl out dlrectly to the recipientcharibe& The GiftAld redaimed from HMRC vrns down by about £ 593. We have begun a servke providlng meals to famllles In need durlng the sthool holidays in conjunction wlth the local foodbank who polnt the people to u% Grants have been obtained during tt* year of £ 1,267.92. Trio Legacy payments totall1￿ £3XKI were received from the estates of late member5. Payments: Our Mlnlstry has continued to be enhanced by produciry printed materfals which are made avallable to both the con8reBation and those unable to attend worship. These are all refèreneed under the tab ¢Ministry under COVItY, the decrease of £117 from last year is due to a combirhition of lower postage spend and more hand deliverfe5. There were costs incurred of £ 5.961 for Waior Wory thi5 year whlch covered repair5 to the automatic door and remedial works on the Fire Alami system. 'Repairs & Renewalg indudes various maintenante work, in addltlon to the regular costs, the knggest of whlth was £ 779 for a repairto a wall at the rear of the Church. Followlng our Quinquennlal Inspectlon. late in 2025. a couple of Et•ms were raised whieh will fonn part of next yearfs accoun We are very fortunate we currenty have people who are able to carry (Mrt routine repalrs without the need for lknuts. keeping our costs to a minimum. Wage< costs have ￿dUCed by £ TA6. Our previ(xJ5 Offi￿ admlnistrator who had been on long temi slck leave left at the beginni￿ of the year so apartfrom a final settlement of £ 930 there were no other associated costs. 'Ga5/Elettrie COSf5 have decreased by £ 6,152 from last year due to new improved contract pr1￿5 tsklng effec4 alon& with the aft)rementioned. lower usage of Church premts& We are currently on fixed temi contratts for Gas untll July 2026 and EIKtricity untll September ZOZ7. Other Utlllty costs and the Insurance premlum show only minlmal increases thls year. 'Sundrfes' have reduced by £ 2.727. as in 2023-24 we IM¢ked up one off Prof￿1 HR costs to bring the issue with the admlnistrator to a condu510n. We had to use £ 12JXKI frorn our reserves dUrf￿the year. £ 8JXKI of the final £13.250 Quarterly Assessment payment was paid from the Central ￿Tran￿ Board accourt and a further £ 7.500 was wlthdrawn from the Gladys Page 4b Harrop, Trustees for Methodist Churrh Purnoses fuNI. Two Le8ary payn*nts totslling £ 3,500 were transferred to Leek Buildlng Society Reserve accounL 'Prlnting costs. have reduced by £ 1266 as following a revlew of costy a deckn was taken to avold colour printing which saved around £ 800. l)onations: Planned rrthed givi￿ of £5IANI (appro￿0% of dlrert sivlry) to prweed charitles as well as our Festlval giving is summarised on p Gift Aid slips sent to Christian Aid directly F02 Christmas AppeaL Debit GOI Harvest (Christian Aid) G02 The Toy Box (Christmas). G02 UNHM Purple Bow (Chri5tmasl" G03 YMCA North Staffs (Easterl. G03 All We Can re: Gaza (E3Ster)° £1.086.(A) £700.00 £543.00 £543.00 £472.1)0 £472.00 F03 Easter Appeal £9￿ F05 Christian Aid Ilndividuals also contributed online) F06 MHA Appeal F07 Action for Children (Xmas/AforC env51 (2023-24 had one of costs of £818.05) F08 Special Appeals Imyanmar & Middle East Appeals) FII ASHA £953.IXI G05 Christian Aid 606 MMA * £953.00 £240.00 £145. G07 Artlon fr)r Children. G08 Special Appeals Imyanmar & Middle East Appeats}" GII ASHA* £145.00 £ 483.IXI £483.00 £308.00 TOTAL: £4￿9.1￿) TOTAL: D08 *Also donations equivalent to Gift Aid paid to Recipients marked * £4,859.00 £746.25