The Alliance Manchester (TAM) End of Year Report
Year Commencing 1st January 2021 to 31st December 2021
Purpose and Aims
The Alliance Manchester is, for the public benefit, the advancement of the Christian faith in accordance with the TAM Statement of Faith.
Our vision is to be:
“A multicultural, Jesus-centred family, sharing life together and sharing Jesus’ life with others.
We actively seek to promote and advance the Christian faith through various activities including; regular church meetings, training, outreach events and ministries run from our community centre and cafe, The Giving Tree, Moss Side, Manchester.
We seek to ensure that activities are open to those who can’t afford to contribute financially and, where costs are necessarily involved, we seek to assist those of lesser means by providing subsidies and scholarships.
Taking into consideration the Charity Commission’s publication on the Advancement of Religion for the Public Benefit , TAM seeks to:
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Invite as many people as possible to be an active part of our church community and reach out to new people through various events and regular meetings
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Provide regular prayer and worship services for all to attend and take part.
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Provide Christian gospel teaching for spiritual and moral education, to help develop trust in Jesus and become faithful disciples.
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Provide pastoral support, spiritual guidance, prayer and practical support, including those suffering with difficult circumstances, poor health and to the bereaved.
Delivering our aims
The Trustees consider the performance of the charity for this year to have been good considering the circumstances. Another year of Coronavirus has impacted the in-person activities, which are fundamental to building relationships within the community. However, we have been able to utilise technology like video chats and social media platforms to continue meeting regularly and reaching out to new people during the pandemic.
We have been able to continue meeting regularly and reaching out to new people utilising Zoom and Facebook Live platforms to reach our community during periods of lockdown.
This year was a significant step forward for us as we have opened up our new community centre “The Giving Tree” to the public, with various activities taking place and inviting people to explore the Christian faith.
TAM held a range of regular services/ meetings/ events during the week and across the year that benefitted the public and local community in various ways.
Regular Meetings
TAM held a regular Sunday gathering each week including worship, prayer, bible teaching and fellowship time. Communion services were held monthly and a baptism service was held outdoors towards the end of the year when regulations allowed. Services were moved to and/or broadcast to Zoom or facebook live in order to adhere to government regulations and/or to allow isolating members of the community to join in.
Every Sunday, Christian Bible teaching is delivered to promote the Christian faith, inspire trust in Jesus and provide sound moral teaching. Attendance at the Sunday service varied across the year between approximately 25 and 40 people each week. The pastoral team generally delivers the teaching with occasional input from visiting speakers or partners known to the community.
Various new individuals have attended through the year, some of whom would not have been to church before. One individual was baptised in the Autumn.
Special services were held at Christmas and Easter with a number of outreach events through the year including invitations to the public. At Christmas there was a particular focus on inviting new people and providing community for those who would otherwise be lonely or without family at Christmas.
Children’s Ministry
In 2020 the Children’s ministry had largely come to a halt in part due to the pandemic, so it was very encouraging to see the ministry thriving this year with 6-12 children between ages of 6 and 11 attending regularly with new teachers/volunteers stepping up to help lead in this area.
The children are taught about Jesus and take part in various activities including crafts and games. It is hoped that this ministry will expand further in the coming year with a dedicated room now prepared for the Children’s ministry.
The centre provides a potential opportunity to have further youth groups or mums & toddlers group as there are a lot of youth and mothers with young children in the local area.
Support for those from non-British backgrounds
One of our core values is to be a multi-lingual and multi-cultural community with many of those attending coming from diverse backgrounds and cultures. The community has continued to attract and reflect a variety of cultures including Latino/Spanish, East Asian, Middle Eastern, European and African.
All cultures are invited to participate in Christian worship with members befriending, sharing information and supporting each other in practical ways such as providing food to those who were isolating or in need, directing to free English classes and providing pastoral visits where appropriate.
Regular prayer meetings and training took place throughout the year including Spanish speakers, Farsi speakers and English speakers. These groups are open to all and translation is provided as required.
Outreach and Alpha
As students returned to the city in September we undertook an international welcome evening where approximately 70 people attended, many of whom had not had contact with us before. This was an evening of welcome and hospitality with an invitation to find out more about the Christian faith.
In Autumn this year TAM then ran an Alpha course from the community centre with several people from different nationalities attending over the 10 week course. A number of those attending the international welcome continued to attend the alpha course.
A separate outreach event in November invited the public to come and learn the biblical story of the prodigal son and understand the invitation for all to come to Jesus.
At Christmas our community made a particular effort to invite friends to celebrate and on Christmas day those who were alone or without families were invited to eat together at the centre.
English Classes
In order to assist members of our community and benefit the public we ran regular English classes in the centre on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The classes are followed by an optional bible study to which students are invited. The English classes are now advertised through the local council and the intention is to continue these through 2022 as a service and in order to provide freindship to Manchester’s multi-cultural population.
Prayer meetings
Regular prayer meetings have been taking place throughout the year with various triplets meeting via Zoom each week and Friday prayer meetings taking place at the centre or via Zoom.
Worship
The Worship ministry continued to grow this year with regular worship each week and new members of the community getting involved including younger members.
Pastoral & Counselling support
The pastoral team has continued to meet with individuals at their homes and in The Giving Tree Centre to provide care and support through challenging times and various life events.
The community has sought to connect with individuals who may be isolated or feel disconnected due to Coronavirus.
The Giving Tree Centre & Cafe
Having looked for a suitable venue in recent years we were excited when towards the end of 2020 we were able to lease a suitable venue in Moss Side Manchester. Located in a multicultural area adjacent to “the Curry Mile”, Whitworth park, student halls of residence, the Manchester Royal infirmary and on a major transport route into the city, it was well situated for us to be able to fulfill our aims and vision.
The venue has a café and event space and some ancillary office and counselling room accommodation allowing for all the various ministries to take place whilst also providing great potential to positively impact the local community through further activities, workshops and the café. The offices are used to host charity volunteers and as a base for the church trustees and volunteers and partner ministries.
The preparation to open the café is largely complete and the intention is to open to the public with reduced hours in Spring 2022. The café will be manned by volunteers initially whilst additional funding is raised for part time café manger and barista positions.
Alongside the cafe, SCA certified Barista training will be undertaken to allow local people to gain skills. Further volunteering and work experience will be available in the café to provide opportunities for further skills to be gained. Where applicants struggle to cover the necessary costs for the training then it is the intention to fund-raise and provide scholarships.
Neither the café or the barista training will be run as a profit centre to generate an income stream for the church.
The hope is to create a multi-cultural safe space where all members of the public can come for refreshment and social interaction with invitations to prayer, courses exploring Christianity, English classes, workshops and regular church activities.
Summary
This year has been a challenging but rewarding year in which the ministry has grown and started to use The Giving Tree centre. We hope that this will continue into the next year and pray that God would bless the city through these projects.
Future Goals
This year the charity will continue to advance the Christian faith by:
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Continuing to meet regularly and develop the current ministries
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To further develop the children’s youth work
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Look to expand home groups further into local areas to reach out to new people outside of the current community and to meet in homes each month when restrictions allow
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To open the café and develop the café ministry as service and outreach to the public.
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Further develop the English class ministry as service and outreach to the public.
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Utilise TGT centre as a hub for training related to multiculturalism, for example multicultural worship training.
Financial Review
Having initiated a fundraising target of £150k over 2021-2023 to cover the setup costs for the venue and café, we have raised a significant proportion of this with special thanks to Arab World Ministries who provided a grant of £18,400 towards The Giving Tree and also thanks to significant individual one-off donations and an interest free loan which helped to raise £11,680 to buy the coffee machine and grinders.
Total receipts on unrestricted funds were £18,874. Total receipts on restricted funds (excluding the above loan) were £33,996. All of this income was through voluntary gifted donations provided by attendees, partners, grant funding and those linked to the church community.
During the year, £57,271 was spent on setting up The Giving Tree community centre and cafe including running costs, café equipment and building works. £11,935 was spent on other ministry related activities including ministry costs and giving. The net result for the year was an excess of receipts over payments of £6,939 on unrestricted funds and a deficiency of receipts over payments of £11,595 on restricted funds.
Adding bank balances brought forward at the beginning of the year of £24,162 and petty cash of £25, the balances carried forward at 31st December 2021 on unrestricted funds totaled £19,506.
Reserves Policy
It is TAM policy to seek to maintain a minimum balance of £6,000 to cover emergency situations that may arise from time to time. At the year end the charity held unrestricted cash of £19,506 and charity is complying with its policy for holding reserves. The amount in excess of £6,000 is held to help fund the development of the charity’s activities.
Investments
TAM does not invest its capital; it is retained in a charity bank account for regular access: Co-Operative Bank, Cross Street, Manchester M2 4JG
Structure, Governance and Management
Trustees
TAM is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) whose only voting members are its charity trustees. It is governed by a constitution document and was registered with the Charity Commission on 1st March 2017.
Trustees are appointed or re-appointed by the members of the CIO. The details of appointment are set out in the TAM constitution. The charity trustees manage the affairs of TAM and are responsible for deciding how the funds of TAM are spent. The trustees aim to meet each quarter in order to fulfill their duties and obligations as trustees.
This year on 27[th] May 2022 Richard Deighton stepped down as a Trustee, we thank Richard for his service. We are now actively looking to recruit a replacement trustee in 2022.
Recruitment, induction and training of new trustees
In appointing trustees we seek to bring a range of skills and expertise to the management of the Charity.
New trustees are introduced to the charity and provided with relevant documentation in order to be able to understand and fulfil their role. They are kept updated through regular trustee meetings and communications throughout the year.
Communications
Whatsapp social media groups have been set up and attendees/visitors of the charity/church are invited. This allows for the sharing of prayer requests and announcements about events.
The charity has a website at www.alliancemcr.com and also uses facebook and Zoom. This year a dedicated community centre and café website was setup, www.thegivingtreehub.com.
Volunteers
TAM has a number of different ministries that are overseen by the trustees. Outside of the group of trustees, a number of committed volunteers dedicate a large amount of time to helping to run the church and the various activities. We want to use this opportunity to thank them for their service on behalf of the charity beneficiaries.
Staff
TAM did not employ or sponsor any persons during this year, all operations and administration of the charity were undertaken by volunteers and the trustees on a voluntary basis.
Administrative Information
Charity number: 1171833
Registered address: 508 Moss Lane East, Manchester, M14 4PA
TAM church is associated to the Christian & Missionary Alliance Great Britain (CMA-GB) denomination which is further affiliated to the worldwide organisation known as The Alliance World Fellowship which was born out of the work of The Christian & Missionary Alliance in some 50 countries.
Names of Charity Trustees (who manage the charity):
Juan Carlos Parodi (Trustee) Sandro Oliveira (Trustee) Barnabas Kwant (Trustee)
Some trustees have taken on specific responsibilities in the administration of the charity, as follows:
Juan Carlos Parodi Chairman, Pastoral Team lead Sandro Oliveira Pastoral Team & Finance support Barnabas Kwant Treasurer / Finance lead
We are seeking a trustee to take on the role of Operations / Communications
Risk management
The trustees are aware of their duty to identify and review the risks to which the charity is exposed and to ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable assurance against fraud and error.
Policies in place
Equal opportunities statement - TAM is a Christian organisation committed to social justice and opposed to discrimination in society.
Grant making policy - put in place to ensure that gifts are given in accordance with the charity aims, objectives and priorities. Particular safeguards have been put in place in proportion to the expenditure.
Safeguarding policy & procedures - put in place to protect vulnerable persons and children. A safeguarding action plan, procedure and log book are all stored centrally/electronically with restricted access. DBS checks have been undertaken throughout the year for ministry leaders and volunteers.
GDPR - TAM has put additional systems in place to meet their obligations under GDPR.
Volunteer Policy - This clearly defines the volunteer role within the charity.
Representation in Court policy - This policy states that the charity/church will not represent its members or members of the public in court.
Policies implemented in this period
Café specific policies – as required to maintain hygiene, H&S and café standards.
Report Approval
This report was approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf by Barnabas Kwant (Trustee):
Signed: Barnabas Kwant
Date: 05/04/2022
Appendix 1 - Receipt and Payments Accounts Statement of Assets and Liabilities
The Alliance Manchester 1171833 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For the period 01/01/2021 31/12/2021 To from
Section A Receipts and payments
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 16,696 2,178 - - - - - - 18,874 - - - 18,874 |
Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 16,696 2,178 - - - - - - 18,874 - - - 18,874 |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ 14,279 517 19,200 - - - - 33,996 11,680 - 11,680 45,676 15,934 5,095 22,675 - 1,886 - - - - 45,590 11,681 - 11,681 57,271 (11,595) 11,595 - - |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Total funds to the nearest £ 30,976 2,695 19,200 - - - - - 52,870 11,680 - 11,680 64,550 15,934 5,095 22,675 4,677 1,886 7,258 - - - 57,525 11,681 - 11,681 69,206 (4,656) |
Total funds to the nearest £ 30,976 2,695 19,200 - - - - - 52,870 11,680 - 11,680 64,550 15,934 5,095 22,675 4,677 1,886 7,258 - - - 57,525 11,681 - 11,681 69,206 (4,656) |
Last year to the nearest £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donations & Legacies | 16,696 | 21,528 | |||||
| Gift Aid Received | 2,178 | - | |||||
| Grant Funding | - | - | |||||
| - | - | ||||||
| - | - | ||||||
| - | - | ||||||
| - | - | ||||||
| - | - | ||||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) |
18,874 | 21,528 | |||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
|||||||
| Loan forpurchase of equipment | - | - | |||||
| - | - | ||||||
| Sub total | - | - | |||||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
|||||||
| 21,528 | |||||||
| BuildingRepair & Maintenance | - | 15,934 | - | ||||
| Café equipment | - | 5,095 | - | ||||
| Rent, Bills, Rates | - | 22,675 | 5,551 | ||||
| General Ministrycosts | 4,677 | - | 6,070 | ||||
| Insurance & legal fees | - | 1,886 | - | ||||
| Grant making | 7,258 | - | 2,491 | ||||
| - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | |||||
| **Sub total ** | 11,935 | 45,590 | 14,112 | ||||
| - - - 11,935 6,939 (11,595) 24,162 19,506 |
|||||||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
|||||||
| Café equipmentpurchased | - | - | |||||
| - | - | ||||||
| **Sub total ** | - | - | |||||
| Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
|||||||
| 14,112 | |||||||
| 6,939 | (11,595) | - | (4,656) | 7,416 | |||
| (11,595) | 11,595 | - | - | - | |||
| 24,162 | - | - | 24,162 | 16,746 | |||
| 19,506 | - | - | 19,506 | 24,162 |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
05/04/2022
1
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Categories B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B1 Cash funds |
Details Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Petty Cash Cash in co-op bank account Details Details Coffee machine & 2 grinders Music instruments/sound equipment Furniture Café Equipment & Furnishings Office Equipment & Furnishings Details Long Term borrowing - loan Independent examiner's fee |
Unrestricted funds to nearest £ 25 19,481 - 19,506 OK Unrestricted funds to nearest £ - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which asset belongs Café equipment Unrestricted Unrestricted Unrestricted Unrestricted Fund to which liability relates Café equipment Unrestricted |
Restricted funds to nearest £ - - - - OK Restricted funds to nearest £ - - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - Cost (optional) 11,681 - - - - - - - - Amount due (optional) 11,681 600 - - - |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| OK | ||||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ |
||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| Current value (optional) |
||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| Current value (optional) |
||||
| 10,000 | ||||
| 500 | ||||
| 1,000 | ||||
| 3,500 | ||||
| 1,000 | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| When due (optional) |
||||
| Long Term borrowing - loan | Café equipment | 11,681 | repayable in monthly instalmentments by 31.12.23 |
|
| Independent examiner's fee | Unrestricted | 600 | ||
| - | ||||
| - | ||||
| - |
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees
| Signature B Kwant |
Print Name Barnabas Kwant |
Date of approval |
|---|---|---|
| B Kwant | Barnabas Kwant | 05/04/2022 |
| 2 | 05/04/2022 |
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT
TO THE TRUSTEES OF
THE ALLIANCE MANCHESTER
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of The Alliance Manchester ('the charity') for the year ended 31 December 2021 set out on page 1 and 2 of form CC16a
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the trustees of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’).
I report in respect of my examination of the charity’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 2011 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 accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; or
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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.
A. Rajani
Ajay Rajani FCIE Stewardship 1 Lamb's Passage LONDON EC1Y 8AB
Date: 6 April 2022
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