Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust
Registered Charity Number 1172358
Annual Report and Accounts
for the year ended 31[st] March 2023
Annual Report prepared by
Michael Bastable, Trustee Assisted by Ian Kemble, Director of Schools Work
Accounts prepared by
Claire Lim, Treasurer
Approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by:
M. Bastable
Michael Bastable - Chairman of Trustees
Date: 30/6/23
1 | P a g e
Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust
Registered Charity Number 1172358
Trustees Kevin Gilderson (Chair) resigned 16 June 2022 Michael Bastable (Chair from 22 June 2022) Sally McMahon Christine Drew Joan Dewhirst Jeffrey Fair Nicholas Higgs (appointed 9 November 2022) Paul Hamilton (appointed 10 May 2023) Address Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust 49 Coxtie Green Road Pilgrims Hatch Brentwood, Essex CM14 5PS Independent Examiner Nicholas Tavener Bankers Lloyds Nationwide Hampshire Trust Bank
In this report:
Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust, Charity Reference Number 1005207 is referred to as BSCWT.
Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust, Charity Reference Number 1172358 is referred to as BSCWT CIO.
This set of accounts is for BSCWT CIO.
2 | P a g e
Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust
Registered Charity Number 1172358
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023
The Trustees have pleasure in submitting the Report and Accounts for the period ending 31 March 2023. The Trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission's Public Benefit Guidance published in February 2014.
Objects of BSCWT CIO
BSCWT CIO is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation governed by its constitution. It is a Local Mission Partner of Scripture Union. We are supported by churches in the Brentwood area, 21 of whom have signed an agreement to support and have assented to the Basis of Faith of the Trust.
The Object of the CIO is, for the public benefit, to advance the Christian faith in Brentwood and other areas, in accordance with the Statement of Faith, by teaching and promoting the Christian faith in schools and other educational institutions or establishments and in such other ways as the Charity Trustees shall think fit.
Our mission is to serve school communities by providing Christian learning and support. This includes providing lessons, pastoral care, assemblies, lunch time groups and prayer spaces, and developing positive relationships with the schools and pupils we serve. We also encourage local churches to become more involved in their local schools.
Our Core Values are:
-
A relational approach
-
A prayerful spirit
-
A servant heart.
Organisational structure and management
BSCWT CIO is administered by its Trustees, elected at Trustee meetings. We seek to be as representative of the local church community as possible. The Trustees meet bi-monthly and are responsible for the legal and financial affairs of the Trust.
During this period Kevin Gilderson resigned as the chair of Trustees and as a Trustee in June 2022. Mick Bastable was appointed to replace him as Chair of Trustees in June 2022. In November 2022 Nicholas Higgs was appointed a Trustee.
3 | P a g e
Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust
Registered Charity Number 1172358
In line with Charity Commission guidelines the Trustees ensure that the Trust has a Reserves Policy to cover its legal liabilities should the CIO be wound up. The Trust retains an amount of £44,000 to enable the payment of wage bills based on notice periods, national insurance, pension and redundancies as well as rent and other known expenses. This requirement has been met in 2022/23.
The reserve level is reviewed periodically and has been increased for 2023/24.
As stated above, the Trustees have continued to meet bi-monthly, but this has mostly been by conference calls (zoom meetings) or a hybrid of in person and zoom meetings. This is largely due to one of our Trustees now being based in Norfolk making meeting in person for him difficult.
The work in schools by the Trust has continued in many areas during the year. To give a feeling for some of this work, during the Christmas period the Trust delivered 16 ‘Darkness to Light’ Christmas lessons for Years 1/2 and 15 ‘Christmas Wonder’ prayer spaces for Years 5/6 in schools. We have also presented over 20 of our ‘Sadness to Joy’ and ‘Love Easter’ projects for primary schools in local churches. Lunchtime clubs are running in five schools with the help of some new Associate Workers. We are also continuing to do assemblies in a large number of both Primary and Senior schools. The demand for pastoral support continues to be a growing demand from our local schools. We are pleased that funding from the Mulberry Trust has help us to continue supporting this pastoral work. A more detailed description of the work in schools can be found in the review of activities further down in this report.
While the Trust currently has a healthy level of assets it continues to run a negative operational budget with our regular payments exceeding our regular receipts. The difference being effectively covered by transfers from the legacies and a large gift from a local church that we have received in the last few years. These legacies and the large gift are held in one unrestricted fund and money transferred from this fund to the general fund throughout the year as agreed in the budget to cover the projected deficit. The Trustees continue to regularly monitor these transfers and the depletion of the two funds.
Total receipts this year are still running at about the same level as in the last three years, i.e.during the pandemic, which is about 76% of the pre-pandemic levels in 2018/19. This is largely due to individual and church giving being down on pre-pandemic levels. With further pressures on household budgets the Trustees do not see any increase in regular giving during the next financial year. The Trustees have therefore budgeted for a slightly lower level of individual regular giving for 2023/24.
Office move
After seven years at Shenfield High School the Trust moved in the Summer of 2022 into new accommodation at 49 Coxtie Green Road, Pilgrims Hatch, Brentwood. We wish to thank Trinity Church for offering us these premises and all the support they have given us during the move and for their ongoing support as we settle into the new base.
4 | P a g e
Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust
Registered Charity Number 1172358
Strategic Planning Group
As a result of the Strategic Planning Group review and recommendations the following actions have been implemented during this financial year.
1. Salary review and benchmarking
A comprehensive salary review and benchmarking against similar advertised positions was undertaken and recommendations made to adjust the staff pay scales. This has been agreed by Trustees and was implemented in April 2022.
2. Laptops for all staff
The provision of laptops for all seven staff was implemented at the start of the financial year. This will allow greater flexibility, efficiency, and versatility, allowing staff to work from home, when considered beneficial. This would also allow staff to take laptops into schools when presenting giving greater versatility and professional presentations.
3. Organisational structure
The introduction of two new posts, Lead Schools Worker and Operations Manager, were agreed by the Trustees to help in the leading of the day-to-day activities of the Trust. Interviews for the two posts were completed in April, with two of our existing employees promoted to the new posts effective 1[st] May 2023. Sue Evans was promoted to Lead Schools Worker and Fiona Mason to Operations Manager.
We thank all our many donors for their financial support this year and for ongoing prayer. Without your prayers and financial support, the team would not be able to carry out as large a Christian witness in the schools of Brentwood.
We also want to thank our staff for all their efforts particularly during the period of our move to the new location with all the packing and then unpacking and organising in the new base.
The Trustees would also like to thank the Associate Workers (AW) who have continued to support the Trust during this period. We are pleased that a number of new AW have joined the team during the year. Without the support of AW’s, the Trust would not be able to deliver many of the projects that we run in so many schools.
5 | P a g e
Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust
Registered Charity Number 1172358
Review of Activities
The year from 1[st] April 2022 to 31[st] March 2023 saw a full return for our work in schools following a period of emergence from the Covid-19 pandemic. We are immensely grateful to our staff team, all our volunteers and everyone who supports this work as we continue to provide Christian learning and support to local school communities in the Brentwood area.
Assemblies / Collective Worship
Over the year, our team has had the privilege of leading nearly 200 assemblies in 30 schools. In primary schools and specialist schools, these assemblies have included sharing various Biblical stories from the life of Moses under the title: God’s Second Greatest Rescue Plan! Pupils have been invited to reflect on themes such as trust, making a difference and stepping up for a challenge.
In secondary schools, we have given pupils the opportunity to reflect on various questions
including: Is it important to have a mission in life? , Could God be “Your closer than you think? , Are we made by design? , How wise are your choices? , How do we respond when life gets tough? and What’s the assemblies point in praying? We also had the privilege of being able to speak at are perfectly a GCSE awards evening. pitched for One headteacher commented recently: “Your assemblies are our school.” perfectly pitched for our school, with the messages always very clearly understood by the pupils.”
Pupil support
As many young people continue to struggle with various challenges including anxiety, family difficulties, low self-esteem, grief, anger and other issues, our team “I feel so much of Chaplains has continued to receive a warm welcome in schools. We have had the privilege of providing a listening ear to over 90 better now I pupils through one-to-one sessions in 8 schools, including two have someone specialist schools. One pupil told one of our Chaplains: “I feel so much better now I have someone I can talk to about these things. to talk to.” I already feel so much lighter.”
6 | P a g e
Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust
Registered Charity Number 1172358
In addition, we have been involved in a school careers fair to support pupils considering their futures, we have supported a group of Year 1 pupils with our Caterpillars course, helping them develop their emotional literacy, and we have run a course on Resilience over six sessions for a small group of primary school pupils. We have also been able to provide workshops and assembly presentations on Coping with Exam Stress to groups of pupils preparing for major exams.
Clubs
Over the past year, we have been able to run lunchtime clubs in five schools. Our three primary school clubs have included sessions focussing on Bible stories about people Jesus met. As well as supporting a Christian Union group in one secondary school, we have also been able to start a new kind of club in another secondary school, called Wonder Space , where pupils are encouraged to engage in a variety of reflective activities on themes of life and faith.
These clubs are open to all and provide opportunities for pupils to develop spiritually and find out more about Christian faith. We continue to be on the look out for more volunteers to join us as Associate Workers so we can offer new lunchtime clubs in other schools.
Lessons, Projects and Prayer Spaces
In the summer term of 2022, we were delighted to take our It’s Your Move project to schools in person once again, after two years of providing a digital version of the project, due to the pandemic. The project involves taking lessons in 24 primary schools, helping Year 6 pupils to prepare for the move to secondary school. As part of the lessons, and with the help of local churches providing sponsorship, we were delighted to give copies of Scripture Union’s It’s Your Move book to more than 850 pupils.
We have also extended our Christmas and Easter projects this year. In addition to helping pupils in Years 5 and 6 to explore the Biblical Christmas and Easter stories through our Christmas Wonder and Love Easter projects, we re-introduced our Darkness to Light and Sadness to Joy lessons for Years 1 and 2, also exploring Jesus’ birth and death/resurrection respectively.
An activity at "Love Easter"
7 | P a g e
Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust
Registered Charity Number 1172358
Through a total of 54 sessions of these projects, over 1,050 “I enjoyed spending pupils at Christmas and over 950 pupils at Easter were able to engage in learning about these important seasons in the some time really Christian calendar. We are grateful to the seven churches who thinking about were involved in hosting some of these sessions. One member of school staff said about our Sadness to Joy lesson: “Thank Jesus.” you for bringing Easter to life for us and for providing a new insight into the festival.” And at the end of one of our Love Easter lessons, a pupil commented: “I enjoyed spending some time really thinking about Jesus.”
During the Spring Term 2023, we were delighted to provide six question and answer lessons to classes at a local secondary school to help them prepare for their Religious Education GCSE exams. And we have taken 20 OT Mini and 15 NT Mini (formerly Bible Explorer ) lessons in 5 primary schools, helping pupils to develop their understanding of the Bible.
Our prayer spaces work, which has developed during the year, provides opportunities for pupils to reflect interactively on big questions of life and faith. In the summer term of 2022, we ran our LifeSpace event for a whole day for over 200 Year 10 students, giving them opportunities to reflect on various aspects of their future. And at one primary school in the autumn term, we spent two full days helping pupils to explore ideas to do with how ‘big’ God is and how He wants us on His ‘team’. We have also been experimenting with ‘pop-up prayer spaces’ at a secondary school where we set up, for a week, an unmanned interactive reflective zone in the school for students to engage on a subject related to assemblies we have taken there.
And finally…
During the summer of 2022, we bid farewell to our office at Shenfield High School, with much gratitude to the school for the seven years we spent there. And we are immensely grateful to Trinity Church for the wonderful provision of our new office base on the former site of Trinity Community Nursery.
The vital work of praying for our local schools has continued in lots of different ways, not least at our weekly Team Prayer Meetings. We have also encouraged our local churches to pray for schools, including during Pray for Schools Fortnight (in May), on Back to School Sunday / Education Sunday (in September) and on Schools Work Sunday (in February). We have continued to provide video updates about our work to local churches and our termly newsletters, termly prayer calendars and weekly prayer updates provide further information to those who receive them.
8 | P a g e
Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust
Registered Charity Number 1172358
Throughout the year, we have been involved in regular inter-school information-sharing meetings and we have continued to equip and support our team of staff and volunteers via termly “Quiet Mornings” and training events, such as a Chaplaincy Conference which was hosted by the Chaplain at Brentwood School.
We are immensely grateful to all our volunteers serving as Trustees, Associate Workers, Church Reps, Support Team members (including our Treasurer) and our Panel of Reference members. And we are hugely thankful for everyone who makes the continuation of this important work possible through their prayers and financial support. And, of course, our appreciation also goes to our devoted and hard-working staff. In March 2023, Gelila Melaku, our Project Administrator, left our staff team to move to a new job and we are very thankful for the wonderful work she did during her 3½ years with us.
Last, but certainly not least, we thank God for continuing to sustain and guide us and for giving us so many wonderful opportunities to serve our local schools.
Ian Kemble, Director of Schools Work
9 | P a g e
Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust
Registered Charity Number 1172358
REPORT OF TREASURER
Basis of the accounts:
These accounts have been prepared on a “receipts and payments” basis in accordance with section 133 of the Charities Act 2011.
Financial Review:
On 15[th] March 2017 a new CIO charity was set up namely Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust Charity Reference Number 1172358. These accounts refer to this charity.
Between 1[st] April 2022 and 31[st] March 2023, a number of donations were received by BSCWT, which were transferred to BSCWT CIO bank account.
General Fund receipts for BSCWT CIO 2022/23 were £62,618 and General Fund payments were £115,914 giving a net deficit of £53,296.
An amount of £41,000 was budgeted and transferred from the Legacy and Gifts Unrestricted Fund to the General Fund to cover the deficit.
An amount of £10,350 was spent from the Mulberry Trust fund to cover the cost of various items including: Staff Salaries, Training Events for staff, Ticket and travel costs, Resources for Staff Activities.
The Current Assets are held in four separate bank accounts.
Lloyds current account for day to day receipts and payments.
Lloyds deposit account where surpluses from the current account are transferred and earn a small interest.
Nationwide 90-day account
Hampshire Trust Bank (where the Reserves funds are kept)
10 | P a g e
Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust
Registered Charity Number 1172358
Restricted Fund
There is one Restricted Fund set up to manage donations made for specific purposes. Records are kept to confirm the money is spent on the specified purposes.
Mulberry Trust Restricted Fund
In January 2021 The Mulberry Trust generously provided a grant of £6,000 a year for the next 3 years to continue supporting the work. The third instalment of £6,000 was received in November 2022.
The balance brought forward was £4,536 and the third payment of £6,000 was received in November 2022. £10,350 was used during this year for this purpose leaving a balance to be carried forward of £186.
Unrestricted Fund
Legacy and Gifts Unrestricted Fund
A balance of £82,718 was carried forward from 2021/2022. A gift of £50,000 was received from a local church during the year. A generous donation of £10,000 was made by an individual. £16,565 was also received from a legacy. £41,000 was transferred to the General Fund during the year leaving a balance to be carried forward of £118,283.
Legacy and large Gift Policy
Legacies and Gifts of £5,000 and above are held within either a Restricted or Unrestricted Fund. Legacies under £5,000 are put into General Fund unless there is a restriction to their use.
11 | P a g e
Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust
Registered Charity Number 1172358
General Fund (Unrestricted)
| General Fund (Unrestricted) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| BSCWT | BSCWT | Notes to the | |
| CIO | CIO | accounts | |
| 2022/2023 | 2021/2022 | ||
| Receipts | |||
| Individuals | 31,547 | 40,445 | |
| Transfer of General Funds from BSCWT (Individuals) | 503 | 836 | |
| Churches | 16,277 | 15,920 | |
| Charitable Trusts | 3,000 | 1,500 | |
| Transfer of General Funds from BSCWT (Charitable Trusts) | 0 | 1,500 | |
| Other organisations | 20 | 24 | |
| Income Tax Recovered | 3,611 | 6,320 | |
| Bank interest paid (Lloyds and Nationwide) | 1,215 | 214 | |
| Bank interest paid (HTB) | 213 | 646 | 1 |
| Amazon Smile donations | 44 | 20 | |
| It’s your move contributions | 688 | 1,559 | |
| HMRC JRS Grant | 0 | 1,100 | |
| Legacies | 5,500 | ||
| Total income | 62,618 | 70,084 | |
| Payments | |||
| Office and Admin | 5,693 | 3,939 | |
| Staff salaries and pensions | 91,411 | 76,682 | |
| Staff activities | 1,825 | 918 | |
| Staff support and training | 139 | 1,233 | |
| Subscriptions and donations | 1,145 | 629 | |
| Equipment, computers, software and website | 4,139 | 1,259 | |
| Premises Improvements | 10,543 | 0 | |
| Bank charges and Interest | 107 | 112 | |
| Professional fees | 912 | 1,180 | |
| Total payments | 115,914 | 85,952 | |
| Surplus / (Deficit) | (53,296) | (15,868) | |
| Transfer from unrestricted funds | 41,000 | 46,179 | |
| Surplus / (Deficit) after transfer of unrestricted funds | (12,296) | 30,311 | |
| Balance brought forward | 126,655 | 96,344 | |
| Balance at year end | 114,359 | 126,655 |
12 | P a g e
Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust
Registered Charity Number 1172358
Summary of Restricted and Unrestricted funds
| Summary of Restricted and Unrestricted funds | ||
|---|---|---|
| BSCWT | BSCWT | |
| CIO | CIO | |
| 2022/2023 | 2021/2022 | |
| Mulberry Trust Restricted Fund | ||
| Receipts | 6,000 | 6,000 |
| Stafftraining,Resources,Activities and Salariespayments | 10,350 | 6,000 |
| Surplus / (Deficit) | (4,350) | 0 |
| B/F balance | 4,536 | 4,536 |
| C/F balance | 186 | 4,536 |
| Legacy and Large Gifts Unrestricted Fund | ||
| Receipts | 76,565 | 50,000 |
| Payments | 0 | 0 |
| Surplus / (Deficit) | 76,565 | 50,000 |
| Transferred to General Fund | 41,000 | 46,179 |
| B/F Balance | 82,718 | 78,897 |
| C/F Balance | 118,283 | 82,718 |
Summary of Receipts, Payments and Transfers in 2022/23
| General Fund | Mulberry Trust Fund | Legacy & Gifts Fund |
Totals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receipts | 62,618 | 6,000 | 76,565 | 145,183 |
| Payments | 115,914 | 10,350 | 0 | 126,264 |
| Surplus / (Deficit) | (53,296) | (4,350) | 76,565 | 18,919 |
| Transfers to G/F | 41,000 | 0 | (41,000) | 0 |
| B/F Balance | 126,655 | 4,536 | 82,718 | 213,909 |
| C/F Balance | 114,359 | 186 | 118,283 | 232,828 |
13 | P a g e
Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust
Registered Charity Number 1172358
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
Assets
| ssets | ||
|---|---|---|
| BSCWT | BSCWT | |
| CIO |
CIO | |
| 2022/2023 | 2021/2022 | |
| Interest from Nationwide | 202 | 29 |
| Lloyds current account | 11,879 | 10,237 |
| Lloyds deposit account | 50,746 | 33,644 |
| Nationwide savings account | 85,000 | 85,000 |
| Hampshire Trust Bank | 85,000 | 85,000 |
| Total assets | 232,827 | 213,910 |
Fixed Assets
BSCWT CIO owns computers and other equipment used in its work. The insured value of general contents is £47,430 and computer equipment is £10,446.
Reserves Policy
In line with Charity Commission guidelines the Trustees ensure that the Trust has a Reserves Policy to cover its legal liabilities should the CIO be wound up. The Trust retained an amount of £44,000 to enable the payment of wage bills based on notice years, national insurance, pension, redundancies as well as rent and other known expenses. This requirement was met.
Notes to the Accounts
-
Hampshire Trust Bank issue a statement in April after the year end confirming the interest earned from savings in the period covered by these accounts. Interest figure given is that for the previous financial year.
-
No payments were made to the Trustees.
14 | P a g e
Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust
Registered Charity Number 1172358
Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of
Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust (charity 1172358)
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust (the Trust) for the year ended 31 March 2023.
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:
- accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or 2. 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.
Signed
Nicholas Tavener
Name: Nicholas Tavener
Address: 15, Shenfield Place Shenfield Brentwood Essex CM15 9AG Date 1 July 2023
15 | P a g e