Trustees Annual Report (2024-5)
Aims, Purposes & Objectives
The main aim and purpose of Cornerstone Church Bridlington is to advance the Christian Faith by preaching the message of the Bible and the central tenets of faith, forgiveness, love and care for others in our community. By doing this, the church educates its members and those of the local community of the beliefs of the Christian faith and how that understanding and knowledge can have a positive and helpful impact on their lives and community.
Activities & Achievements
Having due regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance and the need to provide benefit to the public, the Trustees seek to achieve the aims and purposes in the following activities:
Sunday Morning Services
Between 30-40 people attend our Sunday services. During the summer season numbers increase because of new and returning visitors on holiday in the area. Visitors find us through our website, Facebook page and the Fellowship of Independent Churches (FIEC) website. Visitors tell us they appreciate the warm welcome they receive at Cornerstone, and they appreciate our facilities which makes Cornerstone a great place to meet.
Our services are led by our Elders and invited speakers. We are thankful for them and for the sound and practical teaching from God’s word that they share with us each week. Refreshments are served after each service, and this is a great time of fellowship.
We share our recorded morning services via YouTube for those unable to attend church due to ill health etc. For Christmas 2024 we had a Sunday Morning Carol Service. A Communion service takes place every month and on Good Friday.
Bible Study & Prayer meetings
Bible study groups were run on Wednesday mornings. Starting in January we had 6 consecutive study sessions 'A Tale of Two Cities' based on sections from the book of Isaiah. In September we recommenced our weekly studies reading and discussing the life of Joseph looking at the chapters in the book of Genesis. The sessions were well attended and included group participation in reading the Word, open discussion and application in modern times. Sessions finished with corporate prayer.
Prayer meetings take place on the fourth Saturday of every month in the morning. We also had additional prayer meetings bi-monthly with our brothers and sisters at Harbourside Church in Bridlington.
Library and Bookstall
We have a library shelf where members can borrow books and also contribute to the collection by donating appropriate books for others to read. Our bookstall has a range of books, leaflets, magazines and pamphlets for anyone to take away with them. We often give away devotional books to members too.
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Outreach
In December we joined with two other local churches to sing Christmas carols in the marketplace in Bridlington. Bible Tracts and New Testaments (provided by Good News for Everyone) were distributed to members of the public.
We had a Gospel weekend in June including a Saturday evening of music and testimony. On the Sunday morning we continued the weekend with a new concept of starting a quarterly Café Church.
We also had a Saturday evening event in September including testimonies and a pottery demonstration along the theme of 'God is the Potter, we are the clay'.
We publish a monthly newsletter which is available in print form and distributed to subscribers through a mailing list. It is also available to be downloaded from the Church website. Content includes a devotional message, upcoming events and details of weekly services. Church members are invited to contribute.
Men’s breakfasts
Bi-monthly men’s breakfasts took place Saturday mornings. These have been well supported, and we have seen a steady increase in attendance with up to 30 men. This is a great time of fellowship over breakfast and the morning concludes with a Gospel message with an opportunity to take away some literature for further study. The group is supported by men from the church who invite their friends and men from other churches come too. There is no charge for this event.
The breakfasts are run by a team of church volunteers, and we are so thankful for all the effort they put into organising the breakfasts and making them so valuable and enjoyable.
Ladies' Lunches
Bi-monthly ladies’ lunches take place on Saturdays. The numbers regularly exceed an attendance of 30 ladies. We are so pleased that some of the ladies now come to other events because of first attending the lunches. At each session there is a short bible message/thought for the day. There is no charge for this event. In September, a collection was taken to give to Macmillan in place of us doing a coffee morning.
We are very grateful to volunteers who organise the lunches.
Men's Support Group
In February we commenced a Thursday evening Men's Support Group which was well attended. We studied various topics and looked at appropriate Scriptures that we could apply to, and address challenges that men are presented with in their day to day living at home, work and leisure.
Open Coffee Morning
In June we commenced an Open House Coffee morning running on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday every month in school term-time. This is open to anyone in the community to call in and have a chat in a friendly warm atmosphere.
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Special Events
NOVEMBER 2024
We held our Annual General Meeting.
JANUARY 2025
We had a New Year party and invitations were extended to everyone who attends Church services and events and their friends.
Volunteers
All the work that takes place at Cornerstone is carried out by volunteers. To comply with health & safety and building regulations some work is undertaken by qualified contractors (electrical, gas etc.).
We are grateful to each one for their commitment to the church. Teams of volunteers are responsible for the cleaning of the church on a rota basis and for serving refreshments after the Sunday morning services. We have volunteers who look after the gardens and car park areas for us. The help given is much appreciated by the Church Trustees.
Groups who use Church Facilities
The Church Trustees agreed to let the Hull & East Riding Immunisation Team use the church again this year to run clinics on two occasions during the year. There is no charge made for this arrangement.
Community Support
The church fellowship has:
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donated their used stamps which were given in aid of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance
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brought items from home suitable for use for craft work and these have been donated to a local pre-school
Finances
Finance Report
Yet again, as a church we can thank God for all the funds willingly given by the Fellowship for the work here at Cornerstone Church Bridlington, and for the Missions we regularly support.
This year, offerings and receipts for church use amounted to £18,664.44, plus the gifts in support of the regular Missions, as mentioned above for £3,431.00. We also had a collection on behalf of Macmillan for £183.15 at the October Ladies’ Lunch and Men’s Breakfast which made a total of church receipts of £22,278.59. The FIEC fund for evangelical work earned £579.55, making Total Receipts of £22,858.14
The cost of the usual work of Cornerstone amounted to £18,930.14, plus the payments to Missions of £3,792.61 and also the collection for Macmillan of £183.15.
£1,092.35 of the FIEC grant was used for evangelistic events, making the grand Total of Payments £23,998.25
Although our income is relatively small, we are blessed to have Reserves, in accordance with Charity
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Commission guidance, which would allow for large repairs and maintenance bills which our income would not cover.
We again wish to thank all those who faithfully give of their finances, but also their time, effort, and skills to support the work without charge. We also thank Ms Helen Gilson for examining the accounts for us.
So, again at the end of another financial year, we have proved God’s faithfulness to us and look to Him again for the growth of the work in the current and future years.
Structure, Governance and Management
Elders are appointed in accordance with Biblical principles contained in both Old Testament and New Testament scripture in which Elders are referred to as suitably gifted and qualified men. The FIEC also endorses this Biblical truth. The Elders are responsible for the leading, teaching and pastoral oversight of church members so that the church members be encouraged to grow in spiritual maturity.
Cornerstone Church has a CIO Foundation Constitution whose Trustees are selected by its Charity Trustees only. The Trustees oversee all matters of policy, safeguarding and legal requirements for the operation of Cornerstone’s charitable status. They have the general control of the administration of Cornerstone Church and may for that purpose exercise all the powers of the church. They also have a duty of care to perform their function as Trustees of the church in a manner that would most likely further the purposes of Cornerstone Church.
In July 2025 the administration was revised and the Support Team replaced with Team Leaders covering various 'departments' overseeing the day to day operation of the church. The teams include: building maintenance, caretaking, hospitality, worship and music, safeguarding, outreach and library management.
Following the restructure of the administration the Trustees implemented a strategic review of the governance, operation, and vision of the church. Part of that review was to undertake a survey during September of the attendees at Cornerstone Church. The survey was confidential, the results analysed and then used to help forward future plans for growth in line with our Statement of Faith and Vision Statement of "Knowing Jesus and making Him known"
An up-to-date Safeguarding Policy is in place and training and DBS checks are completed where necessary. Cornerstone is an associate member of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC) for which we pay a subscription.
NAMES OF THE CHARITY TRUSTEES WHO MANAGED THE CHARITY IN THIS REPORTING PERIOD:
Ian Marson (Chairman)
Rosemary Gray (Secretary) Audrey Woodman (Treasurer)
Rosemary Gilliland
Mark Addy (appointed 4 September 2025)
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SAFEGUARDING:
Rosemary Gray (Safeguarding Coordinator)
Ann Marson (Deputy Safeguarding Coordinator)
ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION
Cornerstone Church Bridlington CIO
St Johns Walk
Bridlington East Yorkshire YO16 4JH Email: secretary@cornerstonechurchbrid.co.uk Web: www.cornerstonechurchbrid.co.uk Phone: 01262 228 650 Registered Charity Number 1173459
Approved by the Trustees:
Date: …………………………….10 July 2026 Signed by: ……………………………………………………….
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| Cornerstone Church Bridlington CIO | Cornerstone Church Bridlington CIO | Cornerstone Church Bridlington CIO | 1173459 | 1173459 | 1173459 | CC16a | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| For the period from |
Period start date 01/10/2024 |
To | Period end date 30/09/2025 |
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| Section A Receipts and payments | |||||||
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 14,117 601 1,876 1,011 1,059 18,664 - - - 18,664 7,617 3,652 1,004 1,346 1,520 209 1,040 1,025 1,469 48 - 18,930 - - - 18,930 - 266 - - - 266 |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ - - - - - 580 3,431 183 4,194 - - - 4,194 - - - - - - - - 3,976 1,092 5,068 - - - 5,068 - 874 - - - 874 |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - |
Total funds to the nearest £ 14,117 601 1,876 1,011 1,059 580 3,431 183 22,858 - - - 22,858 7,617 3,652 1,004 1,346 - 1,520 209 1,040 1,025 1,469 48 3,976 1,092 - 23,998 - - - 23,998 - 1,140 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
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| General Offerings | 14,117 | 14,556 | |||||
| Other Income | 601 | 1,169 | |||||
| GASDS | 1,876 | 2,000 | |||||
| Gift Aid | 1,011 | 782 | |||||
| Interest | 1,059 | 1,170 | |||||
| FIEC Grant | 20,000 | ||||||
| FIEC Grant interest earned | 360 | ||||||
| Regular Missions incgrants | 3,004 | ||||||
| Macmillan Collection - Special Purposes | 1,078 | ||||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) |
18,664 | 44,119 | |||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
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| - | |||||||
| - | - | ||||||
| Sub total | - | - | |||||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
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| 44,119 | |||||||
Premises |
7,617 | - | 7,617 | 5,878 | |||
| Utilities | 3,652 | - | 3,652 | 3,519 | |||
| Insurance | 1,004 | - | 1,004 | 984 | |||
| Licences/Subscription | 1,346 | - | 1,346 | 1,577 | |||
| Youth Work | - | - | 29 | ||||
| Outreach/Publicity/Events | 1,520 | - | 1,520 | 1,371 | |||
| Catering | 209 | - | 209 | 134 | |||
| Sundries | 1,040 | - | 1,040 | 465 | |||
| VisitingMinistry | 1,025 | 1,025 | 1,170 | ||||
| Grants to Missions | 1,469 | 1,469 | 1,456 | ||||
| Training | 48 | 48 | 1,134 | ||||
| Missionary/Special Purposes | 3,976 | 3,678 | |||||
| FIEC Fund Payments | 1,092 | 1,018 | |||||
| - | - | - | - | ||||
| Sub total | 18,930 | - | 23,998 | 22,413 | |||
| - - - - - - - - |
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| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
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| - | |||||||
| - | |||||||
| Sub total | - | - | |||||
| Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
|||||||
| 22,413 | |||||||
| - 266 | - 874 | - | - 1,140 | 21,706 | |||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||
| - 266 | - 874 | - | - 1,140 | 21,706 |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
21/11/2025
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| Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Categories Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees 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)) Current Account Savings/Reserve Reserve - FIEC Funds Details Details Details Missionary Gifts Signature |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 8,818 452 40,378 18,830 49,196 19,282 Agreement Error Agreement Error Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) Restricted 452 - - - - Print Name |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| OK | |||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ |
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| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
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| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
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| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| When due (optional) | |||
| 01 November 2025 | |||
| Date of approval | |||
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
21/11/2025
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