2024-12-31-accounts - Bloxham Baptist Church

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BLOXHAM BAPTIST CHURCH CIO. TRUSTEES' REPORT 2023.

The trustees present the annual report together with the financial statements of the charity 1174024 for the year ended 31 December 2024.

Trustees

The trustees who served throughout the year and up to date of authorisation of this report were as follows:

Rev Mike Tydeman

Rachel Mitchell

Barbara MacIver (Treasurer)

Anne Linsey (Secretary)

Margaret Taylor

Robert Kerry

Jonathon Round

Objectives and activities

Objects and aims

The principal purpose of Bloxham Baptist Church CIO (the "Church") is the advancement of the Christian faith according to the principles of the Baptist denomination. The Church may also advance education and carry out other charitable purposes in the United Kingdom and in other parts of the world.

Significant activities

In fulfilling its purpose, the Church will engage in a range of activities either on its own or with others that will vary from time to time with activities being initiated, expanded, or closed, as appropriate.

The Church's activities include, but are not restricted to:

regular public worship, prayer, Bible study, preaching and teaching;
baptism, as defined in The Baptist Union's Declaration of Principle;
the Communion of the Lord's Supper, which shall normally be observed twice a month;
evangelism and mission, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally;
working in partnership with the other local Churches;
the teaching, encouraging, welcome and inclusion of young people;
nurture and growth of Christian disciples;
education and training for Christian and community service;
giving and encouraging pastoral care;
supporting and encouraging charitable social action in the United Kingdom and abroad;

Public benefit

In planning the activities of the Church, the trustees have considered the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit and, in particular, the specific guidance on charities for the advancement of religion.

Grant making

The Church seeks to fulfil its objective of spreading the Christian message throughout the United Kingdom and worldwide by making grants to specific independent missionary and charitable organisations whose aims coincide with those of the Church, including the Home Mission Fund of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and BMS World Mission.

Volunteers

A significant proportion of the Church's activities are run by and with the assistance of volunteers who freely give of their time and skills to support the Church in the furtherance of its aims.

Achievements and performance

Charitable activities

During the year the Church has delivered Sunday and Holy Day church services open to all, as well as regular meetings, either corporately or in small groups, for Bible study, prayer and worship. A few small group meetings continued to be held on Zoom for wider accessibility.

All age services once a month in an informal ‘café style’ setting and children’s / youth groups provided as part of every other service.

Continuation of Saturday morning and Wednesday evening prayer gatherings.

Communion services continue twice a month on the 1[st] and 3[rd] Sunday.

The church has continued to encourage links with St Mary’s, hosting a number of joint services.

The church has conducted 5 baptisms over the year.

Homegroups and various small support groups ran throughout the year both on Zoom and physical meetings, providing practical and emotional support, prayer, teaching and enhancement of the Christian faith.

The church ran an ‘Alpha Course’ opening to anyone with questions about faith and a ‘Bereavement Journey course’ open to the community for anyone experiencing loss and our Children and Families pastor ran two ‘Parenting for Faith’ courses one in person and one online.

A Youth group meet every Sunday evening facilitated by volunteers. Engaging in a variety of social, and worship based activities, also attending regular Youth events in Oxford and the Limitless Festival in the summer.

The Church continues to be active in the local community, providing activities for all age groups which are open to all members of the local community on a non-profit making basis that are in addition to the more formal church and related services.

These have included Tiddlywinks Toddler group, Bitesize lunch club for mum’s to be & mum’s and babies, Wednesday Tea for single parent families.

Holiday clubs for primary aged children were provided during Easter & Christmas holidays in the form of craft mornings open to all the community. Weekly activities were provided, during the summer holidays, in partnership with the local ‘Cherrytree’ playgroup for under 5’s and their families.

Girls’ Brigade meetings have continued and they welcomed new members during the year. Boy’s Brigade is run by St Mary’s CofE and supported by Bloxham BC volunteers.

A Renew Wellbeing space is open once a week and continues to be a space of welcome and inclusion. Run as an ecumenical provision with some volunteers from St Mary’s CofE and in partnership with mental health teams to improve mental and emotional wellbeing.

The Pastor continues in a chaplaincy role at the local Secondary school (where we hold our Sunday services) and in partnership with Good News for Everyone distributes New Testaments to students.

The Pastor, along with a trained CAP Money coach from church, provided 3 sessions of money advice to year 13 students using CAP resources.

The C&F pastor and a group of volunteers regularly lead assemblies at the primary school using “Open the Book” resources.

A number of church volunteers also mentor children at both the secondary and primary schools as part of Transforming Lives for Good.

The Church partnered with Ambassadors Football to deliver a 3 day community outreach event at the local secondary school in the summer holidays. Providing football coaching with a Christian message to over 60 primary aged children of any background or faith. The Church also provided community tea and cake for the attendees’ families and friends as part of the awards presentation.

The Church is mindful of other communities locally, nationally and throughout world who have less fortunate circumstances and consequently continues to support financially and prayerfully targeted areas and projects in a number of locations, including:

Specific gift day monetary collections for Local Homeless provision, Open Doors, Tearfund.
Child Sponsorship through Compassion UK.
Charitable donation to Transforming Lives for Good (Charity number 1074114)
Charitable donation to Renew Wellbeing (Charity number 1173963)

The church also operates a restricted Fellowship Fund which offers confidential financial support to individuals both within the church fellowship and the wider community.

Fundraising activities

The Church's activities are principally financed by the voluntary giving of its members and congregation, supplemented with tax rebates through the Gift Aid scheme, and at cost charges for some of its community activities. The Chapel building is also occasionally hired out for events, such as birthday parties, for local people, and our portable baptistery is loaned, for donation, to a variety of local churches.

Financial review

The financial position of the charity is set out in the Statement of Financial Activities – Payments and Receipts report and the related notes, prepared in accordance with statutory requirements of the Charities Act 2011 and SORP (FRS 102).

Principal funding sources

The principal funding sources of the Church are the voluntary donations and giving by members of the Church's congregation together with allied income tax rebates under the Gift Aid Scheme.

The letting of two properties owned by the church also provides a regular rental income. The financial return of this investment is regularly reviewed to ensure fair value for the Charity. Our property assets are managed to ensure financial viability but also to be available to meet the purposes and needs of the church.

Policy on reserves

The Church aims to hold reserves that would cover three months essential revenue expenditure - i.e. legal commitments under contracts of employment and a reserve to meet essential immediate expenditure to the Church's premises necessary to allow the Church to continue to function. At the year end the Church had reserves of £35,000 that were considered sufficient to meet its reserves policy.

Going concern

The trustees have considered the impact of and end of year deficit on the church’s financial position, together with financial projections for the church and have also reviewed the availability of banking facilities and interest rates. The trustees are satisfied that the church has sufficient resources to continue in operation for the foreseeable future, being at least 12 months from the date of signing the financial statements. Accordingly, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the church’s financial statements.

Future plans

Activities planned to achieve aims

The Church plans to continue with its current activities and has plans for developing the small group provision for pastoral and evangelistic purposes.

The Church is looking to offer more free of charge CAP (Christians Against Poverty) Money courses open to all, that teach budget skills and money management.

The church is planning to re-run the Bereavement Journey course with an open invitation to the community at cost. (not for profit.)

The church is looking to further it’s support of national and international communities by hosting guest speakers to increase awareness.

Structure, governance and management

Governing document

Bloxham Baptist Church CIO (the "Church") is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and constitutes a corporate body with limited liability. It is registered with the Charity Commission under Number 1174024. The Church was incorporated on 28 July 2017 and is controlled by its governing document, a constitution and is governed by its trustees in accordance with its constitution.

Recruitment and appointment of trustees

The day to day running of the Church is under the control of a singular 'Leadership Team' comprising the Pastor, C&F pastor, Church Secretary, Church Treasurer and a number of other elected Trustees. The Pastor role is appointed by the Church at a special church meeting and is employed under a letter of appointment. The C&F pastor is employed under contract and is also a Trustee due to her job description. The other trustees are appointed in accordance with the Church's constitution.

Organisational structure

The Church appoints a Pastor, and other paid staff as circumstances require. The Pastor leads the church community in both spiritual and practical ways and chairs Leadership Team meetings and Church meetings.

The Church employs a Children and Families pastor who shares spiritual and practical oversight with a specific remit for families both within the fellowship and the wider community.

The Church Membership elect the Leadership Team (including Church Secretary and Treasurer) from among themselves to oversee the spiritual and operational aspects of the Church. The Leadership Team meets regularly and administers the Charity by majority decision on behalf of the membership.

Wider network

The Church is a member of The Baptist Union of Great Britain and the Southern Counties Baptist Association. The holding trustee of the church is the Baptist Union Corporation Limited which is charity number 249635 and which is controlled by the Baptist Union Council. The Baptist Union Corporation Limited also acts as the holding trustee in respect of the church premises themselves.

The annual report was approved by the trustees of the charity on 28 April 2025 and signed on its behalf by

.........................................

A Linsey

Secretary and Trustee

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES' RESPONSIBILITIES

The trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees' report and the financial statements in accordance with the United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) and applicable law and regulations.

The law applicable to charities requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;

• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the applicable Charities (Accounts and Reports)

Regulations, and the provisions of the constitution. The trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Approved by the trustees of the charity on 28[th] April 2025 and signed on its behalf by:

.........................................

B MacIver

Treasurer and Trustee

Bloxham Baptist Church Income and Expenditure Account For the year ended 31 December 2024

Income Giving Gift Aid received Mission Income - Tiddlywinks/Wednesday Tea/Football Club Rental Income Grant received Chapel repairs Fund Bank Interest received Fellowship Fund Total Income Received Expenditures Mission costs Church Catering Operational costs Property maintenance Staff costs Minister in Training Tithe BMS World Mission BU Home Mission Insurance Office/General Admin expenses St Mary's Building Our Future gift Confidential fund, gifts and donations Audrey Wild's fund payments Fellowship Fund payments Total expenditure (Deficit) of Income over Expenditure	2024 £ 79,705 15,481 4,004 27,490 470 - 2,472 100 129,722 3,561 2,770 7,424 6,102 97,405 142 6,193 1,548 2,602 1,392 - 402 1,030 2,121 132,692 2,970 -	2023 £ 73,562 17,043 3,621 30,482 - 1,000 1,916 391
		128,015 3,493 2,818 7,598 6,714 92,037 7,346 6,043 1,200 2,776 1,366 5,000 370 - 802
		137,563
		9,548 -

Bloxham Baptist Church Balance Sheet As at 31 December 2024

£ £ 200,000 425,000 375,000 1,000,000 3,617 66,258 69,875 4,825 65,050 1,065,050 3,583 3,371 1,058,096 1,065,050 2024	£ £ 200,000 425,000 375,000 1,000,000 2,314 68,283 70,597.00 2,577 68,020 1,068,020 5,604 4,401 1,058,015 1,068,020 2023	£ £ 200,000 425,000 375,000 1,000,000 2,314 68,283 70,597.00 2,577 68,020 1,068,020 5,604 4,401 1,058,015 1,068,020 2023
		1,000,000 68,020
69,875 4,825	70,597.00 2,577

		1,068,020
		5,604 4,401 1,058,015
		1,068,020

BLOXHAM BAPTIST CHURCH NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of Preparation

The accounts are prepared in accordance with the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (Charities SORP 2021), FRS102 and with the Charities Act 2011

Bloxham Baptist Church is a registered charity, no. 1174024 and meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognized at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes.

Investment Income

Investment Income is included in the accounts in the year in which it is receivable.

Expenditure Recognition

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis. Expenditure is recognized where there is a legal or constructive obligation to make payments to third parties, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.

2. FIXED ASSETS

As at 31 December 2022 Stanbra Powell have given valuations for the cottages, Apple Tree and Cloudberry. These valuations have been re-used for 31 December 2023 and 2024.

Stanbra Powell were unable to give a valuation for the chapel, so it has been included at the leadership team's valuation of £200,000 (without planning permission).

Note that the church is the beneficial owner (subject to the relevant trusts) of the church building, the legal title to which is held by the church's custodian trustee which is the Baptist Union Corporation Ltd.

3. DEBTORS Gift Aid received after date Rent received after date Refund due	2024 2023 1,252 989 950 1,325 1,415 -
	3,617 2,314

4. BANK AND CASH BALANCES Baptist Union Corporation Account HSBC General Account HSBC Deposit Account	2024 2023 57,376 55,070 2,991 3,488 5,891 9,725
	66,258 68,283

5. CREDITORS AND ACCRUALS Gift Day - not yet paid out to charities PAYE December Tithe BMS Tithe Home Mission Integra Insurance EDF / SSE Gas EDF / SSE Electricity Warriner rent Staff expenses	2024 2023 500 1,084 1,457 980 1,393 - 348 - - 238 204 223 98 52 450 - 375 -
	4,825 2,577

6. Fellowship Fund Income Expenditure Surplus of Income over Expenditure Balance B/fwd Balance C/fwd	2024 2023 100 391 2,121 802
	2,021 - 411 - 5,604 6,015
	3,583 5,604

7. Audrey Wild Fund Expenditure Balance B/fwd Balance C/fwd	2024 2023 1,030 - 4,401 4,401
	3,371 4,401

8. Gift Days

Gifts made inclusive of gift aid subsequently claimed.

8. Gift Days
Gifts made inclusive of gift aid subsequently claimed. Nehemiah Ministries Open Doors Tear Fund Polly Preedy	2024 2023 288 1,755 - 1,590 750 140 500 1,500
	1,538 4,985

Morrisons vouchers of £500 were bought for Polly Preedy in January 2025

9. Charity Funds


9. Charity Funds Brought Forward Deficit for the year	2024 2023 1,068,020 1,077,568 2,970 - 9,548 -
	1,065,050 1,068,020

Independent examiner's report on the accounts

Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees/	Bloxham Baptist Church
members of

On accounts for the year	31/12/2024	Charity No	Charity No1174024
ended

Set out on pages	1 - 5

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity for the year ended 31/12/2024.

Responsibilities and As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the basis of report accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

I report in respect of my examination of the charity 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 I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have examiner's statement come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or
the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or
the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.

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:		Date:30/05/2025 ~~—~~	Date:30/05/2025 ~~—~~
Name:	Veeraka de Mel

Relevant professional	Adv Dip MA
qualification(s) or body	Chartered Institute of Management Accountants UK (CIMA-UK)
(if any):

Address:	30 Blackwell Drive
	Banbury
	OX16 9PF