2023-12-31-accounts - Greek Orthodox Church Of St Basil & St Paisios In Lincoln

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GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF ST BASIL & ST PAISIOS Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira & G. Britain

Trustees’ Annual Report

Reporting Period: Year to 31[st] December 2023

Charity registration number: 1174704

Achievements and Performance

Worship and Liturgical Life

We continued to celebrate Vespers, Matins and Divine Liturgy on Sundays and on all Feast days. Services are attended by Orthodox people of several nationalities, including Greek, Greek Cypriots, English, Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Albanian and Latvian. The attendance of the services continued to increase.

The Apostolic readings, the Gospel readings, the sermons and some prayers were in both Greek and English. Books that contain the Divine Liturgy in Greek and English were provided. Vespers, Small Petition and The Salutations to the Most Holy Theotokos were read every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evening. The Church is open between 3pm and 7pm.

We continued to make all efforts to ensure the liturgical life remains faithful to the Typicon of the Greek Orthodox Church.

There were 14 baptisms, 1 Wedding and 1 Funeral during the period to December 2023.

Education

We continued to operate a Saturday Greek School with 10 students in the age group 6 to 16 years old between the hours of 10:30 to 13:30. The lessons were held in the Church Hall and were provided by two qualified teachers. The Saturday Greek School provided Greek Language resources, including Greek Language text books and educational material, which were obtained though the Archdiocese of Thyateira and G. Britain or though purchased resources on the internet.

Philanthropic Work

Continued to provide ongoing moral and material support to Greeks, Greek Cypriots, English, Romanians, Bulgarians, Albanians and all without exemption, Orthodox and non-Orthodox, in accordance to our Lord’s Gospel and through a large variety of issues and problems. Homeless people and anybody in need were allowed to use the church premises to take temporary refuge particularly during the winter, use the facilities and, if necessary, provide them with small financial help, food and drink.

GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF ST BASIL & ST PAISIOS Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira & G. Britain

Church building

We continued to assess, plan and manage repairs to the internal and external fabric of the building, including:

Repaired the leaking north roof.
Replastered the north wall which was crumbling.
Replaced two of the aging air vents.
Repointed the north wall and patches of the south wall and the hall south wall. Repointing will continue next year depending on availability of funds.
Repaired the collapsed north side rain drains.
Ordered and installed chairs and ‘stasidia’ for the faithful.
Commissioned six new icons for the north wall.
Undertook electrical repair work and upgrade of the sound system of the church.

Fund Raising Events

The two significant fund raising events were at Easter in April and St Paisios day in July which were both very well attended.

We must acknowledge with gratitude and humility the over-generous support from our parishioners throughout the year.

Investments

The charity does not have any investments.

Financial Review

The charity’s primary sources of fund raising for this period were:

Sunday collection after the Divine Liturgy.
One-off donations from individuals.
Two fund raising events (see above).

Financial Review

Total receipts during the reporting period were £47,785. Receipts are made up primarily by Sunday collection (65%) and individual donations (15%). The remaining is made mostly of the Gift Aid tax repayment and Events.

The total expenditure was £27,374 mostly related to utilities and insurance (18%), general expenditure (16%), continued improvements to the church.

The church continues to require significant expenditure for:

GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF ST BASIL & ST PAISIOS Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira & G. Britain

The external fabric of the building: stone walls (coping and pointing) and roof repairs. This work begun in 2023 but a significant amount of work is still outstanding.
Church Iconography: This is a major expenditure which will take place over a period of 10 years.
Commissioning of additional portable icons for the north wall.

Reserves Policy

The Trustees have decided that a reserve around £30,000 is maintained in the charity bank account at all times against unplanned urgent expenditure.

It is our policy that all monies of the Charity are managed through the charity bank accounts at Barclays Bank. All expenditure is paid by cheques which are countersigned by two authorised members of the committee and are shown on the bank statements.

Volunteers

All work of the charity is undertaken by volunteers. We would like to express our gratitude to all the volunteers who work hard to make the church the welcoming and vibrant community it is. We would like to express our gratitude to the Chairman, Mr Evdokios Ioannou and his family, and the members of the Church Committee for their unwavering contribution to the Church and Community. We are also grateful to the ladies of the Philoptochos Committee which is chaired by Mrs Maria Mavromati and who prepare and deliver most of the fund raising events as well as the coffee/tea and snacks every Sunday after the Divine Liturgy.

Structure, Governance and Management

The charity is governed by the Constitution which is provided by the Archdiocese of Thyateira & Great Britain and approved the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople & New Rome. This Constitution governs all the Greek Orthodox Communities across the UK.

The Charity is governed by the Trustees. The Trustees are selected from the members of the community by the community according to its Constitution. The Trustees have overall responsibility for the Charity, and in particular to ensure the assets of the Charity are managed in line with the Constitution of the Charity and the relevant laws and regulations. The annual accounts of the Charity are prepared and approved by independent qualified accountants (.

The Church Committee is responsible to the Trustees for making decisions on operational matters relating to the day-to-day operation of the Charity, including any spending of funds of the Charity. Because of the government lockdown the Committee met three times during the year and the meetings were minuted.

GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF ST BASIL & ST PAISIOS Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira & G. Britain

Reference and administrative details

The Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Basil and Saint Paisios operates from its own premises. The correspondence address is: The Greek Orthodox Church of St. Basil & St. Paisios, High Street, Lincoln LN5 8JB.

The Charity is registered with the Charity Commission, Charity Number 1174704.

The Charity Trustees are:

Mr Evdokios Ioannou, Chairman
Mr Hambis Mavromatis, Member
Dr Christos Louis, Member
Fr Panagiotis Sakellariou, Member (Parish Priest)

The Church Committee is comprised by:

Mr Evdokios Ioannou, Chairman
Mr Harry Mavromatis, Member
Dr Christos Lois, Member
Dr Apostolos Papadopoulos, Treasurer
Mr Michael Antoniou
Mr Ioannis Andreakos, Member
Fr Panagiotis-Fokas Sakellariou, Parish Priest

Approved by the trustees and signed on behalf of the Trustees by the Fr Panagiotis Sakellariou.

GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF ST BASIL & ST PAISIOS Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira & G. Britain

Receipts and payments account

for the year ended

31st December 2023

Charity no: 1174704

The receipts and payments accounts and statement of assets set out on pages 3 to 5 relating to the year ended 31st December 2023 are as approved by the trustees.

Signed: Fr. Panagiotis Sakellariou

Address: High Street, Lincoln LN5 7SR Date:

GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF ST BASIL & ST PAISIOS Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira & G. Britain

Independent Examiner's Report

The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to:

[] examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act,

[] to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act, and

[] to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of independent examiner's statement

My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair' view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner's statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention

(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the requirements:

(a) to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; and

(b) to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act have not been met; or

(2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Disclosure (leave blank if not applicable)

Signed:

Kemp

(Tara Kemp FCCA)

Address: Unit 6, Blackthorn Way, Five Mile Business Park, Lincoln LN4 1BF

10th April Date: 2024

GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF ST BASIL & ST PAISIOS Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira & G. Britain

			(Charity no:
Greek Orthodox Church Sts. Basil the Great and Paisios			1174704)
Receipts and Payments account for the year ended 31st December 2023
Notes	2023		2022
	£		£
Income
Gift Aid tax repayments	7,385		10,082
Collections	31,055		26,564
Donations	7,255		20,827
Events and other sundry income	2,090		4,484
Total	47,785		61,957
Expenditure
Rent		-	-
Insurance	1,736		1,954
General church expenditure	4,494		2,385
Utilities	3,109		2,882
Major repairs	17,184		8,124
Chanting costs	851		160
Payments to priest
Legal and professional costs		-
Total	27,374		15,505
Surplus (Deficit) for the year	20,411		46,452

GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF ST BASIL & ST PAISIOS Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira & G. Britain

Greek Orthodox Church Sts. Basil the Great and Paisios Detailed breakdown of Receipts and Payments account for 2023 Balance sheet 2023 £ FIXED ASSETS Fixtures and fittings 161,072 CURRENT ASSETS Bank account no. 1 50,904 NET ASSETS 211,976 CAPITAL ACCOUNT Net profit and reserves 211,976 211,976	(Charity no: 1174704) 2022 £ 128,710 56,561
	185,271
	185,271
	185,271

GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF ST BASIL & ST PAISIOS Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira & G. Britain

Greek Orthodox Church Sts. Basil the Great and Paisios Detailed breakdown of Receipts and Payments account for 2023 cont. 2023 £ Tangible Fixed Assets Schedule COST 128,710 Additions 32,362 At 31 December 2023 161,072 Net book value 31 December 2022 128,710	(Charity no: 1174704) 2022 £ 76,197 52,513
	128,710
	76,197