2020-12-31-accounts

Charity Registration number: 1174906

Gurnell Grove Community Trust Report and Financial Statements (unaudited) 12 months to 31 December 2020

	Page
Trustees' annual report	1
Independent examiner's report to the trustees	7
Statement of financial position	8
Statement of financial activities	9
Notes to the financial statements	10

Gurnell Grove Community Trust

Trustees Report and Declaration

Period from 1[st] January 2020 to 31[st] December 2020

The trustees present their report and the financial statements of the Trust for the period ended 31st[t] December 2020.An audit is not required but they have been examined by an Independent Examiner.

Reference and administrative details

Registered charity name	Registered charity name	Registered charity name	Registered charity name	Gurnell Grove Community Trust
Other names by which the charity is sometimes known				The Grove The Grove Community Eden Gurnell Grove
Charity registration number				1174906
Principal office				c/o St Stephen’s Church, St Stephen’s Rd, Ealing, London, W13 8HB
The charity trustees during the year			Gordon May (Chair)	2 years to 30th Sept 2022
			Revd Rachel Bedford	2 years to 30th June 2022
			Jane Maffett (Treasurer)	2 years to 31st Oct 2021
			Revd Steve Newbold	2 years to 30th Sept 2022
Project Leader			Mark Tate
Independent examiner	Frederick Eaves MRICS Independent Examiner 53 Ludlow Road, Ealing, London, W5 1NX

Structure, governance and management

Gurnell Grove Community Trust CIO was set up as a newly formed charitable incorporated organisation on 2nd October 2017, when its constitution was adopted. It is governed by a Board of Trustees.

One Trustee will be the Vicar of St Stephen’s Church, Ealing, by virtue of his / her role as leader of the Church of England Parish in which the Gurnell Grove Estate is based. In selecting individuals for appointment as the other charity trustees, the charity trustees have regard to the skills, knowledge and experience needed for the effective management of the CIO. There must at all times be at least 3 trustees and no more than 8, and trustees are elected for a 2 year period.

The Trustees recognise a lack of diversity on the Board of Trustees and as such will take action in 2021 to rectify this through actively recruiting onto the Board at least one Trustee who will increase our diversity in appropriate ways.

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Gurnell Grove Community Trust

Trustees Report and Declaration

Period from 1[st] January 2020 to 31[st] December 2020

The CIO was established to take over the management of an initiative on the Gurnell Grove Estate in Ealing, which started under the PCC of St Paul’s Church Ealing in September 2016. It is known on a day to day basis as The Grove Community.

The Project Leader reports to the Trustees and is managed by the Chair.

Objectives and activities

The Objects of the CIO are, for the public benefit:

1. the advancement of the Christian faith (in particular but without limitation) by the provision of worship services, prayer meetings, the public celebration of Christian festivals, Christian literature and in such other ways as the Charity Trustees may from time to time decide; and

2. the relief of persons who are in need by reason of financial hardship, unemployment, disability, ill-health, lack of education or skills attainment and such other economic or social disadvantage.

To achieve these objectives, for the public benefit, the Trust employs a full time project leader, Mark Tate, who, together with his wife and family, moved onto the estate in 2016 – it is our core belief that transformation is best led by being a real part of the community.

1.1 ACTIVITIES DURING THE YEAR

With the support of an employed community worker and others, the team usually run a range of ‘in person’ activities.

However 2020 was a very different and extraordinary year due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. Until mid March our activities carried on as normal, but with a national lockdown from 23rd March until July, and changing restrictions for the rest of the year, fresh thinking and creativity was needed by the team to support the Grove residents, both spiritually and practically.

Throughout the year there was a focus on Deepening relationships - getting to know people better 121 through weekly drop-offs and longer conversations.

Objective 1 – advancement of the Christian faith

House church – a small group usually gathering in the Tates’ flat, where individuals who have recently come to faith, or want to explore, meet weekly in term time to sing, read the Bible, discuss and pray together. This continued throughout the year, but mostly by Zoom. And a Sunday afternoon Facebook live ‘service’ was introduced, including input from youngsters.

Weekly Thought for the day online and whatsapp group.

Bingo Church – this popular monthly evening event, always including a short talk on faith, moved online with Zoom and ran throughout the year.

Christmas – outdoor Donkey Rides and Refreshments (covid-secure!) were popular, and the team arranged and decorated a large outdoor Christmas Tree to bring cheer to the estate with all residents receiving Christmas cards and invites, plus a christmas tree decoration to hang onto the community tree. A Christmas ‘Love your Neighbour’ initiative asked residents to nominate another resident to receivea pack of food, drink, treats and games and, with the support of partner churches, Hampers were delivered to those in need.

Online Facebook services were trialled for 4 months, plus a Zoom Christmas Service.

Plans for a regular Sunday Service – Our plans for a regular worship service on Sunday afternoon continue to be frustrated as the Community Centre is fully booked - and was in any case not availablet the entire year.

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Gurnell Grove Community Trust

Trustees Report and Declaration

Period from 1[st] January 2020 to 31[st] December 2020

EdgeFest – sadly this summer Christian festival, an important part of the year for The Grove, was cancelled.

Objective 2 – relief of persons in need .

The team really saw the results of earlier years of relationship building when they were asked by Ealing Council, as trusted partners, to run one of the major Emergency relief centres for three months, initially on the estate, but later in nearby Greenford Hall, creating over 600 food packs for families each week – not just estate residents but others in the Borough. This also allowed some residents to develop their own skills as volunteers.

We have received grants and donations to support this crisis work.

The team also responded to the practical implications of Coronavirus with energy, determination and vision to support the residents with shopping, telephone calls, drop off packs and continued some of the activities virtually.

Building Community – Our overall and long term aim is to bring social transformation by developing a deeper sense of community, allowing people to build meaningful relationships, by gathering people together and facilitating residents to meet one another - a challenge this year.

The monthly Pop up events took place at the start of the year, including a lively Mexican evening, but were suspended when lockdown started. However Bingo church (mentioned above) continued online throughout the year.

Supporting children & families

Eden Kids , usually a weekly after school club for 5 to 11s, turned into a weekly Kids Club activity pack, dropped off to families in a ‘socially distanced’ way, and has steadily grown.

Tackling Isolation

The weekly Community Lunch, started in 2019, changed from ‘in person’ in March to a delivered lunch pack – and doorstep delivery by the team, though brief, did provide for many the only physical human contact during lockdown. Again demand has grown.

In Heron House, the Sheltered Housing complex, our weekly club had to be suspended as well but doorstep conversations were valuable.

Transforming Lives - The aim over time is to provide social action schemes that equip people with the skills and resources that they need to move out of hardship. Our group of resident volunteers continued to play an important part.

Summary

2020 has been a year like no other and it is a real testimony to the team that the trust and confidence built with residents (and Council) over time enabled them to adapt and support so many on the estate.

Coronavirus Crisis As we write this in Spring 2021, since the year end there has been a third lockdown and the team cannot yet see a time when normality will return. But as the government has published its provisional routemap for coming out of lockdown the team is starting to plan for what comes next to fulfill the objectives of the charity. The Trustees are satisfied that the Trust continues to be financially viable.

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Gurnell Grove Community Trust

Trustees Report and Declaration

Period from 1[st] January 2020 to 31[st] December 2020

The team

Mark Tate, the project leader, his wife Laura and their two children moved onto the estate in 2016, then into their own home there in 2017. A part-time Community Worker, Catherine Patterson, was appointed in 2019, has been a real blessing and strengthened the team, taking responsibility for Community Lunch and social events – she was also key to the Relief Centre.

Under our recognition scheme volunteers were recognised at celebration events. Paula has made a remarkable journey as a Christian and is becoming a key Eden team member, building in confidence - listen to her story here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiMF91AUWt8

The Trustees are very grateful to the volunteers, individuals and teams, including those from partner churches, who come alongside the team and inject energy and support to those on the ground week in week out and at special events .

Our long term goal is to see the Eden team expand as other Christians move onto the estate, and become a true ‘Missional Community’ – this is taking longer than we had first hoped and prayed for.

The Trustees are very appreciative of the dedication, energy and enthusiasm of Mark and Laura Tate and Catherine Petterson as they lead this work.

Stories (names changed)

Derek is a resident we got to know through the food parcel drops over the summer. He is an elderly gentleman who suffers from multiple sclerosis and is wheelchair bound. We have been able to support him regularly in various ways: from sorting out his phone to clearing out pets who were leaving a huge mess in his home. Mark regularly got to spend time with Derek and has had many conversations about God and what Christianity is about.

We've continued to do a weekly food shop for David since the first lockdown in March. He is an elderly gentleman who is recovering from surgery and has a few underlying health issues. We've been delighted to see David become a regular at our monthly online Bingo church. It has been great getting to know David and see him come out of his shell!

Arjun is one of many residents on the estate who struggle severely from mental health issues. He lives alone and we are some of the only people that see him in his week (alongside the community at the local Hindu temple where he picks up food parcels). We have been able to befriend him and spend time listening to him, as well as assisting him in getting the housing repairs that he needs in his home.

Paul was struck by COVID in quite a bad way and was having suicidal thoughts. He responded to our 'here to help' card and Mark was able to meet up with him, go on regular walks and listen to his story. Mark was able to make sure he was receiving the professional support he needed and also allowed Mark to pray for him on numerous occasions.

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Gurnell Grove Community Trust

Trustees Report and Declaration

Period from 1[st] January 2020 to 31[st] December 2020

Financial review

2020 was an extraordinary year with the onset of the Coronavirus Pandemic. However income held up well, from both individual givers and mission partners.

The charity continues to receive committed funding from The Message Trust / Eden, founding partner churches, St Paul’s and St Stephen’s in Ealing, New Wine and new mission partners including the first of three year commitments from 2 churches in the USA. The Trustees are very grateful to them for their continued financial, practical and prayer support.

We saw additional generous financial gifts from individuals, churches and other organisations when we reported our Emergency activities during the first lockdown in early summer And we were fortunate to be awarded two emergency grants, one from Ealing Council for our response to Covid-19 on the estate, the other from London Community Foundation to enable us to run the Emergency Food relief centre.

And Pathways awarded us a one year grant to run Community lunches and Social activities. We also again received targeted sponsorship towards our Christmas event.

All such grant funds were channeled through restricted accounts, and we are incredibly grateful to all these organisations, which enabled us to carry on and even grow during the pandemic.

Our expenditure on core projects was much lower, especially as we could not use the community centre after March, but the team – paid and volunteer – were busy supporting the residents in so many ways.

Our strategy on income is to build up and maintain strong relationships with mission partners, and at the end of 2020 we have

• two founding mission partner churches

• ● three UK mission partners (one church, one trust and one organisation) committed to regular giving

• three international mission partnerships, committed to regular giving. The Gathering Place in Trinidad and Tobago, Apex Baptist Church in North Carolina and First Baptist Church Georgetown in Texas, the last two having in previous years sent teams to the UK, spending part of their time on The Grove.

• ● A number of other churches in the UK and abroad supported specific events or made one-off donations.

• We are thrilled to be working with all our mission partners and look forward to the years ahead together.

We were also successful in applying for three grants, which were / are managed through Restricted Funds:

• Ealing Council Emergency Covid-19 grant enabled us to work remotely, and support residents on the estate during the crisis

• London Community Foundation grant enabled us to equip and run the Emergency relief food hub

• Pathways awarded us a one year grant for running our Community Lunch and Pop-up social events, with the start delayed until September 2020.

We have also been building a base of personal donors , to whom we are indebted for their regular ongoing commitments.

And finally we were blown away by donations from a wide range of individuals and organisations who supported us financially through this difficult year, with over £9,000 given following our May newsletter

Our main expenses are staff costs, with overheads carefully managed against budgets. The Christmas Donkey event was, in the main, covered by an event-specific sponsorship from Ealing

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Gurnell Grove Community Trust

Trustees Report and Declaration

Period from 1[st] January 2020 to 31[st] December 2020

Abbey’s Trust of St Benedict’s which enabled us to create a ‘covid secure’ outdoor event that will live on in the memories of the residents.

Going Concern and Reserves – thanks to income holding up, and special grants, income exceeded expenditure in 2020 by £25,025 (£17,153 in the General Fund). The Trustees have a policy to ensure unrestricted reserves are adequate to cover operating costs for two months. The level of unrestricted reserves at 31 December 2020 were £41,482 (2019 £24,330), comfortably satisfying this policy.

Risk Management - The Trustees have considered the risks to which the charity is exposed and have considered ways of mitigating those risks.

The major financial risk concerns the need for a constant flow of donations and grants and the Trustees and project leader continue to make every effort to consolidate relationships with current donors and develop new partners and sources of income.

There is a ‘key person’ risk if the project leader were to leave the charity or be unable to fulfil his duties. The charity mitigates that risk by placing emphasis on the development of staff and volunteers at all levels through training courses and the employment of a community worker to strengthen the team.

There is an operational risk that inappropriate actions of those involved in charity activities could result in injury, loss, damage, or reputational harm. To guard against this risk the charity maintains comprehensive policies and procedures reflecting best practice. And training of staff and volunteers continues. The staff and activities of the charity are covered by employers and public liability insurance.

Overall the trustees consider the financial position of the charity to be sound.

Declaration

The trustees' annual report and financial statements were approved on 9th September 2021 and signed on behalf of the board of trustees by:

Gordon May, Chair

Jane Maffett, Treasurer

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Gurnell Grove Community Trust

Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees

Period from 1[st] January 2020 to 31[st] December 2020

Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the 12 months ended 31[st] December 2020.

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 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 which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

• accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or

• the accounts do not accord with the accounting records

• the accounts do 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 order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed

(Signed copy held)

Name: Frederick Eaves, MRCIS

Relevant membership of professional bodies: the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors

Membership number: 0041644

Address: 53 Ludlow Road, Ealing, London, W5 1NX

Date: 19th July 2021

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Gumell Grove Community Trust Charlty Commlsslon Reglstratlon Number 1174906 Balance Sheet - Comparative As at December 31. 2020 31 Dec 2020 31 Dec 2019 Current Assets Cash At Bank And In Har 46.813 22.570 Gredito Other Creditors -782 Nel Assets 46,813 21,789 Funds & ReseNes Retained Funds 21.788 28,629 Accumulat&d Funds 25.025 Funds Provided 46,813 21,788

Gurnell Grove Community Trust Statement of Financial Activities (Receipts & Payments) January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 {compared to January 1, 2019 lo December 31, 2019) Unrn3trfctod Flestrlctod Endownonl Total Prlor Tolal F18wpIs In¢owE EThJowrnenis Iwm¥ Irom Donations arnl Lggac Eveni Driven Sponsorsh4) 3,135 3,214 FuThJ.raigng Evgnls 3.282 INd￿￿Ual8 GNI tt)nalions at e￿￿t$ 825 850 IT￿1VI(1UaL8- planne(I 13.267 13.267 13.085 I￿1vIdUal5- unplanned 11.395 11,395 Organlsalk)nal g￿ltYj g CtinalK)ns & Grant5 Grants- RecurriNJ s.000 5,000 s.000 Mission Partnèrs 32,546 32,546 22,045 Startup I￿￿lInG 5.500 5.5CK) 6.0 Cyg C￿nat￿n5 & grdnts lom offl 2,550 27,826 30,376 Inv8Stm8nt Income lftterest Reeeived 18 38 51 Donalh)n5 . Internat￿nal 1.178 Totsl Re¢•lpts 70,W) 30,961 101,941 10

Gurnell Grove Community Trust ststement of Flnanclal Activities (Recelpts & Payments) January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 (compared to January 1. 2019 to Dec•mber 31. 2019) T•lal PMorTol•l Exp•rnllty ¢h•rfl•lA• ALil¥fdo• 974 974 I￿n￿lI¥ C(•t6 Emth•• •nd Ift&￿ £Xi•L• 12A31 07,&M 43374 1081 72J1 10,311 13,984 R•l•lrvJ Fund• 1fAJ •27 74•1• Y491• M•t Mov•m•nt kn Fund• 17.153 4840 Tatll BrowJht Forthvd 4481J 11

Notes to Financial Statements

2. GENERAL INFORMATION

The CIO is a public benefit entity and a registered charity in England and Wales and is unincorporated. The address of the principal office is St Stephen’s Church, St Stephen’s Rd, Ealing, London W13 8HB. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

3. STATEMENT OF COMPLIANCE

These financial statements have been prepared to be consistent with the recommendations in Accounting and reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice 2005 (the Charities SORP) as they apply to smaller charities.

4. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

4.1 Basis of preparation

These financial statements have been prepared on a ‘receipts and payments’ basis. The financial statements are prepared in sterling, the functional currency.

4.2 Going concern

There are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue.

4.3 Judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty

The preparation of the financial statements requires management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported. These estimates and judgements are continually reviewed and are based on experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.

4.4 Fund accounting

• Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees to further any of the charity's purposes.

• Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the trustees for particular future project or commitment. The charity is not currently using any designated funds.

• Restricted funds are subjected to restrictions on their expenditure declared by the donor or through the terms of an appeal, and fall into one of two sub-classes: restricted income funds or endowment funds. The charity does not have any endowment funds.

4.5 Receipts

All incoming resources are included in the statement of financial activities as follows:

• income from donations or grants is recognised when the cash is received

• no amounts are included for the contribution of general volunteers.

4.6 Payments made

Expenditure includes any VAT which cannot be recovered, and is classified under headings of the statement of financial activities to which it relates:

• expenditure on raising funds includes the costs of all fundraising activities, events, non-charitable trading activities, and the sale of donated goods

• expenditure on charitable activities includes all costs incurred by a charity in undertaking activities that further its charitable aims for the benefit of its beneficiaries, including those support costs and costs relating to the governance of the charity apportioned to charitable activities

• other expenditure includes all expenditure that is neither related to raising funds for the charity nor part of its expenditure on charitable activities

All costs are allocated to expenditure categories reflecting the use of the resource. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs are apportioned between the activities they contribute to on a reasonable, justifiable and consistent basis.

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4.7 Additional declarations needed

Notes to Financial Statements

The Charitable Incorporated Organisations (General) Regulations 2012 require the following information for charities preparing accounts on a ‘receipts and payments’ basis:

• particulars of any guarantee given by the CIO, where any potential liability under the guarantee is outstanding at the date of the statement of assets and liabilities – there are no such guarantees

• particulars of any debt outstanding at the date of the statement of assets and liabilities which is owed by the CIO and which is secured by an express charge on any of the assets of the CIO – there are no such debts

5.

INDIVIDUALS GIVING

Regular giving by individuals was £13,267, occasional giving was £11,395 (including £7475 in May/July following a general newsletter appeal) and donations from individuals attending activities was £625. Gift aid totalling £3,325 was received directly (more through Virgin Money Giving and CAF through whom many donations were also made).

6. PARTICULARS OF EMPLOYEES

At the end of the year 2 people were employed by the Trust, one full-time one part-time. No employee received employee benefits of more than £60,000 during the year.

7. TRUSTEE REMUNERATION AND EXPENSES

No remuneration or other benefits from employment with the charity or a related entity were received by the trustees.

8. RESTRICTED FUNDS

Restricted Funds	31/12/2019	Income received	Expenditure	31/12/2020
Christmas Events	-£2,541	£3,135	-£1,389	-£795
Ealing Emergency Covid 19 grant	£0	£10,000	-£9,035	£965
London Community Foundation grant	£0	£9,839	-£9,839	£0
Pathways grant	£0	£7,987	-£2,825	£5,162
rounding adjustment				-£1
Total	-£2,541	£30,961	-£23,089	£5,331

• 8.1 The ‘Christmas Event Restricted Fund’ shows a negative position at year end – this is due to timing differences, with the expenditure on the ‘Donkey event’ almost all coming before the year end, but the committed sponsorship covering most of this was received in January 2021.

• 8.2 The Ealing Emergency Covid 19 Pandemic Grant of £10,000 was awarded by Ealing Council to help The Grove support residents through food distribution, delivery of children’s packs, shopping, practical and pastoral support and to enable remote working.

• 8.3 The London Community Foundation Grant of £9,839 was awarded to enable The Grove team to run a large Emergency Food Distribution hub at nearby Greenford Hall, supporting over 600 families in need each week over a three month period.

8.4 The Pathways Gran t of £7987 was awarded for 12 months from September to support Community Lunches and Social events.

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