**Trustees' Annual Report for the period** 

|**Trustees' Annual Report for theperiod**|**Trustees' Annual Report for theperiod**|**Trustees' Annual Report for theperiod**|**Trustees' Annual Report for theperiod**|**Trustees' Annual Report for theperiod**|**Trustees' Annual Report for theperiod**|**Trustees' Annual Report for theperiod**|**Trustees' Annual Report for theperiod**|**Trustees' Annual Report for theperiod**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**From **|Period start date|||**To**|Period end date||||
||**1st**|**April**|**2023**||**31st **|**March**|**2024**||



## Section A                        Reference and administration details 

**Charity name Saffron Walden Community Church Other names charity is known by** formerly Gold Street Chapel **Registered charity number (if any)** 1176353 **Charity's principal address** Saffron Walden Community Church Castle Street Saffron Walden Postcode CB10 1BD 

## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity** 

|1<br>2<br>3<br>4<br>5<br>6<br>7<br>8|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for**<br>**whole year **|**Name of person (or body) entitled**<br>**to appoint trustee (ifany)**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||BarryJames Land|Chair & Secretary|||
||Peter Jonathan Graves||||
||Paul AnthonyJohn Martin||||
||Siobhan Rouse||||
||||||
||||||
||||||
||||||



**Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)** 

**Name Dates acted if not for whole year** 

## **Section B              Structure, governance and management** 

## **Description of the charity’s trusts** 

Type of governing document Constitution (eg. trust deed, constitution) 



How the charity is constituted Charitable Incorporated Organisation (eg. trust, association, company) 

Trustee selection methods 

(eg. appointed by, elected by) 

New trustees are appointed by existing trustees 

## **Additional governance issues (Optional information)** 

You **may choose** to include additional information, where relevant, about: 

- policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees; 

- the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works; 

- relationship with any related parties; 

- trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them. 

The trustees delegate the day-to-day running of the church to the pastor and the leadership team, who are primarily responsible for the spiritual wellbeing of the church, and the operation of the various church policies and practices. 

The trustees and leadership team are assisted by a Support Team who are appointed by the members of the church.  The Support Team are responsible for maintaining the fabric of the building, finance and admin. 

- One in particular is the Finance Co-ordinator responsible for keeping accurate accounts of all transactions and for preparing the accounts for the end of year Independent Examination and for presentation at the church AGM and quarterly business meetings, which are open to the public.   There is regular oversight of accounting records and processes by the trustees. 

The church employs three staff members: the pastor, the ministry leader and a church administrator.    All three staff members were offered entry into a pension scheme but all three have opted out. 

The trustees ensure that the charity is being run satisfactorily by those delegated to do so, including compliance with the Child Protection Policy, Risk Management Policy and Data Protection Policy, all of which are reviewed annually, and that the charity is operating for the public benefit. 



## **Section C                    Objectives and activities** 

**Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document** 

For the public benefit, to advance the Christian faith in Saffron Walden, Essex and such other parts of the UK and the world as the charity trustees may from time to time decide. 

We act for the public benefit in enabling all people to live out their Christian faith as part of our church and town communities through: • regular worship services • teaching related to evangelical Christianity for children and adults • regular coffee morning, Toddlers Group, and well-being groups, and • working with other churches and with Saffron Walden Churches Together 

**Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects (include within this section the statutory declaration that trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit)** 

|In particular, we promote and support -|In particular, we promote and support -|
|---|---|
|local mission activities:||
|`o`|Alpha courses, or similar|
|`o`|Various styles of Sunday services|
|`o`|Children’s and youth activities|
|`o`|Social events|
|`o`|Teaching church members to promote Christianity where the live|
||and work|
|`o`|Celebration of Christian festivals|
|`o`|Support for Stort Valley Schools Trust|
|And international mission activities:||
|`o`|Latin Link|
|`o`|Wycliffe Bible Translators|
|`o`|TEAR Fund|
|We strive to advance citizenship and community development through:||
|•|Pastoral care, primarily to those who attend church but also|
||extended to those outside the church|
|•|Support for Stort Valley Schools Trust|
|•|Part of Saffron Walden Street Pastors|
|When|planning activities for the year, the pastor, leadership team and|
|trustees have regard to the Commission’s guidance on charities for the||
|advancement of religion.||
|All the|above activities are open to all sections of the general public.|





## **Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)** 

You **may choose** to include further statements, where relevant, about: 

- policy on grantmaking; 

- policy programme related investment; 

- contribution made by volunteers. 

As resources and opportunity permit we attempt to help those in need through: 

- TEAR Fund (a third world development and aid agency), 

- Emergency aid for others in great need. 

The pastor, the ministry leader and the church administrator have been the only paid employees of the church so much of our activities are provided by volunteers. 

## Section D                      Achievements and performance 

**Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year** 

## _**Worship**_ 

- Sunday Morning services and occasional Evening Prayer and Praise services.   The Sunday Morning services continued to be made available on line. 

- From September 2023, a second weekly Sunday Morning Service was held in the Jubilee Gardens Hub in the centre of town providing a more informal service but still under the main church umbrella. 

- All are welcome to join us in our services in the buildings and online. 

## _**Mid-week meetings**_ 

- Midweek small groups have continued. 

- _**Pastoral Care**_ 

- Pastoral care continues through the small groups and directly by the Pastoral Care Team with issues passed on to the Leadership Team when appropriate.   The wider community benefits from our pastoral care as appropriate through WWW (see below). 

- _**Pop-In Coffee Morning**_ • This particularly helps those of the wider community who may be lonely or in need of a chat.  Payment is by voluntary gift only. 

- _**Walden Wellbeing Walk-In**_ • This initiative has continued providing counselling for those in the community with emotional and mental health issues, staffed by qualified mental health practitioners and volunteers.  This is open to the general public. 

- _**Mother and Toddler Group**_ • Continues throughout the year.. 

- _**Market Square Outreach**_ • Last year’s new initiative continued on Saturday mornings offering to listen and support any with issues who wished to share, particularly offering prayer support. 

- _**Ecumenical Relationships**_ • The church continues to be an active member of Churches Together in Saffron Walden.  We are also members of the Evangelical Alliance.  We have also continued to support three overseas missionary societies and to one UK missionary society. 



Section D                      Achievements and erformance p 

- **Summary of the main** . _**Street Pastors**_ 

- **achievements of the charity** • The church continues a deep involvement with Street Pastors that 

- **during the year (cont.)** was launched in 2013.  They continued to patrol the streets every Friday evening between 8pm and 1.30am when licensed premises were open.    They are there to help the evening community to have an enjoyable, and as far as possible, a safe experience of the town. 

- • This initiative continues to have the support of the local police and the various licenced premises of the town. 

- _**Alpha Courses**_ 

   - The church successfully ran a number of Alpha Courses during the year teaching the basics of Christianity to a range of interested people. 

   - _**Church Building**_ 

      - The church building has continued to be used for the benefit of the community providing accommodation as a Polling Station. 

## **Section E                    Financial review** 

The income of the church, largely through voluntary donation, increased **Brief statement of the** substantially from last year, while the expenditure increased only **charity’s policy on reserves** modestly.  The charity finished the year with a cash balance of £259,065. The church intends to seek the employment of another staff member during the coming year and the balance may be required not only for employment costs but also some element of housing funding. In recent years the church was holding a restricted reserve of £9,882 donated for the Vacation Bible School.   This activity is no longer continuing and it was decided to disburse this sum to other similar activities with similar aims. The church has a policy of maintaining a balance of £50,000 (or less if agreed by a church meeting) for the running of the charity. It was also resolved during the year to pursue investment of church funds in accordance with an Investment Policy, adopted during the year so as to offset the loss of value in savings accounts through inflation. **Details of any funds materially in deficit Further financial review details** 



You **may choose** to include additional information, where relevant about: 

- the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising); 

Our income comes from: 

   - gifts and donations from those attending the church or using its facilities 

   - investment income 

   - gifts from individuals. 

- how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity; 

- investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted. 

## **Section F                     Other optional information** 

## **Section G                    Declaration** 

**The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.** 

## **Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees** 

> **Signature(s)** B J Land P J Graves Peter Jonathan Graves **Full name(s)** Barry James Land **Position** Chair & Secretary Trustee **Date** 20/10/2024 



CHARITY COMMISSION
FOR ENGLAND AND WALES
Independent examiner's
report on the accounts
Section A
Independent Examiner's Report
Report to the trusteesl
member5 of
Saffron Walden Community Church
On accounts for the year
ended
Charlty no
lif any)
31 March 2024
1176353
Set out on pages
TAR and CC16a 1-2
Respectlvo The charity's Iruslees are responsible for the preparation of Ihe accounts in
responsibilities of accordance wilh the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 1"the Act").
Irustges and examlner
The charity's trustees considw that an audit is not requifed for this year
under section 144 of the Act and that an independent examination is
neede(l.
It is my responsibility to:
examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act,
lo follow the applicable Directions gtven by the Charity Commission
(under seclion 14515)Ib) Df the Act. and
to slate whelher particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent My examination carried out in accordan￿ wilh genwal Direclions given
examiner's statement by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the
accounting records kept by the charity and a compar5son of the accounts
presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual
items or disclosures in the accounts. and seeking explanations trom the
Iruslee5 conceming any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not
provide all Ihe evidence Ihal would be required in an audit. and
consequently no opinion is given as lo whether the accounts present a 'true
and fair, view and the rewrt is limited lo those matters set out in the
statement below.
Independent In connecknon wlh rny examination, no mateTlal matters have come to my
examlner's statement att8nlion which gives me cause lo believe that in. any material respect..
accounling records were not kepl in acconlance wlth sectlon 130 of
the Charities Act or
the accounts do not accord with the accounting records.
I have no concems and have come across no other matters in connection
wtth the examination lo which attention should be drawn in order lo enable a
proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Slgned:
Date:
21 October 2024
Name:
Peter W.
m Hill
Relevant professional
qualification{sl or body
Chartered Acrnunlant (FCA- Membership no 7139500}
Address:
Hill House. 27 Meadowford
Newport, Saffron Walden
Essex CB113QL
IER
May 2018

Section B
Disclosure
Only complete if the examiner needs lo highlight matters of concern (s¢6 CC32.
Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for
examiners).
Give here brief detalls of
any Items that the
examinar wishes to
dSsGlose.
IER
May 2018