## Vine United Reformed Church, Ilford
Report and Accounts Year ended 31 December 2023
1 Lamb's Passage, London EC1Y 8AB www.stewardship.org.uk
## **Vine United Reformed Church**
## **LEGAL & ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS**
## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE GOVERNING DOCUMENT
2-4 Riches Road Ilford Essex IG1 1JH
Part of the United Reformed Church. Local church constitution dated July 2017 and amendment dated December 2017
CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER 1176437 TRUSTEES RESPONSIBLE FOR Sheila Baldwin (resigned October 2023) MANAGING THE CHARITY Remi Ferguson Augustina Pushkin Dulcie Thomson Christina Quartey (appointed January 2024) Patience Asante (appointed March 2023) Peter Musgrave (appointed March 2026) MINISTER
Rev Sujeeth Kumar
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER
Sarah Crispin ACA Stewardship 1 Lamb's Passage LONDON EC1Y 8AB
## **INDEX**
Page 1 Legal & Administrative Details Pages 2-6 Trustees' Report Page 7 Independent Examiner's Report Page 8 Receipts and Payments Account Page 9 Statement of Assets & Liabilities Pages 10-11 Notes to the Accounts
Page 1
## **Vine United Reformed Church REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
The Trustees have pleasure in submitting the Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2023.
## **Objectives of the charity**
The charity, which is a church, is governed by a constitution and is constituted as a trust. The charity's principal objectives, as set out in its governing document, are:
- a) to advance the Christian faith in the UK and elsewhere
- b) providing resources and facilities for public worship, pastoral care, spiritual, moral and intellectual development, both for the congregation and for anyone else who wishes to benefit from what the Church offers.
- c) promoting Christian values and service by members of the congregation to the community for the benefit of individuals and society as a whole and working with other Faith groups to promote unity and peace in our multicultural community.
## **Vine United Reformed Church Mission Statement**
Vine is a welcoming multi-cultural church called to show the love of God by caring for and serving one another in the church, the local community, and the wider world.
- I. We trust in the power of the Holy Spirit to guide and to show where God is leading us.
- II. We are active in living and working with people of all faiths and none. We pray that we may recognise the activity of Christ in the world today.
- III. To deepen our faith we gather for worship, bible study, fellowship, and prayer. We actively enable children and young people to explore their faith.
- IV. In the current climate crisis, we are responding to God’s command to care for creation by working passionately to become a ‘green’ church.
## **Summary of the charity's main activities and achievements:** To further the
above objects and vision, the charity's main activities and achievements were as follows:
We were happy that at the beginning of the year life began to get back to normal and we were able to meet together for worship. However, many of our older
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members had found it quite stressful and because of poor health have become housebound. Others, because of their work, have been unable to attend Church. During the pandemic services were offered online and this is still being offered as some of our members find it easier to ‘attend’ these services. This has affected the number attending and the average attendance is fifteen adults and five children.
Our pastoral care, which has always been very important has continued, with regular telephone calls, visits, and communion offered to those who wish to take it.
Our ecumenical partnership with the St Lukes Anglican Church and the Ilford Lane Methodist Church has always been important to us and we were pleased that we were able to have joint services I each of our churches.
**Children and Youth Work:** We were pleased to welcome back our Youth Worker from maternity leave at the beginning of the year. Once again, we were able to welcome children of all faiths to meet once a month for two hours, playing games, doing arts and crafts and learning about the culture of other countries and also about the climate and the need to take care of our world.
A very successful and happy holiday club was held in August, attended by around 50 children. Many of our young people are at university or working away but they have able to keep in touch though using WhatsApp group and this included online worship. This is much appreciated by the young people as it enables them to continue to be part of the church family.
Some of them were able to meet at a meal organised by the Church, and here they discussed ways to be apart of the Church family.
In December the children and young people led the worship and toys were donated, which were given to the local women’s refuge. We would like to thank our members who have helped with these activities and are especially grateful to volunteers from other faiths who readily work with the Vine time.
**Safeguarding:** Our Youth Worker has been busy updating our Church Safeguarding Policy. This is very important and remains as a standing order on our Elders and Church Meeting agenda. The Trustees have attended Safeguarding Training organised by the SYNOD.
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**Pastoral Care and Church Social Life:** The Elders oversee the pastoral care of all members and adherents. Throughout the year we continued our pastoral visits, supporting vulnerable members and others of the community. Fellowship and friendship grow as we meet after worship and converse over a cup of tea or coffee.
**Service to the Community:** As part of its work to serve the community of Redbridge, Vine Church still offers its premises for use by 12 non-governmental organisations, charities, and church-related organisations. The Aanchal Women’s Aid and AWAAZ, organisations working with women, families and schools were able to continue their work in full, as did the Oakfield Play Group.
The three churches which use our premises – Kimbanquist Church, Lamb’s Gate Church and the Harul Romanian Church, like us, resumed services at the beginning of the year. Vine Church services are open to all, and all are welcome in this place. In winter the Church was able to offer a warm space to vulnerable members of the local community.
**Charitable Works:** We were able to continue our support for Christian Aid, the Salvation Army, Water Aid, and MercyShips. We also supported special appeals such as the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and the Ukraine Appeal.
**Refurbishment of Church Buildings:** As mentioned in our 2022 report, we have had the quinquennial survey which has highlighted some urgent repair works which have been ongoing. Having gained our Bronze Eco-Award from A Rocha Eco Church and with the hard work of some of our members applying for grants, we have been able to commence renovation works towards making our buildings more ecofriendly.
A number of repairs were done to the church manse - this includes windows, guttering and other minor repairs.
The gift given to the church for the renewal and regeneration of our outdoor spaces has been used, not only to make our garden space beautiful which the community can enjoy, but has also enabled us to partner with the Salvation Army so that those they support can use their skills and enjoy working in the garden.
In planning the activities, the Trustees have applied the guidance on public benefit issued by the Charity Commission.
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**Importance of Climate Change** : We are actively encouraging all users of our premises and the local community to educate their members on becoming more aware of the seriousness of climate change. Simple things like with the use and disposal of single use plastic and other items. This is an ongoing priority for the church.
**Financial review:** During the year income increased by £32,988, to £114,555. Expenditure increased by £14,780 to £83,294. As a result, the cash held by the charity increased by £31,261, to £82,564 of which £33,427 is unrestricted and can be used for any charitable purpose.
**Reserves policy:** The trustees have determined that the charity should aim to hold unrestricted cash of no less than the equivalent of 1 months running costs (which equates to about 30 days of unrestricted expenditure) so that the charity could continue to operate should income and / or expenditure vary adversely. In 2023 1 months unrestricted expenditure was £4,350. At the year end, the charity held unrestricted cash of £33,427 and the charity is complying with its reserves policy.
## **Governance**
Responsibility for setting policy and for making operating decisions rest with the trustees who meet regularly to monitor the activities of the charity. The activities of Vine Church are overseen by the Elders' Meeting of the Church in accordance with the provisions of The Structure of the United Reformed Church determined by the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church and supplemented by the rules of Vine Church. The governing document is a statement adopted by the Church Meeting on 30th July 2017. The mission statement was reviewed and approved by the Church Meeting in December 2022 and included in the governing document for 2023 onwards.
The Elders' Meeting is responsible for the financial administration of the Church, and the care and maintenance of Church premises and the manse. The Church Meeting of all members gives general guidance on the life and work of the Church and approval of recommendations by the Elders.
The members of the Elders' Meeting are the minister in pastoral charge (if any) and up to six members of Vine Church nominated and elected by the members of the Church Meeting. Elders serve for four years, retire by rotation and are eligible for re-election. There is no limit on the number of consecutive periods of service. The
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elected Elders are the trustees of the registered charity during their period of service as elders.
The Elders' Meeting met seven times during the year. It is assisted in the administration of the Church and its property by skilled members of the congregations with the appropriate experience for the maintenance of buildings, finance, and general administration. The Church Meeting met seven times during the year and wherever needed, special meetings would be held to discuss important matters.
**Responsibilities of trustees** : Charity law requires us as Trustees to prepare financial statements for each accounting year which record the receipts and payments of the charity for the year.
We are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable us to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011.
We also have a responsibility to safeguard the assets of the charity and to take reasonable steps to prevent fraud or any other irregularities.
Approval: This report was approved by the trustees and Church Meeting and signed on their behalf by:
## D Thomson
________________________________ D Thomson (Jul 9, 2026 14:59:54 GMT+1) Mrs Dulcie Thomson, Church Secretary and Elder (Trustee)
Date: Jul 9, 2026
Page 6
## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT**
## **TO THE TRUSTEES OF**
## **Vine United Reformed Church**
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Vine United Reformed Church ('the charity') for the year ended 31 December 2023 on pages 8 to 11 following.
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
As the trustees of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’).
I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s 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 2011 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 giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
1. accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; or
2. the accounts do not accord with the accounting records.
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.
## Sarah Crispin
Sarah Crispin (Jul 14, 2026 11:25:34 GMT+1)
Sarah Crispin ACA
Stewardship 1 Lamb's Passage LONDON EC1Y 8AB
Date: Jul 14, 2026
Page 7
## **Vine United Reformed Church**
## **RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT**
## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
|Notes
**_Income receipts_**
Donations & legacies
Gift aid receipts
Other grants
Income from letting of facilities
Other
**_Capital and similar receipts_**
**_Total receipts_**
**_Payments_**
2
**_Total payments_**
Transfers between funds
4
**Net movement in funds**
Cash funds as at last year end
**Cash funds at this year end**
A
Receipt of loan
Net of receipts / (payments) before
Payments
in
relation
to
charitable
activities undertaken directly||General
Designated
Funds
Funds
£
£
13,301
-
1,029
-
-
-
38,145
-
810
-
53,284
-
-
-
53,284
-
52,211
-
52,211
-
1,073
-
400
-
1,473
-
31,955
-
33,427
-
Unrestricted Funds|Restricted
Funds
£
2,257
-
53,815
-
-
56,071
5,200
61,271
31,083
31,083
30,188
(400)
29,788
19,349
49,137|2023
£
15,557
1,029
53,815
38,145
810
109,355
5,200
114,555
83,294
83,294
31,261
-
31,261
51,303
82,564|2022
£|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||General
Funds
£
13,301
1,029
-
38,145
810
53,284
-
53,284
52,211
52,211
1,073
400
1,473
31,955
33,427||||
||||||29,464
734
8,951
42,314
103|
||||||81,567|
||||||-|
||||||81,567|
||||||68,514|
||||||68,514|
||||||13,053
-|
||||||13,053
38,250|
||||||51,303|
The notes on pages 10-11 form part of these accounts.
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## **Vine United Reformed Church**
## **STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES**
## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
|Notes
**A**
**Cash funds**
Cash at bank with immediate access
Notice deposits
**B**
**Other monetary assets**
Gift aid due to charity
Premises hire debtors
HMRC amounts owed
**C**
**Liabilities**
**Falling due within one year**
Loans
Accruals
Fee for Independent Examination
**Total**|General
Designated
funds
funds
£
£
25,927
-
7,500
-
**33,427**
**-**
1,329
-
1,863
-
-
-
**3,192**
**-**
-
-
2,587
-
1,230
-
3,817
-
Unrestricted Funds|Restricted
funds
£
49,137
-
**49,137**
-
-
-
**-**
5,200
-
-
5,200|2023
£
75,064
7,500
**82,564**
1,329
1,863
**3,192**
5,200
2,587
1,230
9,017|2022
£|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||43,803
7,500|
|||||**51,303**|
|||||1,893
1,282
5,173|
|||||**8,348**|
|||||-
-
900|
|||||900|
The above loans are interest free and are repayable over a period of 3 years, although no repayments have yet been made.
## **D Assets retained for charity's own use**
|Organ
Contents of church & hall|Fund to
which asset
belongs|Insurance
value
£|
|---|---|---|
|||93,169
281,332|
|||374,501|
The church building and the manse are vested in URC Thames North Trust as trustees and are not church assets. They are held for the benefit of Vine, Ilford United Reformed Church in accordance with the statutory trusts applicable to URC properties under the URC Acts. For insurance purposes the church buildings are insured by the church for £5,414,468 and the Manse is insured by the church for £257,009
The accounts were approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf by:
D Thomson ~~______________________~~ D Thomson (Jul 9, 2026 14:59:54 GMT+1) _____________ Mrs Dulcie Thomson, Church Secretary and Elder (Trustee)
Jul 9, 2026 Date:_______________________
The notes on pages 10-11 form part of these accounts.
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## **Vine United Reformed Church**
## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS**
## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
## **1 Accounting policies**
The accounts have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis and comprise a statement that shows the charity's receipts and payments, a statement that summarises the charity's assets and liabilities and related notes. The accountancy profession have determined that only accounts prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards present a 'true and fair' view and, as these receipts and payments accounts have not (and cannot) be prepared in accordance with accounting standards, these accounts do not present (and are not intended to present) a 'true and fair' view of the charity's financial activities and state of affairs.
General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity. Designated funds comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the trustees for particular purposes. Restricted funds are donations which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors; they include donations received from appeals for specific activities or projects.
|**2**
**Payments in relation to charitable activities undertaken directly**
Ministry & Mission
Employment costs (see note 4)
Worship & music
Youth and children's work
Other ministry costs
Support of outside causes
Manse costs
Maintenance of buildings & equipment
LCEF project
Green spaces renewal project
Equipment
Utilities
Insurance
Independent examination
Office costs|Unrestricted Fun
General
funds
£
9,204
4,848
310
-
-
310
1,440
5,291
-
-
-
16,623
5,329
900
7,956
52,211|ds
Restricted
Funds
£
-
11,702
-
631
243
1,152
7,364
5,000
-
4,991
-
-
-
-
-
31,083|Total
2023
£
9,204
16,550
310
631
243
1,462
8,803
10,291
-
4,991
-
16,623
5,329
900
7,956
83,294|Total
2022
£|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||10,417
9,298
2,678
548
373
1,558
5,997
6,330
7,894
651
649
10,768
4,770
660
5,923|
|||||68,514|
## **3 Transactions with related parties**
The Minister is employed by the central finance office of the URC and Ministry & Mission costs (in note 2) include contributions to the central fund for this purpose. No staff received salaries at a rate of more than £60,000 per annum.
In addition the charity incurred expenditure totalling £8,803 (2022: £5,997) in respect of the provision of accommodation (which is customary for ministers) for Rev. Sujeeth Kumar so that he could better perform his duties.
Remi Ferguson was given a £100 honorarium (2022: £100) as a token of appreciation for his services in the role of treasurer.
Page 10
## **Vine United Reformed Church**
## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS**
## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
## **4 Movement of funds**
|**vement of funds**||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|General funds
Restricted funds
Flower Fund
Pastoral Fund
GLA LCEF Fund
URC Trust (Youth worker)
Outdoor Green spaces renewal fund
Building and Maintenance Fund
The VEOLIA Environmental Trust
The Big Lottery Community Fund
Gants Hill Fund
Youth & Children's Fund
Giving Fund
Total funds|Opening
balance
£
31,955
388
1,261
400
-
14,349
500
-
-
-
2,441
10
19,349
51,303|Receipts
£
53,284
175
351
-
8,000
-
5,530
28,586
9,715
7,364
150
1,401
61,271
114,555|Payments
£
(52,211)
(113)
(130)
-
(8,000)
(4,991)
(5,000)
-
(3,702)
(7,364)
(631)
(1,152)
(31,083)
(83,294)|Transfers
£
400
-
-
(400)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
(400)
-|Closing
balance
£
33,427
450
1,482
-
-
9,358
1,030
28,586
6,013
-
1,960
258|
||||||49,137|
||||||82,564|
The Flower Fund is money given specifically to fund flowers for the church or to be given for pastoral reasons. The Pastoral Fund is to support those in temporary need.
The GLA London Community Energy Fund provides much-needed support to get community energy projects up and running and deployed faster to reboot the economy and benefit hard-hit communities. This was used to run a number of resourcing sessions aimed at the local community. The balance was transferred to General to cover Church admin costs for bid writing incurred in the previous year as agreed with LCEF.
The Outdoor Green Spaces Renewal Fund is to support the renewal work of the outdoor spaces in the church suite of buildings including the manse. The fund was used during 2023 to install an eco driveway at the manse, and a new green community garden in front of the community house. The Building and Maintenance Fund is building maintenance.
The VEOLIA Environmental Trust fund is for insulation & improvement of the halls to help move towards a zero carbon community building. The Big Lottery Community Fund is a contribution to the costs of employing a Youth Worker.
The Youth & Children's Fund is made up of several small funds restricted to specific areas of ministry with children & young people.
The Giving Fund is made up of donations received for a number of specific appeals to support the work of other charities in the areas of mission and poverty relief.
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