2023-12-31-accounts - St Thomas Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church London

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	Trustees' Annual Report	Trustees' Annual Report	Trustees' Annual Report	Trustees' Annual Report	Trustees' Annual Report	for theperiod	for theperiod	for theperiod
	From	Period start date			To	Period end date
		01	Jan	2023		31	Dec	2023

Section A Reference and administration details

Charity name ST THOMAS JACOBITE SYRIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH LONDON

Other names charity is known by ST THOMAS JSOC LONDON

Registered charity number (if any) 1177726

Charity's principal address 2A Taunton road Harold hill, Romford Post code RM3 7ST

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

Trustee name	Office (if any)	Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (ifany)
Fr. Raju C Abraham (Vicar)	Chair Person	General Body
POULOSE KAKKASSERY	Secretary	General Body
BIJU JACOB	Treasurer	General Body
BASIL JOHN	Joint Secretary	General Body
PradeepCherian		General Body
BinoyJacob		General Body
Santosh Alexander		General Body
CibyYohannan		General Body
SujoyAbraham		General Body
Mrs. Biji Siril		General Body
E. V. Roy		General Body
Shyam Simon		General Body
Mrs Maria Biju		General Body

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

Name Dates acted if not for whole year

Page 1

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)

Type of adviser Name Address

NName of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

Section B Structure, governance and management

Description of the charity’s trusts

Type of governing document

(eg. trust deed, constitution)

How the charity is constituted

The Church's governing document is the Constitution that has been submitted to the Charity Commission.

CIO

(eg. trust, association, company)

Trustee selection methods

Elected by General Body

(eg. appointed by, elected by)

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.

St Thomas Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church is a vital part of the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church, under the leadership of Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, the Patriarch and Supreme Head of Antioch and all the East, seated on the Apostolic Throne of St Peter. Our Church also pledges allegiance to His Beatitude Aboon Mor Baselios Thomas I, the Catholicos of the East (Malankara), and his successors. The Patriarchal Vicar, appointed as the Metropolitan in charge of the UK, governs our Church's faith matters in consultation with the Patriarch.

The Vicar's appointment is made by the Patriarch through the Patriarchal Vicar. The Annual General Body elects the Church office bearers, including the Secretary, Joint Secretary, Treasurer, Internal Auditor, and other Managing Committee members/Trustees. The Managing Committee oversees and administers all the church's administrative and financial affairs, with elected members serving a tenure of two years.

The Managing Committee convenes at least once a month to deliberate and decide on the Church's daily operations, including approving new membership applications. A biannual general body meeting is held every six months. The Church's income and expenditure are budgeted at the beginning of the financial year and approved by the general body. All spending is regulated, ensuring adherence to the rules set out by the Trustees to prevent misuse of funds.

Accounts and procedures undergo internal auditing at least twice a year by an elected internal auditor during the Annual General Body Meeting (AGM). An independent examination or external scrutiny is also conducted by an independent examiner appointed by the Trustees.

Page 2

Section C Objectives and activities

Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document 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)	The primary objective of the Church is to promote the Christian faith and spread the Gospel. This includes:  Conducting the Holy Eucharist, Sacraments, and Services according to the faith, traditions, and customs of the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church.  Providing the Holy Sacrament to all faithful members.  Establishing charitable institutions for the welfare of Church members and the broader community.  Supporting charitable institutions to assist the poor and needy in Greater London and India.  Alleviating poverty and sickness.  Other charitable purposes benefiting the public and community development.
	The Holy Eucharist is celebrated every Sunday at St Thomas JSO Church, Romford, London, RM3 7ST, with an average attendance of over 200 people. The service begins at 09:30 with morning prayers, followed by the Holy Mass at 10:00. Recognizing that the children are the foundation of future society and the Church, significant emphasis is placed on their spiritual education. Sunday School is conducted to instill Christian faith, church traditions, and positive moral and social values. Over 80 children are registered and regularly attend online Sunday School classes, following a structured curriculum provided by MJSSC in Kerala, India, in coordination with MJSSA UK. The Youth Association actively engages as altar boys, choir singers, and group leaders. Their goal is to learn and practice the Lord's teachings, grow in faith, and develop strong moral values and social conscience. They also organize various cultural, community, and charity activities. A Women's Forum is actively involved in the Church, focusing on spiritual growth through prayers, devotional worship, and Bible study sessions. Four fellowship units, based on the geographical spread of members' residences, hold regular prayer meetings monthly. These meetings provide opportunities for families to gather, interact, worship together, and strengthen fellowship. Traditional Christmas Carol services involve groups, including ladies, children, the Vicar, and Santa Claus, visiting members' residences to sing and proclaim the glorious news of the Saviour's birth and the hope it brings. Regular attendance at Holy services is believed to purify the soul, provide a finer perspective on life, and bring out the best in individuals, prompting them to consider the needs of others as equally important as their own. Helping the poor and the needy forms an important part of our Worship to God. We also believe that helping the poor is one of the ways of contributing towards building a better world. A portion of our income is spent each year to provide financial assistance to sick patients, disabled and the poor. To further our mission of supporting the community, we organize a charity food distribution program, benefiting 30-40 families. This initiative takes place every 4th and 5th Sunday at the Church, providing essential nourishment to those in need. Grants are given to the eligible applicants, only after proper verification of the genuineness and their existing financial status and this is discussed in detail in the committee meetings of the Trustees. lt is also here that the amount to be given is decided and this is sent directly to the beneficiary with no third parties involved.

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

The primary objective of the Church is to promote the Christian faith and spread
the Gospel. This includes:

Conducting the Holy Eucharist, Sacraments, and Services according to
the faith, traditions, and customs of the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church.

Providing the Holy Sacrament to all faithful members.

Establishing charitable institutions for the welfare of Church members and
the broader community.

Supporting charitable institutions to assist the poor and needy in Greater
London and India.

Alleviating poverty and sickness.

Other charitable purposes benefiting the public and community
development.

The Holy Eucharist is celebrated every Sunday at St Thomas JSO Church,
Romford, London, RM3 7ST, with an average attendance of over 200 people. The
service begins at 09:30 with morning prayers, followed by the Holy Mass at 10:00.
Recognizing that the children are the foundation of future society and the Church,
significant emphasis is placed on their spiritual education. Sunday School is
conducted to instill Christian faith, church traditions, and positive moral and social
values. Over 80 children are registered and regularly attend online Sunday School
classes, following a structured curriculum provided by MJSSC in Kerala, India, in
coordination with MJSSA UK.
The Youth Association actively engages as altar boys, choir singers, and group
leaders. Their goal is to learn and practice the Lord's teachings, grow in faith, and
develop strong moral values and social conscience. They also organize various
cultural, community, and charity activities.
A Women's Forum is actively involved in the Church, focusing on spiritual growth
through prayers, devotional worship, and Bible study sessions.
Four fellowship units, based on the geographical spread of members' residences,
hold regular prayer meetings monthly. These meetings provide opportunities for
families to gather, interact, worship together, and strengthen fellowship.
Traditional Christmas Carol services involve groups, including ladies, children, the
Vicar, and Santa Claus, visiting members' residences to sing and proclaim the
glorious news of the Saviour's birth and the hope it brings.
Regular attendance at Holy services is believed to purify the soul, provide a finer
perspective on life, and bring out the best in individuals, prompting them to
consider the needs of others as equally important as their own.
Helping the poor and the needy forms an important part of our Worship to God.
We also believe that helping the poor is one of the ways of contributing towards
building a better world. A portion of our income is spent each year to provide
financial assistance to sick patients, disabled and the poor. To further our mission
of supporting the community, we organize a charity food distribution program,
benefiting 30-40 families. This initiative takes place every 4th and 5th Sunday at
the Church, providing essential nourishment to those in need.
Grants are given to the eligible applicants, only after proper verification of the
genuineness and their existing financial status and this is discussed in detail in
the committee meetings of the Trustees. lt is also here that the amount to be
given is decided and this is sent directly to the beneficiary with no third parties
involved.

Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)

Page 3

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

policy on grant making;
policy programme related investment;
Contribution made by volunteers.

Section D Achievements and performance

Page 4

Section D Achievements and performance

Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year

Our Church is registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) with effect from 27th Mar 2018. Our new Charity Registration Number is 1177726.

St Thomas Day: On 3[rd] and 4[th] , our Church celebrated the feast day of St Thomas which was blessed by a Perunnal message from HG Mathew Mor Antheemos, Gospel retreat by Rev. Fr. Joshy Vettikattil and Rev. Fr. Philip Thomas. The special Holy Mass was conducted with Rev Fr Jebin Iype as main Celebrant and Vicar: Fr Raju C Abraham and Rev.Fr. Philip Thomas.

Youth Association: With the theme Spiritual nourishment and personality development, many activities such as Food for community charity food distributions, meet and greet, Youth retreat and Holy Mass in English are successfully undertaken this year.

Other community and charity activities undertaken during the year 2019:

Charity Food Pantry; community charity food distribution and deliveries in Romford community on every 4[th] Sundays.
Garden of Love veg. Green garden project and tree planting within the church compound.
Regularly support by providing food items to needy neighbourhood area, Abercrombie house and local sheltered homes at Harold hill.

Page 5

Section E Financial review

The Church reserves are held to fund its current and future activities.

Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves

Details of any funds materially There are no funds in deficit. in deficit

Further financial review details (Optional information)

The principal source of income is voluntary donations and monthly subscription fees from our members.

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

The major expenditure is the mortgage being paid to Charity Bank for repaying the loan.

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

The Church is run by volunteers who are not entitled to any remuneration, except the Vicar's allowances being paid to the Priest for pastoral services.

how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity;

Other expenses are in proportion to the needs of the congregation.

investment policy and objectives including any The Church does not have sufficient funds currently to invest in long term
ethical investment policy investments. Funds available are held as cash in a mainstream bank,
adopted.

Section F Other optional information

Public Benefit:

The Trustees have considered the guidance produced by the Charity Commission on the provision of the l public benefit and they confirm that the public benefit has been provided by:

1) Promoting the whole mission of the church through activities for individuals, parents and toddlers.
2) Providing regular Christian Worship open to all.
3) Teaching Christianity through sermons, courses and small groups.
4) Instituting Christian values in children.
5) Extending the charity works of the Church to other communities around us.
6) Voluntary and Charity activities to relieve poverty and sickness in Greater London and India.

Section G Declaration

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

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s)

Full name(s) Poulose Kakkassery

Position (Secretary) Secretary

Page 6

Date 13.10.2022 Page 7

	Charity Name ST THOMAS JACOBITE SYRIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH	Charity Name ST THOMAS JACOBITE SYRIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH	Charity Name ST THOMAS JACOBITE SYRIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH	No (if any) 1177726	CC16a
	For the period from	Period start date 1/1/2023	To	Period end date 12/31/2023

Section A Receipts and payments
to the nearest £ A1 Receipts SUBCRIPTIONS 30,295 OFFERINGS 38,506 DONATIONS 53,498 INTEREST 1,957 GIFT AID 40,203 164,458 - Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to the nearest £ *Sub total*(Gross income for AR)			to the nearest £ Endowment funds	Total funds to the nearest £ 30,295 38,506 53,498 1,957 40,203 164,458	Last year to the nearest £
SUBCRIPTIONS	30,295		- - - -	30,295	34,380
OFFERINGS	38,506			38,506	24,926
DONATIONS	53,498			53,498	29,820
INTEREST	1,957			1,957	45
GIFT AID	40,203			40,203	45,154
*Sub total*(Gross income for AR)	164,458	-		164,458	134,325

	- - - - - - - - -	- - -	- - - 164,458 720 14,250 33,690 1,129 13,293 7,985 2,680 30,584 2,572 - 198 107,101 - - 107,101 57,358 - 244,500 301,858
			-
			-	-
			-	-

		-	164,458	134,325

		- - - - - -	720	720
			14,250	15,800
			33,690	31,946
			1,129	1,960
			13,293	5,414
			7,985	5,485
			2,680	1,050
			30,584	23,492
			2,572	1,579
			-	3,123
			198	277.93
			107,101	90,847

		- -	-
			-	-

		-	107,101	90,847

57,358	-	-	57,358	43,478
20,428	- 20,428	-	-	-
224,072	20,428	- -	244,500	201,022
301,858	-		301,858	244,500

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

Categories B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B3 Investment assets B5 Liabilities B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees	Details CURRENT SAVING PETTY CASH BUILDING FUND Details Details Details CHURCH BUILDING Details Signature *Total cash funds* (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) BANK LOAN ( THE CHARITY BANK LTD )	to nearest £ to nearest £ 118,629 - 183,229 - - - - 301,858 - OK OK to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Cost (optional) - - Cost (optional) 631,387 - - - - - - - - 288,640 - - - - Print Name Mr. Poulose Kakkassery Mr. Biju Jacob Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional)	to nearest £ Endowment funds
			-
			-

			-
			-
			OK
			to nearest £ Endowment funds
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			Current value (optional)
			-
			-
			Current value (optional)
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			-
			When due (optional)






			Date of approval
		Mr. Poulose Kakkassery	7/18/2024
		Mr. Biju Jacob	7/18/2024

(HARITY (OMMISSIO Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteasl members of ST THOMAS JACOBITE SYRIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH On accounts for the year ended 31st DECEMBER 2023 Charity no (if any) 1177726 Set out on pages Respectlve The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The responsibilities of charity's Iruslees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section trustees and oxaminer 144121 of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Acll 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 Commisslon lunder section 145{51(bl of the 2011 Act, and to stale whether Pa'CUlar matters have come to my attention. Basis of independent My examination was carried out in a¢¢ordance with general Directions given by the examiner's statement Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and 8 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 Iruslees concerning any such mallers. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as lo whether the accounts present a 'Irue and fair, view and the report is limited to those mallers set out in the statement below. Independent In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention (other than examiner's statement that disclosed below ') which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in. any materi81 respect, the requirements.. to keep accounting CordS in accordan with section 130 of the 2011 Act.. and lo prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act have not been mel '. or 2. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. P18888 delete the words in the brackets if they do not epply. Signed". Date: 1810712024 Name: Sebastian Machukaltu Devasia Relevant professional qualification{s) or body lif any): Association of Chartered Certified Accountants Address: 17 NEALS CORNER, BATH ROAD, HOUNSLOW MIDDLESEX TW3 3HJ IER

Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material problems. Glve here brlef detalls of any items that the èxaminer wlshes to disclose. IER