Discipleship Tech Report and Accounts
for the year to 31 August 2020
1 Lamb's Passage LONDON EC1Y 8AB t: 020 8502 5600 e: enquiries@stewardship.org.uk w: www.stewardship.org.uk
DISCIPLESHIP TECH
LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS
FOR THE YEAR TO 31 AUGUST 2020
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE First Floor, Thames Exchange 10 Queen Street Place London EC4R 1BE GOVERNING DOCUMENT CIO - FOUNDATION registered 18 June 2018 CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER 1178838 TRUSTEES RESPONSIBLE FOR A.R. Reynolds (Chair) MANAGING THE CHARITY E.S. Blower G.S. Owens J.C. Sutton KEY MANAGEMENT A. Geers (CEO) INDEPENDENT EXAMINER Stephen Mathews FCA Stewardship 1 Lamb's Passage LONDON EC1Y 8AB INDEX Page 1 Legal and Administrative Details Pages 2-3 Trustees' Report Page 4 Independent Examiner's Report Page 5 Receipts and Payments Account Page 6 Statement of Assets and Liabilities Page 7 Notes to the Accounts
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DISCIPLESHIP TECH
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES
FOR THE YEAR TO 31 AUGUST 2020
The Trustees have pleasure in submitting the Report and Accounts for the year to 31 August 2020.
Objects of the charity
The charity is governed by a constitution and is constituted as a charitable incorporated organisation. The charity's principal object, as set out in its governing document, is to advance the Christian faith, including without limitation by using technology, software applications and other platforms.
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:
Continued development and improvement of the PrayerMate app on iOS and Android and the PrayerMate Platform website, including:
Launching a major new version of the PrayerMate app, v7, including many features requested by users such as event reminders, being able to customise the selection of items that appear for prayer, being able to search your lists and search for new organisations to subscribe to.
Launching translations for PrayerMate in the French and German languages.
Updating the publishing website to allow organisations and churches to use rich text and header images in their prayer feeds.
Revamping the website landing page for people who are discovering PrayerMate for the first time.
The PrayerMate app reached an all-time total of 431.4k app downloads.
Served over 40k active users during the first peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March-April 2020.
1.6 million items prayed for per month, a total of around 19.6 million items prayed during the period.
The number of “ PrayerMate Share” small groups created reached 1,457, with a total of 4,483 group members.
Distributed nine devotional feeds for Advent 2019 - including writing our own PrayerMate Advent devotional, “ Come, Lord Jesus”, which had over 1,500 subscribers, plus “Repeat the Sounding Joy” by Christopher Ash, and “Focus on Christmas” by the UK Charity Tearfund.
Distributed seven devotional feeds for Lent 2020 - including 40acts by the UK charity Stewardship, “ Alive” by Tearfund, and "To Seek and to Save” by Sinclair Ferguson.
Participated in the COVID-19 Global Church Hackathon event organised by FaithTech, developing a new resource called “The Easter Experience” in partnership with UK Charity CrossTeach, to help school children engage with the meaning of Easter. We obtained a small grant to help complete this project and hope to launch it to wider distribution from the beginning of 2021.
In planning the activities the Trustees have applied the guidance on public benefit issued by the Charity Commission.
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DISCIPLESHIP TECH
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES
FOR THE YEAR TO 31 AUGUST 2020
Financial review
During the year the charity received £61,407 (2019: £101,202), and made payments of £75,215 (2019: £56,574) in relation to its charitable activities, resulting in cash held by the charity of £30,721 at year end (2019: £44,528). All of this balance 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 £14,000 (which equates to about two months' of unrestricted expenditure) so that the charity could continue to operate should income and / or expenditure vary adversely. At the year end, the charity held unrestricted cash of £30,721 and the charity is complying with its reserves policy.
Governance
Responsibility for setting policy and for determining the parameters within which the charity should operate rest with the trustees who meet regularly to monitor the activities of the charity. Responsibility for the day to day operation of the charity has been delegated to a senior management team led by the CEO, Andrew Geers. New trustees are recruited and appointed by the existing trustees, by a majority vote.
Risk statement
The charity is exposed to various risks - be they operational, financial or reputational. The trustees review the charity's activities regularly to identify significant risks and, where possible, they take appropriate measures to mitigate those risks.
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 signed on their behalf by:
A.R. Reynolds
Date: 1 March 2021
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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT
TO THE TRUSTEES OF
DISCIPLESHIP TECH
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Discipleship Tech ('the charity') for the year ended 31 August 2020 on pages 5 to 7 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:
-
accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; or
-
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.
Stephen Mathews FCA
Stewardship 1 Lamb's Passage LONDON EC1Y 8AB
Date: 23 March 2021
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DISCIPLESHIP TECH
RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT
FOR THE YEAR TO 31 AUGUST 2020
| Notes Income receipts Donations, legacies and grants Income from charitable activities Total receipts Payments 2 Total payments Transfers between funds Net movement in funds Cash funds as at last year end Cash funds at this period end A Net of receipts / (payments) before transfers Payments in relation to charitable activities undertaken directly |
Unrestricted General Funds £ 30,044 31,364 61,407 75,215 75,215 (13,807) - (13,807) 44,528 30,721 |
Restricted Funds £ - - - - - - - - - - |
2020 £ 30,044 31,364 61,407 75,215 75,215 (13,807) - (13,807) 44,528 30,721 |
2019 £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 83,064 18,138 |
||||
| 101,202 | ||||
| 56,674 | ||||
| 56,674 | ||||
| 44,528 - |
||||
| 44,528 - |
||||
| 44,528 |
The notes on page 7 form part of these accounts.
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DISCIPLESHIP TECH
STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
FOR THE YEAR TO 31 AUGUST 2020
| A Cash funds Cash at bank with immediate access B Other monetary assets Gift aid due to charity Subscriptions receivable Deposit on office space Other debtors C Liabilities Pension contributions payable Accounts payable Fee for Accounts preparation and Independent Examination |
2020 £ 30,721 30,721 34 470 300 735 1,539 - 113 1,000 1,112 |
2019 £ |
|---|---|---|
| 44,528 | ||
| 44,528 | ||
| 418 - - - |
||
| 418 | ||
| 279 - 1,080 |
||
| 1,359 |
Deferred income: The charity has received subscription income of £22,480 during the year (2019: £15,349). Subscriptions generally last for 12 months and the unexpired portion of these subscriptions amounts to approximately £7,270 at year-end (2019: £8,000).
| D Assets retained for charity's own use Computers (at cost less 25% annual depreciation) |
2020 Cost £ 2,922 2,922 |
2019 Cost £ |
|---|---|---|
| 3,896 | ||
| 3,896 |
E Guarantees and secured debts
The charity has not given any guarantees and has not provided its assets as security for any liabilities.
The accounts were approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf
by date A.R. Reynolds 1 March 2021
The notes on page 7 form part of these accounts.
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DISCIPLESHIP TECH
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
FOR THE YEAR TO 31 AUGUST 2020
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 Employment costs Technology and other consulting and contracting Marketing Operating expenses Office space Accounts preparation and independent examination Royalties Equipment Software licences Travel Insurance Conferences and training |
Total 2020 £ 66,081 2,631 1,825 1,269 1,135 1,080 700 150 143 102 101 - 75,215 |
Total 2019 £ |
|---|---|---|
| 40,820 9,455 792 772 - - 3,896 272 137 330 200 |
||
| 56,674 |
3 Transactions with related parties
Mr A. Geers, the CEO of the charity, is regarded as key management and for the year ended 31 August 2020 was paid £30,000 (2019: £20,000 for eight months), and the charity paid pension contributions of £714 (2019: £418 for eight months).
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