Discipleship Tech
Report and Accounts Year ended 31 August 2024
1 Lamb's Passage, London EC1Y 8AB www.stewardship.org.uk
DISCIPLESHIP TECH
LEGAL & ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024
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 G.S. Owens (Chair) MANAGING THE CHARITY E.S. Blower (resigned 13 May 2024) J.C. Sutton M.D. Ashelby (appointed 25 January 2024) M.C. Clokey (appointed 24 November 2024) KEY MANAGEMENT A. Geers (CEO) INDEPENDENT EXAMINER Stephen Mathews FCA Stewardship 1 Lamb's Passage LONDON EC1Y 8AB
INDEX
Page 1 Legal & Administrative Details Pages 2-4 Trustees' Report Page 5 Independent Examiner's Report Page 6 Receipts and Payments Account Page 7 Statement of Assets & Liabilities Page 8 Notes to the Accounts
Page 1
DISCIPLESHIP TECH
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024
The Trustees have pleasure in submitting the Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2024.
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:
We continued development and improvement of the PrayerMate app on iOS and Android and the PrayerMate Platform website, including undertaking a major redevelopment project to port the app to the cross-platform Flutter framework, addressing long-standing user issues with the data syncing.
The PrayerMate app reached an all-time total of 600,355 app downloads. Served over 30,000 active users per month. A total of around 19.5 million items were prayed for during the period, an average of 1.6 million items per month.
PrayerMate distributed seven devotional feeds for Advent 2023 - including writing our own PrayerMate Advent devotional, “Waiting for Jesus”, which had over 870 subscribers, plus “The Advent of Glory” by R.C.Sproul, and “The Newborn King” by the UK charity The Langham Partnership. Four devotional feeds were distributed for Lent 2024 - including producing our own “Praying the Psalms Through Lent” feed which had over 600 subscribers, and “Journeying with God in the Wilderness” by Mark Broadway.
The charity made significant progress on the development of our new mobile game Bible Overview experience titled The Serpent & The Seed, designed to help improve Bible engagement:
• Continuing to work with the artist Greg Clifton on artwork for the bulk of the game, and musicians Poo Bishop Hooper, as well as other contributors.
• Exhibiting a demo at our first two secular conferences, PocketGamer Connects London and WAS (part of the London Games Festival), to a very positive reception.
We are working towards the goal of launching The Serpent & The Seed in mid-April 2025, the culmination of a number of years’ work. We will need to raise additional funds to support the launch of this since there will be some significant one-off costs as we promote it at various festivals and conferences, and online, etc.
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Summary of the charity's main activities and achievements (continued)
In planning the activities the Trustees have applied the guidance on public benefit issued by the Charity Commission.
By the grace of God, the above activities and achievements have served to advance the charity’s principle object and purpose of advancing the Christian faith, summed up in our vision of ‘Using technology to help people get to know Jesus better’. Once again this year we have been greatly encouraged by so many users sharing testimonies of how our PrayerMate and Redeeming Time apps have encouraged them in their faith, and we trust that in due time our Bible Game project, The Serpent & The Seed, will engage tens of thousands of people who are not familiar with Christianity. We are very appreciative of our donors and those who have made grants to Discipleship Tech, to enable this ministry to take place, including Deo Gloria Trust and the Slavanka Trust.
Financial review
During the year income decreased by £1,012, to £136,722, and expenditure increased by £13,368 to £144,847. As a result the cash held by the charity decreased by £8,125, to £41,793, all of which is unrestricted and can be used for any charitable purpose.
Total employment costs were £92,870, which includes our CEO and people employed or contracted to do software development and user support, social media and marketing. However, this excludes the game designers and developers involved in the Bible Overview game project.
Reserves policy
The trustees have determined that the charity should aim to hold unrestricted cash of no less than £21,000 (which equates to about three months' of unrestricted expenditure) so that the charity could continue to operate should income and / or expenditure vary adversely. The trustees recognise the commitments to subscribers that extend for up to 12 months, while noting that the costs of maintaining delivery of the service to meet these commitments are very small. At the year end, the charity held net cash in the general fund of £41,793.
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.
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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:
Grant Owens
_________ Grant Owens (May 8, 2025 11:05 GMT+1) G. OWENS
May 8, 2025 Date:_____
Page 4
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 2024 on pages 6 to 8 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
Stephen Mathews (May 8, 2025 14:23 GMT+1)
Stephen Mathews FCA Stewardship 1 Lamb's Passage LONDON EC1Y 8AB
Date: May 8, 2025
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DISCIPLESHIP TECH
RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024
| Notes Income receipts Donations Gift aid receipts Income from charitable activities Investment income 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 Net of receipts / (payments) before Payments in relation to charitable activities undertaken directly |
General Designated Funds Funds £ £ 71,898 - - - 40,152 - 84 - 112,134 - 75,604 - 75,604 - 36,529 - (43,028) - (6,499) - 48,292 - 41,793 - Unrestricted Funds |
Restricted Funds £ 24,589 - - - 24,589 69,242 69,242 (44,654) 43,028 (1,626) 1,626 - |
2024 £ 96,486 - 40,152 84 136,722 144,847 144,847 (8,125) - (8,125) 49,918 41,793 |
2023 £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 93,697 2,764 41,205 69 |
||||
| 137,734 | ||||
| 131,478 | ||||
| 131,478 | ||||
| 6,255 - |
||||
| 6,255 43,663 |
||||
| 49,918 |
The notes on page 8 form part of these accounts.
Page 6
DISCIPLESHIP TECH
STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024
| Notes A Cash funds Cash at bank with immediate access B Other monetary assets Gift aid due to charity In-app purchases amounts receivable Other debtors C Liabilities Accounts payable Fee for Independent Examination Pension creditors |
General Designated funds funds £ £ 41,793 - 41,793 - 489 - 1,019 - 88 - 1,596 - 1,016 - 1,260 - - - 2,276 - Unrestricted Funds |
Restricted funds £ - - 10 - - 10 4,223 - - 4,223 |
2024 £ 41,793 41,793 498 1,019 88 1,606 5,239 1,260 - 6,499 |
2023 £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 49,918 | ||||
| 49,918 | ||||
| 83 1,672 531 |
||||
| 2,286 | ||||
| 3,137 1,260 360 |
||||
| 4,757 |
Deferred income: The charity has received subscription income of £26,482 during the year (2023: £27,552). Subscriptions generally last for 12 months and the unexpired portion of these subscriptions amounts to approximately £13,602 at year-end (2023: £14,277).
D 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:
Grant Owens Grant Owens (May 8, 2025 11:05 GMT+1) _____ G. OWENS
Date:_____ May 8, 2025
The notes on page 8 form part of these accounts.
Page 7
DISCIPLESHIP TECH
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024
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 Bible game app development costs Technology and other consulting and contracting Marketing Operating expenses Accounts preparation and independent examination Royalties Currency transfer costs Travel Insurance Conferences and training |
Unrestrict | Designated funds £ - - - - - - - - - - - - ed Funds |
Restricted Funds £ 28,500 40,742 - - - - - - - - - 69,242 |
Total 2024 £ 86,930 40,742 5,940 3,476 5,007 1,260 547 308 276 196 164 144,847 |
Total 2023 £ |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General funds £ 58,430 - 5,940 3,476 5,007 1,260 547 308 276 196 164 75,604 |
||||||
| 85,148 25,245 4,410 6,733 4,659 1,200 1,009 (26) 1,374 184 1,542 |
||||||
| 131,478 |
3 Transactions with related parties
Mr A. Geers, the CEO of the charity, is regarded as key management and was paid £37.500 (2023: £37,500) and the charity paid pension contributions of £938 (2023: £914).
4 Movement of funds
| General funds Restricted funds Bible Game fund Total funds |
Opening balance £ 48,292 1,626 1,626 49,918 |
Receipts £ 112,134 24,589 24,589 136,722 |
Payments £ (75,604) (69,242) (69,242) (144,847) |
Transfers £ (43,028) 43,028 43,028 - |
Closing balance £ 41,793 - |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | |||||
| 41,793 |
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