Acton Baptist Church CIO
Reports & Accounts
Financial Year Ending 31/12/2025
Contents
Legal & Administrative Details
Trustees Report Independent Examiners Report Receipts & Payments Statement Asset & Liability Statement Notes to the Accounts
Created using ExpensePlus
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Legal & Administrative Details
Charity Name: Charity Number: Charity Address:
Trustees:
Independent Examiner:
Acton Baptist Church CIO 1179061 12 Church Road Acton London W3 8PP
Lydia Antoniou (Appointed 11/05/2025) Richard Bellis Frances Bellis Syreta Boost Josephine Choji-Davou Rev Michael Drake (Resigned 27/4/2025) Laura Kellard Janet Neasham John Robson Sarah Robson Elizabeth Salako Carol (Carlie) Sears Guy Sears
Lisa Darby FCA
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Trustees Report
Objects of the charity
Aims and purposes: Acton Baptist Church has operated as a church at its current location in Church Road, Acton since 1864. The principal purpose of ABC is the advancement of the Christian faith, which is fulfilled in and from our buildings, and through the work and contributions of our members. ABC is in membership of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the London Baptist Association.
Our long-standing Mission Statement is: We exist as a Church to introduce people to Jesus and the love of His family. Together we want to worship and discover more about God so that we can serve Him and the community.
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:
Strategy
The church continues to offer the service via live stream and in person with around 40-50 people attending in person and 3 on live stream. Occasionally prayer sessions are held on an online platform. Once a month the church aims to run a prayer session in person to pray for the local community.
Rev Mick Drake serving ABC from 1993-2025
As expected and planned, on 27 April 2025, Rev. Mick Drake retired as our Minister, and consequently as a trustee. Inducted to ministry at this church in September 1993, Mick served as our Minister continuously, until his retirement in April 2025. During that time, over 40 members served as elected deacons with four individuals serving as church secretary and six as treasurer. For some of the time Rev Steve Gordon served as assistant minister and two student ministers trained with Mick and the church. Whilst at its peak church numbers doubled, a particular characteristic of this time was that Mick took 40 people through a preaching course, and over 20 now preach more or less often. Two members of the church went into formal ministry, many enrich other churches. Mick put significant time and prayer into his pastoral duties and there will be many who will have very fond memories of his care, concern and reliability in this area. As an example, he particularly loved the approach to Christmas and visiting all our housebound and older members.
In the wider church family, Mick twice served as a District Minister, totalling nearly 20 years in this role. He served on Spurgeons Council twice and also had two terms as Moderator of Acton Churches Together.
We cannot possibly do justice to over 30 years’ service in a report like this and it was good to be able to have two days of services and celebrations to mark what was a retirement from our church but for Mick a re-commissioning to a new phase of his life as a Minister. The membership marked this exceptional period of service by naming our main upper hall, the Drake Hall. The use of the surname also recognised the special contribution to Mick’s ministry and the life of ABC by his wife Valerie Drake, to whom we are all also indebted.
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The trustees and members are now engaging with the search process for a new Minister. To that end, we have set up a search committee of 7 people that aims to represent the broad diversity of our members.
Church services and outreach
We hold a public church service at 10:30am on every Sunday in our sanctuary. We take communion together as a church at least once a month now during the Sunday service. In the year, we ran groups for children every Sunday.
There continues to be an openness for different individuals to share testimony during the service by coming up to the front.
As last year, we continue to have a wide group of members leading services and this has both shared the workload but more importantly has provided opportunities for a more diverse set of songs and artists to be used - reflecting better the diverse membership of the church.
Individuals are encouraged to preach (especially those who have taken part in the preaching course), again reflecting the diverse nature of the church. Near the end of the year, we were fortunate to begin to have an opportunity to have live music again at some services but we continue to have very few musicians.
As mentioned above, all are welcome to attend our Sunday service.
Periodically, we have joined with other churches in the near neighbourhood for joint services. The offering goes to one of the third party causes identified in the restricted funds.
We baptise in accordance with the Principles of the Baptist Union so would want to know that the person, whether adult or young person, has made a deliberate decision for themselves. We are fortunate to have a baptistry built in and have in the past baptised adults from other churches; and whilst we held no baptisms in 2025 our baptistry was used by another fellowship to baptise one of their members. We have held several funerals in church this year for members and friends.
Discipleship mentoring
The church offers discipleship mentoring on a one-to-one basis as and when it is needed. The material covers the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. We have taken one person through a discipleship course in 2025. We do not limit the course to members, the nature of the course is that we expect those who are interested would be at least regular attenders. Members and friends do also use external discipleship training and resources.
Prayer
It is encouraging to be able to meet again for prayer during the Sunday service. There have been regular opportunities to pray over Google Meet during the year and at other organised events during the week. We now hold a regular monthly Sunday evening prayer meeting which is open to all, this is usually led by one of the church leaders and alternates between meeting on Google meet or at the church.
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Prayer sessions for seeking a new minister is encouraged directly after the church service for any to attend.
Pastoral care
Pastoral care is administered in a number of different ways.
As we no longer have a minister the list of people housebound that he regularly visited was divided amongst the trustees. Trustees have also got a list of regular attendees to pray and look out for i.e not in church for a few weeks. Trustees will also visit those on request on a very wide range of pastoral concerns.
Pastoral care has been in person, some has been given via telephone; the wider church leadership team also keep in touch with more vulnerable members and regular attenders by visiting and by phone. This is in addition to the informal friendship and support groups that happen between members themselves independent of church structures.
Pastoral care is also carried out in the House Groups.
House Groups
House-based groups continue to be an effective way for people to meet to study the Bible, pray for each other’s needs and have fellowship.
There are three groups that meet regularly.
The West Ealing group usually met every two weeks on Thursday virtually and socially at a member’s home; the North Acton group met weekly on Tuesdays in a home; and, the South Acton group meet virtually mid-week on different days.
Advent
The membership collectively was encouraged to follow a series of guided devotions from the Bible app entitled “Down to Earth” or via website links. The series was designed by the LICC. It allowed members to share thoughts around the themes in the lead up to Christmas.
Membership
At the year's end, there were 71 members of the church.
Children and Young people
We are encouraged and thankful that Sunday school continues to run during the morning service. Two former leaders have moved on from the church this year, both for positive reasons. The children are lively and have a range of viewpoints. Attendance at Sunday school remains variable as parents are not always able to attend. Attendees’ ages range from 7 to 15, with two new secondary age children choosing to attend in the past three months. Leaders are currently working flexibly across the age range; catering for complex needs in some cases, and recognising the possible benefits of an additional training which has been addressed.
Safeguarding
The Trustees are ultimately responsible for safeguarding. The Church has a Safeguarding Policy which is kept under review. Our most recent safeguarding training as a wider group took place in early
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January 2025 and some trustees have since attended further training (Level III) from the London Baptist Association.
We believe it is the responsibility of all members of Acton Baptist Church to make sure that all children, young people and vulnerable members of the church are kept safe.
Family Community Days
ABC Church continues to host successful family days this year, aiming for one per term. These events are designed to engage with local families and offer a welcoming space for the community. Activities include crafts, face painting, play equipment, fun games, and dancing for children. We also provide tea and cakes for adults, allowing them to relax while their children play. The family days are offered free of charge as a way of giving to the community. The group of attendees reflects the rich diversity of our local community. We have built strong relationships with our neighbours through these initiatives.
Senior days
We have had two events for Senior Citizens during this year, both co-ordinated with Sycamore Lodge, the care home located just behind our church building. The first event was an afternoon party which focused on us being an international community. This was reflected in the music and food. For the second we held a lunch party just before Christmas, to which we also invited members of other churches. We sang carols, some of which were led by our Sycamore Lodge visitors, had dancing and did some craft activities.
We are prayerfully considering our next event.
Table Tennis
A table tennis club was run every other Tuesday for an hour but with the ministers’ departure it has not met since May.
2025 at the Living Room
The Living Room continued into its 14th year providing a wide range of activities for local high school aged young people. We continued going into a local high school providing games and conversations with the students. The pop up session in the local square continued to be well attended as were sessions in the halls of Acton Baptist Church. These various activities enabled us to meet with some young people several times a week. We occasionally took young people to events off site too - “Reach” events organised by a group of local youth clubs as well and laser tag. The highlight for many was taking a group of 10 young people with 3 adults to a Christian festival for 5 days. During the year a prayer group was created to support the work of the Living Room.
The Steering group that advises and encourages the work lost one member this year but was replaced by two others who bring their expertise and experience.
The work of the Living Room has been supported financially by a grant from Garfield Weston as well as a small number of generous individuals, churches and church organisations. We are grateful for all God has done among us and the many people God has used to make this work happen.
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Building usage
The church owns its own buildings and the legal titles to these are held by the London Baptist Property Board Limited.
The sanctuary and the halls are of generous size and allow the church both for its own benefit and for wider community benefit to carry on any of the activities it wishes to.
The buildings are a source of significant expense in terms of running costs and day to day maintenance but, in normal years we have received income from the hiring out of the halls which offset the running costs and day to day maintenance. Additionally this year, the electricity costs were significantly reduced due to solar generation; the tariffs which we moved to in the year for electricity and in December for gas mean we expect (subject to weather variations) to have little or no overall electricity cost over a year and a lower gas bill.
The sanctuary area continues to be used by ABC and also two other faith communities as well as a gospel choir. At the year-end, hirers of the halls use the space most days of the week in term times. We continue to welcome rentals for community activities to be carried on in the church halls.
Church servery
Another building project was the completion of the work to install a servery within the sanctuary better to provide refreshments (rather than meals) in that area. This was completed successfully in the first quarter.
Public benefit
The trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance. The church provides regular services of public worship open to all, alongside pastoral support, the Living Room youthwork project, community fun days and meals, and charitable activities that benefit the wider public.
Finance
In a year marked, once again, for reliable generosity of many regular supporters as well as some large one-off gifts, we remain very grateful to all those who have given gifts to the work of ABC, believing as we do that even the smallest gifts can be multiplied in their impact if we are faithful to our purposes. The receipts were slightly above budget overall. The biggest financial change from prior years was due to the retirement of the Minister and so overall core expenditure was always going to be less than in 2024. Insurances were higher, but rates and utility costs for the manse are much lower. This allowed a contribution to be made from general reserves to the Living Room fund of £8,000 (£1,000 for each month without a minister - and this has been extended in 2026). The other fund transfers in the unrestricted funds - which cancel themselves out - relate to the designation or release of amounts as the kitchen project was completed. It is our practice to designate total contractual liability when large contracts are signed and only release that when a contractual variation is made, as happened as specifications changed on the kitchen, or when the final invoices are received. Across 2024 and 2025, the new kitchen servery in the Sanctuary cost a total of £21,371 (services, materials, all fitted equipment and white goods).
Funds Closed at Year End
There are no funds in deficit. The Kitchen project designated fund has been closed at the year end as its purpose is fulfilled. The Retirements Event restricted fund was closed at year end as its purpose
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has been entirely met as the donations were applied to the retirement event costs. The Satellites event restricted fund - opened to hold the deposits from young people paid prior to a Summer youth event run by an external charity - has fulfilled its purpose as the deposits have been applied to the event costs. The fund was closed at year end.
Reserves Policy
At the beginning of 2025, our reserves policy was simplified. This reflected experience of the charity's activities and was done to improve transparency for all trustees.
Reserves requirement: The church will aim to keep £60,000 in unrestricted assets (so free and designated funds are included but not restricted funds), in cash.
Escalation: Where it appears the reserves requirements are not met or foreseeably will not be met in the next 12 months, the Treasurer will notify the next Trustee meeting for discussion and bring forward recommendations of action (if any).The Treasurer will notify the Trustees of any urgent requirement as soon as practicable and not await a scheduled meeting.
The Living Room restricted fund reserves policy
The Living Room project aims to be self-funding. It is policy that 6 months expenditure is held, either wholly in cash in the restricted fund, or with the addition of due but unpaid grants where the Trustees reasonably consider the grant will be received within 3 months. This sum being in a restricted fund is in addition to the general reserves policy requirements, notwithstanding that the Living Room’s staff and contracts are legally the sole responsibility of the church as a single charitable organisation.
This report was approved by the trustees, and is signed on their behalf by:
Sarah Robson Signature Guy Sears Sarah Robson (Jul 29, 2026 12:33:22 GMT+1) Guy Sears (Aug 1, 2026 18:46:25 GMT+1) Name Sarah Jane Robson Guy Russell William Sears Position Church Secretary/Trustee Treasurer/Trustee
Date Jul 29, 2026
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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT
TO THE TRUSTEES OF ACTON BAPTIST CHURCH
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Acton Baptist Church CIO ('the charity') for the year ended 31 December 2025 on pages 10 to 16 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:
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accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; or
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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.
Lisa Darby
Lisa Darby (Aug 4, 2026 12:25:10 GMT+1)
Lisa Darby FCA Stewardship 1 Lamb's Passage LONDON EC1Y 8AB
Date: Aug 4, 2026
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Receipts and Payments Accounts SECTION A – Receipts and Payments
A1 - Receipts
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Unrestricted £ Restricted £ Total £ Prior Year £
Donations & Legacies
Donations 48,170 15,007 63,177 70,589
Gift Aid 10,856 2,381 13,238 22,508
Grants 0 2,500 2,500 18,747
Charitable Activities
Event Income 0 1,260 1,260 0
Investments
Bank Interest 3,887 701 4,588 5,525
Trading Activities
Rental Income 26,571 0 26,571 26,169
Other
Other Income 0 1,992 1,992 732
Total receipts £89,484 £23,841 £113,325 144,270
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A2 - Payments
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Unrestricted £ Restricted £ Total £ [Prior Year £]
Charitable Activities
Outreach events and trips 581 2,226 2,807 1,100
Retirement events 603 1,563 2,166 0
Service and meeting expenses 356 233 589 623
Small equipment & Consumables 948 295 1,243 562
Donations to charities 2,617 764 3,381 3,357
Licences and subscriptions 1,817 0 1,817 1,927
Other misc expenses 0 0 0 706
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CONTINUATION Unrestricted £ Restricted £ Total £ [Prior Year £]
People
Salaries and pension 15,329 26,913 42,242 58,123
Outside speakers 834 0 834 657
Continuing development 300 129 429 249
Travel 244 54 298 683
Meetings and conferences 3 0 3 1,182
Premises
Cleaning and minor maintenance 4,995 0 4,995 5,443
Internet and phone 531 0 531 1,148
Rates 2,785 0 2,785 3,825
Repairs and maintenance 4,340 0 4,340 10,361
contracts
Utilities 11,231 0 11,231 11,489
Projects
Kitchen project 17,552 0 17,552 3,819
Solar project 0 0 0 16,260
Admin
Bank charges 60 0 60 61
Insurance 6,285 0 6,285 5,250
Comms
Design & Print 78 109 187 674
Governance
Examination fee 870 0 870 336
Total payments £72,359 £32,286 £104,645 £127,499
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A3 - Net movements of cash
| A3 - Net movements of cash | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted £ Restricted £ Total £ Prior year £ |
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| Net of Receipts less Payments (before transfers) |
17,125 -8,445 8,681 16,031 |
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| Fund Transfers In | 12,259 8,000 20,259 18,790 |
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| Fund Transfers Out | 20,259 0 20,259 18,790 |
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| Net Movement of Cash Funds | £9,125 -£445 £8,681 16,031 |
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| Total Cash Funds Brought Forward | 142,282 27,830 170,111 154,080 |
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| Total Cash Funds Carried Forward | £151,407 | £27,385 | £178,792 | 170,111 |
SECTION B - Asset & Liability Statement
B1 - Cash Assets
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Unrestricted Restricted Total Prior Year
General (Unrestricted) 146,080 0 146,080 128,044
P&T (Designated) 5,327 0 5,327 5,327
Building Fund (Restricted) 0 2,666 2,666 2,583
Living Room (Restricted) 0 24,719 24,719 25,246
Third party collections (Restricted) 0 0 0 0
Kitchen project (Designated) 0 0 0 8,911
Retirement events (Restricted) 0 0 0 0
Satellites (Restricted) 0 0 0 0
B2 - Other Monetary Assets
Prior
Notes Unrestricted Restricted Total Year
Gift Aid value of potential claims on donations 249 16 265 275
in December unclaimed at year end
Other GASDS not yet able to be collected for 720 26 746 0
the current tax year
(continues over)
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B3 - Fixed Assets
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Prior
Notes Unrestricted Restricted Total Year
Land & Buildings Freehold Manse at Cloister Road shown 875,000 0 875,000 875,000
at cost
Land & Buildings Freehold of 12 Church road with Not declared
sanctuary and halls
Music & PA Equipment Various used at church, includes IT Not declared
used in this role
Furniture Chairs and table at church Not declared
Other equipment Pool table and other equipment of the Not
Living Room designated fund declared
B4 - Liabilities
Prior
Notes Unrestricted Restricted Total Year
Utilities unbilled church and manse gas and 582 0 582 3,846
electricity at year end
HMRC Payments Owed tax owed previously for prior years 0 0 0 940
payroll error
Independent Examination Fee 2024 added for comparison 1,020 0 1,020 870
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The attached notes in Section C below form part of these Receipts and Payments accounts.
These accounts have been approved by the trustees, and are signed on their behalf by:
Signature Sarah Robson Guy Sears
Sarah Robson (Jul 29, 2026 12:33:22 GMT+1) Guy Sears (Aug 1, 2026 18:46:25 GMT+1) Name Sarah Jane Robson Guy Russell William Sears Position Church Secretary/Trustee Treasurer/Trustee
Guy Russell William Sears Treasurer/Trustee
Date Jul 29, 2026
SECTION C - Notes to the Accounts
Accounting Policies
General
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.
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About the funds
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.
The designated funds comprise amounts “earmarked” for a particular purpose but have not been received by the church on terms that they can only ever be used for that purpose. Two such accounts were treated as designated funds during the year.
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Kitchen project: this fund was used during the year to earmark the contractual payments due to suppliers that would become due as those suppliers met their commitments. The church kitchen project was successfully completed in the year and this fund was closed at year end.
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Parent & Toddler: This fund (identified as P&T legacy in prior accounts and arising before charitable incorporation) recognises sums previously raised from such activities with a hope that in the near term such work could start again with the benefit of such funds.
The restricted funds comprise money collected or distributed in the year for the restricted funds of the charity and for collections for three third-party charities. The four restricted funds operated as part of the church's activities in the year were:
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The Building Fund is for gifts (invariably from members of ABC) made specifically to support capital works to repair, maintain or improve the buildings owned by the charity. Receipts in this year comprise gift aid recovered on the prior year giving and an allocation of interest earned at the bank.
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Retirement events was a restricted fund created to hold gifts given for the specific purposes of defraying costs associated particularly with the hospitality provided by the church to guests and members over the retirement weekend of our Minister, as well as a commemorative plaque installed on the premises on the naming of the Drake Hall. This fund was closed at year end having a zero balance.
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The Living Room project is under the day-to-day management of one of the Trustees (who is unpaid) and works with young people in the church premises, on the streets and in schools and receives its funding from specific gifts and grants.
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Satellites was a restricted fund which held payments given for tickets to be bought for, and the costs of going away to, the Satellites summer event, to which the Living Room team took young people. As the event went ahead and expenses were incurred this money was then released to the Living Room to defray some of its costs as intended. This fund was closed at year end having a zero balance.
The third party collections are invariably made at specially announced collections at the Sunday service, some of which will be when other churches have joined for unity services or Holy days:
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Tearfund is registered in England & Wales as a charity (no.265464) and works to end global poverty. £256 was collected.
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Ealing Foodbank is registered in England and Wales as a charity (no.1156369) and helps to relieve poverty through the provision of food parcels to those in crisis, in partnership with local care agencies who refer clients in crisis to it. £284 was collected.
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- CAP - Christians Against Poverty is registered in England and Wales as a charity (no. 1097217) and the giving supports work that its volunteers do in the London Borough of Ealing on relieving poverty. £223 was collected.
All third party collections in the year (e.g for CAP etc) had been paid over to the relevant charity before the year end and so conceptually this fund or group of funds was closed at year end.
Statement about guarantees and charges
No guarantee has been given by the charity, where any potential liability under the guarantee is outstanding at the date of the statement; and no debt is outstanding at the date of the statement which is owed by the charity and which is secured by an express charge on any of the assets of the charity.
Transactions with Related Party
Rev Michael Drake served as the Minister of the church until retirement at the end of April and was paid £12,670 including Employer Pension contribution (2024: £36,104.88) for serving in that capacity, not for serving as a trustee; this payment is permitted by the charity's governing document. In addition, the charity paid £1,311 (2024: £2,760) through payroll to Rev Michael Drake for the cost of electricity and gas bills at the Manse (which is customary for ministers) under the terms of his appointment for the better performance of his duties.
Movement of Funds
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Fund Name Opening Balance Income Expenditure Fund Transfers Closing Balance
Unrestricted
General (Unrestricted) 128,044 89,484 54,807 -16,641 146,080
Total 128,044 89,484 54,807 -16,641 146,080
Designated
P&T (Designated) 5,327 0 0 0 5,327
Kitchen project 8,911 0 17,552 8,641 0
(Designated)
Total 14,238 0 17,552 8,641 5,327
Unrestricted Total 142,282 89,484 72,359 -8,000 151,407
Restricted
Building Fund (Restricted) 2,583 83 0 0 2,666
Living Room (Restricted) 25,246 20,172 28,699 8,000 24,719
Third party collections 0 764 764 0 0
(Restricted)
Retirement events 0 1,563 1,563 0 0
(Restricted)
Satellites (Restricted) 0 1,260 1,260 0 0
Total 27,830 23,841 32,286 8,000 27,385
Restricted Total 27,830 23,841 32,286 8,000 27,385
TOTAL 170,111 113,325 104,645 0 178,792
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Fund transfers
The movement of funds table identifies two transfer balances from General funds. In relation to the Kitchen Project, £8,641 represents the net balance moved to cover the balance of the contractual price up to and on completion. Consistent with our financial controls policy, this fund was used to earmark significant forward contractual commitments on this work and transfers made to cover these and then close this fund. In relation to the Living Room, which is a restricted fund, the Trustees resolved that while there was no paid Minister in the church, and therefore from May 2025, £1,000 per month would be allocated to the Living Room to help cover its costs and that this would be done for 12 months at least. In 2025 there were 8 months of £1,000 so transferred.
Further notes on receipts and payments
As noted above, as these accounts are prepared on a receipts and payments basis they do not present a 'true and fair' view of the charity's financial activities and state of affairs. Within the year some payments, particularly annual subscriptions and insurances, will have been paid to cover
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periods going into the next year. These vary little from year to year, subject to some inflation increases, and would also have been paid in 2024 for some of 2025. No calculation has been made of the total balance of such incrementally changing prepayments and accruals across years. Last year unbilled utilities were mentioned in the notes as it was estimated that £3,846 was unbilled by suppliers. At the end of 2025 the net value of all unbilled utilities, taking into account credit balances, are estimated at £582 and relate entirely to unbilled usage for December 2025.
All bills rendered on the church in 2025 and all expenses claimable by staff or volunteers in 2025, have been paid and accounted for in these accounts. Whilst not recorded as an asset at year end, gift aid yet to be claimed (because it was from donations received in the last few weeks of Dec) was claimed and recovered in January 2026 bringing in £249 for the General reserves. £16 claimed in February 2026 related to the balance claimable for 2025 for the Living Room. GASDS which is a gift aid claim that can be made on the majority of our cash collections in 2025, claims were successfully made in April 2026 for the 25/26 tax year. The components of those claims to 31 December 2025 were valued at £720 for the General reserves and £26 for the Living Room.
The Living Room restricted fund - further details
The Living Room accounts are provided in more detail for ease of reference by any supporters or grant-making bodies
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Receipts
Category Group Category £
Donations Cash collections 107
Donations Church Donations 3,750
Donations One Off Gifts 7,630
Donations Online Giving 2,270
Gift Aid Gift Aid 2,069
Other Income Bank Interest 618
Other Income Grants 2,500
Other Income Visa contribution 1,228
Expenditure
Activities Outreach events 966
Activities Refreshments 233
Activities Small equipment & 295
Consumables
Comms Design & Print 109
People Continuing development 129
People Expenses - Travel 54
People Salaries and pension 26,913
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