St Francis' Community Church (a Charitable Incorporated Organisation)
Financial Statements
Year ended 31 December 2020
St Francis' Community Church CIO Year ended 31 December 2020
Contents
| Report of the Trustees | 1-4 |
|---|---|
| Accounting policies | 5 |
| Receipts and Payments Account | 6 |
| Statement of Assets and Liabilities | 6 |
| Notes to the accounts | 7 |
St Francis' Community Church CIO Year ended 31 December 2020 Report of the Trustees
The Trustees present their Trustee Annual Report and financial statements for the charity's year ended 31 December 2020.
This Trustee Annual Report and financial statements comply with the current statutory requirements under the Charities Act 2011 for a smaller CIO (i.e. with gross income less than £250,000) and The Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 as specified under Charity Commission Guidance on charity accounting and reporting (CC15d) and the charity's constitution.
Reference and administrative details
Charity Name: St Francis� Communit� Church Charity Registration number: 1181105 Operational address: 2, Fairway Drive, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 4FH Trustees: Trustees who served during the period of this report were as follows:
Mr Joel Gowan (Chair to 25 March 2020) Mr John Bloomer (Secretary) Revd Susan Iskander (Chair from 26 March 2020) Revd Daniel Pierce (ex officio) Revd Carolyn Tibbott (resigned 17 February 2021) Revd Jacqui Pearson (appointed 25 March 2020) Revd Emma Wylie (appointed 25 March 2020) Bankers: CAF Bank Ltd 25 Kings Hill Avenue, West Malling, Kent ME19 4JQ
Exemptions from disclosure
There are no exemptions from disclosure.
Objectives and Activities
a) Purposes
The objects of the charity as outlined in our Constitution are:
Within the four ecclesiastical parishes of Boreham, Broomfield, North Springfield, and Great and Little Leighs and Little Waltham, in Chelmsford Essex:
(1) to advance the Christian faith for the benefit of the public in accordance with the beliefs, doctrines and practices of the Church of England,
(a) by means of broadcasting messages of an evangelistic and teaching nature, and
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(b) through the holding of public worship, prayer meetings, lectures, producing and/or distributing literature, holding and facilitating church and community events and activities to enlighten others about the Christian faith;
(2) to develop the capacity and skills of the community in such a way that they are better able to identify, and help meet, their needs and to participate more fully in society.
b) Main activities undertaken to further the charities purposes to the public benefit:
i) advancing the Christian Faith:
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growing a new worshipping Christian community within the new housing areas of Beaulieu and The Channels supported by a Lead Minister
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creating a daily opportunity to gather, for either prayer together, learning together, friendship or community action
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collaborating with the churches of the North Chelmsford Mission and Ministry Partnership (NCMMP) in relation to mission, ministry and pastoral care
ii) developing the capacity and skills of the community
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providing activities, advocacy and support to benefit social cohesion and community capacity
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providing opportunities for individual members of the community to engage in activities with other community members and work together as a community
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helping to open and run the new Beaulieu community centre
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looking out for ways to grow neighbourliness, empower those in the community to effect positive change, engage those who are socially and economically disadvantaged, and create a culture of kindness on our estates
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� developing a prominent and active social media presence to support our community capacity building activities.
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engaging with the whole of the community we serve and in meeting their needs as we find them, helping and enabling people to help themselves with a particular focus on those who are suffering injustice, or who are economically or socially disadvantaged.
c) Cha�i�� Commi��ion�� guidance on public benefit
The Trustees confirm that they have had due regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit (specifically the public benefit guides PB1, PB2 and PB3) when making decisions they are relevant to.
Achievements and performance
- i) advancing the Christian Faith:
The enlarged St Francis� team of part-time Assistant Pioneer Minister, Pioneer curate and Lead Minister have settled down and worked well together this year. The team has continued to work in collaboration with the member churches of the North Chelmsford Mission and Ministry Partnership.
Daily services are streamed live from the St Francis' Facebook page in the early morning and late evening to offer support and promote emotional wellbeing during these difficult times through silence, daily reflections, prayer and music. We have seen our audience steadily grow and this has led to more and more in-person interaction in our neighbourhood.
There are now three home groups. Home groups meet weekly to encourage and support members, and new home groups are also in process of being set up. These meet in person when they can or on zoom if Covid-19 restrictions are in force.
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iii) developing the capacity and skills of the community:
Partnering with local business and the Beaulieu Community Centre during Covid-19, St Francis' have continued to help create, promote and deliver large community events. The Hallo�een �Hidden Saints trail� is getting bigger ever� �ear providing a safe and f amily appropriate alternative to �trick or treating�. This has �orked reall� �ell �ith �oung families, and well over 100 children and their parents/carers take up the trail on Halloween night.
In September 2020 we partnered our community centre to host a lockdown community art exhibition where local artist displayed lockdown inspired art work helping our wider community reflect on the losses and surprise joys of a troubling year.
St Francis' is behind establishing a community market for local producers to exhibit and sell their products. The MiniMarket Beaulieu charges a modest pitch fee from its vendors, the proceeds of which go towards local charities.
Our Christmas market 2020 saw hundreds come through the doors and had a great buzz even with social distancing and other appropriate Covid-19 precautions in place. Our summer market was a similar success creating a safe venue for the local community to come back together after these difficult months of lockdown and raised money to twin all 6 community centre toilets with sanitation schemes in developing nations through toilettwinning.org.
St Francis' have continued to coordinate weekly food donations at Beaulieu Community Centre making it one of the main contributors to Chelmsford Foodbank (a relationship which has solidified and strengthened throughout the year). We are now becoming an official foodbank depot.
We have helped the city council with health checks and visitations of vulnerable people during lockdowns. We have provided food parcels and distributed vouchers to combat holiday hunger. Off the back of these initiatives we have launched St Francis Sunday Kitchen which is a monthly community meal to bring people together at the community centre for mutual support and friendship. We also have a drop in twice a week for those who may need signposting or just a friendly face.
Finall�, updated plans for St Francis� �ere submitted to the Church Commissioners for review and this has resulted in re-confirmation of SDF funding to 2023.
Financial review
The primary source of income for the CIO during the period was £1,308 of grant funding from the Chelmsford Diocesan Board of Finance (CDBF) plus £398 in fees for performance of funerals. Expenditure was mainly on website development being the majority of the total £3,065. St Francis� re -submitted its plans to the Church Commissioners for review and they re-confirmed its five years of funding from its Strategic Development Fund, extending this into 2023. This funding continues to include the stipend of the Lead Minister (1wte) and the Assistant Pioneer Minister (0.5wte), the latter post being shared with the local Mission and Ministry Partnership (NCMMP). The funding of these roles continues to be implemented through the Diocesan clergy payroll and does not impact the accounts of the CIO. In addition, the CDBF has provided funds for certain ministry expen ses up to 2023. St Francis� has no� joined the Parish Giving Scheme and members of the community are starting to make regular contributions.
The Trustees aim to retain sufficient free reserves to satisfy the modest levels of assets and liabilities of the charity. Unrestricted reserves of £2,254 were held at 31 December 2020. Given the re-confirmation of SDF funding for another three years, the outlook for the CIO is positive in the short- to medium-term and in the opinion of the Trustees it remains a going concern. Options and plans to ensure the longer- term sustainabilit� of St Francis� are being actively considered.
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The key risks identified are:
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that funding from the Church Commissioners is withdrawn. Re-confirmation of SDF funding until 2023 provides mitigation of this risk. However SDF funding beyond 2023 is deemed unlikely.
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that a major safeguarding incident occurs resulting in reputational damage to the charity with knock-on implications for growth and finance. Safeguarding continues to be at the heart of St Francis' Community Church: all diocesan policies, procedures and best practice are followed and are regularly reviewed.
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that church growth does not occur as planned and/or giving levels do not increase as anticipated thereby jeopardising the journey towards financial sustainability. The St Francis� team is working with the NCMMP Council and the Diocese on options to underpin the sustainabilit� of St Francis� post end of SDF funding in 2023 .
Covid-19
As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Church of England and the Diocese of Chelmsford, have been under significant financial pressure. A process of reduction of stipendiary clergy posts originally intended to be completed over a number of years has been accelerated. While funding for St Francis � will come from outside the Diocese until 2023, the NCMMP Council has already begun to consider and develop options to adapt to the level of resources likely to be available to it in the short-mid term, also taking into account their responsibility for funding St Francis� from 2023/24.
Funds held as custodian Trustee on behalf of others
The charity and its Trustees are not acting as custodian Trustees on behalf of others
Structure, governance and management
St Francis' Community Church is a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO), and was entered onto the Register of Charities on 11 December 2018. Its governing document is its CIO Constitution (foundation model).
Regarding recruitment and appointment of new charity trustees, the Constitution provides that there shall be not less than four and no more than eleven appointed trustees and one ex officio trustee, being the Lead Minister of St Francis' Community Church. New trustees shall be appointed by resolution at a properly convened meeting of trustees for a term of three years. Retiring trustees are eligible for reappointment unless they have already served for three consecutive terms. They may then be reappointed after an interval of at least one year.
Statement of Trustees' responsibilities
The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
As the income of the charity is below the £25,000 threshold no external scrutiny is required.
Approved on 12[th] July 2021 and signed on behalf of the Trustees by:
Trustee Name: John M. Bloomer Date: 12[th] September 2021
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St Francis' Community Church CIO Year ended 31 December 2020
Accounting Policies
- St Francis' Community Church is a charitable incorporated organisation registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales. (Register number 1181105)
2. Accounting convention
As the income level is below £250,000, these financial statements are prepared on a receipts and payments basis under the historical cost convention and in accordance with the rules applicable to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation under the Charities Act 2011.
3. Assets
Purchases of items of fixtures, fittings, or equipment costing more than £1,000 are capitalised and depreciated on a straight line basis over 4 years. Items costing less than £1,000 are written off in the year of purchase.
- As a charity, St Francis' Community Church is not liable for Corporation Tax, but has no VAT status and must bear this as charged.
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St Francis' Community Church CIO Year ended 31 December 2020
Receipts and Payments
| Notes Receipts Funding from Chelmsford Diocese Funeral fees Payments Insurance Website Orthona retreat PA equipment 3 Bank Charges Surplus (Deficit) Opening balance Closing balance Statement of Assets and Liabilities Represented by Bank balance |
2020 p/e 31 Dec 2019 Unrestricted Restricted Total Total £ £ £ 1,308 - 1,308 14,332 398 - 398 - |
|---|---|
| 1,706 - 1,706 14,332 389 - 389 386 2,616 - 2,616 84 - - - 1,084 - - - 1,155 60 - 60 10 |
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| 3,065 - 3,065 2,719 |
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| (1,359) - (1,359) 11,613 3,613 8,000 11,613 - |
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| 2,254 8,000 10,254 11,613 |
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| 2,254 8,000 10,254 11,613 |
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St Francis' Community Church CIO Year ended 31 December 2020
Note to the accounts
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There were no guarantees given by St Francis' Community Church.
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There were no outstanding debts at the accounting date, secured on any asset of St Francis' Community Church.
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PA equipment purchased in the prior year comprised a number of items each costing less that £200. In accordance with the accounting policy they have therefore not be capitalised.
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There were no transactions between related parties during the year.
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