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2020-12-31-accounts

Dursley Tabernacle United Reformed Church

Registered Charity Number 118135 4

Annual Report for 2020

2021 Reports to the Annual General Meeting March 21[st]

Contents

4.2 Tab Youth

5 Site Administrator Report

8 Pastoral Report

9.1 Surplus Food Scheme

9.2 Eco Team

1

Tab AGM 2021

Ministers Report

This was a year none of us will forget and a year we may not want to remember.

The Covid-19 pandemic swept through our nation causing multiple lockdowns, the furloughing of businesses and employees, and the deaths of thousands. It has been classed as the missing year, as schools and churches closed, and people were confined to their homes. During this time, we have lost members and experienced fear, grief, and trauma. Yet we have also experienced God’s faithfulness, a community spirit, thoughtfulness of others and a creativity and innovation to being church.

We have developed digital church. From early basic attempts at live streaming with me speaking from the church via my smartphone and my daughter’s shaky arm, through to recorded services involving music and a variety of contributors. We have had a lot of people involved and a lot of people sharing testimonies and speaking into a camera, when they wouldn’t normally have stood up in church to share! We have been able to join together and encourage each other and also share the gospel with a wider audience. We have had on average four times as many people watching our services as would attend in real life. We can only hope and pray that they have been touched by the Spirit and that the Word that has gone out will not return empty but will bear fruit (Isaiah 55.10-11, Mark 4.1-20). Livestreaming is here to stay, as we have invested in the hardware to ensure this is a permanent feature to enrich our provision for worship in the years ahead. We have responded to community need. From the outset many church members got involved in the community volunteer scheme co-ordinated by GL11. This provided street helpers who would shop, pick up prescriptions and offer a listening service. We partnered with GL11 to run a veg box scheme. Our ministry using surplus M&S food blessed many in the town. We gave substantial hampers to all the schools and care homes at Christmas. We worked with Churches Together to put on summer pop up creative cafes that gave children and parents opportunities to get out and do something fun. Again, at Christmas, Churches Together co-ordinated the Wonder Wander Trail of Nativity figures which was not only engaging and fun but also told the Christmas story in creative ways.

We set up a COVID-19 fund to support people who were experiencing financial difficulties. £3600 was generously donated by members of the church and so far, £2800 has been distributed to those in need. I walked 300,000 steps in May to act as a focal point for people to give to Christian Aid as the usual fund raising was not possible. Remarkably, people very generously gave over £6K, which was what we raised in the previous year for Christian Aid. Also, remarkably, giving to the church was only slightly down and with a generous subsidy from our Synod we were able to turn in a surplus at the end of the year. We give thanks to God for provision for our needs.

We tried to stay connected as a church community. We got proficient in Zooming! Prayer Meeting and House fellowships met over Zoom. We attempted children and youth work over Zoom. I led a Prayer course, a Mindfulness course and sessions looking at Christian Doctrine over Zoom. Elders Meetings, Church Meetings, other business meetings went on Zoom. We Zoomed coffee most Sunday mornings to try and keep connected. Our Pastoral elders divided the congregation into groups and attempted to keep in touch with their group personally, especially those who were not digitally connected. I have spent a lot of time in the last year walking around catching up with people on their doorsteps. The social benefits of being part of a church are huge. I hope and pray that we have done all we can to keep people together during this last year and have not lost too much social capital. Instead, I hope that we have gained some social capital as people have seen how we have tried to play our part in the community effort. We have been a church that people can turn to for help and consolation. I know of a few people who have contacted me who have seen our church members visiting neighbours, giving gifts, food, flowers, cards, chatting to people on doorsteps and, maybe through envy, have asked for a bit of that for themselves. Being part of a church makes a difference, especially at times like this. Thankyou to everyone for your mutual encouragement, love and support.

We have lost five precious church members this year. Three of them had COVID-19 on their death certificate. The socially distant funerals lacked the usual opportunities for comfort and grieving together and our prayers continue to uphold the relatives and friends of Michele Barnes, David Cameron Murphy, Michael Symes, Jim and Val Smith.

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We welcomed five new church members: Alena Cieciura, Jonathon Everett, Jenny Henderson, Claire Reynard, and Margaret Underdown. Alena recieved believer’s baptism, using Edna Mellerup’s swimming pool for the sacrament.

We also elected four new elders (ordaining three of them): Michele Everett, David Nutbrown Hughes, Gemma Shaw and Andy Spears. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic none of them have actually met face to face in an elders meeting, only on zoom. We hope and pray they may feel more part of a team in the new year.

Two of our members were accepted to train for the Ministry of Word and Sacrament in the URC. Our prayers and best wishes to Steph Atkins and Clare Nutbrown Hughes for their training (which started virtually) in September. May they feel God’s anointing and equipping for the task ahead.

We face uncertainty around how many active volunteers and members we will have once we start meeting physically again – yet we have attracted new watchers through our online services and new volunteers for the M&S food distribution scheme

The pandemic has raised ‘big’ questions around our approach to church. Is it a cultural habit? A place where we receive? The body of Christ of which we are a part seven days a week? The place where God primarily expresses God’s will/identity/love for our world?

In 2018 23% of our ‘active Tabbers’ (i.e., regular attenders including non-members) were aged 80 or over and 54 % over 60. Each year we gain new members but even so we essentially stand still on numbers due to deaths and people leaving. This last year saw my 25[th] anniversary as an ordained minister and at the turn of the new year I celebrated 20 years as minister here at Dursley. Since I have been at the Tab around 62

members have died and 94 people have been brought into membership. If nothing changes in terms of our age profile within the next twenty years, the church will lose a significant proportion of its members and be unable to carry on in a recognisable way.

The URC is continually shrinking, and this is likely to be accelerated by COVID-19. Synod has announced that Gloucestershire’s current quota of 3.83 FTE (Full-Time Equivalent) URC Stipendiary Ministers will need to drop to 2.75 by 2025. That would be 2.75 ministers for the 16 URC/LEP churches.

Given this pivotal moment where we as a church are confronted with fundamental issues about our identity and even survival, we need to pray and discern God’s call on us at this time and what our strategy and mission should be in the coming years.

We had a couple of days in the last year when members joined together in days of prayer. At the Pentecost Prayer Day and the Advent Prayer Day, Tab members sensed the following from God:

As we look towards 2021, we pray for deliverance from COVID-19 and the chance to be together again. We pray for the breath of the Holy Spirit to reanimate the church and sweep through us and our community. May God be with us, inspire us, provide for us and lead us forward.

Simon Helme

3

Dursley Tabernacle United Reformed Church Charity

Finance Report 2020

Charity Registration Number 1181354

1 Explanatory Introduction

This is the annual finance report for Dursley Tabernacle URC for the financial year running from 1[st] January 2019 to 31[st] December 2020.

Charity’s Registered Address:

3 Parsonage Street Dursley Gloucestershire GL11 4BW

This report has been prepared in accordance with the Charity Commission’s Receipts and Payments Accounts Pack (CC16). Our accounts are administered on a “Receipts and Payments” basis and the analysis of income and expenditure reflects the classification of our activities, together with the costs relating to administration. The Church does not sell goods or services for commercial profit, but does generate income from personal offerings and donations, hiring rooms, fundraising, investments, the Family Café and other events to help defray its expenses.

The various types of funds are analysed in accordance with the provisions of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008, but re-valuation of the Church and Parsonage are not included, being inalienable and historic property.

The monetary values in this summary section are presented to the nearest pound. A full Statement of Financial Activities is given in Appendix A which, along with its notes, presents the income and expenditure for both the General Account and the Reserves, Designated and Restricted Funds. The Independent Examiners Report is provided in Appendix B.

2 General Account

The General Account is that part of our financial activity concerned with the normal day to day running of our church. It includes all the things we do to keep running and does not include activities associated with special projects such as property development, church retreats or special funds for particular purposes.

The General Account total operating receipts for the year was £85,206, which is down 12% from last year’s total of £96,630.

The General Account total operating expenditure for the year was £71,364, down 19% from last year’s total of £87,796.

The operating surplus for the year was therefore £13,842. £7,500 of this has been used to clear the debt on the Phase 2 Parsonage Capital Fund, the rest has gone into General Reserves.

3 Reserves and Restricted Funds

“Reserves” refers to that part of a charity’s unrestricted funds that is freely available to spend on any of the charity’s purposes. This definition includes “Designated Funds”, which have been set aside for a particular purpose, but which may be re-allocated to Unrestricted Reserves if required. However, it excludes “Restricted Funds”, which may only be spent on the specified purpose for which the money was received.

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This definition also excludes the Cater Fund which is now categorised as a “Capital Endowment” since it is not freely available to spend at all and, under the terms of the trust deed, can only be used to provide an income for “the maintenance of Dursley Tabernacle Church building and for Christian Worship therein”. This large pot of money is invested in the COIF Charities Ethical Investment Fund - Income Units.

3.1 Reserves policy

A reserves policy has been drawn up and approved by the Trustees (Elders). This is a summary of that policy. We are required to hold reserves for the following reasons:

  1. To enable the church to continue its normal activities in accordance with its charitable aims in the event of adverse financial circumstances. For example, when faced with significant unforeseen expenditure or significant loss of expected income.

  2. To prevent cash flow problems by enabling us to maintain our current account at the required level to meet our financial commitments. This is particularly important when large projects are being undertaken and invoices need to be paid before all grants and donations have been received.

  3. To hold funds for specific purposes. For example, a building project, major repairs or employment of a member of staff.

Restricted Funds: These are funded by donations and/or grants received for specific purposes and are not considered as part of our Reserves. There is no upper limit on the level of such funds.

Designated Funds: Reserves allocated for specific purposes are in addition to the Unrestricted Funds and shall be held at a level suitable for each specific project. Although there is no upper limit to the total value of such funds, the purpose of each fund needs to be justified and be in accordance with the charitable aims of the church. Designated funds are allocated or re-allocated as decided by the Trustees (Elders) and ratified by the Church Meeting.

Unrestricted Funds (General Reserves): The Church will aim to hold Unrestricted Funds at a level equivalent to between one third and two thirds of normal annual operating expenditure (4 to 8 months), as determined from the latest published financial accounts.

The following table lists every fund held by the church at the end of 2020 together with its purpose. The balance in each fund can be seen on the notes to the accounts in Appendix A.

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Fund Purpose of Fund
Restricted Funds
Organ Fund In memoriam donations received for the church organ
Youth Work Funds allocated for youth work. Mainly spent on employing a Youth Worker. All
donations were specificallyforyouth work.
Chop & Chat A fund for the operation of the “Chop & Chat” food help programme. Surplus after
eachquarter is allocated to the Food Bank.
Retreats etc. Moneyreceived topayfor church retreats/weekends away
Music Group Toprovide equipment and music for the WorshipGroup
Peace & Hope Moneyraised to support the work of the Peace & Hope Trust
DAYS Funds held on behalf of Dursley Area Youth Sinfonia. This is an orchestra which plays
and practices at our church. They exercise control over the management of these
funds.
MemoryCafé Social supportgroupfor those sufferingfrom memoryloss
Designated Funds
Building Fund
(Phase2 Capital)		 Funds allocated to the development of the old Parsonage and the Church Upper Hall
and Kitchen
Flowers Donations received for church flowers
Knitting Group A fund set up by the Church Knitting Group for charitable activities. It was established
byagrant received for thatpurpose.
Family Café
Charities		 A charitable fund created from part of the Family Café surplus. To be donated to
charitable causes of their choosing.
Building Repair
Fund		 A fund originally established to “index-link” the Cater Trust. Now allocated to
emergencybuildingrepairs.
ECO Fund Established for thepurposes of implementingour eco-churchpolicy.
Welfare/Covid-19
Relief Fund		 A Minister’s welfare fund to be used for emergency support of needy members or
church attendees.
In Memoriam Money received by legacies or donations in memoriam, to be used at the discretion of
Elders.
Unrestricted Reserves
General Reserves Funds held to support thegeneral operation of the church.
Capital Endowment
Cater Trust This is a restricted endowment to be invested to provide income. It has been invested
ethicallywith COIF. The trustees are the Minister,Secretaryand Treasurer.

4 Analysis and Comments

2020 was a remarkable year in so many ways. As we expected many of our sources of income have suffered significantly. Room hire ceased, fund raising events were not organised and Family Café had to close its doors. These changes alone have resulted in a loss of income of nearly £15,000 compared with 2019. The total “missing” income, when compared with 2019, amounted to £15,845.

The chart on the next page shows this graphically with three very thin slices to represent these income streams and the “missing” income represented as the large grey slice at the top.

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To mitigate this loss the West Midlands Synod provided a grant to assist with our M&M contributions between April and September. This resulted in a net saving of £11,202, a quarter of the total expected contribution. Together with other expenditure reductions the total “missing” expenditure in 2020 amounted to £16,497, which more than offset the loss of income. The chart below shows this graphically.

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We have not therefore had to draw on our reserves to balance the books and once again we have been blessed by finishing the year with a healthy surplus. This is thanks to the generous donations from our members and friends and to the discount received from the West Midlands Synod. I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the Finance Team - Terry, Matt, Malcolm, Theresa and Martin for all their hard work in 2020. Finally I would like to express my thanks to Clive Malcolm for taking on the role of Independent Examiner.

God Bless,

Dennis Allen

Treasurer

8

Secretary’s Report

When I was voted in to become a Tab Elder at the last AGM I didn’t dream that twelve months later I would be Church Secretary but no one knew what lay ahead for 2020.

For those of you who don’t know me I transferred to the Tab when Sharpness URC closed and was Church Secretary there.

The last year has had many challenges but I’m so proud that the Church Family has risen to those challenges and has continued to worship together and support each other in many ways that you will read about in the different reports. Our thanks must go to Rev Simon Heleme who has lived up to his name and really been our helm through these difficult times.

A casualty of the pandemic has been the Women’s Guild which has decided to close after 50years. Appreciation for all her hard work must go to Sally Larkham who was Chairwoman for seventeen years

Thanks must go also to Clare Nutbrown-Hughes who has bought such enthusiasm and professionalism as Church Secretary and really changed the role making her a very hard act to follow. Everyone wishes her well as she undergoes her ministerial training.

Personally I would also like to thank Rod Irvine for his comprehensive taking and producing of the minutes of both the Church and Elders meetings which is a huge help to me.

Michele Everett

9

Annual Report TabT oo 2020

Tab Too has continued in 2020 in a variety of different ways. We started the year meeting weekly at church on Sunday morning in the Community Rooms with 11 families registered.

The first lockdown which started in March saw us stay home on Sunday and every Sunday a TabToo sheet was emailed out to families and shared on the Tab’s website. The sheet related to the lectionary and suggested activities which didn’t involve toilet roll or flour.

When the lockdown eased we returned to meeting face to face every other Sunday morning once again in the Community rooms. We introduced measures to reduce the spread of the Covid 19 virus including using hand sanitizer, adults wearing face masks and tried to be socially distance but largely failed with that…It was lovely to see the children together again and we quickly got used to our new way of working. All this would not have been possible without the support from various parents who came to be on standby for toilet cleaning and other such delights. The children particularly enjoyed animal yoga with Theresa Barrett, although I am not sure I have recovered yet.

Through the summer Debbie Helme ran the Green Church initiative which was a creative resource for children to enjoy with their families and carers. The Green church resource guided families around a beautiful local route and prompted the children (and adults) to reflect on God’s creation and connect with God through nature. There was lots of positive feedback from families.

Over the summer three of our children moved from Primary school to Secondary school. We were not able to mark this in church but we contacted the children individually to let them know we would pray for them in their new schools and we provided them with a copy of the Scripture Union resource “It’s your Move”. In September three children moved up from creche to TabToo and it has been a pleasure to get to know them.

As we headed towards the Christmas lockdown we attempted 2 new initiatives at the minister’s request. Firstly, we tried to source an Advent Activity box for each family from the URC. As these had been sold out we made up our boxes with assorted purchases from Ebay and lots of printing of activity sheets by Carolyn Jones (who I am very grateful to). The boxes were delivered to the families and provided a lovely opportunity for a door step catch up.

We then worked together to produce an on line Nativity service. This proved to be good fun for everyone taking part and we hope was an encouragement for everyone who watched. Despite the Covid 19 related restrictions Tab Too were able to contribute to the Advent display at the Quarry Chapel again. We were represented by a fantastic Lego design produced by Aidan and Samuel Hall. Tab Too is full of such lovely children who are a joy to spend time with. We thank God for these children and pray they will come to know more and more the love of God.

Bobbie Spears Tab Too worker

I apologise for the lack of a formal feedback from the children. (I am sorry I had not planned for this and will not do so now as I have inundated parents with emails already this week re Mothers Day.) Instead I have copied a few quotes from assorted parents messages;

Emily is really looking forward to tomorrow, she was really disappointed last week when she realised it wasn't a Tab Too week!

Malachy in particular had a great time in kids church this morning, he’s so happy to be there. Juliet and me cartwheeling. We loved Green Church. Thanks to Debbie for organising.

Thanks for all your hardwork producing work for the boys, its been a pleasure to sit and read the Bible together, a highlight of the lockdown for me.

10

Tab Youth Work

It’s been a year like no other. Our young people have faced huge challenges & uncertainties this year, with a blend of learning in school & learning at home. We also celebrated Josiah’s arrival with Vix - and would like to congratulate her on his safe arrival. We look forward to getting to know Josiah better, as current restrictions are lifted.

The Tab youth work delivery was sustained by Steph from January - September, with face to face sessions in the youth centre and then embracing the new world of zoom from March.

During lockdown #1, Steph, covering Vix’s Maternity leave, ran sessions for a small group of young people on Sunday evenings - finding different & engaging activities - ranging from digital escape rooms to quiz’s & some great discussions.

We thank Steph for her work during this extraordinary time.

Restrictions after October, when Vix returned from maternity leave, meant that she was furloughed almost immediately. We are excited to be preparing for phased re-engaging with our Tab young people as restrictions ease. There are exciting plans afoot! Watch this space.

Emma Irvine

11

Site Administrator Report 2020

2020 began on a positive front, following the completion of building renovation in 2019 there was much excitement about new offices and spaces to utilise.

We began an ongoing project to archive and record Church documents, photos etc, involving a number of the congregation in trips down memory lane and recording valuable heritage information. The Cypress tree in the Garden of Rest came down March 2020 and the Quantity Surveyor visited site to discuss access issues to Upper Hall.

The new cleaning contract was settling in well and we are providing employment to a local person. Our cleaning company have been supportive throughout the lockdowns with the on/off nature of our requirements.

THEN the government shut the country down. Family Café toys got cleaned and packed away before we locked the door.

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Walking away and locking the door was the easy part.

Working from home, managing zoom calls and looking after an empty site have all presented their challenges. My hours which had increased to 16 per week, reduced down to 10 per week. I would like to thank the Church and Elders for continuing to maintain my contract and cope with the fluctuations of hours over the last year.

Although site was closed much work has continued. During late Spring and Summer 2020 there was considerable discussion around what we can and can’t do, risk assessments, PPE and the like. I spent many an hour pouring over government guidance trying to discern which activities would be allowed and what we had to do to mitigate risks. Risk Assessments, lists, seating plans and data, co -ordinating rotas of

volunteers to re-open for worship became a large chunk of my weekly work as we came out of lockdown. Early Summer I held consultations with community groups around the necessary capacity changes and risk assessments of activities to enable them to return to site. Unfortunately, many of our regular users felt unable to return to site during September 2020 because of vulnerabilities of group users and those that did, were then suspended in the following lockdown.

The community rooms had a grand clear out, and a small group of us (socially distanced) began the process of re-organising the storage. We have also undertaken high level cleaning in the community rooms hall and are hoping to do the lounge in the next couple of months.

David Nutbrown Hughes has/is reporting on property issues and has been a great help along with the team of volunteers in assisting with jobs around the site – all of which have carried on despite lockdown to ensure that we remain a safe and secure place.

I have during the last year completed Health and Safety Training and Level 3 Food Hygiene, as well as undertaking a number of Continuing Professional Development courses.

My overall role is still evolving, this year has seen Steve Hubbard take on my Line Management – it was previously Simon. I hope that many of the day to day site issues have now been removed from Simon’s workload and that members feel I add value to the organisation. I have built up a team of volunteers to assist with Property issues and we are gradually ticking off niggling little jobs and moving in the direction of more preventative site management than reactive – which hopefully in the long run will result in reduced maintenance costs.

I am excited about taking the site forward and how we can facilitate use for people to connect again over the course of the next 6-9 months as restrictions ease. It will be lovely to have company again on site although it may mean I get less work done!

Carolyn Jones

13

Property report

Despite the limitations of the coronavirus pandemic the property team worked away keeping on top of site maintenance throughout 2020.

Our amazing group of volunteers were on site most weeks when possible. The stairs to the upper hall were painted, the community rooms loft space was made pigeon-proof, there was a spring clean of the high-up spaces in the community room, ongoing maintenance of the church porch and the passageway between the upper hall and community rooms was made secure. Following some roof repairs, we had the guttering cleared and an inspection of the roofing on the community rooms and upper hall.

We provided training for the property group, for example, working at heights to ensure their safety whilst volunteering, and completed our mandatory five yearly periodic NICEIC electrical testing of the building. The snagging process for the upper halls and parsonage refurbishment was also completed.

Outside, as well as the weekly lawn mowing by our mowing team, we kept on top of clearing brambles in the Vibe garden and the weeds that appeared in the front drive due to reduced use. We continued to try and manage the Old Tabernacle site whilst encouraging wildlife and flowers. A new was installed in the Garden of Rest in memory of former treasurer and elder of the church, Ken Fullard.

Nathan cut the Laurel

Allan Brookes jet washed the path after the big pigeon eviction.

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AV Team

The changes in worship brought about by coronavirus meant that during 2020 we had to learn new ways to meet together remotely. The week before the first lockdown we met remotely with Christian Aid staff from Kenya in the church, little did we know that this kind of video meeting was going to become the new normal.

During the year we managed to hold remote worship both live and pre-recorded using Facebook and Zoom. After some technical glitches we mainly used pre-recorded services on Facebook, our Facebook services gaining over 12,000 views in 2020. We provided recordings of the services on CDs as well as on a local rate phone number.

The experience of coronavirus made us realise that providing live video in the future would allow many more people to access our services, people who had perhaps been poorly served in the past. With the generous help of a grant from West Midland Synod we were able to install cameras and other necessary equipment in the church to allow livestreaming of services, controlled from the AV desk. At the end of the year we were still learning how best to use this new equipment but we had been able to successfully share some live services including the funerals of church members enabling distant and local friends and family to be included.

A big thank you to everyone in the team for adapting and being prepared to learn new skills and processes – and to everyone listening for their ongoing patience as we hone those skills!

David Nutbrown-Hughes

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P astoral Report 2020

We began 2020 in quite a normal way. Groups like Book Club, Colour me Calm continued to meet and provided Pastoral support for those in the group. Flowers were delivered after the Sunday service. Pastoral Elders serving and non serving continued to meet monthly after the prayer group.

However all our social gatherings came to an abrupt halt when we were attacked by Coronavirus, most of us of the older generation shut ourselves away in our homes. We were busy trying to contact everyone who was part of the church. We used telephone, texts, emails, Whats App and social media to keep in touch. Elders prayed frequently on Whats App and we had Zoom Pastoral meetings. However it has not just been the pastoral team who has been central to the pastoral care in the Tab but everyone who has taken time to contact members and friends in the church and the love which everyone has shown to one another.

We were supported by the younger members of the church and the Eldership who delivered our shopping and prescriptions as well as those who volunteered for GL11.

We all have been very grateful to Simon who has been central to all the pastoral care in the church, he has visited us all on several occasions, filming us waving, reading bible verses saying prayers as well as walking for Christian Aid and has raised lots more than our usual door to door collections. We have been thankful to all those who have been involved in the M & S deliveries and all those who were involved in preparing and delivering the veg boxes.

We managed to operate our Christmas post so that we could maintain contact, by having collection points, a socially distanced sorting office in the Upper Hall and house to house delivery as well as delivering gifts to our more senior members. Sadly we could not meet with friends at Christmas but many of our community enjoyed an amazing Christmas dinner delivered to our door.

This year has been unique but the love of God has been evident throughout the Community.

Martine Carter

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Surplus Food Scheme

2020 saw the Tab’s weekly trips to M&S switch from a focus on collecting flowers to surplus food, with the year ending on us having delivered almost 400 bags of groceries to families impacted by the pandemic. The scheme, distributing food that would otherwise be thrown away, has grown throughout the year with our original team of volunteers doubling to eight and the average number of recipient families growing from roughly 8-12 recipients per week, to between 15 and 30.

On Christmas Eve, we distributed food to 34 families thanks to the help of 22 volunteers and across the year we also sent out nearly 100 small gifts in an attempt to brighten people’s day in some way.

As the first lockdown eased our group met to discuss priorities going forward and we decided to make contact with the schools to ask for their help in making sure we were reaching the people who were most in need. We also recognised that it was important not to create dependency by delivering to the same people every week, not least because we never knew what food would be available. We agreed to keep talking to all the people we go to, so that we can signpost to other help, offer prayer or other assistance where appropriate, and check that the food was still useful and wanted. We also asked the existing recipients if they knew of anyone else who was struggling.

The team also delivered flowers, plants, cakes, bread and other treats to our church family and friends. We tried to prioritise those who were isolated, sick or bereaved, but also started to make our way through the entire church family, just to remind everyone that they are part of a loving community, and that even when apart, we are still a family. It has been an absolute delight making these deliveries, and we have all loved the chance to knock on people's doors and have a little contact with the Tab community. If we haven’t made it to you yet, we hope to soon!

The feedback from the community, both within our church and outside, has been humbling. People have been incredibly appreciative, and we have heard tales of how much it has helped with mental health, just to see a ‘real person’ popping by to deliver these gifts. We have also heard people say that they don’t know how they would have managed without the food. Please pray that we continue to receive the best guidance on how to distribute these items to demonstrate God's love for all. Pray also for the right volunteer to go to right people, with the right words, listening ears, and at the almost appropriate time.

Thank you. Heidi Horn, Scheme Co-ordinator

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Eco Team

The big news of 2020 for the Eco team was the Tab gaining its Silver Eco Church award, a great team effort. Now we can go for gold!

Before coronavirus restrictions hit, we were able to take part in a Fairtrade Fortnight Saturday café, serving Fairtrade products and providing information about the reasons why we feel that Fairtrade is so important in ensuring producers are treated fairly and justly.

While we have been restricted, we have continued the weekly eco tips in the Tab email, and although meeting remotely on Zoom and similar can be frustrating, we have learnt new skills and about new technologies that may well in the future help us to reduce our carbon footprint!

Looking forward as we work towards the Eco Church Gold Award, we will be exploring new projects to further reduce our negative impact on the planet such as improving our insulation or even solar panels…

David Nutbrown-Hughes

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APPENDIX A

DURSLEY TABERNACLE URC RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

Notes
General fund
(unrestricted)
Receipts
Receipts from investments
1
4,173.10
Offerings
2
72,165.76
Lettings and sundry income
3
4,907.37
Receipts into funds
15
65.00
Other income
4
3,894.51
Total payments
85,205.74
Payments
Pastorate
Ministry and Mission
5
38,202.23
Dursley Tabernacle
Ministry and Mission
6
2,756.83
Youth work
7
1,196.90
Payroll
8
3,339.99
Charitable donations
9
1,595.63
Property utility costs
10
4,565.83
Other property costs
11
11,410.11
Administration
12
8,231.40
Expenditure from Funds
15
65.00
Total payments
71,363.92
Net of receipts/(payments)
13,841.82
Transfers between funds
-
Cash funds last year-end
36,563.32
Cash funds this year-end
50,405.14
DURSLEY TABERNACLE URC
STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
Notes
General fund
(unrestricted)
Cash and deposits
13
50,405.14
Other monetary assets
-
Investment Assets
COIF Ethical investment Fund
Units, at cost
14
-
Assets retained for own use
-
Creditors
-
Total net assets
15
50,405.14
31 DECEMBER 2020		 Designated
funds
(unrestricted)
-
-
-
8,999.64
-
8,999.64
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9,176.28
9,176.28
(176.64)
-
14,006.09
13,829.45
Designated
funds
(unrestricted)
13,829.45
-
-
-
-
13,829.45		 Restricted
funds
-
-
-
6,343.50
-
6,343.50
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9,495.17
9,495.17
(3,151.67)
-
11,637.47
8,485.80
Restricted
funds
8,485.80
-
-
-
-
8,485.80		 Endowment
funds
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Endowment
funds
-
-
112,252.63
-
-
112,252.63		 Total funds
4,173.10
72,165.76
4,907.37
15,408.14
3,894.51
100,548.88
38,202.23
2,756.83
1,196.90
3,339.99
1,595.63
4,565.83
11,410.11
8,231.40
18,736.45
90,035.37
10,513.51
-
62,206.88
72,720.39
Total funds
72,720.39
-
112,252.63
-
-
184,973.02		 Last year
4,088.57
76,526.79
11,285.40
117,271.35
4,728.76
213,900.87
53,191.44
4,614.25
3,647.18
3,107.36
1,165.25
3,489.61
12,479.36
6,101.38
181,037.28
268,833.11
(54,932.24)
-
117,139.12
62,206.88
Last Year
62,206.88
112,252.63
174,459.51

Signed on behalf of all trustees by

Dr Dennis Allen Rev Simon Helme Treasurer Minister Date 7/3/21 Date 7/3/21

Page A1

APPENDIX A

DURSLEY TABERNACLE URC
NOTES TO ACCOUNTS
YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
1
Receipts from investments
Distributions from COIF Ethical Fund Units
Deposit account interest
2
Offerings
Offerings (collection plate)
Standing orders and cheques
Tax recovered
3
Lettings and sundry income
Church fees
Voluntary donations
Room hire
4
Other income
Town Council (Vibe)
Family Café surplus
Fund raising
5
Pastorate ministry and mission
Dursley Group M & M
Transport
Manse Council Tax
Manse water rates
Telephone/Internet
Postage & stationery
Books & materials
Manse maintenance
Minister's Office expenses
Quarry M&M contribution
Synod contribution to Area Ministry expenses (Note 5)		 This year
£
4,171.24
1.86
4,173.10
4,978.07
53,120.92
14,066.77
72,165.76
55.00
1,583.91
3,268.46
4,907.37
2,845.92
609.54
439.05
3,894.51
33,606.00
1,610.85
2,462.72
629.19
404.19
138.04
236.41
1,098.39
161.69
(990.00)
(1,155.25)
38,202.23		 Last year
£
4,079.79
8.78
4,088.57
14,999.22
48,545.72
12,981.85
76,526.79
620.00
2,117.94
8,547.46
11,285.40
(1,510.43)
2,257.33
3,981.66
4,728.56
48,120.00
1,965.33
2,377.30
565.81
503.16
-
152.70
2,064.67
347.75
(1,320.00)
(1,585.28)
53,191.44

Page A2

APPENDIX A

DURSLEY TABERNACLE URC NOTES TO ACCOUNTS YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
6
Dursley Tabernacle ministry and mission
Publicity
Organist (including organ music)
Churches Together
FWO envelopes
Memory Café
Catering (tea & coffee)
Ministry materials
Retreats
Communion wine
Elders away days
TLS materials
Synod weekend
Alpha
CCLI licence
Pulpit supply
Gifts
Training
Christmas
Safguarding
7
Youth work
Youth Worker
Church Children's Workers
Transfers from restricted reserve
Junior Church Expenses
Youth worker expenses
8
Payroll
Staff welfare
Contract cleaning
Cleaners
Others
9
Charitable donations
Donations to charitable causes		 This year
£
-
1,236.00
15.00
-
-
182.52
109.00
-
-
-
-
-
-
605.51
-
100.00
388.80
-
120.00
2,756.83
2,011.70
1,612.20
(2,606.95)
98.25
81.70
1,196.90
-
1,538.84
1,301.15
500.00
3,339.99
2,075.63
(480.00)
1,595.63		 Last year
£
81.97
1,310.05
15.00
59.88
173.01
358.50
187.58
115.00
86.08
120.00
(32.00)
300.00
17.95
508.43
134.20
721.00
248.08
209.52
-
4,614.25
2,340.00
1,560.00
(600.00)
47.71
299.47
3,647.18
85.20
-
3,022.16
-
3,107.36
5,034.32
(3,869.07)
1,165.25

Page A3

APPENDIX A

DURSLEY TABERNACLE URC NOTES TO ACCOUNTS YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
10 Property utility costs
Water - Church
Water - Community Rooms
Electricity - Church
Electricity - Community Rooms
Gas - Church
Gas - Community Rooms
11 Other property costs
General Maintenance
Consumables
Waste management
Contract maintenance
Buildings insurance
Alarms & Security
Heating & Plumbing
Organ & piano maintenance
Others
12 Administration
Photocopier and stationery costs
Officers' expenses
Site administration
13 Cash and deposits
Current account
Deposit account
Cash in hand		 This year
£
137.95
20.56
429.00
1,939.80
1,193.25
845.27
4,565.83
512.83
(269.85)
500.11
-
4,159.36
923.40
1,124.40
418.30
4,041.56
11,410.11
245.88
430.24
7,555.28
8,231.40
67,390.65
5,210.45
119.29
72,720.39		 Last year
£
331.17
99.43
873.75
307.17
1,190.09
687.90
3,489.51
1,413.38
145.87
127.96
600.00
3,913.21
2,304.60
3,257.51
669.04
47.79
12,479.36
235.71
90.67
5,775.00
6,101.38
56,816.65
5,208.59
181.64
62,206.88

14 Investment assets

COIF Ethical Investment Fund

The Church holds 50,806.84 units in the above fund (2019 50806.84). These units are shown at cost. Their market value at 31 December 2020 was £139,861 (2019 £131,544).

Page A4

APPENDIX A

DURSLEY TABERNACLE URC NOTES TO ACCOUNTS YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

15 Funds

The net assets of the church are represented by the balances on the following funds:

Restricted Funds
Organ Fund
Youth Work
Chop & Chat
Church Retreats
Music Group
Peace & Hope Trust
DAYS
Phase 2 Restricted
Memory Café
Rainbow
Designated Funds (unrestricted)
Phase 2 Capital Fund
Flower Fund
Knitting Group
Family Cafe
Building Repair Fund
ECO Fund
Women's Guild
Welfare / Covid19 Relief Fund
In Memoriam
Unrestricted Reserves
General
Total Unrestricted Reserves
Capital endowment
Cater Fund (cost)
Total reserves, funds & capital
endowment		 Last Year
2,205.60
5,991.24
50.66
467.46
360.62
1,126.86
595.01
840.02
-
-
11,637.47
(4,516.59)
130.91
22.31
330.00
16,717.60
752.26
569.60
-
-
14,006.09
36,563.32
50,569.41
112,252.63
174,459.51		 Receipts
100.00
600.00
395.50
-
-
300.00
275.00
-
200.00
4,473.00
6,343.50
2,807.01
165.00
-
200.00
-
934.63
28.00
3,200.00
1,665.00
8,999.64
65.00
9,065
-
15,408.14		 Payments
-
(2,464.99)
(283.16)
-
-
(800.00)
(634.00)
(840.02)
-
(4,473.00)
(9,495.17)
(5,760.90)
(65.00)
-
(200.00)
-
(540.88)
(597.60)
(2,011.90)
-
(9,176.28)
(65.00)
(9,241)
-
(18,736.45)		 Transfers
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
7,500.00
7,500.00
6,341.82
13,841.82
-
13,841.82		 This year
2,305.60
4,126.25
163.00
467.46
360.62
626.86
236.01
-
200.00
-
8,485.80
29.52
230.91
22.31
330.00
16,717.60
1,146.01
-
1,188.10
1,665.00
21,329.45
42,905.14
64,234.59
112,252.63
184,973.02

Page A5

APPENDIX B

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE ELDERS OF

DURSLEY TABERNACLE UNITED REFORMED CHURCH

ON THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

(CHARITY NUMBER 1181354)

Responsibilities and basis of report

I report to the Elders on my examination of the accounts of Dursley Tabernacle United Reformed Church for the year ended 31 December 2020.

As the charity trustees of the church, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

I report in respect of my examination of the church’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5(b)) of the 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 which gives me cause to believe that, in any material respect:

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.

Clive Malcolm

4 March 2021

Independent Examiner

Broc Hill,

Theescombe

Amberley GL5 5AZ