## **Trustees’ Annual Report**
From 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021
## **Breathe Communities CIO**
Unit 2A, Wharfside Shopping Centre, Market Jew Street, Penzance, TR18 2GB
Registered Charity no. 1181656
## **Trustees**
John Howard Cox Treasurer / Trustee Matthew John Noble Trustee Andrew Murray Golder Pastor / Trustee Katie Noelle Hope Secretary / Trustee Karen Debra Golder Pastor / Trustee Danielle Godden Trustee
## **Structures, governance and management**
Breathe Communities CIO is governed by a constitution which was approved by the Trustees meeting of 18 November 2018. Breathe Communities CIO was registered as a CIO with the Charity Commission on 19 January 2019.
Trustees are appointed at a Members‟ meeting. Charity Trustees shall serve so long as they have the support of the Members‟ Meeting and (except for those in pastoral office) shall be actively appointed and reappointed at least once every three years.
## **At Breathe Communities CIO Trustees are responsible for:**
- Financial management
- Management /development of buildings
- Meeting our legal requirements (e.g. Equality Act, Safeguarding, Health & Safety)
- Oversight of the organisation‟s activities
- Oversight of administration
- Welcome and assimilation of new people
- Oversight of fellowship fund
- Seeking to maintain unity in the community
Trustees meet other month to consider the business matters of Breathe as listed above, and are encouraged to attend all meetings.
The Trustees together with the Pastor, take the roles of: Establishing and encouraging the implementation of the overall vision for Breathe; Spiritual discernment and oversight;
Overseeing significant pastoral issues; Supporting the pastors in the development and delivery of the creative programme; Consideration of mission and outreach opportunities; Praying for the community; Providing support to the pastor.
Trustees are members of Breathe and bring experience in leadership, accounting and workplace
management.
In addition to the Trustees the following positions have been recognised either as paid or voluntary roles to lead the following ministries:
## **Paid positions:**
Pastor
## **Voluntary positions:**
Welcome co-ordinator
Prayer co-ordinator
General volunteer
_Training and guidance are provided to the Trustees as required._
## **Safeguarding**
Breathe recognises its responsibilities for the safeguarding of all children and young people under the age of 18 and adults in need of care and support, regardless of gender, ethnicity or ability, as set out in the Children Act 1989 and 2004, Working Together to Safeguard Children (HM Government 2018), and Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 amended by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. Breathe has a robust Safeguarding policy that is reviewed annually by the Designated People for Safeguarding and approved by the members Meeting.
Staff and volunteers are required to attend training every three years.
## **Objectives and activities**
The principal purpose of Breathe is the advancement of the Christian faith according to the principles of the Baptist denomination. Breathe may also advance education and carry out other charitable purposes in the United Kingdom and/or other parts of the world.
## **Breathe undertakes the following activities:**
- Regular public worship, prayer, Bible study, preaching and teaching;
- Baptism, as defined in the Union‟s Declaration of Principle;
- The Communion of the Lord‟s Supper will normally be observed at least once a month;
- Evangelism and mission, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally;
- The teaching, encouragement, welcome and inclusion of young people;
- Nurture and growth of Christian disciples;
- Education and training for Christian and community service;
- Giving and encouraging pastoral care;
- Supporting and encouraging charitable social action in the United Kingdom and abroad;
- Encouraging relationships with, and supporting, Baptists and other Christians.
## **Public benefits include:**
- Provision of sacred spaces and worship services
- Providing pastoral care to those in need
- Carrying out, as a practical expression of religious beliefs, other activities such as relief of poverty.
- Providing the shop unit for other activities that support our religious beliefs including support groups, counselling
- Supporting good mental and physical health
- Providing safe spaces for the lonely and vulnerable
- Encouraging community cohesion through providing free resources for creative arts
## **Services we provide:**
- Worship services
- Groups for schools, children and young people
- Use of building for activities that support the community e.g. support groups
- Pastoral support for congregation and wider community
- Community space for Christian prayer
- Community space for art and exhibitions
## **How we advance religion:**
- Breathe provides a place of worship and a house of prayer.
- Breathe provides pastoral care through home visits and through regular contact with community members.
- Breathe runs discipleship courses to allow people to explore the Christian faith further.
- Existing followers are encouraged to pray and read the bible regularly and to meet with other Christians to support one another in their faith.
- Breathe supports outreach work speaking to people on the streets about Jesus, community focussed worship events and resourcing individuals to represent Jesus wherever they are placed.
## **Achievements and performance**
## **Church services/acts of worship**
Breathe provides regular acts of worship including weekly morning services, with provision for children and young people. Communion is often included in the morning service at least once a month. We believe these times together are essential in building up faith, preparing us for the week ahead and providing opportunities for us to connect with one another and most importantly connecting corporately with our heavenly Father.
Baptism is encouraged for all who have made a commitment to make Jesus their Lord and Saviour. In the last year one person was baptised.
Most of the weddings and funerals we host are for people linked to our Community. There were no weddings this year and we hosted one funerals/services of thanksgiving at a nearby church.
We continue to give a priority to the creative arts, allowing people space and time to create, believing that as we are made in the image of our Creator God that through performing that art of creating we allow ourselves to connect with God in a fresh way.
## **Prayer**
As a community, we believe in the power of prayer and that God not only hears our prayers, but that he also answers. We have a prayer room that is used daily for personal and community prayer sessions and for personal reflection; it forms a central hub to everything we do and often when someone comes in from the street passing by and shares a life concern a member of the team will ask gently if they would like prayer then offer prayer for them and the situation they are facing.
During the past year we also hosted a 24/7 prayer event using the prayer room as the focus, with 2 of our members creating prayer, stations, to help inspire and direct people in their prayers both locally and globally. We had over 100 people pass through our doors in that week, most of whom were from other church groups and had never been through the doors of Breathe before, this was a huge encouragement to us.
Daily, before we open our doors our team gather for prayer to focus our minds on God and on the needs of our local community and any other event that may be at the front of our minds.
## **Working with other churches and Christians**
We recognise that we are part of the „body of Christ‟, the wider church in our city, county and further afield. We have maintained our links with Truro Baptist Church who have supported us and helped us establish our community in Penzance. We also have links with other church groups across the town through some of our volunteers who represent other groups like Discovery church and Shekinah Christian Centre. We appreciate their generosity in sharing their gifted people and skills through workshops and on-going volunteer work.
We are part of Churches Together in Penzance and Area (CTiPA). The pastors have met together regularly to pray and the churches have gathered to pray and worship together.
We have hosted a few gatherings during the past year of Worshipping Friends, an inter-denominational group of musicians and singers who have brought worship to the heart of Penzance and have served to build us up and strengthen us before God.
We hosted a gathering of local pastors recently where we could share the vision of Breathe and they encouraged us through their prayer.
We are also connected to the South West Baptist Association who continue to offer support and guidance and help us find training for our volunteers, especially in regard to safeguarding.
## **Children and Schools**
We have been active in taking assemblies at a local Secondary School and helping the “Open the Book” team run different exhibitions that it has brought to Penzance. This was a great way to share the Christian faith with local school children, a great opportunity to work with other local churches too.
We also have close connections with a Special Needs School; Nancealverne School in Penzance who have visited us throughout the year allowing the children to have a creative outlet, but also giving them a chance to do some work experience working alongside our regular volunteers who help keep Breathe running smoothly.
## **Pastoral care**
The majority of pastoral care that takes place at Breathe is naturally happening daily in many ways in the life of the church, for example, through friendships and one to one contacts, including providing meals, lifts, walks, meeting up to listen over a cup of coffee and praying for one another. This can happen either in our shop unit or in people‟s homes.
Alongside this we have provided support and activities in the following ways, but this is just a small part of what goes on.
Individual Discipleship - meeting with several individuals in the community who have been struggling with mental illness - especially anxiety, and using counselling techniques alongside encouragement in their Christian faith to bring support and improvement in their mental health.
Pastoral Support - visiting individuals in their own homes, nursing homes and in hospital to support and encourage those who are struggling with physical and mental health conditions.
Evangelism on the streets of Penzance and St. Ives - this includes using sketch boards and opening questions to give people the chance to talk about life and God and hear a bit more about who Christians say God is. For those who are interested, more resources and signposts are given and prayer is offered. A number of people from our community have been involved in this ministry in association with Open Air Campaigners (OAC). There have been several commitments to Christ and some people have connected more with God.
## **Community connection**
Alongside the activities and groups that are run from the shop unit in Penzance we have set up a Whatsapp group for anyone who wishes to be part of it in our community. This has allowed 24/7 support for those who need help, support or prayer.
Breathe is all about the community with an open door to the high street 3 days a week, we welcome anyone who walks through the door and encourage them to participate in whichever way they feel comfortable; some colouring in for mindfulness, a pencil sketch or a watercolour or even acrylics or oil painting and clay sculpting. We even have poets, song writers and musicians visit from time to time. With each person we spend time getting to know them, sharing a drink and finding out more about them as they get to know us.
On special days we can often be found out on the street giving out gifts and blessing our local community members and shop keepers; On Valentine‟s day we gave out 300 heart chocolates reminding people that they are loved. Last summer at the end of the school exams we were giving our flowers, cheering the hearts and blessing those passing by, there were tears of thanks...
## **Use of our buildings**
We are blessed with a large space which we have sought to use effectively to deliver the vision of Breathe – either through our own organised activities or through others who use our building and who share our aims.
Groups that regularly used our building include a range of specialist support groups and we look forward to continuing to host them.
## **Covid-19**
Covid-19 has had a huge impact on our charity work this year, although for part of the year we continued as normal, with activities as outlined above, when lockdown hit we moved our work online and continued to provide community programming on a daily basis for our Breathe community to access, that as well as daily telephone support for each person which was greatly appreciated and deliveries of essential items to those in greatest need we continued to sustain the community that had grown in the shop unit.
We are not sure what the future looks like for the physical presence of the charity on the high street but we will continue to find ways to meet and support the needy and vulnerable while keeping abreast of current guidelines.
## **Financial Review**
## **Breathe Communities CIO financial year is from 1st April to 31st March each year.**
## **Income and Expenditure**
**Income** – The majority of Breathe‟s income this year has been through Grants, £51,143; Cornwall Council‟s Covid grants were huge, Cornwall Glass and the CCCP group all gave gifts, with the Baptist Union continuing to support Breathe with £10k. with additional gifts through community members and an art auction this totalled £56,679 over the period from April1 2020 to 31 March 2021.
**Expenditure** – Most of our expenditure over this period was down to the paying of our staff costing £11251. We also hosted a charity art auction to support another charity which allowed us to donate £4338 to them. New laptops were purchased and a new kitchen installed as well as Covid-19 signage and our website hosting and streaming licences gave us a total expenditure of £21,393.
This left us with a balance at 31 March 2021 of £39218, with this strong balance and the South West Baptist Association grant on-going at £833/month we remain confident to continue as a Going concern in the coming financial year.
## **Funds and Balance Sheet**
Breathe has one bank account:
Main bank account for the organisation. The balance at the end of the year was a healthy £39,218.
## **Reserves Policy**
The Trustees of every charity are required to establish and record a reserves policy. Reserves are those funds which are designated to meet an emergency situation where a significant source of income has gone or has been reduced or a significant need to spend has arisen.
To that end we have set aside from our remaining balance £5000 as an emergency reserve which will cover our monthly outlay for 1-2 months.
The operational implementation by the Treasurer is relatively straightforward.
A reserve has been established as a line in the budget. This means the bank balance must not fall below the reserve.
However, as a precaution, if the balance is close to the reserve, the Treasurer will report this to the Pastor. Depending on the circumstances, the Pastor and the Treasurer will determine whether the matter is brought to the Trustees‟ Team.
If it does fall below the reserve figure, the Treasurer will note the date, the balance and any relevant circumstances. This will then go the Trustees‟ Team.
The overall management of the budget, including the reserve, is put on the agenda of the Trustees meetings every month. If the reserve issue is serious, the Pastor may require an ad-hoc meeting of the Trustees‟ team.
In keeping with the reserves policy, funds are maintained to meet foreseeable recurring expenditure.
## **Internal Controls**
Breathe accounts are maintained on Excel. Payroll is processed by Kernow Accountancy who operate our PAYE with the HMRC. Breathe accounts are in the „Payments and Receipts‟ form.
The Treasurer updates the accounts each month from the monthly bank. Therefore, the accounts are matched to bank balances as the accounts are updated.
## **Outlook for 2021/22**
The budget for 2021-22 shows that Breathe will be able to meet our planned commitments for the year ahead.
We have built up a balance of £39,218 going into this year. With the continued support from the SWBA grant and an increase in member giving we are assured that God is providing the necessary funds for us to continue this valuable work in Penzance.
## **Declaration**
The Trustees declare that they have approved the trustees‟ report
Signed on behalf of the charity trustees
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Murray Golder
Pastor
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Katie Hope
Secretary
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_Date: 16/12/2021_
**Breathe Communities CIO 1181656**
## **Receipts and payments accounts For the period** 4/1/2020 **To from**
4/1/2020 3/31/2021 **To**
## **Section A Receipts and payments**
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Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
Total funds
funds funds funds
to the nearest
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
£
A1 Receipts
Government COVID 19 grants 39,143 - - 39,143
other grants 12,000 - - 12,000
personal gifts 5,535 - - 5,535
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
- - - -
56,678 - - 56,678
Sub total (Gross income for AR)
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total - - - -
Total receipts 56,678 - - 56,678
A3 Payments
Wages 11,251 - - 11,251
Accountants 230 - - 230
Utilities 568 - - 568
Insurance 539 - - 539
Kitchen installation 1,565 - - 1,565
Laptop 469 - - 469
CCLI licences 178 - - 178
Resources 2,255 - - 2,255
Donation to Freeset 4,338 - - 4,338
Sub total [ 21,393 ] - - 21,393
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total [ - ] - - -
Total payments 21,393 - - 21,393
Net of receipts/(payments) 35,285 - - 35,285
A5 Transfers between funds - - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end - - - -
Cash funds this year end 35,285 - - 35,285
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## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**
||||**Unrestricted**||**Restricted**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Categories**|**Details**||**funds**||**funds**|
|**B1 Cash funds**|cash in hand|**_Total cash funds_**|**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|
|**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|
||(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))||Agreement Error|OK||
||||**Unrestricted**||**Restricted**|
||||**funds**||**funds**|
|**B2 Other monetary assets**|**Details**||**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|
|**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|
|**B3 Investment assets**|**Details**||**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**|**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**||
|**B4 Assets retained for the**|**Details**||**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**|**Cost (optional)**
**-**||
|**charity’s own use**||||
|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|
||||**Fund to which**||**Amount due**|
|**B5 Liabilities**|**Details**||**liability relates**|
|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**(optional)**|
|Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees||Signature|Print|Name||
||||Andrew Golder|||
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CC16a
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**----- Start of picture text -----**
Last year
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## **to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
## **Endowment funds to nearest £**
**-**
## OK
## **Endowment funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**Current value (optional)**
**-**
**Current value (optional)**
**-**
**When due (optional)**
Date of approval 12/16/2021
CHARITY COMMISSION
FOR ENGLAND AND WALES
Independent examiner's
report on the accounts
Sectlon A
Independent Examlner's Report
Report to the tru8t8esl
rnember8 of
Breathe Communltles CIO
On accounts for the year
ended
3110312021
Charlty no
(If anyl
1181656
Sot out on pages
I report to the Irustees on my examlnallon of the accounts of the above
charlty ('Ihe Trust.) for Ihe year ended
3110312021
Rospon8lblllt108 and As Ihe charlty trustees of the Trusl, you are responslble for the preparallon of
bas18 ol report the accounts In accordance wlth the requlraments of the Charltles Act 2011
("the Act").
I report In respect of my examlnatlon of the Trust's accounts carrled out
under sectlon 145 of the 2011 Act and In carrylng out my examlnatlon, I have
followed the appllcable Dlrectlons glven by ihe Charlty Commlsslon under
sectlon 145{5l