2024-03-31-accounts - New Covenant Church Strongnation Stevenage

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NEW COVENANT CHURCH STRONG NATION TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

NEW COVENANT CHURCH STRONGNATION

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

31 MARCH 2024

Final Accounts

Charity Number 1181992

NEW COVENANT CHURCH STRONG NATION TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT PERIOD FROM 1 APRIL 2023 TO 31 MARCH 2024

CONTENTS	PAGE
Trustees annual report	1
Statement of financial activities	6
Income and expenditure account	8
Balance sheet	10
Cash flow statement	9
Notes to the financial statements	11
The following pages do not form part of the financial statements
Detailed statement of financial activities	17

The Trustees present their report and the unaudited financial statements of the Charity for the period from 01 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.

NEW COVENANT CHURCH STRONG NATION TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Registered charity name

New Covenant Church Strong Nation Stevenage

Charity Registration Number

1181992

Registered Address

Worship Centre

Turpins Rise, Broadwater, Stevenage SG2 8QR Turpins Rise, Broadwater, Stevenage SG2 8QR

The trustees

The Trustees who served the Charity during the period were as follows:

Oluwagbemiga Badejo Dr Daniel Osikominu MB, BS David Konu Abi Banwo Feyisayo Adesigbin

Chair Oluwagbemiga Badejo Officiating Minister: Revd. Enitan Idowu Independent Examiner Bliss Accounting Services

NEW COVENANT CHURCH STRONG NATION TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

1. STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

a. Trust Deed and Governing Document
b. Method of appointment or election of Trustees
c. Organisational structure and decision making
d. Related party relationships
e. Risk management

The charity is constituted under a Trust Deed and is a registered charity number 1181992. The management of the church is the responsibility of the Trustees who are elected and co-opted under the terms of the Trust Deed. The church is organised so that the trustees meet regularly to manage its affairs. The day-to-day administration and the spiritual guidance of the church is managed by the officiating minister. New Covenant Church Strong Nation is a member of the New Covenant Church which has parishes all over the world. The Trustees have assessed the major risks to which the church is exposed, in particular those related to the operations and finances of the church, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate our exposure to the major risks.

2. Mission.

Serve God

Our service to God is born out of our love for HIM. It is every believer’s desire to serve God and anchor our existence on ensuring His Kingdom is established here on earth.

Support Society

We are committed to being a people that live for God. Standing as a generation of believers with a strong desire to be a people meeting the needs of God here on earth. God is able to achieve a lot through us.

Spread the Gospel

As we grow, we believe we increase our capacity to make an impact as believers both individually and as a community. We want to lead lives that draw many to Christ in our careers, businesses, families and more.

3. OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

To seek the advancement of Christian life and educate people in the Word of God.
To spread the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ all over Stevenage, Hertfordshire and beyond.
To help in the relief of poverty, sickness and financial hardship in all parts of the world: directly to our immediate members, their families, members of the local, national and international community as occasion would demand, in cash and in-kind.
To promote and preserve good health by organising health talks, lectures, seminars, education, and support.
We have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit when reviewing our aims and objectives and in planning our future activities

NEW COVENANT CHURCH STRONG NATION TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

4. ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE.

The Trustees support the officiating minister in carrying out the objectives and activities of the church by providing the enabling governance structure, knowledge and spiritual support required to ensure that they are met. The Trustees and the officiating minister review our activities from time to time in meeting the Charity Commissions general guide on public benefit in ensuring that our activities incorporate the many groups that live within our parish and within the framework of our Trust Deed and Statement of Faith.

Review of activities

A. IGNITION - Bible Study and Prayer Meeting

Ignition, our mid-week services provide an interactive forum which is open to members and the general public to learn, interact, ask questions and get answers to life’s complicated issues. The meeting focusses on how attendees can practically live in love with their neighbours through the indepth understanding of the bible without compromising their Christian values. The meeting provides an opportunity for attendees to put their faith into practice, learn about the gospel and developed their knowledge and trust in Jesus Christ. All through the year, this has been beneficial and spiritually equipping as it empowers and motivates attendees in living a life of purpose and faith as Jesus Christ our Saviour did. The meeting also creates an avenue to socialise with people, address mental health issues and an opportunity to have sessions with the pastors.

B. Sunday Services

Our Sunday and other services including Holy Communion Services are open to the general public. These services provide the opportunity for worship and celebration of milestones by parishioners in a welcoming environment. During the reporting year, parishioners celebrated landmark birthdays, academic graduations, and offer of thanksgiving to God for major events in their lives and families. We also celebrated Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Easter, Christmas Carol and New Year Thanksgiving. All these events enabled parishioners to develop their Christian faith and enhances personal developments.

C. Mission and Evangelism

We held two outdoor events dedicated to spreading the gospel and, enlightening people about the love of Jesus and the hope that He brings to lives. These events focused on people in Stevenage. At Christmas, we also made donations to a homeless charity in Stevenage. We continue to propagate the gospel online via various social media platform. This has attracted people from within and outside the United Kingdom. Our messages and preachings are available online.

D. Men and Women Focus Group

‘All for One’ is a focus group created to support men, and an avenue where men-related subjects such as family life, career, business, spiritual development etc are discussed based on the teaching of the Bible. There have been positive responses, and members have testified to the impact the group has made in their lives and development. Outside the main events held by Strong Nation, the group attend events held by Covenant Men International, which is a similar group in the wider New Covenant Church International group. Like with all our other events, ‘All for One’ is open to men outside Strong Nation. ‘All for One’ currently have 27 members.

NEW COVENANT CHURCH STRONG NATION TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Covenant Women International Strong Nation (CWI Strong Nation) is a women group similar to the men’s group. They hold regular events to support women through prayers, mentoring and sharing the word of God. CWI Strong Nation has 25 regular members.

E. Youth Events

During the reporting year, we engaged in youth activities. The charity organised weekly youth service meetings where young people engaged themselves in topical issues to enhance self-actualisation and development. The group his managed by a season children minister

F. Community Engagement

In the reporting year, the church held conferences and meetings that addressed current issues facing our community. These meetings were opened to the public and focussed on different demographical groups. We pray and preach the good news of salvation not only in Stevenage but in many other parts of the UK.

Strong Nation held a quarterly music event which builds spiritual development and interpersonal relationship. This event is called “Total Praizze”. For this event, we invite guest artists to lead the church in praise and worship, and it also provides an opportunity to showcase our in-house choir. This is a very popular event which draws in people outside our regular members.

Annually we hold a summer barbeque party which is open to everyone. Through this event, we engage the community and propagate the gospel. The feedback for both events have been encouraging.

G. Personal Development Training

The church organised a Leadership training over this period. This was to equip its members with the skills to lead with purpose and excellence in their personal and professional lives. This training was open to anyone and was well received by all the participants.

5. FINANCIAL REVIEW

a. Income.

Donations, tithe and gifts from members is the main source of income for the charity during the reporting period. We received £57k in income, of which £26k was retained as surplus. The expense for the period was related to charitable activities.

b. Reserves policy

The Trustees have established a policy whereby the unrestricted funds not committed or invested in intangible fixed assets (‘the free reserves’) held by the church should cover a quarter of our annual expenditure. At this level, the trustees feel that they would be able to continue the current activities of the church in the event of a significant drop in funding.

NEW COVENANT CHURCH STRONG NATION TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

c. Investment policy and performance

The trustees have decided that at present, funds should be retained in Bank. Any change in such banking arrangements should be agreed upon by the board. As far as possible, funds will be retained in interest-bearing accounts.

d. Grant making policies

Strong Nation is affiliated to the New Covenant Church international and has agreed to make donations to assist in the delivery of our shared objectives and mission. These donations are made through the conference centre. The church also provides financial support to members of the congregation who are in need. This is at the discretion of the trustees and are considered to be in line with the charitable objectives of the church.

e. Volunteers

The church is grateful for the immense contributions and efforts of its volunteers who are involved in the provision and delivery of church services and administration. It is estimated that about 2400 volunteer hours were provided during 2023/2024 reporting year cutting across 20 volunteers. If this is valued at £10.42 an hour, the volunteer effort amounts to about £25,104.00.

6. PLANS FOR FUTURE PERIODS

a. Future developments

We are seeking to obtain a lease or outright purchase of a permanent place of worship which will also be used as a community centre. This will enable us to carry out a wide range of community-based projects that we are unable to do at the moment.

Trustee Responsibilities

The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
State whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial

NEW COVENANT CHURCH STRONG NATION TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

statements comply with the Charities Act 2011 and the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. The Trustees 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.

Signed by order of the Trustees

29/01/25

NEW COVENANT CHURCH STRONGNATION FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

Independent Examiners Report

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above NCC Strong Nation for the period ended 31 March 2024.

Responsibilities and basis of the report

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

Independent examiner's statement

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 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.

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:

accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
the accounts do not accord with the accounting records

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Henry Moses. Bliss Accounting Services 4th Floor, Victoria House Victoria Road Chelmsford CM1 1JR Date: 30/01/2025

NEW COVENANT CHURCH STRONGNATION FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT
Note INCOMING RESOURCES Incoming resources from generating funds: Voluntary income TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES RESOURCES EXPENDED Charitable activities TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED NET INCOMING RESOURCES FOR THE PERIOD RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS Total funds brought forward TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD	Unrestri cted Funds £ 57,099 57,099 57,099 - 57,099	Restricted Funds £ -	Total Funds 31st March 24 £ 57,099	Total Funds 31st March 23 £ 44,418
		-	57,099	44,418
		(31,803)	(31,803)	(17,370)
		(31,803)	25,296	27,048
		(31,803) (31,803)	25,296 25,296	27,048
				27,048

NEW COVENANT CHURCH STRONGNATION FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

INCOME TOTAL EXPENDITURE OPERATING SURPLUS SURPLUS FOR THE PERIOD	31st March 24 31st March 23 £ £ 57,099 44,418 (31,803) (17,370)
	25,296 27,048

	25,296 27,048

NEW COVENANT CHURCH STRONGNATION FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

----- Start of picture text -----
BALANCE SHEET
As At March 31 March 2024
31-Mar-24 31-Mar-23
Note £ £
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible assets 7 407 1,327
CURRENT ASSETS
Cash at bank 12 224,184
Debtor 8 - 224,184 197,967
CURRENT LIABILITY
Creditor - 1,386 -
1,386
NET CURRENT ASSETS 222,798 196,582
─────────
TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 223,205 197,909
════════ ═════════
FUNDS
Unrestricted income funds 223,205 197,909
TOTAL FUNDS 223,205
197,909
----- End of picture text -----

NEW COVENANT CHURCH STRONGNATION FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

CASH FLOW STATEMENT Note NET CASH INFLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES 9 Financing Activities Support Loan Repa CAPITAL EXPENDITURE Payments to acquire tangible fixed assets Net cash outflow from capital expenditure INCREASE IN CASH 10 Cash Balance as at 31 March 2024 Cash Balance as at 31 March 2023	Mar-24 £
	29,346
	18000
	31,386
	- -
	47,346
	224,183 197,967

The notes on pages 12 to 15 form part of these financial statements

ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of accounting

NEW COVENANT CHURCH STRONGNATION FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with applicable United Kingdom accounting standards, the Statement of Recommended Practice "Accounting and Reporting by Charities" issued in 2019 (SORP 2019 and the Charities Act 2011.

Fixed assets.

All fixed assets are initially recognised at cost and maintained at net book value (after depreciation).The useful economic life of our asset class are as below.

Equipment, Fittings and Furniture 20%

2 VOLUNTARY INCOME

Donations Donations Gift Aid	Unrestricted Funds Total Funds 2024 £ £ 57,099 57,099 - -
	57,099 57,099

3 COSTS OF CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES BY FUND TYPE

Charitable activity type 1 (amend desc's for a/cs 330A, 330B and 330C to alter col. headings)	Restricted Funds Total Funds 2024 £ £ 31,803 31,803
	31,803 31,803

4 COSTS OF CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES BY ACTIVITY TYPE

Support	costs 2024	Total Funds 2024
	£	£

NEW COVENANT CHURCH STRONGNATION FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

[Charitable activity type 1 (amend desc's for a/cs 330A, 330B and 330C ] to alter col. headings)

31,803

5 GOVERNANCE COSTS

Accountancy fees Other financial cost/bank charges

	Total
Restricted Funds	Funds
	2024
£	£
-	-
-	-
-	-

6 STAFF COSTS AND EMOLUMENTS Total staff costs were as follows:

Wages and salaries Social security costs	Period from Period from 31 March 2024 31 March 2023 £ £ - - - -
	- -

NEW COVENANT CHURCH STRONGNATION FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

	Particulars of employees:
	The average number of employees during the period, calculated on the			March
	basis of full-time equivalents, was as follows:	March 2024		2023
			Nil	Nil
	No employee received remuneration of more than £60,000 during the
	period (2024 - Nil).
7	TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS
		Plant and machinery
				£
				COST
Opening Balance				11,490
Additions				-
Disposal				-
At	30 March 2024			11,490
DEPRECIATION
Opening Balance				10,164
Depreciation Charged				920
At	30 March 2024			11,083
NET BOOK VALUE				407
At	30 March 2023			1,327
8	Debtor	31 March 2024	31	March 2023
		£		£
	Loan	-		-
		-		-

NEW COVENANT CHURCH STRONGNATION FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

9[RECONCILIATION OF NET INCOMING RESOURCES TO NET CASH INFLOW ] FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

Net incoming resources before transfers Depreciation Net cash inflow from operating activities	31 March 2024 31 March 2023 £ £ 25,296 27,048 920 2,298
	26,216 29,346

RECONCILIATION OF NET CASH FLOW MOVEMENT TO MOVEMENT IN NET DEBT
	31 March	31 March
	2024	2023
	£	£
Increase in cash in the period	26,216	29,346
	`─────────`	`─────────`
Change in net funds	26,216	29,346

11 ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN NET FUNDS

	31 March 2024	30 March 2023
	£	£
Cash at bank	224,184	197,967
	════════	═════════

NEW COVENANT CHURCH STRONGNATION FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024

The following pages do not form part of the statutory financial statements