2022-08-31-accounts

Stamford Methodist Church, Lincolnshire

Annual report and Accounts Year ended 31 August 2022

Stamford Methodist Church Registered Charity Number: 1182848

CJS March 2023

Stamford Methodist Church Year ended 31 August 2022

Contents

	Page
Trustees' Annual Report	1 to 7
Independent Examiner's Report	8
Comments on Methodist Standard Form of Accounts	9 to 10
Appended:
Methodist Standard Form of Accounts	11 to 13

CJS March 2023

Stamford Methodist Church Year ended 31 August 2022

Trustees' Annual Report

Reference and administration details

Charity name : Stamford Methodist Church Also known as: Barn Hill Methodist Church Registered charity number : 1182848 Address: Stamford Methodist 11 Barn Hill Stamford Lincs PE9 2AE

Managing Trustees

The names of those who served as Managing Trustees in the year are as follows:

Rev Andrew Fyall (Chair) Rev William Booker (assistant chair, minister within the circuit) Corinna Selby (Senior Church Steward) Anne Wiltshire (Church Steward) Anne Earle (Church Steward) Beth Hodgson (Church Steward) Stephen Husbands (Church Steward) Sally Ijioma (Church Steward) John Cameron (Secretary to Church Council, Steward & Property Secretary)) Eddie Adams (Treasurer) Roger Ing (Assistant Treasurer) Moira Collins (Circuit Steward) Vivienne Higgins (Church Steward & Pastoral Secretary) Helen Little (Mission interest) Jan Hetherington (The Well) Audrey Hensman (YOW & Second Helpings) Sarah Atwell-King (Local Preacher) Pauline Jones (Mission Projects) Evelyn Pickard (Past Steward); Charlotte Davis (Church Safeguarding Officer) Ian Husbands resigned June 2022 Julia Husbands Chris Adams Margaret Hewerdine Janet Howitt Bill Newbery David Clarke Beryl Teasdale Clive Marshall Godfrey Jones Maz Roberts

joined April 2022

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Stamford Methodist Church Year ended 31 August 2022

Trustees' Annual Report (continued)

Structure, governance and management

Governing document

As part of the wider Methodist Church in Great Britain, the Charity's governing document is the Deed of Union (1932) and Methodist Church Act (1976).

Within the wider Methodist Connexion, Stamford Methodist Church is part of the Stamford Circuit which in turn is itself part of the Northampton District of the Methodist Church.

Membership of the governing body

The governing body of the Charity is the Church Council, the members of which are the Managing Trustees. Certain officers are automatically Managing Trustees by virtue of their office. These are the minister, the secretary, the church stewards, the treasurer and the pastoral secretary. The other Managing Trustees are church representatives appointed to the Church Council at a general meeting of members of the church, normally held at least annually.

Three committees report to the Church Council:

• The Finance Committee oversees the churches finances, reporting to the Church Council at all meetings.

• The Property Committee is responsible for day-to-day upkeep of the church building and overseeing the hire activities of the Church.

• The Pastoral Committee is responsible for the pastoral care of the fellowship of the church

Other groups reflecting the life and work of the church meet to discuss their work and write a report shared at Church Council meetings:

• The Stewards

• The Safeguarding Officer

• The Mission Projects Group

• Second Helpings – ‘feeding bellies not bins’ initiative

• The Well – the church coffee shop & Fairtrade Shop

• The Growth & Outreach Group

As an employee of the Church, the Children’s and Families Work Enabler also submits a report.

Bodies entitled to appoint Trustees

The Stamford Circuit Meeting is entitled to appoint four Trustees to the Stamford Methodist Church Council, which comprise:

• the Minister of Stamford Methodist Church;

• the Superintendent Minister of the Circuit;

• one other Minister from the Circuit; and

• a Circuit Steward.

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Stamford Methodist Church Year ended 31 August 2022

Trustees' Annual Report (continued)

Objectives and activities

Purposes

The calling of the Methodist Church is to respond to the gospel of God's love in Christ and to live out its discipleship in worship and mission.

It does this through:

Worship

The Church exists to increase awareness of God's presence and to celebrate God's love

Learning and Caring

The Church exists to help people to grow and learn as Christians, through mutual support and care

Service

The Church exists to be a good neighbour to people in need and to challenge injustice

Evangelism

The Church exists to make more followers of Jesus Christ

Stamford Methodist Church seeks to apply this within the local environment of Stamford, Lincolnshire. As well as acting as a place of worship, Stamford Methodist Church also aims to use the building with which it is blessed, to offer space for hire to the local community.

Activities undertaken

The Charity undertakes a wide range of activities every year in line with its Christian purpose. These typically include but are not limited to:

• Acting as a place of worship and providing a holy space for focus within the local community.

• Offering pastoral care: to its members, to those visiting the Church and to the wider community.

• Providing and maintaining the church building for both worship and community use.

• Conducting religious ceremonies, including regular Sunday and occasional services as well as weddings and funerals on request.

• Raising awareness of Christianity in our community.

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Stamford Methodist Church Year ended 31 August 2022

Trustees' Annual Report (continued)

• Both providing the opportunity for external community action groups to hire the building and running some such groups directly - examples including Second Helpings, Twinkle Tots, Girls’ Brigade & JCBs, Messy Church, various fellowship groups & The Well.

• Providing a hire venue for use by the community.

• Being part of the Stamford Churches Together group with other local churches.

• Maintaining links with the various user groups of its premises.

• Serving as a base for Stamford Street Pastors.

Public benefit statement

The Managing Trustees oversee the activities of the Charity with due regard to the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit.

The benefits of the Christian activities of the Stamford Methodist Church are considered to be:

• Improved spiritual and mental wellbeing.

• Pastoral care and support within the local community for families and those without families.

• Friendship and fellowship amongst the congregation and others who visit regularly.

• Fosters community involvement at all levels.

• Care for the environment based on a responsibility for stewardship of God's creation.

• Challenging trade injustice through the support of such causes as Fair Trade.

• Bereavement support.

• Availability for local ceremonies at key stages in life (weddings, funerals, baptisms).

• Availability of a safe space.

• Support through direct giving, fundraising and support for other local, national and international charities.

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Stamford Methodist Church Year ended 31 August 2022

Trustees' Annual Report (continued)

The benefits of the community hire activities of the Church are considered to be:

• Strengthening the local community through the availability of learning, leisure and social activities.

• Availability of local cultural activities through concerts and other events hosted.

• Availability of local therapeutic, wellbeing and health beneficial activities.

• Support of other charities through availability of space for hire or hosting of fundraising events.

• Encouragement of interaction between different community groups meeting within the same building.

Achievements and performance

COVID-19 continued to feature over the year with adaptations made to worship as spikes in infected numbers presented themselves. Numbers of attendees remained lower than pre-COVID, but the Pastoral Visitors remained in contact with all members, and online services continued to feature weekly.

The year also saw resumption of hire activity of the Church building and we were delighted to begin to welcome hirers old and new through our doors once more. Responding to our community needs we offered a room for the use of our growing Ukraine community as they were displaced from their war-torn country. This provided a safe place for them to meet and for those who had opened their homes to them.

In April 2022 our minister Rev Andy Fyall took a 12-week sabbatical, and Rev William Booker took on the pastoral care for Stamford Methodist Church.

In June 2022 the Church Council agreed that the church would offer to hold same sex marriages on it’s premises and Corinna Selby (Senior Church Steward) was tasked with applying for the licence.

Lastly, at the end of the year we said a fond farewell to Rev Andy Fyall, our minister for the past thirteen years, his wife, Rev Helen Fyall, and their children Hannah and Matthew. We wished them all the best for the future and offered our sincere thanks for their guidance and support during their years with us.

Financial review

The 2021/2022 Accounts took longer than is usual to be audited and presented to Church Council due to hand over to a new treasurer and working together to present the accounts. They have been audited and show a deficit of just under £14,000. Treasurer for this reporting period was Eddie Adams, however, handover was beginning to take place to a new treasurer. The handover from the retiring Treasurer to the new one, Froo Coles, was not complete due to banking bureaucracy.

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Stamford Methodist Church Year ended 31 August 2022

Trustees' Annual Report (continued)

As reported to the last Church Council meeting, collections continue to be low. The new financial year is not going so well for the Church. The downturn in the economy is certainly affecting us, as it is our congregation. Collections are lower and as a consequence we are anticipating a reduction of £9,000 on last year’s collection figure.

Lettings too will produce less income for us. You may know that we have lost one or two valuable lettings since COVID-19 and we know that other organisations are reviewing their position with us.

Reducing our cost base is very difficult as the majority of our expenditure is fixed. Fortunately, this includes our heating, light and power costs, which were fixed in 2021 (at a very good rate) and will be reviewed again in December 2023.

In overall terms, we are predicting a deficit of £15,700 for the next financial year (2022/2023). Fortunately, we have enough in reserves to cover this, but this will be the third annual deficit in a row and clearly, we cannot continue like this. In short, we are living beyond our means and measures must be put in place to correct this very serious situation.

The Circuit has settled the printing costs that were outstanding. The Circuit finances have been discussed with all Circuit treasurers and the Circuit deficit is unsustainable and Churches are being asked for help with this. It is highly likely that the Church will be asked to increase their assessment from 2023/24. The proposed assessment for 2023/2024, subject to any change to process, needs to be agreed at the next Church Council meeting and provided to the circuit before the commencement of the 2023/24 financial year.

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Stamford Methodist Church Year ended 31 August 2022

Trustees' Annual Report (continued)

The Trustees' Annual Report was signed by the Chair of Trustees on behalf of the Church Council. The accompanying Methodist Standard Form of Accounts were presented to and approved by the Church Council in February 2023

Rev Andrew Hollins

Chair of Trustees (from September 2022)

Date: 12 June 2023

(due to the lateness of this report)

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Stamford Methodist Church Year ended 31 August 2022

Independent Examiner's Report

I report to the Managing Trustees on my examination of the accounts of Stamford Methodist Church (the "Charity") for the year ended 31 August 2022.

As the Managing Trustees of the Charity, 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 Charity’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.

Signed: David Swann

Name of Independent Examiner: David Swann Address: 39 Chatsworth Road Stamford Lincolnshire

Date: 12 Jan 2023

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Stamford Methodist Church Year ended 31 August 2022

Accounting policies - Methodist Standard Form of Accounts

Basis of accounts

On the following pages 11 to 13 are given the Methodist Standard Form of Accounts of Stamford Methodist Church for the year ended 31 August 2022, prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Methodist Church in Great Britain.

The accounts have been prepared on a Receipts and Payments basis since income is below the threshold that allows this approach.

Accounting policies

In order to better aid the understanding of readers, the following accounting policies are stated which explain aspects of the standard form of accounts:

Core activities

The result for the year from core activities of the Charity, being the operation of the Church and it’s rooms, are given in sections A to C.

Charitable collections

Collections made for specific charities are accounted for separately in section D and are not therefore part of the funds of the Charity.

Internal organisations

Any internal organisations within the overall Charity that have separate funds are shown in section E.

Funds

In common with most charities, the funds held by Stamford Methodist Church fall into three categories:

General unrestricted funds

General funds are unrestricted and can be used for any purpose in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the Managing Trustees.

Designated unrestricted funds

Designated funds are also unrestricted but have been allocated to a particular purpose by the Managing Trustees.

Restricted funds

Restricted funds can only be used for particular purposes within the charitable objectives. Such restrictions may arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes. All funds relating to internal organisations are deemed to be restricted funds

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Stamford Methodist Church Year ended 31 August 2022

Accounting policies - Methodist Standard Form of Accounts

Church site and building

In common with all Methodist Churches, the property is owned by the Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes ("TMCP"). Usage of the building by Stamford Methodist Church is for those purposes as permitted under the Constitutional Practice and Discipline of the Methodist Church.

Accompanying notes

Additional accompany notes are given voluntarily where it is felt these will add beneficial information to the reader of the accounts.

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Stamford Methodist Church Year ended 31 August 2022

Accounting policies - Methodist Standard Form of Accounts

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