## Hayes Lane Baptist Church
## Financial Statements
for the 12 months ending 31 March 2024 Registered Charity No. 1184711
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|---|---|
|Contents|Page|
|Charity Information|3|
|Report of the Trustees|4 - 7|
|Independent Examiner’s Report|8|
|Receipts and Payments Account|9|
|Statement of Assets and Liabilities|10|
|Notes to Accounts|11 - 12|
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Hayes Lane Baptist Church Charity Information
Charity Trustees: All the following individuals acted as trustees for the Charity during the 12 months to 31 March 2024. Tim Gardner Elder and Church Evangelist Jonathan Gooch Elder Hannah Hinton Deacon Sarah Hollman Deacon Daniel Jarvis Elder and Pastor Miriam Patten Deacon (appointed on 1 November 2023) Mark Rees Deacon Tim Sheehan Deacon Cheryl Summers Deacon and Treasurer Hamish Summers Elder Charity Registration Number : 1184711 Principal Address : Hayes Lane Baptist Church Hayes Lane Bromley Kent BR2 9EA Independent Examiner : Heather Wells MIAB Heather’s Bookkeeping Services 33 Acorn Way Wigston Leicestershire LE18 3YA Bankers : CAF Bank Ltd 25 Kings Hill Ave Kings Hill West Malling ME19 4JQ Hayes Lane Baptist Church Report of the Trustees for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
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The trustees of Hayes Lane Baptist Church (“the church”) present the trustee annual report and independently examined financial statements for the 12 months ending 31 March 2024.
## Object
The object of Hayes Lane Baptist Church is, for the public benefit, the advancement of the Christian faith in Bromley, Kent and such other parts of the United Kingdom and the world as the trustees may from time to time decide.
Hayes Lane Baptist Church seeks to advance the Christian faith in accordance with Biblical teachings. These include clear and ethical guidelines recognised over a very long period of time. Examples of these include the requirements of the Ten Commandments and the teachings of Jesus on a range of issues. Jesus’s teachings are often summarised in his commands to “love the Lord your God and love your neighbour as yourself”.
## Activities and Achievements
We are grateful to God for his faithfulness over the past year. Over the course of the last year, Hayes Lane Baptist Church has been able to continue in all of its regular activities of the church in furtherance of its charitable purposes:
- The church continues to meet Sunday morning and evening with a livestream option provided for others to listen live from their homes or to catch up later in the week. The church also meets in smaller groups for regular Bible Studies and prayer meetings through the week.
- Alongside this the church also runs regular youth and toddler groups for children from birth through to the end of secondary school.
- The church also runs a choir which is open to the public and includes a weekly message on Christianity. Two highlights of the year have been the Summer and Christmas choir concerts, which were well attended by friends and family of the members of the choir.
- A market stall in Bromley High Street continues to run each week providing Christian literature to the public and speaking to those who have questions about the Christian faith.
Another highlight of the year was the first annual Church Away Day where many of our regular members met together on a Saturday in Sevenoaks for lunch, fellowship and a talk about sharing the gospel given by a guest speaker, David Skull.
During the past year the church has also been able to hold a baptism class which ran for three sessions. Following on from this class, four young people from within the church were baptised.
The church also held two funerals and one wedding, all of which were occasions of thanksgiving.
As usual the church held Christmas services including Carols by Candlelight and Children’s Nativity. There was also the opportunity for two Christmas lunches, which were well attended. The church was also able to send a Christmas gift box to Reuben and Cathy Saywell who are missionaries we support working in the Philippines.
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## Leaders and membership
In the church meeting in November 2022, the members of the church voted to set aside some of our reserves for the purpose of appointing and developing a trainee pastor on a temporary basis to work alongside our current pastor Daniel Jarvis. The church has also now voted to approve the role and the pay-scale which will enable greater clarity in advertising this position. The search for this trainee pastor is ongoing.
In the course of the last year there have been 8 members who have been added to the membership of the church and 3 who have left the church.
There has also been an addition to the deacons with the church voting to appoint Miriam Patten in November 2023. In that same meeting Sarah Hollman and Hannah Hinton were reappointed to serve a further 3 year term as deacons. We are grateful to God for those that he has added to the church and for those who are serving in various capacities. We pray for those who have left the church that they would continue to practise their Christian faith elsewhere.
## Structure, Governance and Management
Hayes Lane Baptist Church successfully applied to become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (“CIO”) with effect from 1 August 2019. It is registered with the Charities Commission with charity reference number 1184711. Previously it operated as an unincorporated trust. The charity’s governing document is its Constitution. The Constitution cross references the church rules, which were the governing document for the unincorporated trust.
The trustees consist of the current elders and deacons of the church. New elders are nominated by the current elders and are appointed by the members of the church. Deacons are nominated by church members. They are also appointed by the members of the church and typically serve a three-year term unless they are then re-elected at the end of that period.
Hayes Lane Baptist Church is part of an association of Grace Baptist churches in the South East of England. It is also a member church for Grace Baptist Mission, through which it supports a church in Legionowo in Poland and a church in the Philippines.
## Financial Review
During the 12 months to 31 March 2024, there has been an underlying net surplus of receipts relative to payments of £24.6k [2023: £14.5k].
In terms of unrestricted funds, there has been a net surplus of receipts over payments of £20.6k [2023: £27.2k]. We are thankful to the Lord and his people for the 5% growth in donations to the church. Higher than usual levels of inflation have, however, continued to cause an increase in payments.
The church designates funds for large items of building maintenance or development, or other unusually large and irregular items of expenditure. Unusually there were no payments from these funds in the current financial year [2023: £11.8k]. Due to interest and a £10.0k [2023: nil] transfer
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from unrestricted funds, the designated funds for building maintenance or development have increased from £8.9k to £19.8k.
The church makes regular quarterly donations to support UK and international Christian mission charities such as Grace Baptist Mission. In this accounting period the church made donations (excluding restricted gifts) of £33.6k [2023: £32.6k] excluding local benevolent gifts. This represents 17% [2023: 16%] of our unrestricted income.
As well as unrestricted gifts, the church has also passed on restricted donations of £15.3k [2023: £24.5k], of which £12.9k [2023: £19.1k] was raised in the church’s Harvest Thankoffering supporting 3 causes:
- Spinnaker Trust, a charity which prepares, delivers and distributes resources for Collective Worship and RE lessons, supporting schools and equipping schools workers
- Release International and its Nigeria fund, helping persecuted Christians through Biblical trauma-healing workshops
- The Shrublands Trust, a local charity relieving poverty in & around the Shrublands Estate, Shirley.
When selecting causes for the Harvest Thankoffering, the trustees chose a combination of charities that cover relief and development aid, and Christian mission. The support of other causes is considered by the trustees to be an important part of achieving the church’s object in places outside our immediate sphere of influence in Bromley.
## Reserves Policy
Aside from retaining funds for building and maintenance, it is the reserves policy of Hayes Lane Baptist Church to hold sufficient unrestricted funds to ensure there is cash available to be able to pay its employees and core ministry expenses on a monthly basis. A large proportion of the church’s unrestricted income is very regular with donations generally being fixed amounts received monthly. The trustees therefore consider the risk of running out of cash to pay its core ministry expenses to be relatively low. Therefore, the reserves policy is to hold around £15,000 in unrestricted funds, which will comfortably cover one month of ministry costs without recourse to incoming donations.
In addition to this, Hayes Lane Baptist Church usually aims to designate £10,000 a year from its income into a Reserve Fund to cover larger and sometimes unpredictable expenditure on maintenance of its church building and the church manse.
It is the aim of the trustees that the church’s funds are actively utilised for charitable purposes to the public benefit, and most importantly, to the glory of God. As at 31 March 2024 the church held total funds of £122.3k [2023: £97.6k]:
- £80.0k [2023: £50.0k] designated to support a trainee pastor over a two year training period, with the £30.0k increase agreed by the church in view of further salary benchmarking and the high costs of accommodation in the Bromley area
- £19.8k [2023: £8.9k] designated for large items of building maintenance or development
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- £1.1k [2023: -£2.0k] restricted donations not yet passed on, with the negative amount at the end of March 2023 being due to passing over anticipated Gift Aid on Harvest donations before it has been claimed
- £21.4k [2023: £40.8k] unrestricted reserves, with the reduction driven by the further designation of £30,000 to support a trainee pastor, and £10,000 for the building maintenance fund, offset by the surplus receipts over payments already referred to above.
Given the above reserves policy, this level of unrestricted reserves is considered by the trustees to be sufficient but not excessive.
## Investment Policy
The church’s investment policy is to hold liquid assets with low risk. Its funds are held in bank accounts with CAF Bank, which allow unlimited instant withdrawals and payments, and with Grace Baptist Charities Limited (GBCL). During the year the church transferred a further £20.0k [2023: £50.0k] from its CAF account to a Deposit Account operated on the church’s behalf by GBCL, resulting in a total fund of £72.3k [2023: £50.3k]. This is in addition to the £27.9k [2023: £27.0k] held in the “GBCL Legacy Account”. These GBCL accounts are subject to a small annual management charge but earn a better rate of interest than funds held by the church at CAF Bank. There are terms for withdrawal of the funds, but with large amounts available with only two months’ notice.
## Key Risks and Uncertainties
The previous report referred to the uncertainty around the timing and financial cost of the appointment of a trainee pastor, with a question around whether the £50,000 designated at that time would be sufficient. With the surplus receipts over payments in the current financial year, it has been possible to designate a further £30,000, which reduces the risk that the funds will be insufficient. Should the costs of a trainee pastor be less than anticipated, the church will undesignated the funds set aside for this purpose.
Safeguarding remains a key risk area for the church given the breadth of church activities during the week, particularly among children. The church seeks to mitigate this risk with the help of the church’s safeguarding team through applying and regularly reviewing its safeguarding policy, carrying out DBS checks and providing safeguarding training to its trustees, staff and volunteers.
As always, the church depends on the Lord to provide for our needs, knowing that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17).
Approved by the Trustees on 24 July 2024 and signed on its behalf by:
Daniel Jarvis Pastor
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## Hayes Lane Baptist Church
## Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of Hayes Lane Baptist Church
Charity Number 1184711
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Charity”) for the 12 months ending 31 March 2024. These are set out on pages 10 to 13 following this report. Responsibilities and Basis of Report
As the charity 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.
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:
- 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 to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
24 July 2024
Heather Wells MIAB Heather’s Bookkeeping Services 33 Acorn Way Wigston Leicestershire LE18 3YA
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## **Hayes Lane Baptist Church - CIO - Charity Number 1184711 Receipts and Payments Account - for accounting period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024**
|**Section A Receipts and Payments**||
|---|---|
|**Note**
**A1 Receipts**
Donations
Gift Aid receipts
Legacies
Receipts from club activities
Investment income
Rent
Other income
**2**
Sub-total
**A2 Asset and investment sales and transfers**
Receipt from sale of fixed assets
Sub-total
**Total receipts**
**A3 Payments**
Ministry
**3**
Manse
Chapel
Administration
Donations
**4**
Youth work/evangelism/church life
Sub-total
**A4 Assets and investment purchases and transfers**
Purchase of fixed assets
Sub-total
**Total payments**
**Net of receipts over payments**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**A5 Cash funds last year end**
**Cash funds this year end**
**7,8**|**Unrestricted**
**Designated**
**Restricted**
**Total funds**
**Total funds**
**funds**
**funds**
**funds**
**2024**
**2023**
**to the nearest**
**£**
**to the nearest**
**£**
**to the nearest**
**£**
**to the nearest**
**£**
**to the nearest**
**£**
151,699
-
14,954
166,653
165,186
25,083
-
3,535
28,618
28,693
-
-
-
-
-
5,556
-
-
5,556
11,064
2,359
871
-
3,230
879
-
-
-
-
-
18,650
-
-
18,650
16,002
203,347
871
18,489
222,707
221,824
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
203,347
871
18,489
222,707
221,824
105,542
-
-
105,542
101,478
7,432
-
-
7,432
3,377
20,617
-
-
20,617
25,623
3,561
-
-
3,561
4,174
35,353
-
15,324
50,677
59,322
10,249
-
-
10,249
13,344
182,754
-
15,324
198,078
207,318
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
182,754
-
15,324
198,078
207,318
20,593
871
3,165
24,629
14,506
(40,000)
40,000
-
-
-
40,761
58,897
(2,029)
97,629
83,123
21,354
99,768
1,136
122,258
97,629|
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## **Hayes Lane Baptist Church - CIO - Charity Number 1184711 Receipts and Payments Account - for accounting period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024**
|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|**Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**|`|
|---|---|---|
|**Note**
**B1 Cash funds**
Cafcash Account
Gold Account
GBCL Legacy Account
**5**
GBCL Deposit Account
**5**
Barclays Football Club Account
Cash in hand
**Total cash funds**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
**B3 Investment assets**
**B4 Assets retained for the charity's own use**
Church premises
Fixtures, fittings & furnishings
Church manse
**Total insured assets**
**6**
**B5 Liabilities**
Donations to be passed on
**7**|**Unrestricted**
**Designated**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**funds**
**funds**
**to the nearest**
**£**
**to the nearest**
**£**
**to the nearest**
**£**
8,045
-
-
1,715
7,738
1,091
8,115
19,768
-
-
72,262
-
1,996
-
-
1,483
-
45
21,354
99,768
1,136
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
147
-
-
147|**Total funds**
**Total funds**
**2024**
**2023**
**to the nearest**
**£**
**to the nearest**
**£**
8,045
7,256
10,544
10,210
27,883
27,012
72,262
50,266
1,996
1,393
1,528
1,492
122,258
97,629
-
-
-
-
3,661,434
3,269,137
119,088
106,328
460,008
422,026
4,240,530
3,797,491
147
3,018
147
3,018|
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## **Hayes Lane Baptist Church - CIO - Charity Number 1184711 Receipts and Payments Account - for accounting period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024**
## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS**
## **Note 1: Basis of accounts.**
Hayes Lane Baptist Church (the Church) is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) registered with the Charities Commission under Charity Number 1184711. These accounts have been prepared on a "Receipts and Payments" basis and accord with Section 133 of the Charities Act 2011. The trustees consider this basis of accounting to be appropriate given that the income in both 2024 and 2023 periods was less than £250,000.
## **Note 2: Other income**
The Other Income shown in A1 above relates to payments from Grace Baptist Charities Limited ("GBCL") of £18,650 [2023: £16,002] for the secondment of Tim Gardner, the Church's employed evangelist. For some years now GBCL has paid the Church for two days per week of Tim's time, to support evangelism work in other churches in the same association.
## **Note 3: Payments to trustees**
The trustees of the Church consist of the current elders and deacons. There was no trustees’ remuneration nor other trustee benefits for the 12 months ending 31 March 2024 [2023: £nil].
However, during the current and previous financial year two of the elders were employed by the church: Daniel Jarvis as Pastor and Tim Gardner as Evangelist. In addition, one of the other elders, Jonathan Gooch, was paid for ad hoc ministry work on a self-employed basis. In the year ended 31 March 2023, Tim Gardner's sister-in-law, Bev Gardner, was paid for administration work, also on a self-employed basis. The trustees considered carefully and followed the provisions in the church's governing documentation and Charity Commission guidance on the paying of trustees and family members. The following remuneration, benefits and expense payments were made in the period.
||**Total 2024**|**Total 2023**|
|---|---|---|
||**to the nearest**|**to the nearest**|
||**£**|**£**|
|Gross salary|67,438|63,425|
|Employers NI (net of Allowance)|1,796|1,569|
|Pension (incl accrual)|15,109|13,614|
|Expenses|181|53|
|Self-employed services|17,018|19,352|
|**Total**|**101,542**|**98,013**|
## **Note 4: Donations paid**
Donations made by the Church can be categorised as follows.
||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total 2024**|**Total 2023**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||**to the nearest**|**to the nearest**|**to the nearest**|**to the nearest**|
||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
|UK mission|4,610|5,677|**10,287**|**5,677**|
|International mission|27,990|1,550|**29,540**|**30,701**|
|Relief and development aid|1,003|7,797|**8,800**|**20,660**|
|Benevolent|1,750|300|**2,050**|**2,284**|
|**Total**|**35,353**|**15,324**|**50,677**|**59,322**|
## **Note 5: Funds held with Grace Baptist Charities Limited**
The church has two accounts [2023: two] with Grace Baptist Charities Limited ("GBCL" or "the Association"). The Legacy Account relates to the amounts remaining from Brian Lane's estate. There have been no drawdowns from this Legacy Fund in this accounting period [2023: £nil]. The Deposit Account was opened towards the end of 2022 to set aside funds designated for a trainee pastor. Both accounts earn higher interest than the Church's bank accounts with CAF.
## **Note 6: Non-monetary assets held for Church use**
The Church is the beneficial owner (subject to the relevant trusts) of the assets listed in B4 above, the legal title to which is held by the custodian trustee (Grace Baptist Charities Limited). The asset values shown under B4 have been based on latest available insurance values.
## **Note 7: Restricted funds**
The Church aims to pass on gifts restricted for specific causes (eg Harvest Offering) as soon as possible. Sometimes the Church passes on the anticipated Gift Aid on these gifts at the same time as the original gift. This often leads to negative restricted funds while the Church waits to claims the Gift Aid, which explains the negative balance for the previous financial year. The table below shows a breakdown of the restricted funds.
||**Receipts**|**Payments**|**Total 2024**|**Total 2023**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||||**Funds**|**Funds**|
||**to the nearest**|**to the nearest**|**to the nearest**|**to the nearest**|
||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
|Donations/Gift Aid for external charities|18,489|15,324|147|(3,018)|
|Legacy gift to be used for evangelism|-|-|989|989|
|**Total restricted funds**|**18,489**|**15,324**|**1,136**|**(2,029)**|
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## **Hayes Lane Baptist Church - CIO - Charity Number 1184711 Receipts and Payments Account - for accounting period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024**
## **Note 8: Designated funds**
The table below shows a breakdown of the Church's designated funds. These are funds that the Church has decided to use in a certain way, usually for large and irregular items of expenditure, but is not restricted to do so by an original donor of the funds.
||**Transfers from**|**Receipts**|**Payments**|**Total 2024**|**Total 2023**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Unrestricted**|||**Funds**|**Funds**|
||**to the nearest**|**to the nearest**|**to the nearest**|**to the nearest**|**to the nearest**|
||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|
|Reserve Fund for large items|10,000|871|-|19,768|8,897|
|Trainee pastor|30,000|-|**-**|80,000|50,000|
|**Total**|**40,000**|**871**|**-**|**99,768**|**58,897**|
## **SIGNATURES**
Signed by two trustees on behalf of all of the trustees Signature
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Signature Print Name and Role Date of approval
Dan Jarvis
Elder and Pastor
Cheryl Summers
Deacon and Treasurer
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