Oakham Evangelical Church Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements For the period 1st April 21 to 31st March 2022
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1. Information
Trustees
Stephen Parkes (Pastor & Chair) Andrew Hayward Benjamin Knight Diane Parkes Peter Hayward Jonathan Timbrell Aimee Cains Andrew Parkes Leonard Timbrell
All the above trustees acted for the whole period.
Charity registration number
1186709
Address
Oakham Evangelical Church City Rd, Tividale, Oldbury, West Midlands, B69 1QZ.
2. Background
The Church was established in 1872 and has a long history of service to our community as a source for teaching the Christian Faith, a place of prayer and worship and a platform of activity and support for the community. The Church's work extends well beyond Sundays, providing regular Bible Studies, prayer and worship events and a programme of community activities for young people, children, families, senior citizens and the wider community. The Church provides a place to learn and express the Christian faith, a place for people to connect with one another, an opportunity for volunteering and a source of pastoral care and support.
The Church works well with a range of partners, in particular; Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, West Midlands Police Service, Grace Mary Primary School and the Grace Mary to Lion Farm Big Local.
The Church is led by our Pastor, who is both a paid employee and trustee together with the other trustees who meet on a monthly basis. They are also supported by over 30 volunteers in the work of the Church.
The period covered by this report marks the time when Covid restrictions were being gradually rolled back and the Church was once more able to carefully and safely step up its work in the community by reestablishing many of the groups and activities that had thrived previously. In particular, our ‘in person’ services, youth, young families and senior citizens work
3. Public Benefit
The Trustees confirm that we have given due consideration to and complied with the Commission’s guidelines on Public Benefit. We bear this in mind when planning and delivering activities. We have addressed identifiable needs to individuals, specific groups and the wider community. Much of the church's work involves social contact, connecting with people, removing isolation, giving support and providing opportunities for people to work with others. We have also as a church encouraged people to grow in faith through our church services and pastoral care.
4. Activities undertaken to achieve objectives
The Church's objects and purposes are detailed in our constitution. Concisely they are to advance the Christian faith through teaching and experience, and to address need in order to improve the conditions of life. Our varied, flexible and often developing programme addresses both of these objects. The church is ideally located as a hub for the local community and platform of activity. Our premises are well resourced, flexible, spacious and suitable for a range of activities
Following the easing of Covid restrictions in the summer of 2021 we relaunched our Friday Youth Club, Senior Citizens Club , Crafty Ladies and Carer and Toddler groups. All were relaunched successfully and have proven popular.
Weekly activities
Sunday Worship
Each Sunday the church met together for worship, prayer, teaching and fellowship from 10.00 AM each Sunday. This session includes an informal time, refreshments are served prior to the Family Service, giving people time and space to connect, socialise and mix. Our Family Service follows, worship, prayer, sermons, communion, participation from a wide range of the congregation is a key feature that is encouraged. Running alongside this is our Kids church, a popular activity for children from toddler up to 11 years of age. Stories, songs, fun and craft activities make this very popular.
In addition occasional extra activities have been added. These include activities such as after church meals,and using a local school playing
field for an outdoor service
Bible Study
A Bible based discussion and teaching programme each week.
Carer and Toddler group
A popular session each week giving children a chance to interact with each other, play with new toys and for Carers to meet, chat and connect. Following its relaunch this group has worked at capacity throughout the year.
Worship Team
A weekly practice session for musicians to develop their skills, arrange music and blend as a team. New musicians are welcomed and support given. We have a long history of training, supporting and encouraging musicians to develop their skills
TLC
This group changed its format slightly, it now meets together for a weekly two hour session for senior citizens. Opportunity is given for chat, refreshments and taking part in a variety of activities and games.
Crafty Ladies
A monthly session providing contact, crafts, talks and refreshments for an intergenerational group of ladies. Sharing skills, working on individual and joint projects and connecting with one another.
Youth Club
Activities, mentoring and games for a large group of young people 11 years plus. Since its relaunch, this group has worked at capacity to provide a safe and productive weekly session
Special Events and Community Activities
Special and community events provide an opportunity for people to meet with others, develop interests and enjoy engaging in activities . A range of special events were held during the second part of the year
Childrens Winter Coats
Working in partnership with Sandwell MBC and the local community, this two day project received and distributed childrens winter coats. Coats were donated at the church on one day by the community and distributed from the church a few days later to those who needed them. This was a tremendous project with many coats donated,and demonstrated the local community working together and supporting one another to meet local needs.
Harvest Festival & Food Bank
Our Harvest Festival collected a large number of food donations which were then passed on to our local Food Bank. The Church continues to collect donations of food and toiletries each week which we then deliver to our local Food Bank.
The Big Feed
Working in partnership with the Grace Mary to Lion Farm Partnership our team of 21 volunteers assembled and distributed over 30 Christmas food hampers to local families who had registered a need.
Christmas Film Festival
A Saturday afternoon/evening pre Christmas event for families showing Christmas films and providing seasonal refreshments.
Winter walk
An opportunity for people to meet, take some exercise and enjoy the countryside
Worship and Prayer night
A night of worship and prayer led by an international team from a local church
Swop Shop
An unusual event centred around freely sharing and swapping a range of items to be reused and repurposed.
Church Tidy Up
A general tidy up of the church and grounds including clearance of the overgrown area at the rear. This was an opportunity for a wide range of ages and skills to work together for a common purpose and the generation of ideas for future development of the area at the rear of the building.
Note
As we approached our 150th anniversary as a church, it is fair to say that Covid created one of the most severe disruptions in our work and ministry. Coming out of Covid, as things eased we were cautious and deliberate in rolling out our activities. We are pleased to note that this approach has been successful and that our core activities are now established, well supported and continuing to develop. Our connection with the community, individuals in the community and our partners remains very strong and positive. The church is continuing to be a place to volunteer, receive help, discover new things to do and be involved in.
We have continued to provide pastoral support, our trustees performed several funerals and developed a social media presence. People regularly view our online services and listen to our podcasts. This online presence and service live streaming will continue to be developed to meet local needs.
Our programme of activity, community connections and soft presence in the community for many years has been a very real support to both individuals and the community. We have reached many people and given them the opportunity to find faith, grow and express their faith. To develop skills, connections, develop friendships, express themselves and try new things. The Church is often active in signposting people to any services, help or support they need. We also act as an advocate for local needs.
5. Governance and Management
Constitution
The Church's governing document is our CIO constitution.
Appointment of Trustees
Trustees are appointed in line with the specific guidelines given in our constitution
Structure and decision making
The Church employs a Pastor who contributes significantly to the churches teaching programme, provides pastoral care and shares with the trustees, the responsibility for the leadership and development of the Church and its work. The Trustees meet monthly to oversee the work, decision making and direction of the Church.
6. Plans for the future
Moving into the future we continue to assess the types of activity we need to be rolling out in the future. In doing so we are bearing in mind our objects, our resources and the needs of the church, community and individuals around us.
We continue to listen to our community and service users and talk to our partners, in particular our local Authority, local schools, other churches and voluntary organisations.
The Church's presence in the community is an important asset, which requires ongoing upgrading and development. Over the coming few years we intend to make repairs to the roof, create a more useful outside space and undertake improvements for our kitchen and toilet facilities.
7. Financial Review
The main source of our income is from regular donations by bank standing orders and cash donations in the offerings box from those who attend and support the Church at our Sunday meetings. This has been bolstered again this year by the HMRC Job Retention Scheme grant to assist us in providing furlough payments for our Pastor during COVID 19 restrictions. In addition we received our Giftaid claim for previous years and a grant towards our core costs from Grace Mary to Lion Farm Big Local. Together these additional sources of income have boosted our financial reserves so that we can undertake the much needed roof repairs in the coming year.
As part of our community activities we also raised £133 for Macmillan Cancer Support and £91 for The Children's Society.
8. Declaration
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
Peter Hayward 13th January 2023
Andrew Parkes 13th January 2023
| Charity Name Oakham Evangelical Church |
Charity Name Oakham Evangelical Church |
Charity Name Oakham Evangelical Church |
Charity Name Oakham Evangelical Church |
Charity Name Oakham Evangelical Church |
No (if any) 1186709 |
No (if any) 1186709 |
No (if any) 1186709 |
CC16a | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| For the period from |
Period start date 1 April 2021 |
To | Period end date 31 March 2022 |
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| Section A Receipts and payments | |||||||||
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ |
Endowment funds to the nearest £ |
Total funds to the nearest £ |
Last year to the nearest £ |
||||
| Regular Donations | 16,840 | - | - | 16,840 | 20,850 | ||||
| Offering Box | 8,688 | - | - | 8,688 | 10,877 | ||||
| Community Activities | 1,164 | - | - | 1,164 | 1,011 | ||||
| Tax Reclaim | 16,869 | - | - | 16,869 | - | ||||
| Grant (Core Costs) | 4,755 | - | - | 4,755 | 14,324 | ||||
| HMRC JRS grants | - | 3,645 | - | 3,645 | 11,624 | ||||
| - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| Sub total (Gross income for AR) |
48,316 | 3,645 | - | 51,961 | 58,686 | ||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
|||||||||
| - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| A3 Payments Sub total Total receipts |
- | - | - | - | - | ||||
| 48,316 | 3,645 | - | 51,961 | 58,686 | |||||
| Payroll | 17,630 | 3,645 | - | 21,275 | 27,138 | ||||
| Utilities & Internet | 1,730 | 360 | - | 2,090 | 3,265 | ||||
| Consumables | 69 | - | - | 69 | 419 | ||||
| Insurance & Admin | 2,305 | - | - | 2,305 | 1,798 | ||||
| Legal | 962 | - | - | 962 | 4,080 | ||||
| Property Maintenance | 108 | - | - | 108 | 75 | ||||
| Media Plus | - | 343 | - | 343 | - | ||||
| Other | 133 | - | - | 133 | - | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| Sub total | 22,937 | 4,348 | - | 27,285 | 36,775 | ||||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
|||||||||
| - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | - | ||||||
| A6 Vested funds A5 Transfers between funds Sub total Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) Cash funds this year end |
- | - | - | - | |||||
| 22,937 | 4,348 | - | 27,285 | 36,775 | |||||
| 25,379 | - 703 |
- | 24,676 | 21,911 | |||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| 33,642 | 14,324 | - | 47,966 | 26,055 | |||||
| 59,021 | 13,621 | - | 72,642 | 47,966 | |||||
| Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | |||||||||
| Categories B1 Cash funds |
CAF Bank Details |
Unrestricted funds to nearest £ 59,021 - - |
Restricted funds to nearest £ 13,621 - - |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|||||
| CAF Bank | 59,021 | 13,621 | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | |||||||
| - | - | - | |||||||
| B2 Other monetary assets | Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details |
59,021 | 13,621 | - | |||||
| OK | OK | ||||||||
| Unrestricted funds to nearest £ - - |
Restricted funds to nearest £ - - |
Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|||||||
| - | - | - | |||||||
| - | - | - |
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Unrestricted | Restricted funds | Endowment | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Categories | Details | funds | funds | |||||
| to nearest £ | to nearest £ | to nearest £ | ||||||
| B1 | Cash funds | CAF Bank | 59,021 | 13,621 | - | |||
| - | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||
| Total cash funds | 59,021 | 13,621 | - | |||||
| (agree balances with receipts and payments | ||||||||
| account(s)) | OK | OK | OK | |||||
| Unrestricted | Restricted funds | Endowment | ||||||
| funds | funds | |||||||
| Details | to nearest £ | to nearest £ | to nearest £ | |||||
| B2 | Other monetary assets | - | - | - | ||||
| - | - | - |
CCXX R accounts (SS)
| B3 Investment assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B5 Liabilities Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees |
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| - | ||||
| Details | Current value (optional) |
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| Details | Current value (optional) |
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| Details | When due (optional) |
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| Date of approval | ||||
| Peter Hayward | 12/01/2023 | |||
| Andrew Parkes | 12/01/2023 | |||
CCXX R accounts (SS)
Dear Trustees ,
Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Oakham Church
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Oakham church for the period 1/4/2021 to 31/3/2022.
Responsibilities and basis of report
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 Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all 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 giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
-
accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or
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the accounts do not accord with those records.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed: C. Povey Name: Claire Povey
Relevant professional qualification or membership of professional bodies (if any): N/A Address: 72 Tower Road, Oldbury, B69 1NA
Date: 24/01/2023