## **NEW KAPPORET** (Registered Charity No. 1188055) ## **Annual Report for 1[st] April 2025 to 31[st] March 2026** **Registered address:** New Kapporet Office PO Box 11113 Newark NG24 9QX **Trustees:** James Semmelroth (Chair) Barbara Harding (Secretary) Timothy Harding (Treasurer) Terry Hepworth (Joined 13/8/25) Lois Hickman Roger Reynolds Janet Rich (Ministry Coordinator) (Joined 13/8/25) Maureen Sydney (Joined 13/8/25) Mingqi Yin (Joined 5/1/26) ## **CHARITABLE PURPOSE** New Kapporet was registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) with the Charity Commission in February 2020, with the following charitable purpose: To enable persons in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, who are experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those who may be at risk of suicide, to receive confidential, Christian-based emotional support at any time of the day or night in order to improve their emotional health and to reduce the incidence of suicide. Our aim is to provide a Freephone and confidential Christian Helpline and email service, which offers listening and prayer support to anyone who needs it. 1 ## **BOARD REPORT** _“Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand watch in vain.”_ (Psalm 127: 1) For the Ministry, the year 2025-26 was a time of continuing growth and achievement but also great challenge. For the first time, in June, we received over 10,000 calls in a single month. However, our connection rate fell to only around 12.5%, which means that around 7500 of those calls remained unanswered. We appreciated that many of the incoming calls might have been callers repeatedly trying to get through but we feared that a significant number might be callers who desperately needed our services and were unable to reach us. We decided to move towards more deliberate control on the length of calls and encouraged our Listeners to use 20 minutes as a guideline, unless the Lord determined otherwise. This guidance, together with a new voicemail message for incoming calls that suggested regular callers should call only once per day and limit their call to 20 minutes, began to bear fruit. By the end of March, the total number of calls had reduced to around 4500 and the connection rate had risen to nearly 25%. Incoming calls have now begun to rise again but our connection rate still hovers around 20%, which is very good for a national helpline. Overall, we answered over 14000 calls in the year. Last year also brought significant challenges for the leadership team. Three senior members of the team resigned or retired in close proximity, including the Director and Treasurer. Fortunately, we had an excellent and experienced Listener, Watch Support and Pastoral Care Team Leader to step into the Director role on an interim basis. Janet Rich, who has been with the Ministry from the very beginning, took up the baton and ably led the Ministry through this difficult period. Tim Harding took on the role of interim Treasurer and, together and under the Lord’s direction, they stabilised the ship. We ended the year strongly both as a leadership team and as a close-knit family of volunteers. These temporary difficulties prompted us to look again at our leadership and management structure, and the Board identified the benefit of dividing the Ministry’s executive leadership into two areas. Rather than have a single committee running the Ministry (i.e. the Steering Group), the Board proposed to delegate different but appropriate powers to two leaders and their respective teams, one responsible for running the operational aspects of the Ministry (The Ministry Coordination Team), which will be responsible for the core activities of the Ministry, including all aspects of the Ministry’s interaction with Listeners and e-Listeners, callers and emailers; and one responsible for providing the support that the Ministry needs to operate effectively (The Ministry Support Group), covering interactions with all key stakeholders such as the 2 Charity Commission and key suppliers. As the year ended, the Ministry was focussed upon identifying, under the Lord’s guidance, role holders for these two leadership roles, which we have termed Ministry Coordinator and Ministry Support Coordinator respectively. Fortunately, we have a strong field of experienced candidates from whom we can choose. During the year, one of our former Listeners returned to the Ministry, having completed her Masters; Mingqi Yin offered to take on the role of Stakeholder Management Coordinator and immediately set about transforming our internet presence. She has consolidated all of our websites to maximise the number of visitors, and added a new way of donating, which incurs the Ministry zero cost. Her next task is to help us build a new training platform – but more of that next year. Our email ministry was significantly up on the previous year, with nearly 1500 completed email threads in the year involving over 300 individuals. We are now actively seeking new recruits to our e-Listener team from around the world. Altogether, 2025-26 was another immensely rewarding but challenging year. As ever, we thank the Lord for his grace and mercy in watching over and encouraging our efforts on His behalf. ## **FINANCE REPORT** Total income was down slightly in this financial year, while overall expenditure was slightly up, which resulted in the Charity running a small deficit of £2300. However, reserves remain high at over £14,000, so the Charity is at no great financial risk. Plans have been put in place to increase income in the coming year, including enhanced opportunities for donations on our consolidated website, the use of Zeffy to process donations, which is at no cost to the charity, and encouragement of callers to donate when they call in but are unable to get through. There is also a number of fund-raising events planned throughout the year which should help to balance the budget in 2026/27. Overall, the charity remains in a strong financial position. 3 UNAUDITED filNANCI.4L STATEMENTS roil Tlll:, YEAR r.NDf.i).311I IAIICII 2112() NEII, KAI)POIIET ARRINGTON & Co. LIMITED CHARIERED CERTIFIED ALcouNTA wrs NEW KAPPORET CONTENTS OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026 Page irfal and Administrative Informvdllon Independent Examiner's Report Statement of FiDanelal Activities Bal4n¢e Sheet NEW KAPPORET LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026 TRUSTEES: J R Semmelroth - Chainnan T J Harding Mrs B H Harding Mrs L Hickman R Reynolds Myin Rev T Hepworth Mrs J R Rich Mrs H M Sydn¢y CHARITY NUMBER: 1188055 ADDRESS: New Kapporet Offic¢ POBOX11113 Newark Nottinghamshire NG24 9QX ACCOUNTANTS: Darringlon & Co Limited 71 High Street Gt Barford Bedford Bedfordshire MK44 3LF BANKERS: CAF Bank 25 Kings Hill Avenue Kings Hill West Malling Kent ME19 4JQ 'EII' KAPPORET INDEPEINDEIN'T EX.4Ill1￿,ER's REPORT FOR'fHE YE.AR ENDED31 11 1.4RCII 2026 The charity's Iruslees are responsible lor ihe preparniion of ihe accounts. The charity's trustees consider thal an audil is nol rcquired for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act ?0 I i {Ihc Charili¢s Acl) and ihat an ind¢p¢ndenl examination is nccdcd. It is our responsibiliiy io.. examine the accounts under section 14) of the Charities Ael, lo folloiv ihty proccdurLS laid doi%'n in the gJeneral Directions gii'en by the Charity Commission (under section 14i(i)(b) of ihc Charilics Act, and lo slate whether particular mallers have come lo our allenlion. Our examination was carried out in accordance ivith general Directions given by the Charity Cominission. An ¢xaminalion includes a review of ihe accounting records kept by Ihe charily and a comparison of the accounts presented with those reLords. li dlso inLludes Lonsideration of any unusual ilems or disclosures in the accounls and seekingi e.xplanalioDS froTn the Irusl¢¢s conccmingF ￿Y such Inaii¢rs. The procedures undertaken do not provid¢ all the evidence that would be required in an audit. and consequenily no opinion is given as lo ivheiher the accounts present a 'lrue and fair, view, and the report is liinited to tliose Inallcr5 sel out in the slatcin¢nt b¢loiv. In connection with our examination, no material matters have come to our dttenlion which gFiVCS us causc lo b¢li¢ve Iliat in, any inaterial resp¢ct: accounting r¢cords wcrc nol kcpt in accordancc with se¢¢ion 130 of the Charities Acl or the accounls do not accord with the accounting records We have come across no maiicrs in conneelion with the examinalion to which allenlion should be draivn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts lo be reached. D2rrington &. Co Limited 71 High Street Gt Barford BEDFORD IK44 3LF Dated: 17, April 2026 NEW KAPPORET STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL AcfiviTIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2026 31J.26 31.3.25 Ineome Gift Aid donations and tax recoverable Other donations Donations from Churches Bank interest 10,161 10,173 3,900 196 8,741 14,353 3,520 296 24,430 26,910 Expenditure Insurance Postage Telephone and virtual call centre Stationery Advertising Travelling Conference expenses Graphio design Website costs Compuler expenses 5, Anniv¢rsary expenses DBS - uch¢cks Accountancy Licences and subscriptions 341 313 18,114 324 427 220 450 236 16,704 250 697 175 504 1,984 2,786 442 981 1,738 468 664 837 450 662 22.949 (2,318) 3,961 Finance costs Bank and Just Giving charges 276 296 EXCESS OF EXPENDITURE OVER INCOME 3,665 NEW KAPPORET BALANCE SHEET 31 MARCH 2026 31J.26 31.3.25 CURRENT ASSETS Gift Aid recoverdble Prepayments Bank current account Bank deposit account 2,489 472 3,733 456 962 1,203 15.997 16,140 18,618 CURRENT LIABILITIES Accrued expenses 17,022 NET ASSETS 17.022 FINANCED BY ACCUMULATED FUNDS Brought forward 17,022 13,357 Excess of expenditure ov¢r inoome 3,665 14 14 Approved by the Trustees on 17 April 2026 J R S¢mm¢lroth - Chairn]an T J Harding