## Ceredigion Circuit Charity Registration Number 1188313 Trustee’s Annual Report, Year Ending 31 August 2023 Registered address: St Paul Methodist Centre, Queens Road, Aberystwyth, SY23 2NN www.ceredigionmethodists.org.uk ## Objectives and Activities The Ceredigion Circuit is part of the Wales Synod in the Methodist Church in Britain. The Circuit supports the mission and outreach of Methodist Churches and communities in Aberystwyth, Lampeter and the surrounding area. As part of the Methodist Church in Great Britain, we are governed by the Deed of Union (1932) and Methodist Church Act (1976), adopted 20 Sep 1932 as amended by statutory instrument dated 14 Jun 2017. These documents include the charitable objectives: “The purposes of the Methodist Church are and shall be deemed to have been since the date of the Union the advancement of: - (A) the Christian Faith in accordance with the doctrinal standards and the discipline of the Methodist Church; - (B) any charitable purpose for the time being of any Connexional, District, Circuit, Local or other organisation of the Methodist Church; - (C) any charitable purpose for the time being of any society or institution subsidiary or ancillary to the Methodist Church; - (D) any purpose for the time being of any charity being a charity subsidiary or ancillary to the Methodist Church.” For the Ceredigion Circuit, our mission statement is “To have a living relationship with God through worship, to encourage one another to grow as Christians, to live the Good News of Jesus and to share God's unconditional love for everyone.” Working with the churches in the Circuit, this includes the following benefits for the public: - Providing public worship, led by ordained preachers and lay preachers in the Circuit. - Being available for marriages, christenings, and funerals, by arrangement. - Running church groups that help people from the community to join in as they feel able, including prayer groups, Bible study, a Pay as you Feel café, coffee mornings, art groups, guardian and toddler groups, and additional activities aimed at students and disadvantaged groups. - Making church buildings available for community, charity and commercial lettings. ## Achievements and Performance During the 2022/2023 financial year (FY) the circuit continued to provide for services and groups meeting in churches, the manse and in members’ homes, as well as providing weekly online services on YouTube. The circuit and its churches continued the work, emphasised in the 2021/22 report, targeted at students, the poor, those self-identifying as neuro-diverse, and those from the LGBTQ+ communities. In 2022/23 we received confirmation that we would receive £20K per year for the next three financial years to support this work with the appointment of a lay missioner (£10K from the Synod Advance Fund; £10K from Synod block grant for Methodist Action on Poverty and Justice). In addition, the 2022/23 FY saw the start of a baby and toddler group based in St Paul's, _Baby Boogie Aberystwyth_ ; the development of our _Messy Church_ provision to _Lighthouse Stay & Play_ ; the registration of both our churches with the national _Warm Hub Network_ and the _Connect Ceredigion’s Warm Spaces_ project; and the publication of our new bilingual website (https://www.ceredigionmethodists.org.uk/cy/community). ## Financial Review Our accounts are prepared on a Receipts and Payments basis and are independently examined. The report for the 2022/2023 financial year is at the end of this report. As of 31[st] August 2023, the Circuit had receipts of £99,406, payments of £85,989, and total funds remaining of £188,493; thus total funds remaining represent _c._ 220% of the payments for 2022/2023. This greatly exceeds our policy to retain reserves sufficient to fund up to 50% of our annual expenditure. However, we have allocated significant expenditure for the 2023/24 FY as we look to expand our work with disadvantaged groups, and to reduce the carbon footprint of our buildings. The Circuit has one part-time member of staff, which is a Circuit PA. The person helps to support the work of the Superintendent Minister. A lay missioner will be appointed in the 2023/24 FY. ## Structure, Governance and Management The Circuit’s governance is established by policies from the Methodist Church of Great Britain. The Circuit has a leadership team, comprised of the Chair (Superintendent Minister), Treasurer, Circuit Stewards and Meeting Secretary. All of the leadership team are trustees. The leadership team oversees general management of the Circuit and it is responsible to the Circuit Meeting (which includes all trustees). The Circuit Meeting occurs in the Autumn and Spring as a minimum for formal decision making. Other Circuit Meetings are arranged when appropriate. ## Trustees Our typical time to change roles in the Circuit is late August and Early September. Those changes are recorded at the Circuit Meeting in September. - Rev’d Felicity Jane Jepson-Randall (Chair) - Ruth Gooding (Secretary) - Rev’d David Jones - Rev’d Peter Edwin Barber - Rev’d Phillip Alun Poynor - Arnold Smith - Charlene Mary Crampin - David Henry Crimes - Dionne Sherwood - Elizabeth Edwards - Glyn Jenkins - Heather Phillips - Jean Millest-Baker - Julia Ann Christine Jenkins - Kathryn Anne Wright - Michael Jonathan Gooding (Treasurer) - Susan Peterson - Barbara Jill Barber DecLarations The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees, report above. Signed on behalf of the charity's truslees Signature= Full name= Rev'd Felicity Jane lepson-Randall Position= Chair Date: 17 202 CIRCUIT RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS THE METHODIST CHURCH STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS Ceredigion C1￿Ult FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023 Wales S nod C mr District ¢lr¢ult no 2110 Reglstered Charlty. charlty Reglstratlon numbor 1188313 If not a registered thanty Her Mai•sty's R•v•nu• and Custom5 GrftAid numbor NIA IThe HMRC nurnber is equNalent to a wistered ¢hartty number in tems ofevidence ofcharitable statug and may be used to give to dorors or grant funders wishin9 to see evidence of the organisation's charitab status. Methodist chaTitie8 in England and Wal8s that are not registered charities are excepted from registration under St8tLrtory Instrument 2014 No.2421 Ministers.. Rev'd Felicitx Jeps.orkRandall Circuit St￿￿3rd8. LE Eihyards David Crimes DK)nTre Sh&rwood Mich8el Go()dIn￿........_._._......._..._......_._..__._._._........ Treasurer.. Michael Goodin 2015 Cffrjjft RaThJ P.xls lof I ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDEO 31 AUGUST 2023 Ceredi ion Circuit Un- r*Stritt•d Modol Tvust R•strictsd Funds Futkl Fund¥ Totsi$ thi# Totsls last year SECTION A 81 RECEIPTS 82 Asses$ryEnVSha 74.827 74,82T 74.827 ital recei Bank 8nd CFB interest and Investmenl income 104.282 1.718 14.000 5.475 3.327 5,104 14,000 5,475 a5 Grants 4.000 8.814 a6 Other reteipis TOTAL RECEIPTS 37 96,079.34 3.326.60 99,405.94 la81 192.604 SECTION B b1 b2 PAYMENTS st4pands, salaries, NIC, Pen&on and travel (x)51s 50.713 50.713 46.467 b3 Manse Costs 8.032 8,032 1,943 21,761 19.675 Administration etc 303 1.420 19.942 b5 Disthct Assessmpnt 18.944 2,817 Grants & donation5 4.000 b7 Olher paympnls TOTAL PAYMEIITS 3,539 3,539 23.280 81868.38 3,120.24 85.98B.62 Ib91 114,784 SECTION C NET RECEIPTSTrAYMENTS FOR THE YEAR c1 a7&9 13,211 13,417 77.B19 Totsl fund5 brou hl foN8rd trom last ar 68,732 106,343 175.075 97.25S Sub totsl c1+c2 91,943 106,550 188,493 175.075 Transfèrs and ad'usknents c7 TOTAL FUNDS AY END OF YEAR 1¢3+¢41 81.943 106,550 188,493 Ic81 175,075 SECTION D FOR INFORMATION ONLY.. MONEY RECEIVEO AND PASSED ON TO EXTERNAL ORGANISATIONS these amounts should not be included in total re¢$1 tslpaymonts abovtrl Balance brou hl forward from18St ear d2 Qffenn Grfts - re￿Ned for extsmal o anisatitr)s d3 QffennoslGrfts- passed to external organisalions BALANCE STILL TO BE PAID df+d2-d3 d4 2015CINiiR P.￿ 2of5 lrtuit kWMyOFC￿cU￿￿c utr ￿E￿NG $EGTK)N E aEFfo QWtheGu￿A￿C6NotsSto Ofts￿¢Irc￿￿ct￿nl$(tsrthÈYè81eftIArt3l A￿V91 20ll and Inlern* OrganisalK)Trs repornngtothÈCtycuilMeei￿9. Nuiethth Ihpfundsofan Inté[n￿of9aniÉa￿0ThWO￿M￿￿￿P￿be rt￿￿dtse c*arty shNnthal wdforaAYM*hJdrJtpu￿se Thrsgectio cOMpk￿￿t￿¥11P*?I ¢eCeW$#ndpty￿ IDWS Oftheci￿rt Ifgrossinc(ffteèkctlÈdsthÈA¢•u¥6th￿s￿ olE250.ODO.then |sftwho¥JotBtxYXJ￿ry ANDA tXFFERENT FO￿1 must tr￿u￿￿tor￿rtth￿a￿o￿LS($¢￿￿1*￿&￿tts￿tel. ￿ea8ethtothe￿U￿8￿C 14TERNPi oR&4N￿￿(￿S Qppn ￿￿total0fhrtern ni￿￿nsfUnd& c￿￿￿tICGDUnts b￿￿ghtrOr111m1iVrn p•geZ-tot4ls¢oPJml 45569 14417 176 07$ 1¢61 18B,493 TOYNL¢ASH FUNDS HELD BYCllCUtr 99.105 13,417 176 Q75 188.493 TOThL RECEIPTS TOTAL PAYMENTS $ECTK)NF TATEmE￿ToFAsSETsANDL￿lUTE OPENING CL081NG B￿AlIcE5 ¢R¢vtr-CA6H FUt4DSHELD*31 Augu￿2023 Cashknmnd Bankcun￿lAtXWrt 55.040 106.343 1￿.550 OthBrfunds SUB TOTAL 175,075 188.493 TotaIfvndshÈMtylnlÈth4ODJBr￿￿5lth8 TOTPI CASH FUNOSHELDBY¢R¢Utr 175,07S 188,493 (y SECTK)NG otHÈBAS¥Ef$4nd urt2tr23 Land3nd￿ld Ee8note5relnww￿￿vthAe -ghQwam￿nl￿u1Érdrt [4 knththontyFUnd&￿e￿ B1the¢￿tr￿F￿￿￿ BOB knththontyCFBF￿d5h(*3ITn￿s[DTkI￿thpd￿1chUrth Name of Circuit.. Ceredigion Circuit . No. 2110 Declarations and Scrutiny I confirm that these Receipt and Payment based accounts for the year to 31 August 2023 have been prepared from the records of the Circuit and that they Include all funds under the control of the Circuit meeting. Signature of treasurer Date.... Name and address of treasvrer.. Michael Gooding, Treetops, Cau Melyn AberysWI . Post Code.. SY23 2HA Presentation to the Cir¢uit meeting I confim that the annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 August 2023 werelwill be" presented lo the Circuit meeting held on Is 4p.p.,i. LOL Signature of the Chair of the meeting Name of the Chair of the meeting Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of the Ceredigion Circuit Charity Numbor. 1188313 Responsibilities and basis of report I report to the trustees on my examinab.on of the accounts of the Ceredi9ion Circuit for the year ended 31 August 2023 set out on pages 2 10 3 As the Circuit's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordan￿ with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 I'lhe Act,). I report in respect of my examination of the Circuit's accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and, in carying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145151{bl of the ACL delete or circle as appropriate 201S Cl￿* R atms P.AI8 4015 Name ofcircuil.. Ceredigion Circuit....................................... No.. 2110 Independent Examiner's Statement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come lo my attention in connection with the examination {other than that disclosed below'} which give me ¢au5e to believe thal in, any material respect.. the accounting re¢ords were not kept in accordance with sedion 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 connectson with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order lo enable a proper understanding of the accounts lo be reached. I hpyèlhave not, obtained independent verification of all investments wth the Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes or held in other Irusls, bank balances and funds at the Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church which are individually in excess of £10,000 Ilen thousand pounds) at the balance sheet date. Signature of independent examiner Name of independent examiner Relevant professional qualification of independent examiner Name of fim) {where appropriatel Pf£ ..fEL>J.i.i.....S.IQV.IL Address LTI)................ ¢kL&.S............................................ Postcode Dale delete or circle as appropriate 2015Ctrwh R ar￿ P.x 5ofS Ceredigion Circuit • Accounts for year ending 31st August 2023 Notes to the Accounts Format of the accountg The accounts have been prepared on a Receipts and Payments basis. Reserves Pol icy The Circuit's Reserves Policy is that it should an amount that is approximately equal to six- months of expenditure. Following guidance from the District Finance Officer in 2017, the Circuit meeting agreed that r( would be willing to lower the Rèserves Policy in order to release furhds for use. The reserves at year end on 3151 August 2023 were £188.493 with 3 total expenditure of £85,989. This is more than needed for the Reserves Policy. This is partly a consequence of the money following the sale of the properties (Manse Wesley, Ty Canol and Penparcau Building) in previous years. The remaining fflorhey from the property sales is £106,550, which is held in a TMCP Model Trust fund. The remaintng money, £81,943, is held in the HSBC account and the CFB dep051t account. Assessment from the churches The Circuit has received payments from the two churches in the circuit, at the same rates as in the previous year. 202212023 61.031 13,796 202112022 61,031 13,796 St Paul's Methodist Church, Aberystwyth St Thomas, Methodrst Church, Lampeter District grants There is an annual grant of £4,000 from Wales Synod to contribute toward5 our artivities with students in the Circuit. Thère is a fijrther grant of £10,000 from Wales Synod which arrived towards the end of the financial year,. to contribute to a Lay Missioner project (starting in September 20231 to further our work with di5advanta8ed groups in Aberystwyth nd Lampeter.