encounter christianity ENCOUNTERCHRISTIANITYCIO ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022 Charity Number 1188680 ENCOUNTER CHRISTIANITYCIO encounter christianity ANNUAL REPORTANDACCOUNTS YEAR ENDED31 DECEMBER 2022 Page 2 CONTENTS PAGES Trustees. Report Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees Receipts and PaymentsAccount Statement of Assets and Liabilities 10 ENCOUNTER CHRISTIANITYCIO encounter christianity ANNUAL REPORTANDACCOUNTS YEAR ENDED31 DECEMBER 2022 Page 3 The Trustees of Encounter Christianity are pleased to provide our Annual Report, covering the year ending 31 December 2022. CharitablePur oses Activities and Achievements The purposes of the Charity are: The advancementof the education of the public in the Christian faith and Christianity,. in particular but not exclusively by.. providing specialist teachers to deliver education lessons in schools and colleges,. assisting and training non-specialist teachers in delivering Christian religious education,. promoting Christian religious education lessons in schools and colleges.. and making resources available for these purposes. The Trustees confirm that they have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit when reviewing the Charity's aims and objectives and in pla nning future activities. Wh we exist Encounter Christianity is made up of a passionate group of teachers who want to share their Christian faith in a way that enriches and enhances the RE provision in schools in Bristol and the surrounding area. We want to see teachers excited about teaching RE and feeling resourced to do so. We want children and young people to be able to ask open and honest "I wantedto say a huge thankyou for questions about the Christian faith and to be able creating the 'wedding of the year, event on to reflect and ponder on their own beliefs and Wednesday. It really caught the attention spirituality. We want the education of Christian RE of our RS students and of the whole in schools to reflect the living and active faith of school. I know my students can now talk so many in this country and around the world and confidently about the purpose and forthis to come aliveto pupils in our sessions. meaning of a Christian wedding ceremony. Lifetime memories were made." Our team of teachers works to: Enrich the RE curriculum and the Social Moral Spiritual Cultural development of pupils in schools, through the provision of specia list resources. Give children and young people the opportunity to have a positive encounter with a diverse range of Christians and ask honest questions. Build positive community relationships with schools, churches, volunteers and other cha rita ble orga nisations. Whatwe off Encounter Christianity provides dynamic and engaging RE sessions for Primary and Secondary schools, based on the national curriculum and in partnership with schools so that we can tailor our sessions to the schemes of work they follow. Our sessions are free to schools. We currently offer 27 primary and 27 secondary sessions. We also offer a teacher training session for primary school teachers, to contribute to their CPD and inspire and equip them in their teaching of RE. "Really wellput togetherand engaging" ENCOUNTER CHRISTIANITYCIO encounter christianity ANNUAL REPORTANDACCOUNTS YEAR ENDED31 DECEMBER 2022 Page 4 ACTIVITYTHISYEAR -This was their favourite RE lesson ever apparently. Lots of them re311y enjoyed the crafting aspect." Schools The start of 2022 saw a marked increase in our in-school sessions and workshops, as schools started to open their doors u p to in-person visits i n the wake of the Covid 19 pandemic. We delivered 146 primary sessions to approximately 4,380 pupils and 34 secondary sessions to approximately 980 pupils. By the end of 2022 we were linked to 58 sthools in Bristol, South Glos. and as far as Swindon. inin One of our dreams over many years had been to deliver training sessions for Primary teachers to equip them to better teach RE as non-specialists. This is because Primary teachers receive little training on or input into their RE subject knowledge. We wanted to be able to support teachers, who are already working atcapacity, by going to their school to deliver in person training sessions with ideas they could easily adapt to their classroom teaching. In January 2022, we led a training session at "Thankyou so much forthe the SACRE conference in Bristol and in October we delivered Staff Meeting - it really was the same session at a diocese conference in Swindon. These excellentl Everyone enjoyed were well attended and led to requests for us to deliver teacher it and found it inspiring. training sessions in schools with a whole stsff team. By the end Your workshops and the staff of 2022, we delivered 4 teacher training sessions and 3 more by meeting have greatly July 2023, meaning a total of 7 CPD training sessions for helped to promote teaching Primary teachers to enthuse them and give them new ideas RE and also have helped about teaching RE in an interactive and meaningful way. with subject knowledge of Christi3 nity" Staff We were able to expand our staff team from 3 members to 4 as of July 2022. This is due to high demand, particularly in primary bookings. Our team as of July 2022 comprised of 2 primary teachers13 days and 2 days a weekl and 2 secondary teachers {both 2 days a weekl. Commun" Relationshi We have also been growing our relationships with local churches and making it a priorityto share our vision with local church leaders, as well as children and youth workers. This has led to sharing about our work in Sunday gatherings and increasing our support in the following 3 areas: Finance: donations from individual givers and churches towards the work we do. Prayer: a growing number of people receive updates on our work so they can pray for us and support us. Volunteering: as well as our 16 EC volunteers. we have worked alongside churches to partner with them and go into their local schools with a team of volunteers from their church. To date, we have seen more growth in our church relationships. We are connected with 13 churches across Bristol, 2 of which support us financially and 11 of which have come into schools with us. We also held our firstthanksgiving service in June 2023 to gather all our supporters and give thanks for the year that has passed. "Greatto have so many adults- helped to keep allchildren engaged" ENCOUNTER CHRISTIANITYCIO encounter christianity ANNUAL REPORTANDACCOUNTS YEAR ENDED31 DECEMBER 2022 Page 5 Financial Review The charity's cash receipts for the year ended 31 December 2022 were £58,75812021.. £47,605) principally from local churches and Trusts and Foundations. Cash payments in 2022 were £47,692 {2021.. £30,835) relating primarily to salaries, materials and expenses. As the staff were transferred across from Redland Parish Church under TUPE from 1 April 2021, costs were a quarter lowerthan would be expected in a typical year. Cash Reserves The Trustees consider it prudent to maintain cash reserves to the value of at least 3 months- worth of running costs, equating to approximately £17,500. As at 31 December 2022, the charity's free cash reserves were £32,851 (2021: 21,7851. Plansfor future years As of September 2023, our team is connected to 58 schools across Bristol and the surrounding area, with a cluster of schools in Swindon. Also as of September 2023, we have allocated a stsff member to oversee our Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) work in mainstream schools and in specialist schools. We already have several bookin9s in a local specialist school and hope to connect with up to 3 specialist schools by the end of the year. We also plan to continue growing our network of schools. As a result of our growing relationship with schools. one Bristol secondary school has requested that we input into their History curriculum by leading an A Level workshop on the Reformation and how it has impacted the church and continues to influence Christians today. We are excited to see how schools are recognising the way RE interacts with other areas of the curriculum and will be offering this session to other local schools. A big focus for this year will be to continue growing our relationship with local churches and partnering with them to go into their local schools. We want to grow our network of volunteers to at least 20 regularvolunteers and provide training for them. Due to the success of our teacher training sessions on ideas for creating meaningful and engaging RE lessons, we plan to put together and offer schools a session on subject knowledge for the Christianity section of the curriculum. We also want to investigate the possibility of inputting into local teacher training courses by running a one-off training session lor student teachers. We will also be reviewing our sessions to reflect a greater emphasis on children learning through investigation. We believe this will give them more time for reflection and generating questions as they develop their own opinions and spiritual awareness. We recognise the mental health crisis in children and young people is an unprecedented issue of our time and we want to examine how we can contribute to children building a positive view of themselves and their worth, whilst developing their own sense of self and spirituality. ENCOUNTER CHRISTIANITYCIO encounter christianity ANNUAL REPORTANDACCOUNTS YEAR ENDED31 DECEMBER 2022 Page 6 Referenceand administrative details Chari number.. 1188680 istered office.. Redland Parish Church Halls, Redland Green Road, BS6 7HE Website address: www.encounterchristiani .co.uk Trustees.. The Trustees serving during the year and since the year end were as follows.. A West (Chair) P Noyce (resigned 16 September 2023) C Salisbury C Nichols (resigned 29 June 2022) L Charles R Powlesland P Richardson C Morgan (appointed 1 September 2022) encounter christianity ANNUALREPORTANDACCOUNTS YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022 Page 7 Structure. Governance and Mana ement Governin Document The Charity was established as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation on 20 March 2020 and is governed by its constitution. Recruitment and A ointment of Trustees New Trustees are recruited on the basis of the knowledge of the existing Trustees of suitable candidates. In selecting persons to be appointed, the Trustees shall take into account the benefits of appointing a person who is able by virtue of his or her professional qualifications or experience to make a contribution to the pursuit of the purposes or the management of Encounter Christianity CIO. Selected candidates are appointed by a simple majority of the votes cast by the Trustees at a meeting. New Trustees receive an Induction pack appropriate to their level of existing knowledge of and involvement with the Charity. As a minimum, new Trustees receive a copy of the Charity Commission publication CC3 - The Essential Trustee.. what you need to know together with the charity's governing document and latest annual report and accounts. Approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by.. P Richardson Treasurer 24 October 2023 **ENCOUNTER CHRISTIANITY CIO** ## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF ENCOUNTER CHRISTIANITY CIO** ## **YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022** I report on the accounts of the Charitable Incorporated Organisation for the year ended 31 December 2022, which are set out on pages 9 to 10. ## _Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner_ The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act)) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to: - examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act; - to follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act; and - to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. ## _Basis of independent examiner’s report_ My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and the seeking of explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and, consequently, I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts. ## _Independent examiner’s statement_ In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention: - which gives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respect, the requirements: - (a) to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; and - (b) to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and to comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act and the regulations made there under have not been met; or - to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Paul Brown FCIE DChA Rose & Leaf Ltd Suite 2 14 – 15 Triangle South Bristol BS8 1EY 17[th] October 2023 8 ## **Encounter Christianity CIO** ## **YEAR TO 31 DECEMBER 2022 RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT** |**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**RECEIPTS FROM:**
**£**
**Donations**
Gifts from churches
15,750
Grants from Trusts/Foundations
26,550
Gifts from Individuals
11,437
**Interest**
21
**TOTAL RECEIPTS**
53,758
**PAYMENTS FOR:**
**Charitable Activities**
Payroll
40,242
IT Support
3,904
Safeguarding fees
326
Materials and expenses
2,140
46,612
**Governance Costs**
Bank fees
81
Insurance
243
Accounting and payroll
756
1,080
**TOTAL PAYMENTS**
47,692
**NET RECEIPTS/(PAYMENTS)**
6,066|**Restricted**
**Funds**
**£**
-
5,000
-
-
5,000
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
5,000|**Total**
**Funds**
**2022**
**£**
**15,750**
**31,550**
**11,437**
**21**
**58,758**
**40,242**
**3,904**
**326**
**2,140**
**46,612**
**81**
**243**
**756**
**1,080**
**47,692**
**11,066**|Total
Funds
2021
£
13,146
31,340
3,119
-| |---|---|---|---| ||||**47,605**| ||||28,009
507
387
1,330| ||||**30,233**
96
243
263| ||||**602**| ||||**30,835**| ||||| ||||**16,770**| 9 Encounter Christianity CIO AT 31 DECEMBER 2022 STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES 2022 2022 2021 2021 Cash funds Current account 32,851 5,015 32,851 5,015 Gift Aid not yet received at year end Total Assets 32,851 5,015 Liabilities Accrued expenditure Total Liabilities CASH RESERVES Unrestricled funds Brought forward Nel receiptsllpaymentsl for the period 21,785 6,066 5,015 16,770 27.851 21,785 Restricled funds Brought forward Net receiptsllpaymentsl for the period 5,000 5.000 Total cash reserves 32.851 21.785 Signed on behalf of the trustees on 24 October 2023 P Richardson (Treasurer) 10