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2023-12-31-accounts

CATCH THE FIRE FARNBOROUGH

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR

31 DECEMBER 2023

Charity Number 1189161

FINANSURE LIMITED

2 Sheppard Street, Brymbo, Wrexham, LL11 5FF

CATCH THE FIRE FARNBOROUGH

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

CONTENTS PAGES
Charity information 1
Trustees’ annual report 2 to 6
Independent examiner’s report 7
Statement of financial activities 8
Balance sheet 9
Notes to the financial statements 10 to 14

Page 1

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CHARITY INFORMATION

The board of trustees Christopher Bird Abraham Marais David Richards Christine Widdowson Jonathan Clarke Registered office Grace Gardens Chalky Lane Dogmersfield Hook RG27 8TD Independent Examiner Luke Howson Finansure Limited 2 Sheppard Street Brymbo Wrexham LL11 5FF Bankers The Co-operative Bank plc PO Box 250 Skelmersdale WN8 6WT

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TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Annual Report 2023 Catch the Fire, Farnborough Charity Registration number: 1189161

The Charity is a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) governed by its foundation constitution document and registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales on 22[nd] April 2020. This is the fourth year of activity for the Charity.

Aims and Purposes

The objects of the CIO are religious worship, and Christian outreach and support in the Farnborough area, regionally and internationally.

Objectives in 2023

The principal aim in 2023 was to further consolidate the growth and maturing of the church that was accomplished in 2022, recognising that we are now transitioning the church out of the planting phase and into the establishing phase. We continued to establish ministries that would both grow the church in spiritual maturity and simultaneously enable as many people as possible to utilise and step out in their giftings.

Achievements and performance

2023 was a year in which Catch the Fire Farnborough grew both numerically and perhaps more importantly in spiritual maturity. There were a number of significant highlights during the year, which contributed greatly to the growth and health of the church family.

One exciting initiative which was launched during 2023 was to engage the entire church in evangelism and outreach by periodically cancelling our usual Sunday morning gatherings in favour of the entire church going out onto the streets of Farnborough, to bless the shoppers and the local businesses. This initiative was entitled Go-Sunday, in order to emphasise the mandate from Jesus to go into all the earth with the good news.

To strengthen the links with other Catch the Fire churches in the UK, Catch The Fire Farnborough joined for a Sunday morning service with Catch the Fire church in Bournemouth, for a special service they were having with a guest speaker called Seth Fawcett. Later in the same month we hosted a training weekend with an evangelist called Andrew Cannon. Andrew ran teaching sessions and seminars before sending the church out onto the streets of Farnborough to put in practice what they had just learnt. This weekend greatly increased the passion of the church for outreach.

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TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT (CONTINUED)

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

In March, we had another significant weekend for the church when the international prophet Marc Dupont spent time with the church. He invested in the Leadership Team, ministered to the church family, and was the guest speaker at a Church Leader’s Day we hosted for other Catch the Fire churches. This Leader’s Day was the beginning of the fulfilment of our vision to become a resourcing church for other churches and leaders.

Also in March we were able to release one of our Senior Leaders, Christopher Bird, to travel to Sierra Leone with Nick and Kitty Marsh to visit their Catch the Fire ministry called Livingseeds. This again was part of our resourcing ministry, and it was good to see so many lives transformed, during this trip. As Nick and Kitty Marsh are part of the core team of Catch the Fire Farnborough, it was also good to be able to invest time into their ministry.

One of the values of Catch The Fire Farnborough is ‘Family’; it was therefore great in April to be able to take over an entire restaurant for a curry night to which the majority of church members came. Not only did this further develop sense of family within the church, it also provided a safe environment for members with non-Christian spouses, to invite them and their families to join the church at a non-threatening event. Also in April, on Good Friday, many of the church members took to the streets of Farnborough to bless the local community by giving out daffodils and offering to pray for people.

Another of the core values of Catch the Fire Farnborough is “Presence”, and so it was with great excitement in May that we launched our Sunday evening worship nights which we held at Stockton House conference centre in Fleet. The aim of these evenings was to have what we have described as pure worship; this means that we were not looking for prophetic words, we were not looking for prayer ministry and we were not including teaching and preaching in these evenings, but rather we were learning together as a church how to minister to the heart of our Heavenly Father. These evenings have proved to be one of the most significant initiatives in the life of the church, bringing about a tremendous change in the worship life of the church, both on Sunday evenings and in our weekly Sunday morning services. We believe, as a result of our worship nights, we have seen significant maturity developing in a number of individuals and in the church as a whole.

In June, we were incredibly excited to have our first baptism service as a church. We joined for the morning service with Farnborough Baptist Church, who have a baptistery, and we were thrilled to baptise three of our church members. Not only was the baptism service hugely significant for us as a church, it was also a great opportunity to further develop relationships with one of the other churches in Farnborough. Later in the same month many of us from the church went together to watch the Jesus Revolution film which is very significant to the Catch the Fire movement globally, and so this movie was very helpful for our members to learn more about the roots in the history of our movement.

In July, as a church we were able to facilitate a CTF Leader’s Day for all the of Catch The Fire Leaders from across the UK, at which our International Presidents, Duncan and Kate Smith, were the speakers.

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TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT (CONTINUED)

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

August is often a quiet month in Church life, and whilst the Sunday gatherings were reduced, we did have an emphasis on gathering for fun, including a Crazy Golf event.

In September, as we moved into the autumn programme, we had a Men’s Social to further develop family. This was a Scalextric’s racing night, led by Tom Allsop, leader of Catch The Fire 3 Rivers. This was a fantastic event in terms of building friendship for the men within the Church.

To end the year off, in December the Church was able to obtain permission from the local council to set up a sound system in the town centre and sing Christmas Carols to bless the community. This was a great outreach opportunity.

Throughout the year, we continued to invest in our Sunday Kid’s Ministry, our midweek Youth Ministry and our Young Adult’s Ministry with various one-off events to compliment the routine meetings of these groups. We have seen a maturing in all of these aspects of the church life.

Public benefit

The charity trustees have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission in exercising their powers and duties.

Club Coffee continued to be a great blessing to a number of people, and the Monday Football Club grew considerably, attracting a good number of non-church going guys.

We continued to invest in training through 2023, with Safeguarding training in June, and a teams training day in November. The Staff Team also attended the CTF EMA Sphere Retreat in Bulgaria, in October, and Christopher Bird attended and spoke at a Prophetic Conference in Toronto in November, and he also spoke at a CTF Retreat in Sir Lanka in the same month .

Structure, governance and management

The Trustees (listed below) have continued to ensure due diligence in all matters relating to the management of CTFF. In addition to ensuring good financial governance, the trustees help the leadership team accountable to the vision of the church and reviewed all of the church policies during 2023 to ensure that these were all up-to-date.

To fulfil their governance mandate, the trustees met five times during 2023, and in addition maintained close contact with the Senior Leaders to ensure the good management and governance of the Church.

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TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT (CONTINUED)

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Administrative Information

Trustees:

Rev’d Christopher John Bird (Chair) Mr Abraham Hendrik Marias Mr David Richards Mrs Christine Widdowson Mr Jonathan Clarke

Appointed for 4 years from March 2020 Re-appointed for 3 years from March 2023 Re-appointed for 3 years from March 2023 Appointed for 3 years from April 2022 Appointed for 3 years from April 2022

Staff Team:

Rev’d Christopher J Bird Mrs Rachel Bird Mr Jonathan Bower Mr Samuel Bird (fixed term contract until April 2024, part-time with CTFF and part-time with CTF (UK)

Head of Finance:

Mrs Christine Widdowson

Reserves and Risk Management

It is the policy of the charity to build up and maintain unrestricted funds, which are the free reserves of the charity, at a level which equates to approximately three months’ unrestricted expenditure. This provides sufficient funds to cover management, administration and support costs. At the year-end this equated to approximately £30,780 compared to the actual general reserves of £7,880.

The trustees have considered the key operational, financial, and strategic risks that have a bearing on the charity. Suitable management information is available to the trustees on a regular basis to monitor these risks, and allow any mitigating action to be taken to address them.

FINANCIAL REVIEW OF 2023

The SOFA can be viewed on page 8 which sets out the income and expenditure for the year. Total incoming resources for the year were £203,281 (2022 - £227,949). The charity’s principal source of income was donations and Gift Aid received.

Total expenditure for the year was £220,222 (2022 - £212,761). The main area of expenditure was staff costs £166,836 (76%).

At the end of the year the charity held £51,927 in reserves of which £18,314 were restricted and £33,613 were unrestricted.

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TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT (CONTINUED)

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES

Charity law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of its financial activities for that year. In preparing those financial statements the trustees are required to:

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud or other irregularities.

This report was approved by the trustees on …………………………….. and is signed on their 21st August 2024 behalf by:

…………………………….. …………………………… Christopher Bird Abraham Marais Trustee Trustee

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REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT EXAMINER TO THE TRUSTEES

We report on the financial statements for the year ended 31[st] December 2023 set out on pages 8 to 14.

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 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

Basis of independent examiner’s statement

My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by the Charity Commission. 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 seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair’ view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

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:

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.

………………………………….. ………………………………………… 22nd August 2024 Luke Howson MAAT Date

Finansure Limited, 2 Sheppard Street, Brymbo, Wrexham, LL11 5FF

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STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Unrestricted Restricted TOTAL TOTAL
Funds Funds 2023 2022
Note £ £ £ £
INCOMING RESOURCES
Donations and gifts 2 124,226 77,142 201,368 227,949
Income from charitable activities 1,830 - 1,830 -
Investment income 83 - 83 -
─── ─── ─── ───
TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES 126,139 77,142 203,281 227,949
─── ─── ─── ───
RESOURCES EXPENDED
Charitable activities 3 123,118 97,104 220,222 212,761
─── ─── ─── ───
TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED 123,118 97,104 220,222 212,761
─── ─── ─── ───
NET INCOME / (EXPENDITURE)
FOR THE YEAR 3,021 (19,962) (16,941) 15,188
Transfers between funds - - - -
─── ─── ─── ───
Net movement in funds 3,021 (19,962) (16,941) 15,188
Balances brought forward 30,592 38,276 68,868 53,680
─── ─── ─── ───
Balances carried forward 33,613 18,314 51,927 68,868
─── ─── ─── ───

The charity has no recognised gains or losses other than the results for the year as set out above.

All of the activities of the charity are classed as continuing.

The notes on pages 10 to 14 form part of these financial statements.

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BALANCE SHEET

31 DECEMBER 2023

Note 2023 2022
£ £
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible fixed assets 8 6,513 6,478
─── ───
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors 9 7,036 3,258
Cash at bank and in hand 40,018 60,532
─── ───
47,054 63,790
CREDITORS: Amounts falling
due within one year 10 (1,640) (1,400)
─── ───
NET CURRENT ASSETS LESS
CURRENT LIABILITIES 45,414 62,390
─── ───
NET ASSETS 11 51,927 68,868
─── ───
FUNDS
Unrestricted funds:
- General reserves 12 7,880 19,116
- Designated funds 12 25,733 11,476
Restricted funds 12 18,314 38,276
─── ───
51,927 68,868
─── ───

The trustees acknowledge their responsibility for:

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities and the Financial Reporting Standard (FRS 102 – effective January 2019).

These financial statements were approved by the trustees on ………………………….. and are signed 21st August 2024 on their behalf by:

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……………………………..
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…………………………… …………………………….. Christopher Bird Abraham Marais Trustee Trustee

The notes on pages 10 to 14 form part of these financial statements.

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, and in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities and the Financial Reporting Standard (FRS 102 – effective January 2019).

Fund accounting

General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity and which have not been designated for other purposes.

Designated funds comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the trustees for particular purposes.

Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors or which have been raised by the charity for particular purposes. The cost of raising and administering such funds are charged against the specific fund. Investment income and gains are allocated to the appropriate fund.

Incoming resources

All incoming resources are included in the statement of financial activities when the charity is legally entitled to the income and the amount can be quantified with reasonable accuracy. Gift Aid receivable is included in income when there is a valid declaration from the donor. No amounts are included in the financial statements for services donated by volunteers.

Resources expended

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category.

Support costs are apportioned to activity/project according to total costs of activities undertaken directly and grant funding of activities.

Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less depreciation. Assets are capitalised if they have a useful life of more than one year and a cost value greater than £100.

Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off the value of each asset over its expected useful life:

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

2. DONATIONS AND GIFTS

2023 2022
£ £
Unrestricted tithes & donations 83,809 96,162
Unrestricted one-off donations 20,316 13,805
Salaries fund donations 65,080 82,865
Ukraine donations - 2,230
Other restricted donations 1,846 1,421
Income tax recoverable – unrestricted 20,101 20,893
Income tax recoverable – salaries fund 10,000 10,000
Income tax recoverable – Ukraine fund - 458
Income tax recoverable – other restricted funds 216 115
─── ───
201,368 227,949
─── ───

3. COSTS OF ACTIVITIES IN FURTHERANCE OF THE CHARITY’S OBJECTS

Activity or project Activities
undertaken
directly		 Grant
funding of
activities
(note 4)		 Support
costs
(note 5)		 Staff
costs
(note 6)		 Total
2023		 Total
2022
£ £ £ £ £
Church runningcosts 22,231 - 28,133 166,836 217,200 193,835
Missions & giving - 3,022 - - 3,022 18,926
TOTAL 22,231 3,022 28,133 166,836 220,222 212,761

4. GRANT FUNDING OF ACTIVITIES

GRANT FUNDING OF ACTIVITIES
2023 2022
£ £
Gifts to charities
- Catch The Fire Asia 1,028 -
- UK 1,520 2,135
- Catch The Fire World (USA) (subs) - 7,316
- Catch The Fire World (USA) (Ukraine appeal) - 4,900
- India - 1,165
- Sierra Leone - 1,000
Gifts to individuals
- UK 474 281
- India - 2,129
─── ───
3,022 18,926
─── ───

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

5. SUPPORT COSTS

2023 2022
£ £
Manse rent 14,400 14,400
Travel & accommodation 6,215 -
Pension admin fees - 664
Computer expenses 359 445
Expensed equipment 401 799
Dues & subscriptions 1,751 883
DBS expenses 182 834
Finance costs 688 644
Stationery & office expenses 166 401
Insurance 454 453
Staff training 183 233
Independent examiner’s fee 650 650
Depreciation 2,684 2,121
Other expenses - 311
─── ───
28,133 22,838
─── ───
STAFF COSTS
2023 2022
£ £
Wages and salaries 145,203 137,173
Employer’s NIC 10,017 9,969
Employer’s pension contributions 11,616 10,933
─── ───
166,836 158,075
─── ───

6. STAFF COSTS

No employee received emoluments, as defined for taxation purposes, amounting to over £60,000 in the tax year or the previous tax year.

The total number of employees in the year was four (2022 – four).

The average number of employees on a full-time equivalent basis was four (2022 – four).

7. TRANSACTIONS WITH TRUSTEES AND RELATED PARTIES

One trustee, Christopher Bird, received remuneration of £45,600 (2022 - £45,600) during the year in his role as senior pastor. The charity also contributed £3,648 (2022 - £3,648) of pension contributions into Mr Bird’s pension.

Mr Bird’s spouse, Rachel Bird, received remuneration of £45,600 (2022 - £45,600) during the year in her role as senior pastor. The charity also contributed £3,648 (2022 - £3,648) of pension contributions into Mrs Bird’s pension.

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

7. TRANSACTIONS WITH TRUSTEES AND RELATED PARTIES (continued)

Mr Bird’s son, Samuel Bird, received remuneration of £27,000 (2022 - £20,025) during the year in his role as associate pastor. The charity also contributed £2,160 (2022 - £1,602) of pension contributions into his pension.

All of the above payments were authorised by other trustees in the absence of the parties concerned and were made in accordance with the foundation document.

The total aggregate donations made by trustees to the charity during the year was £72,073 (2022 - £75,427).

8. FIXED ASSETS

Cost or valuation
At 1 January 2023
Additions
At 31 December 2023
Depreciation
At 1 January 2023
Charge for the year
At 31 December 2023
Net book value
At 31 December 2023
At 31 December 2022		 Computer
equipment
Sound
equipment
Other
equipment
Total
£
£
£
£
4,740
3,708
1,413
9,861
-
274
2,445
2,719
4,740
3,982
3,858
12,580
2,269
797
317
3,383
1,376
751
557
2,684
3,645
1,548
874
6,067
1,095
2,434
2,984
6,513
2,471
2,911
1,096
6,478

9. DEBTORS

2023 2022
£ £
Tax recoverable 5,468 1,568
Prepayments 568 690
Other debtors 1,000 1,000
─── ───
7,036 3,258
─── ───

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NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

10. CREDITORS: Amounts falling due within one year

2022 2022
£ £
Accruals 1,640 1,400
─── ───

11. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

General Designated Restricted
reserves funds funds Total
£ £ £ £
Fund balances at 31 December
2023 represented by:
Fixed assets 6,513 - - 6,513
Current assets 3,007 25,733 18,314 47,054
Current liabilities (1,640) - - (1,640)
──── ──── ──── ────
7,880 25,733 18,314 51,927
──── ──── ──── ────

12. STATEMENT OF FUNDS

At 1 January At 31 December
2023 Income Expenditure Transfers 2023
£ £ £ £ £
Unrestricted funds:
General reserves 19,116 126,139 (120,570) (16,805) 7,880
Designated funds 11,476 - (2,548) 16,805 25,733
──── ──── ──── ──── ────
Total unrestricted funds 30,592 126,139 (123,118) - 33,613
──── ──── ──── ──── ────
Restricted funds:
Salaries fund 38,276 75,080 (95,252) - 18,104
Special events & offerings - 2,062 (1,852) - 210
──── ──── ──── ──── ────
Total restricted funds 38,276 77,142 (97,104) - 18,314
──── ──── ──── ──── ────
Total funds 68,868 203,281 (220,222) - 51,927
──── ──── ──── ──── ────

The ‘Salaries fund’ represents restricted donations towards salary costs.

The ‘Special events & offerings’ fund represents donations given towards one-off events or special causes. ‘Designated funds’ represents funds set aside by the trustees to provide grants to other charities and individuals as they see fit in line with the charity’s constitution. ‘General reserves’ are the free reserves of the charity.