Friends of the Church of St. John the Evangelist, Merrow
Trustees’ Annual Report for the period from 1[st] April 2021 to 31[st] March 2022
Registered name and number with the Charity Commission for England and Wales:
The Friends of the Church of St John the Evangelist, Merrow, hereinafter referred to as FoStJ is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), registration number 1189324.
Principal address:
222 Epsom Road, Merrow, Guildford, GU4 7AA
Stated objectives and activities
To advance the Christian religion for the public benefit by the restoration, preservation, repair, maintenance, improvement and beautification of the Parish Church of St. John the Evangelist, Merrow in the diocese of Guildford (hereinafter called ‘the Church”) and of the monuments, fittings, fixtures, stained glass, furniture, ornaments and chattels in the church, churchyard and church hall belonging to the Church and the Village War Memorial situated in the churchyard, in particular the CIO will make grants of money and gifts of other property to the Parochial Church Council of the Parish of St. John the Evangelist, Merrow, exclusively for the purpose of the said objects, and generally assist those responsible for the care and maintenance of the church.
Achievements over the year
As we look back on this our second year of the charity’s activities, the shadow of the pandemic restrictions still seemed to follow us and influence our campaigns. Fund raising began, initially, with a Zoom based online only event, before progressing to embrace more ‘normal’ in-person fund raising events. The year kicked off with fundraising to support St. John’s organ restoration. To celebrate the completion of refurbishment of our 140-year-old William Hill organ an organ recital on the evening of the 14th of April 2021 was arranged. Music was presented and performed by Mark Shepherd, Director of Music at Charterhouse School. The evenings programme included a story of the evolution of this amazing instrument from its original installation in 1881 to the present day and a recital of organ music from Elgar, Bach, Franck and others. Overall, £1,315 net was raised in the year to support the church organ restoration (Net donations including amounts received in the previous financial year totalled £1,376).
It was brought to our attention that the church tower was in need of serious repair. A recent Diocesan Quinquennial inspection report highlighted several areas of urgent concern. The stonework around the belfry louvre openings on the east and west sides of the tower was spalling and flaking off, presenting a real H&S risk. Repairs to the stonework required cutting out old and rusted iron fixings and tie bars and fitting new stainless-steel fixings; the extraction of spalled stonework ready to receive new stonework; and the cutting, carving and fitting of new stonework. Work will be carried out by Anstey and Stone, a wellknown local stonemason company of Farnham, at a cost of approximately £5,500. Fostj agreed to support St. John’s in this restoration work and launched our appeal to “Save Our Stones” (SOS). Our fundraising campaign was spearheaded by two highly successful events, the first, a Wine Tasting evening on the 4[th] December 2021 lead by Shaun Parry-Jones. This evening raised £364.12 net and the second event was a Quiz Night held on the 26[th] March 2022 with Allan Johnson as quiz master. The quiz raised £537.32 after costs (this amount includes £491.20 of event food costs paid in the next financial year) towards our campaign. A total of £1,392.64 net was recognised in the year as the amount raised to support SOS (before deduction of costs relating to the Quiz Night). In addition, during this increasingly busy year we also raised £140.00 towards the bell tower restoration project.
Throughout the year the management committee constituting the three trustees, PCC nominees and a treasurer continued to meet to oversee fund raising activities. Initially holding meetings via Zoom the committee now also meets at the Church Centre. As we started to grow our ‘Friends’ membership throughout 2021/2 the committee felt that we needed a strong pair of hands to support the charity and keep track of membership details and subscriptions. As a result, in August 2021 Linda Elliott agreed to join the committee as membership secretary. Her services have been greatly appreciated by the rest of the FoStJ team.
Our overall financial position (see the detail below), I hope you will agree, demonstrates significant growth over our first reported year. Total funds raised amounted to £3,595 in the year and banked funds by the end of the period stood at £2,601 (prior year £524) and this after handing over to St John’s PCC a cheque for £1,000 to support the work to restore the church organ.
Financial review
In accordance with Commission regulations and guidelines the financial results for FoStJ for the period from 1[st] April 2021 to 31[st] March 2022 have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis (comparative figures for the first reported results for the period from 4[th] May 2020 to 31[st] March 2021 are also shown).
A summary of these results is shown below:
| Restricted Funds | Restricted Funds | Unrestricted Funds | Unrestricted Funds | Total | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Receipts | 3,274.70 | 63.41 | 319.96 | 465.00 | 3,594.66 | 528.41 |
| Payments | (1,426.69) | (2.97) | (91.38) | (0.81) | (1,518.07) | (3.78) |
| Net | 1,848.01 | 60.44 | 228.58 | 464.19 | 2,076.59 | 524.63 |
Total receipts comprised charitable donations, payments for events and membership subscriptions. An analysis of receipts for the year is as follows:
| ysis of receipts for the year is as follows: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2021/22 | 2020/21 | |
| £ | £ | |
| Membership fees (Unrestricted) | 204.96 | 85.00 |
| General donations (Unrestricted) | 115.00 | 380.00 |
| Church Organ Appeal (Restricted) | 1,358.69 | 63.41 |
| Save our Stones (Restricted) | 1,771.01 | |
| Church Bell Tower Restoration (Restricted) | 145.00 | |
| Total | 3,594.66 | 528.41 |
Membership fees represents the payment of 38 members.
The total payment of £1,518.07 comprised a charitable donation of £1,000 paid to St. John’s PCC, transaction charges of £134.47 paid to Stripe, the charity’s online payments platform, refunds of membership subscription overpayments of £10.00, wine tasting event costs of £206.73 and marketing signage costs of £166.87. Stripe charges amounted to 4.8% of total payments received via their platform over the financial year.
The FoStJ bank account balance at 31[st] March 2022 was £2,601.22 (£524.63 at 31[st] March 2021). There were no uncleared banking receipts on this date. The mechanism for claiming gift aid on donations was still to be agreed with HMRC at the end of the financial year. There were no transfers between funds during the period to 31[st] March 2022. The banking services of Metro Bank, Guildford continued to use by Fostj for its day-to-day financial business throughout the year.
No capital expenditure was committed to or incurred during the reporting period. The charity does not own any assets other than cash held in its current account with Metro Bank. The charity gave no guarantees in the year and thus no related potential liabilities are outstanding at the date of the statement of assets and liabilities. There are no debts which are secured by an express charge on the assets of the charity.
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Governance and management of the charity
FoStJ is administered in accordance with a written constitution by its trustees, comprising 2 nominated by the PCC and 3 elected by the members. The charity is managed by a committee which meets monthly to plan and oversee day to day activities. The trustees appoint committee members and Officers.
One third of the elected trustees must retire annually, but maybe re-elected. At the first FoStJ AGM, it was decided that members should have the opportunity to re-elect all the elected Trustees. All standing Trustees were duly re-elected. This practice will not be applied this year (2022)
The charity’s trustees and members of the management committee during the year are shown below:
| Name | Office | Status | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christopher Shorter | Chairman | Trustee & Member |
30thJanuary 2020 |
| Gordon Farquharson |
Secretary | Trustee & Member |
30thJanuary 2020 |
| Mark Butcher | Treasurer | Member | 26thJuly 2020 |
| Robert Avis | PCC nominee | Member | 30thJanuary 2020 |
| Peter Tappin | PCC nominee | Member | 30thJanuary 2020 |
| Mark Stuart-Bourne | Trustee & Member |
30thJanuary 2020 |
Since the end of this reporting period Ms. Annabel Stuart-Bourne has agreed, as a PCC nominee, to become a Trustee and will also join the management committee. Mark Stuart-Bourne has recently announced that he will be resigning as both a Trustee and management committee member. The Trustees would like to thank Mark for his contribution to the charity.
The trustees do not hold title to property belonging to the charity and there are no funds held and managed by the trustees as custodian on behalf of other charities.
Declarations
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
| Signature: | End of document |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name: | Christopher Shorter | Gordon Farquharson | |
| Position: | Chairman | Secretary | |
| Date: | 1stNovember 2022 | 1stNovember 2022 |
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The Friends of the Church of St. John the Evangelist, Merrow
1189324
Receipts and payments accounts CC16a
For the period 1st April 2021 31st March 2022
To
from
Section A Receipts and payments
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment
Total funds Last year
funds funds funds
to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
Members' subscriptions 205 - - 205 85
Donations 115 3,275 - 3,390 443
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total (Gross income for 320 3,275 - 3,595 528
AR)
A2 Asset and investment sales,
(see table).
- - - -
- - - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total receipts 320 3,275 - 3,595 528
A3 Payments
Transaction charges 17 127 - 144 4
Cost of fund raising events - 207 - 207 -
Donations - 1,000 - 1,000 -
Printing, postage, stationery and
computer supplies 74 93 - 167 -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
- - - - -
Sub total 91 1,427 - 1,518 4
A4 Asset and investment
purchases, (see table)
- - - -
- - - -
Sub total - - - - -
Total payments 91 1,427 - 1,518 4
Net of receipts/(payments) 229 1,848 - 2,077 524
A5 Transfers between funds - - - - -
A6 Cash funds last year end 464 60 - 524 -
Cash funds this year end 693 1,908 - 2,601 524
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CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
12/2/2022
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Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Categories Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B5 Liabilities B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B3 Investment assets B2 Other monetary assets B1 Cash funds |
Signature Details Details Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details Details |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 693 1,908 - - - - 693 1,908 OK OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name Gordon Farquharson Christopher Shorter |
Endowment funds to nearest £ - - - - OK Endowment funds to nearest £ - - - - - - Current value (optional) - - - - - Current value (optional) - - - - - - - - - When due (optional) Date of approval 14th October 2022 15th October 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
12/2/2022
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