## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period** ## **From** _**01-01-2024**_ **Period start date To** _**31-12-2024**_ **Period end date** ## **Charity name:** _**ST. GABRIEL ERITREAN ORTHODOX TEWAHEDO CHURCH PORTSMOUTH**_ ## **Charity registration number:** _**1190851**_ ## **Objectives and Activities** ||SORP reference|| |---|---|---| |Summary of the purposes of
the charity as set out in its
governing document|Para 1.17|The purpose of the Charitable Incorporated
Organisation is, for the public benefit, to
advance the Christian faith in accordance with
our Statement of Faith. We do this by providing
regular worship services, sacraments (such as
baptisms, weddings, Eucrest and more), and
pastoral support. We also nurture children and
young
people
through
Sunday
teaching,
welcome and integrate new members into our
community, and offer practical help and
guidance where needed.| |Summary of the main
activities in relation to those
purposes for the public
benefit, in particular, the
activities, projects or
services identified in the
accounts.|Para 1.17 and
1.19|•
Held
regular
worship
services
and
sacraments, including Sunday liturgies,
baptisms, weddings, and other pastoral
ceremonies.
•
Provided weekly hymen lessons for children
and young people, supporting their Christian
education and cultural heritage.
•
Welcomed new families and individuals into
our
community,
offering
guidance,
translation support, and fellowship to help
them settle.
•
Organised celebrations of major Christian
festivals, and pastoral visits to those in need.| |Statement confirming
whether the trustees have
had regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity
Commission on public
benefit|Para 1.18|The trustees confirm that they have had due
regard to the guidance on public benefit
published by the Charity Commission when
exercising their duties and in planning the
charity’s activities throughout the year.| ## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: ||SORP reference|| |---|---|---| |Policy on grant making|Para 1.38|The charity does not operate as a grant-making
body. All funds received are applied directly to
the delivery of our charitable activities and
services.| |Policy on social investment
including program related
investment|Para 1.38|| |Contribution made by
volunteers|Para 1.38|| |Other||| ## **Achievements and Performance** ||SORP reference|| |---|---|---| |Summary of the main
achievements of the charity,
identifying the difference the
charity’s work has made to
the circumstances of its
beneficiaries and any wider
benefits to society as a
whole.|Para 1.20|During the year, the charity has strengthened its
role as a place of worship, learning and support
for the Eritrean and Ethiopian community in
Portsmouth. Through weekly services and
Sunday School, children and young people have
grown in their understanding of the Christian
faith and their cultural heritage. New families
and individuals, including recent arrivals and
refugees, have been welcomed and supported,
helping them to integrate into both the church
community and wider society.
Our celebrations of major Christian festivals
have
provided
opportunities
for
cultural
expression and community cohesion, bringing
people together in faith and friendship. The
charity has also provided pastoral care and
practical assistance to members experiencing
hardship,
improving
their
wellbeing
and
reducing isolation.
These achievements have contributed to the
spiritual
growth
of
our
members,
the
preservation of cultural traditions, and the
strengthening of social bonds, delivering wider
benefits to both our congregation and the local
community.| ## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |Achievements against
objectives set|Para 1.41|Growth of Congregants – The number of
congregants and followers grew steadily during
the year, with new families and individuals
joining the church community. This increase has
strengthened the fellowship of the church and
expanded the base of volunteers and supporters
available to the charity.| |---|---|---| |Performance of fundraising
activities against objectives
set|Para 1.41|| |Investment performance
against objectives|Para 1.41|| |Other||| ## **Financial Review** |**Financial Review**||| |---|---|---| |Review of the charity’s
financial position at the end
of the period|Para 1.21|The charity’s cash funds at the end of the year
is 27,042.| |Statement explaining the
policy for holding reserves
stating why they are held|Para 1.22|Reserves are held as Savings towards a goal of
buying a new church building. unforeseen
payments, equipment, facilities, and bills to be
paid.| |Amount of reserves held|Para 1.22|£27,042| |Reasons for holding zero
reserves|Para 1.22|| |Details of fund materially in
deficit|Para 1.24|| |Explanation of any
uncertainties about the
charity continuing as a going
concern|Para 1.23|None| |**Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements|**Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements|where relevant about:| |---|---|---| |The charity’s principal
sources of funds (including
any fundraising)|Para 1.47|The charity’s income is derived primarily from
the membership fees of its members, voluntary
contributions and donations of its members and
supporters. Additional funds are raised through
offerings made during worship services. The
charity also receives occasional one-off gifts
and donations from well-wishers and friends of
the community.| |Investment policy and
objectives including any
social investment policy
adopted|Para 1.46|The charity does not hold any investments.
Funds are retained in the charity’s bank account
and applied directly towards its charitable
purposes as and when required. The trustees
therefore have not adopted a formal investment
policy.| |A description of the principal
risks facing the charity|Para 1.46|The trustees have considered the main risks
facing the charity during the year. These include:
•
Financial sustainability – reliance on
voluntary donations and fundraising
may affect the charity’s ability to meet
ongoing costs and future plans.
•
Access to suitable premises – as the
charity does not yet own a permanent
place of worship, there is a risk that hired
venues may become unavailable or
unaffordable.
•
Volunteer capacity – the charity depends
heavily on trustees and volunteers;
illness, relocation or reduced availability
could impact activities.
•
Governance and compliance – as a small
charity run largely by volunteers, there is
a risk of administrative or regulatory
requirements being overlooked without
careful attention.
•
Safeguarding – activities with children
and
vulnerable
adults
require
appropriate safeguarding measures and
vigilance at alltimes.| |||| |---|---|---| |Other||Looking ahead, the trustees are actively pursuing
opportunities to secure a permanent place of
worship and community centre for St. Gabriel
Eritrean Orthodox Church. This would provide
long-term stability, reduce reliance on hired
premises, and enable the expansion of our
activities, particularly for children, young people
and families. The trustees are also exploring new
fundraising initiatives, online giving platforms,
and partnerships with local and national
organisations to support this goal.| ## **Structure, Governance and Management** |Description of charity’s
trusts:||| |---|---|---| |Type of governing document
(trust deed, royal charter)|
Para 1.25|Type of governing document (Para 1.25):
The charity is governed by a constitution in the
form prescribed for Charitable Incorporated
Organisations (CIOs) and approved by the
Charity Commission for England and Wales.
In addition, the charity has adopted bylaws to
support effective communication and efficient
operation among its members and governing
bodies.| |How is the charity
constituted?
(e.g unincorporated
association, CIO)|Para 1.25|The charity is constituted as a Charitable
Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and is
registered with the Charity Commission for
England and Wales. It is governed by its
Constitution, which sets out the charity’s
objects, powers, and the arrangements for the
appointment of trustees and conduct of
meetings.| |Trustee selection methods
including details of any
constitutional provisions e.g.
election to post or name of
any person or body entitled
to appoint one or more
trustees|Para 1.25|New trustees are normally appointed by the
existing trustees at a properly convened meeting
of the board, in accordance with the provisions
of
the
constitution.
The board may also appoint additional trustees
during the year to fill vacancies or to bring in
individuals with specific skills or experience
required
by
the
charity.
All trustees are subject to retirement and re-
appointment at intervals specified in the
governing document
In addition, the spiritual leadership of the church
plays an important role in guiding the process of
trustee selection, ensuring that those appointed
are committed to the faith, values, and
community life of the church. The trustees work
closely with the spiritual leaders to ensure that
governance decisions are consistent with the
charity’s
Christian
ethos
and
pastoral
responsibilities.| |**Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements||where relevant about:| |Policies and procedures
adopted for the induction
and training of trustees|Para 1.51|| |The charity’s organisational
structure and any wider
network with which the
charity works|Para 1.51|The charity is governed by its trustees, who have
legal responsibility for the management and
administration of the Charitable Incorporated
Organisation.
The trustees meet regularly to make decisions on
strategy, finance, safeguarding, and the delivery
of charitable activities.
Day-to-day activities are carried out by
volunteers under the oversight of the trustees and| |||with the pastoral guidance of the priest and
spiritual leadership of the church.
The charity is independent but works in
fellowship with other Eritrean and Ethiopian
Orthodox congregations in the UK. Where
appropriate, the trustees and members of the
spiritual leadership also engage with local
churches,
community
organisations,
and
statutory bodies to promote integration, support
refugees, and strengthen community cohesion.| |---|---|---| |Relationship with any
related parties|Para 1.51|The charity is independent and is not controlled
by, nor does it control, any other organisation. It
maintains a close spiritual relationship with the
wider Eritrean Orthodox Church, but there are no
formal legal or financial links.
Some trustees and volunteers are also members
of the congregation, as we are faith-based
charity. The trustees ensure that any potential
conflicts of interest are declared and managed in
accordance with the charity’s Constitution and
Charity Commissionguidance.| |Other||| ## **Reference and Administrative details** |Charity name|St. Gabriel Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church Portsmouth| |---|---| |Other name the charity uses|| |Registered charity number|1190851| |Charity’s principal address|The Parish Church of the Ascension, Stubbington Avenue,
PORTSMOUTH, PO2 0JG| ||| ## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity** |1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
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20|**Trustee name**|**Office (if**
**any)**|**Dates acted if not for whole**
**year**|**Name of person (or body) entitled**
**to appoint trustee(if any)**| |---|---|---|---|---| ||Rahwa Welday||21.03.2025|| ||Samrawit Tsegay||21.03.2025|| ||Solomun Ghebremeskel Tekle||21.03.2025|| ||Freweini Solomon sium||21.03.2025|| ||Tesfamariam Goitom||21.03.2025|| ||Kibrom Teclehaymanot||21.03.2025|| ||Dawit Ghebreigziabher||21.03.2025|| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| – Corporate trustees names of the directors at the date the report was approved |**Director name**||| |---|---|---| |`DAWIT GHEBREIGZIAB`|`HER`
`CHAIR`|| |||| |||| |||| |||| |||| Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity **Trustee name Dates acted if not for whole year** ## **Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others** Description of the assets Not applicable held in this capacity Name and objects of the Not applicable charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects Details of arrangements for Not applicable safe custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets ## **Additional information (optional)** ## **Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)** |**Type of**|**Name**|**Address**| |---|---|---| |**adviser**||| **Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)** ## **Exemptions from disclosure** Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details ## **Other optional information** ## **Declarations** **The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.** **Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees** |**Signature(s)**
**Full name(s)**
**Position (eg Secretary,**
**Chair, etc)**
**Date**||| |---|---|---| ||Dawit Ghebreigziabher|Kibrom Teclehaymanot| ||
Chair|Secretary| ||15/10/2025|| ||15/10/2025|| **Charity Name Charity No (if any) ST. GABRIEL ERITREAN ORTHODOX TEWAHEDO CHURC1190851** ## **Receipts and payments accounts** ## **CC16a** **For the period** Period start date Period end date **To from** 01/01/2024 31/12/2024 ## **Section A Receipts and payments** **Unrestricted Restricted Endowment funds funds funds to the nearest £ to the nearest £ to the nearest £** **Total funds Last year** **to the nearest £ to the nearest £** ## **A1 Receipts** |Fundraising|**590**||**-**||**-**||**590**||**-**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Sunday Small Donations|**5,398**||**-**||**-**||**5,398**||**-**| |Membership fee|**8,500**||**-**||**-**||**8,500**||**-**| |General Donations|**950**||**-**||**-**||**950**||**-**| |Service fee|**400**||**-**||**-**||**400**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| |**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for_
_AR)_|**15,838**||**-**||**-**||**15,838**||**-**| |Fundraising|**590**||**-**||**-**||**590**||**-**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |Sunday Small Donations|**5,398**||**-**||**-**||**5,398**||**-**| |Membership fee|**8,500**||**-**||**-**||**8,500**||**-**| |General Donations|**950**||**-**||**-**||**950**||**-**| |Service fee|**400**||**-**||**-**||**400**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| |**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for_
_AR)_|**15,838**||**-**||**-**||**15,838**||**-**| |**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**|**-**
**-**
**-**
**15,838**
**4,280**
**2,208**
**5,100**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**11,588**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**11,588**
**4,250**
**-**
**22,792**
**27,042**||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**||**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**||**-**
**-**
**-**
**15,838**
**4,280**
**2,208**
**5,100**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**11,588**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**11,588**
**4,250**||| ||**-**||||||||| ||**-**||||||||**-**| |**_Sub total_**|**-**||||||||**-**| |**_Total receipts_ **
**A3 Payments**|||||||||| ||||||||||**-**| ||||||||||| |Property Rent|**4,280**||||||||**-**| |Church Materials and equipment|**2,208**||||||||**-**| |Priest and Deacon service fee|**5,100**||||||||**-**| ||**-**||||||||**-**| ||**-**||||||||**-**| ||**-**||||||||**-**| ||**-**||||||||**-**| ||**-**||||||||**-**| ||**-**||||||||**-**| |**_Sub total_ **|**11,588**||||||||**-**| ||||||||||| |**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases, (see table)**|||||||||| ||**-**||||||||| ||**-**||||||||| |**_Sub total_ **|**-**||||||||**-**| |**_Total payments_**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**_Cash funds this year end_**|||||||||| ||||||||||**-**| ||||||||||| ||**4,250**||**-**||**-**||**4,250**||**-**| ||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**22,792**||**-**||**-**||**22,792**||**-**| ||**27,042**||**-**||**-**||**27,042**||**-**| ## **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**|**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
**Details**|**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))
**Details**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
Agreement Error
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**liability relates**|**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
OK
**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
OK
**Restricted**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
OK
**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Current value**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Current value**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**When due**
**(optional)**
Date of
approval
21/10/2025
er 21/10/25|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
OK
**Endowment**
**funds**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Current value**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Current value**
**(optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**When due**
**(optional)**
Date of
approval
21/10/2025
er 21/10/25| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||Signature||Print Name|||Date of
approval|| ||||~~Freweini Sium~~|||21/10/|2| ||||
||||| ||||Dawit Ghebreigziab||h|||