Uckfield Baptist Church hi the low of Annual Report and Financial Statements Year Ending 31st March 2025 Contents Legal and Administrative Informatlon Pa8e 2 Trustees Annual Report Page3to5 UCKFIELD BAPTIV CHURCH Trustees. Annual Report Period start date: 01104124 Period end date-. 31103125 Legal and Admlnlstratlve Infomialion Charitable status: Uckfield Baptist Church is a CIO. Charlty no: 1191028 Church Addres5 Uckfield Baptist Church 18 Cafvert Close Uckfield East Sussex TN22 28Z Managing Trustees Steve Jenkin5 Iminister from February 20181 Lorraine Kirkwood (Church Treasurer) Jill Moar (Church Secretary) Bryan Green Peter Roe Bankers Nat West Bank l MusterGreen Haywards Heath RH16 4AP Independent Examiner Simon Goacher Cosi Old Road Magham Down Hailsham BN27 IPR UCKFIELD BAPnSt CHURCH Report of the Trustees for the year endlng 31" Marth Z025 The trustees present their Annual Report ar¢d financial statements for the year ending 31" March 2025. Legal and administrative inforniation set out on the Previous page forms part of this report. Objectlves aDd Artlvltle5 The principal objective of the Church is the advancement of the Christian faith according to the principles of the Baptist denomination. The Church may also advance education and carry out other choritable purpose5 in the United Kingdom and/or other parts of the world. The Church is a member church of Baptists Together and the South East Baptist Association (SEBA} and as such ha5 acce55 to advice and 5UPPOrt. The Church operates Wems to ensure that all people working with children and vulnerable adults are appropriately vetted with regard to the Disc105ure and Barrin8 Service. The Church has read the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit and is satisfied that the activities outlined below clearly demonstrate that the charity is providin8 3 benefit to the public. A¢hlevements and Performance In order to achieve the principal objectwes set out above, the Church provides a variety of activities both to its membership and to the community 8enerally. The aim is to live out our motto to "celebrate, communlcate and care in the love of Chrlsv. Central to thls Is the provislon of regular public services of Christian worship. which take place on Sunday at 10.30 am. We do not own our own buildin& but rent a local school hall in which to hold the setvices. There is a Sunday Club for children during the church Se￿iCe. We seek to be a friendly and welcoming community and anyone is free to attend the services. The Church has several home groups which run midweek for church attendees to study God's word, enjoy fellowship and a time of sharin8 and prayer. We also hold monthty prayer meeting5 which are held in The Source, a building in the centre of the town, which we lease from the Town Council. This buildin8 also is the veftue for our weekly Toddler Group, our music group practlces and any business or other church meetings. It is also the distribution centre for Uckfield Foodbank which we support as a church, havin8 two members who are trustees and another who is the Project Manager as well as a number of volunteers from our membership. Every year we support the Late Night Shopping event at the beginning of December, taking the opportunity to share our faith through a Walk through Nativity which attracts upwards of 1000 vlsitors. This is a project undertaken with Kings Church. For the second year. we were 3150 able to send a team into a local Primary School in the week running up to Easter and work with two year 4 classes, the theme ￿he Great Big Hot Cr055 Bun Hunf enabling us to teach the story of Jesus, death and resurrection. Over the year, the church has sub-let its premises in town for regular community use including the Foodbank and a U3Agroup. UCKFIELD BAPTISTCHURCH Although the 'Churches in Uckfield, interdenominational group no longer exists formallyi we Still work alongside other churches in the town. notably for the Good Friday Walk of Witness and the Walk through Nativiiy with Kings Church. As a church we have always supported missions both in this country and overseas. both with financial and prayer support. During this year. we were able to give to the following missions.. Baptist World Mission lin particular supporting a couple working in Bangladeshl, Mission Aviation Fellowship, GLIA in Romania lincluding collecting for Christmas Goodie Ba8sI, Open Doors, Tearfund, Great Lakes Outreach in Burundi and Off the Fence in Brighton (including collecting Boxers and Socks for their work with the homeless). We also support Uckfield Foodbank through our Harvest gifts. We have one paid member of staff. Steve Jenkins, our minister has been with us since February 2018, and we rely on volunteers in all aspects of the church's Ilfe. Church membership at the end of March 2025 was 36. From July, our mlnlster was on Sabbatical for 3 months, taking the opportunlty for personal study and also volunteering as a chaplain at Eastbourne Hospital. During the year, the majority of our Sunday services have been led by our minister, Steve Jenkins, but we a￿ grateful for other church members who are willing to share the preathing as well a5 lead the service. introduce the worship and head up the music with instruments and voices. This was especlally Important durin8 Steve's sabbatical. We have also been blessed to have some visiting preachers, in particular from the missions we support. The Sunday messages this year have focused on the conclusion to the sermon5 on the major events in I Samuel, Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus, an Advent series focussing on the birth of Jesus as found in Luke and some of the mo significant parables that Jesus told. Each Sunday we record our semon and this is uploaded to our YouTube channel Iuckfield Baptist Church UK) so that anyone who cannot be at the Servi￿ can watch and Ilsten at a later date. We continue to be blessed by having a number of new people join the congregatlon on a Sunday and have members and attendees from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds. In March 2025 we were able to celebrate our dwersity with an International Sunday when we had flags for the nations we are from or associated with. national dress, readin8s and songs sung in our mother ton8ues and a wonderful Sp￿ad of international food to enjoy. stru(￿re, Governance and Management On 18 June 2020 the Church approved a new Constitution. based on a template for a "Charitable Incorporated Organisation" ICIOI produced by the Baptist Union. working in conjunction with the Charity Commission. Application was made to the Charity Commission to re8iSter a new charity and this was completed on 26 August 2020. From then until 31" March 2023, we continued to operate as a "Charitable Unincorporated Association" as we had no assets and activitie5 as a CIO. On l April 2023. all our assets and artivities were transferred across and since then we have been operating a5 a "Charitable Incorporated Organisation". The Trustees who have served during the year are set out on page 2. Trustees are elected by members of uCkr￿ld Baptist Church and usually serve for a perK>d of three years after which time UCKFIELD BAPTISTCHLIR(H they may, if willin& be nominated a8ain and stand for re-election for another term of office. A break of at least one year must then be taken before they can stand for reelethion again. However, in accordance with the new CIO Constitution. the Trustees were elected to se￿e for one. two or three year5 initially in order to vary the re-elettion dates. The minister remains a Trustee until the end of his ministry with this church. Trustees meet monthly and members, meetings are held 4 times a vear with the Annual General Meeting being held at one of them. Flnanclal Revlew Review of financial position at end of the perlod {see attached accounts) Reserves .. The trustees consider that the level of free reserves held in the General Fund at the end of the financial year 202415 should cover three months. maximum expenditure in order to enable the church to fulfil its legal obligations with respect of employees and creditors in the event the church ceases to exist. Dtclaratlons The trustees declare that they have approved the trustee< report above Sl8ned on behalf of the charws trustees Slgnatures15) Full namels) P£c&L Position frw4 Date 31-10-ZOZB 88.X888838 8*88888 8kkX&88¥8*28 26zzzzÉviV)￿￿Irt 81x8 8 88= Iiliillg 11 zz INDÉPÉNOEFirwJiir•EIYSP I reportt0th•TN￿e￿O￿theKc￿ubts ofutklleld btptlsiciwreh IoTth• •nd•d3151 March202&whl¢h ar•s•toutoThpay$ 14abo¥•. gmD•GcacMi.