## **Trustee Annual Report Trinity Church Milnthorpe** Charity no. 1193424 ## This report relates to **financial year: 1st February 2024 to 31[st] January 2025** The **principal address** of the charity is 31 Beetham Road, MILNTHORPE, LA7 7QN ## The following individuals were the **charity trustees on the date the report was approved** - Peter James Bramhall Adam Mark Taylor Kevin John Gregory The following individuals served as **charity trustees during the year** : - Peter James Bramhall Adam Mark Taylor Kevin John Gregory Trinity Church Milnthorpe was entered into the **register of charities** on 5[th] February 2021 The Charity is governed by a Constitution as a **Charitable Incorporated Organisation** . The **Charitable purposes** of Trinity Church Milnthorpe are: - the advancement of the Christian faith in accordance with the Basis of Faith, primarily, - but not exclusively, within Milnthorpe and the surrounding neighbourhood; and - such other charitable purposes as shall, in the opinion of the charity trustees, put into - practise the Christian faith in accordance with the Basis of Faith, including but not limited to: the prevention and relief of need, hardship and sickness; the advancement of education; and the provision of facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation or other leisure time occupation of individuals who have need of such facilities by reason of their youth, age infirmity or disability, financial hardship or social circumstances with the object of improving their conditions of life; provided that the advancement of such purposes must be undertaken in a manner that is consistent with the Doctrinal Distinctives and Ethical Statements as may be adopted and amended by the Church from time to time. In 2024/5 all the Trinity Church activities were directly funded by TCM. To **further the Charitable Purposes for the public benefit** , TCM carried out the following in 2024/5: - Provided church services over this period to everyone who wanted to come along. This was a source of spiritual and physical support to members of the church as well as to those in the wider community seeking comfort and support in the difficult times of the cost-of-living crisis, and other aspects of life. These church services were recorded for the benefit of those who are unable to attend. 1 - Continued to enable members of the church to volunteer and serve others in the church and community in various ways. - Encouraged church family involvement in community initiatives. - Provided church services in a local residential home for the elderly. This was a source of spiritual and physical support to residents and staff. - Continued to meet in smaller weekly groups for Bible study, prayer and support. These groups are open to anyone and have been one of the ways pastoral care has been provided. - Continued to run the Trinity Youth Group to serve secondary school aged children both in our Sunday church service and in Sunday evening groups during term time. This Sunday evening group has been a mixture of in-person meetings in the local Primary School, a community building (M:HUB), outside in open spaces, and in people’s homes. - Continued to run Trinity Kids groups on Sunday mornings for primary and preschool age children to share the Gospel and encourage the children. - A number of other events were put on by Trinity Church. In the time immediately leading up to, and including, Easter the church family held - A Ceilidh in Dallam School Hall that was publicised in the local area. This used an outside ceilidh band, local catering, and was a fun time for the 90 people who came along. There was a short Gospel message and an invitation to come along to church and take part in our Easter celebrations. We saw a number of locals join in the other events. - An Easter Trail around Milnthorpe again this year. This told the story of why Easter is a time of celebration. A number of local families took part, and over 100 people from across the local community completed the trail and joined us for refreshments on the village green. - On Easter day, when we celebrate the fact that our Lord Jesus rose from the dead, we held an All Age celebration at Dallam School with a number of people from outside the usual church family joining us. Afterwards – continuing the celebration – we had a ‘bouncy slide’ much enjoyed by many, and an Easter Egg Hunt for the children. Over 100 people came along to the celebration. This allowed us to share the gospel with people outside of the usual church family, and to engage with people in the community. In preparation for Christmas : - a Wreath Making event was held at Storth Village Hall, and over 30 attended. Many of the attendees were from outside of the church, and a short gospel message was part of the evening. - a Christmas café and craft event for the community was held for the first time. Several non-church families attended, making crafts and listening to an engaging telling of the Christmas story. - a number of the community outside of TCM came along to the Carol Service, singing songs about Christ’s incarnation and hearing a clear Gospel message. The **main achievements** of Trinity Church in the year were: 2 - New people attending the Sunday morning meetings and getting involved in mid-week events. This covered all age groups, different backgrounds and varying needs. This was accompanied by a willingness to serve within the church and community - Attendance at the youth meetings continued to be higher than the number of teenagers in our church family. This reflects a need being met in the community, and an opportunity to share about the Christian faith. - Being able to share the Gospel in one of Milnthorpe’s residential homes for the older members of the community. We have been able to visit Hartland House once a month for a half-hour time together praising God in well known hymns, praying and being reminded of Gospel truths. We have been greatly encouraged by the commitment, enthusiasm and appreciation of the residents and staff. We have also connected with the Croftside Residential Care Home in Milnthorpe and have agreed to start going in there once a month as well. We have been encouraged generally by a wider involvement by the community this year, with more (and new) people from outside the church coming along to events and services. We feel this reflects a growing trust, acceptance and openness towards TCM, and appreciation of the support we are able to offer. We have continued to move forward in the process of employing a Families, Youth and Children’s minister and are confident that we will be able to appoint a person if we receive suitable candidates to the adverts that have been placed with the FIEC and Growing Young Disciples. This appointment is both needed and financially viable. We are excited at the prospect of being even better resourced to reach out to the younger demographic in the community, as well as equipping the church. It will also be an encouragement to families in discipling their children, the children and youth teams as they serve, or directly with the children and youth of the church. The trustees have read the Commission’s Public Benefit requirement statutory guidance and have had regard to this when running the charity. ## A **review of the charity’s financial position** at the end of the year: During 2024/5 TCM generated a financial surplus of £14,905 following on from a £8,182 surplus in 2023/4 and £7,057 in 2022/3. This continued financial strength reflects the build up of reserves prior to appointing a Family, Youth and Children Minister, and the delays in getting to the end of the process. At the end of the financial year TCM held £41,085 in the charity’s Bank Accounts and petty cash (up from £26,180 the previous year). This now represents just almost 8 months of average operating costs and is above the trustees’ initial target of 4 months. The intended appointment of a Family, Youth, Children Minister in early 2025/6 is expected to reduce the operating cost coverage to between 5 and 6 times. The trustees will take any necessary steps during future periods to maintain reserves at or above the target. 3 The general principle of investment for Trinity Church Milnthorpe remains one of financial conservatism to avoid capital risk. This approach recognises that financial returns on capital will be low but balanced by certainty. During 2024/5 financial year interest bearing accounts were held at Kingdom Bank and Barclays Bank to hold funds not required for immediate use. The deposits are both covered by FCS guarantees. ``` o ``` In the financial year 1[st] February 2024 to 31[st] January 2025 the Charity had an unrestricted income of £78,295, up by 15% compared to 2023/4 (£67,889). There was no restricted income The most significant changes in unrestricted income were: - in regular giving by TCM families with increased offerings and new families joining the church (£54,347 cf £42,888 in 2023/4). - partly offset by the reduction in one-off TCM gifts (£2,500 cf £11,650) - and continued growth in Gift Aid income (£14,798 cf £10,160). Note however that this growth included a £2,250 claim against a substantial gift from January 2024. Operating costs on unrestricted activities were £63,390 compared to £59,707 for 2023/4. The most significant changes was in Mission Giving by TCM. As set out in the charitable purposes of the constitution TCM will also support organisations that ‘in the opinion of the charity trustees, put into practise the Christian faith in accordance with the Basis of Faith, ....’. In 2024/5 we continued to support the work of SIM (in Peru), Crosslinks (in Cyprus) and the FIEC (in the UK). In addition we began supporting revitalisation work at Hope Church in Ambleside. Overall Mission Giving increased to £7,136 compared to £2,400 in 2023/4. Part of the increase also related to the timing of the 2023/4 FIEC support which wasn’t paid until February 2024. There were a small number of short-term liabilities totalling £1,659 at the end of January 2025 - most of these were paid in February 2024. No trustee received payment or benefits from the charity for being a trustee. The charity does not raise funds from the public. This charity does not have any trading subsidiaries. The principal risk and uncertainty which the charity faces are that it relies heavily on donations to continue its operations. Adequate reserves at the end of January 2025 (8 months expenditure) should provide a buffer against any short-term issues. Signature 20th October 2025 Peter James Bramhall Date 4 CHARIIY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND ANO bYALES Trw4ty Church Mthth CTI..114J424 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a Forth• Isl F•fi￿ry2024 319tJpn￿ry2Q25 Section A Receipts and payments u￿TEst￿cl￿d fvnd5 A1 Re￿1 Oonatsons Ticketsforevents fyft￿d Intere* S￿l￿t•ll(￿O$S1nCQ￿￿hrARj 61.959 1.015 14,798 523 78295 61,9S9 1.015 14,798 523 56,431 1.148 10.160 150 67.889 78295 71295 78295 67,B89 3 PJym*nts ment Costs 42985 5.149 5.731 2.189 7.1 200 42985 5.149 S.731 2,189 7,136 200 42.877 6.201 5.790 2A39 2AOO Runnin hire costs Evenic0515 Mission Gi Don8bOn$ St*kntal 63J9 63.390 59.707 Tothlp•ymtnts 13J90 63.390 59.7Q7 14,905 14.905 8.182 A5 Transf•fS A6 Cashfith￿ last y•ar end C•slJ thtsyearernT 26.100 41.085 26.180 41.08S 17.998 26,180 Section 8 Siatemenl of assets and liabiltties at thè Ènd of the period Unre5tncled funds k>r4¥*11£ Categor Iyr•w•tstE lowt•st£ 81 Cashlw*Js Bardays c￿￿UnIty Bardays Premium dom Bank 3M71 26,772 10,400 42 T*JlJlcashlwJd5 41.085 Det3115 I￿lity￿th Barclays Comm BarJaysCorNn Bar¢aysConwn 85 Liat4kn¥ HMRC 71$ Feb2024 Dallam 525 Feb2024 DaI￿rn 420 Fgb21124 CQYX R1 ￿S) 30KJ513025 )1￿ G@erD¢ tl" DLT lolf EJtJ STABLESTHOMPSON & BRISCOE WWW.Stb-accountants.co.uk INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF TRINITY CHURCH mIL￿[HORPE I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the year ended 3151]anuary 2025 which are set out on the attached CC16a. Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity's trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 I'the Act'l. I report in respect of myexamination of the charitys accounts carried out under sertion 145 of the Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5llb} of the Act. 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 giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or the accounts do not accord with those records. 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. H Holmes FCA ICAEW Stables Thompson & Briscoe Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors Lowther House Lowther Street Kendal IA9 4DX Date: q hf,J Lowther House. Lowther Street, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 4DX Tel-1015391720465 Email= enquiries@stlFaccounLints.co.uk Urlit 27, Cumberland House, Kirkby Stephen Business Park, St LuW5 Road, Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria CAI 7 4HT Tel=1017683171272 Email.. kirkby@stsaccountants.co.uk Stabte5Thow & 8ti5ElY Ltd. Re8i#ereAI in ￿Urnb￿r632%10 SirÈrt KEndil, Cwrbria L19 4DX