Tunbridge Wells YOUTH FOR CHRIST Tunbridge Wells Youth for Christ Trustees Annual Report and Accounts September 2022 - August 2023 Reglstered Charlty Numbers: 1193801 Registered Address: 54 Grosvenor Road Tunbridge Wells TNI 2AS Trustees: Lesley Clarke Kay Dunlop Anne Hinds Pauline Joyce Tony Joyce (Chair) Stuart Lyell Susanne Lyell Tunbridge Wells YOUTH FOR CHRIST
Chair of Trustees, Re ort Tunbridge Wells Youth for Christ gives thanks to the Lord for His amazing provision. We thank Him for our youth workers, our volunteers. our bakers, our trustees, those who constantly hold us in prayer and for those who give so generously, often sacrificially enabling us to continue the work of building His kingdom. Over the past year our ministry has grown from strength to strength notably with so many more young people engaging with us at the Youth Centre in Grosvenor Road. Young people visit the Youth Centre after school to just chill, or spend time in the prayer space, enjoy craft activities or play games. There is something for everyone. A number of young people value our 'safe' space where they can confidentially unload their concerns on our experienced empathetic youth workers. We are under no illusion that the offer of buttered toast, drinks, cakes and biscuits or the daily verse quiz is often the first thing that draws them into our centre but so many who initially just popped in to get food are now staying longer. Even better so many now attend our UNITE events and a number of them have given their lives to Christ. Praise the Lord. Over the past year our youth programmes have steadily grown especially with the increasing popularity of our UNITE events attracting both churched and unchurched young people. As a consequence, running costs have gone up. We see this as a positive thing and we trust that the Lord will provide through more or increased donations from individuals and churches. Our finances are not as healthy as they were a year ago and we are planning a few more fund-raising opportunities to help bridge the gap. Our annual 26-mile sponsored walk helps to breach some of the gap between our income and our expenditure, but we are aware that we need to do more. If you feel that you would like to help in some way through volunteering say 3 hours a week, baking cakes, or even helping serving in our kitchen we would be delighted to hear from you. May our Lord Jesus Christ keep you and bless you. Tony Joyce Chairman January 2024 Tunbridge Wells YOUTH FOR CHRIST
Centre Director's re ort Our Vision: Tunbridge Wells Youth for Christ will take the Good News to young people across the town by going out to make connections and build relationships in places where the young people are. and by inviting them into The Youth Centre to find out more. The Youth Centre will provide a safe space to empower young people to become all that God intended by accepting, caring and loving them for the individuals they are. Through fun and friendship, we will demonstrate the love of God, declare who Jesus is. encourage a decision to follow Him and disciple the young people to live their lives to the full. Staff, volunteers and trustees will develop, and grow deeper in, their love for Jesus which will enable them to speak confidently about Jesus, draw the young people into a relationship with Him and effectively disciple them as they grow. It has been an amazing year, consolidating what we started last year and seeing that work grow. God has also opened new doors as we have been invited into a new school and linked with churches in new ways, such as by leading Ignite at St Matthews. Once again Temple Grove welcomed Berti back as Year 6 Mentor but his work at North Kent College was stopped. However, this meant he was able to start work at Skinners Grammar School which is a new opportunity for us. Emma entered her final year at University which meant writing a dissertation and taking part in an alternative placement in a prison! She continued to support the drop-in and our schools, work throughout the year and led Unite Olympics in the summer. We ran'unite in the Wild, again this year for the local church youth groups to attend. This was followed by 'Unite Games and Gaming,, and 'Unite Olympics,. The Noise was hosted by Christ Church, Southborough at Easter and we ran the first 'Unite Youth Camp, in the summer. We are blessed by churches hosting these events for free - Thank youl We have been really blessed this year to have new volunteers in the after school drop-in and new cake bakersl Our amazing supporters have been faithful in their giving, despite the increased cost of life this year. Thank you so much- we literally couldn't do it without youl Tunbridge Wells YOUTH FOR CHRIST
Those who pray for us are also a vital part of the team, so thank you too. God is opening new doors and increasing our contact with the young people which is really exciting. However, prayerful discernment is crucial in deciding which opportunities to take. Finally, a huge thank you to the staff, who have worked so hard, and trustees who have been wonderfully supportive this year. The team have had lots of energy and new ideas. and the Trustees have supported us through fundraising, seeking grants, admin and bookkeeping which keeps us all in orderl Karen Cox Centre Director January 2024 Financial Summary for 22/23 We have enjoyed another very busy year both in The Youth Centre and with increasing activities taking place in local schools and churches. At all times we seek to be as economical as possible with the funds donated to us so that expenditure is balanced with income. The financial position as at the year-end 31 August 2023 was as follows: Whilst our faithful regular givers and local churches had increased their giving this year. the pandemic and recent financial crisis does now seems to have had a negative impact resulting in our overall annual income declining by over £9,000 to circa £70,000. The decline is principally due to a reduction in donations from private individuals and from fundraising. Nonetheless. our annual expenditure was less than the forecast annual budget and has been contained at circa £75,000. The overall cash position at the end of the year was lower at circa £32.000 compared to last year at circa £39,000. The movement is principally due to a circa £5,500 deficit of expenditure over income and further expenditure from designated funds of circa £1,500. Our total reserves of unrestricted funds was circa £31,000, which equates to approximately 5 months of average monthly operational costs. This is close to our target reserves policy of 6 months and in line with guidance from the Charity Commission to keep between 3 and 6 months of reserves. Tunbridge Wells YOUTH FOR CHRIST
We also still have circa £1,500 in restricted funds, available to be spent on qualifying events and costs. As always, we are very grateful for the amazing financial support from our individual donors, church partners, and those who award us grants, without whom this ministry would not be able to function. Annual Accounts A copy of the annual accounts to 31 August 23 is included in the report below, as independently examined by Stephen East. This includes a comparison of the income and expenditure for the current year and previous financial year. We are very grateful to Stephen for his time spent in independently examining the accounts again for us this year. Stuart Lyell Treasurer and Trustee January 2024 Tunbridge Wells YOUTH FOR CHRIST
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