Tunbridge Wells YOUTH FOR CHRIST Tunbridge Wells Youth for Christ Trustees Annual Report and Accounts September 2023 - August 2024 Registered Charity Numbers: 1193801 Registered Address: 54 Grosvenor Road Tunbridge Wells TNI 2AS Trustees: Charlie Hill Kay Dunlop Anne Hinds Pauline Joyce Tony Joyce (Chair) Stuart Lyell Susanne Lyell Tunbridge Wells YOUTH FOR CHRIST Praise the Lord for His mission to young people of the greater Tunbridge Wells area employing the passion, perseverance and vocation of all those involved in Youth of Christ. Whilst we obviously witness the enormous effort of our youth workers, Karen, Berti and Lesley which has been exemplary, there are so many others sacrificially giving their time through their love of the Lord and their devotion to the welfare of the youth in our town. This includes volunteering in the afternoons when the youth are walking home from the schools down to the clock, cake makers, marketing and IT, our very generous financial donors without whom we could not continue, but also the very important Christians that shroud our mission in prayer. A special mention to our Board of Trustees, who unlike many other Trusts roll their sleeves up and are 'hands on, when the need arises, especially with others from various churches in Tunbridge Wells, help with our monthly Unite events. This year's 26-mile walk was especially successful. We had a target of £6,000, yet through the incredible generosity of our supporters raised in excess of £II,000. A special mention goes to our Landlord who generously allow us to operate from our premises in Grosvenor Road 'rent free,. May our Lord Jesus Christ keep you and bless you. May His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and give you peace. Tony Joyce Chairman January 2025 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. Tunbridge Wells YOUTH FOR CHRIST This academic year has seen some significant changes as well as some continuation. It started with some staffing changes.. Emma moved away with her new husband to a new job. and Lesley joined the team, 2 days a week, as our Discipleship Youth Worker. We also employed Jana to run our Social Media which has been a real blessing and I hope you have been following our adventures through her creative posts. We started to work in some new schools. Skinners, Kent Academy invited us to start a Christian Union once a week for year 7 & 8 which is an amazing answer to prayer. Lesley partnered with Nichola from Pembury Baptist Church to lead the CU. We were also invited to support United Emmanuel ministers in leading a monthly assembly at The Wells Free School. Our offering to the church youth groups also changed this year with Unite Youth becoming a monthly event on a Friday night. Berti took the lead organising these events which have attracted 40 - 60 young people from churches across the area, as well as young people from The Youth Centre. which is very exciting. Our volunteer team helping in The Youth Centre also changed over the year with some having to stop helping but others volunteering for the first time. A huge thank you to you all we really need you in order to provide a safe and welcoming space. Another addition this year was the introduction of monthly prayer gatherings for our supporters to come and pray for our work and the young people we meet. A small but faithful few join Karen each month which has been a real blessing. This year has seen our work grow and develop, both in terms of where we are working but also in the numbers of young people we are meeting. This couldn't happen without the hard work of the staff and trustees as well as those who support our work so faithfully through prayer, cake making, financial gifts and volunteering. A massive thank you to you alll We started our 3rd academic year of the after school drop-in by welcoming a new volunteer. students volunteering for their Duke of Edinburgh awards, lots of new year 7s as well as regulars from last year. The ministry of toast grew rapidly and we regularly handed out 4 loaves worth of toast per evening! Lesley created many beautiful window displays with the help of the young people, to reflect the changing seasons. Autumn leaves gave way to Christmas, via Remembrance poppies and a Streets of Light display. During the Autumn term we had 2 visits from our local Kooth representative, who ran workshops on bullying and anxiety. The nature of the drop-in (and out againl) meant that not all the young people stayed for the whole session but all took information about how Kooth can support their Tunbridge Wells YOUTH FOR CHRIST mental health and many had great questions and engaged for the whole session. In the spring we thought about God doing new things. The young people made caterpillars and butterflies and thought about change. This led into Easter where we were able to proclaim the Easter message to the young people and everyone walking past. After Easter the display changed to April showers! 'God cares for you in the storms of life, was the message and the young people created a coral reef in one corner of the windowl We also kept in touch with the Child-centred Police Team, who popped in from time to time to chat to the young people. In the summer term they ran a campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of knives and so we took part, and the young people signed the pledge to never carry a knife. We continued to put up a bible verse every few days, with a word or 2 missing, for the young people to look up. When they found the missing word they could come and claim a sweet. This led to lots of very interesting questions! We love working with the local churches and their youth workers (paid and unpaidl) This year we supported them through,. Fortnightly prayer meetings for youth workers Partnership with St Matthews, Church to lead Ignite Youth Group Youthscape Essentials training course for volunteers Leading the youth work for The Wells Church Weekend Away Unite Youth, Unite in the Wild and Unite Youth Camp Deeper Youth The Noise. Unite Youth ran as a monthly event this year. Berti led a team of volunteers to provide workshops, pizza, football, games and faith during each 2 hour event hosted by The Wells Church. Around 40 - 60 young people from many different churches attend each month. We started a new discipleship event called Deeper Youth which aims to take the young people deeper in their faithl We tackled 'Discipleship in the 21st Century, one Saturday with 15 young people attending. We also held 'Unite in the Wild, at Temple Grove School. At Easter our community action project, The Noise, was hosted by New Life Church, Southborough. 35 young people from lots of different churches, and The Youth Centre. gathered to bless the people of Southborough through weeding roadsides, litter picking. running a children's holiday club, baking for a cafe and leading games on the football f ield. There were also times of worship,. teaching about putting our faith into action,. and lots of food and silly gamesl Tunbridge Wells YOUTH FOR CHRIST Our final event of the year was Unite Youth Camp which was held at Adamswell Scout Campsite with 18 young people attending. The young people made strong friendships over the 3 days while taking part in adventurous activities, learning together about being a follower of Jesus and doing the washing up! Rock Solid lunch club once a week (in partnership with Nichola from Pembury Baptist Church) Around 8 young people heard the true story of Christmas and Easter for the first time this year and had loads of questions! Schools Skinners, Grammar School Chaplaincy on the playground one morning a week Christian Union one lunchtime a week (in partnership with Jamie from Christ Church, Southborough) Around 30 young people are regularly hearing about Jesus and seeing the love of God through Berti and Jamie Skinners, Kent Academy Rock Solid lunch club once a week (in partnership with Nichola from Pembury Baptist Church) Around 8 young people heard the true story of Christmas and Easter for the first time this year and had loads of questions! Temple Grove Academy Year 6 students offered one to one mentoring for 6 weeks The whole school took part in an Easter activity morning (assembly, craft and reflective activities) in partnership with High Hopes. The school hosted Unite in the Wild this year The Wells Free School Monthly whole school assemblies in partnership with Richard from United Emmanuel St Gregory's Catholic School Prayer space for Year 7 students in Advent and Lent providing reflective activities based on the Christmas and Easter messages. We enjoy being able to support our local schools and their pupils and staff through many different activities. Karen Cox Centre Director January 2025 Tunbridge Wells YOUTH FOR CHRIST We have enjoyed another very busy year both in The Youth Centre and with a wide range of 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 2024 was as follows: With the pandemic and financial crisis largely behind us, our faithful regular donors and local churches have increased their giving compared to 22/23. resulting in our overall annual income increasing to circa £83,000. Coupled with only a modest rise in expenditure to circa £80,000, we were able to increase our cash reserves from circa £32,000 to over £35,000. Our total of unrestricted funds at the year-end equated to approximately 5.25 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. We also retained £1,150 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 24 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 22/23. We are very grateful to Stephen for his time voluntarily spent independently examining the accounts again for us this year. Tunbridge Wells YOUTH FOR CHRIST ## **Tunbridge Wells Youth for Christ (charity number 1193801) Income and expenditure for the year to 31 August 2024** |**Income**
Regular givers
Donations - private
Donations - churches
Fundraising
Gift Aid
Other grants and Trusts
Unite
Interest
Sundry
Total income before designated gifts
**Expenditure**
Youth activities
Unite
Staff salaries
Office costs
National YFC
Training
Youth centre improvement costs
Sundry
Total expenditure before utilisation of
designated gifts
**Net income**|29,307.17
14,880.52
17,738.32
9,622.35
5,958.10
2,600.00
1,583.98
288.60
1,407.11
83,386.15
2,332.78
2,552.74
66,423.75
4,523.35
1,800.00
1,802.03
-
338.98
79,773.63
**3,612.52**|Year to August
2023
25,238.38
10,008.40
12,654.01
11,058.39
6,435.76
2,500.00
-
-
1,642.87| |---|---|---| |||69,537.81
2,969.19
-
59,368.93
4,535.27
1,800.00
2,736.90
2,856.00
556.69| |||74,822.98
**-**
**5,285.17**| 7 |Unrestricted funds b/f
**Unrestricted funds c/f**
**Restricted funds**
Designated income
Designated expenditure
Net designated income/(expenditure)
Restricted funds b/f
**Restricted funds c/f**
**Balance sheet**
Cash at bank
Gift Aid debtor
**Net assets**
Represented by
Unrestricted funds
Restricted funds
**Total reserves**|30,872.12
**34,484.64**
1,925.50
2,280.68
- 355.18
1,505.46
**1,150.28**
32,660.18
2,974.74
**35,634.92**
34,484.64
1,150.28
**35,634.92**|36,157.29| |---|---|---| |||**30,872.12**| |||2,998.74
4,417.00| |||-
1,418.26
2,923.72| |||**1,505.46**| |||28,911.58
3,466.00| |||**32,377.58**| |||30,872.12
1,505.46| |||**32,377.58**| These accounts for the period ended 31 August 2024 have been examined by Stephen East 18 November 2024 Stephen East, Heasmans Lodge Farm, Black Hill, Crowborough 8 Income & Expenditure The principal categories of our income and expenditure for the current financial year is shown in the Pie Charts below.. INCOME FOR THE YEAR TO AUG 2024 Uniie 2% Interest Sunijry 2% Other grants and Trusts GiftAiL-- Regular glver5 35 Fundraising 12% Donatlons- churches 2146 Donatlons- privale EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR TO AUG 2024 NationalYFC Training Sundry Off ice costs Unit Youlh actlvltles Staff salarles 83% Stuart Lyell Treasurer and Trustee January 2025 Tunbridge Wells YOUTH FOR CHRIST