## GCH Community
Report and Accounts Period 09 July 2021 to 31 March 2022
1 Lamb's Passage, London EC1Y 8AB www.stewardship.org.uk
## **GCH COMMUNITY**
## **LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 MARCH 2022**
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE 37 Hemsworth Street London N1 5LF GOVERNING DOCUMENT CIO - Association registered 09 July 2021 CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER 1195110 TRUSTEES RESPONSIBLE FOR Guido De Graaff MANAGING THE CHARITY Lynn Evans (resigned May 2022) Geri van Essen (appointed May 2022) Alexandra Gough (resigned July 2023) Andrew Jones Murray Macaulay (appointed May 2022) Niamh MacLeod (appointed May 2022) Edward Stansfield (appointed July 2023)
BANKERS HSBC UK Bank plc ACCOUNTANT Stewardship 1 Lamb's Passage LONDON EC1Y 8AB
## **INDEX**
Page 1 Legal and Administrative Details Pages 2-4 Trustees' Report Page 5 Accountant's Report Page 6 Receipts and Payments Account Page 7 Statement of Assets & Liabilities Page 8 Notes to the Accounts
Page 1
## **GCH COMMUNITY**
## **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES**
## **FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 MARCH 2022**
The Trustees have pleasure in submitting the Report and Accounts for the period ended 31 March 2022.
## **Objects and values**
The charity, which is a church, is governed by a constitution and is constituted as a charitable incorporated organisation. The charity's principal object is the advancement of the Christian faith in particular (but without limitation) by providing worship, prayer and Christian teaching within the Anglican tradition and within the frameworks of the Church of England.
GCH Community is the CIO governing Grace Church Hackney. Grace Church Hackney is a church established within the Church of England in 2004. It is not a parish church but rather operates under a Bishop’s Mission Order granted by the Bishop of Stepney, Joanne Grenfell. Grace Church Hackney has a particular remit to engage with younger, creative people in the East End of London with a vision to see the Gospel renew the city spiritually, culturally and socially.
There are 5 values which we think are particularly important:
1. The good news of Jesus Christ which is experienced together week by week in a service of Word and Sacrament according to the liturgy of the Church of England.
2. An outward face where we assume people who do not assent to the Christian faith are present in all our gatherings.
3. A community focus where we encourage people to form community within the church but also to be involved in communities beyond the church.
4. An urban focus where we celebrate the good things about the city (particularly in the creative arts) and work with others to begin to mend some of the broken things in the city.
5. A commitment to beginning new forms of Christian ministry.
When planning our activities for the year, the trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and, in particular, the specific guidance on charities for the advancement of religion. We have sought to embody our object and values in our activities for the public benefit.
## **Review of the charity's main activities and achievements**
## **Sunday Services**
This period was unusual inasmuch as we were continuing to operate under some restrictions due to the covid pandemic. After a long period of meeting via Zoom we began to meet again for **Sunday worship at 5.15pm** each week at St Anne’s Church, Hoxton. Our Sunday worship follows the Eucharistic liturgy of Common Worship, an authorised prayer book of the Church of England. Hence it embraces our object of _the advancement of the Christian faith in particular by providing worship, prayer and Christian teaching within the Anglican tradition_ . Our sermons during this period followed the lectionary of the Church of England. This service is open to anyone who wishes to attend.
Page 2
A significant number of people who were part of our community moved from London during the pandemic so the need to rebuild the community became evident.
Our youth and children's activities began again with 4 groups meeting before and during the Sunday service for teaching and prayer: **Snackchat** (before the service for 14-18 year olds), **The Mix** (during the service for 11-14 year olds), **Grace Kids** (during the service in two groupings for 4-8 year olds and 9-11 year olds) and finally **Creche and Tots** for under 4s. The children are in the main service for the gathering and preparation, leave the service during the ministry of the word and rejoin the service for the eucharist. The Youth and Children's work is overseen by a part-time member of staff, who co-ordinates the teams of volunteers who lead the groups. Again, these activities are open to all who fall within the age boundaries.
## **Midweek Activities**
We continued to run **Splinter Groups** , groups which meet in homes in order to eat, pray and explore the Bible. During this period we had 4 groups meeting, some ‘live’, some still on Zoom. Most members of these groups are regular attenders at Grace Church Hackney but during this period there were some members who do not attend church on Sunday.
On a Thursday evening we run a youth activity for called **TRU (‘The Room Upstairs’)** for 9-13 year olds and **TRU+** for 14-18 year olds with our sister church St Barnabas Dalston. These groups are composed of young people who attend our Sunday services plus schoolfriends who do not come along on a Sunday but are exploring the Christian faith.
In January/February 2022 we ran a series of 6 evenings in a pub called **TableTalk** which are designed to provide a context for people to explore the Christian faith. The group was composed of people who would self-describe as atheists, agnostics and agnostic Christians. The group has continued to meet in 2022 on an ad hoc basis after the initial 6 weeks was finished with a series of guests who came to talk about their journey of faith.
## **Advent/Christmas Activities**
For the first time we held our annual **Carol Service** in St Anne’s Church. This was well attended, particularly since the omicron variant was beginning to impact communal gatherings. As usual many attended the service who do not usually come to church.
Space would not allow us to hold children’s activities during the service which led us to innovate. The week before the carol service we held an event called **The Christmas Story** designed for children and their parents/carers. It was an interactive event where those attending engaged in various activities designed to help them enter into the Christian story.
During the Advent period we also collaborated one Saturday morning with the parish church, our weekly hosts, St Anne’s Hoxton, with carol singing, mince pies and Christingle making in a local park space called Hoxton Gardens. Many using the local Hoxton Market dropped in for the activities.
On Christmas Day we joined with our sister church, St Barnabas Dalston for a communion service.
## **Volunteers and staff**
GCH Community employs three part time members of staff who co-ordinate large teams of volunteers. These teams make a huge commitment to the life of our church and we wish to express our thanks to them.
Page 3
## **The Structure and Management of GCH Community**
GCH Community was constituted as a CIO on 20[th] July 2021 hence this report begins at this point. Up until this point Grace Church Hackney was managed by Grace Church Hackney Trust (GCHT) along with our sister church, St Barnabas Dalston. For various financial, practical and theological reasons it was agreed that Grace Church Hackney would withdraw from the GCHT in order to form a new CIO, GCH Community.
The original trustees of GCH Community were the Leadership Team of Grace Church Hackney Trust. GCH Community subsequently formed a Membership from within Grace Church Hackney. In May 2021 GCH held its first AGM where new trustees, nominated by the existing trustees, were elected by the membership. The intention is that in future years members of the CIO will nominate and elect trustees from within the membership.
## **Fundraising**
GCH Community continues to be funded by its members, former members and a wider group of friends of Grace Church Hackney.
## **Financial review**
During the period, income was £20,800, and expenditure was £12,300. As a result the cash held by the charity at the year end was £8,500, of which all is unrestricted and can be used for any charitable purpose.
## **Reserves policy**
The trustees have determined that the charity should aim to hold unrestricted cash of no less than £35,000 (which equates to about 3 months of unrestricted budgeted expenditure) so that the charity could continue to operate should income and / or expenditure vary adversely. At the year end, the charity held unrestricted cash of £8,500. The trustees received further funding from The Grace Church Hackney Trust after the year end so are confident in being able to comply with the reserves policy.
## **Responsibilities of trustees**
Charity law requires us as Trustees to prepare financial statements for each accounting year which record the receipts and payments of the charity for the year.
We are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable us to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011.
We also have a responsibility to safeguard the assets of the charity and to take reasonable steps to prevent fraud or any other irregularities.
## **Approval**
This report was approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf by:
## Andrew Jones
> Andrew Jones (Jul 3, 2024 16:14 GMT+1) __________________________
Andrew Jones
Date: Jul 3, 2024
Page 4
## **ACCOUNTANT’S REPORT ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF AN UNAUDITED CHARITY**
Accountant’s Report to the Trustees on the Preparation of the Unaudited Statutory Accounts of GCH Community for the period ended 31 March 2022.
In order to assist you to fulfil your duties under the Charities Act 2011, we have prepared for your approval the accounts of GCH Community for the period ended 31 March 2022 as set out on pages 6 to 8 from the accounting records and from information and explanations you have given us.
This report is made solely to the Trustees of the charity, as a body, in accordance with the terms of our engagement letter. Our work has been undertaken solely to prepare for your approval the accounts of the charity and state those matters that we have agreed to state to the Trustees of the charity. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and its Trustees as a body for our work or for this report.
It is your duty to ensure that the charity has kept adequate records and to prepare statutory accounts that meet the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 for the charity. You consider that the charity is exempt from the statutory audit requirement for the year and is eligible to prepare ‘Receipts and Payments’ accounts.
We have not been instructed to carry out an audit or review of the accounts of the charity. For this reason, we have not verified the accuracy or completeness of the accounting records or information and explanations you have given to us and we do not, therefore, express any opinion on the statutory accounts.
Stewardship (Jul 3, 2024 16:31 GMT+1)Stewardship
Stewardship 1 Lamb’s Passage London EC1Y 8AB
Dated: Jul 3, 2024
## **GCH COMMUNITY**
## **RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT**
## **FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 MARCH 2022**
|Notes
**_Income receipts_**
Donations
Gift aid receipts
Grants from The Grace Church Hackney Trust
Other grants
Charitable activities
**_Total receipts_**
**_Payments_**
2
**_Total payments_**
**Net movement in funds**
Cash funds as at last year end
**Cash funds at this year end**
A
Net
of
receipts
/
(payments)
before
transfers
Payments in relation to charitable activities
undertaken directly||General
Designated
Funds
Funds
£
£
2,608
-
-
-
10,000
-
7,069
-
1,148
-
20,825
-
12,289
-
12,289
-
8,536
-
8,536
-
-
-
8,536
-
Unrestricted Funds|Restricted
Funds
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-|Period 09Jul2021
to 31Mar2022
£|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||General
Funds
£
2,608
-
10,000
7,069
1,148
20,825
12,289
12,289
8,536
8,536
-
8,536|||
|||||2,608
-
10,000
7,069
1,148|
|||||20,825|
|||||12,289|
|||||12,289|
|||||8,536|
|||||8,536
-|
|||||8,536|
The notes on page 8 form part of these accounts.
Page 6
## **GCH COMMUNITY**
## **STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES**
## **AS AT THE PERIOD ENDED 31 MARCH 2022**
|**A Cash funds**
Cash at bank with immediate access
**B**
**Other monetary assets**
Promised funding
**C**
**Liabilities**
**Falling due within one year:**
Fee for Independent Examination
**D**
**Assets retained for charity's own use**
Insured value of equipment|General
Designated
funds
funds
£
£
8,536
-
**8,536**
**-**
90,000
-
**90,000**
**-**
720
-
**720**
**-**
Unrestricted Funds|Restricted
funds
£
-
**-**
-
**-**
-
**-**
Fund to
which asset
belongs
General|Period 09Jul2021
to 31Mar2022
£|
|---|---|---|---|
||||8,536|
||||**8,536**|
||||90,000|
||||**90,000**|
||||720|
||||**720**|
||||Value
to 31Mar2022
£|
||||10,000|
||||**10,000**|
The trustees have used insurance values for contents and equipment, these values may differ materially from current values.
## **E Guarantees and secured debts**
The charity has not given any guarantees and has not provided its assets as security for any liabilities.
The accounts were approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf
Andrew Jones by Andrew Jones (Jul 3, 2024 16:14 GMT+1) ___________________________ date ____________ Jul 3, 2024 Andrew Jones
The notes on page 8 form part of these accounts.
Page 7
## **GCH COMMUNITY**
## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS**
## **FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 MARCH 2022**
## **1 Accounting policies**
The accounts have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis and comprise a statement that shows the charity's receipts and payments, a statement that summarises the charity's assets and liabilities and related notes. The accountancy profession have determined that only accounts prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards present a 'true and fair' view and, as these receipts and payments accounts have not (and cannot) be prepared in accordance with accounting standards, these accounts do not present (and are not intended to present) a 'true and fair' view of the charity's financial activities and state of affairs.
General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity. Designated funds comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the trustees for particular purposes. Restricted funds are donations which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors; they include donations received from appeals for specific activities or projects.
|**2**
**Payments in relation to charitable activities undertaken directly**
Employment costs
Diocesan fund
Other costs||General
Designated
funds
funds
£
£
8,925
-
3,352
-
12
-
12,289
-
Unrestricted Funds|Restricted
Funds
£
-
-
-
-|Period 09Jul2021
to 31Mar2022
£|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|||General
funds
£
8,925
3,352
12
12,289|||
|||||8,925
3,352
12|
|||||12,289|
Andrew Jones (clergy member of the PCC) receives a stipend from the Diocese; the cost of this stipend is not included in the above payroll cost however it should be noted that some of the Diocesan fund payment is used to help pay the stipends.
## **3 Transactions with related parties**
No payments were made to trustees or persons related to them, except for reimbursement of expenses paid out on behalf of the charity.
Page 8