Freedom Church (Ceredigion)
Trustees Annual Report and Accounts
Period: 1st January 2025 to 31st December 2025
Charity Commission Registration Number: 1197658
Principal Address:
C/O Aberystwyth Football Club, Park Avenue, Aberystwyth, SY23 1PG
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Freedom Church (Ceredigion) Trustees Annual Report and Accounts Period: 1st January 2024 to 31st December 2025
Contents
| Item | Page Number |
|---|---|
| Trustees Annual Report | 3-6 |
| Independent Examiner’s Report | 7 |
| Accounts | 8-9 |
| Notes To The Account | 10-11 |
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Freedom Church (Ceredigion) Working name of Freedom Community Church Report of Trustees, year end 31st December 2025
Reporting Period
Freedom Community Church (‘FCC’) is registered as a CIO with the Charity Commission in England and Wales. This report covers the period 1st January 2025 up to 31st December 2025.
Administration and Reference details
WORKING NAME OF CHARITY: Freedom Community Church
REGISTERED OFFICE:
℅ Aberystwyth Football Club, Park Avenue, Aberystwyth, SY23 1PG
REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1197658
PRINCIPAL BANKERS: Lloyds Bank, Bristol
Trustees and Responsibilities
The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records in order to prepare these annual financial statements, and where necessary for Independent Examination.
Trustees: Mr Jonathan Butler (Chair) Mr Andrew Tiffen (Secretary) Mrs Rachel Tiffen Mr Paul Hutchtings Mrs Nicola Hutchings Mr Paul Anscombe (appointed 15/03/2025)
Structure, Governance and Management
The charity of FCC is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) governed by the constitution dated 25th January 2022. This constitution is formed using a pre-agreed format between the Charity Commission and Assemblies of God Great Britain Incorporated (AoGGB) for their status churches.
The CIO Foundation model constitution remains the governing document for this church located in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion.
Trustees may be appointed by ordinary resolution by the members, or by a decision of the trustees. The trustees for 2025 initially remained as those from 2024, meeting online throughout the year on a quarterly basis.
There has been regular contact between The Chair and Treasurer outside of these meetings to ensure relevant actions are undertaken and completed. The policies for FCC have been adhered to and updated as necessary, quarterly meetings provide a minuted record of these. In March 2025 an additional trustee was appointed to support the work of the charity, bringing a breadth of expertise to support ongoing growth and community engagement.
The Chair of Trustees is also the Lead Pastor of FCC, as is common within AoGGB status churches and the constitution, and continues as the sole employee of FCC in 2025.
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Objectives and Activities for Public Benefit
The constitution for FCC to operate as a CIO was accepted in January 2022 upon registration with the Charity Commission in that same month.
The objectives of the charity as set out in the Constitution (“the Objects”) are for the benefit of the public:
- (a) to advance the Christian faith in accordance with the Statement in such ways and in such parts of the UK or the world as the Trustees and Leadership from time to time may think fit.
(b) to relieve sickness and financial hardship and to promote and preserve good health by the provision of funds, goods or services of any kind including the provision of counselling and support in such parts of the UK or the world as the Trustees and Leadership from time to time think fit.
- (c) to advance education in such ways and in such parts of the United Kingdom or the world as the Trustees and Leadership from time to time may think fit.
It is the trustees’ submission that these objects are achieved through the running of a church based in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion.
The registered office for the charity is Aberystwyth Football Club, Park Avenue, Aberystwyth, SY23 1PG.
The trustees have taken account of the Charity Commission’s guidance and believe that they demonstrate that public benefit has been provided through seeking to meet the spiritual and pastoral needs of people in the local community through FCC’s activities and services as summarised below.
Achievements and Performance
As a church, FCC’s primary activities and achievement are reached through worship services, meetings for faith study and provision of activities and services to the local community as a church.
The church is led by Jonathan and Carly Butler as Pastors, with Jonathan an accredited minister with AoGGB.
The church continued employing Jonathan as Church Pastor on a part-time basis, with an employment review conducted in April 2025 by the Trustee board, with due attention to conflict of interest and in keeping with the Governing Document of the charity. Carly remains a volunteer in her role.
As Pastors they (JB and CB) lead and are responsible for the spiritual direction of the church. A ‘Core Team’, made up of volunteers, from within the church continued meeting through the year. This team saw some changes at the end of 2025. The trustees are grateful to all our committed volunteers, and the work they undertook in serving the local community through the charity’s objectives.
Sunday worship meetings, open to and attended by members of the public, were held weekly throughout the year with the regular meeting venue of the church continuing at the
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hired local primary school hall. Regular church attendance increased, with a baptism service held in June.
The charity continued hosting ‘Messy Church Goes Wild’ as a monthly worship gathering, with a focus on outdoors and with the provision of food. These events continued to be advertised to and open for the public to attend, as with all worship meetings.
Midweek meetings were held by the church, meeting in attendees’ homes for Bible study, prayer and exploration of the Christian faith. These midweek meetings saw regular committed attendance throughout the year.
The charity continued running a fortnightly youth group fulfilling the charitable objectives. The youth group, open to and attended by young people from the locality, met in a community hall hired by the charity. The established connections with local schools and families, through the charity’s other services and activities, enabled this youth group to continue growing.
The charity has continued working to support local families living in the community through our ‘Aber Dads’ project, which works in partnership with EPIC Dad Community Interest Company. The ‘Aber Dads’ project hosts fun clubs for fathers and their children, peer support and family wellbeing provision, alongside parenting courses/mentoring. In May 2025, the charity hosted a Family Fun Day in partnership with River Dee Community Church in Flint. The event welcomed more than 180 attendees and marked the fifth ‑ anniversary of the Aber Dads project. Thanks to the dedication of a 50 strong volunteer team, the celebration was a great success.
The charity continues to maintain the vehicle purchased in 2022 for our projects and regular church activities.
In July 2025 the charity worked with two local primary schools, as well as those linked to the youth group, to supply under-resourced families with brand new backpacks, filled with essential stationery and Bibles, for their children moving from primary to secondary school. 42 backpacks were provided through funds raised and donated.
In September and October 2025 a series of events were held to welcome and support students at the start of the university year. These events included provision of food, enabling faith study, and ongoing pastoral care. The charity recognises the value that students bring to our local community and the importance of serving those new to the area and living away from home.
In December 2025 the charity again worked with a local Domestic Abuse support charity to provide gifts and aid to under-resourced families during the Christmas period. In addition, the charity also supported the Children’s Ward at Bronglais Hospital by donating toys and equipment for families to use during their stay.
During our Christmas Services held at the local primary school, the church was able to welcome significant numbers of visitors which indicated growing engagement as well as established connections with the local community throughout the year.
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Financial Review
The 2025 budget was formally approved in January 2025 by the Trustees, ensuring that the reserves Policy was adhered to. The budget and funds held were subject to periodic reviews throughout the year by the trustees.
Any additional unrestricted reserves as of the 31st December 2025 will be utilised to continue to grow and develop the work of the church into 2026.
The Trustees have appointed Karen Silcox, Plumtree Bookkeeping and Accountancy, to undertake the Preparation and Independent Examination of the 2025 accounts.
In 2025 we received £56,277 (2024 £29,140). The majority of our income comes from donations to the church and the trustees want to thank everyone who has given to the church in the past 12 months. We spent £32,661 (2024 £25,434). The single biggest change in our expenditure is an increase in the salary we have been able to provide for our minister Jon Butler. At the end of the year we held £48,261 in cash reserves of which £1,516 is restricted. Our reserves policy is set at 6 months of running costs we agreed in 2024 to aid future planning and resilience, which would be based off the agreed budget. For 2025 that reserve would be £16,097. For the 2026 budget the reserves will now be £23,997. The remaining unrestricted reserves will be used to grow the work of the church by looking into building/venue opportunities, and increasing community engagement/mission work within our charitable objectives.
Signed:
Jonathan Butler, Chair of Trustees
Date: 21 / 04 / 2026
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Independent examiner's report on the accounts
| Section A | Independent Examiner’s Report | ||||
| Report to the trustees/ members of On accounts for the year ended Set out on pages Responsibilities and basis of report Independent examiner's statement Signed: Name: Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any): Address: |
|||||
| Freedom Church (Ceredigion) | |||||
| 31st December 2025 | Charity **no(if any) ** |
1197658 | |||
| 1-11 | |||||
| I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended31 / 12 / 2025 As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: ● accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or ● the accounts do not accord with the accounting records I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. |
|||||
| Date: | 22/ 04/2026 | ||||
| Karen Silcox | |||||
| Member of Association of Accounting Technicians Licence number 1003207 |
|||||
| 19 BeverleyClose Exeter EX2 5NJ |
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Freedom Church (Ceredigion) Receipts and Payments Accounts Period 1st January to 31st December 2025
| Section A Receipts andpayments | Section A Receipts andpayments | Section A Receipts andpayments | Section A Receipts andpayments | Section A Receipts andpayments | Section A Receipts andpayments | Section A Receipts andpayments | Section A Receipts andpayments | Section A Receipts andpayments | Section A Receipts andpayments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds |
Youth | Total funds |
Last year | |||||
| to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ |
to the nearest £ |
to the nearest £ |
to the nearest £ |
|||||
| Receipts | |||||||||
| Regulargiving gift aid | 11,620 | - | - | 11,620 | 7,290 | ||||
| Non regulargiving gift aid | 17,072 | 405 | - | 17,477 | 1,195 | ||||
| Othergiving (see note 2) | 14,200 | 1,842 | - | 16,042 | 13,332 | ||||
| Stewardship income (non gift aid) |
2,844 | - | - | 2,844 | 2,988 | ||||
| Gift aid reclaimed | 7,306 | 126 | - | 7,432 | 1,865 | ||||
| Charitable ActivityIncome | 232 | 130 | 474 | 836 | 2,167 | ||||
| Interest Earned | 26 | - | - | 26 | 303 | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| Sub total (Gross income for AR) |
53,300 |
2,503 | 474 | 56,277 | 29,140 | ||||
| Total receipts | 53,300 | 2,503 | 474 | 56,277 | 29,140 | ||||
| Payments | |||||||||
| AOG 3%giving | 925 | - | - | 925 | 557 | ||||
| Church Running Costs (see note 3) |
7,979 | 856 | 526 | 9,361 | 7,456 | ||||
| Discipleshipcosts | 306 | - | - | 306 | 272 | ||||
| Equipment | - | - | 313 | 313 | 1,875 | ||||
| Events | 1,915 | - | 169 | 2,084 | 979 | ||||
| Mission(see note 4) | 1,497 | 1,748 | - | 3,245 | 2,257 | ||||
| Salaries & Wages | 14,503 | - | - | 14,503 | 10,927 | ||||
| Team Costs(see note 5) | 1,877 | 10 | 37 | 1,924 | 1,112 | ||||
| - | - | - | - | - | |||||
| Sub total | 29,002 | 2,614 | 1,045 | 32,661 | 25,435 | ||||
| Total payments | 29,002 | 2,614 | 1,045 | 32,661 | 25,435 | ||||
| Net of receipts/(payments) |
24,298 |
- 111 | - 571 | 23,616 | 3,705 | ||||
| Transfers between funds | - 1800 | 1,229 | 571 | - | - | ||||
| Cash funds last year end | 24,246 | 398 | - | 24,644 | 20,939 | ||||
| Cash funds this year end |
46,744 |
1,516 | 0 | 48,201 | 24,644 |
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Freedom Church (Ceredigion) Receipts and Payments Accounts Period 1st January to 31st December 2025
| Section B Statement of assets and period |
Section B Statement of assets and period |
Section B Statement of assets and period |
Section B Statement of assets and period |
Section B Statement of assets and period |
Section B Statement of assets and period |
liabilities at | liabilities at | the end of the | the end of the | the end of the |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Categories | Details | Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds |
Youth | ||||||
| to nearest £ | to nearest £ | to nearest £ | ||||||||
| Cash funds | Redwood Bank | 25,000 | - | |||||||
| Lloyds Saver | - | |||||||||
| Lloyds Current | 21,702 | 1,516 | - | |||||||
| Stripe | 33 | |||||||||
| Sum up | 9 | |||||||||
| Total cash funds | 46,744 | - | 1,516 | - | ||||||
| (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
OK | OK | OK | |||||||
| Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds |
Youth | ||||||||
| Details | to nearest £ | to nearest £ | to nearest £ | |||||||
| Other monetary assets |
Gift aid claim December 2025 | 240 | - | - | ||||||
| Stripe Closing balance | 33 | - | - | |||||||
| Sumup closing balance | 8 | - | - | |||||||
| Details | Fund to which asset belongs |
Cost (optional) |
Current value (optional) |
|||||||
| Assets retained for the charity’s own use |
Renault Kangoo | Unrestricted | - | 3590 | ||||||
| Computer & AV Equipment | Unrestricted | - | 3500 | |||||||
| Details | Fund to which liability relates |
Amount due (optional) |
When due (optional) |
|||||||
| B5 Liabilities | Independent Examiner fee | Unrestricted | 325 | 01 May 2026 | ||||||
| HMRC PAYE Q4 2024 | Unrestricted | 364 | 23 January 2026 |
|||||||
| Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees |
Signature | Print Name | Date of approval |
|||||||
| Jonathan Butler 2 |
1 | / 04 / 2026 | ||||||||
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Freedom Church (Ceredigion) Receipts and Payments Accounts Period 1st January to 31st December 2025
| Section C Notes To The Accounts | Section C Notes To The Accounts | Section C Notes To The Accounts | Section C Notes To The Accounts | Section C Notes To The Accounts | Section C Notes To The Accounts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Note 1 | Basis ofpreparation | ||||
| These accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 and the Charities (Accounts and Reports Regulations) 2008. These accounts are prepared on a receipts and payments basis. |
|||||
| Note 2 | Breakdown Of Other Giving Receipts | ||||
| Unrestricted | Restricted | Youth | Total | 2024 | |
| Cash Donations | 803 | 0 |
0 |
803 |
764 |
| Non Regular Giving (Non Gift Aid) |
5,758 | 1,050 |
0 |
6,808 |
6,833 |
| Regular Giving (Non Gift Aid) |
7,639 | 0 | 7,639 |
5,735 |
|
| Other Income | 0 | 792 |
0 |
792 |
0 |
| Total | 14,200 | 1,842 | 0 | 16,042 | 13,332 |
| Note 3 | Breakdown of Church Running Costs Payments | ||||
| Unrestricted | Restricted | Youth | Total | 2024 | |
| Advertising / Promotional |
66 | 39 |
48 |
153 |
202 |
| Auto | 1,092 | 1,092 | 607 |
||
| Insurances | 326 | 0 |
0 |
326 |
644 |
| Office/General Administrative Expenditures |
847 | 25 |
0 |
872 |
10 |
| Other Expenditure | 0 | 0 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
| Phone Costs | 60 | 0 |
0 |
60 |
65 |
| Printing, Postage and Stationery |
0 | 0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| Rent of Buildings | 3,296 | 792 |
475 |
4,563 |
4,523 |
| Subscriptions & Memberships |
1,553 | 0 |
0 |
1,553 |
818 |
| Sunday Service Costs |
739 | 0 |
0 |
739 |
583 |
| Total | 7,979 | 856 | 526 | 9,361 | 7,456 |
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| Note 4 | Breakdown Of Mission Payments | Breakdown Of Mission Payments | Breakdown Of Mission Payments | Breakdown Of Mission Payments | Breakdown Of Mission Payments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted | Restricted | Youth | Total | 2024 | |
| Local Mission | 235 | 1,748 |
0 |
1,983 |
1,867 |
| Mission Giving | 1,262 | 0 |
0 |
1,262 |
390 |
| Total | 1,497 | 1,748 | 0 | 3,245 | 2,257 |
| Note 5 | Breakdown of Team Costs Payments | ||||
| Unrestricted | Restricted | Youth | Total | 2024 | |
| Team Appreciation | 692 | 10 |
7 |
709 |
519 |
| Training | 888 | 0 |
30 |
918 |
185 |
| Travel and Accommodation |
297 | 0 |
0 |
297 |
408 |
| Total | 1,877 | 10 | 37 | 1,924 | 1,112 |
| Note 6 | Movement on Restricted Funds | ||||
| 2025 | |||||
| Fund name | Funds brought forward |
Income | Expenditures | Transfers | Fund balances carried forward |
| Epic / Aber Dads | 249 | 953 |
-841 |
1155 |
1516 |
| Backpacks | 149 | 1550 |
-1773 |
74 |
0 |
| Total | 398 | 2503 | -2614 | 1229 | 1516 |
| 2024 | |||||
| Fund name | Funds brought forward |
Income | Expenditures | Transfers | Fund balances carried forward |
| Epic / Aber Dads | 359 | 1442 |
-1552 |
0 |
249 |
| Backpacks | 390 | 1233 |
-1474 |
0 |
149 |
| Total | 749 | 2675 | -3026 | 0 | 398 |
| Note 7 | Trusteepayments and relatedparty transactions | ||||
| The Chair of Trustees is also the Lead Pastor of FCC, as is common within AoGGB status churches and the constitution, and continues as the sole employee of FCC in 2025 For completeness we want to note that no other trustee has received payment for their role as being a trustee or has received any expenses in connection to this role. There were no related party transactions. The Charity's insuranceprovides trustee indemnitycover |
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Freedom Church IE reporting for signing Title Freedom_Church__C...Accounts___2_.pdf File name Document ID 8ef710818f3f513f3e8030ebbf683f0b609a4be2 Audit trail date format DD / MM / YYYY Status Signed
17 / 04 / 2026 Sent for signature to Jon Butler (jon@freedomchurch.wales) 17:36:35 UTC+2 and Karen Silcox (plumtreebookkeeping@gmail.com) from plumtreebookkeeping@gmail.com IP: 81.102.165.101 20 / 04 / 2026 Viewed by Jon Butler (jon@freedomchurch.wales) 15:26:44 UTC+2 IP: 83.104.248.34 21 / 04 / 2026 Signed by Jon Butler (jon@freedomchurch.wales) 09:27:47 UTC+2 IP: 83.104.248.34 22 / 04 / 2026 Viewed by Karen Silcox (plumtreebookkeeping@gmail.com) 12:19:43 UTC+2 IP: 81.102.165.101 22 / 04 / 2026 Signed by Karen Silcox (plumtreebookkeeping@gmail.com) 12:20:11 UTC+2 IP: 81.102.165.101 22 / 04 / 2026 The document has been completed. 12:20:11 UTC+2
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