## GRACE COMMUNITY CHURCH ST HELENS
## ANNUAL REPORT 2024
Trustees Report -2024
The activities covered in these financial statements relate to Grace Community Church St Helens (Grace Church) which is an Independent Anglican Evangelical Church meeting each Sunday.
Our aim is to glorify God with lives shaped by His Word.
We believe Scripture is the Word of God and therefore is at the heart of all we do. Our aim is to glorify God with lives shaped by His Word.
We are:
Bible-centred - in that we seek to proclaim the truth of God’s Word as revealed in the Bible and to shape what we do by what the Bible says.
A family - because we are children together of the same Heavenly Father. Christ-centred - seeking to be built up together into Him, our Lord and Master. Grace-centred - because the saving work of Christ’s death is central to all we believe.
## Public Benefit Requirement
The trustees of Grace Church have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission in compliance with its duties under section 17 of the Charities Act 2011.
Everyone is welcome to our services where we aim to:
1. Increase awareness of God’s love and presence in our lives.
2. Help people through mutual support.
3. Meet together to share God’s love.
## Governance
Oversight of Grace Church rests with the Trustees, who are also the Leaders of the Church. Regular meetings are held to review the activities of the Church, the requirements of the members and to plan a way forward.
The Church has a Safeguarding Policy which is reviewed annually and has a set of financial regulations which support the management of income and expenditure.
## Overview of 2024
Grace Church started in 2021 following several months of praying, planning and advice from third parties. It was a major step away from the Church of England roots of the Leaders but, in the end, one that was felt necessary to ensure that we could remain true to the Word of
God. The Church meets at Bleak Hill School in Windle St Helens and welcomes new members. Our aim is not to be measured by the number of attendees but by our service to the Lord and to each other.
Whilst our regular Sunday Meetings are held at the school, we continue to support the residents of Reeve Court in Rainhill, by holding services at Christmas and Easter.
Anyone is welcome to attend our services and we also invite visiting speakers to share the message with us. We are grateful that speakers are willing to travel long distances to meet with us and present God’s Word.
As a result of the generous giving of our members we have been able to give financial support to both National/international Charities. It is our intention to continue with donations in the future.
We are constantly challenging ourselves to seek ways of spreading the Gospel message as part of our Public Benefit duty.
## Risk Management
Risk management in relation to the principal risks identified are managed on an on-going basis by the Leaders of the Church. Mitigating actions and risk scores are reviewed regularly at a meeting of the Leaders who are mainly all Trustees. Risk assessments of the meeting venues are presented to the controlling body of those organisations along with our Insurance Certificates.
## Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities
The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity.
To ensure that the Trustees carry out their duties, they:
Follow the Charities SORP (FRS 102).
Ensure accurate accounting records are kept and statements reviewed on a regular basis.
Make judgments and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent.
Ensure a system of recording receipts and payments is followed diligently and checked on an ad hoc basis.
## Finance
## GRACE COMMUNITY CHURCH ST HELENS
## Finance Statement for 12 months to 31 December 2024
|Income|2024|2023|Expenditure|2024|2023|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||£|£||£|£|
|Donatons|7401|8005|Room Hire|2010|2040|
||||Insurance|121|132|
||||CCLI Licence|97|93|
||||Visitng speaker
expenses|290|100|
||||Website|223|136|
||||Gifs/Donatons|2750|2263|
||||Others|130|91|
||||Surplus|1780|3150|
|||||||
|TOTAL|7401|8005|TOTAL|7401|8005|
|||||||
|Balance Sheet|£|
|---|---|
|Openingbalance 1 January2024|10669|
|Surplus 2024|1780|
|Closing Balance:31 December
2024|12449|
|Balance made up of:|£|
|---|---|
|Bank|12000|
|Cash|449|
|Total|12449|
## Review of Income/Expenditure.
During the period under review our members have been very generous and our closing funds were £12449. We are conscious that, as a Charity, we should not be building a balance that is excessive for our needs. During the year the cost of building rental was our biggest, regular item of expense at £2010. We met the travelling expenses of our visiting speakers who travelled significant distances to be present at Crace Church
We ensured that we met all legal requirements by taking out Insurance Cover and extend our CCLI Licence to cover our worship sessions.
We were grateful for the generous donations of our members who agreed that we should make donations to national and international charities supporting God’s work. We maintain a website which outlines our beliefs but is also a way for anyone to learn more about the Church. Every week we record the message presented at our services and they are openly available on the Church website.
## Reserves
Our need for reserves is minimal but the Trustees believe that the current level of £12449 is adequate to meet any future increase in expenditure which is not covered by donations.
Going Concern
The Trustees are confident that, from a financial viewpoint, the Church is a going concern.
Signed:
Date: