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2023-08-31-accounts

ABBEY WOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023

ABBEY WOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH

ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

CHARITY NUMBER: 1198284

TRUSTEES: MR JEFFREY LAWS

MR RYAN NEAL JOHNSON MR CHRISTOPHER DAVID STATTER MR AUSTIN IYEDE

BANKERS: METRO BANK

ONE SOUTHAMPTON ROW LONDON WC1B 5HA

ACCOUNTANT:

OPEN BOOKS CONSULTANCY LTD (CHARTERED CERTIFIED ACCOUNTANTS) 4 COLEMAN ROAD BELVEDERE DA17 5AN

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ABBEY WOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1) TRUSTEES REPORT

2) EXAMINERS REPORT

3) INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT

4) BALANCE SHEET

5) NOTES TO THE ACCOUNT

6) ANALYSIS OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE

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ABBEY WOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023

TRUSTEES' REPORT

The Trustees present their report together with the accounts for the period ended 31 August 2023. The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice and applicable law.

Charity name: ABBEY WOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH

Charity registration number: 1198284

Charity’s principal address: 32 BOURNEWOOD ROAD, PLUMSTEAD, LONDON, SE18 2AU

Trustee names: JEFF LAWS, CHRIS STATTER, RYAN JOHNSON & AUSTIN IYEDE

BACKGROUND

Abbey Wood Community Church (AWCC) was started in September 2016 as a gathering of a few members of the Slade Evangelical Church in the Abbey Wood area, meeting on a Sunday evening at the C2K Community Centre in Eynsham Drive. After six months the church moved to a morning service at St Paul’s Academy until March 2020 when Covid lockdown restrictions were put in place and services were conducted on-line until May 2021. Around that time, AWCC was granted permission to hire Lesnes Abbey Lodge, which is run by Bexley Council, to hold Sunday services.

GOVERNANCE

To become a fully autonomous church and separate administratively from the Slade Church, the then leaders of AWCC (Chris, Jeff and Ryan) applied for Charitable status to the Charity’s Commission at the start of 2022. In March 2022, AWCC were recognised as a charity and throughout the rest of 2022 and into 2023 the different administrative aspects of the organisation, including finances were transferred over from the Slade Church to AWCC. In October 2023 AWCC was fully accepted and affiliated with the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC); a grouping of over 600 churches throughout the UK.

Once AWCC received its charitable status the then three leaders (Chris, Jeff and Ryan), who were existing trustees and leaders of the Slade Church, became the trustees and elders/pastors of AWCC. In November 2023 the members of AWCC voted to appoint Austin Iyede as a trustee and member of the eldership/pastors team. As a paid employee, Chris had his contract officially TUPEd across from the Slade Church to AWCC. Ryan is supported financially by a range of churches in the USA and Jeff is a retiree. Austin is self-employed. Ryan, Jeff and Austin do not receive financial support from AWCC.

OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES & PERFORMANCE

Our stated vision is, “to be a Church Family of all ages, nationalities and backgrounds who worship God and follow Jesus in the power of the Spirit according to God’s word” and the

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ABBEY WOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023

congregation of the church is already very diverse, with a whole range of ages, different backgrounds & nationalities.

As our Constitution states that AWCC exists and seeks to function for the advancement of the Christian faith in accordance with the Basis of Faith, primarily but not exclusively within Abbey Wood and the surrounding neighbourhood (See 3.1.1 of the Constitution).

This includes such other charitable purposes as shall, in the opinion of the charity trustees, put into practice the Christian faith in accordance with the Basis of Faith, including but not limited to: the prevention and relief of need, hardship and sickness; the advancement of education; and the provision of facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation or other leisure time occupation of individuals who have need of such facilities by reason of their youth, age, infirmity or disability, financial hardship or social circumstances with the object of improving their conditions of life, provided that the advancement of such purposes must be undertaken in a manner that is consistent with the Doctrinal Distinctives and Ethical Statements as may be adopted and amended by the Church from time to time in accordance with the provisions of the Church Handbook. (See 3.1.2 of the Constitution).

As a church we have endeavoured to do this over the last 7 years but for the benefit of this first trustees report we will seek to outline how we have specifically done this as a church and charity since we received our charitable status in March 2022.

Our activities have been largely focused around three actions: Gathering, Giving and Going.

GATHERING

Throughout 2022 and into the Spring of 2023 we held a public Christian worship service at Lesnes Abbey Lodge every Sunday morning at 10:30am for anyone who would like to attend. Due to increased attendance, we have run a second service at 11:45am since June 2023. These services/gatherings include the opportunity to sing and pray and include teaching on the Christian faith. There is provision for separate teaching for primary school age children with experienced teachers with DBS clearance. The meetings are public and we occasionally leaflet drop the local area inviting other local people to join with us. Midweek we have held small Bible study groups called Growth Groups which include deeper study of the Bible passage that was preached on Sunday. We also have offered and ran other short courses such as Christianity Explored, Preparation for Baptism, Preparation for Church Membership and Leadership Training. The youth work has continued to grow as they have had a weekly meeting every Sunday evening along with the young people from the Slade Church, where the meetings are held. There have seen several coming consistently and building relationships with leaders as they are taught about what it means to live out their faith and 13 took part in our 2023 joint camp; Transform with the Slade.

GIVING

Apart from employing a full-time pastor/elder and trustee, we function solely through the voluntary service of both church/charity members and others from the congregation. There are various teams with rotas for serving on a Sunday, there are also other activities people can participate in as outlined in the next section; Going .

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ABBEY WOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023

Our Finances also come exclusively from the voluntary giving of the church/charity members and the wider congregation. While no formal offering is taken on a Sunday, there is an offering box and there is an information sheet available that has details of how to give to the church/charity by bank transfer. There is no other source of income.

GOING

While we hold a public gathering for the purpose of providing Christian worship, we also seek to advance the Christian faith and practice the Christian faith though various activities in the area. Some church members have partnered with ‘Safer Families’ in providing emotional and practical support to local families. As a church we have financially supported this organisation after their funding from the local council was cut and we plan to do so next year too. We have agreed to refer anyone we know in need of financial advice to CAP Greenwich (Christians Against Poverty) and they in turn have agreed to recommend us to anyone who expresses an interest in the Christian faith and in 2024 we plan to have some members train to become CAP money coaches.

Once a month on a Sunday we provide free kids crafts and free children’s books at a stall at the Lesnes Abbey Producers’ Market held in the Monks Garden at Lesnes Abbey Woods and alongside the Lodge where we meet. During both the December 2022 and December 2023 Farmers Market, we put on a ‘Nativity Walk Through’ in the Lodge with four distinct scenes with actors from the Christmas story. We also have sung carols at the Saturday Community Christmas market in 2022 & 2023, and run a free Kids Christmas Craft stall for the community, also held at Lesnes Abbey.

In the summer of 2022, we had a youth team join us from Global Church, Miami, as we held our first weeklong Summer Kids Klub at Lesnes Abbey Lodge (where we meet on a Sunday). The team helped with games, craft, singing and acting and teaching from passages in the Bible about what it means to live out the Christian faith in today’s world. We hope to be to provide something similar in 2024 and again with the assistance of a team from Global Church Miami.

In Autumn 2023 we were invited to take an assembly at Parkway Primary School near Abbey Wood to answer the question ‘what is Christianity?’. The school are keen for us to have further input into the life of the school. We are also beginning to collaborate with the Youth charity XLP, who provide a mobile youth service for local young people in Abbey Wood through their double decker bus and its team of mobile youth workers. They would like to partner with local churches so that we can offer and provide follow up and additional support and teaching to local young people as XLP are only in the area for a few hours a week.

In addition to seeking to go into the local area and serve our local community through community engagement and service we also are involved in supporting others who go further afield to serve people’s needs, as well as share and advance the Christian faith. So, while our purpose is primarily to advance the Christian faith in accordance with the Basis of Faith within Abbey Wood and the surrounding neighbourhood this is not exclusively the area in which we operate as we feel called to share our faith in the wider locality and globally. We have done this over the last few years through financially supporting an international student worker at the University of Greenwich, supporting the running of a Christian primary school in India that provides education, meals and clothes to children from a very poor and marginalised

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ABBEY WOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023

community in Andhra Pradesh and we have also supported a couple working in the middle east in a humanitarian project.

Our plans and desires for 2024, are to be able to continue all of these activities and provide these services to the local community as well as continue to support global partners.

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ABBEY WOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023

Review of financial position

Please refer to the annexed account for the details of the Financial Statements for the year ended 31 August 2023.

Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities

The Charities Act 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 and of the surplus or deficit of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are requested to:

• State whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records, which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Trustees

The members of the trustees during the year were:

Approval

This report was approved by the board of trustees on 28 June 2024 and signed on its behalf by:

MR AUSTIN IYEDE DATE: 28/06/2024 Signed

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ABBEY WOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023

Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of "ABBEYWOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH”

I report on the accounts of the Charity for the period ended 31 August 2023, which are set out on pages 10 to 12.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year (under section 43(2) of the Charities Act 1993 (the 1993 Act)) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

Basis of independent examiner's report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.

Independent examiner's statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect, the requirements

(2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Adeyemi Adegbola FCCA

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ABBEY WOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023

Statement of Financial Activities

Reported in GBP (£)

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ABBEY WOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023 QABBEVWOOD cofflmunity church Balance sheet Reported in GBP (£) Class and code De5crf Ilon Tbls vear Fiiod assds TOtalF￿%1 assets Currellt a55ets Metro Totalcurreut assets 69.830 09.8JO Asset suryiu5(dellclti Re5Br5￿5 Exc¢55. Ideficitl to date Stattmg b￿2￿CeS T•talRttÈrvÈs 69.830 09WO Rtpre5ented b}"fuDds UDtt5thcted 69.830 69,830 statement of assets and liabilities General Desl ated Restslcted Erldowment Last FiAEd as5ets-Tll￿glb￿ ll3SEts Sound EquipmeDI- Computér Equipmont- Fi￿llr￿s and Fitbngs- Depreuabon. Sounds- Deweuaiion- Computer- DeyedaUon- F&F- Tots Cuirentassets-cash at binkand in hand 69.830 69,830 Tothls 69.830 69,83D Cuirentassets-Debtors Tothls on& yèar Accounts paYab￿- Totsls Grand totsl 69,830 69,830 io

ABBEY WOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023

Fund movement by type

Opening
Incoming
Outgoing
Transfers Gains/losses
Closing
Offering - Offering
Unrestricted
Sub-total for Offering
General - Offering
Unrestricted
Sub-total for General
ZReval - Revaluation reserves
Designated
Sub-total for ZReval
Grand total
Offering - Offering		 —
50,980
—
—
—
50,980
—
50,980
—
—
—
50,980
—
131,369
112,519
—
—
18,850
—
131,369
112,519
—
—
18,850
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
182,349
112,519
—
—
69,830

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ABBEY WOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023

ABBEY WOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENT - AUGUST 2023

1. Accounting policies

• Statement of compliance

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011.

• Basis of preparation

Abbeywood Community Church meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS

  1. The accounts (financial statements) have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts.

• Going concern

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern.

• Income and endowments

Voluntary income including donations, gifts, legacies and grants that provide core funding or are of a general nature is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the income, it is probable that the income will be received, and the amount can be measured with sufficient reliability.

2. Donations and legacies

Donations and legacies are recognised on a receivable basis when receipt is probable, and the amount can be reliably measured.

• Expenditure

All expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to that expenditure, it is probable settlement is required and the amount can be measured reliably. All costs are allocated to the applicable expenditure heading those aggregate similar costs to that category.

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ABBEY WOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023

ABBEY WOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENT - AUGUST 2023 (continued)

• Charitable activities

Charitable expenditure comprises those costs incurred by the charity in the delivery of its activities and services for its beneficiaries. It includes both costs that can be allocated directly to such activities and those costs of an indirect nature necessary to support them.

• Taxation

The charity is considered to pass the tests set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 of the Finance Act 2010 and therefore it meets the definition of a charitable company for UK corporation tax purposes. Accordingly, the charity is potentially exempt from taxation in respect of income or capital gains received within categories covered by Chapter 3 Part 11 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 or Section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent that such income or gains are applied exclusively to charitable purposes.

• Tangible fixed assets

The charity did not procure any fixed asset in the financial year. However, the policy is that any individual item of fixed assets costing £500 or more are initially recorded at cost, less any subsequent accumulated depreciation and subsequent accumulated impairment losses.

• Depreciation and amortisation

Depreciation is provided on tangible fixed assets so as to write off the cost or valuation, less any estimated residual value, over their expected useful economic life as follows:

Asset class Depreciation method and rate
Land and buildings No depreciation
Fixtures and fittings 10% reducing balance
Motor vehicles 25% straight line
Equipment 25% straight line

No depreciation is charged to freehold property (land and buildings) as the property is maintained to such a standard that the estimated residual value is not less than cost.

• Debtors

Trade and other debtors are recognised at the settlement amount after any trade discount offered. Prepayments are valued at the amount prepaid net of any trade discounts due.

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ABBEY WOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023

ABBEY WOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH

NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENT - AUGUST 2023 (continued)

• Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash on hand and call deposits, and other shortterm highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to a known amount of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of change in value.

• Liabilities

Liabilities are recognised when there is an obligation at the Balance Sheet date as a result of a past event, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefit will be required in settlement, and the amount of the settlement can be estimated reliably.

Liabilities are recognised at the amount that the charity anticipates it will pay to settle the debt or the amount it has received as advanced payments for the goods or services it must provide.

• Fund structure

Unrestricted income funds are general funds that are available for use at the trustees discretion in furtherance of the objectives of the charity.

Restricted income funds are those donated for use in a particular area or for specific purposes, the use of which is restricted to that area or purpose.

• Pensions and other post retirement obligations

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme which is a pension plan under which fixed contributions are paid into a pension fund and the charity has no legal or constructive obligation to pay further contributions even if the fund does not hold sufficient assets to pay all employees the benefits relating to employee service in the current and prior periods.

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ABBEY WOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2023

ABBEY WOOD COMMUNITY CHURCH

Analysis of income and expenditure Reported in GBP (£)

Unrestricted Designated
Restricted
INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS
Donations and legacies
Offering
131,369
—
—
Gift Aid
50,980
—
—		 Unrestricted Designated
Restricted		 Endowment Total
This year
Last year
131,369
—
50,980
—
—
—
INCOME TOTAL
182,349
—
—		 — 182,349
—

EXPENDITURE

Expenditure on charitable activities
Teaching & Ministry
Evangelism
Care
Mission
Designated Offering
Admin
Salaries & Expenses
Property
Music & Audio-Visual
750
—
—
6,865
—
—
1,000
—
—
19,504
—
—
1,400
—
—
722
—
—
71,925
—
—
7,718
—
—		 —
—
—
—
—
—
—
—		 750
—
6,865
—
1,000
—
19,504
—
1,400
—
722
—
71,925
—
7,718
—
2,211
—
—		 — 2,211
—
EXPENDITURE TOTAL 112,519
—
—		 — 112,519
—
SURPLUS 69,830
—
—		 — 69,830
—

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