HASLAND Baptist Church Eyre Street East, Hasland, Chesterfield, S41 OPF
TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2023-2024
REFERENCES AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS
Registered Address:
Hasland Baptist Church, Eyre Street East, Hasland, Chesterfield, S41 0PF
Charity Registration Number: 1199485
Trustees
Mr Roy Smith, Chair of Charity Trustees and Treasurer
Mr John Pickering, Pastor (Secretary) Mrs Doreen Titmus (Resigned 9/11/2023)
Mr Darren Moore, Elder
Mr Peter Jones, Elder
Property Trustees
East Midland Baptist Trust Company Ltd.,
Baptist House, 129 Broadway, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 8RT
Bankers
The Co-operative Bank, P.O. Box 250 Delf House, Southway Skelmersdale, WN8 6WT
Independent Examiner
Not required due to income levels.
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CHARITABLE OBJECT
Hasland Baptist Church Charity is an association based Charitable Incorporated Oganisation (CIO). It is governed by a constitution based on the ‘Approved Governing Document for Baptist Churches’ underpinned by the Church’s Trust deed. Members of the Church are accepted in accordance with the constitution which requires them to be or to have been publicly baptised on the profession of faith in Jesus Christ or, following other modes of baptism, to renew their public profession of faith in Jesus Christ.
The church members normally meet four times per year and in association with the Trustees have responsibility for the overall policy of the church. In accordance with its constitution the members appoint (by election) a minimum of two and a maximum of four trustees. These Trustees, together with the Minister (Pastor), who is also a Trustee by nature of their role and responsibilities, are responsible for the day to day running of the church’s work and witness, and the financial and legal aspects of the charity. All members are encouraged to take an appropriate part in the spiritual and practical tasks involved in the furtherance of the charitable objective.
Relevant matters may be submitted to the Church meeting by the Trustees for guidance or may be raised by members in Church meeting for further consideration by the Trustees. Though the Constitution permits decisions to be made at Church meetings by appropriate majorities, the Church seeks to work by consensus wherever possible.
The Church occupies premises which are held by the East Midlands Baptist Trust Company Ltd, on Trust which are entirely compatible with the above object.
The Pastor nor any other trustee receives any remuneration for their work in the Church Charity.
OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES
The principal purpose of the charity is the advancement of the Christian faith according to the principles of the Baptist denomination to include the advancement of education, community service and such other general charitable purposes in such parts of the United Kingdom and the world as the Church shall determine.
To achieve the principal objective, which is set out above, the Church provides a variety of activities both to its membership and to the community generally. The aim is to show the love of Jesus Christ in both word and deed and to bring people into a closer relationship with Him as living Lord.
Central to the work and witness of the Church is the provision of regular public services of Christian worship, bible study and prayer. These services take place each Sunday at 10.30 am and each Thursday at 7pm. There are also occasional services at other times which are advertised on the church notice board and the website at haslandbaptist.co.uk.
The church seeks to be a friendly and welcoming community, and anybody is free to attend any of these services.
The Church is responsible for a toddler group, known as ‘Humming Bees’, which meets in the Church premises on Thursday mornings during school term time, with the purpose of assisting the community and demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ.
The Church operates systems to ensure that all people working with children and vulnerable adults are appropriately vetted by the Disclosure and Barring Service.
The church has read the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit and is satisfied that the activities outlined above clearly demonstrate that the charity is providing a benefit to the public.
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ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE
Hasland Baptist Church was established in 1937, under its present Trust Deed, and operated as an ‘excepted’ charity until 2022 when it became registered with the Charity Commission as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). The CIO financial period for this year covers the twelve months from 1 July 2023 to 30th June 2024.
The Church does not measure the success of its programmes only in numbers, including financial numbers, but also in less tangible areas like fellowship and encouragement. The Trustees recognise that these are difficult to measure but believe that 2023-2024 was a positive year in the life of the church, and that it will be able to pursue its mission purposes in 2024-2025 with continued enthusiasm.
As of 30 June 2024 the Church membership was 23. Average attendance at the regular Sunday worship services was 31. Thursday evening fellowship, which was attended by 12-18 people each week, took several forms during the year including: bible study, and prayer & worship evenings. The Church has also welcomed guest speakers at their Sunday morning service and have been pleased to hear the message from members of its own congregation.
The church continues to play a role in the life of the community of Hasland to public benefit with its operation of a regular parent and toddler group, ‘Humming Bees’. At Christmas the church held a memorial service for relatives to remember those who went to be with the Lord whilst being cared for in Ashgate Hospice. This event was attended by many members of the community, local councillors and the deputy mayor of the town.
The church hall is used daily, during term time, by ‘Kids Zone’, an organisation who provide before and after school care for children aged 6 to 10 years; 2024 is the twenty second year that the church has supported this endeavour. The Church continues to be grateful to volunteers from Kids Zone, who operate on our behalf, a weekly parent and toddler group called Humming Bees.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
The Church continues to raise the funds which it needs to carry on its activities from within its own membership and congregation, and from fees for the use of the Church Hall. No wider public appeal was made for funds during the year.
The pastor nor any other trustee receives any payment for their time or services.
Significant expenses incurred during the year included:
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Replacement of most of the Church windows in line with recommendations from the last building survey.
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Repairs to the roof in line with recommendations from the last building survey.
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Replacement of the window blinds.
The Church expressed its part in the life of the wider church by making grants to local, national and international organisations and societies with Christian aims and objectives compatible with the church’s own charitable purpose.
During the year donations were made to Tear Fund, Aquaid Lifeline Fund, Barnabas Aid, Christian Aid, Compassion UK, The Bible Society, Good News for Everyone and Ashgate Hospicecare. The Church also contributed to the Baptist Union Home Mission.
The total value of mission donations was £6,353 (27.4% of total income) of which £617 was in the form of designated donations made directly as prescribed by the donors.
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The financial results for the year, together with a summary of the accounting policies adopted are set out in the accompanying financial statement CC16a. It should be noted that the figures shown for ‘previous year’ relate only to seven months.
The Trustees are satisfied that they have sufficient reserves at the balance sheet date, together with anticipated ongoing income, to enable the church to function effectively in the coming year.
The Church is heavily dependent on its membership working as volunteers in all aspects of the church’s activities, many of which run with little or no impact on the church’s expenditure, but nevertheless contribute substantially to the achievement of the church’s objectives.
RESERVES POLICY
The Trustees have established a Reserves Policy to enable the church to function effectively and meet its obligations in the event of a decline in our income or a major cost.
Having considered the relevant risks of changes in income and expenditure, the Trustees have determined that the appropriate level of reserves is in the range £15,000 to £20,000 and as of 30 June 2024, the church held total reserves of £20,000 in its designated fund. Of this £15,000 has been retained for the future replacement / refurbishment of the roof on the Church Hall.
The remaining designated funds are held to ensure six-months running costs of the Church and its Mission commitments in the UK and to the children of Phalombe Village in Malawi.
This report was approved by the Trustees of the Church Charity on 9[th] September 2024.
Signed: Roy Smith, Chair of Trustees Signed: John Pickering, Pastor
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(HARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND ANO WALES HASLAND BAPTIST CHURCH 1199486 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a Forttw p•rtod 0110712Q23 3010812024 Section A Receipts and payments Unrn8trl¢tod funds RtriCt,¢ fvnd• Endowmont lund• Total fund LI y••r ttsth• nwt•8t £ ts th• n•Rr•Bt £ toth• n••r•Bt É totr r•MrMtE E A1 Re¢•1 Don1rts BrKJ Log•c Trddlng Acb¥4k$ Inv89tm•nt• 17.183 $,07$ 921 lJ,976 J.7Z2 S.Q7fj 928 ub total(Gmss In¢oma for AR) A2 Asmt and knv••tmgnt Bal9•. tsbl•l. 23,184 23,184 17 Sub ¢o¢el 23.184 4104 17.906 A3Pa Chartt8bkn AL141ws 27,7 18.112 Sub total .. 27.700 27.798 A4 Ao•ot and Inve8tment pur¢h$es.1800 tsbl•l Sub total Totalpayments 27.796 18,182 Net of ro¢elpts/(payments) AS TrnnBf•r• botwè6Tr fvnd8 A8 Cash ful8 Ea•t y•ar •nd Cash funds thls year end '., 4,612 $77 34,491 34.491 29,•n
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unrestrict•d fund• to nqarot£ ategoTi•8 Endowm•nt lund8 to rarth e Details fuTrd• B1 Cash lund3 cUff•niAI gA10 npALUUrt 20,314 C•sh on band 155 rotal cash funds Unrn•trl¢l•d lund• R•Blrtcted lund8 Endowment lund8 to wrMi£ Detalls Fund towll¢h •oi•t b•lo CoBtlcgd01j Cuff•rtv•hJ* Detai18 Oetall8 am•t b•lo CL¥tloptb)na Cyrr•rt¥a• B4 Assets retslned for th¢ charty's own usg to whlch IYMn du• D9tall8 B6 Llablllde8 SIgd by Me ¢Y NVO truthss on beh8M ol all the InJsie•8 éte of roval Signature Print N8Th Roy Smrfh John Pithering /ii Zf CCXX 112 aEcounls ssl 05KW2024