## **Discovery Church Wroughton Trustees’ Annual Report**
**For the period from 01/10/2022 to 30/09/2023**
**Charity name: Discovery Church Wroughton**
**Charity registration number: 1199603**
## **Objectives and Activities**
a) To advance the Christian faith in such ways and in such parts of the United Kingdom or the world as the trustees 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 through the provision of counselling and support in such parts of the United Kingdom or the world as the trustees from time to time think fit; and
c) To advance education in such ways and in such parts of the United Kingdom or the world as the trustees from time to time may think fit.
## **Main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit**
**Context** : Our CIO was founded in July 2022. In common with other charities, we experienced some difficulty opening a bank account: we were finally able to operate financially in our own name from October 2022. Pending that, we operated under our ’parent’ organisation, Discovery Church Swindon, of which our congregation had been part for many years, while that original charity began to prepare for dissolution. Our first financial year began in October 2022.
**General activities** : To the benefit of the church and the local community, our Minister is employed for 2 days per week to lead and support congregational and community activities/ pastoral care / inter-church networking.
**Church Building renovation:** The Minister leads the renovation of the church building, giving many voluntary hours in addition to his paid time. The church contracted to rent a redundant church building from Church Growth Trust, in the middle of the village of Wroughton. In return for a low rent we are, at our cost, renovating and refurbishing the building to safe, accessible and more comfortable standards. In 2022 to 2023 renovations have included the installation of solar panels for economic and environmental impact; we have installed an accessible toilet for physically disabled users, and adapted the front entrance to enable wheelchair access. The internal alterations enabled the kitchen to be extended and re-fitted to facilitate church fellowship meals. In this financial year we spent just under £20,000 on renovations. Money was raised through our Building Fund appeal and we received a £5,000 grant towards the cost of solar panels from Westmill Solar Trust.
**Building Faith:** The church engages in weekly Sunday worship, and mid-week Bible study and prayer for congregation and visitors to explore and enjoy the Christian faith. We averaged 28 people in attendance on Sunday mornings, with up to 36 when all our
members attended. We were supported occasionally by various visiting speakers, but importantly, members of our congregation have been able to develop their gifts in leading services, speaking and teaching, and as members of the music worship group. For several, this has brought fresh inspiration to the outworking of their faith. Two mid-week ‘Home Groups’ operated, one of them largely via Zoom, the other face-to-face. Some 20 people in total from our congregation engaged in one or other of these, for purposes of Bible study, prayer and social interaction.
**Church volunteers ran ‘Discovery Club’ for children** of primary school age each Sunday in term time, combining learning about the Christian faith with personal, social and environmental issues; Parents were invited to join with the church and their children in quarterly seasonal family events that incorporated various fun activities with short talks about the Christian faith. Families from our Parent/Carer/Baby/Toddler group were also invited to these events which were based around Easter, Father’s Day, Harvest and Christmas. Attendance varied, but up to 12 families not otherwise engaged with the church attended these events.
**‘Little Lambs’** is our volunteer-led Parent/Carer /Baby and Pre-schoolers group, which meets 3 times per month in term time, with around 40 families engaging in any one season. The group is financially self-supporting through minimal entrance fees, which are allocated to a restricted fund. These funds are used to pay for the hire of a large room in the local community centre (this being a bigger facility than our own hall, and with better parking facilities). Most of the families engaging in this group do not attend church. The group is also supported by volunteers from the local parish church. Adults enjoy the opportunity for social engagement, the children enjoy the play facilities.
We value fellowship with other Christians in the village, and across the Swindon area. This year we enjoyed an occasional joint event with the local parish church, including a day-conference on theme of sharing Christian faith in the community. We engage in ‘Good News For Swindon’, a cross-town network of churches, in which we occasionally meet for worship and to share news of what God is bringing about in our churches.
Our congregation has supported Nagaland Bible College in Mokukchung, India for many years. As a new CIO we have continued to give financial and prayer support to this establishment, which runs a boarding school for the education of children of all ages and a Bible College for adults, to train them for ministerial and missionary work in other parts of the region. We also support mission and educational work in Chad, in which a former church member is involved. Funds have supported the employment of teachers and the building of La Bergerie school and health centre in a village near the capital, N’Djamena. Leaders of both those projects visited our congregation in September 2023 to report to church and enjoy Christian fellowship together.
## **Relieving financial hardship** :
We are committed to helping to relieve poverty, and in the summer of 2023 we began planning for imminent co-operation as distribution hub with Swindon Food Collective, in which our building would provide accommodation and volunteers, also supported by people from the local parish church.
## **Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit**
Two Trustees attended the webinar ‘Trustees’ Duties in a Faith Charity Context’ hosted by
the Commission’s Charities Engagement Team. We have noted guidance on protecting the charity’s assets and financial position, and on dealing with conflicts of interest. We seek guidance when needed, and we review the workings of the charity’s given objects and the furthering of our purposes, for example in our Church Council meetings and in our first annual review with our congregation (which we combined with a harvest supper).
## **Additional Information**
## **Contribution made by volunteers**
Most of our activity is volunteer-dependent, and the majority of the congregation engage in voluntary roles in the church: cleaning, gardening, serving refreshments, counting the Sunday offering are crucial to the running of our church, in addition to the many roles already mentioned above in running the church services, Home Groups, and children and families work.
## **Financial Review - Financial position at the end of the first year**
At the end of the year we held £22,813 in cash reserves; Unrestricted funds stood at £16,359; Restricted funds were at £6,454. We owed £1,644 on an interest-free loan from Discovery Church Swindon Central that helped with the cost of solar panels. Donations to our General Funds were supplemented by claiming Gift Aid, and by receiving the net rent on the minister’s house.
On behalf of Discovery Church Swindon, in August 2022 we took charge of the vacant manse (minister’s house) in Wroughton, refurbished it and engaged an agency to manage its rental, providing a home for a family in the community. From November 2022 our church benefited from the net rent, which is used to supplement our income for the maintenance of the house itself, for our shared costs associated with the dissolution of Discovery Church Swindon, and for the renovation and refurbishment of our rented church building. Ownership of the house will transfer to Discovery Church Wroughton when legal processes are complete.
Such reserves as we have are needed for:
a) Contingency funds - we aim to keep a minimum of 3 months of costs saved in case of future need;
b) Funds to cover legal fees associated with the shared costs with Discovery Church Swindon Central for the dissolution of Discovery Church Swindon
c) Additional maintenance costs for the house, that might not be cash-flowed
d) Ongoing renovation and refurbishment of the church building, for which there will significant cost in the coming two or three years.
Our main sources of funds have been:
Donations - ‘gift-aided’, non-gift-aided and ‘GASDs’, and Gift Aid refunds from HMRC; Net rent;
£5,000 grant from Westmill Solar.
## **Principal risks facing the charity**
The main risk currently is the age-profile of the congregation, many of whom are senior
citizens. This brings experience and wisdom, but to survive and thrive we seek to find more younger members willing to join us. We use limited social media and local publications to advertise ourselves, take part in village events to make ourselves known, and we pray for younger people to join us.
The rising pension age is another risk, as people who have worked until older may have less energy, health or willingness to take on more responsibility after retirement from paid work. We try to adapt so that less advantaged people can support us, for example managing ‘Steering Group’ (see below) meetings to accommodate people’s physical needs.
## **Future Plans**
Further refurbishment of the church building is required, and we have a list of imminent repairs to be done and purchases to be made.
Again as volunteers, we are working on updating policies on many aspects of church and charity life.
We are seeking fresh ways to interact with the local community, including how to more fully utilise our building when it is more ready.
## **Structure, Governance and Maintenance**
Discovery Church Wroughton operates within the Constitution of a Charitable Incorporated Organisation whose only voting members are its charity trustees (‘Foundation' constitution). There are currently 3 Trustees, one of whom is our paid part-time minister, the other two being invited by the ‘Steering Group’ (now known as ‘Church Council’) of the time to become Trustees for the new CIO. One of these is also Treasurer.
While the Trustees legally have the right to make decisions between them, they operate within a Steering Group of 8, which was in place when we operated as an autonomous congregation within the multi-congregation set-up of Discovery Church Swindon. The Steering Group has decision-making and policy-making roles. The Trustees are members of the Steering Group; they meet separately in alternate with their meetings of the Steering Group. Some matters are considered via phone and/or email in order to reach timely decisions. Proposals for major decisions may be made by the Trustees, but are brought to the Steering Group for consideration. This structure brings extra wisdom and some support for the Trustees, without volunteers feeling pressurised by the responsibilities of being a Trustee.
Going forward, to become a Trustee, a person must have been in regular fellowship with the church for a minimum of 6 months, participating in a range of church activities. The existing Trustees have the responsibility to invite a new trustee, but this will aways be done with the guidance of the Steering Group.
The church operates within the local network of churches, ‘Good News For Swindon’. Occasionally we have sought advice from experienced ministers from this group when trying to manage difficult or uncertain issues. We also enjoy a good relationship with the local parish church and value the input of some of their members as volunteers with activities such as ‘Little Lambs’ and in the planning for work with Swindon Food Collective.
Discovery Church Wroughton:
Charity number: 1199603
Prlnclple address:
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## **Independent examiner's report on the accounts**
## **Section A Independent Examiner’s Report**
**Report to the trustees/** Charity Name **members of** Discovery Church Wroughton
**On accounts for the** 30 September 2023 **Charity no** 1199603 **period ended (if any) Set out on pages** 1 to 2 (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the period ended 30/09/2023.
**Responsibilities and** As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation **basis of report** 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.
**Independent** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have **examiner's statement** 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.
**Signed: Date:** 26.6.24 **Name:** James Gare **Relevant professional** FCA **qualification(s) or body (if any):**
**Address:** Monahans, Hermes House, Fire Fly Avenue, Swindon SN2 2GA
## **Section B Disclosure**
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).
**October 2018**
**IER**
1
**Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose** .
**October 2018**
**IER**
2
**Charity Name No (if any) Discovery Church Wroughton 1199603 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For the period** Period start date Period end date **To from** 08-Jul-22 30-Sep-23
## **Section A Receipts and payments**
|**A1 Receipts**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**27,188**
**5,000**
**3,639**
**23**
**13,855**
**3,278**
**453**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**53,436**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**53,436**
**4,343**
**6,196**
**1,682**
**982**
**695**
**936**
**13,144**
**800**
**610**
**896**
**1,294**
**369**
**-**
**31,947**
**5,130**
**-**
**5,130**
**37,077**
**16,359**
**-**
**-**
**16,359**|**Restricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**32,491**
**2,682**
**-**
**-**
**8,883**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**44,056**
**6,775**
**-**
**6,775**
**50,831**
**15,456**
**-**
**-**
**2,786**
**-**
**-**
**26,090**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**44**
**-**
**-**
**44,376**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**44,376**
**6,455**
**-**
**-**
**6,455**|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
**59,679**
**5,000**
**3,639**
**2,682**
**23**
**13,855**
**3,278**
**9,336**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**97,492**
**6,775**
**-**
**6,775**
**104,267**
**19,799**
**6,196**
**1,682**
**3,768**
**695**
**936**
**13,144**
**26,890**
**610**
**896**
**1,294**
**413**
**-**
**-**
**76,323**
**5,130**
**-**
**5,130**
**81,453**
**22,814**|**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
**59,679**
**5,000**
**3,639**
**2,682**
**23**
**13,855**
**3,278**
**9,336**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**97,492**
**6,775**
**-**
**6,775**
**104,267**
**19,799**
**6,196**
**1,682**
**3,768**
**695**
**936**
**13,144**
**26,890**
**610**
**896**
**1,294**
**413**
**-**
**-**
**76,323**
**5,130**
**-**
**5,130**
**81,453**
**22,814**|**Last year**
**to the nearest £**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Donations|**27,188**|||||**-**|
|Solar Grant|**5,000**||||||
|Gift aid|**3,639**||||||
|Fundraising|||||||
|Solar income|**23**||||||
|Rental income|**13,855**|||||**-**|
|Insurance claim|**3,278**|||||**-**|
|Transfer from DiscoveryChurch Swindon|**453**|||||**-**|
||**-**|||||**-**|
||**-**|||||**-**|
||**-**|||||**-**|
||**-**|||||**-**|
|**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for_
_AR)_|**53,436**|||||**-**|
||||||||
|**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**|||||||
|Loan from DiscoveryChurch Swindon|**-**||||||
||**-**|||||**-**|
|**_Sub total_**|**-**|||||**-**|
|**_Total receipts_**
**A3 Payments**|||||||
|||||||**-**|
||||||||
|Building maintenance, general repairs and
solarpanels|**4,343**|||||**-**|
|Mansepropertycosts|**6,196**|||||**-**|
|Insurance|**1,682**|||||**-**|
|Hall hire|**982**|||||**-**|
|Utilities|**695**|||||**-**|
|Expenses|**936**|||||**-**|
|Salaryandpension|**13,144**|||||**-**|
|Gifts|**800**||||||
|Legal fees|**610**||||||
|Payroll fee|**896**||||||
|Other direct costs|**1,294**||||||
|Miscellaneous|**369**||||||
|||||||**-**|
||**-**|||||**-**|
|**_Sub total_ **|**31,947**|||||**-**|
||||||||
|**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases, (see table)**|||||||
|Loan repayments to Discovey Church
Swindon|**5,130**||||||
||**-**||||||
|**_Sub total_ **|**5,130**|||||**-**|
|**_Total payments_**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**_Cash funds this year end_**|||||||
|||||||**-**|
||||||||
||**16,359**|**6,455**|**-**|**22,814**||**-**|
||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|
||**-**|**-**|**-**|**-**||**-**|
||**16,359**|**6,455**|**-**|**22,814**||**-**|
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
26/06/2024
1
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
Llnrestncted
lunds
Restricted lund5
Endowment
funds
lo £
lo r•zr•st É
81 Cashfunds
16.287
$.4SS
Petty $h
Totalcash funds
16,359
6,455
Unrestrlcttd
funds
to rnlAr¢st E
Re5trlcted fund$
Endowment
funds
10 IWAr¢# £
Details
to r•are*t E
B2 Other monètary assets
rtert val
Ccrft
Detall$
bEI
¢Jrrert valu
Det3115
84 Assets retainedfor thè
charity's ovm use
Delalls
)3n frcTh tA5C(P48ry (rGh
Ill111¥ r•l*e
B5 Liabilities
rtal
1,203
Signed by one or h¥0 Injstees on
behalf of afl the InJslees
aiure
Prnt Name
Date ol approval
(5oér
Abb
2L+
ijlrK( {.¢
CCXX R2 accounts ISSI
2410612024