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2024-12-31-accounts

Hope Family Church The Parish of Oxclose, Oxclose Church Brancepeth Road, Oxclose, Washington NE38 0LA

Annual Report and Financial Statements for the Year ended

31st of December 2024

The Parish of Oxclose, Oxclose Church AKA Hope Family Church.

Charity Number 1201922.

Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Parochial Church Council for year ended 31 December 2024.

Aims and Purposes.

Oxclose Church Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility of cooperating with the incumbent, the Reverend Gavin Rushton, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The PCC is also specifically responsible for the maintenance of the Church Centre complex of Oxclose Church, Brancepeth Road, Washington.

Objectves and Actvites

The PCC is committed to enabling as many people as possible to worship at our church and to become part of our parish community at Oxclose Church. The PCC maintains an overview of worship throughout the parish and makes suggestions on how our services can involve the many groups that live within our parish. Our services and worship put faith into practice through prayer and scripture, music and sacrament. When planning our activities for the year, we have considered the Commission’s guidance on public benefit and, in particular, the supplementary guidance on charities for the advancement of religion. In particular, we try to enable ordinary people to live out their faith as part of our parish community through:

To facilitate this work it is important that we maintain the fabric of the building of Oxclose Church and the Church Centre Complex.

Achievement and Performance.

Worship and Prayer

The PCC is keen to offer a range of services during the week and over the course of the year that our community find both beneficial and spiritually fulfilling. For example, regular small groups provide a

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quiet, intimate, and reflective environment for worship, discipleship and encouragement, whilst opportunities are provided for people to engage in more outgoing worship such as that provided by our café style services within our parish.

This year we have been successful in welcoming more families into our church and have agreed a new style of Family Worship. This has resulted in significant growth, but also a degree of flexibility from the established congregation as we have changed the setting and structure of our services. It is pleasing to be able to report that the new arrangements have been well received since they came into operation during March. In addition, a great deal of time and thought was spent during the year on making best use of the new services. Many have said how much easier it is to engage with the services and the atmosphere is much more welcoming enabling a natural engagement with visitors. At present there are 30 parishioners on the Church Electoral Roll, 15 of whom are not resident within the parish. Eight names were added during the year and 17 were removed either through death, because they moved away from the parish, planting into Seaham, or disagreement with theology of Church of England. The average weekly attendance, counted during October, was 39.

As well as our regular services, we enable our community to celebrate and thank God at the milestones of the journey through life. Through baptism we thank God for the gift of life, in marriage public vows are exchanged with God’s blessing and through funeral services friends and family express their grief and give thanks for the life which is now complete in this world and to commend the person into God's keeping. We have celebrated 4 baptisms and 0 wedding and held 0 funerals in our church this year.

Deanery Synod

Two members of the PCC sit on the deanery synod. This provides the PCC with an important link between the parish and the wider structures of the church.

The Church Centre Complex

We want our church to be open to our community as much as possible and this found its fulfilment in the launch of the Ark Play Café and the establishment of Hope Family Church as a community hub/warm space. The cafe is run in partnership between staff and volunteers from the church and wider community. We have continued to work our way through the quinquennial report recommendations for repairs from 2020 and a new quinquennial report will be carried out in 2025

The church kitchen is in use every day, we continued to be awarded 5 Stars by the Food Standards Agency. We now regularly have an average of 38 families using the café each day the café is open.

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Also during the week, we host our toddlers group on Monday and Thursday. Twenty-seven children and their carers have been regular attenders at the toddler group.

Pastoral Care.

Pastoral Care is offered through our small group structure where people are encouraged to care for one another, offer prayer, and cultivate a mutually supportive structure.

Mission and Evangelism.

Helping those in need is a demonstration of our faith and encourages people to examine the goodness of God. We continue to support 3 mission agencies as well as being able to raise £136 for the Children’s Society at our Christmas events.

We partner with the UK-USA Mission and host teams of High School Students from Tennessee, and a group of college-age students for an eight-week stint, both of which have helped us increase our engagement with young people, particularly through our schools ministry.

The Ten10 Buys project continued to connect with young people in the area and wider diocese throughout 2024. This has established a consistent and holistic approach of engaging with young people. We’ve been able to run a number of projects that have branched off of the bus project, like Youth Alpha and Ten10 Stayback where young people have been able to explore issues of faith in greater depth.

Ecumenical Relatonships.

The church is a member of Sunderland Connect and of the New Wine Network. We continue to serve other churches and their leaders through hosting leadership gatherings and worship nights that attract people from other churches across the region.

Financial Review.

Total receipts on unrestricted funds were £124,033 of which £16,108 was unrestricted voluntary donations, and a further £107,925 was from grant income, café income and hiring the building. Details of this can be found in the Financial Statements.

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The planned giving decreased by 23% this was discouraging and is a clear demonstration of dissatisfaction with the national church, although some of this can be mitigated by financial giving being transplanted to the New Church Plant.

The contribution to the diocesan parish share increased to £10,001 in the year, this is significantly lower than the desired amount through the guided pledge scheme, however we have a clear plan and scheme to meet this commitment in the coming years .The sum that the churches in the deanery have to find is shared between the churches according to a formula that is based mainly on a head count of the congregations, and factoring in the demographics of the area a church serves.

The net result for the year was an excess of receipts over payments of £6134 on unrestricted funds. Adding bank and deposit balances brought forward at the beginning of the year, the balances carried forward at 31st December on unrestricted funds totalled £32896.

Reserves policy.

Historically there has been no reserves policy in for Oxclose Church, however the PCC has committed to work towards establishing maintaining a balance on unrestricted funds which equates to at least three months unrestricted payments, at present this is only met due to the level of successful grant applications. This is equivalent to £20,962. It is held to smooth out fluctuations in cash flow and to meet emergencies. The cash balance of £15,044 held on unrestricted funds at the year end, together with the amounts payable to and by the PCC, was Just over three quarters of the way towards this target. It is the PCC’s hope to increase this over time, and as we grow become less dependent on grant awards to subsidise giving.

The balance of £17853 in the restricted fund is retained towards meeting the cost of the bus project and grant funding in place for a new kitchen for the Ark Cafe. We currently have £5,908 invested in the CCLA Church of England Deposit Fund, we currently have no plans to deposit more into CCLA, however this may change in the future.

Volunteers.

We would like to thank all the volunteers who work so hard to make our church the lively and vibrant community it is. We want to mention our churchwarden Mrs Grace Sydeny, and Mrs Judith Wood who work hard to support the ministry of Hope Family Church

Structure, Governance and Management.

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The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. At Hope Family Church (Oxclose Church) the membership of the PCC consists of the incumbent (our vicar), churchwardens, the curate and staff, and members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church.

All those who attend our services / members of the congregation are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC. The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish including deciding on how the funds of the PCC are to be spent. New members receive initial training into the workings of the PCC. The full PCC met six times during the year with an average level of attendance of 90%.

Administratve informaton.

Hope Family Church (Oxclose Church) is situated in Oxclose, Washington, Tyne and Wear. It is part of the Diocese of Durham, within the Church of England. The correspondence address is Hope Family Church, Brancepeth Road, Oxclose, Washington, NE38 0LA.

The PCC is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2006) and a registered charity whose charity number is 1201922.

PCC members who have served at any time from 1st January 2024 until the date this report was approved are:

Ex Officio members:

Elected members:

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Approved by the PCC on 18[th] April 2024 and signed on their behalf by the Reverend Gavin Rushton (PCC chairperson).

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Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of Oxclose Church

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Oxclose Church (the Trust) for the year ended 31 December 2024.

Responsibilites and basis of report

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 all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner’s statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

  1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the

Act; or

  1. the accounts do not accord with those records.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed:

Name: David Young ACA

Address: 6 Glenburn Close, Washington, NE38 8PE

Date:

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Hope Family Church

Brancepeth Road, Oxclose, Washington, NE38 0LA

Receipts and payments accounts for the year ended

31st of December 2024

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS

Notes
RECEIPTS
Voluntary income
2(a)
Actvites for generatng funds
2(b)
Investments
2(c)
Church actvites
2(d)
TOTAL RECEIPTS
PAYMENTS
Raising funds
3(a)
Church actvites
3(b)
TOTAL PAYMENTS
TRANSFERS BETWEEN FUNDS
CASH FUNDS LAST YEAR END
CASH FUNDS THIS YEAR END
NET OF RECEIPTS AND
PAYMENTS		 Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds
Total Funds
2024
2024
2024
2023
97,515
11,827
109,342
89,745
16,108
0
16,108
20,782
298
0
298
174
10,112
0
10,112
1,960
124,033
11,827
135,860
112,661
-300
0
-300
-1,422
-125,108
-4,318
-129,426
-114,214
-125,408
-4,318
-129,726
-115,636
-1,375
7,509
6,134
-2,975
1,204
-1,204
0
0
15,215
11,547
26,762
29,737
15,044
17,852
32,896
26,762

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Hope Family Church

Brancepeth Road, Oxclose, Washington, NE38 0LA

Statement of assets and liabilites at the end of the period 31st of December 2024

Notes
CASH FUNDS
5
PARISH FUNDS
Unrestricted
Restricted		 Total Funds
Total Funds
2024
2023
32,896
26,762
15,044
15,215
17,852
11,547
32,896
26,762

Approved by the trustees and signed on its behalf by:

Revd Gavin Rushton - Vicar Date:

The notes on pages to form part of these accounts.

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Oxclose Church

Annual report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31st December 2024

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

1. Accountng policies

Basis of preparaton

Oxclose Church is a public benefit entity within the meaning of FRS102. The financial statements have been prepared under the Charities Act 2011 and in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 governing the individual accounts of PCC's, and with the Regulations 'true and fair view' provisions. They have been prepared under FRS102 (2016) as the applicable accounting standards and the 2016 version of the Statement of Recommended Practice, Accounting and Reporting by Charities (SORP(FRS102))

Funds

General funds represent the funds of Oxclose Church that are not subject to any restrictions regarding their use and are available for application on the general purposes of the Church. Restricted funds are those funds that must be spent on restricted purposes.

2. Receipts

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3. Payments

4. Average number of employees

The average number employed in the year was 3.

5. Cash at bank

5.
Cash at bank
Santander current accounts
CCLA Church of England deposit accounts		 Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds
Total Funds
2024
2024
2024
2023
9,267
17,721
26,988
21,152
5,777
131
5,908
5,610
15,044
17,852
32,896
26,762

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