West Mersea Free Church
References and administratlve details
Registered Address: 32 Mill Road, Wesi Mersea, Colchesler, C05 8tu
Cha¥ity Registration Number: 1202931
Trustees
Revd R Hughes (Minisier) resigned June 2024
Revd J Hughes (Minister) resigned June 2024
Mr J Hills (Secretary)
Mrs K Hills (Treasurer)
Mrs L Board
Mrs D Caldwell
Mrs S Margrie-cogram
Miss H Farthing
Mr C Tucker
Mrs P Tucker
MrA Jones
Property Trustees
The Baptist Union Corporation Lid., Baptist House, 129 Broadway, Didcot, Oxfordshire OXII 8RT
are the Trustees for the properties 34 Mill Road and 4 Whittaker Way.
Mr A Jones, Mr K Keay, Mr P Rowland and Mr P Rudlin are currently the Trustees of the Church
properry at 32 Mill Road. As part of the CIO registrauon process. this is being transferred (o the
Church Trustees listed above.
Bankers
Barclays, Colchester
Independent Examiner
Mr Neil Loxley
Annual Report for 2024
The Inistees presen( their Annual Report for 2024,
Strurture, Governance and Management
The Charity is governed by a constitution based on Ilie Approved Governing D()cunienl foi. B.Ipiisi
Churches. Members of Ihe Church are accepted in accordance wilh Ilie consliliiiinii wliich reqiiires
them to be or to have been publicly bapiised oli the profession ol faiih li) Jesiis Lhi'isl or tollowing
other modes of baptism to renew their public profession of f¢ilili iii Jesus Christ.
The members Meetlng nornially lakes place four Ilin(Js per yeill. ,11)d has respoiisibilliy for Ihe
overall policy of the church, In accordance wlili Il)LS Con%iliiiiloii, Ilie iiieii)l)ers il1)l)oii)i -frusiL)tlS.
who together with Ihe Mlnlsler, Church Secrelary aiid Trc>J4ui'er (who are cilso appoliiied by the

Members), are responsible for the day lo day running of the church's work and witness, and the
financial and legal aspects of the charity. All member5 are encouraged 10 take an appropriaie part In
the 5pirirual and practical iasks involved in the furtherance of the charitable objeccive,
Relevani maiters may be submitted to the Church meeting by Ihe Tnjslees lor guidance or may be
raised by members in Church meeting for further consideraiion by the Tn]stees. Though the
Constituuon permits decisions to be made ai Church meetings by appropriate majorilles, Ihe Church
seeks 10 work by consensus wherever possible.
Objectives and Activities
The principal purpose of the charity is the advancement of the Chrisiian faith according to the
principles of the Baptist denomination io include the advancemeni of education, community seryice
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 oui above, the Church provides a variety of
acuvities both 10 its membership and 10 the community generally. The aim is 10 show the love of
Jesus Chri51 in both word and deed and 10 bring people inio a closer relaiionship with Him as living
Lord.
Central to the work and witness of Ihe Church is the provision of regular public services of
Chrisiian worship, Tliese services take place each Sunday al 10.30 am. Any other services or events
are advenised on the church notice sheei, facebook page and the website at merseafree.churchAII
Causeway Kids 15 run during the moming services. The church seeks lo be a friendly and
welcorning community, and anybody is free 10 atlend any of Ihese services.
The Church generally runs midweek Bible Study series over ihe year, sometimes via Zoom 10 allow
a wider participauon. Due to the interregnum there were none in 2024, bui we hope 10 restart Bible
5tudie5 or homegroups in due course. Further details can be obiained from the Trustees on requesi,
or at the Sunday services of worship. A regular Monday evening group "Journeys" is open to all,
but airned ai those ai an earlier stage in their faith journey.
The Church runs a Toddler Group which Tneets in the Church premises on Wednesday mornings,
with the purpose of ass1Sting the community and demonslraling Ihe love of Jesus Chrisi. From lime
to time we may run other courses for people interested in discovering more aboui Chrisuaniry.
The Church operates systems to ensure that all people working wilh children and vulnerable adul
are appropriately veiled by the Disclosure and Barring Service. The church has read the Chariry
Commi55ion guidance on public benefit and is saiisfied thai (he aciiviiies outlined above clearly
demonstrate that the charity is providing a benefii to the public.
Achievements and Performance
The Church does not measure the success of ils programrnes only in numbers, including financial
numbers, but also in less tangible areas like fellowship and encouragemenl. The Trustees recognise
that these are difficuli lo measure bul believe that 2024 was a positive year in the life of the church,
despite the105s of Rob and Jenny Hughes and that il will be able 10 pursue lis mission purposes in
2025 with renewed enihuslasm, while seeking for a new minister.
Thvo baptisms were held durlng the year. Tro church members (lied during the year. Ai 31
December 2024 the membership stood ai 45 compared 10 46 a ypar earlier. Average attendance al

worship services has remained broadly the same during the year. The Toddler Group continues to be
well attended. In March and December, the church was invited to the local primary school, and
presented Easfer Cracked and Christmas Unwrapped 10 years 5 and 6, as in previous years. This was
well received by children and teachers alike.
The Church building is also used by local Rainbows. Brownies and Guides for their weekly terni
time meeungs.
Financial Review
The Church continues to raise the funds which it needs to carry on its activities from within its own
membership and congregation. No wider public appeal was tnade for funds during the year. Income
in 2024 increased 10 £79.143 from £76.077 in the previous year.
The most significant expense relates to the Stipends of Rev R Hughes and Rev J Hughes as
Ministers of the Church. to lead and co-ordinate the church's aciivities including the Sunday
Services, to provide pastoral care for the congregation and other people, and to equip and encourage
the membership in their life, Christian witness and service. It was with much sadness thai we
received nouce in February from Rob and Jenny, that they would be leaving in May. to take up
posiuons at Melborn Baptist Church, Cambridgeshire.
The Church expressed its part in the life of the wider church by making grants toialling £6,926 10
national and intemational Christian organisacions and societies with Christian aims and objecuves
compauble with the church's own charitable purpose. In addition grants were made to other good
causes.
Particularly during this time of Inte￿egnllrn, the Church is heavily dependent on its membershÉp
working as volunteers in all aspects of the church's activities, which coniribute subsiantially to the
achievement of the church's objecuves. Total expenditure decreased frotn £84,270 10 £51,853 due
the reduction in stipend costs. The financial results for Ihe year, together with a summary of the
accounting policies adopted are set oui in the accompanying financial siatements.
Reserves Policy
The T￿￿tee5 do not currently have a forn]al Reserves Policy. bui iniend 10 establish one a5 good
practice to enable the church to function effectively and rneec its obligations in the event of a
dLrline in our income or a major c05t. As at 31 December 2024, Ihe church held (otal reserves of
£94,349 of which £3.331 were restricted. Reserve5 that were neither restricied nor designated
amounted 10 £91.018.
This report approved at the Thistees meeting of 12 August 2025
Signed on behalf of the Trustees by:
J E Hills (Secretary)

## **West Mersea Free Church Financial Statement for the Year ended 31 December 2024 General Receipts and Payment Account** 

||**Note**||**2024**|**2023**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Receipts**|||||
|Regular offerings|||51,433|51,313|
|Donations and other income||2|400|345|
|Income tax recovered on gifts|||11,514|10,635|
|Investment income (interest)||3|3,549|1,608|
|Rents and contributions for use of church premises|||800|531|
|Rent for 34 Mill Road|||9,428|8,979|
|Raised for other causes||4|2,018|2,637|
|**Total Receipts**|||**79,143**|**76,048**|
|Payments|||||
|Ministry||5|22,941|47,405|
|Mission||6|7,639|7,174|
|Upkeep of church premises||7|7,029|9,356|
|Upkeep of manse||8|7,513|9,070|
|Upkeep of 34 Mill Road||9|514|1,961|
|Administration||10|3,940|4,638|
|Amounts passed on to other causes||11|2,225|2,637|
|Total Payments|||**51,801**|**82,241**|
|Net receipts / (payments) for the year|||27,342|-6,193|
|Transfers (to) / from general fund||||0|
|Cash balance at previous year end|||63,676|69,869|
|Cash balance at current year end|||91,018|63,676|
|**Restricted Funds - Elders Retreat**|||||
|Receipts|||0|0|
|Payments|||0|0|
|Net receipts / (payments) for the year|||0|0|
|Cash balance at previous year end|||533|533|
|Cash balance at current year end|||533|533|
|**Restricted Funds - Toddler Group**|||||
|Receipts|||0|0|
|Payments|||52|0|
|Net receipts / (payments) for the year|||-52|0|
|Cash balance at previous year end|||305|305|
|Cash balance at current year end|||253|305|



Page 1 



|**Restricted Funds - Youth work**||||
|---|---|---|---|
|Receipts||1,000|0|
|Payments||0|0|
|Net receipts / (payments) for the year||1,000|0|
|Cash balance at previous year end||195|195|
|Cash balance at current year end||1,195|195|
|**Restricted Funds - Chairs**||||
|Receipts||0|30|
|Payments||0|2,030|
|Net receipts / (payments) for the year||0|-2,000|
|Cash balance at previous year end||0|2,000|
|Cash balance at current year end||0|0|
|**Restricted Funds - Site Development**||||
|Receipts||0|0|
|Payments||0|0|
|Net receipts / (payments) for the year||0|0|
|Cash balance at previous year end||1,350|1,350|
|Cash balance at current year end||1,350|1,350|
|**Statement of Assets and Liabilities at 31st December 2024**||||
|Assets||||
|Bank and other cash balances||||
|Barclays current account||4,594|354|
|Barclays deposit account||14,727|13,896|
|BUC deposit account||75,028|51,809|
|Other monetary assets:||||
|Gift aid claimed but not received||||
|Investment Assets|12|331,095|320,490|
|Assets Held for Church's own use|13|235,656|210,405|
|**Total Assets**||**661,100**|**596,954**|
|Liabilities||||
|Current Liabilities|14|21|0|
|Long Term Liabilities|15|0|0|
|**Total Liabilities**||**21**|**0**|



The accounts and statement of assets and liabilities set out on pages 1-3 relating to the year ending 31st December 2024 are as approved by the deacons. 

Signed Kathryn Hills Treasurer 

Page 2 



**West Mersea Free Church** 

## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS** 

## 1 Basis of accounts 

These accounts have been prepared on a ‘receipts and payments’ basis and in accordance with Section 133 Charities Act 2011. 

|2|Donations and other income|**2024**|**2023**|
|---|---|---|---|
||Donations|300|345|
||Other income|100|0|
||Total|400|345|
|3|Investment Income|**2024**|**2023**|
||Bank interest|331|99|
||BUC account interest|3,218|1,509|
||Total|3,549|1,608|
|4|Raised for Other causes|**2024**|**2023**|
||Christmas Appeal|965|1,210|
||Earthquake appeal||1,143|
||Hands at Work||110|
||Harvest|15||
||Christmas Tree Festival donations|100|174|
||Pastoral leaving gift|938|0|
||Total|2,018|2,637|
|5|Ministry|**2024**|**2023**|
||Ministers' stipends|16,550|35,523|
||Pension contribution|4,198|8,983|
||National Insurance|0|0|
||Ministers' travel|260|594|
||Ministers' pastoral expenses|728|1,373|
||Visiting speaker costs|610|209|
||Training costs|0|350|
||Other ministry costs|595|373|
||Total|22,941|47,405|



||The Ministers act as two of the church's trustees and received remuneration and other benefits in|The Ministers act as two of the church's trustees and received remuneration and other benefits in|The Ministers act as two of the church's trustees and received remuneration and other benefits in|
|---|---|---|---|
||respect of their services as Ministers, including the provision of manse accommodation owned by the|||
||church.|||
|6|Mission|**2024**|**2023**|
||CYO|1,200|1,631|
||Home Mission|1,200|1,631|
||Hands at Work|1,200|1,631|
||BMS World Mission|1,200|1,631|
||Tear Fund|713||
||Beacon House|713||
||Beach Club|700|650|
||Foodbank|713||
||Church youth work costs|0||
||Total|7,639|7,174|



Page 1 



|7|Upkeep of church premises|**2024**|**2023**|
|---|---|---|---|
||Lighting and heating|1,456|1,559|
||Insurance|2,088|1,874|
||Repairs and Maintenance|1,503|1,421|
||New equipment|1,265|3,680|
||Other costs|716|821|
||Total|7,029|9,356|
|8|Upkeep of Manse|**2024**|**2023**|
||Lighting and heating|1,072|3,533|
||Insurance|1,323|1,042|
||Repairs and Maintenance|589|1,564|
||Council Tax|791|2,541|
||Refurbishment Project|3,467|0|
||Other costs|272|390|
||Total|7,513|9,070|
|9|Upkeep of 34 Mill Road|**2024**|**2023**|
||Insurance|436|494|
||Repairs and Maintenance|78|1,467|
||Other costs|0|0|
||Total|514|1,961|
|10|Administration|**2024**|**2023**|
||Printing and Stationery|110|729|
||Publicity|0|0|
||Subscriptions|363|357|
||IT costs - website and licence fees|402|245|
||CCLI licences|434|413|
||Refreshment costs|441|219|
||Legal fees (CIO)|1,722|2,052|
||Other|467|623|
||Total|3,940|4,638|
|11|Amounts passed on to other causes|**2024**|**2023**|
||Pastoral Leaving Gift|938|0|
||TearFund|1,187|2,353|
||Other|100|284|
||Total|2,225|2,637|
|12|Investment Assets|**2024**|**2023**|
||34 Mill Road, CO5 8RJ|331,095|320,490|



Page 2 



## 13 Assets Held for the Church’s own use 

The church is the beneficial owner (subject to the relevant trusts) of the following assets, the legal titles to which is held by the church’s custodian trustee [the Baptist Union Corporation Ltd] or the Church CIO itself and valued in the accounts at the insured values: 

|||**2024**|**2023**|
|---|---|---|---|
||- Church Premises at 32 Mill Road, CO5 8RJ|1,407,370|1,256,580|
||- Church Hall at 32 Mill Road, CO5 8RJ|788,616|704,121|
||- Toilet block at 32 Mill Road CO5 8RJ|94,871|84,706|
||- Manse at 4 Whittaker Way, CO5 8LB|624,244|557,360|
||The church also owns fixtures, furniture and|||
||equipment with an insured value of:|||
|||235,656|210,405|
|14|Current Liabilities|**2024**|**2023**|
||Utility costs billed but not yet paid|21|0|
||Payments raised but not yet cleared|0|0|
||Other current liabilities|0|0|
|||**21**|**0**|



## 15 Long Term liabilities 

There are no long term liabilities at present, and the church has no Pension scheme liabilities. 

Page 3 



## **Report of the Independent Examiner to the Trustees of West Mersea Free Church** 

## **On the accounts for the year ended 31[st] December 2024** 

## **Respective responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner** 

The Church’s Trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The church’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed. 

It is my responsibility to: 

- examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act, 

- to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act, and 

- to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. 

## **Basis of independent examiner’s statement** 

My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the church 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 the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair’ view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. 

## **Independent examiner's statement** 

In connection with my examination, no material matters have come to my attention which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: 

- accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act or 

- the accounts do not accord with the accounting records 

- the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. (if accounts prepared on accruals basis*) 

I 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 by or on behalf of the Examiner 


15th July 2025 

Neil Loxley accountancy Services 39 Shakespeare Rd Colchester Essex    CO3 4HL