## Trustees Annual Report for the period 26 May 2023 to 31 December 2023 ## Charity name: Pontrhydyrun Baptist Church Charity registration number: 1203297 Charity Address: Chapel Lane, Croesyceiliog, Cwmbran, NP44 2ND ## Objectives and Activities ## Purposes of the Charity The purposes of the church are the advancement of the Christian faith in accordance with the basis of faith and with Baptist principles, primarily but not exclusively within Cwmbran and the surrounding neighbourhood; and 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. ## Main Activities - Regular Sunday worship services with provision for children's groups - Monthly Sunday evening outreach events - Life Groups - Jelly Tots, a group for babies, toddlers and their carers - Women's Coffee morning - Men’s Coffee morning - Revel Kids Club for Primary School age children - Revolution Youth Group for Secondary School age children - Board Game club - Courses for those wishing to explore the Christian Faith, such as Christianity Explored - Collection point for Eastern Valley Food Bank - Assemblies in local schools - Visiting people who are sick and housebound - Additional events throughout the year for members and to engage the community ## Achievements & Performance ## Worship Services Morning Gatherings continue every week and we have seen an increase in people from the local community attending. Our recently reintroduced Evening Gatherings have been popular and include times of discussion. Newly established monthly outreach evenings have engaged a committed core group. During the period, four funerals have been conducted by the Minister and we have held our annual Remembrance Sunday service gathered around our war memorial in November. During the Christmas season we ran several outreach services, including an All Age Celebration, Carols by Candlelight, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services – all of which were attended by new visitors as well as regulars. ## Children’s Ministry Outreach groups continue to run every Friday evening during term time – Revel for Primary aged children; Revolution for Secondary aged children. Both groups have drawn a number of children from the community. In July we hosted a BBQ for all the families connected to these groups attracting a large number of people. The church has been involved in leading assemblies in the local Primary School and was specifically asked to be involved in their harvest celebration which focussed on the work of Food banks as well as hosting a carol service for the school. We also ran a Neon Party on 31[st] October which was open to the community and a number attended. ## Ministry Groups The monthly coffee mornings continue to grow, attracting people from the local community as an opportunity for social connections. The women’s coffee morning has also included baking demonstrations and a meal out. A recently launched a Board Game club has brought several people from the local community together every Saturday for a few hours. One of the group has also started coming to worship services on a regular basis. Monthly Life Groups are increasingly well attended and often those who are new to the church find themselves more integrated into church life through attending. ## Community Care Ministry The church continues to collect food for the Food Bank on a regular basis. Whenever there is a need we have highlighted and encouraged more donations in addition to our annual focus during September. The church also continues to support a refugee family from Ukraine who we support with housing and advice, as well as assisting through language and cultural barriers. ## Mission Support 10% of our income is set apart to be given to those working for the advancement of the Christian faith in other parts of the world. This year we have given grants to organisations as follows: a training college, an open air outreach, work amongst students in universities and colleges and a Christian relief agency. We have also given to a couple who were working in Serbia but now in Derby to share the faith, and an individual working in Thailand who coordinates short term mission. ## Pastoral Visiting The Pastoral Visiting team is a newly established team for within this period. The aim is to ensure members and others we have contact with as a church are taken care of and given visits and support, particularly when they are sick, in hospital or housebound. The group has formed well and typically makes several visits every week. In addition to this, the Minister carries out other visits on a weekly basis. ## Events Our Fun Day in September was very well attended, making contact with a number of people in the community in order to establish a connection and inform of all our regular groups and meetings, likewise the Bonfire night in November. During Christmas, we ran a wreath making event which included a message about the Christian faith and was fully booked for the two evenings. We also took the opportunity to take over a market stall in Cwmbran and wrap Christmas presents for people as a free service, taking the opportunity to advertise our regular groups and meetings as well as collecting donations for the Food Bank. ## Structure, Governance & Management The church is newly established as a CIO governed by a constitution and handbook, based on the former CUA’s original trust deed of 1815 and the Fuller Trust. The church is a member of the Fellowship of Evangelical Churches. Trustees are by default the elders of the church, elected by members of the church, in accordance with the process set out in our constitution, and hold office for three years (with the exception of any trustees who are staff members) before requiring reelection. ## Trustees John Vinall Elder Jonathan Raine Elder & Minister Jonathan West Elder (appointed 17 Sept 2023) Mark Hands Elder ## Staff Hannah Mitchell Youth & Children’s Worker Jonathan Raine Minister ## Deacons Carole Jennings Safeguarding (appointed, 17 Sept 2023) Gareth Hawksworth Finance Jon Thompson Events Steve Jennings Property Tom Bushell Admin Victoria Hands Hospitality (appointed, 17 Sept 2023) ## Church Membership During this period, we had one person added to the membership and one existing member has died. By the close of this period, our total active membership was 79 with four additional members under the age of 18 and two inactive members. ## Financial Review The following statements concern the accounts for the CIO, which was newly registered on 26[th] May 2023. Prior to that date the church has operated as an Excepted Charity. The figures presented do not include the accounts of the pre-existing charity, which is due to be closed during 2024 when all its assets will be transferred to the CIO. We consider the church to be in a healthy financial position and have no concerns about the ongoing viability of the church from a financial perspective. ## Income and Fundraising The income of the church is predominantly through the donations of members and attendees of the church. At events, donations boxes are available as well as online giving. All are entirely voluntary. In addition, some external grants were received during the period, amounting to £8,800 for the Boiler Replacement Project and £1,800 for General Funds. ## Reserves Policy The target minimum reserve will be agreed annually when the budget is agreed. The level will be set at 6 months expenditure less 3 months predicted income (to allow the Church to continue operating at its current level in the event that income drops 50% for 6 months). The reserves held by the CIO at the close of this period were £27,607. Note that additional reserves were held by the pre-existing charity which will transfer to the CIO during 2024. The total reserves held by both charities sum to £73,480. Independent Examiner's Report CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examinerfs rnport on th• accounts Roport to tha tru8t•o4 FoA/rR¥Yg*rtLIA/ &/f7S / On accounts for the year ended Charfty nts Ilf any) Set out on page8 /k I report to the IN51885 on my ey2minalion of tho accouni8 ol the chwly I'lhe Trusfi fr* IhÈ year er¥Jed Responslbllttl08 and Ihe tharrtls twstees, you arg rwonsiWe f￿the wep8r8ts.rm ol the of roport ccounts in x¢r￿nc* wrth th• rwuirFments 01thg Chants"os Ad 2011 Ilhe Acl'l. l ￿p(¥t in respwt ol my 8Karina￿n of Ihe TrLtsVs acwjnts ￿rrI￿j OLrt under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my exaTtNnalw)n, I hove folkiwed all tl* apPl￿ble Dir¥lKJn$ 9ivon by Charity G)mmSssk)n ijnders•thn 14515llbl of the A¢t. Independ8nt &xaminerfs tTr* (*ar statement ethe gross inco dl8m l)cx1y I have completed Tny eXatnInati￿. I cmfim) that ww) maleri81 mattÉts have c¥yne to my attenti￿ in connocIK)n wth Ihe examin81l0n4￿￿ which gives rn8 C8use lo bel*ve that in. any maleri81 respetl.. the aCC￿nting ret￿rdS Tr)1 in a¢(x)rdarKe wth 130 of thè Charit￿s Art or the a(xwnts did not a￿Ord Mritt) the accountirvJ rec¢xds: or the a(xounls did not ¢cmDly wth the appli¢aNe reouirements conceming the foftn and content of at(￿nts set (Art in the Ch8rkties IAccounts aThJ Rewrtsl Regul8tsons 2008 olhef Ihan any requJr8me that the a(xouTrts give a Irue and lairf vithy whth is not a tn&tter c0n$idet￿j as part of an indopgtKtgnt 8xafflin8￿n. I have no conom5 and have corr* olhar mattws in con￿￿￿On th the examina￿On to whKh attenkn shLxJkJ bo drawn in this rewrt in d8r to 8n8bl& a prwr under5t8ndlr￿ of IhÈ a¢counts to be reached. ' Please th* wvnls in the ￿Ckets Iftt￿YdO not apply. Slgned: 202 Relevant professlonal almcatlonlsl or body Irf anyl- IER Oet 201B Only ovn￿816 if the examiner needs lo hNJhlighl rnaterid matters ol CC32, e¥aminaiwM ￿Charty accA)unts: ¥lreaN)ns 8Th1 ouwjarte l(¥ ￿mI￿r￿}. Giv¢ here briel d¢tslh ol any tterns that tha oxamlnor ￿•hO• to dlsc1o￿. IER Oct 2018 Financial Report |Financial Report|Financial Report|Financial Report|Financial Report|Financial Report| |---|---|---|---|---| |**Pontrhydyrun Baptist Church (CIO)**
**Statement of Financial Activities 2023**||||| ||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Endowment**|**Total**| |Receipts||||| |Income and Endowments||||| |Income from Donations and Legacies||||| |Donations|30,162.67|130.00||30,292.67| |Donations (Manse-Ukraine)|200.00|||200.00| |External Gifts & Grants|1,800.00|8,800.00||10,600.00| |Gift Aid Claimed||||0.00| |Investment Income||||0.00| |Interest Received||||0.00| |**Total Receipts**|**32,162.67**|**8,930.00**|**0.00**|**41,092.67**| |Payments||||| |Expenditure||||| |-Restricted Fund Outgoings||6,076.23||6,076.23| |Eldership Fund||||0.00| |Ministries|62.00|||62.00| |Missions||||0.00| |Operations|3,458.72|||3,458.72| |Outreach||||0.00| |Property (Chapel)|257.00|||257.00| |Property (Manse)|557.71|||557.71| |Staff|110.00|||110.00| |Unbudgeted|110.40|||110.40| |**Total Payments**|**4,555.83**|**6,076.23**|**0.00**|**10,632.06**| |**All Receipts**|**32,162.67**|**8,930.00**|**0.00**|**41,092.67**| |**All Payments**|**4,555.83**|**6,076.23**|**0.00**|**10,632.06**| |TransfersBetween Funds||||0.00| |**Net Movement in Funds**|**27,606.84**|**2,853.77**|**0.00**|**30,460.61**| |**Total Funds Brought Forward**|**0.00**|**0.00**|**0.00**|**0.00**| |**Total Funds Carried Forward**|**27,606.84**|**2,853.77**|**0.00**|**30,460.61**| ## Notes to Accounts 1. The accounts have been prepared on a “Receipts & Payments” basis, according to law. 2. All Payments and Receipts relate to the Charitable Activities of the church. The one restricted fund, created during 2023, is for a Boiler Replacement project. This project is expected to complete during 2024 and the Restricted Fund will then be closed.