Freedom Camps Annual Report 2023 FREEDOM CAMPS Charity Number 1203746 Report and Financial Statements For the Year Ending 31 December 2023 1 Freedom Camps Annual Report 2023 ## Contents Legal and Administrative Information Aims and Objectives Chair of Trustees Report Director’s Report Financial Summary Financial Reports 2 Freedom Camps Annual Report 2023 Report for Year Ended 31 December 2023 ## Legal and Administrative Information Charity Name: FREEDOM CAMPS Charity Registration Number: 1203746 Charity Type: Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) Registered Office: 14 Salisbury Road, Tonbridge, Kent TN10 4PB Date of Registration: 26 June 2023 Report for Year Ended 31 December 2023 Trustees: Mr K Laidler Acting Chair Mrs A Holton Secretary Mr M Gurney Mr I Holton Mr J Booth (Resigned May 2024) Mr J Roddy (Appointed May 2024) Mr A Frroku (Appointed May 2024) Management: Mr E Pascoe Director All our trustees are practicing Christians (under the Equalities Act 2010) and have a passion for seeing young people and families come to believe in Jesus Christ. 3 Freedom Camps Annual Report 2023 ## **Aims and Objectives** TO ADVANCE THE CHRISTIAN FAITH FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PUBLIC IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE STATEMENT OF FAITH APPEARING IN THE SCHEDULE, PRIMARILY, BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY, BY THE PROVISION OF CAMPS, ACTIVITIES, AND EVENTS STRUCTURED AROUND THE CHRISTIAN ETHOS, FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AND FAMILIES THROUGHOUT THE UNITED KINGDOM. Freedom Camps’ purpose, as set out in the Charitable Objects, is to advance the Christian Faith and engage more people, especially young people and families, with Christians and Churches. ## **Chair of Trustees Report** I am pleased and grateful to present the Trustees’ Annual Report for Freedom Camps for the year ending 31 December 2023. This year has been marked by significant progress, both in terms of our outreach and our financial health, and we give thanks to God for His faithful provision. ## Putting God First As we move forward, we remain committed to putting God first in all that we do. Our mission is clear; to advance the Christian Faith and engage more people, especially young people and families, with Christians and Churches. We want to honour Him through our efforts and bring families and young people closer to Christ. Every step we take is grounded in prayer and guided by our desire to extend the love of God through the work of Freedom Camps. ## Our Strategy Our primary strategy is to work in close partnership with Churches and Christian organisations. We believe that strong relationships with these communities are essential for reaching our goal; encouraging families and young people to engage with their local Church and grow in their faith. Through these partnerships, we can provide support, guidance, and opportunities for people to connect with God in meaningful ways. 4 Freedom Camps Annual Report 2023 ## Financial Overview I am pleased to report that our finances remain healthy, particularly as we have no significant outgoings. This has given us a strong foundation to build upon for the future. We have begun receiving regular donations, indicating that supporters believe in our mission and are willing to invest in it. Moving forward, we aim to secure more regular donations, which will allow us to expand our outreach and sustain our work more effectively. ## Spreading the Word This year, we have made great strides in spreading the word about Freedom Camps. Through fundraisers, Church engagement, and connections made by our dedicated team, particularly Ed, we are steadily increasing awareness of the vital work we are doing. It is encouraging to see more people learning about our mission and joining us in our efforts to make a lasting impact on families and young people. ## Successful Fundraiser One of the key highlights of the year was our fundraiser the ‘100 mile challenge’, which received an outpouring of support in multiple forms; attendance, financial contributions, and through prayer. We are deeply grateful to everyone who participated and made the event such a success. By God’s grace, we were able to surpass our financial target, which not only strengthens our financial position but also demonstrates the depth of support for our cause. ## Gratitude to Ed We would like to express our thanks to Ed, our Director, for his unwavering dedication and hard work this year. His vision, leadership, and tireless efforts have been instrumental in the successful setup and early growth of Freedom Camps. From building vital connections to spreading our message, Ed’s commitment has truly laid the foundation for the progress we are seeing today. We are deeply grateful for his passion and faithfulness to our mission. ## Gratitude to Our Trustees Finally, I want to extend heartfelt thanks to all our Trustees for their tireless efforts and dedication. Their hard work, commitment, and shared vision have been instrumental in our progress this year. Together, we have laid a strong foundation for future growth, and I 5 Freedom Camps Annual Report 2023 am confident that, with God’s guidance, we will continue to achieve great things for His Kingdom. We look forward to the coming year with excitement and faith, trusting that God will continue to guide and bless us in all that we do. Yours in Christ, _Kyle Laidler Acting Chairman of the Trustees Freedom Camps 21 October 2024_ 6 Freedom Camps Annual Report 2023 ## Director’s Report This was our first 6 months of trading as a Charity, and I was very excited about starting to promote the Christian faith through exciting, engaging activities and events. Our main objective for the year was to build funds as well as promote our vision. Our plan was to connect with Christians and Christian organisations for support, encouragement and growth. We secured bookings to run activities at different organisations for their events in 2024, including holiday clubs at Frant Church and UNITE in the Wild events ran by Youth for Christ Tunbridge Wells. Part of our strategy for this year was to develop links with other Christian organisations within the Tunbridge Wells area. As I worked for Frant Church as the Youth and Families Minister, I already had links with Churches and organisations, meaning that trust and professional connections were already in place. We also ran a fundraising event called ‘100 mile challenge’ in October 2023. Many people came to watch Ed Pascoe (Director) and Kyle Laidler (acting Chair) cycle, on exercise bikes, 100 miles in one day. Whilst attending the event, displays were set up promoting the charity and other trustees were on hand to talk to people. There was cake, coffee and tea available throughout the day as they watched us sweat. We used Facebook and Instagram to share our process, along with why we were doing it and how to donate via Stewardship. We managed to raise £627.08 which surpassed our target of £500. This also helped us kickstart our advertisement on social media. We have started to talk about officially partnering with Scripture Union, as well as becoming mission partnering with Frant Church. I thank God for all those who have prayed, donated, or given their time to Freedom Camps. There is much excitement from individuals, organisations and Churches about what we can offer in the future in terms of skills, equipment and experience in promoting the Christian faith, and bringing more people into Church and a relationship with Jesus Christ. _Edward Pascoe_ _Director_ _Freedom Camps 20 October 2024_ 7 Freedom Camps Annual Report 2023 ## Financial Summary 26[th] June 2023 – 31[st] December 2023 The main part of our income was through donations, with our biggest fundraiser being our ‘100-mile challenge', reaching £627.08 (including gift aid). The one off £500 donation at the start of our financial year meant that we could afford the insurance we needed to hold fundraisers and therefore build up funds and reputation. We also received our first monthly donor, give £20 per month. Our income total was £1,191.33 for the year ending 31 December 2023. All our donations were given as unrestricted funds. The main, and only, expenditure for the charity was the cost of insurance which amounted to £459.24. This gives a net profit total of £732.09 which is great for our first year of trading. 8 Freedom Camps Annual Report 2023 ## **Income and Expenditure for the year ending 31 December 2023** |**Income**|**2023**| |---|---| |Ticket Sales|| |Hire of Activities|| |Regular Givers|20| |Donations – Private|500| |Donations – Churches|| |Fundraising|519| |Gift Aid|152| |**Total**|**1,191**| |**Expenditure**|| |Insurance|459| |**Total**|**459**| |**Net Income**|**732**| |**Balance Sheet**|| |Cash in Bank|692| |Cash|40| |**Total Reserves**|**732**| Signed off by Trustees of Freedom Camps. 9 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALE5 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a For the perfod To 31-Oec-23 Section A Receipts and payments Unrestrlcted fundB Restrlcted fvnd• Endowmont fund5 Total funds Last year A1 Recolpts FLffjdra*r 519 1S2 519 152 Sub total(Gross rn for AR) 1.191 1.191 (see tsljle). Sub to Sub totsl A4 Awt and in¥•sbnenl rchasej. e tsble Sub total 732 AS Trap•fgr¥ betw••n funds A6 C•sh fvndl last year WMI Cash funds this year end n2 732 CCXX R1 XL¥M￿ty ISS} Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Lr yiirr• 81 Cash fundB funds Detalls Details Dètails B4 A88018 retained for th• ¢harity's (Y4vn u8• B5 Llabllltle• Svjned by c￿e or truste8S ( behaifof 911 tho Iruskn•s Date of al HKif 10 CCXX R2 act￿nts ISS)