Wayfarers Fellowship Evangelical Church
Trustees’ Report 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2024
Our priority is to strengthen the Church of Jesus Christ through teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayer so our thanks and appreciation must be given to our many speakers who lead our Sunday worship services. We have around two dozen we invite who willingly preach without accepting a fee or expenses. In return some of the Fellowship speak in a number of other churches around the Island. With a good range of speakers from many different backgrounds we are blessed to have good, balanced Biblical teaching. It must be stressed however that the views of some speakers on non-salvation issues do not always reflect the views of the church’s leadership or members of the congregation. If necessary the Elders will challenge those opinions if they are in conflict with the Fellowship’s ethos. As well as speakers from our own congregation we invite speakers from Baptist, Congregational, Brethren, Evangelical, Anglican, Free Methodist, Methodist, Independent and House churches.
The Chapel building is in a good state of repair and the only outstanding task from last year is the replacement of the ‘blown’ double-glazed sealed units. After the discovery of a roof leak in the gents’ toilet a roofing company, thanks to Mick Hunter’s recommendation, made a temporary repair at no cost to the Fellowship but informed us that a new roof over the kitchen, toilets and vestry will be needed in the next couple of years. The new concrete path from the back gate to the kitchen has been a welcome upgrade making quick and easy access for those who park their car in the High St. car park. We are still fortunate that many of the minor building maintenance tasks can be undertaken in-house thus saving expenditure on employing professionals. The Fellowship Hall is in the process of being painted with preservative. This task is ongoing as the weather permits. The Fire Extinguishers have received their annual check.
Maurice Fairall has continued to represent Wayfarers in his role with the Carisbrooke Parish News and we continue to advertise the Fellowship in it. For a number of years now we have relied on personal evangelism to share the good news. A structured course on the Christian faith is readily available for those seeking more information on what we believe.
Sadly towards the end of the year we have seen a temporary reduction in our regular congregation due to illness. We pray especially for Terry & Pat Blunden. Their absence is greatly missed. Our average weekly attendance this year has been 15. On a positive note we have recently welcomed new people to the Fellowship. We pray they will be blessed as they worship with us.
During the year we informed the church that the piano was impossible to tune so it was scrapped. We thank Nick and Sarah Mills for their help in the breaking up and disposing of it. Some of the wood was given to Ken Pettinger for his woodwork hobby which kept it from going to landfill. Our piano tuner, Andrew Day, found us a stage piano which was gifted to the church by a generous donor in Cowes. Once we received the piano a stand for it was purchased by one of our congregation.
With the refurbishment of the Fellowship Hall we were able to enjoy an after-church lunch during the summer which was well attended. Thanks go to Wendy Fairall and Mick & Annie Hunter who did most of the work on the day and everyone who brought food and drink to share.
We appreciate Jean Bowring for regularly tending the planters on the forecourt. Thanks also go to the teams who keep the chapel clean and tidy as well as those who open up the chapel and operate the PA desk for our Sunday services as well as Jane Salmon who often provides cake for our after-church time of fellowship. Others anonymously support the Fellowship in numerous ways.
As we are now a registered charity it is essential that we have a number of policies in place. A Safeguarding policy will be our priority for the coming year. We will also need a Fire Risk Assessment carried out by a certified professional. This is due to a change in the Building Safety Act 2022 which came into effect 1[st] October 2023. Both are being investigated by the Trustees.
Please pray that the Fellowship continues to maintain a Christian witness in Carisbrooke.
The Trustees / Elders at 30[th] September 2024 with end of term dates are: Andrew Attrill (Trustee / Elder 30.9.28), Maurice Fairall (Trustee / Elder 30.9.27), Terence Blunden (Trustee / Elder 30.9.25) and Roger Fruen (Trustee 30.9.26).
| Wayfarers Fellowship Evangelical Church | Wayfarers Fellowship Evangelical Church | Wayfarers Fellowship Evangelical Church | Wayfarers Fellowship Evangelical Church | |||||||||
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| Charity no. 1203845 | ||||||||||||
| Receipts & | Payments Account 1st October 2023 to 30th September 2024 | |||||||||||
| General Fund | Receipts | General Fund | Payments | Annual | ||||||||
| Receipts less | ||||||||||||
| Offerings | £ 5,900.95 | Electricity (SSE) | £ 511.57 |
Payments | ||||||||
| Building Fund | Insurance (A.J. Gallagher) | £ 1,199.39 | ||||||||||
| Fire eqmt testing (Wight Fire & Security) | £ 176.98 |
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| Treasurer's expenses | £ 153.53 |
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| Solicitor fees incl. Land Registry (Churchers) | £ 231.00 |
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| Builder - Roof repair (Graham Flux) | £ 345.00 |
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| £ 5,900.95 | £ 2,617.47 | £ | (3,283.48) | |||||||||
| Reserve Fund | Receipts | Reserve Fund | Payments | |||||||||
| Annual Interest | £ 295.52 |
Nil | ||||||||||
| £ 295.52 |
£ | (295.52) | ||||||||||
| £ | (3,579.00) | |||||||||||
| Balances brought forward 1st Octob | Balances carried forward 30th September 2024 | Change | ||||||||||
| General Fund - Natwest | £ 13,238.75 | General Fund - Natwest | £ 6,122.23 | |||||||||
| Reserve Fund - Natwest | £ 10,695.52 | |||||||||||
| £ 13,238.75 | £ 16,817.75 | £ | (3,579.00) | |||||||||
| Prepared by Andrew Attrill - Treasurer | Examined by Robin Burnett | 18/11/2024 |