2025-03-31-accounts - Newport Community Church (Shropshire)

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Newport Christian Fellowship (Shropshire)

Financial Statements

Period ended 31 March 2025

Newport Christian Fellowship (Shropshire)

Financial statements for the period ended 31 March 2025
Income	2
Expenditure	3
Statement of assets and liabilities	5
Independent Examiner’s report	6
The Trustees annual report	7

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Newport Christian Fellowship (Shropshire)

Financial Statements for the period ended 31 March 2025

Receipts and payments accounts

Financial Statements for the period ended 31 March 2025 Receipts and payments accounts
£ Income Restricted income: Foodbank Income Ad hoc donations Grants Regular Giving Donations via Stewardship Miscellaneous income Total Foodbank Income Making a Difference Market Stall Sales Mission Support and Welfare Relief Income Total Ad hoc specific protected income raised Overseas General mission (protected, regular and ad hoc) income raised Offerings Regular specific protected income Overseas Offering Total Mission Support and Welfare Relief Income Offerings (General, unprotected, regular and ad hoc) Offerings Miscellaneous Total Offerings (General, unprotected, regular and ad hoc) Other Income Interest received Total Income	1,297.55 2,000.00 2,830.00 1,174.03 0.86	Dec 2023 - Mar 2025
		7,302.44 1,877.88 970.53 1,885.35 2,429.18
	31,365.40 45.88
		14,465.38 31,411.28 102.94

		45,979.60

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Newport Christian Fellowship (Shropshire)

Financial Statements for the period ended 31 March 2025 Receipts and payments accounts (continued)

Expenditure Advertising/Promotional Bank Charges Books and study materials Church services costs Conferences Dues and Subscriptions Gifts for volunteers Hire of hall Insurances Licencing Printing, postage and stationery Professional fees and services Dave Clissold (via DPC Consultancy) Health and Safety professional services Pete Gilbert Stewardship Services Consultancy Helpline Travel Safeguarding Speakers Training Restricted Expenditure: Foodbank Expenditure Bank charges Client purchases Health and Safety Miscellaneous Office/General Administrative Expenditures Rent/Storage Volunteer costs Website costs Total Foodbank Expenditure Totals carried forward	£ 8,530.32 7.78 1,750.00 70.00 1,030.54 1,356.39 308.95 25.00	Dec 2023 - Mar 2025
		£ 442.86 113.32 145.41 15.00 594.00 52.50 103.50 3,268.75 223.44 445.00 5.10 13,078.98
	53.47 4,928.99 436.16 22.11 64.98 2,643.32 238.10 100.00
		18,487.86
	8,487.13
	8,487.13	18,487.86

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Newport Christian Fellowship (Shropshire)

Financial Statements for the period ended 31 March 2025 Receipts and payments accounts (continued)

inancial Statements for the period ended 31 March 2025 eceipts and payments accounts (continued)
£ Expenditure brought forward Mission Support and Welfare Relief Expenditure Charities UK Overseas Local/UK Local/UK Making a Difference Market Stall Overseas Work Charities Overseas Total Expenditure Surplus of income over expenditure	8,487.13 586.00 3,005.00 3,507.82 2,861.64 2,253.16	Dec 2023 - Mar 2025
		£ 18,487.86 20,700.75

		39,188.61

		6,790.99

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Newport Christian Fellowship (Shropshire)

Financial Statements for the period ended 31 March 2025 Statement of assets and liabilities

Cash funds 31 March 2025 Change in reserves Monetary assets: Bank accounts PayPal account Balances carried forward at 31 March 2025	As of 31 March 2025
	£ 75,887.48
	75,887.48
	75,883.84 3.64
	75,887.48

Other assets

Newport Christian Fellowship (Shropshire) was incorporated on 7 December 2023 and became financially active on 11 July 2024. It formally merged with Newport Christian Fellowship Trust on 31 August 2024, taking over the assets and liabilities of the trust which included equipment and assets of £2,115.83 and by 31 March 2025 had purchased an additional £1,975.24 of equipment.

Signed by:

Signature:

	Dr Victoria Talbot	13/01/2026
….....................................................	….....................................	……………………….
Treasurer and trustee	Name	Date

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Newport Christian Fellowship (Shropshire)

Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of Newport Christian Fellowship (Shropshire)

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Newport Christian Fellowship for the period ended 31 March 2025 which are set out on pages 1 to 3.

Responsibilities 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 which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

Accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the 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.

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.

L D Clifford FCA, BSC (Hons) 11 Manor Farm Drive Hinstock Market Drayton Shropshire

10 January 2026

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Newport Christian Fellowship (Shropshire)

Trustees Annual Report for the Period Ending 31 March 2025

Details

Name: Newport Christian Fellowship (Shropshire) Charity Number: 1206105

Charity’s Governing Document: Constitution dated 02/12/2023, inaugurated 07/12/23. Address for correspondence: 10 Broadway, Newport, Shropshire TF10 8NB Names of persons legally responsible:

Dr Victoria Talbot Naomi Musters (until 12[th] March 2025) David Clissold Richard Townley

Names & addresses of charity’s main agents: Dr Victoria Talbot (treasurer), 10 Broadway, Newport, Shropshire TF10 7TN.

Restrictions: None known

Investment Powers: To invest money from time to time and to leave money on deposit at a bank. Bankers and other finance providers: Cooperative Bank; HSBC; Charity Bank; PayPal; Wise.

Aims, Organisation and Summary of Charitable Activities

Objects of the CIO

The advancement of the Christian faith for the public benefit in accordance with the statement of faith in the Schedule, primarily in the environs of Newport in the county of Shropshire, and in such other parts of the United Kingdom or the world as the charity trustees may from time-to-time think fit.
Such other charitable purposes in the United Kingdom and/or other parts of the world, as shall, in the opinion of the charity trustees further the work of the CIO.

Organisation

Church leader David Clissold is contracted to work part-time for the church. He is ably supported by a skilled, prayerful and faithful team of volunteer leaders and trustees, along with other volunteers from within the body of the church.
Most meetings of the church take place in a community hall called Cosy Hall. We have a number of links to other Christian organisations, most notably Youth with a Mission (YWAM).
The church holds itself accountable to Pete Gilbert who looks after a number of churches, providing us with accountability and sound wisdom and advice.

Charitable Activities during the period:

Sunday Worship with Sunday School in Cosy Hall.
Regular midweek Meetings.
‘Making a Difference’, a stall in Newport Market selling fairtrade items, Christian goods and locally produced fudge. Also gives away free Bibles and other Christian literature; prayer is offered.
Wellbeing Café on Wednesdays in a local community facility called The Hub which is part of the Youth Café Project.

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Support for those involved in mission, both home & overseas
Responsibility for Newport Shropshire Foodbank, which gives food and other items to those in need.
Pastoral support to members of the congregation and those participating the wellbeing café.
Active role with Churches Together in Newport.
Active partnership with Telford Minster to provide opportunities for the young people of Newport to hear the gospel in fun, youth-oriented sessions.

Progress & Achievements - Governance

Charitable Structure

As explained in our report for the charitable trust for the year ending 31[st] March 2023, we were preparing to become a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO).
It was a long process, but we finally incorporated on 7[th] December 2023 and became Newport Christian Fellowship (Shropshire). NCF is now a legal body in its own right, a move which will afford the trustees greater legal protection.
We succeeded in extending the financial year of the trust by 6 months to 30[th] September 2024. This enabled us to set up our new bank accounts for the CIO, organise and then deploy the paperwork for the asset transfer before the end of the financial year. We give grateful thanks to Municipal Charities of Stratford Upon Avon who kindly shared a copy of their asset transfer template free of charge for us to use.
The merger of the two charities took place on 31[st] August 2024 and was entered onto the register on 19[th] September 2024.
The CIO became financially active on 11[th] July 2024 when the first deposit entered the new bank account. Therefore, the expenditure between 7[th] December and this date used the trust’s funds.

However, this report, covers the activities of the whole period of the existence of the CIO as our insurers explained that this is how we would be operating and would therefore be insuring us as a CIO from the date of its inception.

Pioneer membership

The church leadership spent some time during the period exploring whether the church should become a member of the Pioneer network. It is generally felt that Pioneer is a good fit, although some theological questions remain.
As part of this exploratory process, the leadership and spouses attended the Pioneer Leaders’ Conferences in February 2023 and in 2024. The treasurer also attended in 2024.
No conclusions had been drawn by the end of the period.

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Trustee Change

Naomi Musters stood down as trustee and chair of the governing board on 12[th] March 2025. Naomi, along with her husband Mike had felt for some time that the Lord was asking them to leave NCF and follow His calling to wherever He was to take them.

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Mike and Naomi with their farewell gifts
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Mike and Naomi left NCF at the end of March. On the final Sunday in March, we held a special service for them, to present them with a gift and thanking God for their amazing 27 years’ service in NCF and praying for guidance for them and us for the next steps.

Finance

NCF anticipated ending the period with a twelve-month budget deficit of £5,427 of unrestricted and general mission funds.
However, this deficit did not materialise and, despite an unbudgeted spend of £3,000 to support the purchase of a water purification and bottling business for Rudy and Nits Basultin.
The reduction in deficit is attributed in part to some increases in giving and underspend in some areas.

Progress and Achievements – Charitable Activities for the Public Benefit

Our Work at Home - Church activities (NCF services, meetings and events)

Worship Without Walls

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Worship Without Walls social media logo
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As well as our regular Sunday morning services, we also continued to hold our occasional Friday night “Worship Without Walls” (WWW) meetings in the Susan Miles Room in Cosy Hall.
These evening meetings are given over to praise and worship and have a very different flavour to Sunday mornings. The sessions are promoted on Facebook, and it has been very gratifying to welcome members of other churches who want to join us in praise and worship of God on a Friday night.
WWW ran three times during the period in May 24, September 24 and March 25.

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Christmas

Christmases 2023 and 2024 fell within the period.
Around mid-December in both years we hosted a carol concert with gospel presentation and invited members of the community. The 2023 event also featured the local choir ‘Songbirds’ which some of NCF members are involved with.

A light supper with quizzes and activities was provided afterwards. It was so good to see the hall full of people keen to celebrate the season and it was wonderful to have the privilege of telling people the Good News of the birth of Jesus. Everyone had a fantastic time, and we are now building on the connections made.

On Christmas Eve in 2023 and on the Saturday before Christmas in 2024, NCF took the Good News out – literally - into the marketplace, into Newport market.

Unlike Paul, we were not there to ‘reason’ with those present (Acts 17:17) but we did sing! At the invitation of the stall holders, we set up our microphones, wore our best Christmas jumpers and hats and sang carols

Christmas carol concert – a terrific celebration!

with great gusto. One of our leaders, Jo Bentham led the group with Dave accompanying us on guitar. A short message was also shared.

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Carols in Newport Marketplace Christmas 2023 (L) and 2024 (R)
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They were relaxed, fun events and were very well-received by everybody.

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Bonkers Bingo flyer
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Youth Work

This year we have had the privilege of serving our youth and their friends by partnering with Telford Minster who have provided resources for two one-off events: a Bonkers Bingo in June 2024 and Pizza and Praise in October.
This year we have had the privilege of serving our youth and their friends by partnering with Telford Minster who have provided resources for two one-off events: a Bonkers Bingo in June 2024 and Pizza and Praise in October.
A prayer team gathered at the home of an NCF member whilst these events took place to lift up all the young people and the organisers in prayer.

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These youth events were well-attended. Around 20 young people came to the first event and numbers have increased at subsequent events. The youth leaders from Telford Minster were fabulous. Being young and relatable, their energy was infectious, and everyone had a wonderful time.

Other activities

Other regular activities continue:
Monday daytime “Prayer and a Psalm” group runs each week.
Fellowship and prayer group made up of people from across the Newport churches meet regularly on Mondays in The Barley pub.
Thursday nights’ weekly prayer meeting in the homes of people within the church.
During the summer of 2024, volunteers from within the church organised afternoon walks on the last Sunday of the month to encourage fitness and fellowship.

Our Work at Home – NCF Programmes

Newport Shropshire Foodbank

The Foodbank has continued to provide support to those in need – both food and financial advice.
Excluding grants, donations (both regular and ad hoc) during YE 2025 decreased slightly on the previous year.
However, we did receive two grants from Telford and Wrekin Council: one for £194.42 and the other for £2,000, and the Foodbank bank account is still very healthy.
The cost-of-living crisis continues to impact people in the local community and there continues to be a need to provide client support for utility bills by the provision of vouchers.
Numbers of clients fluctuated during the year but increased going into the winter period as the cost of utilities increased with around 80 individuals (approx. 20 families) being helped on a regular basis.
As well as being provided with food, clients are provided with cleaning and toiletry products and can help themselves to items on a pick-andmix table with items made available on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Foodbank manager enjoys a very good and trusting relationship with Lidl and collects from them every week. He is well known to the local branch and is often offered split pallets of items that cannot be sold.

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Volunteers boxing up the Christmas Foodbank parcels
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We would like to thank the Royal Naval Association Club from whom we rent the room and for all our volunteers who give so generously of their time to ensure that the Foodbank is there for all who need it. We would also like

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to thank a member of Wrekin Housing Trust who has also given their time to provide advice to clients and are very grateful to have received grants again from Telford and Wrekin Council for spending on client purchases.

We are particularly thankful for all the local community groups, businesses, churches and schools who have given so generously over the course of the year, both with food donations and finance. Their generosity ensured that the Foodbank was able to give out 37 hampers at Christmas time in 2024. Newport is an incredibly generous town, and we thank everyone involved from the bottom of our hearts.
For regular updates on the work of the Foodbank, please see the Facebook page.

Making a Difference

The stall manager, Jo Bentham has worked with the treasurer to move across to a new account with the Cooperative Bank. This move has reduced bank fees by around £50 per annum, has provided Jo with a debit card for stall purchases, and reduced the administrative load for the treasurer.
There has been a change in the atmosphere within the market and the stall is now seen as a fully established part of the market community with the manager reporting that NCF’s carol service in the market hall at Christmas 2023 being a pivotal moment, enabling more people to be reached and an increase in deeper conversations about faith, grief, loneliness and family splits.

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Goods for sale on NCF’s market stall
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  - The manager has had to find new suppliers following the demise of Traidcraft. We are now purchasing items from Eden, The Potter’s House and Leprosy Mission Trust amongst others. The stall also purchases items from local SMEs, including a local fudge producer.

Olivewood crosses are a popular sale and provide an opportunity to pray for those buying them. A member of NCF regularly donates toy cars. These are offered for a £1 donation with proceeds going to support the Children’s Centre in Madagascar. It’s proven to be an important opportunity to show customers how the stall makes a difference to the lives of others.
Locally made fudge
Staffing the stall is dependent on volunteers and is proving challenging. Shifts are invariably covered (though are often shorter than is desirable), and we give thanks for those who regularly step up to assist – particularly Julia Ridgeway and Jane Newey on Fridays. However, agreement to help at other times – mainly on Saturdays - is mostly last minute, which adds to the manager’s administrative workload. We pray for a larger group of regular, committed volunteers with whom a rota could be developed.
The stall has been able to assist a young person in the fellowship by providing them with opportunities to serve as part of their volunteering targets in their Duke of Edinburgh award.
A neighbouring stall holder has assisted us at odd times throughout the year but retired at the end of the period. We pray for good relationships with whoever takes over.

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ALPHA

Plans were also put in place towards the end of the year for another Alpha Course for newer members of the congregation who are young in their faith to go through the essentials of what it means to be a Christian and establish a strong foundation in their lives. The invitation to attend will extend to people outside NCF too.

Our Work at Home – working with Churches Together in Newport

NCF church leaders continue to be active in the group Churches Together in Newport (CTN).

Joint services

Joint services took place at St. Nicholas church in January at the start of the week of Christian Unity. 2024 was the first year this was held, and it was such a resounding success we repeated it in 2025! The church was packed out at both services and God was glorified.

Joint service at St. Nicholas’, Newport 2025

If we paraphrase Psalm 133, it says that God commands a blessing when his people dwell in unity, and we have certainly seen this. Everyone has been delighted at how everyone has been keen to meet, worship and work together.

Easter 2024

NCF participated in all the CTN Easter activities which included:
Joint Bible studies took place during the period of Lent (‘Lent Groups’)
A Maundy Thursday service and light supper event took place in St. Nicholas Church.
The annual Good Friday service took place in Trinity Church followed by a ‘Walk of Witness’ through the town whereby the congregation processed through the town behind a nominated person who carried a wooden cross singing Easter-themed hymns and choruses.

The walk concluded in a gathering in the centre of town to continue to worship God and proclaim what He has done for us by His death on the cross. Members of the public who passed by were given the opportunity to receive a free hot cross bun.

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Good Friday worship in Newport
town square, 2024.
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After this the group retired to a pre-booked area in The Barley public house for tea, coffee and more hot cross buns (NCF meets these costs). We are thankful to The Barley for hosting us.

Newport Carnival

NCF also continues to work hard with CTN to ensure a continued presence at Newport Carnival .
This involved working closely with St. Nicholas to set up a large, garden sized Connect 4 game and quiz outside the church on the grassy area as well as set up a series of prayer stations within the church building.

Renew Wellbeing (RW) Café

This is also a CTN activity, led principally by NCF and follows the Renew Wellbeing format.
It continued to meet on Wednesdays in the café area of the local facility called The Hub.
Offering crafts, board games, chat and – optionally – prayer, people have been able to come in and connect with those running it on the basis that “it’s ok not to be ok”.

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RW Café guest with his Christmas gift tags
made during a crafting session.
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During the season of Advent, participants also received copies of the Advent Hope Activity booklet.
Every session starts with a reading of Psalm 103 v 1-5 with each line being prayed in.

So many people suffer with poor mental health, and this is one way that we can reach them with help and support.

Numbers fluctuate, but we have between 3 and 14 people in attendance and it has led to some of them visiting NCF and, in the case of one person, become a Christian and give their life to the Lord.

• Often those coming to the café have been the victims of historic abuse and for the first time have felt able to talk

Handmade Christmas gift tags made during a crafting session at the Renew Wellbeing Café.

about it. Such disclosures are sensitively handled, in accordance with our Safeguarding policy and, where appropriate, people are signposted to sources of professional help.

This year CTN has been blessed by the provision of a grant of £400 by Councillor Peter Scott for the purchase of materials to be used for craft projects at the RW café from his Pride in the Community budget.

We are very grateful for this cash injection. It has enabled more craft sessions to run, has facilitated a wider variety of

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Fabric butterflies on hair clips. Made during a
Renew Wellbeing Café craft session.
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creative activities and because the terms of the grant mean that the Telford and Wrekin logo must be displayed, it provides members of the public with a mark of validation of the activity.

The Hub has been extremely welcoming. However, given that The Hub’s primary purpose is that of a Youth Café, arrangements for the wellbeing café came under review towards the end of the period. It is likely therefore that that, at least during the school holidays, the wellbeing café will need to move to another venue.

Other CTN Activities

NCF has also helped out with other CTN activities, including holiday clubs and the annual Light Party – a Halloween alternative for young children. This year the Light Party was held in Newport Baptist Church, and it was good to see the emphasis on dressing up in bright clothing and Jesus being the Light of the World, rather than children being encouraged to dress up as creatures of darkness.

Our Work at Home - Other NCF Activities

Supporting UK Charities

Throughout the year we continued to support Telford Christians Together and YWAM – the Kings Lodge in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.

Supporting Individuals

In addition to these significant activities, we have continued to provide long-term pastoral support to a retired couple within the congregation who have complex health needs. We also provided regular financial support two UK-based Christian workers to help meet their daily needs - one retired and one active one - all of which supports the promotion of the Christian message and relieves hardship as befits our charitable objectives.

Our Work Overseas – Mission Partners

We have continued with our support to our overseas partners. It has been a real privilege to do this.

Rudy and Nits Basultin in the Philippines

Rudy and Nits are Youth With a Mission (YWAM) workers in Cagayan D’Oro in the Philippines. They are active in their local communities, reaching out to people with the Good News of the gospel and providing educational opportunities to local children who cannot afford to go to school.

We have therefore been pleased to continue to provide support for some of their ministry initiatives.

This year we have principally supported them (using funds
from the trust, so not reflected in the accounts above) to
Water bottling business purchase a small water purification and bottling business. This has been on a part grant, part loan basis.

This initiative, once fully established, will provide them with an income to help them achieve financial stability and provide employment for another person as well as helping them reach community members.

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Their hearts are fundamentally for their local community, many of whom are very poor, and we have been delighted to also send them small sums to help them in other specific initiatives – a grant to kickstart a dormant sewing business to employ local mothers to make hessian tote bags for a local hospital, funds for school supplies for local children after they were let down by a key funder, and a financial contribution for them to provide local poor children with a Christmas party and a Christmas present.
Rudy and Nits are also not well off themselves and so two NCF church members also continue to kindly provide educational sponsorship for two of Rudy and Nits’ children.

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Local mothers sewing cloth bags
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Donated books. Before shipping (top) and on delivery at
the school (bottom)
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Master’s Kids’ School and Jesus Worship Centre in Uganda

In April 2024 Dave Clissold and Richard Talbot visited Pastor James Kato’s church, Jesus Worship Centre, in the Nateete region of Kampala, Uganda. They also carried out an audit of the Master’s Kids’ School which is a primary school linked to the church. Both church and school are part of Exalt King Jesus Ministries (EKJM).
This audit was carried out on behalf of the British charity, Hope Nateete whose remit is to raise funds for the school. Dave is a trustee of the charity and NCF is a key financial supporter. The audit was to provide assurance to the trustees of Hope Nateete and NCF that all is as it should be.
It was an amazing visit! Dave and Richard were able to see first-hand the challenges faced by the head teacher, Julie Kato and her team as well as the poverty within the local area. Many people, particularly women, struggle to provide for their families.
Security – of the local churches, as well as more generally within the community – is a serious problem. Violence, particularly against women and girls, is very common, and some churches have had to deal with terrorist attacks. Richard is a Krav Maga instructor and was able to provide basic security advice to a group of local pastors and was pleased to deliver a session on self-defence to around 70 women and girls from across the local churches.
Following this visit, two local Telford and Wrekin primary schools gifted Hope Nateete with several hundred text and reading books that were no longer required. In January

Richard’s self-defence class for women and girls

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2025 Hope Nateete then received funding from a church contact to pay for the shipment of the school textbooks. NCF is now exploring how links between local schools and Uganda can be established and maintained.

NCF is now working with Pastor Kato to re-register EKJM as an NGO so that he can succeed in opening a partnership account with Stewardship Services who offer a donor advised funding service. Once this happens, the overall aim is for funding for the school and any ad hoc gifts to the church to follow this route and for Hope Nateete as a charity to either merge with NCF or to close.

This change is highly desirable. There is a concern that Hope Nateete’s banking provider may decide that it no longer wishes to provide them with a banking service. UK banks are risk-averse and have ever more stringent regulations which they are obliged to comply with when dealing internationally to prevent fraud and moneylaundering.

Maintaining accounts of this nature for small charities is costly for the banks and account closures, sometimes with very little notice, have been widely reported in the press.

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Local lady with her gift of bananas
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As a very large charity which is set up specifically to provide financial and governance support to Christian churches, workers and organisations, both in the UK and overseas, Stewardship Services is well-placed to provide a secure and compliant route for finances to EKJM. By taking this approach, we feel that this will help to safeguard the future of the school.

We sent Pastor Kato £100 to be used as part of his Christmas outreach in December 2023.

With this money he and his wife, Julie supported 7 families with a bunch of bananas and a small amount of cash – 30,000 Ugandan schillings (£6). James has sent photos and video evidence and completed a grant impact form.

In December 2024 we sent James a further £100 as a contribution to his and Julie’s daily living expenses.

Fiona and Narilanto Rabesson in Madagascar

In October 2024 we sent Fiona £350 to provide educational sponsorship for local children.

Fiona has since provided feedback to let us know that the money was spent on tuition and supplies for 13 children: 7 orphans and 6 from poor families. Two of the children had been left orphaned after their mother died. Their grandma took them in but lives hand to mouth trying to feed them. There was no possibility she could pay for them to go to school. Fiona also sent a video thanking the sponsors.

The 13 children all come from the community around the centre and attend kids or youth club there; their grandmother comes to the seniors’ club. Fiona reported, “What a joy to not only be able to give them teaching and encouragement spiritually but be able to help practically. Also, one little girl speaks in the video saying she is so excited to be able to go to school and thanks the sponsors.”

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Buying school supplies.
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At Christmas time 2024 we were then pleased to send a further £100 donation to help Fiona and her husband with their daily living expenses. As YWAM missionaries they do not have a large income and are dependent on the generosity of others to fund their living expenses and their ministry.

Looking Ahead

1[st] April 2025 to 31[st] March 2026

Challenges

The departure of Mike and Naomi has resulted in two things:
A sharp decrease in income. They were a very generous couple and their regular giving accounted for a significant percentage of our income. Once again, we are faced with another year where we are forecasting a sizeable deficit – around £6,738 by the 31[st] March 2026 – if there are no further increases in giving. Reserves are healthy though and the trustees are not unduly worried.
The need to find someone to take on the GDPR and Safeguarding work that Naomi used to do. A person has been identified to take on this role later this calendar year.
Church numbers have decreased over a period of several years leaving a smaller group of people to organise, drive and carry out activities. Most people contribute in some way. However, we run rather lean and unless there is real, sustained growth, there is little capacity to take on more. Since the departure of Mike and Naomi, there have been new visitors on a Sunday morning, some of whom have stayed but these changes had not, at the end of the period, translated into any kind of giving, whether regular or ad hoc , financial or volunteering of time for ministry activities.
There is a serious shortage of church leaders within other churches in the town. The rector of St. Nicholas had, towards the end of the period, announced her intention to take up another post elsewhere at the end of June 2025. Other churches are managing either without a leader or only with an interim minister.
NCF, with Dave Clissold, has concluded that he needs to step down as chair of CTN to free up his time for other things and to reduce his overall workload (which is considerable). There is no clear candidate to replace him. This risks the loss of progress made by CTN over recent years in bringing the Newport churches together and reaching out into the community. We pray that another leader becomes apparent, or a new way of running CTN is found.

Plans

The trustees and leaders have a number of plans that, God willing, we will bring to fruition in the forthcoming year. Some of these have already been mentioned, but in summary we plan to work/develop in the following areas:
Youth work – we are thankful for the input from Telford Minster and are hopeful that this will translate into involvement with local church. Tim and Jo Bentham are praying about how they can build on the success of the youth events and provide a more regular club that young people can feel part of.
Delivery of another ALPHA course for new Christians or those that are exploring what being a Christian is.
Completion of our ongoing policy work to ensure that our foundations for church growth are strong.

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Newport Christian Fellowship (Shropshire)

Conclusion and Summary

Despite challenges, once again we have achieved a great deal during this period:

We have successfully become a CIO and have closed the previous trust. This is the culmination of a large, longlasting and time-consuming project.
The financial deficit in unrestricted and general mission income at year end was not as large as forecast; we give thanks to God for people’s generosity.
Much more importantly, we have supported many people in the UK and overseas, have worked to spread the gospel message and worked with other Christians and community leaders in the town.
We are truly thankful to everyone who has contributed to the life and activities of the church – particularly Dave Clissold who works incredibly hard in his role. But, moreover, we give thanks to our wonderful Father God for all that He has done for us and through us, trusting that He will continue this during 2025-2026 and beyond.
We look forward in anticipation of all that He has in store for the financial year 1[st] April 2025 to 31[st] March 2026

Dr V. Talbot, Chair, Treasurer and Secretary. On behalf of NCF trustees.

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