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2023-08-31-accounts

Trustees' Annual Re ort for the eriod p p From Period start date Period end date Day Month Year Day Month Year To 01 September 2022 31 August 2023

THE GREEK ORTHODOX COMMUNITY OF HASTINGS

The Greek Orthodox Church of St Mary Magdalene

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Charity No 285794
Church Road
St Leonards-on-Sea
East Sussex
Postcode TN37 6EE
Dates acted if Name of person (or body)
Trustee name Office (if any) not for whole entitled to appoint trustee (if
year any)
His Eminence Archbishop Patron 12/06/2019 Archdiocese of Thyateira
Nikitas to and Great Britain
31/08/2023
Mr Demetrios Demetriades Trustee Executive Committee
Mr John Neofitou Vice Chair Trustee
Miss Maria Kiniari Vice Chair & Minute Executive Committee
Secretary
Mr Sotirios Joannou Trustee Executive Committee
Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)
Name Dates acted if not for whole year
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Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)

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Type of adviser Name Address
Accountants and Mr
Charity Advisors
Financial Mrs I Edwards 8 Baldslow Down,
Administrator St Leonards on Sea, East Susses TN37 7NH
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Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

Section B Structure, governance and management

Description of the charity’s trusts

March 2012

TAR

1

Type of governing document Declaration of Trust 1982 and as amended on 17 Jul 2018

(eg. trust deed, constitution)

How the charity is constituted Trust

(eg. trust, association, company)

Trustee selection methods Appointed by Executive Committee (eg. appointed by, elected by)

Additional governance issues (Optional information)

You may choose to include additional information, where relevant, about:

Newly appointed trustees are invited to induction meetings to familiarise themselves with the work of our Charity, they are introduced to the Church executive committee and we familiarise them with the Deed of Trust and the Constitution of the Greek Orthodox Communities. We offer guidance and provide them with a welcome pack including:

Our reporting and administrative procedures are in place to ensure we give due consideration to and endeavour to minimise all risks, our trustee’s together with the executive committee regularly meet to discuss and oversee the work of the various sub-committees.

Section C Objectives and activities Summary of the objects of the The objects of the Charity are by such means as are charitable to charity set out in its promote the Orthodox Faith to all Orthodox Christians and the Greek governing document Orthodox charitable institutions for the old and sick people the students and the poor of the Orthodox Faith and all denominations living in Hastings and environs and the advancement of the education of the public. The Executive Committee in co-operation with our parish priest, Reverend Ierotheos Georghiou is fully committed to ensuring everyone is made welcome and invited to participate in worship, learning and social activities at our Church and are encouraged to become part of the lively parish community at St Mary Magdalene.

March 2012

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The executive committee together with our priest consults with our parishioners when planning for community services, activities and events. We give due consideration to the Commissions guidelines in relation to public benefit and the specific guidance to charities for the advancement of religion.

Repairs, Restoration and Maintenance of the fabric of the Church and Community Hall continues to present a formidable challenge as we are situate in a raised open position adjacent to the seafront in St Leonardson-Sea. The fabric of the buildings suffer from the constant effects of erosion due to the marine environment and exposure to the elements.

Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)

You may choose to include We are constantly having to prioritise our limited resources and funds to further statements, where manage the many smaller individual servicing, repair and upkeep needs relevant, about: of the Historic and Community Buildings whilst also continuing to develop strategies of the restoration Master Plan.  policy on grant making;  The dedication of our volunteers and community members continues to policy programme related investment; be the solid foundation that ensures our Church and its facilities are open and available to all.

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Section D Achievements and performance

Section DAchievements andperformance Section DAchievements andperformance
Summary of the main
achievements of the charity
during the year
We summarise our main achievements in the past year as follows:

We continue to reach out and offer support to all within the wider
community and particularly Orthodox Christians who have arrived in the
local area in recent years.

Our parish community and congregation continues to enjoy multicultural
worship, prayer, friendship and social integration with Orthodox
Christians from Romania, Russia, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Georgia, Ukraine
Greece, Cyprus, and indeed, many other nationalities within our wider
local community.

To help promote community cohesion and greater participation we
continue the saying of important parts of our liturgy services in 4
different languages to help integration into the Church community.

Future restoration plans include the provision of two new
classrooms/meeting rooms, crèche and disabled facilities at the rear of
our Church to facilitate expansion of the valued community needs and
further expansion of the language schools.

The Community Hall continued to be a regular meeting place for
different communities and local creative groups.

We have completed the following urgent maintenance:
-
Community Hall and church boilers have been replaced by new
modern boilers which will give us possibility to save on gas charges.
-
Refurbishment has been completed to walls in church hall.
-
Plumbing has been changed in all washrooms in church and church
hall.
-
Drainage of the Church cellar that flooded due to pump failure,
servicing and cleaning of the pumps and re-siting of the warning
system.
-
Carried out essential minor repairs and refurbishments to the
Community Hall, to help maintain hire income.
-
Repair of stain glass window was carried.

Section E Financial review Our policy is to continue where feasible, to maintain a restricted reserve of Brief statement of the £15,000 for unforeseen emergencies. charity’s policy on reserves Details of any funds None at present materially in deficit Further financial review details (Optional information)

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The Church owns a freehold house which is currently let and provides much needed additional income.

Increasing further income from hire of the Community Hall is badly hampered by the lack of disabled access, this work must be prioritised and completed at the earliest opportunity, due to urgent repairs works it has been necessary to postpone this work temporarily this financial year. We plan to make further grant funding applications to help us to complete this as soon as possible.

In the meantime, we continue to receive regular payments for hire funds from community group activities in the hall.

Church shop has been updated and stock purchased for providing extra income stream for church.

Section F Other optional information F

Further advancement of a sustainable community focused restoration and development Master Plan that maximises existing Church resources, enables a major financial contribution towards the massive repair costs of restoration of the Historic Church is slowly progressing and we hope that the coming year will see this advance to Stage 1 that will enable a full planning application and a submission to the Heritage Lottery Fund for an initial grant assessment.

We has appointed Conservation Architect and professional team to manage the project and have set up a Steering Group to oversee the advancement and fulfilment of the master plan.

Our Church community will continue to maximise our combined efforts to ensure adequate income to maintain our buildings and provide space, resources and support to the local community groups during the coming 2023/2024 financial year.

The outcome of the planning application process and future grant applications will determine the way forward for the preservation of the Historic Church for future generations and will we pray, guide us towards a more secure and viable future.

March 2012

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Section G Declaration

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Section GDeclaration Section GDeclaration Section GDeclaration
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
Signature(s)
Full name(s) Maria Kiniari
Position (eg
Secretary,
Chair, etc)
Chair of Trustees Administrator
Date

March 2012

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Registered Charity Number: 285794

THE GREEK ORTHODOX COMMUNITY OF HASTINGS (GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE)

ANNUAL REPORT AND UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

THE GREEK ORTHODOX COMMUNITY OF HASTINGS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

CONTENTS

Legal and administrative information
Trustees' report
Independent Examiner's report
Statement of Receipts and Payments
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
Notes to the Financial Statements
Page
1
2-4
5
6
7
8

THE GREEK ORTHODOX COMMUNITY OF HASTINGS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023 LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Page 1

Church address St. Mary Magdalene Orthodox Church
Church Road
St Leonards-on-Sea
East Sussex
TN37 6EE
Charity number 285794
Charity trustees His Eminence Archbishop Nikitas Lulias
Mr Demetrios Demetriades
Mr Sotirios Joannou
Miss Maria Kiniari
Mr John Neofitou
Financial adminstrator Mrs I Edwards
8 Baldslow Down
St Leonards on Sea
East Sussex
TN37 7NH
Independent examiner J R Caladine FCCA CTA FCIE
Caladine Limited
Chartered Certified Accountants
Chantry House
22 Upperton Road
Eastbourne
East Sussex
BN21 1BF

THE GREEK ORTHODOX COMMUNITY OF HASTINGS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

Page 2

Trustees' Report

The trustees present their Annual Report and the Financial Statements of the church for the year ended 31 August 2023.

Structure, governance and management

The Greek Orthodox Community of Hastings (the "charity"), which is also known as the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Mary Madgalene, was registered with the Charity Commission on February 1983 and is governed by a Declaration of Trust as amended on 17 July 2018.

Trustees are appointed by the church Executive Committee. Newly appointed trustees are invited to induction meetings to familiarise themselves with the work of our Charity, they are introduced to the Church executive committee and we familiarise them with the Deed of Trust and the Constitution of the Greek Orthodox Communities. We offer guidance and provide them with a welcome pack including:

The Charity operates under the spiritual guidance of His Eminence Archbishop Nikitas and the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain

Our reporting and administrative procedures are in place to ensure we give due consideration to and endeavour to minimise all risks, our trustee’s together with the executive committee regularly meet to discuss and oversee the work of the various sub-committees.

Objectives and activities

The objects of the Charity are by such means as are charitable to promote the Orthodox Faith to all Orthodox Christians and the Greek Orthodox charitable institutions for the old and sick people the students and the poor of the Orthodox Faith and all denominations living in Hastings and environs and the advancement of the education of the public.

The Executive Committee in co-operation with our parish priest, Reverend Ierotheos Georghiou is fully committed to ensuring everyone is made welcome and invited to participate in worship, learning and social activities at our Church and are encouraged to become part of the lively parish community at St Mary Magdalene.

The principal charitable activities can be defined as follows:

The executive committee together with our priest consults with our parishioners when planning for community services, activities and events.

We give due consideration to the Commissions guidelines in relation to public benefit and the specific guidance to charities for the advancement of religion.

Repairs, Restoration and Maintenance of the fabric of the Church and Community Hall continues to present a formidable challenge as we are situate in a raised open position adjacent to the seafront in St Leonards-on-Sea. The fabric of the buildings suffer from the constant effects of erosion due to the marine environment and exposure to the elements.

THE GREEK ORTHODOX COMMUNITY OF HASTINGS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

Page 3

Trustees' Report

Objectives and activities (continued)

We are constantly having to prioritise our limited resources and funds to manage the many smaller individual servicing, repair and upkeep needs of the Historic and Community Buildings whilst also continuing to develop strategies of the restoration Master Plan.

The dedication of our volunteers and community members continues to be the solid foundation that ensures our Church and its facilities are open and available to all.

Achievements and performance

We summarise our main achievements in the past year as follows:

• Our parish community and congregation continues to enjoy multicultural worship, prayer, friendship and social integration with Orthodox Christians from Romania, Russia, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Georgia, Ukraine Greece, Cyprus, and indeed, many other nationalities within our wider local community.

• Future restoration plans include the provision of two new classrooms/meeting rooms, crèche and disabled facilities at the rear of our Church to facilitate expansion of the valued community needs and further expansion of the language schools.

We have completed the following urgent maintenance:

Financial review

The financial results for this year clearly reflects the continuous joint efforts and dedication of our volunteers, the entire community and our administrators in their support of the Church to ensure the income streams.

Despite our continued efforts the overall financial resources available to the trustee’s means we are continuously juggling to allocate adequate funds required to keep pace with ongoing maintenance and repair costs.

Principal sources of funds are as follows:

Maintaining all these income streams is crucial to allow the Church to continue to manage our buildings and provide much needed affordable space, services and facilities to the wider local community.

Community Hall incomes have increased due contract with Hasting and Bexhill Mencap and other private users. Increasing further income from hire of the Community Hall is badly hampered by the lack of disabled access, this work must be prioritised and completed at the earliest opportunity, due to urgent repairs works it has been necessary to postpone this work temporarily this financial year. We plan to make further grant funding applications to help us to complete this as soon as possible.

In the meantime, we continue to receive regular payments for hire funds from community group activities in the hall. Church shop has been updated and stock purchased for providing extra income stream for church.

THE GREEK ORTHODOX COMMUNITY OF HASTINGS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

Page 4

Reserves

The church endeavours to maintain cash reserve of at least £15,000 for unforeseen emergencies and has set up a designated fund for this purpose.

Future plans

Further advancement of a sustainable community focused restoration and development Master Plan that maximises existing Church resources, enables a major financial contribution towards the massive repair costs of restoration of the Historic Church is slowly progressing and we hope that the coming year will see this advance to Stage 1 that will enable a full planning application and a submission to the Heritage Lottery Fund for an initial grant assessment.

We has appointed Conservation Architect and professional team to manage the project and have set up a Steering Group to oversee the advancement and fulfilment of the master plan.

Our Church community will continue to maximise our combined efforts to ensure adequate income to maintain our buildings and provide space, resources and support to the local community groups during the coming 2023/2024 financial year.

The outcome of the planning application process and future grant applications will determine the way forward for the preservation of the Historic Church for future generations and will we pray, guide us towards a more secure and viable future.

Independent examination

J R Caladine FCCA CTA FCIE was appointed during the year to undertake the Independent Examination.

The trustees report was approved by the board of trustees

………………………… Maria Kiniari Trustee

Date: 12th February 2024

THE GREEK ORTHODOX COMMUNITY OF HASTINGS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

Page 5

Independent Examiner's Report

I report to the trustees of the Greek Orthodox Community of Hastings (the "charity") for the year ended 31 August 2023, which are set out on pages 6 to 8.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of the charity 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 CIO’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act. In carrying out my examination I have followed all applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 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 giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

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.

John Caladine FCCA

Chartered Certified Accountant Caladine Limited Chantry House 22 Upperton Road Eastbourne East Sussex BN21 1BF

Date: 12th February 2024

THE GREEK ORTHODOX COMMUNITY OF HASTINGS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

Page 6

Receipts and Payments Account

Unrestricted Restricted
Funds
Funds
£
£
Receipts
Donations - Plate Gift Aided
5,914
-
Donations - Plate Cash
7,777
-
Donations - General
16,583
-
Community Hall Hire - Various
25,388
-
House - Rent Received
11,700
-
Church Shop
3,299
-
Church Tea & Coffee Sales
404
-
School fees
84
-
Memorials & Feasts
1,188
-
Baptism & Christenings
1,255
-
Funeral
-
-
HMRC Gift Aid Received
5,330
-
Weddings
240
-
Events & Fundraising
464
-
Interest Received
179
-
Total receipts
79,805
-
Payments
Salaries
12,157
-
Church General Expenses
6,937
-
Church Insurance
5,863
-
Church General Repairs and maintenance
7,582
-
Church Shop - Stock
1,659
-
Church Administration
2,050
-
Church & Hall Utilties
6,109
-
Hall Repairs
12,707
-
House Repairs
416
-
Garden & Grounds
275
-
Charitable Family Donations
731
-
Accountancy
1,310
-
Visiting Priest
3,100
-
School Expenses
180
-
Cleaning
371
-
Office Costs
25
-
Website Expenses
206
-
Insurance
227
-
Bank charges
140
-
Miscellaneous expenses
-
-
Total payments
62,045
-
Net movement in funds
17,760
-
Cash funds b/f at 1st September 2022
41,585
-
Cash funds c/f at 31 August 2023
59,345
-
Total
Unrestricted Restricted
2023
Funds
Funds
£
£
£
5,914
7,973
-
7,777
9,779
-
16,583
17,263
-
25,388
14,031
-
11,700
8,812
-
3,299
3,945
-
404
21
-
84
167
-
1,188
1,227
-
1,255
1,405
-
-
482
-
5,330
486
-
240
115
-
464
-
-
179
11
-
79,805
65,717
-
12,157
11,903
-
6,937
5,978
-
5,863
5,600
-
7,582
9,235
1,108
1,659
3,843
-
2,050
2,200
-
6,109
5,465
-
12,707
400
-
416
410
-
275
757
-
731
55
-
1,310
1,407
-
3,100
-
-
180
360
-
371
616
-
25
361
-
206
215
-
227
598
-
140
145
-
-
20
-
62,045
49,568
1,108
17,760
16,149
(1,108)
41,585
25,436
1,108
59,345
41,585
-
Total
2022
£
7,973
9,779
17,263
14,031
8,812
3,945
21
167
1,227
1,405
482
486
115
-
11
65,717
11,903
5,978
5,600
10,343
3,843
2,200
5,465
400
410
757
55
1,407
-
360
616
361
215
598
145
20
50,676
15,041
26,544
41,585

The notes on page 8 form part of these Financial Statements.

THE GREEK ORTHODOX COMMUNITY OF HASTINGS AS AT 31 AUGUST 2023

Page 7

Statement of Assets and Liabilities

ASSETS
Monetary Assets
Cash at Bank and in hand
Lloyds Bank
CAF Cash
CAF Gold
Paypal
Petty Cash
Cash funds made up of
Restricted funds
Unrestricted funds:
Reserve (designated)
General Funds
LIABILITIES
Creditors
Accountancy Fee/Independent Examination
£
£
£
£
40,256
11,021
1,898
13,754
16,279
16,119
5
294
907
399
59,345
41,585
-
-
15,000
15,000
44,345
26,585
59,345
41,585
59,345
41,585
1,080
960
2023
2022
£
£
£
£
40,256
11,021
1,898
13,754
16,279
16,119
5
294
907
399
59,345
41,585
-
-
15,000
15,000
44,345
26,585
59,345
41,585
59,345
41,585
1,080
960
2023
2022
15,000
44,345
-
41,585
41,585
960

Approved by the Trustees on 12th February 2024

............................................................... Maria Kiniari Trustee

THE GREEK ORTHODOX COMMUNITY OF HASTINGS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023

Page 8

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Accounting Policies

The financial statements have been prepared as a Receipts and Payments in accordance with section 133 of the Charities Act 2011.

Restricted funds

The funds of the charity include funds comprising the following restricted funds:

Movements in funds

Balance at 1
Sept 2021
£
Building funds
1,108
1,108
Incoming
Resources
£
-
Resources
Balance at 1
Expended
Sept 2022
£
(1,108)
-
(1,108)
-
Incoming
Resources
£
-
-
Resources
Balance at 31
Expended
August 2023
£
£
-
-
-
-
Resources
Balance at 31
Expended
August 2023
£
£
-
-
-
-
- -

Building funds

These represents funds given and used to restore and improve the church building.

Designated funds

Reserves - The church endeavours to maintain cash reserve of at least £15,000 for unforeseen emergencies and has set up a designated fund for this purpose.

THE GREEK ORTHODOX COMMUNITY OF HASTINGS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023 Pa Inde endent Examinerfs Re ort I report lo the Iruslees of the Greek Orthodox Community of Haslings (the "charity") for the year ended 31 August 2023, which are set out on pages 6 10 8. Responsibilitigs and basis of report As the charity trustees of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 I'lhe Acl'l. I report in respect of my examination of the CIO'S accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act. In carrying out my examination I have followed all applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 14515}Ibl of the 2011 Act. Independent examlnerfs statement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect.. 111 accounting records were rbot kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act., or 121 the accounts do not accord with those records. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the ex8min8tion to which attention should be drawn in this report in order lo enable a proper understanding of the accounts lo be reached. John Caladine FCCA Chartered Certified Accountant Caladine Limited Chanty House 22 Upperton Road Eastbourne East Sussex BN21 1BF Dale.. 12th February 2024