## **ANGLICAN MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER** # **ANNUAL REPORT AND STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30[TH] JUNE 2024** **CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER 292594** 1 ## **ANGLICAN MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER** ## **CONTENTS** **----- Start of picture text -----**
Page 3 Legal and Administrative Information
Pages 4 & 5 Trustees’ Report
Page 6 Independent Examiners Report to the Trustees
Page 7 Income and Expenditure
Page 8 Balance Sheet
Pages 9 Notes to the Accounts
**----- End of picture text -----**
2 ## **ANGLICAN MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER** ## **LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION** **WORKING NAME** Marriage Encounter (Anglican Expression) **CHARITY NUMBER** 292594 **START OF FINANCIAL YEAR** 1[st] July 2023 **END OF FINANCIAL YEAR 3** 0[th] June 2024 **TRUSTEES AT 30[TH] JUNE 2023** Nick & Viv Drayton Malcolm & Margaret Harrison David & Liz Percival (Lay Executive couple) David & Ann Roberts Revd Ian & Jane Scott-Thompson (Chair couple) **LEGAL STATUS** Unincorporated Charity **GOVERNING DOCUMENT** Trust Deed dated 17[th] June 1985 as amended by a Deed of Variation dated 10[th] May 2003 ## **OBJECTS** To educate the public concerning the union of a man and a woman within the institution of marriage with particular reference to emotional, physical and sexual relationships and with a view to developing personal responsibilities and enriching family life to deepen such relationships through communication between marriage partners. ## **CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESS** ## **PRIMARY BANKERS** The Rectory Church Lane Marks Tey Colchester CO6 1LW Lloyds Bank PLC CAF Bank Limited 25 Gresham Street 25 Kings Hill Avenue London West Malling EC2V 7HN Kent ME19 4JQ ## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER** Norman Gillhespy FCA 4 Hopewell Close Shoreham-by-Sea BN43 5PN 3 ## **ANGLICAN MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024** The Trustees present their report on the financial statements of Anglican Marriage Encounter for the year ended 30 June 2024. The financial statements have been prepared on an accruals basis and comply with the charity’s Trust Deed and applicable law. This is a change from previous years when results were presented on a cash or receipts and payments basis. Comparative figures for 2023 have been restated on the accruals basis. The effect of changing basis is to convert the previously reported result for 2023 of surplus receipts £3,764 to an income deficit £921. ## **The charity** Anglican Marriage Encounter is a registered charity governed by the Trust Deed made on 17 June 1985 as varied by a Deed of Variation dated 10 May 2003. It is registered with the Charity Commission under number 292594. The Trustees have had due regard to public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission. The charity provides public benefit through the advancement of the education of engaged and married couples concerning the union of a man and a woman within the institution of marriage with particular reference to emotional, physical and sexual relationships and with a view to developing personal responsibilities and enriching family life to deepen such relationships through communication between marriage partners. The charity pursues its aims primarily through providing teaching weekends, most of them residential, for married and engaged couples. Ongoing support is available after the weekends. The charity’s weekend programmes are widely publicised through adverts, magazine articles, leaflets in public places such as churches, libraries and doctors surgeries, through the internet, radio and by word of mouth. The weekends are open to engaged or married couples whatever their financial circumstances or faith. There are no charges other than a modest booking fee which can also be waived where necessary. All other funding comes through voluntary donations. We encourage couples who have attended a weekend to pass on information to others, particularly those who might be unable to afford to pay for a comparable programme. ## **Trustees** The Trustees who served during the year are given on page 3. The Trustees met twice in the year, and dealt with necessary business by e-mail between meetings. ## **Selection and training of Trustees** Trustees are appointed from couples who have experienced one or more of the charity’s weekends and who can bring diverse experience from business, charity governance, church, and organisations supporting marriage. Relevant Charity Commission publications and guidance when issued, are circulated to Trustees with the opportunity for discussion during biannual business meetings. ## **Review of activities** Six weekends had been planned for the year, of which one was cancelled (in an area where weekends have not been held for some time) for want of couples wishing to attend, and one added to meet demand. Four Marriage Encounter weekends were held, attended by 34 couples (36 couples on 6 weekends in 2022/23), and two Engaged Encounter weekends attended by 14 couples (3 couples on 1 weekend in 2022/23). This shows a revival of interest in Engaged Encounter weekends which have been slow to recover since the Covid pandemic. Donations declined despite more couples attending Weekends, with many couples facing financial pressure in their lives. Venue costs again increased significantly over the year. The net result was a deficit of £12,714 (deficit of £921 in 2022/23) which was deducted from Reserves.The Trustees are grateful that the 4 charity. is financially wure and hope that weekend bookings will become more predictable and return to pEe-Covid levels. The cost of ¢an¢elling a Weekend is significa¥tsiThiili))tsLtrsLiSrtLU(kn&ilcfjk¥￿"_u1(.￿jfv1 to rcvive actsvity, IK)OSt bookmgs and encou￿¢ voluntcers. Tho, haN'c cxplorcd new ways of advertising we¢kends and reaching new audiences of couples iTEcluding radio int¢rvi¢ws adverts. Seven Weekends have been planned for the year to 30 June 2025. The allnual Team and Officers Day was hcld in Sutton Coldfield as in earlier years with 8ood attendance. Community support lo couples who have attended a weekend continues through a monthly email newsletter, FaCe1￿k ￿0UpS, and small groups meeting onlinc and in person. Leadership succession and volunteer resources are an increasing concern. The Tn￿le¢S would like to record their Jyatitude lo all the many N'olunteers who Continue to serve the charilv in so many ways. All of the chariry's activities are ca]Ticd out by N'olunteers. Reserves policy Th¢ Truste¢s have r¢vicw¢d theit policy for reserves in the li@thi ofr¢¢en( and for¢¢ast deficits. Reservcs o £96.754 are substantial rclative to operating costs, but the present outlook is for further defiLits and wicertainty about givinLI. We require sufficient reserves to be able to Commit to provide weekends in good faith, without being dependent on any contribution the couples attending those weekends may make to the futUTe acttvities of th¢ organisation. Thc prcscnt substantial reserN'es allow the Trustees to continue operattnyi the charity for at least the next two years without concerns about financial solvency. Inveslmenl policy and returns Bank int¢r¢st is th¢ only investsnent tncome earned by the charity. Risk maDagement Th¢ Twst¢es are responsible for ¢xaminin8 the major risks that the charity faces each financial year when revi¢win8 Its plans. The Trustees mainlatn a risk register which they review annually, Whil￿ ensuring there are systems In pla¢¢ for monitorin8 and ￿ntrOl, so as to mitigate any impact on the charity s actiiiti¢s. The Trustees Tegularly review all policies and procedures. Governance and internal control The Trustees delegate managemenl of th¢ Charity's artivities lo the Lay Executive couple, who report lo the Trustees at least twice a year. There no paid officers and all the athninistration is conducted froln PTivat¢ hom¢s. lan Scott-Thompson Jane Scott-Thompson Chair Couple Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Anglican imarriage Encounter (registered charity 292594) Responsibilities and basis of report I report to the In￿tee$ on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the year ended 30 June 2024 as set out on pagcs 7 to 9. As the trustees of the charity. you are restKTrn5ible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance ith the requirements of the Charitie5 Act 2011 ("th¢ Act"). I report in resrkct of my examination of the charity s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 201 l Act and in carryingv out my exarnination, I have followed 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 confinn that no material matters have come lo my att¢ntion in connection ivith the examination which gi￿eS me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of th¢ Act or the accounts do not accord with the accounting r¢¢oTds I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection wtth the examination to which atteThtion should be dra￿￿ in order to enable a prO￿r underslanding of the accounts to be reached. There has been a changFe in accounting basis from cash to accruals and this has been sIgn￿sted on the face of the accounts. Nonnan Gillhespy FCA 4 Hopewell Close Shoreham-by-sea BN4J 5PN Date ## **Anglican Marriage Encounter** ## **Income and Expenditure for the Year Ended 30th June 2024** |||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||**Notes**|**Funds**|**Funds**|**2024**||**_2023_**| |**Income**||£|£|£||_£_| |Donations and Similar receipts|2a|33,270|-|33,270||_36,131_| |Investment Income|2b|1,886|-|1,886||_678_| |**Total Income**||**35,156**|**-**|**35,156**||**_36,809_**| |**Expenditure**||||||| |Expenditure in Furtherance of||||||| |Charitable Objectives|3a|45,491|-|45,491||_34,864_| |Expenditure on Managing and||||||| |Administering the Charity|3b|2,379|-|2,379||_2,866_| |**Total Expenditure**||**47,870**|**-**|**47,870**||**_37,730_**| |**Net Income / (Expenditure)**||**(12,714)**|**-**|**(12,714)**||**_(921)_**| |**Transfers between Funds**||**-**|**-**|**-**||**_-_**| |Balances Brought Forward||109,468|720|110,188||_111,109_| |**Balances Carried Forward**||**96,754**|**720**|**97,474**||**_110,188_**| |||||||| Note These results are presented on an accruals basis. Results were previously presented on a cash basis, being a summary of the cash book receipts and payments, without adjustment for sums receivable or payable at the year end. Comparatives for 2023 have been restated on the accruals basis. 7 Anglican Marriage Encounter Balance Sheet as at 30th June 2024 2024 2023 Cash Funds Lknyds Bank AF Bank t5.976 11.786 65.741 46,588 30,000 Sh3N*>rook Bank 30,￿0 1,370 PayP81 1,665 94229 108,903 Debtors and prepayments Deposits paid in advance forvenues Glft dalm& 1.8LbJ 1.271 DMation8 in transit 1.419 4,491 2,776 Creditors falling du8 in onè year Travel expenses Booking fees recenied in athance 420 1,24S 1,491 Net total assots 97,474 110, 188 Represented by.. General Fund& 96.754 109.468 Restricted Funds 720 720 97.474 110,188 woved by the Trustee8 on 8 September 2024 Swed cfi lh￿r beha Chdr of Tru8teÉ8 ## **Anglican Marriage Encounter** ## **Notes to the Accounts for the Year Ended 30th June 2024** ## **1. Basis of Accounting** The accounts have been prepared on an accruals basis, and meet at least the minimum levels of accountability recommended by the Charity Commission. ||||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Restricted**|||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |**2. **|**Receipts**||**Funds**|**Funds**||**2024**||**_2023_**| ||||£|£||£||_£_| |**a) **|**Donations and Similar Receipts**|||||||| ||Gifts & Donations||26,343|||26,343||_29,197_| ||Gift Aid receivable||5,245|||5,245||_5,984_| ||Booking Fees & other income||1,682|||1,682||_950_| ||||**33,270**|**-**||**33,270**||**_36,131_**| |**b) **|**Investment Income**|||||||| ||Bank Interest||1,886|||1,886||_678_| ||||**1,886**|**-**||**1,886**||**_678_**| |**3. **|**Payments**|||||||| |**a) **|**Expenditure in Furtherance of Charitable Objectives**|||||||| ||**Weekend Costs**|||||||| ||Marriage Encounter||29,334|||29,334||_26,279_| ||Engaged Encounter||9,832|||9,832||_3,819_| ||Weekend reunions & community day||-|||-||_-_| ||Leaflets, advertising, promotion||2,586|||2,586||_1,695_| ||Encounter Magazine||2,790|||2,790||_2,686_| ||||44,542|-||44,542||_34,479_| ||**Training and Development**|||||||| ||Team & Officer Development||949|||949||_385_| ||Team Deeper Weekend||-|||-||_-_| ||||949|-||949||_385_| |||||||||| ||**Total**||**45,491**|**-**||**45,491**||**_34,864_**| |**b) **|**Expenditure on Managing and Administering the**|||**Charity**||||| ||Meetings & travel||638|||638||_1,081_| ||Communications & Support||882|||882||_929_| ||Independent Examiner||-|||-||_-_| ||Banking Services||422|||422||_419_| ||Insurance||437|||437||_437_| ||||**2,379**|**-**||**2,379**||**_2,866_**| |**4. **|**Restricted Funds**|||||**2024**||**_2023_**| ||To purchase banners for use at Weekends|||||720||_720_| |||||||**720**||**_720_**| |||||||||| ## **5. Trustees expenses** A total of £904 (2023 - £1,257) was paid to trustees to reimburse them for travel and other expenses on charity business. ## **6. Staff Costs and Numbers** The Charity employed no staff during this or the previous financial period. 9