2024-01-31-accounts - The Noor-Ul-Islam Mosque

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Noor ul Islam Mosque

Trustees Report for the year ended 31 January 2024

The trustees present their annual report and audited financial statements for the year ended 31 January 2024 and confirm they comply with the Charities Act 1993, as amended by the Charities Act 2006, the trust deed and the Charities SORP 2005.

Reference and Administrative Information

Charity Name Noor ul Islam Mosque Charity Registration Number 508677 Principal Office 2/4 Yarwood St Bury BL9 7AU

Board of Trustees

Syed Nasir Shah Syed Babar Shah Saqib Shah Mujtaba Amin Muhammad Rashid Javed Ajmal Farooq Dr Majid Khan Mohammad Zubair Khan Barkat Ahmed Saheed Rashid

Structure, governance and management

Governing document

Noor ul Islam Mosque is constituted as a charity, registered with the Charity Commission, under charity number 508677, and is governed by a constitution.

Organisational structure

The charity trustees oversee the general control of the charity. The trustees give their time freely and receive no remuneration or other financial benefits. The trustees appoint a management team to undertake day to day running of the mosque.

Recruitment and appointment of trustees

The existing trustees are responsible for the recruitment of new trustees. Selection of new trustees is based on merit; and on the basis that they regularly attend events and functions organised by the charity. They must actively engage in volunteering at the mosque and broader community work.

Risk management

The trustees have assessed the risks the charity faces and regularly review these risks at their meetings. The trustees are satisfied that systems are in place, or arrangements are in hand, to manage the risks that have been identified. Insurance cover is in place and the finances of the Mosque are kept under review. Appropriate DBS checks, supported by regularly reviewed safeguarding policies, are made for all those who work with children or other vulnerable groups within the Mosque or community centre.

Objectives, activities, and our aims

The objects of the charity are set out in the charity’s trust deed and are summarised as follows:

To serve the Muslim community of Bury by providing a place of worship, whilst facilitating celebration of religious festivals such as Ramadhan and Eids.
To serve the spiritual and educational needs of the Mosque attendees by providing Qur’anic classes for children and other educational classes for adults.
To facilitate for the needs of community, by maintaining and managing of a community centre, Dar us Salam.

Our objectives

Our objectives are set to reflect our faith and community aims. Each year our trustees review our objectives and activities to ensure they continue to reflect our aims. In carrying out this review the trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit and in particular its supplementary public guidance on the advancement of religion for the public benefit.

Our dual aims remain to provide a facility where Muslims can worship and to provide a community facility for all the inhabitants of Bury. Our long-term ambition is to build the self-confidence of Bury’s Muslims in their faith, and through our community facilities and activities help make our area a peaceful, vibrant, and harmonious community.

Strategies

We want to make our Mosque an accessible and welcoming venue where all Muslims, or those who wish to know more about our faith, can gather to learn about their religion and worship. The Mosque is always open with daily prayers, the Friday prayers being a focus of our activities.

Through our Interfaith work with local Christian and Jewish forums, we share the teachings of Islam and nature a communal spirit with other faith groups in the Bury area.

Use of volunteers

Volunteers are an important resource in both our faith and community work. Volunteers are involved in most of our faith and community. All our trustees also give of their time freely. We encourage all members of our Mosque to be involved in voluntary activities and to share their skills with others. All those volunteers working with projects involving children or other vulnerable groups are DBS checked.

Activities and achievements

Religious activities

Our Mosque provides a centre for our prayers and worship and for the activities associated with our faith. During the year under review, we offered a range of religious services and activities including:

Prayers: The Mosque is open all day for daily and Friday prayers.

Festivals: The Mosque prepares food during Ramadan for those attending our Mosque who wish to break their fast together. We also celebrate Saints’ days and offer a monthly service of thanksgiving celebrating the birth of our prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.

Funeral facilities: The Mosque has in place a provision to assist in the funeral arrangements.

Children’s classes: There are daily classes running from Monday to Friday for children to learn about their faith and recitation of the Qur’an.

Inter-faith dialogue: Our Mosque is an active member of the Muslim Christian Forum. We use this platform to promote inter-faith dialogue and social cohesion.

Adult classes: We run several classes aimed at the adult learners who wish to learn more about their faith.

Community activities: Our community hall and rooms provide a valuable educational and recreational resource to all in our local community. A wide variety of activities are organised and take place from our community centre.

Hall and rooms: Our hall and meeting rooms are available for use by local groups and organisations.

Homework club and IT classes: We run out of hours academic classes for Mathematics and Sciences.

Financial review Reserves policy

The trustees have reviewed the reserves of the charity. Their policy is to hold enough funds to meet 12 months’ operating costs of the Mosque.

Principal funding sources

The charity’s main source of income is charitable donations from the community.

Investment policy and objectives

The charity has a residential property in its portfolio generating rental income. The recent

purchase of adjacent land and development into a carpark has served the worshippers well. Long term objectives are unclear due to lack of funds, and it is envisaged that this land will be utilized as a carpark for some considerable time.

Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities

The charity trustees are responsible for preparing an annual report and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the charity trustees to prepare financial statements for each year which give a true and fair view of the situation of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period. In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP.
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.
state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements.
prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business.

The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 1993, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The trustees for the purposes of charity law who served during the year and up to the date of this report are set out on page 1.

Approved by the trustees and signed on its behalf:

S. Rashid

S Rashid (General Secretary)

1[st] November 2024