## **Annual Report April 2023 to March 2024**
During the year, it became apparent that it was time to review the organisation’s charitable status and so the trustees performed due diligence: it was clear that the best option was to convert to a CIO. Following approval from the Charity Commission to proceed in this direction, we are in the process of transferring from charitable trust status, to becoming a CIO. For now, we continue to operate as Burton Renewal Fellowship – known as ‘Riverside Church’ and are a church with charitable status.
The objectives of the charity have now been changed slightly from those given at its inception:
- The advancement of the Christian faith, in accordance with the Statement of Faith, in Burton-upon-Trent, the surrounding districts and such other parts of the United Kingdom and the world in such ways as the Charity Trustees may from time to time decide; The relief of persons who are in conditions of need hardship or distress or who are aged or sick.
- the relief of persons who are in condition of need or distress by reason of financial hardship, age, ill-health, disability or such other economic or social disadvantage; and
- to provide or assist in the provision of facilities for the benefit of the community of Burton-upon-Trent and the surrounding districts with the object of improving the conditions of life of said inhabitants as the Charity Trustees may from time to time in their discretion determine.
The existing team of four senior leaders, all of whom are trustees, continued to have equal and joint leadership of the church. The staffing structure established in the previous financial year which consisted of a full time Operational Manager, full time Community & Partnerships Manager, part time Children’s Worker & Administrative Assistant, part time Youth & Community Worker and part time cleaner remained largely the same, although the cleaner moved on to new employment and so we now sub-contract this role.
During the year, the Operational Manager continued to undertake actions to ensure the building remained safe and viable long term. The new sound system was installed towards the end of the previous financial year has, as anticipated, improved the audio experience of those in attendance at meetings in the main church room, and the technical team continue to work to improve the sound for those who tune in digitally.
Riverside Church continued to hold weekly Sunday services - which were also live streamed via, and saved on, our Youtube channel. Throughout the year, this continued to prove to be an invaluable way of ensuring
those who were not physically able to be in church – especially those who were too unwell - to remain connected with and a part of the church.
As well as the typical Sunday Services, a number of special ones took place:
- 7th April 2023: ‘Easter Messy Church Style Service (running at the same time as another, more traditional service)
- 29th October 2023: Hope & Light Crafty Church (running at the same time as another, more traditional service)
- 10th December 2023: Christmas Magic Show (morning)
- 10[th] December 2023: Sands Carol Service (for those affected by baby loss)
- 17[th] December 2023: Christmas Carol Service (evening)
- 24[th] December 2023: All in Together Service (morning)
- 24th December 2023: Midnight Communion (evening)
Along with their volunteer teams, the Children’s Worker and Youth & Community Worker were both encouraged to see the numbers of children and youth attending their sessions continue to grow. It has not been unusual for in excess of 30 children and youth to attend on Sunday morning. As reflective practitioners, the Children’s and Youth Workers continued to make minor tweaks to the practical arrangements for the children and youth in order to meet the diverse needs of those attending. One of the most significant changes was to create a transition process to assist with the move children make up to youth at Easter time when they are in Year 6 at school. 11 children, half of whom had additional needs, made this transition as smoothly as possible and this is testament to the careful planning and preparation undertaken by the Children’s and Youth Workers.
Some small groups for adults experienced changes in leadership and membership but the focus of these groups remained the same: prayer and pastoral support. Of significance during this year was the number of people who requested to join or transfer into the daytime small group. This is indicative of a growing number of the church who are feeling unable to drive at night for meetings. In addition to prayer and pastoral support, some small groups also used the time to study the Bible and delve deeper into the themes explored on Sundays.
During the year, we invested in the Children’s and Youth Workers by signposting them to a series of training events which had been shared with us by Staffordshire County Council and Staffordshire Council of Voluntary Youth Services. Some of the training included:
- Having courageous conversations with parents
- When couples become carers
- An induction to trauma informed practices
- Developing an understanding of child sexual abuse
- Supporting separated parents
- Engaging with Dads
- Youth loneliness and isolation
The Operational Manager registered Riverside Church as a food business with the FSA. This is due to the number of regular meetings we provide that offer cooked food. This meant it was a priority to ensure that those preparing and handling food and drink undertook the relevant training. Two trustees attended training for faith-based charities run by the Charity Commission. Staff involved with our community provision undertook Emergency Mental Health First Aid Training. Furthermore, as a token of appreciation, the Senior Leadership Team arranged a series of informal sessions for the church’s Wider Leadership Team. Each session had light refreshments and an external speaker who focussed on different aspects of leadership. Each evening provided time and space for attendees to discover more about themselves as leaders and to consider how this impacts on their leadership roles.
As well as the ongoing activities for the church family, we held some onoff events which included a BBQ and ‘Thanks a bunch munch’ for people who help with the many sessions which are run for the children and youth of the church and wider community.
April 2023 saw Riverside’s first ever ‘Holiday @ Home’ weekend. This started on Friday 28[th] with a free gig by 7Lights and then on the Saturday, a carousel of activities was offered to members of the community:
- breadmaking
- JD Magic Show and circus skills workshop for families
- stretch & tone
- football at The Meadowside
- history walk around Burton
- art class
- seed/seedling swap, board games & crafts
- beginners’ Salsa class
In addition, further activities were made available and attended largely by members of the Riverside Church family:
- teaching sessions on prayer for adults and youth with separate children's work
- soup and a roll lunch
- curry and street food supper
- choice of two films shown on big screens
The weekend concluded with a service on the Sunday morning which included the final teaching session on prayer. Over 300 people accessed
the different activities and we were particularly thrilled to see adults and children from the wider community: Holy Trinity Primary School, the English Class and those who’d seen our advertising on social media. Feedback from those who attended was very positive and it is anticipated that we will look to offer something similar again in around two years’ time – particularly as the cost wasn’t prohibitive.
Other one-off events which we organised and hosted throughout the year included:
- a working party to clear the Wetmore Community Garden
- a Christmas Lunch for the residents of the Alms Houses (at the request of the Consolidated Charity of Burton on Trent)
- a Christmas Market hosting stalls for local, small independent companies
- a Christmas Day lunch for those who would otherwise be alone or struggle to put this meal on the table (with turkeys and Christmas puddings kindly donated by Burton Albion)
A few new projects started during the year and they are particularly aligned with Christian beliefs that we are stewards of this planet, as well as the wider global movement to reduce our impact on the environment. The first was the Repair Café which meets monthly on Saturday mornings. Part of a national initiative, this is a free meeting place where visitors bring their broken items from home and together with the specialists they start making their repairs in the Repair Café. The second project is ‘Stop and Swap Shop’ where people can bring in unwanted, good quality clothes and hang them on the rail for others who want/need them to take. After a month, remaining, unwanted clothes are then taken to a charity shop. This means that people are able to reduce the amount of travel to get necessities as they are already in the building anyway. The same can be said of the third new initiative which is the Community Pantry. Here, items such as food, books, children’s toys, DVDs and so on are donated by individuals and organisations such as Trent and Dove, so those in need can help themselves. Food is in high demand and every time the shelves are replenished, they are cleared within moments, so we are investigating ways of funding/sourcing items from companies more formally as it isn’t sustainable to continue relying on church members to keep this stocked.
External grants were not as easy to access as in previous years, although the church was awarded funds by the Consolidated Charity of Burton on Trent which will cover some of the costs associated with the warehouse building i.e. rent, insurance and part of the utility bills. In addition, some micro grants were secured and to help with the costs associated with:
- summer activities for children and youth,
- the kids’ after school and youth clubs,
- the provision of warm spaces for targeted groups – including unlimited provision of hot drinks
Throughout the year, appropriately vetted representatives of the church also continued to support children at local schools. Two staff members led Collective Worship at a local primary school on alternate weeks and, in partnership with TLG (Transforming Lives for Good), six young people received one-to-one support for an hour on a weekly basis at a primary school. The team of volunteer coaches from Riverside grew to six – the largest it’s ever been. The one-to-one support for two young people at a local secondary school came to an end during the year as one moved out of area and the other decided after 9 years not to continue.
The playgroup, Jelly Tots, which is for parents/carers and children from newborn up to pre-school, continued to be extremely popular, making the most of the safe outdoor space, as well as the large indoor warehouse. The Childminders’ Support Group also continued as the separation of the two groups benefits those who attend both sessions.
Starting in September 2023, the Warehouse Wednesdays’ provision was extended by adding another session for those aged 7-11 years from 4- 5.15 pm. It is seen as a safe space for children with additional needs, so some stay and play with their parents. These children are often limited in the extracurricular activities that they can attend, but they are welcomed and feel at ease at our venue as we take the time to draw up care plans with them and their parents. The later session for those aged 10-16 continued running form 5.45-7.15 pm every Wednesday during term time. Many of the youth accessing our provision are struggling for a variety of reasons and this means that some of these them have been excluded from activities elsewhere – either by a third party or have excluded themselves as they don’t feel able to attend because they are ‘quirky.’ At these sessions, we offer a safe, warm and accepting place to be themselves. Another USP of both Wednesday sessions is that they attract children and youth who want to learn/develop their skateboarding skills and this is only possible thanks to the committed team of volunteers from the wider community which is growing in number.
A number of sessions were planned for the summer holidays to help children, youth and their parents to continue to have access to the activities which are on offer during term time; some were based at Riverside, while others were in the community. The Jelly Tots playgroup ran for two sessions at the warehouse and, in contrast to term time, siblings were invited to reduce the need for parents to arrange childcare for their older children. Two sessions for primary aged children also took place at the church, as well as another one for youth. In partnership with Burton Albion Community Trust, Trent & Dove and Burton Youth for Christ,
we ran three sessions of detached work at local parks. They were aimed at young people, but in reality, they attracted young families so following a review, revised plans will be made for the coming year.
The English Class continued to provide essential support to those for whom English is a second language. The Department for Work and Pensions regularly referred people to the class via the local Job Centre and an influx of refugees and asylum seekers to the area meant that numbers regularly exceeded 30 each week. After some months, it became necessary to stop any new referrals from the DWP for a variety of reasons but the existing clients who wanted to attend continued to do so. Later in the year, the dynamic of the group changed again when asylum seekers living in local hotels were moved on and soon afterwards significant numbers of clients from Hong Kong started to attend.
One of the clients from the English Class continued to ‘give back’ by offering free art classes to those who wanted to improve their skills. She had started this during the previous year and during the period October 2022 to May 2023, she taught 12 classes each containing 5 pupils. This was something which we really encouraged as it helped to develop the teacher’s confidence and she has now gone on to establish a new business of her own. The monthly Craft Club welcomed some of the English Class participants and it was wonderful to see them honing their command of the English language in a different setting.
Similarly, the monthly Lunch Club for those over 60 continued and the clients continue to be incredibly grateful for an affordable, tasty and nutritious meal with the company of others. The group celebrated 10 years in October 2023, with a special birthday meal which was given to diners as a free gift. Those who chose to, made a donation to charity in lieu of paying for their meal. Numbers have been consistent, at around 40, which is manageable for the size of the room and the cooks.
The church continued to partner with a number of local organisations by working together with them and making financial donations where appropriate. Riverside contributed funds and foods to Burton YMCA in acknowledgement of the amazing contribution they make to the town, as well as the ever-growing need for food parcels. We also donated funds to our local branch of Christians Against Poverty (CAP) for the invaluable work they do in helping getting people out of debt, as well as donating funds to SANDS.
The Place of Welcome which is usually hosted at Burton library temporarily relocated to Riverside’s premises for a month when the library closed unexpectedly for health and safety reasons. Feedback from the volunteers and staff about the venue and the welcome they received from the church was very positive and they will return when the library closes
again for refurbishment. An additional two groups who use the library as a meeting place will also relocate to Riverside temporarily when the time comes.
Our local Teams4U volunteers were kind enough to provide 136 Christmas shoeboxes for local children in need. These were distributed by Winshill’s Bee Blessed Charity Shop and three local primary schools - all of whom were incredibly grateful for the gifts. Riverside also donated funds to the local branch of the Teams4U to support their invaluable work moving forward.
The young people of the church ran a bake sale in aid of the child they sponsor through ‘Compassion.’ A number of other individuals, couples and families within the church also sponsor children abroad through organisations such as ‘World Vision’. Support for people further afield also continued with regular giving to Restoration of Hope in Burundi which supports over 70 children and young people who have been living on the streets and are behind with their education. Likewise, the church continued to highlight and support the work of ‘Open Doors.’
Church premises continued to be made available for regular use by third party groups and local charities, many of whom work with the vulnerable and disadvantaged in our community as can be seen below.
Narcotics Anonymous (which is for those who are recovering from drug and alcohol addiction) continued to hold two fellowship meetings each week at the church’s premises. The Burton Addiction Centre also started to hold a weekly pre-recovery group at the church, further cementing the relationship with this incredible local organisation.
The U3A, or ‘The University of the Third Age’ movement is a collection of groups (u3as) that run local and online member-led learning for those no longer in full time work across the UK. The Burton-wide ‘tea and talk’ sessions took place as usual at Riverside during the year, while the History Group continued meeting once a month.
Burton YMCA is one of our key partners and the organisation used our facilities for staff training during the year. In order to offer the best support available to those in need in the town, professional connections between the staff of both organisations are continuing to grow. The same can be said of Burton Youth for Christ who partner with us in the Warehouse Wednesday project and other aforementioned activities. 16 youth joined the Burton Youth Christ weekend away at Alton Castle. Their good behaviour was commented upon by the staff and volunteers who were responsible for running the programme and upon returning home, all youth confirmed that they had moved forward in their faith.
We are extremely grateful to the following organisations who have supported us financially:
- TLG
- Community Safety Partnership via Burton Youth For Christ
- Consolidated Charity of Burton on Trent
- Burton Albion Community Trust
- East Staffordshire Borough Council
In line with the recommendations of the Charity Commission, we continue to keep reserves of six months in order to make sure that we can meet all our financial commitments, should the need arise. An independent check of accounts and other records has been completed again this year by Lifestyle Accounting.
|||**Charity Name**|||||**No (if any)**|**No (if any)**|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**Receipts andpayments accounts**||||||||**CC16a**|
|||**For the period**
**from**|**For the period**|Period start date
4/1/2023||**To**||Period end date
3/31/2024|||
|**Section A Receipts and payments**|||||||||||
|||**Unrestricted**
**funds**||**Restricted**
**funds**||**Endowment**
**funds**||**Total funds**||**Last year**|
|||**to the nearest £**||**to the nearest £**||**to the nearest £**||**to the nearest £**||**to the nearest £**|
|**A1 Receipts**|||||||||||
|MonthlyGiving||**79,448**||**-**||**-**||**79,448**||**79,212**|
|Offerings||**2,930**||**-**||**-**||**2,930**||**1,652**|
|One offgiving||**1,020**||**-**||**-**||**1,020**||**12,635**|
|Grants||**-**||**18,425**||**-**||**18,425**||**26,407**|
|Donations/Rent for use of Building||**3,954**||**-**||**-**||**3,954**||**6,010**|
|Gift Aid Reclaim||**20,266**||**-**||**-**||**20,266**||**19,325**|
|Church Social Activities & Events||**951**||**-**||**-**||**951**||**522**|
|Bank Interest On savings Accounts||**1,654**||**-**||**-**||**1,654**||**329**|
|**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for AR)_|_(Gross income for AR)_|**110,223**
_(Gross income for AR)_||**18,425**||**-**||**128,648**||**146,092**|
|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**_Sub total_ -**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**_Total receipts_ 110,223**
**18,425**
**-**
**128,648**
**146,092**
**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**
~~—————~~|||||||||||
|**A3 Payments**|||||||||||
|Gifts||**5,884**||**-**||**-**||**5,884**||**11,076**|
|Salaries/PAYE/Pension (includes Grant|||||||||||
|funded project salary costs)||**100,379**||**10,000**||**-**||**110,379**||**55,242**|
|Admin & BuildingRunningCosts||**27,111**||**7,814**||**-**||**34,925**||**35,970**|
|Bank Charges/AccountancyFees||**892**||**-**||**-**||**892**||**981**|
|Church Outreach||**7,355**||**-**||**-**||**7,355**||**7,487**|
|Grant Funded Projects (excluding salary|||||||||||
|Costs)||||**611**||**-**||**611**||**11,399**|
|Special Projects||**6,688**||**-**||**-**||**6,688**||**13,852**|
|||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|
|||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**||**-**|
|**_Sub total_ **||**148,309**||**18,425**||**-**||**166,734**||**136,007**|
|**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**_Sub total_ -**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**_Total payments_ 148,309**
**18,425**
**-**
**166,734**
**136,007**
**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases, (see table)**
~~—————~~|||||||||||
|**_Net of receipts/(payments)_ **
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**_Cash funds this year end_ **|
|**- 38,086**
**-**
**-**
**- 38,086**
**10,085**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**183,852**
**-**
**-**
**183,852**
**173,767**
**145,766**
**-**
**-**
**145,766**
**183,852**
~~======~~|||||||||
## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period**
|**Categories**
**B1 Cash funds**
**B2 Other monetary assets**
**B3 Investment assets**
**B5 Liabilities**
**B4 Assets retained for the**
**charity’s own use**
Signed by one or two trustees on
behalf of all the trustees|**Details**
Current Account
Buildings & special projects
Reserves
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
**Details**
Signature
**_Total cash funds_**
(agree balances with receipts and payments
account(s))|**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**4,047**
**-**
**70,969**
**-**
**70,750**
**-**
**145,766**
**-**
OK
OK
**to nearest £**
**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**Cost (optional)**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
Print Name
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**asset belongs**
**Fund to which**
**liability relates**
**Amount due**
**(optional)**|**to nearest £**
**Endowment**
**funds**|
|---|---|---|---|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||OK|
||||**to nearest £**
**Endowment**
**funds**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**Current value**
**(optional)**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**Current value**
**(optional)**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**-**|
||||**When due**
**(optional)**|
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
||||Date of
approval|
|||||
|||||
RIVERSIDE CHURCH- BURTON RENEWAL FELLOWSHIP
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2024
I report on the accounts of the charity for the period ended 31 March 2024.
Respertive responsibllities of trustees ond exominer
The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the account5. The charity's trustees
consider that an audit 15 not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 {the
Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed.
It is my responsibility to:
- examine the accounts under settion 145 of the Charities Act,
to follow procedures laid down in the general directions given by the Charity Commission
under section 145{5)(b) of the Charities Act, and
- to state whether particular matters have corne to my attention.
Bosls of Independent examiner's report
My examination was carried out in accordance with the general directions given by the Charity
Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a
comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any
unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from you as trustees
concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would
be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present
true and fair view" and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
Independent examlner s stotement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
(l} which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:
- to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; and
to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the
accounting requirements the Charities Act have not been met not been met; or
{2} to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of
the accounts to be reached.
David R Munro MAAT
Lifestyle Accounting Ltd
58-60 Wetmore Road, Burton-on-Trent
Staffordshire, DE14 ISN