Light Church
Registered Charity Number: 519135
Annual Report and Financial Statements
(for period from 1st September 2022 until 31st August 2023)
Correspondent: Daniel Belshaw Light Church 30 St Michaels Road Kirkham Preston PR4 2TQ
Banks: NatWest plc. The Square, 24 St. Annes Road West, St. Annes FY8 1RH.
Yorkshire B.S. 33 Poulton Street, Kirkham PR4 2AA
Independent Examiner: Wilfred Rhodes Danbro Accounting Limited Jubilee House East Beach Lytham St Annes FY8 5FT
Contents
Annual Report Pages 2 - 6 Financial Statements Pages 7 - 8 Independent Examiners Report Pages 9
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Light Church Annual Report 2023
1. Reference and Administrative Details of the charity, its Trustees and Advisors
The Charity’s name: Light Church (Formerly Kirkham Free Methodist Church)
Registration Number: 519135
The Address & Office: 30 St Michaels Road, Kirkham, Preston, PR4 2TQ
Names of trustees (Alphabetical order): David John Awde, Elizabeth Louise Belshaw, Damian Broughton, James Parkinson
2. Structure, Governance and Management
A. Governance of the charity
The church was originally constituted in 1983 but the governance structure was substantially revised in a new Charity Commission Scheme dated 9th March 2000. The church is led by the Minister and the Trustees. The Trustees effectively serve the church alongside the Minister, Lay delegate and the various department heads. The Lay Delegate represents the Church at the conference of the Free Methodist Church in the UK & Europe. The Minister and Elders/Trustees meet monthly. The church changed its name to Light Church in May 2015 and all records at the Charities Commission and the Bank have been changed to Light Church.
B. Recruitment and appointment of new Trustees.
New Trustees are appointed by a consensus of the membership. They serve a minimum of one year and can remain trustees for longer unless they wish to step down or the leadership deems their removal as necessary. It is considered that the Trustees and any others who could be understood to be ‘managers ’in the activities and affairs of the Light Church are deemed to be ‘fit and proper ’persons under the terms of the Finance Act 2010. Trustee training is available as and when requested/required. The Trustees are aware of the Charity Commission’s guidance on Public Benefit and have given regard to it in their publication ‘The Advancement of Religion for Public Benefit ’and seek to follow this guidance in the activities and administration of the church.
3. A Financial Review
Income is achieved through voluntary giving on a weekly and monthly basis by members and non-members alike. The Treasurer, support staff and the Trustees manage and oversee the administration and financial aspects of the charity on a daily basis. They are able to make judgements, evaluations and make funds available to all departments based on the funds within
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the charity. The Treasurer along with the support staff keeps appropriate records of receipts and payments made to justify the legal requirements of good practice and expectations of its charitable status in accordance with the charities commission. The accounts are subject to a monthly examination by the Treasurer and the Trustees, and by an independent examiner on an annual basis.
4. Reserves Policy
The Trustees endeavor to maintain a sufficient balance on current account to cover three months normal expenditure plus a supplement to cover for any emergency expenditure that has not been anticipated with remaining funds being held on interest bearing safe deposit accounts. We hold £25,000 in reserve in the current account.
5. Objectives and Activities
The key objectives of the charity are to serve the community of the Fylde Coast and beyond through Light Church and its charitable work in the UK, Europe and Africa. This is done within the support, generosity of Light Church members and under the doctrines and disciplines of the Free Methodist Church in the UK & Europe.
Light Church’s activities are:
Worship gatherings on Sundays, with kid’s & youth Church, age appropriate teaching for the youth and a crèche facility running parallel to the services.
Creative team night (music, production & media)
Lifegroups (small groups) meeting most nights of the week all over the Fylde Coast
Prayer small group (hosted digitally)
Elder/Board Meeting
Overseas Missions Team meetings
Pastoral Visitation by the Pastor and Pastoral Team
Sunday Night Church meetings (once a quarter)
Community engagement & Social Action
CAP Money Course (with optional Life mentoring and further debt management)
Community Care: Loneliness & Isolation
Community events
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6. Achievements and Desired Goals
Sunday Gatherings
With regular Sunday Gatherings, we aim to create a space for all to find home.We desire to create an environment whereby people can worship together, grow in their faith and meet other people. We have grown significantly this year and welcomed many new people into the church.
Desired Goals: We would love to see more growth in the church as people continue to grow in their faith together. We aim to keep expanding the capacity of our Sunday gatherings to facilitate this growth.
Discipleship
Encouragement, teaching and the practical out working of each member in Light Church is effectively communicated in a smaller group sessions. These take place in the form of groups during the week for both adults and young people. Here various methods are applied to meet the wide range of learning styles, through word, multimedia and the practical.
Desired Goals: We would like to see small groups in every village and town across the Fylde Coast to facilitate people’s spiritual growth.
Community & Voluntary Service
Apart from working within the parameters of the church’s own ministry, much time and intentional effort is put into engaging with the community locally and internationally.
Light Church’s ability to be pastoral to the local community is ongoing in various outreaches.
Many people-hours are spent serving the community from engaging with other charities in the local community, visiting people, Counseling, children groups, raising funds for overseas missionary work through car boots sales and table top sales and more.
Desired Goals: We aim to continue to provide opportunities for the people of Light Church to serve their local community. We aim to continue partnering with our community partners to ensure that we are both a vibrant and a connect community.
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7. Risk Assessment
The Trustees recognize that in relation to ‘Risk Assessment’, risk is defined as ‘the threat of any action or event which will adversely affect an organisation’s ability to achieve its objectives and execute its strategies’. It also accepts that the term ‘risk ’can include any circumstances that may, or do, have an adverse effect, and is wider than financial matters. ‘Risks ’relate not only to the negative consequences of a threat, but also to the impact of not taking advantage of opportunities.
The Trustees recognise it requires a practical Health and Safety Policy covering activities for its worship and associated activities currently being held in Mill Farm, Wesham. This is reviewed on a regular basis. An Accident Book is maintained.
The contents and obligations of the Equality Act 2010 and the General Data Protection Regulations 2018 are known and complied with to the best of the Trustee’s ability. The Trustees PCC are aware of their responsibilities in respect of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in its requirement to carry out a fire assessment to identify any possible dangers and risks, to take action to minimise the risks and to create a plan to deal with any emergencies, and also to write up and keep a record of its findings and to review its assessment annually. The Trustees have appointed Helen Broughton and Lucy Awde to be the responsible persons to put these things into operation.
There is a Protection Policy in place in respect of children and vulnerable adults. Checks have been and are made with the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly the CRB) in respect of persons dealing regularly with young people and vulnerable adults. The Trustee’s appointed officers for this are Lucy Awde (Lead) and Lucy Fryer (Deputy). Whilst it is impossible to eliminate all risks and their consequences, efforts are constantly made to minimise such occurrences.
8.Future Plans.
Land Purchase – We have been working towards the purchase of a plot of land on Mill Farm, (Wesham) in which we are extremely close. This is a big future plan for us to develop this land and build a place of worship for the community.
Outreach – Continue to work in the community by developing our Community Care programs and community engagement, we will also continue partnering with other local charities to serve our community.
Discipleship – We have launched our discipleship ministry “SESSIONS” and hope to see this thrive and help all who call Light Church home.
Online - We aim this coming year to invest in our online presence and continue to facilitate people’s spiritual growth starting from an online position. We believe this will provide really helpful resources for people in their faith journeys.
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Approved by the Trustees on 13th February 2024 Signed on their behalf by THE TRUSTEES
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Kirkham Free Methodist Church (Light Church). Financial Statements for the year ended 31st. August 2023. General Fund
| General Fund | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2023 | 2022 | 2022 | ||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | ||
| Receipts | |||||
| Cash Giving, Covenant and Gift Aid Giving | 121026 | 130972 | |||
| Building Fund | 50260 | 36061 | |||
| Table Top sales | 6707 | 5822 | |||
| Mission gifts | 1298 | 3480 | |||
| HMRC Tax refund | 25941 | 32561 | |||
| Interest received net | 1745 | 516 | |||
| Insurance Proceeds | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total Receipts | 206978 | 209412 | |||
| Payments | |||||
| Admin Exp. & Visiting Speakers | 11640 | 9850 | |||
| Free Methodist Church Levy | 5432 | 5152 | |||
| Gifts/Donations | 18686 | 23298 | |||
| Ministries | 3708 | 7260 | |||
| Premises hire | 35894 | 36406 | |||
| Salaries and N.I.* | 64442 | 51058 | |||
| Equip. ASSETS | 3605 | 4693 | |||
| Office General Costs | 0 | 0 | |||
| Professional services etc. | |||||
| Travel | 2226 | 1350 | |||
| Youth and Kids | 151 | ||||
| New Building Costs | 77 | 0 | |||
| Total Payments | 145862 | 139068 | |||
| Excess of Receipts over Payments | 61116 | 70344 | |||
| Cash and bank balance at 1st. September 22 | 361207 | 290863 | |||
| Cash and bank balance at 31st. August 2023 | 422323 | 361207 | |||
| SOAL Total | 422325 | 361207 |
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Kirkham Free Methodist Church (Light Church). Statement of Assets and Liabilities as at 31st. August 2023.
| Monetary Assets | General | Building | Missions | YBS | YBS | Petty | Equals | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fund | L.R. | B.F. | Cash | Card | |||||
| Unres | Des | Des | Des | Des | Des | Unres | |||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Nat West | 65246 | 65246 | 57988 | ||||||
| 2538996 | |||||||||
| NatWest | 243792 | 243792 | 191539 | ||||||
| 35036028 | |||||||||
| NatWest | 3654 | 3654 | 4005 | ||||||
| 35050020 | |||||||||
| Yorks B.S. | 185 | 185 | 181 | ||||||
| Yorks B.S. | 109230 | 109230 | 107488 | ||||||
| Equals Card | 150 | 150 | 0 | ||||||
| Associate Pastor | |||||||||
| Equals Card | 53 | 53 | 0 | ||||||
| Pastoral Expenses | |||||||||
| Equals Card | 16 | 16 | 0 | ||||||
| Staff Expenses | |||||||||
| Total Bank Balances | 422325 | 361201 | |||||||
| Petty cash | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||||||
| Total Monetary | |||||||||
| Assets | 65246 | 243792 | 3654 | 185 | 109230 | 0 | 218 | 422325 | 361207 |
| Non-Monetary Assets. |
Notes.
1. The Financial Statements of the church/charity have been prepared on the Receipts and Payments basis.
2. No payments have been made to the Trustees for their work as Trustees. Expenses of office have been re-imbursed as requested.
Approved by the Trustees on 28/06/2024 and signed on their behalf by
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Independent Examiner ’ s Report to the Trustees of Light Church
I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the charity for the period ended 31 August 2022 which are set out on pages 6 to 7.
Respective responsibilities of the trustees and examiner
The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed.
It is my responsibility to:
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Examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act;
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Follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commissioner under section 145 (5) (b) of the 2011 Act; and
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To state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of the 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 a ‘true and fair view’ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
Independent examiner’s statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
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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 2011 Act; and to prepared accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act have not been met, or
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To which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Wilfred Rhodes:
Danbro Accounting Limited Jubilee House East Beach, Lytham St Annes FY8 5FT
Date: 28/06/24
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