Light Church
Registered Charity Number: 519135
Annual Report and Financial Statements
(for period from 1st September 2023 until 31st August 2024)
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 - 9 Independent Examiners Report Pages 10
1
Light Church Annual Report 2024
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 (Rev. Daniel Belshaw) 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. 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 the charity. The Treasurer (Wilfred Rhodes) 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 endeavour 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 (0-14yrs), age appropriate teaching for the youth and a crèche facility running parallel to the services.
Team night (all volunteer teams hosted seasonally)
Groups (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
Community engagement & Social Action
Community Care: Loneliness & Isolation
Community events
Staff team activities & weekly meetings
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. This year we have seen significant growth in attendance of our Sunday gatherings, with around 40 new people joining the church and many more visitors.
Desired Goals: We aim to continue creating space for more people to attend our gatherings and join the church. We are also aiming to improve the way in which we help new people get assimilated into the church by sharpening up our welcome and joining process.
Connection
This past year we saw a healthy percentage of the church engaging in small groups (8-12ppl). These groups have run consistently and enabled people within the church to stay connected, cared for and known. The curriculum of our groups follows the content that is taught on a Sunday morning during our gatherings.
Desired Goals: We aim to launch 6-10 more groups in the coming year to facilitate those new members going the church. We aim to smarten up our pastoral care process to better equip group leaders in dealing with issues. We also aim to better care for our group leaders with added training and more regular check-ins.
Growth
We launched several new initiatives this year to better equip the church in their spiritual formation journey. The first was our ‘Bible & Theology’ night, where we met every other Thursday evening to teach through the core doctrines of the church and explore more of the Christian faith. This was regularly well attended. Secondly, we launched our Alpha courses that run in September, January and May. Alpha is an introductory course that helps those who are seeking more information about God, faith and provides a space to explore the big questions. These have been well attended also. We also continued on with our ‘Date Night’ course which is a course that helps married couples strengthen and improve their marriage.
Desired Goals: We aim to continue running these courses with improved training and planning. We also seek to add a ‘Freedom in Christ’ course to this also as a ‘follow up’ course to Alpha. We hope to provide more spaces for people to explore their faith together.
Building Project
We successfully purchased land on Mill Farm, Wesham. The process was smooth and created a significant amount of momentum within the church.
Desired Goals: We aim to complete the planning permission on the land, raise the finances and ultimately build a church building on the site.
7. Risk Assessment
The Trustees recognise 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 Kat Fawcett (Deputy). Whilst it is impossible to eliminate all risks and their consequences, efforts are constantly made to minimise such occurrences.
8.Future Plans.
Building Project – This is a big future plan for us to develop this land and build a place of worship for the community.
Outreach – Develop our work in the community continuing to partnering with other local charities and organisations. We aim to find ways to better serve the needs of the local area by keeping our close relationships with the council and providing services to meet these.
Gatherings – We aim to facilitate the expansion of our Sunday Gatherings and provide clear ways for people to join the church. This is a large task due to the volume of visitors that we get but it is essential if we are to see growth over the coming year.
Approved by the Trustees on 14[th] April 2025
Signed on their behalf by THE TRUSTEES
Mr. James Parkinson
| Kirkham Free Methodist Church (Light Church). Financial Statements for the year ended 31st. August 2024. General Fund Receipts Cash Giving, Covenant and Gift Aid Giving Interest received net Total Receipts Payments Admin Exp. & Visiting Speakers Free Methodist Church Levy Gifts/Donations Ministries Premises hire Salaries and N.I. Equip. ASSETS Office General Costs Professional services etc. Travel Youth and Kids New Building Costs Total Payments Excess of Receipts over Payments* |
2024 2024 2023 2023 £ £ £ £ 135369 146967 2388 1745 |
|---|---|
| 137757 148712 |
|
| 5302 11640 6384 5432 4263 18686 6674 3708 34568 35894 65264 64442 0 3605 0 0 3428 0 3724 2226 1041 151 |
|
| 130648 145785 |
|
| 7109 2928 |
Restricted Fund
| Restricted Fund | |
|---|---|
| Receipts Cash Giving, Covenant and Gift Aid Giving Building Fund Table Top sales Mission gifts Total Receipts Payments Admin Exp. & Visiting Speakers Free Methodist Church Levy Gifts/Donations Ministries Premises hire Salaries and N.I. Equip. ASSETS Office General Costs Professional services etc. Travel Youth and Kids New Building Costs Total Payments Excess of Receipts over Payments (RESTRICTED) Excess of Receipts over Payments (General & Restricted) Cash and bank balance at 1st. September 23 Cash and bank balance at 31st. August 2024 SOAL Total* |
2024 2024 2023 2023 £ £ £ £ 21400 0 147375 50260 1932 6709 4297 1298 |
| 175004 58267 |
|
| 5998 6392 77 12390 77 |
|
| 162615 58190 |
|
| 169723 61118 |
|
| 422325 361207 592048 422325 592048 422325 |
Kirkham Free Methodist Church (Light Church). Statement of Assets and Liabilities as at 31st. August 2024.
| Monetary Assets | General | Building | Missions | YBS | YBS | Petty | Petty | Equals | 2024 | 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fund | L.R. | B.F. | Cash | Card | ||||||||
| Unres | Des | Des | Des | Des | Des | Des | Des | Des | Unres | |||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | ||||
| Nat West | 66056 | 66056 | 65246 | |||||||||
| 2538996 | ||||||||||||
| NatWest | 9453 | 9453 | 243792 | |||||||||
| 35036028 | ||||||||||||
| NatWest | 3086 | 3086 | 3654 | |||||||||
| 35050020 | ||||||||||||
| Yorks B.S. | 0 | 0 | 185 | |||||||||
| Yorks B.S. | 0 | 0 | 109230 | |||||||||
| Equals Cards | 30 | 30 | 150 | |||||||||
| Associate Pastor | ||||||||||||
| Equals Card | 2 | 2 | 53 | |||||||||
| Pastoral Expenses | ||||||||||||
| Equals Card | 3 | 3 | 16 | |||||||||
| Staff Expenses | ||||||||||||
| Equals Card | 42 | 42 | 0 | |||||||||
| Gatherings | ||||||||||||
| Total Bank Balances | 78672 | 422325 | ||||||||||
| Petty cash | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
| Total Monetary Assets | 66056 | 9453 | 3086 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 77 | 78672 | 422325 | |||
| Non-Monetary Assets. | ||||||||||||
| Land & Buildings | 513376 | 0 |
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 14th April 25 and signed on their behalf by;
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 2024.
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:
-
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:
-
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
-
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: 30/06/2025