## **Trustees’ Annual Report for 2025**
## Registered Charity 801108
_Serving LGBT+ People and the wider community in Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole, and Dorset since 1979_
1. Inclusive Community Church promotes the gospel of Jesus Christ in Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole, and Dorset, as well as neighbouring areas, proclaiming the good news of God’s inclusive love. For forty-six years, we have been celebrating God’s love for all people, and in particular addressing the needs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender plus (LGBT+) community.
## **About Us**
2. Inclusive Community Church is part of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC) whose churches play a vital role worldwide in addressing the spiritual needs of LGBT+ folk, their families, and their friends.
3. While not all our members identify as LGBT+, Inclusive Community Church seeks to reach out to those who may feel disenfranchised by Christianity. We believe that all sexual orientations and gender identities are loved by God and should be welcomed completely into the Church.
4. Because of our commitment to inclusivity, we keenly support equal marriage. As a sign of God’s unconditional love, we have held wedding services for same-sex couples since our church’s foundation. We rejoice that our church was the first place of worship in the United Kingdom to legally conduct a same-sex marriage when the law was changed in 2014.
Hannington Road • Bournemouth • BH7 6JT www.inclusive.church • 0300 123 7773
Rev Dwayne Morgan, Pastor • Registered Charity 801108
5. Both in our church building and online, we offer a safe and welcoming Christian space for LGBT+ folk and their friends, some of whom may have experienced negative attitudes from other religious organisations. We are committed to maintaining our church as a safe space for all.
6. During the year, we have kept our policy and procedures under frequent review and updated for the protection of everyone involved in our church’s activities - having regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit.
## **Structure and Governance**
7. Our church is a registered charity and an unincorporated association. It is governed by a constitution approved by the church members and last revised in 2009.
8. The charity is under the overall supervision of a Board of Trustees, composed of the Pastor (ex-officio Chair of the Board) and volunteers elected by, and from, the church membership. The Pastor is the charity’s only salaried employee, and is responsible for managing its day-to-day activities. The church land and buildings are vested in the Official Custodian for Charities.
9. Reverend Dwayne Morgan, Kevin Bales, Theresa Dickson, and Peter Dowrick served as the charity’s trustees in 2023-2024.
## **Activities and Achievements**
10. Our activities enable us to provide public benefit by ministering to the spiritual wellbeing of LGBT+ folk, their friends, and anyone seeking a closer relationship with God.
11. Many of our members and friends have volunteered in ministry in many ways this year, in worship services, outreach, maintenance, and administration. We thank each volunteer for all that they do to help us minister together to each other and to our community.
12. We pray for those in our church family who have suffered with ill health this past year. There are several who have faced ongoing challenges to their physical health, while others have struggled with their emotional and mental health. We ask God’s healing touch upon all of these that they may live easier lives and be able to join us in body as well as in spirit.
13. The highlight of Inclusive Community Church happens every Sunday when we gather as a church family to Worship and Fellowship. In addition to our onsite Sunday worship each week, we continue to livestream our services and maintain a recording online throughout the following week. Through this online ministry we continue to reach and worship God with those of our congregation and friends worldwide who cannot be onsite with us in our church building. We have an induction loop and an individual large screen monitor so those with hearing or visual impairments can better worship with us.
14. We have marked this church year with special services for Advent, World AIDS Day, Christmas, Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter, Pentecost, Pridetide, Harvest Festival, Anniversary & World Communion Sunday, All Saints Day, Remembrance Sunday, Trans Joy Sunday, Transgender Day of Remembrance, and Reign of Christ.
15. For Advent and Christmas we introduced a new series entitled _Words for the Beginning: Advent Reminders for New Seasons_ . On Monday evenings throughout December we offered a 30-minute online Zoom devotional series, _Long Ago in Bethlehem_ . As fewer people are able to attend Midnight Mass, we moved our Worship time to 4 pm. This greatly improved our Christmas Eve attendance. Our Christmastide service theme was _Lessons & Laughter_ , a casual Worship experience that included Christmas treats,
prayer and praise, a rather raucous balloon game, and a washing line of prayers.
16. _Everything [in] Between: Meeting God in the Midst of Extremes_ was our theme for Lent. There was a devotional booklet to help guide us through the weekly subthemes as well as daily devotional cards with a daily thought and prayer. We continued this theme through Holy Week with special Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday times of worship together.
17. We also continued our popular monthly Praise & Prayer service and Community Coffee Mornings in our church building.
18. We support local LGBT+ Pride activities, ensuring that we are visible to the wider community in celebrating God’s inclusive love for all people. We ran a two-day information stall at the Bourne Free Pride Festival at Meyrick Park that included our presence at the increasingly popular Family Day where we reached many young people and families. We also marched in the Saturday Parade with a large number of members and congregants joining us this year. We continued the Bourne Free celebrations with our Sunday Bourne Free Pride Celebration Worship Service and afternoon Pridetide BBQ. We also had an information stall at the second Poole Pride held at the Lighthouse theatre in Poole in June.
19. We celebrated our Trans siblings by marking Transgender Awareness Week with our Trans Joy Sunday Worship Service. For our Transgender Day of Remembrance service, we again partnered with Bournemouth University’s Chaplain and the Students’ Union. This year we moved the Candlelight Memorial Service to our Church Sanctuary. This allowed for a more reverent space for the event and also allowed us to open the church throughout the afternoon for those who wished to come early. We also opened our church hall and served refreshments, both before and after the service, to allow attendees the opportunity to spend time together and share with one another.
20. We again partnered with Body Positive Dorset to host our annual World AIDS Day service in our Sanctuary, followed by a time of refreshments and fellowship in our church hall.
21. We joyfully welcome asylum seekers and refugees into the life of our church as they settle into life in Britain. We are thankful for the contagious enthusiasm that they have brought. We give thanks to God for those who were granted leave to remain in the UK and have found work and a place to live. We continue to pray for those whose cases are still outstanding. May God grant them peace and hope, and a safer, brighter future.
22. In September, members of our congregation attended a community meeting on racism organised in the Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole area by _Stand Up to Racism_ . The purpose was to develop ways to curb the protests being staged at local hotels that house asylum seekers. This took on greater meaning for our church as several of our congregants live at the hotels and are confronted by the anger and hatred where they are housed.
23. Also in September our Pastor and members of our church attended the launch of the second Poverty Truth Commission for the Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole area.
24. In October we marked the forty-sixth anniversary of our church’s ministry with a special Worship service and a bring-and-share potluck dinner. We celebrated and joined together in thanksgiving for all that God has done in our midst and through our ministry together.
25. Our Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC) held its triennial General Conference in the Summer of 2025. Both Rev Dwayne Morgan and Kim Smith, our church’s Lay Delegate, took part in the online General Conference business meeting that was held on 7th June.
26. For the first time in many years we were able to send our Pastor to the onsite part of the General Conference, which was held in Scottsdale, Arizona, USA, during the first week of July. This was a hybrid event allowing those who were unable to join onsite to take part in the many workshops, plenary sessions, and worship services. This was especially meaningful as our members from some nations were not granted visas to travel to the USA, while others were afraid to travel there due to the USA Government’s discrimination towards many nationalities and ethnic groups, and especially towards transgender people. In spite of the travel restrictions, the week at General Conference was a success and brought much healing and inspiration for our Universal Fellowship’s future ministry.
## **Financial Summary**
27. Our church finances are a continued concern as we continue to face the challenges of maintenance and repairs on our building that is 130 years old, and as inflation has driven up our ongoing costs, especially for utilities. While our church finances are healthier this year, it is only through our congregation’s continued giving that we can carry on the ministry to which God has uniquely called us. We encourage everyone who worships with us to be faithful stewards of all the gifts that God has given them, to view the church as theirs and to financially support it as best they can.
28. We are very grateful to everyone whose prayers, faithful support, and generosity. enabled our Christian ministry and outreach to continue. In September 2025 we paid the bank our final monthly repayment of our mortgage loan. Thank you to those whose faithful donations over the years has made this full repayment possible so that our church building is now debt-free.
29. We give a special thank you to those who generously responded to our fundraising appeal this year. The increase in monthly giving and extra one-off donations have increased our financial stability and allowed us to begin to take care of some necessary priorities that had been previously delayed.
30. **Income** - In our financial year ending August 2025 our church gratefully received income of £58,200, compared to income of £52,700 in the previous year. The income was composed of £38,400 regular monthly and weekly donations from our congregation; £6,100 one-off donations; £8,400 gift aid tax refunds; £4,800 fundraising income from renting our hall to local groups; and a £500 grant towards expenses to attend the UFMCC General Conference.
31. **Expenditure** - We spent a total of £52,100 in the year ending August 2025, compared to £44,000 in the previous year. Expenses included £28,800 on the Pastor’s salary and £1,700 pension contributions; £3,600 on the Pastor’s General Conference, travel, retreat, and training expenses; £10,700 on church premises and equipment, £6,700 on the church’s other running costs; and £547 on charitable donations.
32. **Surplus** - We achieved a net surplus of income of around £6,100 in the year ending August 2025.
33. **Reserves -** We own and aim to maintain the church building as our long-term asset as a centre for our Christian ministry. The church building is represented as an unrestricted capital reserve in our accounts. Our balance sheet shows the church building at a historic “book value” of £150,000 dating from the year 2000.
34. Our reserves policy has been, where possible, to hold enough general income in available reserves to meet at least one month’s average routine spending. Our church’s net current assets on 31 August 2025 were just over £10,500. Our reserves included £6,019 on the General Fund; this represents around six weeks' forecast routine expenses. Other funds included restricted funds of £4,299 Building & Equipment Fund for repairs and maintenance, and £568 Goodwill Fund for helping people in need.
## **Conclusion**
35. At Inclusive Community Church we continue to give thanks for all that God has done in our midst and has accomplished amongst us. For the year ahead we continue to look forward in the hope of Jesus Christ as we remember the words of the Apostle Paul:
_Let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith. Galatians 6:9-10_
Reverend Dwayne Morgan Pastor & Chair of Trustees November 2025
## **Inclusive Community Church**
## **Statement of Financial Activities**
## **for year ended 31 August 2025**
|Unrestricted
Funds
£
2024-25
**INCOME**
Donations & collections
39,973
Gift Aid tax recoverable
7,965
Rent & fund-raising
4,750
Grants
_-_|Unrestricted
Funds
£
2024-25
**INCOME**
Donations & collections
39,973
Gift Aid tax recoverable
7,965
Rent & fund-raising
4,750
Grants
_-_|Restricted
Funds
2024-25
4,574
452
_-_
500||**Total**
**Funds**
**2024-25**
**44,547**
**8,417**
**4,750**
**500**|_Total_
_Funds_
2023-24
_41,967_
_8,473_
_2,300_
_-_|_Notes_
_1_
_3_
_2a_
_2b_
_2c_
_2d_
_3 & 5_
_3b_
_3a_|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**TOTAL INCOME**|**52,688**|**5,526**||**58,214**|_52,740_||
|**Less EXPENDITURE**
Staff : Pastor
Premises & equipment
Other running costs
Charitable donations|33,655
8,589
6,706
-|500
2,128
-
547||**34,155**
**10,717**
**6,706**
**547**|_30,789_
_7,183_
_5,855_
_158_||
|**TOTAL EXPENDITURE**|**48,950**|**3,175**||**52,125**|_43,985_||
|**NET INCOME**
**TOTAL FUNDS at 1 Sep 2024**|**3,738**
151,924|**2,351**
2,516||**6,089**
154,440|_8,755_
_145,685_||
|**TOTAL FUNDS at 31 Aug 2025**|**155,662**|**4,867**||**160,529**|_154,440_||
||||||||
The attached Notes 1 to 5 are part of these Financial Statements.
## **Inclusive Community Church**
Registered Charity No. 801108
## **Balance Sheet at 31 August 2025**
|£
**Fixed Asset : church land & building**
_Note 1 f_
**Current Assets**
Income receivable
Cash at bank and in hand
**Current liabilities**
Bank loan repayable within one year
Other creditors
**Net current assets**
**Long-term liabilities**
**NET ASSETS**
_Represented by:_
_Note 4_
**Unrestricted Funds**
General Fund Capital Reserve (Building)
General Fund
**Restricted Funds**
Building Fund (for repairs & equipment)
Goodwill Fund (for people in need)
**TOTAL FUNDS**
Bank loan repayable after more than one year||**2025**
972
10,549
11,521
(356)
(636)
(992)
149,643
6,019
4,299
568|**2025**
**150,000**
**10,529**
**-**
**160,529**
**155,662**
**4,867**
**160,529**|_2024_
_912_
_8,692_
_9,604_
_(4,103)_
_(704)_
_(4,807)_
_145,540_
_6,384_
_2,081_
_435_|_2024_
_150,000_
_4,797_
_(357)_|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||_154,440_|
||||||_151,924_
_2,516_|
||||||_154,440_|
|||||||
_Dwayne Morgan, Chair of Trustees, October 2025_
## **Inclusive Community Church**
## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS - year ending 31 August 2025**
## **Note 1 - ACCOUNTING POLICIES**
a. **Accounting basis** . These financial statements have been prepared on an income and expenditure basis for a going concern in accordance with the Charity Commission’s Statement of Recommended Practice for charity accounts following the Financial Reporting Standard (FRS 102) effective from January 2019.
b. **Income.** Individuals' monetary donations to the Charity are recognised in the financial statements when they are received. Gift Aid tax claims are included in the financial statements at the same time as the related donation. Other income is recognised when due.
c. **Liabilities and expenditure** are included in the financial statements at their cash value when the liability arises.
d. **Restricted Funds** are income funds that must be spent on restricted purposes for which the income was given.The Charity currently has two restricted funds: the Building & Equipment Fund (for maintenance costs and for purchase of equipment) and the Goodwill Fund (for assistance to people in need). A restricted fund for a grant received for Conference expenses was opened, fully used, and closed in the year.
e. **Unrestricted Funds** represent the remaining income funds of the Charity that are available for spending on the Charity's general purposes, including the General Fund and other Funds designated by the Charity's trustees for its own use or for spending on a future project.
f. **Tangible assets** . The church building and its land are shown in the Balance Sheet as a fixed asset at a historic value of £150,000 dating from 2000. The difference between this book value and the outstanding bank loan is represented in Unrestricted Funds as a General Fund Capital Reserve. Equipment, furnishings and other purchases are included in expenditure in the Statement of Financial Activities in the year they are acquired and do not appear as fixed assets in the Balance Sheet.
g. **Depreciation** is not provided on the church building and land as the likely residual value is not less than the carrying value shown in the Balance Sheet.
## **Inclusive Community Church**
## **Note 2 - DETAILS OF EXPENDITURE**
|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**2024-25**
**£**
**(a) Staff : Pastor**
Salary
28,800
Pension
1,728
Travel & conferences
2,475
Retreat & training
652
**33,655**
**(b) Premises & equipment**
Gas, electricity & water
6,372
Insurance
2,014
Bank loan interest
203
Maintenance & equipment
_-_
**8,589**|**Restricted**
**Funds**
**2024-25**
**£**
_-_
_-_
500
_-_
**500**
_-_
_-_
_-_
2,128
**2,128**|**Total**
_Unrestricted_
**Funds**
_Funds_
**2024-25**
_2023-24_
**£**
_£_
**28,800**
_27,840_
**1,728**
_1,670_
**2,975**
_977_
**652**
_302_
**34,155**
_30,789_
**6,372**
4,228
**2,014**
1,983
**203**
543
**2,128**
_-_
**10,717**
_6,754_|_Restricted_
_Total_
_Funds_
_Funds_
_2023-24_
_2023-24_
_£_
_£_
_-_
_27,840_
_-_
_1,670_
_-_
_977_
_-_
_302_
_-_
_30,789_
_-_
_4,228_
_-_
_1,983_
_-_
_543_
_429_
_429_
_429_
_7,183_
/ continued|
|---|---|---|---|
## **Inclusive Community Church**
## **Note 2 - DETAILS OF EXPENDITURE (continued)**
|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**2024-25**
**£**
**(c) Other running costs**
Telecommunications
3,116
Worship supplies & music
1,312
UFMCC Denominational fees
600
Cleaning & other costs
519
Outreach & publicity
466
Stationery & post
445
Accounts examiner
170
Raising funds
78
**6,706**
**(d) Charitable donations**
Goodwill Fund
_-_
Women's Shelter
_-_
**_-_**
**TOTAL EXPENDITURE**
**48,950**|**Restricted**
**Funds**
**2024-25**
**£**
_-_
_-_
_-_
_-_
_-_
_-_
_-_
_-_
**_-_**
547
_-_
**547**
**3,175**|**Total**
_Unrestricted_
**Funds**
_Funds_
**2024-25**
_2023-24_
**£**
_£_
**3,116**
_2,885_
**1,312**
_1,645_
**600**
_-_
**519**
_480_
**466**
_316_
**445**
_273_
**170**
_170_
**78**
_86_
**6,706**
_5,855_
**547**
_-_
**_-_**
_108_
**547**
_108_
**52,125**
_43,506_|_Restricted_
_Total_
_Funds_
_Funds_
_2023-24_
_2023-24_
_£_
_£_
_-_
_2,885_
_-_
_1,645_
_-_
_-_
_-_
_480_
_-_
_316_
_-_
_273_
_-_
_170_
_-_
_86_
_-_
_5,855_
_50_
_50_
_-_
_108_
_50_
_158_
_479_
_43,985_|
|---|---|---|---|
**Inclusive Community Church**
## **Note 3 - STATEMENT OF FUNDS**
|£
General Fund capital
(church building & bank loan)
General Fund revenue
Building & equipment
Outward giving : Goodwill Fund
Conference
**Restricted funds**
**TOTAL FUNDS**
**Unrestricted funds**
**(a) 2024-25**|**Funds at**
**1-Sep-24**
145,539
6,384
151,924
2,081
435
-
2,516
**154,440**|**Transfer**
Bank loan
repayment
4,104
(4,104)
-
-
-
-
-
**-**|**Income**
_-_
52,688
52,688
4,346
680
500
5,526
**58,214**|**Expenditure**
_-_
(48,950)
(48,950)
(2,128)
(547)
(500)
(3,175)
**(52,125)**|**Funds at**
**31-Aug-25**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||149,643
6,019|
||||||155,662|
||||||4,299
568
-|
||||||4,867|
|||||||
||||||**160,529**|
_Totals adjusted for rounding_
/ continued
## **Inclusive Community Church**
## **Note 3 - STATEMENT OF FUNDS (continued)**
|_£_
_General Fund capital_
_(church building & bank loan)_
_General Fund revenue_
_Building & equipment_
_Outward giving : Goodwill Fund_
**_Restricted funds_**
_TOTAL FUNDS_
**_(b) 2023-24_**
**_Unrestricted funds_**|_Funds at_
_1-Sep-23_
_141,763_
_1,552_
_143,315_
_1,885_
_485_
_2,370_
_145,685_|_Transfer_
_Bank loan_
_repayment_
_3,776_
_(3,776)_
_-_
_-_
_-_
_-_
_-_|_Income_
_-_
_52,115_
_52,115_
_625_
_-_
_625_
_52,740_|_Expenditure_
_-_
_(43,506)_
_(43,506)_
_(429)_
_(50)_
_(479)_
_(43,985)_|_Funds at_
_31-Aug-24_|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||_145,539_
_6,384_|
||||||_151,924_|
||||||_2,081_
_435_|
||||||_2,516_|
|||||||
||||||_154,440_|
_Totals adjusted for rounding_
## **Inclusive Community Church**
## **Note 4 - ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS**
|Net current assets
Long-term liabilities
Net assets
_At 31 August_
Fixed assets|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**2025**
150,000
5,662
_-_
155,662|**Restricted**
**funds**
**2025**
_-_
4,867
_-_
4,867|**Total**
**funds**
**2025**
**150,000**
**10,529**
**-**
**160,529**|_Unrestricted_
_funds_
_2024_
_150,000_
_2,281_
_(357)_
_151,924_|_Restricted_
_funds_
_2024_
_-_
_2,516_
_-_
_2,516_|_Total funds_
_2024_|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||_150,000_
_4,797_
_(357)_|
|||||||_154,440_|
## **Note 5 - TRUSTEES TRANSACTIONS**
(a) The Pastor is ex-officio Chair of Trustees and is paid for duties as Pastor. He is the Charity's only employee. In the year ending August 2025 the Charity spent £28,800 on salary and £1,728 on pension contributions (compared to £27,840 and £1,670 respectively in the previous year).
- (b) The Pastor was reimbursed conference, travel, retreat, training, & telecoms expenses of £4,126 (compared to £1,737 in the previous year).
- (c) No expenses reimbursements were made to other trustees (£50 in the previous year).
11[th] November 2025
The Trustees Inclusive Community Church Hannington Road Bournemouth BH7 6JT
## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT ON THE ACCOUNTS**
**Report to the Trustees of Inclusive Community Church, on accounts for the year ended 31[st] August 2025**
## **Respec+ve responsibili+es of Trustees and examiner**
The Trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year (under sec%on 144(2) of the Chari%es Act 2011 (the Act)) and that an independent examina%on is needed.
It is my responsibility to:
- Examine the accounts (under sec%on 145 of the Act);
- To follow the procedures laid down in the General Direc%ons given by the Charity Commission (under sec%on 145(5)(b) of the Act), and
- To state whether par%cular ma3ers have come to my a3en%on.
## **Basis of independent examiner’s statement**
My examina%on was carried out in accordance with General Direc%ons given by the Charity Commission. An examina%on includes a review of the accoun%ng records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes considera%on of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explana%ons from you as trustees concerning any such ma3ers. 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 ma3ers set out in the statement below.
## **Independent examiner’s statement**
In the course of my examina%on, no ma3er has come to my a3en%on:
1. Which gives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respect, the Trustees have not met the requirements to ensure that:
- a. Proper accoun%ng records are kept (in accordance with sec%on 41 of the Act); and
- b. Accounts are prepared which agree with the accoun%ng records and comply with the accoun%ng requirements of the Act; or
2. To which, in my opinion, a3en%on should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed… _SueW_ ……… Date… 11/11/2025…..
Sue Wintle FMAAT ACIE Accoun%ng Technician 27 Basco3 Road Bournemouth Dorset BH11 8RJ