DocuSign Envelope ID: 5C996EE3-6276-47F7-98BD-498652C7398E
VIBE Trustees Report
for the year ended 31 March 2023
Structure, Governance and Management
The Trust (the charity) is an unincorporated trust, constituted under a deed of trust, and is registered as a charity with HRMC and with Charity Commission for NI. The charity plans to continue to raise funds through its routine and special collections from within its congregation, all of which to serve the charity’s objectives in the furtherance of the Christian belief.
The trustees have been appointed for an indefinite period.
The trustees meet regularly to discuss the broad strategy of the charity to include areas of activity for the charity, assessment of reserves and risk management.
Trustees
The Trustees who served during the year were as follows:
Mr Darryl Robert Bain
Mr Joseph Robert Bain Mr Steven Hawthorne
Risk Management
The trustees actively review any major risks, which the charity faces on a regular basis and believe that maintaining reserves at current levels, combined with an annual review of the controls over key financial systems, will provide sufficient resources for the incoming year. The trustees have also examined other operational and business risks faced by the Charity and confirm that they have established systems to mitigate the most significant risks.
Objectives and Activities
The Trustees have regard to the Northern Ireland Charity Commission's Public benefit requirements statutory guidance state the objects and principal activities of the charity are:
Weekly meetings to encourage members and non-members in their walk with God and to welcome others to have faith in Jesus; weekly bible study to help understand God better and apply his principles to our lives, monthly worship and prayer times to engage with God and increase our relationship with him; weekly sports, drama and dance nights within our local community; regular outreach to local community to share the love of Jesus; Christmas Red bag outreach to provide food aid to the local community; yearly outreach overseas for approximately 2 weeks to provide physical, emotional and spiritual aid wherever we go.
We believe that we bring a positive influence to every part of our community helping them to not only find faith in God but develop as people. So that they can be all that they can be and realise their potential.
The main activities undertaken to further these aims are detailed in the "Achievements and performance" section of this report.
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DocuSign Envelope ID: 5C996EE3-6276-47F7-98BD-498652C7398E
VIBE Trustees Report
for the year ended 31 March 2023
Achievements & Performance
- Weekly Activities
Currently we have a hybrid of both in person and online which we has been working well since we began online services in 2021. Regardless of medium, each time we meet we always share from the bible and encourage each other in our Christian faith as we follow Jesus
Vibe continues to provide church online every Sunday. Which means members can watch at anytime during the week on Facebook or YouTube. It has been a great success. With over 1000 hours watched and many messages and emails from people seeking prayer/help.
Mid-week services consist of life groups twice monthly, along with our worship and prayer night twice monthly. There is a real excitement as we continue to meet and see each other! We study the bible together, pray and worship Jesus.
This year we were able to recommence our twice monthly life groups which are a real blessing to the church. An opportunity for a small group of 10/12 people to meet together in a home to pray, study the bible and build relationships with each other.
We love Christmas! It was so good to host our annual Christmas dinner again. However, this time we got to do it in vibe. We got outside caterers to prepare the food. It was delicious. We had close to 150 people join us including kids. We celebrated, played games, and sang Christmas carols together. It was a great family night and brought us together.
Our annual NYE worship night. We love to praise God at the end of another year. Regardless, if good or bad he is always faithful. We counted down the new year with powerful stories of breakthrough and transformation, songs and some celebrations as the clock stuck 12! We all left very excited for the new year that had just arrived.
In February, we hosted a volunteer meal for all of our incredible volunteers. This was free of charge for the volunteers. We got delicious food in a local hotel, played games and had our Vibe awards, which is a fun and unique way to celebrate the volunteers.
Our Newcomers brunch continues to be a huge success. We realised with many new faces joining our church along with having 2 different services times. It was not always easy for new people to meet other new people, our leaders, and pastors. So, we designated 3 dates in the year where we meet for brunch – pancakes with all the extras plus tea/coffee and get to know each other. We always share a little of the history and vision of vibe. We also call people to be a connected part of what we’ve doing i.e. joining a life group, team etc
Community hub continues to grow and help 100s of families in need. Ian our community pastor is always busy keeping links with the community whilst providing that 1-to-1 support to people in need. This is part of our Vibe Care initiative which is part of the Community Hub. Ian regularly helps to furnish houses and provide much need clothes/food to people when required. Our weekly events in the community hub includes toddlers/babies club on Tuesdays, free community lunch on Wednesdays, after school club on Thursdays and many other activities.
In February we have launched a new project, called BriteBox. This is a weekly food box containing all the ingredients and recipe to create a meal for a family of 5. BriteBox is child friendly, so it encouraged the family to prepare the meal together and brings unity into the home. For this project we work alongside local schools to determine which families are most in need. We are piloting this project into one school with 11 families. It has been a huge success, with funders keen to get onboard and increase the reach. Currently we are contacting more schools in anticipation.
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DocuSign Envelope ID: 5C996EE3-6276-47F7-98BD-498652C7398E
VIBE Trustees Report
for the year ended 31 March 2023
Victory house has 7 guests including 2 vibe interns and our Kids Pastor. The heart of this house is to use it as part of our ongoing charity and church work. A safe place to host bible studies, prayer meetings, life groups and accommodate interns and missionaries for short stays. is blown away! We have created links with Ambassadors in Sport and have had 2 of their interns stay in Victory house.
Our Kids Pastor, Caroline came from America in March 2022 to serve in Armagh. She has been incredible, and we have seen our kid's ministry grow. Vibe Kids on a Sunday has had a restructuring which consists of Vibe Mini (1-2 yrs old), Vibe Tots (3-4 yrs old) and Vibe Kids (P2-P7). This has proved very successful. For the first time ever in May 2022, we had our First Kids Takeover. This is a time when our kids serve and take part in our main church service from set up, welcoming, announcements, worship, media, etc. Our aim is to do this a few times a year when a fifth Sunday occurs.
We started Vibe Men. They meet monthly and has been well established, with 30+ regular men coming along. They have a time of food and fellowship, followed by a short message from the Bible.
VibeGirl has recommenced also, with quarterly meetings. These events have been amazing for our ladies, with worship, testimonies and a preach.
In September 2022 we decided to gather our church together and become a ‘House of Prayer’. The plan was for people to sign up for a time slot and pray wherever they were. This would cover all that we do in prayer, 6 days a week, 3 times a day. Every day specific prayer points are emailed out so that we have unity in prayer. We have experienced blessing and favour, which we know is because of prayer.
We finished the year strong with a well overdue baptism night with 10 more people publicly declaring their faith in Jesus.
- Summer Outreach:
Iheart this summer was incredible! We had over 350 kids come to our building for 3 mornings all hearing the message, ‘Discovering Jesus from Eternity past to eternity future.’ We went to 8 estates with pop-up kids clubs, sports and helping people with odd jobs around their homes. As usual our volunteer team was exceptional, adapting and managing all the necessary rules and regulations. We had 65 incredible volunteers in total. We also blessed over 250 local business with free morning coffee treats including cupcakes, cookies and lots of love! We hope next year we can go bigger and better again!
Our foreign missions were back in 2022 when we headed to South Africa in Mid October. This was an incredible time for the Kingdom of God. We got to connect with many different organisations and saw many people come to faith in Jesus. Our team loved it and came back on fire for God.
- Other Outreach (Local)
Kids club and youth club on Friday nights continue to be an incredible success. Every Friday night we teach kids the bible, sing new songs, play games, and help kids make great friends! We have 40 kids weekly and are continuing to grow. Youth club happens right after with lots of local teens coming to play pool and PlayStation.
This year we went into two estates for our Halloween alternative light parties. We visited two of our summer estates bringing in a bouncy castle, glow sticks, faces paints, food, games, and lots of fun for the night. This is to provide an alternative to the darkness involved around Halloween. Our goal is to bring God’s light and love to the fore. Over 100 kids came out and we had a team of helpers on hand to help.
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DocuSign Envelope ID: 5C996EE3-6276-47F7-98BD-498652C7398E
VIBE Trustees Report
for the year ended 31 March 2023
In November we ran our Christmas craft fair and afternoon tea. The goal was to create a community event that would bring people together. We served afternoon tea downstairs with all proceeds going to our Christmas toy and hamper appeal. Upstairs we had 20 crafters from all over country Armagh showing off some incredible items and products. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it and the response was do it again next year!
Throughout December 2022 we prepared and provided 400+ amazing food hampers. Lots of local businesses and people supported us by donating food and their time. We then worked with local contacts and agencies to pin-point those most in need. The hampers have become a lifeline in uncertain times with people making a choice between heating, eating or electric.
- Training
Our training events continued on ZOOM with our team. We some special times with friends and guests and friends from around the world teaching us.
In February we went back to our annual leadership conference in Audacious church, Manchester. We learned a lot of practical steps on how to lead and manage our church better. Along with a fresh vision for the future and biblical training to allow us to all grow further in God. There where leaders there from all over Europe.
- New Building
We are still progressing well with our building project. Our new planning permission is coming very soon. Then we can make a start! We also continue to raise money for project possible through donations and our buy a seat scheme. In all that we did this year we believe the best is yet to come!
Financial Review
The Financial Statements are presented in the standard format required by the Charities SORP (FRS 102) 2015 and in accordance with The Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015. The Statement of Financial Activities on page 7 shows the gross income from all sources.
VIBE is reliant upon income collected through its weekly collections and special collections, combined with the receipt of donations and the subsequent Gift Aid claims, and investment income to cover the running costs of the charity and to further its objectives.
In the year under review the unrestricted income received from weekly collections amounted to £ 177,710 (2022; £ 104,191 ), this amount was further enhanced by the subsequent receipt of Gift Aid amounting to £ 30,426 (2022; £ 19,032 ). Further restricted income was received by way of donations “designated” by the donors to go towards the “Building Fund”, the total amount received amounted to £ 35,727 (2022; £ 17,272 ).
Expenses associated with charitable activity work amounted to £ 56,766 2,930 (2022: £ - 25,085 ) during the year, with a further amount of £ 91,037 (2022; £ 70,469 ) being spent on running and administration expenses. In addition, the charity continued to develop and extend the facilities at Little Barrack Street. In the year under review the charity expended £ 9,626 (2022; £33,008) on fixed asset additions.
Investment Policy
Apart from retaining a prudent amount in reserves each year most of the charity’s funds are spent in the short term.
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DocuSign Envelope ID: 5C996EE3-6276-47F7-98BD-498652C7398E
VIBE Trustees Report
for the year ended 31 March 2023
Reserves Policy
The trustees aim to maintain sufficient reserves to enable the trust to continue its humanitarian aid and Christian outreach at its current level, and if possible, to increase it.
Trustee responsibilities in relation to the accounts
The charity trustees are responsible for preparing a trustees' 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 Northern Ireland requires the charity trustees to prepare financial statements for each year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs 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:
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select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently.
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observe the methods and principles in the applicable Charities SORP.
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make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.
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state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures that must be disclosed and explained in the financial statements.
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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 (Accounts and Reports) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015, and the provisions of the Trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the charity and financial information included on the charity's website in accordance with legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements.
This report was approved by the Trustees and signed on its behalf, on 19[th] March 2024, by:
| This report was approved by the Trustee | s and signed on its behalf, on 19t | hMarch 2024, by: |
|---|---|---|
| Mr Darryl Bain Trustee |
Mr Robert Bain Trustee |
|
| Mr Steven Hawthorne Trustee |
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