Newtownards/ Ball alter Hol Trini Down &Dromore Church of Ireland Trustees, Annual re ort and Statement of Recei ts and Pa ments and Assets and Liabilitles For the ear ended 31st December 2023 Trustees Annual Re ort Chari Number NIC 102663
Newtownards Ball alter Hol Trini Down&Dromore Church of Ireland Annual Re ort for the ear ended 31" December 2023 Contents References and administrative details of the Charity 34 Trustees, report 5-8
Newtownards Ball alter Hol Trini Down & Dromore Church of Ireland References and administrative details Charity Name Newtownards/Ballywalter/Holy Trinity/Down &Dromore/Church of Ireland Charity Rogistration Number.. NIC 102663 Contact Addres5.' The Vicarage, 15 Westland Drive, Ballywalter, Newtownard5 Co Down BT22 2TH Trustees Revd S Bell, Dr M Amistrong, Mr A Bell, Mr A. Brown, Mrs S. Clayton, Miss K. Corkum. Mr E. Dunbar. Mr D. Eccles, Mrs C Fell, Mr M. Fell, Mrs C. Hall, Mrs S.Hall, Miss L Hamilton,Mr. L. Jardine, Dr K.Lacy, Mr. M. Marshall, Mrs M.McClurg, Mr. T Proctor. Princi al Office-bearers Clergy: Revd Sue Bell Parish Lay readers: Mr David Eccles, Mrs C. Hall, Mr A.Bell, Mr T.Proctor, Dr C. Harpur, Dr.M.Armstrong Church Secretary.. Mrs Carol Hall Church Treasurer: Dr Marilyn Armstrong Church Wardens- Clergy: Mr E. Dunbar (Holy Trinity Ballywalter) Mr A. Brown (St Andrew's Balligan) Church Warden5 - People.. Mr A. Bell (Holy Trinity Ballywalterl People: Dr. M.Armstrong 1st Andrew'5 Balliganl
Newtownards alter Hol Trln" Down & Dromore Church of Ireland References and administrative details cont Inde endent Examiner Mr Timothy C. Browne (Chartered Accountant) 36, Bresagh Road. B03rdmills. BT27 6TU Banker (l) Santander Business Banking Bridle Road, Bootle Merseyside LG30 4GB
Trustees, Annual Report for the year ended 315t December 2023 The trustees present the annual report for Newtownards Ball of Ireland for the year ended 31" December 2023. alter Hol Trinit Down & Dromore Church Ob ertives and Artivities (the wording supplled for Charitable Objèctives and Actlvities were approved by General Synod in 2015.1 The charitsble purpose of the Church of Ireland is the advancement of religion. The principal function of the Parish of Ballywalter is to support the advancement of the Christian rellglon bv promotin& through the work of Holy Trinity P3rish Church, Ballywalter and St Andrew'5 Church BalliEan. the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. Being open to and engaging with society as a whole and offering support for those needing help are fundamental to the practical delivery of the benefits of Christianity. As a result of activity in the pursuit of the advancement of the Christian religion, the Parish of Ballywalter has custody of property and of records. materials and artefacts of significance to the cultural and religious heritage and maintenance of which is undertaken by the select vestry of the Parish of Ballywalter. Achievements Performance & Public Benefit l. Achievements and Performance We have two churches withln the Parish of Ballywalter namely li) Holy Trlnlty. Ballywalter bullt in 1849 and is set in beautiful natural 8rounds on the East Down coast in the village of Ballywalter 11} St.Andre5 Balllgan built in 1704 and extensively restored in 2004 conserving its original design and appearance. It is set in the countryside approx. 2.5 miles from Ballywalter The Mlsslon Statement of Ballywalter Parish is Yo explore growing deeper together in our love. faith and our worship to God while sharing his love with our community in Ballywalter, We achieve this through regular public worship in both churches, and community outreach at local. national and international level In Holy Trinity. Ballywalter all of our church activities have resurned. In additlon to our morning servlce at 11.00am, we have two evenlng services per month at 6pm. These are called HTB6 and are services of contemporary worship wlth an opportunlty to recelve prayer. On Advent Sundayevenln& we had ourcarol service with the Ballywalter Flute Band welcomin8 con8regatlon and vlsitors to both services. At our Harvest Festlval servlce we madè a collectlon for the local food bank. Choral evensong in St Andre$ Balllgan finished at the end of September due to the retirement of the Balligan Consort. It has been replaced by monthly said Evening prayer which takes place on the second Sunday of the month at 3.30pm In our services on Remembrance Sunday and for the Coronatlon of King Charles 111 we specifically included the Ballywalter Branch of the Royal British Legion. We have been building up a relationship with thi5 organisation and thev do look to us to provide services for them. Our Vicar will be providing a service at the War Memorial next yearto commemoratethe 80thAnniversaryof D Day thus providing an example of howourchurch is breaking into the community through this organisation. A group of British Legion members have now become regulars at our 50up club.
Trustees, Annual Report for the year ended 31" December 2023 (continued ) Sunday Club Our Sunday club for children of primary school age children has taken place regularly all year with increasing numbers of children returning. In August Sunday Club held a Teddy Bearfs picnic. Children had a picnic. games, stories. and brought their teddies! Youth for Chrlst Youth Club. Since October 2019 we have partnered with Youth for Christ in hosting a drop-in club in the Parochial Hall, open to all 11 to 18 year olds from the village and district. We kept going thioughout COVID with meetings outside in the grounds. Unfortunately our Youth for Christ leader left at the beginning of October 2022 and YFC has not yet found a replacement. Meetings continued for a while but have now ceased until a new leader is found. Our Mothers Union Evening meetings continue on the second Monday of the month starting in October and is going from strength to strength. We were delighted to welcome 5 new members at this meeting making our total membership 22. Fundralslng Activities include our Big Breakfast for Christian Ald in May raising much needed funds1£814} for this very worthwhile charity. On four Saturday mornings in July and August we held our market stalls which raised £4.731 for church funds. Both events were very social occasions much appreciated by the local community. We also had very successful collections in church for Libya (£850) and the Earthquake I£IOOO). We also held a Big Quiz for Tearfund {£1551 Through Youth wlth a Mlsslon IYWAMI we were partlcularly pleased to be able to contribute £2000 to support the conversion and fitting out of a Naval vessel into a medical ship renamed 'lsland Reach. which wlll provlde medlcal services around the island of Madagascar Community Outreach In 2022 we started a Soup club which ran from November from 12-2pm in the parochial hall. This was open to everyone and provided homemade 50up, fresh rolls, coffee and traybakes free of charge. It continued into 2023 and changed to a coffee morning with home baked scones and traybakes in April and May 2023. We held the soup club again startlng in November 2023 through to end of March 2024. It was very well attended and provided much needed social interaction for those living alone. We also held a Holy Splrit themed day of talk5, prayer and contemplation led by Mrs Glynnis Matchett. The Coronatlon Our church was also represented on the planning committee for the Ballywalter village celebrations for the coronation of Kin8 Charles 111. Publlc Benefit The charitable purpose of Ballywalter Parish is the advancement of rellglon. Thi5 is achieved through Chrlstlan witness and outreach, supported by our mission statement to exploregrowln8 deeper together in our love.faith and our worship to God while sharing His love with our community. It is delivered through the provision of public worship, and our outreach programme described above. These activitie5 benefit all age groups in our community from children throuEh to our senior cltizens, by contributing to the spiritual well-bein8 of the participant5 and the reinforcement of Chris(iarTr values. They also provide pastoral support and Social intercourse for families, individuals and those who live alone. There Is an ecumenical benefit in that many of our events are supported by all sectlons of the communily. In addition. our HTB6 service provides benefit by providing support for those who are ill or who have farrFily or friends who are ill, and incorporates an opportunity for individuals to benefit from laying-on of hands and anointlng with oil. It a150 provide5 an opportunity for individual prayer ministry for illness and spiritual need. Our international outreach benefits the hungry. the homeless, and those in educational need in other parts of the world. Our soup club and contributions to the food bank benefit those who are hungry and in need in our community. Restrictions: The burial of ashes lin biogradable containers) in the Garden of Remembrance in Ballywalter is restrirted to parishioners or former parishioners. The Graveyard at St Andrews Balligan 15 closed.
Trustees. Annual Report for the year ended 31st December 2023 (continued) Health and Safety: We comply with the Church of Ireland Safeguarding Trust Child Protection Policy. In accordance with the law, we also have a Fire Safety Policy and hold regular trainings for our trustees and parishioners on Fire Awareness, First Aid, and Hygiene for Food handling. Com liance with Public Benefit The Parish has given careful consideration to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland's guidance on publi benefit to ensure that the activities entered into during the year have helped to achieve the Parish's objectives and activities. as well as providing public benefit. Financial Review Our finances in 2023 continue to be adequate with Free Will Offerings remaining steady with our increased church membership, plate collections ar@ still lower because summer visitor numbers still have not really returned to normal. We are continuing our fundraising for church rewiring at Holy Trinity. We were particularly pleased to continue our Big Breakfast for Christian Aid and our summer market stalls. As a result, all of our unrestrirted, designated and restritted funds remained solvent and no cash transfers were required. Our fixed assets. ie church buildings. halls and vicarage, are kept in good repair by a dedicated team of parishioners Wlth the necessary expertise, thus expenditure in this area was for materials only, We also have a team of volunteers who clean the churches and the minor hall. The parochial hall is currently looked after by a dedlcated volunteer. Our organist at St Andrew's Balligan retired in September due to ill health and we continue with said services Holy Trinlty currently does not have an organist and we have prerecorded musical accompaniment for the hymns and worship son8S. Goin Concern The trustees have reviewed the budgets for the year ahead and are satisfied that there are adequate funds in place to ensure that the Parish can continue its activities and the flnancial statements for the year ended ST 31 December 2023 can be signed off as a going Concern. Strurture Governance and Mana ement Governin Document and Constltution of the Charl Chapter111 of the Constitution of the Church of Ireland govern5 Parishes and Parochial Organisation. The Select Vestry members are the Charity Trustees Recruitment and A ointment of Select Vest Trustees All members of the Church of Ireland who are over the age of 18, either resident within the parish or living elsewhere but have been accustomed members of the congregation for at least three months, and pay a traceable free will offering to the parish. may register as members of the general vestry of the parish, allowing them to attend and vote at meetings of the general vestry and to stand for election to the select vestry. Meetings of the general vestry are held once a year. The Select Vestry is elected as part of this General Vestry meeting. The Select Vestry will hold their positions for a period of one year. Select Vestry members may be re- elected annually and there is no limit on the number of terms which may be served. Pa and remuneration The stipend of the Incumbent is paid directly by the Parish. The stipend is in accordance with figures approved by the General Synod of the Church of Ireland for Group E parishes. In 2023 this was £35.124 per annum less national insurance. income tax and employee's pension. The ofFice allowance was a reimbursement of monthly expenditure and totalled £532.83.
Trustees. Annual Report for the year ended 31# December 2023 (contlnued) The locomotory allowance paid was a reimbursement of monthly mileage as submitted by the Vicar and calculated at 45p per mile. For 2023 total cost for the year was £765.69. anisational Structure The select vestry is responsible for the day to day management of the parish. The select vestry consists of the member of the clergy serving in the parish. the churchwardens, and generally not more than twelve other members of the general vestry elected at the General Vestry. consequently does not have Elebe wardens or parothial nominators. Ballywalter Parish is a patrona8e and The select vestry is chaired by the incumbent or. in her abseno. by the Area Dean. Select vestry members are responsible for making decisions on matters of general concern and importance to the parish including deciding how parish funds are to be applied. The Select Vestry meets at times fixed by the members or by the diocesan synod. Special meetings may be convened at any time by the chairperson or the churchwardens. In 2023. the Select Vestry met in the Minor hall. They met nine times during the year and the average attendan was 90%. Statement of Trustees, Res onsibillties The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees. Report and the statement of receipts and payments and statement of assets and liabilities in accordance with appllcable law and re8ulations. The law applicable to charities in Northern Ireland with Income of less than £250,000 requires the trustees to prepare a statement of receipts and payments and a statement of assets and liabilities for each financial year. The trustees are responsible for keeping accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Parish's transactions and dlsclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the assets and liabilities of the Parish. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Parish and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. Statement a5 to disclosure to our inde endent examiner In so far as the trustees are aware at the timing of approvin8 our trustee5' annual report: There is no relevant audit information of which the parish's independent examlner is unaware The trustees have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the parish's independent examiner is aware of that information Inde endent examiner We are verygrateful to Mr Timothy C. Browne FCA for taking on the responsibility of External Examiner and for examining the 2023 accounts for us. Slgned on Behalf of the Trustees Trustee I . Revd Sue Bell Date 10- 2oZ* Trustee 2: Dr Marilyn Arnistrong Date