**Trustee Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022** 1 ## **CONTENTS** |INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………… 3|| |---|---| |LEGALITIES…………………………………………………………………………………………|4| |MAIN ACTIVITIES TO FURTHER PUBLIC BENEFIT……………………………………………|5| |REVIEW OF PUBLIC BENEFIT OUTCOMES FOR 2022……………………………………..|7| |TRUSTEES RESPONSIBILITIES………………………………………..…………………………..|10| |INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS REPORT………………………………………………………….|11| |FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2022…………………………………………………………………|12| 2 ## **INTRODUCTION** This is the Trustee Annual Report for Cornerstone City Church as required by the Charity Commission NI. This report relates to the financial year from 1[st] January 2022 to 31[st] December 2022. This document has been prepared based on guidance provided by the Charity Commission NI. Signed on behalf of Trustees: - 29[th] March 2023 David Gamble Chairperson John Loughery Trustee 3 ## **LEGALITIES** The church is registered as a charity under the name Cornerstone City Church but is also on occasion referred to just as Cornerstone or Cornerstone Church. The church is registered with the Charity Commission under the number NIC102984, and with Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) under the reference XR25207. The principal address of the church and of its office is… 40 Duke Street L’Derry BT47 6DQ |**TRUSTEE NAME**|**SERVED DURING 2022**| |---|---| |David Gamble|Yes| |John Loughery|Yes| |Carolyn Smith|Yes| 4 ## **MAIN ACTIVITIES TO FURTHER PUBLIC BENEFIT** ## #1 The Advancement of Religion Our principle activity and purpose is to provide a Christian place of worship in the Derry/Londonderry area for all those who wish to participate on a temporary or longerterm basis. The direct benefits that flow from this purpose include open public access to Sunday services (including prayer, praise, worship, and Christian teaching), midweek prayer/bible study groups and pastoral services. Additional benefits include contribution to the mental, spiritual and emotional health and wellbeing of members and contribution to moral improvement in society. These benefits are demonstrated through numbers of formal members, and attendance at Sunday services and midweek prayer/bible study groups. The purposes of our charity may lead to harm if people feel pressured to join or stay in our church, but we can show that this potential harm is heavily outweighed by the benefits through the fact that people may choose freely to join, stay or leave membership at any time. The only private benefit flowing from this purpose is payment of Pastoral Church Leaders or other staff, and this is incidental, necessary and integral to the furtherance of the charity’s purposes. Our church offices are open to all during normal working hours, and our church building is open to all for specific church services and meetings. We deliver Sunday services, midweek prayer/bible study groups, pastoral support, faith-based conferences, worship events, and outreach. ## #2 The Prevention or Relief of Poverty The first direct benefit which flows from this purpose includes the alleviation of debt related poverty to all those in debt in the Foyle area who wish to use the service. These benefits are demonstrated through the provision of the Foyle ‘Christians Against Poverty’ (CAP) branch, the numbers of service users, and the number of budget management courses run. Another direct benefit that flows from this purpose includes the relief of poverty by providing food and clothes through our newly established Hope Centre. These benefits are demonstrated through the users of the Hope Centre, and the number of food parcels handed out to those in need. It is difficult to imagine a scenario where there may be harm or detriment that outweighs the good work being carried out. If service users felt forced to join the church as a result of engaging with the Hope Centre or debt advice this could perhaps lead to harm, however this harm is outweighed by the benefits through ensuring staff are fully trained to mitigate this possibility happening. The only private benefit flowing from this purpose is the payment of one Christians Against Poverty staff member and one Hope Centre staff member. This is incidental and necessary because the services require these two paid roles in order to function. 5 We run the Foyle branch of ‘Christians Against Poverty’ in the Derry/Londonderry area to people in debt who refer themselves to our service. This is a service that works to address the cause of poverty, and debt as a cause of poverty. We provide practical money management courses, advice and debt counselling services, and occasional small emergency support e.g. food packages. In November 2019 we opened ‘The Hope Centre’ to meet the practical needs of people in Derry/Londonderry through the provision of food, clothes, and other services. We also work in partnership with other agencies within the city, who refer people in need of practical help to our Hope Centre. In response to the Corona-Virus pandemic we converted our Foodbank into a ‘DriveThru Foodbank’ from April 2020. This saw a significant increase in the volume of people using the services of the Foodbank in both 2020, 2021 and throughout 2022. #3 The Advancement of Human Rights, Conflict Resolution, Reconciliation, and the Promotion of Religious Harmony, Racial Harmony, Equality and Diversity. The direct benefits that flow from this purpose include the promotion of reconciliation to the public in the Foyle area. These benefits are demonstrated through the numbers of reconciliation or cross-community activities led by or engaged by church members through the church. The purposes of our charity may lead to harm if the staff or volunteers with inexperience in the field of reconciliation were not fully briefed, but we can show that this harm is outweighed by the benefits through ensuring our staff and volunteers are appropriately trained and prepared. The only private benefit flowing from this purpose is training, skills and experience provided to staff and volunteers, and this is incidental and necessary because it is needed in order to deliver this benefit. We work alongside other churches in the interests or reconciliation and promotion of religious harmony. Through the Hope Centre we have been partnering with Probation NI to provide a safe space for individuals to complete their community service hours. We also run an ‘I Heart Derry’ outreach week annually providing children’s work and community development/relations activities in different areas of Derry/Londonderry to people of diverse identities. We have regarded to all statutory guidance for the provision of these public benefits. The charities beneficiaries for the above purposes are primarily those residents in the Derry/Londonderry area who choose to engage in Christian worship through the church. Wider beneficiaries are the public who use our 'Christians Against Poverty’ debt service, the Hope Centre, Street Pastors service, or who engage with our other community activities. 6 ## **REVIEW OF PUBLIC BENEFIT OUTCOMES FOR 2022** ## #1 The Advancement of Religion OUTCOME: Throughout the year we effectively created open access for members of the public to attend Sunday services, which provide a space for people to worship God, pray together and grow in their faith. This is further enhanced by opportunities to join together for midweek prayer/ bible study groups. ACTIVITY: We held weekly Sunday services that were predominantly attended by members of Cornerstone, but some others from the local area also attended. We also held weekly midweek prayer/bible study groups throughout the year. ## IN-PERSON STATISTICS: |Adult Members||130| |---|---|---| |Children (Under 18) of Adult Members|70|| |Average Weekly Attendance||160| |Average Weekly Adult Attendance||120| |Average Weekly Children (Under 12) Attendance||40| |Midweek Groups||8| |Midweek Groups Attendance||75| 7 #2 The Prevention or Relief of Poverty OUTCOME: Our ‘Christians Against Poverty’ (CAP) free debt service enabled people from the Derry/Londonderry area to begin the process of becoming debt free as well as learning how to better budget their finances going forward. Our Hope Centre, which opened in November 2019, supported multiple people in need from Derry/Londonderry through our Food Bank & Clothing Bank. ACTIVITY: Our CAP manager meets each potential client up to three times to gather information regarding their current debt, income/expenditure levels to ascertain the best way forward for each client, which often includes creating a budget and repayment plan. We also, if required, provide extra support through trained volunteers. Our Hope Centre meets the practical needs of individuals within Derry/Londonderry by providing food and clothes, and also signposts people to other services available within the city. STATISTICS: CAP Clients 10 New CAP Clients CAP Clients Debt Free Hope Centre Clients (Est.) Hope Centre Food Parcels Deliveries (Est.) Hope Centre Christmas Hampers Hope Centre Christmas Toy Vouchers Money Spent on Food Parcels 300 (households) 1,000 (households) 120 (households) 35 (households) £24,500 8 #3 The Advancement of Human Rights, Conflict Resolution, Reconciliation, and the Promotion of Religious Harmony, Racial Harmony, Equality and Diversity. OUTCOME: Our Street Pastor Teams provide soft intervention promoting peace and reconciliation where there may be potential conflict. Our ‘I Heart Derry’ outreach week engages and impacts both children and adults from all sectors of the community bridging potential divides. ACTIVITY: On the first week of July we host our annual I Heart Derry outreach week. As part of that week, we hosted a kids club, football camp and carried out clean-up projects in a few local communities. STATISTICS: I Heart Derry Volunteers 50 Kids Week Attendance 60 Football Camp Attendance 35 9 ## **Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities in respect of the Annual Report and the financial statements** 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), including FRS102 the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. 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: -select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; -observe the methods and principles in the applicable Charities FRS102 SORP; -make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; -state whether applicable Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures that must be disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and -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 Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 the applicable 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. 10