Charity registration number: 103479
**DOWN PARISH CHURCH TRUSTEES' REPORT AND UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025**
Norman Elliott Chartered Accountants 13 English Street Downpatrick Co Down BT30 6AB
## **DOWN PARISH CHURCH Contents**
||**Page**|
|---|---|
|Trustees' Report|1—3|
|Independent Examiner's Report|4|
|Statement of Financial Activities|5|
|Statement of Financial Position|6|
|Notes to the Financial Statements|7—11|
|The following pages do not form part of the statutory accounts:||
|Detailed Statement of Financial Activities|12—13|
**DOWN PARISH CHURCH Trustees' Report For The Year Ended 31 December 2025**
The trustees present their report and the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025.
## **Objectives and Activities**
## **Aims and Objectives**
The principal function of the Parish is to support the advancement of the Christian religion by promoting, through the work of the Parish 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 has custody of property and of records, materials and artefacts of significance to the cultural and religious heritage and maintenance which was undertaken by the Trustees.
## **Public Benefit**
The expression of the precepts of the Christian religion through engagement with the general public, and in particular with the disadvantaged, the sick, the elderly and the young is a public benefit. This can be measured and evidenced through increased social integration and pastoral care delivered at the
point of need. The direct benefit of participation in Church life includes the enjoyment of public worship and the giving and receiving of pastoral ministry, improved understanding of the values relating to civic engagement, community cohesion and providing a bridge between diverse groups as well as improved educational outcomes through the Church’s ministry of teaching. The beneficiaries are the general public, and the public valuation of the benefits can be evidenced through attendance at public worship, participation in Church governance and willingness to support through contributions the continuing witness of the Church. The wider benefit to the public will outweigh any detriment arising in the course of Christian outreach. Any private benefit arising out of the fulfilment of our Christian ministry or to lay staff is essential to the fulfilment of the purpose of the advancement of religion. No Trustee receives remuneration, reward or other private benefit for carrying out their Trustee responsibility. Purpose 2 The direct benefits flowing from this purpose include the provision of archive records, public enjoyment of cultural and historic buildings and artefacts such as church plate, furnishings and materials as well as an overall improved appreciation of longstanding Christian heritage. This is demonstrated through ongoing provision of access to records and the use made of these records in, for example, research and genealogy, through conservation efforts in respect of records, property and artefacts and the subsequent and continued requests for access and use of our materials by wider society. There is no harm arising from the purpose. The beneficiaries are the general public. No private benefit is received by trustees fulfilling their trustee responsibilities in respect of these records, buildings or artefacts, but in the course of conservation and to make these accessible to the public, the engagement of professional staff and services is essential but incidental to the fulfilment of the purpose.
The trustees confirm that they have complied with the requirements of Section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit.
## **Reference and Administrative Details**
## **Trustees**
MR KEITH WILLIS Mrs MARLENE BLAIR Mrs ALISON CARSON Mrs JUNE KELLY Mr JAMES McELWAINE Mrs STEPHANIE STRAIN Mr DAVID TELFORD Mrs RACHEL McGOWAN Mrs MARY FITZSIMONS Mrs HILARY McGUIRE Mr HENRY BLAIR
## **Charity Number**
103479
## **Principal Address**
CHURCH AVENUE DOWNPATRICK CO DOWN BT30 6EP
Page 1
**DOWN PARISH CHURCH Trustees' Report (continued) For The Year Ended 31 December 2025**
## **Independent Examiner**
Norman Elliott FCA Norman Elliott Chartered Accountants 13 English Street Downpatrick Co Down BT30 6AB
Page 2
**DOWN PARISH CHURCH Trustees' Report (continued) For The Year Ended 31 December 2025**
The trustees' report was approved by the board of trustees and signed on its behalf by:
MR KEITH WILLIS Trustee Date
Page 3
## **DOWN PARISH CHURCH Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of DOWN PARISH CHURCH For The Year Ended 31 December 2025**
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of DOWN PARISH CHURCH (the Trust) for the year ended 31 December 2025.
## **Responsibilities and Basis of Report**
As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 (“the Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 65 of the 2008 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commissioners under section 65(9)(b) of the Act.
## **Independent Examiner's Statement**
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Church as required by section 63 of the Charities (Northern Ireland) Act 2008; or
2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or
3. the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and contents of accounts set out in the Charities (Northern Ireland) Act 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair view' which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Norman Elliott FCA Date 13 English Street Downpatrick Co Down BT30 6AB
Page 4
## **DOWN PARISH CHURCH Statement of Financial Activities For The Year Ended 31 December 2025**
|**Notes**
**INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM:**
Donations and legacies
**3**
Other trading activities
**4**
Investments
**5**
Separate material item of income
**EXPENDITURE ON:**
Raising funds
**6**
**NET EXPENDITURE**
**NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS**
**RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS:**
Total funds brought forward
**TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD**
**13**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**£**
24,037
15,670
9,375
19,734|**Restricted**
**funds**
**£**
3,797
-
-
-|**2025**
**Total**
**funds**
**£**
27,834
15,670
9,375
19,734|**2024**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**£**
17,754
12,741
8,422
2,530|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||68,816|3,797|72,613|41,447|
||(84,875)|(883)|(85,758)|(54,632)|
||(16,059)|2,914|(13,145)|(13,185)|
||(16,059)
340,751|2,914
-|(13,145)
340,751|(13,185)
353,936|
||324,692|2,914|327,606|340,751|
The notes on pages 7 to 11 form part of these financial statements.
Page 5
**DOWN PARISH CHURCH Statement of Financial Position As At 31 December 2025**
|**Notes**
**FIXED ASSETS**
Tangible Assets
**10**
Investments
**11**
**CURRENT ASSETS**
Cash at bank and in hand
**Creditors: Amounts Falling Due Within One Year**
**12**
**NET CURRENT ASSETS (LIABILITIES)**
**TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES**
**NET ASSETS**
**FUNDS OF THE CHARITY**
Restricted Funds
Unrestricted Funds
**TOTAL FUNDS**
**13**
On behalf of the board
MR KEITH WILLIS
Trustee
Date|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**£**
270,000
18,679|**Restricted**
**funds**
**£**
-
-|**2025**
**Total**
**funds**
**£**
270,000
18,679|**2024**
**Total**
**funds**
**£**
270,000
16,895|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||288,679
36,409|-
2,914|288,679
39,323|286,895
53,856|
||36,409
(396)|2,914
-|39,323
(396)|53,856
-|
||36,013|2,914|38,927|53,856|
||324,692|2,914|327,606|340,751|
||324,692|2,914|327,606|340,751|
||||2,914
324,692|-
340,751|
||||327,606|340,751|
||||||
The notes on pages 7 to 11 form part of these financial statements.
Page 6
**DOWN PARISH CHURCH Notes to the Financial Statements For The Year Ended 31 December 2025**
## 1. **General Information**
DOWN PARISH CHURCH is an unincorporated charity registered with the Charity Commission, registered charity number 103479. The principal address is CHURCH AVENUE, DOWNPATRICK, CO DOWN, BT30 6EP.
## 2. **Accounting Policies**
## 2.1. **Basis of Preparation of Financial Statements**
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)", Financial Reporting Standard 102 "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" and the Charities Act 2011.
The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
## 2.2. **Incoming Resources**
Incoming resources represent all funds and other benefits received by the charity during the financial year, before the deduction of any related costs. These include donations, grants, membership subscriptions, fundraising income, trading activities, and any investment returns. Each source is recorded at its gross value to provide a transparent view of the charity’s total income. Where income is restricted by the donor for specific purposes, it is allocated to the relevant restricted fund; all other income is treated as unrestricted. This approach ensures that the accounts reflect both the scale of support received and the intended use of those resources in fulfilling the charity’s objectives.
## 2.3. **Resources Expended**
Resources expended are recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities on an accruals basis as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment, it can be measured reliably, and it is probable that settlement will be required.
Expenditure is classified under the following headings:
Costs of Raising Funds – costs incurred in generating voluntary income, fundraising events, and trading activities. Charitable Activities – costs directly related to the delivery of the charity’s objectives, including direct staff costs, materials, and attributable support costs.
Governance Costs – costs associated with the constitutional and statutory requirements of the charity, including audit, legal, and trustee meetings.
All costs are allocated directly to the relevant activity where possible. Where costs relate to more than one activity, they are apportioned on a reasonable and consistent basis, such as staff time or usage.
Irrecoverable VAT is included within the category of expenditure to which it relates.
## 2.4. **Tangible Fixed Assets and Depreciation**
Tangible fixed assets are measured at cost less accumulated depreciation and any accumulated impairment losses. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost of the fixed assets, less their estimated residual value, over their expected useful lives on the following bases:
## Freehold Nil
## 2.5. **Investments**
Investments are accounted for at realisable market value.
## 2.6. **Cash and Cash Equivalents**
Cash and cash equivalents are basic financial assets and include cash in hand and deposits held at call with banks, other short-term highly liquid investments that mature in no more than three months from the date of acquisition and are readily convertible to a known amount of cash with insignificant risk of change in value, and bank overdrafts.
## 3. **Income from Donations and Legacies**
Page 7
**DOWN PARISH CHURCH Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) For The Year Ended 31 December 2025**
|Donations and gifts
Gift aid
Grants
Other
Donations and gifts
Gift aid
Grants
Other
.
**Income from Other Trading Activities**
Income from Hall
Roof Insurance Claim
.
**Investment Income**
Bank interest receivable
Dividends from investments
Rents received from investment properties|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**£**
16,168
2,869
5,000
-|**Restricted**
**funds**
**£**
-
-
3,797
-|**2025**
**Total**
**funds**
**£**
16,168
2,869
8,797
-|
|---|---|---|---|
||24,037|3,797|27,834|
||**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**£**
13,618
3,236
-
900|**Restricted**
**funds**
**£**
-
-
-
-|**2024**
**Total**
**funds**
**£**
13,618
3,236
-
900|
||17,754|-|17,754|
|||**2025**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**£**
14,290
1,380|**2024**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**£**
12,741
-|
|||15,670|12,741|
|||**2025**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**£**
402
643
8,330|**2024**
**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**£**
375
547
7,500|
|||9,375|8,422|
## 4. **Income from Other Trading Activities**
5. **Investment Income**
Page 8
## **DOWN PARISH CHURCH Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) For The Year Ended 31 December 2025**
## 6. **Analysis of Expenditure**
|6.
**Analysis of Expenditure**||||
|---|---|---|---|
|Raising funds
Raising funds
7.
**Support Costs**
Premises expenses
General administration
Governance costs
Premises expenses
General administration
Governance costs
8.
**Independent Examiner's Remuneration**
Independent examination of the financial statements|**Activities**
**undertaken**
**directly**
**£**
1,367|**Support**
**costs**
(see note 7)
**£**
84,391|**2025**
**Total**
**£**
85,758|
||**Activities**
**undertaken**
**directly**
**£**
1,855|**Support**
**costs**
(see note 7)
**£**
52,777|**2024**
**Total**
**£**
54,632|
|||**2025**
**£**
396|**2025**
**Raising**
**funds**
**£**
41,617
42,378
396|
||||84,391|
||||**2024**
**Raising**
**funds**
**£**
12,466
39,915
396|
||||52,777|
||||**2024**
**£**
396|
9. **Average Number of Employees**
Average number of employees during the year was: NIL (2024: NIL)
Page 9
**DOWN PARISH CHURCH Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) For The Year Ended 31 December 2025**
|10.
**Tangible Assets**
**Cost**
As at 1 January 2025
As at 31 December 2025
**Net Book Value**
As at 31 December 2025
As at 1 January 2025
11.
**Investments**
**Cost or Valuation**
As at 1 January 2025
Revaluations
As at 31 December 2025
**Provision**
As at 1 January 2025
As at 31 December 2025
**Net Book Value**
As at 31 December 2025
As at 1 January 2025
12.
**Creditors: Amounts Falling Due Within One Year**
Accruals and deferred income
13.
**Movement in Funds**
**Unrestricted funds**
General:
General unrestricted fund
**Restricted funds**
C&O Grant
**Total funds**|**As at 1**
**January**
**2025**
**£**
340,751
-|**Income**
**£**
68,816
3,797||**2025**
**£**
396
**Expenditure**
**£**
(84,875)
(883)|**Land &**
**Property**
**Freehold**
**£**
270,000|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||270,000|
||||||270,000|
||||||270,000|
||||||**Unlisted**
**£**
16,895
1,784|
||||||18,679|
||||||-|
||||||-|
||||||18,679|
||||||16,895|
||||||**2024**
**£**
-|
||||||**As at 31**
**December**
**2025**
**£**
324,692
2,914|
||340,751|72,613||(85,758)|327,606|
Page 10
## **DOWN PARISH CHURCH Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) For The Year Ended 31 December 2025**
|**Unrestricted funds**
General:
General unrestricted fund
**Total funds**|**As at 1**
**January**
**2024**
**£**
353,936|**Income**
**£**
41,447|**Expenditure**
**£**
(54,632)|**As at 31**
**December**
**2024**
**£**
340,751|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||353,936|41,447|(54,632)|340,751|
## 14. **Transactions with Trustees**
None of the trustees received any remuneration or any other benefits from an employment with the charity or a related entity during the current or previous year.
No trustee expenses have been incurred.
## 15. **Related Party Disclosures**
There have been no related party transactions in the reporting period that require disclosure.
Page 11
## **DOWN PARISH CHURCH Detailed Statement of Financial Activities For The Year Ended 31 December 2025**
|**INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM:**
**Donations and legacies**
Freewill Offerings
Loose Collections
Graves/Headstones
Gift aid
C&O Grant
Diocesan Office Rectory Grant
Wills & Donations
**Other trading activities**
Income from Hall
Roof Insurance Claim
**Investments**
Investment Income
Rental income from investment property
Bank interest receivable
**Separate material item of income**
Arkle Park Insurance Claim
Unrealised increase in the value of investments
**EXPENDITURE ON:**
**Raising funds**
Rental expenses
Arkle Park Insurance Expenditure
Water rates
Church expenses
Rectory costs
Roof Insurance Expenditure
Insurance
Caretaking, music and bookkeeping fees
Development Officer
Bank charges
Charitable donations
Diocesan General Fund
Lamp Contributions|**2025**
**Total**
**funds**
**£**
10,294
5,424
450
2,869
3,797
5,000
-|**2024**
**Total**
**funds**
**£**
12,340
1,278
-
3,236
-
-
900
17,754
12,741
-
12,741
547
7,500
375
8,422
-
2,530
2,530
41,447
(1,855)
-
(545)
(10,895)
(1,026)
-
(3,029)
(4,980)
(650)
(57)
(1,300)
(3,960)
(25,580)
...CONTINUED|
|---|---|---|
||27,834
14,290
1,380||
||15,670
643
8,330
402||
||9,375
17,950
1,784||
||19,734||
||72,613
(1,367)
(14,498)
(1,122)
(14,744)
(9,523)
(1,730)
(3,089)
(4,880)
-
(57)
(1,200)
(3,960)
(28,270)||
Page 12
## **DOWN PARISH CHURCH Detailed Statement of Financial Activities (continued) For The Year Ended 31 December 2025**
|Sundry expenses
C&O Grant Expenditure
Independent examiner's fees
**NET EXPENDITURE**|(39)
(883)
(396)|(359)
-
(396)|
|---|---|---|
||(85,758)|(54,632)|
||(85,758)|(54,632)|
||(13,145)|(13,185)|
Page 13