Newtownbreda Baptist Church Trustee’s Report For the year ended 31[st] December 2023
The Trustees present their annual reports and financial statements for the year ending 31[st] December 2023.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the Charity's governing document, the Charities Act 2008 and "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)".
Reference and administrative details:
The registered name of the charity:
Newtownbreda Baptist Church.
Principle address:
43 Newtownbreda Road, Belfast, BT8 7BQ.
Charity registration number:
NIC 109072 (as of October 2022).
Auditor:
Harbinson Mulholland Accountants, Centre Point, 24 Ormeau Ave, Belfast, BT2 8HS.
Bankers:
Danske Bank UK, Donegall Square W, Belfast, BT1 6JS.
Solicitors:
Johnstons Law Firm, 50-56 Wellington Place, Belfast, BT1 6GF.
Structure, governance and management.
NBC is a charity registered with the Charities Commission as an Unincorporated Association. It is governed by its constitution (dated 6[th] April 2022), a document that the Trustees have undertaken to “review every five years to ensure that it is still ‘fit for purpose’ in relation to the life, work, and witness of the church.” (9.2 NBC Church Constitution).
The Charity completed registration with the Charities Commission for Northern Ireland on 21[st] October 2022 under the reference NIC109072. As of 31[st] December 2023 we had a membership of 439 people as well as approximately 700 more regular attendees.
The Board of Trustees administers the charity. They meet at least 3 times a per year and are familiar with their responsibilities as Trustees as per the NBC Constitution and the Charities Commission NI.
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Newtownbreda Baptist Church Trustee’s Report For the year ended 31[st] December 2023
Trustees:
The Trustees who served during the year and those who served up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:
Mr Paul (Pablo) Murphy Mr Samuel Haighton (Secretary) Mr Jonathan Wright Mr Brian Davison Mr John Robinson Mr Stephen Wright Mr David Gordon (resigned 18[th] October 2023) Mr Andrew Courtney (Chair) Mr Graeme Leeburn (Treasurer)
The Trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the Charity should undertake.
Objectives and activities:
Newtownbreda Baptist (NBC) was established in 1954. It is a local church is situated in South Belfast made up of people of all ages, from all backgrounds. We are dedicated to loving God, sharing the “Good News” of Jesus Christ, and caring for people. Our mission is “to go DEEPER into intimacy with Him and WIDER in impact into His world”. This is our unique way to fulfil the Great Commission; to make disciples of all nations in Breda, Belfast, and beyond.
Since its formation 70 years ago, NBC has sought to be a place that faithfully teaches the Word of God and encourages all who come through its door to become wholly, devoted followers of Jesus Christ. As a result of that, we want to be authentic ambassadors of Christ in our community who live lives “worthy of the call”. NBC seeks to be a safe place where all people have the opportunity to be real about their struggles in order to receive help and support as they go through all the ups and downs of life. Our leadership, staff, and volunteers are dedicated to fulfilling our mission of Deep & Wide and do so through an incredible number of ways, examples of which you can see below.
Deep (into intimacy with God) – Beneft to our members and adherents:
Sunday services:
NBC has 3 services each Sunday – 9:15am, 11am, 7pm. Each Sunday we typically have around 1000 – 1200 attending over the 3 services. This is our main time for worshipping God and listening to His Word proclaimed. Whilst not the only way, we believe these gatherings are the most fundamental way we build up the body of Christ at NBC.
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Newtownbreda Baptist Church Trustee’s Report For the year ended 31[st] December 2023
Baptism:
Baptism is hugely significant in the spiritual growth of Christians. Whilst it’s not a Biblical requirement for Salvation, it is nonetheless a Biblical obligation in respect to discipleship. NBC baptised 29 people in 2023.
Lifegroups:
Lifegroups run on the 2[nd] and 4[th] weeks of the month. We have 21 groups comprising of around 400 people, male and female, 18+. The vast majority of Lifegroups run on Wednesday evenings for 2 hours, but some can run at various times of the week depending on the times that suit the members within a particular group. Each evening consists of a time for community followed by Bible study and prayer.
Discipleship courses:
Another intentional way we help to meet the objective of helping people to encounter God more deeply is through discipleship courses. We have various courses that we can run throughout the year ranging from 2 weeks to 10 weeks depending on the course.
Intentional prayer times:
Prayer is crucial to the life of NBC. Our Wednesday nights are our main focus but not exclusively. Encounter runs on the first Wednesday evening of each month and last for about an hour and a half. It’s a chance for the NBC family to come together to praise God and earnestly pray into different issues concerning Breda, Belfast, and Beyond. The third Wednesday of each month is set aside for people to come and pray at any time for one hour between 7am that morning until 7am the following morning. That Wednesday evening, we also have an hour focusing on prayer for our missionaries as well as a chance after that to meet for more prayer and worship. Along with all of this, we have a dedicated team of people who are committed to praying for the needs of people every day of the week.
Pastoral care:
This area of ministry is huge at NBC. We have a dedicated team of people who work tirelessly to care for the needs of all those who are facing difficulties of any sort. Everything from bereavement and family issues to health or financial issues, creating opportunities for the team to serve every day right across all areas of church life.
Weekends away:
At various time of the year, we have residential weekends for children and youth. We also do these for men and women but not necessarily every year. This is a chance to intentionally grow in our relationships together and also to teach each of these groups in a way that is bespoke to them.
All of this and more, enables us to fulfil our objectives of going “deeper into intimacy with Him.”
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Newtownbreda Baptist Church Trustee’s Report For the year ended 31[st] December 2023
Wide (in impact into His world) – Public Beneft:
The opportunities for public benefit are almost unlimited. As a registered charity we take extremely seriously our obligation to fulfil the requirement by the Charities Commission to be an organisation that provides a benefit, not only to the community in which we are placed, but also to the wider public in Belfast and beyond that, across the world. What follows are some of the ways in which NBC as endeavoured to meet this aspect of our mission.
Weekly Ministries - (Generally Term time):
Children’s Work:
Trekkers:
This runs every Friday night from 7PM - 8PM during term time for children from P1 - P4. We typically have around 75-80 Children each Friday night and it is facilitated by a team of 20 Leaders.
Friday Night Live:
Every Friday night from 7:30PM - 9PM. This is for children from P5 - P7 and there are around 90 Children each week lead by a team of 15 Leaders.
Campaigners:
This is a uniformed organisation that runs every Monday night for boys and every Tuesday night for girls. The age ranges from P1 - P7. There are currently around 20 Children each week served by 9 Leaders.
Parents & Tots:
Each Friday morning from 10:30am - 12pm. P&T’s is for children from newborn to preschool age and there are approximately 75 children attend each week each with one or maybe two parents/guardians. It is facilitated by a team of 12 Leaders.
Youth Work:
Breakout:
Established over 40 years ago and still going strong today, Breakout caters for young people from Year 8 - Year 14. It runs from 8:30pm - 10:30pm and typically has around 100 young people each Friday night from our own community in Newtownbreda but also young people from the wider Belfast area. Every week, we use our own church bus to organise pick-ups for young people in the Braniel estate to be able to attend Breakout and also leave them back home. Breakout is run by a team of 20 leaders.
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Newtownbreda Baptist Church Trustee’s Report For the year ended 31[st] December 2023
The Village:
The Village is our community shop. Whilst we serve all types of coffee and tea along with a selection of tray bakes, we don’t actually charge but rather allow people to give of their own free will if they decide to, otherwise it’s completely free. This really has become such a hub for folks from Newtownbreda village and beyond, some of whom visit every single day we are open. It is presently run solely by volunteer staff (around 30 people) from NBC and has been a roaring success. Below are some of the things we currently run throughout the week all of which is totally open to the community.
Monday evenings: Second Monday, Have a Go Art Group with 20 + attending, majority non church. (term time)
Third Monday: Craft Pod, mainly church but more community arranging 20+ (term time) Last Monday, Prodigal prayer meeting to support those who want to encourage prayer for adult, children, and family members 6.
Weds morning, Garden Green Team, 12+ (also Thursday pm Summer) Couch to 5k Summer (seasonal)
The Chosen Outreach (Tuesdays for 4 weeks pm) 12/15
Garden hosts monthly workshops with Ashvale Nursery (15+leaders), Annual Garden badge work Campaigners and parent’s night.
Spring/ Summer Inquiries for local companies to have staff day in garden. (Graham's Construction/ Liberty)
Garden Open Day (April / May +100 visitors) Youth Workdays (Saintfield Rd Presbyterian young people 20)
Christian Sustainable Farming group hosted by Village with garden Tour. (Autumn 23)20+
Eden Project Winter Meet up (hosted by the Village with Garden Tour)20+
Sustainable Saturdays throughout the Year promoting Recycling, Textile Mending and Seasonal Crafts, (recent £1500 through Breda Community Association from DAERA for Textile Mending running 7 workshops in the Village) and expanding to local schools (2) (100 people reached so far).
Local residents meeting (annual March) (12+)
2x inquiries for Community Service Days in Spring/ Summer for local companies to have staff day in garden.
4 x Community Forum with Council/ Police/ local schools/ church/ youth (15)
Sports Week, Village used by team to reach parents. CSSM week, Village is used am/ pm.
Also, Garden delivers gardening activity as an annual CSSM event.
Sea swimming group from our Village customers...Spring to Autumn. weekly 6/8 people.
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Newtownbreda Baptist Church Trustee’s Report For the year ended 31[st] December 2023
Courses @ The Village
English Classes.
This year we have 2 classes (Intermediate and Advanced) 4 teachers in total (2 at each class) at present there are 6 Ukrainians, 2 Iranians and 1 Syrian. Last year we also had 1 Indian, 2 Chinese, 2 Iranians, 1 Somalian, 2 Kurds, and 3 other Ukrainians. They have either moved away or are enrolled in official language classes which we encourage them to do.
In brief - At present - 4 teachers and 9 English as Second Language (ESL) attendees
Total since classes began, we have had 10 teachers involved. and 20 regular ESL attendees
Griefshare:
A 10-week program run on Tuesday evenings from 7:30pm - 9:30pm to support people of all ages who have suffered bereavement. It generally attracts around 6-10 people each time and is organised and run by 6 trained and experienced volunteers.
Stauros Addiction Support Group:
Meeting once a month, this groups seeks to support folks struggling with all types of addictions, primarily alcohol and drug addiction. Organised and run by Stauros Addiction support group, with four fully trained and experienced full-time workers. Around 6-10 people attend each night.
After schools with Dreamscheme:
This is a work in partnership with Dreamscheme, a local youth organisation very much affiliated to NBC. Runs each Monday afternoon (term time) and attracts around 15 children from the local secondary school in order to get help with either school issues or personal issues.
We also partner with Dreamscheme in organising 2-3 community workdays each year for young people. These days consist of encouraging the young people to tidy the neighbourhood by litter picking, removal of graffiti etc.
Special Events:
We have a number of special events that we run throughout the year, over and above the week-to-week ministries.
Easter Community Event:
A community children’s event for 0 - P7 that runs each year on Good Friday for 2 hours. Bouncy castles, face painting, indoor sports, crafts, BBQ, etc all run by a team of around 30 volunteers accommodating approximately 350 children and adults.
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Newtownbreda Baptist Church Trustee’s Report
For the year ended 31[st] December 2023
Sports Camp:
Sports Camp has been running now for 9 years and runs usually the first week in July (Monday - Friday). It is run from the sports pitches in the local secondary school (Breda Academy) and it is for children who are aged 4-12 years old. It has two seasons each day, the first running from 9:30am - 11am and the second running from 11:30AM - 1PM. Sport Camp usually facilitates over 400 children each day and is organised and run by our Full Time Children’s Worker along with a team of 3 Senior Leaders and a team of almost 100 volunteers from NBC. As well as the main Camp at Breda Academy, we also have a Mini Camp and Crèche organised and run from our own facilities at NBC for children aged 0-3 years old, whose parents are volunteering at Sports Camp and for others in the community who want to avail of this. Hospitality is run from our Village Shop which is open each day that Sports Camp runs and serves tea/coffee and traybake. This whole event is run completely free of charge and is funded by the generosity of the members and friends of NBC.
Camp Sonshine:
Camp Sonshine is the jewel in the crown of Newtownbreda Youth Ministries. Founded in 2002, this camp has been running for 21 years now and has literally touched the lives of thousands of teenagers over those years. It is based in different schools on or around the north coast e.g.: Coleraine, Limavady, Bushmills, etc. We normally have around 120 young people from Year 8 - Year 14. It is led by a team of 3 senior leaders with a further 70-80 leaders who bring their own gifting or experience to the Camp and make the whole thing happen. The bulk of the team work directly with the young people while other function in teams with specific responsibility such as logistics and catering. The Camp even has its own medical team comprising of fully qualified doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and dentists all of whom take time off work to attend the Camp each year.
Fall Festival:
This runs every 2-3 years as an alternative to Halloween for young children pre-primary and primary school age. Great fun and games with a chance for everyone to dress up in a non-scary way. A brilliant evening that accommodates over 300 children and adults.
Bethlehem Village:
Running every three years, this event transforms that whole NBC site into first century Bethlehem. People can come visit and hear the complete story of that first Christmas told by actors fully dressed inauthentic first century Middle Eastern costumes. This event is on a huge scale and takes dozens of volunteers to set up, set down and run the whole event in between. It also attracts over 1000 people each time it runs over a day and a half.
Community Support Work:
Tutorial Support for GCSE, ‘A’ Level & SEAG:
This is a new venture to offer extra tuition for young people and children as they approach either GCSE’s “A Levels” or primary school children as they face the transfer
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Newtownbreda Baptist Church Trustee’s Report For the year ended 31[st] December 2023
test. Not all families can afford extra tuition fees so around 15 professional teachers (secondary and primary) teaching all different subjects from Maths, science, technology, RE, English etc, will meet with all kids who sign up for extra help with different subjects all for free. This is an unbelievable resource that will make such a difference to so many children.
The Ark:
Newtownbreda Child Contact Centre (NCCC) is a safe and neutral place that can support your family when separation occurs. Primarily, it is a space where parents who do not live with their children can spend time with them. Our Child Contact Centre is a member of the Northern Ireland Network of Child Contact Centres The centre was established in 2019 and uses the facilities within Newtownbreda Baptist Church. It is overseen and organised by a senior Co Ordinator, two coordinators and a team of 15 others, all fully trained volunteers.
Sustain Food Bank:
Sustain runs each Wednesday right throughout the year from 10:30am to 12:30pm. It supplies non-perishable food items and other household items to folks who are in need. It works on a referral basis from organisations such as social services, local health centres, St, Vincent De Paul, and others. Sustain caters for approximately 12 families each week but has been known to accommodate up to 22 families on a busy week. All food is either donated by members and friends of NBC either by donating the food itself or by monetary donations to allow the main leader to purchase whatever is needed. We have approximately 10 -12 volunteers who run the food bank each week on a rota basis.
Tidy Team:
The Tidy Team are a team of 8 people who meet on the first Saturday of each month to undertake DIY/repair jobs/garden maintenance etc for elderly and others who do not have the capacity to do this type of work for themselves. They carry out a large range of work from putting TVs on walls, weeding, hedge cutting, cleaning gutters, garage tidy, removal of large items for recycling and other such jobs. All this work is carried out by volunteers, and all done free of charge.
Facilitation of Community Groups:
Newtownbreda FC Children’s Academy:
Each Wednesday night from 6:30PM - 8PM, we host the N’breda FC Children’s Academy. This is a fantastically well organised class that teaches young children all about the rules of football and practically teaches soccer skills. They generally have around 35 Children from the age of 4-7 years old. NBC does not charge for the hire of our facilities as we are only too glad to facilitate community groups like this if we can ever possibly do so.
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Newtownbreda Baptist Church Trustee’s Report For the year ended 31[st] December 2023
NHS Breastfeeding Support Group:
This group meets every 2nd and 4th Tuesday in the month in one of our larger halls. We typically facilitate around 15-20 Mums and professional NHS staff each time. The group runs from 10AM - 12PM each time and again, there is no charge from NBC for hosting this group.
Future Plans:
The Leadership of NBC throughout 2023 have been prayerfully considering the vision and goals for the next 5 years. It is our hope that, with God’s help and along with the members of NBC, we will ascertain those things which will enable the church to continue to meet the needs of those who attend NBC and our surrounding community. In consultation with all our members we plan to put together a new 5-year vision document that will encompass all areas of ministry at NBC. We trust that this new plan will be in place and rolled out by January 2025.
Over the years, we have acquired a number of properties located to the left and right of the main church. It is our hope that we will begin a building program over the next number of years that will help us accommodate the growing ministry across the church. Presently we are in real need of more space to house the children’s work and youth work, but we also see the need to create a better space for the church to function more easily throughout the week especially on Sundays. As well as that, we see a huge potential to provide a multi-functional, outdoor space that will be available to the surrounding community in Newtownbreda. This can be a slow process, but the Trustees are fully committed to advancing this part of the vision for the next number of years as quickly as possible whilst at the same time, recognising the need to make wise decisions at a pace that will not have a detrimental effect on the charity.
We have also taken the decision to employ a part time community co-ordinator (with the potential for moving to full time in the future), to help facilitate our reach into the community in all the above areas as well as offering pastoral care for folks in the community who have no affiliation with NBC. We hope to have this person in post by the Autumn of 2024 at the latest.
We never take anything for granted but we are very excited about the potential for the future at NBC to be able to continue to encourage others in the church and those outside the church in our community.
Financial Review:
The net incoming resources for the year amounted to £129,916, of which £101,439 is attributable to unrestricted reserves and £28,477 is attributable to restricted reserves which now stand at £180,739. Unrestricted reserves now stand at £2,398,268.
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Newtownbreda Baptist Church Trustee’s Report For the year ended 31[st] December 2023
Statement of Trustees' responsibilities:
The Trustees are required to prepare the Annual Report and financial statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of the affairs, the surplus or deficit of the charity for that year and the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice. In preparing these, the trustees are required to:
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Select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently.
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Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.
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Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the church will continue in operation.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose, with reasonable accuracy at any time, the financial position of the church. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the church and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
The Trustees have assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks. Policies around areas such as finance, safeguarding for children and vulnerable adults, governance, operations, health and safety, reputational damage, amongst others are continuingly assessed to ensure they are fit for purpose.
Finally, the Trustees pay due diligence to potential areas of conflict of interest and work hard to ensure that they, and anyone associated with them, strictly adhere to any issues in this area.
The Trustees' report was authorised and approved by the Board of Trustees on 29[th] October 2024 and signed on their behalf by:
Mr Samuel Haighton.
Dated 29[th] October 2024.
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