## **The Church of Scotland** # **Ervie-Kirkcolm Church of Scotland.** **TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT AND RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS Year ended 31[st] December 2024** **Congregation No: 090507** **Charity No: SC003122** Reference and Administrative Information Charity Name.. Ervie-Kirkcolm Church of Scotland Charity RegistratioJ] Nll￿ber. SC003122 c.ongregation Reference No.. 090507 Coiitact Address- Trustee5 The followill are members of the Kirk Sessioii Princip&l Office-bearers Interim Moderator: Session Clerk.. Church T[easi￿er. Independent Exxminer B&nkers Bank of Scotland, 64 George Street, Sts'alllaer. Church of Scotlalld Illvestors TI￿st 121 George Street Edinburgh **Trustees’ Annual Report Year ended 31 December 2024** ## **Structure, Governance and Management** ## **Governing Document** The Church is administered in accordance with the terms of the Deed of Constitution (Unitary Form). ## **Recruitment and Appointment of Trustees** Members of the Kirk Session are the charity trustees. The Kirk Session members are the elders of the church and those chosen from members of the church who are considered to have the appropriate gifts and skills. The minister, who is a member of the Kirk Session, is elected by the congregation and inducted by Presbytery. ## **Organisational Structure** The Kirk Session is chaired by the minister (or the Interim Moderator, in the absence of a Minister) and meets at least four times in a year. The Kirk Session is responsible for ecclesiastical matters within the church. ## **Objectives and Activities** The Church of Scotland is Trinitarian in doctrine, Reformed in tradition and Presbyterian in polity. It exists to glorify God and to work for the advancement of Christ’s Kingdom throughout the world. As a national Church, it acknowledges a distinctive call and duty to bring the ordinances of religion to the people in every parish of Scotland through a territorial ministry. It co-operates with other Churches in various ecumenical bodies in Scotland and beyond. The congregation fulfils its objectives by carrying out the following activities – services of Worship, School visits, Hospital and Residential Home visits, Service of Flowers, Community Social Events, the Elder Ministry, the Knit and Natter Group (fellowship and outreach), various church-led fundraising/social events, and church-led outings. ## **Achievements and Performance** The Congregation has fulfilled its objectives in 2024, by carrying out the following activities – Services of Worship, Funerals, Service of Flowers, contact with members through the Elder Ministry and Pastoral Care Team, Charity collections, and outreach to the community with the Parish Newsletter. The Knit and Natter Group continued to meet and raised money for several charitable organisations. The church celebrated 200 years of worship in the building on Church Road, with a weekend in September full of friendship, social events and special services, well-attended by the community and many people from further afield with links to the church. Services of Holy Communion are now provided twice a year at Kirkcolm Church. ## **Trustees’ Annual Report (cont) Year ended 31 December 2024** ## **Financial Review** The church finances for the year showed a healthy growth and many positive signs of improvement, with welcome increases in donated income keeping pace with the usual increase in regular costs. Income from planned giving and one-off donations showed a rise for the first time in several years, with marked increases in Open Plate Donations and Designated Donations. Good performance from the Investment accounts showed almost double the previous year’s returns, and income from the consolidated revenue fund also showed the same positive rise; just as well given that the Utility bills also doubled over the year compared to 2023. Fundraising by the church congregation and the Knit and Natter group saw over £1600 donated to good causes both in the village and to national charities. A large legacy gift from a member of the congregation was a much-welcome bonus, and this was invested into a mixture of General and Fabric unit trust funds for the purpose of generating income therefrom, until such time as any larger capital expenditure becomes required. The Income received for 2024 was £27074, plus the £40641 legacy, totalling £67715. Expenditure for 2024 increased significantly, with an increase of nearly £7000 on the previous year. A significant portion of this rise was the increased Electricity costs, although expenditure on the 200 Years Celebrations, Locum Salary and Mileage costs, Vacancy expenses and general administration all added to the larger than expected hike. This year the income from the Various Bequests Fund was allocated to several Kirkcolm Charities, with the School Gardening Club, PTA, Nursery and Kirkcolm Community Trust all benefitting from these funds that were set up to help those less well off within the Parish. Three donations of food vouchers were also handed out to worthy recipients. Overall, not including the purchase of units from the legacy funds, the expenditure for the year was £22414, compared to £15679 in 2023. Despite increasing costs, the accounts for the year showed an overall profit of £1717. Interest and dividends generated by Manse funds, held on the congregation’s behalf in a Church of Scotland Consolidated Fund, totalled £8294 for the year. Claims of £6903 during the year against fabric and utility costs, and deducted administration charges, left a balance of £3745 in the Consolidated Revenue Fund. The budget forecast for 2025 is included in this report, with estimates based on likely income and expenditure, wherever possible. It does not take into account any large Fabric expenditure. The budget for 2025 is estimated to produce a loss of £5540. Reserves Policy Zt is the Trustees, policy to hold reserves of a minimum of twelve months expenditure, excluding any designated and restricted funds. At the year end the Church held unrestricted cash funds of £42509 , of which £19gJ6 h&5 been designated for church fabric repairs over the next four years. The remaining balance of £22603 represenis approximately twelve months of the estimated annua] expenditur< an excess of £200. Statement of Trnstees, Responsibilities The members of the Kirk Session must prepare firwicial statements which give suificient detail to enable an appreciation of the transactions of the Church during the financial year. The members of the Kirk Session are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which. on request, must reflect the rinancial poyition of the Church at that time. This must be done to ensure that the financial statements comply with ihe Ch2riiies and Trustee Investment (Scot]and) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulalions 2006 and the Re￿latiOnS Anent Congregational Finance approved by the General Assembly of the Church of Scoiland in 2007. They are atso responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Church and musl take reasonable steps for the prevention and/or detection of fraud and other irregularities. Approved by the Trustees and siqned on iheir behalf. Ervie*Kirkcolm Church of Scotland SC 003122 Independent Euminer's Report to ibt Trnsttts of ErvitrKirkcolni ch￿￿￿ of Scotland. rq)(xr on the ac£(*￿ts of the eharity for the year ended 31 December 2024 Trvbith are set the following pages. Respectivt rtsponsibilitics of In￿let$ and exankiner The charity's t￿Stee% are responsible for the preparation of the ac¢(xmts in accordance with the terms of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Ad 2005 and the ChartDes Accounts (Scotland) Re8ulaiions 2006. The charity tnlgtees consider that the auth't requiremeTht of Regulation 10(I) (d) of the ACc￿nts Regulations dlxs not apply It is my rLsponsibility to examine the acc(Amts &9 required under section 44(1} (c) of the Act and to state whether pthicular mattets have com¢ to my atlention Basis of independent euminer's ststsment My examinAtion is carried out in accordance with Regulation I l of the ChaTities Accimmts {ScA)tland) Regulations 2006. An examinats.on includes a review of the acc￿nting records kept by the charity and a compartson of the accounts present￿ with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual item5 or disc105ures in the account& 2nd seeks explanations from the tn￿eeS concerning any such matters The pr￿edureS undertaken do not provide all the ￿idence that would be required in an wdil and C4)nwuent]y I do ncrt express an audii opini<)n on the view wven by the acC￿nts. Independent examiner's st2ttment In the COUTse of my examination. no mats has come to my attention." whith gives me reasonable cauge to believe that in any material respect the requirements.. to keep accouJ)ting Tecoids in ae£ordanc£ with Section 44(1) (a} of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of the 20(hS Account5 Re8ulation4 and trj prepaTe accounts which accord with the accounting records and o)mply with Rwlation 9 of the 20[￿ Acctyjnts Regulations have not been m¢ or to Whic￿ in my Opinio￿ attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding cl the accounts to bc rea¢h¢d. ## **Ervie-Kirkcolm Church of Scotland Receipts and Payments Account Period ended 31[st] December 2024** |**Receipts**
**Note**
Donations
**3**
Legacies
Activities for Generating Funds
Bank & Deposit interest
Investment income


Rental of premises
Sale of assets
Sale of investments
Grants
Receipts from General Trustees
Other Receipts
**Total Receipts**
**Payments**
**4**
**Costs of generating funds**
**Charitable activities**
**Governance Costs**
**Purchase of Assets**
**Total Payments**
**Excess of Receipts over Payments**
**for the year before transfers**
**Transfers**
**Excess of Receipts over Payments**
**for the year**|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**2024**
**£**
15511
40641
282
1575
1813
59822
500
0
0
0
6903
0
67225
146
21318
0
43584
65048
2177
0
2177|**Restricted**
**Funds**
**2024**
**£**
0
0
0
142
348
490
0
0
0
0
0
0
490
0
950
0
0
950
(460)
0
(460)||**End’ment**
**Funds**
**2024**
**£**
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0|**Total**
**2024**
**£**
15511
40641
282
1717
2161
60312
500
0
0
0
6903
0
**67715**
146
22268
0
43584
**65998**
1717
0
**1717**|**Total**
**2023**
**£**
13054
0
50
1112
872| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||||||15088
300
0
0
0
6107
0| |||||||21495| |||||||128
15551
0
0| |||||||15679| |||||||5816
0| |||||||5816| rvi Scotland tatemen Balances At 31 December 2024 Uttrestricted End'ment Tothl futtd8 2014 20 Noie Bank & osit Balances Bat￿ & th[%￿t bmu8hi fonvaTd at 1° Jan 24 40332 2676 43008 37192 Movement ill yeAr.' Exces5 oIRe¢¢ipts ovei Paymerns for year 2177 (460) 1717 5816 Bank & Designated Fabric Fund
General Funds
**Restricted funds**
Bequest Fund investment
Income
**Endowment funds**
**Total funds**||**At 1 January**
**2024**
**£**
18308
22024
40332
2676
2676
0
0
43008|**Receipts**
**£**
23390
43835
67225
490

490
0

0

67715|**Payments**
**£**
(21792)
(43256)
(65048)
(950)

(950)
0

0

(65998)|**Transfers**
**£**
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0|**At 31 Dec**
**2024**
**£**
19906
22603| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||||||42509| |||||||2216| |||||||2216| |||||||0| |||||||0| |||||||| |||||||44725| Purposes of Designated Funds Fabric Fund: The Trustees have set aside funds for the future maintenance of the Church properties. ## Purposes of Restricted Funds Investment income from the Bequest Fund is paid into a specific Church of Scotland Investors Trust Deposit fund, to be kept as restricted for the sole use of the minister (or session in a minister’s absence) at his/her discretion, for cases of need not applicable to the general mission remit of the church, that are within the terms of the original bequests. ## Purposes of Endowment Funds There are no Endowment Funds. |

**3. Analysis of Donations**
WFO Scheme (Gift Aid)
Other Gift Aid Donations
Tax Recovered on Gift Aid
Ordinary Offerings (Open Plate)
Other Offerings, Donations etc|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**2024**
**£**
5242
4081
2900
2672
616
15511|**Restricted**
**Funds**
**2024**
**£**
0
0
0
0
0
0|**Endowment**
**Funds**
**2024**
**£**
0
0
0
0
0
0|**Total**
**2024**
**£**
5242
4081
2900
2672
616
15511|**Total**
**2023**
**£**
4580
3567
3027
1658
222| |---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||13054| |**4 Analysis of Payments**

**Costs of generating funds**
Investment Managers’ fees
Fund Raising Expenses
**Charitable activities**
Giving to Grow allocation
Presbytery dues
Voluntary Additional Stipend
Locum’s expenses (Travel)
Locum’s Wages (via CoS)
Pulpit supply
Other staffing costs
Fabric repairs & maintenance
Council Tax
Heat and light
Insurance
Manse utilities
Services and Mission
Organ & music
Printing, stationery and postage
Vacancy expenses

**Governance costs**
Professional fees

**Other payments**
Purchase of assets
Purchase of investments|
0
146
146
2486
332
0
1207
5576
651
0
443
0
6364
1516
0
1870
0
589
284
21318
0
0
43584
43584|
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
950
0
0
0
950
0
0
0
0|
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0|
0
146
146
2486
332
0
1207
5576
651
0
443
0
6364
1516
0
2820
0
589
284
22268
0
0
43584
43584|0
128| |---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||128| ||||||2554
332
0
442
4763
190
0
353
0
3568
1455
0
1234
0
484
176| ||||||15551| ||||||0
0
0| ||||||0| **5 Minister’s Stipend** All Church of Scotland congregations contribute to the National Stipend Fund which bears the costs of all ministers' stipends and employer's contributions for national insurance, pension and housing and loan fund. Ministers' stipends are paid in accordance with the national stipend scale, which is related to years of service. For the year under review the minimum stipend was £31642 and the maximum stipend (in the fifth and subsequent years) £38884. |**6. Collections for Third Parties**
Village Community Groups Donations (RESTRICTED Bequests Fund,
four donations)
Thorneycroft resident’s Fund (£120 from congregation, £30 from funds)
Food Vouchers (£150 from RESTRICTED Bequests Fund)
Poppy Appeal (Cash collection sent separately)
MacMillan Cancer Charity (Collected by Knit and Natter, sent
separately)|**2024**
£800
£150
£150
£91
£500
£1691|**2023**| |---|---|---| |||£1420| ## **APPENDIX** ## **FUNDS HELD ON BEHALF OF THE CONGREGATION BY THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND GENERAL TRUSTEES** ## **Funds from the sale of Ervie Manse were invested on the Congregation’s behalf into Deposit, Growth and Income Funds held by the Church of Scotland General Trustees. These Funds are separate to accounts owned by the Congregation in the Church of Scotland Investment Trust.** Funds held by the General Trustees in Deposit Funds earn interest which is credited to a separate Consolidated Fabric Revenue Fund, twice-annually, in arrears. The interest rate on Deposit Funds for 2024 was 5.33% for the first quarter and 5.07% for the third quarter. The Income and Growth Funds earn dividends which are credited to the same Revenue Fund, also twice a year in arrears in May and November. The dividend percentages for 2024 were 13.0% for Growth Funds and 12.77% for Income Funds. The Dividends on Growth and Income Funds are independent of the Unit price, which determines the Market Value of the Capital Funds held. The Consolidate Fabric Revenue Fund itself earns interest which is added to the account quarterly in arrears. Monies held in the Revenue Fund can be used to pay for the Buildings Insurance on Kirkcolm Church and any Electricity/Utility costs (providing an Energy survey has been carried out, which has taken place) plus basic ongoing church maintenance costs. The capital (market) value of the Growth and Income Funds can be used for major Fabric Projects, with certain restrictions. ||**Market**
**value at**
**purchase**||**Market**
**Value**
**31.12.23**||**Market**
**Value**
**31.12.24**| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |**Capital**
**Account**|225,465.99||239,434.92||254,592.12| |**Revenue**
**Account**|-|Balance
at
31.12.23|2985.54|Balance
at
31.12.24|3744.76| ## **Ervie-Kirkcolm Consolidated Fabric Revenue Fund** |**Opening Balance**
Revenue Interest
Deposit Fund Interest
Income Fund Dividends
Growth Funds Dividends
Withdrawals
Admin Charges
**Closing Balance**|**2985.54**
135.01
1170.28
3407.40
3581.01
-6903.10
-631.38| |---|---| ||**3744.76**| ## **2025 Budget Forecast** Wherever possible the budget figures below have been based on a trend analysis of the previous five years’ records. Allowance has been made for unusual circumstances and one-off expenditure or income. The figures do **not** include any predicted expenses for major fabric work undertaken on ErvieKirkcolm Church. |Predicted Income:
Planned Giving and Donations (inc. tax rebates)
Fundraising activities
Fees from Weddings and Funerals
Investment income
TOTAL FORECAST INCOME
Predicted Expenditure:
Giving to Grow (CoS) and Presb Levy
Ministry (Locums, pulpit supply, service requisites)
Church upkeep (Electricity and essential repairs)
Admin/fundraising exp
Mission
TOTAL FORECAST EXPENDITURE
**Predicted surplus/deficit**|£
14200
400
300
4100
**19000**
£
5190
9700
8400
650
600
**24540**
**- £5540**| |---|---| **`**