St. Peter’s Scottish Episcopal Church, Galashiels
Trustees' Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ending 30[th] September 2024
1. Trustee's Annual Report and Financial Statements For the year ending 30[th] September 2024
1. Charity name: St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Galashiels
2. Registered charity number: SC006210
1. Administrative Information:-
Principal Address:
3. Rector/Priest in Charge:-
4. Bankers:-
Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank Street, Galashiels
5. Solicitors:-
None appointed
6. Independent Examiner:-
2. Annual Report of the Trustees (Vestry Members)
a. Introduction
The Trustees are pleased to present their annual report for St. Peter’s for the year ended 30th September 2024.
We are a small, friendly congregation whose objective is to advance the mission of the Christian Church (which is the building of the Kingdom of Heaven) through worship, service and fellowship.
We aim to do this through supporting existing church members through worship and prayer and encouraging all members (new and existing) through community work such as, uniformed youth organisations, the local Food Bank and other voluntary organisations. We open our church and hall to other groups and engage in outreach work.
This annual report and accounts presents a summary of our financial activities during the year and gives an overview of the general activities, which have taken place in the life of our church in the past year.
b.Activities and Achievements
We welcomed the Curate-in-Charge in October 2023 (shared with St John’s Selkirk) and this has allowed St Peter’s ministry to develop after several years without our own priest. We have been very encouraged that our congregation has grown this year.
Practically this has meant improvements to our communications through new signage and social media presence (grant received from St Hilda’s Fund, Scottish Episcopal Church) as well as new radiomicrophones to improve sound quality on a Sunday. A new buildings team has been created. The church hall has been redecorated and we have been pleased to see an increase in the number of groups using our church and church hall over his year, including a music school and NHS antenatal classes. We have also been able to review our buildings with input from one of the Eco-reps for the Scottish Episcopal Church.
There have been increased interactions with the local community throug becoming chaplain to the local primary school, Air Training Corps and Gala Fairydean
Rovers Football Club. The annual Braw Lads Breakfast organised by the Vestry was a great success as usual. It is a very positive connection with the people of Galashiels. Finally, a ompleted her Curacy and became our Priest in Charge gave her and her husband permission to move into their own home nearby. This has enabled us to rent St Peter’s house and the net income will be ring fenced so that when the right time comes St Peter’s will hopefully be in a stronger financial situation to upgrade the Rectory.
Messy church has been operating all year. It continues to be an important connection to the community and particularly younger generations. We’re pleased to see new families joining and new volunteers helping to run the activities. We are happy to have Messy Church families joining the main congregation on special occasions eg Easter, summer end of school term and Christmas.
We continue to be associated with the Galashiels 3[rd] Boys Brigade company which was originally formed by St Peter’s in 1908.
Services were held for Harvest, Christmas and Easter in Abbotsford Court and a new connection has been made with services in the Galashiels Care Home.
St Peter’s is the main base for the Galashiels and Area Foodbank for storing, sorting and distributing food. In addition to providing premises some of our members volunteer with the foodbank.
4. Structure, Governance and Management
St. Peter’s is an unincorporated association, governed by a constitution dated 1852 and last amended May 2016. As a member congregation of the Diocese of Edinburgh in the Scottish Episcopal Church, it is also governed by Canon Law of the Scottish Episcopal Church.
The management team of the Church is known as the Vestry. For the purposes of charities law, the members of the Vestry are the Charity Trustees of the church. Details of the Vestry members are given on page 2 of this report.
The Vestry comprises the Rector/Priest-in-Charge, the Lay Representative, six ordinary Vestry members and a Secretary and a Treasurer, who may be ordinary vestry members or co-opted. At its Annual General Meeting the congregation elects from among the constituent members Vestry members to fill vacancies as they arise. Ordinary Vestry members a serve a single term of four years and are not eligible to stand again until a further year has passed. The Lay Representative to the diocesan synod is appointed annually by the congregation. A minimum of three ordinary members are required to be present for the Vestry to be quorate.
For some of our Vestry meetings we have continued to meet virtually using video conferencing when this has made it possible to increase attendance. The Vestry Secretary regularly updates all members of the Vestry on relevant changes in legislation and best practice relating to charities.
1. Vestry Responsibilities
The Vestry is responsible for managing and safeguarding the assets of the church and work with the Priest in Charge in matters affecting the spiritual welfare of the congregation. The Vestry are also responsible for keeping proper accounting records and ensuring that the accounts are prepared in accordance with the terms of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts
(Scotland) Regulations 2006. The Vestry regularly considers the risks faced by St. Peter’s and ensures that appropriate risk management procedures are in place to mitigate those risks.
The Vestry has taken on board the decision of the provincial synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church to set a target of having a “Net Zero” carbon footprint by 2030. We are engaging with the provincial and diocesan level initiatives and trying to steer a practical course between being overwhelmed by it all and neglecting our responsibility for this important stewardship of our planet. An energy efficient, newly built rectory, solar panels on the church roof and LED lighting throughout the church give us a head start. Finding practical solutions to heating systems is well under way. Safeguarding has been a regular item on the Vestry’s agenda and a report features on the agenda of our Annual General Meeting. No untoward incidents were reported.
2. Relationship with Diocese, Province and neighbouring Episcopal churches St. Peter’s is supported by the Diocese and the Province through the pastoral oversight of the Bishop, central support functions provided at Diocesan level and grants from central funds. The church is represented at Diocesan level by the Priest-in-charge and the Lay Representative. As a member of the Scottish Episcopal Church, St. Peter’s has an obligation to contribute to the costs of the Diocese and the Province through payment of an annual ‘quota’. This amount is based on the relative level of income of the church in comparison with that of other churches in the Diocese and Province. In 2022 we agreed to proceed to recruit a shared priest between ourselves and St John’s Selkirk with financial support from the Diocese. A memorandum of agreement documents the working arrangements between the three parties in this collaboration. 5. Financial Review
1. Income
The main source of St Peter’s funding comes from the generosity of its congregation. At present we are also supported by the Edinburgh Diocese of the Scottish Episcopal Church as part of a new initiative, and received £10k this year (23/24) to support our new priest. Our congregational giving, including what is recovered from the Inland Revenue, amounted to about £26,000 last year. Together with income from investments and premises users our budget for regular income amounts to almost £29,000. On the other hand our budget for running costs, utilities, maintenance and our quota to the diocese, but excluding the costs of a regular priest, is about £36,000. We are extremely pleased that since the appointment of our priest both the regular church attendance and pledged giving has increased substantially and we look forward to continued growth in both these areas in the coming year as we expect our yearly diocesan grant to reduce.
2. Reserves
St. Peter’s reserves fall into the category of unrestricted funds and can be spent on any relevant activity. The income from the investments can be used for general activities. The vestry has adopted a policy of trying to maintain a level of unrestricted reserves such that, in the event of a significant drop in income, the church would be able to maintain its current level of activities for a reasonable period until replacement funding obtained.
3.Investments
Monies which are not needed to fund day-to-day expenditure are invested in the Scottish Episcopal Church Unit Trust Pool (UTP). The investment policy of the UTP, which accords with that of the vestry, is to earn a return on the assets over the long term, sufficient at least to maintain the real value of the distribution to unit holders. The UTP has developed an ethical investment policy. No investments will be made in companies who derive more that 15% of the revenue from tobacco, gambling or armaments. Recently fossil fuel extractors were added to the list of exclusions. The majority of the UTP is invested in UK equities. 4.Property
A number of day to day repairs have been completed on the church, including the replacement of a much more efficient gas boiler which heats the hall and provides hot water throughout the building. As mentioned previously the heating system within the church building is coming to the end of its life and research is well underway to replace it with an ecofriendly system.
5. Conclusion
The church continues to be financially viable with sufficient reserves. Under the leadership of our new priest we look forward to working together to share God’s love and the good news of Jesus with the people of Galashiels and to growing our worshipping community.
On behalf of the Vestry
Vestry Secretary
Independent Examiner's Report to the Vestry of
St. Peters Episcopal Church
I report on the accounts of the charity for the period ended 30[th] September 2024 which are set out on pages 8 and 9.
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the terms of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. The charity trustees consider that the audit requirement of Regulation 10 (1) (d) of the Accounts Regulations does not apply. It is my responsibility to examine the accounts as required under section 44 (1) (c) of the Act and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent examiner's statement
My examination is carried out in accordance with Regulation 11 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeks explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required an an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.
Independent examiner's statement
In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention
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which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:
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to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 44 (1) (a) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations, and
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to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with Regulation 9 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations, have not been met,
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to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed:
Date:11/12/2024
| Receipts and Payments Account for the Year Ended 30th September 2023 | Receipts and Payments Account for the Year Ended 30th September 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Receipts | 2023 | 2024 |
| £ | £ | |
| Rectory costs, contribution from the other two charges | 933 | |
| Printing costs from other charges | 0 | |
| Stipend support grant from the Diocese | 77415,240 | |
| Contribution from Church Army | 1,6130 | |
| Plate | 760658 | |
| Envelopes | 00 | 0 |
| Donations | 855922 | |
| Standing Orders | 1449122,466 | |
| Inland Revenue (Gift Aid) | 41033,341 | |
| Fundraising | 438593 | |
| Magazine | 750 | |
| Donations – hall & church | 14553,705 | |
| Foodbank | 42003,150 |
| Miscellaneous income Bank interest received Legacy Special Collections Investment income Insurance Claim/Property repair grant Grants Total Expenditure Stipend / Tax & NI Priest in charge expenses Church Army Expenses Payroll costs Rectory maintenance Church Projects Visiting Clergy Altar expenses Organist/organ maintenance Quota Ofice holder expenses – Auditor fees Subscriptions Electricity Gas Gas maintenance contract Telephone/broadband (Rectory) Photocopy/magazine/ofice expenses Church/grounds maintenance Insurances Unit Trust Shares Church caretaker Miscellaneous expenditure Outreach fund Rectory Council Tax Special collections (Lent Appeal) Total |
33961,664 561952 00 405763 3,5303,200 7500 03,000 |
|---|---|
| 41,30059,654 | |
| 020,492 01408 2260 0 242 1,140806 05908 1,350296 188452 00 3,5903471 00 20869 4,4262291 2,2135083 1,3081386 00 0279 4,7446053 2,0772034 00 3,0843084 2,8881229 0400 7741240 410763 |
|
| 28,62656,985 |
Surplus/(Deficit) this year (transferred to general funds) 12,674 2,669 Note on the reconciliation of the accounts
Cheques issued in 2023/24 but not presented in this period - £206
Statement of Balances as at 30th September 2023
| Cash at Bank Opening Balances Surplus (defcit) for year |
2023 2024 £ £ 51,04063,714 12,6742,669 |
|---|---|
Closing balances: 63,714 66,383
Investments
Market value at beginning of year 92,337 97,365 Gain (loss) in year 5,028 14,835 Market value at end of year 97,365 112,200 Totals: 161,079 178.583
Schedule of Investments
SEC Unit Trust Pool (UTP) 2023 2024 £ £ 3678 units 3678 units Total at cost 71,994 71,994
Balance Sheet as at 30th September
2023 2024 £ £ Vestry Account 63,714 66,383 Investments ( at cost) 71,994 71,994
3. Miscellaneous Items
1. Assets retained for Charity’s own use
Rectory
Historic cost not known Insurance value £371,070 Church buildings
The church and the hall are not shown in the statement of balances. The Vestry believes that it is not possible to place a market value on them. Church building – for insurance purposes £2,336,271 Pipe Organ – for insurance purposes £256,872
2. Notes to the Accounts
1. Accounting policies
The accounts have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis. They consist of a summary of all monies received and paid via the bank and in cash by the church during the financial year, along with a statement of balances. No adjustments have been made for any income due but not received, nor for any expenses incurred but not yet paid at the year end.
2. Donations
Unrestricted donations £1,580 Congregational giving £22,466 Gift Aid recovered £3,341 For use of church and hall £3,705 Weddings and Funerals included in donations nil 3. Legacies during the year : nil 4. Grants Received during the year : for communications £3,000
5. Breakdown of Receipts from fund raising events
Unrestricted fund raising receipts: Braw Lads Breakfast £593
6. Receipts from investments other than land & buildings
Bank interest £952 Income from SEC units £3,200 nil 7. Sale & purchase of fixed assets
8. Payments relating to charitable activities
Special collections £763
9. Payments relating to fund raising activities None
10. Grants and Donations Made None
11. Remuneration & expenses paid to Vestry members None
Copies of the following documents are available on application to the Vestry Secretary:
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St.Peters Constitution (2016)
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St. Peters Church Profile (December 2022)
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A brief history of St.Peter’s Episcopal Church, Galashiels (illustrated)