The Church of Scotland Coatbridge Blairhill Dundyvan Parish Church of Scotland ANNUAL REPORT and RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS Congregation No: 171091 Charity No: SC 009704 Year ending 31 December 2024 Page I Reference and Administratii'e Information Chaniy Name: Coatbridge Blairhill Dundyvan Parish Church of Scotland Charity Registration NUM￿[. sctM)9704 Congregation Reference No: 171091 Contact Address.. 18 AlbertaAvenue Coatbridge ML5 IQL 'rrustees KIRK SESSION Interim Moderator S¢s5ion Clerk.. CONGREGATIONAL BOARD Kirk Session plus the following Elected Member Principal Offic¢-Be2rers Interim Mod¢rator'. Session Clerk.. Clerk" to the Board.. Church Treasurer.. Inde endent I xaminer Bankers: Royal Bank of Scotland Main Str¢et, Coatbridge ML5 3DZ Page 2 TRUSTEES, ANNUAL REPORT Year Ended 31 December 2024 Structure, Governance and Management Governing Document The Church is athninistered in a￿OrdanCe with the ternis of the Deed of Conslilulion. Recruitment and Appointment of Trustees Members of the Kirk Session and the Congregational Board ar¢ the chan'ty truslees. The Kirk Session Incmbers are the Elder5 of the Church and are chosen from those munbers of the Church who are considered to have the appropriale gifts and skllls. Th¢ MRnist¢r. who is a vnember of the Kirk S¢5sion, is elected by the congregation and inducted by Presbytery. The Congregational Board is apwinted from wiihin the congregation and memb¢rs of ihe congwregation are invited io nominate individuals, Ivho are believed to have the skills and commilment to conlnbute to the management affairs of the Church, ¢0 become members of the Board. Board members are then appointed at the Stsied Annual Meeting and serv¢ for a period of ihree years, after which they must seek re-eleclion at the next Stated annual Meeting. Organisational Structure Th¢ Congregational Board meets severdl times in a year. Certain responsibilities ar¢ delegated to the Finance Committee and the Property Commillee as appropriate. The Kirk Session meets several times a year, and also when necessary (in emergency) and is reswnsible for spiritual affairs within the Church. Objectives and Activities The Church of ScotlaTJd is Trinitarian In doctrine. Refonned in tradition and Presbyterian in policy. It exists to glorify God and to ivork for advan¢¢ment 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 throug.h a territorial ministry. It C&•operates with other Churches in various ecumenical bodie5 in Scotland and Eyond. Achievements and Performance 2024 General The Cluster Group comprising of representative of the six chuTches in the Coatbridge a￿a held several meetings throughout the year to plan a way forward for the Mission Plan approved by Presbytery. Th¢ main place of i¥orship will be New St Andrews with alteTnative services in BlaiThill Dundyvan. A regular attendance of 50 members enjoys a tradilional forniat. The service lasts just under an hour with worship and praise coming from CH4 hymnal and from tim¢-Io-time hymns from other sources. The organist included musical items and the Choir sang anthems.we follow the Christian y¢ar with special services for different festivals and some are attended by the Youth Organisations. Easter servic£s are held in conjunction with the churches tn Coatbridge. In tern]s ofthe B&sis of Linkag¢ with Middle Churcm we continued the joint services as agreed. and towards th¢ latter pmrt of the year the Cluskr Group d￿lded to hold joinl communion services involving the six Coatbridge churches. Two adults and one child baptisms were conducted durin&3 the year. Youth Organisations are Guides and Boys Brigade with adult Organisations the Choir and ihe Guild. The Organisations have visiting elders who maintsin links with the Kirk Session on a regular basis. For Harvest Appeal members were asked to donaie goods for Coaibndge Foodbank. Other r¢tiring collections throughoul the year benefitted The Moira Anderson Foundation, Poppy scotlan￿ St Andreivs's Hospice and The People's Pantry. Our halls ar¢ also used during the week by the organisats'ons and provide a avenue for coff¢¢ afternoons and social evenls. whilst also providing facilities for a Lunch Club. Self- Help group and a Line Dancing Class. Page 3 Action Plan To increase the involvem¢nt of children and young t￿Ople in worship. Consider how to include the youth organisations in services. Continue to send Rnvilalions lo special services. Discuss with organisvmusical director how to utilise more music in servic¢s. New choir music items have been prepared again this year. Ths has proved very successful with the congregation. The choir regularly stng anthem5 Church magazine. The new forniat has been T¢￿1Ved well by the congregation. We will also produce flyerslnewslett¢Ts to keep in touch wilh the congregation. Consider how the ¢ongiregJation can ￿C0]ne moi¢ cngaged with the organisations through family services. youth organi5ations. Ask to help with door duty or serv¢ teaslcoffee al social events Fac¢book Pag¢. This has been s¢t up but thc i¥cbsit¢ has rcmain¢d as it ivas and slill needs to be revamped. To be reviewed next year. To extend our audiolvisual System to ￿ able to show our services in the hall if need¢d. To continue wilh the 6(Ik Lunch Club and Line Dancing Classes which bring in ￿￿Ople from other denominations. Over the year the clubs have attrdcted neiv members enjoying meals. fellowship and exercise To continue giving help to less fortunate ￿Ople through charilies Th¢ People's Pantry and the Coaibridge Foodbank. The congregation has gr¢aily SUPTK)rted boih charities and also donat¢d io differenl overseas charities. To continu¢ a sponsorship through the efforts of the Guild. Consider how to ensure the suc£ession of key workers in Ihe future by training understudies. OrganisatAon Reports Pastoral Care There are seven members on Pastordl Care who ar¢ housebound, ill in hospitsl. and recovering from illness. who are visited. usually on a monthly basis. by five team members. Cards and flowers w¢re delivered at Eastei and, at Christmas. winsettias and cards. All greatly app[￿late(L Guild The Guild meet every second Monday from beginning of October until March l April. W¢ have 14 members who attend on a regular basis. Throughout the session we have various speakers. opening and closing socials, summer trips, Christmas night out dinner and panlo. Through Compassion UK the Guild sponsor two young boys wtih educalion . Alvaro from Columbia has completa his studies and is doing well. Our sponsor child ai present 15 from Bangladesh and working hard ai his studies. Line Dancing Th¢ Line Dancing class has attracted new members and now there is a regular attendance of 34 enjoying the class. During the year ￿ donated funds lo ihe Church and Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity. The Guild meet every second Monday from begknning of October until March l April. We have 14 members ￿,hO attend on a regular basis. Th¢ Cl￿ meets on a Wednesday evening from 7.30 - 9 pm and are always looking to welcome neiv members. 60+ Lunch Club Th¢ lunch club continued io Provid¢ food and fellowship with over 30 regular attendees. Christmas Lunch provided by Caieieis was again well received Page 4 15th Coatbridge Boys, Brigade The Company section won the Squad Drill ComiKtition and the Battalion Cross Country Compelition. February, the juniors took part in the 5-a-side tournament and did really well. With so many Boys we enlered two teains of eight. They also ¢ntered Bible Knowledge and Mind & Creativity Comp's. not placed bul they did their best. Company section also had their Scripture Knowledge (5th) Vaulting Comp. where they finished 2nd having won last year. April is a quiet tim¢ for the comwiy as some comwies in the area have finished for th¢ session. We continue each week with our own meeling nights and in preparation for the Display. May was our annual Display and Prizegtving and was sthnding room only for some parents. a full church hall saw the Boys put on some ¢ntertainm¢nt and at the end of the ev¢nJng the main awards were presented. The Company finished the session with 19 AB regularly allending. 7 were promoted to the Juniors. We had 34 Juniors with one of those promoted to the Company Section and I I Company Section Boys. At the Display the company section was pr¢s¢nted wiih the Batthlion Challenge Trophy for top aclll'eving company across all aspects. parades, coM￿titiOns. oificers attending meetings etc. Now the 2nd year in a row we have won this and was a fantaslic achievement. Also in May the company had the honour to represent Lanarkshire Boys brigade as Guard of Honour at the Genejal Assembly to Prince Edward as he attended the Assernbly in Edinburgh. August saw the Junior and Comtmny sections as well as staff go Io OUT Annual Camp at Bonaly Scout centre Edinburgh, 34 people went and had a good time. Au8USt had the Company return on the lasi Friday of the month. Septemkr has all three sections running and all new Boys ordering unifoTm, In total we have six new members to the company across AB and JS. October is when things settle down and those Boys who wish io stay do so and, unfortunat¢ly we los¢ a few as il's not quite to their liking. Fortunately for ihose six thal left we have since gained three new rnernbe￿ once started back. Our numbers as a group continue to be high compared with others. 58 Boys coming through those doors every week. almos150 of ihose Boys have Perfect Attendance. This highlights the gTeal work and fun Ihat's happening here. The JS & CS took part in their respective Top Team comps. We had a Baltalion parade at the ¢nd of October. The CS took part in the PT Comp (cartwheels. handsprings etc) and cam¢ 2nd again. 5 years in a row. November continues with competitions. All attended the Remembrance Parade. All sections took part in the Battalion fun run. This takes place ai Dnllnpellier L(Khs and is for everyone includtng families, txts etc all walL"ing or running around the lochs to raise sponsorship for their companies. It's a wonderful sight to see about 3400 BB people gath¢r¢d together to do something and is an im￿rtant fund raiser for ihe Company. December bringys the calendar year to a close. bul still a busy rnonth for the Company. JS took" part in the PA Comp (3rd), CS took part in Elementsry Drill and catne a very impressive 2nd. Ov¢rall. an amazingly successful year. in ternis of the local battalion competitions that we entered. This is what interesls Ihe Boys and keeps them p￿ctI51ng and irying. We also. on a weekly basis. offer the usual BB aclivitie5 of life skills badge work. spiritual lessons boih al start of evening and as a class. Physical work is a larg¢ part of what w¢ do as Boys get bored or restless unless exerting energy and giving them a place to do this safely keeps them otTthe streets. and in an environment wher¢ we can Sha￿ their lives and futures. We slarted and finished the y¢ar as the largest (membership) BB Company in the area. With regards finance the company is self-sustainable. we have slightly more fimds available than thjs time last yeaT. due inainly to the increased membership. We are always well sUp￿)rted in the two main fundraising activities we do. the Fun Run and a Race Night. This year w¢ also had two n¢w adult l¢aders join, but sa