# **Edinburgh: Leith & Restalrig Church of Scotland (formerly Leith St Andrew’s)** ## **ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS** ## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[ST] DECEMBER 2024** **Congregation No: 010139 Scottish Charity No: SC 012680 www.larch.org.uk** ## **Edinburgh: Leith & Restalrig Church of Scotland Trustees’ Report Year ended 31[st ] December 2024** The Trustees present the Annual Report and Accounts for Leith and Restalrig Church of Scotland, formerly Leith St Andrew’s Church of Scotland Edinburgh, for the year ended 31[st] December 2024. The information below is for Leith St. Andrew’s Church of Scotland as the union took place on 1[st] January 2025 and as our Scottish Charity Number will be the one continuing the accounts have been prepared in the name of the new congregation as this is now on the OSCR register. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in the accounts and comply with the General Assembly Regulations for Congregational Finance and the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations (as amended) 2006 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standards applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland published on 16 July 2014. ## **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. We are a congregation of 112 people. Our parish covers an area of 2-3 square miles with a total population of approximately 7,500. It is a mainly residential area with a few shops and businesses with several care establishments, 3 primary and 1 secondary schools. In addition to Sunday worship, we have many activities taking place in our premises which see many adults and children from our local community going through our doors each week. ## **Mission and Purpose** As a worshipping community we seek to learn, deepen faith, spirituality, embrace new friendships, serve and promote social justice by our deeds and actions. We desire that the church will always be a place of welcome. Our purpose is to love God and love our neighbours. ## **Ministry** ## has been the minister of Leith St Andrew’s since February 2013. As Minister, he seeks to develop the mission, vision and goals of the church along with the elders/trustees of the Kirk Session and Task Groups. The personal and professional development and discipleship of elders and members of congregation is important and always on-going. He also works collaboratively with the other local Church of Scotland ministers, encouraging closer links between the congregations and looking at ways to work more closely together. Pastoral duties include visiting those in hospital, sheltered housing and care homes, the conducting of funerals and the provision of pastoral care to the bereaved. The minister is assisted by elders and a pastoral care team in these duties. - 2 - **The 5 Building Blocks of our Mission** are about outreach, both within and out with the worshipping community: ## **1.Worship 2. Service 3. Fellowship 4. Evangelism 5. Discipleship** Our values reflect the values of Jesus from Journey to Growth:- Focusing vision (purpose – values) Building local partnerships (engagement) Sharing faith values (what, where, how) Nourishing Daily Living (discipleship) ## **1. Worship** 2024 has been a year of preparation for the union with St Margaret’s Restalrig and Pilrig St Paul’s to form the new charge of Leith and Restalrig Church on 1[st] January 2025. Over the winter months we held worship in the hall where it was warmer. This increased the feeling of community, and the singing was excellent. We continued to live stream the service each week on our Facebook page which enabled us to make worship available in some form to as many of our members as possible. Worship took place on Sunday mornings and at Oasis of Peace (midweek). Additional services were held during Holy Week. Joint services were held with other local congregations such as during the Leith Festival. In preparation for the forthcoming union, we had joint services on the first Sunday of each month with the congregations of Pilrig St Paul’s and St Margaret’s Restalrig, The quality of worship presentation is flexible and participatory: a mix of traditional and contemporary. Oasis of Peace, a more contemplative form of worship, has a small but regular group of attendees, including some from outwith our congregation. Members are encouraged to become more involved in worship. Worship is enhanced by large screens displaying hymns, readings, responses and media clips. Members of the Congregation occasionally lead or participate in worship. Musicians from the congregation take part in worship on an occasional basis alongside the church’s musical director and he leads a small choir which sings on occasion. Bereaved families are invited to a special memorial service each year. ## **2. Service** Our Church halls continue to be busy every day and most evenings. Our Foodbank has continued to provide food parcels twice weekly to those in need and has seen an increase in service users over the year. Although retaining the playgroup name, our playgroup is a council partner education provider, ie a nursery. Our halls are used by: _Organisations:_ Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Guides Senior Section. _Community Groups:_ Playgroup, Mary Phelan Dance School, Senzala Dance group, the Capital Concert Band, The Claremont Players music group and addiction support groups. Over the course of the year the Probus Men’s Club moved to new premises and The Trefoil Guild also made alternative arrangements for meeting. The Junction, a local charity providing support for the wellbeing of local young people, was our chosen charity for the year. A donation of £727was made from funds raised on the Leith Gala Day stall and donations from our Christmas services. The congregation continues to support the homeless through involvement with the Bethany Christian Trust and Edinburgh City Missions. We held our annual Coffee & Carols event and asked for donations to financially support Bethany Christian Trust £149 was put towards providing soup & rolls for the Care Van. We have two teams who have continued to go out once a month with the Care Van providing hot soup, rolls and clothing, if required, to the homeless. - 3 - A Food Bank (under the auspices of Trussell) is operated by the Church of Scotland Congregations in Leith and also St Margaret’s Church in Restalrig Village. As mentioned above, the Food Bank continues to open throughout the week with our premises used twice weekly, staffed by volunteers from our congregation and others. The congregation supports people in the community at crisis times and in life transition times. ## **3. Fellowship** As a congregation, we continue to be aware of the needs of people, both within and beyond the congregation. There is a good support system in place, with people quick to give support of a practical nature and through prayer. There are always greeters on duty at the door to welcome people on a Sunday, particularly looking out for visitors. The congregation seeks to be accepting of people for who they are and are continually looking to improve communication with newcomers, involving people in their areas of interest and making best use of people’s strengths and skills. Time after the service for teas/coffees provides a time for members of the congregation to meet and chat with each other. We hosted a concert with singer in January which was open to members of other local churches. This was well attended, and we raised £210 for the work of Edinburgh Street Pastors. To mark the end of the charge of Leith St Andrew’s Church, almost 30 members of the congregation attended a meal in a nearby local restaurant in November. Following the final service on 29[th] December, a lunch was provided for around 70 people. ## **4. Evangelism** The church website, emails, leaflets, magazines and regularly updated notice boards all served to tell the community about church life in Leith St Andrew’s. Our website was regularly updated and our Facebook page had a good following. We also had a Twitter account with a smaller following. ## **5. Discipleship** This Easter, we joined with Pilrig St Paul’s, South Leith, North Leith and St Margaret’s churches for joint services during Holy Week. An online Bible Study open to all in Leith Churches took place in spring and during Advent. ## _**Success Factors to achieving growth**_ - ➢ Relevance of preaching and worship styles and patterns - ➢ Quality of worship - ➢ Warmth of welcome and friendliness of the people - ➢ Inclusive in our diversity - ➢ Presence of all ages - ➢ Possibility to belong to a family - ➢ Range of children’s programmes - ➢ Sincere pastoral care We wish our worship, stewardship and church building to be relevant for 21[st] Century. - 4 - ## **Achievements and Performance** In terms of our overall performance the Minister, elders and members of the Congregation have continued to work well, sharing our vision, supporting and nurturing each other. In terms of our Kirk Session there is a sense of inclusiveness with everyone being involved in the on-going witness and mission. _**Chaplaincy** :_ Involvement with the two mainstream primary schools had halted during and after the pandemic, but there has been progress in resuming involvement. The special needs school has found that the current complexity of needs of many children has made it difficult to find a place for school chaplaincy, although this may change in time _**Pastoral Care** :_ We continue to offer pastoral care to our members. Flowers were delivered weekly by a team of volunteers. At Christmas, we distributed shortbread gifts to members of the congregation who are elderly, infirm or ill. ## **Property** The buildings are generally in good condition, and we've kept up regular maintenance by clearing gutters, checking over roofs and ensuring annual servicing and inspection of fire, gas and electrical systems. As a matter of health and safety, and following Presbytery approval, further repairs were carried out on the tower stonework, at a cost of £17,347, though we were able to reclaim VAT of £3251. Over the year, there were several repairs to the central heating boilers, at a total cost of £1794. This reflects the advanced age of the boilers for which the heating contractors are finding harder and harder to source parts. In addition, further works on the heating system will require to be carried out in 2025, at a cost of £2679. Other works carried out on the Church, Halls and Manse this year included: - Repair of plasterwork in Playgroup outside area - Purchase of a new shed for the manse - Valuation of church and halls in preparation for sale - Obtaining an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) for the manse - Replacing the defibrillator battery - Roofing checks and repairs - Accessible toilet repair During the year, the Property Conveners of all three partner churches (Pilrig St Paul’s, St Margaret’s Restalrig and ourselves) met in the respective buildings to become more aware of issues (both existing and potential) facing each property. As our building has been earmarked for release following union with the other two churches, three potential bids to buy the building emerged, despite the fact that the building has not yet been put on the market. The Kirk Session decided that Leith St Andrew’s Trust should be declared ‘preferred bidder’. This is a community-driven registered charity dedicated to preserving the building and transforming it into a thriving well-being activity centre and events space, open to everyone in the community. This bid will require a large degree of grant funding which is not easy to secure, especially for capital projects. Much funding of such projects was suspended due to political uncertainty and so the Trust has been encouraged to reapply in early 2025. Meanwhile, the Trust has proposed a short-term leasing arrangement. However, this will require approval of both the Kirk Session of the new united congregation of Leith and Restalrig Church and Presbytery. ## _**Mission & Outreach** :_ On behalf of the Congregation, we made donations to the New Scots refugee project with Edinburgh City Mission, Christian Aid, Erskine Hospital and Earl Haig Foundation. Members of the congregation regularly donate food for the Foodbank and also help with corporate collection days at Tesco. _**Fundraising** :_ This year we ran our usual tombola stall at Leith Gala Day which was very successful raising £456 which was included with the Christmas donations and sent to the Junction. - 5 - ## **Financial Review** Accounts incorporating all funds and investments show a year end deficit of £14,825. This was slightly less than expected due to recovery in Investments and small increase in income from our 107 Easter Warriston Manse premises. Income and Expenditure on general running costs show a deficit of £25,560. Hall Rental income was down by £2047 as some groups moved to rent halls elsewhere. Most members make their donations by Standing Order. We have 39 people on Standing Order, 4 people who write cheques regularly, 3 use Free Will Offering envelopes, and 3 on the Box Scheme. We claim Gift Aid for 33 people. No legacies were received during 2024. Our Electricity & Gas contracts are negotiated by Church of Scotland on fixed tariffs. Notwithstanding competitive rates our Heating & Lighting was £12,136 for the year. The tenant in 107 Easter Warrison has been there from Sept 2023 at a monthly rental rate of £2000. Their move was always temporary whilst their own house was being rebuilt. They have given notice to end the tenancy from end of January 2025. ## **Risk Management** The Trustees have considered issues associated to the risks to the charity. A falling membership means falling income against increase in running costs, and fewer people to share in the tasks associated with the day-to-day running of the church. We consider that we have adequate reserves to cover Fabric expenditure. ## Reserves Policy The trustees have considered the reserves required and have considered their current and future liabilities. It is the trustees’ policy to hold reserves sufficient to cover approximately three months-worth of expenditure. At year end, we hold unrestricted reserves of £33,125 The proceeds from the sales of St Thomas Junction Road held within the Church of Scotland Trustees (£66.916) can be used for unforeseen Fabric Expenditure, and the Manse at Easter Warriston (£450,000) for general purposes. ## **Structure, Governance and Management** Leith St Andrew's Church is a registered charity, number SC 012680 and is administered in accordance with the terms of the Model Deed of Constitution (Unitary Form) and is subject to the Acts and Regulations of the Church of Scotland. Members of the Kirk Session are the charity trustees. The Kirk Session members are elders of the church and are chosen from those 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. The Kirk Session is responsible for the affairs within the church, both spiritual and temporal. It meets 5 or 6 times a year. The Kirk Session has management responsibility for teams which draw on the gifts of the congregation to cover all aspects of our life together. These teams are: Finance, Property, Pastoral Care, and Fundraising. - 6 - **Reference and Administrative Information** **----- Start of picture text -----**
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## **Principal Office** Charity Name: Charity Registration Number: Congregation Reference No: Edinburgh: Leith and Restalrig Church of Scotland SC 012680 010050 ## **Bankers** Bank of Scotland 13 New Kirkgate, Leith Edinburgh, EH6 6AD - 7 - Trustee's Resiponsibilities in Relation to the Financial Statements The chiirity INstees arc rLspunsible for preP￿Ing￿ a inistees anniial retK)rt and financial stateinl'nts in 2ecord2nLC applicable laiv aiid Uiiiied Kiiibdom Ac¥ouiiiing Siaiidards (Uni¢¢d KÉiigdom Gei)erally Ac¢epl£d Accounting Pi'actic£). Ilie law dppli¥ tli¢ financial siaiernents. the Irlislees are requitEd io Sclcct suitable aLCOUlltin¢T t)nlici¢s and fhcii appl!, thcm c(In.4i%ILiitly: Observe ihc m¢thod and principles lil the applicablc Charilies SORP; Make judoemeiiis and estimates Ihal are reasonable and prLidenl' Stale i%,heilier cipplicable a¥couniing standrt costs relate MdK>lly to tbat actiiity al￿ not beell sewately identified. 300 2,330 101,837 98,780 -14- ## **Edinburgh: Leith & Restalrig Church of Scotland (Formerly Leith St Andrew's Church) Notes to the Accounts Year ended 31 December 2024** ## **5 Summary of Investments** |**mmary of Investments**|| |---|---| |Benevolent Fund
Investment Fund
Benevolent Fund
RBS shares
Fabric & Gen Purposes
Investment Fund
(At cost value £149,460)
Investment Properties
Manse Lochend Road
_(Revalued 2022)_
107 Easter Warriston
Investments held at market value:|**£**
27,871
13,643
122,954| ||164,468
400,000
450,000| ||**1,014,468**| ## **6 Trustee Remuneration and Related Party Transactions** During 2024, council tax of £3127 was paid on behalf of A gratuity of £800 for Administrative work & Service Recording was paid to (a Trustee). ## **7 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 £31,642 and the maximum stipend (in fifth and subsequent years of service) was £38,884. |**8 Collections/Donations to Third Parties**
Earl Haig donation
Erskine Hospital
Christian Aid
City Mission Refugee Hampers
Red Cross Israel & Palestine Territory Appeal
The Junction|**2024**
**£**
50
100
305
190
0
727
1372|**2023**
**£**
50
100
306
160
220
0| |---|---|---| |||836| ## **APPENDIX** **FUNDS HELD ON BEHALF OF THE CONGREGATION BY COFS GENERAL TRUSTEES AS AT 31ST DECEMBER 2023** Credit Balance in Consolidated Fabric Fund £66,916 _Market Value £65,241_ - 15 -