I'l Illi BA THGA TE EU- UNITED REFORMED CHURCH Scottish Charity number: SC 014304 Trustees, Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2024 APPENDIX 1 oscr,- Period start dale Period end date Month 12 Day Mojth YBar Day 31 Yaar 2024 To 2024 Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator Reference and administration detsils Charity name Other narnes Gharity Is known by Registered charity number Charity's principal address Bathgale EU URC ChLffeh SC014304 clo 35 Athol Terrace Balhgale Wost Lothian -] Postcodè EH48 4DN Names of the charlty trustees on date of approval of Trustses, Annual Report Trustee name Office (If any} Dates acted If not for whole year riame oi person (or body) èntitlod to appoint In￿￿• {if any) President.. Secretary Tr8asur8r Irice President Reference and administration details Names of all other charfty trustees durfng the period. rf any. {for example, those who resigned part way throuah the Ilnanclal peTlodl Dates actod If not forwhole year Deceased Structure, overnance and management Type of governing document The Church is an unincorporated association established in terms of the United Refomied Church Act 2000. Trustee recrultment and appolntmenl The Trustees comprise the Minister (if appointed) and the Elders appointed bv the Conoregation. The Minisler is normally called through the United Reformed Church prO￿s8 whereby any vacancies are made known to URC minislers seeking a new posilion. Details are prepared by the congregation setting out informalion they consider may be appropriate for someone seeking a position as their Minister. The consiaers any appiicaiions and recommen(is a suiiaijie candidate to the congregation who then invite the individual to preach. Following the seNice, the congregation decrdes whether to invite the individual to take up the vacancy, or whether to ask the URC to recommend an alt8rnative. In rp_pF.nt VP.Arq thp. I_IRQ. has introdiicp.d An gdditinnAI prtxess which allows an existing member of the congregation to apply for training which would allow them to retum, in due course, as Minister to their own congregalion. Eilidh Young has started her studies in the autumn 2022 and is expecled to completion from summer 2025. The church is currently without an appointed minister and has been overseen by the Elders dunng the whole of 2024. with the support of a retired URC minisler who is now part of the congregation and has been appointed as our Interim Moderator on behalf of Synod. Under URC Pro￿sses, the church can only be declared 'vacant' and seek a new minister. on the approval of the Synod of Scotland. This was not possible durina 2024 and is unlikelv to hapnen with the calling of Eilidh Young to train for ministry. Elders are elected by the Church Meeting and serve on the Elders, Meeting. Elders are ordained and remain Elders for life, but their period of active service is determined by Church Meeting. Therefo￿. afier a set period, or due to age or illness, an ￿[der may cease io play art aaive roie on ine ￿[aers. wieezing, becoming a "Non-setving Eldel, and would no longer attend Elders, Meeting. At any future point, Church Meeting may vole for a "Non- Se￿Ing Elde¢, to becorne once again a "Serving Elder." The Trustees of a Church are therefore the "Serving Elders." Objectives and activities r£ii ILiy4iiy (he wvi Ji Iiy ui 41 IU Ll IS Ollcilll ly UI 11 I¥ UU>IJS1. Summary of the main activities in relation to these objects The main activities are weekly wotship. meetings aimed al helping growih in the faith of Church members and others, and joint activity with other churches, aimed at raising awareness of the Christian faith amongst the people of Balhgate. Achievements and performance Summaryofthe main achievements of 2024 saw another full calendar year where we had no formal the charlty during the financlal period minister appointed by the URC. A variety of different preachers were invited to take the Sunday service.. many were retired ministers from other denominations, or lay preachers, and some members of the congregation also took part in leading services. The membership has remained faithful throughout 2024, and our weekly attendance remained at similar levels to before with around 23-26 on a Sunday from a roll of around 45 members and adherents. We have Sadly said goodbye to some who have passed +hA VA2r As has been the case with so many churches, charities and other organisations, we are still working to regain the activities we had before the pandemic. However, we continued to focus on the same areas as follows.. f@ll0￿h1n. _8UtiDOrt and soiritiiAI t@achina of chiirch members and adhe￿nts - we welcomed visitors inlo the church and continue to support and inciude all who want to share in worship with us. participating in interfaith activitieslcommunity work we are again engaged in working together with other ChU￿heS in Bathgate to share servi￿$ and support evenls. as part of the URC Synod of Scotland, there has been ongoing support for the Synod and many churches still host services online. In 2024 many Synod meetings were still held online to allow as many people as possible to Internationalty, the congregation continued to send funds to two children we support through Compassion. One child graduated in 2024, but we took up support for another.. we now support two young children. ?OQ4 s Autumn Show - providing time for many people from our church (and others} to meet weekly for rehearsals and to entertain many over three nights in September. We had been concerned that the participants might be fewer than before, but new members increased the volume and allowed us to continue. We continued the use of premises by extemal groups and our monthly Soup lunch as a start towards recouping funds and time together. Donations to both UK and overseas ￿￿rk- we were able io make cnariianie aonations to tne iocai FooabanK jDOTn cash and goods Ihroughout the year), Poppyscotland, the Salvation Army, Christian Aid, the local Street Pastors group and Social Bite. We also made contributions to Financial commentary (summary below) While many cnurcnes naa" siruggiea" auring ine panaemic, we recognise that we have been in a strong position financially in re￿nt years. Our members have remained faithful in their giving and have continued lo give al their 'normal' level or more. In addition, the manse was fully let for the full year and brought in a siqnificant income althouqh there were also associated costs (see below). At the end the year all our restricted accounts are up to date using some general funds to meet some balances. We conlinue our contribLrtion to the URC'S maintenan￿ of Ministry which covers Ministerial salary costs. We ¢ontinue to be aware of the cost of ministry across the URC but are also cognisant that we need to manage ourfunds for our own situation also. We are careful to ensure that our manse is fully maintained. recognising it is one of our main assets. It is let through an agent who ensures all the regulations are met, and we deal with repairs as requests come in from the tenant. In addition. we provided a .gF freezei. riifjaiiiiiy 0411 ¥Yili&￿ Tr8vF I￿￿111¢Y updated. We held regular joinl Finance and Property l Elders meetings to continue to plan as a group and to reviewthe accounts regularly. We cary out regular maintenance checks on our buildings to #n*iirF* Ihpy arp. kp.nt in nnnr4 conrlitinn Anfl thir< rnryliniied dLiring 2024 the buildings were regularly cheoked and were not left empty for any long periods of time. We continue to working through our buildings report and ensuring that important work was carried out to ensure the buildings remain safe. We have also updaled our risk register and reviewed our fire applian￿$ and installations meet uiaiions. Trustee Remuneration The Minister is the only Trustee who would receive payment for their work. URC processes mean that all congregations pay a contribution towards the cost of ministry to URC offices in London based on what they can afford. The URC employs and pays ministers directly from these contributions, so that the individual churches do not have direct employment responsibilities. In 2024 the Bathgate church sent a contribution of £20.000. Other trustees may be reimbursed for items bought for church work, but none receive any employmem costs. Buildlngs It has been noted that our report should include a valuation of our properties. This is not something that is straightforward, but it has been suggested that noting the insurance value of our properties would be adequate at this tim&. The sum noled in our insurance in 2024 for the church and associated buildings and contents is £5,318,063. The sum noted for the manse arKI contents is £392,007. We also have two organs within the church.. One is over 100 years old and is currently insured for a sum of £497,154., The other is a digital organ currently insured for £344,120. Financial review Brief statement of the charity's policy on resejves We maintain a variety of restricted accounts where income and expenditure relate to specific CDmmitments, and where these funds cannot be made available to meet olher costs without agreement by the Property and Finance Committee or the Elders on behalf of the Congregation. Charitiès ac¢ount- which covers all collections made for specified charities during the year., Compassion account- for our commilment to support two children overseas through the organisation Compassion. Fellowshlp Fund - a small fund which allows members ofthe congrègation to receive financial support In times of difficulty. Synod fund - to identify donath)ns made to support the work of the Synod of Scotland. There was no request from Synod in 2024. Detalls of any deficit 2024 ended with a posilive figure in the bank. Donated facilities and servi¢es {if any) Many church members give their time for fTee to provide management, administration and other support seNices to the running of the church. This includes the time of the Elderstrrustees, the President, Secrelary and Treasurer as well as members of various church cornmittees. There is a small core lear14 of MGI I IvrT> Yrflr O Laite on a signifiGant n￿￿lber Oi taarts including gardening and decorating etc and a lot of work has continued throughout 2024. As well as lime, members often provide goods without being reimbursed - this includes flowers for the church each week (which >rp thgn nAoo*wI +n thnsa ip. nAed of 00 000 IrJit>TrknfO Ofoo (DOO￿tr- oooirjo￿rI1oici￿?CyJ (ooo ￿)￿ a> O< c q>< O i)(LIL)S￿￿￿o OU)￿0￿)000 o)(Nryooooo •OLfi￿1000 >t5 o) o_ 008cs C C