**St Columba’s Episcopal Church Year Ended 30[th] September 2024** Annual Report and Accounts. Registered Charity No. SC023270 ## **Bankers** Bank of Scotland 2-6 Eastgate Inverness IV2 3NA **1** **St Columba’s Episcopal Church Year Ended 30[th] September 2024** ## **Report of Vestry** The members of Vestry present their annual report together with the financial statements for the year ended 30th September 2024. ## **Structure and Governance** In the terms of the Charities and Trustees Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended), Vestry reports to the congregation as follows:- 1. St Columba's Episcopal Church Grantown on Spey is a registered Charity under Charity No. SC023270. 2. It is a member of the Diocese of Moray, Ross & Caithness and is in full communion with the Anglican Church. 3. The superior authority is the Bishop of Moray Ross & Caithness. 4. All of its affairs are governed by Vestry. ## **Appointment of Vestry** Vestry members are elected or appointed by an Annual General Meeting established by constitution and under Canon Law of the Scottish Episcopal Church. There is no formal induction program, but ongoing guidance is given to ensure that Vestry members are familiar with the Church's values, aims and responsibilities as the designated trustees of a charity. ## **Administrative Structure** It is the duty of Vestry to manage the temporal affairs of the congregation with responsibility to keep the fabric and property of the Church and other buildings in good working order and to look after the finances of the Church. **Statement of Risk** Vestry keeps under review the major risks to which the Church is exposed and has established procedures to mitigate any risks identified. ## **Charitable Objectives and Activities** The Church's principal activities include worship in sacrament and prayer, Christian education, charitable work, and fund raising for local, national, and international needs. Social meetings, predominantly of the youth, the elderly, and many community groups of all ages. ## **Volunteers** Vestry is grateful for the time freely given by the large number of volunteers, without whom many of the activities would be unable to operate. **2** st Columba's Eplscopal Church Year Ended 30th September 2024 Report of Vestry- contlnued: Achlevements and Performance A rather indulgent report this year. We can provide you with the hard facts, however, on their own, they do not tell you the whole story. Having spent a significant part of my life going from church to thurch. I've always advised clergy I when moving to a new parish, to "read" both parish and church with care. Every church community is different and what works in one place won't necessarily work in another. There can be a large "successful "church, which may be spiritually moribund, where God is hard pushed to have a say or, a small community, where there's a real spiritual Spark. It's often in the latter that God is allowed to speak. In my journeying, I have found that the atmosphere can communicate more than the structures. When a stranger W￿kS through the doors, (and proportionately we have more than the average), how do they feel? What message do we convey? Despite its relatively modest numbers, there is much that is positive at St. Columbia's. People speak warmly of our friendliness and the sense of community. It's good, in God's strength, to be positive about our achievements! We are called to DEMONSTRATE CHRIST IN OUR LIVES. How we speak with enthusiasm to non-thurch members about the lrfe of our Christian Community can make all the difference. There are a lot of positive features to our church building. We benefit from it being a realistic size and its, facilities. Our Churth Fabric has, until recently, been c e has now stepped down and we thank God for him and his work. We express deli ht tha has taken this task on. We have also been blessed with two excellent ChUrchW￿denS Our finances are in good shape, thanks to the work 0￿e thank her, and remember, with appreciation, the late Leon Baker. A very positive sign is that we give away a percentage of our income to charity, both local and afar. We have resisted the temptation to reduce this sum when faced with signtficant financi challenges. In the 905pel, charity should not necessarily begin at home! Despite a relatively healthy situation at present, we will face challenges, especially if we want, at some point to aspire to a full-time stipendiary priest. Our income does need to rise first and foremost by all of us reviewing our giving for the ministy and mission for the church. Biblical teaching suggests giving should be proportionate to our resources. It also speaks not only of our financ¢ but the way in which we use our God given talents and the stewardship of our time. Worship is the first priority of a Christian. Jesus didn't command us to "do this in remembrance of me" only on the first Sunday of the rnonthl He calls the Christian community to gather Sunday by Sunday to celebrate the Resurrection in worship, prayer, fellowship and mutual care. Again, our worship has an evangelistic role, in deepeni d growing in our fatth. We are immensely fortunate in having excellent readers, plus a dep Sunday by Sunday, assist with the leading of worship. We benefit organist, and the back-up of technology when an organist is not availab does an excellent job in sendin9 Out rotas so that everyone is aware of who is doing what an Many thanks go to so man who enrich our Christian community throu h their service. One "9ap" we will feel is the result of the transfer of o Inverness Cathedral. has Se￿ed God faithfijlly in our church for over forty years and Wlhas played an active role recently as well as ce as Diocesan Secretary. We will continue to see them. We thank God for their faithful service. LASTLY THE CLERGY.. The facilitators and servant leaders. We have a very unusual situation. We have a team of voluntary priests, most well retired but who continue to exercise a ministry, in fact I think it would be safe to say, we celebrate the opportunities that God enabled us to exercise a retiral ministry and his e given us to continue our vocation. In addition to the "retirees" we are fortunate to be joined by ho has been entrusted with the role of community priest and brings valued experience to the team. The most effective way of bringing people to a faith in Jesus Christ is thr¢)u9h the enthusiasm we have for sharing the Good News....and in 2024 there is much to share in Grantown. **St Columba’s Episcopal Church Year Ended 30[th] September 2024** ## **Report of Vestry - continued** ## **Financial Review** The Accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). All funds are unrestricted. A surplus of £2,258.10 has arisen in this financial year, compared with the previous year’s deficit of £1,699.01. In both years, a number of units of our holding in the Scottish Episcopal Unit Trust were sold to fund the costs of works to maintain the Church’s structure – in this year 1,319 units of our investment were sold, realising £12,500. The market value of the remaining units was such that our overall holding at the year end had increased (see page 9). We have transferred £6,600 of our balance with the Bank of Scotland into an Instant Access Savings Account which will generate some interest. The work carried out this year in sanding the floor and replacing the carpet, although it has produced an attractive outcome, was needed for Health and Safety reasons.. The sale of the investment is included in income both years – without this, the comparison is between a deficit last year of £29,699.01 and this year of £10,241.90. The expenditure on page 8 shows a decrease over the previous year of just over £17,000. This year’s flooring work cost just over £6,300, compared with last year’s repointing of just over £25,500. This was partly offset by the cost of a new virtual organ system of just over £1,200. Receipts on page 7, after excluding the sale of investments, show an apparent increase of more than £2,200. This is mainly due to a claim under the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme , relating to .the previous tax year, being submitted in this financial year, which amounted to nearly £1,100. There have been increases in donations and the General Collection which have offset the reduction in dividend received, since we have sold some of our investment. We have continued the insurance of the Church and Church Hall with the Ecclesiastical Insurance and benefitted from the economies that this has produced. ## **Trustees’ Expenses** Vestry asked to carry out gardening and other maintenance work at a rate of £20 per hour, for which the church was invoiced a total of £3,365 (168.25 hours). The major items of work were pollarding trees, clearing gutters and sanding the floor. A total of £1,418.31 was paid to six Trustees in consideration of out-of-pocket expenses incurred by them on behalf of Vestry. ## **Reserves** Vestry has adopted a policy of trying to maintain a healthy level of unrestricted reserves. In the event of an unforeseen significant drop in its income the Church would be able to maintain its current level of activities for a reasonable period until replacement funding is obtained. **4** St Columba's Episcopal Church Year Ended 30th September 2024 Report of Vestry - continued ststement of Vestry Members Responslbllltles The members of Vestry must prepare financial ststements which give sufficient detail to enable an understanding of the transaclions of the Church during the Financial Year. The members of Vestry are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which, upon request, must be shown to reflect the financial positbon of the Church al thal time. This must be done to ensure that the financial ststements cornpty with the provisions of the Charities and Tiustee Investment (Scotland) Regulations 2005, and the Charilies Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006, (as amended). The members of Vestry are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Church and must take all reasonable steps for the prevents'on, andlor, the detection of fraud and other iffegularitie8. On beha￿ of Vesty Date Treasurer St Columba's Episcopal Church Year Ended 30 September 2024 Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of The Church of St Columba's, Grantown-on-spey I report on the accounts of the charity for the year ended 30. September 2024 which are set out on pages 7 to 10 Res ective res onsibilities of trustees and The Gharity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordan￿ 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 audtt requirement of Regulation 10(1) (d) of the 2006 Accounts Regulations does not apply. It is my responsibility to examine the accounts as Tequired under section 44(1) (c) of the Act and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. Basis of inde endent examinerfs statement My examination is carried out in accordance with Regulation 11 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charty and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual ttems 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 in an audrt, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the given by thc accounts. Inde enden examinerfs statement In the course of my examination. no matter has come to my attention, which gives me reasonable cause lo believe that in any material respect the requirements: to keep accounting records in accordan￿ with Section 44(1) (a) of the 2005 Act and Regulalion 4 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with Regulation 9 of the 2006 Accounts Regulalions have not been met. to which, in my opinion, attention shoukl be drawn in order to enable a proper understarKling of the accounts to be reached. xaminer OR, November 2024 **St Columba's Episcopal Church Year Ended 30th September 2024** |**St Columba's Episcopal Church**
**Year Ended 30th September 2024**||| |---|---|---| |**Receipts**|**2024**|**2023**| ||**£**|**£**| |**Donations Received**||| |General Collection|5,508.12|4,934.44| |Donations|1,472.97|1,118.72| |Freewill Offerings & Gift Aid (Note - a)|9,316.96|8,014.50| |Charitable Donations|0.00|0.00| |Fund-raising|479.73|453.74| ||**16,777.78**|**14,521.40**| |**Investment Income**||| |SEUT Dividend|5,065.24|5,224.75| |Proceeds from Investment Sold|12,500.00|28,000.00| |Interest Received|0.05|6.50| ||**17,565.29**|**33,231.25**| |**Other Receipts**||| |Property Revenue - St Anne’s|3,600.00|3,200.00| |Property Revenue - Miscellaneous|1,290.00|1,560.00| ||**4,890.00**|**4,760.00**| |**Total Receipts**|**39,233.07**|**52,512.65**| |**Total Expenditure - per page 8**|**36,974.97**|**54,211.66**| |**Surplus / Deficit for the Year**|**2,258.10**|**-1,669.01**| **7** **St Columba's Episcopal Church Year Ended 30th September 2024** |**St Columba's Episcopal Church**
**Year Ended 30th September 2024**|||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |**Expenditure**
**Clergy Costs**
Clergy expenses
**Property Expenses**
**Church Expenses**
Virtual Organ
**Charitable Expenditure**
**Quota**
**Total payments transferred to page 7**
Organists’ Expenses
**Administrative Costs**
Miscellaneous Expenses
Advertising
Altar Expenses
Insurance
Repairs & Renewals
Heat & Light
Church Hall and Cleaning|**2024**
**2023**
**£**
**£**
**427.80**
**0.00**
2,288.66
2,251.55
10,401.83
29,064.55
5,746.96
6,484.21
1,666.48
1,621.97
**20,103.93**
**39,422.28**
974.50
1,159.51
0.00
0.00
**974.50**
**1,159.51**
673.36
621.87
1,004.30
330.00
1,212.18
0.00
0.00
0.00
**2,889.84**
**951.87**
**2,450.00**
**2,010.00**
**10,128.00**
**10,668.00**
**36,974.97**
**54,211.66**||||**0.00**| |||1,159.51
0.00
**1,159.51**
621.87
330.00
0.00
0.00
**951.87**
**2,010.00**
**10,668.00**|1,159.51
0.00
**1,159.51**||| ||||621.87
330.00
0.00
0.00
**951.87**
**2,010.00**|621.87
330.00
0.00
0.00
**951.87**|| |||**54,211.66**|||| **8** St Columba's Episcopal Church Year Ended 30th Septomber 2024 Statement of Balances 2024 2023 Cash - Bank of Scotland Balance at 1 st OGlober SurpluslDeficit for the year Balance at 30th September 4,584.41 6.283.42 99.01 Scottish Eplscopal Unit Trust Market value of 6,830 units at 1st Oclcknr 2023 Sales of 1,319 unrts Unrealised losslgain Mark•t V81ue of 5.511 units at 30th September 2024 157.430.17 -12.500.00 175.760.80 -28.000.00 9 669.37 Fund balancos Ica8h and investsnonts> surpluslDef￿lt for the yèar Movement in investment Balances as at 30ih September 162.014.58 2,258.10 10 686.74 182,044.22 -1.699.01 Pres8nted to the AGM on 1 st December 2024 and signed Chalm1411 SKr•tary Treasurer St Columba's Episcopal Church Year Ended 30th September 2023 2024 2023 2024 2023 INCOME Cash ￿llectiOn FWO & Covenan15 Diwdend & Inierest Received Procé&18- Sal$ ol Investments Prr4)erty Fundraising Bequests & Donations Charilable Donation$ EXPENDITURE Ckrgy Costs 5.508.12 9,316.96 5.C65.29 12.500.00 4,8￿J.00 479.73 1,472.97 4,934.44 8.014.50 5,23125 Ajtar & Ow CfAts 28.000 C(1 Virtual organ 4.760.CI) ILane¢￿S 453.74 Adminlstralb)￿sUndnt& 1,118 72 Adverttsem8nts Ok)cesan Qu(rt• Chantablo Payments Totsl 427.80 0.00 20,103.93 39,422.28 974.50 1,159.51 1,212.16 0.00 1,￿)4.30 330.00 673.36 621.87 0.00 0.00 10.128.00 10,668.00 2 450.00 ￿0 36 974.07 Total 233.07 52 512.6 Notes ' Insurance is included in the item Propefty Expenses Fund balance8 (cash and Invostments 2024 2023 8alances 8$ 81191 Ocaot>er SurpiUs￿eft￿ tor the yoar Movemenl in Inveslm8nl 8al8nce8 88 al 30th Septenknf 162.014.58 2,258.10 182,044.22 -1,699.01 330.63 014.58 174 Notes 01 IPa@e 7) Thk8 total inclu¢Jes HMRC rtfu￿ts fof Grft Aid arwj Inttresi Signed Treasurer Signed Independent Examiner 10