2025-03-31-accounts - Portobello Baptist Church SCIO

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Docusign Envelope ID: 89AA0E64-4556-4242-94A3-7E84E45CECB5

Scottish Charity No. SC050925

Portobello Baptist Church SCIO

Trustees’ Report and Financial Statements Period ended 31 March 2025

Docusign Envelope ID: 89AA0E64-4556-4242-94A3-7E84E45CECB5

Portobello Baptist Church SCIO

Contents of the Financial Statements for the period ended 31 March 2025

	Page
Report of the Trustees	1 - 2
Report of the Independent Examiner	3
Receipts and Payments Account	4
Statement of Balances	5
Notes to the Financial Statements	6 - 7

Docusign Envelope ID: 89AA0E64-4556-4242-94A3-7E84E45CECB5

Portobello Baptist Church SCIO

Report of the Trustees for the period ended 31 March 2025

The Trustees are pleased to present their report together with the financial statements of the Church for the year ended 31 March 2025.

Administrative details Registered office

Registered office Bankers Solicitors Portobello Baptist Church Bank of Scotland Diakoneo Legal Services 189 Portobello High Street 153 Portobello High Street 48 Spier’s Wharf Edinburgh Edinburgh Glasgow EH15 1EU EH15 1AG G4 9TH

Status of Charity and Governing Document

Portobello Baptist Church SCIO (SC050925) is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) and is established by Constitution. It was registered in its current legal form on 22 April 2021. The Charity was previously an Unincorporated Association (SC051533). The assets of the unincorporated association were transferred to the SCIO during 2024 at which point, the previous organisation was wound up.

Aims and affiliation

The aims of the church are in line with its Mission Statement - "Portobello Baptist Church exists to make and multiply fully committed followers of Jesus Christ". The church is affiliated to the Baptist Union of Scotland (No SC004690).

Trustees and Office Bearers

The church is congregational in policy and its day-to-day running is undertaken by the Leadership Team who, as Office Bearers in terms of its Constitution and for the purpose of charity law, are its Trustees. The Office Bearers who served during the year and to the date of this report are listed below. The Trustees understood their statutory responsibilities during the accounting period.

Title deeds to the properties owned by the Church or in which the Church has a secured interest are held in the name of the Church.

New Trustees are nominated for appointment to this office under the terms of the Church Constitution. There is no fixed term for Trusteeship, although the norm is three years, renewable once. Prior to their appointment, new Trustees would be active members of the Church who have served the church for some time in various roles and would be familiar with the church’s values, its aims and objectives as well as its day-to-day operations. As part of their induction programme, new Trustees are required to understand their statutory responsibilities and to commit to a regular schedule of meetings. An annual away day takes place to provide space for prayerful consideration of strategic issues. Throughout the year, Trustees (Leadership Team) usually meet once a month.

Charitable objectives

The charitable objectives of the Church are as follows:

To worship God in a way that makes faith accessible to those with no Christian background.
To live out the Christian faith in the community in practical and caring ways for those in need.
To train and teach the members of Portobello Baptist Church, helping them become true disciples of Jesus Christ.
To find ways of living our faith alongside other groups within the community, giving opportunity to share our faith with those who are interested.

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Docusign Envelope ID: 89AA0E64-4556-4242-94A3-7E84E45CECB5

Portobello Baptist Church SCIO

Report of the Trustees for the period ended 31 March 2025

Achievements and performance

This year has been one of continuing what was already working and embracing change. We have seen that work out in a number of areas of our church ministry:

Community Outreach : We had a change in staffing in the year which included an 8 month vacancy, but our key ministries continued unaffected due to continued support by volunteers. These ministries include running two Alpha Courses, the Meeting Place, a warm spaces project in conjunction with the other churches in Portobello, Community Fridge hospitality, Foodbank collection, the launch of Mainly Music, Christmas cafe evening and our Carols on the Beach event.

Sunday Worship : We continue to welcome new people to our church on a Sunday morning, and our team of preachers, worship leaders and gathering hosts have done a great job in encouraging us in our faith. We have many others serving regularly on a Sunday morning in a variety of roles. We continue to gather monthly for evening worship.

Global Mission : We continue to support our three long term partners: Transform Burkina, CreativEnergie and International Justice Mission. All three contributed to the life of the church throughout the year. In addition this year we sent one of our young people on a 6 month mission project with Youth With A Mission.

Youth : Our youth group has continued to grow and the addition of our new staff member has seen changes in how this area has operated. This includes our Sunday Youth work, connecting with the local secondary School, attending Magnitude worship evenings, and a number of young people attending the Magnitude summer festival.

Children : Another area of change in this past year as we have adapted to the changing ages of the young people and children in attendance.

Discipleship : We had a week of prayer, our small groups continue to be places of connection and spiritual support and growth. We once again hosted a successful church weekend. We had people across our church record devotionals for Lent and we baptised two people.

Leadership : Our leadership team remained the same but the departure of our Community Outreach Worker was a significant change. By the end of the calendar year we were delighted to have appointed a new Youth and Community Ministry Associate. The leadership team did a great job of guiding the church through this process.

Financial review

Principal sources of funding

The Church receives its funding from church members by way of monthly offerings and Gift Aid donations. The Church also received income from hall letting during the year which have been disclosed in the financial report.

Results for the year

The Accounts for the year are set out on pages 4 to 7. Per the Receipts and Payments Account on page 4, the Church reported a surplus of £10,986 (2024: £62,047).

Reserves

It is the policy of the Church to maintain Unrestricted Funds, i.e., funds not committed or invested in fixed assets, at a level which equates to approximately three months of unrestricted expenditure. This allows sufficient funds to enable the ongoing work of the Church to be maintained. Per the Statement of Balances on page 5, the General Fund at 31 March 2025 amounted to £46,709 (2024: £33,751) which is above the required level, Designated funds amounted to £58,551 (2024: £59,569) and Restricted funds amounted to £6,700 (2024: £7,654). Total funds of the charity amounted to £111,960 (2024: £100,974).

Signed on behalf of the Trustees on 10th December 2025.

Page 2

Docusign Envelope ID: 89AA0E64-4556-4242-94A3-7E84E45CECB5

Portobello Baptist Church SCIO

Report of the Independent Examiner to the Trustees for the period ended 31 March 2025

I report on the accounts of the church for the period ended 31 March 2025 which are set out on pages 4 to 7.

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 (as amended). The Charity’s 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 (as amended). 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 such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in 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

which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:
to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 44(1) (a) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations (as amended), and
to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with Regulation 9 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations (as amended) have not been met, or
to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Innes & Partners Limited Chartered Certified Accountants

Innes House 18 Shairps Business Park Houstoun Road Livingston EH54 5FD

Date: 10th December 2025

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Docusign Envelope ID: 89AA0E64-4556-4242-94A3-7E84E45CECB5

Portobello Ba tist Church SCIO p

Receipts and Payments Account for the period to 31 March 2025

General fund £ 43,968 9,521 18,628 24,403 - 2,725 - 3,750	Designated funds Restricted funds £ £ - 7,950 - 3,000 - 1,363 - - - - - - - - - - - 12,313 - 3,334 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 120 1,018 9,813 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1,018 13,267 (1,018) (954) 59,569 7,654 58,551 6,700	Designated funds Restricted funds £ £ - 7,950 - 3,000 - 1,363 - - - - - - - - - - - 12,313 - 3,334 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 120 1,018 9,813 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1,018 13,267 (1,018) (954) 59,569 7,654 58,551 6,700
102,995	-	12,313
35,304 3,777 198 5,149 6,901 3,051 410 7,487 5,077 1,981 1,051 612 415 834 - 1,193 4,734 133 140 318 7,463 111 234 525 1,215 1,584 140 -	- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1,018 - - - - - - -	3,334 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 120 9,813 - - - - - - -
90,037	1,018	13,267
12,958 33,751	(1,018) 59,569	(954) 7,654
46,709	58,551	6,700

The notes on pages 6 to 7 form part of these financial statements.

Page 4

Docusign Envelope ID: 89AA0E64-4556-4242-94A3-7E84E45CECB5

Portobello Ba tist Church SCIO p

Statement of Balances as at 31 March 2025

2025 Opening Surplus balance for year £ £ 100,974 10,986	2024 Opening Surplus balance for year £ £ 38,927 62,047	Closing balance £ 100,974
100,974 10,986	38,927 62,047	100,974
		£ 33,751 59,569 7,654
		100,974
		£ 300,000 200,000 9,688
		509,688
		£ 1,440 144 49 430
		2,063

The financial statements on pages 4 to 7 were approved by the Trustees on 10th December 2025 and signed on their behalf by the undernoted:

Page 5

Docusign Envelope ID: 89AA0E64-4556-4242-94A3-7E84E45CECB5

Portobello Ba tist Church SCIO p

Notes to the financial statements for the period to 31 March 2025

1. Accounting Policies

Accounting convention

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, and in accordance with the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended).

Basis of financial statements

The financial statements have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis.

Church income

All voluntary income, income from tax recoveries on Gift Aid and bank interest is accounted for when received.

Receipts and payments account

For the purpose of the Receipts and payments account as shown on page 4, funds are defined as follows:

Unrestricted funds comprise grants and other income received for the objects of the church without further specified purpose and are available as general funds.

Restricted funds comprise income which has been received for the objects of the church and specified for a restricted purpose within these objects by the donor.

2. Transactions with Trustees and related parties

There were no transactions with the Trustees during the year ending 31 March 2025 (2024: nil) other than the Minister's salary which is detailed below.

During the year a Trustee, received a salary of £23,467 (2024: £23,617), pension contributions of £1,408 (2024: £1,337) and expenses of £78 (2024: £2,512) in his capacity as Church Pastor.

During the year training fees totalling £7,213 (2024: £nil) were paid to YWAM on behalf of who is related to a Trustee . No other payments were made to related parties during the year (2024: £nil).

3. Reimbursement of expenses

During the year one (2024: two) Trustee received reimbursement of expenses for expenses paid on behalf of the Church totalling £341 (2024: £1,327). No Trustees received remuneration for their position as Trustees during the year (2024: nil).

4. Staff costs and numbers Gross salaries Employer's pension contributions	2025 £ 35,336 3,302	2024 £ 38,911 4,055
	38,638	42,966

The average number of employees during the year was 2 (2024: 2).

Page 6

Docusign Envelope ID: 89AA0E64-4556-4242-94A3-7E84E45CECB5

Portobello Ba tist Church SCIO p

Notes to the financial statements for the period to 31 March 2025

Designated fund £ - - - - - - 518 500 - - - - - -	Restricted funds £ 7,213 2,600 - - - - - - - - - - - -	2025 Total £ 7,213 2,600 2,268 2,000 1,000 750 518 500 500 - - - 725 220	2024 Total £ - - 1,800 1,896 - 600 - - - 2,000 2,000 504 500 1,245
1,018	9,813	18,294	10,545
Income £ 102,995	Expenditure £ (90,037)	Transfers £ -	Balance at 31.03.2025 £ 46,709
-	(1,018)	-	58,551
102,995	(91,055)	-	105,260

Explanation of funds

The General fund represents all income and expenditure relating to the primary focus activities of the charity, other than those for which funding is restricted.

The Church Legacies fund represents legacy income which has been used to support some local organisations and will be used for other needs in the church.

7. Restricted funds Haldane Salary Fund Café Project Fund Building fund Forwarding fund Total restricted funds	Balance at 01.04.2024 £ 3,334 4,200 - 120 7,654	Income £ - - 2,500 9,813	Expenditure £ (3,334) - - (9,933)	Transfers £ - - - -	Balance at 31.03.2025 £ - 4,200 2,500 -
		12,313	(13,267)	-	6,700

Explanation of funds

The Haldane Salary fund represents a grant to facilitate Glenn Innes becoming the Future Church Lead for the Baptist Union of Scotland (BUS). The funding will be used to backfill Glenn's position at Portobello to allow him to give his time to developing the future church vision of the Baptist Union.

The Café Project Fund represents donations and expenditure in relation to cafe maintenance and improvements.

The Building fund represents grants, donations and expenditure in relation to building upgrades and improvements.

The Forwarding fund represents gifts received from church members for onward forwarding to various Christian organisations and ministries.

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