The Trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the Trust's Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Companies Act 2006 and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)".
Aims and purposes
ChristChurch Hailsham has continued its mission to reach Hailsham and the surrounding area through the proclamation and demonstration of the Christian faith. As a Church, we wholeheartedly embrace doctrines and beliefs historically held by evangelicals. We look to advance the Christian faith through evangelism, social action, education, relief of poverty and through ecumenical activities.
Public benefit
The Trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the Trust should undertake. The Trustees believe that the principle objects, aims and activities as described in this report provide adequate disclosure in accordance with the Charities Commission public benefit reporting requirements.
Church Life
It has been an exciting year at ChristChurch, we have seen an increased number of new people from differing backgrounds and cultures attending and getting involved in the mission we are engaged in. We see this as a positive thing, as it would appear on a casual observation that our church is more diverse statistically speaking than the town of Hailsham. It shows that ChristChurch is a safe welcoming place for all people.
It was great that as part of NewDay 2023 we were able to host the Bulgarian youth and forge deeper connections with the churches there, with Si and Anna following this up with a visit to the churches in Bulgaria in September.
ChristChurch discipleship programme is really getting some traction now with many of our regulars. The outcome of this is more of our people are becoming spiritually mature. It is also worth noting that many churches around the nation are increasingly recognising the need for discipleship within their churches, and we have had 3 churches in our hub ask about our discipleship model.
Global Café
Global Café opened its doors in April 2022 with a dedicated team of 5 qualified TEFL teachers every Thursday morning with a ‘café’ set up, welcoming people with free refreshments at 10:30 am and then providing structured lessons at 11am. The timing was divine as we opened just as the government initiated the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme, opening their doors to Ukrainian women and children fleeing the war, we saw an intake of up to 50 Ukrainians all needing English lessons as well as friendship and support with form filling etc. Whilst numbers of Ukrainians dropped in the Autumn of that year due to them getting jobs, a migrant centre opened up on 2 Dec 2022.
So, from then up until March 2024 we were able to continue to offer and help up to 40 men attend from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, among other countries. Through this connection we were able to run 2 international alpha courses and distribute many New Testaments in various languages to people who may otherwise never have access to the life changing teachings of the Bible. Also help the provide clothes and some basic supplies to the men staying.
Global café had established a name for itself amongst the council and many people of the town. We are often finding ourselves as first port of call for peopling moving to the town who need English Language lessons and a few times people have walked in on a Thursday morning telling us they heard about us from the council! The council are now even contacting us about people moving into places as far away as Crowborough to get our help in settling people into the Wealden area.
So whilst numbers have now heavily reduced on a Thursday morning, following the closure of the migrant centre, and the shape of what we do may have to change in 2024/25, we are still able to help people learn English and make friends in this area.
Children's work
Over the past year we have continued to run Sunday morning activities for children aged between 0-11. Themes have included, “down on the farm”, spies and the jungle and we have used these as means to explore the bible, find out about the character of God and discover how a relationship with God can transform their lives. The children have enjoyed bible stories, games, activities and discussions as part of this. Children in years 5 and 6 are also invited to an after school group where they can look at the bible in greater depth, enjoy games, take part in service activities such as litter picking, and develop closer relationships with their peers, something that really supports them during the tricky times of SATs and senior school transition. This year we have also included worship events for primary school aged children, where they can sing, pray and encounter God in an age appropriate way.
We continue to run holiday events, recently expanding to run two sessions in a morning to meet the growing demand. These involve up to 100 children and involve bible stories, craft, games, sports and puppets. The holiday events are mostly attended by families from the local community.
Little Gems and Baby Gems
The morning toddler group continues to be popular with usually around 50 families each week. Sessions involve craft, free-play, bible stories, singing and refreshments. It is a good place for parents and carers to develop friendships and support each other.
The baby group is growing and usually have between 10 and 20 parents and babies each week. Parents appreciate a quiet safe space for their nonmobile, crawling or just walking babies to play. Many new parents have told us how lonely they find this stage of parenthood and appreciate the support and friendship offered here.
Play Therapy
Play therapy sessions have taken place this year in a local school for one morning a week. Around 9-10 children have enjoyed taking part in the sessions and have made progress in their therapeutic goals.
Youth
It has been a busy year for the youth work at ChristChurch – lots of new faces and a few changes to the structure of how we’ve been running the weekly activities.
We ran a programme in the summer of 2023 which was a chance to bring in the new faces joining us in September. These activities included crazy golf and pudding on the beach and evening at Knock-hatch. Both events were well attended and breaks up the summer holidays a bit so we as a team get to stay in touch over the 6 weeks.
NewDay festival ran in August 2023 where we got to take a group of young people up to Norfolk showground for a week of camping, fellowship, worship, seminars and opportunities to disciple and mentor. We saw lots of first timers experience the worship sessions and seminars and we saw lots of encouraging break throughs and conversations come from this week together and new friendships develop amongst the group. We also held a youth-led service at the end of August where the youth ‘took over’ the Sunday morning service by taking lead on hosting, the worship band and serving in the teams around the church. This is a great chance for the church to see our youth at their best and serving the congregation.
Friday Night Youth returned in September with both familiar and new faces – what has been encouraging this year is how proactive the young people have been about bringing along their friends and introducing them to us as a team and church. It is a great space to build on relationships with all of the young people in a chilled environment. We have a ‘Spotlight’ session every Friday evening where for 5 minutes one of our leaders will speak to them as a collective group about being a Christian, who Jesus is, what impact He has had on us personally and accessible ways to understand the Bible.
We have also seen young people who originally started coming to Friday Nights now coming to our Sunday evening youth session which is a youth life group set-up where we discuss the Bible, look into relevant cultural topics, do creative worship evenings and socials too. It is here that we have seen so much growth and stepping out amongst the young people as well exploring spiritual gifts and building in their own confidence with their walk of faith.
The main addition to this year’s weekly routine has been Monday Evening Life Group for the older youth in years 10-13. It has been a great hit and has created a space for the older youth to spend time as a group discussing the big questions, diving in reading scripture in their own personal time and also encouraged them to lead the conversations during the evening.
Also throughout the year we held fundraising events including a car wash, a bingo night and a quiz, all ran and led by the young people.
Still running at HCC on a weekly basis is the C.U. during the lunchtimes with Samuel Canning – we have seen some new faces at the C.U. who have now started coming along to Friday Nights. The Youth Retreat ran in February 2024 which was a great few days – it was an amazing time to see young people step out and step up in what God is calling them into – we also really encourage and created space for the older youth to lead worship and seminars! We had the youth of King’s Church, Heathfield, join us again this year for Youth Retreat which was a great addition.
Overall, it was a brilliant 12 months and we look forward to changes and new faces next term.
Foodbank
The Church continues to be actively involved in the running of the Hailsham Foodbank with the provision of Trustee and practical support.
CMA
Over the past year, CMA has been able to expand the help we've provided. We've assisted on the completion of 4 DROs, meaning over £50,000 of debt has been written off for our clients. We've also been able to open 11 more client cases. As we've seen the improvement in our clients' financial skills, 4 case files have been closed, with 7 more ready for their final reviews. In June we appointed a new administrator who is now fully trained, meaning we now have 5 active debt advisors. The partnership with the Foodbank has been crucial for connecting with the public, as well as providing multi agency support. We have offered Foodbank parcels to all our active clients, as well as referrals to Citizen's Advice for support with benefits applications - both of which have been invaluable. As the network of Foodbank agencies expands, we hope to continue signposting from CMA to see our clients building stability and access financial freedom.
Keys
The Hailsham KEYS Project continues grow and provide the required support to those seeking freedom from addiction. Following the 3 KEY principles to freedom from addiction (Spiritual, Community and Medical), the Hailsham KEYS Centre continues to offer assisted detox support in conjunction with the individual’s GP, support to connect with a recovery community, the wider church community and support to pursue spiritual freedom through a Christian 12-step recovery program and prayer ministry. We provide all aspects of support to individuals including stabilisation, detox, relapse prevention, recovery groups, befriender support and access to dedicated prayer and spiritual ministry. In addition we are starting to work with a number of Christian Rehabilitation Centres to provide longer term addiction recovery support for individuals requiring it.
Building Project
The next phase of the building project, providing more facilities for youth work and those on the fringes of society as well as installing a required air handling system, commenced in August 2024 as referenced in note 22 of the accounts. Partly financed by an amazing Gift Day from church members of some £95,000 in March 2024. Further gifts of some almost £100,000 have been received after the year end allowing the work to commence.
Overseas
The Church is still actively involved in Bulgaria, South Sudan, Uganda, and the Horn of Africa with sister churches that we relate to as part of the Catalyst Network of Churches. Several members and leaders from the church regularly travel out to see the churches and the activities they are involved in, and bring teaching, words of encouragement, practical help and funding where appropriate.
Looking Ahead
The church will see changes to its Eldership Team and Staff Team next year, as Tom and his family move to Herrnhut in Germany in response to God’s call on their life, and Emmy gets married and moves to Swindon. We are excited to see what links are forged through the connection with Herrnhut going forward, and pray God’s blessing on Emmy as she enters married life. We are also praying that God provides us with an amazing new Youth Worker who can help shape the youth work further.
The church continues to want to develop ways to serve and bless the town and area with the love of God. Finally, as always, through biblical teaching and example set by the leaders, the church is hoping to encourage more people to follow Christ’s example and serve.
The Trustees report a deficit for the year on general fund operations of £1,212 after transfers. The unrestricted funds at 31 March 2024 amounted to £555,881.
Reserves policy
It is the policy of the Charity that unrestricted funds which have not been designated for a specific use should be maintained at a level equivalent to three months contractual expenditure calculated to be £40,000. The Trustees consider that reserves at this level will ensure that in the event of significant drop in funding they would be able to continue the Charity's activities whilst consideration was given to ways in which different funds may be raised.
Risk management
The Trustees have continued to assess the major risks to which the Charity is exposed and in particular safe guarding issues and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks.
The charity is a company limited by guarantee and governed by a Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 20 December 2006.
The Trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:
Trustees are appointed by the majority vote of members of the company in general meeting. Only candidates of sufficient spiritual maturity are appointed. Training and induction is applied as necessary.
The Trust is managed on a day to day basis by the church elders Mr S Fry, Mr R Williams, Mr T Simmons and Mr C Joyes together with support office and pastoral staff all who report to the Trustees who meet on a regular basis.
The Trustees, who are also the directors of Hailsham Frontiers Charitable Trust for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company Law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Trust and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year.
In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Trust will continue in operation.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Trust and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Trust and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
The Trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.
I report to the Trustees on my examination of the financial statements of Hailsham Frontiers Charitable Trust (the Trust) for the year ended 31 March 2024.
As the Trustees of the Trust (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (the 2006 Act).
Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the Trust are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act). In carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.
Since the Trust’s gross income exceeded £250,000 your examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the 2011 Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, which is one of the listed bodies.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
the financial statements do not accord with those records; or
the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year. All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
Hailsham Frontiers Charitable Trust is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Chantry House, 22 Upperton Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 1BF.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Trust's Memorandum and Articles of Association, the Companies Act 2006 and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)". The Trust is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The Trust has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities applying FRS 102 Update Bulletin 1 not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the Trust. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the Trustees have a reasonable expectation that the Trust has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the Trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives unless the funds have been designated for other purposes.
The charity maintains an unrestricted general fund to oversee the day to day operations of the church. Special projects being part of the core work of the church are separated out within the internal accounting records of the Trust.
Restricted funds are used for specific purposes as laid down by the donor. Expenditure which meets this criteria is charged to the fund.
Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the Trust has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.
Legacies are recognised on receipt or otherwise if the Trust has been notified of an impending distribution, the amount is known, and receipt is expected. If the amount is not known, the legacy is treated as a contingent asset.
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to transfer economic benefit to a third party, it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.
Expenditure is classified by activity. The costs of each activity are made up of the total of direct costs and shared costs, including support costs involved in undertaking each activity. Direct costs attributable to a single activity are allocated directly to that activity. Shared costs which contribute to more than one activity and support costs which are not attributable to a single activity are apportioned between those activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Central staff costs are allocated on the basis of time spent, and depreciation charges are allocated on the portion of the asset’s use.
Property, fixtures and equipment are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.
The initial conversion costs of the freehold building from a warehouse to a building suitable for church related activities were written off against reserves in 2014/15, as per the opinion of the trustees this did not enhance the value of the building.
Phase 2 construction work creating a mezzanine floor was capitalised to the Balance Sheet and added to the original cost of the property.
Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following basis:
The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset, and is recognised in the statement of financial activities.
With effect from 1 April 2020, only fixtures, fittings and equipment costing above £1,000 are capitalised.
At each reporting end date, the Trust reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.
The Trust has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.
Financial instruments are recognised in the Trust's balance sheet when the Trust becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.
Basic financial assets, which include trade and other receivables and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.
Basic financial liabilities, including trade and other payables and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.
Financial liabilities are derecognised when the Trust’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.
The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.
Termination benefits are recognised immediately as an expense when the Trust is demonstrably committed to terminate the employment of an employee or to provide termination benefits.
Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.
In the application of the Trust’s accounting policies, the Trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
Grants
Church activities
Gift Day allocation
Licenses and registrations
Training and ministry development
Rent of manse
Travelling expenses
Printing, postage and stationery
Mortgage interest
Grants and gifts
Gifts to speakers
Mrs E Reah, wife of Trustee Mr P Reah, was paid a salary of £17,310 (2023: £16,731) and pension contributions of £868 (2023: £836) during the year.
Professional fees of £2,856 (2023: £2,856) were paid to Caladine Ltd (a firm of which Mr J Caladine, Trustee, is a Director) for accounting and payroll services.
Salaries were paid of £21,815 (2023: £20,205) to C Joyes and £12,120 (2023: £11,563) to J Joyes being relatives of N Joyes, a Trustee.
Pension contributions were also paid of £1,070 (2023: £1,010) to C Joyes and £606 (2023: £578) to J Joyes.
Except as disclosed above, none of the Trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or benefits from the Trust during the year.
There were aggregate donations by the Trustees and their spouses of £43,150 (2023: £30,201) to the Trust during the year.
The average monthly number of full and part time employees during the year was:
The remuneration of key management personnel (including wages and employers social security and pension contributions) is as follows.
The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.
Notes
The HSBC bank loan of £350,000 commenced April 2013 repayable over twenty years at 3.75% over base rate per annum, secured by a legal charge over Unit G1 and G2, Ropemaker Park, Hailsham.
The Trust operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the Trust in an independently administered fund.
The restricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants held on trust subject to specific conditions by donors as to how they may be used.
Fund details
Global Cafe
A fund to help Global Cafe. Grants were received from Goodnews Evangelical Mission and Souter Trust to fund the running costs.
Youth Fund
A grant of £5,000 was received from Chalk Cliffe for running costs of youth work.
Little Gems
The fund is now restricted to encompass the direct expenses of the Little Gems children's work. A grant of £1,000 was received from the Groundworks for play therapy.
Gift Day
This represents money raised by the Church members and congregation on special appeal days designated for capital projects and smaller projects designated by the leaders. The sum of £10,000 was transferred to the General fund in the year from past gifts days for smaller projects.
Sabbatical
This fund represents money set aside to finance the sabbatical period of the church pastor in the summer of 2022. This has now closed.
CMA/Keys/Reflect
This fund incorporating Pregnancy Advice, relates to the funding of a debt advice centre and drug dependency advice. Grants were received from Hailsham Foodbank for a CMA Debt administrator.
Sojourners
A grant of £17,500 was received from Wealden Council for the support of refugees with an agreed costs of £4,500 for church costs.
Fellowship
A fund to provide grants to Church members in need.
The unrestricted funds of the charity comprise the unexpended balances of donations and grants which are not subject to specific conditions by donors and grantors as to how they may be used. These include designated funds which have been set aside out of unrestricted funds by the trustees for specific purposes.
The Church has a rolling 3 month notice on the manse lease for the pastor.
At the reporting end date the Trust had outstanding commitments for future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, which fall due as follows:
The Church have signed contracts in July 2024 for major property extension work to the mezzanine floor of some £230,000. In addition to the Gift Day fund balance of £128,292 further grants and donations of £104,260 have been received since 1 April 2024 to finance this.
In addition to the aggregate compensation in note 9, rent was paid for manse accommodation of £14,880 (2023: £14,880)