The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025.

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)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016)

The Trust was established to work with partners with partners in the area covered by the Church of England Deanery of Wigan (“Church Wigan”) to promote the welfare and wellbeing of local residents with a particular emphasis on tackling social exclusion.  This includes working with the Church of England and other partners to support the advancement of their objectives. 

The trustees have paid due regard to guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the Trust should undertake.

The Trustees agreed to amend the Objects of the Charity to reflect that work undertaken and supported by the Trust takes place in parts of Church Wigan within the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, as well as in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan. The change to the Articles of Association reflecting this was formally approved by Members in a Special Resolution on 26 March 2025.

During 2025, the Trust, continued to provide support services to Church Wigan. In addition to administrative support (which also covers finance, properties, HR, communications, safeguarding and policies) to free up local leaders to focus on mission and ministry. The support services team continued to support the Right Buildings Programme which was established to align the portfolio of buildings within Church Wigan to current needs. Support to Churchwardens enabled buildings across Church Wigan to achieve between 85% and 100% compliance with statutory requirements and best practice; when the Trust first took on this role compliance was below 50%.

Management of the co-ordinated deanery wide service providing Church of England funerals across Wigan and parts of St Helens continued and the number of Church of England funerals undertaken across the deanery continued to increase.

The Trust also provided support to Church Wigan’s PR and communications activity and organised a 4th “Working Together Conference” to develop the relationship between the parishes and the Trust.

The Next Generation project – administered by the Trust – continued to engage with young people through its work in schools and colleges in Wigan. Delivery was focused both on strengthening existing activity and creating new initiatives in schools and churches, as the Youth Mission Enablers worked to form a wider sense of community within schools and across worshipping communities within Church Wigan. The Year 7 Alpha Day held at The Way Church was a particular highlight.

The school counselling project offered to students at Byrchall High School and Deanery High School continued thanks to the generous support of individual and corporate donors as well as contributions from the schools themselves. The service is in great demand, with schools reporting high numbers of pupils accessing support from fully trained counsellors and significant impact on the lives of students and their families. The Trust continues to work hard to source funding to allow the service to continue to the end of the 2026 school year.

Fundraising continued during the year and to enable the Trust to work with Church Wigan to continue to deliver the social justice ministries – badged as “Lifted Ministries” – across Church Wigan. These included food pantries and debt counselling using the Christians Against Poverty (CAP) model.

The food pantry network continued to provide a much-needed service, and the eight pantries operating across Wigan by the year end had 3,328 members with an average of 529 customers using the pantries in any week. During the year, the pantries were able to benefit from a van leased to the Trust and paid for through a grant: this enables more efficient distribution of food across the pantries and to members.

The Trust was awarded grants of £193,150 during the year (in addition to the precept paid by parishes and the grants from the National Church). The Trustees would like to record their gratitude and thanks to all who generously supported the work of the Trust during 2025, both corporate and individual donors. Details of grants awarded are included in the Financial Review.

During 2025 Parishes continued to pay their grant to Wigan Deanery Trust directly rather than as a precept on the Parish Share paid to the Liverpool Diocesan Board of Finance. This enabled Parishes to prioritise payment of grants and as a result the Trust to receive funding direct. In addition, the Trust, through Wigan Deanery Joint Council was in receipt of the first tranche of a Church of England grant to enable the reduction in amounts paid by Parishes and necessary expansion of the Support Services team. The Trustees are grateful to the Parochial Church Councils and Wigan Deanery Joint Council for their ongoing support which provides greater certainty of funding and better job security for the Trust’s employees.

At the end of December, the Vice Chair, Andrew Thurston stood down as Vice Chair and Trustee. The board wishes to thank Andrew for his hard work and commitment to ensuring the ongoing success of the Trust.

Damien Chew was appointed as Trustee in December and will work in support of Trust strategy and finance.

The Trustees would like to thank the whole staff team who have worked very hard to ensure the Trust has had a successful year and delivered against its charitable objects for the benefit of the people of Wigan and surrounding areas.

The Trustees remain confident that the business model remains sound and will form the basis on which to realise opportunities to consolidate and grow the Trust’s activities during the coming years.

Income for the year totalled £570,646 with the principal source of income being grant funding from the Deanery Share paid by Parishes comprising the Church of England’s Wigan Deanery of £130,802. The "Missing Generation" project - a key part of Wigan's youth ministry funded through the Church of England's Strategic Development Fund - contributed grant funding of £116,749. The Church of England’s Diocesan Investment Programme (DIP) contributed £130,382. The trust also earned £10,665 from organising funerals on behalf of Church Wigan. There were additional contributions totalling £182,048 from donors to support the Food Ministry, the Brighter School of Discipleship (BSD) and School Counselling. The Trustees wish to thank donors and partners for their generous support of the Trust’s activities.

Expenditure during the period totalled £461,455 of which £323,127 related to staff costs for the Support Services and “Missing Generation” Teams, including the two School Counsellors. Payments of £79,130 were made to support the Food Ministry, and the balance of expenditure was used for running costs.

Total Reserves at 31 December 2025 stood at £285,392.

It is the policy of the Trust that unrestricted funds which have not been designated for a specific use should be maintained at a level equivalent to one month's expenditure. The trustees considers that reserves at this level will ensure that, in the event of a significant drop in funding, they will be able to continue the Trust’s current activities while consideration is given to ways in which additional funds may be raised. This level of reserves has been maintained throughout the year.

The Trust considers it has sufficient reserves at the year end to operate as a going concern in the subsequent year.

The trustees have assessed the major risks to which the Trust is exposed, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks. The Trustees consider that the major risk is the availability of sufficient funding, including grant funding, to provide the Trust's working capital to enable it to operate as a going concern.

The Trust is a company limited by guarantee which was incorporated on 10 April 2019 and began activities on 8 August 2019.

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 were appointed to serve a three year term by the Wigan Joint Council (the legal personality of the Benefice of Wigan), in line with the Trust’s constitution. Trustees can be reappointed for a further two terms in line with Charity Commission guidelines. All Trustees were selected to provide a mix of skills and experience appropriate to the Trust's objectives.

None of the trustees has any beneficial interest in the company.

The Trustees have appointed a Support Services Team to run the Trust's operations under the direction of a Support Services Manager who reports to the Board of Trustees. Lesley Hughes as Chair of Trustees exercised oversight of the management of the Support Services Manager, Kirsty Pennington. Andrew Thurston acted as Company Secretary until December 2025.

New trustees received initial induction in line with Charity Commission guidance and ongoing training will be provided in response to identified needs.

The trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.

I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of Wigan Deanery Trust (the Trust) for the year ended 31 December 2025.

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.

The charity's gross income exceeded £250,000 and I am qualified to undertake the examination by being a qualified member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.true

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 Companies Act 2006.

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 Companies Act 2006 other than any requirement that the financial statements 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 financial statements 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.

The company is entitled to the exemption from the audit requirement contained in section 477 of the Companies Act 2006, for the year ended 31 December 2025.

The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 with respect to accounting records and the preparation of financial statements.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit of its financial statements for the year in question in accordance with section 476.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

Wigan Deanery Trust is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Wigan Investment Centre, Waterside Drive, Wigan, WN3 5BA.

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)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016). The Trust is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.true

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, modified to include certain financial instruments at fair value. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.

At the time of approving the financial statements, the truetrustees 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.

Grants are recognised when the Trust is legally entitled to it after any performance conditions have been met, the amounts can be measured reliably, and it is probable that income will be received. The grants are allocated according to the purpose for which they have been given.

Trading income, which mainly relates to fees received from organising funerals, is recognised when the service is completed.

Resources expended are recognised in the period in which they are incurred. Resources expended include attributable VAT, which cannot be recovered.                        

Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.

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 bases:

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.

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 debtors 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 creditors 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.

Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.

Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

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 receivable (detailed below)

Travel expenses

Insurance

Printing, postage and stationery

Telephone and broadband

Food provision

IT and computer software

Utilities

Bank charges

Examination costs

Other costs

Website/publicity costs

Training costs

Rent and rates

Repairs and maintenance

Mrs C Cook, wife of Revd Canon Neil Cook, a trustee, received remuneration of £19,786 and pension contributions of £406.

No other of the trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration or benefits from the Trust during the year.

The average monthly number of employees during the year was:

The charity is exempt from taxation on its activities because all its income is applied for charitable purposes.

The Trust received the loan of £25,000 from the Liverpool Diocesan Board of Finance to help with its initial working capital requirement. The loan is interest free with no set terms for repayment

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.

The SDF4 fund relates to grants received to support Church Wigan's youth ministry

The Food provision/Lifted supports the foodbanks and other social justice ministries run by Church Wigan

The school counsellor provides counselling services for the young people of Wigan

The chaplaincy funds the Marsh Green chaplains

The fund raising costs support the costs of a fund raiser

The DIP youth funding is to be used for reaching children and young people and help them thrive

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.

As part of the funeral service, the Trust acted as agent and collected and passed on Parochial Fees and paid vergers, organists and sextons who provide services at funerals. The amount passed on in 2025 was £266,551 (2024: £260,899).