ANNUAL REPORT TO THE FRIENDS OF HOLY INNOCENTS CHURCH, LAMARSH FOR THE YEAR 2015
Registered Charity No 1088711
2015 will be a year to remember for the wrong reasons! As is usual on Christmas Day there were many people in church and because it was cold the electric heating in the pews was turned on. Unfortunately the heat from the congregation and the heaters meant that the temperature at the ceiling height was too great for the old plaster and the following day a large section came crashing down. Fortunately the church was empty. The ceiling was inspected by the church architect who advised that the gap between the battens was too small and any repairs must take this into account. He also suggested the rest of the ceiling should be inspected when the scaffolding was in place. I referred to this in last year's report.
On inspection it was obvious that a further large section of plaster was in danger of falling onto the main pews. However Chris Starns managed to repair the first damage but his assessment of the ceiling resulted in the church having to be closed, apart from any services that could be held in the choir stalls. The application of old lime plaster is a specialist job and the Trustees of the Friends had entrusted this work to Chris Starns who has won awards for his plasterwork. No sooner than we had asked him to do the work his wife became seriously ill which resulted in the work having to be delayed until the Autumn. However the ceiling and other plasterwork has been repaired and the church is now back in full use. The cost of these works was £8,112
When Chris Starns was inspecting the ceiling plasterwork I asked him to give a report and quotation to repair the plasterwork on the tower, which I knew was in a bad state, due to the use of the wrong mix of plaster used for earlier repairs. His report was disturbing and the bottom line is that we need to raise £18,000 to meet the cost of repairs. Although I have moved from Lamarsh I offered to try to raise these funds. However my involvement with moving house and major building works has not allowed me the time I need to concentrate on this fundraising. I have raised £5,000 in cash or pledges and in 2016 I will set about raising the rest. Some Charities will only give to bona fide charities and this shows the importance of the Friends. I doubt the PCC would be able to do this because it is not a Registered Charity.
Apart from the ceiling repairs we were extremely fortunate to receive a donation from a company connected to someone in the village who wanted to make the church accessible to people in wheel chairs. The donation after VAT recovery will have covered the cost of the works. Unfortunately due to the delay of the other repair work I have yet to embark upon recovering the VAT on all the work last year.
At last years AGM we had to re-elect all Trustees as the replacements to those retiring had pulled out. No new names have been suggested and three of the Trustees, namely David Anderson, Gay Foord, and myself wish to hand over to others .In the meantime we will all continue in order to keep the Friends alive. Whilst I will do my best to find replacements I no longer live in the village and this makes it difficult. There must be people in Lamarsh who care about their church and they must step forward, as if no-one does so, then the Friends will have to be wound up. Hopefully this wake-up call will do the trick.
David Anderson has persuaded David Batten, his accountant, to sign off the accounts but we desperately need someone local to Lamarsh to do this in future.
Mark Dawson. Treasurer. 5th February 2016
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SUMMARY OF THE ANNUAL ACCOUNTS TO 31.12.2015
Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended 31.12.2015
2015 2014 Income received £11,604.16 £3,921.22 Less: Expenditure £14,340.18 £4,169.43 (Deficit) Surplus for the year (£2,376.02) (£248.21) Balance b/f 01.01.2015 £11,546.38 £11,794.59 Balance c/f 31.12.2015 £8,810.36 £11,546.38 Balance Sheet at 31.12.2015 Current Asset Balance at bank £8,810.36 £11,546.38 Less creditors Nil Nil Net assets £8,810.36 £11,546.38 General Reserves Balance b/f £11,546.38 £11,794.59 (Deficit) Surplus for year (£2,736.02) (£248.21) £8,810.36 £11,546.38 Independent examiners report to the trustees of The Friends of Holy Innocents Church, Lamarsh
I report on the accounts of the Trust for the year ended 31st December 2015, which are as set out above
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed.It is my responsibility to:
Examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act
To follow the procedures laid down in the general directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act, and
To state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent examiners report
My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission. 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 seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a "true and fair view" and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
Independent examiners statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:
To keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; and
To prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act
have not been met; or
(2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.David Batten FCCA, ACIS
46 St Lawrence Road, Upminster.RM14 2UW5th February 2016
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The stated objectives of The Friends are, “by contribution, to maintain, repair, restore, improve and reconstruct the fabric of Holy Innocents Church, Lamarsh, including its monuments, fixtures, fittings, furniture, stained glass, ornaments, other chattels and its churchyard, for the benefit of the public. The Trustees are empowered to distribute any excess funds, which in their opinion are surplus to requirements, for the relief of financial hardship, or the relief of sickness and the preservation of health among people residing permanently in Lamarsh”
The Trustees are:
David Anderson
Gay Foord
Mark Dawson – Treasurer
Andrew Marsden - Churchwarden Trustee
Rory O’Brien
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