LIVERPOOL INTERNATIONAL NORDIC COMMUNITY COMPANY

Company Number 8351592

Charity Number       1152041

TRUSTEES' ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021

Achievements and performance

This year’s performance has been hugely different due to the Covid Pandemic. LiNC Charity Company remains in a good financial position, whilst there have been no activities taking place. The policy decisions on significant Financial Contingency levels taken by the LINC Board several years ago have been fully justified by this severe Covid outbreak. 

Although the building was closed and deserted all year, the lockdown enabled much work to be carried out by the company officers from home.

This year has been mainly devoted to all the regulation testing of equipment and general maintenance of the building. significant time was also devoted to the design and preparation for a major Health and Safety refurbishment of the kitchen which is used for the cafeteria operations. 

Work was also devoted to the Covid safety preparations for when a limited opening of the church might be possible. All work was carried out under Covid safe rules by contractors working under their own Covid Safety Rules 

Electrical Work

The standard Fire Alarm and Emergency Light testing and PAT testing was carried out as required by law for a public building. The electrical testing revealed that the four central heating convector heaters were no longer serviceable and have been replaced at a cost of £9880.  

Gutter Cleaning  

This work cost us £3888 for our complicated roof sections.

Boiler Servicing

The two boilers had the regulation testing carried out. A pressure switch failure and replacement cost totalled £1020 expenditure.

Lift Project

The grant application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund was rejected last year, on the basis that there were insufficient management costs and we needed to extend the future activities to be able to justify the grant. Furthermore, the submission included a heavy load for volunteers on development work for projects to make the future activities attractive to the general public and local schools. The Board made the decision to put the lift project on a temporary stop, with the possibility of seeking other funding.

Kitchen

It was determined that the kitchen needed a Health and Safety refurbishment. The board decided to investigate the costs of a complete upgrade of the kitchen and costs established. The decision was that it could go ahead, and electrical and plumbing preparation work was carried out. The main work was carried out just after this financial year concluded. Preparation work costs were £2690, and we also paid out for new equipment costing £1295.  

Covid 19  

The board took the decision at their meeting on 10/03/2020 that the building should be closed with immediate effect. This meant that we received significantly reduced income from this time, but we were supported by annual membership payments of £3861, and income from our car park, although somewhat a reduced, of £7326. We did have a VAT repayment of £4636 from the DCMS scheme partly from the previous year and also the current year expenditure. Further to this income we did organise a Christmas Gift appeal which raised £1244.

LiNC Operations trading Company

This part of the company which runs all the catering activities, and the Bed and Breakfast had no activity at all and thus no Income or Expenditure.

Normal Activities

None of the normal activities were carried out 

Usually social, religious, and cultural activities (Religious services / Coffee mornings / Bazaars / Lucia and Lucia in the Anglican Cathedral / Language classes / Film Nights / Handicraft team / Concerts / LiNC meetings / English Heritage open days.

There are currently 115 members of the LiNC Company.

Projects

We are continuing to monitor the condition of the high levels of the church walls and the condition of the leaded lights in the church. We have had an exterior survey carried out using drones to take camera and laser photography definition of the outside of the building. The sum allocated for this initial work of £10,000 remains the same as last year for the immediate investigation work and potential initial repairs required for the upper level of the church and the leaded lights. This will probably need to be the subject of seeking some form of grant funding.  

Financial review and 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 at least one year’s expenditure. The trustees consider that reserves at this level or higher will ensure that, in the event of a significant drop in funding, they will be able to continue the charity’s current activities while consideration is given to ways in which additional funds may be raised. 

This has proved to be an invaluable decision to carry such a high level in the light of the experience caused by the Covid Pandemic.

Thus, this year, the annual costs on the running of the building and activities was an annual deficit of £15882.

Signed   LINC Chairman

  Roger Metcalf

GUSTAF ADOLF NORDIC CONGREGTION CHARITY

Charity Number  7034654

 

TRUSTEES' ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

Thanks to Pastor Maris (ourpastorin charge) and his ability and willingness to operate "Zoom" we have been able to have a service every Sunday,with a small but loyal and stabel congrebation. We use the Swedish "massa" and persevere with hymn-singing, though on a limited scale/ On tuesdays we jhave our "virtual coffe morning", againwith a regular group of attendees;and we recently started a prayer group on Wednesdays, so there is quite a lot of activity despite everything.

Our paying members, about 35 in number. have continued to pay their membership fees,even though many of themrarely put in an appearance, even in normal times.

We are in "L1" and all our local churches have joined together to produce a leaflet showing details of all our church services. It has been printed and we are going to distribite it to all addresses in L1 as soon as possible - ecumenism in practice. There are five churches involved so the cost will be kept to a minimum.

Apart from this, we have, perhaps not surprisinglyhad little contact with other,although we did have the plasure of Meelis (another Latvian) preaching at one of our Sunday Services, and we were pleased to acceptan invitation from the German church in Liverpool to join them (via Zoom of course) for Refornation Sunday.This year, the LCiGB celebrates it's 60th anniversary and it falls on Reformation Sunday, so we'll have to see what happens.

We are fortunate to have the continued support of our charity LiNC;it looks afterthe building,pays the bills and at this very momentis paying for the refurbisshment of the kitchen.

Thanks, as ever, to the members of the church council, especially Harriet for keeping our finances up to date, and Helen for continuing to shoulder the secretarial burden.

It has been a strange chapter in the history of the church; I wonderhow we will view it in the years to come 

Signed  GANC Chairman

             Stan Royden