EDINBURGH BARCLAY VIEWFORTH CHURCH OF SCOTLAND Accrued (SORP Compliant) Accounts for Year Ending 31 December 2020 Congregation No: 010010 Scottish Charity No: SC014757 CONTENTS Page No. 3 – 8 Trustees’ Annual Report 9 Report of the Independent Examiner 10 Statement of Financial Activities 11 Balance Sheet 12 – 13 Accounting Policies 14 – 21 Notes to Accounts 22 Appendix 2 Edinburgh Barclay Viewforth Church of Scotland Trustees’ Report Year ended 31 December 2020 The trustees present their annual report and financial statements of the charity for the year end- ed 31 December 2020. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in the accounts and comply with the General Assembly Regulations for Congregational Finance, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their ac- counts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102) (effective 1 January 2019) - Charities SORP (FRS 102). Objectives and Activities . The congregation's objectives are summed up in our mission statement …making known God's love in Jesus Christ…, which we work towards through ministry and mission. At the beginning of 2020 we were looking forward to welcoming our new minister , moving from Prestwick, following a unanimous election after he preached as sole nominee on 23 February. Then the COVID lockdown was imposed, and this had a huge impact on the life of the congregation, as it has had on the lives of members and the community of which we are part. Sunday services are a key method of developing a greater and deeper understanding of God’s love and encouraging spiritual growth. We were able to continue this part of our church life on- line. The ministry team, and a number of congregational members with IT expertise, worked to provide a weekly recorded internet morning service. Various platforms were tried before settling with Church Online, which allows interactive chat during the service and private prayer rooms. Catch up is available on our YouTube channel and, for those without online access, a phone version of the services, using Twilio, is provided. In the late summer, when physical gatherings were again permitted, we continued the recorded morning service but with ‘in person’ worship on Sunday afternoons. The timing and format of that did not prove popular, but when we moved to a live online broadcast of an in-person 11 am service that was well received - both in numbers in the Sanctuary and watching online. We were able to continue this through to our Christmas Day service, shortly after which restrictions meant we moved back to worshipping online only. As a congregation with many families and children, maintaining contact with youngsters and parents during lockdown was a priority. An early morning online service, aimed at this group, was launched and led by our Children and Families Development Worker, , and involving the Sunday Club Leaders. There were also kids’ Zoom meetings and online crafts and activity resources available. Zoom was also used for a weekly Sunday evening Prayer meeting led by , our Pastoral Associate. Pastoral care continued, working under distancing guidelines, and the Pastoral Assistants pro- vided vital, and much-welcomed, practical support and contact for those housebound and feel- ing the isolation of lockdown. 3 Edinburgh Barclay Viewforth Church of Scotland Trustees’ Report (cont.) Year ended 31 December 2020 Objectives and Activities (cont.) Many of our Missional Communities (MCs) and groups were able to adapt to an online presence - our Creative MC met for ‘virtual’ Craft and Chatter, producing knitted rainbows, poppies and Christmas angels for the church railings. Connect Plus was able to continue to serve those with special needs by meeting online, and the Afternoon Fellowship Group and weekly Bible Study, as well as Housegroups, discovered the benefits of Zoom. The Tollcross Community Pastors (TCP) MC was able to maintain contact with local shopkeepers and provide support through a very diffi- cult time for the business community. Achievements and Performance The most significant success this year has been our ability to continue to offer worship and a broad range of activities online, serving all ages. Numbers at Sunday worship have been encour- aging, with 150 households typically joining the 11am service, between Church Online and You- Tube, considerably more than would have been present in the Sanctuary previously. We know that we have been joined by viewers from around the UK and overseas, and one aspect of this is the anonymity allowed in online worship. The Church Online platform offers a chance to interact with these new worshippers and in early 2021 we will run an online Alpha Course, offering anoth- er way for them to engage with faith. A longer term project has been to revamp lighting in the Church Sanctuary, and the purchase of equipment this year to allow live-streaming will be integrated with items being purchased later as part of that project. After an online induction in April of our new Minister, he was finally able to move into the Manse with his wife Linda at the end of July. We have yet to be able to properly welcome and and, indeed, to thank and , for their work as Interim Moder- ator and Locum respectively, in the way we would like. With arrival we have been able to move some key issues forward, in particular embarking on a project called ‘Growing Young’. Over the next year this will involve us working alongside more that 40 other Scottish congregations and US-based Fuller Youth Institute, looking at how we become more effective engaging with teens and those in their 20s. We were able to ordain seven new elders in December in a service in the Sanctuary, and we have begun discussions with three other local parishes to develop a strategy for the Presbytery Plan, dealing with effective collaboration as church in mission and ministry to our area. A particular strength and achievement has been how many people have been involved in the work allowing Barclay Viewforth to operate effectively during the pandemic; those coordinating all the fabric work to ready the Manse for our new minister, the expertise generously provided allow- ing us to deliver IT requirements, the team coordinating COVID-safe arrangements and cleaning in church and halls, the Treasurer contacting those who previously gave by physical ‘offering en- velopes’, the Ministry Team learning new skills, and those who have taken part in time-limited projects like the early-lockdown ‘Thought for the Day’ and the elders’ online ‘Advent Calendar’. Finally, and by no means least, we have to thank those who have looked out for other members with calls, e-mails, cards and support and contact in many, many other ways. Taking forward these projects, and bringing our learning and strengths into the post-COVID world, is a key challenge for the next year. 4 Edinburgh Barclay Viewforth Church of Scotland Trustees’ Report (cont.) Year ended 31 December 2020 Financial Review The principal source of income was Voluntary Income of which offerings and the associated Gift Aid formed the major part. Encouragingly there was only a 3.5% decrease in General Fund of- ferings compared with 2019 despite the Covid-19 Pandemic meaning we were not able to meet physically for worship for much of the year. The decrease was almost entirely due to there being no open offerings after 15 March 2020, the last Sunday on which there was a normal church service. Gift Aided offerings increased by 3.1% which was due to a number of contributors in- creasing their giving as well as there being a few new regular contributors. Standing orders and giving by GAYE accounted for 91% of the offerings. Gift aided offerings and those given through GAYE and charity organisations totalled 95% of all offerings.There was a 10.8% increase in the Annual Thank Offering compared with 2019. Through online giving £148.38 was received. The halls, for a substantial part of 2020, were unoccupied due to the Covid-19 restrictions and there was a resultant 57% decrease in income from use of premises. During the year £10,000 was transferred to the General Fund from the Reserve/Development Fund. An unrestricted bequest of £20,000 was received from the estate of the late Miss May Smith. Due to the building being closed for eight months of the year, there was reduced expenditure in a number of areas, but it did not match the drop in income and the resultant deficit in the Gen- eral Fund based on normal sources of income was £46,200. During the year there were significant calls made on the Fabric Fund which were £18,768.00 for work required following the Quinquennial report and £31,254 required to refurbish the Manse for our new minister. A repair costing £6,840 was made to the organ which was paid for from the Organ Fund. All of our employees were able to continue working during 2020. Support from the government Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was not required. Investment Policy and Performance The primary purpose of the investments is to provide income to the various funds and, apart from the General fund, is the principal or only source of regular income. The investment income of the Restricted Funds resource the charitable purposes of these funds as described in Note 15. The principal use of the Reserve/Development fund is to provide income for the continued employment of two part-time members of staff, the Pastoral Associate and the Children and Family Development Worker and 84% of this income was used in this way in 2020.