Author Archives: Helen Metcalf

GANC report April 2023

AGM MAY 2023: CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Things have been returning to normal, slowly but surely, but they will never be quite the same again. Our membership is fairly steady, but attendance at Sunday services has not recovered yet Our finances , too, have taken a hit and we have had to dip into them. However, We have managed to celebrate the “important” occasions, so a few thankyous are in order: to Cinna for organizing the Lucia choir, to Ulfar for holding the fort on Christmas Eve, to Ulfar and Susan for taking care of the altar flowers, to Phil for always being there when we needed an organist, to Ole and Vernissa for looking after the church, to Katrine and Joan for their input on the church council, to LiNC and everyone who supports us, and to Pastor Maris for not letting strikes, sickness or anything else prevent him from coming twice a month to take communion services.
On 6th November the German church congregation joined us for a joint Reformation Sunday service; we were heavily outnumbered, even though we were hosting.
Shortly before Christmas we lost Karen Ramsden, one of our Norwegian community. Our condolences to David and all Karen’s family and friends.
On a more positive note, Maris confirmed a brother and sister from the Faroes; their grandfather read the lesson – in Faroese, of course. If you know of anyone who would like to be confirmed, please let Maris (or me) know.
Harriet and I went to London on 22nd April for the LCiGB synod. It was a long, but eventful session, the most important item being the election of a new bishop, as Bishop Tor was retiring. After one (or was it two?) unsuccessful attempts, Rev. Dr. Jaakko Rusama was elected. He is an interesting character: when he is not lecturing at the university of Helsinki, he referees football matches. He has preached in our church and is fluent in English and Swedish, as well as Finnish. We look forward to welcoming him to “Gustaf Adolf” again before too long. I would like to make it known that Harriet has been helping LCiGB with their accounts for several years, and was warmly thanked for all her work.
In order to fit in with Pastor Maris’s schedule, we have changed the pattern of our Sunday services as follows:
First and third Sundays holy communion with Maris
Second and fifth Sundays no services
Fourth Sunday morning prayer
There will be times when this pattern will not be followed (Easter Sunday was an example), so if you are planning to come to a service, do check the website or phone me first.
I can’t finish without thanking Helen for all her secretarial work, and Harriet for looking after our finances. What would we do without them?

Stan Royden
Liverpool. April/May 2023

Subscription form for Gustaf Adolf Congregation

PLEASE PRINT OUT AND SEND WITH A CHECK TO 138 Park Lane, Liverpool L1 8HG

2020  Subscription form for membership of the 

Gustaf Adolf Nordic Congregation Company 

at Gustaf Adolf Church, Liverpool

 Company registration in England and Wales 7034654

As a member you have the right to vote at the congregation’s AGM and elect the church council members/directors. This board decides on the activities and expenditures of the parish.

It has been decided that we should recommend a congregational membership fee of £25 per annum for each individual and you must be over 18 years of age. We are aware that you might not be able to pay as much but we do appreciate whatever you can contribute to the congregation.

1st person in the household  —-Capitals, please: 

I ………………………………………………………………….. wish to make a donation of £………..for 12 months.

OR:  I wish to make  a standing order for  £…………/  month/year. Please contact Harriet Busby for this.      I wish to be a member……   or a sponsor…….. (tick appropriately)

Signature: ………………………………………………………………………………………….Date…………………..

Address…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Phone…………………………….Email…………………………………………………………………………………………

IMPORTANT!    By giving us your email address you agree that we can contact you in this way.

2nd person in the household:  —-Capitals, please:

I  ……………………………………………………………………wish to make a donation of £…………..for 12 month.

OR: I wish to make a standing order for £…………/  month/year. Please contact Harriet Busby for this.

I wish to be a member……   or a sponsor…….. (tick appropriately)

 Signature: ……………………………………………………………………………………………..Date………………….

Address…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Phone…………………………….Email…………………………………………………………………………………………

IMPORTANT!  By giving us your email address you agree that we will contact you in this way.

Make cheques payable to Gustaf Adolf Nordic Congregation.     Send this form to 138 Park Lane, Liverpool, L1 8HG.  I am/we are willing to volunteer and can help in these areas:

 _______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Charity Gift Aid Declaration – In order to Gift Aid your donation you must tick the circle below:

 Ο    I want to Gift Aid my donation of £________and any donations I make in the future or have made in the past 4 years, to Gustaf Adolf Nordic Congregation Company.  I am a UK taxpayer and understand that if I pay less Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all my donations in that tax year it is my responsibility to pay any difference.

Title ______ First name or initial(s) ______________ Surname ________________________________________

Full Home address _________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________ Postcode ______________ Date_____________

Please notify the charity if you want to cancel this declaration; change your name or home address;  no longer pay sufficient tax on your income and/or capital gains. If you pay Income Tax at the higher or additional rate and want to receive the additional tax relief due to you, you must include all your Gift Aid donations on your Self-Assessment tax return or ask HM Revenue and Customs to adjust your tax code.

 

Our statement about Ukraine and Russia

After the outbreak of the invasion of Ukraine we had a collect from Coffee Morning participants in aid of Ukraine to which also LINC contributed.
We have also taken a stance by cancellation of a concert:
We had a booking for Maruk Jarij at the St Petersburg Choir to take place on Friday the 29 October, but due to the Russian violations in Ukraine the board has taken a decision that this event is unsuitable in the circumstances and has cancelled the event, even though this choir has performed with us before and was very well received.

Norwegian Language Classes

The Norwegian language group meets via Zoom on Thursdays from 6:30 pm for about one hour.

The group intends to meet at the church one Thursday a month; this will be decided when things get back to normal.

Anyone with some knowledge of Norwegian (however slight) is welcome to join.

Complete beginners are advised to contact the group for suggestions as to teaching materials, of which there are many.

Swedish Language Lessons

The Swedish learners’ conversation group meets each Thursday evening at seven
o’clock, on-line during the pandemic but in the church during normal times.

New members who can already speak some Swedish are welcome to join us.

For others who wish to start learning the language we can recommend effective
self-teaching materials, and when numbers are sufficient we can help beginners
to form a new mutual support group at the church – or on-line if the pandemic
continues.
Contact m.farnworth@btinternet.com for more information

Our Data Protection Policy

Addition for the website: If you post us a comment on this website, we will delete the comment and our answer after one month to comply with our data protection rules.

LiNC COMPANY DATA PRIVACY RULES NOTICE
16/05/2018
Liverpool International Nordic Community Charity Company (LiNC)
This document is also applicable to the Gustaf Adolf Nordic Congregation Company (GANC)

1. Your personal data – what is it?
Personal data relates to a living individual who can be identified from that data. Identification can be by the infor-mation alone or in conjunction with any other information in the data controller’s possession or likely to come into such possession. The processing of personal data is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”).
2. Who are we?
The LiNC Company is the Charity that runs the Gustaf Adolf Church Building and Activities in the building. The LiNC Company is the data controller (contact details below). This means it decides how your personal data is processed and for what purposes. The data is only stored on two personal computers belonging to the Data Users – the LiNC Company Secretary and the LiNC Company Treasurer. Data is being transmitted between the users by personal email accounts. LiNC and GANC keep separate files of personal data of their members.
If there is any data breach on these computers, the Information Commissioners office will be informed within 24 hours. Also, you will also be informed of this occurrence within 72 hours.
3. How do we process your personal data?
The LiNC Company complies with its obligations under the “GDPR” by keeping personal data up to date; by storing and destroying it securely; by not collecting or retaining excessive amounts of data; by protecting personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access and disclosure and by ensuring that appropriate measures are in place to protect personal data.
We use your personal data for the following purposes: –
• To enable us to provide a voluntary service for the benefit of the public as specified in our constitution;
• To administer membership records;
• To fundraise and promote the interests of the charity;
• To manage our volunteers;
• To maintain our own accounts and records (including the processing of gift aid applications);
• To inform you of news, events, activities and services being run by LiNC.
• LiNC will NOT disclose any personal data to any other body or organisation, unless required to do so, by law.
• If the above is required, you will be informed that the data has been requested and why.
4. What is the legal basis for processing your personal data?
• Explicit consent of the data subject so that we can keep you informed about news, events, activities and ser-vices and process your gift aid donations and keep you informed about our events.
• Processing is necessary for carrying out obligations under company law.
• Processing is carried out by our not-for-profit body with a cultural, philosophical, or religious aim provided: –
o the processing relates only to members or former members (or those who have regular contact with it in connection with those purposes); and
o there is no disclosure to a third party without consent.
5. Sharing your personal data
Your personal data will be treated as strictly confidential and will only be shared with other members of LiNC or GANC to carry out a service with other members or for purposes connected with the activities.
We will not share your data with third parties outside of the charity without your consent.
6. How long do we keep your personal data?
We keep data in accordance with the guidance set out in the GDPR guide
Specifically, we retain gift aid declarations and associated paperwork for up to 6 years after the calendar year to which they relate. The GANC company will keep parish registers (baptisms, marriages) permanently.
Your personal record data will be kept on file for 15 months following the year that you last payed for membership. This is because you may just have forgotten that the membership is due, and you make your member-ship payment late.
Any e-mails you have sent to the company will be deleted at the same time.
Company Directors’ e-mails will be kept for 8 years, because they may relate to important decisions taken by the Boards regarding the running of the Companies.
If you are NOT a member of LiNC or GANC but have given us your contact details like email addresses or postal ad-dresses in order to be informed about activities, we need to have your full details and your agreement in order to comply with the new regulations.
If you ask a question on our website, we will reply as soon as possible and then delete your post after 14 days. There is no need to supply any personal details.
7. Your rights and your personal data
Unless subject to an exemption under the GDPR, you have the following rights with respect to your personal data: –
• The right to request a copy of your personal data which LiNC holds about you;
• The right to request that LiNC corrects any personal data if it is found to be inaccurate or out of date;
• The right to request your personal data is erased where it is no longer necessary for the LiNC Company to retain such data;
• The right to withdraw your consent to the processing at any time
• The right to request that the data controller provide the data subject with his/her personal data and if re-quired, to transmit that data directly to another data controller, (known as the right to data portability, where applicable)
• The right, where there is a dispute in relation to the accuracy or processing of your personal data, to re-quest a restriction is placed on further processing;
• The right to object to the processing of personal data
• The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office.
8. Further processing
If we wish to use your personal data for a new purpose, not covered by this Data Protection Notice, then we will provide you with a new notice explaining this new use prior to commencing the processing and setting out the relevant purposes and processing conditions. Where and whenever necessary, we will seek your prior consent to the new processing.
9. Contact Details
To exercise all relevant rights, queries of complaints please in the first instance contact us by sending an email to linc_gakyrka@yahoo.co.uk or letter to our company address below.
Liverpool international Nordic Community Charity Limited
Registered Company Number 8351592 Registered Charity Number 1152041
Gustaf Adolf Nordic Congregation Limited
Registered Company Number 7034654 Registered Offices Gustaf Adolfs Kyrka, 138 Park Lane, Liverpool, L1 8HG

You can contact the Information Commissioners Office on 0303 123 1113 or via email https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/email/ or at the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire. SK9 5AF.

LiNC Chairman’s Report Nov 2023

LIVERPOOL INTERNATIONAL NORDIC COMMUNITY COMPANY
LIVERPOOL INTERNATIONAL NORDIC COMMUNITY COMPANY 8351592
TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 31 MARCH 2023
Achievements
The LINC Charity Company has shown a remarked improvement since last year’s performance. The previous year was following on from the pandemic and only reflected a gradual performance. However, this last year has ben a significant improvement. Income was almost up to pre-pandemic level, and expenditure was significantly less than previously. This was following a board decision to minimise expenditure during the past year.
LiNC Charity Company remains in a good financial position. The policy decisions on significant Financial Contingency levels taken by the LINC Board several years ago continues to be a significant help in our financial situation.
Electrical Work
The standard Fire Alarm and Emergency Light testing were carried out as required by law for a public building.

Boiler Servicing
The two boilers had the regulation testing carried out. There will be some expenditure requirement in the new financial year.

Building
Previously, the Board made the decision to have a complete survey carried out of the whole building. The survey was to include the status of the complete external building, the internal building, the leaded lights and the spire. This work was completed during the year and we now have the reports on all repair work required to upgrade the building to first class condition. The costs of the work required are extremely high and beyond our ability to carry out without significant grant monies. The possibility of grant funding will be investigated.
The costs of the building surveys were paid out at £5232 during this year.

We also managed to reclaim the VAT paid out on much of the maintenance work carried out, which gave us a payment of £1350 from the Government Department of Culture Media and Sport. This was lower than the previous year, because improvement spending was limited.

Car Park
LINC has continued with the hiring out of the car park and been able to fill all the parking spaces throughout the year and this gave us an income of £8020

LiNC Operations trading Company
This is the part of the company which runs all the catering activities, and the Bed and Breakfast. The ability to have our rooms fully available again has resulted in a significant income. The regular Coffee Mornings and refreshments served at concerts and other functions created an income of £9566. After costs, this resulted in a donation to LINC Company of £13886.
Normal Activities
All of our usual activities have been in operation this year. The regular activities are religious services, and cultural events, with all the following contributing to income. These are coffee mornings / Film Nights /Handicraft Group /concerts and we now also hire out rooms during weekday evenings for band and choir practices, an art class and a self-help group. This resulted in a Rental Income of £6398.
The Christmas Bazaar was very successful bringing an income of £5403.
The Board thanks the relatively few volunteers and the handicraft group for their significant contributions in these activities.

Membership
Thankfully, membership has remained steady, currently 120 members of the LiNC Company. This has generated an income of £3651, which is much appreciated by the LINC Board.

Financial review and Reserves Policy
It is the policy of the charity that a high level of 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.
Thus, this year, the annual result costs on the running of the building and activities showed an increase in funds of £10404, which is a major improvement on last year’s loss. This resulted in an increase of the reserves from £120,141 to £131809

Roger Metcalf
LINC Chairman

Subscription form for Liverpool international Nordic Community Company 2024

PLEASE PRINT OUT AND SEND FORM AND CHECK TO LINC.

LiNC Charity Company Ltd   (Registration in England 8351592   Charity registration 1152041)

 

Subscription form to renew or apply for membership

By becoming a paying member you have a right to vote in elections of Directors at a general meeting and vote for any resolutions put forward by the directors. A third of the directors are elected or re-elected each year. You will get copies of the financial accounts and the Chairman’s report.  We  ask you to pay £25 for each person in the household per year, this to reflect the costs of running and maintaining the building along with the costs of all activities.

Make cheques payable to ‘Liverpool international Nordic Community’

Send this form to 138 Park Lane,  Liverpool, L1 8HG

 I, …………………………………………………………………………………………….(capitals, please)

wish to make a donation of £………..for 12 months’ subscription.

OR:  I wish to make a bank standing order for £…………/ month/year. Please contact Harriet Busby.

I will tell you when I no longer wish to be a member. I agree that I will not be considered a member when the renewal date is overdue by 3 months.          Date……………………….                                              

Address.……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Email address……………………………………………………………………….Phone……………………………

Please tick here………. if you agree that we communicate with you in the future by email.

We will save on a lot of postal costs and administrative work!

Signature: ………………………………………………………………………………………….Date…………………….

 

I, ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..(capitals, please)

wish to make a donation of £………..for 12 months’ subscription.

OR:  I wish to make a bank standing order for £…………/ month/year. Please contact Harriet Busby.

I will tell you when I no longer wish to be a member. I agree that I will not be considered a member when the renewal date is overdue by 3 months.              Date……………………….                                         

 Address.…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

 

Email  address…………………………………………………………………..   Phone……………………………

Please tick here………. if you agree that we communicate with you in the future by email.

We will save on a lot of postal costs and administrative work!

Signature: ………………………………………………………………………………………….Date…………………….

Charity Gift Aid Declaration – In order to Gift Aid your donation you must tick the circle below:

Ο     I want to Gift Aid my donation of £________and any donations I make in the future or have made in the past 4 years, to  Liverpool international Nordic Community Company. I am a UK taxpayer and understand that if I pay less Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all my donations in that tax year it is my

responsibility to pay any difference.

 

Title ______ First name or initial(s) ___________________ Surname _________________________________

Full Home address ______________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________ Postcode _________ Date_____________ Please notify the charity if you want to cancel this declaration; change your name or home address;  no longer pay sufficient tax on your income and/or capital gains. If you pay Income Tax at the higher or additional rate and want to receive the additional tax relief due to you, you must include all your Gift Aid donations on your Self-Assessment tax return or ask HM Revenue and Customs to adjust your tax code.