OpenCharities

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

← All Hallows Parish Trust

2024-12-31-accounts

All Hallows Parochial Church Council

Report to annual parochial church meeting 2025

Charity Number: 1085568 | Charity Name: All Hallows Parish Trust

Contents

3

(a) Activities of the PCC and parish

Aim and purposes

All Hallows’ Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility to cooperate with the parish priest (vacant as of June 2023) in promoting the whole mission of the church in the parish – pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical, in accordance with Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956. The PCC is also responsible for the maintenance of All Hallows’ Church and The Old Pickle Factory, Easton.

The PCC is committed to enabling as many people as possible to worship at our church and to become part of our parish community. We try to enable ordinary people to live out their faith as part of our parish community through worship and prayer, through pastoral care for congregation members living in the parish and beyond, and through missionary and outreach work.

Worship

All Hallows Church offers weekly services on Sunday mornings and Tuesday evenings which bring a range of worshippers from within the parish and beyond. The Eucharist is central to worship and our daily lives as Christian disciples. For younger members of the congregation there is a regular ‘Junior Church’ held during the first part of our main service, after which the children and young people join the rest of the congregation. In 2024 we also added to our intercessions a cycle of streets and institutions in the parish. Average Sunday attendance was 24.5 adults and 3.6 under 16s. Average Tuesday attendance was 7.7.

Pastoral care

Some members of our parish are unable to attend church due to sickness or age-related infirmity. A trained and licensed volunteer committedly brings them the blessed sacrament at their homes or in hospital, also offering pastoral and spiritual support on behalf of the church community. We continue to pray for and distribute birthday cards to those unable to attend church, in order to keep them involved and demonstrate God’s loving care for them. General pastoral care for those who are sick, bereaved or otherwise suffering is offered on an informal basis through the loving service that members are encouraged to show to one another and to their neighbours.

Mission

In 2024, we made efforts to improve our local and online visibility. Updates were made to the website and to our listing on AChurchNearYou.com so that we are easier to find and more appealing to those who might find us. At Advent we improved the poster facing the street to something more attractive and lively, and we attempted to get volunteers to deliver a matching leaflet to every house in the parish. The leaflet explained to people what a parish is and that their house was in it, invited people to the carol service, and assured people that they and everyone on their street are regularly prayed for in Sunday worship.

4

Over the year we made a number of positive engagements with other organisations. £900 was disbursed to needy persons in the parish on the advice of our partner Bannerman Road Primary Academy, paid from funds given for this purpose by the Henry Smith Charity; children from Bannerman Road Primary Academy were hosted at the church as part of a series of school trips to places of worship; and the Old Pickle Factory was well used by the community through the facilitation of our tenants there - Nature Youth Connection Education (NYCE).

Junior Church

Children and young people form an important part of the life of the congregation and its worship. Junior Church has continued to deliver dedicated age-adapted teaching to our children in the congregation based loosely on the Roots resources which follow the lectionary. We have between three and seven children attending each week ranging in age from 5 to 10.

We can see the children's knowledge and understanding of Scripture increasing and we pray that the teaching and care at Junior Church will help foster their own relationships with God. The PCC will need, over the coming year, to safely recruit additional leaders and helpers to ease the pressure on the current small group of dedicated DBS-checked leaders who are currently enabling Junior Church to run each week in termtime.

In the summer, three young people attended the Walsingham Youth Pilgrimage along with youth from Swindon New Town and from all over the country. They had a fantastic time and learned much about the Christian faith.

Safeguarding

The safeguarding of children, young people and adults is the duty of all Christians and is the legal duty of the PCC, as it pertains to its organised activities.

A comprehensive policy following best practice was adopted on 14 May and another policy with further revisions was adopted. In developing this policy the PCC of All Hallows, Easton is committed to following the safeguarding policies of the Church of England, and safeguarding policy and guidance as issued by the Diocese of Bristol, and commits to working within legislation and statutory guidance as related to the safeguarding of children, young people and adults.

The parish safeguarding officer (PSO) has worked closely with the churchwardens, the PCC and the diocesan safeguarding adviser to undertake a review of existing arrangements and provision with a view to ensuring that volunteers are checked with the Disclosure and Barring Service where necessary to their roles, and that appropriate training for awareness and protocol is delivered at all levels. This promising work will need to be concretely implemented in 2025 so as to be able to assure the PCC and congregation that all activities of All Hallows’ Church are managed and reviewed so as to ensure the safety of all, to the best of our ability and to the extent of our legal obligations.

5

Parish life

We continue make efforts to express the importance of fellowship and welcome through refreshments after services as well as a number of larger celebrations and events, such as a wake and a lunch on All Saints’ Day. A number of the congregation also represented All Hallows at the Glastonbury Pilgrimage, enjoying a talk and lunch, parading with the banner with other church parties through the town and participating in Holy Communion.

Clergy

We were immensely grateful to those clergy who made themselves regularly available to cover services during the vacancy in 2024: Fr Roger Durbin, Fr Stuart Boyd, Fr Clive Welham and Fr Paul Tiernan. We are equally grateful to those clergy from Swindon who facilitated the Lent course: Fr Toby Boutle, Fr Tim Davies and Fr Ross Copley.

Further to this, we are immensely excited that, following an interview on 10 December, it was later agreed that Fr Simon Clark SSC of St Mark’s Noel Park in the Diocese of London would be appointed as our part-time parish priest in 2025, also serving the parishes of Holy Nativity Knowle and Christ Church with St Ewen.

Old Pickle Factory

We are grateful to NYCE for identifying several major issues with the building and for being willing to take a lead on getting quotes for repair work. Sadly, the repairs to the roof commissioned by PCC in 2023 are reported to be extremely poor. Such a situation should be avoided in the future as PCC now has a policy regarding the sourcing of contractors. NYCE has expressed interest in a long-term lease and will require the building to be brought up to scratch.

Volunteers

We would like to thank all the volunteers who work so hard to make our church a welcoming, inclusive, lively and vibrant community for worshippers and non-worshippers. Almost everyone has an important task of some kind which we all rely upon, but special thanks go to:

Following his retirement from the post in June, we also particularly wish to thank Kwabena ‘Kay’ Gyimah-Sarpong, as we did as a whole congregation in the summer, for his many years of service as churchwarden.

6

Structure, governance and management

The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. At All Hallows’ Church, the membership of the PCC consists of the incumbent (our priest), churchwardens, the deanery synod member, and further members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church. All those who habitually attend services are encouraged to register on the electoral roll and to consider standing for election to the PCC.

The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish, including deciding on how the funds of the PCC are to be spent. New members are encouraged, and training and mentoring is provided into the workings of the PCC. The full PCC meet on the second Tuesday of the month routinely and a quorum attended every meeting.

PCC members are elected for a three-year term of office, a year running from each Annual Parochial Church Meeting (usually held in May). Those in office during 2024 were:

All Hallows’ Church is situated in Easton, Bristol. It is part of the Diocese of Bristol within the Church of England. We receive extended episcopal oversight from the See of Oswestry.

The correspondence address is All Hallows’ Church, Easton, Bristol, BS5 0HL or info@allhallowseaston.org

All Hallows Parish Trust is regulated by the Charities Commission, Charity Number: 1085568.

7

(b) PCC financial statements

The Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) is requested to approve or otherwise this financial report for onward submission to the Diocesan Board of Finance, Bristol Diocese and the Charity Commission.

Summary

As things currently stand, the yearly costs to keep everything running are about £24.4k :

Last year we received about £51.6k . However, this is not a figure that is dependable as future income:

So, if regular giving and other regular income (i.e. these three sources above) remain at these levels, then we would be able to rely on annual income of about £30.7k . If costs remain as they were (about £24.4k ), this means we could also afford to save some money and/or fund projects that support the church’s mission in the parish and beyond.

1 While the Church Commissioners hold large amounts of money which is managed as they see best, our diocese is not a wealthy one and is currently using up its reserves. Sadly, this means that the approximate £60,000 per annum cost of a full-time parish priest (including stipend, housing and pension contributions) has to be borne by parishes. We are grateful that, as a low-income parish, we have only been asked to contribute £10,000, which is half the cost of our forthcoming ‘one-third’ of a parish priest (the two other ‘thirds’ to be shared with Holy Nativity Knowle and Christ Church with St Ewen in the City). In 2024, PCC agreed this level of Parsh Share for 2025.

8

As is shown in the accounts sheet below, there is about £62.2k in the current account and £93.5k in a savings account (‘CBF Church of England Deposit Fund’). On the one hand, once it’s gone, it’s gone. On the other hand, we are each called to be the people of God in Jesus Christ in this parish, not to operate a bank account: this is money that can be used for major works or projects.

To be clear, if we did not have any regular giving and if we assume (optimistically) that other income does not decrease and that other costs do not increase, we would have an annual shortfall of £8.7k. In this case, the savings account would keep us alive for about ten years before we would then draw down from the current account with a view to closure. Otherwise (again with no decrease in other income or increase in other costs), if regular giving remains at this level, we are completely sustainable. And if regular giving grows then, God willing, we will too.

Giving

In 2024, there were 17 regular givers, to each of whom the PCC and congregation are immensely grateful.[2] It all adds up, with everyone making an important contribution.

The Church of England General Synod encourages individual Christians to look at their giving each year, and to aim to give 5% of post-tax income to the church and 5% to other charities. We note that this should be different for those on low incomes or with high basic outgoings as there may not be sufficient disposable income to give 10% of all post-tax income. In this case, it might be that people consider giving a total of 10% of their disposable income instead (posttax income minus necessary outgoings such as housing, utilities, food etc.): 5% to the church and 5% to other charities.

However, these are merely guidelines. Personal giving is always a matter of conscience and personal judgement. Each of us should make up our own minds how to balance our duty to honour the church’s purpose (glorifying God in the church and in the world through worship, witness and caring for those in need) with our personal responsibilities to family, friends and society. St Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 9:7:

“Each of you must give as you have made up your mind ,

not regretfully or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Reserves Policy

It is PCC policy to try to maintain a balance on unrestricted funds that equates to at least three months unrestricted payments (about £6.5k) which is held to smooth out fluctuations in cash flow plus £5k to meet emergencies. The cash balance of £62k is well above the £11.5k target.

2 NB that a single gift by a household is counted as one giver.

9

Operations and probity

We have improved the counting process for cash and cheques. This was previously conducted by the treasurer alone – the recommended practice is that the treasurer is not involved in counting collections and that this is undertaken by volunteers working in pairs.

Barclays Bank made the transfer of signatories very difficult following the resignation of the previous treasurer. This led to some delay in making payments and banking money. PCC has chosen to move to Co-operative Bank once bills and accounts are settled enough to withstand a short period of financial freeze while the account is moved.

PCC has improved its policy regarding contractors. All contractors will be subject to reputability checks prior to requesting quotes. For work costing over £1,000, quotes from at least two contractors will be required.

Conclusion

The need for committed and generous giving remains. However, these are also exciting times as we await spiritual leadership from a parish priest, in collaboration with the operational and strategic work of the churchwardens and PCC.

10

Accounts sheet

2023 Receipts/income 2024
£16,920.10 1. Regulargiving £12,215.09
£587.57 3. Collections at services £0.00
£40.00 4. All othergivingand voluntaryreceipts £190.00
£0.00 6. Gift Aid recovered £4,994.49
£0.00 7. Legacies received £5,000.00
£4,167.00 8. Grants £2,500
£538.23 9. Fundraisingactivities £0.00
£23,514.50 10. Dividends,interest,income frompropertyetc. £25,253.58
£1,609.00 11. Fees retained byPCC £0.00
£0.00 12. Tradingactivities £0.00
£10.00 13. Other receipts/income not alreadylisted £ 1,450.25
£47,386.40 Total Receipts/Income £51,603.41
2023 Payments/Expenditure 2024
£0.00 17. Costs of fundraisingactivities £0.00
£3,380.23 18. Missiongivingand donations £2,010.00
£8,197.00 19. Diocesanparish share contribution £4,375.00
£5,309.00 20. Salaries,wages and honoraria £1,328.25
£670.69 21. Clergyand staf expenses £0.00
£0.00 22. Mission and evangelism costs £300.00
£10,315.01 23. Church runningexpenses(including governance) £13,211.03
£6,885.51 24. Church utilitybills £2,465.02
£0.00 25. Costs of trading £756.35
£640.00 27. Major repairs to the church building £0.00
£15,300.00 28. Major repairs to church hall/other PCCproperty £0.00
£0.00 29. New buildingwork to the church or other PCCproperty £0.00
£0.00 99. Otherpayments/expenditure not alreadylisted £158.00
£50,697.44 Total Payments/Expenditure £24,603.65
2023 NEW BALANCE SHEET 2024
£39,671.40 CBF Investment Fund Shares(484) £40,579.41
£100.00 CBF Deposit Fund(48) £100.00
£26,645.37 CBF Deposit Fund(484) £26,645.37
£2,803.06 CBF Deposit Fund(53) £2,867.21
£6.91 CBF Deposit Fund(48) £12.58
£35,039.15 Cash at Bank £62,038.91
£93,557.10 CBF Church of England Deposit Fund £93,557.10
£197,822.99 Totals £225,800.58

11

Notes

Receipts/income

1. Regular giving : There is a further £2,743.95 in cash and cheques collected in 2024 through regular giving which is not shown here because it was banked in 2025. The 2024 banked figure shown here (£12,215.09) and the 2024 unbanked figure (above) totals £14,959.04.

3. Collection at services : 2023 saw several occasional services (baptisms, funerals, weddings) whereas in 2024 there was only one funeral and the collection went to a charity of the organiser’s choosing (see 4. All other giving ). There is a further £65.34 in cash collected in 2024 through collections.

4. All other giving and voluntary receipts, including special appeals : Of this, £120 was collected for the Additional Curates Society in Lent but had not yet been transferred by the end of 2024. Of cash collected in 2024 but not banked until 2025, there is a further £129.66 collected for the Additional Curates Society, and £129.66 collected at a funeral in aid of a specified charity.

6. Gift Aid recovered : This shows Gift Aid recovered in 2024 by the then treasurer’s assistant for tax year 2022/23. Unfortunately, they did not recover Gift Aid for 2023/24 before they resigned but this will be recovered in 2025.

8. Grants : This is money given by the Henry Smith Charity which is restricted to disbursements to needy folk in the parish which are identified by our partners at Bannerman Road Primary Academy (see 18. Mission giving and donations ).

9. Fundraising activities : although this shows £0.00, we did in fact raise £60.00 at the Christmas raffle but this was not banked in 2024.

10. Dividends, interest, income from property etc. : This is derived from two sources: (a) dividends from historic funds bequeathed to All Hallows’ Church and managed by CCLA, yielding £7,437.12 , and (b) monthly rent of £1,500 paid by NYCE for the Old Pickle Factory as well as reimbursements for the site waste collection which PCC currently pays and recovers from the tenant (the combined total of rent and waste collection reimbursements received is £17,816 ). N.B. There were two months of rent not paid in 2024 but this either was or will be recovered in 2025.

11. Fees retained by PCC : These are for weddings, funerals etc. In 2024 there was one funeral. It might also be that in 2023 clergy fees reimbursed by Bristol Diocesan Board of Finance were coded here instead of in 13. Other receipts/income following advice from the diocesan finance team.

13. Other receipts/income : This is mainly money reimbursed by Bristol Diocesan Board of Finance to cover clergy fees and expenses while we are in vacancy (costs which are normally accrued to the PCC).

12

Payments/expenditure

18. Mission giving and donations : This shows (a) £1,100 given from PCC funds to charities and mission partners, and (b) £900 disbursed to needy persons in the parish on the advice of our partner Bannerman Road Primary Academy, paid from restricted funds given by the Henry Smith Charity to PCC for this purpose (see 8. Grants ).

19. Diocesan parish share contribution : This ought to have totalled £7,500 which was the amount PCC agreed to pay in parish share but for some reason the monthly payments ended in July. The deficit will be made up in 2025.

20. Salaries, wages and honoraria : This shows £60 paid in organ fees and a further £1,268.25 paid in expenses and fees for clergy cover but was reimbursed by the Diocesan Board of Finance because the parish is in vacancy (see 11. Fees retained by PCC ).

22. Mission and evangelism : These are costs associated with the Walsingham Youth Pilgrimage.

23. Church running expenses (including governance): This can be broken down as follows:

Administration £64.88
Worshipresources(wafers,candles,incense etc) £1,195.67
Junior Church resources £188.94
Fellowship (e.g. food and drink for events) £362.73
GlastonburyPilgrimage £48.00
Insurance(church) £5,212.38
Insurance(Old Pickle Factory) £2,174.71
Maintenance work and cleaning
(major items: bell repair £1,896.00,heater repairs £1,190.73)3		 £3,592.15
Parishpriest recruitment £160.65
Publicity (e.g.posters) £38.12
Website £172.80
TOTAL £13,211.03

24. Church utility bills : Quite why this is so much lower in 2024 is hard to know. My guess is that in 2023 waste collection for Old Pickle Factory was factored in here whereas in 2024 it has been coded under 25. Costs of trading and is recouped directly from NYCE (the tenant). It may also be that utility bills for the Old Pickle Factory were incurred as costs here, before the premises was tenanted in late 2023. It could also be that current gas and electricity invoices are generated at estimate (without meter readings) and our actual use is much higher. Further, there is no council tax payment in 2024’s bank statement; while places of worship are exempt from council tax, it may be that in 2023 the PCC paid (and maybe recouped) council tax on the

3 Further maintenance work (floor repair) was completed in 2024 but the invoice raised (£864.00) was settled in 2025 and therefore does not appear here.

13

Old Pickle Factory (NB for April 2025 to March 2026 this will be around £10k). In future, though, this should be coded as 25. Costs of trading .

25. Costs of trading : Our only costs of trading (i.e. what we do to get rent from the Old Pickle Factory) are Council Tax and payments to Bristol Waste for removal of rubbish from Old Pickle Factory. The latter is entirely recouped from NYCE (the tenant) and paid along with rent (see 10. Dividends, interest, income from property etc ). Bristol Waste is very poor at invoicing and did not send any bills for over half of the months it provided service. What is more, in some months which it had billed for, NYCE reported that no service had been provided. Unpaid invoices (because not actually sent to the treasurer) will be included in 2025.

New balance sheet

CBF Investment Fund Shares (484) : dividends are unrestricted.

CBF Deposit Fund (48) : restricted to use for the parish hall.

CBF Deposit Fund (484) : dividends are unrestricted.

CBF Deposit Fund (53) : restricted to use for the relief of the poor in the parish.

CBF Deposit Fund (48) : restricted to use for the parish hall.

These funds pay dividends to All Hallows’ Church and are managed by CCLA on behalf of the Bristol Diocesan Board of Finance (see 10. Dividends, interest, income from property etc ).[4]

Cash at Bank : this is very healthy. However, as noted in the narrative above, there is some significant expenditure expected associated with 2024.

CBF Church of England Deposit Fund : this is effectively a savings account.

Independent financial examiner’s report

[PENDING]

4 In last year’s accounts, these funds were variously under fixed and current assets. There is no discernible reason for this and so they are grouped them together. This makes no material difference to strategic financial planning or to the bottom line.

14

(c) Churchwardens’ report on fabric, goods and ornaments of the church

Contractors were engaged for the repair of the bell, replacement of fire extinguishers, repair of heaters in the church and repair of flooring in the church.

As noted above, significant capital works are required on Old Pickle Factory to make it a viable property for long-term lease.

There are doubtless repairs and improvements to the church will could be made, such as better heating and insulation. These should be considered in the forthcoming year.

The church’s quinquennial inspection will be held at some point in 2025. This happens every five years and is conducted by an experienced and qualified professional, appointed after consultation with the Diocesan Advisory Committee.

(d) Proceedings of the deanery synod

Deanery Synods bring together the thinking of the church's life in the deanery. It is sometimes asked to consider matters referred to it from the Diocesan Synod and from the General Synod. It is the place where the voice of the parish is first heard beyond the PCC. Regrettably, we did not fulfil our duty in 2024 to attend these.

15

All Hallows Parochial Church Council Charity Number: 1085568 | Charity Name: All Hallows Parish Trust