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2023-12-31-accounts

Annual Report & Accounts

Year Ending 31[st] December 2023

“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.”

Psalms 95:6-7

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Contents
Secton 1 Summary of 2023 3
Secton 2 Reports by Church Groups
CONGREGATIONS
8am Congregaton 4 4pm Congregaton 5
9.15am Congregaton 4 6.30pm Congregaton 5
11am Congregaton 4
ADULT ACTIVITIES
20-30s Ministry 6 Ministry to Ukrainians 8
ALLsorts 6 Flower Ministry 9
Christan Foundatons 6 Music Ministry 9
Christanity Explored 7 Growth Groups 10
Evangelism 7 Men’s Daytme Bible Study 10
St Mary’s Career Support 7 Pastoral Care 10
Audio Visual & Lightng 8 St Mary’s Blog/Touchline 11
Deanery Synod 8 Women’s Ministry 11
Third Thursday Table 8 Ministry among Internatonals in
Maidenhead		 11
MISSION
Mission Strategy Commitee 12 Mission Partner Support Group 12
CHILDREN’S & YOUTH WORK
Children’s Work 13 Youth Work 16
Children’s Sunday Work 13 Sunday Youth Ministry 16
7UP 14 Growth Groups 17
Schools Work 14 X Focus and Shif Focus 17
Holiday Club 15 Weekends Away 17
Minor Key 16 Summer Camps 17
Toddler and Baby Ministry 16 Student Time Away 17
Parents Evening 17
SAFEGUARDING 18
RESOURCES
Library 18 Care Fund 18
Books @ St Mary’s 18
Secton 3 Atendance 19 Secton 10 Objectves and Actvites 25
Secton 4 Operatons and Fabric Report 19 Secton 11 Financial Review 25
Secton 5 Church Warden’s Report 20 Secton 12 Reserves Policy 25
Secton 6 Electoral Roll Report 22 Secton 13 Report on Financial Actvites for
2023		 25
Secton 7 Report on PCC Proceedings 22 Secton 14 Financial Report 27
Secton 8 Administratve Details 23 Secton 15 Auditor’s Report 42
Secton 9 Structure, Governance and
Management		 23

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Secton 1: Summary of 2023

This Annual Report provides an overview of our church – the people, Sunday services, the midweek groups, toddlers, children’s and youth groups, missions, the PCC, the finances and buildings and much more. We hope that you find it interesting and that you will join us as we thank the Lord for again providing so generously in so many ways for His work here at St Mary’s.

2023 saw several changes in the staff team. Jon Drake was instituted and inducted as our Vicar in February 2023. Ian Miller was appointed as Associate Vicar in July. Adam Curtis joined the ministry team as the second Associate Vicar and Richard Crane moved from full time to part-time in September. Kate Wheatley retired in July and Nick McDonald stepped up to take charge of the children’s ministry. In December, Melinda sadly stepped down as our Youth Minister for personal health reasons.

Since April 2023 we have been reimbursing the Diocese of Oxford for the cost of our Vicar and the safeguarding services we receive but not making further financial contributions to them. We have taken this approach with sorrow and due to the teaching of the bishops of our diocese which we believe denies God’s word in some vital areas. We have done this in common with many other evangelical Anglican churches because we believe it is important that money sacrificially given to St Mary’s is used to fund work that is in line with God’s word. We remain committed to funding faithful ministry beyond St Mary’s and monies that have not been paid to the diocese have been used to help fund other exciting new gospel projects such as a Children’s and Family’s Worker at St Paul’s church in Slough.

Some of the regular activities at St Mary’s included

Other highlights for the year were:

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Secton 2: Reports by Church Groups

CONGREGATIONS

8am Communion

The 8am combines the formality of worship using the Book of Common Prayer in contemporary language with a lovely family feel. There is a faithful core who come each week but we have enjoyed welcoming visitors from outside the church as well as from other congregations. Preachers who preach at the 6.30pm service also preach at the 8am and we have been grateful to God for the way He has spoken to us through their ministry and has been building us up. Once a month we meet in the Bear for breakfast following the service. This has proved popular and is a great time of fellowship and encouragement. Lindsay ReisserWeston and David Howse hosted a wonderful summer BBQ and Christmas party which were also very wellattended and much appreciated. We continue to be particularly thankful to Robert Weeks for being such a reliable sidesman and to Bernard Obi for his pastoral care.

Ian Miller

9.15am Congregaton

Over 2023 we preached through sections of Hebrews, Ruth, 1 Peter, Psalms, and Romans along with having our annual Easter and Christmas preaching. Socially we held a walk, a breakfast and a congregational lunch. Our average weekly attendance was 149, with 115 adults and 34 children.

I’m hugely grateful to all our wonderful volunteers who help on the Welcome Team, AV, Music Team, leading, readings, praying, Family Focus, communion set up, Coffee Rota, flower arranging, kids and youth work, and the Congregational Oversight Team. This service can only happen because so many people give up so much time and energy, and I’m so thankful for them all!

Adam Curtis

11am Congregaton

We have many reasons to thank God for his blessings and his gracious work amongst the 11am Congregation during this past year. It has been a joy to meet together week by week to hear God’s word, sing his praises and encourage one another to live for Christ in all of our lives. During 2023 we have fed together on God’s word in Hebrews, Ruth, John’s Gospel, 1 Peter, Psalms, Romans and we have heard teaching on the Doctrine of Scripture.

Three particular highlights stand out for me. The first has been a number of newcomers joining the congregation and becoming regular members. Secondly, it has been wonderful to see so many people involved in ministry within the congregation. Thank you to all who serve in Welcome, Refreshments, Music, AV, Flower Ministry, Service Leading, Prayer Leader, Reading and so much else. We see Christ at work in his body as we serve in our different ways. The third encouragement has been the continued growth of our children’s groups through the year, including the re-starting of a Pathfinders group at 11am for 11-14s. The groups are still a little smaller than at the other congregations, but that is no bad thing and I sense a growing stability to each of the children’s groups. We give thanks to God and also to all who have led and helped in the groups under Nick McDonald and Melinda Stylo’s leadership.

I would like to express thanks to the Congregation Team (Robin Aghovia, Neil McDonald, Louise Drake and Schona Strange) and the Growth Group Leaders (Alan and Wanda Williams, Berend and Janet Huisman, Jon and Emily Evans, Anthony Kan, and Phil and Val Whetton) who do so much in supporting me in leading the congregation.

Jon Drake

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4pm Congregaton

The 4pm is a wonderfully diverse congregation. We have been grateful to God for bringing many newcomers from outside the church to us and that a number have stayed and started to come regularly.

Given that well over a decade has passed since the 4pm was established, we decided to hold a review during the autumn of 2023. Members of the congregation have given feedback on a number of issues and contributed ideas. The review has led to a number of changes including the layout of chairs in the church (semi-circular), leading the service and preaching from the floor rather than the platform, re-introducing children’s tea so that hungry children are fed and parents can stay and chat after the service, providing some games for the children to occupy them after the service when the evenings are dark and they cannot play outside and working to make the services/liturgy more accessible. We are committed to continue thinking about working towards our vision of growing in our love of the Lord and one another and reaching out to Maidenhead and our surrounding communities with the gospel.

We are enormously grateful to God for all who serve at the 4pm using their gifts to teach our children, lead our music, welcome, run the AV, serve refreshments, lead services, read, pray and many other things besides!

Ian Miller

6.30pm Congregaton

“His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation.” Daniel 4:34.

We began 2023 preparing for the Real Lives mission. It was a joy to see so many from the 6.30, including a number of teenagers, bringing friends and helping with the events. This was followed with sermons series on the doctrine of Scripture, 1 Corinthians 15-16 (resurrection hope for Easter!), Daniel, 1 Thessalonians, the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and Joel, before rounding off the year with our candlelit carol services.

We are humbled that the Lord is bringing newcomers week by week, and it has been a joy to see many throw themselves into the life of the congregation and serve in various ways. We also celebrated the weddings of three couples from the 6.30 over the summer. Many congratulations to Anna and Mark, Dave and Charlotte, and Hamish and Lucy!

One of the challenges of 2023 was how to welcome and serve the increasing numbers of young asylum seekers, particularly those from Iran and Latin America. Thanks to everyone who has listened and welcomed them into their homes. Eventually we developed a system of translated sermon summaries in English and Persian – particular thanks to Minoosh.

In September, I reverted to a part-time role, as I begin my theological studies for ordination. Thanks to everyone who has enabled this by stepping up to serve in new ways. I’m grateful to a wonderful pastoral team of Growth Group leaders and the faithful Congregational Oversight Team, and the many others who pray and open up their homes week by week. Thanks to Donna Gerard for her PowerPoint skills, and Becky Byford, Kate Wheatley, Hazel Tomlinson and Donna Gerard for managing various rotas! The welcome and refreshment teams, the music team, and Jim Beswick’s audio-visual team all continue to use their gifts wonderfully, allowing God’s word to be heard with clarity in the building and beyond. And it’s been wonderful to see the After Church youth group continue to engage with God, and connect His Word with their lives.

In the autumn we lost a dear member of the congregation Jane Roxburgh. We give thanks for her faithful life, and the Marlow growth group for supporting Jane and Ian so lovingly. A number of others in the congregation have faced very significant trials this year, including chronic illness, bereavements, unemployment, and mental health struggles. The answer to all these challenges is to fix our eyes on our Saviour Jesus. So please pray that in 2024 the Lord will continue to grow us in our love for one another, in our love for the lost, and in our love for Jesus – whose dominion is an eternal dominion!

Richard Crane

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ADULT ACTIVITIES

20-30s Ministry

At St Mary’s, our growth groups are deliberately inter-generational, sharing wisdom and growing together in our love for Jesus. That said, younger adults often face unique challenges in life, which we seek to address alongside the growth groups, through our 20s-30s ministry.

This year, we organised four Saturday evening Bible discussions, on the topics of engaging with pop culture, busyness, addiction to technology (visiting speaker Adam Thrift), and how to think about work and career. The young adults were also encouraged to join all-church seminars on Money Matters and Friendship, and it was good to see a number actively engaged in the Real Lives mission and the Taste of All Nations evening. There were regular social events organised informally through the WhatsApp group, including walks, pub and theatre trips, ceilidh dancing, and a Christmas party kindly hosted by Adam Curtis.

In a culture that places little value on sacrificial friendship, godliness and long-term commitment, please pray for a growing passion for Jesus among the 20s-30s at St Mary’s, particularly as we plan a weekend away in September!

Richard Crane

ALLsorts

This group for adults with learning disabilities, friends, carers and everyone else (ALL sorts) celebrated its twentieth anniversary this year. We started with prayers, songs and acting out the story of God’s Big Party (Matthew 22) in All Saints Church and then enjoyed cake and games in the Parish Centre. This is largely the format of all our meetings – usually held at St Mary’s – but composed of helpers, including clergy, from All Saints, High Street Methodist Church, St Edmund Campion, Church of the Good Shepherd and St Joseph’s Church.

We thank God for His boundless love, help, guidance and inspiration. Our numbers are reduced owing to age and infirmity of members (and helpers!). So we ask for your prayers for volunteers who could lead the group forward to bring God’s word to the younger members of our community still unreached whose spiritual needs might be addressed in this form of worship.

Sue Nordberg and The ALLsorts Team

Christan Foundatons

Christian Foundations has continued to run on Monday evenings through the year, initially led by Ian Miller for the Spring and Summer terms, and then by Alan Williams and Lindsay Reisser-Weston in the Autumn term.

The content of the course continued as in previous years; Philippians in the Spring, the doctrine of God in the summer and the doctrine of the church in the autumn. New members joined the group at the beginning of each term, most having recently competed Christianity Explored.

Together with the leaders, we had in the order of 15 join on the course each term, although attendance has not always been consistent. Discussions and engagement are excellent and it is a privilege to see participants growing spiritually. There is a very good sense of community and family, as we all grow in our fellowship with each other, sharing our news and prayer requests throughout the year.

We continue to be immensely grateful to Maggi Richards and her marvellous team of volunteers for wonderful food and for their kindness in serving and clearing up every week.

Lindsay Reisser-Weston

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Christanity Explored

By God’s grace, we were able to explore the good news of Jesus with another diverse group of people this year. We give great thanks to God for prompting the church family to invite friends and family, and to attend the courses themselves. And we are thankful for the humble service of the catering team, ably coordinated by Maggi Richards. Being able to chat over dinner is such a valuable element of the Monday evenings.

In the spring term, our focus was on the Real Lives mission. Instead of running the usual nine-week Christianity Explored course, we offered three evenings of ‘Looking at the Life of Jesus’ immediately after the mission week, using episodes from John’s gospel. There was a buzzing atmosphere in the church hall, and plenty of thoughtful discussion. After Easter, the summer term saw a core group of seven guests work their way through Christianity Explored on Monday evenings. Some had been to Real Lives mission events, and one has since gone on to be baptised. As usual, a wide range of questions were raised, and we saw friendships begin to develop among the group.

In the autumn, we ran Hope Explored which is a three-week course looking at the person and work of Jesus and the hope which can be found in Him. Hope Explored looks at Luke’s gospel and following on from the course we did a further six studies in Luke’s gospel for those who wanted to continue meeting together.

Richard Crane and Ian Miller

Evangelism

Our mission partner Glen Scrivener came and interviewed eleven people during our Real Lives week in March 2023. Evening and lunchtime events were well attended by church family and guests and during the week over 800 people came to St Mary’s. We were very grateful to the seven members of the church family who were willing to be interviewed as well as the four who came from outside. It was wonderful to hear about the Christian faith of brothers and sisters in Christ from very diverse backgrounds and experiences of life. Glen interviewed and spoke extremely well. The week was followed by a “Looking at the Life of Jesus” course which ran for three weeks – a good number came on the course.

A plan was drawn up over the summer for evangelistic events, outreach and equipping and encouraging church members in evangelism at St Mary’s during 2023/24. The plan included running Hope Explored during the autumn, Christianity Explored in Growth Groups and having a stall at the switching-on-of-thelights festival in Maidenhead town centre – all of which have happened. In accordance with the plan a series of events have been organised for 2024, A Magical Evening (24th Feb), an interview with Nelson Mandela’s bodyguard (3rd May) and a day conference on evangelism at St Mary’s (22nd June). We pray that the Lord will use all of these events and initiatives to grow His kingdom.

Ian Miller

St Mary’s Careers Support

In any given year, we are all likely to experience some form of change to what and how we spend our time. Work for most of us forms a significant part of our lives – work, in all its forms matters to God and it’s important we make wise choices about how we go about it.

At St Mary’s we believe supporting our members and friends outside the church in this area of their lives is important. Through referrals to the staff team, we have supported a handful of people with a number of work-related challenges ranging from returning to work from illness to moving into a new job or career. We have been able to offer practical up to date advice, e.g. how to have difficult discussions with employers, how to write a CV and how to use social media more effectively.

In particular this year we have supported a good number of refugees seek and secure employment in the UK as well as a number of our young people with personal statement preparation and CV writing. This has also included supporting extended church family members post-graduation secure their first full time job.

Our practical resources on the ‘work matters’ section of the website cover a range of issues from being made redundant, thinking about retirement and how to deal with stress in the workplace and we hope that this provides another means to support members and friends whenever they need.

The service relies on active support from those with professional HR experience so if you have this experience and would like to get more involved, please contact Liz Tolcher.

Liz Tolcher

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Audio, Visual & Lightng

During the last year, a large team of over 50 volunteers have continued to deliver a consistently high-quality audio and visual experience in the church for both in-person and online services. Some of the highlights were an evening with Blessing Annatoria at Real Lives, the ‘Taste of all Nations’ event and the Christmas carol services.

The current AV equipment continues to function well for the needs within the church building and has only required a few minor expenditures for general replacements. Again a special word of thanks to Andy Small and Adam Stylo who have dedicated a huge amount of time and effort this year to technical support and training.

Jim Beswick

Deanery Synod

St Mary’s is part of the Maidenhead and Windsor Deanery Synod, which met three times during 2023, all in person, in February, May and October.

The February meeting heard from different parishes about their experiences of studying the Bible, including a contribution from Lindsay Reisser-Weston on behalf of St Mary’s. In May the focus was a General Synod report, along with sharing experiences of online church. In September the Bishop of Reading gave her opinion on the state and future of the Church of England. The Living in Love and Faith proposals in the Church of England were a significant topic in two meetings. Daniel Matovu and Gracy Crane continued to give feedback from General Synod.

Please pray for wisdom in how we relate to the Deanery as the impact of disagreements in the wider Church of England continues to grow.

Thomas Walton

Third Thursday Table

This is our monthly lunch for those who would like company during the day, and includes (as well as a delicious hot meal), a testimony and singing a hymn. Between 50-70 people attend each month and have enjoyed meeting old and new friends, hearing stories from the lives of others in the church family, and singing together. Many thanks to Sara Hewins and the team who prepare and serve the food each month. An increasing number of visitors are now coming along and are being introduced to the Christian Faith.

In August we ran a ‘Holiday at Home’ to which about 20 came and had fun together – and heard a fascinating testimony.

Rachel Meynell

Ministry to Ukrainians

Much of this ministry is one-to-one, reaching out through friendship and speaking God’s word into extremely challenging and often very upsetting situations. The knowledge of Jesus our Rock when all other hope fails, and of God’s eternal and unbiased justice, meet the deepest needs in a way that human words and empathy alone, cannot.

The more visible side of this ministry is the weekly Ukrainian+ Welcome Hub. We pray that they will experience the love of Jesus through our work. We provide wide-ranging advice, from renting to quiet cycle routes and link people in to the other support groups in Maidenhead and Windsor. We also play games for people to practise their English, and there is much laughter!

From the Hub, some then also start to attend the St Mary’s English classes or children’s and youth groups and to come to church on Sundays. Since May we have translated the 9.15am Sunday service sheets and sermon into Ukrainian – thankfully, with the help of a Ukrainian friend since the autumn! Some families sent their children to the Holiday Club. At the Taste of All Nations event the Ukrainians were one of the largest group of contributors, providing at least 15 different foods.

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In March we set up the St Mary’s Recycle Group on Facebook, to assist Ukrainians and refugees as well as to provide an outlet for members of the church family to pass on items to each other. This has been very successful and some have come to hear God’s word on Sundays directly as a result of receiving items from the Recycle Group.

We continue to pray that more members of the church family will come alongside in friendship. Most Ukrainians here are women with children, so it would be wonderful to have families with children of a similar age befriending them. If your child goes to one of St Mary’s weekday clubs, why not invite the Ukrainian child in their class? They (or their mum) will almost certainly know about St Mary’s.

If you wish to get involved with this ministry – by praying, or getting alongside Ukrainians, or as a sponsor (many are still needed), do contact me.

Jo Jobson

Flower Ministry

Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these . Luke 12:27

We, as a team, try to do justice to the beauty of the flowers we arrange, either bought or grown in our gardens. We enjoy decorating the church and the chapel each week. This year, we have embraced bio floral foam to further lessen our ecological impact.

Although it has been a difficult year, the flower team have been so supportive and encouraging, tackling everything with cheerfulness and enthusiasm. We (Sylvine Andrews, Kim Boulter, Donna Stimson and I) are delighted to welcome Victoria Parker, who joined the team in December 2023.

We are extremely grateful to our regular contributors who fund the flower ministry. Although we make every effort to stretch the weekly budget, sadly the price of flowers has continued to increase, and we would welcome any new donors from the Church family.

Naomi Khoo

Music Ministry

We are particularly grateful to the Lord for the provision of Jonathan Hayward, who starts as our part-time Director of Music in the summer. This is a wonderful answer to prayer, and it will be a great benefit to have someone to lead and develop the music ministry. Although we have many people ‘on our books’ across the church (it has been a particular joy to have such a numerous choir these last two Christmases) the different congregations rely for the most part on small teams of singers and instrumentalists week by week. We are very grateful to all those who give their time and use their gifts so sacrificially, and especially to the music coordinators who bear a particular responsibility for the rotas and song choices for each congregation. We are always keen for new musicians to get involved; consult your congregational music coordinator in the first instance! In the meantime, please pray for Jonny as he prepares to move to Maidenhead (and gets married!), and for all our music to be used by the Lord for His glory.

Matthew O'Donovan and James Ainscough

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Growth Groups

During 2023 there were around 35 Growth Groups which met regularly – most in people’s homes although some on the church site. Growth Groups are for the most part organised within congregations and are overseen by congregation leaders.

In the spring term Growth Groups studied the Old Testament book of Ruth and in the summer term, the New Testament book of 1 John. As a one-off, in the autumn term Growth Groups did the Christianity Explored course. The idea was that groups would be helped in their faith and evangelism by revisiting the fundamentals of the gospel and studying Mark. It was hoped that people might feel more familiar with the course and so able to invite friends to come or that they might run their own Christianity Explored courses with their friends.

We are very grateful indeed for the hard work and commitment of Growth Group leaders who not only prepare and lead week-by-week but also care for the members of their groups pastorally and attend three Growth Group leaders’ meetings per year.

Ian Miller

Men’s Daytme Bible Study

It is with great sadness that we had to say goodbye to two of our regular members in the last year. As the church family would know dear Cliff Ballinger and Roger Hines went to be with the Lord. We rejoice that they are with their saviour who they loved so dearly.

We have had some new members join and a change in leader as well. The group is doing well and is a blessing to everyone that attends. Anyone who is able to make it on a Thursday morning at ten is welcome to join.

Jan Strydom

Pastoral Care

The Pastoral Care ministry aims to look after those in the congregations who are vulnerable or undergoing hard times. This has been done by:

Sharon Bedford continues to work as our Pastoral Intern, meeting with church family one to one to help them talk through their struggles in the light of Scripture.

The Pastoral Team (Rachel Meynell, Sharon Bedford and John Driscoll) has been meeting to think and pray about how we can grow our pastoral ministry as we meet with church family 1-1, and through the events we run.

We also ran two Welcome teas at church, to welcome newcomers and show them around the site.

Rachel Meynell

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St Mary’s Blog / Touchline

The blog found a new home on the new website in the year but continues to record the activities of the St Mary’s Church family and updates from mission partners through the year. Written by many different authors, these reflect the diverse voices that make up the St Mary’s family. I am very grateful for all those that contribute and provide such a rich record of our church family life. Praise God for all who contributed.

All the articles and photos on the blog are collated and published as Touchline, the regular church magazine. Special thanks to the proof reader and Touchline compiler for their work through the year behind the scenes. If you would like to find out more, or to suggest or write articles, to proof read or compile Touchline, please do contact me.

John Furley

Women’s Ministry

We long to see each woman in the church growing in her relationship with Jesus and living a godly life, whatever God has called her to. This happens as we study God’s word together, and as we build encouraging and godly friendships.

To this end we run:

Thank you so much to those who have made all these events possible, and to Heidi Cooper and Yanzi Muir who are on the Women’s Ministry Team.

Rachel Meynell

Ministry among Internatonals in Maidenhead

As we long to share the gospel and show God’s love to those whom He has brought to our town from around the world, we have run:

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We have the morning sermon translated into Spanish most weeks – this was a simultaneous translation happening in the church hall, but is now a printed translation. We also sometimes have the sermon summary translated into Chinese, Farsi and Ukrainian.

Many thanks to Jason and Laura Swain, Jo Jobson, Debra Jonkers, Marcela Taylor, Minoosh and Sharon Yeung as well as all the other volunteers who enable this work to happen.

Rachel Meynell

MISSION

Mission Strategy Commitee

The purpose of the Mission Strategy Committee [MSC] is to devise a strategy for our support of missions and to bring to the PCC recommendations of which Christian organisations and individuals we should support. The committee meets around 3 times a year. Current members are: Anthony Kan (Chair), David Howes (Mission Treasurer), Damian Eustace, Jo Jobson, Jennie Kemp (Secretary of the Mission Strategy Committee), Rose Matovu and Adam Stylo. In 2023 as a church we gave £88,025 towards the support of mission partners and gospel charities, of which £1,475 came from the Mission Hardship Fund which was established in 2020 to support a number of Mission Partners and Gospel organisations with whom we have had dealings who have experienced financial difficulties because of the global pandemic.

In 2022, we said goodbye to Greg and Jill Vine, and Luke and Mary Foster who have finished their ministry and returned to the UK. We have not replaced the Vines and the Fosters but have reallocated their support funds to better support the other remining mission partners.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jo Jobson for heading up the Mission Partner Support Group and also the members of the MPSG acting as mission links with our Mission Partners.

Thanks must also go to David Howes for all the research he does in administering the Mission Budget. David Howes acts as treasurer for both the MSC and the MPSG.

Anthony Kan

Mission Partner Support Group

The MPSG provides pastoral care for St Mary’s mission partners and connects the mission partners with the church family. Each mission partner has a mission link who keeps in regular contact. The MPSG is responsible for mission prayers, mission presentations, pairings of growth groups with mission partners, activities on World Focus Sunday and for the BBQ.

Penny and Juan Carlos (Peru) and Steven and Jo (Malawi) visited on furlough and took part in many of the church activities, which was a great blessing. Harrison from iServe Africa came for the Mission BBQ, together with Angy, Wayne and our local mission partners. Paul was commissioned for a new ministry in Africa. We give God great thanks for our mission partners serving in such a wide variety of ministries and locations. Please pray regularly for them, and for a deepening knowledge of our own partnership with them in advancing the Gospel.

Jo Jobson

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CHILDREN’S & YOUTH WORK

Children’s Work

Working with the children and volunteers has been an absolute joy this past year.

There is a lot going on with the children’s work throughout the year. We have our regular weekly Sunday School work at the 9.15am, 11am, and 4pm services.

We also run our midweek outreach club called ‘ 7Up ’ for children of ages 7-11. This happens on a Wednesday evening, where our church kids are encouraged to bring their friends to hear more about Jesus.

We have annual activities, including Explorers Adventure . This was 5 days away in May to an activity centre in Oxford called ‘Adventure Plus’. This week includes exciting activities and day trips, as well as a time for the children to really think for themselves about who they believe Jesus is.

Holiday Club is also a highlight of the year. At the end of August, many will come to find out more about Jesus. Some for the very first time.

School assemblies are another great opportunity to share the good news of Jesus with children and staff around Maidenhead.

While all of this is so exciting, it only happens a few hours every week, and so it is the parents who are doing the bulk of the work in teaching their children about Jesus. In my first year as Children’s Minister here at St Mary’s, I have felt so supported and encouraged as I have partnered with many parents and church family members in this exciting ministry.

I am so grateful for everyone who has worked extremely hard as helpers and leaders in many of our groups. It is all so important as we seek to teach the children the good news of Jesus Christ.

Children’s Sunday Work

Every Sunday, our team of helpers, leaders, and parents teach our children, in age-appropriate groups, the good news of Jesus Christ. I am so thankful for everyone who has been serving with Creche, Scramblers, Climbers, CATs, Explorers, and Pathfinders. It’s been so encouraging to see the children learn and grow in their understanding and love for the Lord Jesus Christ. I am also very thankful for all of the parents, and how they have been bringing their children to church even when it is hard.

As well as our weekly Sunday School groups, we also have a Family Focus slot during the church service, where we have a time all together as church family, growing in our love for Christ.

This past year, we have learnt about what God’s creation can teach us about Him. We have thought about who we are as image bearers, and we have also done a brief overview of God’s Big Picture. This has been a great opportunity to learn more about God, about who He is, and who we are as people who follow Him.

We also had various All-Age services, where we have an opportunity to worship together and learn together as a whole church family. We had these for Good Friday, Remembrance Sunday, and a couple at Christmas, both an All-Age Carol service and an All-Age Christingle Service. These were well attended and very energetic.

We also had ‘Combined Activities’ for all primary school aged children. These happen on Easter Day, Christmas Day, and also throughout the summer holidays to give our Sunday School leaders a break. It is certainly a lot of fun to see the children together, having a great time playing games, and learning about the Lord together.

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7UP

Our weekly kids outreach club, ‘7Up’, has been hugely encouraging. This is a great opportunity for our church children to bring along their friends and to share Jesus with them.

Our team consists of 9 leaders (5 adults, 4 teenagers). Together as a team, it has been brilliant to see how the leaders are growing in their roles as leaders and teachers. It is always an encouragement to see the teenagers getting alongside the children and praying for them each week.

We usually get around 20/25 children each week. They join us for some free time to start with, choosing between noisy, sporty games in the hall or more relaxed board games in the Nash room. We then all join together for a big game in which everyone gets involved (yes even the leaders).

After that, we have our talk. This is usually a 7-minute talk, and we use this time to answer big questions about God and to think about what the Bible says. Our topics this past year have included:

It’s been great to see children coming back week by week, asking questions and getting excited about Jesus. We’ve even seen children inviting their friends from school, and then those friends have been inviting their friends from school. What a joy to see , ia] how God has been at work in these children.

Please keep praying for us as leaders, that we will continue to grow in our love for the Lord and for these children.

Please keep praying for the church children who come each week, that they will grow in their understanding of who Jesus is, and in their desire to see their friends understand who Jesus is.

Please keep praying for the non-church children, who come along and hear the Bible read and explained. Pray that the Lord will do a mighty work in them and bring them to love and know Jesus as their saviour.

Schools Work

Each week during term time, I have many opportunities to engage with the local schools around Maidenhead, and to share the gospel with them.

Every week I go into Oldfield and Holyport primary schools, where we read a true story from the Bible which the children will act out. I then explain the story afterwards with a short talk, applying the gospel to the children’s lives, encouraging them to think about who Jesus is and how He can affect our lives.

I also go into Woodlands Park in partnership with St Mary’s White Waltham, where we do similar assemblies. It’s such a joy to see different children from different backgrounds all taking part in learning about Jesus, and it is my prayer that the Lord may use these opportunities to show them who He is.

I am also hugely thankful that the schools allow us to go in, and am hugely thankful for the lovely and supportive staff at these schools. Please do be praying for them too, that they may be struck by Jesus as they see and hear these assemblies take place.

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Each year, we run 2-hour presentations in the church for the Year 6 children in schools around Maidenhead. These are called Easter Cracked and Christmas Unwrapped, and they give us an opportunity to discuss the true meaning of Easter and Christmas, and why we are so excited as Christians as we celebrate these festivals.

We give the children an opportunity to read the Bible for themselves, to see what God really says. We think about the facts about Easter and Christmas, and then give the children an opportunity to ask ‘The Nutty Professor’ any questions that they would like. We always get really interesting questions, and these give us a great opportunity to speak more openly about the gospel.

Please do be praying for the children in these schools, for their families, and for the teachers. That as they hear who Jesus is, and what He has done for us, that they might want to come and hear more about Him.

Holiday Club

Holiday Club is a real highlight of the year! It gives our children another opportunity to invite their friends to a fun and engaging event here at church, where they will be told the gospel plainly.

In 2023, we went ‘ Under the Sea ’ in our yellow submarine. All the children were put into their own teams, all named after different sea creatures.

The whole church site was transformed into an underwater reef, with the help of many of our amazing volunteers. We had just under 100 children joining us, with around 80 volunteers. They all took part in fun games in the garden, and incredible crafts designed by our brilliant craft team.

In our main sessions, we were led in singing by our ‘ASea D-Sea’ band, and were thrilled to have James Dancer from Windsor Fellowship to lead us in our teaching. He taught us that Jesus is God, and that He died and rose again to bring us eternal life that we can look forward to. We also learnt a new song to go with that, ‘He’s Coming Back’ by Awesome Cutlery reminded us of the amazing hope that we have as followers of Christ.

Unfortunately, I was struck with illness on the second day of Holiday Club. However I was so amazed to see how our incredible church family stepped up to make it all happen, and to provide a fun, exciting, and gospelgrounded Holiday Club. I am so thankful for everyone that helped to make it all work. We have an amazing church family who love the Lord and love His people. And we have an incredible God who, despite our weakness, works through us to bring others to Him.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10)

Nick McDonald

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Minor Key

Minor Key is our young people’s music group for those in school years 6-13 (aged 10-18) running on a Friday night alongside X and Shift Focus. Non-church friends are most welcome. The aim is for all to develop their musical gifts in serving God and their church family (as well as having fun!).

It is a real blessing to support the partnership between St Mary’s and White Waltham Church – our members and leaders are made up from both churches and we lead music at both across the year. We have 23 young people, who sing, or play – saxophone, flute, oboe, clarinet, trumpet, violin, organ, keyboard and drums.

The highlight of our year is always singing an anthem in the evening Carol Service. This year, our White Waltham young people also joined the adult choir there to repeat the anthem for their carol service, which was a real encouragement to the congregation.

Please praise God for our young people as they serve the church and for the leaders who give up their time to help John and I. Please pray that we would see some non-Christian friends coming along this year.

Katie and John Croft

Toddler and Baby Ministry

St Mary’s runs toddler groups two mornings a week as a way of reaching out to the community with the gospel, and also providing support for young families. The mornings consist of time to play, refreshments for adults and toddlers, a time of singing with a Bible story, and a craft themed to go with the Bible story. We also run a weekly New Parent’s support group on Thursday mornings for new mums to find friends and help for the early days.

About 60 families now come on site each week for the various groups – with many different nationalities represented. Our aim is to build relationships with the families (nannies, parents and grandparents), so that through our actions we can demonstrate the love of Christ and through our words to share the good news of Jesus.

We have run some other events where we have been able to explain the gospel. Some of the mums came to the Gingerbread evening, and a few families to the toddler Christingle service before Christmas, as well as running Christmas and Easter services on the toddler mornings. We also give them all Christmas and Easter books to read at home.

We praise God for these opportunities, and continue to pray that He would raise up more workers for this harvest field.

Huge thanks to Debra Jonkers, Nicola Winson and Heidi Cooper and the teams of volunteers who make this ministry possible and who run these groups so faithfully.

Rachel Meynell

Youth Work

We are very grateful to God for all the work He has been doing in the lives of our young people throughout 2023.

Sunday Youth Ministry

In Pathfinders we started the year by studying chapters 11 and 12 of the book of Hebrews, as did the adults in the sermons. It was exciting and challenging as sometimes we had to spend time telling the Old Testament stories so that what the author of Hebrews was saying made sense! 1 Peter was covered in the summer term and Romans in the Autumn term, both of which drew out great conversations about grace and salvation. Most encouraging was starting up a small Pathfinders’ group at the 11am service. Please be praying as we seek to grow this.

Afterchurch has been a source of real encouragement as we get to spend time with the older teenagers, wrestling with what they’ve heard in the sermon, or discussing what they have read during their daily devotions during the week. It is great to have the preachers and other adults get involved to help disciple the young people in this way.

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Growth Groups

Studying the book of Ruth at the beginning of the year was such a joy and so much fun. The concept of Jesus, our Redeemer was comforting and recognising God’s incredible plan played out in normal lives was exciting. Focusing on being children of God as we studied 1 John followed up well. In the Autumn term we deviated from studying the same as the adults as we worked through a series of studies called ‘Church, God’s Masterpiece’.

X Focus and Shift Focus

Our two Friday night youth groups, X Focus for years 6-9 and Shift Focus for years 9-13 (the young people can move up to Shift Focus during year 9), are times of fun and opportunities for the young people to ask more questions. We finished the Bible overview in the Spring term, then looked at the Essentials of Christianity. After the summer we worked through the first few chapters of Luke’s gospel. The number of young people from families not connected with St Mary’s is increasing so please do pray for the Youth Christianity Explored course we will be inviting them to in the Spring term of 2024.

Weekends Away

In March we had our Senior Youth Weekend Away at a new venue in Wokingham called Oakwood Activity Centre, and invited the young people at St James’, Gerrards Cross to join us. Ross Mungavin from St James’ led us through what the Bible teaches us about the Holy Spirit. Then in October we headed back there for our Junior Youth Weekend Away. At JYWA we looked at some of the ‘I am’ claims of Jesus, what they show us about Jesus and how they give us confidence that He is the Son of God.

Summer Camps

Summer camps ran as usual in 2023 and were very popular. We sent leaders and members to over 12 different camps during the holidays. Summer Camps are always a time of growth and renewed commitment to our Lord for our young people and a time of great encouragement for leaders as they see our young people’s love for Jesus grow.

Student Time Away

In September, those about to set off for university spent a couple of days together at The Pines, looking in the Bible for guidance around issues that affect new students. It was a very relaxed time, with walks, movies, an enormous water balloon fight and some outstanding cooking!

Parents Evening

At the end of March, Nick McDonald and I ran a seminar called Identity Matters with a small group of parents. Nick led us through the material that Faith in Kids has developed to help us talk to younger children about such matters, and then we looked at how society got to the stage where identity is a matter of feelings and choice rather than being defined by our creator God.

Melinda Stylo

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SAFEGUARDING

We are committed to safeguarding children, young people, victims, perpetrators of domestic abuse and vulnerable adults.

All those involved at St Mary’s with Children's and Youth work, with Growth Groups, Visiting team or on the Staff, Congregation Oversight Teams or PCC comply with the Church of England’s policies on recruitment and best practice in Safeguarding and are engaging with the relevant training.

I am grateful to everyone for their compliance with the required training courses and especially to Janet Wood for helping with the task of administering the Safeguarding at St Mary’s. This is a huge job with over 250 people on our lists as helping in some capacity.

Kate Wheatley

RESOURCES

Library

I do hope you have made use of our Church Library during the past year. We have a wide range of books that are available to borrow. Many new books have been added during the past year and I would like to thank everyone who donated books to the library.

If you borrowed books and have not yet returned them, but have finished using them, please return them so others may borrow them too.

Thank you to all of you who have used the Church library.

Janet Huisman

Books @ St Mary’s 2023

The aim of our book work at St Mary’s is to recommend and make accessible books that will inspire, encourage and challenge us in our Christian walk.

In 2023 we held 3 book sales, each across all 5 services. 2 (February and June) were St Mary’s led, each with a selection of around 15 books chosen by St Mary’s staff. Around 400 books were purchased.

The autumn book sale was run by Christian bookseller, ’10 of Those’ who brought along a large selection of books.

In addition, devotionals for Lent and Advent were recommended and available for purchase at the appropriate times.

Sara Hewins

Care Fund

What is the Care Fund?

The aim of the Care Fund is to demonstrate practical Christian care for members of the Church family facing unusual and primarily finance-related difficulties.

The Fund was established in March 1988 for financial support to be considered by an independent team and kept separate from pastoral needs referred to the clergy, if this is considered appropriate.

The Fund is topped up to a value of £4,000 at the beginning of each calendar year.

What assistance is provided by the Care Fund?

Assistance is usually provided by one or more of the following means:

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Who administers the Care Fund?

The Fund is administered by four trustees, who are: Neil McDonald, Jenny Taylor, Janet Wood and David Robinson.

The Fund is operated through a dedicated bank account, which the trustees administer. The same company audits the Fund as the main church accounts.

The trustees meet together at least quarterly, maintaining a confidential record listing names of beneficiaries and grants made.

Neil McDonald

Secton 3: Atendance

Jane Thrift

Secton 4: Operatons and Fabric Report

Our role as operations managers is to ensure that appropriate systems are implemented to meet the needs of all the ministries of the church. The areas of church life that come under operations are the management of church properties, health and safety, legislative compliance, succession planning, recruitment and care of staff, change management, communications, events, AV, IT, administration and church office and data management. In 2023 we were very well assisted by Jane Thrift and Jan Strydom, and Scott Bedford joined the operations team in November. Many volunteers also work hard to ensure operations run smoothly and we are very grateful for all they do.

2023 has been a year of quite a few staff changes and we have a robust system of recruitment and HR processes in place to deal with this.

We completed the annual update of our terrier and detailed asset register and submitted all the required reports to the diocese and charities commission. 2023 was the year of our parish inspection and the quinquennial inspection.

We continued to manage the rental of our church-managed properties. Work was done to secure lease extensions on the eight flats in St Andrew’s House. Maintenance work on the site has continued including the redecoration of the Vicar’s office. With the large increase in energy costs, we continue to work hard to reduce our energy footprint. The church boiler and heating system continue to require a lot of ongoing maintenance.

At the end of the year our new website went live after many months of planning and tweaking. It reflects the life of St Mary’s well and the church family are now able to book for events easily. Other areas of communication with the church family are working effectively, the weekly update email, the blog and Touchline, and we are very grateful to all those involved in putting them together, particularly John Furley and Heather Evans.

We are grateful to Jim Beswick, the AV committee and volunteers, and the IT committee for the work they have done to keep our processes running well. We are thankful for the Welcome teams at each of our Sunday services.

We have ensured that St Mary’s remains up to date and compliant with legislation (health and safety, fire, data privacy) and with all safeguarding practices recommended by the diocese.

Dick West and John Blackbeard

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Secton 5: Churchwardens’ Report 2023

Following a year of Interregnum, we are immensely grateful for the Lord’s generous provision on the St Mary’s staff team; Jon Drake completed his first year as our new Vicar, Ian Miller stepped up from Curate into the role of Associate Vicar in July and Adam Curtis joined us as our second Associate Vicar in September. All three have settled into their new roles very well.

In 2023 we also said farewell to two much loved sisters from the staff team; Kate Wheatley retired as Children’s Minister after many years of fantastic service and having coached and mentored Nick McDonald over an extended period to step up into the role (Kate continues in her role of Safeguarding Officer). We also said goodbye to Melinda Stylo, our Youth Minister, who sadly had to step down due to ill health, having done a tremendous job across the last few years in building this critical ministry. We miss Kate and Melinda very much and thank them for their loyal service, and we are grateful for their continued fellowship in our Church family.

This year, we had both the Parish and Quinquennial inspections in October and November respectively. Both reports were very complementary on the standards that are being maintained at St Mary’s and we give great thanks for the Operations Team who manage the site and operations so effectively.

All of this took place against the challenging and disappointing backdrop of General Synod voting in favour of prayers of blessing for couples in same sex relationships. This took significant time investment from the PCC to think through and implement our response, which included diverting a portion of our Parish Share to supporting gospel ministry within faithful churches in the Diocese, and sadly, writing to the Diocesan Bishop to inform him that we can no longer be in communion with him or the 3 area Bishops whilst they continue to deviate from scripture on this matter of primary importance. We continue to pray for a change of heart from the Bishops and we ask God to watch over us and protect us from any distraction from our primary task of ensuring the gospel is heard at St Mary’s and the community around us.

Finally, we give huge thanks for God’s blessing of a faithful church family, who continue to give so generously of their time, money and resources to St Mary’s. This is something we do not take for granted and we are very grateful to be in such a good position going into the new year of 2024.

Below are a few key areas of focus as we review 2023 and consider the challenges that lie ahead:

Buildings and Property

As churchwardens we are responsible for the maintenance of the buildings on our church site. We are very grateful to the Operations Team, led by Dick West and John Blackbeard, who oversee all repairs, maintenance and improvements on our behalf.

We are also grateful to A&M Trust, for continuing to allow us to use their buildings free of charge on condition we maintain them and pay for the running costs. In 2023, A&M Trust completed the purchase of a four bedroom house in Grafton Close which is now being occupied by the Miller Family, and we rented out 1 Hemsdale for a number of months generating some income before Adam Curtis joined us in August 2023.

This year, we also completed lease extensions on the 8 flats in St Andrew’s House, where the Church owns the freehold.

We continue to maintain the site which involved some redecoration and refurbishment in 2023 to ensure it is fit for purpose and maintained to a good standard.

Church Terrier and Inventory

The Terrier and Record of Inventory have been duly updated.

Further, in 2023 we had both Parish and Diocesan inspections; The Parish Inspection (which usually takes place every 3 years) was conducted in October followed in November by the Quinquennial inspection (which takes place every 5 years). The purpose of these inspections is to check the fabric of the buildings, the church Terrier and Inventory, as well as to ensure we are maintaining the properties and are compliant in all areas including employment and Health and Safety. Both reports were very complementary regarding the standards that are being maintained. Once again, we are very thankful to the operations team for their leadership and diligence in keeping our Church to these high standards.

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Finances

We thank God for His continued provision and generosity to us through the last year. Our planned giving, donations and collections income went up from £526,312 in 2022 to £534,189 in 2023. We are very grateful that the Lord’s people at St Mary’s give faithfully and sacrificially and do so mainly via our Regular Giving Scheme. This enabled us to end 2023 with a surplus of General Funds of £65,939.

We are grateful to the finance team for all their work, and for the provision of the Care Fund and Vicar’s Discretionary Fund to support church members in times of need across this challenging year.

Staffing

2023 was a year of change with a number of staff changes.

Jon Drake was instituted and inducted to be our new Vicar in February 2023. He continued to lead the 9:15am and 11 am congregations until September when Adam Curtis joined the ministry team as the second Associate Vicar and took on the leadership of the 9:15am congregation. In the meantime, Jon will continue to lead the 11 am service. Also, in September, Richard Crane moved from his full-time staff role to part-time as he starts his ordination training. Richard continues to lead the 6:30pm congregation. Ian Miller stepped up to Associate Vicar in July and continues to be responsible for the 4pm and 8am services.

Kate Wheatley retired in July and Nick McDonald stepped up to take charge of the children’s ministry. Kate continues to be part of the St Mary’s family and is still involved with the weekly children’s work. In December, Melinda Stylo stepped down as our Youth Minister for personal health reasons. She is greatly missed, though still very much involved in the work. We pray for the Lord’s continued blessing on Melinda and the Stylo family. We advertised and had a first round of interviews in November for a new Youth Minister but concluded that none of the prospective candidates were ideally suitable. A second round of interviews is planned for early 2024. In the meantime, Adam Curtis is helping to lead the youth ministry, ably supported by an army of volunteers who give their time sacrificially for both the children and youth ministries weekly. We thank the Lord for blessing us with these ministries.

On the operations side, John Blackbeard announced that he would step down as part-time operations manager in Q2 2024 and we thank the Lord that Dick West is able to take on the added responsibilities with two extra days a week. Due to Jan and Elna Strydom’s move to Wales, Jan could not continue in his full-time role and agreed to work two days a week. Scott Bedford was appointed in January 2024 to work together with Jan to ensure the efficient and smooth running of the church facilities.

We advertised for the Director of Music in 2023 and we are pleased that we have appointed Jonathan Hayward who will start as part-time Director of Music in July 2024.

We give thanks to the Lord for our staff team: a group of godly and humble people who love the Lord and their calling to St Mary’s to minister to the church family and to make Jesus known to our parish. We thank the Lord too for their unity in supporting one other during a year of changes.

Challenges, Opportunities and Looking Forward

With the country becoming increasingly secular and turning away from the church and the Church of England being embroiled in the Prayers of Love and Faith controversy, an evangelical church like St Mary’s must stand firm with like-minded churches to uphold the truth of scripture.

There are many challenges facing our church in 2023 and it will be too easy to be overwhelmed. Under the leadership of our vicar Jon Drake and the PCC, we have been able to plan our responses to these challenges in measured and considered ways.

Prayers for Love and Faith (PLF)

The PCC met each development with a proportional manner whilst at the same time keeping the church family updated. We are continuing to react appropriately to the ongoing changes as they develop and upholding the veracity and integrity of scripture.

Making Jesus Known

As the parish church in Maidenhead, we are ideally positioned to make Jesus known to the people of Maidenhead. Many have come to join our services due to the proximity of the church in the centre of town.

This gives us the ideal opportunity to make the Word known to those in Maidenhead and beyond.

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Church Unity, Love and Discipleship

With PLF, the church has remained united with the desire to be true to scripture. We are conscious that there may be those in the church family who may be sensitive to the events as they are developing. It is important that as a church family we embrace the differences in views and to love one another.

Looking Forward

PLF will be a continuing challenge going forward but it is important that the church is not consumed by it alone. The care and love of the church family must be foremost in the future and the fulfilment of the great commission to make disciples of all the nations its utmost objective.

Lindsay Reisser-Weston and Anthony Kan

Secton 6: Electoral Roll Report

The Electoral Roll was updated in April 2023. At this time there were 24 people resident in the parish, and 482 non-resident. The total was 506. The following members of the church family died between 1st January and 31st December 2023: Minomi Adejumo, Clifford Ballinger, Roger Hines, Peggy Morse, Jane Roxburgh, Len Spinks and Pam Tyrrell.

Secton 7: Report on PCC Proceedings 2023

It has been a year of faithfulness and commitment from the Parochial Church Council (PCC) as we have met regularly to discuss and debate the different topics over the past term. In the past term, the PCC consisted of 24 people (including four new members this term), a mix of clergy, wardens, lay and elected members, voted in by the parish or as part of the deanery and general synod (refer to Section 8.2). We are a diverse group, with representatives from all the five congregations. The PCC met every second Tuesday of the month except in August with an average of 17 in attendance. Meetings were held in-person, with an option for people to dial-in virtually if an important need arose.

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Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Sept Oct Nov Dec
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Figure 1: PCC Monthly Attendance in 2023 of a total of 24

This year’s Away Day on 10 June was held in The Tree House at St Mary’s White Waltham. As Jon had only been our vicar for a few months, he asked us to go through our vision, essentials and priorities for St Mary’s. It was a listening exercise for Jon and the whole PCC, rather than decision making. We took our vision statement, with its three essentials and three priorities, and for each of these had a discussion about the strengths and weaknesses of St Mary’s and opportunities for growth and development. We also spent time praying for St Mary’s and for each other.

Some topics of note during the year were the appointment of Jon as our new vicar and other Staffing and Recruitment, and the ongoing Relationship with the Diocese including our payment of Parish Share. There were updates on the General Synod and feedback and discussion on the topics of Overseas and UK Mission Giving and the Mission Partner Support Group which included guest speakers. Safeguarding and Finances are a regular part of the meetings. As a PCC, we thank the Lord for Anthony Kan and Lindsay ReisserWeston who have served us so well as churchwardens and for Phebe Tay who stepped down as PCC Secretary in October.

For those in the church family who are interested to understand and keep abreast of the topics discussed, minutes of the meetings are available for perusal on the website. If there are any topics which you think the PCC should consider, please do get in touch with me.

Please do continue to pray for the PCC at this time of challenge for our wider Church that we will keep walking with the Lord in truth and unity, and for wisdom in making decisions for the church, staying focused on our Lord Jesus in all that we do.

Fran Montgomerie – PCC Secretary

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Secton 8: Administratve Details

8.1 Church Details

Parochial Name St. Andrew and St. Mary Magdalene, Maidenhead, in the Deanery of Maidenhead, Diocese of Oxford Location Borough Church of St. Mary’s 14 High Street, MAIDENHEAD, Berkshire Postal Address St. Mary’s Church Office St. Mary’s Close, 14 High Street, MAIDENHEAD, Berkshire SL6 1YY Tel. No. 01628 638866

8.2 Membership of the PCC

Clergy, ex-officio and lay: Rev. Jon Drake, Rev. Ian Miller, Rev. Adam Curtis, Rev. Neil Watkinson

Churchwardens: Anthony Kan, Lindsay Reisser-Weston

Elected members: Scott Bedford, John Blackbeard, John Driscoll, Catriona Ketiar, Karnie Sharp, Penny Dee, Linsley Green, Sandra Brunt, Minoosh

Deanery Synod: Rob Hurley (until April 2023), Neil McDonald, Rhys Mitchell, Kate Wheatley, Rob Wingfield, Phebe Tay, Paul Muir, Sandra Brunt

Co-opted: Fran Montgomerie

Diocesan Synod: Thomas Walton

General Synod: Gracey Crane, Daniel Matovu

8.3 Staff Receiving Remuneration

Vicar Rev. Jon Drake Associate Minister i/c of women’s work and pastoral care Rachel Meynell Associate Vicar Rev. Ian Miller Associate Vicar Rev. Adam Curtis Minister i/c of 6:30 congregation Richard Crane Minister i/c of children’s work Kate Wheatley (until end of June) Children’s minister in training Nick McDonald Minister i/c of youth work Melinda Stylo Operations managers John Blackbeard and Dick West Administration manager Jane Thrift Facilities manager Jan Strydom and Scott Bedford

Secton 9: Structure, Governance and Management

9.1 Legal Status

The PCC is a corporate body established by the Church of England governed by two pieces of legislation: the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956 (as amended) and the Church Representation Rules (contained in Schedule 3 to the Synodical Government Measure 1969). It became a registered charity in January 2009 (No. 1127589) and the PCC members are trustees.

9.2 Appointment

Appointment of PCC members is governed by and set out in the Church Representation Rules.

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9.3 Recruitment, Training, Induction

Regular church members are encouraged to join the electoral roll, which makes them eligible for PCC membership. People are encouraged to stand for the PCC via the display of a nomination board for six weeks prior to the annual meeting. New PCC members are given a handbook outlining the roles and responsibilities of a PCC member within St Mary’s church, and explaining the conduct of business, and trustee responsibilities.

9.4 Monthly Meetings

The PCC meets monthly except during August, with additional meetings as required, including an annual Away day. It has established committees and project teams to help it with its work, and receives regular reports including minutes of meetings from these groups. The committees that helped the PCC discharge its various duties and responsibilities during 2023 were:

9.4.1 Standing Committee is required by law, and has power to transact the business of the PCC between meetings. It also deals on behalf of PCC with detailed matters relating to church assets and confidential matters. Membership in 2023 was the Vicar, chair of the Finance Committee, the Wardens and the PCC Secretary. The Minister in charge of Women’s Ministry and Pastoral Care, and the Operations Manager were also invited to attend.

9.4.2 The finance committee provides support for the treasurer, helping formulate financial policy and practices, and assisting in budget preparation and monitoring. This committee was chaired by John Blackbeard.

9.4.3 The mission strategy committee has developed a strategy for St Mary’s involvement in world mission. Its role is to review that strategy, consider new requests for support and termination of existing support, encourage greater involvement in mission, and present an annual budget to the PCC. This committee was chaired by Anthony Kan.

9.4.4 The mission partner support group implements the approved strategy and budget through contact with mission partners. It provides financial and other support to them according to agreed plans, and acts as the point of contact between them and the rest of the church, encouraging greater involvement and support. This group was chaired by Jo Jobson.

9.4.5 The overseas mission fund committee. Newly established in 2023 to seek out and recommend overseas mission opportunities to be funded from St Mary’s discretionary funds. This committee was chaired by Rhys Mitchell. All funding initiatives are approved by the PCC.

9.5 Risk Management

9.5.1 Safe Use of the Church Site: Legislative requirements are closely followed in relation to Health and Safety, Fire Safety and Food Hygiene. Any defects are reported to the Operations Managers and remedied quickly according to the level of risk. Appropriate training is given and one-off events are assessed for risk before being run. External organizations using the church site have their attention drawn to the need to follow appropriate practices.

9.5.2 Welfare: At St Mary’s we are committed to protect and safeguard all our members and work hard to ensure we are in line with current safeguarding practices recommended by the diocese. These recommendations include creating a safe environment, safe recruitment of staff and volunteers, training and DBS clearance. Assessments are made before events to ensure safeguarding, safety, insurance needs and financial implications have been taken in to account.

9.5.3 Financial: Prudent policies for the handling of money are in place. Major expenditure has to be approved by the PCC, which also approves an annual budget and receives quarterly monitoring reports. Cash flow is carefully managed, bills are paid promptly, and investment of any short-term funds carefully placed to ensure maximum return compatible with appropriate access.

9.5.4 Data: GDPR regulations which became law in 2018 are adhered to.

Lindsay Reisser–Weston and Anthony Kan

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Secton 10: Objectves and Actvites

The mission of the church is to know Jesus and to make Jesus known by:

The primary objective of the PCC is to work collaboratively with the vicar to direct the church’s mission to know Jesus and to make Jesus known by:

Lindsay Reisser–Weston and Anthony Kan

Secton 11: Financial Review

The work at St Mary’s is funded mainly by voluntary donations (85%) plus income from interest, lettings, fees and rent.

Total unrestricted income in 2023 was £764,871 (2022: £689,319) with regular expenditure on the work and ministry of the parish at £802,877 (2022: £761,402) to give a deficit of £38,006 (2022: deficit of £72,083).

John Blackbeard

Secton 12: Reserves Policy

PCC policy is to maintain a minimum bank balance equivalent to 3 months of running expenses (about £163,000) plus 12 months of giving to missions (about £87,000) giving a total of £250,000 to cover emergency situations that may arise from time to time.

John Blackbeard

Secton 13: Report on PCC Financial Actvites for 2023

St Mary’s is funded mainly by voluntary donations, including tax recovered on gift aid donations. This made up 85% of the unrestricted income. Other income including interest, lettings and rents make up the balance. Giving to our unrestricted general fund via the Regular Giving Scheme (RGS) in 2023 at £508,676 was £3,670 higher than RGS in 2022 of £505,006 and £36,844 higher than the budget. RGS continues to be central to St Mary’s financial income and is very important as our financial needs grow. We also thank the Lord for other one-off donations of £20,285.

The budget for 2023 had forecast a deficit of £35,751 on unrestricted general funds but God blessed us once again and we ended the year with a surplus of £65,939 for unrestricted general funds (as shown on page 40) due to income being higher than budget and expenditure being lower. Collections at services of £5,228 was slightly over budget and exceeded the amount from last year. Income from Ministry events was higher than planned as more events took place. Costs of ministry events at £16,571 was also significantly higher than budget. Hire charges for halls and rooms was £7,003 and rental income from our properties was £65,115 but that included £36,358 one-off income from extending the lease on the flats in St Andrews House.

As a result of the changes taking place in the Church of England, the PCC decided in March 2023 that we could no longer remain in gospel partnership with the bishops in our diocese and we would no longer be net financial contributors to the finances of the diocese. We decided to pay a grant to the diocese in lieu of parish share to cover the cost of our vicar and curate, when we have one, plus a contribution to the costs of safeguarding services that we receive from the diocese. That amounted to £85,638 in 2023. The money that we would have paid to the diocese is now being paid via the Oxford Good Stewards Trust to pay for a children’s and family’s worker at St Paul’s Church in Slough. That was £30,000. We do this to ensure that all money given to us at St Marys is used to fund bible-based gospel work.

25

We completed the required maintenance and decoration of our buildings and facilities in 2023 and we again saved a considerable amount by having Jan Strydom and volunteers doing most of the work. We thank them. We spent £6,083 on maintaining our rental property 1 Hemsdale. Property costs totalled £50,668 compared to a budget of £55,233.

In the year, we continued to use ‘discretionary funds’ that were set aside in previous years to train Ministry Workers (Nick McDonald up to 30.6.2023) and to help those in need. We paid a total of £50,807 to several overseas missions over and above our normal giving to Missions.

Restricted fund income this year included amounts received for the Care Fund, associate vicar, various church groups, missionaries and our regular Harvest and Christmas appeals. Overall expenditure on restricted funds was £71,115. There was a surplus (after fund transfers) for the church groups, excluding the Care Fund, of £1,135 and an overall deficit for unrestricted and restricted funds of £38,198 for 2023 compared to a surplus £20,095 in 2022.

Looking ahead, the budget for 2024 follows on page 40. The PCC has decided to retain the position of only paying a grant to the diocese in lieu of parish share to cover the cost of our vicar and a contribution to safeguarding services that we receive. That will total £61,100 in 2024. The balance of what we would have paid to the diocese, £55,000, will be paid to St Paul’s in Slough to support their children’s and family’s worker.

Ministry staff salary costs are forecast at £239,122 versus actual in 2023 of £212,874. They are higher as Ian Miller is now paid by the PCC and Adam Curtis will be with us for a full 12 months this year. Nick McDonald is now paid by the PCC (no longer from discretionary funds) but that is offset as Kate has left. Administration costs at £39,782 will be lower than the £55,410 in 2023 as last year included a matching payment to the leaseholder due to the flats lease extension of £10,440. Planned giving to missions from unrestricted funds at £94,820 is 9% up on 2023 largely due to inflation. Other costs are increasing with inflation which is still high. We have worked hard to keep costs down where possible. The total costs for 2024 from unrestricted funds are budgeted at £770,355 and this includes £30,000 to other churches and missions and a further £70,476 for developing ministry leaders from discretionary funds plus £2,000 from designated funds for AV maintenance.

We were blessed to have 12 new people join RGS and 30 increase their giving during 2023. 11 people stopped giving and 2 people reduced their giving. The net result is that RGS income for 2024 is forecast to be lower than it was in 2023 (£484,421 compared to £508,676). Expenses are forecast to exceed income by £95,969 in 2024, but £30,000 to support St Pauls Slough and £50,000 for overseas missions and £57,556 for developing ministry leaders will be paid from discretionary funds and the £2,000 for AV from a designated fund. That leaves a budgeted deficit of general funds of £16,058. We have budgeted to fund that deficit from church reserves. It would be wonderful if RGS giving plus Gift Aid was higher by this amount as we would not have to use any of the reserves.

Please note that the official audited accounts are shown on pages 27 to 39. Additional information such as the budget for 2024 and a Summary of Church Based Organisations on pages 40 and 41 do not form part of the audited accounts.

John Blackbeard Chairman of the Finance Committee

26

Secton 14: Financial Report

Parochial Church Council of St Andrew & St Mary Magdalene, Maidenhead

Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 December 2023

Note
Income and endowments from:
Donatons and legacies
2a
Investments
2b
Church actvites
2c
Other income
2d
Total
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
3a
Charitable Actvites
Church actvites
3b
Mission grants and donatons
3c
Total
Net Income / (expenditure)
Transfers between funds
16
Other recognised gains / (losses)
Gain / (Loss) revaluaton of investment assets
6
Actuarial proft on defned beneft pension
scheme
17
Net movement in funds
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward		 Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds		 Endowment
Funds
Total
2023
Total
2022
£
£
649,430
56,045
82,224
-
32,483
14,322
734
-		 £
£
£
-
705,475
763,229
134
82,358
24,415
-
46,805
39,569
-
734
369
764,871
70,367		 134
835,372
827,582
14,731
-
621,039
26,025
167,107
45,090		 -
14,731
8,065
-
647,064
650,881
-
212,197
149,943
802,877
71,115		 -
873,992
808,889
(38,006)
(748)
(149)
283		 134
(38,620)
18,693
(134)
-
-
(38,155)
(465)		 -
(38,620)
18,693
-
-
-
-		 422
422
(598)
-
-
2,000
(38,155)
(465)
821,299
1,946,110		 422
(38,198)
20,095
4,484
2,771,893
2,751,798
783,144
1,945,645		 4,906
2,733,695
2,771,893

27

Parochial Church Council of St Andrew & St Mary Magdalene, Maidenhead

Balance sheet as at 31 December 2023

Note 2023 2022
£ £ £ £
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible assets 5 1,764,147 1,773,347
Investments 6 138,897 138,475
Total fixed assets 1,903,044 1,911,822
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors 7 58,145 49,786
Cash at bank and in hand 8 831,410 851,178
Total current assets 889,555 900,964
CURRENT LIABILITIES
Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year 9 (58,904) (40,893)
NET CURRENT ASSETS 830,651 860,071
TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 2,733,695 2,771,893
Defined Benefit Pension Scheme liability 17 - -
TOTAL NET ASSETS 2,733,695 2,771,893
THE FUNDS OF THE CHURCH: 10, 11
Endowment funds 4,906 4,484
Restricted funds 1,945,645 1,946,110
Unrestricted funds 783,144 821,299
2,733,695 2,771,893

The notes on pages 30 to 39 form part of these accounts.

Approved by the PCC on 26/03/2024 and signed on its behalf by:

Lindsay Reisser-Weston (Church Warden)

28

Parochial Church Council of St Andrew & St Mary Magdalene, Maidenhead

Cashflow Statement for the year ended 31 December 2023

Net Cash generated from operatng actvites (see below)
Cash fows from investng actvites
Dividends and interest from investments
Rent received from investments
Proceeds from the sale of:
Tangible fxed assets for the use of the PCC
Purchase of:
Tangible fxed assets for the use of the PCC (equipment)
Cash received from endowment capital
Net Cash provided by investng actvites
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the reportng period
Cash and cash equivalents at 1 January 2023
Cash and cash equivalents at 31 December 2023
Reconciliaton of net movements in funds to net cash fow
from operatng actvites
Net income/(expenditure) before investment (losses)/gains
for the year to 31 December 2023
Adjustments for:
Depreciaton
Loss/(proft) on sale of fxed asset - equipment
Dividends, interest and rent receivable from investments
(Increase)/decrease in debtors
Increase/(decrease) in creditors
Net cash provided by/(used in) operatng actvites
Analysis of cash and cash equivalents
Cash at bank and in hand (note 8)
Term and Notce deposits (note 8)		 £
14,608
69,346
-
(2,243)
134		 2023
£
(101,613)
81,845		 £
4,072
22,365
869
(4,610)
133		 2022
£
17,772
22,829
11,234
209
(82,358)
(5,518)
13,440		 13,491
(369)
(24,415)
2,283
8,089
(19,768)
851,178		 40,601
810,577
831,410 851,178
(38,620)
(62,993)		 18,693
(921)
(101,613) 17,772
382,462
448,948		 324,393
526,785
831,410 851,178

29

Parochial Church Council of St Andrew and St Mary Magdalene, Maidenhead

Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023

1 Accounting policies

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations together with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention except for investments, which are shown at market value where practical to separately value (see note 1h).

The Church constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.

There are no material uncertainties about the Church's ability to continue as a going concern.

1a Funds

Funds "designated by" the PCC for a purpose are unrestricted funds. Restricted funds are those funds that must be expended on a particular purpose specified by the donor. Endowment funds, where the capital must be retained intact, are explained below. All funds which are neither restricted or endowment funds are unrestricted.

The financial statements include all transactions, assets and liabilities for which the PCC is responsible by law.

Income and endowments

Collections are recognised when received by or on behalf of the PCC. Planned giving receivable under covenant or pledge is recognised only when received. Tax recoverable on Gift Aid donations is recognised in the period in which the donations are received. Grants and legacies to the PCC are accounted for as soon as the PCC is notified of its legal entitlement, it is probable that income will be received and the amount of income can be measured reliably.

For legacies, entitlement is taken as the earlier of the date the money is received or the date the Church is aware probate has been granted and notification has been received from the executor(s) that a distribution will be made. Furthermore, legacy income is only regarded as probable once any conditions attached to it have been met or are within the control of the Church.

Other income:

Rental income from the letting of church premises is recognised when the rental is due. Although the PCC treats most church buildings as restricted fund assets, rental income is considered to be unrestricted. Funds raised by church social events and other similar activities and from the sale of books and magazines is accounted for gross.

Income from investments:

Dividends and interest are accounted for when received except for interest arising on fixed rate deposits which is included on an accruals basis.

Gains and losses in investments:

Realised gains or losses are recognised when investments are sold. Unrealised gains or losses are accounted for on each revaluation.

Grants and donations are accounted for when paid over, or when awarded, if that award creates a binding obligation on the PCC. The diocesan parish share is accounted for when paid.

Governance costs include expenditure on compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements.

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligations committing the Church to that expenditure, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis. All expenses including support costs and governance costs are allocated or apportioned to the applicable expenditure heading. For the information on this attribution refer to note 1d.

30

Parochial Church Council of St Andrew and St Mary Magdalene, Maidenhead

Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023 (continued)

Support and governance costs have been allocated in their entirety to church activities, as it is the opinion of the trustees', that the majority of the support and governance costs relate to the furtherance of the Church’s' activities. Governance costs comprise all costs involving the public accountability of the Church and its compliance with regulation and good practice. These costs include costs related to statutory audit and legal fees.

The costs of generating funds consists of investment management costs and costs of generating book sales.

1f Charitable activities

Costs of charitable activities include grants made, governance costs, support costs and other costs relating to delivery of various church activities. These activities are further described in the Trustees' report.

1g Fixed assets

Consecrated and beneficed property of any kind is excluded from the financial statements in accordance with s.10 of the Charities Act 2011. Equipment used within the church premises is depreciated on a straight line basis over four years. No depreciation is provided on buildings as the Trustees currently estimate the residual value of the properties (discounted for monetary inflation since their capitalisation) is not less than their carrying value and the remaining useful life of these assets currently exceeds 50 years, so that any depreciation charges would be immaterial. If the carrying value of the buildings looks greater than their current value on this basis, an impairment review would be carried out and any resultant loss included in expenditure for the year.

1h Assets held for investment

Investments are a form of basic financial instrument and are initially recognised at their transaction value. COIF shares are shown at market value. By virtue of church property being owned in various ways and the property having mixed uses it is not always practical to revalue property held as an investment. Where it is practical, can be accomplished without undue cost and the effect is likely to be significant, investment properties are now stated at valuation. On the basis that it is not practical and the property cannot be valued without undue cost, the property has been valued at cost.

The Church does not acquire put options, derivatives or other complex financial instruments.

All gains and losses are taken to the Statement of Financial Activities as they arise. Realised gains and losses on investments are calculated as the difference between sales proceeds and their carrying value. Unrealised gains and losses are calculated as the difference between the fair value at the year end and their carrying value. Realised and unrealised gains and losses are shown separately in the Statement of Financial Activities.

The Church is a registered charity, and therefore is not liable for income tax or corporation tax on income derived from its charitable activities, as it falls within the various exemptions available to registered charities.

The PCC contributes to defined contribution and defined benefit pension schemes. Contributions to the defined contribution scheme are charged to the SOFA as incurred. The Church of England Funded Pension Scheme is a multi-employer pension scheme and it is not possible to identify the PCC's share of the underlying assets and liabilities so contributions are accounted for as if they were contributions to a defined contribution plan. The latest valuation of the Scheme has revealed a surplus, as explained in Note 17.

Trade and other receivables are measured at transaction price.

1l Financial liabilities

Trade creditors and other payables are measured at transaction price. Liabilities are recognised when there is an obligation to transfer economic benefits.

31

Parochial Church Council of St Andrew and St Mary Magdalene, Maidenhead

Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023 (continued)

2 Income and endowments from: Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Total Total
funds funds funds 2023 2022
£ £ £ £ £
2a Donatons and legacies
Planned giving:
Gif Aid donatons 443,342 600 - 443,942 446,995
Tax recoverable 112,741 5,325 - 118,066 119,678
Other planned giving 65,334 - - 65,334 60,111
Collectons 5,228 1,162 - 6,390 4,274
Donatons 20,285 28,012 - 48,297 99,570
Grants 2,500 - - 2,500 -
Gif days - 20,946 - 20,946 32,601
Legacies - - - - -
649,430 56,045 - 705,475 763,229
2b Investments
Rent 65,115 - - 65,115 17,977
Dividends and interest 17,109 - 134 17,243 6,438
82,224 - 134 82,358 24,415
2c Church actvites
Outreach events 15,186 - - 15,186 8,482
Fees 3,531 - - 3,531 3,536
Hire charges 7,003 - - 7,003 6,331
Church groups 4,075 14,322 - 18,397 17,612
Book sales 2,688 - - 2,688 3,608
32,483 14,322 - 46,805 39,569
2d Other income
Insurance claim/compensaton 734 - - 734 -
Proft on sale of equipment - - - - 369
734 - - 734 369
Total 764,871 70,367 134 835,372 827,582

32

Parochial Church Council of St Andrew and St Mary Magdalene, Maidenhead

Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023 (continued)

3
Expenditure
3a
Raising funds
Cost of generatng voluntary income
Bookstall costs
Investment management costs:
Rental property (fat 1, 2 and Hemsdale) expenses
3b
Church actvites
Diocesan share
Stpend, NI and pension
Other staf salary, NI and pension
Vicar’s expenses
Staf expenses
Staf accommodaton costs
Upkeep of services
Church running expenses
Church maintenance
Equipment maintenance
Contributon to vehicle hire costs
Garden maintenance
Catering
Depreciaton
Loss on disposal of equipment
Admin salaries, NI and pension
Ofce costs
Printng, postage and statonery
Bank charges
Advertsing and recruitment expenses
Legal and accountancy costs
Hall running costs
Church House running costs
Old Vic running costs
Outreach event costs
Church groups costs
Other ministry costs (Women, Men, Care, Youth)
Statutory audit fee (excluding VAT)
3c
Mission grants and donatons
Home mission & church societes
Overseas mission
Total resources expended		 Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Endowment
funds
Total
2023
Total
2022
£
£
£
£
£
-
-
-
-
174
3,849
-
-
3,849
3,981
10,882
-
-
10,882
3,910
14,731
-
-
14,731
8,065
85,638
-
-
85,638
105,640
30,032
9,811
-
39,843
39,972
184,621
-
-
184,621
180,391
991
-
-
991
1,560
6,118
924
-
7,042
8,257
26,733
-
-
26,733
37,824
7,178
-
-
7,178
7,630
9,581
-
-
9,581
10,596
8,960
-
-
8,960
7,368
163
-
-
163
1,255
-
-
-
-
1,375
609
-
-
609
411
3,715
1
-
3,716
4,202
11,234
-
-
11,234
13,491
209
-
-
209
-
118,238
-
-
118,238
113,785
8,330
-
-
8,330
5,621
6,848
-
-
6,848
5,347
565
-
-
565
540
3,892
-
-
3,892
2,045
35,775
-
-
35,775
21,024
18,540
-
-
18,540
19,163
15,613
-
-
15,613
19,146
7,987
-
-
7,987
7,685
16,571
275
-
16,846
8,425
4,329
14,644
-
18,973
16,379
3,344
370
-
3,714
6,754
5,225
-
-
5,225
4,995
621,039
26,025
-
647,064
650,881
79,215
21,857
-
101,072
80,331
87,892
23,233
-
111,125
69,612
167,107
45,090
-
212,197
149,943
802,877
71,115
-
873,992
808,889

33

Parochial Church Council of St Andrew and St Mary Magdalene, Maidenhead

Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023 (continued)

4
Staf costs
Wages and salaries
Social security costs
Pension costs
Average headcount of staf employed by the PCC (including those paid indirectly)
Average number of full-tme equivalent staf paid directly or indirectly by the PCC
No employees received emoluments (excluding employer pension costs) of more than £60,000.		 Total 2023
Total 2022
£
£
301,093
291,273
24,181
23,412
17,429
19,761
342,703
334,446
9.5
10.1
7.6
7.9
5
Tangible assets
(All held for Church charitable objectves)
Cost or valuaton
At beginning of the year
Additons
Disposals
At end of the year
Depreciaton and impairments
At beginning of the year
Charge for year
Eliminated on disposal
At end of the year
Net book value at beginning of the year
Net book value at end of the year
6
Investments
Cost or valuaton
At beginning of the year
Additons
Disposals
Revaluaton
At end of the year
Depreciaton and impairments
At beginning of the year
Charge for year
At end of the year
Net book value at beginning of the year
Net book value at end of the year
Other investments comprise:
217 CBF C of E Investment Fund Income Shares
7
Debtors
Income tax recoverable
Prepayments
Accrued income		 Freehold land &
buildings		 Long
Leasehold
Propertes		 Plant and
Equipment
Total
£
1,759,462
-
-		 £
-
-
-		 £
£
185,355
1,944,817
2,243
2,243
(419)
(419)
1,759,462 - 187,179
1,946,641
-
-
-		 -
-
-		 171,470
171,470
11,234
11,234
(210)
(210)
- - 182,494
182,494
1,759,462 - 13,885
1,773,347
1,759,462 - 4,685
1,764,147
Long
Leasehold
Property		 Other
Investments
Total
£
133,991
-
-
-		 £
£
4,484
138,475
-
-
-
-
422
422
133,991 4,906
138,897
-
-		 -
-
-
-
- -
-
133,991 4,484
138,475
133,991 4,906
138,897
£
4,906
2023
2022
£
£
32,635
30,179
7,703
7,953
17,807
11,654
58,145
49,786

34

Parochial Church Council of St Andrew and St Mary Magdalene, Maidenhead

Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023 (continued)

8
Cash at bank and in hand
Immediate access – general funds
Immediate access – designated funds
Immediate access – restricted funds
Cash in hand – general funds
Term deposits
Maturing within one year – general funds
Maturing within one year – designated funds
Maturing within one to two years – general funds
Maturing within one to two years – designated funds
9
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Creditors and Accruals
Tax and social security
Other creditors
10
The funds of the Church
Details of partcular funds maintained are:
Endowed Funds
The Crump Bequest
A permanent endowment, the interest from which is to help meet the costs of maintaining church services.
Restricted funds
Groups
Restricted fund balance for groups within the church who administer their own funds. Total church group
income and expenditure is included in these accounts.
Sunday School
Gifs donated for use by the Sunday School groups in the church
The Mark Wheatley Fund
Funds given in memory of Mark Wheatley for young people to take non-Christan friends to Summer camps.
Restricted and Designated funds
Mission Hardship Funds
Designated and restricted funds to meet Mission needs in difcult economic tmes.
The Care Fund
Designated and restricted funds to meet need in difcult economic tmes.
In additon to the above, Gif Days and Special Collectons are considered "restricted funds".		 2023
2022
£
£
219,470
141,406
101,466
126,995
61,483
55,923
43
69
103,127
200,415
255,000
238,000
47,821
3,370
43,000
85,000
831,410
851,178
2023
2022
£
£
33,306
24,442
6,789
7,760
18,809
8,691
58,904
40,893
2023
2022
£
£
4,906
4,484
12,748
11,613
464
416
4,554
5,504
-
2,475
5,220
4,077

35

Parochial Church Council of St Andrew and St Mary Magdalene, Maidenhead

Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023 (continued)

11
Summary of assets and liabilites for church funds
Fixed assets for Church use
Fixed assets investments
Debtors
Cash at bank and in hand
Creditors: Amounts falling due within one year
Defned Beneft Pension Scheme liability		 Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Endowment
funds
Total
2023
Total
2022
£
£
£
£
£
7,915
1,756,232
-
1,764,147
1,773,347
-
133,991
4,906
138,897
138,475
47,985
10,160
-
58,145
49,786
769,927
61,483
-
831,410
851,178
(42,683)
(16,221)
-
(58,904)
(40,893)
-
-
-
-
-
783,144
1,945,645
4,906
2,733,695
2,771,893

12 Council members

These council members received payments for their services during the year: Kate Wheatley, Rev Jon Drake, John Blackbeard, Rev Ian Miller, Rev Adam Curtis and Scott Bedford received remuneration for their duties as employees.

The aggregate remuneration, including employer pension contributions, paid to and on behalf of the above council members was £79,805 (2022, £90,661)

Certain members of the Parochial Church Council are reimbursed expenses they incur in their work for the Church. £8,362 was reimbursed to or paid for five council members during the year (2022, £9,510 for five members)

The council member Rev Neil Watkinson received funding via Crosslinks for his missionary work in Asia as part of our mission funding of £7,405 (2022 £6,873)

13 Related party transactions and key management personnel

Related party transactions

One Council member is also a Trustee/Director of the A&M Trust. Donations and grants received for Project Connect from the A&M Trust were £nil (2022, £78,059). No donations were made to the A&M Trust during the year (2022, £16,000). The properties 1 Hemsdale and 15 Grafton Close (since May 2023) which are owned by the A & M Trust have been made available to the Parochial Church Council for use by the church.

Key management personnel

Other than those disclosed in note 12 above, no other key management personnel are remunerated by the Church. One member of staff who is considered to be key management personnel is remunerated by the Diocese (2022, two).

14 Grants made

Of the total grants made from general funds to further the Church's mission work, £101,107 (2022, £38,724) was to various institutions and £66,000 (2022, £75,995) to individuals.

15 Capital commitments

The Parochial Church Council had no capital commitments at 31 December 2023. At 31 December 2022 there were commitments relating to refurbishment work on the property 1 Hemsdale and to website improvements amounting to approximately £6,000 and £2,000 respectively.

16 Transfers between reserves

The net transfer to General Funds from Project Connect this year to repay Project Connect costs funded from General Funds was £nil (2022, £78,059).

36

Parochial Church Council of St Andrew and St Mary Magdalene, Maidenhead

Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023 (continued)

17 Church of England Funded Pension Scheme (CEFPS)

St Andrews & St Mary Magdalene PCC participates in the Church of England Funded Pensions Scheme for stipendiary clergy, a defined benefit pension scheme. This scheme is administered by the Church of England Pensions Board, which holds the assets of the schemes separately from those of the Responsible Bodies.

Each participating Responsible Body in the Church of England Funded Pensions Scheme pays contributions at a common contribution rate applied to pensionable stipends.

The scheme is considered to be a multi-employer scheme as described in Section 28 of FRS 102. It is not possible to attribute the Scheme’s assets and liabilities to each specific Responsible Body, and this means contributions are accounted for as if the Scheme were a defined contribution scheme. The pensions costs charged to the SoFA in the year are contributions payable towards benefits and expenses accrued in that year which were £6,512 in 2023 (2022: £9,266), plus any figures arising from contributions in respect of the Scheme’s deficit (see below). The 2021 valuation showed the Scheme to be fully funded and as such in 2023, following the valuation results being agreed, the deficit contributions paid were £0 (2022: £(2,000)).

A valuation of the Scheme is carried out once every three years. The most recent Scheme valuation completed was carried out as at 31 December 2021. The 2021 valuation revealed a surplus of £560m, based on assets of £2,720m and a funding target of £2,160m, assessed using the following assumption:

Following finalisation of the 31 December 2021 valuation, deficit contributions ceased with effect from 1 January 2023, since the Scheme was fully funded.

The deficit recovery contributions under the recovery plan in force at each 31 December were as follows:

% of pensionable stipends

31 December 2021 7.1% payable from January 2021 to December 2022 31 December 2022 Nil 31 December 2023 Nil

An interim reduction to deficit contributions to 3.2% of pensionable stipends was made with effect from April 2022, and remained in place until December 2022.

For senior office holders, pensionable stipends are adjusted in the calculations by a multiple, as set out in the Scheme’s rules.

37

Parochial Church Council of St Andrew and St Mary Magdalene, Maidenhead

Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023 (continued)

17 Church of England Funded Pension Scheme (CEFPS) cont…

Section 28.11A of FRS 102 requires agreed deficit recovery payments to be recognised as a liability. However, as there are no agreed deficit recovery payments from 1 January 2023 onwards, the balance sheet liability as at 31 December 2023 is nil. The movement in the balance sheet liability over 2022 and over 2023 is set out in the table below.

Balance sheet liability at 1 January
Defcit contributon paid (recognised in SoFA)
Interest cost (recognised in SoFA)
Remaining change to Balance sheet liability
(recognised in SoFA)*
Balance sheet liability at 31 December		 2023
£
-
-
-
-
-		 2022
£
2,000
(1,000)
-
(1,000)
-

This liability represents the present value of the deficit contributions agreed as at the accounting date and has been valued using the following assumptions. No assumptions are needed for December 2022 as there are no agreed deficit recovery payments going forward. No price inflation assumption was needed for December 2021 since pensionable stipends for the remainder of the recovery plan were already known.

Discount rate
Price infaton
Increase to total pensionable payroll		 December 2023
n/a
n/a
n/a		 December 2022
n/a
n/a
n/a		 December 2021
0.0% pa
n/a
-1.5% pa

During 2023 (and 2022) the deficit contributions paid of £nil (2022, £1,000) and the change in the Balance sheet liability of £nil (2022, £1,000) have been reflected as part of the year’s pension charge.

The legal structure of the scheme is such that if another Responsible Body fails, St Andrews & St Mary Magdalene PCC could become responsible for paying a share of that failed Responsible Body’s pension liabilities. However the PCC will not have to pay more in any year than the contribution rate set for that year.

In addition, the PCC is classed as a minor body under this scheme and when a minor body ceases to have active members it is not required to pay a debt. Instead its liabilities are apportioned to the major bodies, being in this case the Oxford Diocesan Board of Finance.

38

Parochial Church Council of St Andrew and St Mary Magdalene, Maidenhead

Notes to the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023 (continued)

18 Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 December 2022 – comparative figures

Note
Income and endowments from:
Donatons and legacies
2a
Investments
2b
Church actvites
2c
Other income
2d
Total
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
3a
Charitable Actvites
Church actvites
3b
Mission grants and donatons
3c
Total
Net income/(expenditure)
Transfer between funds
Other recognised gains/(losses)
Gain/(Loss) revaluaton of investment assets
6
Actuarial proft on defned beneft pension scheme
17
Net movement in funds
Total funds brought forward
Total funds carried forward		 Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Endowment
funds
Total 2022
£
£
£
£
638,311
124,918
-
763,229
24,282
-
133
24,415
26,357
13,212
-
39,569
369
-
-
369
689,319
138,130
133
827,582
8,065
-
-
8,065
638,618
12,263
-
650,881
114,719
35,224
-
149,943
761,402
47,487
-
808,889
(72,083)
90,643
133
18,693
78,502
(78,369)
(133)
-
6,419
12,274
-
18,693
-
-
(598)
(598)
2,000
-
-
2,000
8,419
12,274
(598)
20,095
812,880
1,933,836
5,082
2,751,798
821,299
1,946,110
4,484
2,771,893

39

Parochial Church Council of St Andrew & St Mary Magdalene, Maidenhead

Budget for the year ended 31 December 2024

Unrestricted funds
Incoming Resources
Planned giving gif aid donatons
Tax recoverable
Other planned giving
Collectons at services
Donatons
Grants/Legacies
Ministry events
Fees
Hire charges
Church groups
Bookstall sales
Rental income
Dividends and interest
Insurance claim/compensaton
Total Incoming Resources
Resources Used
Cost of Generatng funds
Bookstall costs
Church Actvites
Diocesan share
Ministry staf salary costs
Other staf costs
Church running costs
Administraton staf salary costs
Other administraton costs
Property costs
Mission grants and donatons
Ministry events
Church groups costs
Governance costs (net of VAT)
Investment costs
Rental property expenses
Property repairs general budget
Total Resources used
NET INCOMING/(OUTGOING) RESOURCES
BUDGETED DEFICIT COVERED BY:
Discretonary Funds
Ministry Leaders Fund
Flats Ground Lease Reserve
Parish Share Reserve
AV Fund
General Fund		 Total Budget
2024
417,911
104,978
66,510
5,391
5,636
-
12,545
2,831
6,782
5,500
4,000
24,707
17,595
-
674,386
4,000
93,326
239,122
14,522
39,468
123,176
39,782
61,994
124,820
18,040
4,460
5,295
350
2,000
770,355
(95,969)
(42,920)
(57,556)
(564)
23,129
(2,000)
(16,058)
(95,969)		 Total Budget
2023
% increase in 2024
budget fgures
compared to 2023
budget
418,310
-0.1%
105,078
-0.1%
53,522
24.3%
4,105
31.3%
4,558
23.7%
-
12,010
4.5%
2,674
5.9%
4,336
56.4%
6,480
-15.1%
4,000
0.0%
32,306
-23.5%
6,302
179.2%
-
653,681
3.2%
4,000
0.0%
106,000
-12.0%
208,472
14.7%
27,956
-48.1%
49,479
-20.2%
116,538
5.7%
39,375
1.0%
55,233
12.2%
191,770
-34.9%
21,605
-16.5%
6,480
-31.2%
5,042
5.0%
17,470
-98.0%
2,000
851,420
-9.5%
(197,739)
(106,500)
(52,488)
-
-
(3,000)
(35,751)
(197,739)
Net income/
(expenditure) per
SOFA		 Actual 2023
443,342
112,741
65,334
5,228
20,285
2,500
15,186
3,531
7,003
4,075
2,688
65,115
17,109
734
764,871
3,849
85,638
212,874
25,314
43,427
118,239
55,410
50,668
167,107
19,915
4,329
5,225
10,882
-
802,877
(38,006)
(55,585)
(74,155)
25,918
-
(123)
65,939
(38,006)
(38,006)

40

Parochial Church Council of St Andrew & St Mary Magdalene, Maidenhead

Summary of accounts of Church Based Organisations

For the year ended 31 December 2023

This sheet is not intended as a comparison of the organisation represented. It provides a summary of their financial activity during the year. The summary is drawn from the detailed accounts submitted by the treasurers and checked by independent examiners. If any reader would like to see any of the detailed accounts, please ask the treasurer of the relevant organisation.

Balance of funds b/fwd Mother &
Toddlers
2,778
3,071
-
125
-
3,196
3,109
-
840
-
3,949
(753)
(500)
1,525
-
1,727
-
(202)
1,525		 Mother &
Toddlers
2,778
3,071
-
125
-
3,196
3,109
-
840
-
3,949
(753)
(500)
1,525
-
1,727
-
(202)
1,525		 7-Up
719
877
-
-
-
877
407
-
-
-
407
470
-
1,189
681
508
-
-
1,189		 7-Up
719
877
-
-
-
877
407
-
-
-
407
470
-
1,189
681
508
-
-
1,189		 Allsorts
2,016
-
-
2,450
-
2,450
956
-
-
-
956
1,494
-
3,510
3,818
-
-
(308)
3,510		 Allsorts
2,016
-
-
2,450
-
2,450
956
-
-
-
956
1,494
-
3,510
3,818
-
-
(308)
3,510		 Focus
1,778
6,635
595
149		 Groups
4,628
(494)
1,200		 Flower
Ministry
1,472
-
-
835
-
835
1,117
-
-
-
1,117
(282)
-
1,190
-
1,190
-
-
1,190		 Flower
Ministry
1,472
-
-
835
-
835
1,117
-
-
-
1,117
(282)
-
1,190
-
1,190
-
-
1,190		 Care Fund
4,077
-
-
450
-
450
-
-
-
3,102
3,102
(2,652)
3,795
5,220
-
4,492
1,050
(322)
5,220		 Care Fund
4,077
-
-
450
-
450
-
-
-
3,102
3,102
(2,652)
3,795
5,220
-
4,492
1,050
(322)
5,220
Income
Fees, subs, charges, sales
Weekend Away
Donatons
Gif Aid on donatons
Total income
3,196 877 2,450 9,157 835 450
3,109
-
840
-		 407
-
-
-		 956
-
-
-		 1,303
8,348
-
-		 1,117
-
-
-		 -
-
-
3,102
Expenses
Running expenses
Weekend Away costs
Donatons/gifs
Care Fund payments
Total expenditure
Excess of incoming resources
over expenditure
Transfer (to)/from other funds
3,949 407 956 9,651 1,117 3,102
Balance of funds c/fwd 1,525 1,189 3,510 5,334 1,190 5,220
Comprising:
PCC Bank account
Organisaton accounts/cash
Loans made
Prepayment/(accrual/creditor)
At 31 December 2023		 -
1,727
-
(202)		 681
508
-
-		 3,818
-
-
(308)		 3,193
176
-
1,965		 -
1,190
-
-		 -
4,492
1,050
(322)
1,525 1,189 3,510 5,334 1,190 5,220

41

Independent auditor’s report to the Parochial Church Council and members of the Church of St Andrew and St Mary Magdalene, Maidenhead.

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of the Church of St Andrew and St Mary Magdalene (PCC), Maidenhead (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 31 December 2023 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion, the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the Parish in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the Trustees use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the Trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Charities Act 2011

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit:

42

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charity and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees’ report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 require us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of Trustees

As explained more fully in the statement of Trustees responsibilities, the PCC are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the PCC determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the PCC are responsible for assessing the Parish’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the PCC either intend to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditor under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and report in accordance with the Act and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below.

Fraud and breaches of laws and regulations - ability to detect

Identifying and responding to risks of material misstatement due to fraud

To identify risks of material misstatement due to fraud ("fraud risks") we assessed events or conditions that could indicate an incentive or pressure to commit fraud or provide an opportunity to commit fraud or provide an opportunity to commit fraud. Our risk assessment procedures included:

We communicated identified fraud risks throughout the audit team and remained alert to any indications of fraud throughout the audit.

As required by auditing standards, and taking into account our overall knowledge of the control environment, we perform procedures to address the risk of management override of controls, in particular the risk that management may be in a position to make in appropriate accounting entries.

We did not identify any additional fraud risks.

We performed procedures including identifying journal entries to test based on risk criteria and comparing identified entries to supporting documentation. These included those posted to unrelated accounts, those posted containing key words, and those posted to an account linked to a fraud risk.

43

Identifying and responding to risks of material misstatement due to non-compliance with laws and regulations

We identified areas of laws and regulations that could reasonably be expected to have a material effect on the financial statements from our sector experience, and through discussions with the trustees and other management (as required by auditing standards), and from inspection of the Charity's regulatory and legal correspondence and discussed with the trustees and other management the policies and procedures regarding compliance with laws and regulations.

We communicated identified laws and regulations throughout our team and remained alert to any indications of noncompliance throughout the audit.

The Charity is subject to laws and regulations that directly affect the financial statements including financial reporting legislation (including related charities legislation) and tax legislation, and we assessed the extent of compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our procedures on the related financial statement items.

We did not identify any others where the consequences of non-compliance alone could have a material effect on amounts or disclosures in the financial statements.

Context of the ability of the audit to detect fraud or breaches of law or regulation

Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material misstatements in the financial statements, even though we have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards. For example, the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely the inherently limited procedures required by auditing standards would identify it.

In addition, as with any audit, there remained a higher risk of non-detection of fraud, as these may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. Our audit procedures are designed to detect material misstatement. We are not responsible for preventing non-compliance or fraud and cannot be expected to detect non-compliance with all laws and regulations.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: http://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charity’s Trustees, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity's Trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors' report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the charity’s Trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Paul Fagan FCCA (Senior Statutory Auditor) for and on behalf of Craufurd Hale Audit Services Limited

.........................

Chartered Accountants Statutory Auditor

C/O Ground Floor, Arena Court Crown Lane MAIDENHEAD SL6 8QZ

44