sr DENYS, CHLIRCH SLEAFORD Re8lstered Charlty Number 1127600 Annual Report and Financlal Statèments of the Panxhial Church Councll for the year ended 31 tle¢ember 2025 Incumbent= The Rerfd. Philip A johnson Independent Examiner= Mrs K Botley FCCA Duncan & Toplis Chartered Accountants 18 Northgate Sleaford Bank: HSBC bank Pk 88 We5tgate Grantham
The Parochial Church Council Of The Ecclesiastical Parish Of St Denys Registered Charity number 11276C(i Report for 2025 Parochial name Ecclesiastical Parish Location of Church Grid Referenc8 st Denys, Sleaford Sleaford Market Place, Sleaford, Lincolnshire NG34 7SH TF 069459 Number on Electoral Roll report8d in April 2025". 67 (April 2024: 104) Numb8r of Usual Sunday Attenders.. 2025 2024 Young P8opla under 18 Adults over 16 (YouTube Channel views Total 53 21 55 55 19) 57 Background. The Parochial Church Council has the responsibility of co-operating with the Incumbent to promote in the ecclasiastical parish the whole rnission of the Church, pastoral. èvangelical. sooal and ecumenical, pursuanl to the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956. The presentation of this Report and of the Accounts seeks to meel the requiremants of the Charity Commission. The PCC also has the responsibility for the ca and Maintenan of the Parish Centre. held by Lincoln Diocesan Trust & Board of Finance Limited on behalf of the PCC. Membership: Members of the PCC are either ex-officio. elected by th8 Annual Parochial Church Meeting. or co-opted, in accordance with the Church Representstion Rules. As such. they are charity trustees. The following people served as members of the PCC from the APCM held on 11 May 2025. Ex-officio members.. Incumbent.. Rovd. Philip A Johnson, MA. FIBMS Churchwardens: Mr. T. Richard Clash Mrs. Sarah Stentiford Deputy Churthwardens: Mr. Philip J. Starks Mr. Douglas F. Agnew Director of Music: Mr. L88 Mitton-Rooke Deanery Synod Repres8ntatlV8S: (third year of a 3 year tenn): Mrs. Brenda Hitchcock Elected members (maximum of Iwelve): Mr. Douglas F. Agnaw Mr. K8lth Bailey
Elected members (cont'd): Mr. Douglas C. Hoare Mrs. Pamela Jakeway Mr. Edward Jarvis (until 11 May 2025) Mr. David J. Marriage Mr. Rotimi Okusanya (from 11 May 2025) Mrs. Minyon Prescott Ms. Angela Rankin (until 11 May 2025) Mr. Terence E. Regan Mrs. B9ry1 Risdell Mrs. Alison Snookes Memb8rs co-opted by the PCC: None PCC Offlcers Chairman. Hon Electoral Roll Officer: Hon Secretary: Hon Treasurer.. Parish Safeguarding Officer (non-member of the PCC) Revd. Philip A. Johnson. MA, FIBMS Mrs. Angela Clash ' Mr. Douglas F. Agnew Mrs. Brenda R. Hitchcock Mrs. Angela Clash . Church Mln181ry and Local Ministry Team The PCC continues to be appreciative of the contribution made to the worship and ministry at St Denys by the retired clergy, the Revd. Canons John Wickstgad and Graham Hedger. and the Revds. David Boulle and David Woods. At the end of 2025 the Authorisod Lay Ministry Team was comprised of Mrs. Beryl Risdell and Mr. Terence E. Regan. The Bishop of Grantham led our Holy Week and Easter services. Electoral Roll Officefs Report Electors at start of year E16CtDrs added to Roll Electors removed from Roll at ¢)wn request Deaths Electors at end of yoar 2025 67 {0) (o) (o} 67 2024 104 (o) (o) {2) 102 N.B'. The Electoral Role must be completely revised every six years. A complete revision was required in 2025. The current numbers reflect congr8gants who died, those who have relocated, etc. The Principal Matters dealt wlthl Pollcy Declslons made by the PCC during 2025 Maintaining St Denys and the Parish Hall were topics of signrficant discussion throughout the year. The roof of the Church is an ongoing problem requiring periodic repairs, and options for upgrading the heating system are being examined. The heating system in the Yarborough Room of the Parish Hall was upgraded.
The financial situation of St Denys was also a major topic of discussion. All members were 8ncouraged to increase their donations rf possible. In addition, donation postcards with a QR Gode We developed. and a PGS donation temiinal installed. Performance Rights and the fees charged for the use of the Church were reviewed. and increased subject to further review. Time to Change Togother (ThCT) and the structure and responsibilities it 8ntails continued to be a major consideration. St Denys has been designated a Type 1 church, defined as "A large. flourishing, confident church, strategically located to serve a significant population and ad as a resourcelhub for a wider catchment area within the Local Mission Partnership (LMP).. With the rrcT prograrn and his additional responsibility as Rural Daan, Fr. Philip's role entails more administrative responsibilities over an area much greater than this parish. Use of the Church by Schools and others for community evenls in 2025 St Denys continued to welcome groups and events connected with the Church. A number of events took place. including concerts by the Sleaford Choral Society. the Sleaford Concert Band. and the Royal Air Force Band. There were also a number of services, including for Amied Forces Day and Remembrance Sunday, and for William Alvey School. st Botolph's School, St George's Academy, Carre's Grammar Sthool and the Kesteven & Sleaford High School. The Church was also a large part of The Sleaford Town Council's Christmas Fair. Church Bulldings, Contents and the Churchyard Church Terrler. No items have been added or removed during 2025 Inventory: Nothing has b8en added. chUh bulldlng During 2025 the following items war6 considered, r6s8arched. or actioned. The Lady Chapel: During January a new carpet was laid and the mid-week Holy Communion retumed to this area. Kneelers: The old fabric covering many of the kneelers within the nave was removed. All kneelers were stained. Market Place: New parking arrangements were introduced in the Market Place allowing Blue Badge holders to park on selected days of the w9ek and thurch services. Electrlcs." A full electrical inspection was carried out during March. Gutters- All cleared during April.
Church clock: Repaired and serviced in July. Church roof- Work has been carried out on various roofs during August. This is an ongoing situation. Parish Cantr•: The old gas heatars in the Yarborough Room wgre replaced with radiator system which included an addttional boiler in the kitchen. Bells; The bells are serviced by members of the bell ringing group. Various". Throughout the year many Maintenan jobs have been carried oul. Sl8aford Town Councll continua to manage the churchyard and many thanks must go to the small band of council staff who perform Iheir duties with care. Churchwarden's thank you During the year the Churchwardens aim Is to make the bulldlng flt for purpose and have given unswerving support when there are concerts and various community acttvities. This support includes providing refreshments during any day-long activities, such as Sleaford Town Council's Christmas Fair. It goes without saying the Churchwardens are grateful to everyone who spend their time and skills in maintaining the churchlparish and it is very much hoped those will continue during 2026. Thank you in anticipatbon! Muslc 2025 was a y8ar of vari8ty for the music department at st Denys. with lots of things going on for us to get involved in and for us to continue to enhance the worship in this place. We held two fundraising concorts in 2025; sadly the October COnrt by Mirabilé was postponed by their committee due to fewor than axpected sa19s being made. The two organ recitals raised about £400 for the organ fund and we also received a coup19 of donations towards the project. We are waiting for a more detailed quote from the organ builder in order for tha team to then put together more bids for funding from larger pots of money. The Choirfs repertoire for services remains in constant change with lots of favourites making a reappearance in 2025. alongside some newer items for us to learn. Beethoven's 'Die Ehre Gottes aus der Natur,. Atiwood's 'Tum thy face from my sins,, Williams O Sacrum Convivium,. MacDonald's 'This Joyfvl Eastertid8', Moore's'Jesus, Lord we look to thee.. Shephard's 'And didst thou travel light,, MacDonald's 'The wounds of Christ. and Ogden's 'Rain down justs'ce, all gave us something different to work on and were mostly wèll received. It is aayS a challenge to leam new music, especially now we hava removed our Friday evening rehearsals, but the Choir do a great job and I'm always extremely proud of their Commitmont and resilience when things get tough. The Choir very much enjoyed their trip to Lincoln Cathedral in March 2025; being able to sing Evensong in our home cathedral with the Youth Choir from the cathedral was an
amazing 8xperience and we were so glad to be able to take our music ther8. I really hope we have the chance to do something again in the future as the chance to sing in a cathedral is something that all choir members should aim for. There were two very large services for the Choir this last year,. Elodie's Baptism on Easter 2 and the Christmas Carol Service were both exceptionally good with a large choir being able to sing some large scale works which were very well received by the congregations at these services. The Christmas Carol Servico was definitely the best in my time and I hope that 2028 lives up to the expectatlon we have now set! The Choir held its first 2 Deanery Evensongs in 2025 with further services planned for 2026. The first was held at St Denys for the Patronal Festival, and the second was held at stAndr8w Horbling. We also were invited to sing at the Carol Sarvice at st Botolph. Quarrington, and some of the singers from those churches joined us which was lovely to be able to facilitate. The Christingle Service on the Market Place was well reiVed by those who were able to join in; the location of tho stage made this more challenging than we anticipated, bLSt I hope that next year's service will b8 batter supported now that we know how the Market Place will be laid out. The Choir from the William Alvey School did a greatjob in supporting the music for this service and we look forward to further collaborations in the future. As ever. I'm extremely grateful to the members of the choir for Iheir commilment to the music at st Denys. They are volunteers who give freely of their time and skill, and we are lucky to hava them. I'm also grateful for the support of the PCC. the Churchwardens and Rev'd Philip for their support: they give me the fr88dorn to do my job to the best of my ability whilst being a great help when disGussing ideas for th8 fijture. We are always on the lookout for new members. so pl6as@ do spread the word about who we ar8 and what we do! Flnanclal Acflvltles Sleaford Parlsh Church Reserv85 Poll¢y Following the review by the Financg Committee on 28th November 2022 the policy remains as follows: It is the policy of St Denys's Parochial Church Council to hold in resgrves the equivalent of 12 months running costs from the General Purposes Fund (£95,000) and a further £50,000 from the Fabric Fund for Insurance and Emergency repairs. Collections have fallen slightly again but donations have risen from the previous year mainly from use of the QR code and PGS machine although there have been problems with that and a bid for an upgraded machine was not successful. One regular contribution is also received via PGS and there have been no additions or losses to our planned giving scheme. Gift Aid contributions increased by £1,200 and additional tax r8covery was received from that and also via the PGS donations. Postcards containing th8 QR code. picture and appeal wgre purchased and placed in all the pews and welcome table in an effort to incr8as8 in)Me which is currently insufficient to meet all running costs.
Tho PCC pledged sharo of £30,000 was paid in full but partly from reserves due to larger repair commitments. The HSBC internet banking has been working well and since the closure of th8 local branch the arrangements for cash and cheques at the post office also has been working well. One legacy of £1,051.16 was received during tha year. With the raopening of the Market Place, fees have increased as there were three weddings, but funerals have not retumed to previous levels. Solar Panel income of £5,255 was ceived for the power generated for the national grid, an increase of £678 on tha previous year There has been good use of the Parish Centre. Reftjnd of the overpayments due to the faulty meter of £3.580 were finally received in May. Major work to the Centre was carried out with the raplacement of two gas heaters in the main hall with an additional boiler in the kitchen to feed five radiators- some electrical renewal and provision of fire safety locks. and. a security lock to the office door. The total cost of this work was £7,345. A change was of cleaning company took place at the end of July. Fund raising activities increased during the year along with opening the church for refreshments during town events in the Market Place. A Pimms Event, some parish lunches and a Quiz night resulted in an increase of £1.400 on 2024. A total of 377 copies of an original Christmas card painted and produced by Minyon Prescott were sold at £1 each. The Parish Administrator and the Director of Music have continued in post and rec&iv8d salary increases from 19t January 2025. The payroll continu8S to be managed by the company that took over in 2024, together with the workplacg pension put in pla from 1 sl April 2017, of which there is cJJrrently one member. The PCC investment and Trust Fund income increased during the year as the CBF Gon8ral Deposit Account terms were changed from interest accruing to the account to it being paid out quarterly to assist with pledge commitments etc. The value of the 12 Trust Funds held showed a totsl loss of £18.227 as at 31 St December 2025 Further repairs to the Church Roof used up the remaining restricted fabric fund held in the HSBC deposit account. During the year two Counters each week have continued counting and banking the church collections. All funeral fee bills are paid to the Diocese who then remit th8m direct to our account for distribution as necessary by the Treasurer. We continue to collect wedding fees and account to the Diocese monthly. Retired Clergy and Readers claim their fegs dir8Ct from th8 Diocesg.
Th8 following groups, which ar@ connectad wth the church, held funds at th8 31st December 2025. 2025 2024 Choirlmusic £10.468 £10.066 Bellringers £2,799 £2.607 On Behalf of the PCC .Fr Philip Johnson (Chairman)
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND ANO WALES Independent examlnerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the truste&sl members of THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST DENYS NEW SLEAFORD On xcounts for the year ended 31 DECEMBER 2025 Charity no 1127600 Sot out on pagos NINE AND TEN I report lo the trustees on my èxarnination of the accounts of th8 abov8 charity (h8 Trust") for the year ended 3111212025. Responslbllltles and As the charity trustees. you are re8ponsible for the preparation of the basis of roporl accounts in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 {"the Act"). I reF)Ort in resp8Gt of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination, I have followed all the applicabl8 Thrèctions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(bl of the Act. Independent I have completed my 8xarnination. I confirm that no matsrial matters have oxaminarfs statement come to rny attention in conn8clion with the examination which gives m8 cause to believe that in, any material respect.. the accounting records were not kept in accordancè with Section 130 of the Act; or Ihe accounts dld not accord with the accounting records: or the accounts did not comply wtth th8 appIlble r8quirements conceming the form and content of accounts sal out in tha Charities {Acwunts and ReF)orts} Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fairf view which is not a matter consldered as part of an Indap6ndènt examination. I have no concams and have come across no 0th8r matt8rs in connection with the examination to lch attention should be drawn in ihis r8port in order to enable a proper understsnding of the accounts to be reathed. Date: Name: KAY BOTLEY Relevant professional qualifieation(s) or body (If any): FCCA 18 NORTHGATE SLEAFORD LINCOLNSHIRE NG34 7BJ
CHARITY COMMISSIO FOFI ENGLANO AND WALE Roceipts and pa ments accounts CC16a Fvr th• pqvlud Irom Section A Receipts and payments Unr•s¢rl¢tsd lund¥ Restrlcte lunds Endowment fund• Total furTrds L4t tolh•rwr4•1 l•lh• n••rMt£ t•th•Mor•g1£ tvthv A1 RvAlpt• aDdL 177.•12 ?01 Grants Z.S36 Il515 Irtradi 12 19 795 71 26 ub tolal Gms8 in¢ory for ARJ 100. 227JOI A2 A55et and Tmf88lm•Tht sale8, su tabl•l- DI•posHI of Inv••trnwrt fund 147,432 Sub lotsl 147,431 Tot•lr•c•lpts IDQ•12 870, A3P s).Mo CLWtsoPgen¥ukngvoluniaryinLW ExpèndJOfi acts¥¥ $.12a AdmtraV0 7A13 7h1J ChUJr(u 19,077 19.7 13M• Sub total 1ql.197 111676 A4 and Invo4bn•nf r¢hab•s, B•• tsbl• R8.Inv•8bn•nt ot hwMtm fund 147. Sub tot•1 147. 111.197 270313 Netof recelpls/(payments) ASTrnn>fers between lund5 A6 Cah fund8 last y•ar•nd Cash funds Ihls y¢•r ènd 24.tjg f46.946 122,•07 IU80 fBO,826 1J5.423 $5.7116
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Rvtrlct•d funds ts n••r•st£ Endowrynent fvnd¥ CatsgoilOS fund# I Cuh lund• 1,187 1P37 14673 CBF GongwD¢posIi i.DD5 293 10,101 Totsi csh funds 122,8D7 11,616 •>) Untr1d•d lund8 trld•d fvnds Endowmtsnt lunrts lonMr••l£ Datalls Ill npat•AtE Fundtol¢h 83 Inwstmwrt a8sei8 Z48J la7a79 Invqthgnts.Vllh Z54 4b6•tlxl B4 AM•ts r•taln•d for thR ¢httrltys own u• B5 Uabllltles beholfof oll trust SWabJr• Pt Narno D818 ( rovA1 27-4.&