ALBION U.R.C. BOOK OF REPORTS 2023124 LBIQN The United Reformed Church www.urc.org.uk www.albionurc.org.uk Albion Church, Stsmford Stt Easc Ashton-under-Lyne OL6 6QQ
Albion URC Book of Re orts 2023124 The Elders have put together this book of reports ahead of our AGM on 1 Ph March 2024. It shows just some of the work going on in our Albion community. Church Secretary's Report Dear all, once again, I would like to begin my annual report by thanking everyone who has contributed to Albion during 2023. We are few in numbers, but not short on spirit and teamwork. It is an incredible achievement that we continue to successfully run such a large church building with so many activities. Sadly, we lost our friends Ros Schofield and Edmund Kenworthy who passed away in 2023. We are grateful for their contributions to Albion over the years and their families remain in our thoughts and prayers. We currently have a membership of 23 at Albion. We have myself as Secretary, Gillian Lewis as Treasurer and five serving Elders. Joe Aspin, Margaret Frost, Ann Hewson, Pat Jones and John Scott. who are due to serve for this coming year. In 2023 we continued to support local charities and work with the local community. In addition to the longstanding groups who use the church, we started Albion Warm Welcome our Place of Welcomel Warm hub in November where we open every Wednesday 12.30pm-2.30pm, offering free food to any visitors in a warm, safe environment. Our Tots Group continues to grow. We held all the usual church activities that we run every year. An additional highlight last year was the successful Garden Paty in the summer. We continue to face challenges, rising energy prices are a major concern and events like the floi)d we had January put us under even more pressure. Again, our members and volunteers face up to these challenges. We do need more help though and always welcome anyone who is willing and able to contribute more to the work of Albion in spiritual, pastoral, and practical temis. l am mindful of the work involved in running an organisation like Albion and the strain that can put on individuals. Therefore, we must be careful and look after our own health and wellbeing. In the busyness that we all feel, as such a small number of people take on a large number of tasks, we must stop sometimes and rest. Let's remember.. God is in control, not us. So let's try to be still occasionally and listen. He will guide us. Psalm 46.10 Be still, and know that l am God. David Hey, Albion Secretary. March 2024
Treasurer's Report Albion has had to really "balance the books. this year... Our savings and current account balances have been severely challenged. We paid £13,790 to insure the building & organ, we made a claim for £1,828 following the loss of power in December 2023. In 2023 fuel bills were around £19,000 for electricity and £13,000 for gas. Some encouraging news for 2024 - we have a new supplier for electricity with much lower rates- our January bill was £970 compared to £2940 in January 2023. We are due to renew the gas prices in August. We have a fault on the frost stat which we have been wasting a lot of gas with the bills for the last three months totalling over £10,000. We reclaimed £6,547 from HMRC for Gift Aid and the GASDS scheme. If you pay income tax please complete a Gift Aid declaration and give details of any cash donations to Gillian so we can reclaim an extra 25 % at no cost to you. Thank you to everyone for your generosity of time and financial support. Thank you for planning, assisting and supporting all our events, you make a great team. The quinquennial report on the fabric of the building has presented challenges. (August 2023) See Joe's report. Putting it in perspective, the building is in good condition, it just needs some TLC and maintenance to keep it like that. We asked Mike Aspinall from Synod for his expert advice; we now have a plan to complete the jobs required within 18 months. (By the end of 2024). We are fortunate to have investments of £129,584 in the COIF fund, and £8779 in the Manse Fund, however this prevents us from being eligible for many grants - certainly no financial help from Synod. I recently attended a webinar with Heritage Youth Partnership. They are encouraging youth groups to get involved with the heritage- can we develop this to increase awareness of our magnificent building and it's history. There is funding available from the Heritage England I lottery. Does anyone have time to investigate grants available Albion Warm Welcome and Tots AtAlbion are our Mission Outreach and our link to the community. We are to discuss this at the meeting Gillian Lewis Albion Treasurer
Baptisms We have completed eleven Baptisms, including one adult during the year since our last report. Two are confirmed for 2024, with enquiries for three others, yet to be confirmed. We are always pleased to welcome these families and their young children into our Church family, as we continue widen our outreach into the local community. Our grateful thanks are due to the Ministers & Lay preachers, who willingly officiate. Weddings Seven weddings are booked & confirmed for 2024, with a further two awaiting attendance at a Sunday service & confirmation by deposit. Ministers are in place for all confirmed weddings except one. I have enquiries for several others going fOard to 2027. Thank you to our Ministers, Organists, Registrars & Caretakers, who work so hard to ensure that these important occasions run smoothly. Margaret Frost- Wedding & Baptism Coordinator. Funerals In 2024, we held 52 funerals. The church is a popular venue for the Indian Community. They are most appreciative of the facilities provided by the church including using the Memorial Chapel for their private family service. Special Services We hosted special services for (a) Tameside Scouts (b) Tameside Hospitsl Baby Memorial Service (c) Finding Rainbows (d) Jean Clements Unitarian Memorial Service (e) Memorial services held by local funeral directors Revells and Perry Jones We also hosted 2 concerts for Willow Wood in addition to Light Up A Life service. Colin
Albion Building Committee. As most people are aware we had our quinquennial building inspection in 2023. The 48-page report recommended the work required and gave timescales for completion. We are awaiting good weather (and Karl from K.D. Roofing) to proceed with the outside work. The report suggests replacing the whole of the roof tiles - if only we had a spare £350,000 . Karl doesn't think it neSSary to replace the roof. He has given a quote of £13,900 to repoint all ridges, to replace missing tiles and to reposition others that have slipped out of place. He has included remedial work to the flat roof areas. We do not have a price for the scaffolding- it is likely to be a few thousand pounds. In the church void, the brickwork has moved four inches away from the roof structure!! Don't worry it is still very safe and needs tie irons to strengthen it and tie it back to the main beams. We await a quote for this. Some jobs have started from the quinquennial report. The flat roof above the staircase down to the old Sunday School was repaired at a cost of £1640, the wall had become damp- this is now much dryer some pointing may still be required on the walls. During the Christmas Tree Festival weekend there was a bad leak over the main power supply in church, this happened during a storm where the driving, heavy rain found it's way through the roof and down the wall. This blew the distribution boards and we lost all power.. This happened just before a Christmas memorial service! The service went ahead by candlelight, Derek played the piano by torchlight. The following day, morning worship was cancelled whilst we prepared for the Willow Wood Light up a Life Service. Derek managed to get hold of a generator to give some lighting to the chancel and power to the sound system. The Light up a life service went ahead - a little different than the normal Christmas Trees shining throughout the service and a lot colder - but very enjoyable. Fish Electricals and Electricity Northwest attended on the Monday and restored power. We were without some of the heaters and the hand dryers until February when the new distribution board was installed. The Costs were Glaimed on the insuranGe.
In August 2023 we had the Electrical Installation Condition Report - work recommended at this inspection has now been completed. Some floodlights have been replaced too. We have a quote of £481 to replace two more floodlights changing them to LED. In January 2024 there was a leak into the choir vestry which soaked a lot of old music books in the cupboards and soaked the carpet. Some books dried ok, but many were damaged and have had to be thrown away. This was due to the downspout from the flat roof above the choir vestry being blocked with leaves / wasps, nest. The water rose above the level of the lead flashing and found its way in. This has damaged the ceiling. Repairs are needed to this flat roof to prevent it happening again. Electricity due to the high cost of running the chandelier heaters we are reducing the number of heaters we are having on during services so please be aware this is only so we can redu these high bills we are getting. Please sit on one side of the church. Gas..... we have a faulty frost stat on the gas fuelled radiator system. Colin noticed the frost stat doesn't cut off when the temperature reaches 5 degrees. The frost stat is set to come on when the temperature drops below 5 degrees and cut off when back up to 5 degrees. This is not happening it is staying on even at 11 degrees - ouch!! This as caused the church to have extremely high gas bills Derek is liaising with a gas engineer to get this replaced. but in the meantime, we have to switch boiler off and on manually in the boiler room. So has you can see 2023124 as been a very challenging time and is costing the church a great lot of money. and as drained most of our church funds we will keep you all up to date with building work etc through the year so please have patience and let's hope things get sorted out and the church can get back on its feet again . Please also note we have many events popping up and we need help with these so we can get money in, to help pay for work to be done. So come forward and help if you can. It's your church and we need your help to make a success and keep the church open. Many thanks Building Committee Chairman Joe Aspin
Korah Selah .- Monday Night Music Group It gives me great pleasure to contribute to The Albion Church book of reports for their annual general meeting .2024. First, thank you Albion Church for facilitating Korah Selah to meet each Monday in your beautiful building. There have been challenges this year with the building flooding, the electricity supply disrupted and juggling Spa and accommodating groups with last minute requests for practice space. With cooperation and flexibility from all parties involved suitable space has been found to practice in. Thank you. There have been exciting developments with Korah Selah Until this year our music has remained within Albion Church Building. Then we were asked if we could do something for a local care home. The brief being that residents in care could no longer go out to church to participate in Christian worship. Could we do something? Each member of Korah Selah is a believer in Jesus Christ and attends a local Church of their choice. We come together to sing gospel-based songs pray, and discuss bible. We decided to give the care home a try. We collectively prayed about this responsibility and put it into God's hand for guidance. We put together a programme of Gospel songs, relevant Bible readings and prayers to fit into an hour slot. We took this programme (gospel mission) to the care home and Glory Hallelujah by the grace of God it was a success. The residents loved it .The staff enjoyed and residents visitors were blessed. We have been invited back four times now and are preparing for our next visit. We have a small support following of friends and family which looks like it's growing. Korah Selah now has a Gospel Mission. Jesus said, 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.. Mark 16.15. We have been invited into other care homes to share this, Gospel Mission. It is in God's Hands as to how we can manage to progress with this into the future My love be with you all in Christ Jesus Amen 1 Cor. 16:24 Roman on behalf of Korah Selah .
Toe Tappers and Tiny Toes Dance School We have had a very busy year with dancers tsking part in a ballet scholarship at Blackburn, performed at Blackpool and 5 dancers auditioning to take part in a gala performance as well as our annual dance competition. Our tinies opened the Christmas Fair and then visited Santa in his grotto. The school were chosen to be the dancers for guide bridge theatre pantomime sleeping beauty and performed 13 perforManS in a rota. the dancers loved the experience. Kaila Whittaker auditioned and perfomed with the English national youth ballet at the opera house in March 2024 We have invited Tameside college students to give the dancers a make over continuing links with the local community. We continue to support the church with events like the Saturday coffee mornings and donating each month towards heating and the upkeep of the church We are lucky as we enter our 19th year to dance in such a lovely building We look forward to continue to provide dance for all including our adults who join us and children with disabilities Janet Robson AAAD 07889137907 janetrobson55@hotmail.com Principal of Toe Tappers and Tiny Toes Meetin times Monday 6-8pm Ages 6t0 12 Monday 8pm Ages13 plus and adults Thursday 6.30 -9pm All ages and abilities 6 plus Saturday 10 -10 45am Tinies 3-6 years
The Circle The Circle meets every 2nd Thursday, and all are welcome to attend. During this past year, we have again spent some very pleasant afternoons of fellowship, with interesting visits & speakers, including Mary Whitehead on some history ofAshton, Rev Graham Tarn, with more tales of his pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, Derek Sharples, with an afternoon of organ music, a visit to Fairfield Moravian Settlement, a Christmas meal at the Fairfield Arms & a talk by Betty Wade about her very full & interesting life. Visits & meals out are planned for the rest of 2024, but new ideas are welcome. Thank you to all who have helped to organise these speakers & visits. Margaret Report from Revd. Graham Tarn Dear friends. Another year in Christ service with a great deal to lebrate and some disappointments. The building.. which isn't the church because the church is the people as you all know - but the building does serve as a landmark, a great cathedral of worship. The difficultly is that such a magnificent building requires constant ongoing repeated maintenance. The good news is that there are several folk dedicated to doing what they can, finding others for tasks they cannot carry out themselves - and of course fund raising. Why do they do this....? I believe and give thanks that it is because they wish to honour God and the historical Christian roots in Ashton. Similarly, the organ. Maintenance and loving care. Practice and making a joyful noise (read sound, hymn, tune) to the Lord. Raising funds and promoting the profile of Albion United Reformed Church in mission, music and ministry. Another team effort. Ministry, whether with a capital M or not, is changing. I continue to be your first point of contact if a minister is needed and I do what I can, limited though that 13. Albion has its own ministry team through several different avenues. The Albion Warm Welcome now aGts as a pastoral centre in some ways - but could do with a little bit of manure to help the
seeds grow more fully. The activities on Wednesday- lots of very loud young girls - leaming life skills thanks to the dedication of Gillian and others. The monthly Saturday coffee and here I should mention Joe and Carol - but others as well. Serving tea, coffee, bacon butties, cakes (baked at home) and more- while all the time the church offers a welcoming space and on occasion welcomes folk passing through who take the opportunity to learn about the building. The same sometimes happens on the Wednesday warm hub. Colin - polishing the floor, making sure the microphones are up and running - again supported by others at need. All this underlines the commitment of many people to honour God with the talents, abilities, skills that others may come to know Christ. The Elders and Committee meetings similarly seek to honour God. Some of this is about standing still rather than moving forward. But the standing still is in some ways about not back sliding. However, new ideas, exploration of re-jigging the building to make it more friendly and welcoming, new toilets, we seek to find the best way forward Girlguiding Albion Celebrating 50 Years with Glrlguiding at Albion In October 20241 will have been a leader with Albion Brownies for 50 years and celebrate 59 years since I first walked into Albion Sunday School as an Albion Brownie. Christine Smith (became Mrs Jenkinson) was my first "Brown Owl. and Wanda Bennett (became Mrs Bain) my second Brown Owl with Anne Scott as Tawny Owl. l Ylew up" to Guides when I was 11 where I met the "Gregson Family°_ Janet, Judith, Janine and of course mum Eileen. I returned to Brownies as a Pack Leader for the "service. part of the Queen's Guide Award and was one of the first "Young Leaders" at 16, going on to be an adult leader. I remember Michelle Mellor joining Brownies.. In those days you had to give up running the unit to be a commissioner; so, when Irene Whitehead was asked to be District Commissioner, Christine Bradley became "Brown Owl" and I was Tawny Owl at 17 /2. 1 became Brown Owl at 23 and still am..
I can't count all the Brownie holidays I have been on. My mum Irene Kinder, better known as Duchess, did the cooking having her holiday favourites of Rabbits on Grass (Pears decorated to look like a bunny on a tray of green jelly!) If you were awake early enough you could see real rabbits playing on the grass at Seven Springs Campsite. We did a few coach l Euro-Tunnel trips to Disneyland Paris with Brownies & Guides. I have taken Guides & Rangers to Berlin, Prague, Paris and London. I have had many roles within Guiding, commissioner, brownie holiday adviser, treasurer, mentor, and more. They have given me the opportunity to develop life skills in a fun, safe environment. It is rewarding to be able to extend those opportunities to the girls and young women joining Girlguiding at Albion. We have many "Guiding Families" in the Albion Fellowship - ex-Brownies bringing their daughters to Albion as Brownies. I tell myself that when the first one brings a Brownie telling me their grandma was one of my Brownies - it's time to retire! ! This year, Brownies Celebrate 110 years (1914- 2024) and 9th Ashton Albion Brownies are 75 (1949-2024). Albion Guides celebrated 100 years in 2022 - we know Brownies were open before the second world war but closed and were reregistered in 1949. There is a display in Albion showing the change of Promise Badges, Uniforms etc. and lots of photos taken over my years as a leader. One aspect of Guiding that hasn't changed is the fun and friendship. Gillian Lewis- Leader ofAlbion Brownies, Guides & Rangers Rainbows are 4 /2 to 7 and meet 6pm to 7pm Brownies are 7 to 10 years and meet 6pm to 7.15pm Guides are 10 to 14 years, Rangers 14-18 years and meet 7.20 to 8.35 We meet at church each Wednesday during term time. Tots at Albion Tuesday 10am - 11.30am Temi Time Only - £2 per family For pre-school children and their grown up. We have around 15 to 20 children each week. We have a theme for our activities and crafts. We enjoyed decorating a board for the Easter display as we integrate with church events. Could you join our team and come in and chat with the "grown ups"
Albion Warm Welcome Wednesday 12.30 to 2.30 Free refreshments and a wami Spa to chat. Our team of volunteers has grown as has our number of visitors We have homemade soup or beans on toast and a "pudding". It is developing in to a 1 community activity. Everyone is welcome to join us every Wednesday Do Your Thing Choir The Do Your Thing community choir, still meet twice a week, for rehearsals. Tuesday evening at Albion 7:30-9:30pm and Wednesday evening at the Methodist church on Cavendish Road Stockport 7:30- 9:30pm. (Term time only) As for everyone, Lockdown brought its challenges, but we are slowly increasing our membership again, at around 100 across both venues. We continue to support many local charities and community events, including the Christie, the NSPCC and Age COnrn. Since my last report, we have also performed at Manchester Cathedral and Gorton Monastery, where later this year, we will be singing for a wedding, in November. We also performed at the Ashton Christmas Light switch-on. This coming May 13th we will be helping support the Alzheimer's Association at their Music & Memories event, here at Albion. Looking forward to supporting Angle once again. As ever, we expect a busy year ahead but as always, we find great pleasure and enjoyment in what we do. Not just as a hobby but with a passion to share the joy of music, so good for the soul! Having the privilege to use our wonderful cathedral-like Albion, the perfect venue in which to rehearse, is rtainlY beneficial. A great place in which to raise our VolS. Long may we continue, thank you. Ann
Gardening Preparation is already under way for maintaining the gardens, with the main lawn mower currently in dock for annual service. We have most of the gear we need - we just need more helpers. There is no specific agenda for what we do with the garden areas, so if you have any ideas please come along and use your skills to tidy up particular areas. We particularly want to have the grounds in top condition to host the planned garden paty in June, so your help is needed soon after Easter. Concerts Following cancellation of Jonathan Scotvs planned Christmas Concert last year, we were fortunate in organising a maNellous concert with Gordon Stewart. (Gordon has recently retired from his role as Huddersfield Town Organist but has previously been organist at both Manchester and Blackbum Cathedrals.) We have secured his services once again this year on Monday 16th December- so please keep the date free. Gordon is kindly fitting our concert in with the series he hosts at his own Church (Providen URC in New Mills) that same week. On Saturday 18th May, the Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside Organists, Association are holding a composite recital where a number of their members will contribute to the programme. We have a visit of Bromley and Croyden Organists, Association planned for the aftemoon of Wednesday 17th July, and also have an enquiry from a group ofAmerican Organ Builders who want to visit us in May. Still to be confirmed is Saturday 7th September at 3.00pm, when we hope Alex Fishburn (assistant organist at Liverpool Cathedral) will be the recitalist in another event organised by Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside. Unfortunately, we may miss out on this one if Rochdale Town Hall Organ is fully restored by then. Derek
ALBION UNITED REFORMED CHURCH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Sunda 17th March 2024 Apologies Reflection Approval of Minutes of AGM 2023 1 half yearly meeting 2023 Reports from Groups Treasurer's Report Confirmation of Elders for 2024 Proposed New Members Approval of Church Appointments A enda Items Albion Mission and Development Project Diary Dates 2024 nd Next Church meeting Sunday 22 September 2024 A.O.B
Albion Events & Dia Dates 1st Thursda in month Elders -even months I Committee odd months 1 St Frida in month 10am- 12 Cleanin Da 4th Saturda in month 10am- 12 Coffee Mornin 28th March Thursda 7 m Maund Thursda Communion 29th March Frida 11am Good Frida Servi 31st March Sunda 10.30am Easter Sunda Service 19th April Frida Willow Wood event-Ashton Brass Band 11th Ma Saturda Craft Fair & Plant Sale 11am-3 13th Ma Monda 12.45-3 m Music & Memories Saturda ORTOA Com osite Recital 22 June Saturda Garden Pa 23rd June Sunda Gift Da 14th Jul Sunda Tameside Festival Chorus 7th Se t Saturday an Recital TBC t Saturday Herita eDa t Sunda 22nd SeL.-. Church Meetin 13th October Sunda Harvest 17th Nov Sunda Bab Memorial Service 2 23rd Nov Saturda Christmas & Craft Fair 1st December Sunda Joint Advent Service 1st December Sunda Willow Wood Festival of Music 2 th 6 to 8th December Christmas Tree Festival 15 December Sunda Carol Service 6.30 th 16 December Monda m Gordon Stewart Christmas Concert 24 December Tuesday Christin le3 24th December Tuesday Carols b Candleli nd 112 earl ht 11.30 Regular Activities - Groups weekl Monda weekly Monday weekl Tuesda weekl Tuesda weekl Wednesda weekl Wednesda Monthl Thursday weekl Thursda Korah Selah Dancin Tots Do Your Thin Choir Albion Warm Welcome Girl uidin The Circle Dancin 18:00 to 21:00 10:OOto 11:30 evenin 12.30 to 14.30 18:00 to 21:00 13".30 18:30 to 21:00
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