2023-12-31-accounts

‘The Light of Christ in Lightwater’

To Be, To Love, To Tell

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL for the year ended 31[st] December 2023

provided to

ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING Wednesday 24th April 2024, 8.00 pm All Saints’ Lightwater

Registered Charity No. 1128176

MEETING OF PARISHIONERS – 8.00 pm Wednesday 24th April 2024 AGENDA

1. Apologies for absence

2. Election of Church Wardens

Followed by

ALL SAINTS’ CHURCH LIGHTWATER ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING AGENDA

1. Prayer

2. Apologies for absence

3. Minutes of last APCM meeting – 26th April 2023

4. The Reports

5. a. Electoral Roll

6. b. Churchwardens’ Report

7. c. Safeguarding Report

8. d. Parish Reports

9. e. Parish Stewardship Report

10. f. Deanery Synod Report

11. g. Questions of clarification

12. The Accounts

13. a. Treasurer’s Report

14. b. Presentation of All Saints’ PCC Accounts

15. c. Questions of clarification

16. Elections

17. a. Parochial Church Council

18. b. Deanery Synod

19. Appointment of Independent Examiner

20. Questions

21. Vicar’s Report

22. 10.Closing prayers

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ALL SAINTS’ CHURCH LIGHTWATER - ANNUAL REPORTS 2023

ELECTORAL ROLL

In the period between the APCM in April 2023 and the end of 2023, there was 1 member removed from the roll and 5 new members were added. So, at the end of December 2023 there were 128 members of All Saints’ Church Electoral Roll.

In the first 3 months of 2024 we have added 1 member and removed 2 members (1 died, 1 left the parish), so we now have 127 Church members on the electoral roll (of which 95 are resident in the Parish and 32 nonresident)

Alison Porter

CHURCH ATTENDANCE 2023

Our Sunday morning services are offered at 9.30am and 11am, and our on-line broadcast relays the 9.30am service ‘live’, with the further option to see the service on-line as a recording afterwards.

Attendance in church has been recovering steadily following the pandemic of 2020/21. Regular Sunday attendance in church in 2023 (2022) was 85 (69) adults and 8 (6) children. Additionally, on-line attendance continued to show an average of 30 (30) views in the week following each Sunday – some of these may have been people watching only briefly, but others may have had more than one attender, including a regular group watching at Lakeview Care Home.

Mid-month, our Songs of Praise service received an average attendance of 38, with a small number staying on for communion. ‘Fun at 4’ is held once a month on Sunday afternoons, with an average attendance in 2023 of 3 families out of a pool of 8.

For Christmas, attendance at our 2023 Carol Service in church was a very busy 130. Attendance at Christmas Eve crib services 185, Midnight

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Service in church 75, and Christmas Day 53. There was 1 Holy Week Reflection and 3 Advent Reflections offered by church groups.

In 2023 we held 0 (0) Weddings, 4 (2) Baptisms, 8 (18) Funerals.

Services are conducted regularly at Moorlands and Lakeview care homes with a monthly average attendance (including our teams) of 13 (Moorlands) and 25 (Lakeview).

Revd David Sigsworth

PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL REVIEW OF THE YEAR - 2023

The full Parochial Church Council held 7 meetings during the year, including the APCM, with an average attendance of 90%. The PCC Standing Committee held 6 meetings during the year, in preparation for the PCC meetings.

The APCM in April 2023 was held in All Saints’ church, with 1 new member being elected to the PCC.

Rebecca Finlay

SAFEGUARDING

Making the church safe for all, and especially for children and vulnerable adults, is a key priority for All Saints’ - we place the safety of all people at our heart.

The Incumbent and PCC are responsible for safeguarding in the church. They have two appointed safeguarding officers, Andrew Hockey and Denise Taylor, who support them in implementing safeguarding policies and practices required or recommended by the House of Bishops and the Diocese of Guildford. They work closely with the Diocesan Safeguarding Team, call on them for advice and liaise with them whenever a safeguarding concern arises. Our Clergy and PCC follow all national and

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diocesan guidance and would only deviate from this if there was a cogent and legitimate reason to adopt a different position.

Safeguarding is a standing agenda item for every PCC meeting. During 2023 the PCC’s Safeguarding Policy was updated to ensure it continues to meet national and diocesan requirements. Adoption of safeguarding policy and tracking of practice is recorded continually on the Parish Dashboard system, which provides visibility of our actions to the diocesan and national safeguarding teams. This records the hard work undertaken by both the PCC and by all those working with children and vulnerable adults and reflects the growing safeguarding culture in the church community – an important foundation for all our activities.

During 2023 there was a strong focus on writing or updating the formal role profiles for our paid employee and for all volunteers, giving clarity on each role’s responsibilities and the training needed to safeguard both the worker and the people they work with. Uptake of safeguarding training increased steadily throughout the year, and at year end was close to 100%, as was compilation of risk assessments for all Church activities involving children and/or vulnerable adults.

Our own safeguarding standards are also applied to all those who use our premises, as we have to ensure that everyone using the church’s buildings benefit from the same level of protection. This has been a requirement in our Church Hall hire agreement since 2022, ensuring that the Church’s buildings are only let to organisations that apply the same level of safeguarding to their activities as we do to our own.

The PCC wants everyone to enjoy visiting All Saints’ and feel safe here, whether as a church member or attending an activity in the hall run by an external organisation. Safeguarding contact information is displayed prominently throughout the church, the hall and our website. In the past year the Guildford Diocesan safeguarding team were formally notified or consulted about three separate episodes. None were assessed to be a safeguarding incident, and their advice and guidance was followed in full on each occasion to ensure that the concerns that had been raised were addressed in the most appropriate manner.

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Many thanks to Christine Hughes who stood down from her role as DBS Validator in 2023 after many years of generous service, and to Ruth Kidd who tracks safeguarding training uptake and ensures that people stay up to date. In 2024 the PCC will continue to focus on implementing best safeguarding practices to ensure a safe, inclusive, and welcoming environment, whilst looking particularly to protect children and vulnerable adults.

If you see anything that makes you feel uncomfortable or does not feel right, the Clergy and/or PSOs should be your first point of contact. They will listen to you in complete confidence, and if necessary, will always take further actions to protect people at risk. If you see anything that makes you feel uncomfortable or doesn’t feel right, please let one of them know.

Andrew Hockey & Denise Taylor – Parish Safeguarding Officers

Finance

In 2023 we were able to retain a small surplus at the end of the year thanks to generous giving and careful cost control. Planned Giving increased by £4700, collections were down by around £900. We recovered more than £22,000 from HMRC under Gift Aid and the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme. 2023 saw an unusually high number of large one off donations totalling over £7000. Without these we would have reported a small deficit.

With high levels of inflation, cost pressures were acute and the PCC decided to defer all non urgent maintenance in 2023. Around £7000 of urgent repairs were carried out during the year based on recommendations from the Quniqennial survey carried out in 2022.

We were tied to an expensive energy contract up until October which increased heating costs across the church and hall by several thousand pounds. The new contract which came into force in October will help to

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reduce this in the coming year. A grant towards energy costs of £1000 was received from the Diocese of Guildford. Heating our two buildings which are large and have minimal insulation is costly, both financially and from a carbon footprint perspective. This is something we will need to address in the next few years.

Despite the high levels of heating costs the hall returned a small surplus of just over £1000 in 2023 with good levels of bookings. The parish magazine, Roundabout, generated more than £5000 of net income. It is important that we ensure that production of the magazine is viable in the long term if we wish to continue to benefit from this.

We also gave over £10,000 to mission partners outside of the parish.

We were able to fully meet our Parish Share obligations. Our Parish Share in Lightwater was around the average for the Diocese of Guildford at just under £90,000. Parish Share pays for our vicar as well as support, training and facilities provided centrally by the Diocese. It also helps other, less affluent parishes.

Thank you to all who give generously to support All Saints’. 87% of our planned giving comes through the Church of England’s Parish Giving Scheme. This scheme costs nothing to us as a parish and we would encourage everybody to use it. Other methods of planned giving can incur bank charges and require a lot more administration.

Managing a church with nearly £170,000 turnover is a team effort and we would particularly like to thank the treasurer, planned giving coordinator, stewardship team, parish office and those who bank cash regularly. We are also grateful to John Merricks who acts as our independent examiner.

Imran Daniel / Chris Williams

FABRIC

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The Church building and contents are insured for £3,330,000 and the Hall building for £1,436,486 and contents £81,311.

The last Quinquennial Inspection by our Architect was carried out in 2022 and it continues to be a guide to scheduling our planned maintenance.

Maintaining the structure of the building has been a priority and we have carried out repairs to the church roof including replacing a number of roof and ridge tiles and removing moss. We also obtained a structural engineer’s report of the entrance porch and lower vestry subsidence and carried out lime mortar pointing of the brickwork cracks. Some lime mortar repointing was carried out on the south side church buttresses to protect from the ingress of water.

Our heating continues to be a focus in view of the energy cost and the 27 years old pair of church boilers. Faults have developed and some parts are no longer available. We have extended the use of the remote and scheduled control of our church heating to the hall as well. We have also made a substantial saving in our energy cost through changing to a new provider and we still have green electric.

We have help from our Carbon Neutral group and the Diocese Advisory Committee in following the Church of England “Routemap to Net Zero Carbon by 2030.” The Carbon Neutral group are monitoring the options available for us to achieve this. If we had a complete boiler failure now the option would most likely be a new more efficient gas boiler.

We are blessed with volunteers who help look after the church grounds. The remembrance garden, wildflower beds, grass and all that our Eco group add. We also had a welcome visit from the LIVS team of volunteers.

Some maintenance was put on hold during the pandemic that we are now carrying out.

Peter Newman

Mission Giving

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The mission team met during 2023 and decided on the following partners to support during 2023.

Prison fellowship, Release International, CYFC, Besom, A Rocha, Scripture Union and Rainbow Africa. In addition, it was agreed to retain £1500 to be able to support emergency appeals during the year. £1000 was provided to Christian Aid to support the Turkey & Syria earthquake appeal and £500 was provided to Tearfund in response to their Middle East appeal.

The Christmas collection in 2023 was given to the Mothers’ Union, in support for two projects: Women’s Refuges and Away from It All.

In November 2023, the mission giving committee met to review and agree our partners for 2024. It is enlightening to hear the passion as members of the committee discuss and recommend charities that are very much on their heart. It was agreed that our partners for 2024 would remain the same as those chosen in 2023 and we would retain some giving to support emergency appeals during the year.

During 2023, many of our mission giving partners have been given the opportunity to talk during our services, thank you David for arranging these. It is always very encouraging to hear how our donations are being used to transform lives around the world.

Finally, I would like to thank you on behalf of the mission giving committee for your amazing giving to All Saints’ Church and the PCC for allocating funds for mission giving.

Jim Porter

THE COFFEE SHOP

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As I’m sure you are all aware we are open on two Saturdays a month. This gives us both an occasional free weekend as we have been tied up every weekend for the past 20 plus years. Derek continues to run his hearing aid clinic on the two Saturdays we are open, although the attendance is down as people had to find other routes during Covid. When we first reopened the start was slow but numbers have now built up to above prepandemic levels and it is good to see so many who have returned. Not only are we getting many of our old faithfuls but we are also seeing several new faces on a regular basis. We haven’t yet resumed our association with the Macmillan coffee event in the Autumn, but we do continue to have an annual birthday party. What we are short of is people to make cakes from time to time, and people to pick up others and bring them to the coffee shop and library. If either of these is something you can assist with, and are prepared to do, please let me know.

Carol Browning

SONGS OF PRAISE

We have fully resumed our monthly service and of course our Songs of Praise Carols in December. Fortunately, many of our helpers have made themselves available once again as have those who generously provide us with our homemade cakes, although we can always do with more. This service has proved popular but we, as always could do with more people to come and join in and once again we need to recruit more people to drive and pick up those wishing to attend. My thanks to all who continue to contribute to make this service run smoothly. I want to particularly thank Zelda Smyly who has faithfully played for us for sometime now and keeps me on my toes. Also, I would like to thank Michael Lewis who comes along to put up tables and the ramp, and Paul Hoddinott who has stepped in when Michael is not available. There are also those who come rain or shine to help in so many ways, by setting up beforehand and serving the tea afterwards. A special mention, as well for Pam Newman, who not only collects people but operates the AV system at the back. And for ‘supersonic’ Sandra who counts numbers and gives out the necessary paperwork and greets people when they arrive. Of course, I mustn’t forget Carol who is the organiser behind the whole tea operation.

Derek Browning

YOUTH & CHILDREN

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OUTREACH

We continue to have very good relationships with Hammond Junior and Lightwater Village schools. In 2023 David has continued to take assemblies in person at both. These are always well received and include a Bible story at each assembly.

In May, David worked with the Hammond upper school choir to sing at the Coronation Music Festival as part of the village celebrations and hopes to build on these links at future community events. Years 1 and 2 from Lightwater Village School visited the church as part of their learning. They enjoyed being told about our church building, what we do in baptism, how we pray, and stood out in the garden for the 11 o’clock bells! The Church hosted Carol services for Hammond school and the Scouts. The Remembrance Day service in the Hall saw children, youth and parents of our uniformed organisations packing the hall for this community event. We received lots of positive feedback.

At Christmas we welcomed families to ‘Christmas is Coming’ and to our morning and afternoon Nativity services on Christmas Eve. The puppets helped very young children to engage with the Christmas story. And 15 of our own children and young people led the afternoon service, performing ‘Bethlehem News’ written by one of our young people! The services were well received by those who came.

Ruth Kidd

SUNDAY MORNING CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S GROUPS

Children’s Sunday group meets in the Challen room during the 11am service. The number of children attending has remained steady and we now have a group of up to 10 children aged between 5 and 13 who attend regularly. We enjoy games and fun, we pray, offer craft and other activities. We retell a Bible story in different ways, for instance sometimes using drama or Godly Play. Although we do many activities altogether the children also separate into two groups to enable them to better explore ideas in an age-related way. Thanks to the team: Penelope Mullens, Barbara Williams and Ruth Kidd.

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Small Saints meet on a Sunday during the 11am service and provides an opportunity for under 5s to meet with God and learn about Jesus, and enables their parents to have some quiet time in church. We follow a similar structure each week to ensure some consistency for the young children, starting with a song where they can make as much noise as they want, followed by a more gentle ‘Welcome’ song, a bible story and prayer followed by a time of play and doing craft together. There is a dedicated team who take it in turn to help run and support Small Saints, including, Jackie Gray, Tanya Harrison, Norma Newman and Sherayne Sigsworth. Thank you to Valerie Barnard for all she has given to Small Saints and is now stepping down. We would love more people to join the team so if you have a heart for the very young, please do let us know. Thank you.

Sherayne Sigsworth

FUN AT 4 SERVICE

‘Fun at 4’ is a special service for young children and their families. We meet once a month on a Sunday afternoon, to play a game with Sam Bear, sing praise songs to God, join in a Bible story and have lots of FUN! We then go to the hall to spend time together playing with toys, making a craft, and chatting over refreshments. In July, we enjoyed a picnic and games in the vicarage garden.

We have several special services in the year: ‘Easter is Coming’, ‘Christmas is Coming’ and our morning Nativity service on Christmas Eve. These are very popular and we get a good number of families attending. Thanks to the team: Ali Porter, Barbara Williams, Ruth Kidd and Sheryane Sigsworth.

Ruth Kidd

YOUTH WORK

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YOUTH OUTREACH

We support our mission giving partner Camberley Youth for Christ (CYFC) who have been able to do mentoring and other activities within schools. The Point is held at St Paul’s Church on a Friday night, and young people can join this monthly get together for games, worship and to hear a speaker.

Ruth Kidd

SUNDAY EVENING YOUTH GROUPS

The evening youth group is continuing to develop. We regularly have between 6 – 8 children from school years 7 to 13 attending on Sunday evenings in the hall between 6 and 7pm, with 4-5 leaders. We enjoy games and fun, and share the Bible and what faith means to us as young people.

In the summer we try to get outside and play some games on the field, which is always popular. Also in the summer, David and Sherayne hosted a barbeque in their garden for the youth group, with delicious food and lots of games. This was very well attended and the parents joined us for drinks at the end.

David also ran a couple of music sessions which have been very popular and have led to some younger people becoming part of the music group leading services.

Oli Deeks from CYFC came along a couple of times sharing his testimony on one occasion.

More recently, the group have attended The Point together with a couple of leaders and we are also joining together with the Youth Hub, which is run by St Pauls youth worker together with other churches in the area, for a couple of social/ fellowship events in the next few months.

Please do ask any of the leaders if you have a child between years 7-13 who would like to come along and try us out.

Thanks to the team: Jacqui Munson, Jackie Hoare, Ali Porter, Sherayne Sigsworth and Ruth Kidd.

Ruth Kidd

GROUPS

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HOME GROUPS

Our home groups are a way of coming together to socialise, pray and study the Bible. During the year our numbers attending home groups remained at around 40 with six groups meeting either in the evening or daytime.

Each group tends to follow its own subjects, often following a booklet on a particular topic of the Bible. The combination of Bible study, fellowship, and prayer can be a helpful way of helping to live out our faith in everyday life and to form strong and supportive friendships.

There were some special points of focus in the year. During Lent 2023, several home groups met to follow the challenging Church of England material on the subject of ‘Failure’, using videos and questions provided. At last year’s fete the Questions home group provided the ARK marquee in which families were invited to pop in for a refreshing rest, free juice & craft for children based on an environmental theme. During Advent 2023 three of our home groups put together and led Advent Reflections in the church.

A big thank you to our home group leaders and all the preparation they put into making the groups happen. A leaflet is available in the church foyer for anyone interested in joining a group, or please speak to a home group member or the vicar. We look forward to welcoming new members and setting up new groups as our church family grows and changes.

Revd David

ALL SAINTS’ MOTHERS’ UNION

Mothers’ Union had a variety of talks, including Sue Rackham telling us about her work as a Trustee of The Besom foodbank in Camberley, and in March we paid a visit to the foodbank. During the year we had visits from Kent, Surrey & Sussex Air Ambulance and Citizens Advice Surrey Heath,

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and a talk about bees (which included honey tasting!). Some members attended the MU Pilgrimage of Prayer at the Cathedral.

We provided a flower display for the Flower Festival, and also donated money to All Saints’ for the Mothering Sunday posies. We held two successful ‘soup & puds’ lunches to raise funds for Mothers’ Union projects. Guildford MU held a summer party in Normandy for families from local women’s refuges, asylum seekers and refugees in the area which was very much appreciated. Our garden party in August was blessed with lovely weather and we again welcomed members from other MU branches in the Deanery.

November was our annual ‘wrapping’ day for The Besom Christmas hampers, and a record number of boxes were completed. December was our Christmas tea when we again welcomed members from other MU branches in the Deanery.

We are very grateful to All Saints’ for the donation of the Christmas collections in church, which will be going to Mothers’ Union projects ‘Away From It All’, providing breaks for families under stress, and support for local women’s refuges.

Pam Newman

THE CHOIR

The choir has sung during Communion on Easter Sunday, Harvest Festival, All Saints Day and the Christmas Eve Midnight Service and joined with The Music Group for the Christmas Carol Service.

We have now increased our singers to five ladies and three men and propose from now on to now provide a choir on one Sunday each month to support the congregational singing and to sing during communion at the 0930 service. Any additional members would be most welcome.

Michael Lewis

WORSHIP GROUP

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The group usually plays on the second and fourth Sundays each month for the 11:00 services. I would like to thank all the group for their dedication and support, attending rehearsals and in addition, playing at special events and services.

Our current members are Judith (vocals), Jackie (clarinet & vocals), Layla (keyboard), Jacob (clarinet), David (violin) and myself (bass guitar). Layla and Jacob joined the group this year and, as excellent young musicians, deserve a special mention for all that they bring to the worship at All Saints’ and the way that they have contributed.

Our music library has had something of a revamp as we are now using ‘SongSelect’ to source our music. This provides us with online sheet music that is fully transposable to any key, as opposed to photocopies from books which would need manual transposition.

We continue to play known favourites, but also, we try to bring some new songs into our services, which hopefully will become new favourites. Over the year we have already seen this happening, so we are really pleased that the mix of songs offered are being well received.

Finally, the group is always open to new talent! If you would like to join in, please come and have a chat with me about possibilities. It would be great if we could find new players and singers to join us!

Mark Hoare

WELCOME

The Welcome Team continue to aim to provide a warm welcome to all at All Saints’ Church. Our objective is to enable all who visit All Saints' to feel welcome, comfortable and included. The refreshments or coffee team are also a key part of this welcome.

Further help with welcoming is always much appreciated and if anyone feels able to do this please speak to either myself or Valerie Barnard.

Thank you very much to everyone who currently helps with the welcoming, your commitment and dedication is much appreciated.

Jacqui Munson

SOCIAL COMMITTEE

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One cool damp morning in March a group of approximately 30 people boarded a coach for a visit to Leonardslee Park and Water Gardens near Horsham where we spent an enjoyable day despite the less than perfect weather.

In April we had our annual fellowship meal which is generally a popular event. This was followed in May by our 37th annual Quiz; once again Andrew Newman acted as Quiz Master, the questions being set by him. The cup was finally awarded to Espresso Martinis, a team from Camberley. In June thirty people enjoyed the musical Gypsy following an excellent meal at Sonning Mill.

Harvest Supper took place in October with 60 people enjoying cottage pie. The evening ended with some great home-grown entertainment. Sandra Watson from Food for Thought catered for forty-five people with a delicious Christmas meal. Also in December thirty-nine people visited the New Victoria Theatre, Woking to watch Peter Pan. Tickets for Sleeping Beauty will be available shortly.

We had an enjoyable board games afternoon in January with pizza, cake and nibbles available; this will be repeated next year.

Finally I must express thanks to the Social Committee once again for all their support and ideas.

Valerie Barnard

ECO GROUP

During 2023 our All Saints’ Eco Group continued to take action to help us get closer to matters of the environment and the impact of climate change. One of the Church of England’s 5 Marks of Mission is ‘to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth’, so it is a subject close to our hearts.

Our ‘Eco Church’ journey continued using ideas and resources by ‘A. Rocha’, who encourage us to assess our environmental credentials across five areas of church life – worship, buildings, use of land, community & global justice, and in our lifestyle.

Various initiatives grew in 2023. We continued our ‘Switch One!’ campaign to challenge us in our lifestyle, such as recommending switching our

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appliances to one level lower, and examining the types of cleaning, gardening and toiletry products we use. The team held two ‘Shop and Swap’ community events for the re-cycling of children’s toys, which attracted many families and from which we could send our proceeds to ecological and wildlife projects. A new Bra Bank was introduced by Jackie Hoare located in the Ladies toilet in the Church Hall which reached 1,000 bras in 2023 for recycling to women in the developing world through ‘Against Breast Cancer’.

In our church grounds we have installed a bird feeder, water butt, composting, and are developing with the Brownies a herb garden. In November we held an Environment Sunday service in church looking at the bigger picture and also reflecting on all of our initiatives.

The Carbon Neutral Group continues to meet separately to the Eco Group, looking at the carbon footprint of our buildings in particular (see separate report).

A big thank you to Philip and Denise Blakeborough, Erin Brember, Sarah Dearling, Jackie Hoare, Ruth Kidd, Sherayne Sigsworth, as members of the Eco Group in 2023.

Revd David

CARBON NEUTRAL GROUP

In an effort to move towards the Church of England’s ambitious target to reach net zero carbon by 2030, this group has been working to achieve the target with our own premises. This is a response to God’s call to care for creation and our human life.

We continue to follow the ‘Routemap to Net Zero Carbon by 2030’ prepared by the Church of England. A lot of information is becoming available from many resources, and we are monitoring and evaluating it all.

Our church boilers are now 27 years old and will need to be replaced imminently as some replacement parts are now unavailable. So, if failures

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do occur, we will have significant problems. There is some comfort in the church being heated by two boilers.

Over the last months the group has looked at a number of alternatives, and spoken to a number of expert companies. The Church Heating Specialists company recommend that when we need to replace our boilers, because of our premises and restrictions in terms of space and finance, the only viable option is to fit new gas boilers that are the most efficient ones available. Another company, specialising in church heatpumps conducted a survey for us. Their quote for an air-source heatpump system came in at between £75,000 and £115,000, i.e. totally unaffordable! Solar panels won’t provide enough energy for the buildings at the right time, and we therefore have very little choice when we come to replace our boilers.

We continue to measure our carbon footprint each year. Our carbon emissions are within the same Net CO2 Percentile as 70 to 80% of churches. We are at the bottom of the scale for Emissions per square metre. We have installed better heating controls, energy efficient lights wherever possible and continue to seek ways to reduce our energy usage.

Our use of energy remains our main focus. Our electricity supply is “green” and currently comes from a wind farm. Electric boilers have been considered, but are expensive and less efficient than gas, even though the electricity is from a wind-farm. We continue to seek out the best alternatives for every part of our premises to make them as energy efficient as possible.

We have confirmed that it is difficult to insulate our church further and that there is insufficient space for ground-source heat-pumps. The church roof has the original clay roof tiles and the hall roof is a lightweight construction with lightweight metal tiles, effectively making both structures unsuitable for better insulation.

When new solutions become available, we will continue to make changes in our efforts to reduce our carbon emissions.

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A big thank you to the team of Andy Hockey, Chris Williams and Peter Newman for their support and hard work in moving us forward.

Philip Blakebrough

LIGHTWATER VILLAGE FETE - 14 MAY 2022

The Village fete this year was held on Saturday 20 May – slightly later in the month than the usual early May date, to allow for the Village Coronation celebration. Once again the weather was kind with blue skies and a warm sun. The Fete was opened by Councillor Rebecca JenningsEvans and the pipes and drums from Gordon’s School got the afternoon underway with the first of two splendid displays in the arena.

The ‘Lightwater Legends’ motorcycles then took a couple of turns around the arena before parking up in the car park where the riders were only too happy to chat about their proud possessions.

We then welcomed back Chobham Morris who made the first of their two forays into the arena.

This was followed by the first of two excellent displays from the dancers from Terri Jayne Theatre Arts who entertained the crowds with their usual enthusiasm and professionalism.

The Hammond Junior School choir then took to the centre of the area to reprise their excellent performance from the Coronation celebration earlier in the month.

The Gordon’s School pipe band was next up for their second performance, followed by Chobham Morris, who succeeded in involving many of the spectators in some traditional folk dances.

The Agility Dog display team provided great entertainment – most of the dogs behaving and seeming to enjoy themselves.

The Terri Jayne Theatre Arts then performed a spectacular finale. Residents who had brought along their own dogs were then invited to try the ‘agility’ course.

Stalls of all kinds around the arena provided plenty of opportunity to purchase an assortment of crafts, plants and produce. Once again Donkey rides were very popular with the youngsters, and a ‘tea-cup’ ride

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provided a more gentle diversion. Chicken Rescue UK was happy to show off rescued birds and advise on the best way keeping chickens.

All Saints’ provided an inflatable ‘Jungle’ slide for the younger visitors and for those of a more active disposition – a ‘Total Wipeout’ jousting inflatable. Once again the tombola, also run by stalwarts from the church, did a roaring trade as did the bookstall. The church also provided the ARK, a ‘quiet tent’ providing some respite for those who needed it, including craft and colouring activities for children.

The church was once again the setting for a Flower Festival with the theme of ‘Royal Tributes’ It is always surprising how much imagination, time, effort and skill is expended in producing the wonderful arrangements on show and thanks go to Pauline Hemley for the organisation.

Refreshments were provided in the Hall by the WI, who served a range of sandwiches, sausage rolls and home-made cakes. The Scouts provided hot dogs and burgers from the barbeque. Pizza, Indian cuisine, donuts and cakes were also on offer. Prosecco, Gin and other liquid refreshments were provided at the bar and the ice cream vendor in the car park did a roaring trade.

Radio Frimley Park once again provided the public address system, introducing the various ‘acts’ in the arena and keeping everybody fully informed as the day progressed.

Thanks go to Windlesham Parish Council for the use of the Recreation Ground and the power supply from the old pavilion and to Surrey Heath Borough Council for a grant of £500.

The organising committee responsible for the Village Fete continues to include representatives from All Saints’ Church and from Lightwater Connected. Thanks must also go to the many volunteers both on the ‘day’

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– from early morning until the Recreation Ground is cleared, and those involved in the preparations beforehand, without whom the Fete cannot happen. Richard Storer

COMMUNITY CINEMA

The Community Cinema had a great start to 2023. “Mrs Harris goes to Paris” enticed over one hundred people. With some having to be turned away! In February our film was “The Love Punch” and then in March when we showed “Where the Crawdads Sing” we again had over one hundred people attending. We were more prepared for a big audience this time, having bought our own “clicker” to count people in and to know when to close the doors, which was fortunately not necessary!

In April the film was “Living” and in May, “Ticket to Paradise”.

After the summer break, on the hottest day of the year, we showed “Finding Your Feet” to a good sized audience. The October film was “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry” followed by “Phantom of the Open” in November. The year ended with “The National Lampoons Christmas”.

We now have a lot of regulars who enjoy meeting up with friends for a cup of tea and a natter before the film starts. We have introduced some Pathe News Reels” which are proving very popular.

During the year John Russell installed two new speakers midway down the hall so the sound quality is now good for all attendees.

Everyone is very generous with their donations and we are now anticipating the purchase of a defibrillator to be installed outside the church hall. There is the possibility of a grant from the council towards the cost and we are awaiting the outcome of our applications from the council meeting in April.

The money held for us in the church funds has been changed from a restricted account to a designated account for us to be able to spend our donations for the good of the community.

Pauline Hemley

ADMINISTRATION

CHURCH HALL

23

All Saints’ Church Hall continued to provide excellent facilities to the church and the wider community in 2023. The level of bookings and income is now back to a sustainable level with new regular bookings replacing some which ended. We still have capacity at some times of the week so do let us know of any activities that could benefit from using either the hall or Challen Room. One-off bookings also contribute to the overall use but have fallen recently, particularly for children’s parties.

At All Saints’ we see the hall not just as a building but as a way of extending hospitality and welcome to the wider community. We are the venue for the hugely successful Lightwater Community Cinema and also welcomed the community at events such as the fete, the coronation celebrations and the Scouts’ fireworks display. Not-for-profit community organisations enjoy discounted rates for using the hall.

2023 was a challenging year for the hall financially. The cost of heating the building during the cold weather in January and February was substantial as we were tied to an expensive energy contract. In October we were able to move to a better deal which will help us to keep these costs down. We also invested in a new “smart” heating control system that allows us to only heat the building when it is in use. Getting the temperature right for all users in different outside weather conditions without wasting energy is challenging, The hall is not well insulated and heating it with gas is expensive from both a financial and carbon footprint perspective. This is something we must address over the next few years.

In January 2023 we increased our charges and the good news is that we made a small surplus in 2023. This means that we have not had to increase our charges for 2024.

I am extremely grateful to the members of the hall committee and especially to Jackie Gray and John Trigwell who manage the day to day operations of the hall. Do let us know if you have any suggestions or comments about the hall.

Chris Williams - Hall Committee Chair

24

PARISH OFFICE

The Parish Office continues to be a vital part of the ministry of All Saints Church; a central Hub for those contacting the Church or using the Hall. It is open weekday mornings (closed to visitors Wednesdays) during which time our weekly services are prepared, and any necessary church administration attended to. Jackie Gray (Tuesdays & Thursdays) oversees our hall bookings.

The hall diary is maintained by the Parish Office for hall users whether they be regular users or ad hoc. We have a wide range of users with fitness groups, a Baby & Toddler group, an AA meeting, WPC, MU & WI meetings, the Lightwater Community Cinema, and the Rainbows, Brownies and Guide groups all making good use of our facilities.

The office provides support to the clergy, Churchwardens, the church family, and the wider community, who make good use of the photocopier and laminator for very reasonable fees. The office also provides a safe, confidential, and welcoming environment where pastoral care is required.

This year we changed our cleaning Contractor as our previous contractor moved into retirement.

We have run the Puzzle Swap in Andrew’s Room for a fifth year throughout the winter months, and started a Bra Bank in the ladies’ toilets, collecting over 1500 bras for charity. Both these facilities have seen the wider community visiting the church.

I would like to thank my colleague Jackie, the clergy, Churchwardens, and the church family for all the support they have given me.

Mark Hoare – Parish Administrator

ROUNDABOUT LIGHTWATER

25

Roundabout Lightwater continues to be enjoyed by subscribers, and contributions from the church, varied groups and individuals continue to come in and provide a good variety of content. Feedback and suggestions are always very welcome. As usual, we would very much like to increase our coverage of the village but need a canvassing volunteer. Copies for this purpose are usually available.

Our individual advertisers reduce slightly in number each year, some due to retirement, some because they get little response, others because they now only advertise online. However, occasional full-page adverts have boosted income. We increased our subscription rate to £8 and advertising rates are still very reasonable.

Thanks as usual go to all our contributors and our 33 amazing distributors who deliver every month. We often have a need for one-off distributors, so please let me know if you can help.

Pam Newman

26

Parochial Church Council of All Saints' Lightwater - Accounts 2023

Accounts 2023

----- Start of picture text -----
Receipts Note Unrestricted Fund Designated Fund Restricted Fund Total 2023 Total 2022
Voluntary Receipts:
Planned Giving 1 86,697.38 86,697.38 79,498.62
Collections at Services 2 5,247.07 - 80.70 5,327.77 6,248.51
All other voluntary receipts 3 10,201.87 - 1,461.07 11,662.94 3,274.56
Gift Aid Recovered 4 22,356.08 22,356.08 19,137.73
Activities for generating funds 5 1,738.69 2,412.09 - 4,150.78 2,810.95
Investment Income 6 1,169.72 1,169.72 479.10
Church Activities 7 35,840.51 35,840.51 31,283.20
Other Receipts 8 80.15 - 1,000.00 1,080.15 3,933.18
Total 163,331.47 2,412.09 2,541.77 168,285.33 146,665.85
Payments Note Unrestricted Fund Designated Fund Restricted Fund Total 2023 Total 2022
Church Activities:
Diocesan Parish Share 9 89,826.00 89,826.00 88,404.00
Clergy & Staffing Costs 10 1,410.36 1,410.36 1,824.91
Mission Giving & Donations 11 10,000.00 105.00 10,105.00 11,681.56
Ministry & Services 12 4,368.52 4,368.52 4,102.89
Church Running Costs 13 18,317.10 121.96 1,000.00 19,439.06 14,358.39
Cost of Trading 14 26,307.06 50.00 26,357.06 21,238.72
Major Repairs & Upgrades 15 7,020.40 7,020.40 17,282.19
Cost of generating funds 16 897.49 287.98 1,185.47 280.68
Governance Costs 17 300.00 300.00 250.00
Total 158,446.93 564.94 1,000.00 160,011.87 159,423.34
----- End of picture text -----

Payments	Note	Unrestricted Fund	Designated Fund	Restricted Fund	Total 2023	Total 2022
Church Activities:
Diocesan Parish Share	9	89,826.00			89,826.00	88,404.00
Clergy & Staffing Costs	10	1,410.36			1,410.36	1,824.91
Mission Giving & Donations	11	10,000.00	105.00		10,105.00	11,681.56
Ministry & Services	12	4,368.52			4,368.52	4,102.89
Church Running Costs	13	18,317.10	121.96	1,000.00	19,439.06	14,358.39
Cost of Trading	14	26,307.06	50.00		26,357.06	21,238.72
Major Repairs & Upgrades	15	7,020.40			7,020.40	17,282.19
Cost of generating funds	16	897.49	287.98		1,185.47	280.68
Governance Costs	17	300.00			300.00	250.00
Total		158,446.93	564.94	1,000.00	160,011.87	159,423.34
Excess of Receipts over Payments		4,884.54	1,847.15	1,541.77	8,273.46	-12,757.49
Transfers between funds		0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
Total		4,884.54	1,847.15	1,541.77	8,273.46	-12,757.49
Cash at bank and in hand at 1 Jan		22,751.92	58,965.30	1,068.70	82,785.92
Cash at bank and in hand at 31 Dec		27,636.46	60,812.45	2,610.47	91,059.38
Movement in 2023		4,884.54	1,847.15	1,541.77	8,273.46

Page 1 of 4

Registered Charity no 1182176

Parochial Church Council of All Saints' Lightwater - Accounts 2023

----- Start of picture text -----
Statement of Assets Unrestricted Fund Designated Fund Restricted Fund Total 2023 Total 2022
Cash Funds
Bank current account 27,179.79 23,145.26 2,610.47 52,935.52 46,000.73
Deposit Account 37,667.19 37,667.19 36,497.47
Coffee Shop Float 50.00 50.00 50.00
Soldo prepaid card 406.67 406.67 237.72
Total 27,636.46 60,812.45 2,610.47 91,059.38 82,785.92
Designated 1 Jan 2023 Incoming Expended 31 Dec 2023
Reserve 39,250.00 39,250.00
Lightwater Community Cinema 594.00 1,780.80 287.98 2,086.82
Shop & Swap 631.29 276.96 354.33
Church Extension Project 19,121.30 19,121.30
Total 58,965.30 2,412.09 564.94 60,812.45
Restricted 1 Jan 2023 Incoming Expended 31 Dec 2023
Other Voluntary Receipts 1,068.70 1,541.77 - 2,610.47
Other Receipts 1,000.00 1,000.00 -
Total 1,068.70 2,541.77 1,000.00 2,610.47
1 Planned Giving Unrestricted Funds Designated Funds Restricted Funds Total 2023 Total 2022
Tax Efficient Planned Giving - Parish Giving Scheme 76,345.38 76,345.38 68,961.62
Tax Efficient Planned Giving- Standing Orders 5,322.00 5,322.00 5,492.00
Tax Efficient Planned Giving - Envelopes 2,195.00 2,195.00 1,415.00
Other Planned Giving - Envelopes 2,475.00 2,475.00 3,170.00
Other Planned Giving - Standing Orders 0.00 0.00 100.00
Tax Efficient Planned Giving - Payroll Giving 360.00 360.00 360.00
Total 86,697.38 0.00 0.00 86,697.38 79,498.62
2 Collections at Services Unrestricted Funds Designated Funds Restricted Funds Total 2023 Total 2022
Collections for Church Funds 5,247.07 5,247.07 5,900.51
Royal British Legion collected 80.70 80.70 348.00
Total 5,247.07 - 80.70 5,327.77 6,248.51
3 All other voluntary receipts Unrestricted Funds Designated Funds Restricted Funds Total 2023 Total 2022
Collected for Water Aid 535.60 535.60 347.50
Mothers' Union Guildford - 925.47 925.47 -
Collected for Connect Counselling - 738.06
Collected for Tearfund - 335.00
Other Donations 10,201.87 10,201.87 1,854.00
Total 10,201.87 - 1,461.07 11,662.94 3,274.56
Other donations includes a total of £7,050 from one-off donations, while the remaining amount was made by numerous smaller donations.
4 Gift Aid Recovered Unrestricted Funds Designated Funds Restricted Funds Total 2023 Total 2022
Tax Recovered via HMRC return 5,811.39 5,811.39 4,157.55
Tax Recovered by Parish Giving Scheme 16,544.69 16,544.69 14,980.18
Total 22,356.08 - - 22,356.08 19,137.73
----- End of picture text -----

Page 2 of 4

Registered Charity no 1182176

Parochial Church Council of All Saints' Lightwater - Accounts 2023

----- Start of picture text -----
5 Activities for Generating Funds Unrestricted Funds Designated Funds Restricted Funds Total 2023 Total 2022
Fete & Book Sales 1,401.50 1,401.50 1,806.32
Fundraising Schemes 81.69 81.69 81.63
Office Income 170.50 170.50 153.20
Quiz 85.00 85.00 100.00
Lightwater Community Cinema 1,780.80 1,780.80 669.80
Shop & Swap - 631.29 631.29 -
Total 1,738.69 2,412.09 - 4,150.78 2,810.95
6 Investment Income Unrestricted Funds Designated Funds Restricted Funds Total 2023 Total 2022
Deposit Account Interest 1,169.72 1,169.72 479.10
Total 1,169.72 1,169.72 479.10
7 Church Activities Unrestricted Funds Designated Funds Restricted Funds Total 2023 Total 2022
Magazine Sales 4,200.36 4,200.36 3,991.13
Magazine Advertising 6,938.80 6,938.80 7,182.75
Hall Lettings 21,134.10 21,134.10 17,019.26
Coffee Shop 633.91 633.91 403.75
Church Book Shop 839.14 839.14 275.58
Fees 2,094.20 2,094.20 2,410.73
Total 35,840.51 0.00 0.00 35,840.51 31,283.20
8 Other Receipts Unrestricted Funds Designated Funds Restricted Funds Total 2023 Total 2022
Grants 1,000.00 1,000.00 3,843.75
Bank Loyalty Payments 80.15 80.15 89.43
Total 80.15 0.00 1,000.00 1,080.15 3,933.18
The amount represents an Energy Grant from the Guildford Diocese towards heating expenses.
9 Diocesan Parish Share Unrestricted Funds Designated Funds Restricted Funds Total 2023 Total 2022
Parish Share 89,826.00 89,826.00 88,404.00
Total 89,826.00 0.00 0.00 89,826.00 88,404.00
10 Clergy & Staffing Expenses Unrestricted Funds Designated Funds Restricted Funds Total 2023 Total 2022
Clergy and Staff Expenses 1,410.36 1,410.36 1,824.91
Total 1,410.36 0.00 0.00 1,410.36 1,824.91
11 Mission Giving & Donations Unrestricted Funds Designated Funds Restricted Funds Total 2023 Total 2022
Camberley Youth for Christ 1,500.00 1,500.00 2,000.00
Release International 1,500.00 1,500.00 2,000.00
Prison Fellowship 1,500.00 1,500.00 2,000.00
United Society Partners in the Gospel 0.00 0.00 2,000.00
Camberley Besom 1,000.00 1,000.00 1,000.00
A Rocha 1,000.00 1,000.00 1,000.00
WaterAid 0.00 0.00 260.50
Connect Counselling 0.00 0.00 738.06
Royal British Legion 0.00 0.00 348.00
Tearfund 500.00 500.00 335.00
Scripture Union 1,000.00 1,000.00 0.00
Rainbow Africa 1,000.00 1,000.00 0.00
Christian Aid 1,000.00 105.00 1,105.00 0.00
Total 10,000.00 105.00 0.00 10,105.00 11,681.56
----- End of picture text -----

Page 3 of 4

Registered Charity no 1182176

Parochial Church Council of All Saints' Lightwater - Accounts 2023

----- Start of picture text -----
12 Ministry & Services Unrestricted Funds Designated Funds Restricted Funds Total 2023 Total 2022
Services 3,546.89 3,546.89 2,548.68
Ministry 483.07 483.07 1,149.03
Children's Work 338.56 338.56 405.18
Total 4,368.52 0.00 0.00 4,368.52 4,102.89
13 Church Running Costs Unrestricted Funds Designated Funds Restricted Funds Total 2023 Total 2022
Church Routine Repairs & Maintenance 1,470.41 121.96 1,592.37 715.98
Church Utility Bills and Insurance 5,712.85 1,000.00 6,712.85 3,485.21
Parish Office 10,540.37 10,540.37 9,599.24
Bank Charges 543.47 543.47 557.96
Total 18,317.10 121.96 1,000.00 19,439.06 14,358.39
£1k paid from the Energy Grant - see 8 above.
14 Cost of Trading Unrestricted Funds Designated Funds Restricted Funds Total 2023 Total 2022
Cost of trading - Magazine 5,379.13 50.00 5,429.13 5,314.16
Cost of trading - Coffee Shop 433.17 433.17 175.58
Cost of trading - Hall 20,050.21 20,050.21 14,830.59
Cost of trading - Hall Refunds 74.00 74.00 105.00
Cost of trading - Church Book Shop 370.55 370.55 813.39
Total 26,307.06 50.00 0.00 26,357.06 21,238.72
2023 2022
Hall net surplus 1,009.89 2,083.67
Magazine net surplus 5,760.03 5,859.72
Book shop net surplus 468.59 -537.81
Coffee Shop net surplus 200.74 228.17
15 Major Repairs & Upgrades Unrestricted Funds Designated Funds Restricted Funds Total 2023 Total 2022
CCTV equipment 0.00 0.00 8,599.30
Church projector 0.00 0.00 5,160.00
Improvements 0.00 0.00 1,313.28
Repairs resulting from quinquennial inspection 7,020.40 7,020.40 0.00
Quinquennial Inspection 0.00 0.00 2,209.61
Total 7,020.40 0.00 0.00 7,020.40 17,282.19
16 Cost of Generating Funds Unrestricted Funds Designated Funds Restricted Funds Total 2023 Total 2022
Fete Expenses 897.49 897.49 280.68
Cinema 0.00 287.98 0.00 287.98 0.00
Total 897.49 287.98 0.00 1,185.47 280.68
17 Governance Costs Unrestricted Funds Designated Funds Restricted Funds Total 2023 Total 2022
Independent Examiner 300.00 300.00 250.00
Total 300.00 0.00 0.00 300.00 250.00
----- End of picture text -----**

Page 4 of 4

Registered Charity no 1182176

THE PCC OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ALL SAINTS LIGHTWATER INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF THE PCC OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ALL SAINTS LIGHTWATER I report to the members of the PCC on my examination of the xounts of the PCC for the year ended 31 December 2023. which are set out in the annual rekwxL R•sponsibiliti•s and basss d r•p As the charity's mernbe￿ of the PCC. you e resFonsible for the weparation of the a[￿oUnts in aoxrdance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011the A() I report in re$￿t of my examinat￿ of the PCC'S act￿nts carrd out under section 145 ofthe 2011 Act and in carrying out my examinatk)n I have fc4ltrAI all tr applicable Directions gtven by the Charity Commission under section 14515)(bl of the Act Ind•pond•nt •xamln•fs stst•m•rt I have completed my eXa￿￿natIOn. I confinn that material f￿Ve come to my attention in COnn￿li0n with the examination givlng m& cause to believe that in any material respect: a￿￿)UnIng re￿rdS were not kept as requi￿￿ by S￿tI)n 130 of the Art or 2. the &counts do rK>t those ￿1￿$. I have no concems and have come acr05S Th) olher nBlters in c*ffinethn wrth the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a p￿per undetslanding of the accounts to be reached. John Merric 13 8ir¢hw(Kd Drive Lightsvater Surrey GU18 5RX