## **The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Rowledge, known as St James’ Church, Rowledge.**
**Painting by Elizabeth Bagnall**
## **Trustees Annual Report. Year ended 31[st] December 2025**
Trustees Annual Report - 2025
## **Contents**
|1.|Legal and Administrative Information ....................................................................... 1|
|---|---|
|2.|The Trustees ........................................................................................................... 1|
|3.|Aims and Purposes ................................................................................................. 2|
|4.|Objectives and Activities (including statement of Public Benefit) ............................... 2|
|5.|Mission Statement .................................................................................................. 2|
|6.|Vision Statement .................................................................................................... 3|
|7.|The Charity’s Plans for the Future – The Church Growth Plan ..................................... 4|
|8.|Organisational Structure, Recruitment of New Trustees ............................................ 5|
|9.|Meeting Attendance and Statistics ........................................................................... 5|
|10.|Report of the Electoral Roll Officer ........................................................................... 7|
|11.|Vicar’s Report ......................................................................................................... 7|
|12.|Churchwarden’s Report .......................................................................................... 8|
|13.|Worship and Pastoral ............................................................................................ 10|
|14.|Deanery Synod ..................................................................................................... 11|
|15.|Building Fabric Report ........................................................................................... 12|
|16.|Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults ......................................................... 14|
|17.|Small Groups (formerly called Life Groups) ............................................................ 15|
|18.|Men’s Group ........................................................................................................ 16|
|19.|Youth and Children’s Ministry ................................................................................ 16|
|20.|Little Fishes Nursery School .................................................................................. 17|
|21.|Pastoral Care ....................................................................................................... 20|
|22.|Coffee Mug Community Café................................................................................. 20|
|23.|Flower Team......................................................................................................... 21|
|24.|Risk Management ................................................................................................. 21|
|25.|Treasurers’ Report ................................................................................................ 21|
|26.|Independent Examiner’s Report ............................................................................. 23|
|27.|Financial Report ................................................................................................... 24|
Trustees Annual Report - 2025
## **1. Legal and Administrative Information**
The charity is called the Parochial Church Council of The Ecclesiastical Parish of Rowledge, also known as St James’ Church, Rowledge, and is registered with the Charity Commission of England and Wales.
Registered Charity Number 1128612 Registered address St James’ Church Office Church Lane Rowledge Farnham GU10 4EN
## **2. The Trustees**
PCC members who have served from 1st January 2025
Clergy Revd Dr Steve Green, Vicar (after April 2024) Revd Dr Russ Parker (ex officio) Associate Minister Churchwardens Vacancy Elected members Joanna Chipperfield (until May 2025) Jan Clark (until May 2025) Jonathan Doland (until May 2026) Samantha Goolding (until May 2026) Peter Ivermee (until May 2026) Judith Scott (until May 2026) Ian Webb (until May 2025) Anne Vine (until May 2026) Tony Carpenter (from May 2024 until 2027) Russell Chipperfield (from May 2024 until 2027) Ken Wickenden (Treasurer, from May 2024 until 2027) Clive Jourdain (from May 2024 until 2027) Co-opted members Nick Smale - PCC secretary Other office holders Rebecca Porter – Parish Safeguarding Officer David Pennington - Electoral Roll Officer Samantha Goolding - DBS Validator Amber Delves - Manager Little Fishes Nursery 3 Vacancies – Deanery Rep Bankers National Westminster Bank Independent Examiner Nigel Wyatt BFC FCA
1
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
The trustees present their annual report with financial statements for the year ended 31st December 2025. The trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland FRS 102.
## **3. Aims and Purposes**
The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Rowledge is a charity registered with the Charity Commission (registration no.1128612). The PCC has the responsibility of co-operating with the incumbent in promoting the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, ecumenical and social, throughout the ecclesiastical parish. The PCC is also specifically responsible for the maintenance of the church buildings adjacent to the church, and the operation of Little Fishes’ Nursery in those buildings.
## **4. Objectives and Activities (including statement of Public Benefit)**
The church was established in the village of Rowledge in 1869 and generations of Rowledge families lie in the adjacent graveyard. Our services and activities put faith into practice and allow ordinary people to live out their faith as part of a strong community through worship and prayer. Pastoral care is an important part of our mission and outreach. We have a passion for youth and children and have invested heavily in youth and children’s work. We are also mindful of the needs of older residents in the parish, especially those who are infirm or lonely. We have created a pastoral visiting group who visit older residents.
Our purpose is to know Jesus and to make Jesus known to everyone in the parish and beyond. To do this we aim to have wonderful worship, devoted disciples and genuine compassion for our community.
## **5. Mission Statement**
In line with the Church of England we subscribe to the five marks of mission, or the 5 ‘T’s.
There are:
1. To preach the Gospel (Tell)
2. To teach the fundamentals of the Christian faith based on Scripture (Teach)
3. To pastorally care for those in need (Tend)
4. To challenge unjust structures in society (Transform)
5. To care for the environment (Tend)
2
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
## **6. Vision Statement**
Our vision is to unite the community in Jesus Christ by meeting diverse needs. That is the meaning of ‘Unity in Christ’. We aim to achieve this in three ways. Firstly, by striving for Wonderful Worship; secondly, by creating Devoted Disciples and, finally, by demonstrating Compassion for the Community. All this is explained on the next page and explains the church’s plans for the future.
3
Trustees Annual Report - 2025
## **7. The Charity’s Plans for the Future – The Church Growth Plan**
In August 2024, the members of the PCC and other church leaders met to discern God’s plan for the church. As a result of this meeting, the cards in blue above and the church growth plan, below, were written.
Trustees Annual Report - 2025
The trustees have given due consideration to the Charity Commission’s published guidance on the public benefit requirements under the Charities Act 2011.
## **8. Organisational Structure, Recruitment of New Trustees**
The Parochial Church Council (PCC) of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Rowledge is a charity organisation registered with the Charity Commission. The Parochial Church Council is a corporate body established by the Church of England. The PCC operates under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure. The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules.
The membership of the PCC at St James’ consists of clergy, churchwardens and members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church. All those who regularly attend church are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and are then eligible to stand for election to the PCC. PCC members are elected for a 3-year period.
The PCC members are trustees and as such are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish, including financial. Trustee meetings are normally held 6 times a year (January, March, May (APCM), July, September and November). At the Annual Parochial Church meeting in May new trustees are elected. The Standing Committee normally meets in the months in between (February, April, June, August, October and December).
## **9. Meeting Attendance and Statistics**
## **PCC meetings and committees**
Following the vacancy (inter-regnum) in 2024, 2025 saw a settled pattern of PCC meetings with clear systems and comprehensive information sharing. In 2025 the PCC met on the first Thursday of each alternate month apart from new year. The PCC therefore met on: Thursday, 9[th] January; Thursday 6[th] March; Sunday, 4[th] May (APCM); Thursday, 3[rd] July; Thursday, 4[th] September and Thursday, 6[th] November.
23
Trustees Annual Report - 2025
SLJames'Church
owleage
'.Illi.Iliii
THE CHURCH
OF ENCLAND
311
IM
i•¥
THE CHURCH
OF ENCLAND
Trustees Annual Report- 2025
## **10. Report of the Electoral Roll Officer**
You will recall that in 2025 we were required to complete a new Church Electoral Role which as at 20[th] April 2025 was reported to have stood at 126. There were however an additional 9 applications which unfortunately were not submitted within the required time frame.
During the year therefore there have been those additional 9 plus a further 3 applications and sadly 2 deaths.
The Electoral Roll as at April end 2026 stands at 136 and is available to view in the church porch for the next 14 days and thereafter on request.
**David Pennington, Electoral Roll Officer**
## **11. Vicar’s Report**
Inevitably what I have written below is often found in greater detail in other parts of the report but in what follows I give a brief synopsis of the year in terms of the Church Growth Plan.
The Church Growth Plan (found on page 4) was formulated by the PCC in the Autumn of 2024 and therefore 2025 was the year that the plan was implemented. In terms of growth, God has blessed the church with a slight increase in numbers as the year progressed at Sunday worship and a sharp rise in numbers in activities through the week.
The first part of the growth plan is called ‘Devoted Disciples’. This dovetails with the diocesan target of ‘growing disciples’. 2025 saw an increase in both the number of small groups meeting and the number of people attending small groups. In addition, in February, a training course was run for small group leaders and was well received. Alpha courses were offered to both adults and youth. Fortnightly prayer meetings took place on Tuesday evenings and were a real blessing to those who came.
The second priority of the church growth plan was ‘wonderful worship’ which links to the diocesan goal of ‘growing diversity’. 2025 saw a range of worship services spanning from traditional book of common prayer services to informal and more charismatic worship. In this way, the aim was to meet the diverse needs of the community as befitting a Church of England parish church serving everyone in the parish. More detail on the preaching and teaching themes of worship through 2025 can be found on page 10 below.
Compassion for the community was the third priority of the church growth plan which mirrors the diocesan goal of ‘growing community’. The pop-up café ‘Coffee mug’ met on the second Saturday of each month throughout the year and blessed those who attended, and the range of local and national charities supported. In March a quiz night was organised by the church for the community and was enjoyed by all who came. Every Friday an exercise class for ‘seniors’ was expertly run by a church member.
7
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
In September 2025, the PCC voted to support three Christian charities: one local, one national and one international. After a period of prayer, we settled on Farnham Frontline Money Advice, the Church Urban Fund and Samaritan’s Purse. More will be reported on each of these mission partners as the links between these charities and St James’ church strengthen in future years.
However, the biggest emphasis on community for 2025 was growing links with Little Fishes, our nursery provider and Rowledge CE Primary school. This is covered in the Youth and Children’s Minister’s report on page 15 below.
Lastly, the church growth plan looks at the suitability of the buildings. An enormous amount of work has been done by Colin Henry and the working group to ensure that the buildings are fit for mission and further growth in the years to come.
I want to take this opportunity to thank a range of people for their support over the year. Firstly, the paid staff. I want to thank Jade Biggs, our Youth and Children’s minister, Jacob Green, our Systems Manager and all the staff at Little Fishes nursery. All these people have been a pleasure to work with. I also want to thank Rev Dr Russ Parker for his invaluable support. Next, I want to thank the four sub-wardens and the rest of the PCC (trustees) for their excellent guidance and encouragement. In addition, as mentioned above, I want to thank Colin Henry for all his work on the buildings – present and future. Finally, I want to thank all the other members of the community who have made me, and my wife, feel so welcome and at home in this parish in our first full year here.
**Revd Dr Steve Green, Vicar**
## **12. Churchwarden’s Report**
## **People**
The church has been ably served by four Sub-Wardens through this past year, myself and Jan Clark, Clive Jourdain, and Peter Ivermee, and my thanks go to each for their dedicated service to ensuring services run smoothly and leadership decisions are taken sensitively.
Reverend Dr Steve Green and his wife and Helen have settled well into the Vicarage and made a tremendous difference to the life of our church in 2025. Steve’s preaching is very much appreciated, and parishioners often comment on both the quality of the teaching and the level of challenge presented each Sunday.
Steve is supported ably by our Associate Minister Reverend Dr Russ Parker who has been a great support to Steve in his ministry. Our prayers were very much with Russ through the year as his wife’s health deteriorated, eventually passing into Glory in August.
Jacob Green is excelling in his role as office administrator and we would like to thank and record how much he has contributed in the office with his technical expertise and willingness to take on more responsibilities, ably assisting our Treasurer Ken Wickenden with more financial tasks. Ken has given a tremendous amount of time to ensure our finances are in order and planned as we go forward. We have endeavoured to make this role less onerous, as it is done on a voluntary basis, and the assistance from Jacob has made it less reliant on one person.
8
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
Jade Biggs has brought huge enthusiasm, fun and inspiring ideas to the role of Childrens’ Minister and it is exciting to see her engaging with more and more children. From a start with only a couple of children, we are now seeing over 40 children in our various groups each week. She not only works within the church confines, but also inspires the youth of our two village schools. It is always difficult to single out names, but special thanks to Ian Webb and Jo Chipperfield who supported Jade this year, but we owe an enormous debt of gratitude to all our volunteers who help in this children's work. Jo has also taken on the very important role of Safeguarding Officer. Thank you.
Finally, a huge thank you to all our leaders/volunteers too numerous to mention for all you have done to make us the church community that we are. The flower team, Rowledge Review contributors / distributors / editor, Musicians, children's work, Church cleaners, AV operators, Hospitality team, DBS checking, Electoral roll, laundry, maintenance volunteers… all of you who quietly contribute to all aspects of our church life unnoticed, but so appreciated.
## **Buildings**
The buildings are in good order and we are indebted to the work of Colin Henry and his never ending list of talents to keep us safe, warm and dry!
Colin has spearheaded our project to review the use of our buildings and this report is included elsewhere in this document.
## **Worship**
The PCC discussed the musical worship across our Sunday services and, in order to satisfy a wide range of preferences, now have a more balanced mix of traditional and contemporary music, played by live musicians and pre-recorded videos and songs.
## **Tony Carpenter, Church Warden**
9
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
## **13. Worship and Pastoral**
Worship remains central to the life of St James’ church. It is through worship that we encounter God in a special way, feel His presence and hear His voice. Accordingly, one of the main priorities of the church is to continually strive for ‘wonderful worship’, and this is a key component of the church growth plan.
Following good attendance at the Christmas services in 2024, the new year started with a sermon series entitled ‘what would Jesus say to….’ The famous people selected were Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Taylor Swift. Next, we followed a sermon series on discipleship based on the best-selling Christian book on this topic in 2024 entitled ‘Practicing the Way’. In March we followed a sermon series on David and Goliath from 1 Samuel 17 and based on Bishop Andrew Watson’s excellent book ‘Confidence in the Living God’.
Easter was celebrated with a range of worship in Holy Week including the washing of each other’s feet on Maundy Thursday, a walk of witness with a large wooden cross on Good Friday and an Easter trail for young families.
In the Summer of 2025 the preaching and teaching within worship looked at Spiritual Disciplines and also the book of Daniel, based on Jeff Lucas’ book, ‘Singing in Babylon’. Throughout August the focus of the preaching was on the gentle and lowly nature of God, revealed in Matthew’s Gospel chapter 11.
In the Autumn of 2025 the preaching and teaching within worship focused on the book of Galatians and then what the church of tomorrow will look like. As expected, there was then a focus on Christmas and the incarnation. Attendance at Christmas services was very high with over 300 people attending a range of services over the Christmas period.
Musical worship is also central to the worship life of the parish. I want to record my thanks to all our musicians in 2025: Mary and Alastair Somerville, Sara and Hannah Acworth, Gemma Russell, Neil Dupres, Tom Barnard, and Shelagh Henderson, together with all organists who have helped us on an occasional basis.
My role as incumbent is not only presiding over the ‘word’ but also ‘sacrament’. Holy Communion was observed every week throughout 2025 following either one of the forms of Common Worship or the Book of Common Prayer.
In 2025 there were 4 baptisms, 3 weddings and 10 funerals at St James’ church. We thank God for the lives of all who have departed. I would like to thank everyone who has helped in the not inconsiderable organisation of all these services.
We are keen to develop a team approach to worship. To this end I would like to thank all our readers, intercessors, welcomers, AV team, servers, occasional preachers, children’s leaders, coffee makers, sub wardens and flower arrangers. Finally, to Revd Dr Russ Parker for inspiring myself and so many through his powerful preaching ministry. To all who have contributed to the quality of worship, thank you.
**Revd Dr Steve Green, Vicar**
10
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
## **14. Deanery Synod**
Farnham Deanery Synod met twice in 2025, at St Mary’s Church, Frensham on 1 April, and at St Alban’s Church, Hindhead on 2 October. The dates were chosen to align with meetings of the Diocesan Synod. In addition, a Parish Development Day for the Deanery, as part of the ongoing Parish Needs Process (PNP) was held at St Andrew’s Church, Franham on 1 March, as the Deanery was now in the ‘review’ phase of PNP.
Having met in March, the Deanery Leadership Team (DLT) decided that the topic for the April meeting would be ‘Discipleship and creating disciples’. At Frensham, The Revd John Valentine, Dean of the Diocesan Local Ministry Programme (LMP) gave a presentation on ‘Encouraging and Training New Leaders’. The intention of the LMP is to train clergy and lay ministers to meet the needs of parishes today, a more practical and flexible approach than traditional theological colleges. Group discussion followed, which identified parish needs around the familiar themes of families and young people, schools, pastoral care, choirs/music, administration and chaplaincy.
For the October meeting at Hindhead, Bishop Andrew attended, along with Mat Ineson, Interim Director of Mission and Ministry at Church House. The meeting started with Mat asking the synod members to think about ‘What is God doing for you?’. The responses were very encouraging, with many examples of growth and engagement being shared. It continued with an act of worship led by Bishop Andrew, during which he spoke about the Old Testament story of David and Goliath, and the importance of ‘good’ self-confidence. Mat then spoke about progress under PNP: eight parishes in the Deanery had produced Church Development Plans, with over 100 actions under the focus areas of: (1) growing discipleship; (2) growing family and children outreach; and (3) growing community engagement. They were then discussed in small groups and finally shared with all present.
**Revd Richard Bodle, Area Dean, Farnham Deanery**
11
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
## **15. Building Fabric Report**
We have in place a planned maintenance schedule to cover all aspects of the fabric, services and statutory inspections and works are undertaken according to the schedule. We are able to report that all statutory inspections covering such things gas, electrical, emergency lighting, and fire safety have all been satisfactory.
In addition to the planned maintenance work there have been additional works such as:
- Changing failed lights with new LED lighting
- Electrical repairs required by last inspection
- Repairs to flood lights
- Movable AV desk
- Fitting of defibrillator and provision of electrical supply
- Repairs to footpaths
- New gate post
The last Quintennial inspection highlighted some issues with the bell tower and bell chamber so plans were drawn up to access the tower together with the necessary risk assessments and safety procedures. In February the following work was completed:
- Removal of loose vermiculite insulation in the bell tower and replacement with new
- Add safety strops to bell chamber and tower
- Treatment for cluster flies
- Bearings and clapper repairs to bell; whipping and splice of bell rope
- Mesh to keep birds and animals out of tower
- Replace access hatch with a lighter hatch to aid access
- Inspection of tower woodwork
We are grateful for the volunteers that come together on a Saturday morning to complete work to improve the front area of the building that included fencing, bin storage area, cleaning and treating benches, and cutting back trees. The Parish rooms and windows also had a clean.
## **New Building Thoughts – for the future**
The fourth component of the church growth plan on page 4 is to explore the suitability of the existing buildings for mission and growth.
For some time we have had a problem, because the church premises are used by Little Fishes nursery school during the week, we are limited in the way that we can serve God, serve the community and grow His church for the next generation. Specifically, we are restricted with no access to toilets and kitchen for weddings, funerals, youth groups, children's groups, and a whole host of daytime and evening events during term time. In addition, we have inadequate storage space and the access to the church is not as welcoming as it might be.
The PCC were united in their desire to keep Little Fishes functioning as it does at present so we are looking to develop the church in other ways and in other areas.
12
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
We had a day set aside to listen to God on Saturday 9th August. At the PCC meeting on the 4th of September a working group chaired by Colin Henry was appointed to consider future development of the Church buildings. We met with several architects to select which one would be appropriate to appoint and selected Archangel in November. They have completed a feasibility study and plan based on 3-D modelling of the building and its environment. Archangel identified our key requirements as:-
- Space to welcome and draw people into Church.
- Space to gather together and improved toilet facilities during the day.
- Flexible Worship space and increased capacity
- Improved spaces for youth work.
- Improved environmental and energy performance
They and the working group considered various alterations that we could make to the octagon, kitchen, toilets and Church rooms and none worked.
It was also concluded that even if Little Fishes did not meet in these areas it would still not be possible to deliver the wider ministry objectives of our document “Moving Forward”.
The draft plan that Archangel have produced proposes a radical extension and, although the PCC have seen the plan and considered it, no decision has yet been made as to whether we will go ahead with all or part of it. The decision on the proposals would normally take place at the next PCC which I think would be something like the 9th of July. You’ll see that part of the proposal is that we have initial work carried out in the vestry to install a toilet and kitchen there, this could be phase one of any work. It might be that that would be as far as we would wish to go, or we might wish to press on with the remaining works which would cost quite a large amount of money. Unfortunately doing nothing is probably not an option open to us. Our central heating boiler is of great age and when it stops working, we won’t be able to replace it with something similar.
A meeting is, at the time of dictation, scheduled for 28th April 2026 with The Secretary to The Diocesan Advisory Committee, Wendy Harris so that we and the architect may see what the Diocesan view might be on the current draft plans.
If the Diocese agree to the work in principle, then the PCC at the next meeting will have to decide what the next steps should be. At the APCM a short presentation will be made and images of the draft plans that have arisen from the feasibility study will be shared. If you have any views on this please make them clear to any member of the PCC. Tell a PCC member what your views are because we need to go forward united as a Church if we are to implement any of these proposals. So, think about it, pray about it and try and discern not what you want but what God wants. Then tell a member of the working group or the PCC before the beginning of July 2026.
The members of the working group are Colin Henry (Chair), Peter Ivermee, Clive Jourdain, Nick Smale, Jan Clark, Jo Chipperfield, Russell Chipperfield and Revd Dr Steve Green.
## **Working Group Team on Buildings**
13
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
## **16. Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults**
## **What is safeguarding?**
Safeguarding at St James’ is the commitment to creating a safe, welcoming environment by protecting children, young people, and vulnerable adults from harm, abuse, and neglect. It involves proactive policies, mandatory training, and robust reporting procedures, rooted in Christian mission to ensure churches are safe places. This comes under guidance and support from Guildford Diocese.
## **Why is safeguarding important?**
Safeguarding is a fundamental part of the Church’s mission and ministry. The Church of England teaches that every person is created in the image of God and should be able to flourish in a safe and caring community. The Diocese of Guildford emphasises that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and must be embedded in all aspects of church life. This means being vigilant, responding well to concerns, and creating a culture where people feel safe, valued and heard.
## **Rowledge PCC**
The PCC is fully committed to the safeguarding, care and nurture of all members of our church community, particularly children, young people and vulnerable adults. We adopt and adhere to the House of Bishops’ guidance and policies of the Church of England, including Promoting a Safer Church and the Parish Safeguarding Handbook.
Safeguarding leadership is provided by our Parish Safeguarding Officer, Jo Chipperfield, who works closely with the Steve, Jade and the PCC to ensure that safeguarding policies and procedures are implemented and maintained. We are grateful for the ongoing support and advice of the Diocese of Guildford safeguarding team.
The PCC has reviewed and adopted the Church of England safeguarding policy and ensures that safeguarding information is clearly displayed in church and on our website. We are committed to safer recruitment practices, ensuring that all those working with children, young people and vulnerable adults are appropriately recruited, supported and, where required, safely checked through the Disclosure and Barring Service. Records of DBS checks and safeguarding training are maintained and monitored. These records are maintained by Sam Goolding.
All clergy, staff and volunteers undertake safeguarding training in line with national requirements, and we continue to work towards ensuring that all training is up to date.
Safeguarding is embedded in all areas of church life, including our work with children, families and the wider community. Risk assessments are in place and reviewed regularly to ensure that our activities are carried out in a safe and supportive environment.
During the year, a small number of safeguarding concerns were reported and were handled in accordance with diocesan procedures, with appropriate advice sought and actions taken.
During the past year, the PCC has continued to embed good safeguarding practice, maintain oversight of training and DBS compliance, and review procedures regularly. In the coming year, we
14
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
will continue to prioritise safeguarding by ensuring training remains up to date, strengthening safer recruitment where needed, and maintaining a culture in which safeguarding is recognised as everyone’s responsibility.
The PCC recognises that safeguarding is an ongoing responsibility and remains committed to promoting a safe, caring and supportive environment for all who come into contact with St James’ Church.
## **Jo Chipperfield, Parish Safeguarding Officer**
## **17. Small Groups (formerly called Life Groups)**
‘Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I with them’ (Matthew 18:20)
The number of people attending small groups has risen in 2025. A total of nine separate groups met regularly by the end of the year. The main changes were: the ‘alphabetical group’ was rebranded and taken over by Nick and Sallie Smale, a second Vicarage group was started, run by Helen Green, and a new ‘Prophecy group’ was started, led by Jeanette Hatto.
The other small groups: the first Vicarage group, the ‘Dockenfield’ group, the Wednesday zoom meeting, the Yew Tree cottage group, the Anchor group, and the Men’s meeting continued throughout 2025 following on from 2024.
The early church was committed to regular fellowship and home worship in order to strengthen their relationship with God and, indeed, each other. The book of Hebrews advises us to ‘consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another..’ (Hebrews 10:24-5).
Therefore, in the same way, at St James’ we are committed to meeting in small groups during the week in addition to Sunday worship when we all come together as one church. We see membership of a small group as a vital part of our spiritual life. As such, we would love to see EVERYONE in some small group during the week. In this way, St James’ is not a church with small groups but a church of small groups.
So, if you are not in a small group and would like to join one, please contact me and I would be only too happy to find a suitable one for you to join.
## **Helen Green, Small Group Co-ordinator**
15
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
## **18. Men’s Group**
The St James Men's Group met monthly throughout 2025 in The Old Vicarage by kind invitation of Roy Waight.
There are usually about a dozen attendees who discuss diverse aspects of our Christian faith and experiences. There is usually a speaker from another Christian Church or a member of St James to facilitate our discussions.
**Ben Scott, Chairman**
## **19. Youth and Children’s Ministry**
## **Big Fish**
Big Fish runs every Sunday during the 10:45am service, with action songs, Bible stories, crafts, games, and lots of fun as we learn about Jesus together. Attendance has grown from an average of 3–6 children (late 2024–early 2025) to 7–10 each week. Since launching Explorers in January 2025, we have also seen new families begin to join us on Sundays.
## **Explorers**
Explorers is our Tuesday after-school club (term-time, 3:20–5pm) for primary school-aged children at St James’ Church, launched in January 2025. Our mission is to welcome every child just as Jesus did (Matthew 19:14) and help them discover who He is. Sessions are energetic and relational, with songs, Bible stories, food, crafts, and games, often exploring themes such as parables and miracles through videos like VeggieTales. Special events - including our Pancake Party, Easter, and Christmas celebrations - have made the group a highlight, with children regularly asking me when it’s on.
We are very thankful for our committed team of volunteers, without whom this would not be possible. Safeguarding is also a priority, with DBS-checked leaders, registers taken, consent forms completed, and clear behaviour expectations in place.
## **#Hungry (Youth Alpha)**
In January 2025, we ran Youth Alpha during our Wednesday youth sessions (7–8:30pm), providing a full meal each week - huge thanks to Ian Webb - alongside discussions on key questions of faith. We saw around 11 young people attending weekly, engaging in the sessions and having meaningful conversations. A Holy Spirit evening was included, which prompted mixed responses from the young people.
From September to November 2025, attendance declined due to school commitments, and after prayerful consideration, we decided to stop #Hungry. Recognising a gap between School Years 4–7, plans are in place to launch NextGen Yth (School Years 5–6) in January 2026, with the aim of forming a new group, Emerge Youth, for anyone School Years 7+ in September 2026.
16
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
## **Conclusion**
We are thankful for all that God has done this past year through our Youth & Children’s Ministry - growing numbers, new families connecting, and opportunities to share faith in meaningful ways. His faithfulness has been evident in both the growth and the challenges.
As we look ahead to 2026, we are expectant and excited for what He will do next, particularly through our new groups for young people. We move forward trusting in His guidance, provision, and continued work in this ministry.
## **Jade Biggs, Youth and Children’s Minister**
## **20. Little Fishes Nursery School**
## **Overview Summary**
Little Fishes is a warm, welcoming place for young children to be cared for, provided with stimulating development opportunities and thrive in all areas of their learning and development.
The nursery has a good reputation in the local area and enjoys strong parent and community support.
We are known for our nurture, generosity, kindness, and care. We offer a varied and challenging choice of activities for our children. As well as forest trips and cooking club, we offer an optional gymnastic club on Friday which many children have signed up to and enjoy.
The happy, skilled, loyal, and dedicated staff work above and beyond to continuously improve the setting.
## **Highlights**
Celebrations and outings play an important role in creating lasting memories for children and their families. Over the year, we enjoyed marking Harvest, Christmas, and Easter, and our leavers took part in a special graduation service. We also embraced cultural celebrations, including World Celebration Day, Thanksgiving, St David’s Day, and St Andrew’s Day, and we are looking forward to celebrating St George’s Day.
We hosted a Father’s Day breakfast and a Mother’s Day cream tea, giving parents and carers the opportunity to share food, activities, and meaningful time together. The children had great fun dressing up for World Book Day and supporting Children in Need through our fundraising efforts.
Thanks to children and parents fundraising and donations, we have been able to further develop our outdoor area, improving storage and accessibility for resources and equipment, as well as purchasing items to support individual children’s needs. We also enjoyed memorable trips to Alice Holt, Jake’s Barn and Farm, and Birdworld.
17
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
We enhance our nursery offer with providing the children with lots of interesting visitors, last year this included a dentist and a firemen and their fire engine!
## **Children on roll**
We currently have 35 children on roll. It’s very busy!
We currently have two looked after children and one on a Special Guardianship Order, 8 children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and 3 children for whom English is a second language. 4 of these children are considered ‘disadvantaged’. This impacts deployment of staff.
## **Vision and Development**
- We have had less time to work on development this year due to various challenges but we have:
- Trained staff, rewritten policies and embedded practice to support the major changes to the EYFS and safeguarding requirements 2025.
- Improved our outside area with a gigantic trug to grow flowers, fruit and veg in.
- Developed our inside /out rainy days resources
- Worked with parents and children to promote and develop safety online
- Produced a climate action plan and appointed a sustainability champion
- Continued to invest and improve our woodworking resources
- Improved the variety and timing of parent communications, promoting Tapestry for key person communications and varying the dates of parent forums and coffees.
- We were delighted again from the feedback from our parents and staff survey both of which show a high degree of value and confidence in the nursery.
## **Staffing and Recruitment**
This year, we have navigated some significant staffing challenges while consistently maintaining a safe and effective nursery environment.
In May, we said goodbye to Emily Scotcher, who had been a valued member of Little Fishes for over eight years. Her experience and expertise were greatly missed, particularly as her initial replacement was unable to continue beyond the induction period. We are delighted that Daisy Tallis joined the team in November; her skills, strong IT knowledge, and professional approach have already introduced many efficient improvements to the day-to-day running of the nursery administration.
Katie Coffey moved on due to career and childcare reasons and has been replaced by Kate Furniss. Kate is a highly experienced Level 3 practitioner with strengths in working with our younger children, and we are already seeing the positive impact she is making within the setting.
Amy Bowers completed her SEN Master’s project last year and now brings the benefit of her enhanced knowledge and skills to the nursery. She has also completed the statutory SENCO induction training and is now fully established in her role as SENCO.
18
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
Our fantastic deputy, Lucy Burrage, needed to take some time off during the spring term. During her absence, her role was covered by Amber and Amy. Lucy is now gradually increasing her hours as part of a phased return.
We are pleased to say that we are nearly back to our usual staffing levels and have a strong, capable team in place, further supported by a flexible supply team to cover absences and training.
## **Christian Distinctiveness**
We have excellent links with St. James church and Rowledge school. We continue to celebrate our special services at Rowledge church at Harvest, Christmas, Easter, and Graduation. We continue to address our Christian distinctiveness as a nursery, with Jade Biggs and Reverend Steve Green participating in our church celebrations.
The PCC are welcome to attend our celebrations and parent events.
Aisleen Ashby comes in weekly to share a bible story and build a relationship with the children, which is always enjoyed by all.
We have special weeks focusing on Christian values such as kindness or gratitude.
Sarah Oliver supports the nursery with safeguarding, safer recruitment, curriculum monitoring and school transition. They also provide a venue for our sports day and invite us to community events.
Amber works with other church nurseries as part of the Guildford diocese pre-school leader’s forum.
The staff are invited to pray together every morning, and the children are invited to pray before lunchtime.
We would love to appoint someone to our steering committee that could take a lead on promoting Christian distinctiveness.
We continue to explore opportunities to increase working together with the church.
## **Working with Parents**
We have incredible support from our families. The Parent’s Forum is an essential part of the nursery, providing an important parent voice in decision making. This gives parents an opportunity to input into the decision-making processes and help plan events, activities, trips, and fundraising.
An ex-parent, Karen Fry, continues to deliver cookery sessions, another parent delivers our World Celebration Day and others will lead our St Patricks, St Davids and Thanksgiving day celebrations. We love to celebrate the occasions that our families celebrate in their own home cultures. The parents help a Community Toy Swap which supported lower income families with presents at Christmas, including donating Homestart charity and raising funds for the nursery. A team of parents now support our forest sessions.
We offer specific parent/carer meetings to support with each stage of the LF journey, for example, new parents meetings and preschool transition meetings.
19
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
The parents plan regular coffee mornings, with themes such as keeping children safe online and parent mental health. We have been supported by a health visitor for one of these.
To conclude, the staff are to be praised for how they have all stepped in and gone the extra mile in the challenges of this year. We really are very proud of Little Fishes and the good name and high regard it has in the community and want to thank the PCC for all their prayers, encouragement and support throughout the year.
## **Amber Delves, Nursery Manager**
## **21. Pastoral Care**
Pastoral Care is about expressing the Love of God to individuals. At St James, Pastoral Care is offered by most of the congregation. In addition, a small team ensures that the frail elderly and the housebound are included in our Ministry.
The team's actions are backed up by Prayer on Wednesday mornings and at the monthly Parish Prayer Meeting.
Recently, two more of the congregation have joined the team and this allows Compassion for the Community to be extended to more people.
The group attempts to react quickly to support those of all ages who become ill or enter hospital. This can be more effective if members of the congregation tell the clergy or myself promptly of such situations.
**Ben Scott, Pastoral Care Co-ordinator**
## **22. Coffee Mug Community Café**
The Coffee Mug Community Café, which has now been open for 4 years, is run by Jan Clark and Karen Fewster, ably assisted by Lynn Ludford, Helen Davies, Helen Greenyer, Gabby Pittaway and Mark Westcott together with a willing team of volunteers from across the Community on the second Saturday of each month between 10 and 12 noon.
There is no charge for the refreshments; all they ask is, that if visitors are able to, they donate to the month’s chosen charity.
Over the past year, Coffee Mug has raised in excess of £4000.00 for charities including Foodbank, Homestart, Crisis, Melanomore, Change of Scene, Alzheimer’s Society, Mustard Seed, MND, Creative Response, The Ridgeway School, Air Ambulance, St James Church.
Every July Coffee Mug also hold a Produce and Flower Show which always proves very successful.
A big thank you goes to all who support Coffee Mug each month and especially our Bakers!
## **Jan Clark, Co-ordinator Coffee Mug Community Café and sub-warden**
20
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
## **23. Flower Team**
We now have 7 volunteers in the Flower Team. Our calendar for arrangers is drawn up every few months and filled in advance. Should anyone be unable to do their arrangements, then another person will cover for them.
We like to remove arrangements just before the next person takes over, and there are always watering duties to consider. Our aim is to reduce the amount of Oasis used and to buy British flowers, rather than those from abroad, but that’s not always easy!
Everyone in the team enjoys contributing to St James’ Church and hope to do so in the future.
## **Ann Ogle-Skan, Flower Team Lead**
## **24. Risk Management**
The trustees acknowledge their responsibility to identify and review the risks to which the charity is exposed and ensure appropriate controls are in place to provide reasonable assurance against fraud and error.
## **25. Treasurers’ Report**
2025 was a year which saw an increase in Youth activity brought about by the splendid work performed by Jade Biggs, our Youth Minister. Not only have activities increased but the level of income to support this activity has also increased pursuant to a decision to request parents to support the recurring weekly activities. Whilst we enjoyed a pleasing level of one-off donations which rose by some 38% and were blessed by a legacy of £10,000 in the year, we suffered a distinct decline in regular giving and its associated level of Gift Aid by some 17% which meant that we registered a shortfall of £23,500 compared with our budgeted expectations. This is of some concern to the Trustees going forward.
Total Income for all Funds was £302,251, an increase of £18,286 (6.5%) compared with 2024, whilst Total Expenditure was £304,582 an increase of £15,7222 (5.4%). This resulted in a deficit of £2,331 in total for all Funds – compared with a £4,995 deficit in 2024.
Little Fishes preschool once again contributed £16,749 towards the income of the PCC although it should be noted that no rent or utility costs are levied by the Church.
Mention should also be made of the contribution that the Rowledge Review makes to the PCC revenues. Over £4k net accrues from sales of advertising and collection of subscriptions annually, which is a tribute the the hard work put in by Church members in editing and compilation of articles, selling space, then distribution each month and collection of payments.
21
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
## **Investment Performance**
The PCC has no funds in equities or bonds. All surplus cash is held in CCLA Church of England short term deposit accounts, which earn a variable interest rate.
## **Reserves**
The policy of the PCC is to hold sufficient unrestricted liquid funds to ensure that costs for the following six months can be paid, to have a reserve for major church fabric repairs, and a reserve for redecoration of the vicarage.
The level of unrestricted net current assets/liabilities (£128,401) at the end of 2025 was 84% of six month’s General Fund 2025 expenditure (£152,291), so this target was missed by some way.
During 2025 total reserves decreased from £268,004 to £266,874
Of this £266,874 the sum of £136,076 reflected the book value of the house (25 Broad Ha’penny) which primary function is to provide accommodation for the Children and Youth Minister. The balance was the written-down value of the office printer.
During the year the duties of the Treasurer were performed by a team of volunteers (Finance Team) which comprises of Ken Wickenden, Peter Ivermee and Clive Jourdain, ably assisted by Jacob Green the Office Administrator. The Finance Team's task is to strictly control day-to-day expenditure, which in itself safeguards the assets that the PCC has entrusted to us.
## **Going Concern Statement**
The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis and the Trustees believe that no material uncertainties exist. The Trustees have considered the level of funds held and the expected level of income and expenditure for 12 months from authorising these financial statements. The budgeted income and expenditure are sufficient with the level of reserves for the charity to be able to continue as a going concern.
## **Ken Wickenden, Designated Treasurer.**
## **This Trustees' Report has been approved by the Trustees/ PCC Members of St James’ Church, Rowledge**
**Name of Trustee: Signed on behalf of the Trustees: Date Approval: 21/05/26**
22
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
## **26. Independent Examiner’s Report**
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Rowledge ('the charity') for the year ended 31[st] December 2025.
## **Responsibilities and basis of report**
As the trustees of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).
I report in respect of my examination of the charity's financial statements carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
## **Independent examiner's statement**
I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), which is one of the listed bodies.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
1. Accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act;
or
2. The financial statements do not accord with those records; or
3. The financial statements do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair' view, which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
Nigel Wyatt BSC FCA Date: 02/06/2026 Independent Examiner 125 Main Street Garforth Leeds LS25 1AF
23
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
## **27. Financial Report**
|27.1|Accounting Policies & Notes to the Financial Statements ............................................. 27|
|---|---|
|27.2|Income....................................................................................................................... 29|
|27.3|Expenditure ................................................................................................................ 31|
|27.4|Staff Costs ................................................................................................................. 33|
|27.5|Fixed Assets ............................................................................................................... 34|
|27.6|Debtors ...................................................................................................................... 34|
|27.7|Liabilities ................................................................................................................... 35|
|27.8|Charitable Giving ........................................................................................................ 36|
|27.9|Little Fishes Pre School ............................................................................................... 37|
|27.10|Charitable Funds ........................................................................................................ 38|
24
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
## **Income and Expenditure for the Year Ended 31[st] December 2025**
|||**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**|**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**|**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**|**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**|**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**|**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||**STATEMENTOF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES**||||||||
||||**INCLUDING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT**||||||||
||||**_FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025_**||||||||
||||||||||||
|||||||**2025**|||**2024**||
||||_Fund type:_||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total**||**Total**||
|||||_Note no._|£|£|£||£||
|**_INCOME_**|||||||||||
||||||||||||
|Voluntary income||||_2a_|128,218|-|128,218||116,859||
|Fundraising income||||_2b_|3,564|-|3,564||4,331||
|Church activities||||_2c_|9,221|-|9,221||6,843||
|Income from investments||||_2d_|4,907|-|4,907||6,245||
|Trading Income(Pre-school & magazine)||||_2e_|156,341|-|156,341||149,587||
|**Total Income**|||||302,251|-|302,251||283,865||
||||||||||||
|**_EXPENDITURE_**|||||||||||
||||||||||||
|Church activities||||_3a_|168,935|-|168,935||155,211||
|Fundraising costs||||_3b_|154|-|154||917||
|Trading costs||||_3c_|135,493|-|135,493||132,732||
|**Total Expenditure**|||||304,582|-|304,582||288,860||
||||||||||||
|**NET INCOME/(EXP.) before investmentgains**|||||(2,331)|-|(2,331)||(4,995)||
|**NET GAINS ON INVESTMENTS**|||||-|-|-||-||
|**NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)**|||||(2,331)|-|(2,331)||(4,995)||
||||||||||||
|**_NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS_**||||_10_|||||||
||||||||||||
|**Opening Balance**|||||267,454|550|268,004||272,999||
|**Prior Year Adjustment**||||_12_|1,201|-|1,201||-||
|**Movement**|||||(2,331)|-|(2,331)||(4,995)||
|**Closing Balance**|||||**266,324**|**550**|**266,874**||268,004||
||||||||||||
||||||||||||
|_All values are shown as as the underlying accurate ££.pp value rounded to the nearest £1._|||||||||||
|_Totals may therefore appear not to add up exactly because of the rounding._|||||||||||
23
Trustees Annual Report - 2025
## **Balance Sheet**
|**nce Sheet**||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**||||||||
|||**BALANCE SHEET AT31 DECEMBER 2025**||||||||
|||||||||||
||||||**2025**|||**2024**||
|||_Fund type:_||**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total**||**Total**||
||||_Note no._|£|£|£||£||
|**FIXED ASSETS**||||||||||
|Tangible|||5|138,473|-|138,473||139,671||
|||||||||||
|**CURRENT ASSETS**||||||||||
|Debtors and Prepayments|||6|5,151|-|4,570||3,189||
|Short term deposits||||112,784|-|112,784||117,492||
|Cash at bank and in hand||||19,763|-|19,763||16,401||
|||||137,698|-|137,117||137,082||
|**LIABILITIES**||||||||||
|Creditors:amounts fallingdue <1yr|||7a|7,197|-|7,197||4,489||
|Deferred Income|||7b|2,100|-|2,100||4,260||
|||||9,297|-|9,297||8,749||
|||||||||||
|**NETCURRENT ASSETS/LIABILITIES**||||~~128,401~~|~~-~~|~~128,401~~|~~-~~|~~128,333~~||
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
|**TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURR. LIABS**||||266,874|-|266,874|-|268,004||
|||||||||||
|Creditors:amounts fallingdue after oneyear||||-|-|-||-||
|||||||||||
|**TOTAL NET ASSETS**||||**266,874**|**-**|**266,874**|**-**|268,004||
|||||||||||
|**PARISH FUNDS**||||||||||
|**Unrestricted**||||||||||
|Church Fabric Sinking Fund||||10,000|-|10,000||10,000||
|Little Fishes Solvency Fund||||56,905|-|56,905||56,906||
|Vicarage Redecoration Fund||||3,000|-|3,000||3,000||
|R Harvey Organ Fund||||24,125|-|24,125||24,124||
|Vicar's Discretionary Fund (2)||||-|-|-||-||
|House Reserve||||136,076|-|136,076||136,076||
|General Fund||||36,218|-|36,218||37,348||
|Total Unrestricted||||266,324|-|266,324||267,454||
|**Restricted**||||||||||
|Various Purposes Restr (prev.Bursary) Fund||||-|-|-||-||
|AV & IT Fund||||-|-|-||-||
|Churchyard maintance||||-|-|-||-||
|Youth-Specific donations||||-|550|550||550||
|Total Restricted||||-|-|-||-||
|||||||||||
|**TOTAL RESERVES**||||**266,324**|**550**|**266,874**||268,004||
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
|**_Directors' Responsibilities_**||||||||||
|||||||||||
|These financial statements were approved by the board of trustees and authorised for issue :||||||||||
26
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
## **27.1 Accountin Policies & Notes to the Financial Statements g**
||**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**||
|---|---|---|
||**NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS**||
||**_FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025_**||
|_Note no._|||
|**1**|**ACCOUNTING POLICIES**||
||**Basis of preparation**||
||||
||The PCC is a public benefit entity within the meaning of FRS102. The financial
statements have been prepared in accordance with the Statement of
Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities Financial Reporting
Standards applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (Charities SORP 2019 FRS 102)
and the Charities Act 2011.||
||||
||The financial statements include all transactions, assets and liabilities for which the PCC
is responsible in law. They do not include the accounts of church groups that owe their
main affiliation to another body, nor those that are informal gatherings of church
members.||
||||
||Consecrated and benefice property is not included in the accounts in accordance with
s.10(2)(a) and (c) of the Charities Act 2011.||
||As a consequence, the costs of the Audio-Visual system upgrade, being an upgrade to
equipment fixed to a consecrated building, were expensed in the year of purchase rather
than capitalised.||
||||
||**Assessment of Going Concern**||
||Preparation of the accounts is on a going concern basis. The trustees consider that there
are no material uncertainties about the Charity's ability to continue as a going concern.||
||||
27
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
_**PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE**_ **NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** _**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025**_ **Fund Accounting** Unrestricted income funds comprise those funds which the trustees are free to use for any purpose in furtherance of the charitable objects. Unrestricted funds include designated funds where the trustees, at their discretion, have set aside resources for a specific purpose. Restricted funds are funds which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by the donor or the terms of a specific appeal. Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the accounts. **Incoming Resources** All incoming resources are recognised once the charity has entitlement to the resources, it is probable that the resources will be received, and the monetary value of incoming resources can be measured with sufficient reliability. • All voluntary income from members of the church are recognised as donations and are included in full, with associated Gift Aid receivable in the Statement of Financial Activities. • Grants where entitlement is not conditional on the delivery of specific performance by the charity are recognised when the charity becomes unconditionally entitled to the grant. • Incoming resources from charitable trading activities are recognised when invoices are issued. • Volunteer time - the value of voluntary support for the work of the church is not included in he accounts but is described in the Trustees annual report. • Investment Income is included in the accounts when receivable **Resources expended** Expenditure is recognised on an accrual basis as a liability is incurred. Liabilities are recognised where it is more likely than not that there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to pay out the resources and the amount of the obligation can be measured with reasonable certainty. **Liability Recognition** Liabilities are recognised as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to pay out resources. Preschool deposit income received is deferred until contracturally returnable. **Tangible fixed assets** All assets costing more than £2,000 that are not fixed to a consecrated building are capitalised and at historic cost. Fixed assets are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation. Depreciation is nornally charged on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful life of the asset. Because capitalisation is under the historic cost convention the book value of fixed assets will not necessarily reflect their market value. Indeed the market value of the house 25 Broad Ha'penny is significantly higher than the book value. For this reason the PCC ceased to charge further depreciation on it at the end of 2020. **Pensions** The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme, using the NEST scheme. Contributions are charged to expenditure as they become payable in accordance with the rules of the scheme. **Taxation** The charity is exempt from tax on its charitable activities.
28
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
## **27.2 Income**
||**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**|**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**|**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**|**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**|**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**|**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**NOTES TO THE FINANCIALSTATEMENTS**||||||||
|||**_FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025_**||||||||
|||||||||||
||||||**2025**|||**2024**||
||||_Fund type:_|**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total**||**Total**||
|_Note no._||||£|£|£||£||
|**2**|**INCOME**|||||||||
|||||||||||
||**2a VOLUNTARYGIVING**|||||||||
||Giving and Gift-Aid|||||||||
||Giving|||89,762|-|89,762||88,467||
||Gift-Aid Tax Recovered|||21,830|-|21,830||21,275||
|||||111,592|-|111,592||109,742||
|||||||||||
||Donations and Grants|||6,626|-|6,626||7,117||
||Legacies|||10,000|-|10,000||-||
|||||16,626|-|16,626||7,117||
|||||||||||
|||||**128,218**|**-**|**128,218**||**116,859**||
|||||||||||
||**2b ACTIVITIES FOR GENERATING **|||**FUNDS**|(excludes any gift aid collected)|||||
||Rowledge Village Fayre|||1,177|-|1,177||1,631||
||Coffee Mug (excl. GA)|||2,305|-|2,305||2,653||
||Easyfundraising and Amazon Smile|||82|-|82||47||
||Lunches and other social events|||-|-|-||-||
||Other Fundraising|||-|-|-||-||
|||||**3,564 **|**-**|**3,564 **||**4,331 **||
|||||||||||
||**2c CHURCH ACTIVITIES**|||||||||
||Fees for Weddings and Funerals|||7,404|-|7,404||6,812||
||Youth Activity fees|||1,817|-|1,817||-||
||Miscellaneous Income|||-|-|-||31||
|||||**9,221**|**-**|**9,221**||**6,843**||
|||||||||||
29
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
||**2d INCOME FROM INVESTMENTS**|**2d INCOME FROM INVESTMENTS**|**2d INCOME FROM INVESTMENTS**|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||Interest|||**4,907**|**-**|**4,907**||**6,245**||
|||||||||||
||**2e TRADING INCOME**|||||||||
|||||||||||
||Little Fishes Income||**9**|||||||
||Fees & Deposits|||141,497|-|141,497||136,714||
||Fundraising|||2,680|-|2,680||1,577||
||Outings|||1,286|-|1,286||605||
||Other|||2,033|-|2,033||659||
|||||147,496|-|147,496||139,555||
||Magazine Income|||||||||
||Subscriptions|||3,635|-|3,635||3,607||
||Advertisements|||5,210|-|5,210||6,425||
|||||8,845|-|8,845||10,032||
|||||||||||
|||||**156,341**|**-**|**156,341**||**149,587**||
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
||**TOTAL INCOME**|||**302,251**|**-**|**302,251**||**283,865**||
|||||||||||
||_All income in the Unrestricted column above was within the Gener_|||_al Fund._||||||
||_'Donations' refersjust to donations from organisations; any from_|||_individuals are classed as Giving._||||||
30
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
## **27.3 Expenditure**
|||**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**|**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**|**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**|**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**|**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**NOTES TO THE FINANCIALSTATEMENTS**||||||||
|||**_FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025_**||||||||
|||||||||||
||||||**2025**|||**2024**||
||||_Fund type:_|**Unrestricted**|**Restricted**|**Total**||**Total**||
|_Note no._||||£|£|£||£||
|**3**|**EXPENDITURE**|||||||||
|||||||||||
||**3a CHURCH ACTIVITIES**|||||||||
||**General Expenditure**|||||||||
||Music|||577|-|577||107||
||Gas Electricity and Water|||6,106|-|6,106||7,473||
||Broadband and Telephone|||1,628|-|1,628||1,440||
||IT|||947|-|947||3,050||
||Insurance|||830|-|830||1,180||
||Bank charges|||369|-|369||307||
||Printing, Stationery, Office Equipment|||656|-|656||600||
||Churchyard and Drive|||8,683|-|8,683||7,010||
||Church Repairs and Maintenance|||3,333|-|3,333||3,463||
||Depreciation|||1,198|-|1,198||1,199||
||Service costs|||2,616|-|2,616||1,564||
||Independent Examiner fees|||1,234|-|1,234||1,108||
||Organ Repairs|||-|-|-||2,290||
||Audio-Visual System Spend|||-|-|-||1,165||
|||||28,177|-|28,177||31,956||
||**Parochial Expenses**|||||||||
||Administration|||1,979|-|1,979||1,962||
||Vicar's Costs|||20|-|20||281||
||Vicar Vacancy Costs|||-|-|-||5,655||
||Mission, Ministry Costs|||-|-|-||207||
||Vicarage Costs|||713|-|713||914||
||Vicar's Discretionary Fund Spend|||-|-|-||-||
||Administration: Staff Costs|||13,555|-|13,555||6,494||
|||||16,267|-|16,267||15,513||
|||||||||||
31
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
||**Youth Costs**|||27,550|-|27,550||9,638||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||||
||**House Costs(25BH)**|||1,398|-|1,398||5,122||
|||||||||||
||**Guildford Diocesan Parish Share Fee**|||91,276|-|91,276||88,460||
|||||||||||
||**Missions and Charities**||8|4,267|-|4,267||4,522||
|||||||||||
||**TOTAL CHURCH ACTIVITIES**|||**168,935**|**-**|**168,935**||**155,211**||
|||||||||||
||**3b FUND RAISING COSTS**|||||||||
||Rowledge Village Fayre costs|||126|-|126||917||
||Christmas Carols|||28||28||-||
|||||**154 **|**-**|**154 **||**917**||
|||||||||||
||**3c TRADING COSTS**|||||||||
||**Little Fishes**||9|130,727|-|130,727||128,476||
||**Magazine Production Costs**|||4,766|-|4,766||4,256||
|||||**135,493**|**-**|**135,493**||**132,732 **||
|||||||||||
||**TOTAL COSTS**|||**304,582 **|**-**|**304,582 **||**288,860**||
|||||||||||
||_All spend in the Unrestricted column was from the General Fund._|||||||||
32
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
## **27.4 Staff Costs**
||||**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**|**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**|**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**|**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**|**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**|**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||**NOTES TO THE FINANCIALSTATEMENTS**|||||||
||||**_FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025_**|||||||
|_Note no._||||||||||
|**4**|||||**2025**|||**2024**||
||**4a STAFFCOSTS**||||**£**|||**£**||
|||||||||||
||Duringtheyear the PCC employed a|||Youth and Children's Minister and||||||
||an Office Administrator|||||||||
||It also employed staff to run the Little Fishespre-school.|||||||||
|||||||||||
||Church Staff|||||||||
|||Wages & salaries|||36,260|||14,099||
|||Social Security|||737|||40||
|||Pension: employer cost|||294|||62||
|||Total Church staff|||37,292|||14,201||
|||||||||||
||Little Fishes Preschool Staff|||||||||
|||Wages & salaries|||115,400|||113,110||
|||Social Security|||1,722|||378||
|||Pension: employer cost|||1,755|||1,710||
|||Total LF staff|||118,877|||115197||
|||||||||||
||Total staff costs||||156,169|||129,398||
|||||||||||
||Average Headcount|||||||||
|||Church|||2|||1||
|||LF Preschool|||9|||10||
|||Total|||11|||11||
|||||||||||
||No employee received employee benefits of m||||ore than £60,000 during|||the year.||
|||||||||||
||**4b PAYMENTS TO PCC MEMBERS**|||||||||
|||||||||||
||**Key Management Personnel**|||||||||
|||||||||||
||The charity considers its key management personnel to be the Vicar.|||||||||
||Diocese meets the stipend and other employment costs of the Vicar and provides his housing.|||||||||
||During 2025 the Vicar incurred £20 by way of expenditure.|||||||||
||This was for routine expenditure on goods and services for church activities and operations.|||||||||
|||||||||||
||**Trustee Remuneration and Expenses**|||||||||
|||||||||||
|The trustees did not receive any remuneration for their service as trustees.
During 2025, 6 trustees incurred out of pocket expenses totaling £1,836 (2024, £8,598) which were
reimbursed by the PCC as they were incurred for the day-to-day running of the charity's activities.
The types of expenditure included visiting speaker gifts, payments that can only be made by credit
card such as software subscriptions and PCC donations to some charities; youth group activity
costs, repair materials and other charitable activity expenditure. None was for personal benefit.
Aggregated giving to PCC funds of all trustees in 2025 was £26,156 (2024: £5,778).||||||||||
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
||||**_PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JAMES' ROWLEDGE_**|||||||
||||**NOTES TO THE FINANCIALSTATEMENTS**|||||||
||||**_FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025_**|||||||
|||||||||||
33
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
## **27.5 Fixed Assets**
|**5**|**FIXED ASSETS**|**FIXED ASSETS**||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||||
||**Land and Buildings**||||**2025**|||**2024**||
||||||£|||£||
||**Actual Cost**|||||||||
||Starting Balance||||193,604|||188,810||
||Disposal||||-|||-||
||Additions at Cost||||-|||4,794||
||Closing Balance||||193,604|||193,604||
|||||||||||
||**Depreciation**|||||||||
||Starting Balance||||53,933|||52,734||
||Withdrawn on Disposal||||-|||-||
||Charge for the Year||||1,199|||1,199||
||Closing Balance||||55,131|||53,933||
|||||||||||
||**Closing Written Down Value**||||**138,473**|||**139,672**||
|||||||||||
||_The Land and Buildings comprises the freehold house at 25 Broad Ha'penny, Farnham GU10 4TF_|||||||||
||_The PCC decided in 2021 not to charge depreciation after 31/12/20 because the written down value_|||||||||
||_is well below the current market value._|||||||||
## **27.6 Debtors**
||||||**2025**|**2025**||**2024**|**2024**||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|_Note no._|||||**£**|**£**||**£**|**£**||
|**6**|**DEBTORS**||||||||||
||**Prepayments and accrued income**||||||||||
||AdvertisingIncome|||||210|||51||
||Prepayments,or refunds due from suppliers|||||581|||449||
||HMRC(Gift Aid claims)|||||2,754|||1,294||
||CCLA Interest for Q4 2024|||||942|||1,395||
||Magazine Sales & Fundraising income due|||||129|||-||
||Christmas Church collections|||||535|||-||
|||||||**5,151**|||**3,189**||
||||||||||||
34
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
## **27.7 Liabilities**
|**7**|**LIABILITIES**|**LIABILITIES**|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**7a Amounts falling due inone year**||||||||||
||Creditors - accountspayable|||||3,597|||4,489||
||HMRC – PAYE Tax & NI for Month 9|||||1,914|||-||
||Charitable Donationspayable|||||1,030|||-||
||2025 Wedd/Funeral Fees share topayout|||||656|||-||
|||||||**7,197 **|||**4,489**||
||**7b Deferred Income**||||||||||
||Deferred Little Fishes Fundraising Income|||||-|||460||
||Deferred Little Fishes Deposits*|||||2,100|||3,800||
|||||||**2,100**|||**4,260**||
||||||||||||
||* Deposits are held to secure aprospective child'splace at the NurseySchool. Theyare onlyreturned once||||||||||
||the child takes upitsplace. Should the child not take uptheplace offered,the deposit is forfeited.||||||||||
||Strict and confidential records are kept of eachparental deposit. The dropin deposits held between 2024||||||||||
||and 2025 reflects the increased take upofplaces offered and refunds made.||||||||||
35
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
## **27.8 Charitable Givin g**
|**8**|**CHARITABLEGIVING**|**CHARITABLEGIVING**|**CHARITABLEGIVING**||**2025**|**2025**||**2024**|**2024**||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||||||||
||Christian Aid||||-||||235||
||Foodbank||||-||||422||
||MIND||||-||||282||
||Royal British Legion||||-||||55||
||Prostate Cancer||||-||||267||
||Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice||||335||||683||
||Alzheimer's Society||||293||||43||
||Peaceful Heart Foundation||||-||||203||
||MacMillan Cancer Support||||-||||311||
||Southern Domestic Abuse||||-||||365||
||Riding for the Disabled||||-||||217||
||Needy Families in Rowledge||||890||||600||
||FATN Talking News||||-||||158||
||Crisis||||-||||403||
||Bishop of Guildford's Community Fund||||-||||279||
||Melanomore (St Luke's)||||449||||||
||Mary's Meals||||376||||||
||Mustard Seed Autism||||393||||||
||Creative Response (Arts)||||245||||||
||Samson Centre for MS||||327||||||
||BBC Chilren in Need||||269||||||
||Shooting Stars Childrens'Hospice||||289||||||
||Provision for 2026 Donations||||401||||||
||||||||||||
|||||||**4,267 **|||**4,522**||
||||||||||||
||_All figures above were within the General Fund. No other Funds had amounts in these categories._||||||||||
36
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
## **27.9 Little Fishes Pre School**
|_Note no._|_Note no._||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**9**|**LITTLE FISHES PRE-SCHOOL**||||||||||
||||||||||||
||||||**2025**|||**2024**|||
||**INCOME**||||**£**|**£**||**£**|**£**||
||||||||||||
||Fees & Deposits||||141,497|||136,714|||
||Outings income||||1,286|||605|||
||Fundraising income, donations||||3,938|||1,577|||
||Payments forphotos,cards etc||||-|||79|||
||Miscellaneous income||||775|||580|||
||**Total Income**|||||147,496|||139,555||
||||||||||||
||**EXPENDITURE**||||||||||
||||||||||||
||Staff Costs & Expenses||||118,877|||115,197|||
||Rent||||-|||-|||
||Insurance*||||2,024|||1,449|||
||Stationery& Materials||||1,863|||2,509|||
||Food||||764|||476|||
||Equipment||||1,364|||3,463|||
||Subscriptions, Memberships||||716|||2,087|||
||Training||||535|||1,143|||
||Outings||||1,108|||664|||
||Cost of school photos, cards for sale||||-|||650|||
||Miscellaneous costs||||3,497|||837|||
||**Total Expenditure**|||||130,747|||128,476||
||||||||||||
||**Net Income/Expenditure**|||||16,749|||11,079||
||||||||||||
||_These financial statements do not include any cross charge to Little Fishes for rent and_||||||_utilities costs._||||
||_* Insurance costs are 41% of Overall Buildings & Contents Insuranceplus Public Indemnity Insurance_||||||||||
||_covered separately (andpro-rated for 7 months)._||||||||||
37
Trustees Annual Report – 2025
## **27.10 Charitable Funds**
|_Note no._|_Note no._|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**10**|**CHARITABLE FUNDS**|||||||
|||||||||
||**Fund Movement Summary 2025**|||||||
||**Fund Name**|Opening
Balance
1/1/25|Income|Expenditure|Prior Year
Adjustment|Closing
Balance
31/12/25||
||**Unrestricted**|||||||
||Church Fabric Sinking Fund|10,000|0|0|0|10,000||
||Little Fishes Solvency Fund|56,906|0|0|0|56,906||
||Vicarage Redecoration Fund|3,000|0|0|0|3,000||
||R Harvey Organ Fund|24,124|0|0|0|24,124||
||Vicar’s Discretionary Fund|0|0|0|0|0||
||House Reserve Fund|136,076|0|0|0|136,076||
||General Fund|37,348|302,251|304,582|1,201|36,218||
||**Total Unrestricted**|267,454|302,251|304,582|1,201|266,324||
|||||||||
||**Restricted**|||||||
||Various Purposes Restr.Fund(prev. Bursary)|0|0|0|0|0||
||AV and IT Fund (Restricted)|0|0|0|0|0||
||Churchyard maintance|0|0|0|0|0||
||Youth-Specific donations|550|0|0|0|550||
||**Total Restricted**|550|0|0|0|550||
|||||||||
||**Total Funds**|268,004|302,251|304,582|1,201|266,874||
||**Fund Movement Summary - Prior Year (2024)**|**Fund Movement Summary - Prior Year (2024)**||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||**Fund Name**|Opening
Balance
1/1/24|Income|Expenditure|Fund
Transfers|Closing
Balance
31/12/24||
||**Unrestricted**|||||||
||Church Fabric Sinking Fund|10,000|0|0|0|10,000||
||Little Fishes Solvency Fund|56,906|0|0|0|56,906||
||Vicarage Redecoration Fund|3,000|0|0|0|3,000||
||R Harvey Organ Fund|26,414|0|2,290|0|24,124||
||Vicar’s Discretionary Fund|0|0|0|0|0||
||House Reserve Fund|136,076|0|0|0|136,076||
||General Fund|40,131|281,545|284,328|0|37,348||
||**Total Unrestricted**|272,527|281,545|286,618|0|267,454||
|||||||||
||**Restricted**|||||||
||Various Purposes Restr.Fund(prev. Bursary)|0|0|0|0|0||
||AV and IT Fund (Restricted)|472|770|1,242|0|0||
||Churchyard maintenance|0|1,000|1,000|0|0||
||Youth-specific donations|0|550|0|0|550||
||**Total Restricted**|472|2,320|2,242|0|550||
|||||||||
||**Total Funds**|272,999|283,865|288,850|0|268,004||
38
Trustees Annual Report – 2025