2023-12-31-accounts

PLYMPTON ST. MARY THE BLESSED VIRGIN

The PCC is a corporate body established by the Church of England. It operates under the PCC (Powers) Measure 1956 and the Synodical Government Measure 1969. The PCC is registered with the Charity Commission, registered number 1128769. This report has been drawn up in the frameworks of the Charities Act 1993, Charity SORP 2005 and Church Accounting Regulations 2006.

The address for correspondence is The Team Office, Market Road, Plympton, Plymouth, PL7 1QW The Council’s bankers are NatWest 14 Old Town Street, Plymouth PL1 1DG and Lloyds 13 Fore St, Ivybridge PL21 9AD. The Independent Examiner is Best Accounting.

The PCC has delegated the day-to-day management of the parish to the Team Rector, the Revd Prebendary Robert Harris

This report covers the year to December 2023.

OBJECTIVES

St. Mary’s PCC has the legal responsibility of co-operating “with the incumbent in promoting in the parish the whole mission of the Church – pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical.” It serves the whole parish of Plympton St. Mary and, together with our sister parish of Plympton St. Maurice forms the Plympton Team Ministry serving all those who live in Plympton. It is also responsible for maintaining various buildings in the parish including St. Mary’s church and St. Mary’s Hall.

When planning our activities for the year the PCC has considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on Public Benefit and, in particular, the specific guidance on charities for the advancement of religion.

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL

The appointment of PCC members is governed by the Church Representation Rules. After ex-officio posts (clergy, readers, churchwardens and *deanery synod representatives) have been filled, one third of the ordinary members retire each year, but can be re-elected. Elected members normally serve three-year terms.

THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MARY THE BLESSED VIRGIN APCM REPORT FOR 2023 (PUBLISHED MAY 2024)

1

PCC membership 2023/2024

	Name	Position	Date appointed	Date membership ceased/ceases
	Ex Officio
	Revd Prebendary Robert Harris	Team Rector	March 2016	September 2023
	Revd Lizzi Green	Team Vicar	December 2022
	Revd Richard Wakerell	Associate Priest	October 2018
	Robert Harrison	Reader/Licensed layminister
	Churchwardens
	Claire-Louise Journeaux		May2023	May2024
	Michael Lewis**		July2023	May2024
	Members
	Jane Banbury		April 2022	April 2025
	Mavis Buttle		May2023	May2026
	Lyudmila Collier		May2023	May2026
	Ian Duckworth		May2021	May2024
	Keith Escott		May2023	May2026
	Christine Harris*	DeanerySynod	May2023	September 2023
	Rachel Harrison-French*	DeanerySynod	May2023	May2026
	Nikki Hellem		May2022	May2025
	Michael Lewis**		May2022	May2025
	Morgan Lewis		May2022	May2025
	Gill Rudwick*	DeanerySynod	May2023	Resigned 2023
	Rodger Ruse		May2021	May2024
	LucySkinner		May2021	May2024
	Philip Smith	Honorary Treasurer	Co-opted May 2023
	Sam Snelling		May2023	May2026
	VACANCY

*Denotes Deanery Synod representative

**Michael Lewis was previously elected to serve as a PCC member to May 2025

PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL REPORT TO THE APCM FOR 2023

The PCC consists of the clergy licensed to the Parish (ex officio), Readers licensed to the Parish, three members elected to the Deanery Synod and twelve members of the congregation including an Hon. Treasurer and Hon. Secretary. Members of the PCC have to be on the Electoral Roll and are voted on during the APCM for a period of three years at a time.

During 2023 the PCC met five times. Responsibility for many of the functions of the PCC, in particular Safeguarding and Health & Safety, have been delegated to the PCC sub-committees which met regularly throughout the year.

Rev’d Prebendary Robert Harris and Mrs Christine Harris (PCC member) left Plympton in September 2023 to move to the parish of St Peter, Jersey. The PCC thanked them for their immensely hard work during their seven years in Plympton and wished them well for their new ministry in the Channel Islands.

THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MARY THE BLESSED VIRGIN APCM REPORT FOR 2023 (PUBLISHED MAY 2024)

2

The PCC is seeking guidance from the Archdeacon of Plymouth as it seeks to appoint to the position of Team Rector.

In order to fulfil our statutory safeguarding requirements, we will be auditing all our DBS and safeguarding training for all relevant volunteers.

The PCC has complied with its duty under section 5 of the Safeguarding & Clergy Discipline Measure 2016.

Rev’d Elizabeth Green

CHURCHWARDENS’ REPORT TO THE APCM FOR 2023

Following many years as Churchwarden, Phil Smith retired from this role last year. Many thanks are extended to him for all the time and effort he put in to the role, and the continued support he gives to St. Mary's. Claire-Louise Journeaux was elected church warden at the last APCM, and Mike Lewis was elected to the role in July 2023. There have been several things of note throughout the year.

The fabric of the Church building, as recognised in the Diocesan Quinquennial inspection of August 2021, still needs an ongoing programme of maintenance. During periods of heavy rain, significant water ingress has been noticed within the building. This has been able to be rectified with the use of one of our contractors clearing out the gutters. However, it has also led to further falls of plaster within the building, and there are several other issues of fabric deterioration. We are looking into solutions to remedy these problems, and the health and safety team has formulated a plan to address the plaster fall, but we do need the financial support of the congregation towards the maintenance of the fabric. We have managed to remedy some situations, such as the lighting in the church. We are thankful for the many generous donations towards this.

We are grateful for all those who volunteer their time to support the church cleaning, and especially to Gabrielle Stook for leading the cleaning team.

Work to maintain churchyard continued throughout 2023, including improvements to the rougher areas and reduction of rogue saplings and brambles using the weekly visits of the Community Payback Team from the Plymouth Probation Service.

St Mary’s Church Hall has also needed some maintenance work, particularly on the hall floor. A substantial donation towards the replacement cost was given by the owner(s)

of one of our regular hirers, the Discovery Martial Arts Academy. The group also gave their time to lift and remove the old floor, which achieved a considerable saving in the cost of replacement.

We are grateful to Sarah Duckworth, team administrator, for all the work she does in helping to organise hall bookings and care for the building.

Michael Lewis and Claire-Louise Journeaux – Churchwardens

THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MARY THE BLESSED VIRGIN APCM REPORT FOR 2023 (PUBLISHED MAY 2024)

3

TREASURER’S report to the APCM for 2023

Introduction

On the 4 pages which follow the pages of this Financial Report are

Table A: Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) Summarising Income, Expenditure and Funds

Table B: Balance Sheet stating Fixed Assets (Estimated) Current Assets (Bank Accounts and Reserves) Table C: Analysis of Receipts and Payments under standard headings which are more detailed than the SOFA headings. The income and expenditure may be shown as “Unrestricted” (can be used for different purposes), “ Designated” (intended to be used as described but could be used elsewhere), or “Restricted” (Fixed for the stated purpose linked to the description of the donation).

• There is an indication of the changes from last year in the values of the Funds in this table – 2023 vs 2022 for

• comparison.

Some descriptions may be allocated differently in the table (moved to another code) than in 2022 especially if the described Codes have been adjusted. I have employed a specific accounting application to record transactions and this embeds the appropriate Church of England table for the Annual Returns and prepares the data for the Diocese Return.

Some Comments have been added below to highlight obvious possible difficulties in understanding since last years report. There is also a brief look forward into 2024.

Summary notes of Clarification Donations and Legacies

Increase in “Other Income” is partially due to substantial donations for particular focused projects – the Clock Fund which is large enough to move forward, ongoing support for Foodbank, Lighting Project which is now completed but there are a few lights still needing attention to use the remaining £410.

Gift Aid Tax Relief – reduced as there is a significant application in process.

There were 3 legacies for the church – £500 in Mem John Stook used for some bell repairs; £1000 in Mem from the Trace family for general use; and £150 in Mem Beryl Hudson. We are grateful for such generous helps as any works to care for the church are expensive and there is much that may need priority maintenance to adhere to H&S considerations or to keep the building dry.

Fees for funerals, especially, continue to bring much needed funds into the church, and our capability to stream a service, or display a photo-montage is also beneficial to fulfil family’s wishes.

Investments: A Lloyds interest-bearing account was linked to a Trust set up through the Diocese of Exeter to raise funds to tend to Family graves in the churchyard. The receiving Lloyds account was closed so the interest can now pass into the main account. The accumulated interest was £2755 and is approximately £90 per quarter.

Other Income: St Maurice Church held the Foodbank’s funds(£20 000 approximately) through 2020-22 but these were transferred to St Mary’s Church in December 2022 to comply with the bank requirements for location and administration. Since then the Foodbank has continued to attract grants for helping families: £5000 from Plymouth City Council (Household Support Fund) as well as minor grants for better storage solutions and IT equipment from Tesco and other organisations .

Hall Lettings have increased and this is very welcome to reduce the rate of loss of the Church’s liquid assets This element is now listed under “Trading Activities”.

THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MARY THE BLESSED VIRGIN APCM REPORT FOR 2023 (PUBLISHED MAY 2024)

4

Expenditure: A change of interpretation in whether to record costs for Hall use (Utilities, waste disposal etc) has led to “Raising Funds” being increased by £20000 whereas “Church Running Expenses” being reduced by an almost identical amount. This reallocation has been made under the Church of England note that heating and lighting costs for a Church Hall should be included in overall Church Utility Bills UNLESS you receive letting income, in which case this should be included in “Costs of Trading (Raising Funds)” section. The substantial nature of our letting income confirms this as the appropriate classification despite this being a change from St Mary’s traditional practice.

Transfers between Bank Accounts have been reduced as the automatic movement of balances from Deposit to Current has been ceased. The aim is to only transfer money from Deposit to Current Account when the Current account balance falls to an inappropriately low level. With internet banking and direct debits/standing orders this can be monitored very easily.

The 2023 income vs expenditure deficit of £3995.13 compares with a 2022 income vs expenditure deficit of £6582. This element needs to be considered under the major costs we could not avoid expending in 2023 for Church Lighting and also the Hall Floor totalling over £23 000 although we were able to recover VAT of . This still emphasises the need to continue raise significant donation funds for fabric repair to both buildings with the Church being the highest priority for 2024. This should be, if possible, by regular givers seeing if they can help through regular tax-efficient giving; the consideration of Legacies; and one off appeals to help us meet funding targets for the necessary fabric repairs aided by grants with matched funding.

The Clock Fund reached a level where this can now be “planned in 2024” but this will not be able to install a “chime” mechanism, which may cost another £5000 so the fundraising with need to continue in 2024.

Looking Forward:

The requirement to use appropriate restricted funds, as well as a reduction in Freewill offerings and substantial increases in basic costs is concerning - as the Church and Hall Buildings are both in need an major programme to conserve the fine Church building and maintain the well regarded local Hall. .

The generosity of local residents and people associated with Plympton were well used for specific necessary 2023 projects: Hall Flooring, Church Lighting /Electrics. Support for the Clock repair is also encouraging but our overall current income levels will need to significantly increase if the Church is to ensure a programme of necessary maintenance can be established.

The high levels of rainfall in 2023 have exposed the poor worn rainwater goods caused damp issues to be ongoing and require emergency visit from our building contractor, West Access, to rectify a roof leak at church.

Further maintenance work and significant rainwater good replacement may also be a matter for urgency – as was reported to this effect in the Quinquennial Inspection of 2021.

Philip Smith Interim Hon Treasurer

THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MARY THE BLESSED VIRGIN APCM REPORT FOR 2023 (PUBLISHED MAY 2024)

5

Plympton St Mary PCC Statement of Financial Activities

For the period from 01 January 2023 to 31 December 2023

THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MARY THE BLESSED VIRGIN APCM REPORT FOR 2023 (PUBLISHED MAY 2024)

6

AJ)btygisal Rec¢iMs and P•ynnts S•kn¢l ￿rknd.. 01 January 2023 10 31 2023 Tolal G•rt¥r￿ D•lwi•d R•strkt•d Endo￿￿1 yr Lat Trr DDna#oms and l•gxkns £45J4ffl £44W £10,748 £13SB54 £SWJ7 [616.16 £10,7485J E6I16 r2528a3 £72ll.78 c1￿ £1￿.L É15,46129 £3.124 £1.1SJ.¢JJ or24JP £1091292 £44.IAO t￿.181.?0 £2,8Jg.7S £14.J71.O2 £8&17127 £113,104.22 tr￿1￿• fromcharltabl• xll¥lU•• £1￿7 £1B.254. £1￿7￿4 E18J4. £6.17U6 £15m4m kncorn• fromcharttabh ac1h1￿8 Totsll £19.851.24 £19.851.24 £21257.46 Olh•r tradlrq acthths E161A5 £47m £1,134.43 £U75 £1&ro £￿13 £283.13 r14Xm 1229 &￿.￿1¥￿r¥>I.￿ IXh•r tradlng a¢thTIt￿8 T•t É11.397.3Q £176.•S £47.00 £19.121.25 £9289. knT•Aln•nts VA E23.12 In¥••ln¥Trnts TrA £232A8 £359. 1.48 £2113 Olh•r In¢om• £1JllOIO £4.74&79 r&125.7P fir¢1 rrL￿1.Cts) £4m £5Sa [5￿.7? 176 f1188.76 £T,7•J.13 £6.￿A7 £6.t73A6 £4.459.63 £2J59 £971.48 (#h•r TOWS £7.648.39 £3,743.82 £11,540.26 Ea93Z47 £14293.52 R•¢elpts fy¥nd T4)1 £114291.11 £6A60.S2 £28318 - £148,189.71 £158I67ffj8 THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MARY THE BLESSEO VIRGIN APCM REPORT FOR 2023 (PUBLISHED MAY 20241

Payments Total G•nerat O•$1gnat•d R•strlLt•d ErbdoTh•thi Latt y•at R•ln• 87WJ.Fkll LlrfeJ.gDs 87(6.k￿l £m17 £n117 f3.￿.01 EthB.TO E10.495L g1.17& £20.1110.74 £10￿.￿5 tl.176.ty) £2O.100.74 Rlng Tot EB3ml1 £1&1(Q £19￿70 £5￿ 44 £1ZJX> £I￿.(j) t19￿.70 £23W16 £1￿.￿) £1.727.70 fJWe.48 07fy15.75 £9fj10.43 (S.￿ fS10. E3ml.98 £1375 tl1&71 £3m1.96 £1375.T2 £IOS51E2 £5￿72) £1A37 £12.7X)DJ £13X. t12.7￿.[￿1 £13549.66 Exp•ndnur• on ¢harltabl• act￿11&1% Tola t134,Y3.6J U21.01 Ol679.16 £16B,064.10 £165,049.92 P#ymts Grn￿ Totals £1¥04&37 £841.01 £W79Afj - £188,164J4 £165J14992 THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MARY THE BLESSEO VIRGIN APCM REPORT FOR 2023 (PUBLISHED MAY 20241

Additional Notes to the Financial Statements

• Mrs S Duckworth remains as part-time administrator, who continues to provides essential administrative support to the operation of Plympton Team Ministry (St Marys and St Maurice Churches).

• St Maurice PCC contributes a third of the administration costs to St Marys PCC

• Mrs L Collier, Director of Music, receives a monthly payment and is a member of the PCC.

• Mr K. Escott, receives fees for his duties as Verger at weddings and funerals.

• Mr M Chanter receives a monthly payment for maintaining the Churchyard and payment for digging cremation plots when required.

• A contract cleaner was engaged to clean the hall for 2 x 1.5 hrs per week. This was increased to 3x1.5 hours for 2024 to allow for increased hiring of the Hall.

• Mr P. Smith, a member of the PCC receives a fee for acting as temporary Sexton when required to support streaming, or to cover for the Verger at weddings or funerals.

THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MARY THE BLESSED VIRGIN APCM REPORT FOR 2023 (PUBLISHED MAY 2024)

9

• None of those receiving pay and/or fees received more than £50 000.

• There were no disclosable transactions in respect of PCC Members, persons closely connected with them, or related parties.

• No PCC members received travelling or subsistence expenses during the year.

Philip Smith - Treasurer

Independent Examiner’s report for 2023

THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MARY THE BLESSED VIRGIN APCM REPORT FOR 2023 (PUBLISHED MAY 2024)

10

HEALTH and SAFETY report to the APCM for 2023

During the reporting period 1st January to 31st December 2023, Plympton Team Ministry H&S team has continued to provide H&S support and advice to the PCCs and churchwardens across the Parish.

The team has provided the annual reviews of extant Risk and COSHH Assessments, H&S policies, Fire and evacuation plan, maintenance of the Permit to Work regime and completion of multiple risk assessments for various Church and Church Hall events, activities, and upkeep projects.

The team has also supported the Parish Safeguarding officer and the churchwardens throughout the year ensuring that the parish remained legally compliant to H&S, safeguarding regulations.

Sidesperson training was provided to ensure compliance with the fire and emergency plan.

The H&S team members form part of the newly established Fabric Committee and have provided expertise, support, and advice to ensure effective and compliant maintenance activities are conducted in a timely and safe manner.

Routine annual building maintenance and inspections, testing of fire appliances and heating systems have continued throughout 2023 with the H&S team providing advice to the churchwardens, as necessary.

Several issues and enquiries were dealt with regarding the Bell Tower and Bell maintenance, enabling Bell ringing to continue safely throughout the year.

Quarterly H&S meetings were held throughout the year, all supporting records are stored in the Church Office.

Ian Duckworth NEBOSH Dip - Deputy Health and Safety Officer

SAFEGUARDING report to the APCM for 2023

The safeguarding team changed this year, with Shirley Rogers taking responsibility for safeguarding across the team ministry.

There has been one safeguarding incident, which was referred to the diocesan safeguarding team who are working with other agencies to manage it.

In order to fulfil our statutory safeguarding requirements, we will be auditing all our DBS and safeguarding training for all relevant volunteers.

Shirley Rogers - Parish Safeguarding Representative

DEANERY SYNOD Report to the APCM for 2023

In 2022, Deanery Synod meetings have focussed on changing the structure of the Deaneries, and hearing from projects around the City.

Your representative is Rachel Harrison-French

Rachel Harrison-French – Deanery Synod Representative

THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST MARY THE BLESSED VIRGIN APCM REPORT FOR 2023 (PUBLISHED MAY 2024)

11