2024-12-31-accounts

Parish of Annual Parochial St Mary of Bethany Church, Woking Church Meeting (APCM) Sunday 11 May 2025

St. Mary of Bethany Church, Mount Hermon Road, Woking, Surrey GU22 7UH St. Mary of Bethany Church is part of the Guildford Diocese within the Church of England.

Contents

Contents	Contents
Contents .................................................................................................................................................................. 1
AGENDA – 11 May 2025 ............................................................................................................................... 2
Annual Report of the Parochial Church Council – Year ended 31 December 2024 ........................ 3
1.	Membership of the PCC and other particulars .......................................................................................... 3
2.	Structure, Governance and Management .................................................................................................. 3
3.	Objectives and Activities ................................................................................................................................. 4
4.	Further development ...................................................................................................................................... 6
2024 Financial Review	2024 Financial Review .................................................................................................................................. 7
2024 APCM reports	2024 APCM reports ..................................................................................................................................... 11
1.	Vicar’s report – Mark Wallace ...................................................................................................................... 11
2.	Churchwardens’ Report – Caroline Mendham and Jonathan Miles .................................................... 12
3.	Electoral Roll report – Jess Moss ................................................................................................................. 13
4.	Children and Youth report – Helen Brooks ............................................................................................... 13
5.	Ministry to older people – Sue Rogers ...................................................................................................... 15
6.	Go! Team Ministry Report – John Harston ................................................................................................ 17
7.	Welcome Team report ................................................................................................................................... 18
8.	Stewarding report – Rachel Warne ............................................................................................................. 18
9.	Parish Safeguarding Representative Report ............................................................................................ 19
10.	10. The ‘Building Project’ – John Brooks ....................................................................................................... 20
11.	11. Deanery Synod and Churches Together in Woking (CTiW) – Neil Jarman ...................................... 21
Draft minutes of 2024 APCM and Meeting of Parishioners for approval	Draft minutes of 2024 APCM and Meeting of Parishioners for approval ....................................... 23

Page 1 of 28

2024 APCM Parish of St Mary of Bethany Church, Woking

AGENDA – 11 May 2025

As an electoral member of St Mary of Bethany Church, Woking, the Vicar and Churchwardens warmly invite you to attend the Meeting of Parishioners and the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) to be held at St Mary of Bethany on Sunday 11 May 2025 starting at 10:30.

We very much hope that you will be able to attend the meetings and share in fellowship and worship with the other members of our church. If you cannot attend, please send your apologies via the church office at [e-mail].

Opening Worship

MEETING OF THE PARISHONERS AGENDA

1. Minutes of the meeting held on Sunday 21 April 2024

2. Election of Churchwardens

ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING AGENDA

1. Apologies for Absence

2. Minutes of the meeting held on Sunday 21 April 2024

3. Elections:

• 3.1 Stewards

• 3.2 Parochial Church Council Representatives

• 3.3 Deanery Synod Representatives

4. Reports:

• 4.1 Annual Report for 2024

• 4.2 Financial Report and Audited Accounts for the year 2024

• 4.3 Appointment of Independent Examiner 2025

• 4.4 Electoral Roll Report

• 4.5 Deanery Synod Report

• 4.6 Churchwardens’ Report

• 4.7 Parish Safeguarding Report

• 4.8 Ministry Reports

• 4.9 Vicar’s Vote of Thanks

• 4.10 Final Thanks from the Churchwarden

5. Questions: You are most welcome to ask questions of parish interest at the APCM. Considered and detailed responses can only be given to questions submitted in advance to the Vicar via the Church Office .

6. Closing Prayer and Fellowship

Page 2 of 28

Annual Report of the Parochial Church Council – Year ended 31 December 2024

1. Membership of the PCC and other particulars

PCC members who have served from the APCM, April 2024 are:

Ex-officio Members: Incumbent Mark Wallace (Chair) Associate Vicar vacant Associate Minister Ray Marks (retired with permission to officiate) Deanery Synod Representatives: Elected May 2023 Neil Jarman Elected April 2024 Sarah Macdonald Elected Members (maximum 6 continuous years): Caroline Mendham (first elected April 2024) Church Wardens: Jonathan Miles (first elected April 2024) Anne Ansell (first elected 2021), Jean Williams Simon Crosland From 2024 for 3 years (first elected 2020; Lay-Chair from May 2022) From 2023 for 3 years Clare Mall (first elected 2020; previously ex-officio as warden) John Brooks (first elected April 2019) PCC members may be elected for 2 consecutive 3-year terms; From 2022 for 3 years no member stood down at the 2024 APCM. Richard Warne (PCC Treasurer) from May 2022 Co-opted: Barclays Bank PLC, Jubilee Square, Woking. Surrey GU21 1YG CAF Bank Ltd., 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Bankers: Kent ME19 4JQ Edwards Greene, 9 Innovation Place, Douglas Drive, Godalming, Surrey GU7 1JX (pending approval by the APCM, Independent Examiner: to perform the Independent Examination of the 2025 accounts).

2. Structure, Governance and Management

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is a corporate body established by the Church of England. The PCC operates under statute law, The Parochial Church Council (Powers) Measure 1956. The PCC of St Mary of Bethany, Woking was registered with the Charity Commission on 26 March 2009 (registered No. 1128813). PCC members therefore act as charity trustees.

The rules of appointment of PCC members are governed by and set out in the Church Representation Rules. All Church attendees are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to

Page 3 of 28

the PCC.

New PCC members are provided with information on the structure of the PCC and their role and responsibilities as a PCC member. The PCC takes its safeguarding obligations seriously – all members are DBS checked, briefed on safeguarding issues by the Parish Safeguarding Representative and undertake safeguarding training. There are Finance and HR teams that advise and make recommendations to the PCC in these areas and, while there is no formal Fabric Team, the Church Wardens work with a number of members of the congregation on managing the fabric of the church and the PCC agrees an annual maintenance budget. The PCC approves all proposals for capital or ongoing financial commitments or legal matters.

The PCC has reviewed the major risks to which the PCC is exposed and established systems or procedures to achieve good practice and to manage risk in areas, such as health and safety, child protection, disability discrimination, employment legislation and sound financial management.

Standing Committee (SC)

This is the only committee required by law. It comprises the incumbent, any other stipendiary clergy, churchwardens, PCC lay chair, treasurer and secretary and has the power to transact the business of the PCC between its meetings, subject to any directions given by the PCC. Other members of the PCC may be co-opted to the Standing Committee as necessary.

PCC met on 8 occasions and SC on 6 occasions during 2024. Meetings were structured to ensure that every aspect of church life has been considered over the course of the year, including those areas which enable the smooth and effective running of the church, such as HR, how we welcome newcomers and nurture members and young people, to those areas focussed on mission and our engagement with the wider community. Every meeting has examined the finances of the church and decisions about expenditure have been agreed by the PCC. PCC meetings have also reviewed our safeguarding.

Ministry Team

This is composed of the clergy: Mark Wallace, Ray Marks and members of the staff team, and the church wardens (when they are available). Meetings are held regularly to plan and review ministry and deal with issues as they arise.

The administrative staff are Jess Moss (Office Manager), Andrew Seaton (Office Administrator) and Becs Allin (Bookkeeper).

Go! Team

The Go! Team actively promotes mission both in the UK and overseas by keeping in touch with mission partners and encouraging the church to pray for those we support.

Finance Team

The Finance Team of Adrian Brookes, Brian Harris and Nick Mendham supports the Treasurer and guides the PCC in matters of financial management and stewardship.

3. Objectives and Activities

The PCC has the responsibility of co-operating with the incumbent, Mark Wallace, in promoting in the parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The PCC also has regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit.

St. Mary of Bethany’s mission statement is “God’s transforming people in our parish: To love Jesus, to serve and tell others, to be community”. The mission statement is in line with the first two priorities set out in the Diocese strategy of Transforming Church, Transforming Lives.

Members are encouraged to support the work of the church through prayer, service and giving.

Page 4 of 28

Sunday services

Our pattern of services in 2024 were a 10:30 service, offering a mix of contemporary worship and organ-accompanied hymns, with the first Sunday of the month being an ‘All Together service’, aiming to cater for all ages, seated around tables. These were supplemented by an 08:00 communion service on the first Sunday of each month. Refreshments are available after the 10:30 service.

We devoted the first half of the year to a long sermon series covering the whole of John’s gospel. During the summer we continued our annual programme of working through the Old Testament narrative with a series about Israel in the desert from the book of Numbers. In the autumn term we had several shorter series covering our approach to stewardship, Creationtide, the book of Malachi and Advent.

We continued to broadcast our 10:30 service (other than on the first Sunday when we do not broadcast either service) and sermons are available on YouTube. For Easter, we held 3 Good Friday meditations and a well-attended Easter Sunday service. We also held a full programme of services for Christmas, including our regular carol service for Woking Mencap and a community carol service which was well attended with numerous visitors.

Small groups

Small groups support the church and individuals through prayer and provide the primary source of pastoral care and an important aspect of encouraging discipleship. These have been pivotal in the life of the church during 2024. Roughly 90 church members attend small groups, representing about two thirds of our membership. We currently have 9 small groups meeting regularly including a number of people who are not regular Sunday attenders. Our online-only small group dissolved in 2024, while one other group, which had been considering their future, found God’s renewal, which they have been very encouraged about.

The Talk Easy group meets regularly, as an opportunity for regular English conversation practice.

Children and young people’s work

On Sunday mornings we currently hold 2 groups – one for under 11s and one for 11-16s. Our Sunday evening youth group (Fusion) is run jointly with St Andrew’s Goldsworth Park and its venue alternates termly between the two churches. Friday Night Club continues to be well attended by young people aged 7-11.

Our work with local primary schools saw the Vicar taking regular assemblies in Barnsbury School. We hosted Christmas services for Barnsbury and Goldsworth Schools, and also a chain of local nurseries, seeing around 1,000 people over a total of four services, as well as an Easter service for Goldsworth. We continue to contribute to the work of Engage in our local schools and college through our mission giving.

Ministry to older people

Ministry aimed specifically at older people is offered through CAMEO, and services in local sheltered housing.

Prayer

Prayer continues to be central to all we do. The church published a monthly prayer diary, and church members are invited to join the staff team for morning prayers on Wednesdays. We discontinued our monthly Listening to God services on Sunday evenings in the summer.

The church continued its use of social media to promote events and create community. Mark posts regular blogs and Facebook, X and Instagram have been used to promote all that we have been able to do during the year.

Page 5 of 28

Our building

During May, a team of volunteers led by John Brooks redecorated the Youth Room. Plans advanced for the first phase of refurbishment work, covering our smaller meeting spaces and toilets, which began in early 2025.

Community use

A wide range of other community groups have used the buildings again during 2024, including Brownies, Guides and Rangers, resident association AGMs and various choral and instrumental recitals. We acted as a polling station for the local and general elections in May, which proved popular with voters, with cake and staffing throughout being provided by a dedicated team of volunteers.

4. Further development

In March 2024 the PCC adopted our new two-year Church Development Plan after consultation with the congregation. This continues our pattern of having three points to focus on discipleship, mission and our building. Each point has a series of timed actions which are owned by specific people.

Our 2024–26 plan

Transforming our lives together as we develop our church community and building.

• i. Transforming our discipleship : developing a discipleship journey for each member of our church, from newcomers to core members. Including a plan to help newcomers to reach the core of church life, training on prayer and development of new leaders.

• ii. Transforming our mission , building pathways from our fringe into the core of our church

• iii. family, and energising those at the core for mission. Transforming our building : the ‘Heart of Mount Hermon’ project. Completing the refurbishment of our building and planning for a new entrance and extension.

Page 6 of 28

2024 Financial Review

Richard A Warne – Treasurer

Summary

In 2024 we continued to trust in the Lord and wait on God’s timing for hiring additional staff, which meant that we were able to build our reserves further. In a world that can often seem uncertain we have seen in 2024 that God is faithful to his people. This has helped the PCC to look to the future with growing confidence, allowing us to start the next phase of the building work.

In 2024 we received very generous legacy gifts totalling over £128,000, one of which was nearly £124,000. With these gifts, and the legacies we have received in previous years, as well as the continued generous giving of our Church members, the PCC has been able to approve the next phase of building work. These gifts have also allowed us to increase further our reserves above the minimum. The PCC is prayerfully considering whether we should use these reserves to continue to redevelop our building or to contribute to the cost of hiring staff to support our vision of being at the heart of the Mount Hermon community.

We managed the expenses of running the church prudently in 2024, resulting in a modest reduction from prior years. We had originally budgeted that the Associate Vicar position would have been filled by the middle of 2024, which did not happen. This meant that we were under budget on our staff costs.

We expect the running costs of the Church to increase in 2025 as our new Associate Vicar starts in April. With the additional reserves we have built up we will be able to meet these extra expenses. In 2025 we will incur significant costs on the Church redevelopment which will be met out of the funds we have built up, as well as hopefully grants for which we have applied, should we be successful. We retain excess free reserves sufficient to cover the future plans of the Church related to both the development of the building, as well as potential new staff members.

Income – what we received as gifts and other sources of income

As noted above the Church received two legacies to the value of just over £128,000. These legacies are amongst the largest the Church has ever received. It is wonderful that our faithful members were able to bless the Church in this way.

In 2024 we continued to be blessed with generous regular planned donations (made via the Parish Giving Scheme, regular standing orders or the Give as You Earn Scheme). These totalled in excess of £179,000, a decrease of £4,500 from the level in 2023 (down 2%). Since 2019 our regular giving has declined about 19%. This reduction is similar to the experience of many parishes in the Diocese and nationally, reflecting in part changes in the way people give to good causes and charities. We are grateful for the generosity of our Church members.

One-off gifts for general use decreased from 2023 by approximately £3,000 to just under £26,000 (a decline of 10%). One-off gifts remain an important source of income for the Church, but we have seen a trend over recent years for these to decline, except in relation to mission giving which is discussed later. Plate giving remained just over £4,500, about £10 per week lower than 2023.

Income from renting out the house reserved for the associate vicar, and interest earned on funds held in reserve which were invested in a range of interest-bearing accounts, contributed a further £40,000.

Page 7 of 28

Mission and other Charitable giving

Giving for mission and other charitable work continued strongly with the Making Mission Possible campaign raising approximately £22,000, similar to what was raised in 2023. The Tithe (which is 10% of the unrestricted gifts received by the Church set aside for mission) was over £30,500, an increase on 2023 reflecting the increase in gifts received. Food donations to the Woking food bank equated to a value of over £3,200, an increase of nearly 20% on 2023. Overall, a very generous response to the needs of the community. Details of grants made are set out in note 12 to the Financial Statements on page 13 which show that the total given was nearly £58,000. The majority of these grants was for supporting Christian Mission worldwide. The Go!Team continues to work with our mission partners and monitor opportunities for additional support.

Expenses – how we used our resources

Our expenses (other than the Tithe which increased to reflect increased giving) were down slightly on 2023, as we continued to look for ways to manage expenses prudently. At the end of the year our fixed price gas and electricity contracts expired, and we entered into further three-year fixed price contracts. We hope that this will help save energy costs in the same way as the last fixed term contracts did. The Parish Share – which is our contribution to the running costs of the Diocese of Guildford- remained largely the same as 2023 at just under £100,000. The Parish Share is our largest single expense and represents our contribution to the costs of our vicar, including the provision of his housing, and the other activities of the Diocese of Guildford.

Buildings and the Development

After many years of planning, our financial preparations in 2024 enabled us to begin the work on the next phase of the building transformation early in 2025. During the year the PCC designated £125,000 of our reserves to this work which, together with the grants we are applying for (if we are successful), will enable the Church to meet the costs of this phase of the project. We anticipate that more than £300,000 will be spent in 2025. We are particularly grateful for the hard work of John and Helen Brooks in getting us to this exciting phase of the project. Early in 2025 we also learnt that we had been awarded a grant from Your Funds Surrey of over £54,000 to support the development, which was sponsored by our councillor Will Forster, for which we are vey grateful.

The teams supporting the Treasurer

Becs Allin, who joined as our new bookkeeper in December 2023, has settled in and has been able to bring her experience and skills in helping keep our records straight. During the year we brought the payroll administration in-house saving us administration costs, using Becs’s experience in this area. She has also prepared the 2024 financial statements which have been reviewed by the Treasurer and Finance team. Richard Edwards (of Edwards Greene) once again has undertaken the independent examination. We are very grateful to Becs for her outstanding work in preparing the accounts.

The finance team of Adrian Brookes, Brian Harris, Nick Mendham and Richard Warne have met regularly throughout the year, and I am very grateful for all their support. We are so grateful to the Treasury Team, led by Helen Brooks, for their work in counting and banking. We will continue to look to streamline our finance function, using Becs’ extensive experience in both bookkeeping and accountancy.

At each PCC and Standing Committee meeting a detailed update is given on the finances of the Church. The congregation receives a report at the APCM and copies of the PCC minutes containing finance

Page 8 of 28

updates.

During the year the Finance Team has been working on reviewing and updating our financial policies and procedures which have been shared with the PCC. It is a requirement of the Charities Commission that we keep our policies under review.

2024 – 2026 Budget

I have prepared a draft budget for 2025 for the General Fund which was approved by the PCC in January 2025.

St Mary of Bethany is blessed with income that puts the church comfortably in the top 10% of parishes nationally. The median regular gift we receive is three times the national level and twice the median gift in the Diocese of Guildford. In line with national trends, however, we have seen declines in total regular giving in real terms over the last decade. Each year we see people move away from the parish, including members who give regularly. As a result, every year we need to find new givers and see increases in existing gifts just to maintain our levels of income. We are budgeting that regular giving will remain at similar levels to 2024, in the anticipation that new joiners and increases in giving levels, will balance any leavers. In 2024 we received over £20,000 in interest on cash balances held through the Flagstone platform (this is an online platform that helps us access a range of interest-bearing deposit accounts). However, we anticipate a significant reduction in the balances we hold (and thus interest earned) as we spend on the next phase of the development. The income from renting out the church house will also decline as we welcome our new Associate Vicar, Ruth, who will move into the house when she joins. However, as our development progresses it is hoped that we can receive increased revenues from the use of our building.

On budgeted expenses, we are excited to have Ruth join as our Associate Vicar and will see an increase in staff costs. We are forecasting a relatively small surplus on the general account in 2025 as a result of the additional staff costs, and associated expenses. Looking further ahead to 2025 and 2026, assuming that we are successful in recruiting additional staff or a curate, we are forecasting modest deficits on the general account, which will be supported by our excess reserves put aside for this purpose.

Reserves Policy

Our free reserves on the General Account at the end of 2024 amounted to approximately £224,000. During the year the PCC reviewed our reserves policy in line with the Government Guidelines for charities set out in CC19. This required a structured review process to be followed with the following six step process-

Step 1: Understanding the nature of charitable funds held

Step 2: Identifying functional assets

Step 3: Understanding the financial impact of risk

Step 4: Reviewing sources of income

Step 5: Impact of future plans and commitments

Step 6: Agreeing a reserves policy

As a result of this review the PCC agreed, based upon the recommendations of the Finance Team, to adopt a new minimum reserves policy that requires the Church to hold a minimum of free reserves equal to three months’ expenses, as adjusted for budgeted increases in future expenses. For 2024 this figure was £79,250.

Page 9 of 28

As a result of this as at 31st December the Church held excess reserves of approximately £145,000. The PCC considered that this level was not excessive given the future plans related to both the building as well as potential staff hires. The PCC will keep this figure under review.

In addition to the General Fund, the PCC has set aside funds for the building project and to assist with any future major maintenance work. Funds are also held for specific uses as requested by donors. Details of all funds are shown in Note 11 on page 12 of the accounts.

Guildford Diocese retains the title deeds of our staff house at 46 Hawthorn Road, purchased by the PCC many years ago. The Central Board of Finance of the Church of England hold investments under an endowment (the Thorne Bequest), the annual income from which contributes towards the maintenance of the Church building. Our surplus cash funds are held in notice accounts with FSCS protected banks and building societies through the Flagstone platform, and in current accounts with CAF Bank and Barclays Bank.

Signed:-……………………………………………………………. sees Mopa OhrN Nas.Sowe Date:- ……………………………………………………………. Date:- VEL ey CODE rn

Page 10 of 28

2024 APCM reports

1. Vicar’s report – Mark Wallace

2024 was a year of planning and development at St Mary of Bethany. We spent the year with a smaller staff team than we are used to, with just Vicar Mark and Ray covering clergy matters. By the end of the year we were able to look forward to our new Associate Vicar starting in April 2025, and our services were beginning to see a definite uptick in numbers. Christmas saw our first big Carol Service since Covid, with bumper congregations throughout the season.

One upside of having a smaller team has been that our running costs were comfortably below budget for the whole year, giving us a surplus which we dedicated to the Heart of Mount Hermon project. We were also blessed by several large legacies from faithful church members. The sad side of this was that we said goodbye to several longstanding members who died during the year.

Our season of green shoots has continued and accelerated. Our Sunday services continued to grow, as we welcomed new families and continued our trajectory towards being a diverse congregation which reflects our parish. During the year we decided to close our Wednesday Bethany Babes session as demand was low, with other comparable groups locally. In contrast our Tuesday session was so busy that we successfully introduced a booking system to avoid disappointment and a waiting list. Talk Easy, Friday Night Club and CAMEO continued their ministries with good numbers and we are blessed by very faithful teams across each ministry.

This year we reached an advanced stage of planning for refurbishment of our building, work which is now close to completion (May 2025). This will give us a new pop-up café space, which could offer wraparound ministry during the week (for example, lunch after Bethany Babes or CAMEO), and will give us new opportunities to engage our community. We have replaced our toilets, improved our accessibility and spruced up all our spaces. Later in 2025 we will also install solar panels and a battery to provide much of our electricity and reduce our carbon footprint, and we will complete a project to improve the acoustics in the hall, where it is very hard to hear well on a busy day. Once the refurbishment is complete, we will review our pre-COVID plans for an extension and new entrance on the Mount Hermon Road side, to ensure that these will meet our current and future needs as a church family.

There are many things which St Mary of Bethany continues to do really well, which we can celebrate. If you have been a part of our church for many years, you may not appreciate how unusual these things are. We offer a warm welcome to all sorts of people; it is pretty difficult to come to a service or an event here without someone speaking to you. Polling day each year is a fantastic example of this, when a huge team dispenses tea, cake and chat to hundreds of local people, introducing our church gently to them. Our big events really resonate in our community, whether it’s our outdoor carols or informal Chills. We are growing in diversity, seeing new people from a variety of backgrounds. Our support for our mission partners via our Go! Team is the most effective I have seen in a church, putting local and world mission at the heart of our ministry. Our community includes many of the kindest people you will ever meet. We continue to be committed to Eco Church, which includes preaching about creation care and looking after our site sustainably, as well as reducing our carbon footprint and making good choices about the resources we consume. We achieved our silver award several years ago and are pressing onwards to achieve our gold, with a new team formed to push this work forward. The improvements we make to the building in 2025 will contribute towards this.

Page 11 of 28

Our culture at St Mary of Bethany has changed so much over the last few years, as our volunteer ministry teams have replaced the work previously done by staff. While it has been necessary to focus our ministry on the core things we want to do, we have seen real growth in skills and confidence among our teams. We are now well placed to grow our team and begin to reach into new areas of ministry and things we have not done for a while.

2. Churchwardens’ Report – Caroline Mendham and Jonathan Miles

As we look back on our first year as churchwardens, we are in a very different place from the beginning. A huge amount of building and refurbishment work has been done or is underway, and we are (at the time of writing) about to welcome Ruth as Associate Vicar.

Activities during 2024

On Maundy Thursday, we commemorated the Last Supper with a Passover-style meal, attended by about 60 of the congregation and culminating in a short communion service. Our Easter service was well attended and was followed by a children’s Easter egg hunt.

In May the Youth Room was lovingly and beautifully redecorated, with a huge amount of thought and care going into the choice of colours and furnishings, including a state of the art smart TV. Huge thanks here to John Brooks and a team of volunteers who carried out this work.

We again opened up the church to the wider community, hosting 2 ‘Chill’ events in March and October and providing refreshments for visitors at both the local and general elections. We also ran an Alpha course during spring. We held a quiz in November, with the proceeds going to Tearfund.

We marked the start and end of Ascensiontide with ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ services on Ascension Day and Pentecost. Our monthly ‘Listening to God’ events once a month on Sunday evenings attracted low numbers and we did not continue them after the middle of the year.

We once again had gardening days and a summer cleaning day in August.

The church continued to be a venue for concerts and recitals.

Monthly collections for Woking Foodbank continued and saw an increase in donations of nearly 20%.

A monthly Book Club, facilitated by Rowena Vale, started in June 2024

As usual, we had a big programme of services and events in the runup to Christmas, including school and Mencap services. Many of us were also relieved that our main carol service reverted to the warmth of the church building this year! Large numbers of members of the community pass through our doors for these services and they are a team effort, with many people contributing to leading, stewarding and catering for them.

We rejoiced to see several from this church going forward for baptism and/or confirmation in September (the service taking place at Christ Church). We also thank the Lord for those we lost during the year, including Richard Langtree, Daphne Evans, Peggy Buckbarrow and Di Fawcett, whose lives of faith, service and prayer have enriched us and left a lasting legacy.

Accidents:

There were 6 minor accidents or near misses during the year, thankfully none resulting in lasting injury.

Page 12 of 28

Thank yous:

Nothing in this church just ‘happens’; all of it happens because of a great deal of work, prayer and preparation that goes on throughout the year. We get to see, as churchwardens, the people in the background who undertake an array of big and little tasks, some unnoticed by the wider congregation, and the great teamwork that goes into running some of our regular activities. Together, we are building God’s kingdom, and we’re humbled and thankful for all who make what we do possible and for his faithfulness over the year.

Caroline Mendham

Jonathan Miles

3. Electoral Roll report – Jess Moss

The electoral roll is our register of members who can vote at the APCM and stand for election to the PCC. This is the official register of members.

Every 6 years we are required to carry out a revision of the electoral roll, meaning that all members must be removed from the electoral roll so that we can prepare a new roll, this year is that year.

We ended 2024 with 121 members on our electoral roll. In April 2025, following the update, we now have 116 members registered to our new electoral roll. This is a small decrease from the 126 members on the electoral roll this time last year.

We’ve been blessed to see new people joining us for our services and events with a good amount joining us from our ministries such as FNC and Bethany Babes as well as from receiving invites through their letterboxes at Christmas and Easter. We are thankful for everyone in our church family and all that they bring to our church ministry.

4. Children and Youth report – Helen Brooks

Children are an integral part of our work as a church, and we continue to work towards making all of our ministry intergenerational. This means that children would be equally valued and listened to, contributing to all of our ministry as far as possible.

We ran the following groups in 2024:

SUNDAY MORNINGS

Creche (age 0 to 3)

This started meeting in January 2024 on a third Sunday and had one child in Jan and 2 in Feb and March. It is well staffed by experienced volunteers. There are currently three toddlers from families who consider us to be their church

Explorers (age 4 to 11)

We are continuing to use the Energize teaching material produced by Urban Saints, as well as our own ideas. This gives us resources across the whole age range. In the Summer term of 2024, we continued looking at famous Old Testament characters such as Samson, Elisha, Josiah, Isaiah Jeremiah, Daniel, Nehemiah and Esther. In the Autumn term we looked at some of Jesus’s miracles such as the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus’ walking on water. In the Spring Term of 2025, we have been working through the ten Commandments and seen their relevance for today. We have a strong team of 6, Gill Redden,

Page 13 of 28

Graham Browning and myself who teach and Gill Langtree, Helen Browning and Angela Wyatt who help. Sadly, we only have 4 children on the register with another 7 who have visited on one occasion. Since September 2024 our average attendance has dropped to 1.5 with 7 occasions when there were no children at all. Due to competing family commitments, there are now no regular children to teach. The positive aspect of low numbers is that when we do have children, we can give them one to one attention and teaching, but the negative aspect is that we do not have enough regular children to form a thriving group and this makes preparation very demoralising at times. Our earnest prayer is that the children we have will continue their faith journey and that we will see a growth in young families with children to swell our numbers.

YOUTH REPORT

We have continued to use the Energize material from Urban Saints with our young people in both the Sunday morning and evening sessions, and have found this to be most helpful, giving us a wide range of options each week so that we can tailor the material to our group.

David, Liz, Richard and Lucy Jenkins lead the Youth Team, with regular support from Cesca Tennant, Gill Langtree, Jonathan Miles, Adrian Brookes and Rosie Rawson. The sessions could not run without such support so thank you all.

Pathfinders – Sunday morning service, for 11–16-year-olds

We have 4 young people from Church families who have attended the group in the past year, with 2 other occasional attendees; numbers vary from 1-3 each week. Material is good and we enjoy these sessions, with good chats, bible study and often craft / prayer. We aim to welcome the young people whenever they can attend, and ensure they feel they belong, although it is difficult to prepare when we have no idea who or how many are coming each week. This can be quite discouraging, and we would love to encourage a more regular attendance, whilst recognising the busyness of many of these families’ lives.

Fusion – Sunday evening, from 6:30 – 8pm, for 11–18-year-olds.

We continue to meet with St Andrew’s Youth for this session, and this has gone from strength to strength as we make closer connections as leaders and young people. We average around 5–7 on a Sunday evening, meeting alternate half terms at each church in term. There are three regular attendees from SMoB – all three have contacted the Church through Friday Night Club, and come each week, enjoying the 45 minutes of games, then tuck and a 30-minute session using energise material, mostly discussion based. This Spring Term we held Youth Alpha with the group, which went well. Other Church young people occasionally join us for the evening socials. 4 young people have attended and enjoyed the annual Encounter Youth Event in 2024 for all young people in Woking, and one of our young people has joined the Church Youth Group at Knaphill as a result, where he has school friends.

Whilst encouraged by many sessions and enjoying the contact with the young people, we value prayer about the sporadic attendance at both morning and evening sessions and would love to have closer contact with parents and young people, to ensure we are offering what they need and enjoy. We also value prayer as to how we can best help / challenge our young people to grow in faith. We look forward to the recent arrival of Ruth to help us with this.

Page 14 of 28

MIDWEEK

Friday Night Club (Age 7 To 11)

The group meets at the Church from 7.00 to 8.30pm in term time. It is for school years 3 to 6 (Junior school ages 7 to 11). It provides a range of fun activities, but we are very intentional about sharing something each week about Gods love for them through a ‘God slot’ and in the way we show appropriate care for them as individuals. We are also intentional about our engagement with parents.

Since September 2024 we have had 44 different children. Some just try us once or twice and some very regularly. In the autumn 2023 we averaged 13.2 a week and in the autumn 2024 we averaged 21 each week.

In September 2024 Briony stepped back from her joint leadership role as she was expecting her third child. Ruth will however now be assisting John. The rota of helpers has been expanded during the year to help cope with larger numbers and includes - Helen Brooks, Graham and Helen Browning, Sarah Swann, Michelle Massalonga, Adrian and Sarah Brookes, Alenka Miles, Sarah Macdonald, Rosie Rawson and Joan Brown. Others are drawn in when we bake with the youngsters. We are also assisted by Matt Browning, Evie Wallace, and Kendra Heppenstall. Adrian and Riet Fewins also run our prayer time before each meeting and help in some of the preparation.

Bethany Babes – Tuesday and Wednesday, 10–11.30am, for under-5s and their carers.

Tuesdays are regularly full and we now run a booking system to avoid anyone being disappointed. We closed the Wednesday sessions in the summer, as they were very quiet and other local groups run then. Annabel Glasspool continues to lead our team. We keep numbers manageable deliberately, to ensure that every parent can have a meaningful conversation with one of our team every week.

5. Ministry to older people – Sue Rogers

Senior adults are extremely important to our ministry at St Mary of Bethany. Recent retirees provide a large proportion of our ministry teams, and they bring with them skills, time, energy and resources. In turn we provide the opportunity to follow your God-given calling and contribute to a community which makes a difference. As people become less active, our challenge is to help them transition into a stage of life where they contribute less and receive more, and where we might be called on to provide pastoral care. Some of our seniors have been part of our church family for most (or even all) of their lives, but some are on the fringe.

Cameo

Our seniors’ ministry CAMEO (‘Come And Meet Each Other’) is open to all and is attended by people at all stages of faith (or none as yet).

It meets on the first and third Thursdays of the month from 10.30am–12pm in our church hall and occasionally off-site. On reopening the group after the end of the pandemic, the CAMEO team have consciously steered gently away from the more formal model of members receiving a talk plus hospitality towards a more varied programme which allows time to chat and share. We have until quite recently trialed a ‘Pick ‘n’ mix’ programme once a month, where several tables will be set up with a variety of activities people can take part in. These sessions provided the opportunity to bring in people from beyond the group who have something to share, as well as to harness the gifts and talents of those in the group.

Page 15 of 28

However, we are always looking to offer variety as well as opportunities for members to engage in activities as much as possible. With this in mind, and in response to feedback from members, we are taking a break from our ‘Pick ’n’ mix’ sessions and are moving forward with a range of occasional home grown and outside speakers. To this we have added group activities which have included quizzes, discussions, craft activities and a bring and buy sale which has raised over £200 in support of the Samaritans Purse water and hygiene project. We have also introduced more opportunities for eating together, including a Christmas meal at a local pub, an annual summer garden party held at the home of a Cameo team member and a soup, sandwich and dessert lunch. This lunch was enabled by the hard work of Sarah Macdonald and Gill Langtree. We have also provided a fish and chip lunch from The Ketch in St Johns which was very well received and seems set to be a regular part of our programme.

There is a real sense of belonging and friendship in the group which we believe has been built up over the years by a gentle approach to faith and spirituality. Each session includes an opening prayer and ‘thought for the day’ and some sessions have featured favourite hymns, a speaker from a Christian charity and other spiritual subjects. We believe that there is always room to explore other approaches and would always welcome anyone to join us who feels their “calling: is to show care, concern and friendship whether through prayer or practical support. The team has also been intentional about inviting people to CAMEO, including church regulars who have previously given the group a wide berth. As a result, CAMEO has grown and regularly sees 15–26 people, including several who do not attend church regularly. There are about 30 members on our register.

The CAMEO team’s vision is to continue to widen the reach of the group, inviting local seniors along, and especially reaching out to those who are lonely or isolated. However, we have seen fruit in simple steps like having CAMEO invitations available at big services including Christmas, and on polling day, and having welcomers and team members available to chat and invite them too. However we would welcome any ideas on how to connect with older people in our parish who are not members of the church and might benefit from the friendship offered by CAMEO.

The group has had to face some sadness as we have lost a number of regular members over the past year. We mourn the recent passing of George Bishop and Christine Innes who were both much involved with starting CAMEO many years ago. We have also lost Brian and Alan, who were members for many years. We also face a number of challenges over the longer term. Our core team is itself growing older and would like to recruit some younger people. Some of our church regulars still regard CAMEO as ‘not for them’, and it is difficult to know how to break this down. Offering lifts to members is challenging as we do not have enough willing drivers. Unfortunately, we cannot always give lifts to people who cannot get themselves in and out of a car unaided, for safeguarding reasons.

We especially welcome offers of talks from home grown speakers on such subjects as a favourite hobby, recent travel to an interesting part of the world or the work of a charity or other organisation with which they have been involved.

Pastoral work

Our pastoral team works closely with me and our small group leaders to provide care to those in need. This can include practical help such as accompanying someone on a hospital visit. It usually involves one-to-one visits in people’s homes. I have recently trained a number of people to administer Holy Communion at home, and we will announce this to the church family after Easter. This will help those who are finding it harder to get to church, or who are housebound, to keep a spiritual connection to SMOB. Our team includes men and women, who have all completed some diocesan training in pastoral care and safeguarding, as well as being DBS cleared and safely recruited. Referrals to the pastoral team normally happen through the Vicar in the first instance, and the team meets monthly to keep in touch and ensure we are picking up on people we are concerned about.

Page 16 of 28

Retirement and care home services

We contribute to monthly services in two local retirement housing communities at Ebbage Court and Homebeech/Homeworth (the latter in collaboration with Woking United Reformed Church). These are greatly valued by those who attend. Ebbage Court typically has between 12–15 attendees and Homebeech/Homeworth sees similar numbers. Both these services are open to congregation members too.

There is not presently a care home in the parish although one is being constructed next to Hoe Valley School. I am part of a team from four churches providing a monthly service at Horsell Lodge Care Home (in Horsell parish), as the local church would struggle to do this alone, and it spreads the load for the town. This is steadily growing, and we see 15-20 people.

Challenges for PCC to consider

(1) New people for the CAMEO team.

• (2) People who might be able to offer lifts to CAMEO.

• (3) People who can contribute to Pick ‘n’ mix, even if it’s just a one-off.

• (4) Ensuring that pastoral needs get picked up by the small groups and the pastoral team.

6. Go! Team Ministry Report – John Harston

The Go! Team Role.

The Go! Team acts as the link with our church’s Mission Partners and seeks to encourage St Mary of Bethany members to engage with their work by praying for them and giving financial support.

The Go! Team Activities.

• Meeting monthly as a team to discuss, plan and pray – the team met 10 times this year.

• Encouraging each Home Group to take a special interest in one of the Mission Partners.

• Organising prayers for Mission Partners in the 1st Sunday service of each month and involving Home Group members linked to the specific partner being prayed for where possible.

• Providing regular bi-monthly updates on Mission Partners’ activities and prayer needs.

• Producing an annual Mission Partners calendar.

• Organising the annual ‘Making Mission Possible’ event.

Mission Partners Financial Support.

• Giving at the annual ‘Making Mission Possible’ event at which a Mission Partner speaks. Money is allocated as indicated by those giving and in 2024 raised £23,385 in total.

• 85% of the church tithe (8.5% of church income) – The allocation is approved by the PCC. The Making Mission Possible Theme 2024.

The theme was ‘Spirit-Inspired Release’ and the speaker in the service was Jon Hargreaves (Amplifying Voices).

Page 17 of 28

Mission Partners during 2024-2025.

• Engage

• Jon & Elma Hargreaves (Amplifying Voices)

• Bob and Gail McLeod (MMM)

• Asif and Clare Mall (OM)

• Mike and Liz Jeggo (OMF)

• Soul & Jeanette Magura (Redeemer Grace Church – Geneva)

• We have just added Idris Rashk (Interserve) to our Mission Partners. He is based locally and is involved in taking the Gospel to Muslims.

Other Activities.

• The Go! Team also encourages prayer support for St Michael’s Church Sheerwater which is currently under a Bishop’s Mission Order.

• Our church supported Tearfund by holding the ‘Big Quiz’ organised by Richard & Lucy Jenkins,

Go! Team Members

• Anita Bond, John Harston, Clare Mall.

With our thanks to St Mary of Bethany Church for the ongoing support of World Mission.

John Harston, April 2025.

7. Welcome Team report

Our Welcome team aims to offer a warm welcome to people arriving at our services. Tim Sadler is now our welcome team coordinator, taking over from Mark Wallace.

We draw on a strong pool of helpers who make sure we provide a friendly entry into our building for our services and other events such as the Christmas and Easter services for our local schools. Thank you to everyone who contributes to this important ministry!

8. Stewarding report – Rachel Warne

Ministry Area: Stewarding Report Written by: Rachel Warne Title/role: Head steward Date: 22nd April 2025

Thanks go to our stewarding team who have faithfully performed their duties again this year, not only with the regular services but also additional functions. They have provided a warm and friendly welcome to visitors and regulars alike. As in previous years they have worked supporting each other, kindly stepping in to cover for those who are ill or absent. I am so appreciative of this as are the congregation.

The following are to be proposed for election for next year.

Helen Brooks Richard Warne Colin Hickman Rachel Warne

Page 18 of 28

Jonathan Miles

Iain Carruthers

Nick Mendham

Riet Fewins Graham Browning

Caroline Mendham

Gaynor Broda

Chris Orchard

9. Parish Safeguarding Representative Report

The church takes the safety of everyone with the church very seriously and expects that everyone will work within the church safeguarding policy. At the Parochial Church Council (PCC) meeting held on 21 May 2024, the Church of England Safeguarding policy was adopted – you can view this on our website smob.u ~~k/safeguarding.~~

As a church we are committed to caring for our community especially the more vulnerable members and ensuring that we respond to any concerns promptly and appropriately. As a safeguarding team, including Mark, Ruth, Jess and Sarah, we wish to support the whole of the church in committing to protecting one another as a church family.

We continue to work closely with the Diocese Safeguarding Officers to gain advice and guidance in any safeguarding issues that may arise.

Safeguarding Sunday

Safeguarding is managed by the PCC and Parish Safeguarding team but continues to be the responsibility of the whole church. We aim to make everyone aware of safeguarding practices, processes and policies we follow. We hope that everyone found the Safeguarding Sunday information useful, please do speak to any of the team if you have any questions or suggestions.

Safeguarding training

All those who hold leadership roles within the church are required to undertake and update their training regularly.

If anyone wishes to participate in safeguarding training, please do speak to either Jess or Sarah and we can share the church of England training portal with you or arrange to do a course in-house led by one of us.

More info on the safeguarding training offered by the Church of England.

The following courses give a good overview of what safeguarding means within a church context; with the highest level of training needing to be updated every 3 years.

• Basic Awareness – an hour-long course that will help learners to connect the core principles and practices of safeguarding to the Christian faith and how to apply a clear process in the handling of concerns/safeguarding information.

• Foundations – an hour and a half long course that will enable learners to contribute to, and implement, good safeguarding practice within church and community contexts.

Further training for more senior roles includes:

Safer recruitment and people management Senior Leadership training

Page 19 of 28

Raising Awareness of Domestic Abuse training Leadership training Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking OO

Parish Dashboard update

The Parish Dashboard is a system where we input our safeguarding training, DBS and policies, and is monitored by the Diocese of Guildford, enabling us to follow the statutory Church of England requirements. Its primary aim is to make life simpler for Parish Safeguarding Officers (PSOs). It shows an overview of the parish, and compliance is shared with the PCC at each meeting. Twice a year the PCC receives a full Safeguarding report from the team.

The dashboard remains at level 3 which we believe to be the top level on the dashboard.

Level 1 - Safer Foundations Level 2 - Safer Foundations Level 3 - Safer Foundations, Safer and Safer Activities Activities and Safer Practices a In 2024 the dashboard was updated to allow for us to keep all training records in one database, the work is ongoing to make the most of this system.

Church safeguarding team

Rev’d Mark Wallace Rev’d Ruth Sheldon Sarah Macdonald Jess Moss Incumbent Clergy PSO (adults) PSO (children) [e-mail] 01483 723 424 https://www.smob.uk/safeguarding ~~—~~ Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor: Jackie Broadfoot [e-mail] 01483790379 https://www.cofeguildford.org.uk/safeguarding ——_

Rev Mark Wallace / Sarah Macdonald / Jess Moss.

10. The ‘Building Project’ – John Brooks

Buildings and the Development May 2025

The Heart of Mount Hermon building project started in mid-2018 to develop our building to support our ministry and local community better, after recognising that parts of the building and general facilities were ‘tired’ and needed refurbishment and improvements.

Following on from some refurbishment projects before 2024, such as better insulation, repairs to the flat roof and the new windows and doors at the front of the building, we continued with the refurbishments and improvements in 2024.

Page 20 of 28

Youth room refurbishment

In May 2024, John & Helen Brooks lead the refurbishment of the Youth Room along with a small team of volunteers. It was agreed by the youth, the youth team, and the PCC, that the state of the furnishings and decor were outdated and at the end of its useful life.

The young people made some suggestions to improve the appearance of the room, so it was repainted and refurnished with a warm but bright colour scheme with comfortable seating along with an IT kit to support the room’s use, including a new TV and soundbar, new lighting and extra power sockets. Along with this we provided some new youth bibles and general books that the youth are welcome to take away.

Thank you to all our volunteers who made this happen.

Comms Cabinet relocation

In October 2024 we undertook the Comms Cabinet relocation from what was the Repro Room (to become the Kitchenette attached to the Lounge/Quiet room in 2025) to the Youth Office. The comms cabinet is a small structure designed to house and protect network equipment such as the Wi-Fi appliances and internet storage solutions. This move was essential ahead of the building refurbishments to come in 2025.

Planning for refurbishment works

Throughout the year we continued planning towards the first stage of the building development with our architect, MEB Design Ltd. Work began in January 2025 with Ash Contracting carrying out the work. The plan being to refurbish our existing toilets on the kitchen side of the building; refurbish the office/lounge corridor toilets to be more accessible; create a kitchenette off the lounge; provide built in storage in the top hall for tables, chairs, and game equipment and refurbishment of the Top Hall, Foyer and Lounge. By the time of the APCM meeting the work and fitting out will be substantially complete. Hawthorne Road

Our church property on Hawthorne Road that would house our new associate Vicar, was generally in need of some improvements due to age and use. Following Rev’d Ruth Sheldon’s appointment in December 2024, planning quickly began for improvements to include repainting the property, general DIY, refurbishing some of the kitchen and refitting a new bathroom. Thanks to Neil Jarman and Jonathan Miles who helped to plan and in 2025 carry out some of the work themselves.

11. Deanery Synod and Churches Together in Woking (CTiW) – Neil Jarman

Background

The Church of England has three tiers of synods: the General Synod (national); Diocesan Synod (regional), and Deanery Synod (local). Each Synod is made up of clergy and lay people. Mark Wallace is a member of Guildford Diocesan Synod and General Synod. He is also Woking Area Dean.

Woking Deanery Synod consists of parishes covering Woking town and the surrounding area. It exists to provide opportunities for the mutual support of and cooperation between clergy within its area; discussing issues facing the Church of England and Woking generally, as directed by the Diocese; and Page 21 of 28

for the cooperation between lay members of the churches in the Deanery. Geoff Pugh is Lay Chair. Sarah Macdonald and Neil Jarman have been the SMOB representatives this year. Everyone is welcome to attend the open meetings, which attract well-informed and engaging speakers on topics relevant to the church and society.

Deanery Synod met twice in 2024, with an additional prayer gathering on the steps of Woking Council on the evening of their budget setting meeting in February.

June at St Andrew’s Goldsworth Park

This meeting was primarily a discussion on Intergenerational Church with a four-person panel, covering so called Generations X, Y, Z and baby boomers.

Areas covered and responses received included how the panellist came to faith, starting points now, the good and bad things about our churches for different age groups, engagement with different generations and how churches could get better minister different generations.

Chair of the session Rev. Adrian Beavis of Christchurch, Woking wound up the session summarising his understanding of the generation’s views of church:

• Baby boomers – What is truth?

• Generation X – Is it relevant?

• Generation Y – Is it authentic?

• Generation Z – Want to belong.

October at St Mary of Bethany

This was a service of evening prayer lead by Mark followed by a business meeting electing Laity members to Diocesan Synod and reporting on changes in clergy within the Deanery.

Neil Jarman

Page 22 of 28

Draft minutes of 2024 APCM and Meeting of Parishioners for approval

PARISH CHURCH OF ST MARY OF BETHANY, WOKING

Sunday 21 April 2024 at 1030

MEETING OF PARISHONERS - minutes

The meeting opened in prayer with the Vicar, Mark Wallace in the chair.

1. MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON 14 MAY 2023

The minutes were approved and signed by Mark Wallace.

Mark said that in the meeting he would take lack of response as assent and people should indicate if they were not assenting and that would be noted.

2. ELECTION OF CHURCHWARDENS

Caroline Mendham (nominated by Rowena Vale and seconded by John Harston) and Jonathan Miles (nominated by Lois Stanning and seconded by John Brooks) were proposed as Churchwarden and duly elected. Mark thanked Sarah Macdonald for her contribution as Churchwarden, particularly as she was the sole Churchwarden for the past year.

The meeting of the parishioners was then closed.

• Chairman: ................................................................... Date: ........................................... Chairman: NY Ee eee Date: PP Mag DOES.

Page 23 of 28

PARISH CHURCH OF ST MARY OF BETHANY, WOKING

Sunday 21 April 2024 at 1030

ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING – minutes

The Vicar, Mark Wallace, who in the Chair, opened the meeting in prayer.

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from 2 members. 78 members were present at the meeting.

2. MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON 14 MAY 2023

The minutes were approved and signed by the Chairman, Mark Wallace, as an accurate record of the meeting.

3. ELECTIONS

3.1 Stewards

The following were re-elected serve as stewards; there being no objections:

Gaynor Broda, Helen Brooks, Iain Carruthers, Graham Browning, Riet Fewins, Alan Freestone, Brian Harris, Colin Hickman, Caroline Mendham, Nick Mendham, Jonathan Miles, Chris Orchard, Jonathan Ovens, Rachel Warne, Richard Warne.

3.2 Parochial Church Council Representatives

The following were nominated to join the PCC:

Anne Ansell was nominated by Sarah Macdonald seconded by Jess Moss (reelected, on expiry of previous 3 year term).

Jean Williams was nominated by Ruth Harston and seconded by Diana Fawcett (elected for the first time).

3.3 Deanery Synod Representatives

Sarah Macdonald was nominated by Richard Jenkins and seconded by Jonathan Miles. She was appointed with no objections. She will also represent St Mary of Bethany (SMoB) at Churches Together in Woking which will enable her to see activities across all Woking churches.

Caroline Mendham stands down from Deanery Synod, as she is being elected as Churchwarden. The Chairman thanked her for her service.

4. REPORTS

4.1 Annual Report for 2023

The Chairman said all the reports had been made available and it was taken that they had been read. He introduced the Annual Report. He said it was well worth reading to see what is going on at SMoB.

4.2 Financial Report and Audited Accounts for the year 2023

The Treasurer presented the accounts and thanked the congregation for its sacrificial giving, which makes the work of the church possible. He drew the membership’s attention to a few key points:

1. 2023 financials – income declined 8% as expected, and expenses by 24%. The year ended in surplus of about £65,000, preparing the way for fulfilling our vision. Staff costs have fallen from roughly half of budget to roughly a quarter. Mission giving remained strong. Around £200,000 is left in funds for building redevelopment.

2. 2024 budget - we are budgeting for income to remain at current levels, remaining in surplus until we recruit an Associate Vicar. Our reserves will enable further future recruitment.

3. The finance team works continuously to develop further sources of funding and greater efficiency.

Finally, the Treasurer thanked the team that supports him, in particular the treasury team, finance team, payroll administrator, independent examiner and the new bookkeeper, Becs Allin.

The Chairman thanked the Treasurer for his work and presentation.

A member asked whether the church’s accounts were FSCS protected, which the Treasurer confirmed, subject to the limits of the Scheme.

The Treasurer proposed the adoption of the accounts, seconded by the Chairman. This was unanimously agreed.

4.3 Appointment of Independent Examiner for 2024

Richard Warne proposed and the Chairman seconded that the church re-appoint the Independent Examiner Richard Edwards of Edwards Greene for the church accounts in 2024. This was unanimously agreed.

4.4 Electoral Roll Report

The Chairman said the report was in the information pack that had been provided, noting there were 126 people on the electoral roll, and that not all regular worshippers were on the electoral roll.

4.5 Deanery Synod Report 4.6 Churchwarden Report

• 4.7 Parish Safeguarding Report

• 4.8 Ministry Reports

The Chairman said the above reports were in the information pack that had been provided.

4.9 Vicar’s Vote of Thanks

The Vicar said that he was exciting at the signs of growth after what feels like emerging from the wilderness:

1. Keeping the space – we have seen only a few children since the pandemic and have yet to see growth. We feel called to keep the space. We are doing more with fewer staff and ministries.

2. New growth – seeing growth in unexpected places, including Alpha, most coming through Talk Easy. Bethany Babes groups are full, and Friday Night Club is well attended with spiritual focus and stronger links with parents. Cameo is more interactive. New arrivals in our services are more diverse and integrating quickly.

3. Foundations – 2023 was a year of consolidation after a lot of changes in 2022. Fewer staff has been a strain. Several faithful, long standing members died during the year and we also received several generous legacies in 2023, which hugely blesses our work. The refurbishment work will begin shortly and also progresses our ‘Eco church’ efforts. Our ‘Chill’ events also show the interest in ‘fun’ events on Sunday afternoons, so we would be interested to explore relaunching Messy Church.

The Vicar proposed thanks to committed service, including from Audio Visual team, the PCC secretary, the Treasurer, Angela Townsend our organist, John and Helen Brooks, the Jenkins family, Ray Marks and Sarah Macdonald.

4.10 Final Thanks from the Churchwarden

Sarah Macdonald thanked the countless individuals who have supported her as Churchwarden, and for Mark and Eileen Wallace’s hard work and support.

4.11 Questions

There were no additional questions.

5. CLOSING PRAYER AND FELLOWSHIP

The Vicar concluded the service with prayer.

• Chairman: ................................................................... Date: ........................................... Chairman:Vcd A tn. Date: PP Mag D025.

Registered Charity Number 1128813

01483 723 424 [e-mail] @smobwoking www.stmaryofbethany.org.uk

ST MARY OF BET￿INy CHURCH, WOKfNG FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 DECEMBER 2024 CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER.. 1128813 Mount Hernion Road Woking Surrey GU22 7UH

Page I ST MARY OF BETHANY CHURCH, WOKfNG INDEPENDENT EXAMfNER'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERSITRUSTEES OF ST MARY OF BETHANY CHURCH, WOKING PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL I report on the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2024 which are set out on pages 2 to 14. Rtspective reswJnsibilitie5 of the Tru5te¢s and Independent Ex*mlner The ¢harity'S trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under s¢ction 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examinaiion is needed. It is Tny responsibility to: examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act. follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Cornmis5ioners in section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act; and state whether particular matter5 have come to my attention. Basls of Independent Examiner's Ststement My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination in¢lude5 8 review of the accounting record5kept by the charity and a comparison of the a¢counts with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from the management committ¢e concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in a fvll audit and consequently I do not express an audit OPlDi(Trn on the accounts. Independent Examiner's Ststement In connection with my examination, no matters have come to my attention: (i) which give me r¢asonabl¢ cause to believe that in any material respect th¢ requ￿tmentS to keep accouDting r¢cords in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act- or to prepare accounts which accord with these accounting r￿OrdS have not been met- or (2) to whi¢￿Ill my opinion, attention should b¢ drawtt in order to enable a PToper understanding of the accounts to be reached. ard Edwards FCA FCCA CTA Edwards Greene Chartered Accountants 9 InnovaÉion Place Douglas Drive Godalming Surrey GU7 IJX Date.. I k(￿[ lo)IS

Page 2 ST MARY OF BETHANY CHURCH, WOKtNG STATEMENT OF FINANCEAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 Unrestrict¢d RestrKied/ Fund5 Endown%nt Designated Revaluation TOTAL FUNDS Ctneral Funds 2023 Ntste INCOME FROM.. Donation5 and Le8acie5 48￿0 417254 332829 urch Actrvities 2b 571kS 100 4217 Fundrai8ing Activities 913 913 636 Investments 218l2 22216 8(K)8 Other Sour¢es 18838 18838 TOTAL fNCOME 416273 48754 465027 34569(1 ENDrruREON.' Grants 4a 12 30650 57719 73(ts1 Church ActiVLtie5 187591 4W7 33914 225712 230618 OtherActivities 4376 4376 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 191967 34857 611983 287807 304228 Coinl(tDss) on InYestnEnts 6b 325 325 NEf INCOMFI{E<PE￿DITURE) 2243116 (34857) (11904) 177545 42682 TRANSFERS BEfwFEN FUNDS {167899) 16789) OTHFR RECOCNSED GAfNS.. Coin1(Ios51 on Revaluation of Fiyd Ass¢ts NEf MOVEMENT IN FUNDS 133,042 (iiwi 177545 42682 RECONCIUA TION OF FUNDS: Total Funds brough fon¥ard at I January 2Q4 458T26 192213 154108 93330 898377 855695 TotalFunds ¢aryi¢d fotward at 31 De¢en**¢r2024 io li 515133 325255 IS4108 81426 1075922 898377

Page 3 ST MARY OF BETHANY CHURCEL WOKING BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2024 2024 2023 Note FIXED ASSETS Tall￿ble Fixed Ass¢ts Investments 445181 14521 453971 14196 6b 459702 468167 CURRENT ASSETS Debiors Invcstrncnts Cash at batlk and in hand 4605 552076 67210 623891 2527 376309 56923 435759 CURRENT LIABILITIES Creditors arnount5 fallingdu¢ withfft one year {76711 (55491 NET CURRENT ASSETS 616220 430210 TOTAL NET ASSETS 1075922 898377 PAR]SH F￿qDs Unrestricted.. Gefteral D¢51￿ated Revaluation Reserve 515133 325255 154108 458726 192213 154108 994496 805047 Restricted 66905 79134 Endowment 14521 14196 TOTAL FUNDS 1075922 898377 Approved by the Parochial Church Council on 2yh March. 2025 and Signed on its behalf by.. The notes on pages 4 to 14 fom] part of these accounts.

Pag¢ 4 ST MARY OF BETHANY CHURCH, WOKING NOTES TO THE FfNANCtAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 ACCOLfNTfNG POLICIES Th¢ finan¢ial Statements have been prepared in a￿ordance with ¢h¢ Church Accounting Regulation5 2006 together with the Stat¢Tnent of Recommended Practice applicable to charities pr¢paring their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102), relevant accounting standards and charity law. The fthancial ststements have been pr¢pared under the historical cost convention except for the valuation of investment assets which are shown at matket value. The finan¢ial staiements include all transaction5. assets and liabilities for which the PCC is responsible in law. They do not in¢lud¢ the accounfs of church groups that owe their main affiliation to another body, nor those that are infonnal gatherings of ¢hur¢h members. The church is a public b¢n¢fii entity. There are no material uncertaintie5 about its ability to continue and the fujancial statements have been prepared on a going concen) basis. Funds Unrestricted funds representthe fijnds of the PCC that are nol SubJ￿t ¢0 #ny restrictionsregarding theiruse andare available to be used for the general pu4xJses of the PCC. D¢signat¢d funds comprise unrestricted fvnds that hav¢ b¢¢n set aside by the PCC for particular purposes. Restricted funds represent (a) incom¢ from trusts or endowments which may be expended only gn those re5trirted objects provided in the terms of th¢ trnst or bequest, and (b) donations or grants received for a spe¢ific object or invited by the PCC for a specific object. The funds rnay only be expended on the specific object for whh¢h they were giv¢n. Any balance remaining unspent at the end of ¢ach yesr is earried forward as a balance on that fund. Endowment funds represent &55ets received that may not be exhausted: only the in¢¢)me may be spent. Net tnve5ttnent gaiDS and losses are recognised within the endowment ￿nd. Incoming Resources (i) Donations and Legacie5 Collections ar¢ recognised when received by or on behalf of the PCC. Planned giving is recognised wh¢n r¢ceived. Incorne tax r¢coveTable on Gift Aid donation5 is recognised when the income is recognised. Grants aTLd legacies to the PCC are actounted for as soon as the PCC is notified of ils legal entitlement, the amount due can be measured r¢liably and its ultimate receipt by the PCC 15 Probable. Gifts in kind donated for distribution are included at valuation and recognised as part of donated income when distributed, with the equivalent amount recognised as charitable expenditure. In accordante with the SORP, no value has been attributed to the work p¢rforrn¢d by volunteers, although their work is considered vital to the mission olthe church. Fundraising Activitl¢S Rental income frorn the letting of church properties is recognised when the renia] 1$ due.

Page 5 ST MARY OF BETHANY CHURCH, WOKtNG NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 (continued) ACCOUNTtNG POLICEES (continued) Investment Income Dividends are accounted for when due and payable. Interest entitlements are accounted for as they accru¢. (iv) Gains and Ios5¢5 On investments R¢alised g8in5 or losses are recognised when investments ar¢ sold. Unrealised gains or losses are accounted for on reyaluation of investtnents. ResoMry¢$ exp¢nded Expenditure is accounted for on an accNals basis and is recorded gross. ' The share of Parochial Fees, primarily charged for weddings and funera15, payable to the Dioce5¢ is a¢crued and accounted for when the ¢orr¢sponding income is retognised. Grants and donations, including the prowrtion of donated income set aside by the PCC to be paid out to individua15 and in5titutitsns for missionary purposes, are a¢counted forwhen paid over, or when there is a leoal or CQll5tru¢tive oblkgation io make a payment, the payment 15 probable, the amount ¢an be measured reliably and there are no tonditions attaching to the paytnent that limit its recognition. Tangible Fixed Assets Tangible fixed assets are recorded at Cost, except as noted below. (i) Consecrated Property .Consecrated alhd beneficed property of any kind is excluded from the accounts by Section 10 of the Charities Act 2011. All expenditure on consecrat¢d or beneficed buildings is written off as in¢urred. Movable chU￿h Fumishings Movable church furnishings held by the Vicar and Churchwardens on sp¢¢ial trust for the PCC and which requir¢ a faculty for disposal are inalienable property, listed in the church's inventory. which can be inspected (at any reasonable time). For inalienable property a¢quired prior to 2001 there is insufficient cost information available and therefore such assets art not valued in the accounts. Items acquired since l January 2001 over £1,000 are capitalised,. items under £1,000 have been expensed as incurred. All expendi￿re on the repair of movable ehurth rnishings is written off as incurred. Chu￿￿ Equipment, Office Equipment and Audio Visual Equipment Chuwh equipment, office equipment and audio visual ¢quiptnent (including cornputer equipment and software) over £1,000 is c2pitalised. Items under £1,000 are written off as incurred. (iv) Freehold Land and Buildings Freehold land and buildings are revalued every 5 years io the current maTk¢t value and an impainnent review is carried out at each year-end in the iniervenÉng years ond any resultant Ios5 identified included in the expenditur¢ for the year.

Page 6 ST MARY OF BETHANY CHURCH, WOKING NOTES TO THE F￿ANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 (continued) ACCOUNTtNG POLICIES (continued) Depreciation is provided at rntes ¢alculated to write off the costs as indicated E¢low'. Freehold properties Nil Movable Church Furnishings Reducing balance basi5 of 25Yo Audio Visual Equipment Straight-line basis over 15 years Other Church Equipment Reducing balance basis of 250/0 pa Office Equipment Reducing balance basis of 250/0 pa Fixed Asset Inyestments Fixed asset investments are recorded at market value. Current Assets Debtors arerneasured at the ¢onsideration expected tobe received in iheirsettlem¢nt or the amowitpaid in advance by the ¢hur¢h for ¢h¢ goods or services it will receive. Cuttent w¢t inves¢m¢nts ¢omprise c&sh deposits with a mathTity of1¢5s than one year that are not held to rn¢¢t short-term cash committnents as they fall due. They are recorded at th¢ir market value. Cash at Bank and in Hand are deposits held to meet short-tenn cash commitments as they fall due. Current Liabilities Creditors are reeognis¢d wh¢n th¢ liability arises and are measured at the cash amount or other ci)nsiderdtion ¢xpe¢ted to b¢ paid sn their settlement or the amount received by the church as advance payment for good5 or servsces provided. Coneessionary Lts#ll$ Concessionary loans are initially recognised in the accounts at th¢ arnount received with the carrying amount adjusted iti subsequent years to reflect repayments and any acc)ued interest. Pension Costs The PCC operates a defmed contribution pension wh¢me for staff. The aTnounts charged to the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) in respect of pension costs are the contributions and scheme fees payable in the period. Differences between the amounts payable in the year and amounls a¢tually paid are shown as either accrnals OT prepayments in the balance sheet. Taxation St Mary of Bethany Church is a registered charity and is thus exempt from tsx on income and gains lo the extent that these are applied to its charitable objects. Irrecoverable VAT is not separately analysed and is oharged to the Statement of Financial Activitie5 when the expenditure to which it relates is incurred and is allocated as part of that expenditure.

Page 7 ST MARY OF BETHANY CHURCH, WOKING NOTES TO THE FtNANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 (continued) Unrestrict¢d Funds tNCOME All Restricted and Fndowu*nt Funds TOTAL FUNDS 2024 2023 C£nernl Designated (al Donations and 12gacies Planned (Iving.. ft Aid¢d Donations Other 145428 145728 153247 33146 33146 30134 OtheT thurch Qving Gift Aided Donaiions 18802 20656 39458 42783 9325 Other 7027 6047 13074 TaxRecoverdbie 41118 5239 46357 492 Lega¢i¢s (bants 123483 128483 44333 7800 7800 ioTr) Donated goods fordistribution Total 3208 48250 3208 2717 369004 417254 332829 (b) ajurch Activities Fees 39)1 3991 1695 2567 Youth and Children's Activities CAMEO Other Activities 1695 1449 l(MJ 20 2D 121 Tot81 5706 io 5806 4217 (c) FUndra￿1Thg a¢tivit¢s Fundrai5llJ8 Incon Total 913 913 636 913 913 636 (d) Investments (kos$ bank uiterest 21812 21812 7620 DÉvKlends Total 21812 4114 22216 8008 (¢) Other Sourees in on disp05al F￿￿d Assets Rental Income (962) {962) l98(KJ Total 18838 18838 TOTAL TrICOME DONATED GOODS AND SERVICES Donated goods recognised in these accounts comprise groceri¢s given by church members for distribution to the local foodba1￿. 416273 48754 465027 345690 The ehurch benefits from the contribution of many unpaid volunieers in all ￿eaS of church life- for txatnple in worship (leading services), discipleship (hosting home groups), mission (serving on the GolTeam}, prayer (tnembers of the prayer ministy team), children's work (leading group5). fabric maintenanc¢ Ibuilding repairs), administration (maintaining rotss) and many more. It is impractical to place a Yalue on this contribution and therefore it 15 not included in these accounts.

Page 8 ST MARY OF BETHANY CHURCH, WOKING NOTES TO THE FtNANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 (continued) EXPENDITURE Unrestricted Fund General De5ig)at¢d All Re5tri¢ted and Endowrnent Furtd$ TOTAL FUNDS 2024 2023 (a) Gratlts Missiongry and challiable giwin PCC Giving Making Mi58ion Possible thJnatcd Good5 Othei Giving Total Grants 30650 30650 21879 3208 1982 57719 27457 21342 2717 21548 73064 21879 3208 1982 27069 30650 (b) chU￿h activities Staffin8 52443 52443 60917 Dio¢ese Dioce&irt Parish ShaT¢ Diocesan ftes Total Diocese 99305 1087 100392 99305 1087 100392 98696 362 99058 Building Maintenance and Repairs Profe$siona] fees Depreciaiion of Equipment Heat. lighi and wat¢r tnsuran¢e Cleaning To¢al Building 4095 13717 17610 17812 17610 7828 8605 3110 852 55817 15900 6490 8510 7813 3424 537 42674 7828 8605 3110 852 20395 4095 31327 Ministries i¢&$ Ministry Hospitality (h]treach Worship Ministry Books Children's Ministry Youth Ministry Pr¢achingMinistry Youth and Childrens Event5 Young Familie5 Ministry Vicar's Discretionary Fund 1600 1412 199 436 421 387 289 175 49 48 1600 1412 855 436 421 387 289 175 49 48 2070 1568 421 703 133 370 214 656 288 6476 1453 13696 CAMEO Total Ministries 5016 6S6 5672

Page 9 ST MARY OF BETEIANY CHURCH, WOKING NOTES TO THE FfNANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 (continued) EXPENDITURE(continued) Unrestrictcd Funds C¢n¢ral Designated All Restricted and Endownrnt Funds TOTAL FUNDS 2024 2023 Ib) chU￿h a¢tivit¢s (continued) Support and Other Costs PTintinglStationery/Postage IT SoftwarelCon$unub]es Telephone & Internet Sundry E)penses E4uipnrnt Bank Char8¢5 Ac¢oUntancyl￿OkkeePing Subscriptions Comrtwni¢ations Independent eydminatio Flowers Advertisin8 & Marketing Total Support and Chher Costs 1256 1423 1365 546 IQ07 2263 1423 1365 1176 '995 919 1159 1780 19L7 3397 630 112 919 346 1588 995 2119 6(K> 372 648 420 80 214 728 634 6(M) 372 372 106 9345 112 1931 11388 14273 Total Church Actiiyties 187591 4207 33914 225712 230618 (¢} Other AetLVities Rent¢d House Costs Total Other Aetiirytles 4376 4376 4376 4376 546 546 191907 34857 60983 287807 304228 STAFF COSTS 21)24 21)23 Wages and salaries Social s¢curiiy costs Pension costs 48365 41214 153 1082 Total 49447 42369 The church operates a defined ¢ontribution Pension Scheme for its employees. All payments due in the year have been charged to unrestricted funds in the Statement of Financial Activitle5. No employee5 received emoluments of moT¢ than £60,0(x) for the year (2023 NoD¢). Remuneration paid and benefits provided to the church's key management personnel- the Vi¢ar and other PCC m¢mbers- are disclosed in Note 13 below. The average numb¢r of staff employed during the year was 4.83 (2023 4.32). comprising of 1.00 full time staff (2023 1.00). 3.08 part time staff (2023 2.47) and 0.75 sessional staff (2023 0.85) which ¢quates io 1.82 full time equivalent posts (2023 1.64).

Page 10 ST MARY OF BETHANY CHURCH, WOKING NOTES TO THE FtNANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 (eontinued) FIXED ASSETS FOR USE B Y THE PCC Freehold land Office and buildings Equipmeni Audio Visual Equipment Church Equipment Total (al Tan&ble fixd asset5 Cost or Valuation At l January 2024 Additiotts Disposal At 31 December 2024 400000 27467 86738 14959 529164 12664 14803 1940 13019 14604 514560 400000 86738 Depreciation At l January 2024 Disposal Charge for ihe year At 3 1 December 2024 25827 40956 8410 1825 1637 8223 75193 410 14419 5781 46737 7828 69379 Nct Book Value 3 1 December 2024 31 December 2023 400000 400000 384 1640 40001 45782 4796 6549 445181 453971 The freehold land and buildings comprise 46 Hawthorn Roadon the Barnsbury Esiate, which was valued on an open market basis in January 2022 by L Morales of Foundations. its historical c05t is £245892. Following a review of remaining Office and Church Equipment, the cost and depreciation amounts have FKen written down as disposals in ihe year resulting in a net charge of £962 to the Statement of Financial Activities. {b) Investments Balance I January 2024 Additions Withdr74wa15 Gain Balance 3 1 December 2024 Quoied Investements.. CBF CO￿ tnvesiment Fund 14196 325 14521 Debtors 2024 2023 Income tax recoverable Prepaytnents atld accrued income 1843 2762 4605 1406 2527

Pagell ST MARY OF BETFL4NY CHURCH, WOKtNG NOTES TO THE FfNANCEAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 (Continued) CURRENT ASSET INVESTMENTS Current asset investments comprise cash on deposii with maturity periods of les5 than one year- £195 is available immediately {2023 £195), £501881 is availabl¢ within 3 month5 {2023 £290261) and £50000 (2023 £85853) available over 3 months. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHfN ONE YEAR 2024 2023 AccTuals and deferred income T￿atIon and Social Security Other CFeditOTS Total 64Q8 355 3727 557 908 7671 1265 5549 10. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BYFUND Restricted Funds FndowtrÈTLt Funds Unr¢stricted Funds tksignated Revaluat￿￿ TOTAL 2024 C¢neral Tangible fiyEd assets F￿d asset investments 291073 154108 445181 14521 L4521 ent Assets 231718 325255 &5918 623891 17671) 1075922 C4]fTeni Liabiiiiies {7658) 51S133 (131 66905 325255 154108 14521

Page 12 ST MARY OF BETHANY CHURCH, WOKING NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 (continued) Movement in Resources FiTND DETAILS Balan¢¢ l January 2024 Colljsl Balance 31 Decener 2024 enditure Trdnsfers Ineo IL055es) Unrestricted Funds C¢netal Fund 458726 416273 (191967) 1167.89)) 515133 D¢5ignated Funds Building Devek)pnnt O)!TeatnlPCC Tithe 164062 1250(M) 2891162 137(M) {3Th550} {4207) {34857) 368Y) 19949 Major Maintenance 14451 16244 Total 192213 167899 325255 Reva]uatK>n Reserve 154108 154108 Restricted Funds Mi8sion & Evangel￿rn Building Devek>pn%nt Equipnxrtt Legacies Vlcafs Di5cretk)nary St Mary's Local Mission Wol Organ Repairs Cameo 28527 5525 (7066) (31408) 26986 SX)50 13707 10471 10471 5000 3534 1233 15( 2739 1393 1393 (58) 1211 {40} 1113 Woking OJKies Thorne Bequ¢st In¢on Youth Aciivities iooo 194 598 239 239 Audio VLsual 125 125 Collections forgifts Making Mission Possible 55 {5g)I (218791 (60983) 23385 (1,506) Totsl 79134 48754 66905 Vmthwnent Fund5 Thorne Bequest Capf(al Funds are held forthe following PuTpO￿s.. MajoT Maint¢[￿￿¢¢ Fund Gol Team￿cc Tithe Fund BuildinB D¢v¢lopm¢rLt Le82CiCS Vicar's Discretionary Fund Mission & Evang¢lisTn 14196 325 14521 To help 5n¢et the ¢o#s of gny future maj¢Tbuilding repair To set aside fund5 to donat¢ lo tnission portrters To set aside funds as seed ¢apitJ for o major church building project To set aside legacies Teteived foi project fijnding as determined by the PCC To T¢liev¢ ¢Jscs of hardship in the parish. at the discretion of the Vicar Tts record funding for tnissi¢n and ¢vangeli8m work. Balances previously held in the Associat¢ Vi¢ar Fund and the Missiorts Fund were transferred into the Mission & Evangelism Fund in 2021 To record dortaiions given for the repair of the organ To rcrord paym¢nts by attendees at children's and youth events. and donations iowaTds the work of the ¢hildr¢n's and youth ministries To rctord donations received itsw2tds the purchase of equipment for church use The Thom¢ Bequest is a pemianenl endowmentwhich requires income to b¢ spcni on the ]llaintenan¢¢ of the ¢huich building To record donations tOWQFds the mission work of St Mary of Bethany To TetOTd donations received foi sp%ifJc mission work a result of the Making Mission P055ible wcekend in 2024 To r¢wrd5 do[￿tionS to ond spend by th¢ Cam¢0 group To record donations towards the shed provided for Woking Guides To record donations for and sp¢nd on Audio Visual Equipment Or8an Repairs Youth Activiti¢S Equiprneni Futtd Thom¢ Bequest In¢om¢ ar￿ Capital St Mary's L(Kal Mission Work Makitt8 Miyion Possible Cameo Woking Guides Audio Visual

Pag¢ 13 ST MARY OF BETHANY CHURCH, WOKINO NOTES TO THE FtNANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 . (continued) Meterial transfers between fvnds were made in the year.. (a) (b) from General to Building Dev Fund £125000 (2023 £0) from the General Fund to'the Gol T¢amlPCC Tithe Fund totalling £36899 {2023 £28172) being a tithe of the church'5 unrestritied donated income from the General Fund to the Major Maintenance Fund £6000 (2023 £6000) from the Making Mission Possible Fund to St Mary's Local Mission Work Fund £1506 {2023 £1233) from the GolTeaM￿c Tithe Fund to the Vi¢JVs Discretionary Fund £0 (2023 £2000) (c) (d) (e) 12. Grdnts The following Iiw Dicludes all institutions or indiMdua15 that received or gifts with thos¢ over £IOOO described= 2024 2023 To IDStitutions: Amplifying Voices- for J & E HaT￿a￿S Media MatLers Mini5tries- for B & G McL¢od OM-forA&CMall 9753 8130 7711 6786 8216 8749 8130 695S OMF- form & L J¢&go Redeemer c￿e ChuT¢h, Geneva Engage St Michael's Church, She¢nvater 6554 6405 3740 6703 6791 22817 Tearfi]nd Gaza Appeal 1892 344 Citizens Adwice Burea Woking Stwt AnBe15 Friends of the Holy Land- Archbishop of Canterbury's appeal for humanitarian aid for Gaza ISQO 1250 892 Others- 3 Christjan institutions {2023 2) hers- l Non-Chri5tian in5titutioD12023 - 01 500 290 750 To Illdividual5: Other5- 0 indimduals (2023 - 0) Total 54511 70347 Groceries donated io WokingFoodb￿k 3208 2717 TOTAL 57719 73064 Grants and gifts can be OJbaly$td between: Supporting Chrisii2n mission ivorldwide Supporting Christian mi55Lon locally Sllppot1ing the relief of 5ufftring in the local cormnunity Supportingthe relltfof sufferingworldwide TOTAL 38934 38753 10645 6248 30358 2717 1892 57719 1236 73064 No support costs were allocated to ￿DI-ma￿Aga¢iLVi¢jes.

Page 14 ST MARY OF BETHANY CHURCH, WOKtNG NOTES TO THE FfNANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 (Continued) 13 TRANSACTIONS MTH MEMBERS OF THE PCC AND OTHER RELATED PARTIES The Vicar is a member of ihe PCC. Th¢ Assoeiate Vicar left th¢ Chur¢h in March 2023 and it is anticipated that the role will be filled in April 2025. The Dio¢esan Board of Finan¢e paid the stip¢nd for the Vicar and provided housing for the Vicar. The PCC paid the supend and asscKiated employment costs to the Diocese Board of Finance in connection with the eTnployment of the Associate Viear of £0 (2023 £8207). The PCC will provide a house which is owned by the Church for the Associate Vicar. The PCC paid £1528 for costs related to the Vicar's housing (2023 £1293) and £454 in Cot￿ectIO1) with the Associate Vicar's housing (2023 £253). In addition, the PCC paid the expenses of the Vicar properly incurred in onnection with theiy duties whith toialled £818 {2023 £1944) as well as training and retreats which in aggregate cost £783 (2023 £9671. The Vicar did not participate in approving their own payments. Grants totalling £7711 (2023 £8130) were made to OM to further A Mall's WOTk sUPPOrting Christian mission overseas. A Mall is related to PCC Member C Mall. In line wilh the PCC'S conflict of Interest provision5, C Mall did not take part in decision-rnaktng for these grdnts. No other PCC metnb¢r r￿e1Ved any r¢muneration or employm¢nt ben¢fit {2023 None). There were no expenses incurred by PCC members in fulfilling their duti¢5 (2023 None). The total aggregate atnount of donations received from PCC ]nembers aTLd other related panies totalled £65537 (2023 £50342) tn the yeaT.