## **The Parish of St Edmund, Allestree** ## **Trustees’ Report for 2025** ## **Election of Churchwardens** **and** ## **Annual Parochial Church Meeting 2026** **Sunday 19[th] April 2026** **After the 10am service in the Church** ## **Contents** ||**Page**| |---|---| |Agenda|3| |Minutes of Churchwardens’ Meeting 2025|4| |Minutes of the Annual Parochial Church Meeting 2025|5| |Annual Report of the Parochial Church Council|8| |Treasurer’s Report for the year 2025|10| |Independent Examiner’s Report|15| |PCC Committee and Other Group/Activity Reports|16| |Safeguarding Report|21| |Churchwardens’ Report|23| |Parish Priest Report|24| 2 **Agenda** ## **Meeting of Parishioners** 1. Prayers 2. Apologies 3. Minutes of the Churchwardens’ Meeting 2025 (see page 4) 4. Election of Churchwardens Followed by: ## **Annual Parochial Church Meeting** 1. Apologies 2. Minutes of the 2025 APCM (see page 5) 3. Presentation of the Electoral Roll 4. Election of Laity Representatives and DS Reps 5. Annual Report of the PCC (see page 8) 7. Financial Report (see page 10) 8. Appointment of Auditor 9. Presentation of other Reports (see page 16) 10. Churchwardens’ Report (see page 23) 11. Parish Priest Report (see page 24) 12. Opportunity for questions 3 ## **Minutes of the Annual Churchwardens’ Meeting** ## **6[th] April 2025** Present: the Revd Rachael Brooks, Chair. Parishioners: 31 ## **1. Welcome** Revd Rachael Brooks welcomed everyone to the meeting and opened with prayer, giving thanks for the witness of this church. ## **2. Apologies** Richard Wood, Ann Miller, Dennis & Maureen Caughey, David Redfern, Madeleine Fullerton, Louise Whittaker, Dave & Claire Pegg, Colin & Margaret Pearson, Chris Bainbridge, the Revd John Rice. ## **3. Minutes of the Churchwardens’ Meeting on 28[th] April 2024** The minutes were read and accepted as a true record (proposed Kate Smith, seconded Michèle Aspinall). A copy was signed by the chair. ## **4. Election of Churchwardens** Paul Smith and Ann Miller had both stated they were willing to stand for a further year. Both nominations were made on the correct form, duly completed with details of proposers and seconders. There being no other nominations, no vote was held and Paul & Ann were elected. ## **5. Other** Revd Rachael warmly thanked Paul and Ann for their work as wardens and for their support. Jane Burton pointed out that the meeting pack should be labelled “2025” not “2024”. This concluded the Churchwardens’ meeting. Paul Smith ## **Acting PCC Secretary** 4 **Minutes of the Annual Parochial Church Meeting** ## **6[th] April 2025** ## **Present: The Revd Rachael Brooks (chair) and 31 parishioners.** ## **1. Apologies** Richard Wood, Ann Miller, Dennis & Maureen Caughey, David Redfern, Madeleine Fullerton, Louise Whittaker, Dave & Claire Pegg, Colin & Margaret Pearson, Chris Bainbridge, the Revd John Rice. ## **2. Minutes of 2024 APCM** The minutes were reviewed and accepted as a true and fair record: proposed Chris Jack, seconded Jill Potts. Copy signed by the chair. ## **3. Presentation of the Electoral Roll** Matt Cooper reported that the roll now has 72 (2024: 111) names in total. The ratio of in parish: out of parish was 39:33. He pointed out that the roll had been completely revised and that some of the significant fall in numbers was due to people no longer able to come to church because of age or infirmity. The last complete revision was in 2019 (pre-COVID) and COVID must also be seen as a key factor within the decline noted. Revd Rachael thanked Matt for updating the roll. ## **4. Election of Lay PCC Members** Richard Wood, Thelma Thompson stood down at this meeting; David Halliwell had stood down in the course of the year. John Aspinall had put himself forward for PCC membership and had been nominated/seconded by Elizabeth Jack and Mary Pollett respectively. There being no other nominees, he was duly elected. Revd Rachael welcomed him to the PCC. PCC membership for 2025/2026 will therefore be: Associate Minister the Revd Rachael Brooks (ex officio) Churchwardens Paul Smith (ex officio) Ann Miller (ex officio) Parish Safeguarding Officers Louise Whittaker Madeleine Fullerton Treasurer Chris Jack Secretary Vacant ## **Other Lay representatives** Geoff Bailey Matthew Cooper Richard Flatman Elizabeth Jack John Aspinall 5 **Deanery Synod Representatives** Mark Halliwell (ex officio) David Redfern (ex officio) ## **Retiring members at APCM 2026** Geoff Bailey, Chris Jack, Elizabeth Jack, Louise Whittaker. ## **5. Annual Report of the PCC** The report is contained within the APCM booklet; it was not discussed in detail. Michèle Aspinall noted that “recent events” were no longer included as a standard PCC agenda item. Paul Smith explained that this was to keep the meetings as short as possible. He agreed with Michèle that it was important to review events and take account of “lessons learned”. Mark Halliwell pointed out that Richard Wood had been a Deanery Synod member. He would check whether we were still entitled to three Deanery Synod Reps and if so, whether an election should now be held to appoint a replacement for Richard. ## **6. Financial Report** The full report is contained within the APCM booklet. Chris Jack commented that in 2024, income minus expenditure showed a loss for the year of £4,585. However, our investments had performed well and had grown by £16,475. He explained that £90,000 was held in restricted funds meaning it could only be used for a specified purpose, typically the maintenance/ repair of the church fabric. This was important as consideration was now being given to replacing the heating systems both in the church and the hall. The work in church could be covered from restricted funds but that in the hall could not be. In closing, he thanked the finance committee (Richard Flatman, Mark Halliwell, Robert Carnell and Paul Smith) for their support. Rachael thanked Chris for all his hard work in preparing the accounts and continuing to provide leadership on financial matters. He then took questions. Andrew Brooks asked about the policy on giving to **external charities** . Chris explained that each year the PCC set aside an amount to be donated to good causes nominated by the congregation. In addition, collections were made on behalf of e.g. the Children’s Society and Christian Aid. Jane Burton queried how charities were selected. Mark stated that in recent years, it has been possible to make all the requested donations from within the budget the PCC had agreed. Generally, though, the PCC aimed to strike a balance between local, national and international good causes. Steve Burton asked about the difference between _charity_ and _mission_ giving. Chris clarified that the former was donations to charities, the latter was money donated to support children’s work/outreach e.g. by St Nick’s, which we co-funded. 6 ## **7. Appointment of Auditor/Independent Financial Examiner** Peter Hilton was willing to act as the independent financial examiner again next year. His appointment was proposed by Chris Jack and seconded by Richard Flatman. Chris commented that Peter was able to give advice as well as find errors; he greatly appreciated Peter’s oversight of the accounts. A formal vote of thanks to Peter was unanimously agreed. ## **8. Presentation of Committee Reports** Committee reports are printed in full in the APCM booklet. Extra comments are recorded below. **Parish Magazine** : Revd Rachael gave a special thank you to Fiona Fraser for her work to publish the magazine regularly. All our thoughts were with Fiona following the recent death of her mother, Joane, also a much-loved member of the congregation. **Hall report** : Revd Rachael pointed out that some hall uses were incompatible with the covenant to use the hall for “ecclesiastical purposes”. Existing bookings would be honoured but the policy on hall letting would be reviewed. Reiki and yoga were two specifics discussed. Revd Rachael to discuss further with Caroline, and Paul Smith to add to next PCC agenda. Feedback welcome from congregation members. **Tony Delaney** : Chris Jack proposed a special vote of thanks to Tony for his work as caretaker and suggested he be offered a gift by way of appreciation. He also confirmed that pay/benefits for the PCC’s two employees, Caroline Audley and Tony Delaney, had recently been reviewed and significantly increased. **Groundforce** : In relation to the report from Jane and Steve Burton, Revd Rachael commented that St Matthew’s had recently won a silver Eco award. The work of the Groundforce volunteers to actively create wildlife habitat in the churchyard could be used as evidence should St Edmund’s opt to apply for a similar award. She thanked the volunteers for their stewardship of this church land. Paul Smith added that it was a significant green asset (which could never be used for housing or other building) lying within just one mile of the city centre, and also containing what was generally agreed to be the oldest tree in Derby. **Allestree Churches Together (ACT)** : Revd Rachael clarified that ACT is in the process of being dismantled as a formally constituted body. Michèle Aspinall mentioned the support the parish had given in the past to Lent Lunches and Holidays at Home. She offered help with these going forward. She also pointed out a couple of typos in the reports (now corrected!). **Safeguarding** : Revd Rachael underlined the need to continue to take this seriously and highlighted that safeguarding controls are very active at local level, notwithstanding the publicity given to failings at national level. She updated attendees on proposed changes to the administration of DBS checks. There was a new external provider, and the plan was for less involvement by the Diocese. However, this would be mirrored by more work at parish level, which parish safeguarding officers (PSOs) might not be willing or able to undertake. Discussions were ongoing. She asked all to pray that the right solution be found. Mark Halliwell reported back on the General Synod decision that the Church of England should implement independent scrutiny of safeguarding, to be executed over the next 3-5 years. Widespread shame was felt over past failures. 7 ## **9. Churchwarden’s Report** The report was printed in full in the APCM booklet. Paul Smith commented on some highlights of 2024, both in terms of services/events and work done to maintain the church and hall. He underlined that it was easy to take for granted our electrical services, plumbing etc, but these required regular maintenance and attention to ensure they worked whenever needed. He thanked all those who contributed to this. ## **10. Associate Minister’s Report** This was printed in full in the APCM booklet. Revd Rachael mentioned her comment “I’m very glad to report that one of our congregations has joined the youthwork team running an after-school club at St Nick’s for pupils at Woodlands School”, making clear that she had meant “a member of our congregation has joined…” Paul Smith thanked Revd Rachael for her ministry, and especially for respecting our traditions while developing new forms of outreach to our local community. Looking forward, Revd Rachael mentioned plans to make the church welcome area more attractive and to allow more space. She also explained the prayer initiative which starts in May, and which will see every street in our area prayed for in a systematic way over the next four years. She reminded everyone that we are called to pray for those around us. Andrew Brooks updated parishioners on the after-school youth work at St Nick’s. Sessions were held every Tuesday in term time with the young people coming mainly from Woodlands and St Benedict’s. The aim was to befriend people and provide an opportunity to talk to an adult outside the immediate family. It was church with a small “c”! Further volunteers would be most welcome to join the team. Revd Rachael also mentioned that she had launched Messy Church. The pilot had been very well supported, and the next one will be run in the summer. There will be All Age family services at both churches. The home groups are now up and running. She urged everyone to continue to pray for the new ventures’ success. The annual meeting closed with prayer. Paul Smith ## **Acting PCC Secretary** ## **PCC REPORT 2025** In 2025, the full PCC met every other month (January, March, May, July, September and November) with each meeting being preceded by a Standing Committee meeting. The normal agenda is: - Open with prayer - Apologies for absence - Minutes of the last meeting and matters arising - Reports on Safeguarding, Finance, Fabric and from the clergy - Other business items - Looking forward/back - Any other business (AOB) 8 - Date of next meeting - A short reflection on how the meeting has furthered God’s work - Close in prayer Papers for consideration at each meeting are circulated on the Friday before the Tuesday on which the meeting takes places. This is to give members the weekend, plus a couple of days, to read and prepare for the meeting, and in particular for any decisions that need to be made. In 2025, PCC members were as follows: (Standing committee members shown in **bold** .) **Revd Rachael Brooks** (chair), **Paul Smith** (warden and acting secretary), **Ann Miller** (warden), **Chris Jack** (treasurer), Elizabeth Jack, Louise Whittaker (Parish Safeguarding Officer), **Matt Cooper** , Geoff Bailey, Richard Wood (Deanery Synod rep), David Redfern (Deanery Synod rep), Thelma Thompson, Madeleine Fullerton (Safeguarding), Mark Halliwell (Deanery Synod rep), John Aspinall and **Richard Flatman** . The Revd Sarah Watson is also a member and trustee but, with many other responsibilities, does not normally attend our meetings. Richard Wood and Thelma Thompson stood down in the course of the year for personal reasons. John Aspinall joined the PCC with effect from the 2025 APCM. PCC members are the trustees of the registered charity. As such they share responsibility for all aspects of its finances, management and operation. The PCC has what are effectively sub-committees which focus on particular aspects of church life. The main ones are finance, fabric and events. In addition, the PCC has set up project groups to look at church heating and potential vestry refurbishment (to include installation of a wheel-chair accessible toilet). Some of the key issues which came before the PCC in the course of 2025 were: - Launching a new website (joint with our sister church of St Matthew’s). - Working towards installing Wi-Fi in the church. - Deciding on the church’s annual parish share and setting a budget for supporting selected charities. - Staying up-to-date with all safeguarding requirements, especially those relating to recruitment and training. - Deciding whether a heat pump or a gas boiler would best meet the need to heat the hall. - The maintenance of church and hall buildings. - Supporting the community prayer initiative covering the four parishes of St Edmund’s, St Matthew’s, St Nicholas and St Paul, Quarndon. - Working with Derby City Council regarding memorial safety and tree safety in the churchyard. - Launching Messy Church and regular All Age Worship. - Approving Paul Smith’s training towards appointment as a Licensed Lay Minister (Reader) and allocating a modest budget towards his costs (books, materials etc). - Reviewing the pay of our two employees. - Clarifying that we will not take hall bookings from any group, and for any event, which we view as contrary to our Christian beliefs and values - Setting a clear rule about photography in church ( _“With the exception of weddings, it is our policy that no filming or other photography should take place during church services. The service leader will invite people to take photos at the end.”)_ 9 - Making a formal report to the Information Commissioner following a major data breach associated with contractors used by the Diocese for Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks (this involved the personal data of two members of our church family). ## **Projects to maintain/improve the two church buildings included:** - Moving Primrose’s shed to the hall car park. - Using workers from the Department of Justice Community Payback scheme to redecorate the hall. - Gaining funding towards the cost of renewing the noticeboards around the churchyard and in the hall area - Installing a new boiler in the hall, replacing two existing boilers which had come to the end of their working life. - Renewing the vinyl floor in the church toilet. - Setting up the periodic monitoring of the hall car park retaining wall by external engineers. - Putting new furniture and toys in the tower area, to make church more welcoming to young families with children. - Appointing architects Smith & Roper to manage the considerable amount of lime mortar repointing work recommended by their 2024 Quinquennial Inspection report. - Installing a new noticeboard on the inside western wall of the church tower. In closing, may I offer thanks to all PCC members for their active support of, and commitment to, our mission of bringing the good news of Christ to our community. ## Paul Smith, **Warden and acting PCC Secretary** ## **2025 Accounts and Treasurer’s Report for 2026 APCM** As before the accounts have been prepared on a Receipts and Payments basis. The accounts and the examination certificate from Peter Hilton are attached. ## _**Receipts and Payments**_ The comments below are intended to summarise and explain some of the numbers in the accounts. ## **Summary** The Receipts and Payments summary show that in 2025 we had a cash surplus of £2,482. The value of our investments fell by almost £10,000. ## **Giving** Our giving increased by £1,394 compared with 2024. This represents a 2% increase, mostly provided by new donors. Clearly this does not match the effects of inflation. ## **Legacies** We were very grateful to receive substantial legacies in 2025, without which our end of year balance would have been a loss of around £18,000. 10 ## **Fund Raising** Our income from fund raising has increased substantially. These result from social events, book sales and donations made for refreshments served in the hall after morning services. Often the organisers will ask for the proceeds to go to specific purposes so, for example, refreshment money was used towards the cost of the new hall boiler. ## **Bank Interest** About one third of our interest comes from the Churchwardens’ Endowment fund and is therefore Restricted to expenditure on church fabric. ## **Other income** This is mainly recovery of office costs, including a proportion of Caroline’s pay, from St Matthew’s. As we now have an incumbent, we are no longer able to claim costs of visiting clergy from the diocese. ## **Cost of Trading** Overall, the hall income from the hall roughly equalled the outgoings. The latter included the cost of a new gas boiler replacing two aged units. This will reduce our gas costs in the future as the new boiler is more efficient. A new smart meter was installed at the end of April. Since then, our bills for electricity have dropped to about one tenth of the amount we paid prior to the new meter. The issue was raised with the supplier in September and each subsequent month until January 2026 when they conceded they ought to examine the meter. At time of writing, we are still awaiting an appointment for a technician to do this. ## **Outward giving** We were able to maintain our level of outward giving, both that made from PCC funds and donations to specific charities given at services, at just below last year’s totals. The details are as follows: |Christian Aid|£ 405| |---|---| |Children’s Society|£ 262| |Derby City Mission|£ 600| |Railway Mission|£ 550| |Malawi Students|£ 605| |Acorns Children’s Hospice|£ 600| |MIND|£ 550| |Derby Hope Centre|£ 550| |WaterAid|£ 550| ||| |TOTAL|£ 4,672| 11 ## **Common Fund - Parish Share** As in previous years we were able to meet the request from the diocese in full. Across the diocese as a whole, payments into the fund fell short of the 2025 requests by about 30%. ## **Church Running expenses** These increased due to a number of maintenance tasks including work on the flat roofs and electrical repairs. The initial costs of the quinquennial recommendation are also included. The biggest single item was the commissioning and installation of new noticeboards around the churchyard for which we received a small grant contribution. ## **Church Utilities** The cost of heating and lighting the church fell quite significantly thanks to the reduced tariff negotiated in mid-2024 and to a 20% lower consumption. ## **Assets** As in previous years, the market value of the hall had been frozen at £114,000, as the use of the building and the land is limited due to the terms of the endowment under which it was given to the parish. The insurance value is over one million pounds and is index linked. ## **Looking forward** The PCC is considering a number of capital projects in the church including a complete renovation of the heating system and the installation of a disabled toilet. The costs of these are not yet known, but they will have a significant effect on our capital holdings and will need to be carefully budgeted. A small group continues to meet monthly to design a new heating system for church. Our current view is that a hybrid system employing radiant heaters and heat pumps might be the best solution. We have commissioned a preliminary design study to see if this is feasible. A similar group meets to discuss the installation of a disabled toilet in part of the choir vestry, again with a view to producing a preliminary design which can be used to obtain quotations etc. At present we do not have an indication whether either or both of these projects is affordable. Whilst we do have capital resources, these expenses will reduce the amount we receive in interest from our deposit accounts. This will further worsen our balance of income and expenses which, without legacies, would have been more than £18,000 in 2025. Our giving to the church has not matched inflation for a number of years and we need to encourage members of the congregation to review their donations. The capital projects will, we hope, provide an incentive. Our Parish Share request has risen substantially in 2026. The calculation in based on a congregation of 50 people each week and that each contributes £13.85 per week into the fund. ## **Thanks** I would like to record my thanks to members of the Finance Committee, who do a lot of the work of administering our finances. Special thanks to Mark Halliwell, who looks after many aspects of the treasurer’s job list for me. Without the help of him and the whole team the Treasurer’s job would be almost impossible. 12 I would also like to acknowledge the help of our examiner Peter Hilton, who not only checks the annual accounts but also provides expert advice when needed throughout the year, without any charge. Peter has agreed to continue as our examiner in 2026. ## **St Edmund’s, Allestree 2025 Accounts** 13 STATEMENTOFA8SETSIJ4DUABIUTIE$ UniestrKt•d D•$I￿al￿d Aesirtt•l Tothb202S Totab2024 CASNFUNDS ¢AFcurrèni CAF oewsl¢ CCLAoepc¥ TOTAL 1945 27.324 IW.991 104. 132.022 96.619 IN4￿sTmENT￿uNDs¥￿LVATIo￿l CCLACBF acco&ni CCLACBFiccouni lEnd0￿M￿lI10rn CbuicTrwarden'sLw4J 259 166A20 114,¢ 173246 I14.￿0 ¢ftÉDITORS AIO Chris Jack - Treasurer 14 gr gDMbND'S CHIIRC'H *LLg%TKLL pcr. INDFPENOENT gXAMINER'S RKPORI ro'rHF. PCC OV ST EDMUND'S CHURCH AI.I,FtsTREE I rep)rtonth¢a¢iwntsofih¢ PCC forth¢yesreftd¢d31si Dec¢mber2025.whieh compri* the Retelprs ané Paym¢nts A¢¢ouThl and Sialunenl of AMets aRd Liabiliiie5. 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