2022-08-31-accounts - High Street Methodist Church Maidenhead

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

High Street Maidenhead Methodist Church

Trustees Report for year ending 31 August 2022

Introduction

The life of High Street Methodist Church having been affected by the Covid 19 pandemic in the previous two years has slowly returned to more normal activities this year. At the end of this Trustees’ Report is a copy of the Annual Church Report submitted to the Annual Church Meeting in April 2022. This gives a good overview of what we have done and what has been achieved during the year.

Ministerial oversight has continued to be provided by Reverend Vicci Davidson, Superintendent Minister of the Thames Valley Circuit. This is due to change with Rev. Dr Pete Phillips being appointed for High Street church from 1[st] September 2022

Objectives

The purposes of the Methodist Church are and shall be deemed to have been since the date of union the advancement of:

The Christian faith in accordance with the doctrinal standards and the discipline of the Methodist Church
Any charitable purpose for the time being of any Connexional, District, Circuit, local or other organisation of the Methodist Church
Any charitable purpose for the time being of any society or institution or subsidiary or ancillary to the Methodist Church
Any purpose for the time being of any charity being a charity subsidiary or ancillary to the Methodist Church.

Church’s Vision and Mission

Seek to enable all to encounter God in ways which are Spirit-led and celebratory, through worship which is diverse and relevant to our local communities.
To be a caring Christian community in the heart of Maidenhead

Through Learning and Caring

To be aware of the nature and context of High Street Methodist Church.
To explore the word of God, in study, prayer, and fellowship.
To offer pastoral care to members and adherents.
To support the presence and witness of the wider Christian Community within Maidenhead.
To build disciples by nurturing faith and recognising and developing gifts; to encourage new leaders.
To value our place within the Methodist Connexion and the World Church.

Through Service

To encourage team working.
To be a prophetic and free church voice, and initiate action for social justice.
To respond to needs locally and globally.
To provide safe spaces for the community.
To support both the Methodist and World Church through prayer and action.
To work ecumenically whenever the opportunity arises and, when appropriate, with other faiths

Through Evangelism

To offer love in the name of Jesus Christ.
To confidently share and proclaim our faith in ways which are sensitive and respectful.

Brief financial review of the year

During the financial year ending 31[st] August 2022 the total income received was £174,246 and outgoings amounted to £148,885 leading to a surplus of £25,361. Total funds carried forward amount to £163,872 of which £36,898 are restricted funds set aside for specific projects or charitable work. Fuller details can be seen in the accompanying statement of accounts.

Structure, Governance and Management

High Street Maidenhead is part of the Thames Valley Circuit of the Methodist Church and is governed by the Deed of Union (1932) and the Methodist Church Act 1976 as amended March 2011. Overall control of the Circuit rests with the Methodist Conference. The Connexional Office implements decisions made by Conference and is also responsible for the stationing of ministers in individual Circuits. Connexional decisions are passed to the Chair of the District and the appropriate Officers of the District for regional implementation. The District passes the control down to Circuit level for local implementation by the Superintendent Minister, other ministerial staff and Circuit Stewards via the medium of the Circuit Meeting. The membership of the Circuit Meeting is laid down in the Constitutional Practices and Discipline of the Methodist Church. The Circuit Leadership Team comprises four Circuit Stewards, a Senior Circuit Steward, the Circuit Treasurer, the Superintendent Minister and three Ministers. Circuit meetings are held four times a year and are attended by the Circuit Stewards, Church Ministers, and representatives from the church congregations. High Street Methodist Church’s congregation is governed by its Church Council which is chaired by the Minister in Pastoral Charge. The Church Council consists of Church Stewards and officers nominated and voted on by the entire Church membership at the Annual Church Meeting. Council Meetings are chaired by the Minister in Pastoral Charge, as delegated by the Superintendent Minister, with those attending becoming the Trustees of the church/charity. It is the Trustees who comprise the decisionmaking body and who will vote on proposals put before the meeting.

Volunteers

High Street Methodist Church, Maidenhead is grateful to the Stewards and other members of Church Council who freely volunteer their time to attend meetings and to carry out the administrative work required in order to run the church successfully.

Legal and Administrative Information

Full Name of Charity: Maidenhead High Street Methodist Church

Registration Charity Number: 1129473

Date of registration 4 January 2010

Main communication address: Methodist Church Office, King Street, Maidenhead SL6 1EF

Website: http://www.methodistmaidenhead.org.uk

Peter White acted as the principal officer overseeing the day-to-day financial management and accounting for the church during the year.

Independent examiner: Mr David Kinna, 18 Turpins Green, Maidenhead, SL6 4QE

Bankers: HSBC 35 High Street, Maidenhead SL6 1JQ. and Central Finance Board, 9 Bonhill Street, London EC2A 4PE

Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes: Central Buildings Oldham Street Manchester M1 1JQ

Local Trustees

The members of High Street Maidenhead Methodist Church Council Meeting are the Charity Trustees, membership being made up of church office holders, ministers and representatives appointed by the church congregation.

Minister in Pastoral Charge: Rev Vicci Davidson, Superintendent Minister and chair of Church Council

Church Stewards: Diana Phipps, Elijah Kommu, Ilse Statham, Margaret Maskell, Pat Crowle, Ruth Hill

Treasurer: Peter White

Other members of Church Council: Ann Pfeiffer, Charlotte Crichton, Claire Boycott, Felicity Kendon, Gill Harbut, Glenice White. Jean Barnett, John Statham, Judy Stimson, Karen Ackling, Matthew Edwards, Maureen Over, Pippa Jones, Roger Neal, Sue Le Page, Tim Rayers

Annual Church Report

Cont.

Annual Report April 2022

“seeking to know Christ and to make him known” Registered Charity No. 1129473

Minister’s Report

The last year has had its challenges, but it has also been a year of looking forward, of starting new things and of creating new energy for the future. Our beloved Minister Revd Carmel Ieraci curtailed in the face of the covid-induced difficulties of living and working half a globe away from her family and we wish her the very best for her ministry in Australia. Circuit Superintendent Minister, Revd Vicci Davidson took over the pastoral charge of High Street pro tem in May 2021, and has encouraged the church to generate forward momentum now, rather than wait for the arrival of a new Minister. However, the church has now had a new Minister appointed and looks forward with joy to the start of Revd Dr Pete Phillips who will be coming to the circuit on a 50% appointment with pastoral charge of High Street and in support of the Deacon at St Marks from the 1 September 2022.

High Street has hosted three Circuit Services this year. The farewell service for Revd Carmel in particular made use of the skills of our brilliant AV team, allowing Carmel to join us from Australia and people from around the world to join us online. At the end of January, the unusual decision was taken by the Circuit staff to have a morning Circuit service, with local churches encouraged to close for the morning, or to offer an informal Bible Study, whilst as many as possible came to High Street for a service around the music of Johnny Cash. Then on Palm Sunday, the Circuit Service in the evening was led by three choirs from around the Circuit: the High Street Choir, the Windsor Choir and Thames Valley Voices – the Circuit Choir that rehearses at St Andrew’s, conducted by Anthony Nicholls with Paul Leddington-Wright at the organ.

At Christmas we took part in the Churches Together drive to give a gift to those who may be alone at Christmas and in a return to pre-Covid times, we hosted the service and eating of hot cross buns at the end of the Easter Walk of Witness.

Food and Fellowship has also been a feature, and the Harvest Supper and Talent Show were wellattended and enjoyed by all. The congregation were thrilled to commission Elijah Kommu as a Worship Leader and the service was followed by a wonderful lunch for which many thanks are due to Di and the brilliant kitchen team.

Covid numbers were on the rise however, and these events were the last of the big social events over the winter period as we recognised the need to balance bringing people back to some sort of normality with public health concerns.

We started a new fresh expressions service recognising the need for a modern worship style to draw in some of the new families moving into the town and Breakfast Church on the first Sunday of the month has become an important part of the calendar for many of our folk, seeing the development of our worship band “Plugged In” to support it. A huge thanks to those who run the different tables each month and also to the fantastic team who prepare the breakfast, led by Lavinia and Elijah. This has also allowed the choir the opportunity to focus on anthems and four-part harmony singing for the first Sunday of the month and the inter-generational element of the music, led by Pippa Jones and supported by so many able and generous musicians has been a strength as we have returned to on site worship. Again, the work of the AV team in allowing our worship to be streamed has been a gift to the Circuit and wider.

The uniformed organisations, in concert with the church membership, produced a fantastic Christmas fair and were welcomed enthusiastically to a Parade Service in March. We are all looking forward to the Gang Show in May, to which I hope many of the congregation will lend their support as willing audience members, contributing to this fun event which will we hope raise funds for

church and guiding/scouting movements alike. We have been indebted to the work of the leaders and of Elanor Davidson and Meg Jones in making this happen.

High Street Methodist Church has always had a strong heart for social justice and work in the community and we have contributed in a number of ways to local, national and international fundraising which will be reported on by the Mission and Outreach Committee. We are also looking forward to opening the upper room in the Kingsway Chambers as an after-school club in response to the need identified in the local borough survey and having now successfully employed a Circuit layworker to take the lead on this project.

The buildings themselves are being well used, and a huge vote of thanks is due to the Property Stewards and those leading on room hire and cleaning. We were particularly happy to welcome ReCharge back to our premises to run a toddler group for the families that they work with.

Meanwhile, a small sub-committee from the art group has been formed to help us in deciding on colour schemes and encouraging members to get hands on in the decorating and refurbishment of the ancillary buildings. Work is continuing to explore ways of developing these, but this should not stop us having a light, bright, fit for purpose set of rooms and halls now.

The Friendship Hour has reconvened and I have spent some lovely afternoons with them, as well as popping in to the Art Group and various of the Uniformed Organisations. Meanwhile, two Bible study groups led by Ilse Statham on a Thursday evening and Jean Barnett on a Tuesday afternoon continue to meet online on a weekly basis. I am particularly grateful to Jean as this meeting was usually led by Carmel, but four churches and the superintendency have meant that this has not been possible for me to sustain.

Finances are not as robust as they once were, and I would encourage members of the congregation to review their giving as I would encourage those who may still have a little extra time to give to look at what they might do to support the church in practical ways. However, even as I write this sentence, I am aware that for many, and probably most of our folk, the giving of time and money is already more than generous. On that note, we have launched a fund-raising campaign for the refurbishment of the building (you may have already picked up on the external lighting and the redecorating of room three and the upper room in the Kingsway Chambers and room two is now underway). Rather than have another committee, we have asked a small team of people to work on co-ordinating a diary of fundraising activities, with the idea that members of the congregation will offer to lead on a one-off activity. On that note, you may wish to save the date for the evening of the 2 July when we will be having a concert of modern worship songs given by our own musicians and friends. If evenings are not your thing, then you may care to join us for a cup of coffee, piece of cake and rummage through the bric-a-brac stalls outside the church on the last Saturday of each month (10.30am – 12.30pm).

The past two years have stretched us all. I remain incredibly grateful to the Church here at High Street for the welcome and support you have given me and the other members of the staff team as we seek to serve God and the people in these difficult times. The church has a fantastic team of stewards, finance and property people, musicians, technicians and administrators who have had to respond to a diminishing membership, reduction in income and the loss of paid staff with our two caretakers and administrator being made redundant over the last two years. People have worked hard, played hard and baked and consumed a lot of cake! Worship, fellowship and support of the community have continued to be our response to the difficulties of the times and I have been proud to make the journey with you over the last year.

God bless, Vicci

Senior Steward’s Report

Well, another year has passed and as we gradually emerge from the Covid pandemic, we run into another crisis – the war in the Ukraine. Our church has already started support for these folks, mainly in the form of monetary donations and I am sure this will continue. Please remember these people in your prayers.

Looking back to where we were last year, it is so good to see so many of our groups restarting – Friendship Hour and Art Group, to name but a few. Some have decided to ‘cease to meet’ and for good reasons. In particular, the Toddlers Club which met at our church for many years and which had many youngsters and their parents/child-minders attending. The ladies from our church who ran the Club are, if they don’t mind me saying, retired folks, most of whom are in their eighties, and felt that it was time to call it a day. I would like to thank them, on your behalf, for their dedication to this Club over the many years that they supported it.

However, a non-church group called Parent & Child Drop-in use our premises on a Thursday from 10am to 2pm, so if you want to know more, do call in and meet them, and spread the word to those who might like to join in.

There are so many people for me to thank for their contribution to our church life, so much of which is done in the background without being seen. There is always the worry when giving out thanks that you miss someone out, so my apologies in advance if I have failed in this respect. Four groups in particular have worked hard during what I call ‘the Covid years’ – our Church Stewards, our Property Stewards, our Tech Team and our musicians. Some have worked to make sure our church buildings were safe and clean to worship in, as we no longer had caretakers to do this, others developed their technical skills to broadcast our services, first through Zoom and then via our YouTube channel, and our musicians in the form of the Choir and the Music Group, both led by Pippa Jones. We are fortunate, too, in that we have a wonderful team of organists/pianists to lead our singing during worship.

There also are some smaller groups, such as Sunday Coffee, flower arrangers, Art Group, Friendship Hour, Communion Stewards. Then there are the Door Stewards – do you know that some of them are in their late 80’s and 90’s yet still turn up every week and greet our congregation as they enter our Sanctuary. All these people have returned to ’duty’. Our pastoral visitors, led by Felicity, have done a brilliant job in keeping those unable to attend church in touch with what is going on.

Individuals have also been busy through the Covid years – Peter White our Treasurer, Gill Harbut our Safeguarding Officer, John Statham our ChurchSuite expert, Karen Ackling our Sunday coffee organiser.

It was also good to see the Uniformed Organisations back on the premises and we thank them for taking charge of organising our Christmas Fair. We look forward to their Gang Show on 21 May – I know there has been a lot of time and activity in preparing for this, so put the date in your diary.

You will see in the Property Stewards’ Report that there has been much planning and activity going on regarding our church premises. Following a survey sent out to our members, the decision was made to stay in our current premises, retain the Sanctuary, and look to improve our ancillary buildings.

We do have concerns regarding Young Church. We desperately need help with this. We thank Jill Pockett for her previous leadership of this group. It is wonderful that Kate Garwood has stepped in

to cover one Sunday a month but we do need other people to cover the other Sundays. If you feel this is something you can help with, please let me know.

Finally, we are hugely indebted to Revd Vicci Davidson, for taking High Street under her wing after Revd Carmel’s departure to Australia last year. She already looked after three churches, as well as the Circuit Superintendency. She has brought energy, new ideas and initiatives to our church. I wonder sometimes if she, herself, ever manages to get any sleep. Her enthusiasm and her will to get things done are awesome. Thank you, Vicci.

We look forward to September when our new Minister, Revd Dr Pete Phillips starts work at High Street on a 50% appointment with pastoral charge of High Street and who will also support the newly appointed Deacon at St Marks, and I end with the same quote as I gave last year, from Romans 15 v13:

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit .”

Diana Phipps

The Art Group

The Art group was glad to be able to start up again in September - we are an oasis of peace in an uncertain world. Some previous members have not returned for various reasons, but we have welcomed three new members, so numbers have kept fairly steady.

In the autumn a few of our group were involved in painting the second mural in the Wesley Hall at the request of Vicci.

We paint in many different styles and media. We have widely varied strengths and abilities, progressing at our own speed and in our own ways. Technology has even been used to create portraits which are amazingly accurate. All are welcome.

Ruth Daniel

Bible Study

Reverend Vicci has done her busy best to encourage us with this small and faithful group. She has helpfully provided suggestions for study during the whole year. Vicci has been able to lead some of the sessions herself but as the year has worn on she has been increasingly busy with Circuit affairs. In her absence we have kept the ship afloat.

We are a group of about 6 people nearly all of whom would be unable to travel to a regular House Group, so we meet on Zoom on a Tuesday afternoon at 2.30pm. We have grown in our knowledge of the Bible and also grown in faith by supporting one another prayerfully. We would like to enlarge our group and would welcome anyone who cares to join us.

Jean Barnett

The Flower Committee

In recovering from Covid (!), our style of flowers in the Church has changed through necessity. You may have noticed that we now use fewer flowers and normally place just one arrangement under the Cross.

Flower Donors . We value those who give flowers. This year we have “lost” some - and would appreciate offers from some fresh Donors. When we have no Donor, the cost is funded from our Flower Funds which are fast diminishing (!) as we have lost our ability to raise funds via Coffee Mornings etc. Flower Arrangers . Again, as above, we are a shrinking (!) Group and 9 stalwarts take turns to do this. However, we still enjoy “arranging”. Flowers are usually distributed after Morning Service to cheer, thank or console.

Elizabeth Barker

Friendship Hour Report

Along with other organisations, the Friendship Hour meeting needed to close during Covid and its following restrictions, but members were not isolated as we ensured that regular phone calls and emails kept everyone in touch. The “big day” arrived when everyone was invited to a “Welcome Back” gathering on 1 September 2021, with cakes, stories and plenty of chat! Since then, our monthly meetings have continued to be well attended, usually about 20 members. Our programme has included table games, a Bring & Buy sale, Christmas event and a most interesting illustrated talk on “Guernsey During the War”. Friendship Hour is open to new members at any time, men and women, and a new and exciting programme is ready for the months ahead.

Kathleen McGuinness

Friday Lunch Club

We have not re-started this yet, mainly because many of our members are elderly and vulnerable and are concerned about the Covid situation. However, I am in the process of phoning our former members to see if there is enough interest to start the Club up again. Initially, it will be only once a month instead of fortnightly as we used to do, because we have lost two of our cooks and some of our helpers in the kitchen. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking Judy Stimson and Pam Proctor who, for many years, were on the cooks’ rota. Also, I am thanking some of the folks who used to help with washing up and serving the lunch – Kath England, Mary Stock, Su Permane. Anyone who would like to join our team, either assisting with cooking, or serving the lunches, please do speak to me.

Diana Phipps

Music Report April 2022

I am very happy to report that the music at High Street is going from strength to strength. As you all know, there was a really lovely performance of Stainer’s Crucifixion on Palm Sunday involving our own

church choir along with choirs from Windsor and the Thames Valley Voices. I was proud of our singers and to have been a part of that and delighted the Paul Leddington Wright was able to play the organ for us.

Going back to last October, I thoroughly enjoyed organising and taking part in High Street’s Talent Show where so many people of every age gave recitals, comedy acts, sang, danced and played instruments. I was blown away by the talent we have within our church family and, even though it took myself and a small team of people many hours of hard work, I can’t wait until we can do something similar again.

Breakfast Church has been successful and John and I have set up a band – Plugged In – which plays. This mainly involves the children and we are so blessed with the wonderful young musicians we have. They are incredibly talented and have a great love for the Lord, music and each other. I am enjoying encouraging their musicianship and watching them grow. I spend a lot of time transposing music for them, as well writing Cello and harmony parts to ensure that all abilities are catered for. I firmly believe that every musician should be encouraged and included as much as possible. They meet for two rehearsals, usually the Saturday evenings, before Breakfast Church and work extremely hard. I have arranged for them to play before the service on the Sunday after Breakfast Church as well, as this shows a continuation in the music between Breakfast Church and our main service. It also encourages intergenerational worship and ensures all ages have a sense of belonging in the church family.

The music group have been working on their repertoire, musicianship and the ability to be flexible and work together. We have a wonderful group of musicians (but need more – especially guitarists, drummers or female singers who can reach the higher notes!!!) who work together and blend beautifully. We meet on a Wednesday evening for rehearsal and then Sunday morning for an hour before the service. I am very grateful for the dedication and enthusiasm of the members.

The choir meets every Friday at 7pm and have been working hard on the Stainer (no doubt Di will be sad we are no longer able to “Fling wide the gates” although I’m sure we can sing it for fun occasionally!!) along with anthems and the hymns. I consider myself very blessed to have had the opportunity to get to know this wonderful group of people since lockdown has eased and I thoroughly enjoy singing some lovely hymns in good 4-part harmony (well, usually 3-part! Any new people very welcome and we could definitely use a tenor or two!!). I am currently planning the anthems for the next few months and looking forward to expanding their repertoire, as well as revisiting some old favourites.

Moving forward and alongside these continuing groups, I am planning an evening of praise and worship on the evening of Saturday 2 July. It will be Breakfast Church turned into Supper Church mixed with old favourite hymns (maybe jazzed up a bit!) and some new ones. There will be the Plugged-In band, music group, choir and some small groups or solos. I am aware this is the first some of you have heard of this so watch out for more details……..

Vicci and I are also discussing a holiday club for the summer and have some great ideas. Again, watch this space.

Thank you all for your support through this year. I feel that now lockdown restrictions have finally gone, we can all get our teeth into some really good music again and continue to grow and keep moving forward.

Pippa Jones

Mission and Outreach Committee

During this current year September 2021 - September 2022 the Mission and Outreach Committee have met twice; on 2 September 2021 and 4 January 2022.

The Toilet Twinning project closed officially at the end of August 2021. One thousand pounds went to Tear Fund to build safer / cleaner toilets. You should be able to see what they look like as photos are on the back of the main toilet doors. The remains of the fund (about £250) went to the Tap Twinning arm of Tear Fund.

In September we launched the Baby Bank collection; a collection for all things baby. The charity itself was (I believe) started in Windsor so that nurses, social workers and such could have access to basic needs more or less immediately, as soon as the need was identified. Rebecca came to church on 12 December and spoke well about their aims and achievements. She went away with several bags of goodies, clothing and other necessary items to stock the shelves; and also £400. Thank you to all who responded.

Shortly after that, in February we started another collection; this time for Whitechapel. This also was successful especially as Jenny Impey was in Maidenhead visiting friends and she volunteered (?) to take the first batch of the collection. Later on, Tony came to collect the rest (several bags) and was very happy to leave with a full car. Again, thanks to all who contributed.

We have a meeting towards the end of April and one of the suggestions is that we have ‘an event’ to raise money for ‘All We Can:’ It is more than possible that we might still be looking the terror that is going on in Ukraine and wondering what else we can do to help..........and then the Queen’s Jubilee.......

Pat Crowle

Pastoral Committee

The Pastoral Committee meets twice a year and the pastoral work continues among our church family, much of it being unacknowledged but valuable.

We have 13 Pastoral Visitors and have recently been joined by Dorothy Khombe and Carol Herbert. Our membership stands at 115. Since last year one member has transferred out and Rachel Donald died. Richard Cheek has been added to our membership. We have several folks who wish to become members and arrangements are being made with the Minister.

In February a retiring collection raised money to enable the church to send a greeting and voucher to our 2 University students. Azaria Joseph and Elizabeth Kinna.

On behalf of the church family I would like to thank the devoted and loyal Pastoral Visitors for all their work.

Felicity Kendon

Prayer Time

The Thursday lunchtime prayers meet online via ChurchSuite at 2.00pm for 30 minutes.

This group was started by Revd. Carmel and continued by myself. Susan Permane and I are the only two people who meet together at the moment but would be pleased to welcome anyone else to join us. We share a thought for the day and pray for our church and the world. You don’t need any skills, just a desire to build up the prayer life of our church and to pray for the world.

Daily morning prayers on WhatsApp

I have loved doing this ministry and try to connect with the season and the life and needs of our church family. If you have any favourite prayers you would like me to use, or feel like composing a prayer of your own, please get in touch with me. I select what I feel led to use the night before and send it out on WhatsApp the following morning at approximately 8am. There are 9 other people who have heard about this service and asked to be included; they are all outside of our church family, but known to me personally. This is a

tremendous privilege and joy to me, and I love hearing from those of you to whom these prayers have touched a chord. Thank you for your messages off support.

If anyone in the congregation has a private prayer or concern they need support with, there is a small discreet team who will pray for people without making anything public. Please contact Jean and our prayer team will pray for them.

Jean Barnett

Property Stewards and Site Development Annual Report 2022

We have now been ‘open’ again for a year, following the Lockdown period when our buildings were closed. During the year, we have become increasingly busy, with church activities, lettings, and property maintenance. To begin with we were managing basic cleaning with a small team of volunteers, but as activities increased, we realised that we would need to revert to having some paid cleaning support.

We therefore engaged the services of David Hicks, to do cleaning and some small maintenance tasks – for just 2 hours a day, 5 days a week. On days when the premises are busy, cleaning the toilets is the main task. On quieter days, time is spent mopping floors and doing odd jobs that have been requested. 10 hrs a week is nowhere near enough time to do all that is required, so volunteers are still carrying out many of the tasks – both cleaning and looking after the buildings, including opening and locking for lettings and meetings, and putting out the bins!

Thank you, to all those volunteers who help out, in so many ways.

A few ordinary things that have gone on during the past year:

Organ and piano tuning / repairs
Boiler servicing, gas safety certification, fire extinguisher and clock servicing and dishwasher repairs
Repair of water leak in gents’ toilets
Installation of new screen of the church balcony and new cameras for streaming,
Thorough de-scaling of urinals, and new flushing system
A working party of many volunteers for a general clean up
An emergency repair to a gas pipe
The removal of a buddleia from the porch roof!
Constant investigations of a water leak in room 3
Cleaning out of heating grills to improve efficiency

A few more unusual things that have happened:

Amazing coloured lights on the outside of the building, just in time for Christmas
A thorough inspection of all our electrical installation
The discovery that the water leak in room 3 was not coming from the roof, but was instead from the water tanks above the ceiling. Our Methodist Insurance team jumped into action, and did a thorough job of repairing the fault. This involved stripping out the tank room, allowing everything to dry, replacing new tanks, and redecorating Room 3, including the fitting of new lights and ceiling tiles. Disruption to the use of toilets was minimised by the insurance team, and

was helped by the positive attitude of church members and hirers to our temporary arrangements.

The Upper room above our Kingsway suite of shops was repainted so that an After School Club can open there for 4 days a week next term.
We gained a new tenant in the vacant Shop 3. An oriental baguette and coffee shop.
Increased hiring of the premises for dance groups and birthday parties etc.
The opening of a new ‘parent and child’ toddler group, managed by the Re-Charge organisation
• The re-starting of a Saturday coffee morning (once a month) – this time outside the front porch, showing passers-by that the church is indeed open and alive.
A survey of the congregation, about the thorny question of whether the church should stay on site or move elsewhere.

Next steps

Work starts at the end of this month, to rectify the electrical issues that were found in the survey. This will probably be noticed by most, in the corridor and kitchen where lights keep failing….
Redecoration of other rooms, to make them more attractive for users. Room 2, followed by the Bromley Room
The opening of the After School Club – with the aid of a paid Circuit Lay-Worker, plus a team of volunteers

Site Development

The congregational survey last summer resulted in Church Council taking the decision to stay on site, to retain the sanctuary, and to refurbish the ancillary buildings – possibly even reducing how much space we continue to use / look after.

The Site Development Group has therefore been meeting regularly to plan ways of achieving this, starting with the all important questions of – why are we here? what do we want our buildings to help us achieve? The group has therefore considered again the church’s Mission and Vision Statement. Without major changes, the new documents have now been adopted. (Our Mission & Vision Statement can be found on the back page of this Report.)

The first goal was to improve the visual appearance of out building – both inside and out. We need to show that we are a live church community, by being visible outside, and by having attractive indoor rooms and activities.

Phase 1 is complete – we now have a beautifully lit exterior, which has made us much more visible to local residents.

Phase 2 is underway – the redecoration of our rooms. Room 3 was re-decorated by the insurance company, and Room 2 (both upstairs rooms) is being redecorated this week by a small team of volunteers. For future rooms, we would welcome a larger group of volunteers please…

Phase 3 concerns some electrical up-grades, in particular new lighting and new ceilings in some areas. The kitchen and main corridor will probably be first.

Phase 4 External noticeboards. The permanent noticeboard near the rose bed has been re-designed to be simple and to show that the church is welcoming and alive. This will not contain much detail, so that it doesn’t quickly become out of date. The larger noticeboard near the side entrance, will contain posters that can be up-dated as frequently as details change. Both boards will include an

electronic link for folk to find out more via our website etc. We hope both will be produced before too long.

Our covered way and outdoor space has been the subject of some discussion, but no improvement plan has yet been devised. Watch this space….

Staying on our own site with our existing buildings means that it is harder to attract much in the way of grant funding, because grant bodies tend to prefer alterations / extensions / new builds. Refurbishment and repairs are not often considered worthy of grants. We therefore need to engage in serious fund raising, to afford the costs of refurbishing what we have. After redecoration, will come the costly infrastructure improvements that will be required for the church to operate and deliver its mission for the next few decades. Just before Easter, an embryonic fundraising plan was launched. Lots of Ideas and volunteers are needed please! (See Glenice White).

Ann Pfeiffer

Publicity & Promotions

Publicity and Promotions are ready and willing to advertise events that the congregation are planning, so please ask! We will also be requesting funding in the 2022/23 budget to support the advertising of future events so if you have an event in mind for later in the year, please let us know.

If you're creative or have experience with poster design and would be interested in helping, please also get in touch.

Tim & Charlotte

Safeguarding

Training, which is an important part of Safeguarding, has featured highly this year. As Church Safeguarding Officer, I completed the Online Advanced Creating Safer Spaces Course in November, organised by the Southern and Islands Learning Network. This included 6 hours personal e-learning followed by a 2 hour Zoom gathered session. I also attended a useful webinar on record keeping organised by the same Learning Network.

The updated Creating Safer Spaces Foundation Level Course, which has replaced the previous Foundation and Refresher Courses, should be undertaken by all those who work with children and vulnerable adults every 4 years. Owing to ongoing Covid restrictions, the face to face training planned for June 2021 could not go ahead and 5 courses were rearranged for autumn 2021 and spring 2022. After attending Trainers’ Training last year, I joined Kathy Rickman and Glenice White as a trainer and have helped to deliver these courses. Many thanks to the 13 people from High Street who have given up 3 hours on a Saturday morning to attend one of these courses. Their active participation and positive feedback is much appreciated.

Thanks also to Rev Vicci Davidson, for verifying the DBS checks, which need to be renewed every 5 years for those working with children or vulnerable adults.

I would also like to thank Kathy Rickman, our Circuit Safeguarding Officer for all her advice and support this year. In September Sue Clifford started working alongside Kathy in preparation for taking on the Circuit Safeguarding role.

The Church Safeguarding Policy was updated, reviewed and adopted by the Church Council in January. The Report Summary can be found on the Safeguarding noticeboard and includes my contact details and those of the Circuit Safeguarding Officer and the District Safeguarding Officer. The full version can be found in the Minister’s vestry. It is stressed on the courses that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Thank you for your help in this.

Gill Harbut

Saturday Morning Coffee and Bric-a-brac Stall

As our Church was unable to restart regular Friday or Saturday coffee mornings, we decided to at least run a coffee morning and bric-a-brac stall on the last Saturday of each month. We felt it was important to let the general public know that we, our church, is still here and open for business. We are there on our front porch from 10.30am to 12.30pm. Helpers on the day are always welcome, and offers to bake cakes are also gratefully received. If you can help, please let me know.

Diana Phipps

Sunday Coffee

It was lovely that in July last year we were able to once again offer coffee after the Sunday services. Due to Covid restrictions we decided to offer a waitress service and it worked a treat, allowing people to stay seated at their tables and be waited on. To allow for this we increased our numbers to 3 helpers each Sunday, which has worked brilliantly. In March we purchased a new dinky coffee urn which is slightly smaller than our original one, but so much easier to manage. I’m so very grateful, as is the congregation, for the 26 helpers that are now supporting the coffee rota. We have raised up to the end of March £1,149.16….which is absolutely fantastic…. for the following charities: Ukraine, Methodist Mission, Action for Children, Whitechapel Mission, Christmas Fayre, Baby Bank, Church Funds, Church Breakfast Club, Slough Refuge Centre, WaterAid, Tearfund and Christmas collections. If anyone is interested in joining the Sunday coffee rota then please let me know, we’d love you to join us.

Karen Ackling

The Technical Team

The Team continues to provide support for worship and other activities.

This, in the main, comprises supporting live in person worship in the church and also live online via our YouTube channel, as well as the breakfast church and, soon to be restarted, the kids film club, as well as the soon to be launched after school club.

Technically we are reasonably well equipped but some items are in urgent need of replacement, notably the main church projector, the keyboard monitor speaker, and the Wesley Hall PC. These are covered separately in property matters.

Almost all worship services in the church have been successfully live streamed, with viewing figures occasionally exceeding 500, with only two special services not making it to YouTube. These were not for technical reasons.

As with other church operations the technical team is both small and overstretched, as many members are multi-tasking around the church, covering admin., music, stewarding and property.

We always welcome volunteers; hopefully we can provide adequate training! Those with any photographic / film or music experience, or Graphics / PowerPoint, are particularly welcome. Most of the tasks are not actually technical, much more operational.

Roger Neal

Worship Committee

The Worship committee has only met once during this church year. (A second meeting was planned for 5 January 2022, but that date proved to clash with the stewards next meeting, and, the Worship group was shelved for a while).

Business discussed included:

mainly the plans for Christmas
bringing the Communion table back into focus
the general mess that the Sanctuary was in (mostly due to Covid) and how to tidy it up

There was considerable discussion re: music in church, ranging from:

bringing the music group and the choir together
highlighted the need for a greater range of instrumentalists
how to meld the different styles of music; and it was decided that a mixture of the two styles would be desirable.

Pat Crowle

Finance Report

Current Year Accounts

The current state of our finances for the first seven months of the current Methodist year (Sept 2021 to April 2022) can be seen on the two reports below:

Income and Expenditure Balances

Notes :

All monies owing to the various Charities for which we have been collecting have been paid. See page 2 of I and E.

Gift Aid has been received up to end of March.
Solicitors’ fees have started to be claimed for new leases work.
Rents have been received from all Commercial properties for the past two quarters, following a break of 3 to 4 years when this has not been the case.
Letting of church rooms is bringing an income of approx. £1,200 per month - thanks to John’s efforts.
A small start has been made with a Property Development Fund – expenditure on Outside Lighting and Room 2 Refurbishment leaves it with a deficit of £508 at present.
Some fairly heavy bills are expected for routine maintenance – mainly a backlog of electrical work.

Peter White

Income •nd Expenditure tst Sept 21 to Ylst Aulust 2021 Yvtrr to Dfjtv 08/04/2021 £26.69 £45,430.23 DDnatkn5tOchuh FI Stripp Cash £43. É9)7.61 £l.YJ2.10 £40.815.52 f L715.C¥) Bk Tr•5fer fjo car GiftAid £49.477.41 AODM Aent £8.797.5) .679.91 £5133 £20AL7 £334AO General Ex diture 4.634S8 £51.534.f)) £3,ILN).58 f343S6 É3,OlJ ÉL.167 £25.757.90 LlItsd Irtsurance £9.160.48 £9.917 U.76437 U.C¢)9.40 £314.47 £4.012.24 WotEr thurth Malntenanc £6.193.8S £IL,667 £LI.667 £15.750 £11.667 £2.91? Prolesyc Fees CateiabneCL)SIS Plg EVpr Addst11tIDn Vcxd Fee5 Paffc41 Fee5 £6.334. £3.869.65 £ty9. £1392.91 £148.) £175 CDnsufflab5 £750.46 f210.) £484.C•J £292 e431 fT£osts Éo f31558 £1 77 8alancebrWfrYward Net Ir•COrnE vs Exndre Trans12rto ftestntred Fund5 £115.588.81 £19.977.36 -£2.7P6.00 I£keI

H*h Street meth051 Church Income and Expendltwe 1st Sopt 1021 to 31st Augiist 2012 202fy21 RSn nced F nds BrthnleyTl¥rt EJ15.fK £1.772.01 £L2ty.9) Éo £oDJ £29459 £0 t15.24 a79JS $96.[ f56.12 t567J7 .fy) 11.34 £LY.IMLYY Éom £W02 É325.( Éom £194.24 É220ffj6 £414JJ £om £1594.2S to.th) É#46A to É512.L3 É512.13 É5J4Aa ÉD.th) Q.77& £0 É>J ÉJll.17 E81L17 Zm.93 f1i74175

088&888 888888- 1sia1aE iaaaaaaaaa 8 8 i} 1111liiiiiliiaiilliii!!jl

Our Mission is:

To be the Methodist Church in Maidenhead town centre responding to the gospel of God's love in Christ and living out our discipleship in worship and mission. We will do this through:

Worship which increases awareness of God’s presence and celebrates God’s love
Helping people to grow and learn as Christians, through mutual support and care
Being a good neighbour to people in need and challenging injustice
Leading more people to become followers of Jesus Christ

Our Vision is:

To be a visible, energetic, caring Christian community in the heart of the town, with an age range from zero to a century plus.

To provide engaging worship for adults and young people on Sunday, with Bible study, prayer, and fellowship groups throughout the week.

To explore different styles of worship through Breakfast Church and other formats, in order to appeal to a wider cross section of the community.

To increase attendance and involvement through being welcoming, with fresh and inviting social and worship activities.

To be financially viable through regular giving, generous donations, investments, and grants. To make our premises attractive, warm, comfortable, and inviting by refreshing, refurbishing, and maintaining a high standard for the sanctuary and ancillary rooms.

To be seen as a community hub with our church buildings being a safe space for all ages and groups to meet, from the Alzheimer’s Club to the Zumba Dance Class (from A to Z).

To grow our relationship with the active Uniformed Organisations which have a long history of being engaged with us.

To provide:

a Friendship Hour for the more elderly
a Friday Lunch Club for the lonely, and
regular Coffee Mornings open to the public

To help people in need, and challenge social injustice, through action and fund raising for Methodist and other local charities.

To widen our outreach, by continuing to broadcast our worship on YouTube, and by maintaining an informative and attractive on-line presence.

A caring Christian community in the heart of Maidenhead

Published by Maidenhead Methodist Church

Address: High Street Methodist Church, King Street, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 1EF Telephone: 01628 628104 (office) Website: www.methodistmaidenhead.org.uk

CHURCH RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS THE METHODIST CHURCH STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS Maid•nh•ad HI h Stre•t Church FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 August 2022 Thames Vallo C1Ult C1ult no. 3614 oglstsred Charlty - ChaTIty R•gl•tr•tlon number 11 not a registered charily Har MaJ•sty'3 Revgnu• and Customs Gfft Ald number {The HMRC number is equivalent to 8 registered charity number in tems of evidence ol charitable status and may be used to give to donors or grant funders Wishing to see evbjence of the organisation'8 charitable statu8. Methodi8t charitres in EngLgnd arKI Wath that are nol register tharilies are excepted trom registration under Statutory Instrument 2014 No.242) 1129473 Minister. Rev Vui DavKlson Church sterds. '8na Phipp$ Margarot Maskell 118e Statham Pat Cro%* Elijah Komrnu Ruth Hill Treasurer. Peter While Ctrojrch R W P 2015J 1ofS

ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2022 Maidenhead High Street Church Unrnstri¢t•d ft•stri¢t•d T•tsls thls Funds Funds Tolal$ last SECTION A 81 RECEIPTS Nol• Offenn s and Tax recovered Bank and CF8 intetpst and Investment incom8 527 627 119 a4 Lèttin a5 oth6r recepls TOTAL RECEIPTS 757 18,507 18.507 19,264 174,246 17,514 146.934 166.739 {a7) SECTION B b1 PAYMENTS b2 Circuit Assessmonl or Sharo 68,712 b3 Donations 250 250 Re airs and Maintenance Ulilib'es Ilnsuranc8$, water cha es. heats'n 21,277 b5 b6 b7 Oth8r paymonts TOTAL PAYMENTS 32,928 141,622 7,013 39.941 148,886 25,609 139,393 {b9} SECTION C NET RECEIPTSIPAYMENTS FOR THE YEAR c1 46-b8 11,244 Total funds brought forward from last year 115588 c6 131 125 Sub total c1+c2 163 827 Transfers and ad'uslmenls c7 TOTAL FUNDS AT END OF YEAR Ic3+¢41 126.929 36,898 163,827 {c8} 138,466 {c8 SECTION D FOR INFORMATION ONLY: MONEY RECEIVED AND PASSEO ON TO EXTERNAL ORGANISATIONS {these amounts are not to b• Includ•d In total re¢PP1YThrtS Ilgurns al)ove) (11 Balance b hl foVard trom $1 d2 Offerin sIGrfls . received for extemal lsets.ons d3 OfferingslGrfls . passed to extemal Orglsa110nS 3,593 BALANCE STILL TO BE PAID d1+d2-d3 656 ChLrthRaTrA P2015.xls 2of5

MaK1enhead Hi Street MMARYOFCHURCM ACCOUNTS AIID SECThJPI INTERNAL ORGANWITrws Cho ¢5 gAb A41ol ITht Ib)tsl• 17434• l¢n 138,466 1$3827 OY CHU1 I.771 TOTAL RECEPTJ fllrrd PAYIIEIIT8 8E¢Tr)N F CLO•IIIQ CHUACM.CA•M FUN HELD JI B•nk Cwr•rtk¢wt 101 1)6 222 138 t4kirK• tth trom knl1•121 TOTII CA8H FUP106 MELD ¢HVR¢N 116.631 8ECMON G 31 Plwt X122 OTHERA88ET8 and LLWLmE8 IscR4pNh 3d5

Name of Church .. Maidenhead High street Methodist Church Declarations and Scrutiny I confirm that these Receipt and Payment based accounts for the year to 31 August 2022 have been prepared from the records of the Church and thal trY include all funds under the control of the Church trustees. Signature of treasurer .. Name and address of treasuw ........ Peter White Chatsworth, St Leonards Road. Windsor, SL4 4AT Presentatlon to the Church trustees I confim that the annual report and accounts for the ended 31 August 2022 tlIE be. presented to the meeting of the Church trustees held on ...>.31..1..l..L 3 Signature of the Chair of the meeting Name of the Chair of the meeting Oate..... i.l.l. Il. i3.. Independent Examinerfs Report to the Trustees of the Maidenhead High Street Methodist Church Charfty Numbw .. 1129473 Responslbllltles and basls of report I report to the trustees on my examination of the acrA)unts of the Hh Stt Methodist Church ft)r the year ended 31 August 2022 set out on pages 1 to 4. As the Church's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act,). I report in respect of my examinab'on of the Church's accounts carried out under section 145 of the Act and, in carying out my examination, I have fdlowed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Cornmission under section 145(5)(b) of the Aci. delete or cirde as appropriate 2015 churth R aTra p 4015

Name of Church .. MavJenh•a(l HwJh Street Methothst Clxff Independent ExamlneVs Statement I have cnmpleted my examination. I confimi that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination ( ) which give me cause to b81i8ve that in, any material resp*ct'. the accounting records re not kept in ac£ordance with seclion 130 of the Act,. or the accounts do not accord with the acownting records. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which ttention should be drawn in this report in ¢)rder to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be leached. I h8velhave not" obtained independent verificath'on of all tnvestments with the Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes or held in other trusts, bank balances and funds at the Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church which are individually in excess of £10,000 (ten thousand pounds) at the balance sheet date. Signature of independenl examiner Name of independent examiner Relevant professional qualification of independent examiner 14ame of firm (where appropriate) Address Post Code Date delete or circle as appropriate 2015 church R and P.5 5015