2022-12-31-accounts

St Gabriel’s Church, Aldersbrook

Annual Report for year ending December 2022

PCC Review of the Year

The PCC led by Fr. Martyn continued to oversee the life of St. Gabriel’s in its wider relationships within the West Roding Mission Partnership and Redbridge Deanery, and the community of Aldersbrook. Fr Martyn continued in his role as Area Dean, and until October as Interim Priest-in-charge of Wanstead Parish when that baton was passed on to Fr. James Gilder as the new incumbent of Wanstead.

Fr. Mark Kenny remains Associate Priest at St Gabriel’s alongside occasional ministry in the parish of St Margaret’s Ilford where he lives. St Gabriel’s was also blessed with the ministerial support of Henry Lau, who arrived in 2022 with his family and is in the second year of training to be a Licensed Lay Minister.

The PCC met 9 times in 2022 and continues to function as the key body for developing mission and outreach in the parish.

Review of Objectives for 2022

No new objectives had been set for 2021 except to review and rebuild church life in the light of the Covid pandemic. 2022 was designated as a year to focus on ministry to children and families, renewing Sunday School, restoring Messy Church and re-imagining our outreach service on 3[rd] Sunday of the month. With the formation of a Friends group, there is also a renewed focus on the fabric of hall and church.

Stewardship, Fundraising and Mission Giving 2022

• Regular Giving has held up very well during both the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis. Many thanks are due to those who continue to give tax efficiently in regular ways as this continues to be the life-blood of St Gabriel’s mission. Both Sara Bertrand and Nick Riley in their respective roles have ensured the continued strength in this area.

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• Income from Parish Hall 2022 has seen the return to greater normality of activities and full capacity of the main hall, which has assisted with income generation. Our hall continues to provide for a wide variety of activities for all ages and is a key community resource.

• Fund Raising Thanks also to everyone who organised and helped with church fundraising events. Besides the income, more importantly, they strengthened our fellowship by having fun together and are a means to reach out to the wider community. We were able to run an amazing Burns Night, a Summer Fun Day and a Christmas Market.

• Friends of St Gabriel’s The most significant new development in 2022 was the first full year of the Friends of St Gabriel’s, following its launch in September 2021. There were some very successful fundraising activities with a well-attended and inclusive Eco Day in March and the amazing Taste of Aldersbrook event in October which brought fine dining into the church building and sold out in a few short days. A beer festival at the end of October, again in church, concluded a very positive year, with substantial funds raised towards the hall project.

• Charity Giving We had successful support for Christian Aid once again in the parish, through the organisation of Sue Mutter and the help of many others. Sue, and the volunteers continue to respond creatively to the challenge of door-to-door collection in the shadow of the pandemic and changes to people’s giving patterns and a more cashless society. The Christmas collections for the Children’s Society through carol singing and Christingle were also very successful, with a new single night record collection achieved.

• Chosen Charities St Gabriel’s again supported three charities with the money raised from tea and coffee after the service: A Rocha International [an environmental charity with reach into conservation] our overseas charity; Inclusive Church - our national charity supporting inclusion in all aspects of church life; and Project Malachi a local homelessness project spearheaded by the Salvation Army in Ilford. We were able to return to pre-covid levels of support for these three charities in 2022. In the coming year we will be supporting new charities for a 3-year period: Chaos (a local charity providing holidays for East London children); Refugee Employment Network [a national organisation supporting refugees into work or self-employment]; and Practical Action [an international environmental charity supporting the world’s poor to find local solutions to issues of development and climate change].

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Deanery Synod

Deanery Synod met three times in 2022 and high on the agenda was the new parish share scheme which was to be introduced in 2023, involving a great deal more deanery input and negotiation. Synod also welcomed Bishop Guli to our November meeting and had a welcome service for Bishop Lynne, the new Bishop of Barking. The other meeting contained a presentation from the Church Urban Fund on a new study course called Growing Good, which ultimately St Gabriel’s decided to use for its 2023 Lent course.

[Fr. Martyn]

Other Activities in 2022

Parish Hall

The hall usage has gone from strength to strength in 2022, hosting a variety of regular users including Pre-school, Uniformed Groups, Playgroup, Dance Class, Pilates, Yoga, Football, ‘Gamestaars’, Knit and Natter, Badminton as well as private party bookings and charity functions. The PCC is most grateful to Nick Riley for managing the hall bookings so effectively.

Aldersbrook School

St Gabriel’s continues to have a good relationship with Aldersbrook School and its PTA through hosting events that cannot easily be accommodated in the school hall. We were delighted to welcome the return of Christmas concerts after Covid.

Pastoral Care - 2022

Pastoral care reflects God’s love as we care for each other as the Body of Christ. St Gabriel’s Pastoral Care Team consists of Amelia Hart, Margaret Filer, Dotsy Horsford and Anne Dixon. Together they provide the ministry of care and support to the parishioners. Margaret Filer has had to step back from pastoral work in September due to health reasons. Fr. Martyn, our vicar, has control and oversight of this ministry and helps to guide the work of the team. We are also encouraged by the many church members who care for each other in seen or unseen ways.

The government moved to their ‘Living with Covid’ strategy in February 2022. This encouraged us to continue with all pastoral activities either by phone or visits to homes, hospitals or care homes. The team have managed to stay connected with most of the parishioners who are bereaved, vulnerable or isolated. We now support them by enabling them to regain confidence in their journey towards healing and wholeness.

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A ‘Newcomers Party’ was held in September to welcome newcomers to the parish and to get to know them better. Invitation cards were sent to last year’s bereaved families with information on November’s All Souls Service. ‘Mothering Sunday’ invites was still a work in progress by end of 2022. They are expected to be ready in time for 2023’s Mothering Sunday.

The Pastoral team and volunteers from St. Gabriel’s are again helping to staff the MMU partnership’s Bereavement Cafe and Crown Court Chaplaincy. Members of MMU Pastoral Teams have undergone Pastoral Care Training last year, and continued to meet for support and to explore ways of closer working every six months. The latest initiative we explored was a ‘Welcome Directory’ to support and help ex-prisoners to find a spiritual home in an appropriate church on release. After reflection, it was the consensus that we lacked the capacity to pursue this further.

In the coming year the Pastoral team will: -

1. Continue to support parishioners to enable their journey of healing in body, mind and spirit.

2. To implement the invitation cards for ‘Mothering Sunday’ services.

3. To design and produce a card ‘The Ways We Pray at St. Gabriel’s’ for distribution.

[Amelia Hart]

Outreach/Publicity 2022

Communication with our church community and the wider parish has continued on various fronts this year. Twitter, Instagram and Facebook have continued to be good vehicles for spreading our news. There have been three editions of the parish magazine which have had a good mix of articles by parishioners, news of upcoming events and adverts. During Advent and Lent postcards detailing church services for Christmas and Easter were delivered across the parish. Please see https://www.stgabrielsaldersbrook.org.uk/.

There have been ongoing issues with the website. It became infected with malware which proved impossible to remove, rendering the site useless. Moving it to a website host with a better reputation for such things seems to have sorted the problem and the website is again accessible.

[Teresa Smith]

Foodbank Report 2022

It would be wonderful to be able to report that the need for the foodbank had decreased in the last year but sadly, as we are all aware, the cost-of-living crisis has meant that even more families are now struggling to put food on the table each day so the regular and

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generous donations by members of St Gabriel’s have been very gratefully received. We continue to be part of the Tin in a Bin network based in Wanstead and stretching out to Woodford and beyond. This makes for a more efficient collection and distribution of food to the places it is most needed.

New volunteers are always welcome, whether for collecting or sorting. Thank you, St Gabriel’s.

[Helen Bonnick on behalf of Tin in a Bin]

Work with Youth and Children in 2022

• Messy Church There were two Messy Church days this year – themed for St George’s Day and Harvest. Children and parents enjoyed a wide range of craft activities such as folding flying dragons, seed planting, making and decorating biscuits, paper flower making. Acts of worship and shared food were appreciated by all. Thanks to Gaynor and her team of helpers.

• Youth Worker St Gabriel’s, along with St Mary’s Woodford and Wanstead Parish, has in the past employed a shared youth worker. In 2022 we agreed to appoint a Children and Families Coordinator on a part-time basis and we welcomed Clare Reeves in that role in the autumn of 2022. Her brief so far has been to carry on and develop the good work done in Messy Church and to strengthen communication with children and families in the wider parish.

• After-School Club Membership of the After-School Club held up well in 2022. There are between 18 – 24 children from Reception to Year 6 who we arrange to collect from school and escort to church. The children are fed and then various challenges take place followed by arts, craft, and games, ending with a Bible story. We have a great support team of volunteers who make the club run so smoothly and I would like to thank them personally for their patience, hard work and enthusiasm. They are Fr. Martyn, Lesley, Carol, Sandra, Jill, Dotsy, Anthony, Sue, Jan, Tony and Nick. [Kevin Thomas]

• Holiday Club The annual Holiday Club ran for a week in July for youngsters aged 5 to 10 years old. With the theme of ‘Celebrating God’s Love’ there were 4 mornings of hall-based activities, cycling on the Flats, music and prayers with a final full day trip to Thriftwood Scout Camp for more adventures. Over 40 children took part and the week proved very popular. Thanks to Amelia for organizing the Club, to Fr Martyn and family and the many other people who helped.

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• Pre-School Carers Group This group meets on Wednesdays from 12.00 -1.30 pm run by Kath, Willa and Fr Martyn, who plays his guitar, Lesley and Anthony covering absences. We have a large carpeted play area suitable for babies and toddlers and space for train tracks, a rocking horse and a playdough table. There's a great mix of ages, race, cultural and ethnic backgrounds. With the pre-school nursery changing its hours, we considered changing ours, too, but decided to stick with those that suit us best for this year, given the church schedule. Attendance has been variable - from 6 to 35. The request for £2 donation per family towards the heating has been met with generosity. The feedback is that it’s a welcome change of scene, toys and friendship for adults and children alike. [Willa King]

Church Building / Fabric 2022

Similar to last year it was a fairly peaceful year regarding work to the fabric of the Church, but a slightly busier one for the Hall. Roof leaks continue to be a problem in a number of places in Church. The causes of some have been identified with, remedial work yet to be carried out, but regular clearing of the roofs and the gullies is helping to reduce the problem.

The entrance doors to the Church have been difficult to open and close. Minor repairs have been carried out but replacement of some ironmongery has not yet been done.

Work to the Hall will benefit from the enthusiastic fundraising of the Friends of St Gabriel’s. Proposed alterations include

• Removal of the stage to form new meeting rooms and toilets

• Improved access to the garden and improved storage

• Solar panels on the roof

Necessary approvals from Redbridge Council - including planning permission, listed building consent and conservation area consent -were received on the 16th June 2022.

Permission is also required from the Diocese for the proposed work. An application was made to the Diocesan Advisory Committee on the 30th June for the installation of the solar panels. This Committee requested some further information on energy use and the structure of the hall roof. Their approval is required before we can apply for a ‘Faculty’ to carry out the works. As of December 2022, we await their decision.

Once the solar panels are installed, the next step for the Hall work is the construction of a new chair and table store on the north side of the building as well as new internal storage. This will enable the main work to take place i.e. the removal of the stage and construction of the meeting rooms.

A start needs to be made on fund raising for this major project. The Hall opened in 1927 and we hope to celebrate the centenary with a Hall fit for the next 100 years.

[Richard Pratley]

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Safeguarding in 2022

Safeguarding remains a high priority for the Parish of Aldersbrook and with the experienced guidance of our Parish Safeguarding Officer, Caroline Ferguson, St Gabriel’s continues to seek a proactive approach, offering and encouraging safeguarding training and awareness for all, using the resources of the Church of England. At the November meeting of the PCC our annual safeguarding review was held when the Church of England Safeguarding Checklist was reviewed and national safeguarding policy and practice re-adopted.

[Caroline Ferguson]

Music in 2022

Our music at St. Gabriel's seems to be recovering quite nicely after the difficulties of the pandemic. Our small but loyal and highly proficient adult choir continues to enrich our Sunday worship week by week, with our newly-formed children's choir and instrumentalists appearing on special occasions. For our Christmas Carol Service we were again joined by the Brook Brass Quintet and Woodwind Quartet to enliven proceedings along with the regular inimitable solo contribution from our own Anne Conoley; and I have to thank the many extra singers who also helped to make this annual event memorable. We are very fortunate in having a church building that also makes an excellent and well-equipped concert venue, including an excellent August Forster grand piano and a recital-standard organ that is rated as one of the best for some miles around. It's therefore very pleasing when we can then attract professional, semi-professional and amateur groups and artists to give concerts throughout the year, which will obviously help to put St. Gabriel's on the wider map and enhance awareness in the local community. Having firmly re-established ourselves musically hopefully we can expect even better in the future.

[John Light]

Finance Review 2022

Total receipts on ordinary Unrestricted funds were £144,936 [2021: £120,450] and those of Restricted funds were £1,644 (2021: £605) providing an overall income total of £146,580 (2021: £121,055).

£118,091 (2021: £111,701) was spent to provide the Christian ministry of St Gabriel’s Church. It also included the contribution to the diocesan parish share, which largely provides the stipends and housing for the clergy. For 2022 St Gabriel’s was given a lower parish share figure from the Diocese due to Fr. Martyn’s interim ministry work in the parish of Wanstead. In the event St Gabriel’s overpaid on this figure significantly thus supporting ministry more widely in the Deanery.

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The net result for the year was an excess of receipts over payments amounting to £28,489 (2021: £9,354).

A number of factors contributed to this figure including a substantially higher hall income, greatly increased fundraising through activities and events over the previous year, as well as the continuing presence of the Friends of St Gabriel’s. On the other side of the coin, outlay on maintenance and repair of the building remained low, with unanticipated or planned expenditure in this area.

Considering bank and deposit balances brought forward at the beginning of the year, the balances carried forward at 31 December 2022 amounted to £89,413 [2021: £62,567] for Unrestricted and Designated funds and £2,907,052 (2021: £2,905,408 ) for Restricted funds.

Reserves policy

It is PCC policy to maintain a balance on unrestricted funds (if possible), which equates to approximately six months unrestricted payments, to cover emergency situations that may arise from time to time. The balance of Unrestricted and Designated Reserves total £89,413 at the year-end is over this target.

[Nick Riley]

Structure, Management and Governance

St Gabriel’s operates under Parochial Church Councils Measure and is a Registered Charity, Charity number: 1129673.

Appointment of PCC members are according to Church Representation Rules. Subcommittees are currently: Standing, Pastoral, Worship and Fabric.

Function of PCC

Responsible for co-operating with the incumbent to promote the ecclesiastical parish, the pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical mission of the church.

To follow the church’s objectives as set out in the Mission Statement. Members of the PCC are ex-officio or elected by the Annual Parochial Council Meeting in accordance with the Church Representation Rules

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During 2022 the following served on the PCC:

Incumbent	Fr. Martyn Hawkes	May 2011
Associate Priest	Fr. Mark Kenny	Ex-officio
Curate	Henry Lau	Ex-officio 2022 -
Churchwardens	Rachel Port	2020-
	David Plumbley	2016 -
Deanery Synod Reps	Kevin Thomas	2020-2023
	Pat Pratley	2020-2023
	Teresa Smith	2020-2023
Elected Members	Lilian New	2020-2023
	Dorothy Horsford	2020-2023
	Sue Maudsley	2021-2024
	Willa King	2021-2024
	Mark McKee	2021-2022
	Mike Smith	2022-2025
Hon Secretary	Ken Lang	2019-2022
Hon Secretary	Felicity Brewis	2021-2024
Hon Treasurer	Nick Riley	2019 -
Other Officers
Safeguarding Officer	Caroline Ferguson
Pastoral Assistant	Amelia Hart
Stewardship Officer	Sara Bertrand
Electoral Roll Officer	Sara Bertrand
Data Protection Officer	Sara Bertrand

Independent Examiner: Robert Munden Name of Bankers: Cooperative Bank PLC Registered No: 990937

Facts and figures

Electoral Roll: There were 111 persons on the Electoral Roll at the end of December 2022 Number registered: 111

Number residing outside the parish: 49 Number residing in the parish: 62

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Worship in 2022

Following the Covid disruptions of the previous two years, 2022 saw a return to something more like normality with our worship at St Gabriel’s. Our Sunday worship pattern gradually evolved during the year.

The previous weekly 8.30am service remained suspended for most of the year but was restarted (now on a monthly basis) from December. The main 10am Parish Sung Eucharist remained constant throughout, (as did the inclusion of healing on the first Sunday of each month).

Hoping to grow attendance, the monthly 11.30am Sunday Feast family service was relaunched as Pop Up Church and ran for much of the year. A monthly evening service was also restarted from December, but this was now intended to be of more varied content, not just evensong. Mid-week Holy Communion was held each Wednesday at 11am, and Evening Prayer remained at 5pm Mon-Thu both in-person and on zoom. Twice monthly Tuesday evening prayer/contemplation also continued.

Average communicant numbers of 55 on Sunday and 12 on Wednesday represented a return to more normal numbers following Covid.

Communicants at major festivals

Easter Sunday – 104 Christmas Day – 102

Occasional Services in 2022

There were 5 baptisms, 2 weddings and 3 funerals in church.

[David Plumbley]

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Aldersbrook St.Gabrfg1 ststement of Financial Activitigs - summary For thg period from 01 January 2022 to 31 Docembgr 2022 Totsl fun Prknrythv lots1f￿a• d fu￿• lun T4)tsd in¢i)m 144,93&7 IW580.11 121,055.17 Tow•Xp•nd￿r• 118,0fy.84 11i090.84 111,7•1.26 N#tintOiii# Ilexp￿d￿Urèli#¢yjrC¥# bdDrtrarthr 26W&13 2148927 ¥,353.91 CrosstransfETrbEiy￿en￿[vts. I GrosstransletsbeiweenfutKls. 214 &) 1274.601 274. I274.E￿I 549.20 615.66 1615 661 ri#tTriOYrn•ntin lu 26,M&13 14.14 2489.27 ¥,353.¥1 $227173 29Q.71 2.90SA07.S2 lg67.•7S.Ofy 2,988,621.01 TOtdfU￿ thYrdfiTh 59,121.85 2￿.7& 2￿07￿61. 199446427 2,957,975. Unre5trided 89,121.86 È9.121.86 61276.73 Fir9tWothJW4￿M￿￿￿ri￿ P liday Cknb Restl￿ted 2.00 5&75 232.00 5È.75 fJ2.(W) 5È.75 260 1.764.63 2.9￿.000. 2S2 3594.93 355. •25.10 260 00 1.764.63 Fwd 215.49 Hal Fu￿ F￿d 9￿Fll sn￿br￿k ￿rt￿ap1a1 Youth FuThl I￿0.￿0.00 2,￿O.[th. 252.00 1S7.(N) 3.594.93 3.594.93 355. 355. 825.10 825.10

Ald•rsbrook St.Gobrhl R•c•lpls and paYM￿ts S•l•ct•d p•rlod: 01 Januwi 2022 to 31 D•e4mb•r 2tr22 From To 01 J•nu•ry 2022 31 OK•mb•r 2022 01 J•nw 2021 31 D•c•rnl>•r 2021 G•n•rnl. G•n•rnl fund Fund 17.053.Th) 7,189.34 2.620.fKI 13,861.￿* 1,050. 2.623.r 3,63121 4.960.82 Pwl gpi¥ 17.W.44 1.123.(X) 2.￿.$ 4.74144 438.92 16220241 1271.07 17.42114 .444.7T 475. 228.61 5.324.41 3.834.11 7,556. 3.461. 140 2,¥d8.29 Tl.42243 71120.99 1.858. 20.978.gs HBlh 33214.gj 33.￿. 22834.95 FUTr1￿￿#j nxwj FqlE8. Bllza￿ and atrAr ￿jr¥￿￿jroj Llseol Ctrojrch 631.1CI 10,829.03 8210 (X) 151.31 Easy rJ7.07 851.50 1.090.C 27.￿42 14.08&10 5.12 5.16 Rerf fvvm Hlli Ral 8.520.(X) 1.742.(KJ 1.910 (K) 8,t60. 1,075.51 567.Th) 12, 172 9.802.51 144,936.97 120,449.71 EApwditw•

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Independent Examiner’s Report to the PCC of St Gabriel’s Parish Church, Aldersbrook, Wanstead.

This report on the financial statements of the PCC for the year ended 31 December 2022 is in respect of an examination carries out in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 (‘the Regulations’) and section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

Respective Responsibilities of the PCC and the Examiner

As members of the PCC you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements; you consider that the audit requirement of the Regulations and of the Act does not apply. It is my responsibility to issue this reports on those financial statements in accordance with the terms of the Regulations.

Basis of this Report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act and to be found in the Church guidance, 2006 edition. That examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the PCC and a comparison of the accounts with those records. It also includes considering any unusual items or disclosures in the financial statements and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.

Independent Examiner’s statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

• (1) Which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements

• a. To keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Act; and

• b. To prepare financial statements, which accord with the accounting records and comply with the requirements of the Act and the Regulations have not been met; or

• (2) To which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Robert Munden FCCA 1A Woodlands Avenue Wanstead, London, E11 3RA