2022-12-31-accounts

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

Bebington Parish Annual Report 2022

Incorporating a strategic review of the year, the aims and activities of the PCC, financial review and a statement of financial activities

Our Vision

A Christ-Centred Family Sharing God’s Love

Christ-Centred: Followers of Jesus Christ, grounded in scripture, prayer and worship Family: A welcoming fellowship where all ages are nurtured and enabled to use their God-given gifts Sharing God’s love: Making Christ known in our daily lives with everyone we meet Serving and loving each other, our community and beyond

----- Start of picture text -----
3 Rector’s Report
5 Townfield Report
7 Wardens’ Report
9 Safeguarding Report
10 Treasurer’s Report
11 Parochial Church Council Report
13 Youth Hub Report
15 Children & Families Hub Report
17 Seniors’ Hub Report
20 Poverty Action Group Report
23 World Mission Report
24 St Andrew’s C.E (Aided) Primary School Report
25 Deanery Synod Report
26 Conroy Trust Report
27 In Memoriam
27 Welcome
27 Minutes of the Meeting of Parishioners 25 May 2021
28 Minutes of the APCM 25 May 2021
----- End of picture text -----

Rector’s Report on St Andrew’s

2022 was the year during which we found ourselves emerging from the pandemic, but more slowly than we may have expected and in a rather stop-start fashion.

There were however some significant developments during the year. Last year I reported that we were due to receive a very large legacy. Some £450,000 of this was received during 2022, with up to another £50,000 to follow. We are very grateful for this provision. Legacy funds are an opportunity to invest in something which we would not otherwise be able to do, which will bear fruit for the Kingdom of God and benefit our parish. Of course the natural temptation in the current climate is that this would give us a cushion against the cost of living crisis and reduced income from congregational giving. However, the PCC agree that wherever possible such funds should not be used for regular expenditure, as they are not a reliable source of income and to be sustainable, the costs of ongoing ministry need to be met from regular giving and income. This exceptional legacy provided us with a unique opportunity, so the PCC set up a working group to consider options for its the use – of which there were many! The following priorities were agreed:

Covering the cost of essential repair works to the spire and tower (total cost approx. £308,000 excluding recoverable VAT, with grants of £26,000 having been secured). This puts us in a position to carry out this essential work before costs rise further, and without having to fundraise from the congregation during a cost of living crisis. At the year end, we were working towards the project commencing early in 2023.
Funding a full time post for a Leader of Children and Families Ministry, for 5 years. It was our stated aim just before the pandemic to work towards funding a post. Following the impact of the pandemic we are agreed that this is now more important than ever for the future of our ministry, and the legacy funding makes it possible. Our first recruitment drive was unsuccessful, so at the end of the year we were preparing to readvertise the post. (We already had £39,000 from a previous legacy to put towards this).
Completing the church lighting project by installing the proposed external lighting, once planning permission is received. At the year end we were still awaiting this. The expected cost is around £20,000.
Providing assistance to our church school, in addition to our annual donation, towards the cost of refurbishing the Year 5-6 accommodation. The anticipated cost is around £600,000, of which the school has to cover 10%. We have set aside £40,000 for this purpose.

This use of the funds will ensure that our historic building continues to serve the parish, and will make a significant impact on our community through our ministry and that of our church school.

Another major development during the year was the agreement between myself, the PCC and the Diocese that the current Rectory will be sold, and a more suitable and more modern house provided by the Diocese. This followed extensive discussion and unanimous agreement by the PCC, and an open meeting. Much as we and others love the current house, the financial cost and work involved in keeping and maintaining it make it unsustainable for the present day both for a clergy household and for the Diocese. At

the year end, the purchase of a very suitable house on Quarry Avenue, 5 minutes’ walk from the church, was in hand and the Rectory was due to be placed on the market in the new year. The Diocese also agreed that we could retain part of the rectory grounds, at no cost to us other than that of erecting a new fence. This will provide us with more amenity space around the church hall.

The Rectory sale will also entail moving the office into the church hall, which has long been an aspiration of the PCC. Various options for this were considered. We have had an agreement in place with the Diocese for some years that in the event of the Rectory being sold, the PCC will receive a small percentage of the proceeds. This is unusual, and reflects the historic use of part of the house for the office and meeting room. This funding will enable us to undertake necessary alterations to the church hall to accommodate the office, and to carry out some much needed refurbishment. At the year end, plans were being put in place for this and options and costs considered by the PCC. Turning to our regular ongoing ministry, morning services were able to run as normal throughout the year, but in common with most churches, we found that numbers attending were lower, many people were coming less regularly, and we had fewer volunteers, compared with before the pandemic.

The 8am service, whilst smaller than before, has been very stable, with attendance in the late teens or sometimes over 20. The main service has gradually regrown, but numbers have tended to climb a little, then plateau or drop back, with this pattern repeated throughout the year. For much of the year the typical attendance was around 120. We have continued to livestream the main service on Youtube each week. Whilst the viewing figures are difficult to analyse we know a good number of people are joining regularly, including many of those who are housebound, and it has also provided an opportunity for people to trial our services privately before deciding whether to come along. We have also continued to send out dvd’s or cd’s of services to those who need them.

During the year, we ran teaching series including Frontline Sundays (equipping us to live out our faith wherever we spend our time during the week); Gardens & the Gospel (the gospel told through a series of Bile stories set in gardens); Conversations with Jesus in the Gospels; the “I Am” sayings of Jesus; God’s welcome for all; and Who is this King? Resources and congregation numbers have made it impractical to restart the monthly 9:30am service, although this has had the advantage of keeping our main service to the same time (10:30am) every week. Similarly we have not been able to restart evening services, although numbers at these had been falling for some time before the pandemic, towards a level where they were likely to have become unsustainable. Our intention is to consider trialling some stand-alone occasional evening services, events or short series, as & when resources allow.

Most of our other activities ran during the year, though a few have not restarted (the other reports in this pack will give you more information).

We saw some people returning to church who had not done so during the previous year, and it is very encouraging that we have also welcomed a significant number of new members, of all ages. Some of our members have become housebound or too unwell to attend regularly, some appear unlikely now to return, and sadly some have died during the year. All this means that for some, the congregation feels very different, and we have made efforts to begin rebuilding fellowship through social and other events, which we plan to continue.

We were able to draw many people into new areas of service, which has been encouraging and has enabled us to run most of our normal activities. It was particularly

good to see a large number volunteering to run our new ‘warm space’ in the church hall, which started weekly in November in partnership with other local churches and receiving funding from Wirral Council. This has been a great way to serve our community. At the same time, many of our volunteer teams are stretched. I would encourage you to consider prayerfully whether the Lord may be leading you into an area of service that is new for you.

Also in common with many churches, we have seen a financial impact from a combination of the pandemic, reduced membership, and the cost of living crisis. We are grateful to God and to all who give financially, enabling us to finish 2022 with a deficit of around £6,000, which is significantly lower than we might have expected. However, at current income levels, we are looking towards a deficit of up to £40,000 for 2023, which is not sustainable. (our energy bills alone are likely to increase by around £20,000 over the coming year, most of our fixed rate deals now having expired). Almost all our income comes from the congregation, and around 94% of our expenditure is accounted for by staffing (including Parish Share which covers the cost of our clergy, housing & pensions and a share of Diocesan support), essential building running costs, and 10% given to Christian mission, leaving us little flexibility to reduce expenditure. We recognise that many are finding things challenging financially in the current climate, but we also need to increase our regular income if we are to sustain our current ministry. Could I gently encourage you to prayerfully review your current financial giving, especially if you have not done so for a while?

As always, I have been so grateful to our dedicated team of staff, churchwardens, PCC, maintenance team, and all who have served in many different ways in contributing to our ministry during the year, for their partnership, commitment and support. Although there are too many people to thank individually I would particularly like to express thanks to those who have carried an additional load due to the reduced number of volunteers, or to working on new areas of development, but to all of you too for your participation in many different ways.

It has been another challenging year for most people individually as well as for us as a church. But through all this we can be encouraged and inspired by God’s love, his work in the world and in our parish today, and the sure and certain hope he gives us through Jesus Christ. May He continue to guide us forward through the coming year.

David Vestergaard

Townfield Report

As always, there is so much to thank God, and each other for, as we look back over 2022, recognising that it was a year of continuing to rebuild after the disruptions of Covid. While 2021 enabled us to re-start more ‘normal’ looking Sunday morning services, 2022 has given us lots of opportunities to rebuild our wider areas of church life, getting much closer to ‘business as usual’.

It is, of course, always risky to mention particular highlights from the year (there are

too many highlights to mention, and we’ll always miss mentioning something we should have done!), but when I flick back through the diary for 2022, some highlights which stand out are:

A service of baptism, admission to communion and affirmation of baptismal faith in March, which saw a giant pool set up in the school hall (with thanks to Mrs Lamkin and Mr Jardine at school for their enthusiastic help and support), and the baptism of Lissa, Amelie and Joel, the admission to Communion of Rosie, Isaac, Lissa, Amelie and Joel, and the affirmation of baptismal faith by Cathy.
The re-starting of Friday afternoon Messy Church (twice a term), with an enthusiastic and dedicated team ready to relaunch such an important part of church and school life.
A return to more normal pastoral visiting and home communions, as restrictions had lifted, and confidence was returning.
A whole raft of regular, community-building church social events: A church lunch in July, a church picnic in August, a quiz night in September, a Harvest lunch in October, a memorable barn dance in November, and a series of ‘open house’ events.

Alongside all these highlights, we are also very grateful for the opportunities we have had to continue what might be called our week-to-week ‘core activities’ of Sunday services, our house groups, our children’s and youth activities, and the numerous teams which keep things running (music, coffee, welcome, sound and streaming, furniture shifting, cleaning, prayer ministry, youth and children’s work). A recent activity of writing thank you letters to everyone who were serving behind-the-scenes one Sunday morning revealed that over 20 people were volunteering in one way or another on that day alone. If we multiplied that up to see the number of

volunteers involved to keep all of our activities going all year, we’d begin to see how much of a team effort Townfield really is!

Towards the end of the year we had a hunch that after all the disruption of the last few years, it would be good for us to spend some time with God, thinking about our vision as a church. The aim wasn’t to come up with a new vision, but was to create some space to think afresh about the opportunities we have to live out our existing vision, to be a Christ-Centred Family, Sharing God’s Love . So, in the autumn term we spent 9 weeks prayerfully working through this vision, working together to think

about how we could grow in 1) discipleship (being Christ-Centred ), 2) mutuallysupportive community (being ‘ family’ ) and 3) outreach (‘ sharing God’s love’ ). At the same time we began the process of relaunching our vision groups to take a lead in these areas, and we very quickly began to see positive results, with increased engagement right across the congregation, and a number of initiatives re-starting.

But the year wasn’t just about what goes on within the church community. We were delighted to be able to engage with the wider local community in a number of ways. Schools visits were able to re-start ‘in person’ (rather than through a screen), lots of Townfield members were able to be part of the parish-wide Christmas Journey event, and we were delighted to be absolutely packed on Christmas Eve for our Christingle service (an encouraging reminder that lots of people from the local community are still pleased to respond to a well-timed invitation through their letter box or school bag).

Despite all these encouragements, we recognise that there are still some challenges. 2022 was, for many, an economically testing year, and this is reflected in a slightly reduced giving income at Townfield, which we will be prayerfully responding to this year, trusting that God will lead, and provide for the work that he calls us to.

So, thank you to every single member of Townfield for all your contributions of time, energy, prayer, money and enthusiasm in 2022. We look forward to where God will take us in 2023 and beyond!

Al Rodgers

Wardens’ Report

The period since our last APCM in May 2022 has been a time of gradual growth and a return to a more normal pattern of worship and activities in our church community. An increasing number of people are attending our regular services in church, and we continue to livestream most of our services for those unable to attend for any reason. We are very grateful to all those who contribute to our weekly worship, our dedicated sides people, those who lead and preach, those who read and pray, our talented music team, our wonderful refreshment team, our skilled technical team who keep our worship running smoothly. Our thanks also go to all those who help with the regular upkeep of our church building, those who clean brasses, arrange flowers and of course our wonderful Monday Gang. We must not forget the wonderful team of assistant wardens who assisted with duties at Sunday services throughout the year. We have held a number of special events including the Carol Service, the Tree Festival and the Christmas Journey at Christmas. We had a very successful house party attended by about fifty people at Cloverley Hall in September and most recently we put on a very well received Good Friday drama outside the Civic Centre. We have held regular church breakfasts which have proved popular and have been an excellent way of building fellowship across our church community. At time of writing, we have a Welcome lunch planned for those who have joined the congregation in the past few years.

During the last year, most of our church groups have been running regularly including Little Fishes, Men’s Fellowship, Women’s Fellowship, Crèche, house groups and Sunday

Club. We continue to run online prayer meetings. The Youth team have managed to run an exciting programme of youth activities. We are grateful to the individuals and teams who head up the various activities. We are particularly grateful to Stuart Waldron who has agreed to head up the Maintenance Team which deals with the fabric and building issues. We are aware that we are still short of helpers in many areas of church life and pray that God will provide the personnel we need to run all our ministries effectively. In particular, we pray for the ongoing process of appointing a Children and Families worker, which we hope will enable us to expand our ministry among children and their families.

The last year has been a time of significant change in our church plant. We have had repairs to the organ and the heating in church. The external lighting project is still ongoing. We are currently in the midst of the Spire project which involves some very impressive scaffolding and is hoped will result in some much-needed repair work. One of the most notable decisions during the year was to sell the existing rectory, in cooperation with the Diocese, and to purchase a smaller more economically viable property to serve this purpose. As a result of this decision, it was also necessary to relocate the church office which is currently situated in the rectory. Its new location will be in the Church Hall, which consequently is undergoing extensive refurbishment. This involves new flooring, new storage, new kitchen, replacement LED lighting, a false ceiling upstairs and redecoration.

It is great to see the life and ministries of our church growing and thriving again after the difficulties of the lockdown period. We are grateful to everyone who contributes to our church community, you are many and each of you is valuable. We would both like to express our sincere thanks and appreciation for all the love, support and prayer which have surrounded us over the past year.

Viv Halliday and Kate Butler

Church Buildings

A number of projects have been progressed or completed during the year:

Relocation of Vestry Screen

The screen, that forms the entrance to the Church kitchen and toilets, was relocated to provide straight access for wheelchairs into the toilets, with the opportunity taken to provide improved storage for the Flower Team and Monday Gang. The work was undertaken by the Monday Gang.

Installation of Church Organ Canopy

Further to considerable damage to the organ caused by the ingress of rainwater through joins in the roof lead gully linings, on completion of the repairs covered by our insurance policy, a protective canopy has been installed that will channel any future ingress into a collection vessel. This was funded by the Church

Replacement of Handrail to Church Boiler Room

Monday Gang has installed a new steel handrail to the concrete stairs down to the boiler room.

Progress of External Lighting Planning Application

Further to the necessary Planning Application for the proposed improvements to the external lighting to the pathways of the Church being submitted in November 2021, in the Spring 2022 the Council advised of additional information to be provided to enable consideration of the application. The main element of this was the provision of a full set of ‘at scale’ drawings of the four elevations and required the commissioning of a qualified surveyor to complete. The Church Architect had indicated these drawings will be very helpful for future projects.

The additional information was subsequently submitted to the Council in Summer 2022, and a decision is expected to enable the installation of the new lighting early in 2023.

Progress of Church Tower and Spire Project

Our Church Architect and Quantity Surveyor completed the preparation of the contract documents and a contractor has been appointed. Work is programmed to start early in the new year 2023.

The project is being largely funded through a legacy that has generously been left to the church. Grants to the value of £26,000, have been secured from the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Benefact Trust. Further grants are being sought.

Maintenance Plan

The Monday Gang continues to monitor and undertake regular maintenance activities to the Church and Hall. Health and Safety Inspections are undertaken on a regular basis and the results reported to the PCC.

Stuart Waldron

Safeguarding Report

At St Andrew’s & Townfield, we take our duty to protect all extremely seriously. The PCC has adopted the Church of England Safeguarding Policies and Practice Guidance.

All staff and volunteers working with children, young people and vulnerable adults are provided with a copy of the C of E’s Parish Safeguarding Handbook with our own local supplements, and are required to confirm that they have received and read it. All are also supported with safeguarding training, and Basic Awareness safeguarding training is provided to PCC members and others with a relevant interest. We follow the C of E’s Safer Recruitment process for appointments, including the use of DBS checks and references.

The above practices have been very relevant in 2022 as the restarting of activities postCovid continued, in many cases after a significant gap and/or with new leaders. And new activities have started, e.g. Warm Spaces.

If you have any queries or concerns please speak to one of the Parish Safeguarding Officers (contact details available on noticeboards in both churches, or via the church office):

Richard Lawrence Safeguarding Officer for St. Andrew's Gwen Derrig Safeguarding Officer for Townfield.

Treasurer’s Report

The year 2022 has shown some recovery to fairly, but not wholly, normal levels of activity following the couple of years of pandemic where activities were modest and fewer services meant that expenditure was down on typical levels.

The pandemic forced the streamlining of our accounting methods so that we see very little cash on a weekly basis with most donations now made by standing order, and some by card machine in church. This has other positives in that there is less risk of handling, storing and delivering cash to the bank weekly. The giving by standing order on a regular basis helps enormously with our budgeting, and encouraged some more donors to realise the benefit of being able to increase their giving via Gift Aid. At the present time we have approx. 200 standing order payments received each month into the church bank account.

I would highlight Gift Aided giving is enormously valuable to the church and enables us to claim approx., £43,000 each year from the Inland Revenue. The formalities for most donors are the very simple completion of a Gift Aid form. We thank Brenda Duffy, the Gift Aid secretary for the enormous help in processing these claims twice yearly

A number of families have moved away from Bebington and St Andrews over the last 2 years, having made the decision in the pandemic to travel less and go to more ‘local to home’ churches. This has had an impact on our giving, although some new members have partly bridged the gap.

Our regular planned income including Gift Aid in 2022 was £251,816, a decrease on the previous year of £257,195. This regular planned giving has seen a fall in the last few years and is back to approx. 2019 levels.

Our general overall income for the year was £273,633 including one off donations, Rolleston Drive rent and wedding & funeral fees whilst expenditure was £279,655, leaving a deficit for the year of £6000.

Some may be aware that we rent out Rolleston Drive, the curacy house, whilst we await a new curate (which will not occur until 2024). 50% of this income goes to support our everyday costs, whilst the remainder is creating a fund that will enable us to maintain and make improvements to the property when the time is right.

The Annual Accounting records for 2022 illustrate an overall income for the church and its activities of £756,728 against expenditure of £326,033, a surplus of £430,695. This surplus is as a result of the receipt of a large legacy which is not intended for general day to day expenditure.

The receipt of a large legacy has enabled the PCC to plan for a number of things over the coming 12 months. The church spire has much crumbling masonry and it is necessary at this stage to spend approx. £330,000 on repairs and maintenance, something we could not have done without the legacy. The PCC have also set aside a sum of money to fund a Childrens and Family worker for a period of 5 years. We will also be making improvements to the church external lighting to enable safer walkways to and from the church. Finally, part of the legacy enables the PCC to make a contribution to planned improvements to the church school, something which the church is obliged to undertake as Trustees. We are much encouraged that all these works can be undertaken without the need to fund raise and ask the congregation for contributions.

We continue our work on a separate budget for Townfield with appropriate apportionment of costs, so that Townfield members can see how their giving supports the work of their church.

Bryan Higgins

Report on the activities of the Parochial Church Council

What would you do if someone presented you with £500,000? And so, instead, we been able to fund some essential works.

We have been able to pledge money to St Andrew’s School to fund their required portion of the next phase of works to the building, providing a better learning environment for the pupils. We have set aside money to cover the salary of the incoming Children & Families Worker. It is important we can show we are committed to the role as a church, and having money ringfenced for a few years will mean the leader can concentrate on their work rather than have to fret about starting to find a new job halfway through their contract.

And then there is the spire. You may well have gasped, as the PCC have, on hearing the cost is around £300,000 to complete the works. It is a lot of money and I’m sure there are many times we’ll have asked ourselves, what else could we do with that? St Andrew’s is a beautiful building, with an amazing history stretching back a thousand years, so unfortunately repairs don’t come cheap. We were faced with two options: do just the work identified as essential for now and return when the other works have deteriorated further; or undertake all the works now and save money on not having to erect scaffolding again in a few years’ time. Obviously, we don’t know what the future holds, but to spend the money on other things then leave ourselves in a position where

we then had to find substantial funds for the spire in another few years was – correctly – felt to be the wrong way forward by the PCC.

We’ve committed to covering the outstanding costs to complete the external lights. These would have been finished already with speedier responses from Wirral Council planning department!

There has also been the sale of the rectory. The Diocese indicated to the PCC that when we next changed Incumbent*, they would look to replace the rectory to a more modern home in line with their current policy. The PCC felt that if this was something we were going to have to do at some point in the future it would be less intrusive to do it now. It was not lost on the PCC that this is an emotive subject but changing sooner rather than later will mean one less thing to worry about when trying to select and employ a new rector.

With the imminent sale of the rectory, we turned our thoughts to the church hall and the renovations required to provide office and meeting space lost from the rectory. This has been a long-held desire of the PCC and 2023 will see a lot of renovations and redecoration making it a more flexible space and a better environment for all the groups that use it.

Minor decisions throughout the year included approval of letting the Rolleston Drive property whist we await news of a new curate (likely to be summer 2024 at the earliest); approval of the church weekend away; approval of the return of refreshments after the service – a cornerstone of any Anglican establishment! There was also approval for a new canopy installed above the organ to protect it from future water damage and agreement to the installation of a defibrillator to the external of the church hall.

It’s an old saying but, decisions are made by those in the room: if you aren’t happy with decisions – get involved. If you want a say in how the church is run – get involved. The more voices and the greater range of diversity, the better. The PCC is always at its best when alternative points of view are put forward to ensure decisions are properly dissected. There are about 6 meetings per year of about a couple of hours: come and have your say.

No report would be complete without my declaration of thanks to Karen and Jenny in the church office for all their assistance throughout the year in ensuring agendas, minutes etc. are where they should be; to the members of the many smaller groups throughout the church – the reports of which can be read elsewhere – who all contribute to the running of the PCC and Parish; and to the Rector for his continued support and faithful leadership.

Please keep the PCC in your prayers.

*Please note: the Rector is not planning on leaving any time soon.

** Please note: all decisions regarding staying are subject to the Lord’s will and prompting of the Spirit.

Ian Swindlehurst PCC Secretary

Youth Report

Heading into 2022 we were more or less out of the shadow of the pandemic and meeting as normal again. Although the number of young people we engage with is lower than before 2020, it has seen steady growth again and the depth of conversation we often have has increased drastically. It has been a good year which will hopefully set us up for future success.

Weekly Church Groups

Unplugged

During the first half of the year the older group worked through the Living in Love and Faith material, the middle group looked at the book Questions of Faith, and the younger group made their way though the book of Acts. In the second half of the year, the now much smaller older group switched to a pattern of alternating between meals and discussion together and one to one mentoring, the middle group looked at the book of Daniel, and the younger group had their turn with Questions of Faith.

Amplify

Amplify has grown this past year as the new younger young people have started to invite friends from outside church, something their older peers rarely do. Running alternate weeks with Youth Band we have waked to Parkgate to get fish & chips and ice cream, played hide and seek in the church, supported the IGNITE youth service at Life Church, and done various craft/cooking activities in the hall; amongst other things.

Youth Band

Youth band has continued to run alternate Fridays and has seen the confidence of the young people grow incredibly. The youth band performed a piece at the Christmas Carol Concert, led worship for the weekend away, and several members have been involved in family services at St. Andrew’s as part of the main worship band.

Sunday Mornings

Sunday morning sessions continue to be alternated between St. Andrew’s and Townfield, we have explored topics such as the characteristics of Jesus, and other characters who showed great commitment to God.

Schools Work

Last year I was able to run the Walk Through The Bible and It’s Your Move material once again, and by the end of the year assemblies and special services were more or less back to normal. The Pulse C.U. returned to Wirral Girls, although the number attending is quite low. In December we were able to start running Pulse in Wirral Boys again which is great news.

Mentoring

I have done some more one to one mentoring, in a new pattern of six weekly meetings with particular young people who seem to need particular support at a particular time, rather than a rolling monthly meeting with a select few.

Amplivacation

In April we took over 20 young people way to Whithaugh again, with Sam Johnson of Hope Church as our guest speaker. It was good to be able to run this again after cancelling due to the pandemic. This trip is always the highlight of the year and this was no exception!

Other Items

In the summer I completed my Level 3 Counselling course which has already been influential in my work with the young people. I hope to advance to Level 4 and become a qualified counsellor but that will be some time in the future as it is quite an undertaking.

In November I attended the National Youth Ministry Weekend in Birmingham which was incredibly beneficial. I have already booked a ticket for the 2023 conference, and will be taking one or two volunteers with me.

Towards the end of the year we combined all the various volunteers into one central Youth Ministry Team and launched a new mission statement for the youth ministry of St. Andrew’s & Townfield:

“To create a growing community where young people can develop their relationship with God and discover who they are. Now and for the future.”

Christopher Jarvis

Children & Families Hub

As we emerged from the pandemic, the Hub began to meet again, meeting 3 times during the year. Our first main task was to review our pre-pandemic recommendation to employ a children & families worker. We agreed that the need was greater than ever; and that as we are less well resourced than before, and there is much opportunity, we should aim for a full time worker so that they have capacity for expanding our outreach as well as shaping and developing our existing activities. The PCC supported this approach, and as a generous legacy enabled funding to be set aside to support the post, we began the process of recruitment. The first round, in the autumn of 2022, was unsuccessful (there are currently a lot of Christian children & youth work posts available and fewer suitable candidates than posts) so we prepared to re-advertise in the new year.

Activities of the various groups during the year are summarised below.

St Andrew’s Sunday Club

Sunday Club has continued to meet as a single primary school-aged group and a separate pre-school group during school terms. Numbers have continued to grow, and we have welcomed new families to church. By the end of the year we had approx. 25 children between 2½ and 11 on the register. Most children attend regularly. Our teaching material has been based on: Scripture Union Mosaic, which provides allage teaching and activities, as well as Pete Grieg's How to Pray. We’ve learned about: God's rescue plan for the Israelites, linking to Jesus' sacrifice at Easter; the Biblical meaning of Jubilee to link to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee; the Armour of God; and how to talk and listen to God in prayer. We aim to provide appropriate material to engage different ages and abilities in the group, enabling children to explore and build their relationship with God.

Over the year and in 2023, we have said goodbye and thank you to some long-standing leaders and helpers, including Kate Butler, Linda Wright and Jennie & Jonathan Askew. We and our children are grateful for all we have learned from their service, dedication and prayer. We have welcomed new helpers this year and look forward to working with them in 2023.

Alison Collins & Ali Gurr

Townfield Sunday Club

Children and young people have always been part of the DNA of Townfield, with Townfield itself growing out of a Sunday School which ran at the school before the church was founded in 1992.

Our children and young people continue to be just as important as any other member of the church, and it is a privilege to have them with us, in Sunday Club, and in our services when we’re all together. We don’t take them for granted, recognising that, even if our weekly numbers are a little lower than they were pre-pandemic, national church statistics show that in some areas, children in church are a bit of a rarity.

So, as well as valuing our children, we also value the volunteers who work with them in our Sunday Club. Our teams work on rota systems, aiming for a good balance between continuity of leaders and helpers on the one hand, and the opportunity for volunteers to regularly take part in the service themselves. Our volunteers show their dedication in

continually leading and assisting in age-appropriate session which engage and inspire our children, helping them to grow as followers of Jesus, usually following Scripture Union material (but sometimes coming up with their own material, or using short series from elsewhere, such as EcoChurch material). Feedback from leaders tells us that they often feel privileged to work with the children, appreciating their fun and questions, and their growing, uncomplicated faith.

There is, of course, always room for more volunteers (do let us know if you’re interested!), which means special thanks goes to our existing volunteers, when they’ve stepped up to do a few more sessions than expected, to keep the show on the road. And of course, we’re grateful to God. It’s not us that attracts children and young people to be part of Townfield – it’s God who calls. And it’s also God who provides and equips as our volunteers seek to serve God in this important work. We will be continuing to seek God’s guidance and provision in the coming year, especially as we are aware that, after the pandemic, we are seeing less new families with young children joining us on Sundays.

Al Rodgers

Little Fishes

Little fishes is St Andrew's and Townfield churches parent and carer pre school group. We meet on a Tuesday in term time and run two sessions, 9.30am and 11am. We regularly get up to 20+ children in the 1st session, the 2nd session is smaller but some people still prefer smaller numbers post covid so we haven't overly tried to promote it. The day Little Fishes is on changed this year because of a change in leader’s availability due to work, we saw smaller numbers at first but it has built up with old faces and new ones. We have ran two sessions in St Andrew's church - one at Christmas which David attended and one at Easter which Al attended. We were so encouraged to see our families enjoying being over in the church and spending time with our church leaders. Some of the changes we put in place when we opening post covid we have kept as they work well but others have slowly dropped. We have seen an increase in the team recently which has been highly encouraging from both St Andrews and Townfield church, some old faces coming back and some new ones!

The sessions consist of open play, snacks, Christian story and rhyme time with parachute games and bubbles.

We continue to pray for opportunities to show God's love and care to our community through the work of little fishes. Sarah-Joy Davies

Church Lads & Church Girls Brigade (CLCGB)

During the past year the CL&CGB have met regularly on a Thursday evening during term time. Whenever possible members have attended family services and Sunday Club. We only managed one Battalion event, being a trip to the Crazy Golf. We were able to run our Annual Camp, in Prestatyn, North Wales, where we enjoyed fun, faith and friendship. With much fundraising we were able to offer places to all that wanted to attend and were able to keep the costs as low as possible.

Our band was reformed in September and were able to parade for Remembrance Sunday. The children helped produce a decorated tree for the Christmas Tree Festival. Overall our numbers have stayed steady; with several members moving to the older Senior section we need to look at recruitment for the younger sections (ages 5-10). ‘Fight the Good Fight’ 1 Timothy 6 v12 Richie Clarke

St Andrew’s Crèche

St Andrew’s Creche continues to provide a fun space for the youngest members of our church family. We are fortunate to have many toys, puzzles and books for the children and the toy kitchen and garage continue to be big favourites. The children also helped to make lovely decorations for a tree in the Christmas Tree Festival this year which will hopefully become a new tradition.

We try to have volunteers every Sunday morning except in the Family service on the first Sunday of the month (new volunteers are always welcome). There are several families who join us regularly now and we have had a few very busy mornings during baptism services.

Lisa Ehrlich

Townfield Messy Church at St Andrew’s School

It has been great to restart Messy Church at school on a Friday at the end of the school day. Our first Messy Church was held on Dec 9th with an Advent theme, and we planned to have further events in February and March 2023 on the themes of Jesus the Good Shepherd and Holy Week/Easter. We aim to have one session each half term. We have a good team of volunteers who help with planning sessions, resourcing the activities as well as helping on the day. It has also been a joy to have two members of Amplify join our team.

I am very grateful for the support and welcome we have had from the school for Messy Church.

Judith Battersby

St Andrew’s Messy Church

We have not so far been able to restart Messy Church at St Andrew’s, due to insufficient resources. For the time being, we’re concentrating our resources on activities which have restarted but are short of leaders, including Sunday Club, Youth work and Little Fishes.

David Vestergaard

Seniors’ Hub

The Hub has not yet restarted meeting since the pandemic, but many of our activities have restarted. Updates from the various groups are included below.

Women’s Fellowship

There are currently 25 members of Women’s Fellowship and we meet every Tuesday afternoon, from 2.15pm at the church hall. We are still not at the previous capacity pre covid, but most ladies have now returned, as confidence has grown.

We have various speakers on a range of subjects, mostly with a Christian theme, with Holy Communion together twice a year. We enjoy afternoon tea at various times throughout the year, with specials such as Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee afternoon tea in June, our joint meeting with St Marks Women and Mens Fellowship in March, St Andrews school choir, quizzes, talks: The Fabulous 60’s, the Policeman on the beat and many more.

We would value prayer for younger older ladies to come along to the Fellowship for fellowship and service to the Lord and to each other and also prayer that the Lord will bless each and everyone in the Fellowship with steadfast courage, a greater knowledge and love of Him and abounding, strengthening joy in Him. Sheila Lindsay

Men’s Fellowship

The January term was attended faithfully by a small cohort of members who value companionship and the stimulation of our speakers. We welcomed new members but, inevitable, frailty and loss continue to diminish the membership. In the September term meetings were changed from Tuesday to the first Wednesday in the month, to accommodate other changes in the parish ministry. This also affected membership but has been successful.

Our group’s programme of speakers is available in church or from the office. Members from 4 Wirral churches attend regularly. All are welcome. Keith Lindsay

Monday Gang

The Monday Gang, comprising a group of retired men, both church members and from the local community, willingly give up their Monday morning to help with regular upkeep jobs and small maintenance projects on the church, churchyard, hall and other church properties.

For example, we completed the repositioning of the old Vestry Screen at the entrance to the kitchen and toilets, giving improved access particularly for wheelchair users. Outside, the graveyard, although the responsibility of the Council, requires constant attention to keep weeds, brambles and overhanging branches at bay and the footpaths clean and tidy. This is one area where we are very grateful for the help of a local resident who is very keen to help in maintaining and improving the local environment. During the year, much progress was made in rectifying damage caused by the severe storms late in 2021.

We particularly value the time, at the end of the morning, when we all come together in Church to share a cup of coffee or tea together and chat about what is going on in church, Bebington and the wider world.

All contributions are appreciated and we meet from 9.00am to 11.30am every Monday except Bank Holidays. All are welcome. Stuart Waldron

Pastoral Work

Once permission was given to be able to visit people safely after Covid, we faced the problem of too few visitors to meet the greatly increased demand that there is currently within the congregation. It was impossible to be able to visit as regularly as we would have liked to do. The work continued with visits, phone calls and Home Communions at Easter and Christmas. A request for volunteers –in October - brought a very good response and all but two of those willing to serve as visitors, have now been established with people to visit. This appears to be going very well and can only get stronger in the months ahead. Some of our older members have opted to have a regular phone call and only have a visit when Home Communion is being taken to them. The building up of the

visiting team in this way allows me to be able to meet up with other women within the congregation who may need help. Amy Haigh

Charlotte House

2022 started with covid restrictions still in place in nursing homes and we were unable to take services in person. The activities co-ordinator, Dawn, was very willing to take them and so we prepared them in PowerPoint and sent them to her every 2 weeks. We kept in touch to see how things were going generally and Dawn advised that the residents very much valued the services. It was good to be able to return in person in April though this required covid tests on the morning and face masks were required whilst in the home. Restrictions were relaxed later in the year and, although there has been the occasional 'covid hiccup' since, we have continued to take services reasonably normally. Acquiring a loud speaker before Christmas has proved a great success and numbers attending have sometimes been as high as the middle teens which is really encouraging. Having the opportunity to take part in acts of worship is still very important to many of this generation. Sandy & Carolyn Muir

Safe Harbour

Following the relaxation of pandemic restrictions, we were again invited into Safe Harbour Nursing Home to take a simple service. We are currently doing so about four times a year, led by one of the clergy, and they are greatly appreciated by the residents, who also watch our weekly 10:30am service on Youtube. If anyone would like to get involved helping with the occasional services there, please do get in touch with me. David Vestergaard

Prayer Ministry

Due to a lack of available volunteers, our prayer ministry after Sunday services did not restart during the year. Prayer support is important and powerful and we hope to be able to begin offering this again during the coming year.

We continue to operate a “prayer chain” by email, under which prayer requests can be sent out to participating church members by the Rector or the church office, and to include a list in the weekly newsletter of people in particular need of public prayer, who have asked to be supported in this way. David Vestergaard

Bereavement Team

In the past, team members have contacted the bereaved next of kin a few weeks after a funeral, to offer support by way of a telephone conversation or pastoral visit. For various reasons most of our previous team members have had to stand down, and we do not currently have sufficient volunteers to be able to offer this service. We hope to be able to do so again in the future.

We have continued our annual Thanksgiving and Memorial Service in November, which once again was well attended and appreciated by those who came. David Vestergaard

Heritage Report

Due to tour guide sickness and covid restrictions, it was not possible to open the church on a regular basis this past year.

However, the church was opened to the public on several occasions for tours and several private tours were arranged by request. We did open the church for the September Wirral Heritage Event, which was well attended and with favourable reviews from the general public. Alan Roberts

Knit and Natter

The group started up for the year on 3rd February 2022 in the church hall. After a couple of meetings we moved over into the Ormerod room for a little more comfort as there were so few of us.

As leader of the group for over 7 years the intention was to step down from leading, and was announced accordingly offering the post for someone from the group to take over leadership. Sadly no one wanted to take on the commitment.

On 12th May the last meeting was held and closed as a group. Remaining funds of £150 were donated by agreement to the St Andrews and Townfield Sunday Clubs, which was gratefully accepted.

However, following the opening of our Warm Space in November, the opportunity became available for anyone from the group to come along on a Thursday morning where one could bring knitting and enjoy mixing with other members of the community. Sylvia Roberts.

Poverty Action Group

Responding to poverty locally, nationally & internationally –

………… faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2 : 17b

Writing these reports gives a useful opportunity to recall what has been achieved during the previous twelve months and to give thanks to God for providing the group and additional volunteers, recognising that we could not have done it without him or each other.

Ukraine

A Quiz Night at St Andrew’s school was an excellent evening when £562 was raised with support from parents, Townfield and St Andrew’s churches and friends. Grateful thanks were offered to Irene at Tapleys Art shop for donating two excellent prizes which prompted the planning of the event.
A Coffee Morning raised £1,056 and a further donation of £65 was added from Little Fishes.

The question of holding raffles in the church hall was raised with the PCC who are producing guidelines.

Christian Aid

£1,449.50 was raised which included the Coffee Morning total of £430.

Hope for Justice – Tricia Migos

Tricia joined a PAG meeting and provided a helpful insight into the charity, set up in 2008 aiming to end modern day slavery. The UK Modern Slavery Act was set up in 2017 when a National Referral Mechanism was introduced in an effort to protect the most vulnerable. More information is available from their website https://hopeforjustice.org

Besom

You may already be aware of Besom a Christian charity who act as a bridge between those on The Wirral who have and those who are in need. It’s all about the giver, having a heart to give in whatever area is right for them, through donating household items, time, skills, or money. Members of both churches are very heavily involved with Besom and we thank God for all their help and support.

Jane and Gwen accepted a request to give a talk at Ladies Fellowship during September.
Small teams have given presentations recently explaining what Besom is all about at St Peter’s, Heswall, Worship on the High Street (while the new Lighthouse church is at the building stage), and during a Bel Canto concert in Bromborough.
Besom were invited to have a table at Prayer for Wirral, in Woodchurch High School at the beginning of December which was a lively and encouraging evening of worship and prayer with one or two presentations.
Lots of warehouse tidying carried out, particularly of household items, bedding, crockery, cutlery etc.
Besom was nominated by Katy, Practice Education Facilitator, The Wirral Community Health and Care NHS Foundation for their System Partner Award as a result of the support given by Besom as they welcomed international nurses onto The Wirral. The application described Besom as ‘helping hundreds of Wirral families who are in need, providing early help preventing them from getting into or supporting them out of crises’ which was both humbling and satisfying.

The project was to supply general household items along with a limited amount of furniture as unfurnished flats had been identified for the nurses and Besom was pleased to be able to help. We had not carried out such a project before (neither had they) and we found it hard work but very rewarding working together.

Demand for help comes from many agencies including Involve North West, Social Services, Housing Associations, NHS, Education, Churches and Citizens Advice Bureau. Referrals have increased considerably as we do our best to supply furniture, white goods and other household items to those in need, sometimes as they move into a flat or house often with no possessions having escaped domestic violence, as refugees or asylum seekers, or having been made homeless.

Statistics - January to December, 2022 : Referrals 655 & Givers 184

Projects - There is still the occasional request for someone to fit a curtain rail, paint a room or tidy a garden which we sadly have to decline as we currently have no one to co-ordinate project work.

Foodbank

There was a good response to the Foodbank’s ‘Harvest Shopping List’ and 260 kilos was collected between the two churches.

Christmas

Regretfully and due to a number of valid reasons, Scout & Guide Post was unable to continue offering the Wirral Christmas post service after Covid.
Toy Service, again provided an option of bringing toys or donating for PAG to buy toys and gift vouchers. £371 was collected to buy toys which along with toys donated we passed on to Ferries Families, Social Services and The Oak Project. Townfield provided an excellent response to the Forum appeal by donating hats, gloves, scarves and hygiene products.
Shoe Box Appeal, boxes were purchased, and the option given to fill and return to church or deliver personally to The Entertainer store.
We participated with a PAG Christmas Tree for the Festival.

Cost of Living/Energy Crisis

Support for living/energy crisis was considered and donations from Christmas coffee morning of £635 were divided between Ferries Families and the Neo Community, Rock Ferry. Awareness was raised to enable donations to be made to enable funds to be available for those struggling with energy bills.
Wirral Debt Agency continue to offer invaluable support to those in financial difficulty.

Warm Spaces

When this was suggested the group agreed it was something they would very much like to support with the help of sufficient volunteers. Between the two churches an amazing twenty-five responded to the appeal which resulted in having four teams of six to cover the usual four Thursdays in a month. However many enjoy the friendly, welcoming atmosphere (and possibly the toast) and come along more often. There really is a warm friendly welcome for everyone who arrives. We have sufficient volunteers who would like to continue throughout what we hope will be warmer days so watch out for the rebranding and ‘Come and See’. We indeed praise the Lord for his provision as we see the positive effect it is having particularly in the area of well being and we are very excited as we wait to see where God is leading us with this new opportunity to serve him.

Recycling

Medicine blister packs are the latest items we accept both at St Andrew’s and Townfield. St Andrew’s also accept used stamps and spectacles which can be placed in the swing bin at the back of church.

Whatever we do we do for the glory of God and in his strength.

Adrienne Smallthwaite

World Mission Support

Our established practice is to allocate a tenth of the income we receive through regular giving and one-off general gifts to supporting mission. St Andrew’s operates a Mission Committee who are responsible for recommending to the PCC the allocation of St Andrew’s share of this tithe. The PCC members for Townfield Church fulfil the same role for Townfield.

St Andrew’s Mission Committee follows the principle that work to which we are contributing should have a directly evangelistic element, although it may also include other aspects such as social action. We also aim to spread the allocation widely in terms of geographical area and type of work. Some of the organisations we support we have been giving to for very many years, others are more recent.

The committee members also each act as representatives for one of our mission partners, being responsible for communication with them and with individual supporters in the congregation, and obtaining updates for prayer and disseminating these. We also aim to welcome visits from mission partners where this is practical, or otherwise representatives share information with the congregation, in the form of a focus spot or presentation, usually covering several mission partners each year in this way.

In 2022, St Andrew’s Mission Committee gave support to the following mission partners, :

Bible Society (Rep – Martin Heale) – promoting access to the Bible worldwide – translating and distributing the Bible in different countries, and providing resources and events to promote the Bible in the UK.
CPAS (Church Pastoral Aid Society) (Rep – Helen Thomas) – providing children’s & youth camps, teaching & leadership resources and training for churches, and acting as Patrons for many C of E churches
Anglican Province (formerly Diocese) of Chile (Rep – Amy Haigh) – towards support for the ministry of Alex Cordova, planting a new congregation in San Pedro Church, Concepcion.
CMJ (the Church’s Ministry amongst Jewish People) (Rep – David Halliday) – working amongst Jews, Muslims and others in the Middle East and the UK to share and promote understanding of the Christian faith.
Crosslinks (Rep – Vacant) – to support the work of Jomo Nderitu, the Diocesan Youth Coordinator for Marsabit Diocese in Kenya.
Wirral Youth for Christ (Rep – Christopher Jarvis) – taking the gospel to young people across the Wirral through work in schools, in partnership with churches including ourselves.
Barnabas Aid (Rep – Rachel Lindsay) – working to support persecuted Christians around the world and lobbying on their behalf, raising awareness of persecution and seeking action.

Ferries Family Groups (Rep – Wendy Doran) – contributing towards the costs of their office base and their staffing, facilitating their work with and witness to families in need of support in various ways.
St Catherine’s Church, Tranmere (Rep – David Vestergaard) – towards their employment of a young people and families worker.

During the year, we had visits from David Dean of Barnabas Aid, and James Lawrence of CPAS, who both spoke at Sunday morning services. We pray for our mission partners at some of the weekly zoom prayer meetings.

If you would like to receive news updates on one or more partners, please contact the church office. If you are interested in serving as a mission rep for one of the partners, please speak to me.

Our thanks are due to the Mission Committee for their service.

David Vestergaard

St. Andrew’s C.E (Aided) Primary School

In 2022 we have, once again, seen a close and fruitful relationship between our churches and St Andrew’s school. That’s seen in many different ways.

We share opportunities to worship together, with school Christmas and Easter services being held in St Andrew’s church, weekly involvement of the churches in Collective Worship, and for the first time in 2022, a Communion service being held in school attended by Key Stage 2 and some members of Townfield (this enabled children to not only learn about Communion in theory, but also to see what a Communion service is actually like).

Members of both churches continue to serve as Governors, which is a privilege as well as a responsibility, drawing on the professional and life-experiences of members of our church communities.

Townfield was delighted to be able to re-start Messy Church in school at the end of the autumn term (meeting once per half term, after school on a Friday, for craft, fun, food, and an act of worship), with encouraging numbers attending, despite the Covidenforced break!

And, of course, Townfield meets weekly in the school buildings, and is hugely grateful for the enthusiastic encouragement that Mrs Lamkin and the school staff give (with special thanks for them being so accommodating when we asked if we could set up a large baptism pool one Sunday last spring!).

As we reported last year, the pandemic has changed some of the ways in which we, as churches, previously were able to support the school community (for example, there is no longer an opportunity to run a creche during parents’ evenings, and Toast Club no longer meets). But there are still opportunities to be involved, with school launching a Vision Volunteers scheme. So if you think you might be able to help with things like the library, art & music, extra-curricular clubs, hospitality, fundraising, the environment,

educational visits, reading or charity events, do visit the school website to find out more: https://standrews.wirral.sch.uk/volunteer/

Al Rodgers

Deanery Synod

In February 2022 at St Marys Upton, we heard from three Mission examples – Andy Greenhough from St Marks New Ferry who described work via the Wirral Gospel Partnership dating from 2010 Life Mission and 2014 mission with Roger Carswell to Passion for Life with Glen Scrivener (speaklife.org.uk). One thing that came out was presenting the Gospel and letting Jesus change lives. Next we heard from Moira Barber of St Marys Upton about CAP(Christians against Poverty) drawing its inspiration from Isaiah & Luke 4 of preaching the good news to the poor. CAP traces its roots back to the 1990s starting in Bradford and now has 300 centres in the UK. St Marys set up a link 10 years ago and does workshops on various practical matters where volunteers get trained up. We also had a presentation by our very own David Vestergaard on the work done through Christmas Journey and Easter Journey events over the last few years as well as being involved with the local schools and mission events.

In June 2022 at St Johns Meols, we met with Jonny Masterson the diocesan adviser for Youth, Children’s and Family work as we considered the Growing Faith Adventure. In this we looked at how to reach out to children and young people. Children’s Ministry was viewed as important ( in a diocese where 65% of churches have 5 children or less in their Sunday clubs – bear in mind we had just come out of a pandemic situation). We also broke up into smaller groups to look at how we bring young people into church and the Kingdom. We also need to reflect on what works and doesn’t work in reaching young people. We were also encouraged/challenged to be a light in our communities and go where children and young people are.

In October 2022 St Marys community church building hosted an event in which we were encouraged to consider environmental matters. We had a brief presentation from Rev Joe Kennedy from St Saviours Oxton the area coordinator of the diocesan environmental forum – we were reminded that subdue and dominion meant careful service not exploitation. At that same meeting we heard from Faiths4Change (Zarah and Annie) who outlined the need for a drive towards zero carbon by 2030(a target set by Church of England). As part of this various audits need doing of our carbon footprint including buildings – clergy housing as well as other buildings would be looked at throughout 2023/2024. Faiths 4 change (faiths4change.org.uk) had already engaged with Liverpool diocese with its 120 schools and 224 churches. One church referred to in Liverpool diocese was St James (Grade 1 listed).

In November we hosted a presentation by Richard Mawdsley from Peel Land and Property a private plc involved in regeneration in Birkenhead. This was Peels opportunity to follow examples of port redevelopment like Salford Quays. Port decline is not unique to Liverpool and it showed how Rotterdam, Hamburg and Bristol have managed to change in spite of port decline. Chester diocese has put forward some input for a church presence in this regeneration area not necessarily tied to buildings. Elsewhere in Area Deanery, we welcomed Rev Brian Bell to St Andrew West Kirby and Rev Chris Slater to Barnston & Pensby. We now have a new chair – our own David Halliday.

Here endeth the report from an area which has 14 parishes with 21 places of worship.

Chris Jackson

Conroy Trust

The Conroy Trust was established in 1873 to benefit the poor of the Parish of Bebington, as defined by the then parish boundaries. These boundaries include St Andrews Bebington, St Marks, New Ferry and Holy Trinity, Poulton.

The management of the Trust is overseen by between three and five trustees. The Trustees during the year were David Vestergaard, Chairperson, Alan McGraa, Betty Cartwright, Beryl Lord and Maureen Preston, with both Beryl and Maureen retiring this year leaving two vacancies to be filled at this year’s APCM.

A report on their management is presented to the annual general meeting of the parishioners and this report is for 2022

The management has the power to appoint new trustees when the occasion arises and the appointment process is conducted by a majority vote.

2022 Financial Statement

The summary income and expenditure for 2022 was as follows:

2022 2021 Income from Investments 6645 6410 Expenditure on grants 10894 7572 Surplus/Deficit -4248 -1162 During the year we have again managed to support the work of: Ferries Family Group Wirral Foodbank Life Church Bebington – Youth Hub CLCGB St Andrews Youth Weekend Along with some individual grants.

Expenditure during the year was in excess of the current years income, with the trustees wishing to utilise some accumulated reserves to boost the assistance they can give as much as possible.

As at 31[st] December 2022 the value of funds under management stood at £235,475, compared to £269709 in 2021. Apart from a current account held at HSBC all investments are held

with CCLA Investment Management Ltd, with the largest portion being a stock market investment

which was down by approx..£29,000 as at the balance sheet date, in line with general stock market valuations in the final quarter of 2022.

A modest grant can be awarded to anyone in the parish who is experiencing financial hardship, with Grants also available to be awarded to charitable organisations within the parish who are working to help the poor of the parish. Anyone interested in discussing grants should in first instance refer to the chair of the management, Rev David Vestergaard.

Secretary to the Trustees Bryan Higgins

In Memoriam

During the year we said a sad farewell to the following members of our congregation:

David Allsop Iris Bradley Hazel Eyres David Renison Alan Rigby Eirlys Tripp Enid Walker

Welcome

We were delighted to celebrate the birth of:

Theo Silver

Minutes of the Meeting of Parishioners held on the 24 May 2022 at St Andrew’s, Bebington, church hall and online via Zoom at 7.55pm

Present: The Rector, the Reverend David Vestergaard in the Chair, and 51 Parishioners and members of the electoral roll.

The meeting opened with an act of worship and a reading from Jeremiah 17

2. Apologies for absence

Apologies for their inability to attend were received from Karen Davies, Jenny Jackson, Sue Kennaugh, Mavis Nicholson, Beryl Parker, Callum Peters, Ann Shevlin, Mike Shevlin, Geoff Stone, Ash Vestergaard, Stuart Waldron and Val Waldron

3. Minutes of the meeting of 25 May 2021

The minutes, having been previously circulated were, following a proposal by Amy Haigh and being seconded by Viv Halliday, signed as being a true record.

4. Election of Wardens

Viv Halliday and Kate Butler were both willing to stand for another year and were both duly elected unopposed with all in favour.

The Rector thanked them for being willing to stand again, and for all their work.

5. Receipt of the Conroy Trust Report

Having been printed in the Annual Report, the report was duly received based on a proposal from Viv Halliday, seconded by Chris Jackson; with all in favour.

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 8.10pm.

Minutes of the APCM

held on the 24 May 2022 at St Andrew’s, Bebington church hall and online via Zoom at 8.10pm

Present: The Rector, the Reverend David Vestergaard in the Chair, and 51 Parishioners and members of the electoral roll.

1. Apologies for absence

2. Minutes of the meeting of 25 May 2021

The minutes, having been previously circulated were, following a proposal by David Halliday and being seconded by Wendy Doran, signed as being a true record.

3. Electoral Roll Report

The report was given by the Electoral Roll Secretary, Alison Collins. The number on the roll as 24 May 2022 was 338. This was a fall of 10 from last year’s roll – consisting of 19 omissions and 9 additions. The Rector expressed his thanks to Alison for her work. The report was accepted on a proposal by Kate Butler, seconded by Jane Bozier; with all in favour.

4. Receipt of the Annual Report

The Annual Report was received. It had been printed in advance of the meeting and gave reports from the Rector; Townfield Church; Wardens; Safeguarding; Treasurer; Youth, Children & Families and Seniors Hubs; Poverty Action Group; World mission support; St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School; Deanery Synod; Conroy Trust; and the activities of the Parochial Church Council.

The receipt of the Rector’s, the Wardens Report, the PCC Report, Townfield, Safeguarding, the Deanery Synod Report, and the Treasurer’s Report were accepted en bloc on a proposal by Laurence Bozier, seconded by Alison Collins; with all in favour.

The Treasurer’s report was given by Bryan Higgins. The figures as shown within the annual report were explained in some greater detail. He highlighted that, as of the 31 December 2021, the total assets of the church came to £833,531 but a majority of this figure is our church buildings. Total income for the year was £300,838 and total expenditure was £315,437 – the expenditure figure includes payment for items for which money would already have been collected.

Total monies received through regular giving and legacies in the year was £284,418 but budgets were balanced due to reduced expenditure during the year.

He highlighted the importance of Gift Aid, which this year accounted for £43,397.

Our cash in bank is £172,456 which is broken down into various smaller pots earmarked for funds towards a Children’s and families worker, lighting and £60,000 held in reserve as best practice to be able to meet two months’ worth of expenditure.

For information, our giving outside the parish was £29,500; and our Parish Share cost was £134,453. Expenditure also included £104,000 on church buildings, but this included £77,000 paid towards the lighting project.

Looking towards the end of the year, he indicated that without increasing our giving there is the potential for a £30,000 deficit. He noted that contributions from parishioners who had left or died during the past year amounted to around £2200 per month – quite a considerable sum.

The Rector extended his thanks to Bryan, and to Libby Higgins, for their work on the accounts throughout the year.

The meeting was happy to receive the accounts.

5. Appointment of Independent Examiner

Mike Forshaw was appointed as Independent Examiner on a proposal by Chris Jackson, seconded by Viv Halliday; with all in favour.

6. Election to the Deanery Synod

There were no nominations this time. The vacant position can be filled during the year.

7. Election to the PCC

There were 4 St Andrew’s spaces available for the PCC and 4 nominations. There was 1 Townfield place available on the PCC and 1 nomination. Therefore, to the PCC were elected Bryan Higgins, Caroline Adamson, Stuart Waldron, Sue Kennaugh and (for Townfield) Sharon Mason.

All were elected unopposed. The Rector extended his thanks to those willing to stand, and to those already on PCC and Deanery councils.

8. Rector’s report

The Rector started his report with some bad news – the latest Quinquennial report runs to 116 pages, showing the extent of the works required to the spire. He highlighted by presentation some of the issues to be faced including, missing meshes and louvres, eroded sills, required pointing and internal supports. Prior to lockdown we had received a quote of around £140,000 but expect this to rise in the current economic situation. It is our intention to work directly with the contractor who undertook the recent works to the roof due to their high standard of work and expect our QS to ensure we receive good value for money.

The good news: the legacy we’ve received of around £500,000 means we can do the works and pay for the completion of the external light project. The Rector addressed why were still worrying about a deficit in the accounts if we have this legacy. Essentially, long term, we need to ensure expenditure is covered by normal income because legacies and donations cannot be guaranteed year-to-year. He recognised this

is a tricky situation with the current cost of living crisis but encouraged all members to review their giving.

The PCC have set up a working group to look at priority areas for the legacy money and they’ve identified the spire, lighting and making a difference to the church’s mission in the community. Before covid, the PCC had agreed to fund a children and families worker. We have £40,000 set aside and the intention was to ask the congregation to contribute. However, this is no longer necessary. We will invest some of the legacy money to fund a 5-year post. We are a smaller congregation now with fewer volunteers. A new leader for the C&F ministry will give us more time to cover all areas of mission. For information, the job description and advert will be done over the next few months, and we hope to have the right person in position by the new year.

We were also able to support St Andrew’s school. As it’s a church aided school the governors are required to find 10% of any building repair & improvement costs. Phase 1 of a 3 phase renovation project has been completed and with phase 2 expected to be around £500,000 the donation of £40,000 means the work can go ahead when the diocese releases the rest of the funds.

Any other uses for the legacy will be looked at over time rather than rushing into any decision.

The Rector expressed his thanks – not individually because names sometimes get missed – to the many people who make our church what it is. We have come through a difficult period because of the work put in by staff and large number of volunteers.

9. Minister for Townfield

Revd. Al Rodgers reported on the works of Townfield church. He noted that 2021 had not been as they’d hoped – ‘a funny sort of a year.’

Covid had affected Townfield: it meant they weren’t able to worship at St Andrews School until October and meeting in the church hall – for which he extended his thanks to St Andrew’s for allowing the use of – meant only a third of the congregation were able to meet in person. A team of 29 volunteers came forward to help clean the school hall to enable Townfield to meet in the school once again and he noted that the services are busier than they have been for some time.

They are still trying to work through the effects of covid – things are not as they should be. They feel there is still a long way to go of prayerful work together.

He noted they are about to start on a refocus of their vision – covid has meant that focus has very much been on the short-term but now is the time to grow in at least one area of their vision.

He expressed a huge thank you to Townfield. Historically Townfield never had their own budget, but this has been reassessed over the last couple of years. Not having a budget of their own has meant they have been unable to set goals for the likes of their giving. Once a target had been set, they aimed for a 6.5% increase in giving – they got 13.7%. This was the fifth consecutive year Townfield have increased their giving meaning they could meet over 95% of expected expenditure from their own giving.

The Rector thanked Revd. Al and spoke of how it was encouraging to hear of how well Townfield were doing.

10.Youth report

Chris Jarvis reported that although the pandemic did have an impact, youth work was classed as an essential area and made meeting in person possible from Easter. Some members left during lockdown, but Chris noted that they were engaged with around 30 families over the two churches and youth work is growing rather than receding. They are working on a new mission statement, which is in the early stages but will have more to report over the next few months.

Ongoing groups include bible study groups during the week, and Fridays have the social meeting and youth band practice. He has now been allowed back into schools to continue his work there and reported that generally, things are close to where they were pre-covid. He appealed for more volunteers: to relieve those already volunteering, but also to provide differing voices and points of view.

He hoped to undertake a charity event soon – noting that they were about to do one just as covid struck.

The Rector expressed his thanks to Chris for all his work.

11.Discussion and Questions

There were none forthcoming.

12. Any other Business

For information, at their last meeting, the PCC approved the continued ministry of Amy Haigh and Judith Battersby. They Rector expressed his particular thanks to them for their ministry.

There being no further business, the meeting closed with a prayer at 9.05pm.

The Charity Registration Number is :- 01130323

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington

Report and Accounts

31 December 2022

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington

Report and accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022

	Page
Charity information		1
Trustees' Annual Report		1
Statement of directors' responsibilities		7
Independent Examiner's Report		8
*Funds Statements:-*
Statement of Financial Activities		10
Statement of Financial Activities - Prior Year statement		11
Statement of total recognised gains and losses		12
Movements in funds		12
Balance sheet		13
Notes to the accounts		14

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington Trustees' Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2022

The Trustees present their Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022.

Reference and administrative details

The charity name.

The legal name of the charity is:- The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington. The charity is also known by its operating name, Bebington Parish Church, St Andrews' and Townfield Churches.

The charity's areas operation and UK charitable registration.

The charity is registered in England & Wales with the Charity Commission in England & Wales (CCEW) with charity number 01130323.

The charity does not operate in any overseas jurisdictions.

Legal structure of the charity

The charity is constituted as an unincorporated charity, established by Trust Deed. The governing document of the charity is the Trust Deed establishing the charity.

The governing document is dated 24 June 2009

There are no restrictions in the governing documents on the operation of the Charity or on its investment powers other than those imposed by Charity Law.

The trustees are all individuals.

The principal operating address, telephone number, email and web addresses of the charity are:-

St Andrew's Church Hall

Highcroft Ave, Bebington Wirral, CH63 3EZ Telephone 01516456478

Email Address office@standrewsbebington.org.uk Web address www.standrewsbebington.org.uk

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington Trustees' Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2022

The Trustees in office on the date the report was approved were:- Appointed Chris Jackson Al Rodgers David Halliday David Vestergaard Ian Halliday Ian Swindlehurst Judith Battersby Kate Muskett Mike Ludbrook Carol Parry Caloline Adamson Val Waldron Bryan Higgins Sharon Mason Callum Peters Nathan Storm Wendy Doran Colette Owen Viv Halliday Simon Jones Kate Butler 25/05/2022 Sue Kennaugh 25/05/2022 Stuart Waldron 25/05/2022

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington Trustees' Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2022

Objects and activities of the charity

The purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document.

Promoting in the ecclesiastical parish the whole mission of the Church.

The main activities undertaken in relation to those purposes during the year.

We have run church services each Sunday for St Andrew’s and Townfield churches. Pandemic restrictions having been lifted, services were able to take place normally all through the year, but the main service at each church, and some seasonal services, were also livestreamed each Sunday for the benefit of those unable to be present in person. Most of our other regular activities ran through the year, including Little Fishes (carer & baby/toddler group), Children’s groups, Youth groups and activities, Women’s and Men’s Fellowships, prayer events, and hosting & supporting the Church Lads & Church Girls Brigade and Guides, Brownies and Rainbows. Some activities restarted during the year, including house groups. Some activities such as Alpha/Enquirers’ courses and prayer meetings have been able to take place either in person or online or a combination of the two. We have not to date restarted some previous activities, including Messy Church and weekly evening services, due to reduced resources.

The main activities undertaken during the year to further the charity's purpose for the public benefit.

Activities ordinarily carried out and serving the local community include Weddings, Baptisms and Funerals; Marriage Preparation; Baptism Preparation; Bereavement Ministry; Youth activities, Little Fishes Carer & Baby/Toddler Group; school assemblies; Christmas and Easter school services; services in nursing homes and sheltered accommodation; special Community Events such as Christmas Journey and Easter Journey; and hosting and supporting Guiding groups and other community groups. All of these were able to take place during the year.

We have also undertaken financial giving and prayer support for Mission and Christian organisations and activities locally and around the world, promoting in the ecclesiastical parish the whole mission of the Church.

The Trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit in managing the activities of the charity.

The trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit in managing the activities of the charity.

The main achievements and performance of the charity during the year.

Average Sunday attendance is much harder to measure, because a proportion of the congregation join online and online viewing figures are difficult to analyse. We estimate typical Sunday ‘attendance’, including online, in church when permitted, and by cd/dvd as approx. 250 including children. As for most churches, this represents a reduction from pre=pandemic figures (our 2019 total was approximately 324); 2020 & 2021 were extremely difficult to calculate with any accuracy due to extended periods of worship being wholly or mainly online.

Our best estimates are that there were 61 who left the congregations (7 by death), and approximately 35 who joined (adults and children). Many of those whom we have classed as left are people who have not returned since the pandemic. The number of people joining, including a significant number of children, is an achievement in this time. We have also retained many of our families, children and young people, despite the extended period without in person provision during the pandemic.

During the year the parish conducted 19 funerals, 3 weddings, and 13 baptisms. We were unable to resource our usual large event at Easter, but did manage to do so (on a slightly smaller scale) at Christmas, and connected with many people through our online ministry.

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington

Trustees' Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2022

The difference the charity's performance during the year has made to the beneficiaries of the charity.

Benefits from the activities listed above have included faith development, spiritual and pastoral support, personal encouragement, development of gifts and experience, friendship and companionship, and meeting a range of needs for all ages.

The degree to which the achievements and performance during the year have benefited wider society.

The activities listed above have provided a wide range of public benefit including faith exploration, spiritual support, pastoral care, provision of services and care for needs at key life moments, and services to local schools.

Structure, governance and management of the charity

The methods used to recruit and appoint new charity trustees.

Decisions are made by the PCC in collaboration with the Clergy and Staff team, and working through subcommittees and together with volunteer leaders for groups and activities. The PCC meets at least 6 times a year in formal meetings of the Council, with additional meetings as necessary. In order to organise its affairs effectively during 2022, the PCC operated the following subcommittees and working groups: St Andrew’s Church, Townfield Church, Standing; Finance & Fabric; Youth Hub; Evangelism; Missionary; Poverty Action Group; Evening Services; Legacy planning; Maintenance Team. The Children and Families Hub and Seniors Hub still exist but did not need to meet during the year.

Bankers HSBC Bank plc - 58 Bromborough Village Road, Bromborough, Wirral, CH62 7ET Architects Bryan Martin BA, Dip Arch, RIBA, AABC, Architect, 36 Banbury Lane, Byfield, Northamptonshire, NN11 6UX Surveyors Gordon Cain, Quantity Surveyor, Rose Cottage, 13 Spring Lane, Kenilworth, CV8 2HB Accountants (payroll) KBH Accountants Ltd. 255 Poulton Road, Wallasey, Wirral, CH44 4BT (Independent examiner) Haines Watts Chartered Accountants, 3rd Floor, Pacific Chambers, Victoria St, Liverpool, L2 5QQ

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington

Trustees' Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2022

Financial review

The charity's financial position at the end of the year ended 31 December 2022

The financial position of the charity at 31 December 2022 and comparatives for the prior period, as more fully detailed in the accounts, can be summarised as follows:-

Total Funds Unrestricted Revenue Funds available for the general purposes of the charity Net income	2022 £ 430,695 1,264,226 1,264,226	2021 £ (32,141) 833,531 833,531

Financial review of the position at the reporting date, 31 December 2022 .

Our total income for the year was £756,728 and our total expenditure £326,033 giving an accounting surplus of £430,695

During 2022 our financial position has indicated that normal running costs are generally on budget, despite a fall in planned giving due to the pandemic, but alleviated by a corresponding reduction in expenditure on church activities due to periods of closure.

The trustees consider the financial performance of the charity to be satisfactory.

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington

Trustees' Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2022

Policies on reserves.

It is PCC policy to maintain a balance on unrestricted funds which equates to approximately two months' unrestricted payments in addition to £20,000 to cover emergency situations which may arise from time to time. At 31 December 2022 unrestricted reserves amounted £1,264,226 (2021 - £833,531) of which £80,000 of general cash balances were held to meet this policy.

Availability and adequacy of assets of each of the funds

The board of trustees is satisfied that the charity's assets in each fund are available and adequate to fulfil its obligations in respect of each fund.

Details of The Independent Examiner

Mr Michael Forshaw FCA

Haines Watts Chartered Accountants 3rd Floor, Pacific Chambers Victoria Street Liverpool Merseyside L2 5QQ

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington Trustees, Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2022 Statement of Trustees. Responsibilitles The chanly's trusiees are responsible lor the preparabon ol the accounts In accordance with Ihe terms of the Chanties Act 2011 and the Chanlie5 (Accounts and Reports) R8gulabons 2008. Notwithstanding the explicit reou1refflenl in the 8Xtanl statutory regulalions.the chanb.es (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. to prepare the financi81 statements In accordance with the SORP 2005, in view of the fact that the SORP 2005 has been withdrawn, the Tru5tee5 determined lo interpret this responsibility as requiring Ih8m lo follow current besl practice and Pfepare the accounts according to the FRS 102 SORP Islaiement of Recommended Practice for Accounting and Reporting by charlIe$l 2015. las amended by the Bulletin Issued In October 2018 and applicabl8 10 811 accounting periods beginning on or after 1st January 20191, (The SORPI, . In particular. charity law qUireS the Trustees, if they prepare accounts on an èccruals basis. lo prepa financial stslernents for each fin8ncial year which give a te aTrd fair view of the stale of affairs of the charty as at the end ol the financial year and of the surplus or defieil of the chanty. In preparing those financial slaternenls the Trustees are required lo to prepare the accounts in accordanc8 Wth United Kingdom Gènerally Accepted Accountin9 Practice (United KingfJom Accounting Standards and applicable lawl. select suitable accounting policies and apply Ihem consistently", make judgernents and estimates that are reasonable and prudent., prepare the financial slal8m8nls on the going concern basis un185s Il is inappropriat8 to presume that the charity will continue In busines5'. state Ntrhelher applicable accounting standarLls antj statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explainetl in the financial stslemeTIts,' The law requires that the trustees must not approv8 th8 accounts unless they are satlsfied that they giv8 8 true and fair view of trhe slate of affaits of the charity and ot the surplus or deficit of the charity for the year. The Trustees are also sponsible for maintaining aoequalè accounting records which disclose with r8asonable accuracy 81 any time the financial position of the chanty and which are sufficient lo show and explain the charitys transaction5 and enable Ihern lo ensur8 that the financial statements wmply with regulations made under the Charitses Act 2011. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets ol Ihe charity 8nd hen¢e for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection ol fraud and other Irregularibes. The Trustees are a150 responsible for the contents of the Trustees, report, and the statutory responsibility ol the Independent Examiner in relation to the Tru5tees' report Is limited to exatnining the report and ensuring that . on Ihe lace of the rewrt. there are no material inconsistencies with the figures disclosed in the financial statements. This report s approved by the board of trustees on 2023. MR BRYAN HIGGINS Twslee

Report of the Independent Examiner to the Trustees of the charity on the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022

I report to the Trustees on my examination of the financial statements of the charity on pages 10 to 29 for the year ended 31 December 2022 which have been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 (the Act) and with the Financial Reporting Standard 102, (effective 1st January 2016) adapted to meet the needs of unincorporated organisations, as modified by FRS 102 SORP (Statement of Recommended Practice for Accounting and Reporting by Charities) 2015, (as amended by the Bulletin issued in October 2018 and applicable to all accounting periods beginning on or after 1st January 2019), (The SORP), published by the Charity Commission in England & Wales (CCEW), and under the historical cost convention and the accounting policies set out on page 14.

Respective responsibilities of the Trustees and the Independent Examiner and the basis of the report

As described on page 7, you, the charity's Trustees, are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 and all other applicable law and with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice, applicable to smaller entities, and for being satisfied that the financial statements give a true and fair view.

The Trustees consider that the audit requirement of Section 144(1) of the Charities Act 2011 (the Act) does not apply, and that there is no requirement in the Governing Document for the conducting of an audit. As a consequence, the Trustees have elected that the financial statements be subject to independent examination.

Having satisfied myself that the financial statements are not required to be audited under any legal provision, or otherwise, and are eligible for independent examination, it is my responsibility to:-

a) examine the financial statements of the charity under Section 145 of the Act;

b) follow the applicable procedures in the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Basis of Independent Examiner's Statement and scope of work undertaken

Since the charity's gross income exceeded £250,000, the charity's examiner must be a member of a body listed in section 145 of the Act. I confirm that I am qualified to undertake the examination because I am an authorised member of Chartered Accountants , which is one of the listed bodies.

I report in respect of my examination of the charity's financial statements carried out under s145 of the Act. In carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act setting out the duties of an independent examiner in relation to the conducting of an independent examination. An independent examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and of the accounting systems employed by the charity and a comparison of the financial statements presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the financial statements, and seeking explanations from you, as Trustees, concerning such matters. The purpose of the examination is to establish as far as possible that there have been no breaches of charity legislation and that, on a test basis of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures made, the financial statements comply with the SORP.

The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and information supplied by the Trustees in the course of the examination is not subjected to audit tests or enquiries and does not cover all the matters that an auditor would consider in arriving at an opinion. The planning and conduct of an audit goes beyond the limited assurance that an independent examination can provide

Consequently, I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the financial statements, and in particular, I express no opinion as to whether the financial statements give a true and fair view of the affairs of the charity, and my report is limited to the matters set out in the statement below.

I planned and performed my examination so as to satisfy myself that the objectives of the independent examination are achieved and before finalising the report I obtained written assurances from the Trustees of all material matters.

Independent Examiner's Statement, Report and Opinion

Subject to the limitations upon the scope of my work as detailed above, I have completed my examination: and can confirm that:-

The gross income of the charity in the year ended 31 December 2022 appears to exceed the sum specified in Section 145(3) of the Act, namely £250000, and that I am qualified to act as Independent Examiner in accordance with that section by virtue of my being a qualified member of Chartered Accountants ;

This is a report in respect of an examination carried out under 145 of the Act and in accordance with Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act which may be applicable;

and that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:-

accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by with Section 130 of The Charities Act 2011;

the financial statements do not accord with those records; or

the financial statements do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair' view, which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination;

have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles set out in the FRS 102 SORP (Statement of Recommended Practice for Accounting and Reporting by Charities) 2015, (as amended by the Bulletin issued in October 2018 and applicable to all accounting periods beginning on or after 1st January 2019), (The SORP).

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the financial statements to be reached.

Mr Michael Forshaw FCA - Independent Examiner

Haines Watts Chartered Accountants 3rd Floor, Pacific Chambers Victoria Street Liverpool Merseyside L25QQ

This report was signed on 11 May 2023

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington - Statemen Financial Activities for the year ended 31 December 2022

Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 December 2022

Current year Unrestricted Funds 2022 £ Income & Endowments from: Donations & Legacies A1 733,917 Charitable activities A2 12,587 Investments A4 10,224 Total income A 756,728 Expenditure on: Charitable activities B2 326,033 Total expenditure B 326,033 Net income for the year 430,695 Transfers between funds C - Net income after transfers A-B-C 430,695 430,695 Reconciliation of funds:- E Total funds brought forward 833,531 Total funds carried forward 1,264,226 SORP Ref Net movement in funds	Current year Restricted Funds 2022 £ - - - - - - - - - - - -	Current year Endowment Funds 2022 £ - - - - - - - - - - - -	Current year Total Funds 2022 £ 733,917 12,587 10,224 756,728 326,033 326,033 430,695 - 430,695 430,695 833,531 1,264,226

The 'SORP Ref' indicated above is the classification of income set out in the formal SORP documents. As req paragraph 4.60 of the SORP, the brought forward and carried forward funds above have been agreed to the Sheet.

A separate Statement of Total Recognised Gains and Losses is not required as this statement includes all re gains and losses.

All activities derive from continuing operations

The notes attached on pages 14 to 29 form an integral part of these accounts.

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington - Statemen Financial Activities for the year ended 31 December 2022

Income & Endowments from: Donations & Legacies A1 Charitable activities A2 Investments A4 Total income A Expenditure on: Charitable activities B2 Total expenditure B Net income for the year Transfers between funds C Net income after transfers Reconciliation of funds:- E Total funds brought forward Total funds carried forward Net movement in funds SORP Ref	Prior Year Unrestricted Funds 2021 £ 284,418 8,424 7,996 300,838 332,979 332,979 (32,141) - (32,141) (32,141) 865,672 833,531	Prior Year Restricted Funds 2021 £ - - - - - - - - - - - -	Prior Year Endowment Funds 2021 £ - - - - - - - - - - - -	Prior Year Total Funds 2021 £ 284,418 8,424 7,996 300,838 332,979 332,979 (32,141) - (32,141) (32,141) 865,672 833,531

All activities derive from continuing operations

The notes attached on pages 14 to 29 form an integral part of these accounts.

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington - Statemen Financial Activities for the year ended 31 December 2022

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington - Resource in the year ended 31 December 2022 towards fixed assets for Charity use:-

Funds generated in the year as detailed in the SOFA Net resources available to fund charitable activities	2022 £ 430,695 430,695

The resources applied on fixed assets for charity use represents the cost of additions less procee disposals.

The notes attached on pages 14 to 29 form an integral part of these accounts.

Movements in revenue and capital funds for the year ended 31 December 2022

Revenue accumulated funds

Unrestricted Restricted Funds Funds 2022 2022 £ £ Accumulated funds brought forward 833,531 - 430,695 - 1,264,226 - (From)/To unrestricted revenue funds - - Closing revenue funds 1,264,226 - Summary of funds Unrestricted Restricted and Funds Designated funds 2022 2022 £ £ Revenue accumulated funds 1,264,226 - Recognised gains and losses before transfers	Endowment Funds 2022 £ - - - - - Endowment Funds 2022 £ -	Total Funds 2022 £ 833,531 430,695 1,264,226 - 1,264,226 Total Funds 2022 £ 1,264,226

The notes attached on pages 14 to 29 form an integral part of these accounts.

The Parochlal Church Council of the Ecrle$iastical Parlsh of Beblngton- Balance Sheet as at 31 SORP Note Rel 2022 2021 Flxèd ass•ts Tangible assrf$ 10 A2 655,132 855.132 Tot91f• a$$•ts 655,132 655,132 Current •s$ets Debtors Investments as ¢Jrreni aststtts Cash at bènk and In hand 11 B2 12 B3 24,299 100,000 496,974 24.312 172,456 Total current a$sgts 621.273 1%,768 Creditors.. amounts falllng due wlthln one year 13 C1 118.3691 Net current ass•ts 609.094 178,399 Tho total npta6$ets of the charlty 1.264.226 833,531 The total net assets of the charty are fuThdod bythp funds of th• charlty, as follo:. UDretsiricted Revenue Funds Unrestricted RevaluBbon ReSee 17 D3 17 D4 1.264.228 833,531 1.264,228 1,264,22S 833.531 832.531 Totsi charty fund¥ The'SORP Ref indKated abDve Lq the cl8ssificain of Balance Sheet items as 5eloutin lttefomal SORP documents. As required by paragraph 4.60 ofth& SORP. the chIf0$r and IDWdrd funds above have bBen agreed tothe SOFA. TN8tees a(DowgE ItrRir sponsIbl11S forcomptyinowiih requiromtrnls Dfthanty legrs181K)n with respecttoxcounliw records and the weparatk)n ofa¢counts. The charrty Is subject to Independent Examinabon under charity legIaOn. and the reFryYtof the Independent Examiner 15 on page g. The Trustees are $811$fied thai, athough the charty Is not registered er Ihe CompaniesActs, if Ilwere so feg151ered. ilwould be digible to prre accounts in accordance with the proonS Part 15 of the Compgnies AGI 2006. appliCae to companEs S ie¢ito small CDmwies reoime. REV DAVID VESTERGAARD Tnjstee Approved by Ihe tRxrd of Irustses on £1 2023 Th• noto5 attach9d on pages 14to 29 lorrn an Int•gr*l part of thEsE accounts. 13

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington

Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022

1 Accounting policies

Policies relating to the production of the accounts.

Basis of preparation and accounting convention

The accounts have been prepared on the accruals basis, under the historical cost convention, and in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard 102, (effective 1st January 2016) and 'FRS 102 SORP (Statement of Recommended Practice for Accounting and Reporting by Charities) 2015, (as amended by the Bulletin issued in October 2018 and applicable to all accounting periods beginning on or after 1st January 2019), (The SORP), published by the Charity Commission in England & Wales (CCEW) , effective January 2016, , and in accordance with all applicable law in the charity's jurisdiction of registration, except that the charity has prepared the financial statements in accordance with the FRS 102 SORP (Statement of Recommended Practice for Accounting and Reporting by Charities) 2015, (as amended by the Bulletin issued in October 2018 and applicable to all accounting periods beginning on or after 1st January 2019), (The SORP), in preference to the previous SORP, the SORP 2005, which has been withdrawn, notwithstanding the fact that the extant statutory regulations, the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 refer explicitly to the SORP 2005. This has been done to accord with current best practice.

Going Concern

The charitable activities are entirely dependent on continuing grant aid and voluntary donations as well as trading revenues. As a consequence, the going concern basis is dependent on the future flow of these uncertain funding streams. Accordingly, the Trustees have obtained forecasts and, after reviewing the financial forecasts for future periods to 31 December 2020, the Trustees are satisfied that, at the time of approving the financial statements, it is appropriate to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements. Other than these matters, the Trustees are not aware of any material uncertainites about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern.

Risks and future assumptions

The charity is a public benefit entity.

"Major risks for the PCC are curently either financial or property related. Key risks:

Income fails to keep pace with increases in Parish Share and public utility charges and ministry is compromised
Funds are not available to pay staff salaries
Funds are not available to meet the costs of essential repairs and refurbishment

Actions to mitigate risks:

Provide periodic explanation to congregation how our funds are used and the need to increase regular giving.
Regular promotion of regular giving and tax efficient giving schemes
Special appeals to be lauched to meet these costs."

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington

Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022

Policies relating to categories of income and income recognition.

Nature of income

Gross income represents the value, net of value added tax and discounts, of goods provided to customers and work carried out in respect of services provided to customers.

Categories of Income

Income is categorised as income from exchange transactions (contract income) and income from non-exchange transactions (gifts), investment income and other income.

Income from exchange transactions is received by the charity for goods or services supplied under contract or where entitlement is subject to fulfilling performance related conditions. The income the charity receives is approximately equal in value to the goods or services supplied by the charity to the purchaser.

Income from a non-exchange transaction is where the charity receives value from the donor without providing equal value in exchange, and includes donations of money, goods and services freely given without giving equal value in exchange.

Income recognition

Income, whether from exchange or non exchange transactions, is recognised in the statement of financial activities (SOFA) on a receivable basis, when a transaction or other event results in an increase in the charity’s assets or a reduction in its liabilities and only when the charity has legal entitlement, the income is probable and can be measured reliably.

Dividends are accrued when the shareholder’s right to receive payment is established.

Income subject to terms and conditions which must be met before the charity is entitled to the resources is not recognised until the conditions have been met.

All income is accounted for gross, before deducting any related fees or costs.

Accounting for deferred income and income received in advance

Where terms and conditions relating to income have not been met or uncertainty exists as to whether the charity can meet any terms or conditions otherwise within its control, income is not recognised but is deferred as a liability until it is probable that the terms or conditions imposed can be met.

Any grant that is subject to performance-related conditions received in advance of delivering the goods and services required by that condition, or is subject to unmet conditions wholly outside the control of the recipient charity, is accounted for as a liability and shown on the balance sheet as deferred income. Deferred income is released to income in the reporting period in which the performance-related or other conditions that limit recognition are met.

When income from a grant or donation has not been recognised due to the conditions applying to the gift not being wholly within the control of the recipient charity, it is disclosed as a contingent asset if receipt of the grant or donation is probable once those conditions are met.

Where time related conditions are imposed or implied by a funder, then the income is apportioned to the time periods concerned,and, where applicable, is accounted for as a liability and shown on the balance sheet as deferred income. When grants are received in advance of the expenditure on the activity funded by them, but there are no specific time related conditions, then the income is not deferred.

Any condition that allows for the recovery by the donor of any unexpended part of a grant does not prevent recognition of the income concerned, but a liability to any repayment is recognised when repayment becomes probable.

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington

Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022

Income from legacies

Income from legacies is recognised when the charity has sufficient evidence that a gift has been left to them, that where required, probate has been granted, the executor is satisfied that the property in question will not be required to satisfy claims in the estate, that it is probable that the amount will be received by the charity, and the amount to be received can be estimated with sufficient accuracy, and that any conditions attached to the legacy are either within the control of the charity or have been met.

Where a payment is received from an estate or is notified as receivable by the executors after the reporting date and before the accounts are authorised for issue but it is clear that the payment had been agreed by the executors prior to the end of the reporting period, then the amount concerned is treated as an adjusting event and accrued as income in the accounting period if receipt is probable.

Where the charity has established entitlement to a legacy but there is uncertainty as to the amount of the payment, details of the legacy aredisclosed as a contingent asset until the criteria for income recognition are met. Where a legacy is subject to the interest of a life tenant, the legacy is not recognised as income until the death of the life tenant.

If it is doubtful that full settlement of a legacy debtor will be received, then an adjustment is made to reduce the amount of the legacy debtor and legacy income rather than charging the adjustment as expenditure in the Statement of Financial Activities

Donated goods, facilities and services

Donated fixed assets are recognised at the current fair value. All such donations are recognised as donation income, and debited to fixed assets.

Donated goods that are not fixed assets are accounted for at a fair value, unless it is impractical to reliably measure the value of the donated items.

In the absence of any direct evidence of fair value of donated goods, then a value is derived from the cost of the item to the donor or, in the case of goods that are expected to be sold, the estimated resale value after deducting any anticipated costs of sales.

If it is impracticable to measure the fair value of goods donated for resale, or the costs of valuation outweigh the benefits, the donated goods are recognised as income when sold, with an equivalent amount being recognised as an expense.

The costs of goods donated for distribution to beneficiaries is deemed to be the fair value of those goods upon receipt. When the goods are distributed freely or for a nominal consideration, then the carrying amount is adjusted at the time of sale, to the value at the point of distribution and the adjustment is shown as a cost of donations made.

The carrying amount of any stock held for distribution is assessed for impairment at the reporting date. All donated goods are recognised as donation income, and debited to trading stock.When trading stock is subsequently sold, or appropriated to meet an expense, then the carrying value of the stock is recognised as an expense. In accordance with the SORP, goods donated for distribution to beneficiaries, or for consumption by the charity are included in 'legacies and donations '. Goods donated for resale are included in 'Income from other trading activities'

The cost of any stock of goods donated for distribution to beneficiaries is deemed to be the fair value of those gifts at the time of their receipt. If the goods held are to be distributed freely or for a nominal consideration, then the carrying amount is subsequently adjusted to reflect the lower of deemed cost adjusted for any loss of service potential and replacement cost. Replacement cost is the economic cost incurred if the charity was to replace the service potential of the donated goods at its own expense in the most economic manner.

Donated services and facilities (including seconded staff and use of property) are included in the accounts on the basis of the value of the gift to the charity.

All donated services and facilities are recognised as donation income when received,(provided the value of the gift can be measured reliably) and recognised as an expense with an equivalent value.

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington

Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022

Policies relating to expenditure on goods and services provided to the charity.

Recognition of liabilities and expenditure

A liability, and the related expenditure, is recognised when a legal or constructive obligation exists as a result of a past event, and when it is more likely than not that a transfer of economic benefits will be required in settlement, and when the amount of the obligation can be measured or reliably estimated..

Liabilities arising from future funding commitments and constructive obligations, including performance related grants, where the timing or the amount of the future expenditure required to settle the obligation are uncertain, give rise to a provision in the accounts, which is reviewed at the accounting year end. The provision is increased to reflect any increases in liabilities, and is decreased by the utilisation of any provision within the period, and reversed if any provision is no longer required. These movements are charged or credited to the respective funds and activities to which the provision relates.

Volunteers

In accordance with the SORP, and in recognition of the difficulties in placing a monetary value on the contribution from volunteers, the contribution of volunteers is not included within the income of the charity. However, the trustees value the significant contribution made to the activities of the charity by unpaid volunteers and this is described more fully in Note5.

Policies relating to assets, liabilities and provisions and other matters.

Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are measured at their original cost value, or subsequent revaluation, or if donated, as described above. Cost value includes all costs expended in bringing the asset into its intended working condition.

Debtors

Debtors are measured at their recoverable amounts at the balance sheet date.

Creditors and provisions

Creditors are measured at their recoverable amounts at the balance sheet date.

Pensions - defined contribution schemes

The charity operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Contributions are charged to the profit and loss account as they become payable in accordance with the rules of the scheme.

Fund Accounting

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity.

Designated funds are unrestricted funds earmarked by the Trustees for particular purposes.

Restricted funds are subjected to restrictions on their expenditure imposed by the donor or through the terms of an appeal or as implied by law.

Endowment funds are funds donated to the charity, where the funds shall be invested and the charity shall enjoy the benefit of the income from the capital fund, but where restrictions are placed on the use of the capital.

2 Liability to taxation

The Trustees consider that the charity satisfies the tests set out in Paragraph 1 Schedule 6 of the Finance Act 2010 for UK corporation tax purposes. Accordingly, the Charity is potentially exempt from taxation in respect of income or capital gains received within categories covered by chapter 3 part 11 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010 or Section 256 of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992, to the extent that such income or gains are applied exclusively on the specific charitable objects of the charity and for no other purpose. Value Added Tax is not recoverable by the charity, and is therefore included in the relevant costs in the Statement of Financial Activities.

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington

Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022

3 Winding up or dissolution of the charity

If upon winding up or dissolution of the charity there remain any assets, after the satisfaction of all debts and liabilities, the assets represented by the accumulated fund shall be transferred to some other charitable body or bodies having similar objects to the charity.

4 Net surplus before tax in the financial year

Net surplus before tax in the financial year
	2022	2021
	£	£
The net surplus before tax in the financial year is stated after charging:-
Pension costs	876	822

5 The contribution of volunteers

We depend heavily on the support of volunteers. Almost every event and activity we have undertaken has been carried out either entirely by them or with their help. Over 200 volunteers committed countless hours to our activities during the year. Their support is valued enormously. The arrangements with volunteers are difficult to value in monetary terms and have not been recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities. The volunteers and the charity accept and agree that no contract of employment is created by these arrangements.

6 Staff costs and emoluments

Salary costs
2022
£
Gross Salaries excluding trustees and key management personnel
47,916
876
Total salaries, wages and related costs
48,792
The average number of part time staff employed in the year was
2
The average number of full time staff employed in the year was
1
The estimated full time equivalent number of all staff employed in the year was
3
The estimated equivalent number of full time staff deployed in different activities in the year
Engaged on charitable activities
3
The estimated full time equivalent number of all staff employed as above
3
Employer's operating costs of defined contribution pension schemes

2021
£
46,107
822
46,929
2
1
3
was:-
3
3

Neither the trustees nor any persons connected with them have received any remuneration from the charity or any related entity, either in the current or prior year.

No employees received emoluments (excluding pension costs) in excess of £60,000 per annum.

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington

Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022

7 Defined contribution pension schemes

Any liabilites and assets associated with the scheme are shown under debtors and creditors.

8 Remuneration and payments to Trustees and persons connected with them

No trustees or persons connected with them received any remuneration from the charity, or any related entity.

9 Deferred income - Unrestricted and Designated funds

*Current Year* Donations for Iglesia Anglicana M Blake (Townfield) B Fletcher (Curtains) Messy Curch (Townfield) Sylvia Walkey legacy Total These deferrals are included in creditors *Prior Year* Donations for Iglesia Anglicana M Blake (Townfield) B Fletcher (Curtains) Messy Curch (Townfield) Sylvia Walkey legacy W Baker donation Mission funds Jean Griffiths Total These deferrals are included in creditors	Opening Deferrals £ 1,000 1,494 500 385 8,547 11,926 Opening Deferrals £ 460 2,006 500 385 - 200 3,850 2,588 9,989	Released from prior years £ 1,000 6,307 7,307 Released from prior years £ (512) (200) (3,850) (2,588) (7,150)	Received less released in year £ 580 580 2022 £ 5,199 Received less released in year £ 540 8,547 9,087 2021 £ 11,926	Deferred at year end £ 580 1,494 500 385 2,240 5,199 2021 £ 11,926 Deferred at year end £ 1,000 1,494 500 385 8,547 - - - 11,926 2020 £ 9,989

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington

Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022

10 Tangible fixed assets

Current Year
Land and
Buildings
Plant &
Machinery
Motor
Vehicles
£
£
£
Cost
At 1 January 2022
655,132
-
-
At 31 December 2022
655,132
-
-
Depreciation
At 31 December 2022
-
-
-
Net book value
At 31 December 2022
655,132
-
-
At 31 December 2021
655,132
-
-
Prior Year
Land and
Buildings
Plant &
Machinery
Motor
Vehicles
£
£
£
Cost
01 January 2021
655,132
-
-
31 December 2021
655,132
-
-
Depreciation
Net book value
31 December 2021
655,132
-
-
31 December 2020
655,132
-
-
11 Debtors
2022
£
Prepayments and accrued income
1,999
Other debtors
22,300
24,299
12
Investments held as current assets at market value at 31 December 2022
2022
£
Other investments
100,000
100,000

Total
£
655,132
655,132
-
655,132
655,132
Total
£
655,132
655,132
655,132
655,132
2021
£
2,411
21,901
24,312
2021
£
-
-

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington

Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022 13 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year Accruals Deferred Income - Unrestricted & designated funds Other creditors 14 Pension commitments Pension commitments under defined benefit/defined contribution schemes within one year 15 Income and Expenditure account summary At 1 January 2022 (Deficit)/surplus after tax for the year At 31 December 2022	2022 £ 6,800 5,199 180 12,179 2022 £ 180 180 2022 £ 833,531 430,695 1,264,226	2021 £ 5,122 11,926 1,321 18,369 2021 £ 163 163 2021 £ 865,672 (32,141) 833,531

16 Particulars of how particular funds are represented by assets and liabilities

At 31 December 2022 Tangible Fixed Assets Current Assets Current Liabilities At 1 January 2022 Tangible Fixed Assets Current Assets Current Liabilities	Unrestricted funds £ 655,132 621,273 (12,179) 1,264,226 Unrestricted funds £ 655,132 196,768 (18,369) 833,531	Designated funds £ - - - Designated funds £ - - - -	Endowment funds £ - - - - Endowment funds £ - - - -	Restricted funds £ - - - - Restricted funds £ - - - -	Total Funds £ 655,132 621,273 (12,179) 1,264,226 Total Funds £ 655,132 196,768 (18,369) 833,531

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington

Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022

17 Change in total funds over the year as shown in Note 16 , analysed by individual funds

Funds brought forward from 2021 £ *Unrestricted and designated funds:-* Unrestricted Revenue Funds 743,294 Designated Revenue Funds: - Church Hall Designated fund 39,703 Mission/Staff Designated fund 39,703 Jean Griffiths Legacy 2,588 Wendy Baker legacy 200 Iglesia Anglicana Chile 1,000 Hindley Legacy 2,500 Heritage fund 946 Descretionary fund Roleston Drive 3,597 Iris Jackson Legacy Knit & Natter Margaret Baker Legacy Total unrestricted and designated funds 833,531 Total charity funds 833,531 18 Analysis of movements in funds over the year as shown	Movement in funds in 2022 See Note 18 £ (923) - - - (2,588) (200) (420) 470 289 400 315 1,000 150 432,203 430,695 430,695 in Note 17	See Note 18 £ - - - - Transfers between funds in 2022	Funds carried forward to 2023 £ 742,371 - 39,703 39,703 - - 580 2,970 1,235 400 3,911 1,000 150 432,203 1,264,226 1,264,226

*Unrestricted and designated funds:-* Unrestricted Revenue Funds	Income 2022 £ 756,728 756,728	Expenditure 2022 £ (326,033) (326,033)	Other Gains & Losses 2022 £ - -	Movement in funds 2022 £ 430,695 430,695

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington

Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022

19 The purposes for which the

Unrestricted and designated funds:-

Unrestricted Revenue Funds

Designated Revenue Funds:

These funds are held for the meeting the objectives of the charity, and to provide reserves for future activities, and , subject to charity legislation, are free from all restrictions on their use. These funds are general funds which can be used for PCC ordinary purposes.

This fund represents the unrestricted funds donated, but where the funds have been allocated for a purpose. This year funds have been ringfenced for the new roof, and also for improved lighting and other small projects.

20 Ultimate controlling party

The charity is under the control of its legal members.

Every member of the charity has unlimited joint and several liability for the debts of the charity.

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington

Detailed analysis of income and expenditure for the year ended 31 December 2022 as required by the SORP 2015

This analysis is classsified by conventional nominal descriptions and not by activity.

21 Donations, Grants and Legacies

----- Start of picture text -----
||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |Current year|Current year|Current year|Current year|Prior Year| |Unrestricted|Restricted|Endowment|Total Funds|Total Funds| |Funds|Funds|Funds| |2022|2022|2022|2022|2021| |£|£|£|£|£| |Donations and gifts from individuals| |Small donations individually less than| |£1000|227,132|-|-|227,132|233,658| |Refunds from HMRC on gift aided| |donations|43,742|-|-|43,742|43,397| |Large donations individually over £1000|2,000|-|-|2,000|3,500| |Conroy Trust|3,750|-|-|3,750|-| |Total donations and gifts from|276,624|-|-|276,624|280,555| |individuals|

----- End of picture text -----

Donations and gifts from individuals (Include HMRC refunds on gift aided donations) - Prior Year analysis

----- Start of picture text -----
|||||| |---|---|---|---|---| |Prior Year|Prior Year|Prior Year|Prior Year| |Unrestricted|Restricted|Endowment|Total Funds| |Funds|Funds|Funds| |2021|2021|2021|2021| |£|£|£|£| |Prior year|280,555|-|-|280,555|

----- End of picture text -----

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington

Detailed analysis of income and expenditure for the year ended 31 December 2022 as required by the SORP 2015

Current year Unrestricted Funds 2022 £ Legacies receivable Sylvia Walker legacy 6,307 450,000 - 456,307 Legacies receivable - Prior Year analysis Prior Year Unrestricted Funds 2021 £ Prior year 3,863 Total legacies receivable Anonimous M Baker legacy	Current year Restricted Funds 2022 £ - - - - Prior Year Restricted Funds 2021 £ -	Current year Endowment Funds 2022 £ - - - - Prior Year Endowment Funds 2021 £ -	Current year Total Funds 2022 £ 6,307 450,000 - 456,307 Prior Year Total Funds 2021 £ 3,863	Prior Year Total Funds 2021 £ - - 3,863 3,863

Revenue grants and donations from non public bodies (Include Gift Aid donations from subsidiaries)

Chester Diocese - Energy grant Total private sector revenue grants Revenue grants and donations from non public bodies	Current year Unrestricted Funds 2022 £ 986 986	Current year Restricted Funds 2022 £ - -	Current year Endowment Funds 2022 £ - -	Current year Total Funds 2022 £ 986 986	Prior Year Total Funds 2021 £ - -

----- Start of picture text -----
Total Donations, Grants and Legacies
Total Donations, Grants and A1 733,917 - - 733,917 284,418
----- End of picture text -----

Legacies *Prior year* Total Donations, Grants and Legacies A1	Unrestricted Funds 2021 £ 284,418	Restricted Funds 2021 £ -	Endowment Funds 2021 £ -	Prior Year Total Funds 2021 £ 284,418

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington

Detailed analysis of income and expenditure for the year ended 31 December 2022 as required by the SORP 2015

22 Income from charitable activities - Trading Activities

*Current year* Primary purpose and ancillary trading 23 *Current year* Total income from charitable trading Total from charitable activities A2 Total Primary purpose and ancillary trading Income from church activities Total Income from charitable activities	Current year Unrestricted Funds 2022 £ 12,587 12,587 Current year Unrestricted Funds 2022 £ 12,587 12,587	Current year Restricted Funds 2022 £ - - Current year Restricted Funds 2022 £ - -	Current year Endowment Funds 2022 £ - - Current year Endowment Funds 2022 £ - -	Current year Total Funds 2022 £ 12,587 12,587 Current year Total Funds 2022 £ 12,587 12,587	Prior Year Total funds 2021 £ 8,424 8,424 Prior Year Total Funds 2021 £ 8,424 8,424

24 Investment income

Current year Unrestricted Funds 2022 £ Property Rental Income 6,569 Dividend Income 1,462 Bank Interest Receivable 2,193 Total investment income A4 10,224 Investment income - Prior Year analysis Unrestricted Funds Prior Year 7,996	Current year Restricted Funds 2022 £ - - - - Restricted Funds -	Current year Endowment Funds 2022 £ - - - - Endowment Funds -	Current year Total Funds 2022 £ 6,569 1,462 2,193 10,224 Total Funds 7,996	Prior Year Total Funds 2021 £ 7,975 - 21 7,996

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington

Detailed analysis of income and expenditure for the year ended 31 December 2022 as required by the SORP 2015

25 Expenditure on charitable activities - Direct spending

*Current Year* Total direct spending B2a *Prior Year* Total direct spending B2a Gifts and presentations Defined contribution pension costs - charitable activities Giving outside the parish Church mission (incl youth, weekend & school) Gifts and presentations Gross wages and salaries - charitable activities Church buildings expenses Gross wages and salaries - charitable activities Church mission (incl youth, weekend & school) Roof project expenditure Defined contribution pension costs - charitable activities Church buildings expenses Roof project expenditure Church office & general running Giving outside the parish Parish share Church office & general running expenses Parish share	Current year Unrestricted Funds 2022 £ 47,916 876 33,886 20,112 14,918 133,312 74,353 - - 325,373 Prior Year Unrestricted Funds 2021 £ 46,107 822 29,562 2,953 12,432 134,453 104,006 463 1,521 332,319	Current year Restricted Funds 2022 £ - - - - - - - - - - Prior Year Restricted Funds 2021 £ - - - - - -	Current year Endowment Funds 2022 £ - - - - - - - - - - Prior Year Endowment Funds 2021 £ - - - - - - - - - -	Current year Total Funds 2022 £ 47,916 876 33,886 20,112 14,918 133,312 74,353 - - 325,373 Prior Year Total Funds 2021 £ 46,107 822 29,562 2,953 12,432 134,453 104,006 463 1,521 332,319	Prior Year Total Funds 2021 £ 46,107 822 29,562 2,953 12,432 134,453 104,006 463 1,521 332,319

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bebington

Detailed analysis of income and expenditure for the year ended 31 December 2022 as required by the SORP 2015

26 Other Expenditure - Governance costs

*Current Year* Independent Examiner's fees Total Governance costs	Current year Unrestricted Funds 2022 £ 660 660	Current year Restricted Funds 2022 £ - -	Current year Endowment Funds 2022 £ - -	Current year Total Funds 2022 £ 660 660	Prior Year Total Funds 2021 £ 660 660

All the expenditure in the prior year was unrestricted.

27 Total Charitable expenditure

Current year *Current Year* Unrestricted Funds 2022 £ Total direct spending B2a 325,373 Total Governance costs B2e 660 Total charitable expenditure B2 326,033 All the expenditure in the prior year was unrestricted. Prior Year *Prior Year* Unrestricted Funds 2021 £ Total direct spending B2a 332,319 Total Governance costs B2e 660 Total charitable expenditure B2 332,979	Current year Restricted Funds 2022 £ - - - Prior Year Restricted Funds 2021 £ - - -	Current year Endowment Funds 2022 £ - - - Prior Year Endowment Funds 2021 £ - - -	Current year Total Funds 2022 £ 325,373 660 326,033 Prior Year Total Funds 2021 £ 332,319 660 332,979	Prior Year Total Funds 2021 £ 332,319 660 332,979

Bebington Parish Annual Report 2022

Our Vision

A Christ-Centred Family Sharing God’s Love

Contents

Rector’s Report on St Andrew’s

David Vestergaard

Townfield Report

Wardens’ Report

Church Buildings

Relocation of Vestry Screen

Installation of Church Organ Canopy

Replacement of Handrail to Church Boiler Room

Progress of External Lighting Planning Application

Progress of Church Tower and Spire Project

Maintenance Plan

Safeguarding Report

Treasurer’s Report

Report on the activities of the Parochial Church Council

Youth Report

Weekly Church Groups

Unplugged

Amplify

Youth Band

Sunday Mornings

Schools Work

Mentoring

Children & Families Hub

Children & Families Hub

St Andrew’s Sunday Club

Townfield Sunday Club

Little Fishes

Church Lads & Church Girls Brigade (CLCGB)

St Andrew’s Crèche

Townfield Messy Church at St Andrew’s School

St Andrew’s Messy Church

Seniors’ Hub

Women’s Fellowship

Men’s Fellowship

Monday Gang

Pastoral Work

Charlotte House

Safe Harbour

Prayer Ministry

Bereavement Team

Heritage Report

Knit and Natter

Poverty Action Group

Ukraine

Christian Aid

Hope for Justice – Tricia Migos

Besom

Foodbank

Christmas

Cost of Living/Energy Crisis

Warm Spaces

Recycling

Adrienne Smallthwaite

World Mission Support

David Vestergaard

St. Andrew’s C.E (Aided) Primary School

Al Rodgers

Deanery Synod

Conroy Trust

2022 Financial Statement

In Memoriam

Welcome

2. Apologies for absence

3. Minutes of the meeting of 25 May 2021

4. Election of Wardens

5. Receipt of the Conroy Trust Report

Minutes of the APCM

held on the 24 May 2022 at St Andrew’s, Bebington church hall and online via Zoom at 8.10pm

1. Apologies for absence

2. Minutes of the meeting of 25 May 2021

3. Electoral Roll Report

4. Receipt of the Annual Report

5. Appointment of Independent Examiner

6. Election to the Deanery Synod

7. Election to the PCC