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

Annual Report and Financial Statements

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of St Wilfrid Cowplain

Registered Charity No. 1130601 Year ending 31 December 2024

TITLE	PAGE
Annual Report title page	1
Blankpage	2
Contents page	3
Administration Information	4
Priest in Charge Report	5-6
Churchwardens Report	7-9
PCC Report	10-13
Financial Review	14-16
2024 Accounts	17-24
Independent Examiner’s Report	25
Electoral Roll Report	26
Copy of Electoral Roll	27-29
Planned Giving Report	30
SafeguardingReport	31
General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) report	31
ParishUpperandLower Hall Report	32-33
Health and Safety Report	33
Fabric andMaintenanceReport	34-35
AV Team Report	35-36
Worship Services	36
WelcomeTeam Report	37
Pastoral Care Report	37
OrganistReport	37-38
Licensed Lay Minister Report	38
PrayerOpportunities at St. Wilfrid’s	39
Curate Report–Rev Derek Johnston	40
Curate Report–Rev Polly Honeychurch	40-41
MinistryTeam Report	41-42
Havant Deanery Synod Report	42-43
Tea and CoffeeMakersReport	43
Community Coffee Cup	43
Home GroupsReport	44
CMS Missionary Link Report	44
Eco Church Report	45
Bereavement Support GroupReport	45-46
Anna Chaplain’s Report	46
ChristmasDayLunch Report	47
Shoebox Appeal Report	47-48
Sunday Club Report	48
St. Wilfrid’sArt Group (SWAG)Report	48-49
Want to Paint Report	49-50
School Report	50
Messy Church Report	50-51
ToddlerGroupAnnual Report	51-52
TLC (Tea and Lovely Cake) Report	52
Warm Spaces Report	52

Annual Report of The Parochial Church Council (PCC) of the

Ecclesiastical Parish of St Wilfrid, Cowplain (Registered Charity No. 1130601) From 1[st] January 2024 to May APCM 2025

Administrative information

The parish of St Wilfrid is situated in Cowplain. It is in the Deanery of Havant, the Archdeaconry of Portsdown and the Diocese of Portsmouth.

PCC correspondence: c/o The Vicarage, Padnell Road, Cowplain, Waterlooville, Hampshire, PO8 8DZ

Website:

www.stwilfridscowplain.co.uk

PCC members who have served from the APCM in May 2024 until this report are:

Priest in Charge	Reverend Christopher Spencer (Chair)
Curates	Reverend Julie Jackson (resigned from June 2024)
	Reverend Derek Johnson
	Reverend Polly Honeychurch (from July 2024)
Churchwardens	Steve Day
	Jan Smith (Vice Chair)
Representatives to	Catherine King
the Deanery Synod	Elaine Hoey (PCC Secretary / Electoral Roll Officer)
Elected members	Bob Wheeler (Until 2027)
	Sara Bolton (Until 2026)
	Margo Farmer (Until 2026)
	Yolanda Cawdeary (Until 2026)
	William McGannan (Until 2026)
	Denise Williams (Until 2025)
	Jo Mead (Until 2025)
	Hazel Watson (Until 2025)
Co-opted Members	Colin Mason (Treasurer)
	Val Strutt (Safeguarding Officer)

Day-to-day management is the responsibility of the Priest in Charge, the Parish Administrator, Mrs Sara Bolton, Treasurer Mr Colin Mason ACMA and the many other volunteers who willingly give of their time.

The PCC thanks them all for their time and dedication.

Banking: Barclays Bank PLC, PO Box 6, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO6 3DH Lloyds TSB Bank PLC, 272 London Road, Waterlooville, PO7 7HN

It’s a great pleasure writing my second Vicar’s report here at St. Wilfrid’s. Many of you will be thinking “well that was a quick 18 months”, but it has been a joy in working in this place. I would like to start by thanking you all for journeying with me since September 2023 and pray that you see fruit of new life coming forth with elements of joy, hope, peace and love within this Christian community.

Like every church leader I continue to find myself developing the relationships that have been formed. So, I would like to begin by giving thanks for the Ministry Team who continue to bless me richly, who journey alongside me and meet to pray regularly every Tuesday. Thank you to our Churchwardens, Jan and Steve who have been the source of wisdom guiding us through this year, the PCC who have seen a lot of governance change during the year, as well as, hopefully celebrating the shortened PCC meetings. It has been lovely to see the new liturgy enrich our worship, using the various seasonal material - even if a few spelling mistakes managed to enter the worship booklets.

The biggest challenge is now the recruitment to various roles from the obvious need of a new verger, a new organist and a new Planned Giving Officer, to the not so obvious roles of all the various volunteers who serve the church community in many ways. It was great to appoint our Parish Administrator Sara Bolton and welcome our new Associate Curate Rev Polly Honeychurch last year, who have brought life into many aspects of the church. I am so very grateful for our former Planned Giving Officer Norma White in her very professional approach to the role, and of course I will miss her.

There are many individuals now who all make St. Wilfrid’s church the place that it is. We are lucky to have our cleaner Kim and Sara in the Office as well as those who come in unseen during the week to keep the church clean, and those who arrange flowers, and those who keep the gardens looking so wonderful – we couldn’t do it without you all.

None of this is possible without everyone, all those who come and contribute so much to this place. We truly have a God who is alive, is awesome, holy and life giving. So, thank you all for being part of this amazing church, for your patience, your love, your generosity and your willingness to journey together.

The Bible verse at the edge of the well, encourages us to notice, as Jesus did, what was around that was being watered by the spring of life: so how are we doing?

St. Wilfrid’s has not stopped proclaiming the good news of the kingdom. Our worship on Sundays and mid-week has a few new people attending, so we have set up once a term Meet the Family events. We continue slowly to grow in number, welcoming individuals and families but of course, over the year have said our goodbyes to people we hold dear in our hearts, like Bruce or Chris and Graham and others.

A particular highlight for me was running down the aisle to give Polly the peace at her ordination or hearing the children’s choir sing at our family carol event or just being in awe and wonder in our new monthly Thirst worship evenings. There is also in our Eco-team proclaiming our care of creation as I watch the flowers grow, the birds sing and the desire for our church to become more carbon zero with, hopefully, the new solar panel project.

The heart of St. Wilfrid’s and God’s kingdom is to build community. To be a place where people

come for refreshment and encounter with the living God. As a church we are open 7 days a week, and people do come in here to enjoy the peace and quiet or the many events that we host here from murder mystery events, lots of food gatherings especially cake, homemade soup on a cold winter’s day or the fayres for the community, signposting people to all that goes on here in church and beyond.

Thank you to all those who volunteer on the many rotas, sharing the load of ministry but also serving each other too.

To be a part of God’s kingdom here, we need to be a community of people of all ages. We continue to be part of the three care homes in the community through the Anna Chaplaincy work which Elaine Davenport does, the toddler group bringing families together with resounding success. We have engaged more with schools and put on Easter and Advent experiences in church for all to enjoy and to understand Jesus more. We have Community Coffee Cup that celebrates its 11[th] birthday welcoming everyone through the doors as well as Messy Church that brings all ages together: We learn something new about God every time. There is so much that we do and I hope that you will take time to read and pray through the many reports on the display boards and to give thanks to God for all that goes on here.

But as I finish you might wonder what 2025 might hold for St. Wilfrid’s and what does the church leader have in mind. Well, we all need to remember that we drink from the living water which is Jesus Christ himself.

‘Those who drink of the water that I give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’

In this next season together, I encourage you all to draw near to the living water of Jesus Christ as He will sustain and refresh you on the journey you and I are on together.

I think St. Wilfrid’s is on an exciting journey, and I’m so glad to be a part of it.

So let us pray…

In the dry wilderness of our lives, in the days of heat and thirst, you offer us living water.

Thank you, gracious and generous God.

When we begin to doubt your presence, and grumble that your love is unreliable, you offer us living water.

Thank you, gracious and generous God.

When life’s regrets and the bad choices we have made leave us feeling excluded and unworthy, you offer us living water.

Thank you, gracious and generous God.

When circumstances, or the inhumanity of others, have left us alone and wounded, you offer us living water.

Thank you, gracious and generous God.

We thank you and praise you father, that however we may thirst, whatever we may need to satisfy our souls, you offer it freely and abundantly in Christ.

So, we drink deep of the living water and, as we draw from your wells, we seek to pass the cup to others, who like us, are thirsty for your grace. Amen.

Reverend Chris Spencer March 2025

We (Jan and Steve) were elected to the roles of Churchwarden in 2022. We were re-elected at the APCM in 2023 and then again at APCM 2024.

Clergy

This has been a blessed year. Priest-in-Charge, Rev. Chris Spencer has been supported by PTO Rev Ruth Loveman and Curate Rev Derek Johnston and they were joined in 2024 by our new curate, Rev Polly Honeychurch, who was ordained Deacon on 29[th] June; she will be ordained Priest on 28[th] June 2025. We love to see their new ideas put into practice – including the Easter Experience, Pancake Parties, new Orders of Service for each season and more teams and subgroups than we can count – creating important roles for everyone as we work together as God’s family in this parish – aiming to be at the heart of the community. We very much enjoyed having the Jackson Family in our midst while Rev Julie did her curacy here (as well as taking 2 periods of maternity leave!) and we wish them every blessing in their roles in St Luke’s Church in Southsea.

Anna Chaplaincy

Elaine Davenport and Julie Brown continue in their respective roles in Anna Chaplaincy and are very much appreciated by residents and staff in local nursing homes, as well as at Age Concern.

Services

We continue with 2 Sunday Services – at 9am and 11am, each with its own loyal congregation. We are currently without an organist and rely, at 9 o’clock on an iPad and the generous services of retired organist, David Wiseman; some Sundays a “said” service is enjoyed by those who like quiet.The Thursday Morning Holy Communion Service, meeting in Church in warm weather months and in the Hall when it’s cold, has its own congregation and lots of fellowship opportunities – usually with cake – after the service. The music group at the 11 o’clock service ensures that we enjoy a service of worship in every sense of the word. Stephen Bolton, Lesley Baker, Mark and Sasha Coates are often joined by Chris and/or Polly. On Sunday Club Sundays (usually twice each month), there are often more children in attendance and we are most grateful to those who lead this opportunity for children to enjoy Christian teaching at a level designed especially for them. All age services have become very much the norm at 11 o’clock.

Seasons

Special seasonal events continue – of course the church year is celebrated by some wonderful and deeply moving services - but we have come to expect social and fundraising events to mark the seasons too, and we are never disappointed. We have been especially blessed by the Art Exhibition and a wide variety of other activities. Christmas day lunch was enjoyed by 40 people.

Events and Courses

Our CMS Missionary Link, Alison Giblett joined us for our two services on 9[th] February and we have the opportunity to join her on Zoom on Saturday evenings. An Alpha Course has been led by Revs Chris and Polly during January, February and March 2025. Thirst Services have commenced during this year –on Friday evenings once a month and people from other churches have joined us. An inspiring experience, month by month. Lent Courses have been led by Hart Plain Church each year recently – we enjoy their hospitality and excellent teaching. It is intended to increase the number of Home Groups during 2025.

People and Groups

During this year, Colin Mason continued in his role of Treasurer, but Norma White, our Planned Giving Adviser has retired after a number of years of excellent service – service that was thoroughly professional and much valued by us all. Val Strutt continues as our careful and caring Safeguarding Officer and Allan Brawn continues his hard work as Maintenance Manager, Acting Verger and Health and Safety Officer; Maria McGannan has moved to a different parish and Sara Bolton is now our Administrator. Elaine Hoey’s dual role as Electoral Roll Officer and Secretary to the PCC ensured that she too has been kept very busy and we thank her for all that she continues to do – especially as this is the year when the Electoral Roll is completely revised.

Our eco group has led us all in the various ways that we can work towards a healthier planet – God’s wonderful creation – and we give thanks that before our APCM 2026 our solar panels should have been installed. Thanks go to the amazingly generous congregation at St Wilfrid’s.

Our Toddler Groups continue with lots of new leaders and helpers (though perhaps not quite enough!) and are led by Hazel Watson. Bob and Sharon Wheeler have officially retired but are known to help out on occasions. Messy Church is another outreach opportunity where we meet families who may not attend any other service. Its 21[st] birthday is coming up – and of course since it all started here, we’ll be the first to celebrate.

Community Coffee Cup at Westbrook and TLC at St Wilfrid’s continue to give much pleasure to people at the weekends; Warm Spaces has offered hospitality after the Thursday Service during the winter months. Homemade soups and rolls (and even cake) have been much appreciated. Thanks especially to Val Strutt and Brenda Mizen and Margo and Martyn Farmer and their teams for looking after us all so well.

Our ever-decreasing Church Cleaning Teams and Flower Arrangers have looked after the church wonderfully and Helen Couper and Stan Hoey, along with Allan Brawn and others have ensured that our gardens give constant pleasure.

Pastoral Care, including Home Communions has continued and so has PRAYER – a focus for the first Wednesday of each month (and every other day of the year too).

At each service we are served by those on the sidesmen rota and the tea and coffee teams – those teams too would benefit from more volunteers, but they continue to look after us very well, nevertheless.

Training and Workshops

Workshops and training opportunities have included Pastoral Care (to be known as “Lay Pastoral Assistants” or LPAs), leading intercessions and reading from the lectern, and, of course, Safeguarding. The Bible course, led by Chris and Polly between October and December was excellent. Our Church Halls have become our chosen venue for “Away Day” events – hosting both our PCC Away Day and the Alpha Holy Spirit weekend. We are grateful to have these facilities.

The Audio-Visual team, have installed the new sound system under the supervision of Stephen Bolton and hopefully this has improved the sound quality for both the Sunday services. The team are currently looking into a number of new service and projection software programs which we hope will enhance the look of 11am service. We are also moving forward to produce, with help from the diocese IT team, a new look website. There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes which will bear fruit in the future.

Events

The Events team have continued to build on last year’s fund raising season. We started in

February with a very successful Murder Mystery Evening, where a new drama group, Raise the Roof Theatre, took us all to Oxton Hall to help them solve the demise of the Lord of the Manor. The audience also enjoyed a delicious two course dinner prepared by Yolanda Cawdeary and Elaine Hoey. In March Steve Day and Martyn Farmer assisted by Joy and Margo as markers, ran another of our famous Fish and Chips Quiz nights, this one was to raise funds for Community Coffee Cup. A good night with lots of fun and laughter was had by all with a respectable amount raised for Coffee Cup. Watch the notice sheets for the other events in the coming months.

Overview

Compared with the year when there was a coronation, centenary celebrations for the church (including the visit from the Archbishop of Canterbury) and the arrival of a new vicar, this has been a relatively quiet year, but nevertheless, God has been strengthening and guiding us throughout and we are most grateful.

A quick statistic to consider

In February 2025, 124 different adults and 13 children attended services at St Wilfrid’s. The most at any one service was 49 adults and 11 children (that was the 11 o’clock service when Alison Giblett joined us) – so if you only come to one service (as most people do) you might not have met your many other brothers and sisters in our church family. It’s good that we have our Meet the Family events. Do come, if you can.

Jan Smith and Steve Day , Churchwardens.

This report covers the time from APCM April 2024 to April 2025. During this time the Parochial Church Council has held 6 full meetings during 2024/2025 in May, July, September, November, January and March. Reverend Chris Spencer has chaired those meetings and Elaine Hoey has kindly recorded the minutes and dealt with the different correspondence.

The structure of the meeting and the agenda has changed during the year but follows a format of welcome, open devotions, prayer, Apologies, conflicts of interest, minutes to approve and matters arising from those previous minutes. Next would follow confidential minutes, safeguarding report, PCC away day if required and GDPR report if required. Next are all the new sub-committee meetings, reports from Deanery, Diocesan and General Synod, Other bits of interest then correspondence. Finally, the PCC cover Training opportunities, AOB, dates of next meeting and close the meeting in prayer. This format now means that meetings last for about 2 hours or just over.

The biggest challenge for the PCC this last year was in restructuring. Now the PCC and St. Wilfrid’s church has many sub committees which give people a chance to get more involved in the running of the church, to help in matters arising within church and bring more life to the church. At the last APCM the PCC started to delegate the detail work to the various subcommittees so we currently have 6 in operation and 1 still to come.

The Standing sub-Committee operates in between PCC meetings and sets out the PCC agenda, implements the detail of PCC decisions, takes urgent actions on certain matters and the members of the sub-committee are the priest in charge, church wardens, PCC secretary and a member of PCC.

Personnel sub-Committee operates when the church needs advice on recruitment, grievance procedures, employment terms and conditions, law and polices, issues that emerge in staffing and training developments. This subcommittee hasn’t met formally but the Diocese has helped in shaping the role descriptions for the various roles for the church.

The subcommittee below are not exclusive rather it is designed to provide all church members an opportunity to work collaboratively so all are invited and you would be most welcome to join and if to do so then please let Reverend Chris know.

Ministry sub-Committee operates to enable and encourage all of God’s people by focusing on the worship, church services, preach and teaching life of the church. This subcommittee haven’t met but will be soon.

Finance sub-Committee operates by providing advice, support and practical guidance in relation to budgets, stewardship and the financial position of St. Wilfrid’s church. After much prayer it was felt that this should also include Fabric as the two are very closely linked so this subcommittee also looks at the day-to-day operations, the fabric of the building, health and safety, gift aid and so on. This is now the Finance and Fabric sub-Committee.

Mission and Discipleship sub-Committee operates by ensuring that God is known and made known by all by promoting the mission of the church through the various activities and groups such as children, families, alpha, Art groups as well as through Messy Church, Coffee Community Cup, community events, schools work, toddlers and so on.

Events sub-Committee operates by providing at least 10 events during the calendar year to bring people together such as meeting the family, offering hospitality, welcoming others and hosting bigger events like our fayres or murder mystery evenings.

Resources sub-Committee operates in other matters relating to IT, communication, social media, GDPR however this group has not met during the year.

Special Project sub-committee operates by focusing on a particular item which currently is our solar panel project. The small team gathered just before the APCM last year and have met regularly to move the project forward.

The next level of the church is the many teams or groups or individuals they make up the life of the church and they fit or overlap within these different sub committees such as Hall meeting team, Ministry team, Pastoral care, Messy Church and so on. This is the biggest challenge to allow the vine to grow onto the trellis after rebuilding the trellis to support the vine. It means that the next level of discernment is in each person’s roles or how teams work to develop new ways of collaborative ministry, to listen to each other more and focus on building God’s kingdom here in the community.

I continue to pray for unity, love and growth in the church and we move forward together.

Administrative Information

St. Wilfrid’s Church is situated on Padnell Road, Cowplain. It is part of the Diocese of Portsmouth within the Church of England. The registered charity number is 1130601

Governance

The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules dated in 2020. All Church attendees are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC.

Objectives

The PCC of St. Wilfrid’s Church, Cowplain has the responsibility of co-operating with the Priest-inCharge in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. It also has maintenance responsibilities for the church building and grounds.

Structure, Governance and Management

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is a corporate body established by the Church of England, a registered charity and operates under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure.

The method of appointment of PCC Members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. Regular church attendees are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and to consider standing for election to the PCC. PCC members are required to undertake safer recruitment procedures such as DBS and confidential self-declaration forms and relevant training. Representatives of the PCC are asked to attend other relevant training events, report back to the PCC as a body and disseminate printed information where appropriate.

Sub-committees

The PCC operates seven sub-committee (Finance and Fabric sub-Committee (FFsC), Mission and Discipleship (M&D), Events, Special Projects, Standing, Personnel and still to come Ministry and Resources) which meet between full meetings of the PCC and all sub-Committees make recommendations to the PCC for approval.

Attendance at Services :

St. Wilfrid’s Church attendance has grown slightly. A review of attendance during January supports this observation.

Comparing attendance at St Wilfrid’s in January 2023, January 2024 and January 2025.

The total number of people who attended at least once during the month

	2023	2024	2025
Adults	127	*130	*147
Children	23	*30	*25

*Including the Christingle Service

Average attendance at individual services during the month

	2023	2024	2025
9.00 Sunday	30	29	27
11.00 Sunday: excluding those who had already attended at 9.00 (usually 3-5 people)	39	36	44
Children	10	10	11
10.30 Thursday: including those who had already attended on Sunday	27	27	28
10.30 Thursday: excluding those who had already attended on Sunday	16	16	19

Some people, as we see here, attend more than once a week – Sundays and Thursdays.

Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals held in 2024

Baptisms:	2 compared with	2 in 2023
Confirmation:	0 compared with	0 in 2023
Marriages:	0 compared with	1 in 2023
Funerals in Church:	7* compared with	3 in 2023
Funerals at Crematorium:	15* compared with	8 in 2023
Internment of Ashes:	2 compared with	2 in 2023
Total number of Funerals	19

* Of these funerals, 5 were held at both St Wilfrid’s Cowplain with a cremation service held on a separate day, these are reported as 1 funeral for recording purposes.

** Our ministers also conducted funerals on behalf of other churches in our diocese which totalled 4.

Electoral Roll

At the APCM in 2024 there were 155 names on the Church Electoral Roll, compared with 158 in 2023.

Policies and Risks

The PCC has reviewed the following policies and procedures during the year 2024.

Church Credit Card
Safeguarding policy statement
Recruitment of ExOffenders
Responding to domestic abuse
Grievance
Disciplinary
Data protection
Hall Hiring
Health and Safety
Lift operating
Use of social media

Alongside this at each PCC meeting the Parish Safeguarding Officer (Val Strutt) gives a written and verbal update throughout the year and references the safeguarding dashboard. There have also been ongoing changes to national and diocesan safeguarding guidelines and will continue to be so in the future which will impact parish policies, practice and training.

Our Parish Treasurer (Colin Mason) provides a detailed budget which is prepared and agreed by the PCC each year and provides regular updates comparing the current situation to the budget at each PCC meeting.

Finally, our Health and Safety Officer (Allan Brawn) reviews and updates all health and safety issues that arise on the church premises and all groups using our premises are expected to be familiar with the health and safety policy and comply with it. Allan Brawn also reports to the PCC about accidents that occur within his report.

Insurance: The PCC is fully insured through our Ecclesiastical Insurance Parish Plus policy.

Conclusion

We praise God that he continues to bless St Wilfrid’s, so that we can bless others - locally in our community, in Havant Deanery, Portsmouth Diocese and in many places further afield. We give thanks for all that has been given and shared, for worship and witness, for prayer, fellowship and faithful service to the glory of God. We look forward to the exciting future that God has in store for us!

We are greatly indebted to every single member of our churches who voluntarily gives of his or her time, practical skills, spiritual gifts and money to build up our fellowship in the Spirit, grow our discipleship in Christ, and enable us all to continue to play our part in God’s mission of love to the world in Jesus Christ. Thank you so much for all you do!

Approved by the PCC 20[th] March 2024 and signed on their behalf by

Rev Christopher Spencer (PCC Chairman)

2024 provided stable pattern of services with Rev Chris SPENCER firmly established as Priest-inCharge, Unfortunately, this was not wholly reflected in the overall stability of our finances.

Nett receipts to the General Fund were £111,838 (which excludes the £6,419 transferred-in from other church Funds) – this represents an increase of £7,853 or 7.5% on 2023. Of this 2024 total, £74,048 (an increase of 5.1% on 2023) was from unrestricted voluntary donations, with a further £16,625 tax recovered from HMRC via Gift Aid and the Gift Aid Small Donation Scheme. Planned-giving through blue envelopes, banker’s orders and PGS increased by £1,245 or 2.1% on 2023 - following a reduction in 2022.

Given these Unrestricted receipts are the main source of income, the figures for 2025 will necessarily be closely monitored. Loose plate collections increased by £2631 or 45.5% on 2023 figures. Miscellaneous donations decreased by £261 or 5.9% on the 2023 figure.

Income from hall lettings was £11,888, an increase of £2,679 or 29.1% on the 2023 figure: Given that there has been no increase in charges since before 2019 coupled with forecast increases in non-discretionary expenditure, PCC agreed minor increases in the hire charges for 2025. Income from fees for funerals and weddings was £1,212, a decrease on 2023 of £372 or 23.5% - but it should be noted that this income stream is wholly outside our control. Aggregate gross income from the May/Spring and Christmas Fayres was £4,199, an increase of £1,088 or 35.0% when compared to 2023 – much of the increase being due to improved advertising allied to the continued provision of good quality items being sold at affordable prices; well done the Fundraising Team. Other Events in 2024 generated nett income of £2,365 – an increase of £758 or 47.2% on 2023; well done the Events Team.

£118,503 was spent from Unrestricted funds (ie the General Fund) to provide the Christian ministry from St Wilfrid’s Church, an increase of £3,109 or 2.7% on 2023. This included fully meeting our contribution to the Diocesan Parish Share of £86,000 (an increase of £4,096 or 5.0% on 2023) which largely provides the stipends, pension contributions and housing for the clergy. [Note: The sum that the churches in the deanery must find is shared between them according to a formula that is based primarily on headcount (average weekly attendance) of the congregations, but also dependent on the relative assumed wealth of the whole parish population, ie not just the congregation, termed the Experian Factor.] The sum we must pay in 2025 is £81,700, a welcome decrease of £4,300 (or 5%) against 2024. [Note: The reduced Parish Share in 2025 is due to a Diocesan review of the Parish Share Formula in 2024. 2026 may see a further reduction as “levelling up” across parishes continues.]

The overall gross result for the year was a loss as payments exceeded income by of £6,665 in the General Fund balance at 31 Dec 24 versus a loss of £10,909 in 2023: However, Transfers-In from other Church funds of £6,419 reduced the nett loss to just £246. The nett change to the aggregate balance on all Designated Funds (after income, expenditure and inter-fund transfers are taken into account) is a decrease of £9,786 – due primarily to nett expenditure on replacement AV equipment £9,065 from the Growth Fund and essential maintenance items £7,497 from the Legacy Designated Fund, offset by nett donations of £6,564 to the Eco Fund. The amount held in Restricted Funds decreased by £4,343 as the sum held in the White Memorial Fund was transferred to the General Fund (£4,000) and a new Designated Fund for Ground Maintenance (£343) the closing balance is £22,793 (of which £22,000 is locked into the value of the Orchard

Garden). The total decrease across all Funds was £14,376 or 12.7%.

The balance carried forward at 31 Dec 24 on Unrestricted and Designated Funds was £97,762 of which £64,127 is held in the Legacy Designated Fund for approved projects and major maintenance items, £3013 is retained in the Community Support Fund, £3,180 has been set aside for the Evangelism Fund (used, for example, to fund the Alpha and Restore courses), £7,690 for the Growth Fund (to be used to update and upgrade our Information Technology and Audio Visual capabilities) to better support our administration, services and any new mission initiatives which hopefully will be enjoyed by existing members of the congregation and at the same time impress any visitors and those seeking a vibrant welcoming church to join and £1,610 for Community Coffee Cup (with the £1,000 grant from Hampshire County Council due to be spent in 2025). Any new/further projects may need additional specifically targeted fundraising, application for any applicable grants or be funded from the Legacy Designated Fund (subject to PCC approval).

Reserves policy

It is a longstanding PCC policy to try to maintain a Reserve balance available to the Unrestricted General Fund which equates to at least three months payments on unavoidable (nondiscretionary) running costs. Based on both the average monthly spend in 2024 and the 2025 Budget this would amount to £27,400. This balance would act as a buffer to smooth out fluctuations in cash flow (expenditure versus receipts) and meet emergencies, eg the lift requiring further major repairs without which the Upper Hall would be largely un-usable. The Unrestricted General Fund balance on 31 Dec 24 was £7,931, only 28.9% of target (down slightly from 30% at 31 Dec 23). Whilst the overall balance on all Funds at 31 Dec 24 was £120,555, £22,793 (of which £22,000 is the value of the Orchard Garden) or 18.9%, is held in Restricted Funds which can only be used for their legally defined purpose, with a further 74.5% (£89,831) held in Designated Funds where the PCC has varying levels of discretion over how the funds may be expended. Therefore, the monthly management of receipts and expenditure in the General Fund should be regarded as “hand to mouth” where a part of one month’s income is necessarily used to pay some or all of that month’s expenses. It remains the PCC’s intention to increase the General Fund carrying balance but no timescale for this has been set. Scope for increasing income from investments will be further investigated in 2025 now the bulk of the legacy received in 2023 has been moved into a Virgin Savings Account (Note: £20,000 of this legacy is already earmarked for the Solar Panels Project).

Forecast for 2025

A potential loss to the General Fund amounting to some £11,249 is projected for the end of 2025 – based on forecast further changes in utility prices and general inflation factors affecting everything we purchase. This means that the overall monthly situation of receipts and payments against the General Fund must be closely monitored to ensure the decline of prior years is indeed reversed; any unanticipated material decrease in income or increase in expenditure would have significant consequences in both the short and medium terms. As always, we remain unendingly grateful to all who contribute to St Wilfrid’s finances, both through regular giving and in supporting our various fundraising efforts.

Charitable giving

Charitable giving through the church totalled £4,675. This is equivalent to 4.2% of nett receipts to the General Fund income. This is a decrease on previous years and remains below our target of 10%. [Note: This calculation only considers nett income to the General Fund and monetary contributions to others. In the calculation, no account has been taken of either discounted/waived Hall Rental Charges for users with charitable status or the Parish Share which directly accounts for some 76.9% of income.]

Additionally, the congregation’s and parishes’ wider generosity is recognised through the provision

of some four hundred Christmas Gift boxes to Samaritans Purse (including those collected from other local churches and organisations).

Note: If non-discretionary expenditure, ie the Parish Share, is subtracted from nett General Fund income (reducing it to £25,838) then the percentage would be 18.1%

2024 Accounts of the Parochial Church Council of St Wilfrid’s Church, Cowplain

Explanatory notes to the accounts

The accounts are being reported on a receipts and payments basis as agreed by the trustees at a full PCC meeting on 26th November 2015. The accounts are presented in accordance with guidance in the 5th edition of “PCC accountability” which conforms to The Charities Act 2011 incorporating SORP 2015.
A budget for 2025 is included in the accounts. This was accepted at the PCC meeting in Jan 25. All finance projections are based on the final figures for 2024 modified by reasonable assumptions and/or known costs.
Assets are still declining, and a further material spend in the Growth Fund on a Phase 3 of the audio-visual system upgrade will further reduce the holding in the bank accounts and therefore our overall liquidity.
The liabilities (£2,302) shown in the statement are due to transactions in the “Agency Accounts” (money that passes through the church bank accounts but must not be counted as church funds as it relates to third parties) that could not be completed in the budget year. The significant items are £815 owed to the Diocese for 2024 Q4 fees, £266 to both the Hants & IoW Air Ambulance and Rowans Hospice from the Christmas 24 Giving, £662 Wedding Deposit and £202 to Waterlooville Foodbank (Donations collected at the weekly “Warm Spaces”.

St Wilfrids Church - 1130601

Statement of Financial Activities

For the period from 01 January 2024 to 31 December 2024

	Unrestricted	Designated	Restricted	Endowment	Endowment	Total	Prior year
	funds	funds	funds		funds	funds	total funds
*Receipts:*
Voluntary receipts	90,672.50	13,333.50	—	—	104,006.00		154,039.35
Income from church activities	7,545.13	66	—	—		7,611.13	5,756.09
Other trading activities	13,099.50	—	—	—		13,099.50	10,792.63
Investments	247.13	—	—	—		247.13	102.23
Other income	274.22	63,934.90	—	—		64,209.12	3,154.18
Total receipts:	111,838.48	77,334.40	—	—	189,172.88		173,844.48
*Payments:*
Raising funds	928.82	42	—	—		970.82	161.97
Costs of church activities	117,122.22	23,761.58	—	—	140,883.80		118,800.76
Other expenditure	452.26	61,241.72	—	—		61,693.98	1,475.54
Total payments:	118,503.30	85,045.30	—	—	203,548.60		120,438.27
Net income / (expenditure)	-6,664.82	-7,710.90	—	—		-14,375.72	53,406.21
*Transfers*
Gross transfers between funds - in	6,419.00	4,343.59	—	—		10,762.59	500
Gross transfers between funds - out	-0.39	-6,419.00	-4,343.20	—		-10,762.59	-500
Net income / (expenditure)	-246.21	-9,786.31	-4,343.20	—		-14,375.72	53,406.21
*Other recognised gains / losses*
Gains / losses on investment assets	—	—	—	—		—	—
Gains on revaluation, fixed assets, charity's own use	—	—	—	—		—	—
Net movement in funds	-246.21	-9,786.31	-4,343.20	—		-14,375.72	53,406.21
*Reconciliation of funds*
Total funds brought forward	8,177.05	99,617.29	27,136.10	—	134,930.44		81,524.23
Total funds carried forward	7,930.84	89,830.98	22,792.90	—	120,554.72		134,930.44

28 January 2025

St Wilfrids Church - 1130601

Statement of Assets and Liabilities (by code) As at: 31 December 2024

Last year Class and nominal code General Designated Restricted Endowment Total	Last year Class and nominal code General Designated Restricted Endowment Total

Net total assets 7,586.84 89,830.98 23,136.90 — 120,554.72 134,930.44 Liabilities - Creditors: Amounts falling due in one year 6601 : Loans received -1,200.00 -730.34 1,930.34 — — — Total -1,200.00 -730.34 1,930.34 — — — Liabilities - Agency accounts 6699 : Agency collections — — 2,301.76 — 2,301.76 2,150.29 Total — — 2,301.76 — 2,301.76 2,150.29 6505 : Virgin Charity deposit account 1,384.69 63,309.46 13,757.92 — 78,452.07 18,204.94 Total 7,363.03 87,744.45 5,369.00 — 100,476.48 114,700.73 6502 : Lloyd's Bank current acco 70,397.28 -40,393.90 -13,835.21 — 16,168.17 16,583.18 6503 : CAF cash account -5 5 — — — — Total -976.19 1,356.19 22,000.00 — 22,380.00 22,380.00 Current assets - Cash at bank and in hand 6501 : Barclay's Bank current account -64,413.94 64,823.89 5,446.29 — 5,856.24 79,912.61 Fixed assets - Tangible assets 6430 : Land — — 22,000.00 — 22,000.00 22,000.00 6431 : Organ -976.19 1,356.19 — — 380.00 380.00	assets - Tangible assets Land — — 22,000.00 — 22,000.00 22,000.00 Organ -976.19 1,356.19 — — 380.00 380.00
	Total -976.19 1,356.19 22,000.00 — 22,380.00 22,380.00

	Total -1,200.00 -730.34 1,930.34 — — —

	Net total assets 7,586.84 89,830.98 23,136.90 — 120,554.72 134,930.44


19 Total 7,930.84 89,830.98 22,792.90 — 120,554.72 134,930.44 Restricted - WMgarden — — — — — 4,343.20 Restricted - Whitbread — — 22,354.67 — 22,354.67 22,354.67 Restricted - Larteh — — 138.23 — 138.23 138.23 Restricted - VDF — — 300.00 — 300.00 300.00 Designated - Toddler-2 — 1,694.98 — — 1,694.98 1,796.51 Designated - Youth — — — — — 118.61 Designated - Growth — 7,690.35 — — 7,690.35 16,755.66 Designated - LegDes — 64,127.28 — — 64,127.28 71,623.78 Designated - Evangelism — 3,180.05 — — 3,180.05 3,842.16 Designated - GM — 343.20 — — 343.20 — Designated - Cowtrail — 191.33 — — 191.33 191.33 Designated - Eco — 7,980.82 — — 7,980.82 1,417.19 Designated - CCC — 1,609.68 — — 1,609.68 694.85 Designated - CommSupp — 3,013.29 — — 3,013.29 3,177.20 Represented by Unrestricted - General 7,930.84 — — — 7,930.84 8,177.05
	Total 7,930.84 89,830.98 22,792.90 — 120,554.72 134,930.44

28 January 2025

St Wilfrids Church - 1130601 Receipts and payments Selected period: 01 January 2024 to 31 December 2024

*Note* To From	01 January 2024 01 January 2023 31 December 2024 December 2023

Total receipts: Other income other income Insurance claims Total Other income Total Other trading activities Investments Bank and building society interest Total Investments Total Income from church activities Other trading activities Fees for weddings and funerals Church hall lettings - objectives Christmas Fayre Easy fundraising Income from Events Non-recurring one-off grants Total Voluntary receipts Income from church activities May Fayre Loose plate collections Donations appeals etc Tax recoverable on Gift Aid Receipts: Voluntary receipts Planned Giving - Bank Planned Giving - Envelopes Other planned giving (PGS) General - General fund (Unrestricted) Fund	280.00 — 250.00 8,412.15 5,781.11 4,122.67 4,383.55 16,625.13 16,722.56 45,454.00 45,978.00 435.00 15,778.55 13,854.62
	2,711.31 2,094.11 51.01 100.16 3,294.37 1,751.23 90,672.50 87,404.84 1,488.44 1,016.94
	7,545.13 4,962.44 1,212.00 1,584.00 11,887.50 9,208.63
	13,099.50 10,792.63 247.13 102.23
	274.22 444.82 — 278.00 247.13 102.23
	274.22 722.82

	111,838.48 103,984.96

Payments:

Payments:
Total carried forward balance Excess of Receipts: over Payments: Transfers to/(from) Brought forward balance Other expenditure Miscellaneous expenses Total Other expenditure Total payments: Fire check Electrical testing Total Costs of church activities Phs supplies Water-church/Hall Governance costs examination/audit fee Electricity Gas Hall supplies Postage Data Developments Visiting speakers / locums Printing Hospitality costs Stationery Lift maimtenance Administration Sacristy supplies Organ / piano tuning Church maintenance Church Cleaning Insurance Performing rights license Telephone Water rates - vicarage Education Parish training and mission Working expenses of incumbent Travelling expenses Parsonage house expenses Assistant clergy expenses Readers expenses Office manager IT Subscriptions Portsmouth Foodbank Parish Share Costs of church activities CMS Alison Gilbet Advertising Children & Youth Resources Raising funds Costs of fetes & other events Total Raising funds	928.82 161.97
	150.00 435.96 503.40 199.2 84.00 351.64 35.23 1,025.46 718.48 — 50.00 4,163.09 5,192.08 3,517.90 5,762.55 352.12 358.21 20.4 12.00 150.00 — 439.28 142.18 178.49 162.53 122.46 822.31 328.56 821.37 960.53 225.85 301.62 533.9 496.86 540 810.00 1,890.76 2,237.50 4,776.00 4,812.40 1,418.94 1,397.61 408.3 538.28 — 19.00 462.98 86.04 — 14.78 627.15 364.85 182.27 98.24 286.01 114.57 83 206.77 954.52 87.88 12.99 — 4,557.87 3,463.95 697.8 602.99 240 240.00 86,000.04 81,924.01 900 900.00 138.06 1,091.34 21.62 — 928.82 161.97
	452.26 527.74 117,122.22 114,703.96
	452.26 527.74

	118,503.30 115,393.67
	-6,664.82 -11,408.71 6,418.61 500.00 8,177.05 19,085.76
	7,930.84 8,177.05

28 January 2025

St Wilfrids Church - 1130601

Fund movement by type Selected period: 01 January 2024 to 31 December 2024

==> picture [501 x 481] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
Fund and type Fund balances Incoming Outgoing Transfers Gains and Journal Fund balances
brought Resources Resources Losses Entries carried forward
forward
Unrestricted
General - General fund 8,177.05 111,838.48 118,503.30 6,418.61 — — 7,930.84
Sub-totals 8,177.05 111,838.48 118,503.30 6,418.61 — — 7,930.84
Designated
CCC - Community 694.85 2,478.90 1,564.07 — — — 1,609.68
Coffee Cup
CommSupp - 3,177.20 — 163.91 — — — 3,013.29
Community Support
Cowtrail - Cowtrail 191.33 — — — — — 191.33
fund
Eco - Eco Fund 1,417.19 7,310.00 746.37 — — — 7,980.82
Evangelism - 3,842.16 262 924.11 — — — 3,180.05
Evangelism fund
GM - Ground — — — 343.2 — — 343.2
Maintenance
(Formerly WMGF)
Growth - Growth Fund 16,755.66 — 9,065.31 — — — 7,690.35
LegDes - Legacy 71,623.78 64,923.50 72,420.00 — — — 64,127.28
(Designated)
Toddler-2 - Carers & 1,796.51 2,360.00 161.53 -2,300.00 — — 1,694.98
Toddlers - 2
Youth - Youth Work 118.61 — — -118.61 — — —
Sub-totals 99,617.29 77,334.40 85,045.30 -2,075.41 — — 89,830.98
Restricted
Larteh - Larteh fund 138.23 — — — — — 138.23
VDF - Vicar's 300 — — — — — 300
Discretionary fund
WMgarden - White 4,343.20 — — -4,343.20 — — —
memorial garden fund
Whitbread - Whitbread 22,354.67 — — — — — 22,354.67
fund
Sub-totals 27,136.10 — — -4,343.20 — — 22,792.90
Totals 134,930.44 189,172.88 203,548.60 — — — 120,554.72
28 January 2025
----- End of picture text -----

Note : The Whitbread Fund Balance includes £22,000 for the purchase value of the Orchard Garden.

	Charitable Giving 2024
Source Christmas 2023 Appeal Christmas 2023 Appeal Church Funds - PCC Remembrance Service 2023 Christingle Service Congregation Donations Church Funds - PCC Warm Spaces Traidcraft Breakfast Church Funds - PCC Harvest Service Art Festival Remembrance Service Poppy Box Church Funds Church Funds	Recipient Amount Rowan's Hospice 402.96 Sophie's Legacy 402.96 Archdeacon ROWLEY Leaving Gift 50.00 RBL Poppy Appeal 312.88 Children’s Society 74.11 Rev WILLIAMS Leaving Gift 375.00 Rev WILLIAMS Leaving Gift 150.00 Waterlooville Foodbank 578.13 Traidcraft 131.26 Rev JACKSON Leaving Gift 50.00 Waterlooville Foodbank 95.00 PSP (Progressive Supranuclear Palsy) and CBD (Corticobasal Degeneration) 500.00 RBL Poppy Appeal 314.26 RBL Poppy Appeal 98.90 CMS - Monthly Contribution 900.00 Waterlooville Foodbank - Monthly Contribution 240.00 Total:4,675.46

Notes:

The Total figure does not take into account the following examples of the congregation’s generosity:
a. Filled Christmas boxes to support the Samaritan’s Purse appeal.
b. Provision of food and drink Christmas Lunch at no cost.
c. Provision of food to support Warm Spaces with all donations then passed to Waterlooville Foodbank.
Additionally, Hall Rental Charges are either waived or discounted for other Registered Charities, eg The Brownies and Girl Guides.

Receipts and Payments to the General fund (Budget 2024 calculations)

==> picture [501 x 546] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
General Fund - Final Budget for 2025 for Approval at PCC 30 Jan 25
2024 2025 2024 2025
RECEIPTS (GROSS) Budget Actual Basis Budget PAYMENTS Budget Actual Basis Budget
Voluntary receipts
Planned Giving/envelope scheme 46753 45734 = 2024 -£2000 43734 Missionary and charitable giving 1140 1140 Budget 1260
PGS 13861 15779 = 2024 Actual 15779
Gift Aid Income tax refund 16483 16625 = 2024 Actual 16125
Sub-Total 77097 78138 = 2024 Actual 75638 Parish share 86000 86000 Actual 81700
Church collections 5929 8412 = 2024 Actual 8412 Clergy, organist and office manager 6475 6724 = 2024++ 10% 9000
Donations and appeals 4848 4123 = 2024 Actual 4123 Cost of Raising Funds / Events 65 929 = 2024+10% 1000
Other voluntary receipts 150 = 2024 Actual Parish Training 550 627 Budget 1000
Diaries 0 Zero
Legacy 0 Zero Church running expenses
HCC grant 0 Zero Cleaners & Window Cleaner 5198 4776 = 2024 + 5% 5000
Income from charitable activities Gas and Electricity 10000 7681 = 2024 + 12.5% 8640
Other income 753 274 = 2024 Actual 274 Water rates 725 1025 = 2024 + 10% 1110
Easyfundraising 120 51 Estimate 50 insurance 1419 1419 Actual 1447
Easter Fayre 2000 1488 Estimate 1750 CCLI + RSCM 565 408 = 2024 + 5% 429
Christmas Fayre 2046 2711 Estimate 3000 other running/admin expenses 1641 2197 = 2024+12.5% 2470
Income from events 0 3294 Estimate 2000
tea/coffee, other fundraising 0 Zero
Other trading activities Church maintenance (incl Lift & Tests) 4247 3887 Budget 5600
Hall lettings 8795 11888 = 2024 + 5% 12500
Fees weddings and funerals 1762 1212 = 2024 Actual 1250 Church/Hall running costs 1119 1238 = 2024+12.5% 1390
Recycling 0 Zero
Investments 100 247 Estimate 300 Miscellaneous 607 452 = 2024 + 10% 500
car park 0 Zero
Total 103600 111838 109297 Total 119750 118503 120546
2025 Projected Excess of Income over Expenditure: -11249
Notes:
1. All figures are based on a prudent approach that disregards extraordinary and exceptional income and expenditure. Further, 2024 has been used as
the base-year where appropriate.
2. 2024 Actuals are as stated in the M12 24 Financial Report for the General Fund. Where NOT an appropriate assumption, prudent estimation has been
employed.
3. The 2025 Parish Share has been confirmed as being £81,700.
4. The Real Living Wage £12.60 ph (increased by 5% from £12.00 in 2024/5) has been used for salary costs (including cleaners) from 1 Apr 25.
5. Utility costs are based on current information re rates and assumed consumption equal to the average of 2022 to 2023 incl using the Utility
Forecasting spreadsheet.
6. The Maintenance Budget figure excludes items that it has been assumed will be funded from the Legacy Designated Fund.
7. The Events figures for 2025 are based on based on an assumed monthly income of £200 for 10 months and assumed monthly expenditure of £100
over the same period.
----- End of picture text -----

15 Loxwood Road Waterlooville Hampshire PO8 9TU 24 April 2025

The Secretary of the Parochial Church Council St Wilfrid’s Church, Cowplain

Independent Examiner’s Report – Year Ending 31[st] December 2024

Respective Responsibilities of the Trustees and Independent Examiner

The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

Examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act;
Follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners
section 145 (5) (b) of the 2011 Act; and
State whether particular matters have come to my attention

Basis of Independent Examiner’s Statement

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from the management committee concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in a full audit and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the accounts.

Independent Examiner’s Statement

In connection with my examination, no matters have come to my attention:

Which give me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements
To keep accounting records in accordance with s. 130 of the 2011 Act; or
To prepare accounts which accord with those accounting records have not been
met; or
To which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Andy Forbes

Andrew Forbes

Honorary Independent Examiner

Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales prior to retirement

CHURCH ELECTORAL ROLL CERTIFICATE

PARISH of St Wilfrid's Church, Cowplain

DEANERY Havant

I hereby certify that the number of electors on the Church Electoral Roll of the above parish as revised for the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) held on 11th May 2025 was 127.

I hereby certify that out of the number of electors shown above, 62 are resident within the parish.

Signed Elaine J Hoey

Electoral Roll Officer

Date 11th May 2025

Title ~~a~~	Christian Name	Middle Name	Surname	Res/Non Res	Date Added
Mrs ~~a~~	Deborah		Adam	Non	3/23/2025
Ms ~~a~~ ~~a~~	Betsy ~~ee~~		Anaman	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs ~~a~~ ~~a~~	Janet ~~ee~~	Elizabeth	Andrews	Res	3/23/2025
Mr ~~a~~	David ~~ee~~	John	Attridge	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs ~~a~~	Gillian	Mary	Attridge	Non	3/23/2025
Mr ~~a~~	Derek	Colin	Baker	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs ~~a~~	Lesley	Patricia	Baker	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs ~~a~~	Loraine		Barberini	Res	3/23/2025
Mr ~~a~~	William	John	Barberini	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs ~~a~~ ~~a~~ ~~DR a~~	Katie ~~a~~		Beck	Non	3/23/2025
Mr ~~a~~ ~~DR a~~	Nathan ~~a~~	Bruce,Kelvin	Beck	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs ~~DR a~~ ~~a~~	Nellie ~~a~~	Lillian	Boddy	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs ~~a~~ ~~a~~	Sara		Bolton	Non	3/30/2025
Mr ~~a~~	Stephen		Bolton	Non	3/23/2025
Mr ~~a~~ ~~a~~	Allan	James	Brawn	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs ~~a~~ ~~a~~	Susan	Patricia	Brawn	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs ~~a~~	Hilary	Clare	Brown	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs ~~a~~	Julie		Brown	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs ~~a~~ ~~a~~	Yolanda	Louise	Cawdeary	Res	3/23/2025
Miss ~~I~~	Sarah	Elizabeth	Chambers	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs ~~a~~	Jane	Marie	Coates	Res	3/23/2025
Mr ~~a~~	Mark	Stephen	Coates	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs ~~a~~	Carol		Cork	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs ~~a~~	Helen	Ann	Couper	Non	3/30/2025
Mrs ~~se~~	Patricia ~~se~~	May ~~se~~	Daish ~~se~~	Res ~~se~~	4/3/2025 ~~se~~
Mrs ~~a~~	Elaine		Davenport	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs ~~a~~	Joy		Day	Non	3/23/2025
Mr ~~se~~	Stephen ~~se~~	Edward ~~se~~	Day ~~se~~	Non ~~se~~	3/23/2025 ~~se~~
Mr ~~a~~	Bernie		Dickson	Res	4/3/2025
Mrs ~~a~~	Diane		Dickson	Res	4/3/2025
Mrs ~~a~~	Pamela	Ann	Dilloway	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs ~~a~~	Margaret		Farmer	Non	3/23/2025
Mr ~~a~~	Martyn	Roger	Farmer	Non	3/23/2025
Miss ~~a~~	Winifred	Sylvia Alice	Flint	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs ~~a~~	Allison		Gale	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs ~~a~~	Mary		Gaunt	Res	3/23/2025
Miss ~~a~~	Valerie		German	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs ~~a~~	Ruth		Gibbs	Non	3/23/2025
Mr ~~eG~~	Terry ~~eG~~	~~eG~~	Gibbs ~~eG~~	Non ~~eG~~	3/23/2025 ~~eG~~

Mr	Robert		Ginger	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Sheila	May	Ginger	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Caroline		Haill	Non	3/23/2005
Mr	Simon	John Jackson	Haill	Non	3/23/2005
Mrs	Marion		Hammon	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Sheila	Winifred	Hamston	Non	3/23/2025
Mr	Roy	Leonard	Handley	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Sabina		Harding	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs	Shirley	Ann	Henley	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Jane	Elizabeth	Hill	Res	3/23/2025
Mr	John		Hill	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs	Marjorie	Irene	Hill	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Sylvia	Margaret	Hoare	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Elaine	Jeanne	Hoey	Non	3/23/2025
Mr	Robert	Stanley	Hoey	Non	3/30/2025
Mr	Gary	William	Huckle	Res	3/23/2025
Miss	Sheila		Jackson	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Shirley	Isabel	Johnston	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs	Dorothy	Mildlred	Jones	Non	4/3/2025
Mrs	Ruby	Evelyn	Jordan	Res	3/23/2025
Mr	Colin		Kaidby		3/23/2025
Mrs	Angela	Sheila	Kemp	Non	3/30/2025
Mrs	Lisa		Kernot	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs	Catherine		King	Res	3/23/2025
Mr	Graham	Paul	King	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Daniel	Philip	Knight	Non	3/30/2025
Mrs	Evelyn	Claire	Knight	Non	3/30/2025
Mrs	Mary		Lambert	Non	3/23/2025
Mr	Brian	Elgar	Lettin	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	June	Mary	Leveratt	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Patricia	Maude	Long	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs	Kathleen(Babs)	Phyllis	Lunn	Non	3/30/2025
Mr	Colin	Edward	Mason	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs	Elizabeth(Trudy)		Mason	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs	Maria,	Josephine	McGannan	Res	3/23/2025
Mr	William	Michael	McGannan	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Joanne		Mead	Non	3/23/2025
Mr	Niall	Antony	Mead	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs	Brenda		Mizen	Non	3/23/2025
Mr	Charles	Douglas	Mobsby	Res	3/23/2025
Mr	Mark		Moncreaff	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs	Teresa		Moncreaff	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs	Melanie		Morgan	Non	3/30/2025
Mr	Michael	Fielden	Morgan	Non	3/30/2025

Mrs	Gwenda J		Morris	Res	3/23/2025
	Carole		Morton-Mason	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Helen	Rebecca	Owen	Non	3/30/2025
Mr	Michael	James	Owen	Non	3/30/2025
Mrs	Sonia		Passingham	Res	3/23/2025
Mr	Alan		Patrick	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Jackie		Patrick	Res	3/23/2025
Mr	Douglas		Pettit	Res	3/30/2025
Mrs	Natalie		Pettit	Res	3/23/2025
Mr	Alan	James	Phillips	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Anne	Lesley	Phillips	Res	3/23/2025
Mr	David		Price	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs	Dorothy	Margaret	Reed	Res	3/30/2025
Mrs	James	Edward	Reed	res	3/23/2023
Mrs	Anne		Reynolds	Non	3/30/2025
Mrs	Linda		Rivers	Non	4/3/2025
Mrs	Barbara		Roberts	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Sally		Rolison	Non	3/23/2025
Mr	Daniel		Sandford		3/23/2025
Mr	Anthony		Sears	Non	3/23/2025
Mr	Robert	Edward	Shrimpton	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Janet		Smith	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs	Emily	Rose	Spencer	Res	3/23/2025
Mr	David		Strutt	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Valerie	Heather	Strutt	Res	3/23/2025
Mr	Kenneth	George	Tallyn	Non	3/23/2025
Mr	Anthony		Thompson	Res	3/23/2025
Mr	David	Raymond,George	Thompson	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs	Jacqui		Thompson	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs	Janet	Winifred Ann	Warnecke	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Barbara		Waters	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs	Hazel		Watson	Res	23/03.2025
Mrs	Eileen	Susan	Weston	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Barbara	Eleanor	Wheeler	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Judith		Wheeler	Non	3/23/2025
Mr	Robert	Charles	Wheeler	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Sharon	Christine	Wheeler	Res	3/23/2005
Mrs	Norma		White	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Pamela	Margaret	White	Non	4/3/2025
Mr	Paul		Wilkinson	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Susan	Mary	Wilkinson	Res	3/23/2025
Mrs	Denise	Carole	Williams	Non	3/23/2025
Mr	David	Graham	Wiseman	Non	3/23/2025
Mrs	Jeanette	Mary	Wiseman	Non	3/23/2025

Donations Received £15,726.15 Gift Aid Received £5,357.23 Total £21,083.38 REGULAR PLANNED GIVING SCHEME – Including one off donations – Taxpayers Donations Received £45,848.00 Gift Aid Received (includes 85p interest) £11,462.85 Total £57,310.85 REGULAR PLANNED GIVING SCHEME – Including one off donations – Non Tax Payers Donations Received £4,870.00 Total £83,264.23

All Planned Giving Donations received including Gift Aid are allocated to the General fund.

The number of planned giving members has remained the same at 72 members at the end of this	The number of planned giving members has remained the same at 72 members at the end of this
year.
Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS)- Donations from the weekly collection plate	Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS)- Donations from the weekly collection plate
Total GASDS Claimed for year ending 31st December 2024	£7,257.14
Total Gift Aid received	£1,814.31
Total	£9,071.45
This Donation is added to the General Fund giving a Total Including Gift Aid
Total of All Donations received	£73,701.29
Gift Aid	£18,634.39
Total	£92,335.68
*Total Received for Year End 31st December 2023*	£87,913.41
*Total Increase for Year End 31st December 2024*	£4,422.27

I can report once again that we our up-to-date with our Safer recruitment and our policies. I attended a Safeguarding Conference last year, which was just for Parish Safeguarding Officers and I found it as usual to be excellent and useful to network with other PSOs.

I am particularly grateful to leaders and volunteers who continue to do their training. I am aware it is a lot for people to do, but I am heartened by the increasing numbers of people who tell me they understand the importance of safeguarding and learn a lot each time.

The role of parish safeguarding officer has grown rather a lot and I am particularly grateful to have the help and support of Rev Chris, who is the safeguarding lead, Rev Polly, Sara and Maria. Rev Polly and Maria are 2nd recruiters which means they can start the safer recruitment and also DBS process, whilst Sara is the safeguarding administrator dealing with the safeguarding hub, which will be a great help to me as it will send out renewal dates for training and DBS, instead of my having to trawl through all the data.

You will all have seen on TV and newspapers, the worrying disclosures and the way they have been been dealt with by the Church of England. So I can assure you all that Rev Chris and the team take safeguarding very seriously and do our very best to keep our lovely church safe for you all.

Looking forward, the National Church has appointed independent auditors INEQE. You may already have sent in your response to the survey, and in early June INEQE will be visiting Portsmouth Diocese to perform an audit on the Diocese, Cathedral and selected churches.

Can I ask you all to remain vigilant and inform Rev Chris, myself or the Portsmouth Diocese Team of any safeguarding concerns, however small. Our contact details are around the building and on our website.

Many Thanks

Val Strutt (Parish Safeguarding Officer) Rev Chris (Safeguarding Lead) and the Church Safeguarding Team.

Just like any other charity or organisation, all parishes must comply with General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and the Regulations themselves give individuals more rights and protection in how their personal data is used by the church.

After our APCM in June the diocese changed the way, a parish operated in terms of having a

parish GDPR Officer. Most parishes didn’t require an officer as parishes don’t deal with large scale personal data nor do they need a separate data controller as each incumbent / priest in charge was a separate legal entity who processed the same personal data for the parish. Therefore, the PCC approved that Reverend Chris would be the parish GDPR Officer and so Jo Mead was thanked for all that she had done over the years of service in that role for the parish.

In July the national church had updated the Data Protection Policy, that comprised of 20 pages outlining new regulations about information, how the PCC was able to demonstrate that they are complying to GPDR, have a Data Privacy Notice which was found in Appendix A, A Parish Data Audit which was found in Appendix B, what happens about Data Breaches, Subject Access Requests and storage of personal data. This was approved by the PCC.

Since then, there has been little change with GDPR so Reverend Chris continues in the role by ensuring that we do not share personal information, without prior written consent and continues to complete what is need for the role. Since taking on the role it has been reported of only one GPDR incident that occurred during the summer which was reported to the PCC and lessons have been learnt.

St. Wilfrid’s church continues to make contact with many people on a legitimate interest basis, there are times when an individual’s permission must be given for St. Wilfrid’s to hold data about them and that is passed onto Reverend Chris. St. Wilfrid’s church continues to comply fully both within the data protection policy and the within the wider diocese procedures.

Reverend Chris Spencer

March 2025

During term-time, our Halls have been regularly used by our own Toddler Groups and both our Art Groups, SWAG and Want to Paint. A local dancing school and a Pilates group use our halls during the day and after school time, two Rainbows, two Brownie and two Girl Guide guiding groups also use our halls. In the evening the upper hall is used on Tuesday evenings by another Pilates class. This year we have also been pleased to welcome a local choir that uses our church to rehearse on Mondays (also during term time). We are also pleased to welcome a local dance and drama club on a Friday afternoon – after Easter they will be introducing a dance class on Friday morning as well.

Hampshire Wildlife Trust has, for some time, used our upper hall once a month on Wednesday evenings (normally October through to March) and this year we were very pleased that Portsmouth RSPB has also been using this hall on a different Wednesday evening.

Two Saturday mornings a month, our upper hall is used by Havant and Waterlooville Child Contact, and Sunday Club takes place there twice a month during the term time.

During in the winter months. our Thursday Holy Communion services were held in the Lower Hall every Thursday morning, followed by teas and coffees as well as Warm Spaces.. We have been privileged to conduct the funerals of those who have sadly died in the last year, both those within

our congregation and those inside and out of our parish. Our halls have been used to host the wakes of some of these as well as for parties, rehearsals and concerts.

The Lower Hall has been in full use on Sundays, both for teas and coffees after the Church Services and by TLC (Tea and Lovely Cakes) on the 2[nd] and 4[th] Sunday afternoons. Our lower hall is also used for Messy Church on the second Thursday of each month.

The halls are also utilised for our Spring and Christmas Fayres. Other social and fundraising concerts, two Murder Mysteries – with dinner, quizzes, our PCC ‘Away’ Day, etc. all took place in the lower hall and/or church. What has turned into an annual Dog Show (which last year included a delicious cream team) utilised both our hall and garden. We celebrate the use of our halls, our contact with the users – and the income they bring.

Elaine Hoey and Sara Bolton

HEALTH & SAFETY REPORT COVERING PERIOD 1 APR 24 – 1 APR 25

PREPARED FOR APCM ON 11 MAY 25

The PCC reviews and approves the St Wilfrid’s Health & Safety (H&S) Policy each January; a copy of the policy is on display in the Church Foyer.

During the period 1 Apr 24 – 1 Apr 25 I received five Accident Report Forms. Two were raised on children who had fallen over toys or ran into doors etc whilst attending the Toddler’s Group, one kitchen accident caused by an oven glove failure and two separate incidents of a lady falling in the car park and another in the lower hall – both were taken to QA Hospital by ambulance. No further action was necessary on any of the reports.

The contents of the First Aid boxes situated in the vestry, rear of the church, kitchen, and upper hall kitchenette are checked every March to ensure the contents are in date.

An annual review of the fire risk assessments for the church and halls is conducted every March. The assessments (12 in number) are kept in the Fire Log / Risk Assessments / Test Certificates Folder.

I am not aware of any other H&S issues.

Allan BRAWN H&S Officer

FABRIC & MAINTENANCE REPORT COVERING PERIOD 1 APR 24 – 1 APR 25

PREPARED FOR APCM ON 11 MAY 25

The following improvements and maintenance have been undertaken during the period 1 Apr 24 – 1 Apr 25:

Last June Milton Glass replaced the badly fogged-up double-glazing panels in the church main door. The cost of this work was donated.
During August 2024 the external church and halls facia and gable boards, first floor window frames, the bellcote and four sections of guttering and four downpipes on the church south elevation were redecorated.
New roof felt was fitted to the car park garden shed in January.
On 14 January our inspecting church architect, Tim Sage, conducted a Quinquennial inspection. Tim’s report is eagerly awaited.
On 21 January DM Electrical Contract Services Ltd (they are a sub-contractor for the Diocese) inserted a 3mm earthing cable from No 2-lightning conductor (NE corner of lower hall) to the main distribution board in the main switchboard. This followed a recommendation from Cutting Lightning Protection Ltd.
Also, in January, a defective church central heating valve was replaced.
The lift has undergone two expensive repairs in November last year and this February. It is now fitted with LED lights which also act as emergency lighting.
In February, Uni-Guard Fire Protection Ltd replaced our 16 smoke detectors, 2 heat detectors and the non-conforming mains isolator (manufacturers recommend that detectors are replaced every 10 years).
Last November the PCC approved the installation of LED lighting in the lower hall. The Archdeacon has now approved the replacement of the fifteen existing florescent tube fittings with twenty 600mm x 600mm LED lighting panels. The Diocese grants panel have awarded us a grant of £1,000 towards this work. It is hoped work will commence shortly.
The Archdeacon has also approved work to re-render the south facing interior wall and part of the west wall of the Priest’s Vestry and, at the same time to remove one coping stone from the vestry roof to check for signs of water ingress and replace on completion. It is hoped this work will finally alleviate the long-standing dampness problem. G&C Property Services (Southern) Ltd [they are a sub-contractor for the Diocese] are scheduled to start this work on 31 March 2025.

A variety of other tasks from cleaning out gutters and drains to mending broken doors, replacing defective light fittings and plug sockets have been completed.

Standard Maintenance Items

In addition to the above the following standard maintenance tasks remain extant:

The (8) lightning conductors are tested every 2½ years, their next test is planned for November 2026.
The fire alarms, emergency lighting and fire extinguishers are in date for their respective six-and twelve-monthly checks by Uni-Guard Fire Protection Ltd; the Maintenance Manager also checks them every two months.
The two central heating boilers and the kitchen domestic hot water boiler are serviced every September by All About Gas Heating & Plumbing Services Ltd. A gas safety certificate is issued.
The dishwasher and cooker are both serviced every February by Acorn Services. A gas safety certificate is issued.
The lift is serviced every April and October by Stannah Lift Services Ltd.
Our portable electrical items (currently numbering 97) are checked every September by UK Safety Management Ltd.
The organ is covered by an annual extended guarantee and is serviced every March by Makin Organs Ltd (Church Organ World).
All external ground floor windows and the old sanctuary windows are cleaned every 3-months and the upper hall windows every 12-months.

Finally, I would like to thank all those who have assisted me with the maintenance of the building and environs.

Allan BRAWN

Maintenance Manager

The AV group consists of a small number of individuals liaising with the clergy/lay clergy to manage the creation of content (songs/liturgy/images/video) for each 11am service and for other ‘special’ services and events – Christingle, Nativity Service, Easter, Baptisms, Concerts, etc. throughout the year and ultimately the displaying/projecting of these elements during the services.

The team consisted of 4 regular operators but has reduced to 3 and efforts are planned to recruit more to the team if at all possible.

The laptop used for projecting the texts and images/video was replaced earlier in 2023 year and the projector is from 2017 and is also of lower resolution than is really required for the graphics to be displayed adequately.

The presentation software currently in use is from 2005 and progress is being made on looking into a replacement software package. A new package is currently being trialled (Presenter).

The most urgent items of the planned upgrade to the audio system have been completed during

the year, including a new mixing desk.

Progress to address other equipment replacement/upgrade and the trialling of up to date software is ongoing and changes and improvements should become apparent throughout 2025 with the ultimate goal of a more permanent installation which would improve the set-up time and also ensure the hardware does not incur damage/wear and tear due to the constant moving/unpacking/packing that the equipment currently endures.

Mark Moncreaff

We continue to have our two worship services on Sundays at 9am and 11am as well as our midweek service on Thursdays at 10:30am. The 9am is our weekly communion service using a variety of worship booklets based on the different times and seasons of the Church of England. We continue to have our voluntary organist David who plays at least once a month. The 11am service is our informal worship and covers informal communion, all age worship and Sunday club activities. Occasionally we have had joint services at 10am to celebrate Easter and Remembrance Sunday and that I hope will continue throughout the year.

It has been a joy to keep on introducing other services throughout the year such as Thirst our new monthly service on Friday nights. I and Polly on occasion join the music group to play either guitar or bass and it has been a joy to play. We have had a theme going through all our All-Age services based on the Lord’s Prayer and included more bible readings from the Old Testament as well as from the New Testament on a more regular basis at the 9am.

My own thanks go to all those involved in all our worship services because each one of you do a sterling role in supporting, leading and serving whether that’s at the back with the AV or bringing someone up for communion, leading our intercessions or reading our bible readings or playing music and leading our services. It was lovely to have a workshop with our intercessors and readers in the autumn term who I hope enjoyed themselves and learnt a few things during that time together.

In terms of our mid-week services this still continues on Thursdays at 10:30am and continues to grow with the amount of people attending. Again, like the 9am Sunday service (but without music) the midweek service continues to use the various booklets based on times and seasons of the church.

In terms of Life events by which the church now means baptisms, funerals and weddings. During the year we had two baptisms but sadly no weddings. We had around nine funerals either at church or at a crematorium as well as interment of ashes in our garden of remembrance.

Reverend Chris March 2025

The number of people available to welcome us at the 9 o’clock service has become fewer as people have moved away. It would be good to recruit more people.

The 11 o’clock teams are very flexible and organise themselves to ensure that a warm welcome is always available.

The roles of the teams include giving out whatever is needed for the service (e.g. hymn books, notice sheets, prayer diaries etc.,) as well as counting the people and counting the money and tidying up after the service. Churchwardens are there to give help and support as needed.

If you would like to be part of this important group of people, please do let us know.

A big thank you to those who help already.

Jan Smith March 2025

Just as it should be, most Pastoral Care is carried out informally – with people in the church family caring about (and for) each other. We ask each other for updates on health or family concerns that we know about; we may telephone or even visit personal friends who are from church as well as our personal friends who used to come to church before they became too frail.

There is, however a Pastoral Care Team which meets at intervals to try to ensure that our caring is fully inclusive – we don’t want anyone to be missing out.

The team undertook a course of training some years ago and that team, for a number of reasons is now much smaller. We were all invited to join a new Training Course, led by Emily and Rev Chris Spencer. The course is EXCELLENT and was offered to anyone in our Deanery. Numbers attending are relatively few but we pray that Pastoral Care will be shared among the church family, so that everyone will know that they are loved and cared for, not only by God, but also by their brothers and sisters here at St Wilfrid’s.

Jan Smith 2025.

Over the last 12 months I have had the privilege of playing at a number of 9am Holy Communion Services, usually once or twice per month. For those Services the number of hymns sung has

been increased to four, and in addition parts of the Communion Service are sung to the setting by David Thorne.

As over the last few years my role also includes making hymn suggestions for each 9am Service. I continue to use the RSCM publication Sunday by Sunday to source ideas, in conjunction with reference to the Bible readings for each Sunday as given on the rota. I sometimes also refer to the suggestions lists at the back of the hymn book. Each month I submit my suggestions to members of the Ministry Team for vetting - and occasional changing.

The organ itself continues to function well generally, with scope for plenty of variation in tone colour and volume level. There has been the occasional power failure to the subwoofer, normally caused by the plug fuse needing to be replaced. The subwoofer is the large chest at ground level in Church, situated near the piano and font. It is there to enhance the organ bass sounds, and the general tone gets rather “flat” (not in pitch) without it.

The Church is aiming to recruit a new, permanent organist in the long term; I shall continue to enjoy playing for the foreseeable future until someone is appointed.

David Wiseman

2024 was a very difficult year for me and I want to thank all my church family friends for their support, love and prayers. I am now moving forward living, once again, on my own, this time by choice. I praise and thank God for his faithfulness to me as I endured lots of heartache and distress, at times, during the year.

As I reported last year, I have stepped back from leading and preaching as I feel lead more to the Anna Chaplaincy Ministry, which I love doing. (See seperate report). I remain a LLM/reader (Licensed Lay Minister) with PTO (Permission to Officiate)

The other areas of Ministry that I’m involved in at present are, helping with Sunday Club, Pastoral Care, Community Coffee Cup, Prayer Ministry, Home Communion and Anna Chaplaincy.

In January 2025, I was able to join with other Diocesan LLMs and readers at the annual conference, thank you to the PCC for funding this. This year we were able to stay in luxury and I really valued the time away to reflect and be creative about my life and ministry.

I thank God for all the support and encouragement I have received over the many years, that I have been a LLM (reader), at St Wilfrid’s Church.-

Elaine Davenport

1. The Prayer Chain

Known as a “chain” from the olden days when prayer requests were passed along by letter or telephone, from one person to another, the prayer chain is now virtually instantaneous and works primarily through email. Anyone who would value prayer for a particular person or situation can contact Joy Day joyday1411@gmail.com (07963194709) who will forward the request to those who have opted to undertake the role of prayer warrior. Please let Joy know if you would like join the prayers. Those receiving prayer requests will treat any information as strictly confidential. We have given thanks for many answers to our prayers.

2. Day of Prayer

The first Wednesday of each month is designated “a day of prayer” and there will normally be suggestions of prayerful activities, sometimes a prayer walk and usually a prayerful gettogether in church at 7.30pm which we call “Connect in Praise”.

3. Prayer Diary

A prayer diary is provided for each calendar month inviting prayer for members of our church family. If you notice any omissions, or have suggestions of other items to include, please do contact Jan.

4. Intercessions

Intercessions on Sundays are usually led by lay people. We were pleased to be offered helpful suggestions for leading intercessions at a workshop led by Emily and Polly in November 2024. If you would like to join the team, please do speak to Rev Chris.

5. Prayer Ministry

Prayer ministry refers to the times when people pray for each other, often, though not necessarily, after services. There is a team of people who have been trained to offer this ministry; please do contact a member of the clergy if you would like prayer for any matter that is concerning you.

6. Easter Experience/Thy Kingdom Come/Advent Experience

Occasional, seasonal “Prayer Stations” will appear in church, encouraging us to come and pray; we give special thanks to Rev Chris and Rev Polly for setting these up.

7. Personal Prayer

Thankfully, this is the most prolific prayer in our church. Let’s keep on praying. God loves to hear us.

Jan Smith March 2025

On 20th June 2024 Bishop Jonathan informed me that I had completed the necessary assessment requirements of curacy. In his letter, Bishop Jonathan mentioned that I was ready for a further appointment. However, I have not had to move as my current licence permitting me to minister at St. Wilfrid’s expires on 25th June this year. I am at present waiting to have a meeting with the Archdeacon to discuss my future ministry.

My formal training therefore ceased as per Bishop Jonathan’s letter above. However, in ministry, as in life itself, one is always learning. I conducted two weddings this past year, a baptism and a number of funerals. Rev. Polly and I also jointly lead a session at a PCC Away Day. This is in addition to leading, preaching and celebrating Holy Communion at St. Wilfrid’s and attending ministry meetings, deanery synod meetings, clergy chapter meetings and doing a certain amount of pastoral and hospital visiting.

My report would not be complete if I didn’t mention how grateful I am to you all for the love, support, prayers and encouragement you have given me on my ‘curacy journey’.

Thank you. Thank you too to the wider ministry team at St. Wilfrid’s. You have all been great. Rev. Chris has also been a great training incumbent, vicar, pastor and friend, for which I am grateful.

But most of all, I thank God for giving me this opportunity to serve and minister in the parish and community of Cowplain. It has been such a joy.

For the record, I am a non-stipendiary priest and my working days have been Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays

On 29th June I was ordained deacon at Portsmouth Cathedral and started serving here at St Wilfrid’s. Whilst I have only been with you for 8 months in many ways it feels like I have always been with you, which is a testament to the warm welcome I have received from all of you. Thank you.

I am extremely grateful for the way you have welcomed me and allowed me to share my gifts and service with you. Even though I am ‘only the curate’, as one of our lovely young people likes to remind me, you have allowed me to grow in my ministry in so many ways.

Thank you to everyone who has come along to ‘coffee with the curate’. I love drinking coffee and having time to chat. I will continue to offer regular sessions and am also always happy to meet anyone on a 1:1 basis for coffee and a chat.

It has been a joy to share my love of the Bible with you through Sunday teaching as well as the Bible Course which over 30 of you took part in before Christmas.

It has been great to work alongside Reverend Chris in school’s ministry supporting the RE curriculum, leading assemblies and hosting the schools in church for services and lessons.

We have just completed our Alpha course, and it has been a joy to work alongside Reverend Chris and the rest of the dedicated team. Thank you to everyone who joined us on the journey.

Thank you to those who have joined me on the first Wednesday of the month to pray for our community as we walk together. I would love to have more of you joining me. If you can’t walk and pray with me, why not do your own prayer walk and then come and join us at Pause and Pray in church at 7:30 pm?

Thirst started in September, and it has been a joy to meet each month to spend an evening worshipping our God. Whilst the style of worship may not be to everyone’s tastes I am grateful for everyone who has come along to try it out. I continue to be thirsty for more of God. Thank you to Stephen and the rest of the group for working with me on this new service.

There is so much more I could share with you about my time with you. I am grateful for all of the opportunities I am being given to grow in my ministry. I have been privileged to take part in baptisms and funerals, to carry out pastoral visits, to administer home communion, to visit house groups, to host a light party and a pancake party, to become part of the Messy Church team and so much more. I can’t believe how much I have fitted into my short time with you and look forward to so much more in the coming years.

I am looking forward to being ordained priest at 4pm on Saturday 28th June. You are all invited to join me at Portsmouth Cathedral for this service. It will be lovely to have my church family supporting me.

My prayers and blessings go with all of you. Please hold me in your prayers.

Let me start in sharing with you this scripture from 1 Peter 4:7-11

Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes! (The Message)

Peter is urging us the church to take nothing for granted, to pray, love and live, so that God’s presence will be evident in everything. I have found this to be very true of the ministry team that we study together every Tuesday, we pray for each other and we walk alongside each other in the ministry.

I am so grateful for this team so thank you to you all. The team itself has since some changes over the year as Julie left to go to pastures new across at Southsea but we welcomed Polly.

Throughout the year we have studied together the gospel according to Mark and discussed the many ministries that happen in the church. We do the rota, drink coffee or water and God ministers to the team through tears and laughter, sorrow and celebration, challenge and support which shows me that the Spirit is with us. I continue to see God through the action of the ministry team whether that’s hospital visiting, bereavement visiting, visiting people in their homes, art group, funerals, baptisms, special services, schools work, Christmas events and so much more.

My hope for the team in the future is to continue to be guided by God, to ministry in his kingdom, to find opportunities to grow and strengthen our life together and to explore how best to lead and serve the church here at St. Wilfrid’s. I close with these words from 1 Peter 4:10: ‘As each one has received a special gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.’

Reverend Chris March 2025

The June meeting took place on Thursday 13th June at St. Faith’s Church Havant. The meeting started with prayer, worship and welcome from Reverend Andrew Sheard the Area Dean. The main focus of the meeting was the Strategic Programme Manager (SPM) for Portsmouth Diocese as well as the vision for the Diocese. There was further news from the deanery as well as the appointment of a new lay Chair, Deanery Treasurer and Diocesan Synod representatives. Finally, the deanery was told about the up-and-coming ordinations where six would be placed within the deanery.

The November meeting took place on Tuesday 12th November at St. Clare’s Church, Warren Park. The meeting started in prayer and welcome from Reverend Kate McFarlane the Assistant Area Dean. Reverend Andrew Sheard spoke about the recent headlines and the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The main focus of the meeting was the work of Anna Chaplains within the deanery, updated information from around the deanery and new funding from the SMMI bid to develop a Christian community in Horndean, Leigh Park and St. Faith’s. There was also a presentation about Net Zero Carbon from David Cain and how we care for God’s creation.

The March meeting took place on Tuesday 12th March at Hart Plain Church, where the meeting welcomed everyone. Acting Archdeacon Reverend Bob White, thanked Andrew and Kate for all that they had done over the last five years and licensed our new Area Dean Reverend Emma Racklyeft and new Assistant Area Dean Reverend Jonathan Jeffrey. The main focus of the meeting was the diocesan vision and strategy based on Revive, Revitalise and Renew. The presentation included these questions under the three headings:

Revive – how can we be spirituality revived as the people of God?

Revitalise – how do we revitalise or replicate (that which is bearing fruit) what we have already in our parishes and schools?

Renew – blue sky – church plants? New models? New worshipping communities? Even new buildings…

Deanery Synod representatives: Reverend Chris Spencer, Reverend Derek Johnston,

Reverend Polly Honeychurch, Elaine Hoey and Catherine King

March 2025

We are blessed to have refreshments available to us after every morning service at St. Wilfrid’s. Our grateful thanks go to all those who provide this service for us – and welcome to anyone who would like to join in.

Jan Smith March 2025

We have slowly been building up our team again, since losing quite a few of our volunteers due to moving away and illnesses. We are very grateful to them as we could not run this outreach without them.

Since telling you last year that Hampshire County Councilor Prad Bains gave us a grant for £1000, things have changed. We were to have 6 sessions with Play Rangers from Y Services, but Havant Borough Council told us we had to hire the green adjoining Westbrook Hall, Sadly it took so long for them to decide what to charge that we had to abandon due to Winter approaching. Since then we have with the help of notably Councilor Antonia Harrison and our Will McGannan managed to get it on the Councilors agenda. We had been told this year we would have to pay £400 p.a just to use the green, plus £175 per activity. This of course made the whole idea prohibitive and we would not even be able to afford the Y services . As I write the councilors have taken the whole idea of charging the community for community events to the Executive Officer and we await the outcome.

We celebrated our 11th birthday In February 2025 with a visit from the Mayor Councillor Peter And Mayoress Janet Wade. The Mayor also organised a Cake Bake in favour of his charity…and the winner Elaine Davenport! Well done Elaine. The cakes were auctioned for charity. Jax , the Community Officer from ASDA visited at Christmas and gave us several boxes of Mince Pies which were very gratefully received.

Community Coffee Cup continues to be a blessing to the community. We are trying to involve more families and in conjunction with Lesley at St Wilfs and held another Litter Pick which was a great success involving more families.

Our thanks as always to our wonderful volunteers, Yo, Steve, Elaine D, Elaine and Stan, Barbara, Jane, Jean , Will, David , Jeanette.

Dave and Val Strutt

During the past year home groups have continued, as before, but we are aware of more people wishing to join in. For this reason, after the Lent Groups have finished, it is hoped that 2 new groups will start up. These groups will both be face-to-face, as others have been in the past. Currently 2 of the Connect Groups, who meet regularly, continue to meet via Zoom. The groups offer opportunity for Bible Study, fellowship, prayer and, for some, shared meals or outings together. We pray that new groups will meet the hopes and prayers of all those wishing to participate at the moment, and that other groups will form as needs arise.

Jan Smith March 2025

We are very pleased to have been able to keep in touch with our CMS Missionary Link, Alison Giblett who lives in Kyiv in Ukraine. St Wilfrid’s Church is committed to supporting Alison financially and individual members of our church also support Alison through CMS or City Hope Church.

On Saturday evenings, Alison joins a number of representatives, by Zoom, from Churches in England who support her prayerfully and financially. Alison gives us news from her Church in Kyiv (Tabernacle of the Living God) and news of their outreach to several groups of people – their chaplains to soldiers serving on the front line and those in hospital, mission visits to widows and grieving mothers, and special visits to bring encouragement and fun to groups of children. Lots of travelling is involved and miraculously none of the members of the church has been killed or injured despite the dangerous circumstances surrounding them. Alison’s hopes to re-establish Genesis Groups in Kyiv continue, but the work to bring God’s healing to those in the grip of addiction has been on hold for a while, for lack of suitable and willing leaders – a need for our continuing prayers.

Alison spent some time in Australia and Papua New Guinea (where she grew up) in 2024 and in 2025 she has followed up on an invitation to take Genesis Ministry Training to South Africa. Between those visits Alison spent time in England, and we were delighted that she was able to speak to us here at St Wilfrid’s at the 2 services on 9th February and share lunch with us afterwards.

We know well that the dangers of living in Kyiv persist but Alison’s commitment to serving God there is unfaltering.

It is a great blessing to Alison that every week her needs can be shared with members of the congregations supporting her through CMS – she is most appreciative of our prayers. She is an inspiration to us all.

Jan Smith and Keith and Alice Atkins

We currently don’t have an eco church team but some of the work continues thanks to enthusiasts!!

Someone completed the energy footprint tool.

The solar panel subgroup met throughout the year and made good progress.

Graham Foyle and Dave Strutt took care of the bird boxes.

The Messy Church team delivered Messy Green Week.

Yolanda & Lesley collected art work from Nurseries and uniformed groups and with the help of Catherine’s artistic skills, put together a Children's Gallery for Green Week. The Wombles Nursery School added a visit to the Gallery into their planning, and we had the pleasure of welcoming them and showing them around their Parish Church and gardens.

Lesley organised swap events, fairtrade events, plastic free picnic & litter picks and brought together a programme of events for the Great big Green Week. She continues to maintain our partnership with Havant Climate Alliance.

There was an eco service in July.

In September the diocese sent out a very exciting ‘Save the Date’ for the first ever NCZ Conference to be held in our diocese on January 18th at the Cathedral. Woohoo!!

Derek & Lesley celebrated 30 years of Fairtrade at a service held at St Mary’s in Portsmouth in September.

Lesley made a successful application for a grant of £1000 towards the hall lighting.

In November St Wilfrid’s hosted a meeting of the Diocesan Environmental Advisory Group and Derek B dusted off the Church model to deliver a presentation and Q’s & A’s on the progress of the solar project.

We do need to up our game as we’re struggling to maintain our silver award. Onwards & upwards!

Lesley Baker

The purpose of the group is to provide a time and space for anyone who has been bereaved to come and meet with others who are experiencing similar feelings, supporting each other, through

talking and listening, to work through their grief. It is open to anyone not just members of the church. Numbers vary over the months as required by the participants, usually in single figures.

Those who have attended during the past year have really appreciated these meetings. Everything is completely confidential. Things spoken about are not discussed outside the meeting. Nor do we reveal the names of those attending. Everyone’s journey through grief is different, we are not judgmental and respect where everyone is on their individual journey.

The group continues to meet on the 3rd Tuesday each month in the upper hall at 2pm.

We are ready to support anyone who wishes to attend whether you are a member of the congregation or not. You do not need a special invitation, you may contact the office to say you are coming, or you can just turn up on the day.

Revd Ruth Loveman. Group leader.

Bishop Jonathan made care for older people one of his two main priorities, in his presidential address at the April 2022 meeting of our Diocesan Synod, aiming to create a network of Anna Chaplains across the diocese. They are named after Anna, the widow and faithful older person who – together with Simeon – recognised the infant Jesus as the Messiah in the temple at Jerusalem. The plan is to have an Anna Chaplain in every parish, benefice and cluster in our diocese.

The Anna Chaplain for St Wilfrid’s is Elaine Davenport. Elaine was licensed as an Anna Chaplain in November 2022. Julie Brown supports Elaine as an Anna Friend.

Anna Chaplains minister to older people in the community. These may be older people who have a faith, little faith or no faith at all. Elaine visits the Borrow Centre (Age Concern) lunch club and also helps at their Social Afternoon. Recently a couple from the Social Afternoon have started to attend St Wilfrid’s.

Elaine has been approached by a couple, who attend the Thursday Lunch Club, to recognise their 74th wedding anniversary and bless a new wedding ring as the ladies original wedding ring has been lost. What a privilege to be asked to perform this service for such a beautiful elderly couple.

Along with Julie, Elaine also visits Nightingale Court Nursing Home, Woodlands Nursing Home and Bayith Rest Home. We take a service once a month at each of the homes and always conclude by praying for each person individually, if they want us to. The visits seem to be valued by all.

In February, Elaine and Julie attended the Anna Chaplains Network Day at the Cathedral and Bishop Jonathan lead a service of re- commissioning at the Candlemas service in the evening.

In 2024 Elaine lead the Remembrance Day Service at Age Concern, with several people attending.

Elaine Davenport

Every year we wonder

Will anyone wish to come to St Wilfrid’s for their Christmas Day Lunch?
If they do, will there be enough people to prepare and serve the meal and look after our guests?

Once again we were blessed by many willing and generous helpers (not all from within the church family) and nearly 40 diners had a very happy day.

Hosts kindly provided all the food and drinks and gifts and entertainment, and guests contributed more than £270 in support of St Wilfrid’s chosen Christmas Charities – the Rowans Hospice and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance Service.

Who knows whether there will be a similar event this year? God does. Circumstances change from year to year and those who helped in 2024 may not be available to help in 2025.

I believe it’s a very happy day for hosts and guests alike and trust that this year there will be even more blessings in abundance.

Again I give very many thanks to all those who helped in any way in 2024.

Jan Smith – coordinator.

Our thanks to everyone for your support and thanks to you we received and sent off 411 shoeboxes from St Wilfs. We were joined by even more schools this year, which was great.

I believe some 11.9 million shoeboxes were packed worldwide during 2024 collection from 11 countries. They were sent mainly to African and Eastern Bloc Countries, including Ukraine, Malawi, West Africa, The Balkans, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Moldova, Albania and Nigeria.

More than 9,000 shoebox gifts were packed in the UK.

With our special interest in Ukraine through Alison it is good to hear Samaritans have been supporting Ukraine also with food, water, medical, care, and other relief supplies, working with local churches and partners to deliver these resources. Samaritans are there for the long term.

We thank God for their dedication and through Him, all those who have supported Samaritans in their work, giving the children some bright moments to cherish and above all, knowing that God loves them.

We look forward to another shoebox collection in November, and a visit in September from David Gibbons, our Samaritans Regional Manager.

Val and Bob

In 2024, Sunday club continued to run. usually twice each month, with sessions led, planned for and taught by Deb Adam and Lisa Kernot. As well as assisting in the sessions, Elaine Andrews led Safer Recruitment.

The session dates are planned by Chris Spencer to run alongside half of the services when there is not an all age worship service. For this reason, we are no longer following a set date format of Sunday club happening every second and fourth Sunday. We have continued to break during the Christmas, Easter and Summer breaks, and to continue to run during half term holidays.

Sara Bolton has continued to be part of the team as an additional leader on a regular basis, and has assisted in sessions in both planning and delivering Sunday club sessions alongside Lisa and Deb.

Natalie Pettit also joined the team this year and has assisted in sessions on a monthly basis.

We have had on average 8 children attending each session, with some having as many as 10-12 children.

In addition to this, we also have three ‘Sunday club buddies’ who are young people of a senior school age who assist with the youngest members of the team during our Sunday club sessions. These young people are always working with the leaders and assistants during the sessions and are never left alone with other children.

Lisa Kernot

St. Wilfrid’s Art Group continues to thrive despite a slight reduction in our membership. 2024 was a period of adjustment for us as our long-standing Secretary, Val Strutt, stood down. Our thanks go to Val for all her hard work and support over the years. It was decided to split the role into three smaller units, Membership Secretary, Meetings and General Correspondence and responsibility for arranging visiting artists. Brenda Boyer kindly took on the role of Membership Secretary and the Meetings and Correspondence has been absorbed by the existing Committee Members. Visiting Artists proved more problematic, partly because they can be expensive and difficult to find.

For this reason, we did not engage any visiting artists last year. However, we managed to compensate for this by arranging a session whereby as a group we all painted the same image

using our various preferred mediums and skills. It was amazing and enlightening to see the different interpretations and styles.

Happily for us, Val has volunteered to arrange our visiting artists in 2025 and we already have two in place over the coming months.

Each year our accounts are audited by the eagle-eyed Norma and our thanks go to Norma for her hard work on our behalf.

In October, in conjunction with the Want To Paint Art Group, we held our most successful Art Exhibition to date, raising £961.22. With a small addition from SWAG funds, we were able to donate £500 each to our two chosen Charities, St. Wilfrid’s Church and the PSPA (Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Association – which supports those with this life limiting progressive neurological disease).

The Art Exhibition weekend is always fun. (plus a bit of hard work!) In 2024 our Artists sold 19 Pictures but the majority of the money raised comes from sale of refreshments and items donated for the tombolo, raffle and art materials stall. The donations keep our expenses to a minimum. The annual Exhibition also provides an opportunity for St. Wilfrid’s Art Group and Want To Paint to come together as a team and work towards a successful Exhibition and making as much money as we can for the Charities.

We’re looking forward to another year of painting, chatting and hopefully improving our skills!

Grace Willcox – Treasurer

St. Wilfrid’s Art Group

Although we’ve missed our Japanese friend Tomoko and Elizabeth Pearn who left us for a new busy life after ordination, we’ve been delighted to welcome new members during the course of the year. Some have returned after a break, some seeking friendship and one adventurous first timer from TLC; how lovely to field new members and this year our numbers have risen to nineteen.

Last year Liz Kelly’s Van Gough workshop was so popular that we were pleased to invite her back and everyone, including Veronica’s two granddaughters, very successfully recreated Monet’s regatta at Argenteuil.

Although we have beginners as well as experienced artists and it’s quite a challenge to keep an eye on everyone’s needs, it all seems to work well with everyone supportive and interested in each others skills.

We all enjoyed last year’s visit to Staunton Park and now we’re planning a repeat of a ‘sketch out’ to West Dean Gardens. This terms we’ve been getting back to basic pencil skills and drawing with the right side of the brain and are presently exploring the differences between watercolours and acrylics. Already we’re looking forward to our joint October Exhibition with SWAG and the Young Photographer’s Club.

We’re all indebted to Pam Hunt who has stepped back from four years as our faithful Treasurer, now passing the baton to Lorraine Pearce. We’re delighted that Hilary Mizen has offered her services as Secretary and my thanks go to all the committee, Jane, Veronica and Chris for their help and support. Grateful thanks to Graham Foyle who, though having moved away remains as our independent Examiner.

Soon WTP will be looking for a model to sit for us!

Sonia Passingham

Once again it has been a busy year for the different schools in our community and indeed across the whole nation, in coping with a wide range of issues, impacting the whole school community in many ways.

I am very grateful who to everyone who is involved in school ministry and it is great to see so many people involved in different aspects of school’s work from listening to children read to serving as a school governor. We continue to engage with all three local primary schools of Padnell Infants, Padnell Juniors and Queen’s Inclosure Primary School.

It is a joy to be able to host lots of school events like Easter Experience or church services for Harvest as well going into the various primary schools and conducting school assemblies on a variety of different topics and themes all linked to the Bible and concluding with a prayer.

It has been great to work alongside Reverend Polly in school’s ministry and supporting the RE curriculum and offering school lessons such as Advent. We continue to pray regularly for the schools and I hope to build upon the work and find new opportunities to work together and help children, young people and their families to deepen their understanding of faith in Jesus Christ.

So please continue to pray for our schools and its community, the parents and carers, for all of the teachers and all of the volunteers and for all those who teach there. Please do continue to pray for peace, joy and hope for all of the children, parents and staff in all areas of the schools over the coming year and that we would see new people come to faith.

Reverend Chris and Reverand Polly

Christ Centred, Creative & All Age, a Celebration with Hospitality

At Messy Church we are blessed to have such a strong and gifted team who are passionate about what we do. We continue to demonstrate a love for Jesus and are driven by our desire to share our faith with the families through actions and words. Our monthly services are based on BRF’s publication ‘Get Messy’, which provides plans that can be used as they are or tweaked to suit the

needs of our Messy Church families.

We are playing our part in Eco Church and are committed to making sustainable choices in Messy Church, especially in developing an appreciation of the world that God created. Messy Church celebrated its 20th birthday in April 2024 and BRF hosted an international meet up on Zoom. How extraordinary to think that it all began here in Cowplain, and how God has blessed it and used it all over the world.

If you would like to know more about Messy Church please speak to a Church Warden who can signpost you to a member of the team.

Messy Church Team

St Wilfrid’s Toddler group run during term time, twice a week in the Upper Hall, on Wednesday and Friday mornings. We welcome all ages from newborn babies to pre-school children. The success of these sessions has allowed us to donate regularly back to the church and we hope to continue this if future funds are sufficient.

Our aim is to provide a welcoming, safe and social environment for the children, parents/grandparents or carers giving them the opportunity to meet each other, play with their children and to have fun whilst mixing with others.

The sessions could not run without our team of amazing Church volunteers who set up and then pack away this fantastic play space each session, interact and engage with the children and their respective adults, giving an amazing Insite into our beautiful church. The Friday sessions also offer a weekly craft which is loved by both the children and their adults.

These morning sessions are very popular, and we see it as a valuable opportunity to build and grow our links with young families and our local community. We use our St Wilfrid’s Toddlers Facebook group to interact and promote church events. As a result, we see some families attending Messy Church, special events and Church on a Sunday and this is an area we seek to grow. We always endeavour to send a message of God’s love and link in with the Major Christian festivals, Easter and Christmas. We encourage worship and prayer through our story and music time.

Summer Term 2024

Busy summer of play, we gifted bibles to our school age leavers. Bob, Sharon and Helen stepped down from their roles at the end of the term.
All the toys were sorted and deep cleaned ready for the new academic year.

Autum Term 2024

Hazel took over leadership of both sessions, Lisette joined the Friday team, and Alice and Jeanette joined Wednesday team in a job share.
Many thanks to Colin whom mounted wheels and created trollies to make set up/ packing away easier.

An interactive Christmas service ended the term. Thank you all that helped.

Spring Term 2025

We said goodbye to Chris Foyle whom relocated to Somerset.
Toy cupboard moved to next to the WC.

As of September 2025, I will be stepping down on Wednesdays, so there will be no leader to run the sessions, without this role, the Wednesday sessions will have to close. This will be a great shame to lose as really does benefit both the community and the church. If this is something you feel you can help with or if you would generally like to volunteer for a session, please do speak to me. We are always looking to grow our team.

We thank God for the building, for those on the toddler team who give up their time to help and for all those coming along to the sessions, that they may not only enjoy their time with us but sense something of God’s love for them

Much Thanks to all the Toddlers Team!

Hazel Watson

TLC- Tender Loving Care and Tea and Lovely Cakes meets on a Sunday afternoon every fortnight. This year our numbers have increased to over 30. Many of our numbers have been left without a partner for various reasons so we find that there is a grieving number of lonely people who enjoy these Sunday afternoons. Along with homemade cakes, tea and coffee we serve up a quiz (some would say too difficult)! But it is impressive just how much people really do know. We also have fun games e.g., bingo, beetle, pub names etc., with small prizes for the winners. We would like to thank all our members for their continued support and wish all a good year ahead. Many thanks to all our regular helpers without which we should be unable to run.

Brenda Mizen and Sarah Canham

Warm Spaces is held during November, December, January and February on a Thursday from 12:00 until 2:00pm. Everyone is welcome and can partake of three different soups accompanied by rolls and butter. People often have up to three bowls of soup followed by a cup of tea and occasionally cake or biscuits and there is time to chat amongst the group. Each week three of St. Wilfrid’s congregation provides a different soup. This means 20 people have made delicious soup this year! Any donations given are forwarded to the food bank to assist with their invaluable work within the community.

2024-12-31-accounts

Annual Report and Financial Statements

Annual Report of The Parochial Church Council (PCC) of the

Ecclesiastical Parish of St Wilfrid, Cowplain (Registered Charity No. 1130601) From 1[st] January 2024 to May APCM 2025

Administrative information

Thank you, gracious and generous God.

Thank you, gracious and generous God.

Thank you, gracious and generous God.

Thank you, gracious and generous God.

Reverend Chris Spencer March 2025

Clergy

Anna Chaplaincy

Services

Seasons

Events and Courses

People and Groups

Training and Workshops

Events

Overview

A quick statistic to consider

Jan Smith and Steve Day , Churchwardens.

Administrative Information

Governance

Objectives

Structure, Governance and Management

Sub-committees

Attendance at Services :

The total number of people who attended at least once during the month

Average attendance at individual services during the month

Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals held in 2024

Electoral Roll

Policies and Risks

Conclusion

Approved by the PCC 20[th] March 2024 and signed on their behalf by

Rev Christopher Spencer (PCC Chairman)

Reserves policy

Forecast for 2025

Charitable giving

2024 Accounts of the Parochial Church Council of St Wilfrid’s Church, Cowplain

Explanatory notes to the accounts

St Wilfrids Church - 1130601

Statement of Financial Activities

For the period from 01 January 2024 to 31 December 2024

St Wilfrids Church - 1130601

Statement of Assets and Liabilities (by code) As at: 31 December 2024

St Wilfrids Church - 1130601 Receipts and payments Selected period: 01 January 2024 to 31 December 2024

Payments:

St Wilfrids Church - 1130601

Fund movement by type Selected period: 01 January 2024 to 31 December 2024

Notes:

Receipts and Payments to the General fund (Budget 2024 calculations)

Independent Examiner’s Report – Year Ending 31[st] December 2024

Respective Responsibilities of the Trustees and Independent Examiner

Basis of Independent Examiner’s Statement

Independent Examiner’s Statement

Andy Forbes

CHURCH ELECTORAL ROLL CERTIFICATE

DEANERY Havant

Val Strutt (Parish Safeguarding Officer) Rev Chris (Safeguarding Lead) and the Church Safeguarding Team.

Reverend Chris Spencer

Elaine Hoey and Sara Bolton

HEALTH & SAFETY REPORT COVERING PERIOD 1 APR 24 – 1 APR 25

PREPARED FOR APCM ON 11 MAY 25

FABRIC & MAINTENANCE REPORT COVERING PERIOD 1 APR 24 – 1 APR 25

Standard Maintenance Items

Allan BRAWN

Mark Moncreaff

Reverend Chris March 2025

Jan Smith March 2025

Jan Smith 2025.

David Wiseman

Elaine Davenport

1. The Prayer Chain

2. Day of Prayer

3. Prayer Diary

4. Intercessions

5. Prayer Ministry

6. Easter Experience/Thy Kingdom Come/Advent Experience

7. Personal Prayer

Jan Smith March 2025