2021-12-31-accounts

ANNUAL REPORT 2021

Let the door of our heart be open to receive, O Christ; the soul of our being unlocked, to welcome you; and the gate of our life flung wide, for your entering in.

- 2021 Report of the Parish Priest Revd Stephen Baxter

“Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it”

I t was a joyous relief that during 2021 we were able to resume and also expand on the varied pattens of community life at St Stephen Walbrook that were drastically interrupted by the uncertain periods of lockdown. It has been especially rewarding to return to the rhythms of regular choral worship and weekly musical recitals

I am deeply grateful to the community of the church for all the diverse forms of support and encouragement through this extraordinary phase. Heartfelt thanks are very much due to all who have attended events, made crucial financial donations and volunteered support to the running and management of the church and its activities.

Inspired by reflections and lessons learned during the challenging phases of a deserted City and heavily restricted activities at the church, we are determined to enhance the contribution of our church with its unique qualities as a place and source of sanctuary, inspiration and celebration at the heart of the City.

The City is gradually re-emerging and enters a new stage in its evolution. More flexible working arrangements are permanently established for many companies and Mondays and Fridays will never be as busy as previously. Also, many firms and their employees are placing greater

emphasis on mental well-being. There is a noticeable increase in interest in the cultural life of the City and in its heritage, with many more UK-based visitors observed in the City, encouraged by the development of several new hotels, bars and restaurants in the church’s vicinity.

Three important anniversaries fall within the next two years: 350 years since the start of the building of the current church in December 2022; 300 years since the death of Sir Christopher Wren in March 2023; and 70 years since the foundation of The Samaritans in November 2023.

The next two years represent a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the church, to develop awareness of it and to develop the array of services it provides to an expanding community.

Regular worship in church

The central service of worship remains the Choral Eucharist at 12.45pm on Thursdays followed by refreshments. For several weeks in the early part of 2021, congregations were not admitted and so services and music were recorded and released as videos. It has been encouraging that attendees at services have broadly returned to pre-pandemic levels with a number of new regular members of the congregation.

Our worship continues to benefit from the magnificent talents of the Choral Scholars, Conducting Fellow and Organ Scholar and also St Stephen Voices who sing when the Scholars are on holiday. The widely appreciated contributions of our musicians are a tribute to our wonderful, and creative Director of Music, Dr Andrew Earis.

Choral Classics featuring music and readings based on a seasonal theme have been performed throughout the year during term time by the Choral Scholars, recently at 12.15pm before the Thursday service so that the Scholars only travel in on Thursdays. Choral Classics will move to 12.30pm on Wednesdays from September 2022.

In addition, we have restarted monthly Choral Evensongs with the Choral Scholars at 6.15pm which we hope to increase in frequency in 2023.

Regular online Worship

Having developed the community connecting with the church during the Pandemic through provision of online services, we are committed to continuing this aspect of the church’s activities. Choral Eucharist and Choral Classics are recorded as a video and made available each week on the church’s website and YouTube channel.

We continue to hold Morning Prayer following the Book of Common Prayer by conference call on Wednesday mornings, attracting a faithful band of followers from different parts of the UK. In addition, Compline and the opportunity for conversation has been available every Thursday evening by Zoom.

Our online activities follow the example of the pioneering work of the London Internet Church created at the church in 2007 by Archdeacon Peter Delaney and Bishop Richard Chartres. Through the work of the London Internet Church Morning and Evening Prayer are available every day.

Special Services

It is always a great privilege to hold special celebratory and commemorative services at the church.

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have started a monthly Thursday early evening Rush-Hour Jazz which is growing in momentum with very encouraging numbers of people who are new to the church popping in to hear brilliantly performed jazz underneath Wren’s dome. We have also hosted a number of other musical and dramatic events which we intend to develop, particularly aimed at early evening audiences.

During 2021, we held an array of baptisms, weddings, wedding blessings, funerals and memorial services as well as services for livery companies. We were delighted that we were able to hold the Thanksgiving Service and Reception for the Lord Mayor, Alderman William Russell, in November to celebrate his remarkable service to the City over two years during which the majority of his engagements were carried out remotely. Our Christmas celebrations were partially curtailed by a spike in the infection rate, however the carol services held for a number of charities and schools were a great joy after the bleak Christmas of 2020.

The Future

As I referred to above, we are determined to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the increased interest in cultural activities of the City and the trio of impending anniversaries. We are recruiting professional assistance in the wider promotion of the church’s activities and as a venue for varied events that accord with the ethos and mission of the church. We are also installing a new audio-visual system to enable streaming and

Concerts and recitals

The Walbrook Music Trust recitals featuring many incredibly gifted students from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Friday Organ Recitals performed by a distinguished array of international recitalists have happily become re-established. We

C O N T E N T S	Report of the Parish Priest by Revd Stephen Baxter 2-3 Ministry: Outreach 4 Ministry: Services 5-7 Community: Salvaton Church, Community Choir 8 Community: Civic & Livery 9-11 Music & Events 12-14 Drama and Performance 15 Communicatons: Online & Social Media 16 Buildings and Fabric 17 Giving to the Church 18 Annual Report and Accounts 2021 19-25

improved recording of services and events to project more widely the work of the church.

Through these activities and the inspiring support for the church from so many I very much look forward to the church’s diverse contribution to the mission of Jesus Christ in this great City and beyond in the year ahead.

Revd Stephen Baxter, Parish Priest

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Lee Fitzgerald
Verger
Elizabeth Maragh
Administrator
Phillip Dawson
Ordinand
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Ministry - Outreach

S tart:Stop continued to run online throughout 2021. Due to the Covid Lockdowns and many staff in the city working from home, it became apparent this particular ministry could not continue until workers had returned to the City. Rev. Stephen Baxter, Phillip Dawson and Meg Post continued to produce the morning reflections for online broadcast on the website and via Facebook.

Thursday Evenings: Chat & Compline

Held at 6.30pm on Thursdays evenings and hosted by Meg Post (Pictured), Chat and Compline (by Zoom video conference) allows people from anywhere in the world to chat briefly, get to know each other a little and offer encouragement and support. It is followed by the brief service of Compline (Night Prayer) .

Meg Post

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Wednesday Morning Prayer
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M orning Prayer by telephone, held weekly on Wednesdays, has continued to thrive throughout the Covid pandemic until now with a loyal following, plus people popping in and out as their working circumstances allow.

We have consistently received positive comments about the sense of calm Morning Prayer brings to the start of the day.

Thursday – Time and Space Discussion Group

Morning Prayer by Telephone, every Wednesday

D uring Lent “Time & Space” sessions focused on the gospel of John. Running throughout the Lenten period, the sessions were run by Revd Stephen Baxter via video-conference using Zoom. The sessions attracted not only regular members of the congregation at St Stephen Walbrook but also those who engage with us through the London Internet Church, with regular attendees dialling in from Dubai, France, Spain and Australia. Once the study group had concluded, the meetings continued, offering a space for conversation and chat.

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Ministry - Services

O ur regular Weekly Service has remained our Choral Eucharist, which takes place every Thursday from 12.45pm for 45 minutes. Along with our faithful congregation who attend each week, this also allows workers in the City to pop over to the church for the Service, during their lunch break. Thankfully, during 2021 we were able to resume services in-person. As city workers began to return to their offices and home tourists rising we have seen an encouraging rise in numbers of people attending. On average around 40 people attend the weekly Choral Eucharist service.

E very third Wednesday at 6pm we hold a monthly Choral Evensong during term-time sung by the Choral Scholars, usually on the third Wednesday of the month. The contemplative and musical qualities of Choral Evensong are once again being recognised across the Church of England and we hope to develop this service further with increased frequency and by including the Walbrook Community Choir within some services.

C horal Classics moved from its usual Monday slot to Thursdays at 12.15 for twenty minutes before the service of Eucharist begins. It has gained a steady following, some of whom stay for the recital only whilst others remain in the church for the Choral Eucharist service which begins at 12.45pm (See above). Throughout the year, the Choral Scholars have produced numerous outstanding music recordings across events and services —all of which can be found on the St Stephen Walbrook website—and often receive standing ovations for their superlative singing.

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Ministry - Services

W e are privileged to hold an array of special services throughout the year at St Stephen Walbrook.

Celebrating Candlemas

Lenten Period and Easter Vigil

Weddings - Baptisms - Memorials

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Ministry - Services

C hristmas at St Stephen Walbrook was very interesting this year. The month of December was virtually booked out as companies, schools and charities looked forward to their respective Christmas carol and fundraising services. However, due to the pandemic and growing concerns over whether or not to restrict public gatherings. Many people cancelled their bookings—in some cases on the morning of the actual event.

However, some bravely soldiered on and held their events with slightly more social distancing but with all other aspects catered for. There were wonderful services held by the Success Charity (Great Ormond St), Haileybury School, The Harrow Association (For Harrow School), The Friends of the Samaritans and the Michael Varah Memorial Fund, to name a few. At St Stephen Walbrook the Christmas Eucharist and the Christmas Carol Service went ahead and both were very well attended - with social distancing and mask wearing in force. The church had been earlier decorated once again by the Worshipful Company of Gardeners to their high standard. Those who attended Christmas events clearly appreciated all the more the uplifting combination of music, readings, lights and decoration underneath the dome.

A relatively new charity, supported those who have undergone brain operations at Great Ormond St Hospital. They were delighted to raise around £5,000 and those who attended very much enjoyed the music provided by the Norwich Cathedral Choir, directed by Ashley Grote.

On Monday 10 December, around 200 Old Harrovians (OHs) gathered in St Stephen Walbrook Church in the City of London for an evening of Christmas carols and readings, organised by our alumni association, the Harrow Association. Among readings by OHs and staff from the School and Harrow Association, the programme included Ding Dong Merrily on High , the much-loved carol written by OH George Ratcliffe Woodward. We have been blessed to have the Harrow Association hold their services over past years and each time it is a wonderful, uplifting event.

T he friends of Central London Samaritans went ahead with their Christmas fundraising event. The music was directed by Dr Martin Neary, former Organist and Master of Choristers at Westminster Abbey who brought his own superb choir singing both familiar and less well known seasonal music.

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Community

T he Salvation Church was developed from a youth group in a long-established ministry that reaches out to the Chinese community predominantly in London. Since moving to St Stephen Walbrook, we have become an independent congregation, remaining in fellowship with our sister churches and the wider Elim Pentecostal family. During the pandemic lockdown, we kept in contact with each other by hosting various activities via video-conference, Zoom, including group meetings, fellowship evenings, quiz & games nights, bible study and prayer meetings. As Covid restrictions were lifted in 2021, we he have met in-person sporadically but continued to stay in contact via video-conference and online. We hope to be back to normal in 2022.

St Stephen Walbrook Community Choir

Government restrictions related to singing in public continued in 2021, so as an unprofessional choir, the St Stephen Community choir was unable to meet. However, it is hoped that sessions each Wednesday, from 1pm to 1.45pm, will continue in the New Year 2022. The choir has proved immensely popular with current City workers and some retired from the City. Many of those who participate extol the beneficial effects it has on their well-being and mental health.

St Stephen Walbrook Church Membership and the Electoral Roll

Last year, 2021 the church membership stood at 73 members registered on the electoral roll.

Friends of St Stephen Walbrook

At present we have a database of around 600 friends, comprising individuals and companies, of the church whom we keep in contact with throughout the year for services, events and special announcements. Many have been supporters of the church for a number of years and some more recently, following weddings or baptisms.

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Community: Civic & Livery

S t Stephen Walbrook has continued to play its important part in the City of London, even though many of the customary activities have been curtailed over the past year due to the pandemic. The City has remained quieter and overall there have been fewer Civic and Livery functions, with some members preferring to stay outside London or meet online. This unfortunately affected some of the planned Carol Services before Christmas for a number of Worshipful Companies and the staff and families of Columbia Threadneedle but we hope that they may be able to return in future years. However, we were delighted to welcome those who were able to go ahead with their services and celebrate the festive season with them in a beautifully decorated church. As always, our sincere thanks go to members of the Worshipful Company of Gardeners Company for their help and work with this.

It was a great privilege to again welcome the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, along with the Sheriffs and Consorts, to the Service of Thanksgiving for the Lord Mayor’s Year in Office held in the church on 8th November. As usual, the music by the choir was both sublime and uplifting and the packed church joined in enthusiastically with the well-known hymns. The reception afterwards was also warmly received and the congregation enjoyed mingling with the many Civic dignitaries and friends - old and new. Our thanks, as always, go to everyone who helped with this notable date in the Walbrook calendar.

We greatly value our Civic links with Mansion House, Guildhall, the Livery Companies and other City associations and hope that, now some normality is returning, these continue to grow in the years ahead.

Jonathan Shiels, Church Warden

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The Rt Hon The Lord
Mayor reads from the Revd James Power, Chaplain for the Rt Hon The
bible Lord Mayor.
The Rt Hon The Lord Mayor processes to the lectern with the Verger
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Community: Civic & Livery

T he Lord Mayor spent some weeks from mid-May onwards, working his way around the City of London as part of his ‘Reopening the City of London’ campaign. On May 17th The Lord Mayor WiIliam Russell rode a horse-drawn dray in his full regalia from Mansion House to the Old Doctor Butler’s Head pub on Mason’s Avenue. During the day, the Lord Mayor stressed the need for office workers to come back and get behind the City’s small businesses. “People forget that 99% of the companies in the Square Mile are SMEs. A lot of them are in hospitality, a lot of them are small Ma and Pa stores and coffee shops, and we need to support them,” he said.

The Rt Hon. The Lord Mayor Toasts the City

As part of the Celebrity Guided Walks initiative, on June 10th a number of prominent visitors descended on

St Stephen Walbrook, among them: Dan Cruikshank with a group of people, Neil MacGregor, former director of the British Museum, hosting the Lord Mayor, Archdeacon Luke Miller, Rev. Katherine Hedderly plus representatives from the XLP Youth Charity (See below picture).

Church Wardens and representatives of St Stephen Walbrook presented the Honorary Church Warden stave to the new Rt. Hon The Lord Mayor, William Russell. To ensure continuity of leadership during the current COVID-19 pandemic, he remained in office for a second term until November 2021 and as such continued as Honorary Church Warden at St Stephen Walbrook.

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Community: Civic & Livery

High Sheriff of Greater London, Ald. John Garbutt with Rt Hon Lady Justice Kate Thirwall

A dhering to current

Mainelli, a Sheriff of the City of London, and His Honour Judge Mark Lucraft, Recorder of London, who led the prayers.

Government Covid social distancing rules, a special video recording of The High Sheriff’s Legal Service took place in March, organised by Alderman John Garbutt, Church Warden at Stephen Walbrook. Alderman John Garbutt, High Sheriff of Greater London was the first City Alderman for 125 years to be appointed High Sheriff of Greater London.

Music was provided by the Choral Scholars, directed by Gabriella Noble and the organist was Ben Giddens Many thanks to Andrew Earis for directing, filming and recording, to Ben Tomlin for editing the video and to Jonathan and Lee for providing support over the weekend

Contributors to the service included Lord Robert Reed, President of the Supreme Court of the UK, and Dame Sarah Mullally, Bishop of London, who gave addresses; Lady Justice Kate Thirlwell, Senior Presiding Judge of England and Wales, Sir Kenneth Olisa, Lord Lieutenant of Greater London and Dame Cressida Dick, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, who performed readings; and Alderman Professor Michael

Ald. John Garbutt, High Sheriff of Greater London with the Bishop of London, Dame Sarah Mullally

Alderman John Garbutt, High Sheriff of Greater London is the first City Alderman for 125 years to be appointed High Sheriff of Greater London.

A s last year, we were delighted to again be able to open the church during Open House Weekend in September. A regular flow of people attended throughout the weekend—despite the lack of activity in the City as a whole, due to the pandemic. Open House volunteers were on hand to help with hosting, while Lee Fitzgerald, Verger provided throughout the weekend.

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Music & Events

The Walbrook Music Trust Tuesday Chamber Concerts

John Seagrim Chairman & Co-founder of the Walbrook Music Trust.

A fter a 14 month hiatus due to the perils of the pandemic The Walbrook Music Trust, the independent charity responsible for the Church’s regular Tuesday lunchtime recital series, staged the first of its free lunchtime concerts on 18th May 2021, the day after indoor performances (albeit with social distancing maintained) was first allowed by the Government! Thereafter, barring the month of August, we continued to stage concerts on almost every Tuesday up until and including the 21st of December 2021. I say ‘almost’ because two of our performances had to be cancelled at very short notice due to the performers testing positive for Covid. But it could have been so much worse had it not been for a number of remarkable musicians who were prepared to step in at very short (and in one instance just 15 hours’) notice! Of the 25 performances staged during 2021, seven actually involved heroic last minute replacements who covered for those artists unexpectedly struck down with Covid.

Over the seven months our steadily growing audience, which by the end of the year was regularly reaching forty in number, were treated to some staggering performances by many

Ami Louise Johnsson – Viola & Daniel Xia - Piano

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Sian Phillips – Violin- Thomas Ang – Piano
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extraordinary young musicians, the majority of whom were graduates from the Guildhall School of Music. The musicians all brilliantly performed for no fee and all the costs of staging the concerts were met by the charity and its trustees – the upshot being that again all of the retiring collections, which from those 25 concerts in 2021 were close to £2,000.

Jane Gilbert—Flautist

The Impressaria of this resurgently successful weekly event is Molly Adams, herself an exceptional mezzo soprano, who organised all the concert bookings (and all the last minute juggling) and the preparation of all the concert posters & programmes. Elizabeth Maragh expertly printed the

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Music & Events [St Stephen Walbrook Organ Recitals ]

O ur Friday Organ recital series has been providing fifty recitals per year for over fifty years. The pandemic of 2020 saw the recitals stop for the first time since World War II. We were delighted to resume service in 2021 as soon as we were able. After a slow start we have seen audiences increase as people have become more confident about venturing into the City. We are grateful for all the organists who participate in this series and appreciate their immense professionalism and unwavering support. Many would command much higher fees if they were performing elsewhere but they choose to come here for the love of our church, for music and their art. We salute you all!

‘The Players’

Michael Cayton; Philip Berg; David Cook; John Webber; Joshua Xerri; Peter Yarde Martin; Matthew Burgess; Peter Stokes; Michal Szostak; Michael Stephens-Jones; Stephen King;

Phoebe TK Chow

Douglas Tang; Tim Easter; Jonathan Dods; Phoebe Tak Man Chow; William Saunders; Marion Bettsworth; Matthew Blaiden; Anthony Gritten; Mark Brafield; Christian Gautschi and Peter St John Stokes.

Cont’d from p.12

latter and, when I was unavailable, became concert Compere – elegantly introducing the performers and with equal elegance soliciting contributions for the retiring collection from the departing audince. The concerts were externally promoted on social media by Matthew Butt, himself a composer and pianist, and by Trevor Rowe our masterful web master. Edward Adams in his the role as musical director has been as ever, our all-round guiding light. All of the trustees labour tirelessly for no fee but for their passion for music and their love of St Stephen Walbrook, and I owe them all inestimable thanks.

John Seagrim, Chairman & Co-founder of the Walbrook Music Trust.

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Ivan Hororun—Piano
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Music & Events

EVENT

Return to the City/Welcome Back Walbrook

Our “Return to the City” mini-series in September/ October 2021 marked the gradual ‘return to work’ which still seems to be ongoing! We used the opportunity of increased footfall in the City to remind visitors of the services, support and events offered at St Stephen Walbrook. Hundreds of “Welcome Back Walbrook” fliers were handed out.

Rush Hour Jazz

In October we launched Rush Hour Jazz, which has become a monthly event, usually held on the first Thursday of every month. The aim is to bring high quality jazz music to the City. The doors of the church are thrown open and commuters and visitors to the City can drop in on their way home and stay as long as they wish. The events are free to attend and we hope visitors will make donations to cover artists booking fees. The riveting Rianna Walcott and her band have performed most so far with Isobel Gathercole and her trio also playing sets on a couple of evenings.

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Rianna Walcott
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Isobel Gathercole
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We hope to expand the range of artists participating as the programme develops. Rush Hour Jazz has been well attended bringing many people into the church for the first time. It would be wonderful to expand the programme, offering more unusual but high quality events to our Rush Hour community in future.

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Drama and Performance

I n November we were delighted to welcome Troubadour Stageworks to St Stephen Walbrook to perform "In The Stones" a new production weaving together local history and folklore that brings to life some of the stories of the churches in which the play is performed.

A vibrant and energetic production and we hope to welcome back the company in 2022 as part of a tour of Shakespeare plays.

David Oyelowo, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Jessica Plummer star in THE GIRL BEFORE, BBC1, CHRISTMAS 2021

BBC1 producers of THE GIRL BEFORE , The producers of the drama series, The Girl Before, based on the novel by JP Delaney, approached us to film key scenes in the church, which feature in the novel. This occurred on a Saturday in May and involved removal of all moveable fittings, including pews and lectern, from the church to create a minimalistic impression. The series was broadcast just before Christmas on BBC 1 portraying the church very favourably and providing a critical flow of income. We hope to attract further such initiatives in the future to generate revenue and to promote the church.

Anniversaries in 2022 and 2023

December 2022 marks the 350[th] anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of our present building. 2023 marks the tercentenary of the death of Christopher Wren and the 70[th] anniversary of the founding of the Samaritans. We are working to put together a programme of diverse and diverting events and activities to celebrate these important anniversaries. Please do get in touch if you would like to be involved!

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Communications: Print, Online and Social Media

F ollowing the end of the lockdown and the re-introduction of in-person services, we undertook a refresh of our website focussing on the pages advertising our services and events. This included using bullet-points to highlight unique aspects of each service, adding to each page an interior photograph of the church and embedding a video of the latest video recording of each service (to avoid the need to click through to different pages).

Our Twitter account has over 2,543 followers, achieves around 20,000 tweet views per month and 3000 unique visits to our Twitter profile.

Followers of our Facebook profile have increased 25% to 362. 70% of followers are based in the UK, 25% in London. Video posts (of services and clips of services) generally record double the reach of image based posts (an average of 100 per video post to 50 per picture). The total ‘reach’ of the material posted on the facebook Page over the past twelve months is 33588. The total number of visitors to the page over the past twelve months is 3098.

In 2022 a review will be undertaken of our website and other online presence, considering not only the provision of information for worship but also how the website serves different (and growing) audiences such as tourists, those who may be interested in using the church as a venue for events).

Our YouTube Channel has 100 subscribers. Videos of the Eucharist and Choral Classics ware watched by between 50 and 100 people each week (in addition to views on Facebook).

Our Email Newsletters have over 450 subscribers and bulletins are sent out at least weekly with links to photographs, video and audio recordings and details of forthcoming services and events.

Leaflets, Posters and Noticeboards

Leaflets, posters and our noticeboards still remain an important communication channel. Leafletting has been particular important to raise awareness for our ‘rush hour’ events and are placed in strategic positions around the church. We have also had many services and events frequented by passers-by who simply stopped, read the poster on the A-frame board outside the church and popped in to enjoy the event.

We have launched a presence on Linked In to promote relevant events and services to the local business community and we have begun to post more regularly on Instagram. Please follow St Stephen Walbrook online and share the content we post. Help to spread the Good News by being a digital disciple!

Phillip Dawson

Website https://ststephenwalbrook.net/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ststephenec4n/ Twitter https://twitter.com/StStephenEC4N Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ststephenwalbrook/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/StStephenWalbrook Newsletters https://ststephenwalbrook.net/newsletter-signup/

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Buildings and Fabric

[H ][aving successfully re-lamped ] the Church with environmentally and cost friendly LEDs in 2019, and successfully replaced the Church’s 35 year old heating infrastructure with less environmentally unfriendly and less prohibitively expensive gas boilers in 2020, 2021 was a year to look both heavenward and westward.

Heavenward because what appeared to be a worsening case of water ingress on the eastern most clerestory walls in the Spring, was proved to be the same in June when the verger had to artfully place buckets on the church floor following a particularly heavy rainstorm. A hastily arranged inspection of the roof by the Bristol based firm ‘WallWalkers’ identified a series of botched and wholly inappropriate patch repairs to the roof lead made in fibreglass. The fibreglass being rigid had not expanded and contracted with the lead and had come adrift, exposing the splits and fissures in the lead underneath to the elements. After their initial inspection, WallWalkers returned in August to remove all the fibreglass, reshape the lead and repair the damage with three costs of grey coloured ‘Acrypol+’, a flexible mastic that is guaranteed to last for at least 20 years. In addition they abseiled down the north and south flanks of the church and replaced three

broken panes in the bulls eye windows, and to top it all they remedied the long term leak in the vestry hall ceiling, by identifying the culprit, a faulty vent cover, and removing the same. For all this they charged the modest sum of £6,170 excluding VAT. To WallWalkers considerable thanks are due, not least for their willingness to give precedence to Vanburgh’s final resting place over Vanburgh’s finest creation.

And we looked Westward again because four years after Bloomberg completed its magnificent Foster designed European Headquarter building on the west side of Walbrook, in 2021 we embarked upon the second phase of the remediation process that will allow both St Stephen Walbrook and Bloomberg to finally and properly assess and evaluate the damage to the church’s fabric that was sustained during the extensive construction process of the Bloomberg Building. It is very much hoped that this second phase will have been completed by mid-summer 2022, by which time the surveyors and structural engineers’ reports will have been submitted, assessed and indeed acted upon. Bloomberg have been exemplary in their treatment of their ancient neighbour and I am enormously grateful to Peter Smith, head of Bloomberg global property, for

expediting this complicated process. St Stephen Walbrook is a remarkable building, but it is now blessed with two remarkable freeholders to both its east in Rothschild & Co, and now to its west in Bloomberg LP.

I would like to pay particular tribute to Oliver Caroe, the church architect, who despite an increasing list of major ecclesiastical responsibilities, which now include York Minster, as well as Ripon and St Paul’s Cathedral, continued to give St Stephen Walbrook the inestimable care and sensitive attention that it deserves, and at a very economic rate. Oliver was ably and calmly abetted by Touseer Ahmad from his practice, whose measured interventions were of immense help during the year. The fabric fund, the 2021 expenditure of which, with the Archdeacon of London’s kind approval, was met by the Benjamin West Fund, will continue to secure and appropriately augment the church and its fabric.

John Seagrim, Fabric Warden

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Giving to the Church

INCOME FROM DONATIONS

F ollowing the trend of the past few years more and more people no longer carry cash on their person. In response to this trend we are providing a number of ways people can make a much needed donation. Of course, we still provide a means for people to donate the old-fashioned ways i.e. cash, however an ever increasing part of donations come in electronically.

During calendar year 2021 the breakdown of non-cash donations was as follows:

Contactless donation devices in the church: A total of £5,378 was received, a result of 1049 transactions (average of £5.13 each )

Online donations via our website: A total of £16,775 was received, a result of 426 transactions (average of £39.37 each). This is a combination of one-off donations as well as monthly pledges.

Monthly standing orders: A total of 23 donors provided £9,996 in income from monthly standing orders (an average of £36.21 per month each)

GiftAid: We were able to reclaim from HMR&C a total of £9,088 in GiftAid, collected from online donations as well as from our GiftAid envelope scheme.

Left: The GoodBox - A tower placed at the church entrance. Below: A hand held, mobile contactless machine. Bottom left: QR code on event leaflets -scanned by mobile phone to make donations.

Paul de Ridder

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The Parochial Church Council (PCC) of St Stephen Walbrook

St Stephen Walbrook Annual Report and Accounts 2020

Parish Saint Stephen Walbrook 39 Walbrook London EC4N 8BN Telephone: [phone] www.ststephenwalbrook.net

St Stephen Walbrook (People) Parish Priest The Revd Stephen Baxter Staff Members Lee Fitzgerald, Verger Elizabeth Maragh, Finance and General Administrator

PCC Members Alex Ng Bryan Lovell (Church Warden) David Atterbury Thomas (Church Warden, Treasurer) Emma Whitlam (Church Warden) John Seagrim (Church Warden) John Garbutt (Church Warden, Lay Chairman)

Revd Stephen Baxter Revd Roger Hoath Jonathan Shiels (Church Warden) Michael Walton James Thomson (Church Warden) Margaret Brown (Church Warden) Meg Post Paul de Ridder Peter Livock Phillip Dawson Elizabeth Maragh (PCC Secretary)

Bankers

CAF Bank Ltd, 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, Kent ME19 4JQ

Barclays Bank PLC, Leicester, LE87 2BB Charity Number: 1130738

The Parochial Church Council ('PCC') presents the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31st December 2021.

Responsibilities of the PCC:

The PCC is required to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Parish as at the end of the financial year and of its income and expenditure for that period. In preparing those accounts, the PCC is required to select appropriate accounting policies, make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent and state whether all accounting standards which they consider to be applicable have been followed. The PCC is also required to use a going concern basis in preparing the accounts unless this is inappropriate.

The PCC has the responsibility for ensuring that there are proper accounting records kept, and for taking such steps as are reasonably open to safeguard the assets of the Parish and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.

The PCC has complied with the duty under section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016, in relation to having due regard to House of Bishop’s guidance on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.

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Principal activity and review:

The PCC has the responsibility of cooperating with the Priest in Charge, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish of St Stephen Walbrook the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. During 2020 the PCC believes it has met these objectives and will be maintained in the future. The Church is registered with the Charity Commission. In planning the activities for the year the PCC have kept in mind the Charity Commissioner’s guidance on public benefit.

Major Risks:

The PCC believes that it has identified and reviewed all major risks that might affect the mission and have sufficient systems and procedures in place to mitigate those risks. In particular the PCC believes that the level of reserves held are sufficient and reasonable to maintain the mission.

Financial Result:

The PCC reports a surplus of £26,122 (2020 deficit £596) on Unrestricted Funds and a surplus of £30,773 (2020 deficit £3,988) on Restricted Funds. In total our surplus for 2021 was £56,895 (2020 deficit £4,584). At the year end our total funds were £83,653 (2020 £26,758).

Council:

The members of the PCC during the year were as shown on the previous page.

All members of the PCC are either ex officio or are elected at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting in accordance with the Church Representation Rules. The Parish has adopted a policy of electing Wardens and PCC Members annually.

Treasurer’s report

Our total income was £364,398 (2020 £165,832).

During the year grants from the Benjamin West Fund totaled £146,015 (2020 £nil) and this was the principal reason for the overall increase in income. The Benjamin West fund is administered by the Diocese and contributions received from it support vital repairs, maintenance and building work so essential in preserving the splendid Wren Church with which we are entrusted. Additionally a grant of £30,773 was received under the Listed Places of Worship Grants Scheme (VAT).

Unrestricted Income was £187,610(2020 £165,826) despite the exceptional circumstances due to the pandemic which impacted so severely on service collections, church hire and visitors. However we have benefited hugely from the generosity of our congregation and our supporters, both old and new, many online for the first time, through donations and A warm welcome to new church members at St Stephen Walbrook... increased levels of planned giving.

The Grocers’ Company have continued their support towards clergy expenses. Many local businesses within the parish have supported the annual Church Rate scheme and we are grateful for these financial contributions at such a difficult time both for their businesses and their staff.

Many of our overhead costs have remained in place even when the church has been closed. Both our verger and our office administrator were furloughed during lockdown and the Government furlough scheme has generously supported continued employment under these circumstances. The Choral Scholars and our musicians have continued to play an enormous part in the church’s activities during the lockdowns and when the church has been open for services, whether on-line or live.

The Diocese received our full Common Fund contribution in 2021. The previous year’s contribution had been reduced by a half in the second part of 2020. The Diocese’s support has continued to be very reassuring during these very difficult and unpredictable times.

The lockdown in the early part of 2021 saw the church closed again. However while our financial outlook remains challenging we have confidence that we can respond positively to the future. Our mission plan includes a number of

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exciting developments and these are being progressed in conjunction with important anniversaries for St Stephen Walbrook in both 2022 and 2023.

Special thanks are due to Stephen Baxter, our Priest in Charge, Elizabeth Maragh our office administrator, Lee Fitzgerald, our Verger, John Seagrim, our Fabric Warden, who additionally manages the fabric fund, Phillip Dawson who manages online and print Communications and Paul de Ridder who keeps track of our online giving and the planned giving scheme and also handles the Gift Aid claims.

David Atterbury Thomas Treasurer and Church Warden

Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2021

1. Accounting Policies

The PCC is a public benefit entity within the meaning of FRS102. The financial statements have been prepared under the Charities Act 2011 and in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 governing the individual accounts of PCCs, and with the Regulations' "true and fair view" provisions. They have been pre-pared under FRS102(2016) as the applicable accounting standards and the 2016 version of the Statement of Recommended Practice, Accounting and Reporting by Charities (SORP(FRS102)).

2. Funds

Unrestricted Funds - These represent the remaining income funds of the PCC that are available for the spending on the general purposes of the PCC.

Restricted Funds - These are income funds that must be spent on restricted purposes. In this case the fund is the Fabric Fund used for the purposes of the upkeep, maintenance and repairs of the Church building.

3. Reserves

It is the PCC’s policy to maintain a balance of free reserves (net current assets) which equates to at least three months unrestricted payments. This is currently equivalent to approximately £40,000. It is held to smooth out fluctuations in cash flow and to meet emergencies. The balance of free reserves at the 2021 year end was £52,617 which is higher than this target.

4. Staff Costs

	2021	2020
Wages and salaries (included in People Costs)	£68,498	£95,387
Average number of employees	3	3

5. Related Parties

No payments or expenses were paid to any PCC member, persons connected to them or related parties.

6. Independent examiner's remuneration

The independent examiner's remuneration was £2,160 (2020 £2,160).

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A warm welcome to new church members at St Stephen Walbrook...
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Independent Examiner's Report to the Members of the Parochial Church Council of St Stephen Walbrook

This report on the accounts of the PCC for the year ended 31 December 2021, which is set out on pages 1922 is in respect of an examination carried out under Regulation 3(3) of the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 (‘the Regulations’) and Section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’).

Respective responsibilities of the PCC and examiner

As described on page 19 the PCC is responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The PCC considers that the audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to issue this report on those accounts in accordance with the Regulations.

Basis of this report

My examination was carried out in accordance with General Directions given by the Charity Commission under 43(7)(b) of the Act and to be found in the Church Guidance, 2006 edition, issued by the Finance division of the Archbishops’ Council. That examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the PCC and a comparison of accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as Trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures under-taken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a “true and fair view” and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner's statement

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

1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respect, the requirements:

to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; and to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records have not been met; or

2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in ord A warm welcome to new church m e r to enable a proper understanding f the mbers at St Stephen Walbr o ok... accounts to be reached.

Signature:

Rowland Aarons

Brooks Green

342 Regents Park Road

London N3 2LJ

25th April 2022

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St Stephen Walbrook Annual Report and Accounts 2021

Parish of Saint Stephen Walbrook

39 Walbrook

London EC4N 8BN

Telephone: [phone] www.ststephenwalbrook.net

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