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2024-12-31-accounts

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF CHESTERTON ST ANDREW

Registered Charity Number: 1130805

Annual Report

and

Financial Statements St Andrew’s Church, Chesterton Cambridge

for the year ended 31 December 2024

Signed on behalf of the PCC

Revd Dr Philip Lockley, Vicar

St Andrew’s Chesterton

Annual report and financial statements

CONTENTS

Aim and purposes 3
Objectives and activities 3
Achievements and performance 7
I.
VICAR’S REPORT		 7
II.
REPORTS FROM GROUPS AND AREAS OF CHURCH ACTIVITY		 11
Financial review 30
Reserves Policy 31
Structure, governance and management 33
Reference and Administrative information 35
Financial statements, accounts and notes to the accounts for the year ended 31 December 36
2024

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St Andrew’s Chesterton

Annual report and financial statements

AIM AND PURPOSES

St Andrew’s Chesterton Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility of cooperating with the incumbent, the Reverend Dr Philip Lockley, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. It also has ultimate legal responsibility for St Andrew’s Hall, its buildings and community activities, though it delegates day-to-day running to a management committee that includes representatives of user and residents’ groups as well as its own nominees (50%).

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

St Andrew’s is the Church of England parish church for the area of North Cambridge between the River Cam and Milton Road, from Mitcham’s Corner to Green End Road. St Andrew’s seeks to be a nurturing, cherishing and restoring community of Christians – among people we are with, around places where we live, and within the building, churchyard and Creation we have been gifted and will pass on to future generations.

Our church building is usually open from 9.15am to 4pm daily. Our regular times of worship on Sundays are 8am and 10am, with advertised evening services at 5.30pm.

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St Andrew’s Chesterton

Annual report and financial statements

St Andrew’s Chesterton is part of the Cambridge North Deanery in the Diocese of Ely. The current diocesan vision is this: We pray to be generous and visible people of Jesus Christ. Believing that God calls us to discover together his transforming presence in our lives and in every community, in Jesus Christ we pray:

The overarching objective of St Andrew’s Chesterton fits these Christian commitments. This is what motivates all our more specific objectives and activities described below. Our activities provide public benefit to the parish and the wider community, in line with guidance issued by the Charity Commission. We describe our achievements and performance for each of these activities in more detail in the next section.

Objectives Activities
1. Worship and Music– to give all
our parishioners, as well as church
members from outside the parish,
the opportunity to participate in
Christian worship and enjoy
worship enhanced by faith-filled
music. We want to experience God
and the joy that comes from
knowing God and learning to love
and serve God in our lives.		 We provide at least two regular services each Sunday – in
both traditional and more contemporary styles of worship –
as well as additional evening services across the month. Our
styles of services, supported by choral and instrumental
music groups, are wide-ranging, to suit members of all ages.
Our Minims music group develops a love of music and singing
among primary-age children from within and beyond the
church congregation. We offer a range of special services
throughout the year, including at Christmas, Easter and
Remembrance-tide, which are attended by considerable
numbers from our local community. Baptism, Marriage and
Funeral Services at St Andrew’s remain popular and much
valued. We offer hospitality after the principal service and
some evening services, providing a welcoming atmosphere
for social connection and building community.
2. Prayer, discipleship and small
group fellowship– to deepen our
knowledge of our Christian faith,
to practice prayer and
contemplation in the Christian
tradition, to reflect together on
the relevance of faith in relation to
society and culture, and to
encourage one another in our
Christian lives.		 We aim to understand God’s purposes for our lives through
Bible study, prayer and wider learning in the Christian
tradition – both individually and by meeting in smaller groups
beyond Sundays. Morning Prayer is held online or in person
each weekday. The Tuesday Bible Study group and the
Healing and Wholeness Prayer group meet throughout the
year. During Lent, a series of small groups meet in church
members’ homes or in the St Andrew’s Hall to explore our
walk with God in depth. A Book Group meets to discuss a
range of literature from a faith perspective. We encourage all
our church members to pray and study the Bible regularly as
part of their personal devotions. Courses of Christian study
and deepening discipleship run on occasion, sometimes
leading to services such as baptism and confirmation for
those new to faith or resolving to make a public commitment
of their faith.
3. Children and young people- to
give our younger members and
children in theparish the		 Our youth work provides a wide range of activities for those
of secondary school age. These include meetings on Sunday
evenings atpoints across the month,and one Sunday

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Annual report and financial statements

opportunity to explore the Christian
faith in ways they find meaningful.		 morning. Our children’s work for those of primary school age
is focused on Sunday mornings – on second Sundays in
age-specific groups, and on fourth Sundays in the form of
Café Church for parents, grandparents and children to
worship together. On other Sundays, our worship in church is
intergenerational by purpose and design, ensuring children
feel welcome, included and valued in our worshipping life
and community.
4. Community and Pastoral concern
– to express the love of God in
hospitality, social connection and
concern in practical ways to the local
community.		 The St Andrew’s Hall is a space of hospitality and connection
hosted by church volunteers through our weekly Monday
MorningCoffee Morning and the Sunday Lunch Club –
offering an affordable meal to those in the local community
who would otherwise live alone. Our clergy and developing
pastoral care team also visit a range of local people to offer a
listening ear and pastoral support. A monthly Communion
service in a local care home is a further opportunity for
connection and conversation in addition to worship.
5. Building and Churchyard– to
preserve and enhance the historic
fabric of our church building and to
sustain the eco-system of our
churchyard for current and future
generations.		 The medieval parish church of St Andrew’s Chesterton is
Grade-1 listed, and the 3 ½ acres of churchyard surrounding it
is a much-valued green space enjoyed by thousands of local
residents and visitors each year. A volunteer team opens and
closes our church building for visitors each day, and the
visitors’ book attests to how many enjoy its quiet peace and
beauty. We commit significant funds to maintaining the
historic fabric of the building, aided by the fundraising efforts
of the Friends of St Andrew’s Church. St Andrew’s has six
bells, a number of experienced bell ringers, and an active
programme to train new ringers from the wider community.
The bells are rung twice each week, at festivals and on
national occasions. A team of volunteers continue to improve
our beautiful churchyard so that it is a pleasure for visitors
and a good home for a range of plant and animal species. Our
flower arranging group makes the interior of the church more
beautiful.
6. Mission and Giving– to
encourage in our church life
generosity and commitment to the
five ‘marks of mission’ of the
worldwide Anglican Church.		 A Mission and Giving subgroup of the PCC plans and
coordinates our giving as a church to Christian work and
other charitable causes. Throughout the year, we also seek to
devise themed services and events linked to the causes and
initiatives supported, as well as our wider commitment to
mission as disciples of Christ. We use the five ‘marks of
mission’ to guide our decisions about priorities for giving and
to ensure a balance in our commitment to various aspects of
mission:
●
To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
●
To teach, baptize and nurture new believers
●
To respond to human need by loving service
●
To seek to transform unjust structures of society
●
To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and
sustain and renew the earth.

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Annual report and financial statements

7. Communications– to share news
in church and community life and to
publicise relevant events and
initiatives within our wider
community.		 A Communications team of staff and volunteers seeks to
ensure that services and events as well as opportunities to be
involved in church life and wider community initiatives are
publicised well, on noticeboards, our website, through social
media, leaflets and regular publications. St Andrew’s provides
significant staff support for the Chesterton News community
publication which promotes community initiatives, groups
and activities across much of North Cambridge.
8. Safeguarding- to create and
maintain a safe and nurturing
environment for everyone,
especially for children, young
people and vulnerable adults.		 St Andrew’s Church is strongly committed to creating and
maintaining a safe and nurturing environment for everyone,
especially for children, young people and vulnerable adults.
We affirm, with the Church of England, a ‘Whole Church’
approach to safeguarding. This means we will:
promote the welfare of children, young people and adults,
work to prevent abuse from occurring,
seek to protect those that are at risk of being abused, and
respond well to those that have been abused.
We will also take care to identify where a person may present
a risk to others, and offer support to them whilst taking steps
to mitigate such risks.
We have a designated member of our congregation as our
Parish Safeguarding Officer. All volunteers in roles involving
children or vulnerable adults or positions of leadership in the
church community are DBS checked and undergo regular
safeguarding training. We have due regard to all guidance on
safeguarding issued by the Diocese of Ely and House of
Bishops.
9. Playing our part in the life of
the wider Church– to contribute
to the financial, missional and
collaborative health of the
Deanery, Diocese and national
Church of England.		 Ordained and lay members of St Andrew’s engage
constructively with wider representative bodies in the North
Cambridge Deanery and the Diocese of Ely, attending and
contributing to planning processes and decision-making at
Deanery Synod, Clergy Chapter and Diocesan Synod. We join
with other Church of England churches in Cambridge North
Deanery in pooling much of our congregational giving,
supporting ministry in parishes with fewer resources. We
participate with other churches across the denominations in
activities like the Good Friday walk through Chesterton and
wider partnerships.

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ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

I. VICAR’S REPORT

2024 at St Andrew’s has been a year of encouragement:

Encouraging growth in Worship

This year, St Andrew’s has sustained its identity as a thriving, open and welcoming church community for all ages. Each of the existing services has attracted newcomers from a range of backgrounds and church experiences, while also preserving their distinctive feel and purpose over the year. Developments in each of the services are summarised in the Worship report below. Here, I nevertheless want to celebrate the wealth of gifts and abilities that are shared through our music and choral groups for leading sung worship, and the range of preachers and themes we have explored in our morning and evening worship.

Encouraging new initiatives

2024 witnessed the return of the much-missed Church Mice baby and toddler group in the St Andrew’s Hall from September. Church Mice had run for many years but closed with the pandemic. With PCC encouragement and support, a new volunteer team was formed, led by Lizzie Fleming and Zoë Lewin.

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Additional funding was secured from the Church Schools of Cambridge Trust, enabling investment in new play and storage equipment. Meeting weekly on Thursday mornings, the return of Church Mice has been much appreciated by local families, offering a place of play and support, friendship and hospitality. I am hugely grateful for all the volunteer effort it took to restart this initiative and to keep it sustained week-by-week.

New structures for music in the life of St Andrew’s were beginning to be formed in late 2023, so 2024 has seen considerable work to consolidate these groups: the Sung Eucharist choir, the “all-comers” choir, the Family Service instrument band, and the Choral Evensong choir. Overseeing this emerging structure has been Church Warden, Chris Pountain, bringing great energy and enthusiasm as a volunteer to this task, while creating space for the talents of others to shine, on the organ and through choir and group directing. Particular thanks are due to Chris for all he has brought to our music for worship, and to the volunteer group leaders and conductors he works with – Catherine Blydenstein, Sharon Neufeld, David Finlay, Maggie Fernie, and Peter Horley – as well as everyone who volunteers to play and sing.

Minims – our music group for younger children – has continued to sustain its numbers and grow, and so further and extensive thanks are due to Lizzie Fleming. Towards the end of 2024, Youth Choir was re-established, meeting to rehearse weekly, and joining the all-comers choir on a monthly basis. This further new initiative has been made possible by the leadership of Sharon Neufeld – so very many thanks to Sharon – and to the young people that she leads.

Encouraging creativity and community connections

St Andrew’s connection to the family of the celebrated author and abolition campaigner, Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797) has been known and marked by our church community for some time, principally through our annual ‘Vassa Day’ Sunday service. This Equiano connection has gained growing attention and acknowledgement in recent years, including with the successful community campaign to rename the nearby pedestrian and cycling bridge the ‘Equiano Bridge’ in 2022. An increasing number of visitors to St Andrew’s Church and churchyard express their interest in finding the plaque dedicated to Equiano’s daughter, Anna Maria, and learning more of the story it tells.

2024 saw the official launch of the Equiano Family Project at St Andrew’s Church – an arts, education and cultural initiative designed to promote awareness and reflection on the Equiano family story in the Chesterton community. In a season of events May-July 2024, the Project was launched by a public talk, a visit from the Equiano Society in London, and the church hosting two memorable performances of the touring theatre production ‘Breaking the Silence of the British Slave Trade’ – which attracted c.200 from the wider community. Later in the year, the church further hosted author, Katie Sweeting, who has written a novel about Equiano and his family. During the early summer, a community consultation took place to explore community views on the idea of a new stained-glass window to be commissioned for St Andrew’s Church, to commemorate the Equiano Family and wider themes of history and faith their story represents. A new window is seen as an imaginative and inspiring way to fulfil the aims of the Equiano Family Project, while also intended to enhance our worship space and express what we believe and value as a congregation and wider Chesterton community. The idea of a window was received very positively during the consultation, and the project is proceeding, with designs, permissions and funding to be sought during 2025.

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Another example of encouraging creativity in our congregation was our marking ‘ Music Sunday ’ in June – with a wonderfully inspiring service not only showcasing the range of musical abilities in our congregation, but also providing space to reflect on the ways music feeds our faith – with several moving testimonies from congregation members on the role of music in their faith. Advent and Christmas season brought further high points in our worship year, with the festival of Nine Lessons and Carols being a particular highlight, with a strong and enthusiastic all-comers choir of diverse ages, gathered and directed by Chris Pountain.

Further encouraging growth in community connections was seen in a range of initiatives across 2024, including the return of the Chesterton Festival in June, for which St Andrew’s staff and volunteers gave strong support. St Andrew’s weekend at the end of November was also well received, with the Fayre in the hall followed by an evening quiz event led by the St Andrew’s Youth, and further services the following day.

Ministry and staff team

This year, there have been far fewer changes to our St Andrew’s team of staff, volunteers and contractors, as well as ordained ministers, than the previous year.

Jess Bent has continued as our part-time Youth Worker – though known as Jess Finlay since her marriage to David at St Andrew’s in May 2024. Jess has brought creativity and wisdom to her youth role, developing her leadership of our youth ministry, and proving an invaluable member of the wider St Andrew’s team. Jess’ role is funded from generous donations to our Youth Fund from members of our congregation and the St Andrew’s Trust. A huge thank you to those who have continued to support this Fund this year. As of January 2024, Jess has also been our part-time Church Communications Administrator, serving our community through overseeing the weekly news, our social media, posters and other publicity for events.

Rachel Clarke has continued as our St Andrew’s Hall Manager, once again serving diligently and effectively in this crucial role connecting our church and wider community, overseeing the Hall as a community facility while also retaining some operations and administration duties for the church. Extensive thanks are due to Rachel for the way she has held her diverse responsibilities, ensuring St Andrew’s Hall continues to flourish as a resource for the whole of Chesterton.

Linda Holmes was appointed our volunteer Parish Safeguarding Officer in 2024, and has taken on the responsibility of this important role in supporting the PCC and Vicar to meet its safeguarding commitments. Events in the wider Church of England have underlined for us all how vital it is to respond well to abuse and its victims when disclosed. Linda brings a wealth of experience in safeguarding matters. Later in 2024, Ruth Lockley was appointed an additional Safeguarding Administrator to further support Linda (and also Rachel Clarke) in some of the administrative tasks involved in Safeguarding, training logs and safer recruitment of volunteers.

Revd Steve McGregor has continued as our part-time Assistant Curate, ordained priest in June 2024, and so developing his sacramental ministry since – through regular presiding at the Eucharist and leading Marriage Services. Steve has remained an amiable presence in our church life, bringing thought and learning to his preaching, and particularly sharing his love of Prayer Book liturgy through presiding, leading prayers, and forming small groups. I know a number of members of our church community and

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residents of the parish have valued Steve’s encouragement to faith and discipleship. As Steve enters the latter half of his training at St Andrew’s, we hope and pray St Andrew’s will continue to be a context for Steve’s growth in vocation and ministry, as he prepares for whatever role will come after.

St Andrew’s continues to benefit from a wider team of volunteer clergy licensed to the parish:

Revd Duncan Gray was licensed as an Associate Priest for St Andrew’s in November 2023, and during 2024 has proved himself a valuable addition to our clergy team, especially as an effective preacher – sharing his vocation and expertise in the theology of Creation; and also in offering his experience working in strategy and leadership to support the PCC and Vicar.

For much of 2024, our longstanding Associate Priest, Revd Dorothy Peyton Jones , continued to be principally based at St John’s, Orchard Park. Dorothy nonetheless continued her regular preaching and presiding at the 8am service, and has willingly shared the benefit of her pastoral wisdom at points throughout the year. Towards the end of the year, Dorothy and Simon indicated it was their intention to return to more regular involvement at St Andrew’s, so we look forward very much to more of their ministry among us in 2025.

Retired priest and academic, Revd Dr Tim Jenkins , has continued his invaluable regular preaching and presiding ministry to our 8am congregation. As last year, retired Bishop Graham Kings has generously maintained a regular pattern of preaching and presiding at the 10am services across the year – even as the extended vacancy between Bishops of Ely has resulted in Graham continuing to have more commitments in the diocese.

Church Warden and PCC changes

In May 2024, Maggie Fernie stood down as Church Warden – bringing to a close her second stint in this role, including most recently and notably overseeing a vacancy. Huge gratitude was rightly expressed to Maggie for all her care and – so often unseen – behind-the-scenes tasks undertaken in recent years. While Maggie has stepped back from the Warden role, she has continued as a wonderful advocate for the flourishing of the churchyard.

Continuing in the role of Warden for a second year was Chris Pountain . Chris has continued to bring energy, conscientiousness, and fresh-thinking to several areas of church life, most notably in music, but also in assessment and mitigating of risks in the life of the church. Once again, very many thanks are due to Chris for all his wisdom, experience and reassurance he brings in this role.

With Maggie standing down, Julia Eisen was elected as Church Warden for the first time. Julia had previously served for several years as Junior Church Coordinator and a dedicated PCC member, including during the Vacancy. As Warden, Julia has brought gifts in welcome and communicating within the congregation, including among families, in addition to leadership in pastoral concerns. A huge thanks to Julia for such a supportive first year as Warden.

Finally, the Annual Meeting in May brought changes to the make up of the PCC, with a newly elected member, Shani Lee, filling one of the vacant elected posts. (Shortly after the APCM, Sue Lacey chose to resign her PCC role, renewed the previous year). So, many thanks to Sue for all she contributed to PCC

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over the years she has served; and a welcome to Shani, who brings a range of valuable skills and interests to PCC.

After the APCM, the PCC continued to have two vacant elected posts (the other vacated by Julia Eisen becoming Warden). As a member of Diocesan Synod, Hannah Fytche had previously been an ex officio member of PCC. However, after the Autumn 2024 Diocesan Synod elections, Hannah was no longer a member of Diocesan Synod. PCC therefore co-opted Hannah to one of the vacant posts.

Looking ahead

At the APCM in May, flip-charts were available for members of St Andrew’s to give their responses to four questions:

  1. What do we value as a church community?

  2. What do others see when they come to St Andrews?

  3. How does St Andrews make you feel?

  4. How is St Andrews different to other churches? What makes it unique?

In July, the St Andrew’s PCC gathered for an away evening at the Vicarage, to receive and reflect on the answers given to these questions, as well as other inputs received from other conversations. Our discussions that evening were a valuable first step in identifying both strengths and areas for development in the coming months and years for growing ministry and mission at St Andrew’s. The discussion may be summarised as follows:

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Conclusion

One Sunday at St Andrew’s in 2024, members of Junior Church were given a piece of paper with a thought bubble drawn on it and the question: “what is church?”. One child wrote:

‘A place where you can ~~play~~ pray’.

Another Sunday, another child came up to me and handed me a piece of paper. On it, they had written a message in an alphabet they had devised themselves. Helpfully, they had also deciphered the message underneath. It read:

‘This is St Andrew’s. A place where we can love and pray. Any one can come along.’

For me, these are two of the most precious pieces of feedback I have received since becoming Vicar. When I read the first, I found myself wondering: what if we can be a church where both answers are true – church being a place where you can play and pray? This speaks to me of a health and sincerity to our intergenerational worship and community, which encompasses joy and delight, imagination and fun, as well as contemplation and reverence, openness to God in our petitions, laments and gratitude.

As for the second piece of paper, I read that and thought: I couldn’t have put it better myself.

There is a moment in Matthew’s Gospel when some religious leaders object to children greeting Jesus in the temple by crying out: ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’. Jesus responds with his famous quotes from the Psalms: ‘Have you never read, “Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for yourself”?’ I read this as Jesus recognising something of value and theologically significant in the voice of children.

I further read these words written by children at St Andrew’s as encapsulating the encouragement of 2024, and the inspiration for us to continue to grow as a church where ‘any one can come along’ and be welcomed and learn to love and pray and play – whatever their age.

Philip Lockley April 2025

II. REPORTS FROM GROUPS AND AREAS OF CHURCH ACTIVITY

1. Worship and Music

Worship (PCC Committee report)

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with Permission to Officiate. Thanks to all four of them, and to Revd Graham Stevenson for providing some holiday cover too.

Philip Lockley

Music Report

The restructuring of the provision of music in our worship in line with PCC policy, which was begun in the autumn of 2023, was consolidated during 2024. This further involved many volunteers and the

encouragement of diversity consistent with our varying styles of worship week by week. A steady pattern has now emerged. At the Family Service on the first Sunday in the month, music is provided by a group of instrumentalists and vocalists convened by Catherine Blydenstein. On first Sundays in the evening, there is a full Choral Evensong sung by a choir at which our resident singers are afforced by singers drawn from outside the regular congregation, directed by Peter Horley, accompanied by Chris Pountain.

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A Choral Sung Eucharist with experienced singers from our congregation takes place on second Sunday mornings, directed by Chris Pountain and accompanied by Simon Kirk, who is Head of Music at St John’s College School. On third Sunday mornings (and whenever there is an All-Age Communion), the music is led by a group of ‘Allcomers’ (less confident singers from the congregation who are seeking to develop their voices); to this group have been added since the autumn members of the recently formed Youth Choir, directed by Sharon Neufeld. The Parish Communion on fourth Sundays is kept as ‘congregational’, with simple organ accompaniment.

In all these areas there has been pleasing development, and overall each month upwards of 40 musicians are regularly involved. The Allcomers group is now really growing in confidence and experience; the Choral Evensong choir attracts an increasing number of visitors, and the band is steadily growing in instrumentalists. The formation of a Youth Choir meeting on a weekly basis for rehearsal has been a most important development; this, together with the well-established and growing Minims group for young children led by Lizzie Fleming, means that we have ‘cradle to grave’(!) musical opportunities for all those who want to be involved. Musical styles include Anglican church music old and new, music in the Iona tradition, Taizé chants and worship songs. The addition of a significant amount of material to our already extensive library of choral music is testimony to the variety we seek to ensure.

There have been some notable special occasions. In June we celebrated the Royal School of Church Music’s Music Sunday with a service which represented much of the stylistic variety and personal participation mentioned above; in September an amazing variety of talent was revealed by a concert given by our musicians in aid of the Music Fund. On Christmas Eve, our annual Carol Service featured all our groups (some sixty singers and a brass trio) with choir carols in a range of musical styles (and languages). In May we were privileged to join with Choral Scholars from Clare College at Jess and David’s wedding.

Another musical growth point has been the increased number of concerts held in church, both in the Friends of St Andrew’s Lunchtime Concert series and with the church as a concert venue, all organised by John Reynolds.

Thanks to the generosity of donors to the Music Fund, the superannuated upright piano in the vestry has been replaced by an electronic instrument for use at practices and in church; and a new adjustable stool was bought for the church grand piano.

Additional thanks are due to everyone involved in our musical activities, in whatever capacity: there has consistently been a real spirit of working together and taking pleasure in doing so, a joy and energy in performance, and, I know for many, including myself, that sense that we worship through our music making. Thank you especially to our directors (Chris, Peter, Sharon, Lizzie, Catherine, David, Maggie) and to our organists (Simon, Chris, David, John) who put in so much preparatory work behind the scenes; also to Linda and Mary, who have been very energetic in tidying and organising the choir vestry . Thank you to our clergy (Philip, Steve) who take such care in the planning of services and the part music plays in them.

Chris Pountain

Minims

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Minims singing group has continued to run twice a month. Minims now meet on the second and fourth Sundays. This was changed from the previous pattern of meeting on the first and third Sundays in order to enable the group to meet in the church every session.

There are 12 children coming regularly, aged 4-8 years old. One family left due to moving away from the area and another family joined, having seen Minims advertised in the Chesterton Newsletter. One child graduated from Minims aged 11, having attended Minims from age 3 and is now regularly attending the youth group.

Minims meet at 4pm and start with a physical and vocal warm up. We sing a range of songs about God, some with actions, others with British Sign Language signs. Some weeks we get out the percussion instruments from the vestry to accompany a few songs, other weeks we use the flags and streamers. At around 4.45pm children are offered a choice of raisins or a biscuit then they often enjoy running around the church together. Parents stay for the whole session.

The group sang at the Easter morning service in March and the Christingle service in December. Singing at the front is optional and some children were happy just watching during these services. They were still happy to attend the service with their family and continue to come to Minims each month. This year some children chose to sing at the front for the first time.

Thank you to David Boulton who accompanied the group on piano and guitar during services and rehearsals when available.

Lizzie Fleming

Life Events – Baptisms, Weddings, Funerals

There were several more weddings and funerals at St Andrew’s during 2024 than the previous year, and slightly fewer baptisms, though supplemented by two joyful services of thanksgivings for children - the personal choice of two of our congregation families (see Statistics table below). Of 4 baptisms, 1 was an adult baptism followed by Confirmation. Among the 9 weddings in the year, the weddings of Jess Bent and David Finlay, and Ali Rawle and John Marmion, were the most familiar to members of St Andrew’s. Funerals in 2024 included those of current and past members connected to the church: Ursula Sainsbury, Joan Andrews, Roger Wheatley, John Wilson, Bob Creasey, Margaret Shelley and Alison Wilson. During 2024, our long-serving funeral and weddings verger, Jean Welham, chose to retire from her role, and is to be thanked immensely for her service in this role. Rachel Clarke, Jess Bent, and organists, Chris Pountain, John Marsh and David Finlay, have all served in different capacities at funerals and weddings, ensuring St Andrew’s sustains this valued ministry to our parish and community.

Philip Lockley

Sacristan's report

A year in the life of a Sacristan passes extremely quickly because one of the joys and privileges of a Sacristan is looking ahead to the next season of the Church’s year and planning accordingly for changes to altar colours and ordering supplies of candles, Communion wine and wafers as appropriate. Weekly we set up the communion tray ready for clergy at 10am services after a bit of clearing up after 8am services. 2024 was no exception. Thank you to all who helped with Advent and Christmas candles and to Patricia Abrey for help on Sung Eucharist Sundays when I am in the choir and on other occasions when I play the organ. Amber Grantham was a welcome addition to the set up team in late 2024.

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John Reynolds

Statistics

** Combines Lockdown and hybrid worship periods

*** Indicative of the number of people who regularly ‘attending’ “Church at Home” services as shared in Statistics for Mission (does account for later and repeat views)

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
while
church
open		 2022 2023 2024
Average
Sunday
attendance		 Adults 130 129 123 115 * 71** 65 82 131
Children 31 29 32 28 * 24 6 16 18
Average online views of 8am/10am services
combined(does not exclude later and repeat views)		 206
 88 75 97 15***
Numbers of services/individuals initiated Numbers of services/individuals initiated Numbers of services/individuals initiated Numbers of services/individuals initiated Numbers of services/individuals initiated Numbers of services/individuals initiated Numbers of services/individuals initiated Numbers of services/individuals initiated Numbers of services/individuals initiated Numbers of services/individuals initiated Numbers of services/individuals initiated
Baptisms 15 13 7 5 2 5 7 6 4
Weddings 13 7 9 4 5 4 6 3 9
Funerals Home 12 15 7 9 10 15 7 9 12
Away 9 15 13 4 6 9 3 2 3
Interment of
ashes		 5 5 2 1 3 6 3 6 2
Confirmations 5 1 4 8 0 0 3 1 2
First
Communions		 4 3 4 6 0 0 3 4 0

Rachel Clarke

2. Prayer, Discipleship and small group fellowship

Wholeness and Healing Prayer Group

The group has continued to meet at regular intervals in church and in St Andrews Hall, offering prayer for individuals known to us or in response to specific requests. Those who come forward always express their thanks for this form of ministry. We continue to follow the guidance and training on safeguarding

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required by the Diocese of Ely. [During 2024, the Prayer Group stepped back from regularly offering prayer during Communion, but hopes to resume this in due course].

Rosemary Mathew

Tuesday Bible Study Group

During Lent 2024 we met weekly as a daytime Lent Group, but apart from that we continued to meet fortnightly. For the first half of 2024 we continued our study of Genesis. This was interesting and challenging, reminding us of forgotten Old Testament stories and how God used deeply flawed characters to do his will. In the Autumn we began to study Matthew's Gospel using another of Tom Wright’s excellent study guides, finding the teachings of Christ equally challenging. Jill Garrett provides tasty refreshments for us most sessions. We are a friendly group and new members are always welcome. John Reynolds

Lent Groups

During Lent 2024, about 45 people gathered in four different groups meeting either in day-time or evenings to study together Being Disciples: Essentials of the Christian Life by the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams (2016). As Archbishop, Williams was often asked to address gathered groups of ordinary Christians, and so he developed ways of presenting his profound thoughts and ideas about faith more accessibly than some of his other, more academic books. Being Disciples is a collection of six of these more accessible talks given in the second half of his time as Archbishop. Each week, groups met to explore themes from the book and reflect on faith together. Many encouraging comments were received. Particular thanks are due to the hosts and leaders of groups: Eva Allen, John Reynolds, Philip and Ruth Lockley, and Gill and Robin Bickerstaffe.

Philip Lockley

Book Group

The book group has continued to meet every other month on Tuesday evenings . We read mainly fiction, with the occasional memoir, this year’s being an interesting family history, Red Love , by Maxim Leo, who grew up in Berlin before and after the fall of the Wall, and traced back the very different stories of the his grandfathers. Other books were read were Light Perpetual by Francis Spufford, Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout, the Booker prize-winning Orbita l by Samantha Harvey, A Town called Solace by the Canadian writer, Mary Lawson and the thought-provoking Enlightenment by Sarah Perry. The books and their themes have led us into many interesting and often lively discussions. We are very grateful to Ewa Allen for hosting us in her home.

If anyone would like details of the books we are reading, and would like to join us on a regular or occasional basis, please contact me.

Zoe Lewin

3. Children and Young People

Junior Church, Café Church and wider children’s work (PCC Committee report)

In our last annual report we outlined a vision for children’s work at St Andrew’s and it was heartening to see how this vision continued to be put into practice in 2024:

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Numbers and feedback indicated that families feel there is provision in worship for them at St Andrew’s, whichever Sunday they turn up .

Inevitably a calendar year crosses two academic years and 2024 brought particular changes at the end of the Summer term.

The availability of volunteers and the ages of the children and young people engaging with St Andrew’s led to the decision to combine the older primary school children with the ‘Why’ group and disband the ‘Seekers’ group for a time. This allowed Ruth Lockley to help Jess in the ‘Why’ Group. Julia Eisen stepped back from helping at Junior Church while Amber Grantham stepped forward to help in Wonderers and at Café Church.

All new Junior Church volunteers underwent their process of ‘safer recruitment’ in 2024.

Rainbows (baby – Reception) – numbers averaged 6-7 throughout the year.

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Wonderers (school years 1-3) – numbers averaged 4 January–July (a slight increase on 2023). In September, numbers doubled after the group expanded to include children in school years 4 and 5 and averaged 8 until December (and beyond).

Seekers (school years 4-6) – numbers on register / average attendance January – July remained low: average attendance 3. The group merged with ‘Why’ Group from September.

Cafe church numbers stayed extremely healthy, averaging 35 throughout the year (including children, parents/carers and leaders). Highest attendance was 44 in January and the lowest was 30 in February (half term). We continued to use the ‘Godly Play’ style of bible storytelling with prayers and creative responses. We are very grateful to Sharon Neufeld for enhancing our worship with guitar and voice and pleased that the 4th Sunday format has enabled her to participate also in Sung Eucharist services in church.

Many thanks to Gill, Anne and Ruth for their flexibility between group work and Café Church over the year, to those who faithfully served coffee over many Sundays and to Matthew Barker for helping us to set tables for café church and welcome people to Junior Church.

At the end of the Summer term Julia Eisen stepped back from her role as Junior Church Co-ordinator, having taken on the role of Churchwarden at the AGM in May. The Summer Tea Party was a lovely opportunity to mark this transition with cards from the Junior Church team and families, and an orchid that continues to flourish as vibrantly as Junior Church!

Julia continues to update the registers for Junior and Café Church and to act as the principal point of email / administrative communication with families of younger children. She continues to attend Café Church and Junior Church Meetings where possible. Meanwhile other ‘co-ordinator’ roles have been divided between other members of the team. Particular thanks to Ruth Lockley for drawing up rotas and convening and chairing meetings, to Jess Bent/Finlay for her help in making Junior Church documents accessible on the G-Drive and for organising in-church colouring sheets, and to Shani Lee for taking on writing tasks – minutes, grant applications, Chimes, Annual Reports – and charge of the Budget. Shani was elected to the PCC in May, providing a further valuable link between the PCC and Junior Church.

Thanks also to the members of the Junior Church team who were involved in so many aspects of our whole Church life in 2024: Mothering Sunday posies, Good Friday crafts, Christingle-making, the Nativity Tableau, Minims and the newly established Church Mice.

Julia Eisen and Shani Lee

Youth Work

Overview:

2024 didn’t begin as planned with an emergency trip to New Zealand due to the sudden illness and passing of David’s mother. I am thankful for the support and flexibility given to me surrounding that challenging season and to Philip for ensuring the youth had a good start to the year. I am also thankful for all the volunteer leaders and cooks (Peter Abrey, Steve McGregor, Quentin Harmer, Ruth Lockley, Philip Lockley, Derek Sorensen, Alex Barker, Lizzie Flemming, Linda Stollwerck Boulton, Jack Carrington, Simon Peyton Jones, Stewart Abrey, Patricia Abrey, David Finlay, Maggie Fernie, and Karrie Fuller) who helped out. Without them, St Andrew’s Youth wouldn’t have happened in 2024!

Over the course of the year, St Andrew’s Youth enjoyed regular times together during Youth Group, WHY Group, Youth Socials, Churchyard Working Parties, Games and Lunch, Sixth Form Bible Study, and Special Events. I was also privileged to continue walking alongside many of our young people through Café Catchups and to see two young women and one young man complete high school (Sarah B., Kitty B., and Westcott S.).

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2024 Activities:

Youth Group

In 2024, the number of those attending youth group ranged from 2 to 6 with most evenings having 4 young people in attendance. We began with free time, did a devotional together (which often included a creative response), and finished with supper which always began with saying one thing we are thankful for. Beginning in September, we moved from the 1 and 3rd Sundays of the month to the 1st and 4th Sundays of the month.

WHY Group

In 2024, why group numbers ranged from 4 to 9 young people with most sessions being a different number! We explored various scripture passages over the year and experimented with ways of praying. In September, the age category changed from 11+ to 10-15. We also started attending communion at the end of each WHY Group which prompted some good conversations about why it’s important to do so.

Youth Socials

In 2024, there were six different social events (2 films, 2 parties, climbing, and punting) with 3 to 9 young people coming along. On more than one occasion, young people who have not come to any youth events/groups joined us.

Games and Lunch

In 2024, in September, we launched a new way of being together – games and lunch which is held on the 3rd Sunday of the month following the service during term time for those 10+. In both sessions of games and lunch that happened in 2024, 6 young people came along – not all of whom regularly come to a Sunday morning service.

Churchyard Working Party

In 2024, we trialled participating in the churchyard working party once a term. We had one young man come along and help every time (and enjoy some yummy snacks afterwards). We are currently looking at alternative ways to help the youth explore the church’s role in creation-care.

Bible Study (15+)

In 2024, we were in discussion with two young women about starting a monthly group to meet together, catch up, and read the bible together. Three young women have attended with two committing to continue with the group. We always enjoy some home-baked goods, talk about how life is going, read and discuss part of the Gospel of Luke together, share what we are thankful for, and pray for each other.

Café Catch-ups

In 2024, I met with 10 different young people one-to-one at various cafés to talk about life, faith, and whatever is on their minds. For a number of these young people, these catch-ups have become a regular part of their connection with St Andrew’s and many of them meet with me at least once a term. For some of them, this is the primary way they connect with St Andrew’s or St Andrew’s youth. The catch-ups range from 45 min to 2 hrs (often dictated by the young person).

Special Events

In 2024, there were two special events. In October, we joined with four other youth groups for a combined youth evening called Something Bigger which included free time, music (one of our young men joined the band as a singer), a talk, prayers, and games. Four youth from St Andrew’s went along. In November, after deciding on a charity to raise money for, coming up with questions, and helping to run the show, St Andrew’s Youth hosted a Quiz Night to raise money for the East Anglia Children’s Hospices.

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Six youth were involved on the night, others came along and participated (who don’t usually participate in church events or services), and others helped along the way. It was a big success, and I am proud of all of those who were involved!

Jessica C. Finlay Youth Worker

4. Community and pastoral concern

St Andrew’s Hall

2024 was another good year for St Andrew’s Hall as the variety of our user groups continued to thrive. We were once again able to invest in some more minor building works as we continue to maintain and improve this community facility. This work included replacing some main hall lights, redecorating the accessible toilet, and the replacement of the oak in the raised flower bed in the back garden. The continued investment in our building helps us to improve our offering within the Chesterton community.

After a break in 2023 we were absolutely delighted to be able to once again run the Chesterton Festival this year. A new input of energy and enthusiasm from pre-existing and also some new volunteers was the driving force at this event. We were blessed with beautiful sunshine, and this was a huge help in making the day such a success. The variety of community entertainment on the stage hosted by Jezo was enjoyed by everyone. There were more than 30 different stallholders, and some were so busy they had sold out before the end of the day. The sports offerings from the City Council, including 18 table tennis tables kept our young people busy.

The day was rounded off by a giant Tug of War in the arena which was such good fun to watch. Who knows, maybe in 2025 I might actually participate!

In November another cheerful and relaxed St Andrew’s Hall Advent Fayre was enjoyed here at the Hall. A year of community events was rounded off in late December with the St Andrew’s Community Carols. Again the event was held indoors in the church which meant that more than 200 people were able to join in the singing accompanied by the CSD Brass Band. This was then followed by a warm mulled wine and a mince pie or two.

At St Andrew’s Hall we were delighted to secure a new community defibrillator in December. After a successful application in late November to the Department of Health and Social Care for match funding under their Community Defibrillator Scheme we launched an urgent appeal within the community to raise the remaining £750 necessary to ensure we could receive the grant. The immediate generosity of several individuals meant this was possible. In fact, it was so successful that we had enough money left over to pay for the installation. However, the installation was carried out by Complete Electrics who are our regular electricians, and they very kindly carried out the job for free as a gift to our community. As a result of all this wonderful generosity we now hold a small, restricted fund here at the hall which will contribute to the running costs and annual maintenance of the defibrillator for at least 3 years.

The Chesterton News continued to be produced and delivered quarterly, to nearly 9,000 people. Trustees of the Chesterton Community Association who oversee the News and the Festival are very grateful to the many volunteers who, come rain or shine, walk our local streets to deliver this communication.

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A lot can happen within our community in a year. With new volunteers making themselves available, and a strong staff team within the Church and Hall we move into 2025 in a positive place. I very much look forward to building on our position within the community as we move throughout 2025 and beyond.

Rachel Clarke St Andrew’s Hall Manager

Coffee Morning

Open every Monday 10.45 – 12.00 noon, except bank holidays. The coffee morning continues to be well supported. It has developed into a coffee and craft morning as several people bring in their sewing, crochet and knitting. In October we again supported the Macmillan coffee morning and held raffles throughout the year to raise funds for this charity.

Jean Jackson

Sunday Lunch Club

2024 started well with Karrie and Jim Fuller organising the cooks (Sheila Merrick, Jill Garrett and herself) and various members from the church family who gave additional help, to provide a roast lunch for approximately 30 diners. The SLC was held on seven Sundays last year and at a modest cost to those who would otherwise be eating alone, were able to dine on a nutritious 2 course lunch which was appreciated by all those who came to dine. At Christmas we were able to provide a special lunch with wine and a small gift.

We currently do have spaces for new members as we have sadly lost several long standing ones. Thank you once again to all our helpers in 2024, especially Jean, who continues to manage bookings.

Karrie Fuller

Church Mice

Having been dormant since the Covid pandemic, Church Mice started up again in September. We have been blessed by having a core team of five regular weekly volunteers, plus dedicated refreshment servers, to whom we are very grateful too. Philip and Steve attended several sessions as well, when they were able to. We are extremely grateful to everyone who has helped to make Church Mice such a welcoming space.

Church Mice offers toys and crafts for toddlers and preschoolers with a dedicated play-space for babies. The sessions end with a story and song time and some parachute games, which have proved very popular. We were especially grateful to receive a very generous grant from the Church Schools of Cambridge, which enabled us to purchase some fresh new items for the new group, and also went towards purchasing the materials for a bespoke storage system of trolleys and stacking boxes, which Philp made for us over the summer. This has been invaluable in setting up and down more easily and encouraging children and carers to help with the tidy-up time.

We have been delighted at how quickly the group has developed into a warm and friendly community, welcoming parents and carers with children aged 0–4 from a wide range of backgrounds and nationalities. We have about 20 children at most sessions but we have had as many as 30 at one session. We were also pleased to welcome several families from Church Mice at the crib service.

Lizzie Fleming and Zoe Lewin

Care Homes and Home Visiting

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During 2024 a monthly Communion Service at Langdon House has continued with a small and appreciative congregation, with several new residents joining at different points in the year. Philip represented this group at the funeral of one of the regular communicants at Cambridge Crematorium during 2024. St Andrew’s online services continue to be accessed by several house-bound members of the church and this allows some local care home residents to engage with our worship. Visits in person, especially to share Communion, are a valued expression of our life as the body of Christ. If you know someone who is struggling to get to church but would welcome a visit from the clergy for Communion or from the wider pastoral team, do pass this on to Philip.

Philip Lockley

5. Building and Churchyard (including Flowers, Bells, and The Friends of St Andrew’s)

Fabric (PCC Committee report)

The work to the fabric of the church last year was both more and less visible. The committee has continued to look at the path to NetZero Carbon emissions for the future, with the lighting being updated to produce a much better winter and evening experience. The process of replacing the heating system keeps progressing. In addition, there have been the normal general maintenance issues. In more detail:

Lighting

========

Fire alarm

==========

Heating

========

Gavin Stark

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Flower Group

Our small band of flower arrangers have again provided a colourful display of flowers in church during 2024.

Arrangements included flowers throughout the year and for special occasions at Easter, Whitsun, Harvest and Christmas. We also catered for two weddings during the summer months, one of which was for our own Jess and David’s wedding at the end of May. We made good use of our new pew end holders at both Easter and Harvest, without the use of floral foam, which is both more environmentally friendly and cheaper! I am sure the group will face more challenges of this nature in the future.

Our Treasurer, Linda Marsh, has reported that financially, the group are in good shape currently, and we are most grateful for the church funds we receive throughout the year.

Unfortunately, again I have to mention another loss within our group this year of a much-loved member, Ursula Sainsbury. Ursula was one of the founder members of the group and is very sadly missed by us all. On a personal note, Ursula was always very encouraging and supportive to me when I joined the flower group, and she is very often in our thoughts when we get together to decorate the church.

Penny Lawrence

Church Library

There is now a printed list of titles held in the library, thanks to the sterling efforts of Deborah and Julia. And the whole collection has been given a makeover. Several books have been donated, and others which were unsuitable or falling apart (or both) have been disposed of. The borrowing records show good use of the library which is encouraging.

Rosemary Mathew

Churchyard (PCC Committee report)

The highlights for the year were having a St Andrew’s Churchyard Stall on the Chesterton Festival Funday, having our Churchyard Information Board completely remade with a new display sheet and, after having our work reassessed by Diana Cook of Cambridgeshire Churchyard Conservation, learning that we could keep our Bronze standard and were well on the way to Silver!

There was again a lovely display of spring flowers during the early part of the year – thanks in large part to Margaret Nimmo Smith who planted the snowdrops, aconites, crocuses and some tulips, and to several others who have planted loads of daffodils. We put grass seed down in some bare areas left after the building work on the south wall was finished. By the end of the year there was a fair covering of grass and wild plants there.

During the year, we uncovered the last gravestones lost in ivy on two boundaries. There were some along the wall by the Old Manor House and one more on the north edge of the Churchyard near the cottages.

We left our Spring Meadow on the north side of the churchyard near the recreation ground but made it smaller and we set our Summer Meadow in a new place starting near the Information Board and reaching south beyond the wonderful tree which surrounds itself each year with a forest of suckers (epicormics being the tree lovers’ term). We also allowed areas around the edge of the front lawn to grow through the summer and were glad to see Hoary Plantain, Red Clover and Clary Sage among other wild flowers.

On the warm sunny Chesterton Festival Funday, we set up our kindly-lent gazebo next to the Friends of St Andrew’s wonderful plants stall and displayed Ian Lewin’s large copy of our churchyard map with the Churchyard Information File containing the names of those buried. We also displayed information about what and why we work there. Zoe Lewin had created a trail in the churchyard with points of interest and

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ink stamps to collect on an information sheet. Di Palmer made a cake for people to guess its weight and had prepared a ‘Match the Seed to the Plant’ game. It was good to be able to meet people and talk about our churchyard and our work there.

The Churchyard Information board had become very weathered and was in much need of sanding down and re-varnishing. And the sheet of pictures was very spoilt by wind and rain. During August, Stewart Abrey took it all apart and completely rebuilt the cabinet while Patricia ordered a new display sheet from Pendred Publishing, with an up-dated picture of group members working and a more authentic picture of Olaudah Equiano. She used Danish Oil to weatherproof both the display board and the Church notice boards. Great thanks are due to them both.

Diana Cook of Cambridgeshire Churchyard Conservation came on July 15th to see if we had maintained our Bronze award status. Philip was able to come round with her to find out how we would be assessed. Diana was pleased with what we were doing except that our Summer Meadow was not big enough so we will extend it in the coming year. She encouraged more signage and also to leave our Spring and Summer Meadows in the same place in order to see what appears there. In December, she came and planted Yellow Rattle seeds in one area of the churchyard. This is a plant with amazing properties – a parasite that can help wild flowers grow but contain the growth of grass. We were glad to find some in the graves near the Hall during the year and hope that the new planting will produce results. Diana was happy to grant a continuation of our Bronze status and encouraged us towards Silver.

The weather made grass cutting and raking up difficult both for us and for the City Council Team during the year. There were very heavy bags of sodden grass in August and the City Council team were not able to do a final cut of the year until November. Thank you so much to everyone who helped with raking in very wet and very cold conditions. We do as much to clear the cuttings as we absolutely can.

Gill and Robin Bickerstaffe continue with their work in looking after the War Graves, both those established by the War Graves Commission and others raised up by families, of which there are several. During the year we have had enquiries from relatives who are tracing their ancestors and have been able to meet with some and show them where their family members are buried. This is a very satisfying thing to be able to do.

A new project has been started by the PCC to create a Garden of Remembrance in the south east corner of the churchyard, for the burial of ashes. This is because all our ashes plots are now used or reserved and more space is needed. It is intended this will be completed within 2025.

Many thanks to those, both of the congregation and of the local community, who come month by month in all weathers to look after our churchyard both for nature and for us.

Maggie Fernie

Bells

The bellringers have continued to ring for Sunday morning services and practice on Thursday evenings. Numbers for Sunday morning ringing have been up slightly and I believe there have been fewer weeks this year when we have had to cancel. Attendance at practice nights has been steady, and there are a few newer ringers who have been attending our learner practice.

A new thing for this year has been ringing some quarter peals - a standard-sized special ringing performance of around 45 minutes. We have been aiming to ring one every month or two on Sunday evenings, and they have been going well so far. Thanks to the church for allowing us the use of the bells.

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We have provided bells for weddings and funerals when asked. Thanks to Andrew Morley for his continuing excellent work in arranging bands for these events, especially midweek ones when members of the home band are often unavailable.

James Bench-Capon

The Friends of St Andrew’s Church

2024 was a busy year for The Friends. We ran the usual plant stall at the Chesterton Festival Funday and a Christmas gift stall at the St Andrew's Fayre in November. There were regular lunchtime concerts including two groups visiting from Hong Kong, namely the Tiffany Lau Vocal Academy and the choir of St Paul’s College.

The Friends has agreed to help towards the Equiano Family Project fundraising so currently our activities are directed towards that. The year was tinged with sadness following the death of Ursula Sainsbury. Ursula was a prominent and hard working member of The Friends committee. We remember her legendary lemon curd and shortbread! Thanks to the Committee for their help and support.

John Reynolds

6. Mission and Giving

Mission and Giving (PCC Committee report)

The PCC’s mission & giving committee is involved in helping St Andrews have an outward focus through supporting organizations which:

In our giving, we strive to support multiple organizations which together cover these five marks of mission. We aim to have our giving split across charities which are local to Cambridge, UK-based, and international organisations. We also aim to support charities with a Christian ethos. There are organizations the PCC has made a commitment to support annually (£500 - £1000, see table below): Azul Wasi orphanage in Peru, Wintercomfort for the homeless in Cambridge, bible translations in the middle east (Church Mission Society, CMS), Romsey Mill North Cambridge Youth Outreach worker, Unseen UK’s efforts to stamp out human trafficking and, following an invitation to the founder of Semiliki Trust to speak about their charity at a service in October 2024, we have taken on annual support for Semiliki Trust for projects in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo including health centres, hospitals, an orphanage and a livelihood project for women who have been victims of violence. Azul Wasi is further supported by standing orders from members of the congregation, which are included in the fundraising section in the table below (£12,516 including Gift Aid).

The Mission and Giving Committee also allocates smaller one-off donations (£200 or less) which are detailed in the table below. Many of our one-off givings were made to support organisations addressing the increased cost of living, which are also in line with our desire as a subcommittee and the PCC as a whole to help combat the large gap between rich and poor in Cambridge and beyond. To this end, in

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2024 we again supported Crossways Hostel milk and bread initiative organised by Patricia Abrey, with the hostel being run by the Cambridge Churches Homelessness Project. We also made a donation to provide Christmas necessities to Cambridge Regional College’s ‘Looked after children’. A one-off donation went to Rowan to help improve lives of adults with learning difficulties in Cambridge. And further afield, a one-off donation to the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem was made to support work in Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza.

For environmental causes, we made a donation to A Rocha UK, which works to protect and restore the natural world, as well as USPG Church of South India Programme to help children learn about climate change in an area where sea levels are rising.

We also fundraised for Crossways hostel (£1,848) and congregational giving as a result of Gift Days included donations to EACH (£280), CamTrust (£456), Combat Stress (£56), CRUSE (£250), the Children’s Society (£250) and Cambridge Street Pastors (£617). We advertised Christian Aid week in our weekly news email and encouraged parishioners to donate directly to Christian Aid.

After many years of serving as Chair of the committee, Sharon Neufeld has stood down from her role and from the committee to devote time and energy to leading our Youth Choir. Huge thanks to Sharon for her faithful and cheerful leadership over almost two decades. The Committee is yet to recruit a new Chair.

Mission and Giving 2024
Cause PCC Giving 2024 Congregational
Giving incl Giving
days
Azul Wasi £1,000 £12,516
Wintercomfort £760
CMS -Waters in Iraq £900
Unseen(Doubled with BigGive) £600
RomseyMill(doubled with BigGive) £700
CSD Brass(CommunityCarols) £175
Crossways milk (Cambridgeshire Homeless
Partnership)		 £200 £1,848
Cambridge Regional College - Care leavers £200
Semiliki Trust £700 £118
A Rocha £200
USPG - South Indiaprogramme £200
Rowan £165
Episcopal Church in Jerusalem (work in Al-Ahli
hospital, Gaza)		 £300
East Anglia's Children's Hospices £280
Camtrust £456
Combat Stress £56

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CRUSE £250
Children's Society - Christingle £250
Cambridge Street pastors £617
TOTAL given in 2024 £6,100 £16,330
The total of £6,100 is greater than the budget of
£5,800 due to bringing forward £300 from a previous
year in which a chosen charity had stopped
fundraising.

Linda Stollwerck Boulton, Mission & Giving Committee Member

7. Communications

Communications (PCC Committee report)

Many thanks to Jess for her development of our church communications over the past year. Amongst the transformations she has made to both online and printed communication are to create a new look to church posters and also to the Weekly Newsletter, her friendly greetings each week and lovely photos bringing a new warmth and welcoming feel to the news shared.

Jess also works in close partnership with Rachel, and we are very grateful to Rachel for the continuing vital support she gives St Andrew’s in communications and administration.

Jess and Philip have worked closely together on developing communications strategy this year, supported by the Communications Group. This included conducting a congregational survey to review current means of communication to better inform future strategy. The results were encouraging, showing that people are broadly happy with the current forms of communication and are able to access the information they need. It was helpful for the communications team to also receive a few suggestions for small improvements in some areas, which have been taken on board.

Our external church noticeboards have been in need of attention for some time and we owe huge thanks to Stewart and Patricia Abrey for their restoration of the small churchyard information board and preservation work to other noticeboards this year. The wooden A-board is sadly beyond repair, however, and finding a replacement will be a priority in the coming year.

We are very grateful to David Bick for his many years’ service to St Andrew’s as website developer and tech support. David stepped down from this role this year and we thank Robin Newton for taking over this work.

There are many other volunteers to thank for their contributions this year: the sound team, for providing the livestreaming of our services; the sidespeople, who greet and support the congregations at our services; the coffee team, who greet and serve people welcoming (and very welcome!) refreshments on Sunday mornings; Linda Stollwerck Boulton, who has taken on the role of co-ordinating lay rotas; Pip Tofaris, for producing all of this year’s editions of Chesterton Chimes, greatly valued by our church community and also an important part of our outreach, helping to inform people about the life and work of St Andrew’s.

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In the autumn, I stood down from chairing the Communications Group. A big thank you to Amber Grantham for becoming the Group’s new Chair (Patricia comments: and to Deborah for all her work in the role as Chair for some years) . It will be an exciting new year ahead, with some important initiatives and developments planned. Please let Amber, Jess or Philip know if there are any improvements or new initiatives in St Andrew’s communications that you would like to see. The Communications Group also always welcomes new members if you would like to get involved.

Deborah Bick

8. Safeguarding

Report from the Parish Safeguarding Officer in 2024

Policies & Procedures

PCC

Other

Linda Holmes

9. Wider Church – Diocesan Synod; Deanery Synod

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Diocesan Synod

During 2024, Ely Diocesan Synod met on 9 March, 19 June, and 19 October. As a Lay Representative from Cambridge North Deanery Synod, Hannah Fytche attended meetings on 9 March and 19 June. Hannah stood for re-election to Diocesan Synod when elections were held in May 2024 and was unsuccessful. Both Philip Lockley and Steve McGregor were elected as clergy representatives for Cambridge North Deanery.

The 9 March meeting included a Presidential Address from Bishop Dagmar, reflecting on the Christian ethic of mutual love and service – even, or especially, in a world which evidences conflict, violence, and uncertainty in a variety of contexts. Reports were given on Safeguarding (the Annual Report); the Diocese’s Net Zero Carbon initiative; the Business of the Ely Diocesan Board of Finance (particularly regarding the audit of 2023’s accounts); and Project Lancaster (the new Diocese of Ely Offices and Training Centre, which opened in April 2024). A Private Member’s Motion was also brought regarding the House of Bishops’ Statement on the Israeli-Gaza conflict: for the full motion and outcome of a vote (following debate), see the full minutes of the meeting.

The 19 June meeting included the following reports: Safeguarding (regular report); Business of the Ely Diocesan Board of Finance (a full report, including progress on the Diocesan budget for 2025); a report following the Bishop’s Council meeting (18 May 2024); an update on recruitment for the Bishop of Ely; and an update on the Mission and Ministry work of the Diocese. Bishop Dagmar’s Presidential Address at this meeting highlighted the upcoming General Election and urged prayer as well as pastoral and prophetic participation in the Election season. In addition, regarding the ‘Prayers of Love and Faith’, Bishop Dagmar reiterated her commitment to support and, if necessary, protect all, regardless of their position on the ‘Prayers’. Full meeting minutes, including details of the above reports, can be found here.

Philip writes: the main item for the 19 October meeting was the Diocese budget for 2025. The Diocese continues to run a deficit, with several Deaneries paying under the amount requested from their collective Ministry Share. The Diocese has aimed to reach a breakeven position with all income generated by ministry share, diocesan investments and trading activities. The reserves policy has sufficient funds at present to manage financial risk, but this is only just in range and funds would be depleted if the Diocese continues to operate a deficit budget without selling property. The budget calculations are based on 100 full stipend clergy posts, 10 half stipend posts and 8 house for duty posts across the Diocese (not including Curates, Archdeacons or Bishops). In the interests of closing the gap between income and expenditure by the Diocese, each Deanery was being asked to find an additional £9000 between their constituent churches, above the 4.5% inflationary increase to Ministry Share across the board in 2025. Deaneries were requested to work out between themselves how to raise the £9000.

The principal themes of Bishop Dagmar’s presidential address were reflections in response to the Assisted Dying Bill and the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Synod also received updates on Safeguarding provision, and the Vacancy in See, noting that at a recent meeting of the Crown Nominations Committee (CNC) for Ely, it was agreed that no further lengthy consultation process was deemed necessary and that shortlisting will take place on 2 October 2025 and interviews on 12 & 13 November 2025, meaning a new Diocesan Bishop should be in place in the first half of 2026.

You can find further information pertaining to Ely Diocesan Synod here.

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Hannah Fytche

Deanery Synod

The first meeting of the year was held at St Clements Church on 31 January when 34 attended. We heard about the appointment and structure of the committee to appoint a new bishop with interviews in July. Nick Moir reported from General Synod which had discussed the Safeguarding Redress Measure for historic sexual abuse. With LLF it was now possible to have prayers of love and faith within an existing service but not a stand-alone for couples. We then moved on to the main business: to hear about the lives of four different churches within the deanery. The first presentation was from the new vicar of Great St Mary’s, Jutta Brueck. She spoke about the church being the combination of a parish, civic and university church, entertaining many visitors, with a pattern of four services per Sunday. The choirs provided excellent music and training for young people, also offering outreach to children from non-churchgoing families. They were moving forwards to being an eco-church and hoped to appoint a young person’s worker. We next heard from Andrew Day, the Vicar of St Clements. A church had been on the Viking site since 879 AD: St Clement being the patron saint of Danish sailors. The present church has just undergone a 1.2 million renovation with the installation of a teaching belfry. The intention is to have the church open every day as mission for city visitors. The services hold to a BCP Catholic tradition and the building is shared with the Russian Orthodox Church. Park Street Church School is within the parish.

Next StAG (St Andrew the Great): the vicar, Alasdair Paine, gave the presentation about the congregation moving from the Round church, but has no hall so StAG hold events every day. Their strapline was ‘The gospel to Cambridge: gospel workers to the world’. Students made up 25% of the congregation and there had been 3 church grafts from StAG since the 1990s. Rachel Browning spoke on behalf of David Todd the vicar of Christchurch who was absent. The church has been renovated with a mezzanine: 350 attend on a Sunday morning and 80 in the evening with a number of students from ARU and children and youth groups. 75% of the congregation are in groups. A current aim is to grow leaders.

After discussion about the different presentations Nick Moir updated us on diocesan appointments and the budget before concluding with the grace.

A joint Deanery Synod of Cambridge North and South Deaneries was held on 21st May in St Andrew’s Church chaired by Rev James Shakespeare, Area Dean for Cambridge South. Rev Mark Rodel, Diocesan Development Officer for Training gave a presentation which started with a bang and the dispersal of a lot of coloured tissue from a cracker which scattered widely! Having got everyone’s attention he explained the Open Christian Learning resources, an online integrated learning programme was in the early stages of its development, making resources accessible, in spite of the challenges of the geography of the Diocese.

Open Christian Learning is:

It hopes to create a confident people of God, to develop healthy leaders including, but not exclusively, Authorised Lay Ministers and Licensed Lay Ministers, and Clergy. This work would continue after Rev

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Mark Rodel leaves his post in July 2024. Prospectuses are available on request and more information can be found here: https://ely.learn.anglican.org

The New Bishop’s Officer for Homelessness, Ely Diocese – Rev Kristian Hewitt was announced although he wasn’t able to attend the meeting. Kristian was a 3rd year curate at the Good Shepherd, Arbury. He was beginning to work with Cambridge Churches Housing Project for 1 day a week for the remainder of his curacy, then full time from September 2024 at the end of his curacy.

A reminder that Diocesan Synod elections were due to take place for which Deanery Synod members can vote. A 15 year member of Diocesan Synod gave his account of his experience as a member. The Lay Chair also reported shortlisting had taken place for the new Bishop of Ely, anticipating we would know the name of the new Bishop in September 2024. (In the event a new Bishop was not appointed and the process has to begin all over again).

It was also commented that there are huge possibilities as to how we develop, partner and plant to engage with those areas of new housing and the growth of our city. A really helpful combined Cambridge North chapter meeting was held on 14th March at Marleigh Community Centre, led by Beth Cope, Bishop’s Advisor for New Housing, which is intended to be built on later in the year with a diocesan strategy for new housing, both as individual parishes and deaneries. At the end of the meeting Philip highlighted the Breaking the Silence dramatic performance to be held in St Andrews on 5th and 7th June 2024 and the Equiano exhibition.

36 people attended the meeting on 6 October at St Matthews Church. Three clergy new to the deanery were introduced. Canon Francis Burkitt gave a presentation on the ministry of Ely Cathedral. There are 450 volunteers on call to support the visitor experience at the cathedral: 450,000 visitors during Holy week. Funding, apart from a couple of salaries funded by central church, does not come from the diocese or the government. Visitors pay £14 per head but there is a free parish pass. Music and the choirs are excellent and they can visit for a special event at local churches. The cathedral can also provide preachers. Other topics presented at the meeting were the non-appointment of a new Bishop of Ely; the recent diocesan elections which had resulted in most elected candidates being opposed to LLF and therefore not representative of all views within the deanery; report from national synod where safeguarding had been the major issue; and the deanery budget for 2025 and ministry share, before concluding with the grace.

Patricia Abrey and Margaret Nimmo Smith

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Financial review

We are pleased to report that the finances of St Andrew’s remain in good shape. The General fund (used for the day to day running of the Church) has ended the year with a surplus of £4,867 compared with a much smaller surplus in 2023 of £415. This has been in no small part due to an increase in congregational giving of nearly £3,000 despite the loss of a number of donors. We are very grateful indeed for this generosity, particularly for the way our large number of regular givers allows us to plan ahead.

As we reported last year, we are fortunate to have our highly valued Youth Worker, Jess Finlay in post, the majority of her salary funded by generous congregational giving specifically for this purpose, as well as a grant from the St Andrew’s Trust. Jess has also been appointed to the post of communications Officer and the cost of this (£5,093) has been supported by a transfer of £4,000 from the King Fund.

The biggest change during 2024 has been the way in which music at St Andrew’s has been funded. With the departure of our director of music in 2023, the PCC adopted a different structure for organists, choirs and music groups that make up the very rich pattern of music at St Andrew’s, and the congregation was asked for direct donations to fund this. There was a generous response which has met the total cost in 2024 of £2,119 and, although there remains a good balance in the Music Fund set up for this, regular donations are still invited to ensure that future years are funded.

We were very grateful indeed to receive very generous bequests from the estates of the late Derek Dazeley and Michael Bond. These will be used for projects that relate to their particular interests and support in the past, in Derek Dazeley’s case the repair and improvement of the fabric of St Andrew’s, and in Michael Bond’s case the role of St Andrew’s Church and Churchyard in the Chesterton community.

It will be seen from the Statement of Financial Affairs (SOFA) that, before taking into account the gains on investments of £14,673, total funds of St Andrew’s at the end of 2024 showed an increase of £72,843. The main contributions to this are the bequests mentioned above of £27,029, investment income of £22,021, a surplus of £4,512 on the Hall Fund and a surplus of £4,867 on the General fund. Including the gains on investments, the total funds of St Andrew’s at the end of 2024 to £867,557. This compares with the total at the end of 2024 of £780,041 and £740,356 at the end of 2022.

As we have reported before, we joined the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) in December 2018, a method whereby regular donations are collected by direct debit rather than standing order. Not only does this mean less administration for ourselves, but it also makes it simpler for donations to be automatically increased by a small amount each year to keep pace with inflation. We now have 39 donors on the scheme - a slightly higher figure compared with this time last year, but this is still less than half of our regular givers. We hope that more will move to this method of giving over the coming year. A direct debit can be set up in a number of ways - by visiting the website (www.parishgiving.org.uk), by telephoning the scheme on 0333 002 1271, or by filling in a form available from Rachel in the Hall office. When doing this, it is helpful to quote the St Andrew’s PGS number 140614046.

Michael Grande

Reserves Policy

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The PCC has a Reserves Policy to ensure that adequate funds are available for unscheduled expenses and to provide for new projects; this is reviewed at least every three years and the 2021 updated policy is presented below:

  1. The Capital Reserve Fund is held for three purposes:

  2. a. As a reserve to be used in the extreme circumstances of a huge and unexpected repair needed for the church.

  3. b. As a reserve for 6 months’ running costs of the General Fund, which is estimated to be £65,000.

  4. c. As a reserve for 3 months’ running costs of the Hall Management Fund, estimated to be £17,000. The capital growth of this fund will hopefully increase its size over time so that both its size and its income keep up with inflation.

  5. The income from the investment of the capital reserves will provide both for the regular maintenance of the church and for other projects that would previously have been a capital expense.

  6. The Quinquennial Reserve Fund will be used to cover the expenditure of the Quinquennial inspection. It received £15,000 of the bequest from the late Berenice Wadsworth in 2019, and from 2023 it has received all of the investment income after the King Fund has received its share. This proportion to be reviewed regularly so that the Fund is of sufficient size for the expenditure required.

  7. The Building Project Reserve Fund will be available for occasional expenditure that is too large for the General Fund, or for special projects of a larger kind that are related to “buildings”. It received £65,000 of the bequest from Berenice Wadsworth in 2019 from 2023 it has not received any share of the investment income.

  8. The King Fund was originally an amount left by the bequestor for specific projects. This has received its share of both capital growth and income from investment, and has increased in size as a result. It will continue to receive its share of investment income and it is suggested that’s its original purpose is best met by spending it on “people” rather than buildings.

  9. In summary:

Fund Receives Intended use
Capital Reserve Fund No income. Unexpected large
expenditure of Church and
Hall
Quinquennial Reserve
Fund		 All of the income of investment
account after the King Fund has
received its share.		 Quinquennial repairs
Building Project
Reserve Fund		 None of Investment account
income		 Specific building projects
King Fund Pro rata share of Investment
income		 Projects that require “People”
funding

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Structure, governance and management

The Parochial Church Council is a corporate body established by the Church of England. The PCC operates under the Parochial Church Council (Powers) measure. The PCC is a Registered Charity.

PCC membership 2024

Ex Officio – Clergy Ex Officio – Wardens

The Revd Dr Philip Lockley Christopher Pountain The Revd Dorothy Peyton Jones Julia Eisen (from May 2024) The Revd Steven McGregor Maggie Fernie (to May 2024) The Revd Duncan Cowan Gray

Ex Officio – Synods

Diocesan Synod: Hannah Fytche ( to June 2024) Deanery Synod: Patricia Abrey and Margaret Nimmo Smith

Elected members with a three year term (year of election in brackets)**

Deborah Bick (2023) Sue Lacey (2023) resigned July 2024 Peter Coomber (2023) Mark Lawson (2022) Julia Eisen (2023) to May 2024 Shani Lee (2024) Michael Grande (2024)2[nd] term Zoe Lewin (2024) 2[nd] term Amber Grantham (2024) 2[nd] term Linda Stollwerck Boulton (2024) 2[nd] term Quentin Harmer (2023) Gavin Stark (2024) 2[nd] term Hannah Fytche (from July 2024 to APCM 2025)

Elected/appointed officers of the PCC

Vice-chair: Christopher Pountain Treasurer: Michael Grande Secretary: Patricia Abrey Electoral Roll officer: Jess Bent Hall Manager: Rachel Clarke

** Following a resolution at the annual meeting in 2015, members of the PCC may serve for two terms (of up to three years each) but must then step down for at least a year.

The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. At St Andrew’s the membership of the PCC consists of the incumbent (our vicar) and other licensed clergy,

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churchwardens, and members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church. To assist with its wide responsibilities the PCC has a number of committees, each dealing with a particular aspect of parish life. These committees are responsible to the PCC and report back to it regularly, with minutes that are discussed by the PCC as necessary. In 2024 the committees were:

There is also a staff team (which is not a PCC committee) which deals with day-to-day management of the church.

A special project group was convened in September 2024 “To create a new Garden of Remembrance in St Andrew’s Churchyard, which will provide provision for the interment of ashes for the next 20 years” which met 3 times in 2024 reporting back regularly to PCC.

The PCC met 7 times during 2024, with an average attendance of 72%.

Patricia Abrey

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Reference and Administrative information

Church name: St Andrew’s, Chesterton. Address: Church Street, Chesterton, Cambridge, CB4 1DT. Incumbent: The Revd Dr Philip Lockley Bankers: Barclays Bank Plc, Chesterton Road, Cambridge. Inspecting Architect: Mr Henry Freeland, Freeland Rees Roberts Architects Independent examiner: Mr Geoff Mann, Dee House, Highworth Avenue, Cambridge. Charity registration no: 1130805

Trustees of the St Andrew’s Church Trust (which now incorporates the St Andrew’s Churchyard Charitable Trust) are: Mrs M White (Chair) Mrs C Dawson Mr J Marsh Mr J Reynolds

The Trust has wide powers to assist in the promotion of Christianity at St Andrew’s.

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38

----- Start of picture text -----
St Andrews PCC Statement of Financial Activities 31st December 2024
Designated Restricted Endowment
(See Note 1) General Fund Funds Funds Funds Total 2024 Total 2023
Income
Voluntary income (congregation) £118,182 £12,674 £17,866 £0 £148,723 £136,952
Voluntary income (grants) £7,361 £2,444 £0 £0 £9,805 £50,563
Activities for generating funds £5,526 £8,431 £0 £0 £13,957 £11,198
Investment income £2,152 £18,929 £940 £0 £22,021 £20,390
Charitable activities- excl Hall and Tower £1,277 £175 £0 £0 £1,452 £1,292
Charitable activities - Hall and Tower £0 £129,878 £606 £0 £130,484 £102,520
Other income £0 £27,029 £0 £0 £27,029 £50,114
Total income £134,498 £199,561 £19,412 £0 £353,471 £373,029
Expenditure
Cost of generating voluntary income £80,413 £0 £0 £0 £80,413 £77,758
Fundraising trading costs £2,140 £7,135 £0 £0 £9,274 £7,524
Charitable activities - Staff £26,032 £0 £0 £0 £26,032 £22,638
Charitable activities - Buildings £22,222 £10,090 £0 £0 £32,312 £115,382
Charitable activities - Good causes £4,600 £0 £19,032 £0 £23,632 £19,450
Charitable activities - Activities £3,381 £0 £0 £0 £3,381 £2,003
Charitable activities - Administration £4,178 £0 £112 £0 £4,290 £4,356
Charitable activities - Hall+Tower £0 £100,366 £252 £0 £100,618 £92,945
Governance costs £476 £0 £200 £0 £676 £2,556
Total Expenditure £143,442 £117,590 £19,596 £0 £280,628 £344,612
Net Inc/Exp before fund transfers -£8,945 £81,971 -£183.86 £0 £72,842 £28,418
Transfers between funds £13,812 -£14,619 £807 £0 £0 £0
Net Inc/Exp after Fund transfers £4,867 £67,352 £623 £0 £72,843 £28,418
Gains on Investments £0 £12,441 £0 £2,232 £14,673 £55,128
Net Movement in Funds £4,867 £79,793 £623 £2,232 £87,516 £83,545
Funds brought forward £3,228 £652,510 £24,484 £99,819 £780,041 £696,496
Adjustments
Total funds carried forward £8,095 £732,303 £25,107 £102,052 £867,557 £780,041
----- End of picture text -----

SOFA Note 1 General Fund General Fund Designated
Funds		 Designated
Funds		 Restricted
Funds		 Restricted
Funds		 Endowments Total 2024 Total 2024 Total 2023 Total 2023 General Fund
2023		 General Fund
2023
INCOME
Voluntary income
Donations -GA £28,958 £1,900 £5,883 £0 £36,741 £41,639 £34,288
Donations -CAF £8,137 £0 £1,620 £0 £9,757 £9,777 £8,137
Donations -no GA £2,140 £600 £60 £0 £2,800 £1,470 £840
Donations -PGS £48,994 £1,360 £0 £0 £50,354 £46,093 £45,218
Donations -digital £11,208 £5,209 £6,828 £0 £23,246 £13,573 £7,125
Donations- cash or cheque £8,313 £1,825 £1,402 £0 £11,540 £10,297 £8,628
Gift Aid Income £10,432 £1,780 £2,073 £0 £14,285 £14,103 £11,354
TrinityCollege £2,265 £0 £0 £0 £2,265 £2,265 £2,265
Church School's Trust £250 £900 £0 £0 £1,150 £250 £250
Friends of St Andrews £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £23,317 £0
St Andrew's Trust £3,500 £0 £0 £0 £3,500 £3,500 £3,500
Listed Places of worshipGrant £1,346 £1,545 £0 £0 £2,891 £15,230 £433
Grants -Other £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £6,000 £0
Activities forgenerating funds
Fees for wedd/funs £5,048 £8,431 £0 £0 £13,479 £8,606 £0
Headstones £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £2,433 £0
Refreshments and events £140 £0 £0 £0 £140 £42 £42
Miscellaneous £338 £0 £0 £0 £338 £117 £117
Investment Income
Interest £385 £3,841 £0 £0 £4,225 £2,866 £125
Dividends £1,767 £15,088 £940 £0 £17,795 £17,523 £1,740
Income from charitable activities
Youth Group £120 £0 £0 £0 £120 £142 £142
Church Mice £158 £0 £0 £0 £158
Church hire £1,000 £175 £0 £0 £1,175 £1,150 £1,150
Coffee morning £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0
Hall management committee £0 £129,878 £0 £0 £129,878 £102,213 £0
Tower £0 £0 £606 £0 £606 £307 £0
Other income
Bequests £0 £27,029 £0 £0 £27,029 £37,281 £0
Insurance claims £0 £0 £0 £0 £12,834 £12,834
TOTAL INCOME £134,498 £199,561 £19,412 £0 £353,471 £373,029 £138,187
EXPENDITURE
Charitable activities -parish share £80,413 £0 £0 £0 £80,413 £77,758 £77,758
Fundraising trading costs
Refreshments and events £1,212 £0 £0 £0 £1,212 £781 £781
Course materials £210 £0 £0 £0 £210
Fees for Weddings and Funerals £0 £7,135 £0 £0 £7,135 £4,977 £0
Headstones £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £1,649 £0
Miscellaneous £718 £0 £0 £0 £718 £117 £117
Charitable Activities - Staff
Clergyexpenses £1,937 £0 £0 £0 £1,937 £1,530 £1,530
Church Administrator £4,629 £0 £0 £0 £4,629 £7,867 £7,867
Communications Officer £5,093 £0 £0 £0 £5,093
Music staff £980 £0 £0 £0 £980 £7,385 £7,385
Youth Worker £12,393 £0 £0 £0 £12,393 £4,856 £4,723
Junior Church Coordinator £1,000 £0 £0 £0 £1,000 £1,000 £1,000
Charitable Activities - Buildings
Maintenance and Repairs £2,067 £0 £0 £0 £2,067 £1,734 £1,734
Churchgas,electicity,water £4,879 £0 £0 £0 £4,879 £3,660 £3,660
Insurance £6,226 £0 £0 £0 £6,226 £6,068 £6,068
Telephone £142 £0 £0 £0 £142 £599 £599
Fire Alarm maintenance £7,169 £0 £0 £0 £7,169 £311 £311
Repairs to deliberate damage £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £13,302 £13,302
Cleaning £275 £0 £0 £0 £275 £125 £125
Flowers £800 £0 £0 £0 £800 £800 £800
Organ £665 £0 £0 £0 £665 £0 £0
Equipmentpurchases £0 £822 £0 £0 £822 £0 £0
Capital expenses £0 £0 £9,268 £9,268 £0 £0 £9,268 £9,268 £88,784 £88,784 £0
Charitable Activities-Good Causes
RomseyMill £700 £0 £0 £0 £700 £600 £600
Azul Wasi £0 £0 £14,495 £0 £14,495 £11,763 £380
Cambridge Street Pastors £0 £0 £617 £0 £617 £0 £0
Children's society £0 £0 £250 £0 £250 £393 £0
Wintercomfort £760 £0 £0 £0 £760 £1,313 £1,200
Other Charitablegiving £3,140 £0 £3,670 £0 £6,810 £5,382 £2,800
Charitable Activities - Activities
Worshipsupplies £894 £0 £0 £0 £894 £1,512 £1,512
Music supplies £1,139 £0 £0 £0 £1,139 £0 £0
Junior Church £298 £0 £0 £0 £298 £387 £387
Church Mice £311 £0 £0 £0 £311
Youthgroup £740 £0 £0 £0 £740 £104 £104
Charitable activities - administration
Printingandphotocopying £1,529 £0 £0 £0 £1,529 £1,283 £1,283
Subscriptions £1,749 £0 £0 £0 £1,749 £1,735 £1,735
Office equipmentpurchases £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £787 £787
Stationeryandpostage £812 £0 £112 £0 £925 £475 £475
Other office costs £88 £0 £0 £0 £88 £76 £76
Charitable activities - Hall and Tower
Hall Management committee £0 £100,366 £0 £0 £100,366 £92,945 £0
Tower £0.00 £0 £252 £0 £252.00 £0 £0
Governance costs
Professional fees £392 £0 £200 £0 £592 £2,480 £2,480
PCCgovernance costs £84 £0 £0 £0 £84 £76 £76
TOTAL EXPENDITURE £143,442 £117,590 £19,596 £0 £280,628 £344,612 £141,654
Net Inc/exp before transfers -£8,945 £81,971 -£184 £0 £72,842 £28,418 -£3,467
Fund Transfer Kingto General £4,000 -£4,000 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0
Fund Transfer General to Azul Wasi -£1,000 £0 £1,000 £0 £0 £0 -£620
Fund Transfer Youth Worker to General £8,893 -£8,893 £0 £0 £0 £0 £1,223
Fund Transfer Fees to General £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0 £3,479
Fund Transfer Music to General £2,119 -£2,119 £0 £0 £0 £0 £0
Fund Transfer General to Cambr Homeless F -£200 £0 £200 £0 £0 £0 -£200
Transfer Restricted to Designated £393 -£393
Capital appreciation of Endowments £0 £0 £0 £2,232 £2,232 £8,386 £0
Capital Appreciation of Investment a/c £0 £12,441 £0 £0 £12,441 £46,742 £0
Surplus/-deficit £4,867 £79,793 £623 £2,232 £87,516 £83,545 £415

----- Start of picture text -----
St Andrew's Chesterton PCC Balance Sheet at 31st December 2024
TOTAL 31st Dec Total Transfers and Increase in TOTAL 31st Dec
2023 Total Income expenditure Adjustments asset value 2024
Tangible Assets
Endowment Dixon £2,758 £2,821
Endowment Ida Elsom £6,759 £6,914
Endowment Mabel Elsom £9,291 £9,503
Endowment Clark £11,348 £11,608
Endowment Kettle Grave £3,707 £3,792
Endowment Harris £63,657 £65,114
TOTAL £97,519 £99,751
Debtors, Hall and Tower
PCC Debtors £34,317 £2,887
Recoverable Gift aid £14,560 £14,680
St Andrew's Hall assets £28,431 £57,943
Tower assets £6,271 £6,624
TOTAL £83,579 £82,135
Cash at Bank and in hand
PCC Bank account £12,165 £7,805
PCC Deposit account £45,960 £122,596
PCC Investment account £543,551 £555,992
TOTAL £601,676 £686,393
Creditors (due within 1year)
PCC Liabilities £2,733 £2,784
NET ASSETS £780,041 £865,495
Held in
General fund £3,228 £134,498 £143,442 £13,812 £8,095
Designated funds
Capital Reserve £378,083 £29 £7,646 £385,758
Building Project Reserve £119,336 £3,186 £7,119 £2,413 £117,817
Quinquennial Reserve -£8,551 £15,663 £2,149 £4,963
King Project £117,791 £3,624 -£4,000 £2,382 £119,798
Michael Bond £0 £25,000 £25,000
Coffee morning £18 £18
Youth choir £950 £950
Church mice £2,066 £900 £822 £2,144
Churchyard £5,296 £1,250 £6,546
Parish weekend £0 £0
Wedding/Funeral fees £0 £8,031 £7,135 £896
Youth worker £8,111 £7,710 -£8,893 £6,928
Youth Group £1,187 £1,187
Music £185 £4,289 -£2,119 £2,355
Hall management committee £28,431 £129,878 £100,366 £57,943
Total £652,903 £732,303
Restricted income funds
Equiano Project £0 £902 £312 £590
Azul Wasi £15,901 £12,516 £14,495 £1,000 £14,921
Children's Society £0 £250 £250 £0
Cambridge Homeless Partnership £1,016 £1,848 £1,786 £200 £1,278
Cambridge Refugees £121 £121 £0
Cambridge Street Pastors £0 £617 £617 £0
Friends of St Andrew's £0 £671 £663 £7
Good causes Miscellaneous £37 £1,062 £1,099 £0
Organ -£107 -£107
Fabric £164 £940 £1,105
War Memorial £689 £689
Tower £6,271 £606 £252 £6,624.37
Total £24,091 £25,107
Endowment funds £99,819 £102,051
TOTAL £780,041 £867,557
----- End of picture text -----

Annual report & financial statements

St Andrew’s Chesterton

St Andrew’s Chesterton

Financial statements and notes to the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2024

1 General Accounting Policies

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Church and Reporting by Charities: Statement of recommended practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (Effective 1 January 2019) –(Charities SORP (FRS 102)), the financial reporting standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Charities Act 2011 and the Church Accounting Regulations 2006. St Andrews PCC meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS102.

1.1 Income and expenditure

The accounts are prepared on an accruals basis rather than on a receipts and payment basis. This means that the costs and incomes relate to the period of account rather than to the time when monies are received or paid. For example, Hall rental income is recognised at the date of usage.

Collections planned giving, grants and legacies are recognised when received. Funds raised are accounted for gross.

1.2 Grants

Grants are credited to the accounts in full when received.

Most grants relate to the purchase of assets and are immediately utilised in full; the only conditions attached to such grants is usually that the asset is used for the purpose it was intended for.

Other grants are credited to a specific reserve to ensure that they are spent only for the purpose they were intended.

1.3 Assets

1.3.1 Current assets

Short-term deposits include cash held either with the CCLA Church of England Funds, or at the Bank.

1.3.2 Fixed Assets

Consecrated land and buildings are excluded from the accounts by Section 10(2)(c) of the Charities Act 2011.

No value is placed on movable church furnishings held which require a faculty for disposal since the PCC considers this to be inalienable property. All expenditure incurred during the year on consecrated buildings and movable church furnishings, whether maintenance or improvement, is written off as expenditure in the SOFA.

Individual items of equipment are written off at cost when the equipment is acquired.

1.3.3 Investments

Investments are valued at market value on 31 December. Realised gains or losses are recognised when investments are sold. Unrealised gains or losses are accounted for on

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Annual report & financial statements

St Andrew’s Chesterton

revaluation of investments at 31 December. These are apportioned between our major funds in accordance with the updated Reserves policy which is detailed above.

1.4 Equipment

Equipment is never acquired with a view to future sale, or the generation of income. For this reason, the cost is written off when incurred and hence depreciation is not charged. If an item of equipment is sold any proceeds are credited in full to the accounts, reducing the level of equipment expenditure reported in the accounts for that period.

A listing of important assets is maintained by the Wardens and Treasurer and these are reviewed on an annual basis.

2 Funds

2.1 Categorisation

The accounts include all transactions, assets and liabilities for which the PCC is responsible in law. They do not include informal gatherings of Church members.

Some funds are restricted , meaning that we can only spend it on particular purposes; some are designated , meaning that while the PCC may have designated it for particular purposes, it is free to change its mind; and some are endowments , meaning that the PCC cannot touch the capital. The funds at 31 December are as follows:

Designated :

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Annual report & financial statements

St Andrew’s Chesterton

Restricted:

Endowments:

The Dixon, Ida Elsom, Mabel Elsom, Clark, Kettle Grave and TB Robinson funds all generate income for the fabric fund. The Harris fund income is applied to the general fund. All of these funds sit in their own investment accounts except the Robinson fund which is part of the PCC Investment account. This explains the difference on the balance sheet between the total of ‘Endowment Funds’ (£102,051) and the total of ‘Tangible Assets’ which appears to be the sum of endowment funds (£99,751).

2.2 Distribution of interest, dividends and increase (or decrease) of asset value

Income from our accounts (interest and dividends) is distributed to our major funds at the end of the year in accordance with the Reserves Policy (see above).

2.3 General Fund

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Annual report & financial statements

St Andrew’s Chesterton

2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Voluntary income
from congregation		 £107,748 £103,907 £112,800 £106,311 £115,589 £118,182
Total Income £121,610 £114,847 £124,009 £133,757 £138,187 £134,498
Total Expenditure £140,395 £131,347 £139,255 £153,760 £141,654 £143,442
Surplus/-Deficit £426 -£3,808 £3,268 -£5,107 £415 £4,867

2.4 Capital Reserve Fund

Capital reserves are held in this fund for purposes outlined in the Reserves Policy. No expenditure is made from the Fund except under exceptional circumstances and its income is applied to the Quinquennial Fund. As can be seen in the table below, the Fund is higher than last year is a rise of 2.29% in the capital value of the investment account. The end of year balances of the fund for the last seven years are shown below:

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
End of
year
Balance		 £267,283* £280,393 £296,016 £331,300 £314,949 £378,083 £385,758

*Held in separate Capital and Hall Capital Funds until combined in 2018

2.5 Building Project Reserve Fund

This Fund received a generous bequest from the late Derek Dazeley which was used to fund the lighting project which was completed in late 2024 at a total cost of £7,119. The Fund has also increased in value as a result of the increase in investment values described above. The expenditure and end of year balances of the fund for the last seven years are shown below:

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Expenditure £0 £2,088 £0 £2,922 £834 £0 £7,119
End of year
balance		 £2,193 £78,518a £95,958 £114,290 £109,039 £119,336 £117,817b

[a] Includes £65,000 from a bequest from the late Berenice Wadsworth

bIncludes £2,000 from a bequest from the late Derek Dazeley

2.6 Quinquennial Reserve Fund

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Annual report & financial statements

St Andrew’s Chesterton

A major project of renovation and repair to the church was commenced and completed during the previous year and this left the Fund with a deficit of £8,511. The only expenditure this year has been the release of the architect’s and builder’s retentions and the deficit has been met by the investment income form the Investment and deposit accounts being applied to this fund, less that proportion attributable to the King Fund. The fund will gradually build up in value to try to meet the costs of the next Quinquennial inspection in 2026. The expenditure and end of year balances for the last seven years are shown below:

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Expenditure £0 £0 £99,968* £3,646 £0 £88,784 £2,149
End of year
balance		 £5,000 £28,142 £3,527 £5,910 £10,277 -£8,551 £4,963

*£ 67,930 of this expenditure was covered by donations and VAT reimbursement

2.7 King Project Fund

During 2024, £4,000 was transferred to the General fund to support the funding of the Communications officer. This compares with income of £3,624 and capital appreciation of £2,382. It should be noted that the transfers from the fund in the five years from 2018 to 2022 were considerably larger than the income on the basis that the fund had been allowed to build up over a number of years without taking anything from it. However, if the fund is to provide a long lasting contribution to staff costs that keeps up with inflation, the transfers need to be no more than allows the fund itself to grow with inflation. The transfers and end of year balances for the last seven years are shown below:

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Transfers
out		 £4,000 £10,000 £11,500 £7,000 £7,000 £7,500 £0 £4,000
End of
year
balance		 £112,966 £104,515 £112,064 £113,769 £123,103 £105,419 £117,791 £119,798

2.8 Michael Bond Fund

The fund received the generous bequest of £25,000 from the estate of the late Michael Bond in late 2024 and will be used for developments in keeping with Michael Bond’s interest in supporting the role of St Andrew’s Church and Churchyard in the Chesterton community.

2.9 Churchyard Fund .

The fund received a generous donation of £1,000 towards the coast of establishing the Memorial Garden in the Churchyard.

2.10 Coffee Morning Fund

The Coffee Morning Fund did not have any income or expenditure during 2024.

2.11 Parish Weekend Fund.

This fund had a nil balance throughout the year.

2.12 Wedding and Funeral Fees Fund

This fund was set up to handle all fees for weddings and funerals with the PCC element being transferred back to the General Fund at the end of the year. This year the PCC element of the fee was paid directly into the General Fund, and this fund used for those fees that were due to be paid out to the diocese, bell ringers etc. There is a small surplus in the fund for certain fees that

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Annual report & financial statements

St Andrew’s Chesterton

were not taken and elements of the fees to cover for administrative costs. A summary of the annual total of PCC fees for the last seven years is shown below:

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
PCCfees £4,437 £2,811 £2,309 £3,034 £3,344 £3,479 £5,047

2.13 Youth Worker Fund

During 2024, we received generous donations from the congregation of £7,710 towards the cost of employing the Youth Worker. An amount of £8,893 was transferred to the General Fund to pay for this, the remainder being held back for 2025. The income and transfers for the last five years are shown below:

years are shown below:
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Donations £4,125 £6,139 £7,469 £4,875 £7,306 £7,710
Transfers to
Gen Fund		 £4,125 £3,256 £8,470 £4,596 £1,223 £8,893

2.14 Organ Fund

We have continued to enjoy our wonderful new organ and there have been no Income or expenditure through the Fund. The small negative balance will be met from the General Fund.

2.15 Tower Fund

The Tower Fund is run by the bell ringers with accounts presented to the group at their AGM. There was a small income during the year of £606 from fees paid at weddings, funerals and other events and expenditure of £252. The sum held on deposit represents a reserve in case of the need for more major repair and renovation in the future.

3 St Andrew’s Hall

3.1 Hall Ownership and Book Value

The Hall and the land on which it stands is owned by the Diocese of Ely as custodian trustee, on behalf of the PCC (under the PCC Powers Measure of 1956).

As a result, the Hall does not appear in the PCC balance sheet.

3.2 Obligations of the Church Regarding the Hall

The Church received a Grant of £246,000 from Cambridge City Council toward the cost of building the Hall. The Section 106 agreement relating to this grant places various constraints on the Church as to how the hall should be used for a period of 25 years following the opening of the Hall in November 2005.

The main terms are as follows:

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Annual report & financial statements

St Andrew’s Chesterton

The agreement provides for termination under certain circumstances, with a claw-back of the grant on a tapering basis, from 90% when terminated after three years, to 10% after eleven years, and nothing thereafter.

3.3 Hall Management Committee

In order to get the best use from the Hall and to maximise benefit for the community the PCC in partnership with the local Residents Associations has set up a Hall Management Committee. This is made up of representatives of the PCC, Old Chesterton Residents Association, St Andrew’s Road Residents Association and Hall User groups. The Committee meets on a regular basis. They are responsible for ensuring that the Hall is operated in accordance with the Section 106 agreement. They also deal with practical day-to-day matters and make recommendations to the PCC as to general policy.

3.4 Hall Accounts

Ownership of the Hall is vested in the Diocese and the capital value of the Hall does not appear in the PCC accounts.

The Section 106 agreement sets out that an annual report must be submitted covering the Hall finances and details of letting.

An income and expenditure account setting out all the income earned and costs incurred by the PCC in operating the Hall is prepared and reported to the Hall Management Committee and is examined each year with the PCC accounts. The income and expenditure totals as reported by the Hall Treasurer appear in the PCC accounts and in 2024 show that it has generated a surplus of £4,512. The Hall also received a generous bequest of £25,000 from the estate of the late Michael Bond. Michael Bond had played an important part in the vision and building of St Andrew’s Hall and served as its treasurer for a number of years. Further details of the Hall affairs are available in the Hall’s annual report.

The end of year balance on the Hall funds for the last eight years are shown below:

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Surplus
Deficit		 -£3304 -£840 -£23,088 -£4,541 £6,717 £9,268 £4,512
End of
year
balance		 £19,218 £15,914 a£40,074 £16,986 £12,445 £19,162 £28,431 b£57,943

aIncludes a transfer of £25,000 from the PCC capital fund.

bIncludes a bequest of £25,000 from the late Michael Bond

4 Giving to good causes

4.1 PCC policy

The PCC has a longstanding policy of giving to good causes and the amount that we aim to give from the General fund to the same causes each year was unchanged this year at £5,800. Of this, £1,000 was given to Azul Wasi (as part of a larger sum raised through regular donations and targeted events), and in addition, the Mission & Giving group is delegated to distribute the balance in smaller sums to Christian ministries, mission agencies and other good causes. The group also organises giving days during the year for a variety of causes (seeking to ensure that all five marks of Mission – as defined by the Anglican Communion – are covered: evangelism, Christian education & nurture, serving those in need, transforming society and safeguarding creation).

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Annual report & financial statements

St Andrew’s Chesterton

4.2 Azul Wasi

Azul Wasi (‘the Blue House’) is a boys’ orphanage in Cusco, Peru, which St Andrew’s has supported since its beginning in 2005. Members of the congregation give regularly to this cause by standing order (held in a restricted fund) and this enables St Andrew’s to support the 12 boys who live there as a family by sending a regular monthly donation for the food costs.

During 2024, the costs incurred by the organisation increased considerably and therefore the amount send to Azul Wasi (AW) on a monthly basis was increased from £877 to £927. Additionally, a further £2,000 was sent from the AW reserves, and then as a result of the newsletter highlighting the problem, a further £601 was donated by members of the congregation and sent to AW. At the end of 2024, the AW Fund stood at £14,921.

5 Grants and Employment costs

8

St Andrews Church, Chesterton counts forthe yearended 31 Decemb8r2024 Indgpendent examiner's report To the PCC of St Andrew's Church, Chesterton This report on the accounts of the PCC for the year ended 31 December 2024, which ¢omprise the Slalemenl of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet and the notes lo the accounts, is in respect of an examination carried out in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 20061'lhe Regulalions'l and section 145 of the Charities Act 20111.lhe Acl'l. Respective responsibilities of tho PCC and the gxaminer As members of the PCC you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts,. you Consider that the audit requirement of the Regulations and section 144{2} of the Act does not apply. 11 is my responsibility lo issue this report on those accounts in accordance wth the terms of the Regulations. Basis of thls report My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners under seGlion 14515}Ibl of the Act and lo be found in the Church Guidance, 2006 edition. That examination includes a review of the accountillg records kept by the PCC and a comparison of the accounts with those records. 11 also includes considering any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, snd seeking explanations from you as members of the PCC concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts. INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S STATEMENT In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention.. (1 } whlch gives me reasonable cause lo believe that in any material respect the requirements lo keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Act.. and lo prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and to comply with the accounting requirements of Ihe Act and the Regulations have not been mel,. or 121 lo which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order lo enable a proper understanding of the accounts lo be reached. Geoff Mann Geoff Mann Limited Dee House Highworth Avenue Cambridge CB4 28Q