OpenCharities

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

2021-12-31-accounts

Registered Charity 1130812

Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Parochial Church Council

year ended 31 December 2021

Incumbent:

The Reverend Jody Stowell 74 Bishop Ken Road, Harrow Weald, Greater London HA3 7HR

St. Michael and All Angels’ Church, Harrow Weald 95 Bishop Ken Road, Harrow Weald, Greater London HA3 7HP

WELCOMING. GENUINE. INVOLVED. ATTENTIVE

Registered Charity 1130812

The Parish is part of the Willesden Episcopal Area of the Diocese of London

Page 2

Registered Charity 1130812

AIM AND PURPOSES

St Michael and All Angels’ Parochial Church Council, together with the Vicar seek to promote the whole mission of the Church; pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical.

The PCC is also specifically responsible for the maintenance of the Church and associated rooms.

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

The PCC is committed to encouraging and enabling as many people as possible to worship at our church and to become part of our parish community at St Michael’s. The PCC maintains an overview of the life of the church within a particular geographical context and seeks to be an agent for the flourishing of that local community. Our worship services and community groups put faith into practice.

St Michael’s Church takes a prominent role in the ecumenical Churches Together in the Weald, and attends meetings of the Harrow Deanery Synod. Participation in these groups enables St Michael’s to fulfil our objectives.

When planning our activities for the year, the Vicar and the PCC have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and, in particular, the specific guidance on charities for the advancement of religion. In particular, we try to enable ordinary people to live out their faith as part of our parish community.

Activities that were carried out to achieve this are included in the reports that follow. To facilitate this work it is important that we maintain the fabric of St Michael’s Church buildings.

Page 3

Registered Charity 1130812

VISION

St Michael’s vision is to demonstrate in our actions that God loves all people unconditionally. We aim to join with God in the building of God’s Kingdom.

We desire to be a church fully involved with our community, who tell the story of Jesus, offer compassion and kindness to all and who work to make the world a fairer place.

VALUES

MISSION ACTION PLAN (MAP)

The MAP is a 5 year document which can change and evolve within that 5 years to keep up with where we are at, as a church. The Leadership Team have authority from the PCC to adapt the MAP each year, to represent what has happened, and new ways in which God is leading us. This ensures that the MAP serves us as a community listening to God, who sometimes doesn’t let us know

Page 4

Registered Charity 1130812

God’s 5 year plan! The MAP can be found at the back of church or from the office.

VICAR’S REPORT

To be added.

CHURCHWARDENS’ REPORT

Robert May, Mary Deans and Church Warden Team

The year started with the resignation of Catherine Burgesson and Joan Paice on 31 January, following a three-month period after the Annual Meeting on 25 October 2020, at which no-one was willing to stand for election as Church Wardens. The Church Warden role covers a variety of activities. As nobody felt able to cover all these roles, we consulted with people who offered to cover parts of the role which enabled us to put together a team of people to cover the activities, which was appointed at the Annual Meeting on 30 May 2021.

The Church Warden team comprises Mary Deans (Services, Leadership Team, Clergy Wellbeing, Legal Church Warden), Simon Stanley (Services, Fabric & Finance, Buildings, Legal Church Warden), Trevor Jarvis (Services, Leadership Team, Clergy Wellbeing) and Robert May (Buildings Administration).

We have been fortunate to be able to consult with previous Church Wardens, in particular John Slaughter.

2021 was a year heavily influenced by the Covid pandemic restrictions. At the start of the year, we were only able to meet online. As the year progressed, we were able to meet back in the building, but were always wary of Covid and hence what could be done was limited by social distancing and associated requirements. The team of Wardens and Duty Wardens have been responsible for arriving early for services, unlocking the building, opening the windows, and ensuring that all is in place to meet the Risk Assessments for the use of the church building, which have been reviewed and updated by the PCC as the year has progressed.

Some members of the congregation have left the local area and others have so far felt unable to return to the building for worship. We are trying to encourage people to return and as part of the Leadership Team and wider PCC, we are reviewing the Mission Action Plan for St Michael’s. Some activities resumed towards the end of 2021 but were interrupted by the Omicron variant of Covid. We are hoping that all activities, that we can staff, will resume in 2022 and that we will re-establish ourselves as part of the community in Harrow Weald.

Page 5

Registered Charity 1130812

The Warden Team would like to thank all who have assisted in various ways in keeping the church services and activities alive during this year and for ensuring that the buildings remain safe and secure.

CHURCH REPORTS

OUTREACH

St Michael’s seeks to be a place of God’s love in the community, to which all are welcome. We take seriously the call to be those who are fully hospitable, and to also go out into the community with the message of that love. God’s mission is about being those who both ‘draw in’ and ‘send out’. The reports below give a fantastic picture of the many events and opportunities that St Michael’s offers in order to be true to that call.

Due to the ongoing situation with COVID19 during 2021, some activities continue to be paused, some have remained online, and there are some new activities to read about. St Michael’s has tried to adapt to the situation and to go where God is leading in these strange times. So you may see some old favourites have disappeared for now, but you may also see some things we may never have imagined…

Community Events – Rosemary Mackenzie

Pancake Party took on an online presence in 2021, as we were still in lockdown. June Hancock taught people how to make their own pancakes and then people enjoyed the eating and chatting!

On the 27 November 2021 we decided to hold a low-key Christmas Cracker event. It was uncertain whether with the COVID restrictions changing all the time that the event would even be able to go ahead. Fortunately, everything worked out okay with a bit of social distancing and wearing of face masks.

We felt that everyone needed to venture out of their homes and have some social interaction with other people. We know tea and cakes are a big attraction for everyone at St Mike’s so we decided to make a Cream Tea the main event in the nave of the church. After collecting their scones, jam and clotted cream everyone sat around tables and were then served tea or coffee. It was lovely to see all the tables full of a lot of chatting and laughter. Almost normal!

We had a few stalls around the side of the church and some outside entrepreneurs selling their Christmas wares. Even though fund raising was not

Page 6

Registered Charity 1130812

the main object of the event this year we still generated nearly £400. A big thank you to everyone who helped.

– The Nativity Paul Joyce

On 5th December we held our tenth annual Nativity service. Having been forced to present the Nativity online in 2020 due to covid restrictions, it was a delight to be able to welcome the community back into the building for a live performance again this year, as well as live-streaming via Facebook for those who were unable to attend. As usual, the

Nativity provided us with an opportunity to take a fresh look at the Biblical story of the nativity through a series of short dramatic and comic sketches, interspersed with Christmas Carols. The theme for 2021 was ‘A Child is Born.’ Six performers told the story, supported by a team who provided sound, projection, props and music, while others were involved in preparing and serving cakes and mulled wine, and providing a warm welcome to all who came along.

Chair Based Exercise

Chair Based Exercise started in the building in January 2020 and was quickly curtailed in March 2020 by the COVID19 pandemic. From the summer of 2020 we started offering this important service to the community on Zoom, and this continued until November 2021. However, we also re-introduced CBE in the building from October 2021.

This is a brilliant service to our community, and has drawn people in from all kinds of different places and with different stories. It encourages physical mobility, but also wholeness of being, beyond the sum of its parts.

CBE has been funded during these 2 years, by Near Neighbours and Harrow Giving.

T in the Afternoon – Chris Joyce

T in the Afternoon offers a welcome to everyone in the local community every Tuesday from 2:30 to 4pm and became part of the Places of Welcome network in November 2019.

Page 7

Registered Charity 1130812

Unfortunately, we started 2021 in lockdown and were unable to meet in church until September. During the earlier part of the year, I was able to keep in touch with many of the regular attendees via phone, text or, when permitted, in the garden.

From September, we started back in a small way, with some restrictions.

Since then, more people have been able to attend, and we have been able to play games again and serve refreshments.

However, we did have to close again temporarily over Christmas and into the New Year, again due to Covid. We hope in 2022 we will be able to welcome more people.

School Visits – Jody Stowell

During 2021, with continued Lockdown and schools being very cautious about any visits or trips, I have not been able to re-establish the usual visits with Belmont School (Easter Cracked with Year 3 or Christmas Unwrapped with Year 1). This will be re-visited in 2022.

St John’s Stanmore have continued to offer online assemblies to the children and I have sent a recorded assembly twice a term during 2021.

Toddlers Group – Pat Watts

Sadly we were not able to hold any Toddler sessions last year and at present we have no date for when we may be able to start again. We hope that 2022 will be a better year for us all.

English Class – Jane Price

I was delighted when the church building gradually opened and since November 2021 our little group has been meeting again, each Wednesday observing all the covid restrictions.

I had feared that wearing masks may be restrictive with language teaching, but we are all so used to it now that it hasn’t been a problem.

The Garden room is spacious enough for our small group and the doors and windows open.

The uncertainty of covid, however, has had a big impact on numbers attending, not only due to student sickness.

Some students have managed to get on line tuition from local colleges and are still enjoying that! Also, I have not been confident to advertise the group in the libraries etc. in case we are suddenly closed down again!

Page 8

Registered Charity 1130812

Generally, between 3 and 6 people attend now.

Today it was just one man! At first, I felt a small sense of panic, having planned quite carefully a lesson based around lockdown baking. Realising this may not interest him too much, I had to think very quickly and come up with something else! In the end this did not matter as I could concentrate on teaching language highly specific to him and in some ways that was an advantage.

Food Bank – Mary Deans

For Harvest in 2021 we resumed collecting for the Harrow Foodbank and we were able to take 31.95kg of goods along to support the Foodbank.

This seemed a good opportunity to resume collecting food and other essential supplies for the Harrow Foodbank. Two boxes are provided in the Church foyer: one for food and the other for toiletries.

Lists of what they would like to collect each month can be found on their web site: https://harrow.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-food/

Small and regular size items are best – they can be given to both small and large families and are easier for people to carry home from the foodbank centre.

They also need shopping bags to help deliver produce.

Street Pastors – Quinton Stowell

Street Pastors continues its mission of ‘listening, caring and helping’ on the streets of Harrow. After a break from patrols in January and part of February, correlating with a Covid lockdown we recommenced our patrols cautiously.

This was matched with how we found the atmosphere on the street. Harrow’s nightlife has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, and pubs are finishing earlier than they used to. As such we have found that we usually finish our patrols before 2AM compared to 4AM in years gone by. We have adapted our protocols to use Zoom each Friday for sharing prayers prior to being joined by the team of Street Pastors who are patrolling that evening.

This has been a good way of maintaining team cohesion whilst bringing our supplications to God. We have continued to be active in our outreach to those who are homeless or sleeping rough. In 2021 alone we made 24 referrals to our partner agencies. As we celebrate our 10th year and over 600 patrols we are hopefully being recognised as a long-term partner fulfilling our mission of ‘listening, caring and helping’ our community in Harrow.

Firm Foundation – Quinton Stowell

This year the Winter Night Shelter provision has been scaled down and adapted to meet the current Omicron variant of Covid.

Page 9

Registered Charity 1130812

FirmFoundation is operating The Ark, a five bedroom house in Harrow Weald for male guests and a separate studio flat for female guests. A rota has been set up where local churches are delivering meals to The Ark. In previous years the catering team would join the guests and FirmFoundation staff for the meal. Sadly, this hasn’t been possible, so our food has to be dropped off at the door. The scaled down provision means we only have to cater for six meals instead of 20 to 25 meals.

St Michael’s has undertaken to provide meals on three separate evenings, the fourth Thursday of each month, and thanks go to June, Jane and Rosemary for volunteering their expert culinary skills.

As an update on homelessness in general, Harrow Street Pastors has joined the ‘Homelessness Reduction Board’ which meets bi-monthly to discuss the current situation of homelessness in Harrow and to discuss and review plans to minimise this. More information can be found at Harrow Homelessness Reduction Board – Homeless advice – Harrow Council including links to a Winter Fund to help those struggling to pay their rent in the Private Sector. Harrow Council now have a small outreach team who work alongside FirmFoundation and liaise with Harrow Street Pastors.

Open Church – Jody Stowell

After the decision of the PCC to become an Open Church in 2018, during 2021 we continued to be restricted in opening the church more widely. I hope that we can return to open church during 2022.

– Churches Together in the Weald Simon Stanley

During 2021 Kath Harrison did a mini Walk of Witness for Good Friday along the usual route. There were 6 people who joined in and they stopped for readings and prayers at different points on the route. This was Live-Streamed to the Churches Together in Wealdstone Facebook page.

Harrow Deanery Synod – Robert May

2021 has been a year in our churches when we have begun to recover from the Coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic with most of the restrictions previously imposed being lifted giving us more freedom to meet and to worship. However, meetings of the Synod have continued to be held using the Zoom software during 2021.

A new three-year Deanery Synod began in December 2020 with elections taking place for the Deanery Officers and members of the Standing Committee. John Dolling was elected as Lay Chair, Robert May as Honorary Secretary, Pam Clissold as Honorary Treasurer. The Clergy members of the Standing Committee are Christine Britton, Malcolm Finlay, David Green and Rod Green. The Lay members of the Standing Committee are Mary Abbott, Susan Cooper, Toby Partridge and Clive Scowen. During the year Christine Britton resigned and Rod

Page 10

Registered Charity 1130812

Green moved to be Archdeacon of Llandaff. They were replaced as clergy members of Standing Committee by Barry Hingston and Ajay More. Stuart Nattrass and David Tuck were elected by the PTO Clergy to represent them on Deanery Synod. Derek Taylor-Mew was appointed Independent Examiner for the Deanery Accounts. Our representatives on Harrow SACRE (Standing Advisory Committee for Religious Education) continue to be Mary Abbott and Revd James Power. Alison Stowe was elected in July as the third representative. David Poole has continued to represent us on the Diocesan Board for Schools until the elections this autumn when the process changed. The Head Teachers of our Church of England Schools, Jo Hester and Daniel Norris, were co-opted to Synod.

The first meeting of the new Synod was held on 28 January which was Revd Ian Dowsett’s last meeting as Area Dean. We welcomed Revd Ann Lynes as the new Area Dean from March. We were joined by the new Archdeacon of Northolt, Ven Catherine Pickford, who gave us the opening talk based on Matthew 26. This was followed by the confirmation of the elections that had taken place by email. Synod heard about the launch of “Hope Church” reaching out to the residents of the new housing estates in Harrow View, and of “Mosaic Church” an intercultural church reaching out to people of other faiths and cultures in Harrow.

The second meeting was held on 6 July with a talk by Revd Dave Bookless of St Mary Norwood entitled “Caring for God’s Creation” encouraging churches to consider the Eco Church initiative and to take some actions. Toolkits are available for churches to use on “Climate Sunday”. A presentation was made to Ian Dowsett thanking him for his work as Area Dean over the past 5 years. Synod received presentations from two churches who had applied for grants from the Deanery Mission Fund. Grants of £1,000 for both were approved: Holy Trinity Wealdstone to subsidise their English Class and St Michael and All Angels Harrow Weald towards a camera and internet connection to livestream services. The Deanery Accounts for 2020 were approved, subject to independent examination. Dr John Spencer of Holy Trinity Northwood was elected as the representative on Bereavement Care Management. Graham Nicholson was elected to serve a further term as Governor of St John’s School Stanmore and Graham Hamwijk was elected as a Governor of Holy Trinity School Northwood.

The third meeting was held on 3 November with a talk by Revd Navina Thompson of St Giles Ickenham entitled “Swimming Against the Tide: An Exploration of Engaging with Difference”. Navina talked about her experiences as a child of Indian Parents living and working as a woman priest in the Middle East and the diversity in that region. She encouraged us to live with our own prejudices and to live and think differently by embracing cultural and theological diversity. Daniel Escott was elected as a Governor of St John’s School Stanmore.

Following elections in the summer, Clive Scowen and Jody Stowell had been elected to represent the Diocese on General Synod; Johnette Clarke, Susan Cooper, John Dolling, Toby Partridge, Joshua Tate and David Green, Jody Stowell, Rachel Campbell and Paul Hullyer had been elected to represent the Deanery on the London Diocesan Synod.

Plans for a Deanery Prayer Evening at St Mary’s Harrow for “Thy Kingdom Come” already postponed from 2020 was unable to be held in 2021 but monthly

Page 11

Registered Charity 1130812

Prayer for Harrow has taken place under the leadership of Revd Malcolm Finlay and using the Zoom software.

Reports on the sessions of the London Diocesan Synod and of the General Synod were received at meetings during the year.

Bereavement Care – Sandra May

The bereavement visitors continued to make contact with clients by telephone during the ongoing covid restrictions.

As of July 2021 the group do not have a group leader to link with Bereavement Care so referrals from BC will not come to us, but obviously referrals will come via the office from members of our congregation and funerals Jody conducts at the Crematorium for residents in our parish. The visitors will be meeting to discuss how to move forward with this.

Bereavement Drop-In Centre – Jeffery Edmunds

The drop in resumed from 7th October, 2021

On this and subsequent days numbers of regular clients increased to an attendance approaching pre-pandemic levels, but there were a number of regular clients missing. Reasons range from severe illness, leaving the area, having alternative learning opportunities that clash, to a choice to ‘move on.’

There has been some risk of a “domino effect” in that with the absence of ‘popular’ clients, others who had made attachments to them might no longer attend. Fortunately this has not been the case but overall numbers have declined.

Attendance has been sporadic since the Christmas break with a few regular clients.

A decision had been made not to take on new clients for the first few weeks following resumption in October but this period has now lapsed. So far no new referrals have been made.

One new volunteer, a member of the congregation at Holy Trinity has been attending to support the group, making the number of rostered volunteers up to six. The number will return to five in the near future as one volunteer is due to move out of the area. On one occasion the group was visited by David Griffiths but no members of the clergy have visited us so far, as had been the case in the past.

There has been a suggestion put forward to offer clients a monthly communion, which had been stopped since before lockdown. This proposal is still being debated and not yet requested or formalised.

From the outset, the group served only drinks in paper cups. This rule has been judiciously relaxed as Omicron has peaked and government/church rulings have

Page 12

Registered Charity 1130812

changed. In the main, alongside regular tea and coffee, most recently some individually wrapped items such as cakes and sweets have been on offer.

Along with the use of hand sanitiser, the rule re the wearing of masks if standing or moving around (at first including sitting down) has been upheld and having been asked to respect this rule, clients have complied.

There have been very few incidences of members of the public attempting to enter or needing redirection, hence ‘policing’ at the door has been minimal.

Magazine – Paul Joyce

St Michael & All Angels Magazine is a celebration of the life and faith of the people of St Michael’s, and contains items such as reports on church activities and events, seasonal reflections and encouragements, worship poems, and stories of individual journeys of faith by church members. As usual, we published three editions in 2021, with contributions from 12 different writers. We continue to encourage as many people as possible to share their stories of our shared faith and the life of St Michael’s.

Fair Trade – Jane Price

Our FairTrade Rep has supported us as best she could during lockdown by distributing a few catalogues and ordering Fair Trade Easter eggs, Advent calendars as requested by individuals.

They made a sterling effort to support St Michael’s at the Christmas Cracker. This was appreciated as shown by their managing to sell £279 worth of Fair Trade goods at their stall.

GATHERED WORSHIP

Another aspect of our life at St Michael’s is to make sure that we meet together to seek God and worship God. This happens in a number of ways which are appropriate for different ages and styles. Our reports below give an exciting view of the different aspects of worship people encounter on visiting and being part of St Michael’s.

During 2021, whilst in Lockdown, St Michael’s continued to offer online provision solely, with a joyful return to the building, alongside Live-Streaming, on Easter

Page 13

Registered Charity 1130812

Sunday 2021. We continue to Live-Stream our services, and secured a grant to install a more high-spec camera that works with our sound system, so as to be able to provide this in a more sustainable way.

Services and Preaching – Jody Stowell

Our Services and Preaching programme were once again marked by the COVID19 pandemic, and we continued offering solely online provision during the January – March lockdown, until Archdeacon Catherine led our Easter Day service in the building on 4[th] April 2021. A joyous event!

Since, then we have continued with services in the building, although until September, we also had solely online services once a month, all this to comply with varying degrees of COVID19 restrictions and the needs of the congregation.

We had 2 services outside during 2021, one in a very warm Summer, and one in a slightly chilly Autumn! This meant that we were able to sing, during the Summer service outside, when we had not yet introduced singing in the services indoors.

We did re-introduce singing to all our services from September 2021, initially restricting this to 3 songs, and then increasing the number so that during our Christmas services we were able to offer a full programme.

Even with the rise of the Omicron variant, we continued to meet and offer services in the building.

The preaching programme has been entirely based on the lectionary readings during 2021. I seek to re-establish some thematic and ‘books of the bible’ series from 2022.

We have studied the following so far:

May 2014 Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer July 2014 2 Corinthians Sept 2014 Being Disciples Dec 2014 John Jan 2015 Sit, Walk, Run May 2015 Esther Sept 2015 Giving Jan 2016 Revelation Feb 2016 Vision and Values Apr 2016 Philippians July 2016 Christianity is Irrelevant Sept 2016 Mind, Body, Spirit Dec 2016 Isaiah Feb 2017 Mark July 2017 Being a Christian Oct 2017 Genesis Sept 2018 God’s Great Welcome

Page 14

Registered Charity 1130812

Jan 2019 James May 2019 Growing in Faith July 2019 1 Samuel Sept 2019 Exodus Oct 2019 Confidence in Faith Feb 2020 Luke [May 2020 God’s Justice] COVID Jan 2022 Matthew July 2022 1 Corinthians

Sunday Service Attendances – Robert May

Average attendance at Holy Communion in church was 24 (over 16 = 23, Under 16 = 1).

Average number of communicants was 21 (over 16 = 20, under 16 = 1). Average attendance at All Age Services was 20 (over 16 = 20, under 16 = 1).

We have no record of the number of people who participated in these services online, but we know that there has been a number participating in this way. Because of this we are implementing a more permanent way of broadcasting our services.

Children’s Group 5 to 11 – Usha Cherian

The Children’s Group has returned on the second Sunday of the month from September 2021, after being on hold due to Covid restrictions since March 2020. The team is Pat Watts and Usha Cherian, also helped by other church members if one of us is away. We focused this term on how God chose Moses and Joshua to lead the Israelites, using Children’s Bible Stories and Mosaic Bible resource books.

Online Children’s Work – Gill Tyler

We continued our weekly online Sunday School up until September 2021. Each session consisted of a 15-20 minute a story, reflection and prayer, and sometimes a song or a craft activity. We followed the church year and so together thought about Lent, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost. In between times we also looked at the Lord’s Prayer and the Bible, reflecting on stories such as Jonah, the Prodigal Son and Jesus calming the storm, as well as other stories with a Christian message, such as ‘You Are Mine’ ‘The Friend Who Forgave’ and ‘The Selfish Giant’.

Each week we spent a little time reflecting on the story using the “I wonder……?” approach of Godly Play. The children were invited to make links with their own lives and to consider what the story might mean to them, rather than there being a right or wrong answer.

Singers and Musicians – Robert May

Page 15

Registered Charity 1130812

The musicians have continued to lead our shared worship on Sundays, whether in the church building or from home. For services that were not in the building we have included recordings of hymns and songs provided by other churches.

Prayer – Jody Stowell

During 2020 we looked at using our outside garden space at the front of church as a Prayer Garden, and this continued and expanded during 2021. We offer the space generally throughout the year, with prayers being available for people to pray in different parts of the garden. At Easter and Christmas the outside space is used creatively to invite people to pray through those seasons.

Flower Arranging – Jane Price

Naturally we did not need to arrange flowers throughout Lockdown. We did however make an Easter garden outside during the Easter period 2021.

We enjoyed arranging flowers for Alicia and Daniel’s wedding.

As we reopened during Advent the next big thing was Christmas and we enjoyed decorating the Advent wreath and window sills from the start of Advent.

We arranged flowers for the church from Christmas Eve and will continue to do so weekly until the start of Lent 2022. We have only two regular arrangers at present.

FELLOWSHIP

Friendship and meeting together to strengthen our relationships and to encourage each other in our discipleship is an important part of our life together at St Michael’s. Through relationship we are more open to God’s love and to offering that love to others. Members of the congregation are encouraged share time together after the Sunday morning services and there is always a pot of coffee brewing and ready for any who come to the church at different times throughout the week. There are several groups who meet during the week, and the reports below give you an idea of the variety available for you to get involved with.

Growing Together – Robert May

This group has not met during the year because of the restrictions.

Locket Road Fellowship Group – Jeff Edmunds

This group has not met during the year because of the restrictions.

Spring and Autumn Courses – Jody Stowell

Page 16

Registered Charity 1130812

We decided to move to a pattern of running a course each spring and each autumn. This enables people who do not find it easy to come to a ‘house group’, to attend a time limited course over a number of weeks. It was good to see a number of people who have not previously been able to attend courses come along. For the autumn course, we also moved to providing an evening and an afternoon option: the course ran in parallel, so that the same sessions were provided each week and those who weren’t able to come to a course run on an evening, were then able to attend in the afternoon.

These were adapted during the COVID19 pandemic, to be provided online

Spring – Being With and Velvet Elvis

In 2020 St Martin in the Fields initiated a new course called “Being With”. They ran a training session at the beginning of February 2021 that Jody Stowell and Mary Deans were able to attend. This course is aimed at those questioning what they know and believe about God and the Christian faith. We subsequently ran a Being With course at St Mike’s, this consisted of 10 sessions during March – May 2021.

This is a course which is quite different in its format. It provides an opportunity for people to explore themselves, their ideas about life, and of God Being With us. It is an on-line course on Zoom and so was very suitable during lockdown! Each session starts with an opportunity for each person on the course to share their knowledge and experiences. This is followed by a short talk and a sharing time.

Ten people started on the course but for various reasons not all were able to see the course all the way through. Five people completed the course and they have reported that they found the course very valuable as an opportunity to explore their understanding and believes.

Those who completed the Being With course decided that they would like to continue to meet every other month to continue with similar discussions. As a basis for this we have been reading a book: Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell and discussing a chapter in each session.

Autumn – They Sang

For our Avent course in 2021 we based our times together on a book: “They Sang” by Amy Scott Robinson. This took us through studies on four songs from the Christmas story: Benedictus, Magnificat, Gloria and Nunc Dimittis. Although we were small in number all of those who came appreciated the course. We enjoyed the variety of activities: sharing, singing, discussion, prayer and reflection. This enabled us to look at the events of Christmas in a different way and understand better how they fit together.

Friday Knitting Club – Jane Price

Knitting Club continues to take place on Zoom.

Page 17

Registered Charity 1130812

We enjoyed knitting angels for distribution during the afternoon Christmas Eve service. Easter baskets were knitted but not needed for Easter 2021 because of lockdown.

Now that toddler group is not meeting, the demand for knitted items appealing to children and young families has diminished greatly. Having said that, £150 was made on our stall at the Christmas Cracker.

Pastoral Care Team – Sandra May

With the ongoing COVID pandemic restrictions the team continued to be in touch with members of the congregation by telephone or email. It was good when the church building was open again so we could meet face to face with those who felt able to return.

Prayer Requests – Reverend Pam Wright

In February 2017 this service was started to pray for people by phone or email. It is a confidential ministry and can be accessed by email pamela.jwright@btinternet.com or by telephone (020) 8954 9821. It covers prayer needs for a loved one, friend, colleague or yourself.

The number of requests vary from month to month but during Covid restrictions and church closures the service has been a special blessing to people.

FINANCE AND BUILDINGS

Money and ‘stuff’ are spoken about by Jesus often. This is because he knows that people can get caught up in accumulating wealth and this has an effect on our soul! At St Michael’s we are seeking to be those who look after the things we have (buildings and money) well, but who are generous and open handed and hearted in the managing of those things. The ‘stuff’ that we have must be used in the service of the mission that God has given us, as a community of God’s people in Harrow Weald.

Below are reports which give an idea as to how God has been using our ‘stuff’ in 2021.

Finance Report – Rosemary Mackenzie

The accounts are prepared on a receipts and payments basis, meaning we only account for monies coming in and being paid out during the year. No accruals are made.

2021 has proved another difficult financial year due to COVID restrictions which have limited our ability to host fund raising events and rent out the church space to outside organisations.

Page 18

Registered Charity 1130812

We received very generous donations throughout the year for which we are extremely grateful.

We managed to fulfil our common fund commitment of £64, 000 as well as paying £4950 in total to the three charities we support: Firm Foundation, ReGen and the Church Urban Fund.

At the end of the year, we have a deficit of £9808 meaning our expenses exceeded our total income. We are very fortunate in that we have good cash reserves but we still have to pay the balance of our building project and other monies are restricted in that everyday expenses cannot be paid from these funds.

If donations are made by individuals who specify that the money should be used for a specific purpose then we are only able to spend those funds on that purpose and not pay a general expense like an electricity bill. Mostly, donations now have no restrictions.

We cannot afford to be complacent and we hope that 2022 will return to a more normal year so we can start our rentals and plan fund raising events. Stewardship in 2022 is down due to parishioners moving away or sadly dying. We always ask you to review your giving to our church and we are always very grateful to everything we receive. A big thank you.

Fabric Report – Robert May, Mary Deans and Church Warden Team

The Fabric of the Church is generally in good order, with essential maintenance carried out as necessary.

No significant work was done to the buildings during 2021. Maintenance and inspection of boilers, gutters, lightning conductor, electrical equipment PAT testing, etc. have happened as normal. The fire alarm system and fire extinguishers have been serviced. The organ has been tuned. It is planned to install a permanent camera and controls for broadcasting services on the internet. This is being done as it has been an essential part of keeping our services available to both the congregation and others during the restrictions.

Remedial work following the building development has continued but there are two problems that still need to be fixed before we can finally sign off on this development. These are leaks in the new roofs in the corridor outside the office and in the corridor alongside the chapel. A leak in the chapel is being monitored.

There have been periodic problems with the new church boilers. There are also occasional leaks in the southwest corner of the Wykeham Room and in the Bell Tower, which pre-date the building project. There is also a problem of damp in the south wall of the nave, close to the rear fire door.

The monthly work mornings were suspended with a few ad hoc work mornings arranged. but have restarted on a regular basis towards the end of the year; our

Page 19

Registered Charity 1130812

thanks to all who came and helped keep the buildings and grounds in good order.

Church Letting – Sara Devane

Peace Church are our only regular users for bookings. As we were locked down at the beginning of the year, they started renting our space from April and have continued throughout the year.

Harrow Council rented our space for the GLA Elections in May. We also rented our space for a first aid course and 2 parties.

Stanmore Choral Society asked to rent our space for 7 weeks in Sept and Oct, as their current space was being refurbished, this rental continued until the beginning of December.

The income we received from lettings in 2021 was £3215, compared to £4352 in 2020.

Franklin House – Rosemary Mackenzie

The Venezuelan couple that moved into the flat towards the end of 2019 are still resident and are still happy living there.

All rental properties are now legally required to have an Electrical installation Condition report (EICR). The initial cost of this, £235, was paid in 2021. However the property failed the tests and the repair costs are included in 2022. The only other costs were the usual insurance and service charge. We do not pay an Agent commissions on the rental income.

We have continued to be extremely fortunate in that the rent has continued to have been paid throughout 2021 despite COVID problems.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules 2020. The membership of the PCC consists of the Incumbent (our vicar), the churchwardens, and members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church. All those who attend our services as members of the congregation are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and to stand for election to the PCC.

The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish including deciding on how the funds of the PCC are to be spent.

Electoral Roll – Sara Devane

Page 20

Registered Charity 1130812

Electoral Roll April 2022: 74

Deletions 6 (1 death, 5 people moved away) Additions 1

Committees

During 2021, the following committees and teams have operated, although some have been curtailed during the pandemic:

Leadership Team (Standing Committee) Fabric and Finance Team Pastoral Care Team Building Project Team Hospitality Team Worship Review Team

The Leadership Team, which is also the Standing Committee of the PCC, has met as required to discuss issues of importance to the wellbeing of the church. Minutes of these meetings are circulated to the PCC.

The Fabric and Finance Team is responsible to the PCC for the maintenance of the buildings and the ongoing financial viability of the church. Minutes of these meetings are circulated to the PCC.

The Pastoral Care Team coordinates the pastoral care for St Michael’s. During the pandemic they have contacted members of the congregation regularly by telephone, text and email. They have been restricted in their ability to visit people and to take home communion to those unable to attend church. The Pastoral Care Co-ordinator ensures that the Vicar is kept up-to-date with pastoral care needs.

Parochial Church Council Report – Sara Devane, PCC Secretary

The PCC held 8 meetings during the last year. These were all held on Zoom.

At our first meeting in January we were in another lockdown, we agreed alongside Bishop Pete that we would worship solely online and we would start a new podcast series for 6 weeks. We also discussed provision for Lent and an online service for Ash Wednesday.

In our February meeting we heard about the new ‘Being With Course’, which ran online between March and May. We received a grant from Compassionate Communities and Harrow Giving for Chair Based Exercise to be on Zoom.

At our meeting in March we had an update from John Slaughter regarding getting a fixed camera to help with our live stream.

Page 21

Registered Charity 1130812

We also agreed to open the building for public worship again, starting on Easter Sunday with a mixed economy of in building/online services.

At our May meeting we approved the financial statements for our APCM. A proposal for a £1000 grant from the Deanery towards the fixed camera cost was submitted.

At our June meeting we agreed to request permission from Bishop Pete to keep our services at they are with in-building and online services up until September. We also agreed Risk assessments for refreshments in church and T in the afternoon, and we agreed our safeguarding policy.

At our July meeting, the government had lifted all restrictions, so we agreed that from September we would have all our services in Church and continue to live stream.

We also heard our application for the grant towards the cost of camera installation had been agreed.

We agreed our common fund offer for 2022 of £64,000.

At our September Zoom meeting we agreed our new service pattern, with children having groups once a month. We agreed to serve refreshments from 19th September.

We agreed a Risk Assessment for Stanmore Choral Society who will be using our building for 7 weeks.

At our November meeting we watched the Diocese 2030 vision video and agreed that we would spend time looking at our Mission Action Plan in our meetings in January and February 2022.

We were given another update on the camera installation, which is progressing.

Throughout the year we were updated with our financial situation, and were very grateful for continued stewardship and donations.

PCC Membership – Sara Devane

The PCC members who have served from 1 January 2021 until the date this report was approved are (# indicates members of Standing Committee):

Ex Officio members

Incumbent: Reverend Jody Stowell, Chair # Church Wardens: Mary Deans, Vice Chair, from May 2021 # Simon Stanley, from May 2021 (and Deanery Synod Rep) Deanery Synod: Robert May (and Church Warden Team) Simon Stanley

Elected Members

Denis Barker (Treasurer) # Sara Devane (Secretary) Mary Deans (until May 2021, now ex officio as Church Warden) Gloria Dockwray (Church Safeguarding Officer)

Page 22

Registered Charity 1130812

Katharine Harrison # (until June 2021) Trevor Jarvis # (from May 2021, Church Warden Team) Rosemary Mackenzie Joan Paice Keith Stroud Gill Tyler

Co-opted Members

None

Pastoral Assistants and Commissioned Ministers

In 2021 our Pastoral Assistants were

Jeffery Edmunds Sandra May Joan Paice John Slaughter.

They work together as our Pastoral Care Team.

Safeguarding Compliance and Report – Gloria Dockwray

At St Michael’s we aim to create an environment which is welcoming, respectful and enables safeguarding concerns to be raised and responded to openly and consistently.

In order to provide a safe and welcoming environment for all, the following have been put in place:

. A named Safeguarding Officer (PSO) to work with the Vicar and PCC in establishing and maintaining procedures and practices in accordance with the legislation.

. Provision of up-to-date Parish Safeguarding Policy and handbook

. Trained relevant church members to CO and C1 level

Since 2019 there has been 4 incidents brought to the attention of the PSO of which 3 were discussed with the Diocesan Safeguarding team. No further involvement was required by them. 2 required making the local authority aware of their possible involvement as these were outside of the church grounds. 1 incident occurred within the church.

Page 23

Registered Charity 1130812

The PCC has complied with all Section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016.

Gloria Dockwray was appointed as the Church Safeguarding Officer in 2018 and continues in this role.

Administrative Information

St Michael’s Church and Hall are situated in Bishop Ken Road, Harrow Weald. The Parish is part of the Willesden Episcopal Area within the Diocese of London. The correspondence address is: The Parish Office, St Michael’s Church, 95 Bishop Ken Road, Harrow Weald, Greater London, HA3 7HP.

The PCC is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2020) and is a charity registered with the Charity Commission, Registered Charity 1130812.

Advisers

Bankers: Charities Aid Foundation Bank 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent, ME19 4TA Architect: Charles Sheppard of Sheppard Architects 18-20 St John Street, London EC1M 4NX Building Development Bob Wilson of Wilson Stephen Associates Project Coordinator: 2-3 Hind Court, London EC4A 3DL Independent Examiner: Usha Cherian, 477 High Road, Harrow Weald, Harrow, Middx. HA3 6HL

The Annual Report and Financial Statements were approved by the Parochial Church Council on 23/3/2022 and signed on its behalf by:

___Revd J Stowell, Chair _______DAJ Barker, Hon. Treasurer

Page 24

Registered Charity 1130812

Financial Statements: year ended 31 December 2020, attached below

Page 25

St Michael and All Angels Church

End of Year Financial Statements

Year ending 31 December 2021

Page 1

Receipts and Payments Account


General- General fund (Unrestricted)
Income and endowments
Donations and legacies
Stewardship
Open plate collections
Donations
Tax recoverable on Gift Aid
Legacies
Furlough Retention Scheme Grant
Total Donations and legacies
Income from charitable activities
T in the Afternoon Donations
Fund raising events,
Fees for weddings and funerals
Toddlers
Total Income from charitable activities
Investments
Bank and building society interest
Rent from Broadlawns
Total Investments
Other income
Church rental income
Total Other income
Total income for the Year
Expenditure
Expenditure on charitable activities
Mission Giving
Common Fund
Salary of parish administrator
Working expenses of incumbent
Vicarage water
Church - insurance
Church office - telephone
Cleaning
Worship and resources for services
Outreach -youth, parties, coffee, food etc
Administration
Affiliation Fees
Church Light, Heat & Water
Church running - gas
Church general maintenance and repairs
Broadlawns Upkeep expenses
Total Expenditure on charitable activities
Excess of Income and endowments over Expenditure
Brought forward balance
Carried forward balance		 31 Dec 2021
Total funds
£49,175
£298
£7,141
£13,724
—
£736		 31 Dec 2021
Total funds
£49,175
£298
£7,141
£13,724
—
£736		 31 Dec 2020
Prior year funds
£52,340
£622
£11,686
£16,048
£2,000
£2,018
£71,073
£119
£385
£466
—		 £84,714
£177
£160
£106
£214
£970
£21
£15,240		 £656
£176
£15,240
£15,261
£3,216		 £15,416
£4,352
£3,216 £4,352
£90520
£4,950
£64,000
£10,608
£673
£281
£3,302
£655
£5,602
£1,322
£517
£2,115
£200
£2,589
—
£1,976
£1,537		 £105138
£5,000
£63,000
£10,596
—
£269
£3,186
£491
£5,645
£1,262
£897
£7,237
£200
£4,244
£227
£1,823
£2,464
£100,328
(£9,808)
£18,167		 £106,541
(£1,403)
£19,570
£8,359 £18,167

Page 2

Reserve- General reserve (Designated)
Brought forward balance
Carried forward balance
Repairs- Repairs (Designated)
Brought forward balance
Carried forward balance
Develop - Re-development Fund (Restricted)
Income and endowments
Donations and legacies
Donations
Total Donations and legacies
Excess of Income and endowments over Expenditure
Brought forward balance
Carried forward balance		 £30,177
£30,177
£30,177
£30,177
£10,228
£10,228
£10,228
£10,228
—
£325
—
£325
—
£325
£11,870
£11,545
£11,870
£11,870
Improve - Improvement Fund (Restricted)
Brought forward balance
Carried forward balance
Altar - Altar (Endowment)
Brought forward balance
Carried forward balance		 £4,222
£4,222
£4,222
£4,222
£2,203
£2,203
£2,203
£2,203

Page 3

- Property Property (Designated)

Brought forward balance
Carried forward balance		 Brought forward balance
Carried forward balance		 £258,141
£258,141
£258,141
£258,141
Church Urban Fund (Designated)
Expenditure
Expenditure on charitable activities
Chair Based exercise – Grant received and spent
Total Expenditure on charitable activities
Excess of Income and endowments over Expenditure
Brought forward balance
Carried forward balance		 —
£950
—
£950
—
(£950)
—
£950
—
—

Donation - General donations restricted (Restricted)

Income and endowments

Grant for Camera – live streaming
Total Donations and legacies
Excess of Income and endowments over Expenditure
Brought forward balance
Carried forward balance		 £1,000
—
£1,000
—
£1,000
—
—
—
£1,000
—

Page 4

Balance sheet

31 Dec 2021
31 Dec 2020
Total funds
Prioryear funds
Fixed assets
Tangible assets
Current assets
Cash at bank and in hand
Net current assets less current liabilities
Total assets less current liabilities
Total net assets less liabilities
Represented by
Unrestricted
General fund
Designated
General reserve
Repairs
Property
Restricted
General donations restricted
Re-development Fund
Improvement Fund
Endowment
Altar
Funds of the church
This report dated: 18 February 2022		 £258,141
£258,141
£258,141
£258,141
£68,060
£76,867
£68,060
£76,867
£68,060
£76,867
£326,201
£335,008
£326,201
£335,008
£8,359
£18,167
£30,177
£30,177
£10,228
£10,228
£258,141
£258,141
£1,000
—
£11,870
£11,870
£4,222
£4,222
£2,203
£2,203
£326,201
£335,008

Page 5

REPORTOFTHE INDEPENDENTEXAMINER TOTHE P,C.C, OF ST. MICHAELANDALLANGELSCHURCH, HARROWWEALD This report on the financi815tatements of the Pccforthe year ended 31 December 2021, which are set out In thi5 Annual Report ènd Financlal Statements, 15 in respect of an examination carrled out In accordance with section 145 of the Charities Act 20111"the A¢t"l. Respectlve responslbllltles of the PCC and the examlner members of the PCC you are responslble for the preparation of thè flnanclal statements in accordance with the requirements of the Charitie5 Act 2011. It is my responsibility to issue thls report on those flnanclal statements in accordance wlth the terms of the Regulatlofts. Basls of thls report My examinatlon was carried out In accordance with the applicable Directlons given by the Charlty Commission under section 14515llbl of the Act. That examination include5 a review of the a¢¢ounting records kept by the PCC and comparlson of the accounts with those records. It also Includes conslderlng any unusual items or dlsclosures in the flnanclal statements and seeking explanations frorn you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provlde all the evldence that would be requlred In an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit oplnlon on the view given by the accounts. Independent emamlner's statement In connectlon with my examlnation, no matter has come to my attention- 111 whsch gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements to keep accounting records In accordancewith sectlon 130 of the Act,. and to prepare financlal statements, which accord with the accounting records and comply with the requirements of the Act and Regu13tlons have not been met,. or 121 to which, in my oplnion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the account5 to be reached. Usha Cherian 477 high Road Harrow Weald HA3 6HL Dated.. Page I