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← The Parochial Church Council Of The Ecclesiastical Parish Of Wilmslow

2024-12-31-accounts

Annual Parochial Church Meeting, 2025 (Period ending 31[st] December 2024)

Two worshipping communities

Two big things in common

- learning how to love God with all our hearts,

- trying to love our neighbours at least as much as ourselves

250431 Wilmslow Parish Annual Report

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Contents

Contents Contents
Agenda for the Annual Meetng of Parishioners (Vestry Meetng) ................................................................................. 3
Agenda for the AGM of the Friends of the Parish ........................................................................................................... 3
Agenda for the Annual Parochial Church Meetng (APCM) ............................................................................................ 3
1. Introducton ............................................................................................................................................................ 4
2. Minutes of the APCM 2024 and maters arising. .................................................................................................... 4
WILMSLOW PARISH................................................................................................................................................. 4
St Anne’s, Fulshaw and St Bartholomew’s, Wilmslow................................................................................. 4
3. Annual Report for year ended December 2024. ..................................................................................................... 9
a) Aims and Purpose .............................................................................................................................................. 9
b) Objectves and Actvites .................................................................................................................................... 9
c) Achievements and Performance ........................................................................................................................ 9
c.1 PCC report ......................................................................................................................................................... 9
c.2 Deanery Synod Report 2024 ............................................................................................................................ 11
c.3 Wardens’ Report – May 2025 .......................................................................................................................... 11
c.4 Food Friend ..................................................................................................................................................... 11
c.5 Neighbourhood Network ................................................................................................................................ 12
c.6 Magazine Team ............................................................................................................................................... 12
c.7 Friends of the Parish of Wilmslow ................................................................................................................... 13
c.8 Churches Together in Wilmslow ...................................................................................................................... 15
c.9 Home Communion .......................................................................................................................................... 16
c.10 Fabric Commitee .......................................................................................................................................... 16
c.11 St. Anne’s Church Ladies Group ..................................................................................................................... 17
c.12 Organist and Choir ......................................................................................................................................... 18
c.13 Halls ............................................................................................................................................................... 18
d) Safeguarding .................................................................................................................................................... 19
e) Electoral Roll Ofcer’s Report .......................................................................................................................... 19
4 Financial Review for 2024 .......................................................................................................................................... 19
Summary ............................................................................................................................................................... 19
Examiner’s Report ..................................................................................................................................................... 21
Statement of Financial Actvites ........................................................................................................................... 22
Balance Sheet ....................................................................................................................................................... 23
Notes to the Accounts........................................................................................................................................... 24
Summary of Fund Movements .............................................................................................................................. 29
5. Structure, Governance and Management ............................................................................................................. 30
Administratve Informaton ................................................................................................................................... 30
Parish Church Council Membership ...................................................................................................................... 31
The Standing Commitee....................................................................................................................................... 31
Independent Examiner .......................................................................................................................................... 31

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WILMSLOW PARISH

St. Bartholomew’s, Wilmslow St. Anne’s, Fulshaw

ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING Sunday 11[th] May 2025 at 12.30 pm St Bartholomew's Church

Agenda for the Annual Meeting of Parishioners (Vestry Meeting)

  1. Welcome and introduction

  2. Appointment of clerk to the meeting

  3. Apologies for absence

  4. Minutes of the 2023 Meeting of Parishioners:

  5. (a) approval (b) matters arising

  6. Election of church wardens

Agenda for the AGM of the Friends of the Parish

  1. Apologies for absence

  2. Minutes of the AGM held on 14th April 2024

  3. Chair’s Report

  4. Treasurer’s Report

  5. Acceptance of Accounts for year ended 31st December 2024

  6. Election of Committee Members and Officers

  7. Any Other Business

Agenda for the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM)

  1. Introduction

  2. Minutes of APCM 2023 and matters arising

  3. Annual Report for the year ended December 2024

  4. Electoral Roll Officer’s Report

  5. Safeguarding Policy Statement and Report.

  6. Elections and appointments

  7. Overview of policy and procedure for elections/membership

  8. Deanery synod election

  9. Parochial Church council elections

  10. Appointment of independent examiner

  11. Incumbent’s address

  12. AOB

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1. Introduction

2. Minutes of the APCM 2024 and matters arising.

WILMSLOW PARISH St Anne’s, Fulshaw and St Bartholomew’s, Wilmslow

ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING SUNDAY 14[th] APRIL 2023 AT 11.30 am St Bartholomew’s Parish Church

Present: Eddie Roberts, Jackie Watts, Caroline Lucas, Isobel Chetwood, Phil Gaskell, Wendy Yates, Heather and Stuart Martin, Andy Watts, Patrick Tyrrell, Jean Parker, Diana and Richard Smith, Rod and Janet Franks, Flo Knowles, Jill Dodson, Martin Kinsey, Georgina Lewis, Ray Oates, David Robinson, Sheila and Geoffrey Barton, Joan Orton, Val Hollis, Chris Read, Ann and Alan Brown, Audrey Taylor, June Cooper, Barbara Leader, Eileen Macauley, Phil Hardy, Susan Cooper, Ann Hodson, Susan Wareing, Lou Favager, Jonathan Duff, Angela Philpott, Berry Northen, Pamela Sandford, Glenis Butterworth, Jonathan Meadmore, Sue Page, Shelagh Turner-Jones, Teresa Allinson, Nicky Cathery, Nicky and Donald Steel, Liz Webb, Jenny Partington, Pat Morris-Jones, Eric Hammond, Kathleen Ridings, Denise Forshaw, Andrew Young, Rosemary Smart, Maxine Stott, and Jean Davy.

Apologies: Roger Yates, Julian and Penny Bowker, Oliver and Clare Ramsden, Jon and Lynda Horne, Jill Palmer, Lesley Tasker, Barbara Foster, Grace Reed, Lorraine Smith and Stephanie Byars, Philip and Melanie Charnley and Susan Brown.

Annual Meeting of Parishioners (Vestry Meeting):

  1. Eddie welcomed everyone to the meeting and opened with prayer.

  2. Clerk for the meeting: Isobel Chetwood was appointed.

  3. Minutes of the last Vestry Meeting: The minutes were accepted as a true record.

Proposed: Ann Hodson Seconded: Martin Kinsey Agreed Unanimously

  1. Matters arising: None.

  2. Election of Churchwardens:

There were 2 nominations; Jackie Watts and Patrick Tyrrell and they were both therefore duly appointed.

Eddie offered his sincere thanks to Caroline Lucas for her hard work as a Warden for the last three years. There will be a robust team of Deputy Churchwardens in place and the PCC will elect specific roles for them in the life and ministry of the parish. Jackie and Caroline have had complementary and contrasting roles behind the scenes for which we are grateful. Eddie offered Caroline our sincere thanks for all that she has done and stressed that no-one in the parish is decommissioned

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and so we look forward to her continued support as a Deputy Warden. She was presented with a gift.

Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Parish:

The Friends of the Parish, whilst they have their own constitution, come under the auspices of the Parish of Wilmslow. In a change to the pattern of previous years the Friends AGM has been included in the APCM as they seek to develop a sharper focus for the future. The membership of the Friends has tailed off over the years with the sense that those who might be attracted and interested in getting involved would be doing so out of a sense of civic identity, historic interest in St Bart’s building or just a willingness to maintain the only notable historic landmark in the town. It is our hope that we can broaden the appeal, membership and reach of the Friends with less emphasis on fund raising and progress to make more of the historic interest in St Bart’s particularly thus creating a missional and evangelistic opportunity which links to the wider church growth strategy.

The minutes of the last AGM, the Chair’s Report, Financial Summary and Accounts for the year ended 31[st] December 2023 were noted and accepted.

Appointment of Committee - Isobel Chetwood is willing to continue as Chair and Richard Smith as Treasurer. The committee members were agreed as follows:

Revd Eddie Roberts - President of the Friends. Isobel Chetwood – Chair Richard Smith – Treasurer

Committee: Ann Hodson, Jill Palmer, Jean Parker, Joel Millett, Phil Gaskell and Ray Oates were therefore duly elected.

Proposed: Jackie Watts Seconded: Angela Philpott - Agreed Unanimously

Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM):

  1. Eddie welcomed everyone to the APCM for all those on the electoral roll.

  2. The minutes of the APCM 2023 were noted. The minutes were approved as a correct record.

Proposed: Janet Franks Seconded: Ann Hodson

Agreed unanimously, none against and no abstentions

  1. Annual Report for the year ended December 2023:

  2. a) Electoral Roll Officer’s Report

There are 219 on the Electoral Roll of which 63 live outside the Parish. 10 were added and 7 have been removed (5 of which are deceased and 2 have left).

The Reports were accepted and there were no questions or comments.

c) Financial Report for the year ended 31[st] December 2023 250431 Wilmslow Parish Annual Report 5

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

The Financial Report was noted and accepted. Martin pointed out that we are fortunate to be financially stable. There were no questions or comments.

d) Buildings and Fabric Report

The SSS team was formed during the year although the fabric and building committee take the lead on most of the building related issues. The aim is to establish teams to work autonomously reporting back to the PCC. There were no questions or comments.

The report was noted. There were no questions or comments.

f) Wardens’ Report

The report was noted. There were no questions or comments.

g) Food Friend Report

The report was noted. There were no questions or comments.

h) Neighbourhood Network Report

The report was noted. There were no questions or comments.

i) Magazine Team Report

The report was noted. There were no questions or comments.

Previously discussed in the Friends AGM. There were no questions or comments.

k) Churches Together in Wilmslow

The report was noted. There were no questions or comments.

Acceptance of all reports:

Proposed: Isobel Chetwood Seconded: Jackie Watts

4. Safeguarding Policy Statement and Report

The Safeguarding Report was noted. There were no questions or comments.

5. Elections and Appointments

a) Deanery Synod Election

Isobel Chetwood and Angela Philpott continue as Deanery Synod representatives. There are 2 remaining vacancies.

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In the past members have been elected for 3 year terms and so Eddie proposed that we simplify the process by carrying out annual elections which it is hoped will create greater flexibility.

Proposed: Phil Gaskell Seconded: Martin Kinsey Agreed Unanimously

Phil Gaskell has stepped down

Caroline Lucas, Andy Watts, Ray Oates, Ann Hodson and Teresa Allinson were elected for the next year.

Julian Bowker, Martin Kinsey, Georgina Lewis, Wendy Yates, Diana Smith, Nicky Cathery, Jon Horne, Heather Martin, Geoffrey Barton and Oliver Ramsden remain on the PCC.

Ex-Officio Members – Clergy, Jackie Watts, Patrick Tyrrell, Isobel Chetwood and Angela Philpott.

The Standing Committee – It was noted that Diana Smith’s name had been omitted in the Administrative Information of the APCM Report.

Caroline Lucas took the opportunity to thank everyone for the lovely gift and said she was overwhelmed. The past 3 years have been very interesting and she has been grateful for the support of her fellow Warden Jackie and said it has been delightful working with Eddie.

c) Appointment of Independent Examiner

Patrick Tyrrell is now a Church Warden and can no longer act as our Independent Examiner. There was agreement that the PCC will take on responsibility for this appointment.

6. Rector’s Report – Q&As

Eddie welcomed the opportunity for the congregation to ask him questions. He is very keen to remain accountable and so will always use an APCM as an opportunity to encourage questions around ministry, mission and strategy from the wider congregation.

Eddie is grateful for the welcome he and his family have received. The parish had historical difficulties and he possibly underestimated some of the challenges he would face although some have not been as difficult as anticipated which has been a blessing. He feels we have come a fair distance in the last 12 months, attendance has increased by about 25% and there is a feeling that we are progressing. The small groups and discipleship in particular have been very encouraging. He acknowledged that there is tension between how we become a church where the people of Wilmslow come running and balancing the tradition, at the same time as relating to children and young families. The PCC have been discussing the employment of a children and young families’ worker and will take this forward. We do not want to turn full circle with the worshipping tradition and so have tweaked it a little so that it does not damage the fellowship as it is now. We have seen more children and young families and relationships with the schools are improving. He acknowledged that progress will always be slow as this often takes years. Martin emphasised that we are sitting on good reserves so we can comfortably take new initiatives forward even at the risk of slipping into a deficit but using our assets in a focused way. Eddie said it is a challenge to get stewardship right and having a curate in post costs the parish £20K per year. He does not feel there is the work for a curate.

7. Any other business

Liz Webb asked about the rood screen which does block the sound from the choir to the rest of the church. It was noted that this issue has rumbled on for many years and its removal would

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be a major undertaking. Pamela Sandford questioned if there was a hearing loop in church. There is a hearing loop which has been tested in the past but does not appear to work for everyone. It was agreed that the PCC will get the system checked. Issues with the microphone were noted as it is not always possible for readers to be heard and Eddie’s style of “moving around” can cause problems for some people. Eddie said this would be more difficult for him to alter this aspect of his style but he will certainly do his best to make the technology work. Jean Davey raised an issue with disabled access to the toilets which will be looked into.

There is a team representing the PCC who are looking for an Organist/Choir leader. The advertisement is out and there has been some progress with one expression of interest.

Donald and Nicky Steel were grateful for the Bible study and Lent courses which have created a safe space for people to express and share their beliefs. Sue Page said Eddie has been “like a breath of fresh air” and Eddie was pleased to have made the leap from North Manchester to Wilmslow which he described as “fantastic.”

The meeting closed at 12.55 pm

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3. Annual Report for year ended December 2024.

a) Aims and Purpose

Wilmslow Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility of cooperating with the incumbent, the Reverend Eddie Roberts, in promoting the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The PCC is also specifically responsible for the maintenance of the four Wilmslow Parish church buildings: St Bartholomew’s Church, St Anne’s Church, the Parish Hall and St Anne’s Church Hall.

b) Objectives and Activities

The general functions of the PCC are stated with Section 2 of the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956.

During 2023 Wilmslow Parish continued to pursue the five marks of mission in line with Chester Diocesan policy:

These aims are encapsulated in our objectives:-

Two worshipping communities

Two big things in common

- learning how to love God with all our hearts,

- trying to love our neighbours at least as much as ourselves

In providing leadership to Wilmslow Parish, the incumbent and PCC give consideration to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and, in particular, the specific guidance to charities concerned with the advancement of religion.

The activities of the PCC are outlined in the next sections of this Annual Report. It is difficult to estimate the total volunteering time offered by many members of Wilmslow Parish but it amounts to well in excess of 150 hours in a typical month. We are grateful to all who do so much to contribute to the life of the church: the Churchwardens, PCC Secretary and Treasurer, the Friend of the Parish and Food Friend; those who help lead services, carry out children’s work, play music, do readings, intercessions, flowers, lay assist, act as sidespeople, count the money, garden, clean and provide welcome, hospitality and church sitting – and much more besides.

c) Achievements and Performance

c.1 PCC report

The PCC met 5 times during 2024.

Safeguarding remained a standing item on the PCC Agenda. The Safeguarding action plan is subject to regular review during the year. Patrick Tyrrell was appointed as the DBS recruiter. The Volunteer Policy and Draft Policy on Recruitment of Offenders were highlighted and the Promoting a Safer Church Policy notes agreed. A review flowchart for referrals was noted and the PCC formally confirmed that currently there are no activities taking place that involve children, young people or vulnerable adults.

The gathered community, worship and discipleship were discussed at each meeting. The congregation numbers were noted for both St Anne’s and St Bart’s. Attendance at both churches has remained strong and Eddie continues to be sensitive to the fact that inter-generational worship will not be to everyone’s taste and he is keen to develop a pattern that connects with people of all ages. Choral Evensong has been well supported and midweek services continue in both churches each week linking with other activities (Food Friend and the Study groups). The prayer list

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was re-designed with prompts and individual requests being refreshed every month or so. The PCC agreed to support the costs of developing the children’s area and buying resources to make this a welcoming space. The resignation of Tim Harvey was noted in January and advertising and recruitment opportunities explored. St Anne’s purchased an electronic piano and Anna Norman, Rosemary Smart and the occasional use of digital music were the main provision there from late spring. We welcomed Ian Dalgleish as our organist and this has provided us with the opportunity to look at the patterns of sung worship in both churches.

The Connect Groups started in January moving on to Peter Grieg’s book God on Mute during Lent. After Easter we worked through 15 weeks of Jesus Shaped People. We were delighted that four young people had come forward for Confirmation and Eddie worked with them during the summer. Bishop Sam confirmed them and they hoped to stay together as a group on their future Christian journey.

The PCC approved various fabric matters during the year. The Fabric Committee continued to meet regularly to consider any issues with regard to both churches, the halls and the grounds. There continued to be slow progress with the screens for both churches. A drain survey was carried out at St Anne’s with a view to installation of a toilet in the church however it was clear that this would not be a viable solution and so a dividing door was installed in the hall to enable one of the toilets to be accessed without disturbing the children’s play group. In St Bart’s the boiler service and safety check were completed and consideration given to replacing the halogen security lights around the church tower. Enhanced audio visual equipment for both churches continues to be investigated. The gardening team continued their sterling work in St Bart’s grounds and the Second Saturday Squad maintain an ongoing list of maintenance jobs for all the buildings and grounds with grateful thanks to all those who come regularly willingly undertaking a wide variety of tasks. It was noted that although as soon as jobs are removed from the list they are replaced by new ones however this is felt to be progress! A request was received for a memorial bench in St Bart’s and was considered by the PCC.

The Finance Report was presented and reviewed at each meeting. The Parish Share was noted, the insurance costs and the DBF fees approved for 2024. The year end accounts were approved by the PCC to go forward to the APCM. There was a stewardship campaign and a pleasing response to this. Further detail with regard to the finances are available in the Treasurer’s accounts and report.

It had been hoped that we would be able to recruit a children and young families worker however this did not attract any suitable applicants. The temporary contract for the admin role ended on 31st July and there was agreement not to extend this. Admin and communication continues to be effectively managed using ChurchSuite and SharePoint with our grateful thanks to Andy for his help in this regard.

The Friends of the Parish fundraising and events were noted. In particular the Heritage Day had been a fantastic event and also the Christmas Market although somewhat tempered by the weather! The knitted Bible made a return visit and was well received.

Weddings, baptisms and funerals have regularly taken place. The number of funerals averaged 35 to 40 per year possibly due to the number of non-denominational celebrants in the area.

The future direction of Food Friend was reviewed and investigation into the current model showed that it is not felt to be an efficient or a cost-effective way to meet food poverty needs.

The work with schools continued with good relationships with Lacey Green, Pownall Hall and Wilmslow Prep. There are regular assemblies and the Experience Easter trail went well with St Anne’s and Wilmslow Prep.

The minutes from Churches Together in Wilmslow meetings were noted and joint activities such as the Lent lunches and the Harvest Appeal had all gone well. Eddie Roberts took up the role of Vice Chair and was able to step in during Ian Smart’s absence following surgery. We were pleased to welcome him back at the end of the year having made a full recovery.

Isobel Chetwood PCC Secretary

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c.2 Deanery Synod Report 2024

There were 2 Deanery Synod Meetings in March and November. Rev Paul Deakin was installed as Rural Dean in November 2023 and held his first meeting in March. Jon Pocock was the invited speaker and he provided an update on the Diocesan Vision Process. He detailed the 4 key streams, the next step in establishing working groups and explained that the outcome of these discussions would go forward to the national church to bid for funding. The key question for each stream will be what difference does this make the 1.6 million? This is the estimated number of people in Cheshire who do not know God.

Bishop Sam attended the November meeting in Nether Alderley. He touched on the safeguarding issues around the Archbishop of Canterbury’s resignation acknowledging the hurt and upset caused by both Justin Welby and Paula Vennells. He stressed the importance of safeguarding training and thanked PCCs who have completed all their online training.

News is received from each of the parishes prior to the meeting and it is good to learn of all the activities that are taking place across the Deanery.

Isobel Chetwood Knutsford Deanery Lay Chair Deanery Synod Representative

Angela Philpott Deanery Synod Representative

c.3 Wardens’ Report – May 2025

We have had another busy and eventful year in the Parish and even now are preparing for the passion Play production with local churches but this report is all about 2024.

Eddie continues to be an inspiration and is so full of energy! We are very grateful to the support we receive from Roger and more recently John Knowles in assisting with and leading services. The study groups have been very successful with 4 groups meeting regularly (you can join at any time and attend which ever works timing wise). It’s a chance to learn more and enter more deeply into Scripture and get to know other people in our congregations too. We have a collaboration with Life Church and have enjoyed meetings and services with them.

Easter, Christmas and Remembrance Day services have been busy and we have held a number of special school services as well as the weekly St. Anne’s School service. Baptisms and funerals are beginning to build up again and it is lovely to see a few more children in our congregations. We continue to visit our local care homes, several of them monthly, and others just at Easter and Christmas and other people at home on request. Many thanks to the team who organize this.

We were pleased to appoint Ian Dalgliesh as our new organist and he has been working hard with the choir. It is good to see other choir members joining us for the regular evensong services. The PCC continue to meet regularly – have a think whether this is something you can be part of and do ask us if you want to know more.

We are enormously grateful to all our volunteers who have a lot to offer – whether it be gardening, coffee making, keeping the churches open, repairing, meeting suppliers, flower arranging and a myriad of other jobs both large and small. We are excited that we will shortly have solar panels on the Parish hall roof. Our Quinquennial is imminent at St. Bart’s (the 5 yearly inspection from the diocese). It will be St. Anne’s turn next year.

We look forward to the continuing growth of our church in Wilmslow.

Jackie Watts and Patrick Tyrrell

c.4 Food Friend

Below are the figures of users for Tuesdays and Saturdays:-

TUESDAYS: 6, 10, 10, 9, 4, 9, 11, 8, 8, 11, 6, 9, 4, 7, 10, 8, 13, 8, 5, 6, 1, 2, 7, 8, 4, 6, 5, 6, 12, 6, 10, 5, 9, 5, 3, 5, 12, 11, 3, 8, 10, 8, 3, 5, 9, 7, 5, 5, 3, 6, 4, 1, 3, 1

SATURDAYS: 5, 3, 5, 8, 1, 3, 5, 4, 8, 5, 3, 9, 7, 9, 6, 6, 6, 9, 7, 6, 5, 6, 9, 7, 6, 6, 5, 13, 7, 5, 3, 9, 10, 10, 8, 2, 8, 4, 9, 10, 6, 7, 11, 6, 7, 4, 9, 6, 6, 7, 5, 8, 5, 3

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Deliveries outside hours: Approx. 26

Sheena Hatton, Ann Hodson, Christine Little and Ray Oates have continued to volunteer, as has a lady called Pam (friend of Sheena’s). Flo has been on site too. Saturdays have continued to work well with those on the rota for Open Coffee & Church mucking in too. Some clients are still sitting down to chat over a drink. This has still not been established on Tuesdays.

We lost a volunteer (Maddy) with SEND who collects food from our donation point at Sainsbury’s and delivers to church due to the change in FF hours. We continue to shop for extra supplies online from Waitrose. (This was the instruction when the food provision project was established fully in 2014 with a view to keeping it local, for convenience with Waitrose so close to church and due to the funding etc we have received from them on numerous occasions). Food donations are negligible from church congregation members and have declined from local individuals and businesses, although support of local schools and groups e.g. Cubs has continued.

Flo Knowles

c.5 Neighbourhood Network

The Neighbourhood Network has been a fixture in our Parish for many years since it was started by Alison Sparham (wife of Rector Tony Sparham) back in the 90’s and it followed on from other systems designed to keep in touch with our congregations. We still have some of the original members and have been joined by others more recently and it has been a good team.

We have had Christmas and Easter tea parties down in the parish hall and it always amazes me that people manage to come even when parking has been a problem – it can be really tricky on a sunny day. But they are always joyous occasions and it’s good to be able to perhaps meet and chat with others who we don’t normally have a chance to spend time with. I really value the help I get from everyone from welcoming, serving, clearing up and providing musical accompaniments.

We have many visitors to both of our churches and it is really up to all of us to notice and welcome people. It can be quite daunting to come into church for a service, perhaps for the first time. I know that many people are good at doing this – thank you! We had a meeting of the team back in the Autumn and plan another one soon to discuss ways of moving forward to make sure we continue to support the parish.

Jackie Watts

c.6 Magazine Team

The Parish Magazine continues to be published digitally and this enables us to use much more colour in the magazine so making it more attractive for our readers as well as widening our readership.

There are still those who prefer a printed copy or who cannot access the online issue. Accordingly, we continue to print a number of copies - currently around 125 per month - for them and for visitors to the churches. The Magazine is also published on our Parish website. As the Magazine is a form of Outreach it is freely available to all. Accordingly, there is no charge made for the printed copy of the magazine. The online version, which has more colour than the printed one, will continue to be sent out to everyone as now. Magazine donations are always very welcome. We thank those who deliver copies of the magazine to members of the congregation who do not have access to the online magazine.

During 2024, in addition to the Clergy Comment and our regular features, we published a series of articles on Animals in the Bible and Eddie’s Interviews with various congregation members. There were also informative and varied articles received on events, places and churches visited by our readers both in this country and abroad. We featured regular updates from our Churchwardens, music updates and reports from St Anne’s School as well as reports and photographs from special Church services, church activity groups, Church events and the Friends. We commenced a new series of Questions to Eddie. In addition, we printed interesting occasional articles, poems and photographs all generously written or provided by members of the congregations.

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Thank you to all our contributors. We love to receive your articles, reports, photographs and drawings and we are lucky to have so many talented artists, photographers and writers in our parish. Do please keep sending us your contributions. Thank you also to Jean Parker who kindly sends out the timely reminders for articles, and to Isobel Chetwood and Yvonne Warren who print and coordinate the paper copies of the magazine each month.

Advertising

Isobel Chetwood looks after the ads very competently. Having done this job for many years it is a job she would love to hand over to someone else. Is there anyone out there who would like to assist us in this way? It is not an unduly onerous task. And please do support the local businesses who advertise with us.

Distribution

Thanks to Wendy and Roger Yates for co-ordinating the distribution of the magazines.

We would love to hear from you with ideas and suggestions for future magazines – and, of course, articles and pictures too. In particular we would welcome Questions for Eddie or any Church officer as part of our Q & A series. These can be on any church or church related topic.

Magazine Team - Wendy Yates, Diana Smith, Jill Dodson, Isobel Chetwood, Jean Parker, Ann Hodson

c.7 Friends of the Parish of Wilmslow

Chair’s Report

The Friends of the Parish of Wilmslow have held 4 meetings during the year and have enjoyed Eddie’s hospitality at the Rectory. He has brought a fresh set of eyes to the Friends and encouraged us to shift our approach with a view to raising the profile of the church as a notable historic landmark in the town of Wilmslow. It is our hope that we can broaden the appeal, membership and reach of the Friends with less emphasis on fund raising but rather to make more of the historic interest in St Bart’s thereby creating a missional and evangelistic opportunity which links to the wider church growth strategy.

With this vision in mind we had an absolutely splendid Heritage Open Day on Saturday 24th August when we flung open the doors of St Bart’s welcoming visitors to immerse themselves in the history of our beautiful building. There were displays of life events, the history of the building and the reordering project as well as some beautiful floral arrangements depicting the different seasons in the church’s year. There were crypt and tower tours (70 people climbed the 70 steps!) and the bells rang out to open the day. Tea, coffee and cakes were served and the barbecue did a roaring trade with not one sausage or burger left at the end! There were activities for children with brass rubbing and a detective trail. The event finished with a songs of praise featuring the Top Five favourite hymns voted for by our visitors. The emphasis of the day was on relationships and generosity. There were no price tickets and the final total of £552.18 was raised.

In September St Bartholomew’s was transformed into a biblical landscape populated with over 350 hand knitted figures and depicting more than 30 scenes. The display started in the Garden of Eden and journeyed through the Old and New Testaments to the Resurrection. Over the course of the weekend we welcomed a lot of visitors to view the display and enjoy refreshments. One visitor was even inspired to check out the story of Ruth in her Bible when she got home!

Not even Storm Darragh could dampen the spirits of the Friends who held their Christmas Market in St Bart’s Church on Saturday 7th December. The weather outside was frightful but the atmosphere inside was delightful. Once again we were overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of our church family and friends with their support for this event. There were plenty of different stalls offering Christmas “delights”, music from Perfect Fifth and the choir sang beautifully to put us all in the Christmas spirit. The kitchen had to do double duty as the atrocious weather meant that braving the wind outside for the barbeque wasn’t an option. There were hot drinks and cakes available, hot dogs and mulled wine too. They were all delicious and our thanks go to everyone who helped in the kitchen without getting in each other’s way (or so I'm told!)

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The children’s corner was a haven for our little people with a surprise visit from a giant Elf and there were lots of activities for them to do. We raised £701.32 this year which, considering the weather, was still an excellent total. We all enjoyed it too! The 200 club continues to be a fun way of raising funds for the Friends with the monthly draw and prize of £60.00. We have invested in some new red numbers for the New Year so I optimistically bought a pack of 100 – so there are plenty of available ones to go into the monthly draw.

During the year, as the Treasurer’s report outlines, our expenses have only been in relation to our fund raising efforts. We do however continue to work closely with the PCC to identify expenditure that falls within the remit of the Friends. The committee is always happy to welcome new members; Shirley Baulkwill joined us this year but there is still plenty of room on the sofas in Eddie’s front room for more committee members! He makes a great cup of swanky coffee too! My thanks go to the committee for all their hard work and commitment which will ensure that we preserve the heritage of our beautiful churches for many years to come.

Isobel Chetwood, Chair – Friends of the Parish of Wilmslow

Committee: - Rev Eddie Roberts (President), Richard Smith (Treasurer), Jean Parker, Jill Palmer Ann Hodson, Phil Gaskell, Joel Millett, Ray Oates, Shirley Baulkwill.

Financial Summary

This report should be read in conjunction with the Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended 31 December 2024 and the Chair`s Report for 2024.

The fundraising events continued in 2024. On Saturday 24th August, a Heritage Day was held at St. Bart’s Church. Donations of £552.18 were received and a net sum of £410.18 was raised after deduction of flower expenses to decorate the church. In September, a Knitted Bible event took place at St. Bart’s. Donations of £240.62 were received. This sum was shared equally with St. John`s Church, Ilkeston, which also participated in the event and thus the net sum raised for The Friends was £120.31. On 7th December, a Christmas Market was held at St. Bart’s Church which raised a gross sum of £1,178.26. The net sum raised for The Friends was £701.32 after deduction of expenses.

The membership subscriptions to The Friends and to 200 Club have been maintained and 200 Club draw has continued each month.

The Friends Bank Accounts

The Friends have two separate bank accounts with NatWest Bank in Wilmslow. They are:

These are both current accounts and do not accrue any interest.

Income

The income for the year was £3,580.06

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Expenditure

The expenditure for the year was £1,486.53

The surplus of income over expenditure for 2024 was £2,093.53.The overall funds held by the Friends increased by the same amount, from £17,709.73 the opening balance on 1 January 2024, to £19,803.26, the closing balance on 31 December 2024.

Income and Expenditure Account 2024

Richard Smith, Treasurer

c.8 Churches Together in Wilmslow

The Churches Together in Wilmslow (CTiW) group met 3 times with members from the Wilmslow churches: St Bart’s, St Anne’s, the United Reformed Church, Wilmslow Methodist Church, St Teresa’s, Norcliffe Chapel, Wilmslow Life Church, Wilmslow Quakers and Dean Row Unitarian Church.

Ian Smart from the Methodist Church continued as the chair and Eddie took on the role of Vice Chair at the May AGM. He unexpectedly had to step in as Ian needed bypass surgery at the end of the year and we were very pleased that made an excellent recovery.

The group discussed a range of issues relating to Wilmslow and the wider community. The Lent Lunches are coordinated through CTiW and, as has become our tradition, we met at Dean Row where each of the churches take their turn in providing the soup. The lunches were the best ever during 2024 raising £1,748.00 including gift aid. There was a street collection, online envelope giving and church collections giving a grand total of £9,304.88. CTiW held a General Election Hustings which was well attended and Mark Owen proved to be an excellent chair. This was a

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lot of hard work but greatly appreciated and help to highlight the role of CTiW in secular matters. The Harvest Appeal for 2024 supported Wilmslow Wells for Africa as they celebrated 40 years since they began with the work of one of St Bart’s church members - Brenda Mottershead. There were various events throughout 2024 to mark this special occasion and the amazing difference that the charity has made over the last 40 years.

Reports are received from the churches at each meeting and it is pleasing to see closer ties between the churches as we look forward to another year of working together.

Isobel Chetwood, Secretary – Churches Together in Wilmslow

c.9 Home Communion

In 2023 the Church was asked by one of the Residential Homes if they could provide Home Communion for residents, and Angela Philpott, Caroline Lucas and Janet Franks took on the task. In 2024 we were joined by Lou Favager, and we have been able to establish a regular routine.

We started visiting The Hawthorns and Wilmslow Manor and added Hazelmere House later. We give Holy Communion to those residents who would like it on a monthly basis. Some of them are former members of our congregation and others are new to Wilmslow. Numbers vary - from 2 to 12. We are always made very welcome, and our visits are appreciated. We also visit members of the congregation in their homes when they cannot get to church.

Twice a year at Easter and Christmas, Eddie joins us and members of our congregation (to swell the singing) when we sing songs and have a talk from Eddie. Val has stepped in to help us out on occasions. Thank you both very much for your support. In May 2025 we will add Long Stone Manor to the list of Homes visited.

Janet Franks and The Home Communion Team

c.10 Fabric Committee

SSS (Second Saturday Squad)

The SSS team has met up most months either at St Anne’s or St Bart’s and continued to provide significantly for the repair, maintenance and general upkeep of our buildings. Typically, inside we will:

Typically, outside we will:

Significant costs have been saved by the efforts of this team. Equally important is the job satisfaction and banter enjoyed by participants and we always enjoy a cup of tea/ coffee and cakes/ biscuits. If you would be interested in seeing what we do and possibly volunteering, please come and talk to us. Our Second Saturday Squad meetings are usually advertised in the weekly news sheet or please speak to me or a Church Warden.

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St Bartholomew’s

Some of the more significant activities during the year have included:

St Anne’s

General

Further information on the various maintenance activities carried out during the year can be found in the SECOND SATURDAY SQUAD - TASK TRACKER, copies of which can be found in the Sharepoint files or by contacting the undersigned.

Jon Horne

c.11 St. Anne’s Church Ladies Group

We had 26 members in 2024 with an average of 20 attending the meetings.

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We started the year with Eddie giving us an insight of his path to ministry. This was followed by various talks including Blood Bikes, a Shepherdess, a Virtual Tour of Wilmslow and Northern Humour and Song. Over half the speaker's fees were donated to charities. We had two meals out, the first to the Coach and Four in June and a Christmas meal at the Stanneylands. They were both well attended.

In July we hosted a Strawberry Tea, and although it rained 48 people joined us in the hall to enjoy the occasion. We raised £413 which we donated to the Church Hall in thanks for our use of the hall. Our finances are stable with a small profit over the year. Our subscription and visitor’s fees will remain the same for the coming year. Thank you to Tricia for her excellent bookkeeping and to Julian for checking the balance sheet.

My thanks to the committee for all their help and to our members for their continuing support.

Ray Oates

c.12 Organist and Choir

Our hardworking and devoted choir singers have continued to enhance worship every Sunday during the past year. We have tackled a great deal of new repertoire and continued to lead singing in the Sunday morning services. This entails leading the hymns and songs and then singing a solo setting of the Agnus Dei and a motet during communion. Our membership has remained reasonably stable, over the year. All the choir are most grateful to Chris Cromar for the work he put into training the choir for several months. I have been very thankful and impressed by the welcome they have given me, along with their wonderful singing, dedication and hard work.

We are fortunate to benefit from talented singers in all parts – soprano, alto, tenor and bass – which has enabled us to build our repertoire whilst maintaining high standards. We are also on the lookout for new singers, and have been delighted to welcome some new singers to both our upper and lower voices. The singers have been working on vocal technique and projection, and tried out some warm-up techniques to help prepare the voice for singing.

The monthly choral evensong remains a very special worship opportunity, combining stillness and meditation with beauty in words and music. We have expanded our repertoire significantly with Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis settings written by, inter alia, Stanford, Walmisley, Byrd and Brewer, We have learned some new settings of preces and responses and performed a range of anthems – one highlight being a movement from Bach’s Cantata ‘Wachet auf’, sung on Advent Sunday. The Choir also contributed to the Church’s open day celebrations of St Bartholomew’s Day in. August and sang at the St Anne’s confirmation service.

In the year to come it is hoped that we can continue to make a meaningful contribution to worship and build our repertoire. Possible plans for the future include visits to sing elsewhere and a combined choral evensong with singers from the King’s School Macclesfield choir.

Ian Dalgleish

c.13 Halls

Both St. Anne’s Hall and the Parish Hall continue to be busy places. St. Anne’s Hall is used every day for a pre-school, and welcomes several regular groups. The Parish Hall is now home to the Wilmslow Town Council offices. It enjoys around 40% occupancy of the main Hall, including regular groups and one-off bookings (mostly parties).

We now have a group of ‘Hall Helpers’ (Oliver Ramsden, Martin Kinsey, Heather Martin, Caroline Lucas, Jon Horne and Patrick Tyrrell) who provide an invaluable service in opening and closing the Parish Hall for one-off bookings, and generally keeping an eye open for anything needing attention.

The halls together contributed very strongly to our finances last year, with a net income approaching £40,000. This figure, however, should be seen in the context of a year in which very little apart from normal maintenance was undertaken. The Parish Hall is now looking quite dated in many areas (particularly the kitchen), and significant improvement work will need to be undertaken if we are to maintain the usage of this facility in the longer term.

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The financial success of the halls is also due in no small measure to Jackie, who undertakes the administrative work of hall bookings and collection of hire charges on a voluntary basis. We hope during 2025 to be able to recruit a permanent employee to take on the hall administration role and put the future of the halls on a sounder footing.

On a positive note, we last year started a project to install solar panels on the roof of the Parish Hall, and this came to fruition very recently. We were fortunate to receive grants from both Cheshire East Council and the Benefact Trust to make this project viable.

Andy Watts

d) Safeguarding

4 Financial Review for 2024

Summary

The summary financial results for the year, for all funds combined, are as follows:-

2024
£’000		 2023
£’000
Income and Expenditure
Income 250 207
Expenditure 200 200
Net surplus 50 7
Balance Sheet
Net current assets 444 394
Of which - Cash 186 149

During 2024 there was a large increase in income due to some very generous gifts from members, while expenditure has continued at a similar level to 2023. Cash holdings at the year-end are higher than those at 31 December 2023 by £36,773 primarily as a result of the increased bequests and donations made in the year. The detailed results are discussed below:

Unrestricted funds

Income

Total unrestricted income was £241,848 (versus £198,768 expressed on the same basis for 2023). Much of the increase was due to very generous legacies, amounting to £31,000. Voluntary giving (excluding legacies, but including reclamation of tax from HMRC), increased from £115,000 to £129,000, following a successful stewardship campaign during the year.

Our income from both Parish Halls increased from £57,000 in 2023 to £64,000 in 2024, as a result of a concerted effort on the part of the ‘Hall Helpers’ to increase bookings.

We earned about £7,000 more in investment income, but raised less on Service fees and concerts tickets by around the same amount.

Expenditure

Unrestricted costs in 2024 were £181,497 (versus £180,349 for 2023). Running costs increased during the year, but we spent less on maintenance.

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Restricted funds

Food Friend

Food Friend receipts were slightly down at £4,516 (versus £4,837 in 2023). Costs increased significantly to £16,926 (versus £13,279 in 2023), a result of increased cash expenditure. The Food Friend fund stood at £14,829 compared with £27,238 at the end of 2023.

Friends of the Parish of Wilmslow

The Friends raised slightly more in donations and fund-raising activities, which together generated £3,580 of income (versus £3,443 for 2023). Expenditure during 2024 was solely on the costs of fund-raising activities, so was much reduced at £1,487 (versus £6,315 for 2023) because no Church project work was funded. The Friends fund stood at £19,968 compared with £17,875 at the end of 2023.

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Examiner’s Report

Independent Examiners Report to the Trustees of the Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Wilmslow on the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2024

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31 December 2024

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent Examiner’s Statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

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

Signed

Name Ian Smallwood

Member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales

Address Highfield Crescent, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 2JL.

Date

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Statement of Financial Activities

For the year ended 31 December 2024

----- Start of picture text -----
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment TOTAL TOTAL
funds funds funds 2024 2023
Note £ £ £ £ £
INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS
Voluntary income 2 (a) 160,334 6,124 0 166,458 121,516
Charitable activities 2 (b) 3,969 0 0 3,969 12,384
Other trading activities 2( c) 66,340 1,971 0 68,311 68,978
Income from investments 2 (d) 11,206 0 0 11,206 4,170
TOTAL INCOME 241,849 8,095 0 249,944 207,048
EXPENDITURE
Costs of generating funds 3(a) 0 1,486 0 1,486 1,921
Charitable activities 3 (b) 181,282 16,926 0 198,208 197,807
Separate item of material expense 3(c) 0 0 0 0 0
Other expenditure 3 (d) 215 0 0 215 215
TOTAL EXPENDITURE 181,497 18,412 0 199,909 199,943
NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)
BEFORE INVESTMENT GAINS 60,352 (10,317) 0 50,035 7,105
NET GAINS ON INVESTMENTS 0 0 31 31 108
NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) 60,352 (10,317) 31 50,066 7,213
TRANSFERS BETWEEN FUNDS 0 0 0 0 0
NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS 60,352 (10,317) 31 50,066 7,213
Total funds brought forward 8 352,229 45,113 519,837 917,179 909,966
Total Funds carried forward 412,581 34,796 519,868 967,245 917,179
----- End of picture text -----

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Balance Sheet

As at 31 December 2024

----- Start of picture text -----
BALANCE SHEET AT 31 DECEMBER 2024
Endowment Unrestricted Restricted Funds Total Total
Reserve Funds Friends Food Friend Total 2024 2023
Note £ £ £ £ £ £ £
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible 5 (a) 518,549 3,005 - - - 521,554 521,769
Investments 5 (b) 1,319 - - - 1,319 1,288
519,868 3,005 - - - 522,873 523,057
CURRENT ASSETS
Stock - - - - - - -
Investments - - - - - - -
Debtors and prepayments 6 (a) - 10,937 165 330 495 11,432 9,483
Short-term deposits 6 (b) - 251,852 - - - 251,852 242,805
Cash at bank and in hand 6 (b) - 151,875 19,803 14,499 34,302 186,177 149,404
414,664 19,968 14,829 34,797 449,461 401,693
LIABILITIES
Creditors - amounts falling due within one year 7 - 5,090 - - - 5,090 7,571
NET CURRENT ASSETS/(LIABILITIES) - 409,574 19,968 14,829 34,797 444,371 394,122
TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 519,868 412,579 19,968 14,829 34,797 967,244 917,179
Creditors - amounts falling due after one year - - - - - - -
TOTAL NET ASSETS 519,868 412,579 19,968 14,829 34,797 967,244 917,179
PARISH FUNDS
Endowment reserve 8 519,868 - - - - 519,868 519,837
Unrestricted 8 - 408,958 - - - 408,958 348,608
Designated [Music scholarship] 8 - 3,621 - - - 3,621 3,621
Restricted [Friends & Food Friend] 8 - - 19,968 14,829 34,797 34,797 45,113
519,868 412,579 19,968 14,829 34,797 967,244 917,179
----- End of picture text -----

The notes numbered 2 to 8 form part of these accounts.

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Notes to the Accounts

Accounting Policies

Basis of preparation

These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant note(s) to these accounts

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with:

Recognition of income

Income is included in the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) when:

Offsetting

There is no offsetting of assets and liabilities, or income and expenses, unless required or permitted by the FRS 102 SORP or FRS 102

Grants and donations

Grants and donations are only included in the SoFA when the general income recognition criteria are met

Legacies

Legacies are included in the SoFA when receipt is probable, that is, when there has been grant of probate, the executors have established that there are sufficient assets in the estate and any conditions attached to the legacy are either within the control of the charity or have been met.

Tax reclaims on donations and gifts

Gift Aid receivable is included in income when there is a valid declaration from the donor. Any Gift Aid amount recovered on a donation is considered to be part of that gift and is treated as an addition to the same fund as the initial donation unless the donor or the terms of the appeal have specified otherwise.

Donated goods

Donated goods given for Food Friend are not valued in the accounts either as receipts or stocks.

Volunteer help

The value of any voluntary help received is not included in the accounts but is described in the trustees’ annual report.

Income from interest and dividends

Interest and dividends are included in the accounts when receipt is probable and the amount receivable can be measured reliably.

Investment gains and losses

Any realised or unrealised gains or losses on the sale of investments and any gain or loss resulting from revaluing investments to market value are recognised at the end of the year.

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Liability recognition

Liabilities are recognised where it is more likely than not that there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to pay out resources and the amount of the obligation can be measured with reasonable certainty.

Governance and support costs

Support costs have been allocated between governance costs and other support. Governance costs comprise all costs involving public accountability of the charity and its compliance with regulation and good practice.

Tangible fixed assets

Consecrated and benefice property

In so far as consecrated and benefice property of any kind is excluded from the statutory definition of “charity” by Section 10(2)(a) and (c) of the Charities Act 2011 such assets are not capitalised in the financial statements. This includes the Parish church buildings (St Bartholomew’s and St Anne’s).

Fixtures fittings and equipment

Furniture and office equipment is recognised as a tangible fixed asset when they have lasting value and cost over £1,000. They are depreciated on a straight-line basis over their expected useful life. At present we have furniture in St Bart’s which cost £4,300 and is being depreciated over 20 years.

Tangible fixed assets for use by the charity

In accordance with church legislation, the PCC is responsible for the upkeep of church buildings but does not own them. Accordingly, the value of church buildings is not included in these financial statements. The PCC does own the Parish Hall and St Anne’s Hall and these are shown under Fixed Assets in the Accounts.

Investments

Our policy is not to invest in stock markets, bonds or other tradable assets, however we have some permanent endowment investments which were bequeathed to us, and are managed for us by the Churches, Charities and Local Authorities (CCLA) Investment Management Limited.

These investments are revalued to market value at the end of each year. The increase/ decrease in value is shown as Gain/Loss on investment in the statement of financial affairs.

Short term deposits

These are the cash amounts held in various deposit accounts and at the bank. Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash on hand and call deposits, and other short-term highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to a known amount of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of change in value. These monies are held according to the following rules:

Debtors

Debtors (including trade debtors and loans receivable) are measured on initial recognition at settlement amount after any trade discounts or amount advanced by the charity. Subsequently, they are measured at the cash or other consideration expected to be received.

Funds

Restricted funds

These are income funds that can only be spent on the restricted purposes for which they were raised.

Unrestricted funds

These represent the remaining income funds of the PCC that are available for spending fully at the discretion of the PCC. Designated funds are unrestricted funds set aside by the trustees for specific purposes.

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Endowment fund

This is used to hold the income generated from our permanent endowments. Use of this income is unrestricted.

Reserves

It is PCC policy to maintain a balance of unrestricted reserves which are available to cover emergency situations that may arise from time to time and to ensure that we can continue to honour commitments to staff and necessary church running costs. Although the current reserves level is higher than this, the PCC is aware that given the expected major maintenance cost, increased fuel charges, inflation etc having a higher reserves level is a very helpful as a safeguard to ensure we can continue our activities even when income is reduced.

Income

----- Start of picture text -----
2 INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS
Unrestricted Restricted Funds TOTAL TOTAL
funds Friends Food Friend Total 2024 2023
£ £ £ £ £ £
2 (a) Voluntary income
Planned giving: Gift Aid donations 80,779 - 2,720 2,720 83,499 72,387
Tax recoverable 21,934 - 689 689 22,623 20,894
Other planned donations 12,059 1,599 262 1,861 13,920 11,959
Collections 7,085 - - - 7,085 9,505
Donations, appeals, etc 7,477 10 845 855 8,332 8,003
Bequests and Legacies 31,000 - - - 31,000 -
160,334 1,609 4,516 6,125 166,459 122,748
2 (b) Charitable activities
Service Fees received 3,969 - - - 3,969 17,807
Ticketed concerts - - - - 1,983
3,969 - - - 3,969 19,790
2( c) Other Trading activities
Parish Magazine adverts 1,252 - - - 1,252 600
Fudraising income - 1,971 - 1,971 1,971 1,668
Church Hire 1,160 - - - 1,160 1,385
Halls hire 63,928 - - - 63,928 56,688
66,340 1,971 - 1,971 68,311 60,341
2 (d) Income from investments
Dividends on COIF fund 35 - - - 35 35
Bank deposit interest 11,170 - - - 11,170 4,134
11,205 - - - 11,205 # 4,169
Total Income 241,848 3,580 4,516 8,096 249,944 # 207,048
----- End of picture text -----

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Expenditure

----- Start of picture text -----
EXPENDITURE
Unrestricted Restricted Funds TOTAL Total
funds Friends Food Friend Total 2024 2023
£ £ £ £ £ £
3(a) Costs of raising funds
Costs of fundraising activities - 1,487 - 1,487 1,487 1,920
3(b) Church activities
Mission giving and donations 119 - 7,468 7,468 7,587 5,172
Diocesan parish share contribution 89,706 - - - 89,706 85,485
Salaries, wages and honoraria 12,554 - 9,415 9,415 21,969 21,251
Clergy and staff expenses 6,453 - 43 43 6,496 8,443
Churches' running expenses 46,050 - - - 46,050 49,143
Church Halls' running expenses 26,400 - - - 26,400 19,676
181,282 - 16,926 16,926 198,208 189,170
3(c) Material items of expense
Major repairs to the church buildings - - - - - -
Major repairs to church halls/other - - - - - -
PCC property including redecoration - - - - - -
New building work to the churches, church halls, - - - - - -
clergy housing or other PCC property - - - - - -
- - - - - -
3 (d) Other expenditure
Service fees 8,638
Other payments/expenditure not already listed 215 - - - 215 215
TOTAL COSTS 181,497 1,487 16,926 18,413 199,910 199,943
NET INCOME before investment gains 60,351 2,093 (12,410) (10,317) 50,034 7,105
----- End of picture text -----

Staff Costs

In 2024 the PCC employed two people on a part-time permanent basis (versus one in 2023). No analysis of Gross Pay, Pension Contributions or National Insurance costs are presented as this represents sensitive information, given the low number of employees.

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Fixed Assets

----- Start of picture text -----
5 FIXED ASSETS
Freehold land & buildings Furniture & Office equipment Grand
5 (a) TANGIBLE St Bart's St Anne's Total St Bart's St Anne's Total Total
Cost or valuationAt 1 January 2024 425,000 93,549 518,549 47,045 10,000 57,045 575,594
Disposals - - - - - - -
Additions at cost - - - - - - -
At 31 December 2024 425,000 93,549 518,549 47,045 10,000 57,045 575,594
Depreciation At 1 January 2024 - - - 43,825 10,000 53,825 53,825
Withdrawn on disposals - - - - - - -
Charge for the year - - - 215 - 215 215
At 31 December 2024 - - - 44,040 10,000 54,040 54,040
Net Book Value At 1 January 2024 425,000 93,549 518,549 3,220 - 3,220 521,769
At 31 December 2024 425,000 93,549 518,549 3,005 - 3,005 521,554
Freehold Land and Buildings are held by the Diocese of Chester on behalf of the parish as a custodian trustee.
----- End of picture text -----

The Freehold land and buildings are for the church halls at the two churches. The gross book value of these properties is based on the insurance valuation at 1 January 1998.

----- Start of picture text -----
5 (b) INVESTMENT ASSETS
COIF 2024 2023
At 1 January 2024 1,288 1,180
Disposals
Additions at cost - -
Gain/loss on revaluation in year 31 108
At 31 December 2024 1,319 1,288
COIF - COIF Charities Investment Fund - 65 income shares
----- End of picture text -----

The charity owns 65 shares in the Charities Investment Fund. The shares are revalued to market value at each year end. Our stock market investments were bequeathed to us. They are permanent endowments and we benefit from annual income while showing the value of the investment in the balance sheet. These investments are managed on our behalf by the Churches, Charities and Local Authorities (CCLA) Investment Management Limited as part of the COIF (Charities Investment Fund). They report realised income and gains or losses annually.

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Current Assets

----- Start of picture text -----
6 CURRENT ASSETS
Unrestricted Restricted Funds Total Total
Funds Friends Food Total 2024 2023
Friend
£ £ £ £ £ £
6 (a) Debtors
Tax recoverable 7,169 165 330 495 7,664 6,963
Other Income accrued 2,729 - - - 2,729 1,470
Other Costs prepaid 1,039 - - - 1,039 1,050
10,937 165 330 495 11,432 9,483
6 (b) Short-term deposits and Cash at Bank
Deposit accounts - United Trust Bank 87,844 - - - 87,844 84,210
Hampshire Bank 87,797 - - - 87,797 84,656
The Kingdom Bank 76,211 - - - 76,211 73,939
Bank accounts - Natwest 151,773 19,803 14,427 34,230 186,003 148,842
Paypal 102 - - - 102 182
Cash in hand - - 72 72 72 72
403,727 19,803 14,499 34,302 438,029 392,210
Total Current assets 414,664 19,968 14,829 34,797 449,461 401,693
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Current Liabilities

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7 CURRENT LIABILITIES
Unrestricted Restricted Funds Total Total
Funds Friends Food Friend Total 2024 2023
£ £ £ £ £ £
7 Creditors
Costs accrued 4,568 - - - 4,568 7571
Income prepaid 522 - - - 522 0
5,090 - - - 5,090 7571
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Summary of Fund Movements

8 SUMMARY OF FUND MOVEMENTS SUMMARY OF FUND MOVEMENTS SUMMARY OF FUND MOVEMENTS
Endowment Unrestricted Designated Restricted TOTAL
Music Friends &
scholarship Food Friend
£ £ £ £ £
Balance at 1 January2024 519,837 348,608 3,621 45,113 917,179
Incomingresources - 241,847 - 8,096 249,943
Resources expended - (181,497) - (18,412) (199,909)
Investmentgains 31 - - - 31
Balance at 31 December 2024 519,868 412,579 0 34,797 967,244
SUMMARY OF ASSETS BY FUND
Endowment Unrestricted Designated Restricted TOTAL
£ £ £ £ £
Tangible fixed assets 518,549 3,005 - - 521,554
Investment fixed assets 1,319 - - - 1,319
Current assets - 414,664 3,621 34,797 449,461
Current Liabilities - (5,090) - - (5,090)
Totals at 31 December 2024 519,868 412,579 0 34,797 967,244
8 SUMMARY OF FUND MOVEMENTS SUMMARY OF FUND MOVEMENTS SUMMARY OF FUND MOVEMENTS
Endowment Unrestricted Designated Restricted TOTAL
Music Friends &
scholarship Food Friend
£ £ £ £ £
Balance at 1 January2024 519,837 348,608 3,621 45,113 917,179
Incomingresources - 241,847 - 8,096 249,943
Resources expended - (181,497) - (18,412) (199,909)
Investmentgains 31 - - - 31
Balance at 31 December 2024 519,868 412,579 0 34,797 967,244
SUMMARY OF ASSETS BY FUND
Endowment Unrestricted Designated Restricted TOTAL
£ £ £ £ £
Tangible fixed assets 518,549 3,005 - - 521,554
Investment fixed assets 1,319 - - - 1,319
Current assets - 414,664 3,621 34,797 449,461
Current Liabilities - (5,090) - - (5,090)
Totals at 31 December 2024 519,868 412,579 0 34,797 967,244

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Endowment funds

The PCC holds permanent unrestricted endowments, which are:

Designated Funds

The PCC created a Music Scholarship, and at one time funded a music scholar, though the post has been vacant for some time. There is no immediate ambition to refill this post, and so the designated fund is currently closed. Should the PCC decide to make an appointment in future a new designated fund can be created.

Restricted funds

  1. The ‘Friends of the Parish of Wilmslow’ (the Friends) operates as a special trust within the PCC under the terms of its Constitution. It was set up to raise funds to pay for the necessary projects of restoration, preservation, maintenance and repair of Church buildings, their fittings, furniture and ornaments.

  2. Food Friend is a PCC project with the objective of alleviating food poverty in the Parish. It accepts donations of money and goods to provide food parcels to needy parishioners. The value of gifts and stocks of donated goods is not included in these accounts.

Related Parties and Trustees

The Trustees of the PCC are involved in other local community organisations which may have transactions with the PCC. These transactions are conducted at “arms length”.

In 2024 a number of payments were made to Trustees, in all cases to reimburse payments made from personal accounts on PCC business, and in all cases properly authorised and supported by receipts.

5. Structure, Governance and Management

Wilmslow Parish PCC operates under the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956 and the Church Representation Rules (2011 and 2022). The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. All church members are encouraged to register on the electoral roll and stand for election to the PCC. Risk assessments are carried out as and when required and recorded in the PCC’s Risk Register.

Administrative Information

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Wilmslow St Bartholomew’s and St Anne’s is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2006) and a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales (Charity Registration Number: 1131056). It is part of the Diocese of Chester within the Church of England.

The correspondence address is

Wilmslow Parish, Wilmslow Parish Hall, Cliff Road, Wilmslow SK9 4AA

Incumbent: Revd. Eddie Roberts

PTO: Revd. Canon Professor Roger Yates, Revd. John Knowles

Churchwardens: Jackie Watts, Patrick Tyrrell

Deanery Synod Representatives : Isobel Chetwood (also PCC Secretary), Angela Philpott.

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Parish Church Council Membership

Patrick Tyrrell (Chair), Teresa Allinson, Geoffrey Barton, Julian Bowker, Nicky Cathery, Isobel Chetwood, Ann Hodson, Val Hollis, Jon Horne, Martin Kinsey, Georgina Lewis, Caroline Lucas, Heather Martin, Ray Oates, Angela Philpott, Oliver Ramsden, Diana Smith, Patrick Tyrrell, Andy Watts, Jackie Watts, Roger Yates, Wendy Yates, Revd Eddie Roberts (ex-officio)

Those who complete their term of office in April 2025:- Julian Bowker, Jon Horne, Martin Kinsey

Those who complete their term of office in April 2026:- Diana Smith, Georgina Lewis, Wendy Yates, Nicky Cathery, Geoffrey Barton, Heather Martin, Oliver Ramsden

The Standing Committee

The Standing Committee is a sub-committee of the PCC as required by the Church of England. The Rector and Churchwardens are ex-officio. The additional members, elected by the PCC are Andy Watts, Isobel Chetwood Georgina Lewis, and Diana Smith.

Independent Examiner

Ian Smallwood

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