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2025-12-31-accounts

United Parish of Oakley with Wootton St Lawrence

Annual Report 2025

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Charity Registration Number 1131064

Contents

• Rector’s Report 3-7
• Curates’s Report 8
• PCC Report 9-10
• Financial Report 11
• Safeguarding 12
• Church Warden’s Report 13
• Church Administrator 14
• Building Projects 15-16
• Wootton St Lawrence 17
• St Leonards Pre-School 18
• Ministry Areas: 19
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Worship		 19-22
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Discipleship		 22
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Fellowship		 23
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Prayer		 24
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Pastoral Care		 25-28
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Community Engagement		 29
•
CAS (Children and Families)		 30-33

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Rector’s Report

If I were to summarise all my thoughts and feelings into one word as we approach this year’s Annual Parochial Church Meeting, it would be ANTICIPATION .

Looking back, 2025 focused on renewing our vision, reframing our values, reorienting our priorities, restructuring our ministries, recruiting new leadership, and above all responding to that still small voice of the Holy Spirit – our advocate, comforter, and guide. In other words, last year was both a time of significant change and preparation for new things yet to come.

At last year’s APCM we set out our vision (living the love of Jesus at the heart of our community) and core values (becoming a people of encounter, depth, compassion, generosity & belonging).

As the church grows and opportunities for mission expand, our task has been to reimagine a new way of approaching ministry which will equip us to keep pace with the ever-increasing rate of change.

(1) Ministry Areas

Following last year’s APCM, the PCC launched a strategic plan to restructure our core church ministries into seven interconnected areas:

worship, discipleship, fellowship, prayer, pastoral care, community engagement, and children & youth . Each of these is led by a ministry area coordinator and is developing its own team. The aim of the coordinator roles is to:

A significant task of this year has been mapping out the content, shape, and calendar rhythm of each new ministry area. A second was the recruitment of the coordinators. I am very pleased to report that we now have six of seven in post:

Worship : Ben Kautzer (with Chris Greenhalgh) Discipleship : Jeanne Johnson (with Erika Conti)

Fellowship : TBC

Prayer : Ceri Deosun (with Derrick & Heather Norton and Harry Slinger) Pastoral: Katey Butler

Community : Penny Brown

Children & Youth : Sochi Ezeanowai (with Alfie Wells)

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(2) Strategic Vision

As the shape of each ministry area has come into greater focus, so has the strategic vision and missional priorities:

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Needless to say, this amounted to a whole lot of change all at once!

(3) Infrastructure

Just as we have needed to restructure our ministry areas to keep up with our growing church, so we have also needed to update and improve the systems, structures, and infrastructure that underlies it all.

In that regard, 2025 was a year defined by tackling a range of more behind-thescenes challenges: Human Resources (new dashboard system and employee contracts), Communication (parish-wide rebranding project and the launch of our new church website), Digital Infrastructure (rollout of ChurchSuite), Safeguarding (transitioning a large single role into a series of manageable tasks held within a team), Finance (renegotiating Centre contracts, securing VAT reimbursement, gaining grant funding for capital projects), AV (reviewing sound equipment requirements in both churches), Buildings & Maintenance (major roof repair at St Leonard’s and range of actions in the St Leonard’s Centre), Church For Our Time (progressing the St Leonard’s building project to planning permission negotiations; completing water access improvements at Wootton St Lawrence and launching proposals for the reordering of St Lawrence).

All of this work was part of a process of consolidation and rescaling for the growing size and complexity of church life.

(4) Recruitment

Whilst the first half of 2025 focused on mapping ministry areas, improving infrastructure, and discerning strategic priorities, the second half of the year required a fairly dramatic shift toward the recruitment of staff and volunteers.

Back in September 2024, the church staff team was at its peak with Rector, Associate Minister, two Curates, Youth Worker, Pastoral Coordinator, Evergreen Advocate, two Churchwardens, and two Administrators. By September 2025, our team had been reduced by four (Associate Minister, one Curate, Evergreen Advocate, and one Churchwarden). In addition, our Pre-School Manager, PreSchool Administrator, Parish Safeguarding Officer, and a member of the PCC announced their retirement from their roles. When Penny was appointed as our new Evergreen Pastoral Coordinator in December 2025, the Office Administrator post was added to the list of key roles needing to be filled.

With a much-reduced team, we put our heads down and did our best to keep the momentum going until we could begin to close the gap.

Derek Felton took up the vacancy on PCC. As a former Churchwarden, he has brilliantly supported Mark Peryer whilst Helen Miller has stepped back from her responsibilities due to personal family circumstance. Alfie Wells joined Sochi’s CAS team as our first MES Intern. Samantha Reeves was given a fixed-term contract to support the rollout of ChurchSuite across the parish.

In the last few weeks, we have successfully appointed a new Parish Administrator and a new Pre-School Administrator. We have strong candidates standing for PCC, Parish Safeguarding Officer, and Churchwarden. After Easter, we will begin the recruitment process for our new children & families worker.

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This brings me back around to my one big word: ANTICIPATION . As we stand on the threshold of a new season, I cannot wait to see what the Lord will bring. So much work and thought and preparation has gone into the last year. As each of these big roles gets filled, as each of our ministry areas comes into greater focus, as our underlying infrastructure begins to function properly, we will be increasingly ready to lean into the new adventures that are opening out before us.

This is my prayer …

We pray with hope-filled anticipation that this will be a year of significance for our church. With renewed faith and longing we are bold to pray … Come, Holy Spirit … Thy Kingdom come even here in this place as it is in heaven … May your grace overwhelm us and set us free. Amen.

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Before I conclude my report, I want to take this opportunity to thank those who have given so much to support the mission and ministry of our church.

First and foremost, I want to thank our Churchwardens, Helen Miller, and Mark Peryer. After six years of faithful service, Helen is finishing her term of office this year. I am so grateful for all that Helen has given in service of our church, and Jo and I are especially thankful for all the ways that Helen has supported us as a family.

This summer we bid a fond farewell to Ed and Sarah Haycock and their girls and released them to lead a new church planting project on the Townsend estate in Bournemouth. Though Ed’s time with us was brief, his impact was significant. Thank you, Ed!

I also want to say a special thank you to Teresa Bates. For seven years, Teresa has served as our Parish Safeguarding Officer. She has been there for our church through thick and thin. We owe Teresa a debt of gratitude for the time, energy, wisdom, and care she has committed to her role.

Caroline Edwards has invested years and years supporting the children and young families of our church and our community through Sunday School, Pippins, Scouts, School Governance, and above all St Leonard’s Pre-School. As Caroline prepares to retire from her responsibilities this year, I wanted to thank her for her faithful service, her leadership, and her passion to see young people flourish.

My role would be impossible without the brilliant team at my side. I want to thank our amazing staff team: Ceri, Sochi, Katey, and Alfie; our office team: Penny and Victoria; our ministry area coordinators and team leaders: Chris & Naomi, Marilyn & Rodney, Erika, Jeanne, Tom, Derrick & Heather, and Harry; our treasurer Simon and his finance team; our pre-school manager Caroline and her staff; the members of the PCC; our Church For Our Time champions: Mark, Derek, and the Friends of Wootton St Lawrence.

Yours in Christ, Ben

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Curate’s Report – Ceri Deosun

I can’t believe another year has gone by already, meaning I am more than halfway through my time in Oakley and Wootton. There have been many exciting things in the last year but also a number of challenges, and I thank you all for your support through everything. It is such a blessing to be part of such a loving community.

We are seeing wonderful things happening in some of the ministries I have been involved with. Prayer Space in our Junior School is going from strength to strength with an influx of new volunteers, and Naomi Sworder and I have had a big sort out of all the resources to set us up for the future. Hymns of Hope in Oak Lodge has grown from six residents when Anna and I started it in Autumn 2024 to now regularly having 25-30 residents coming along to sing classic hymns. We are building connections between the school and the care home too, something that we hope will continue and grow in the future.

The MAG committee was overwhelmed with worthy charities to support, and we are planning to raise more awareness of these amazing organisations in the coming months. With short courses, the new book club, the usual hatch, match and dispatch services to plan (baptisms, weddings and funerals), and the neverending PhD, my diary can feel very full at times, so Lent this year has been a wonderful reset, of making time for reflection and creativity.

With curacy sign off approaching and the prospect of looking for my own parish on the horizon, I am thinking seriously about legacy. I would love to be sure that the ministries I am involved with will continue to grow and flourish without me here, so I am starting to have conversations with people about making that happen. I am keen to ‘leave well’, knowing that I have made a difference but that it will be lasting. If this is my last APCM with you all, I want you to know that I am so immensely grateful for all the love and care you have shown over the last three years, and for all the opportunities you have given me and friendships we have built here.

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Parochial Church Council Report

Summary

Oakley with Wootton Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility of cooperating with the incumbent in promoting in the parish the whole mission of the Church: pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The PCC is also responsible for the operation and maintenance of two Centres: St Leonard's and St John's.

The parish has two churches: St Leonard’s in Oakley and St Lawrence in Wootton. The churchyard at St Lawrence’s is the only one open for burials.

One of the main themes over the last year has been change and the composition of the PCC has reflected this theme. We said goodbye to our Assistant Curate Ed Haycock and his family in July. Erika Conti resigned in July and Helen Miller stepped back as Church Warden in September. However, at the same time, the PCC has been joined by Sam Reeves who is ex-officio as the Deanery Synod Secretary, whilst Derrick Norton and Derek Felton were co-opted onto the PCC.

The PCC has spent much time over the last few years considering how we manage the changes associated with church growth. A momentum is now building towards having a core staff team to support the key ministries of the church. One example of this was the appointment of our first Ministry Experience Scheme (MES) intern, Alfie Wells, who has been working alongside Sochi since September, but has also got involved with other aspects of ministry as the opportunity has arisen. In December, we appointed Penny Brown as Evergreen Pastoral Co-Ordinator, and we are looking forward to her taking up that position.

The start of 2026 has seen a focus on the recruitment of a new Church Administrator, to release Penny, and a new Pre-School Manager as Caroline Edwards is retiring. Both of these roles are significant to the church as well as to the wider community. Cathy Clewer took on the post of Pre-School Chair and has been working with Caroline and Derek Felton to effect a smooth transition for the Pre-School.

As PCC meetings are typically focussed on business and decision making, we hold

an annual away day to spend some time on bigger picture discussion. This year we got together at the end of January to talk about how we should nurture the 5 values of the church and to start to tackle some ‘knotty questions.’ One outcome was the recognition that in these times we cannot necessarily expect individuals to take on significant responsibilities alone, and that we need to find ways to distribute responsibilities across teams.

Safeguarding has a dedicated agenda item at each PCC meeting and this year we have spent time reviewing safeguarding standards and values at alternate meetings. Teresa Bates will be retiring as the Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO) at this year’s APCM and we have been preparing for that by considering how we spread the load across a team consisting of a PSO and two, or more, administrators to look after DBS certification, Safeguarding training and Safer Recruiting.

Another change that was introduced during the year was the timing of the later Sunday morning service at St Leonards from 10:00 am to 10:30 am and to change the ordering of services to allow Communion to be taken somewhere in the Parish every Sunday. The buffer between services allows more time for post-service clergy presence; has enabled prayer before the 10:30 services; and has allowed time for short meetings such as Baptism preparation and ‘This is us’ to be held at this time. We thank everyone for accepting the change gracefully.

An important topic that has been discussed by the PCC at some length is that of prioritising outreach and ministry to families and children. Ben and Sochi led a successful application for a ‘Growing Faith Learning Hub’ grant which we plan to use to seed fund a Children and Families worker. One of the objectives for this post is to launch a new family orientated worshipping community that meets at a different time than Sunday morning.

Structure, governance and management

The procedures for appointing PCC members are set out in the Church Representation Rules. In Oakley with Wootton parish, the membership of

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Church of England. The correspondence address is:

the PCC in 2025 consisted of the Rector, Curates, Churchwardens, Treasurer, Administrator, Deanery Synod representatives and members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church. All those who attend our services are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC.

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. New members receive initial training into the workings of the PCC.

The full PCC met 6 times during the year. The average level of attendance was 82%

Given its wide responsibilities, the PCC has a number of committees dealing with different aspects of parish life. The Leadership Team, which includes clergy, church wardens, the church administrator, and the lead for Pastoral Care, meets once every two weeks to support short-term decision making.

Teams responsible for Safeguarding, Finance, Buildings and Maintenance, A Church for Our Time, Centre Management, outward giving (Mission Action Group) report to the PCC as necessary.

Safeguarding

The Parish Safeguarding Officer is Teresa Bates. Teresa leads a team that supports all church activities with policy, policy compliance, procedures and advice.

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

Administrative information

The Church Office, St Leonard’s Centre Rectory Road, Oakley, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG23 7ED.

The PCC is a corporate body established by the Church of England. (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2006) and is registered as a charity (number 1131064).

Our Independent Examiner is Paul Sherrington, MBA FCCA

PCC members at 31/12/25

Ex Officio PCC members: Incumbent: Rev’d Ben Kautzer; Associate Minister Sue Colman; Curate: Rev’d Ceri Deosun

Treasurer: Simon Constantine; PCC Secretary: Penny Brown

Churchwardens: Helen Miller; Mark Peryer

Deanery Synod PCC members: Rev’d Ben Kautzer, Helen Miller, Mark Peryer, Sam Reeves

Elected PCC members:

Co-Opted PCC members:

The United Parish of Oakley with Wootton includes two churches (St Leonard's and St Lawrence) and a Garden of Remembrance on the site of the chapel of St John in East Oakley. It is part of the Diocese of Winchester within the

PCC Report Approved by the PCC on 16[th] March 2026

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Financial Review

The Church Accounts are presented primarily with two categories of Unrestricted and Restricted Funds. Unrestricted funds represent the day-to-day operations of the two churches and centres and include St Leonard’s Pre-School, which operates out of St Leonard’s Centre. Restricted funds are those designated for specific activities with the youth and older people and for building improvements.

The Church and Centres together showed a total surplus for the year of £17,364 (2024: £3,306) and the Pre-School a surplus of £24,992 (2024: £19,840); both are included in Unrestricted Funds. Restricted Funds increased by £3,768.

The most significant income for the Church and Centres at 71% of total income is gifts, primarily from our worshipping community. These were 3% lower than in 2024. However, income from the hire of our buildings and from interest earned on our cash deposits held up well and overall costs were well covered for the year.

On the expenditure side, underlying costs increased by 3% when adjusting for the significant £25,000 estimated costs on roof repairs at St Leonard’s Church that were accrued in the 2024 accounts. Our requested contribution to the Diocese Common Mission Fund increased by 13% and we met this in full once again; this is by far our largest outgoing at 44% of total costs and pays for our local ministers as well as contributing to some central Church of England costs. Other costs were controlled well, which resulted in the overall modest 3% increase in the year. We gave £12,000 to 18 other charities through Mission Action Giving.

St Leonard’s Pre-School once again generated a significant surplus in the year following the increase in weekly hours offered in 2024.

The financial systems and controls were reviewed during the year, having been redesigned in 2021. They continue to provide an efficient and effective framework within which both the monthly management and annual statutory accounts are prepared on a timely and accurate basis. The PCC continues to have full visibility of all activities regularly, including Pre-School, Youth, Evergreens and church building projects, where significant funds are involved.

The full Financial Statements are included in the Annual Report.

Reserves Policy

It is the policy of the PCC to maintain sufficient unrestricted operating reserves (those not relating to property) to cover the normal ministry, management and administration costs of the Church for a minimum of six months. Additional reserves are set aside where, in the view of the PCC, it is prudent to allow for future planned spending.

Unrestricted operating reserves as at 31 December 2025 were £202,108 (2024: £162,487), which represents approximately nine months of normal expenditure.

Simon Constantine, Treasurer

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Safeguarding

This parochial church council adopts the Church of England Safeguarding Policies and Practice Guidance. In particular, our church is committed to:

There have been some safeguarding concerns raised this year. Where appropriate we have referred to the Diocesan safeguarding team who are able to give some valuable advice. Thanks are due to our

volunteers/leaders who highlight and report concerns and the leaders who have shown great care in dealing with situations, delivering safe and appropriate support.

Moving forward:

I have been in the role of PSO since 2019, and in that time the role has expanded. The time has come for me to step back and I would like to thank all those that have supported me in the role.

To maintain high standards and to not overload any one volunteer, a team is needed to share the workload. A new team is coming together and I wish them your support in promoting our church as a safe and supportive place for all.

Over this past year:

We use the Parish Dashboard, an audit tool that we regularly update to ensure that the mandatory responsibilities of the parish are complied with. This tool also has assisted the PCC to review safeguarding standards, encouraging additional good practice in promoting a healthy and safe culture.

There is now some new software provided – the Safeguarding Hub, will make the record keeping of DBS, training and recruitment more straightforward.

We continue to recruit new volunteers to roles in the church. We are committed to the CofE safer recruitment process to ensure that everyone in a leadership or volunteer role has the support and checking they need. This includes obtaining references, DBS checks where appropriate, having clear role descriptions and safeguarding training. Thank you to all those who give up their time to volunteer and complete the training to ensure we are keeping people safe.

I would like to thank all the leaders and helpers of our groups for the work they do. Without their commitment to provide safe spaces, policies and procedures alone would be ineffective.

Teresa Bates (PSO)

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Church Wardens

I would like to start this year’s report by paying tribute to my fellow Church Warden Helen Miller whose term ends at this year’s APCM. When I started working alongside Helen, I quickly realised that we complemented each other and although we approached life in different ways, we shared a common passion and commitment to serve and further the kingdom of God in Oakley and Wootton. Helen would see things that I remained blind to, get a feeling that something was amiss that I was too numb to pick up and have a vision that I would have to run fast to catch up with. I am also aware of some, but by no means all, of the unseen ways the hand of Helen was in action.

As you are probably aware, Helen stepped down from her role in September to support her family whilst her husband, Andy, went through intense treatment for cancer. That was the right thing to do, and it is wonderful to see Andy recovered and restored to health again.

In the Autumn, Derek Felton offered to come back to the PCC and to take on the responsibility for HR and I immediately accepted as it was becoming clear that we were going to go through a period of intense recruitment for the staff team and the pre-school. Derek’s expertise has proved to be extremely useful, and I would like to think that we have laid some good foundations for the future with the appointments that have been made.

You can read elsewhere about the progress made on building projects over the last year. In addition to the headline projects, there is a constant stream of minor projects and for these I rely on the support of Rowland and Harry Tilley to address them in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Nether the less, I am also grateful to every one of you who has rolled up your sleeves; got stuck in to start new initiatives; helped bring projects into land; or have joined in to keep existing things going. I appreciate your support and look forward to the challenges that we will face together in the coming year.

Mark Peryer

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Church Administrator

It’s been another busy year in the office.

The office continues to be the engine room of the Parish and the Centre is always busy with groups and activities. We have welcomed three new regular hirers this year, with another starting in April. The current hirers keep us busy and it’s great to see the Centre being such a valued community space within Oakley.

Vic has reorganised all the archives so that we can have a rolling cycle of shredding each year, and lots of paperwork has left the office as a result.

The Welcome Sheet production has risen in numbers as we welcome more people not formally connected to the church. We email out over 300 each Friday to anyone on our mailing list, so it’s helpful if you only take a hard copy at the end of the service, once we know that newcomers have one to take away.

The Office can only function with the help of you all. Rotas need filling, volunteers are needed for everything we do, refreshments are crucial, and the flowers, brass cleaning, tables and chairs etc don’t get done without the quiet support of those who give their time behind the scenes.

The quietest of these is Graeme, without whom there would be no colourful Welcome Sheet, no service posters, and all the other countless things he provides each year from a life-sized Jane Austen, to fliers for groups and the Evergreen names and menus. Did you know that he always adds a joke (loose term here!) in the Welcome Sheet in one of the upright margins?! His cheery personality, crazy humour and faithfulness to Friday mornings always brightens up the week, coupled with our alternating purchase of Danish pastries, which are usually accompanied by debates over Tesla and American politics!

Vic holds some of the purse strings and pays bills (boo!) and expenses (hooray!) as well as dealing with all the bookings, keeping an eye out for clashes etc. She is also a handy size when it comes to sorting through the eave cupboards!

This will be my last report as Administrator. It’s been a real delight to see Vic flourish in her role. It’s been lovely to work alongside ‘Techno Gran’ Joan Smith, Linda Wain, and the team of office cover staff across this time.

Looking back to the job I took on a decade ago, it’s unrecognisable. The Centre usage, links to community organisations, increased services - especially at Wootton, Lockdown and Church@Home, modern furniture, getting rid of 4 overflowing filing cabinets, the ‘Hamsters’, and of course the arrival of the Kautzers! I could go on….

I’ve been privileged to serve the Parish in this role and to develop it according to my own skills and interests. As a I step away I just know that you will be amazingly supportive of Sam, as she adapts the role to her strengths too, and leads the Office into its next chapter.

With a nod to the Friday email, whatever your plans are for the year ahead, stay safe.

Penny Brown

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Building Projects

Church For Our Time – St Leonards

We submitted a planning application for the St Leonards Church for our time project in April last year. In July, we held a meeting with English Heritage, The Victorian Society and The Society for Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) to discuss their objections to our application. The outcome of the meeting, was that they accepted that our proposal for an extension was necessary, but they expressed opinions about the extension roof detail. We have gone through several rounds of responding to comments and objections from council officers and we believe we have made progress. We were to pleased to have some supportive comments from the Conservation Officer late last year. We have recently been asked by the case officer to post a new planning notice and to confirm details of our plans, so it feels like the end is in sight.

Derek Felton, Mark Peryer

Church For Our Time – Wootton St Lawrence

Over the last year a water supply has been laid to St Lawrence’s church and is currently terminated in a stand-pipe by the west door. We are extremely grateful to the Wootton and Ramsdell Parish council who paid for the work to be done and to Peter Lowndes and Gile Curtis who managed the project. We also installed a temporary path across the churchyard which allows interim access to toilets in the Barn nursery through a temporary gap in the fence and hedge on the north side of the churchyard.

In parallel with these developments, we started work with an architect who has developed a pod concept for locating toilet and kitchen facilities within a church in a sensitive manner. The general idea is that the sound proofed pod has a woodwork wrapper that can be adapted to blend in with its surroundings and look like a piece of church furniture. At its November meeting the PCC gave the go-ahead to engage Mark Penfold as project architect with a brief to provide a pod installation at Wootton. Since then, he has worked with the project team to produce some preliminary plans that were shared in a public meeting in February this year.

The proposal is that the pod will house a disabled toilet and a kitchenette and that it will be located to western end of the north aisle of the church, taking advantage of visual screening by the northern arcade. The pew seating in the north and south aisles will be removed, to allow the facilities to be used for community events in the church building.

We believe that most of the funds for completing the project are in place, but this will be confirmed once we have finalised the plans. All being well and provided there are no surprises we hope to complete the project within a year or so at which point the water supply will have been brought into the church and we will be able to roll up the temporary path.

Teresa Bates, Mark Peryer

Preliminary model view of toilet and kitchen pod at St Lawrence’s Church

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St Leonard’s Chancel Roof

Last year we completed a project to refurbish the Chancel roof at St Leonards. As far as we can determine, the southern side of the roof had not had any attention since it was first built in 1870 and there was no roof felt under the tiles that were kept in place using wooden pegs. We had known for at least ten years that something had to be done, but when the ceiling underneath started to show signs of water ingress it could be put off no longer.

We started the necessary approval process early in the year, but because a Mytosis Bat was discovered between the door to the basement and its frame during the ecological survey for the C4OT project planning application, we had to involve the Bat Conservation Trust and Natural England to develop a Bat roost mitigation strategy in case there were bats roosting in the void between the tiled roof and the suspended ceiling in the Chancel. This delayed the start of the project until mid-September by which time last years extended dry weather was on its way out. The roof repair was finished in early November and if you look carefully you will notice a ‘bat tile’ on each side of the roof, these will allow bats access to the roof space.

The project was funded from PCC reserves, but we were fortunate to win a small works grant from the Diocese and to get one of the last Listed Places of Worship scheme VAT refunds, saving around £4,000 for future work.

Mark Peryer

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Wootton St Lawrence

Worship at St Lawrence has remained steady throughout the year with a consistent congregation of around 30 people attending each service. We were delighted to celebrate two baptisms recently and approximately 120 people joined us for the Crib Service on Christmas Eve.

Wootton Fundraising Events

Last year The Friends of St Lawrence (FOSL) held a musical evening, raising £756 towards the ‘Church For Our Time’ project.

The Wootton St Lawrence Residents’ Committee organised a Fete & Dog Show, raising £1,581. Of this, £1,000 was donated to C4OTwith the remaining £581 retained in the Residents’ Fund for ongoing village expenses.

The Big Sing, a fun musical and social event took place just before Christmas. Over 50 people attended and donations of approximately £150 were given towards the project.

Looking ahead, FOSL are organising a Bridge Tea on 15th April at Malshangar Social Club with proceeds going towards the improvement project. We will also be planning further musical evenings.

Serena Worthington

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St Leonard’s Pre-School

A big thank you to everyone who has prayed for the preschool or supported it in any way this year. It is greatly appreciated and has a significant impact on the preschool and staff.

It has been a busy year with lots of families attending the preschool. For the first time ever in the summer term, we had four families with two children attending the setting at the same time.

We have been supported by parents and grandparents coming into the preschool to help with cooking weeks and to talk about their jobs to the children. We had a parent who works for BP and works on the oil rigs, a parent who works for the library service, a parent who is a science teacher and a parent who does voice overs for adverts and animations.

In early summer Sheila Compton, who has been the chair of the management committee, stepped down after 10 years of supporting the preschool. Sheila has been such a valued friend of the preschool and will be greatly missed.

Cathy Clewer has taken over as the new chair of the management committee.

The preschool was 50 years old in September 2025! We had a celebration to mark the occasion. It was very well attended, with past staff coming along including one member of staff who was there when it opened fifty years ago! We had families who had attended the preschool, families who currently attend and families who are planning to attend in the future. A member of staff made a cake, other staff made food for children and adults, there was face painting, craft activities, a range of toys inside and outside for all to enjoy.

There was also a display of photos to look through!

In July we had our Leaver’s Concert in church with solos, songs, acting and playing instruments. We also had our Sports Day with lots of races and an ice lolly at the end! In October, we had a Harvest Celebration in the church, and in December we had the Nativity in the church. All the events were very well supported by our parents.

In December we had a sponsored week with activities for the children to take part in. With gift aid we raised a record £1800 for new resources!

Caroline Edwards, Manager

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MINISTRY AREAS

In 2025, the PCC undertook the significant task of restructuring our core church teams into seven mission and ministry areas: Worship , Discipleship , Fellowship , Prayer , Pastoral Care , Community Engagement , and CAS (children & youth).

This process began with a mapping exercise to locate groups, gatherings, events and activities under these seven headings. The next stage involved identifying leaders to stand as ‘ministry area coordinators’. Six of the seven roles have now been filled. Ministry coordinators will work closely with the Rector to provide strategic and pastoral oversight for their area, as well as help encourage, equip, and safer-recruit volunteers.

(1) Worship

The Worship ministry area is overseen by our Rector Ben Kautzer with the close support of our Curate Ceri Deosun, and our lead worship pastors Chris & Naomi Greenhalgh. It focuses primarily on acts of worship (e.g. Sunday & midweek services, seasonal & special services, and Life Events), music, and the various other teams the support our services (e.g. leading, preaching, all-age, readers, prayers, welcome, AV).

Services

We continue to offer three distinct Sunday morning congregations: 9am at Wootton St Lawrence, 8:00 and 10:30 at St Leonard’s. We have seen significant growth in all three congregations. The 9:00 is a more reflective service, and its congregation represents a wonderful mix of folk from Wootton St Lawrence and Oakley. The 8:00 Communion has grown to over 30 members and has nearly pushed post-service breakfast in the Centre to its capacity! The 10:30 continues to welcome newcomers on a weekly basis of all ages and walks of life. An additional midweek service meets twice a month at St Leonard’s.

Our all-age services (Café Church and Sunday Funday) continue to be popular. In 2025, we added a second Christingle service for younger children and their families. This worked well and created a bit more capacity to welcome more guests to main Christingle service with Y5 from Oakley Junior School. We are making the best use we can of the St Leonard’s Centre, but long for the moment when we will be able to offer all of our all-age services within a freshly reordered St Leonard’s.

Life Events

Christenings – It was a great joy to celebrate the baptism of 9 children in 2024. The christening team hosted several ‘come and see’ preparation events. Our midweek toddler groups – Quackers, New Life, and Pippins – remain popular spaces for building relationship, as have our termly Sunday Fun Days. In September, we held our third annual “Celebration of Christening” all-age service for all the children who had their baptism the previous year.

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– Adult Baptism and Confirmation In 2025, five adults were baptised in our church, including a special service on Christmas Day. Three more reaffirmed their baptismal vows. At a stunning service at Winchester Cathedral, James Willis and Ashleigh Jones become the first people to be Confirmed by our new Bishop of Basingstoke.

Marriage – Seven couples celebrated their wedding at St Leonard and Wootton St Lawrence in 2025. In preparation for their big day, we hosted our second Marriage Course at St Leonard’s.

Bereavement – Last year, the OWW ministry team conducted around twenty seven funerals, thanksgivings, and interment of ashes services. These services took place at St Leonard’s, St John’s Garden of Remembrance, Wootton St Lawrence, and Basingstoke Crematorium. Most of our funeral ministry focuses on pastoral care and support to families connected to the wider village community. In Loving Memory, Remembrance Day, and our Blue Christmas bereavement services continue to grow and are highly valued by members of the church and community alike. In September, we offered The Bereavement Journey – a seven week course for anyone who has been bereaved at any time and in any way. This was the sixth time of running the course within the parish. Through the growth of informal support groups (like Men2Mow and Ladies Who Lunch), the Christmas hamper project, and the wonderful work of the pastoral care team, a strong network of ongoing pastoral support is available through our church.

Preaching

We are blessed with a truly remarkable team of preachers in our parish. Each have their own style and approach, and yet everyone is working together to help our church family grow deeper in our faith, engage more intentionally with the scriptures, and live more faithfully the love of Jesus in our lives.

In 2025, we welcomed several new members to the team, including Penny Brown, Hannah Wade, CJ Lazaridis, and Heather Norton – bringing our combined team to about 12-13 people. This year the preaching team led us through

numerous inspiring sermon series, including ‘Valleys’, ‘Encounters in the Gospel of Mark’, ‘Rest // Sabbath’, ‘Indescribable’, ‘Have a Mary Christmas’, and ‘The ‘Beatitudes’.

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Every year the diocese of Winchester offers a special program called the Bishop’s Commission to Preach (BCP). The PCP is one-year training programme in the art, theology, spirituality and practice of preaching. It Is a fantastic training opportunity. Those who complete the BCP will have opportunities to preach more frequently and in a diverse range of settings. If you’re interested in learning a bit more about BCP program or about the ministry of preaching within our church, please do contact Ben.

Ben Kautzer

Music

This past year has been a season of growth for our worship life, driven by a greater call for worship provision. We have intentionally moved beyond our traditional comfort zones to explore musical experimentation, integrating a wider variety of genres, instruments, and liturgical styles, including the introduction of many songs written by our own worship team members. From contemporary arrangements of classic hymns to the introduction of more diverse global worship songs, these changes have brought a new energy to our Sunday gatherings.

Our primary goal this year was to ensure that every member of the congregation feels seen and included in our worship experience. We have worked hard to:

By focusing on these areas, we have seen a deeper level of engagement from the pews, with many noting that the "spirit of the room" feels more welcoming than ever.

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The Well remains a standout success. This additional offering continues to be a popular space for both our musicians and the wider congregation to gather in a more informal, reflective setting. It has become a vital "laboratory" for our musical experimentation, allowing us to try new things in a safe, intimate atmosphere that fosters genuine spiritual connection.

While we celebrate the creative strides we have made, we must also be honest about the challenges ahead. Our dedicated worship team is currently significantly depleted compared with the same period 12 months previous. To sustain the quality and variety of our worship at the current cadence, we are in urgent need of new voices and hands.

We are calling on our Church community for help. Whether you are a vocalist who enjoys singing in a group, or an instrumentalist—no matter your instrument or skill level—we would love to welcome you, and we’re a friendly bunch! You don’t need to be a professional; you simply need a heart for worship and a willingness to serve. If you feel a nudge to contribute to our musical life, please reach out to any of the worship team. Your contribution could be the key to keeping our "joyful noise" going at its current pace, for the year to come.

Tim Saunders and Ian Pryce

(2) Discipleship

The Discipleship ministry area is overseen by Jeanne Johnson. It focuses primarily on Connect Groups and short courses (Alpha, Faith & Belonging, Study & Equip, Family Life, and Seasonal — Advent, Lent, Summer Nights). But it also involves open-access discipleship gatherings (like Going Deeper, Fellowship Walks, and the St Leonard’s Book club) and one-off events (such as special talks, pilgrimage walks and quiet day retreats).

The focus over the last year has been to continue with the development and support of Connect Groups and to raise awareness so people would be able to find out what was offered and available across the Parish.

Connect Groups are a great way for sharing life, building friendships and growing in relationships with God, providing an opportunity for members to grow spiritually and deepen their faith as well as provide support when going through difficult times or facing life challenges.

In October 2025 (after the Morning Services at Oakley and Wootton), we held Autumn Roadshows over a 3-week period. All were well attended. We also produced a booklet and posted Connect Group details to the website. As a result, new members joined existing Connect Groups, and 4 new Connect Groups were created. We also have 2 more in the planning stage.

Currently, Connect Groups span across Film Groups, Fellowship Groups, Home Groups, a Walking Group, a Book Club as well as Bible Study Groups but although each is different, Christian values and fellowship are at their core with Jesus at the Centre. We hope more people will step forward to offer to host and lead new Groups because, as we found in October, once created and made known, members quickly step forward to join! If anyone is interested in doing so, please let me know.

During the coming year, support for Connect Groups will be ongoing alongside progressing other Adult Discipleship areas.

I would like to thank Penny, Erika and Richard for their commitment and support.

Jeanne Johnson

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(3) Fellowship

The Fellowship ministry area does not currently have a designated coordinator. This area covers the social life of the church (meals, quizzes, picnics, BBQs … the BIG church weekend away … and future opportunities like participating in a Christian summer festival). It also involves Newcomers Welcome (led by Erika Conti), Men & Women’s ministries, and fellowship gatherings like Brief Encounters.

If you love to throw a party, build relationships, plan events, welcome new friends, enabling belonging … then the Fellowship role might be for you!

Currently, we have 27 members from both the Church, and from other groups and ladies in the village. Each month, I send out a WhatsApp group message out reminding ladies of the date and asking them to let me know if they are interested in joining us and what they would like from the lunch time menu which is included as an attachment. I let the Barley Mow know in advance what has been pre ordered. We have anything from 10 to 18 ladies each month.

Twice a year we join up with the ‘Men at Mow’ for a summer buffet lunch and a Christmas Lunch which are both held at the Barley Mow and are well supported.

We are a friendly group and the lunch gives us a chance to catch up with one another and to meet new ladies who join us.

Men2Mow

Men2Mow frequents the Barley Mow in Oakley twice a month, except in December. We have lunch there on the second Wednesday of each month and an evening meal on the final Tuesday of each month. You are very welcome to join us and in doing so help a local amenity survive. We were appalled to discover that from a £7 pint of beer the landlord only retains 12p to keep his business running.

We would be delighted if you were to join us. Just give your email address to Derek (derekhall956@gmail.com) or Graeme (graemewr09@gmail.com) and they will email you each month with the date of each meal and menu. Let us know your choice by return email and enjoy an evening meal, good company and putting the world to rights. Twice a year we have lunch with the Ladies who lunch when we usually fill the Barley restaurant.

Derek Hall and Graeme Wheeler

Ladies Who Lunch

Ladies who Lunch was formed after the success of the Men at Mow. Penny suggested that we should try and start something similar for the Ladies and we started the group in August 2024. We meet at the Barley Mow on the 3rd Thursday of each month at 12.30pm.

If you would be interested in joining us we would very pleased to welcome you, there is an open invitation to join in, you do not need to come along every month but when you do we will be very pleased to see you. If you are interested please contact me on my

email: margaretbunkle@hotmail.com or telephone no. 07880733029 or you could leave a message in the office for me so that I can get in touch.

Margaret Bunkle

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(4) Prayer

The Prayer ministry area is led by our curate Ceri Deosun. Its primary focus is on the prayer ministry team (led by Derrick & Heather Norton and Harry Slinger). But it also covers prayer gatherings, prayer walks, our ecumenical network of Prayer Clusters, and our annual ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ big week of prayer.

Prayer is a foundational aspect of what we do as a church, so it has been great to be involved in this area of ministry. The Sunday morning Prayer Ministry team has become a well-established part of the 10:30 service, with wonderful words and pictures shared and more people taking up the opportunity to be prayed for. Thanks to Derrick and Heather Norton and Harry Slinger, with help from Alison, for stepping up to lead that team, especially for the great training sessions they have put on. We are always in need of more people to support this ministry, and to lead intercessions in our services, so please do let me know if you would like to help.

Looking ahead, we will have our next week of prayer for Thy Kingdom Come in the summer, so planning has started for that with lots of opportunities to get involved. We are also hoping to relaunch Prayer Clusters in the next year, so watch this space for more news on that. As with everything that happens in our church, it all comes down to the dedication of so many church members making everything happen, so thank you to those who give their time and effort to support the prayer life of the church and please do get in touch if you are not yet involved but would like to be.

Ceri Deosun

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(5) Pastoral Care

The Pastoral Care ministry area is overseen by Katey Butler. It includes our pastoral visiting and Home Communion teams, pastoral courses like Kintsugi Hope, bereavement ministry, pastoral outreach into the community, Holiday@Home, Evergreen Fellowship, and our work within local residential care homes.

We are extremely blessed to have a skilled and willing pastoral care team, who give generously of their time and talents to fulfil a variety of roles. Some team members make regular Pastoral visits or administer Home Communion to those who find it difficult to access church due to lack of mobility, age, or health issues. These visits are important as they create the space for meaningful conversations, prayer, spiritual and emotional support, and ensure people remain part of the church family. Others make meals, cooking and delivering delicious food to people in need. Volunteers also support Oak Lodge services and Holiday@Home.

Christmas 2025 saw a big increase in the number of families the schools requested support for. Your incredible generosity and kindness enabled us to bless families from the school, church, and parish with food vouchers. A huge thank you for all your financial contributions, and also to members of the Gap for the chocolate treats they donated.

We continue to provide support for the bereaved through pastoral visits, The Bereavement Journey, In Loving Memory, Blue Christmas and signposting to appropriate regular meeting points. For example, Men2Mow and Brief Encounters.

The guests were entertained by a variety of groups and participated in a range of interesting activities. The warm atmosphere showed in their faces as they relaxed, chatted, and got to know one another.

Guests were treated to delicious meals cooked by our volunteer team, and Community Care very kindly provided transport.

Some of the feedback from Holiday@Home 2025:

‘A special time for all’

Our work in partnership with the local Social Prescribers continues as we look at ways to further support and build community around some of our more isolated residents.

At the end of July, a team of volunteers welcomed twenty guests to St Leonard’s Centre for three days of Holiday@Home, an opportunity for fun, fellowship, and friendship.

Plans are well underway for Holiday@Home 2026

If you feel a calling to any aspect of this rewarding ministry and would like more information, or to join the team, please contact me.

Katey Butler - Pastoral Care Co-Ordinator pastoralcare@oww.church

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Oak Lodge

Oak Lodge welcomed us into their home for the first time three years ago in March 2023 to provide four Communion Services a year We recognised a spiritual need and within a short space of time we were also providing a monthly Service of the Word which very quickly became our Messy Vintage Service.

Messy Vintage provides a way into worship for older people regardless of their faith background and opens the way to share God’s love. The carefully chosen monthly theme supports and encourages the residents in their faith journey, and the craft activity provides the space for meaningful conversations, friendship and prayer between volunteers and residents. We were blessed again this year to have a group of children from Oakley Junior School participate in the Christmas Service. They delighted the residents with their carol singing and with the conversations that took place during the craft activity.

The service to celebrate the 80th anniversary of VE Day was a very moving and meaningful service for the residents and volunteers, with many of the residents sharing vivid memories of the day. They were able to reflect on the joyous occasion but also contemplate their sadness during their conversations with volunteers.

For those wishing to grow deeper in their faith, Ceri runs Hymns of Hope, a discipleship and discussion group twice a month.

The services are all very well attended and appreciated by the residents and staff. They are immensely rewarding, mutually beneficial, and a blessing to all.

Thank you to all the volunteers who give their time and talents so generously to support this invaluable ministry. We are incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to share God’s love with these wonderful people. If you would like to find out more, or be part of this exciting ministry, please contact me.

Katey Butler - Pastoral Care Co-ordinator

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Evergreen Fellowship

A small group of church members, who lived on their own, began to meet in our lounge for a cup of tea and cake in the year 2000 and Evergreens was born. Since then, we have met on the first Monday of every month and as we grew, we had to transfer into St Leonard’s Centre. Currently we have a group of 58 members, helpers and drivers.

In June 2025 Evergreens celebrated its Silver Anniversary with a party, including entertainment from the Purple Company Singers and much reminiscing. We began 2025 with a New Year Party, including delicious cakes and pastries and entertainment from our resident Magician, Dave Rundle, up to his usual tricks!!

Our Rector, Ben, led us in a Holy Communion Service for Easter and in a ‘Loving Memory’ Service for all who are bereaved.

Our Table-Top Gardening afternoon is always a great success, kindly organised by Ian Pryce. Members take great delight in getting their hands in the soil. The resulting planters give great pleasure for many months.

August saw us boarding a coach for our Annual Outing to Hilliers Garden Centre at Aldermaston for Afternoon High Tea. Mervyn’s Coaches now provide a coach with a hydraulic lift for those with mobility aids.

During the year we have enjoyed a speaker from the Willis Museum; talks on Mischievous Jackdaws, Malshanger Mint Harvest and chocolate production.

The year 2025 ended with another delightful afternoon at the Junior School with entertainment from the older children and good conversation between them and the Evergreen audience. We so enjoyed tea and mince pies, served by the children.

Each Half-Term we arrange a lunch for our group.

We would like to take this opportunity to say ‘Thank You’ to all our helpers and drivers, without whom Evergreens could not function.

Rodney and Marilyn Scott

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Kintsugi Wellbeing Course

We are delighted to say that the Kintsugi Wellbeing Course is running for a third year starting again in January 2026.

Our passion is to reduce stress levels in people’s busy days so they can live happier and healthier lives. Inevitably things go wrong - relationship breakdowns, financial problems, health issues, work issues etc and we can get stuck in a downward spiral.

We are helping people discover how to handle the ups and downs of life through our 10-week course including overcoming stress, worries and fears, how to nurture special relationships and how to deal skilfully with the increasing demands of modern life

Our Kintsugi course is a safe and confidential place for a group of 12 people to strengthen resilience, courage and wellbeing.

A testimonial from a previous member of a group:

“Taking the Kintsugi course has been transformative. I feel more resilient and empowered than before and it has been so wonderful to share this selfdiscovery with such a fantastic supportive and understanding group, whose stories and experiences have been inspiring and whose encouragement has been so valuable”

Lou Eley

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(6) Community Engagement

The Community Engagement ministry area has been led by Ben Kautzer. After Easter Penny Brown will be taking on this responsibility in her new role as our Evergreen Pastoral Coordinator.

Our church has built strong integrated partnerships within our villages. This has taken lots of creative forms over the years from the Hub project to the COVID Oakley Support Network to our eco church ‘Love Oakley Go Green’ initiatives. A significant focus of this year has been supporting the work of ‘ Our Oakley ’ and the Oakley Wellbeing Forum .

Bringing together the church, Oakley & Deane Parish Council, OCA and Rural West Primary Care Network’s Social Prescribers, the Wellbeing Forum gathers leaders and volunteers from our community to identify and promote the strengths and assets of our community. The aim is to build collaborative relationships and encourage local partnerships by raising the profile of the amazing things that are already taking place, discerning gaps in provision, and exploring creative solutions – all in an effort to combat loneliness and promote the flourishing of our villages.

One initiative which has emerged from the Wellbeing Forum is the Welcome Club – a special group for SEND children and their families which gathers each week of the school holidays. This project was launched in October as a community partnership between St Leonard’s and the Oakley SEND support network and has been supported by the Parish Council. Our first full session took place in the February half-term. The Centre had a wonderful atmosphere as families came together to enjoy games, activities, conversations, and a chance to connect with one another.

If you have a heart for partnership, service, listening, bridge-building, opportunity spotting, connection-making, loving the neighbourhoods of our parish with everything you've got … then Ben and Penny would love to have that conversation.

Ben Kautzer

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(7) CAS | Children and Youth

Our Children and Youth ministry area is overseen by our youth worker Sochi Ezeanowai. This ministry area ranges from CAS Tots (age 0 to 3) to CAS Kids (age 3 to 10) to CAS Youth (age 11 to 18). It covers everything from Sunday services, midweek groups, events and activities, engagement with our local schools, and networks with other children and youth ministries across Basingstoke. Under Sochi’s dynamic and energetic leadership, our outreach to young people continues to develop and grow.

The Come and See (CAS) Children and Youth Ministry has experienced a remarkable year in 2025. Reflecting on this period, we are profoundly grateful to God for His continuous guidance and for using CAS to bless and inspire the children and young people of Oakley and beyond. We extend our heartfelt appreciation to our incredible volunteers, whose daily dedication, time, and energy sustain this vital ministry.

We also thank everyone within our church and community for your generous support, prayers, and encouragement. Your partnership is instrumental in enabling us to serve our children and youth effectively.

Weekly Outreach and Activities

Each week, CAS continues to reach numerous children and young people through the CAS Youth Café —an engaging outreach space designed for connection, conversation, and community building. We are thankful to see participation at the Youth Café expand to children from Oakley Infant School, Oakley CofE Primary School, and young people from various secondary schools, who drop in to connect and share.

Our midweek groups, CAS+ and TRIBE , have become vibrant hubs for discipleship, meaningful conversations, and fostering genuine community. Our volunteer community continues to grow and thrive, and we are grateful for everyone involved—those who dedicate their time, skills, homes, and resources to support CAS. This year, we hosted three volunteer training programs—

Youth Engagement and Community Partnerships

The GAP Youth Group continues to flourish, meeting every first Friday of the month. It provides a safe space for young people to connect, support one another, and grow in faith. The dedication of the GAP team has been instrumental in nurturing this vibrant community.

Our partnerships within the local community have strengthened our mission. Collaborations with local businesses, Oakley Methodist Chapel, and the Oakley Community Association (OCA) have played a significant role in supporting our youth initiatives. Additionally, The Community Food Link in Basingstoke and The Oakley Co-op have provided invaluable assistance by supplying food for our events.

AFRESH —a space dedicated to equipping and empowering our volunteers with the necessary skills and spiritual foundation.

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School Engagements

Our relationship with Oakley Church of England Junior School and Oakley Infant School remains strong. We actively participate in activities such as prayer spaces, Open the Book, collective worship, well-being clubs, school trips, and Religious Education support.

This year, children from Oakley Junior School participated in various projects with the Church of England, including a notable trip to Church House, London, where they and the CAS community led worship as part of the Growing Faith Strategic Leadership Program. The students also welcomed the new Bishop of Basingstoke, Bishop Kelly, at her welcome service at St Mary’s Church, Andover, demonstrating confidence, courage, and respect.

We sincerely appreciate the warm support from both teaching and non-teaching staff, which enables us to serve the students effectively.

Special Events & Prayer Ministry

The CAS Big Sunday outreach service has been a highlight since its inception. With over 60 participants at each session, these events have fostered community and spiritual growth. Notable sessions include Youth Alpha Big Sunday, Silent Disco, and Best Friends Night, all of which received enthusiastic participation and engagement.

Our events calendar has been packed with exciting activities—weekend trips, community outreach events, Who let the Dads Out, camps, outdoor hangouts, parties, and trampoline park visits—each designed to encourage fun, fellowship, and faith.

The CPR (CAS Prayer Room) has become a vital source of spiritual strength. Meeting monthly, our prayer group has experienced the power of collective prayer and witnessed answered prayers, thereby strengthening our faith community.

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Faith and Baptism

This year, we saw several young people grow deeply in their faith and walk with God. We continued to run discipleship spaces and Youth Alpha sessions. There has been a noticeable increase in interest regarding the knowledge of God, faith, and the Bible among the young people. We also witnessed a few children and youth baptisms and christenings this year, which fills our hearts with great joy.

Internship Program

This year, we launched the CAS Internship Program in partnership with the Church of England’s Ministry Experience Scheme. Alfie Wells joined us as our first intern, and it has been a privilege to support, train, and mentor him. Alfie has integrated seamlessly into our church community and has been a significant blessing to our team. We are grateful to the Diocese of Winchester and Christ Church Winchester for their support and partnership in this initiative.

Young Adults and Broader Engagement

The Young Adult Community, known as The Bridge , continues to thrive under the leadership of CJ, Dimitri, and Sochi. Their dedication encourages connection, spiritual growth, and mutual support among young adults.

We have also strengthened partnerships with various youth organizations across Basingstoke, facilitating joint sessions that promote relationship-building beyond our immediate community. Our collaborations include national organizations such as Youth Alpha, Urban Saints, Bunited, Youthscape, Growing Faith, the 30K Project, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, Rotary Sport UK, and the UK Parliament.

Looking Ahead

As we look to the future, we encourage everyone to continue praying for the children and youth of Oakley. Your ongoing support, love, and dedication are vital to our mission. Together, we are making a meaningful difference in the lives of young people and their families, nurturing faith, hope, and community.

Thank you for being an essential part of this journey.

Sochi Ezeanowai

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Who Let The Dads Out?

Who Let the Dads Out? continues to provide a friendly, informal space for dads and male carers to spend time with their children and connect with one another. The group meets monthly on the morning of the second Saturday and offers a relaxed atmosphere with coffee, bacon rolls, and plenty of conversation. This simple hospitality has helped create a welcoming environment where men feel comfortable chatting, sharing experiences, and building supportive relationships.

Children enjoy a range of activities, including games, crafts, toys, and the PlayStation, giving them a fun and engaging space while their dads have time to talk. The balance of adult conversation and children’s play remains one of the group’s strengths.

Attendance is currently small but steady. Awareness is gradually increasing through church notices and community word-of-mouth, and we hope to see numbers grow over the coming months as more families hear about the group. Our focus is not only on increasing attendance but also on deepening the sense of community among those who already come.

A small, committed team continues to run the sessions each month, preparing food, setting up activities, and welcoming newcomers. Their support is vital, and we are grateful for their ongoing dedication.

Looking ahead, we hope to continue strengthening our presence in the community and exploring opportunities to develop the group further. We remain thankful for the positive impact the group is already having and look forward to seeing it grow in the year ahead.

Tim Saunders

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Unlted Parish of Church Oakley with Wo¢)tton St Lawrence FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025 Charity Registration Number 1131064

CONTENTS Independent Examnerfs Report Statement of Financial Actsvilies Balan￿ Sheet Notes to the Financial Statements 6t09 "5"".'0:ti {J'.

Independent Examinerfs Report to the Trustees of Oakley with Wootton Parochial Church Council ("tha PCC") I report to the charity trustees on my examinalion of the accounts of the PCC for the year ended 31 December 2025. Responsibililies and basis of report As the charity's twstees of the PCC you a￿ responsible for the P￿paratIOn of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Chanties Act 2011 {'the 2011 ACV). Having satisfied myself that the acownts of th8 PCC are not required to be audited and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your Gharty's accounts as carr¢ed out under section 145 of the Act. In carrying oul my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Ccynmission under se¢aion 145{5) (b) of the Act. Independent •xamlnerf$ statomont I have completed my examination. I confimi that no matters have come to my attents.on in connection with the examination giving me c2U8e to believe.. 1. Accounting records were not kept in respect of the PCC as required by sec*ion 130 of the Act., or 2. The accA)unts do not accord with those records," or 3. The accounts do not comply wth the acwunting ￿uIreMents of the Charities (Accounts arKI Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that th8 aco)unts give a true and fair view which is not a matter consbjered a part of an independent examination., or 4. The accounts have not been Pfepared In aC￿rdance Wrth the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for a¢￿untIng aTrJ reporting by charities applicab to diarrties preparing their accounts m accordance vrtth the Finanaal Reportin9 Stsndard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland (FRS102}. I have no concems and have come across no other matters in ¢onnection with the examination to which attention shouhj drawn in this report in ord6r to enable a proper understsnding of the accounts to be reached. Paul Well Charterèd Certified Accountants South Building Upper Fam) Wootton St Lawren( Basingstoke Hampshire RG23 8PE gton FCCA, membershp n￿lber 1326429 16 March 2026

UNrtED PARISH OF CHURCH ¢MKLEYWTh 8TLARENCE STATEMEMT ￿ F￿NCIAL ACTIVtfES Fortho yearend•d 31st December 2026 Fund• 20(129 492 26,495 159 I￿ne from I￿￿￿4n1 I ILoses}cffl inwstrrAMs ¢JJi'. 14625 121 871 t47,￿1 130.584 31 429,417 hAcU 1.018 Cc•t¥ ta630 110.745. 3tt122 44•V J1 4170 . &138 31 34.1eo 1114 1.&15.42J ryl B•l•w Iv•Fd •t31 D•othb•r>)X 'jr-¢ 9 11tyi*LI:- 'r

UNffED PARISH OF CHURCH 1mKLEY¥￿TM W(X)TTON ST LAWRE14CE BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31ST DECEMBER 2026 Furn11 2026 2024 TOTAL FIX￿lAs￿ET8 7MiJ3 782,W5 CLW¢ENT ASSErs 13,810 ID,195 6.243 o.c4)0 51.815 T.315 166.( Cajh ai Bank ￿ In H¥ 75,J 211,t11 119S 56,053 LIAwunE8 ¢￿> -18.tg8 41,378 Er CUllJlENT ASJErs 638.877 LLIBIUMES lalh¥ y•v 477.412 1,441,T56 1,399,S82 PAPISH FUP ,341 764.K• 71.412 2.195 165,Q85 754.808 47e.e28 2.164 Urw1n¢￿). 10 Pft¥• Reslrfcted 47TA12 Ii•s 47T.412 Awth•J ty1h• PC£ ￿ 16 Ill Re¥d Ben K•utserlPCCOwlmMfyl I￿ ¢1) 6to9tm wrt ￿tr•￿e

UNifED PARISH OF CHURCH OAKLEYiwfH WCM)TTON ST LAWREMCE NOTES TO THE F￿NCIAL sTATE1￿14T8 Forthe Y￿rended 31stDeeember2026 ofk41aTrl IFRS 1ts21 llr•ovD1f1015). IO• SCW IFRS102JI Ilkl Cthitw ArA 2011 t￿18 are m•4 Tr4L staknts al Ar￿ li1￿1￿ tho PCC II Fund• FLwxlb n thxth. ¢YvkthmLO1 t•r•J •lhw LY ￿ Pctrs d&Tre¢ •ryn 8B l• d th• PCC ¢•1 T4x4tton cth￿¢h cAwch ¥￿1￿￿1 •f¥ pcc Mwut• I￿, •lr• in tr￿1 ty PCC. hilhth?PCCxthg lh• Acl. wrwy its Its. YLt4xI tvlhe £l.W) PwdW•*￿th •n l•Js 10

UNITED PARL8H OF eHUR¢H cWKLEYl￿MVKloTrON sr LAWREMCE WOTE8 TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ForthowrMd8d 31•tO•¢•mbor2028 1 AcCOUNTIMGPOUCIEsie4i￿dj IkMncl•l lo•Jihm•ni• b•rrt 4•ncylncwn• ExwnthJt• 2 INCOMING RESOLr<cui 21 lfftccffllr4 r•iutc••fr•m vthr ljd ottyn A¥•ltydty•y4w. it #l ltyn ti0.¥￿ (W25 t7,9)))*) 2b I￿Gcffl• Inwn•iM OJJ1 18.221 •Jl 2•.113 42.716 IiM55 2.179 41711 1Q 4121 171

UNITED PARISH CF CtrIURCH OAKLEYWtTri WIX)￿(￿l ST LAWRENCE NOTES TOTrIE FINANCIAL STATEl￿NTs Forth• y•ar•nd•d 31$t D•e•mbw2026 RESOURCES EXPENDED Unr••tri¢l•d R•trktrd Fund¥ Fund 2024 AdMOHDlr¢fjy R•l•lw (• 8&464 75,31 6,212 P•yrrJl ec•ts 11C¥)J 14,122 11.rxi) 15. 14.122 11410 3S.047 kJNJs m￿1￿} 28.276 5.177 I•J.62T 2173 241,016 Jb Gawrn•rK• J¢ Cothdf*¥km•l•JA¢lJ¥lll•• yY¢41 ee• 1CII,372 15,108 7,150 6.186 15, 141(8 7.19) hw prtr•chtsX c(•l• 110.746 STIFF COST8 10 18 170,439 . 167.825 4.100 3.442 1182 1N923 17S.1e7

UNrrED PARISH OF CHURCH OAKLEYwifH WOOThON ST LAWREMCE NOTES TO THE FINANCLAL STATEIENTS Forthe ye•rend8d 318tD•¢emb•r2026 FIXED A8SVS vn J Fltrys aTrJ Fltty5 and EquxTr)8nt Equpmw al l DèeThd A# at 151 202S 78.)fO 5,396. 1,59J AG at 31$1 C￿￿￿￿￿125 754. 7,6 A& at 131 Janwry 2 Cthwge kflhey•v Ao ai 3151 Cttirt• 5.2S5 1.538 8,7 75.791 4.170 79.961 n.1a Vau• Alt 31D1￿mb•￿1016 fvAatJlO•Mmb•i2024 n4lJ3 762.W)S T54.1 bdr6 Ils crt kn 2Cth Mi2022. Tr i•ccThl M adwniio Sl th Gwden flP•)N•ntAarre id Sl ￿1$ Ix¢ i• rYA w ￿tr￿ch￿ch wnKrod ftyJré8 The •rn• r4 0.7 •• ri b•£2$.￿ I t• rd•J IIW. It￿Idtr l•id, Sts eLVTrX m•¢t exc••J£7LUC DEBTORS 1132 ,6S7 3.837 ts Ir￿ Rtt&WJ• 14128 10,195 IES Amountsf•lllnq wlthln •th• y•r 1,633 ttrtlths to Cl￿ kJlr 11,5 4.170 1419$ ANownt•tslllffj du• •Iknr*￿ y••r PARISH FUND8 STRUCTURE, OOVERNA¥CEM4D IAA¥IGEMEI

Unlted Parish of Church Oakley with Wo¢)tton St Lawrence FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025 Charity Registration Number 1131064

CONTENTS Independent Examnerfs Report Statement of Financial Actsvilies Balan￿ Sheet Notes to the Financial Statements 6t09 "5"".'0:ti {J'.

Independent Examinerfs Report to the Trustees of Oakley with Wootton Parochial Church Council ("tha PCC") I report to the charity trustees on my examinalion of the accounts of the PCC for the year ended 31 December 2025. Responsibililies and basis of report As the charity's twstees of the PCC you a￿ responsible for the P￿paratIOn of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Chanties Act 2011 {'the 2011 ACV). Having satisfied myself that the acownts of th8 PCC are not required to be audited and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your Gharty's accounts as carr¢ed out under section 145 of the Act. In carrying oul my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Ccynmission under se¢aion 145{5) (b) of the Act. Independent •xamlnerf$ statomont I have completed my examination. I confimi that no matters have come to my attents.on in connection with the examination giving me c2U8e to believe.. 1. Accounting records were not kept in respect of the PCC as required by sec*ion 130 of the Act., or 2. The accA)unts do not accord with those records," or 3. The accounts do not comply wth the acwunting ￿uIreMents of the Charities (Accounts arKI Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that th8 aco)unts give a true and fair view which is not a matter consbjered a part of an independent examination., or 4. The accounts have not been Pfepared In aC￿rdance Wrth the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for a¢￿untIng aTrJ reporting by charities applicab to diarrties preparing their accounts m accordance vrtth the Finanaal Reportin9 Stsndard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland (FRS102}. I have no concems and have come across no other matters in ¢onnection with the examination to which attention shouhj drawn in this report in ord6r to enable a proper understsnding of the accounts to be reached. Paul Well Charterèd Certified Accountants South Building Upper Fam) Wootton St Lawren( Basingstoke Hampshire RG23 8PE gton FCCA, membershp n￿lber 1326429 16 March 2026

UNrtED PARISH OF CHURCH ¢MKLEYWTh 8TLARENCE STATEMEMT ￿ F￿NCIAL ACTIVtfES Fortho yearend•d 31st December 2026 Fund• 20(129 492 26,495 159 I￿ne from I￿￿￿4n1 I ILoses}cffl inwstrrAMs ¢JJi'. 14625 121 871 t47,￿1 130.584 31 429,417 hAcU 1.018 Cc•t¥ ta630 110.745. 3tt122 44•V J1 4170 . &138 31 34.1eo 1114 1.&15.42J ryl B•l•w Iv•Fd •t31 D•othb•r>)X 'jr-¢ 9 11tyi*LI:- 'r

UNffED PARISH OF CHURCH 1mKLEY¥￿TM W(X)TTON ST LAWRE14CE BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31ST DECEMBER 2026 Furn11 2026 2024 TOTAL FIX￿lAs￿ET8 7MiJ3 782,W5 CLW¢ENT ASSErs 13,810 ID,195 6.243 o.c4)0 51.815 T.315 166.( Cajh ai Bank ￿ In H¥ 75,J 211,t11 119S 56,053 LIAwunE8 ¢￿> -18.tg8 41,378 Er CUllJlENT ASJErs 638.877 LLIBIUMES lalh¥ y•v 477.412 1,441,T56 1,399,S82 PAPISH FUP ,341 764.K• 71.412 2.195 165,Q85 754.808 47e.e28 2.164 Urw1n¢￿). 10 Pft¥• Reslrfcted 47TA12 Ii•s 47T.412 Awth•J ty1h• PC£ ￿ 16 Ill Re¥d Ben K•utserlPCCOwlmMfyl I￿ ¢1) 6to9tm wrt ￿tr•￿e

UNifED PARISH OF CHURCH OAKLEYiwfH WCM)TTON ST LAWREMCE NOTES TO THE F￿NCIAL sTATE1￿14T8 Forthe Y￿rended 31stDeeember2026 ofk41aTrl IFRS 1ts21 llr•ovD1f1015). IO• SCW IFRS102JI Ilkl Cthitw ArA 2011 t￿18 are m•4 Tr4L staknts al Ar￿ li1￿1￿ tho PCC II Fund• FLwxlb n thxth. ¢YvkthmLO1 t•r•J •lhw LY ￿ Pctrs d&Tre¢ •ryn 8B l• d th• PCC ¢•1 T4x4tton cth￿¢h cAwch ¥￿1￿￿1 •f¥ pcc Mwut• I￿, •lr• in tr￿1 ty PCC. hilhth?PCCxthg lh• Acl. wrwy its Its. YLt4xI tvlhe £l.W) PwdW•*￿th •n l•Js 10

UNITED PARL8H OF eHUR¢H cWKLEYl￿MVKloTrON sr LAWREMCE WOTE8 TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ForthowrMd8d 31•tO•¢•mbor2028 1 AcCOUNTIMGPOUCIEsie4i￿dj IkMncl•l lo•Jihm•ni• b•rrt 4•ncylncwn• ExwnthJt• 2 INCOMING RESOLr<cui 21 lfftccffllr4 r•iutc••fr•m vthr ljd ottyn A¥•ltydty•y4w. it #l ltyn ti0.¥￿ (W25 t7,9)))*) 2b I￿Gcffl• Inwn•iM OJJ1 18.221 •Jl 2•.113 42.716 IiM55 2.179 41711 1Q 4121 171

UNITED PARISH CF CtrIURCH OAKLEYWtTri WIX)￿(￿l ST LAWRENCE NOTES TOTrIE FINANCIAL STATEl￿NTs Forth• y•ar•nd•d 31$t D•e•mbw2026 RESOURCES EXPENDED Unr••tri¢l•d R•trktrd Fund¥ Fund 2024 AdMOHDlr¢fjy R•l•lw (• 8&464 75,31 6,212 P•yrrJl ec•ts 11C¥)J 14,122 11.rxi) 15. 14.122 11410 3S.047 kJNJs m￿1￿} 28.276 5.177 I•J.62T 2173 241,016 Jb Gawrn•rK• J¢ Cothdf*¥km•l•JA¢lJ¥lll•• yY¢41 ee• 1CII,372 15,108 7,150 6.186 15, 141(8 7.19) hw prtr•chtsX c(•l• 110.746 STIFF COST8 10 18 170,439 . 167.825 4.100 3.442 1182 1N923 17S.1e7

UNrrED PARISH OF CHURCH OAKLEYwifH WOOThON ST LAWREMCE NOTES TO THE FINANCLAL STATEIENTS Forthe ye•rend8d 318tD•¢emb•r2026 FIXED A8SVS vn J Fltrys aTrJ Fltty5 and EquxTr)8nt Equpmw al l DèeThd A# at 151 202S 78.)fO 5,396. 1,59J AG at 31$1 C￿￿￿￿￿125 754. 7,6 A& at 131 Janwry 2 Cthwge kflhey•v Ao ai 3151 Cttirt• 5.2S5 1.538 8,7 75.791 4.170 79.961 n.1a Vau• Alt 31D1￿mb•￿1016 fvAatJlO•Mmb•i2024 n4lJ3 762.W)S T54.1 bdr6 Ils crt kn 2Cth Mi2022. Tr i•ccThl M adwniio Sl th Gwden flP•)N•ntAarre id Sl ￿1$ Ix¢ i• rYA w ￿tr￿ch￿ch wnKrod ftyJré8 The •rn• r4 0.7 •• ri b•£2$.￿ I t• rd•J IIW. It￿Idtr l•id, Sts eLVTrX m•¢t exc••J£7LUC DEBTORS 1132 ,6S7 3.837 ts Ir￿ Rtt&WJ• 14128 10,195 IES Amountsf•lllnq wlthln •th• y•r 1,633 ttrtlths to Cl￿ kJlr 11,5 4.170 1419$ ANownt•tslllffj du• •Iknr*￿ y••r PARISH FUND8 STRUCTURE, OOVERNA¥CEM4D IAA¥IGEMEI