## THE DEANERY CHURCH OF ST MARY THE VIRGIN, BOCKING |**Parish Office:**|St Mary’s Church Office,| |---|---| ||Church Street,| ||Bocking,| ||Braintree| ||CM7 5JY| |**Incumbent:**|The Very Reverend Canon Rod Reid,| ||The Deanery,| ||59 Bridle Crescent,| ||Bocking,| ||Essex| ||CM7 5XY| |**Bank:**|Barclays Bank PLC,| ||Bank Street,| ||Braintree,| ||Essex.| |**Independent Examiner**:|Jan Stobart| The Parochial Church Council (P.C.C.) of the Ecclesiastical Parish of St Mary the Virgin, Bocking is registered with the Charity Commission. Registered No. 1131205 ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL For the year ending 31[st] December 2025 # **THE DEANERY CHURCH OF ST MARY THE VIRGIN, BOCKING** # **THE ANNUAL VESTRY** # **and ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL MEETINGS May 17[th] 2026** # **11:15am** ## _**AGENDA**_ ## **ANNUAL VESTRY MEETING** **1. Minutes of the Annual Vestry Meeting 2025** **2. Election of Churchwardens (2) for one year** ## **ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING** **1. Minutes of the Annual Parochial Church Meeting 2025** **2. Matters arising** **3. Elections: a) Parochial Church Council members (3)** **b) Deanery Synod** - **c) Sides people** - **d) Appointment of Independent Examiner** - **e) Appointment of Parish Safeguarding Officers** **4. Reports: a) Annual Accounts year ending 31[st] December 2025** _**(Pgs 14-18)**_ - **b) Electoral Roll Officer’s report** _**(Pg 8)**_ - **c) PCC report** _**(Pgs 9 & 10)**_ **d) Churchwardens’ Fabric report** _**(Pgs 5 & 6)**_ **e) Church organisations’ reports** _**(Pgs 6 & 8)**_ - **f) The Dean’s Reflections** _**(Pgs 11 & 12)**_ **& Deanery Report** _**(Pgs 9)**_ 2 ## **The Deanery Church of St Mary the Virgin, Bocking** **Minutes of the Annual Vestry meeting – May 18[th] 2025** |**Item**|**Notes**| |---|---| |Welcome|Fr. Rod opened the meeting at 11:32am and welcomed everyone.
Present: 29 Apologies: 10| |1.
Minutes
19.05.2024|The proposal to accept the minutes was made by Nicola Jaynes and seconded
by Graham Shaw. There were no abstentions or votes against.
**All in favour.**| |2.
Appointment
of
Churchwardens|Fr. Rod expressed his gratitude for the support given by both Wardens over the
past year. The appointment of Churchwardens for 2024-25: Gill Hunt and
Stephen Johnson, both having been duly proposed and seconded in accordance
with requiredprocedures,were voted in byallpresent for theyear.| **Minutes of the Annual Parochial Church Council meeting – May 18[th] 2025** |**Item**|**Notes**| |---|---| |Welcome|Fr. Rod (RR) opened the meeting at 11:38 am.
Present: 29 Apologies: 10| |1.Minutes
19.05.2024|The proposal to accept the minutes was made by Gill Hunt and seconded by
Alysson Nolan. There were no abstentions or votes against.**All in favour.**| |2.Matters
arising|A.O.B b) new hymn books – still waiting for the large print copies and electronic
versions to be published.
c) sound system and cameras – the previous quote is out of time. A new quote
will be sought and published for people to consider contributing towards the
cost.
d) flowers – AL reported that the additional funds raised during the year
combined with economies haveproved helpful over theyear.| |3. Elections|a) The election of 3 members to sit on the**PCC for the term**2025-2028 –
Amy Barrett, Monica Cook and Ann Shaw, having been duly proposed and
seconded in accordance with required procedures, were voted in by all
present.
b) **Deanery Synod**– Isabel Adcock, having resigned from St. Mary’s PCC is no
longer one of our Deanery Synod representatives.
c) The election of**Sidespersons**: RR thanked everyone who volunteers for this
vital role, commenting that ‘they make such a difference’ All of those who had
agreed to remain on or volunteered to join the rota, were nominated by RR and
seconded by Nicola Jaynes and voted in by all present.
d) The appointment of an**Independent Examiner**: The PCC is very grateful for
the support of Jan Stobart FCCA, who has agreed to continue in the role of
Independent Examiner at St. Mary’s, having been nominated by RR and
seconded by Monica Cook.
There were no abstentions or votes against.**All in favour.**| 3 |**Item**|**Notes**| |---|---| ||e) The election of the**Safeguarding**– Responsible Officers: Nicola Jaynes and
Alysson Nolan being nominated by Pat Thomas and seconded by Irene Brewer.
The PCC is very grateful to them for ensuring we are up to date in fulfilling our
legal responsibilities as legislative changes over time.**All in favour.**| |4.2024
Reports|a) Churchwardens’**Fabric Report for the Church**: can be found on p.5 of the
Annual Report document.
**Hall**- p.7 GS reported that lettings continue to be strong. There is a rolling
programme of repairs and improvements, most recently to the heating.
Grants for repairs totalling £6-7000 are being sought.
TE asked whether checks for legionella are up to date? NJ will follow up.
b) **Reports from Church organisations and Deanery Synod**: can be found on
pages 6-8 of the Annual Report.
c) **Electoral Roll**: as reported on p8 of the Annual Report by Monica Cook,
Electoral Roll Officer. The Electoral Roll currently stands at 127 people, 57%
of whom are resident in the Parish.
d) **Deanery Synod**: report can be found on pages 8&9 of the Annual Report.
The work of the Deanery Synod and issues considered over the year are
detailed, amongst them being the success of its proposal to bring about a
Code of Conduct for Parochial Church Councils, advocated by The Rev’s Dr.
Sara Batts-Neale at the General Synod in February.
**e) PCC**: All members of the PCC are required to complete the CoE Safeguarding
courses to the level specified by their role. Safeguarding matters, building
maintenance, special events and outreach activities are regular agenda
items. Average attendance by members at the six meetings of the PCC held
in 2024 was 60%.
**The Dean’s reflections on his 10th year at St. Mary’s:**RR expressed his
gratitude to all for their hard work and the commitment of so much of their
own time to the many ways in which they support the life of the Church, e.g.
continued attendance at Church services; offering Home Communion
services; the monthly Junior Church; Flower and Christmas Tree Festivals;
the Fellowship;the Friends & the increasingly popular FriendlyFridayCafé.| |4f) Annual
Accounts for
the year
ending Dec
31st2024|Fr. Rod expressed his thanks to Sheila Johnson for her management of the
Church’s finances in her role of Treasurer and for devoting a lot of time to the
role. He went on to present the**Annual Accounts,**p. 13-17, produced by Sheila
and examined by the Independent Examiner, Jan Stobart FCCA, giving details of
the various accounts listed in the Annual Report.
**Total Income**in 2024 equalled £120,224.03 (£104,101.12 in 2023) which
included designated and restricted amounts of £18,025.89 plus the Dean
Roger’s Fabric Fund investment unit value of £257,222.70. Although appearing
to be a lot less than in 2023 (which was a catch-up amount from the previous
year), the regular quarterly returns on**Gift Aid submissions**(£7-8000 pa) are
veryhelpful in keepingourgeneral funds in credit.| 4 |**Item**|**Notes**| |---|---| ||**Total expenditure**was £113,597.02 (£136,839.41 in 2023) including payment of
Parish Share in full at over £57,662.52 for the year. Investments suffered a
£40.17 loss.
**Carry forward**= £398,267.14 from 2024 (£385,783.55 in 2023).
The**Adoption of the Accounts**was proposed by Graham Shaw and seconded by
Jacqui Hogger.**All in favour.**
**Question**from J.D-S: a) Would it benefit the Church to move to EDF for the
electricity provision as there is an offer of free electricity on Sundays?
**Answer:**This suggestion will be passed on to the Treasurer.
**Question**from T.D-S: b) Would it encourage more people to stay for the
Financial Report if it were moved up the agenda to be the first?
**Answer:**RR agreed do this for the next APCM.| |A.O.B.|None| |Closure of the
meeting|There being no further questions, Fr. Rod thanked everyone for attending and
closed the meeting at 12:40 pm.| ## _**CHURCHWARDENS’ FABRIC REPORT 2025**_ The church is a Grade 1 listed building. As noted in our 2024 Fabric Report the Quinquennial Report (QR) advised that the church is “generally in very good condition apart from some minor maintenance work.” The Annual Register of Services and Overhauls records that all of our responsibilities are either up to date or actively in hand. This applies to both the Church building and the Hall. This record is available on request. ## Church Maintenance We have followed the (QR) recommendations to ensure the clearing of hopper heads down pipes and gullies, however this is an iterative seasonal task. The church doors have received a weatherproofing treatment of Tung Oil on their external faces and frames. The Bees were not in evidence this year which was a welcome relief. The Priest’s gravel path was re-surfaced with a tonne of new pea shingle. ## New Church Asset The Digital Giving Device acquired in 2025 has been upgraded. It now records Gift Aid automatically when a donation is given for the second time and from the same card. It is no longer necessary to enter the Doner’s Gift Aid details more than once. Donations for the year 2025 were £3340 including direct Gift Aid. ## Church Faculties In the Spring of 2025 we focused on the works detailed in the Faculty relating to the Garden of Remembrance where ashes are interred. [Please refer to :Bocking: St Mary the Virgin (608421): Notification of DAC Advice ref 2023-081442]. The works were concluded on planting day 25/03/2025. Watering and maintenance continued through the very dry summer and we are most grateful to each member of the numerous working parties that carried out the work and maintenance. We are delighted with the outcome. The area was extended to align with the east wall of the Sanctuary. The old hedging was replaced with a Diocesan Approved hedging type. This work revealed that there is an electricity cable running parallel with and almost under the hedge line. The cable continues to the driveway of Bocking Hall. This is the main feed for the church. The cable line is not straight and was laid to avoid the tomb foundations en-route. Further work to re-level and upgrade the area is ongoing. The aim is to provide an appropriately dignified resting place that will continue to be maintained by Braintree Council, to a proper standard. 5 Attention is drawn to the detail of the requirements in the faculty which states that the ‘Churchyard Policy’ must be revised within a year . The Authentication date was 06/08/2024. The Diocesan Advisory Committee’s recommendation for acceptance reinforces the Diocesan Rules relating to Churchyards particularly including the proviso, that “the use of artificial flowers, temporary markers, vases etc. is to be disallowed”. The PCC will revise the Churchyard Policy sensitively and pragmatically, recognizing the need of our parishioners to lay floral tributes but maintaining compliance with the DAC requirements. ## Church Hall Fabric Report The Hall Windows: On the West and South gable elevations the windows have been refurbished. The professional carpenter and painter Mr. Matt Blaney repaired and repainted the window and door timbers in early Spring. There is further restoration and repainting work to do on the remainder of the Hall windows however, this work is restricted by the absence of available funds. We were able to make double use of the access scaffold that we had to hire for Mr. Blaney in that we had a specialist window restorer examine the Samuel Courtauld window. The Samuel Courtauld Window: Expert examination revealed that it was at a critical point in its condition and was removed in its entirety for safekeeping and restoration. The glass element needs to be restored/ rebuilt and the original oval window frame also needs to be re-made. The anticipated cost of the refurbishment and refitting work is in the order of £8.5k. Hall Heating: The gas supply has been disconnected. Following the C of E guidance and direction we have moved away from fossil fuel and we are now fully electric and supplied by renewable electricity. As a result the gas cooker was replaced by an induction cooker. The old hot air heating from floor level was replaced by infrared heaters at ceiling level. Hall Fire: On the 31st of October a fire was discovered in the hall ceiling at around 08:30am. The local Fire Brigade put the fire out and the insurance company was informed. The hall was unusable through to the end of the year. The following three months to Christmas involved frequent communication with the active parties i.e. Loss Adjuster, Surveyors, Forensic Investigators, Forensic Accountants, Structural Engineers, Building Contractor, Materials Suppliers and not least the Diocesan appointed Architect as our Project Manager. The aim was to resume use of the hall at the earliest time thus restoring the facility which is frequently used by many in our local community. The Churchwardens on behalf of St. Mary’s PCC ## _**CHURCH ORGANISATIONS**_ ## _**ST MARY’S FELLOWSHIP GROUP 2025**_ The Fellowship group has had another wonderful year welcoming church members, friends and many from the village to our monthly meetings. We had 10 meetings with a wide range of talks. In June, we had a wonderful coach trip to Rutland Water, everyone had a fantastic time. Sadly, due to the fire in the Church Hall we had to rethink how best to hold our sessions. In November we transferred the meeting to the Church which was lovely but a little cold. Then in December we were delighted to be able to meet at Bocking Bowls Club for our Christmas party. The team there have been so welcoming, a particular thanks to Sharon for arranging everything. Don’t forget, our sessions are open to everyone, and we would love to see you, every third Thursday in the month. Ann Lanham ## _**ST MARY’S BELL RINGERS 2025**_ St Mary’s Guild is part of the Northern District, one of five districts of The Essex Association of Church Bellringers which in turn is part of the Central Council of Church Bell-ringers. 6 We are fortunate enough to have a ring of 10 bells (the majority of village churches has 8, 6 or fewer), the heaviest of which is 18 cwt. or 914kg. They were augmented from 8 in 1973 after many years of fund-raising by the then band of ringers. Sadly, now we rarely ring the 10, usually managing 8 ringers for Sunday service and frequently insufficient attendees for our Thursday practice night. However, we gather bands for weddings and other special occasions but sometimes have to rely on help from other local towers. While our Steeple-Keeper/Ringing Master (Alan May) and other ringers undertake ongoing maintenance of our bells regularly we have discovered that work by skilled bell hangers needs to be done to prevent damage, repair existing damage and to improve the “bell-handling” to help make them easier to ring. Some of the urgent work has already been done and some is planned but if we are to contract experts then the costs are prohibitive and we would need to do some serious fund-raising and may need your help. If you would like further information or want to “have-a –go” please contact Alan May, on 01376 345290, or 07935344038, or just come up and see us in the ringing room when you next hear the bells ringing. We would love to see you soon. This last year we rang at several weddings, had welcomed visiting bands. Ringing practise has now become once a month on a Thursday but this has helped increase numbers. ## _**FRIENDS OF ST MARY’S REPORT 2025**_ Where does the time go, another year has passed but another year where the Friends of St Mary’s have continued to develop the fellowship and friendship within our community and raise funds to support the fabric of St Mary’s Church. As last year, we started the year with the AGM, a free afternoon tea for all catered by our fantastic committee. That was followed by the usual array of events, including the promised Barn Dance which proved a great success. Many of the events will be returning in 2026. All of our events were well supported and all raised money to help look after and improve our buildings. All in all, a great year of fundraising and entertainment and we thank all our Friends members and supporters for their generous support throughout the year The Friends committee has also been really helpful in assisting with a number of events that weren’t necessarily Friends events. We’ve used some of our hard-earned money this year, contributing to the re-ordering of the Garden of Remembrance, assisting with the costs of external repairs and redecoration of the Hall and the costs of moving away from the continually failing gas heating to more sustainable electric heating. As usual we have another great year of entertainment planned with concerts, a quiz, the harvest supper and other fantastic social events for your entertainment. I am continually grateful for the help and support of the Friends committee without whom none of this would be possible. Graham Shaw for the Executive Committee Friends of St Mary’s ## _**CHURCH HALL REPORT 2025**_ The year started off with the lets going well. Toddlers, Bocking Creates, Fellowship and Friendly Friday all thriving. Pilates, A&M Dancing, Martial Arts, Ninjutsu, Rainbows, Brownies and Scouts are still hiring the Hall on regular lets. Rainbows and Brownies and Scouts now pay us once a year which is good for cash flow. We still hire the hall out to baptism and childrens parties, but no adult parties booked. During the Spring, it was decided to install new heating so that we could become all electric as the gas proved to be so expensive. This work then took place over the Summer. To further make the transition from gas to electric as smooth as possible, the Friends purchased a new cooker, and Friendly Friday purchased the special saucepans. On 31[st] October a fire was discovered in the hall ceiling which unfortunately closed the hall for the remainder of the year, a situation that will continue into 2026. Fortunately, our insurers have covered the vast majority of the repairs and recompensed us for earning and income lost. Unfortunately, in late 2025 we were informed that we had lost the Hall hire by the Scouts who were looking to making savings by moving to a smaller venue. We are looking forward to a new and successful year in 2026. Ann Shaw, Church Hall Secretary 7 ## _**FRIENDLY FRIDAY CAFÉ 2025**_ Another busy year in the life of the Friendly Friday Café, as well as some frustrating times towards the end of the year due to a fire in the hall. We continued to see to see a regular number of clients enjoying the café, up to 35 and on occasions nearly 40. Our local Alms House residents are an integral part of the Café life. They continue to enjoy joining us. Through attendance they interact with our regular attendees and gain a greater feel of being part of the local community. When the Café was closed, they really missed coming. The Café continues to run every Friday from 12noon until 2.30 and is free. Now having the freezer ensures that advantage can be taken with supermarket offers and in the hotter weather ice creams can be offered. A variety of hot drinks can be made throughout the session as well as squash, plenty of biscuits are available at all times. Lunch is served from 12.30pm to 1.30pm with the addition of fresh fruit, yogurts and other desserts. From 1.30pm onwards a variety of cakes are available. and on occasion homemade cakes which have been kindly donated. We are very conscious of dietary needs; we try to never have foods that contain nuts but always keep the packaging to show, should anyone ask. We continue to offer varied lunch options, soup and rolls, jacket potatoes, toasted sandwiches, beans/ spaghetti on toast and pasties also quiche and salad. The Café is not funded, those attending decided to make donations each week, which are used to buy provisions for future weeks. There is a short break for Easter and Christmas periods. A slightly longer break is had in the summer months. In March 2025 the Café had a unexpected and unannounced visit from Environmental Health Officer (EVHO) from Braintree District Council. The EVHO stayed for the whole session inspecting the Food Handling and Preparation. At the end of the inspection we were awarded a 5 Star rating, this was a real boost for the workers. Sarah and Trina from Three Counties have come and joined us, serving food and talking with everyone in Café. We are grateful to their support. A shorter Café was held in December for those able to attend. It was held in the Church, tea and coffee was offered and with a ‘picnic plate’ as well as a small raffle . It was lovely to see those able to attend a keep in touch. Café continues to welcome everyone each Friday. It’s promoted through Social Media Posters and word of mouth. Come and see us, even if it’s just a coffee and chat. We would love to see you. ## _**JUNIOR CHURCH**_ We have had 10 sessions of Junior Church in 2025, across the year welcoming some new younger ones too. As well as our monthly sessions we have been active in fundraising too. Raising funds to Toilet Twin each of the three toilets in the Church Hall, as well as buying material for the improvement of the children’s area. The sessions have been run and supported by Amy, Miriam and Nicola with support from Jacqui for our Eco Church work. There have been a few firsts too, we put on a very enjoyable Nativity and created and ran our first Teddy Bear’s Picnic and Parachute jump which was so successful, it will be back in 2026! ## _**ST MARY’S CHURCH ELECTORAL ROLL OFFICER REPORT 2025/26**_ The Electoral Roll has been renewed in accordance with the Church Representation Rules. The Roll at April 2025 consisted of a total of 127 persons. 57% (72) of these are resident in the Parish 43% (55) are non-resident The Electoral Roll has been renewed in accordance with the Church Representation Rules. The Roll at April 2026 consists of a total of 134 persons. 56% (76) of these are resident in the Parish 44% (58) are non-resident Monica Cook on behalf of St Mary’s P.C.C. 8 ## _**BRAINTREE DEANERY**_ Braintree Deanery Synod is a council of church members drawn mainly from the clergy and congregations in each of the Deanery’s parishes. It provides the communication link between congregations, the Diocese of Chelmsford and the Church of England nationally. During 2025, St Mary’s Bocking was represented in the House of Clergy by The Very Rev’d Canon Rod Reid and in the House of Laity by Dr Celia Coulson, Jacqui Hogger, and Isabel Adcock (Isabel alter stepping back from the role during the year). The Synod met three times, chaired jointly by the Area Dean, The Very Rev’d Canon Rod Reid, Assistant Area Dean, The Rev’d Alex Shannon, and the Joint Lay Chair, Canon John Turton. Meetings held in February and October in St Michael’s Church Braintree, and in July at Black Notley Church. Issues considered in 2025 - Chaplaincy role at Wethersfield Asylum Reception Centre. The present Chaplain announced that she was stepping back in May. During the Summer a new appointment was made in The Rev’d Katy Hacker Hughes. She will be continued to support Christians on the site. - Difficulties in recruiting volunteers, churchwardens and church officers. We looked at some next steps to support how we can do this better. - Building on our mission planning, we identified some key themes and areas to focus on. One of the most significant for the Denery is our work with Children and Families. - We welcomed Steve Hasler, Building Officer, in the Saffron Waldon Deanery. Following his presentation we discussed whether this is a role we could replicate or at least be inspired by for our own Deanery. - Updates to each meeting on environmental matters, with many Deanery Churches either working towards an Eco Church award or having already obtained one. - Regular reports of proceedings at Diocesan Synod and General Synod, and updates on news and events from parishes across the Deanery. The Very Revd Rod Reid, May 2026 ## **Membership of the Parochial Church Council** Members of the PCC are either ex officio, are elected by the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (ACPM) in accordance with the Church Representation Rules or co-opted for a set term. Ex Officio Members Revd. Roderick Reid Dean of Bocking Revd. Dr. Ian Mitchell Associate Priest – resigned February 2026 Gillian Hunt Churchwardens May 2025-26 Stephen Johnson Isabel Adcock resigned May 2025 General & Deanery Synod Rep Celia Coulson Jacqui Hogger Deanery Synod Reps 2024-2026 Sheila Johnson Treasurer Nicola Jaynes Safeguarding Officer Alysson Nolan Assistant Safeguarding Officer Joanna Mallows PCC Secretary 9 Elected Members Amy Barrett Monica Cook until May 2028 Ann Shaw Irene Brewer until May 2027 Joanna Mallows Alysson Nolan Paul Nolan until May 2026 Graham Shaw The PCC operates through meetings of all its members and through Standing Committee meetings occasionally between PCC meetings. This committee consists of the Priest in Charge, the Wardens, the Treasurer and PCC Secretary. It has power to transact business of the Council between meetings. ## **PCC Meetings** The Church Council met 5 times for business meetings during 2025, with average attendance of 66%. All PCC members are required to complete Church of England Safeguarding courses. Financial matters, Safeguarding matters, maintenance of the Church building, special events and outreach activities, are among regular agenda items for discussion. ## _**The Church**_ We continue to be dedicated to using St Mary’s Church in the most creative ways we can to worship God and draw others to him through the ministries of stewardship, prayer, teaching and welcome. In 2025, the PCC made the difficult decision to conclude our link with St Mary’s, Newala. Since the death of Dr Lawi Issa it has been impossible to maintain a link, despite repeated and determined attempts to do so. This led the PCC to conclude that bringing the link to a formal end would be right. We continue to keep St Mary’s Newala and the wider church in our prayers. ## _**General Finance**_ In the year 2025, we again met our obligations to the Diocese and parish in full and as usual, the Gift Aid Scheme has continued to benefit our work considerably. We are grateful to those who have completed a Gift Aid Declaration for their giving and to all who contribute regularly and generously through Standing Orders and Weekly Envelopes. If you are a Tax Payer we cannot afford for you not to be in the Gift Aid Scheme! ## _**Dean Rogers Million Penny Fund**_ St Mary’s Church continues to be grateful to the Dean Rogers Million Penny Fund for the payment of the Insurance Premium, details of which are included in the accounts. In what has been a very difficult year, not least financially, these funds were even more important. ## _**Grateful Thanks**_ The P.C.C. wishes to thank the many, too numerous to mention by name, whose hard work and dedication has meant another successful year for St Mary’s Church. We continue to thrive and flourish only because so much is done by so many people in a huge variety of ways and we truly value the contributions made by each and every one. Without so much being done to clean and decorate the Church, provide flowers, music, singing, bells, pastoral care, ministry to the sick and bereaved, take minutes, make coffee, soup and many other meals our parish and its fellowship would be the poorer. 10 ## **THE DEAN’S REFLECTIONS** Firstly, let me say how thankful I am to continue serving this wonderful parish and church. In some ways, it is rather overwhelming that this is my 12[th] APCM report, time really does fly by! A special thanks to all those who work so hard behind the scenes, and in a multitude of ways, it is very much appreciated. We need to be a team, and I am glad to say it very much feels like we are a team too. Looking back on 2025, it feels that the first part of the year seemed to race away. For us as a family we were getting used to being in our new home, and for the parish it was about focusing on those things that we do so well. The events continued through the Friends, as well as brilliant one-off events like the stargazing evening which was also well attended. Our Lent Course took a different tact as I attempted answer your questions on faith, the church, and how we live in this rather fractured and overwhelming world today. It was great fun and something maybe to be repeated. One of our continued areas of work is always our finances. Running St Mary’s is costly, we need to raise around £120,000 every year, and that is simply to balance the books. So every collection, donation and fundraiser makes a difference, every legacy or one-off gift also helps. To support that work the Treasurer, one of the wardens and myself undertook some training from the Diocesan Finance team using a package called Cornerstone. It provided really useful insights, we came away with an action plan which included a stewardship event in the Autumn, and a desire to run our Gift Day again, both of which people really responded to which is encouraging. We have continued with regular events too, including a beautiful and moving Holy Week, our Flower Festival and May Day celebrations dovetailed with VE Day commemorations, and then in June we had another successful Bocking Bake Off, supported by the Friends, and with Bocking Concert Brass in attendance too. During the late Spring and into early summer plans for my forthcoming Sabbatical were well advanced. As part of that, the PCC approved a new Parish Administrator role, working 9 hours a week, ideally Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. We were particularly anxious that we may not get many applicants, so then pleasantly surprised to receive a really good number. Shortlisting and interviews followed that led to the appointment of Laura Hodge as our new administrator. There was a small time of handover which did help but it has been a steep learning curve. Laura has been a fantastic addition to the team, supporting the daily admin tasks and also making sure we keep the website and social media up to date. This has been really successful and had a great impact getting our events, regular services as well as anything else out to the widest possible audience. This is certainly something we want to continue to build on through the rest of the year and into 2026. Through July and August, I stepped back from parish ministry into a time of sabbatical. This was an opportunity for study leave, additional reading, and also time with the family. As I shared upon my return this very much felt like a gift, and I was, and remain grateful for that. Thankfully, all the preparations beforehand really helped make sure everything ran smoothly. I am thankful for colleagues near and far who covered services, and especially appreciative of the team here at St Mary’s who welcomed those colleagues, put them at ease, and kept on top of rotas, dealt with any last-minute changes and more. All of which meant that there were no problems and it was all very painless. In September, I was back fully in role once again, and there was plenty to be positive about. Not least with the growing children’s ministry. The new area in church for children, full of resources and things for them to do was proving very successful, not just on Sundays but for any visitors too. Junior Church had planned a Teddy Bears’ Picnic for the end of September which exceeded everyone’s expectations. The Junior Church team put such a lot of effort into it and so to see lots of new families coming along and enjoying it was great. Nearly 30 teddies braved the heights of the church tower and took flight, all safely landing! Junior Church has continued to grow through the year and it was a delight as they led their own take on the Nativity just before Christmas. 11 In those Autumn months, it was also wonderful to welcome new faces to church, over a few weeks we counted 26 new people, so a significant number. Have they all regularly attended since? No, but many have stayed and been wonderfully welcomed, so thank you. For St Mary’s to continue to flourish we need to keep welcoming new people, and I hope this is something we can continue to focus on in the coming year too. As well as reaching out further, we also needed to continue to support those who come to church in developing and nurturing their own faith, so it was wonderful not only see 6 candidates confirmed in October, but to host the service on behalf of the Deanery too. As part of this ongoing commitment to support people on their journey of faith, Stepping Stones courses will continue, and we will also launch Alpha in 2026. In amongst all this positive news, we did of course have the devastating situation with the Church Hall fire. Thankfully, it was discovered quickly, and while significant damage was caused it could have been much, much worse. Some planned events could be relocated but it became inevitable that we just needed to adapt to not having the use of the space. Thankfully, works commenced in early 2026 and we will be back in soon. The rest of the Autumn saw us host Heritage Open Day again, a very successful All Souls service, and of course lead into another very busy season through Advent and Christmas, where we welcomed huge numbers to the church in celebration. Of course, in the last year we have also had a number of people from the parish, or those deeply connected to the parish, that have passed away. We remember with thanks; Brenda Dunstone, Wilson Lord, and Roger Hurford. May they continue to rest in peace and rise in glory. Looking towards 2026 is very exciting, there is so much for us to be building on with growing congregations and new families joining us. An increase in candidates for confirmation and also those looking into taking up new roles in lay ministry too, all of which gives us much to be thankful, and indeed hopeful, for as well. I look forward to sharing in this journey together and ask for your continued prayers as we seek to travel well together. The Very Revd Rod Reid, Dean of Bocking, April 2026 12 ## _**NOTES ON THE INDEPENDENT EXAMINER FOR THE ACCOUNTS WHICH FOLLOW**_ _We are grateful to Jan Stobart who is our Independent Examiner._ 13 Th8 DoanBry ChurEh of St tha Vlr4ln BocbJn4 Fund m0￿MInt 8ummAry raalA¢tsd p•rfod: 01 January 2025 to 31 Da¢amb•r2025 Fund Ouwnll 1,WO24 Cl￿￿.¢￿￿￿1 FLTrJ Hdl-Chuthh&l I1￿.13> 112.IXTT t&¥9&￿1 1I893A4 lo.1￿0? 12&239.Tr R£￿rG Milkn Penn Fur Fab￿-FatI[cFWd 257.22270 2.7(Lieo 237.1*.83 4Td7n6 F8liyA*hy. Fu 4087.48 1,854.tx) s￿85 1,1￿48 17.75T.69 1I87B.1B ' OL*f 00 1924.85 575JlS 8.21&0& 11Z361.0 107,3S). 142Z4AS 39W.14 Thè Deanery Church of St Mary tho Vlrgln Bocklng Statsment of Financial ActNitiÈS. summary Fgrthe pgriod from 01 January 2025 to 31 DgGgfflber2025 u￿￿￿1￿¢1￿d fund Tth P[kn¥￿r tunda fvnd fun 18,79Sm 7127.91 1J8.983.19 12G224-03 Tolal•Apthid IOT.JgJAg 16,593A4 18rt511$ 141,JgB26 11J•T.D2 ie.10I02 NFt T&B3 (TJTrJ21 954 bglweFntyn¢b.oyl (2tr)ml I2￿.00} N•t Mov•m￿tIn¢un &MoJ8 17.372J21 12A83.59 TllthltwdB bT￿Uhtf￿ThU 213Jlg 256,M3A1 133.170.24 3￿.a}F.14 5.71155 Tol•lknds¢•rrhd for￿rd Is.￿.45 238,722J 138.94*07 gYJ,89U2 $98247.14 Unfeslrtct¢a I￿.￿ 45 13223.45 82130B I,MO.24 I,6￿.24 1,fth.24 Church ￿11 237.15963 237.159.83 25722270 330. 128139.7# 3.F3T.06 31.13 Daan P￿n*S Fur FdbWsh￿Funtt Fkw£rFur 128.t3S.F# 3.nF.08 .13 112.1387F 2.70$ 538th5 FundS￿lI&￿d ￿ ￿￿8￿Of￿￿rChBn￿BB Gmnts ￿atIonS CO￿1n&t0r 2&1&3 2&3.&3 17.767.69 4,679 61 S7&0S SFS. The D93ngry ChU￿b of St Mary tho Virgin Bocking Stattrmont of Assèts arKI Li*bilitits Iby fund) A8 at.. 31 D6comb&r 2025 Pr•vlous bAlanc• Balancg Inv*tm9nts 8420.. Oèan Rogèrn Mllllon P•nny-Ass•t Dean Rtyets Milli Restn¢t¥J 128,fd8.79 112.136.71 128239.79 1t2.136.77 6110.. CEIF5 11362.08 UnrtB608251001S-Asvqt Fab￿ PJnd 237,159.63 257,222.70 7.159.63 2$7.222.TO Inveslrnqnts 365,399.42 369,359.47 Cash at bank and In hJn¢J 6501.. 8arl¢ ¢urr•ntx¢ouDt- Ass* Bulditys Caprtal DesI￿a￿d c￿1r Futhj Restri&•J Churtb ￿11 D8siw8ted FO1￿￿￿hlP Fu RéstTrcte tswer Fu 1.600.24 330.00 I.￿0￿4 280. 12.439.131 2.70360 $38.65 3.737 06 934.13 Re5tnc* Funts tEhdlof Erther tharil GraTrtsa￿ t￿nal￿n& RastnLt $wa￿lC Co(Y¢inatty Genptsl Re5tnot 253.53 253.53 4.879 $1 975 05 13.223.45 17.757 69 UntB8trthd 8.213.09 25N9&40 2B,907.57 Cash at bJnkafid in hand 25.49S.40 28,907.67 Grand Total 39OM94.82 398.26f.14 ThB Dwnpry Church of St hlary thB Vlryln Anatysls of Incorno and oxpondltyro 801othd ￿rfQd.. 01 January 2025 to 31 Docornbor2025 T•ial In¢om• and •ndowm•nts 0101-Orfthid- Bar o110-IM￿Jd- En%*kn 17￿1￿46 4.g54.35 17.312. 4954.35 630.C6 14212.14 8.527.71 7.71420 768ts1 763.82 1J2&50 S,OB9.47 7.06&17 4.01&50 05)l.Ontroff GItAII 0￿0. 1.310. 149.47 7.W.17 4015.9) I.￿A7 17.091.32 2.fm.C•J OW1.T&¥ L*l GknI￿d 0701. L¢y 11.7M82 3.C67A6 14790. 3.653.91 Q4AB137 ,137A6 fj7,61g.83 1101. Fee6Torw&Sthrywdfvrtè 2129ltyJ 21.2w.riJ &15.C 1q731.rij 1.10ZAry 1210. 1230.CFWJthh￿l*I1￿.0tIQ 14A45.( I￿￿.[￿) 21W120 14W.IX) &35.( 3481183 0910-Ggnwa1Fu￿r&1￿￿J 13A1&12 55 11W.54 1Q649.17 13A1￿12 55 I1￿.54 IQ049.17 1C01. Dibitsn 7,147.34 7.147.34 6.EtOA7 Ir8￿#r￿￿ty 13,147.34 14147.31 119&I47 1105- StatfFthithrrfJ 1￿1.¢1￿￿ththP 1310- Ir6￿nG•￿&ff￿ 3.9￿.C•) 15CO.OJ 4JSJ.CO 43￿.(1) 1S02 4J9J.(O 7.￿.02 112*1.05 14795. 7.627.94 12Q224.CQ Ornnd totsl8 Expondltu Total 1rn.Cosi8offvteB &ctsth*nts 1,301.18 2.140Jg Tol .1B 2.140A9 1KIO.CMNJ. 25nD 2& 1,6B4 5Q(JJ 313. 1.377. 501 So.4￿A4 1910- mInbtyr￿8tsh8h¥0 59h5&44 .662.52 170. 2CEO.Sakryofparf5h4thi*hlraor 2>J1-ChL¥chruMty-ifoAII 2310-ChLYcholThcè- &thternet 2311.ChL¥chofftePFthCQti 2312.¢hL¥thoffitèm*rttnar 2320-o￿ThI bJfi ￿￿0.chL¥th￿l￿rtert*1[ 2331-CIBBnF 2310. UpkbÈpofs£fvi 341- &17&2D 8￿8%25 IA32.31 4m293 1175.3) I￿.25 1.53221 4892.93 7.640.77 1.932 4.438.O2 7& 478.00 1.483a2 879.08 3.220ll7 6.370. 5&).rNJ 331. S11 Z7T256 ZTf2.* .(x) 2￿0. Bf.49 49￿9.81 21A9 3￿0&.B1 21.49 2￿1. Phclooyrcc61 F4èS b ll1t￿& 2370.Vwi￿D￿￿k•rn1bicJj 2401-ChLYchruMhw-e 2440.ehL¥chruMry.wrg￿1 49B&OD 108AO 4.￿￿3 4A7&65 4.478A5 12036 2￿1. 2521- Hol Rumhw-cknirva 2S70. HÈI 142.rii 142.00 2.325.82 1,434.fKJ 2,￿A0 2.542Ag 3.￿5.14 7&20 6734 2540. Hal I8￿.￿X) 1,12&81 2￿0. HÈI mairtsmrtt O. Hal nnrffjg. Wr¢ar 5&8T 210.1)J 210LKI 2￿1- HÈI + 2820. Hoi + MA￿rrY￿s.￿n$I￿￿O1 2&70. HÈI + Frtthltirandbts￿r 1.3¥J.fKJ .343.22 4534.86 9,34322 a,￿.86 105@6Z51 14,732.18 134988.13 111.132.63 K￿l.Sa￿ry0farea oxnlr 2342.Ver￿r￿wJdyy ￿dfI￿ra 2402-ChL¥chrumry-Int*not 2.924. 1924.65 750.00 432m 75).riJ 324.TrJ 1,1B20D 2,924.95 41￿.95 324 Exp•ndltyr• Grand totals 107350.69 I8.￿2.13 141358 111597.