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← The Parochial Church Council Of The Ecclesiastical Parish Of All Saints Thornton Hough

2023-12-31-accounts

DIOCESE OF CHESTER

ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF

’ ALL SAINTS THORNTON HOUGH

Charity Commission Number 1131417

ANNUAL REPORTS FOR 2023

All Saints’ Parochial Church Council The Parish Office, The Parish Hall, Church Road, Thornton Hough, Wirral, CH63 1JW

Part 1: Trustees’ report to the Charity Commission

1. Aims and Purposes

Our aim is

‘To promote the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical’

Our purpose as a church is to worship God through our regular services and through the fellowship of our loving community. We share the love of God with those around, serving the community and witnessing to others about the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

All Saints’ Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the legal responsibility of co-operating with the incumbent in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish of Thornton Hough the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The PCC is also specifically responsible for the maintenance of the church building and churchyards on Raby Road, and the Parish Hall on Church Road.

2.Objectives

A Vision for All Saints’ Church

A Place of Welcome

“In the name of Christ: You matter!”

Accessibility for all; being a “safe space” for everyone.

Being mindful that the “reception team” on the door may be overwhelming for some, and underwhelming for others; what can attract some will repel others.

Worship

Praising God together

Celebrating and valuing our choral and congregational tradition in worship, whilst being open to expanding the styles and format of worship

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Everyday Faith

Learning together and living the learning out - “to love and serve the Lord” through whole week

Growing more confident about talking about our faith. Engaging together to provide a forum for discussion & exploration of prayer and Bible reading as part of individual faith journey

Being a “Mission Partner” – Learning more about mission in the wider, global context, and supporting an organisation in response

Celebrating

Being thankful that God is good, and sharing that good news!

Community Collaboration

Working together for good! Making connections with different elements of the community. Building dialogue and participation.

Growing Church

Extending the way in which we enable people of all ages to encounter the news of Jesus Christ. Being “church” in different ways, in different places

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Caring for the Environment

We recognise that this is one of the Marks of Mission of the Church and want to help care for God’s creation. We need to be good examples as a church organisation and individually, and collaborate with others to reduce our carbon footprint.

3. Activities, Achievements and Performance 2023

The year has been full of the steady busy-ness of worship, marking life events, sharing and celebrating God’s goodness through the seasons.

We welcomed Linda Tudor, Reader-in-Training from St Thomas’ Church, Ellesmere Port on placement with us from Palm Sunday 2nd April – 14th May. She enjoyed getting to know people in the congregation, and took part in a range of services, leading intercessions and preaching.

Sunday Worship

Our regular pattern of Sunday worship is:

The mean attendance at the 8.00 Holy Communion service for the year was 10. This early service is welcoming to all, especially those who enjoy the traditional rhythms of the Book of Common Prayer. The congregation moved into the choir stalls in August and this more intimate setting has continued to be appreciated.

The mean attendance at the 10.30 service was 42.

We continue to be grateful to all who assist with offering a friendly welcome as part of the welcoming team, and particularly for the cheerful help of the ever-present Tim Allan-Price, and Churchwardens Alan Splitt, Pam Machin and June Allcock for their oversight and assistance. Alan and June’s help was essential to the smooth running of services whilst the Vicar was recovering from her broken ankle.

Festivals and Occasional Offices

We continue to develop our marking of occasions throughout the year, participating with the wider community to make All Saints’ a place of warm welcome and safety for all.

We dedicated the new lectern and pew Bibles and ourselves to being readers and ‘doers of the word’ as part of a special morning service on 22nd January. Many people have generously donated to their purchase, and specially designed book plates in each one

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Coronation Picnic on the Green and Litter Pick for the Big Help Out

commemorates an individual. Surplus funds were given to The Bible Society to support their work.

The Ash Wednesday evening Communion service with the imposition of ashes has become an increasingly significant part of people’s way of starting Lent. 36 people attended.

Our morning Mothering Sunday service on 19th March was attended by 52 people. The Thornton Hough Rainbows, Brownies and Guides helped to create cards for the occasion in the shape of teapots, with a teabag attached, which accompanied the gifts of pots of primulas. Our afternoon “Quiet Space” service offered a much-needed oasis for the few who came, demonstrating that numbers attending a service is by no means the best way of assessing its worth.

60 attended the Palm Sunday service, 23 came to our evening Communion service on Maundy Thursday, 28 came to our Good Friday meditation and a total of 102 people attended our Easter services.

Our evening Communion service on Ascension Day (18th May) was attended by 17 people.

The celebrations for King Charles III’s Coronation began with a special service on Sunday 7th May attended by 55 people, followed by a picnic in the sunshine on the Green with others from Thornton Hough village. Church and wider community members joined in the national “Big Help-Out” on Monday, 8th May in a “Big Litter Pick.” This has led to a resolution to repeat the Litter Pick every quarter, with assistance from Wirral Borough Council, Thornton Hough Primary School and the Village Trust.

Our Harvest Week ran from 17th-24th September. We invited donations for the Wirral Foodbank during the week and everyone was most generous. The week concluded with a Harvest Thanksgiving service followed by a Harvest Lunch in the Parish Hall, where over 40 people enjoyed happy conversation and good food.

We marked All Saints’ Day, our patronal festival, on 5[th] November. 46 people attended. We held our Service for the Faithful Departed in the afternoon, at which all families who have lost a loved one in the past year are particularly invited to attend. We welcomed 76 people. Families continue to value this event, with the simple candle-lighting to remember each person, hymns, prayers and choral music.

Remembrance Sunday was on 13th November this year. We made an Act of Remembrance as part of our morning service at 11.00 with 39 in attendance. Amongst the commemorative decorations in church were posters in Morse Code and poppy wreath decorations created by the Thornton Hough Rainbows, Brownies and Guides. The afternoon Civic service, with the procession led by the Port Sunlight Lyceum Band, began with a gathering in increasingly heavy rain for an Act of Remembrance by the village War Memorial and then processed to church for the service.

Advent began on 3rd December with a special service of seasonal readings and music led by the choir. 40 people attended.

We held a special Christingle service at 4pm on 10th December, raising money and awareness for the work of The Children’s Society. It was good to see three generations of some families participating in this lively service, attended by 21 children and 50 adults.

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IKf Thornton Hough School Harvest Window ,*J ur ro+_Id

The Service of Readings and Carols for Christmas took place on 17th December, with 76 people present. We followed the service with festive mince pies and wine in the Parish Hall.

The service of Communion at “nearly midnight” on Christmas Eve continues to be enjoyed by many. 71 people were there to hear the church bell strike the hour into Christmas morning as they stepped out into the night. The 10.30am service on Christmas Day was attended by 29 adults and 3 children.

Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals

We welcomed 4 people into the church family through baptism in 2023. 6 weddings were solemnized at All Saints’ in 2023.

There were 10 funerals in church and 9 burials of ashes.

Regular Midweek Worship and Fellowship at Care Homes

Our Wednesday Holy Communion service offers a more informal service followed by hot drinks and refreshments in church. The mean number of attendees was 8.

Westwood Hall: Some 12-15 residents come to sing and pray together with Revd Vicky and Emma, the home’s Activities Co-ordinator each month. Some hymns offer great opportunities for residents to reminisce, and residents are encouraged to continue their faith journey by asking questions and offering prayers. It was unfortunate that a bout of illness in the home meant that the planned visit by the choir to sing and celebrate Christmas had to be cancelled at the last minute.

The monthly programme of visits to sing and pray with residents at Elderholme on the Clatterbridge Hospital campus in partnership with Revd Eunice Blackmore from Christ Church, Higher Bebington has made good progress, despite the departure of two Activities Co-ordinators in the course of the year. Numbers attending the sessions have varied, but there is a real sense of an emerging worshipping community; as one resident put it, “But we are a little church together, aren’t we?”

Children and Families

We have not seen lots of younger families attend services on a regular basis this year, but we continue to ensure that there are craft, play and puzzle activities linked to the day’s readings on offer. These are often used by visitors to church during the week, so clearly meeting a need.

Thornton Hough Primary School

Revd Vicky continues to work with the staff and pupils at Thornton Hough Village Primary School, both in the classroom and as a Governor. She again taught three afternoon sessions for Year 4 children on The Bible in June. All Saints’ Church provides a valuable venue for all pupils and parents to gather for Christmas and Easter and to mark the end of the school year and the Year 6 valedictory presentations. Each event sees over 200 people come to church. The children are happy and at ease in the building and are always full of good questions.

Pilgrim 23: Lent Course on The Beatitudes

After the positive response to our previous Pilgrim course on The Lord’s Prayer, we ran a second module on The Beatitudes as our Lent Course. A lively mix of people came together to the Vicarage over the six weeks; up to 12 gathered for tea, cake, discussion and reflection.

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Links with the Community

We have supported the Wirral Foodbank in many ways throughout the year; we have encouraged people to leave donations of food supplies at the back of church which have been taken to the charity’s depot at Wallasey as they have built up. We have also made more focused appeals for donations at Harvest, and at the end of November by supporting their Reverse Advent Calendar initiative. The Vicar’s car was laden with boxes and large bags in every available space with the quantity of kind gifts.

All Saints’ Church hosted the Christmas Concert by Wirral Community Choir in aid of Arrowe Park and Clatterbridge Hospitals’ Charity on December 16th.

Caring for the Environment

New steps are being taken to encourage us to reduce our carbon footprint both as a church organisation and individually. Linda Arch and the Vicar visited Christ Church Higher Bebington in November to see how they have worked to reduce their carbon footprint and achieve the A Rocha Gold Award. The PCC then took the A Rocha questionnaire to begin work on “benchmarking” our own response.

Revd Vicky Barrett

4. Governance and PCC Membership

In 2023 the PCC membership and Standing Committee membership was as follows

Elected Members of the Laity Elected Members of the Laity Other Members Other Members
Mrs P Baker* Standing Committee
from May 2023		 Revd V Barrett* Vicar (Chairman)
Mrs G Charvill From May 2023 Dr P Machin* Churchwarden until
May 2023
Mrs M Gamble Mr A Splitt* Churchwarden
From May 2021
Mrs D Hughes* Until May 2023 Mrs J Allcock Churchwarden from
May 2023
Mrs L Russell Dr E Macbeath Deanery Synod
representative until
May 2023
Mr R Singleton Mr G Allan Price Deanery Synod
representative until
May 2023
Mrs H Tankard Mrs L Arch
(Parish Safeguarding
Officer)		 Deanery Synod
representative from
May 2023
Mr I Stinson*
(PCC Treasurer)		 Deanery Synod
representative from
May 2023
* Members of the Standing Committee Mrs S Stinson*
(PCC Secretary)		 Deanery Synod
representative

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

The appointment of PCC members is governed by and set out in the Church Representation Rules (2020). The PCC at All Saints’ consists of: the incumbent (our Vicar), the Churchwardens, elected representatives to the Deanery Synod, elected lay representatives and co-opted members.

Members were also elected to the sub committees dealing with Finance, Fabric and Health and Safety, Remuneration and Three Churches Together. The committees exist to discuss and, for more major issues, make recommendations, which are then taken to the full PCC.

In 2023 PCC meetings were held on 7[th] February, 14[th] March, 18[th] April, 23[rd] May, 13[th] June, 11[th] July, 12[th] September, 10[th] October, 14[th] November and 12[th] December.

The Standing Committee did not meet in 2023.

The Annual Meeting was held on 14[th] May 2023.

5. Safeguarding

The PCC has complied with the duty under section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy Measure 2016 (duty to have regard to House of Bishops’ guidance on safeguarding and vulnerable adults). (Church Representation Rules 2020 p76)

6. Activities of the PCC in 2023

In the first meeting of the year in February the PCC heard that the Soup and Sandwich Lunch had been a success and people had donated very generously to the Wirral Food Bank.

A paper on a new Vision Statement for the church, written by Revd Vicky, had been circulated in advance of the meeting. A lot of good ideas had come out of previous meetings and the paper drew them together and provided a basis on which to move forward. Discussions on our Vision continued at subsequent meetings in the year.

Also, in the February meeting a letter from Bishop Julie about Safeguarding was circulated, along with a summary document prepared by the Vicar and the Safeguarding Officer, Linda Arch. All applicants offering themselves for election to the PCC and any current members seeking re-election will need to fill in the PCC nomination forms and confirm that they are not disqualified from standing for the PCC- including confirmation that they are not on the barred lists. PCC members are also required to complete very accessible, user-friendly safeguarding training.

In March we read a circulation from Bishop Mark re decisions taken at General Synod. Although the paper had been circulated to clergy the content was for sharing. Much heat but little light had been generated on the issues of human sexuality, blessing and marriage of same-sex couples in church and the pronouns used in The Lord's Prayer. They were part of an ongoing dialogue and Mark’s tone made it clear that we need to be calm and measured in our approach.

In March and April we discussed celebrations for the Coronation of King Charles on 6[th] May, the day of community celebration and street parties (The Coronation Big Lunch) on Sunday 7[th ] May and the day of volunteering and service, The Big Help Out, on Monday 8[th] May. The Church of England had produced a Book of Daily Prayers to be used on the

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28 days before the coronation and it was agreed that we should order some of these for sale in the church.

In April the PCC voted not to oppose a faculty for permission to install a non-compliant memorial at the grave of Victoria Marion Ann Tower in All Saints’ Churchyard. This has subsequently been granted by the Diocese.

The new Churchwarden, June Allcock and new and re-elected members of the PCC were welcomed to the PCC in May. Their responsibilities were highlighted. Members were elected to serve on the sub committees.

In June we discussed sharing the Common Cup when distributing Holy Communion. This had been suspended due to Covid. Many people were still very nervous about reinstating this and it was decided to continue with placing an intincted wafer into people’s hands. The practice is inclusive for people who find access challenging and people who only want to receive a blessing. It also overcomes the problem of crowding and close contact when going up to the altar to take Communion.

In July we considered the health of our church and what people outside expect of us. There are new families moving in to Thornton Hough and their children are attending the school. How can we engage with them, how can we engage with people in Raby Mere where there is no focal point? We need to focus on where God is taking us now, not just look back to the past, and work out how to do this healthily.

Planning for the second half of 2023 started in July. September and Harvest gave us another opportunity to celebrate. After the success of the decorated windows the previous year it was decided to continue this again in 2023 with themed windows reflecting things that are connected to the parish such as farming, the school, Toybox etc. A Harvest lunch was planned for 24[th] September.

In 2022 we had failed to find a date for a Christmas Fair so for 2023 it was decided to hold an Autumn Fair on Saturday 4[th] November. With further opportunities to celebrate on All Saints’ Day and in the run up to Christmas it was decided to repeat last year’s mail drop at the end of August to publicise the Harvest celebrations and other special services, the Autumn Fair, ACF and the coffee mornings, and Toybox. This would be followed by the Christmas card in late November which would give the dates of the Advent and Christmas services.

In July we heard that the Ricoh photocopier which we leased from the manufacturer was very old and they would not renew the lease. They were proposing a new lease, on a new machine, which was a little cheaper and had a slightly lower copy charge. The PCC voted in favour of renewing the lease with Ricoh.

It was back to business again in September. The mail drop had been completed, a litter pick was being planned, a group to discuss the vision was being convened, covenants on the drive had been checked prior to repair, and preparations for Harvest were well advanced. We were required to move the church website to the hosting company’s new Content Management System and Iain Stinson had done a lot of work on this ready for the changeover.

Ideas for stalls at the Autumn Fair were discussed and arrangements for special services reported on.

In October we heard that the Harvest lunch had been a delight and the church had been beautifully decorated for Harvest. We were particularly pleased that the school had

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decorated one of the church windows. The congregation had again donated generously to the Wirral Foodbank.

Revd Vicky reported on the Deanery Chapter meeting on Diocesan Vision planning. Various responses from the ‘Casting the Net Wide’ roadshow had been gathered together and a booklet has been produced. A strategic Project Director for the Diocese, John Pocock, had started on 2[nd] October. Bishop Mark is keen that we are making new contacts with people beyond the church. What would people miss if we were not here? How does that work for us, how can we be relevant globally and locally? The PCC heard that January to May in 2024 would be the strategy and implementation phases of the vision rollout.

Linda Arch and Revd Vicky had visited Christ Church, Higher Bebington to find out what they had done to achieve the A Rocha Eco-Church Gold Award and to see whether there were any ideas that we could implement. They reported back in October.

In November the PCC started to consider what steps we, as a church, could take towards being an Eco-Church.

In 2023 we had allowed £1,200 in the budget to give away to charities. £150 had already been given to the Turkey disaster appeal but £1,050 still needed to be allocated.

After some discussion the PCC voted to give £200 each to:

and £50 to Maggies

Plans for Advent and Christmas were well under way and people were thanked for all they were doing.

The main focus of the December meeting was the end of year financial report and the proposed budget for 2024. The Treasurer’s Report, Management Accounts and a Budget Proposal for 2024 had been circulated in advance of the meeting. The Treasurer, Iain Stinson, talked us through it and the PCC voted to accept the proposed budget.

The Remuneration Committee had been discussing the remuneration of the employees and the fees paid and their recommendations were put to the PCC.

The Remuneration Committee recommended the following fees for 2024:

Fees for Weddings and Funerals

Weddings Funerals
Verger Organist Choir Verger Organist
Current 2023 £75.00 £115.00 £110.00 £48.00 £73.00
Recommended 2024 £80.00 £120.00 £120.00 £50.00 £80.00

These are paid by those “using the service”.

The PCC agreed to their proposals.

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The Verger, the Director of Music and his wife withdrew while the PCC discussed the Remuneration Committee’s proposals.

Throughout the year the PCC received and discussed reports on Finance, Fabric and Health and Safety, Safeguarding, Deanery Synod, the Electoral Roll and Cool Wirral meetings (attended by Linda Arch).

Fabric issues covered over the year included re-tarmacking the end of the drive, painting and repairs at Hirst Cottage, lights in the churchyard, removal of debris left by birds in the tower, repair of mesh in external access points on the tower, roof repairs, noticeboards, the repairs to the water heaters in the church and installation of a sink in the Vicar’s Vestry.

As members of the PCC we are always facing new challenges and opportunities. It can be very rewarding to feel that you are working as part of a team and helping to contribute to the life of All Saints’. We always welcome new members- please consider whether this is a way in which you can serve. Revd Vicky or other members of the PCC are only too willing to tell you more.

Sue Stinson (PCC Secretary)

7. Charity Information

Contact details All Saints PCC,
The Parish Office,
The Parish Hall
Church Road
Thornton Hough,
Wirral,
CH63 1JW		 All Saints PCC,
The Parish Office,
The Parish Hall
Church Road
Thornton Hough,
Wirral,
CH63 1JW
www.allsaintsth.org.uk 0151 245 4986
Church of England Diocese Chester
Charity Registration Number 1131417

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Part 2: Reports from the PCC

8. Electoral Roll Report

On 1st January there were 90 names on the Electoral Roll.

At the Annual Meeting on 14th May it was reported that there were 99 names on the Electoral Roll, 53% resident and 47% non-resident. I took over as Electoral Roll Officer from Dr E. Macbeath following this Annual Meeting

The next time that there will need to be a preparation of new rolls will be 2025.

Helen Tankard Electoral Roll Officer

9. Fabric, Goods and Ornaments

We began the year without a Fabric, Goods and Ornaments team. Specific works were being managed through the kindness and goodwill of individuals from the congregation. A new, revivified Fabric Team was formed in October 2023, with Graham Seagrave continuing as Health and Safety Officer, and new volunteers Gill Charvill, Richard Singleton and June Allcock.

JA volunteered to lead the new team and developed the team's Scope and Aims to help the new members understand their roles and responsibilities. These were discussed and agreed with Revd Vicky, who then held an inaugural meeting with the new team to help set the scene and start them off. The Church Log Book has been reviewed. The team developed and introduced a Planned Maintenance Programme; a "see at a glance" calendar of checks to be carried out month by month to keep things on track. This is now up and running.

There are many maintenance tasks which continue to be carried out by individuals: thanks go to Brian Morris for keeping the paved area by the Parish Hall weed-free, and in repainting the edges of the steps into the churchyard; to Scirard Lancelyn-Green for work on the lights both in church and in the church grounds, and to Iain Stinson for his monitoring of the boilers, the servicing of the clock and the oversight of the repairs to the church drive and to Margaret and Victor Gamble for their time and care in “going the extra mile” in keeping the whole church precinct and interior clean, safe and secure.

The Faculty was granted for the headstone and kerbed border for the grave of Victoria Tower, daughter of Lord Leverhulme. The white marble memorial masonry is now in place.

9A. Church

The twigs left by generations of birds and other materials in the spire have been removed following two working parties. The gutters and downpipes of both the church and parish hall have been cleared of leaves, however the condition of rainwater goods remains a concern. Slipped roof slates have been repaired through the year.

Ongoing fabric concerns include the deterioration of the decorative stone lintel above the church door and also the uneven steps on to Raby Road. Working with our Church Architect, Jennifer Chambers, quotes have been obtained for the remedial works.

Towards the end of the year the Church of England announced that £9 million had been awarded to dioceses for repairs. Chester Diocese received £123,750 of this and invited applications for funding from this Minor Works and Repairs Grant. We therefore submitted an application for help with the cost of the remedial works to the stone lintel

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and steps. The initiative has been significantly oversubscribed, and successful applicants will be contacted in 2024.

Routine fire extinguisher inspections have been undertaken.

The church heating system has been serviced and some repairs carried out.

Fire evacuation procedures have been reviewed; temporary reflective exit signs and instructions have been placed in the pews to assist with safety at events where many people are present, e.g. concerts, weddings, Christingle.

The water heater in the Flower Vestry has been repaired. Investigation is under way for a bespoke solution to the replacement sink and water heater required in the Vicar's Vestry.

9B. Church grounds

The tarmac at the driveway entrance has been replaced. This was a larger repair than initially expected, due to the further deterioration of the surface. The exterior tap on the south side of church has been repaired, enabling families to clean memorials and water plants. We continue with our gardening maintenance contracts for the churchyard and Raby Road.

Initial work was undertaken by Scirard Lancelyn Green and Iain Stinson to replace failed light bulbs and fittings; further work to the floodlights on the north side of the church is planned for 2024.

9C. Parish Hall and Hirst Cottage

Routine servicing of boilers and safety checks have been undertaken. A leaky toilet in the Parish Hall has been repaired.

Work commenced on repairs and painting on the exterior of windows in Hirst Cottage. Final paintwork remains to be completed.

June Allcock and Revd Vicky Barrett

10. Wirral South Deanery Synod Report

The first meeting of the Wirral South Deanery Synod was on Wednesday 8[th] March 2023, at St John the Evangelist, Great Sutton when the speaker was Zarah Ross, the Faith and Climate Coordinator for Faiths4Change. It was an open meeting for all those interested in how we can meet very challenging environmental targets. Unfortunately the meeting was cut short due to bad weather.

Zarah returned for our next meeting on Wednesday 24[th] May 2023 at St Thomas and All Saints’ Church, Ellesmere Port to continue the discussions.

On Wednesday 25[th] October we met at the Church Centre, Eastham Rake. Scouse, coffee and cake were served then we welcomed back Harriet Roberts, the Director of Development (Vision & Strategy) in Chester Diocese who had led the Vision Café for us in October 2022. John Pocock from Church House was also in attendance. John was going to continue the work in the Diocese started by Harriet. Harriet gave us an update on the Casting the Net Wide vision and strategy work taking place across the diocese.

Sue Stinson Wirral South Deanery Synod Rep

The Trustees’ report to the Charity Commission was approved by the PCC on 12[th] March 2024.

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Part 3: Reports on activities

11. Worship, Prayer and Pastoral Care Report of the Vicar

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures for ever.” (Psalm 107:1)

I am deeply grateful for the kind prayers and pastoral care shown to me by so many in church and Thornton Hough village in August and early September when I returned from my summer holiday with a broken fibula. Churchwardens Alan and June were very patient in ferrying me to services and meetings, and with the ministrations of Revd Canon Ian Davenport to assist at some Holy Communion services and pastoral “visits” by phone, the pattern of worship, prayer and pastoral care at All Saints’ continued uninterrupted. There were lessons learned about accessibility in the village and the challenges of living with limited mobility, and much laughter as the Vicar trundled, hopped, scooted and finally strode back into full swing.

Our worship is chiefly based around celebrating Holy Communion, with congregational and choral singing accompanied by the church organ at our regular 10.30 services, choral evensong and special services, such as those marking Passiontide and Advent. There is also an important place for encountering the wonder of God in more reflective services, such as in the 8am Prayer Book service on Sunday mornings, midweek Communion, the Quiet Space on Mothering Sunday, and the Good Friday meditations.

I remain enormously grateful to our Director of Music and the choir for their hard work and cheerfulness in leading the congregation in music and continuing to develop a wide and sometimes challenging repertoire. Philip Stopford’s beautiful anthem, “In My Father’s House”, initially sung at our Passiontide service, was a poignant addition to our Service for the Faithful Departed on 5[th] November.

It has been particularly good to welcome different generations of the same family to some of our services, offering a striking picture of the church as a family. Four generations of the Job family were in church as we baptised Maximilian, Eileen’s greatgrandson, and three members of one family were baptised together in October. Our lively Christingle service also had three generations of some families present, full of the anticipation of Christmas and in a pantomime-like mood with enthusiastic audience participation in the readings.

The joy of a family gathering to share a meal together was seen in the Soup and Sandwich lunch in February and again in the Harvest Thanksgiving Lunch. The generations came together again at the Autumn Fair in the Parish Hall, where amongst the happy conversations over refreshments, people were able to browse amongst beautiful spring bulb planting and flowers on sale, a bottle tombola, raffle, a craft table for children, books, bric-a-brac, Guess the Name of the Bear, and cakes and sweets.

We celebrated with six couples as they were married in church. Most of the weddings took place in glorious sunshine, however one couple made their vows accompanied by the sound of a thunderous downpour of rain.

Families also gathered in church to mark the passing of loved ones. We remember especially George Dobb, Brenda Somerset-Jones, Christine Jones and Brenda Littler who passed away in the course of the year. The annual service commemorating the Faithful

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Departed continues to provide comfort to those who attend. Everyone was given a daffodil bulb to plant as a symbol of resurrection hope this year.

The Vicar has attended some of the Diocese’s meetings for leaders in rural ministry this year and was invited to lead the Diocesan Service for the Countryside at The Cheshire Show in June. She has now been asked to help with the Church at the Show in 2024.

The Vicar and prayer team offer prayers for all who would like them; these are entirely confidential and names are only added to the church Prayer List used in Sunday worship on request. The Vicar visits an increasing number of housebound people to offer prayer and Holy Communion at home. Members of the congregation also show their friendship and care through visits, phone messages and prayer.

The Vicar’s links with the Thornton Hough Brownies and Guides continue: as well as preparing for the Mothering Sunday service the Vicar visited the groups again on a couple of Wednesday evenings in November as their thoughts turned to Remembrance. They were working on a special badge commemorating the contribution of Guides to the work in the Second World War of sending secret messages. We learned about Morse Code and first aid. We spoke about the need for resilience and resistance: in the second visit, the Vicar led a “Chocolate Challenge” for the girls, in which they had to resist the temptation to eat a pile of chocolate buttons set out in front of them for 3 minutes.

Our Vision may still be a little fuzzy, but we have worked on devising a refreshed Vision Plan. Revd Vicky attended the livestreamed event at Christ the King Birkenhead in May where Bishop Mark outlined the priorities gleaned for the Diocesan Vision Plan from a long period of consultation; individual parishes were encouraged to consider how they envisaged reaching their part of the 1.5million people in the Diocese who have not heard about Jesus Christ. After discussions at PCC throughout 2023 we held two open evening “workshop” sessions in November, using Bible explorations to help in the compilation of our Vision Plan. In the first session, we reflected on the theme of “What is in your hand?”: the question put by God to Moses as Moses asks how he would be able carry out God’s plans in Exodus 4:1-2, and which undergirds Jesus’ question to the disciples as he asks them what resources they have to feed the hungry multitudes in Mark 6 and 8 and John 6. We then reflected upon what resources we have in our hands as a church. Our second session took this a step further by exploring how God might be calling us to use and develop these resources. We used coat hangers, each with a separate theme, to enable us to physically attach our ideas, each one as an action or activity we can carry out.

It is impossible to express the gratitude for all the hard work, kindness and goodwill which has helped the life of All Saints’ Church to flourish in 2023. Everyone has a part in that life, because we are all part of “the body of Christ.” Many thanks to Churchwardens Pam Machin, June Allcock and Alan Splitt, to Margaret Gamble, Iain and Sue Stinson, Tim Allan-Price, and all who have been part of the PCC through 2023.

In times when life can seem increasingly fraught and frantic, Philippians 4:6 is helpful: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Revd Vicky Barrett

18

Harvest Thanksgiving 2023 19

12. Report of the Churchwardens

This year Alan Splitt and June Allcock were elected as Churchwardens for 2023/2024 by the Parishioners at the Church AGM (2023) and later sworn into office at an Archdeacon’s Visitation Service at St Mary’s Church, Upton on 29th June 2023.

New to the role, June attended training for new Churchwardens at Church House, Daresbury in July and the training for churchwardens at Lostock Gralam in October. June has completed three of the four Safeguarding modules and is grateful to all who have taken the time to provide guidance, and by sharing their experience in the role with her.

One unfortunate incident this year was that Vicky, our Vicar, had an accident whilst on holiday at the end of July and suffered a broken ankle. We, as churchwardens and friends of our vicar did a little bit of extra work assisting her: taxi driving to and from church and also, for a while, distributing communion under her authority. At this time, during Vicky’s convalescence, it was a pleasure to welcome and assist the Revd Ian Davenport, who helped us out at many services. In addition, during August, whilst Vicky was recovering, we were pleased to welcome a Dementia Walking Group to look around the church. The visitors were particularly impressed with our beautiful west window. During the same month we both took Vicky to attend the induction service of the Revd Kevin Crinks in Neston.

In October June volunteered to lead a newly formed Fabric Team and is looking forward to working with Graham Seagrave, the Health and Safety Officer, and other volunteers Gill Charville and Richard Singleton.

The Terrier, Inventory and Logbook have been kept up to date. The moveable furniture and ornaments in the church are in good order.

We would like to thank Tim Alan-Price and all our sidespersons for their sterling work and support to us by their welcoming presence, and their assistance at communion. Thanks also to Margaret Gamble, our verger, for her unstinting work. Both of us give huge thanks to Vicky for the enormous amount of work she undertakes.

Please note that we are readily approachable by any of our parishioners if they have church related concerns.

Alan Splitt and June Allcock Churchwardens

13. Verger’s Report

The verger is there to help the vicar with weddings, funerals, interment of ashes and school visits to the church. A lot of their time is taken up with waiting for people like florists and people who want to look at the church or parish hall; you have to be a person who doesn’t mind if people don’t arrive on time!

There were 6 weddings, 10 funeral services and 9 interments of ashes in 2023. The Verger was present at most of these, handing out service booklets and making sure all was in order at the back of the church. The Verger has to be a person who is very welcoming and understanding on these special occasions.

Margaret Gamble Verger

20

The Autumn Fair • JAR & BOTTIE 50p 21

14. Parish Hall

The Parish Hall continues to be used for the meetings of Toybox, ACF, Coffee Mornings, Weight Watchers, Thornton Hough Fishing Group, Birkenhead North Cycle Club and Stepping Out (Dance classes). The hall is also used by the council as a Polling Station when there is an election.

Church events held in the hall this year included the Soup and Sandwich Lunch, the Harvest Lunch, the Autumn Fair, the ACF Christmas Lunch (with carols), and Mince Pies and Wine after the Carol Service. Refreshments are served each Sunday after the 10:30am service.

Thank you to Gillian Wood of Stepping Out for her continued support over the past year.

Margaret Gamble

15. Safeguarding

At All Saints Thornton Hough we take our Safeguarding responsibilities seriously. The updated posters displayed in Church and the Parish Hall include current local, Diocesan and national safeguarding contact details. I am identified as the Parish Safeguarding Officer on the photos of PCC members displayed at the back of church and I can be contacted via the dedicated email address, or in person. Safeguarding information is easily accessible on our website, with useful links to Church of England safeguarding policies and procedures and to online training courses.

During the year there has been a steady stream of DBS checks being issued, since PCC members have been added to the roles within parishes requiring these checks, which must be renewed every three years.

PCC members and volunteers have undertaken online safeguarding training courses. These courses are free of charge and are very user-friendly, requiring minimal IT skills. There is provision for breaks within modules for those who are unable to commit time to complete a module in a single sitting. I would encourage as many parishioners as possible to do the Basic Awareness training module, because “Safeguarding is everyone’s business”.

In April I joined in the online Induction Course for new Parish Safeguarding Officers, though for me it was a refresher. It was worthwhile to keep up with new initiatives. Ongoing safeguarding information is passed on from the Diocese via the e-bulletin and Parish Safeguarding Officer Newsletters. Safeguarding is an agenda item at all PCC meetings, so this information is reported to the PCC.

Since the last annual report, more “face-to-face “safeguarding training is steadily being rolled out within the Diocese, for those who prefer it.

Linda M Arch Parish Safeguarding Officer

16. Families’ ministries

Children in church

The South Transept of the church has been set out with a small table and chairs for any children that attend the service at 10:30. Although there are very few children, we continue to ensure that craft, play and puzzle activities linked to the day’s readings are provided. These are often used by visitors to church during the week, so they are clearly meeting a need.

22

Toybox

Toybox is our group for babies and toddlers with their carers (parents, grandparents, nannies etc). We meet from 10am to 11:30am on the second Monday of each month.

After a period of free play, while the carers chat, the children sit down for a snack and then a craft activity. Among other things we have decorated crowns, created baskets of flowers, made penguins, jungle scenes, space scenes and finally at Christmas thought about the very first Christmas with a Nativity sticker scene. These activities seem to be enjoyed by the carers as much as the children and the children love taking something home at the end. The sessions end with an interactive story led by Vicky and singing.

Families come and go as the children grow up, but the sessions have been well attended and well received. It has been lovely to see friendships forming and the children enjoying themselves.

A huge thank you to the regular team of Vicky, Patsy, Pat, Brenda and Kate for making Toybox such a success. Thank you also to Iain for helping to set up the hall and Linda for her assistance.

Sue Stinson Toybox coordinator

17. Choir and music

At the end of 2023 there were ten members of the church choir (eleven with the Vicar): five sopranos (six with the Vicar), two altos and three basses, but, alas, no tenors. We were pleased to welcome Pat Moate to our number (following singing with us at Christmas 2022).

Not having a regular tenor means that we must sometimes “adjust” the division of voices in some pieces of music to make them work. We have invested in some new three-part music (soprano, alto and men) which better matches our resources, though sometimes the alto and men’s parts are a compromise to work as three rather than fourpart pieces.

The choir has led the music at the Sunday 10:30am throughout the year. Seasonal and other illness have occasionally reduced our numbers, but we have managed to include an anthem or similar choir item at each of these services. Evening Services, usually on the second Sunday of the month, have continued during the year – we try to make these a little more “choral” with settings of the responses and canticles, anthems and congregational hymns. Sometimes attendance in the evening has been a little disappointing, but we are very grateful to those members of the congregation who come along to support these services.

As well as the regular Sunday services, the choir led the Passiontide Service of Readings and Music, the Service of Readings and Music for Advent and the Christmas Carol Service. We were joined by two tenors, Tim Barrett and Brian Moate, for the Christmas Carol service. We were also joined by some visiting members of the Stinson family (David, Angela, Ben and Dan) for services over the Christmas period.

Over the year the choir has sung at more than 65 services.

We have been fortunate that Brian Moate has played the organ for us when I have been absent. Brian is an experienced musician and regularly plays the organ at West Kirby and Heswall Methodist churches. His assistance is greatly appreciated.

23

I would like to thank all members of the choir for their support, commitment and patience (with me); without the active participation of each chorister, our ability to lead the worship at All Saints’ Church would be significantly reduced. I would particularly like to thank Val Splitt, ably assisted by Alan, for all her work as our music librarian.

If you are interested in being in the choir, please get in touch. We practice for about an hour each Friday Evening and sing each Sunday at the 10:30am service (and once a month at 6:30pm). The choir is a great place to share and enjoy fellowship.

Iain Stinson Director of Music

18. Bible Study Group

We are a small, friendly group who meet on the second Monday of the month 2pm to 4pm in members’ homes.

We are studying 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus guided by a book by Tom Wright and if anyone would like to join us, they would be most welcome.

Shirley McEvoy

Practical Ministries

19. Parish Magazine

The editors, Patsy Baker, Revd Vicky Barrett, Brian Morris and Iain Stinson, have continued to try to produce a magazine which is interesting and informative to its readers and especially to members of the parish. We have kept the parishioners informed of what is happening at our church through the events page, the diary and articles written on church life. At the same time, we have brought everyday stories from individuals about events which have happened in their lifetime and of interest.

Our thanks go to regular and occasional contributors who make the magazine so interesting. We hope that the readers gain comfort and enjoyment from the articles in the magazine. During 2023 six editions of the magazine were printed and circulated as in previous years and placed on the website.

We have continued to receive many complimentary comments from those who have enjoyed not only the content but also the format we have used. The magazine is distributed free to anybody who wishes to have a copy, but we do ask for a donation towards the cost of printing. We are grateful to our advertisers and for the voluntary donations given by our readers which meet most of the cost of producing the magazine.

The printing and co-ordinating the distribution is done by Margaret Gamble and we are indebted to her for continuing with this task as she has done for many years. Our thanks also go to the distributers who deliver the magazines.

We feel it is important that the magazine continues to bring to the attention of the parishioners the various articles, events, quizzes and stories in paper form as not everybody has a computer for the online version. 220 copies of the magazine are printed every two months and are distributed to homes in Thornton Hough, Raby Mere, Brimstage and Raby. Magazines are also posted to homes outside the parish: to Heswall, Neston, Oxton, Willaston, Chester, Port Sunlight, and as far afield as Evershot, Hornby (near Lancaster) and Broadstone (in Dorset).

24

Our editorial team welcomes contributions, so if you have a story or know of an event which you feel might be of interest, please send it to us for consideration with all the other articles.

The Editors

20. 2024 Thornton Hough Calendar

Following the successful previous calendars, a 2024 Thornton Hough Calendar was produced and printed with thanks to the support provided by Sue and Iain Stinson.

Contributions of photographs of our beautiful village and neighbourhood were requested via the pulpit and through the bi-monthly magazine. After much deliberation, Revd Vicky and I selected twelve photographs from a large group depicting views of our beautiful parish at different times in the year. Once again over 200 copies were printed and sent to many parts of the country and far-off lands.

We were indebted to 12 local businesses, companies and an individual who each sponsored a month, thus covering the printing costs and to those people who sold the calendars to friends and relatives.

Thanks must also go to Margaret Gamble who once again sold many calendars to friends and family. We are delighted to report that the calendars made a handsome profit of approximately £1,255 for church funds.

We look forward to producing another calendar for 2025 so we hope that many new and old photos will come to light during the Spring and Summer of 2024 and sent to us for consideration.

Brian Morris on behalf of the Calendar Team

21. Website report

The church website provides information about our church, contact details and includes a calendar of services and events taking place at All Saints’. We announce any lastminute changes to planned events and services on our home page. We publish copies of The Magazine on the website for those who prefer to read online; this also provides a growing record of our activities over recent years.

In the summer of 2022, the hosting company for our website introduced a new content management system and we (and all their customers) had to update our website to work with their new system. This required a significant amount of work and brought little direct benefit to us.

The website is an important communications tool. Comments and suggestions about the website are always welcome. Please look regularly at www.allsaintsth.org.uk – you might be pleasantly surprised by what you find.

Iain Stinson

22. Church Flowers

Thank you to everyone who has either arranged flowers or given a donation to the flower fund this year.

We are really short of volunteers to arrange flowers so if there is anyone who would like to have a go you don’t have to be an expert- you just have to like flowers and there is always someone to give you a hand.

Margaret Gamble

25

23. ACF Report

Afternoon Meetings and Coffee Mornings

The afternoon meetings are held once a month at 2.15pm on the second Wednesday except August, and December (we have been holding a Christmas Lunch at 12.30 for the last two years). The coffee mornings are held on the fourth Wednesday of each month at 10.30am except August and December.

We have had another successful year of ACF holding 9 meetings with speakers, a strawberry tea in July and a Christmas lunch with carols in December. The average attendance over the year is 14 and this is increased to about 40 for our events in July and December which are ticketed events and members of the congregation are invited to join us.

We have had a varied programme of speakers that included topics such as the rescue of hedgehogs, Merseyside and Cheshire Blood Bikes and their important work with urgent supplies, and beekeeping. Our vicar, Revd Vicky Barrett talked us through some customs followed in Lent and an ACF member Margaret Crawford talked about her first year at Tabeetha School in Israel. We also supported the following local charities Tomorrow’s Women Wirral, Christians against Poverty and Charles Thompson Mission.

We have a range of speakers booked in for 2024 that includes Wirral Foodbank, Wirral Wildlife, Autism Together and Flower arranging with Neston Flower Society. Each speaker receives £30 and we also have a collection on the day. Our three chosen charities for 2023 who have already received £100 will provide speakers for next year. They are:

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helps out at these meetings and everybody’s generosity to our speakers.

I have a regular band of refreshment helpers who organise serving tea and coffee, and then clearing up afterwards: I couldn’t manage to run these events without your help so a huge “Thank You”. I would like to thank Tim for helping out with the raffle and Alan who calls out the numbers as everyone eagerly awaits to see if they have won a prize. Thank you also goes to all the raffle prizes that are donated – wine and chocolates are always popular. A big thank you to Heather who has been making jams, marmalades, chutneys, delicious cakes, individual shepherd’s pies and a variety of greetings cards for ACF and All Saints’ Church for many years and has raised a huge amount of money. For this we are eternally grateful and it has allowed us to give money to many charities and also to support our Church. In 2023 we were able to donate £500 towards new noticeboards for the church which will be replaced in the not-too-distant future. Thank you also goes to Shirley for your lemon drizzle cake and any other bakers within the group.

Coffee mornings are always well attended and there is always plenty of chatter. We serve hot drinks and biscuits, and enjoy hot cross buns at Easter time. Thank you to ACF members who have supplied these and also mince pies at Christmas time. We also hold the raffle and have our sales table of home-made goods.

Helen Tankard

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The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of

All Saints, Thornton Hough

Registered Charity number 1131417

End of Year Financial Statements (Receipts & Payments)

Year ending December 31[st] 2023

Contents

Financial review

Financial review page 2 The Accounts page 4 Balance sheet page 5 Statement of Assets and Liabilities page 6 Statement of Financial Activities page 8 Analysis of income and expenditure page 9 Notes on the accounts page 12 Approval page 13 Independent Examiner’s report page 14 Appendix: Accounting policies page 15

March 27[th] 2024 Page 1 of 16

Financial review

Overall receipts in 2023 were £126,569, £14,654 more than in 2022. The total expenditure in 2023 was £127,046 and the expenditure exceeded the income by £476. In 2022 expenditure exceeded income by £24,540, this included paying for the boundary wall repair. The income for 2022 did not include the donations (£19,000) received in 2021 for this repair work. Taking this into account, the comparative deficit for 2022 would be £5,540.

At the end of the year the cash assets of the PCC were £49,297 (this excludes the value of investments and property); this is £477 less than at the end of 2022.

Total receipts of unrestricted funds were £125,142. Of this £48,367 was from giving through standing orders, weekly envelopes, and open plate collection and we received £6,759 in unrestricted grants and gifts.

We received £4,594 of designated funding, including a legacy of £4,500.

We recovered a total of £12,445 through the UK’s Gift Aid schemes on qualifying gifts and donations.

Income from investments (Permanent Trust Income) was £20,942; this was 12.8% higher than the return received in 2022. At the end of December 2023, the value of the investments owned by the PCC was 0.08% lower than at the end of 2022.

The PCC’s investments are controlled in partnership with the Diocese of Chester, the Diocese taking a role like that of a custodian trustee. The Diocese needs to support any resolutions made by the PCC about its investments; in some cases, The Charity Commission’s permission may be required. The PCC has established an Investment Committee to monitor the performance of its investments and, should it deem necessary, make proposals about these to the PCC. If the PCC wished to take any such proposals forward, the PCC would have to pass a formal resolution setting out the actions to be taken. Any such resolution would be passed to the Diocese of Chester for review, approval, and implementation. The Diocese of Chester does not provide any financial advice to PCCs.

In September 2022, the PCC considered items of work which needed to be progressed, and its overall cash flow for the next couple of years. This showed than unless some additional income was available, there was a small risk that the PCC could run out of money. After careful consideration, the PCC passed a resolution to sell some of its investments (up to a value of £40,000 depending on the requirements for funds). As 2023 progressed, this decision was reviewed by the PCC and it was found that it was not necessary to sell any of its investments at that time.

There were some social activities during 2023; though their focus was not on raising funds, all of these (at least) broke even. The income from calendar sales and sponsorship was £1,455. The cost of producing the calendar was about £200 (for the 2024 edition) and so the net benefit from the 2024 edition of the calendar was around £1,255.

During 2023, donations towards the cost of the Magazine were £775 and revenue from advertisers, including some advanced payments for 2024, was £1,100. This approximately covers the cost of producing six editions of The Magazine during the year.

The rental for use of the Parish Hall by outside organisations generated £12,354 during 2023 (12% more than in 2022).

There were more weddings and funerals in church during the year and consequently the fees collected (£7,264) were significantly more than in 2022 (£4,057).

The Parish Share for 2023 was £71,756 (3% higher than in 2022) and was paid in regular monthly instalments to the Diocese. This meets the cost of clergy salaries, pensions, clergy housing and training; it also provides support for the Diocese of Chester and the central organisation of the Church of England.

Whilst the salary for the Vicar is met by the Diocese, the PCC pay the Council Tax and water charges for the vicarage and the expenses incurred by the vicar in carrying out her role in the parish.

The cost of maintenance of the churchyard and graveyard was £5,974. This is a little less than the 2022 cost which included some additional tree maintenance.

March 27[th] 2024 Page 2 of 16

In 2023 the PCC spent £2,880 repairing the church driveway (the owner of “The Old Vicarage” paid a proportion of the cost). £617 was spend repairing the church heating system and £662 on servicing the church heating system and carrying out the statutory gas checks. (Two services were carried out in 2023, one in January was delayed from 2022.) Church roof repairs during the year cost £899 and the clock servicing cost £234. This work totalled £5,292.

The PCC spent £9,049 in 2023 for repairs to Hirst Cottage; most of this (£8,900) was for work carried out at the end of 2022 to address serious damp problems. Work has been started on repairing and repainting the outside woodwork at Hirst Cottage; when the work is completed payment will be made (in 2024).

The total cost of employing two staff, the Verger/Caretaker and the Director of Music, was £10,961 in 2023.

Although energy prices have risen dramatically during 2022, the church’s gas and electricity contracts were set up for a period of three years before the prices started to rise: we shall only see the effect of increased costs after September 2024.

The PCC meets the day-to-day costs of running the parish from Unrestricted Funds (General Fund). The results for 2023 show that there is £25,767 in the General Fund (unrestricted) at the end of the year, £5,524 more than when the year began (27% more).

The Designated Funds available to the PCC are £19,200 (at the end of 2023). The PCC can use these designated funds to address some of the maintenance and development projects that need to be undertaken at All Saints’. The restricted funds held by the PCC amount to £4,329 (discounting the unrealised values of the Parish Hall and Hirst Cottage) and this must be used for the purposes specified by the donors of the money.

During the year the balance (£8,902) of the General Support Fund and Quinquennial Repair Fund have been used to meet the costs of some of the repairs.

There remain concerns about our being able to meet the costs which are incurred in sustaining our regular activities. The level of income being received from planned giving and open plate giving (plus the Gift Aid on this) is less than half of the total annual expenditure. With income from the investments slowly recovering, we have been dependent on one-off donations and grants to meet our costs. This has been the case for the last few years.

It is important that All Saints’ increases its income so that we can meet our ongoing costs and obligations, and so that we are able to continue to support God’s work in our parish.

March 27[th] 2024 Page 3 of 16

The accounts

This financial report is produced under the Church of England guidance for PCCs (Church Accounting Regulations 2006) adopting the Receipts and Payments method provided for by the Church and The Charities Act (2011).

This report consists of pages numbered 1 to 14; pages 15 and 16 do not form a part of the formal report.

This report shows all the PCC’s open bank accounts.

There may appear to be minor discrepancies in the totals in the reports as the pence are not shown.

All members of the PCC are Trustees of the registered charity.

Two PCC members (trustees), Mrs Margaret Gamble and Mr Iain Stinson are employees of the PCC. Mrs Gamble is the Verger/Caretaker and Mr Stinson is the Director of Music (posts they both held before first being elected or co-opted as PCC members). Neither Mrs Gamble nor Mr Stinson receive any payment for their roles as PCC Members (trustees).

No payments were made to PCC members for their role as a member of the PCC other than as minor reimbursements for items purchased.

These accounts have been prepared using Data Developments’ Finance Coordinator (version 4.60) software package following the PCC’s Accounting Policies which are appended to this report. They have been prepared on behalf of the PCC by Mr Iain Stinson who does not receive any payment for undertaking the duties of Honorary Treasurer.

The following assets are recognised but not valued in the accounts: moveable church furnishings held by the vicar and trustees on special trust for the PCC and which require a faculty for disposal.

It is the PCC's policy to maintain a balance on unrestricted funds (whenever possible), which equates to approximately two months unrestricted payments, to meet cash flow requirements and to cover emergency situations that may arise from time to time.

The “Notes on the accounts” may be found on page 12 and 13.

March 27[th] 2024 Page 4 of 16

Balance Sheet December 31[st] 2023

As at
As at
31/12/2023
31/12/2022
Fixed assets
(note 1)
6430: Church Hall
6431: Hirst Cottage
(note 2)
6432: M&G Charibond
6433: M&G Charifund
Total Fixed assets
Current assets
6501: CAF Current A/c.545
6502: CAF Restricted A/c.546
6503: CAF Deposit A/c.274
(note 3)
6505: HSBC Current A/c.163
6506: HSBC Current A/c.388
Total Current assets
Liabilities
(note 4)
6699: Agency collections
Total Liabilities
Net Asset surplus (deficit)
Reserves
Excess / (deficit) to date
Z01: Starting balances
Z02: Other gains/(losses)
Total Reserves
Represented by
Unrestricted
Designated
Restricted
Endowment
Total		 £350,000
£350,000
£150,000
£150,000
£143,765
£139,228
£199,815
£204,623
£843,581
£843,851
£27,094
£20,662
—
—
£19,050
£18,701
£1
£1
£3,267
£10,422
£49,413
£49,786
£117
£13
£117
£13
£892,878
£893,625
(£476)
(£24,540)
£893,625
£947,833
(£270)
(£29,667)
£892,878
£893,625
Represented by Funds
Unrestricted £25,767
£20,243
Designated £19,200
£25,779
Restricted £504,329
£503,751
Endowment £343,581
£343,851
Total £892,878
£893,625

March 27[th] 2024 Page 5 of 16

Statement of Assets and Liabilities as at December 31st 2023 (1 of 2)

Class and nominal code
General		 Class and nominal code
General		 Class and nominal code
General		 Class and nominal code
General		 Class and nominal code
General		 Designated Designated Restricted
Endowment
Total		 Restricted
Endowment
Total		 Restricted
Endowment
Total		 Restricted
Endowment
Total		 Last year
Fixed assets – Investments(note 2)
6432 : M&G Charibond
—
6433 : M&G Charifund
—
Total
—
Fixed assets - Tangible assets(note 1)
6430 : Church Hall
—
6431 : Hirst Cottage
—
Total
—
Current assets - Cash at bank and in hand
6501 : CAF Current A/c.545
£9,917
6503 : CAF Deposit A/c.274
£12,581
6505 : HSBC Current A/c.163
(note 3)
£1
6506 : HSBC Current A/c.388
£3,267
Total
£25,767
Liabilities - Agency accounts
6699 : Agency collections
(note 4)
—
Total
—
Net total assets
£25,767
Represented by
Unrestricted - General
£25,767
Designated - ACF
—
Designated - FeesHold
—
Designated - GenSupport
—
Designated - Hallimp
—
Designated - Kitchen
—
Designated - Legacies
—
Designated - Quinquenn
—
Designated - Roof
—
Designated - VicarProj
—
Restricted - ChoirFee
—		 —
—		 —
£143,765
—
£199,815		 £143,765
£199,815		 £139,228
£204,623
Total — — —
£343,581		 £343,581 £343,851
—
£350,000
—
£150,000		 —
—		 £350,000
£150,000		 £350,000
£150,000
Total — —
£500,000		 — £500,000 £500,000
£13,708
£5,491
—
—		 £3,468
£978
—
—		 —
—
—
—		 £27,094
£19,050
£1
£3,267		 £20,662
£18,701
£1
£10,422
Total
£25,767		 £19,200 £4,446 — £49,413 £49,786
— — £117 — £117 £13
Total — — £117 — £117 £13
£19,200
£504,329
£343,581		 £892,878 £893,625
—
—
—
£1,170
—
—
£590
—
—
£0
—
—
£2,400
—
—
£150
—
—
£11,814
—
—
—
—
—
£2,515
—
—
£560
—
—
—
£320
—		 £25,767
£1,170
£590
£0
£2,400
£150
£11,814
—
£2,515
£560
£320		 £20,243
£667
£390
£7,902
£2,400
£150
£10,194
£1,000
£2,515
£560
£200

March 27[th] 2024 Page 6 of 16

Statement of Assets and Liabilities as at December 31st 2023 (2 of 2)

General Designated
Restricted
Endowment
Total
Last
year		 Designated
Restricted
Endowment
Total
Last
year
Represented by
Restricted - RabyGrave
—
Restricted – Choir Music
—
Restricted - Hall
—
Restricted - Flowers
—
Restricted - Hirst
—
Restricted - Organ
—
Restricted - Taxi
—
Restricted - Vicar
—
Endowment - Charifund
—
Endowment - Charibond
—
Total
£25,767		 —
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—		 —
£1,185
—
—
£603
—
—
£350,000
—
—
£866
—
—
£150,000
—
—
£755
—
—
£250
—
—
£350
—
—
—
£199,815
—
—
£143,765		 £1,185
£1,085
£603
£599
£350,000
£350,000
£866
£589
£150,000
£150,000
£755
£677
£250
£250
£350
£350
£199,815
£204,623
£143,765
£139,228
Total
£25,767		 £19,200
£504,329
£343,581		 £892,878
£893,625

March 27[th] 2024 Page 7 of 16

Statement of Financial Activities from January 1[st] 2023 to December 31[st] 2023

Unrestricted
Restricted
Endowment
Total
Last year
funds
funds
funds
funds
total
funds		 Unrestricted
Restricted
Endowment
Total
Last year
funds
funds
funds
funds
total
funds		 Unrestricted
Restricted
Endowment
Total
Last year
funds
funds
funds
funds
total
funds		 Unrestricted
Restricted
Endowment
Total
Last year
funds
funds
funds
funds
total
funds
Income and endowments from:
Donations and legacies
£71,048
£877
—
£71,925
£68,158
Income from charitable activities
£14,233
£550
—
£14,783
£8,407
Other trading activities
£13,931
—
—
£13,931
£12,813
Investments
£25,712
—
—
£25,712
£22,734
Other income
£217
—
—
£217
(£200)
Total income
£125,142
£1,427
—
£126,569
£111,915
Expenditure on:
Raising funds
£3,622
—
—
£3,622
£4,139
Expenditure on charitable activities
£122,382
£848
—
£123,231
£132,119
Other expenditure
£193
—
—
£193
£195
Total expenditure
£126,197
£848
—
£127,046
£136,455
Gains / losses on investment assets
—
—
(£270)
(£270)
(£29,667)
Net income / (expenditure)
resources before transfer
(£1,055)
£578
(£270)
(£747)
(£54,207)
Transfers (note 7)
Gross transfers between funds - in
£3,180
—
—
£3,180
£5,911
Gross transfers between funds - out
(£3,180)
—
—
(£3,180)
(£5,911)
Other recognisedgains/ losses
Net movement in funds
(£1,055)
£578
(£270)
(£747)
(£54,207)
Reconciliation of funds
Total funds brought forward
£46,022
£503,751
£343,851
£893,625
£947,833
Total funds carried forward
£44,967
£504,329
£343,581
£892,878
£893,625

March 27[th] 2024 Page 8 of 16

Analysis of income and expenditure from January 1[st] 2023 to December 31[st] 2023 (1 of 3)

Income and endowments(note 9)
Donations and legacies
1010 - Planned Giving SO
1015 - Planned Giving Env.
1020 - Gift Aid - Occasional
1030 - Gift Aid - tax rebate
1040 - Open Plate
1060 - Wall Safe
1070 - Donations - Sundry
1080 - Appeals - Donations
1090 - Legacies
1110 - Grants - non recurring
Donations and legacies Totals
Income from charitable activities
1120 - Events and Activities
1121 - Mrs Hunnibuns
1122 - Cots to Tots
1150 - Choir - Wedding fees
1160 - Funerals - PCC
1210 - Weddings - PCC
1240 - Fees for weddings and funerals
1400 - Magazine subscriptions
1402 - Magazine - adverts
Income from charitable activities
Totals
Other trading activities
1140 - Halls - rentals
1300 - Printing / Copying (commercial)
1410 - Calendar Income
Other trading activities Totals
Investments
1130 - Hirst Cottage - Rent
1500 - Permanent Trust Income
1510 - Bank Interest
Investments Totals
Other income
1600 - Advanced payment of fees
1650 - Other Ordinary Income
Other income Totals
Income and endowments
Grand totals		 Total
Unrestricted
Designated
Restricted
This year
Last year
£32,495
—
—
£32,495
£30,398
£9,127
—
—
£9,127
£9,093
£1,120
—
—
£1,120
£1,020
£11,325
—
—
£11,325
£11,078
£6,561
—
—
£6,561
£6,258
£184
—
—
£184
—
£5,606
£94
£877
£6,578
£9,274
£33
—
—
£33
—
—
£4,500
—
£4,500
—
—
—
—
—
£1,035
£66,453
£4,594
£877
£71,925
£68,158
£1,301
£862
—
£2,163
£705
—
£77
—
£77
£72
£378
—
—
£378
£138
—
—
£550
£550
—
£5,250
—
—
£5,250
£2,557
£1,814
£200
—
£2,014
£1,500
£2,493
—
—
£2,493
£2,075
£757
—
—
£757
£659
£1,100
—
—
£1,100
£700
£13,094
£1,139
£550
£14,783
£8,407
£12,354
—
—
£12,354
£10,971
£122
—
—
£122
£302
£1,455
—
—
£1,455
£1,540
£13,931
—
—
£13,931
£12,813
£4,380
—
—
£4,380
£4,380
£20,942
—
—
£20,942
£18,259
£389
—
—
£389
£95
£25,712
—
—
£25,712
£22,734
(£100)
£300
—
£200
(£200)
£17
—
—
£17
—
(£83)
£300
—
£217
(£200)
£119,108
£6,034
£1,427
£126,569
£111,915

March 27[th] 2024 Page 9 of 16

Analysis of income and expenditure from January 1[st] 2023 to December 31[st] 2023 (2 of 3)

Expenditure
Raising funds
2400 - Hall - Consumables
2410 - Hall - Electricity
2415 - Hall - Gas
2420 - Hall - Insurance
2425 - Hall - Fire protection & safety
2430 - Hall - Water charges
2535 - Magazine & Bookstall
3010 - Printing - Copier rental & copies
Raising funds Totals
Expenditure on charitable activities
2000 - Parish Share
2010 - Clergy and staff - expenses
2015 - Clergy - locum costs
2020 - Parsonage - Council Tax
2035 - Parsonage - Water charges
2100 - Church - Electricity
2105 - Church - Gas
2110 - Church - Water charges
2115 - Church- Fire Protect. & Safety
2120 - Church - Insurance
2125 - Church - Cost of services
2130 - IT & Web
2200 - Church - Repairs
2201 - Church - Ad hoc/minor maint.
2202 - Church - Maint. contracts
2300 - Church Yard (Church Road)
2310 - Grave Yard (Raby Road)
2440 - Hall repairs/exterior
2445 - Hall repairs/interior
2455 - Hirst Cottage - repairs
2460 - Property - upkeep
2500 - Misson / Outreach
2510 - Church Societies
2520 - Relief agencies
2530 - Secular Societies
2605 - Music - costs
2611 - Fees paid out(note 8)
2615 - Organ - tuning & maint.
2620 - Organist - Locum organists
2700 - Office - telephone
2701 - Office - Broadband
2710 - Office - consumables		 Total
Unrestricted
Designated
Restricted
This year
Last year
£182
—
—
£182
£140
£592
—
—
£592
£609
£807
—
—
£807
£801
£1,013
—
—
£1,013
£896
—
—
—
—
£104
£157
—
—
£157
£140
£127
—
—
£127
£27
£740
—
—
£740
£1,418
£3,622
—
—
£3,622
£4,139
£71,756
—
—
£71,756
£69,666
£1,861
—
—
£1,861
£1,391
—
—
—
—
£44
£2,091
—
—
£2,091
£2,217
£198
—
—
£198
£187
£1,108
—
—
£1,108
£994
£2,200
—
—
£2,200
£1,840
£437
—
—
£437
£347
£118
—
—
£118
£27
£2,352
—
—
£2,352
£2,192
£404
—
—
£404
£2,107
£326
—
—
£326
£305
£681
£2,880
—
£3,561
£24,434
£834
—
—
£834
£350
£896
—
—
£896
£210
£3,402
—
—
£3,402
£3,688
£2,572
—
—
£2,572
£2,500
£706
—
—
£706
—
£323
—
—
£323
£1,193
£147
£8,902
—
£9,049
£132
£345
—
—
£345
£509
£482
—
—
£482
£371
£580
£200
—
£780
£530
£550
—
—
£550
£1,035
£305
£160
—
£465
£190
£127
—
£96
£223
£166
£732
—
£430
£1,162
£725
—
—
£322
£322
£758
—
—
—
—
£134
—
—
—
—
£70
£631
—
—
£631
£257
£894
—
—
£894
£1,381

March 27[th] 2024 Page 10 of 16

Analysis of income and expenditure from January 1[st] 2023 to December 31[st] 2023 (3 of 3)

Expenditure
3000 - Staffing Costs (Salaries)
3002 - Tax & NIC payments
3005 - Staffing fees
3300 - Miscellaneous
4002 - Costs of stewardship
4003 - Costs of Fetes/events
Expenditure on charitable
activities Totals
Other expenditure
4006 - Bank charges
Other expenditure Totals
Expenditure Grand totals		 Total
Unrestricted
Designated
Restricted
This year
Last year		 Total
Unrestricted
Designated
Restricted
This year
Last year
£8,415
—
—
£8,415
£2,546
—
—
£2,546
£1,728
—
—
£1,728
—
£100
—
£100
£76
—
—
£76
£235
£69
—
£305		 £8,112
£2,452
£1,295
£100
£77
£123
£110,070
£12,311
£848
£123,231
£191
£1
—
£193		 £132,119
£195
£191
£1
—
£193		 £195
£113,884
£12,313
£848
£127,046		 £136,455

March 27[th] 2024 Page 11 of 16

Notes on the accounts

Note 1.

The Church Hall and Hirst Cottage are owned by the PCC and the valuation in the accounts was obtained some years ago. If the PCC wished to consider selling these assets, up to date valuations would need to be obtained.

Note 2.

The M&G Charibond and M&G Charifund investments are managed by the PCC in partnership with the Diocese of Chester for the PCC. The investments owned by the PCC are as follows:

Principal
donor		 Specified purpose Holding Number of shares Value 31 Dec 2023
Leverhulme M&G Charibond Inc 128,546.10 £139,228
M&G Charifund Inc 13,645.03 £195,805
Lever Churchyard maintenance M&G Charifund Inc 264.01 £3,789
Fernie Churchyard maintenance M&G Charifund Inc 15.46 £222
Total value of investments £343,581

The value of these investments was 0.08% (£270) less than their value at the end of 2022.

Note 3.

The HSBC bank account ending in 163 is used as a part of the standing order collection process and automatically transfers its contents, other than £1, into the HSBC bank account ending in 388 at the end of each month.

Note 4.

The PCC collects fees for weddings, funerals and cremation services on behalf of the Diocese. These fees are held separately from the church’s funds and paid over to the Diocese each month. The liability shown is the amount of these fees in the PCC’s bank accounts which will be paid over to the Diocese.

Note 5.

The ACF Fund holds money generated by the church’s ACF group and is used to meet the costs associated with running the group and for donations the group may wish to make.

Note 6 .

This Investment Income includes the rental for Hirst Cottage (£4,380), bank interest (£389) and receipts from the investments ( £20,942.62) .

As well as the income from investments owned by the PCC, the investment income also includes income from a gift made in 1956 by Miss K.P. Fryer to the Diocese of Chester Board of Finance. The gift was made with a request that it be used for the benefit of All Saints’ Thornton Hough and that a portion be used to provide a memorial in the Church to her parents. The Diocese of Chester Board of Finance holds 6,304.15 shares in the CBF Investment fund as the remaining part of this gift; the value of these shares at 31[st] December 2023 was £142,506.

The table below shows the income received from these investments during 2023.

Fund Income 2023 Yield
M&G Charifund £11,905.45 5.96%
M&G Charibond £5,141.84 3.58%
CBF Investment fund £3,895.33 2.73%
Total £20,942.62

Yield is defined as income during the year / value at the end of the year.

March 27[th] 2024

Page 12 of 16

Note 7

The following funds transfers have taken place.

Transfer(Funds) Amount Reason for transfer
Legacies Fund to Build Fund £2,880 Payfor repair work
Advance Fees Fund to General Fund £300 Transferred when ceremonyhas takenplace.
Total transfers £3,180

Note 8.

Fees received for the verger and organist for weddings and funerals, (and some grave digging fees) are recorded under code 1240. Payments from this income made to employees are recorded under code 3005 and to others under code 2611. Choir Wedding fees are received into a restricted fund and paid after the ceremony using code 2611.

Note 9.

In 2023, no income was received from endowments and no endowments were purchased.

Approval

Approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by:

Revd Vicky Barrett (Vicar)

Mr Alan W Splitt (Churchwarden)

Ms June Allcock (Churchwarden)

Date: 16[th] April 2024

March 27[th] 2024 Page 13 of 16

Independent examiner’s report

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of All Saints, Thornton Hough (Registered Charity number 1131417) (the Trust) for the year ended 31[st] December 2023.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

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

Independent examiner’s statement

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

  1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or

  2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or

  3. the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.

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

Relevant professional qualifications or membership of relevant professional bodies (if any):

Address:.

Date:

March 27[th] 2024 Page 14 of 16

Appendix: Accounting Policies

Note: These are not a part of the formal Financial Report

1.

Accounting

The financial statements are prepared in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006, together with applicable accounting standards and the SORP 2005. The financial statements are prepared under the historical cost convention except for the valuation of investment assets, which are shown at market value. The accounts include transactions, assets and liabilities for which the PCC is held responsible in law. They do not include the accounts of church groups that owe an affiliation to another body nor those that are informal gatherings of church members.

2

Funds

Unrestricted funds are general funds which can be used for PCC ordinary purposes.

Restricted funds represent (a) income from trusts and endowments which may be expended only on those restricted objects provided in the terms of the trust or bequest, and (b) donations or grants received for a specific object or invited by the PCC for a specific object. The funds may only be expended on the specific object for which they were given. Any balance remaining unspent at the end of each year must be carried forward as a balance on that fund. The PCC does not usually invest separately for each fund.

Endowment funds are funds, the capital of which must be maintained; only income arising from investment of the endowment may be used either as restricted or unrestricted funds depending on the purpose for which the endowment was established.

3

Reserves Policy

It is the PCC's policy to maintain a balance of unrestricted funds (i.e. a balance of funds excluding restricted funds), whenever possible, which equates to approximately two months unrestricted payments, to meet cash flow requirements and to cover emergency situations that may arise from time to time. For the purpose of monitoring the reserves balance, the two months unrestricted payments will be deemed to one sixth of 90% of the budgeted expenditure of the current financial year.

4 Incoming Resources

Collections are recognised when received by or on behalf of the PCC. Planned giving receivable under Gift Aid is recognised only when received. Gift Aid recoverable on qualifying donations is recognised when the Gift Aid is received.

Legacies to the PCC are accounted for when the PCC receives them. Grants are recorded when received.

Rental income from the letting of Hirst Cottage is recognised when the rent is due. Income from Parish Hall rentals is recognised when the income is received.

Dividends and interest are accounted for when received. Tax recoverable on such income is recognised in the same accounting year as when claimed.

March 27[th] 2024 Page 15 of 16

All other income is recorded when received.

Realised gains or losses are recognised when investments are sold. Unrealised gains or losses are accounted for on the revaluation of investments at 31 December.

Wherever practically possible all incoming resources are accounted for gross.

5 Resources Used

Grants are accounted for when paid over, or when awarded, if that award creates a binding or constructive obligation on the PCC.

Salaries, pay, tax, NI, fees and exceptional expenditure are recognised in the accounts when they are due.

The Diocesan Parish Share is accounted for when due.

All other expenditure is generally recognised when it is incurred and, where practical, is accounted for gross.

Activities which involve regular and ongoing payments are handled through unrestricted funds. Where donations (and other income) are received to support a specific activity which involves regular and ongoing payments, these will be held in a restricted fund. Where funds are available, transfers will be made from the restricted fund to the unrestricted fund (from which the payments for the activity are made) as expenditure for that activity is incurred. Restricted funds do not go into deficit. Unexpended resources will remain in the restricted fund.

6 Fixed Assets

Consecrated land and beneficed property is excluded from the accounts by s.96(2)(a) of the Charities Act 1993. No value is placed on movable church furnishings which are held by the Churchwardens, on special trust for the PCC, and which require a faculty for disposal and which are inalienable property. All expenditure incurred during the year on consecrated or beneficed buildings and movable church furnishings, whether maintenance or improvement, is written off as expenditure in the SOFA and separately disclosed.

Equipment used within the church and PCC premises is depreciated on a straight line basis over 4 years. Individual items of equipment with a purchase price of £1,000 or less are written off when the asset is acquired.

7

Payments to PCC Members

Expenses paid to the vicar may include a small immaterial proportion which relates to the vicar’s function as a PCC member. No other payments are made to PCC members other than as reimbursements for items purchased.

Revised January 2020

March 27[th] 2024 Page 16 of 16

Independent examiner’s report

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of All Saints, Thornton Hough (Registered Charity number 1131417) (the Trust) for the year ended 31[st] December 2023.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

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

Independent examiner’s statement

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

  1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or

  2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or

  3. the accounts do not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.

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

Relevant professional qualifications or membership of relevant professional bodies (if any):

Address:.

Date:

March 27[th] 2024 Page 14 of 16