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2025-12-31-accounts

AGM/APCM REPORTS ST PETER’S CHURCH, FROGWELL FOR YEAR 2025

(Registered Charity No 1131473)

Journeying together to share our Christian faith and the love of God with all’

May 2026

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODCTION BY REVD SIMON DUNN, PRIEST-IN-CHARGE

PCC ANNUAL REPORT TO THE APCM

Appendix A – FoodBox Report Appendix B - Electoral Roll Report Appendix C - Church Warden’s Fabric Report Appendix D - Pastoral Care Report Appendix E - Financial Report & accounts Appendix F - Free Will Giving Report Appendix G- Safeguarding Report

INTRODUCTION

From a ministry perspective 2025 involved a lot of “tilling of the ground” and “tending the vine” and we have seen some development and growth already with community connections, Messy Church restarting, weddings and baptisms in church. We started with the repositioning of FoodBox from the church space into the old yellow room. This, along with our developing community presence is a foundation block on which 2026 and beyond will be built as we grow into a St Peter’s Church space that is accessible, welcoming, and used.

Perhaps the biggest achievement we have shared is the starting, if not completing within the year, the work on our St Peter’s window. Although I have only been here 2 years, I already share the love of St Peter’s as well as the frustration of a building that keeps throwing up unwanted issues to be sorted. Although just a building, the concrete structure is an integral part of our presence and ministry in the parish.

We have founded ourselves on prayer, supported by our weekly Sunday morning open prayer meeting before each service and have consolidated our work with St Peter’s School, the Mission Area in Chippenham and our seasonal interactive activities.

It has been wonderful to see the flexibility and understanding of a worshipping community involving themselves in new things and difference as well as coping with a large part of the autumn and winter being outside of the church space as works commenced and continue.

Thank you for your diligence, understanding, support, assistance, persistence, and commitment to a local church community that the community needs to succeed and flourish.

God Bless you all

Si

Revd Simon Dunn Priest-in-Charge

Annual Report 2025 of the Parochial Church Council of St Peter's Church, Frogwell

Aim and Purposes

St Peter’s Parochial Church Council (PCC) and the Priest-in-charge, Reverend Simon Dunn shared the responsibility of promoting the whole mission of the church: pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical in the ecclesiastical parish of St Peter’s, Frogwell. Whilst maintaining traditional aspects of worship, we are embracing new initiatives to allow the church to grow not simply numerically, but in spiritual depth. Work is in train to combine St Peter’s with the parish of Lacock with Bowden hill in a single benefice. This report reflects the PCC’s specific responsible for the maintenance of St Peter’s Church and Community Centre, Lords Mead and reflects our faith that this branch will continue to bear fruit and flourish as we continue in our Christian ‘journey together to share the love of God with all’.

Objectives

Any person is welcome to worship at our church and to become part of our community. Our site brings people together for Christian worship, education and fellowship from diverse Christian cultures, including liberal, evangelical, sacramental/catholic and charismatic traditions or none.

Led by the priest-in-charge, church wardens, and leadership team, the PCC maintain an overview of life at St Peter’s Church to better serve our wider community. Acts of worship include prayer and scripture, music, sacrament, preaching and interaction. In our other activities, we seek to enable ordinary people to live out their faith as part of our Christian community through:

Achievements in 2025

Activity in 2025

Worship and prayer

Simon, with the support of our associate minister Rev Lynne Godfrey and curate Rev Jason Lee, has offered a range of services on a weekly, monthly and seasonal basis at St Peter’s:

In 2025, following a full revision of the Electoral Roll, there were 82 parishioners recorded. The latest roll shows some 82 listed. A full report is at Appendix B. Attendance at services at Easter stood at 78 and Christmas at 106.

The Kingfisher Messy Church initiative was reintroduced on a trial basis for one event in October to test the water and assess opportunities for wider collaboration across the town’s Anglican churches as part of the Deanery Mission Plan. In this it was supported by the new Deanery Youth Worker, whose expenses we help to fund.

Relations with the St Peter’s Academy have continued to deepen, by sustaining the monthly services in church, special experience days such as the Escape Room hosted at Easter, and class assemblies on a fortnightly basis. The relationship with the Lordsmead Playgroup has also remained strong. Unfortunately, the work connected with the removal of the Peter Window has denied the use of the worship space for these purposes, resulting in a hopefully short interruption to the services provided.

Support for the LIGHT service for people with special needs each month, led by an ecumenical team under Simon’s leadership, has been maintained with attendance of 2030. Again, loss of the worship space has resulted in a change of venue within the church complex.

There were 2 weddings in the church, and we read banns for weddings for 7 couples in all. There were 2 baptisms and 4 funeral services conducted in the church in 2025.

Cornerstone Project

The PCC this year maintained its focus on solving the major concrete cancer issues relating to the Peter Window with the aim of removing it from the agenda by the close of 2025. A fortuitous fall of concrete in April helped to convince the Diocesan Advisory Committee of the need for urgent action. This resulted in an urgent meeting that ultimately fast tracked a joint solution via an emergency faculty on health and safety grounds. More detail on this is contained in the Fabric Report of the Church Wardens at Appendix C. Whilst this solves the most significant concrete cancer issue in the church, other instances exist throughout the complex in precast elements. These will continue to be closely monitored, and action taken when resources allow. However, it should be acknowledged that expenditure on the Peter Window has significantly depleted the overall resources available to us for these continuing tasks.

Partnerships and Centre Users

The Lordsmead Playgroup has maintained its operations in both the Hall, Harris Room and the meeting room when required. It had 80 children enrolled in 2025 and has expanded its hours to meet community demand.

The ‘Distinctively Christian’ input to St Peter’s C of E Academy was maintained with Collective Worship in the church led by clergy and full participation in the governance of the academy.

Our hirers have included CLOGs, WWT, parents & toddlers, uniformed groups and exercise classes as well as family and community events. The use of our facilities by the diocese has reduced as the frequency of synods has declined over the year as a legally specified minimum number of meetings has been removed. It is unfortunate that this occurred at a time when our full complement of synod representatives was achieved this year after a long period of decline.

To simplify administration, we have now adopted a policy of annual increases to rental charges based on the Consumer Price Index to reflect the impact of inflation.

Pastoral care

A separate report on our pastoral care activities have been submitted for the APCM

(Appendix D). Other groups who contribute to our pastoral support, such as Friendship Lunch and the Ladies Guild, men’s activity over meals, coffee and walking; and the Choir remain active. Other pastoral initiatives included the church BBQ, and harvest lunch funded by donations.

Mission

In a continuing demonstration of our faith, we responded directly to need again this year. The cost-of-living crisis has not abated this year and our award-winning FoodBox initiative remains very active. We also maintained support for many charities: Leprosy Mission, Christian Aid, the Ripple Effect, Sightsavers, DEC Myanmar, Macmillan Nurses, Water Aid and Wiltshire Historic Churches Trust, donating nearly £3400. Our Friendship Lunches also provided a much-needed source of fellowship and companionship to help combat social isolation within the local community and provide support and nurture.

Ecumenical Relationships

The church remains a participating member of Chippenham Churches Together (CCT). It had been hoped that the Chippenham Mission Area Plan might serve to reinvigorate matters with its various initiatives, but its own activities have been slower than expected to launch, primarily due to extended clergy vacancies in the town and wider deanery. As a result, CCT has yet to become as active as in previous years. In July we were delighted to welcome the whole of St Mary’s RC Primary School to the church as part of their contribution to the Catholic Church’s Worldwide Jubilee of Hope.

Volunteers

We could not function and offer community support to the extent that we do without the hard work and dedication of our many volunteers. We have yet to relieve fully the burden placed on them by expanding the number of those able and willing to actively support events and initiatives. We need to bend our efforts to this end again in 2026 to sustain our welcoming and friendly character. This will come as we grow and encourage others to participate in that burden sharing. With that increase in capacity, and a positive attitude to change and trying new things, we can do much. We greatly appreciate all that you do, from administrators, rota members, cleaners, flower-ladies, sacristy/servers, the PA team, welcomers, music & arts, treasury and other unnamed contributions essential to our

common life in Christ. To all our volunteers we offer our gratitude and most sincere thanks.

Charitable Status

The PCC takes note of the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit and, in particular, the supplementary guidance on charities for the advancement of religion in setting the framework of its public accountability.

Financial Review

A full Financial Report together with Audited Accounts for 2025 have been submitted and are incorporated at Appendix E . These represent the translation of church activities into financial terms. The Freewill Offering Report is at Appendix F.

We have maintained our policy of keeping a £8,000 minimum reserve in line with Diocesan and Charity Commission guidance and met our Parish Share gift to the diocese. As we now share our Ministry costs with Lacock and Bowden Hill, the sum asked of us is lower than in previous years and thereby more sustainable. This allows us to achieve more in other areas of activity and is of especial significance given the increasing cost of utilities, maintenance and services necessary for the life of the complex.

Structure, governance and management.

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 method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. At St Peter's the membership of the PCC consists of the clergy, churchwardens, any licensed lay minister, deanery synod representatives and members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church. All the baptised who attend services at St Peter’s are encouraged to register on our Electoral Roll and are welcome to stand for election to the PCC.

PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the church and parish. New members receive initial briefing and support as to the workings of the PCC and sign standard terms of reference. All are required to undertake the national church’s mandatory safeguarding training.

Officers of the PCC include a church warden, treasurer, and parish secretary and they are ably assisted by other members of the Leadership Team, that in addition to clergy, can consist of other nominees of the PCC each year.

Given its wide responsibilities, the PCC has various ways of dealing with particular aspects of parish life. Groups and individuals address worship, safeguarding, Cornerstone, finance, premises, outreach and pastoral issues, all responsible to the PCC and reporting back to it as necessary.

The PCC and the Leadership Team each met 6 times in 2025. The AGM/APCM was held on 4[th] May 2025.

Deanery Synod

The church had three Deanery Synod representatives during the year. As previously stated, synods have reduced this year to only 2 and consisted primarily of information exchanges of wider issues such as the eco church initiative and updates on the Mission Area Plan. As a result, no separate Deanery Synod report has been prepared on this occasion.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding and Inclusion informs all aspects of our ministry at St Peter’s as we have ‘due regard’ to the House of Bishops’ guidance. Information of who to contact in case of a Safeguarding Concern, or for advice about procedures and good practice in the parish and the diocese, is published in the foyer of the Church. St Peter’s operates with a Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO), Bev Webb, who has continued in her active support of the church’s effective governance despite personal health challenges. Her assistant, Joan Taylor-Gunston resigned this year and was replaced by Daphne Brindle. We are grateful for the service of both in support of Bev. Caroline Masters continued as our DBS Validator.

St Peter’s PCC has agreed policy guidance for parish safeguarding, safer recruitment, and response to safeguarding concerns or signs of domestic abuse. The PCC has also adopted the national statement of the House of Bishops ‘Promoting a Safer Church; safeguarding policy statement’ in our parish safeguarding policy. Safeguarding is a standard item on all PCC agendas. ( A safeguarding report for the APCM is at Appendix H).

St Peter’s PSO inputs to the Parish Safeguarding Dashboard to monitor performance and progress against national standards and requirements. Progress continues and all indicators are currently ‘green’. .All PCC members have completed or renewed the mandatory basic and foundational training on safeguarding. There is no place for complacency in this area and, as wider safeguarding policy develops, so we shall continue in our work to achieve a healthy and supportive worship environment bearing in mind Proverbs 11:14:

‘Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counsellors there is safety’.

Administrative Information

St Peter’s Church is situated at Frogwell, Chippenham. It is part of the Diocese of Bristol within the Church of England. The correspondence address is St Peter’s Church, Lords Mead, Chippenham SN14 0LL. The PCC is a body corporate (PCC Powers measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2006) and a charity registered with the Charity Commission (Reg No. 1131473)

PCC members who served at any time from 1 January – 31 December 2025:

Ex-Officio members:
Priest in Charge:
Associate Minister
Curate
Church wardens:
Deanery Synod
representatives:
Elected members:
Co-opted Member		 Revd. Simon Dunn
Revd. Lynne Godfrey
Revd. Jason Lee
Mrs Vivienne Fuller
Mr Phil Godfrey (from May 25)
Ann Dunn (from May 25)
Margaret Perthen (from May 25)
Mrs. Daphne Brindle (Deputy Chair)
Mrs Sue Burt
Mrs Elisabeth Davies
Mr. Ivan Hurcum
Mr Matthew Hurcum (Treasurer)
Mr. Christopher Gough
Mrs Gill Perkins
Nigel Fuller (Secretary)
Bev Webb (Safeguarding Officer)

Approved by the PCC and signed on their behalf by Revd. Simon Dunn (PCC Chair)

Revd. Simon Dunn

April 2026

Appendix A

Review of 2025

Background:

The FoodBox project collects surplus food from local stores, supplements this with purchased food, and distributes to those in need throughout the area. The project runs under the auspices of the PCC and operates in partnership with the wider community across Chippenham and its surroundings. It is wholly run and supported by volunteers from many churches across the area, as well as volunteers from the local community with no church affiliation. This review summarises activity across 2025 as submitted to the PCC.

Average Individuals per Week Hou$8holds 121 2024 Tot81 B8g5 . 6033 202S Total Bag3YfD .. 6043 Children 152 144 Adults 193 InOrwdu&is 347 337 100 150 2( 250 300 350 400 2025 •2024 •31.1.2S 2025 Household Review - New Criteria New Criteria for new recipients- 6 months maximum support Household advised when added to the weekly list Notice or review with household will be applicable at 5-month point Once current review complete of existing households, will consider advising of six months notice dependent on length of time on our list to ensure waiting list is at a minimum This new process and review of existing households has meant we no longer have a waiting list Q

2025 In Summary Successful move to new FoodBox Room wth the support of St, Peler'schurch & CBLC Delivering 6043 bags across Chippenham Supporting on average 347 individuals weekly 76 emergency bags- a record number this year 884 Collections from our supplier partners 3 Morrison Donation Events 4 Successful Grant Applications Increase in donalions including monthty individual gifts Reduce waiting list by addiAgformal review piocess & six-month review for new recipients

Appendix B

REPORT ON THE ELECTORAL ROLL FOR ST PETER’S, FROGWELL AGM/APCM 2025

In 2025 we had a completely new electoral roll, this is in line with every Church of England church. This roll will last for 6 years when it will be refreshed again. During the intervening years we report on the increase or decrease in the number of members on the roll.

Unlike last year, there is no contact made with existing members, we simply advertise that the roll will be reviewed and anyone wishing to join (or leave) can do so before the closing date. This year the roll was reviewed between 12/04/2026 and the 09/05/2026.

Following the review, St Peters now has an electoral roll of 82 people. During the year we have had 3 new people join the electoral roll, but unfortunately 3 of our members have sadly passed away. As such, our total electoral roll has remained the same as last year’s total of 82.

Of the 82 people on the roll, 59 people are a member of the Church of England or of a Church in communion with the Church of England and resident in the parish. This value represents 72% of the members.

In line the Church of England rules, the full list of people, (names only), has been posted in the narthex since 9[th] May 2026.

Mr Christopher Gough Electoral Roll Officer

10 May 2026

Appendix C

APCM CHURCH WARDEN’S (PREMISES) REPORT: INCLUDING CORNERSTONE – 2025

Introduction

This is the first time in a number of years that it has been possible to deliver a report from two church wardens. The movement in the apostrophe in the title is therefore both significant and a welcome sign of increased teamwork. The ability to share the burden of caring for this church and community complex, which creates many and varied challenges, has been very welcome. There is a reason we refer to it as a complex! It has been a privilege and a pleasure to work together over the last 8 months, along with a small but willing team of helpers, to keep this valuable spiritual and community space operational and available to all.

The Peter Window

From the gaping hole where the Roper glass and its rotting mullions once stood, it is perhaps unnecessary to say that our problems with solving the church’s concrete cancer issues have again dominated our activities. This was made all the more unavoidable by a fall of concrete from one of the mullions in April created a major health and safety issue, both internally and externally. It also had the beneficial effect of creating a greater sense of urgency at the Diocese in addressing our concerns and in identifying an affordable solution.

You will recall that, following our feasibility study into alternative materials to concrete, the Chair of the DAC was consulted on the options and agreed that the curtain wall solution offered the best prospect of success. We were pursuing this further at the time of the concrete failure, with a variety of commercial contractors capable of meeting the requirement. A number of approaches to companies by both the DAC Chair and the church succeeded in identifying only 2 contractors willing to bid. One of these submitted an estimate that was deemed unrealistic and with a high level of financial risk. The other more closely approximated the church’s available financial resources. Their original proposal to replace the Roper glass in purpose-built frames, matching the current configuration and colour, was quoted at £171,000 VAT inclusive. This was still considerably above the church’s available budget of £100K, reflecting the bespoke nature of the frames to accommodate the glass and specialist conservator costs. In further discussions the company proposed that the Roper glass be removed and stored until displayed elsewhere in the church at a later date and that the existing window be replaced by a standard frame in the same formation of panels as now but using commercial plain/frosted glass double glazed units. Specialist conservators would not be employed to further constrain costs. This would cost £117,000.00 VAT inclusive. If assured of recovering the VAT from the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme this could achieve the target price. The proposal was put to the DAC on 13 Feb 2024 and, whilst the aluminium or steel framing proposal was

supported, their strong preference was still that this should be with the Roper glass in situ. At its February meeting the PCC agreed to press ahead with this potential solution.

Following the sudden concrete collapse, the Leadership Team met with representatives of the diocese on 8[th] April to discuss the way ahead. The meeting was very constructive, and all parties agreed that this was now a critical health and safety issue and threat to the Roper heritage glass. The Diocese agreed to seek a meeting with the Chancellor to gain his views on an emergency faculty to remove the mullions and glass and replace them with the final DM Windows proposal for an aluminium frame. The emergency faculty was issued with certain conditionalities applied with the timescales for their achievement. Whilst this was sometimes a fraught process, the requirements were met and the PCC formally approved the DM Windows proposal in April. This allowed work to be progressed whilst awaiting a confirmatory faculty from the Chancellor.

The Contract with DM Windows was signed in August with the deposit being paid. Further payments are due on delivery of the window with a 20% retention of contract value to ensure all is well until final payment. The organ was wrapped by Nicholsons in September to protect it from dust and will be retuned as part of that £2K contract once the new window is in place. External scaffolding was erected in September with internal scaffolding following in October. The work to demolish the mullions and extract and store the glass progressed through October and, whilst there were inevitably a few breakages, none of the significant Roper elements were damaged. The glass is now stored locally, and those elements removed previously for the trial work by Holywell Glass conservators, have been recovered and reunited with the other panes. Work to obtain grants to assist with either the window replacement or the repurposing of the Roper glass met with mixed results. Timescales for grant givers and the ineligibility of work already performed ruled out many. Others failed to respond. Ultimately, we did receive a most welcome grant of £7K from the diocese to reflect the eco-benefits of the double-glazed replacement for the window.

Whilst this was going on our confirmatory faculty was progressing and, following the mandatory public consultation period, was granted on 1 December. DM Windows have measured on frequent occasions with the frame manufacturer to ensure that all is well with the replacement design. All materials have been purchased but fabrication and fitting will take us beyond the period of this report until late January/early February 2026. The PCC resolved at the beginning of the year to get the Peter Window off the agenda by the end of 2025. We may have missed that by a little, but we are well on the way to its achievement and the release of energy for other issues directed towards outreach and growth. We are particularly indebted to all those who have stuck with this project for over 14 years and at last can see it beginning to bear fruit. No doubt other concrete cancer issues will continue to emerge, but the major contributory factor to our woes will be a thing of the past!

Temporary Loss of Dedicated Church Space - Mitigation Efforts

Whilst the main Church space has been closed during the window replacement work, the efforts of the church team and ministers have successfully migrated regular services, including funerals and seasonal celebrations into the Hall and Meeting Room. The smooth transition of these services has been a success and well received by the congregation. This

has required continual thinking ahead and physical movement of tables, chairs and equipment in and out of the rooms in readiness for the needs of the next room use. Balancing services, pre-school use and routine room booking has been a challenge. This transition has been a credit to the whole congregation and leadership in their determination to find positive outcomes from the loss of the main facility. However, the effort needed is distracting though necessary and drains resource over time. I am sure that we all hope for an equally smooth transition back to the main worship space and a return to normality in 2026.

Ladies Toilet Repair

Another long running saga has been the repair of the ladies’ toilets in the Link, caused by a pipe leak beneath the floor in February. This resulted in a claim to Ecclesiastical Insurance and their appointment of a loss adjuster and contractor for the work. Regrettably, what should have been a relatively simple repair resulted in a litany of contractor errors and delays, many of which were avoidable and due to their incompetence rather than any complexity in the task. Your wardens were constantly on the phone trying to sort out or expedite issues which arose where, rather than a one stop shop for the repair, they were required to chase, organise and source items for the company employed by Ecclesiastical. Despite making their disappointment and concerns known on many occasions, no improvement in performance was perceptible, and even involved a serious H&S incident when a rotary saw blade was left by a tradesman with other waste material dumped at the school entrance. This required us to issue an apology to the Head. Repairs were not completed until October. A formal complaint was made to Ecclesiastical for the poor performance on the repair, depriving us of a facility for 9 months. Ecclesiastical offered us compensation of £100, a derisory sum given that our excess was £250 just to advance the claim. We have, as directed by the PCC, returned to Ecclesiastical to seek £1K compensation to reflect the poor performance, the additional effort required of wardens and the undoubted loss of income from hirings due to the unavailability of this facility. We await a response.

Other Maintenance and Improvement Work

Following the highly successful relocation of FoodBox from the main body of the church into the old office, we were able to carry out some much-needed redecoration both to the wall behind the font and the vestry which now doubles as our admin hub. This was helped by a donation of some paint towards the project by Wickes on bumpers Farm. We also took the opportunity to touch-up elements of the Hall’s décor which had been damaged during the course of the academic year.

The hot water in the Hall kitchen & toilets failed in early 2025 resulting in much inconvenience to pre-school and others. The fault was traced to a leaking hot water tank in the loft which had also caused the immersion heater to fail. A new replacement hot water tank and integral immersion heater has been installed and hot water restored.

A live St Peters defects list is now in use to capture minor issues as they arise and track them to closure. Eighty-three items were raised in 2025 of which Sixty-three have been closed. Twenty defects are work in progress for 2026.

Discussions are continuing with the Blue Kita Academy Trust, we have taken over responsibility for St Peter’s Academy with the demise of the Bristol Diocese Academy Trust this year, about sharing the costs of maintaining the tarmac from the entrance on Lords Mead to the school gates. Hopefully we can reach an amicable and proportionate solution to this issue.

Conclusion

The cost of general maintenance over the course of 2025, not including Cornerstone, amounted to nearly £8K. Total running expenses including maintenance came to nearly £40K. We are well on the way to solving the Peter Window problem albeit that its full resolution will slip into 2026. We will then have to see how to reutilise our Roper glass within the resources available.

Our premises have once again demonstrated their worth to the local community but, despite progress with the Peter Window, keeping them to the standard we desire is a constant challenge. Something always seems to come along and surprise us and resources, as ever are limited!

Vivienne Fuller Phil Godfrey Church Warden Church Warden

April 2026

Appendix D

Pastoral Work at St. Peter’s Church Chippenham for year 2025.

At St. Peter’s the Pastoral Team aim to co-ordinate the care of the St. Peter’s Church Family.

During the year we have welcomed David Turnbull to our team. We co-opted the help of two drivers, Philip Godfrey and Ivan Hurcum. In compliance with Diocesan requirements, all have completed the necessary courses and checks.

What do we do?

We meet monthly to review and plan our actions. Communication between, confidentiality and support for each other is essential for us as a team.

Our work is very varied. We aim to respond promptly to those who contact us. People may need support for a short while or it may be over a prolonged period, or just need someone to talk to. We continue to support those who are no longer able to attend church services, our message being ‘we the church still care about you and have not forgotten you’. The important ministry of Home Communion is available, monthly, to those who ask.

As we can spend a considerable amount of time, visiting people in their own homes or Care Homes. it is vitally important to be able to develop ‘trusting relationships’ not only with them but also with their families/carers. We regard this as an important role in demonstrating the love of Jesus for all.

Many visits have been made to Cepen Lodge Care Home, and a very good relationship has developed with Middlefields Care Home, with some residents regularly attending our Wednesday Communion Service.

We take people regularly for Medical Appointments, wherever possible visit people in hospital and inform the Hospital Chaplain of their stay.

Our ‘card ministry for a diversity of occasions’, expresses our care to many.

We provide support where necessary for bereaved families by visiting and sending cards of condolence. In November we organise a ‘tea’ (immediately before a Remembering Service) for families who have held a funeral in church or at the crematorium during the previous 3 years. This is well received.

We thank you for your continuing support and appreciation of our ministry both in practical ways and in prayer.

At St. Peter’s the Pastoral Team aim to co-ordinate the care of the St. Peter’s Church Family.

During the year our team has comprised six members. We welcomed Rev Lynne Godfrey and Rev Simon Dunn to our team. In compliance with Diocesan requirements, all have completed the necessary courses and checks.

29 March 2026

Daphne Brindle Pastoral Team Leader.

Appendix E

St. Peters Church

LORDS MEAD, CHIPPENHAM, SN14 0LL

Journeying together to share our Christian faith and the love of God with all.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Year ended 31 DECEMBER 2025

CHARITY NUMBER 1131473

Reference and Administrative Information

Charity name: St. Peter’s Church Chippenham
Charity number: 1131473

St. Peter’s Church, Chippenham Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025

Principal office
address:		 St. Peter’s Church
Lord’s Mead
Chippenham
Wiltshire
SN14 0LL
Charity trustees at
date of approval:		 Ex-Ofcio members:
Priest in charge:
Associate Minister:
Curate:
Church Wardens:
Deanery Synod
representatves:
Elected members:
Co-opted members:		 Revd. Simon Dunn
Rev Lynne Godfrey
Rev Jason Lee
Mrs. Vivienne Fuller
Mr Phil Godfrey (from May 25)
Mrs Ann Dunn (from May 25)
Margaret Perthen (from May 25)
Mrs. Daphne Brindle (Deputy Chair)
Mrs. Sue Burt
Mrs Elisabeth Davies
Mr. Ivan Hurcum
Mr. Mathew Hurcum (Treasurer)
Mr. Chris Gough
Mrs Gill Perkins
Mr Nigel Fuller (Secretary)
Bev Webb (Safeguarding Ofcer)
Former charity
trustees who served
during the financial
year:

1

St. Peter’s Church, Chippenham Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025

Financial Review

Summary:

Last year I reported a very slight surplus for 2024 and gave a rosy outlook to our finances for 2025. This year we have managed a deficit of nearly £41,000. However, this is no reason to be downbeat as a further look into the reasons will testify.

At the 2024 AGM I predicted a large decrease in our funds, and that has been realised. The principal reason for this is the start of the work on the Peter Window. Nearly £60,000 was spent on the window during 2025 (there will be a similar amount during 2026) this more than accounts for the £41,000 deficit.

On the positive side our planned giving has increased by over 18% (£30,066.47 against £25,398.81), I consider this demonstrates the true financial health of the church.

We have, again, met our Parish Share request in full.

A note about Restricted and Unrestricted Funds

A Restricted Fund, of which we have five, can only be used for the purpose of that fund. For example, if a doner gives money for Foodbox, that money is credited to the Foodbox Restricted Fund and can only be used for buying food for Foodbox. Unfortunately, wo(men) cannot live on bread alone, the insurance premiums, and waste collection, along with a multitude of other necessities, also need to be paid. For this we need to rely upon the faithful generosity of those who give unconditionally (unrestricted) to the church. To those people, thank you very much.

Although on initial inspection of the figures it may look as if we have a lot of money, the vast majority of it is tied up in various restricted and designated funds (>90%), leaving only £10,984.96 with which to do as we please. This is an improvement on last year when 96% of our funds were restricted.

We have continued to allocate 10% of our rental income to the Fabric Fund (a designated fund) and although the fund hasn’t quite got its head above water, it is £1,000 better off than it was 12 months ago.

During 2025 we changed our Electricity supplier from SSE to Octopus. This has resulted in a far more satisfactory service whereby we are billed accurately and monthly and at a lower price. I continue to monitor the Energy designated account to try to iron out the seasonal fluctuations, predominately in the gas bill.

Income: As previously noted, our planned giving has increased this year. Our other principal source of income is from renting out our rooms, this revenue stream has also increased, although by a rather more modest 4.6%. Other fundraising efforts, such as an annual fete and barbeque, also make a significant contribution.

Expenditure : Aside from the significant expenditure on the Peter Window, our major items of expenditure from the Unrestricted account remain the same as previous years. These are the Parish Share (£43,003), Cleaning Fees (£17,378), Utility bills (£6,795), Other Repairs and Maintenance (£7,856).

Parish Share :

Last year we pledged to meet the Dioceses request for £43,003 in 2025. We met this target. 2026’s request is for £46,076, an increase of 7.1% increase. We intend to pay in full again this year.

FoodBox at St. Peter’s : Financially, Foodbox is living within its means. A grant of £5,000 from Wiltshire Community Foundation in the final days of 2025 contributed to an excess of income over expenditure of £4,941. Approximately 10% of Foodbox’s income is from regular personal donations, the other 90% from corporate donations and grants.

Cornerstone Fund : This fund has been put to great use during 2025. Just under £60,000 has been utilised to repair the Peter Window. There is still a similar outstanding amount to be paid in 2026. Although the Peter Window has been the most obvious and visible victim of the faulty concrete that was used to build the church, there are many other areas that will require attention.

Conclusion: Over the past few years, we have met the challenge of both replacing the Peter Window (contractors are currently employed as this report is being written), and to return to meeting the requested Parish Share in full. However, the most encouraging aspect of this financial report is the growth in planned regular giving. This gives us further confidence to move forwards investing in our mission.

I would like to thank all those who have helped the Treasury team this year, with particular thanks to Ivan Hurcum for his continued weekly processing of any income to St Peters and the annual Tax Reclaim from the taxman and to Iain Craig who signs off our accounts. But my biggest thanks goes to those of you who

2

St. Peter’s Church, Chippenham Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025

contribute to the life of St Peters, not only those who give financially so generously, but also those you give their time, talents and prayers to this community, without this we would be poor, no matter what our balance sheet states.

Matthew Hurcum PCC Treasurer

3

St. Peter’s Church, Chippenham Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM : Donations and Legacies Regular giving Receipts from donors

Unrestricted Fund Unrestricted Fund Unrestricted
Designated
Fund		 Unrestricted
Designated
Fund		 Restricted
Funds (Note
8)		 Restricted
Funds (Note
8)		 Total 2025 Total 2025 Total 2025 Total 2024 Total 2024 Total 2024
Planned giving
Note 2		 £27,778 £2,289 £30,066 £25,399
Collectons other than planned
giving
Note 3		 £6,067 £292 £6,359 £6,172
Income tax recovered
Note 4		 £7,895 £466 £8,412 £9,424
Grants
Note 5		 £1,761 £26,084 £27,844 £20,978
£41,740 £1,761 £29,130 £72,631 £61,972
Other Donatons and Legacies
Note 6		 £1,649 £5,599 £7,248 £14,970
Income from Charitable Actvites
Note 7		 £5,446 £5,446 £3,049
Other Trading Actvites
Note 8		 £36,325 £640 £36,965 £35,780
£43,421 £6,239 £49,660 £53,799
Total Deposited into Bank £85,161 £1,761 £35,368 £122,290 £115,771
Income from Investments
Note 9		 £375 £5,493 £5,868 £6,856
Total Income and Endowments £85,536 £1,761 £40,861 £128,158 £122,627

EXPENDITURE ON:

EXPENDITURE ON:
Unrestricted
Fund		 Unrestricted
Designated
Fund		 Restricted
Funds		 Total 2025 Total
2024
Expenditure on Charitable Actvites
Note 10		 £20,724 £20,724 £29,299
Parish Share £43,003 £43,003 £42,861
Other Expenditure
Note 11		 £28,918 £17,979 £59,531 £106,429 £49,137
Total Expenditure from Bank Account £71,922 £17,979 £80,255 £170,156 £121,296

4

St. Peter’s Church, Chippenham Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025

Unrestricted
Fund		 Unrestricted
Fund		 Unrestricted
Designated
Fund		 Unrestricted
Designated
Fund		 Restricted
Funds
(Note 8)		 Restricted
Funds
(Note 8)		 Total 2025 Total 2025 Total
2024
Net income/(expenditure) £13,594 (£16,199) (£39,394) (£41,998) £1,331
Transfers between funds (£9,372) £9,322 £50 £0
Net movement in funds £4,223 (£6,877) (£39,344) (£41,998) £1,331
Cash at bank 1st January £9,316 £5,323 £140,608 £155,247 £154,066
Cash at bank 31st December £13,539 (£1,554) £101,264 £113,249 £155,647

Notes:

The 2024 Annual report included £400 which was collected for The Leprosy Mission. It is now mandated practice that church accounts should not include funds which have been collected for other causes, even if those funds go ‘through the books’. Hence the £400 discrepancy between the closing balance of 2024 and the opening balance of 2025.

5

St. Peter’s Church, Chippenham Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025

6

St. Peter’s Church, Chippenham Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025

1. Notes

The PCC is committed to maintaining an £8,000 minimum reserve representing three months essential expenditure, which is held within the HSBC current and deposit accounts. The level of the minimum reserve will be decided annually by the PCC. It is a requirement to have a contingency plan to restore funds to the minimum reserve level should ever the situation arise.

(iv) Assets recognised but not valued in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities include:

7

St. Peter’s Church, Chippenham Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025

Note 2. Planned Giving

Note 2. Planne d Giving
Unrestricted Restricted* Total 2025 Total
2024
Standing Orders £11,129 £180
£300		 £11,609
PGS Giving £16,186 £1,809 £17,995
Envelopes £462 £462
Total £27,778 £2,289 £30,066 £25,399

*Foodbox and Light Service respectively

Note 3. Other Collections

Note 3. Other Co llectons
Unrestricted Restricted* Total 2025 Total
2024
Plate Collecton £5,046 £292 £5,338
Contactless Giving £1021 £1,021
Total £6,067 £292 £6,359 £6,172

*Light Service

Note 4. Income Tax Recovered

Note 4. Income T ax Recovered
Income Tax
Recovered		 Unrestricted Restricted* Total 2025 Total
2024
Non-PGS £4,812 £51 £4,863
PGS £3,083 £414 £3,498
Total £7,947 £466 £8,412 £9,424

*Foodbox

Note 5. Grants

Note 5. Grants
Grants Unrestricted Designated Restricted Total 2025 Total
2024
Clergy Expenses
from St Cyriacs		 £1,680
Eco grant from the
Diocese for St		 £7,584

8

St. Peter’s Church, Chippenham Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025

Peter Window
Eco grant from the
Diocese for LED
bulbs		 £81
Foodbox Grants:
Neighbourly £1,500
Chipp Boro Lands £5,000
Lions Cub £2,000
Wilts CC £5,000
Wilts Community
Foundaton		 £5,000
Total £1,761 £26,084 £27,844 £20,978

9

St. Peter’s Church, Chippenham Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025

Note 6. Other Donations and Legacies

Note 6. Other Do natons and Leg acies
Other Donatons
and Legacies		 Unrestricted Designated Restricted Total 2025 Total
2024
WHCT £165
Chippenham
Deanery (laptop)		 £250
Toddlers £179
Lunch Club £100
Miscellaneous £955
Foodbox:
Staton Hill Baptsts £1,300
St Andrews £540
Other Foodbox
donatons		 £2,270
Cornerstone
donatons		 £1,489
Total £1,649 £5,599 £7,248 £14,970

Note 7. Income From Charitable Activities

Note 7. Income F rom Charitable Actvites
Charitable
Actvites		 Unrestricted Designated Restricted Total 2025 Total
2024
Weddings £1,566
Funerals £1,320
Spring Fete £1,605
Summer BBQ £640
Rock around the
Xmas Tree		 £316
Total £5,446 £5,446 £3,049

10

St. Peter’s Church, Chippenham Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025 Note 8. Other Trading Activities

Note 8. Other Tr ading Actvites
Other Trading
Actvites		 Unrestricted Designated Restricted* Total 2025 Total
2024
Lords Mead
Playgroup**		 £24,227
Other room
bookings		 £11,525
Sunday Cofee £483
Votve Candles £90
Weds Cofee £640
Total £36,325 £640 £36,965 £35,780

*AED Fund

**Lords Mead Playgroup are our principle hirers of our church rooms

11

St. Peter’s Church, Chippenham Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025

Note 9. Income from Investments

Note 9. Income f rom Investment s
Income from
Investments		 Unrestricted Designated Restricted* Total 2025 Total
2024
Deposit Account
Interest		 £375 £352
CCLC Investment £5,493 £6,504
Total £375 £5,493 £5,868 £6,856

*Cornerstone

Note 10. Expenditure on Charitable Activities

Note 10. Expendi ture on Charita ble Actvites
Expenditure on
Charitable
Actvites		 Unrestricted Designated Restricted Total 2025 Total
2024
Foodbox £20,173 £20,173 £28,758
Light Service £551 £551 £541
Total £20,724 £20,724 £29,299

Note 11. Other Expenditure

Note 11. Other Exp enditure
Other Expenditure Unrestricted Designated Restricted Total 2025 Total
2024
Electricity £3,591 £3,591 £1,330
Gas £3,205 £3,205 £4,150
Repairs &
Maintenance		 £7,856 £7,856 £10,327
Clergy Expenses £3,328 £3,277 £3,279
St Peter Window £59,531 £59,531 £3,547
Bank Fees £125 £125 £151
Benefce Fees £1,312 £1,312 £518
Insurance £2,215 £2,215 £2,154
Grass Cutng £528 £528 £600

12

St. Peter’s Church, Chippenham Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025

Cleaning Costs £17,378 £17,378 £15,473
Boiler Servicing £198 £198 £198
Fire Ext servicing £568 £568 £316
Photocopier £1,594 £1,594 £1554
IT Costs £736 £736 £457
Website hostng £216 £216 £192
Hallmaster license £265 £265 £265
Chairs £165 £165
Statonery £102 £102 £82
Telephone £368 £368 £403
Alter Requisites £265 £265 £263
Radio mic license £149 £149
Flowers £83 £83 £0
Literature for resale £26 £26 £0
Copyright fees £575 £575 £396
Miscellaneous £356 £356 £2,431
Deposit Returns £650 £650 £0
Waste Collecton £1,044 £1,044 £1,051
Total £28,918 £17,979 £59,531 £106,429 £49,137

13

St. Peter’s Church, Chippenham Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025

12. Restricted Funds

12. Restricted Funds 12. Restricted Funds 12. Restricted Funds 12. Restricted Funds 12. Restricted Funds 12. Restricted Funds 12. Restricted Funds
Restricted Funds year-ended 31/12/2025
A B C D E
Cornerstone
Fund		 Foodbox LIGHT
Service		 AED Fund Friendship
Lunch		 Totals
Balance at
01/01/2025		 £115,902 £14,568 £1,338 £501 £300 £133,608
Income £9,072 £25,064 £592 £640 £0 £35,368
Interest
received		 £5,493 £0 £0 £0 £0 £5,493
Expenses £59,531 £20,173 £551 £0 £0 £80,225
Transfers
from/to
unrestricte
d funds		 £0 £50 £0 £0 £0 £50
Total
movements
inyear		 (£44,965) £4,941 £41 £640 £0 (£39,344)
Balance at
31/12/2025		 £70,936 £19,509 £1,379 £1,141 £300 £94,264

14

St. Peter’s Church, Chippenham Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2025

Notes:

Restricted Funds in St. Peter’s are set out above. All the figures have been provided and confirmed by the designated organisers of the respective funds.

IMPORTANT NOTE

Guidance for Treasurers has been given that monies raised or collected for other organisations should not be included in the Church accounts. However, it would be remiss of us not to acknowledge those funds raised by the congregation for other worthy causes. Therefore I set out below what we have collected on behalf of other charities and organisations.

Sightsavers £436.37
Leprosy Mission £1140.00
DEC Myanmar appeal £269.85
Christian Aid £272.50
MacMillan Nurses £454.54
Wiltshire Historic Churches Trust £330.00
The Ripple Effect £227.30
Water Aid £268.00
TOTAL £3,398.56

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Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of St. Peter's Church, Chippenham, Parochial Church Council

St. Peter’s Church, Chippenham Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2024

Appendix F

FREEWILL OFFERING (FWO) Annual Report 2025

The following figures for 2024 exclude transactions concerned with Foodbox and the Light Service.

You will note how the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) has been increasing in numbers at the expense of the more traditional methods.

Number of participants / donors
Loose coin in Plate
Giving by standing order / envelopes
Giving by special donation (yellow envelopes)
Gift Aid Tax recovery
Parish Giving Scheme (PGS)
TOTAL		 2023
40
£6,394
£19,997
£620
£7,346
£4,046
£38,403		 2024
43
£4,981
£11,657
£900
£5,427
£17,230
£39,164		 2025
42
£7,334
£11,733
£170
£4914
£19,790
£43,941

The result indicates a 12% increase in giving as a whole. Having lost just one in our number of contributors, our individual donations have increased from last year’s £910 to £1046 each.

The Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) continues to increase in popularity. This is where the donation via PGS attracts the gift aid recovery month by month instead of having to claim in one go at the end of the tax year. Hence the apparent reduction in “Gift Aid Tax recovery” above.

I.B.Hurcum

FWO Secretary.

Appendix G

2025 Safeguarding Report for APCM meeting of St Peters Church

Even though I have been physically unable attend St Peters over the past year – I am totally committed to serving you all within the Safeguarding management & policies necessary to protect both children & adults.

Any Safeguarding policies needing to be addressed or reviewed, have been agreed & passed by our PCC. I have advised the PCC regarding all necessary Modules & Courses needed by all the people involved within the areas of their Safeguarding responsibilities for both children & adults - & to date, all necessary modules/courses have been completed by people within the requirement of their role. This has enabled us as a Church to achieve the highest level that is required within the Diocesan annual Audit.

Unfortunately, Joan Taylor-Gunston decided to step down from her Role as Assistant Safeguarding Officer with responsibility for Children during the year, but Daphne Brindle has very kindly taken up the Role, which is very much appreciated. I would also like to thank Caroline (Masters) who has completely & regularly managed all of our DBS requirements – actioning any queries that I have had – for which I thank you.

I have updated the PCC for each of their Meetings through a written report, of any reports/safeguarding matters that I have been made aware of. Thankfully, there have been none of any gravity that needed to be redirected to any outside Agencies – & I have only had one query in the past 12 months, that, following discussion, was more of a Pastoral issue (which was dealt with “in-house”), rather than a Safeguarding issue. I have been able to manage any concerns “remotely” - & trust that you will all have the faith in me to continue this service, both to any vulnerable person in need of protection or help, & especially for our Church.

Bev Webb. Parish Safeguarding Officer

29.03.2026