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2022-12-31-accounts

Trustees Annual Report and Financial Report

of

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Lavant

St Mary with St Nicholas

Pook Lane, East Lavant. PO18 0AH

Registered Charity no. 1131684

For the year ended 31st December 2022

CONTENTS

Part 1

2 Trustees annual report

6 Parish Reports

Part 2

17 Notes to the accounts

21 Report of the independent examiner

Website: www.lavantchurches.net The Revd Martha Grace Weatherill Incumbent: The Rectory, Pook Lane, East Lavant, PO18 0AH

Incumbent:

Barclays Bank PLC 74/75 East Street, Chichester PO19 1HR Bankers: Co-operative Bank PO Box 250, Delf House, Southway, Skelmersdale WN8 6WT

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St Mary with St Nicholas Trustees Annual Report for 2022

Our aims and purposes as a charity

The primary objective of Lavant PCC is our Mission Statement:

To lead the people of Lavant and surrounding area into the knowledge and love of God, and bring them into the life and worship of Christ’s Church.

The PCC has the responsibility of co-operating with the incumbent, the Revd Martha Grace Weatherill, in:

What we planned to do to achieve our charitable objectives

When planning our activities for the year, our incumbent and the PCC have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and, in particular, the specific guidance on ‘charities for the advancement of religion’.

The PCC has complied with the duty under section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016, fully recognising its duty to have due regard to House of Bishops' guidance on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.

For this year we discussed and planned the following objectives and activities to fulfil our aims:

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What we achieved and how we affected beneficiaries’ lives

Attendance at worship

The Lavant Churches welcome visitors from within as well as outside the parish boundary. Visitors attend by personal choice and, it is our great pleasure to welcome anyone from all walks of life to take part in the life of the church. We contend that voluntary attendance to worship the Lord Jesus Christ, is a major demonstration

of the public benefit of our activities.

The average regular weekly attendance was 104 (at least “This church is like family to me and I feel attending once at home here “ a month) ……..Member of the congregation We look to ‘ Just wanted to say thank you for welcoming us encourage the last Sunday’…New member deepening of

faith for all ages, and alongside our services there is a

programme for young people from crèche through to teenagers to join in with. Our youth work is especially varied and open to Year 6+ and meeting on Monday evenings termtime.

Christmas and Easter are very special times of celebration where many sections of the community come together to join in the services. Children and adults alike join in and memories are made.

Teaching, baptising and nurturing new and existing believers

During the year there have been 10 baptisms, 7 weddings plus 2 service of blessing after a civil marriage, 9 church funerals, 5 funerals at the Crematorium, and 5 Interment of ashes;

A greater number of the church family have been involved in leading various aspects of worship, lending great encouragement to those involved, as well as the whole congregation. We continue to seek to extend the opportunities for the exercise of ministry and gifts within the life of our community.

Evangelism and outreach

Lavant churchgoers are the lifeblood of many regular village events as well as new initiatives. The local Church of England Primary school is also very much at the heart of the church community and is supported in its fundraising activities by members of the church.

“I have been attending St Mary’s Church for forty years” Member of the congregation

Lavant Churches offer a number of well attended outreach activities including a monthly Lunch House attended regularly by 25 - 30 villagers and church members; a weekly Tea and Chat, mainly for elderly villagers although all are welcome, and a thriving Toddler Group which meets weekly in term time and welcomes on average 12 preschool children with their parent or carer. The monthly Saturday

Brunch continues to prove very popular and welcomes 25 – 40 villagers and churchgoers alike including parents or grandparents with children who come to enjoy a relaxed brunch while their children are occupied at the craft tables. See Parish reports

Lavant News is the monthly Parish Magazine prepared by a small editorial team which has the objective of uniting the interests of the Church and the village, promoting community spirit. Publicity in the magazine encourages villagers who may not be churchgoers to join in events organised by the church and local organizations. 11 issues were distributed in 2022 (one magazine for December/January). The publication is now delivered free to everyone in the parish and to those of our worshipping community outside the parish. Additional copies are available in both churches. Part of our mission is to reach out to everyone and this is one step towards that goal.

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Provision of the church building for people to enjoy

We celebrated 10 baptisms, 7 weddings and 9 funerals in our church during the year. Our church continues to be appreciated by our parishioners and many others, as a space where life events are celebrated with joy and thanksgiving.

Our vision and plans are to continue to find ways in which the St Nicholas church building can be used for outreaches and events in addition to services. Its position at the heart of the most populated part of the village together with its lack of fixed pews and well-equipped kitchen make it an ideal venue for community events.

It is important to us that the church is available for private prayer and visits not just to the church family but to the wider visiting community. To this end St Nicholas and St Mary’s are always open during daylight hours and the many entries in the Visitors’ Book (at St Mary’s) testify to this.

Many remark not only how refreshing it is to find an open church but, also the sense of peacefulness and

spirituality the church pervades.

“I am so glad to hear that the heating repairs are Other remarks include the sense of history within; that being done. It’s such a lovely building…” people of much earlier generations found life and presence there and, comments on the appreciation of Member of the congregation the architectural beauty of the building and biblical archaeology.

Refurbishment of St Nicholas and future projects

The church family has refurbished St Nicholas kitchen, the church interiors and some exterior works using grants and funds available. We plan to continue making use of St Nicholas for our outreaches in the community and for church services.

Provision of pastoral care for people living in the parish

The Pastoral Care Team, chaired by Mrs Cynthia Blades, is responsible for visits, befriending and home communions.

Regularly they sacrifice their time and energies to caring, listening and helping people in the village.

Provision of tangible support to the poor and needy

Especially encouraging was this year’s Harvest festival where the church was joined by Lavant Primary School, the Little Harriers Lavant Montessori to provide food for the Foodbank in Chichester.

The school and church members responded to provide many tins of soup, toiletries and other essentials.

Other charitable giving

We supported various charities throughout the year. Our local Foodbank, Marys Meals, the Children’s Society. the 4 Streets project, Safe in Sussex and My sisters’ house, and the British Legion all benefitted from our donations. Our thanks go to our generous congregation and friends for raising so much for very worthwhile charities.

Archivist

Mrs Barbara Treverton was appointed again to look after our archives. She looks after all our files and documents, is very efficient and knowledgeable especially when we require information, and our thanks go to her for her work in looking after our valuable records.

Youth worker

In January 2022 the PCC were fortunate to be able to appoint a Youth and Schools worker who is successfully working with the young people of the parish.

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Financial Review

As in the past members of the congregation supported church running costs and the Parish Share through the Parish Giving Scheme, standing orders and collections from September. Donations were received from anonymous benefactors including at weddings and funerals.

The Parish Share pledge of £77967 was paid in full. Income from weddings and funerals were up on 2021. Lettings were down on 2021 due to the fact that St Nicholas church was closed for a considerable amount of time for improvements and redecoration to take place.

Lavant News continued to show an excess of income over expenditure.

The General Fund (unrestricted) had a balance of £29835 to be carried forward to 2023 and this account is held in the Co-operative Bank.

The Buildings Fund(restricted) had a balance of £19699 as at 31 December 2022 and is held in Barclay Bank in the name of Lavant Churches Building fund

St Nicholas Chancel Trust is held entirely by the Chichester Diocesan Board of Finance. Claims may be made for assistance with insurance premiums for St Nicholas.

Why we hold some money in reserve

It is PCC policy to maintain a balance on the general unrestricted funds (excluding property) which equates to approximately two months’ worth of unrestricted payments as contingency against unforeseen situations.

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TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

Churchwarden’s Report

Much of the churchwardens' work has been centred on St. Nicholas Church over the past year. It began with receipt of a very high water bill which, after investigation, was due to an escape of water from the mains supply pipe over the covid-19 “lock down” period. The volume of water that leaked from the pipe was substantial but following negotiation the water company reduced the bill from circa £5000 to £800 – a much more manageable sum to pay. The water meter is now read by us on a regular basis to avoid further problems in the future.

The new kitchen was installed and completed in June, followed later in the year by localised plaster repair and redecoration of the church. The works proceeded under the supervision of the diocesan architect and extended to include elements of the 2019 quinquennial. All parties were keen to complete the internal repairs in time for the Christmas services with external works, such as inspecting the roof, to be addressed this summer.

The project that was proposed some years previously is now substantially complete and has enabled St Nicholas to be fully operational as a community space with activities taking place most days of the week.

The refurbishment has been funded by a Heritage Lottery Grant, for which we are very thankful to Martha for her work in securing such a significant sum.

CCTV has been installed at St Nicholas as the church is now open for private prayer during the day; a rota of volunteers kindly unlock and lock the church during the week to allow access.

The grass cutting in the churchyard at St Nicholas, which is undertaken by the Chichester District Council (CDC), was suspended in 2022 to allow rewilding. However, concerns were raised about the height of the grass impeding the line of sight of motorists approaching the junction of the A286 and Downs Road. A meeting with CDC was arranged and the new supervisor agreed to keep us informed of the grass cutting schedule for 2023

Following relaxation of face mask wearing in May, refreshment after the 10am service resumed. We are very grateful to Rosie Hoare for taking on the task of organising a rota of people to provide this service to the congregation which gives rise to fellowship after the service.

In August the annual service of St Mary’s boilers brought to light severe problems which culminated in the boilers being condemned. A second opinion was sought and the chimney swept. Unfortunately, this led to the discovery of a tear in the flue liner and confirmed the need for a new boiler.

We obtained competitive quotations and an emergency faculty which took some considerable time and required a feasibility study to determine how we can become carbon neutral in the near future. A new oil boiler was finally installed in November before the really cold weather set in.

The possibility of a handrail along the driveway at St Mary’s is being investigated as some of the congregation find the slope difficult to negotiate. To date costing for materials are being sought. The work will require planning permission and a faculty, we will also liaise with the residents of Dame Court

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Electoral Roll

There were 205 members on the roll as reported at the APCM on 8 May 2022. In December 2021 there were 200 parishioners on the church electoral roll. There were 11 death and 10 new joiners we also had a number of people who moved away from the parish. 40% [31%] of those on the roll live within the parish boundaries, however a further 58% [62%] live within a 7-mile radius of the parish

Church Cleaning Report

The church cleaning at St Mary’s has continued this year in the same manner as the previous year. A small group come together once a month on a Monday morning and over the space of a couple of hours hoover, dust and polish St Mary’s so its appearance remains clean, tidy and cared for. During the year we have welcomed two new team members but our team is still very small so new members are always welcome. As St Nicholas has been closed for periods of time over the year a regular cleaning rota has not yet been established. This should be something to address in the coming year as, like St Mary’s, the church is now open to visitors for private prayer during the week and we have returned to our previous pattern of worship which increases the number of services held there.

A thorough clean was undertaken prior to the opening of St Nicholas again in December following the refurbishment works

Safeguarding

No Safeguarding issues have been raised during the past twelve months and subsequently no referrals made to the statutory services. That is not to say that my responsibility is discharged nor that due diligence should not be exercised by all members of the Church congregation. Any concerns, however trivial they may seem should be referred in the first instance to Revd Martha or myself.

St Nic's Flower Team

It has been another quiet year for the St Nicholas flower team since we reported for the last APCM. The church remained under covid restrictions for much of the year with fewer opportunities for formal worship. However, we were delighted to provide a little colour for the 8 o'clockers and the Let's Celebrate services, and for other users of the church to enjoy. Our Harvest Festival display was small but beautiful as St Nicholas was then cleared for repainting. Thus it was with great joy that we were able to come together as a team to decorate the church in time for Christmas with lovely seasonal greenery, berries and candles. St Nicholas looked glorious over Christmastide with many services taking place there, allowing everyone to enjoy the newly refurbished space as well as the floral decorations. During Lent the opportunity for flowers is limited, but we look forward getting back to the familiar patterns of worship at St Nicholas and decorating it with love for Easter and beyond. We are a small team and what we lack in experience, we make up for in enthusiasm - anyone welcome to join as a one off or to go on the rota! Please speak to Karel Bartholomew, Lindsay Campbell, Clare Evison, Jean Sherrington or Amanda Smith if you'd like to join us.

St Mary’s Flower Team

As in all churches, with the exception of Advent and Lent, St Mary’s is decorated weekly with a pedestal arrangement and a further display of flowers on the shelf beneath the War Memorial tablet on the South wall. The super flower arranging group rarely these days get asked to do flowers for weddings as it seems to have become customary for couples hiring professional florists for bouquets and buttonholes offer a ‘package’ which includes the church. This year we had seven marriages and the members of our flower ‘team’ are not involved at all. We have the opportunity however to show our skills on other weekends and at the Festivals, and much appreciate the kind comments of members of the congregation when we do. Particular thanks to Julia Farwell who has been a member of the ‘team’ for many years, her speciality at Festivals being the pulpit She moves away from the area in a few months’ time. We wish her well. Among the newer members of our congregation anyone feel like taking her place? We’d love to hear from you. We make as much use as possible of garden flowers in the summer months but have financial support from the Parochial Church Council the rest of the year.

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Grave Concern Report

This report is very similar to previous years and like last year at no time did we have a full turnout. The group consists of some 9 active members and although this sounds a lot, we all have other essential commitments as well.

As now and reported last year we could do with more volunteers so, before the start of the mowing season I will prepare a short appeal notice for insertion into the Lavant News and or the Pew Sheet. Any recruitment ideas from the PCC would be welcome.

The core group is a dedicated team but would benefit from more volunteers to spread the workload a little. The group is I believe effective with everyone involved working very well together.

The three mowers and two strimmers have been serviced ready for the season starting in April 2023. Grave Concern will, as in previous years, commit a small amount of money on summer bedding plants to give a little colour adjacent to the west door during the summer months at a cost of approximately £20.

If agreed by the PCC the triangular area in front of the tower will between April and July/August be left for the wild flowers to grow, not planting new but to encourage what’s there already to grow. The whole group is in favour of this initiative which we think is required in order to encourage insects and pollinators for the general good of the environment.

Children and Young People’s reports

Lavant Youth and Schools Worker

In January 2022 I was appointed to the role of Lavant Youth and Schools Worker, initially for an average of 7 hours per month, although that has since been increased to a ceiling for paid hours of 25 per month. The principal tasks are to nurture children and young people within our community through Messy Church and supporting our local faith school, Lavant Primary School, mostly by leading the ‘church-led’ weekly assemblies. My role also covers marketing events and activities undertaken at Lavant Churches, informing the congregation of the opportunities for children at Lavant Churches, building relationships with the children and providing them with pastoral care. I also encourage and support volunteers working with young people and children and ensure that all the safeguarding and health and safety requirements for the activities and programmes are met.

This paid role therefore covers the school and Messy Church aspects of the children’s and young people’s activities described below. Leading Junior Church and Youth Group are voluntary roles.

Messy Church

We held our first Messy Church session at St Nicholas’s Church in February 2022, delayed from January due to the large number of Covid cases at that time. We meet the second Thursday of the month in term time and have an established competent and enthusiastic team of helpers, which means the session runs smoothly and efficiently. We always welcome additional help!

Messy Church is church in a relaxed environment. Each Messy Church session has a Bible-based theme and is divided into three parts, creativity, celebration and hospitality. We therefore have lots of fun with craft activities, painting and often making something to eat. This is followed by a short period of worship, concentrating on the theme and Bible passage. We finish with a shared meal.

Our routine was disrupted in the second half of the summer term by the construction of the new kitchen at St Nicholas’s and again from October to December by the refurbishment of the church. We are very grateful to Adrian King, the head teacher at Lavant School, for the use of the school for Messy Church during the autumn term. We returned to the church in January 2023 and hope to re-establish our routine. We have had up to 25 children attend each session, all accompanied by a responsible adult, this has led to up to 40 people sharing the meal.

School activities

Throughout 2022 I have led most of the school assemblies on a Thursday, I have also recently initiated a session at play time on a Thursday morning when the children can come and sit with me and write prayers or talk about any concerns. This is immediately after assembly. I have only been doing this a few weeks, but up to 12 children have attended a session.

I also gave the talk at the school Easter service and the school KS2 carol service. Elizabeth Woodford kindly gave the talk at the school harvest service, as I was away with my other work.

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The children and staff make me feel very welcome in the school.

Rev’d Martha and I have termly meetings with the head teacher Adrian King.

Junior Church

Junior Church continues to meet in term-time during the 10 am service, this is supported by an enthusiastic and competent team of parental help, one of whom has started to lead the sessions. We have had an average attendance of 7 children per week from 20 on the register. Some of the young people who have moved to secondary school come to help occasionally at Junior Church; their help is appreciated.

We held a children’s activity session on Good Friday morning, but it was not well attended so we are considering what to offer this year.

We held our annual Christingle service in December, which was well attended. Junior Church continues to help with the Let’s Celebrate services.

Youth Group

The youth group has met on Mondays during term time. While St Nicholas’s kitchen and church were being refurbished we held sessions on Lavant Green during the summer and then at Lavant School during the autumn term, by kind permission of the head teacher at the school.

We have had a varied programme with many different activities, including a celebratory BBQ at St Mary’s to mark the successful completion of our first year in July 2022.

Three young people came with me for a day visit to the Diocesan May Camp at Plumpton, which they very much enjoyed. I also took three young people to the mini May Camp evening in November at Burgess Hill. This again was a Diocesan event and was much enjoyed. We are planning to take a group to camp and participate in the whole of May Camp in 2023.

We had an excellent team of helpers in 2022, but are currently in need of more helpers, to ensure we can continue to offer youth group every week. Help doesn’t need to be every week.

We have had an average weekly attendance of 8 over the year, with 20 young people on the register. Attendance tends to be higher in the summer when there are more outdoor activities.

Thank you to volunteers

None of these activities would be possible without the help of many volunteers, some of whom help at more than one activity. Their contributions are gratefully acknowledged with sincere thanks. Lavant News

All the activities are reported in the Lavant News and to the PCC at meetings.

Organist and Choirmaster Report

The past Year has seen services return in full swing, with some hiccups, and other great successes. The carol service this year I am particularly proud of, with the Choir stepping up admirably to the change in logistics and acoustic, leading to a wonderful experience. I continue to monitor feedback for the organists who cover for me, as well as hymn selections, in my absence and will be mindful of said feedback going forwards.

Organs:

The organ at St Nicholas had an unexpected failure between the carol service and new year, and we had to bring in a technician to see if it was fixable, and repair if possible. I am glad to report the organ is working once again, but it is showing its age, and the technician recommended we should start to think about a possible replacement to either the electronics of the organ, or a new instrument altogether. I believe based on the current state of the instrument that we have possibly a couple of years to search and fundraise should this be decided, and am happy to work towards fund raising myself. I believe it would be wise to think ahead and work slowly towards it for when the organ fails again (the electronics are quite old now), rather than being caught without time on our side.

The organ at St Mary’s continues to be a wonderful instrument for enhancing service. Choir:

I am happy to report an average attendance of 9-13 choristers at full attendance.

We have worked hard towards our goal of more anthems during major feast days, and am proud to state

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that we have managed this thus far with great resilience, dedication. We have sung relevant psalms at specific services and this has also gone well.

I would like to put forward a recruiting drive, possibly with the help of the Village magazine to bring in more singers, and would like to start a Junior section to the choir – unfortunately we lost the majority of our juniors due to extra-curricular activities at school. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas to help in this matter it would be appreciated if you find me at a service and let me know.

I would like to thank everyone for their assistance in making things run smoothly at Lavant Churches from a musical perspective.

Readers and Sidesperson duties.

Members of the congregation continue to support our worship by reading and acting as Sidespersons, at all our services. This voluntary commitment is greatly appreciated by us all.

During the festivals of Easter and Christmas, there are more duties which requires a greater commitment. This can be onerous because the number of readers and sidespersons has diminished throughout 2022. This has been due to a number of reasons (death, ill health, moving away, moving to another church). Junior Church - and Frances Talbot - have taken on the duties for the Lets Celebrate service, which is much appreciated. Evensong has been discontinued, which again helps reduce the duties to be covered. Evening services during the winter were particularly difficult to cover as people were cautious about coming out at night.

Healing Ministry

Healing ministry was suspended at the start of the Covid pandemic and this continues to be the case.

Monthly Prayer Meeting

Monthly prayer meeting are ongoing but moved onto Zoom in October 2022 to save heating and lighting at St Marys and to see if more people would be able to attend. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Patrick and the late Janet Madeley who did attend in person, for their support and encouragement when we were meeting in St Marys. The current Zoom prayer meetings are open to all and everyone is most welcome on the 4[th] Tuesday of the month at 7.30pm.

Prayer trees remain in both churches for anyone to put in requests for prayer and can be made online too. Prayer Trust leaflets remain available at the back of St Marys

Toddler Group

Lavant Toddler Group operated for most of 2022 during school term times. We actually had 25 children on the Register but they do not come every week. Before the kitchen refurbishment in the early part of the year we had an average of 12 but although we continued throughout the work being done, the numbers did drop off. We had to stop our sessions during the church closure throughout October and November but had our Christmas Session before the end of the year.

Numbers are slowly rising again and we have 15 on the Register. We offer crafts and playdough, drawing and giant lego. There are large sit-on and push along toys. We have books and puzzles,

We have a regular team including Gina Bill, Cynthia Blades and myself and Suzy Lowe comes fortnightly to offer craftmaking. Caroline Loten has recently joined us so this will give more flexibility to run the sessions.

We were grateful to the Lavant Fete Committee for their generous donation enabling us to buy a quality wooden toy kitchen to replace the old one . This is already very popular!

It is a really great group and lovely to see parents/carers socialise and relax. We still only charge £1 per family per session and I think this cost should not rise for a while because of the cost-of-living crisis The new heating system has proved a real bonus during the recent cold and wet weather.

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Brunch @ St Nicholas Church

It was a slightly disjointed year for Brunchers as we had to pause first for the installation of the new kitchen at St Nicholas and then for the redecoration of the church itself. The new kitchen is proving to be a great asset and we have been delighted to offer Brunch on the first Saturday of the month to between 25 and 40 visitors. We were also very grateful to Lavant Primary School for offering the use of their hall and kitchen in November - which attracted a bumper crowd, keen to have the opportunity to visit the school as well as enjoy a bacon buttie! Brunch operates on a donation basis and thanks to the donations received we are able to make a contribution to church funds as well as covering costs. We offer delicious sausage, egg and bacon baps, croissants, bagels, toast, fruit as well as teas and coffees, newspapers and happy company. Now that we are in a more settled pattern, we hope that the primary school's Fair-Trade stall will start to operate again as this was a lovely addition to the morning's activities. Huge thanks to those who help run Brunch each month.

Lunch House

After COVID we saw our numbers take a dip with people being very cautious in mingling with others and sadly several of our more elderly patrons have died of non COVID age related causes so our numbers have been reduced. Happily we are now seeing a reversal and numbers are creeping up again with new people joining us. We are always pleased to see new customers, all ages are welcome and our new attendees tell us they very much look forward to coming on the second Wednesday of every month. Two of our biggest fans come from Bognor !

We were able to give a lovely Christmas lunch for 30 people with all the trimmings which was much appreciated. We are very grateful to the fete committee / parish council who gave us a generous donation enabling us to give this special meal free of charge.

We are also very pleased with our lovely new kitchen at St Nic’s which really helps us cater for large numbers with top of the range equipment. Thanks go to Martha for securing grants, particularly from the Heritage Lottery fund to enable this to happen.

We look forward to another year of Lunch House. Our main aim is to show God’s love to everyone with friendship and fun as important as the tasty food we offer at a very affordable price.

Tea and Chat

Tea and Chat meets on the third, fourth and when it occurs, the fifth Wednesday afternoon of each month at St Nic’s at 2-00 till 4-00 pm. It is open to anyone and we normally attract 12–14 people, mainly older ladies. We always have a delicious tea of scones and a wide selection of cakes and anything left is shared out for our ladies to take home. This is ruinous for our waist lines but we certainly flex our laughter muscles as our ladies have hilarious stories to tell and we learn so much about Lavant in the past as they share their memories. We are very inclusive and would be delighted to meet new people including gentlemen! All you have to do is turn up.

Super Soup Mondays

This has been running since the beginning of January and will go on until the end of March. It was started in response to the situation we all find ourselves in with high fuel costs and the high cost of living plus it being the coldest time of the year, we felt it would offer a warm space whilst cheering us all up. We meet in St Nic’s on Mondays at 12-00—1-00, no charge but a small donation if you want to.

We have been greatly helped in this by a generous donation from the fete committee/ parish council and two private donations, which we are very much appreciated.

Hire of venues

Covid restrictions were lifted in March 2022 but many hirers had either gone out of business or had been disbanded. In spite of contacting past groups, Yoga etc, no bookings were made for the Lavant Room. A similar situation applied to St Nicholas with only the Post Office, Church outreach groups and a few one-off bookings received.

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Although the pandemic has caused financial losses for both churches we are able to look forward with renewed confidence. Improvements to, and redecoration of, St Nicholas’ provide an excellent venue for groups large and small with better heating and a modern kitchen. This will provide a comfortable space for the many church activities which already exist and new clubs and private users.

The Lavant Room continues to offer a smaller, carpeted room with courtyard access for barbeques in summ

Deanery Synod

The Deanery Synod consists of members of the clergy together with laity members from parishes within the Deanery. Matters that were discussed at their meetings were the Mission Action Plan for each Deanery and Finance. The Deanery is currently working with Clergy and Synod on its Deanery Mission Action Plan. The Chichester Deanery appears to be one of the most generous in the diocese although it is hard for some parishes to pay their full parish share. 80% of the Parish Share monies goes on paying for clergy. Parishes are encouraged to pay their full share but can pledge a figure which they feel they can afford. They have also been asked to come up with an aspirational amount for the next 3 – 5 years so that the Diocese can plan for the future. The Diocese relies heavily on the Parish Share monies so are asking parishes, who are unable to pay the full amount, to review their pledges as the year progresses.

Weekly Email Newsletter

We send a newsletter to about 301 [293 in 2021] people each week, a third or so are not regular members of our church but they like to keep in touch with our activities. Production of the email is shared by 3 volunteers who each take responsibility for producing the newsletter for a month at a time. Overall, the open rate has stayed steady this year at about 49-53% [compared to the sector average of 22%].

Church Website

The church website remains a source of information for those outside our church. The new site has been in use for several years and is very simple to update and maintain.

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Trustees Annual Report

Structure, governance and management of the charity

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is registered with the Charity Commission as required by the Charities Act 2011. Its governing document is the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956.

During the year the following served as members of the Parochial Church Council: Ex Officio member

Incumbent: The Rev’d Martha Weatherill Chairman Elected Wardens: Mrs Georgina Bill Mr Iain Campbell Elected Members: Mrs Sheila Sims Secretary Mrs Jean Sherrington Mrs Caroline Loten Mrs Zoe Mann Mrs Jenny Quest Mrs Deecie Tester Mrs C Blades Co-opted October 2022 Mrs Shirley Whincop Resigned January 2022 Mrs Claire Evison Did not seek re-election May 2022 Mrs J Rogers Resigned January 2022 Deanery Synod Mrs Sue Tostevin

Membership of the PCC is determined under the Church Representation Rules and consists of certain exofficio members (the incumbent), the churchwardens (elected annually and who by resolution of the PCC may serve for a maximum of 6 years in succession) and members of the Deanery Synod (elected to serve for 3 years) and 12 members of the church who are elected at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) to serve for a period of 3 years before seeking re-election for a further 3 year period only. Members are warmly encouraged to stand for election to the PCC and we try to ensure a balance of skills and experience where possible.

This Trustees’ Annual Report was approved by the PCC and signed on their behalf by The Reverend Martha Weatherill - PCC Chairman

Signed: Rev’d M Weatherill

21 March 2023

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The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Lavant

St Mary with St Nicholas Church, Lavant

Pook Lane, East Lavant, PO18 0AH

Registered Charity no. 1131684

For the year ended 31st December 2022

CONTENTS

Page

21 Report of the independent examiner

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St Mary with St Nicholas Church, Lavant

registered charity number 1131684

Summary of Financial Receipts and Payments

The financial effect of our activities during the year can be summarised as follows

Unrestricted Unrestricted Unrestricted Total Total
All Funds
2021
Notes
£
124,211
5,795
8.961
257
139,224
3
-
89,204
3,485
-
92,689
5
46,535
-
-)
85,190
131,725
A&L
General
Fund		 Designated Restricted Endowed All Funds
Funds Fund/s Fund/s 2022
Income and endowments from:
Donations, grants and legacies
Charitable activities
Other trading activities
Investments		 £
75,122
8,336
10,715
265		 £ £ £ £
26,615 114,477 - 216,214
- 603 - 8,939
- - - 10,715
- - - 265
Total received 94,438 26,615 115,080 - 236,133
Expenditure on:
Fund-raising
Charitable costs
Trading costs
Other payments		 -
95,853
5,536
-
- 500 - 500
968 169,364 - 266,185
- - - 5,536
- - - -
Total paid 101,389 968 169,864 - 272,221
Net income or (net expenditure) (6,951) 25,647 (54,784) - (36,088)
Transfers between funds
Net movement in funds
Bank accounts at 1 January		 12,009
(12,009) - - -
-
24,777		 - - - -
5,000 101,948 - 131,725
Bank accounts at 31 December 29,835 18,638 47,164 - 95,637

15

St Mary with St Nicholas Church, Lavant

registered charity number 1131684

Statement of Assets and Liabilities

Our financial position at the year-end was

Unrestricted Unrestricted Unrestricted Total Total
All Funds
2021		 Notes
R&P
General
Fund		 Designated Restricted Endowed All Funds
Funds Fund/s Fund/s 2022
Assets:
Bank current account
Cash		 £
29,835
-		 £ £ £ £ £
131,675
50
18,638 47,164 - 95,637
- - - -
Total bank, cash and deposit accounts 29,835 18,638 47,164 -
95,637
131,725
Debtors & Prepayments
Gift Aid recoverable		 2,480
3,100		 206
1,307
- - - 2,480

-		 - - 3,100
Debtors 5,580 - - - 5,580 1,513
- -
- - - -
- - - - - -
Chancel Trust income held by Diocese 3,486 3,441
- - -
3,486
3,486 - - -
3,486		 3,441
-
- - -
Total assets 38,901 18,638 47,164 - 104,703 133,495
Liabilities:
Magazines adverts received in advance
Water (UW), E.W fees, LH tax and
Electricity used since last billed (est'd)		 2,661
2,686		 2,500
-
4,887
-
- - - 2,661
- - - 2,686
Total liabilities 5,347 - - - 5,347 7,387

This Financial Report for the year ended 31st December 2022, including the notes following, was approved by the PCC and signed on its behalf by The Revd. Martha Weatherill, PCC Chairman on 21 March 2023

16

St Mary with St Nicholas Church, Lavant

registered charity number 1131684

Notes to the Financial Report

1 The financial statements of the PCC have been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 and current Church Accounting Regulations, using the Receipts and Payments basis.

2 The following assets are recognised but not valued in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities: Movable church furnishings held by the churchwardens on special trust for the PCC, which require a faculty for disposal.

3 Analysis of total received

3Analysis of total received
Unrestricted Total Total
All Funds
2021		 Notes
4
General
Fund		 Designated Restricted Endowed All Funds
Funds Fund/s Fund/s 2022
Planned giving (excl. tax refunds)
Loose cash collections
Donations and Special appeals
Gift Aid recovered
Legacies
Fund raising
Grant income		 £
49,634
3,010
14,966
7,512
-
-
-		 £ £ £ £ £
46,768
1,991
11,815
11,796
-
842
50,999
- 100 - 49,734
- - - 3,010
- 1,210 - 16,176
- - - 7,512
5,000 - - 5,000
- - - -
21,615 113,167 - 134,782
Donations and legacies 75,122 26,615 114,477 - 216,214 124,211
Fees for weddings & funerals 8,336 - 603 - 8,939 5,795
Charitable activities 8,336 - 603 - 8,939 5,795
Magazine sales
Magazine advertising
Hall lettings
Insurance claim		 95
9,582
501
537		 500
7,922
539
-

-		 - - 95

-		 - -
9,582
- - - 501
- - - 537
Other trading activities 10,715 - - - 10,715 8,961
Bank & CBF deposit interest 265 - - - 265 257
Total received on all funds 94,438 26,615 115,080 - 236,133 139,224

4 A legacy of £5,000 received in the year was set aside to the Designated Fund by the PCC.

17

St Mary with St Nicholas, Lavant

registered charity number 1131684

Notes to the Financial Report

5 Analysis of total paid

Unrestricted Unrestricted Unrestricted Total Total
All Funds
2021		 Notes
General
Fund		 Designated Restricted Endowed All Funds
Funds Fund/s Fund/s 2022
Stewardship costs
Fund raising expenses		 £
-
-		 £ £ £ £ £
-
-
- - - -
- 500 - 500
Cost of raising funds - - 500 - 500 -
Charitable grants and donations:
Parish share to Chichester Diocese
Salaries and honoraria incl NI
Training conferences etc
Other clergy costs
Insurance
Water, Gas, Electricity, and Oil
Upkeep of services (inc choir)
Major church maintenance
Upkeep of churchyard (inc Stelae)
Other church maintenance
Children/youth work
Administration and other		 1,611
77,967
342
-
3,738
2,866
5,257
630
-
-
2,256
-
1,186		 - 4,081 - 5,692 3,113
56,833
3,000
388
4,244
3,168
5,317
2,099
-
2,112
5,283
-
3,647
- - - 77,967
- 6,744 - 7,086
- 314 - 314
- 1,643 - 5,381
- 351 - 3,217
- 2,409 - 7,666
- 1,106 - 1,736
- 143,956 - 143,956
- 2,615 - 2,615
- 3,552 - 5,808
-
968
1,545
1,048		 - 1,545
3,202
Charitable costs 95,853 968 169,364 - 266,185 89,204
Magazine printing
Bookstall costs
Other trading costs		 5,536
-
-		 - - - 5,536 3,132
89
264
- - - -
- - - -
Trading costs 5,536 - - - 5,536 3,485
Other payments -
Total paid on all funds 101,389 968 169,864 - 272,221 92,689

18

St Mary with St Nicholas Church, Lavant

Registered charity number 1131684

Notes to the Financial Report

Payments to PCC employees:

Wages, salaries and honoraria

2022 2021
£
7,086		 £
3,000
7,086 3,000

8 Payments to PCC members: No payments were made to PCC members during the year other than for reimbursement of expenses incurred on behalf of the PCC.

9 Statement of Funds

9Statement of Funds
Balances
b/fwd
1 Jan 2022		 Income Expenditure Transfers,
other gains
and losses		 Balances
c/fwd
31 Dec 2022
£ £ £ £ £
Building Fund (restricted) 90,231 77,267
147,799		 - 19,699
Mission Fund (restricted) 9,999 25,000 9,929 - 25,070
Winter Support Fund
Afghan Refugee Fund
Outreach
St Mary’s Garden of
Remembrance
Choir Fund		 -
-
-271
1,234
755		 6,000
5,000
-
1,413
400		 6,000
4,158
-
1,978
-		 -
-
-
-
-		 -
842
-271
669
1,155
Total of all restricted funds 101,948 115,080 169,864
-		 47,164
General fund
Designated Funds		 24,777
5,000		 94,438
26,615		 101,389

968		 12,009

(12,009)		 29,835
18,638
Total of all unrestricted funds 29,777 121,053 102,357 - 48,473
Total funds 131,725 236,133 272,221 - 95,637

19

St Mary with St Nicholas Church, Lavant

Registered charity number 1131684

Notes to the Financial Report

9 Statement of Funds (cont.)

The Statement of Funds includes £113,167 received in Grants in 2022, as detailed above.

Restricted funds are not invested permanently but are to be spent within reasonable timescales .

The principal funds are detailed below.

The Building Fund holds and applies funds raised for the specific purpose of financing building projects and major works of maintenance.

The Mission Fund holds and applies funds for support of mission in this parish and the wider area.

Unrestricted funds are not subject to any donor restrictions and can be spent as the PCC decides

The Income of the Designated Funds in the year was made up of grants received under the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme of £21,615 as compensation for irrecoverable VAT on building work and a legacy of £5,000 from the estate of the late Mr G B Thomas. In 2022 £12,009 of the fund was applied to meet general fund expenditure.

10 Parish Share: The Parish Share for 2022 of £76,967 was paid in the year by 12 monthly instalments of £6,413.91. A further £1,000 was paid in 2022 in advance of the 2023 Parish Share.

20

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