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The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of St. Helen, Stapleford

Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts for the period

From 1[st] January to 31[st] December 2021

Charity registration number: 1131777

Intentionally Blank

Reference and Administrative details

The charity’s trustees are represented by the Parochial Church Council (PCC), which is responsible for churches of St Helen’s, St Luke’s and The Church @ Montrose Court, all of which are located in Stapleford , Nottingham. The Parish of St. Helen, Stapleford is part of the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham. The charity’s principal address is: Stapleford Parish Church Office, St Helen’s Church Hall, Frederick Road, Stapleford, Nottingham, NG9 8FN.

PCC members who were trustees on the date this report was approved and those who served as members/trustees at any time during the reporting period (1[st] January to 31[st] December 2021) are:

ny time during the	reporting period (1stJanuary to 31stDec
Chairperson	Reverend Karen Hanford, from 01/2/21 Reverend Peter Huxtable, until 31/1/21
Wardens	Joanna Smith, until 16/5/21 Mike Hammans Christina Davidson
Secretary	Deborah Greenhalgh
Treasurer	Heather Bessant, until 16/5/21 Chris Hawthorn, from 16/5/21
Deanery Synod members	Iris White Mike Hammans Christina Davidson Hans Barto, until 01/8/21
Co-opted from St Luke’s	Reverend Canon Joan Whysall Pat Morris (Treasurer for St. Luke’s) Audrey Clarke
Reader representative	Nicola Daykin, until 16/5/21
Other elected members	Trevor Jones Steve Marvin Hannah Rice Paul Beedell Peter Robart-Morgan Alan Sare Leon Smart Stephen Mewies to 16/5/21 Toni Thorncraft-Smith, from 16/5/21

Structure, Governance and Management

The PCC is a corporate body established by the Church of England. It operates under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure 1956. The PCC is a charity registered with the Charity Commission: registered number 1131777.

The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. All church members are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC.

The PCC members are responsible for all matters of general concern to the Parish including deciding how the funds of the PCC are to be spent. The full PCC met 7 times, via Zoom video conference, during 2021.

The PCC operates two sub-committees:

The Standing Committee is responsible for the day to day running of the Parish. It consists of the incumbent and clergy, both Wardens, a Deputy Warden for St Luke’s, the Treasurer and a representative elected PCC member.

St Luke’s Management Committee is responsible for matters of specific concern to St Luke’s church. It consists of both Deputy Wardens for St Luke’s, St Luke’s Treasurer, a Secretary and elected members.

Objectives and Activities

The PCC promotes, within the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the Church, including pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical elements.

The PCC believes that the range of church activities provide public benefit by provision of:

Opportunities for worship and prayer
Teaching on Christian life and faith
Pastoral and practical care for the community
Ecumenical links with other churches in Stapleford

To facilitate this work, the PCC is responsible for the maintenance of St Helen’s parish church and hall and also of St Luke’s church, Stapleford, Nottingham.

The PCC has regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit.

Achievements and Performance

Vicar’s Report

For me personally it has been an incredibly rewarding time to come and help minister alongside you all in Stapleford Parish. Thanks to everyone across the 3 Churches for such an amazing welcome and to the Wardens & Ministry Team for unstinting support and care.

2021 was without doubt a year of change. It started with the 3[rd] Lockdown and with the Huxtable family and Clare from the office moving on in January, the Wenhams leaving in March and Simon & Julia in April. This amid a time of great change and uncertainty with the Covid Pandemic left many feeling bereft.

Alongside these losses, it was a great joy to begin our corporate worship again on Easter Sunday 2021 – when I started to meet people in person for the first time. The whole wider Ministry Team have done an amazing job – giving their all to maintain wonderfully uplifting worship Services week by week while also keeping the Online Service. A big “Thank-you” to everyone involved.

In May we welcomed Laura to the office who along with Steve has been an incredible support to me and to the smooth running of all that we do here, so much of it unsung and “behind the scenes”.

Everyone had to become creative and do things differently – not least the Church @ Montrose Court who continued with their Foodbank and prayer walking ministry week by week, while arranging outdoor café style Drop-Ins on Mondays and Wednesdays.

The Congregation at St Luke’s welcomed the chance to meet again in person, while Joan, ever resourceful, kept up her weekly Zoom Services for those unable to attend.

It has been great to witness our Sunday worship at St Helen’s gradually growing and families in particular coming back – and, of course, new people “finding us” and joining us, not least a number of new people at our 6.30pm Evening Service.

There has been a steady stream of Baptisms since we re-opened and it has been lovely to make connections with those families.

In our teaching last summer we took the topic “Meeting Jesus – what’s your story?” and one of the real high-lights of the year was hearing some incredibly moving testimonies from members of the Congregation. We then went on to study the Acts of the Apostles during the Autumn with a series called “The Big Church Build”.

I want to thank those who week by week, month by month, have continued the vital ministry amongst our children, young people and families with Sunday School, Tuesday Break, Messy Church, Energise and Encounter. It was amazing that in September 2021 the youth weekend at Harby was able to happen due to the dedication of the team of leaders.

We look forward to the way God will lead us in 2022 as we continue during this season of vacancy.

Rev Karen Hanford

Associate Minister

PCC Report

The PCC has met regularly and prayerfully via zoom over the last year due to Covid restrictions.

The PCC has taken care to ensure that all three churches in the Parish have met safely. We have been eager to maintain the life of the church our whilst our priority has been prayerfully considering what can and cannot be done legally and safely.

All members of the PCC have completed Safeguarding training throughout the last year.

A great deal of time, effort, and prayer has been devoted to obtaining a new incumbent. This is still ongoing and we are certain that God will provide us with a new vicar in the future.

Other discussions have been related to the functioning and finances of the three churches within our parish, the payment of the ‘Parish Share’, Youth work within the Church, Safeguarding, Christmas and Easter Services, Missionary support, and prayer throughout the parish.

D J Greenhalgh

PCC Secretary

Wardens’ Report

The last year has been somewhat different to what we consider to be the normal life of the Church.

As we have slowly come out of the lockdowns, the congregations though starting off small have gradually begun to increase and we are now able to worship together as the Church family we are more used to seeing.

There are unfortunately some members who have not yet felt ready to return to Church but continue to worship through the online services, these members have also been kept in touch with through regular telephone calls.

It has been heart-warming to see so many members step up to help keep the services and activities going during the vacancy, thank you to all involved.

We also thank the team who are doing their best towards the appointment of a new vicar, and thanks to Karen our associate minister who has been such a blessing to us all.

Christina Davidson and Mike Hammans

Wardens

Safeguarding

The care and protection of children, young people and vulnerable adults involved in Church activities is the responsibility of the whole Church. Everyone who participates in the life of the Church has a role to play in promoting a safer church for all.

Safeguarding policies and procedures in the Church of England have changed considerably in the last few years and are continuing to evolve. The present Diocese Safeguarding Advisor has been in post about a year and there have been other changes in the team.

Safeguarding training has been forced to evolve because of the difficulties of face-to-face meetings. Basic awareness training and foundation level training are only available as an online course (links can be found on the diocese website).

Leadership training can be booked, for those who need it, as a zoom event but numbers are limited to allow discussion. All PCC members are required to complete both online modules as well as fulfilling DBS checking and self-declaration forms.

Anyone is welcome to complete the on-line training; if you have a role in the church from welcoming to helping with any group, please speak to your group leader about the training. If you are uncertain or would like any more information, please contact me.

Angela Witten,

Parish Safeguarding Coordinator

Electoral Roll numbers 2022

New applications to be included on the electoral roll since the last AGM held on 16 May 2021 have all been entered.

Members who have moved away, asked to be removed or have passed away have been removed New entries closed on 24[th] April 2022

The 2022 roll has been on display from 8 May 2022. (names only) There are 204 persons on the Parish electoral roll

Steve Marvin

Electoral Roll Officer

INSPIRE....reflections on a changing year

The past year has seen many changes in the life of our community magazine INSPIRE. Our ‘second editor ‘ Sam stepped down because of a changing family situation. We are grateful to Sam for her work in seeing INSPIRE through covid and back to its traditional A4 format. It was I hear a real welcome back for our Stapleford readership.

The role played by Hans as graphic designer over several years cannot be underestimated. Hans illustrated a very caring and innovative style in the way INSPIRE was presented and I am sure we would wish to pass our appreciation to him. It so good now to welcome Alan as our new graphic designer He has provided an important link and stability between the changing editors as we welcomed number three to the post.

The new editor, appointed by the PCC, is Pete Turner who has already made an impressive start with the Spring Edition. I am sure Pete will take INSPIRE on to a new level with the ideas I hear being discussed. INSPIRE has been part of the Stapleford community now for over 10 years. It has a circulation of over 7300 copies and its style and content have been copied by many near and far. Articles have even been ‘borrowed' and used elsewhere.

If you are interested in being part of the production of INSPIRE let Pete Turner know...it could be as journalist or researcher or reader. There are lots of opportunities. Email : staplefordinspire@gmail.com

Dave Bassford Editor Number One

St Helen’s church

Clare left in January 2021 and we thank her for her time working in the office, supporting the work of the church so ably.

Whilst we were recruiting a new administrator Susan Bell continued to cover the office and again we extend our thanks to her.

Parish Office and Bookings

To start my report, as appointed office administrator since May of last year 2021, we have had a hectic but great year. I have been welcomed into the St Helen’s family with open arms and although the role has proven to be testing in order to get to grips with the way all aspects of the Church, hall, annexe and office operate, I have had help and support from everyone.

I had been informed of the restrictions of lockdown and how this had affected the Church and slowly but surely we have been regaining our regular hall hirers through retaining their original booking slots and being adaptable to Covid restrictions. We currently have at least 11 groups which use the hall on a regular basis and Steve and I have been in constant communication with all of those regular hirers.

Our one-off hall and annexe bookings rapidly increased as soon as restrictions were lifted and the hall, which is used mainly for children’s parties has been booked nearly every weekend with around 20 individual bookings between then and Dec 2021. The annexe has been continually used for small events and meetings and we have quite a variation of groups who come to use it for either business purposes or smaller celebrations (and they always compliment the space).

The Church and our other facilities have been in use for various local school events, particularly towards the end of 2021 for Christmas services. We have been in constant communication with schools in ways to encourage the school/Church relationship, Susan Bell in particular leads on this.

With regard to Baptisms and Weddings (which we could not hold at all throughout lockdown), we had bookings as soon as they could take place and many enquiries for the upcoming year. We have what looks to be a whole summer of weddings coming up for 2022.

We were also in the same situation with funerals (restricted numbers) but were glad that so many families were able to use St Helen’s in this situation.

There is a lot to cover from all aspects in the office but not always enough time, therefore sometimes our social media/advertising can suffer, which I would love to be able to put more focus into with the idea to generate more bookings, especially for the annexe. Hopefully this is something we can focus on this year. Steve has been a great help, assisting me when the work load is high.

To finish, I am very confident we are going forwards in such a positive way to regain the confidence of our visitors but to also obtain the funds we need for the Church to run as was prior to Covid.

Laura

Parish Administrator

Friendship Club

After lockdown we restarted our fortnightly Wednesday afternoon meetings on September 8[th] . The entertainment alternates between a singer, choir or musicians and illustrated talks of holidays or interesting local history. Additionally, midterm we have a quiz afternoon.

Prior to lockdown, Emma Jones and her team provided an excellent lunch but unfortunately now, she is only able to provide a meal on a special occasion. Our members were delighted that Emma and co were able to cook up a delicious Christmas dinner.

Rather than have no lunch time food, we started doing soup and rolls and it must be appreciated because our members always want more soup!

Karen led our carol service which was well attended. Attendance prior to lockdown was around 48 and we restarted with half that number but we are now at around 30 (nearly half of those being residents at Carpenter Court).

The Friendship Club provides a quality afternoon and we hope to increase our membership, costs vary little so the larger the membership the more money we have, the more expensive entertainment we can afford and the more generous we can be to charities.

I would finish by recording our thanks to Steve and Laura for their help and support.

David Steggles Chairman

Men's events

In a typical year the Men's events will include Men's breakfasts, Dinner / Speaker evenings, a visit to the T20 cricket , Ice hockey and a ten pin bowling evening alongside the monthly evening at the Horse and Jockey, However the last 2 years have been far from normal with the pandemic, and we were restricted to the occasional online activity.

We have re-established the monthly evening at the Horse and jockey. This is still popular and a great time for men to catchup with each other. Other activities are being planned but with fewer men available to attend for various reasons we will need to reduce the programme for the foreseeable future.

Opportunities for men to meet together in a friendly supportive environment are important for introducing, building and working out Christian faith and life.

Iain Walker

Home Groups

Firstly, acknowledgment must be given to Vera Allen, who has overseen the home groups for over ten years. I know her vision and passion for the small group, and I share that passion. Thank you Vera for all your input, creativity and resourcefulness.

Having taken on the role of over-seeing the home groups, we had our first leaders’ meeting on the first of February. Obviously the pandemic has had a huge impact on being able to meet. Praise and thanks must be given to every home group leader for their faithfulness in keeping on keeping on. With zooming and WhatsApping and reflective walks, the groups have kept in touch and are finding their way back to “normal.” I know that keeping connected has been hugely appreciated, especially during lockdown. At present we have six home groups led by:

Colin Clarke, at present at St Luke’s on Thursday at 7.30, with several members taking it in turn to lead.
Irene Whitehead, meeting every other week on Thursday afternoons, members taking it turn to lead, hosted by Irene.
Linda McRae, meeting at Montrose Court at 7.30 each Wednesday
Joanna Smith now meeting in the Annexe every Wednesday at 7.15 with refreshments and start at 7.30. They have agreed to a rota of leading and hosting
Paul and Fran Beedell, meeting every Wednesday evening at the home of Phil and Cristina, with everyone sharing the leading. This group, set up 5 years ago, was an initiative to support new people at church.
Chris Bassford meeting at various homes and led by different members. Our all-female group meets at 1.15 every Wednesday (usually with home-made cakes from Jackie!)

Two groups have recently ended. Susan Bell formed an Alpha group in 2020, following the course on zoom and continuing the group until Easter. Thank you Susan for your initiative, passion and hard work.

A message from Kerry and Vera:

Sadly, after around 17 years of meeting together, we have decided to close our group. Various factors have contributed to this decision. We are so grateful for all the years we have spent together, sharing our lives, and growing in faith. It is likely that at least some of us will find alternative groups to join, or we might even re-form at some point in the future.

Thank you, Kerry and Vera for your hard work and faithfulness over the years. It has been greatly appreciated.

Vision

Clearly Jesus thought small groups was a good idea. He had 12 in his group. The early church met in homes. That’s how the church began and how it spread. In a small group everyone can be known, supported, offered unconditional love. From this family of believers, people can grow in confidence, in faith, in prayer, in discovering their gifts and using them. Every group creates its own character. Paul tells us that we are all parts of Christ’s body. With Him as the Head, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. “As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love” (Eph. 4:16) This is seen more easily in a small group.

If you are interested in joining a small group, please let me know. If you’re interested in helping a new group to start, or running a group for 6 or 8 weeks only, please contact me. I would be very happy to support you.

Chris Bassford

Home Group co-ordinator

Young Peoples Work

Sunday School

We are trying to run two groups for children on a Sunday morning each week, (except when there is an all-age service)- 5 years & under, 6-10 years.

The numbers of children fluctuate from week to week: there are still some families who attended regularly pre-Pandemic who we have only seen occasionally since, but there are other families now attending regularly who we did not know a few years ago.

There are more children at the younger end of the age-range, meaning the role of the helpers is very important to ensure we have enough pairs of hands to help and support the little ones. The younger the children, the lower the ratios that are required (1 adult to 4 children for the youngest). There are also challenges taking the children safely to the hall and then bringing them back to church with their carefully made craft.

The children enjoyed performing the traditional Nativity before Christmas and had a fun morning in the Vicarage garden in the summer. Otherwise, the session topics have followed our three-year rolling programme covering Old Testament stories in the autumn and, after Christmas, events in Jesus’s life. In the coming term, we will be looking at parables and some New Testament characters. We always include lots of craft, some games and simple prayers.

There is a rota of leaders and helpers. Ideally, we would aim for people to help once a month but, because there aren’t enough of us at present, leaders are leading more frequently, so we would love for anyone else to has a passion to share the Bible with the youngest members of the church to join the team: we just ask for enthusiasm and commitment. If you feel that you could help, please speak to me after a service or leave a message with one of the leadership team.

Angela Witten

Energise

Energise meets on a Friday night over Zoom and every other Sunday morning in the Annexe for young people in year 6 and above. The Fridays are still popular and get a regular group of 4 or 5 young people. We start with a review of our week and prayer which has been a good opportunity to talk and pray about the highs and lows of their weeks. There have been fewer joining on Sundays.

We have started to have social events in person with a pizza evening, a Christmas party and a pancake evening which was very popular.

We also had a weekend away at the Faith Mission centre in Harby and 15 young people from Energise and Encounter came. The theme was how God guides us which we looked at in different and creative ways. We enjoyed the sports hall and play area on the site and went off site for trampolining on the Saturday afternoon.

Encounter

Encounter runs for young people who are 14 +. Encounter was run by Simon and Julia Fellows on Tuesday evenings on zoom until they left in April ‘21. We relaunched in September, meeting every other Sunday at 5pm in the annexe.

A new group of young people have been getting to know each other and have enjoyed discussing a variety of topics. We then discussed what builds our faith and what gets in the way of it, following this up by looking at some of these areas in more detail.

We also enjoyed an evening out to the ‘Dreaming the Impossible’ roadshow, which was held at Trent Vineyard.

We have just 4 leaders making all this happen and would love to welcome others to join the team.

Messy Church

At the start of 2021 Messy Church were delivering activity bags each month on the theme of a bible story and these were really valued by the families that had them. Messy Church started back in person Easter ’21 running with a table for each family that booked in. In the autumn we moved to having families move around tables with different activities on, using the church and the annexe. We stopped asking families to book from February 2022.

There are a lot fewer coming than before Covid, but this has given the opportunity to start to get to know the families better. We get good feedback from the families that come.

We have fewer helpers and provide fewer crafts and aim to keep the crafts simple so help is not needed. We are not providing a meal as we used to and are a way off having the capacity to do so. Easter has often had a bigger crowd come along, and 2022 was no exception with around 140 there. Some additional helpers joined us and it worked well.

At Christmas and Easter we made up activity bags for the Church at Montrose Court to hand out. We are grateful to all those who help to make Messy Church happen whether in preparing crafts, setting up and clearing up, helping at Messy, or praying for us. With more helpers we could do more so do talk to us if you are interested in joining the team.

Susan Bell

On behalf of all YP leaders and volunteers

CONNECT

With Karen's encouragement, we re-opened Church on Saturday mornings in September, initially just on the first Saturday each month. This was then extended to twice a month, on the first and third, with Peter and Rosemary manning the third Saturday.

We renamed it CONNECT to remind any who had not yet returned to services since COVID that it might be an opportunity to stay in touch, and this has actually proved to be the case. Otherwise, we continue to welcome members connected with St. Helen's, a few people from the local community and also, from time to time, strangers, each with their own reason to call in. It is a rewarding time and a privilege to spend it with all who come.

Feel welcome to join us for a drink, chat or quiet prayer in the future.

Kerry Bassford

Time Travelling

In 2020/2022 Time Travelling didn't happen at St Helen's because of Covid. Getting the children from local schools together to explore faith via history in our parish has been challenging to say the least. This year (2022) we would love to try to put something on in the autumn -however we would need a totally new team as many of the old guard have stepped down or left. (Thank you Val, Christine , Simon, Lydia and Peter)

Those of us left have other responsibilities in the vacancy so please pray that we have wisdom to know what to do next. This is such a valuable ministry and loved by local children.

Fran Beedell

St Johns School

St Johns continues to flourish as a Church school. The school has worked hard over the last two years to cope with the problems from covid. At the moment with all children back at school the staff are working extremely hard to make good any shortfalls due to the problems that have arisen due to home schooling. The school is gradually returning to normal with after school activities and trips out of school beginning to happen again. There has been a recent residential trip to Castleton.

The school greatly values its links with St Helens. There are two foundation governors appointed by the PCC and the Diocese, these at the moment are Richard Bassford and Steve Marvin. Richard Bassford is the Chair of Governors. The vicar is ex officio. St Helens are regular visitors to the school and involved in assemblies. The input from Jamie Price is much appreciated in this period of interregnum. End of term services are held in the church to which many parents come when this is possible.

The school continues to provide a very good education for about 100 children with a set of highly skilled staff. It has a real family atmosphere with each child valued as an individual. The Deputy Headteacher retired at Christmas and the governors and the school are in the process of appointing a new deputy to start in September. Please pray for this important appointment that it will be the right person to continue to take the school forward.

St Helens would welcome even stronger links between the school and the church with more of the children of our church community taking advantage of the excellent education that the school provides. Please pray for the continued success of this special church school. If you want to know more about the school then please talk to either of us.

Richard Basford

TUESDAY BREAK

We started back September 2021 meeting once a month. Our numbers are steadily increasing October 2021, 12 adults 17 children. March 2022 26 adults and 29 children which is amazing.

We are just now starting to have offers of help, so we hoping these will be regular offers, which will enable us to eventually increase how often we can meet.

As we build relationships with new parents/carers and children more links can be made to other groups in the church like messy church, Sunday school and what is on offer at church.

Please keep Tuesday break in your prayers as it is a very important 1st link into the church from a lot of the community.

All our thanks for your ongoing support. Annette, Kay

World Vision AGM Report 2022

During the past year St Helen’s has maintained links with a number of overseas mission partners, as described below:

Tearfund. Their mission is to partner with local churches worldwide as they work to lift local communities out of poverty and also respond to specific crises around the world. St Helen’s have supported Tearfund financially for many years. In recent years this support has been provided in three parts: General funds . Money to be used by Tearfund wherever the need is greatest. Often to provide

emergency aid to local churches around the world as they respond to events such as famine and refugee crises.

Specific support for the Kigezi diocese in Uganda as they work with local village communities to install new running water and sanitation facilities.

Specific support for Community Transformation work in Uganda, helping village communities to take advantage of locally available resources to increase their income and so lift themselves out of poverty. However there is a recent change to report regarding the Community Transformation support. We originally intended the funding to be passed on by Tearfund to the Pentecostal Assemblies of God (PAG) in Uganda who operate a such a project in local villages. We have more recently been advised that PAG have failed to demonstrate exactly how they are applying funds passed to them. It seems there is no suggestion of money going missing, the problem is that it may not all be used for purposes agreed with Tearfund. Whilst this issue has been ongoing Tearfund have withheld from PAG the funds we and other UK churches have sent. Tearfund have now decided they should redirect the funds to similar Community Transformation projects operated by other Ugandan churches.

Turning now to our other Mission Partners it has been very good to keep in touch with them using zoom during the year as well as receiving their prayer letters. They value our prayers and our giving that enables them to continue their work.

Alejandro Mesco is working for a medical charity Medical Ministry International (MMI) in Peru. The donations we make go to this organisation to pay Alejandro. He maintains and delivers wheelchairs. Peru has been badly affected by Covid and this has had a big impact on what MMI have been able to do. They have been unable to run their normal clinics for much of the year but have been delivering food to vulnerable families. The organisation ‘Joni and Friends’ provided wheelchairs which have been adapted and delivered to areas in and outside Arequipa. His wife Doris has long term illness which has affected her badly during the pandemic.

Our CMS Mission Partners had to leave the country they worked in early in 2020 and have been unable to go back. They were in England at the start of the 2021 and then moved to South Korea to explore how best to continue with their work. This has been a long and challenging process and their next step is now to move again. They continue to do online language teaching to their students. Their three children are doing well.

Dorcas Letasi cares for her 2 children, Daniel and Grace, while working for UNESCO. She has continued to support the work of the Ugandan mission agency, Global Link Afrika.

The amounts to be sent to our mission partners in respect of the past year are: Tear Fund

General Funds £ 1,780 Kigezi £ 771 Community Transformation £ 848 Alejandro Mesco £ 2,743 CMS partners £ 2,143 Dorcas Letasi £ 1,261 Total £11,088

Susan Bell and Trevor Jones

St. Luke’s Church

It has been my pleasure to take on the role as second assistant warden this year and will do all I can to help Joan and Audrey in the smooth running of St Luke's

Worshippers at St Luke’s continued to attend the services on Sundays observing all Covid requirements with Audrey ensuring that distancing of seating face masks gel dispensers always available. church was open until Christmas day whereupon Joan commenced services on Zoom. Our management meeting on january21st was also on Zoom.

Pastoral care of course was and continues to be of great importance particularly has many of our congregation are elderly and shielding and nervous of mixing. We have lost from our church family John Gran, Pat and Tony Watson and Ray Derby, stalwarts of St Luke’s this year .

A number of our congregation have found it difficult to attend due to poor health which makes the Pastoral care so vital.

On Saturday 27[th] November we were able to have a charity event in spite of Covid. where we supplied Cake and Tea and Coffee This was very well attended and raised £300 which was for Macmillan We joined the local scarecrow competition in August and were able to meet our local MP.

A six week bible study on the Prayers of Jesus was organised by Joan with our healing service on the 24[th] October. We held our remembrance service on the 14[th] November and a candle lighting to remember loved ones.

Our Carol service was held on the 19[th] Dec

Our after service cake tea and biscuits have been provided in the main church which is safer and well received.

Throughout the year we have received nurture and guidance from Canon Joan Whysall and she has implemented lots of helpful outreach as well as put her IT knowledge to good purpose for the congregation to enjoy. We have on occasion had visiting speakers which has been quite illuminating and I am sure that we have all taken something from these speakers.

As a church we are grateful to Diane and Kerry playing the piano and Richard Bassford for leading. Audrey and Colin have been fundamental in helping Joan make the smooth running of St Luke's through these difficult times and we are also grateful to have had a dishwasher donated for the kitchen.

With Peter Huxstable leaving in January 2021 he was presented with a gift from St Lukes and a zoom farewell. The parish is in the throws of advertising for a new vicar and hope to be interviewing prospective candidates soon .

The fabric of the church is being well maintained and work on the quinquennial report are on going.

John Osborne. Assistant Warden

Church @ Montrose Court

A positive year.

At the time of our last report a year ago we were unable to open for Sunday worship or for informal weekday sessions, due to lockdown restrictions. During lockdown it was difficult to maintain relationships with Church members we had become used to seeing every week. It was good to be able to maintain on online presence through Facebook, (which is used by most of our regular church members) and with ‘Sunday onlines’. Also though prayer walking around the estate. But even so it sometimes felt like hard work, as if we were walking through mud. Like groundhog day.

So it’s been great since the summer of last year to be able to gradually open up for business as usual. We started by opening for our informal weekday sessions on Monday and Wednesday mornings, when people chat over a coffee and biscuits then close with a short time of prayer together. At first these were held outside our shop front, then we moved back indoors as the weather got colder and covid eased.

At Christmas it was great to be able to go carol singing around the estate. Then at Easter we again went round the estate with the cross, singing hymns and handing out activity bags for local young people which had been prepared by the Messy Church team. We were back where we started just with outside events, over five years ago!

Also for the first weeks of 2021 we distributed each week a ‘service in a bag’. We put in an envelope everything people would need to sit down a relax for a few minutes with a tea or coffee, read a short bible passage then read a reflection written by Emma. We included a wordsearch, colouring page for the kids and even a coffee sachet, teabag and biscuits!

Through all this time our Foodbank has continued to be an essential part of our work, as we minister to peoples’ physical needs as well as spiritual. As lockdown restrictions eased we have been able to gradually return to our normal way of working, for clients to collect food parcels on Monday and Wednesday mornings. Clients needing help with food come with vouchers they have been given by local agencies such social services or the Beeston job centre. Although demand for food parcels has dropped back from the peak of 2020 lockdown period it has remained much higher than pre-pandemic. And now we are starting to see a rise again as people who were already close to the limit of their incomes are being hit hard by rising prices and particularly by recent increases in the cost of gas and electricity.

We continue to be immensely grateful thanks to members of St Helen’s and St Luke’s for their donations of food, toiletries, and cash. Also to members of the Stapleford Community Group, who have continued to work with us as we emerge from lockdown, donating tinned and dried food to the foodbank while also working alongside us to offer fresh food to local people which was surplus at nearby supermarkets.

During the past five years we have been learning to trust God day by day. The leadership team meet regularly for prayer and we are now looking to God for his plans to develop future ministry in the local area.

Our team has grown with the very welcome additions of Miriam, Stephen Mewies and Peter RobertMorgan. However it remains small which sometimes restricts our ability to expand our ministry. We’d love to hear from anyone who feels called to join us.

Also thank you so much to everyone at St Helen’s and St Luke’s for your continued support of The Church @ Montrose Court. Your prayers are vital as God leads us into the future.

The Church@Montrose Court is back up and running! Please do come up and join us any Sunday afternoon.

Emma Jones

(on behalf of the team).

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Financial review

The period saw a reduction in total receipts to £130,778 (2020: £190,585), through planned giving by church members, £80,449, and plate collections, £5,418, supplemented by income tax recovered through the Gift Aid scheme, £18,936 and other voluntary receipts, fundraising and income from church activities, £25,054. There was a small investment income of £921. Total payments in the period amounted to £149,213 (2020: £168,482) comprising our diocesan parish share, £72,240, funding of our local and overseas mission partners and activities, £21,910, and other outgoings of £55,063 which included the final repayments of the loan for the building of the community annexe of £8,000. The 31% fall in receipts was due to a general reduction in loose collections and planned giving with a number of very large contributors moving away from the Church and the after effects of the pandemic.

There was an operating deficit of £18,435 (2020: £22,103 surplus) as overall payments exceeded receipts. St. Helen’s generated an operating deficit of £14,271 (2020: £6,284 surplus). St Luke’s church generated a small surplus of £143, (2020: £8,015 deficit). The Church @ Montrose Court generated an operating deficit of £6,375 (2020: £10,227 surplus). The Church Annexe account generated a surplus of £2,068 (2020: £13,607). The final repayment was made on the loan and all giving in respect of the community annexe has now ceased.

Reserves policy

It is PCC policy to maintain an unrestricted reserve of three months’ regular expenditure, to cover fluctuations in cash flow, to give security to employees and to provide for unexpected major expenditure. In addition designated reserves are retained to cover possible emergency building repairs, with particular regard to the facts that St Helen’s church is grade II listed and St Luke’s is an older building with two flat roofs. At the close of 2021, unrestricted funds of £68,400 were held in reserve.

Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others

No funds are held as custodian trustees on behalf of others.

Exemptions from disclosure

There are no exemptions from disclosure

Declarations

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:

Signature: Full name: Michael David Hammans Position: Church Warden Date: Thursday 12[th] May 2022

PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST. HELEN, STAPLEFORD

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR TO 31 DECEMBER 2021

St. Helen's St. Luke's Montrose Court TOTAL £ £ £ £ 60,127 9,988 2,820 72,935 3,396 1,977 45 5,418 6,024 20 305 6,349 740 740 1,615 1,615 12,630 2,957 795 16,382 31 2,500 2,531 - - - - 5,678 - 5,678 890 890 3,644 3,644 1,097 1,097 - 15 3 18 532 532 371 371 UNRESTRICTED FUNDS	St. Helen's Community Annexe TOTAL £ £ £ - 7,514 7,514 - - - - 2,510 2,510 - - - 2,554 2,554 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - RESTRICTED FUNDS	Total 2020 £ 96,427 8,784 38,004 27,586 5,614 4,968 8,256 946
96,790 14,945 6,465 118,200	2,510 10,068 12,578	190,585
62,488 9,752 - 72,240 2,980 2,980 40 40 - 5,000 5,000 239 239 4,513 1,356 284 6,153 4,075 610 249 4,934 849 443 1,292 - 193 193 14,037 14,037 1,131 1,131 2,569 60 122 2,751 - 2,649 804 3,453 735 735 1,129 1,129 185 185 - - - 1,921 1,921 100 447 547 - 856 856 3,345 3,345 - - 2,936 2,936 - 684 50 734 - 1,536 1,536 2,981 2,981 1,881 1,881 1,317 1,317 941 941 1,035 1,035 1,881 1,881 - - - - 32 32 - 1,085 1,085 1,695 1,695	- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8,000 8,000 - -	72,240 96,242
113,571 14,802 12,840 141,213	- 8,000 8,000	168,482
(16,781) 143 (6,375) (23,013) 59,311 20,219 11,883 91,413	2,510 2,068 4,578 - 3,380 3,380	22,103 72,690
42,529 20,362 5,508 68,400	2,510 5,448 7,958	94,793

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

13,615 6,180 5,508 25,303 13,949 13,949 233 233 28,914 28,914	2,510 5,448 7,958 - - -	51,318 14,343 233 28,899
42,529 20,362 5,508 68,399	2,510 5,448 7,958	94,793
3,093 1,021 189 4,302 -	31 15 46 -	5,234 -
3,093 1,021 189 4,302	31 15 46	5,234
20,967 20,967	-	18,343
20,967 - - 20,967	- - -	18,343
-	- -	9,500
- - - -	- - -	9,500

66,590 21,383 5,697 93,669	2,541 5,463 8,004	9,500

NOTES

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with both the Charities Act 2011, section 133 on the Receipts and Payments basis, and the Church Accounting Regulations 2006.

2. ANALYSIS OF RESTRICTED FUND MOVEMENTS FOR THE YEAR

St Helen's (World Mission) Community Annexe	Balance Receipts Payments Transfer B/Fwd £ £ £ £ - 2,510 - - 3,380 10,068 8,000 -	Balance C/Fwd £ 2,510 5,448
	3,380 12,578 8,000 -	7,958

St Helen's Restricted Fund contains specific donations for World Mission (to be paid in 2022)

St Helen's Community Annexe fund contains specific donations towards the construction and maintenance of the Community Annexe.

3. ASSETS FOR CHURCH PURPOSES

(i) Churches, Churchyards and Vicarages are vested in the representative body of the Church and are not Parish assets.

(ii) Fixed assets and property, which are retained for Church purposes and which are not investment assets are listed on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities as non-monetary assets including: Movable church furnishings held by the churchwardens on special trust for the PCC and which require a faculty for disposal Equipment and furnishings in St Helen's church hall

4. INVESTMENTS

Quoted investments are valued at mid-market value at 31st December.

5. PAID EMPLOYEES Gross wages and salaries: Employer's National insurance costs: Pension contributions: Total Staff costs: Average number of employees in the year:	£ 14,037 - -
	14,037
	2

6. PAYMENTS TO PCC MEMBERS

No expenses were paid to trustees. Some insignificant clergy/minister's expenses may relate to their duties as trustees. One PCC member is paid as an employee (see note 5.)

Independent examIneS report on the accounts Roport to the trustèèsl PCC of st Helen's Stapleford on aeeounts for the year •nd•d 310ecember 2021 Charlty no 1131777 I report to me trustèe$ on rny examination of the acwunts of the above charity I'lhe Trust.) for the year ended 31 December 2021 Responsibillties and A8 the charity trustees of the Trust. you are responsible for th¢ basls of r•port Pparat)n of the accounts in accordance with the requiremenis of the Charities Act 20111.the Act"). I report in respect of my examination of thè Trust's accounts carried out under Section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my èxarnination, I have followed the applicable DirecnS giv&n by the Charity Commission undgr 3e(#ign 14515llbl of the ArA. Independent I have completed my èxamination. I confirm that no material matters examinorfs have come to my attention in eK)nnection with the examinab.on which statement gives me cause to believe that in, any mat$rial respect.. accounting records ware not kept in accordance wth $8¢tion 130 ol the Act or the accounts do not accord wth the accounting records I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in conneclioH with the examination to which attention should be drawn in or(ler to enable a proptsr und?rstanding of accounts lo be reached. Date: Slgn•d: l¥ /k* Name.. Gary Stephen50n DChA, Msc Addre.. 21 Gwenbrook Road BeÈston. Nottingham NG9 4A1 IER October 2018 23

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2021-12-31-accounts