2024-12-31-accounts - The Parochial Church Council Of The Ecclesiastical Parish Of St. Helen, Stapleford

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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 2024 to 31[st] December 2024

Charity registration number: 1131777

This Page 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 (1st January to 31st December 2024) are:

Chairperson	Reverend Paul Savage
Wardens	Beverley J Brooks MBE (since May 2024) Christina Davidson (continues) Mike Hammans (transitional Warden from May 2024)
Secretary	Deborah Greenhalgh(May2023)
Treasurer	Chris Hawthorn(May2023)
Curate	Reverend Emma Rolls(from June 2024)
Deanery Synod members (Until APCM 2026)	Mike Hammans Christina Davidson Joanna Smith
Reader representative* (Readers are Co-Opted not elected)	Joanna Smith (LLM) Colin Clarke (LLM) (from May 2024)
Other elected members	Term finished during 2024 Alan Sare (Finished May 2024) Chris Bassford (Finished May 2024) Chris Bull (Finished May 2024) Dave Bassford (Finished May 2024) Hilary Holmes (Finished 23 March 2024) Continued after APCM Angela Witten (from 28 May 2023) Claire McMillan (from 28 May 2023) Josephine Clements (from 28 May 2024St Luke’s) Jefferson Koilpillai (from 28 May 2023) Steven Marvin (from May 2023) Trevor Jones (from May 2023Montrose Court) Godfrey Senyonga (from May 2024- initially Co-opted) Eileen Dodsworth (from May 2024St Luke’s) Sara Norwood-Mewies (from May 2024)

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) as amended and the Church Representation Rules. 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 2020. All church members are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC.

The PCC operates three sub-committees:

The Standing Committee is responsible for the day to day running of the Parish. It consists of the Incumbent, both Wardens, the Treasurer and a further representative elected PCC member (Over the last several years this has been the Secretary).

St Luke’s Management Committee is responsible for matters of specific concern to St Luke’s church. It consists of:

Vicar:	Reverend Paul Savage
LLM:	Colin Clarke
Treasurer:	AudreyClarke
Deputy Church Wardens:	John Osborne David Steggles
PCC reps:	Jo Clement Eileen Dodsworth

The Church@Montrose acts as a subcommittee of the PCC and is led by:

Vicar & Curate	Reverend Paul Savage & Reverend Emma Rolls
Recognised Local Minster:	Emma Jane Jones
Treasurer:	Trevor Jones
Core Team of Volunteers:	With a Role Description, Safeguarding training and DBS, drawn from St Helen’s and the church@Montrose

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, and the church@Montrose unit Stapleford, Nottingham.

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

PCC Report

The PCC met 5 times during the last year, with additional discussions on email as necessary between scheduled meetings. A short additional meeting was held after the APCM 19 May 2024 to appoint a Secretary and Treasurer. An Awayday enabled the members to get to know each other in a less formal setting and also to study and plan together.

The PCC Meetings have been held on a rotational basis within the 3 churches that make up the Parish. Agenda items have included, but were not limited to, the spiritual life of the Church, plans for growth, outreach and mission work locally and internationally, maintenance and repairs, finance, payment of the Parish Share, Safeguarding, and funding for a youth minister.

D J Greenhalgh

PCC Secretary

Electoral Roll Report

Before closure of the 2024 roll there were 144 persons on the Parish electoral roll

Parish Electoral Roll 144 Within the Parish 94 Outside the Parish 50 St Helen's 115 St Luke's 21 Montrose Court 8

The numbers entered on the new 2025 roll are as follows:

Parish Electoral Roll 144 Within the Parish 94 Outside the Parish 50 St Helen's 115 St Luke's 21 Montrose Court 8

The new electoral roll (names only) was displayed at St Helen’s, St Luke’s and the Church @ Montrose Court from 4th May 2025, being 14 days before the 2024 APCM. During this time no new names can be added but errors are corrected.

Steve Marvin Electoral Roll Officer

Safeguarding

Safeguarding within the Church of England has been in the mainstream media multiple times in 2024 with the publication of independent reviews of the Church’s handling of some historical cases of abuse. These reviews were extremely critical because of the lack of action of members of the Church, delays and cover ups. The Church is imperfect - we would be naive to think that there will never be people within the Church who do not try to abuse positions of trust to harm others. The Church of England is reviewing processes and encouraging better practices, reinforcing the need for safe recruitment and training of volunteers in all roles, not just those involved with children and young people.

Paul preached about many of these issues on Safeguarding Sunday and since then, we have had more engagement with training and people raising concerns about the welfare of others which is encouraging but only represent the first steps on our journey. We review the Safeguarding Policy annually, this was on 11[th] July 2024 and we pay due regard to the House of Bishops’ guidance in relation to safeguarding.

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, and we should all care for the vulnerable among our community. If you have any concerns or would like support, please get in touch. If you have a need for training, please ask. We have a new database to help record completed training and Diane Hall has been recruited as a volunteer safeguarding administrator.

Angela Witten Parish Safeguarding Officer

Achievements and Performance:

Vicar’s Report

Our passage for Easter Sunday, seems timely for our APCM, Matt 28:1-11

There is a lot we can say about this, yet I’d like to focus on the final section. In v10 the disciples response to seeing Jesus is worship and as they worship, Jesus calls them to share good news with the rest of his disciples. I am convinced that as we hear God’s call to us, as we worship, as we spend time in his presence, we commit ourselves be more like hm, we then do the things he wants us to do.

The passage at the morning and evening service at today’s APCM is Luke 11 where Jesus assumes that we pray, and when we pray we should say:

Our Father…

I hope in these two passages we first see a God who deserves our worship, the one who lived and died for us, and was raised to life by the great AMEN of the Father. Though we must admit our distraction, whether its technology or chasing experience, relationships, memories or anything else to fill the space.

Where are you placing your “worth” the thing you spend your time and energy on, this is what you are worshipping. Is it bringing you life?

I also hope it shows us that God is not distant or unapproachable, but one we can approach, as Father. In deed the very prayer Jesus ask us to pray in Luke, is one of approach to God, but it’s not a one-sided relationship. It involves us. We have to come to the Father, we are called to forgive, yes God helps us to resist temptation, but we need God to help us to place our self-centred desires in his hands and have a hunger and thirst for the Kingdom.

How is God calling you to serve, in the report that follows there are plenty of opportunities to serve.

This Kingdom continues to confound and challenge the world, which is why we ask big questions when any Christian adds an adjective to the word. Whether this is a nationalistic vision of Jesus or a Jesus who is happy with us living for ourselves, it just tends to denote our judgement over another, and not question our life against the life of Christ.

2024

As we look back over the last year I want to start with thanks. God has been generous we have worshipped together, shared food, built community and shared Jesus with our neighbours. We have grown, we have what we have needed financially and though there have been plenty of challenges on the way, we have come through 2024 in a healthy place.

A big thank you to everyone who has served whether on PCC, or in any way across the church whether as a volunteer or leader. It has been good to hear a variety of preachers and seeing people grow in confidence in leading. Change is challenging and we continue to need to change to be more like Jesus and to be better set up to be with Jesus, becoming like him and then doing the things he asks us to do.

For the first time in many years we had a budget as a church, and we set aside money to support a Youth Minster. God has provided what we need to journey through this year. Yet this remains a partnership between us and God,

Have you thought prayerfully about your giving to church? Whether financially or your time?

It’s through your giving that we can do all the things that happen across Stapleford, we partner together in the Mission of God as we serve in a variety of ways. We have needed to question our expenditure on things, not because they aren’t good things, but because we need to be responsible with the money that we give and receive as a church, Chris will outline in his presentation the costs and how your money is prayerfully and carefully invested in the Kingdom of God.

We have also had to ask questions about the things we do, faithfulness is important as we follow God’s leading, but we also need to continue to discern if there are things we need to stop doing so new things can start, and what we

can support whether prayerfully, financially or by our involvement. Some things will have to change, for example the way we organise ourselves.

I am grateful to Rev’s Adrian and Gill Chatfield for covering my Sabbatical in January and August. This sees the end of my sabbatical. Rebecca and Steve have provide support in the office and with the premises, knowing events are booked in and invoiced, that chairs will get shifted removes big headaches for us all.

We have spent time focusing on growing in our Faith, with the Bible Project , a display in the church tower, encouraging us to open the Bible in services, and some helpful marking up of the church Bibles to help people access the Bible, this was also part of Children’s church and at St John’s school initiatives. In 2025 the Bible course will also run. We have had the privilege of running 2 Alpha Course, the Diocese Discipleship Course, seeing 4 young people confirmed, and 7 children received their first Holy Communions . We invested in Training Course like Messy Church and Worship for Everyone. Been involved in our role in the civic life of the community with the Freedom parade, Hustings and Remembrance. With the Stapleford Churches Forum in the Good Friday walk of witness and open air service and the Hemlock Happening, sadly high winds called off the Christmas lights event. We have met to pray monthly as a Deanery, as the Churches Forum, at Montrose Court, Thy Kingdom Come, Holy Week, TEARFUND & the Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast, World Day of Prayer, as well as School of Prayer. We have had the Moon Festival, opening the doors to the Hong Kong Community, and Pancake parties and other outreach events. Our services continue to develop and grow, and as the Vicar, I hope I continue to develop and grow and respond to the promoting of the spirit and the wisdom of one another, while holding firmly to the Vision we have and following Jesus together.

This year saw Colin Clarke licensed as Reader (LLM) and Rev’d Emma Rolls join us as curate as well as Rev’d Tony & Lorna Mitchell being an active part of our congregation. We are grateful for the ministry of all those on our Ministry Team, and continue to look to support those who serve across the churches, and grow the church. I have the additional responsibilities of Chair of Trustees for Dame Caroline Warren Trust, I am a member of the Deanery leadership team, a Diocesan Synod Representative and ex-officio governor at St John’s Church of England school. With an active town there are several Civic events per year, in 2024 this included The Freedom of the Borough, and Remembrance day, of which I am involved in the planning and delivery of these events.

Our VISION remains the same:

We are a growing Christ centred worshipping community, one church in 3 locations, gathered scattered and sent. Being built into a house of prayer for all nations (ISA 58:1-8). Where everyone is welcome , each of us can flourish , and together we share what we have.

How might you join in what God is doing amongst us?

Rev Paul Savage Vicar

Financial Review

Following 3 years of financial deficit, the parish achieved a surplus position in 2024 of £790 (2023: £1,730 deficit). Total receipts declined to £165,146 (2023: £173,154), however our total payments declined further to £164,356 (2023: £174,884).

Key receipts (income) comprised planned giving from church members of £69,188 (2023: £66,655), other collections and donations of £21,746 (2023: £24,205), associated gift aid recovered of £18,624 (2023: £17,824), church hall and annexe hire of £17,455 (2023: £16,105). In addition we received a generous donation for youth and children’s work, specifically towards the funding of a Youth Minister post, of £14,000 from the Benefact Trust. Our overall fundraising income increased to £1,429 (2023: £1,038). Income from the Moon Festival in September contributed £633 and the Christmas concert £795.

We received investment income of £2,190 (2023: £1,528) and our investment capital in the CBF Investment Fund grew to £20,703 (2023: £20,240) at year end.

Total payments (expenditure) in the year decreased by 6% to £164,356 (2023: £174,885) due largely to a reduction of £8,556 in our gas and electricity costs. Major areas of expenditure comprised our diocesan parish share of £77,100, (2023: £72,204) which was paid in full to the diocese and wage costs of £20,139 (2023: £15,291). Our gas and electricity costs remain high resulting in an overall utilities spend of £17,653 (2023: £26,209). We anticipate further reductions as wholesale prices continue to fall back to normal levels in future years coupled with new eco initiatives.

Direct support of our external mission partners reduced to £2,365 (2023: £4,015) although we are increasingly running events such events such as the Harvest quiz night and signposting good causes, raising money indirectly for their benefit. Changes in financial and banking regulations is making it increasingly difficult for us to support other charities particularly where they are not based in the UK and it is increasingly preferable that individuals support them directly rather than through the parish.

The breakdown between the 3 churches was as follows:

	RECEIPTS	PAYMENTS	SURPLUS/(DEFICIT)
St. Helen’s	£133,876	£127,631	£6,245
St. Luke’s	£18,252	£25,110	(£6,859)
The Church@Montrose Court	£13,018	£11,614	£1,404

Note that the figures include payments from St. Luke’s to St. Helen’s of £20,160 towards parish share which includes sums overdue from previous years. £5,000 was paid from St. Helen’s to the Church @ Montrose court to cover the annual £5,000 rent of the premises.

Chris Hawthorn Treasurer

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 2024, unrestricted funds of £45,429 (2023: £59,296) were held in reserve. By a small margin this meets our reserve requirement of £40,440.

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

PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST. HELEN, STAPLEFORD FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR TO 31 DECEMBER 2024

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT RECEIPTS Voluntary receipts from donors Planned giving Loose collections Donations Legacy gifts received For mission Special collections Gift aid recovered Grants Business rates recovered Parish Mission Youth & children Montrose Court Friendship Club Income from church activities Fundraising Church Hall Hire Community Annexe Hire Room hire - Montrose Court Parochial Fees INSPIRE magazine advertising Book sales (St Luke's) Investment Income Bank interest Investment Income - Dividends on CBF shares Other Capital Receipts TOTAL RECEIPTS PAYMENTS Parish Share Parochial Fees Support for Ministry Maintenance of Services Rent Business Rates Utilities Insurance Telecoms General Parish Expenses Clergy expenses & training Wage costs Office expenses Sundry Maintenance Church Church Hall Annexe Montrose Court Exeptional Expenditure Parish Mission Youth & children Montrose Court Friendship Club Pastoral and outreach Catering INSPIRE Magazine Meeting & special events Food Bank Other External Mission St Lukes mission St John's, Lindow (Alexandro Mesco) CMS (B-J & Marie Shin) Tear Fund CPAS Other Cost of Fundraising Bank charges Special Collections TOTAL PAYMENTS NET RECEIPTS / (PAYMENTS) Reserves at 1st January 2024 Reserves at 31st December 2024	St. Helen's St. Luke's Montrose Court TOTAL £ £ £ £ 79.0% 16.6% 4.4% 54,425 11,763 3,000 69,188 7,955 1,119 243 9,317 10,168 1,630 632 12,430 - - - - - - - 14,030 3,671 923 18,624 - 3,100 3,100 - - 1,391 1,391 5,000 5,000 2,341 2,341 - 1,429 1,429 15,374 - 15,374 2,082 2,082 120 120 4,344 4,344 1,575 1,575 45.00 45 - 1,605 23.25 1,628 562 562 - - 117,279 18,252 13,018 148,548 56,940 20,160 - 77,100 2,260 2,260 1,475 133 1,607 - 5,000 5,000 11 11 13,296 2,929 1,428 17,653 4,721 - 666 5,387 920 63 983 - 760 760 20,139 20,139 1,221 - 1,221 1,999 533 150 2,682 - 3,048 921 3,968 2,684 2,684 - 680 680 - - - 3,278 3,278 5,000 5,000 614 614 1,274 482 1,756 1,215 50 1,277 2,542 4,380 4,380 256 256 1,558 1,558 239 239 - 384 384 - - - - - - - - 40 40 3 3 167 60 227 - - 125,691 25,110 11,614 162,415 (8,412) (6,859) 1,404 (13,866) 26,503 24,932 7,861 59,296 18,091 18,073 9,265 45,429 UNRESTRICTED FUNDS	St. Helen's TOTAL £ - - - 2,597 - - - 14,000 - - - - - - - 16,597 - - - - - - 331 519 481 - 610 1,941 14,656 14,455 29,111 RESTRICTED FUNDS	GRAND TOTAL £ 69,188 9,317 12,430 - 2,597 - 18,624 3,100 - - 15,391 5,000 2,341 - 1,429 15,374 2,082 120 4,344 1,575 45 - 1,628 562 - 165,146 77,100 2,260 1,607 - 5,000 11 17,653 5,387 983 - 760 20,139 1,221 2,682 - 3,968 2,684 - 680 - - 3,278 5,000 614 1,756 2,542 4,380 256 1,558 239 - 384 331 519 481 - 650 3 227 - 164,356 790 73,751 74,541	2023 £ 66,655 14,656 9,549 17,789 1,787 17,844 6,500 885 1,113 5,000 1,038 14,390 1,715 8,828 1,275 975 553 2,602
				173,154
				72,204 8,298 1,549 5,000 305 26,209 5,914 1,044 356 15,291 1,426 1,877 9,496 1,116 - 374 3,368 5,000 1,154 3,007 4,062 591 857 352 544 1,405 1,714 - - 356 281 1,735
				174,884
				(1,730) 75,481
				73,750

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

	St. Helen's	Community Annexe	St. Luke's	Montrose Court	TOTAL 2024	TOTAL 2023
	£	£ £	£	£	£	£
Cash funds
Bank balances	15,365	-	18,073	9,265	42,703	26,387
Deposit balances	-	-	-	-	-	17,129
Cash in hand		-		-	-	-
CBF Deposit Fund	31,838			-	31,838	30,234
	47,203	-	18,073	9,265	74,541	73,750
Other monetary assets
Income tax recoverable	3,612	-	612	220	4,443	4,700
Other	- 3,612	- -	- 612	- 220	- 4,443	- 4,700
Income tax recoverable for Oct-Dec 2024 was not claimed until Feb 2025, so will be included in that year's accounts		Income tax recoverable for Oct-Dec 2024 was not claimed until Feb 2025, so will be included in that year's accounts
Investments
895.35 Income Shares in CBF Investment Fund	20,703	-	-	-	20,703	20,240
	20,703	-	-	-	20,703	20,240
Liabilities
	-	-	-	-	-	-

	-	-	-	-	-	-

Total Assets less Liabilities	71,518	-	18,685	9,485	99,687	98,690

NOTES

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

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

2. ANALYSIS OF RESTRICTED FUND MOVEMENTS FOR THE YEAR

	Balance	Receipts	Payments	Transfer	Balance
	B/Fwd				C/Fwd
	£	£	£	£	£
St Helen's Parish Mission - Youth Minister	15,000	14,000		-	29,000
St Helen's External Mission	(545)	2,597	1,941	-	111
	14,455	16,597	1,941	-	29,111

St Helen's Restricted Fund contains specific donations for External Mission (to be paid in 2025) and a donation from the Dame Caroline Warren Trust and the Benefact Trust towards the employment of a Youth Minister in anticipation of wider "matched" funding from Southwell DBF in 2025 for a minimum 3 year period. Most of the external mission funds are held for the benefit of Dorcas Letasi, our mission partner in Uganda.

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

PAID EMPLOYEES £ Gross wages and salaries: 20,139 Employer's National insurance costs: - Pension contributions: - Total Staff costs: 20,139 Average number of employees in the year: 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.)

APPROVED AND SIGNED ON BEHALF OF THE PCC:

Reverend Paul Savage Chris Hawthorn Chairperson Treasurer 10th March 2025 10th March 2025

Independent examiner's report on the accounts ~~Be~~

Report to the trustees/ PCC of St Helen’s Stapleford on accounts for the 31 December 2024 Charity no 1131777 year ended ~~a~~ I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31 December 2024 . Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the basis of report preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

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

Independent I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters examiner's have come to my attention in connection with the examination which statement gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
the accounts do not accord with the accounting records

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

Date: Signed: 17 March 2025 ~~Lom~~ Name: Gary Stephenson DChA, MSc ~~| |~~ Address: 21 Gwenbrook Road Beeston, Nottingham NG9 4AZ ~~————~~

Churchwarden’s Report

In May 2024, Beverley Brooks was elected to join the Churchwarden Team; Christina Davidson having been elected previously. It has been a busy year for Christina and Beverley who have been ably assisted by our previous Churchwarden, Mike Hammans.

Rather than Christina and Beverley doing the same work areas, we agreed that we would work to our skills and experience splitting the roles appropriately. Christina has re-written all the role descriptions for those undertaking roles within St Helens including side wardens, prayer leaders, refreshment givers and the role of welcomers and, most usefully for Beverley, the role of churchwarden! All of the role descriptions have been agreed by Rev’d Paul. Christina also agreed to lead on the Dame Caroline Warren trust and has undertaken the task of sorting out the rota of duties on a monthly basis. In addition to the above tasks, Christina and Mike have led on the Volunteer training and application process which of course is a requirement under Safeguarding and from the Diocese of Southwell.

Beverley has led on the Quinquennial Report and has worked with Steve Marvin to ensure that any work which is required is undertaken in a timely manner. Please see the Fabric report below. Beverley is undertaking the supervision of Steve Marvin which has worked extremely well with Beverley supporting Steve and Steve sharing his expertise and experience gained over the years. Beverley and Steve continue to ensure that Health & Safety requirements are met and have agreed a schedule for deep cleaning, risk assessments and Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSH) requirements – all of which are ongoing.

It has been agreed that any complaints received by the Church Office will be forwarded and dealt with by Beverley and Christina in liaison with Rev’d Paul. Beverley continues to lead on all governance issues and has written various policies which are being scheduled to be presented to the PCC. Beverley, in liaison with Christina, is in the process of gathering data for the mission stats required by Southwell Diocese.

In addition to the above key points, Beverley and Christina have been involved in other aspects of church life including recruitment, parking arrangements and attending training courses run by the Southwell Diocese. Christina Davidson & Beverley J Brooks MBE Church Wardens

Fabric Report – St Helen’s

Following receipt of the Quinquennial Report, I met with Bruce Bradley, Architect and author of the Report. Bruce and I reviewed the outstanding matters which required urgent attention – urgent being within 1 to 2 years. Water overflowing from the north aisle gutter which cannot take the water volume – this overflow onto the annexe roof causing issues of damage to the timberwork getting very wet.

i. The Forti Crete effect stonework is becoming weathered as expected. The oak work to the link needs redecorating but a gutter is to be fitted first.
ii. There is some water ingress through the windows to the link that need sealing. This is more pronounced due to the amount of water running off the roof from the church –
iii. at the southern end. The link oak work then needs some redecorations.

Regarding the point i. to iii. above, Beverley has discussed this with Bruce and agreed that the original work did not consider when the wind blows the rain off the roof on the annexe connector between the church and the annexe. Beverley is in the process of writing an application for funds from the Minor Repairs and Improvement Grant and Bruce has supplied appropriate plans. We have agreed that the original roofers should provide the guttering services as it is not straightforward but needs to be inline with the existing roofing materials. We should know in April 2025 if our grant application has been successful. In the meantime, I am reviewing another Trust as we may be eligible for an application covering water/weather ingress in the annexe and annexe toilets which all need redecorating.

iv. The roof slating and flashings all appear to be reasonably sound however, as previously noted the tops of several clay ridge tiles are badly eroded and need replacing.
v. Tower Roof leading dips in place and holds water – maintenance required. There could be a problem with outlet / eastern hopper/down pipe as the

vi. adjacent stonework has greened up.
vii. On the Memorial Chapel – East elevation, we need to check the rainwater outlet as the adjacent wall is damp/green.

The above points IV to VII above will be reviewed in Year 2 which will give us the opportunity to review all similar work which is required and to gain the services of professional who will make good rather than make do. Beverley J Brooks MBE Church Warden

The Church @ Montrose Court

The Church @ Montrose Court has now been established for almost eight years. We are located in a small former retail unit, ideally placed in the centre of the Melbourne Road estate.

During the past year our weekly pattern remained as before. On Sunday afternoons we hold a very informal café style service including worship and teaching. Then on Monday and Wednesday mornings we open up for ‘chat and pray’ sessions when anyone is welcomed to drop in for a coffee. This is the time for folk to get to know one another. We have around 20 regulars who we see most weeks, plus occasional visitors

We also held special events which were always lively and well attended. These included pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, a fundraising event jointly with the Stapleford Community Group following the Southport child murders and our annual opening for breakfast on Christmas day. We were able to hold several ‘mini-messy’ events using surplus crafts from the previous weekends Messy Church.

A key part of our ministry is the foodbank, open on Monday and Wednesday mornings. We are part of the Hope Nottingham network of foodbanks. Clients arrive with vouchers from local agencies such as Citizens Advice or Jobcentre. The cost-of-living crisis is having a continued impact and some clients travel considerable distances to reach us. Some are in really desperate need. The food and toiletries we are able to provide come from generous donations, Hope central stores and sometimes we purchase food using financial donations. We are grateful to the Stapleford Community Group who collect surplus food from local supermarkets. We celebrated with a whole Family Baptism in December, baptising a mum and her 2 children. We continue to see new people exploring faith.

Plans for the coming year include improving the outside appearance at the front of church and also upgrading the very basic facilities inside. We look forward to developing our ministry following the arrival of Nakita (Jan 2025) who is settling in well. We are also well supported by Revs Paul and Emma.

We remain a small but are very committed team. When all team members are available things work well. However when some are unavailable due to other commitments or illness we sometimes struggle to have sufficient people available to open three times every week. This did mean that on several occasions in the past year we were forced to stay closed.

Additional team members are always welcome. Please talk to Revs Paul or Emma, me or drop in any time we are open to see if it’s for you.

Emma Jones

St Luke’s Report

Our congregation has a loving caring ethos and attendances at the Sunday Services fluctuates greatly, with support and encouragement from Rev. Paul we have a Rota that has many people helping to bring God’s word to the congregation, our Communion service takes place usually on the second Sunday in the month which Paul presides at, we are fortunate now to have many different people on the rota leading and preaching at the service and we are extremely thankful for each and every one that takes on that role. We also have a very supportive congregation praying, reading, providing the music, flowers, and of course tea, coffee and cakes. As a church we still have lots of cake and are known for always having cake available, especially when we are celebrating birthdays together. We have a prayer book by the door when people arrive for prayer requests, this is then used during our time of intersessions later in the service and is valued by many.

It is always very sad to lose long standing members of the congregation and we have had to say goodbye this year to two very valued members of our family, firstly John Warry and very recently Robert Butler who’s funerals both took place at St Helens.

Pastoral care I feel is a bit of an issue, in that many of us have had a lot of our own personal problems to deal with this year. But almost everyone attending in person to the services is aware of the others not present and are aware of their needs and requests for help or prayer. Colin Clarke our licensed lay minister takes communion to those that cannot get to church for any reason using the sacraments previously prepared by Paul Savage and it is given on a monthly basis where possible.

Outreach This year we have had two outreach events, one of afternoon tea and the other a soup lunch both were in aid of MacMillan cancer research. Also, during this year Paul encouraged us to apply for a £500.00 grant from a mission fund to purchase 2 feather flags to make our church more visible when open and to have Cards printed and delivered to the local houses nearby, advertising all our Christmas services (although in the end the cards were printed free as a donation of charity to us.) Many thanks to Colin Clarke for delivering all the local ones and to members of the congregation who took piles to deliver around the areas where they lived.

Fabric This year we have done a lot of work on the church which ended up being kindly donated by a member of the congregation, we have a new rear exit door, the lighting above that door has been replaced and a handrail fitted to aid exit from that door as there is a step out of it. A lot of external painting has also taken place.

Future plans fabric A quote has been received and approved for the replacement of two Kitchen windows at a cost of £720.00. A separate quote has been received for the replacement of the main front door into the Church, which is now being covered by a donation from our church family. There are plans to brick up an exit door from the storeroom that has never been used in many years, a quote is being sought for that, which is also being covered by a donation, but it will require a faculty first.

Finances The finances were taken over by Audrey Clarke (myself) I have no treasurer skills, and it has been a steep learning curve, with a great deal of help from Chris Hawthorne the Treasure at St Helens, it has now become a manageable job going forward. Due to my Illness the paperwork had been allowed to get behind ( although during my absences many people stepped in to help) we wait to hear what next year’s share of the parish share will be, and the final closing balance of accounts at the end of December 2024 was £18,073.01 according to the bank statement, but before everyone jumps around clapping hands, when our income over expenditure is calculated we have a deficit for the year of -£6,859.00.

Future plans We are moving our study group from a Wednesday morning to a Tuesday afternoon and are hoping more will be able to attend. Wednesdays were not really viable due to clashes with Audrey’s treatments at Hospital. Colin plans to run a study group during Lent based the Church of England’s lent 2024 course called “Tarry a while” which is a seven week course. Alan and Ann Sare have kindly offered to train people in prayer ministry

Thanks We are truly thankful for all the help we receive, from all areas of the church and congregation and feel if we start to name people personally and we forget someone, and they may be offended. Also thankful for all the offers of donations to pay for various things, and there has been many So many many thanks to all concerned.

Audrey and Colin Clarke

Nottingham North Deanery Report

During 2024 we held three Synods, two in person and one remotely:

20 February 2024: Chaplaincy

Our first Synod was held at St Leonard’s, Wollaton and we were joined by David McCoulough (Diocesan Chaplaincy Lead), Victoria Mullen (Archway Learning Trust) and Jonah Gorst (Woven Youth Worker). David and Victoria shared about their experiences as Chaplains in different arenas and Jonah shared about opportunities for the Deanery to join with the youth work at Woven.

13 August 2024: Elections to Diocesan Synod

We cancelled our July Synod as the key speaker was not able to attend. The sole agenda item of our August Synod was the voting in of Diocesan Synod Representatives. The following people were appointed: Diocesan Synod House of Laity: Lee Duffield-Simms, Joanna Smith, Pauline Thomas, Paul Ward and James Willis

Diocesan Synod House of Clergy: Nikki Bates, Tim Pullen and Sue Pendenque

13 November 2024: AGM and General Synod Report

The meeting took place at St Mary the Virgin in Bulwell. Lydia Corbett brought a report from General Synod, concentrating particularly on the prayers of love and faith.

This was also our AGM and following this meeting the Deanery Leadership Team consisted of: Ex-officio members: Tim Pullen (Area Dean), Kirsty Cowley (Deanery Administrator) Lay: John Cartwright (Lay Chair), Joanna Smith (Lay Chair), Greg Cowley (Deanery Treasurer) Ordained: Nikki Bates, Paul Savage

Our Deanery Prayer meetings have also continued on the first Tuesday of each at Christ Church, Cinderhill.

This year we have had a number of changes in the leadership of parishes within the Deanery. Rev’d Sue Pendenque was licensed as vicar of Sherwood St Martin, Rev’d Lizzie Osborne was licensed as a mission associate at St John’s in Bilborough. Rev’d Emma Rolls began her curacy at Stapleford and Rev’d Jamie Price began her curacy with Woven.

We would like to thank you all for your generous and faithful giving during 2024. We managed to pay 94% of our share allocation!

Rev’d Canon Tim Pullen John Cartwright Joanna Smith Area Dean Lay Chair Lay Chair

Pastoral Care

Pastoral Care at St Helen’s starts from the first time that you visit us. To this end we use “You are Welcome” forms so that we can keep in touch.

To date some 26 of these forms have been returned and each person has received an email welcoming them to the church and giving brief details of activities and help that is available. The responses received indicate that people feel generally welcome and part of our church family. Training for Welcomers and those doing Tea and Coffee is ongoing with more training and Safeguarding events planned.

There are a number of volunteers available to telephone or visit people as required. Home communion visits are available on request. A Newcomers Welcome event will be hosted later in the year and details will be made available shortly. Rev’d Paul also attends some local Care Homes to support residents.

All Pastoral care is offered in complete confidence and within safeguarding guidelines. For more information or to arrange a visit please contact:

Mike Hammans Pastoral Care coordinator on 07970121486

Home Groups

Home groups aim to model themselves on the early church. They met in homes, cared for one another, supported and prayed for one another, enabling each person to grow in faith and understanding of God’s Word. We have six home groups at present, and earlier in the year, we had a bring and share lunch for all home group members. This was a lovely time to share what each group was doing, and it was so encouraging to hear the enthusiasm of each group member.

Leaders aim to meet up around every three months to support one another, pray together and share resources. Again, thanks must be given to our leaders for their faithfulness: Miriam and Alan, Irene Whitehead, Christina Davidson, Fran and Paul and Vera.

Looking forward, we are planning to start at least one new group after Easter. If you would be interested in being a home group leader, a co-leader, or just join a home group, please let me know. I would be happy to support you, please contact me on:

Chris Bassford 0115 9394139 chris13bassford@gmail.com

Children & Young Peoples Ministry

Children’s Church 2024

Each week we try to provide age-appropriate activities for the children in our congregation based on key events in Jesus’ life, parables he told and some stories from the Old Testament. Using a three-year rolling program we cover most key themes and also celebrate the major Christian festivals. Our aim is Bible-based teaching with fun, using a mixture of stories, videos, games, craft activities and prayer. Some highlights from 2024 included a family social in June, when parents joined the children after church to share together fun, chat and hotdogs. In September after completing a short preparation course eight of our young people declared their desire to follow Jesus and took their first communion. Finally in December the children were taught to play hand chimes to accompany their singing and performed in the morning service telling the story of Jesus’ birth in the annual Nativity play.

We value prayer for the children and our small team of volunteers. If you would like to join the team please speak to one of us.

Angela Witten

Energise 2024

Energise have continued to meet throughout 2024 although Jo’s continuing illness has meant that we have only been able to meet twice a month (or 3 times when there are 5 Sundays in a month). There are currently over 20 young people aged between 10 and 17 with a link to the Church and when we meet, numbers tend to range from 6 to 12, with a core of young people attending at least every other week.

During our meetings, we have covered a wide range of themes, including physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing; Moses, Joshua and Judges; Love, Joy and Peace; Jesus “I am….” Statements and a general overview of the Bible. Our Lent theme this year was “We are Together” looking at world issues such as plastic waste, hunger, and peace, with a weekly Lent Challenge for the young people to complete at home.

Apart from the Sunday meetings, there have been a number of social events and trips out, including Laser Tag, a Pancake Party, a Taskmaster Evening, a scavenger hunt at Elvaston Castle followed by pizzas in the Annexe, an end of term Barbecue in the Vicarage garden, games evenings in the Church Hall and the annual Christmas Party at St Lukes and trip to Trowell Garden Centre. These events are always well attended and friends are often invited. However, the highlight of the year came in April when 4 of our young people were confirmed at Trinity Church, Nottingham, although the young people themselves might consider the Harby Weekend more noteworthy. The young people have also taken part in a number of church services this year, specifically Palm Praise, Pentecost and Harvest, and joined in with the Tearfund Big Quiz Night.

We hope that we can resume working with the young people in some format in the very near future, to encourage their continuing engagement with the Church and Christianity in general.

Les Witten

Messy Church

Messy Church continued through the year to be a great way to include new families and to introduce them to the stories of the Bible and faith. We met monthly on Saturdays at St Helen’s church. Good Friday was a special time with a bumper Messy Church with lots of fun alongside hearing of God’s love for us in giving his son. In the first half of the year, we had less helpers for a number of reasons, which made us think about how to adapt what we were doing. Paul proposed a workshop for helpers to reinvigorate it, which was run in September by someone from the national Messy Church team. This brought in new helpers and existing helpers got involved in new ways transforming the way we were planning and running Messy Church. We were able to provide a meal at the end for the first time for a number of years. We had new families joining us, with around 70 at our autumn sessions. We will be pausing Messy Chuch in 2025.

Sadly Clair who was a friendly face in the kitchen making sure we had packed lunches for families, died unexpectedly during the year. We will miss her. Thank you to the team for all their contributions to Messy Church. Please pray for the families who have been coming to Messy Church, that they will find other ways of exploring and growing in faith. Pray too that St Helen’s will find new avenues for meeting families who want to start exploring faith.

School visits

We welcomed Fairfield’s, Albany Infants, Albany Juniors & St John’s primary schools to St Helen’s at Christmas and Easter which is a great opportunity to tell those important stories of our faith. A local nursery, and our own Tuesday break were also invited along with Beavers and Cubs for visits at Christmas. We have also had visits from Wadsworth Infants looking at the History of the church and from Albany Juniors at Harvest.

St John’s School

Governor Report

A new Government and falling pupil rolls, have led to yet another tightening of the purse strings. We could be downhearted, but this just serves to keeps us on our toes and firmly future focused. The Finance and General Purposes Committee, of which myself, Rev. Paul and formerly Steve Marvin are members, has scrutinised and adjusted the budget and the school has run a pupil recruitment campaign.

In addition, Governors have been considering the possibility of academisation and are currently in the process of consulting with staff and parents, explaining what becoming an academy would entail and giving them the opportunity to question a Multi Academy Trust with a Christian focus. Nothing definite has been decided as due diligence must be undertaken first. The wellbeing of all staff is taken seriously, particularly that of the Head and other senior staff including the business manager. They themselves are supporting other staff and a recent survey has shown that staff generally do feel that this is working well.

Personally I attended the diocesan conference in 2024 with the Head Teacher and the conference on Courageous Leadership with the Chair of Governors in March 2025. Following the resignation of Steve Marvin, I have taken on the roles of GDPR and Health and Safety link governor. More training is anticipated!

As PCC appointed Foundation Governor I can attest that the St John’s school community works towards being the BEST that it can be, including the governors and staff. The school motto is Believe Endeavor Succeed Together and there is also a Golden Rule – Be Proud and Take Care. We had an encouraging SIAMs inspection in 2024.

‘The school community at St John’s …flourish(es) because of Christian compassion lived out at
every level and a deep awareness of individual needs. The vision is a living reality enabling all to flourish. A comprehensive communication system ensures everyone is well informed, raising awareness of the vision in every aspect of school life. Collective worship is enriched by the
commitment and valuable contributions made by a range of local churches. This unswerving
support makes a positive contribution to pupils’ rich knowledge of Bible stories and deepening
spiritual awareness. There is a rich awareness of a school family living well together and where wellbeing is prioritised. This creates a real sense of belonging.’ Extract from-SIAMS report 2024

Anne Adams Foundation Governor

Collective Worship at St John's School

For 2024, St John's School embarked on a year-long initiative to enhance collective worship, spearheaded by Headteacher Matt Downes and Reverend Paul. The programme was designed to align with the school values and Stapleford Parish vision of making the Bible accessible to everyone, strengthening the children's faith, and integrating them into the church community.

The initiative was shared with our local church partnership to conduct weekly Thursday morning sessions. Our focus was on creating interactive and engaging Bible studies, building on a Christian foundation with a focus on the wider spiritual bandwidth of our Stapleford community.

Teachers and children have responded excitedly to the sessions, participating eagerly and applied their everyday understanding into the biblical teaching. We have laughed and learnt difficult concepts together by introducing new ideas and activities. These included innovative approaches from hula hooping to VIP red carpet walking. The children’s prayers and singing in these informal worship sessions, have us ‘skipping out of school’ after each Thursday morning God encounter.

If you are young at heart, love to work with animated children and want to bring the Bible to youngsters in a more dynamic and appealing way, ask Reverend Paul or Reverend Emma for more. Joanna Smith (LLM)

Overseas Mission Partners (combined report)

As a church we are aware that Jesus’ command to love your neighbour extends to those overseas. In response we have continued to maintain links with the following mission partners. We work with the following charities and individuals.

Tearfund. Works overseas to alleviate poverty through long term community development projects and by responding to humanitarian crises brought about by warfare and natural disasters. Tearfund also works with other organisations to campaign and challenge the injustice created by climate change, which impacts most on parts of the world who are already the poorest.

During the last year St Helens was visited by Spyros Tacticos from Tearfund who spoke about their Transforming Communities work. We also joined the Tearfund Big Quiz event in November & took an offering at our Harvest

Service. To find out much more about Tearfund look at their website www.tearfund.org where you can sign up for regular newsletters and make financial donations. .

Due to changes in Charity Law and Money Laundering regulations it has become increasingly difficult to support nonaffiliated Missions work, as a UK charity is restricted in the way it can give to an individual outside the UK.

We also link with the following individuals:

Through CMS(church mission society) Beom Jin and Marie continue to work in east Asia. The have moved town, and are finding their new location works well for all the family. They continue to focus on vocational training and education. There are many challenges to their work, but they make good contacts and make the most of the opportunities they have. A group of us zoom regularly with them, and anyone is welcome to join us.

Alejandro and Doris Mesco have been unwell during the year, and Alejandro now spends most of his time caring for Doris. He still supports the medical charity, MMI Peru, in Arequipa who support people with disabilities and their families. We have been able to send funds through another church in the UK.

Dorcas. We continue to find it difficult to send the funds raised, it remains in restricted funds and we are endeavouring to make these payments.

Newsletters from these individuals are made available in church as they are received. Financial support for our mission partners during 2024 came through specific fundraising events and the Mission Box scheme. A big thanks to Ian and Diane Mclaren for running the mission giving scheme.

Susan Bell & Trevor Jones

Tuesday Break

We continue to meet fortnightly on Tuesday morning from: 9.am-11.30am.

We offer a wide range of play activities in a safe environment with a messy table to have fun on and other play activities that meet the early years outcome for their age group. We also do sing sessions at the end for all to enjoy. This is a good way to bring all age groups together.

We offer a selection of refreshments for parents/carers and littles ones to enjoy for a small contribution. We also enjoy celebrating special occasions such as Mother’s Day, Easter, Father’s Day, Harvest, Christmas and lots more!

We do lots of fun special activities and visits to the church to celebrate these occasions. This year we had our annual Christmas party at our local soft play area, Might Monsters, which was enjoyed by all. For our end of year party, we had a seaside day with a visit from the ice cream van, which was a big hit with all children and adults.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our small but dedicated team who go above and beyond to provide and support this important community outreach group.

If anyone is interested in joining our Tuesday break team in any way this would be a big help in the running of our group. We need extra help in these areas:

In the kitchen -serving hot drinks and refreshments
Setting up the toys
Packing away the toys at the end
Singing session – do you play an instrument? Familiar with nursery rhymes?
Offering support in the play activities and mingling with parents / careers offering support.

If you think you could help in any way, please feel free to drop in and have a chat and see what our amazing group is all about.

Thank you for your support and prayers The Tuesday Break Team.

Annette Gregory group leader

C0NNECT

St. Helen's Church continues to be open between 10 and 12 noon on the first and third Saturdays of the month, offering friendship over refreshments, an opportunity to look round the church, or a quiet space for prayer and reflection.

Most of us would agree that it is desirable to make St. Helen's available to the community like this....and so would encourage you to consider joining the team so that this important outreach can continue into the future. It is not onerous and would require, say, two hours every two months to welcome any visitors and make tea and coffee for them. It is lovely when we are blessed to welcome strangers...or folk who have returned to visit the church at which they were married, or their parents, maybe, often many years ago.

Please have a chat with Peter and Rosemary, or Richard and Kerry Bassford, or phone the office if you are interested in helping out! You would be so welcome!

Men's Ministry

In 2024, we had a full and varied program of men’s activities with something for everybody. Men whatever their church allegiance or otherwise are welcome and come along but it is not out of any desire to be exclusive. The monthly social, on the first Monday of every month is an opportunity for men who can make it, to get together at the Horse and Jockey and enjoy each other’s company,

There are other activities through the year, and these included an excellent Curry evening with Matthew Holden as our after-dinner speaker sharing his experiences as a Policeman and a Christian.

There were 2 men’s breakfasts with Adrian Chatfield sharing part 1 and part 2 of his story serving the church in different parts of the world.

We made our annual visit to Trent bridge for the T20 cricket. We made this an open event, and it was good that several Ladies joined us.

We sometimes get asked about making more of our meetings open to ladies and we have discussed this when planning the programme. We think that the reason for men’s meetings being effective is because they are a place where friendships between men are formed and built, and there is good fellowship in a relaxed environment. When opportunities arise, the gospel can be shared, and issues that men face can be thought about.

The final meeting of the year was a Christmas quiz and chips. All these activities were well supported and very enjoyable.

There is another strong program planned for 2025, and we look forward to seeing lots of men coming to some or all of them!

Iain Walker

Church Flowers

The church has been decorated with fresh flowers and displays made for the following occasions over the last year.

Easter period
Mother’s Day- with small bunches made for the women in the church
Remembrance Day- the church decorated with poppies
Harvest period- displays made with flowers and fresh produce.
Christmas period – the church is decorated with Christmas trees, advent arrangement and nativity displays.

The flowers in church are changed fortnightly with fresh flowers placed on the holy table. These can be used to remember that special date or person through a floral tribute.

If you are interested in this, please get in contact with me or the church office to arrange this. Many thanks Annette Gregory .

Music group

I am thrilled to report on the worship group for St Helen’s in a year when we have seen new people wanting to sing and play, not just on a Sunday but for extra services and weddings to name but some of the occasions where we lead worship. It’s such a joy to have so many willing, committed, talented people offering to help in this vital part of our church’s ministry – thank you to all of you. We have an abundance of riches with some able to offer multiple instrumental talents, and several singers who turn up week after week. Our biggest group is still in the morning service, but the more intimate setting of the evening service lends itself to more meditative songs and the use of video worship.

At Christmas we welcomed again a whole host of people to sing in our Carol service, along with brilliant readers – and earlier in the year we had led our evening congregation in ‘Palm Praise’ with songs by Al Kirkland. I’d like to especially thank Al and Chris Hawthorn for their unwavering support and talents, leading week by week with me to encourage us all in deeper worship and beautiful music that we know glorifies God.

Fran Beedell

Office report for 2024

During the last year the office has streamlined the payment system making it easier for hall & annexe hires to pay and to receive the deposit back. This is saving time for the office, the treasurer and speeding up the process for the deposit returns.

I (with the help of Rev’d. Paul and Beverley) have researched various data bases and found what we feel would work best for the parish. We purchased this towards the end of last year and started work on this.

I have also used what I have learned on the digital media course and continued to build and grow our social media platforms which now includes Instagram. This is a great source of free advertising as well as engagement between the church and parishioners.

I trailed out QR codes for ease of use for the Christmas period that link to the website and or Facebook taking the user to the ‘what’s on section’. Notices, I continue to use MailChimp and aim to send an E-Newsletter out fortnightly on a Friday. This seems to be working well, as we can now add links to the website and a more information button.

As a team we also print a Stapleford Parish Newsletter which is much more condensed version of the full E-News.

Weddings . We held our first wedding open day using local suppliers. The church was dressed beautifully, and we secured a wedding on the day for this year.

Hall & Annexe hire

The hall is very well used by church and the community. With lots going off for different interests and ages. Annexe ad hoc bookings – 23

One Weekly user – from April – December Hall ad hoc bookings - 45 Regular hirers - 10 The £50 deposit is still in place and have no plans to remove this.

I continue to respond to all enquiries in a timely manner and invoice where possible. I hope that this year’s booking raise with the work that we all continue to do with advertising.

Thank you to everyone that helps the office during my annual leave. Rebecca Gabbitas Parish Church Administrator

Friendship Club

The club is in it’s 39th year having started in 1986. It meets alternate Wednesday’s at 2pm at St Helen’s Church hall.

Normally for the first hour we have a programme of entertainment. This alternates, we have singers, choirs or musicians at one meeting then illustrated talks at the next. The illustrated talks have included Sicily, the doctor goes to war, Bygone shops of Nottingham and Cromford canal restoration, a wide variety. 3pm is time for time for tea and coffee and biscuits then it’s quiz and humorous stories until we finish about 3:45.

Lunchtime. Since Covid Emma Jones has only been able to do 3 dinners a year, at September restart. Christmas and Easter. At the other meetings we have soup and rolls.

During the year our separate accounts were closed. The club is now part of the main church accounts.

Membership is declining, 2023 attendance was average 30, 2024 was 28 and 2025 is down to 23. We do get a few new members unfortunately we have far more deaths and long-term sick. The committee is at a minimum as we are short of active members.

David Steggles Chairman

Eco Church APCM report February 2025

During 2024 St Helen’s PCC agreed to register with the Eco Church scheme. This scheme is run by A Rocha, a Christian ecology movement which for many years has been a leading voice in how we should care for the world which God has given us to live in.

The Eco Church vision is that we should be helped both as churches and individuals to respond effectively to the pressing environmental issues which face us today. These issues are wide ranging but include the climate emergency, justice for the people in parts of the world most affected by global warming and the loss of biodiversity in the UK.

A small group has now formed to lead the parish in engaging with these issues. Our next activity will be to complete an Eco Church survey covering a range of topics including how to improve the energy efficiency of our church buildings, how we teach and pray about caring for the environment and how to encourage personal lifestyle changes.

By completing the Eco Church survey we will in effect be auditing how well we respond to environmental issues as churches and individuals. But more importantly we will be pointed towards actions we can take to improve our response. These actions will probably include small changes we can easily make (quick wins) and actions which are likely to take longer, such as improvements to the energy efficiency of our buildings which may be costly and require grant funding.

If you would like to join the small Eco Church group to take this work forward you would be very welcome. Please contact me via the church office,

Trevor Jones (on behalf of the Eco Church group)

Dame Caroline Warren Educational Trust

The Dame Caroline Warren Trust was set up with an endowment from the late Dame Caroline Warren. The purpose of the trust, is to provide religious and educational benefit to children up to the age of 18 in full time education in Stapleford Parish or who are part of the parish (there are several restrictions on what can be provided).

The Trustees are made up of the Vicar and Church Wardens of the Parish of Stapleford. Though it is not a part of the PCC, the Trustees are made up of members of the PCC.

Chair:	Rev’d Paul Savage
Church Warden:	Mike Hamman until May2024
Church Warden:	Christina Davidison

There are continuing issues with the HSBC bank in updating mandates, and a lack of clarity on the assets, which has delayed the removal of Mike Hammans as trustee and prevented Beverley J Brooks from coming on. Rev’d Paul has been working with HSBC to resolve the mandate, and with the Diocese to clarify the assets of the trust.

Income comes from 2 properties on the school grounds at St John’s, Stapleford, which require maintenance from the trust, we pay Insurance on the 2 properties, perform electrical and gas safety certification and the properties have had costly maintenance in 2024.

Last year it supported Harby by paying the full deposit providing a discount for Young People at St Helen’s to go away at a discount. It provided a grant towards St John’s school to provide a laptop, and gave a further donation towards the benefit of children in the school so they could go on an educational trip.

2025 looks to be a challenging year for the trust, as income is forecast to fall, while the assets continue to age and require more maintenance. It will continue to eat up a significant time commitment while we regularise the trust, confirm its assets, and seek legal guidance on the future of the trust.

Under charity rules its income is less than £10,000pa this does not require a report to the charity commission. We expect to provide a fuller report on the trust and its activities in 2025. Rev’d Paul Savage

Inspire Report

INSPIRE is the parish magazine which we distribute for free. Over 7,200 copies go out with the 3 editions we produced in 2024. The magazine was set up to be a source of good news in a world where people focus on the bad. It’s an opportunity to share the good news of Jesus, and good stories of local interest. We would like to thank everyone who is involved in distributing the magazine, and Steve Marvin for making sure this happens. We do appreciate it.

The editorial Team:

The editorial Team:
Editor	Peter Turner
Designer	Alan Sare(retired Dec 2024)
Editorial Team Vacancies:	Chris Bassford Dave Bassford Sport Schools Admin support Proof Readers

In edition to the editorial team, it receives significant support from Rebecca Gabbitas in the office to assist with invoicing, the Rev’d Paul Savage in seeking to develop and grow the magazine and Jo Dunn as our link between schools and the forum churches.

The cost for the magazine in 2024 were £4,380 with an Income of £1,775 (Advertising and a one off donation from the Forum) . This was supplemented by a fundraising Christmas concert. The magazine has been the subject of several PCC discussions, due to the rising costs of the magazine. The outcome being that the 2025 magazines future will be determined by significant reform:

There will need to be a reduction in cost of at least 1/3rd.
A new designer is needed after Alan’s retirement.
We need a further 3 people to join the editorial team
2025 it will become a sub committee of the PCC, reporting in regularly

If you value the magazine and want it to continue to bring good news, then we need your help, could you consider joining the editorial team?

Rev’d Paul Savage

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