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← The Parochial Church Council Of The Ecclesiastical Parish Of Mid-Wyedean Churches

2024-12-31-accounts

Mid-wyedean Churches A united parish in.. OIOC ESE OF GLOUCESTER THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND serving Coleford, Clearwell, Newland, Redbrook, Staunton and surrounding communities Registered Charity 1132171 Mid-wyedean Churches Annual report of the PCC 2024

Welcome.

Friend and stranger, young and old, all are welcome here. As followers of Jesus, our journey of faith is one of love, compassion and justice for all.

Thank you.

Thank you to everyone involved in compiling this report and all your many and varied contributions throughout the year. Thanks as well to our regular congregations who, as well as gathering for worship, support one another as members of the church family, reach out to our communities, and give of their time, talents and ‘treasure’ to maintain the work of the parish. Thank you to all those who have generously contributed when attending church for weddings, baptisms and funerals or whilst passing through our beautiful area as visitors. Thanks to all who have partnered with us in the various facets of our work. ‘Friends’ groups, well established and embryonic; professional contractors and specialists; our CofE schools in Clearwell, Redbrook and Coleford (St John’s) and our valued ecumenical partners. Particularly, The Friends of the Cathedral of the Forest, who give so much of their time and energy to raise funds for many things, from essential running costs to special projects.

And to Coleford Baptist Church, thank you so much for being our hosts for activities and companions in our journey of faith.

And to Toby Falconer, our appointed architect, who gives of his own time towards the Redbrook masonry project.

Thank you to our schools, Clearwell Church of England Primary School, Redbrook C of E Primary School and St John’s C of E Academy in Coleford, who allow us to use their school for Mustard Tree.

Reverend Sarah Bick and the Mid-Wyedean Churches PCC

During the year we have received funding from: Gloucester Diocese Pastoral Fund (Rent of MainPlace) GCC Build Back Better grant (St. John’s gardening project)

The National Churches Trust (Two grants - N. gable repointing and repair and tower gully repair at Redbrook)

DCMS Listed Place of Worship Grant (VAT reimbursement for Redbrook building work) Gloucester Diocese Minor Repairs and Improvement Fund (Redbrook tower gully repair and Staunton trial render removal )

War Graves Commission (War Memorial restoration All Saints Newland) And as always, The Friends of the Cathedral of the Forest.

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Table of contents

Welcome. .................................................................................................................................. 2 Thank you. ........................................................................................................................... 2 1 Executive summary .............................................................................................................. 4 1.1 Charity aims and purposes ............................................................................................. 4 1.2 Objec;ves and ac;vi;es ................................................................................................ 4 1.3 Highlights and challenges .............................................................................................. 5 2 Parish Wardens’ Report ........................................................................................................ 7 All Saints, Newland .............................................................................................................. 7 All Saints, Staunton ............................................................................................................ 10 St Peter’s Clearwell and the Clearwell Cemetery chapel and grounds .............................. 13 St Saviour’s, Redbrook ....................................................................................................... 15 The Good Shepherd, Broadwell ......................................................................................... 18 Coleford Town: St John's C of E Academy .......................................................................... 22 Coleford Town: missional and ecumenical ac;vi;es .......................................................... 23 Coleford Town: Parish-wide mission and social ac;vi;es .................................................. 23 3 Parish Administration and Parish Office .......................................................................... 25 4 Weddings, baptisms and funerals ..................................................................................... 26 Pastoral care/ home communion .......................................................................................... 26 6 Ecumenical Links - Reverend Sarah Bick ......................................................................... 27 7 Deanery Synod Report, Forest South Deanery ................................................................ 27 8 Finance Report .................................................................................................................... 28 9 Hopes, Plans and Priorities for 2025 ................................................................................. 29 10 Safeguarding Report ......................................................................................................... 30 11 Mid-Wyedean Parish ......................................................................................................... 31 11.1 Loca;on and legal structure ....................................................................................... 31 11.2 Management and administra;on .............................................................................. 32 11.3 Licensed staff team .................................................................................................... 33 11.4 Licensed worship leaders ........................................................................................... 33 11.5 Re;red clergy ............................................................................................................. 33 11.6 Church Officers ........................................................................................................... 33 11.7 Parish Administrators ................................................................................................. 34 11. Independent Examiner ................................................................................................. 34

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1 Execu,ve summary

1.1 Charity aims and purposes

The primary objective of Mid-Wyedean Churches Parochial Church Council (PCC) is the promotion of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the doctrines and practices of the Church of England. The PCC has the responsibility of cooperating with the Incumbent, Reverend Sarah Bick, in promoting the whole mission of the Church within and beyond the ecclesiastical parish and working with ecumenical partners. The Anglican Communion has agreed on these marks of mission:

The Church of England is a broad church, containing within it differing views and approaches to the promotion of the Gospel. Mid-Wyedean Churches PCC has adopted a position of explicit inclusion, valuing the presence and God-given gifts of people of all ages, abilities, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations and social backgrounds. We believe this is vital to our Christian mission in the 21st Century and entirely consistent with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To support our convictions regarding inclusion, we also highly value the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults. We seek to serve all the residents of our parish, whether in town, village or rural locations. Responsible stewardship of all the gifts God has given us is important in fulfilling our mission. This includes care for creation: environmental concerns such as our carbon footprint impact all our decision-making.

The PCC is also specifically responsible for the care of the five church buildings within the united Parish, and the cemetery at Clearwell, and seeks the best use of those buildings to fulfil the mission of the church for the benefit of the communities in which they are found.

1.2 Objec<ves and ac<vi<es

Our parish encompasses a number of distinct geographical communities, some with church buildings, but all of which we seek to serve. To fulfil our purposes as a multichurch parish, we aim to hold governance and broad strategy at the parish level but deliver mission and ministry at the community level. Rather than seeking to consolidate in the centre (known as the Minster Model), we value the presence and potential growth of worshipping communities and mission and ministry in every place, facilitated by a local minister (lay or ordained) acting as a team leader in each of our congregations. The Local Ministers meet regularly for communication and mutual support.

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Volunteers and gi@s in kind

Except for the Incumbent and the Parish Administrator, all ministry and community service is offered by volunteers, including all the local ministers. The time and talents they and others offer are invaluable, and the ministry of the church would be significantly diminished without them.

St John’s Church of England Academy continues to support Mustard Tree meetings at the school without charging for the use of the premises. Coleford Baptist Church also allows us the use of their premises both for shared endeavours as well as for some Mid-Wyedean activities.

We are grateful for both of these partnerships, especially as we still have no home of our own in Coleford town.

1.3 Highlights and challenges

Rev Sarah Bick, the vicar, took an overdue Sabbatical from August to October 2024. She and the PCC are grateful to all the local ministers, the Standing Committee, the Rev Alan Wearmouth and Pastor Sam Davis for covering essential functions during this time.

Building for Coleford? A building on the St John’s CofE Academy site became vacant around Easter 2024. The building is a former Sure Start Centre that had until this year been used by a charity providing a playgroup. Unfortunately for them, the demand for their services just wasn’t there, so they could not make it a going concern. There are two other Early Years providers within 400m. One of the trustees asked us if we would be interested in taking on the lease from Gloucestershire County Council (GCC). This was interesting to us, as much of our outreach is based on school connections and relationships. It would, for example, provide a useful base for the outdoor and gardening activities to continue during school holidays and weekends.

We visited the building and were quite excited about the possibilities. So we put together a business plan and approached GCC. Unfortunately, GCC wanted first to advertise the space as available for Early Years provision exclusively, given the original purpose of the building. As I write, in May 2025, the building still stands empty. We continue to pursue this possibility.

Administration. The ups and downs of our admin provision have continued in 2024. The postholder did some great work, including using strengths from his previous roles in the building industry to great effect. However, he also suffered some considerable issues with on-going health conditions and had a lot of time away from work. Sadly, the parish could no longer take the financial risk of employment, so had to take the decision not to renew that contract. Instead, in 2025, we plan to seek self-employed contractor(s) to take on different tasks. How this will work is still being mapped out.

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St John’s Academy. Our partnership with continued to prosper in 2024 with the afterschool gardening club, work with some of the classes, assemblies and Mustard Tree celebration events with food in August and December.

In summary - our challenges are similar to previous years, and largely around resources: financial and human, in terms of numbers of people and therefore our finite capacity of time and energy.

Our strengths are also human (and divine)! Human, in the wonderful, faithful, servanthearted, creative people of this parish, for whom we thank God daily.

And we would dearly love to have resolved the need for premises in Coleford for growing new church.

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2 Parish Wardens’ Report

Maggie Cheadle, Mark Bick and Local Ministry Teams

All Saints, Newland

Local minister: Reverend Bea Erskine, Parish Assistant Priest

Mission and Ministry

Church life in Newland, continue to be reasonably supported with numbers at regular Sunday worship, ranging from about 10 to 20. We continue to be blessed with our ‘organist’ in the village on most occasions when needed.

An Easter Egg Hunt arranged in conjunction with The Ostrich Pub took place after the Easter Eucharist, attracting families to worship and furthering our intention to work closely with other villages groups and organisations.

The Christmas Services were also well supported, particularly as they were almost three days in a row, as the usual slot for Beer and Carols was moved due to the Treorchy Male Choir concert earlier in December. Numbers as follows: Beer and Carols 70, Midnight Mass 29 (which was quite low for us) and Christmas Day 70.

One of our younger members of the regular congregation is working towards confirmation and this is finally happening at his school in Monmouth in June. Having completed his Duke of Edinburgh award, he continues to help with the church and regularly reads the Epistle and helps with the services and other events in the church.

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There continues to be a real sense of ownership of the building and church yard by the village and wider community, which is a huge blessing, in so many ways, but also an appreciation of the peace and presence of God that people feel in the church. Particularly following funerals of local people, where the wider community have come together and rather experienced this firsthand.

Whilst there is undoubtably a sense of local ministry, as living in the village and exercising horses and walking dogs, does provide some helpful encounters, I’m also aware that I am not in touch with everyone and this continues to be a goal to aim for!

Building and churchyard

Wider vision for future projects, particularly heating and the sustainability of the church and for the wider community continues to be worked on by the Friends.

The War Memorial restoration was finally completed and is looking very good Amongst all the work being undertaken by the Friends, this includes regular payment of the grass cutting, the price of each cut having increased to £200 for the coming year and raising further funds to manage the church yard.

Also happy to report the work to the entrance of the church, namely the resetting and aligning of the stone slabs in front of the porch and repair of the tomb surround and steps to the side, was completed. Including the resurfacing the entire Almshouse Road path. We now have a smooth access to the church for those with reduced mobility and no more puddles to wade through at the entrance.

Another good Spring Clean in the church yard attracting folk who might not normally attend church but really feel a connection with it. With generous offers of food, a hydraulic skip, general muscle power and get up and go, these are good community events with much laughter and chat, but also some wonderful pastoral encounters and interesting conversations about faith and spirituality.

Community engagement 2024

…and planned for 2025

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The Friends of ‘The Cathedral of the Forest’ and local volunteers

The children’s play area and the flowers are now being looked after and provided by various people in the village on a regular basis. The Churchyard Spring and Autumn clearup days continue to be very well supported, not only clearing where necessary but also helping to establish more wildflower areas and greater ecological diversity in the churchyard.

We are extremely grateful to the Friends who have paid for:

Visitors

Visitor numbers on the latest count appear to have risen slightly from 17,000 to 18,000 in the last year.

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All Saints, Staunton

Local minister : Denise Hogan, Lay Reader

AI imaging has made it to Mid-Wyedean!

Mission and ministry

Services

18 attended a Mothering Sunday service and 41 attended on Easter Sunday….the children enjoyed a quiz and Easter Egg hunt (thanks Louise).

29 humans attended a successful Pet service in May along with 13 dogs, 1 cat and 1 tortoise!

27[th] October saw a well-attended Harvest Festival service, followed by a sit-down Harvest Tea, with homemade soup, crusty bread and several puddings. Enjoyed by all.

An All Souls service did not attract many villagers, so we will review whether to put this on again, or direct people to one of the other services in the parish. However, Remembrance was once again very well attended.

A second pet service planned for later in November sadly had to be cancelled because a power cut in church meant the heating wasn’t working.

The carol concert was very well attended, with mince pies and mulled wine, and so was the Christmas morning service. The church was decorated by many volunteers as per usual and looked very pretty.

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Discipleship Group – The Chosen

In June 2024, with support from Sarah and Denise, John and Maggie Cheadle started a weekly group to watch and discuss the drama series ‘The Chosen’.

This was intended mainly as an outreach to the village of Staunton, as well as providing teaching for those in our church fellowship, and so we chose to hold it in the village hall, on Tuesday evenings, 7-9pm.

The evenings began with tea/coffee and cake etc as people arrived, then after a prayer and welcome the programme was shown, followed by a time of discussion and questions, based around relevant verses from the Gospels and how the programme cteatively depicted the events. The evening then closed with prayer.

Despite posters around the village and notices on the parish weekly newsletter, no villagers came along (only those who were part of the church fellowship). However, the group was very well attended – from between 10 to 20 people each week, with people from across our churches and beyond. It was very much enjoyed and included some challenges to our thinking.

After the first series, the hall was no longer available to us and so the second series took place in The Good Shepherd, Broadwell. Again, it proved to be well attended, and people were very enthusiastic about the drama. For this second series, we included more actual bible study, reading of scripture and used resources from the official ‘Chosen’ website. We took a break during the Winter months and plan to regroup for series 3 after Easter 2025. (MC)

Visitors and community

We continue to have lots of visitors to the church during the week. Many sign the book and say thank you for keeping the church open and for the refreshments, and how peaceful they find the church.

We hope next year to have a regular coffee morning at church. There are other monthly coffee mornings in the village – now we have some facilities, it would be great to get the church on the circuit!

Building works

Gradual progress is being made with the most urgent QI works identified last year, and with firming up the plans for a more permanent hospitality facilities, as the countdown on the two year temporary licence is well underway.

Thanks go to the many members of the congregation who chip in to get jobs done, like clearing gutters, repairing locks, chasing heating engineers, keeping the tower safe … and emptying the loo! Thanks Neil, John, Chris, Andrew and Paul.

Damp problems . Our architect has recommended that 10m[2] and 5m[2] sections of render will be removed, the first re-rendered in lime and the second just repointed. The purpose is to test how long it takes, the cost and effectiveness. We had been invited to submit an

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application to a new Diocesan grant scheme, specifically for this work. Mark made the application requesting £8K against £10K total project cost. We were awarded £5K the balance will need to come from Staunton restricted funds. The work went out to tender and has been commenced.

Kitchen area and toilet - A “Temporary Mission Reordering Order” was granted by the Archdeacon on 11th Feb 2024 for the current sink facility. It runs for a maximum of 24 months. To keep the sink beyond that we would have to draw up a full reordering proposal for that area of the church in collaboration with our architect, to satisfy the DAC (Diocesan Advisory Committee), get agreement on this and then apply for a full faculty by 12th December 2025 at the very latest. The current outside toilet does not have any permission may have to be at any time. An internal toilet with a trench arch drain or an external composting toilet could be included in the full reordering proposals. LCC discussions on this have begun.

Friends

The redevelopment of the Friends group is an aspiration for next year.

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St Peter’s Clearwell and the Clearwell Cemetery chapel and grounds

Local ministers: Christine Young and Rev Robert Simpson (Permission To Officiate - retired)

Mission and Ministry

The Open the Book team have continued at school with Chris Young, Robert Simpson, Marian Ivens and Chris Bryant (from Bream). There were school services for Easter, Harvest, and Christmas. The Harvest Service is offered as a combined school and community occasion.

Chris Young repeated her Friday night Taize & Compline services in the summer and there have been festival services for Easter, St. Peter’s day, Harvest, Remembrance, and Christmas, as well as a Pet Service. The church continues to be open every day. Many thanks go to Tom Powell for locking up the church every day, but he is now moving away. We are appealing for villagers to volunteer to go on a rota. Thanks also to Alan and Mary for keeping the church clean.

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Building maFers

Cemetery Chapel The National C of E process to transfer this closed building, the boundary wall and small patch of land to the Forest of Dean Building Conservation Trust continued extremely slowly. The boundary wall started to collapse, due to damage from tree roots. The Diocesan buildings officer had previously told us not to do work on the trees in this area! Our stonemason and Simon Moore (local surveyor and member of the Diocesan Buildings Advisory Committee) managed to make it safe on a temporary basis, but we had no funds to do any further repair. At the end of the year, we discovered that these problems were holding up the transfer!

Cemetery & Churchyard The current mowing contractor agreed to extend his offer half price work for the 2025 season but this is not sustainable long term. Some self-seeded trees in the conservation area were removed by volunteers (with the necessary permissions) and a large dying Ash Tree and a few other larger self-seeded trees removed by a contractor (at a cost of £1,350). The cemetery is again costing far more to maintain than is secured in income. We had a site meeting with two potential local volunteers interested in developing the cemetery for biodiversity, but do not have anyone to lead a project. The yew trees in the churchyard were substantially trimmed and re-tied in, funded by a donation.

St. Peter’s Building No significant work was done on the building during the year. The stonemason, access contractor and architect were unable to find a common date to do the roof checks and tile replacement. A quinquennial architect’s inspection is due in 2025

Fund-raising

The fashion show in partnership with Teri Chance Boutique raised £440 this year, which makes a valuable contribution to parish funds. Thanks to Daphne and Betty for organising that again this year. They are now handing over the mantle to Ann Meek for next year.

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St Saviour’s, Redbrook

Local minister: Mark Bick, Pioneer Lay Reader

Masonry Training Weekend Oct 2024

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Mission and ministry

Mark Bick as local minister continues to engage in the village. There were festal services at Easter, Remembrance and Christmas together with school services, but we could not get anyone to take services during Mark and Sarah’s Sabbatical. We plan to start monthly services in 2025

Community engagement

Use of the building. T he school continue to use the church daily for lunches, and for weekly Open the Book led by Bernadette Kilty, a retired teacher with other volunteers. The community choir continue to use the building on Weds nights and performed at various events in the area. Mark is a member of the choir.

Family friendly music nights (with food) continued with 5 sessions in 2024 on Saturday nights from 5pm to 7pm They are working well with growing sense of community and regular attenders now helping with food, set up and packing up. About 80 different adults and children attended over the year.

All these activities contribute to electricity costs and upkeep of the building.

Redbrook gardening work – The 2023 pollinator friendly planting was further developed in 2024 and a small veg bed set up for use by the school. There is still work to do to complete this project.

Building maFers

Tower Gully – The failed lead lining was replaced and timberwork repaired by Theoc Conservation (Ian Bishop) at a total cost of £7K funded by National Churches Trust, Gloucester Diocese

Sanctuary window - internal stone repairs and decoration were completed by Ian Bishop and Laura Vale Stephens after a long wait for a faculty for the decoration However, the approach to the decoration we were forced to use by the Diocese has led to subsequent flaking and crumbling. The work (together with the external work completed in 2023) was covered by grants from the National Churches Trust, the Kempe Trust and the Sabina Sutherland Trust.

North Nave Gable - External high-level repointing and repairs were completed by Theoc Conservation at a cost of £6K, funded with grands from the Benefact Trust , Gloucestershire Historic Churches Trust and Gloucestershire Historic Churches Trust. This area had been caught in time to avoid major replastering internally just some patching and redecoration.

Masonry training weekend - The fourth annual event took place on the first weekend of October with a mixture of Cathedral apprentices from across the country, and more local participants. It cost £4.4K and was funded from fees, support in kind from the Redbrook Village Trust, and a £1K private donation. More work was done this year to low level masonry - right round the building, including the porch and porch gable. This project

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makes a significant contribution to the overall task of getting the building off the Heritage At Risk register. A final annual event is planned for 2025 tackling the tower.

All this work also benefited from funding from the Government Listed Place of Worship Grant which covers VAT.

The kitchen - Remains unfinished – the temporary bits that have been installed are used regularly by the school, for Music Nights and for refreshments on other occasions including school services. The work needed to wait for the completion of the North Gable but we just have not had the capacity for fundraising and project management. Electrical work is planned for January 2025 to repair external lighting, put LED lighting in the chancel and more sockets in the kitchen.

Long term viability - There is clearly demand for community and school use of the building and potential to rebuild a worshiping community, but both human resources and energy costs continue to be a challenge. The building is now in much better shape, but there are still risks of sudden costs, including a big ash tree on the boundary which is inspected annually for dieback. A sustainable future is likely to be dependent on getting faculty permission and funding to insulate the building, so that increased use and lettings income is not simply swallowed up in energy costs.

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The Good Shepherd, Broadwell

Local minister: Reverend Sarah Bick, Parish Incumbent

----- Start of picture text -----
Broadwell Chat -
Carol Singing
So
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Mission and ministry

During the year there was a change of service pattern. The 1st and 3rd Sundays are Benefice services and on the Second Sunday it is just the local congregation plus from time-to-time Baptisms have been booked. The 4th Sunday was a joint service the Baptist Church. Funeral Services are also regularly held here during the week.

The 1st Thursday of each month the Coffee and Chat group continue to meet, led by Sue Sparkes , Sue Brain and Marian Ivens. After a short break, the sessions have been brought back under the new name of Broadwell Chat. The group is still small in number - the wider community of Broadwell seems very difficult to broach. However, people are joining us from across the parish, and those who do attend "Broadwell Chat" really enjoy it for its friendship, support and conversation. The table of exchange with bric a brac, books, puzzles, toiletries and the like is successful and a novel talking point. As usual the cakes provided are gratefully consumed and there are always "goodies" to take home. Any contributions to the "table" are gratefully received. Please come along and enrich the conversation. We all need each other.

An Art and Craft Retreat took place for the first time in 2024 on Saturday 8[th] June. This was led by Ann Meek and Rev Sarah Bick on the theme of The Lord’s my Shepherd. Ann provided some examples and inspiration for us, as well as various kinds of media and materials for participants to explore, who could also bring along something they were

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already working on if they wished. Sarah led the group in worship throughout the day, including morning prayer and reflections, a midday eucharist and a final worship where we shared what we had been doing with the group.

Members of our own congregations and from Coleford Baptist Church joined. It was extremely well received and another is planned for next year.

Not the finest example of the day’s output, but an available photograph (!) of a woolly sheep finger labyrinth by Sarah!

Following a successful discipleship group showing of The Chosen , season 1 at Staunton earlier in the year, we showed season 2 at The Good Shepherd in the Autumn. The Chosen is a television/streaming programme about the life of Jesus and the disciples. A discipleship group gathered to watch and discuss each episode over an eight week period. We find it very faith enriching and thought provoking to see the gospel stories presented in this format.

AcIviIes and Fundraising

The Shalom group who had met at the Good Shepherd have now moved to Bream this was because of the increased charges to cover heating. But would like to return. However, the Mahjong Club has returned and meets fortnightly on a Monday starting the 11[th] March paying £6/hr for use of small room.

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Craft Club

The Thursday afternoon craft club from 2 till 4pm began nearly two decades ago. It was started as the ecumenical meeting for anyone interested in any form of craft. Originally, we were joined by members of Row's Page Craft Club and interest range from embroidery, knitting, beading, and even painting (Ann Harley would do her painting in the kitchen). Now the club includes church members from across the parish, not just The Good Shepherd, and anyone who may be interested to join.

The club runs throughout the year, including through the summer, only closing for several meetings at Easter and Christmas. Over the years, the numbers have fluctuated and range from 2to 12 people, but typically 4 to 6. It was a club that has never had a membership fee., Everyone pays each time you attend, originally £2, but from the beginning of 2025 this was raised to £3. This pays towards the room rental, a drink and chocolate biscuit.

The craft club has always been led by Anne Meek, a qualified schoolteacher, and expert embroiderer. The original idea was to encourage more use of the Good Shepherd and provide a small amount of finance. The vestry has always been used- so close to the kitchen and with heating, and the church also has toilet facilities. Anne has run

workshops at the church also for a period at Zigzags, Pyart Court, Coleford. We've had trips out. eg Nature in Art, Malvern quilt show.

The Purple Ladies’ group has developed from the craft club, where a wider group of ladies, not necessarily crafters, go on trips and out for meals. In the last two years the club and other church members have organised a Christmas fayre with proceeds going to church finances.

Fundraising

The Craft Club organised a Christmas Craft Fayre in November at the Good Shepherd. This raised £613.80 for Parish General Funds.

Building and grounds

The Lime tree was pollarded to the height of the Church roof by Dave Fissenden of Forest of Dean Tree Services.

The Roof and Gutters by Monmouth Carpentry and Roofing completed the work at a cost of £2,570. The gulley on roof over the side room was cleared, they also did their best to clear the drain that the same gulley and the kitchen waste pipe runs into. Both need regular maintenance. The fascia board above the path at the side of the church was treated with a wood preserver but will need replacement at some stage.

Doors: Nick Dring put a new lock on back door.

Nick looked into getting quotes to repair all the doors, but we are still waiting for quotes. Nick unfortunately has been off long-term sick for the latter part of the year.

A smart meter was installed this year.

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Rosemary arranged to have two of the Strip lights replaced with LED strip lights. It is hoped that as the lights go, they will also be replaced with LED lights.

Building and Garden Tidy

In the Summer we had spent several days tiding up the garden with the help of Archie and Geoff and several members of the congregation. Archie moved the gravel from the sacks and filled some of the potholes with the gravel.

On one Saturday we planted Bulbs in the garden.

The church lobby weas improved and the notices moved inside the church.

The safe cupboard behind the Organ was tidied up, and all the documents that need to be secure were moved into the cupboard. This is in preparation for having the church open during the week for the community to use for sanctuary and quiet.

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Coleford Town: St John's C of E Academy

Worship - This happens weekly on Thursday mornings alternately led by Sarah and Sam from the Baptist Church, Sam did every week during Sarah’s sabbatical.

Gardening Project – The weekly after school club continued to thrive, with up to 15 children and a waiting list. It is led by Mark Bick in collaboration with one of the teachers. Parent volunteers continued to help with the restoration work and by

the end of the year we had 3 regular volunteers for gardening club. All the expenses have been covered with a “Thriving Communities” Grant from Glos County Council, a proportion of the Diocesan Mission Fund grant, and GCC “Build Back Better” funding through our local County Councillor. Bishop Rachel visited on 7[th] of May, heard from the children about what they were doing and shared some of the food they had grown. We held a summer holiday celebration event and another one with worship, (using the Mustard Tree name) in December with parent volunteers cooking a full Christmas dinner. It is wonderful seeing the children getting excited about growing, preparing and eating fresh organic food. We believe that this lays strong foundations for caring for creation and sustainable healthy living.

Other work with the school – Mark led a “Courageous Advocacy” project with year six at the end of summer term (paid through a Greener Gloucestershire grant), looking at

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climate change. The idea of Courageous Advocacy has been developed by Christian Aid and is promoted nationally by the C of E, forming a strand within SIAMS inspection/reporting.

Mark also did some gardening work with KS1 classes.

Coleford Town: missional and ecumenical ac<vi<es

Several of the town’s churches had vacancies or ministers taking sick leave or sabbarcals this year, and so many of the usual ecumenical acrvires have been lower key or without a full complement of minsters taking part. Rev Sarah Bick is grateful to Pastor Sam Davis for covering her St John’s School worship slots during September and October for her sabbarcal, and for doing much of the prepararon for Remembrance Sunday, even if he said never again J

Lent, Holy Week and Easter

Mid-Wyedean Churches and Coleford Baptist Church held a joint study group showing and discussing season one of The Chosen (the show is discussed elsewhere in this report, as it went on to be used as a Mid-Wyedean study group, first in Staunton then in Broadwell).

The Good Friday Walk of Witness began at St Margaret Mary RC Church and gathered at the Clock Tower for a dramatised reading of the Passion and a time of worship. Easter morning at dawn saw joyful worship at the Buckstone in Staunton.

Civic Events

The now regular events of the St George’s Day and Remembrance Sunday Parade and Service took place in April and November respectively, with a much more deliberately coordinated ecumenical presence - with Anglicans and Baptists once again taking leadership roles.

Coleford Town: Parish-wide mission and social ac<vi<es

Warm space – becomes Games Night

The continued high energy prices and general cost of living saw the continuation of Games Night through the winter and spring months in the first half of the year. So we continued our partnership with Coleford Baptist Church to offer a night of board games and films, hot food and friendly chat on Fridays 5-7 pm, sometimes later. The Baptist Church offers the warm space, we cover food costs and much of the volunteer time.

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There was a small (but faithful) crowd accessing this service across the whole age range. However, with the retirement of Rev Geraint Williams, and his moving away with wife Wendy in the summer, and Rev Sarah taking sabbatical from the same time, we reluctantly came to the conclusion that it was time to ‘concede’ knock over our game pieces and then pack them away for another time.

The continuing Baptist minister, Pastor Sam Davis, continues to provide open space for the youth members of the group.

Cygnets to Swans

As Leaders we thought that the best report as to the health of "Cygnets to Swans" would be to ask the young people themselves, so what I am reporting is the feedback from them.

They agreed that "it was fun." They like being together, so it is a good social place, which was all the more appreciated because it was informal and not like school with being told what to do.

There was a sense of "belonging" and bonding together with collaborative and personal input to the drama which was all the more enjoyable for the variety of content provided by The Leader, Matthew Parker. The Music was important too.

Overall, the young people felt that they had gained in confidence and this confidence had enabled them to audition for parts in productions in their schools. All agreed that being part of "Cygnets to Swans" was very rewarding.

Look out for the new Logo for the group which in 2025 will be meeting at a new time on Tuesdays after school, 4pm - 6pm. (MP/MI)

Mustard Tree

Mustard Tree remained in abeyance for much of the year, but we had two wonderful Celebrations under the Mustard Tree banner, in the Summer holidays and at Christmas. These were pitched at Gardening Club and baptism families, taking place at St John’s CofE Academy. More details can be found in the St John’s CofE Academy report above.

Mustard Seeds

Mustard Seeds has had a very faithful few families attending since September - ranging from 3 to 6 families. The children have grown in that time into now active toddlers who really "own" the space! It is also great to see them learning to share and play together. All the mothers get on well and agree that being in a small Mother and Toddler group is less intimidating for their children - so quality not quantity.

"Mustard Seeds" is most grateful to the Baptist Church for sharing their space and the toys of course! Volunteers are always welcome to help out once a month. Mark and Sarah presented a Nursery Rhyme Nativity on 17[th] December which went down well. It would be lovely to have someone to share some more live music with the children, so if you know of anyone willing to do that please be in touch. (MI)

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3

Parish Administrator

This post continues to be of significant importance to the Parish as the means of releasing those in leadership and ministry to focus on the mission of the church. The post-holders have managed the tasks of operational efficiency within the parish and facilitated communication between our geographically-spread groups and congregations. They have given direct administrative support to the large number of volunteers in middle leadership roles within the Parish, in particular, the EMEP team and the wardens and have supported our welcoming ethos and communication with the wider community. Unfortunately, the grant funding that supported this post was discontinued in 2021, and hoped-for solutions to this loss have not transpired, so the ongoing possibility of maintaining this crucial post is has been subject to the fragility of overall parish finances. Nick Dring, who was recruited last year, continued in post until the end of his fixed contract on 31[st] December. He brought strengths from his previous roles in the building industry which he used to great effect, and had considerable determination in getting to know the extremely varied role, and specialist software. However, he also suffered some considerable issues with on-going health conditions and had a lot of time away from work. Sadly, the parish can no longer take the financial risk of employment, so has taken the decision not to renew that contract. Instead, in 2025, we plan to seek self-employed contractor(s) to take on different tasks. How this will work is still being mapped out.

The office is in central Coleford, above the Public Library and has the advantages of a lift to the first floor, accessible toilets and level access to the building, so from a community point of view, it is ideal. It is one of several offices, some permanently rented out and some available for hire so there is always an interesting, productive and cooperative atmosphere, yet the office also offers a private space within the hub of the Coleford Community Enterprise Centre. Parish prayers are held here and it has proven a convenient place for people to call into. The office core hours have been 8 am to 12 pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, but this will change for 2025. Phone: 07933 935534

Email: office.midwyedean@gmail.com

Office 2, Coleford Community Enterprise Centre, The Main Place, Old Address: Station Way, Coleford GL16 8RH

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4 Weddings, bap,sms and funerals
Church Baptism Weddings Funerals
Church or
crematorium		 Interment
only
Infants Children Adults
1 6
Broadwell 1
1 9 1
Clearwell 4
4 6
Newland 2
Redbrook
1
Staunton
10 1
Listed as
MWD
29 5
TOTAL 2 7

2024 has been a slow year for pastoral offices, particularly baptisms, down from 14 across the parish to only 2. We don’t believe there is anything we have done or failed to do locally that has led to this change. Hopefully it’s a blip!

Pastoral care/ home communion

The pastoral care/ home communion team consists of Wendy Williams, Marian Ivens, Maggie Cheadle, Sue Sparkes, Chris Young and myself, Jane Kidger. The team have continued to visit the ill, lonely and housebound. Most of us are trained by Sarah, to take Home Communion to those who request it.

We are a relatively new team set up by myself, and are all understanding, empathetic, caring individuals who visit people who are not able to attend church themselves for whatever reason.

Since the last report, we have continued to visit P monthly giving him home communion. D we have given much needed pastoral care, but since her last stay in hospital the need for the team to visit as often is less as she now has carers visit her several times a day. We have begun visiting H

who has now been diagnosed with dementia. We sometimes visit her at home and other times in the coffee shop which gives her a well needed change of scenery. Apart from the visits, we contact them and others by phone to give them support and friendship. Although this has in fact already happened, we are about to start offering lifts to and from church, for anyone who would otherwise be unable to come.

I would like to thank all the team who have been doing a fantastic job. If anyone knows of someone who would benefit from a visit or a call, or a lift to church, then please let Jane know. Also if anyone would like to join the team, doing visits, or like their name added to the lift rota please make contact. Jane’s telephone number is 07840 283847. JK

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6 Ecumenical Links - Reverend Sarah Bick

We continue to value our close links with Coleford Baptist Church, who have generously hosted events for us and support our work as well as hosting a shared service once a month, a shared Lent course, as well as Mustard Seeds Baby and Toddler Group and Cygnets2Swans Youth drama crew.

Sadly, the building share plans with Baptist and Catholics fell through when the RC Bishop withdrew his support in the face of changing plans for the RC churches in the Forest Area. And with Pastor Sam in the early stages of his solo ministry, he and his deacons do not feel this is the time to pursue a two-way building share. Though, as you can see from above, they are very generous in their support hosting some of our activities, for which we are very grateful, as we are still without our own base in Coleford Town.

A Franciscan group regularly meets at The Good Shepherd.

7 Deanery Synod Report, Forest South Deanery

The Deanery Strategic Plan continues to be the main topic on the agenda for the Deanery Synod for all of this year’s meetings and with a small group working on the plan in between times.

In the end, Forest Deanery plan has not proposed cuts to clergy numbers or immediately redirecting Parish Share funds to shared administration/operations posts.

Instead we have proposed some areas for joint endeavour, many of which are similar to that voiced by other deaneries:

Youth Ministry – connecting through secondary schools.

Focal (local) Ministry – sharing the EMEP pattern from our parish across the deanery. Officer peer group support and training – for Church wardens, treasurers etc.

Buildings – power of bulk buying, sharing good practice, exploring the possibility of employed post/s to support building management and administration.

A new model for calculating Parish Share has been laid out in draft form. We await final design in 2025.

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8 Finance Report

The church accounts were kept using the Diocesan cashbook and this year have been independently examined by Nicholas Scott, appointed by the PCC since our last meeting, who is an accountant civil servant, and a Christian serving and worshipping with Forest of Dean Salvation Army. The accounts are presented for your inspection, having been adopted by the PCC at a meeting in 2025.

Overall, we are in a better position than in 2023. We set a clear budget for the year, and have managed to balance it.

Many thanks to all those who have maintained and sometimes increased their giving in these difficult times. It remains the case that regular giving through the Parish Giving Scheme is the solid base of our income and I urge anyone reading this who can do so to join that scheme with its benefits in terms of ease of administration, effortless reclaiming of tax if gift-aided and reliable regularity of income. Our income gained through parochial fees (for weddings and funerals) is gradually returning to a more reliable level. In addition, this year we have been able to increase our lettings income as we hoped, in particular at Redbrook.

Our expenditure is hugely impacted by the number of church buildings for which we have responsibility. In 2024, the total spent on maintaining, preserving and using our buildings came to £39,337 despite cost-saving measures including avoiding heating wherever possible by reducing services in the winter months. Insurance alone comes to around £11,000. Applying for grants to pay for major repairs comes with a cost of its own – people who feel called to grow the church, instead find themselves working to preserve buildings. Sometimes both things can align – just not very often!

The PCC took the decision to maintain the post of Parish Administrator until the end of the fixed contact and then to review, with the decision made to take the financially less risky path of seeking self-employed contractors. The decision was made June 2023 to both stop paying parish share altogether until such time as parish finances can manage it, and to reduce the total paid for administration as described elsewhere in this report.

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9 Hopes, Plans and Priori,es for 2025

Some hopes and plans in each of our settings have been referenced above in each section, by local leaders. On a Parish-wide scale, and as themes across the different settings of the parish, we continue (post-Covid) to have the task of deepening the discipleship of our faithful church members. We seek to respond to community needs where we have the vision and resources ourselves, or in partnership with others. Underpinning everything we do is the need to be realistic about the human and financial resources that we have. An unending spiritual resource is ours! But that doesn’t mean it is a given that, at any time we need them, material and human resources are equally abundant. We need, with God’s help, to make discerning decisions about what we can do within our capacities of energy and money.

Whilst we are still subject at parish level to decisions made at other levels of our organisation, some possible priorities for 2025 include:

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10 Safeguarding Report

The current safeguarding officer is the vicar Rev Sarah Bick who can be contacted on 01594 835476 or vicar.midwyedean@gmail.com. The deputy officer is Mark Bick who can be contacted on 01594 836418 or 07815 459468 or mark@markbick.co.uk. We were asked by the Diocese to find a new safeguarding officer. Someone has been identified who is suitable and has expressed willingness to take this on, but we have not yet been able to put this into effect.

Reported Concerns

Two safeguarding concerns were reported to Mark or Sarah in 2024, both of these were reported to the Diocesan Safeguarding Team.

Training

No DBS checks have been undertaken in 2024.

The St. John’s Gardening Club operates under the wing of the school, who deal with all safeguarding checks and any concerns.

All PCC members & activity leaders need to complete safeguarding training. Most have done this, but not all. The online training can be accessed

at https://safeguardingtraining.cofeportal.org/index.php? . There are also in person courses or the opportunity to do the online courses in a small group.

SB

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11 Mid-Wyedean Parish

Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/vxt9WWEqGm6jZVAQ6

----- Start of picture text -----
7
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7M a p : I n k S q u i r r e l w w w .i n k s q u i r r e l . u k

11.1 Loca<on and legal structure

The Parish of the Mid-Wyedean Churches is part of the Diocese of Gloucester within the Church of England and serves the town of Coleford in the Forest of Dean district of Gloucestershire and many of the surrounding villages on the western side of the Forest and East of the border with Wales. Under the pastoral scheme that created our United Parish, the formal name of the parish is:

“The Parish of The Mid-Wyedean Churches of All Saints Newland and Staunton; Good Shepherd, Broadwell; Saint John, Coleford; Saint Peter, Clearwell and Saint Saviour, Redbrook”

The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. However, in March 2019 the Bishops Council authorised an amendment to the interim constitution, changing the rules that had stood for the first 5 years of us being a united parish. Each congregation is now able to be better represented on the PCC. All

31

church attendees are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC if they are over 16 years of age. Relevant officers attend Diocesan training events for Church Wardens and Treasurers.

The Mid-Wyedean PCC has a Standing Committee and a Finance Committee. Membership of the Standing Committee comprises the Incumbent, Parish Church Warden and Assistant Wardens, PCC Secretary, and Treasurer. The Finance Committee includes the same members and two additional representatives, nominated by local congregations and ratified by the PCC.

Each congregation has an EMEP Local Minister (lay or ordained), a Local Warden and an informal LCC (Local Congregation Council) who can feed in information and raise issues to the PCC. They can also receive suggestions and requests from the PCC for consideration or action - reflecting our commitment to a local expression of Christian community.

11.2 Management and administra<on

LocaIons

Church of the Good Shepherd, Church Walk, North Road, Broadwell, GL16 7BN (https://goo.gl/maps/2biCZDCryRFHMALb8) St Peter, Church Street, Clearwell, Coleford, GL16 8LF (https://goo.gl/maps/YDunqoUKqqTHRJau5) All Saints, Almshouse Road, Newland, Coleford, GL16 8NL (https://goo.gl/maps/ywE8M6EQKbAnwuKb7) St Saviour, Redbrook Road, Redbrook, NP25 4LY (https://goo.gl/maps/48ky2YFyjVTn7HEJ8) All Saints, Staunton Road, Staunton, Coleford, GL16 8NU (https://goo.gl/maps/98bB4z7qEukNEuSQ7) Cemetery Chapel, High Street, Clearwell, Coleford, GL16 8JS (closed) (https://goo.gl/maps/SaWWtoKP1Tt2F2Je6) Mustard Tree meetings are held at St John’s Church of England Primary Academy, Bowen Hill Road, Coleford, GL16 8DU (https://goo.gl/maps/YCgj85WWfvNYP2DK6). Various engagement activities, e.g. Holiday clubs and Games Night take place at Coleford Baptist Church, 27 Newland Street, Coleford, GL16 8AJ

Registered Charity Number

Our Registered Charity Number is 1132171.

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(all are volunteers unless otherwise indicated) Vicar (stipendiary) Reverend Sarah Bick Parish Assistant Priest (non-stipendiary) Reverend Bea Erskine Lay Readers Mark Bick (Pioneer Reader) Denise Hogan

EMEP team

Reverend Sarah Bick - Coleford & Broadwell Mark Bick - Redbrook Denise Hogan - Staunton Chris Young - Clearwell (Licensed Lay Leader, under EMEP scheme) Reverend Robert Simpson (PTO) - Clearwell Reverend Bea Erskine - Newland Wendy Williams - Mustard Tree (Licensed Lay Leader, under EMEP scheme)

Pastoral Team

Jane Kidger, Wendy Williams, Maggie Cheadle, Sue Sparkes, Chris Young and Marian Ivens.

11.4 Licensed worship leaders

Fred Meek, Wendy Williams, Margaret Winter and Chris Young.

11.5 Re<red clergy

The Parish is supported by Reverend Barry Coker, Reverend Robert Simpson and Reverend Alan Wearmouth, retired with PTO (permission to officiate from the Bishop of Gloucester).

Parish Wardens Maggie Cheadle and Mark Bick Assistant Wardens Paul Miles – Staunton Rosemary Ward – Broadwell Mark Bick – Redbrook Vacant – Clearwell Vacant - Newland PCC Secretary Marian Ivens Parish Treasurer Rosemary Ward

Church RepresentaIves

Daphne Baulcomb - Clearwell (elected 2019) Betty Weaver - Clearwell (elected 2019) Lou Miles - All Saints, Staunton (elected 2024)

33

Daniel Kidger - St John's, Coleford (elected 2019) There are currently two elected member vacancies.

Deanery Synod Representatives Electoral Roll Officer

Susan Sparkes and Wendy Williams Jean Smith

11.7 Parish Administrators

The Parish Administrators during 2024 were: Nicholas Dring (paid staff, funded by the PCC).

11.[1] Independent Examiner

Our Independent Examiner was Nicholas Scott.

34

REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1132171

Report of the Trustees and

Unaudited Financial Statements

For The Year Ended 31st December 2024

for

Mid Wyedean Churches

Mid Wyedean Churches

Contents of the Financial Statements For The Year Ended 31st December 2024

Page
Report of the Trustees 1 to 2
Independent Examiner’s Report 3
Statement of Financial Activities 4
Statement of Financial Position 5
Notes to the Financial Statements 6 to 10
Detailed Statement of Financial Activities 11 to 12

Mid Wyedean Churches

Report of the Trustees For The Year Ended 31st December 2024

The trustees present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31st December 2024. The trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

Objectives and aims

The promotion of the Christian faith and provision of Anglican worship within the area of the Mid-Wyedean Parish and providing appropriate support of and for parishioners.

Main activities

Providing religious services (including Baptisms, Funerals and Weddings and online services and activities), providing spiritual and administrative support to Parishioners and potential visitors and engaging in activities to support children, young people and those in need (e.g, St John’s C of E Academy Gardening Club).

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Financial position

The charity generated a deficit of (£2,607) this year. The deficit in the year is largely due to the utilisation of Restricted Funds to undertake major church repairs (£26,417) funded by grants received in previous years. Unrestricted funds continue to feel the ongoing impact of increased energy costs, although these have fallen from their 2023 levels (£7,489 vs £11,385 (2023)). The additional costs of the Parish Administrator role (£10,472), borne by Unrestricted funds as they are no longer grant funded by the Diocese, were offset by the reduced level of Parish Share paid (£Nil vs £6,250 (2022)). The search for additional funding to fund the general activity of the Charity is ongoing. With the reduction in these and other costs, and an overall growth in Income (£62,486 vs £58,135 (2023)), the Unrestricted Funds are in a healthier position (£21,776 vs £14,062 (2023))

Reserves policy

The charity aims for a reserve balance in excess of 25% of the normal annual expenditure. Where there are substantial reserves of restricted funds, it will be the policy to attempt to use them for the purposes for which they were restricted. The mission and ministry of the Church will always be the main consideration. The main liabilities are for repairs to the 4 listed church buildings and burial grounds. Detailed maintenance plans are in place for each of the buildings. Each year we secure grants to cover programmes of work with the aim of putting each building in a secure and sustainable condition. There currently no redundancy liability for the administrator who is the only

Going concern

As noted above, the unrestricted funds of the churches stand at £21,776 as at 31st December 2024 nearly recovering to the 2022 position, following the challenge of unique energy cost rises in 2023, although these continue to be a significant element of the Charity’s expenditure.

Creating a balanced budget for 2024 with measures in place to carefully monitor income and expenditure against budget has been successful in its implementation, and the Trustees will continue with this effective approach. The budget includes a small contingency for emergency work to buildings and to cover any insurance excess. Beyond that, any work to buildings will be either covered from restricted funds or wait until grants can be secured. This will involve reallocating some designated funds. We continue to work to increase lettings at the two smaller and easier to heat churches having allowed for some increased energy costs offsetting the increased income. We have an on-going programme to review the viability of each building, aiming for full cost recovery wherever possible alongside finding solutions to any un-funded costs.

The Trustees consider that a going concern basis is still appropriate.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governing document

The Charity is controlled by the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure (1956) as amended and Church Representation Rules and constitutes an unincorporated charity. Trustees are ex officio and elected members of the Parochial Church Council (“PCC”).

Page 1 of 12

Mid Wyedean Churches

Report of the Trustees For The Year Ended 31st December 2024 (cont.)

Recruitment and appointment of new trustees

Trustees are selected either by virtue of their office, or according to their knowledge and experience, which must be relevant to the specific needs of the charity at the time of recruitment.

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS Registered Charity number 1132171

Principal address Office 2, The Main Place Old Station Way, Railway Drive Coleford Gloucestershire GL16 8RH Trustees D Baulcomb M Bick S Simmons S Sparkes D J Hogan B Erskine S Bick J Simmons B Weaver Dr D J Kidger R A Ward L S Hayward W Williams E Ivens L Miles P Miles M Cheadle

Independent Examiner

Nicholas Scott ACA 20 North Road Broadwell Gloucestershire GL16 7DR

Approved by order of the board of trustees on 28th April 2025 and signed on its behalf by:

S Bick – Trustee

Page 2 of 12

Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Mid Wyedean Churches

Independent examiner's report to the trustees of Mid Wyedean Churches

I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of Mid Wyedean Churches (the Trust) for the year ended 31st December 2024.

Responsibilities and basis of report

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

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

Independent examiner's statement

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

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

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

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

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

Nicholas Scott ACA 20 North Road Broadwell Gloucestershire GL16 7DR

28th April 2025

Page 3 of 12

Mid Wyedean Churches

Statement of Financial Activities For The Year Ended 31st December 2024

Notes Unrestricted
Funds
£		 Restricted
Funds
£		 2024
£		 2023
£
INCOME & ENDOWMENTS FROM
Grants,donations and legacies 33,503 20,597 54,100 62,342
Charitable activities
Church activities 25,682 - 25,682 17,892
Tradingactivities 2 1,133 - 1,133 1,402
Investment income 3 960 4,251 5,211 3,768
Other income 1,208 0 1,208 1,914
Total Income 87,318
EXPENDITURE ON
Charitable activities
Church activities 23,409 39,871 64,280 73,418
Other 22,774 2,887 25,661 33,708
Total Expenditure 107,126
NET(EXPENDITURE)/INCOME 15,303 (17,910) (2,607) (19,808)
Transfers between funds 7 (7,589) 7,589 - -
Net movement in funds (19,808)
Total funds at 1January2024 14,062 137,588 151,650 171,458
Total funds at 31 December 2024 151,650

Page 4 of 12

Mid Wyedean Churches

Statement of Financial Position at 31st December 2024

Notes Unrestricted
Funds
£		 Restricted
Funds
£		 2024
£		 2023
£
CURRENT ASSETS
Cash at bank 21,776 127,267 149,043 151,650
NET CURRENT ASSETS 151,650
TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT
LIABILITIES		 21,776 127,267 149,043 151,650
NET ASSETS 151,650
FUNDS
Unrestricted funds 21,776 14,062
Restricted funds 127,267 137,588
TOTAL FUNDS 151,650

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on April 2025 and were signed on its behalf by:

S Bick – Trustee

Page 5 of 12

Mid Wyedean Churches

Notes to the Financial Statements For the Year Ended 31st December 2024

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The financial statements of the charity, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) 'Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019)', Financial Reporting Standard 102 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland' and the Charities Act 2011. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

Income

All income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities on a receipts basis.

Expenditure

Expenditure is accounted for on a payments basis under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources.

Taxation

The charity is exempt from tax on its charitable activities.

Fund accounting

Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.

Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.

Further explanation of the nature and purpose of each fund is included in the notes to the financial statements.

Church workers pension fund

The Mid-Wyedean Parish participates in the Pension Builder scheme of the Church Workers Pension Fund. The scheme is administered by the Church of England Pensions Board. Further information is available in a separate document.

2.

OTHER TRADING ACTIVITIES

2024
£		 2023
£
1,133 1,402
Fundraisingevents

3.

INVESTMENT INCOME

2024
£		 2023
£
5,211 3,768
Dividends & Interest

Page 6 of 12

Mid Wyedean Churches

Notes to the Financial Statements For the Year Ended 31st December 2024 (cont.)

4. TRUSTEES’ REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

There were no trustees' remuneration or other benefits for the year ended 31st December 2024 nor for the year ended 31st December 2023.

Trustees’ expenses

Trustees’ expenses of £Nil were paid to D Hogan during the year (£146.00 - 2023)

5. STAFF COSTS

The average monthly number of employees during the year was as follows:

2024 2023
Admin 1 1

No employees received emoluments in excess of £60,000.

6. COMPARATIVES FOR THE STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

Unrestricted
Funds
£		 Restricted
Funds
£		 2023
£
INCOME & ENDOWMENTS FROM
Grants,donations and legacies 36,545 25,797 62,342
Charitable activities
Church activities 17,892 - 17,892
Tradingactivities 1,402 - -
Investment income 429 3,339 3,768
Other income 1,867 47 1,914
Total Income 87,318
EXPENDITURE ON
Charitable activities
Church activities 38,614 34,804 73,418
Other 30,762 2,946 33,708
Total Expenditure 107,126
NET(EXPENDITURE)/INCOME (11,241) (8,567) (19,808)
Transfers between funds - - -
Net movement in funds (19,808)
Total funds at 1Januaryin eachyear 25,303 146,155 171,458
Total funds at 31 December in eachyear 151,650

Page 7 of 12

Mid Wyedean Churches

Notes to the Financial Statements For the Year Ended 31st December 2024 (cont.)

7.
MOVEMENT IN FUNDS		 7.
MOVEMENT IN FUNDS		 7.
MOVEMENT IN FUNDS		 7.
MOVEMENT IN FUNDS
As at 1 Jan
24
£		 Net
movement
in
Funds
£		 Transfers
between
funds
£		 As at 31
Dec 24
£
Unrestricted funds
Unrestricted funds 588 11,852 (3,173) 9,267
Designated funds 13,474 3,451 (4,416) 12,509
Total Unrestricted 21,776
Restricted Funds
Restricted funds 137,588 (17,910) 7,589 127,267
TOTAL FUNDS 149,043
Net movement in funds,included in the above are as follows:
Incoming
Resources
£		 Resources
Expended
£		 Movement
in funds
£
Unrestricted funds
Unrestricted funds 58,365 (46,513) 11,852
Designated funds 4,121 (670) 3,451
Total Unrestricted (47,183) 15,303
Restricted Funds
Restricted funds 24,848 (42,758) (17,910)
TOTAL FUNDS 87,344 (89,941) (2,607)
Comparatives for movements in funds:
As at 1 Jan
23
£		 Net
movement
in
Funds
£		 Transfers
between
funds
£		 As at 31
Dec 23
£
Unrestricted funds
Unrestricted funds 13,691 (10,191) (2,912) 588
Designated funds 11,612 (1,050) 2,912 13,474
Total Unrestricted 25,303 (11,241) - 14,062
Restricted Funds
Restricted funds 146,155 (8,567) - 137,588
TOTAL FUNDS 171,458 (19,808) - 151,650

Page 8 of 12

Mid Wyedean Churches

Notes to the Financial Statements For the Year Ended 31st December 2024 (cont.)

7. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS (cont.)
Comparative(2023)net movement in funds,included in the above are as follows:
Incoming
Resources
£		 Resources
Expended
£		 Movement
in funds
£
Unrestricted funds
Unrestricted funds 57,827 (68,018) (10,191)
Designated funds 308 (1,358) (1,050)
Total Unrestricted (11,241)
Restricted Funds
Restricted funds 29,183 (37,750) (8,567)
TOTAL FUNDS 87,138 (107,126) (19,808)
A currentyear 12 months andprioryear 12 months combinedposition is as follows:
Incoming
Resources
£		 Resources
Expended
£		 Movement
in funds
£
Unrestricted funds
Unrestricted funds 116,192 (114,531) 1,661
Designated funds 4,429 (2,028) 2,401
Total Unrestricted 120,621 (116,559) 4,062
Restricted Funds
Restricted funds 54,031 (80,508) (26,477)
TOTAL FUNDS 174,652 (197,067) (22,415)

The Parochial Church Council has been using the cashbook system provided by the Diocese of Gloucester which allows the Treasurer to track by bank account, income/expenditure code but also by Parish Fund Code (PFC). The use of the PFCs makes it possible to track a range of restricted and designated funds that may be held within one or more bank accounts. The PFC balances should equal the bank account balances. The accuracy does depend on the correct categorisation of every transaction as Unrestricted, Designated or Restricted.

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Mid Wyedean Churches

Notes to the Financial Statements For the Year Ended 31st December 2024 (cont.)

8. RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES

The following related party transactions occurred during the year:

2024
£		 2023
£
E Weaver Organist Fees 860 574
D Hogan Minister’s Fees + Expenses(Various) 1,349 1,638
M Bick Expenses(Various) 17 372
D Baulcomb Verger’s Fees 464 470
W Williams Expenses(Various) 128 105
S Sparkes Expenses(Various) 60 123
R Ward Verger’s Fees 116 110
S Bick Sabbatical activity+ Expenses(Various) 2,216 3,148
L Miles Verger’s Fees 232 -

The transactions noted above relate to expenses incurred by Trustees or Fees paid to Trustees for carrying out activity on behalf of the Charity in the normal course of business e.g. officiating at Weddings / Funerals etc., and are not recompense for any activities that relate specifically to their roles and responsibilities as Trustees.

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Mid Wyedean Churches

Detailed Statement of Financial Activities For the Year Ended 31st December 2024

2024
£		 2023
£
INCOME & ENDOWMENTS
Donations and legacies
Tax eficientplannedgiving 17,176 17,884
Donations 11,009 10,737
Gift Aid 5,198 5,021
Legacies 1,000 -
Grants 19,716 28,700
54,100 62,342
Other trading activities
Fundraisingevents 1,133 1,402
Investment Income
Dividends & Interest 5,211 3,768
Charitable activities
Hall lettings 3,373 1,420
Bookstall & magazine sales 537 150
Parochial fee income 18,190 14,485
22,099 16,055
Other Income
Other income 4,791 3,751
Total Income 87,318
EXPENDITURE
Charitable activities
Wages 10,472 14,050
Fund raisingcosts 4 71
Donations & Grants 357 806
Church runningexpenses 1,921 4,203
Churchyard maintenance 5,945 5,754
Mission & Evangelism 4,279 1,618
Clergyexpenses 2,406 3,415
Parochial Fees 7,416 7,307
Child/Youth Work 481 828
Parish Share - 6,250
33,281 44,302
Other activities
Major church repairs 26,417 27,488
Routine Maintenance 4,957 4,327
31,374 31,815
(Analysis continued on following page)

This page does not form part of the statutory financial statements. Mid Wyedean Churches

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Detailed Statement of Financial Activities

For the Year Ended 31[st] December 2024 (cont.)

2024
£		 2023
£
(continued frompreviouspage)
Support costs
Rates and water 268 325
Insurance 11,125 11,124
Light & heat 7,489 11,385
Music costs 951 644
Cleaning 1,545 1,391
Admin costs 3,908 4,640
25,286 29,509
Governance costs
Accountancyand legal fees - 1,500
Total resources expended 107,126
Net(Expenditure) / Income (2,607) (19,808)

This page does not form part of the statutory financial statements.

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