efleolioDs2020 'IKe £OQ,0 6tess)iou anlleepyo tfie £(llQ) ma(e fiisface sfiine onyou anI6egraCuS toyoi tfie £O(O turn fiisface tLNarlyou anlgive you peace,, 5Vum6ers 6..24-26
St Thomas’ Parish Church – Blackpool
“Together we are building the Kingdom of God”
Reflections 2020 – a review of activities and financial statements
This is a report of various activities as submitted that have occurred throughout the year 2020.
It is not meant to be comprehensive.
Data Protection
We are responsible for keeping all data held securely and do so in line with Church of England guidelines.
A copy of the Data Protection Privacy Notice can be found in the church and in the Parish Centre.
Vicar’s Report
History is His Story
To say it’s been a strange year would be a massive understatement! Unprecedented? Perhaps in our lifetime yes but not the first time the world has faced plague or pestilence. The Black Death was classed as a pandemic killing anything between 75-200 million people across Europe, Asia and Africa between 1346 to 1353. The Great Plague of London 1665 to 1666 killed 100,000, approximately a quarter of the population and devastated the village of Eyam in Derbyshire (Source: Wikipedia and good history books). Thankfully we haven’t seen those figures. If we had, we would be looking at 15 million dead out of a UK population of around 60 million. Staggering numbers from which we have so far been spared. Nevertheless, there is no doubt Coronavirus has affected us all in some way, either through lockdown restrictions or suffering from the effects of the virus ourselves or family members and friends.
At the beginning of the first lockdown a year ago I recorded a short video for Facebook reflecting on how the church in the past had responded to plague and pestilence. Their response was to turn to God. In the Book of Common Prayer 1662 based on earlier editions there are prayers for good weather, thanksgivings for childbirth, prayers for the sovereign, Parliament and prayers for every condition of life. There’s even a thanksgiving prayer for rain. I don’t think this one was written in Lancashire! Each is a recognition that God is in ultimate control. I mentioned two prayers in my video. The first one In the time of any common Plague and the second one a thanksgiving For Deliverance from the Plague, or other common Sickness . The whole thought process of the historic church was framed through the lens of Scripture and faith in God.
This is a reminder to us whether in Pandemic or not our focus as Christians is God. Ultimately, He has our lives in His hands. The past, present and future belong to Him “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was, and is to come, the Almighty” Revelation 1.8. I know this has been the focus of the church family at St Thomas’. We have faithfully used the priestly blessing prayer in Numbers 6.24-27 declaring it and praying it over our community as a recognition that God wants the best for all people and a recognition that He is in control.
Remembering He is our focus gives stability and solid foundations for faith in the midst of constant changes, risk assessments, weddings cancelled. In some cases 4 different dates for wedding couples. Baptisms shunted on to different dates and the buildings locked. Funerals with limited numbers and congregations staring at you with face masks on. At times looking like a 1970’s sci-fi movie. In all this Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith Hebrews 12. 2 . Let us also remember the work of God can only be done in the power of God Acts 1.8 . I cannot do what God calls me to do without His power. Neither can I or any of us do what God has called us to do without one another 1 Corinthians 12. 12-31 .
There was a worry from some people that they had nothing to report this year. But let me reassure you that you have all tried to do the best you could under very trying circumstances. Don’t forget all the years of faithful service you have already given and you all know full well you’ll make up for it once some kind of normality resumes. I am so thankful for everyone who pulled together this year. From the website, to Facebook, Youtube, livestreaming, online prayer provision, prayer walkers, children’s provision with the weekly activity packs, emotional and spiritual health, financial sacrificial giving, site security, newsletters, Standing Committee, PCC, Wardens, online congregations, pastoral phone calls, prayer line, Alpha course, the Bible Course, building feasibility study (you know who you are!), help with interviews, admin, constant revisions to the service schedule and uncertainty about worship styles and last of all for June. Who stood by me when I was pulling my hair out, kept me rooted and gave me style tips.
Let’s move forward together this year trusting in God. After all He is our reason for all that we are and all that we do and through Him be a blessing to this community and parish of St Thomas’ remembering history is His Story.
Blessings,
Dave O’Brien
Curate’s Report
What a strange time to start at a new church! First of all, thank you so much for your welcome of me and the boys; in a very short period we began to feel at home here at St Thomas’. It has been difficult to get to know people, as I would naturally love to chat to you all and get to know you over coffee.
The main body of my work over the last 7 months has been to pray for the parish and the community and to pray for God’s vision for the church in the coming months as we emerge from lockdown and the effects of Covid lessen. It has been good to join with you in morning prayer over Facebook Live each Thursday morning.
It is a passion of mine to get praying. After a push in the early autumn, a number of groups came forward to say they had formed prayer bubbles to support and encourage one another. If you would like to be a part of a prayer bubble and haven’t joined one yet, do get in touch – it’s not too late!
Before Christmas we ran the Bible Course over Zoom that was attended by about 12 people. It was excellent to get together and to learn about the over-arching story of the Bible from Genesis through Revelation. Before Christmas we also collected stars crafted by members of the church and then distributed them around the community for people to take and put on their trees. These seem to have been noticed and well-received by the community.
In January we began an Alpha Online Course which has fluctuated in attendance from around 12 at the beginning to a core group of 6/7. It has been a joy to see people exploring their faith. We hope to run another course in September in person, God willing.
I have been working with Jon England on a new website for the church, which is almost ready to go live!
My work is fun and varied and I look forward to being able to be more collaborative as we are able to do more activities face-to-face.
Blessings, Emma
Wardens’ Report - Denise Moorby, Pauline Matthews
Where has 2020 gone? And what a tough year it has been. We have had church open, church shut and church on zoom, who would have seen this coming? In all of this we have managed to keep in touch with all our church family through the faithful support of Sue, Glenys, Diane, Denise, Anne and myself with weekly phone calls. I never expected to tell people they could not come to church. We have still been busy making the church ready for the changes during lockdown. Jobs have still needed to be done - Fire safety checks, cleaning, repair to kitchen boiler, PAT testing all electrical items and keeping the grounds tidy from weekly rubbish that gets thrown on the site.
During this last year, Denise has also dealt with health issues, with thyroid problems which, thanks be to God, have been resolved to the extent that the doctors have given her a date for her second hip replacement. It has been a blessing to work in partnership with Denise and also with our Vicar, David, together with all the PCC members. In 2020 too, what a delight to welcome Emma as our Curate together with her sons, Joa and Mikey. I would also like to thank the Worship team for all their hard work and all those who have helped to get services on line. Thank you for all your support.
I know that God has a plan and a purpose for us all and look forward to new beginnings.
Blessings, Pauline and Denise.
PCC Report
As with everything, 2020 has been like no other but the PCC has continued to meet either by zoom or when restrictions were eased, in person, always keeping strictly to the regulations of social distancing. A special thanks to the Wardens for their hard work in making sure everyone was safe and for ensuring that the track and trace system was in place.
The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is responsible for the maintenance of church buildings and, with the incumbent, for deciding how the church’s money is to be spent. The PCC will have on it one or more members of the Deanery Synod, who have an important role in linking the parish into the wider structures of the Church of England. Additionally, the Electoral Roll and the Child Protection Officers and the Treasurer serve as co-opted members providing special functions on behalf of the PCC. The Wardens and Licensed Readers are ex officio members of the PCC. The Church Members elect a number of people to be on the PCC. The number of elected members depends on the number of church members on the electoral roll. Currently, St Thomas’ has nine elected members . Current membership is as follows:
| Name | Date elected to PCC |
|---|---|
| Rev D O’Brien | Vicar |
| Simon Clark | co-opted as Treasurer |
| Pauline Matthews | ex officio as Warden |
| Denise Moorby | ex officio as Warden/Deanery Synod |
| Anne Sinar | co-opted as Safeguarding Officer |
| Nic Hall | coopted-Vision 2026 Champion |
| Joe Atkin | ex officio – Deanery Synod Rep |
| Yvonne Blazey | coopted as Licensed Reader – non-officer |
| Barbara Houghton | coopted as Licensed Reader – non-officer |
| Josh O’Brien | coopted until APCM as Youth Rep |
| Sue Atkin | 2017 |
| Vicky Bentley | 2017 |
| Jeannette Brambles | 2015 –extended as Church Rep. |
| Carol Dearden | 2017 |
| Alan Hodgson | 2017 |
| Glenys Cole | 2018 – PCC Secretary |
| Michael Kilshaw | 2018 |
| Ian Waite | 2018 |
Standing Committee members are – the Vicar, Joe Atkin, Simon Clark (Treasurer), Denise Moorby (Warden), Pauline Matthews (Warden) Glenys Cole (secretary)
The PCC meets usually 4 times a year, including the first meeting directly after the AGM (usually in April) but due to Covid 19 restrictions, was held in October 2020 in line with Diocesan advice.
In 2020, The PCC resolved that due to the unusual circumstances, no changes be made to the PCC membership until the following APCM in 2021.
The signed and approved PCC minutes are displayed on the notice board in the Church Lounge.
PCC members have been committed in their attendance and their actions and have been extra diligent to make sure they act in the best interests of all our congregations.
The Standing Committee met either on zoom or in person as and when necessary to deal with any urgent business and to be informed of the financial situation especially due to the lockdown circumstances.
At their meetings the PCC business included the financial situation, buildings and grounds, children and youth report, grounds and security, the electoral roll and safeguarding, correspondence and significant dates. Discussions concerning the structural survey of the Parish Centre were ongoing.
We welcomed Emma as our curate and Steve Haskett who has been licensed to officiate at services.
Please be assured that the PCC will continue to work prayerfully on your behalf to carry out its duties with commitment and integrity.
Glenys Cole PCC Secretary
Night Prayer – Vicky Bentley
“The eternal God is Your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Deuteronomy 33 v 27
These are words from the start of Night Prayer and how true they are. When the first lockdown started on 23[rd] March last year, I think many of us came to appreciate more fully the words from Deuteronomy.
On-line services started very early on in the process, giving folk the opportunity to access worship together even if we were at home. Because Night Prayer was provided in church on Monday evenings before the pandemic, it was only right that the service should still go on. So, after the on-line Good Friday reflections, I challenged myself to come to terms with the technology and record Night Prayer, with prayers, readings and reflections, every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
As time went on, with public worship opening up, closing and now re-opening, what a delight it was that Nic (Hall) took on recording Night Prayer every Friday and I continue with the service every Monday.
Reflecting back on that first Night Prayer on Friday 22[nd] April, here are words from Psalm 118, the Psalm set for that evening:
“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures for ever.”
Yes and Amen to that, how good has the Lord been – you will have your stories from this past 12 months, mine include going deeper with God with the blessed discipline of reading His word and reflecting on it. My heartfelt thanks to all who have watched and joined in with the Night Prayer – available on the church’s website/youtube channel and on social media. Praise God that His word speaks to us – sometimes challenging, sometimes comforting but always, when we allow it to speak into our hearts, we come closer to God.
Closing words from the full Night Prayer service:
“As the night watch looks for the morning,
so do we look for You, O Christ.”
Deanery Synod – Joe Atkin, Anne Studd, Ian Studd
You may be wondering what are the functions and purpose of the Deanery Synod Meetings. Well the main functions of Deanery Synods are to discuss and reflect on matters of the Church of England, as they affect the Deanery and the Parish we are in . They also act as a forum for the airing of Parish views on any common problems.
In the time since the last AGM in October 2020, there have been two Deanery Synod Meetings.
The first Deanery Synod Meeting on Monday 9[th] November 2020 was always intended to be an open meeting, however in view of the COVID 19 situation the meeting was carried out via a Zoom meeting.
The second Deanery Synod Meeting planned for Monday 8[th] February was once again held via Zoom due to COVID19 restrictions.
A full report on these two Deanery Synod Meetings will be given at the Church AGM in April 2021 if allowed by COVID19 restrictions.
Blessings Joe.
Pastoral Care Team – Sue Atkin, Glenys Cole
As you can imagine the arrangements for Pastoral Care have changed out of all recognition based on the very unusual circumstances we could never have imagined.
At the very beginning of lockdown, when we never envisaged or expected such a dramatic and extended change in how we could stay in contact as a caring church, when everything around us was as it had never been before, we prayerfully agreed that as a much reduced team, we would somehow stay in contact with every church member.
As a team we have managed to contact every church member at least once every fortnight by telephone or text message to chat, find out if they have any problems we can help with and to provide prayer where needed.
Whilst at first it seemed like desperate measures, the advantages are that we have been able to get to know people we would not normally meet if they attended a different service and we often were too busy to get to know everyone.
Church members have received our calls with some gratitude and apart from the serious business of care we have had jokes and stories and a real sense of unity as we put up with the inconveniences of lockdown.
Whilst the church has been closed, services have been provided on line and for those who could not access these Vicky Bentley has provided a weekly letter providing church notices and morning and evening readings and photographs to cheer us up. I know from our phone calls that the weekly newsletter is much appreciated and gratefully received so thank you Vicky.
Some of us have been manning the prayerline displayed on the banner on the church railings and when the regulations allowed, prayer walking around the Parish.
We would appreciate your prayers for us as a team and look forward to continuing to contact you with love and prayers.
Pastoral Team
Newsletter – Vicky
When the first lockdown was announced in March 2020 several new ways of being ‘church’ came into being; the effect on our way of life called for new ideas of keeping contact. One of those ideas was to send out a weekly Newsletter, printed on the reverse side of the Sunday Link, a publication which St Thomas’ has subscribed to over many years.
The Newsletter included encouragement as well as any news from the church, the Diocese and the national C of E. Many thanks to all those who also shared photos of plants and flowers from their gardens or those spotted on their walks, a few are provided here to give a flavour.
The Newsletter also contained the morning and evening readings given in the Anglican Lectionary used throughout the Church of England in the year. The Lectionary notes the days when saints, teachers of the faith and martyrs are remembered and, from time to time, information about these people were given in the St Thomas’ Newsletters.
Thank you to everyone who has given feedback on the Newsletter over these last 12 months, it is so heart-warming that these have been so well received and helped many in their isolation, keeping the link (sorry about the pun) with our church family.
Children & Youth Ministry 1
Well this has certainly been an interesting year for the Children and Youth department. With the majority of it spent under lockdown conditions, this has meant that meeting physically has not been possible for all of our children and youth activities as well as for Café Church. This has been incredibly disappointing, especially with it being my last year in role at St Thomas’ before I move on to serve my curacy this summer.
We have really missed our children and young people! We have therefore made every effort to maintain contact with our families by handing out packs each week outside the parish centre and then, as lockdown restrictions tightened, visiting around 50 children on their doorsteps weekly in order to take a pack with some activities, crafts and snacks. Trying to maintain a connection with the church has always been our main priority. This has also enabled us to identify other ways we have been able to help families during this challenging time.
So as I sign off for the last time from this rather brief summary of our last year, can I say what an absolute privilege it has been to serve in this role for the last 12 years. We truly have amazing children and youth who our church has never failed to very graciously support. I could not have done this job without a great team of people around me who also so freely gave their time and gifts. Thank you for this as well as for all your encouragement and prayers over the years. I too will continue to pray for you and also for the new children and youth worker who I wish every success – they inherit a fantastic job in a wonderful community.
God bless, Barbara
The Prayer Tree – Joe Atkin
My name is Joe Atkin and I have been running The Prayer Tree for many years on behalf of St Thomas Church. The object of The Prayer Tree is for people who for various reasons need prayer for themselves or for someone they know who needs Prayer.
I have a list of people who once I have received the prayer request, I send out the prayer request for them to pray over.
The Prayer Tree also informs the church when a church member is ill, or is in hospital or has passed away.
Our vicar Rev’d Dave O’Brien is a great believer in Prayer and also in The Prayer Tree.
Blessings Joe.
Safeguarding Report - Anne Sinar
It has been more important than ever this year to ensure that our children are kept safe and thanks go to Barbara and her team for ensuring that our contact with children has been maintained through weekly activity packs and home visits.
In this day and age it is vital that we safeguard our children and vulnerable adults. We are ever conscious that this world is a dangerous place with people out to take advantage of others. Here at St Thomas’ we take safeguarding very seriously. All our volunteers are DBS checked in line with their roles and it is good that this year we have had to do more DBS checks as more volunteers come forward. It is now five years since we completed the majority of our DBS checks so we are going into a round of renewing these checks over the next few months. All our volunteers have completed the diocesan safeguarding training. Notices are up in church and the Parish Centre giving details of who to contact in an emergency or to report a concern. The Parish Safeguarding Policy was updated this year and is available via the church website and a copy of the full policy and advice can be obtained from the church office.
Thankfully, this year we have not had to respond to any serious concerns and we are ever thankful to God for protecting our young people and vulnerable adults in this way.
Worship Team – Glyn Sinar
For so many groups and organisations this year of Lockdown and pandemic has been a challenging one in many ways. Being unable to meet and worship together with music - even to practice together, could have been one long frustration, but we have continued to meet virtually, and found new opportunities to create music for worship via the technology. We were already affected due to illnesses and the need for some of our group to self-isolate. In the early weeks of the first lockdown we became aware (hilariously) of Zoom’s limitations for group singing (believe me those multi-windowed clips on TV take a
LOT of pre-staging and advanced equipment!). Our meetings turned swiftly into online discussions, with prayer and some Bible study, and online fellowship.
Instead we found opportunities to develop understanding and skills in mixing, song recording and online video publishing via YouTube, Facebook, Soundcloud and other social media. We recorded over 60 worship songs which have been used by Barbara and others as part of daily worship services. A number of these songs are now included in 5 CD albums which are available in limited numbers for personal worship.
The re-opening of Church in the summer brought new issues. Social distancing measures limited the make-up of the team, and we needed to balance sound output for livestreaming against that required for the congregation. This remains an on-going challenge, particularly since our church building is poorly provided with access to fast broadband / wi-fi due to its physical location.
During this last period of lockdown we said goodbye to Ginny Chamberlain who has joined another church nearer to her home.
While church is now open again it is clear that the pandemic will continue to impact our ways of worship for the foreseeable future. Our focus appears to have shifted to a reliance on technology, but importantly we fix our eyes on Jesus. We have received some delightful comments on the music from worshippers who’ve joined us from around the world. Above all we long for the days when we will be able to sing together to praise God loudly and express our response to His love and faithfulness. For now though it has enabled us to re-examine our hearts and ways of worship. The world is changing, and the worship group is and will continue to change as we adapt; but one song reflects the beautiful truth of God in Jesus: ‘You never change’.
Hospitality
We provide hospitality for all services and events happening in the Church and Parish Centre. The team is many and varied and over the years St Thomas's has been proud of its reputation to provide this practical service in many ways. Due to lockdown we have been unable to provide any hospitality this year and greatly miss chatting over coffee and food. Hopefully we will be back soon.
Holy Dusters – Marion Hornby
Holy Dusters have continued to clean the church each week. Dust doesn’t seem to understand lockdown. Thanks to all the voluinteers who have faithfully given up their Tuesday mornings to continue this work.
Gardening Team – Pauline Matthews
This last year has seen our team reduce in numbers as our volunteers have moved on. We thank them for all their hard work. We have still managed to keep on top of the weeds and grass mowing and cutting back shrubs. The flowers and shrubs around the church continue to grow, despite lockdown!
Life Association
Since 1993 Life Association has been reaching and serving some of the poorest communities in India through schools, children’s homes, church plants and training. All our projects are run by local churches and Christian leaders, so that local people are empowered to deal with the problems particular to their own area. We currently have eight projects which are in Kishanganj in Bihar, Orai in Uttar Pradesh, Mumbai, Gannavaram and Machilipatnam both, in Andhra Pradesh and Vellore in Tamil Nadu. Many children are taken care of in these projects, given access to a loving home and a Christian education which will give them more opportunities in life and a chance to escape the poverty to which they have been born into.
During the lockdown due to Covid, the schools had to close. At this time we were able to use the buildings to distribute food parcels to those most in need.
Our vision for the future is to build on the projects that we are already supporting, raising funds to expand the projects but also identify needs in other parts of India and when the funds allow to open up more projects.
Steve and I have now taken over the day to day running of Life Association and we are hoping to spend at least 25% of our time in India visiting the projects. We are very grateful for the use of the office space in St Thomas’s parish centre for this ministry. We look forward to sharing more information with you in the coming months.
St Thomas’ Blackpool in Partnership with Ashar Bringing Hope
I want to begin this report by saying a huge ‘Thank You’ to all those who have supported and been involved
in the work of Ashar here at St Thomas’ To say it has been a strange year would be an understatement, as we produced the timetable of events working in partnership with St Thomas’ for 2020 -2021 there was no way we could foresee how the year would have unfolded, however in-spite of lockdown we have been able to do amazing things.
Courses & Group Work
The year began with the introduction of our first course - Active Listening Skills which was very well attended giving a strong foundation to begin to look at how to grow a team of volunteers and create a resource hub that would offer support for those suffering from emotional and mental health issues. Ashar has had the privilege of running some in house training alongside offering Blackburn Diocese our Exploring Emotional & Spiritual Health Course looking at: Identity, Self Esteem, Stress & Anxiety, Depression, Anger, Living with Loss. This has been very well attended and we have been asked to run it a second time.
Drop In (Church & On Line)
There was a vision to offer a ‘Drop In Space’ building upon the good foundations laid by TLC to develop a wellbeing resource hub supporting good mental and emotional health. However, only weeks into the launch of this drop in, we had to adjust due to the covid pandemic and lockdown. Like many organisations we had to adapt to working to an online platform, this has meant concentrating on building a core group of volunteers and moving the Drop In on line to ‘Bring a Brew & Chat’ which runs each Monday at 1pm for an hour, where anyone can log in and chat. We offer a listening ear and some self-help tips and have been able to extend this to other areas of the country.
Counselling
We have also been able to offer a number of one to one counselling sessions working from the Vestry which is a lovely safe space.
Prayer Line We have also launched a prayer line which is a dedicated mobile telephone, manned on rota system for those who have untaken the training to offer prayer support and active listening and guided conversation.
For further information and details of how you can be involved or support Ashar in St Thomas’ contact Alison O’Brien at alison@ashar.org.uk or www.ashar.org.uk or 07531391812
The vision of Ashar is to provide an emotional, spiritual and mental health well-being resource which bridges the gap between the church, health care professions and community. Through, drop In Groups, Training & One to One Counselling or Well-Being Appointments Ashar is a registered charity which seeks to resource and support local church.
Finance Report - 2019
The 2020 financial accounts have been prepared and independently examined and are appended to this document.
We continue to thank God for His blessings and we can be assured that if we continue to be faithful in all aspects of our lives, He will be faithful to us. I would like to thank all those who have given so generously in 2020 and particularly for continuing your stewardship giving during a time of reduced services and general church activity.
In 2020 we saw a small drop in income, through planned giving and the open plate collection the year. We had a total income in 2020 of £82833 including our gift day that raised a total of £8188. Our income was also bolstered by a grant payment of £5000 from the Henry Smith Foundation which is being used to support those in need in our parish. Gift day money is being used to carry out essential repairs to the church and Parish Centre as well as support the ongoing costs of running the church.
In terms of what we spent in 2020, this totaled £82833 including the full payment of our parish share to the Diocese of £41690. The other significant item of expenditure continues to be the cost of utilities - heating and lighting the church and Parish Centre.
Our balances at year-end remain healthy with over £35,000 in our deposit account and over £25,000 balances in our current accounts. However, we do have significant cost pressure in 2021 with another large Parish Share commitment of over £42000 and our utility costs will continue to rise in line with inflation.
I would personally like to thank our churchwardens Pauline and Denise as well as Vicky Bentley for all they do in counting and banking collections and managing the cash account.
Finally, thanks to every who has helped this past year in making the job of treasurer so much easier for me and in particular thank you to Chris Brambles who provides me with help and support throughout the year on all matters financial!
S R Clark
St Thomas’ PCC Treasurer
Independent Examiners Report on the Accounts
| Independent Examiners Report on the Accounts | Independent Examiners Report on the Accounts | Independent Examiners Report on the Accounts | Independent Examiners Report on the Accounts | Independent Examiners Report on the Accounts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report to the trustee/members of |
Parochial Church Council of St Thomas' Parish Church | |||
| On Accounts for the year ended |
31 December 2020 |
Charity no. (If any) | 1132312 | |
| Set out on pages | 1-5 | |||
| Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner |
The Charity's Trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year (Under section 43(2) of the Charities Act 1993 (The Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to: • Examine the accounts (under section 43 of the Act) • To follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 43(7)(b) of the act), and • To state whether particular matters have come to my attention |
|||
| Basis of Independent examiner's statement |
My examination was carried out in accordance with General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the Charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from the Trustees concerning such matters. The procedures undertaken do NOT provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequentlyI do NOT express opinion on the accounts. |
|||
| Independent examiner's statement |
In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention 1. Which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the Trustees have not met the requirements to ensure that: Proper accounting records are kept (in accordance with section 41 of the act); and Accounts are prepared which agree with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Act: or 2. To which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached *Please delete the words in brackets if they do not apply |
|||
| Signed: | R J Murdoch | Date: | 11/2/2021 | |
| Name: | Rebecca Jane Murdoch | |||
| Relevant professional qualifications or body (if |
Chartered Tax Adviser | |||
| Address: | 113 Abercrombie Road Fleetwood FY7 7AY |
Page 1
Parochial Church Council of St Thomas' Blackpool Registered Charity Number 1132312 Statement of financial activities for the year ending 31 December 2020
| notes | Unrestricted Funds |
Unrestricted Funds |
Restricted Funds |
Endowment Funds |
Total 2020 |
Total 2020 |
Total 2019 |
Total 2019 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | |||||||
| INCOMING RESOURCES | |||||||||||
| VoluntaryIncome | 2a | 77973 | 0 | - | 77973 | 75771 | |||||
| Activities forgeneratingfunds | 2b | 844 | - | - | 844 | 4115 | |||||
| Income from investments | 2c | 305 | - | - | 305 | 341 | |||||
| Church activities | 2d | 3114 | - | - | 3114 | 6527 | |||||
| Other incomingresources | 2e | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | |||||
| TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES | 82236 | 0 | - | 82236 | 86754 | ||||||
| RESOURCES EXPENDED | |||||||||||
| Cost ofgeneration voluntaryincome | 3b | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Fund raisingtradingcosts | 3c | 1331 | - | 1331 | 2139 | ||||||
| Church Activities | 3a | 81502 | 0 | - | 81502 | 84977 | |||||
| Govenance costs | 3d | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | |||||
| TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED | 82833 | 0 | - | 82833 | 87116 | ||||||
| Incoming/outgoingResources | -597 | 0 | - | -597 | -362 | ||||||
| Unrealisable gains(Losses) on investment assets |
- | - | - | ||||||||
| on disposal | 5a | - | - | - | |||||||
| on revaluation | - | - | - | ||||||||
| NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS | -597 | 0 | - | -597 | -362 | ||||||
| Balances B/FWD 1 January2020 | 61604 | 0 | - | 61604 | 61966 | ||||||
| Balances C/FWD 31 December 2020 | 8 | 61007 | 0 | - | 61007 | 61604 |
Page 2
Parochial Church Council of St Thomas' Blackpool Statement of Assets as at 31 December 2020
| FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY | 2020 | 2019 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| notes | £ | £ | ||
| FIXED ASSETS | 5 | |||
| Tangible | nil | nil | ||
| Investment | nil | nil | ||
| TOTAL | 0 | 0 | ||
| CURRENT ASSETS | ||||
| Gift Aid to be claimed(estimate) | 6 | 6000 | 4000 | |
| Investment | 0 | 0 | ||
| Cash at Bank and in hand | 9 | 61007 | 61604 | |
| TOTAL | 67007 | 65604 | ||
| LIABILITY | ||||
| Payments due in oneyear(estimate) | 1c | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTAL ASSETS | 67007 | 65604 | ||
Approved by the Parochial Church Council on 15[th] March 2020
and signed on its behalf by
----- Start of picture text -----
(PCC Chairperson)
----- End of picture text -----
The Notes form part of this account
Page 3
NOTES
-
1a Debtors relates to Gift Aid recoverable from April 2020 giving and is an estimate
-
b Restricted balances £0
-
c There are no material debtors or creditors
-
d There are no Payments in Advance or Receipts in Advance
-
e Equipment is not considered material and any expenditure has been written off Assumed that material adjustments if over
-
f £500
-
g 2020 accounts have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis
-
h Parish share has been underpaid in previous years £17,000 (2016) and £22,899 (2017). It is assumed this will be written off over time. As this is technically a donation and not a liability the deficit
has not been included under the liabilities column.
-
i Grant balances of £2435 are included within general funds
-
2 INCOMING RESOURCES
| 2 | INCOMING RESOURCES | INCOMING RESOURCES | INCOMING RESOURCES | INCOMING RESOURCES | INCOMING RESOURCES | INCOMING RESOURCES | INCOMING RESOURCES | INCOMING RESOURCES | INCOMING RESOURCES | INCOMING RESOURCES | INCOMING RESOURCES | INCOMING RESOURCES | INCOMING RESOURCES | INCOMING RESOURCES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TOTAL | TOTAL | |||||||||||||
| 2a | Voluntary Income | Unrestricted Funds |
Restricted Funds |
Endowment Funds |
2020 | 2019 | ||||||||
| £ | £ | |||||||||||||
| Planned Giving | ||||||||||||||
| Gift Aid donations | 41242 | - | 41242 | 39730 | ||||||||||
| Tax Recoverable | 12057 | - | 12057 | 10200 | ||||||||||
| Other | 2066 | - | 2066 | 1470 | ||||||||||
| Collections | 5442 | - | 5442 | 9932 | ||||||||||
| Gift Days | 8166 | - | 8166 | 13738 | ||||||||||
| Grants(general) | 9000 | - | 9000 | 0 | ||||||||||
| Donations,appeals | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 701 | |||||||||
| Legacies | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
| TOTAL | 77973 | 0 | - | 77973 | 75771 | |||||||||
| 2b | Activities forgenerating Funds | 1000 | - | 1000 | 4115 | |||||||||
| 2c | Income from Investments | |||||||||||||
| Dividends and Interest | 305 | - | 305 | 341 | ||||||||||
| 2d | Income from Church activities | |||||||||||||
| Church Hall letting | 2130 | - | - | 2130 | 5360 | |||||||||
| Fees and other | 984 | - | - | 984 | 1167 | |||||||||
| TOTAL | 3114 | - | 3114 | 6527 | ||||||||||
| 2e | Other Incoming resources | 0 | - | 0 | 568 | |||||||||
| Total Incoming Resources | 82392 0 |
- | 82392 | 87322 |
Page 4
| TOTAL | TOTAL | TOTAL | TOTAL | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||
| 3 RESOURCES EXPENDED |
£ | £ | |||||||||
| 3a Church Activities |
|||||||||||
| Mission Overseas | 295 | 0 | - | 295 | 701 | ||||||
| Mission Home | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 2150 | ||||||
| Parish Share Paid | 41690 | - | 41690 | 40580 | |||||||
| ClergyExpenses | 476 | - | 476 | 1202 | |||||||
| Other Ministrycosts | 3877 | - | 3877 | 1635 | |||||||
| Parish Centre costs | 5704 | - | 5704 | 3176 | |||||||
| Church Activitycosts | 18665 | - | 18665 | 22292 | |||||||
| Repairs and Maintenance | 3930 | - | 3930 | 12041 | |||||||
| Pastoral Fund | 300 | - | 300 | 1200 | |||||||
| Grants(general) | 6565 | - | 6565 | 0 | |||||||
| Sub Total | 81502 | 0 | - | 81502 | 84977 | ||||||
| 3b | Generation of Voluntary income Cost of appeals etc |
0 | - | - | 0 | - | |||||
| 3c | Fund raising costs | 1331 | - | - | 1331 | 2139 | |||||
| 3d | Governance costs | 0 | - | - | 0 | - | |||||
| Total Resources Expended | 82833 | 0 | - | 82833 | 87116 |
No payments were made to any member of the PCC, persons closely connected to them or related parties 4 except for payments to the Pastoral Trust.
| 5 | FIXED ASSETS | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||
| £ | £ | ||||||||
| (a) Tangible | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| (b) Investments | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| At estimated market value | |||||||||
| Total | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| 6 | Debtors | ||||||||
| Gift Aid to be claimed | 1a | 6000 | 4000 | ||||||
| Total | 6000 | 4000 | |||||||
| 7 | Liabilities | ||||||||
| Due within oneyear | nil | nil | |||||||
| Due after oneyear | nil | nil | |||||||
| Total | nil | nil |
Page 5
| 8 FUNDS General Fund Youth Fund Mission Fund General Reserve Fund Munch Fund Total 9 BANK RECONCILLIATION Current account Money Master account MUNCH account Sub Total CBFCE Deposit account Sub Total Cash held Total |
2020 £ 16507 2500 7000 35000 0 61007 24007 1725 0 25732 35210 60942 65 61007 |
2019 £ 23904 1894 650 35000 156 61604 7779 8313 156 16248 45210 61458 146 61604 |
|---|---|---|