2021-12-31-accounts

“Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place”

2 Chronicles 7:15

2021 – a financial

Reflections review of activities and statements

This is a report of various activities as submitted that have occurred throughout the year 2021.

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

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever. Hebrews 13.8

Jesus Christ is able to do what we read he could do in the Scriptures. He can raise the dead, heal the sick, set the captives free, perform miracles and more than this, He has conquered death and Hell and He also lives forevermore. Being the same doesn’t mean He is static; it means He is faithful and steadfast. So, amidst the massive changes that Covid has brought to our daily lives, one thing stays the same, the Gospel message. It is the same message because humanity has the same need of salvation from sin and healing of broken lives and our broken world. It is the same because the solution is the same, Jesus our Saviour.

That’s why it is so pleasing to see St Thomas’ family passionate about sharing the Good News of Jesus in many different ways, by word and by presence because it is still the same life changing message and our greatest task and the purpose of the Church.

So, thank you for those who pray, prayer walkers, house visitors, pastoral team, brew & chat team, sound desk, overheads, musicians, cleaners, preachers, service leaders, children’s workers, online prayers, warden, PCC members, gardeners, everyone and anyone who is serving the Lord, thank you and bless you. And to Pauline our warden who keeps me on the straight and narrow and commits so much to St Thomas’.

We will see reports including, Emma, Deanery Synod Joe, Life Association Steve and Lisa, Night Prayer Vicky/Nic, Prayer Tree Joe, Children and Youth Matt, Warden Pauline, Worship Team Glyn, Outreach/Mission Yvonne, Finance Simon, Hospitality Anne, PCC Glen, Pastoral Care Glen, Ashar Alison, Newsletter Vicky, Safeguarding Anne, Electoral Roll Mike, Prayer Guide John, Baptism ministry Kath, Cleaning Pauline, Gardening Pauline and many others. Bless you all.

All this against the backdrop of emerging from lockdown and getting back to church life and looking at ways of sharing our faith with this community. We have a mission planned for March and another in August. Plus, the desire to create an ongoing missional culture. Because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever. Hebrews 13.8

Thank you,

Blessings,

Dave Revd Dave O’Brien

Curate’s Report - Emma

With thanks to God for all that he has accomplished in and through us this year.

After much prayer, consultation and reflection, we launched our ‘Pilot’ intergenerational service in July 2021. The format stuck and has become our regular Sunday morning offering, providing the space for a relaxed worship atmosphere, opportunities for discussion and getting to know God and one another in a deeper way, and chance for the whole family, of all generations, to worship together as ONE. Thank you for your patience as we have tweaked and continue to tweak the format. Thank you for coming along and getting involved, even and especially when it has pushed you out of where you would be most comfortable. We have been incredibly blessed to see many new faces join us in the last year and our continuing prayer is that we would maintain the welcoming atmosphere and outward-looking focus that has enriched our church family this year.

Over the last 12 months, our focus has been on prayer for God to give us a fresh vision for the community we serve, that we might be a blessing as we ourselves have been blessed by the abundant love of Jesus. And haven’t we seen the fruit of that?! The mission week in March saw over 300 people through our doors. The church grounds were buzzing with life and excitement! The Holy Spirit is at work in our neighbourhood; lets catch the wind of the Spirit and allow him to blow us where he leads.

On May 28th, we will be holding a Wonder Day at St Thomas’ which will be another amazing opportunity to invite our community into our building to explore the interconnectedness of life through science and faith. We will be blessed with the presence of Bishop Jill … and Archbishop Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York!

After two wonderful years with you, we Swarbricks will be saying goodbye this summer with a heavy heart for all that we leave behind, but with excitement for the next stage of the journey as God calls us to Lytham. Thank you for all your love and kindness that you have lavished upon us as a family. We will miss you and will always remember these years with joy.

Wardens’ Report - Pauline Matthews

Hello Church,

How we all need each other! And how we need Jesus even more! Another year gone so fast. It's been as busy as ever as we come out of lock-down. We have made changes to the layout inside the church to make it more child friendly and for the future. It's been so good to welcome new people into our services.

On the practical side, we have some big jobs that we still need to do as it does rain in through the roof in quite a few places. We did manage to get the hand microphone mended and new light bulbs replaced. I am trying to sort out the faulty heating timer but that has not stopped ensuring that the heating is on in church when needed.

It was a challenge keeping up with all the rules and regulations regarding Covid and making sure that church is as safe as it can be. Everything I have faced over the last year has been done with teamwork and thank you, the congregation, for being so patient.

A big “Thank you” to Revd Dave for his encouragement and for all your support. God's Grace.

Every Blessing, Pauline

PCC Report – Glenys Cole

As with everything, 2021 has continued to require us to be extra careful as we adhered to all the Covid changes and regulations. 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 our Warden Pauline for her hard work in making sure everyone was safe and services continued with as little disruption as possible.

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
Vicar Rev Dave Obrien	Incumbent
Rev Steve Haskett	Licensed
Rev Emma Swarbrick	Licenced
Vicky Bentley	co-opted as Licensed Reader
Yvonne Blazey	co-opted as Licensed Reader
Pauline Matthews	ex ofcio as Warden
Denise Moorby	ex ofcio- Deanery Synod
Joe Atkin	ex ofcio – Deanery Synod Rep
Simon Clark	co-opted as Treasurer
Anne Sinar	co-opted as Safeguarding Ofcer
Matthew Jackson	co-opted as Children and Youth Worker
Nic Hall	co-opted-Vision Champion until 2026
Glenys Cole	2018 – elected until 2022
Michael Kilshaw	2018 – elected until 2022
David Jefery	2020 – elected until 2023
Andrea Smith	2020 – elected until 2023
Josh O’Brien	2020 – elected until 2024
John Smith	2020 – elected until 2024
Ken Warrender	2020 – elected until 2024
Vacancy	from 2022
Vacancy	from 2021

The above details mean that at the APCM on 25 April, we will need to elect four church members to be PCC members, one for one year and three for three years. Anyone wishing to be considered for election must be on the church electoral roll.

Standing Committee members are: the Vicar, Joe Atkin, Pauline Matthews (Warden) Simon Clark (Treasurer), Glenys Cole (PCC Secretary). Following the end of the term of office of some elected members, the PCC will need to elect two new members.

The PCC meets several times a year, including the first meeting directly after the AGM (usually in April. There are now no regulations concerning the number of meetings to be held. 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.

Simon Clark stood down as Treasurer at the end of 2021 and we will greatly miss his detailed information at meetings. Our grateful thanks to Simon are recorded in the PCC minutes and a message conveyed to him to record our thanks for hard work. We are therefore without a Church Treasurer but Chris Brambles has kindly agreed to help out in paying our accounts until a permanent arrangement can be made.

At their meetings the PCC business included the financial situation, buildings and grounds, children and youth report, the electoral roll and safeguarding, correspondence and significant dates. Discussions concerning the structural survey of the Parish Centre were ongoing and reported at each meeting.

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

MONDAY NIGHT PRAYER – Vicky Bentley

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.

Deuteronomy 33: 27

The Lord Almighty grant us a quiet night and a perfect end. Amen.

Our help is in the name of the Lord.

Who made heaven and earth.

These are the usual opening sentences to Monday’s Night Prayer – a time to sit quietly and reflect on the day that has passed, becoming aware of the presence of God and allowing Him to still our hearts and minds.

Prayer is a discipline – that’s not a negative thing, it is so positive, being open to God, listening and resting in Him.

To quote the Diocese of Blackburn website:

“Prayer is opening your heart and life to God to allow Him, in the power of the Holy Spirit, and with Christ to pray in, for and with you.

Prayer is what God is doing in your heart”

Monday Night Prayer has been recorded since April 2020 and made available on the church’s YouTube channel and the Facebook page. Thank you to those who have given feedback saying that they have found Night Prayer helpful to them. We often reflect on one or two readings set for the particular Monday night and the Psalm set has sometimes been used to frame the prayers.

At the end of the day, we say:

In peace we will live down and sleep;

For You alone, Lord, make us dwell in safety.

Night Prayer – Nic Hall

I would like to thank Dave (the Vicar), and Vicky for the opportunity of presenting the Friday Prayer for the past year. It was a time to just reflect for ourselves, think around the scriptures (and yes some politics and Rock and Roll too). We had lots of deaf input through my stepson

Martyn, and Joanne too including a signed hymn from St Thomas which reached maybe a thousand people and was shown in schools across the country so thanks to Martyn, our little stump of a church shining its beacon into living rooms across the country and further. It is a privilege to be with you in your homes, and I know we have been in the homes of Buddhists, Krishna Temple, and other groups across the country; but most of all it is to sit with you in prayer, together, every Friday, and invite God to send his angels into each of our homes to bless and keep us safe that I love, a blessed year for me. Nic

Deanery Synod – Joe Atkin, Denise Moorby

You may be wondering what the functions and purpose of the Deanery Synod Meetings are. 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 May 2021, there have been three Deanery Synod Meetings. The first Deanery Synod Meeting on Monday 9[th] July 2021 was held at Holy Trinity Church The second Deanery Synod Meeting was held at St Paul’s North Shore, on Monday 15[th] November 2021,

The Third Deanery Synod Meeting was held on Tuesday 22[nd] February 2022 at St Mark’s Church Layton.

A full report on these Three Deanery Synod Meetings will be given at the Church AGM in April 2022

Pastoral Care Team (Authorised Lay Ministers)

Earlier this year our position was formally recognised by the Diocese and at a service in the Cathedral we were authorised as lay ministers (ALMs), bringing an extra sense of caring and responsibility as we recognise and care for the people in our Parish and Church Community. We are currently involved in additional training provided by the Diocese. Members of the Pastoral Care Team (ALMs) look out for anyone missing services due to illness or other circumstances and we are the first line of support to all church members and we have arrangements in place to notice and respond to those who are missing in Church. Throughout the pandemic, and especially through the various lockdowns we have, on a regular basis, contacted everyone we know who would have been coming to church, to ensure their needs are met and to pray for them.

We are available to pray for anyone needing prayer after each service in Church. We visit those who are housebound depending on the circumstances of any Covid restrictions. We have undergone safeguarding training as recommended by the Diocese. We have attended sessions and courses provided by Ashar and presented by Alison and her team and feel better equipped to minister to those struggling with emotional and spiritual health.

Whilst we have arrangements in place to notice and respond if anyone is missing services, going into hospital or residential homes, it is still helpful if members of the congregation let us know of anyone in the Church who needs pastoral care or support. A list of Authorised Lay Ministers is set out below. If you need Pastoral Care or Support let us know – we are here for you.

We would also appreciate your prayers for us as a team. Nicola Anderson, Sue Atkin. Glenys Cole, Denise Moorby, Diane O’Hagan, Kath Smith

St Thomas’ Baptism Team - Kath Smith

Following two very difficult years for everyone, it's good that we are now able to see more people and families enquiring about Baptism at St Thomas' for their children. In recent months, we have also been able to help prepare several families for Baptism, who have now had their children Baptised at St Thomas'. I am pleased to say that we are working alongside David our Vicar to help more parents and Godparents to be welcomed into our Church family through the Baptism of their children at St Thomas' in the coming months. We thank you for your love and prayers in welcoming them all to our Church family.

STEWARDSHIP SCHEME AND GIFT AID - Vicky Bentley

‘Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’

A big ‘Thank You’ to all those who diligently give through our Stewardship Envelope Scheme or by direct debit/standing order.

Week by week regular, responsible giving helps to fund the work of the church locally and regionally.

Giving of our time, talents, energy and money is a heart response to what God has done for us in Jesus.

There is an economic cost to running the buildings we have, providing the different activities and maintaining the grounds – that is a reality just as it is for each one of us at home.

It is great, therefore, when people, who pay tax, are willing to make a Gift Aid declaration. Gift Aid is a vital way in which money donations to the church can be increased. The Government pays back to the church 25p for every £1 given by tax payers, so long as we have a Gift Aid declaration form from that person.

In 2021, the Gift Aid added around £10,000 to our revenue. However, please understand that the numbers of tax payers in our church is limited at the moment. If you are a tax payer, even if you don’t want to have a box of weekly envelopes but you do want to give to the church, it would really help if you would talk with me about the possibility of Gift Aiding your donation.

If you would like to know more about our Stewardship scheme, either by using the weekly envelopes or by standing order, or you want to know more about Gift Aiding your donation, please do see me and we can talk further. Thank you,

Newsletter – Vicky Bentley

Every week for 2 years a newsletter has been printed on the back of the Sunday Link sheet. At first, when we didn’t meet for church services, the newsletter and Sunday Link was sent out to everyone we had an address for. Over time, as we have gathered again in church the sheet has still been available at the back of church Sunday by Sunday as well as being sent out to those who are housebound or have had periods when they couldn’t get to church.

The newsletter has been used to publish the service details of the coming weeks and any special news related to church. It also has the lectionary readings for the forthcoming week showing where there are feast days or days when saints and notable people of faith are remembered.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed news and photos so faithfully for the newsletter over 2021. A few examples are shown here, including the photo of our lovely Authorised Lay Ministers (ALM) outside Blackburn Cathedral following their special service.

And how could we forget the Rickshaw challenge along the whole promenade - completed by Revd Dave and Revd Steve, well, to be fair, it was mostly Revd Steve as

Revd Dave lost his way on the tram tracks! (August 2021) Matt and Rosie joining us, Barbara going off to be ordained and take up her post as Curate at Preston – so many memories from last year. Give thanks to the Lord, His love endures for ever.

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.

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 then Matt as he took over in May for ensuring that our contact with children has been maintained.

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. The Church of England had recently updated the guidance on DBS checks and we are now required to complete them every three years in line with government policy. All our volunteers have completed the diocesan safeguarding training, either on-line or in person. 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 last 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

Worship Team aims to worship God, serve the body and release gifting through worship. We meet on Thursday nights in Church from 7pm till 8.30pm.

In 2021 live music in church replaced time spent making recordings for inclusion in livestreaming. For much of the year however the social distancing requirements of the covid pandemic restricted this to one or two people singing.

Sadly, our drummer, Frank Hulley, passed away in September and he is sadly missed. It was a privilege to play with him and to remember him in our music. We thank his family for carrying out his wishes that the drum-kit and percussion instruments continue to be used at St. Thomas’s.

We also welcomed our new Youth Worker Matthew Jackson and his wife Rosie, bringing new musical talents to the team and encouraging our children to enjoy musical worship.

We are exploring possibilities for a team to control visuals and audio amplification systems (PA). Anne Sinar and Chris Brambles now help regularly but we need more people willing to serve in this area.

Anyone with musical gifting and a worshipping heart who wants to join worship team please see one of the leaders.

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 had been unable to provide any hospitality this year and greatly missed chatting over coffee and food but thankfully we have been able to restart this ministry recently

Holy Dusters - Pauline Matthews

Tuesday mornings from 9.45am – 11.30am.

It has been quite a challenge over the last year keeping the church clean, sanitised and Covid friendly. We have a very loyal team (along with me, Marion, Gordon, Denise, Doreen, Nic and Vicky (in reserve !)) who turn up every week in all weathers. We all have our jobs to do and cover for each other for holidays and sickness. We put the world right in our time together and finish our morning with a cuppa and biscuits, Bible reading and prayers. We are a happy bunch and we will always welcome new people to join the team.

Gardening Team – Pauline Matthews

Thursday mornings 10.00am – 12.30pm

We have had a few challenges over the last year including the sit-on mower breaking down. We did get a repair done, however the problem continued. I think it needs to go to the scrap heaven.

It's always been a joy to garden, cutting grass, planting flowers, maintaining the church grounds and even trying to beat the weeds from taking over. Again, there is a faithful team (Joe, Sue, Doreen, Wendy, Vicky with myself) who are always willing to get stuck in. We are happy for anyone to join us every Thurs morning from March through to November. We do stop for a cuppa and a biscuit. We are looking forward to next season. Thank you to team for all the hard work.

Life Association – Steve and Lisa Haskett

2021 was a challenging and yet remarkable year for us at Life Association. In the midst of all the pain and heartbreak experienced in India, we saw the Lord’s amazing provision at work, meaning we could continue to educate, feed, clothe and house some of India’s poorest children. We were also able to start new work, providing much needed food aid and vaccines to help battle Covid-19. We were also able to provide funds for new beds in one of our partner children’s homes and building repair work to the home and 2 partner schools.

We are excited to share that we have agreed to support three new projects during the course of 2022. One of those is a new day care provision for thirty vulnerable children. We also will support a new after-school project to enhance the education of fifty vulnerable children. Another new project will see ten women who are widowed or close to destitution trained for six months in textiles, needlework and the use of sewing machines. Each woman will receive a sewing machine at the end of their training to enable them to support themselves with a sustainable income.

On behalf of us all at Life Association, may we express our sincerest thanks for the support and donations we have received from St Thomas’s. We are so grateful for this, and all your support over the last 12 months.

Steve and Lisa Haskett

St Thomas’ Blackpool in Partnership with Ashar Bringing Hope -Alison O’Brien

Counselling

The last year as we have journeyed through the impact of the pandemic, Ashar has continued to offer counselling using the vestry space and a therapy room in the vicarage and also used zoom. Zoom has enabled us to see more clients safely and has also meant that the Shropshire therapists have been able to support our community as clients have logged in for a zoom appointment which has been a blessing as distance wasn’t a problem and helped with the ethical dilemma re autonomy especially for those in St Thomas’ which has given folks a choice of therapists. The Diocese is referring individuals into Ashar as are other churches in the North West which has associated St Thomas’ with a counselling and psychological wellbeing service.

Starting Point – Monday Afternoon drop in for a brew and chat

We have continued with the Monday afternoon Starting Point which is a space to have a brew and chat. We have developed an amazing group of volunteers and the lovely Lisa does our rota. The Monday afternoons are growing and we have a regular few folks attending. Two testimonies

A young lady who attends from a local home – Carer: ‘She has found her people’ Cuppa and a chat:

‘Thank you, the space has been a life saver’

We have also had contact from an NHS Health and Well-being support worker to ask if they can advertise and use the service

Training Events

‘Active Listening’

We have run two courses: one online and the other at St Matthews Burnley. The training was facilitated by Vicky Bentley & Ali O’Brien

Mental Health First Aider Training

We paid for a training day for those who expressed an interest in becoming a mental health first aider, there were 16 delegates 10 of which were from St Thomas’ – Congratulations to all. So, St Thomas’ now have a small team of 10 who are qualified level 2 mental health first aiders.

The qualification is valid for 3 years when a refresher course is required.

Prayer Training

Prayer Phone and re commissioning of the Prayer Corner

Emotional & Spiritual Well-Being zoom meeting

Monday Evening zoom meeting at 7pm – this meeting has run throughout the pandemic and will continue for as long as it is needed, we have up to 16 folks from around the country including a core team from St Thomas’

Some of the testimonies from these meetings: ‘This zoom meeting that has got me through’ ‘I don’t know what I would have done without the support of the group it has been a life saver’ ‘I have risked sharing when before I was too nervous to speak’

‘I shared afraid and God turned up’

We have also run two six- week courses running March through May looking at Emotional & Spiritual Health: Identity, Self Esteem, Anger, Depression, Stress & Anxiety, Grief Loss & Living - which were well attended from around the Diocese. Bishop Jill and Bishop Philip have asked if we run any courses could we share them with the Diocese and they will be happy to promote and advertise.

Prayer Line

We continue to offer a prayer line and say a huge thank you to the team that are on the prayer line rota. The prayer line has been a vital connection for a few individuals in need of prayer whether that be a church member or someone walking by and seeing the sign. Whilst the phone isn’t ringing all the time, we have seen a couple of folks use the prayer line and then they have attended Sunday morning service. So, we continue to offer access to prayer outside of services.

We are praying as we move into this next year as we have been given a grant to support emotional and mental health well-being from St Thomas’

Outreach - Yvonne Blazey

This last year has been a different year for outreach to our community. We haven't been able to do what we have done in last few years with Covid changing our way of life but God has

opened new doors to reach the community. Prayer has been the forerunner of this last year and opportunities through my work with Street Angels has opened up to show the love of God to people in recovery who have had broken lives. We have seen our morning and evening attendance increase in the services and some being baptised and others waiting for the next baptism service. Denise and I have faithfully delivered cards with the intent to engage with the community and invite them to St Thomas's. We also follow up and chat with people on the doors to try find out if they have any needs that we might help them with but our hope is to point them to the Saviour. Please continue to lift up all the new converts in prayer and prayer that we will see God doing amazing things in this coming year too.

St Thomas’ Weekly Prayer Letter – John Smith

Our Prayer Letter is prepared weekly. It is made available on paper Church and there are also links to it electronically within the Church Website pages and on our Face Book page. Each week the Prayer Letter provides themes for daily prayer. These include prayer for our Church, for those who we know and those named who are ill or have recently been bereaved, for our nation and for situations in our world, for charities and for our local community. You can also use the player letter as a resource to help you think and pray for situations which are on your heart during the week, which the prayer letter may not show. As Christians, we know God hears our prayers, including our intercessory prayers - Although we may not always see or understand how, we also know that our God does hear and answer our prayers. As the children’s Worship song goes, always remember that: “Prayer is like a telephone for us to talk to Jesus, Prayer is like a telephone for us to talk to God, Prayer is like a telephone for us to talk to Jesus. Pick it up and use it every day - He'll always hear our call!” (‘Prayer Phone’ – David Mudie & Paul Crouch)

Finance Report - 2021

The 2021 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 2021 and particularly for continuing your stewardship giving during a time of reduced services and general church activity.

In 2021 we saw our income stabilise and was similar to the previous year. Mainly through planned giving and the open plate collection we had a total income in 2021 of £82,375 including our gift day that raised a total of £3,871. Our income was also bolstered by grant payments of £9,000 including a further £5,000 from the Henry Smith Foundation that 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 2021, this totalled £88,855 including the full payment of our parish share to the Diocese of £37,207. The other significant item of expenditure continues to be the cost of utilities - heating and lighting in the church and Parish Centre.

Our balances at year-end remain healthy with over £35,000 in our deposit account and over £19,000 balances in our current accounts. However, we do have significant cost pressure in 2022 with another large Parish Share commitment of over £50,000 and our utility costs will continue to rise in line with inflation.

I would personally like to thank our churchwardens Pauline and Vicky Bentley for all they do in counting and banking collections and managing the cash account.

Finally, thanks to everyone 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

February 2022

----- Start of picture text -----
Independent Examiners Report on the Accounts
Report to the
trustee/members of
Parochial Church Council of St Thomas’ Parish Church
On Accounts for the 31 Charity no. (if 1132312
year ended December any)
2021
Set out on pages 1-5
Respective The Charity’s Trustees consider that an audit is not required for
responsibilities of this year (Under section 43(2) of the Charities Act 1993 (The Act)
trustees and and that an independent examination is needed.
examiner
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 My examination was carried out in accordance with General
independent Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination
examiner’s includes a review of the accounting records kept by the Charity
statement 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
consequently I do NOT express opinion on the accounts.
Independent In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my
examiner’s attention
statement
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 appl
Signed: R J Murdoch Date: ……………………….2022
Name: Rebecca Jane Murdoch
Relevant Chartered Tax Adviser
professional
qualifications or
body (if any):
Address: Mount Road
Fleetwood
FY7 6EZ
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Parochial Church Council of St Thomas' Blackpool Registered Charity Number 1132312 Statement of fnancial activities for the year ending 31 December 2021

Page 1

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Restrict Endowm
not Unrestrict ed ent Total Total
es ed Funds Funds Funds 2021 2020
£ £ £ £ £
INCOMING RESOURCES
Voluntary Income 2a 78372 0 - 78372 77973
Activities for generating funds 2b 0 - - 0 844
Income from investments 2c 39 - - 39 305
Church activities 2d 3964 - - 3964 3114
Other incoming resources 2e 0 - - 0 0
TOTAL INCOMING
RESOURCES 82375 0 - 82375 82236
RESOURCES EXPENDED
Cost of generation voluntary
income 3b 0 - 0 0
Fund raising trading costs 3c 606 - 606 1331
Church Activities 3a 88249 0 - 88249 81502
Govenance costs 3d 0 - - 0 0
TOTAL RESOURCES
EXPENDED 88855 0 - 88855 82833
Incoming/outgoing Resources -6480 0 0 -6480 -597
Unrealisable gains (Losses) on
investment assets - - -
on disposal 5a - - -
on revaluation - - -
NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS -597
Balances B/FWD 1 January 2021 61007 0 0 61007 61604
Balances C/FWD 31 December
2021 8 54527 0 0 54527 61007
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Page 2

Parochial Church Council of St Thomas' Blackpool Statement of Assets as at 31 December 2021

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FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY 2021 2020
note
s £ £
FIXED ASSETS 5
Tangible nil nil
Investment nil nil
TOTAL 0 0
CURRENT ASSETS
Gift Aid to be claimed(estimate) 6 6000 6000
Investment 0 0
Cash at Bank and in hand 9 54527 61007
TOTAL 60527 67007
LIABILITY
Payments due in one year (estimate) 1c 0 0
TOTAL ASSETS 60527 67007
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Page 3

NOT ES

Debtors relates to Gift Aid recoverable from April 2021 giving and is 1a an estimate

b Restricted balances £0 There are no material debtors or

c creditors There are no Payments in Advance or Receipts d in Advance Equipment is not considered material and any expenditure has been e written off Assumed that material adjustments if

• f over£500

2021 accounts have been prepared on a receipts and

g payments basis 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.

£13,300 written off in 2021

Grant balances of £1460 are included within

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h general funds
INCOMING
2 RESOURCES
TOTAL TOTAL
Unrestric Restrict Endowm
ted ed ent
2a Voluntary Income Funds Funds Funds 2021 2020
£ £
Planned Giving
Gift Aid donations 40848 - 40848 41242
Tax Recoverable 10963 - 10963 12057
Other 911 - 911 2066
Collections 12779 - 12779 5442
Gift Days 3871 - 3871 8166
Grants (general) 9000 - 9000 9000
Donations,appeals 0 0 - 0 0
Legacies 0 - 0 0
TOTAL 78372 0 - 78372 77973
Activities for
2b generating Funds 0 - 0 1000
Income from
2c Investments
Dividends and Interest 39 - 39 305
Income from Church
2d activities
Church Hall letting 2435 - - 2435 2130
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Fees and other 1529 - - 1529 984
TOTAL 3964 - - 3964 3114
Other Incoming
2e resources 0 - - 0 0
Total Incoming
Resources 82375 - 82375 82392
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Page 4

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TOTA TOTA
L L
2021 2020
Restrict Endowm
RESOURCES Unrestrict ed ent
3 EXPENDED ed Funds Funds Funds £ £
3a Church Activities
Mission Overseas 3325 0 - 3325 295
Mission Home 4200 0 - 4200 0
4169
Parish Share Paid 37207 - 37207 0
Clergy Expenses 1127 - 1127 476
Other Ministry costs 10452 - 10452 3877
Parish Centre costs 6891 - 6891 5704
1866
Church Activity costs 14853 - 14853 5
Repairs and
Maintenance 2219 - 2219 3930
Pastoral Fund 0 - 0 300
Grants (general) 7975 - 7975 6565
8150
Sub Total 88249 0 - 88249 2
Generation of
Voluntary income
3b Cost of appeals etc 0 - - 0 -
3c Fund raising costs 606 - - 606 1331
3d Governance costs 0 - - 0 -
Total Resources 8885 8283
Expended 88855 0 - 5 3
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No payments were made to any member of the PCC, persons closely connected to 4 them or related parties except for payments to the Pastoral Trust. 5 FIXED ASSETS

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2021 2020
£ £
(a) Tangible 0 0
(b) Investments 0 0
At estimated market
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value Total 0 0

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6 Debtors
1
Gift Aid to be claimed a 6000 6000
Total 6000 6000
7 Liabilities
Due within one year nil nil
Due after one year nil nil
Total nil nil
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8 FUNDS General Fund Youth Fund Mission Fund General Reserve Fund Total 9 BANK RECONCILLIATION Current account Money Master account Sub Total CBFCE Deposit account Sub Total Cash held Total	2021 £ 10027 2500 7000 35000 54527 2397 16779 19176 35210 54386 141 54527	Page 5 2020 £ 16507
		2500 7000 35000
		61007
		24007
		1725 25732
		35210
		60942
		65 61007

Approved by the Parochial Church Council on 28[th] February 2022 and signed on its behalf by

(PCC Chairperson)

The Notes form part of this account