2021-12-31-accounts - The Parochial Church Council Of The Ecclesiastical Parish Of St Andrew, Hertford

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HERTFORD ST ANDREW with ST NICHOLAS

Meeting of Parishioners and Annual Parochial Church Meeting Tuesday, 26 April 2022 at 8pm

Agenda

Prayers

Apologies for absence

A. Meeting of Parishioners

1 Minutes of previous meeting
Election of Churchwardens

B. Annual Parochial Church Meeting

Minutes of the Annual Parochial Church Meeting 2021
Matters Arising from the Minutes
Election of Parochial Representatives of the Laity:
Representatives to the Parochial Church Council
Representatives of the Parish to the Hertford and Ware Deanery Synod
Appointment of Independent Examiner
Report on the Electoral Roll
Report on the audited accounts, statement of funds and property
Comments on the Annual Report (previously circulated)
Churchwardens’ Report
Team Vicar’s Report
Presentation on Eco Church
Any other business

Minutes of the meeting of Parishioners and Annual Parochial Church Meeting held by Zoom on Thursday 27 May 2021

Present : Ian Aitken, Jenny Aitken, Julia Barton, Harold Chaplin, Jane Chaplin, Joan Cheeseman, Lou Cobb, Jane Cohen, Carol Crowhurst, Colin Crowhurst, Jane Eldred, Claire Goodman, Andrew Goodman, Debbie Hartnett, Mary Horne, Nick Hoyle, Barbara Hurford, Charles Ledsam, Debbie Ledsam, Sue Little, Jenny Mant, Katie Melville, Carol Muhr, Geoff Oates, Kath Oates, Tracy Plumpton, Phil Probert, Laura Ramsay, Chris Seward, Melanie Seward, Nick Sharman, Catherine Sleath, Marilyn Smith, Rev Alan Stewart (in the chair), Richard Taylor, Shirley Taylor, Jo Willis and Rosemary Willis.

Apologies for absence: Apologies were received from Brenda Hobbs.

The meeting began and ended with prayers.

Meeting of Parishioners

Minutes of the previous meeting held on 22 October 2020

The minutes of the meeting were approved and there were no matters arising.

Election of Churchwardens

Jane Cohen was willing to continue as Churchwarden for another year, assisted by Chris Seward as Deputy Churchwarden. Sue Mulligan was standing down and Alan expressed his appreciation of the time and energy she had committed to the role over the last three years.

Shirley Taylor had offered to stand as Churchwarden and there were no other candidates.

Shirley was proposed by Jane Cohen and seconded by Sue Mulligan and was duly elected.

Annual Parochial Church Meeting

Attendance and apologies as above.

Minutes of the Annual Parochial Church Meeting held on 22 October 2020

The minutes of the meeting were approved and there were no matters arising.

2. Election of Parochial Representatives of the Laity

2.1 Representatives to the Parochial Church Council

Jon Bunney is standing down and Alan thanked him for his work on the PCC.

Two candidates had come forward.

Lou Cobb, proposed by Sue Mulligan and seconded by Rosemary Willis.
Jenny Mutch, proposed by Sue Mulligan and seconded by Forbes Mutch.

There were no other candidates so Lou and Jenny were appointed as members of the PCC.

2.2 Representatives of the Parish to the Hertford and Ware Deanery Synod

Alan gave a brief summary of the work of the Deanery Synod. Jane Cohen has completed her term of office but Shirley Taylor and Julie Markey agreed to continue for another year. Alan thanked Jane for her work.

No other candidates had come forward but Alan said that anyone who might be interested should get in touch with him.

3. Appointment of the Independent Examiner

John Alflatt was appointed as Independent Examiner and has examined and approved the accounts. He was thanked for his work and has agreed to be the Independent Examiner for the 2021 accounts.

4. Report on the Electoral Roll

The Electoral Roll contains a total of 157 people, compared to 159 in 2020, of whom 62 are resident in the parish and 95 non-residents.

5. Report on the audited accounts, statement of funds and property

Debbie thanked everyone for their continued financial support during a difficult year. There was no money coming in from cash collections but online giving through the website, text-giving during zoom services and the contactless device in the church had all been introduced.

The accounts finished with a deficit of £4,605. £8,000 of planned income was lost from cash collections, fees and events that didn’t take place, but this was offset by £10,000 savings in running and maintenance costs. Repair work was needed on the Calton Avenue house, which had to be done before the house could be re-let. Including lost rental this resulted in a cost of £6,700. The deficit is covered by existing general reserves and the finances are still in a sound position.

During the year, the Diocese held a number of meetings with Treasurers to help support parishes with suggestions of how to raise money and to get an understanding of how the churches were managing financially.

In terms of reserves the youth worker fund is now fully funded until 2022 and the building restoration fund has just over £20,000 in it, which will be used to fund the repairs identified in the Quinquennial Report.

Debbie reported that a break-even budget was planned for 2021 in the hope that the church will stay open for the rest of the year and that the coffee mornings and social events will return.

She thanked the Finance Committee for their help and support and David Kemp for collecting and banking collections each week.

There were no questions and Alan thanked Debbie for all the work that she did.

6. Comments on the Annual Report

There were no comments on the Annual Report.

7. Churchwardens’ Report

There were no questions for the Churchwardens.

Charles Ledsam thanked the Churchwardens for the all the work they had done during a very difficult year.

8. Team Vicar’s Report

8.1 Alan started his report with a question - “Do we want our church to grow – spiritually, numerically and more diverse in age and social background?” If yes, “Are we willing to make any necessary changes in order to see such growth?” Coming out of lockdown is a unique chance to build a church that embraces the future, even though this will mean times of insecurity because change can be difficult. Historically the Christian church has had to grow and evolve in order to survive and remain relevant. It is important that we go slowly and prayerfully.

What have we learnt in lockdown?

The value of technology in keeping us connected.

Alan expressed his appreciation of the Zoom teams who have developed new levels of professionalism and creativity in running the services. Zoom has enriched our worship and even now continues to be a lifeline for those who for various reasons are unable to attend services in the church or prefer to stay home-based. We’ve been able to reach a wider audience online so will be continuing with the Sunday services and Meditation and Mindfulness and Compline services on Zoom. With the loss of Wendy, it will not be possible to always have a priest in attendance at the Zoom service and the Diocese has begun to tighten regulations around the Eucharist online. From 20 June, the Sunday morning Zoom services will be non-communion services. Instead, there will be a range of liturgy, and the services will make more use of music and visual imagery. Zoom worship could be a platform for long-term growth and outreach in and beyond our community and is an opportunity to encourage the gifts of more people.

o The value of bringing church outdoors.

Over Christmas it was wonderful to welcome a wide range of people to sing carols in St Mary’s churchyard and on Easter Sunday to listen to the birds singing at the dawn service. In recent weeks both churches have been singing the last hymn outside.

At St Andrew’s the churchyard was transformed for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter and beyond. So many people appreciated the unfolding stories in the tableaux and the chance to write messages on the hearts. Alan thanked Rosemary Willis, Sue Mulligan, Louise Cobb and all the team for all the work that had gone into preparing them.

At Christmas St Mary’s transformed the Brace Room into a nativity diorama designed to be seen from outside.

At the end of the second lockdown Tracy and her team used the forest school area of St Joseph’s in The Park School for Woodland Worship and there are plans to restart it soon.

Alan thanked Jane Eldred and the choir for providing music, when possible, in the services.

Maintaining communication has been very important during lockdown and Alan thanked Phil Probert for all the work she had done sending out e-mails, updating the website, sending hard copies to those not online and updating Facebook. He also thanked Richard Taylor for producing the magazine and Catherine Sleath for overseeing the WhatsApp groups.

We have also learnt the value of human kindness. All the staff from the two church schools were very appreciative of the goody bags that had been given to them and the local undertakers were very grateful for the weekly cakes that had been delivered to them.

Alan thanked Carol Crowhurst, the Pastoral Assistant, and the pastoral team, who have helped to keep in touch with a huge number of people.

Lockdown has encouraged new voices and new gifts, not least in the wide range of people who have contributed to Thought for the Day, in those who have developed expertise online and those who have offered their creativity in the churchyard displays. Kath Oates and Maria Henriksson-Bell are training to be Pioneer Enablers – reaching out to those who don’t attend church, and we have been able to benefit in recent months from the ministry of Forbes Mutch.

Where do we go from here?

On 27 February the PCC met online to consider this and identified three areas to develop further. Three working groups have been set up: looking at the use of our buildings, short-term and longterm; exploring how we reach out to new people, especially those moving into the new housing development at Sele Farm; and exploring our work with young people and families. The reaching new people and working with young people and families’ groups included people from both St Mary’s and St Andrew’s.

8.2 Chris Seward is the chair of the building group and he gave a presentation on what the group is doing. The aims of the group are to:
Monitor and support the Churchwardens in managing the on-going maintenance of the church building.
To consider what improvements might be needed to match the changing needs of the church.
Take account of likely costs to recommend appropriate action to the PCC.

At the first meeting they discussed two main issues:

How to manage the priorities identified in the Quinquennial Inspection. There is still work to do which will need careful resourcing. A specification of the work is being drawn up to go out to contractors for quotes. A survey of the tower needs to be carried out, possibly by drone, to determine if any repairs are needed. The electrical work recommended in the Quinquennial Inspection has already been completed.

The group is also considering possible developments and changes that could be considered for the inside of the building. Any changes that they might want to see will be informed by a clear and positive vision about the benefits of the changes.

The first issue is the use of the building for worship – the future needs of the building to accommodate changing approaches to worship. What modifications or flexibilities would be beneficial?

Secondly, how we can respond to the needs of the local community and welcome and engage with them.

The third aspect is the sustainability of the building, both in term of changing attitudes and priorities around our environment and in terms of balancing church finances in the future. The Diocese is encouraging all its churches to become carbon neutral by 2030. Any investment into the building will need to be almost completely funded out of new money so will require fundraising, income earning events and grant applications.

8.3 Kath Oates is the chair of the reaching new people group. She reported that the group started off considering some questions. What are we noticing in our area? What would we like to see both now and five years from now? Kath has been attending a series of webinars given by the Archbishop of York considering a piece of work called A vision for the Church of England in the 2020s which is looking at where the church is heading. The Archbishop has suggested that people should be asking in their neighbourhoods “what matters to you?” or “what do you care about?” because so much has changed in the last 15 months. The group started asking contacts and friends outside the church community and found that people were keen to talk. They plan to take the exercise further.

The other priority is the new housing being built on Sele Farm. We want to be ready to welcome the people when they arrive. The group are developing a “Welcome card” and are liaising with other churches who have had recent new developments in their parish.

8.4 Tracy and six parents across the two churches have been meeting with Alan to explore how we reconnect with the young families and young people. Alan expressed his appreciation of the many imaginative ways that Tracy had kept in touch with the families and young people. Alan thanked those who had completed the questionnaire on the All-Age Services as he wanted information on how everyone felt about them, not just the young ones.

Alan emphasised that every member of the congregation was valued and asked that if anyone felt that there were blind spots or areas that had been overlooked, that they speak to him. The church tries to offer a wide variety of services and activities in the hope that they will appeal to a wide range of ages, backgrounds and churchmanship.

8.5 Harvest will be the second weekend in October and there are plans to host and curate an exhibition at St Andrew’s of Hertford’s time in lockdown. Hopefully we will be able to provide refreshments. There will also be areas for reflection. At the same time, there will be an exhibition at St Mary’s of photographs of the pets and animals that have helped sustain us during lockdown. On the Sunday after Harvest there are plans for a service of celebration at St Mary’s for the role of our pets during this time.

8.6 After three years, we are saying goodbye to Wendy as she moves to her own church. On behalf of everyone Alan said how much we have all valued Wendy’s ministry. She was instrumental in instigating so much of what sustained us during lockdown, especially over Christmas and Easter. Wendy has offered to come back and help with the occasional Compline or Wednesday communion service.

Alan thanked everyone for all the support and understanding that had been given to the ministry team and to himself and his family.

There were no comments or questions.

Any Other Business

There was no other business.

Report from the Parochial Church Council

The PCC is responsible for the financial affairs of the church and the care and maintenance of the church fabric and its contents. It may make representations to the Bishop and Deanery Synod on matters affecting the welfare and pastoral care of the parish.

The PCC has had regard to the Charity Commission public benefit guidance and has complied with the duty under section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016 (duty to have due regard to House of Bishops’ guidance on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults).

The PCC met on six occasions throughout the year for a formal meeting, all of them by Zoom.

PCC members

*PCC members*
Clergy	Alan Stewart Bill Church	Churchwardens	Jane Cohen Shirley Taylor
Lay Readers Lay Leaders of Worship	Melanie Seward Geoff Oates Forbes Mutch Maria Henriksson Bell Kath Oates	Deanery Synod Members	Shirley Taylor Julie Markey
Treasurer	Debbie Hartnett	Elected members until 2022	Chris Seward Joan Cheesman Maria Henriksson-Bell Kath Oates
Elected members until 2023	Colin Crowhurst Malcolm Fry Rosemary Willis Nick Hoyle	Elected Members until 2024	Laura Ramsay Catherine Sleath Lou Cobb Jenny Mutch

During the year there were 13 baptisms, one thanksgiving for a child service, two weddings and 15 funerals in church. The clergy also took 15 funerals at a crematorium or cemetery without a service in church.

Highlights from the year

Wendy Sellers was licensed as the Vicar of Sandridge, near St Albans.
Return of in-church services and the development of Sunday morning worship on Zoom
Thought provoking and well attended lockdown exhibition
Continuation of outreach churchyard displays

The PCC wishes to thank all those who have contributed to the work and running of the church during the last year in difficult circumstances.

Carol Muhr, Clerk to the PCC

Safeguarding Report 2022

St Andrew's PCC takes seriously its collective responsibility to protect and safeguard the welfare of children and adults who may be vulnerable and have complied with due regard to House of Bishops guidance on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.

On January 1st 2022 the Learning and Development Practice Guidance 2021 came into effect and a new framework for Safeguarding has been adopted across every diocese in the Church of England. In the Church of England’s words:

“The Church of England is making a significant change in its relationship with safeguarding. Safeguarding is at the centre of our faith, in our practice. In other words, safeguarding needs to become integral to the Church's DNA rather than a bolt-on, with good safeguarding behaviours flowing naturally and intuitively. To aid this change, Theology, by which we simply mean clear thinking about God and the faith we share, has been interwoven into the learning and the development pathways. As the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) identified, this will require a significant shift in the Church’s culture.”

In practice, for those at St Andrew’s who work with children, young people and vulnerable adults and for PCC Members, it will mean more training and more frequent DBS checks.

All training is now completed online through the Church of England portal. The Clergy, Readers and the Parish Safeguarding Officer undertake face to face training which will be delivered via Zoom.

DBS checks are carried out for us by Thirtyone:eight (formerly CCPAS). All those who work with children and vulnerable adults and PCC Members are required to complete an enhanced check.

Our Safeguarding Risk Assessment for all activities involving children and young people is reviewed annually. Many of these risks and measures associated with coronavirus remain for this year.

A copy of all St Andrew’s policies which include ‘Safeguarding Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults’, ‘Lone Worker’ and ‘Safer Recruitment’ are kept on the church website. These policies are reviewed annually. In March 2022 we set up a Church Googledrive to store all Safeguarding documentation centrally with access to the Drive being given to the Priest, Parish Safeguarding Officer, Church Wardens and Parish Administrator.

The Diocese of St Albans support our safeguarding practices in a number of ways:

Regular safeguarding newsletters ensure that parishes are kept up to date with current legislation and of any changes to policies, procedures and training requirements.
The ‘Parish Dashboard’. This is a useful online portal which records all the safeguarding measures we take as a church including training completed, risk assessments completed and policies and

their review date.

An online safeguarding training course is available through their website (www.stalbans.anglican.org). This takes less than an hour to complete and is an excellent introduction to safeguarding, particularly in recognising potential safeguarding issues and knowing then what course of action to take. The PCC recommend that all those involved with church life complete the course, particularly sidesmen, choir members and those in coffee teams. Please let me know if you would like me to send you the link to the course.
Also on their website is a comprehensive set of policies, procedures and information documents, many of which we use as templates for our own policies and procedures.

Catherine Sleath, Parish Safeguarding Officer

Churchwardens’ Report

Once again 2021 was dominated by the Pandemic.

Even though we had to suspend services and activities from time to time due to lockdowns and large numbers of people being infected, the Churchwardens were all fully occupied.

Sue Mulligan stepped back at the 2021 APCM and Shirley Taylor was duly elected.

The support networks that were set up in 2020 involving regular phone calls and group messaging continued and meals were provided to people struggling with ill health and rides given to those requiring regular hospital appointments. Much of this support is still ongoing.

The Church was open throughout the imposed lockdowns and many protocols and duties had to be adapted. There were updated Covid Risk Assessments completed for the Church to be in line with Government Guidelines. An updated Covid Risk Assessment and Risk Assessment was also completed for Children and Youth.

In July protocols were set for the reintroduction of Children’s activities, use of the Children’s Corner, Coffee Mornings, and refreshments after the regular weekly services.

A faculty was put in place for the NHS to use the Church and Centre for vaccinations. The NHS are still using the Centre and have requested to use it through April 2022.

During the year we were visited by the Fire Brigade for an assessment. Fire training for Sidespeople, Clergy and Vergers was then completed by October and as a requirement, a Fire Drill for the congregation took place at the 10:30 Service on Sunday, 26[th] September 2021.

Zoom services continued to be offered every Sunday with a dedicated following. A huge thank you to Kath Oates and Nick Hoyle. New Zoom hosts were trained to cover Kath and Nick when needed.

Our Curate, Wendy Sellers had her last service with us on 20[th] June. Unfortunately, family health problems meant her gift could not be given to her until the Harvest Supper shared with St Mary’s Hertingfordbury. Given to Wendy was an oil painting by Angela Lampard called “Sunrise St Andrew’s Church”. A substantial cheque was also given to her courtesy of the generosity of the St Andrew’s folk.

A Groundfaith Day was held on 10[th] July with many people volunteering to help in the garden and inside the church.

The annual Bike ‘n’ Hike went ahead as usual in September although we still couldn’t provide our usual refreshments. Thank you to Carol Muhr and Peter Ruffles for their organisation once again.

We prepared for the Archdeacon’s Visitation in September. Rev Mark Dunstan, Rural Dean represented the Venerable Janet Mackenzie for the Visitation and it went very well.

The legacy that Len Bowyer left the Church was used to install a bench with a memorial inscription. This is outside, between the North transept and the main door.

A new continuous boiling water unit was installed in the kitchen. This is working well.

Blocked gutters and downpipes resulted in a serious damp problem. This continues to be an issue.

The QI Report identified some work may be required to the spire. A report has since been completed and repairs will be made during 2022.

There was an issue with the signs – the main signage board is in need of replacement as was the St Andrew’s Cemetery Noticeboard in the North Road Cemetery. This cemetery noticeboard has since been replaced by a smaller sign. The main signage board will require substantial funds to replace, and priorities of funding have had to be made during this difficult period.

A faculty was obtained for the removal, cleaning, and assessment for the church clock. Smith of Derby have transport the clock to their workshop.

A light was installed by the west door.

All regular maintenance checks were completed such as, fire extinguishers, lightning rod and gas boiler.

We continue to support Rosemary Willis. Lou Cobb and Sue Mulligan in their wonderful Churchyard displays. These have proven to be very popular and a wonderful way to engage many of the community.

Hertford Town Council completed their tree survey for the trees in the churchyard on 15[th] December. The second one was completed on 18[th] March 2022. Unfortunately, several trees show fungus and decay in their trunks, including the large Beech tree that has a Tree Preservation Order on it. We await the second report.

In November, Beer and Carols in the Churchyard was organised by Chris Seward. This was a huge success with the public.

Refreshments were served after the Advent Service on 28[th] November.

Alas, by mid-December Omicron was increasing in numbers and refreshments were suspended both after regular weekly services and for the traditional mulled wine and Christmas treats after the Seven Lessons and Carols by Candlelight Service. Due to Omicron all Crib services were cancelled and some Christmas services were combined with St Mary’s Hertingfordbury.

As with all we do, we are indebted to the support and commitment by the many people that help keep the church running effortlessly during these challenging times.

Jane Cohen, Shirley Taylor and Deputy Warden, Chris Seward

Mission Committee

This is a summary of people and organisations to which the Mission Committee has allocated monies in 2021.

Allocations were split 62% to overseas-based organisations - 38% to UK-based organisations in line with the Committee’s desire to reverse the 2019 split of 46% - 54%.

Allocations were made to the following overseas-based organisations:

Living Hope is a Christian non-profit organisation whose vision is to reach people for Christ, bringing hope and breaking the despair of poverty and disease. It undertakes community development within eight communities on South Africa’s Southern Cape Peninsular through family strengthening, health care, life skills, substance abuse and agricultural training programmes.

(Kevin and Dawn Carter who worshipped at St Andrew’s before moving back to Sheffield set up a UK-based charity to support Living Hope. They have direct experience of the work and can provide further information.)

International Health Partners (IHP) co-ordinates and moves donations of medicines and health supplies made by healthcare companies to NGO partners in over 70 countries who have identified what they need in some of the world’s poorest and most challenging places, where people lack access to basic healthcare.

The medicines provided are directly relevant to addressing key global health challenges and improving health outcomes. By making medicines available free at the point of use to all patients, they are made more accessible to many people who would otherwise not be able to afford them.

(Forbes Mutch works for IHP and can provide further information.)

Latin Link has over 140 members (mission workers) from around 20 countries serving in 12 teams across Latin America and Europe. We support projects that Julie Noble is involved with in Oruro, Bolivia. She works with Prison Fellowship and supports the Angel Tree Centre, engaging with prisoners’ children and their families. She also coordinates Restoring Hope, which focuses on discipleship and restorative justice with offenders, and serves on the board of the PRADOS drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre.

(Julie was introduced to St Andrew’s by Jenny Aitken, and the Church Magazine contains regular updates from Julie.)

Tearfund helps communities in over 50 countries learn how to escape poverty.

Afghanistan had depended on American and Western support for an entire generation, but found itself abandoned in August 2021 and the Taliban retook control. As a consequence, half the population of around 37 million people don’t have enough to eat. Tearfund has maintained links with local partners in the region over many years. Therefore, it has been able to provide emergency food packages and winter kits to help families who have lost their homes stay warm.

VaccinAid (UNICEF)

Whilst the world’s rich countries bought up the majority of Covid vaccines as they became available, UNICEF realised that the COVID-19 pandemic will not be over until vaccines are made available to the entire world. While people in any country are exposed to the virus, the whole world is at risk. VaccinAid aims to close the vaccination gap and protect vulnerable people, wherever they are around the world.

Allocations were made to the following home-based organisations and people

Young Life International in Hertford began in 2000. We continue to support Michael and Beth Ann Hunter in their regional and area roles, and also separately support Young Life Hertford who organise 2 weekly clubs, weekly visits to local secondary schools and other opportunities to hang out during the week in smaller groups.

Future Hope is a free, confidential service working holistically with young people aged 11-19 across Hertford and Ware. A mobile youth centre and detached work aims to make contact with young people. They work with schools through assemblies and tutor sessions, and offer one-to-one mentoring and counselling.

Herts Welcomes Refugees (HWR) started out as Herts Welcomes Syrian Families (HWSF), but changed its name in 2019 to reflect a widening scope of work. It has been providing a range of assistance to refugees and asylum seekers in Hertfordshire, supporting:

70 Syrian and other families now settled in Hertfordshire.
Asylum seekers in hostels across the county, in partnership with other organisations.
The Refugee Council and District and Borough Councils who are working to settle evacuated Afghan families in different parts of the county
Herts County Council and other organisations who are supporting evacuated Afghan families in Hertfordshire hotels (where many Afghans have stayed for over 6 months to await housing allocations).

Bridge Builders Christian Trust works in partnership with primary school teachers, church leaders and volunteers in Stevenage and the surrounding area. St Andrew’s children’s worker Tracy Plumpton is able to borrow extensively from their resources and equipment stockpile for her work in the church and schools.

The Mission Committee’s budget is a 12.5% tithe from the church’s planned giving. The Mission Committee is pleased that this will continue to be supported, in spite of the impact of the pandemic on church income.

If you do not give regularly, please consider doing so as this supports all of the church’s strategic aims, as well as raising our mission giving.

Andrew Goodman

Family, Children and Youth work

Firstly, I would like to say a huge thank you to the congregation of St Andrew’s Church for their continued financial support throughout this year. And also, to the volunteers that have enabled this work to continue and progress.

Junior Church

This has continued every Sunday except the month of August (and the second Sunday, when All Age was able to be re-introduced). Restrictions were slowly lifted and enabled us to offer more.

We have been meeting in the hall with age specific areas set out. We have struggled getting team in place to be able to offer age specific groups, thereby splitting the hall.

We have all worked hard to commit to specific roles and it now looks likely that after Easter 2022 we will be able to offer three age specific groups: Toddlers in one half of the hall (we have welcomed two new families), Primary age in the other half and secondary (with some year 5/6 young people who now need deeper discussion time) in the JSG Room.

We have seen a significant return of our families and some new families joining us.

Woodland Wonderings

We have continued these monthly. We were unable to offer December 2021 as Covid restricted this. January saw some dreadful weather and the tarpaulin had snapped so we had no cover, therefore had to cancel sadly. A beautiful space at St Joseph’s in the park. We applied for and got a grant for £250 which enabled us to buy two more fire pits with tripods for cooking. We brought cooking pots, utensils and a sturdy trolley for transporting from our storage area to the woods. We have seen some lovely relationships forming and deepening. Thanks to Doug Brown and Marc (the groundsman) at St Joseph’s in the park and Rosemary Willis for the support with this.

N:ergize

This was to replace Messy Church in St Andrew’s School. It was to be offered once a month and was based around games and challenges with a ‘take home message’. It soon became apparent that with rising Covid

cases and the need to be inside due to the weather that we could not sustain this. This is under review. Do we continue when we didn’t see any families from Sele Estate even though we had a banner to advertise it?

TMM

Once we could meet up, we would go into the woodland at St Joseph’s in the park for marshmallows on the campfire, games/challenges and discussions. Once it got too cold, we met in church following Government guidelines of socially distancing wearing face masks. It was felt that every other week meet ups was a good way forward with increasing homework, sports and family commitments. We have maintained a regular 10 young people with as many of 15 turning up.

TMM+

The older members of the group were feeling less like coming due to the broad age range so we formed TMM+ with those 5 and we meet once a month to catch up, eat snacks together and play some daft games for some ‘down time’ away from school work.

SOCIALS

March and April 2022 have seen two social events bringing the two groups together for food and fun:

March-Quiz Night

April-Easter themed Escape Room

Uni Guys

Catch up via Instagram then ‘Walk and Talk’ meet ups when they come back

Shake

We have been meeting weekly (term time only) following Government guidelines. We have invited them to come to TMM (there is already an overlap of three of our young people). We have yet to see if they take up the invitation.

We regularly see 10 attend and are seeing new people joining so that’s very encouraging.

To progress Shake it would need some intense investment:

regular lunch time visits to the playground of Richard Hale, Sele, Simon Balle to have a presence and make relationships.
promotion of the club at lunchtime and KS3 assemblies
more team

To maintain what we are doing we are almost certainly going to need more team.

This is a great space and we spend a third of the time at least talking about God, Jesus, faith and how that is relevant to our lives.

Collective worship

These have continued weekly via Zoom for the majority of the year! Alan and myself and alternate for St Andrew’s and Hertingfordbury Cowper School. I go into St Joseph’s in the park weekly as Alan has Early Years in the other two schools. We have managed some whole school playground times together and in just February and March managed to go into the school hall. They are much appreciated and we get lovely feedback.

Light Party-31[st] October 2021

Thanks to Jo Loveridge for hosting this at All Saints Church. Thanks to the many who donated carved pumpkins. Thank you to Rosemary Willis, Sue Mulligan, Heather Lane, Kim Hamilton, Nareen Chalmers and Jane Chaplin for all the support setting up. If I’ve missed anyone I apologise. The church yard was decorated with lit-up pumpkins and jars with tea lights. It looked stunning. We had a maximum of 30 as we were able to offer refreshments in St John’s Hall after and felt that was a safe number.

PS

I know this isn’t a ‘numbers game’ but through the various groups, WhatsApp, Instagram and walks we have regular contact with 80 children and young people (and their families). I think we can be very encouraged but always striving to improve what we have and being creative and visionary.

Tracy Plumpton, Family, Children and Youth Worker

Toddler Group Report 2022

After the prolonged suspension of the Toddler Group due to the Covid lockdowns. It was great to re-open in June 2021 and welcome old and new members alike. Since then, we have gradually moved back to operating as normal, with Toddlers running every Thursday morning in term time.

We are hugely grateful for the support and help given over the years by Heather Lane, Frances Wilby and Sue Coe, all of whom took the opportunity of lockdown to ‘retire’. This meant we started back in June with a new Toddlers team of Tracy Plumpton, Sue Mulligan, Claire Watcher, May Muhr and myself.

The initial plan for the summer was to be outside where we could spread out and enjoy being together again. We initially limited the numbers, and welcomed back some of our previous families for an hour of play each Thursday. Only one Thursday dawned very wet, so we had to retreat inside, and try out the indoor/winter plan.

The autumn brought more changes in the team as Claire went off to work and Sue to Australia, so Debbie Ledsam joined the team as cover. She’s enjoyed it so much she has stayed with us, and is now an important member of the team.

As we moved indoors, we have had the challenges of planning sessions with the various restrictions that have come and gone:

windows open/closed
masks on, no masks on
no refreshments, then refreshments
social distancing
limited numbers, including only one adult per family allowed
lateral flow testing before sessions
cleaning toys after the sessions

Despite all the changes, everyone has been hugely co-operative and this has made running the group much easier.

We are grateful to the team of coffee makers who are back helping us as we have finally been allowed to serve refreshments again. Thank you to all who have served us this term, it is great to be able to offer a more ‘normal’ session.

Thank you to Bill and Alan for joining us at the end of each term for the telling of the special stories of Christmas and Easter. It is a lovely time and the families build happy memories. It is always a sad time too, as children move on and say goodbye.

Throughout the pandemic we have tried to remain there for our families, with Heather sending out regular emails with craft ideas to help get through the long days.

We have been so fortunate to be able to return with many of our families joining us again for play-time. The important thing we have learnt is that it doesn’t matter what toys are out to play with, whether we are inside or outdoors, whether we are wearing masks or not, it is the company and the friendships that the families value the most; they are extremely grateful that we have been able to provide a group for them again.

So, a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has helped us to get up and running again in 2021.

If anyone would like to join our happy team, please get in touch. We always have families on our waiting list who would benefit hugely if we were able to run another session.

Judy Sharman

Church Music report

Before writing this report, I re-read the one I produced for 2020-2021 (written in May 2021), which has emphasised for me that, although music-making in church has only gradually returned to something approaching “normal”, we have become much less restricted in our activities over the year, thanks to the roll-out of vaccines.

When I wrote last year’s report, I looked forward to being able to say goodbye to Zoom choir practices and resume in-person ones in church, as we had done briefly in autumn 2020. However, extra government caution about singing (possibly riskier than speech as it may produce more aerosols) produced a last-minute extra restriction as many others were lifted in mid-May – only six “amateur” singers were allowed to sing indoors at any one time. This lasted until the end of the summer term. Our solution was to start outdoor choir practices, held outside the Centre – the first took place on 28[th] May (pictured).

We just managed to avoid the rain! We drew up a rota for Sunday services so there were six singers each week. It was wonderful to me to hear the choir actually sing together (in choir practice) an

anthem that we had learned on Zoom.

During spring and summer there was reduced music within the services in any case, but we did introduce the practice of singing the final hymn outside, so everyone could join in, unmasked. This proved very popular and we only stopped doing it when the autumn weather arrived. Normally the choir take a break in August, but in 2021 we carried on singing in the Sunday services, as restrictions in numbers had by then been lifted. In September we resumed choir practices in church. We had also been able to provide instrumental accompaniment for the restored All-age services from July, and for these we have moved towards more of a worship band style to the accompaniment, with use of the PA system, which has improved projection of the sound and support for the singing.

We have continued with socially-distanced seating in the choir, and currently have not resumed processions, except at Advent and Christmas when we devised a socially-distanced procession. With restrictions lifting completely now, I am actively considering a return to normal practice, but at the time of writing Covid cases are very high which makes me reluctant to make changes just at present.

It has been with great pleasure that the choir were able to lead worship as usual for:

Harvest Festival
Remembrance Sunday
Advent Sunday candlelit evening service
Christmas service of lessons and carols
Ash Wednesday

We were also able to lead the Isabel Hospice Lights of Love ceremony at Hertford Castle again, as that takes place outside.

We contributed to the “Our lockdown in 30 objects” exhibition with a selection of our lockdown recordings (the “object” being my microphone) and I have now put together a complete playlist of those recordings which can be shared with anyone who is interested.

Practice for 7 Lessons and Carols service 2020

Same rehearsal in 2021 – same seating and masks!

Our worship band have been able to start activities again, and it was good to be able to participate in the Beer and Carols event in December 2021. This was held outside with the band under gazebos. It was most successful despite the prevailing restrictions, as we were very visible and audible to passers-by and the community. (However, I should report that the cold, dark and damp did affect the instruments, music sheets and performance –speaking for myself at least!) We have resumed plans to lead worship for non-allage 5[th] Sunday services, although the first of these was a bit disrupted by Covid. I wish to record my thanks for the input by John Wacher, Sam and Rachel Chaplin and Katie Seaton, and especially to Sam and John for leading the music at the church Away Day.

After many postponements, we anticipate a welcome return to the folk concerts booked by Chris Seward, with Fairport Convention due to appear in May. In 2021 the Hertfordshire Festival of Music did take place, with a string quartet appearing at St Andrew’s (with two short concerts rather than one longer one, to distribute the audience). A similar concert is scheduled for this June. Choir 18 also performed a Saturday morning concert in the church in November. Future plans for our choir include a concert as part of the Platinum Jubilee and Herts Festival of Music, jointly with Hertford Chamber Choir and All Saints choir, in All Saints Church, on June 3[rd] .

My very grateful thanks go to David Boarder, Richard Prince and Mark Buck for their organ playing and support. As ever I am amazed by, and thankful for, the dedication and enthusiasm – and expertise – of all the choir and instrumentalists in the church family, without which we could not have resumed our

activities and retained our previous standard. We now look forward to leading the music in the Holy Week and Easter services, for the first time since 2019.

Jane Eldred, Musical Director

Bellringing Report

In last year’s report I wondered how many of our ringers would return. We didn’t start ringing again on Sundays after lockdown until July last year and Tuesday practices didn’t resume at St Andrew’s until February 2022 and by that time we had ‘lost’ 3 of our regular ringers and two learners who had started learning to ring before the pandemic struck.

This means we sometimes struggle to get enough to ring on some Sundays, however we are fighting manfully under Christ’s banner to ring whenever we have enough to do so.

Some of our regular band have recently been helping to teach a group of new ringers at Holy Trinity Bengeo. That seems very fitting because in 1920 the ringers of Bengeo were included in the Hertford College Youths society of bellringers. I am hoping that some of these new ringers might come along at ring at St Andrew’s from time to time.

Andrew Case

Social and Events Committee

It has been a quiet 2021 for the Social and Events Committee thanks to Covid 19.

The committee still consists of Jane Cohen, Shirley Taylor, Pat Warlow, Catherine Sleath, Frances Cracknell and Deborah Buzzard.

Many of the events that we planned to assist with, unfortunately, were cancelled. We did however provide refreshments for three events – the Lockdown Exhibition, mulled wine for Beer and Carols in the Churchyard and mulled wine and nibbles for the Advent Service.

Unfortunately, by the middle of December Omicron had hit hard and in line with the suspension of refreshments after the regular services, we were unable to offer mulled wine and Christmas treats after the Seven Lessons and Carols by Candlelight Service.

Hopefully 2022 will bring opportunities for more events and many of the cancelled concerts will be able to take place.

Communications Committee

The Communications Committee was brought back to life after a few years in hiatus with a meeting of suitably skilled members of the congregation in January (2022) convened by Alan Stewart. A second meeting was held on 24 February where the terms of reference and key purpose of the committee were agreed as:

To maintain and improve the standards of communication within the church community;
Utilise new platforms of communication to reach a broader audience;
Retain people that are part of our community and reach new audiences.

Members of the committee are: Forbes Mutch (chair), Lou Cobb (PCC representative), Alex Nicholas, Kath Oates, Paul Stanton, Phil Probert and Richard Taylor (Editor of Parish Magazine). The committee will also draw on the views of young people by engaging members of TMM.

At the second meeting, it was decided that we needed to take stock of the ways we currently communicate with our audiences and benchmark what we do against other churches and parishes. The committee is assessing:

Printed material
Website
Social media
Online services
Outreach communication
In-church communication

The findings of the research will feed into a Communications Strategy later this year that will drive forward progress in areas where it is needed. It is felt that this will be a process of evolution not revolution. If anyone has views or comments on the way we communicate, they are encouraged to contact Forbes Mutch on forbes.r.mutch@gmail.com

Forbes Mutch, Chairman

Herford St Andrew Community Trust

Background

The main object of the Trust is to promote and enable well-being in our local community through the use of the St Andrew’s Centre.
The trustees are Malcolm Fry, Philippa Probert, Laura Ramsay, Judy Sharman, David Spring, Rod Willis and Richard Taylor.

Financial Position

Income: lockdown restrictions had a significant impact upon the income of the Trust in 2020. Hire income was only £5,745, down about £9,000 on the previous year. Easing of restrictions in 2021 has allowed some but not all users to return, but of significant importance to the finances of the Trust has been the hire of the Centre by local GP practices to fulfil the government’s Covid19 vaccination programme in the area. Hire income rebounded as a consequence to £14,256 for the year (of which £2,000 has been paid to the PCC (see below). In addition, the Trust qualified for government grants of £7,500 received from East Herts Council to compensate for losses arising from restrictions on use of the Centre during the pandemic.

Running expenses: total running expenses in 2021 were £12,875 (£11,182 in 2020). These expenses include the annual payment made to the PCC (as to which see below).

Payment to the PCC: the Trust bears a portion of running expenses shared by the church and Centre, such as utilities, buildings insurance, heating and intruder alarm servicing and the cost of the Parish Administrator. This amounted to £3,847 (£3,449 in 2020). In addition, £2,000 from the income received from the NHS for use of the Centre for vaccinations, was paid to the PCC for use of the south transept of the church to monitor patients following vaccination.

The Trust’s Objectives

It is encouraging to see hirers who have been cautious about returning to in-person meetings as well as parties and other social events beginning to return to the Centre. The use of the John Summers-Gill Room for counselling has increased as well.

The hall was redecorated in February 2022, and, thanks to Rod Willis, many maintenance jobs have been and continue to be carried out at minimal cost to the Trust.

Monthly lunches for the elderly have resumed and such is the demand there is a waiting list. The table tennis club for over 50s continues to meet weekly although there are a number of members who remain reluctant to return.

Thanks

In addition to thanking Rod for undertaking maintenance jobs, the trustees wish to thank Carol Muhr who retired last November after 5 years as Centre Administrator, for stepping back into the role pending the recruitment of a replacement.

Richard Taylor, Chairman

Hertford St Andrew C of E Primary School

Love Learning. Aim High. Trust God.

Since I wrote a report in April 2021, our parish school has returned to being open full time for all children and is gradually returning to normal as the government’s restrictions have been lifted. The staff welcomed the children back, who themselves were excited to be there, seeing their teachers and friends again. It has, however, still been a challenging year for everyone, as children settled back into school and Covid was still very much around, affecting both children and staff. Before Christmas it was necessary to close Reception because of staff absences.

The focus since the return to school has been on a recovery curriculum and determining the gaps in pupils’ learning because of the coronavirus shut down. The school has focussed on securing core skills and knowledge in each year group. Mr Jones and the staff also provided an eclectic range of activities and extra-curricular pursuits, including trips and visitors to the school, to support the children’s learning and build their confidence. Visit our excellent website to read more about these:

www.hertfordstandrew.herts.sch.uk Our school continues to offer its pupils a full and enriching curriculum within a clearly Christian ethos, its leaders and staff providing a caring and nurturing environment where the children grow in confidence and are eager to learn.

As with the previous year, all SATs were cancelled for Key Stage 1 and 2, as well as the phonics screening test and the proposed Year 4 Multiplication test.

As part of the school’s continual plan to improve the environment, the hall has been redecorated and at present the school is having the much awaited, essential works to improve the hot water and heating throughout the whole school. This has caused much disruption as each class in turn, along with the classroom furniture and equipment has been moved into the hall to allow the work to be conducted. Collective worship, however, has continued with visits from Alan and Tracy, albeit in a small area of the hall.

There are currently 125 pupils on roll (Reception -Year 6) and 15 nursery pupils, an increase from 10 in September 2021 due to the capacity for taking children just turned 3 years of age. This led to the need to employ an Early Years Teacher and Early Years Practitioner to meet statutory pupil/staff ratios. The school has been fully staffed throughout the academic year. St Andrew’s continues to have a high proportion of the pupils on the SEND register (35%), eligible for Free School Meals (53%) and receiving Pupil Premium funding (56%). The Department for Education requires the Pupil Premium money to be spent on promoting the progress of disadvantaged pupils and a full analysis of how the money is spent can be found on our website. Our Pupil Premium children are making good progress because of these interventions.

Overall, the school is balancing its budget, but governors are very aware of the increasing costs (notably rising employment costs) that face all schools in both the primary and secondary sectors. Governors need to review all expenditures with great rigour when the budget for 2022/23 is set. The number of children in school, although rising, is still low and this affects the budget as the amount the school receives depends on numbers on roll. We hope that with the new housing development on Sele Farm, the successive Ofsted reports that have judged St Andrew’s as a “Good School” and the nurturing ethos of the school, more families will choose to send their children to the school

The four members of Hertford St Andrew’s congregation who are on the Governing Body i.e., Laura Ramsay, Rod Willis, Peter Murphy and Chris Seward, and our vicar, Alan, along with the other members of the Governing Body remain committed to working closely with the Headteacher and Senior Leadership Team to monitor all aspects of school life to ensure the best possible outcomes for the school. We continued to hold regular committee, full governing body (FGB) and monitoring meetings throughout this year via Zoom until March this year when we held our first FGB meeting in school. Governors have also started to conduct their monitoring visits again in person.

You can find out more about the governors and their role on the school website. Please feel free to speak to myself or any of the governors if you wish to enquire more about the school and/or the opportunities of becoming a member of our highly valued team. Currently, we do have two vacancies.

In conclusion, there is a continued emphasis on growth and improvement at Hertford St Andrew where the governors, Headteacher and staff are ambitious and committed to improving and sustaining a thriving environment for all our children. I just want to add how extremely proud the governors are of all the hard work Mr Jones and the staff have done during another challenging year.

Laura Ramsay, Chair of Governors

- Hertford and Ware Deanery Synod Annual Report of Activity in 2021

Deanery Synod met four times during 2021: on 8th February, 16th March and 12th May via Zoom, and on 23rd September in person in Holy Trinity, Bengeo.

February: Clergy Well-Being

In February the main discussion was a reflection on the General Synod Measure on Clergy Well-being and was led by The Revd Ysmena Pentelow, The Revd David Sheppard and Katy Little, an Ordinand.

March: Where are we now? Seeking the way ahead (post Covid)

The Synod considered the bishop’s document on recovering from Covid disruptions to worship – “Where are we now? Seeking the Way ahead.” The discussion was led by the Rural Dean and considered the following questions: How do we regain our confidence and hope after the virus has pulled us apart and caused wide disruption to church and society? What have we learnt from our experience of isolation, including our online presence, pastoral care and need for togetherness? What opportunities (other than restoring vital shared worship) look most important in your parish context?

May: Faith in Young People

Christian Cole, the Diocesan Youth Missioner, addressed Synod with the findings of a major piece of research conducted in the Diocese by Youthscape Centre for Research . The research was carried out in early 2020, before Covid. The report identified trends in young people’s engagement with our churches, presenting us with positive stories and a serious challenge. It was evident that the pandemic had had a significant effect on the extent to which young people were involved in the life of our churches, and therefore the report’s recommendations are all the more urgent. Many Christians report coming to faith as young people and part of our calling is to ensure that today’s young people get to hear about Jesus. To make that happen, we need to understand our context and look hard at what we can offer. Everyone is encouraged to read the report, “Faith in Young People”, available on the Deanery website under “General Papers” in the “Documents” section.

September: Deanery Vision - Facilitating Mission across 23 Parishes.

After celebrating our first in-building gathering for two years with an extended time of worship, the two main items of business of the September Synod meeting were the elections of the new Standing Committee and the new Rural Dean’s presentation of the Deanery Vision which included some of the steps that would need taking in the short term to see this vision realised. The newly elected Standing Committee was given the task of identifying and building the administrative structure in the Deanery which would enable these steps to be taken.

Our Deanery comprises 23 parishes – the two towns of Hertford and Ware and all the surrounding villages stretching from Hunsdon and Widford in the east to Essendon in the west; from Newgate Street in the south to Aston and High Cross in the north. The Synod and its various officers, committees and teams work to provide practical, financial and spiritual support to the parishes of the Deanery as they seek to conduct their mission and ministry for the glory of God. We are also the link with the Diocesan Synod which makes wider decisions about mission and ministry in our area, and, through Diocesan Synod, we are linked with the national General Synod.

Other News

During the year – The Revd Canon Jo Loveridge stood down as Rural Dean and The Revd Mark Dunstan took over as Rural Dean with Revd Ysmena Pentelow becoming Assistant Rural Dean. Revd Doug Loveridge stood down as Secretary, and with the permission of Synod, the post of secretary was filled by Marion Little from St Mary’s Ware (but not a member of Synod). Diana Perkins continues as Lay Chair until 2024 and Janet Bird continues as Treasurer.

Elections to Diocesan Synod and General Synod were also conducted this year. Our Diocesan Synod currently has two vacancies in the house of laity and two vacancies in the house of clergy.

Grant applications from St John the Baptist, Gt Amwell, and Christ Church, Ware, were supported by the Deanery and approved by the relevant Diocesan committee. This will help continue and enhance mission and ministry in these parishes over the coming year. Parishes are encouraged to apply for small “kickstart” grants from special Diocesan funds, either to restart initiatives which have closed because of Covid or to start new ones. There is a link for more information (including an application form) on the Deanery website under “General Papers” in the “Documents” section.

The Deanery Synod provides a website for information about parishes and churches and our joint mission to Live God’s Love. It is hoped this will be developed over time. Your suggestions would be most welcome.

We are currently looking for volunteers for a series of project teams to help the parishes face the challenges of the next few years. The teams will be looking at:

Social Action,
Environmental Concerns,
New Housing Developments,
Pioneer Ministry and Reaching New People “where they are”,

Ecumenical Partnerships, and
Communications

If you have interest and/or expertise in any of these areas, please do get in touch.

Marion Little Deanery Secretary www.hertfordandwaredeanery.org.uk

[Type text]

HERTFORD ST ANDREW

Charity No 1132540

Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Parochial Church Council for the year ended 31 December 2021

Team Vicar: Reverend Alan Stewart 7 Elizabeth Close Hertford SG14 2DB Bank: Barclays Bank plc 78 Turners Hill Cheshunt EN8 9BW

Independent Examiner: Mr John Alflatt 111 Star Street Ware SG12 7AQ

Honorary Treasurer: Mrs Debbie Hartnett 5 Woodville Place Hertford SG14 3NX

HERTFORD ST ANDREW PCC

REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2021

CONTENTS
	Page
HONORARY TREASURER’S REPORT	1
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT	3
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES	4
BALANCE SHEET	5
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS	6 - 13

HONORARY TREASURER’S REPORT

This report should be read in conjunction with the Parish Annual Report, produced for circulation at the Annual General Meeting, which summarises the main activities of the parish during 2021.

The format of the accounts is the same as last year, as required by the Church Accounting Regulations 2006. The Statement of Financial Activities on page 4 summarises the income and expenditure for the year (separately detailed in Notes 2 and 3 respectively). The balance sheet on page 5 shows the assets and liabilities of the PCC and how these are apportioned between various types of fund.

Summary of 2021

The main headlines for 2021 are:

we are reporting a deficit of £-105 this year in our general funds; this is a very positive outcome during a year where Covid lockdowns resulted in lower collections and cancelled events, specifically:
a. £-3.7k lost income from collections and events due to the closure of the church during the 2021 lockdowns as a result of COVID, partially offset by rental income from the St Andrew’s Trust
b. £-1.7k additional church maintenance work including a mandatory electrical survey
c. £+2.0k legacy received during the year without restrictions, thus enabling the PCC to use it as support for our general funds in, what was, a difficult year
d. £+3.3k savings in church running costs during the church closure, increased investment income and increased fee income from weddings in 2021
this small deficit will be covered by our existing general reserve which is now £32,900
our designated reserves decreased during the year by £-0.4k due to expending the £-1.0k legacy for a new bench offset by planned giving for the Restoration Reserve of £+0.6k
our restricted reserves increased during the year by £15.7k, mainly as a result of a generous £10k legacy for our Youth Work Fund and the creation of our Clock Repair Fund for which we have received grant income of £5.2k and individual donations of £0.2k
our youth worker, Tracy, is fully funded by our congregation and St Mary’s Hertingfordbury; we now have sufficient pledged funding until August 2023 as a result of the legacy above
lost cash collections during the lockdowns in 2021 have been replaced in part by new online donations through our website, text giving during online zoom services and continued use of the contactless device at the back of the church; planned giving by standing order or online from within our congregation has decreased very slightly year on year but it is thanks to the continued generosity of our congregation that we are able to report this much better than expected deficit.

The detail for 2021

The accounts for 2021 show total income of £173,407 (2020: £153,007). Total expenditure in the year was £158,245 (2020: £154,129).

The 2021 net increase in funds of £46,618 (2020: £13,723) consists of the following:

Day to Day General Fund – net spend of £(105): .As already outlined, our cash collections, planned giving and events income decreased during the year, running costs reduced during the church lockdown, we received a generous legacy, but we carried out several essential maintenance works during the year. We are planning a break even budget for 2022 which will be achievable if the church can re-open fully.

Designated Funds – net spend of £(400): We spent the £1k legacy we received in 2020 on a bench as requested and we received a further £0.6k of donations towards church restoration. The church’s Restoration Reserve is currently £21,085.

Restricted Funds – net income of £15,667: this is the sum of the movement on the various restricted funds in the year. Note 11 provides the detail. We received another generous legacy towards our Youth Work and we have created two new reserves for the clock and organ repair work.

Endowment Funds – net income of £31,456: endowment funds show total gains on investments of £31,456 (2020: £14,845).

Income (Note 2):

Incoming resources from donors in 2021 of £146,274 reflects the generosity of our congregation in supporting the everyday running of the church as well as raising funds for our Youth Worker and includes two legacies.
Planned giving through the Church Membership Fund has decreased very slightly year on year and totalled £93,728 in 2021 (2020: £93,875) including tax to be reclaimed.
£33,869 (including gift aid) was given to our Youth Worker Fund through planned giving, donations and a legacy in 2021.
£5,392 has been raised for the Clock Repair Fund in 2021, with £5,200 coming from grants.

Expenditure (Note 3):

The 2021 Diocesan Parish Share was £76,683 (2020: £80,296) and was paid in full.
For 2022 the Parish Share decreases slightly to £76,560 a decrease of 0.16% (compared to a 2.99% decrease across the Hertford & Ware Deanery).
The Parish Share includes two thirds of a stipend portion for our Team Vicar; the other third is paid by St Mary’s Hertingfordbury.
Mission giving totalled £8,526 (2020: £8,840) and this is detailed in Note 4. The PCC’s policy is for mission giving of 12% of unrestricted planned giving each year.
Children & Youth Ministry costs amounted to £23,714 (2020: £22,859). Tracy’s role is fully funded from the generosity of our congregation, with funding secured until 2023.

Funds (Notes 10, 11 and 12):

Unrestricted funds decreased by £505, due to the £-0.1k decrease in the day to day general funds, as well as a £0.4 decrease in Designated Reserves.
Of these unrestricted funds, £21,085 remains designated for future Restoration work as identified in the 2020 Quinquennial Report.
It is PCC policy to try to maintain a balance on unrestricted funds which equates to at least 12 weeks of unrestricted payments; it is held to smooth out fluctuations in cash flow and to meet emergencies. This is equivalent to £30,000. The Unrestricted General Fund is currently £32,900 and is therefore in line with this policy.
Restricted funds total £46,415 (2020: £30,748) as detailed in Note 11, with the Youth Fund holding the majority of this.
Endowment funds increased by £31,456 to £467,720 (2020: £436,264) due to the increase in the value of Calton Avenue and the increase in the value of investments held by the Central Board of Finance.

As always, the PCC wish to thank all those who have given financially during another difficult lockdown year, it is very much appreciated.

Debbie Hartnett - Honorary Treasurer

10[th] February 2022

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE PCC OF HERTFORD ST ANDREW

This report on the financial statements of the PCC for the year ended 31 December 2021, which are set out on pages 4 to 13, is in respect of an examination carried out in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 (“the Regulations”) and Section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

Respective responsibilities of the PCC and the examiner

As members of the PCC you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements; you consider that the audit requirement of Regulations and Section 144(2) of the Act do not apply. It is my responsibility to issue this report on those accounts in accordance with the terms of the Regulations.

Basis of this report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission under Section 145(5)(b) of the Act and to be found in the Church guidance, 2006 edition. That examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the PCC and a comparison of the accounts with those records. It also includes considering any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from you as 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 an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.

Independent examiner's statement

In connection with the examination, no matter has come to my attention:

(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respects the requirements

to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 130 of the Act; and
to prepare financial statements, which accord with the accounting records and to comply with the requirements of the Act and the Regulations have not been met; or

(2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

John Alflatt Independent Examiner Dated 6[th] March 2022

HERTFORD ST ANDREW PCC

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES Year ended 31 December 2021

Note Unrestricted Funds £ Designated Funds £ INCOMING RESOURCES Incoming resource from donors2(a) 106,413 600 Activities for generating funds 2(b) 3,491 888 Income from church activities 2(c) 3,389 - Income from investments 2(d) 17,380 - Other incoming resources 2(e) 1,600 -	Note Unrestricted Funds £ Designated Funds £ INCOMING RESOURCES Incoming resource from donors2(a) 106,413 600 Activities for generating funds 2(b) 3,491 888 Income from church activities 2(c) 3,389 - Income from investments 2(d) 17,380 - Other incoming resources 2(e) 1,600 -	Note Unrestricted Funds £ Designated Funds £ INCOMING RESOURCES Incoming resource from donors2(a) 106,413 600 Activities for generating funds 2(b) 3,491 888 Income from church activities 2(c) 3,389 - Income from investments 2(d) 17,380 - Other incoming resources 2(e) 1,600 -	Restricted Funds £ Endowment Funds £ 39,261 - 160 - 225 - - - - -	Restricted Funds £ Endowment Funds £ 39,261 - 160 - 225 - - - - -
















Total Incoming Resources	132,273	1,488	39,646	-
RESOURCES EXPENDED Church activities 3(a) Costs of generating funds 3(b)	131,772 606	1,000 888	23,979 -	- -






Total Resources Expended	132,378	1,888	23,979	-

NET INCOMING
/(OUTGOING) RESOURCES FOR THE YEAR	(105)	(400)	15,667	-

Gains/(Losses) on investments: Unrealised - Calton Ave - investments 6(a) 6(b) NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS Funds brought forward at 1 January 2021	- - (105) 33,005	- - (400) 21,485	- - 15,667 30,748	7,231 24,225 31,456 436,264













Funds carried forward at
31 December 2021	32,900	21,085	46,415	467,720

HERTFORD ST ANDREW PCC

BALANCE SHEET As at 31 December 2021

Note FIXED ASSETS Tangible fixed assets 6(a) Investment assets 6(b) CURRENT ASSETS Debtors 7 Short term deposits Cash at bank CREDITORS: amounts falling due within one year 8 NET CURRENT ASSETS NET ASSETS FUNDS Unrestricted: - general - designated 9/10 Restricted 11 Endowment 12	31 December 2021 £	31 December 2021 £	31 December 2020 £ 267,783 168,481 436,264 32,326 48,553 8,127 89,006 (3,768)	31 December 2020 £ 267,783 168,481 436,264 32,326 48,553 8,127 89,006 (3,768)
		2021
		£

		275,014
		192,706

				436,264
		467,720

				32,326 48,553 8,127

		33,397
		57,570
		16,608

				89,006 (3,768)
		107,575

		(7,175)

				85,238
		100,400

				521,502

		568,120

				33,005 21,485


		32,900
		21,085

				54,490 30,748 436,264
		53,985
		46,415
		467,720

				521,502
		568,120

The financial statements were approved by the Parochial Church Council on 26[th] April 2022 and signed on its behalf by

Rev H A. Stewart – Team Vicar

The notes on pages 6 to 13 form part of these accounts.

HERTFORD ST ANDREW PCC

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 together with applicable accounting standards and the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice 2005.

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention except for the valuation of fixed assets, which are shown at market value (investments) or insurance value (8 Calton Avenue).

The particular accounting policies adopted by the PCC are described below.

Funds

Unrestricted funds represent the funds of the PCC that are not subject to any restrictions regarding their use and are available for application on the general purposes of the PCC. Funds designated for a particular purpose by the PCC are also unrestricted.

The accounts include all transactions, assets and liabilities for which the PCC is responsible in law. They do not include the accounts of church groups that owe their main affiliations to another body (e.g. Mothers Union) nor those that are informal gatherings of Church members.

Incoming Resources

Collections are recognised when received by or on behalf of the PCC. Planned giving receivable under Gift Aid is recognised only when it is received. Income tax recoverable on Gift Aid donations is accrued when the income is recognised. Grants and legacies to the PCC are accounted for as soon as the PCC is notified of its legal entitlement and the amount due.

Rental income is recognised when the rental income is due. Dividends and interest income are accounted for when receivable. Unrealised gains and losses are accounted for on revaluation of investments at 31 December.

Resources Expended

Grants and donations are accounted for when the decision to make the grant has been taken. The Diocesan Parish Share is accounted for when payable.

Fixed Assets

Consecrated and beneficed property is excluded from the accounts under Section 96(2) of the Charities Act. No value is placed on moveable church furnishings held by the churchwardens on special trust for the PCC and which require a faculty for disposal since the PCC consider this to be inalienable property.

Investments are shown at market value at 31 December. 8 Calton Ave is valued based upon that used for insurance purposes.

Current Assets

Amounts owing to the PCC at 31 December in respect of fees, rent or other income are shown as debtors. Short-term deposits include cash held on deposit either with the Central Board of Finance of the Church of England or at the bank.

HERTFORD ST ANDREW PCC

2. INCOMING RESOURCES

Unrestricted Funds £ *2(a) Incoming resources from donors* Planned giving: - gift aided 72,028 - tax recoverable 18,007 - other 3,693 Cash collections at all services 4,922 Tax recoverable on cash collections 1,238 Grants received - Sundry donations: - legacies 2,000 - gift aided 2,435 - tax recoverable 609 - other 1,481 106,413 *2(b) Activities for generating funds* Fundraising Events (see note 13a) - Church Events (see note 13b) 3,491 3,491 *2(c) Income from church activities* St Andrew’s Toddler Group - Sele Farm Toddler Group - Holiday at Home Club - Fees 3,389 3,389 *2(d) Income from investments* Dividends 4,897 Interest 17 Rental Income (Calton Avenue) 12,466 17,380 *2(e) Other incoming resources* Magazine advertising 433 Sundry items 1,167 1,600 TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES 132,273 2020 123,880	Designated Funds £ 480 120 - - - - - - - - - 600 888 - 888 - - - - - - - - - - - -	Restricted Funds £ 14,593 3,648 2,620 - - 5,200 10,000 70 2,518 612 39,261 160 - 160 225 - - - 225 - - - - - - -	Total Funds 2021 £ Total Funds 2020 £ 87,101 89,994 21,775 22,498 6,313 6,720 4,922 2,755 1,238 689 5,200 - 12,000 1,000 2,505 7,147 3,127 1,787 2,093 761 146,274 133,351 1,048 700 3,491 376 4,539 1,076 225 - - 90 - 125 3,389 1,660 3,614 1,875 4,897 4,729 17 153 12,466 10,611 17,380 15,493 433 415 1,167 797 1,600 1,212 173,407 153,007 153,007













			133,351


			700 376




			1,076


			- 90 125 1,660






			1,875


			4,729 153 10,611





			15,493


			415 797




			1,212


			153,007

132,273	1,488	39,646
123,880	2,300	26,827

HERTFORD ST ANDREW PCC

3. RESOURCES EXPENDED

3. RESOURCES EXPENDED	3. RESOURCES EXPENDED
Unrestricted Funds £ *3(a) Church activities* Missionary and charitable giving: - overseas (Note 4) 5,226 - home (Note 4) 3,300 8,526 Ministry: Diocesan Parish Share 76,683 Clergy expenses 2,177 Services 598 Organ, choir and music 6,096 Children & Youth Ministry - St Andrew’s Toddler group - Sele Farm Toddler Group - Church running expenses 10,801 Church maintenance 10,681 Transaction fees 171 Printing and stationery (including parish office costs) 12,588 Church magazine & website costs 1,971 Sundry 1,480 131,772 *3(b) Costs of generating funds* Calton Avenue expenses 376 Fundraising costs (see note 13a) - Church Events costs (see note 13b) 230 606 TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED 132,378 2020 128,485		Designated Funds £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1,000 1,000 - 888 888	Restricted Funds £ Total Funds 2021 £ Total Funds 2020 £ - 5,226 5,340 - 3,300 3,500 - 8,526 8,840 - 76,683 80,296 - 2,177 2,509 - 598 407 - 6,096 5,411 23,714 23,714 22,859 265 265 1,800 - - 160 - 10,801 10,381 - 10,681 2,494 - 171 112 - 12,588 11,802 - 1,971 1,363 - 2,480 700 23,979 156,751 149,134 - 376 4,295 - 888 700 230 - - 1,494 4,995 23,979 158,245 154,129 24,944 154,129
				8,840 80,296 2,509 407 5,411 22,859 1,800 160 10,381 2,494 112 11,802 1,363 700
				149,134
				4,295 700 -
				4,995
				154,129
	132,378	1,888	23,979
	128,485	700	24,944

These expenditure lines contain a contribution from the St Andrew’s Trust of £3,847 in total to cover the costs incurred by the PCC for the running costs of the Centre.

HERTFORD ST ANDREW PCC

4. MISSIONARY AND CHARITABLE GIVING

Overseas relief and development agencies: Living Hope International Tear Fund International Health Partners Vaccinaid (Unicef) Latin Link Christian Solidarity Worldwide Tap Twinning Home mission and other churches: Young Life Hertford Welcomes Syrian Families Future Hope Bridge Builders Trust The Children’s Society Christians Against Poverty		2021 £ 5,226 3,300 8,526	£ 1,600 1,000 700 - 750 750 540 2,000 500 500 - - 500	2020 £ 5,340 3,500
	£

	1,600
	1,000
	1,000
	876
	750
	-
	-


	1,800
	600
	400
	400
	100
	-


				8,840

These amounts have been designated from the 2021 budget and will be expended in 2022.

5. SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

The amounts listed below have been collected on behalf of other charities either through collections or from Saturday coffee mornings, the PCC acting as an agent for these charities.

Special Collections Bishops Harvest Appeal Shelter/Shelterbox (Advent collection) Stevenage Haven Cruse Bereavement Herts Young Homeless Macmillan (for Lister Cancer Unit) Dementia UK Isobel Hospice Cancer Research British Heart Foundation Coffee mornings Royal British Legion International Health Partners Isobel Hospice Macmillan Australian Bush Appeal Mudlarks	2021 £ 100 165 55 400 200 46 305 - - - 113 250 300 225 - - 2,159	2020 £ 226 55 - - - - - 82 345 5 - - - - 200 200
		1,113

Due to the prolonged COVID lockdown in 2021, collections and coffee mornings were severely affected.

HERTFORD ST ANDREW PCC

6 FIXED ASSETS

6(a) Tangible fixed assets

*angible fixed assets*
Net book value brought forward at 1 January Gain in the year Net book value carried forward at 31 December	2021 £ 267,783 7,231 275,014	2020 £ 263,821 3,962 267,783

This represents the freehold of 8 Calton Ave, Hertford. The original cost of this property was £6,500. The book value is based upon the value estimated at 1 August 2021 by the PCC for insurance purposes.

6(b) Investments

Net book value brought forward at 1 January Profit in the year Net book value carried forward at 31 December	2021 £ 168,481 24,225 192,706	2020 £ 157,598 10,883 168,481

This represents 8,240 shares in the CBF’s Investment Fund (historical cost £10,082).

7. DEBTORS

Income tax recoverable Prepayments and accrued income Sundry debtor – St Andrew’s Trust * Sundry debtor – St Mary’s Church	2021 £ 26,264 642 5,847 644 33,397	2020 £ 29,664 1,478 - 1,184 --- 32,326

Prepayments include a £500 deposit for a church away day in 2022.

** The St Andrew’s Trust contributed £3,847 (2020: £3,449 settled within the year 2020) to cover the costs incurred by the PCC for the running costs of the Centre. In addition the St Andrew’s Trust have distributed £2,000 of rental income to the PCC for the use of the church building for their activities in 2021

8. CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR

Accruals PAYE and NI Creditor Other creditors	2021 £ 4,634 1,129 1,412 7,175	2020 £ 2,616 1,072 80 3,768

HERTFORD ST ANDREW PCC

9. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BY FUND

ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BY FUND
Unrestricted Funds £ Restricted Funds £ Fixed assets - - Current assets 58,733 48,842 Current liabilities (4,748) (2,427) 53,985 46,415	Endowment Funds £ 467,720 - - 467,720
		Total
		£
		467,720
		107,575
		(7,175)

		568,120

10. UNRESTRICTED FUNDS

10. UNRESTRICTED FUNDS
Brought forward at 1 January 2021 Incoming resources Resources expended	Undesignated Designated General Fund £ Restoration/ Legacy Reserve £ 33,005 21,485 132,273 1,488 (132,378) (1,888)		Total Unrestricted Funds £ 54,490 133,761 (134,266)
Carried forward at 31 December 2021	32,900	21,085	53,985

The designated funds are set aside by the PCC for particular purposes. These funds may at any time be re-designated by the PCC and therefore the designation does not prevent the funds being spent on any other purpose.

The designated Reserve included a £1,000 legacy received in 2020 which has been expended during the year.

11. RESTRICTED FUNDS

Youth Work Fund Church Events Fund Clock Repair Fund Toddler Group Luncheon Club Holiday at Home Sele Farm Toddlers Organ Repair Fund Choir Fund		Brought forward 1 January £ 22,437 6,875 - 293 294 241 390 - 218 30,748		Incoming resources £ 33,869 - 5,392 225 - - - 160 - 39,646		Resources expended £ (23,714) - - (265) - - - - - (23,979)		Carried
								forward
								31 Dec
								£

								32,592
								6,875
								5,392
								253
								294
								241
								390
								160
								218


								46,415

These funds are given to the PCC for specific purposes and it is the duty of the PCC to ensure that the money is spent only in that area.

HERTFORD ST ANDREW PCC

12. ENDOWMENT FUNDS

12. ENDOWMENT FUNDS
Brought forward at 1 January 2021 Profit / (Loss) in the year	Jolland £ 284,488 9,633	Wallis £ 4,867 699	Fryer £ 146,909 21,124	Total £ 436,264 31,456
Carried forward at 31 December 2021	294,121	5,565	168,033	467,720

The Jolland and Fryer funds must be retained by the PCC for furthering the religious and other charitable work of the Church of England in the Ecclesiastical Parish of St Andrew, Hertford. They are retained in the form of investments (producing dividend income) and property (producing rental income). The Wallis fund is retained for maintenance of church lighting.

13. SUNDRY MATTERS

13(a) Restoration Reserve

There is £21,085 in the Restoration Reserve as at 31[st] December 2021.

	Brought forward at 1 January 2021 Income Other Donations Gift Aid on legacy and donations	Restoration Reserve £ 20,485 480 120

	Carried forward at 31 December 2021	21,085

The 2020 Quinquennial Report has indicated some repairs are needed over the next 5 years and the PCC will designate funds for repairs from the Restoration Reserve with the intention of completing the most urgent repairs as soon as possible and, thereafter, continuing a cycle of work over the next 5 years. In addition the church organ needs some deep cleaning and the tower clock is in need of repair, but both will be managed through a combination of grants and utilising this reserve.

13(b) Church Events

After a long break, we resumed our monthly coffee mornings in September 2021 where the PCC retains 50% of funds raised which meant the PCC received £758 in 2021.

We also received £2,264 in church rental income, of which £2,000 was from the St Andrew’s Trust.

We were able to hold our annual Beer & Carols event which raised £240 after accounting for costs and donating to Herts Young Homeless.

We have a church events restricted fund of £6,875 to be used as working capital for the next Beer Festival, which had to be postponed in 2020.

HERTFORD ST ANDREW PCC

13(c) Letting of 8 Calton Avenue

Rental income is received in relation to 8 Calton Avenue. The property has been let at market rate since September 2016.

13(d) Staff costs

During the year the PCC received the services of the following:

Director of Music who received £3,000 (2020: £3,000).
Parish Administrator who received £9,126 (2020: £9,419 including overtime).
Youth Worker who received £21,385 (2020: £21,082).
Assistant Parish Administrator who received £423 (2020: £-)

Hertford St Andrew PCC has three staff members who are enrolled in a Church of England pension scheme called The Church Workers Pension Fund (Pension Builder 2014)

Under Financial Reporting Standard 102, we are required to report on the pension as follows:

The Church Workers Pension Builder 2014 is a cash balance scheme that provides a lump sum which members use to provide benefits at retirement. Pension contributions are recorded in an account for each member. This account may have bonuses added by the Pension Board before retirement. The bonuses depend on investment experience and other factors. There is no requirement for the Board to grant any bonuses. The account, plus any bonuses declared, is payable from members’ Normal Pension Age.

There is no sub-division of assets between employers in each section of the Pension Builder Scheme.

The scheme is considered to be a multi-employer scheme as described in Section 28 of FRS 102. This is because it is not possible to attribute the Pension Builder Scheme’s assets and liabilities to specific employers and means that contributions are accounted for as if the Scheme were a defined contribution scheme. The pensions costs charged to the P&L in the year are the contributions payable (2021: £7,215 which includes AVCs for one employee, 2020: £2,884).

A valuation of the Pension Builder Scheme is carried out once every three years. The most recent was carried out as at 31 December 2019. The next valuation is due at 31 December 2022.

For the Pension Builder 2014 section, the valuation revealed a surplus of £5.5m on the on-going assumptions used. There is no requirement for deficit payments at the current time.

The legal structure of the scheme is such that if another employer fails, Hertford St Andrew PCC could become responsible for paying a share of that employer’s pension liabilities.

14. ST ANDREW’S CENTRE

The St Andrew’s Centre is run by the St Andrew’s Trust, a charitable organisation, in which the PCC holds 100% shareholding. The St Andrew’s Trust prepare their own accounts and are not included in this set of accounts, except for the contribution of £3,847 from the Trust towards the running costs of the Centre incurred by the PCC and £2,000 from the Trust for the use of the church building during 2021. In addition the following staff are included on the church payroll but fully funded by the Trust:

Cleaner who received £1,820 (2020: £1,820)
Administrator who received £2,831 (2020: £2,577)
New administrator who received £423 (2020: £-).

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE PCC OF HERTFORD ST ANDREW

Respective responsibilities of the PCC and the examiner

Basis of this report

Independent examiner's statement

In connection with the examination, no matter has come to my attention:

(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respects the requirements

to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 130 of the Act; and
to prepare financial statements, which accord with the accounting records and to comply with the requirements of the Act and the Regulations have not been met; or

(2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

John Alflatt Independent Examiner Dated 6[th] March 2022