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← The Parochial Church Council Of The Ecclesiastical Parish Of Buckland Monachorum

2024-12-31-accounts

ST ANDREW’S CHURCH BUCKLAND MONACHORUM WITH THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SPIRIT MILTON COMBE

Annual Report of the Parochial Church Council

For the year ended 31[st] December 2024

Website: bucklandchurchdevon.co.uk

Charity No.

Diocese of Exeter 1132573

Aims and Purposes

There are two churches in our parish and the Parochial Church Council includes representation from both. The Vicar, Andrew Bowden, along with the Associate Minister Andrew Farmer and the PCC, aspires to extend the ministry and teaching to the wider parish community of 2077 people (2021 census).

When planning our activities for the year, the incumbent and the PCC have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and in particular, the specific guidance on charities for the advancement of religion.

As the churches of Milton Combe and Buckland Monachorum, we are a community of imperfect people, passionate about a perfect saviour, Jesus Christ! In light of that we endeavour to look in two directions:"

“Living in community as God’s people; serving the wider community in God’s world”

The above have been met in various ways, and include the following:

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To facilitate this work, it is important that we maintain the fabric of both churches in Buckland Monachorum and Milton Combe.

a) ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE 2024

Guidelines and Policy documents:

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  1. This is in accordance with the House of Bishops Guidance. There have been no incidents to report in 2024

  2. iv) A Privacy Statement covering how the church handles personal data is now added to our website, in line with current legislation.

  3. v) A Domestic Abuse Statement – as with all the above policies, we take this matter seriously; our statement can be found on our website.

Safeguarding

St Andrew’s Church, Buckland Monachorum, and the Church of the Holy Spirit, Milton Combe continues to place Safeguarding as a high priority under the guidance from ‘Promoting a Safer Church 2017. The PCC fully acknowledge that they have a responsibility to support, protect and safeguard all, but in particular the vulnerable, young children and the youth.

To support this, a culture of prevention, support and guidance is central and all who work with children and young people, as well as those who support the vulnerable, are recruited in accordance with the Diocesan Safer Recruitment guidance. All recruits are fully DBS checked and are given support and training for their role.

Review of Safeguarding Action Plan 2024

The Safeguarding Action Plan was presented to the PCC by the Parish Safeguarding Officer in January 2024 where it was approved. A mid-year review was undertaken in July and reported to the PCC. Progress on this action plan was reported at each PCC meeting throughout the year.

Progress made on the Areas for Action 2024 : Parish Dashboard:

The Introduction of the National Safeguarding Standards and Quality assurance Framework looking at

‘How good is our safeguarding activity?”:

Provide resources, advice and direction to the PCC on Domestic Abuse:

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DBS/Training:

Monitoring procedures:

Other issues:

b) OUTREACH TO THE COMMUNITY – This is shown in the following reports:

Charleston Friendship Cafe

The Charleston Friendship Cafe once again had a busy and productive 2024 offering a varied range of fun and activities to our ‘friends’. We welcomed new members and so as a group we continue to grow. We have a team of ‘helpers’ who continue to provide us with invaluable help and support and we are so lucky to have them. They ‘muck in’ with getting the hall ready, making the refreshments, joining in the activities and helping to clear away. Not sure how we would cope without them.

We are self-financing but ask for voluntary contributions from our ‘friends’ to help pay for the village hall hire and running costs. We no longer can provide transport as the hire of the minibus was not viable. Once again, our team stepped up and now collects some who live out of the immediate vicinity. Those living further afield use Yelvecare.

Our fortnightly sessions are a valuable time for friendship, chatting and reminiscing about a wide range of things; armchair Pilates to strengthen our bodies, activities to exercise our minds, creative activities as well as lots of singing. Not forgetting the tea, wonderful cake and lots and lots of laughter!!

Our group participated in a real range of activities in 2024. We travelled to Scotland (in our armchairs) to experience the wonders Scotland has to offer, participated in our own highland games, eaten oatcakes and shortbread and heard the words of Burns. World Turtle Day was celebrated as well as World Chocolate Day and World Kindness Day. Other sessions included experiencing what it is like to be left-handed, pizza making, and decorating Easter biscuits. Keith Topham led our Christmas craft session: making clocks from old CD’s. The outcomes were very impressive, and all seemed to enjoy making them.

Our Christmas party was great fun, and we were entertained with songs and carols from the Beehive Nursery and the choir at St Andrew’s school. At times there wasn’t a dry eye in the house as we listened to them!!

We have lots planned for 2025, and as always offer a warm welcome to anyone who wants company and laughter or just wants to see what we do. Trish Topham

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Support in the Community

Several members of the church family support both the Buckland Cares Group that run the Food Hub, and also the Play Café which runs weekly during term time for parents and carers of pre-school children.

Milton Combe Church Roof Fundraising

The repair of Milton Combe church roof was required to be done urgently. A twelve-month timescale was set with monthly fundraising events taking place. It was agreed that a purpose and mission be established and that this would need to engage the local community as well as the church family. It was also considered that it should not be purely about the fundraising but that all the events should bring the both the church and the village together with the aim of maintaining this beautiful historical building in good repair.

Over the year several events were planned, such as a Murder & Mystery Evening and the Milton Combe Piano festival. A special evening was hosted by the local pub and the delicious meal cooked by our local celebrity chef, Peter Gorton. There was also an auction of promises, a table tennis tournament and many more equally enjoyable events. We are extremely grateful to the ‘Who’d a Thought It' pub and the ‘Village Hall’ for enabling several events to take place.

Amazingly over forty thousand pounds was raised. That included many very generous personal donations and some grant funding that had been secured. Overall, it has been a wonderful celebration of what can be achieved with local people working together for a common goal. There was excellent collaboration between the church and the local community. Thanks go to all who played a part in making this happen, especially to Bill Houldsworth and Roger Watkins for driving it forward .

Community Carols

For the fourth year we hosted ‘Community Carols’, and for the first time, hosted the event in the grounds of St Andrew’s Church in Buckland Monachorum. As this event had previously been held in the Meadows (behind the church), a new Risk Assessment was produced. Around 100, brave individuals of all ages joined us for the event. We were very grateful that the Tavistock Stannary Brass Band were able to join us, leading the music as we sang carols together. The evening also included a few readings; contemporary poetry as well as Bible readings, read by members of the church and the village community. At the end of the event, refreshments were served at The Drake Manor Inn: roasted chestnuts, mince pies and mulled wine. We were very thankful to Mandy and Garth (from the Inn) for partnering with us in this way.

Links with St Andrew’s Primary School

St Andrew ’s Church continued to support St Andrew ’s School financially, physically and spiritually during 2024.

During the academic Year we said goodbye to Sarah Lakey who had been our Headteacher for just over 4 years. Sarah had accepted a post with Exeter Diocese, starting at Easter which is good for us in that we don’t completely lose touch with Sarah who has provided a very strong lead for our school team. Unfortunately, this came at an awkward time for us as we were embarking upon the first stages of joining a Multi- Academy Trust (MAT). The MAT which the governors decided upon was the Learning Academy Partnership (LAP). This has within it, several schools mainly across South and West Devon and some schools just over the border in North Cornwall.

Sarah agreed to cover the transition period of the Summer Term, and the Diocese supported this. We did appoint a new Headteacher and Sarah, in her new role with the Diocese and representation from the LAP team, assisted governors with the new appointment. Deborah Nunn was our newly appointed headteacher and she started with us at the start of this Academic Year in September. We welcomed her to our Church Family in October within a special commissioning service within St Andrews Church which was watched by the whole school.

The school continues to use the facilities of the church on a regular basis, and we had a full program of events which involved staff, children and parents over the Autumn Term. The major events being Harvest in September and presentations by both KS1 children and KS2 children as part of Christmas celebrations. Both

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Key stages gave 3 performances: a Dress Rehearsal for the rest of the school and an afternoon and evening performance for parents and family members.

The KS1 performance involved a Drama in Betlehem with the Bethlehem Police there to ensure the event was well policed as there were ‘a lot of people around at the time!’ KS2 gave us a series of choir pieces, some traditional, some new with readings between - and again this was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Governors (almost all of which are from our two churches) have still a lot of involvement with the school as outlined in Autumn Term and they are finding their way, (along with teachers and staff) with the Academy structure, which is a different approach for us all. We are on stream with most Academy procedures and training now – and because we are in transition with a new headteacher, Deborah Nunn, it has been agreed that we as governors and staff should be largely St. Andrews based before becoming members of the West Devon Hub, which at his stage includes, Lamerton, Gulworthy and Lifton Primary Schools. Many of our ‘governing team’; remain with us for this transition phase and onward as we become part of the ‘Hub Governance team’.

We have all been into schools for our school events as well as being involved as governors carrying out our role supporting the school, staff and events. Many of us have already undertaken formal visits as part of teams looking at Curriculum, RE and moral education, which with this Academy it has a strong focus on Ethos as part of its core values, for which the Diocese has a guiding and overarching role.

Terry West, Governor

Outreach Magazine

The magazine is a wonderful vehicle for the church, in reaching the community. It is independently funded by subscriptions and advertising, that covers the cost of production. It is expertly edited by Becky Butland with two of the church members dealing with the many advertisers and finances and the distribution is undertaken by other members of the church. The content of the magazine is very varied and includes much about church activity, links with the other organisations and articles about events within the parish.

c) GENERAL CHURCH ACTIVITY

Pastoral Care

The Pastoral Care Team seeks to be the hands and feet of our Lord, primarily within our church family, but also in our community. We are a small core team and a wider group who all seek to care and support those in need in practical ways. We continue to have a team of willing cooks who have supported people in need, with meals during the year. We also have several people who support with offering lifts to services when needed. In addition, we have continued to give Andy Bowden welcome packs to give out when he visits newcomers to our church and local area.

We liaise with the Prayer Chain and are always grateful when we are made aware of needs that we can support. We can be contacted by speaking to Andy Bowden or Andy Farmer or one of the Team, or by emailing at:pastoralcare@bucklandchurchdevon.co.uk

Children and Youthwork Reports - Continued nurturing of our Young People, are seen in the following reports.

Children, including community outreach.

This group continues to meet each Sunday morning except the first Sunday of the month when the children remain with the rest of the church family for the ‘All Age Service’. Three leaders from the team run the session in Buckland chapel hall, ensuring the safeguarding policy is adhered to and any issues are reported back to Tom Watson and/or the Parish Safeguarding Lead (PSL).

Throughout the year, STAX (children’s group) varied their Sunday teaching programme, sometimes linking in with the wider church family, sometimes not. Over the course of the year they looked at Jesus’ parables in Matthew, Paul’s letter to the Romans and spent a month exploring themes in Psalm 139. At Easter the children followed the ‘ Faith in Kids ’ resource: ‘Easter Explained’, which took them through John’s account of

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the events leading up to and including Jesus’ death and resurrection. Towards the end of the year the children followed up the previous year’s teaching series called ‘Who am I?’ with part two of the series, called, ‘Growing Up’. This covered themes around God’s design, purpose and intentions for our bodies, our gender and marriage among other topics. This provided an opportunity to look at these ever-present issues from a biblical perspective in an age-appropriate way.

On Easter Saturday morning, a drop-in event was organised for children and their parents. The children made a chocolate cornflake nest and coloured their own cupcake holder while their parents had a cup of coffee. Not knowing how many would come, it turned out to be a lovely morning seeing about 30 people across the time with parents and children coming from the school, village and wider area. With this being well received, the plan is to run something similar again this year with a larger team to be able to offer a few more crafts and conversation for those who come along.

In July, as part of the church’s summer camp, children from STAX were led by Andy Bowden and Rachel Corness through the story of Jonah. With Halloween falling in the October half term, we used the usual ‘Dangerous Club’ slot in school before half term, to have a ‘Light’ themed Dangerous Club which built on the ‘Pumpkin Story’ which some of the children heard in October’s All Age Service.

On Christmas Eve, instead of the traditional Christingle service, we held a ‘DIY dress up nativity’ aimed primarily at children and young families. It was very well attended by families from the church, the school and further afield. (The children didn’t miss out on something sweet at the end; they were all given a small envelope with some chocolate coins in, from the Nazarene shepherd, Luke Aftersheep!).

During term time throughout the year, Tom and Andy have led St Andrew’s Primary School’s collective worship’ on a Wednesday morning at St Andrew’s Primary School. This year started with the children looking at the fruit of the Spirit in the spring term before looking at some of the key moments in Mark’s gospel through the summer term. For one of these collective worship times, Tom supported the school’s Ethos team in leading the rest of the school through Mark’s account of Jesus feeding the five thousand. In the autumn term we looked at the two Old Testament characters of David and Daniel before the build up to Christmas. Along with all of this, we observed some of the usual seasonal celebrations with the school, offering the church building as a venue to invite parents and carers to attend school services including Easter, Year 6 leavers, Harvest, St Andrew’s Day, KS1 & KS2 Nativity and Carol Services. This year it has also been a privilege to host a leaving service for the departing Mrs Lakey and a commissioning service for the new Headteacher, Mrs Nunn.

Once again, nothing that that has taken place in the past year would be possible without the enormous commitment of the wider youth and children’s team. This is a fruit of the whole church’s continued commitment to view the children and young people as valuable members of the church and to see them raised to know and love Jesus as the Bible is taught week-in-week-out.

Dangerous Club

‘Dangerous Club’ continues to take place after school on Wednesdays and is aimed at children aged 8-11 (KS2). It involves meeting in the chapel for a quick snack before heading over to the church building for a short Bible talk and various games and activities based around the theme of the talk. The idea is that it provides an easy evangelistic opportunity for the children from church families to invite their friends to a club where they are guaranteed to have fun and hear about Jesus. While the club is going on, a café runs for parents and younger siblings with drinks, a few games and a small craft activity is also available (linked with the talk if possible!).

St Andrew’s School has been very supportive in advertising the club, with children being very enthusiastic to come along. It has been a great encouragement over this last year to see a core group of children attending the club, also seeing newcomers attending after being invited along by the more regularly attending children. The Club continues to be a positive link between the church and families in the school and community. The dedicated team of leaders involved in both the club and the café continue to make Dangerous Club a thoroughly welcoming and enjoyable time together.

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Youth, including community outreach.

The youth continue to meet each Sunday morning except the first Sunday of the month and the midweek group for teenagers in GCSE and A level years continues to meet on a Tuesday evening. During the all-age services it has been great to see the continued involvement of some of the young people, playing and singing with the music worship team. Along with serving more regularly on the coffee rota and being involved with the livestreaming, it is encouraging to see the youth taking these opportunities to be an active part of the church body.

Socials throughout the year have continued to be well attended by youth from the church as well as the wider village. We had a brilliant time on a weekend away earlier in the year at Shallowford Farm near Widecombe-in-the-Moor. We enjoyed various activities and spent four sessions exploring Luke’s gospel using the Youth Christianity Explored course. It was great to see the youth getting their teeth stuck into some familiar passages from Scripture but seeing them afresh and grappling with the truths held out to them.

Many of the youth attended summer camp where some of the youth team and other members of the church led the youth through some sessions on the themes of ‘work rest and play’. I was unable to be on camp this year but heard encouraging reports of the youth getting stuck in with everything going on, leading a great games night(!) and enjoying time together playing Uno and drinking hot chocolate! This year I was delighted to take four of the youth on a summer ‘Venture’ run by CPAS, called ‘Brymore 3’ near Taunton. This was a week-long residential designed for 13–18-year-olds from across the country to enjoy a programme of activities and daily Bible teaching sessions and seminars. I had to leave midway through the week, but I was thrilled to hear from the youth who went that it was the highlight of their summer and that they are keen to return. It is camps like this where I have seen teenagers, (myself included, a few years ago!) take big steps forwards in their relationship with Jesus.

From September the youth have also begun meeting more regularly on a Sunday evening for food, a short talk and some games. This was with a view to be able to see more of the fringe members of the group than just at social events. We’ve called the evening ‘ Fuel ’ (where they can receive some physical and spiritual fuel!) and it has been well received by youth and their parents. That said, it has put an extra demand on the youth team on top of all that they already commit to, so this term we are seeing if running Fuel monthly might be more manageable. We are running it on the first Sunday of every month so that the youth have a time to meet together on an All-Age Service Sunday when there is no morning meeting for them.

Networking with other youth groups

A new CPAS Venture is being started this summer in Blundell’s School with the aim of bringing together youth groups from across the Southwest. Unfortunately, it runs at the exact same time as Brymore 3 and the youth who went to Brymore are desperate to return! However, it might be in future years, if the hunger for summer Ventures grows, we could make the decision to proactively support the new Venture in Blundell’s, which would likely open many doors for networking with other churches across Devon.

Tom Watson, Youth & Children’s Worker

d) FURTHER CHURCH ACTIVITIES

Prayer Chain

The St Andrews Prayer Chain is made up of 16 members of our congregation. All messages are received via our What’s App group and are confidential. It is well used and it’s a privilege to see prayers answered and to be able to carry people in prayer as they go through difficult and trying circumstances. If anybody wishes to find out more, please contact myself or any member of the Prayer Chain.

Discipleship Groups

Discipleship groups are small groups of people meeting mid-week, some in person and some by zoom. They are a great way for us to learn from God's word, share our thoughts, experiences, and encouragements, pray

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for each other and those around us, and grow in our faith. They are a valuable opportunity for us to challenge, encourage, and support each other in our everyday lives.

Groups can choose what material they use, depending on their needs, and many have used the material recommended and provided by Andy B and been blessed through studying the book of Proverbs and The Apostle's Creed.

We ask for prayer for God to draw people who'd benefit into discipleship groups, give thanks for the new groups that have formed and pray for more people to be willing to take on coordinating groups.

BREATHE – Ladies Fellowship Group

BREATHE has served as a space for the ladies of Milton Combe and Buckland Monachorum churches to gather for fellowship, prayer, and time in God’s Word. Over the years, it has been a privilege to see women encouraged and strengthened in their faith.

In 2024, we held one session in April, where we delved into the mystery and wonder of the Trinity. Through exploring what the Bible reveals to us, we reflected on the beauty of God’s nature as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and how this truth shapes our faith and lives. It was a precious time, and I pray those who attended were encouraged by the richness of God’s Word and the fellowship shared.

After much prayerful consideration, I have decided to step back from organising and leading BREATHE for the time being. With interest in the group being low and recognising my own limitations in this season, I feel it is time to give this ministry a rest. I trust God will use what has been shared these last three years through BREATHE, for His glory and that He will continue to guide and sustain us in the seasons ahead. Thank you for the support and prayers offered for this fellowship over the years.

Bethany Bowden

Christian Ladies Breakfast Book Club

It has been lovely to share fellowship, friendship and frank discussions again this year amongst the members of this group of Christians. We have continued to meet every two months for a simple breakfast meal in the Chapel and a lively conversation about the book (or often going completely off track into other areas). However, the group is a great mechanism for each of us to share insights into our own journeys of faith and give each other much appreciated support. We always try to vary the types of books we read - autobiographies, fictional or studied texts.

The books we have read this year included:

Cally Barnes

Sung Worship within both Churches

Thinking of this past year, I am once again reminded of how blessed we are to have so many who have been given the gift of music in its many forms. So, I really must begin with a huge thank you to those who lead a team Sunday by Sunday. It does take time to collate all the music required and then make sure everyone has what is needed. Thank you to those who sing or play a musical instrument, for being willing to be used by God. I do have to say a huge thank you to Audrey Mills, who has once again been so faithful in playing every Sunday. After Christmas I did say to Audrey that maybe she would like to have a few more Sundays off. What I hadn’t expected was for her to fall and break her hip. We do miss having her with us and look

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forward to the time when she feels able to be back playing again. We also must thank Elizabeth Baxter and Sue Chapman who play at Milton Combe.

At St Andrews we have four teams of musicians, who each have a set Sunday when they can lead. This works really well. Andy, Chris New and I choose the songs/hymns for a few months at a time. This also helps with practicing and planning the sung worship.

Christmas 2024. The carol service at St Andrews was held a week earlier than normal. We had a wonderful group who came together every Thursday evening in November and December to practice two carols which we sang during the service. They sounded amazing and certainly added something a little special to the service. Milton Combe had their carols by candlelight service a week later. Both services were very well attended by local people who expressed their appreciation.

It is a joy and an immense privilege to lead people into the presence of the Lord Jesus each Sunday through our sung worship.

Jane Oliver

Church Camp

The church family again enjoyed another week together at Strete, overlooking Blackpool Sands. Martin and Nicky Bailey, previously of Plymouth, spent the week with us, getting to know us, joining in with our trips to the coast, praying with us, and providing biblical teaching from Colossians, encouraging us to grasp all that God has done for us and be inspired to live life fully in those truths.

The children and youth had a programme of learning in the morning, ably led by willing volunteers, even though our youth leader Tom was unable to come, due to an illness. A few changes were made from previous years, including having several activities in the day (like whittling wood), activities in the evening (toasting marshmallows over a fire, high-octane games run by the youth, and line-dancing), and evening prayers after cheese & wine in the marquee.

The week was a great opportunity to learn more about God, to enjoy praising him, and spend time getting to know and love each other better.

e) UK AND OVERSEAS MISSION GRANTS AND DONATIONS

Supporting people in full-time service both in prayer and financially: -

Missionary Aviation Fellowship

Working in partnership with hundreds of other Christian and relief organisations, MAF enables practical help, physical healing and spiritual hope to be delivered to some of the world’s most remote and inaccessible communities. We have a personal link through pilot Becki and husband Matt Dillingham who are now based in Tanzania.

Mission Liaison: Philip and Antonia Tuckett, Hanna and David Waine, Peter Harlow Web site: https://www.maf-uk.org/

Open Doors

Every day, millions of Christians in the world risk their lives to follow Jesus. In more than 70 countries, Open Doors supports them by supplying Bibles, providing emergency relief and helping persecuted believers stand strong for the long-term. In the UK and Ireland, Open Doors helps the church to pray, to give and to speak out for those who share our faith but not our freedom.

Mission Liaison: TBC

Web site: https://www.opendoorsuk.org/

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Tavistock Catalyst

Catalyst recognises the need to care for and encourage young people in the Tavistock area as they journey through adolescence, which can be a challenging time. We are fuelled by a passion to see young people grow in self-confidence, self-esteem and to reach their full potential as we work in the two secondary colleges as well as in the community. Mission Liaison: TBC Web site: https://tavistockcatalyst.com

Wycliffe Bible Translators

Wycliffe Bible Translators work to bring God's word to communities in 173 countries around the world in the language which speaks to them best, so that people can know Jesus through the Bible. During this year, 20 more complete Bible translations were launched, meaning that some 40 million more people have access to Scripture in their own language. In addition, 88 New Testaments were launched, meeting the needs of another 11 million people, and translation work has begun in 270 languages spoken by 70 million people. For a process that can take many years, this is fantastic progress BUT 1.5 BILLION people [that is 1 in 5 of the World's population] are still waiting for God's word in their language. 985 languages still have no Scripture and no work in progress... the need is tremendous. St Andrew's continues to support Wycliffe Bible Translators in their work so that people can witness the impact that having Scriptures in their own language can have on their communities, bringing about change and transformation in people's lives. Mission Liaison: David & Alison Tute. Website: https://wycliffe.org.uk/

Support for Ukraine

We continue to support Ukraine this year through an organisation called Nightingales UK. Church members have been donating medical equipment and also engaging in several fundraising activities across the parish.

Buckland Chapel Trust – BCT

The Buckland Chapel has its own group of Trustees and Members that oversee and run the Chapel. St Andrew’s church is grateful to the team of Trustees and Members for all the work enabling the Chapel to be used for both the Church and the local Community. The Trustee team meet regularly with Members and the Friends of the Chapel for business meetings and prayer, supporting the many and varied activities that take place in the Chapel.

This year saw one Member and two Trustees resigning at the AGM with two new Trustees being appointed along with a new Member.

As a Church we are extremely grateful for all the hard work that the Trustees and others have put in this year and in particular the installation of a new boiler and redecoration of the Main Hall both of which has been a real benefit for both Church activities and community activities/events.

The mobile post office continues to use the Chapel every Wednesday morning. This is a significant benefit to the local community especially enabling those attending the Community Café, to use the Post Office as well as meeting and enjoying a chat over a cup of coffee. The Community Café continues to bloom and has seen significantly increased numbers in recent months. The café continues to be supported by members of St Andrew’s congregation. Their support is also financial, and the Church gives a regular monthly amount for its use of the facility for many different activities:

Several church members also gift aid regular donations towards the work of the BCT and the Trustees would like to express their thanks for this vital partnership and support.

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Many church members act as informal ‘friends’ of the Chapel bringing all sorts of interests and skills with them. We, the Trustees are always glad to have extra help and if anyone is interested, please speak to one of the team. Current Trustees are Julie Rowe, Bethany Bowden, Caroline New, Paul Nixon and Roger Watkins. Also, current Members are Bronia Coulshaw, Denise Nixon and Lizzie Watson.

The Chapel also hosts the Buckland Monachorum Food Hub which is open each Wednesday morning and continues to be a vital resource for many in the community. In addition, as part of the Buckland Village June Fair it opens its doors to those participating in the Fun-Run, providing a bag-drop-off facility and much needed refreshments.

The Trustees, Members and Friends of the Chapel continue to work hard to ensure the continued smooth running of the Chapel. Buckland Chapel Trust has its own Annual Report which can be found on the website: www.bucklandchapeltrust.org. Julie Rowe - Chair

f) Other key people and groups

There are many other individuals and groups who contribute greatly to the smooth running of both churches: Our Verger; our Cleaner; the Flower arranging team; the Guild members; Coffee serving teams; Projectionists and Sound desk controllers; those that organise and take part in the rotas for side-persons, prayer ministry, and the production of weekly notice sheets. Readers from St Andrew’s have also been supporting other parishes in the Deanery.

Bellringers

St. Andrew’s Bellringers

We continue to have a strong team of regular ringers from within the parish, and we have rung the bells every Sunday morning throughout the year, as well as for practice on most Monday evenings. Additionally, we rang for three weddings and marked the turn of the year by ‘ringing out’ the old year and welcoming the new one on New Year's Day.

A highlight of the year was participating in the nationwide bell-ringing event on 6th June, organised by the Central Council of Bell Ringers to commemorate D-Day. It was a privilege to take part, with bells ringing simultaneously across the country at 6:30 pm.

We are fortunate to have four young ringers, all under the age of 14, who have been learning the art of bellringing. Two of them are now fully accomplished, seamlessly joining our more experienced ringers-some of whom are in their 80s. The other two are making great progress and will soon be accomplished ringers, strengthening our team further. We also have one adult learner who is progressing well.

Looking ahead, 2025 marks the centenary year of the Devon Association of Ringers. To celebrate, a series of events is being planned to raise the profile of our unique tradition. One of the key events will be the ringing of bells at 100 church towers across Devon on Saturday, 31st May.

We are also grateful to have a specialist in rope splicing within our team. Over the past decade, our bell ropes have been carefully maintained by purchasing new lengths of hemp rope and splicing them into the salvaged sections. However, we are now approaching the point where a full replacement will be necessary, at an estimated cost of over £2,000. Thank you to all our ringers for their dedication and enthusiasm throughout the year.

Ken Farnham, Tower Captain.

2024 Deanery Synod

At the February meeting the chairperson introduced the Archdeacon of Plymouth Jane Bakker, who gave a brief resume of her life. Then answered questions which had been submitted ahead of the meeting. The questions mainly focused on the concern for the “£2.5 million deficit in the Exeter Diocese accounts” – and the proposed solutions – which were a) for all churches to use some of their reserves. b) to focus on getting more people into church – and specifically begin with more children (who would then bring parents, etc) c) for every church member in the whole diocese to contribute £5 extra per week, that deficit would be

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cleared in a year. Answering the question “How did the deficit come about?” It was partly due to decrease in congregation numbers (noticeably during and after Covid) and partly because the Common Fund payment that churches are requested to pay the Diocese, had not been kept in line with inflation (so expenditure had risen above income over many years). The treasurer reported that only 2 churches have not paid their full Common Fund by the year end.

At the June meeting the Chair introduced the Revd David Runcorn who spoke on the theme ‘Ending, beginnings and the space between’. A leaflet was provided as a summary to cover the main points. The Rural Dean reported that t he parishes of Bere Ferrers, Peter Tavy and Mary Tavy, Tavistock, Gulworthy and Brent Tor and Whitchurch have received information detailing the pastoral reorganisation. All feedback and comments need to be returned by July 5th. Meeting with Churchwardens would take place, followed by the ministers meeting. This was the first stage of the process. Rev. Andy Atkins (AA) was to leave on August 30th as Rural Dean and Parish Priest. He was moving to Callington. The Milton Abbott Benefice and Whitchurch will both be in interregnum and members were asked to support them during this time. With AA leaving, there would be a gap in the Farmer’s Market Chaplaincy team. Revd Sue Tucker and Revd Matt Godfrey offered to join the team. AJ highlighted how helpful this team is to the farming community, for example, they were able to support a farmer who had his flock decimated. Under AOB it was reported that there would be Open the Book (OTB) training offered in September at St Paul’s Church Yelverton.

At the October meeting, Sarah Charker was welcomed to the meeting and spoke on the topic entitled “Creation and Environmental Care”. She explained that an ambitious target was set across the Church of England, to meet carbon zero targets by 2030. These targets are focusing congregations and communities across Devon to look at initiatives for protecting God’s creation and exploring ways of introducing diversity in addressing environmental issues. This challenge is paramount in looking at protecting the future for children, families, farmers and churches. Sarah engaged us all in her lively presentation and the slides had been shared to all Deanery Synod reps. Hopefully we may be able to explore the opportunities to undertake some projects across the Deanery Mission Communities. There appeared to be enthusiasm for this idea. General Synod - Rev Karl Freeman who is a General Synod member had circulated to members prior to the meeting a lengthy but comprehensive report. However, he did say that there is still a large amount of disquiet about LLF and the Prayers of Blessing for same sex couples who are in a civil partnership or civil marriage. This will continue to be discussed at General Synod in February 2025.

Electoral Roll Report

With the announcements I had made in church and the details | had written in the notice sheet, I thought I had made it clear, that creating a new Electoral Roll, meant that the previous Electoral Roll would no longer exist – and that everyone would have to apply again if they wished to be on the new Roll. But when I talked to members of the congregation during the first two weeks after the new Electoral Roll forms had been made available, there were still a few who thought that because they had only filled in a form in the last year or so, they would not need to fill in another. This may have been a reason why some of the 28 names on the previous roll and who still attending one of our two churches – have not filled in an application form for enrolment .

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However, there are thirty-three new names now on the Roll, so the final total on the Electoral Roll for the Parish of Buckland Monachorum in 2025 – is one hundred and thirty-eight .

g) STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

The method of appointing PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. At St. Andrew’s, Buckland Monachorum and the Church of the Holy Spirit, Milton Combe, the PCC consists of the incumbent; a self-supporting Associate Minister; and four ex-officio members, together with sixteen elected members. Included in the total of 19, there is one representative for the Church of the Holy Spirit in Milton Combe and five lay readers. The PCC also has a Standing Committee which can deal with urgent matters more effectively than calling a full PCC meeting, and a Finance Committee that regularly meets one week prior to the PCC meetings, to deal with any financial matters in more detail than the full meetings allow. The full PCC met five times in the year; the Finance Committee met six times. The standing committee did not need to meet. The Annual Parish Church Meeting was held in May 2024.

Financial Review for 2024

This is an increase in income for the year amounting to £50,813. Thank you all so much for your wonderful support.

A large amount of the income received was by way of standing orders and the Parish Giving Scheme and these totalled £87,505. The church also received £45,514 by way of donations towards the building works at Milton Combe – a huge thank you to all who donated so generously.

As part of the total income, the church was able to reclaim £22,252 in Gift Aid from HMRC. There was further Gift Aid received as part of the Parish Giving Scheme totalling £4,291. Thank you to everyone who has signed up to the Gift Aid Scheme. A gentle reminder, this scheme is available to everyone who pays UK Income Tax, and the additional money received in this way is of huge benefit to the church.

Turning now to expenditure, total costs for 2024 amounted to £246,759, up £88,429 from the previous year. Part of the increase relates to the Diocesan Parish Share, which is the biggest cost the church has. In 2024, an additional payment of £18,797 was made to the diocese. This related to the 2023 year. The full cost for the 2024 parish share is included in these accounts, but again, there is a figure totalling £18,990 within the 2024 costs.

Another large cost in 2024 was the building works at Milton Combe, which totalled £46,229 for the year. Your generosity has covered nearly all of that expenditure.

Of the other costs, one other larger expense relates to the payroll – total expenditure for this rose from £27,396 in 2023 to £29,777 in 2024. Other costs, which you will find detailed in the accounts, only show small increases overall, but these, along with the costs already mentioned, have resulted in more being spent than being received, resulting in a deficit for 2024 amounting to £48,518. The church has been able to cover this deficit from reserves, which now stand at £102,285.

Thank you all for your continued support for the church, both for your financial contributions and your free time given. It is sincerely appreciated. This concludes the Treasurer’s report for this year.

h) ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

The Church of St. Andrew’s, Buckland Monachorum is situated in the village of Buckland Monachorum, Devon PL20 7NA. The Church of the Holy Spirit, Milton Combe, is in the village of Milton Combe, Devon PL20 6HP.

PCC members who have served from 1 January 2024 until the 31[st] December 2024 were:

Ex Officio members:

The Reverend Andrew Bowden - Vicar The Reverend Andy Farmer - Associate Minister Mrs Rumbi Mukono (Treasurer) Mrs Patricia Topham (Safeguarding Representative) Dr Angela Smith (Reader) Dr Mark Smith (Reader)

Mr P. Tuckett (Reader)

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Deanery Synod Members:

Churchwardens:

Mr R. Matthews (Reader) Ex-Officio Mr Christopher Rowe Mr T. West Mrs Lesley Pope Mr R. Hopkins

PCC Members:

Mr Bob Barnes Mr Bill Houldsworth Mr Roger Watkins Mr R. Hopkins (Electoral Roll officer) Mr Simon Bovey Mrs D. Corness Mrs H. Hopkins (Hon Secretary) Mrs H. Keane Mr Joe Smart Mr Stephen Horn Mr David Tute Mr Paul Nixon (Reader) Mrs Elizabeth Watson Mrs Hellen Williams

Safeguarding representatives: Mrs Patricia Topham & DBS Officer’s: Helen Hopkins, Julie Tailyour & Debbie Farmer :

Independent Examiner: Mrs Felicity Harris – Moorlands Accountants.

The Report was approved by the PCC on Monday 24[th] March. The financial statement and accounts were approved by the PCC finance committee on Friday 25[th] April.

The Report was signed by:

Rev Andrew Bowden, Vicar: ………………………………………………………………… and

Chris Rowe/Lesley Pope Church Warden: ………………………………………………………………………

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Parochial Church Council of St Andrew BueklaDd Monachorum with Miltoll Combe Financial Statements For the Year Ended 31st December 2024

Parochial Church Council of St Andrew Buckland Monachorum with Milton Combe Financial Statements For the Year Ended 31st December 2024 CONTENTS Legal & Administrative infommtion Independent Examiner's Report Statement of Financial Activities Income and Exp¢nditure Report Balance Sheet Notes to the Accounts

Parochial Church Council of St Andrew Buckland Monachorum with Milton Combe al and Administrative Information INCUMBENT Rev. Andrew Bowden BANKERS Lloyds Bank PIC 8 Royal Parade Plymouth Devon INDEPENDENT EXAMtNER Felicity Harris, Chartered Accountant Moorlands Rock view 28 Glanville Road Tavistock Devon PL19 OEB

Independent Examinerls Report to the PCC of St Andrew Bucldand Monachorum with Milton Combe This report is on the accounts of the PCC for the year ended ilst December 2024 which are set out on the following pages. Respective r￿ponsibIlitieS of the PCC and the examiner As members of the PCC you are respx)nsible for the preparation of the accounts: you consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 ( the 2011 Act) and that an independent ¢xamination is required. It is my responsibility to examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 ACL to follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Ch8Tity Commissioner under section 145(5Mb) of the 2011 Act and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. Basis of independent examiner's report My examination w&s carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity CommissiotL That examination includes a r¢vi¢w of the accounting records kept by the PCC and a comparison of the accounts with thos¢ records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts. and seeking explanations from you &8 trustees concerning such matters. The procedures undertsken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audiL and consequently no opinion is giv¢n &s to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair viev, and the rewrt is limited to those matters set out in the next statement. Independent examiner's statement In connection with my examinatio￿ no matter has come to my attention: I which gives me rwonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act- and to prcpare a￿OUnts which a¢cord with th¢ a¢wunting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 ACL have not been met. or 2 to which, in my Opinio￿ attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of th¢ accounts to be reached. Felicity Harris BA FCA A￿(fellOW) 28 Glanville Road, Tavistock Devon PLI 9 OEB

St Andrews Church, Buckland Monachorum PCC & Holy Spirit Milton Combe Statement of Financial Activities Forthe perlod from 01 January 2024 to 31 December 2024 T¢Aal 131946 191241 147h28 2W15 246,759 158,330 174J691 21851 14BA18) 10J021 1201 (119691 3fj.641 136,6411 (25.4061 insAosses In￿strn8nt8Ss8 Cirts rm re￿lUal￿On.tsd 85S8ts. (W 4004 (415181 {10902) 1SA195 17.783 150104 161.706 41J93 102285 150J14 er￿[BE fijnd [b8￿nated tknigr¥W Funds 1ZI)70 12.070 101672 29.523 295yd Restri¢ Px)kts.Christian P￿￿5 Jand ¢hapeE 12 lthng CwJt¥Thnt Furxl 101 HiskncChwces RovttFund ¢>ants &lnsurarKe Rec￿￿ PPNISCHC WF. Vatt&Ed¢ Mllon Ccmb• Y65 1.710 2,255 1,710 1,710 234 234 4,720 63 Mssionarywtsk Ilerseas Msslons Parish Camp Pari3hYwth Kt(k l.CQ3 3.173 1100> 3,173 11QJ} 767 Palhfind Sheknnah TearFund 140 275 Tom &L￿￿58 Pknme ¢3ft Tom Wtstson Tri5kn&Sardh Ukrdin8 &Jpp(xt McarlDcfiatiorn toMLX) 25 150 EndowTn* Fu￿1 TthalfiThls 828 101285 150.804

Sl Andrews Church, Buckland MonacI￿￿m PCC & Hoty Splrft Pknlton Com Analysls of income and expenditure Setectad period: 01 January 202410 31 D￿rnber 2024 Total General Deslgnalgd R•strlcted Endowrnnt Thls Jear Last ￿Or Incomo and endowmnts from: Donations and legacles 011￿)01 . ￿￿0P&S SIk¥Jr￿s 011￿102- Emdopes 011Nf(J03. Pasroll I￿Ar O11NIYJ04.Y￿th IAtrk 011MJ)05- W(￿&B￿￿) 011M)O(hS. &andiThJ c￿de￿. 011M)007. gandiTrJ C￿de￿-ReStrtthJ 011NYJ008- Parish CiiiTrJ S¢￿￿ 031NI)001.Cpth 031NW02.cw) Hat• 041NI)001-Ms In0￿6 Cjxaslonal (hllNW04.tknatiors to MI￿ Comte 041NW)5. DCn3tiO￿ t) 071￿1. Legaaes 1416 2.416 9.022 2.7 8.977 6,4&3 417 65JgJ 679 21155 3.1 22.155 3.1 4225 2,183 45514 45&14 1.39) Donatlons and leg8¢108 Tota18 100.076 62.044 162.120 111.328 Incomo from ¢harltabh actlvltlas 061￿1 .Gftlid Refi￿d 111M)J01 .Churth Set11￿ Fees h)Thi 121￿￿)1 . kK 22252 6,132 2,481 20.707 5,574 2,845 6.132 2.481 In¢om• from ¢harltablg actfvllles Totals 30.865 30.865 29.126 oth•r Incomo 101￿1-Bank hrt8rnst 12lmX￿2.PthkS. Chn"slan 11 131MXM)1-Parish Canp kncxjme 4,063 6,102 Other income Totals 1.005 5257 6,974 IncowA and endowments Grand totals 131,946 66,295 198241 147,428 Expend￿re on: Expenditure on charitable activlties 17E>l)002. BdlriroeTr 18EX)002.Ms$iM Hc¢nè 18EXJ003. Ms$ton Qxxsion 18EXNJ04. Mssion Donaticffjs PAKJa)d Cth¥l 19E41CK11-Dlocesan Parfsh 6.132 5.150 1715 2,188 67,016 5,727 19.919 1,7 2,254 3.012 109.063 5,417 22.391 12 1(B. 20EKK(11.HMIC N￿.TaxPayCIl Fees 5A17 223

General Delgnat•d Rostrlcled Endov4mgnt This year Last ￿ar 20E>IIOOS.CganistFees 21E￿1.c4ryEv￿￿s M￿ty 1,J)S 2,780 1JJ5 1fi39 613 633 1,91M 23E>tKA)3.Churth Fees b Ljorxg 1.735 23EX)005. FlJrch8se8 ￿$￿Il￿￿X 4278 4.922 2.122 67 116 153 23EXJ010. ￿n￿r￿and fA)8ra Fees 1,487 576 23E￿14.H88tiTr3 gjskn Repaits S￿nkn ¥JE￿I7.￿re s￿ty￿sIntsna rJE¢[K1l9.￿[￿1bOnd aK&bsitè (￿tiThjI C4>5ts 997 870 870 471 715 35)4 6,784 1,273 23E￿)21 .StPndr•Ys h$uran￿￿Sts 23E>tI)22. ￿ knSuran￿ Cc6ts 23EW3.aeaning 8,955 1.310 1.778 1A24 2.970 1.922 218 1310 1.424 Z970 1,513 2,057 3.162 24E>J001 . Ufjlities 8eclriiityCréts 24£>￿002. Utilitie5 Cfjl C*%ts 218 Exp•ndlture on charltablo a¢llvlti•$ Totsls 160.143 33,771 193,914 145.254 Other oxpondlture 22DQJO03-￿Sh Camp rJEXIC01-BwkCharges 28E>11002.&ildiryJ cmelcvn￿ttsts.Stkn 1319 3,319 3254 46229 3,109 4.172 2.418 13,076 3.1 Other expènditure Totsls 48.173 6,673 Expenditurn Grdnd totals 206.315 246.759 158,330

StNndreWs Church. Buckland Monachorum PCC & Hoty Spint hllton Combe Balanca Sheet detailed at 3111212024 A5at 3111212023 Fixed assèts 82S Total Flx•d ass•ts 825 825 Currnnt assets CPSFP. Cash in HaThJ 17096 6,028 113&3 55Z)2 13,990 12Q,450 12.532 Total Curr•nt assets 149,979 Liabllltl•* 1&990 18,990 Total Uabllltlè$ N•t knt surplus {d•ll¢lt) 102.285 150,804 R•$•rvg$ ExeS￿de￿£1t1t) da $1.. Slariry Wa YL. &ln51Oa5ses}￿ 148.5181 149,979 10.670 139209 825 Total Reserves 101285 150,804 Rewpsented by Funds 1a070 101672 29m3 17.783 R85knd 59,867 150M4

Parochial Church Council of St Andrew Buckland Monachorum with Milton Combe Notes to the Financial Statements For the Year Ended 31st December 2024 Parish Giving Scheme Included within the total receipts of £22,155 for the Parish Giving Scheme is Gift Aid received of £4,291. Diocesan Parisb Share The total for the Parish Share in the 2024 accounts is £109,063 (2023: £67.016). The higher figure for 2024 includes a payment of £18.797 for a balance relating to the 2023 Parish Share. There is a similar amount of £18,990 for 2024, which the PCC has decided to include as an accrual in the 2024 accounts.

St Andrew’s Buckland and Milton Combe Treasurer’s Report for the year ended 31[st] December 2024

This is the Treasurer’ Report for 2024. The church’s total income for the 2024 year was £198,241 compared with £147,428 for the previous year. This is an increase in income for the year amounBng to £50,813. Thank you all so much for your wonderful support.

A large amount of the income received was by way of standing orders and the Parish Giving Scheme and these totalled £87,505. The church also received £45,514 by way of donaBons towards the building works at Milton Combe – a huge thank you to all who donated so generously.

As part of the total income, the church was able to reclaim £22,252 in GiO Aid from HMRC. There was further GiO Aid received as part of the Parish Giving Scheme totalling £4,291. Thank you to everyone who has signed up to the GiO Aid Scheme. A gentle reminder, this scheme is available to everyone who pays UK Income Tax, and the addiBonal money received in this way is of huge benefit to the church.

Turning now to expenditure, total costs for 2024 amounted to £246,759, up £88,429 from the previous year. Part of the increase relates to the Diocesan Parish Share, which is the biggest cost the church has. In 2024, an addiBonal payment of £18,797 was made to the diocese. This related to the 2023 year and was disputed at the Bme. The full cost for the 2024 parish share is included in these accounts, but again, there is a figure totalling £18,990 within the 2024 costs which is being challenged by the PCC.

Another large cost in 2024 was the building works at Milton Combe, which totalled £46,229 for the year. Your generosity has covered nearly all of that expenditure.

Of the other costs, one other larger expense relates to the payroll – total expenditure for this rose from £27,396 in 2023 to £29,777 in 2024. Other costs, which you will find detailed in the accounts, only show small increases overall, but these, along with the costs already menBoned , have resulted in more being spent than being received, resulBng in a deficit for 2024 amounBng to £48,518. The church has been able to cover this deficit from reserves, which now stand at £102,285.

and your free Bme given. It is sincerely appreciated.

This concludes the report for this year.