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2022-12-31-accounts

PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

A registered charity in England & Wales no. 1132600

ANNUAL REPORT and FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

of the PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL for the year ended 31st December 2022

Incumbent The Revd Dr Sarah Archer The Vicarage Church Drive, North Harrow HA2 7NS

Bankers National Westminster Bank PLC Branch: Station Road, Harrow also at

the CBF Church of England Investment Fund and Virgin Money PLC

Honorary Solicitor Mr Christopher Noyce Lovell, Son & Pitfield 9 Gray’s Inn Square Gray’s Inn London WC1R 5JT

Independent Examiner Mr Alan Mitchell 33 St Thomas Drive Pinner HA5 4SX

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

Contents

Page

Appendix 1: Group Activity Reports

Worship, Mission and Outreach

Accounts for year ending 31 December 2022 -filed separately

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

FOREWORD by the Reverend Dr Sarah Archer

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”: the line that begins A Tale of Two Cities but could have been designed for the year that has just passed that saw the joyous celebrations of the Her Late Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee but also her funeral, the start of the war in Ukraine and the cost-of-living crisis. We also had the sorrow of saying farewell to our dear church members Jean Riley, Jean Graham, Cyril Tomkins, Anne Harvey and Harold Kirby.

In our own parish, despite increasing fuel bills and numerous challenges, there is much that remains a ‘Cause for Celebration’: not least that we have been able to welcome our new Curate Ninus Khako and his family and seen Noah Kelly join the team formally as our Willesden Ministry Experience Scheme Volunteer. The following pages contain many more, demonstrating as they do the continuing commitment and hard work of so many. You have my thanks and the thanks of all who have benefited from the ministry of St Alban’s in the last year. Some achievements aren’t recognized in these pages: and so I shall use Vicar’s privileges to mention our very own Hero from Harrow, Gerry Devine, who won a Lifetime Achievement Award from Harrow Council this year for his decades of faithful service to this area and to Marilyn Devine, rightly nominated alongside him.

2022 has been another year of challenge and renewed opportunity. This year we helped to maintain and develop our confident and compassionate worshipping community by:

We have continued our aim to be multi-generational in focus: Chris Nalder has a full report on our Youth Ministry later in this document, but it has been great to see:

We have continued to grow and strengthen our capacity for mission and outreach. We:

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and hosted the Action of Christians Against Torture service in November;

It was great to see our vocation as a centre for community life being able to be realised as we welcomed new community organisations into our hall We also

We were also thrilled to see Solar Panels being installed onto the roof of the Church Hall over the summer as it represented a huge step forward with our final vision aim: to care for creation as an integral part of all that we do at St Alban’s. Our next aim is to start the long journey towards installing underfloor heating.

This is an incredible amount of work, ministry and life together, as a church, and I (and all of us) owe a debt of thanks and appreciation to those who have given so sacrificially of their time and resources to “make church happen”: not least our churchwardens Ally Vallance and Adrian Holloway and Deputy Gerry Devine, our Treasurer Tom Johnson, our Ministry and Pastoral Visiting Team (Ninus, Noah, Irene, Carys, Wendy, Jacquie, Anne, Valerie, David, Chris and Eileen), our PCC secretary Ray Barber and PCC members, and all whose ministry and work – largely hidden – goes on unseen, but very much appreciated. It’s also been great to continue working alongside our hugely professional staff members Shirley, Paul and Hope and the talented scholars Paul has recruited into our worship.

I’m so sad to write as last year that we continue to hear terrible news from Ukraine and around the world. This Annual Report contains much good news to encourage us all in these challenging times and are a testament to your work and worship. So, on behalf of us all, thank you to all who have taken time out of your busy schedules to contribute to this document. I’m confident you will all read on to honour the work of so many and add your thanks to my own. Thank you for our fellowship in the gospel and I continue to look forward to where God will lead us all in the years ahead.

THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

St Alban’s Parish Church is situated in The Ridgeway, North Harrow. It is part of the Diocese of London within the Church of England. The correspondence address is The Parish Office, St Alban’s Church, Norwood Drive, North Harrow, Harrow, HA2 7PF.

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2020) and a charity registered with the Charity Commission (no. 1132600).

All PCC members as Trustees are inducted into the role and encouraged to attend training. An induction policy statement incorporating safeguarding and making training mandatory for all trustees is under consideration for agreement by the PCC in 2023.

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PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL (PCC) 2022/23

Ex Officio members

Incumbent Vicar

The Revd Dr Sarah Archer

Incumbent

The Revd Ninus Khako

Curate wef July 2022

Churchwardens

Deanery Synod Representatives

Elected members

Adrian Holloway Alison Vallance Ray Barber

also PCC Secretary until May 2022 APCM elected May 2022 APCM

Amanda Dodd elected May 2022 APCM Mo Hatton Diane Tuck Gerry Devine also Assistant Churchwarden Marilyn Devine Eileen Eggington Carys Grom John Hicks until May 2022 APCM Tom Johnson PCC Treasurer Morwena Jones Supritha Kotian elected May 2022 APCM Julia Powell Pauline Prince Tina Ryan Jane Spencer-Davis Caoimhe Sweeney

Statement of Responsibilities of the Members (Trustees) of the Parochial Church Council (PCC)

The Trustees (PCC members acting collectively) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) and in compliance with guidance from the Charity Commission.

The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011 as amended, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008, the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 together with the current Charities SORP (Statement of Recommended Practice): Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) 102, 2[nd] edition, 2019; and the Parochial Church Council Powers Measures 1956. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Declaration on reporting serious incidents

There were no serious incidents or other matters relating to the PCC during the 12 months to end December 2022 that should have been brought to the Charity Commission’s attention but were not.

This report, including the accounts and financial statements, of the Trustees was approved by the PCC on 19 April 2023 and is signed on behalf of the PCC by the Vicar, subject to the satisfaction of the Independent Examiner, whose signed report accompanies the Accounts.

The Revd Dr Sarah Archer, Vicar and PCC Chair

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PCC

Aim and Purposes

St Alban’s Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility of cooperating with the incumbent, the Revd Dr Sarah Archer, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The PCC is also responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the church building, church grounds and hall complex of St Alban’s, The Ridgeway, North Harrow.

Objectives and Activities

Our Mission (Vision) Action Plan continues to be kept under review. Activities and plans are gradually regaining momentum following the lifting of Covid constraints. A more comprehensive review to be undertaken in 2023 will also reference the London Diocesan Vision 2030. Nevertheless, the current Plan is used as one of our reference points when planning our activities and committing major expenditure. We have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and the supplementary guidance to charities for the advancement of religion. We try to enable everyone to live out their faith as part of our parish community through:

The main objectives of our current Mission Action Plan are:

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Responsible and prudent management of our finances, together with maintenance of the fabric and grounds of the Parish Church of St Alban and the church hall complex, are central to facilitating this work. As mentioned in the financial section, The lifting of Covid restrictions enabled us to hold our two main fundraising events for the first since 2019. However, the reduction in income as a result of Covid, still needs managing.

£815 per day This is how much it costs to run St Alban’s and deliver our mission. Just over a third of this is funded by voluntary giving and Gift Aid. For the rest, we are dependent on our community fundraising (such as church fairs), rental income from one of our two properties and church halls, plus existing legacies and external grants.

We now have a Sunday service attendance of about 106 based on the diocesan statistical return for an average weekly attendance in October 2022. The comparable figures for 2020 and 2021 were 82 and 115 respectively. The Parish Electoral Roll as at the end of December 2022 stood at 197 parishioners, of whom 101 were not resident in the parish. There were 22 people (including 5 who had died) who were deleted . There were 10 new entries to the Roll.

Structure, Governance and Management

The PCC, rather than St Alban’s Church, is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission and all PCC members are trustees of the charity. The Church Representation Rules (part of the legislation covering how the Church of England is administered) set out how PCC members are appointed and elected. The PCC comprises the incumbent (our Vicar, who also chairs the PCC), churchwardens, lay representatives at the Deanery Synod elected by people in the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church, lay members also elected by those on the electoral roll, and any co-opted members. All those who attend our services or as members of the congregation are encouraged to register on the electoral roll and stand for election to the PCC.

The PCC is responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish including deciding how the funds of the PCC are to be spent. New members receive an initial induction into the workings of the PCC and the responsibilities of a trustee. As well as scheduled business meetings, the PCC normally has at least one extended session or away day to explore topics in detail. Training opportunities are often provided by the diocese and other outside bodies. This year most meetings took place in person rather than on Zoom, opportunities for individuals to join meetings online were available.

The full PCC had six scheduled business meetings and an additional meeting to approve the Accounts and Annual Report. The 2022 PCC member attendance averaged out at 73%.

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Individual attendance was as follows:

Possible meetings Attended
The Revd Dr Sarah 7 7
Archer
Ray Barber 7 1
Gerry Devine 7 7
Marilyn Devine 7 7
Amanda Dodd 4 3
Eileen Eggington 7 7
Carys Grom 7 4
Mo Hatton 7 2
John Hicks 3 3
Adrian Holloway 7 4
Tom Johnson 7 6
Morwena Jones 7 5
Supritha Kotian 4 3
Revd Ninus Khako 3 3
Julia Powell 7 6
Pauline Prince 7 3
Tina Ryan 7 6
Jane Spencer-Davis 7 4
Caoimhe Sweeney 7 3
Diane Tuck 7 7
Alison Vallance 7 6

Given its wide responsibilities, the PCC has a number of sub-committees, each dealing with a particular aspect of parish life. These committees are currently the Standing Committee (the only statutory committee) that acts on behalf of the PCC between meetings of the full Council, Buildings and Grounds, Finance, and Mission and Outreach. They are all responsible to the PCC and report back to it regularly, with minutes received by the PCC and discussed as necessary. Some of these meetings also took place were on Zoom, as were those of Anglicans in Harrow (the deanery meeting that is now open to all Anglican church members and incorporates the Deanery Synod) and the meetings of Churches Together in North Harrow. The Deanery Synod report for 2022 is on page 10.

The PCC works hard to ensure good governance and compliance with church, charity and other national legislation. A range of policies and procedures are in place and kept under regular review for Safeguarding; Drugs and Alcohol; Health, Safety and Welfare; Lone Working; Equality and Diversity; Social Media; Conflicts of Interest; Reserves; Legacies and Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), together with procedures for complaints, grievances and disciplinary matters. Arrangements are made for all the policies and procedures available in church and the church hall for all to see.

Matters discussed and agreed by the PCC during 2022 have included:

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Conflicts of Interest

As charity trustees, all members of the PCC are legally obliged to act in the best interests of the PCC. Conflicts of interest can arise when, for example, PCC members may also be trustees of other charities that have applied for funding from St Alban’s, or there may be personal or family circumstances. The PCC manages conflicts of interest through an agreed policy which sets out the arrangements we have in place to identify any conflicts of interest and to deal with them appropriately. The policy also applies to all members of PCC sub-committees and working groups. This involves committee members declaring any conflicts of interest at each meeting, leaving the meeting if appropriate to do so when the relevant item is discussed, and not voting when a vote is taken. Specific conflicts of interest arising in the year are reported in the Accounts.

Risk Management

The PCC places great importance on the safety and security of its employees, church members and all those from the community who use our church buildings and facilities. It aims to reduce and maintain all risks to as low as possible while carrying out a vital and mission-led role in our community.

The PCC minimises the major risks to which it is exposed through regular meetings of the Standing, Finance and Buildings and Grounds Committees, as well as the PCC. A continuing concern has been our dependency on our church residential properties, legacies and hall lettings to make up the shortfall in income from individual giving and the cancellation of other fundraising activities due to Covid. We are grateful to everyone who reviewed their giving again this year despite the challenges to personal income.

Robust financial controls are in place. An annual budget is agreed by the PCC before the start of each financial year and reviewed against expenditure by the Finance and Standing Committees, and the PCC, on a quarterly basis. The scope of church insurance policies is reviewed as part of the renewal process. Safeguarding is given high priority and is a standing item at every PCC meeting. Any incidents are reported to the PCC by our Safeguarding Officer, and our safeguarding policy statement is kept under review.

We seek as a church to be as open as possible in all we do. All church members are encouraged to bring any concerns about how the PCC operates, or about a risk perceived as not being addressed, to the attention of the Vicar or Churchwardens either directly or via the PCC Secretary.

Staff and Volunteers

We would like to thank all our staff and many volunteers who work so hard to support our church. Thanks to all who have contributed to this report, informed about parish news, keep our buildings in

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good repair and the church grounds attractive year-round. We are particularly grateful to our Churchwardens Alison Vallance and Adrian Holloway, with Gerry Devine as Assistant Warden, who have worked so tirelessly on our behalf, and our financial team led by our Treasurer Tom Johnson, who have managed our finances with such care and dedication.

We thank our Parish Administrator, Shirley Clements, who not only runs the Parish Office and deals with its day-to-day business, but also takes the lead on the production of our Monthly Matters magazine and Weekly Newsletters, both of which are mainly read online.

Thanks from me to Vicar Sarah for her support and encouragement, the Churchwardens, Treasurer, and the PCC for their support and assistance during my time as PCC Secretary. I stood down as Secretary, as I had always planned, immediately after the 2022 APCM. However, because of ill health I was unable to contribute much from the end of 2021 and throughout 2022. I am grateful to Tina Ryan, Pauline Prince and Anne Mahon for taking over the work of PCC Secretary during my final months in the post, and for Pauline Schofield and Anne Mahon for continuing the work subsequently on a temporary basis. I am grateful for the prayerful and practical support of our worshipping community during this difficult time. Unfortunately, nobody has been able to fill the post subsequently. The PCC urgently requires a permanent secretary.

Ray Barber, PCC Member and former PCC Secretary, April 2023

ANGLICANS IN HARROW (THE HARROW DEANERY SYNOD) ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2022

The first meeting was held on 23 February at Christ Church Roxeth. Revd Elaine Weaver shared information about the parish and led the opening worship. Emmanuel Gill spoke about the purpose and work of the London City Mission in Harrow. They work alongside teams from the churches to reach out to the Hindu and Muslim populations. The Area Dean introduced a discussion on the focus of the Deanery Synod to assist the Standing Committee with the choice of subjects for future meetings

A service to welcome Bishop Lusa Nsenga-Ngoy to the Willesden Area was held at Emmanuel Church Northwood on 27 February. A Deanery Eucharist celebrated by Bishop Lusa was held in Holy Trinity Church Northwood on 7 June. The service was followed by a time of Fellowship when members of the churches could meet Bishop Lusa informally over refreshments.

A meeting to discuss Synod business was held using the Zoom software on 6 July. One application for a grant from the Deanery Mission Fund had been received from St Peter’s West Harrow for £1,000 towards their work with young people; this was approved. The Deanery Accounts for 2021 were received and approved, subject to Independent Examination. Revd Emma Webber was elected to the vacancy for a clergy representative on the Deanery Standing Committee. Pam Clissold was standing down as Deanery Treasurer and it was agreed that Revd David Green would act as Treasurer until an election is held in July 2023.

The third meeting was held on 10 November at St John’s Church of England School, Stanmore. The school choir welcomed Synod to the school by singing some songs. Jo Hester, Headteacher, gave an introduction to the school and the pupil composition. She explained the school’s ethos and vision, and that it is recognised as a Music Hub, Early Years Hub and Religious Education Hub. The music teacher explained that the school orchestra had over 50 members and there were choirs from both sections of the school The Assistant Headteacher explained the curriculum and the main drivers. Four

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of the children shared their experiences at the school. The choir sang their vision song including the words “we make a difference”.

Becky Frost and Hilary Millard from Harrow Re:generation shared the resources that they provide to churches and schools in Harrow and their involvement during the year. They asked for continuing support from the churches for their work as a charity including volunteering, financial giving and prayer.

James Wood and Helen Wolstencroft shared information about the Church of England Growth Report in respect of young people and the changes that churches need to make as a result of the pandemic. They explained that churches, some of whom do not have the volunteers for youth work that they had previously, need to partner with other churches and organisations and use the resources available from the Diocese. There was then a time for prayer in small groups. The 2021 Deanery Accounts had been Independently Examined successfully.

Monthly Prayer for Harrow has taken place on the first evening of each month under the leadership of Revd Malcolm Finlay and then Revd Ian Dowsett, using the Zoom software.

Reports on the sessions of the London Diocesan Synod and of the General Synod were received at meetings during the year.

Robert May

Honorary Secretary

CHURCH PREMISES (FABRIC, GOODS AND ORNAMENTS) 2022

Due to my own work commitments, I had decided to step down from the Buildings and Grounds Committee during 2022 and announced this at the APCM. It became apparent that no one was able to step up and take over; it also became apparent that a Church Warden should be the “Chair” of the committee. With this being the case, I returned to the B&G Committee and we managed to hold a few meetings to get things back on track. Even though we did not achieve many meetings, a considerable amount was completed, as maintenance still needs to carry on, no matter what the issues are. Below is a list of the work completed. We also had the Quinquennial inspection and further details on this are set out below.

Work Completed during 2022

The new Tea Point was due to be installed late 2022, but due to church activities and the time of year this has been pushed back to January 2023.

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We still managed to complete a fair amount of work, including general maintenance of all areas, not mentioned above. There is still a considerable amount of work to do, especially from the Quinquennial inspection, as you will see below. Most of the work falls within the first year of the inspection, and this will require the various committees to agree the best way forward and will review specialist contractors that will be required to complete most of the work.

Quinquennial Report

Urgent works requiring immediate attention. Replace broken pantiles to north aisle adjacent to tower. Investigate rainwater penetration of clergy vestry and choir vestry roofs. Refix sanctuary roof downpipe. Refix north porch downpipe. Address furniture beetle infestation in the Lady Chapel.

Upgrade double doors between church and church hall to 60 minutes fire resistance in terms of integrity (E60 under the European standards, FD60 under the British)

Works recommended to be carried out during the next 12 months:

Carry out repairs to cracking of mastic asphalt roofs - tower, Lady Chapel, choir vestry. Apply or reapply solar coating to mastic asphalt roofs.

Redecorate hoppers and downpipes to clergy and choir vestry roofs. Investigate apparent leak to cast iron downpipe within the tower, below the belfry level. Investigate fixity and movement in tower copingstones, Refix, if required, and remove existing metal fixings.

Removal of high-level vegetation on north aisle walling and parapet gutter, repoint open joints to both sides of parapet.

Undertake condition survey of metal windows to identify priority and phasing. Redecorate all steel windows, coordinating with repair works.

Overhaul timber windows above Lady Chapel roof, including repairs to any sill rot, replacement of cracked putty and re-oil.

Reinstate painted nosing to north and west porch steps. Redecorate bell frame. Replace draught excluder to internal porch doors, preferably in a brown colour. Repair cracking to the repair of the down stand beam in the basement plant room. Undertake Access and Disability Audit.

Remove self-seeded buddleia in courtyard between church and church hall – Completed Early 2023.

The hall continues to benefit from high usage, and the sound system will have an upgrade in 2023. The Community Service group is due to start in early 2023, which will be a great boost to the support needed to complete various tasks required going forward.

As always, I need to give a very big thank you to the committee members for their invaluable help during the year, Val Austen, Anne Mahon, John Ryan and Tom Johnson. Also a big thank you to the various congregation who have also helped during the year in the upkeep of our buildings and grounds.

New members are always welcomed!

Adrian Holloway, Churchwarden & Chair Buildings and Grounds Committee .

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ANNUAL SAFEGUARDING REPORT 2022

For the purposes of the APCM report, PSO’s have been asked to respond to Section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016 so have responded to each section as follows:

Child Protection

“The Church of England, in all aspects of its life, is committed to and will champion the protection of children and young people both in society as a whole and in its own community.

It fully accepts, endorses and will implement the principle enshrined in the Children Act 1989, that the welfare of the child is paramount. The Church of England will foster and encourage best practice within its community by setting standards for working with children and young people and by supporting parents in the care of their children.”

PSO response

The Diocese Safeguarding Policy of November 2018 has been formally adopted by the PCC and encapsulates best practice for faith organisations. The new wording has been adapted by the CSO/Deputy CSO and Vicar and was formally adopted at the PCC meeting in March 2022.

A full list of policies is included on the Parish Dashboard and is awaiting confirmation by the PCC to agree that this is a full and complete list. Regular events include Choir, Serving Team, Junior Church for 8+year olds, After Service Sunday Youth and all events organised by our Youth Leader for youth aged up to 18 years (and above) as part of our Children and Young People programme. DBS checks are all in place for these activities A process of review has been commenced regarding Risk Assessments and Role Descriptions. The PCC has in place a Social Media policy which incorporates Safeguarding measures to help staff and volunteers stay safe online for their own safeguarding and to put in place a procedure if online activity raises any safeguarding concerns.

We also run a Messy Church event where children are under the guardianship of parents and carers so normal Safeguarding policy does not apply. However, procedures are fully complied with regarding photography and digital images permissions, as they are with our one-off events such as the Summer Fair and Christmas Bazaar.

Cathy Tahsin remained in post as Parish Safeguarding Officer and Alison Vallance as Deputy Safeguarding Officer. Alison Vallance also fulfilled the role of Churchwarden and is a member of the PCC.

“It will work with statutory bodies, voluntary agencies and other faith communities to promote the safety and well-being of children and young people. It is committed to acting promptly whenever a concern is raised about a child or young person or about the behaviour of an adult, and will work with the appropriate statutory bodies when an investigation into child abuse is necessary.”

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PSO Response :

There have been no disclosures under our Child Protection policy since the last APCM. No investigations are currently ongoing. Two disclosures were made to an outside authority but after investigation no further action was taken. I am aware of which statutory bodies we need to share information with and am prepared to collaborate fully with all statutory bodies if or when necessary. There are also no disclosures to date under the vulnerable adults category.

“The Church of England is committed to encouraging an environment where all people and especially those who may be vulnerable for any reason are able to worship and pursue their faith journey with encouragement and in safety. Everyone, whether they see themselves as vulnerable or not, will receive respectful pastoral ministry recognising any power imbalance within such a relationship.”

PSO response:

PSO and Deputy PSO have worked closely with Vicar Sarah Archer to ensure anyone in need of pastoral care has received this in a respectful manner and there have been no concerns regarding exploitation of any power imbalance regarding such ministry.

Safeguarding Adults

“All church workers involved in any pastoral ministry will be recruited with care including the use of the Criminal Records Bureau disclosure service when legal or appropriate. Workers will receive training and continuing support.”

PSO Response:

2 DBS checks were outstanding for PCC members. Deadlines have been given to all those required to undertake Safeguarding Training and any exceptions due to mitigating circumstances have been recorded.

“Any allegations of mistreatment, abuse, harassment or bullying will be responded to without delay. Whether or not the matter involves the church there will be cooperation with the police and local authority in any investigation.”

PSO response:

Policies and procedures have been followed at all times. Advice has been sought from DST where

necessary and followed accordingly. No referrals to DST have resulted in the need for further action

with other agencies on behalf of St Alban’s Church.

Sensitive and informed pastoral care will be offered to anyone who has suffered abuse, including support to make a complaint if so desired: help to find appropriate specialist care either from the church or secular agencies will be offered.”

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PSO response:

There have been no concerns raised resulting in a recommendation of increased pastoral care since last report.

“Congregations will often include people who have offended in a way that means they are a continuing risk to vulnerable people. The risks will be managed sensitively with the protection of adults and children in mind.”

PSO response:

All or any agreements of such nature are confidential and are being/will be managed appropriately by DST/PSO/members of supporting teams.

Other information:

We continue to be committed to promoting Safeguarding within the Parish.

Cathy Tahsin, Church Safeguarding Officer, 31 January 2023

FINANCIAL REVIEW 2022

Introduction

We started the year under the shadow of the Pandemic, over the year we have coped with increased electric and gas prices and have invested heavily in the longer term of the parish, (see below). As a result of these investments, at the year-end we have £56,514 less in the bank than we did at the start of the year. As we go into 2023, our income is falling and our outgoings are increasing.

Outcome from COVID

In 2020 we moved £50,000 from the Lorna Barnett Legacy into a COVID Contingency fund to be used as needed to support the parish through a difficult time. We opened 2022 with just £9,719 in general fund, this is the lowest we have ever been at. By the end of Quarter one we had zero left in our general fund and had drawn £7,000 from the COVID contingency fund. By the end of Quarter two we had reduced the drawing from the contingency fund to £3,500. As we got back to normal service and the income from fairs and bazaar returned, (many thanks to Emma Garner and her team for all their work) the drawing from the contingency fund fell and at the yearend we decided to close the COVID contingency fund by transferring £15,000 back into the Lorna Barnett Legacy and £35,000 into the General fund. There is a commitment to return the £35,000 from the general fund to the Lorna Barnett legacy over the coming years.

Income over the year

Income over the year has been impacted by loss of rents from both properties, Frobisher Close was taken off the market in order to provide a home for Ninus (our Curate); this house has always been intended for that purpose but has not been used in that way since Donald moved away. The flat in Whittington way was empty for a period of time while we completed necessary maintenance and

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moved to a new agent. We also completed some overdue maintenance on Frobisher Close. These resulted in lower income and higher spend.

The cost of electric and gas increased over the year as a measure electric was £520 for Jan 2022; the cost for Jan 2023 was £2,300. In September we increase hall rental by £2/hour to offset these increased costs.

Investments over the year

Over the past year we completed the following projects:

Solar Panels £25,120 These are now generating electricity and should in the coming
year impact on our electric bills for the hall.
Organ
improvement		 £11,295 The organ has been giving trouble for a number of years and
replacing it is not viable, we have replaced contacts and magnets
in a number of locations. We will need to complete further work
in the future
Tea Point £10,410 This was the first payment to the contractors made on the
delivery of the bifold doors, this represents one third of the total
cost,furtherpayments will be shown in the accounts for 2023.
Whittington way
Lease		 £12,120 The lease for this property has been increased from 81 years to
125 years. giving greater security to the parish over the coming
years.

This represents a total investment for the future of £58,945, such investment in our future has only really been possible due to the very generous legacies left to the church over many years.

Charity Donations

The church made Charity Donations from collections and Mission Funds totalling £7,433, contributions to Harrow Citizens are taken from the church Mission Fund.

Home £ Overseas £
Children’s Society 746 MACS 2,000
Bishops Discretionary
Fund		 235 Christian Aid Afghanistan
and Ukraine Appeals		 1,610
RSCM (collection at
DeaneryChoir Festival)		 143 Railway Children 138
Harrow Citizens 1,000 Embrace the Middle East 746
USPG Sri Lanka Appeal 546
Tear Fund Pakistan Appeal 269
Total 2,124 Total 5,309

Statement of Funds (See note 10 of the Church Accounts)

The church accounts give balances at 31st December 2022 of £32,975 in General Funds, £154,288 in Designated and £51,946 in Restricted Funds. The following changes to and transfers between funds, were made in the current year:

In the past year we have closed the Audio Visual and Tamil Ladies Funds as both the projects were completed. The Music Fund and the Organ fund have been merged into the Organ Project and is being used to refurbish the organ, this is a project that continues. The Choral Scholars fund has been renamed the Musical Vision and now includes the Choral Scholars and the Choir Club. Income to this has been from grants and donations from grateful parents. We have created a WMES (Willesden

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

Ministry Experience Scheme) fund, this manages the grant from the diocese and legacy funds to support Noah Kelly to complete this scheme.

2023 Budget

In November 2022, the PCC approved a budget for 2023,which can be found on page 13 of the Accounts, filed separately. The budget takes into account the reduced income from houses and from falling numbers in the parish planned giving scheme. The income from property will fall from £37,000 in 2022 to £18,000 in 2023, a drop of £19,000. We have planned to manage the reduced income by reducing some spend. The giving to the common fund has been reduced by £10,000 and funds put to one side for mission charities has been reduced by £4,000. The remaining £5,000 will be managed by reducing spend and increasing income from hall rental.

Thanks for Support

I am very grateful for the support over the past year from many people, in particular I would like to thank our Vicar Revd Sarah Archer and our Churchwardens Alison Vallance and Adrian Holloway, for their encouragement. The day-to-day management of our accounts also involves many people, in particular I thank Norman Shurrock for his constant management of the Planned Giving and his monthly reconciliation of that income, Ken Alder for tracking and reclaiming the VAT over the year, Jane Spencer-Davis who manages the payroll, deals with the Gift Aid Claim and prepared the year end accounts, Malcolm Grant who checks my reports giving valuable feedback, and Pauline Schofield who, with assistance from Shirley Clements, has got to grips with hall rental income and cleared the backlog of unpaid invoices. Thanks also to Shirley who manages hall bookings and deals with all the invoices for the church and hall.

Tom Johnson, PCC Treasurer, March 2023

The final accounts for 2022 are reproduced in full as a separate file.

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN. NORTH HARROW INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT CHARITY COMMISSION FOR E￿LAND ANO WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report R•port to th• tru$t THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBANS NORTH HARROW On account8 for the year end¢d 31st DECEMBER 2022 Charity no lff any) 11326CO Set out on pag88 I report trj the trusteès ￿ my ey2minakn Oltr￿ accounts ofth? 8bove charity fthe Tru$tl forth2 y88r eThfjed R¢spon$ibiliti•s and basis of report As Ihe tharitys tDJste8s, you are reswsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordan￿ wth the requirements of the Chariti85 Act 2011 1"th8 Act,). I rèwrt in r&$pe¢t of my examination of th8 Trust's accounts c8rri8d out und8r section 145 of the 2011 A¢t and in carrying out my 8x8minatir￿, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by t1￿ Charity Ccxnmis$i¢ under section 1451Sllbl of the Aet Indep?nd•nt ￿he charity's gross income exceeded £250.OCX) and l am qualffi￿ to •xaMin0￿5 Stat•mant undertake the examinati￿ by baing a qualified member of lins¢rt name of applicable listed bodyll. Delete I I Ifnot 8pplicab I have Completed my examination. I confinn that no material mattèrs hav& come to rny attention in ￿nn&¢lIOn with the e¥amination (other than trat disclosed beb"I which giv8s me cause to believe that in, any material respect. the accounting ￿Cord$We￿ not kept in accxJr¢Jance with section 130 of the Charits8s Act." or the accounts did not accord with the accounting r8cords', or the ac¢ount$ not compty wth the applic8ble r8quirem8nts concwning the fom and ￿nIent of acLounts set ojt in the Chariti85 IAccounts and Report51 Regulations 2W8 otherthan any Nuirwnent that the a¢wunts oiva a'trwe and fair viewlthich is not a rnatter Conside￿ as part of an Independent ex8minalon I have no c￿Ce￿$ aiid Iiav¢ itiiliv auoss i)0 Inatteis iri Loiiiwcliuii %Mth lh8 examinat￿rn to which attention Should be drawn in this rep(rt in order to enab￿ a propef understanding of the accounts to be reached. . F￿ase delete the words in the bRckets rfthey¢ not apply. Sign•d.. Z3 Namp.. ALAN ROttERT Ml I ￿M￿LL Relevant profe$$ion•l qualificationl51 Or body FFA. FIPS I INSTITUTE OF FINANCIAL AXCCOUNTANTS I IER Oct 2018 18

PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN. NORTH HARROW Ilf anyl.. Address.. 33 ST THOMAS DRIVE PINNER MIDDX., HAS 4SX Section B Oisc1osu Only complete If the exarlliner needs lo highlight material matters of ¢ontsm Isee CC32, Ind8pend6nt 8xaminalion ol chanty accounts. directson5 and guidanr2 for examinersl. Giv¢ here brl¢f d¢lalls ol any items that the examiner wishes to IER Oet 2018 19

PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

CHURCH FUND

Church Fund results for 2022 (three-year comparison)

2022 2021 2020
Standing orders 78084 80332 77002
Envelopes 5825 5322 9453
SUMUP card reader 132
TOTAL FUND INCOME 84041 85654 86455

Average monthly giving

2022 2021 2020
Per member 70.03 69.64 68.62
Per individual 51.50 51.22 50.38

Membership

Members Individuals
As at 1stJanuary 2022 100 136
ADD joined in year 9 11
DEDUCT left in year -8 -10
As at 31stDecember 2022 101** 137

** of whom 92 gave tax-efficiently, i.e. by Gift Aid , Give As You Earn, Charities Trust or Charities Aid Foundation, to the extent of £79,981 or 95.17% of total giving.

These figures do not include the value of Gift Aid tax recovery, which will be claimable from HMRC in the tax year 2023/4.

It will be seen that there was a small decline in total giving despite the stewardship campaign in the summer and the slight uptick in membership. Losses include 3 deaths, 4 moves away, 1 resignation.

Inflationary pressures emerged and intensified during the year, meaning that we have less income to devote to the essential work of the Church. However, we are grateful to those members who felt able to increase their giving.

We are at a high level in tax-efficient giving, but I would ask those taxpayers who do not Gift Aid their giving to consider doing so (applications available on request quest) as, if Gift Aid giving is within scope of the donor’s tax liabilities, there is no extra cost to them.

Norman Shurrock, Church Fund Secretary

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

GIFT AID

Gift Aid recovered in respect of the general fund during the year was approximately £19,500. In addition, smaller amounts were recovered in respect of charitable donations.

Most members of the congregation already Gift Aid their giving. If you do not and would like to discuss it with me, I’m happy to do so.

And thank you to everyone who does give under Gift Aid. As you can see it makes a huge difference

Jane Spencer-Davis, Gift Aid Secretary

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

APPENDIX 1: Group and Activity reports WORSHIP, MISSION AND OUTREACH

The Choir

Our present choir consists of about 20 singers, 9 of whom are our Choral Scholars and 5 are Trebles. We continue to lead the 10am Eucharist Services, including the monthly All-Age services, and this year, thankfully, without the intervention of Covid 19.

Although we had Choral Scholars in the choir during the academic year 2021/2022, the arrangements were slightly ad hoc, with Scholars given the choice of the Sundays on which they wished to sing. For the academic year 2022/2023, the Choral Scholar scheme was formalised. This year, our 9 Scholars sing according to a schedule that permits only occasional absences. Our Choral Scholars are aged between 14 and 18 and sing the soprano (5), alto (1) and bass (3) lines.

In October, the Harrow Deanery Choirs Festival was held at St Alban’s. This was the first time in 17 years that we were able to host it and about 60 singers from churches around the Deanery attended to sing a special evensong service. Our thanks to Tim Smith for conducting, to Paul Carey and John Barnard for their organ playing, and to Morwena Jones for organising refreshments.

In December, we were joined by friends old and new for Carols by Candlelight at Christmas. It was a lovely service in preparation for Christmas and was well attended.

Finally, we extend our grateful thanks to our Director of Music Paul Carey, to John Barnard for organ playing at the Tuesday Eucharist services and other occasional services, and to the friends who join us for special occasions.

Penny Johnson

CHILDREN, FAMILIES AND YOUNG PEOPLE

2022 Annual Report on the work of St Alban’s YCF[1] Services

Over the last year SAYS have worked with 94[2] individual young people aged 10-18, and a further 78 children and young people aged 5-9, in our clubs and groups:

‘ Passport ’ -our Saturday evening youth clubs; ‘ Choir Club ’ -our new Monday afternoon after-school club; ‘ Games Room’/ ‘Games on the Green ’ -our Wednesday afternoon after-school club; our holiday clubs; ‘ Junior Church’ and ‘ Youth Church ’ - our faith development groups (run with those who have some link with the church); Messy Church [8+ group] and Sunday@4 [new children & families service – see on].

Of the 152 children and young people from community outreach contexts:

70% were ‘Participants’ – i.e. regular returning children and young people for 5 sessions or more, and 23% also progressed into wider church community contexts [see on below].

Highlights this year have included[3] :

1 Youth Children & Families, following my role change Sept 2021. SAYS stood for St Albans Youth Services.

2 figures do not include all those young people we work with in our schools’ work: assemblies, and lunch break visits.

3 for more details and photo galleries please see: www.stalbans-nh.org.uk/activitiesgallery.htm

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

lunch for those on off-site trips) as well as a combination of fun active, creative and inspiring activities on and off-site. For those on benefit-related free school meals these are offered completely free.

Our children and young people this year have participated in some wonderful opportunities including going to see Matilda the Musical in the West End, visits to St Paul’s Cathedral and the London Eye , and day trips out to Gulliver’s Land (family theme park) , Paradise Wildlife Park , The London Sea-Life Aquarium , Go Ape , and Liquid Leisure (Shepperton). All six visits were physically challenging as well as providing a range of opportunities for practical learning . It’s been exciting once again to have such a range of church members involved – from front-of-house, to caterers, to photographers, to some very creative workshop facilitators offering amazing arts ‘n crafts, archery, sing-along signing, and cake baking & decorating opportunities. Together with our Sports Coaching Facilitator partners, and our five St Alban’s Youth graduates working as Youth & Children Support Workers, this makes for a really strong team with depth and breadth of expertise, as well as a great sense of fun and care for those entrusted to us. Do check out the photos/videos posted on our webpages (www.stalbans-nh.org.uk/activitiesgallery.htm), and Facebook pages (Youth Services – St Alban’s Church North Harrow).

* New Areas of Work Launched: ‘Choir Club’ and ‘Sunday@4’

It was great to launch our Choir Club early on in January. Choir Club runs weekly during term-time after school as a partnership between our Youth, Children and Families team, and our Choir Director, Paul Carey . Children coming straight from school are able to relax and play fun group games for 30 minutes before spending a productive hour in choral singing. I have been treated to renditions of songs from Mary Poppins and Oliver! to child-friendly songs and hymns such as the rhythmic Samba Harvest Festival .

Repertoire, confidence, friendship and sound have all developed admirably through the year and the choir have had periodic showcase opportunities which are a delight. We still have space to grow this choir so please do spread the word!

We launched our family-friendly Sunday@4 on Palm Sunday and have hosted this as a monthly themed service and space for children, young people and families to make their own. It is designed to be less formal, more interactive, and considerably shorter (at 30 mins) than our traditional Sunday morning offering – and so both accessible and engaging for children and young people, and those with children. It’s been great to welcome some 10 families since we started, so it’s very much about community building, with time spent together over snacks and/or a cuppa afterwards.

‘ _Confirmation:*_ 4 young people aged 11-14 were prepared for confirmation over 8 weeks and then confirmed during a special ‘Service of Confirmation’ celebrated by the Bishop of Willesden, Lusa Nsenga-Ngoy. It was a real privilege to work with the young confirmands: Aaliyah, Abigail, Jonathan and Millie.

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

delighted and hugely grateful to hear, in response to our major grant funding application, that John Lyon’s Charity will be our main core funder for three years.

Impact and Progress : Community Outreach and Clubs

Progress and Impact : Church Groups & Faith Development

Staffing and Group Attendance :

This year it’s been wonderful to have church members more involved in our church’s Youth, Children and Families delivery, which has really grown our capacity and shown what is possible when people work together. Thanks to Rev Sarah, Alison, Noah, Rev Ninus, Eileen and Irene in delivery of our Choir Club alongside Paul Carey, with a total of 24 individual children and young people.

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

Thanks to Eileen, Irene, Hope, and Noah, with others helping out when available, for your role in delivering our Games Club with 39 young people. Thanks to Eileen, Hope, Noah, Marilyn, Mark, and Irene, especially, in the period I was not in action for your role keeping our Passport Youth Club going as well – with 48 children and young people. Gerry has helped hugely with driving, Morwena, Paula, Tina, Mpho, and John have all run much-loved workshops. Mpho has catered. Eileen, Carys and Irene all played important roles in our holiday club planning and delivery.

My belief is if we were allowed to capitalise on the Summer Holiday Club and run Christmas Holiday Club we would have seen even more marked progress in the latter part of the year.

Funding :

A huge thank you to our core grant funders for your continued faith in us in such a difficult economic context:

We are also grateful for critical local project funding from:

Not including these substantial in-kind donations: fundraising grants, donations and contributions were once again over £30,000 for the 2022 year[4] .

Support, Partnership, and Plans for the New Year :

We have seen some fantastic answers to prayer and encouraging signs this year:

So very grateful and inspired, as always, by the amazing support and partnership of young people, parents, churches, local organisations, and all our funders.

It’s been great to receive consistent messages of thanks and support from our young people and parents, as well as from Nower Hill School. Being dismissed and reinstated (at appeal), the long period away from work, and the lack of open communication, has not been easy. I look forward to building on what has been achieved in 2022 for a more positive 2023.

Chris Nalder, Youth, Children & Families Lead, April 2023

Messy Church

Messy Church (MC) here at St Alban’s (since opening back up after the pandemic) has settled down to four sessions a year. A smaller available team plus other factors has meant, for the present, we are just able to offer MC quarterly. In 2022 our first MC of the year was celebrated in the Church on Good Friday with crafts, worship and refreshments – ‘The Greatest Love Story ever Told’. We then held sessions in the summer (Celebrations), Autumn (God’s Love for the Planet) and of course our special Christmas celebration.

Although numbers have been down from our pre-pandemic days, we are always delighted to see how much the children enjoy the sessions. The interaction between the three generations spending time together and learning from each other is wonderful and we still very often see two parents coming along, even when there is only one child or baby.

Children and accompanying adults become absorbed in creative activities related to the theme and this is followed by a worship time in the main church where everyone leaves a prayer card at the end before session finishes with tea.

4 This total does not include St Alban’s Church own generous financial commitment (in cash and in kind) to the project.

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

We could not achieve this if it wasn’t for our magnificent Messy Church Team. A number of members have had to step down and we are grateful to them for their amazing help over the years, and also to the ‘as and when’ members who come along occasionally and have saved the day more than once! Anyone who feels they could help on any of the planned four sessions, would be very welcome.

Our very first Messy Church celebration was May 2011 and Messy Church at St Alban’s is still a fun, relevant and creative way to bring God’s message of love and community to the families around us. Nationally and Internationally, Messy Church continues to grow as a fresh expression of worship. Thanks to all who have been involved this year, and long may we continue to serve God in this way.

Sarah Carter, Carys Grom & Gillian Cooper

Pastoral Report 2022

Pastoral Care continues to support the parish and the wider community in various ways.

HOME COMMUNION

Currently 15 church members receive Communion once a month, either at home or in a local Care Home.

MARRIAGE AND BAPTISM

Clergy support couples preparing for marriage: also families bringing children for baptism. A couple renewed their marriage vows and celebrated their marriage.

The last baptism was held on Pentecost Sunday, which included a celebration of our late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

BEREAVEMENT

The Annual Service of Thanksgiving held on the first Sunday in November, was appreciated by those who attended. Tea and conversation afterwards was held at the back of church. Over 50 people visited the Lights of Life Christmas Tree in the Chapel over the Christmas period.

PRAYER MINISTRY

Short sessions are held in the Lady Chapel every other week after the Sunday Eucharist.

CAFE

The Wednesday Café, held on the first Wednesday in the month continues to be popular with an average of 40 people attending each month.

GIFTS

26 Christmas cards were either delivered by hand or posted to the housebound.

FLOWER GUILD

The Guild continue to decorate the church; also offering arrangements for special anniversaries and weddings.

Valerie Rolph, Pastoral Assistant

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

Mission and Outreach Committee annual report 2022

The role of M&O is essentially a steering group which tries to ensure that as a church, St Alban’s achieves its mission to share the transformational love of God in Jesus Christ with each other, our local community and beyond. The committee is a sub-committee of the PCC, and met three times last year, in February, June and October.

Its purpose is to review parish activity in relation to the five marks of mission of the Anglican Church:

Whilst many church activities such as the Alpha Course, Choir Club and preparation for baptism and communion are specifically designed to achieve some or all of these marks, a specific role of M&O is to monitor and recommend to the PCC those causes which can help us to improve our outreach as a church. This can be by encouraging active participation and/or funding, either from the parish Mission Fund budget or from direct appeals, and the committee advises the PCC on these, including the Christmas and Lenten appeals. Last year’s causes supported included MACS, Christian Aid, The Railway Children, Embrace the Middle East, USPG Sri Lanka Appeal, and the Tear Fund Pakistan Appeal. The Finance report shows the exact amounts.

M&O also maintains liaison with ACAT (Action by Christians Against Torture); ALMA (the Angola London Mozambique Association); and MACS (Malawi Association for Christian Support, whose Project Officer Eileen Eggington is a member of the M&O committee). Locally we encourage support for various groups in the voluntary sector including Harrow Citizens, Foodbank, Firm Foundation (which helps homeless people in Harrow), and North Harrow Community Library.

M&O promotes the need to reduce our parish - and personal - impacts on the environment and achieve sustainability within the resources of our planet. Following the award of bronze level Eco Church certification in 2020 we have been working towards silver, and eventually gold status by showing our care for God’s creation and taking practical steps towards minimising the parish’s carbon footprint. We are aiming to achieve net zero carbon by 2030 or sooner: The ‘Eco-team’ continues to work on this, along with other environmental initiatives, and the highlight of 2022 was the installation of solar panels on the hall roof. Thanks are due to Tom Johnson for managing this project, and for following up the change of electricity supplier which was necessary to ensure that the church receives maximum benefit from the generating capacity now available from the solar installation. The project to replace the warm air heating system in church with underfloor heating has been on hold pending investigation of funding possibilities and confirmation of whether air source or ground source heat pumps would be best. Planning is expected to resume shortly.

The parish children and young people’s programme, and activities of Messy Church and liaison with Churches Together, Harrow Interfaith and SICM (Mahfil Ali) are also encouraged by M&O as part of our parish outreach – see separate reports.

Gerry Devine

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

Drop-in Café

It is almost five years that ‘Drop in Cafe’ has been up and running, but for a period of nearly 18 months the project was discontinued due to Covid.

Drop in café has proved to be very popular and well attended. Numbers vary from month to month. We could have as many as 35 to 50 visitors made up of Church parishioners and others from neighbouring areas.

Life from March ‘23 will become much easier with the new Tea point that is built in our Church.

I do wish to say a big Thank you to the ladies who run the St Alban’s Playgroup. They have been extremely nice and considerate to us, when using the kitchen.

Our aim is to reach out and provide a relaxed atmosphere for members and visitors who can enjoy a chat over a cuppa and a piece of cake if they so wish.

Jai Mahadeo

ECUMENICAL AND INTER-FAITH

Churches Together in North Harrow

CTNH is committed to bringing the churches in North Harrow together to explore the Christian faith, so we were relieved this year that only the first meeting had to be held on Zoom owing to a Covid scare.

Two services were held for the ‘Week of Prayer for Christian Unity’ on the theme of we saw the Star in the East and came to Worship’. This was prepared by the Churches in the Middle East. St Alban’s Church and St John Fisher held the services with an attendance of 24 and 14 respectively.

Two Lent House Groups took place using material entitled ‘Life Attitudes – Beatitudes for Lent’. Discussion groups were also organised by St Alban’s Church on ‘Living in Love and Faith’ at the request of the Anglican Church.

Three Lent Lunches were held at Elmfield, St George’s and St Alban’s. It was a lovely opportunity for fellowship and conversation whilst enjoying a light lunch.

Father Graham and members of his congregation joined the clergy and members of St Alban’s Church on the green at the front of St Alban’s for the ‘Blessing of the Palms’ on Palm Sunday. The palms were duly blessed as well as members of the congregation who were liberally splashed with Holy Water!

The Walk of Witness took place on Good Friday. It was a very hot day but fifty people took part with thirty seven staying the course to St George’s Church.

At the AGM held on the 10[th] May the Methodist Minister, the Rev Julie King, was elected as Chair for the coming year.

A Summer Quiz Evening at North Harrow Methodist Church (NHMC) on July 16[th] was really enjoyed by those who attended. On a very hot evening three teams took part and one of the teams from St Alban’s won!

A ‘Songs of Praise and Hotpot’ evening held at NHMC on October 31[st] was well received by twenty six people. Fourteen hymns were chosen, the singing was enthusiastic and uplifting and the meal was also enjoyed!

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

The Advent Service this year was held at Elmfield Church attended by 29 people from the different churches.

The Carol Singing didn’t take place this year as only three people arrived to sing on a bitterly cold evening! A rethink for next year is scheduled!

Jill Sloley

North Harrow Muslim Christian Dialogue

Last year we were grateful that our regular meetings could at least take place on Zoom, but with the return of face-to-face encounter these bi-monthly evenings have felt much more real.

We have managed 4 of them in 2022 and our conversation has been on these topics: how we respond to and value those with special needs, mental and physical ; the place of food in our two faiths; religious faith in the education system in Britain today and death and the afterlife .

We also spend time catching up with what is going on in the mosque and in our churches and often too discussing events in the wider world that affect our faith. We always end with a period of quiet prayer together.

We are not experts on inter-faith matters, but a group of local Muslims and Christians who want to get to know each other better. Over the last 10 years or so there has been real growth in mutual respect, confidence and friendship.

All are welcome and every meeting is advertised on the parish weekly news sheet.

David Tuck

UNIFORMED ORGANISATIONS

2[nd] Headstone Guides & Senior Section

The 2[nd] Headstone Guides & Senior Section continue to enjoy many challenges and experiences year on year.

Following lockdown, the unit has returned to the hall to meet. It is always challenging to attract new girls, but we are a happy unit of 26 girls with some very committed leaders and young leaders. The guides are aged between 10 -14 ½ years old and after that the girls that want to stay join our Senior Section. We normally meet on Fridays (term time) from 7-9pm in the Church Hall. The girls come from various backgrounds, schools, faiths, and cultures but the one thing in common is friendship.

The girls have enjoyed participating in new challenges whether that be learning new skills, cooking, handicrafts, cinema night in the Church, circus skills and two fabulous outside visits to the Zoroastrian Centre in Rayners Lane and the Women’s Euros game at Brentford.

As we could not enjoy our planned weekend camp to Paccar Chalfont Heights in July 2020 or 2021 or 2022, our fingers remained crossed for summer 2023!

Guiding is a great organisation and will have a huge, positive impact on the girls’ lives in the future.

Sue Till

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

2[nd] A Headstone Brownies

This past year, the Brownies have had a busy and exciting time with a varied programme to develop their skills, confidence and independence.

In October, the Brownies took part in the Girlguiding LaSER (London and South East England) ‘Monopoly Challenge’. We held a games evening and the Brownies created their own Monopoly set in and around North Harrow, designing and making all of the individual pieces of the board game from recycled materials that they had collected for the evening. The Brownies earned a special badge for this event to be sewn onto their sashes.

To celebrate and take part in the Women’s EURO 2022 football in July, held in England, the pack learned about the history of the sporting event and its significance for girls and young women for participating in the game, be that watching football or playing it. Brownies earned a special badge to commemorate this event.

2nd A Headstone Brownies held our own street party in the Summer Term during one of our meetings to celebrate our patron Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. The Brownies made their own cakes and decorations to share for the occasion. We also gathered together in September to celebrate the life of the monarch and reflect on her legacy with the Guiding movement.

Before Christmas, some of our Brownies attended a special screening of the new Matilda the Musical film in association with Odeon Cinemas. For our pack Christmas celebrations, the Brownies had the opportunity of learning how to play snippets of Jingle Bells and Away in a Manger in an ensemble with the hand bells, which they really enjoyed!

Caroline Hale, Brownie Leader

4th Headstone Scout Group

2022 saw Scouting go back to what we now feel is normality following two years of Covid restrictions.

As a Scout group our sections of Beavers, Cubs and Scouts continue to grow. We are also excited to share that in 2022 we had approval to open a new section called Squirrels (age 4-6year olds). They opened in January 2023 and are the first in the London Borough of Harrow.

All sections have taken their young people on nights away activities. This has included trips to the Peak District (including rock climbing on real rock faces, hikes plus lots more), camps at local campsites (Paccar, Southall activity centre and Lee’s Wood). At these camps the young people took part in some of the following activities: zip wire, high ropes, climbing, archery, rifle shooting, junior crossbows, canoeing plus back-up basic camp skills and sleeping in tipis and hammocks. Some even did sleepovers at the Scout Hut before Remembrance Sunday Church Parade, which included watching the film Bed Knobs and Broomsticks.

In September we held our first family camp since Covid with over 100 attendees. This included Beaver, Cubs, Scouts, plus siblings and parents, plus our trusted leaders and other volunteers. It was so nice to be back to normal camps!

All our young people continue to work towards challenge and activity badges with most of them completing their bronze (Beaver award), silver (Cub award) and gold (Scout award) Chief Scout awards - the highest for each section.

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

As a group we continue to refurbish the Scout Hut, and fundraising continues too. 2022 saw two great fundraising activities a summer fair, afternoon tea and evening BBQ at the hut. The money raised at this was split between the Scout Group and three young people selected to take part in international camps, including the next World Scout Jamboree. We also hosted a festive auction in December, both fundraising activities reminded us of the importance of the 4th Headstone community.

Finally, we need to share a big thank you to our volunteers (leaders and trustees) for all their hard work to make 4th Headstone the group it is. We would also like to thank Revd Sarah for her continued support.

We look forward to sharing more in the future about what the Scout Group gets up to in 2023.

Sammy, Group Scout Leader

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THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

A registered charity in England and Wales no. 1132600

PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST ALBAN NORTH HARROW ACCOUNTS for year ended 31 December 2022 BALANCE SHEET AT 31 DECEMBER 2022

Notes
Fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets
5
Investments
6
Total fixed assets
Current assets
Debtors
8
Short term deposits incl. CBF/CCLA
Cash at bank and in hand
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
9
Net current assets
Total assets less current liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due after one year
9
NET ASSETS
7
Funds
Restricted funds
10
Unrestricted funds
10
Assets / investments
10		 2022
£
1,458,399
375,000
1,833,399
12,560
159,844
66,858
239,262
60
239,202
2,072,601
-
2,072,601
51,946
187,256
1,833,399
2,072,601		 2021
£
1,462,598
375,000
1,837,598
8,343
212,518
74,915
295,776
263
295,513
2,133,111
-
2,133,111
42,066
253,447
1,837,598
2,133,111

The notes on pages 3-11 form part of these financial accounts.

1

THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

A registered charity in England and Wales no. 1132600

PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST ALBAN NORTH HARROW STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

Notes
Incoming resources
Voluntary income
2a
Activities for generating funds
2b
Income from investments
2c
Church activities
2d
Other incoming resources
2e
Total incoming resources
Resources expended
Costs of generating voluntary income
3a
Fund-raising trading costs
3b
Church activities
3c
Governance Costs
3d
Total resources expended
Net incoming/(outgoing) resources
Gains/(losses) on revaluation of fixed & Investment
assets and transfers
5/6
Net movement in funds
Total funds brought forward at 1 January 2022
Total funds carried forward at 31 December 2022		 TOTAL
TOTAL
Unrestricted
Restricted
FUNDS
FUNDS
Funds
Funds
2022
2021
£
£
£
£
130,752
55,425
186,177
187,414
9,821
-
9,821
3,270
12,558
-
12,558
14,534
61,012
9,695
70,707
45,387
9,224
-
9,224
22,950
223,367
65,120
288,487
273,555
-
-
-
-
5,891
-
5,891
7,272
269,866
72,840
342,706
260,890
400
-
400
385
276,157
72,840
348,997
268,547
(52,790)
(7,720)
(60,510)
5,008
(17,600)
17,600
-
(14,400)
14,400
(70,390)
9,880
(60,510)
5,008
2,091,045
42,066
2,133,111
2,128,103
2,020,655
51,946
2,072,601
2,133,111

2

THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

A registered charity in England and Wales no. 1132600

1. Accounting policies

A Accounting convention

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in these notes, and comply with Church Accounting Regulations 2006, the Charities Act 2011 as amended, the Charity (Accounts and Reports Regulations 2008, and the current Charities SORP (Statement of Recommended Practice): Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) 102, 2[nd] edition, 2019.

They follow the historical cost convention as modified by the inclusion of investments at market value. The revaluation of fixed assets (freehold land and buildings) was last undertaken in April 2015. Our Property Agents have re-valued the Parish houses at 6 Frobisher Close and 80 Whittington Way but it has not been possible to revalue the church hall this year. The financial statements 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 affiliation to another body, nor those which are informal gatherings of church members.

B Funds accounting

Funds held by the PCC are:

Unrestricted funds - general funds which can be used for PCC ordinary purposes

Designated funds - monies set aside by the PCC out of unrestricted funds for specific future purposes or projects.

Restricted funds - a) income from trusts or endowments which may be used only on those restricted objects provided in the terms of the trust or bequest; b) donations or grants received for a specific object or invited by the PCC for a specific object. The funds may only be used on the specific object for which they were given. Any balance remaining unspent at the end of the year is carried forward as a balance on that fund.

C Incoming resources

All incoming resources are accounted for gross.

Voluntary Income

Collections are recognised when received.

Planned giving receivable is recognised only when received. Income tax recoverable on Gift Aid donations is recognised when received. Grants and legacies are recognised when the PCC is legally entitled to the amount due.

All other income

All other income is recognised when it is receivable.

Gains and losses on investments

Realised gains are recognised when the investments are sold

Unrealised gains and losses are accounted for on revaluation on 31 December.

D Resources used

Resources expended are accounted for on an accruals basis and are accounted for gross.

Grants

Grants and donations are accounted for when paid over, or when awarded where the award creates a binding obligation on the PCC.

3

THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

A registered charity in England and Wales no. 1132600

Church Activities

The diocesan parish contribution to the London Diocese Common Fund is accounted for when paid. It was paid in full in 2022.

E Fixed Assets

Tangible fixed assets

Consecrated and beneficed property of any kind is excluded from the accounts by s.96(2) of the Charities Act 1993.

Movable church furnishings held by the Vicar and Churchwardens on special trust for the PCC and which require a faculty for disposal are accounted as inalienable property unless consecrated. They are listed in the church's inventory which can be inspected. For inalienable property acquired prior to 2000 there is insufficient cost information available and therefore such assets are not valued in the accounts. Individual items acquired since 2000 where their value at acquisition was £1,500 or more, have been capitalised in the accounts and depreciated over their useful economic life (see note below).

All expenditure on consecrated or beneficed buildings and individual items costing under £1500 are written off in the year they were incurred.

Depreciation

Depreciation is calculated to write down the cost of tangible fixed assets costing £1500 or more, excluding freehold properties, over their expected useful lives. The rates generally applicable are:

Hall kitchen & piano (see note 5) 10% straight line Fixtures and fittings 25% straight line Computer and other electronic equipment 30% straight line

No depreciation is provided on freehold property as it is the PCC's policy to maintain these assets in a continual state of sound repair. The useful economic life of these assets is so long and residual values so high that any depreciation would not be material. These assets will be subject to annual impairment reviews. Provision will be made if there has been any permanent diminution in value.

F Current Assets

Amounts owing to the PCC at 31 December in respect of fees, rents or other income are shown as debtors less provision for any amounts that may prove uncollectible.

Short-term deposits include cash held on deposit either with the CBF Church of England Funds, or at a bank or building society.

G Reserves Policy

It is PCC policy to retain in our General Funds three months unrestricted funds to cover any emergency situation that may arise. The balance of our general funds is only £33,000. This is better than at the start of the year when these funds were only £9,700, but less than the £40,000 target.

The PCC is aware that it still has significant Designated Funds in both its Legacy Fund and in the Lorna Barnett Fund. A 5- year financial assessment has been undertaken which identifies a number of projects in support of our mission and could be used also as emergency funding. The Lorna Barnett Fund is designated for Mission purposes and currently supports Youth development including the choir club.

There are currently no known significant outstanding works. All other anticipated risks have been included in the 5-year finance plan and reflected in the 2022 budget at the end of this report, together with provision for a ‘tea bar’ to enable greater use of the church premises for mission.

4

THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

A registered charity in England and Wales no. 1132600

2
Incoming resources
a
Voluntary income
Planned Giving
Gift Aid Donations
Other Tax Efficient Giving
Other
Youth Leader Appeal
Tax recoverable
Collections at services
Charity Collections at services
Sundry donations and appeals
Grants
Legacies
b
Activities for generating funds
Church Fair & Bazaar
c
Investment income
Property
Dividends and interest
d
Income from Church Activities
Fees from weddings etc
Church Lettings
Church hall lettings etc
Messy Church
Youth Leader &Other
e
Other incoming resources
Rent from Church Property
Insurance claims
Mission Fund
Total incoming resources		 TOTAL
TOTAL
Unrestricted
Restricted
FUNDS
FUNDS
Funds
Funds
2022
2021
£
£
£
£
78,247
-
78,247
78,864
3,050
-
3,050
5,380
2,749
-
2,749
1,410
-
-
-
-
20,363
-
20,363
20,993
4,677
-
4,677
2,057
-
4,449
4,449
2,954
3,514
-
3,514
3,888
12,247
50,376
62,623
28,868
5,905
600
6,505
43,000
130,752
55,425
186,177
187,414
9,821
-
9,821
3,270
9,821
-
9,821
3,270
10,322
-
10,322
14,366
2,235
-
2,235
168
12,558
-
12,558
14,534
1,592
-
1,592
1,034
-
-
-
280
59,421
-
59,421
33,397
-
97
97
86
-
9,598
9,598
10,590
61,012
9,695
70,707
45,387
7,800
-
7,800
22,950
1,424
-
1,424
-
-
-
-
-
223,367
65,120
288,487
273,555

5

THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

A registered charity in England and Wales no. 1132600

2 Incoming Resources (cont.)

Income overall increased by £14,900. The loss of income from the house in Frobisher Close in order to house a curate is masked by increased grants of £33,700. These are for youth, the Willesden Ministry Experience and Musical Vision. Hall hire was increased by £2/hour to cover increased electric and gas prices, giving an additional £16,000. Fund raising from the Summer Fair and Christmas Bazaar was £6,000 higher than in 2021 now that the Pandemic is past. Following discussion with the E. Ivor Hughes Foundation, their grant of £15,000 was split: £10,000 to support the Choir Club and Choral Scholars, and £5,000 to youth.

6

THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

A registered charity in England and Wales no. 1132600

3
Resources Expended
a
Costs of generating voluntary income
Church Fund costs
b
Fund-raising trading costs
Events
Property rental- agent fee
c
Church Activities
Missionary and charitable giving:
Giving from Planned Income
Other Charitable Giving
Overseas:
Home:
Ministry costs
Mission to community
Diocesan parish contribution
Other clergy costs
Church running expenses
Church maintenance / Improvements
Upkeep of services
Upkeep of church grounds
Parish Houses
Clergy House Costs
Children & Youth Work
Church hall running costs
Bank charges
Sub Total
d
Governance costs
Independent examination fee
Total resources expended		 Unrestricted
Restricted
FUNDS
FUNDS
Funds
Funds
2022
2021
£
£
£
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
2,822
-
2,822
459
3,070
-
3,070
6,813
5,891
-
5,891
7,272
4,000
.
4,000
1,500
-
-
-
-
-
4,432
4,432
3,482
4,000
4,432
8,432
4,982

1,530
1,480
3,010
-
91,371
-
91,371
89,656
595
-
595
2,555
36,722
-
36,722
37,200
58,994
11,295
70,286
21,257
24,206
-
24,206
13,008
3,053
-
3,053
2,621
12,106
-
12,106
5,193
354
-
354
793
-
55,633
55,683
62,379
36,408
-
36,408
20,970
480
-
480
276
265,866
68,408
334,274
255,908
275,757
72,840
348,597
268,162
400
-
400
385
400
-
400
385
276,157
72,840
348,997
268,547

This year’s spend exceeds our income by £60,000. The increased spend on electric and gas prices was offset by the increase in hall rental prices. Both increased by about £15,000. We have made a number of longer-term investments over the year: -

  1. We fitted solar panels on the hall roof;

  2. We paid the first third of the cost for the tea point;

  3. We extended the lease on the Whittington Way flat.

7

THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

A registered charity in England and Wales no. 1132600

4 Staff costs

a

Staff costs
2022 2021
£ £
Wages and salaries 59,718 57,681

The PCC has contracted cleaning of halls to an agency who employ the cleaners. The PCC employs a part time director of music, a part time administrator and a full time Youth Leader and a part time youth support worker.

b Payments to PCC members

There were no disclosable payments in respect of PCC members, nor persons closely connected to them, nor other related parties in the year.

5 Tangible fixed assets

Cost or valuation
At 1 January 2022
Additions/revaluations
Disposals
At 31 December 2022
Depreciation
At 1 January 2022
Provided in the year
Disposals
At 31 December 2022
Net book amounts
At 31 December 2022		 Freehold land
Church
TOTAL
and
buildings
equipment
£
£
£
1,450,000
28,031
1,478,031
-
-
-
-
-
-
1,450,000
28,031
1,478,031
-
15,433
15,433
-
4,199
4,199
-
-
-
19,632
19,632
1,450,000
8,399
1,458,399

The freehold land and buildings comprise the parish house at 6 Frobisher Close, Pinner and the church hall. The value of 6 Frobisher Close was re-assessed in 2019 by our property agents, Gibbs Gillespie, at £675,000. The existing value of the church hall at £775,000 is retained (last re-valued in 2015 on advice from the Diocese). It will need to be re-evaluated in 2023 by suitably qualified property surveyors. In 2014 the parish fitted a new kitchen in the church hall and purchased a piano for the ABRSM exams at a total cost of £41,989. Depreciation was set at 10% per year, with a written down value at 31[st] December 2022 of £8,399 for the kitchen and piano (which is no longer being held at cost).

8

THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

A registered charity in England and Wales no. 1132600

6 Investments

Investment Property Leasehold Property Total £ £ At 1 January 2022 375,000 375,000 Additions/revaluations - - Disposals - - ---------- ---------At 31 December 2022 375,000 375,000 --------- ----------

The Parish owns a leasehold property at 80 Whittington Way, Pinner as part of the Lorna Barnett Legacy fund. The lease was extended this year from 80 years to 125 years; costs for this were taken from the Lorna Barnett Legacy. Following this increase we need to have the value of 80 Whittington Way revalued in the coming year. The net income from this let property is used for the mission and outreach of the church under the control of the Lorna Barnett Legacy Fund. At present it is used to supplement the grants for youth work at the rate of £12,000 a year. Due to the length of the Whittington Way lease no depreciation has been included. This Leasehold property was last re-valued by Property Agent, Gibbs Gillespie, at end 2019 at £375,000.

Net book amounts Land & Buildings Church Total Equipment £ £ £ At 31 December 2022 1,825,000 8,399 1,833,399 ======== ====== =======

9

THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

A registered charity in England and Wales no. 1132600

7
Analysis of Net assets by fund
Investment fixed assets
Current assets
Long term liabilities
8
Debtors
Income tax recoverable
Prepayments and accrued
income
9
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Accruals for utilities and other costs
Creditors: amounts falling due after more than		 Unrestricted
Funds
£
1,833,399
187,256
-		 Restricted
Total Funds
Funds
2022
£
£
-
1,833,399
51,946
239,202
-
-
2,0220,655 51,946
2,072,601

one year		 2022
2021
£
£
-
-
12,560
8,343
12,560
2,237
2022
2021
£
£
60
263
263
313
2022
2021
£
£
-
-
-
-

10

THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

A registered charity in England and Wales no. 1132600

10 Statement of funds
Balance Balance
at 31st
Dec 2021		 Transfers
Gains or
Losses		 Income Expenditure Balance at
31st Dec
2022
£ £ £ £ £
Unrestricted Fund
General fund - Church 3,821 53,000 122,670 157,427 22,064
General fund - hall 5,898 -18,000 59,421 36,408 10,911
Total General Fund 9,719 35,000 182,091 170,116 32,975
Designated
LibraryProject 32 0 0 0 32
COVID-19 Contingency 50,000 -50,000 0 0 0
Legacy/In Memoriam 64,914 -23,100 6,221 0 48,035
Lorna Barnett Legacy 53,199 3,000 10,322 18,766 47,755
Frobisher Close 10,497 0 7,800 8,529 9,768
Tea Point 21,002 9,500 742 10,410 20,834
Mission Fund 9,147 0 4,330 4,000 9,477
0 0 0
Altar 3,145 0 0 0 3,145
Vicarage 3,236 0 1,500 354 4,382
Solar Panels 17,296 8,000 0 25,120 176
Church Heating 3,960 0 0 500 3,460
Musical Vision 7,300 0 10,360 10,444 7,216
Total Designated Funds 243,728 -52,600 41,275 78,123 154,288
Restricted Funds
WMES		 0 4,000 3,000 1,480 5,520
CharityCollections 780 0 4,449 4,432 797
Organ 9,179 1,600 600 11,295 84
Youth 32,107 12,000 57,071 55,633 45,545
Total Restricted 42,066 17,600 65,120 72,840 51,946
Fixed assets 1,462,598 - - 4,199 1,458,399
Investments 375,000 - - 0 375,000
Total funds 2,133,111 - 288,486 348,997 2,072,600

11

THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

A registered charity in England and Wales no. 1132600

Budgets 2018 to 2023 2018 to 2023 2018 to 2023 2018 to 2023
Budget Actual Budget Actual
21		 Actual
20		 Actual Actual
Income (£000) 2023 2022 2022 Pandemic 2019 2018
Plannedgiving 87 84 84 85.6 86.4 86.3 83.1
Collections at services 4 4.6 4 2 2.1 4.7 4.3
Tax Recoverable 21 20.3 21 21 23 20.5 22.3
Fund Raising 10 9.8 10 3.2 1.8 9.3 8
Church activities 1.5 1 4.3 4.9 6.7
SundryIncome 3.5 0.4 13.9 4
Bank Interest 1 2.2 1 0.4 1.1
House Rental 13 18 25 37.3 37.2 35.8 38.1
Church 2.5 0 2.5 0.3 0.5
Hall 40 59.4 44 33.4 24 37.5 32.9
Youth Activities 7 9.5 7 7
Grants 38 62.6 36 28.8 46 37.5 32
Donations 1.5 1.5 1.9 31 1.8
Legacy 6.5 43 2 10
Charitycollections 4.9 3.6 0.9 4.5
Total Income 223.5 288.3 236.0 268.5 229.7 291.4 237.7
Expenditure (£000)
Cost of voluntaryincome 0.1 0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1
Fund raisingcosts 1 2.8 1 0.4 1 0.7 0.7
LDF 91.4 91.4 91.4 89.7 89.7 88.3 88.3
Ministrycosts 5 3 3 2.5 3.8 1.3 1.4
Curate 2.5 0.6 2.5
Upkeepof services 10 13.8 10 10.5 5 10.5 10.8
Musical Vision 0 10.4 7.6 2.4
Children & Youth Work 57 55.6 56.5 62 58.7 43.3 40.9
Mission Fund 6 8.4 6 1.5 2.8 9.3 13.9
Church RunningCosts 35 36.7 33.4 37 30.5 37.7 33.9
Church Maintenance 10 5.6 10 6 2.5 15.2 25.2
Development 0 64.4 25 10.7 56.7
Churchgrounds upkeep 5 3 5 2.6 11 3.6 8.1
Church hall costs 30 36.4 30 21 17.3 31.1 33.5
Parish houses 2.5 15 3.5 12 9.2 0.5 5.8
Clergyhouse costs 0.5 0.3 0.5 0.8 0.4 0.5 7.9
Bank charges 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.3
Governance costs 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4
Depreciation 4.8 4.8
Total Spend 256.8 348.3 286.3 259.9 289.3 247.7 276
Surplus 2.7 -60.0 -50.3 8.6 -59.6 43.7 -38.3

12

THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

A registered charity in England and Wales no. 1132600

EXPLANATION OF FUNDS

Fund Designation /
Reserve Value		 Description Income Outgoings
General fund
– Church		 Unrestricted
RV £30,000		 Used for the running of the church Church collections,
regular giving & non-
designated income		 Running costs of the church
including heating, lighting, wages
and all regular costs
General fund
- Hall		 Unrestricted
RV £10,000		 Used for the management of the
church hall, This Fund will be
maintained with a limit of £10,000 for
operational needs. Further income will
go to the General Fund – Church		 Income from lettings to
the organisations that
hire the hall		 Running costs of the church hall
including heating, lighting and
other regular costs. When the Fund
exceeds £10,000, income will go
to General Fund – Church
Library
Project		 Designated
RV Zero		 A church project to run a lending
library of books and raise awareness of
new books published		 Church funds and
donations, topped up if
needed from the General
Fund		 Purchase of books and production
of notices in the church
COVID
Contingency
Fund		 Unrestricted Used as a reserve fund to be used in
the event of being unable to pay bills
from the General funds, during the
COVID Pandemic		 With agreement of the
PCC, £50,000 was
transferred from the
Lorna Barnett Legacy
fund.		 To cover the running costs of the
church if no funds exist in the
general funds for the church or the
hall. Full £50,000 to be paid back
to the LB legacy over time.

13

THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

A registered charity in England and Wales no. 1132600

Legacy
Fund		 Designated
RV Zero		 Holds funds bequeathed to the church
or gifts that have no designated
purpose when received		 Legacies and donations
to the church given by
individuals without a
requested purpose		 At the discretion of the PCC to
projects as seen fit but not used for
general running of the church
unless directed by the PCC.
Lorna Barnett
Legacy		 Designated
RV £10,000		 To manage the Legacy of her house
left to the church in the Lorna Barnett
will		 From investment rental
income and interest
from Bank account		 The running cost of the property in
this fund and for parish Mission
and Outreach at the discretion of
the PCC
Frobisher
Close Fund		 Designated
RV £10,000		 Church property for clerical use. This
Fund will be maintained with a limit of
£10,000 for operational needs. Excess
will be transferred to General Funds		 Rental income if let Property maintenance costs &
agency fees. When the Fund
exceeds £10,000, income will go
to General Fund – Church
Tea Point Designated
RV Zero		 To hold funds allocated from legacy
funds for the installation of a tea point
at the West End of the church		 Funds allocated from
legacy, income from the
midweek café and
donations made by
people to this project		 Planning and installation of the
Tea Point
Mission Fund Designated
RV Zero		 To Support the charitable outreach of
the Parish at the recommendation of
the Mission and Outreach Committee.		 A monthly allocation of
£166 from planned
giving to this Fund each
month		 In line with Parish guidelines at
the recommendation of the
Mission and Outreach Committee
to the PCC from available funds.

14

THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

A registered charity in England and Wales no. 1132600

Altars Project Restricted
RV Zero		 A project to replace the current Altars
in the Church and Lady Chapel and
provide a portable Nave Altar.		 Grants, Legacies, Parish
appeals and fund raising
for this project.		 Under the control of the PCC for
the provision of the new altars
Altars Project Designated
RV Zero		 A project to replace the current Altars
in the Church and Lady Chapel and
provide a portable Nave Altar.		 Allocation of parish
funds and of legacies
with no stated purpose
at discretion of the PCC		 Under the control of the PCC for
the provision of the new altars
Vicarage
Fund		 Designated
RV Zero		 Fund to ensure we are able to decorate
and complete minor repair to the
vicarage in line with Parish obligations		 From parish funds at a
planned rate of
£125/month from parish
planned giving		 As needed at the discretion of the
Church Wardens.
Solar Panels Designated
RV Zero		 To hold funds allocated from general
legacy to install Solar panels on the
roof of the Church hall		 Funds allocated from
General legacy		 Planning and installing the solar
panels under the control of the
PCC
Church heating Designated
RV Zero		 To hold funds allocated from general
legacy to replace existing heating		 Funds allocated from
General legacy		 Planning and replacing heating in
the church and hall under the
control of the PCC

15

THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

A registered charity in England and Wales no. 1132600

Musical
Vision		 Restricted
RV £5,000		 A fund to develop the church’s
musical tradition by providing an after
school choir club		 Totally funded by grants
for this purpose		 This fund is spent under the
control of the PCC on the musical
vision of the parish
WMES Restricted
RV Zero		 To hold funds given by donation and
grants for the support of a person
completing the Willesden Ministry
Experience Scheme (WMES)		 Grants and donations Monthly payments at the control
of the PCC to cover basic living
costs of a person sponsored by the
parish to complete the WMES.
Charity
Collections		 Restricted
RV Zero		 To hold funds collected from appeals
and fund raising for any named
Charity		 Collections, Donations,
Appeals and fund
raising for the named
Charity		 To the named Charity with any
gift aid that can be reclaimed by
the church
Organ Restricted
RV Zero		 To hold funds for the replacement /
repair of Organ		 Allocation of parish
funds and of legacies
with no stated purpose
at discretion of the PCC		 Under the control of the PCC for
the provision of the new Organ
Youth Fund Restricted
RV £15,000		 A Fund to support the parish outreach
to youth in our Parish and the
surrounding area.		 Various Grants and
donations for the
development of youth
activities.		 This fund is spent under the
control of the PCC on the youth
and children work of the Parish

16

PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

A registered charity in England & Wales no. 1132600

ANNUAL REPORT and FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

of the PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL for the year ended 31st December 2022

Incumbent The Revd Dr Sarah Archer The Vicarage Church Drive, North Harrow HA2 7NS

Bankers National Westminster Bank PLC Branch: Station Road, Harrow also at

the CBF Church of England Investment Fund and Virgin Money PLC

Honorary Solicitor Mr Christopher Noyce Lovell, Son & Pitfield 9 Gray’s Inn Square Gray’s Inn London WC1R 5JT

Independent Examiner Mr Alan Mitchell 33 St Thomas Drive Pinner HA5 4SX

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

Contents

Page

Appendix 1: Group Activity Reports

Worship, Mission and Outreach

Accounts for year ending 31 December 2022 -filed separately

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

FOREWORD by the Reverend Dr Sarah Archer

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”: the line that begins A Tale of Two Cities but could have been designed for the year that has just passed that saw the joyous celebrations of the Her Late Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee but also her funeral, the start of the war in Ukraine and the cost-of-living crisis. We also had the sorrow of saying farewell to our dear church members Jean Riley, Jean Graham, Cyril Tomkins, Anne Harvey and Harold Kirby.

In our own parish, despite increasing fuel bills and numerous challenges, there is much that remains a ‘Cause for Celebration’: not least that we have been able to welcome our new Curate Ninus Khako and his family and seen Noah Kelly join the team formally as our Willesden Ministry Experience Scheme Volunteer. The following pages contain many more, demonstrating as they do the continuing commitment and hard work of so many. You have my thanks and the thanks of all who have benefited from the ministry of St Alban’s in the last year. Some achievements aren’t recognized in these pages: and so I shall use Vicar’s privileges to mention our very own Hero from Harrow, Gerry Devine, who won a Lifetime Achievement Award from Harrow Council this year for his decades of faithful service to this area and to Marilyn Devine, rightly nominated alongside him.

2022 has been another year of challenge and renewed opportunity. This year we helped to maintain and develop our confident and compassionate worshipping community by:

We have continued our aim to be multi-generational in focus: Chris Nalder has a full report on our Youth Ministry later in this document, but it has been great to see:

We have continued to grow and strengthen our capacity for mission and outreach. We:

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and hosted the Action of Christians Against Torture service in November;

It was great to see our vocation as a centre for community life being able to be realised as we welcomed new community organisations into our hall We also

We were also thrilled to see Solar Panels being installed onto the roof of the Church Hall over the summer as it represented a huge step forward with our final vision aim: to care for creation as an integral part of all that we do at St Alban’s. Our next aim is to start the long journey towards installing underfloor heating.

This is an incredible amount of work, ministry and life together, as a church, and I (and all of us) owe a debt of thanks and appreciation to those who have given so sacrificially of their time and resources to “make church happen”: not least our churchwardens Ally Vallance and Adrian Holloway and Deputy Gerry Devine, our Treasurer Tom Johnson, our Ministry and Pastoral Visiting Team (Ninus, Noah, Irene, Carys, Wendy, Jacquie, Anne, Valerie, David, Chris and Eileen), our PCC secretary Ray Barber and PCC members, and all whose ministry and work – largely hidden – goes on unseen, but very much appreciated. It’s also been great to continue working alongside our hugely professional staff members Shirley, Paul and Hope and the talented scholars Paul has recruited into our worship.

I’m so sad to write as last year that we continue to hear terrible news from Ukraine and around the world. This Annual Report contains much good news to encourage us all in these challenging times and are a testament to your work and worship. So, on behalf of us all, thank you to all who have taken time out of your busy schedules to contribute to this document. I’m confident you will all read on to honour the work of so many and add your thanks to my own. Thank you for our fellowship in the gospel and I continue to look forward to where God will lead us all in the years ahead.

THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

St Alban’s Parish Church is situated in The Ridgeway, North Harrow. It is part of the Diocese of London within the Church of England. The correspondence address is The Parish Office, St Alban’s Church, Norwood Drive, North Harrow, Harrow, HA2 7PF.

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2020) and a charity registered with the Charity Commission (no. 1132600).

All PCC members as Trustees are inducted into the role and encouraged to attend training. An induction policy statement incorporating safeguarding and making training mandatory for all trustees is under consideration for agreement by the PCC in 2023.

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PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL (PCC) 2022/23

Ex Officio members

Incumbent Vicar

The Revd Dr Sarah Archer

Incumbent

The Revd Ninus Khako

Curate wef July 2022

Churchwardens

Deanery Synod Representatives

Elected members

Adrian Holloway Alison Vallance Ray Barber

also PCC Secretary until May 2022 APCM elected May 2022 APCM

Amanda Dodd elected May 2022 APCM Mo Hatton Diane Tuck Gerry Devine also Assistant Churchwarden Marilyn Devine Eileen Eggington Carys Grom John Hicks until May 2022 APCM Tom Johnson PCC Treasurer Morwena Jones Supritha Kotian elected May 2022 APCM Julia Powell Pauline Prince Tina Ryan Jane Spencer-Davis Caoimhe Sweeney

Statement of Responsibilities of the Members (Trustees) of the Parochial Church Council (PCC)

The Trustees (PCC members acting collectively) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) and in compliance with guidance from the Charity Commission.

The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

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The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011 as amended, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008, the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 together with the current Charities SORP (Statement of Recommended Practice): Financial Reporting Standard (FRS) 102, 2[nd] edition, 2019; and the Parochial Church Council Powers Measures 1956. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Declaration on reporting serious incidents

There were no serious incidents or other matters relating to the PCC during the 12 months to end December 2022 that should have been brought to the Charity Commission’s attention but were not.

This report, including the accounts and financial statements, of the Trustees was approved by the PCC on 19 April 2023 and is signed on behalf of the PCC by the Vicar, subject to the satisfaction of the Independent Examiner, whose signed report accompanies the Accounts.

The Revd Dr Sarah Archer, Vicar and PCC Chair

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PCC

Aim and Purposes

St Alban’s Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility of cooperating with the incumbent, the Revd Dr Sarah Archer, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The PCC is also responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the church building, church grounds and hall complex of St Alban’s, The Ridgeway, North Harrow.

Objectives and Activities

Our Mission (Vision) Action Plan continues to be kept under review. Activities and plans are gradually regaining momentum following the lifting of Covid constraints. A more comprehensive review to be undertaken in 2023 will also reference the London Diocesan Vision 2030. Nevertheless, the current Plan is used as one of our reference points when planning our activities and committing major expenditure. We have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and the supplementary guidance to charities for the advancement of religion. We try to enable everyone to live out their faith as part of our parish community through:

The main objectives of our current Mission Action Plan are:

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Responsible and prudent management of our finances, together with maintenance of the fabric and grounds of the Parish Church of St Alban and the church hall complex, are central to facilitating this work. As mentioned in the financial section, The lifting of Covid restrictions enabled us to hold our two main fundraising events for the first since 2019. However, the reduction in income as a result of Covid, still needs managing.

£815 per day This is how much it costs to run St Alban’s and deliver our mission. Just over a third of this is funded by voluntary giving and Gift Aid. For the rest, we are dependent on our community fundraising (such as church fairs), rental income from one of our two properties and church halls, plus existing legacies and external grants.

We now have a Sunday service attendance of about 106 based on the diocesan statistical return for an average weekly attendance in October 2022. The comparable figures for 2020 and 2021 were 82 and 115 respectively. The Parish Electoral Roll as at the end of December 2022 stood at 197 parishioners, of whom 101 were not resident in the parish. There were 22 people (including 5 who had died) who were deleted . There were 10 new entries to the Roll.

Structure, Governance and Management

The PCC, rather than St Alban’s Church, is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission and all PCC members are trustees of the charity. The Church Representation Rules (part of the legislation covering how the Church of England is administered) set out how PCC members are appointed and elected. The PCC comprises the incumbent (our Vicar, who also chairs the PCC), churchwardens, lay representatives at the Deanery Synod elected by people in the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church, lay members also elected by those on the electoral roll, and any co-opted members. All those who attend our services or as members of the congregation are encouraged to register on the electoral roll and stand for election to the PCC.

The PCC is responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish including deciding how the funds of the PCC are to be spent. New members receive an initial induction into the workings of the PCC and the responsibilities of a trustee. As well as scheduled business meetings, the PCC normally has at least one extended session or away day to explore topics in detail. Training opportunities are often provided by the diocese and other outside bodies. This year most meetings took place in person rather than on Zoom, opportunities for individuals to join meetings online were available.

The full PCC had six scheduled business meetings and an additional meeting to approve the Accounts and Annual Report. The 2022 PCC member attendance averaged out at 73%.

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Individual attendance was as follows:

Possible meetings Attended
The Revd Dr Sarah 7 7
Archer
Ray Barber 7 1
Gerry Devine 7 7
Marilyn Devine 7 7
Amanda Dodd 4 3
Eileen Eggington 7 7
Carys Grom 7 4
Mo Hatton 7 2
John Hicks 3 3
Adrian Holloway 7 4
Tom Johnson 7 6
Morwena Jones 7 5
Supritha Kotian 4 3
Revd Ninus Khako 3 3
Julia Powell 7 6
Pauline Prince 7 3
Tina Ryan 7 6
Jane Spencer-Davis 7 4
Caoimhe Sweeney 7 3
Diane Tuck 7 7
Alison Vallance 7 6

Given its wide responsibilities, the PCC has a number of sub-committees, each dealing with a particular aspect of parish life. These committees are currently the Standing Committee (the only statutory committee) that acts on behalf of the PCC between meetings of the full Council, Buildings and Grounds, Finance, and Mission and Outreach. They are all responsible to the PCC and report back to it regularly, with minutes received by the PCC and discussed as necessary. Some of these meetings also took place were on Zoom, as were those of Anglicans in Harrow (the deanery meeting that is now open to all Anglican church members and incorporates the Deanery Synod) and the meetings of Churches Together in North Harrow. The Deanery Synod report for 2022 is on page 10.

The PCC works hard to ensure good governance and compliance with church, charity and other national legislation. A range of policies and procedures are in place and kept under regular review for Safeguarding; Drugs and Alcohol; Health, Safety and Welfare; Lone Working; Equality and Diversity; Social Media; Conflicts of Interest; Reserves; Legacies and Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), together with procedures for complaints, grievances and disciplinary matters. Arrangements are made for all the policies and procedures available in church and the church hall for all to see.

Matters discussed and agreed by the PCC during 2022 have included:

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Conflicts of Interest

As charity trustees, all members of the PCC are legally obliged to act in the best interests of the PCC. Conflicts of interest can arise when, for example, PCC members may also be trustees of other charities that have applied for funding from St Alban’s, or there may be personal or family circumstances. The PCC manages conflicts of interest through an agreed policy which sets out the arrangements we have in place to identify any conflicts of interest and to deal with them appropriately. The policy also applies to all members of PCC sub-committees and working groups. This involves committee members declaring any conflicts of interest at each meeting, leaving the meeting if appropriate to do so when the relevant item is discussed, and not voting when a vote is taken. Specific conflicts of interest arising in the year are reported in the Accounts.

Risk Management

The PCC places great importance on the safety and security of its employees, church members and all those from the community who use our church buildings and facilities. It aims to reduce and maintain all risks to as low as possible while carrying out a vital and mission-led role in our community.

The PCC minimises the major risks to which it is exposed through regular meetings of the Standing, Finance and Buildings and Grounds Committees, as well as the PCC. A continuing concern has been our dependency on our church residential properties, legacies and hall lettings to make up the shortfall in income from individual giving and the cancellation of other fundraising activities due to Covid. We are grateful to everyone who reviewed their giving again this year despite the challenges to personal income.

Robust financial controls are in place. An annual budget is agreed by the PCC before the start of each financial year and reviewed against expenditure by the Finance and Standing Committees, and the PCC, on a quarterly basis. The scope of church insurance policies is reviewed as part of the renewal process. Safeguarding is given high priority and is a standing item at every PCC meeting. Any incidents are reported to the PCC by our Safeguarding Officer, and our safeguarding policy statement is kept under review.

We seek as a church to be as open as possible in all we do. All church members are encouraged to bring any concerns about how the PCC operates, or about a risk perceived as not being addressed, to the attention of the Vicar or Churchwardens either directly or via the PCC Secretary.

Staff and Volunteers

We would like to thank all our staff and many volunteers who work so hard to support our church. Thanks to all who have contributed to this report, informed about parish news, keep our buildings in

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good repair and the church grounds attractive year-round. We are particularly grateful to our Churchwardens Alison Vallance and Adrian Holloway, with Gerry Devine as Assistant Warden, who have worked so tirelessly on our behalf, and our financial team led by our Treasurer Tom Johnson, who have managed our finances with such care and dedication.

We thank our Parish Administrator, Shirley Clements, who not only runs the Parish Office and deals with its day-to-day business, but also takes the lead on the production of our Monthly Matters magazine and Weekly Newsletters, both of which are mainly read online.

Thanks from me to Vicar Sarah for her support and encouragement, the Churchwardens, Treasurer, and the PCC for their support and assistance during my time as PCC Secretary. I stood down as Secretary, as I had always planned, immediately after the 2022 APCM. However, because of ill health I was unable to contribute much from the end of 2021 and throughout 2022. I am grateful to Tina Ryan, Pauline Prince and Anne Mahon for taking over the work of PCC Secretary during my final months in the post, and for Pauline Schofield and Anne Mahon for continuing the work subsequently on a temporary basis. I am grateful for the prayerful and practical support of our worshipping community during this difficult time. Unfortunately, nobody has been able to fill the post subsequently. The PCC urgently requires a permanent secretary.

Ray Barber, PCC Member and former PCC Secretary, April 2023

ANGLICANS IN HARROW (THE HARROW DEANERY SYNOD) ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2022

The first meeting was held on 23 February at Christ Church Roxeth. Revd Elaine Weaver shared information about the parish and led the opening worship. Emmanuel Gill spoke about the purpose and work of the London City Mission in Harrow. They work alongside teams from the churches to reach out to the Hindu and Muslim populations. The Area Dean introduced a discussion on the focus of the Deanery Synod to assist the Standing Committee with the choice of subjects for future meetings

A service to welcome Bishop Lusa Nsenga-Ngoy to the Willesden Area was held at Emmanuel Church Northwood on 27 February. A Deanery Eucharist celebrated by Bishop Lusa was held in Holy Trinity Church Northwood on 7 June. The service was followed by a time of Fellowship when members of the churches could meet Bishop Lusa informally over refreshments.

A meeting to discuss Synod business was held using the Zoom software on 6 July. One application for a grant from the Deanery Mission Fund had been received from St Peter’s West Harrow for £1,000 towards their work with young people; this was approved. The Deanery Accounts for 2021 were received and approved, subject to Independent Examination. Revd Emma Webber was elected to the vacancy for a clergy representative on the Deanery Standing Committee. Pam Clissold was standing down as Deanery Treasurer and it was agreed that Revd David Green would act as Treasurer until an election is held in July 2023.

The third meeting was held on 10 November at St John’s Church of England School, Stanmore. The school choir welcomed Synod to the school by singing some songs. Jo Hester, Headteacher, gave an introduction to the school and the pupil composition. She explained the school’s ethos and vision, and that it is recognised as a Music Hub, Early Years Hub and Religious Education Hub. The music teacher explained that the school orchestra had over 50 members and there were choirs from both sections of the school The Assistant Headteacher explained the curriculum and the main drivers. Four

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of the children shared their experiences at the school. The choir sang their vision song including the words “we make a difference”.

Becky Frost and Hilary Millard from Harrow Re:generation shared the resources that they provide to churches and schools in Harrow and their involvement during the year. They asked for continuing support from the churches for their work as a charity including volunteering, financial giving and prayer.

James Wood and Helen Wolstencroft shared information about the Church of England Growth Report in respect of young people and the changes that churches need to make as a result of the pandemic. They explained that churches, some of whom do not have the volunteers for youth work that they had previously, need to partner with other churches and organisations and use the resources available from the Diocese. There was then a time for prayer in small groups. The 2021 Deanery Accounts had been Independently Examined successfully.

Monthly Prayer for Harrow has taken place on the first evening of each month under the leadership of Revd Malcolm Finlay and then Revd Ian Dowsett, using the Zoom software.

Reports on the sessions of the London Diocesan Synod and of the General Synod were received at meetings during the year.

Robert May

Honorary Secretary

CHURCH PREMISES (FABRIC, GOODS AND ORNAMENTS) 2022

Due to my own work commitments, I had decided to step down from the Buildings and Grounds Committee during 2022 and announced this at the APCM. It became apparent that no one was able to step up and take over; it also became apparent that a Church Warden should be the “Chair” of the committee. With this being the case, I returned to the B&G Committee and we managed to hold a few meetings to get things back on track. Even though we did not achieve many meetings, a considerable amount was completed, as maintenance still needs to carry on, no matter what the issues are. Below is a list of the work completed. We also had the Quinquennial inspection and further details on this are set out below.

Work Completed during 2022

The new Tea Point was due to be installed late 2022, but due to church activities and the time of year this has been pushed back to January 2023.

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We still managed to complete a fair amount of work, including general maintenance of all areas, not mentioned above. There is still a considerable amount of work to do, especially from the Quinquennial inspection, as you will see below. Most of the work falls within the first year of the inspection, and this will require the various committees to agree the best way forward and will review specialist contractors that will be required to complete most of the work.

Quinquennial Report

Urgent works requiring immediate attention. Replace broken pantiles to north aisle adjacent to tower. Investigate rainwater penetration of clergy vestry and choir vestry roofs. Refix sanctuary roof downpipe. Refix north porch downpipe. Address furniture beetle infestation in the Lady Chapel.

Upgrade double doors between church and church hall to 60 minutes fire resistance in terms of integrity (E60 under the European standards, FD60 under the British)

Works recommended to be carried out during the next 12 months:

Carry out repairs to cracking of mastic asphalt roofs - tower, Lady Chapel, choir vestry. Apply or reapply solar coating to mastic asphalt roofs.

Redecorate hoppers and downpipes to clergy and choir vestry roofs. Investigate apparent leak to cast iron downpipe within the tower, below the belfry level. Investigate fixity and movement in tower copingstones, Refix, if required, and remove existing metal fixings.

Removal of high-level vegetation on north aisle walling and parapet gutter, repoint open joints to both sides of parapet.

Undertake condition survey of metal windows to identify priority and phasing. Redecorate all steel windows, coordinating with repair works.

Overhaul timber windows above Lady Chapel roof, including repairs to any sill rot, replacement of cracked putty and re-oil.

Reinstate painted nosing to north and west porch steps. Redecorate bell frame. Replace draught excluder to internal porch doors, preferably in a brown colour. Repair cracking to the repair of the down stand beam in the basement plant room. Undertake Access and Disability Audit.

Remove self-seeded buddleia in courtyard between church and church hall – Completed Early 2023.

The hall continues to benefit from high usage, and the sound system will have an upgrade in 2023. The Community Service group is due to start in early 2023, which will be a great boost to the support needed to complete various tasks required going forward.

As always, I need to give a very big thank you to the committee members for their invaluable help during the year, Val Austen, Anne Mahon, John Ryan and Tom Johnson. Also a big thank you to the various congregation who have also helped during the year in the upkeep of our buildings and grounds.

New members are always welcomed!

Adrian Holloway, Churchwarden & Chair Buildings and Grounds Committee .

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ANNUAL SAFEGUARDING REPORT 2022

For the purposes of the APCM report, PSO’s have been asked to respond to Section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016 so have responded to each section as follows:

Child Protection

“The Church of England, in all aspects of its life, is committed to and will champion the protection of children and young people both in society as a whole and in its own community.

It fully accepts, endorses and will implement the principle enshrined in the Children Act 1989, that the welfare of the child is paramount. The Church of England will foster and encourage best practice within its community by setting standards for working with children and young people and by supporting parents in the care of their children.”

PSO response

The Diocese Safeguarding Policy of November 2018 has been formally adopted by the PCC and encapsulates best practice for faith organisations. The new wording has been adapted by the CSO/Deputy CSO and Vicar and was formally adopted at the PCC meeting in March 2022.

A full list of policies is included on the Parish Dashboard and is awaiting confirmation by the PCC to agree that this is a full and complete list. Regular events include Choir, Serving Team, Junior Church for 8+year olds, After Service Sunday Youth and all events organised by our Youth Leader for youth aged up to 18 years (and above) as part of our Children and Young People programme. DBS checks are all in place for these activities A process of review has been commenced regarding Risk Assessments and Role Descriptions. The PCC has in place a Social Media policy which incorporates Safeguarding measures to help staff and volunteers stay safe online for their own safeguarding and to put in place a procedure if online activity raises any safeguarding concerns.

We also run a Messy Church event where children are under the guardianship of parents and carers so normal Safeguarding policy does not apply. However, procedures are fully complied with regarding photography and digital images permissions, as they are with our one-off events such as the Summer Fair and Christmas Bazaar.

Cathy Tahsin remained in post as Parish Safeguarding Officer and Alison Vallance as Deputy Safeguarding Officer. Alison Vallance also fulfilled the role of Churchwarden and is a member of the PCC.

“It will work with statutory bodies, voluntary agencies and other faith communities to promote the safety and well-being of children and young people. It is committed to acting promptly whenever a concern is raised about a child or young person or about the behaviour of an adult, and will work with the appropriate statutory bodies when an investigation into child abuse is necessary.”

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PSO Response :

There have been no disclosures under our Child Protection policy since the last APCM. No investigations are currently ongoing. Two disclosures were made to an outside authority but after investigation no further action was taken. I am aware of which statutory bodies we need to share information with and am prepared to collaborate fully with all statutory bodies if or when necessary. There are also no disclosures to date under the vulnerable adults category.

“The Church of England is committed to encouraging an environment where all people and especially those who may be vulnerable for any reason are able to worship and pursue their faith journey with encouragement and in safety. Everyone, whether they see themselves as vulnerable or not, will receive respectful pastoral ministry recognising any power imbalance within such a relationship.”

PSO response:

PSO and Deputy PSO have worked closely with Vicar Sarah Archer to ensure anyone in need of pastoral care has received this in a respectful manner and there have been no concerns regarding exploitation of any power imbalance regarding such ministry.

Safeguarding Adults

“All church workers involved in any pastoral ministry will be recruited with care including the use of the Criminal Records Bureau disclosure service when legal or appropriate. Workers will receive training and continuing support.”

PSO Response:

2 DBS checks were outstanding for PCC members. Deadlines have been given to all those required to undertake Safeguarding Training and any exceptions due to mitigating circumstances have been recorded.

“Any allegations of mistreatment, abuse, harassment or bullying will be responded to without delay. Whether or not the matter involves the church there will be cooperation with the police and local authority in any investigation.”

PSO response:

Policies and procedures have been followed at all times. Advice has been sought from DST where

necessary and followed accordingly. No referrals to DST have resulted in the need for further action

with other agencies on behalf of St Alban’s Church.

Sensitive and informed pastoral care will be offered to anyone who has suffered abuse, including support to make a complaint if so desired: help to find appropriate specialist care either from the church or secular agencies will be offered.”

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PSO response:

There have been no concerns raised resulting in a recommendation of increased pastoral care since last report.

“Congregations will often include people who have offended in a way that means they are a continuing risk to vulnerable people. The risks will be managed sensitively with the protection of adults and children in mind.”

PSO response:

All or any agreements of such nature are confidential and are being/will be managed appropriately by DST/PSO/members of supporting teams.

Other information:

We continue to be committed to promoting Safeguarding within the Parish.

Cathy Tahsin, Church Safeguarding Officer, 31 January 2023

FINANCIAL REVIEW 2022

Introduction

We started the year under the shadow of the Pandemic, over the year we have coped with increased electric and gas prices and have invested heavily in the longer term of the parish, (see below). As a result of these investments, at the year-end we have £56,514 less in the bank than we did at the start of the year. As we go into 2023, our income is falling and our outgoings are increasing.

Outcome from COVID

In 2020 we moved £50,000 from the Lorna Barnett Legacy into a COVID Contingency fund to be used as needed to support the parish through a difficult time. We opened 2022 with just £9,719 in general fund, this is the lowest we have ever been at. By the end of Quarter one we had zero left in our general fund and had drawn £7,000 from the COVID contingency fund. By the end of Quarter two we had reduced the drawing from the contingency fund to £3,500. As we got back to normal service and the income from fairs and bazaar returned, (many thanks to Emma Garner and her team for all their work) the drawing from the contingency fund fell and at the yearend we decided to close the COVID contingency fund by transferring £15,000 back into the Lorna Barnett Legacy and £35,000 into the General fund. There is a commitment to return the £35,000 from the general fund to the Lorna Barnett legacy over the coming years.

Income over the year

Income over the year has been impacted by loss of rents from both properties, Frobisher Close was taken off the market in order to provide a home for Ninus (our Curate); this house has always been intended for that purpose but has not been used in that way since Donald moved away. The flat in Whittington way was empty for a period of time while we completed necessary maintenance and

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moved to a new agent. We also completed some overdue maintenance on Frobisher Close. These resulted in lower income and higher spend.

The cost of electric and gas increased over the year as a measure electric was £520 for Jan 2022; the cost for Jan 2023 was £2,300. In September we increase hall rental by £2/hour to offset these increased costs.

Investments over the year

Over the past year we completed the following projects:

Solar Panels £25,120 These are now generating electricity and should in the coming
year impact on our electric bills for the hall.
Organ
improvement		 £11,295 The organ has been giving trouble for a number of years and
replacing it is not viable, we have replaced contacts and magnets
in a number of locations. We will need to complete further work
in the future
Tea Point £10,410 This was the first payment to the contractors made on the
delivery of the bifold doors, this represents one third of the total
cost,furtherpayments will be shown in the accounts for 2023.
Whittington way
Lease		 £12,120 The lease for this property has been increased from 81 years to
125 years. giving greater security to the parish over the coming
years.

This represents a total investment for the future of £58,945, such investment in our future has only really been possible due to the very generous legacies left to the church over many years.

Charity Donations

The church made Charity Donations from collections and Mission Funds totalling £7,433, contributions to Harrow Citizens are taken from the church Mission Fund.

Home £ Overseas £
Children’s Society 746 MACS 2,000
Bishops Discretionary
Fund		 235 Christian Aid Afghanistan
and Ukraine Appeals		 1,610
RSCM (collection at
DeaneryChoir Festival)		 143 Railway Children 138
Harrow Citizens 1,000 Embrace the Middle East 746
USPG Sri Lanka Appeal 546
Tear Fund Pakistan Appeal 269
Total 2,124 Total 5,309

Statement of Funds (See note 10 of the Church Accounts)

The church accounts give balances at 31st December 2022 of £32,975 in General Funds, £154,288 in Designated and £51,946 in Restricted Funds. The following changes to and transfers between funds, were made in the current year:

In the past year we have closed the Audio Visual and Tamil Ladies Funds as both the projects were completed. The Music Fund and the Organ fund have been merged into the Organ Project and is being used to refurbish the organ, this is a project that continues. The Choral Scholars fund has been renamed the Musical Vision and now includes the Choral Scholars and the Choir Club. Income to this has been from grants and donations from grateful parents. We have created a WMES (Willesden

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Ministry Experience Scheme) fund, this manages the grant from the diocese and legacy funds to support Noah Kelly to complete this scheme.

2023 Budget

In November 2022, the PCC approved a budget for 2023,which can be found on page 13 of the Accounts, filed separately. The budget takes into account the reduced income from houses and from falling numbers in the parish planned giving scheme. The income from property will fall from £37,000 in 2022 to £18,000 in 2023, a drop of £19,000. We have planned to manage the reduced income by reducing some spend. The giving to the common fund has been reduced by £10,000 and funds put to one side for mission charities has been reduced by £4,000. The remaining £5,000 will be managed by reducing spend and increasing income from hall rental.

Thanks for Support

I am very grateful for the support over the past year from many people, in particular I would like to thank our Vicar Revd Sarah Archer and our Churchwardens Alison Vallance and Adrian Holloway, for their encouragement. The day-to-day management of our accounts also involves many people, in particular I thank Norman Shurrock for his constant management of the Planned Giving and his monthly reconciliation of that income, Ken Alder for tracking and reclaiming the VAT over the year, Jane Spencer-Davis who manages the payroll, deals with the Gift Aid Claim and prepared the year end accounts, Malcolm Grant who checks my reports giving valuable feedback, and Pauline Schofield who, with assistance from Shirley Clements, has got to grips with hall rental income and cleared the backlog of unpaid invoices. Thanks also to Shirley who manages hall bookings and deals with all the invoices for the church and hall.

Tom Johnson, PCC Treasurer, March 2023

The final accounts for 2022 are reproduced in full as a separate file.

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN. NORTH HARROW INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT CHARITY COMMISSION FOR E￿LAND ANO WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report R•port to th• tru$t THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBANS NORTH HARROW On account8 for the year end¢d 31st DECEMBER 2022 Charity no lff any) 11326CO Set out on pag88 I report trj the trusteès ￿ my ey2minakn Oltr￿ accounts ofth? 8bove charity fthe Tru$tl forth2 y88r eThfjed R¢spon$ibiliti•s and basis of report As Ihe tharitys tDJste8s, you are reswsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordan￿ wth the requirements of the Chariti85 Act 2011 1"th8 Act,). I rèwrt in r&$pe¢t of my examination of th8 Trust's accounts c8rri8d out und8r section 145 of the 2011 A¢t and in carrying out my 8x8minatir￿, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by t1￿ Charity Ccxnmis$i¢ under section 1451Sllbl of the Aet Indep?nd•nt ￿he charity's gross income exceeded £250.OCX) and l am qualffi￿ to •xaMin0￿5 Stat•mant undertake the examinati￿ by baing a qualified member of lins¢rt name of applicable listed bodyll. Delete I I Ifnot 8pplicab I have Completed my examination. I confinn that no material mattèrs hav& come to rny attention in ￿nn&¢lIOn with the e¥amination (other than trat disclosed beb"I which giv8s me cause to believe that in, any material respect. the accounting ￿Cord$We￿ not kept in accxJr¢Jance with section 130 of the Charits8s Act." or the accounts did not accord with the accounting r8cords', or the ac¢ount$ not compty wth the applic8ble r8quirem8nts concwning the fom and ￿nIent of acLounts set ojt in the Chariti85 IAccounts and Report51 Regulations 2W8 otherthan any Nuirwnent that the a¢wunts oiva a'trwe and fair viewlthich is not a rnatter Conside￿ as part of an Independent ex8minalon I have no c￿Ce￿$ aiid Iiav¢ itiiliv auoss i)0 Inatteis iri Loiiiwcliuii %Mth lh8 examinat￿rn to which attention Should be drawn in this rep(rt in order to enab￿ a propef understanding of the accounts to be reached. . F￿ase delete the words in the bRckets rfthey¢ not apply. Sign•d.. Z3 Namp.. ALAN ROttERT Ml I ￿M￿LL Relevant profe$$ion•l qualificationl51 Or body FFA. FIPS I INSTITUTE OF FINANCIAL AXCCOUNTANTS I IER Oct 2018 18

PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN. NORTH HARROW Ilf anyl.. Address.. 33 ST THOMAS DRIVE PINNER MIDDX., HAS 4SX Section B Oisc1osu Only complete If the exarlliner needs lo highlight material matters of ¢ontsm Isee CC32, Ind8pend6nt 8xaminalion ol chanty accounts. directson5 and guidanr2 for examinersl. Giv¢ here brl¢f d¢lalls ol any items that the examiner wishes to IER Oet 2018 19

PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

CHURCH FUND

Church Fund results for 2022 (three-year comparison)

2022 2021 2020
Standing orders 78084 80332 77002
Envelopes 5825 5322 9453
SUMUP card reader 132
TOTAL FUND INCOME 84041 85654 86455

Average monthly giving

2022 2021 2020
Per member 70.03 69.64 68.62
Per individual 51.50 51.22 50.38

Membership

Members Individuals
As at 1stJanuary 2022 100 136
ADD joined in year 9 11
DEDUCT left in year -8 -10
As at 31stDecember 2022 101** 137

** of whom 92 gave tax-efficiently, i.e. by Gift Aid , Give As You Earn, Charities Trust or Charities Aid Foundation, to the extent of £79,981 or 95.17% of total giving.

These figures do not include the value of Gift Aid tax recovery, which will be claimable from HMRC in the tax year 2023/4.

It will be seen that there was a small decline in total giving despite the stewardship campaign in the summer and the slight uptick in membership. Losses include 3 deaths, 4 moves away, 1 resignation.

Inflationary pressures emerged and intensified during the year, meaning that we have less income to devote to the essential work of the Church. However, we are grateful to those members who felt able to increase their giving.

We are at a high level in tax-efficient giving, but I would ask those taxpayers who do not Gift Aid their giving to consider doing so (applications available on request quest) as, if Gift Aid giving is within scope of the donor’s tax liabilities, there is no extra cost to them.

Norman Shurrock, Church Fund Secretary

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

GIFT AID

Gift Aid recovered in respect of the general fund during the year was approximately £19,500. In addition, smaller amounts were recovered in respect of charitable donations.

Most members of the congregation already Gift Aid their giving. If you do not and would like to discuss it with me, I’m happy to do so.

And thank you to everyone who does give under Gift Aid. As you can see it makes a huge difference

Jane Spencer-Davis, Gift Aid Secretary

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

APPENDIX 1: Group and Activity reports WORSHIP, MISSION AND OUTREACH

The Choir

Our present choir consists of about 20 singers, 9 of whom are our Choral Scholars and 5 are Trebles. We continue to lead the 10am Eucharist Services, including the monthly All-Age services, and this year, thankfully, without the intervention of Covid 19.

Although we had Choral Scholars in the choir during the academic year 2021/2022, the arrangements were slightly ad hoc, with Scholars given the choice of the Sundays on which they wished to sing. For the academic year 2022/2023, the Choral Scholar scheme was formalised. This year, our 9 Scholars sing according to a schedule that permits only occasional absences. Our Choral Scholars are aged between 14 and 18 and sing the soprano (5), alto (1) and bass (3) lines.

In October, the Harrow Deanery Choirs Festival was held at St Alban’s. This was the first time in 17 years that we were able to host it and about 60 singers from churches around the Deanery attended to sing a special evensong service. Our thanks to Tim Smith for conducting, to Paul Carey and John Barnard for their organ playing, and to Morwena Jones for organising refreshments.

In December, we were joined by friends old and new for Carols by Candlelight at Christmas. It was a lovely service in preparation for Christmas and was well attended.

Finally, we extend our grateful thanks to our Director of Music Paul Carey, to John Barnard for organ playing at the Tuesday Eucharist services and other occasional services, and to the friends who join us for special occasions.

Penny Johnson

CHILDREN, FAMILIES AND YOUNG PEOPLE

2022 Annual Report on the work of St Alban’s YCF[1] Services

Over the last year SAYS have worked with 94[2] individual young people aged 10-18, and a further 78 children and young people aged 5-9, in our clubs and groups:

‘ Passport ’ -our Saturday evening youth clubs; ‘ Choir Club ’ -our new Monday afternoon after-school club; ‘ Games Room’/ ‘Games on the Green ’ -our Wednesday afternoon after-school club; our holiday clubs; ‘ Junior Church’ and ‘ Youth Church ’ - our faith development groups (run with those who have some link with the church); Messy Church [8+ group] and Sunday@4 [new children & families service – see on].

Of the 152 children and young people from community outreach contexts:

70% were ‘Participants’ – i.e. regular returning children and young people for 5 sessions or more, and 23% also progressed into wider church community contexts [see on below].

Highlights this year have included[3] :

1 Youth Children & Families, following my role change Sept 2021. SAYS stood for St Albans Youth Services.

2 figures do not include all those young people we work with in our schools’ work: assemblies, and lunch break visits.

3 for more details and photo galleries please see: www.stalbans-nh.org.uk/activitiesgallery.htm

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

lunch for those on off-site trips) as well as a combination of fun active, creative and inspiring activities on and off-site. For those on benefit-related free school meals these are offered completely free.

Our children and young people this year have participated in some wonderful opportunities including going to see Matilda the Musical in the West End, visits to St Paul’s Cathedral and the London Eye , and day trips out to Gulliver’s Land (family theme park) , Paradise Wildlife Park , The London Sea-Life Aquarium , Go Ape , and Liquid Leisure (Shepperton). All six visits were physically challenging as well as providing a range of opportunities for practical learning . It’s been exciting once again to have such a range of church members involved – from front-of-house, to caterers, to photographers, to some very creative workshop facilitators offering amazing arts ‘n crafts, archery, sing-along signing, and cake baking & decorating opportunities. Together with our Sports Coaching Facilitator partners, and our five St Alban’s Youth graduates working as Youth & Children Support Workers, this makes for a really strong team with depth and breadth of expertise, as well as a great sense of fun and care for those entrusted to us. Do check out the photos/videos posted on our webpages (www.stalbans-nh.org.uk/activitiesgallery.htm), and Facebook pages (Youth Services – St Alban’s Church North Harrow).

* New Areas of Work Launched: ‘Choir Club’ and ‘Sunday@4’

It was great to launch our Choir Club early on in January. Choir Club runs weekly during term-time after school as a partnership between our Youth, Children and Families team, and our Choir Director, Paul Carey . Children coming straight from school are able to relax and play fun group games for 30 minutes before spending a productive hour in choral singing. I have been treated to renditions of songs from Mary Poppins and Oliver! to child-friendly songs and hymns such as the rhythmic Samba Harvest Festival .

Repertoire, confidence, friendship and sound have all developed admirably through the year and the choir have had periodic showcase opportunities which are a delight. We still have space to grow this choir so please do spread the word!

We launched our family-friendly Sunday@4 on Palm Sunday and have hosted this as a monthly themed service and space for children, young people and families to make their own. It is designed to be less formal, more interactive, and considerably shorter (at 30 mins) than our traditional Sunday morning offering – and so both accessible and engaging for children and young people, and those with children. It’s been great to welcome some 10 families since we started, so it’s very much about community building, with time spent together over snacks and/or a cuppa afterwards.

‘ _Confirmation:*_ 4 young people aged 11-14 were prepared for confirmation over 8 weeks and then confirmed during a special ‘Service of Confirmation’ celebrated by the Bishop of Willesden, Lusa Nsenga-Ngoy. It was a real privilege to work with the young confirmands: Aaliyah, Abigail, Jonathan and Millie.

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

delighted and hugely grateful to hear, in response to our major grant funding application, that John Lyon’s Charity will be our main core funder for three years.

Impact and Progress : Community Outreach and Clubs

Progress and Impact : Church Groups & Faith Development

Staffing and Group Attendance :

This year it’s been wonderful to have church members more involved in our church’s Youth, Children and Families delivery, which has really grown our capacity and shown what is possible when people work together. Thanks to Rev Sarah, Alison, Noah, Rev Ninus, Eileen and Irene in delivery of our Choir Club alongside Paul Carey, with a total of 24 individual children and young people.

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

Thanks to Eileen, Irene, Hope, and Noah, with others helping out when available, for your role in delivering our Games Club with 39 young people. Thanks to Eileen, Hope, Noah, Marilyn, Mark, and Irene, especially, in the period I was not in action for your role keeping our Passport Youth Club going as well – with 48 children and young people. Gerry has helped hugely with driving, Morwena, Paula, Tina, Mpho, and John have all run much-loved workshops. Mpho has catered. Eileen, Carys and Irene all played important roles in our holiday club planning and delivery.

My belief is if we were allowed to capitalise on the Summer Holiday Club and run Christmas Holiday Club we would have seen even more marked progress in the latter part of the year.

Funding :

A huge thank you to our core grant funders for your continued faith in us in such a difficult economic context:

We are also grateful for critical local project funding from:

Not including these substantial in-kind donations: fundraising grants, donations and contributions were once again over £30,000 for the 2022 year[4] .

Support, Partnership, and Plans for the New Year :

We have seen some fantastic answers to prayer and encouraging signs this year:

So very grateful and inspired, as always, by the amazing support and partnership of young people, parents, churches, local organisations, and all our funders.

It’s been great to receive consistent messages of thanks and support from our young people and parents, as well as from Nower Hill School. Being dismissed and reinstated (at appeal), the long period away from work, and the lack of open communication, has not been easy. I look forward to building on what has been achieved in 2022 for a more positive 2023.

Chris Nalder, Youth, Children & Families Lead, April 2023

Messy Church

Messy Church (MC) here at St Alban’s (since opening back up after the pandemic) has settled down to four sessions a year. A smaller available team plus other factors has meant, for the present, we are just able to offer MC quarterly. In 2022 our first MC of the year was celebrated in the Church on Good Friday with crafts, worship and refreshments – ‘The Greatest Love Story ever Told’. We then held sessions in the summer (Celebrations), Autumn (God’s Love for the Planet) and of course our special Christmas celebration.

Although numbers have been down from our pre-pandemic days, we are always delighted to see how much the children enjoy the sessions. The interaction between the three generations spending time together and learning from each other is wonderful and we still very often see two parents coming along, even when there is only one child or baby.

Children and accompanying adults become absorbed in creative activities related to the theme and this is followed by a worship time in the main church where everyone leaves a prayer card at the end before session finishes with tea.

4 This total does not include St Alban’s Church own generous financial commitment (in cash and in kind) to the project.

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

We could not achieve this if it wasn’t for our magnificent Messy Church Team. A number of members have had to step down and we are grateful to them for their amazing help over the years, and also to the ‘as and when’ members who come along occasionally and have saved the day more than once! Anyone who feels they could help on any of the planned four sessions, would be very welcome.

Our very first Messy Church celebration was May 2011 and Messy Church at St Alban’s is still a fun, relevant and creative way to bring God’s message of love and community to the families around us. Nationally and Internationally, Messy Church continues to grow as a fresh expression of worship. Thanks to all who have been involved this year, and long may we continue to serve God in this way.

Sarah Carter, Carys Grom & Gillian Cooper

Pastoral Report 2022

Pastoral Care continues to support the parish and the wider community in various ways.

HOME COMMUNION

Currently 15 church members receive Communion once a month, either at home or in a local Care Home.

MARRIAGE AND BAPTISM

Clergy support couples preparing for marriage: also families bringing children for baptism. A couple renewed their marriage vows and celebrated their marriage.

The last baptism was held on Pentecost Sunday, which included a celebration of our late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

BEREAVEMENT

The Annual Service of Thanksgiving held on the first Sunday in November, was appreciated by those who attended. Tea and conversation afterwards was held at the back of church. Over 50 people visited the Lights of Life Christmas Tree in the Chapel over the Christmas period.

PRAYER MINISTRY

Short sessions are held in the Lady Chapel every other week after the Sunday Eucharist.

CAFE

The Wednesday Café, held on the first Wednesday in the month continues to be popular with an average of 40 people attending each month.

GIFTS

26 Christmas cards were either delivered by hand or posted to the housebound.

FLOWER GUILD

The Guild continue to decorate the church; also offering arrangements for special anniversaries and weddings.

Valerie Rolph, Pastoral Assistant

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

Mission and Outreach Committee annual report 2022

The role of M&O is essentially a steering group which tries to ensure that as a church, St Alban’s achieves its mission to share the transformational love of God in Jesus Christ with each other, our local community and beyond. The committee is a sub-committee of the PCC, and met three times last year, in February, June and October.

Its purpose is to review parish activity in relation to the five marks of mission of the Anglican Church:

Whilst many church activities such as the Alpha Course, Choir Club and preparation for baptism and communion are specifically designed to achieve some or all of these marks, a specific role of M&O is to monitor and recommend to the PCC those causes which can help us to improve our outreach as a church. This can be by encouraging active participation and/or funding, either from the parish Mission Fund budget or from direct appeals, and the committee advises the PCC on these, including the Christmas and Lenten appeals. Last year’s causes supported included MACS, Christian Aid, The Railway Children, Embrace the Middle East, USPG Sri Lanka Appeal, and the Tear Fund Pakistan Appeal. The Finance report shows the exact amounts.

M&O also maintains liaison with ACAT (Action by Christians Against Torture); ALMA (the Angola London Mozambique Association); and MACS (Malawi Association for Christian Support, whose Project Officer Eileen Eggington is a member of the M&O committee). Locally we encourage support for various groups in the voluntary sector including Harrow Citizens, Foodbank, Firm Foundation (which helps homeless people in Harrow), and North Harrow Community Library.

M&O promotes the need to reduce our parish - and personal - impacts on the environment and achieve sustainability within the resources of our planet. Following the award of bronze level Eco Church certification in 2020 we have been working towards silver, and eventually gold status by showing our care for God’s creation and taking practical steps towards minimising the parish’s carbon footprint. We are aiming to achieve net zero carbon by 2030 or sooner: The ‘Eco-team’ continues to work on this, along with other environmental initiatives, and the highlight of 2022 was the installation of solar panels on the hall roof. Thanks are due to Tom Johnson for managing this project, and for following up the change of electricity supplier which was necessary to ensure that the church receives maximum benefit from the generating capacity now available from the solar installation. The project to replace the warm air heating system in church with underfloor heating has been on hold pending investigation of funding possibilities and confirmation of whether air source or ground source heat pumps would be best. Planning is expected to resume shortly.

The parish children and young people’s programme, and activities of Messy Church and liaison with Churches Together, Harrow Interfaith and SICM (Mahfil Ali) are also encouraged by M&O as part of our parish outreach – see separate reports.

Gerry Devine

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

Drop-in Café

It is almost five years that ‘Drop in Cafe’ has been up and running, but for a period of nearly 18 months the project was discontinued due to Covid.

Drop in café has proved to be very popular and well attended. Numbers vary from month to month. We could have as many as 35 to 50 visitors made up of Church parishioners and others from neighbouring areas.

Life from March ‘23 will become much easier with the new Tea point that is built in our Church.

I do wish to say a big Thank you to the ladies who run the St Alban’s Playgroup. They have been extremely nice and considerate to us, when using the kitchen.

Our aim is to reach out and provide a relaxed atmosphere for members and visitors who can enjoy a chat over a cuppa and a piece of cake if they so wish.

Jai Mahadeo

ECUMENICAL AND INTER-FAITH

Churches Together in North Harrow

CTNH is committed to bringing the churches in North Harrow together to explore the Christian faith, so we were relieved this year that only the first meeting had to be held on Zoom owing to a Covid scare.

Two services were held for the ‘Week of Prayer for Christian Unity’ on the theme of we saw the Star in the East and came to Worship’. This was prepared by the Churches in the Middle East. St Alban’s Church and St John Fisher held the services with an attendance of 24 and 14 respectively.

Two Lent House Groups took place using material entitled ‘Life Attitudes – Beatitudes for Lent’. Discussion groups were also organised by St Alban’s Church on ‘Living in Love and Faith’ at the request of the Anglican Church.

Three Lent Lunches were held at Elmfield, St George’s and St Alban’s. It was a lovely opportunity for fellowship and conversation whilst enjoying a light lunch.

Father Graham and members of his congregation joined the clergy and members of St Alban’s Church on the green at the front of St Alban’s for the ‘Blessing of the Palms’ on Palm Sunday. The palms were duly blessed as well as members of the congregation who were liberally splashed with Holy Water!

The Walk of Witness took place on Good Friday. It was a very hot day but fifty people took part with thirty seven staying the course to St George’s Church.

At the AGM held on the 10[th] May the Methodist Minister, the Rev Julie King, was elected as Chair for the coming year.

A Summer Quiz Evening at North Harrow Methodist Church (NHMC) on July 16[th] was really enjoyed by those who attended. On a very hot evening three teams took part and one of the teams from St Alban’s won!

A ‘Songs of Praise and Hotpot’ evening held at NHMC on October 31[st] was well received by twenty six people. Fourteen hymns were chosen, the singing was enthusiastic and uplifting and the meal was also enjoyed!

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

The Advent Service this year was held at Elmfield Church attended by 29 people from the different churches.

The Carol Singing didn’t take place this year as only three people arrived to sing on a bitterly cold evening! A rethink for next year is scheduled!

Jill Sloley

North Harrow Muslim Christian Dialogue

Last year we were grateful that our regular meetings could at least take place on Zoom, but with the return of face-to-face encounter these bi-monthly evenings have felt much more real.

We have managed 4 of them in 2022 and our conversation has been on these topics: how we respond to and value those with special needs, mental and physical ; the place of food in our two faiths; religious faith in the education system in Britain today and death and the afterlife .

We also spend time catching up with what is going on in the mosque and in our churches and often too discussing events in the wider world that affect our faith. We always end with a period of quiet prayer together.

We are not experts on inter-faith matters, but a group of local Muslims and Christians who want to get to know each other better. Over the last 10 years or so there has been real growth in mutual respect, confidence and friendship.

All are welcome and every meeting is advertised on the parish weekly news sheet.

David Tuck

UNIFORMED ORGANISATIONS

2[nd] Headstone Guides & Senior Section

The 2[nd] Headstone Guides & Senior Section continue to enjoy many challenges and experiences year on year.

Following lockdown, the unit has returned to the hall to meet. It is always challenging to attract new girls, but we are a happy unit of 26 girls with some very committed leaders and young leaders. The guides are aged between 10 -14 ½ years old and after that the girls that want to stay join our Senior Section. We normally meet on Fridays (term time) from 7-9pm in the Church Hall. The girls come from various backgrounds, schools, faiths, and cultures but the one thing in common is friendship.

The girls have enjoyed participating in new challenges whether that be learning new skills, cooking, handicrafts, cinema night in the Church, circus skills and two fabulous outside visits to the Zoroastrian Centre in Rayners Lane and the Women’s Euros game at Brentford.

As we could not enjoy our planned weekend camp to Paccar Chalfont Heights in July 2020 or 2021 or 2022, our fingers remained crossed for summer 2023!

Guiding is a great organisation and will have a huge, positive impact on the girls’ lives in the future.

Sue Till

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

2[nd] A Headstone Brownies

This past year, the Brownies have had a busy and exciting time with a varied programme to develop their skills, confidence and independence.

In October, the Brownies took part in the Girlguiding LaSER (London and South East England) ‘Monopoly Challenge’. We held a games evening and the Brownies created their own Monopoly set in and around North Harrow, designing and making all of the individual pieces of the board game from recycled materials that they had collected for the evening. The Brownies earned a special badge for this event to be sewn onto their sashes.

To celebrate and take part in the Women’s EURO 2022 football in July, held in England, the pack learned about the history of the sporting event and its significance for girls and young women for participating in the game, be that watching football or playing it. Brownies earned a special badge to commemorate this event.

2nd A Headstone Brownies held our own street party in the Summer Term during one of our meetings to celebrate our patron Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. The Brownies made their own cakes and decorations to share for the occasion. We also gathered together in September to celebrate the life of the monarch and reflect on her legacy with the Guiding movement.

Before Christmas, some of our Brownies attended a special screening of the new Matilda the Musical film in association with Odeon Cinemas. For our pack Christmas celebrations, the Brownies had the opportunity of learning how to play snippets of Jingle Bells and Away in a Manger in an ensemble with the hand bells, which they really enjoyed!

Caroline Hale, Brownie Leader

4th Headstone Scout Group

2022 saw Scouting go back to what we now feel is normality following two years of Covid restrictions.

As a Scout group our sections of Beavers, Cubs and Scouts continue to grow. We are also excited to share that in 2022 we had approval to open a new section called Squirrels (age 4-6year olds). They opened in January 2023 and are the first in the London Borough of Harrow.

All sections have taken their young people on nights away activities. This has included trips to the Peak District (including rock climbing on real rock faces, hikes plus lots more), camps at local campsites (Paccar, Southall activity centre and Lee’s Wood). At these camps the young people took part in some of the following activities: zip wire, high ropes, climbing, archery, rifle shooting, junior crossbows, canoeing plus back-up basic camp skills and sleeping in tipis and hammocks. Some even did sleepovers at the Scout Hut before Remembrance Sunday Church Parade, which included watching the film Bed Knobs and Broomsticks.

In September we held our first family camp since Covid with over 100 attendees. This included Beaver, Cubs, Scouts, plus siblings and parents, plus our trusted leaders and other volunteers. It was so nice to be back to normal camps!

All our young people continue to work towards challenge and activity badges with most of them completing their bronze (Beaver award), silver (Cub award) and gold (Scout award) Chief Scout awards - the highest for each section.

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PARISH CHURCH OF ST ALBAN, NORTH HARROW

As a group we continue to refurbish the Scout Hut, and fundraising continues too. 2022 saw two great fundraising activities a summer fair, afternoon tea and evening BBQ at the hut. The money raised at this was split between the Scout Group and three young people selected to take part in international camps, including the next World Scout Jamboree. We also hosted a festive auction in December, both fundraising activities reminded us of the importance of the 4th Headstone community.

Finally, we need to share a big thank you to our volunteers (leaders and trustees) for all their hard work to make 4th Headstone the group it is. We would also like to thank Revd Sarah for her continued support.

We look forward to sharing more in the future about what the Scout Group gets up to in 2023.

Sammy, Group Scout Leader

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