## **The Parish Church** ## **of** ## **St Mary the Virgin Davyhulme** ## **Annual Report and Accounts for the year ending 31 December 2024** **Presented to the Annual Parochial Church Meeting 21 May 2025** 1 ||**Contents**|**Contents Page**| |---|---|---| |1. Address and Contact Details||3| |2. Governance||3| |3. Membership of the Parochial Church Council 2024-25 3||Membership of the Parochial Church Council 2024-25 3| |4. Elected to the Deanery Synod for the Triennium 2023-26||3| |5. Elected to the PCC for 3 years||4| |6. Other Appointments and Positions||4| |7. Foundation Governors of St Mary CE Primary School||5| |8. Vision Statement||5| |9. Aims, Objectives and Activities||5| |10.
PCC Meetings||7| |11.
Risks||7| |12.
Policies and Procedures||7| |13.
Achievements and performance||7| |14.
Electoral Roll Officer Report||8| |15.
Treasurer’s Report||8| |16.
Deanery Synod Report||9| |17.
Report of Safeguarding Officer||10| |18.
Wardens’ Notes||10| |19.
Vicar’s Report||12| 2 ## **2024 Report and Accounts for the Parochial Church Council of St Mary the Virgin, Davyhulme** ## **Address and contact details** **Church: St Mary the Virgin, Davyhulme Road Davyhulme Manchester M41 7BU** **Postal address: 13 Vicarage Road Davyhulme Manchester M41 5TP** ## **Telephone: 0161 748 2210** ## **Website: https://www.stmarysdavyhulme.org/** ## **Governance** The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is a corporate body established by the Church of England. The PCC operates under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure. The PCC of St Mary the Virgin, Davyhulme, has the responsibility of cooperating with the incumbent, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The appointment of PCC members is governed by and set out in the Church Representation Rules 2020. ## **Membership of the Parochial Church Council 2024 – 2025** ## **Ex-Officio** Revd Matthew Carlisle Chair Revd Dr Simon Wright Assistant Curate Mrs Fiona Jones Churchwarden, Children’s Church Co-ordinator Mrs Yvonne Mackereth Churchwarden, Vice-Chair of the PCC, representative Deanery Synod and Diocesan Synod, Chair of the House of Laity (retired November 2024). ## **Elected to Deanery Synod for the Triennium 2023- 2026** Mrs Sue Wright Representative on Deanery Synod Mrs Yvonne Mackereth Vice- chair of PCC, Church Warden, PCC Secretary, Mrs Liz Spencer Representative on Deanery Synod, Safeguarding coordinator Mrs Viv Ward Representative on Deanery Synod Vacancy 3 ## **Elected to the PCC for 3 years** Mr Peter Williams (22/05/2024) Bookkeeper Mr William Boxford (22/05/2024) GDPR officer Mr Glyn Chatterton (22/05/2024) Deputy warden Mrs Andrea Shepherd (02/05/2023) Mrs Barbara Miller (02/05/2023) Ms Karen Iddon (02/05/2023) Mrs Joanne Hardy (02/05/2023) Mrs Niki Taylor (11/05/2022) Treasurer Mrs Sue McGrane (11/05/2022) Deputy Warden Mr Simon Orr (11/05/2022) Mr Andrew Spencer (11/05/2022) Deputy warden Mr Robert Brookes (11/05/2022) Ms Michelle Partington (11/05/2022) Foundation Governor Children’s church leader Treasurer Deputy Warden ## **Other Appointments and Positions.** Honorary Assistant Curate Treasurer Gift Aid Officer Father Chris Waddleton Mrs Niki Taylor Mrs Yvonne Mackereth ## **Eucharistic Assistants** As from December 2022 Church Organist Monthly Newsletter Editor Mrs Shirley Artus Mr David Shepherd Mrs Andrea Shepherd Mr Andrew Spencer Mrs Irene Hegg Mr Philip Hegg Mr Simon Orr Mrs Yvonne Mackereth Mrs Carol Davies Mr Andy Penzak Mrs Yvonne Mackereth 4 Church Hall Lettings (Casual) Manager Mrs Angela May Church Hall Lettings (Regular) Manager Mr Glyn Chatterton Co-ordinator for Church Flowers Mrs Elsie Firth Children’s Church Co-ordinators Mrs Fiona Jones Mrs Joanne Hardy Mrs Angela May Website and ACNY Editor Mrs Fiona Jones Independent Examiner Mr Mark Burton Health & Safety/ Dis Access officer Mr David Shepherd ## **Foundation Governors of St. Mary’s CE Primary School** Rev Matthew Carlisle, Mrs Yvonne Mackereth (Diocese), Mr Andrew Jarman (Chair of Governors), Mrs Jennie Jones, Mrs Melanie Burden (until September 2024), Mr Will Boxford, Mrs Liz Carmichael (from November 2024), ## **Vision Statement** The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Davyhulme is a sacred place - of quiet for prayer and mediation - for worship - for fellowship - for community outreach - and a focal point for the community ## **Aims and Objectives and Activities** The PCC (Powers) measure 1956 states that a PCC ‘is to co-operate with the minister in promoting in the parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical.’ The Mission Statement of this parish is to be a growing, serving and nurturing church at the heart of the local community. The PCC is committed to: - encouraging more people to become disciples of Christ, - enabling as many people as possible to worship at our church, - growing the church community across all age groups and backgrounds to become part of our parish community at St Mary - further developing links with our church school The PCC maintains an overview of worship throughout the parish and makes suggestions on how our services can involve the many groups that live within our parish. Our services and worship put faith into practice through prayer and Scripture, music and sacrament. When planning our activities for the year, we have considered the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit and, in particular, the supplementary guidance on charities for the advancement of religion. In particular, we try to enable ordinary people to live out their faith as part of our parish community through: 5 - Worship and prayer; learning about the gospel; developing their knowledge and trust in Jesus. - Provision of pastoral care for people living in the parish. - Missionary and outreach work including support for a small number of charities. To facilitate this work, it is important that we maintain the fabric of this church. This has been achieved again this year despite the continued increasing and varied costs of maintaining this church through the generosity of regular giving, donations and legacies. ## **Pastoral Care** Helping and keeping in contact with others is a demonstration of our faith. During the year we have kept in touch with many members of our church community. This has included regular home visits to administer the sacraments, pastoral visits by other members of the congregation and telephone contact as listed below: - Visits and contacts by the clergy and laity. - Monthly newsletters emailed or hand delivered. - House visits - Regular prayer - Occasional afternoon service for those who find the morning service hard to access. - The parish website and A Church Near You web site. - Mission Community - Social media - Gardening group - Social activities - Home Eucharist - Children’s church through our Sunday morning worship, occasional afternoon services, Family gatherings for Good Friday, Summer Bug hunt, parish events. ## **Charity support** Throughout the year we have been able to offer our church as a collection point for donations for Stretford food bank and The Toy House, Flixton. We held a Christingle service in January with a donation of over £300 sent to The Children’s Society. Our Harvest Festival collection went to Streford food bank plus a weekly food collection and a monetary donation at Christmas. The donations from our Toy Service were distributed to local families by The Toy House. A huge Thank You to the many who have faithfully supported all our charitable activities during the past year. ## **Thank you** None of the work of this parish is possible without the help of our large number of volunteers who offer many, many hours of expertise and time to enable the church to function and grow. It is not possible to name all our volunteers, but particular thanks go to Elsie and Frank Firth for all they do, to the warden team, the PCC, the sidespeople, the gardening team, John, Glyn and many more plus Simon Orr and the gardening, lawn and icy weather gritting teams. Thank you especially to Elsie for keeping the church so clean on a week-to-week basis and for making sure that all is in order for every service. The PCC employ a company to clean the church hall on a weekly basis. **Risks** 6 All risks are managed with the support of the parish Health and Safety Officer and reviewed / actioned by the PCC. The relevant Risk Assessments are reviewed and updated on an ongoing basis. Fire alarms, lightening conductor, electrical installations and boilers are inspected and maintained on a regular basis. ## **Policies and Procedures** The PCC has ultimate responsibility for the implementation of a wide range of actions. To support this, policies and procedures have been developed and updated as required. These are available to view on the Parish website. ## **PCC Meetings** There were 9 meetings of the PCC in 2024. Attendance of PCC members at these meetings was good overall by the majority of PCC members. The following were among the major issues discussed during the year: - Maintenance of the buildings and grounds including roof repairs, lighting general maintenance both inside and outside church and the church hall, plus tree survey - Lighting in church – replacement of bulbs with LED - Update to church hall fire alarm system _._ - Annual accounts, finance, parish share - Generosity and Thankfulness. - Eco church - Fund raising and social events - Diocesan / deanery updates - Church hall rental - Institution and Licensing of Rev Matthew - The local Mission Community - PCC policies - Full refit of the church hall kitchen ## **Achievements and performance** ## **Worship and prayer** We continue to offer worship both on a Sunday and during the week for our church community of all ages. For example, Wednesday morning Eucharist provides a quieter and reflective environment for worship. We are delighted to welcome our church school to worship with us. Key stage 2 pupils join the Wednesday morning service once a month, class by class. Pupils visit for Experience Christmas and Easter and end of term worship is held in church three times a year, expertly led by Year 6 pupils. Family worship has continued each Sunday, led mainly by Fiona, Angela and Joanne, thank you all. We have a small group of families who attend regularly and who delight us with examples of their learning. Our Lent and Advent groups met in church this year led by the clergy team, with friends from St Clements joining us at Advent. The services at festivals, especially Easter and Christmas, have been busy. As well as our regular services, we enable our community to celebrate and thank God at the milestones of the journey through life. Through baptism we thank God for the gift of life; in marriage, public vows are exchanged with God's blessing; through funeral services, friends and 7 family express their grief and give thanks for the life that is now complete in this world and commend the person into God's safe keeping. All this, done during this interregnum, has continued following the installation of Rev Matthew. We offer huge thanks to Father Chris and Dr Simon for presiding at our worship, their pastoral care, leadership and faithful loving support over the past two and a half years. We give thanks to have Matthew, Emily and family with us as Matthew continues to support the parish with his priestly ministry. We also offer our grateful thanks to our ‘music team’ of Andy and Elaine who have accompanied every service for us over the year and greatly enhanced our worship. We continue to grow in faith as a church family and extend our love and outreach to our local community. ## **The Parish Hall** The church hall provides an important part of our outreach to the local community We offer our hall for hire for parties and additional regular users. This provides not only a very helpful source of income but forms part of the parish outreach to the community. We would like to thank Angela May for managing the casual church hall lettings, Glyn Chatterton for managing the regular lettings and all those who open up and lock up after the weekend parties. ## **Yvonne Mackereth Fiona Jones Church wardens** ## **Electoral Roll Officer’s report for 2024** It has been a quiet year as far as the Electoral Roll is concerned. As at 31/3/24 there were 224 people on the list. During the year we have had four members of the congregation pass away, leaving 220 people on the electoral roll. We have had no additions to the list. 2025 is the year we have to renew the Electoral Roll completely, and we are in the process of doing this, and I will be able to update everyone at the APCM in May. ## **Sue McGrane Electoral Roll Officer** ## **Treasurer’s report** The accounts for the year ending 31 December 2024 show an increase which amounted to £61,952 in the General Fund, following the Independent Examination of the accounts carried out by Burton and Company (Accountants) Ltd. This is a positive increase on the previous year. Income has significantly increased in many ways. Donations and Collections amounted to £78,673. Church hall rental income has increased to £19,512 for parties and regular hirers. Fees from weddings, funerals and internment of ashes also increased to £10,623. Gift Aid Tax recoverable for the year amounted to £17,949, an important source of income. Many thanks to all those who maintained their regular giving. We also received £30,300 in legacies. We received grants totalling £17,332 towards our new heating costs. Interest on our savings amounted to £1,174. Expenditure on major repairs and maintenance in 2024 amounted to £4,368. To help with the cost of the new heating system we received an interest free loan of £20,000 for 3 years from the Diocese. We repaid £10,000 of our interest free loan back to the Diocese in March 2024 and we 8 have paid all the interest free loan back at the beginning of 2025. I would like to thank everyone who gave donations, loans and organised fundraising events for the new heating system. This year our Parish Share was set at £56,161.32, towards this sum we received £1,123.63 (incentive payment for paying share in full each quarter in 2023) from the Diocese and we were able to pay the remaining balance of £55,037.69 in full. Fundraising activities included Christmas fair, coffee morning, curry night, bingo night, quiz night, BBQ, afternoon tea and music/band events and many other events. The proceeds of which amounted to £8,219 profit. I would particularly like to thank Peter Williams for doing all the bookkeeping and thank Yvonne Mackereth for all the gift aiding and for supporting me in so many ways and to Fiona Jones for all the many things she does as well. Also, thanks to Glyn helping me every week to count the money ready to be banked. No members of the PCC have received any payments apart from certified expenses. PCC Accounts are held as follows: - Current Account and Savings Account Co-operative plc. CBF Deposit Account CCLA Management 80 Cheapside, London **Niki Taylor Treasurer** ## **Report of Deanery Synod 2024** In the Church of England, a deanery is a group of parishes forming a district within an archdeaconry. This parish may currently have up to five representatives on Deanery Synod. These representatives are also PCC members, providing the PCC with an important link between the parish and the wider structures of the Church of England. This parish is part of Manchester South and Stretford Deanery. Our Area Dean is Rev Nick Watson, the Lay Chair is Canon Addy Lazz-Onyenobi. St Mary parish also forms part of a Mission Community together with St Michael, St Clement, St John, Christ Church, All Saints and St Matthew parishes. During 2024 the Deanery Synod met twice. Items for discussion at synod included: - Safeguarding - Mission & Ministry among Asylum Seekers - Diocesan Transformation Programme Reports were received from each General Synod and Diocesan Synod meeting during the year. We give thanks for the leadership, guidance and ministry of Rev Nick Watson as he prepares to move with his family to the Diocese of Lichfield as he takes up his new role of Archdeacon. We congratulate our Area Dean, Rev Nick Watson on his appointment as Archdeacon in the Diocese of Lichfield. We give thanks for his leadership and ministry during his time in Manchester Diocese. We look forward to continuing to work alongside colleagues both in the deanery and the local Mission Community _._ **Yvonne Mackereth Deanery Secretary** 9 ## **Report of Safeguarding Co-ordinator 2024** Each Parochial Church Council, together with the parish priest, shares the responsibility for the duty of care of the children and young people and adults at risk in their church setting. Each PCC must be fully aware of, and work in line with, the Diocesan Policy on Safeguarding Children and Adults at Risk. The Parish Safeguarding Co-ordinator is appointed by the PCC annually and is responsible for ensuring that - The Parish Policy is reviewed, updated and adopted by the PCC on an annual basis - The Parish Policy is widely available to organisations using the facilities of the church. - All volunteers go through the appropriate recruitment process in conjunction with the PCC and parish priest; including DBS process. - Volunteers have met the requirement to undertake basic child safeguarding training, and to maintain a record of those who have completed this training. - To monitor the implementation of Parish Policy and report to the PCC any difficulties in In line with Diocesan guidance, a DBS check has been done for all members of this PCC as the PCC have overall responsibility for safeguarding within the parish. DBS clearance should be renewed every 3 years. All volunteers are required to complete online training and attend a training update. This has been delivered locally within the deanery. In addition, all clergy are required to have a DBS check completed by the Diocese and attend regular safeguarding training. As part of good practice, safeguarding of both children and adults who may be at risk, is a standing item on the PCC agenda. In this way the PCC are kept up to date with any issues or policy and document changes such as recruitment procedures and training. The Diocese of Manchester, in line with best practice, has a Safeguarding Board. Details of this can be found on the Diocesan website. The Safeguarding board develop policies and procedures for safeguarding children and adults and promote a safe church. However, safeguarding is not just the business of the PCC or the Diocese, it is the role of all of us to help to safeguard everyone who attends or is connected with this church. I am always happy to answer questions related to policy and practice and any safeguarding issues should be brought to the direct attention of myself. Once again, I would like to thank all those helpers who willingly complete the required DBS formalities and any required training. This is a further indication of the seriousness that is placed on Safeguarding within this church and the wider church. There have been no child protection issues at St Mary during the past year. A list of relevant contact names and address for Safeguarding may be found on notice boards in church and in the church hall. Safeguarding posters are present in the Church and the Church Hall area. Posters are in place (also in private area – toilets) for external agencies who can offer support to individuals. ## **Liz Spencer Safeguarding Coordinator** 10 ## **Warden’s notes 2024** This has been a very special year for St Mary church that started with the interregnum and then we welcomed Rev Matthew as vicar of our parish along with St Clement parish in April. The wardens and team have valued working alongside Rev Matthew, the PCC and all our volunteers as we care for the buildings and fabrics of the church and the grounds. The inventory continues to be updated, and the Terrier records show the electrical testing, fire safety, heating safety building repairs and updates across the church, the hall and the grounds. In November 2024 the roof repairs, noted in the Quinquennial, were completed repairs and included repairs to the ridge tiles over the back porch entrance and a high-level gutter clean of the lantern tower. At this time damage to a window in the lantern tower was noted and a maintenance repair scheduled for January 2025. Our church lighting was upgrade to LED lights. The BT Wi-Fi was upgraded to give a much better speed and reliability. The church hall corridor was redecorated. A major project this year was the installation of a new kitchen in the church hall. Two generous donations enabled this to be completed, and we are grateful for Yvonne’s detailed project management aided by Elsie who oversaw the final installation. The kitchen is being well used, and the modern hygienic finish and appliances are valued by church groups and hall users. Thank you, Yvonne, Elsie and others, involved. The church hall fire alarm system was replaced. A fire risk assessment was professionally carried out and subsequently the smoke detectors in the kitchen and gallery were replaced. The upgrading of the hall emergency lighting is scheduled for January 2025. We are always grateful for the extra help that our congregation members bring. Many small jobs are quietly carried out over the year both inside the building and outside. A thank you to all those helping when they can in church and behind the scenes. Thank you to the volunteers who helped Rev Matthew with the taking down of the old notice boards in the grounds and the installation of the new board. The new notice boards provide the church with up-to-date service information, contact details and a lockable poster area for further out-reach information to be seen from the main road. A very big thank you to Andy and Elaine who continue to add a musical spiritual side to our worship. Thank you to our regular choir and the additional pop-up choir for special services that include joining with St Clements choir for shared services. Thank you to Irene for co ordinating the choir. Throughout 2024, Elsie and Frank have ably supported services, cleaned the church regularly including the silver and brasses. They do a significant amount of ‘back-room’ work for which we thank them enormously. Our sides-people have welcomed our congregation and visitors to regular and life event services and often wear more than one hat being on tea duty, transport lifts, epistle reading and intercessions. Thank you to all who help in any way in all these roles. The hall is used on a daily basis and Glyn (regular bookings) Angela (casual bookings) work hard to ensure all bookings are carefully managed covering insurance and Health and Safety requirements. We thank them both for all their hard work. We have a small team of people that open and close for one off booking and we appreciate the time and care they give to ensuring the hall is left ready for the next hirer. One new group that started in Feb 2024 is the Never Forgotten Peer Support baby loss group. A group accessible to all and shared throughout Trafford and beyond. Thank you to Chelle for this special group. Our social gatherings this year brought together friendships and the wider community in fundraising: - January - Bingo evening with Sue - February- Valentine’s music evening With Andy and Elaine - Valentines’ coffee morning - March - Coffee morning and Easter Crafts - Quiz night with Peter - April - Coffee morning 11 - Curry night - June - Eco family morning and picnic - Sweet Rhythm Big Band Party in the Pews - July – Summer Barbecue - August - Afternoon tea with music by Andy and Elaine - October – Bingo evening with Sue - November -Christmas Fair organised by Elsie and her team. We are fortunate to have large grounds surrounding our church, but these take some looking after. Our thanks to the 2 or 3 volunteers who help with gardening (more volunteers always welcome), and to Elsie and Frank who keep the Garden of Remembrance grounds so neat and tidy. Our thanks to Simon Orr who organizes the gritting and lawn mower teams. Thank you to Martin Glyn Gary Richard Peter Bobby and others who step in for extra tasks when needed. All these rotas and maintenance helpers enable the grounds to be kept neat and safe for visitors. Each week sees visitors walking through the grounds for quiet reflection and visits to the Garden of Remembrance. In addition, the small vegetable and fruit area is enjoyed by The Earlybirds nursery, (Kiddiewinkles nursery since Sept), our young families and by anyone who gets fresh produce from it in the growing season. Our outside display shed has seasonal displays and notices. Thanks to the young families who have helped set it up for events such as Easter, Eco church, Harvest, Christmas. A major work with our trees took place in December. We continue on our Eco Church journey building working on our Silver Award level towards Gold. We reduced our carbon footprint with the new heating system and careful control of our heating. The parish energy supplier is a ‘green’ company. We bank with the Co-op, an ethical bank. Our grounds continue to be cared for with native plants, fruit trees and vegetables with a small team, donations of plants. All of this has been alongside worship, hymns and prayer in services, shared online and in newsletters and in family eco activity days. A particular thanks for the car sharing, candle recycling, walking and cycling and all that each of you do in your own way to care for God’s World and in helping nature to rebuild the climate for generations to come. This past year has been, as ever, a huge team effort. The very special moment this year was the welcoming of Rev Matthew Carlisle, Emily and their family on 21 April 2024. We embarked on our new journey with St Clements, sharing some of our services and events and getting to know each other a bit more. As wardens we welcome liaising with our fellow wardens together with Rev Matthew. Our very special thanks are extended to Father Chris and Dr Simon who led ministry and worship during the interregnum and now continue their ministry alongside Rev Matthew. Our grateful thanks are extended to Niki Taylor, and to the whole PCC team who contribute help in many different ways. Thank you, each and every one of you for your part in continuing the work of our parish. New faces have joined us throughout the year, and we also have special memories of longstanding faithful members who have made their last special journey to ‘Rise in Glory’. Thanks to all of you, our parishioners and friends, worshipping together and supporting each other be at home or in church under the loving arms of our Lord. As we move forward in new times in 2025 and beyond may we all continue to pray and work together to reach out as a mission community to the wider world. **Fiona Jones Yvonne Mackereth Churchwardens** ## **Vicar’s Address 2025** 12 On behalf of myself and my family I would like to thank the congregation at St. Mary’s for making us feel so welcome over the past year. In my address I would like to thank all the people and teams who play such a vital role in making St. Mary’s a prayerful, caring and active Church which embodies the love of Christ in so many ways. Today is an opportunity to give thanks to God for all the ways we are richly blessed by the different ministries which enable the good governance of St. Mary’s. We are blessed by the priestly ministries of Dr. Simon and Fr. Chris. They are very generous in sharing their many gifts and skills with us. They epitomise servant leadership through their wise, humorous and caring presence among us. I would like to thank the clergy and lay team who take the sacrament of Holy Communion to those who are sick and to a local Residential Home. Yvonne and Fiona are excellent Churchwardens and work well together as a team. They complement each other in their work and are incredibly diligent. It is clear that their service is borne out of their desire to serve Christ in and through the life of the Church. I would like to thank them for the various projects relating to the fabric of the Church which they have led this year. Thanks also to our deputy wardens: Sue McGrane, Andrew Spencer and Glyn Chatterton for all your support. Thank you to our PCC members who have such a vital role in making decisions relating to the ministry of the Church. I would like to thank Nicola Taylor, Sue McGrane, Andrew Spencer, Michelle Partington and Bob Brookes who come to the end of their three-year term of office and are due for re-election. I would particularly like to thank Bob, who will not be continuing as a member of the PCC. We have all benefited immensely from Bob’s knowledge, support and kindness over many years. Bob is in all our hearts and prayers, and we thank God for him. Finally, thanks to Yvonne, who does a great job as PCC secretary – thank you. Thank you to Elsie and Frank in the many ways they enrich our life together in Christ through all the work they do in Church, not least in the sacristy. It is a great joy for us to officially make Elsie our verger – she has fulfilled this role with distinction for many years already and it is only right that we recognise her ministry among us and communicate our heartfelt gratitude. We are also grateful to Frank and Elsie for keeping the church so clean and tidy – I have never seen a tidier sacristy! We are incredibly fortunate at St. Mary’s to receive the wonderful ministry of our musicians. Andy and Elaine are amazing. We give thanks for all the ways their skill and love of music beautify and enhance our worship. A huge thanks also to Irene and all the choristers. Again, they have a vital role in enabling our worship the best we can offer to God. We have had some beautiful choral services through the year, not least the Christmas Carol Service. Thanks to everyone involved with the choir. We have a wonderful team of sideswomen and sidesmen who fulfil a vital ministry of welcoming people into church, making sure everyone is looked after, and assisting with the smooth running of our worship. Christ often shows up at Church as a stranger and we are glad for our team who welcome him in the faces of friends and strangers alike. Our serving team, Eucharistic Assistants, lectors and intercessors also have a vital role in our services, and they fulfil their duties with great care, thoughtfulness and reverence – many thanks to all who serve in this way. Many thanks to Fiona for all the time she puts into updating and developing our website, our ‘A Church Near You’ page, and Facebook page. It is a really important dimension of our mission and ministry. In a digital age, a digital presence is essential, thank you Fiona for the ways you reach out and communicate what’s happening at St. Mary’s. 13 Angela May does a great job in managing all the hall bookings. The hire of the hall creates a lot of income for the Church. Many thanks too to Glyn Chatterton for handling payments for the hire of the hall from our regular hall users. A big vote of thanks to the generous team of people who open and close the hall for party bookings. Thank you. Many thanks to the wonderful work of our finance team. In particular I would like to thank Nicola Taylor in her role as treasurer and Peter Williams who is our bookkeeper. Thanks too to our counting team! Thank you, Yvonne, for your work as Gift Aid secretary. We appreciate all the work the finance team do in this key area of our life in Christ. We have a lovely Children’s Church group who meet every week, and they are led by the brilliant team which comprises Joanne Hardy, Fiona Jones and Angela May. The Children’s church leaders do an amazing job of catering for a wide range of children (and an unpredictable number of children each week). They do a fantastic job. Thank you to our social events organisers and helpers, who have arranged some brilliant social events over the past year – you all know who you are and we are incredibly grateful for all your efforts. A key role in the Church is that of Safeguarding Officer. Liz Spencer has fulfilled this role with great care and attention and brings a wealth of experience to the role. Thank you, Liz. Many thanks also to David Shepherd who is our Health and Safety Officer. David also brings a lot of experience to the role. He helps keep the buildings and the grounds safe for all. Thank you, David. This year we had to put together a new Electoral Roll and I would like to thank Sue McGrane for doing this for us so efficiently, and for serving as the Electoral Roll officer. Many thanks to the ‘Lawn Rangers’, skilfully led by ‘Lead Ranger’ Simon Orr. Thanks too to Elsie who arranges flowers in Church and keeps the Garden of Remembrance clean and tidy. Thank you to Fiona and her team of volunteers for all the hours they put into keeping the grounds nature friendly and tidy. Thank you also to Glyn Chatterton and Martin Wright often fulfil a number of practical jobs around the building and grounds. Thanks also to Shirley Artus, who leads our Mothers’ Union so well. She is ably assisted by Ian and the wider team. We are thankful for the work of our Mothers’ Union group, which also attracts members from surrounding churches. The Men’s Group meet once a month and really enjoy one another’s company. Many thanks to Phil Hegg for arranging these meetings and keeping everyone in order (I think!). Many thanks to all our Foundation Governors who play such an important role in the life of St. Mary’s School. Thanks for the time and energy you put into your roles as school governors. Thank you to all who have the gift of administration, not least those who put rotas together! Thanks also to all who help serve refreshments on Sundays and at social events – your assistance is greatly valued. It is impossible to name everyone who plays a part in our life together in Christ. I have named many by naming the team or group they are a part of. If I have forgotten anyone or any group, please let me know. God has blessed us all through our shared ministry and I give thanks to God for you all. ## **Rev Matthew Carlisle Vicar** 14 Parish of St Mary the Virgin Davyhulme Parochial Church Council Annual Parochial Church Meeting 2025 Accounts For the Year Ended 31st December 2024 Tha Parochlal Church Council of St Mary Tha Virgln Davyhulme Accounts for the Year Ended 31st December 2024 CONTENTS PAGE Accounlant and Independent Examiner's Report Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 st December 2024 Balance Sheet as at 31 st December 2024 Notes to the Accounts Appendix 1 10 Appendix 2 The Parochial Church Council of St Mary The Virgin Davyhulme Accountant and Independent Examiner's Report Accounts for the Year Ended 31st December 2024 We report on the accounts of the church for the year ended 31 st December 2024, which are set out on pages 1 to 10. The trustees of the church are responsible for the preparation of the accounts and accounting record The church's truste8s consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 14412) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed. Independent Examiner's Report It is our responsibility to: a) Examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act b) Follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners under section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act c) State whether particular matters have come to our attention. Our examination was carried out in accordance wlh the General Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a revi8w of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts prepared with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures made in the accounts, and seeking explanations concerning any unusual matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently we do not provide an opinion as to whether the accounts show a true and fair view. The report is accordingly limited to the malters set out in the statement below: In connection with our examination, no matters have come to our attention ￿lCh. a} Give us reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements to keep accounting records in accordance with s130 of the 2011 Act, or to prepare accounts which accord with these accounting records and comply with the 2011 Acl have not been met. bj To ￿lCh, in our opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Burton and Company (AGcountants} Ltd 76 Davyhulme Road, Urmston, Manchester. M417DN 2510312025 The Parochial Chur¢h Councll of Sl Mary Tho Virgin Da￿ulMe Accounts for the Yèar Ended 31st De￿Mb￿r 2024 Statemant of Financlal A¢tlvltles for the Yaar Ended 318t December 2024 Gen•ral Funds R•strlct$d Fundlng 2023 2024 INCOME Nots 91,593 4,758 657 25,065 21,951 Voluntsry Income Activities fof generating funds Income from Investments Church Activities Other In¢ome 2a 2b 2c 2d 28 91.623 8.589 1,174 30,134 47.632 91,074 8,589 1,174 30,134 47,632 548 144.023 TOTAL INCOME 179,152 178,604 548 EXPENDITURE 2,487 107,412 Grants and Charitabl8 Givlng Church Activities 812 116,386 812 115.841 3b 545 109.900 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 117.198 116.653 545 34,124 NET INCOMEIIEXPENDITUREI FOR THE YEAR 61,9SS 61,951 Transfer between funds In th• yaar TOTAL FUNDS BROUGHT FORWARD 48,527 82,651 82,651 TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD Thè Paro¢hlal Church Councll of St MaryTho Vlryln Davyhulme Accounts for the Year Ended 31st D8c8rnbgr 2024 Balanc? Sheet as at 31st D8e•mb8r 2024 2023 Total 2024 Totsl Note FIXED ASSETS s,000 59,623 Land and 8ulldlngs Heating System Fixlurgs and Equiprngnl 5,OLX) 53.662 5.704 69,018 64,366 CURRENT ASSETS 15,736 17,892 3,463 37,091 Short Term Deposlt Olher Cash and Bank Balan¢?5 Debtors and Prepaymenls 21,724 56,944 4,723 83,391 10 CURRENT LIABILITies 23,458 Crèditors ond Accruals 3,151 13,633 NET CURRENT ASSETS 80,240 82,851 TOTAL NET ASSETS 144.606 TOTAL FUNDS IUNRESTRICTEDI 12113 82,651 General Fund IUnr8slricledl 144.6( 82,651 144,808 Mrs N Taylor Hon Treasurer The Parochial Church Council of St Mary The Virgin Davyhulme Accounts for the Year Ended 31st December 2024 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS 1. STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTING POLICIES Accountlng Policies The financial statements have been prepared under the Charities Act (20111 and in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006, Financial Reporting Standard 102, and the 2016 Charities Statement of Recommended Practice. Funds General funds represent the funds of the PCC that are not subject to any restrictions regarding their use and are available for application to the general purposes of the PCC. Restricted funds are income funds and reserves that must be spent on restricted purposes and details of those funds are provided in the notes to the accounts. The accounts include all transactions, assets and liabilities for which the PCC is responsible in law. They do not include the accounts of other Church groups that owe their affiliation to another body or those that are infomial gatherings of Church member5. Income Collections, donations and legacies are recognised when received by or on behalf of the PCC. Planned giving receivable under Gift Aid is recognised only when received. Income Tax recoverable on Gift Aid donations is recognised when the income is recognised. Funds raised by fundraising events are accounled for gross. Rental Income from the letting of Church premises is recognised when received. Income from grants is recognised, where possible, in the same accounting year as that for which any related expenditure is payable. Inlerest and investment income is recognised when received. Expenditure Granls and donations are accounted for when paid over, or when awarded, if the award creates binding obligation on the PCC. The Diocesan Parish Share is accounted for when paid, such payments reflecling relief under the Encouragement Scheme. Tho Parochlal Church Council of St Mary The Virgin Davyhulme Accounts for the Year Ended 31st December 2024 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS ICONTINUEDI FIXED ASSETS Consecrated Proporty and moveable Church Furnlshlngs Consecrated and beneficial propety of any kind Is excluded from the accounts by s1012llal and Icl of the Charities Act 2011. Moveable Church furnishings held by the Vicar and Church Wardens on special trust lor the PCC. and which require a Faculty lor disposal are accounted for as inalienable prop&rty unless consecrated. They are listed In the Church's inventory, which can be inspected at any reasonable limè. For Inalienable propety acquired prior to 2000 there Is Insufficiènt information available and therefore such assets are not valued in the accounts. Items acquired since 1 January 2000 have been capitalisèd and depreciated in the accounts over their urrenlly anlicipaled useful economic life on è slraighl line basis. Depreclallon Is charged al the followlng rates to WTile the fixed assets off over their eslimaled useful economi¢ Ilves.. Heallng System Fixtures Equipment 100/D per annum on the reducing balance basis 15V/o per annum down lo a minimum book value of £ 5 25 /0 per annum down lo a mirninum book value of £ 5 The Parochial Church Counell of St Mary The Virgln Davyhulm8 Aecounts for tht Year Ended 31st D8cember 2024 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS I¢ONTINUEDI 2. INCOME G•n8ral Funds Rèstrl¢ted Fund¥ 2023 2024 2a) Voluntary Income Regular Giving Collections at S8￿1¢e$ All Other Giving and Voluntary Rgceipts including Special Appeals Gift Aid Recoverod Total Voluntary Giving 39,894 5,126 33,730 41.659 7,248 24,767 41.659 7.248 24,219 548 12,843 91,593 17,949 91.623 17,949 91,074 548 2bl Actlv5tles for Genoratlng Funds Fund raising activities Inole 61 2¢1 Investmont Incgme Inlergst receivad 657 1.174 1,174 2dl Church Actlvltl•• Fees retained by th• PCC Trading Activities 10,006 15.059 10,623 19,511 10,623 19,511 30.134 30.134 2•10thgr Incom• nsurance Clalm R•cèived Grants L8gacy 8,951 13.000 17.332 17,332 47,632 TOTAL INCOME 179 152 178603 548 The Parochial Church ¢ouncll of St Mary The Vlrgln Davyhulm8 Accounts lor th6 Year Ended 31st Dec•mb8r2024 NOTES TO THE A¢¢OUNTS ICONTINUEDI 3. EXPENDITURE General Fund$ 2023 R05trlct8d Funds 2024 c￿ts ol Generatlng Fund¥ Co$t5 of Fundralsing AGlivilie$ Church Actlvltlos 2,487 56,182 11.621 3a) MSsslon Givlng and Donallons Jbl Oioc8san Sha 3bl Salaries, Wages and Honorar 3bl Cleryy and Staff Expenses 812 56,131 12,906 4.572 812 56,131 12,906 4,512 3bl Ch¥rch Expen801 7.291 20,236 4,681 Church Runnlng Exp8n$è8 12,009 13.877 4.544 11,484 13,877 545 C0518 of TradSng 3bl Maloi Capltal Exp8ndltur• Major Rep8irs to tho Church Bullding Major Repalrs tc tha Church Hall Doprecialion 4,368 4.368 7,402 7.851 7,851 3bl Othor Exp¢ndlture Other Expenditur• not already11$18d 188 188 109900 117,198 116,634 545 109 900 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 117 198 545 The Parochial Church Council of St Mary The Vlrgln Davyhulme Accounts for the Year Ended 31st December 2024 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED) 4, EMPLOYEES AND EMOLUMENTS During the year the PCC paid a cleaner, musician and a support worker for sevices rendered. PCC members were directly reimbursed for expensès incurred on its behalf but did not themselves r6ceiv8 any remuneration from Church funds. There was on6 employee during the yèar. 5. LEGACIES In 2024, thera were lolal legacies received of £30,300. 6. SUMMARY OF FUND RAISING ACTIVITIES A d61ailed list of amounts raised is provided as an appendix lo these accounts. 7. m￿lOR REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE There were major repairs lo the Church building lolalling £4,368. There was a refitting of the kitchèn and the installation of a water healer, and the costs of this were capitalisèd and included in the Balance Sheet as capital expenditure. 8. FIXED ASSETS Flxtures and Equlpment Heatlng System Church Hall Total ActuallDeemed Cost Al 1st January 2024 Additions Less.. Donations Received Al 31st December 2024 157.123 30.374 8,197 5.000 33,571 66.249 253,746 8,197 5,000 66,249 256,943 157,123 Dopreclatlon Al 1st January 2024 Charge for the year Eliminated on disposals Al 31st December 2024 152,123 25,979 11,889) 6,626 184,728 {5,9621 17.8511 152,123 24,090 663 176,877 Not Book Value at 31$t December 2024 5,000 9,481 65,585 80,067 Net Book Value at 31st Decamber 2023 5,000 4,395 59,623 69,018 The Paro¢h5al Church Coun¢ll of St Mary Th? Vlrqln Davyhulme A¢¢ount8 for tho Yoar Ended 31st December 2024 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS ICONTINUEDI 9. CASH AND BANK BALANCES 2024 2023 C8F Church of England dèposit fund 21,724 15.736 Co-op Current Accounl Cash and Other 8ank Balances 38.456 18,488 15,362 2,S30 17892 10. DEBTORS AND PREPAYMENTS 2024 2023 Unreslricled Funds.. Ineome Tax Recoverablè Sundry debtors and prepaym•nl$ 4.042 681 2,740 723 4,723 3.463 11. CREDITORS AND ACCRUALS 2024 2023 Sundry Cr8dilors and A¢¢ruals Loan from MDBF 3,151 3,458 20,000 The Parochial Church Council of St Mary The Virgin Davyhulme Accounts for the Year Ended 31st December 2024 SUMMARY OF FUND RAISING ACTIVITIES - 2024 Appendix 1 Christmas Fair Proceeds Coffee Morning Curry Night Bingo Night Music and Bands Quiz Night Afternoon Tea Proceeds BBQ Proceeds Other Fundraising Activities 3,332 1,107 574 1,039 885 506 490 268 388 8,589 370 8,219 Less.. Costs These figures are shown for information only and do not form part of the Accoun 10 ST MARYS PCC ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2024 APPENDIX 2 PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT Income Donations and Collections Legacies Grants Tax Recoverable Fund Raising Activities Interest Received Fees Church Hall Income 78,673 30,300 17,332 17,949 8,589 1,174 10,623 19,512 184,152 Expenditure Flowers Insurance Donations Paid Diocesan Parish Share Communication Costs Heat, Light and Water Minor Repairs Salaries and Honoraria Cost of Services Poaslage, Slalionery, Sundries and IT Church Hall Running Costs Total Professional Fees Major Repairs Sundries Depreciation of Fixed Assets 545 4,804 812 56,131 4,513 9,074 7,419 12.906 3.445 769 3,776 600 4,368 188 7,851 {117,201} Surplus for the Year 66,951 These figures are shown for information only and do not form part of the Accounts ## **The Parish Church** ## **of** ## **St Mary the Virgin Davyhulme** ## **Annual Report and Accounts for the year ending 31 December 2024** **Presented to the Annual Parochial Church Meeting 21 May 2025** 1 ||**Contents**|**Contents Page**| |---|---|---| |1. Address and Contact Details||3| |2. Governance||3| |3. Membership of the Parochial Church Council 2024-25 3||Membership of the Parochial Church Council 2024-25 3| |4. Elected to the Deanery Synod for the Triennium 2023-26||3| |5. Elected to the PCC for 3 years||4| |6. Other Appointments and Positions||4| |7. Foundation Governors of St Mary CE Primary School||5| |8. Vision Statement||5| |9. Aims, Objectives and Activities||5| |10.
PCC Meetings||7| |11.
Risks||7| |12.
Policies and Procedures||7| |13.
Achievements and performance||7| |14.
Electoral Roll Officer Report||8| |15.
Treasurer’s Report||8| |16.
Deanery Synod Report||9| |17.
Report of Safeguarding Officer||10| |18.
Wardens’ Notes||10| |19.
Vicar’s Report||12| 2 ## **2024 Report and Accounts for the Parochial Church Council of St Mary the Virgin, Davyhulme** ## **Address and contact details** **Church: St Mary the Virgin, Davyhulme Road Davyhulme Manchester M41 7BU** **Postal address: 13 Vicarage Road Davyhulme Manchester M41 5TP** ## **Telephone: 0161 748 2210** ## **Website: https://www.stmarysdavyhulme.org/** ## **Governance** The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is a corporate body established by the Church of England. The PCC operates under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure. The PCC of St Mary the Virgin, Davyhulme, has the responsibility of cooperating with the incumbent, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The appointment of PCC members is governed by and set out in the Church Representation Rules 2020. ## **Membership of the Parochial Church Council 2024 – 2025** ## **Ex-Officio** Revd Matthew Carlisle Chair Revd Dr Simon Wright Assistant Curate Mrs Fiona Jones Churchwarden, Children’s Church Co-ordinator Mrs Yvonne Mackereth Churchwarden, Vice-Chair of the PCC, representative Deanery Synod and Diocesan Synod, Chair of the House of Laity (retired November 2024). ## **Elected to Deanery Synod for the Triennium 2023- 2026** Mrs Sue Wright Representative on Deanery Synod Mrs Yvonne Mackereth Vice- chair of PCC, Church Warden, PCC Secretary, Mrs Liz Spencer Representative on Deanery Synod, Safeguarding coordinator Mrs Viv Ward Representative on Deanery Synod Vacancy 3 ## **Elected to the PCC for 3 years** Mr Peter Williams (22/05/2024) Bookkeeper Mr William Boxford (22/05/2024) GDPR officer Mr Glyn Chatterton (22/05/2024) Deputy warden Mrs Andrea Shepherd (02/05/2023) Mrs Barbara Miller (02/05/2023) Ms Karen Iddon (02/05/2023) Mrs Joanne Hardy (02/05/2023) Mrs Niki Taylor (11/05/2022) Treasurer Mrs Sue McGrane (11/05/2022) Deputy Warden Mr Simon Orr (11/05/2022) Mr Andrew Spencer (11/05/2022) Deputy warden Mr Robert Brookes (11/05/2022) Ms Michelle Partington (11/05/2022) Foundation Governor Children’s church leader Treasurer Deputy Warden ## **Other Appointments and Positions.** Honorary Assistant Curate Treasurer Gift Aid Officer Father Chris Waddleton Mrs Niki Taylor Mrs Yvonne Mackereth ## **Eucharistic Assistants** As from December 2022 Church Organist Monthly Newsletter Editor Mrs Shirley Artus Mr David Shepherd Mrs Andrea Shepherd Mr Andrew Spencer Mrs Irene Hegg Mr Philip Hegg Mr Simon Orr Mrs Yvonne Mackereth Mrs Carol Davies Mr Andy Penzak Mrs Yvonne Mackereth 4 Church Hall Lettings (Casual) Manager Mrs Angela May Church Hall Lettings (Regular) Manager Mr Glyn Chatterton Co-ordinator for Church Flowers Mrs Elsie Firth Children’s Church Co-ordinators Mrs Fiona Jones Mrs Joanne Hardy Mrs Angela May Website and ACNY Editor Mrs Fiona Jones Independent Examiner Mr Mark Burton Health & Safety/ Dis Access officer Mr David Shepherd ## **Foundation Governors of St. Mary’s CE Primary School** Rev Matthew Carlisle, Mrs Yvonne Mackereth (Diocese), Mr Andrew Jarman (Chair of Governors), Mrs Jennie Jones, Mrs Melanie Burden (until September 2024), Mr Will Boxford, Mrs Liz Carmichael (from November 2024), ## **Vision Statement** The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Davyhulme is a sacred place - of quiet for prayer and mediation - for worship - for fellowship - for community outreach - and a focal point for the community ## **Aims and Objectives and Activities** The PCC (Powers) measure 1956 states that a PCC ‘is to co-operate with the minister in promoting in the parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical.’ The Mission Statement of this parish is to be a growing, serving and nurturing church at the heart of the local community. The PCC is committed to: - encouraging more people to become disciples of Christ, - enabling as many people as possible to worship at our church, - growing the church community across all age groups and backgrounds to become part of our parish community at St Mary - further developing links with our church school The PCC maintains an overview of worship throughout the parish and makes suggestions on how our services can involve the many groups that live within our parish. Our services and worship put faith into practice through prayer and Scripture, music and sacrament. When planning our activities for the year, we have considered the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit and, in particular, the supplementary guidance on charities for the advancement of religion. In particular, we try to enable ordinary people to live out their faith as part of our parish community through: 5 - Worship and prayer; learning about the gospel; developing their knowledge and trust in Jesus. - Provision of pastoral care for people living in the parish. - Missionary and outreach work including support for a small number of charities. To facilitate this work, it is important that we maintain the fabric of this church. This has been achieved again this year despite the continued increasing and varied costs of maintaining this church through the generosity of regular giving, donations and legacies. ## **Pastoral Care** Helping and keeping in contact with others is a demonstration of our faith. During the year we have kept in touch with many members of our church community. This has included regular home visits to administer the sacraments, pastoral visits by other members of the congregation and telephone contact as listed below: - Visits and contacts by the clergy and laity. - Monthly newsletters emailed or hand delivered. - House visits - Regular prayer - Occasional afternoon service for those who find the morning service hard to access. - The parish website and A Church Near You web site. - Mission Community - Social media - Gardening group - Social activities - Home Eucharist - Children’s church through our Sunday morning worship, occasional afternoon services, Family gatherings for Good Friday, Summer Bug hunt, parish events. ## **Charity support** Throughout the year we have been able to offer our church as a collection point for donations for Stretford food bank and The Toy House, Flixton. We held a Christingle service in January with a donation of over £300 sent to The Children’s Society. Our Harvest Festival collection went to Streford food bank plus a weekly food collection and a monetary donation at Christmas. The donations from our Toy Service were distributed to local families by The Toy House. A huge Thank You to the many who have faithfully supported all our charitable activities during the past year. ## **Thank you** None of the work of this parish is possible without the help of our large number of volunteers who offer many, many hours of expertise and time to enable the church to function and grow. It is not possible to name all our volunteers, but particular thanks go to Elsie and Frank Firth for all they do, to the warden team, the PCC, the sidespeople, the gardening team, John, Glyn and many more plus Simon Orr and the gardening, lawn and icy weather gritting teams. Thank you especially to Elsie for keeping the church so clean on a week-to-week basis and for making sure that all is in order for every service. The PCC employ a company to clean the church hall on a weekly basis. **Risks** 6 All risks are managed with the support of the parish Health and Safety Officer and reviewed / actioned by the PCC. The relevant Risk Assessments are reviewed and updated on an ongoing basis. Fire alarms, lightening conductor, electrical installations and boilers are inspected and maintained on a regular basis. ## **Policies and Procedures** The PCC has ultimate responsibility for the implementation of a wide range of actions. To support this, policies and procedures have been developed and updated as required. These are available to view on the Parish website. ## **PCC Meetings** There were 9 meetings of the PCC in 2024. Attendance of PCC members at these meetings was good overall by the majority of PCC members. The following were among the major issues discussed during the year: - Maintenance of the buildings and grounds including roof repairs, lighting general maintenance both inside and outside church and the church hall, plus tree survey - Lighting in church – replacement of bulbs with LED - Update to church hall fire alarm system _._ - Annual accounts, finance, parish share - Generosity and Thankfulness. - Eco church - Fund raising and social events - Diocesan / deanery updates - Church hall rental - Institution and Licensing of Rev Matthew - The local Mission Community - PCC policies - Full refit of the church hall kitchen ## **Achievements and performance** ## **Worship and prayer** We continue to offer worship both on a Sunday and during the week for our church community of all ages. For example, Wednesday morning Eucharist provides a quieter and reflective environment for worship. We are delighted to welcome our church school to worship with us. Key stage 2 pupils join the Wednesday morning service once a month, class by class. Pupils visit for Experience Christmas and Easter and end of term worship is held in church three times a year, expertly led by Year 6 pupils. Family worship has continued each Sunday, led mainly by Fiona, Angela and Joanne, thank you all. We have a small group of families who attend regularly and who delight us with examples of their learning. Our Lent and Advent groups met in church this year led by the clergy team, with friends from St Clements joining us at Advent. The services at festivals, especially Easter and Christmas, have been busy. As well as our regular services, we enable our community to celebrate and thank God at the milestones of the journey through life. Through baptism we thank God for the gift of life; in marriage, public vows are exchanged with God's blessing; through funeral services, friends and 7 family express their grief and give thanks for the life that is now complete in this world and commend the person into God's safe keeping. All this, done during this interregnum, has continued following the installation of Rev Matthew. We offer huge thanks to Father Chris and Dr Simon for presiding at our worship, their pastoral care, leadership and faithful loving support over the past two and a half years. We give thanks to have Matthew, Emily and family with us as Matthew continues to support the parish with his priestly ministry. We also offer our grateful thanks to our ‘music team’ of Andy and Elaine who have accompanied every service for us over the year and greatly enhanced our worship. We continue to grow in faith as a church family and extend our love and outreach to our local community. ## **The Parish Hall** The church hall provides an important part of our outreach to the local community We offer our hall for hire for parties and additional regular users. This provides not only a very helpful source of income but forms part of the parish outreach to the community. We would like to thank Angela May for managing the casual church hall lettings, Glyn Chatterton for managing the regular lettings and all those who open up and lock up after the weekend parties. ## **Yvonne Mackereth Fiona Jones Church wardens** ## **Electoral Roll Officer’s report for 2024** It has been a quiet year as far as the Electoral Roll is concerned. As at 31/3/24 there were 224 people on the list. During the year we have had four members of the congregation pass away, leaving 220 people on the electoral roll. We have had no additions to the list. 2025 is the year we have to renew the Electoral Roll completely, and we are in the process of doing this, and I will be able to update everyone at the APCM in May. ## **Sue McGrane Electoral Roll Officer** ## **Treasurer’s report** The accounts for the year ending 31 December 2024 show an increase which amounted to £61,952 in the General Fund, following the Independent Examination of the accounts carried out by Burton and Company (Accountants) Ltd. This is a positive increase on the previous year. Income has significantly increased in many ways. Donations and Collections amounted to £78,673. Church hall rental income has increased to £19,512 for parties and regular hirers. Fees from weddings, funerals and internment of ashes also increased to £10,623. Gift Aid Tax recoverable for the year amounted to £17,949, an important source of income. Many thanks to all those who maintained their regular giving. We also received £30,300 in legacies. We received grants totalling £17,332 towards our new heating costs. Interest on our savings amounted to £1,174. Expenditure on major repairs and maintenance in 2024 amounted to £4,368. To help with the cost of the new heating system we received an interest free loan of £20,000 for 3 years from the Diocese. We repaid £10,000 of our interest free loan back to the Diocese in March 2024 and we 8 have paid all the interest free loan back at the beginning of 2025. I would like to thank everyone who gave donations, loans and organised fundraising events for the new heating system. This year our Parish Share was set at £56,161.32, towards this sum we received £1,123.63 (incentive payment for paying share in full each quarter in 2023) from the Diocese and we were able to pay the remaining balance of £55,037.69 in full. Fundraising activities included Christmas fair, coffee morning, curry night, bingo night, quiz night, BBQ, afternoon tea and music/band events and many other events. The proceeds of which amounted to £8,219 profit. I would particularly like to thank Peter Williams for doing all the bookkeeping and thank Yvonne Mackereth for all the gift aiding and for supporting me in so many ways and to Fiona Jones for all the many things she does as well. Also, thanks to Glyn helping me every week to count the money ready to be banked. No members of the PCC have received any payments apart from certified expenses. PCC Accounts are held as follows: - Current Account and Savings Account Co-operative plc. CBF Deposit Account CCLA Management 80 Cheapside, London **Niki Taylor Treasurer** ## **Report of Deanery Synod 2024** In the Church of England, a deanery is a group of parishes forming a district within an archdeaconry. This parish may currently have up to five representatives on Deanery Synod. These representatives are also PCC members, providing the PCC with an important link between the parish and the wider structures of the Church of England. This parish is part of Manchester South and Stretford Deanery. Our Area Dean is Rev Nick Watson, the Lay Chair is Canon Addy Lazz-Onyenobi. St Mary parish also forms part of a Mission Community together with St Michael, St Clement, St John, Christ Church, All Saints and St Matthew parishes. During 2024 the Deanery Synod met twice. Items for discussion at synod included: - Safeguarding - Mission & Ministry among Asylum Seekers - Diocesan Transformation Programme Reports were received from each General Synod and Diocesan Synod meeting during the year. We give thanks for the leadership, guidance and ministry of Rev Nick Watson as he prepares to move with his family to the Diocese of Lichfield as he takes up his new role of Archdeacon. We congratulate our Area Dean, Rev Nick Watson on his appointment as Archdeacon in the Diocese of Lichfield. We give thanks for his leadership and ministry during his time in Manchester Diocese. We look forward to continuing to work alongside colleagues both in the deanery and the local Mission Community _._ **Yvonne Mackereth Deanery Secretary** 9 ## **Report of Safeguarding Co-ordinator 2024** Each Parochial Church Council, together with the parish priest, shares the responsibility for the duty of care of the children and young people and adults at risk in their church setting. Each PCC must be fully aware of, and work in line with, the Diocesan Policy on Safeguarding Children and Adults at Risk. The Parish Safeguarding Co-ordinator is appointed by the PCC annually and is responsible for ensuring that - The Parish Policy is reviewed, updated and adopted by the PCC on an annual basis - The Parish Policy is widely available to organisations using the facilities of the church. - All volunteers go through the appropriate recruitment process in conjunction with the PCC and parish priest; including DBS process. - Volunteers have met the requirement to undertake basic child safeguarding training, and to maintain a record of those who have completed this training. - To monitor the implementation of Parish Policy and report to the PCC any difficulties in In line with Diocesan guidance, a DBS check has been done for all members of this PCC as the PCC have overall responsibility for safeguarding within the parish. DBS clearance should be renewed every 3 years. All volunteers are required to complete online training and attend a training update. This has been delivered locally within the deanery. In addition, all clergy are required to have a DBS check completed by the Diocese and attend regular safeguarding training. As part of good practice, safeguarding of both children and adults who may be at risk, is a standing item on the PCC agenda. In this way the PCC are kept up to date with any issues or policy and document changes such as recruitment procedures and training. The Diocese of Manchester, in line with best practice, has a Safeguarding Board. Details of this can be found on the Diocesan website. The Safeguarding board develop policies and procedures for safeguarding children and adults and promote a safe church. However, safeguarding is not just the business of the PCC or the Diocese, it is the role of all of us to help to safeguard everyone who attends or is connected with this church. I am always happy to answer questions related to policy and practice and any safeguarding issues should be brought to the direct attention of myself. Once again, I would like to thank all those helpers who willingly complete the required DBS formalities and any required training. This is a further indication of the seriousness that is placed on Safeguarding within this church and the wider church. There have been no child protection issues at St Mary during the past year. A list of relevant contact names and address for Safeguarding may be found on notice boards in church and in the church hall. Safeguarding posters are present in the Church and the Church Hall area. Posters are in place (also in private area – toilets) for external agencies who can offer support to individuals. ## **Liz Spencer Safeguarding Coordinator** 10 ## **Warden’s notes 2024** This has been a very special year for St Mary church that started with the interregnum and then we welcomed Rev Matthew as vicar of our parish along with St Clement parish in April. The wardens and team have valued working alongside Rev Matthew, the PCC and all our volunteers as we care for the buildings and fabrics of the church and the grounds. The inventory continues to be updated, and the Terrier records show the electrical testing, fire safety, heating safety building repairs and updates across the church, the hall and the grounds. In November 2024 the roof repairs, noted in the Quinquennial, were completed repairs and included repairs to the ridge tiles over the back porch entrance and a high-level gutter clean of the lantern tower. At this time damage to a window in the lantern tower was noted and a maintenance repair scheduled for January 2025. Our church lighting was upgrade to LED lights. The BT Wi-Fi was upgraded to give a much better speed and reliability. The church hall corridor was redecorated. A major project this year was the installation of a new kitchen in the church hall. Two generous donations enabled this to be completed, and we are grateful for Yvonne’s detailed project management aided by Elsie who oversaw the final installation. The kitchen is being well used, and the modern hygienic finish and appliances are valued by church groups and hall users. Thank you, Yvonne, Elsie and others, involved. The church hall fire alarm system was replaced. A fire risk assessment was professionally carried out and subsequently the smoke detectors in the kitchen and gallery were replaced. The upgrading of the hall emergency lighting is scheduled for January 2025. We are always grateful for the extra help that our congregation members bring. Many small jobs are quietly carried out over the year both inside the building and outside. A thank you to all those helping when they can in church and behind the scenes. Thank you to the volunteers who helped Rev Matthew with the taking down of the old notice boards in the grounds and the installation of the new board. The new notice boards provide the church with up-to-date service information, contact details and a lockable poster area for further out-reach information to be seen from the main road. A very big thank you to Andy and Elaine who continue to add a musical spiritual side to our worship. Thank you to our regular choir and the additional pop-up choir for special services that include joining with St Clements choir for shared services. Thank you to Irene for co ordinating the choir. Throughout 2024, Elsie and Frank have ably supported services, cleaned the church regularly including the silver and brasses. They do a significant amount of ‘back-room’ work for which we thank them enormously. Our sides-people have welcomed our congregation and visitors to regular and life event services and often wear more than one hat being on tea duty, transport lifts, epistle reading and intercessions. Thank you to all who help in any way in all these roles. The hall is used on a daily basis and Glyn (regular bookings) Angela (casual bookings) work hard to ensure all bookings are carefully managed covering insurance and Health and Safety requirements. We thank them both for all their hard work. We have a small team of people that open and close for one off booking and we appreciate the time and care they give to ensuring the hall is left ready for the next hirer. One new group that started in Feb 2024 is the Never Forgotten Peer Support baby loss group. A group accessible to all and shared throughout Trafford and beyond. Thank you to Chelle for this special group. Our social gatherings this year brought together friendships and the wider community in fundraising: - January - Bingo evening with Sue - February- Valentine’s music evening With Andy and Elaine - Valentines’ coffee morning - March - Coffee morning and Easter Crafts - Quiz night with Peter - April - Coffee morning 11 - Curry night - June - Eco family morning and picnic - Sweet Rhythm Big Band Party in the Pews - July – Summer Barbecue - August - Afternoon tea with music by Andy and Elaine - October – Bingo evening with Sue - November -Christmas Fair organised by Elsie and her team. We are fortunate to have large grounds surrounding our church, but these take some looking after. Our thanks to the 2 or 3 volunteers who help with gardening (more volunteers always welcome), and to Elsie and Frank who keep the Garden of Remembrance grounds so neat and tidy. Our thanks to Simon Orr who organizes the gritting and lawn mower teams. Thank you to Martin Glyn Gary Richard Peter Bobby and others who step in for extra tasks when needed. All these rotas and maintenance helpers enable the grounds to be kept neat and safe for visitors. Each week sees visitors walking through the grounds for quiet reflection and visits to the Garden of Remembrance. In addition, the small vegetable and fruit area is enjoyed by The Earlybirds nursery, (Kiddiewinkles nursery since Sept), our young families and by anyone who gets fresh produce from it in the growing season. Our outside display shed has seasonal displays and notices. Thanks to the young families who have helped set it up for events such as Easter, Eco church, Harvest, Christmas. A major work with our trees took place in December. We continue on our Eco Church journey building working on our Silver Award level towards Gold. We reduced our carbon footprint with the new heating system and careful control of our heating. The parish energy supplier is a ‘green’ company. We bank with the Co-op, an ethical bank. Our grounds continue to be cared for with native plants, fruit trees and vegetables with a small team, donations of plants. All of this has been alongside worship, hymns and prayer in services, shared online and in newsletters and in family eco activity days. A particular thanks for the car sharing, candle recycling, walking and cycling and all that each of you do in your own way to care for God’s World and in helping nature to rebuild the climate for generations to come. This past year has been, as ever, a huge team effort. The very special moment this year was the welcoming of Rev Matthew Carlisle, Emily and their family on 21 April 2024. We embarked on our new journey with St Clements, sharing some of our services and events and getting to know each other a bit more. As wardens we welcome liaising with our fellow wardens together with Rev Matthew. Our very special thanks are extended to Father Chris and Dr Simon who led ministry and worship during the interregnum and now continue their ministry alongside Rev Matthew. Our grateful thanks are extended to Niki Taylor, and to the whole PCC team who contribute help in many different ways. Thank you, each and every one of you for your part in continuing the work of our parish. New faces have joined us throughout the year, and we also have special memories of longstanding faithful members who have made their last special journey to ‘Rise in Glory’. Thanks to all of you, our parishioners and friends, worshipping together and supporting each other be at home or in church under the loving arms of our Lord. As we move forward in new times in 2025 and beyond may we all continue to pray and work together to reach out as a mission community to the wider world. **Fiona Jones Yvonne Mackereth Churchwardens** ## **Vicar’s Address 2025** 12 On behalf of myself and my family I would like to thank the congregation at St. Mary’s for making us feel so welcome over the past year. In my address I would like to thank all the people and teams who play such a vital role in making St. Mary’s a prayerful, caring and active Church which embodies the love of Christ in so many ways. Today is an opportunity to give thanks to God for all the ways we are richly blessed by the different ministries which enable the good governance of St. Mary’s. We are blessed by the priestly ministries of Dr. Simon and Fr. Chris. They are very generous in sharing their many gifts and skills with us. They epitomise servant leadership through their wise, humorous and caring presence among us. I would like to thank the clergy and lay team who take the sacrament of Holy Communion to those who are sick and to a local Residential Home. Yvonne and Fiona are excellent Churchwardens and work well together as a team. They complement each other in their work and are incredibly diligent. It is clear that their service is borne out of their desire to serve Christ in and through the life of the Church. I would like to thank them for the various projects relating to the fabric of the Church which they have led this year. Thanks also to our deputy wardens: Sue McGrane, Andrew Spencer and Glyn Chatterton for all your support. Thank you to our PCC members who have such a vital role in making decisions relating to the ministry of the Church. I would like to thank Nicola Taylor, Sue McGrane, Andrew Spencer, Michelle Partington and Bob Brookes who come to the end of their three-year term of office and are due for re-election. I would particularly like to thank Bob, who will not be continuing as a member of the PCC. We have all benefited immensely from Bob’s knowledge, support and kindness over many years. Bob is in all our hearts and prayers, and we thank God for him. Finally, thanks to Yvonne, who does a great job as PCC secretary – thank you. Thank you to Elsie and Frank in the many ways they enrich our life together in Christ through all the work they do in Church, not least in the sacristy. It is a great joy for us to officially make Elsie our verger – she has fulfilled this role with distinction for many years already and it is only right that we recognise her ministry among us and communicate our heartfelt gratitude. We are also grateful to Frank and Elsie for keeping the church so clean and tidy – I have never seen a tidier sacristy! We are incredibly fortunate at St. Mary’s to receive the wonderful ministry of our musicians. Andy and Elaine are amazing. We give thanks for all the ways their skill and love of music beautify and enhance our worship. A huge thanks also to Irene and all the choristers. Again, they have a vital role in enabling our worship the best we can offer to God. We have had some beautiful choral services through the year, not least the Christmas Carol Service. Thanks to everyone involved with the choir. We have a wonderful team of sideswomen and sidesmen who fulfil a vital ministry of welcoming people into church, making sure everyone is looked after, and assisting with the smooth running of our worship. Christ often shows up at Church as a stranger and we are glad for our team who welcome him in the faces of friends and strangers alike. Our serving team, Eucharistic Assistants, lectors and intercessors also have a vital role in our services, and they fulfil their duties with great care, thoughtfulness and reverence – many thanks to all who serve in this way. Many thanks to Fiona for all the time she puts into updating and developing our website, our ‘A Church Near You’ page, and Facebook page. It is a really important dimension of our mission and ministry. In a digital age, a digital presence is essential, thank you Fiona for the ways you reach out and communicate what’s happening at St. Mary’s. 13 Angela May does a great job in managing all the hall bookings. The hire of the hall creates a lot of income for the Church. Many thanks too to Glyn Chatterton for handling payments for the hire of the hall from our regular hall users. A big vote of thanks to the generous team of people who open and close the hall for party bookings. Thank you. Many thanks to the wonderful work of our finance team. In particular I would like to thank Nicola Taylor in her role as treasurer and Peter Williams who is our bookkeeper. Thanks too to our counting team! Thank you, Yvonne, for your work as Gift Aid secretary. We appreciate all the work the finance team do in this key area of our life in Christ. We have a lovely Children’s Church group who meet every week, and they are led by the brilliant team which comprises Joanne Hardy, Fiona Jones and Angela May. The Children’s church leaders do an amazing job of catering for a wide range of children (and an unpredictable number of children each week). They do a fantastic job. Thank you to our social events organisers and helpers, who have arranged some brilliant social events over the past year – you all know who you are and we are incredibly grateful for all your efforts. A key role in the Church is that of Safeguarding Officer. Liz Spencer has fulfilled this role with great care and attention and brings a wealth of experience to the role. Thank you, Liz. Many thanks also to David Shepherd who is our Health and Safety Officer. David also brings a lot of experience to the role. He helps keep the buildings and the grounds safe for all. Thank you, David. This year we had to put together a new Electoral Roll and I would like to thank Sue McGrane for doing this for us so efficiently, and for serving as the Electoral Roll officer. Many thanks to the ‘Lawn Rangers’, skilfully led by ‘Lead Ranger’ Simon Orr. Thanks too to Elsie who arranges flowers in Church and keeps the Garden of Remembrance clean and tidy. Thank you to Fiona and her team of volunteers for all the hours they put into keeping the grounds nature friendly and tidy. Thank you also to Glyn Chatterton and Martin Wright often fulfil a number of practical jobs around the building and grounds. Thanks also to Shirley Artus, who leads our Mothers’ Union so well. She is ably assisted by Ian and the wider team. We are thankful for the work of our Mothers’ Union group, which also attracts members from surrounding churches. The Men’s Group meet once a month and really enjoy one another’s company. Many thanks to Phil Hegg for arranging these meetings and keeping everyone in order (I think!). Many thanks to all our Foundation Governors who play such an important role in the life of St. Mary’s School. Thanks for the time and energy you put into your roles as school governors. Thank you to all who have the gift of administration, not least those who put rotas together! Thanks also to all who help serve refreshments on Sundays and at social events – your assistance is greatly valued. It is impossible to name everyone who plays a part in our life together in Christ. I have named many by naming the team or group they are a part of. If I have forgotten anyone or any group, please let me know. God has blessed us all through our shared ministry and I give thanks to God for you all. ## **Rev Matthew Carlisle Vicar** 14