OpenCharities

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator. This document is also available as Markdown.

← The Parochial Church Council Of The Ecclesiastical Parish Of St. Mary's Wythall

2024-12-31-accounts

ANNUAL REPORT 2024

PREPARED FOR THE ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING 11th MAY 2025

St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

Contents

Vicar’s Report ........................................................................................................................................... 3 2024 Highlights ........................................................................................................................................ 5 Church Wardens’ Report ......................................................................................................................... 5 PCC Report .............................................................................................................................................. 6 Treasurer’s Report ................................................................................................................................... 7 Safeguarding ............................................................................................................................................ 8 Buildings and Facilities ............................................................................................................................. 9 Worship .................................................................................................................................................... 10 Children, Family and Schools Work ......................................................................................................... 11 Sunday Night Youth ................................................................................................................................. 13 SCoFF ........................................................................................................................................................ 14 Prayer ....................................................................................................................................................... 15 Super Saturday ......................................................................................................................................... 16 Small groups and Discipleship ................................................................................................................. 16 St. Mary’s Friendship Group .................................................................................................................... 17 Hillside ...................................................................................................................................................... 18 Mission Committee .................................................................................................................................. 18 Deanery Synod ......................................................................................................................................... 19 Electoral Roll ............................................................................................................................................ 20 Charitable Objectives and Activities ....................................................................................................... 21 Charitable Information and Trustees ...................................................................................................... 21 Accounts................................................................................................................................................... 23

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

Isaiah 43:19

2

St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

Vicar’s Report 2024

2024 was an exciting year as we celebrated 10 years of worship in our current building. This marker in time gave us opportunity to give thanks to God for his faithfulness and his marvellous provision.

Our specific celebrations focussed on three main areas. We had a fantastic Weekend at Home where we enjoyed worship and fellowship, plus excellent teaching from Bishop Andrew Watson on the life of Elijah and what God might be calling each of us to. Our worship service that Sunday with our celebration choir was a wonderful time of dwelling in God’s presence and lifting high the name of Jesus.

Nine members of St Mary’s went to Uganda in August to visit our mission partner Caroline Bell in Moroto and also to visit Kira Farm, a vocational centre where St Mary’s sponsors a student each year. This was an incredible experience for each member of the team, it increased our insights into the mission and ministry in both places, and having feedback to the church for prayer, the visit has strengthened these wonderful global church links that St Mary’s is privileged to have.

The third part of the anniversary events was a celebration assembly with the children and staff of The Coppice School.

Overarching these specific activities we designated 2024 as a year of Prayer and Praise with the aim of being focussed on the Lord, worshipping him and crying out to him for all that is happening now and all that he will do going forward.

As we look back on the last 10 years we give thanks to God for the provision of our space within The Coppice School and for our very positive relationship with the school community. Being placed where we are brings us into contact with many families, places us at the heart of an exciting ‘campus’ which includes Woodrush High School and gives us a modern, warm, flexible building in which to worship and welcome people into. Whilst it is important to look back and give thanks to God for his faithfulness we are also clear that we need to be attentive to what the Lord is doing now and to seek his guidance for all that lies ahead.

Within our vision as a church to ‘grow as disciples and to make disciples’ there are specific aspects that I feel it is right for us to focus on and pray into. These include:

3

Vicar’s Report 2024 continued...

In the late summer I was praying about SCoFF, one of our areas of missional outreach, asking the Lord how we might draw people from that event into the worshipping life of the church and I clearly heard the Lord say, ‘You love them and I will draw them to myself.’ I find this very exciting and feel it is something for us as a whole church. I feel what the Lord is asking us to do is

It will then be God’s work to draw people to himself and grow his church. Please join with me in praying for this, and because our God is so good and so faithful we can be expectant for all he will do.

Rev Amanda Featherstone

February 2025

4

St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

2024 Highlights

Churchwardens’ Report

It has been an exciting year at St Mary’s and it has been a joy to serve as Churchwarden alongside my very experienced fellow Churchwarden, Alison Spencer. She has been a patient and supportive “teacher” as I have learnt how varied the job is (I now know the importance of the Church Inventory and how to fill in the “Mission Stats” form!), and an excellent partner in prayer as we have shared together! Paul Featherstone (Tall Paul) has also been a practical, prayerful and wise support as he continues as Duty Warden.

5

St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

Key to our work is the strong, prayerful (that word again!) and supportive relationship we have with Rev Manda Featherstone as we meet regularly to listen and share, seeking God’s way forward for us as we serve Him in our respective roles.

Celebrating 10 years in our Church Building with a June weekend of family fun, fellowship and worship was a real highlight as we looked back and also received excellent teaching from Bishop Andrew.

Signs of Jesus working amongst us as we serve Him include the ongoing mission activities (SCoFF, Little Lights, the new 3-2-1 course) and the wonderful Confirmation Service (led by Bishop Maurice) at the beginning of Advent. Family@4 is now established as a monthly addition to our Sunday services. As Warden, I have been so encouraged by the amazing teams that make these and many other activities at St Mary’s thrive. The phrase “rooted and established in love” (Ephesians 3:17) comes to mind as I reflect on this willing service by so many.

At PCC we have agreed that we will employ a part-time Youth Worker and the regular Sunday evening Youth Group meetings and the planned Youth Alpha Course to be run jointly with HCLC, show there is both a need and an exciting opportunity amongst young people in our parish.

To serve in any role at St Mary’s is to know that you will be prayed for and the regular weekly (Monday evening and Thursday morning) prayer meetings have been supplemented by the bi-monthly Prayer and Praise gatherings on Sunday evening. It strikes me that prayer is the beating heart of our fellowship.

At the time of writing, I look forward to my first Deanery visit (another learning curve!) and we all have the excitement of the visit of the Bishop of Birmingham on Palm Sunday. That’s 3 Bishops at St Mary’s in 10 months!!

More exciting still is the knowledge that God is at work amongst us and, to echo Ali’s report last year, we can look forward to seeing God doing “far more than we could ever ask for or imagine, by His power that is working in us” (Ephesians 3:20).

Ali Spencer (Church Warden) Paul Harrison (Church Warden) Paul Featherstone (Duty Warden)

PCC Report

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is St Mary’s executive and decision making committee. Members are elected to the PCC at the Annual General Meeting and each serves for a period of 3 years. During 2024 the PCC has met 9 times and key agenda items have included:

Contemplation of our church vision of making new disciples of Jesus and for all of us to grow in our discipleship.

Regular updates about the various activities the church holds where people are introduced to the life of the church and the good news of Jesus is explained, for example ‘Family at 4@’, ‘SCoFF’ and the 321 course. The 10th Anniversary celebrations including an enjoyable and spiritually challenging weekend held in June 2024.

A proposal to appoint a part-time youth worker. As of January 2025 an advertisement for the post has gone out and interest has been shown.

The feasibility and cost of projecting song words etc onto the back wall of the church to aid those leading worship from the front and this has now been accomplished.

6

St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

The PCC has received regular updates from the Treasurer, Pam Miller, regarding St Mary’s financial situation. In addition the PCC has agreed to proposals submitted by the Mission Committee regarding the allocation of the church tithe. Details of money given can be found in the Mission Committee report.

Safeguarding: The PCC, in line with our Safeguarding Policy, receives a report from the Parish Safeguarding Coordinator, Amanda Dauncey, at each PCC meeting. During the year the PCC has reviewed and agreed our St Mary’s Parish Safeguarding Policy and the St Mary’s Safeguarding Action Plan generated from the Diocesan Safeguarding Dashboard.

Membership of the PCC 2024 was:

Rev. Amanda Featherstone (Incumbent), Rev Marcus Pagnam (Curate), Ali Spencer (Church Warden), Paul Harrison (Church Warden), Pam Miller (Treasurer), Jude Emery (Reader), Amanda Dauncey (Safeguarding), Lynda Rogers, Llinos Cotterell, Julie Arkell, Julie Croxford, Jenny Clark, Paul Featherstone and Jo Darby . Thanks are given to Richard Parsons who has recently stepped down from his role on the PCC as our Deanery Synod representative.

In attendance, non voting members were Gary Daniel, our Children’s, Families and Schools Worker and myself, Ros Harrison (Secretary).

Ros Harrison (PCC Secretary)

Treasurer’s Report

2024 has been another year in which we can thank God that St Mary’s has been able to cover all our necessary expenditure, and even afford to pay for extras like projection to the back wall, which helps speakers, musicians and the school. We give God the glory, for it is He who is behind the generosity of our congregation.

My thanks to everyone who gives faithfully by standing order, through the envelope scheme or as cash on the plate. (A reminder to those who use the offering envelopes: these are dated so that you can see if you have missed a week and then bring that envelope (filled!) when you next come to church. Ideally, you should have no envelopes left when you get your new set. If it is a problem finding change to put in every week, paying several weeks together is perfectly acceptable.) Costs of maintaining the ministry of the church tend to rise annually so it is good practice to review our giving before God each year, especially if we have had a salary or pension rise. If you pay income tax, and Gift Aid your giving, the Chancellor allows us to reclaim the tax paid - this year that amounted to over £31000, all at no extra cost to ourselves.

We contributed our share of the diocesan Common Fund, which pays the stipends and housing costs of clergy, finances their pensions and the training of curates, and supports the costs of the diocesan officers. We give one tenth of the church income to a number of mission partners and Christian charities, details of which can be found in the Mission Committee report. We were grateful to again receive a grant from the Parish Council to help with the costs of SCoFF.

I am indebted to Dave Walters who continues to provide advice and support in all things financial, and to Steve who helps me with computing problems. Dave is again preparing our Annual Financial Report for the APCM in May. This will show our financial activity in detail - the table below summarises in round numbers the main ways in which our money has been received and spent:

Pam Miller (Treasurer)

7

St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

income £
Giving 135673
Tax refund 31010
Div/interest 904
Rental income 15759
School hire by clubs
etc		 1011
SCoFF 1680
Expenditure £
Common Fund 61222
Clergy expenses 2403
Service costs 7282
Admin 3702
Salaries 42851
Charitable giving 14600
SCoFF (excess over
income)		 464
Houses - mortgage
- ins/repairs etc		 3007
Outreach 906

Safeguarding Report

This has been a challenging year for the Church of England in terms of Safeguarding, which remains a high priority. We at St Mary’s have a rigorous Safeguarding Policy which is being followed carefully and this is

easily accessible on our website. A paper copy of our Safeguarding policy is also

available within our Policy file which is kept in the church lobby, for any church member or visitor to read.

Our Parish Safeguarding Policy is updated & reviewed by the PCC annually in March. The Parish Safeguarding Coordinator gives a monthly safeguarding report to the PCC. I am also happy to report that the PCC has complied with its duty to have due regard to the Church of England House of Bishops’ guidance on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults (as required by Section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016)

I’m very pleased to report that all of our Church Volunteers have completed or updated their Basic Awareness Safeguarding training or are in the process of doing so. Many of our Volunteers & all PCC members have also done the recommended ‘Foundations of Safeguarding’ training and ‘Awareness of Domestic Abuse’ training, which is now mandatory for all who work with children, young people or vulnerable adults. I heartily recommend all this training, which is easily accessible online. If you are unsure whether you need to update your training or DBS please contact Nicola Clarkson who is our Church administrator. Nicola is happy to help anyone who is unable to do their training at home.

St Mary’s Church has a portfolio of group activities which have specific Safeguarding requirements:

8

St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

For each of the above activities, which include children, young people or vulnerable adults, the church has a safeguarding responsibility to ensure that a risk assessment is done and reviewed annually. Each activity has a team of volunteers with a nominated team leader. The Safeguarding team is required to ensure that each volunteer has been safely recruited (with 2 references & a current DBS if necessary) and has received the required training appropriate for their role. Guidelines are clearly laid down by the Church of England’s National Safeguarding Team and on-going adherence is monitored on the Church of England Safeguarding Dashboard. Each of our volunteers, when commencing their involvement with an activity, should be provided with a role description and a pack of essential / helpful information specific to their role.

I would like to thank Nicola (who is our Safeguarding Verifier) for all her hard work in updating the Safeguarding Dashboard & Hub & ensuring that all Volunteers have been safely recruited. It is important that Activity leaders should regularly inform Nicola and myself about any new Volunteers or Helpers. Your current St Mary’s Safeguarding Team is as follows:

Rev Amanda Featherstone (Incumbent)

Dr Amanda Dauncey (Parish Safeguarding Coordinator)

Mrs Nicola Clarkson (Parish Safeguarding Verifier)

Mr Gary Daniels (Safeguarding Advocate for Children and Young People)

Mrs Linda Yates (Safeguarding Advocate for Vulnerable Adults)

Amanda Dauncey 2025

Buildings and Facilities Report

247 Alcester Road is currently home to our Curate Marcus and his family. During the year some minor repairs were carried out to a kitchen sink and a new extractor fan was fitted in the toilet. A new large section of fence in the garden was replaced following storm damage in the Spring. Another section of fence has been damaged by the more recent storm and consequently a further section of new fencing has been supplied and fitted.

5 The Willows is home to our Children, Families and Schools Worker, Gary, and his family. During the year some minor repairs to a tap and sink in the bathroom were carried out. More recently landscaping work has been carried out in the back garden to replace broken slabs, relay uneven ones and also to supply a new shed. New carpets have also been fitted in the lounge and dining room areas.

Church maintenance has included replacing an office laptop for the Church Administrator, buying a new monitor for the Children, Families and School Worker, and a new coffee pot for the kitchen. The defibrillator

9

St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

was moved to outside the church entrance and a safe, insulated box was purchased to house it. This is code locked, but now readily available to anyone in the community. The projector to the back wall was reinstated with new cabling and this has facilitated sight of Easy Worship at the back of the church as well as at the front.

Ali Spencer (Church Warden)

Worship

I am very pleased to say that I absolutely love the worship of St Mary’s church. I can wholeheartedly share that even if I wasn’t the incumbent of St Mary’s this is a church which I would choose to be part of and worship in.

Just like with our small groups the scripture that comes to mind is from the early church:

‘They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer’ Acts 2:42

What a fabulous, prayerful, worshipping, Bible based people we are, who love the fellowship that we share with one another.

It is wonderful that we have a range of gifted people who preach from God’s word each week. Over the year there have been a number of different sermon series as we have sought to hear from the Lord. At the beginning of the year we had a wonderful series entitled ‘Heaven touching Earth’, during Lent we looked at Faith, Hope, Love and Forgiveness. In the early part of the summer to had two series one looking at what God wanted to teach us from the life and faith of Peter, and the other focussed on David. It is always good to include teaching from the Old Testament. From September to November we looked at Paul’s letter to the Philippians and it was helpful to study this book of the Bible together.

I am very positive about the fact that we continue to offer two different services on a Sunday, each with a different style of worship. We give thanks to God that we are seeing growth in terms of new people at both services.

Although we have two services there is overlap of people between the two and many homegroups have people from each service in them. This helps engender a sense that together we are St Mary’s Church. It is also good to bring our two congregations together at two specific points in the year, one in the summer (August mainly) and one in Advent. In the summer we had a wonderful series taking a line of the Lord’s Prayer each week. People were greatly blessed by new insights and it was wonderful to see a range of different people involved in these services. In Advent we followed the lectionary readings to help us prepare for Christmas.

We not only have our two morning services each week we also have our once a month Family @ 4 service, which was launched in 2023 and has continued to flourish in 2024. It is aimed at families with preschoolers or primary school age children. We gather in the round and services include a Bible story, worship songs and craft. They are interactive and fun and families are very positive about this gathering.

In 2024 we built upon our pattern of prayer gatherings in January, for Thy Kingdom Come and in September to launch a Sunday evening of ‘Prayer and Praise’ once every two months. The Lord has greatly blessed these and we are excited to continue them in 2025.

10

St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

One of the wonderful things about every service at St Mary’s is that we are expectant of all God will do among us and open to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Another wonderful thing about the worship at St Mary’s is the vast number of people who volunteer in various roles to ensure everything happens – a huge thank you to each and every one of you.

As I close I would like to leave you with one question which I hope you will then act upon – what is your big prayer for the worship of the people of St Mary’s church?

Thank you Lord for all you are doing among us, and we dare to pray ‘more Lord, please’ and ‘Come Holy Spirit’.

Rev Manda Featherstone

Children, Family and Schools Work

2024 has been an incredible year! I continue to find great joy in my role as Children, Families and Schools Worker, actively participating in the life and leadership of St Mary’s Church.

It is a privilege to serve alongside our dedicated team of volunteers who play a vital role in sustaining and growing our ministry with children and families. A heartfelt thank you to all of you who volunteer your time and facilitate faith exploration and growth for those who attend the many different things that we do within this ministry.

There have been many highlights throughout the year - let’s take a look at all that has been accomplished:

Sundays

I oversee our dedicated Sunday children’s ministry teams running Seeds (ages 4-7) and Shoots (ages 7-12) – focused on helping children understand God’s love for them and others, and God’s Story that runs through the Bible.

Throughout 2024, we covered several teaching themes, including the Nature of God - telling God’s story and what He is like through both Old and New Testament Bible stories; short series on David, Peter and also Paul and his friends – these were parallel topics to the sermon series with the adult congregation. Alongside this, we looked at Easter, Pentecost, Advent & Christmas. Special all-age services, such as Mothering Sunday, Easter, and Harvest, continued to bring the whole congregation together in worship.

In the second half of the year especially, we have seen a growth in families with children regularly attending Sunday worship and exploring faith – some being through the children asking questions about Jesus and wanting to know more!

Our monthly Family@4 service is primarily for families with primary school-aged children and its aim is to engage those children and families in worship and faith discovery through worship, word, craft, testimony and finding Jesus! We have seen on average about 30 people attend each service, with many different families represented through the year. Over the eight services that we ran during 2024, we looked at many different topics including: ‘God knows me by name’ using the story of Zacchaeus; ‘Jesus my helper’ with the story of Jesus’ first miracle turning water into wine; and ‘You are invited’ using the parable of the great banquet to invite attendees to come as they are into life with Jesus.

Glow Group

Running every Monday afternoon during term time, Glow Group serves as a discipleship group for children in school years 3-6 (ages 7-11), offering a space to learn about Jesus and grow in faith together. Sessions

11

St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

are filled with engaging activities, including games, videos, scripture reading, crafts, drama, and discussions—not to mention doughnuts, pizza, and fruit!

With a couple of children moving on during the year, we now have 4 children attending Glow Group regularly, but hope and pray that we might grow in number in 2025, so that more children may be growing in their knowledge of, and in relationship with, Jesus.

Schools-work

Our partnership with Coppice Primary School remains a tremendous blessing. Over the past year:

Little Lights

Little Lights, our weekly stay-and-play toddler group, has seen consistent attendance, with an average of between 20 and 25 children attending each session. This group provides a wonderful opportunity to support parents and carers while planting seeds of faith in young hearts through Bible stories and toddler praise songs.

Through 2024 we have thought about how we can say Thank you to God for lots of different things in our lives, and also looked at many different Bible stories about Jesus and the things that he taught us.

3,2,1 Course

In October we ran the 3,2,1 Course on Tuesday mornings with some mums from Little Lights. The course is designed to help people think about God, the world and themselves, sharing the good news of Jesus as our Saviour. We have carried on meeting after the 4 week course as the attendees continue to ask questions and discover more about everything that God has for them.

SCoFF (Community Outreach)

SCoFF continues to be a fantastic outreach ministry, creating spaces for families to engage with the love of Jesus. I am grateful to serve alongside an amazing team who dedicate their time and talents to making this ministry thrive. (Please refer to the separate SCoFF report for more details.)

Church Invites and Outreach Events

2024 again provided many opportunities to personally connect with families and invite them to church activities, including:

12

St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

Each of these events allowed us to engage with families beyond our regular ministries, fostering deeper relationships and inviting people to explore faith.

Looking Ahead to 2025

As we step into 2025, my prayer is that the connections made over the past year will lead to deeper faith journeys for the families we have engaged with. I hope to see many children and their families coming into St Mary’s Church to explore faith and who Jesus is and ultimately, respond to the gospel and grow in relationship with Jesus.

Please join me in praying for all that is in store in 2025 and also thanking God for all that He has done over the past year.

If any of these ministries excite you and you feel called to get involved, I would love to hear from you! We always welcome more volunteers, alongside your prayers and support that are invaluable in continuing this vital work.

May God bless you today and throughout 2025,

Gary Daniel.

Sunday Night Youth

Since the start of 2024, we have been meeting at church. Leaders are as previously: Marcus and Nic Pagnam, Robert and Janet Watson, and Claire Daniel. In January we had two young people attending.

We spent December 2023 and January 2024 preparing to run Youth Alpha. This involved advertising through social media, the Hub, and word of mouth, plus we did team training. Kay Parker joined the team and Lynne Blackmore offered to help with

catering. We started Youth Alpha in February and during the course we were delighted to see the group grow to five young people.

Youth Alpha finished at the end of May. For June and July we met with an emphasis on fun and growing relationships so there were socials, BBQ, etc plus we used the Australian youth alpha material, ‘Life Essentials’ for discipleship discussions and teaching.

After a break in August, we continued to meet on Sunday evenings and over the course of the next few weeks the group grew to nine young people, due to four year 7s joining. This has been a great encouragement and the number now attending each week has meant that it feels like a genuine community of young people who are keen to know what it means to follow Jesus. We continued to balance socials with more focussed sessions using the Life Essentials material.

In December the young people served at the Christingle service by leading at the front, playing in the band, serving refreshments, welcoming on the door, etc. This was a great joy for all involved and they did a fabulous job!

13

St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

The plan for 2025 is to run Youth Alpha again, which has been re-filmed and re-packaged, followed by more fun and intentional discipleship. We are delighted that Hollywood Christian Life Centre are joining with us for this.

In November the PCC agreed to employ a part time youth worker. We are currently advertising with interviews due in March. We pray for a good and fruitful appointment.

Please do pray for the young people of Wythall and Hollywood. In some ways it has never been harder to be a young person, with all that culture throws at them along with the complex issues surrounding social media. For St Mary’s Church to provide a space where they can meet to have fun, be themselves, and talk about the challenges of the teenage years in the context of looking to Jesus as our Guide and Lord is a great gift. We praise God for all that He has done this year and pray for this community of young people to grow in depth and number! Amen.

Marcus Pagnam

SCoFF

It is amazing to think that SCoFF (St Mary’s Church Offers Food and Fun) entered its 3rd year!

We have continued to work in partnership with The Coppice School and Woodrush School as we have welcomed, on average, 50+ guests to SCoFF for 34 SCoFF afternoons, held on Wednesdays after school. Each time we have provided a safe space for families to gather and engage with crafts that are inspired by a

biblical theme, play games, hear a short interactive talk expanding on the biblical theme, and then share a hot meal together.

In the summer term we experimented with SCoFF LITE – which was a shorter time together and without the meal. This was in response to lower numbers during previous summer terms and worked well. We also spent time considering how we can better equip the team to talk about Jesus and faith. This led to reformatting the afternoon so that the theme is introduced earlier, and a question is given for team and guests to consider while doing crafts, e.g. ‘Does God heal today and if so, how can we pray for you?’ In addition we had a team training day for adults and Woodrush volunteers in September.

We now have a prayer post box which is used every week where guests leave prayer requests for the Thursday morning prayer group to pray through.

We are grateful to the Coppice School for communicating SCoFF dates to parents and for the use of the hall, for Woodrush School for the team of young volunteers that bring so much energy and commitment to serving, and of course to our own team of approx. 22 people who faithfully set up, cook food, befriend guests, run crafts and games, serve refreshments and food, and then clear up afterwards (which is no small task!)

We were delighted to see some SCoFF families attend other St Mary’s events, in particular the Family @ 4 services, Pentecost fun day, Christingle and Nativity services, plus other invite opportunities.

Our belief is that in many ways SCoFF is at the heart of St Mary’s mission. It allows us to connect with local families to share the love of Jesus in conversation and practical ways. Our prayer has increasingly been, ‘Lord give people curious hearts.’ We are desperate for people to know the good news of Jesus through the ministry of St Mary’s and through SCoFF!

Marcus Pagnam

14

St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

Prayer

Prayer at St Mary’s Church has continued during 2024 to be the solid ground for the increasing number of activities which are thriving here. Despite busy lives we try to follow the example of our Lord Jesus who while in human form did nothing without first praying to His Father in heaven.

Our usual activities persevere:

Two weekly Prayer Groups continue - one in church on Thursday mornings, open to all and attended by Church Leaders and staff, and the other in the house of a Licensed Reader on Monday evenings. All are welcome to join these groups.

There are many home groups at St Mary’s Church which are led by church members throughout our neighbourhood. There, as well as engaging together in Bible study, members pray for each other, give thanks to God for fellowship and also pray for others to join us. In the days in between we commit to pray for each others’ needs.

We have many gifted intercessors who lead our growing church into prayer during services.

Our service leaders also provide an opportunity for members of the congregation to share their answers to prayer as encouragement to us all.

Sometimes our Children’s, Families and Schools worker and those who lead Sunday Kids groups will encourage children to share their prayers with the church before we all gather for Holy Communion.

The Prayer Ministry team continues to offer prayer ministry after each service, which as our membership grows needs more space! As always however church members can be seen praying for each other in their seats.

The Prayer Chain remains full and strong with 35 faithful people committed to pray for urgent needs of church members, their families, friends and indeed anyone else, that can arrive at any time, and we are all blessed if answers are shared with us.

Our vicar, Rev Amanda Featherstone, has in 2024 added a new prayer resource to St Mary’s Church: every 2 months there is now an evening service of Prayer and Praise. All are invited and we concentrate firstly on praising and worshipping God for all the blessings, guidance and answered prayer that He has bestowed on us, including church growth, new inspiration, and so much more. And then we turn to Him for the future – offering ourselves in His service in whatever way He chooses, and together discerning His way forward.

It is always our hope that more and more people will engage in prayer in the many opportunities that already exist here, and in whatever God leads us to in the future, so that we will “pray without ceasing”, knowing that God’s promise is that, as Jesus said, “Whatever you ask for in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” John 14:13.

Jude Emery

15

St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

Super Saturday - Provision for People with Additional

Needs

Super Saturday is something that was started after prompts from God specifically for families with children or adults with additional needs in our area.

It has now been running for a full three years.

Since starting in December 2021, we have learnt that there are very few such activities available, especially at the weekend and particularly that provide not only for the person with needs but also for the carers and/or their wider family.

We have found that indeed whole families do come along and that carers and other family members meeting together has been one of the most appreciated aspects of Super Saturday. One parent commented on Super Saturdays ‘There’s no other place like this’.

Eventually we hope to be able to involve some of our members in helping to run these events, like serving the refreshments etc.

These events are completely free and somewhere that we can bless these special people abundantly with God’s love, something we all feel very strongly about.

Each session we provide a combination of crafts, games, a sensory space, singing, food, time to learn something of God’s love and a warm friendly, accepting atmosphere for those with needs and their carers and families.

The team that run Super Saturday are fantastic, all with a real heart for those with additional needs and their carers. We have such fun and are truly blessed every single Saturday spent with these amazing people.

Last year Super Saturday ran three times, following a different theme each session;

‘Easter Fun’ in March with an Easter Egg Hunt and lots of chocolate

‘Hurray for Harvest’ with popcorn and scarecrow and autumn crafts.

‘December Fun’ a Christmas party with bacon butties, carols and a chocolate advent calendar

If you feel this is something God would want you to be involved in or if you know anyone you might like to invite along, please speak to Rev Manda or me Claire Emery.

Claire Emery

Discipleship & Small Groups / Homegroups

Homegroups are a key part of the life of St Mary’s church and an essential part of our vision to ‘grow as disciples’. Our homegroups are places of fellowship, discipleship, pastoral care and communication. I am reminded of that picture of the early church:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, … and to prayer Acts 2:42

16

St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

I am delighted that 60 members of St Mary’s are part of a homegroup. We have groups that meet in the daytime and others that meet in the evening. Most meet weekly, one group meets fortnightly. I would like to thank all who lead groups, those who lead sessions and those who host homegroups.

The groups usually decide among themselves what they are going to study and at some points in the year groups are encouraged to follow the Sunday sermon series, a number of groups did this when we studied Philippians. As well as learning more of God through the Bible and growing as followers of Jesus I have encouraged groups to ask ‘So what?’ each session – looking at the application of the study and how God is directing us in our day to day lives through his word.

It was exciting to launch two new groups in September which are now meeting regularly. At this point we also produced an information leaflet detailing each group, the leaders, the location they meet and a short description giving the ‘flavour’ of the group. I would love to encourage as many people as possible to be part of a group so do take a look at the leaflet to find out more.

Homegroup Leaders meet together three times a year to share ideas for resources and to encourage one another. At the end of 2024 Claire Emery agreed to take on the role of homegroup co-ordinator, please pray for Claire in this role and do talk to her about any aspects relating to homegroups. Please also pray that the Lord will grow the number of people in groups at St Mary’s, as Claire said to me recently ‘I get so much from being in a group, I think everyone should be in a group if they can.’

During the year groups also form for people wishing to explore the Christian faith. We ran Alpha from January 2024 and then in September we used a new course called ‘321’ from an organisation called ‘Speak Life’ - do look it up on the internet and watch the videos, it is a fantastic resource. We were pleased to be able to run both daytime and evening 321 courses, and some people who attended have gone on to be part of a homegroup.

We continue to rejoice and give thanks for all that God is doing among us.

Rev Manda Featherstone

St. Mary’s Friendship Group

Our activities for older people are open to anyone in Hollywood and Wythall, please tell your friends about them. We hope that people who come will see what a great group of people attend St Mary’s, and think about trying out one of our services.

Because of parking all of our activities take place in the holidays.

Last year in February we enjoyed The Great Escaper with Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson, based on the true story of a D-day veteran.

In the Easter break Mel Matthews gave us a fascinating talk on Birmingham Buildings which was followed by soup and puddings.

May saw something a bit different, Chair Sports. Guests worked in teams to battle some challenges, such as what’s the longest strip you can make out of a piece of A4 paper, build a tower of dice while wearing paper cups on your hands. All good fun, good for the brain and co-ordination, followed by the not so good for you, but delicious, bacon butties.

In the summer we held our Afternoon Tea, with lots of homemade cakes, thank you to all the bakers.

17

St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

Becketts supplied us with free scones, and Wythall Community Choir provided the music. A great afternoon. In October we showed The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry an uplifting story of how one man copes with grief.

We held short services at Dennis Potter Court at Easter, Remembrance Day and Christmas. We have a small loyal group there who really appreciate these outreach services.

Thank you to all the volunteers who make this all possible.

Chris Turner

Hillside

Over the last twelve months we have continued to provide a worship service to the staff and residents at Hillside, who have warmly welcomed us on every occasion and have enjoyed the services.

The numbers attending can range from around 10 to 20 in total, around a third of that number being staff, and the residents are really enthusiastic in joining in with the singing and prayers.

As well as celebrating the main Christian festivals we have explored topics such as: where is God, God loves us, and journey with God – all with very simple, interactive messages that suit the needs of those attending. Many thanks again to our team of Amanda Dauncey, Deborah Brockbank, Rob Watson, Rev Manda and Linda Yates for continuing to make the services a success every month. Thanks also to Michael Holt, our newest member of the team, for his contributions.

We have made good connections with many of the staff members, who are receiving the gospel message as well as the residents. Some who also come to church most Sundays when accompanying one of the residents , who has been attending our church for around eighteen months.

Other residents have also attended our Super Saturday events – real evidence that God is using our connections with Hillside to bring people close to Him.

As mentioned previously, if you feel that you were able to offer assistance in supporting the services occasionally you would be most welcome – please let us know!

Dave D’Arcy

Mission Committee Report

The Mission Committee members are Jenny Clark, Pam Miller and Rob Watson. We meet several times a year to pray and discuss ways of keeping the church informed about the work of our mission partners. We bring new causes to the attention of the church and ensure that mission matters are included in the weekly intercessions on a regular basis. Each month, also, a prayer section on the news sheet gives information about one of our partners so that we can all be involved in their work.

We also recommend to the PCC how the tithe of the church’s income should be distributed, and the following gifts were agreed in 2024:

£1000 to CMS for our support of ‘Joshua’ working in the MENA £1000 to Just Caring, a local charity working with care leavers

18

St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

£1000 to Betel, another very local charity working with addicts

£2000 to 2 members of our church family, serving with WEC

£1500 to Amigos to sponsor a student at Kira Farm and for their work with poor Ugandan families

£1000 to the Anglican Church in Bolivia

£1000 to Open Doors for ministry to persecuted Christians

£1000 to Sat7, Christian broadcaster to the MENA

£500 to Rachel Gidney, a former young person at St Mary’s who is hoping to serve with a mission in Kenya

£1000 for Uganda - we have asked Caroline Bell how best to use this

£500 for Birmingham Prison chaplaincy work

£300 to Mercy Ships - suggested by a member of the congregation

£500 to GAiN (Global Aid Network), the relief arm of Agape

£1000 for Tools With a Mission - to help with the increased cost of sending containers

£500 Africa Inland Mission - to support a new work in N and NE Africa

£500 to Mission Aviation Fellowship, who provide transport for missionaries and others, including Rob and Jan!

£300 to Speak Life for their 321 ministry.

We also sent a total of £264 to The Children’s Society from boxes held by members of the congregation and the collection at the Christingle service. £225 was given by those who attended the Carol Service for our local food bank.

A highlight of the year - our 10th in this building - was a visit to Uganda in the summer to stay with our mission partner, Caroline. We met her team, joined in with several of their activities and gained a new insight into life and work in Africa. We also spent a couple of days at Kira Farm, where it was a delight to meet our sponsored trainee, Naume, and see all the activities that go on. We came away with a new respect for the work done there.

In 2025 we shall aim to publicise the work of 4 of our mission interests - Caroline, Bolivia, Kira Farm and Joshua - while continuing to also support others financially and prayerfully. We hope that Caroline, Joshua and Rachel Gidney will be able to visit and share about their work and plans.

If you would like to know anything more about topics mentioned above, please speak to any of the committee.

Pam Miller

Kings Norton, Moseley & Shirley Deanery Synod

The Deanery Synod of Kings Norton, Moseley and Shirley has met on three occasions during 2024 and the main agenda items included the following:

24 February 2024

Deanery Synod met at St Andrews Church, Barnt Green. The subject matter was Diocesan Finance and it was introduced by Phelim O’Hare, Area Dean.

We were asked to reflect upon the financial situation in the context of mission of the church. Firstly we reflected upon the many blessing we have in terms of numbers of churches and ministry teams within them working in various areas. Then the Diocesan Finance team did a PowerPoint presentation of the Diocesan financial situation and it was clear that the situation was difficult and would need lots of prayer, thought and

19

St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

careful management to keep our heads above water. The presentation entitled All Things Finance was in depth and sobering. I have a copy which can be made available to anyone who wishes to look at it in more depth.

We then broke into discussion groups to discuss what we had heard and then there was a time of open comments to report back. After a few notices the Synod was then closed with prayer.

12 June 2024

Deanery Synod met at St Lawrence Church Northfield

Phelim introduced the subject of this evening’s synod

Following an earlier Diocesan Synod about young people and how we include them in the life of our churches, it was decided to invite Emma Sargeant and some members of the Bishop’s Youth Synod to come to Deanery Synod to help us explore our desire and ambition regarding mission with and from young people in our parishes. Phelim then handed over to Emma who had brought with her a young lady called Anna who was a representative on the Bishops Youth Synod. There was a question and answer interview between the two where Emma asked Anna some questions about how youth might be better served in our churches and Anna responded with some suggestions. I have a copy of the transcript of the discussion if anyone wishes to explore this in greater depth. We then broke into discussion groups to discuss what we had heard and a feedback session followed this discussion. After a few notices the Synod was then closed with prayer.

17 October 2024

Deanery Synod met at St James the Great, Shirley

Revd Catherine Grylls (Ministry Development Lead – Lay) spoke to us about Growing Gifts.

The aim of the Growing Gifts programme is to empower, enable and equip lay people to share with licensed colleagues in a ministry of leading worship or preaching as we seek to grow Transforming Church at the heart of each community. This will then all be part of the authorised ministry lead within our oversight areas. The Synod broke into groups to discuss some of the issues raised in Catherine’s talk. After this Tom Spicer, Children and Families Mission Enabler for Kings Norton Parish, spoke to us on his role and what he has been doing in the deanery. After a few additional notices the meeting was closed with prayer.

St Mary’s Deanery Synod representatives up to June 2024 were Lynda Rogers, Richard Parsons and clergy. Richard Parsons stood down after one year as he did not wish to carry on in the role. Current representatives are therefore Lynda Rogers and clergy

Lynda Rogers

Electoral Roll

As of 31st December 2024 the Electoral Roll was 128. This year we have prepared a new roll, as per the instructions from the Church of England, we now have 96 on roll.

20

St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

Charitable Objectives and Activities

Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document:

Promoting in the Ecclesiastical Parish the whole mission of the church.

Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit in relation to these objects:

1. Regular Public Worship open to all

Details of our worship services have been given in this report. We also upload an audio of the sermon from the Sunday service each week to our website and also send this out to people who have requested it and are unable to attend church on a Sunday.

2. Teaching of Christianity

This is done through sermons at our services and sometimes through small groups and occasional courses on mid-week evenings. Children and Young people are taught about Christianity through our young people’s groups.

3. Taking of Religious Assemblies in Schools

During 2024 we continued termly assemblies for The Coppice Primary School, and also provided lessons each term.

4. The provision of a youth group with a Christian Ethos

We have continued to hold a youth group on Sunday evenings.

Activities 1-4 above are public benefits relating to the advancement of religion

5. Pastoral work including visiting the sick and the bereaved

Clergy and Licensed Readers take funerals and are in contact with the bereaved. Contact with those who are housebound was made by phone calls and visits and also written letters/cards.

  1. Promoting the whole mission of the church through the provision of activities for senior citizens, parents and toddlers, children and those with additional needs.

More information about these activities is given on pages 9-18 of this report.

Items 5 and 6 help ‘the relief of those in need by reason of youth, age or ill health or other disadvantage’

7. Supporting other charities in the UK and overseas

In 2024 we supported the organisations listed on page 19.

We have considered the guidance given by the Charity Commission about public benefit of our charity’s activities.

Charitable information and Trustees

Full Charity name: The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of St Mary’s Wythall

Other names the charity is known by: St Mary’s Wythall PCC

Registered charity number: 1132792

Charity's principal address: St Mary’s Church, Shawhurst Lane, Hollywood, Birmingham B47 5JN

21

St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity:

Trustee name Ofce (if any) Dates acted if not for
whole year		 Name of person (or body) enttled to ap-
point trustee (if any)
REV AMANDA
FEATHERSTONE		 Vicar N/A
ALISON SPENCER Church Warden
PCC Secretary		 Unil 27th June 2024 Those on the Electoral Roll of St. Mary’s
Wythall
JENNIFER CLARK as above
JUDITH EMERY Reader as above
LYNDA ROGERS Deanery Synod Rep as above
JULIE CROXFORD as above
JULIE ARKELL as above
AMANDA DAUNCEY Safeguarding Ofcer as above
RICHARD PARSONS Deanery Synod Rep Untl November 2024 as above
ROBERT WATSON Untl 12th May2024 as above
PAUL HARRISON Church Warden From 12th May 2024 as above
PAUL FEATHERSTONE From 12th May 2024 as above
LLINOS LOOKER From 12th May 2024 as above
DEBORAH BROCKBANK From 12th May 2024 as above
JOANNE DARBY From 12th May 2024 as above
PAMELA MILLER Treasurer From 27th June 2024 Co-opted by PCC
ROS HARRISON PCC Secretary From 27th June 2024 Appointed by PCC

Structure, governance and management

Type of governing document - EXCEPTED

How the charity is constituted - The PCC is a body corporate

Trustee selection methods - Trustees are PCC members – these are the current Vicar, Curate, the Readers, and other members elected by those on the Electoral Roll of St. Mary’s Wythall at the Annual Meeting. Additional members may also be co-opted to join the PCC.

Financial review

Brief statement of the charity’s policy on reserves: We have a designated reserves fund. Some is invested with the CBF Church of England Funds and most is now represented by the 50 year lease on our new building and our Youth, Children and Families Worker’s and Curate’s houses. At 31/12/24 the total of the reserves fund was £ 839,649

Details of any funds materially in deficit - None

Declaration

The trustees declare that they have provisionally approved the trustees’ report on 27th March 2025, subject to minor changes to format. Report was the circulated by email for final approval.

Alison Spencer, Church Warden

22

Financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024

Statement of Financial Activities

Unrestricted Restricted TOTAL TOTAL
Funds Funds 2024 2023
Note
£		 £ £ £
Incoming Resources
Voluntary Income 2(a) 177,921 0 177,921 164,408
Actvites for generatng funds 2(b) 16,449 0 16,449 17,806
Income from investments 2(c) 6,588 0 6,588 5,641
Church actvites 2(d) 16,624 0 16,624 13,847
Total Income 217,582 0 217,582 201,702
EXPENDITURE
Church actvites 3(a) 176,966 0 176,966 207,917
Raising funds 3(b) 0 0 0 0
Total expenditure 176,966 0 176,966 207,917
Net income / expenditure before 40,616 0 40,616 (6,215)
Net gains on investments 3,293 0 3,293 9,605
43,909 0 43,909 3,390
Transfer between funds 0 0 0 0
Net movement in funds 43,909 0 43,909 3,390
Total funds brought forward 1,054,680 5,000 1,059,680 1,056,290

23

Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December

2024 Balance sheet at 31 December 2024

Note
2024 2023
£ £
Fixed assets
Tangible fxed assets (including 5, The Willows and 247 Alcester Road) 6 806,654 826,102
Investments 7 165,554 129,638
Current assets
Debtors - principally amounts due from Inland Revenue 8 33,243 31,660
CBF deposits 45,806 43,497
Cash at bank and in hand 56,309 31,873
135,358 107,030
Current liabilites
Liabilites: Amounts falling due within one year 9 (3,977) (3,090)
Net current assets 131,381 103,940
Net assets 1,103,589 1,059,680
Funds
Unrestricted: General 258,940 251,204
Unrestricted: Designated 839,649 803,476
Restricted (For young people in Wythall & Hollywood) 10 5,000 5,000
Total 1,103,589 1,059,680
Assets and liabilites by fund are shown in Note 13

Notes to the accounts

  1. The accounting policies adopted in these accounts are shown in the statement of Accounting Policies. Unrestricted funds include the general fund and the reserve fund (a fund designated by the PCC)

24

2. Income is analysed below

2. Income is analysed below
Unrestricted Restricted TOTAL TOTAL
funds funds 2024 2023
£ £ £ £
2(a) Voluntary Income
Planned giving: Gif aid donatons 123,719 123,719 115,263
Tax recoverable 32,163 32,163 30,587
Other 7,417 7,417 9,686
Collectons cash 4,811 4,811 5,207
Gifs
Donatons, appeals 9,046 9,046 1,351
Specifc charity collectons 560 560 1,977
Children’s Society 205 205 337
Legacies
Voluntary income 177,921 177,921 164,408
2(b) Actvites for generatng funds
Hall letngs 690 690 1,151
Property rental / Diocesan contributon 15,759 15,759 16,655
Actvites for generatng funds 16,449 16,449 17,806
2(c) Income from investments
Bank, Inland Revenue and deposit interest 3,061 3,061 2,427
Dividends on CCLA investments 3,527 3,527 3,214
Income from investments 6,588 6,588 5,641
2(d) Income from church actvites
Fees for weddings and funerals 1,390 1,390 402
Spring harvest / Uganda 9,672 9,672 7,358
Outreach 696 696 170
Socials 359 359 761
Scof 520 520 1,985
Course and other book sales / visitng speakers 352 352 38
Church weekend 904 904
Sundry 340 340 923
Discretonary income / expense 300 300 600
Recycling / Easy fundraising / Amazon 51 51 76
Litle Lights 2,040 2,040 1,534
Income from church actvites 16,624 16,624 13,847
TOTAL INCOME 217,582 217,582 201,702

25

3. Expenses are analysed below

3. Expenses are analysed below
Unrestricted Restricted TOTAL TOTAL
funds funds 2024 2023
£ £ £ £
3(a) Church actvites
Missionary and charitable giving 14,689 14,689 18,594
Diocesan Parish share 61,222 61,222 74,058
Maintenance of the ministry (clergy expenses) 2,268 2,268 2,488
Upkeep of services (hall rental) 8,201 8,201 6,231
PCC property 3,007 3,007 2,467
Sunday school and youth 932 932 1,103
General Parish expenses (church ofce and repairs) 3,702 3,702 6,186
Salaries of church staf (administrator, childrens / 42,851 42,851 40,793
youth workers)
Depreciaton 19,448 19,448 35,802
Growth 2,487 2,487 1,505
Spring Harvest / Uganda 9,535 9,535 7,649
Outreach 989 989 1,250
Socials 926 926 1,033
Scof 2,144 2,144 2,565
Course and other book sales / visitng speakers 77
Repairs 991 991 1,310
Church weekend 777 777
Sundry 344 344 285
Super Saturday 127 127 569
Discretonary income / expense 32 32
Elderly 117 117 73
Gifs 10 10 239
Kitchen 646 646 776
Cleaning 459 459 1,269
Litle Lights 1,062 1,062 1,595

3(b) No costs were incurred in respect of raising funds or church stewardship in the current period.

  1. Staff costs

Wages and salaries included salaries of £38,920 (2023 £37,067), £2,861 (2023 £2,605) of National Insurance and £793 (2023 £738) of employer, pension contributions in respect of 2 (2023 2) employees.

  1. The PCC has a target to give 10% of income to charity.

26

6. Fixed assets for use by the PCC

New building Church 5, The Curate’s Total
equipment Willows House
£ £ £ £ £
Cost brought forward 1/1/2024 482,631 85,764 253,765 292,351 1,114,511
Additons - - - - -
Cost carried forward 31/12/2024 482,631 85,764 253,765 292,351 1,114,511
Depreciaton brought forward at 1/1/2024 193,406 23,901 45,352 25,750 288,409
Charge for the year 7,587 6,159 2,702 3,000 19,448
Depreciaton carried forward at 31/12/2024 200,993 30,060 48,054 28,750 307,857
Net book value at 31/12/2024 281,638 55,704 205,711 263,601 806,654
Net book value at 31/12/2023 289,225 61,863 208,413 266,601 826,102
No fxed assets are carried at a valuaton.

Church equipment primarily comprises the stained glass window and the PA system.

7. Investment fixed assets

Movements during the year 2024 2023
£ £
Net book value brought forward - 1 January 129,638 117,710
Additons 32,623 2,323
Net gain on revaluaton 3,293 9,605
Net book value carried forward 165,554 129,638

Holdings at 31/12/2024 included £68,511 (market value) in the Church of England fixed interest fund and

£97,043 (market value) in the Church of England Investment fund.

8. Debtors include £31,888 of income tax yet to be recovered from HMRC (2023

£29,945)

  1. Liabilities due within one year comprise:
9. Liabilites due within one year comprise:
2024 2023
£ £
Trade creditors 3,977 3,089

10. Restricted funds

During 2021, the church received a £5,000 donation arising from the proceeds of the sale of Cornerstone Quest in Wales. The donor requested that the funds are used for the benefit of the young people of Wythall and Hollywood. At the year end, none of the donation had been spent on qualifying expenditure.

27

11. Analysis of unrestricted funds

The church has two unrestricted funds; the general fund and the reserve fund. We show below the detailed performance of the two funds for 2024 and 2023.

General Reserve fund Total General Reserve Total
fund
unrestricted unrestricted
2024 2024 2024 2023 2023 2023
Planned giving: gif aid donatons 123,719 123,719 115,263 0 115,263
Tax recoverable 32,163 32,163 30,587 0 30,587
Other 7,417 7,417 9,686 9,686
Collectons - cash 4,811 4,811 5,207 5,207
Gifs
Donatons, appeals 9,046 9,046 1,351 1,351
Specifc charity collectons 560 560 1,976 1,976
Children’s Society 205 205 337 337
Legacies 0 0
Voluntary income 177,921 177,921 164,408 0 164,408
Hall letngs 690 690 1,151 1,151
Property rental / Diocesan contributon 15,759 15,759 16,655 16,655
Actvites for generatng funds 16,449 16,449 17,806 17,806
Bank, Inland Revenue and deposit 2,211 850 3,061 1,711 717 2,427
interest
Dividends on CCLA investments 904 2,623 3,527 890 2,323 3,214
Income from investments 3,115 3,473 6,588 2,601 3,040 5,641
Fees for weddings and funerals 1,390 1,390 402 402
Spring harvest / Uganda 9,672 9,672 7,358 7,358
Outreach 696 696 170 170
Socials 359 359 761 761
Scof 520 520 1,985 1,985
Course and other book sales / visitng 352 352 38 38
speakers
Church weekend 904 904
Sundry 340 340 923 923
Discretonary income / expense 300 300 600 0. 600
Recycling / Easy fundraising / Amazon 51 51 76 0. 76
Litle Lights 2,040 2,040 1,534 1,534
Income from church actvites 16,624 16,624 13,847 0 13,847
TOTAL INCOME 197,660 19,922 217,582 180,856 20,846 201,702

Scoff income in 2024 includes £500 from Wythall Parish Council. Discretionary income of £300 in 2024 was received from KNUC

28

11. Analysis of unrestricted funds (continued)

General Reserve
Total		 General Reserve
Total
fund fund
unrestricted unrestricted
2024 2024
2024		 2023
2023
2023
£ £
£		 £
£
£
Church actvites
Missionary and charitable giving 14,689 14,689 18,594 18,594
Diocesan Parish share 61,222 61,222 74,058 74,058
Maintenance of the ministry (clergy expenses) 2,268 2,268 2,489 2,489
Upkeep of services (hall rental) 8,201 8,201 6,231 6,231
PCC property 3,007
3,007		 2,466
2,466
Sunday school and youth 932 932 1,103 1,103
General Parish expenses (church ofce and re- 3,702 3,702 6,186 6,186
pairs)
Salaries of church staf 42,851 42,851 40,793
0.
40,793
Depreciaton 6,159 13,289
19,448		 1,738 34,064
35,802
Growth 2,487 2,487 1,505
0
1,505
Spring Harvest / Uganda 9,535 0
9,535		 7,649
0
7,649
Outreach 989 989 1,250
0
1,250
Socials 926 926 1,033
0
1,033
Scof 2,144 2,144 2,565
0
2,565
Course and other book sales / visitng speakers 77 77
Repairs 73 991 1,310 1,310
Church weekend 777 777
Sundry 344 344 285 285
Super Saturday 127 127 569 569
Discretonary income / expense 32 32
Elderly 118 118 73
0
73
Gifs 10 10 239
0
239
Kitchen 646 646 776
0
776
Cleaning 1,377 459 1,269
0
1,269
Litle Lights 1,062 1,062 1,595 1,595
Church actvites 160,670 16,296
176,966		 171,387 36,530
207,917

29

Unrestricted funds - summary income / expenditure

Incoming Resources
General Reserve Total General Reserve Total
fund fund
unrestricted unrestrict-
ed
2024 2024 2024 2023 2023 2023
£ £ £ £ £ £
Voluntary Income 177,921 177,921 164,408 164,408
Actvites for generatng funds 16,449 16,449 17,806 17,806
Income from investments 3,115 3,473 6,588 2,601 3,040 5,641
Church actvites 16,624 16,624 13,848 13,847
Total Income 197,660 19,922 217,582 180,857 20,846 201,702
Expenditure
Church actvites (160,670) (16,296) (176,966) (171,387) (36,530) (207,917)
Raising funds
Total expenditure (160,670) (16,296) (176,966) (171,387) (36,530) (207,917)
Net income / expenditure 36,990 3,626 40,616 9,470 (15,685) (6,215)
before investment gains
Net gains on investments 746 2,547 3,293 2,824 6,781 9,605
Net income / expenditure 37,736 6,173 43,909 12,294 (8,904) 3,390
Transfer between funds (30,000) 30,000
Net movement in funds 7,736 36,173 43,909 12,294 (8,904) 3,390
Total funds brought forward 251,204 803,476 1,054,680 238,910 812,380 1,051,290
Total funds carried forward 258,940 839,649 1,098,589 251,204 803,476 1,054,680
13. Analysis of assets and liabilites by fund
Analysis of assets and liabilites by fund at 31 December 2024
Designated Total
General Reserve Unrestricted Restricted Total
£ £ £ £ £
Represented by:
Fixed assets 55,703 750,951 806,654 - 806,654
Debtors 32,217 1,026 33,243 - 33,243
Liabilites due within 1 year (3,977) - (3,977) - (3,977)
Bank account 113,010 (61,701) 51,309 5,000 56,309
CBF Deposits 28,667 17,139 45,806 - 45,806
CBF Investment Fund 33,320 63,723 97,043 - 97,043
CBF Fixed Interest - 68,511 68,511 - 68,511
258,940 839,649 1,098,589 5,000 1,103,589

30

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of St Mary’s Wythall, also known as St Mary’s Wythall PCC, is a registered charity number: 1132792

Contact

Address: St Mary’s Church, Shawhurst Lane, Hollywood, Birmingham B47 5JN

We are situated to the rear of the Coppice School site.

Vicar: Rev Amanda Featherstone 0121 413 3287 revamanda@wythallchurch.net

Curate: Marcus Pagnam 01564 201441 marcus@wythallchurch.net

Warden: Alison Spencer 07772 568898 ali@wythallchurch.net Paul Harrison 07532 016436 paul-harrison5@sky.com

Church Office: churchoffice@wythallchurch.net 01564 823248

Services

All are welcome at our regular Sunday services, which are:

9am Communion Service

10.30am Informal Service with children’s groups

Once a month we have our Family@4pm service—see website for dates.

St. Mary’s online

Web

www.wythallchurch.net

facebook.com/StMarysWythall

Our YouTube channel is called St Mary’s Wythall

@stmaryswythall

@stmaryschurchwythall

Copies of this report printed at St Mary’s are on recycled paper. This report is also available electronically from the church office.

31