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2025-12-31-accounts

ANNUAL REPORT 2025

PREPARED FOR THE ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING 10th MAY 2026

St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

Contents

Vicar’s Report ........................................................................................................................................... 3 2025 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 Youth @ St. Mary’s .................................................................................................................................. 13 SCoFF ........................................................................................................................................................ 14 Prayer ....................................................................................................................................................... 15 Super Saturday ......................................................................................................................................... 16 Discipleship .............................................................................................................................................. 17 Homegroups ............................................................................................................................................. 18 St. Mary’s Friendship Group .................................................................................................................... 18 Hillside ...................................................................................................................................................... 19 Mission Committee .................................................................................................................................. 20 Deanery Synod ......................................................................................................................................... 21 Electoral Roll ............................................................................................................................................ 22 Charitable Objectives and Activities ....................................................................................................... 23 Charitable Information and Trustees ...................................................................................................... 24 Accounts ................................................................................................................................................... 25

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

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Vicar’s Report 2025

As I reflect on 2025 I share with you this verse from 1 Thessalonians 5:24

The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.

I am so aware of the faithfulness of God and am giving thanks for all He has done in each of our lives and in the life of the church of St Mary’s.

2025 was characterised by the ongoing, a new era, a different time and a time of change.

The Ongoing

I love the phrase ‘The local Church is the hope of the world’. We thank God for sustaining us throughout the year to be His church in this place. Meeting every Sunday for worship, holding out the message of hope found in Jesus. We are grateful for the huge team of volunteers that enable us to show and share God’s love in the community with Friendship Club, SCoFF, Little Lights, services at Hillside etc etc

The church and the Good News of Jesus are a constant in an ever changing world.

The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.

A New Era

We have been excited in 2025 to hear reports of a ‘Quiet revival’ of more people attending church and the sale of Bibles greatly increasing. We have the joy of seeing aspects of this at St Mary’s. Most Sundays we have a new person or visitor joining the worship of the church. We have seen people come to faith and be baptised. We were able to go onto the streets of Hollywood and Wythall in Holy Week and offer people a Bible – over 175 were given away. Then at the baptism service on Advent Sunday over 30 Bibles were taken by people. Please pray that people will read these Bibles and that Jesus will walk off the pages and meet them. May this Quiet Revival become even louder.

The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.

A Different Time

I was very privileged and greatly blessed to have a 3 month sabbatical from mid August to mid November. This was a very special time and a real joy. There were two main adventures; cycling in Scotland and re-visiting India and there was also time at home, opportunity to see family and friends and space to read and reflect.

Here are 4 insights that I am taking forward

  1. A scripture verse from Psalm 68:6 God puts the lonely in families. Paul and I are working out whether this is a verse for us – what it means to offer hospitality and open our home, and where we also receive family. I’m also working out if this is for St Mary’s – what might it look like to ‘be devoted to the fellowship’?

  2. A very basic line from a book on leadership by Amy Orr-Ewing – Remember to let God be God . I return excited by an enlarged vision of God and, I pray, a new ability to trust Him and watch to see all that He will do. A real ‘Let Go and let God’ time for me. It is so freeing and is bringing much joy.

  3. The wind in the Outer Hebrides! On a bike a head wind is hard work, a gusty side wind can be a bit scary but a tail wind is amazing, you can just fly, even the uphill is much easier. The Holy Spirit is

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Vicar’s Report 2025 continued...

described as like a wind. I’m asking for fresh anointing and constant help from the Holy Spirit, as I only ever want to do what God calls me to do

  1. A consideration of who we are to be as St Mary’s, and this has led to the January 2026 sermon series - ‘be devoted to the Apostle’s teaching, the breaking of bread, prayer and the fellowship.’

The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.

A Time of Change

2025 has marked a change in the staff team at St Mary’s. It has been wonderful to welcome Sonyanette Parker and to see new life in the youth work of the church. But it has been very sad to say goodbye to our curate Marcus Pagnam. We are so thankful for him and Nic and for their ministry among us. I am already missing my clergy colleague greatly. But we are delighted to see him flourish and respond to God’s call to St Chad’s Handforth. We know God continues to be with us here as He also goes with Marcus.

The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

God is faithful and He will do it. The clear vision and aim of St Mary’s continues to be

To make disciples and to grow as disciples

To love God and to show God’s love to others

The key focuses for me are prayer, dwelling in God’s Word and submitting to Jesus as Lord. My key focus for the church is Sundays and Small Groups

The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

Rev Manda Featherstone

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2025 Highlights

Churchwardens’ Report

Last year I started the Churchwardens report by saying that it has been an exciting year at St Mary’s. I have to start this year’s report echoing that very comment! It has indeed been another exciting year as we have seen God at work amongst us and we have seen growth in many ways through the year.

This growth has come against the backdrop of Rev Manda Featherstone having a 3 month sabbatical and the departure of our curate, Rev Marcus Pagnam, and his wife Nic, at the end of the year to St Chad’s, Handforth in Cheshire. Thorough, careful and prayerful preparation by Rev Manda, Rev Marcus, the Churchwardens and the PCC for both of these potentially disruptive events meant that they became opportunities for growth. Worship, teaching, outreach and pastoral care continued as the vision of “going and making disciples” was fully embraced by the family at St Mary’s. We are grateful to God for the date of Marcus’s departure 2 weeks after Manda returned. Perfect timing!! But Alison and I are

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also so grateful to all of you who offer your gifts on all the team rotas for Sunday and the mid-week activities. The prayerful commitment of so many is one of the cornerstones to the foundation for the growth that we are seeing.

As we have continued to serve Jesus in our community, we see our ongoing mission activities (SCoFF, Little Lights, the 3-2-1 course) continuing to flourish. Alongside this we have seen our Sunday worshipping community grow in numbers with people from different age groups joining us to worship regularly, including families. This has meant an encouraging growth in the size of children’s groups.

The appointment of Son Parker as our Youth Worker has also meant that our Youth Group is growing in number and in their knowledge of Jesus love for them.

At the heart of this is the depth of prayer by the St Mary’s fellowship. The weekly prayer meetings, bi-monthly Prayer and Praise services and weekly Sunday intercessions are supplemented by the personal devotional lives of so many in the fellowship. It has been so encouraging to hear of new “prayer partners” for Son and the Youth Work team as they seek to cover this work in prayer.

My fellow Churchwarden, Alison Spencer, has continued to gently teach and support me as I have learnt the full 12 month cycle of a Churchwarden’s “life”! Alison has been the most fantastic colleague and it must be acknowledged that, as she comes to the end of her service as Churchwarden at St Mary’s, she has been an excellent role model. She has done a quite brilliant job and I inherit an incredibly well organised and functioning set of responsibilities. But Alison is not just an organiser; she communicates clearly, serves faithfully and works supportively in a team, covering everything in prayer and bringing wisdom, faith and love to all that she does. She loves Jesus and wants to give Him the best, and I have been a witness of that as I have served alongside her. Thank you, Alison, for all you have done as Churchwarden.

Alison and I are also very grateful for the practical and spiritual support of Paul Featherstone as Duty Warden. His faithful commitment makes our job so much easier in many ways, whether through serving on a Sunday or through the practical tasks he takes on around the year.

We also give thanks for the knowledge that Rev Manda had a fruitful and restful sabbatical. As we all look to strengthen the family of St Mary’s and to develop our ongoing outworking of Jesus mission for us, it is encouraging to know that Manda has returned with new and renewed vision. Alison and I are excited by the focus Manda brings to our vision of “making new disciples” and for us to grow as a community, worshipping and serving God together. It is a privilege to work alongside Manda as she ministers in the power of the Holy Spirit, looking to root the life and ministry of St Mary’s in the truth of God’s Word.

The year ahead looks exciting, with more episcopal visits planned, church fellowship events added to the calendar and a larger group going to the New Wine Summer Gathering .

As we continue to serve Jesus may we be “rooted and established in love” (Ephesians 3:17) caring for one another, whether a long standing member of St Mary’s or a new member of our growing congregation.

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

PCC Report

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is the executive and decision making committee of St Mary’s church. Members are elected to the PCC at the Annual General Meeting for a term of 3 years duration. During 2025 the PCC has met each month excepting December, April, May (APCM) and August. Key items on the agenda have included:-

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Sonyanette Parker who started work in May.

Membership of the PCC in 2025 was:-

Rev. Amanda Featherstone (Incumbent), Rev. Marcus Pagnam (Curate – until he moved to his own Parish), Pam Miller (Treasurer), Ali Spencer (Church Warden), Paul Harrison (Church Warden), Amanda Dauncey (Safeguarding), Lynda Rogers, Llinos Looker, Deborah Brockbank, Julie Arkell, Julie Croxford, Jo Darby, Jenny Clark and Paul Featherstone.

Thanks are given to Jude Emery who has stepped down from being on the PCC.

In attendance, in a non voting capacity are Ros Harrison (PCC Secretary) and occasionally Gary Daniel (Children, Families and Schools Worker).

Ros Harrison (PCC Secretary)

Treasurer’s Report

As we look at the accounts for 2025 we are once more praising God for his faithfulness: he who promised to ‘supply all our needs’ has generously done so again this year, enabling us to pay our share of the diocesan Common Fund, to support mission at home and overseas (details in the Mission Committee report), and, perhaps best of all, to employ Son Parker as a part-time Youth Worker! So let us rejoice in all these blessings.

My thanks to everyone who gives faithfully by standing order, through the envelope scheme or as cash on the plate. Giving is an expression of our love and thanks to God, not just a duty in order to pay for the costs of running a church. However, these costs do 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 nearly £33000. Please ask me for more info if needed.

I am indebted to Dave Walters who continues to provide advice and support in all things financial, and my husband, Steve, who helps me with computing problems. Dave is again preparing the 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:

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Income £
Giving 148711
Tax refund 32928
Div/interest 925
Rental income 16797
Hall hire by clubs etc 829
TOTAL INCOME 180,752
Expenditure £
Common Fund 73500
Clergy expenses 3309
Service costs 9438
Admin 3073
Salaries 53400
Charitable giving 13424
SCoFF (net) 1517
Houses - mortgage
- ins/repairs etc		 6800
Outreach 625
Total Expenditure 195,566

Safeguarding Report

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 the 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. The Parish Safeguarding Coordinator gives a regular 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 am pleased to report that most of our Church Volunteers have completed or updated their ‘Basic Awareness’ Safeguarding training. Many of our Volunteers & all PCC members have also done the recommended ‘Foundations of Safeguarding’ training and ‘Awareness of Domestic Abuse’ training, which is important & relevant to our Church and family life. If you are unsure whether you need to update your training or DBS please contact Nicola Clarkson, who is our Safeguarding administrator. Nicola and I are happy to help anyone who is unable to do their online training at home.

St Mary’s Church has a portfolio of group activities which require Safeguarding:

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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, is provided with a role description and a pack of essential / helpful information specific to their role.

I would like to thank Nicola (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 regularly inform Nicola 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 Daniel (Safeguarding Advocate for Children and Families)

Mrs Sonyanette Parker (Safeguarding Advocate for Young People)

Dr Amanda Dauncey

Buildings and Facilities Report

We are greatly blessed that 2 houses are owned by St Mary’s

247 Alcester Road was home to our Curate Marcus and his family, until they moved out in December. During the year there was only a small amount of gardening work undertaken. The house is in great condition. As we will not have another curate in 2026, the PCC have made the decision to rent the house until the following Easter and this has resulted in some work to prepare for a potential rental family – mainly some electrical works that were found to be needed as a result of a routine 5 year electrical Inspection. I am excited to report that there should be a new family moved in by the time of this report. Please pray for them as they settle into Wythall and maybe visit our lovely Church.

5 The Willows is home to our Children, Families and Schools Worker, Gary, and his family. There was no work needed during the year.

In terms of Church maintenance; it is important to say that we are very blessed to share the building with The Coppice School and as a result we are not responsible for maintaining the building, only our property

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within it. We praise God for a good working relationship with the Headmaster Billy and with the Business Manager Dave and Caretaker Rich.

This year we have purchased a laptop for our new Youth Worker and paid for the fitting of a new tap in the disabled toilet to facilitate the filling of a baptism pool when used in church. I think you will agree with me that these are both very good purchases!

Ali Spencer (Church Warden)

Worship

Psalm 95 verses 1 to 3 states:

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;

let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

and extol him with music and song.

the great King above all gods.

Our gathered worship at St Mary’s is such a joy. It is wonderful to be together each Sunday to lift high the name of Jesus, hear from God’s Word and enjoy fellowship together.

Our two morning services each have a different style but have the same ‘DNA’ in terms of our focus on worshipping Jesus and in terms of the teaching from the Bible.

At the start of 2025 we had a wonderful sermon series on the Apostle’s Creed. It was so good to look in detail at the doctrines of the Christian faith and our core beliefs. After Easter there was a short sermon series ‘Come and See’ looking at Jesus’ invitation for each of us to spend time with Him, the call for us to invite others to come and see Jesus, and how we can ask Jesus to come and see our hurt and pain – He is the resurrection and the life.

It was great to see different people involved in our services when homegroups were invited to lead us over the summer. There was much creativity as we looked at the armour of God, may we continue to hear the call to stand firm.

In the autumn we followed the lectionary readings and it was good to spend this time in Luke’s Gospel.

In 2025 our pattern of Prayer and Praise on Sunday evenings every other month became firmly established. These were greatly blessed times as we engaged in sung worship, cried out to God in prayer and listened to God speak to us.

After much prayer and consideration we decided to no longer offer our monthly Family @ 4 services. The aim of these was to be a way into worship for families who found it hard to come on a Sunday morning. We particularly invited families who attended Little Lights and SCoFF however, latterly we found that it was church families who were attending and so felt it better to encourage them to be in church on the Sunday morning.

Reflecting on 2025 I can definitely see a new movement of God in bringing people into church who are curious and searching. We are seeing either visitors or new people most Sundays. I am therefore committed to making our Sunday Morning worship the key focus of St Mary’s. A place of welcome, worship, fellowship, teaching, a place and time when we invite God to speak and the Holy Spirit to

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minister to people as we worship Jesus together.

A huge thank you to the extensive group of people who make Sunday worship possible, there are so many roles that you fulfil.

Also, a very big thank you to all who pray for our Sunday services – I invite more people to do this during 2026. We pray, ‘Come Holy Spirit’.

Rev Manda Featherstone

Children’s, Families and Schools Work

As I reflect on 2025, I am hugely thankful for another exciting and encouraging year serving as Children, Families & Schools Worker at St Mary’s. It continues to be a genuine joy to be part of the life, worship, and leadership of the church, and to see God at work among children and families in so many different ways.

This is a snapshot of all the highlights from the past year.

Sunday Children’s Ministry

I continue to oversee our Sunday children’s ministry, Seeds (ages 4–7) and Shoots (ages 7–11), which aims to help children discover God’s love, understand the Bible, and see how God’s story weaves through their own lives, both planting seeds and building a foundation of faith in young lives.

Throughout 2025, the children explored a variety of teaching themes as Sunday Kids leaders taught the Bible in an age-appropriate way each Sunday morning as a part of our 10.30am service. These themes included exploring God in the Psalms; Christian lifestyle; hope; responsibilities; courage and more recently we looked at the calling of the disciples and prayer.

Seasonal celebrations including Easter, Pentecost, Harvest, Advent and Christmas were also key moments in our year with services and events bringing the whole church family together alongside families from the local community.

In September it was great to be able to start offering a staffed Creche in the Peter Thompson room as a part of our 10.30am service. This has given parents of young children the option to leave their children to play in a safe, nurturing environment whilst they engage in the main Church service.

Towards the end of the year, it has been encouraging to see an increase in families regularly attending Sunday worship and Children’s groups. One of our Church members has been praying faithfully for 20 children to attend, and we have begun to see God at work with our Sunday Kids numbers reaching 20 some weeks – Praise God!

Family@4

We continued to run our monthly Family@4 service up until Summer 2025, providing a relaxed and engaging worship space for families with primary-aged children, to help families encounter Jesus through worship, Bible stories, testimony, crafts, and shared activities.

Whilst this was well-received by those families attending, having reflected on how best to serve the community, it was prayerfully decided by the Family@4 team that as we move forward in the mission & ministry of St. Mary’s we will focus on alternative events and outreach ministry to children and families, using the incredible people and resources we have, to provide further opportunities for them to explore faith.

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Glow Group

Glow Group runs every Monday afternoon during term time and provides a discipleship-focused space for children in Years 3–6 (ages 7–11). Sessions help the children develop in their faith journey by combining fun, craft, drama, games and discussions to explore key Biblical topics. Amongst other things, over the last year we have been looking at prayer, the Holy Spirit, trusting in God, and Harvest. Glow had fun making a special video celebrating Jesus’ birthday that was shown in our Christmas Day service and they prepared and led prayers at our Pentecost celebration.

We have had a regular group of five attending this last year and continue to invite children who attend SCoFF. As we look ahead to 2026 we continue to pray and hope that this group will grow, so that more children and those who already attend can deepen their understanding of, and relationship with, Jesus.

Little Lights

Little Lights, our weekly stay-and-play toddler group, remains a thriving and welcoming space for young children and their parents or carers. In July, nineteen children moved on from Little Lights to either full-time school or nursery. Despite this, we continue to have an average of 15 – 20 children coming along with their parents or carers each week, with new families regularly attending the group.

Little Lights offers gentle opportunities to introduce faith through toddler-friendly Bible stories and praise songs. During 2025 we have been looking at God’s promises, stories that Jesus told & seasonal themes.

Alongside providing support, connection, and community for families, we have a great opportunity in the group to draw alongside parents & carers, developing relationships & sharing faith. Our wonderful team of volunteers has a key role in showing & sharing Jesus to those who attend Little Lights, through conversation, caring & serving – we have a great opportunity to plant seeds of faith & share God’s story week-in & week-out at Little Lights.

Schools Work

Our partnership with Coppice Primary School continues to be a significant and rewarding part of my ministry. Over the past year:

SCoFF

SCoFF continues to be a vital and fruitful outreach ministry, creating welcoming spaces where families can experience the love of Jesus. Further detail can be found in the separate SCoFF report.

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Church Invites and Outreach Events

Throughout 2025, there were many opportunities to connect with families beyond our regular ministries and invite them into church life. These included:

Each of these events helped to build relationships, strengthen community links, and invite families to explore faith in accessible and meaningful ways.

Children’s-work Volunteers

I am deeply grateful for the committed and faithful volunteers who give their time, energy, and passion to support this ministry. Your willingness to serve plays a vital role in nurturing faith, building relationships, and creating welcoming spaces where children and families can encounter Jesus. Thank you for all that you do.

Looking Ahead to 2026

As we move into 2026, my prayer is that the relationships and connections formed over the past year will continue to grow into deeper faith journeys. I long to see children and their families coming into St Mary’s to explore who Jesus is, respond to the gospel, and grow in relationship with him.

Thank you for your continued prayers, encouragement, and support. If any of these ministries excite you and you feel called to get involved, I would love to hear from you — additional volunteers are always warmly welcomed.

Please join me in thanking God for all he has done in 2025 and in praying for all that lies ahead in 2026.

May God bless you today and throughout the coming year.

Gary Daniel

Youth @ St. Mary’s

Overview

Since coming into post, the emphasis has been on laying strong and consistent foundations for young people already connected with St Mary’s and Woodrush. This season has focused on deep roots, discipleship, and individual faith growth , trusting God to add fruit in His timing. While youthwork capacity is limited to 15 contracted hours per week, there has been clear evidence of God’s provision, momentum, and faithfulness.

The following tables are ‘at a glance’ though a more detailed report is available on request.

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Current Reach & Support

Area Current Position Sunday Night Youth (St Mary’s) Up to 11 young people SCoFF (Woodrush Volunteers) Up to 10 young people Youth Team Volunteers 7 committed helpers Prayer Team 4 faithful prayer supporters , regularly updated

Key Activities by Term in 2025 (Summary)

Period Key Activities & Highlights

May–June

Youth Alpha with HCLC, Pentecost service involvement, half-term movie nights, exam pastoral support, SCoFF sessions

Year 6 transition work, socials with HCLC, SCoFF Extra, end-of-term celebration, youth July BBQ, weekly Wednesday drop-ins

Continued Wednesday drop-ins, movie night

August Continued Wednesday drop-ins, movie night September Peckwood Residential (11 YP), Sunday youth development, SCoFF & SCoFF Extra sessions October CPR training, half-term social, Harvest school assembly November Gas Street Cineworld worship trip, Woodrush outreach, baptism of one young person December Youth-led Christingle service, Woodrush outreach, Christmas socials and celebrations January 2026 Launch of TOAST (Sunday 10am breakfast church), ongoing youth and SCOFF sessions

Key Outcomes & Impact

Looking Ahead (Feb – Easter 2026)

Son Parker

SCoFF

SCoFF (St Mary’s Church offers Food and Fun) began in October 2022, and during 2025 we joyfully entered our fourth year of this growing and much-loved ministry at St Mary’s. By the end of 2025, we had hosted an incredible 78 SCoFF afternoons

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since we started!

Each SCoFF session offers a safe, welcoming and lively space where families can gather, build friendships and, hopefully, feel at home. Together we enjoy creative crafts inspired by a biblical theme, energetic games, a short and engaging interactive talk that brings the theme to life, and finishing by sharing a hot meal together. These afternoons have become a highlight for many families and a wonderful point of connection with the wider life of the church.

We are incredibly blessed with a fantastic team who serve with faithfulness, generosity and joy. As a team, we have spent time together continuing to look at how we can all be better equipped to talk naturally and confidently about Jesus and our personal faith.

We have continued to pose questions for our guests to reflect upon and talk about with team whilst doing crafts – giving more opportunity to build relationships and share Jesus with the families who attend the sessions.

During our sessions we have looked at themes including – ‘Meeting the risen Jesus’ & ‘Jesus the….’ (friend, teacher, pray-er, Son, servant, Saviour etc). The sessions give us opportunity to share stories, parables and truths from scripture with a gospel thread running through them all. Prayer continues to sit at the heart of SCoFF – in the background as team individually pray for families who come along and also in the session as we put out our prayer post box every week, giving guests the opportunity to leave prayer requests to be prayed through in the Church Thursday morning prayer meeting.

We are hugely thankful to the Coppice School for sharing SCoFF dates with parents and for the generous use of their hall, and to Woodrush School for providing an amazing team of young volunteers who bring so much energy, commitment and enthusiasm to serving. We are also deeply grateful for our core SCoFF team of approximately 15 people, who consistently and joyfully give their time to set up, cook meals, welcome and befriend guests, lead crafts and games, serve refreshments and food, and then clear up afterwards—an enormous and often unseen commitment.

We strongly believe that SCoFF is at the very heart of St Mary’s mission. It enables us to connect with local families in meaningful and relational ways, sharing the love of Jesus both through conversation and in practical ways. We long for people to encounter the good news of Jesus and to come to know Him through the ministry of St Mary’s and through SCoFF.

Gary Daniel.

Prayer

It is a great blessing to hear from new members at St Mary’s that they have found it to be a praying church. This is now, and has been for many years, one of our valued qualities.

Our two weekly Prayer Groups continue – a morning one in church and a second in the evening at the house of one of our Readers. All members of the congregation are welcome to join them. We begin with a led Bible reading. Our prayers begin with thanks and worship to our Father and to his Son Jesus our Saviour for all the blessings that we receive and then go on to hold up to Him the needs of our church, its members, and our community. We ask God to guide us in how we can all be salt and light to our friends and neighbours so that more people will come to discover the love and the constant presence of His Spirit which comes in knowing Jesus as our Saviour. Our gathered thoughts are recorded and followed up in later meetings.

We are blessed with a variety of gifted intercessors who lead our communal prayers during services, both adults and children.

During and after our services there is a group of congregants who form a Prayer Ministry Team to offer

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personal prayer to any who comes. It is a privilege to be asked to share in their joys and sorrows in this way.

Our Prayer Chain continues to flourish. Prayer needs are communicated to the Leader who sends a concise request to more than 30 members of the congregation who promise to pray for the needs of the person for 48 hours. Requests are welcome from friends, family members, neighbours etc and can be anonymous, because God knows all of the people that we hold up to Him in our prayers. If prayer issues are long term, they are prayed for in house groups too. Often, we receive results of prayers and an affirmation of how they were appreciated in times of suffering or difficulty.

The Church is invited every other month to come together for an early Sunday evening hour of Prayer and Praise, when we are led in worship, and then reflect and thank God for all the blessings that he has bestowed on our ministry here. We then to look ahead and ask what He has for the future, offering ourselves to serve Him in whatever way He leads us.

The Woodrush School Prayer Group meets each school term in the Hub, attended by people connected to school, to young people and children's work, or who have a heart for young people and children. Each meeting we pick up on relevant topics seeking God's blessing on all our local schools, and the children's and youth work in our local churches. We pray for children and young people to flourish and for those who work with them to have wisdom and all the gifts needed to do their jobs well.

All are welcome to attend on the 3rd Monday into each term on a Monday evening from 7.30-8.30 upstairs in the Hub in the meeting room through the library.

We are always keen to increase both personal and communal prayer at St Mary’s Church, and in 2026 a sermon series will call us to ‘Devote ourselves to Prayer, being watchful and thankful’. Colossians 4:2.

Jude Emery

Super Saturday - Provision for People with Additional Needs

Super Saturday was started after what we felt were prompts from God specifically for families with children or adults with additional needs in our community.

It has been running since December 2021.

We learned that there were very few such activities available, especially at the weekend and particularly that provided not only for the person with needs but also for the carers and/or their wider family. We found that indeed whole families came along, and that carers and other family members meeting together was one of the most appreciated aspects of Super Saturday.

The events were completely free and somewhere that we could bless the wonderful people who gathered by sharing the abundance of God's love, something the whole team felt very strongly about. Each session provided 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.

However, over the last twelve months, much to our surprise, this lovely ministry seems to have entered a time of transition, with interest slowly declining.

Leading up to and during our last team meeting in September we felt God was speaking to us about

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St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

‘keeping the flame burning’ but also being open to His ‘pruning’ of Super Saturday and so after much heartfelt prayer and searching for His leading, we concluded it probably shouldn’t stay in its current format.

The team that ran Super Saturday are fantastic, all with a real heart for those with additional needs and their carers. We have had such fun and were truly blessed every single Saturday spent with such amazing people, so please do pray for discerning and clarity as we sit in this time of change.

If you feel this is something God would want you to be involved in going forward, please do speak to Rev Manda or me, Claire Emery.

Claire Emery

Discipleship

After His resurrection and immediately before he ascends into heaven Jesus commands his disciples:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20 ] and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19 -20

We have a vision and aim at St Mary’s

To make disciples and to grow as disciples

We know that all of this is God’s work. It is wonderful that Jesus says in those verses above, ‘And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age’. Jesus is present with us through the Holy Spirit. We constantly seek the anointing and guiding of the Holy Spirit.

In this era of the ‘Quiet Revival’ we are excited that many people are curious and want to find out more about faith and Jesus. At St Mary’s we have been offering the 321 course from Speak Life. In January last year 7 people engaged with this course, 4 continued to meet and went through the Alpha course and we rejoice that 2 of those people came to faith in Jesus and were baptised.

We offered the 321 course at other points in the year but it only drew in a couple of people. Please be thinking and praying as to who you could invite to future courses. 321 is very accessible and one person completed 1:1 and we were delighted to hear their profession of faith and see them baptised in November.

These courses are a key way that we seek to serve under God in the making of disciples.

There are many things within the life of the church that aim to help people who are followers of Jesus grow as his disciples. Our teaching within Sunday services is a key way, as are our homegroups where people read and discuss the Bible together (please see the report on our homegroups from Claire Emery). There are day events, retreats, summer festivals and of course our own study of the Bible, our reading and listening to podcasts etc etc that help us to grow.

We continue to ask God to grow His church not only in numbers of people but in our depth of love for Him, knowledge of His Word and in the closeness of our walk with Jesus.

In Mere Christianity C S Lewis states

“…the Church exists for nothing else but to draw people into Christ, to make them little Christs.”

As I close this report and as you come to the end of reading this section of the Annual Report can I ask you to pause

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St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

All glory to God for all He is doing.

Rev Manda Featherstone

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 nurturing places where individuals can grow in their faith, build strong relationships and find support in their journey with God.

At our latest Homegroup Leaders meeting we were reminded how important regular watering is in being transformed :

And the Lord shall guide thee continually and satisfy thy soul in a drought and make fat thy bones and thou shalt be like a well-watered garden and a spring whose waters fail not. Isaiah 58:11

I am delighted that currently 67 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.

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. As well as learning more of God through the Bible and growing as followers of Jesus groups are encouraged 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.

Homegroup Leaders meet together three times a year to share ideas for resources and to encourage one another. I would like to thank all who lead groups, those who lead sessions and those who host homegroups.

I have been in the role of homegroup co-ordinator for a year now and have loved prayfully helping many new people join a homegroup. Please continue to pray for wisdom for me in this role as the Lord continues to grow our church family and consequently homegroups continue to evolve.

I would love to encourage as many people as possible to be part of a group. The benefits are endless: increased faith, stronger friendships, personal growth and a sense of belonging, to name but a few.

I can’t recommend it highly enough!

Take a look at the information leaflet at the front of church or come and chat to me to find out more.

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

Claire Emery

St. Mary’s Friendship Group

Our events were well supported over the year in terms of volunteers and numbers attending.

As you get older and less mobile it’s good to have local events you can attend where you can also meet new people or old friends and feel part of your local community and of course see where your church is and meet some of its members.

Our film shows are very popular and we had a showing of Whisky Galore in February and almost had a showing of Thelma in October. Unfortunately the film became stuck and we had to make do with tea, cake and a chat! We will be having a run through with the CD player in the future to make sure that everything is working before the event!

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St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

At Easter we all made Easter baskets, and finished the morning with soup and pudding. In the May holiday we tried Chair Games, this wasn’t as well attended as we had hoped, maybe the word games puts people off, so in 2026 we will be trying something different. But those who came definitely enjoyed the bacon butty afterwards.

We had our usual Summer Tea in July with singing by the Wythall Community Choir. A lovely event which always goes down well.

If you would like to volunteer to help at any of the events please let me know.

We would love new ideas. If you have been to any event which you think we could put on at church for older people please let us know. Thank you to all those people who help with cakes during the summer or who help at events, we really do appreciate you.

We also attend Dennis Potter Court and have a small but loyal attendance at the services for Easter, Remembrance Day and Christmas.

Chris Turner on behalf of St Mary’s Friendship Group

Hillside

We have now been providing services at the Hillside Residential Home for around four and a half years, and the residents and staff continue to look forward to and support our services, held on a monthly basis.

Lara, the Entertainments Officer, continues to be a great support to us, and it is encouraging that a good number of staff are attending the services - the average number attending continues to be around 10 – 20 (about a third of that number being staff),

The staff tell us that they hear the residents singing some of our worship songs during the week, which is a great encouragement!

The services continue to be tailored to meet the needs of those attending, bearing out the ongoing truth that keeping the message of our faith as simple as possible continues to be effective for all!

We have the privilege of celebrating all of the Christian festivals, with the Christmas service being the highlight, with more attendees than any other service - followed by coffee and mince pies, kindly supplied by the home.

We continue to build up valuable relationships with the staff, who have invited us as a church to help with funerals when sadly needed.

Many thanks again to our team of Amanda Dauncey, Rob Watson, Rev Manda, Michael Holt and Linda Yates for continuing to make the services a success every month.

John (one of the residents) continues to attend Sunday services in church on a regular basis, and other residents have also attended our Super Saturday events

We continue to trust that God is using these services to plant the message of salvation deep in the hearts of all attending, and trust that He will continue to do so.

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

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St Mary’s Wythall Annual Report 2024

The Mission Committee has been joined this year by Janet Smith, so now consists of Janet, Jenny Clark, Rob Watson and Pam Miller. We’re not closed - anyone with an interest in mission is welcome to talk to us about joining. Our role is to spearhead the church’s response to Jesus’ command to ‘go into all the world to preach the gospel’. We aim to do this by keeping the church informed about the work of our mission partners, by bringing new causes to the attention of the church, and ensuring that mission matters are included in the weekly intercessions on a regular basis. Each month a prayer section in the news sheet gives information about one of our partners so that we can all be prayerfully involved in their work. This year we have also produced prayer boards with information about our mission partners Caroline and Ultan, and Kira Farm and Bolivia. These rotate each month and are updated with the latest information we have for prayer.

We also recommend to the PCC how the tithe of the church’s income should be distributed, and the following gifts were made in 2025:

Project Moroto (Alakara orphan girls’ home) £520 (agreed in 2024)

AIM £500 for TEE project in Moroto £500 (agreed in 2024)

Teach Beyond £500 for Rachel Gidney in Kenya (agreed in 2024)

Just Caring £1000

Tear Fund £1000

Betel £1000

Sat7 £1000

Bishop of Bolivia visit £500, personal gift £500

Centro Cristiano Church, Citta Della Pieve, Italy (known to Marcus

and Nic) £500. Marcus and Nic’s ministry trip to this church £500

Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza £500

Gift for John, Ordinand in Uganda £200 (to purchase a water filter)

Mission Aviation Fellowship £500

‘TikTok Vicar’ £1000 for free Bibles for his Bible give-away project

Barnabas Aid £1000 for Sudan

Open Doors £1000

Prison Chaplaincy Support £875

Donations at our Christmas services raised £200, which we gave to HCLC for the food bank. A total of £342 was sent to The Children’s Society from boxes held by members of the congregation and the collection at the Christingle service.

Our Kira Farm student, Erick, corresponded regularly by email with Pam, and was full of enthusiasm for all that he was learning. Like all our previous students, he gained a much more positive outlook on life and left with new skills to share with his community and to help lift his family out of poverty.

A highlight of the year was the Mission Day in November, when speakers from Just Caring and Betel updated us on their work, before a soup and dessert lunch. In the afternoon Bishop Walter from Bolivia shared about the churches and projects he is responsible for. It was a valuable time and we shall consider whether to repeat something similar in 2026. Separately, we had visits from Caroline and Ultan (also known to us as

20

Joshua), who told us about their work, and Rachel Gidney, who was part of this church as a child, and shared about her plans to teach in Kenya.

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

Pam Miller

I Kings Norton, Moseley & Shirley Deanery Synod

The Deanery Synod of Kings Norton, Moseley and Shirley has met on three occasions during 2025 and the main agenda items included the following:

1 March 2025

Deanery Synod met at St Lawrence Church Centre, Northfield and the speakers were

Dr Jan Smart, Diocesan Secretary who is responsible for governance, HR, Strategy and Comms and Andy Winmill, Director of Mission Support. Together they presented a number of slides designed to explore the interplay between Diocesan Mission Strategy and mission strategies being developed in parishes and by oversight areas, and how they might develop and interact.

Nick Forknell, the lay chair of the Synod then put to them some pre submitted questions, and questions were also invited from the floor.

Acting Area Dean Gordon Steele gave an update on the vacancy for Area Dean. Interviews will take place on 10 March 2025

The meeting was closed with prayer

18 June 2025

Deanery Synod met at Holy Trinity Church, Lickey

The main speakers were Caroline Egan, Assistant Diocesan Environmental Adviser and Ben Smith, Net Zero Carbon Project Manager. They delivered a PowerPoint presentation about climate change, with various suggestions about how churches and individuals might make changes to help improve our carbon footprint. It was a long presentation so there was no time for questions from the floor but the speakers agreed to stay behind to answer anyone’s pressing questions

After a few notices the Synod was then closed with prayer.

22 October 2025

Deanery Synod met at St Pauls Church Centre, Balsall Heath

New Area Dean, Rev Mark Bennett introduced Bishop Michael who had come to speak about the

Church of England Birmingham National Funding Award. The vision is to use this gift to further Growing Churches and flourishing schools at the heart of each community. He delivered a talk about using entrepreneurial and innovative gifts to deliver a strategy based upon the four pillars of Sustainability, Leadership, Parish Growth, Church Planting and Revitalisation. Synod then split into Oversight Area groups, appointed a scribe and noted down points arising from various questions which were put to us. After a time of discussion, feedback from each group was then invited. Jan Smart, Diocesan Secretary, and Bishop Michael then addressed some of the questions arising.

After a few additional notices the meeting was closed with prayer.

Current representatives are Lynda Rogers and clergy.

21

Lynda Rogers will step down at the end of her second term of service in May 2026

Lynda Rogers

Electoral Roll

As of 31st December 2025 the Electoral Roll was 96. This year we have prepared a new roll, as per the instructions from the Church of England, we now have 103 on roll.

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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 2025 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, and now also on occasional Wednesdays. 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 10-19 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 2025 we supported the organisations listed on page 20.

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

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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 Those on the Electoral Roll of St. Mary’s
Wythall
JENNIFER CLARK as above
JUDITH EMERY Reader Untl 11th May 2025 as above
LYNDA ROGERS Deanery Synod Rep as above
JULIE CROXFORD as above
JULIE ARKELL as above
AMANDA DAUNCEY Safeguarding Ofcer as above
PAUL HARRISON Church Warden as above
PAUL FEATHERSTONE as above
LLINOS LOOKER as above
DEBORAH BROCKBANK as above
JOANNE DARBY as above
PAMELA MILLER Treasurer Co-opted by PCC
ROS HARRISON PCC Secretary 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 31/12/25 the total of the reserves fund was £ 1,076,840

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

24

St Mary’s Wythall Parochial Church Council Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 Statement of Accounting Policies

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2011 together with applicable accounting standards and the Charities FRSSE SORP.

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention except for the valuation of certain investment assets, which are shown at market value.

Funds

The general funds represent the funds of the PCC that are not subject to any restrictions regarding their use and are available for the application of the general purposes of the PCC. Funds designated for a particular purpose by the PCC are also unrestricted. Restricted funds are only available for use for the purpose for which the funds have been raised. During 2015, the PCC decided that the Building Fund be renamed the Reserve fund. The balances therein are available as unrestricted reserves.

Incoming resources

Voluntary income and capital sources

Collections are recognised when received by or on behalf of the PCC. Planned giving receivable under Gift Aid is also recognised only when received. Income tax recoverable on Gift Aid donations is recognised when the income is recognised.

Grants and legacies to the PCC are accounted for as soon as the PCC is notified of its legal entitlement, the amount is quantifiable and the ultimate receipt by the PCC is reasonably certain.

Income from investments

Dividends are accounted for when due and payable. Interest entitlements are accounted for when they accrue.

Gains and losses on investments

Unrealised gains or losses are accounted for on revaluation of investments at 31 December.

Resources used

Actvites directly relatng to the work of the church

The diocesan parish share (“quota”) is accounted for when paid. Any parish share unpaid at 31 December is provided in these accounts as a constructive (though not legal) liability and is shown as a creditor in the balance sheet.

Assets and liabilities

Fixed assets

Property

Freehold land is not depreciated. Freehold property is depreciated over an estimated useful life of 50 years. The new church building is depreciated over 50 years to nil residual value.

25

Fixed assets (contnued)

Other fixtures, fittings and office equipment

Equipment used by the church for services and office equipment in the vicarage is capitalised and depreciated to its residual value (usually nil) over its estimated useful life from the date of commissioning. Estimated useful lives range from 3 years (for computers and software), 8 years for furniture and 9 years for the replacement sound / vision equipment in the church.

Investments

Investments are valued at market value at 31 December.

Current assets / liabilites

Current assets, including estimated income tax recoverable, are shown as debtors less provision for amounts that may prove uncollectible.

Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired

in the ordinary course of business from suppliers and recorded at transaction price.

Short-term deposits include cash held on deposit with the CBF Church of England Funds.

26

Wythall Parochial Church Council Financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025

Statement of Financial Activities

Unrestricted Restricted TOTAL TOTAL
Funds Funds 2025 2024
Note £ £ £ £
Incoming Resources
Voluntary Income 2(a) 148,045 148,045 179,420
Actvites for generatng funds 2(b) 19,349 19,349 16,449
Income from investments 2(c) 7,711 7,711 6,588
Church actvites 2(d) 5,647 5,647 15,424
Total Income 180,752 180,752 217,882
EXPENDITURE
Church actvites 3(a) 195,566 195,566 176,965
Raising funds 3(b)
Total expenditure 195,566 195,566 176,965
Net income / expenditure before investment gains (14,814) (14,814) 40,916
Net gains on investments (2,235) (2,235) 3,293
Net income / expenditure (17,049) (17,049) 44,210
Transfer between funds
Net movement in funds (17,049) (17,049) 44,210
Total funds brought forward 1,098,889 5,000 1,103,889 1,059,680
Total funds carried forward 1,081,840 5,000 1,086,840 1,103,889

27

Wythall Parochial Church Council Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2025

Balance sheet at 31 December 2025

Note
2025 2024
£ £
Fixed assets
Tangible fxed assets (including 5 The Willows and 247 Alcester Rd) 6 787,472 806,654
Investments 7 167,528 165,554
Current assets
Debtors - principally amounts due from Inland Revenue 8 29,501 33,543
CBF deposits 47,879 45,806
Cash at bank and in hand 57,954 56,309
135,334 135,658
Current liabilites
Liabilites: Amounts falling due within one year 9 (3,494) (3,977)
Net current assets 131,840 131,681
Net assets 1,086,840 1,103,889
Funds
Unrestricted: General 239,865 251,204
Unrestricted: Designated 841,975 803,476
Restricted (For young people in Wythall & Hollywood) 10 5,000 5,000
Total 1,086,840 1,103,889

28

Wythall Parochial Church Council Financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 Notes to the accounts

Notes to the accounts Notes to the accounts Notes to the accounts
1.The accountng policies adopted in these accounts are shown in the statement of Accountng Policies.
Unrestricted funds include the general fund and the reserve fund (a fund designated by the PCC)
2.Income is analysed below
Unrestricted Restricted TOTAL TOTAL
funds funds 2025 2024
£ £ £ £
2(a)Voluntary Income
Planned giving: Gif aid donatons 108,512 108,512 124,918
Tax recoverable 28,177 28,177 32,463
Other 4,981 4,981 7,417
Collectons cash 3,929 3,929 4,811
Gifs 1,689 1,689
Donatons, appeals 9,046
Specifc charity collectons 415 415 560
Children’s Society 342 342 205
Legacies
Voluntary income 148,045 148,045 179,420
2(b)Actvites for generatng funds
Hall letngs 900 900 690
Property rental / Diocesan contributon 18,449 18,449 15,759
Actvites for generatng funds 19,349 19,349 16,449
2(c)Income from investments
Inland Revenue and bank deposit interest 2,576 2,576 3,061
Dividends on CCLA investments 5,135 5,135 3,527
Income from investments 7,711 7,711 6,588
2(d) Income from church actvites
Fees for weddings and funerals 650 650 1,390
Spring harvest / Uganda 8,472
Outreach 1,040 1,040 696
Socials 592 592 359
Scof 520
Course and other book sales / visitng speak- 651 651 352
Church weekend 904
Youth 249 249
Sundry 436 436 340
Discretonary income / expense 300 300 300
Recycling / Easy fundraising / Amazon 41 41 51
Outstanding cheques released 200 200
Litle Lights 1,488 1,488 2,040
Income from church actvites 5,647 5,647 15,424
TOTAL INCOME 180,752 180,752 217,882

~~29~~

Wythall Parochial Church Council Financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 Notes to the accounts continued.

Notes to the accounts contnued.
3. Expenses are analysed below
Unrestricted Restricted TOTAL TOTAL
funds funds 2025 2024
£ £ £ £
3(a) Church actvites
Missionary and charitable giving 15,235 15,235 14,689
Diocesan Parish share 73,500 73,500 61,222
Maintenance of the ministry (clergy expenses) 3,309 3,309 2,268
Upkeep of services (hall rental and maintenance) 5,680 5,680 8,201
PCC property 7,897 7,897 3,007
Sunday school 912 912 932
General Parish expenses (church ofce related) 3,840 3,840 3,702
Salaries of church staf (administrator, childrens / youth work- 53,411 53,411 42,851
ers)
Depreciaton 19,182 19,182 19,448
Training / Growth 299 299 2,487
Spring Harvest / Uganda 9,535
Youth 2,053 2,053
Outreach 1,510 1,510 989
Socials 806 806 926
Scof 1,636 1,636 2,144
Course and other book sales / visitng speakers 586 586
Repairs 274 274 73
Church weekend 777
Sundry 360 360 344
Super Saturday 173 173 127
Discretonary income / expense 32
Elderly 228 228 118
Gifs 1,152 1,152 10
Kitchen 668 668 646
Cleaning 1,377 1,377 1,377
Litle Lights 1,479 1,479 1,062
Church actvites 195,566 195,566 176,965
3(b) No costs were incurred in respect of raising funds or church stewardship in the current period.
4. Staf costs
Wages and salaries included salaries of £47,564 (2024 £38,920), £4,767 (2024 £2,861) of Natonal Insurance and £904
pension contributons in respect of 2 (2024 2) employees.
5. The PCC has a target togive 10% of income to charity.

30

Wythall Parochial Church Council Financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 Notes to the accounts continued.

6. Fixed assets for use by the PCC

New building Church 5 The Willows Curate’s Total
equipment House
£ £ £ £ £
Cost brought forward 1/1/2025 482,631 85,764 253,765 292,351 1,114,510
Additons - - - - -
Cost carried forward 31/12/2025 482,631 85,764 253,765 292,351 1,114,511
Depreciaton brought forward at 1/1/2025 200,993 30,060 48,054 28,750 307,857
Charge for the year 7,586 5,998 2,598 3,000 19,182
Depreciaton carried forward at 31/12/2025 208,579 36,058 50,652 31,750 327,039
Net book value at 31/12/2025 274,052 49,706 203,113 260,601 787,472
Net book value at 31/12/2024 281,638 55,703 205,711 263,601 806,654

No fixed assets are carried at a valuation. Church equipment primarily comprises the stained glass window and the PA

7. Investment fixed assets

Movements during the year 2025 2024
£ £
Net book value brought forward - 1 January 165,554 129,638
Additons 4,209 32,623
Net (loss) / gain on revaluaton -2,235 3,293
Net book value carried forward 167,528 165,554

Holdings at 31/12/2025 included £72,618 (market value) in the Church of England fixed interest fund and £94,910 (market value) in the Church of England Investment fund.

8. Debtors include £28,002 of income tax yet to be recovered from HMRC (2024 £32,188)

9.Liabilites due within one year comprise:
2025 2024
£ £
Trade creditors 3,494 3,977
Deferred income
3,494 3,977
10.Restricted funds
During 2021, the church received a £5,000 donaton arising from the proceeds of the sale of Cornerstone Quest in
Wales. The donor requested that the funds are used for the beneft of the young people of Wythall and Hollywood. At

31

Wythall Parochial Church Council Financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 Notes to the accounts continued.

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
funds for 2025 and 2024
General fund Reserve fund Total General Reserve Total
unrestricted unrestricted
2025 2025 2025 2024 2024 2024
Voluntary income
Planned giving: gif aid donatons 108,512 108,512 124,918 124,918
Tax recoverable 28,177 28,177 32,463 32,463
Other 4,981 4,981 7,417 7,417
Collectons - cash 3,929 3,929 4,811 4,811
Gifs 1,689 1,689
Donatons, appeals 9,046 9,046
Specifc charity collectons 415 415 560 560
Children’s Society 342 342 205 205
Legacies
Voluntary income 148,045 148,045 179,420 179,420
Actvites for generatng funds
Hall letngs 900 900 690 690
Property rental / Diocesan contributon 18,449 18,449 15,759 15,759
Actvites for generatng funds 19,349 19,349 16,449 16,449
Income from investments
Inland Revenue and bank deposit interest 1,824 752 2,576 2,211 850 3,061
Dividends on CCLA investments 926 4,209 5,135 904 2,623 3,527
Income from investments 2,750 4,961 7,711 3,115 3,472 6,588
Income from church actvites
Fees for weddings and funerals 650 650 1,390 1,390
Spring harvest / Uganda 8,472 8,472
Outreach 1,040 1,040 696 696
Socials 592 592 359 359
Scof 520 520
Course and other book sales / visitng speak- 651 651 352 352
Church weekend 904 904
Youth 249 249
Sundry 436 436 340 340
Discretonary income / expense 300 300 300 300
Recycling / Easy fundraising / Amazon 41 41 51 51
Outstanding cheques released 200 200
Litle Lights 1,488 1,488 2,040 2,040
Income from church actvites 5,647 5,647 15,424 15,424
TOTAL INCOME 156,442 24,310 180,752 197,960 19,921 217,882

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Wythall Parochial Church Council Financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 Notes to the accounts continued.

11. Analysis of unrestricted funds
Expenses General fund Reserve fund Total General Reserve Total
unrestricted unrestricted
2025 2025 2025 2024 2024 2024
£ £ £ £ £ £
Church actvites
Missionary and charitable giving 15,235 15,235 14,689 14,689
Diocesan Parish share 73,500 73,500 61,222 61,222
Maintenance of the ministry 3,309 3,309 2,268 2,268
(clergy expenses)
Upkeep of services 5,680 5,680 8,201 8,201
(hall rental, church repairs)
PCC property 7,897 7,897 3,007 3,007
Sunday school 912 912 932 932
General Parish expenses 3,840 3,840 3,702 3,702
(church ofce and repairs)
Salaries of church staf 53,411 53,411 42,851 42,851
Depreciaton 5,998 13,184 19,182 6,159 13,288 19,448
Growth 299 299 2,487 2,487
Spring Harvest / Uganda 9,535 9,535
Youth 2,053 2,053
Outreach 1,510 1,510 989 989
Socials 806 806 926 926
Scof 1,636 1,636 2,144 2,144
Course and other book sales/ 586 586
visitng speakers
Other repairs 274 274 73 73
Church weekend 777 777
Sundry 360 360 344 344
Super Saturday 173 173 127 127
Discretonary expense 32 32
Elderly 228 228 118 118
Gifs (including leavers) 1,152 1,152 10 10
Kitchen 668 668 646 646
Cleaning 1,377 1,377 1,377 1,377
Litle Lights 1,479 1,479 1,062 1,062
Church actvites 174,485 21,081 195,566 160,670 16,296 176,965

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Wythall Parochial Church Council Financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 Notes to the accounts continued.

12. Unrestricted funds - summary income / expendi- 12. Unrestricted funds - summary income / expendi-
Incoming Resources
General fund Reserve fund Total General Reserve Total
unrestricted unrestricted
2025 2025 2025 2024 2024 2024
£ £ £ £ £ £
Voluntary Income 148,045 148,045 179,420 179,420
Actvites for generatng funds 19,349 19,349 16,449 16,449
Income from investments 2,750 4,961 7,711 3,115 3,472 6,588
Church actvites 5,647 5,647 15,424 15,424
Total Income 156,442 24,310 180,752 197,960 19,921 217,882
Expenditure
Church actvites (174,485) (21,081) (195,566) (160,670) (16,296) (176,965)
Raising funds
Total expenditure (174,485) (21,081) (195,566) (160,670) (16,296) (176,965)
Net income / expenditure (18,043) 3,229 (14,814) 37,291 3,626 40,916
Net gains on investments (1,332) (903) (2,235) 746 2,548 3,293
Net income / expenditure (19,375) 2,326 (17,049) 38,036 6,173 44,210
Transfer between funds (30,000) 30,000
Net movement in funds (19,375) 2,326 (17,049) 8,036 36,173 44,210
Total funds brought forward 259,240 839,649 1,098,889 251,204 803,476 1,054,680
Total funds carried forward 239,865 841,975 1,081,840 259,240 839,649 1,098,889

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Wythall Parochial Church Council Financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 Notes to the accounts continued.

Analysis of assets and liabilities by fund at 31 December 2025

Designated Total
General Reserve Unrestricted Restricted Total
£ £ £ £ £
Represented by:
Fixed assets 49,706 737,766 787,472 - 787,472
Debtors 28,427 1,074 29,501 - 29,501
Liabilities due within 1 year (3,494) - (3,494) - (3,494)
Bank account 103,274 (50,320) 52,954 5,000 57,954
CBF Deposits 29,964 17,915 47,879 - 47,879
CBF Investment Fund 31,988 62,922 94,910 - 94,910
CBF Fixed Interest - 72,618 72,618 - 72,618
239,865 841,975
1,081,840		 5,000 1,086,840

The total market of value of all bank balances, deposits and investments at 31 December 2025 was £273,162 (2024

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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 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

St. Mary’s online

Web

www.wythallchurch.net

facebook.com/StMarysWythall

Our YouTube channel is called St Mary’s Wythall

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

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