St Andrew’s Church Eccles Annual Report of the Parochial Church Council for the Year Ended 31 December 2022
Contents.................................................................................................1 Administrative Information.....................................................................2 Structure, Governance and Management...............................................2 Safeguarding Report...............................................................................3 Churchwardens’ Report..........................................................................3 St Andrew’s School Report.....................................................................4 Electoral Roll..........................................................................................5 Community Report.................................................................................5 SALT (Sunday School) Report.................................................................5 Home Group Report................................................................................6 Churches Together in Eccles Report.......................................................6 Deanery Synod Report...........................................................................6 Finance Review.......................................................................................7 Independent Examiner’s Report.............................................................8 Statement of Financial Activities Accounts................Accounts pages1-4 Parish Safeguarding policy.......................................................Appendix
The Parochial Church Council of the ecclesiastical parish of St Andrew Eccles Manchester.
Registered charity number 1132836
St Andrew’s Church Eccles
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Annual Report of the Parochial Church Council for the Year Ended 31 December 2022
Aims and Purposes
St Andrew’s Eccles PCC has the responsibility of co-operating with the Team Clergy in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish the whole mission of the Church - pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. It also has maintenance responsibilities for the church building.
Administrative Information
St Andrew’s Church is situated on Chadwick Rd, Eccles M30 0NZ. It is part of the Eccles Team Ministry in the Deanery of Salford and Leigh and in the Diocese of Manchester within the Church of England.
The correspondence address is The Vicarage, 11 Abbey Grove, Eccles M30 9QN. Website: www.standrewseccles.org
Structure, Governance and Management
The Parochial Church Council of the ecclesiastical parish of St Andrew, Eccles, Manchester is a registered charity (charity number 1132836). The method of appointment of PCC members and wardens is set out in the Church Representation Rules. Members of the PCC are either ex officio (being ordained clergy, members of the Deanery or Diocesan Synod or Church Wardens) or are elected at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting as PCC members. (Wardens and Deanery Synod representatives are also elected by the Annual Parochial Church Meeting). All Church attendees are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC.
PCC members who have served during 2022 and are ex officio
Rev Andrew Harper Team vicar and chair Rev Jennifer Lewis Ordained Local Minister and Curate Kevin Walton Church Warden (Lay chair) Valerie Slater Church Warden (till 24[th] April 2022) Richard Lewis/ PCC Treasurer Stephen Gibbison Safeguarding coordinator and Church Warden (from 24[th] April 2022) Deanery Synod member Diocesan Synod member Elected members Elaine Walton Reader Karen Gibbison Authorised Lay Minister (Children’s work) Jane Lowe PCC Secretary and Authorised Lay Minister (Community) Gaynor Bland (from 24[th] April 2022)
The PCC met 6 times during 2022. The average attendance was 83%. There were no Standing Committee meetings in 2022.
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Safeguarding Report
Statement of Intent: The parish will follow the Church of England guidance on safeguarding children and adults at risk, per the Parish Safeguarding Handbook, Updated August 2019.
The Church of England Parish safeguarding handbook can be accessed via a link within the diocese website, Navigate to it via Support for Parishes >> safeguarding >> Policies and Guidance Diocese of Manchester | Policies and Guidance (anglican.org) If anyone would like a hard copy of the handbook please ask the safeguarding co-ordinator.
The PCC reviewed and agreed to apply the Church of England model safeguarding policy on 14th March 2022. It was signed at the 2022 APCM on 24th April 2022. A signed copy of the policy is on the notice board in church and it is also published in this annual report.
Where roles require it, we are continuing to get our volunteers DBS checked and to complete the required training courses.
The Church of England Safer Recruitment guidance was updated and re-issued in April. One change in the safer recruitment guidance is that DBS checks will now be renewed every 3 years rather than every 5 years as had been the requirement previously. There are also additional demands placed on parishes tucked away in this new “guidance” such as the requirement that all roles must have a written Role Description and Person Specification. We shall have to consider the scope of this new “guidance” and how we stay compliant to it. Stephen Gibbison, Safeguarding coordinator.
Churchwardens’ Report
For St Andrew’s, and many churches in the Manchester Diocese and beyond, 2022 has been a year of recovery. For some churches, who were struggling prior to Covid, recovery has not happened and they will have to face the consequences of that. So we need to be thankful, that with God’s grace, we are still firmly planted in Eccles.
If we compare the average weekly attendance in 2019 to that of 2022 we see that, including baptism families, in 2019 it was 8 children and 29 adults and in 2022 it was 7 children and 25 adults. This is good news as we continue to nurture our young people and we thank our SALT leaders for all their loving work in continuing to share the Gospel in a meaningful way with them. But there is also a sadness as we remember those people who have died during Covid and the last year, or who are no longer able to worship with us because of illness: Alan Cooper, Edward Traynor, Jean Drummond, Doug Loach, Valerie Slater, and mixed feelings for Dan & Georgina Stirling and their sons Ezra and Micah as they left us when Georgina took up her new ministry role in Rochdale.
But enough of that, where is our growth? It’s in our community outreach. Carer & Toddlers started quietly, but continued to grow steadily, Arts & Crafts Workshop took off with a bang and the group continues to be well supported. Jane Lowe has made numerous applications for grant funding for this activity and it is her efforts that have enabled a professional tutor to continue to run these sessions. The need for a Foodbank distribution centre here in Eccles is evidenced by the number of food parcels we supplied to families: 292 households in 2022. The Friday café is also well attended and we thank those who give their baking skills and time to run the café. The dementia-friendly
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group meets every Friday and is growing in numbers. St Andrew’s and Branwood Schools both made educational visits during the year and we were pleased to welcome both schools for their annual Carol concerts. We were also pleased to welcome Salford City Academy to host their Transitional Concert for primary school children in Year 5 and 6, who would soon be moving to secondary education. The Ugandan Christian Fellowship International have continued to use St Andrew’s monthly and are very appreciative of our hospitality. Clearly there is a need for St Andrew’s and its worshipping community on this site and we must persevere with the work God has given us.
There is a wind of change whistling round what used to be the Eccles Deanery; we are now part of Salford and Leigh Deanery and specifically Mission Community 3, as reported last year, so what has happened since? A new Incumbent of Irlam and Cadishead has been appointed and he will become the Mission Community Leader, being installed in February 2023. Ross Garner, our Rector, took retirement in September and the process of appointing a new Rector has started. This will not be a quick process and we must wait patiently. Please pray that the right person will hear God’s call and the people selected to be on the interview panel will be given wisdom and discernment to choose the right person. We have been advised that in the longer term there will only be one stipendiary minister for the Eccles Benefice of four churches and therefore we need to plan a step change for our styles of worship as we move forward. Our new heating system was commissioned in January 2022 and what a difference that has made. I cannot remember the building being so warm all year round. We have used less gas in 2022 that we had in previous years, but due to the increase in gas prices the cost of heating has tripled. The major maintenance work discussed during 2022 are the repairs to the windows in the tower and work needed to remove the pigeon detritus from the masonry. Apart from some other minor ongoing repairs, the building is in a sound condition and we should anticipate a Quinquennial Inspection in 2023 by our architect.
Stephen and I would like to thank all those who have helped us maintain our worship during 2022 and those who, by various means, have been undertaking the pastoral care of our community throughout the year.
Kevin Walton & Stephen Gibbison
St Andrew’s C E Primary School Report for 2022
2022 was a year of getting back to normal as the disruption of Covid-19 subsided and the regulations around closures were removed. The school is still awaiting the now long overdue OFSTED visit. The lost time in education has had an impact on attainment of the children who left us in the summer (key stage 2). The results were lower than we hoped, particularly in Reading and Mathematics. Nationally all the results were still down on pre-Covid attainment, but our published figures were also lowered by a couple of children that we believed should have been excluded from our school statistics. (e.g., a child who left us in 2019 but returned to the school in March 2022, 2 months before the KS2 exams) The Government’s white paper has revitalised the push for academisation of all schools.
St Andrew’s is a Voluntary Controlled School, meaning the Local Authority is the controlling body and the “employer” of all the staff at the School. Funding comes via the Local Authority who retain a little of the money to cover some of their administration costs, but the bulk of the budget is delegated to the school and the Governing Board oversees its own budget.
In an academy, the academy trust is the employer and the Local Authority role is minimised to a liaison on admissions and some statutory oversight roles. As
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more schools leave the Local Authority to become academies the Local Authority will receive less funding to support the remaining schools, so resisting academisation would not be in the school’s interests as staying within the Local Authority support structure after it has been hollowed out would be either expensive to the school or harmful because the Local Authority won’t have the resources to support us. (Likely both).
So, St Andrews School will have to join a Multi-Academy Trust soon. The Governing Board will have to select a trust to join and needs to get it right because once a school is subsumed into a Multi-Academy Trust it cannot chose to withdraw from that Multi-Academy Trust if it doesn’t like it.
As part of an academy the school will have a Local Advisory Board, which will have limited powers and no foundation governors, so St Andrews Church will no longer have a statutory right to appoint any governors onto the school board. The school currently works well with several other local primary schools in “clusters”.
We work particularly well with Christ Church and Lewis Street schools. The Diocese is causing frustration across the Salford primary schools as they are limiting our options for joining a Multi-Academy Trust. We have been told that we must join one of the established Multi-Academy Trusts that the Diocese of Manchester is already working with. We cannot set up a new MAT with the schools we currently work with or join a Multi-Academy Trust that the Diocese of Manchester is not already involved with. This dictation of terms is a poor starting point for our journey to academisation.
The “cost of living crisis” has certainly been seen and felt within the school family. Staff are having to make many more referrals for support through the official channels for our children and their families. Staff are also living the school values, going above and beyond by personally supporting children and families in need by sourcing food or clothes for them. Our breakfast club is an example of an existing arrangement that is flexing to support any child that arrives hungry. The School is issuing the food vouchers to cover holidays and has good as new uniforms available, though many families are still proud and reluctant to ask for help.
As October 2022, the school was rather full with 228 pupils, 125 boys and 103 girls 110 children (48%) speak English as an additional language.
80 children (35%) are classed as disadvantaged, and 40 are vulnerable.
Stephen Gibbison, Foundation Governor & Vice Chair of Governors.
Electoral Roll Report 2022
On 31[st] December 2022 there were 34 names on the Electoral Roll. During the year we welcomed one new member James Gibbison and were saddened by the deaths of 3 members Hazel Kimber, Eddie Traynor and Jean Drummond all of whom are very much missed.
Jane Lowe
Community Report
During the year St Andrew’s continued to host a distribution centre for the Salford Foodbank which is part of the Trussell Trust network of foodbanks on Monday afternoons. Foodbank volunteers (some from Eccles Team churches and others from the wider community) served refreshments and gave out bags of food to people who came with vouchers issued by professionals or voluntary organisations. Advice was provided by an advisor from Salford Citizens’ Advice. Toddler Group for preschool children accompanied by an adult continued to take place on Tuesday mornings. Children had the opportunity to play with a
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variety of toys, listen to a Bible themed story and have a go at a craft activity based on the story. The story and craft activity followed the scheme used by some churches in Bolton and devised by Steph Openshaw (Manchester Diocese Children Changing Places Project, Early Years Worker) for whose help and guidance I am very grateful.
The Art and Craft workshop continued to run on Tuesday afternoons led a professional tutor (financed by grants) providing an activity and a chance to socialise for mainly (but not exclusively) older numbers of the community. The Community Café on Friday mornings also continued to attract members of the local community as did the dementia friendly sessions for older sports fans run by the Sporting Memories Foundation while the cafe is open.
It is our hope that all these activities as well as meeting local needs in a variety of ways will help us increase our links with the local community and show people the love of Jesus. I would also like to express my gratitude to all those who give up their time to help run these activities.
Jane Lowe
SALT (Sunday School) Report
We continue to have a small number of regular families who week by week join us as we learn about God and explore bible stories. This year we looked at exploring feelings such as being happy with Mary and being afraid with Gideon, then we looked at creation Pentecost and explored the theme of being salt and light.
We play games, read and act out the stories and have prayer and craft time. We continue to display our work on the notice board and then it goes in scrapbooks . Our nativity looked at the Wise men and their Journey following the star and then we enjoyed a Christmas party
Thank you to Kate for her loyalty fun and her creativity who turns my plans into reality. Thank you to Marian for choosing to bring her children and for her invaluable help.
Thank you to all our very special children who share their fun and creativity with us.
Please continue to pray for us and ask us what we are learning about.
Karen Gibbison
Home Group Report
Throughout 2022 the group sessions were again conducted using Zoom, meeting on Tuesday evenings, more or less during school term times.
From the start of the year up to Lent, we carried on, by request, with studies on Genesis, following first of all Jacob’s story and the beginning of Joseph’s.
The story of Jacob, full of deceit, quarrels, getting to know God, letting God down, then ultimately reconciling to both God and his twin brother, reminded us, first of all, how God works with imperfect, often unreliable people, and yet ensures his plans come to fulfilment. Secondly, in Jacob’s relationship with his brother, Esau, we were shown how even shattered relationships can be repaired through
humility, acknowledgement and confession of wrongdoing, and forgiveness. Not only is this a good example for us in our human relationships, but it mirrors how we are reconciled to God.
In her role as chair of Churches Together in Eccles, Jenny again organised and led a Lent course via Zoom, for which we are grateful.
After Easter we continued through the book of Genesis and Joseph’s dramatic story, featuring arrogance, jealousy, betrayal, injustice, reward, faith, compassion, forgiveness, reconciliation. It’s a story that’s familiar to many of us,
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but rich with lessons to build up our faith and reassure us that, even in what seem to be the most desperate of situations, God keeps his purposes on track. After working through the whole of the book of Genesis, a very different set of studies followed, focusing on various types of prayer: Great Prayers of the Bible. These sessions encouraged us in ways to pray in all circumstances, and to be imaginative in how we pray.
For the autumn term we turned to 1 & 2 Thessalonians, with a series subtitled ‘How Can I Be Sure’. Digging into these two books helped us to focus on the hope we have that everyone who believes and trusts in Jesus Christ is assured of salvation and will share eternal life with him. It’s hope that helps us to keep steadfast in faith, even while going through difficult times.
Thank you to everyone who joined in our sessions throughout the year, despite the fact we were not yet able to meet in person.
Elaine Walton
Churches Together in Eccles Report
St Andrew’s representatives: Mrs Barbara Holmes and Mrs Emma Harper. We carried on with our usual programme of events, joined by two new member churches. We had an increased number attending Carols at the Cross & a good attendance at the A.G.M. in November. Rev. Jenny. Lewis agreed to continue as our chairperson pro tem. We have a good programme in place for this year. Barbara Holmes
Deanery Synod Report
Deanery Synod has met three times during 2022, but the year started with a Formation day. The subject of all four meetings has been establishing and developing the Mission Communities.
At the Formation days in each of the Mission Communities were we were asked to consider the topic “My Mission Passion is…” and then under each of the headings Growing, Nurturing, Serving, three subheadings of “What’s already happening…. What’s Ready to Go…. Where do we need a shared approach….”. At the April Synod meeting the output from the Formation days was shared with the Synod and feedback, observations and questions were invited from those present.
At the July meeting the main topic was “Work with Young People in Schools”. There was a video presentation by Karen Beal, Diocesan Children’s Officer. Reference was made to Bolton Deanery’s ‘Children Changing Places’ project and the learning from experiences there. Different ideas and strategies were offered for C of E schools, non-C of E schools, higher schools and some general overarching principles.
At the November meeting Synod received the Deanery Mission Action Plan, a formidable document, under the headings of Growing, Nurturing, Serving and Sustainability.
Key indicators to be achieved will be a return to pre-Covid attendances by 2026 … development of initiatives in the most deprived communities … and the growth of work with young people (under 16s). The Rev Robert Jackson has been appointed as Mission Community Leader for Eccles/Irlam, being installed as Incumbent of Irlam and Cadishead in February 2023.
Kevin Walton and Stephen Gibbison
Financial Review 2022
The full details of the income and expenditure for 2022 can be seen in the Accounts pages of this Annual Report.
Thanks to your generosity, St Andrew’s has again met all its commitments to support the ministry in our parish and in our Diocese. 2022 has been a year of consolidation for the church finances. There has been no major unexpected
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expenditure and we have received some very generous one-off gifts during the year and at our annual gift day. The Accounts therefore show that our unrestricted funds had a healthy surplus.
Planned giving for the year was £24,318 compared to £25,935 in 2021. A special thank you to everyone who continued to set aside money each week in envelopes or each month by standing order direct to the bank. We note with regret the death of a number of faithful and generous donors during 2022. Their passing means that the expected income from our planned giving scheme will be less than 2022 unless there are further increases in giving from existing members or new members joining.
Overall it is difficult to compare our total income and expenditure with previous year’s income because both 2021 and 2022 included large grants. Final bills for the major expenditure on the heating replacement project were paid at the beginning of 2022. The good news is that the heating system is working well and we are using the amount of gas that we anticipated. We are grateful to a grant from the Diocese to help with our energy bills however due to the significant increases we are all face in energy bills, the church utility bills will increase in 2023 by more than £5,000.
Due to the removal of all restrictions imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, our community outreach projects were able to run for the whole of the year but income from these activities has not yet returned to the level received in 2019. The PCC continued to honour its commitment to donate 10% of collections and planned giving to charities. £3,590 was donated to our supported charities (see accounts page 3 for further details). Parish Share (our contribution to the costs of our Diocese) was £19,584. Due to our falling attendance numbers our Parish Share has been reduced in 2023.
All the things mentioned in this whole report are made possible by your generosity. Thank you.
Richard Lewis, Hon Treasurer
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Independent examlnerfs report to the PCC of St Andrew Eccles I report to the PCC on my eXaminatic of the acLU)unts of St ArKlrew's Ecdes PCC for the year ended 31 st December 2022 which are set out on pages 1 to 4. Responslbllltles and basis of the report As the charity trustees of the PCC you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act.). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in Lxrrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 14515}{b) of the Act. Independent Examinerfs Statement I have completed my examination. I confinn that material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect. accounting records were not kept in resF*Ct of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or 2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or I have no conM$ and have come across no other matlers in (x)nnection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the aC(untS to be reached. J,Lol_ John Price 23 Ellenhall Close. Harpurhey. Manchester M9 5XG Date 30th January 2023
P2rochi21 Church Council of St_ Androw_ Eccles Parochlal Church Councll of St. Andrew. Eccles Parochial Church Council of St. Andrew Eccles 3. Further Receip1 Totsl 2021 O al All other 91Tr1 B6 Sl 01n8nd ¢ fj Cknwyyrwl co Ll 343 731 CelOn Legactèsi Grnnts l L¢ 1.7 1.700 1.647 Z.lJ43 2.441 3.230 bl ACtivili fo Funds ra 91 Chwth nrnirvJ•Apwty Church buAthJ iMwovw 41.482 41.482 I IncLThJ fro Slatsth I Café in tt 7.577 1.577 1,538 Ut Chur¢h ublity ixHs 6.069 3.310 3,694 3,535 Rén rto 29 dl Othw EthT 720 4.624 1,930 1.834 2,163 1.555 Ri •) IIi8SiOn afv•5b 176 14284 41.482 61.B35 73,311 The PCCI andwi events to 1 4 Hi The de& ci STASF COSTS Chad Tear Fur ReVNe Inl to Fc C.M.S IAF (>ealer M, Chrislian I DEC (Uth Barbus Royal Br1 Sl Ann's H ECCLES TEAM Loves and wl% Str FrdtK¥s H( Accounts page 4
The Parish of St Andrew's, Eccles. SAFEGUARDING POLICY PROMOTING A SAFER CHURCH The following policy was aged at the ParcKhial Church Council (PCCI meeting held on 14th March 2022. In accordance wrth the Church of England Safeguarding Policy our thurch is committ&J to: Promoting a safer environment and culture. Safely recruiling and supporting all those with any responsibility related to children, young people and vulnerable adults vmhin the church. Responding promptly to every safeguarding concem or allegation. Caring pastorally for vicknmslsurvivors of abuse and other affected persons. Caring pastorally for those who are the sUbJt of corKems or allegations of abuse and other affected persons. Responding to th¢)se that may pose a present risk to others. The Parish will= Create a safe and caring place for all Have a named Parish Safeguarding Offiw (PSO) to work the incumbent and the PCC to implement policy and procedures. Safely recruit, train and support all those with any reswnsibility for children. young people and adults lo have the confidence and skills lo recognise and respond to abuse. Ensure that there is appropriate insurance cover for all activit involving children and adults undertaken in the name of the parish. Display in church premises and on the Parish website the details of who to contact if there are safeguarding concerns or support needs. Listen to and take seriously all those who disclose abuse. Take steps to ptotect children and adults when a safeguarding concern of any kind arises, following House of Bishops guidance, including nob"fying the Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser IDSAI and ststutory agencies immediately. Offer support to vidlmslsulvoTS of abuse regardless of the type of abuse, when or where it occurred. Care for and monitor any memter of the church community who may pose a risk to children and adults whilst maintaining appropriate confidenbality and the safety of all parties. Ensure that health and safety policy, prc¢edures and risk assessments are in place and that these are reviewed annually. Review the implementation of the Safeguarding POIy, Procedures and practi at least annually. Each person who works wthin this church communrty will agr& to abide by this policy and the guidelines established by this church. This churGh appoints Mr Stephen Gibbison as the Parish Safeguarding Officer Incumbent". Rev. Andy Harper Churchwardens". Mr Kevin Walton l Lkl Mr Stephen Gibbison
Appendix - SAFEGUARDING POLICY PROMOTING A SAFER CHURCH
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