2023-12-31-accounts

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The Parish Church of St. James West End

Annual Report of the Parochial Church Council for the year ended 31[st] December, 2023

Exofficiomembers:
Vicar	RevdVMaunder	Chairman	(FromJune2019)
AssociatePriest	RevdLGalvin	ViceChair	(FromJuly2015-May2018)
		Chairman	(FromJuly2018-June2019)
LLM	MrsCKidd	SafeguardingOfficer	(FromNovember2010)
LLM	MrAJenkins	LLMEmeritus	(FromAugust2020)
Wardens:	MrSLangridge	ViceChair	(Firstelected2018)To2024
	MrsDBarnes	DeputyViceChair	(Firstelected2020)To2026
Electedmembers:
Representativeson	MrPLittlejohns		(UntilAPCM2026)
theDeanerySynod	MrsCKidd	SafeguardingOfficer	(UntilAPCM2026)
	MrsBMcDowell		(UntilAPCM2024)2
	MrNBecket	AssistantWarden	(UntilAPCM2024)1
	MsJillMarten		(UntilAPCM2024)1
	MrDForster	Co-opted	(UntilAPCM2024)
	MrsAClover		(UntilAPCM2025)1
	MrFAmonya		(UntilAPCM2025)1
	MrSAlexander		(UntilAPCM2025)1
	MrsFWeston		(UntilAPCM2025)2
	MrsJCastle		(UntilAPCM2025)2
	MrsROwton		(UntilAPCM2026)2
	MissLSpratt		(UntilAPCM2026)1
	MissMBlake		(UntilAPCM2026)1
	MrsJHollingsworth	TreasurerandGiftAid	(UntilAPCM2026)1
		Secretary

Sl James, Churth, West End aims to keep uncoMrri￿ rt fmancjal assets wthin 3 and 6 monlhs aye￿ge rcNJline cDsts pr￿lSe$ to take c(¥rective acticm ithHI 3 ff￿th$ rf unr£ffimthd ￿ finanaal assets fall outsmle of these lirnts. Al the end of D￿nts1. tr￿$ equaw to betsw £32,595 and £51.1gxi. The cash b￿an￿ of £59.373 hebj on unrestrided lindudiThJ deswatedl ftwKls al ts year eTrJ. tC43ether I￿th Ihe affKsunts payable to and frcrfn the PCC ex(wtsJ this la Receipts and paY￿nts are reviv￿1 ￿ a t￿￿jnthty bas￿ by the PCC via rermxts dk81nbuted by Ihe Treasuier. Tru$tees' Rewmlblllt The Chariti8s Acl 2011 Tw]iires the tnJste8S to Fwre finaThia state￿￿ financaal year whK p￿sents a and tsir viert of the stste of affa'r5 01 the Charity and ofthe of the Chartty for that pericJ. In preparirKJ th(tse finanol ststennts the trustees are required to.. Select suitsble ac¢wnbNJ Fdlies aTrJ Ihem ¢onsislenUy Make judgements and estirnates that are Teagjnable and pnjjenl Prepare finanaal ststenEnts on the c(Mcem tési8 unless it is ￿[1¥(￿1e lo presun that tr trust (J)nti￿ in exthrtt. The trustees ate re5pon%Lle ft>r ke4irKJ kyrw ac{Xwntir￿ recjyts. dtsckne wrth reasnnable accuracy at any tinE the financia of the Charity. They a￿ also ￿8[￿nsib[& for safeguarding Ihe 8ssets of the Chanty and hence ￿ laking reag)nat4e steps IN the We¥￿IK￿ and deteC￿n of fraud and Otr￿T irreg(daribes. AFprov&J by the TnJ5tees cn: Ilk 20 Si9ngJ on their tehaif by Twsle8.' Name..

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT ON THE ACCOUNTS

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the PCC of St James' Church, West End for the year ended 31st December 2023 set out on pages 12 to 18.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the Charity Trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ("the Act").

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of PCC of St James' Church, West End are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity's accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 ('the 2011 Act'). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiner's statement

I have completed my examination and confirm that no 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 respect of PCC of St James' Church,West End as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or

the accounts do not accord with those records.

the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair view' which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or

the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed:

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Dated: 19.4.24

K Gomes FCIE MMT Independent Examiners Ltd Unit 2 ,The Broadbridge Business Centre Delling Lane Bosham W. Sussex PO18 8NF

• St James' Church, West End Annual Report

Page9

Note INCOMINGRESOURCES Voluntary income: 2a Activities for generatingfunds 2b Investment income 2c Churchactivities 2d TOTALINCOMINGRESOURCES RESOURCESEXPENDED Capital Expenditure: 3a ChurchActivities: 3b Costsof generatingfunds Governancecosts Charitable Activities TOTALRESOURCESEXPENDED NETINCOMING/OUTGOINGRESOURCES BEFORETRANSFERS Transferbetweenfunds 7 Brought forward as at 1st January 2023 Carried forward as at 31st December2023	Unrestricted Restricted TOTAL TOTAL Funds Funds 2023 2022 £ £ £ £ 83420 6739 90159 87143 4490 1839 6329 13637 558 84 642 138 15307 24915 40222 37913
	103775 33577 137352 138831
	5880 9832 15712 21087 92901 25777 118678 110397 1576 31 1607 1935 600 0 600 540 1471
	100957 35640 136597 135430
	2818 -2063 755 3401 -1424 1424 0 0
	1394 -639 755 3401 57979 9910 67889 64488
	59373 9271 68644 67889

PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF STJAMES. CHURCH WEST END SOUTHAMPTON STATEMENT OF ASSETS ¥V40 UA8IUTIES FOR THE YEAR EPIOED 31 DECEMBER 2023 Unrestr￿ted Ilestr*ted TOTAL FuThJs Funds 2023 TOTAL 2022 Note CUAAENT ASSEIS Bank Current k¢ounts Bank LIqu￿lty A(cour 13956 789) S4688 59999 51065 3623 59373 9271 67889 HMRC Charities Tax Claim. Q4. 2023 Church Hall letti￿ ftes 976 1071 976 1071 649 128 2047 2047 777 61420 9271 70691 Independent Examiner Fee Payments due to MIssloTh￿ChIltil¢$ Other Ille events payrnents due W•ddin8 deposits Chur¢h Hall Se¢urlty DeposWs 39 1039 559 2ts) 20) 790 701•l Cr•dltorn 650 2328 2978 NET CURRENT AS5Ers 60rn 67713 Inventory assets ie furnishinqs. frttinls and equiprrent includin8 a photLKower and VaflOUS Karden mKhinery, for ecdesiastical use. are vested in the Virar and Churthwarden5 as custodian trustees. ppro¥•d on: nN •K<iL &-24 on tsehalltsv: N•M• In Full: Pwii

a) Voluntary Income Planned Giving CollectionsatServices Gift Aid recovered Grants Donations Legacy b) Activities for generating funds Christmas market Christmas tree festival AwayInA Manger event Jubilee events/BBQ Organ repair fund raising 200 Clublottery Other HOPEcommittee fundraising c) Investment income Bank interest d) Church activities Parish magazine sales Parish magazine advertising Parochial feesforweddings and funerals Refreshment contributions WarmSpacesdonations Votives Church and Hall lettings Note Trading (plants, books,recycling etc) Life Events receipts	Unrestricted Restricted TOTAL Funds £ 52155 5028 12990 0 3247 10000 Funds £ 6739 2023 £ 52155 5028 12990 0 9986 10000 TOTAL 2022 £ 51149 5715 14078 1900 9301 5000
	83420 6739 90159 87143
	£ 1297 0 568 1401 0 930 294 £ 1839 £ 1297 0 568 1401 0 930 294 1839 £ 1085 3899 0 2521 3322 924 501 1385
	4490 1839 6329 13637
	£ 558 £ 84 £ 642 £ 138
	558 84 642 138
	305 660 5413 962 89 283 7186 409 1905 23010 305 660 7318 962 89 283 7186 409 23010 300 1546 10054 1174 0 278 4491 221 19849
	15307 24915 40222 37913

.AnalysisofResourcesEx~ended
Note a) CapitalExpenditure Lady Chapelroofrepairs Bell Tower repairs (50%) Organ repair Photocopier b) ChurchActivities Diocesan parish contribution Clergy and staffing costs Church running expenses 3b(i) Hall running costs Mission giving and donations 3b(ii) Life Events payments 3b(i) ChurchRunningExpenses: Insurance Gasand electricity Church repairs and maintenance Organ servicing and repairs Costsofservices Printing, stationery & communications Childrensworksupport costs Parish magazine production 3b(ii) Missiongivinganddonations Outreach and books Pastoral team support costs WarmSpaces Stay andPlay Music project Charitable donations: ThroughtheRoof Churches TogetherHEWEB ARocha Deanery Synod HOPEmission fund(note6)	Unrestricted Restricted TOTAL TOTAL Funds Funds 2023 2022 £ £ £ £ 6432 6432 3400 3400 21087 5880 5880
	5880 9832 15712 21087
	50678 50678 54966 11728 11728 10481 23201 1928 25129 18794 5669 5669 4430 1625 1338 2963 2207 22511 22511 19519
	92901 25777 118678 110397
	3370 3370 3161 11219 11219 5518 1058 1058 2779 2183 784 2967 700 2332 1144 3476 3774 1807 1807 1526 704 704 832 528 528 504
	23201 1928 25129 18794
	314 314 582 157 157 103 49 49 51 885 885 0 so so 100 100 so so 20 20 1338 1338 1471
	1625 1338 2963 2207

MissiontoSeafarers Countess Mountbatten House SocietyofStJames' DECEarthquake Appeal Cohen'sBox TheBigDifference Kitchen Table Charities Trust Christians Against Poverty Toilet Twinning Hampshire Air Ambulance Wessex Cancer Trust WestEndYouthClubs FineCellWork Wateraid Yellow Door Southampton City Mission	2023 £ 208 171 121 310 50 50 150 150 128 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1338 £	2022 £ 105 105 105 0 0 0 300 0 0 50 50 100 300 256 50 so
		1471

Designated Organ repair fund Music project Legacyfund (unspecified) Photocopier fund Douglas BrownLegacy Buildings reserve WarmSpaces Church Hall	BalBfwd Receipts Payments Transfer £ £ £ £ 1724 459 2183 2650 885 5883 5880 5880 4670 10000 1000 48 9418 5217 5668 Balc/fwd £ 0 1765 5883 0 4670 10000 952 8967
	19675 17226 14664 10000 32237

Restricted Flower Fund HOPEmission fund Lady Chapel Fund Bell Tower Fund MusicFund Organ fund repairs/tuning Stay andPlay Allotment Fund Life Events (weddings/funerals)	BalBfwd Receipts Payment Transfer £ £ £ £ 1169 1782 1096 559 1893 1369 5008 6432 1424 6084 3400 520 49 1841 385 784 24 423 790 23010 22511 Balc/fwd £ 1855 1083 0 2684 471 1442 24 423 1289
	9911 33577 35641 1424 9271

Vicar’s report and reports from Churchwardens and other organisations associated with St James

Please note that any accounts mentioned hereafter do not form part of the audited accounts

VICAR’S REPORT

2023 was a busy and exciting year in the parish. We welcomed two curates, Rev’d Liz Williams and Rev’d Emma D’Aeth for 6 months and their gifts and ministry were a real blessing. Rev’d Emma was ordained a priest at Winchester Cathedral on 1[st] July and presided at her first Eucharist at St James the following day at a special joint service.

Over the year the final covid measures we had in place were removed. We returned to using the high altar for most of our 9.30am Eucharist services early in the year and reintroduced the common cup for communion in the summer. Our volunteer teams needed building up again after covid and we put in place safer recruitment processes for all roles which was a big piece of work and is still ongoing. A huge thank you to the many, many people who offer their time, gifts and talents to enabling our church life. I am continually thankful at how God provides and when there is a need, a person with the appropriate gifts and skills steps forward to fill it.

It’s a joy to see people growing in faith. Three candidates were confirmed on Ascension Day by Bishop Geoff and another confirmation group began classes at the end of the year. Our Lent course was on the film Chocolat. We offered morning and evening Bible courses over the year and had a preaching series on the Old Testament over the summer.

At the beginning of the year, we held a Vision Day and from that we put together a Mission Action Plan. One priority was to work at making St James a welcoming and accessible place for everyone and we have made good progress including running the Radical Welcoming Course and holding a ‘Through the Roof’ workshop about accessibility. Following the Church of England decision to offer Same Sex Blessings our congregation were asked to share their views through an anonymous survey and there was strong support for offering Same Sex Blessings here and for joining Inclusive Church, which our PCC has voted to do. Another priority was to grow in our care of creation, and we were pleased to achieve a silver Eco Church Award this year.

There were opportunities to connect with the wider community. Many local people attended our service celebrating the Coronation of King Charles III, the Remembrance Sunday service and our Christmas Carol Service where representatives from the local community read the lessons. We ran the BBQ and a children’s activity tent at the Community Coronation Celebrations on Hatch Grange and our choir was invited to sing carols at the switching on of West End Parish Council Christmas lights again and singers from other local churches joined us. We also partnered with the churches in Harefield to sing carols on Bentley Green. The Away in a Manger nativity event was a wonderful way of welcoming local folk into the church and sharing the Christmas story and local children enjoyed the petting farm and dressing up as nativity figures. ‘Warm Spaces’ ran on Thursday mornings for 12 weeks during the coldest months and was much valued by those who attended. Our Schools Team have done brilliant work with outreach as you’ll read further on. The monthly community coffee mornings have been really valuable as has open church.

Jan Barrett stepped down as School governor at our church school (and huge thanks to her for all she gave in that role) and Ann Clover took over. Rev’d Linda’s school chaplaincy continues make a real difference there as does the school music project with our music director Chris Fay. Carol’s Anna Chaplaincy work continues to flourish and we are very blessed to have such a capable and active pastoral team.

There is so much to be thankful for over the last year and so much to look forward to in the year ahead as we respond to God’s leading. A huge thank you to the ministry team, Rev’d Linda, Carol and Alan, for their invaluable ministry here. What a blessing they are! This year our two churchwardens are both stepping

St James’ Church, West End – Reports section Page 18

down and a huge thank you to Scott Langridge and Diana Barnes for all they have given over six years and three years respectively, for their wisdom, commitment and care. Huge thanks to Noel Becket our assistant churchwarden, to Sue Overell our PCC secretary, to Jan Barrett our Hall Manager and to Jane Hollingsworth who has just completed her first year as treasurer and done an amazing job in the hugely demanding role. This year Margaret Baker steps down as electoral roll officer and many thanks to her and to Barbara McDowell, Jill Marten, Steve Alexander and Jane Castle for their service on the PCC. So many people enable our mission and ministry here, thank you to you all.

Rev’d Vicky Maunder

CHURCHWARDEN’S REPORT ON THE FABRIC AND FURNISHINGS OF THE CHURCH

Scott and Diana are thankful for the fact that Noel Becket looks after the building, and this year Vicky was able to persuade him to accept the title of Assistant Churchwarden, and to have his own email address (see below). So this report starts with the various jobs that have had to be done this year. When it rained a lot, which if often did, rain was seeping into the Lady Chapel, so in June 2023 it was weatherproofed (repointing, hidden valley refurbishment, leadwork checked) by a reputable firm of stonemasons. As autumn leaves started to fall, Noel cleared the hidden gullies to ensure that there were no blockages preventing the rain from running through.

In order to save on heating costs, the temperature in the church has been reduced slightly, and there have been no complaints. The central heating system in the Church and in the Hall had its regular service in September, and the fire extinguishers were serviced in October.

Our Quinquennial Inspection (every 5 years), required by the Diocese, was carried out by Duncan McKellar, and we await his report.

We hope that we have solved the problem of cluster flies. Two diffusers on windowsills in the church are fragrant with lavender, neroli and lemon, which is supposed to deter the flies, and we have also had a fumigation treatment.

In November Noel checked and cleared the drains, and on 25th we had a Church gardening day, which was hard work for the few people who turned up, but we made a difference, including clearing the church car park of fallen leaves.

Also, in November the bell was removed for remedial work, and we loved hearing it ring out again on February 14th, St Valentine’s Day!

The lower gutters and downpipes were again cleared and checked by Noel in December. We have a lot of lovely trees around the church, and we do appreciate them, but they also cause some necessary work.

Scott and Diana were pleased to have the opportunity to escort, with their wands, the Acting Bishop of Southampton, our own Bishop Geoff, at the Confirmation of seven people, and that was a lovely service.

The Inventory of items belonging to the church needs to be checked, and that is a job needing a few sessions. All is present and correct, though if a few hymnbooks are in the homes of people who enjoy the livestream services, it’s not a problem. Your churchwardens keep up the Rotas of Sidespersons and Welcomers, juggling dates with people’s commitments elsewhere, but always ensuring that smiling faces greet regulars and visitors to the church. Scott and Diana are grateful for all the help and support provided by church members as both come to the end of their terms of office, and will still be there to offer help as new churchwardens take up their roles.

[e-mail] [e-mail] [e-mail]

Diana Barnes / Scott Langridge / Noel Becket

St James’ Church, West End – Reports section Page 19

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CHURCHES TOGETHER

Representatives for the HEWEB (Hedge End, West End and Botley) churches met together every two months over the year to share fellowship and look at ways to work together. Another successful HEWEB Holiday Bible Club was run over the summer and a Good Friday Walk of Witness was held walking from St Brigid’s church to Hatch Grange. Many thanks to Jane Castle, our St James representative who chaired the group over the last year. Jane has now stepped down and Rachel Owton has taken over as our HEWEB representative.

Rev’d Vicky Maunder

DEANERY SYNOD REPORT

Elected Members: Carol Kidd and Peter Littlejohns. There is one vacancy. Reverend Linda Galvin is the Deanery Synod Secretary

During the 2023 term of the Synod, three meetings took place at St Boniface, Chandlers Ford, St John’s Hedge End and St Francis, Valley Park.

The meeting at St Boniface included a visiting speaker, the Reverend James Mosher, the Mission to Seafarers, Southampton Chaplain. He advised that chaplaincy relationships with seafarers are mostly fleeting encounters, often one-off, and he asked people to pray that these encounters will enable our common humanity to be shared. Chaplains are prevented from evangelising or proselytising, but generally the ships’ leadership are happy for chaplains to board and meet up with seafarers who would appreciate a visit. He encouraged parishes if possible to observe Sea Sunday on 9th July. James would be happy to come to local churches to speak about the work of MTS chaplaincy. Supporters in southern England helped to provide teddy bears and woolly hats, as well as providing financial support for this mission. St John’s Hedge End said they would be holding a coffee morning in October to raise funds for the Mission.

The elections of Deanery Synod Officers were also held and the results were as follows: Secretary - The Revd Linda Galvin was nominated by Vicky Maunder and seconded by Carol Kidd and elected unopposed. Lay Chair - Mr Danny Stupple was nominated by Stephen Collyer and seconded by David Dimmick and elected unopposed. Treasurer - Mr David Dimmick was nominated by John Reynolds and seconded by David Lloyds and elected unopposed. Deanery Synod Standing Committee Members: In addition to exofficio members (Area Dean, Assistant Area Dean, Secretary, Lay Chair and Treasurer) the following were elected in separate meetings of the houses of clergy and laity: Clergy – John Pawson, Phil Aindow and Laity - Tom White, Steve Williams, Stephen Collyer.

The meeting at St John’s, Hedge End included a visit from the Venerable Richard Brand, Archdeacon of Winchester. He spoke about the Clergy Covenant for well-being that had been passed as an Act of General Synod in 2020; this commits all parts of the Church, as well as individual clergy, to sharing responsibility for the welfare of ministers and their households. Three documents for Reflection and Action had been produced, for the clergy, for the local congregations and for bishops and the wider church. The documents can be found here https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/diocesan- - - resources/ministry/ministry development/living ministry/living ministry

It was announced at the third meeting at St Francis, Valley Park, that Danny Stupple, Lay Chair for the past nine years, and an active member of the Synod before that, had given his apologies for absence, not being

St James’ Church, West End – Reports section Page 20

fully recovered from recent serious illness. He had resigned as Lay Chair for the same reason. Richard paid tribute to Danny’s significant contribution to the life of the Synod both as a member and as Lay Chair and expressed the Synod’s gratitude in his absence.

All three meetings included discussion about the Common Mission Fund, the lack of clarity around the Diocesan Companion Links with the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and the appointment of the new Bishop of Winchester as well as the departure of the Bishop of Southampton. All meetings also asked for an item of Prayer and Praise from each parish so that we were kept up to date with what was happening in the Deanery as a whole.

Rev’d Linda Galvin Deanery Synod Secretary

HOPE COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT

H HOME O OVERSEAS P PARTNERSHIP E EDUCATION

HOPE began 2023 with a very successful Brunch which raised £310. This money was forwarded directly to the DEC Earthquake Appeal. During Fairtrade Fortnight in February goods to the value of £120.50 were sold. Our Lent Appeal this year was in aid of Tap Twinning. In May we held a Christian Aid Lunch which together with the envelopes put out in church raised £364.83. Unfortunately, the timing of our Quiz evening in July proved unpopular and we decided to postpone. In contrast, the Harvest Lunch in October was very well attended and raised £415. In December we once again invited donations to our Charity Christmas Card in aid of Mission to Seafarers, Mountbatten Hampshire and the Society of St James which, including some very generous donations, raised £638.90. £711 was collected at the Christingle Services this year for the Children’s Society.

During the year some of the money raised was sent to our two main charities, Kitchen Table Charities Trust and Christians Against Poverty. £50 Pots of Hope were delivered to Cohen’s Box, a charity for premature babies and their parents, The Big Difference (via Townhill Park Junior School) and Mountbatten Hampshire.

Thank you for all your support throughout the year and we look forward to more fun and fundraising ahead.

Fiona Weston

PASTORAL TEAM REPORT 2023

The five meetings of the pastoral team provided opportunity for information sharing, ongoing training, bible study, reflection on our roles and how we can best support those receiving pastoral contact. We discussed safer recruitment paperwork and reviewed lone worker issues as well as relevant risk assessments and our role description.

2023 members:

Carol Kidd [coordinator]; Brenda Holden; Jan Barrett; Betty Wood; Margaret Ball; Enid Plowman; Peter Littlejohns; Lyn Playford; Maura Knights; Debbie O’Brien.

All the above take responsibility for making regular pastoral telephone or visiting links; the team assist with both the All Souls and Special Lives services, distribute cards to church family members who are unwell or have a significant life event, and also deliver Easter and Christmas cards on behalf of the ministry team to a wide range of church contacts including to those unable to attend worship due to health issues.

St James’ Church, West End – Reports section Page 21

Pastoral workers meet with baptism families; help at Stay & Play; link with local care homes by leading services and 1-1 visits to residents. Assisted by others from the church family, pastoral team members organise and run the monthly Community Coffee morning; during the year this has been well attended and has raised funds for the HOPE Lent and Advent appeals, for the Royal British Legion and Macmillan. In December the coffee morning proved a good opportunity for a café style Carol Service, suitable for all including those with dementia and their carers.

During 2023 the pattern of pastoral care to older persons in residential care or supported living was as follows:

Dawson Lodge: 2 x services per month plus 1-1 visits to residents Speedwell Court: 1 x monthly service of Holy Communion, seasonal creative worship, 1-1 visits plus a small group of residents attend the midweek Eucharist at church once a month. Sunnycroft: 1 x monthly service of Holy Communion, plus a group of residents and staff attended the café style Carol Service Oaklands: 1 x monthly Songs of Praise style service plus 1-1 visits Lincoln Court: 1 x monthly Holy Communion Glenside: regular contact with manager and 1-1 visits as required Fielders Court and Elizabeth Court: 1-1 visits as requested including taking Home Communion (Two other care homes in West End where we had occasional 1-1 links with residents have now closed).

In conjunction with lay ministry and pastoral work, I am an Anna Chaplain to lonely, isolated older persons of all faiths and none in our parish. Referrals come from Caraway and the Southern Area Care Navigators. The Role involves funeral ministry, spiritual, bereavement and prayer support as well as signposting to practical assistance. I have supported new Anna Chaplains, been a speaker on care of the elderly to neighbouring parishes, to a meeting of diocesan chaplains and as part of the BCM pastoral course.

I wish to thank Vicky for her input and support, and especially thank Enid Plowman, who has retired from the team, for her dedicated pastoral care to countless people for over twenty years.

Carol Kidd LLM / Anna Chaplain / Pastoral Team Coordinator 07842244876

CHILDREN’S AND YOUTH WORK

At St James’ we continue to provide a range of opportunities for our children to engage with the church. We use a variety of materials to plan worship, prayer, games and craft activities for a mixture of ages.

On Sundays we provide two sessions for children. At 9.30am we have Pathfinders, in this service we join the congregation in church for the first hymn before leaving to go to the hall for our own time of worship and learning. Our session starts with a story which usually corresponds with the Gospel reading in church, then we use activities and crafts to help us understand it, we have a time of prayer before returning to the church service to share in the communion and the final hymn. At the Church Alive service, which is a more informal service, we offer an all-age break out session to explore the meaning of the story, this is usually an activity or craft based session based on the story of the day.

Both of our Sunday services continue to welcome a good number of children. Later in the year lots of our children have had the opportunity to join the choir and become part of the serving team, it is wonderful to see them growing in confidence and faith.

We provided children’s activity mornings on a monthly basis throughout the year, some of which proved more popular than others, our Good Friday and Christmas activity mornings, which we started running back in 2003, continue to be popular with about thirty children attending. These mornings follow the relevant

St James’ Church, West End – Reports section Page 22

stories and we explore the theme through stories, craft and games. The Good Friday one always involves an egg hunt.

We have continued to provide the tree trail between the months of March to December, it has proven to be a good outreach tool. Each month the trail has a different theme including Bible heroes, bibles stories, poems, the creation story and more.

I would like to thank everyone who supports our children’s work, your help is very much appreciated.

Janet Barrett

CHILDREN’S OUTREACH AND SCHOOLS TEAM REPORT

2023 was really busy with children’s outreach work.

Partnership with Southampton City Mission

Back in January St James’ Children’s team worked with Southampton City Mission. Southampton City Mission works in over 50 schools, in contact with (approximately) 10,000 children every year. They work closely with teachers in schools to help deliver the RE curriculum. To be able to do this, they ask for help from local churches, which includes support for their leaders in schools within the catchment area. This involves members of the St James’ children’s schools team going in with the leader to help deliver assemblies and Question of Faith days which usually involve a story from the bible, illustrated through dressing up, acting, arts and crafts and films.

In 2023 we visited Harefield Junior school and delivered seven Question of Faith days, and two Harvest Festivals at Townhill Junior School.

Through these visits we have made further connections with the schools.

Church Visits

In February we arranged a visit to St James’ from Townhill School, hosting a small group who learned about special places in church, including the font and baptism, the Lady Chapel, and the high altar. We also did some flower arranging. Townhill children came back in March when we held further activities and a bible story, and again in July when we talked about Creation and made eco-gardens. This visit coincided with a visit from the Archdeacon who spoke to the children, (who seemed to have all the answers) and to end the session we had a healthy snack including apples, pears, strawberries and blue berries.

Then in December, further to a connection we had made while doing a Question of Faith Day at Harefield, we were able to welcome two classes of thirty children, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. At the time the Away in a Manger Event was taking place, so the visit was about the Nativity journey, and every one of the children was able to dress up and become part of the story. After that there was a healthy snack and an activity making a nativity scene on a bauble to take home to hang on their tree.

One very tired Vicar and school team, but well worth it. We also supported the school by having a craft stall at Harefield school in December.

Other Groups included: In April we Had a Brownie group in church; we supported the Hatch Grange Youth group at Hatch Grange; in October after speaking to the local leader at a community coffee morning we had a group of Squirrels (the youngest group of the scouting movement catering for children age 4-5) come to church, where they added the squirrels they had made to our Harvest display and learnt about Harvest and giving. Then we had sixty cubs who had come to do their Faith badge, which was amazing.

So, in all a very busy year and we are looking forward to building on this for 2024.

Lyn Spratt

St James’ Church, West End – Reports section Page 23

SAINT JAMES’ SCHOOL CHAPLAINCY

The connections between the church and school continue to grow and thrive. Having found out that we are on the list for both OFSTED and SIAMS inspections within the school year, lots of preparation and training has taken place and both myself, Vicky, Ann Clover, and Sarah Langridge (as School Governors) have been active in supporting the school with this. We are very happy that the school is in an excellent position should these inspections materialise any time soon.

Within school, we have worked hard on achieving a Bronze award in the Global Neighbours scheme and our Eco credentials continue to occupy a high level of engagement, with work on the pond clearance and better use of the outdoor learning area. We have also become more aware of using the outdoors as a place for worship, and the children now regularly engage in acts of worship outdoors as part of Collective Worship.

Collective Worship has now settled into a regular pattern, which has been much enhanced by having Chris Fay come in to lead Songs of Praise. This is not only making more traditional hymns (as well as new music) known to the children but has meant that school services both at the church and within school are ‘sounding’ great, but also every Collective Worship includes singing.

My chaplaincy role, as a point of contact for the children, staff and parents is also vitally important, and not only do I make a point of speaking with as many people as possible each week, to check how everyone is, but I also operate an open-door policy for anyone to drop-in if needed.

In addition, I continue to work with the children on their Class Led Collective worship, as well as supporting the Christian Values Team and co-running our lunch-time club, Quiet Spaces, which I have to say is usually very oversubscribed, but we make use of quiet time in the classroom as well as using the outdoor space. We have also recently begun to open up the Spiritual Garden to more pupils during the lunch-time breaks.

I am also continuing to look for ways of engaging the school with our local Parish Council and church members, and have several projects in the pipeline.

Revd Linda Galvin

STAY AND PLAY

Stay and Play at St James’ Church continues to be very successful. Our aim is to create a safe, nurturing environment where small children, parents, grandparents and carers flourish and develop friendships in a Christian environment. Parents/ carers register children every week on a weekly registration sheet and complete a registration form when they have attended their second week. The file with addresses and details on are kept in the church office. The registration sheets are looked at every year and obsolete forms are destroyed. Numbers at Stay and Play fluctuate each week, on average we get between 12 and 18 families each session. Sally Saunders has given up to date accounts for 2024 to Revd Vicky to give to the treasurer. Sadly, Sally Saunders who has been assisting me for over fifteen years will be retiring from Stay and Play at the end of the summer term. I will miss her hugely. Also, Chris Kelly, another assistant who has been helping for a number of years will be finishing this Easter. I have spoken to Revd Vicky recently about our need to recruit some more helpers, using the safer recruiting church policy and ideally this will be from within the church family. We need to appoint some new help for September 2024. I am particularly keen on finding someone who could look after the book-keeping for the group. As we are all volunteers, and it is important that on occasions people may need to take a vacation / small break outside of the school holidays, I like to have at least 3 people helping at each session. It also takes approximately 45 minutes to set up the group in the morning and it is practical to have three people help set up and pack away after the session. All volunteers at Stay and Play have current DBS checks in place with the diocese and have completed appropriate safe guarding courses. Our paperwork regarding roles has recently been completed and health and safety risk assessments have recently been assessed and renewed.

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From the beginning of March 2024 our sessions will run during term times on Wednesdays from 9.15 am with a new finishing time of 10.45am (Wednesday church services will start at 11.00am from March), allowing time for small children, buggies etc to leave safely from the church hall and car park before the church service starts.

Penny Beeby (Stay and Play leader) and Team

SAFEGUARDING REPORT

The Safeguarding Parish Dashboard: Every parish in the UK has a safeguarding dashboard that requires regular updating to show compliance with safeguarding requirements. At the beginning of 2023 St James’ Dashboard lacked safer recruitment components such as risk assessments and role descriptions. By end of year much progress has been made. Thank you to Noel Becket for developing the majority of risk assessments, to Martin Hollingsworth for Health & Safety Officer input on Risk Assessments, and Revd Vicky Maunder for developing role descriptions.

Safeguarding Training: Every effort has been made to encourage and support all who are required to complete safeguarding training for the role[s] that they hold at St James’. Training is via the CofE National Portal, plus local arrangements via diocesan safeguarding department for those in leadership positions.

Safeguarding training must be refreshed three-yearly as per the Diocesan Training Matrix.

Safer Recruitment: The Diocesan Safeguarding Adviser instructed Parish Safeguarding Officers (PSOs) to ‘back-fill’ references for those for whom references were not collected on commencement in role. This is work in progress. Going forward: references will be collected for all applicants and volunteers. An invitation to an introductory meeting will provide opportunity for a welcome, the sharing of role descriptions, risk assessments and safeguarding policies. Where applicable, DBS applications will be processed. CofE safer recruitment process:

https://www.churchofengland.org/safeguarding/safeguarding-e-manual/safer-recruitment-and-people- management guidance

Looking ahead:

I was appointed PSO in 2010. It is fulfilling role with many positives. Huge thanks to all in parish, and the diocesan safeguarding team, for past and ongoing support including when dealing with challenging and complicated situations. Safeguarding is a high priority, deserving the utmost care and attention for the sake of those who are vulnerable, to support and be an advocate for actual and potential victims of both historical and current abuse, and to assist diocesan colleagues in the monitoring of ex-offenders who hold, and are required to comply to, CofE agreements.

I now wish to take a step down from full safeguarding responsibility.

Revd. Vicky Maunder, the Church Wardens and the PCC, propose that:

• A suitable person should be sought to shadow the role during 2024-2025

• I will stand down as named PSO for this parish following the 2025 APCM.

• I will continue in an assistant PSO role, with responsibility for processing DBS applications for Safer Recruitment purposes, and provide PSO support as and when required in regard to dealing with concerns etc.

• A third person to be sought to assist those requiring help with e-learning. This is to provide training support only and the person appointed to that role would not have access to confidential communication.

Carol Kidd PCC Parish Safeguarding Officer

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MUSIC REPORTS

Choir and Organ

I’ve been at the helm for nearly two years now, so have just about got used to the St James’ way of doing things (I hope!). The choir is in good health, both in terms of numbers and musically, and is able to make a good contribution to the morning and evening services. It has been good to welcome new members this year, from the age of 13 to the slightly older!

The choir’s mainstays remain the 0930 Sunday morning service and the Evensong on the first and third Sundays of the month. We hope that our regular contributions of anthems, psalms and chants help to enhance the worship, especially at times like Holy Week, Advent and Christmas when we are very busy with many services. I am very grateful to the small group of Evensong singers who keep that largely choral service ticking over twice a month.

We participated in a couple of national projects last year. One was “Sing for the King” and an anthem specially written for use around the time of the Coronation. The other project was at Christmas where we learned a special version of “The First Nowell” which had been commissioned by the CofE for use by choirs across the world. I think it’s fair to say that the latter was a good deal more popular than the former as it has such a catchy tune.

You may have noticed that we have some children joining us for the first Sunday of the month service. This is a project still in its infancy and not without its challenges (not least where to seat everyone!). We are enjoying bringing these young people into our sung worship, and it is already noticeable that they are growing in confidence and feel able to join in with more of the music.

Our organ is behaving itself at the moment (touch wood) and it is good for our organists that this versatile instrument is able to make such a good sound. Periods of very cold or very hot weather can knock it out of tune occasionally, but it always recovers well, which is a good sign.

We are blessed to have a choir of talented and loyal singers who enhance the worship so effectively. As with all choirs, we are always on the lookout for new members, so if you’d like to join us, please get in touch. We rehearse on Tuesdays at 1930.

Chris Fay

Church Alive Music

It is with great joy and gratitude that I reflect upon my second year as a member of the vibrant and melodious community of Church Alive Music. Each Sunday, as I gather with these esteemed musicians, I am filled with an indescribable sense of fulfilment and delight. Our ensemble consists of five remarkable individuals who bring their unique talents and dedication to every performance. Among them, we have Debbie Thomson, our singer and guitarist whose voice resonates with emotion. Matthew Thomson, with his soul-stirring vocals, never fails to captivate our hearts. Mary Blake, the virtuoso trumpeter whose skilful melodies speak to the congregation. Diana Barnes, with her angelic voice, uplifts our spirits and leads us in harmonious praise. And let us not forget Jon Bagley, the guitarist whose tone always sweet and warm. And I play the piano. Furthermore, it is so great to have two new members this year - Clive Stafford, the guitarist whose soulful tone always touches everyone’s heart and Ben Thorne, our youngest recorder player. This year has been particularly momentous for me, as I made the decision to start a transformative journey of faith through baptism. The significance of this sacred act filled me with a profound sense of purpose. As a group, we are driven by a shared desire to spread the message of love and hope through our music. Our heartfelt intention is to create an atmosphere where people can connect with the Lord, where the melodies and lyrics we share serve as channels for worship and praise. We long to see the pews filled with children and adults alike, engaging with us in this beautiful expression of devotion. May the year ahead be filled with even more opportunities to touch the lives of others through our music and to inspire the hearts of those seeking peace. Together, let us continue this journey, united in our passion for music and our unwavering commitment to serving God and our community. Anita So

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PALS (Parishioners at Lunch on Sundays)

Since the last APCM, the PALS group has met about 8 times, missing May and August (holidays).

At first we continued at the Dolphin but then tried other venues and have now settled on the Master Builders in West End since their change of ownership. Food, service and prices have proved very satisfactory and at the time of writing we expect to continue there on the 4th Sunday of the month – apart from national holidays.

We still welcome anyone who wishes to join us for a pub Sunday lunch once a month.

Rita Payne

ECO GROUP REPORT

This year we have achieved our Silver Award, and the certificate is proudly displayed in the Hall foyer. To achieve this, we made improvements to our Buildings section, notably by taking advice on recording the status of our boiler, and in our Global and Community Engagement - sometimes it was a question of finding out exactly what is happening in the church and in our groups, and making sure we included good work. We were able to bump our Land section up to Gold (can we do the grow-bags again please?) and we had already reached Gold standard for Worship and Teaching from our first Survey for the Bronze Award.

It was very useful to have Rev’d Liz Williams with us for a while, and she introduced us to Jacob from St Luke's Hedge End who was able to give us some tips. The Church of England encourages the care of God’s creation and has issued some useful guidelines. Diana has attended a C of E webinar on ‘Becoming a Net Zero Church’, and webinars by A Rocha, who run the award scheme. Rev’d Linda’s helpful tips in the parish magazine are noted and acted upon; we now know about a lot more ways to recycle and be ‘green’. It’s very much a question of looking at what we do, and working out how to do things better, sometimes in quite small ways.

Our Diocese has recently appointed Sam Scott as Diocesan Environment Officer and we hope to meet with him soon. We are always pleased to include more people in the group, and we are pleased that Suzy, with new and interesting ideas, has joined us. If we can improve even more on Buildings, and work on Lifestyle, we'll put in another Survey. If Salisbury Cathedral can achieve Gold, maybe we can...

Diana Barnes

FLOWER ARRANGERS’ REPORT

2023 started slowly for the flower team. Mothering Sunday was the 27th March and some of the flower team helped put small bunches of daffodils together with rosemary and hessian tied with string, to be given as gifts at the joint worship service.

The church was dressed for Easter on Saturday 8th, including the choir stalls, windows, and lady chapel with a mixture of silk and fresh flowers and no longer using oasis which helped greatly, not only with costs but staying as sustainable as possible.

There were eleven weddings from April to November, and as weddings now take place on any day of the week, we even had one on a Monday. The happy couple were two fire fighters and the wedding included a guard of honour in uniform and a fire engine. Another was a very small personal wedding and some of the flower team supported the couple as guests. We were able to help with the bride’s bouquet which was fifty pink roses with buttonholes; we even made pew ends to make it as special as possible. The couple were very grateful.

The month of June saw the King’s Coronation and union jacks were added to arrangements of red and white and blue.

We continued to do arrangements throughout the year; Ascension, Pentecost, and our Patronal festival, then Harvest was upon us again when we used a mixture of dried and fresh flowers, adding knitted

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pumpkins and scarecrows. Then came Christmas with church arrangements of red and gold, again using a mixture of silk garlands, fresh flowers and foliage.

In all it was a successful year, although flower prices are rising which is always a challenge, we are now fully competent without oasis and the flower team will continue to work towards sustainability and, we hope, use some of our own flowers grown on the allotment.

Lyn Spratt

Allotment 2023

The allotment came about from an idea about being more sustainable with use of flowers in church, and as there was no suitable space to grow anything in the churchyard, the Parish Council was approached about having half a plot at the allotments in Moorgreen Road. On the 7th March 2023 a plot was allocated and the key collected. A group of us have been going up to the allotment on a regular basis, and as the plot hadn't been worked for four years, there was a lot of work to do. An existing shed there was in need of repair, we had nothing to work with and no money, so with the help of requests, gifts from various people and generous donations of tools and wood and time, we have managed to repair the shed, add a lovely sign and have made four raised beds, with still enough wood left over to make another. We planted one raised bed later in the summer which produced some flowers for church. It is still very much a work in progress but plans are in place to plant more this year.

To raise funds and to give us a budget, we held an open garden party at June Butler’s home on the 12th August (thank you June), this was well received and supported, with cakes being made and donated, jams and chutneys for sale, and the event raised £421 to be used in 2024, for which we are very grateful.

Thank you so much to everyone who has helped get this project off the ground!

Lyn Spratt

CHURCH STATISTICS FOR	2023 and	previous	years:
Church Statistics	2023	2022*	2021*	2020*	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
(Previous year figures are
recorded in brackets)
Baptisms	29	(31)	(3)	(5)	(39)	(38)	(34)	(34)	(39)
Confirmations	3	(4)	(0)	(0)	(0)	(0)	(7)	(0)	(0)
Weddings	8	(12)	(6)	(4)	(14)	(15)	(13)	(13)	(13)
Funerals & Burials	25	(23)	(7)	(9)	(20)	(12)	(15)	(15)	((17)
Easter Communicants	148	(151)	(69)**	*	(161)	(162)	(159)	(134)	(136)
Christmas Communicants	121	(100)	(84)**	*	(140)	(159)	(187)	(168)	(134)

• Unfortunately, because of the Covid-19 pandemic where due to lockdowns and restrictions public worship was either suspended and offered on-line or offered with limited congregation numbers, reliable statistics were not available for this year.

** Congregation numbers were restricted at these services because of Covid-19

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