## ROYSTON PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL
ST JOHN THE BAPTIST CHURCH ROYSTON
ANNUAL REPORT 2023
## **St John the Baptist Church, Royston**
## **Annual Report of the PCC for 2023**
## **Background**
Royston Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility of co-operating with the incumbent in promoting within the ecclesiastical parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The PCC has regard to the Charity Commissioners public benefit guidance.
## **Membership**
Members of the PCC are either ex-officio or elected by the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) in accordance with the Church Representation Rules 2022.
During the year 2023 the following served as PCC members:
|Ex officio|The Reverend Heidi Huntley|Incumbent until 19 Feb 2023|
|---|---|---|
||The Reverend Dr.Steven Sivyer|Incumbent from 5 Oct 2023|
||Mr Reginald Bailey|Reader|
||Mrs Linda Dwight|Churchwarden|
||Mr Philip Perry|Deanery Synod|
||Miss Brenda Strangleman|Deanery Synod|
||Mrs Brenda Watkins|Deanery Synod|
||Mr Vaughan West|From 14 Mar 2023 Churchwarden from APCM 2023|
|Elected members|Mr David Atkins||
||Mrs Louise Atkins||
||Mr Philip Burchell|Treasurer until APCM 2023|
||Dr Clare Davies|Churchwarden and Ex officio until APCM 2023|
||Mr Rodney Dyer|Until APCM 2023|
||Mrs Yvonne Dyer|From APCM 2023|
||Mr Robert Fox||
||Mrs Kay Makowiecki||
||Mr Michael Maze|From 23 Jan 2023 Secretary|
||Mrs Tracy Reader||
||Mr Duncan Rodgers|From APCM 2023|
||Mrs Ruth Savage||
||Mrs Elizabeth Wainwright||
||Mrs Joanne Wallis||
||Mrs Charlotte Wicks|From 14 Mar 2023 Joint Treasurer from APCM 2023|
||Mr Jonathan Wicks|From APCM 2023 Joint Treasurer from APCM 2023|
|Co-opted members|The Reverend John Fidler|Assistant Priest|
## **Committees**
The PCC operates through a number of committees which meet as and when required and report back to the PCC:
Standing The only committee required by law - is empowered to transact the business of the PCC between meetings, subject to any directions given by the Council;
Eco Seeks to promote a greater awareness of ecological issues and recommends measures to reduce the church’s carbon footprint;
1
Fabric Advises and implements the decisions of the PCC on the management of the church building and the house provided for occupation by a curate; also oversees the management of the churchyard and additional burial ground;
Finance Oversees the general financial direction of the parish, monitors income and expenditure reviews budgets and liaises with other committees on financial matters; Fundraising and To raise funds for the church and to organise parish and social events to promote friendship Social within the congregation. These events may have no fundraising objectives; Missions Recommends to the PCC support, including financial, for the mission of the church and for other charities. Encourages wider interest and prayer support; Mission Action Plan Follows the Diocese of St. Albans initiative ‘Living God’s Love’ by exploring what it means to do this by seeking to ‘Go Deeper into God, Transform Communities and Make New Disciples’; Stewardship Promotes Christian stewardship within the parish; Youth & Children Encourages and supports existing children’s work. Determines new ways of sharing the faith with young people through whatever appropriate means. Encourages training and support of leaders;
## **Electoral Roll**
There were 145 names on the updated electoral roll at the time of the 2023 APCM (139 in 2022).
## **Church Attendance**
With the re-opening of the church in November 2022, the numbers attending Sunday services increased, and the average attendance figure in October 2023 was 126 (76 in 2022).
## **Review of the Year 2023**
The PCC met 8 times in 2023 with an average attendance of 75%.
Following the fire which closed the church from December 2018 to November 2022, church life was getting back to normal by the start of 2023. The many improvements made during the refurbishment period had produced a warm well lit welcoming church which was appreciated by all, parishioners, and towns people alike.
After 10 years in Royston as Vicar, Revd. Heidi Huntley announced that she was leaving us and had accepted a call to be Kerrier Rural Dean in Cornwall. While this was a move we had not anticipated, we are grateful for all she did in Royston and the support given to many people. Appropriately her last service in Royston, was the Rededication of the newly refurbished Church held on 19 February and led by Bishop Alan.
The PCC dealt with a fair number of practical issues in the early months of 2023 in connection with the re-opening of the church but gradually the number reduced. Of particular concern was the dramatic increase in heating costs but as the year progressed this position improved albeit leaving us with much higher energy bills than we would have expected.
The final faculty (the Church of England’s planning permission) were obtained in connection with the refurbishment of the church and further details on all fabric matters are given in the Churchwarden’s report. Although refurbishment and building work finished in November 2022, there was still considerable amount of work required by the Treasurer to finalise the financial arrangements with both contractors and insurers. Over the 4 year period since the fire we, as a parish, with lots of support, have funded just over £ 600,000 of improvements to the church building and its facilities.
By March, the PCC was busily engaged in planning with the Bishop, Archdeacon, and Rural Dean the preparations for filling the Vacancy, including producing a comprehensive Parish Profile for use during the process. Interviews took place in July resulting in the appointment of the Revd. Dr. Steven Sivyer as Vicar of Royston. At the Licencing Service held on 5 October, we welcomed both Steven as our new Vicar his wife Emma as Reader.
The Fabric Committee was re-established as the work of the Fabric Development Committee ended with the completion of the rebuilding and refurbishment work. Following the APCM in May the planned change of Treasurer took place, and we thanked Phil Burchell for his many years of service and through the challenging times following the fire.
2
Reports were circulated from the various committee meetings which had taken place during the year, namely the Eco, Fabric, Fundraising & Social, Mission Action Plan, and Tots in Church committees, as well as Deanery Synod.
On the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults, regular reports were received, and policy documents approved. New PCC members completed the online Foundations and Domestic Abuse training courses and DBS checks continued in line with our Safeguarding Action Plan. We have complied with the duty under Section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016.
A number of changes have been introduced in the year. We now have an open bible on the Lady Chapel Altar table. We are lighting the church at a low level during the day as it makes it much more welcoming. The PCC has reviewed the charges we make for wedding and funerals ancillary services which have expanded, and an online Life Events Diary has been introduced to manage wedding and funeral arrangements more effectively. The increase during the year in the number of children attending Children’s Church. Teatime Praise, Tots in Church and St Costas is a very welcome development. The votive stand has been moved into the chapel area with helpful prayer cards and we now have Morning Prayer on Mondays, where we include the prayers that people leave on the prayer cards.
The parishioners were generally kept in contact with one another with online weekly Church News hard copy notice sheets and the parish magazine ‘Across Royston’. We are pleased to see the church used for many activities which benefit the wider community in Royston such as Christmas services for 4 individual local schools, Royston Choral Society concerts, Town Band performances, weddings and funerals and many more activities. It is also gratifying to see that by keeping the church building open during the week, many people seem to appreciate being able to spend time in church on an informal basis.
## **Financial Summary**
2023 was our first full year back in our beautiful church building again after the devastating fire, which occurred on the 9th December 2018. There was an element of uncertainty about how this would impact our financial results for the year. We have seen increased revenue through resuming church services in our own building, including weddings, funerals and baptisms. We have also been able to run some successful fundraising events towards general church expenses. On the other hand we have also had the increased expenses of running our church building and maintaining the enhancements to the building put in during the refurbishments. Our financial challenge as a church is to grow our income to keep up with our costs which continually rise with inflation. The impact of these factors is reflected in the summary detailed below.
Total income for the year was £199,517 (2022: £316,316). £166,798 of this income was unrestricted relating to the ongoing general activities of the Church (2022: £122,236). Stewardship income totalled £77,045, an increase of £2,013 on the previous year. Gift Aid recovery from all sources, including fire and other donations, amounted to £19,958, down from £33,907 in the previous year. This Gift Aid recovery was again helped by the inclusion of a claim arising from the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS). This claim was for £1,377 compared to £1,769 last year. Gift Aid recovery in 2022 had been higher than usual owing to donations following the fire including the successful Gift Day.
Our return to services in our own church building contributed to an increase in collections on the plate. At £3,842 these were up by £821 compared with 2022. This figure includes £702 taken as retiring collection for our local Children’s Hospice, EACH, at weddings and baptisms through the year. We also collected £345 for Tearfund for their appeal following the earthquake in Turkey & Syria, £188 for the Bishop’s Harvest Appeal and £253 for the St Martins in the Fields Christmas Appeal.
Sundry donations were £26,937, a significant increase on the figure of £9,910 from 2022. This figure includes an amount of £3,360 received from other organisations for the use of our church building during the year. Generous donations continued to be received especially in the first part of the year following our return to services in our church building after the fire. The amount donated in the year specifically relating to the refurbishment works amounted to £4,220 and these donations have been treated as restricted income in the Church Refurbishment Fund.
Other voluntary income was £28,009, down from £71,600 year on year. The main reason for this drop was that the figures for 2022 included the exceptionally successful Gift Day. Within the total figure regular fundraising in the year, at £10,041, was up by £8,336. As well as profits of £1,663 from our popular Saturday Coffee, events hosted for the first time again this year included the Quiz (£1,540) and the Book Fayre (£2,560). Our first Harvest Supper in the new church building together with sales at the May Fayre also raised £1,200 for BRAVE Trust. Other fundraising activities towards the refurbishment did take place, including in particular donations to the "Sponsor a Chair" scheme which raised a further £5,032 including Gift Aid.
3
Magazine revenue was slightly higher at £1,730. Fee income, at £11,038, was well ahead of the previous year, (2022: £6,381) with the church now available for weddings and funerals.
During the year we received grants towards the cost of refurbishment from the Brian Racher Trust (£15,000) and the Archer Trust (£1,000). These followed the grants received totalling £46.500 in the previous two years.
We received three legacies in 2023 totalling £10,552. We are grateful that these parishioners chose to remember the church amongst their final gifts.
We continued to let the house at 12 Prince Andrews Close which resulted in rental income of £13,128, in line with the previous year.
Finally, although interest rates have increased, income from investments was £1,830 down from the £2,395 recorded in 2022. This was because we had withdrawn monies from deposit accounts to pay for the refurbishment of the church.
Total expenditure, excluding the cost of refurbishment, was £156,502 a decrease of £30,873 on 2022 (£187,375). Of this total unrestricted expenditure was £150,576 (2022: £175,255).
Mission expenditure allocation followed our standard agreed practice of giving away 10% of our total stewardship income, including Gift Aid tax relief, and £10,000 was made available to the Missions Committee. The other charitable expenditure of £3,466 is the amount paid out following the various charitable collections noted earlier and our fundraising for the BRAVE Trust.
Our most significant expenditure is that of Parish Share which, for 2023, was £73,912 compared to £79,339 in the previous year. We were asked to pay this lesser amount in view of our vacancy period when we did not have a vicar.
Mission within parish during the year was up significantly from £561 in 2022 to £2,691 this year. These additional expenses mainly reflect that we have been able to resume a number of activities in our church building such as Tots in Church.
Expenditure on church repairs and maintenance was significantly lower at £11,814 compared to £60,988 in 2022. The figure was higher in 2022 as the opportunity was taken to carry out further non fire related work on the building whilst the contractors were on site. It should be noted that the annual cost of maintaining the refurbished systems in the church going forward – including for example the heating system and the AV system – is higher than for the systems we had before the fire.
Church running expenses were significantly up from £11,746 in 2022 to £25,352 this year. This has been our first full year of costs running our church building. The price we paid for gas and electricity was particularly high in 2023. Our new two year contract for gas and electricity is at a lower rate which should bring our church running costs down. Note that all of our electricity now comes from renewable wind energy and 25% of our gas is from renewable sources. Whilst this is slightly more expensive than energy from traditional fossil fuels we decided that this was a step we should take as a church to help limit our environmental impact.
Fees paid to the diocese for weddings and funerals were, at £1,994, down by £511 compared with 2022. This was in spite of increased numbers of weddings and funerals. This reflected our vacancy period and the cost of bringing in other ministers to take these services.
There are no other significant year on year variances to report.
The restoration and refurbishment of the church was completed in 2023. During the year we incurred final contractors costs and professional fees on the refurbishment of the church amounting to £60,199. This brought the total cost of the refurbishment for the PCC to £615,530 which is net of claims for the refund of VAT under the Listed Places of Worship scheme. The decision was made to write off the cost of refurbishment of the church. This write off was in part covered by funds raised for this purpose and held as the Church Refurbishment Fund. In addition £158,776 of unrestricted funds was also required to be reclassified into the Church Refurbishment Fund to cover the cost of the refurbishment. This fund has been closed on completion of the refurbishment.
Consideration can be given to the longer term impact on the Church finances of the cost of the refurbishment following the fire. It should be noted that the Net Assets of the Church at the end of 2018 just after the fire were £416,801. Of this £58,476 was in the restricted fund previously named the cHALLenge Fund and then redesignated to be the Church Refurbishment Fund. This money was from fundraising over a number of years for the development of the inside of the Church and it was then redirected towards the refurbishment of the fire. The Net Assets of the Church at the end of 2023 are now £150,632 following the write off of the refurbishment costs.
4
It can therefore be seen that during the period of the church refurbishment there has been an overall reduction in the Net Assets of the Church of £209,693.
In summary, unrestricted income exceeded expenditure to leave a surplus of £16,222 for the year (2022: £53,019 deficit). Restricted funds show a surplus of £26,778, (2022: £181,956). With regard to endowment funds there was an unrealised gain of £2,567 on investments. However the one off write of the refurbishment costs has resulted in a very significant reduction in the consolidated funds of the church going forward. Overall, therefore, there was a net decrease in consolidated funds of £569,948 compared with a net increase of £125,351 in 2022.
## **Insurance**
The Church is covered by the St Albans Diocesan group insurance scheme for Churches (effected via Ecclesiastical Insurance Group). This policy includes public liability indemnity of up to 10 million pounds. It also satisfies requirements within Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance Act of 1969). Other costs, including losses due to fire and theft, legal expenses, minor building works and consequential loss are also covered within the policy.
## **Reliance upon unpaid volunteers**
It is acknowledged by the PCC that the day-to-day running requirements can only be met by virtue of the efforts of unpaid volunteers. Therefore the Church is wholly reliant upon the continued provision of such unpaid and voluntary services for its ongoing welfare and strength.
The Church is registered with the Charity Commission with Charity registration number 1132876.
## **ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE :**
The Parish Administrator Parish Church of St John the Baptist Melbourn Street Royston SG8 7BP
## **OTHER ADDRESSES :**
## **Bank :**
Lloyds Bank Plc The Cross 2 Melbourn Street Royston Hertfordshire SG8 7BL.
**Independent examiner :** UHY Hacker Young Chartered Accountants The Nexus Building Broadway Letchworth Garden City Hertfordshire SG6 9BL
## **On behalf of the PCC :**
**Revd. Dr Steven Sivyer** _**Chairman**_
_**30 April 2024**_
5
## **Parochial Church Council of St John the Baptist, Royston**
## **Statement of Financial Activities**
**For the year ended 31 December 2023**
|Note
**Income Resources**
Incoming resources from donors
2(a)
Other voluntary incoming resources
2(b)
Income from charitable and ancillary trading
2(c)
Other ordinary incoming resources
2(d)
Income from investments
2(e)
**Total Incoming Resources**
**Resources Used**
Grants
3(a)
Activities directly relating to the work of the Church
3(b)
Fund raising and publicity
3(c)
Church management and administration
3(d)
**Total Resources Used**
**Net Incoming / (Outgoing) Resources**
**Gains and Losses on Investments**
- unrealised
**Net Movement in Funds**
**Balance Brought Forward at**
**1 January 2023 (2022)**
**Refurbishment Costs**
**Fund Reclassification**
**Balance Carried Forward at**
**31 December 2023 (2022)**||**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
£
121,297
20,593
10,774
13,128
1,006|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
£
121,297
20,593
10,774
13,128
1,006|**Restricted**
**Funds**
£
6,485
7,416
1,994
16,000
809|**Restricted**
**Funds**
£
6,485
7,416
1,994
16,000
809|**Endowment**
**Total**
**Total**
**Funds**
**2023**
**2022**
£
£
£
0
127,782
121,870
0
28,009
71,600
0
12,768
7,835
0
29,128
112,616
15
1,830
2,395|**Endowment**
**Total**
**Total**
**Funds**
**2023**
**2022**
£
£
£
0
127,782
121,870
0
28,009
71,600
0
12,768
7,835
0
29,128
112,616
15
1,830
2,395|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||
||||166,798||32,704||15
199,517
316,316|
||||10,000
123,716
1,518
15,342||3,466
2,440
20
0||0
13,466
11,526
0
126,156
162,755
0
1,538
281
0
15,342
12,813|
||||150,576||5,926||0
156,502
187,375|
||||16,222
0||26,778
0||15
43,015
128,941
2,567
2,567
-3,590|
||||16,222
211,690
-158,776||26,778
480,986
-615,530
158,776||2,582
45,582
125,351
27,904
720,580
595,229
-615,530
0
0
0|
||||69,136||51,010||30,486
150,632
720,580|
6
## **Parochial Church Council of St John the Baptist, Royston**
## **Balance Sheet at 31 December 2023**
|Note
**Fixed Assets**
Tangible fixed assets
5(a)
Investment assets
5(b)
**Current Assets**
Debtors
7
Short term deposits
Cash at bank and in hand
**Liabilities : amounts falling**
**due within one year**
8
**Net Current Assets**
**Net Assets**
**Funds**
6
Unrestricted
Restricted
10
Endowment
9|**2023**
**2022**
£
£
13,374
568,705
29,613
27,046|
|---|---|
||42,987
595,751|
||29,775
48,326
24,680
23,680
115,905
75,883|
||170,360
147,889
-62,715
-23,060|
||107,645
124,829|
|||
||150,632
720,580|
||69,136
211,690
51,010
480,986
30,486
27,904|
||150,632
720,580|
7
## **Parochial Church Council of St John the Baptist, Royston**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements For the year ended 31 December 2023**
## 1 **Accounting Policies**
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 1997 together with applicable accounting standards and the Charities SORP. The financial statements have been prepared under the historic cost convention except for the investment assets, which are shown at market value. We have adopted all of the accounting policies as set out in the model set of accounting policies issued by the Central Board of Finance of the Church of England.
The financial statements have been prepared on the basis that the PCC is considered to be a going concern for the foreseeable future.
|2 **Incoming Resources**
2(a)_Incoming resources from donors_
Christian stewardship
Gift Aid tax refund
Collections on plate
Sundry donations
2(b)_Other voluntary incoming resources_
Donations
Legacies
Fund raising events
2(c)_Income from charitable and ancillary trading_
Magazine revenue
Fees
2(d)_Other ordinary incoming resources_
Insurance claims
Grants
Rental income
2(e)_Income from investments_
Dividends and interest
**Total Incoming Resources**||**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
£
77,045
19,958
1,577
22,717|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
£
77,045
19,958
1,577
22,717|**Restricted**
**Funds**
£
2,265
4,220|**Restricted**
**Funds**
£
2,265
4,220|**Endowment**
**Total**
**Total**
**Funds**
**2023**
**2022**
£
£
£
77,045
75,032
19,958
33,907
3,842
3,021
26,937
9,910|**Endowment**
**Total**
**Total**
**Funds**
**2023**
**2022**
£
£
£
77,045
75,032
19,958
33,907
3,842
3,021
26,937
9,910|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||
||||121,297||6,485||0
127,782
121,870|
||||10,552
10,041||7,416||0
0
10,552
0
17,457
71,600|
||||20,593||7,416||0
28,009
71,600|
||||1,730
9,044||1,994||1,730
1,454
11,038
6,381|
||||10,774||1,994||0
12,769
7,835|
||||13,128||0
16,000||0
62,608
16,000
37,000
13,128
13,008|
||||13,128||16,000||0
29,128
112,616|
||||1,006||809||15
1,830
2,395|
||||1,006||809||15
1,830
2,395|
||||166,798||32,704||15
199,517
316,316|
8
## **Parochial Church Council of St John the Baptist, Royston**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements**
## **For the year ended 31 December 2023**
|3 **Resources Used**
3(a)_Grants_
_Missionary and charitable giving:_
Church overseas mission
Church home mission
Other non-Church charities
Unallocated
3(b)_Activities directly relating to the work of the_
_Church_
Ministry : Parish share
Clergy expenses
Readers expenses
Altar expenses
Mission within parish
Organist and music
Bellringers and other fees
Magazine printing
Church repairs
Church running expenses
Fees to Diocese
3(c)_Fund raising and publicity expenses_
Fund raising events
3(d)_Church management and administration_
Parish office administration
Office equipment depreciation
Re-Ordering costs
Licence fees
**Total Resources Used**||**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
£
5,100
2,399
1,100
1,401|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
£
5,100
2,399
1,100
1,401|**Restricted**
**Funds**
£
3,466|**Restricted**
**Funds**
£
3,466|**Endowment**
**Total**
**Total**
**Funds**
**2023**
**2022**
£
£
£
5,100
5,100
2,399
2,700
4,566
3,310
1,401
416|**Endowment**
**Total**
**Total**
**Funds**
**2023**
**2022**
£
£
£
5,100
5,100
2,399
2,700
4,566
3,310
1,401
416|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||||
||||10,000||3,466||0
13,466
11,526|
||||73,912
798
1,037
2,691
5,704
935
1,920
11,368
25,352||446
1,994||73,912
79,339
798
1,260
0
0
1,037
307
2,691
561
5,704
4,112
935
75
1,920
1,861
11,814
60,988
25,352
11,746
1,994
2,505|
||||123,716||2,440||0
126,156
162,755|
||||1,518||20||1,538
281|
||||1,518||20||0
1,538
281|
||||13,654
1,688||||13,654
11,757
0
0
0
0
1,688
1,056|
||||15,342||0||0
15,342
12,813|
||||150,576||5,926||0
156,502
187,375|
9
£ £ 7,501 6,935
## **Parochial Church Council of St John the Baptist, Royston**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements For the year ended 31 December 2023**
## 4 **Staff Costs** Salaries & fees
During the year the PCC employed an administrator.
The administrator, Mrs. J. Wallis, is a member of the PCC and was paid £7,501 during the year. This salary is included as a cost under Parish Office Administration at note 3(d). Apart from the above no other member of the PCC received any remuneration. All payments were made from Unrestricted Funds.
## 5 **Fixed Assets for use by PCC**
|5(a)**Tangible fixed assets**
Gross Book Value At 1 January 2023
Additions
Disposals
At 31 December 2023
Depreciation At 1 January 2023
Charge for year
Eliminated on disposals
At 31 December 2023
Net Book Value At 31 December 2023
At 31 December 2022|**Freehold**
**Office**
**Church**
**Total**
**Land and**
**Equipment**
**Refurbishment**
**Buildings**
£
£
£
£
13,374
1,184
555,331
569,889
0
0
60,199
60,199
0
0
0|
|---|---|
||13,374
1,184
615,530
630,087|
||0
1,184
0
1,184
0
0
0
0
0
0
615,530
615,530|
||0
1,184
615,530
1,184|
||13,374
0
0
13,374
13,374
0
555,331
568,705|
The freehold land and buildings are comprised of the Curate's house at 12 Prince Andrews Close, Royston which is included at historic cost and does not need to be shown at market value as it is regarded by the PCC as a functional asset rather than an investment asset.
The additional burial ground was acquired in the 19th century at an unknown cost and is included in fixed assets at £nil cost.
There was a fire at the church on 9th December 2018. Since then both restoration work and refurbishment have been taken place. The former was fully covered by insurers with the refurbishment being the responsibility of the PCC. Following the completion of the restoration/refurbishment the decision was taken to write off the PCC costs.
## 5(b) **Investments**
1310 shares in CBF Investment Fund - value at 31st December 2023 amounted to £29,613 (2022 £27,046) - historic cost £1,081.
10
## **Parochial Church Council of St John the Baptist, Royston**
**Notes to the Financial Statements For the year ended 31 December 2023**
6 **Analysis of Net assets by Funds**
|Fixed assets
Current assets
Current liabilities
Fund balance
7 **Debtors**
Income tax recoverable
Prepayments and accrued interest
Other debtors
8 **Liabilities: amounts falling due within one year**
Creditors for goods and services
Other creditors
Provision for repairs to 12, Prince Andrews Close, Royston
9 **Analysis of Endowment funds by type**
Expendable funds
Permanent funds||**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
£
13,374
104,457
-48,695|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
£
13,374
104,457
-48,695|**Restricted**
**Funds**
£
0
65,029
-14,020|**Restricted**
**Funds**
£
0
65,029
-14,020|**Restricted**
**Funds**
£
0
65,029
-14,020|**Endowment**
**Total**
**Funds**
£
£
29,613
42,987
873
170,360
0
-62,715|**Endowment**
**Total**
**Funds**
£
£
29,613
42,987
873
170,360
0
-62,715|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||||||
||||69,136||51,010|||30,486
150,632|
|||||||||**2023**
**2022**
£
£
23,950
34,263
472
403
5,353
13,660|
|||||||||29,775
48,326|
|||||||||15,055
7,734
45,988
13,654
1,672
1,672|
|||||||||62,715
23,060|
|||||||||612
612
29,874
27,292|
|||||||||30,486
27,904|
## 10 **Fund Details**
The Restricted Funds are comprised of the Additional Burial Ground Capital and Revenue Funds, arising from the sale , of the Sexton's house in 1988, the Stoneybridge Income Fund and the Church Refurbishment Fund
The Endowment Funds are comprised of 4 Grave Trusts and the Stoneybridge and Welsh Endowments.
|.
**Church Refurbishment Fund (Formerly Challenge Fund)**
Opening fund at 1 January 2023 (2022)
Net funds raised during the year
Funds capitalised/utilised during the year
Balance to close the fund
Closing fund at 31 December 2023 (2022)|**2023**
**2022**
£
£
-231,853
-18,289
126,632
-340,195
231,853|
|---|---|
||0
-231,853|
The fund was utilised towards the cost of the restoration/refurbishment which was the responsibility of the PCC. This work was successfully completed during the year as a result of which it has been decided that this fund is no longer required and has been closed. Details of the costs and funds raised are noted elsewhere in the statements.
11
## **Parochial Church Council of St. John the Baptist, Royston, Herts.**
## **Independent Examiner’s Report to the Parochial Church Council of St. John the Baptist, Royston**
This report on the attached accounts of the PCC for the year ended 31 December 2023, which are set out on pages 6 to 11 is in respect of an examination carried out in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 (“the regulations”) and s.145 of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).
## **Respective Responsibilities of the PCC and the Examiner**
As the members of the PCC you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts; you consider that the audit requirement of the Regulations and s.144(2) of the Act does not apply. It is my responsibility to issue this report on those accounts in accordance with the terms of the Regulations.
## **Basis of this report**
My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission under s.145(5)(b) of the Act and to be found in the Church guidance, 2006 edition. That examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the PCC and a comparison of the accounts with those records. It also includes considering any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.
## **Independent Examiner’s Statement**
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements
- to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Act; and
- to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the requirements of the Act, and the Regulations have not been met; or
2. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
UHY HACKER YOUNG PO BOX 501 THE NEXUS BUILDING BROADWAY LETCHWORTH GARDEN CITY HERTS SG6 9BL