2024-12-31-accounts

2024 Report and Accounts

for the

Parochial Church Council of The Benefice of St Nicholas

Presented to the Annual General Meeting on 7[th] April 2025

Finance Report Agreed by the PCC on 22[nd] November 2025

Aims and Purpose	Page 3
Safeguarding Report	Page 4
Deanery Synod Report	Page 11
Electoral Roll Report	Page 12
St Nicholas Reports	Page 13

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Aims and Purpose

St. Nicholas’ Parochial Church Councils (PCC) has the responsibility of cooperating with the incumbent, the Reverend Tina Minett Stevens, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical.

The PCC of St Nicholas is also specifically responsible for the maintenance of the St Nicholas Parish Hall at 1 Newbegin Hornsea HU18 1AB

Objectives and Activities

The PCC is committed to enabling as many people as possible to worship at our church and to become part of our parish communities. The PCC maintains an overview of worship throughout the parish and makes suggestions on how our services can involve the many groups that live within our parish. Our services and worship put faith into practice through prayer and scripture, music and sacrament.

When planning our activities for the year, we have considered the Commission’s guidance on public benefit and, in particular, the supplementary guidance on charities for the advancement of religion. In particular, we try to enable ordinary people to live out their faith as part of our parish community through:

• Worship and prayer; learning about the Gospel; and developing their

• knowledge and trust in Jesus

• Provision of pastoral care for people living in the parish

• Mission and outreach work

To facilitate this work it is important that we maintain the fabric of our Church buildings and St. Nicholas Church Hall.

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Achievements and Performance

Annual Safeguarding Report

Hornsea Benefice is compliant with all requirements of Section 5A of the the Church of England Safeguarding Code of Practice and the following statements demonstrate this:-

 Following last year’s APCM myself, Christina Taylor and Jo Gadie took on the role of Parish Safeguarding Officers. We attended the Induction at the Diocese Headquarters and this was followed up with a visit from a Diocesan Officer to help us draw up and action plan.

 The first task was to ensure all PCC and Church Wardens had up to date DBS plus other volunteers/individuals who were on our database. This was done and all Open the Book, Families at 3 and Church Music volunteers are now covered and the Update Service was recommended to them. Community Development Worker has also been safely recruited and trained to the required level.

 Safeguarding Training continues to be a work in progress and details follow in the report.

 Safeguarding policy based upon and compliant with the C of E policy has been updated and accepted by the PCCS. Benefice Safeguarding Dashboard has been reviewed and is up to date with actions identified for each church.

 Safeguarding is a standing item on all PCC agendas and the PSO reports regularly.

 Up to date Safeguarding posters are prominent in all venues with contact information for any safeguarding issues that arise and risk assessments have been developed for events.

 Safer Recruitment processes are followed in the recruitment and training of all volunteers and Church Officers who work with children and vulnerable adults as well as in public events. We have adopted the simplified declaration for those in more prominent volunteers roles, full declaration for all officers and statement of Safer Working Practices for all one off events in order to promote a respectful and safe environment where any safeguarding concerns can be raised.

DBS

As DBS come up for renewals now – as long as the individual is registered for the update service this can be done annually by the Diocese so the 3 yearly cycle will phase out I assume.

We get an alert from 31:8 regarding expiry and if on update service all we need is sight of the original DBS, its number, name and DOB of the individual and the Diocese Safeguarding Admin do the check and send an acknowledgement for our records. No replacement DBS certificate is generated.

New volunteers (who so require) and any new Leaders/ Officers will be put through the DBS process.

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Safeguarding Training

Sallie and Jo have been undertaking the Leadership Training but unfortunately due to circumstances Cheryl and I were unable to join their cycle but will do as soon as we can register ourselves to do so.

A number of PCC members still need to so some training and it may be possible to facilitate this once the Parish Hall has internet access for those who require assistance.

Code of Safer Working Practices

This code is sufficient for use in most of our events that require volunteers helping, who have not done Safeguarding Training because their role/ involvement does not require it . It is sufficient for them to read and sign to say that they are happy to follow it. A copy is in each church’s Safeguarding folder. All group/ event/club leaders have undergone the correct level of Safeguarding Training required.

In conclusion we feel our Benefice has created a respectful environment in which all safeguarding concerns can be raised and responded to and remains a high priority in all our work.

Tina Taylor and Jo Gadie, Benefice Safeguarding Officers

Worship and Prayer

The PCC is keen to offer a range of services during the week and over the course of the year that our community find both beneficial and spiritually fulfilling.

All are welcome to attend our regular services.

Attendances on a Sunday morning are holding steady.

As well as our regular services, we enable our community to celebrate and thank God at the milestones of the journey through life. Through baptism we thank God for the gift of life, in marriage public vows are exchanged with God’s blessing and through funeral services friends and family express their grief and give thanks for the life which is now complete in this world and to commend the person into God's keeping. Being able to livestream these services has been a blessing for family members unable to attend in person.

Fifth Sundays have been kept as Benefice Services, with each church hosting these in rotation.

Services and events in the parish is detailed in the reports below.

Our worship online has continued and a faithful number attend Morning Prayer each weekday: numbers are lower but a core of 4-6 remain. Morning Prayer reverted to online only during the winter months. Others join on Sundays for Communion, which has now dropped to 1 or 2 attending worship online.

Midweek St Nicholas offered a shorter service of Holy Communion, which moved into the parish hall for the winter where worship was more comfortable in the colder months. A small but faithful congregation of around 12 value this opportunity for worship and fellowship, with a local care home bringing a resident when possible. With the addition of a hearing loop/ PA system we are better able to meet the needs of those with hearing disabilities.

The congregation have now chosen to stay in the parish hall year round, and we now meet ‘in the round’ so that no-one has to move to receive Holy Communion. Members have begun to make use of the Warm Space lunches offered in the Hollis Room and this has allowed for more fellowship.

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A group of men have formed who undertake ‘handyman’ tasks in the church and hall following the Wednesday service and it is a joy to see their relationships grow and we are grateful for all they do.

At the request of two local care homes, the Vicar celebrates a monthly Communion service with hymns for the residents, many of whom have been unable to attend church for years due to their infirmities. Ministry continues to develop as we build relationships with the care home staff.

All our services and events are promoted through our Facebook page Hornsea Benefice serving the people of Hornsea, Atwick and Skipsea .

There have been more opportunities to engage with the local schools and it has been a joy to welcome local primary schools into their local parish church, with Hornsea Burton and Skipsea schools coming for Harvest, Christmas and Easter. The Vicar and curate have been invited in to lead assemblies in the schools as well as attending classes to speak about the Christian faith and festivals as part of the Religious Education local syllabus.

The arrival of Rev Rosie as Curate in the summer has enabled us to offer different styles of worship and Rev Rosie brings a freshness to all that we do.

Pastoral Care

Some members of our parish are unable to attend church due to various circumstances. Revd Tina and Rev Rosie have visited all who have requested it, to share communion with them either at their homes or in hospital. We refer those in hospital to the Chaplaincy team who are often able to visit sooner given the distance we are from our local hospitals. The provision of online services has greatly helped our ‘at home’ members be part of our worship together. e make use of texts an phone calls to keep in touch with each other.

Informal care is offered by members of the congregations to one another, with lifts to church being particularly valued alongside the deepening of relationships. The former members of the Mothers’ Union continue to meet socially and support one another.

Please remember we would rather be told multiple times that someone is in need than not at all!

Revd Tina

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Occasional Offices

We continue to offer weddings, baptisms and funerals to all who request them. We have good working relationships with our local funeral directors and also our ecumenical colleagues, sharing services with them when asked and as appropriate.

26 funerals (9 of which were at local crematoriums, an increasing trend) and 2 interments of ashes were undertaken across the Benefice in 2024.

Sadly these included services for Keith Rhodes and Angela Wear in Hornsea, both of whom died following illnesses and who are greatly missed by us all for their support and wisdom as Churchwardens and friends.

Weddings and baptisms are less and less common, though there was an increase in weddings booked in 2024 for 2025. One wedding took place in 2024.

We make it as easy as possible for families to access baptisms, requiring only a home visit with the parents and godparents before the service. However, we only had 3 families attend for Baptism in the Benefice in 2024.

Revd Tina

Curate’s Report

Since arriving in the Hornsea Benefice in June 2024, I have enjoyed getting to know people within the community, and I am enjoying my role as Curate here.

I am thankful for our regular worship services at Atwick, Hornsea, and Skipsea, where I have had the opportunity to carry out my role as a liturgical deacon both during the Sunday services and the midweek Communion in Hornsea. I have also been thankful for the opportunity to lead some of the monthly Evensong services.

I have helped to lead occasional services, my favourites being the Christingle services, that Stations of the Cross, and the World Day of Prayer. I have introduced and led a Taizé service, which is a quiet service with music, readings, candles, and Christian meditation. We have so far had two Taizé services, and these have been well received by those attending. I would like to continue organising Taizé services and have also had offers from people within the community to help with the music.

In addition, I have had a discussion with the Activities Coordinator at Mere Hall Care Home about potentially bringing a Taizé service into the care home itself.

Alongside the services in church, I have also attended and led some of the courses and groups that happen both within the benefice and in the wider deanery. Revd Tina and I have led this year’s Lent course, focussing on prayer and different ways of praying, and I have learnt a lot from those sessions. I have also attended the Bible Study which takes place in Aldbrough, and I have attended some meetings of the Fellowship Group which is led by Revd Shirley in Beeford.

Another of the opportunities I have had this year is leading funerals and baptisms. I have had the privilege of walking alongside a number of families who are grieving the loss of a loved one, and of taking their loved one’s funeral. I have led 2 baptisms so far this year, and have also attended weddings led by Revd Tina, to prepare for taking weddings after my priesting in June 2025.

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During the past few months, I have had the chance to visit congregation members at home and bring communion to those who are unable to get to church. I thoroughly enjoy this ministry, and the conversations that are had. I also enjoy the conversations that I have with the residents in the local care homes which I visit with Revd Tina each month. We have a Eucharist service, and then usually stay for a cup of coffee and a chat. During coffee, we have some great conversations with the residents!

I have had the opportunity to go into all 3 of our local primary schools. I deliver collective worship at Hornsea Burton and Skipsea, and every so often, I join Revd Tina in delivering assemblies to Hornsea Community Primary School. Alongside school visits, I have enjoyed being involved in the work that is going on within the Benefice for young people, including Families at 3, and the newly formed Young Voices choir.

It has been great to see the events that have been put on by the churches, including the mouse festival at Skipsea, the Dominoes with a Difference evening, and not forgetting Atwick’s bingo evening! There have of course also been a number of opportunities to partake in community events outside of the church, including the blessing of the Hornsea Inshore Rescue’s new lifeboat called the ‘Spirit of Hornsea’.

As is becoming clear to me, there are lots of things going on within the Benefice. We have been reflecting on this during our Revitalise days at Wydale and at the Revitalise meetings we have had in the Benefice. Revitalise has been helping us to think about what growth and mission looks like in our community, and I look forward to seeing how these discussions develop.

As a leader in the Church, I am also expected to have experience in meetings and PCC’s, and have therefore joined a range of meetings, including PCC meetings, within the benefice. I will continue to attend these, and am already learning lots!

As well as the practical aspects of ministry that I have been partaking in this year, I have also been continuing some studies around ministry and theology. In January 2025, I graduated from my Master’s Degree in Theology and Ministry from Durham University, which concluded the studies that I had been doing whilst at theological college in Durham. I have also attended IME (Initial Ministerial Education) days, mostly at the York Diocesan Offices, where we have had time to reflect upon our ministry and learn more about ministry. Alongside my own learning, I have had the opportunity to deliver training to staff at the theological college in Mirfield around neurodivergence, which I loved doing.

As is perhaps clear to you, I am very grateful to be serving in the Hornsea Benefice. This report has highlighted some of the things I have been a part of so far, but has by no means covered everything. Looking towards the future, I hope to continue developing in these aspects of ministry, and also have plans to undertake a project focussing on inclusion within our Benefice which will specifically be looking at our accessibility in terms of disability. I look forward to doing this project and am also looking forward to seeing how my ministry develops as I am priested in June.

I would like to say thank you to Revd Tina and everyone in the Benefice for the welcome, encouragement, patience and support that I have received. I look forward to seeing what the next year brings for us as a Benefice and for me in my ministry, and am excited to journey together over the coming year.

Rev Rosie Evans

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Open The Book Report

This is a short reflection on what we have been doing as part of Open the Book team this year. We have 8 regular members of our Open the Book team, namely: Georgina Chamberlain, Enid Slaven, Sallie Hammond, Meg Croft, David Croft, Angela Leach, Stuart Leach, with Rev Rosie joining the team in 2024. All of the team have completed their Open the Book training online this year, which was helpful and informative.

The team meets every other week during term-time to prepare for the story the following Monday. We give thanks for Georgina who usually hosts these meetings, and for Enid who has hosted them in most recent weeks.

The team then delivers the story in Hornsea Burton Primary School the next Monday morning, with props of course. There are a number of children who come to help us act out the stories, and they enjoy being involved. The children seem to enjoy hearing the stories, and one of the staff recently fed back that they enjoy the days that open the book come and do the assembly.

With the few little interactions we have with the children, it is clear that many of them want to learn more about the Christian faith and want to explore questions around faith.

There have been some highlights of the year, with Enid’s Oscar-worthy performance of a pious religious leader in the story of the widow’s coins and Revd Rosie’s ride on a donkey during the telling of Palm Sunday.

The stories and the reflection that comes at the end often also tie in with the themes that the children have been reflecting on. As a recent example, we did the story of the resurrection on the last week of the Easter term, and were told that the children were going to be learning about this story that week.

We have enjoyed Open the Book this year, and look forward to continuing to deliver the assemblies, bringing the stories of the Bible to life, and seeing what the next year brings for the team.

Rev Rosie Evans

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Benefice Deanery Synod Report

Hornsea & Aldbrough benefices (comprising 7 churches) are now in North Holderness Coastal mission community, and Skirlaugh, Beeford and Leven, in North Holderness Rural. It is a two year plan in which we need to grow, challenge ourselves, and work collaboratively.

24.10.23

I was unable to attend this meeting, which was at Hornsea Church. As it was the first of the Deanery year, it began with a service of Holy Communion, conducted by Revd Tina.

On their retirement from office, Shirley and John were both thanked by Revd David, for their hard work, and their valuable contributions to the DLT. The Deanery plan was discussed.

18.4.24

Revd David reported on the productive meetings held for couples getting married over the deanery this year.

Thanks were given to Pat Porter for her hard work as Deanery treasurer, as she had moved on to become Lay Dean. New treasurer is Ian Nursey who answered questions on free Will Offer.

The attendees then split into the two areas – Rural and Coastal- to discuss how we can help each other out in services etc. This was followed by a short quiz by Revd David.

29.5.24

Still no one volunteered to be Secretary! The room split into two groups to discuss what we should focus on in the future, as a Deanery. One suggestion was sharing what was happening in our parish so others could support these events. Another was how we could improve safeguarding training, so all churches achieve their goals of where they should be with this. And visiting each others’ churches more. Suggestions of Speakers took place, with Coastal Erosion, Net Zero, and RABA reps being some suggestions (Royal Agricultural Benevolent Association) Unfortunately, Revd Susan Walker will not be replaced after retiring in September, and will be greatly missed.

Sallie Hammond – Synod representative for Atwick

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Electoral Roll Reports

This is a year when the Electoral Rolls are renewed. Last year’s figures are included for comparison.

The reduced numbers at Hornsea are more reflective of our actual worshipping community, but due to the illness of the Electoral Roll Officer when the roll was prepared there are further people to be included in the coming months.

Hornsea St Nicholas

We started the year with 98 on Roll. The new Roll numbers 26

Electoral Roll Officer

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St Nicholas Hornsea Reports

St Nicholas is a Registered Charity Number 1132888

Church Wardens Reports

Formal

Due to the sad loss of two previous Wardens, the Terrier has been misplaced. The Archdeacon is aware and this shall shortly be renewed. There has been no visitation by or on behalf of the Archdeacon this year.

Jo Gadie, Church Warden

Informal

It is customary for the church to have four churchwardens. Unfortunately, with the sad passing of Keith and Angela we now only have one. If anyone is interested in becoming a churchwarden, please contact the Churchwarden or the vicar.

The Parochial Church Council was elected at the Annual General Meeting. During the year no one has resigned. The PCC meets 8 times a year and if anyone would like the opportunity to be involved with the running of the church, there are vacancies.

During 2024 church attendance has been on a par with 2025 and there have been a number of events where visitors and families have been able to experience aspects of the church and its worship.

Jo Gadie, Church Warden

Fabric Report

During the Quinquennial inspection of the church building by the architect and the builder Matthias, structural defects to the tower pinnacles and parapet which required further investigation, remedial work and scaffolding access were discovered. The work has been agreed and scheduled for completion in 2025. We Had some scaffolding erected due to health and safety issues of people walking round the back for the disabled access, We shall also be having work done on the clock face whilst the scaffolding is in place.

On-going talks regards the disabled access is ongoing with the Town Council as this is seen unfit for wheelchairs and a ramp has been discussed instead of the zig zag access.

Lights in the church are failing one by one, as a temporary measure we have placed lights in the organ loft and the choir vestry pending a more permanent resolution.

Jo Gadie, Churchwarden

Ecumenical Relationships

The church is a member of Christians Together in Hornsea and our relationships continue to develop. It has been a joy to welcome and work alongside friends in our sister churches in many events and services this year, including the Easter Sunrise Service and Hornsea Carnival.

Revd Tina

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Choir Report

This year has seen growth in all areas of choral worship within St. Nicholas Church.

In March we held a Come and Sing for The Crucifixion by John Stainer. This was very successful and attracted approximately 20 singers.

In May we enjoyed a Civic Service which welcomed members of Beverley Minster and Bridlington Priory Choir to song with St. Nicholas’s .

More new music was added to welcome the arrival of Rev Rosie and the choir and congregational enjoyed learning new hymns and music for the occasion

In July the adult choir entered the church choir category in the local Hornsea Music Festival with great success and enjoyment. It was also a pleasure to host the Hornsea Music Festival in the church for some of their vocal classes, and we hope we can do this again in the future.

In October the newly formed Young Voices choir was started which is aimed at children of secondary school age. The choir is slowly becoming part of regular service as the members learn all the new music.

The Christmas period was busy for both choirs, and the choir enjoyed singing in care homes, with a fabulous addition of a cello, clarinet and piano ensemble to accompany the singing. The residents and choir thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The choir also visited Atwick to take part in the turning on of the Christmas lights and enjoyed singing carols round the tree with local residents. The carol service this year was a combined service with Young Voices and St. Nicholas’s Church Choir, as well as Petrichora, enjoying a full 9 lessons and Carols. There were violins and a trumpet in addition to the choir and everyone enjoyed themselves.

The choir have enjoyed regular monthly evensong and have learnt a great deal of new music to support both Sunday services. New members have enjoyed taking part in both services as we gain confidence in the BCP evensong service. We look forward to continuing to expand and engage with all areas of church worship over the coming years, whilst expanding our members and repertoire. Many thanks must go not only to the commitment of the choir members, but to John for his astonishing support and dedication to his work. It is an honour and a joy to be able to work with him every week. Special thanks must also go to Rev. Rosie for all her support and encouragement with the Young Voices. Finally thanks to Rev Tina for her unending support in continued growth of Music and worship opportunities.

Leonie Creswell

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Server Report

This has been a difficult year for our Serving Team, with June Tanton having to step down due to ill health: thank you for all your hard work over the years June and for all you have taught me. June continues to assist on both a Sunday and a Wednesday.

Jean Railton has also been out of action for over a year but hopefully when her back is sorted she will be back: Jean - you are greatly missed.

I would also like to thank Sandra for stepping in to the server position in my absence. As some of you know I can only serve every other Sunday due to work commitments, but I do call in and set everything up so it's ready for the service.

So I am asking if there is anyone who would like to become a server or just help set up in my absence then please don’t hesitate to contact myself, Revd Tina or Rev Rosie.

Thank you, Jo Gadie

Growth Reports

Revitalise

Our church has been invited and joined the Revitalise programme through the Diocese. This has enabled members of the PCCs to go to Wydale and be inspired to help our churches to grow in faith, togetherness and mission in our local communities.

A Revitalise Group will be developed to help drive this forward in 2025.

Tina Taylor

Pollinate Eco-Garden Report

During the past year, we have achieved the following:

• · Grown our gardening team with 4 new committed members

 · Successfully improved the structure of the garden to include accessible footpaths, planting, outdoor electrics and covered arbour, thanks to funding from East Riding Council's UK Shared Prosperity Fund and Withernwick Windfarm Fund

 · Held a number of community events and workshops, including ‘Music In The Garden’, Smile Foundation's Volunteering Celebration, winter planter workshop, 2 Yorkshire Wildlife Trust workshops, nature and photography workshops, birdbox making workshop for primary school, lead by practical pathways group from secondary school, and a Christmas Table Centrepiece Workshop. The workshops were funded by the UKSPF grant.

 Links were developed with the secondary school, as students designed a natural play area for the garden

 The gardening volunteers have attended an information session on Green Social Prescribing, lead by Anthony Hurd from Smile Foundation

Garden Church unfortunately shrunk drastically in numbers and was no longer successful when ending in September.

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Plans for the year ahead include:

Organising a range of community workshops and community events

• Seek funding for the installation of an accessible greenhouse and accessible

• planting troughs

• Seek funding for the construction of the natural play area

• Continue to grow the garden volunteer group

Helen Ball, Lead Volunteer

Parish Hall Report

Thanks to grants from the UKSPF via the East Riding of Yorkshire Council, the hall was extensively re-furbished in August 2024. A further grant from the Hornsea Lions enabled more equipment to be purchased for the kitchen, and a digital grant from UKSPF allowed us to install AV equipment including a hearing loop to make the hall a more inclusive space.

In September 2024 we were able to employ Mr Jonathan Parker as Community Development Worker, using UKSPF funds which run out at the end of March 2025. We will be seeking alternative funding to support this role as it has had a great impact on our community work as Mr Parker’s report explains:

The Hall reopened in September with the Craft Emporium and the Horticultural Show. Comments were all very positive about what a modern, clean looking space we now have.

Our weekly events continue to grow in popularity - Warm Space Wednesdays were slow to get going but are now well attended and have a group of regulars as well as passers by who are both local and visiting. The bingo sessions are also popular - again we seem to have built up a regular clientele.

The hall bookings are increasing all the time. We have added sessions from the Diabetes Awareness providers and regulars like Let's Sing , Church Without Walls and U3A all continue to enjoy the hall. We have also added a new choir -Hooked on Harmonies , a local youth band who use us for practice and ER Music Therapy who are regulars.

Our community partnership with Adult Education got off to a good start with courses on Air Fryer Cooking and Digital phone photography. They are coming back soon with course in Nuero-diversity and Pottery.

We are also looking forward to welcoming Citizens Advice from April -they will be joining us once a month - a great asset that St Nicholas has brought to the town and the Credit Union are about to place a stand with us to gauging interest with a view to a weekly visit.

Our community events were very well received - the Doodling/art groups were very, very popular and the Affordable Christmas was a fantastic Atmosphere and helped several families. Our Toy Sway also helped 12 families and got us on to Look North - the only down side was we chose the coldest and wettest day of the year!

We teamed up with The Hornsea Hormones to provide the Christmas Day Lunch for over 65 people - a huge success and many people who came attend one or more of our weekly sessions.

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The Digital Grant was finally awarded and the tv/screen and sound system has recently been fitted and is already getting used including our first Family Film Night which went down well. We have been collecting surveys from our hall users and they are all very positive.

We have managed to recruit 6 regular volunteers and several more who are interested in getting more involved as we get ready to open the Community cafe - The Boathouse.

We are actively working with Adult Ed, Citizen's Advice, The Credit Union, Charlotte Eldred (artist), Hornsea Hormones, the 2 Primary Schools (especially Michelle Simmonite at Hornsea Primary), The Lions and are actively looking at ways of working more closely with The Detached Youth Team and The Success Centre.

The upstairs space has had a deep clean with a view to being able to hire that out more and a drama school are interested in using this from after Easter. The St Nicholas Parish Hall seems to be at the heart of the community again.

Jonathan Parker, Community Development Worker

Families at 3

This continues to thrive and since September we have had 16 families registered. Some have been attending from the start but there has been 5 new ones who have replaced others that no longer come due to new commitments.

Weekly we have a core attendance of 12 ish families with children from 3 years to 15 years.

We have a group of 5 volunteers plus Nicky and Tina from church who operate on a rota system. These come from the churches in Hornsea through Christians Together working. This year 2 ladies have retired from volunteering and we expressed our gratitude to their service. We have however recruited a lady from the RC who as a retired nursery teacher has also offered to lead a baby and toddler group which we plan for the Spring 2025

We have continued to be able to offer the sessions FREE of charge due to different grant funding sources that I have applied for.

We had 3 events this year/parties at the end of the School Terms – Easter and gave eggs and Christian materials and input – likewise at Christmas and each child received a present from Santa and each family biscuits. We also had a Praise party picnic in the Summer..

We continue to prepare the ground for seeds and were thrilled that there was a great response to our Christingle making and service in church on the last session before Christmas – also attended by other members of the public and families who attended just for this. Some of our families also came to Lights Night and the Crib service too.

Some also attended the Easter trail put together by Christians Together and our church staged the resurrection and New Life theme , with a tomb created in the Lady Chapel by one of our volunteers and some also attended the Light Party at the Hall for Halloween.

Tina Taylor

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Community Events

In our mission to reach out to the wider community we try to host events to draw people into church.

The Horticultural Show in September was a real success and will happen again in 2025. We consulted people who placed entries and will adapt in response.

The trails put together by Christians Together draw in not only families from the area but holiday makers and adult members of the public because the church is open. See notes in Families at 3.

We held Open Afternoons on the Tuesdays in August which drew in both locals and holiday makers from all over the country and abroad. This not only gave opportunity to share our building but to pray with visitors and speak about our faith and the work of the church.

Lights Night and the launch of the Tree Festival was a huge success with more than 1000 people coming through and we are grateful to all the team for organising and to all who helped. We made some good contacts with the schools and will continue to develop this for the other events we stage. This event will also take place in 2025.

Opening the church for visiting the Tree Festival on the Saturdays was also successful and allowed people to take time to sit and reflect and also visit the memory tree. The inclusion of musical performances over lunch time was a big success. This will continue in 2025.

Tina Taylor

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Financial Review

The PCC employs a bookkeeping service Count on Us to ensure we are compliant with accounting and charity regulations. Unfortunately Mr Elvin has suffered a serious illness and as such we do not yet have our accounts for 2024. The PCC continue to review the situation and we wish Mr Elvin well in his recovery.

We are not required to submit our accounts to the Charity Commission until later in the year and are confident we will be in a position to do so in good time.

Updated November 2025:

The accounts were finalised in November 2025 and are included in this report, and have been reported to the Charity Commission a month late.

Reserves policy

As of 31[st] December 2024 the PCC held a balance of £48,573.40 of which £0 is in unrestricted funds.

All our reserves have been expended and the balance is made up of restricted funds. These will be reimbursed during 2025 by grants from the Church Lands Trust.

The PCC aspires to keep approximately four months running costs in reserves. This is also to cover emergency work needed on the Parish Hall. To achieve this we aim to keep a reserve of £20,000. At this time, it has not been possible to do so.

This amount to be reviewed by the PCC annually and increased at least by inflation (whichever is the greater of C.P.I and R.P.I at the time)

This policy was adopted by the PCC on 18[th] February 2021 and will be reviewed during 2026.

Structure, governance and management

The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. At St. Nicholas the membership of the PCC consists of the incumbent (our vicar), curate, churchwardens, and members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church. All those who attend our services are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC. The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish including deciding on how the funds of the PCC are to be spent.

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Administrative information

St. Nicholas’ Church is situated on Newbegin, Hornsea. It is part of the Diocese of York within the Church of England. The correspondence address is 9 Newbegin, Hornsea, HU18 1AB. The PCC is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2006) and a charity registered with the Charity Commission.

PCC members who have served at any time from 1st January 2024 until the date this report was approved are:

Ex Officio members:

Vicar

Revd. Tina N Minett Stevens

Curate

Rev Rosie Evans (from July 2024)

Churchwardens:

Angela Wear (to August 2024)

Jo Gadie (from April 2024)

Elected Members:

(and other positions held eg Deanery Synod rep and dates of leaving for those who left after the 1[st] January 2024).

PCC Secretary

Nicky Dixon

PCC Treasurer

Vacant (role split between the Vicar and Churchwardens)

Deanery Synod Representative

Nicky Dixon

The Parochial Church Council

Nicky Dixon Tina Taylor John Moss Paul Gadie Jacqueline Parkhouse

Co-Opted Members

Jo Gadie from February 2024 (to election as Churchwarden April 2024)

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ST NICHOLAS’ CHURCH HORNSEA

Registered Charity Number 1132888

Accounts for 2024

PRESENTED TO THE SPECIAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING ON 22[nd] November 2025

2024 Treasurer: Vacant (Role undertaken by the Vicar & Churchwardens) Examiner: Mr Mark Elvin, Count on Us Bookkeeping & Accountancy Ltd

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