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64 Old Shoreham Road, Brighton, BN1 5DD 01273 557772 info@stlukesonline.co.uk
St. Luke’s Prestonville
THE PCC OF ST LUKES CHURCH PRESTONVILLE 64 OLD SHOREHAM ROAD, BRIGHTON, BN1 5DD
CHARITY NUMBER 1133866
TRUSTEES REPORT AND UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025
| CONTENTS | CONTENTS | PAGE |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Report of the trustees for the year ended 31 December 2025 | 3 |
| 2. | Structure, Governance and Management | 3 |
| 3. | Registered & Administration Details | 3 |
| 4. | Objectives and Activities | 3 |
| 5. | Public Benefit | 3 |
| 6. | Electoral Roll | 3 |
| 7. | Achievement & Performance & Trustees Annual Report | 4-8 |
| 8. | Notice of PCC approval of accounts | 9 |
| 9. | Independent Examiner's Report | 10 |
| 10. | Statement of Financial Activities | 11 |
| 11. | Comparative Statement of Financial Activities | 12 |
| 12. | Statement of Financial Position | 13 |
| 13. | Notes to the Financial Statements | 14-19 |
| 14. | The following pages do not form part of the statutory accounts | |
| 15. | Detailed Statement of Financial Activities | 20 |
PCC TRUSTEES: Rev M Poole Vicar & PCC Chair
Revd. Tim Edge - Vice Chair Revd. Buff Stone - Associate Priest Lay Reader Emeritus: Sir Peter Woodhead Treasurer: Mrs Christine Caton Mr. Dominic Lucas
Independent Financial Examiner: Mr. Jamie Ali SRC Advisory Accountants Preston Park House, South Road, Brighton, BN1 6SB
Bankers :
Co-Operative Bank, Brighton Branch. 164/165 Western Rd, Brighton BN1 2BB
Community Workers:
Daniel & Tamara Jackson Safeguarding: Dr. Sarah Soppitt & Dr. Richard Soppitt
Church Wardens:
Mr. Jim Groves Mrs. Caroline Johnson
PCC Secretary: Mrs. Laura Wright
PCC Elected Members
Dr Ronald White (Deanery Synod Rep) Mrs. Michele White (Deanery Synod Rep) Mr. Mark Jago – elected 2023 Mrs. June Arnold – elected 2023 Mr. Mark Watson - elected 2024 Mr. Richard Simmons - elected 2024 Mr. David Chapman - elected 2025 Mr. James May - elected 2025 Mrs. Augustina Tetsola - elected 2025
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64 Old Shoreham Road, Brighton, BN1 5DD 01273 557772 info@stlukesonline.co.uk
St. Luke’s Prestonville
1. REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024
The Parochial Church Council (PCC) present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2024. The PCC have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Accounting Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable to the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015).
The Church of England Parish of St Luke’s Church Prestonville in Brighton is within the Diocese of Chichester.
2. STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
There is a Parochial Church Council to govern the parish. The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Rules. All church attendees are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC.
3. REGISTERED & ADMINISTRATION DETAILS
Registered Charity Number: 1133866 Principal Address: 64 Old Shoreham Road Brighton BN1 5DD
4. OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES
St Luke’s PCC have the responsibility for promoting in the parish the mission of the church, namely the promotion of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical, according to the doctrine and practices of the Church of England. Revd. Martin Poole is the Priest leading this mission.
5. PUBLIC BENEFIT
Our main activities are described below and are undertaken to further our charitable purposes for the public benefit. When planning the activities for the year, the PCC have considered the Commission’s guidance on public benefit.
6. ELECTORAL ROLL
The electoral roll was completely revised in 2025 as this a requirement every six years under the church representation rules and additions and edits were made in 2026. The revised roll is 102 with 36% resident within the parish boundary.
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St. Luke’s Prestonville 64 Old Shoreham Road, Brighton, BN1 5DD 01273 557772 info@stlukesonline.co.uk
ACHIEVEMENT & PERFORMANCE & TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT
2025 was a momentous year for St. Luke's Prestonville as we celebrated 150 years since the first service was held in this church on 11th June 1875. A whole programme of events ran from May through to the middle of July with a focus on Sunday 8th June for an anniversary service with the Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex in attendance and a congregation of 120. After the service he unveiled the newly inscribed foundation stone which had been blank since the church was first built. The inscription reads:
This church was opened on 11th June 1875 This inscription was unveiled on 8th June 2025 to commemorate 150 years of worship, prayer and service "Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone." Ephesians 2:20
Other events included a photographic exhibition throughout May, a Prestonville Plant Trail throughout the parish, an evening event with Carrie and David Grant, Epiphany music in residence for a weekend and a one-day writer's festival as well as a series of themed Sundays. All events were extremely well attended and the regular Sunday congregation continued to grow.
Highlights included the visit to the exhibition of the son of the Revd. Donald Plumley who was vicar of St. Luke's from 1945-1953 and attendance at the anniversary service by the grandson of the architect who built the church. The service focussing on marriage connections to St. Luke's featured guest preacher Bishop Nicholas Holtam whose parents were married in St. Luke's in 1948 and a couple who visited from Newark who had been married in the church in 1973 and were surprised at the end of the service to watch an old cine film of a wedding of some of their wider family filmed in 1963.
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64 Old Shoreham Road, Brighton, BN1 5DD 01273 557772 info@stlukesonline.co.uk
St. Luke’s Prestonville
2025 was also momentous as the growth experienced in 2024 continued so that at the time of writing (April 2026) the average Sunday attendance is approximately 50% higher than at the beginning of 2025.
Note: The figure of 80% growth listed in the Trustees Annual Report in 2025 was an error and should have been approximately 25%
Alongside high attendance for the special anniversary services, the St. Luke's Carol service continues to be popular with the help of a scratch band and choir and over 180 in attendance. Overall Advent and Christmas services and events attracted more than 1200 people of all ages.
The Mission statistics reported to the Church of England evidence this continued growth, here is a snapshot of some of those figures:
| growth, here is a snapshot of some of those figures: | growth, here is a snapshot of some of those figures: | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | |
| Average Adult attendance on Sundays | 49 | 41 |
| Average under 16 attendance on Sundays | 8 | 5 |
| Adult attendance - Sundays in October 47,45,41 | Adult attendance - Sundays in October 47,45,41 | 30,31,24 |
| 2026 | 2025 | |
| Easter Attendance | 110 | 79 |
| Easter Adult Attendance | 88 | 63 |
| Easter Child Attendance | 22 | 16 |
Engagement with church initiation continued with twelve baptisms in the twelve months from January to December and two weddings were held for members of the church in August.
The staff team of Revd. Martin Poole, Revd. Buff Stone, Revd. Tim Edge, Daniel Jackson and Tamara Jackson continues to work effectively and with enthusiasm and the Wednesday morning staff meeting and prayer continue to be an important part of our working week. The clergy have been able to provide support to other churches in the Deanery during vacancy, most notably at St. Wulfrans Ovingdean when a group of St. Luke's folk walked from Prestonville to join in with a Pentecost bonfire service. Revd. Martin Poole also presided at their annual LGBTQI+ Spirit service which included blessing of same-sex couples.
Churchwarden Jim Groves has done a sterling job on repairs and maintenance of the church building which has included explorations about damp ingress, repairing gutters, replacing lighting tubes in the church and re-wiring the back store room. Quotes have been obtained for various different schemes for heating the building including far infra-red or underfloor heating via air-source heat pumps.
The other churchwarden is Caroline Johnson and has been a wonderful support to the vicar and a constant presence in church acting as verger and sacristan along with her husband Paul who manages the AV.
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64 Old Shoreham Road, Brighton, BN1 5DD 01273 557772 info@stlukesonline.co.uk
St. Luke’s Prestonville
A decision was taken in July 2025 to stop third party hire of the church on Wednesday evenings so as to allow for church meetings. Consequently, two courses were run in the Autumn, one for people new to faith and one to help people share their faith.
St. Luke's had a significant presence in the Pride parade in August and in the Autumn began exploring the possibility of joining the Open Table network. Consultations about this have run in to the Spring of 2025 with the hope that monthly services will begin in September of 2025.
St. Luke's continues to punch above its weight in the wider church through Revd. Martin Poole's involvement on General Synod, the Living in Love and Faith working groups, the Church of England reparative justice project, Modern Slavery work with the Roman Catholic diocese of Arundel & Brighton and most recently through being elected to the Church of England Mission and Public Affairs Council. Revd. Buff Stone is very active in her role as Diocesan Environment Adviser and Revd. Tim Edge is now a Police Independent Custody Visitor as well as convening retired PTO clergy in the Diocese. As a church we have also engaged with Racial Justice through the new Diocesan Racial Justice Officer and arranged a special day of event on Racial Justice in February 2026.
Financially St. Luke's expenditure is still higher than income and the operational deficit in 2025 was approximately £11,000. Fortunately, we received a second instalment of the legacy from Barbara Marcan of £50,360 resulting in an overall surplus for the year of £38,780. This has allowed the PCC to maintain a reserve of £85,000 in an interest-bearing account and this deficit has recently been recovered through grant applications which have been successful in 2026.
The PCC met ten times in 2025 and had an awayday on 21st February 2026. The notes from that day are below:
Reserves Policy
The PCC is expected to establish and disclose its policy on reserves. Reserves are defined as that part of the PCC’s income that is freely available. This, therefore, excludes permanent or expendable endowment funds, restricted income funds and any part of unrestricted funds which are not currently available for spending. St Luke’s aims to hold reserves sufficient to maintain cashflows needed to meet all dayto-day operating costs and expenses.
The PCC reviews the cashflow and financial situation of the church at each of its regular meetings.
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St. Luke’s Prestonville 64 Old Shoreham Road, Brighton, BN1 5DD 01273 557772 info@stlukesonline.co.uk
EIGHT QUALITIES OF A HEALTHY CHURCH - St. Luke's Prestonville 21/2/26
| Empowering Leadership | 6.25 |
|---|---|
| Gift-based Ministry | 6.5 |
| Passionate Spirituality | 6 |
| Effective Structures | 6.5 |
| Inspiring Worship | 7.75 |
| Holistic Small Groups Need Oriented Evangelism 8 |
4.5 Need Oriented Evangelism 8 |
| Loving Relationships | 7.75 |
SWOT ANALYSIS
| STRENGTHS | WEAKNESSES |
|---|---|
| Welcome | Pastoral support/team (V. strong) |
| Inclusivity | Finances |
| Growth | Congregation numbers |
| Visibility | Teenage provision |
| Community Engagement | Dan & Tamara status |
| Leadership/Staff | Worship |
| Willing Volunteers | Building maintenance |
| Safeguarding | Small groups |
| Creativity | Church of England! |
| Flexible/informal | |
| OPPORTUNITIES | THREATS |
| Parish structure | Complacency |
| Children & Young people | Finance |
| Music | Diocesan reorganisation |
| Leadership training | Clergy Burnout |
| Prayer - corporate and personal Grants to assist finance |
Reputational risk as we grow Church of England reputation |
| Untapped community outreach | Nationalism |
| Marketing other events and services Creativity |
Building maintenance |
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64 Old Shoreham Road, Brighton, BN1 5DD 01273 557772 info@stlukesonline.co.uk
St. Luke’s Prestonville
WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ST. LUKE'S
en ow | yo Cran,. aVe gehtW\e democratic
We are Spirit led, not dogmatic, risk takers, unorthodox
We recognise that broken is OK, even beautiful
We punch above our weight in the diocese and nationally
We campaign, get involved, serve others, get stuck in
We don't grumble, we're optimistic, we share our burdens WHAT DO WE WANT? eee We want to support young people
We want to serve others
We want meaningful theological discussion
We want to recognise and understand that 'church' includes all activities in the building and is seven days a week
We want to socialise together (including a parish weekend away)
We want to be recognised for our work and community
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SIGN 16th April 2026
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SIGN 16th April 2026
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