2021-12-31-accounts

The Parochial Church Council Of

St Philip & St James Hucclecote

Annual Report and Accounts Year ended 31st December 2021

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Priest in Charge Report

This year has been another one where what we got was not what we expected. Many of us believed we would be through the other side of Covid this year, but the reality is that we are still dealing with the challenges of ministry during a pandemic. Although this year there has been some progress and relaxing of the rules, the uncertainty of what was ahead made making progress difficult. Although we were able to do more this year challenges of restricting numbers, social distancing and wearing masks persisted throughout the year. Christmas was perhaps the clearest example of this, although we were able to meet in the church building, we ran our carol service primarily online, with some people also allowed in the building. We were able to run our Christmas Craft event, as the rules allowed, which was a great success, however our crib service had to be cancelled at short notice due to a jump in the covid numbers. Throughout the year we have tried to do all we can to keep people connected, for some people this has been successful, but for others it has been very difficult. The high point of the year for me was our “Messy Christmas” event, this event was well attended and we saw many new faces and many people we have not seen in a long time. It is my hope that we will be able to continue to move forward cautiously, but with open arms and a big expectation that we will be able to reach out to our community and be a blessing. We have been able to restart many of our key ministries, such as Coffee Pot, Teddy Bears and Messy Church amongst others. This has reconnected us with many families and individuals. We have also established and launched our new community garden; this has been a great success and will be a great blessing to the church and community in the coming years.

All told this year has been another difficult challenging time and I think it is fair to say that as a church and as an individual we are tired and running at the limit of our reserves. That being said we are still going and we have hope. It is my strong belief that God has good things in store for us as a church and he will lead us into a bright and blessed future.

Mark Close

Churchwarden Report

2021 has been yet another strange year in the life of the church. Many things were once again put on hold, but we are slowly returning to something close to normality.

We would like to express our thanks to Mark for his continued leadership. We are also very thankful for the commitment of Miriam, Duncan and Tim as they support Mark and us. As a church, we are truly blessed.

We would also like to thank a number of other people. Lee for his willingness to take over the role of treasurer and for his hard work in holding the reins of our finances, ensuring that we are in the best possible financial position. Liz, our church administrator, who continues to do a wonderful job in ensuring that all aspects of the administrative side of the church run smoothly. Tom and Graham for their continuing oversight of maintenance across the site and their willingness to tackle many jobs which would otherwise require contractors and expense.

Lastly, we would like to thank you - our church family – for the continuing help and support given in so many different ways.

Rhianydd Warren and Peggy Brown Churchwardens 2021

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TRUSTEES REPORT

Administrative Information

St Philip & St James is situated in Larkhay Road, Hucclecote, Gloucester. It is part of the Diocese of Gloucester within the Church of England.

The correspondence address is: Church Office Stone Building 18 Larkhay Road Hucclecote Gloucester GL3 3 NS Telephone: [phone] Website: www.hucclecotechurch.org E mail: [e-mail] Bankers: National Westminster Bank 21 Eastgate Street Gloucester GL1 1NY Independent Examiner: Janet Wilce

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is a charity registered with the Charity Commission. PCC members who have served from 1st January 2021 until the date this report was approved are on page 5.

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STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT PCC 2021- 2022 (after APCM on July 5th 2021)

Incumbent Revd Mark Close Chair from September 2017 Ex-Officio Revd Duncan Hutchison Curate from June 2020 Revd Miriam Davis Ordained Local Minister (OLM) from June 2021 Wardens Mrs Rhianydd Warren Re -Elected 2021 Mrs Peggy Brown Elected 2021 Deanery Mrs Jean Thomas re-elected 2020. For 3 years Synod Mrs Doreen McLellan re-elected 2020. For 3 years One vacancy

Elected Members of the PCC ( up to 12 in number ) Mr Chris Brookes from 2019 Mrs Marion Cook from 2020. Dr. Alison Dight re-elected 2019 Canon Margaret Edwards re-elected 2021 Safeguarding Officer and PCC Secretary Mr John Grime from 2019 Mr Mike Madigan re-elected 2020 Mrs Joy Noah re-elected 2021 Electoral Roll Officer Mrs Judy Preece re-elected 2020 Mr Lee Thornton from 2020. Treasurer

3 vacancies on PCC and 1 Synod vacancy

The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. All church attendees are encouraged to register on the electoral roll and stand for election to the PCC.

The PCC is supported in its work by teams whose views and recommendations are taken into account by the PCC when making many decisions.

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OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

St Philip and St James PCC has the responsibility of co-operating with the incumbent in promoting the parish, the whole mission of the church, pastoral evangelistic, social and ecumenical. It also has the maintenance responsibilities for St Philip and St James Church and associated property.

2021

Once again, we have had a very disrupted year due to the Global pandemic of Covid-19, starting the year with yet another lockdown and unable to meet in person. During this time, our online services continued, which were enjoyed by all of our members who had internet availability and some were able to follow the service via telephone link. However, on April 25th, we were able to hold an 8.30am Holy Communion service in church, whilst continuing the 10.00am Morning Worship service online. Grateful thanks must go to Lee Thornton and his music group during this time of online services to provide us with hymns and choruses to accompany the services. Lee spent many hours each week collating the recordings from his singers and musicians and editing with appropriate photographs at the beginning and end of the services. This was much appreciated by all who viewed these services, whether folk were viewing from their local homes or friends and relatives viewing from far afield. Grateful thanks also to Revd Miriam Davis who has provided regular updates from our Mission partners - those that the church supports financially through our Tithe (OMF and the Pawson family in Japan, Gloucester City Mission, Gloucester FoodBank, Scripture Union and the Diocese of Western Tanganyika - namely the support of 4 students at the Theological College and our Link Parish of Mwlanvyia). The pattern of Sunday worship, in person for a said Holy Communion at 8.30am and online Morning Worship at 10.00am, continued until the end of June. From Sunday 4th July, church was open once again for a 10.30am All Age service, which was also live-streamed.

On September 19th, a monthly evening service was started, giving the opportunity for an extended time of music worship and a deeper Bible study time.

In addition to Sunday worship, all through the pandemic until present time (March 2022) Morning Prayer has been available online via the church’s Facebook page, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10.00am. Between January and Easter time in 2021, we also had the opportunity to share in Evening Prayer online with Duncan, on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

Other services held either online or in church during 2021 -

17th February Ash Wednesday service (online) 1st April Maundy Thursday - in church 2nd April Good Friday - in church 7th November Memorial service. - in church

Special services in 2021 - Duncan Hutchison’s ordination as Priest took place in the Cathedral on June 26th and Miriam Davis was ordained as Deacon on 27th June. Although both these services were limited attendance only due to Covid regulations, we were able to share in the services as they were both live-streamed and the advantage was having a much better view than usual. We could share in Miriam’s ordination as Priest though on December 5th because Bishop Robert ordained Miriam in church during the 10:30am service.

Christmas Activities

Nativity on a Lorry - this took place with the same format as last year, within Covid guidelines Messy Christmas - a packed church for this event as the first Messy Church for 18 months and also decorating the Christmas tree.

Carol Service - sadly due to a spike in Covid cases at that time, it was decided the Carol Service would be in hybrid form.

Crib Service on Christmas Eve was cancelled.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Holy Communion services - as usual.

Achievements and Performance

There were 108 names on the Electoral Roll at the APCM held on Tuesday 6th July. One name was removed from the roll due to a death.

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The average attendance at services has once again been difficult to determine for all but the in-person attendance at church. Attendance numbers have increased during the year as some people are gain confidence in venturing out. Covid safety rules remain in place to the present time.

Margaret Edwards

PCC MEETINGS

It is customary for the PCC to meet bi-monthly and the Standing Committee (Vicar, Curate, OLM, Treasurer, Church Wardens, PCC Secretary and Administrator) meet on alternate months; the latter group discuss the general running of the church and the financial status together with any areas of concern and then makes recommendations to the PCC for further discussion. PCC Agenda items always include a financial report, Safeguarding issues and updates as well as reports from the Standing Committee, Deanery Synod and the Mission team.

The PCC held meetings via Zoom, in January, March and May. The APCM scheduled for 21st April was postponed due to the Covid restrictions at that time.

The Standing Committee met via Zoom in January, March, April and June and in person on 5th July to ensure all was ready for the APCM which was held in Church on Tuesday 6th July.

The PCC met again in September and November and the Standing Committee met in September and December.

At that APCM on July 6th, Peggy Brown was elected as Church Warden to fill the vacancy alongside Rhianydd Warren who had been working singlehandedly since October of 2020.

Two members of PCC were re-elected for a period of three years, but the extra vacancies and Deanery Synod vacancy were not filled leaving 3 spaces on PCC and 1 Deanery Synod space for the 2021-2022 session.

The Statutory and essential reports had been accepted and adopted at the March PCC in readiness for the earlier APCM date.

Tom Brown has continued to carry out regular inspections of the church buildings and grounds, carrying out repairs as necessary and looking after the heating clocks in season. This has been and continues to be much appreciated by all.

2021 has been another difficult year for the church in our aim to be more ‘outward’ facing in our approach to all we do, because we have had to comply with Government restrictions for much of this time, in addition to being legally compliant within Anglican and Charity Commission rules, as we must every year.

The secretary would like to thank PCC members for their commitment to their duties and responses via electronic communication during the time when we were unable to meet in person. A huge thank you also to those who volunteer regularly for many of our church services and activities, giving of their time and talents, to ensure that everything goes to the best of our abilities and honouring God in all we do as a worshipping community.

Margaret Edwards

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STATUTORY REPORTS

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Total receipts in 2021 were £123,430 and total payments were £113,653, giving an overall surplus across Unrestricted, Restricted and Designated Funds of £9,777. This is a real blessing during what has been a difficult time. The main drivers for this surplus have been repair work deferred and a grant received for the Community Garden.

Receipts

By far the largest amount of the church’s income comes from planned giving and other donations. Regular giving remained fairly static with only a small decrease and Gift aid receipts has remained stable in line with 2020. The reduction in other giving and donations is as expected as we benefitted from a large donation in 2020 which covered a specific repair. Overall, the voluntary income in 2021 was £102,145 compared to £108,339 in 2020

The church’s usual services, events and activities, including fundraising, continued to be disrupted this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the amounts generated for hall lettings have increased substantially and recovered from £5,134 in 2020 to £8,637 in 2021

With the Community Garden, we received a grant of £4,000 and this is now held in a restricted fund and will support this initiative.

Expenditure

The largest expenditure was the Parish Share of £60,963 which is paid to the Diocese to help support other churches and clergy (this was a £2,000 reduction on 2020). Additional large items of expenditure included salaries and building maintenance (including repairs to the Stone Building following a break in).

A total of £9,972 was donated by tithe in line with our budget to: Gloucester City Mission, Gloucester Foodbank, OMF International, Scripture Union, and a partner church, Mwilanvya, in the Diocese of Western Tanganyika, Tanzania; also to support four students at Lake Tanganyika Theological College. At the end of the year, there was a remaining undesignated surplus tithe of £304.98, the Mission Team proposed sending this to Tearfund’s Afghan Emergency Appeal.

Overall spending was lower than budgeted as with the coronavirus pandemic a number of the planned repair works were not carried out, and have been deferred into 2022.

Reserves

It is the policy of the PCC to maintain a balance of Unrestricted Funds that equates to a minimum of two months’ operating costs. As agreed by the PCC in 2019, provision towards necessary repairs to the church and other buildings on the site was continued in 2021.

The surplus from 2021 is now held in our reserves and will be used as necessary in the future.

Finance Team

Approved by the PCC on 9th March 2022

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ASSETS & LIABILITIES

Parochial Church Council of Hucclecote	Parochial Church Council of Hucclecote
Statement of asset and liability balances as at 31st December 2021
		Unrestricted Funds	Restricted Funds	Designated Funds	31.12.21	31.12.20
		£	£			£
Charitable Funds
Restricted Funds
	Ann Smith Bequest	0	4,352	0	4,352	4,352
	Boiler	0	20	0	20	20
	Building	0	58,996	0	58,996	58,567
	Children Worker	0	4,234	0	4,234	4,234
	Churchyard Maintenance	0	11	0	11	11
	CommunityGarden	0	4,000	0	4,000	0
	Local Mission	0	1,837	0	1,837	2,140
	Music & Worship	0	891	0	891	891
	Olive Withycombe	0	304	0	304	304
	Tanzania	0	1,276	0	1,276	656
	PCC Fund	0	6,112	0	6,112	3,754
	Wardens	0	500	0	500	500
Designated Funds
	Church Centre	0	0	120,000	120,000	120,000
	Depreciation Fund	0	0	2,221	2,221	2,221
	CommunityGarden	0	0	920	920	0
	Computer Fund	0	0	1,785	1,785	1,785
	Essential Maintenance	0	0	14,568	14,568	11,855
	Coffee Pot	0	0	243	243	315
	TeddyBears	0	0	2,724	2,724	2,851
	Treasurers	0	0	4,525	4,525	4,525
	Social Fund	0	0	1,477	1,477	4,477
Unrestricted Fund	General Fund	38,320	0	0	38,320	36,084
		38,320	82,533	148,463	269,316	259,542
Represented By
	Bank Term Deposit Accounts	0	63,069	0	63,069	62,621
	Bank Current Accounts	38,320	20,249	28,466	87,035	77,711
	PettyCash	0	0	0	0	30
	Total Bank and Cash	38,320	83,318	28,466	150,104	140,362
Liabilities	Creditors	0	784	0	784	820
Net Current Assets		38,320	82,534	28,466	149,320	139,542
Fixed Assets retained by the charity
	Land and Buildings at historic cost	0	0	120,000	120,000	120,000
Total Net Assets		38,320	82,534	148,466	269,320	259,542

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RECEIPTS & PAYMENTS

Parochial Church Council of Hucclecote
Receipts and Payments Account for theyear ending 31st December 2021
	Unrestricted Funds	Restricted Funds	Designated Funds	2021 Total	2020 Total
	£	£	£	£	£
Receipts
Voluntary Income
Tax efficientplannedgiving	71,141	0	0	71,141	71,707
Otherplannedgiving	6,140	620	0	6,760	6,850
Othergivingand donations - non-recurring	6,404	36	101	6,541	12015
Othergivingand donations - recurring	0	0	0	0	263
Special appeals	0	0	0	0	0
All tax recovered through Gift Aid	17,704	0	0	17,704	17,505
Legacies received
Non-recurring grants
Activities for Generating Funds
Fund raisingevents	0	0	0	0	0
Hall lettings	8,637	0	0	8,637	5,134
Income from other church activities	158	79	171	408	455
Investment Income
Dividends and interest	54	432	2	488	1,108
Income from Charitable Activities
Total Parochial Fees income	0	5,884	0	5,884	5,679
Service fee reimbursement	0	0	0	0	0
Other Incoming Resources
Insurance claims	1,739	0	0	1,739	0
Other income	129	4,000	0	4,129	1,285
Total Receipts	112,106	11,051	274	123,430	122,001
Expenditure
Charitable Activities
Fundraisingcosts
Donations/grants to charities & missiongiving	9,972	0	0	9,972	16,267
Local mission & evangelismprojects	109	302	2,171	2,582	261
Parish share	60,963	0	0	60,963	62,963
Clergyexpenses	912	0	0	912	546
Church runningcosts	12,193	100	288	12,581	16,461
Churchyard maintenance	3,180	0	0	3,180	2,777
Children/youth work costs	190	0	441	631	674
Parochial fees	144	3,406	0	3,550	4,073
Management and Administration
Salaries and wages	10,167	0	0	10,167	15,880
Support costs	304	22	0	326	1,302
Administration costs	2,608	0	0	2,608	2,430
Insurance costs	3,650	0	0	3,650	3,707
Sundryexpenses	2,478	52	0	2,530	399
Total Expenditure	106,871	3,882	2,900	113,653	127,740
Receipts over Expenditure	5,235	7,169	-2,626	9,777	-5,739
Funds Opening Balance 1.1.2021	33,085	75,365	151,092	259,542	265,281
Funds Closing Balance 31.12.2021	38,320	82,534	148,466	269,319	259,542

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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT

Details removed for GDPR

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DEANERY SYNOD

The Deanery Synod representatives for St. Philip and St. James’ church are Jean Thomas and Doreen McLellan. Continuing on from 2020 Deanery Synod meetings were held on Zoom in March and May and these meetings were primarily discussions of the Deanery Strategic Plan. At the March meeting a new timetable was outlined, with the draft plan being requested by November 2021. Following this a questionnaire was circulated to PCCs and clergy. This was circulated to PCC members and clergy in this parish and replies were collated and returned by the requested date. At the May meeting it was reported that the response to the questionnaires was patchy. There was further discussion of the plan.

In October 2021 Deanery Synod met in person for the first time since February 2020 and there was a talk on the Living in Love and Faith project, given by Margaret Sheather, Advocate for Gloucester Diocese for this project. This is a programme of Christian teaching and learning about identity, sexuality, relationship and marriage which was launched across the Church of England at the end of 2020. At the following business meeting members also asked what progress had been made on the Strategic Plan. Facilitators had been appointed to help Deaneries move forward – the Revd. Dr. James Woodward, Principal of Sarum College, has been allocated to Gloucester City Deanery. Discussion of the plan will continue and the new deadline for completion of the plan has moved to May 2022.

Doreen McLellan Deanery Synod Representative

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Church Fabric Statutory Report

Care of Churches and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measures 1991

St Philip and St James Church, Hucclecote

CHURCH FABRIC REPORT 2021

The church is, on the whole, in a good state of repair. The quinquennial inspection, carried out towards the end of 2021, did not identify any areas of immediate concern, but there are areas of which we were already aware that need to be addressed.

Black mould that has appeared on the walls of the nave in a number of areas is believed to be due to a lack of heating and ventilation during the periods when the church was closed in 2020 and 2021. There are also areas in the chancel where the plaster has become detached from the walls and there is flaking paint in a number of areas of the walls in the nave and chancel. Specifications for the remedial work to re-plaster the damaged areas, address the flaking paint and re-paint the whole church have been drawn up, submitted to the DAC and given approval. It is hoped the work can be done during 2022. Repairs to the inner vestry ceiling were not completed as anticipated in 2021 and remain to be done as is the investigation of the damp patch on the inner vestry wall. The flat roof over the vestry was re-painted with reflective paint in August. The lightning conductor was checked in November.

The gas safety inspection on the boiler was carried out in September and fire extinguishers have also been inspected. PAT testing of all electrical appliances in church was also completed. Issues identified in the December 2020 electrical circuit inspection are still to be resolved.

General maintenance work is on-going and aims to identify issues and resolve them before they become major problems. One such event was the leak on the water heater in the kitchenette.

General grass cutting in the churchyard became an issue in 2021. There was a need to reduce cutting to once a month due to a steep rise in costs. This, unfortunately, can lead to it looking visually untidy especially when it is wet and warm! Day to day tidying of graves and cremation plots continues; shrubs next to graves are pruned as necessary. The boundary hedge was trimmed in the autumn. The new churchyard gate has been installed and painted.

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NON-STATUTORY REPORTS

1. MINISTRY & LEADERSHIP

Ministry and Leadership

This challenging year has been faced by the church, and everyone has pulled together to keep us moving forward as best as we are able. There have been some key people who have gone above and beyond to ensure that ministry and worship could keep going as best as we were able. Miriam and Duncan have been wonderful, and we had the great pleasure of seeing them both ordained as priest, in the case of Miriam the service happened in our own church, which was a wonderful blessing. Tim has also been keenly involved in leading and preaching. Liz has kept the office running and this has been a wonderful point of contact and continuity for the church family. Rhianydd has continued to serve as church warden and has been a constant support and encouragement to me and others. Peggy also was willing to stand this year and has been a key asset to the team. The rest of the standing committee continued to go above and beyond in their efforts and it is right to recognise the contributions to church life of Lee and Margaret, without whom we would not have been able to face many of the challenges of the year. The PCC continued to meet virtually and when able in person, and continued to offer wise leadership.

I believe that we are in a good position with key people in the right places to lead the church forward through covid and beyond. Our mission and vision remains clear, to reach our community for Christ and his kingdom, and spread the good news of the gospel.

Mark Close

2. PRAYERS & WORSHIPING

Prayers and Worshiping

Worship this year was a time of transition. We worked mostly in mixed modes when able to. But we have kept an online presence as much as possible.

When we were able to meet in person, we did so with regard for social distancing and we made use of masks where possible, including whilst singing. The positive result of this was that we did not have any cases of covid being spread linked to the church and it is worth noting that the commitment of the church family was key to this. During the year we were able to begin sharing communion again, and this was done initially in one kind with the congregation only receiving the bread, and then later in both kinds with the priest dipping the wafer in the wine before distribution.

We adapted our worship as regulations changed, often at very short notice, but we moved carefully forward. We transitioned from online only to also having a spoken service at 8.30. Then we introduced singing and restarted the 10.30 service later in the year. We continued to stream online live from the 10.30 service to enable those who could not attend to join with us. At the end of the year, we switched the livestream from 10.30 to 8.30 to avoid some safeguarding issues around livestreaming and children.

Our morning prayer has continued online Monday, Wednesday and Friday and continues to be attended by a faithful group. It is a good time of prayer and bible reading at the start of the day.

Over the course of this year, we have had 1 wedding, 33 funerals (9 in church), and 3 baptisms.

Mark Close

8:45am and 10:30am Prayer Teams

Due to on-line Services the Prayer Teams have not been in operation this year. Team members have tried to keep in touch with each other as well as members of the congregation. Prayer circles have operated as normal when needed.

Glenys Beard & Chris Dale

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3. YOUTH & CHILDREN

Core Youth Group

The youth are now meeting once a month in church, to allow for more spacing. We meet, have a little Bible study, play games and chat. This has been a great chance to meet together in person again, and to try to restart the group in a safe way. Chris and I are both still leading, and we have 6 regular young people who attend.

Amy Close

Little PJ’s Report for 2021

Although it’s not been possible to run Little PJ’s because of the Covid restrictions, we were able to take Easter Activity Packs to the children in their homes (Easter Eggs included!).

We gratefully thank our super team of Linda, Margaret, Janet and Susie for their faithful support over many years.

Dianne and Chris Brookes February 2022

Coffee Pot Toddler Group

Hurrah!

At long last Coffee Pot re-opened in September 2021 after 18 months of closure. We welcomed back families we already knew along with many new faces. It has been wonderful for the team to be able to meet our lovely families once again and to share their enthusiasm and joy at being able to get back to socialising again, even if we have still had to adhere to some rules to try and keep everyone safe. For many of the younger children, it was their first opportunity to mix with other children and adults not in their immediate circle of friends, and it has taken time for them to settle. We have continued with our program of stories and a related craft each week, the latter running throughout the session giving ample time for as many as wish, to make something. The final part of the session – song time – remains a firm favourite. Our thanks must go to the mums, grans and children for the way they get stuck in to help clear away at the end of the session making our lives much easier. Carpet rolling is becoming a favourite activity!

Coffee Pot would not happen without the commitment of my able incredible team – Rhianydd Warren, Linda Weedon, Susan Taylor, Trevor Henning, Pat Peachey and Josie Cumberbatch. Thank you all.

Peggy Brown

P & J Teddy Bears. - Toddler Group

Between January and the end of July 2021, we were unable to hold our Parent and Toddler sessions at Pine-holt Village Hall, due to the Covid restrictions imposed at that time. However, for the last three Fridays of the summer term, we met outdoors, at the play area adjacent to the hall and we managed to see some of our families on at least one of those weeks. We took that opportunity to give the customary book, as a leaving gift to those leaving us to start school in September. We said goodbye to Linda Waterman at the last of our out-door events, and that was quite sad as Linda had been a prominent member of Teddy Bears for many years. However, Linda did not actually move house as planned, so she continued to join us on Friday mornings until the autumn half term.

Teddy Bears group started to meet in the hall on September 10th, following Covid guidelines and the Health & Safety restrictions set out by Hucclecote Parish Council. It was so lovely to see the families again and to notice how much the children had grown and altered in those 18 months - small babies had turned into very active toddlers. Numbers have remained lower than pre-pandemic times, but that enables social distancing so it’s not a bad thing. We had wondered how we would cope without Linda’s unique talent of story-telling, but we need not have worried. Story time is now being

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done by Susan Taylor and Chris Scourfield - an amazing duo, complete with animations and actions, which the children absolutely love. Chris was one of the four people who responded to my appeal at church one Sunday asking for volunteer help at Teddy Bears, to fill the gaps in the workforce. We all enjoy our Friday mornings at PVH and the parents put such lovely messages of thanks on our Facebook page and many of the families attended Messy Church at Christmas. Huge thanks to my team of helpers for your regular commitment and support.

Margaret Edwards and team (Susan Taylor, Rhianydd Warren, Jean Thomas, Chris Scourfield. Extra help is provided by Jane Twitty, Wendy Vickers and Marion Cook as needed.)

Messy Church Report for 2021

After a very long break Messy Church got off to a flying start in December to celebrate Messy Christmas. An amazed team of 20 helpers watched as family after family arrived at the church. Old friends returned (with children grown bigger than when we last saw them!) and new families arrived and all were welcomed with much joy! 90 guests were many more than hoped for and Duncan was sent out to buy more food for the tea!

Lots of activities were ready and waiting to be enjoyed. The messiest was the colourful decorating of Christmas tree biscuits (lots of licked fingers!). There were a variety of Christmas cards to make from stickers and printing to doily and fingerprint trees (no licking fingers here!). There was an opportunity to decorate the big church Christmas tree or try decorating a tree picture with stickers (but blindfolded!). The wooden prayer tree was available too, so that everyone could write their prayers onto angel shapes and hang them up. Lee played for some carol singing and Mark helped everyone to think that although our fingerprints showed we were different from each other we are all known and loved by God.

All through the afternoon there was a good atmosphere with a constant happy buzz from the children. There was enthusiastic involvement of everyone and promises to return to Messy Church again.

Judy Preece February 2022

Open the Book

Sadly due to Covid restrictions at Hillview School, the team have been unable to do any OtB assemblies in 2021.

Margaret Edwards, on behalf of the Open the Book team.

4. MISSION

Outreach

Although the challenges of covid remained we were able to engage in outreach in several ways. Groups were able to relaunch throughout the year as restrictions begin to lessen. Our parent and toddler groups in particular were able to relaunch and began to reconnect with people and families. Other groups have also been able to restart such as lunch club which offers community and support to some of the more isolated people in our community. Messy church relaunched for Christmas and reached a large number of families, there is much hope for the future with great contacts with families going forward and new people involved in leading the service. The Community Garden has launched this year and was extremely well received, with have built links with the local GP surgery and have a number of people keen to be involved in working together to provide something that will be a blessing to the community.

Miriam and the mission team have continued to do excellent work keeping the priority of global and UK mission as a focus through ‘mission slots’ and other means. The benefit of this is that it shifts our focus from ourselves towards others in the world, this is especially important at this time.

Mark Close

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The HUB

The Hub is still functioning as a group, but due to the continuing lockdown regulations was not meeting regularly and was limited in its activities. This year it only functioned during the Christmas period and put on two events, The NOAL (nativity on a lorry) and carol singing at Glenville parade.

Mark Close

Mission Team

Mission Team met in January, June, September and October on Zoom. In 2021 we continued to support our five mission links from the church tithe – The Diocese of Western Tangynika (four theological students at Lake Tangynika Theological College in Kasulu and our link parish, Mwilanvya); OMF International and the Pawsons in Japan; Scripture Union UK and the 95 project; Gloucester City Mission and Gloucester Foodbank.

Baby Gideon Pawson was born on 31st January 2021 in Sapporo, Japan and we held a virtual (post-birth) baby shower on Sat. February 20th 2021. This was well attended and lots of fun. We received gifts amounting to £415 from church members which was sent via OMF to the Pawsons as a personal gift, enabling them to buy a baby car seat. In May it became apparent that David particularly was in need of encouragement and the church gifted them with shopping coupons and a book amounting to approximately £50.

From Jan 2021 to Aug 2021 the weekly online service had a brief mission slot focusing on either the church’s five mission links or on global mission in general. We used a range of videos, powerpoints, live interviews and presentations. Since returning to services in church we have returned to our former pattern of focusing on one or other of our 5 mission links on the third Sunday of the month at both services.

Miriam Davis

Christian Aid 2021

Christian Aid 2021

Despite all the challenges of the last 2 years Christian Aid Week 2021 raised more than £5m. nationally. Thank you to all who have supported fundraising for the work of Christian Aid in 2021 through your own on-line donations, buying jams and marmalades throughout the year and helping and supporting the Coffee Morning and Mini-Market in Church in October which raised an amazing £720. After giving £50 to Church to cover heating etc., £670 was shared equally between Christian Aid and the Gloucester City Mission.

Christian Aid Week 15-21 May 2022

“Turn Hunger into Hope.” As a result of Covid-19, conflict and the climate crisis, for the first time in a generation, global poverty is rising, pushing more into a struggle for survival. This is keenly felt in Zimbabwe, where drought is leading to widespread hunger. Please support Christian Aid in any way you can and help “Turn Hunger into Hope.”

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Philip Wenham

Christian Aid representative

5. DISCIPLESHIP & PASTORAL CARE

Discipleship - Home Groups

Alan Butcher stepped down as Home Group Coordinator during 2021. Two groups continued to meet on Zoom throughout the year, and one in person only in autumn 2021. In late autumn Margaret Edwards, Mark Close and Miriam met to draw up a questionnaire for use in the New Year with the aim of discovering what new groups are needed and who might be potential new hosts or leaders.

Miriam Davis

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Pastoral Care.

One of the most difficult aspects of the lockdown has been maintaining good pastoral care. We have tried to ensure that people have not been left isolated, but we have relied on the church family to look after each other. Having an online time for prayer either in the morning or the evening throughout the week gives a structure to the week that helps people feel connected and our zoom coffee meetings after church on a Sunday gives people a chance to connect. We also have the capacity for people to join with us at our Sunday services via the phone which has helped some people who are not able to get online to stay connected.

Mark Close

6. FACILITIES & BUILDINGS

Grounds and Buildings Report 2021 Church Centre, Stone Building, Youth Centre and Gordon Rooms.

Church Centre Site . Overall, the site is in a reasonable condition and is generally clear of rubbish. A cracked drain cover in the car park requires replacing; a replacement is available in the garage. The garden areas have been maintained and kept colourful over the year with the grass being cut regularly. Many thanks go to the people who have taken this on over the year to make this happen. Plant and shrub growth in the area to the east of the Gordon Rooms has been kept down by continual vigilance. The north boundary will need professional work on it to get it back under control. The Larkhay Rd boundary fence needs repainting and the entrance gate re-instating. Weeds around the site have been removed and weed killer has been applied from time to time to try and keep them under control. A gate that appeared in the boundary fence with the gardens in Havelock Rd has been blocked so that it cannot be opened from that particular garden.

Heating, Fire Extinguishers and Electrical Items . All of the heating systems had their safety checks in September 2021 and were satisfactory. The boiler in the Youth Centre was installed some 28 years ago and will irreparably fail at some point. The fire extinguishers were checked in September 2021 and all found to be satisfactory. All portable electrical items were PAT checked in December 2021.

Stone Building. Overall, the building is in a reasonable condition. Some re-pointing of the stonework is required, especially on the east wall, and the coping stones on the south east corner need replacing as pieces have been coming off after prolonged frost. Chris Brookes has been painting the window frames on the east and north side of the building. Inside the building there are areas where paint and plaster is flaking off and needs repairing. Skirting boards that have been affected by wet rot need replacing. Pointing has been falling out of the ridge tiles and will need attention at some time in the future. The outside lamp has an electrical fault on it that needs investigating by an electrician. In May there was a break-in through the door on the north side. This door, the office door and partitioning were damaged and filing cabinets forced open. The damage has been repaired and the back door reinforced to prevent further break-ins.

Church Centre . The chimney breast and ceiling in the northwest corner of the hall requires redecorating. The exterior woodwork requires repainting. The south porch door is deteriorating and needs attention. The roof has loose ridge tiles and broken tiles that need attention. The external walls around the ladies and gents’ toilets need rebuilding and the toilets need refurbishing. The kitchen needs re-modelling to bring it up to date in line with current standards and in-line with its current use. Basically, the whole building is in need of refurbishment and modernising. The gas cooker and cooker hood were safety checked in September 2021 and a CO alarm put in the kitchen as CO could build up when the gas cooker is used. A CO alarm was also put on the east wall of the hall to cover the two warm air gas heaters. Cleaners are now employed to clean this building, and the church, on a weekly basis. They are doing an excellent job.

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Youth Centre and Gordon Rooms . The upright part of some of the reinforced concrete portals supporting the roofs of both of these buildings are crumbling. This will have to be a specialist repair. The corrugated asbestos cement roof panels on both buildings are deteriorating and need attention as they are starting to develop holes. Render is coming off the external walls. The gutters on both buildings need attention. The exterior and interior paint on these buildings is looking shabby. A decision about the future of these two buildings will need to be made at some point in the near future.

The Garage. The garage continues to be serviceable but has a temporary repair on the roof at the main door end. There are broken concrete panels in the wall, but the garage is still secure. A damaging attempted break-in failed.

Tom Brown for Grounds & Buildings. 25th February 2022

7. ADMINISTRATION

Staffing

Liz has continued to serve the church as parish administrator and has done a fantastic job through very difficult circumstances. She is a dedicated, able, friendly, approachable and efficient and is very much a valued and capable worker. She has been flexible working from home and also from the office when appropriate.

Rhianydd and Peggy have been a key support to the continuing work, worship and ministry of the church in their roles as Church wardens and I am very thankful for their dedication and commitment to the church. The role of treasurer is difficult at the best of times, but Lee has gladly stepped up to the role and has been brilliant. Lee has also continued to massively support the worshipping life of the church through his producing music with the worship band for our online service and leading in person when we were able. Margaret has continued to offer wisdom as part of the standing committee as PCC secretary. Duncan, Miriam and Tim have been hard working and dedicated in their roles. It is worth noting that Duncan has faced challenges at the very start of his ordained ministry that are beyond what many others have experienced through many years. He has faced every challenge with grace and wisdom and has been an excellent partner for the gospel to me here.

I would like to offer my thanks to all those who have worked alongside me and supported the church through this year. I would not have been able to keep going and face the challenges we have without your support and I am very proud to be here working with you.

Mark Close

Safeguarding Report for APCM

At St Philip & St James Church, the PCC take seriously their legal duties to promote a safe environment for all, working closely with the Safeguarding Department at the Diocese of Gloucester. In our responsibility for the protection of Vulnerable Adults and Children & Young People (Under 18s), we follow the advice given to PCCs and the necessary legal documents are on display in our church buildings, where our activities occur.

We have a legal duty to have the statutory documents (as listed below) on display and these were approved and adopted by the PCC on their meeting on March 9th 2022.

The full versions of the documents are available electronically on request by contacting the church office or the Parish Safeguarding Officer.

2022 Safeguarding Policy. 2022 Safeguarding poster (updated) - how to respond & contact details

Promoting a Safer Church - Parish Safeguarding Handbook (Oct 2018 version) Types of Abuse (including signs and symptoms)

Canon Margaret Edwards Parish Safeguarding Officer

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8. SOCIAL & FELLOWSHIP

Mothers’ Union

We didn`t meet as Covid was still affecting our lives.

We held a Mary Sumner picnic in the Peace Garden, tea and cake were served. It was well attended. Our first Meeting was held September 1st in the evening. We discussed the style and times of future meetings, and there was a raffle and refreshments.

We also held a Wave of Prayer. It was decided to hold afternoon meetings from 2pm for the dark evenings we also started collecting toiletries for various local charities. 16 Days of Awareness and Action were discussed and thoughts shared. We enjoyed a Bring and Share Lunch and were lead in an Advent Reflection.

Jean Thomas Branch Leader

Social Events Team

No Report

Lunch Club 2021

As with all groups we were unable to meet for much of 2021, but kept in contact with our guests with ‘phone calls, birthday and Easter cards. We also joined the Diocesan “Comfort and Joy at Easter Project” and thanks to generous donations, were able to deliver a frozen meal, provided by The Long Table.

Lunch Club was able to restart in September, meeting three weeks out of every four. This was very much welcomed by our guests. However, it soon became apparent that due to rising costs the price of the meal would need to be increased. This was put to the guests, who decided that the price should rise to £5

The year ended with a traditional Christmas meal for 36, when guests were joined by several team members. We now have 21 guests, but do have a few spaces; so, if you know of any elderly members of the community who would enjoy meeting others, then please let me know.

Margaret Wenham On behalf of the Lunch Club team

Tuesday @ Two 2021

Tuesday @ Two was not able to begin meeting again until November and only met on 2 occasions before the Christmas break. Fourteen friends have enjoyed coming together in the Church Centre once a fortnight to chat, play cards and word games, ending the afternoon with a cup of tea and home-made cake.

Tuesday @ Two. has been running since August 2012. If you know anyone who would like to spend some time playing Canasta, Scrabble, Upwords, Rummycub, or any other board games of this type then please encourage them to come and join us.

Margaret & Philip Wenham

C.A.M.E.O.

As with most groups 2021 was difficult because we were unable to meet. However, we did eventually start again in September. Our first meeting was a lovely social evening enabling us to meet friends and catch up. We had a AGM in October and in November Chris Evans from 'The Butterfly Garden' entertained us giving us an insight as to how the pandemic had effected the charity and his plans for the year ahead. Our Christmas meeting was fun with a quiz and ended with a lovely supper. Finally we would like to wish Nancy Lockwood happiness in her new home, she has been a Cameo member for over 40 years!

We have a good and varied programme for this year and would welcome new members. Jenny Barton

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Church Flowers

It was the end of May 2021 when we started back arranging flowers in church with just one arrangement until things eased with the pandemic. We were able to fill the church with flowers at Harvest and also a Wedding in October. We enjoyed arranging the flowers for Christmas and although the carol service had to be cancelled, hopefully they gave pleasure to those who managed to get to other services.

Thank you to the team who come each week and we will continue to fill God's house with flowers.

Jenny Barton

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CONTENTS LIST		page numbers
Priest in Charge Report		3
Churchwarden Report		3
Trustees Report		4
Structure, Governance & Management		5
Objectives and Activities		6
PCC, Standing Committee, Management Group		7
STATUTORY REPORTS	Financial Review	8
	Accounts (2 pages)	9
	Independent Examiner’s Report	11
	Deanery Synod	12
	Fabric	13
NON-STATUTORY REPORTS
1. MINISTRY & LEADERSHIP		14
2. PRAYERS & WORSHIPING		14
Prayers and Worshiping
Prayer Teams
3. YOUTH & CHILDREN		15
Core Youth Group
Little PJ’s
Coffee Pot
Teddy Bears
Messy Church
Open the Book
4. MISSION		16
Outreach
The HUB
Mission Team
Christian Aid
5. DISCIPLESHIP & PASTORAL	CARE	17
Discipleship - Home Groups
Pastoral Care
6. FACILITIES & BUILDINGS		18
Grounds and Buildings Team
7. ADMINISTRATION		19
Staffing
PCC Policy for the Safeguarding of Children and Young People
PCC Policy for the Safeguarding of Vulnerable Adults
8. SOCIAL & FELLOWSHIP		20
Mothers' Union
Social Events Team
Lunch Club
Tuesday @ Two
C.A.M.E.O.
Church Flowers

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