PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL (PCC) OF ALL SAINTS’ FARINGDON PCC ANNUAL REPORTS & ACCOUNTS FOR 2024
AIMS & PURPOSES:
All Saints’ PCC is responsible, in co-operation with the Vicar, for promoting the whole mission of the Church (pastoral, evangelistic and social) within the ecclesiastical parish, and for maintaining the fabric of All Saints’ Church and Coach Lane cemetery.
The PCC of All Saints’ Faringdon is a corporate body established by the Church of England and operates under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure. The PCC exceeds the limits for exception from registering with the Charity Commission and is therefore registered under the name of “The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of All Saints’ Faringdon” (Charity No. 1134401).
The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. The membership of the PCC consists of the Vicar, Licensed Lay Ministers, Churchwardens, Deanery Synod representatives and members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church. All those who are members of our congregation are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC.
The PCC is aware of the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit in “The advancement of Religion for the Public Benefit” and has regard to it in the administration of the parish.
The PCC believes that, by fulfilling its responsibility to work together with the Vicar and co-operating in all matters of concern and importance for the promotion of the whole mission of the Church, it provides a benefit to the public, both to individuals and to society as a whole, by: providing resources and facilities for public worship, pastoral care and spiritual, moral and intellectual development, both to its members and for anyone who wishes to benefit from what the church offers; promoting Christian values and the service by members of the church to their communities.
To facilitate this work, it is important that we also maintain the fabric of both All Saints’ Church and the Barber Rooms.
This review summarises the life of All Saints’ church during the calendar year 2024 and highlights many events and activities. Again, this year, those responsible for many of the church’s activities have been invited to contribute.
The PCC met 9 times during 2024, with an average attendance of 17. During the year the following served as members of the PCC, ex-officio, elected or invited to attend.
EX OFFICIO MEMBERS:
Vicar Rev’d Maria Jukes Licensed Lay Ministers Graham Weller Robert Slade Church Wardens Linda Ritchie Mark Jackson Deanery Synod Reps Peter Foot John Seedell Alice Voaden
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APCM 18 May 2025
PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL (PCC) OF ALL SAINTS’ FARINGDON PCC ANNUAL REPORTS & ACCOUNTS FOR 2024
ELECTED MEMBERS (MEMBERS ARE ELECTED FOR THREE YEARS)
Until APCM 2025 Immy Newcome Janet Deane Katie Foot Tim Vinall Until APCM 2026 Alice Voaden Chris Horley Christopher Raybone Wendy Tynan Until APCM 2027 Chris Speller David Wilson Isobel Weller Jim McGowan Children & Families Josey Speller Leader (Co-opted) Safeguarding Isobel Weller Hon Treasurer David Wilson Hon Secretary Aimee Husebo
VICAR’S REPORT
Remembering back to writing this report last year, I am struck by both how quickly this last year feels to have gone, but also how much has happened during it. For me, 2024 has felt like a year when patterns and activities have settled down, and this has enabled more long-term planning to begin.
Much of what has happened in the year has been covered in the excellent report from the wardens and others who have contributed to our annual report, I commend all of these to you and would encourage you to read through for a holistic view of the mission and ministry that has taken place during an exciting and active 2024. Alongside these particular activities and events, we have sustained the existing service pattern with 9am BCP Holy Communion every Sunday and a 10.30am service (with a mixture of All Age, Holy Communion, and our Third Sunday service, a service of the Word), seasonal services, our monthly prayer meeting continues on Zoom, and Morning Prayer on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday in All Saints’, Tuesday in Little Coxwell, and Friday morning prayer on Zoom. In all these things I am extremely grateful to the ministry team for their support and contribution to All Saints’ as well as lay leaders who have contributed much to the prayer life of the church. I think the gift of having different voices and experiences to draw from is something which contributes greatly to our worshipping life, and the support of Rev’d David Pickering alongside the retired clergy with PTO: Rev’d Chris Etherton, Rev’d Tim Hewes, Rev’d Dick Whittington, Rev’d Barbara Mapley, Rev’d Paul Winchester, lay minister Graham Weller, and Children & Families Leader Josey Speller. We all continue to be blessed by their ministry amongst us.
Alongside our regular services and seasonal events, a lot of time and energy has also been spent on larger, more long-term projects and plans, and I will focus my report on a few of these.
Reordering Project
Jim McGowen has written a report which outlines what has happened during the year in relation to plans for reordering. Much of the work has been considering how our building might be adapted to improve accessibility, enable flexibility in worship, and facilitate engagement with and mission to our community.
I want to say a massive thank you to Jim for all his hard work, excellent leadership, and diligence during this time; also, thanks to the rest of the subcommittee whose engagement and expertise have helped enormously. It feels like such an exciting project that has the potential to resource the mission and ministry here in a very significant way, and I look forward to seeing plans become more tangible during 2025 as we begin work closer together with an architect and the DAC. During this process we will take some time for wider consultation, and your engagement in this would be really helpful.
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APCM 18 May 2025
PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL (PCC) OF ALL SAINTS’ FARINGDON PCC ANNUAL REPORTS & ACCOUNTS FOR 2024
Parish Boundary
During 2024 it came to light that there was some discrepancy between our legal structures as a parish and how we are currently operating across All Saints’ and St Mary’s. In summary: we are legally one parish, but in many ways operate as if we were two. PCC considered options available to us, and the preference of both St Mary’s and All Saints’ PCCs were to first explore making changes to how we operate to move these in-line with being a single parish.
You will already have seen one of these adjustments in how we have, this year, created a joint electoral roll for both All Saints’ and St Mary’s. At our APCM we will seek to make some further changes, one being that the APCM itself will be a joint one for the whole of the parish (incorporating both Faringdon and Little Coxwell), and we will also hope to elect churchwardens and deputy churchwardens responsible for both churches during our meeting of parishioners. I hope that these changes will enable us to retain some autonomy of both worshipping communities, but also that there will be opportunities where we can increase collaboration to support the mission and ministry in both Faringdon and Little Coxwell – now and in the future.
Priorities for Mission and Ministry
In 2024 the PCC undertook some work thinking about how God might be calling our church in this season. As we have settled into a new normal following the pandemic, gradually gotten used to the new vicar… and have welcomed a substantial number of new people to our church community, it felt like a good time to notice where God has been at work, where we feel called to do new things or change some of the things we are already doing, as well as noticing all those things we are already doing that feel important to continue and resource well.
Again, this is a longer process and you will hear more about this during 2025, but the PCC agreed that three areas feel important to focus on: the importance of every person in our worshipping community (everyone matters), to encourage people in their discipleship (growing in faith), and to have a view of mission as a whole-life calling (sharing our faith in our everyday lives).
I do not think that a mission statement or a Mission Action Plan is the most important thing in the world; but I do think they can be helpful in noticing some of what feels significant in our lives together and how God is at work in our midst. It is good to take the time to notice, and also good to have a sense of anticipation as we seek to catch a glimpse of God at work here in Faringdon and Little Coxwell and how we are called to take part. My hope is that we will do some wider work on this over the coming year, initially on “Sharing our faith in our everyday lives”, but then also some wider discernment that will help us pen down our Priorities for Mission and Ministry in this next season.
Reflecting back on a busy and exciting year, I am so conscious of the many people who have been making everything possible during this time. The reality is that there are just too many to mention, but please know that however you are contributing to and supporting the mission and ministry in Little Coxwell or Faringdon I am profoundly grateful and very aware that we can do what we do because of your generosity.
I do particularly want to say thank you to our fabulous wardens though, Mark and Linda, and Douglas and Pippa; you all do such an amazing job, and I personally appreciate your support, dedication, gifts and skills enormously.
I also am so thankful for Josey and all she brings to our church. It has been amazing to see so many young people, families, and children join us over the past few years and we all appreciate immensely the work you have done to make them feel welcome and able to grow in their faith.
In the beginning of 2024, we also had Jilly join our staff team. I realise that much of what Jilly does is behind the scenes, but if you receive the Newsletter, have noticed the tidy vestry, or enjoyed a well organised Summer Tea – know that Jilly will have had a hand in all these things and much, much more.
We also had some additions to our ministry team during the year. Julie Slade became an authorised preacher, and we are in the process of being licensed with Anna Chaplaincy to resource her pastoral ministry to the elderly. Bob Slade has transferred his license to Oxford diocese as he and Julie moved to Faringdon and is now able to both take some services and preach. Chris Raybone has also become an authorized preacher, and we look forward to seeing his ministry grow. Their support to our ministry team will enable us to minister more effectively and I am excited to see how this develops over the coming years.
As we look forward to 2025, we look forward to welcoming Szabina Patel to be our curate and her family as they join our worshipping community, please do pray for them as they prepare for their move here in the coming months.
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APCM 18 May 2025
PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL (PCC) OF ALL SAINTS’ FARINGDON PCC ANNUAL REPORTS & ACCOUNTS FOR 2024
May we all look back to all God has done with thankful hearts, forward with anticipation towards all that is yet to come, as we seek to continue to grow in God’s love - and may He inspire us to share it faithfully in this place and time.
Maria Jukes
– FINANCIAL REVIEW FOR 2024 DAVID WILSON
Total receipts on unrestricted funds were £144,573 of which £106,035 was unrestricted planned voluntary donations, and a further £22,182 was from Gift Aid.
Restricted income and donations (including gift aid) of £21,301 were also received. Of this, £13,595 is a grant from the ODBF, covering part of the cost of our Children & Families Leader Josey Speller.
No legacies were received in the year.
£133,278 was spent from unrestricted funds to promote the whole mission of the church within the parish and beyond. Our diocesan parish share of £67,203 was paid in full (£65,691 after rebates received for paying by direct debit and because the deanery share for the first half of the year was paid in full before the end of July). Donations to missions and charities of £14,862 were made.
Overall funds increased by £32,623 during the year. There was an increase in the General Fund of £26,712. Designated, Restricted and Endowment funds also all increased slightly in value due to increases in the value of funds invested in the stock market.
– PCC RESERVES POLICY DAVID WILSON
The PCC needs to hold reserves as it has fixed (and usually rising) expenditure each year to cover expenditure such as Parish Share, Parochial expenses, Insurance, Repairs and Maintenance, Gas/Electricity/Water to support church services with no guaranteed income.
The risk of income not arising each year to cover these core expenditure items is small (there are a reasonable number of committed/planned givers who provide a good base level of income each year).
The PCC believes that reserves amounting to between three and six months of annual expenditure on the items above is reasonable to cater for a downturn in income as well as providing an appropriate level of funds to cover expected buildings expenditure. This would equate to between £33,500 and £67,000 on 2024 general expenditure.
The PCC currently has reserves (unrestricted and designated) that exceed this range. However, given expected additional costs in 2025 and beyond (including paying housing for a curate from June 2025 and funding our Children & Families work fully from October 2025), which is forecast to lead to deficit budgets for the next 3 years, the PCC is comfortable with this position.
It remains our policy to invest the short-term investment fund balances with the CCLA Church of England Deposit Fund, and the remaining longer-term investments in the CCLA Church of England Investment Fund.
– CHURCH FABRIC REPORT JIM MCGOWAN
Much of the Fabric Group’s activity in 2024 involved preparatory work to be completed after the end of the year. In 2024 we received permission to go ahead with replastering and redecorating repairs in the baptistery, with this work only being completed in the first months of 2025. Another change we have been working on is the installation of a secure, robust bicycle rack outside the main entrance to the Barber Rooms; the initial idea for this came from our Energy Audit (Oct 2023) and we have since received a £1,000 “decarbonisation” grant from the government towards the cost of this – but we are still awaiting planning permission before we can go ahead and install the bicycle rack.
Activities that were completed during the year were the installation (by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission) of two new commemorative headstones in the churchyard for World War I soldiers, upgrades to our lightning protection system and replacing the broken drain at the foot of the church path. In addition, we have also had some very productive and enjoyable groups working on activities like church polishing, decluttering, and clearing the drainage trench around the church.
Thank you to everyone who has been involved in looking after the fabric of our buildings over the past year – for looking after the heating system, organising regular maintenance and servicing, changing inaccessible light bulbs, participating in working parties, removing weeds and cutting back shrubs, polishing & cleaning, sorting out repair
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APCM 18 May 2025
PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL (PCC) OF ALL SAINTS’ FARINGDON PCC ANNUAL REPORTS & ACCOUNTS FOR 2024
jobs, putting out the bins and everything else! We are extremely grateful for all that you do to look after our wonderful buildings.
– CHURCH REORDERING PROJECT JIM MCGOWAN
The Reordering Strategic Planning Group started work early in 2024; the group is made up of Rev’d Maria Jukes, Mark Jackson, Dave Wilson, Alice Voaden, Jonathan Mapley, and Jim McGowan. The diocese has produced some excellent guidance notes on how to work through the reordering process and we have paid careful attention to these notes. In addition, we invited Rev’d Charles Chadwick, the Parish Development Adviser, to come and share his thoughts on how we should approach reordering.
Following these discussions, we have started to write the two key documents required at this stage of the process – the Statement of Need (40+ pages) and the Statement of Significance (25+ pages). Between them, these documents describe the church building as it is and explain about its history, development, and key features, as well as provide details on the church community and our parish (we have used a lot of the information collected in 2023 for the Parish Profile), our vision and some of the constraints that we are currently facing in our buildings. We will continue to develop and expand these documents as we go further through the reordering process.
We have begun discussions with the DAC (Diocesan Advisory Committee) who will need to approve our proposals. The group has also reviewed architects who have completed similar work on churches in our local area in recent years; following this review, the PCC have selected Christian Randall from Conservation Architects (based in Wantage) as our preferred architect for the project.
The next step – in consultation with both the Reordering Group and the DAC – will be for Christian to develop more detailed proposals. These proposals will then be the subject of a consultation process involving the PCC, the church family, and the wider community in Faringdon.
– COACH LANE CEMETERY JIM MCGOWAN
The Coach Lane Churchyard group was set up by the PCC at the beginning of 2024. The two key issues the group has had to address are the very limited space available for full body burials and, secondly, ensuring that the churchyard regulations are complied with.
Although an investigation into the further expansion of the Coach Lane churchyard concluded that this was not a realistic possibility, we agreed that the churchyard could still be used for future generations by creating an area reserved for the interment of ashes. The PCC has approved this approach, and the designated area has been marked out with stakes. We are now looking at the most appropriate way to develop a garden of remembrance in this area of the churchyard; this will require a faculty application over the next year.
On the issue of compliance with churchyard regulations, we have reviewed our use of bins to try and ensure that members of the public are only using the correct bins and as part of this have introduced a secure bin store. We have still to see the full impact of these measures, but we are optimistic that they will simplify the management of our bins. In a sensitive and considerate way, we have also sought to reduce the number of unapproved ornaments.
In terms of regular maintenance, we continue to be extremely grateful to Wendy Tynan who does a huge amount of work at Coach Lane throughout the year – Wendy also keeps a watchful eye on the state of the area, and this is invaluable. We have continued to build on our good relationships with our two main contractors – Gentle Giant Gardening and Sorbus.
Finally, Mark Ritchie has carried out a very thorough survey of the many ash trees at Coach Lane (including tagging them all); as well as helping to identify what work is required immediately, this survey will provide an excellent baseline for monitoring the spread of ash dieback disease.
– DEANERY OF THE VALE OF THE WHITE HORSE PETER FOOT
Deaneries within the Church of England are somewhat curious beasts. Sometimes, they seem to act as the Diocese’s attack dog in the matter of collecting Parish Share. At others, they operate as an extension of the Deanery Chapter, or as opportunities to try out new ideas on behalf of the diocese.
In the Vale of the White Horse, the Deanery seeks to be a two-way mechanism linking the needs of the parishes, especially the rural ones, to the episcopal authority often needed to meet those needs. The most regular and obvious way this is done is through prayer: prayer guidance is sent out each Sunday and, each Wednesday at 07.30 am, a group meets on Zoom, to bring before God the needs of the Parishes that make up the Deanery. Everyone holding an office in any of the 27 churches is specifically named as part of the sequential prayers for each of the six benefices.
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APCM 18 May 2025
PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL (PCC) OF ALL SAINTS’ FARINGDON PCC ANNUAL REPORTS & ACCOUNTS FOR 2024
If you would like to receive the prayer guidance, please contact Peter Foot. The interests of the Dorchester Area and Oxford Diocese are always held in prayer, as are the wider concerns and challenges to the Church of England, the Anglican Communion and the wider Church across the world.
A year ago, Bishop Steven charged every deanery to give more attention to children and young people (CYP). Our Deanery is tackling this in two ways. Firstly, work continues at Faringdon Community College, under the wider auspices of the Cambrian Learning Trust, to establish a School Chaplain who will be able to serve the majority of school-aged children in the Deanery. Secondly, a working group has been established to explore how best to give more support to CYP in churches and schools (only All Saints’ Faringdon, is blessed with a Children & Families Leader). In parallel with this effort, the Deanery will be reminding the diocese that – among other things - issues of loneliness, isolation, ill health in the elderly, transport problems, food banks and ministry to, and inclusion of, the poor cannot be sidelined by this new priority.
– SAFEGUARDING ISOBEL WELLER
We continue our work at All Saints’ to do our utmost to ensure that our church is a safe place for all. Those most directly involved with safeguarding have met bi-monthly to discuss the operational aspects, and this has been very helpful in keeping up to date with diocesan and legal requirements for training and compliance as a PCC.
Jilly Strongman, our Church Administrator, is the DBS Recruiter/Verifier and has assisted with people’s online training where needed, which has been hugely valuable.
Josey Speller, the Children & Families Leader, oversees the different children’s groups and liaises with Maria (as incumbent) and Isobel (as Parish Safeguarding Officer) as necessary, ensuring amongst other things that the safer recruitment procedures are carried out for all new volunteers. Linda Ritchie, as Churchwarden, provides technical and other support to us all.
The Safeguarding Dashboard, provided by the diocese, is well embedded as a tool for us to refer to in these meetings. It clarifies the steps required to work towards the safest possible environment and gives links to the latest documentation. From this we can generate an action plan, which is shared with the PCC at most meetings, where safeguarding is a standing item on the agenda. The Dashboard has now been supplemented by the Safeguarding Hub, which is tailored to the specific DBS and training requirements for members of All Saints’, and is proving to be a useful resource, especially as new volunteers come on board.
There have also been some useful opportunities for networking via webinars and Zoom meetings on different aspects of safeguarding, which enables us to keep our knowledge current and provide peer support.
We have responded to a small but not insignificant number of concerns (children and adults) raised over the past year, involving the diocese and external agencies where necessary.
– CHURCH WARDEN REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2024 LINDA RITCHIE & MARK JACKSON
Yet another busy year in the life of All Saints’ church Faringdon.
In January 2024 Maria had been in post for six months. Now settled well into the post she set to the task of bringing new initiatives to the church in various new and imaginative ways.
The year kicked off in January with a new ministry called The Bereavement Journey. A six-week course designed to provide help to those who have been bereaved at any point in life. It was well received by seventeen people. A separate report will be provided.
On 7 April we held a welcome tea for those who had joined our church during the previous year and approximately thirty people attended.
Working with other churches in Faringdon, we held an ecumenical prayer service on Ash Wednesday, Reflections by the cross on Good Friday, and we provided breakfast for those who had attended the ecumenical service at dawn on Folly Hill on Easter day.
On Saturday 11 May we held a Sanctuary Day and Rev’d Matthew Grayshon from ReSource led us in a time of discussion and reflection on the ‘woman at the well‘ from John chapter 4.
15 May saw the start of a new style men’s group where we met for a meal at The Viceroy Indian restaurant, and a couple of months later we enjoyed a Chinese banquet at the top of Faringdon’s Folly tower. Twelve men joined on both occasions.
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APCM 18 May 2025
PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL (PCC) OF ALL SAINTS’ FARINGDON PCC ANNUAL REPORTS & ACCOUNTS FOR 2024
A Civic service was held in April after a one-year break and a special service for the 100-year anniversary of the Royal British legion group in Faringdon was held in June. Also in June, the PCC hosted the annual Strawberry Tea and in December the advent tea for those living alone in our community. In October we held our Harvest Festival bring and share lunch.
For the FollyFest weekend in July, we hosted the Teddy Bear zip wire challenge, church and bell tower guided tours and some FollyFest activities inside the church, and outside on the Sunday, amid unusually good weather, we joined the ecumenical Sunday morning service. For the first time since COVID, there has been a team of volunteers who have opened the church on some Saturdays and Sundays to welcome visitors outside service times. The dates when we have opened have usually been when there are other activities in the town such as FollyFest.
Our new monthly community cafe started in June and has been steadily growing in numbers.
In July, Maria and several of us went off camping to the New Wine Christian conference in Shepton Mallet and were blessed not only in a spiritual way, but also with fine sunny weather.
Another new initiative happened in early August with the introduction of a full-size birthing pool! On Saturday 3 August Bishop Gavin came to All Saints’ and six people were baptised by full immersion and six were confirmed. We enjoyed a bring and share meal in the Barber Rooms afterwards.
In mid-October, we ran the Alpha course for those seeking answers to the questions of life. The course ran on eight consecutive Tuesday evenings plus a Saturday morning. Grateful thanks go to all those who prepared a delicious meal on those evenings.
The church was packed to capacity for the Remembrance service on 10 November and again on 2 December for the NSPCC carol service.
The Faringdon Christmas ‘lights on’ happened on 30 November and this year along with other churches in Faringdon we had a stall in the Market Place where fun and games were available to all. Not only the children, but some adults appeared to be having just as much if not more fun. This year we also joined in the great lights switch on by floodlighting All Saints’ church with newly installed LED lights and an illuminated star atop the tower roof.
Christmas celebrations were well attended with Messy Christmas on December 1st, carols by candlelight on the 15th, the Christingle service was brought forward this year to before Christmas Day on the 21st and the usual midnight communion was held on the 24th.
Towards the end of the year, we were delighted that Dr Dan Butcher was able to hold four sessions to train mental health first-aiders. Twelve members of our congregation took part.
Prayer ministry during Sunday morning services when communion is celebrated was restarted. A team of two is available for personal prayer in the Littleworth Aisle during communion and after the service.
Earlier in the year we were pleased to appoint Jilly Strongman as office manager. She quickly got to grips with dealing with all current admin tasks and has organised piles of historical documents.
We continue to see new faces in our services and people making their home with us. Here are some figures as reported to the diocese.
During the year, we grieved the loss of Lyn Oliver, Simon Pakeman, and Cleve Gibson.
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APCM 18 May 2025
PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL (PCC) OF ALL SAINTS’ FARINGDON PCC ANNUAL REPORTS & ACCOUNTS FOR 2024
The Wardens would like to thank all those who serve in any way: Josey, Jilly, Caroline, the bell-ringers, welcomers, vergers, readers, intercessors, the audio/visual team, those who arrange the flowers, the music group, the kitchen team, those who help with children and youth, the church opening team. Also, we thank the retired clergy and LLMs for their continued support and the many others who give their time and energy as needed – not least Maria and Richard. It would take too long to mention everyone by name but rest assured, we do appreciate every single one of you and all that you do to help towards the ministry of our church.
ACTIVITIES
– CHILDREN & FAMILIES LEADER REPORT JOSEY SPELLER
This is my third year in this role, and it has been great to reflect on how the work has developed and grown.
Little All Sorts
This is All Saints’ group for babies and their parents and carers meeting on Monday mornings in term time for play, craft, refreshments, and a bible story.
During this year numbers have been good, albeit up and down some weeks. The families all enjoy themselves, getting to know the team, and the other families. We have a mix of parents, grandparents, and carers and they are very supportive of each other. It is lovely to see the families develop their friendships, and they clearly continue this outside of the group.
Some of the families have joined in with other activities we’ve put on at church and it would be good to be able to continue this work further.
I am so grateful for the team; they are truly wonderful and make the group a real joy. I wish to thank them formally for all that they do and the support they provide to me and the families we welcome into Little All Sorts. There is always room for more on the team so if you can help once a month, please do speak to me.
Junior Saints
We have a great team of leaders with Joanne, Jo, Helen and Immy – I wish to formally thank them for their support and leadership in 2024. Isobel Weller has also been part of the team covering sessions which was wonderful. Several people have commented throughout the year that it feels like the number of children have grown and it is an encouragement to them. There are more children coming regularly and it’s been great to welcome a couple of new families to the church and Junior Saints.
We have been using Roots to plan the teaching most weeks and I still aim to study the same as the adults to help with our intergenerational offering. There are some children who attend the same school and know each other well but it’s been good to see other friendships also develop.
The all-age slots are now a regular fixture and work well at introducing a theme at the beginning of the services. I try to vary them as I know that not everyone enjoys certain aspects of them. My aim in these slots is that they are a way to encourage conversations between different ages and in a way that is accessible for all.
If you would like to talk about becoming a leader with the children, please do speak to me. The children really are a delight to teach and be with on a Sunday morning.
Youth
Following a couple of trial sessions in the summer term, we began a new group for young people on a Sunday morning. Sunday Youth meet on the 2[nd] and 4[th] Sundays – whenever there is a communion service. We decided on this pattern to enable the young people to be in church for the all-age service so that all ages can worship together. We also wanted the young people to remain in church on the third Sundays as these are hoped to be more accessible and we think it important for the young people to experience ‘normal’ church life too.
There is a brilliant new team of Richard, Kelvin & Rachel, Ronke, and James who take turns in leading. The numbers are often small, and the young people don’t know each other very well so we’re working on developing relationships. The team have great plans and ideas on how we can develop the work further and encourage the young people on their walk of faith.
Schools
The schools continue to develop. We have a closer link with The Elms, and they have approached us to visit the church at Christmas and Easter. These trips have been a great success, and the children really enjoyed themselves.
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APCM 18 May 2025
PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL (PCC) OF ALL SAINTS’ FARINGDON PCC ANNUAL REPORTS & ACCOUNTS FOR 2024
It is my hope that these will continue throughout the year. I’m still trying to make connections with Folly View but this hasn’t proved as successful in 2024.
I had what felt like a positive meeting at FCC about how Maria and I could do something in the school but nothing came of it. We would still be keen to go into the school regularly, especially as more and more of the young people attending church also go to FCC.
Other Activities
This year we were able to run Messy Nativity and Messy Easter again which was a success, especially as there was some crossover from Little All Sorts. Other thanks must go to my husband Chris and his ever willingness to dress up at Christmas – this year he literally was a Star! We also added Messy Summer to the calendar this year. A great way for families to explore nature in our churchyard – thanks to Mark Ritchie – and enjoy food and games together – thanks to Maria and Richard for opening their garden. It was a joy to see the families together – both those from Junior Saints and Little All Sorts.
It was good to be involved again in FollyFest this summer. The teddy bear zipwire was even longer this year so the teddies needed to be even more daring. The team was slightly smaller this year, which highlighted the importance of needing a larger team of volunteers for the larger events we host for the town – please do consider helping if you can next year.
The NSPCC carols was a great start to Christmas and good that Maria and I were able to be more intentional with our input. Moving the Christingle service to before Christmas worked well with great attendance from families and all ages. To engage with families in the new year a games/quiz was held but attendance was low due to the time of year. New for this year was a stall at Festive Faringdon. This was a great opportunity with churches together to be a presence at the lights switch on. It was a slow start but as we got nearer to the lights switch on, more people came along for conversation, spot the star and an advent spinner and electric buzzer game.
Other highlights from the year include ice-cream Sunday, working with the flower guild to create the Creationtide display. The children enjoyed seeing it grow and develop, as did the wider congregation.
Finally, I wish to thank Maria, my support group, the church wardens, Jilly and the whole church, for all the prayer and encouragement you give to me personally and the children and families in All Saints’.
– ECO CHURCH GROUP PETER FOOT
The Eco Church Group is very grateful to the PCC for enabling it to be active as a subcommittee in the context of the climate emergency that is part of our ‘here and now’ as Christians. Since the middle of 2024 it has been busy.
In May, as we all know, All Saints’ Church was given a Silver Award by A Rocha/Eco Church, reflecting the improvements and developments since the Bronze award in December 2022, including a full Energy Audit. In June, our Eco Church Group had a display table at the Corn Exchange as part of the council-led Great Big Green Day. The aim of our display was to draw attention to the many riches of the churchyard surrounding the church itself. The table drew a lot of attention, not least an excellent collection of small mammal skulls for children (and others) to guess their animal origin. Display boards and QR codes were used in the churchyard to direct attention gently from the natural world to the Creator of it all.
In doing the preparatory research for the Great Big Green Day, it was discovered that our churchyard has been the subject of a number of scientific surveys, the results of which are easily accessible: The Eco Group want to be able to recommend to the PCC the very best way to manage the churchyard, remembering its centuries-old nature and the need to conserve, protect and nurture this piece of ‘God’s own acre’. Such work needs to be coordinated with the Town Council which has overall responsibility for care and maintenance: conversations have begun already, and we are fortunate in that the Council is sympathetic and very interested in discussing the next stage for 2025.
That stage began in September last year when representatives of the national Lichen Society came to survey the number and types of lichen in our churchyard. This was followed in October by a Zoom meeting with Professor Crawley, of Imperial College, London, who has visited our churchyard on a number of occasions as part of his ongoing scientific interest in the churchyards on the Ridgeway and the Golden Ridge. He will follow up his very rich briefing to members of the Eco Church Group with an actual visit in Spring 2025. This will provide the Group with the basis for recommendations to the PCC of the best steps forward to take, in conjunction with the Council. This will ensure the most respectful, well-informed and practical ways of managing the geology, botany and biology for which collectively we are the heirs.
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– SOCIAL COMMITTEE JOHN SEEDELL
The PCC arranged 2 events in 2024:
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Summer Afternoon Tea on the 22nd of June. As usual PCC members worked together with several members of the congregation to arrange a tea for people who live alone. We held the event in the Barber rooms and tea was enjoyed by over 50 people (including helpers). It was a great afternoon enjoyed by everyone involved. Our thanks go to helpers and guests alike who made a delightful afternoon.
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Christmas Tea Party was held on the 25th of November, the much enjoyed annual event was well attended including members of PCC and volunteers from the congregation who equally enjoyed the festivities. Everyone enjoyed the carol singing accompanied by the piano. A special mention must be made of Maxine Everitt who stepped in to coordinate things due to my indisposition. The social committee thank the PCC for their support in this outreach to the community and look forward to forthcoming events in 2025.
– CHURCH MISSION PARTNERS JOHN SEEDELL
This report usually concentrates on the work of our mission partners through CMS, and it is right to include the work of CMS being the Church of England mission society. However, as we spend about 10% of our income on funding mission activities, we will include some of those in this report along with mentioning the Link Diocese around the world in which the Diocese of Oxford engage.
Our CMS link partners are Noemi and Marcio Ciechanovicz , from Sao Paulo, Brazil. They work in an area called DU Park in a suburb of Sao Paulo, it is a community where people who are homeless, drug addicts and many children frequent. Their mission is to bring Jesus to them, and this is done in many ways.
We look forward to hearing from them as they visit us in January 2025.
You can find more information about Marcio and Noemi on the CMS notice board on the way out to the Barber Rooms where we also display letters from them.
At All Saints’ we support projects bringing the gospel to anyone who hasn’t heard the good news. This means that we support overseas mission, environmental and local community projects. Each month we aim to celebrate the work of projects in our ‘Mission of the Month’
Within our Diocese we maintain links with partner Diocese in South Africa, India, Sweden the Mothers Union and Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Several of these Diocese are long established links and we have learned the value of sharing the road with Christ.
Maria (our Vicar) took the chair of the Diocesan link with Vaxio in Sweden from January 2025.
Please pray for all of these projects, and partners that we may be guided seeking God’s will in our relationships with the people of God’s Kingdom.
– PRAYERS ON FRIDAY HELEN & MARK JACKSON
Prayers on a Friday 7.40 – 8.30am by Zoom in 2024
This group has been going for over 40 years, started by the Scott Browns when they moved to Faringdon. It has been taking place via Zoom since the beginning of lockdown. The Zoom link is published in the church newsletter
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every week. It is open to anyone who would like to pray for any situation both local and international. Each meeting starts with a passage of Scripture and then prayers follow as people feel led. There is no compulsion to pray out loud and any and every topic for intercessory prayer is acceptable. Newcomers are welcome so feel free to log on one Friday morning and see whether you want to come back!
– MONTHLY PRAYER MEETING MARIA JUKES
The monthly prayer meeting has continued via Zoom throughout the year on the first Wednesday of the month at 8pm for about 30mins. Prayer points are issued via the Newsletter, and the meeting begins with a gathered time of reflection before breaking into smaller groups for a time of open prayer.
The prayer meeting is important to continually hold the mission and ministry in the church in prayer, as well as having the opportunity to intercede for our world together. It has been encouraging to see a committed regular attendance to this, normally of around 12 people. Anyone able to join us would be warmly welcomed.
– ALPHA COURSE HELEN & MARK JACKSON
Alpha started on October 8, 2024, as an 8-week course meeting every Tuesday evening from 7pm to 9.15pm and a Saturday Holy Spirit morning on November 16.
The format of the evening is sharing a meal together, watching the Alpha film, followed by a discussion of the content of the film (we give everyone an Alpha manual and that covers the content of each film). The Holy Spirit morning gives more time for discussion and an opportunity to receive personal prayer. We are very grateful to everyone who volunteered to cook a meal for us all and wash up afterwards. We started as a group of 12, most of whom came through personal invitation, and ended up a core group of 8. We were delighted that two came who had attended the Bereavement Journey in the January. It is always a privilege to participate in people’s spiritual journey and we continue to maintain a relationship with those who attended.
– THE BEREAVEMENT JOURNEY (TBJ) HELEN JACKSON
All Saints’ Faringdon ran the bereavement journey for the first time in January 2024. A group of people had done TBJ webinar training and safeguarding training, and a home group had done the course together the previous year in preparation.
It is a 6 or 7-week course for people who have been bereaved at any time. The 7[th] week is an optional session on faith related questions. The first 6 weeks are about grief and bereavement in general and therefore open to people of any faith or none. The course was advertised through the White Horse Medical Practice and online via Sobell House and other bereavement services and of the people who came half were not connected with All Saints’ before. It was also advertised at the All Souls’ service the previous November. People who have held relatives’ funerals at the church are invited to the All Souls’ service. We ran two groups with a total of 17 participants and 8 helpers plus a qualified on-call counsellor. Feedback was very positive, and we have maintained contact with those who attended, initially by meeting at the community café in the Pump House Project on a Tuesday morning and subsequently by inviting them to the church community café that meets once a month on a Monday afternoon. Of those who came, two joined the Alpha course in October and a number came to church over the Christmas period.
– PRAYER CHAIN JENI SUMMERFIELD
This is a much-valued aspect of our prayer life at All Saints’ with the three strands of the prayer chain continuing to work to uphold those in need before the Lord.
If you wish to make a prayer request you can speak to Maria, the church wardens or any one of the three of us named below. We are all happy to receive an email which is then forwarded to the three prayer chains. If, however, the request is extremely urgent you may make contact by phoning one of us.
If you would like to be on the prayer chain, please let Jeni know and you will be added to one of the three lists.
Jeni Summerfield 240912 Ruth Seedell 242440 Barbara Mapley 615009
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– FLOWER GUILD JENI SUMMERFIELD
In 2024 the Flower Guild decorated the church for the main festivals with a mix of fresh and silk flowers and we arranged flowers for a few weddings and funerals.
Now that All Saints’ is part of the Eco Church movement we have completely dispensed with floral foam and several members of the group are in touch with the Sustainable Church movement, so we are trying creative ways of decorating the church without using new and unsustainable plastic products.
We are also, wherever possible, using only fresh flowers produced in this country and we hand-picked locally grown flowers for our Harvest decorations in 2024.
In September, we were delighted to work closely with Josey and the children to create a growing display for the Creationtide project, initiated by Maria, leading up to Harvest.
Also, in September several of us went to a Sustainable Church Flower Festival in Long Crendon to learn more about the movement where we were shocked to learn of the ailments suffered mainly by women in South America and Kenya who handle flowers grown for the world markets that are sprayed with toxic chemicals.
We will continue to use a mix of fresh and silk flowers through the year and as we are even fewer in number now it also keeps the workload manageable.
We would love to welcome new members, so if anyone is interested in joining us, please get in touch, come and see what we do and have a go!
– COMMUNITY CAFE JULIE SLADE
The Community Café started in May 2024. In origin, it was a follow-on from the bereavement course that had been run earlier that year. It was conceived as a gathering at which people can choose to meet once a month. It takes place in the Barber Rooms and is open to all. I was asked to coordinate the Café, with the valued assistance of several other volunteers.
It is a real delight to be part of this project. We have had a good number of people gathering from the start, both from within the Church and from outside of it. Recently the local Parkinson’s group has also begun joining with us.
A Café session runs from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., with people coming to have a drink and cake, and there is plenty of opportunity to sit and chat and spend time together. On occasion we have offered a craft activity, and there is always a chance to play a board game or to read a newspaper.
– HOME GROUPS ANDREW SARGENT
It’s good to be part of All Saints’, but nice also to meet in a smaller setting. All Saints’ currently has 8 home groups. They are all different. A ‘typical’ meeting will focus on a Bible passage or follow a course and may include a time of prayer or singing and some social time – but each group sets its own agenda. Those who attend find they value the opportunity to get to know a small group in a way which is not possible in services and to share their faith, experience and questions in a friendly setting. If you’re interested, please do ask.
– Monday Home Group Martin & Bridget Adams
Our Monday Homegroup meets fortnightly in Fernham during term-time, and we have 8 regular members. During this year, we very much enjoyed the Church of England ‘Everyday Faith’ guide. The aim is to help every follower of Jesus to live out their faith in everyday life. It has 21 reflections centred around Faith, Hope and Love and includes a Bible passage, prayers and stories of how others have found God at work in their lives. It opened our eyes to how we can serve God and demonstrate His love in the roles we already have. We also enjoyed both a Summer and Christmas bring and share meal.
– Monday Home Group Chris & Josey Speller
We are a committed group of 10 people meeting weekly. We have two wonderful houses that alternate in hosting. During 2024 we have studied ‘The bible course’, ‘Christian character’, ‘Living his story’, ‘Creation care’ and ‘Journey to the manger’. We enjoy doing life together, studying a variety of subjects and how the bible can be applied in our everyday lives and praying for each other.
Tuesday Home Group – Peter Foot
The @Kay’s Home Group spent a good deal of 2024 studying Tom Wright’s magisterial biography of Saint Paul. All of us were very grateful for Wright’s insights and overview - a huge help is seeing Paul ‘in the round’. Other studies
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included The Prayers of Jesus and Rivers of Justice , both using the Cover-to-Cover study guides. Wherever possible, we share the leadership of discussion amongst us all. Our membership is Kay Fox, Taiye Ono-Osagie, Jenny Summerfield, John Seedell, Margaret Starr, Wendy Tynan, and Peter Foot.
Our meetings, held on Tuesday mornings, have been mostly via Zoom - this has suited the various members and their various obligations and has not been a constraint on our gatherings. All of our meetings begin with a prayer to guide our study carefully, followed by one of us leading discussion. Time is always left for open prayer.
In 2024, we did make two trips as a group. One was to The Cornerstone Calendar and Bookshop in Grove to review the study options collectively with the resources helpfully provided for us. The other visit was to The Royal Army Chaplains’ Museum at Shrivenham - a most moving experience that we would strongly recommend for any of the other Home Groups.
Wednesday Home Group – Mark & Helen Jackson
The Jackson’s Home Group meets on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at 7.30pm at the Jackson’s in the centre of Faringdon. There are 12 in the group. We sing and pray and have been studying the book of John for some time. We have got as far as Chapter 11!
– Thursday Home Group Update by Chris & Josey Speller hosted by Kate Crebbin
We meet weekly, usually at Kate’s house, but also alternating when needed. This group was originally set up by Helen Wilson, who we regularly remember with delight. There are several who take turns in leading the studies. Amongst other things in 2024 we studied ‘The Romans Course’ and ‘Living his story’. We are a group of 9 with an attendance of 4 or 5 most weeks. Most in the group are parents to teenage and older young people and we’re open to more members joining us.
Thursday Home Group
We began as a new group during the year and meet on alternate Thursdays. We have been reading Mark’s Gospel and are finding a lot to think about in a book we thought we knew! Currently we have 11 members.
– FRIENDSHIP DIRECTORY MARGARET STARR
The list exists to enable church members to exchange email addresses and telephone numbers. It is updated biennially, most recently in December when there were 125 listed.
– OPEN CHURCH MARIA JUKES
In 2024, Open Church was organized and supported from early May through mid-September. The greatest numbers have come on Bank Holiday weekends and at community festival times, e.g. FollyFest. We had over 375 visitors during the open period with over 300 of them visiting during the FollyFest weekend. The visitor’s book was signed by 78 people from as far afield as Australia, Canada and China as well as a couple who apparently were married here in 1940. There are about 9-10 “sitters” on the team. It is still possible to borrow the key from the Tourist Information Centre and the church will be open again in 2025 from Easter until October on Bank Holidays and community festivals.
’ – ALL SAINTS SINGERS KAREN BRUSCH
The All Saints’ Worship Group have had a great year, learning new songs and welcoming new musicians to help lead worship on Sundays. Part of the challenge is enabling worship, not just playing and singing. Our aim is to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us. We pray before every Sunday morning service that this will be the case. The last year has seen us take some big steps forward: helping FollyFest to rock the house, mixing brand new songs with some favourites, taking time to listen to lots of music to find some real gems to learn, and growing in confidence at singing in harmonies. The organ "the old girl" has also played her part, welcoming new organists, who could in the future help with future services. I love playing the organ, but some songs just don't work, so there may be Sundays when she doesn't make an appearance, but most of the time, she will.
We are looking forward to the year ahead and always welcome your feedback. Thank you.
– BELL-RINGERS PETER HUNT
Sponsored Quarter Peal Week
This was commissioned by the ODG (Oxford Diocesan Guild) and held during the last week of February and the first week of March 2024. With this in mind we organised and rang a quarter peal, lasting about 45 minutes. It was the
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PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL (PCC) OF ALL SAINTS’ FARINGDON PCC ANNUAL REPORTS & ACCOUNTS FOR 2024
first quarter peal at Faringdon for Kit, one of our younger ringers. All Saints’ ringers raised £175 in total for the Oxford Diocesan Bell Fund.
Notable VoWH Branch Events
A well-attended branch practice was held at All Saints’, in place of our normal practice on 19th February. A general knowledge quiz was contested between about nine teams, mostly comprising one team per tower, at Uffington on February 24th. Faringdon came top. Our prize was a full size ‘golden’ bell clapper (displayed in the ringing room) and a directive to host a quiz for this year. This will be in the Barber Rooms on 5th April. The branch AGM was held at Longcot on Saturday 16th March. The branch dinner was held at the Prince of Wales pub at Shrivenham on 16th October.
Tower AGM
The tower AGM was held on March 25th in the Barber Rooms on the Monday of Holy Week replacing our normal practice. There were eleven attendees including the vicar and five apologies. Peter Hunt, Julian Watson and Elin Bornemann were re-elected as Tower Captain, Steeple Keeper and Treasurer, respectively. The Watson family agreed to carry on generating bell ringing articles for the Faringdon Advertiser and are now sharing these articles with those from the Stanford-in-the-Vale church bell ringers and hand bell ringers.
Visiting Ringers
All Saints’ hosted a band of ringers from the Four Shires Ringing Group on 21st March and an outing from Claptonin-Gordano, Somerset on April 1st (Easter Monday). We have had visiting ringers on Sundays and in particular a group of two or three from Highworth who still attend regularly for Monday practices.
Ringing for Sarah
On May 3rd we arranged a treat for a young girl called Sarah in conjunction with her parents and Maria. Sarah had just finished a lengthy course of chemotherapy at hospital and her parents wanted her to ring a church bell just as the hospital do on a small bell when chemotherapy ends. Sarah chimed our treble with great enthusiasm and was applauded as she finished. We then raised the bell and rang all eight bells normally. Press from Oxford were there to record the event and an interview with Sarah and her parents was broadcast on local radio the following day.
Striking Contests
Faringdon entered two teams (as did Shrivenham) in the VoWH Branch 6 Bell Striking Contest on May 21st at Uffington. There were seven teams in total. The contests are judged on the quality of the way a test piece is rung. The All Saints’ teams came first and fourth, our best team winning for the third year in a row. The position of our second team was good considering one of the ropes came undone during the test piece.
As in 2023 the winning team went on to represent the Branch at the inter-branch contest of the ODG which in 2024 was held at Shottesbrooke (East of Reading) on 5th October. We didn’t do very well coming seventh out of nine branch teams.
We contributed three ringers to the VoWH 10 bell team in the ODG competition. This band came fourth out of five teams but only five of the fifteen branches entered a team.
- Ringing for the 80th Anniversary of D Day
On Thursday 6th June we rang to remember the 80th anniversary of D-Day in line with the CCCBR (Central Council of Church Bell Ringers) request, as did towers throughout the country. This year we hope to ring when beacons are being lit to remember both VE Day (8thMay) and VJ Day (15thAugust).
Ringing World National Youth Contest
This was held in London on 6th July and was open to all ringers under the age of 19 years. As reported in the All Saints’ Newsletter at the time two of our regular Sunday service ringers took part. One, Daniel, conducted the Oxford Diocesan Guild team.
FollyFest
The church was opened to visitors on the Saturday of FollyFest and we organised two events to complement the historic church tours. The first was a hand bell ringing workshop set up in the nave by the St. Denys hand bell ringing group from Stanford-in-the-Vale. The second was opening of the ringing room to give visitors an introduction to church bell ringing. This was done following a risk analysis and proved to be very popular, particularly with the children who took part.
2024 Peals
On Saturday 20nd July Daniel Watson, our competent young ringer, rang a complex peal, lasting three hours, to celebrate his seventeenth birthday. This has now become an annual event for him with another peal scheduled for
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- We provided additional publicity in 2024 following a complaint that we had about the bells on the previous Saturday when the tower was open during FollyFest.
On Saturday 17th August another peal was organised at All Saints’ for the benefit of a young ringer from Highworth. Although he is from outside the Oxford Diocesan Guild, he is a regular supporter on our Monday practice night.
Weddings and Confirmation
There were four weddings which required bells in 2024, on May 4th, June 11th, July 13th and September 7th. We rang all eight bells for each of the weddings.
We rang for the Confirmation Service, which included the Bishop, on Saturday 3rd August.
Training and Recruitment
Two of our more recent recruits are continuing to ring and progressing well. One, aged 12 in 2024, wrote an article which was published in the Faringdon Advertiser about how much she enjoyed bell ringing. Unfortunately, another ringer that we had been teaching from the start of 2024 has now stopped ringing.
General
We have rung every Sunday for the 10.30am service and invariably manage to ring all eight bells. We rang for the NSPCC Carol Service (2nd December) and rang a quarter peal for the All Saints’ Carol Service (15th December). Maria attended our Christmas celebration in the ringing room on the 18th December and we rang for the late Christmas Eve service.
Safeguarding
Most of our ringers over the age of sixteen have completed the Basic Awareness course, as required by the C of E and the same number have recently revisited the safeguarding portal to allow Jilly (All Saints’ admin.) to ascertain that hay have completed the course. At least one that hasn’t needs some help with the online process and I plan to follow this up.
Centenary of the recast and rehang of the bells in 1926
We have had some feedback from the article that was published in the Faringdon Advertiser and from its mention in last year’s APCM Report.
– WORLD DAY OF PRAYER (WDP) KATE BUTCHER
Friday, 1st March 2024 at All Saints’ Church:
We gathered for two services, at 3.00pm and 7.30pm, arranged by volunteers from all 5 main Faringdon churches to celebrate WDP which this year was prepared by Christian women in Palestine. Despite having been prepared many months prior to current events in the region, the service was very appropriate, and prayers were still very relevant. The focus of the service was based around Ephesians 4: 1-7 – “I beg you, bear with one another in love”. The symbolism of an olive tree was used throughout the life stories of Palestinian Christian women of different generations, and in the sharing of the peace during the service (congregation members swapped printed bookmarks with one another whilst sharing the message of the service). Many members of the congregation commented after the service on the realism this brought, and on the beautiful reflection written titled ‘Put peace into each other’s hands’.
The church was decorated with Palestinian items and products (thanks to Karen Vogt and Mustard Seed) and images produced/suggested by the WDP organisation.
----- Start of picture text -----
1 Ais
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We are thankful for the generous collection made by congregation members of £351.05
A total of 48 people were in attendance (15.00 service= 30, 19.30 service = 18) – this also included all the volunteers.
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– CHURCHES TOGETHER IN FARINGDON KATIE FOOT
As Rev’d Maria Jukes and Rev’d Mark Greenwood settled into All Saints’ and Faringdon Baptist Church respectively, Rev’d Fred Ireland retired in July 2024. We were pleased to welcome Rev’d Jason Cooke in September where, in addition to his circuit duties and ministry at Witney Methodist Church, he will look after Faringdon United Church for a year.
At the AGM in October, Tim Gerry (Faringdon Baptist Church) took over as President from Katie Foot (All Saints’), who is now Secretary. We are very grateful to Jonathan Mapley (All Saints’), our Treasurer, for continuing his role.
Activities organised during 2024 have included:
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Monthly columns in The Advertiser magazine (distributed to every household in Faringdon)
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Warm Spaces/Community Cafes with lunch or tea at Blessed Hugh, All Saints’ and other venues in town
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Ash Wednesday Creation Care prayer service at All Saints’
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Weekly talks during Lent on “Issues Facing Christians Today”, hosted by our churches
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World Day of Prayer, at All Saints’, prepared by Christian women in Palestine
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‘Prayers for Peace’ at the Friends’ Meeting House
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Palm Sunday Procession of Witness, from Faringdon United Church to the Market Place
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Good Friday ‘Reflections by the Cross’ service at All Saints’
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Sunrise service on Easter Day on Folly Hill, with about 50 people present, led by Faringdon Baptist Church, followed by a delicious breakfast at All Saints’
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Christian Aid week e-collection and United Songs of Praise at All Saints
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Big Green Day (stalls included Eco-Church and The Mustard Seed)
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A husting in the Corn Exchange on 25th June, with almost all the candidates for our new Witney constituency, shortly before the General Election.
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FollyFest open air service, led by Rev’d Maria Jukes, an excellent drama of the Good Samaritan parable arranged by Dominic Bullock, and a joint music group
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Creationtide service in September at Faring Rev’d don Baptist Church
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General support to Ukrainians and residents at Brackendale (Sanctuary Faringdon)
Faringdon Food Bank
Faringdon Food Bank is run by Churches Together in Faringdon in partnership with the Town Council. The small food bank is managed on a part-time paid basis by Adele Vincent who is a council employee and who is supported by a small subcommittee of members representing All Saints’, the Baptist Church, Blessed Hugh and the United Church. Unfortunately, we are all getting older and physically less able to do as much as we once did and are looking for others to help by becoming trustees and church representatives.
Our amazing volunteers work very effectively together to deliver a caring but efficient service to those in need. We do need more volunteers particularly to help with the weekly shopping, and if this is something that you feel you could do, please ask me as soon as possible for more information.
Year on year the demand for our services in these straightened times has increased with over 170 clients or families now from Faringdon and villages on our records, including asylum seekers.
We are extremely grateful for the generous donations both financial and food from members of all the churches, and those who donate at Waitrose and the Stanford Co-op. Adele also works very hard accessing grants to help provide foods for us to distribute.
We have a donation box in church by the front door on the first pew in the south aisle so if you’re able to offer even one small tin or packet of food a month that will really help us to feed those who are finding life particularly challenging. Alternatively, if you are able and would like to make a financial donation please speak to Jonathan Mapley or note the details - Faringdon Food Bank; sort Code 20-90-91; Acc. No. 53402738.
On a personal note, I have been part of this Churches Together subcommittee for the last ten years and I’ve led the team running the food bank for the last three. I’ve decided that my season of service in this way has now come to an end, and I informed the CTiF Committee of that at their last meeting in January so this will be my last report.
Jeni Summerfield
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Mustard Seed
The shop was open all year, from 9am to 1pm Mondays to Saturdays, and in December we were also able to remain open until 4pm Tuesdays to Saturdays.
We were very sad that, having supplied us with books and cards I think since the Mustard Seed very first opened, The Lighthouse in Highworth closed at the end of January 2024. We greatly miss the help and advice we received from Malcolm and Val Swift over nearly 25 years since Malcolm became manager. We were, however, able to buy some closing-down stock and re-use some of their shop fittings. Our customers soon noticed the re-vamp, which has made the shop much more colourful.
We have made a new arrangement for ordering books and cards through the Cornerstone Christian Centre in Grove. Our grateful thanks to Sarah Shewring, the manager at Cornerstone, for being so very helpful.
A stall was held in the Corn Exchange on Faringdon’s Big Green Day in June. Blessed Hugh church also has a sale after Mass on the first Sunday of each month, and St Denys, Stanford in the Vale has held several again in 2024 as well. The Big Bali Bonanza, held for a second time in November, raised nearly £400.
As agreed by the Management Committee, one grant was given from the charity account to a particular case of local medical need.
Our shop staff and window dressers are wonderful and so reliable – as is Kath Thacker, who keeps us in clean towels each week. We were delighted to welcome Jessica Paixão Duarte to the Monday (and occasion stand-in) rota, as Katie Dyet decided it was time to step back for a while. Grateful thanks, too, to Lois Chell for her hard work keeping the books in order and arranging for the accounts to be audited by Alder Demain Akers free of charge.
Sjoerd Vogt – Chairman
Karen Vogt and Katie Foot – Co-managers
Sanctuary Faringdon
Work has continued helping and befriending the Ukrainians, including the monthly “Gathering” at Faringdon Baptist Church.
During 2024, asylum seekers came and went; it has been hard work keeping track of who is there, and exactly what help they need. Blessed Hugh have been very generous in offering lunches on many Sundays after Mass, as well as having meetings on a Monday afternoon arranged by Kathleen Thomas and Peter Starr. Faringdon Baptist Church hosted English language lessons for some weeks and later in the year we managed to arrange some at the Language Centre in Watchfield (happily in January 2025 these moved to the Friends’ Meeting House in Faringdon which is much more convenient). Help has been offered by various individuals in all sorts of ways, including assistance with medical, legal and school issues. We were also able to help a few move into their own accommodation once they had received their right to remain.
Sjoerd Vogt and Katie Foot
If anyone has managed to read thus far and would like to get more involved in any of the work we do across the town, please don’t hesitate to contact Tim Gerry (FBC) or me.
Katie Foot - Secretary, Churches Together in Faringdon
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ALL SAINTS' PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL
Financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024
Statement of financial activities (SOFA)
| General | Designated | Restricted | Endowment | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Notes | funds | funds | funds | funds | Total | |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | ||
| INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS | |||||||
| 156,770 | Voluntary Income | 2a | 144,573 | - | 21,301 | - | 165,874 |
| Activities for generating funds | - | - | - | - | |||
| 7,030 | Income from Investments | 2b | 2,830 | - | 7,070 | - | 9,900 |
| 11,337 | Church Activities | 2c | 12,587 | - | - | - | 12,587 |
| Other income | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 175,137 | TOTAL INCOME | 159,990 | 28,371 | 188,361 | |||
| EXPENDITURE | |||||||
| 72 | Raising Funds | 3a | - | - | - | - | |
| Church Activities | |||||||
| 13,034 | - Missionary and Charitable Giving | 3b | 14,812 | - | 50 | - | 14,862 |
| 63,451 | - Diocesan Parish Share (£67203, less refunds) | 65,691 | - | - | - | 65,691 | |
| 78,366 | - Other activities | 3c | 52,555 | 29,831 | 82,386 | ||
| 220 | Governance Costs | 3d | 220 | - | - | - | 220 |
| 155,144 | TOTAL EXPENDITURE | 133,278 | - | 29,881 | - | 163,159 | |
| 19,993 | NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) BEFORE INVESTMENT GAINS/(LOSSES) |
26,712 | (1,510) | 25,202 | |||
| 22,199 | (on revaluation) NET GAINS ON INVESTMENT ASSETS |
11 | 289 | 3,926 | 3,205 | 7,420 | |
| 42,193 | NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE) | 26,712 | 289 | 2,416 | 3,205 | 32,623 | |
| - | TRANSFERS BETWEEN FUNDS | - | - | - | - | - | |
| - | - Move £750 from General Fund to CL Designated | (750) | 750 | - | - | ||
| - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | |||||
| 42,193 | NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS | 25,962 | 1,039 | 2,416 | 3,205 | 32,623 | |
| 784,605 | Total funds brought forward 1 January | 535,726 | 12,898 | 138,145 | 140,029 | 826,798 | |
| 826,798 | Total funds carried forward 31 December | 561,688 | 13,937 | 140,561 | 143,234 | 859,421 |
13/03/2025
Page 1 of 4
Dave Wilson
ALL SAINTS' PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL
Financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024
Balance sheet
| General | Designated | Restricted | Endowment | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Notes | funds | funds | funds | funds | Total | |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | ||
| Fixed assets | |||||||
| 470,440 | Tangible fixed assets | 7 | 465,000 | - | - | - | 465,000 |
| 238,063 | Investment assets | 8 | - | 13,937 | 88,438 | 143,234 | 245,609 |
| 708,503 | Total fixed assets | 465,000 | 13,937 | 88,438 | 143,234 | 710,609 | |
| Current assets | |||||||
| 0 | Stock | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 0 | Debtors (tax recoverable) | 9 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 89,132 | Short term deposits | 85,561 | 52,123 | 137,684 | |||
| 29,163 | Cash in hand and at bank | 11,127 | - | - | 11,127 | ||
| 118,295 | Total current assets | 96,688 | - | 52,123 | - | 148,812 | |
| 0 | Liabilities(Creditors): amounts falling due within one year Interest Free Loans |
: amounts falling due within one year 0 - |
- | - | 0 | ||
| 0 | Barber Rooms costs | 10 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 |
| 118,295 | Net current assets | 96,688 | 0 | 52,123 | 0 | 148,812 | |
| Liabilities(Creditors): amounts falling due after one year | : amounts falling due after one year | ||||||
| 0 | Interest Free Loans | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | |
| 826,798 | 561,688 | 13,937 | 140,561 | 143,234 | 859,421 | ||
| Funds of the church | |||||||
| Unrestricted funds | |||||||
| 535,726 | General fund | 561,688 | - | - | - | 561,688 | |
| 12,898 | Designated fund | 12 | - | 13,937 | - | - | 13,937 |
| 548,624 | 561,688 | 13,937 | - | - | 575,626 | ||
| 138,145 | Restricted funds | 11 | - | - | 140,561 | - | 140,561 |
| 140,029 | Endowment fund | 11 | - | - | - | 143,234 | 143,234 |
| 826,798 | Total funds of the church | 561,688 | 13,937 | 140,561 | 143,234 | 859,421 | |
| - | - | - | - | - |
Approved by the Parochial Church Council on 1 April 2025 and signed on its behalf by:
Maria Jukes Vicar, All Saints Church
Dr David Wilson Treasurer, All Saints Church
13/03/2025
Page 2 of 4
Dave Wilson
ALL SAINTS' PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL
Financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024
Notes to the accounts
| 2023 | 2024 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total funds | 2 INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS | Unrestricted | Designated | Restricted | Endowment | Total funds | |||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | ||||
| 2a Voluntary Income | |||||||||
| Planned Giving: | |||||||||
| 68,451 | Tax - efficient planned giving (excl. tax) | 82,450 | - | - | - | 82,450 | |||
| 22,499 | Tax recovered/recoverable | 22,182 | - | 1,531 | - | 23,713 | |||
| 16,245 | Other planned giving (bankers order and payroll) | 23,585 | - | - | - | 23,585 | |||
| 7,661 | Collections of loose cash at services | 4,575 | - | - | - | 4,575 | |||
| Legacies | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| 22,775 | Children & Families Leader Cont'ns (ODBF & Individuals | - | - | 19,595 | - | 19,595 | |||
| Grants Received towards activities | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| Youth Work Related Donations | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| Mission Fund Donations | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| 687 | Little All Sorts Donations | 368 | - | - | - | 368 | |||
| 8,288 | Other donations (Gift Aided) | 1,593 | - | 125 | - | 1,718 | |||
| 10,164 | Other donations (Non Gift Aided) | 9,649 | - | 50 | - | 9,699 | |||
| Wall Safe/Cask etc. | 170 | - | - | - | 170 | ||||
| 156,770 | 144,573 | - | 21,301 | - | 165,874 | ||||
| Activities for generating funds | |||||||||
| Fetes, Bazaars, Other fund-raising events | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| - | |||||||||
| 2b Investment Income | |||||||||
| 2,482 | Deposit accounts (CBF, CAF, Virgin) | 2,283 | - | 2,962 | - | 5,244 | |||
| 4,548 | CBF Investment Account Dividends | 548 | - | 4,108 | - | 4,656 | |||
| 7,030 | 2,830 | 7,070 | 9,900 | ||||||
| 8,148 | 2c Incoming resources from charitable activities Fees - weddings, funerals etc |
8,871 | - | - | - | 8,871 | |||
| 3,189 | Room Hire | 3,716 | - | - | - | 3,716 | |||
| 11,337 | 12,587 | - | 12,587 | ||||||
| Other incoming resources(If required ) | - | - | - | - | |||||
| - | - | - | - | ||||||
| 3 EXPENDITURE | |||||||||
| 3a Raising Funds | |||||||||
| 72 | Stewardship Campaign. Gift Aid Envelopes etc. | - | - | - | - | ||||
| 3b Missionary and Charitable Giving (see note 6) | |||||||||
| 8,290 | Overseas Mission, Relief & Aid | 8,877 | - | - | - | 8,877 | |||
| 3,274 | Home Missions | 4,040 | - | - | - | 4,040 | |||
| 1,470 | Secular Charities | 1,895 | - | 50 | - | 1,945 | |||
| 13,034 | 14,812 | 50 | 14,862 | ||||||
| 3c Church Activities | |||||||||
| 620 | Ministry: Clergy Expenses | 1,183 | - | - | - | 1,183 | |||
| Curate Costs | - | - | - | ||||||
| 32,833 | Children & Families Leader | 10,684 | - | 21,095 | - | 31,779 | |||
| 890 | Other Staff & Expenses | 288 | - | - | - | 288 | |||
| 5,414 | Church Cleaning | 5,198 | - | - | - | 5,198 | |||
| 3,354 | Heat Light & Water | 3,187 | - | - | - | 3,187 | |||
| 590 | Telephone & Wi-Fi | 713 | - | - | - | 713 | |||
| 6,427 | Insurance | 6,231 | - | - | - | 6,231 | |||
| 500 | Repairs & Maintenance: Organ & Bells | - | - | 729 | - | 729 | |||
| 6,833 | Other (mainly Quinquennial work) | 690 | - | 8,008 | - | 8,697 | |||
| 607 | Church Development | - | - | - | - | - | |||
| 2,114 | Cost of church services | 1,944 | - | - | - | 1,944 | |||
| 1,675 | Upkeep of Churchyard | 1,807 | - | - | - | 1,807 | |||
| 1,499 | Training, Mission & Education | 1,455 | - | - | 1,455 | ||||
| 5,440 | Depreciation charge for year (Barber Rooms etc.) | 5,440 | - | - | - | 5,440 | |||
| Other expense items | - | - | - | - | - | ||||
| 9,568 | Admin, Printing, Stationery, Bank Charges | 13,734 | - | - | 13,734 | ||||
| 78,366 | 52,555 | - | 29,831 | - | 82,386 | ||||
| 3d Governance Costs | |||||||||
| 220 | Audit fees, legal advice, PCC meetings | 220 | - | - | - | 220 |
4 STAFF COSTS
| 46,117 | Wages & Salaries | 48,774 |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Average no. of employees | 3 |
During the year the PCC employed a Children and Families leader, an administrator and a cleaner. There were no P11D employee benefits paid to any staff in this, or previous, years
13/03/2025
Page 3 of 4
Dave Wilson
ALL SAINTS' PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL
Notes to the accounts
Financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024
5 Trustee remuneration and expenses - related parties
No members of the PCC received any remuneration for their work on the PCC. The clergy,who are ex officio members do receive a stipend but are not remunerated for their service on the PCC. No PCC members claimed expenses although they would be entitled to claim travel costs for attending meetings.
6 Grants made - grants were made to the following institutions:
| Christian Aid | 1080.00 | CMS | 3600.00 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wycliffe Bible Translators | 260.00 | Royal British Legion | 565.00 | ||||
| Sanctuary Hosting | 300.00 | Interserve | 1440.00 | ||||
| Scripture Union | 540.00 | The Bible Society | 540.00 | ||||
| The Children's Society | 1140.00 | Simeon's Trustees | 290.00 | ||||
| Tear Fund | 1080.00 | Torch Trust | 125.00 | ||||
| WATSAN | 1080.00 | Faringdon Food Bank | 50.00 | ||||
| Tearfund Appeal | 337.00 | A Rocha | 1080.00 | ||||
| Root & Branch | 540.00 | Anna Chaplaincy | 150.00 | ||||
| 2023 TOTAL | Pennyhooks Farm | 540.00 | Guide Dogs for the Blind | 125.00 | |||
| 13034.20 | TOTAL | 14862.00 | |||||
| No grants were made to individuals. 7 Tangible fixed assets (all unrestricted) |
|||||||
| Freehold | Fixtures | ||||||
| land & | fittings & | ||||||
| buildings | equipment | Other | Total | ||||
| Cost or valuation | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | ||
| At 1 January 2024 | 500,000 | 2,200 | - | 502,200 | |||
| Additions/Disposals | - | - | - | ||||
| Revaluations | - | - | - | - | |||
| Disposals | - | - | - | - | |||
| At 31 December 2024 | 500,000 | 2,200 | - | 502,200 | |||
| Depreciation | |||||||
| At 1 January 2024 | 30,000 | 1,760 | - | 31,760 | |||
| Charge for year | 5,000 | 440 | - | 5,440 | |||
| Disposals | - | - | - | - | |||
| At 31 December 2024 | 35,000 | 2,200 | - | 37,200 | |||
| Net book value | |||||||
| At 1 January 2024 | 470,000 | 440 | - | 470,440 | |||
| At 31 December 2024 | 465,000 | - | - | 465,000 | |||
| 8 Investment assets | |||||||
| Fixed asset investments | £ | ||||||
| Carrying (market) value on 1 January 2024 | 238,063 | ||||||
| Add additions at cost/value | - | ||||||
| Less disposals at carrying value | |||||||
| Net gain/(loss) on revaluation | 7,546 | ||||||
| Market Value - 31st December 2024 | 245,609 | ||||||
| 9 Debtors and prepayments(no amounts were due in more than one year) | (no amounts were due in more than one year) | Amounts falling due within | |||||
| one year | |||||||
| 2,024 | 2023 | ||||||
| £ | £ | £ | |||||
| Accrued income - tax refund due | - | 0 | |||||
| 10 Creditors and accruals(no amounts were due in more than one year) | Amounts falling due within | ||||||
| one year | |||||||
| 2,024 | 2023 | ||||||
| £ | £ | £ | |||||
| Accruals | - | 0 | |||||
| - | 0 | ||||||
| 11 Endowment and restricted funds | |||||||
| Fund | Incoming | Resources | Gains and | Fund | |||
| balances b/f | resources | expended | losses | balances c/f | |||
| Endowment funds | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Craven/Rawlings/John Wright (Inv A/C) | 21,678 | - | - | 496 | 22,175 | ||
| Haines/Spinage (Inv A/C) | 3,448 | - | - | 79 | 3,527 | ||
| Celia Walker Fund (Inv A/C) | 114,903 | - | - | 2,630 | 117,533 | ||
| 140,029 | - | - | 3,205 | 143,234 | |||
| Restricted funds | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Chamberlain (Organ Fund) (Invest) | 66,282 | 0 | 624.24 | 3,380 | 69,038.42 | ||
| Chamberlain (Organ Fund) (Deposit) | 579 | 650.15 | 611 | - | 617.85 | ||
| Celia Walker Fund (Deposit) | 27,079 | 4,859 | 13,800 | - | 18,138.20 | ||
| Celia Walker Fund (Invest) | 14,813 | 0 | 339 | 15,152.07 | |||
| Bell Ringers Fund (Deposit) | 4,282 | 381 | 118 | - | 4,545.11 | ||
| Fabric Fund (Quinquennial grants etc.) | 8,780 | 466 | - | 9,245.53 | |||
| Accrual for tax refund | 0 | - | - | 0.00 | |||
| Mission Fund (Deposit) | 17,526 | 930 | - | 18,456.34 | |||
| Boffin (Bells, clock, chimes) (Inv) | 4,041 | - | 206 | 4,247.12 | |||
| Boffin (Bells, clock, chimes) (Deposit) | 1,064 | 56 | - | - | 1,120.20 | ||
| 144,445 | 7,343 | 15,153 | 3,926 | 140,560.84 | |||
| 12 Designated Funds | |||||||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | ||
| Coach Lane Investment Fund | 12,898 | 750 | - | 289 | 13,937 |
13/03/2025
Page 4 of 4
Dave Wilson
Independent Examiner's Report to the Parochial Church Council of ALL SAINTS'
| have examined the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, Balance Sheet and related notes.
Respective responsibilities of the PCC (Charity trustees) and Independent Examiner
The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed.
It is my responsibility to:
-
examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act,
-
to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity
-
Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act, and
-
to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of Independent Examiner's Statement
My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair’ view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
Independent Examiner's Statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention 1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the requirements:
- to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act: and * to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act have not been met; or 2. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Gill Garrard 24 March 2025 5 oP a) : Independent Examiner (Ciomes 3 _ 3 Stanford Road << Faringdon Oxon SN7 7AQ