Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham ## **PCC CHURCH OF THE HOLY SPIRIT** ## **CLAPHAM** ## **APCM 15TH MAY 2022** **REPORTS AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021** Page | 1 Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham ## **ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL** The Parochial Church Council (PCC) presents their reports and financial statement for the year ended 31 December 2021. ## **AIM AND PURPOSES** The principal purpose of the PCC of the Church of the Holy Spirit Clapham is to cooperate with the incumbent, Revd Ruth Burge-Thomas, on matters of importance to the parish in promoting the mission of the Church, and to have joint responsibility, with the incumbent, in the running of the parish. The PCC is also responsible for the maintenance of the church fabric and its contents, and for the maintenance and running of the Contact Centre, our church hall. The PCC also considers and discusses matters concerning the Church of England, or other matters of religious or public interest. ## **OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES** The PCC is committed to enabling as many people as possible to worship at our church, and to become part of our parish community in Clapham. When planning our activities for the year, the incumbent and the PCC have considered the Commission’s guidance on public benefit, and in particular the specific guidance on charities for the advancement of religion. The PCC (as Trustees) have complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission. In particular, we try to enable ordinary people to live out their faith as part of our parish community through - worship and prayer; learning about the Gospel and delivering their knowledge and trust in Jesus; - provision of pastoral care for people living in the parish; - mission and outreach work. To facilitate this work, it is important that we maintain the fabric of the Church and the Contact Centre. Page | 2 Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham ## **ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE** ## **VICAR’S REPORT** “You can’t do everything, which sets you free to do something”. I know that this is not the first (or the last time) I’ve quoted Archbishop Oscar Romero, but it seems important now. This time last year I was desperate to be with you all again as we began opening up after lockdown and were full of hope. A year on, Covid-19 is still with us, and the effects of it are likely to be with us even longer. It feels like we are not quite back on an even keel but we are on the way. We have not done everything, but we have done some things, and those some things are definitely worth celebrating. Gradually more of us have moved back to worshipping in person in church, although having the excellent AV team and equipment (and new website) allows us to keep services accessible online and keep in touch whatever the circumstances. Marriages, baptisms and funerals are now held without restrictions. We have made the most of the big festival occasions, which help us to offer our faith to the wider community: Our All Hallows’ ’en party was one of the biggest yet, with the church packed with families sporting very creative costumes and engaging in great crafts and activities. Christingle was not quite as big as usual but not far off. Palm Sunday was naturally a big hit because, for the first time ever, we had a real live donkey, Flash. Flash was a major success and was fed an unseemly number of carrots, apples, gingernuts and custard creams (his favourites) by the occupants of Abbeville Road. Our summer show and high tea event was fantastic for punters and volunteers alike. Pancake making and hot cross bun making were in person and messy as ever. Pram service, school visits, junior choir and Silver Socials are all also back up and running well, and Caroline Russell-Clark and her team have consistently worked to keep Sunday school relevant and fun. We are, however, at a record low for numbers of children and young people in the church, but are planning for more youth events and looking for volunteers for film and pizza evenings once a month (speak to the vicar if you feel moved to join in). Singing returning to church has been an enormous blessing. The choir have been fabulous, and we now have two choral scholars (still looking for some tenors and basses though…), and two organ scholars who have shown great commitment and talent and allowed us to extend the range of music we offer. The concert we held was also incredible, and drew in many people from the community, as has the reestablishment of regular monthly choral evensong. Page | 3 Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham In terms of outreach work our Robes night shelter activities have been more limited this year as, once again, we could not host a night shelter due to covidrestrictions. You have continued to support our fundraising efforts to provide meal vouchers and care packages for our former guests who are still in local authority hotel accommodation. Queering Church (our LGBT+ outreach) has also been more limited, and its re-launch was made difficult by the Omicron variant wave, but we had a very jolly Drag Carols at the Two Brewers, with a quick drag nativity that was a big hit. More recently we have been astonished and grateful for the financial contributions made to support Ukrainian refugees, with some of our members stepping up to sponsor those arriving from Kyiv. In other news, this year Kathryn was recognised in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours for her services to government science! She has continued to support the community work we do alongside Paula and Gavin, our wardens, and Katie, our warden elect, together with Andrew our Treasurer and Rhian our PCC secretary. Their support, together with that of our Area Dean, Mother Caroline, the PCC, and all of you regular volunteers and supporters is appreciated so much more than I can express here. I thank God for them and for you all continually. We still don’t do everything (and maybe never will), but the somethings are glorious and valuable, and we have many more planned for the year ahead. I hope that you will join us in making them happen and building an even stronger, inclusive, loving and joyful community. Revd Ruth Burge-Thomas ## **WARDENS’ REPORT** We started the church year by opening up our church to worship in person as well as online in April 2021. We had our APCM by this hybrid method and started the year with the following PCC: |Gavin Williams|Katie Pollock (Warden|Liz Muldoon| |---|---|---| |(Warden)|in training)|Sharon Gordon| |Andrew Chevis|Kathryn Newell|Paul Donohue| |(Treasurer)|Margi Mahoney|Yaw Basoah| |Paula Wilson (Warden)|(Deanery Synod)|Rhian Granleese| |Fran Cavanagh||| |Andrew Bailey||| We are very grateful to all the members of the PCC 2021-22 who attended PCC meetings and helped us keep CHS up and running. It wasn’t an easy year, with some lockdown limitations and plenty of social distancing and PCR tests. Page | 4 Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham Here are some highlights of our year at CHS. ## **April** Sadly, we began the year with a service which was a response to the murder of Sarah Everard. She was abducted 800 metres away from our church. We held a **Violence Against Women Service of Prayer & Protest** , with guest speakers Bell Ribeiro-Addy Labour MP Streatham and Tabitha Morton, Deputy Leader, Women's Equality Party. ## **May** The church was used by our local **Foodbank** as a collection station for a Spring food drive. This drive was organised by local residents Alison Inglis-Jones and Lisa Walsh. This is a very popular event and vital as our local Foodbank at the Bonneville Centre on Poynders Rd has been closed whilst their church has building work done. ## **June** We held our amazing **Afternoon Tea** . It was a ray of sunshine after months of being limited in our social interactions. It was a very popular event, and even though we maintained bubbles and social distancing it gave a semblance of feeling ‘normal’ for the afternoon of delicacies and music. ## **October** On the 31[st] we hosted our **Heavenly Hallows E’en event** – for all those mini-ghouls and skeletons out and about in the local area. This has become an increasingly popular event – especially for those under 7 years old. We had activities, games and treats for all. ## **November** The last Saturday of November is the official start of Christmas activities at CHS – we always hold our **Christmas Fair** on this day. It was an afternoon of stalls from local makers, raffle, games and a lovely showcase for our talented musicians & choir. It is also an opportunity for us to fundraise for our own church. That day we raised £2575. Page | 5 Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham ## **December** As you can imagine it’s hectic during December. Many of you may not be aware but we hosted a **Children’s Christmas Workshop** : stations were set up around the church to teach our young visitors about various aspects of the nativity story. These included a long journey by the kings, a frightened young girl being told of her special role, the promises we make at Christmas. There was also the promise of mulled wine for the accompanying adults. ## **February** Again, we acted as a **Foodbank** collection point. A much-needed event – sadly. We were the venue for the service dedicated to **Racial Justice Sunday** for the Churches Together in Clapham. Our neighbouring churches gathered with us to attend a service where we heard local MP Florence Eshalomi speak. The next day we were made famous as Florence mentioned CHS in parliament! ## **March** This March we found ourselves particularly stretched in the lead up to our Easter preparations. On Mothering Sunday we had a **cake sale** , with the proceeds going to our fundraising efforts for Ukrainian refugees. One of Mother Ruth’s dreams came true… we hired a donkey for Palm Sunday. The winsome Flash the Donkey joined us for processing from the vicarage and made many friends on the way to the church. On the 24 March Church of the Holy Spirit held a **Passiontide Concert** . The original premise had been to support our Lent charities, which focussed on Home, and homelessness. But circumstances took an unprecedented turn with the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Page | 6 Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham The money raised for the concert was given to Robes, our local homeless charity, and the Bishop’s Lent Call charity – but this amount was match-funded by some very kind parishioners and the second amount went to our Ukraine fundraising appeal. The concert was an uplifting experience. We heard performances from all our CHS musicians and singers, whilst enjoying wine and nibbles in our beautiful church setting. ## **April** As to be expected – our business is Easter! On Good : Friday we opened our doors for **Family Workshops** hot cross bun making, colouring flower decorations, helping to create the Easter Garden. This was followed by the Stations of the Cross and the Good Friday liturgy. We, the wardens, would like to thank all those who made all these wonderful events happen. We also need to thank all those who keep the church on an even keel with their untiring service to CHS, daily and weekly, not just for special events. We would like to thank our staff: **Rosslyn, Gill, Paul and Basia** – who are working hard during the weekdays, and who many of you have never met but they are vital to our upkeep. Finally, of course thanks to our beloved Mother Ruth. Gavin Williams and Paula Wilson Page | 7 Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham ## **FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** ## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, CLAPHAM** Page | 8 Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham ## **Treasurer’s report for the financial year ended 31 December 2021** ## **Coming out of lockdown** The pandemic continued into 2021 with reduced in-person worship and reduced levels of activity for much of the year both in church and the Contact Centre. Online giving largely compensated for the drop in physical giving. 2021 General Fund income at 120,000 was 5,000 less than in 2020. Costs at 147,000 were 20,000 higher than in 2020 due to increases in the cost of staff, insurance, maintenance and IT. The Contact Centre re-opened in 2021 with income increasing to 57,000 up 13,000 from 2020. Costs fell to 28,000 down 8,000 from 2020. So the church was able to contribute 81,000 to the Diocese in addition to supporting the cost of the vicar’s MA. Some activities resumed in 2021, notably a Summer Fair and Christmas Fair which raised income for the church thanks to the time and effort put in by dozens of volunteers. Thank you to them and to those who helped raise additional funds through the year. Once again there was no Abbeville Fete but funds remain in that account pending a future event perhaps in 2023. Overall the balance sheet rose 1% to 204,000. We intend to spend most of our available funds in 2022 as we finally carry out Quinquennial Inspection repairs & maintenance and deliver much-needed new showers & toilets in the Contact Centre to replace loos that are half a century old. ## **Basis of accounting** The accounts for all funds are prepared so as to recognise income and expenditure when they fall due rather than when they are actually paid, and assets purchased for use over several years are shown in the balance sheet, and their cost written off over their lives. As a non-accountant I rely heavily on several members of the finance team: Lottie Lago for making sure the Church’s books add up; Gill Fisher who has mastered Contact Centre book-keeping; Stevie Wren who helps me process payments and administration of Church Plate giving; and Nick Jenni who manages our contactless and online giving. I am indebted to Michael Woolley, who has once again given his time freely to carry out the Independent Examination of these accounts. Thank you Michael! I’ve been Treasurer since 2015 and it’s time for someone new to take over. Would you consider taking on the role of Treasurer in 2023? If so, I’ll be happy to give you a long induction and will be on-hand to help throughout 2023, - 2024 and beyond. If interested please email me to arrange a chat about the role at treasurer@holyspirit clapham.org.uk ## **Andrew Chevis, Hon. Treasurer** Church of the Holy Spirit Narbonne Avenue, London SW4 9JU - www.holyspirit clapham.org.uk Charity number: 1134600 Bank details: Church of the Holy Spirit Clapham Sort Code: 40-01-07 Account number 2110624 Page | 9 Church of the Holy Spiri¢ Clapham Church of the Holy Spirit. Clapham statement of Financial ktivities Forthe perlod from Q1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021 fur(18 fL￿1& tcA81fvTh Inoyning resOu￿Bfr￿ ￿￿or5 10&059.61 0.00 108.419.61 1￿,262fi3 2.40 245nO 878.13 52651 42,781J3 1,22425 I68￿0.1s aK4fje5tofijrh8rtre￿oftt* (txrch 9.11650 &919.61 .79 51D8124 2.027.45 9.116. 5.91961 (knÉrirthmiw r*wrcJ)& In[￿madlYÈdYrÉi￿nYtswc18hp Tctal IK(me 52.06124 2.027 45 17721820 360fj0 1775FB2 CAists ofgweralrvJfints (¥ats 310S5 a694S4 8&773.05 23,240 78 55,136 72 8,35954 175,515S8 31095 2.694 94 .773 23.4&978 46251 3.￿5￿0 87.￿2￿1 18,17721 48,49723 6,￿9.14 165,114JlO 219.00 Chwthbilldlw.￿r*￿￿M8n1S￿ ￿MinIsr1￿c*) ¢5r&lyr6l*lrytow)rshlp T¢Jtalewr¢JttLYe 8.3&9Y 219JlO 171734S 1.70222 141ffj0 1.84322 4256.15 bètr*en￿￿S-In bètr*8n￿￿S-c 19.7￿14 I19,7￿24} 19.79524 119,795241 ,￿7.14 130,307.141 CRPorreco¥r*ed plrffjl IrEAcEses irNesthMta5seL8 NetrrA%2W*rt InfLnds 1,70222 141JlO 1W22 4256.15 T<4alfurthtwhtfrn¥ard 201297A1 202597A1 198￿4126 Tcblfurth GaIr￿dfoTh￿rd 201999.63 141nO 204140.63 202297A1 P￿Serted UnrestriL*gd 65,17845 .178.45 112,393n4 J@iill@F C£rterory ars Fu 3,587.97 1587.97 3,￿7ts7 45.￿51 S4.82024 16,479.70 64,&024 FthncFur 64.82024 Fu FLnd Re￿￿eBS Uknane Resknrati(￿ Flnd ssgtsm Fur 5,016.46 5.016.46 5,016.46 Restrctsl Re￿88S￿￿[x)rn8￿n￿ T(tslfur 141.00 141.( 1111999 141Jl0 20414DAI 202297A1 P2ge | 10 Church of the Holy Spiric Clapham Church ofthe Holy SpiriL Clapham Balance Shaet {Summaryl Éat 3111212021 3111212020 Fixod assots Tan9￿8￿6s4ts s7,￿7.70 eo,321.26 57,607.70 60,321.26 Current asset8 1,971.50 152,241.31 7,99378 143.778.16 C8sh A ￿k1¥MI In f $4.212.81 151,774.94 abiliti•s C¥editus'. Falir¥J In CkneY8¥ 1,679.88 3,798.79 1.679.88 3,798.79 Net currènt assets less currant Ilabilitias 1S2.$32.93 147,976.1S Total assats loss current liabilities 210,140.63 20B,297.41 abiliti88 CredittYs.'kn(xmtsf311ingdueaft8rTll(YettEn(n&p 6,(M)O.00 6.0(h).00 6.000.00 6,000.00 Total not assot5 1855 liabilities 204.140.63 202,297.41 Ropr•$èntsd by Unrostricto llnr&1n(￿-r￿￿r￿1 &nds 85,178.45 112.393.04 Dèsignatèd Desiwata1-k*bafjll8 Fet8 3,587.97 45,396.S1 64,820.24 5,016.46 3,587.97 16.479.70 64,8a).24 5.016.46 Desiwata1- F8bricFLThJ Rostri¢tod Re5tr(l￿.Re￿￿eS Wd(we 141.00 Fund Totals 204.140.63 202,297.41 Page | I I Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham ## **Notes to the Balance Sheet** ## **1. Fixed Assets** ## **2. Debtors** Debtors include HMRC/PAYE (£2430.24), Ace of Clubs & War Child (£1679.88), Salaries (£485); and insurance (£1560.00). Page | 12 Church of the Holy Spiric Clapham Rece¥ts•vJpawprts ￿￿￿ed￿[h)j..0l knryTrlto31 D8￿rt￿lie1 OIJArthry￿I 31 t*2￿￿r2￿1 0lJarw))20 31t*e*thrJ24 To REFUGEES. RefvgeBsb*kon* LambBth (Rest￿te￿lFUnd Incomlng ftsources IrtDrAr¥J ttSOu￿e9lT0M￿rnQryJ ftAd.& 000 360 Totsi In¢thrin4 rn•our¢è* P2sourGps vsed Grania Payn*n* ￿ lurlher th￿￿rk0[lhech￿Ch pwrt wst5 Total Ro￿￿r¢9￿ u59d Z19. Totalcarikdd fon¥ard ￿3￿¢0 141. r*neral-C8n8ra1fvTrdlUnr￿rtOdi FUTr Inccthlng resources IntDmifwJ ttsou￿9lT0M￿rnQryJ ftAd. 7948025 F4,TSl I,wz 17,8% f 13STrF.57 Lctterla*ccJlecl(rs TaYr8co*ratriethGIAd 15.￿179 1W981 2435321 *ivoluThtsty wmiThg resour¢es 67AQ 45240 rlrt*siolurt￿1i￿ strnasfjury IS159) 95& 198150 Alliwrtksts gR￿latI￿f￿ThJs 2,724fj6 F8iT 227573 T￿&c 46.41 2,1N.g) 873.13 fvom 1rnvesi￿nt9 direct￿ rekliry lo ￿rS￿1P F&s￿pCc 2.Q2745 1.204 To￿1 Tr$oyr¢¢g 12Q S21.96 12512236 Page | 13 Church of the Holy Spiric Clapham *Of￿r￿alir* tu￿3 282ZO hisknag Fsirws 310. ofaLts lther15￿Éty 2Sm 1,439.94 fithwnÉns 2694.94 3.2fS(h) PaynEnts ￿ lurtherihe ¥*)rkdthethurch 81,￿0.03 an1ry3￿MISsK 121S46 l.M10 Frntro&Skl Z26270 1W35 116S2 4WOO 81,Vth.97 T(IA 8&71& Suppon 1224B. I.￿494 100 1&34316 T￿&r￿1Cc 10.6968 C*urth buibjirwj. IrÉKerh8roès 12lQm i(r31.21 &199.43 52273 &2Q2 9.￿511 478 1484.2 741 $¢41* Cwal 4.171 7.72491 Tdefvtsandbr￿dtr￿d 01926 J7.IV91 1853B end￿ll￿d11￿1tyfeL4l1rS lo *rfrship 245 12 7.3B&52 545 180 &￿954 147736.55 7214SI 11Z.Th&L4 EwG95 T￿E￿r¥￿trYeLlT£dyr￿a1rykn￿¥thp s￿14 Totsi Rèsourt•i u&•d 127 W2.24 845￿ Total Earrvkd for*3rd balancg 85,176A5 112,393.04 Abbe￿1￿.1￿1￿￿lbFets Itlesi￿*￿FUnd P￿￿ure&S ulod 7.39 Total Rq50ur¢•s u58d 537.39 1537x1 15BF97 3,587.97 Total cgrr*dfor¥¥ard balan¢8 3,587.9T Page | 14 Church of the Holy Spiric Clapham C0ntsct.Con￿CerrtTr([￿5laTr3ted1 Fund In¢on¥no lo￿￿1¢09 iNlie$io MNheriheKo(kofll* cthur¢h &135 &13$ 1*1￿MieS1or)en￿rsIirQ lurés I1.￿￿) conElrofflMvestrrEnts Ert&LulLfwS￿lts Tr& 739 Inmmg reS￿r*S 21%125 B1999 124 XJ48m 33 Total Incomlng r•sour¢95 P4$•uf¢As ulèd P8ynEnts ￿l￿￿er11t￿￿k0tthe(￿vrth FXMry&Skl￿#Y 56 696.24 143.72 J43.14 1￿70 T(121 &yportcn45 Sdaryrfaknis¥at( 9.&97 5.5M 47 saanes(ew&*Tinisiaty 1851.16 7.51 9.897A¥ urch bu1￿1￿g. ￿￿￿en￿nIar￿ ￿$￿1￿5 2.6&1.16 76 c￿tr￿C3r1J?.kn5W I.4￿ 10,4ffj 10.M 108 8.02811 45263 4.518 its.man&rÉn(*&•.CC RY1Ts&kthntsrE￿(cGFM.Lf 2824940 Total Rètour¢e$ used 3626167 7878P .￿71 .69186 15,479.TD 16.4797Q T4talc3rrf•d torward balancp 15,395.51 ¢Jyn.¢knIFuTrJ iDe5iwatedlFund &01646 5P16.46 5,01646 5,016 Ttstsi ¢arrièd lor*ard balancè Fab￿.Fat*￿FUndID1SKJnat•dj Fund CO￿1￿￿17¥e5th* &t￿l￿rOS0￿1T￿&t 1L4fj7 1N07 10407 Tothi In¢wino r*$ourees Pjsourcos u5•d urch bU1￿1ng. ms￿rn5 1,3Lg I.JD) 1309.50 11.205431 Totsl RAsoure•s u$•d 64.82024 GI￿2￿.24 T4talurriod torward balanc 64,820.Z4 Page | 15 Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham ## **DIOCESAN SYNOD** To follow. ## **DEANERY SYNOD** The Deanery Synod consists of a group of 16 parishes (21 churches) in Lambeth North. Geographically, our church is the furthest south and St John’s Waterloo is the furthest north. Representatives (both clergy and lay members) from those parishes meet about 3 times a year, with the purpose of working together in the community and sharing information and experience. In 2021, 2 of these meetings were by zoom, and 1 was face to face. ## February 2021 We discussed the lockdown then in progress and regretted that singing in churches was not allowed. The planned 8-mile Passion Trail around the Deanery was discussed, with 14 churches and schools taking part, including Holy Spirit. It duly took place on 20 March 2021 and the collaborative effort was felt to have been a great success. ## July 2021 Social at St John the Divine, with food and drink and a chance to exchange ideas with our fellow Deanery reps from other churches. ## October 2021 The main topic was climate change and environmental issues. This was topical as COP26 was about to take place in Glasgow. Several churches said what activities they were involved in to combat climate change, and St Paul’s Rectory Grove explained how they had become an Eco-church and encouraged other churches to do the same. Some simple things like recycling church candles and using a food bin were mentioned. Margi Mahoney Page | 16 Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham ## **ELECTORAL ROLL** In 2021-22 there were 146 names on the electoral roll. The Church Representation Rules state that: - 1) There shall be a church electoral roll (in these rules referred to as 'the roll') in every parish, on which the names of lay persons shall be entered as hereinafter provided. The roll shall be available for inspection by bona fide inquirers. - 2) A lay person shall be entitled to have his name entered on the roll of a parish if he is baptised, of sixteen years or upwards, has signed an application form for enrolment set out in Appendix I of these rules and declares himself either - - a. to be a member of the Church of England or of a Church in communion therewith resident in the parish; or - b. to be such a member and, not being resident in the parish, to have habitually attended public worship in the parish during a period of six months prior to enrolment; or - c. to be a member in good standing of a church which subscribes to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity (not being a Church in communion with the Church of England) and also prepared to declare himself to be a member of the Church of England having habitually attended public worship in the parish during a period of six months prior to enrolment. Being on the Electoral Roll entitles you to stand for election to the PCC and to assist with the overall running of our church. It also means that you are formally showing that you are a committed member of our church. The roll is closed for new names for the two weeks leading up to the APCM, but if you would like to add your name after the APCM, forms will be available. ## **CONTACT CENTRE** _This report covers the period from the 1[st] January to the 31[st] December 2021. Any changes to fees or developments taking place from 1[st] January 2022 are not included_ _**.**_ Overall, the Contact Centre has had a successful year and continues to be busy both during term and holiday time. The start of 2021 was challenging, as lockdown meant the majority of groups were unable to meet. However, the Montessori Clapham Park branch and their Infant Community continued to operate. Page | 17 Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham When the government’s Roadmap out of Lockdown commenced on the 8[th] March, some of the groups were able to return as they qualified as wraparound childcare. The majority of the groups were then able to return from the 12[th] April, such as parent and toddler groups and under-18 indoor activity groups. The full quota of groups then returned from the 17[th] May. All users who returned to the centre were asked to complete a risk assessment with specific Covid regulations. Contact Centre usage continued to increase from the 21[st] June when private bookings were permitted, with our first booking taking place on the 17[th] July. ## Groups ## 2021 The centre was not able to host people from the Robes homeless shelter over 2021, however the church has been raising funds for the charity and continues to support their referral organisation Ace of Clubs. The Contact Centre advises users wishing to make a donation to do so to Ace of Clubs. ## Montessori Community The Infant Community meet in the centre’s main hall on a Monday, Tuesday and Thursday morning. The Clapham Park Community meet upstairs every weekday and have an ongoing lease. Their proprietors are Ros Bowles and Lucía Gómez. The Clapham Park community pays £25,000 per year. The infant community pays £60 per session while the parent and babies group pay £37.50 per session. From September 2021, the community introduced a new ‘Montessori for parent and baby’ group which runs in the stage room on Tuesday mornings. This is run by Early Years teacher and speech therapist Mercedes López Palao and has been highly successful. Our other groups are as follows: _Children’s Groups_ : ABC German, Spring School of Ballet, Clapham Martial Arts, Hartbeeps, Babyfare, Monkey Music, Sensory Land, La Ola Spanish, Clip Theatre, Brownies and Guides. _Adult Groups:_ Vera the Diva ballroom dancing, Hapkido for adults, Ki-Aikido, AA, NA and the monthly Labour ward meeting. _New Groups:_ From July 2021, holiday camp 7 Seals has been using the contact centre main hall during school holidays. It is run by primary school teacher Demii Patterson. Their daily rate is £100. This is a significant means of income for the centre over otherwise sparse periods. _Discontinued Groups:_ Sadly, the following groups left the Contact Centre throughout the year as they were unable to pay the fees. Hartbeeps, Babyfare and La Ola Spanish. Page | 18 Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham ## Contact Centre availability We currently have a few slots available in the stage room during the week. Otherwise, the main hall is at full capacity during the week. Since the summer, the main hall has been used for private hire almost every weekend. ## Staff _Paul Gregson_ continues to do an excellent job of cleaning the centre for ten hours a week. He is very willing to provide cover for the church cleaner Basia when required. He is also extremely helpful with additional DIY tasks such as installing locks and putting up hooks. His weekly hours have changed from 2 hours every weekday, to 2 hours on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. He has also been informed that he needs to take his annual allocation of holiday throughout the year rather than being paid for the additional time. _Gill Fisher_ has been in the role of contact centre manager since October 2020. She is in charge of all bookings, user enquiries, payroll and maintenance. Gill also supports the church’s digital team by posting additional events and content to CHS’ social media and occasionally adding to the website. At the start of the year, as the centre was less busy than usual due to groups not being able to meet, Gill covered the church cleaning as Basia was shielding. Gill used this less busy period to organise a clear out of the church cellar and was massively supported by the church community in filling a skip on Saturday 10[th] April. Gill attends a weekly meeting with Vicar Ruth Burge-Thomas and church administrator Rosslyn Okumu to discuss upcoming events and tasks. Gill also provides basic cover for Rosslyn during leave periods in the same way that Rosslyn provides cover for Gill. _Steven Rhind_ provides support as a handyman as and when required. He also cleans the church gutters on a six-monthly basis. For this he is paid out of the petty cash. ## Bookings and rates With the exception of the Montessori community and 7 Seals, all professional groups pay a standard fee of £22p/h for the hall and £20p/h for the stage room. Charity groups such as NA pay £15 per session. Brownies and Guides pay £6 per session. Page | 19 Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham The rates for single hire of the space as a venue remain at £45.00p/h. Local people are also able to rehearse various art projects if we have space when no one else needs it. ## Maintenance Throughout 2021 there were various issues with the contact centre, in particular problems with the boiler, ventilation and tripped electrical circuits. These have been dealt with by our main service providers, who are Eco-heat plumbing and Dravo for the boiler issues and PJ Electrics for the electricity. Rob Bowles, former church warden and lead on the church organ restoration has also been a constant source of support in dealing with issues such as stuck doors and damaged tiles. In an attempt to reduce costs, the centre has enlisted the help of some additional service providers, with the sanitary bin contract changing from PHS to 365 Direct and future boiler services being offered to local plumber, John Smythe. This last change was taken on the recommendation of the Dravo technician who explained that their fees are high as they are based in the Midlands and a more local provider would be more suitable for our budget. ## Burglary There was a break-in at the centre and church, which was discovered by the Babyfare group on Thursday 12[th] August. This was reported to the local police who sent a forensic offer to take samples. There has been no update on this from the police. The church and centre responded by fitting hasp locks on cupboards in the old vestry, adding a new hidden keysafe for the organ loft in the old vestry cupboard and installing a new digital lock on the centre’s entry door. A full report and images is available on request / can be found at the following link https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_s_pDVd6hqV7rno03-EFt3BE2UHktAzS. ## AOB In case anyone would like to know more about how the Contact Centre is run there is a manual available. There is a hard copy in the Contact Centre, or you can ask Gill Fisher, or the Church Wardens for a copy. ## Gill Fisher Page | 20 Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham ## **SUNDAY SCHOOL** Following on from a year in 2020 of sharp and dramatic but at least clear change we have struggled this year with whether or not we go back to ‘normal’ today or tomorrow or next week - or back to zoom. Covid has resurged rather frequently and hit us more randomly and unexpectedly. However, we have ploughed on whatever circumstances presented to us and the sturdy little band of our Sunday school of around 5/6 have attended regularly and enthusiastically - supported wonderfully by their caring and dedicated parents. We have had fun and have learnt to pray together, to sing together, to listen together and to work together. We now follow a similar format each week. We have a theme and a learning objective (sorry that is a bit school like but schools do teaching mostly rather well). We sing a traditional hymn along to a YouTube recording and try to end with a popular children’s song. We share our reading of the week’s story based on the gospel for the day and then swing into action - a game or a drawing or an acting out or a craft. We close by saying prayers in a circle and conclude with the Lord’s Prayer and the children’s song. Our big challenge is to match our own timetable with the main church’s! Hence our sometimes patchy timing to join in the Eucharist. Forgive us please. We love being blessed at the end of the Communion and apologise that we don’t always feed back to you - as that takes the focus away from our work on understanding the Bible into your presentation work. We are keeping scrap books of each week’s stories, prayers and work and we will be delighted to share those with you every so often. Thank you all for being so interested in what we do either out in the yard at the side of church or in the stage room. Our children are special and we have a duty, and a joy, to pass on to them our best understanding of God’s role in our lives - informed by what might become pressing for them - and how pressing matters in our own lives have formed our responses to the Lord - as well as what we learnt/inherited from our own adults. Caroline Russell Clark together with Rhian Granleese, Fiona Morris (whose faithful and regular support has been of the very best), Amanda Chen and Matthew North - all of whom give dedicated and loving work. Ever onwards in the Lord’s name. Caroline Russell Clark Page | 21 Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham ## **MUSIC** The 2021/2022 musical year at CHS has finally started to feel slightly more ‘normal’ after a period of disruption in 2019 and 2020. The year started with a ‘changing of the guard’, as Shawn Li, our organ scholar, left to take up his organ scholarship at Peterhouse, Cambridge, and we were delighted to welcome Vivian Lui and Stephan Dyakonov as new organ scholars to CHS. On top of this, CHS formally launched its choral scholarship program, and are now delighted to have welcomed Stevie Wren, Emma Grainger and Mark Thornton as choral scholars. We are still on the lookout for a tenor and alto choral scholar. We were also delighted to have Stevie Wren officially take on her role as Music Administrator - supporting Andrei in running a (now) much better organised and run choir! The Christmas period in 2021 had a magnificent start with some beautiful music leading up the Carol Service, such as Rutter’s ‘I wonder as I wander’ and the ‘Sussex Carol’. The choir and members of the congregation also enjoyed a spectacular session of Carolling in the Village this year. However, due to a spike in COVID-19 cases leading up to the carol service, we unfortunately had to turn our traditional carol service with full choir and trumpet into a congregation-led carol service, which was still a lovely evening. Leading up to Easter 2022, the choir started singing Choral Evensongs again, introducing some new repertoire such as Howells’ ‘Gloucester Service’. On Thursday 24th March, CHS hosted a Passiontide concert - an evening of music and poetry on a theme of Passiontide, in aid of Robes and the Ukraine appeal. We heard a delightful variety of musical excellence from all parts of the musical community, including, but not limited to, choral anthems, chamber music, instrumental solos, vocal solos and small vocal ensembles. Leading into Holy Week, a small group of singers (Stevie Wren, Emma Grainger, Sarah Mistry, Mark Thornton and Andrei Lebed), performed the iconic Tallis Lamentation during the washing of feet on Maundy Thursday, which perfectly set the tone during this period of Holy Week. As Easter Sunday arrived, the choir roused the congregation with ‘This Joyful Eastertide’ as an uplifting introit at the start of the service, and concluded with Wesley’s memorable anthem ‘Blessed be the God and Father’ during communion. Andrei Lebed Page | 22 Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham ## **CHURCHES TOGETHER IN CLAPHAM** CTIC (Churches Together in Clapham) is the body which represents the different church denominations in Clapham (Anglican, Roman Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal and Orthodox), now comprising 11 congregations. All clergy and laity are entitled to participate, though we are limited to 3 voting lay representatives (in 2021 these were Anna Long and Alan Mundy). CTiC’s Standing Committee members are also the trustees who act as governance for the organisation. ## Officers and forum meetings At the 2021 AGM, Liz Marin-Curtoud (Clapham Methodist Church) was re-elected Chair of CTiC and Mark Potter (Holy Trinity Church was re-elected Secretary; Anna Long (St Mary’s) remainsTreasurer. The CTIC Forum, the principal body, met in May (the AGM, via Zoom), July (St Paul’s, focussing on Eco-church) and October 2021(CHS, focussing on refugees), as well as in January 2022 (Clapham Methodists, focussing on the work of the Hub - see below). We maintained links with Churches Together in South London and Faiths Together in Lambeth. ## Community engagement/projects Despite another year of Covid, CTiC has continued to support Lifeline (providing a Christmas party for the elderly housebound of the area), the Ace of Clubs and the Hub, providing a refuge (in the Methodist Church) for young revellers from the bars and clubs of Clapham High Street. Individual churches have continued to support Robes as they changed their focus of provision (see Ian Cherrie’s report to this APCM). CTiC has also written to local MPs to express its concern about the cuts in the Government’s overseas aid budget. ## Ecumenical services and events St Peter’s Church hosted the service in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in January 2022. Unfortunately, CTiC did not take part in the (renamed) World Day of Prayer service this year. Holy Spirit hosted the service in February 2022 to mark Racial Justice Sunday and St Paul’s once again hosted the ecumenical Advent carol service. During Advent 2021 and Lent 2022 there have been short weekly evening prayer sessions online, led by members of the congregations from the different churches (including Iain Pearce from CHS). ## Web presence Rev Kit Gunasekera of St James Church, continues to run the CTiC website: www.cticlapham.org. Page | 23 Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham ## **Future issues** Holy Spirit urgently needs more representatives to attend quarterly CTiC meetings and to be active within CTiC so that we can maintain our current level of ecumenical engagement. Perhaps you can offer yourself for this job at the APCM? Alan Mundy ## **SILVER SOCIALS** Silver Socials is a coffee morning for older members of the local community. We also incorporate a range of fun activities such as quizzes, crafts and bingo. A manicurist/pedicurist visits once a month giving treatments for just £15 a go. This is funded by the church but otherwise these mornings are largely funded by the volunteers themselves. We meet every Tuesday morning from 10.30 to 12, no school holiday breaks! If you are ever about in Abbeville Road on a Tuesday morning, do pop in for a cup of tea or coffee, visitors are always welcome, whatever your age. Volunteers and ‘clientele’ are a mix of both church goers and non-church goers and include some residents of Charleston House at the top of Narbonne Avenue. Volunteers work on a rota and make coffee, bake cakes, give lifts, push wheelchairs and organise activities. During the pandemic volunteers and members kept in touch by phone. However, we were delighted and relieved to get back together again after lockdown when friends were reunited in person and ready to put the world to rights again! To find out more, please have a word with me. We always need volunteers and it would be great if anyone could offer to do a simple activity one morning or to share a story or experience. Judith Vickery ## **ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS** CHS’s online communications comprise the church website (www.holyspiritclapham.org.uk), social media – on Twitter @holyspiritsw4 and Facebook - www.facebook.com/CHSClapham, the newsletter and the broadcasting of services on Zoom, YouTube and Facebook. The church website was moved during 2021, thanks to Gavin Williams’ efforts, to a new service called Squarespace, and offers a much more pleasing look and appearance – take a look for yourself www.holyspirit-clapham.org.uk! It is Page | 24 Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham maintained weekly with details of services and much more besides by a team which includes Rosslyn, Gavin and Gill. The church also has a presence on Facebook (CHSClapham) and Twitter (@holyspiritsw4) with postings made by a number of people including the boss, Gill Fisher (the contact centre manager), Gavin Williams and others. The newsletter moved from being monthly to weekly in 2020 during the pandemic, and has stayed there, with a mailing list of 300 people, but only 130 or so open it every week. There is now a team, with Joe Sternberg having recently joined Alan Mundy and Nick Jenni in producing it. The church now shares its main services online, with Gavin Williams managing a rota which includes Rachel Edge, Andrew Chevis, Elizabeth Xie, Richard Long, Rhian Granleese and Nick Jenni. There is always online attendance, both on Zoom and on YouTube (available on the church website) and on Facebook. Much work by Mtr Ruth and Rosslyn goes into making available the orders of service, and linking to them both on the website and in the newsletter. For weddings and other life events, people appreciate having the ability not only to have a recording to keep of their event, but also to share it with others who are not able to attend. Page | 25 Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham All of the people who support all this work online give life to the church. Thank you! Nick Jenni ## **JUST CHURCH / LGBT+ INCLUSION** To follow. ## **ROBES PROJECT** For those not familiar with Robes, it has operated with the support of over 30 Church venues and over 1,000 volunteers since 2007 across Southwark and Lambeth to provide shelter for people who find themselves homeless in London. Robes also supports people with vital welfare advice enabling them to access services and accommodation. Once again, with the impact of Covid, Robes have not been able to run the “rotating” winter night shelter which normally includes CHS providing accommodation and meals for Guests on Saturday night / Sunday morning. Instead, Robes have provided accommodation for 29 guests through the winter months in a static shelter at Davies Court in Canary Wharf. Thanks to generous donations including from CHS, Robes were able to provide vouchers for guests to buy food, CHS were also able to deliver “care packages” to guests through the Winter months. In total this year CHS donated over £2,000 to Robes. In addition to providing accommodation, Robes has also now restarted the Wednesday Lunch time club near the Elephant and Castle. The club provides a safe place for Robes guests to meet, eat and find advice. Looking ahead, we will need to see if the rotating night shelter starts up again in November and that will determine the level of support we need to provide and any opportunities for volunteering. In the meantime, many thanks to those who have contributed to Robes over the year. Ian Cherrie Page | 26 Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham ## **LAMBETH WELCOMES REFUGEES** Lambeth welcomed two families from Afghanistan in August and September 2021, who have been housed in Streatham and Brixton. Members of the LWR group helped to partially furnish and tidy the flats in record time - two weeks' notice in one case! - and have made friends with the families. The fathers in both families both have excellent English, having worked with the UK government previously, and both families are very resourceful and trying to make the best of the situation they find themselves in. Their children are also doing well in their respective primary schools. However, as with many refugees, living on Universal Credit is a challenge and the effects of the traumatic exit from their homeland is something that will stay with them. Lambeth Council have voluntarily committed to take three more families but finding suitable accommodation has been a big challenge (please let us know if you own property you would rent out or know any friendly landlords!) so these have not yet arrived. Some of our earlier settled families also need to move to larger places due to growing families, older children or poor conditions so please do share info of good quality 2-bed, 3-bed and 4-bed housing in the borough if you have it. Please pray for the many Afghan families feeling frustrated and powerless still stuck in temporary accommodation across the country (just like many asylum seekers from everywhere). Members of CHS have connections with some of the refugee families and have offered help in setting up their new homes, offering furniture etc. Rachel continues to do admin for the group in her spare time, working closely with Barbara Wilson, a member of Corpus Christi RC Church on Brixton Hill, who devotes a lot of her time to keeping in touch with the families and running the whole LWR group alongside involvement in Lambeth Citizens. If you would like to find out more or sign up to receive emails about the group, please email lambethrefugeewelcome@gmail.com. Rachel Edge ## **STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT** The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. At Holy Spirit, Clapham, the membership of the PCC consists of the incumbent (our vicar), churchwardens, Deanery Synod Page | 27 Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham representatives, Treasurer and the members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church. The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish including deciding on how the funds of the PCC are to be spent. ## **ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION** Holy Spirit, Clapham is part of the diocese of Southwark within the Church of England. The correspondence address is Narbonne Avenue, Clapham London SW4 9JU. The PCC is registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales under number 1134600. Since the PCC is a body corporate, liabilities it incurs in contract are enforceable against it rather than against its members. A PCC member only become personally liable for a debt of the PCC if he or she voluntarily accepted legal responsibility for it or if the debt has arisen in circumstances involving a breach of the PCC member’s fiduciary duties. The PCC members who have served from 2021 until the date of this report was approved are: ## **2021** Ex Officio members: Incumbent: The Reverend Ruth Burge-Thomas Chair ## Wardens: Gavin Williams (Safeguarding Officer) Paula Wilson Elected members: Rhian Granleese (PCC Sharon Gordon Secretary) Margi Mahoney (Deanery Synod) Andrew Chevis (Treasurer) Kathryn Newell Andrew Bailey Liz Muldoon Fran Cavanagh Katie Pollock Yaw Basoah Paul Donohue Approved by the PCC and signed on their behalf by Rev Ruth Burge-Thomas. Page | 28 Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham ## **KEEP IN TOUCH** Visit our website: www.holyspirit-clapham.org.uk Facebook page: www.facebook.com/CHSClapham Follow us on twitter: @holyspiritsw4 ## **Other useful contact details** ## WARDENS _wardens@holyspirit-clapham.org.uk_ ## VICAR 07740 647 603 _vicar@holyspirit-clapham.org.uk_ ## CHURCH OFFICE 020 8675 8094 _office@holyspirit-clapham.org.uk_ Page | 29