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← The Parochial Church Council Of The Ecclesiastical Parish Of The Church Of The Holy Spirit, Clapham

2023-12-31-accounts

Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

PCC CHURCH OF THE HOLY SPIRIT CLAPHAM

APCM 12TH MAY 2024

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Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

REPORTS AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) presents their reports and financial statement for the year ended 31 December 2023.

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

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Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

To facilitate this work, it is important that we maintain the fabric of the Church and the Contact Centre.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

VICAR’S REPORT

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. The sign that God is present is not the number of bums on seats or the size of the bank balance but the amount of love. And we have plenty of it. The amount of love given, received, shared in our community is something to rejoice in. Behind the scenes you are busy giving lifts, taking people to hospital appointments, picking up shopping, doing laundry, making cups of tea, baking, chatting, being light, salt and yeast for our community.

I have been the recipient of much love this year: A head injury in June put me out of action and I am enormously grateful to everyone who took care of me and to all of you who helped keep the show on the road. Our wardens, Katie and Gavin, and our PCC Secretary Rhian worked incredibly hard alongside our PCC, our

Administrator, Natalie, and all our volunteers. My thanks to them and to Paula, Gill and Zoe for running the Pram Service in my absence and to all the clergy who stepped in, especially Father Richard and Mother Caroline who has now joined us as assistant priest.

As ever you have undertaken the work of loving and serving one another and our community:

Ian and Anna lead the Robes night shelter in the winter months on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings, quietly carrying out much needed support; Judith and her team are welcoming an increasing number of older folks at Silver Socials having received referrals from our local GP surgery;

Rhian led our Junior Church volunteers in making church accessible and fun for a growing number of young people.

This year saw the launch of Beyond Sunday, with Rachel and Henry inviting speakers and facilitating discussion to aid us in our growth in faith and learning. Andrew stood down as treasurer and his mantle has been picked up by Paula and Ros who have done an amazing amount of work keeping us in the black and looking at ways in which we can increase our income and reduce our expenditure. Andrei stepped down as Music Director. We are fortunate for the six years that he shared his gifts with us and also for the work of Sarah, Emma, Joe and Rhian in keeping up the high standard of music since his departure. They continue to be actively involved in the recruitment of a new music director and we will keep you posted.

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Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

Some of the year’s highlights included a wonderful Summer Event, Quiz night, the hugely popular All Hallows’ Eve party, bumper congregations at Christmas (we ran out of chairs at Christingle) and a beautiful and moving Holy Week (kicked off by a star turn from Rocky, the rescue donkey, on Palm Sunday).

The PCC are busy with plans for the quinquennial building repairs schedule, the support and expansion of our ministry among our youngest and oldest members and the start of anti-racism and eco-church initiatives. We also continue our work with the Lambeth North Deanery, Churches Together in Clapham, our local primary school and our local councillors to explore ways in which we can better serve our community.

All that we do is fuelled by God’s love but also by your love. To continue to thrive and grow in the coming year we need your continued support and commitment.

Please take time after reading this year’s Annual Report to think about the areas of our church life that you are most passionate about and whether you would like to be more engaged. I have not stopped giving thanks to God for you and for this little part of God’s kingdom that we are called to serve.

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Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

WARDENS’ REPORT

Worship and Prayer

During the course of the year, modifications to the pattern of regular worship and prayer were made to reflect both our Mission Action Plan priorities and our dependency on visiting clergy (to whom we are enormously grateful for their support during Mother’s Ruth’s period of ill health). These modifications resulted in the arrangement still current at the time of writing, namely:

In addition, we held special services throughout the year in celebration of seasonal festivals and introduced an occasional Sunday morning 10.30am All-age Service which saw our young people join and participate in the delivery of the whole of several principal Sunday morning services. Many of our services are broadcast live and made available online thanks to the system installed during the coronavirus outbreak and a team of willing volunteer operators.

Following a dip in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, attendance rose gradually during the year and presented a growing degree of age and ethnic diversity. Our work with children and young people particularly flourished and – in the form of the “Hope” pillar of our Mission Action Plan – will remain at the heart of our activities in the coming year.

On behalf of the congregation at large we wish to express our thanks and appreciation to all involved in delivering our services of worship and prayer, clergy, readers, intercessors, servers, sacristans, sidespeople, organists and members of the choir. Without you, Holy Spirit Clapham would not have been the vibrant place of worship it was in 2023. Thank you.

Care of the Church Fabric and Property

The wardens have certain responsibilities in relation to the care of the church. These responsibilities cover the keeping of records and the making of inspections and reports on the church’s property and fabric, their state of upkeep and maintenance.

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Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

The Terrier and Inventory

The Terrier is the name the Church of England gives to the records required to be kept of the land and buildings belonging to a church. The Inventory, less cryptically, is the record of a church’s plate and ornaments and other significant items of movable property.

Until recently and despite the best efforts of the Churchwardens and our Joint Treasurers to locate it, our Terrier and Inventory had been missing and could not be found. In April 2024, however, they were discovered, hiding in plain sight, in the Church Hall office.

Unfortunately, neither is accurate but at the time of writing both were being brought up to date with the help of our Parish Administrator and others. Once this process is complete, the updated Terrier and Inventory will be presented to the PCC. The churchwardens have no concerns regarding the ownership of the land, buildings or property of Holy Spirit, Clapham.

The Log Book

The Log Book is the term used by the Church of England to refer to the records required to be kept of maintenance work on the fabric of a church’s buildings and their periodic inspection. Records are kept by the Parish Office of all work done on our buildings. We are in the process of digitising this record-keeping process consistent with the form recommended by the Church Buildings Council.

Annual Fabric Report

Each church is required by law to undergo an official inspection every five years. Our quinquennial inspection was due in 2023 and was duly conducted by our inspecting architect, Karen Butti of Thomas Ford and Partners. Karen’s report was received by the PCC in January 2024 and offered the following summary:

· The church is generally in fair condition and the only major concern is that the movement on the south and west sides appear to have continued, possibly during the very dry summer of 2022. It is good that the outflow of water from the former neighbouring dry cleaners has now come to an end which may have exacerbated problems on that side. A means of repairing the rainwater pipe on the south side and preventing adjoining owners from damaging it needs to be put in hand.

· There are quite a number of items which have been carried over from the last inspection. Fortunately, some of those have not deteriorated as quickly as I might have anticipated so while they still need still doing there have been no dramatic failures.

· It is understood that the Parish has had a difficult time with reduced numbers since Covid. There are a number of low-level items that could be done on a DIY basis by volunteers if funds are short, a small group might undertake some of the painting and

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Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

clearing tasks at low level, together with some of the simple internal repairs such as dealing with trip hazards, etc.

Since receiving the report, the PCC has set about instructing some of the morestraightforward items identified. Separately, the PCC has resolved to obtain a similar report on the Church Hall (Contact Centre) to better understand the state of that building and enable a prioritisation of work across the estate to be made on a fully informed basis.

The PCC is already in possession of a prioritised specification of works for the church building, which was prepared by Thomas Ford as a follow up to their 2018 quinquennial report. Owing to the depletion of reserve funds (by the new Church Hall toilets) and a drop in receipts from regular giving, the PCC has not yet felt it prudent to proceed with the specified remedial works.

The need to invest in our buildings which in turn enable our pastoral, mission and outreach work in the parish will be highlighted in our forthcoming giving campaign. If we were to lose the use of our buildings to poor upkeep, our rental income and ability to serve the community would both be critically affected.

Prudent Management

Spiralling costs more generally called for some tough decisions by the PCC in 2023, balancing everything we would have wished to have done with the prudent management of our limited resources.

Notwithstanding the straightened times and with the invaluable help of our Joint Treasurers, we did succeed in getting on top of unnecessary expenditure on utilities and improving rental income.

This is not to say that we are “out of the woods” financially (an operating deficit persists) but our financial discipline did improve markedly last year. The need remains to put our finances onto a healthier footing, which will be another focus of the Mission Action Plan and our forthcoming giving campaign as we seek to attract more people and encourage us all to give more and regularly.

Our Plan: Faith, Hope and Love

We stuck to our Mission Action Plan in 2023 and its pillars of Faith, Hope and Love.

Faith

We refer above the new service pattern and gradual growth in numbers, last year. Alongside our services of worship and prayer, we ran two Lent Talks and, later in the year, launched a series of theological speakers and discussions under the banner of Beyond Sunday (with thanks to Rachel Edge and Henry Chu for their leadership). Enormous enthusiasm was shown by the congregation in suggesting subjects for the

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Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

sessions and the first was well attended. We look forward to Beyond Sunday becoming a permanent fixture in 2024 and beyond.

Throughout the year we organised individual events that drew us closer to each other in fellowship, including the hotly competitive Lent series of Soup on Saturday, and the ever-popular Quiz Night. Following her return from leave, Mother Ruth resumed preparation classes for marriage, baptism and adult confirmation with plans for first communion preparation at the next opportunity.

Looking ahead, the PCC has several exciting ideas of ways for us to broaden and deepen our faith together, including a possible parish retreat and pursuing further our ambition to become an “Eco Church”.

Hope

Our work with children and young people flourished in 2023 with attendance at the Pram Service and Junior Church both growing in numbers. An enlarged cohort of volunteers has helped Junior Church find new vigour for their regular Sunday morning appearances on the chancel step. The PCC has resolved to consolidate our efforts in 2024 around the Pram Service, Junior Church and the All-Age Service while maintaining the family-facing events and celebrations throughout the year, from

our Christmas Workshop, Christingle and Community Carols through Mothering Sunday, Shrove Tuesday and our Good Friday Workshop through to Harvest, All Hallows Eve and Remembrance.

The Mission Action Plan calls for further opportunities for young people to get involved to be identified. Progress has been made by the serving and A/V teams but with plenty of scope for further advances remaining.

Love

Love for our neighbour was strongly in evidence in 2023 through our mission and outreach work.

Our Silver Socials group continued to offer a vital weekly focal point with an increase last year in referrals from primary healthcare swelling their numbers.

Through our partnership with the Robes winter night shelter, volunteers helped provide a roof over the head and a warm welcome for guests as well as a hearty supper and breakfast.

Ties remained to local soup kitchen, the Ace of Clubs, and the local Food Bank, with Holy Spirit Clapham serving as a collection point and promoting donations.

Mother Ruth supported by volunteer help continued to offer pastoral care for the sick, the elderly, the dying and the bereaved throughout the year.

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Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

Our summer and Christmas fairs again brought crafts, music and children’s activities together to raise funds for our selected charities and church funds.

After the solemnity of the loss of Her Late Majesty the Queen the previous year, May 2023 brought the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III. Members of Holy Spirit Clapham, young and old, had great fun participating in the Ring for the King, taking turns to ring the church bell in celebration. This was followed by a service of celebration and a Bring and Share lunch in church.

As part of our ongoing mission to be part of the Eco Church movement members of the congregation also participated in litter picking on Clapham Common as part of the Big Help Out organised at the new King's request.

Music retained a prominent place in the life of Holy Spirit Clapham in 2023 as part of both our worship and our outreach activities. As we prepared to bid farewell to our Music Director of six years, Andrei Lebed, the choir went from strength to strength, welcoming new members and performing to great acclaim John Rutter’s Requiem.

Thank you

Looking back on 2023, our principal feeling was one of thanksgiving and appreciation. Although the year brought with it more than a few challenges, the resolve shown by so many to step forward with offers of time, talents or treasure was hugely encouraging. With so much darkness in the world,

Holy Spirt Clapham shone brightly as a place of love and care in Clapham, where everyone is welcome, no exceptions.

As we turn to the year ahead, we pray that we shall continue to be blessed as a church by the renewed devotion and generosity of our congregation, that we shall continue to grow in number, and that we shall have success in putting our Mission Action Plan into practice (and in finding a new Music Director)!

Katie Pollock Gavin Williams

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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

14 Wray Mill House, Wray Mill Park, Batts Hill, Reigate RH2 0LJ

18 March 2024

Members of the Parochial Church Council Church of the Holy Spirit Narbonne Avenue London SW4 9JU

I report on the financial statements of the PCC of the Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham for the year ended 31 December 2023, as set out on the following pages. This report is made solely to the Charity’s Trustees, as a body, in accordance with section 145 of the Charities Act 2011. My work has been undertaken so that I might state to the PCC, as Trustees of the charity, those matters I am required to state to them in this Report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, I do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the PCC as a body, for my work, for this Report, or for the opinions I have formed.

Respective responsibilities of Trustees and examiner

As Trustees of the charity, the PCC are responsible for the preparation of financial statements. The PCC consider that an audit is not required for this year under Section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

Basis of independent examiner’s report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the 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 financial statements presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the financial statements and seeking explanations from you as 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 financial statements 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:

Michael J Woolley BA, FCA Chartered Accountant

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Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

Annual Treasurer’s Report for the financial year ended 31 December 2023

Income for the year

The church’s General Fund increased by £9,335.12 in 2023 compared with 2022, but £3,498.69 of this was as a result of the closure of the Abbeville fete account with the transfer of the fete’s funds to the General fund. The Contact Centre’s fund increased by £10,494.57. The excess of income over expenditure for the combined church and contact centre was £13,096.03.

Contact Centre

The income from the Contact Centre has increased, the new WCs and shower are being well used and have been popular and the Centre is more used, and receipts have increased, unfortunately it does need repairs.

Utility Costs

The cost of heating, particularly gas and to a lesser extent electricity, has been very high but we believe the new contracts being entered into this Spring on the expiry of the current contracts will reduce these costs substantially.

The Mission and Volunteering

The Summer and Christmas fairs, Quiz Night, Halloween, The Rutter Requiem and Christmas Wreath Workshop, along with many other events were very well attended and not only raised funds for the Church due to the huge efforts put in by a large number of volunteers, but new faces came into the Church, widening its appeal.

Thank you to all the Volunteers and attendees.

Finance Going Forward

The Church alone, excluding substantial “one­off” gifts, unfortunately runs at a deficit, while the Contact Centre makes a profit and effectively makes up for the deficit; but both Church and Contact Centre need repairs carried out and special projects (such as the dais) have been “on hold” for some years.

We need to fulfil our mission and in addition to keep the Church warm and welcoming, and in good condition.

For this we also need increased generosity.

As a final note, the Church itself is under­used so if any of you know of a suitable group who would like to use the Church, for rehearsals, opera, concerts or similar do please tell them we are here.

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Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

Church of The Holy Spirit, Clapham

Statement of Financial Activities For the period 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023

Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Endowment
funds
Total
funds
Prior year
total funds
Incoming resources
Incoming resources from donors
113,599.00
-
-
113,599.00
187,530.29
Other voluntary incoming resources
50.00
-
-
50.00
1,400.00
Activities to further the work of the church
16,174.53
-
-
16,174.53
15,487.42
Activities for generating funds
10,800.27
-
-
10,800.27
10,496.19
Income from investments
1,308.72
-
-
1,308.72
1,245.89
Other incoming resourcesnote this includes
£6000 Contact Centre rent from 2022
74,608.04
-
-
74,608.04
70,819.45
Income directly relating to worship
3,497.30
-
-
3,497.30
2,244.00
Total income
220,037.86
-
-
220,037.86
289,223.24
Resources used
Costs of generating funds
1,710.06
-
-
1,710.06
2,584.60
Grants
2,311.77
-
-
2,311.77
5,968.50
Payments to further the work of the Church
76,434.17
41.66
-
76,475.83
90,956.63
Support costs
37,750.99
-
-
37,750.99
29,441.38
Church building, management and administration
68,388.80
-
-
68,388.80
217,343.94
Expenditure directly relating to worship
20,346.04
-
-
20,346.04
10,106.29
Total expenditure
206,941.83
41.66
-
206,983.49
356,401.34
Net income / (expenditure) resources before
transfer
13,096.03
(41.66)
-
13,054.37
(67,178.10)
Transfers
Gross transfers between funds - in
28,411.94
141.97
-
28,553.91
236,347.68
Gross transfers between funds - out
(28,411.94)
(141.97)
-
(28,553.91)
(236,347.68)
Net movement in funds
13,096.03
(41.66)
-
13,054.37
(67,178.10)
Total funds brought forward
136,821.53
141.00
-
136,962.53
204,140.63
Total funds carried forward
149,917.56
99.34
-
150,016.90
136,962.53
Unrestricted
General fund
73,177.92
-
-
73,177.92
63,842.80
Designated
Contact Centre
6,904.16
-
-
6,904.16
(3,590.41)
Fabric Fund
64,819.02
-
-
64,819.02
64,819.02
Organ Fund
5,016.46
-
-
5,016.46
5,016.46
Refugees Ukraine
-
-
-
-
3,234.97
Refugees Welcome Lambeth
-
99.34
-
99.34
141.00
Total funds
149,917.56
99.34
-
150,016.90
136,962.53		 113,599.00
-
-
113,599.00
187,530.29
50.00
-
-
50.00
1,400.00
16,174.53
-
-
16,174.53
15,487.42
10,800.27
-
-
10,800.27
10,496.19
1,308.72
-
-
1,308.72
1,245.89
74,608.04
-
-
74,608.04
70,819.45
3,497.30
-
-
3,497.30
2,244.00
220,037.86
-
-
220,037.86
289,223.24
1,710.06
-
-
1,710.06
2,584.60
2,311.77
-
-
2,311.77
5,968.50
76,434.17
41.66
-
76,475.83
90,956.63
37,750.99
-
-
37,750.99
29,441.38

68,388.80
-
-
68,388.80
217,343.94
20,346.04
-
-
20,346.04
10,106.29
206,941.83
41.66
-
206,983.49
356,401.34
13,096.03
(41.66)
-
13,054.37
(67,178.10)
28,411.94
141.97
-
28,553.91
236,347.68
(28,411.94)
(141.97)
-
(28,553.91)
(236,347.68)
13,096.03
(41.66)
-
13,054.37
(67,178.10)
136,821.53
141.00
-
136,962.53
204,140.63
149,917.56
99.34
-
150,016.90
136,962.53
73,177.92
-
-
73,177.92
63,842.80
6,904.16
-
-
6,904.16
(3,590.41)
64,819.02
-
-
64,819.02
64,819.02
5,016.46
-
-
5,016.46
5,016.46
-
-
-
-
3,234.97
-
99.34
-
99.34
141.00

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Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

Balance Sheet (Summary) as at 31 December 2023

As at
31/12/2023
As at
31/12/2022
Fixed assets

Tangible Assets
Current assets

Debtors
Cash At Bank And In Hand
Liabilities

Creditors: Amounts Falling Due In One Year
Net current assets less current liabilities
Total assets less current liabilities
Liabilities

Creditors: Amounts falling due after more than one year
Total net assets less liabilities
Represented by

Unrestricted

Unrestricted - General Funds
Designated

Designated - Abbeville Fete
Designated - Contact Centre
Designated - Fabric Fund
Designated - Organ Fund
Designated - Refugees Ukraine
Restricted

Restricted - Refugees Welcome Lambeth
**Fund Totals **
25,416.48
48,761.48
25,416.48
48,761.48

8,992.35
6,749.01
120,933.27
91,187.63
129,925.62
97,936.64

5,325.20
3,735.59
5,325.20
3,735.59
124,600.42
94,201.05
150,016.90
142,962.53

-
6,000.00
-
6,000.00
150,016.90
136,962.53


73,177.92
63,842.80

-
3,498.69
6,904.16
(3,590.41)
64,819.02
64,819.02
5,016.46
5,016.46
-
3,234.97

99.34
141.00
150,016.90
136,962.53

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Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham Receipts and payments Selected period: 01 January 2023 to 31 December 2023

From
Note
To
Ukraine - Refugees Ukraine (Designated) Fund
Other giving not under Gift Aid
Total Incoming resources from donors
Total Incoming resources
Resources used - expenditure
Home mission & outreach
Total Grants
Gifts
Total Support costs
• Church building, management and administration
Miscellaneous
Total Resources used
Excess of Income and endowments over Expenditure
Brought forward balance
Transfers to/(from)
Total carried forward balance
REFUGEES - Refugees Welcome Lambeth (Restricted) Fund
Resources used- expenditure
Refugees fund expenditure
Total Resources used
Excess of Income and endowments over Expenditure
Brought forward balance
Total carried forward balance
GENERAL-(Unrestricted) Fund
Incoming resources
• Incoming resources from donors
Gift Aid - Bank
Gift Aid - Envelopes
Other giving not under Gift Aid
Loose plate Collections
Tax recoverable on Gift Aid
Total Incoming resources from donors
Flowers
One off Grants
Total Other voluntary incoming resources
Christingle - Children's Soc
Christmas Giving
Easter/Lent Call
Rent: church/LDF building use
Choir & Music fees
Total Activities to further the work of the church
• Activities for generating funds
Rummage jumble books sales etc.		 01-Jan-23
31-Dec-23
-
-
-
-
-
3,234.00
3,234.00
-
3,234.00
-3,234.00
3,234.97
-0.97
-
41.66
41.66
-41.66
141
99.34
76,956.46
50.5
10,364.06
3,837.87
22,390.11
113,599.00
50
-
50
430.36
472.27
45
3,095.00
16.45
4,059.08
5,316.13		 01-Jan-22
31-Dec-22
265.52
265.52
265.52
1,668.00
1,668.00
-
-
439
2,107.00
-1,841.48
-
5,076.45
3,234.97
-
-
-
141
141
134,513.56
20
7,784.55
1,746.47
42,200.19
186,264.77		 01-Jan-22
31-Dec-22
265.52
265.52
265.52
1,668.00
1,668.00
-
-
439
2,107.00
-1,841.48
-
5,076.45
3,234.97
-
-
-
141
141
134,513.56
20
7,784.55
1,746.47
42,200.19
186,264.77		 01-Jan-22
31-Dec-22
265.52
265.52
265.52
1,668.00
1,668.00
-
-
439
2,107.00
-1,841.48
-
5,076.45
3,234.97
-
-
-
141
141
134,513.56
20
7,784.55
1,746.47
42,200.19
186,264.77

-
1,400.00
1,400.00

-
66.42
-
-
-
66.42
25

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Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

Other funds generated
Cake Sales
Church stalls - other
Christmas Fair
Tea & Coffee
Concerts
Church hire
Webstore income
Total Activities for generating funds
Bank & building soc interest
Total Income from investments
Fees to PCC
Total Income directly relating to worship
Total Incoming resources
Resources used - expenditure
Concert and entertainment expenses
Christmas Fair expenses
Summer Fair expenses
Total Costs of generating funds
Grants given out from CHS
Ace of Clubs
Robes Project
Children's Society
Church Action
Home mission & outreach
other charities
Total Grants
Parish Support Fund
Parish training and mission
Working expenses of incumbent
Sunday School
Youth activities
Seniors’ activities
Printing & Stationery
Catering
Total Payments to further the work of the Church
• Support costs
Salary/administrator
Assistant staff costs
Gifts
Staff Pension Costs
Salaries (except administrator)
Printer, computer, network and software
Website expense
Total Support costs
• Church building, management, and administration
Bank GoCardless Data Developments etc & financial
charges
Church running exp-cleaning
Church running exp-insurance		 659.92
129.5
60
4,636.62
5.6
-7.5
-
-
10,800.27
1,119.91
1,119.91
3,497.30
3,497.30
133,125.56
400
812.69
497.37
1,710.06
767.42
-
767.42
-
9.51
767.42
2,311.77
70,327.96
1,507.89
2,455.16
14.72
46
400
1,682.44
-
76,434.17
10,458.98
-
397.5
1,093.88
1,092.99
1,610.78
896.42
15,550.55
1,106.69
1,412.07
1,713.24		 2,244.99
-
195
3,288.62
-
-
4,092.15
230.03
10,075.79
1,223.41
1,223.41
2,244.00
2,244.00
201,274.39		 2,244.99
-
195
3,288.62
-
-
4,092.15
230.03
10,075.79		 2,244.99
-
195
3,288.62
-
-
4,092.15
230.03
10,075.79

1,223.41
1,223.41

2,244.00
2,244.00

-
2,438.02
-
2,438.02
669
2,102.50
844
25
660
-
4,300.50
80,929.70
2,000.00
2,346.43
-
1,538.24
137.99
2,723.95
1,280.32
90,956.63
-
2,438.02
-
2,438.02

669
2,102.50
844
25
660
-
4,300.50

10,792.30
720
111.98
2,346.23
2,600.00
2,569.98
45.98
19,186.47

1,184.65
1,072.50
1,602.66

Page | 15

Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

Church of the Holy Spirit,
Church maintenance and repairs 6,070.64 7,023.59
Upkeep of churchyard 3,373.72 -
Miscellaneous 416.35 9,559.94
Depreciation - 8,940.65
Church running expenses - Heat 14,133.67 13,565.68
Church running exp - Electric 3,637.99 -
Church running exp - Water 338.55 267
Telephone and broadband 1,628.59 1,423.32
Contact Centre - Cleaning - -200
Major repairs/church 100 -
MR/church installations -894 -
Total Church building, management, and
administration 33,037.51 44,439.99
• Expenditure directly relating to worship
Organ/piano tuning 200 -
Music, organist and choir 8,367.15 8,461.57
Upkeep of services 10,166.09 -
Chancel Expenses - 1,322.22
Flowers 427.2 322.5
Major repairs/costs - organ 1,185.60 -
Total Expenditure directly relating to worship 20,346.04 10,106.29
Total Resources used 149,390.10 171,427.90
Excess of Income and endowments over Expenditure -16,264.54 29,846.49
Brought forward balance 63,842.80 85,178.45
Transfers to/(from) 25,599.66 -51,182.14
Total carried forward balance 73,177.92 63,842.80
Abbeville - Abbeville Fete (Designated) Fund
Incoming resources
Activities for generating funds
Sponsorship received - 420
Total Activities for generating funds - 420
Total Incoming resources - 420
Resources used - expenditure
Costs of generating funds
Printing/publicity - 146.58
Total Costs of generating funds - 146.58
Miscellaneous - 362.7
Total Resources used - 509.28
Excess of Income and endowments over Expenditure - -89.28
Brought forward balance 3,498.69 3,587.97
Transfers to/(from) -3,498.69 -
Total carried forward balance - 3,498.69
CONTACT CENTRE (Designated) Fund
Incoming resources
Gift Aid - Bank - 1,000.00
Contact Centre - Lettings 12,115.45 15,421.00
Total Activities to further the work of the church 12,115.45 15,421.00
Other funds generated - 0.4
Total Activities for generating funds - 0.4
Bank & building soc interest 188.81 22.48

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Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

Church of the Holy Spirit,
Total Income from investments 188.81 22.48
Contact Centre - Rents rec'd 42,358.04 37,564.45
Clapham & Clapham Park Montessori – RentNote
£6000 of this is from 2022 32,250.00 33,255.00
Total Other incoming resources 74,608.04 70,819.45
Total Incoming resources 86,912.30 87,263.33
Resources used - expenditure
Salary/administrator 13,973.91 10,254.91
Gifts 100 -
Staff Pension Costs 804.53 -
Salaries (except administrator) 4,000.00 -
Printer, computer, network, and software 88 -
Total Support costs 18,966.44 10,254.91
Contact Centre Administration
Bank GoCardless Data Developments etc and financial
charges 57.13 -
Church running exp-cleaning 96 -
Miscellaneous 170.51 -
Depreciation - 355.56
Contact Centre costs - gas 10,984.69 -
Contact Centre - Electricity 4,466.75 -
Contact Centre - Insurance 1,713.24 1,602.66
Contact Centre - Cleaning 1,449.37 3,952.14
Repairs, maintenance & safety - CC 22,431.33 155,030.56
Repairs & Maintenance (CCPM) - CC -6,017.73 936.85
MR/Contact Centre redecoration/maintenance - 604.88
New building - Contact Centre - 9,619.60
Total Church building, management, and administration 35,351.29 172,102.25
Total Resources used 54,317.73 182,357.16
Excess of Income and endowments over Expenditure 32,594.57 -95,093.83
Brought forward balance -3,590.41 45,396.51
Transfers to/(from) -22,100.00 46,106.91
Total carried forward balance 6,904.16 -3,590.41
Organ - Organ Fund (Designated) Fund
Brought forward balance 5,016.46 5,016.46
Total carried forward balance 5,016.46 5,016.46
Fabric - Fabric Fund (Designated) Fund
Brought forward balance 64,819.02 64,820.24
Transfers to/(from) - -1.22
Total carried forward balance 64,819.02 64,819.02

Page | 17

Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

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, in a different church each time, with the purpose of working together in the community and sharing information and experiences.

14 March 2023. We met at St Paul’s, Clapham (and learned that there has been a church there since the 12th Century.) This was the first meeting chaired by the new Area Dean, Rev Jamie Mulvaney who had taken over the reins from Rev Caroline Clarke. The main talk was on church schools, of which there are 104, but pupil numbers are shrinking. We were also updated on arrangements for the upcoming 7-mile passion Trail which was to finish at Holy Spirit for a service and refreshments.

5 July 2023. At St John’s, Waterloo. This was Deanery Synod annual social event, and each church contributed some food to share. We from Holy Spirit contributed desserts (meringues and fruit salad) and cheese. The Lay Chairman who had held the post for the last 6 years stepped down, and his replacement was announced. The main business was getting to know each other by chatting over dinner, seated at two long tables.

9 November 2023. At St Mark’s Kennington. The main topic was “Thinking through our Children and Youth Ministries”. We split into groups to discuss what different parishes offer for young people. Examples were a youth choir, homework club, youth club, drumming sessions, Diddy Disciples, child servers, and our own pram service – all very different approaches. The importance of making church attractive to children was discussed. An eye-opening statistic - nationally, 68% 0f churches have 5 or less children in the congregation.

Margi Mahoney, Deanery Synod rep.

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Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

ELECTORAL ROLL

In 2023-24 there were 153 names on the electoral roll.

The Church Representation Rules state that:

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.

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Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

CONTACT CENTRE

The Contact Centre has remained busy, for which we are thankful. During term time the hall is fairly well booked out, there are parties nearly every weekend, over 50 party bookings in the last year. There are a couple of slots available for both the main hall and the stage room. The Clapham Park Montessori have exclusive use of the upstairs room.

As of the end 2023 users of the Contact Centre are as follows, for children there are: Montessori Infant Community, Spring School of Ballet, Monkey Music, Clapham Martial Arts, Robot Reg. Sadly, the Brownies and Guides have left us – but we wish them all the best in their new home in Bonneville Primary School, and hope their numbers increase and they go from strength to strength. We host adult dance instructors: Vera the Diva ballroom dancing, and Forro Works Brazilian Dance – note the Spring School of Ballet also offer adult classes too. There is a weekly Art Class for adults, and we also rent out to AA and NA charities, as well as host Robes once a year – usually once a week over 6 weeks in the winter.

The rates were increased in September 2023 for regular hirers of the Centre. We did invest in major works in the Centre: renewing and rebuilding our toilet facilities: we have toilets which open directly into the main hall, which was in response to users concerns about children having to go into the lobby area to use the facilities (and possibly wandering out into the street) – this new site is more secure. We have a new disabled toilet with a shower, which has been used to great affect during by guests of the winter shelter. Finally, we have new toilet facilities opening into the stage room – again offering more secure access for younger users who are not having to exit the stage room completely. The Contact Centre is cleaned regularly by Paul.

It is an old building and starting to show signs of wear and tear – specifically with leaks in the flat roof and worn external facias and paintwork. We would like to see some investment in maintaining the building.

Paula Wilson

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Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

JUNIOR CHURCH

We have had a fun year in Junior Church with our awesome team of volunteers: Fiona Morris, Matt North, Amanda Chen, Zoe Olivier and Gladys Claxton Stevens. Special thanks must also go to Harry (Fiona’s son), who has been an angel helping to keep the younger children occupied and amused.

We now have over 10 regular/semi-regular children attending Junior Church. We have changed the age range for Junior Church and now welcome children of all ages. If we are aware that the pram service is not running, we try to extend our activities to accommodate younger children.

We have shifted the focus of the sessions to always include a craft element which the children will either take home or display at the back of the Church. We use the resources from Roots from Scripture Union which provides a lesson plan that follows the same readings from the main service. We have travelled from Genesis right through to Acts and we discuss how the teachings of Jesus affect our everyday lives.

The children present their work at the end of the adult service and sometimes also practice readings or prayers to deliver at the adult service. Junior Church does not run on Sundays when there is an all-age service, but the children will prepare readings for this service. A colouring table is also present at the back of the Church for the all age services.

The children do some special projects. Last year we grew tomato and bean plants from seed to sell at the Summer Fayre. We are hoping to expand upon these activities in the coming year.

Junior Church now runs pretty much all year. If we are not able to run, we provide a craft table which is sometimes supervised (and sometimes for parents/carers to supervise) so that there is always an activity for children in Church.

We have a growing number of children. We can do so much more if we can increase the team of volunteers. We are not far off needing to split into two classes, but we are unable to do this with the current size of the volunteer team. Please contact Rhian if you would be interested in helping. The commitment should be no more than once a month.

Rhian Granleese

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Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

PRAM REPORT

We had a successful 2023 hosting over 40 weeks of pram service for ages 0-8 years, between 8-9am.

The pram service focuses on learning about God through music, movement, craft and stories. We start and finish (after a light breakfast) with the lighting and extinguishing of a candle for each child, their family members and other loved ones. We participate in a standard celebratory prayer and discuss the great and challenging things we need to pray for. We encourage children to read or act out the stories of the Bible. We celebrate with piano music and instruments. As well as providing an informal and relaxed workshopping environment, the service provides an important respite for parents and particularly new parents to meet and share challenges and joys!

The pram service has also on occasion extended its reach to accommodate older children and adults with disabilities as the service provides a less formal and less reflective environment than the main service, and we welcome their inclusion.

MUSIC

The Choir at CHS has had a great year, singing regular Sunday Eucharist services and Choral Evensong once a month with fully sung canticles, responses, psalms and an anthem. The Choir currently has one soprano choral scholar, and is keen to recruit more scholars for other voice parts.

The Choir has enjoyed singing a diverse repertoire over the last few months and participating in regular music-making during the services at CHS. Anthems have ranged from Ave Verum Corpus (Byrd) to the Agnus Dei from Rutter’s Requiem.

This year’s traditional Christmas service of lessons and carols heard the choir perform a range of repertoire across a variety of choral traditions. The music included works by Willcocks and Warlock. The Choir also contributed musical items for the Christmas and Summer Fairs.

Sadly, we said goodbye to our wonderful Music Director, Andrei Lebed, in January. Andrei has led music-making at CHS over the last six years with great dedication. He has boosted recruitment to the choir and encouraged young organists. Not afraid to push the choir to new heights, he has introduced a wide range of repertoire including some lovely works from Eastern Europe. Andrei’s versatility showed itself in his ability to conduct while singing tenor or bass and to move seamlessly from organ to piano as needed. We will miss his musicality, his friendly and supportive approach to rehearsals and his pragmatism.

Since Andrei’s departure, various musicians have been contributing to CHS services while the recruitment of a new Music Director is underway.

Emma Grainger and Sarah Mistry

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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). CTiC’s Standing Committee members are also the trustees who act as governance for the organisation. Liz Marin-Curtoud (Clapham Methodist Church) is currently Chair of CTiC and Henry Holmes (Holy Trinity Church) is Secretary. Rev Kit Gunasekera of St James Church, continues to run the CTiC website: www.cticlapham.org

The CTiC Forum, the principal body, met in May (the AGM at the Ace of Clubs), July (at St Paul’s, including an art workshop) and October 2023 (St James’s, with a talk on the Church Land Trust), as well as in February 2024 (Holy Trinity, marking Racial Justice Sunday). CHS members might like to note that we expect to host the AGM here on May 14th.

Community Engagement/Projects

CTiC has continued to support Lifeline (providing Summer and Christmas parties 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, including CHS, have continued to support Robes.

Ecumenical Services and Events

St Paul’s once again hosted the ecumenical Advent carol service. The World Day of Prayer service didn’t take place in 2023 (but has been revived this year). Monthly ecumenical Taizé services take place at St Peter’s Church. Clapham Methodist Church again hosted the Palm Sunday evening service. Rev Kit Gunasekera hosted and led our online Advent prayers.

Alan Mundy and Caroline Studdert

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Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

SILVER SOCIALS

The Silver Socials group meet every Tuesday morning in church. It is an opportunity for older and more vulnerable people in the congregation and wider community to come together for tea, coffee and cake, chat and activities.

The Silvers attendees usually average about ten each week and we currently provide lifts for three people and assist two wheelchair users to attend. Two regular guests were referrals from local surgeries, from their Social Prescribing Link workers.

There are ten regular volunteers, Biddy Taylor, Margi Mahoney, Alan Mundy, Trina Thomson, Anna Long, Madeline Johnson, Terry Parker, Nicola Kingston and Judith Vickery from the congregation and Lisa Walsh, a local resident. In addition to the Tuesday mornings, we support our Silvers to attend NHS appointments and deal with other issues linked to benefits, pensions, housing and foodbank applications etc.

The Silvers group have contributed to Citizens UK work. Initially through discussions on the South London Listens campaign where, after lockdown, we listened to what people felt they needed. We heard that our Silvers group really appreciated coming together on Tuesdays, and being part of a regular community. Then and now, we heard that for some people Tuesdays is their only outing of the week that isn’t linked to formal appointments.

South London Listens is a partnership between Citizens UK and the NHS in South London in order to promote mental health and wellbeing. In Lambeth the primary link is to the South London and Maudsley Hospital. As part of this partnership some CUK member organisations (including Silver Socials) have, or are becoming, Be Well Hubs. In order to become a Be Well hub you have to go through three training sessions with at least two volunteers attending each. One is run by Citizens UK and the two on Mental Health are run by the South London and Maudsley. The recent training sessions were attended by seven of our Silvers volunteers, the largest representation on the sessions.

We are always looking for additional drivers and wheelchair pushers as well as ideas for, and offers of help with, activities.

Do drop in one Tuesday morning for coffee, cake and a chat, we love visitors.

Judith Vickery and Nicola Kingston

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Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS

CHS’s online communications comprise the church website1, social media (Facebook, Instagram, Next Door and X aka Twitter), WhatsApp, the newsletter and the broadcasting of services on Zoom and YouTube. Rachel Edge, Nick Jenni, Natalie Wood and Gavin Williams contribute to updating the various church social media accounts.

The church website is maintained by a small team including Natalie Wood, the parish administrator and Gavin Williams.

The newsletter continues to be produced weekly, with a mailing list of 347 people, but with between 130 and 180 opening it every week. A small team made up of Joe Sternberg, Alan Mundy and Nick Jenni take turns producing it.

The church continues to share its main services online, with a team of seven operating the cameras and controlling the audio output from the desk at the back of church and previously Rachel and now Natalie managing the rota for this team. There is always some online attendance, both on Zoom and on YouTube (linked to on the church website). Facebook has a challenging policy on music copyright and so we have stopped broadcasting with them. Much work by Mtr Ruth and Natalie Wood goes into making available the orders of service and linking to them both on the website and in the newsletter. Many of the 2,905 views during 2023 of the

YouTube videos occur after the event when people listen to the recordings, rather than live. At the time of writing, in the first 12 weeks of 2024, views on YouTube were up 43% compared to the same period in 2023.

1 church website (www.holyspirit­clapham.org.uk), Facebook www.facebook.com/CHSClapham, Instagram @holyspiritclapham, Next Door (https://nextdoor.co.uk/pages/church­of­the­holy­spirit­london­england/) and X (previously Twitter) @holyspiritsw4.

Page | 25

Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

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.

Anyone interested in contributing to either church comms is welcome to contact Gavin Williams and Rachel Edge and, for the AV duties, Natalie Wood. All of the people who support all this work online give life to the church. Thank you!

ROBES PROJECT

Background - In summary the Robes charity provides the following:

  1. Year round support for the homeless

  2. A weekly lunch and meeting place for current and former Robes guests, this takes place near Elephant and Castle

  3. A winter (November to March) night shelter for a group of registered guests who would otherwise have nowhere to sleep. The shelter takes place in a rotating circuit of Church Halls.

Specific CHS involvement during 2023:

  1. Our main involvement In 2023 was to organise and host the night shelter on Saturday nights in November and December (6 nights) in the contact centre. This was run by a group of volunteers who provided a hot evening meal, a place to sleep for the night supported by 2 volunteers and a hot breakfast. A shower was also available.

  2. During Q1 2023 we agreed that the contact centre could be used for Sunday nights as the planned shelter venue had to withdraw at short notice. So the centre was used for 12 Sunday nights from Jan to March 2023. These nights were organised by Robes centrally and supported by volunteers from across a number of churches in the area including CHS.

As usual huge thanks is due to those who gave up their weekend evenings, nights and mornings. We had 21 volunteers across the 6 weeks in November and December without whom the shelter would not have been able to operate.

More information on Robes is available at www.robes.org.uk

Finally, once again to say a big thankyou to all those who volunteered over the Winter.

More information about Robes can be found at www.robes.org.uk

Ian Cherrie

Page | 26

Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

LAMBETH CITIZENS

The PCC last year decided that they could not support continued membership of Citizens UK,

But we have continued to play our part as the discussions we had as part of ‘South London Listens’ came to fruition during 2023/24, with a big community assembly with the NHS,

This resulted in pledges from the NHS to work with local communities on things like more support for children and young people waiting for support from mental health services, and more support to surgeries to provide care for people without challenge about their immigration status.

We have also continued the work we started for our Silver Socials group to be trained up in Mental Health support to improve health and wellbeing.

There are live campaigns on housing locally, and we have spoken there about the issues we have with Charleston House lifts, as well as the lack of social housing and affordable rental properties and also the impact of homelessness.

We still hope that the new PCC will reconsider our membership of Citizens UK , so we can play our part in work on social justice in partnership with other Lambeth organisations, particularly other faith groups.

Alan Mundy and Nicola Kingston

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 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.

Page | 27

Church of the Holy Spirit, Clapham

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 in 2023 until the date of this report was approved are:

2023/24

Ex Officio members:

Clergy: The Reverend Ruth Burge-Thomas Chair (Incumbent) The Reverend Canon Caroline Clarke (P/T Assistant Priest)

Wardens: Gavin Williams (Safeguarding Officer) Katie Pollock

Deanery Synod:

Paula Wilson (Co-Treasurer)

Rachel Edge Margi Mahoney Kathryn Newell

Elected members:

Rhian Granleese (PCC Secretary) James Buchanan Paul Donohue Caroline Studdert Zoe Olivier Ros Patterson-Morgan (Co-Treasurer) Henry Chu

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