Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2020
Our Vision Statement
St Peter’s Church Leckhampton exists to love and worship God, to serve our neighbours and to pass on the faith in Jesus Christ.
The Parish Prayer
Loving God
Open our eyes that we might see you. Open our ears that we might hear you. Open our hearts and minds that we might respond to you and bring others to know you. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord who lights our way. Amen
Charity Registration Number: 1134612
Parochiol Church CouncilAnnual Reportfor2020 Page 2 of 20
Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2020
Legal and Administrative Information
Name: Parochial Church Council of St Peter’s, Leckhampton (PCC). Location: St Peter’s Church is located in Church Road, Leckhampton and is part of the Diocese of Gloucester within the Church of England. Address for correspondence: The Parish Office, Glebe Cottages, Church Road, Leckhampton, Cheltenham, Glos GL53 0QJ
Members
Following the 2020 APCM the composition of the PCC is as follows:
Team Vicar and Chair Gary Grady Curate Jacqueline Henson Reader Dereck Freeman Ex Officio Churchwardens Jennie Hawdon (2020), David Webber (2020) Deputy Churchwarden Arthur Webb (2020) Deanery Synod Representatives Mike Riley (2020), Peter Davies (2020), Brad Coates (2020) SCTM Representatives Peter Davies (2020), Helen Shill (2020) Lay Members elected for three years (2020) Sally Marlow Penny Piggott Christine Brown. Anne Webber Lay Members elected for two years (2019) Mike Riley Margaret Kyffin Peter Marlow Lay Members elected for one year (2018) Ro Baillie Helen Shill
NB date in brackets denotes year of election of lay PCC members.
Co-opted Members None Offices Chairman Rev Gary Grady Treasurer Peter Marlow Secretary Christine Brown
Totals: PCC members: 9, Ex officio 5 Co-opted 0
NB SCTM reps are already counted as Peter Davies is ex officio as Deanery Synod rep and Helen Shill is on the PCC
Notes on composition of PCC
Calculation of numbers on PCC : six representatives of the laity where there are not more than fifty names on the electoral roll, nine such representatives where there are not more than one hundred names on the roll and, where there are more than one hundred names on the roll, a further three such representatives for every one hundred (or part thereof) names on the roll up to a maximum of fifteen such members, and so that the aforesaid numbers "six", "nine", "three" and "fifteen" may be altered from time to time by a resolution passed at any annual meeting, but such resolution shall not take effect before the next ensuing annual meeting
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Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2020
Co-opted members: We can also have co-opted members, if the parochial church council so decides, not exceeding in number one-fifth of the representatives of the laity elected or two persons whichever shall be the greater, and being either clerks in Holy Orders or actual lay communicants of sixteen years of age or upwards. The term of office of a co-opted member shall be until the conclusion of the next annual meeting; but without prejudice to his being co-opted on subsequent occasions for a similar term, subject to and in accordance with the provisions of these rules.
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Currently there are 136 on our electoral roll and so we can have 12 PCC members (although we can have up to 15). We can have two co-opted members.
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Ex Officio members : The churchwardens and any deputy churchwardens are ex-officio members of the parochial church council by virtue of a scheme made under rule 18(4) of these rules.
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Reps for Deanery Synod are also ex officio members of the PCC.
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The secretary and treasurer will be elected from the PCC members.
Terms of office
PCC members 3 years Deanery synod 3 years SCTM 3 years Churchwardens and deputy Church Wardens I year Secretary and Treasurer I year
Financial Information
Status: The PCC is a Registered Charity (1134612) Independent Examiner: Mr David Evans Bankers: Lloyds Bank plc, High Street, Cheltenham, Glos. CAF Bank Ltd, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent.
Aims and Organisation
The main purpose of the PCC is defined in the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956 as “to cooperate with the minister in promoting in the Parish the whole mission of the church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical.”
At the beginning of the year the following Committees promote the life of St Peter’s:
| Magazine | Web | Social | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Pastoral Team members are: | |||
| Sally Marlow | Jennie Hawdon | ||
| Dereck Freeman | Steve Whittingham | ||
| Anne Webber | Penny Williams |
The total number of names on the Roll, is 140.
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Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2020
Ministry Report
2020 has been an extraordinary year. We have lived amidst a global pandemic and mass trauma event, unknown in many of our lifetimes. Millions of lives have been lost and the number continues to rise; the economy, international relations, individual mental health, the pitter-patter of everyday life: nothing has been spared in the viral storm, including the Church.
And yet we have adapted.
We have worshipped on-line and have grown together as a South Cheltenham Team. We have kept in touch in different ways and have worked out how to use new technologies. We have become experts at writing risk assessments and have kept the church open for prayer each week. We have pushed ahead with our reordering plans for the future, and have even created a zoom choir!
The church nationally has buried the dead, comforted the bereaved, fed the hungry and prayed for our nation. We have done this as human beings, living through the same crisis as everyone else; grieving, home-schooling, worrying, getting sick, shielding, isolating and weeping.
In the midst of this, we have welcomed Revd Jacqueline Henson and her family to the team, where she has begun her curacy; what a way to start such a momentous change in your life journey!
So, as we reflect on a year like no other, I want to thank you for your support, patience and endurance.
Thank you for being there, for walking this path together, for digging deep, for finding moments of beauty and new ways to be in fellowship. There will inevitably be some of you who are feeling bruised, lonely, lost or afraid – if that’s you, reach out because we walk this path together and God never intended us to be alone.
‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.’ (John 1. 5)
With hope on the horizon from the vaccine roll out, and the gradual lessening of restrictions, now is the time to look back and try to make sense of it all. To ask ourselves what God is calling us to do next?
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What have we gained and want to keep?
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What have we left behind and don’t actually want back?
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What have we started doing, but need to stop?
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What have we lost and need to bring back?
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What new things should we do?
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How do we use our resources more effectively?
2021 could be a defining year in the life of St Peter’s as we wrestle with these questions, and there is much to be hopeful about as we reach out in our community.
Thank you to all who have supported the life of St Peter’s in 2020, and for how you show your love for God through what you do for others.
What a great team with have @StPetersLeck. Every blessing for 2021, God is with us.
Revd Gary Grady, Team Vicar
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Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2020
Review of financial activities and affairs for 2020
The accounts have three sections:
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The Receipts & Payments Account, which shows how much money we received and what we paid out in 20209
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The Statement of Assets and Liabilities which shows the monetary and other assets which the Church has on 31 December 2020
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Notes that explain the detail.
Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, St Peters recorded a deficit of running cost income over expenditure of £4,496 caused by the loss of cottage hire income, loss of parochial fees and loss of collections at services. The deficit was actually far lower than expected thanks to some generous unrestricted donations, furloughing a member of office staff and receiving a contribution for the Organist’s salary from South Cheltenham.
Overall, St Peters remains in a good financial position with total unrestricted funds carried forward of £222,647, a decrease of £6,628 over 2019. Total funds carried forward, which includes restricted income and investments, are £257,928, a decrease of £1,929 over 2019.
We currently have 76 regular givers, 70 of whom give through the Parish Giving Scheme. The green envelope “gift aid” scheme is still popular but it would help our planning if people could transfer to the Parish Giving Scheme. The Parish Giving Scheme really helped St Peters maintain its income when the church was closed.
As part of South Cheltenham Churches, we continue to support the Refugee Project which raised an additional £8,993 in 2020 through donations and monthly pledges.
Parish Share was frozen at the 2018 level for 2020 (and remains frozen for 2021).
The items of major expenditure in 2020 were the gates and paving for the Cottages, architect’s fees for reordering plans, choir stall cushions and IT network equipment for streaming services. The latter two items were part funded by generous donations. We also continue to support an organ scholar, part funded by donation.
Policy on reserves
As a result of the imminent Quinquennial Report due in 2020 the Churchwardens and PCC propose to set aside unrestricted reserves of £20,000 to cover liabilities, as has been previous policy. They also recognise that it is prudent to retain unrestricted reserves of 6 months running costs (£65,000) to meet unforeseen occurrences. The remaining funds are earmarked for reordering in early 2022, and building maintenance and improvements.
Expenses payments
Other than the reimbursement of expenses and purchases made on the church’s behalf, no payments have been made to members of the PCC.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Steve Whittingham the Assistant Treasurer and Mike Riley the Gift Aid Officer for their invaluable help in 2020. Also many thanks to the Independent Examiner, David Evans.
Peter Marlow Hon Treasurer
14-Feb-21
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Parochiol Church CouncilAnnual Reportfor2020
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Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2020
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT
TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST PETER, LECKHAMPTON
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts (attached) of the Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of St Peter, Leckhampton (the Trust) for the year ended 31 December 2020.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent examiner’s statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or
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the accounts do not accord with those records.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
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Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2020
Churchwardens report for the 2021 APCM
Churchwardens: David Webber and Jennie Hawdon, Deputy Warden: Arthur Webb
Because of the Covid Pandemic the Annual Vestry Meeting and the APCM was delayed, so we have not served a full 12 months. It was not possible for the usual Archdeacon’s Visitation Service to take place, so David and Jennie were readmitted as Churchwardens by Gary, who had received authorisation from the bishop to do so. Later in the year they both participated in a Churchwardens’ training session via Zoom. They have both welcomed at services between lockdowns, which has been different to the norm, with festival services needing to be socially distanced, pre-booked, and with allocated seating. We are grateful to our team of welcomers who, at potential risk to themselves, continued to volunteer and adapted to new forms of welcoming; and to those who volunteered to steward when we were allowed to open the church building twice (then once) a week for private prayer.
David and Jennie have met regularly with Gary, via Zoom, to discuss church policy, and this has given both them and Gary the opportunity to talk frankly and in confidence, and for them to offer him support, especially with the challenges that have resulted from Covid. This is in addition to the more formal Standing Committee meetings, again via Zoom. The PCC has also maintained its regular timetable of meetings online.
Other regular duties have included the completion of various surveys and official documents as required by the diocese.
In October 2019 our PCC Secretary, Christine Brown, had received a letter from the diocese, informing us that, according to a document of 1855, St Peter’s Church was a closed churchyard and should not be open for burials. We owe Chrissie a great debt of thanks for pursuing research into this and establishing that the 1855 document referred to St Peter’s, Tewkesbury Road, Cheltenham, not St Peter’s Leckhampton. Confirmation of this was finally received from the Diocese on 28th September 2020.
In September we were pleased to welcome Jacqueline Henson as our curate. Her ordination took place at the cathedral on Saturday 19th September, 2020. Due to pandemic restrictions, we were not able to greet her and her family with our usual celebratory social gathering, where she could have met us all in person. We hope to repair this omission when the rules allow. Despite the difficulties of joining us in a time of lockdown, Jacqueline has taken on her role with aplomb and is a great asset to the parish and the team.
The Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown demanded numerous risk assessments and much creative thinking as to how best to comply with the many everchanging rules and restrictions. We know we speak for the entire congregation in thanking Gary for his inspiring and enthusiastic leadership throughout this very demanding year.
The Church Building and Grounds
The Quinquennial Inspection of the church was carried out during the year, but at the time of writing the report has not yet been received.
Regular checks, such as the emergency lighting, the electrics and fire safety have been carried out by the appropriate agencies. The gutters and snowboards have been inspected and cleaned as part of regular maintenance, and the cottages guttering has also been cleaned. Paving has been installed to make access to the storage shed easier. Quotes have been obtained for repairing or replacing faulty cladding at the rear of the cottages.
Because of the past failings of the church boiler, a service contract had been taken out with British Gas, but as we were not entirely satisfied with their level of service this has not been renewed. Instead we have used independent contractors, including Tradecraft who have contracts for maintaining rectories in the diocese.
Because of the pandemic there have not been the usual cleaning groups. Instead there has been frequent cleaning and sanitising to make the church as Covid-safe as possible. Thanks are due to the people who
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Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2020
have done this on a regular basis, including between Sunday services. We also acknowledge with thanks the unobtrusive contributions of those who have kept the building dusted and clean during this time.
Last year we had a swarm of honey-bees which took up residence in the church roof. This year we had a swarm of wasps in the cottages roof. After seeking advice it was decided to leave them alone in the hope that they would move on, which fortunately they did.
In spite of Lockdown restrictions, and architects either furloughed or working from home, plans for the reordering have proceeded (though delayed) and an application for a faculty has now been made. The reordering will affect the nave area in front of the altar and the area by the Giffard tomb. More detailed information will be given in a separate report.
During the pandemic, many people have visited our churchyard, where they find a beautiful and peaceful place to sit and reflect – or perhaps simply to walk the dog. We are extremely grateful to Mohammed who has continued throughout to work hard to keep the churchyard neat and trim.
In these gloomy times, we felt it was important to show that the Church was present and active, even if the building itself was shut. In Advent we put up a lighted Christmas tree in the churchyard and decorated the lychgate with lights: a physical ‘light in the darkness’, visible from all directions. We are very grateful to Peter Davies who took on the task of working out how to erect the tree and how to prevent the squirrels from chewing through the electric wiring!
Brownies - 15th Cheltenham (St. Peter’s, Leckhampton) Brownie Pack
Lauren Baugh
We began the year as we usually do – the girls wrote letters to themselves ‘one year in the future’ which they open on the first meeting back after Christmas. We are yet to read our letters from January 2020, as they opted to wait until we were all face to face again. No doubt they will be particularly interesting reading this year! Unfortunately, leader injury and illness struck at the end of January, and so we missed a few weeks of Brownies during February. Then of course, we received the guidance from Girlguiding UK that Brownies were no longer able to meet face to face. My last words to the girls at the meeting before that were “I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about, and I’ll see you all next week as normal”, which one or two have reminded me of since.
However, we have managed to adapt during this time and have moved our weekly meetings onto Zoom, with some girls choosing to undertake the activities independently instead. We have been able to work towards some badges together, adapting the requirements where needed. We can still play games, with the ‘Zoom scavenger hunt’ being a particular favourite of the girls. Other activities have included writing letters to our local MP, completing ‘Taskmaster’ tasks, and playing emoji bingo!
We have sadly said goodbye to our leader Little Owl, but have welcomed a new leader who has been named Sausage Dog.
Whilst Zoom Brownies has not been without its challenges, there have been lots of positives too. The girls have been wonderfully resilient during this time, and their creativity and ability to work as a team in these different circumstances has been outstanding. However, we are all hopeful that face to face Brownies will resume soon, and we can’t wait to get back to St Peters.
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Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2020
Cheltenham Deanery Synod
Peter Davies
In the Church of England and other Anglican churches, a deanery synod is a synod convened by the Rural Dean (or Area Dean) and/ or the Joint Lay Chair of the Deanery Synod, who is elected by the elected lay members. It consists of all clergy licensed to a benefice within the deanery, plus elected lay members. Representing St Peter’s Leckhampton with the Cheltenham Deanery are Peter Davies, Bradley Coates and Mike Riley. The Area Dean for Cheltenham Deanery is Reverend Gary Grady.
Reports containing minutes of deanery Synod meetings are regularly reported to St Peter’s PCC.
Synod meetings in the usual way for the period of this report have not been possible, however, things within and around the Church, (the people), have continued to function and thrive. The Deanery Standing Committee has been able to meet and regular communication is received by all members via email. Because of the present situation the current terms of office for synod members was extended until 30November 2020. The representatives for St Peter’s Leckhampton remain as stated at the beginning of this report.
Churchyard Maintenance
Brad Coates
The churchyard remains a magnificent place and has been mainly attended through lockdown by Mohammad. We extend our continued thanks to him for all his hard work and dedication. As we come out of restriction, I am pleased to announce the arrival of a few regular volunteers who will assist in keeping the grass at bay and tidy. We also welcome a gang from a local school who are starting to turn the Cottage garden round. If you are able to help out, please let me know, any help will be gratefully appreciated.
Cottages Bookings
Parish Office
The Cottages were used by various church and community groups as well as private hirers up until the lockdown in March 2020, when everything necessarily stopped. Under strict hygiene conditions, we were able to allow a South Cheltenham Mindfulness Course to take place in October. With restrictions easing after Easter 2021, we have recently welcomed back one of our regular hirers to give primary school tuition and we have a few private and church bookings in the pipeline. We look forward to being able to welcome back our regular users over the next weeks and months.
Craft-T-Time
Kathy Webb
The Craft-T-Time group meets weekly in the Cottages on Wednesday mornings. It is an informal group whose numbers vary from week to week. Generally, we work on our own individual craft projects, but we also share our expertise and help one another. Occasionally we introduce a new craft that anyone can try out and join in with and at the beginning of this year we learned how to create Danish-style woven paper hearts. In the spring our weekly meetings in the Cottages had to cease due to Covid 19 restrictions, but during the summer we arranged to occasionally meet outdoors in each other’s gardens in groups of no more than 6. Once the weather became inclement, it was no longer possible to meet up in this way and sadly this remained the case until the end of the year. We hope to resume the outdoor meetings as soon as restrictions allow and ultimately to meet again in the Cottages.
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Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2020
Electoral Roll Officer's Report
Eric Miller
Since last year six new names have been added, bringing the total to 140.
Flower Guild
Veronica Biddle
2020 was not only a difficult year for everyone but a very strange one, especially so when churches had to shut because of coronavirus. Because of the restrictions it was decided that it wasn’t practical to continue arranging flowers in church. However, when we came out of the first lockdown and St Peters was opened for private prayer, we decided to do a pedestal in the chancel in silk flowers and foliage to eliminate the need for regular watering. Thanks to the realism of present day technology this fooled many people who didn’t realise they were artificial, especially as we changed the flowers from time to time.
We continued with this theme throughout the rest of the year, apart from arranging fresh flowers for two weddings and two funerals.
Although some members are continuing to self isolate we are all looking forward to getting back to something more normal later in 2021.
Hospital Visiting/Spiritual Care
Peter Davies
Cheltenham and Gloucester hospitals, under the Gloucestershire NHS Foundation Trust, have a Chaplaincy Department with the title, Department of Spiritual Care. The department's fully trained hospital visiting team have members from different church congregations throughout the Diocese. From St Peter’s Leckhampton, Peter Davies assists the team with ward visiting at Cheltenham General, usually on Friday mornings, and Penny Williams on Sunday mornings according to a team rota and both are available to be called to assist at other times at either of the two Hospitals if necessary. Peter is also listed on the Hospital Major Incident Team.
Since the lock-down period on 23 March 2020 hospital visiting has not been allowed except in certain circumstances. To date Spiritual Care volunteers are still waiting a decision from Line-Managers and the Hospital Trust for encouragement to restart and continue their work.
Julian Group
Jennie Hawdon
Throughout the COVID pandemic restrictions of 2020, the group continued to meet on the first Thursday of the month at 2.30 pm, but virtually each in our own home, rather than together in the Cottages. We communicated the beginning and end of our half-hour of silent, contemplative prayer by What’s App message. In that half-hour of silence, we knew that we were together in spirit, if not in person, and that we had companions as we sought to find an internal place and space of calm. We re-discovered that, in a period of national and international distress, stillness and silence with God is indeed more valuable and necessary than ever.
Due to the wonders of 21st century technology, we were able to ‘meet’ together via Zoom at the end of the half-hour, when we could see each other online and have a chat over tea and biscuits. A big thank you to Penny Piggott for providing the Zoom access.
We are very few in number and would welcome new members. If interested, please contact Jennie Hawdon.
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Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2020
Junior Church
Liz Johnson
Junior Church was unable to meet during most of 2020, due to the pandemic. We started off 2020 with our usual making of Christingles, but had to cancel our Mothering Sunday posy making when lockdown was imposed.
During lockdown many of the Junior Church leaders (and children!) have had increased family commitments including home schooling and home working to deal with, so we have not met online. However, as restrictions start to ease, I am hopeful that we can resume activities later in 2021. I am also excited to welcome Revd Jacqueline and her family to St Peter’s, and look forward to when we can start Junior Churching together!
Ladies’ Fellowship Group
Hermione Mason
Last year we started with a very informative talk about the role of the Street Pastor. In February we had a bring and share supper with a film which was enjoyable evening. Then lockdown happened so we met on Zoom for a wonderful talk by Maggie about the work of Mindsong. Since then we have met on Zoom twice this year for some socials. We are planning to meet for a bring and share tea in May.
Leckhampton Bellringers
Stuart Tomlinson
2020 started normally, with us ringing for all Sunday 10am services, attempting quarter peals prior to the evensong services and holding regular Monday evening practices. Sadly, this all stopped mid-March due to the Covid outbreak.
Soon after this, we set up a WhatsApp group to keep in touch. Then towards the end of May we started a weekly on-line tower practice using Zoom and RingingRoom – a new on-line bell ringing application. These sessions have been very useful (and challenging!) for all of us. Good for keeping in touch and for keeping the methods we regularly ring fresh in our minds. Particularly useful for our learners, who have been able to try new things without having to also think about physically ringing their bell. We have supplemented this with some Zoom theory sessions.
During September, October and December, we were allowed to ring in church for the Sunday morning services. We took the precautions of wearing face masks, hand sanitising and ringing alternate bells, except when we had two from the same household. This meant us ringing either four or five bells. This opportunity to ring ‘real bells’ was welcomed by quite a few of us, and we are most grateful to Revd Gary for allowing us to ring.
During the 2nd half of 2020, Stuart has updated Bellboard (an on-line database) with the old Leckhampton Peal and Quarter Peal records. Bellboard now has a record of all the quarter peals rung since the major rehanging in 1972 and most of them back to the late 1950’s – 2,047 recorded, including 1,981 since 1972. All of the peals rung at Leckhampton are now also on Bellboard – a total of 413, with the earliest rung in 1893, when there were just six bells. We are fortunate to have such good paper records and now also online records. According to Bellboard, we have rung more quarter peals than any other tower worldwide, and are comfortably in the top 50 towers for peals.
Stuart visits the belfry every 1-2 months to do a visual check of the bells and fittings. This included ensuring that the stays are secure, each bell rope is safely tied to its bell wheel and not showing major signs of wear, and the clappers are secure and swing freely. If needed, he hoovers the clock room, the belfry and the area where we ring in the church. We don’t anticipate any major bell expenditure being required in 2021.
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Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2020
Leckhampton C of E Primary School Foundation Governors report
Jane Allison, Sue Marlow and Gilly Whittingham
It has been a challenging year for the school due to the Covid Pandemic. For a large part of the year only the children of key workers attended in person and others were taught remotely. The staff, led by Miss Porter, has managed to do extremely well to teach both groups of pupils.
The children have now come back into school and were excited to return even though there are some restrictions in place. Due to the hard work of the staff, the children have settled back into a routine on a comprehensive recovery curriculum. Governor meetings have continued but taken place online.
As foundation governors, we have been unable to visit the school or support church activities.
Rev Gary has had very little opportunity to visit due to Covid but did manage to see the new hall space and other building works. Last summer, he provided every Year 6 child with a ‘It’s Your Move’ booklet to help them with moving on to secondary school. He was sad not to be able to deliver, and talk about, these in person. In the autumn, he held a Zoom welcome service for the new Reception children and has also produced a number of short videos for the children in which he talked about Easter, Christmas, Harvest and Baptism. He has supported the staff where possible and delivered boxes of chocolates on behalf of the church.
The prayer group has been unable to meet in school so socially distanced prayer walks have taken place.
The school expansion is continuing with the new buildings due to be handed over to the school in Summer 2021.
As Foundation Governors we have continued to serve the school well, in different ways, during these difficult times.
Men’s Group
Richard Kerr-Wilson
Lockdown from Covid has not only limited our meetings over the past year, but also numbed the ability to recall those that took place. However, when possible we were able to meet in the garden of the Wheatsheaf pub for social interaction either for lunch or in the evening, with suitable social distancing. The evening meeting(s) was well attended, and although the meeting for lunch was more quality than quantity, it was equally enjoyable. All being well, we will be able to resume meeting in the Wheatsheaf garden on May 6th, 2021, for lunch, and plan to arrange another gentle walk to a public house later in the year.
Music
Simon Gibson, Director of Music
It would be nice to be able to report on a year full of wonderful music-making at church and our second Music Festival last October. Alas, what might have been.
Instead, I can talk to you about how we managed to keep the musical life of St. Peter’s going through the various lockdowns and limitations when we managed to get back into church.
For us all, it was a steep learning curve with the online technology we had to use, namely how do we make Zoom video calls work for the choir! By a process of trial and error, we organised our weekly choir meetings over this internet marvel – we could see and hear each other in our own homes and we managed to make some recordings that ended up on the church’s website and got used in some online services too. The choir also ‘Zoomed’ for a couple of Quizzes, one at Christmas and one at Easter. We promised ourselves that the next one should be in person at church.
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Using Zoom now seems like second nature, but it will never replace the sheer joy of being able to gather in person to sing together, either in the churchyard (as we did last June and July) or eventually in the church in the autumn and at Christmas. The two Carol Services we sang last year were extra special, not least for the fact that the congregations could not sing. However, we did manage to sing something together outside in the churchyard after each service, despite the cold!
Looking ahead, we have plans for our music festival in the autumn again; let’s hope we can put it on this year. I also hope that the whole choir will be able to sing together in church very soon and, most of all, that you the congregation will be able to open your mouths and show forth your praise by joining in.
Thanks, as always, to the singers in the choir, particularly to the children who have missed out on almost a year of choral fellowship and fun. Thanks to Gary and everyone at St. Peter’s who are so encouraging towards the music and to you the congregation.
Music will soon return for us all.
Open the Book
Peter Davies
Open the book is administered by the Bible Society and the respective parish leader. Many churches participate thus providing a team of people who visit one or more primary schools to present bible stories at the school assemblies or during Acts of Collective Worship. The Stories are taken from “The Lion Story Teller Bible” and Open the Book Years 1, 2 & 3 Storybooks. For each Bible there is an advisory Handbook published by the Bible Society, as everything that is said or done has already been tried, tested and corrected and, for lots of reasons, we promise to abide by the recommended advi c e.
The Open the Book team representing St Peter’s consists of: Peter Davies, (Leading), Jennie Hawdon, Penny Williams, Annie Tincello and Sarah Wood . Reverend Gary, as he is known at O.T.B., joins us regularly to take an active and extremely energetic part.
The schools visited by the St Peter’s team are Leckhampton Primary every other Wednesday during termtime and, alternatively, Richard Pate School the other Wednesday, thus presenting a bible story at morning school assembly on a three-year rolling basis as recommended by the Open the Book administrators.
Sadly but hopefully we still await agreement for school assembly to restart.
Parish Magazine
David Webber, Editor; Sue Marlow, Business Manager; Peter Davies, Distribution Manager
The Parish Magazine has continued to be published every month but because of the pandemic it has only been available online on the church website. It has not been possible to provide a printed copy because of Covid restrictions and because it would not be reasonable to expect the distributors to venture out to deliver the magazine. Only a very small number have been printed, mainly for the archives. As we were unable to deliver printed magazines, as a goodwill gesture advertisers have been offered half-price rates for 2021, though they have actually received good coverage online. Pre-paid readers will be offered a number free copies when printing is resumed.
We have continued to maintain the integrity of the magazine by insisting that all articles are apolitical and, in accordance with Diocesan policy, and the editor reserves the right to reject any contribution that he considers inappropriate.
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Thank you to everyone who contributes to the magazine. Contributions have inevitably been reduced, but enough has been received to make it a viable, and hopefully interesting, magazine, and as we are not restricted by printing costs it has been possible to include a lot more colour. It has hopefully been a valuable resource for keeping people in touch and informed about church life during the pandemic.
An electronic copy is sent every month, at their request, to the Diocesan Press Office and, as a legal requirement, a hard copy is posted to the British Library.
Every year the magazines are bound into a hard copy, which is stored in the Parish Office and eventually in the Diocesan Archives.
Pastoral Team
Sally Marlow
Throughout the last year we have continued to meet via Zoom every other month, under Gary’s leadership. Our aim during times of government COVID restrictions has been to make sure contact has been maintained with individual members of our congregation, offering support where appropriate. We look forward to resuming face-to-face contact with the Care Homes when it is safe to do so and restarting our support of Wedding and Baptism preparation. Friday Lunches and Afternoon Teas in the cottage gardens will also resume in safer times.
During the next year we look forward to further supporting Gary’s ministry and helping him take forward new initiatives. We are Jacqueline Henson, Dereck Freeman, Anne Webber, Steve Whittingham, Jennie Hawdon and Sally Marlow.
Safeguarding
Sally Campion
St Peter’s continues to be committed to the safeguarding of children, young people and vulnerable adults. There have been no serious causes for concern. Any issues are brought to the attention of Rev Gary and the PCC. Safeguarding is a required agenda item for every Standing Committee and PCC meeting. The policies are reviewed annually in accordance with Diocesan policy. Sally Campion remains as Parish Safeguarding Officer. Stephen Gale, Barbara Pettit and Liz Johnson continue to act as Evidence Checkers.
Sally Campion, as Parish Safeguarding Officer, regularly reviews the list of volunteers and employees. All individuals who required a DBS check, or a renewal, have been notified and asked to follow the DBS procedure. A DBS tracker is kept by Sally Campion as Parish Safeguarding Officer and Liz Johnson as Parish Office Administrator. All written declarations are stored securely in the Parish Office and are only accessible to Rev Gary Grady, Sally Campion, Liz Johnson and the Diocesan Safeguarding Office.
Rev Gary and Sally Campion attended an online Cheltenham Deanery Safeguarding Workshop organised by the Diocesan Safeguarding Team in February 2021. This gave an opportunity to share good practice, receive an update on safeguarding in the Diocese, and an overview of the current training requirements.
The Diocesan Safeguarding Team have made some changes, in line with the National Safeguarding team, about the levels of training individuals require for the roles they carry out within the church. In line with this, Rev Gary and Sally Campion have put together a Safeguarding Training Matrix for St Peters to show what level of safeguarding training is required according to role. The training must be refreshed every three years if the role is maintained. Invites to complete training will be sent out in due course.
Sally Campion has completed online Basic Awareness and Foundation training during February 2021 and Leadership training, via Zoom, in March 2021. Online Safer Recruitment training is now also available for those involved in the recruitment of staff and volunteers working with children, young people and vulnerable adults.
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Social Committee
Helen Yates
The Social Committee were all ready for Mothering Sunday in March 2020 – Suzy’s ingredients weighed out for the Simnel Cake - when the country went into Lockdown 1.0 due to the rising number of Covid 19 cases - and all churches were closed and services were now on line.
We were so very grateful for on-line services – keeping us all connected but I am sure that we all missed that personal contact and social interaction with our church family. There was no hot cross buns and fizz at Easter, no Peter Tide celebrations in the cottage gardens etc. Although there was an All Souls service just before lockdown 2.0 we were not able to provide the usual refreshments and certainly no mulled wine etc after the carols.
But the social committee will hopefully bounce back in the second half of 2021! We believe, as a support group to the church - we play a little part in the “Ministry of Hospitality” in welcoming the family of St Peters and visitors by providing refreshments...including occasionally some fizz!
Ro, Penny, Pat, Suzy, Anna, Sally, Val and myself look forward to seeing you in 2021 - meanwhile keep well, stay safe.
South Cheltenham Churches Team Council
Peter Davies
The Churches forming the South Cheltenham Team Benefice are:
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St Peter’s in Leckhampton
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The Church in Warden Hill
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St Stephens, Tivoli
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St Philip and James, Leckhampton
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Emmanuel, Cheltenham
It is recommended that each Church is represented by several members. The meetings Chairman is Reverend Nick Davies, Team Rector. Member representatives for St Peter’s are Reverend Gary Grady, Lay members - Peter Davies and Helen Shill. Since the last face-to-face team meeting on 20th January 2020 communication has been assisted via email and Zoom Meetings.
Sunday Coffee
Ro Baillie and Joey Kerr-Wilson
Joey and Ro took over from Penny Piggott on 1st January 2020. Until 15th March all ran smoothly but then, due to COVID19 restrictions, we went into lockdown and the cottages have been closed for refreshments ever since. Now that the church is open again for services, at present with restricted numbers, we hope it won’t be too long till refreshments can be served again after the Sunday morning service. As soon as the green light is given we will put up a roster and hope that all those who assisted before lockdown will continue to do so. Any newcomers who would like to be added to the list will be very welcome.
Syrian Refugee Project
Steve Whittingham
November 2020 marked the third anniversary of the Abazied family’s arrival in Cheltenham under the Home Office’s Sponsorship Scheme. While the sponsorship agreement between the Home Office and the churches of the South Cheltenham Team formally came to an end in 2019, we have continued to provide support to the family. The generosity of individuals across all the South Cheltenham congregations has
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meant that we have been able to help significantly towards paying the rent on the Abazieds’ accommodation while they continue to make progress to establish an independent life for themselves.
Meanwhile, the family themselves have coped well during the pandemic and associated lockdowns. Mohammad continues to work in the churchyard, Wahida has had her first vaccination against Covid and the three children have now all been at the same secondary school since September.
Thanks to all across the South Cheltenham congregations who’ve given of their time , talents and money in welcoming this family into our community, and giving them fresh opportunity and hope for the future.
Tuesday Club
Revd Gary Grady
The Tuesday club met for the first two months of 2020 in the church cottages but has been on hold thereafter due to the pandemic. I would like to thank Helen Shill who led the group last year and has now stepped down. As such it has given us time to rethink the format, name and leadership of the group. I’m delighted to report that Lara Skinner will take the helm and that the Tuesday Club will reopen from 22nd June 2021 under the new name of ‘Little Pebbles’ (the name having a lovely connection to St. Peter, which is translated in Greek as petros meaning stone or rock). Do look out for those little pebbles around the church, and support where possible.
Youth Work
Hanna Stürcken, Youthworker
The beginning of the year saw a successful continuation of the Hot Chocolate Church mornings at Bath Road. Additionally, several young people from the South Cheltenham churches joined the weekend away run by Youth for Christ Gloucestershire in February. The young people enjoyed the time away, reflecting on God and socialising with other young Christians. Should the weekend be held again in the future, Hanna recommends the young people attend this.
Before the lockdown in March, Hanna was able to deliver survival kits to most young people from across the South Cheltenham Churches and CNC. The evening groups, Rock Solid and NextGen, continued to run on Zoom until the end of the school year. Sessions went back to in-person, whenever this was possible, and smoothly transitioned back to Zoom once required to do so. Young people from the South Cheltenham Churches have been encouraged to join the main services online. Cheltenham Network Church has recently started a monthly digital catch-up after the service.
Despite the difficulties arising from the global pandemic, youth work has been able to continue throughout 2020 with the only change of Hot Chocolate Church not being able to run.
Rock Solid was able to welcome two new members during the first and second lockdown. Kay Edwards has been the co-leader throughout the year, this minimised the risk for in-person meetings and gave the group a sense of stability. All of the young people in this group have adapted very well to online youth work and easily transition back into in-person meetings too. Overall the group sees a regular attendance of 10 young people.
NextGen ran weekly to provide entertainment for the older youth during the spring term and went back to every other week in the summer term. With the beginning of the new academic year, several young people from NextGen have felt unable to join the online sessions, as they already spend so much time on screen for their school work. All members prefer in-person sessions; however, online Bible studies and game nights were still happily attended. Due to these circumstances, the attendance numbers can vary. Tamsyn Jenkins has taken on the role of co-leader for this group.
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