Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2022
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 Reportfor2022 Page 2 of 24
Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2022
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 2022 APCM the composition of the PCC is as follows (the years elected are shown in brackets):
Team Vicar and Chair Revd Gary Grady Curate Revd Jacqueline Henson Readers Dereck Freeman Melissa Webb EX-OFFICIO Churchwardens Jennie Hawdon (2022) David Webber (2022) Deputy Churchwarden Arthur Webb (2022) Deanery Synod Representatives (2020-2023) Mike Riley Peter Davies * Brad Coates
LAY MEMBERS
Lay Members elected 2020-2023 (one year of Sally Marlow service remaining) Penny Piggott Christine Brown (Secretary) Anne Webber
Lay Members elected 2021-2024 (two years of service remaining)
Lay Members elected 2021-2024 (two years of Ro Baillie service remaining) Helen Shill * Sarah Wood Lay Members elected 2022-2025 (three years of Mike Riley service remaining) Margaret Kyffin Peter Marlow (Treasurer) Co-opted Member Richard Kerr-Wilson 2022 (Eco Officer)
Co-opted Member
* SCTM Representatives
Totals: PCC members: 10, Ex officio 6, co-opted 1
Page 3 of 24
Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2022
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
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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Electoral Roll: Currently there are 145 on our electoral roll, so we can have up to 15 lay members on the PCC as well as 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 Churchwardens 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.”
The following Committees promote the life of St Peter’s:
Social Committee: Revd Gary Grady, Ro Baillie, Helen Yates Pastoral Team: Revd Gary Grady, Revd Jacqueline Henson, Dereck Freeman, Jennie Hawdon, Anne Webber, Sally Marlow, Steve Whittington, Penny Williams
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Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2022
Ministry Report
2022 has been another extraordinary year.
Whilst many of the pandemic restrictions were slowly lifted, we continued to remain cautious, with the common cup having not yet returned and various precautions still in place.
We have continued to worship both in-person and on-line, with the 10am Sunday service and Morning Prayer (each day) being live-streamed throughout the year; we will continue to do this in 2023.
In May, our boiler finally failed beyond economic repair and, with the C of E aiming to be carbon neutral by 2030, we were encouraged to look at a greener way to heat St. Peter’s. Having explored all of the available options, plans for a new under-pew heating system were drawn up and this was installed in November, just in time for the colder winter months. This also contributed to us achieving a Silver EcoChurch Award.
At the same time, our long awaited reordering faculty was approved and we now look forward to having a new sound system, large screens, an integrated live-streaming hub, and some new furniture (at the front as well as an enclosure for the Giffard Memorial) being installed in 2023. Changes to the nave altar area will then follow, most probably in 2024.
Thank you for your patient endurance and support for all of these schemes.
I continue to look ahead with optimism. Our numbers and finances have rallied after the pandemic and there is more to come with the hoped for restarting of our Junior Church. Our relationship with the local schools is excellent and we continue to reach out in many ways to the local community through our groups and events; and our beautiful building and churchyard continues to attract people to ‘come and see’.
Thank you to all who have supported the life of St Peter’s in 2022, and for how you have showed your love for God through what you do for others.
Every blessing for 2023 and beyond.
Revd Gary Grady, Team Vicar
Page 5 of 24
Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2022
Review of financial activities and affairs for 2022
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 2022
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The Statement of Assets and Liabilities which shows the monetary and other assets which the Church has on 31 December 2022
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Notes that explain the detail.
Overall, St Peters remains in a good financial position with total unrestricted funds carried forward of £209,459, a decrease of £19,570 over 2021. This is better than expected given that we have spent £35,535 on the new heating system and £3,640 on the vestry reconstruction.
Total funds carried forward, which includes restricted income and investments, is £248,011, a decrease of £25,595 over 2021. Unfortunately, the big increase in the value of our investments of £7,628 in 2021 was reversed in 2022 with a loss of £7,450. We have however been able to consolidate the Gloucester Diocesan Trusts into a single accessible restricted fund which can be spent on the Church external fabric and the Churchyard as required.
We achieved a surplus on running costs in 2022 of £8,332: a great result!
We currently have 75 regular givers, 71 of whom give through the Parish Giving Scheme. Regular giving massively helps St Peters to plan its finances.
The South Cheltenham Churches Refugee Project was wound down in 2022 after 5 years. The project balance is £4,917 was donated to GARAS as originally agreed.
The Music Festival in October raised £1,670 for Mindsong. The Afternoon Teas in June/July raised £450 for Family Space thanks to events organised by the Leckhampton Local History Society. The Carol Singing and Friday lunches raised £521 for the Childrens’ Society. Over the past year there were 474 transactions through the card reader in church to a value of £2,822 (398 transactions to a value of £2,126 in 2021). The terminal fees were £258 over the year with a 2.5% transaction cost.
We were able to start our reordering project in October 2022 with the installation of a new electric heating system. The cost of £46,283 was offset by a grant of £7,107 to cover the VAT from the Listed Places of Worship (LPW) Grant Scheme.
Policy on Reserves
As a result of the Quinquennial Inspection Report of 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 the continuing reordering project 2023 to 2024.
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 2022. Also many thanks to the Independent Examiner, David Evans.
Peter Marlow
Hon Treasurer
Page 6 of 24
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Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2022
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 2022.
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.
Signed:
Name: D G Evans ACIB
Address: 13 Leckhampton Views, Leckhampton, Cheltenham GL53 0AR
Date:
Page 10 of 24
Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2022
Churchwardens report for the 2022 APCM
Churchwardens: David Webber and Jennie Hawdon, Deputy Warden: Arthur Webb
As before David and Jennie have met regularly with Rev Gary 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, and to pass on pastoral concerns that may have come to their attention. This is in addition to the more formal Standing Committee meetings. The PCC has also maintained its regular timetable of meetings. We have been pleased, as wardens, to be able to work with Rev Jacqueline and thank her for her ministry and support.
Other regular duties have included the completion of various surveys and official documents as required by the diocese. This year we attended separate annual Archdeacon’s Visitation services when the wardens were officially admitted to their office.
The altar servers have continued to assist with the smooth running of services and in spite of being few in number have been able to cover every 10 am service. Thanks are due to them and to the readers, intercessors, welcomers, bellringers, choir and organist who all make a valuable contribution to services, and to the flower arrangers for their inspirational displays. Unfortunately Simon Gibson, the Director of Music, tendered his resignation in March. A new Director of Music will be appointed in due course and in the meantime we thank the various organists who have stood in.
The Church Building and Grounds
During the previous year the church and cottages had been inspected by Ecclesiastical Insurance to value the respective buildings and contents for rebuilding in the event of fire and to reassess for potential risk and to ensure that we are carrying out the necessary safety checks on a regular basis.
Although they were generally impressed by the high standard of maintenance and attention to safety and security some recommendations were made. All of these have been addressed, the most important being up-to-date inspections of the electricity circuits in the church and the cottages. They agreed to wait until after the 3-phase electricity supply for the under-pew heating was installed. Both inspections were completed in February 2023, with satisfactory certificates issued.
Regular checks, such as the emergency lighting, and fire safety have been carried out by the appropriate agencies.
The gas boiler reached the end of its life and as the policy of General Synod and the Diocese discouraged its replacement under-pew heating has been installed, necessitating the installation of 3-phase electricity cabling from Church Road, under the path and into church.
A faculty application for reordering was finally approved by the Chancellor and part of this work has been completed. More detailed information will be given in a separate report.
During the COVID pandemic the pews had been being sprayed with anti-viral cleaner and wiped down after every service, and as a result they were looking very tired and uncared-for. In April, as the lockdown restrictions came to an end, we organised a special pew-polishing event to apply some restorative beeswax polish. A special church cleaning morning was organised again in October after the installation of the under-pew heating.
We are extremely grateful to Mohammed who continues to keep the churchyard neat and trim, and to a group of students from Cheltenham College who have helped out on a regular basis. Particular thanks are due to Brad Coates who has supervised and organised the upkeep of the churchyard.
Social activities returned to normal in the course of the year, including coffee after the Sunday 10.00 am service and Afternoon Teas in June/July. Other highlights included a Music Festival and the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Thank you to all who help with the catering for these events.
The lights on the Christmas tree in the churchyard and round the lychgate during Advent have become a tradition. We are very grateful to Peter Davies who organises the lighting.
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Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2022
Brownies - 15th Cheltenham (St. Peter’s, Leckhampton) Brownie Pack
Livvy Niblett
15th Cheltenham Brownies currently have 21 girls at the unit. We have been working towards both programme and challenge badges in some of our Brownie meetings. We have just had our very first Brownie complete all 15 interest badges.
Just before Christmas, we ran a very successful Christmas games evening. The Brownies worked together in small groups to create a Christmas themed game. We invited families along at the end of Brownies to play some of the games for a small fee. We were very pleased to raise a total of £70.00 for Young Lives vs Cancer.
This last year we have attended a District trip to Cattle Country farm park, a District Disco and a District cinema trip. We are looking forward to making use of the outside space at the cottages and spending some meetings outdoors next term.
CCP (Caring for Communities and People ) Donations
Gilly Whittingham
Over the past year and increasingly over the latter part of 2022 and into 2023 the demand on the CCP Pantry has greatly increased. CCP rely on the generosity of supporters in the local community to donate food items for those living in poverty and struggling to provide food for themselves and/or their families. Again, the members of the congregation at St. Peters continue to give generously to the foodbank, demonstrated on a weekly basis by the amount of donations left in the porch for collection. I am also aware that there are a number of parishioners who made regular monetary donations. Each week that I visit the CCP pantry I am met with thanks from all the staff for the support that St. Peters has given and continues to give on a regular basis.
I endeavour to highlight, in the weekly newsletter, ways to increase donations at particular times of the year. The Lent appeal, which has now been going for a few years, brought is a massive 125.4kgs of donations in 2022. At our Harvest Festival service in September the donations amounted to 68.4kgs; all of which went to the Pantry. The Hamper Scamper appeal in the run up to Christmas brought in a further 32.9kgs in addition to the regular weekly collection.
All this brings the grand total for 2022 to a massive 972.9kgs, making it the most successful year since I have been recording the totals. It would be great to get over the 1000kg mark in 2023! A very big thank you to everyone who has donated, either with physical items or regular monetary donations.
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 the PCC at St Peter’s. During 2022 meetings were held as follows:
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February 15[th] at St Barnabas Cheltenham.
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June 27[th] at St Mary’s Charlton Kings.
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October 13[th] at St Lukes Cheltenham.
Meetings for 2023: At the time of writing this report there is a meeting scheduled for March 29[th] at St Nicolas Cheltenham.
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Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2022
Churchyard Maintenance
Brad Coates
The churchyard continues to be a beautiful place of reflection and tranquility with our special thanks to Mohammed and the regular gang of volunteers who keep it in such high order. We will continue to rewild where possible to create refuges for wildlife such as deer, owls and orchids. New volunteers are always welcome who can do anything from light tidying of the Garden of Remembrance to mowing.
Cottages Bookings
Liz Johnson, Parish Administrator
We have had steady bookings over the past year where the Cottages have been used by various church and community groups as well as private hirers. Church groups include Little Pebbles, Julian Group, Ladies and Mens fellowship groups and in May we welcomed back the Craft Group. Other hirers include private parties, primary school tuition and a Diocesan Mindfulness Course. In addition to Brownies, we now have Rainbows each week during termtime. Crossroads Care’s Azalea Club ran all year, but have now outgrown our premises, so had their last session in February. We are sad to see them go.
To comply with our Eco Church ethos, I try where possible to order sustainable and fairtrade supplies for the Cottages. We encourage all hirers and church groups to use the recycling boxes and food bin in the Cottages: the recycling fairy (Liz) would welcome your help in this – please squash tins/plastic/cardboard where possible, only put clean items into the boxes and change the liner in the food bin after use.
Craft-T-Time
Kathy Webb
Spring saw the Craft Group once more meeting in person at the Cottages. This year we learned how to make greetings cards using Iris Folding, a technique that involves arranging and layering strips of paper in a spiralled pattern that resembles the iris of a camera. The technique took a bit of time to master, but was most rewarding.
Throughout the year, the knitters amongst us have produced hats, jackets and blankets for the premature baby unit at Gloucester Royal Hospital as well as knitting dozens of angels for the CaBiC (Cheltenham and Bishop’s Cleeve Anna Chaplaincy) Christmas Appeal for delivery to older people in local care homes.
The group also continues to knit the blankets that are given as gifts to babies who are baptised at St Peter’s.
Anyone attending the monthly mid-week communion services at St Peter’s is more than welcome to join us for coffee after the service.
EcoChurch
Richard Kerr-Wilson
We began the year with a Bronze award from A Rocha, but ended the year with a Silver.
We had one meeting in February with a small committee, and another in the churchyard in April to plan how we could rewild some of the area. This was followed by a successful application for a Silver award which we were awarded in June. We had another meeting of an enlarged committee of eight members in November.
We are very grateful to all those who have contributed to our achievements so far, especially Ben Gilchrist, Brad Coates and Mohammed Abazied.
Page 13 of 24
Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2022
Electoral Roll Officer's Report
Eric Miller
The current total on the Roll is 145, two more than last year. Further applications can be made at any time and regular worshippers are encouraged to add their names so that they can be contacted speedily with any important information. It is also the case than only those whose names are on the Roll may vote at the Parish Annual Meeting.
Flower Guild
Veronica Biddle
2022 saw the Guild get back to some sort of normality as we were able to arrange flowers in church on a weekly basis as well as special festivals and occasions. There were fewer weddings than we expected and some of the brides did not ask for special flowers being happy to accept whatever was in the church. We also did flowers for a couple of funerals.
The cost of flowers has increased considerably over the last couple of years, but the temperature in church has been so cold throughout the week that flowers have lasted much longer than expected. This has been a great saving.
During the year some of us looked into using local flower growers but it was felt that they didn’t grow the variety or kinds of flowers we wanted to use and they were not available at the right time. We have changed our mechanics and we are now using biodegradable materials. We will continue to keep an open mind about sourcing of local flowers in the future and use them when appropriate.
House Group
Arthur and Kathy Webb
For the first half of 2022 the House Group continued to meet monthly via Zoom, but after a break over the summer we resumed meeting in person. During the year we added Isaac, Jacob, Abraham and Sarah and Abel to our exploration of Douglas Connolly’s “Heroes of Faith” and then moved on to take a look at the Beatitudes using Robert Warren & Sue Mayfield’s “Life Attitudes”. By the autumn our numbers had dropped for a variety of reasons and a decision was made to wrap the group up.
Julian Group
Jennie Hawdon
We are so pleased that normality has returned in the course of the year and we have been able to meet together monthly in the Cottages. It makes such a difference to have the physical companionship, as we seek to centre ourselves in a place of stillness and silence with God.
We are still very few in number. If you are at all interested in trying a contemplative and still approach to God, away from the clamour and demands of our busy world, please consider joining us in the Cottages on the first Thursday of the month at 2.30 pm. Contact: Jennie Hawdon.
Junior Church
Liz Johnson
Junior Church met to make Christingles and Mothering Sunday posies. We have still not resumed Sunday sessions, but intend to do so. In the meantime, we make sure there are some activities in the children’s area in church each Sunday, and will be meeting to plan how we welcome children and their families back when our sessions start up again.
Page 14 of 24
Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2022
Ladies’ Fellowship Group
Hermione Mason
The Ladies Fellowship, at last, has been able to plan a full programme of meeting and outings for 2023. In May 2022, we visited North Cerney Garden and all had a lovely time with tea and cake to round the afternoon off, what a beautiful Garden, we plan to go again this year. Later in the year a large group of us went to the Tuckwell Theatre, we had a wonderful shared picnic followed by a wonderful production of “Pygmalion”, an enjoyable evening was had by all. Then in November Suzy put on a “Cale Decoration Demonstration” in the Cottages. We all had great fun after her demonstration decorating Christmas cake with her many stamps and tools.
So far this year we’ve visited the Everyman to see an Alan Aykbourne play, fantastic, and listened to a wonderful talk by Reverend Jacqueline, who knew she’d had such an amazing life before being called to Priesthood.
Leckhampton Bellringers
Stuart Tomlinson
This year we warmly welcome new learners Keith Reading and Jacob Coates to the band. Also, Brad Coates, who is returning after about a 20 year absence. Since we now have a healthy number of learners, we start our Monday practices at 7pm to focus on them, until the main practice starts soon after 7:30pm. This is working well.
We usually have good attendance for Sunday Service ringing and often have enough to ring all eight bells. Most Sunday evenings we attempt a quarter peal, with assistance from other local ringers.
In August we hosted an introduction to ringing event for six employees from the P3 Homeless Housing Charity. This included a visit up the tower, a go at handbell ringing, plus the opportunity to chime a bell and to pull off a raised bell at Handstroke.
On 9th September, we rang the bells half-muffled in mourning for Queen Elizabeth II and the next day for the proclamation of King Charles III. We also rang before the Queen’s funeral on 19[th] September.
At the end of September, most of us plus a number of ex-Leckhampton ringers and friends spent an enjoyable long weekend visiting all the ringable towers on the Isle of Wight.
In November we rang a full peal to mark 50 years since the first peal on the new ring. The band included Hilda Ridley, plus Bernard and Malcolm Taylor, who all rang in the original peal. In total, five peals were rung this year.
Another remarkable achievement was ringing the 2,000[th] quarter peal on the bells since the rehanging in 1972. This happened on 30[th] January and was featured in the Ringing World magazine. This is almost certainly the most quarter peals yet rung in a church anywhere.
Stuart continues to visit the belfry roughly every 6 weeks to do a visual check of the bells and fittings. Keith now assists with belfry maintenance and has a lot of useful engineering experience. Following a discussion with Gary, the sound control has been adjusted so that the bells sound a bit quieter outside the church.
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Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2022
Leckhampton C of E Primary School Foundation Governors report
Jane Allison, Sue Marlow, Gilly Whittingham and Revd Gary
At the start of the year the school was still working under some restrictions brought in during the Covid-19 pandemic. As the year progressed the school returned to normal and extracurricular activities, sports fixtures and out of school visits were able to resume. The Year 6 children went on their residential trip to the Isle of Wight and attended the leavers' service at Gloucester Cathedral. They also performed in a production that was enjoyed by families and the rest of the school. The Pupil Parliament has been active and children have organised fund raising activities for various charities including Ukraine.
Governors attend meetings regularly and visit the school, meeting with staff to hear about aspects of school life and to report to the Governing body on progress in different subject areas. Rev Gary or Rev Jacqueline lead an assembly at least once per month and have also been a part of special school moments, including switching on the Christmas Tree lights.
The school expansion is continuing and the new hall, classrooms and facilities are well used and enjoyed by all. A calm zone has been created enabling children who need it to access a quiet space. The school again welcomed three new classes in Reception and this year they were able to come to St. Peter's in October for a welcome service led by Rev Gary. There are now three classes in all but two year groups.
The increase in pupil numbers has led to a need for changes in the staffing structure with more leadership roles created. Governors have participated in the appointment procedures including for the new position of Deputy Head Teacher. Miss Bird joined the school in September, she settled in quickly and is enjoying her role.
In November Miss Porter received a phone call to inform the school that an Ofsted inspection was to take place starting the following morning. The two day visit was stressful but the school was well prepared. The inspectors looked at all areas of the curriculum and school life, they visited lessons and met with staff and Governors. Ofsted's criteria have changed significantly since the last inspection in 2008 and the school was pleased to be graded Good with Outstanding features.
Men’s Group
Richard Kerr-Wilson
The Men’s Group continued to meet on the first Thursday in the month throughout the year, apart from January, June and August. Meetings were mostly social and were well attended, either at lunchtime or in the evening, usually at the Wheatsheaf in the Old Bath Road.
The meeting in February was to the Rococo gardens in Painswick for the snowdrops, with a guided tour thanks to Brenda Davies. This was followed by lunch in a local tavern. Another visit was planned to Croome Park in May, where Peter Davies had volunteered to act as guide, but unfortunately no one turned up on the day.
In September, there was a presentation in the evening in the church cottages on Eco Church and ‘The Story of Stuff’, followed by a lively discussion and accompanied by wine.
In 2023, we continue our regular meetings at the Wheatsheaf, but we also have fourteen men booked for skittles and supper on Wednesday 1st March.
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Parochial Church Council Annual Report for 2022
Music
Simon Gibson, Director of Music
We have enjoyed another year of wonderful music at St Peter’s. We celebrated the Platinum Jubilee by singing a specially commissioned anthem written by Thomas Hewitt Jones for the RSCM – ‘In Our Service’. We have welcomed some new and younger(!) voices to the choir and have sung a variety of music at the weekly Sunday Eucharist, ranging from the 1500s to the present day.
The Music Festival in October again proved to be very popular with both performers and audience. This year we had more choirs performing, but also some wonderful smaller groups and individuals, including some of my organ students. The musical quality was superb throughout the day, and we were so lucky to have such wonderful performances. The level of seriousness went from highly suspect at the start, with our organ and piano duets, to truly professional with Hannah Davey and James Gilchrist’s song recital! Something for everyone, indeed, and huge thanks to the organisation team, Tabitha and Maggie. Thanks too for the refreshments on the day which we were able to enjoy outside.
Our Christmas Carol Service was the first one since 2019 where we would welcome a full congregation and was all the better for it. The services on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day had the church full to bursting, with some enthusiastic singing – surely a reminder of what people had missed during our previous lockdown Christmases.
We enjoyed our first Hymns and Pimms service last July as well as two Choral Evensong services at Harvest and more recently at the start of Lent.
I want to put on record how much I have enjoyed my time at St Peter’s. It has been my privilege to offer the music in worship week by week, to lead the choir and to play for services, and I am thrilled to see the choir in such a healthy state as I leave. Thank you for your support and friendship since 2014 and I wish you all the very best for the future.
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 year versions of Open the Book Storybooks. There is an advisory Handbook published by the Bible Society, as everything that is said or done has already been tried, tested and, if necessary, corrected. Our Registration with the Bible Society requests acceptance of such recommended rules of advice.
The Open the Book team representing St Peter’s remains the same, Peter Davies (Leading), Jennie Hawdon, Penny Williams, Annie Tincello and Sarah Wood. Reverend Gary Grady joins us regularly and is most welcome both by ourselves, the school teachers and the pupils.
However, since the lockdown period caused by the Covid related viruses the visits to Leckhampton Primary School and the Richard Pate School at bi-weekly morning assemblies have not re-started although all of the Leckhampton team, at the last count, are prepared to commence Open the Book led assemblies when these are again allowed. A very resent conversation with the Headmaster at Richard Pate was promising and it is intended this be followed-up in due course.
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Parish Magazine
David Webber, Editor; Sue Marlow, Business Manager; Peter Davies, Distribution Manager
The Parish Magazine has continued to be published every month both in printed form and on the website. We have continued to maintain the integrity of the magazine by insisting that all articles are apolitical and, in accordance with Diocesan policy, the editor reserves the right to reject any contribution that he considers inappropriate.
Thank you to everyone who contributes to the magazine, whether as a reader/subscriber, a contributor, deliverer or advertiser. As we print in-house costs are reduced and more colour has been used in the magazine. The magazine accounts are in surplus. The value of the magazine is in its outreach and contact with the wider community. It remains a Church Magazine, not a Community magazine, though contributions from community organisations will be duly considered.
As a legal requirement, a hard copy is posted to the British Library.
An electronic copy is sent every month, at their request, to the Diocesan Press Office, and the editor makes a point of drawing their attention to any particularly noteworthy stories, just in case the magazine is archived without being read!
Each year the magazines are bound into a hard copy, which is stored in the Parish Office and eventually in the Diocesan Archives.
David Webber remains as editor, Sue Marlow as Business Manager and Peter Davies as Distribution Manager.
Pastoral Team
Sally Marlow
The St. Peter’s ‘Pastoral Team’ continues to support the clergy in the following areas:
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Keeping up to date with those who are ill, absent, or in need.
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Visiting the sick and housebound.
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Taking Home Communion to those unable to get to church in the short or longer term.
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Care Home ministry – leading a communion service (using the reserved sacrament) once/month at Hampton House and Middleton House. Soon to become twice monthly at Hampton House.
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Bereavement visiting.
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Monthly Friday Lunch with Friends – restarted in September 2022 after a long Covid break and regularly brings 20+ people together for a shared lunch.
Wedding Preparation is now organised by the South Cheltenham Team. Baptism preparation is negotiated by Rev Gary with individual families.
The team meets every other month to share updates on all of the above areas and is made up of Rev Gary, Rev Jacqueline, Dereck Freeman, Jennie Hawdon, Penny Williams, Anne Webber, Steve Whittingham and Sally Marlow.
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PCC Report
Chrissie Brown – PCC Secretary
Following last year’s APCM, St Peter’s PCC consists of our Clergy and Readers, ten Lay members, one coopted member and six Ex-Officio members. At the first PCC meeting following the APCM we elected our PCC officers. Rev. Gary Grady continuing in his role as Chair. David Webber and Jennie Hawdon were elected to be our Church Wardens with Arthur Webb was elected as Deputy Church Warden. Peter Marlow was elected as Treasurer and Chrissie Brown was elected as PCC Secretary.
The PCC have met four times during the last PCC year and in 2023 we returned to the Glebe Cottages for our meetings.
Peter Davies, Brad Coates and Mike Riley represent the PCC at Deanery Synod meetings and report any relevant information back to the PCC. Peter Davies and Helen Shill represent the PCC at South Cheltenham Team meetings and report any relevant information to the PCC. Richard Kerr-Wilson was elected to serve as our Eco Officer and has successfully steered St Peter’s to achieve the Silver Eco Award.
The Standing Committee have met four times between PCC meetings and reports of any discussions were received by the PCC, discussed where necessary and recorded in PCC Minutes.
At our meetings, the agenda has covered Pandemic considerations, building and ground maintenance, reordering, heating, finance, safeguarding and a South Cheltenham Team update. Recently we have also added Health and Safety to the Agenda. Any other business can be added to the agenda as needed. Heating should now be redundant as an agenda item following the installation of the new under pew heating. Thankfully, Pandemic considerations should also no longer be needed as a regular agenda item.
All PCC members have completed the Diocesan Safeguarding training.
Rainbows (37[th] Cheltenham (Leckhampton) Rainbows)
Maggie Ansell – Rainbow Leader
The Rainbow unit started their meetings at the cottages in September 2022, we take girls from the age of 5 and they stay with us until they are 7 and move onto Brownies. We are really enjoying being at the cottages and have had a busy time so far. As a member of Girl Guiding we have dedicated themes and activities that the girls take part in , which enables them to earn awards and badges.
During the Autumn term we welcomed five new Rainbows to our unit taking our total to 18 girls. Our theme for the Autumn term was ‘ Know Myself ‘ where the girls got to discover what it takes to build an efficient team and be a successful team member, explore their identity, relationships with others and build confidence. We explored the theme through craft activities, games and songs.
One of our highlights of the term was our annual ‘ Indoor Camp ‘, we toasted marshmallows over tea lights , read stories in pop up tents , had glow stick fun in the garden and had a camp fire with hot chocolate!! At our last meeting before Christmas I was very proud to be able to hand out lots of badges and awards.
We began this Spring term with a ‘ New Year ‘ party, and again welcomed five new Rainbows, due to some of our older ones moving on to Brownies. Our theme we are working on this term is ‘ Take Action’ where the girls will learn skills needed to identify and engage with decision making, they will learn to develop skills in influencing others on the things they care about, and using their voice to assert their own interests and needs. Also this term the girls will learn about ‘ Thinking Day ‘ Which is celebrated on February 22nd where we remember the birthdays of Lord and Lady Baden Powell, who were the founders of the Guide and Scout movements.
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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. Liz Johnson continues to act as Evidence Checker. 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. The Church of England have recently updated the forms for doing this. 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.
Invites to complete safeguarding training continue to be sent out to those who carry out roles which require it. Liz Johnson as Parish Administrator keeps a record of all training completed. The training must be refreshed every three years if the role is maintained.
Rev Gary and Sally Campion completed a Raising Awareness of Domestic Abuse online course in January 2023. Rev Gary met with Sally Campion and Debbie Cypher (PSO at St Christophers) in November 2022 to share best practice and check that everything was up to date. It is planned to meet at least annually going forward.
Social Committee
Helen Yates
The Social Committee continued to support the Church Calendar in 2022. After two years of Covid restrictions spring- time of 2022 heralded a return to normality.
On Mothering Sunday 27th March – Suzy’s simnel cake was enjoyed with coffee after the service.
Hot Cross buns followed the Good Friday service and on Easter Day fizz supplemented coffee.
To celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee afternoon tea was served on Sunday 7[th] May. It was held inside the cottages due to unfavourable weather. Over 70 people of all ages joined us – enjoyed fizz - with Simon leading us in “God Save the Queen”. Again Suzy – our “star baker” excelled herself by producing a memorable cake shaped as a crown which took her 15 hours to decorate! Joan – a treasured member of our church family also became “Queen” for the occasion - wearing a crown and performed the cake cutting ceremony.
Sunday 3[rd] July – Petertide was celebrated with a “bring your own picnic” and we served strawberries and cream.
An evening of “Songs of Praise” was held on Sunday 17[th] July – and we served Pimms in the church – now called by many as “Hymns and Pimms”
Rev David Murray’s 60[th] Anniversary of Ordination was celebrated with David presiding at the 10am Communion service – followed by “fizz” and speeches in the cottages gardens.
Harvest Thanksgiving was celebrated by Evensong – followed again by Pimms.
The committee supported the Music Festival on 8[th] October by providing refreshments during the afternoon interval. We served over 80 people outside the west door in about 20 minutes – with many lovely comments on all the homemade cakes.
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It was good to be able to resume refreshments in the church following the All Souls service on 8[th] November – it gave many the opportunity to talk to clergy, friends etc over a cup of tea.
On 18[th] December the usual mulled wine, mince pies etc were served in the cottages after the Carol Service.
This year we welcomed Andrea to our committee – and we would welcome any other new volunteers for future events. My thanks to Ro, Penny, Suzy, Anna, Sally and Andrea for all their friendship and support – and also Val, Hermione, Anneliese, Averil, Peter, Jim and Duncan – plus all the extra cake bakers, mince pie makers who support us at various events. Also our thanks to Rev Gary and Rev Jacqueline for their ongoing support and encouragement.
As a support group to the church we play our little part in the “Ministry of Hospitality in welcoming our family of St Peters and our visitors at various events .....which may even include “Fizz”!!
South Cheltenham Churches Team Council
Revd Gary Grady
The South Cheltenham Team Council is the body that represents St. Peter’s Leckhampton, St. Philip and St. James Leckhampton, St. Stephen’s Tivoli, Emmanuel and St. Christopher’s Warden Hill, and is in partnership with Cheltenham Network Church (CNC), which holds a Bishop’s Mission Order (BMO) for the Cheltenham Deanery.
Our shared vision is:
‘Our team will be joyful, prayerful and engaged with our communities. We will be thriving, growing congregations reflecting a vivid mosaic of spirituality. Shaped by our communities and working together with our ecumenical partners, we will offer a prophetic, Kingdom challenge. As a result, South Cheltenham will know itself to be loved and supported. Intrigued by what we do, they will have a growing awareness of our team and our Churches as the spiritual hubs of inclusive communities.’
During the past year we have moved to new rhythms of worship in all of our churches; this has included the reintroduction of midweek communion services, which are held in a different church each week (St. Peter’s hosts this on a 4th Wednesday).
We have also continued to live-stream a service of Morning Prayer each day from one of our churches. The on-line community for this service has remained constant, with between 30 and 40 present either online or in-person each day (St. Peter’s hosts this service every Thursday morning at 9am).
It has also been an exciting year for CNC and Emmanuel who embarked on a ‘mixed ecology’ project (this is where a new faith community complements an existing church) which has enabled them to work together under Revd Dr Sarah Haden, who is now the Leader of CNC and Team Vicar at Emmanuel.
During this time, the LEP known as ‘The Church in Warden Hill’ came to an end, although there continue to be good relations between both St. Christopher’s and Cheltenham URC.
We have proven stronger when we work together as a South Cheltenham Team, and we will continue to look for opportunities to do this in 2023.
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Little Pebbles
Lara Skinner
Little Pebbles is a group for pre-school children which meets on Tuesday mornings, with anywhere between 10 and 20 families usually in attendance. There is a range of ages, some very small babies up to pre-school age.
The session starts with free play followed by a rolling craft activity which is usually reflective of the season or Christian festival. We supply a snack, always with a healthy option of fruit and vegetables, a sweet treat and often breadsticks or rice cakes also. Parents are catered for too with a hot drink and biscuit or cake. Children then free play until we gather for music and singing. The children are always given a colouring sheet to take home with reflects the craft theme. This is a free session but the parents are mostly very generous in their donations.
Sunday Coffee
Ro Baillie and Joey Kerr-Wilson
Since our last APCM we have been lucky enough to be able to serve refreshments every Sunday without any COVID restrictions. During the warmer summer weather this was often taken out into the lovely cottage gardens which everyone thoroughly enjoys. During the year we have had several new volunteers join the team which has been much appreciated and has reduced the occasions that the regulars are needed to help out. As always we could certainly add more names to our list. Anyone who would like to assist please contact Ro Baillie on 07717 002752 or Joey Kerr-Wilson on 07990 813122
APCM Youth Update
Sarah Haden- Clergy Youth Lead
2022 has been a year of change for the Youth project. In July our contract with YFC ended and we made the significant decision to invest in a full youth worker across the team.Our huge thanks go to Hanna Stürcken for all the hard work she invested in developing the youth project, especially in working through Covid in challenging circumstances. Hanna is continuing her work with YFC supporting churches across Gloucestershire.
In 2022 we saw a significant increase in the number of young people engaging with the Youth project and we are regularly seeing 15-20 young people on Tuesday evenings at our group in Emmanuel. We took a group to YFC’s weekend away and are taking another large group this year. We have also seen an uplift in volunteers from across the team – something that has been incredibly valuable throughout the youth worker vacancy. We currently work regularly with 30 young people drawn from across the churches in South Cheltenham.
Abbie Marsh has been appointed Youth Worker for South Cheltenham and will begin in April 2023. We are very much looking forward to her beginning and are excited about the possibility of being able to invest more significant in mission to young people in our community, especially engaging with local schools.
My huge thanks goes to all the hard working volunteers who have taken on more responsibility during the vacancy. The Youth project is a fantastic initiative and working with the young people is a real joy. I’d highly recommend it!
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