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2021-12-31-accounts

ST ANDREW’S CHURCH HAUGHTON-LE-SKERNE

ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING (APCM)

To be held on Tuesday 5 April 2022 At 7.00pm In St Andrew’s Church Hall

ANNUAL REPORTS FROM 2021 FOR 2022 APCM

Notes on the Reports

All the reports in this booklet cover the period January to December 2021. The year started with the entry into Lockdown 3 and finished with the emergence of the Omicron variant with varying states of COVID restrictions on our lives throughout the year.

Thank you to all who have contributed the reports which make up this booklet and describe the year in the life of our church. And greater thanks to all of those, named or unnamed in the reports, who have given freely of their time, effort, gifts, abilities, money and love in the service of God and his people.

Jane Teague PCC Secretary 13 March 2022

Contents

Contents ............................................................................................................................ 1 The PCC ............................................................................................................................... 2 The PCC by Jane Teague (PCC Secretary) ...................................................................... 2 Coping With COVID-19 ......................................................................................................... 3 COVID Group by Andy Teague/COVID Group .................................................................. 3 Stream Team by Sarah McTimoney/Stream Team ............................................................ 5 Church Buildings and Grounds ............................................................................................. 6 Church Fabric by Mike Bird/Churchwardens ...................................................................... 6 Church Finances ................................................................................................................... 6 Finance by Paul Ryan/Finance Team ................................................................................ 6 2021 Financial Statement .................................................................................................. 7 Developing and Growing ....................................................................................................... 7 Ministry Development by the Rev’d Mark East (Rector) ..................................................... 7 Shared Ministry Team by John Kendrick/Shared Ministry Team ........................................ 8 Music and Worship Group by John Kendrick ..................................................................... 8 Discipleship & Nurture by the Rev’d Mark East (Rector) .................................................... 9 Pastoral Team by Muriel Jones ......................................................................................... 9 Helping the Local Community ............................................................................................. 10 Foodbank Report by Sue Robson .................................................................................... 10 Christians Against Poverty Darlington Debt Centre by Rachel Ryan (Manager) & Jane Teague (Service Support Administrator) .......................................................................... 10 Wider Community Report by the Rev’d Mark East (Rector) ............................................. 11 Christmas Afternoon Tea by Sheila Harris (Organiser) .................................................... 12 The Church Beyond St Andrew’s ........................................................................................ 12 Darlington Deanery Synod Report by the Rev’d Mark East (Rector) ................................ 12 Diocesan Synod Report by The Rev’d Mark East (Rector) .............................................. 13 Wider Church (Ecumenical) Report by the Rev’d Mark East (Rector) .............................. 15 Governance ........................................................................................................................ 16 Electoral Roll Report by Alan Wright (Electoral Roll Officer) ............................................ 16 Safeguarding by Gillian Jones (Parish Safeguarding Officer) .......................................... 16 Some St Andrew’s Groups .................................................................................................. 17 Church Coffee Mornings by Denise Hope ........................................................................ 17 Coffee, Cake and Conversation by Helen Kendrick ......................................................... 18 Crafts@Andrews by Pauline Young ................................................................................. 18 Technology Report by Stoker Wilson ............................................................................... 18 Guiding at St Andrew’s by Emma Nimmo ........................................................................ 19 14[th] Darlington (St Andrew’s) Scouts by Tony Baldock (Group Scout Leader) ................. 20

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The PCC

The PCC by Jane Teague (PCC Secretary)

PCC Members and Appointments

The following served on the PCC for part or all of 2021:

Rev Mark East Rector & PCC Chair Ex-Officio
Rev Sue Chew Associate Minister Ex-Officio
Rev Jay Blackburn Curate (Distinctive Diaconate) Ex-Officio
Lesley Stegner Licensed Reader Reader
Pauline Young Licensed Reader Reader
Carole Ainslie Warden Ex-Officio
Mike Bird Warden Ex-Officio
Moyra Cooper Warden Ex-Officio
Sheila Harris PCC Member/ Warden Elected/Ex-Officio
Denise Hope Warden Ex-Officio
Claire Kay Warden & Deanery Synod Rep Ex-Officio
Andy Teague Warden/PCC Member & Lay Vice-Chair Ex-Officio/Elected
Mike Bird PCC Member Elected
David Cullen PCC Member Elected
Gill Jones PCC Member Elected
Muriel Jones PCC Member Elected
Sarah McTimoney PCC Member Elected
Karen Padurariu PCC Member Elected
Chloe Turner PCC Member Elected
Jayne Turner PCC Member Elected
Cath Williams PCC Member Elected
Teresa Kennedy Deanery Synod Rep Ex-Officio
Rachel Ryan Deanery Synod Rep Ex-Officio

The APCM in 2021 agreed that St Andrew’s Licensed Readers, Pauline Young and Lesley Stegner, would be invited to be PCC members for the coming year, and they both accepted.

Following the APCM on 4 May 2021, the following were all appointed by the PCC to continue in their roles:

Following the 2021 APCM, the PCC also appointed the following:

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PCC Meetings

In 2021 the PCC met six times in alternate months; due to COVID restrictions, the first three meetings were held on Zoom, with the others taking place in the Church Hall.

In 2021 the PCC agenda has provided the opportunity for regular reports to be made to it by or about the following:

Further details from most of these people/groups are provided elsewhere in these reports.

Aside from considering the ongoing challenges caused by the pandemic and other items (regular and one-off) covered elsewhere in these reports, 2021 PCC meetings considered:

• Upgrade of Sound and Recording Equipment in the Church Building There were numerous setbacks to the installation of a broadband line to church to facilitate the live streaming of services, but Dave Cullen is persevering with the project and is hopeful of completion in 2022. A new sound desk (with cabinet, constructed, installed and generously donated by Martin Rowell), cameras and other equipment were ordered, installed and set up by Paul Ryan with help from Dave Cullen. The GDPR Policy was amended to include livestreaming of services.

• Implementation of Rules for Areas of Burial of Ashes A great deal of time in PCC meetings throughout 2021 was devoted to the requirement upon St Andrew’s to implement the Church Rules for our Areas of Burial of Ashes. This involved taking action to remove illegal items from plots including the plot of the Owen Wason Memorial. Progress has been made and needs to be ongoing in 2022.

In October the huge contributions made to the life of St Andrew’s over a very long period of time by two of our church members was recognised with a presentation of gifts in a church service. Rael Wright stood down as our organist and valued member of the Music & Worship Group. Muriel Jones finished her service on the PCC and as a church representative on the Deanery and Diocesan Synods.

- Coping With COVID 19

COVID Group by Andy Teague/COVID Group

The original members of the Group (Mike Bird, Sue Chew, Mark East, Sheila Harris, Gill Jones, Sarah McTimoney and Andy Teague) continued to meet monthly throughout 2021. As we were able to safely introduce more aspects to the services such as intercessions, bible reading and singing, the Group was expanded to include Muriel Jones, John Kendrick and Paul Ryan. The Group has kept on top of government and CofE regulations and guidance, adopting or adapting it to suit the needs of our congregation. Careful review of the

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current case numbers and data, both nationally and in Darlington, form the basis of reviewing our risk assessments each month.

The Group retained a cautious approach to the pandemic, taking account of the age profile and vulnerability of the congregation and relaxing restrictions only after careful consideration of the risks, including a thorough risk assessment.

The Group continues to be grateful to wardens, sidespeople, those serving refreshments and many others who have willingly changed their practices to keep people safe and continued to serve throughout the pandemic.

2021 started after the 2020 ‘cancelled Christmas’ by entering Lockdown 3 in January, including the cessation of church services. Thanks to the success of the vaccination programme and the falling number of infections, the church reopened in time for Easter with a time for personal prayer on Good Friday and a morning service on Easter Day. Places in the services still had to be requested in advance and singing was not permitted. The church has been open continuously since Easter.

After careful review of the risks, in August we began to use every other pew instead of every third pew which considerably increased the capacity of the church and people no longer had to request a place. Members of the congregation began to lead intercessions and Bible readings and it was great to involve more people in the services. In September, following a further review of the risks, to the joy of many, singing was allowed (albeit still wearing face coverings). In October our worship was enhanced as the Music and Worship Group returned to lead in a number of the services.

Also, October saw the reintroduction of refreshments after the service. This gave a welcome and much-needed opportunity for people to socialise after services. It felt like services were approaching something like ‘normal’.

As the Omicron variant hit the country, the government reintroduced the mandatory wearing of face coverings in November, which we had anticipated by not removing that precautionary measure in the first place!

It was a real blessing to be able to celebrate Christmas in 2021 with a service of carols and readings, the first communion of Christmas service and a service on Christmas Day. An evaluation of risk allowed a modified Christmas Tea to take place which was much appreciated by those who attended.

2021 saw the return of weddings and baptisms to the church. Specific risk assessments were produced that allowed maximum use of all areas of the church, whilst ensuring the safety of all of those who led and attended. These have been adapted as the regulations and guidance changed but the restrictions have largely been kept in line with worship services. For baptisms, in order to maintain numbers at a level that preserves the health of those attending, they were restricted, to one family per service instead of the previous two.

The Group has provided risk assessments to church groups who wish to use the Hall and a number have taken the opportunity to start or restart including Coffee Mornings, the Coffee Cake and Conversation Bible study group, the courses looking at the CofE Living in Love and Faith questions about identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage, and Alpha.

The work to improve the quality of the Hall has attracted new hirers as well as the return of previous groups. The Group has given assistance to the groups in preparing their own risk assessments.

The Group is continuing to meet in 2022 to plan the safe route back to a time when we are able to lift all restrictions.

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Stream Team by Sarah McTimoney/Stream Team

The Stream Team, established at the beginning of the first lockdown in March 2020, continued well into 2021. COVID restrictions meant that access to services was restricted, in addition to a general recognition that many of our church family felt more comfortable joining us in worship from their own homes, rather than gathering together.

We moved away from Facebook, so all services were pre-prepared and uploaded to YouTube, and set as a ‘premiere’ so we could all join together as the service went live each Sunday morning.

Our pattern for preparing the services was well established – a weekly planning meeting, then members of the team preparing their different sections, which were then put together using video editing software ready to upload and go live. We increased the online ‘library’ of worship songs so that over 100 hymns/songs are now available to use. This continued to be a very time-consuming process for all involved – but the team continued to feel that it was an absolute privilege to serve our church family in this way, and continued to greatly enjoy the experience!

We particularly enjoyed exploring our Lent series, called ‘Setting out Hearts on Fire’, which led to us marking Easter with a ‘Son Rise’ service at dawn, which was streamed live from the Ryans’ garden. This service to mark the glory of the Resurrection as the sun came up on a very cold Easter Day, was an experience of God’s blessing that will live long in the heart and memory - and of course the sausage butties afterwards were magnificent!

As we approached the summer, we took the decision to move to mirror the content of the service in the church building. We continued to put the service together separately, but were very grateful as those who were involved in the church building service were willing to also pre- record their contributions for the online service.

As more people felt ready to return to the church, and new technology in church meant that the service from the building was able to be recorded, we made the decision to stop producing a separate online service. Our final upload was Sunday 31[st] October, All Saints. We had hoped to be able to live stream the service from the building. Unfortunately, this was not reliable due to a lack of a hard-wired internet connection – and caused much stress for those working the tech, often via a remote connection from the USA. We hope that by mid2022, this will be in place.

Thanks to the Stream Team – Mark, Gill, Paul, Rachel, Sarah, Dave (to August 2021), Lewis (to April 2021) and Jay (to January 2021).

Thanks to all those who willingly recorded bible readings, prayers, talks and other bits and bobs that helped bring different voices from our church family into people’s homes.

Particular thanks to the Family von Ryan for their tireless work in recording, mixing and producing the library of worship songs, and to Sam Ryan for his talented technical support.

Finally, we would like to thank all those who took the time to encourage us along our unexpected journey – thank you for your comments, feedback and for joining us online!

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Church Buildings and Grounds

Church Fabric by Mike Bird/Churchwardens

The Church Building

The organ had previously been inspected and repairs, costed at around £10,000, were identified but deferred on the basis that the organ is still playable but seldom used.

The internal lighting has minor faults and several bulbs have failed. Replacing bulbs, possibly with LED units, and fault finding, all involve access at height. An electrician has been involved who considered use of a cherry picker but progress has stalled.

The lightening conductor has been overhauled.

The internal alarm system has been upgraded by a nationally recognised firm. This provides key fobs which identify users and a messaging system for church members in the event of an alarm. This is being extended to cover the roof to detect/ deter thieves and bring the whole system in line with insurers’ requirements.

A generous donation has financed an upgrade of the sound desk and provision of cameras and other equipment to allow recording and live streaming of services. Wi-fi operation has proved problematic so live streaming has been paused. The building does not have a phone or internet cable connection and installation of this has been delayed but is ongoing.

An architect inspects the church every 5 years (termed a quinquennial inspection). This went ahead and the report has been delayed partly due to the incomplete electrical investigation. The wardens have noted localised rain water ingress in two locations possibly connected with roof/ gutter issues.

The Former Rectory

This is surplus to requirements and is owned by the diocese. The diocese would like to sell their property, so they approached the parish regarding this. The parish pointed out several complications over rights and responsibilities for the courtyard, Scout hut and boundary walls which will need clarification prior to sale. The Rectory continues to be let to tenants.

The Churchyard

There is no more room for burials, so the church yard is closed and maintained by the local authority, apart from small areas where burial of ashes is ongoing. Regulations are stipulated in Faculties approved by the diocese for what families may (and may not) put on these plots. The rules had not been enforced rigorously by the parish. The diocese has required the parish to take action to enforce the rules, so in early 2022 various items will have been removed.

Church Finances

Finance by Paul Ryan/Finance Team

The last year has been another challenging year. With income reduced due to the church building being closed for large parts of the year, but expenses not reducing at the same rate, the church faces a large deficit for 2021.

In May, Paul Ryan became Treasurer, filling a vacancy which had been open for a while. During the second half of 2021 the church accounts moved online, meaning the team could access reports from anywhere and enable better tracking of finances. We aim to continue better tracking and reporting during the coming year. We continue to use external services to

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help us with the accounts and day to day issues which has proved invaluable during the transition.

The Finance Team has met regularly as needed. 2021 was very much a year of uncertainty, but we hope the coming year will be a year we can take some more strategic actions around our unrestricted & restricted funding, as well as our planned giving, to ensure the finances of the church sustain everything we want to support in the years to come.

2021 Financial Statement

The 2021 Financial Statement and Examiner’s Report will be presented to the APCM.

Developing and Growing

Ministry Development by the Rev’d Mark East (Rector)

This report will focus on the more ‘traditional’ forms of ministry i.e. leadership, worship services, pastoral care and SMT (Shared Ministry Team).

The streamed services continued in their development with many taking part in our worship services online, and also preparing recordings for use in the Sunday morning services. For this I want to thank those who have so willingly been committed and offered their skills and talents within. It’s been really exciting to see so many different individuals blossom and flourish through taking on new challenges, both simply doing new things, but also dealing with new technologies. ‘Doing’ is one of the best ways of learning, and we have many who have learned much through the past twelve months.

The Pastoral Team has continued to offer telephone support, but it was felt that as things began to ease through the year and once face to face services restarted this was no longer a high priority. There is still so much pastoral care that has been going on quietly amongst the church family. This is an ongoing development that is to be encouraged.

The Shared Ministry Team met three times in 2021. The initial meetings were to further home in on how the Team would work together and how best to be conduits through which the practical and spiritual life of the church could be encouraged and strengthened.

It was really good to be able to run a Wings for Worship – Leading Services Module in the autumn for the whole Deanery and two participants who completed the module from St Andrew’s were Paul and Rachel Ryan. It’s been really good to have them leading worship in St Andrew’s as a result.

There is also the more ‘formal’ ministry by our two self-supporting ministries (SSM), of Sue Chew and Jay Blackburn. There is a significant difference in the roles of both. Sue is our Associate Minister and is wonderfully taking on the majority of the responsibility for life and ministry at Sadberge. But she is still an important part of our ministry leadership here. I am very grateful for all she does for us in both churches.

Although Jay was actively involved in our online services during the early part of 2021 his physical and mental health has unfortunately been hit. He has not found the lock-downs or the inability to fulfil many of the plans for the diaconal ministry we had hoped easy to deal with. He also caught COVID which led to long COVID, and, coupled with a family bereavement, meant his mental well-being suffered.

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To end, I want to thank everyone who has taken up ministry in its widest sense in our church life and ask that we pray for God’s guidance as we seek to continue to serve Him and build His kingdom.

Shared Ministry Team by John Kendrick/Shared Ministry Team

The Shared Ministry Team (SMT) was established by the PCC to support and liaise with those working in all areas of ministry within the church. The areas of ministry with a lead person or persons associated with it are;

Worship (John Kendrick)

Discipleship and training (Mark East and Gill Jones)

Pastoral care (Sue Robson and Cath Williams)

Mission and outreach (Helen Kendrick and Jay Blackburn) Social (Rachel Ryan and Chloe Turner)

During the reporting period we met three times, a consequence of the change in church activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The main theme of our discussions has been on how we as a church best emerge from the sudden shocks of lockdowns and how we recover from the effects that this has had on our church life. Church activities have changed and this has provided new opportunities, as well as the chance to stop activities that were no longer appropriate in the current environment. Throughout our discussions we have been conscious that many people are reluctant to join activities, whether it is going to church or joining a group to meet together again. We are looking at ways to encourage people to participate once again in church life.

At the first meeting of the year, we looked at various ways that we could start to encourage people to come back to church events. We thought that it was appropriate to try and thank the local community in Haughton for the way they have supported so many people over the last 2 years. Ideas such as BBQ, a treasure hunt, a memorial event and the development of listening opportunities were put forward. But COVID-19 once again meant that much of what we discussed could not be put into practice.

One event did take place. From Tuesday 12[th] to Sunday 17[th] October the church was open for ‘Remember and Reflect’. On the first day of the event, we remembered those of our congregation that we had lost with a short service and on the subsequent days we invited any in the community to come into the church to remember loved ones and to reflect on what has happened over the last 2 years.

During our meetings we have spent a lot of time trying to discern our role within the church. This is an on-going issue for the team. But we are confident that with God’s guidance we will find our way.

Music and Worship Group by John Kendrick

Our Music and Worship Group has started up again as we have found ourselves allowed to sing once again in church. But the group has a very different make up to what it was before the pandemic. Our keyboard player and organist, Rael Wright, has stepped back from her role in the group. She has faithfully supported the music at St Andrews for many years and we thank her for all she has done.

With more limited resources for leading the worship we find ourselves unable to guarantee that we can lead the music every Sunday. When it is possible, we do, when it is not, we use recordings and ask the congregation to sing along. We are fortunate in having many of our songs recorded by the Ryan family.

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We ask for prayer that more musicians will make themselves known and allow us to lead live worship consistently in our church.

Discipleship & Nurture by the Rev’d Mark East (Rector)

None of the five Discipleship groups have restarted their meetings during the last year but this hasn’t meant the there is no discipleship and nurture being offered to those who wish to partake.

During the spring term some of us took part in an online study course called ‘The Bible Course’ which was run over Zoom with 30 participants, some joining us from other churches. It gave a good overview of the structure of the Bible and the key messages held therein, as well as encouraging discussion and further exploration both in the groups and privately.

After Easter the second online ‘Alpha’ Course took place with about 20 attendees. Both were surprisingly successful on the Zoom platform, but it was noticeable that the second online Alpha course didn’t have the same uptake as the previous one. We are learning all the time, both from the materials, and also how to make the most of the restrictions within which we’ve lived, but also planning for the safe return of face-to-face groups.

During the autumn we were encouraged by General Synod to participate in and respond to the Living in Love and Faith report published for the Church of England to consider how it needs to respond to the world’s changing views on identity, gender and sexuality. We held two groups (one daytime and one in the evening) and used videos and study materials provided by the C of E to consider different aspects of the report with challenging personal stories in the videos. Responses, both individual and as a group, were invited to be reported online to help General Synod consider how the church responds in today’s culture.

I would encourage every church member, particularly as we begin to restart groups. to consider joining a Discipleship group of some sort. They are supportive, challenging and, above all, help us to grow in our relationships with God and with our church family.

Pastoral Team by Muriel Jones

Pastoral work has continued to be of a ‘different’ nature during 2021, but we thank God for the technology of WhatsApp and, of course, the phoneline. Thanks to the idea of regular phone calls to members of our congregation who were on our pastoral list or who were more isolated or lonely, we continued to be in contact and tried to solve any issues that arose. John and Helen Kendrick were again in charge of the phone help-line and reported back at the fortnightly staff/pastoral Zoom meetings. Mark East, Sue Chew and Stoker Wilson have also been involved. These meetings have been very useful in making us aware of where extra support was needed. Due to the lessening of the COVID crisis and restrictions, our phone help-line closed down in September as people began to have more contact with their friends and relatives. It has been very apparent that many individuals have been busy in their care and support of the church family

The title of St Andrew’s WhatsApp Self-help group was changed to a Chat Room in October 2021 and continues to be a source of information and practical help. Again, we’ve shown that Church is not the building, but Church is the people.

Care Home visits have not yet been restarted, but the Christmas DVD of Carols and Readings was sent to each Care Home, and they have been constantly in our prayers.

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Helping the Local Community

Foodbank Report by Sue Robson

St. Andrew’s Foodbank has again been busy during 2021 when we handed out a total of 1068 bags of food. Each week we make up food bags which cater for single people, households of two and families. We add fresh bread to these bags at our Foodbank session. We also offer toiletries, sanitary products, toilet rolls and make up small bags of washing powder/capsules for those who need them.

The pandemic has continued to affect how we operated. When possible, we held Foodbank outside. During bad weather and in winter months we met in the church hall with COVID restrictions in place. It was unfortunately not possible to offer refreshments.

We have been truly blessed with donations of both goods and money from folk from our own church, our local churches, our community, organisations and companies. Kings Church have always been willing to share goods with us should we need this. We are supported weekly with goods from Morrisons at Morton Park. A huge thank you to Sandra Mellor and her successor Catherine Poskitt who have been wonderful in organising these donations. The kindness and generosity that has been shown to Foodbank has been amazing. At Christmas we were able once again to give a special bag of treats, a present and a meat voucher as extras to all our Foodbank clients.

It remains a great privilege to be able to give this support to our neighbours in need. We meet people in many different circumstances and with many different problems. It has been great to know that two of our Foodbank clients sought help from Christians Against Poverty and we are grateful to Rachel Ryan for her work with the Darlington CAP Centre.

The Foodbank team continue to be caring, reliable, enthusiastic and great company. Grateful thanks go to our rota of helpers - Moyra Cooper, Jean Taylor, Lynn Cullen, Marilyn Sykes, Gill Moore, Rita Hogg, Elaine Barnet, Ken Robson, Tim Francis, Terry Connor and Pat O'Donogh. Many thanks also to Pauline Hall who helps each week with bag packing. Our thanks and good wishes go to Janet Lucas who at the end of 2021 needed to step back from Foodbank. Our grateful thanks also go to Claire Kay and Carole Ainslie for their years of service prior to the pandemic.

We expect 2022 to be another busy year and are so thankful for all the support which makes this possible.

Christians Against Poverty Darlington Debt Centre by Rachel Ryan (Manager) & Jane Teague (Service Support Administrator)

During 2021, 24 people approached the Centre for debt help and advice. CAP Head Office’s professional financial services provided a personalised recommendation for each client. This was then delivered locally to the clients by the Centre Manager. In May 2021 it became possible for this to happen in face-to-face meetings usually in clients’ homes rather than by Zoom or telephone which had been necessary earlier in 2021 because of COVID. Towards the end of 2021 client numbers were rising noticeably due to a combination of factors, including cuts to Universal Credit payments, coupled with increases in fuel prices and an end to the Furlough Scheme.

Clients found out about the Centre from a wide range of sources, both formal and informal. In addition to the specific financial service offered, clients have been helped in many different ways with donations of items, financial assistance, practical help and advice, and regular support and encouragement. Several clients expressed their personal appreciation of

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the difference that seeking help from, and working with, the Debt Centre has made to their lives. An important aspect of the Centre’s work is to witness to the love of God for all, both by the action of offering debt help, advice, and other support, but also by sharing personal testimony and offering prayer and opportunities to find out more about the Christian faith.

Oversight of the CAP Centre is maintained by Rev Mark East, and the PCC receives monthly reports from Rachel about the Centre. Rachel is also supported by the CAP Regional Manager and CAP Head Office, and undergoes ongoing training in her role. In December 2021 the Manager’s hours were increased from 16 to 24 hours per week because of the workload involved.

The Centre is funded by regular monthly giving from individuals and churches, plus generous grant funding from a variety of local and national funding sources. In 2021 considerable financial support was given by The Ballinger Charitable Trust, County Durham Community Foundation, Darlington Building Society, Communities Together Durham and Cinnamon Network. Whilst Centre finances are currently in a fairly healthy position due to our initial success at grant applications, we are aware that we need to find a sustainable way of ensuring the Centre’s longevity.

The work of the Centre was enhanced in a variety of ways by volunteers helping with administration, fundraising, visiting and befriending including Sue Stabler, Claire Kay, Paul and Cilla Hollamby, Barbara Davis and Jane Teague. There is a monthly prayer meeting held to pray for all aspects of the work of the Centre. It is encouraging to see the development of greater co-operation with, and support from, other churches in the area, both Anglican and other denominations, for the Centre.

In 2021 there were opportunities to highlight the CAP Centre, including the Centre’s first debt-free client, on local radio, in press articles, and on social media. Plans were put in place to meet with the Darlington MP and to deliver 25000 CAP leaflets to targeted parts of Darlington in early 2022.

Wider Community Report by the Rev’d Mark East (Rector)

In last year’s report it was noted that many of the activities and links with the wider community prior to COVID had been curtailed because of the pandemic. Some have still not restarted because of ongoing concerns and risk assessments, and also some key players in the activities have decided not to continue. However, the Foodbank and the Darlington CAP Debt Centre have continued throughout, and the coffee mornings have recently begun again.

The regular Zoom meetings with local councillors and other local churches to monitor how local residents could be supported and to share ideas and needs to develop such support were no longer deemed necessary as the vaccination programme and the support systems became embedded in the area. It should be noted however that the amazing generosity of the local community and businesses in supporting the work of the Foodbank both financially (over £12,000 has been donated by individuals and organisations) as well as the regular food donations week by week has meant that those in desperate need have always been helped.

There has also been growing support for the Haughton Green Christmas Lights which have enabled all the trees and several other displays to brighten up the main road through Haughton from St Andrew’s Church right through to the Highland Laddie public house. This has again been possible due to the hard work of a band of local volunteers to erect the lights and the generosity of local individuals and businesses towards the cost of them.

Unfortunately, the grand ‘switching on’ at the end of November had to be postponed due to storms, but the event did go ahead a couple of weeks later.

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Christmas Afternoon Tea by Sheila Harris (Organiser)

The Christmas Afternoon Tea was held on 11th December 2021. We had decided to go ahead with organising this around a month earlier, not realising that the Omicron strain of COVID was about to take hold. The event was announced in church in mid-November and initially take-up was slow. Several volunteers came forward and it was felt that numbers of guests between 15 and 30 would make the occasion viable. We were able to retain the price at the usual sum of £5, and this enabled us to break even.

As the date approached and as more people sent back their forms, we found ourselves oversubscribed by 2! However, during the final week the guest list reduced to a comfortable 28, with only one cancellation through illness on the day.

The event was slightly pared back from the usual format. For example, a sing-song of carols and Christmas songs is usually a highlight, but we felt that it would be unwise to do this. We did have a quiz, anagram puzzles, a free raffle and Lynn Wilson entertained us with an amusing poem. The food comprised a variety of sandwiches, mince pies, Christmas cake, scones and cup-cakes. Everyone went home with a Christmas card and a goody bag. Guests and volunteers agreed that it had been an enjoyable afternoon.

Many thanks to: kitchen and waiting staff Lynne Kalandra, Jane Teague, Pam Bassington and Jean Taylor; Mike Hope and Paul Hollamby who set up the tables; Sue Chew, Paul and Cilla Hollamby who helped during the event; Dave Harris who gave lifts to several of the guests.

The Church Beyond St Andrew’s

Darlington Deanery Synod Report by the Rev’d Mark East (Rector)

The Deanery Synod Lay Representatives for St Andrew’s Church in this current triennium are Claire Kay, Teresa Kennedy and Rachel Ryan.

Three Deanery Synod meetings were held in 2021. Two were via Zoom (11[th] February and 24[th] June) and the third was held in person at St Matthew & St Luke’s church.

The meeting in February was the first meeting we’d been able to hold due to COVID in the Synod’s new triennium. Elections were held for Deanery Lay Chair (Andrew Maxwell), Deanery Secretary (Sue Bruce) and Deanery Treasurer (Michael Shepherd).

Sue Bruce has since stepped down as Deanery Secretary due to personal pressures and was thanked for her four years of dedicated service. Joyce Barber was elected as the new Secretary.

The main topics discussed during the year were:-

Interregna in the Deanery. There were three at the beginning of the year (The Riverside Parishes, St Herbert’s & St Cuthbert with Holy Trinity). St Cuthbert with Holy Trinity has since been filled with the new incumbent The Rev’d James Harvey in April 2021.

Regular feedback from parishes about COVID and its impact . There have been struggles in many parishes, but also innovative experimentation to keep worship going and continue ministry within the restrictions.

Deanery and Diocesan Finances : The main issue is that within parishes finances have been depleted during COVID, and this has had the impact of leaving a £1.3M black hole in Diocesan Finances. As a result, all future appointments have been suspended.

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Deanery Enabling Teams: Enriching Discipleship, Children & Young People, Tackling Poverty & Care for the Environment: Deanery Synod is encouraging passionate synod members and others from the churches to get involved in these four areas to help us tackle the challenges of growth for the future. If churches have people who would like to get involved in any one of these four teams, they are to let their Deanery Synod representatives know as soon as possible. At the November Synod we had a presentation by the Diocesan Environmental Champions (The Rev’d Dani Lindley & The Rev’d Catherine Walton) seeking to encourage the Deanery to:-

Deanery Lay Training: Local Lay Training is being developed, the first of which is a ‘Wings for Worship’ course on Leading Services. This took place in the Autumn with about 12 individuals from various churches taking part and was well received.

Deanery Estates Missioner: This was recognised as an important part of the current Deanery Plan so that we can find ways of reaching effectively into our existing estates within our parishes and the new estates rapidly appearing around the town. The plan for this has changed slightly and we are investigating ways in which ‘New Christian Communities’ or ‘Missional Communities’ can be developed from our churches into areas that don’t have an obvious church presence. More work will be carried out to explore new ways in which this might happen.

Diocesan Vision and Purpose: This is the new ‘plan on a page’ and development of the Diocesan Vision for the next five years following on from Waymark ’19 and the two ensuing years of consultation. At the June meeting Duncan Podbury (Transformation Project Lead) gave an inspiring presentation about the direction the Diocese believes it is heading into the future. There are challenges ahead, but there are also great opportunities.

New Diocesan Synod Triennium: Numbers have now been revised and Darlington Deanery is able to have 5 Lay and 5 Clergy representatives. The newly elected lay members are: Mrs Pam Davison, Mrs Hylda Hopper, Mr Andrew Maxwell, Mr Colin Price and Mr Philip Stokes. The Clergy elected members are: The Rev Jennifer Croft, The Rev’d Tony Roache & The Rev’d Mark East, with two clergy vacancies.

The Christmas Journey: This was promoted to the Deanery throughout the year because it is a Deanery Wide project to present the Christmas story for junior aged children. Every primary school was invited and nearly all the schools in Darlington took part; it was well received by children and staff. The volunteers to enable this to happen came mainly from St. Matthew’s & St Luke’s (host church), St. Michael’s and All Saints’, but it proved to be very successful. It’s growing by the year and it is hoped that even more volunteers will enable it to expand next year.

Diocesan Synod Report by The Rev’d Mark East (Rector)

There were three Diocesan Synods held in 2021. The meetings on 21[st] January and 15[th] May were held via Zoom, and the meeting on 13[th] November was held in person at Durham Johnston School.

The main items of business for the year were as follows:-

The new Diocesan Five Year Plan

There has been a great deal of consultation both during the Waymark 19 Diocesan

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Conference and since that took place and by the working group who have continued the process of consultation across the Diocese to produce the new plan.

The plan has re-affirmed the previous three Diocesan Priorities of Growth in Discipleship, Children and Young People, and Poverty. But it has also added a fourth priority of Care for God’s Creation. All four priorities have been expanded in the new Five-Year Plan booklet and will be worked on as the Diocese works on strategic growth for the future. Following a presentation from three members of the Environmental Group, the Synod agreed the following motion:

“that this Synod approves the proposal for the Diocese of Durham to register as an Ecodiocese, to help us pursue the goals of our agreed Care for Creation priority.”

This aligns with the C of E vision to become net zero for carbon emissions by 2030.

At the November Synod there was a presentation about the progress of the Diocese’s ‘Engaging with Children and Young People’. This encouraged churches to engage with local schools particularly by participation on ideas to Care for God’s Creation. They also shared about the new Scripture Union resources for working with Children called ‘Revealing Jesus’ which are available online.

2020 Financial Statement & Budget for 2022

The 2020 finances were especially challenging to parishes due to the effects of COVID-19 with receipts from parishes falling by 16% below the amount pledged. However due to some expenditure being deferred, some careful budgeting and the sale of some clergy houses the total budget deficit was £0.7m.

The 2022 Budget was presented at the November meeting and the following motion moved.

“that this Synod adopts the 2022 budget set by the Board of Finance, which includes an unrestricted operating deficit of £450,000.”

The motion was unanimously accepted.

Living in Love and Faith (LLF)

The C of E report on Human Sexuality and Relationships was commended to Synod and churches are encouraged to study the report and take part in the six-session course that seeks to enable differences of opinion to be listened to in an open and reflective way so that feedback to the General Synod can be received to enable the C of E to discern a way forward.

New Triennium for Diocesan Synod

Diocesan Synod elections were held in the middle of the year so a new synod was elected ready for the November meeting which was held in person. At that meeting the Synod was addressed by the Chancellor of the Diocese, Adrian Iles. He gave a detailed, yet humorous, overview of the role of each Diocesan Synod. These are:-

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v) Consider and express opinion, approve or disapprove annual accounts of the Diocese.

The Deanery Synod also needs to be kept informed of the business of the Diocesan Synod. And the chancellor reminded the Synod that communication and information should be shared in both directions i.e. from General Synod through Diocesan Synods to Parishes and vice versa.

Also presented to Synod were changes to the Church Quinquennial Inspection Scheme . The following motion is to be moved:

“that this Synod adopts the proposed Church Quinquennial Inspection Scheme.”

This was agreed unanimously.

And the new Diocesan Boards of Education Measure 2021 - The following motion was moved:

“that this Synod agrees in principle the proposed Scheme for the DDBE to be a Statutory Committee pending final approval at the May 2022 Diocesan Synod meeting following final preparatory steps.”

This was agreed unanimously.

Wider Church (Ecumenical) Report by the Rev’d Mark East (Rector)

The Churches Together in Darlington (CTiD) meetings resumed in September having not been able to happen for the previous 18 months. At that meeting we were encouraged to think about what God was calling the churched to be and do as we move out of COVID.

Alongside the CTiD there have been several church leaders called ‘One Voice Darlington’ (OVD) gathering to pray regularly together and to plan for ‘drive-in’ events noted in last year’s report, but also thinking and praying about encouraging our churches across the town to recognise that no matter how big or small their individual congregations may be, we are part of ‘the’ church in Darlington. In November an evening of prayer and praise was organised at the Darlington Arena which over 100 people attended. It is tremendously encouraging to be praying and worshipping with other churches in the town, specifically to pray for Darlington.

Discussions are beginning between CTiD and OVD about how/if the two should become one, possibly with a new name, so the churches continue to see themselves as part of God’s church together in Darlington.

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Governance

Electoral Roll Report by Alan Wright (Electoral Roll Officer)

The total number on the Electoral Roll, at 26.2.22, as reported to the APCM 2022, is 116.

Male Female
Resident in the Parish 22 57
Non-resident in the Parish 14 23
TOTAL 36 80

Safeguarding by Gillian Jones (Parish Safeguarding Officer)

The PCC takes the safeguarding of children, young people and adults very seriously. Safeguarding is the action the Church takes to promote a safe culture and the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. The safeguarding policies adopted seek to prevent abuse, to protect those at risk and to respond well to issues and concerns raised. During 2021 church activities have of course been curtailed or cancelled as a result of COVID. However, the work of safeguarding has continued.

We currently have about 25 volunteers with a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) certificate and 50 who have completed Safeguarding training.

The number of people with DBS certificates and/or who are up to date with safeguarding training is lower than the number reported at the last APCM. This is because a number of people are no longer in their original roles. During 2021, 6 DBS certificates and 18 Safeguarding certificates were updated.

Last year I reported that due to being unable to meet face to face during the pandemic, I needed to verify some documentation, I am pleased to say this was done as soon as some restrictions were lifted. All Confidential Declaration forms which needed signing have now been collected and filed securely.

There have been no safeguarding incidents since the last report to the APCM and advice continues to be sought from the Diocese about any safeguarding issues or queries raised.

St Andrew’s church continues to take safeguarding seriously and it is an item on the agenda at every PCC meeting. We continue to adhere to the policies adopted in March 2019:-

With regard to the Safer Recruitment Practice Guidance (2016) the PCC is working towards improving our Safer Recruitment procedures in accordance with new Diocesan rules.

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We continue to display in the church, the hall and on the website:-

Priorities for the coming year:

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns regarding safeguarding and thank you again for your support in this important area of church life.

Some St Andrew’s Groups

Because of a variety of factors, most notably the ongoing pandemic, the following groups and activities did not resume or take place in 2021 – ABC, Andrew’s Net, Boathouse, Christmas Fayre, Family@4, Girls Aloud, Ladies Guild, MenMeet. Some may consider restarting in 2022. Ladies Wot Lunch ceased and a new group Coffee, Cake and Conversation started up.

In May 2021 the Family@4 Team decided that it was time to stand down from this work. They have served faithfully, enthusiastically and creatively for 10 years, providing, through their lively monthly services and delicious after-service teas, a very significant outreach to families with young children. Paul and Rachel Ryan, Sarah McTimoney, Gill Jones, and Mark East were upfront at the services, Alice and Beth Sewell organised the teas and Sue Chew helped serve and wash up as needed.

Church Coffee Mornings by Denise Hope

Due to COVID restrictions we were unable to hold any coffee mornings until September 2021. Since then, we have had a coffee morning each month. They have gone very well. It has encouraged some of our older residents back out of isolation to mix again.

Thank you to the team who help with them - Alice Sewell, Judith Monkman, Joan Martin, Claire Kay, Carole Ainslie, Audrey Pearson, Rachel Sturgeon, Pam Bassington, Pippa Foddering and Audrey Gray.

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Coffee, Cake and Conversation by Helen Kendrick

This new event began towards the end of 2021 as COVID-19 restrictions were being reduced, so there were just two meetings in 2021. It takes place on the 3[rd] Tuesday of the month from 1.00pm - 3.00pm in the church hall. We begin with a social part over refreshments and then move on to a Bible study. We are currently working our way through a grand overview of the happenings in Mark’s Gospel. All are welcome to come along.

Crafts@Andrews by Pauline Young

Craft @ Andrews meets each Monday from 1.00pm - 3.00pm in the church hall, and is open to everyone. As a group, our interests range from card making to knitting, tapestry to crochet, beading to embroidery, felting to painting. We also enjoy a cuppa and conversation, as well as helping and encouraging each other in new ventures.

Technology Report by Stoker Wilson

The church website at www.standrewshaughton.org.uk continues to be a source of lots of useful information about the church. In 2021 COVID has again dominated much of what we have done and there has been less church activity to advertise, but the site has been used to good effect in keeping folks informed about services etc.

The most visited pages are the permanent ones, and the top pages are much the same as they were in 2020. The five most visited pages in 2021 were;

1) Welcome page,

The COVID page has had 1864 visits since its inception on 14/3/20, which works out on average at some 18 visits/week, much less than I would have thought.

The church Facebook pages continue to give more immediate news about what’s happening in the church, as well as providing a forum in which people can ask questions when they need help for things relating to St. Andrew’s. Social media are the media of choice for the younger generation! Many thanks to all the moderators and contributors of Facebook.

The church YouTube pages have continued to be useful as a source for our on-line services, arguably more than the Facebook ones which had some problems when we started broadcasting services live. In the second half of 2021 we cut down on broadcasting recorded services and started to broadcast live but these suffered because of our very limited, slow, on-line connections with the church so we have gone back to broadcasting services recorded in the church. We look forward to a new connection later in 2022. We also stopped the on-line daily services in 2021. Once again thanks go to Paul Ryan and his helpers for providing these services. They provided a really valuable service for some 18 months.

The WhatsApp social media messaging system is used by some folks in church to keep in touch, share information and prayer requests. In 2021 the WhatsApp group changed from being a COVID self-help group to a more general church chat group and changed its name. Do let us know if you’d like to join this group.

The Telephone Help Group came to an end in 2021 as COVID precautions wound down. Once again thanks go to John & Helen Kendrick who faithfully manned this line since it began in early 2020 and had gone the extra mile by regularly telephoning vulnerable people in the church.

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Sound Equipment and Tech Team. A lot of the tech equipment in church has seen change in 2021. The sound desk has been renewed and re-orientated. Cameras have been installed to record services. A generous gift has meant our three lapel microphones have been renewed. Once again thanks to those whose generosity has made this possible. And thanks to our tech team who make possible the use of all this equipment. We are always on the lookout for new members of the team. Please ask if you would like more information.

Resources provided by the church Dropbox account, Google calendar account and other IT matters are in good state and contribute well to the efficient running of the church. E-mail continues to play a vital part in the running of the church.

Guiding at St Andrew’s by Emma Nimmo

This report covers the activities of:

The first part of 2021 was spent on Zoom for our Brownie and Guide units. Our Brownie group had great fun playing games, making up scavenger hunts and completing badges. One of our Gold Award brownies even ran a baking session over Zoom to finish her award. Our Guide group worked on theme awards, trying activities such as star gazing, making plastic planters and designing comic strips. They also enjoyed completing the confectionary badge making Easter Egg cheesecakes, Hamantaschen and lots of other tasty treats. Our Gold Award Guide ran a virtual sleepover to finish her award, and once she had finished it, we started a small Ranger group alongside our Guide group, meeting in a different ‘room’ to do activities.

We returned to outdoor face to face guiding for all our groups over the summer, Rainbows and Brownies met together and Guides and Rangers together. We welcomed four new Rainbows to our group. Our activities were dependent on the weather, but the girls enjoyed being able to meet up again and have fun. We were very glad when our risk assessment was signed off for indoor meetings ready for the new term in September with a change of evening from a Friday to a Thursday.

We started back indoors with small numbers, but have started to grow again, our Brownie group grew from four girls in September to 11 by Christmas. We have also welcomed back a Young Leader as a new adult helper for Guides. Our winter term was packed with activities from crafts to outdoor games and girls have completed badges such as Booklovers, Recycling, Collector, Charities, Baking and Fixing. Two Brownies completed the Gold Award at the end of the summer and moved up to Guides, while a Guide completed it by Christmas, which was a great achievement considering the restriction on our activities over the pandemic. We also took part in community activities attending the outdoor part of the Remembrance Day service, collecting for the Foodbank, raising money for Children in Need with our danceathon, collecting gifts for the Salvation Army toy appeal, making cards for care homes and outdoor carol singing at Riverside Care Home. We also managed to squeeze in a trip to the cinema for the Girlguiding showing of Encanto and climbing at ROF59.

None of this would have been possible without the commitment of our leaders Ruby, Ivy, Brown Owl and Lucy, our young leaders Flamingo, Unicorn and Lucy and our Guide Helper Dragon, as well as all of the parent helpers that make guiding possible each week. We are also grateful for the support of the Church in our returning to guiding outdoors within the grounds of the hall and in the hall itself.

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14[th] Darlington (St Andrew’s) Scouts by Tony Baldock (Group Scout Leader) It has been – as it has for everyone – a very strange and testing year for all connected with Scouting across the globe, let alone for us here in Haughton.

It was a stop/start year with the Scout Association “locking down” all Scouting from January until mid-May, and then we could only meet outdoors with a maximum of 10 young people and 5 adults, though all camping was banned. That was fine until the dark nights started to curtail meeting times for both our Cubs and Scouts. Subsequently we got the “OK” to return to indoor meetings, but they were severely restricted in terms of time allowed, full PPE worn by adults etc, but at least we could see our young people weekly. More recently, the Omicron outbreak again meant we all had to be restrictive with regards contact and PPE.

All of the above factors meant that our Young People only really had face-to-face weekly meetings for about 7 months of the year, and even then, only for certain restricted activities. This has been a severe test for our Young People, especially when all we were allowed to do was hold virtual meetings on-line. As a result, our numbers did plummet in 2021 on top of those lost the previous year when the epidemic first hit.

However, we are still running, though the District has lost Groups during the epidemic, and our Leaders are doing their best to do some form of Scouting at every opportunity. For example, our Cubs had a brilliant day out at Saltburn having travelled there and back by train, enjoyed a picnic beside the sea and created some fantastic, massive art works under the pier. Meanwhile one of the Scouts’ highlights was an evening spent doing Laser Quest at Newton Aycliffe.

We have continued to support the St Andrew’s Foodbank, donated clothing to a charity in Darlington and focussed on the plight of others at our weekly closing prayers.

Here’s hoping that next year’s report contains more good news for everyone, not just for members of our St Andrews family.

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(HARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND ANO WALES 1134791 Annual accounts for the 01101r2021 To •ThJ d• 31112r2021 Section A S ÈÈment of financial acfj vil es R•c¢xnm•nd•d c•kngwl•• •¢tlvlty UM••trl¢knd Endornrt Prlor y•ar fbd• Tol•1 fiffKI• Incomlng Y••ourc•• (Not• 3} F01 Fif2 F03 F04 FOS 2,832 84.105 475 525 142 425 99) 137427 Tot•1 R•souvw •xp•nd•d (Not• 6) 5,533 114,124 93.813 130,618 S10 $11 634 650 Tot $12 N•t In¢omrf•xp•ndlturn) b•fom Inv••tm•nt galn•llloMM) S13 SM 138 138 N•t In¢omoll•xp•ndltuv•) Extrnofdlnwy ft•m• Trnnsf•rs b•tw••n funds oth•r r•cognls•d gaIn￿lI0•￿). S15 $17 4Ylty'$wu S1J N•t mov•Jn•nt In lunds RKonclll•tlon ollunds.. Total funds cwrtod

Section B Balance sheet T•l•l 14• Tal•1 l••t ymr Flxod a88•ts l•)t•Trglbl• ••••t• Twglbl• ••••l• Foi F02 F05 (Not• 15) {N¢)ts ln Tolal Ilx•d •B¥ Curr•nt asset• {Ilot• 1 O•btorn 011 iNots t7AI C••h li b•nk In b•d INot• 24) 16,551 24.562 65.784 65.784 •n• y••r (Not• 011 7.821 65,784 57.821 65.784 11 (Mot• 20) 57,821 Funds of th• Charlty Endowrn•nt fund• Illot• 2n R••trtct•d Incom• lund• (Ilol• 27) IT STm1 57.821 123.e Sl3n•d by on• b•hal of •1 the Iw81••• t*t• of •pp￿¥•I ddlrwmlyyy CC170 28103r2022

Independent Examiner's Report to the membersltrustees of St Andrew's Church Haughton Le Skerne, Darlington, Parochial Church Council. I report on the accowits for the year ended 3111 December. 2021 which arc sel out allached. Respecifve rdponsibllliics of the Truslees and Independent Eiaminer The Church of England statement on PCC accountability, which forms an essential part of b)th the Church Accountin8 Regulations 2C¥)6 and the Charities Act 2011 establishes clearly that the members of the PCC are trustees and are the'persons hawng the general control and manaqement of the administTrtion of the Ichurchl thari￿ {Charities Act 2011. $1771. As trustees of the charity, the members ol the PCC are responsible lor the preparation of the accounts. They consider that an audit is not required for thi5 year under section 144121 of the Charlties Art 2011 (the 2011 Act} and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibllity to examine the accounts under section 14S of the 2011 Act; follow the procedures lèid down by the Church of Eniland incwporated in Church Accounting Reiulation$ 2(M)6; and state whether particular matters ha¥e come to rny attention. Baili of Independent E¥#mlner'i St*iement My examirlation was carried out in accorthnce with the General Dlrertion5 gtven bythe Charlty Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and * compari50n of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of anv unusual iterns or disclosures in the account5, and seekini explanations from the management committee concerning any such matter5. The procedures undertsken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in a full audit, and consequently I do not express an audit OFNnion on the accounts. Independent E%#mlner's Stsfement In connertion wr(h my examination, no matters have come to my attention which live me reasonable cause to bellw￿ that in any material respert the requirements to keep accounting records in accordance with s.130 of the 2011 Act,. or to prepare accounts which aetord with these accountini records have not been met- or 2. to which. in my o￿nion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understandini of the accounts to be reached. christine Marsh ACMA INDEPEAIDENTEXAMINER 28/0¥2022

Independent Examiner's Report to the membersltrustees of St Andrew's Church Haughton Le Skerne. Darlington. Parochial Church Council. I rcport on the accouiits for th¢ v¢ar end¢d 31, Deceiiibcr. ?0? l IAthich are set out aitached_ Respective responsibillties of lht Tru5ttt5 and Independent Examintr The Church ol England statement on PCC accountability, which forms an essenttal pèrt of both the Church Accounting Regulations 21J)6 and the Charities Act 2011 establishes clearly that the members of the PCC are trustees and are the'persons having the eeneral control and management of the admTrnistrat>on of the Ichurchl charitv (Charities Ad 2011. s1771. As trustees ol the charity, the rnembers of the PCC are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. They consider that an audit Is not fequifed for this year under sertion 144121 of the Charities Act 2011 Ithe 2011 Artl and that an independent examination is needed. It 15 my responsibility to examine the ?￿O￿ntS Under section 145 of the 2011 Act,. follow the procedures laid down by the Church of England incofpDrated bn Churth Accounting Regulatons 2006; and state whether particular matters have come to my attention. B5is of Independent E¥Amih¢r's Statement My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charlty Commission. An examination intludes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and omparison of the atcounts presented with those record5. It a150 includes consideratson of anv unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations frorn the management committee concerning any such mattels. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required In a full audit. and consequently I do not express an audit 0￿.n10￿ on the aetounts. Independent Ex#miTh¢r's Ststemeni In connectton with my examination. no matters have come to my attention l. which give me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements to keep actounting records in accordance with s.130 of the 2011 Act., or to prepare accounts which accord with these accounting records have not been met., or to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the aCcO￿￿t5 to be reathed. Christine Marsh ACMA INDEPENDEP4TEXAMINER 28/03/2022