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← The Parochial Church Council Of The Ecclesiastical Parish Of St Andrew, Haughton Le Skerne

2023-12-31-accounts

ST ANDREW’S CHURCH HAUGHTON-LE-SKERNE ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING (APCM)

To be held on Tuesday 16 April 2024 7.00pm St Andrew’s Church Hall

ANNUAL REPORTS FROM 2023 FOR 2024 APCM

St Andrew’s Church, Haughton-le-Skerne - Information

Church Office Haughton Green, Darlington, DL1 2DD 01325 468142 office@standrewshaughton.org.uk

Church Website www.standrewshaughton.org.uk Rector: The Reverend Mark East Associate Minister: The Reverend Sue Chew Curate: The Reverend Amy Gooding

Registered Charity No 1134791

St Andrew’s Church is part of the Deanery of Darlington and the Archdeaconry of Auckland within the Diocese of Durham.

Notes on the Reports

All the reports in this booklet cover the period January to December 2023.

Thank you to all who have contributed the reports which make up this booklet and describe the year in the life of our church. A total of 36 reports by 22 individuals or teams was submitted for this booklet and adds up to a busy year by (and for) a lot of people.

Thank you also to all of those, named or unnamed in the following 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 1 April 2024

Contents

The PCC ............................................................................................................................... 2 St Andrew’s Parochial Church Council (PCC) by Jane Teague (PCC Secretary) .............. 2 Leaders and Some Leadership Teams ................................................................................. 4 Our Curate by The Rev’d Mark East (Rector) .................................................................... 4 The Formation of the Mission Ministry and Growth Team by John Kendrick (MMGT Member) ............................................................................................................................ 5 The Missional Community by The Rev’d Mark East (Rector) ............................................. 5 The Staff Team & Parish Administrator by The Rev’d Mark East (Rector) ......................... 6 The Pastoral Team by The Rev’d Mark East (Rector) ........................................................ 7 Some Key Areas of Church Life ............................................................................................ 7 Church Services ................................................................................................................ 7 Mission and Outreach ........................................................................................................ 9 Discipleship and Training................................................................................................. 11 Pastoral Care .................................................................................................................. 11 Social Events ................................................................................................................... 13 Other Groups and Activities ............................................................................................. 13 Church Infrastructure .......................................................................................................... 15 Church Fabric and Grounds by The Churchwardens/ Building Maintenance Group......... 15 Technology at St Andrew’s by Stoker Wilson................................................................... 15 Church Finances ................................................................................................................. 16 Finances by the Finance Committee ............................................................................... 16 2023 Financial Statement ................................................................................................ 17 Church Governance ............................................................................................................ 17 Electoral Roll by Alan Wright (Electoral Roll Officer) ........................................................ 17 Safeguarding by Gillian Jones (Parish Safeguarding Officer) .......................................... 17 Helping the Local Community ............................................................................................. 18 Foodbank Report by Sue Robson (Foodbank Coordinator) ............................................. 18 Darlington (CAP) Debt Centre by Cyndi Hughes, Debt Centre Manager .......................... 19 War Memorial Garden Team by Cath Williams (Co-ordinator) ......................................... 20 Beyond this Church ............................................................................................................. 21 Darlington Deanery Synod by The Rev’d Mark East (Area Dean) .................................... 21 Durham Diocesan Synod by The Rev’d Mark East (Rector) ............................................ 22 Ecumenical Groups in Darlington by The Rev’d Mark East (Rector) ................................ 24 Uniformed Organisations .................................................................................................... 24 Guiding at St Andrew’s by Emma Nimmo ........................................................................ 24 14th Darlington Air Scouts by Andy Moore (Lead Volunteer (Group Manager)) ............... 25 Other People, Groups and Events in 2023 .......................................................................... 27 A Brief Round-Up by Jane Teague (PCC Secretary) ....................................................... 27

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The PCC

St Andrew’s Parochial Church Council (PCC) by Jane Teague (PCC Secretary)

The Parochial Church Council is a corporate body established by the Church of England. It operates under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2011), and is also a charity registered with the Charity Commission with PCC members as trustees.

The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish, including deciding how the funds of the PCC are to be spent.

Aims and Purposes

The PCC has the responsibility of cooperating with the incumbent, the Reverend Mark East, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The PCC is also responsible for the maintenance of the Grade 1 listed church building, and its grounds, as well as the Church Hall complex.

Objectives

In March 2023, the PCC met for an Away Day to review the St Andrew’s Mission Statement and decided that it was still appropriate to the mission of St Andrew’s Church. It is:

Glorifying God by:

Reaching HIGHER to the Father through worship and praise. Going DEEPER in faith and relationship with Jesus and others.

Growing WIDER into the community to serve and spread His word in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Drawing CLOSER with others into His kingdom.

PCC Members and Appointments

The method of making appointments to the PCC is set out in the Church Representation Rules. At St Andrew’s, the membership of the PCC consists of:

All those who attend our services regularly are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll, to attend the APCM and consider standing for election to the PCC.

The following served on the PCC for all of 2023, or for part of it if indicated otherwise:

Rev Mark East Rector & PCC Chair Ex-Officio
Rev Sue Chew Associate Minister Ex-Officio
Rev Amy Gooding Curate Ex-Officio From 2 July 2023
Mike Bird Warden Ex-Officio
Rob Gormley Warden Ex-Officio
Sheila Harris Warden Ex-Officio
Claire Kay Deanery Synod Rep Ex-Officio

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Teresa Kennedy Deanery Synod Rep Ex-Officio
Carole Ainslie Deanery Synod Rep Ex-Officio Until 23 Feb 2023
Andy Teague PCC Member & Lay Vice-Chair Elected
David Cullen PCC Member Elected
Barbara Davis PCC Member Elected Until 18 Apr 2023
Liz Day PCC Member Elected From 18 Apr 2023
Gill Jones PCC Member Elected
Sarah McTimoney PCC Member
Deanery Synod Rep		 Elected
Ex-Officio		 Until 18 Apr 2023
From 18 Apr 2023
Karen Padurariu PCC Member Elected
Jayne Turner PCC Member Elected Until 18 Apr 2023
Jane Teague PCC Member & PCC Secretary Elected
Cath Williams PCC Member Elected

The APCM on 18 April 2023 did not decide that St Andrew’s Licensed Readers would be invited to be PCC members for the coming year.

Following the 2023 APCM, the following were all appointed by the PCC to continue in their roles:

Following the 2023 APCM, the PCC also appointed the following:

Our Curate – Amy Gooding

In July 2023 Amy Gooding was ordained Deacon at Durham Cathedral and shortly afterwards moved into the parish and started as Curate at St Andrew’s Church.

PCC Meetings

In 2023 the PCC met six times on the third Tuesday of the month in alternate months beginning in May. In general, the first part of each meeting is led by PCC Chair Mark East, and then the Lay Vice-Chair, Andy Teague, chairs the business part.

Given its wide responsibilities, the PCC has a number of committees or teams each dealing with a particular aspect of parish life. These committees are all responsible to the PCC and report back to it regularly with information for discussion and proposals for decisions to put before the full PCC and acted on as necessary.

The PCC agenda has provided the opportunity for regular reports to be made to it by or

about the following:

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In addition, the PCC addressed other matters of business as they arose.

The PCC Secretary continued to produce a written summary of each PCC meeting for the congregation, in an effort to keep them informed of what the PCC has done on behalf of the church.

Leaders and Some Leadership Teams

Our Curate by The Rev’d Mark East (Rector)

It was with great delight that we welcomed our Curate, the Rev’d Amy Gooding, and her husband Richard to our parishes in July 2023. Amy was ordained Deacon at Durham Cathedral on 2[nd] July 2023, and Richard, Amy and their family were officially welcomed at St Andrew’s on Sunday 9[th] July in our morning service followed by a shared church family lunch.

Amy has completed the first part of her theological training with the initial part at Mirfield College and most recently as a full-time student through Lindisfarne College. She now embarks on the IME Phase 2 part of her training which involves practical training with us in the parishes alongside regular gatherings with other curates in the Durham and Newcastle Dioceses.

The formation of criteria for Phase 2 are organised under seven headings as follows: -

Our part in this process is to provide the opportunities as a parish for her development withing these criteria. My role as her training incumbent/supervisor is to have regular supervision meetings with her – we do this weekly on Monday mornings – and to give her opportunities to grow in confidence in the different aspects of ministry, as well as to support and advise her through this process, and to help her to theologically reflect on the experiences and opportunities that she encounters in ministry. I am also required to work

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with her to provide annual reports to the Bishop so that she is ready for the next steps in her ministerial development.

Amy brings many gifts and skills with her, and we are blessed to be able to have her train with us to learn new skills for the future ministry into which she will move in a few years’ time.

The Formation of the Mission Ministry and Growth Team by John Kendrick (MMGT Member)

Over the year, a small group of eight people have been attending a diocesan course called ‘Health for Growth’ which has been exploring what a healthy church should look like. As part of the course, we were encouraged to ask the congregation what they thought about these same topics. Overall, the feedback from the questionnaires was very positive and encouraging, but it also gave us suggestions as to where things could improve.

The Shared Ministry Team was also meeting during the year looking at several areas of church life, including; worship, social events, outreach, and mission. With the end of the Health for Growth course it was decided to form a new group from the two teams and benefit from the combined expertise in both groups. The new group, called the Mission Ministry and Growth Team (MMGT) was commissioned in Church on 19[th] November. The remit of the team is to continue monitoring the health of our church and to find ways of improving our church life in the service of God.

The members of the MMGT are Mark East, Amy Gooding, Barabara Davis, Liz Day, Cilla Hollamby, Paul Hollamby, Helen Kendrick, John Kendrick, Gill Jones and Cath Williams.

The Missional Community by The Rev’d Mark East (Rector)

During my sabbatical in 2022 I spent a good deal of my time reading about, investigating and visiting churches who have formed a lot of what they do as church around ‘missional communities’. ‘A Missional Community is a group of twenty to fifty people who have united, in the name of Jesus, around a common service and witness to a particular context. Friends, family, neighbours and colleagues are invited to come and be a part of this extended family of relationships.’

There is a triangular dynamic within missional communities. UP – in worship to God IN – in relationship with other followers of Jesus OUT – through a missional activity to the wider community.

At St Andrew’s the PCC has agreed to establish a ‘pilot’ missional community. To that effect, during the summer/autumn of 2023 we invited people in St Andrew’s who were interested in setting up a Missional Community (MC) whose missional focus would be reaching young families. We had a good response and so we met up to pray over the summer with about 25 people making this possible. This led to us formally establishing the MC in September to meet weekly for prayer and bible study, shared meals/social events and to plan for a possible event that would be able to attract young families.

As we met, prayed, grew together and planned what sort of event might be good, it was decided that a good ‘spring-board’ event would be a Christmas Party. This took place on 15[th] December and had a very positive response from local families with about 40 children attending. From this event we planned to start a monthly Sunday afternoon ‘Tea-Time Church’ (TTC) for families.

The pattern of meeting for the MC is as follows: -

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Week 1 – Tea-Time Church (1[st] Sunday of each month – 4 to 5.30 pm) Week 2 – Bible Study and Prayer Week 3 – Planning for the next Tea-Time Church Service Week 4 – Social Event

There is also another important branch to the MC. The Cooking for Life (C4L) Team of people who run a weekly opportunity for people to learn how to cook on a limited budget. This is a much smaller group of people who develop strong relationships with a few people.

Some members of the MC do not take part in either the TTC or the C4L, but they are regularly part of the monthly gatherings to pray for and support what goes on within these two different branches of the MC that are seeking to reach out to, and draw in, new people to God’s love and caring church family.

The Staff Team & Parish Administrator by The Rev’d Mark East (Rector)

The Staff Team at St Andrew’s is made up of the following members: The Rev’d Mark East (Rector), The Rev’d Amy Gooding (Curate), The Rev’d Sue Chew (Associate Minister), Muriel Jones, Pauline Young (LLM Reader), & The Rev’d Stoker Wilson (PTO)

The team endeavours to meet twice monthly on the first and third Tuesday mornings for Morning Prayer followed by a meeting. The Parish Administrator doesn't attend these meetings but is regularly involved in checking details and following up on actions. We also meet on the 2nd Wednesday of each month for a lunch together, along with the Parish Administrator in the Parish Hall followed by a meeting. It seeks to be a conduit to ensure there is good communication on a variety of matters.

The main function of the group is to see to practical details that need to be actioned following decisions taken by various other groups including the PCC and the Word Group etc. It doesn’t deal with any governance issues but does often action decisions taken on governance matters particularly relating to our church worship life.

In essence the Staff Team makes sure that many practicalities are effectively actioned such as organising flowers for Mothering Sunday services, Advent buns, deciding on plans for major festivals, discussing dynamics and practicalities for different aspects of church worship and is an arena for initial discussions about sensitive issues to do with church life and worship etc. Much of what it does goes unnoticed by many church members, but is vital for the generally smooth running of church life.

Parish Administrator: Pam Bassington Where would we be without Pam?

Our very welcoming and competent Parish Administrator is for many the ‘face of St Andrew’s’ – the person who deals with all sorts of questions, resolves many different problems ranging from drains being blocked, children to be baptised, bookings for the Parish Hall, regular decorating, cooking amazing meals for us to enjoy, complaints from disgruntled parishioners, to making arrangements for interment of cremated remains. And there’s so much more that she wonderfully caries out with great grace, and (usually) with a smile on her face.

We are so grateful for all she does and really appreciate what a wonderful asset we have in her – every church needs ‘a Pam’!

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The Pastoral Team by The Rev’d Mark East (Rector)

The Pastoral Team at St Andrew’s is made up of the following members: The Rev’d Mark East (Rector), The Rev’d Amy Gooding (Curate), The Rev’d Sue Chew (Associate Minister), Muriel Jones, Claire Kay, Sue Robson & Cath Williams.

The team endeavours to meet every month, but this is sometimes extended a little to every 6 weeks depending on circumstances and the church calendar. At each meeting we update the team on those people we think are needing support, and feedback on any visiting and contact that has been made.

During 2023 we carried out the following: -

Some Key Areas of Church Life

Church Services

Service Planning and Delivery by The Rev’d Mark East (Rector)

The Staff Team at St Andrew’s and the Word Group who assist the Rector are responsible for the planning and delivery of church services. Those in the Word Group are anyone who preaches or leads services regularly and will either have a Bishop’s licence (i.e. clergy and LLM Readers) or have permission to preach and/or lead having completed some Diocesan accredited preparation or course.

We meet about every six to eight weeks to plan for major festivals, and to prepare for and pray about specific themes and teaching needs of the church.

During 2023 we focussed on several key themes, as well as using seasonal lectionary themes and plans. We spent time focussing during Lent on the Letter of Paul to the Philippians (this was also studied alongside in several Lent groups), during the autumn term we had a special focus on Children and Young People in the Bible. This coincided with the launch of our Missional Community whose focus is on Discipling Young Families. During Advent we looked at the names given to Jesus in Isaiah’s prophecies about the Messiah.

We try to embed our teaching and services into practical Christian discipleship and service.

Music and Worship Group by John Kendrick (Music and Worship Group Coordinator)

The music and worship group leads our Sunday worship with a small group of dedicated singers and musicians. There are about eight people with a variety of musical skills in the group, and we are grateful for their contributions. In 2023 we were fortunate to add to our number an organist and keyboard player which has greatly increased the variety of our music.

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A high point in the year was the service of carols and readings that took place at Christmas time. The ten singers who led the worship were supported by a group of musicians including; keyboard, guitar, clarinet, cello, bass guitar, cornet and alto horn.

Prayer Ministry Team by Revd Amy Gooding (Prayer Ministry Team Coordinator)

Upon my arrival, Revd Mark East asked me to head up development of the Prayer Ministry Team. Faithful Team members Claire Kay, Mike Bird and Lynn Wilson had been offering Prayer Ministry on the first Sunday of the month regularly. Having met with them in early September to pray and listen to their points of view on how things were going, it was decided to pray about increasing the number of people on the team, providing some training for team members and raising the profile of prayer ministry within the church. We decided to try to offer Prayer Ministry at each Eucharistic service at St Andrew’s, beginning in Advent 2023 and began praying in earnest about the ministry, and practical considerations in terms of when and where Prayer Ministry should be offered during the services. We also updated the Prayer Ministry resources box, to include a Signposting Support document in case of being presented with specific needs.

After prayer and seeking God’s wisdom, several people were asked, and answered the call to become members of the team, which now consists of nine members, having been joined by myself, Cilla Hollamby, Lynda Gough, Karen Padurariu, Barbara Davis and Liz Day. All the members of the team have the appropriate level of Safeguarding and DBS check. A Prayer Ministry Training Guidance Document was written by me, but with input from the original team, and including a reminder of Safeguarding Principles. This was delivered and discussed at a meeting of the whole team in mid-November, where we also decided upon a rota for the next four months, with two people on each Eucharistic Sunday, and to hold a review meeting in early April. The rota management is done by myself and then given to Jane Teague for the Master Rota.

The new Prayer Ministry Team was commissioned and prayed for by the church in a special service on 10 December 2023.

It was decided to trial offering Prayer Ministry at the font during Holy Communion distribution, alongside offering it after the service in the Choir stalls. There is no perfect or obvious space and we acknowledge some issues with both of these (people needing access to the ambry/silver safe after the service are now asked to go via the Vestry). However, we are pleased to note that there has been an increase in take-up for Prayer Ministry, including the asking of members of the team for prayer in an ad hoc manner at other times and in other meetings. Our Review meeting will not have taken place by the time of the APCM, but I anticipate developments such as possibly offering a Prayer Ministry presence at certain events, and forming a process that the Leader of the Service on a Eucharistic Sunday always mentions that Prayer Ministry is available, plus prayer for each other and reviewing what has gone well, and what could be better, will be part of that.

As Curate, I am indebted to this faithful team of intercessory prayers who have followed a call to serve in this ministry, and who are flexible with one another in covering rota slots as necessary and pray for each other when not on the rota. They are all determined to cover the work and the people of St Andrew’s with careful prayer, and be available, giving of themselves, listening to God, and holding those who ask for it up to God in prayer. They are a continued blessing to all of us in showing God’s love and compassion in this way.

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Mission and Outreach

Missional Community - Children’s Christmas Party by Lynda Gough (Organiser)

The Missional Community held a Christmas Party on the afternoon of 22 December 2023 for children from Reception age to Year 6. It was an opportunity to share the love of Jesus through the Christmas story with the children who came along, and a springboard for ‘Teatime Church,’ the monthly All-Age Service planned for 2024. We wanted it to be a blessing and an expression of our care for people in our community and so, thanks to financial support from the PCC and a microgrant of just under £500 from the Diocesan ‘Energising Growth through Mission & Evangelism’ fund, we were able to offer it as a free event. It could not have been such a success without the 24 volunteers from both the Missional Community and the wider congregation of St Andrews who helped on the day with the children, the catering and IT, as well as others who spread the word and helped advertise the party.

There were 34 children who came to the party. As they arrived, they had a choice of crafts which they could move around freely, and which they could take home:

Assembling and decorating Cone Angels Making Christmas Cards & 2024 Calendars Painting Nativity Suncatchers & Wooden Star Tealight Holders Icing Gingerbread Biscuit Nativity Figures Making Hama Bead Christmas Decorations Making Christmas Crackers

Richard and Amy Gooding then led the children in singing Christmas songs and Carols as they waved Glo Sticks; Barbara Davis led team games; we watched a children’s DVD of the Christmas story - ‘It’s A Boy’ produced by Riding Lights; and St Andrew’s Puppets made a welcome comeback appearance to lead a nativity quiz. Finally, Elizabeth Day and her team provided a feast for the party tea.

Thank you to everyone who helped with the party and to everyone who prayed.

– - Missional Community Teatime Church by Barbara Davis (Teatime Church Co Leader)

Our vision is to spread the great news of God’s love and to change lives. We aim to do this by offering a high quality monthly gathering accessible to all ages, especially young families and children, where they can encounter and grow to know the love of Jesus.

A Teatime Church Leadership group was established in November 2023 which includes Amy Gooding, Mark East, Lynda Gough & Barbara Davis. They meet regularly to share ideas and plan All age, Adult and Childrens sessions, which in turn are discussed and shared at planning meetings with all volunteers on a monthly basis.

Paperwork, safer recruitment & training - thanks to the above and to Andy Teague & Gill Jones for all of their hard work to ensure all of the necessary policies, procedures, paperwork, risk assessments, DBS checks and safeguarding training are in place and completed. In addition, Barbara and Lynda completed a paediatric first aid course in October 2023 and Lynda completed her level 2 food hygiene course in preparation for the launch of Teatime Church in Feb 2024.

Missional Community - in June we were short of volunteers, especially volunteers to work with children, so it was decided to set up a group to pray and possibly establish a missional community. A missional community is a group who meet, praise/worship and pray together; with discipleship, growth & mission as its focus.

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Those interested in being part of a missional community met to pray regularly from July to October 2023. Then from November a Missional Community was established, with Teatime Church, Cooking4life and possibly other missions as its focus. It started with outside input from John Cottey (Durham Diocese Church Planting Coach) on 6th November, followed by a monthly Bible study, monthly social, monthly planning meetings, a children's Christmas party, and the first Teatime Church planning meeting for volunteers on 4th December 2023.

24 members of the church community voiced an interest in volunteering, which is a great testimony to the individuals involved, to the ethos of the church, the Holy Spirit and power of prayer. (Thank you Lord). Unfortunately, we lost 6 during the safer recruitment process, but gained 1, and therefore have 19 volunteers set to support the launch of Teatime Church in February 2024.

The Missional Community is planning to run monthly Teatime Church gatherings to reach families following the success of the children’s Christmas Party. Jesus will be the focus, starting with Jesus as the vine in February, then moving to the Fruits of the Spirit - Love, Joy, Faithfulness, Goodness, Self Control, Gentleness, Kindness, Peace and Patience. We seek to always look to Jesus, and are not trying to achieve these qualities in our own strength.

– Missional Community Cooking4Life by Liz Day (Missional Hospitality Team Leader (C4L)

At a practical level, Cooking 4 Life (C4L) provides a warm, friendly space in St Andrew’s church hall and kitchen every Wednesday morning during term time. It gives ease of access to cooking and eating tasty food while reducing costs. Guests who come are comfortable contributing, sharing tips and ideas on saving money, and like discussing what comprises good, nutritious food. Cost of living strategies include helps to reduce fuel costs; where to shop to help getting value for money; using vegetables and fruits in season; cooking in batches or in bulk and, if available, making the most of using a home freezer.

At a social level, beyond helping with managing money for food, C4L provides a space for people to get out of the house, make new friends, and sometimes to offload. It can also help to develop an interest in cookery as a hobby or to better understand the connection between eating and health, as well as having the opportunity to share various strengths and creativities.

Guests come from Haughton-le-Skerne and other areas of Darlington: Over the three terms, ten different people from the local community attended C4L as guests; on average three every week. They come through word of mouth, contacts through the Foodbank and, in November, one young woman came through Darlington’s Social Prescribing Team (whose lead is Maxine Dunn). All receive information and share through a WhatsApp group. Most bring their own ingredients. C4L provides some essentials plus the offer 1:1 of whatever may be helpful.

At a missional level, the sense of calling to share the love of God in a practical, helpful way first came to Liz as she completed a part-time course in Contemporary Chaplaincy with Waverley Abbey College; the idea to use her original training and passion in teaching home economics, as a vehicle, yet with a sharpened understanding and expectancy that God ‘has prepared “works” for us to do and goes ahead of us’ (paraphrase Ephesians 2:10). Revd. Mark East’s advice was to first pray and gather two or three others to pray, so Liz was very grateful when Karen Brown, Susan Stabler, Barbara Davis, and Cath Williams from St Andrew’s came on board, followed by Cathryn Warden from the Methodist Chapel. What a team! At the first team meeting on 04 January 2023, Lectio 365, ‘Who’s at the Table’ the reading for the day, was from Matthew 25: 34-40 – welcome the stranger and feed the hungry. It felt like a commissioning call and helped the team to gel and work through some practical necessities of risk assessments for approval by the PCC, advice from Darlington Borough Council on food hygiene requirements and necessary in-house food and other

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safety training. After two terms of excellent service as a C4L leader, Karen Brown stepped back and Carol Devlin came on board and is also an ideal in the role.

Out of a team of six, C4L can keep going every week as two different C4L leaders work with Liz with guests every week. As relationships grow and, leaders quite naturally share testimonies from their lives during one of the two ‘chill’ times in the morning, this creates interest and at times, deep engagement. Team leaders are flexible, excellent listeners; they befriend and signpost to other help, and pray with, as well as for, guests. C4L is an excellent way to build relationships and welcome people into other church and community activities, outreach and related services e.g. walks; lunches; summer fun afternoon; Coronation tea; Coffee Cake and Contemplation; Alpha; preparation for a children’s Christmas party. Merging with The Missional Community in September 2023 is strengthening for C4L as ‘an outreach arm’ as, through regular Bible study and prayer and socials, it provides a wider base for leaders’ personal growth, accountability, sharing and growing honest, open relationships. C4L planning with its team for the three terms takes place twice a year. Joint prayer happens weekly, directly before each session, and is key.

Alpha by Gill Jones (Alpha Course Leader)

In 2023 we ran two Alpha courses, one in the spring and one in the autumn. We continued to be blessed to see lives changed and people encouraged in their faith by attending Alpha. At each Alpha session, there is always the opportunity for discussion, learning and sharing in a safe setting. There is cake too!

The members of the Alpha team are Mike Bird, Barbara Davies, Mark East, Rob Gormley, Sue Stabler, Cath Williams, Lynn Wilson, Stoker Wilson and Gill Jones

Discipleship and Training

Lent Groups, John and Helen Winthorpe Kendrick (Lent Group Leaders)

The theme for our Lent course in 2023 was a series called “Discipleship Explored”, based on the book of Philippians. The course took place over 8 sessions and was supported by a sermon series that covered the same topics. Three groups met during the week in people’s homes to watch the video and chat informally about what it means to be a disciple of Christ. These Lent groups gave us the opportunity to share our thoughts about being a Christian and allowed us to get to know one another better in a friendly and supportive group.

Alpha Follow On by Gill Jones (Alpha Course Leader)

In the Spring term of 2023, the Alpha team hosted ‘A Life Worth Living’. The course is based on Nicky Gumbel’s book. The course is a 10-part video resource which introduces Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

Pastoral Care

Care Home Ministry by Muriel Jones

After over three years of not being able to bring Songs of Praise to our four Care Homes, efforts were made to re-establish the practice. The care homes had been constantly asking us to visit them again, particularly since we had managed to sing carols with them at Christmas 2022, so an appeal for volunteers in church resulted in seventeen people offering their services. Gill Jones’ work with the necessary Safeguarding etc. was much appreciated, as was Pam Bassington’s in making all the bookings for the visits.

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We decided to start up with a Harvest visit at the beginning of October when ‘We ploughed the fields and scattered the good seed’ and acknowledged that ‘All things bright and beautiful’ was, indeed, the thought for the season. The success of these visits was very rewarding to us as well as to the residents and staff of The Grange, Oak Lodge, Riverside View and Springfield.

At Christmas we visited again, adding Oban Court to the list, this time with a larger group of singers bringing Christmas greetings in song. It was wonderful to see our audiences dressed in their Christmas outfits and enjoying the carols as much as we were. As I’ve remarked before, we get as much out of the visits as the residents do.

We look forward to more regular involvement in the coming year.

The Bereavement Journey Course by Revd Amy Gooding (Course Host and Leader)

The Bereavement Journey is a nationally recognised, established, seven-week course, developed for use by churches, designed by Holy Trinity, Brompton. It is a series of structured sessions based around videos which look at the journey of grief, allowing people to work at their own pace to understand more about, and begin to process elements of bereavement and loss. The videos are written by clergy and people qualified in grief counselling, with personal experiences of loss. The first six sessions are general; the seventh (optional) session looks at faith questions. Each session is facilitated locally by a host, group leaders and helpers and includes two videos, a welcome, group times and a coffee break. There is a helpful course manual that is worked through and has space for notes for the participants.

Our Bereavement Journey Course began in early November and finished just before Christmas, running on Monday afternoons 2-4pm, in the Gouldsmith Room. The team consisted of Revd Amy Gooding (Host and Group Leader), Cath Williams (Group Leader) and helpers Stuart Baker and Gill Jones. The team is supported by an external qualified Counsellor-Advisor, which in our case was Ben Bourne, the Bereavement Co-ordinator at St Teresa’s Hospice, to whom we could go for advice if necessary. There is training for the team and specific role profiles and session outlines for each of the roles on the team. We had seven guests of varying ages, circumstances and length of time bereaved, on our pilot course. They were either invited by a leader, saw an advert in church, or registered through word-of-mouth.

Feedback from the group was excellent, and indicated that all guests found the course helpful and appreciated the opportunity to be in a safe space with people who understood a little of what they were feeling and going through, whilst understanding that each person’s grief is different. Each of our guests attended all the sessions, except for one who was away for work on one occasion, and we had no people drop out. People indicated that they looked forward to coming, despite the sessions dealing with very difficult topics, such as how we and others respond to the pain of grief, coping with change, obstacles to the grief journey and big questions of faith in the light of grief. All our guests opted to come to the faith session and said they were sad that the group was ending. It was a privilege to walk alongside our guests, and support and pray for them, for this seven-week period of their journey. We have also met once socially in February.

From the team’s perspective the group gelled well, respected each person’s situation and feelings, and became a source of support for one another. The team itself worked extremely well together as a supportive group. After affirmation by the PCC, we will offer the course again, twice a year. In the future it is likely that some of our guests may come from Social Prescribers and/or GP referrals, as our course is centrally registered, and The Bereavement Journey is nationally valued as a helpful course for all bereaved people.

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Revd Amy Gooding, Cath Williams and Revd Mark East have attended a Bereavement Friendly Church webinar run by the charity At a Loss https://www.ataloss.org/. Together we are looking at how our church could become more aware of people in grief, developing pastoral and support initiatives for people in the church and community, and providing signposting to specialist services.

The team is grateful for the support of the PCC and the prayers of the church for the course. I personally am indebted to the team for their contributions, prayer and care for the guests, and their support of me as the host. We continue to pray for the guests who attended.

Social Events

One-Off Social Events by Helen Winthorpe Kendrick

We had a number of social events in 2023 with different people organising them. Thank you to all who worked hard to give us an entertaining time.

Christmas Afternoon Tea 2023 by Sheila Harris (Organiser)

The Christmas Afternoon Tea was held on Saturday 9[th] December 2023. Preparations included sending out invitations, shopping for food and other items and decorating the hall. 30 guests arrived for the event and they met up with friends new and old as the conversation flowed over a warming glass of mulled wine. The fun began with a general knowledge quiz and a picture quiz entitled ‘Towers and tall buildings of Darlington’ These sparked much rivalry and debate, although one of the towers should have been easily identifiable! Rael Wright entertained us on the piano leading a festive sing song, while volunteers prepared for the main event.

Sue Chew led the grace and we moved into the Gouldsmith Room. Crackers were pulled and hats donned and it was down to the serious business of afternoon tea, consisting of sandwiches, cakes, mince pies and Pam’s delicious home-made scones. Cups of tea and coffee were topped up and the room buzzed with friendly chatter. Later, plates were cleared, taps were turned on and the washing up began. We bade farewell to our guests with goody bags and cards.

Grateful thanks to all volunteers without whom this event could not have taken place – Pam Bassington, Jane Teague, Sue Chew, Jean Taylor, Rael Wright, Muriel Jones, Claire Kay, Dave Harris.

Other Groups and Activities

St Andrew’s Coffee Mornings by Denise Hope (Organiser)

St Andrew’s Church holds a Coffee Morning in the Church Hall on the third Saturday of each month. These mornings provide a very welcome opportunity for local people to come together to chat and catch up in a warm friendly environment. They are well attended, some

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but not all being from St Andrew’s or Haughton Methodists. As well as serving refreshments including lovely homemade cakes, there are usually some stalls selling bric-a-brac, cakes and handmade cards.

Most months, the money raised goes into general church funds, but the proceeds from some coffee mornings each year are given to a charity. In 2023 £515 was donated to the TurkeySyria Earthquake Appeal, £321 to Macmillan Cancer Support and £251 was shared between the Royal British Legion and the St Andrew’s Memorial Garden. Coffee mornings raise welcome funds, as well as raising the spirits of those who attend.

There is a very good team of volunteers who help make these events happen, and regularly include Pam Bassington, Pippa Foddering, Audrey Grey, Claire Kay, Joan Martin, Judith and Ken Monkman, Audrey Pearson and Alice Sewell.

St Andrew’s Christmas Fayre by Denise Hope (Organiser)

St Andrew’s Christmas Fayre took place on 18 November 2023. It was well supported by the local community as well as church folk. It is a great event to meet up with people, as well as find a bargain or two.

A great deal of preparation and organisation went into the event - collecting items for stalls, advertising it, recruiting a team of helpers (all decked out in Christmas jumpers) and setting up the Hall. It was a busy but very enjoyable day and worth the hard work. A fantastic amount of about £1455 was raised for general church funds.

The small army of helpers included Pam Bassington, Val Bowman, Karen Brown, Moyra Cooper, Vince Elsbury, Pippa Foddering, Audrey Grey, Mike Hope, Claire Kay, Joan Martin, Sarah McTimoney, Judith and Ken Monkman, Karen Padurariu, Audrey Pearson, Sue and Ken Robson, Alice and Beth Sewell, Sue Stabler, Jean Taylor, Peter Whitehouse and Rael and Alan Wright (with apologies to anyone missed out). A big thank you to everyone who helped with this annual event.

Coffee, Cake and Contemplation by Helen Winthorpe Kendrick (Co-leader with Pauline

Young)

The group meets every 3[rd] Tuesday afternoon in the church hall. There was always a buzz about the place with lots of chatting and catching up with each other while we indulged in coffee or tea and ate some of the delicious cakes that are usually provided by Sue Robson, Diane Allinson or Pam Bassington. After our chat of 45 minutes or so we then looked at the topics under discussion, in small groups of 3, coming together to hear what everybody thought. Our theme for early 2023 was to do with ‘emotions’: wellbeing, love, grief and hope, anger and forgiveness, courage, joy and laughter and gratitude. Later in the year we concentrated on what various rooms in our houses could teach us; the bathroom, the kitchen and the living room, finishing with a service in church towards Christmas.

- Craft @ Andrews by Pauline Young (Co Leader)

Crafts @ Andrews is a group of ‘crafty’ people who meet on Mondays from 1pm until 3pm in the church hall. Between us we have a wide range of interests and skills, and are happy to share our ‘expertise’ and enthusiasm with others.

We pay £2 each session to cover refreshments and use of the hall. You can get more details from Pauline on 263239, Alice on 07375 086660 or by joining us for a cuppa at 2pm.

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Church Infrastructure

Church Fabric and Grounds by The Churchwardens/ Building Maintenance Group

The Church Building

We were blessed during the year by some financial gifts specifically given for work on church buildings. We were also grateful for previous funds built up for maintaining the building. We established priorities, using the 2021 Quinquennial Report priorities, for building maintenance, repair work and improvement work. Identifying reliable contractors proved difficult, so we approached a respected local firm, who have worked on walls and roofs at Durham and St Paul’s Cathedrals, to manage repairs and bring in subcontractors they can rely on, as necessary.

The major works planned for 2024 include: repair of the plaster and décor after rain water ingress, correct repointing and stone repairs for parts of the exterior of the walls, upgrading the lighting using LED light bulbs and replacing aging, opaque UPVC window guards on the South side of the nave with new ones to let light shine through the stain glass windows. We approached Pete Snowden, a local Lay Reader and handyman, to carry out more minor repairs and he completed some work. He also repaired damaged lead on the South Porch roof.

A system of regular routine maintenance has been working well to prevent unexpected problems, as had occurred in earlier years. Detailed records are now being kept and all of the church wardens have been involved in regular meetings.

The Church Hall

The hall was well used by church groups and external groups. The floor is scheduled for revarnishing.

The Grounds

There were difficulties in 2022 with the areas for burial of cremated remains, which had not been maintained in accordance with the rules, but 2023 proved much less difficult. Most families complied with the rules. The wardens regularly removed a few non- complying items. The result is two areas that are regularly maintained and individual plots that are tidy and many of them regularly tended and dressed with fresh flowers.

Technology at St Andrew’s by Stoker Wilson

The church website at www.standrewshaughton.org.uk continues to provide a source of lots of useful information about the church and what’s on.

The most visited pages are the permanent ones, and the top pages remain the same as they
were for the 2023 report. The five most visited pages are also the same as last year
(readings recorded on 8/3/2024), these pages being created in 2015. The Welcome page
had an average score 46 visits per day. We list below these top five pages.
Page Title
Cumulative Visits
Since Last year
1) Welcome page
53188
16811
2) Contacting us
24721
2975
3) Sadberge Parish
20964
3258
4) Food Bank
19453
3124
4) About us
19056
2455

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Three fairly recent pages show a good number of visits. show a good number of visits.
Page Title Cumulative Visits Since
Tea Time Church 219 17thJanuary 2024
What’s on at St. Andrews
325		 3rdJanuary 20224
Mid-Week Services 356 7thDecember 2023

Church Telephone and Internet - After many years with TalkTalk the office telephone line was changed to YouFibre-2411. And after a long wait we also established a new direct Internet link to the church making the live broadcast of services a real possibility. At the moment not all Sunday services go out on-line being partially dependent on how many techies are able to be on duty that Sunday. We could do with boosting our Sunday tech team so if you could help out then please let us know. We can give you training if you need it.

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 on things relating to St. Andrew’s. Many thanks to the moderators of, and contributors to, Facebook.

The church YouTube pages are the medium of choice for broadcasting services. Look up “St. Andrews Haughton le Skerne” to find us.

The WhatsApp social media messaging system is used by many folks in church to keep in touch and share information. There are currently two main WhatsApp groups. One is used mainly by the folks who go to Spring Harvest to share information. The other more general group shares information on a daily basis, and is very useful in getting news out around the church quickly. Do let us know if you’d like to join this group. Some more informal groups do exist for specific purposes including the Prayer Chain.

Sound equipment and Tech team - there has been no change in the equipment this last year. 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.

Church Finances

Finances by the Finance Committee

The Finance Committee is a sub-committee of the PCC whose members are: Paul Ryan (Treasurer), Mike Bird, Val Bowman, Mark East, Alice Sewell and Andy Teague. The team is supported by external services especially in preparing the year-end accounts.

The group provides regular updates of the current financial situation and a year-end projection to the PCC. It makes recommendations on major costs, such as the Parish Pledge and staff salaries. It also considers income streams and makes recommendation for PCC fees for weddings and funerals, hall hire rates and ways to encourage giving.

2023 has shown the church finances continue on a path to recovery. The hall is bringing in a regular income and is well-used by local groups and clubs. Costs, especially fuel, rose significantly in 2023 but were partially offset by a grant from the CofE.

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As part of the recovery of finances the Buildings Management Group have managed to complete all the regular maintenance required and have developed a project to deliver a number of internal and external repairs. Funding is being sought for completion of the work in 2024.

A breakeven budget has been proposed for 2024.

2023 Financial Statement

The 2023 Financial Statement and Examiner’s Report will be presented to the APCM.

Church Governance

Electoral Roll by Alan Wright (Electoral Roll Officer)

Total number on roll, at 24[th] March 2024, as reported to the APCM 2024, is 122.

Male Female
Resident in the Parish 24 55
Non-resident in the Parish 17 26
TOTAL 41 81

Safeguarding by Gillian Jones (Parish Safeguarding Officer)

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 by the PCC seek to prevent abuse, to protect those at risk and to respond well to issues and concerns raised.

St Andrew’s church continues to take safeguarding seriously and it is an item on the agenda at every PCC meeting. The PCC continues to adhere to Diocesan policies and practices, including: -

We continue to display in church and the church hall the following documents, and on the website where required: -

During 2023

In 2023 the Diocese of Durham introduced the Parish Hub, alongside the Parish Dashboard for parishes to keep online records of church activities, people in roles, safeguarding training

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and DBS certificates. Although this was time consuming to set up, the benefits in the long run will be worth it.

The planning of Teatime Church and the restarting of Care Home ministry meant that approx. 14 new people were added to the Parish Hub. There are about 75 people in St. Andrews who need a DBS check, and/or safeguarding training.

I attended PSO (Parish Safeguarding Officer) get togethers which have been useful to discuss matters relating to my role, such as keeping up to date with new requirements.

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.

Priorities for the coming year

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns regarding safeguarding. Thank you again for your support in this important area of church life, especially to those who have filled in forms, made applications and undertaken training during 2023.

Helping the Local Community

Foodbank Report by Sue Robson (Foodbank Coordinator)

St. Andrew’s foodbank operates every Thursday in the church hall between 1-30pm and 2- 30 pm. It provides emergency food for those going through times of hardship or crisis.

Food bags are made up prior to the session. Grateful thanks to Pippa Foddering for her help with this. We make up three different sized bags. There are bags for single people, bags for households of two and bags for families. Again, this year a high number of family bags have been distributed.

In 2023, we had the busiest year on record for our foodbank. It is interesting to compare with past years:

Total number of bags distributed in 2021 - 1068 Total number of bags distributed in 2022 - 1555 Total number of bags distributed in 2023 – 2089

We saw especially high numbers over the winter months. The high cost of living and fuel bills continued to take their toll.

We are hugely grateful to all who support foodbank. Morrisons and their customers continue to give us a weekly trolley of donations. Thanks to Catherine Poskitt, Community Champion at Morton Park Morrisons. Grateful thanks to all at St Andrew’s, other local churches, folk in our community, schools, nurseries, Asda, Darlington Borough Council, Darlo Runners and Rotary to name but some who have given generously. Special thanks to Haughton Methodist Chapel for donations of knitted items, craft items, Christmas presents and donations.

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In June, the Foodbank Team went to Asda and in July we went into Morrisons to appeal for food donations from customers. The response was amazing and several trolleys of food were collected at each store.

Our Christmas foodbank saw 60 people attending. Due to generous donations, all children received a selection box, all were given a food bag, a Christmas treat bag, a present and a meat voucher.

It has been good to welcome Cyndi Hughes from the Darlington CAP Debt Centre to several of our sessions. Councillor Nick Wallis also regularly attends.

Huge thanks to Carol Devlin and Christine Gregg who bring lovely second-hand clothes each week for people to take away free of charge.

The Foodbank Team remains reliable, enthusiastic and a great support. Grateful thanks go to Moyra Cooper, Jean Taylor, Lynne Cullen, Marilyn Sykes, Gill Moore, Rita Hogg, Elaine Barnett, Marilyn Hare, Karen Horner, Vicki Conroy, Terry Conroy, Tim Francis, Pat O'Donogh, Ken Robson and Pippa Foddering. Rita Hogg has recently stepped back from volunteering. We will miss her.

Huge thanks to all who support our foodbank. Donations are so much appreciated and needed. We also need to shop each week to replenish stock.

Please pray that the generous support shown to foodbank can continue as we strive to help our neighbours in need.

Darlington (CAP) Debt Centre by Cyndi Hughes, Debt Centre Manager

In January 2023 the Debt Centre reopened to new clients following my appointment and the period of extensive training and certification.

Before client visits could take place, in accordance with CAP safeguarding regulations, a team of accompaniers/ befrienders had to be recruited. Happily, Claire Kay, Paul Hollamby and Priscilla Hollamby, all parishioners at St. Andrew’s and experienced CAP accompaniers, agreed to continue supporting the Debt Centre in this vital role. In addition to Claire, Paul and Cilla, six additional accompaniers/ befrienders from five other Christian denominations and churches across Darlington have been successfully recruited. All are in compliance with safeguarding and training requirements and seven attended a bespoke CAP Training Day delivered by North East Area Manager, Julia Wilthew.

During the period 1[st] January 2023 to 31[st] December 2023: - 28 clients were referred to the Debt Centre

Other Debt Centre activities during the year included meeting with referral agencies, addressing interested groups, speaking at Sunday services, attending Foodbank sessions, addiction support centres and community activities (JJ’s Café, the Darlington Community Carnival, etc.) to speak with potential clients, meeting with funders, participating in the Deanery Enabling Group on Tackling Poverty, attending CAP training sessions, the CAP conference in Bradford and CAP regional team activities.

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A dedicated group of CAP supporters, led by Rev. Mark East, come together to pray on a monthly basis for the work of CAP, our clients, volunteers, funders and staff. Rev. Mark also circulates prayer points to a wider network of people who, although unable to attend in person, have expressed a willingness to pray for us. The monthly prayer gathering and wider prayer support mean so very much to me and to our volunteers and clients. It reminds all of us of the wider circle of concern and care being offered up in Jesus’ name.

The Ballinger Charitable Trust continues to support the Debt Centre and decided this year to increase and extend its generous contribution. In addition, a successful application was made to the NHS ‘Waiting Well Fund’ which aims to support those on NHS waiting lists by addressing some of the wider determinants of health, such as debt. Both grants will be used for the centre’s ongoing running costs. Much needed and appreciated regular donations from Darlington Baptist Church and from individuals, as well as one-off contributions for the Debt Centre continue to be received. There was also a very successful and most enjoyable musical event in October, held at St. Andrew’s Church featuring the Boreal Wind Quintet and Sing Community Choir, that raised £726 for our Debt Centre.

The Darlington (CAP) Debt Centre is extremely grateful to the individuals, churches and funding bodies who continue to support this vital work and enable it to continue through their financial, practical and prayerful support.

War Memorial Garden Team by Cath Williams (Co-ordinator)

There is a group of people who you will know individually but may not know us as a team. You may not even know we exist but you will have seen the result of our work. The Haughton Le Skerne War Memorial is surrounded by thousands of plants and they are put into place by some members of St Andrew's congregation, friends from the village and friends we have known for years.

In the first week of the year plants are ordered by Cath Williams through Darlington Borough Council for the following June 2023 planting. What we saw bloom in early Spring 2023 had been designed, planned, ordered and then planted the previous October. The first jobs of 2023 were removal of some plants, weeding and grass cutting. Our first busy time falls in May with the removal of all of the planting and preparation of the soil, adding compost and manure over a two-day period and then a day in early June of planting. Our planting day started early at 8.00 am, later enjoying lunch provided by our Cooking4Life team led by Liz Day (C4L), then the team completed the planting. There is usually a sense of satisfaction after the summer planting as the plants are already in early bloom.

Through the summer there was weekly grass cutting (Ken Robson), weeding (Mike Bird), and watering of plants as needed on a rota system. Very kindly, Paul Bruce took aerial photos of the Coronation Crown design.

The Autumn preparation followed the same pattern of plant removal and ground preparation at the end of September 2023 ready for the October planting. Mark East cleaned the ceramic poppies with a power washer. The autumn design usually will be particularly relevant to the theme of remembrance.

Plans and designs are drawn ready for the next order of plants by Cath and Gill Jones. We were hugely grateful to Ken Monkman, Denise Hope and the Coffee Morning Team for a donation towards future costs.

Thank you to the Summer planting team of Bryan and Gill Jones, Dawn Raper, Cath Warden, Cath Williams, Ian Hardcastle, Judith Vinton, Margaret Britton, Peter Sinclair, Rev Mark East. Thank you to the team also for the Autumn planting and included new team members Lynda Gough and Peter Linney. Huge thanks to team members Ken Robson, Mike Hope and Vince Elsbury for their year-round weekly help.

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Beyond this Church

Darlington Deanery Synod by The Rev’d Mark East (Area Dean)

The Deanery Synod Lay Representatives for St Andrew’s Church in this current triennium are: - Claire Kay, Teresa Kennedy and Carole Ainslie (Sarah McTimoney from April 2023).

Three Deanery Synod meetings were held in 2023 - 9[th] February (at St James’ the Great Church), 12[th] July (at St Mary’s) and 23[rd] November (at St Columba’s).

The main topics discussed during the year were: -

Darlington Christians Against Poverty (CAP) Debt Centre – Cyndi Hughes, the Debt Centre Manager, spoke about the great need to respond to rising debt in Darlington since the pandemic and the world’s financial situation. She shared some statistics about the local situation and the way in which CAP is able to help.

At present St. Andrew’s, Haughton is heavily involved with CAP but there is a need for other churches to get involved. Mark East outlined ways that this could be done: - PCCs consider giving donations to CAP in order that they can continue their work and joining in the monthly prayers which are held on 4[th] Tuesday of each month (contact Mark for details).

Contact Cyndi re activities going on in your church in order that she may signpost clients i.e., lunch clubs, Foodbanks etc.

Volunteers are needed for Befrienders/Companions – full training will be given.

Deanery Plan Revision – It was requested that as the last plan was presented in 2019, the Synod should begin a review in preparation for a new plan to begin in 2025.

Election of Officers: Secretary – Joyce Barber

Lay Chair – Andrew Maxwell Treasurer – Michael Shepherd

Elections to Deanery Mission and Standing Committee – the following were elected: Willson Taylor, Sarah McTimoney, Hilda Hopper, Pam Davison, Nick Auty, The Rev’d Damon Bage, The Rev’d Mary Yasini. Ex-Officio members – Andrew Maxwell (Lay Chair), Michael Shepherd (Deanery Treasurer), Joyce Barber (Secretary) and The Rev’d Mark East (Area Dean)

Presentation from All Saints’ Green Action Group by John Thorley and David Smith John Thorley explained how All Saints became involved with A Rocha UK which is a network of Christian Organisations concerned with become greener and more environmentally friendly. They are part of the A Rocha UK Project which has 3 levels of achievement - Bronze, Silver and Gold. Currently All Saints’ have reached the silver standard. He went on to encourage the members of Synod to urge their churches to explore the criteria to reach the bronze standard as the Eco Church website has a huge range of resources which can be used even if your church does not enter the scheme.

The Deanery is keen to find someone to act as a champion to encourage the churches within the Deanery to get involved as the scheme covers all ages of buildings. John suggested that a team approach such as the one at All Saints’ may be best.

Interregna in the Deanery. There were four vacancies at the beginning of 2023, but Riverside Parishes have now been filled with the Rev’d Anthony Smith being appointed in August. St John’s Church has now been formally closed and a new parish of St Herbert’s

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with St John’s has been formed. The parish church will be St Herbert’s and the vicarage will be adjacent to the church. It is hoped that the Vacancy Audit Process (VAP) will be completed soon so that the post can be advertised. St Columba’s is planning to be a ‘house for duty post’ and St Mark’s is still in vacancy.

Deanery and Diocesan Finances : Parish, Guided Pledge and Diocesan Finances are still tight. The Diocese has been very active in seeking additional national funding for strategic growth. This has enabled several new personnel to be appointed to help parishes look at how they can grow spiritually and financially. One such appointment is the Rev’d Paul Childs whose role is to work with parishes to help them look at financial growth.

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. The Tackling Poverty Enabling Team has been well established under the chair of Nick Auty. Lissa Scott has been focussing most of the Children’s energy in the Christmas Journey – see below. We still need to get the Enriching Discipleship and the Caring for the Environment Teams established.

The Christmas Journey : This was promoted to the Deanery throughout the year because it’s a Deanery Wide project to present the Christmas story for year 2 (6- & 7-year-old) junior aged children. Every primary school was invited and nearly all the schools in Darlington took part and it was well received by the children and the staff. The volunteers to enable this to happen came mainly from St. Matthew’s & St Luke’s (host church), and St. Michael’s and All Saints’, and it proved to be very successful. Several of the new curates have been involved this year.

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

There were two Diocesan Synods held in 2023. The meeting on 13[th] May was at The Venerable Bede Academy, Ryhope, Sunderland and on 18[th] November was at The Glow Centre, Newton Aycliffe.

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

Engaging with Children and Young People:

Most churches have no or few children at Sunday Worship. The main barrier certainly postcovid is the lack of volunteers. It is important not to normalise the absence of children and all churches need to have a clear focus on children and ministry to them.

The Diocese is making a priority Chaplaincy in Education, with Catherine Simpson leading on this. If children/youth are not coming to Church then we need to go to where they are. All schools and colleges are different so no single model fits all. Chaplains also are all different and from different backgrounds. There is a need to be bolder! The aim is to get into all FE Colleges. There is a chaplaincy tool kit on line, Bishops Certificate and various pathways to further training.

Financial Statements

Generally, in line with budget, investment income is up (£0.2M) but investment valuations down (10%), as Church does not invest in shares in Munitions/Armaments manufacture or fossil fuel both of which are affected by Ukraine situation. 50% of diocesan income is from Grant income, 50% of expenditure is on stipends and clergy housing. Parish Share income was down by £0.2M in 2022, but £1M down on guided pledge figure.

The housing stock is now about right with 4 properties having been sold and 7 bought, the latter for curates. There is £0.5 M budgeted to improve energy efficiency of housing stock.

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There is a 7.5% increase for stipends.

Budget for 2024

The 2024 budget, based on the current returns of Guided Pledge figures was presented to the Synod by James Morgan and Mags? The change last year to be able to use investment income from reserves in the Diocese has meant that £1.1M has eased the projected deficit for 2024. After a detailed explanation and several questions, the following motion was moved and accepted: - “that this Synod adopts the 2024 budget set by the Board of Finance, which includes an overall deficit of £600,000.”

Guided Pledge Review

This has been led by Mark Miller and recommendations accepted by Bishops Council and Leadership Team. The full report is to be published. The main points were:

Diocesan Transformation

Duncan Podbury led input on this and reiterated already published plans, but said that additional grant funding had been obtained in particular for the following

Summary – We are now entering Phase 2. This Second Phase will be much wider resourcing of local parishes. How do we nourish/fertilise the ground, water and nurture the crop and provide a trellis to support growth and change?

Caring for God’s Creation

Bethan Still, who has been appointed as Champion for the Diocese, presented the ‘Net Zero Action Plan’ to the Synod. She emphasised the importance of parishes completing the Energy Footprint tool in the annual returns to help the Diocese in their planning and assessment of the ‘Caring for God’s Creation’ focus of the Diocese. She also encouraged each Deanery to appoint an Environmental Champion. The Synod also voted unanimously for the following motion: “that this Synod welcomes the Action Plan to Net Zero, and commits to support and encourage its development and implementation.”

Other items discussed during the year were: -

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Ecumenical Groups in Darlington by The Rev’d Mark East (Rector)

Every church in Darlington is invited to join the Churches Together in Darlington (CTiD) meetings. These are usually held about every two months and are an opportunity to learn together, support one another, pray together and plan joint events.

During 2023 there were several key events that churches and individual church members were invited to join together in. The first of these was the Good Friday Act of Witness at the Pease Monument on High Row which had about 500 people present, supported by a live band from across the churches and marked a very significant opportunity for the churches to witness to all that Jesus has done for us in his death and resurrection.

In November church leaders and agencies from across the town were invited to a special meeting to learn about the work of an organisation called Redeeming Our Communities (ROC). This is a national organisation which helps churches work with local communities to make their town or borough or county become a better place to inhabit. It is hoped that this will develop so that ROC can work with us over the next 12 to 18 months to find long term solutions to some of our local concerns.

Also, in the Autumn a community choir organised by the community music director at St Cuthbert’s church was invited to sing at the town centre Christmas Lights switch on. This gave an opportunity for bringing some Christian worship in carols and other Christian music to the centre of this communal event.

Finally, through Covid and now continuing on, every church leader has been invited to join a monthly prayer gathering to pray for Darlington and God’s blessing on our town. About 10 – 15 of us meet each month to pray together for our town, to listen to God and to seek to respond to how He leads us in bringing hope and light to our town and borough.

Uniformed Organisations

Guiding at St Andrew’s by Emma Nimmo

Report for: 1[st] Haughton-le-Skerne Rainbows

3[rd] Haughton-le-Skerne Brownies

1[st] Haughton-le-Skerne Guides & Rangers

We have continued to grow our groups this year, welcoming new members in each group.

Rainbows have enjoyed activities such as making dens, toasting marshmallows and playing games. They completed their camp skills builder, enjoying putting up a tent which they all managed to fit inside. Rainbows enjoyed getting outside going on scavenger hunts and going on a nature walk in the Autumn to collect leaves to make into mobiles. Rainbows collected food for Harvest Festival and donated them to the Foodbank. They also made thank you cards to give to people who help the community, delivering them along with tea and biscuits to show how much they are appreciated. Rainbows enjoyed a yoga session, trampolining at Planet Leisure and a trip to Create and Paint to make Christmas decorations.

Brownies have taken part in lots of activities in the meeting place, their favourite being playing parachute games. They also enjoyed trampolining and climbing at rof59 and travelled on the train to the railway museum at Shildon. The Brownies organised a summer fayre for their parents and relatives each choosing their own stall to run, from cake stalls to

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hook a duck and raised some money towards a sleepover in 2024. Brownies have been working on badges such as the Aviation, Baking and Inventing badges. The Brownies were very proud when their leader Flamingo gained her leadership qualification and made her a scrapbook and hamper to take off to university. Brownies helped their community by collecting food for the Foodbank, going on a Brownie litter pick, planting flowers to take to the care home and took part in the Darlington in Bloom bid by making a flower hoop. Brownies also enjoyed a trip to Flamingo land, Planet Leisure and to Create and Paint to paint Christmas decorations.

Guides learned some more first aid skills and completed a camp skills builder in preparation for the summer camp. Each Patrol took over a meeting and ran the session for the rest of the group, with games in the dark being one of their favourite evenings. Food was a popular activity with girls making chocolate truffle eggs, filled Easter eggs and fudge on their outdoor stoves as part of the Confectioner badge. The Guides went ice skating at Billingham when two Guides made their promise on the ice. Guides got out and about as much as they could, with wide games, chip shop walks and trips to Planet Leisure and Create and Paint. The Guides also had the opportunity to go to an activity day at The Hub trying canoeing, crate stacking, fire lighting and archery. The Guides helped their community by completing acts of kindness, planting flowers, visiting the care home to sing campfire songs, making birthday boxes for the Foodbank, going on a litter pick and decorating a tree for the local Christmas tree festival. The highlight of the year was our summer camp at Wellies and Wristbands which is a festival just for Guides with music and adventurous activities. The Guides were sad to say goodbye to our Leader Lucy when she went off to university in September and look forward to seeing her on our next Guide trip.

None of this would have been possible without the commitment of our leaders and young leaders, as well as all of the parent helpers that make guiding possible each week. We are also grateful for the support of the church with our meetings in the church hall.

14th Darlington Air Scouts by Andy Moore (Lead Volunteer (Group Manager))

2023 was a year of growth and transformation for our group.

Firstly, I’d like to place on record our thanks to all of our adult leadership/management team for making the group what it is today.

Change has been a consistent theme this year with new adults joining in the group to strengthen our offering and some adults also leaving the movement.

The adults involved in our group are as follows

Andy Moore - Lead Volunteer (also regularly found at scout section meetings) Maureen Moore - Trustee Board Chair Michael Foster - Treasurer Situation Vacant - Secretary Sam Foster - Deputy Lead Volunteer Michelle Richardson - Subject matter expert for catering

Emma Graham - Scouts Section Team Leader David Burrows - Scouts Team Member Steph Hamilton - Scouts Team Member Emma Barker - Scouts Team Member Michelle Richardson - Scouts Team Member

Sam Foster - Cubs Team Leader Glennys Irish - Cubs Team Member

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Polly Downes - Cubs Team Member

Polly Downes - Beavers Team Leader Tara Cutress - Beavers Team Member Rachel Anderson - Beavers Team Member

Our membership now stands at Beavers - 9 Cubs - 19 Scouts - 12 Young Leaders – 5

We have seen year on year growth with Cubs rising from 15 to 19 members (26% growth) and Scouts rising from 8 to 12 members (50% growth), and of course we also have 9 new members in our newly opened Beaver colony.

We believe strongly that spending time outdoors is a core part of scouting and a great place to teach life skills.

We have produced clear information for our members and their families on membership of our group including costings, when we meet financial procedures etc and we have implemented a behaviour policy which shows our operating procedures in a clear and transparent way along with our anti bullying and inclusion document.

We have also started a uniform/outdoor gear stock/exchange to enable those who are facing financial hardship to fully participate in our activities along with our hardship fund.

We have moved from being a land-based scout group to an Air Scout unit, the only one in the whole of the north east. The name of our unit therefore is no longer the 14th Darlington (St Andrews) Scout Group, we are now registered with the Scout Association as 14th Darlington Air Scouts

This will allow us to have a greater focus on STEM activities and work closely with the RAF and local aviation community with the aim of helping our members get a unique experience which will hopefully open doors to higher education and employment in well paid and interesting careers.

We are also hoping to do our best to see more girls achieve great things in the aviation and engineering fields. All that said, we still will offer traditional scouting activities such as fire lighting, hikes, camping etc.

You will hopefully have seen our Leaders and Scout section in our new and smart Air Force blue uniform shirts, we wore these when we attended the Remembrance service in November.

We hope to make 2024 an even bigger year for the group with more memories and friendships being made for our members whilst they continue to develop new life skills

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Other People, Groups and Events in 2023

A Brief Round-Up by Jane Teague (PCC Secretary)

Here is a brief round-up of some activities that went on at St Andrew’s in 2023, which are not mentioned elsewhere in the Annual Report, and some of the people who were involved in making them happen.

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CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLANO ANO WALES 1134791 eriod .'Annual accounts for the PeThod encl dale 0110112023 To 3111212023 Section A Statement of financial activities R&strict•d income funds Recommended ¢at¢gorio$ by activity Unrestricted funds Endowment tunds Prior year funds Total funds Incoming resources (Note 31 Incomo anil •ndowm•nts from: F01 F02 F03 F04 FOS Donations and legatie$ Charrtable activthe6 Sol 107,939 2,482 12,917 1.333 50,700 109,272 53,182 2,917 78,403 45,604 14.218 S02 Oknet tradivJ aCti￿be& . IrNestmÈnts S03 S04 Separate m&tenal item olkn¢ome sos S06 Total Resources expended (Note 61 S07 123,338 52.033 175,371 138.225 Expenditure on: Ra￿n9 funds Ch*ffiab￿ acrwbes 9,033 101.668 348 9,033 137,721 2.040 4,594 116.133 Sog 36,053 1,692 seP￿ale material itern of expense Othei sio S71 1,707 122,434 Total S12 111,049 37,745 148.794 before invesknent gainslllosses) $13 12,289 14.288 26.577 15,791 Nel gawAlllossesl on investments S14 Net in¢omèl{expenditure) Extraordinary items Transfers betrNeen funds Other recognised S1S 12,289 14,288 26,577 15.791 S16 $17 7,070 7.070 Gain$ and lo¥se$ on ievaluab¢)n of fixed 098ets forihe charity's Osyn LEe Other gal￿(10$8¢$I Net movement in funds S18 S19 S20 19.359 7.218 26,577 15,791 Reconciliation of funds.. Total funds brouthlforward SZ1 58.488 77,847 80.770 87,988 139,258 165.835 123.467 139,258 Total funds carried forward S22

Section B Balance sheet Restrlcted incom? funds Ufirestrlcted nds Endowment Total thi8 funds Total last year Fixed assets Intangible assets Tangible assets Heritage assets Invèstments FOI F02 F03 F04 F05 INote 151 INot& 141 (Note 161 (Note 171 Total fixed assets 801 50,000 50.000 50.000 05 50,000 Current assets Stocks (Note 181 Debtors (Notè 19} Investrnents (Note 17.41 Cash at bank and in hand INote 241 Total currgnt assets 8.460 8.460 3.562 22,4 30,895 87.988 87.988 110.423 118,883 92.550 96,112 810 Creditors: amounts falling due wlthin one year (Note 201 11 3,046 6.854 Net current ossets/fli•bilities) B12 27.849 87,988 115,837 89.258 Tot81 assets less current Ilabillties B13 139,258 Crodltors: amounts falling duo after one year INote 201 Provisions for Ilabilltles B14 B15 Total net assets or Ilabilhies B16 77.849 87.988 165.837 139.258 Funds of the Charity Endowment funds (Note 271 Restricted Incomg funds (Note 271 Unrostrictsd funds Revaluation reserve B17 818 87,988 87,988 77,847 80.770 819 77,847 58,488 820 Total lunds 821 77.847 87,988 165.835 139,258 Signed by one or trustees on b8hatt of all the Iruslees Date of approval ddlmml Signature Print Name CC178 (Exc@11 1410512024

Independent Examiner's Report to the members/trustees of St Andrew’s Church Haughton Le Skerne, Darlington, Parochial Church Council.

I report on the accounts for the year ended 31[st] December, 2023 which are set out attached.

Respective responsibilities of the Trustees and Independent Examiner

The Church of England statement on PCC accountability, which forms an essential part of both the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 and the Charities Act 2011 establishes clearly that the members of the PCC are trustees and are the ‘persons having the general control and management of the administration of the (church) charity’ (Charities Act 2011, s177).

As trustees of the charity, the members of the PCC are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. They consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to

Basis of Independent Examiner's Statement

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the management committee concerning any such matters. 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 opinion on the accounts.

Independent Examiner's Statement

In connection with my examination, no matters have come to my attention

  1. which give me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements • to keep accounting records in accordance with s.130 of the 2011 Act; or

  2. to prepare accounts which accord with these accounting records have not been met; or

  3. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Christine Marsh ACMA

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER 08/05/2024