2024-12-31-accounts

Parish of Bishop’s Cleeve with Southam

• St Michael & All Angels Church, Bishop’s Cleeve

• The Ascension, Southam

Annual Vision Meeting

Incorporating:

Annual Meeting of the Parish

and Annual Parochial Church Meeting

Monday 12 May 2025 at 6.30pm, in St Michael’s Church

A Note from our Chair

Dear friends,

As we review 2024 together, I am so grateful to the army of many many volunteers who serve together, faithfully to make St Michael’s happen – and happen joyfully!

However, I do need to give special thanks for the creation of this Annual Report to Zoe Homes, our PCC secretary, to Tim Powell and Pete Muir for compiling and examining, our accounts, respectively – and to all those who have shared their experiences of ministering in our church for us all to read.

2024 was a significant year for St Michael's as we were joined by Lucy Betts, Andy, Lauren and Arran in January – and then, in May, Ben, Emily Jude and Jesse joined us as well. We are very grateful for all they are and do!

October 2024 proved to be a very significant month for us as we launched Vision 2030 on 13 October, followed by our very successful Gift Day on 20 October. I am hugely grateful to everyone who has given not just of their money but of their time and their energy and their love so generously in 2024.

While 2024 proved to be a challenging and tough year for me personally, Christmas 2024 and the Easter that we have just had have given me great encouragement that we are on the right track as we constantly seek to “keep in step with the Spirit”.

Much love to you all,

Tim

Rev Tim Garrett Team Rector

Annual Vision Meeting

Tuesday 12 May 2024 at 6.30pm, in St Michael’s Church

AGENDA

A register will be taken as you enter the church, and apologies will be noted.

Annual Vision Meeting

Welcome and Worship

Vision 2030: Our Church Mission for the Future

Annual Meeting of the Parish (Vestry Meeting)

Elections

Election of our Churchwardens for 2025/26: Ann Jessop and Andrew Young, and John Donovan as our Deputy Churchwarden for Southam.

Annual Parochial Church Meeting

Minutes

Approval of 2024 Minutes.

Elections

• Re-Elections to the PCC

• New Elections to the PCC

Reports

All statutory reports are included in this Annual Vision Meeting booklet and are published on the website. It would be helpful if you could send any questions for clarity or discussion prior to the meeting to PCC Secretary Zoe Homes [e-mail].

The following statutory reports are to be approved:

• PCC Secretary’s Report

• Churchwardens’ Report on the Fabric, Goods and Ornaments of the Parish

• Safeguarding Report

• Deanery Synod Report

A handful of additional reports have been included with the APCM papers to give members an update on life in our Churches.

Approval of Annual Report and Accounts

Our Annual Accounts for 2024 have been published in advance. In addition, our Treasurer, Tim Powell, has provided some commentary in his report, along with an anticipated budget for 2024, which are both included in this booklet of papers. You are encouraged to read and digest these prior to the meeting.

It would be helpful if you could send any questions for clarity or discussion prior to the meeting to the Treasurer [e-mail]. Opportunity will also be given at the meeting.

Receive the Electoral Roll

This year was Our Electoral Roll total stands at 236. The names of those on the roll have been published in church. Closing Prayers

This meeting will be followed by a brief meeting of the new PCC.

Parish of Bishop’s Cleeve with Southam

Annual Vision Meeting

Monday 20 May 2024, St Michael’s Church, Bishops Cleeve

DRAFT Minutes

Attendees

Our stewards took a register of those present, and apologies were noted (please see Appendix A).

Welcome and Worship

Rev Tim Garrett (TG) opened the meeting by looking back over the year.

In the 12 months since the last meeting of this sort, we have returned to having two services at St Michaels every Sunday, average Sunday attendance has gone up by c.40 per week, we’ve started four new life groups including two in Gotherington, and attendance at our children’s activities has increased. We have also employed Lucy Betts for children’s work and Rev Ben Williams (BW) as our Team Vicar. Lucy Barbour has also been ordained and is soon to be priested.

BW noted that we are a very prayerful and welcoming church; so welcoming that his supporters who came to his Licencing service felt like they made friends! This is something to be proud of, as it is not only confined to our church building – Church on the Hill is an example of how we are prayerfully active in a different way. He is excited by us being spiritually hungry and wanting more.

TG added how it was great to see the church full at Christmas again, and is grateful for a very successful Gift Day with around £30k donated in one event. There have been difficult times and questions to be answered, of course, but the Lord has been at work in us and amongst us.

Regarding the Annual Vision Meeting, TG said this is not just a meeting of a random group of people – we are brothers and sisters following the same Christ, who are here to both take stock of what has been happening, but also to look ahead at what we are excited for in the coming year.

The music group led two Worship Songs, after which TG prayed for our church and our time together.

Vision 2030: Our Church Mission for the Future

AY gave a short presentation about our Vision 2030 project. This is a concerted and prayerful consideration of what we believe God is calling us to be and do over the coming years. The project has been 8-9 months in the making so far, and there is more work to do before we are ready to start with the practical elements.

A sheet listing all the Vision ideas submitted so far has been produced, and those present were encouraged to take this away and to pray about the project and ideas – and to add to it with more ideas and suggestions. Everyone is invited to attend our Vision 2030 discussion evening the following month, when these ideas will be considered further.

Personal Giving: Gift Day 2024

TG thanked those who give regularly through the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS), and to those who gave to our Gift Day. Giving is part of our discipleship, allowing us to do His work in our community – both keeping existing things going, and enabling us to start the new things that might come out of our Vision 2030 project. There will be another Gift Day in the coming year, likely in the autumn.

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE PARISH (Vestry Meeting)

TG explained this is when we elect our two Churchwardens for the parish, and a deputy Churchwarden for Southam. Those eligible to vote include those on our electoral roll, and those on the local parish electoral roll.

TG confirmed that the only nominations received for Churchwarden are from our existing team – Ann Jessop, Andrew Young, and John Donovan.

Motion: Those present re-elect Ann Jessop and Andrew Young, with John Donovan for Southam, to act as our Churchwardens for the coming year.

The motion was passed with a very clear majority.

Note for all elections: Proposers and seconders for each individual elected are noted (and signed) on the nomination forms.

ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING

Minutes

The minutes of the 2023 meeting were published as part of the Annual Vision Meeting booklet.

TG asked those who were present at the 2023 meeting if we can adopt the minutes as a true and accurate record.

Motion: The minutes of the 2023 meeting were accepted as a full and accurate record of what took place.

Proposer: Ann Jessop | Seconded: Andrew Young The motion was passed with a clear majority.

Elections

TG offered a vote of thanks to Ro Hunt on behalf of all members, who is stepping down after many years on PCC and as Lay Chair. He said we owe Ro a great deal of thanks for her faithful service when there was so much change in leadership in our parish.

TG explained there were just two people to be elected onto PCC at this meeting – one new member, and one reelected member:

• New Member: Marion Young

• Re-Elections: James Hall

Motion: This APCM elects Marion Young and James Hall onto PCC for the next three years.

The motion was passed with a very clear majority.

This means we have 21 members on our PCC for the coming year:

• 3 x Churchwardens, two for St Michael’s, one deputy for Southam (Andrew, Ann, John)

• 10 x Elected members of PCC (Zoe, Sue, Julie, Yvonne, Maureen, James, John, Jenny, Glenda, Marion)

• 3 x Elected Deanery Synod representatives (Mal, Tim, Doreen)

• 1 x Reader (Kathryn)

• 4 x Clergy (Tim, Nat, Lucy, Ben)

PCC members met to elect their officers for the coming year immediately after the APCM.

Statutory Reports

All our statutory reports were published as part of our Annual Vision Meeting booklet. It was noted that these were all checked and adopted by PCC at a recent meeting.

• PCC Secretary’s Report

• Churchwardens’ Report on the Fabric, Goods and Ornaments of the Parish

• Safeguarding Report

• Deanery Synod Report

Motion: This APCM notes and approves all four statutory reports.

Proposer: Zoe Homes | Seconded: Ann Jessop

The motion was passed with a very clear majority.

A handful of additional reports have been included with the APCM papers to give members an update on life in our Churches.

Approval of Annual Report and Accounts

Our Financial Statements for 2023 were published in advance, along with some commentary from our treasurer, Tim Powell (TP).

TP addressed the meeting, saying he has tried to explain where our money comes from and how it is spent. The numbers show a snapshot of what we have been doing, are doing, and would like to be doing.

TP also provided a brief picture for the first quarter of 2024, and encouraged anyone who has questions about our finances to speak to him at any time.

We were reminded that TP has taken on the role of treasurer for 18-months or so as interim, to help us gain clarity. Thanks was offered to those who help TP to keep our money in order, including Barbara, Michael, David and others.

TG opened the meeting to questions:

A shortfall has been projected for this year. What kind of percentage increase in general giving would help us fix this?

The prediction of a 27k shortfall is equivalent to around 10% of our income. This is on the pessimistic side, and we hope it will be less than this in reality. We do have some reserves, but it is not wise to dip into those if possible.

TG thanked TP for giving us some real clarity on our finances, which helps us with our planning.

Motion: This APCM approves the annual report and accounts for 2023.

Proposer: Tim Powell| Seconded: Zoe Homes

The motion was passed with a very clear majority. There were no abstentions and none against.

It was noted that our independent examiner is yet to formally approve these accounts, and that an approved statement will be published as soon as possible.

Electoral Roll

Our Electoral Roll currently stands at 261, which is five higher than last year’s 256. The names of those on the roll have been published on the noticeboard at the back of church.

TG thanked Julia Dowle for compiling the electoral roll this year.

Motion: This APCM approves the presented electoral roll.

Proposer: Andrew Young | Seconded: Zoe Homes The motion was passed with a very clear majority.

It was noted that next year will involve a complete re-do of our electoral roll, as per the standard six-year cycle. More details of how that will work will be published early in 2025.

Questions and Participation

TG opened the meeting for any further questions and comments:

Ann Jessop (AJ) wished to thank everyone who contributes to the general running of our church – people who dust, wash, polish, steward, garden, our church watchers, and our children’s workers. This is all part of our economy that goes alongside the finances. TG added his thanks to Ann specifically for her passion on this topic.

Closing Prayer

BW closed the Annual Vision Meeting in prayer at 9pm.

PCC Meeting

A short meeting of the PCC took place immediately after the Annual Vision Meeting in order to elect our officers for the coming year.

In attendance (19): Tim Garrett (TG), Zoe Homes (ZH), Tim Powell (TP), Ann Jessop (AJ), Andrew Young (AY), Marion Young (MY), Kathryn Lea (KL), Lucy Barbour (LB), John Doody (JOD), John Donovan (JD), Jenny Waller (JW), Julie Jolly (JJ), Glenda Green (GG), Maureen Hazel (MAH), James Hall (JH), Mal Shaw (MS), Yvonne Penn (YP), Ben Williams (BW), Natalie Garrett (NG).

Apologies: Sue Blakey (SB).

Motion: This PCC appoints the following officers for 2024/25:

• Kathryn Lea – Lay Chair

• Tim Powell – Treasurer

• Zoe Homes – Secretary

Proposer: Ann Jessop | Seconded: Mal Shaw

This motion was unanimously approved by those present.

Appendix A: Attendance Record

Attendees

1. Sandy Heade

2. Ann Jessop

3. Andrew Young

4. Marion Young

5. Lucy Betts

6. Ro Hunt

7. Tim Garrett

8. Brian Pritchard

9. Zoe Homes

10. Allister Homes

11. Sally Lavis

12. Mary Hughes

13. Kelly Dunn

14. Jo Scriven

15. Julia Dowle

16. Lucy Barbour

17. John Doody

18. Terry Richer

19. Kathleen Richer

20. Jane Powell

21. Tim Powell

22. Ray Hart

23. Helen Hart

24. James Ingram

25. Wendy Treble

26. David Treble

27. Chris Layfield

28. Mark Stevens

29. Rachel Stevens

30. Linda Hall

31. Tony Dixon

32. Joy Dixon

33. Nick Watson

34. Julie Watson

35. Jenny Waller

36. Kathryn Lea

37. Judith Jenkins

38. Marjorie Chart

39. Michael Jenkins

40. Barbara Jordan

41. John Donovan

42. Carol Andrews

43. Louise Titley

44. Phoebe Titley

45. Steve Dowle

46. Sue Bye

47. Julie Jolly

48. Glenda Green

49. Margaret Templeton

50. Jim Templeton

51. Alan Hazel

52. Maureen Hazel

53. Ben Williams

54. Valerie Cule

55. Philip Cule

56. Ian Drake

57. Linda Drake

58. Pam Boorman

59. Alan Boorman

60. Lesley Sadler

61. Kevin Sadler

62. James Hall

63. Natalie Garrett

64. Mal Shaw

65. Yvonne Penn

Apologies

1. Sue Blakey

2. John Sharpe

3. Maggie Sharpe

4. Annabelle Young

5. Julie Rice

6. Viv Stanley

7. Jeff Green

PCC Secretary’s Report

This report covers the period from May 2024 to March 2025. Prepared by Zoe Homes.

Our PCC met to conduct its business six times in this period, in June, July, October, November, February and March. All our meetings have taken place in person, and each meeting was preceded by a Standing Committee meeting.

In addition, we met for a short meeting immediately following the Annual Vision Meeting in May, and for a morning of fellowship and discussion relating to our Vision in November.

Membership

Our membership totalled 21 this year.

One of our Deanery Synod representatives stood down in October due to ill health, and we co-opted an additional member of PCC that same month in order to have our new Safeguarding Officer on our committee.

At the time of reporting, the membership consists of:

• Elected PCC members: 11 (out of 15 allowed)

• Elected Deanery Synod representatives: 2 (out of 4 allowed)

• Churchwardens and Deputy Churchwardens: 3

• Readers and Lay Ministers: 1

• Clergy: 4

Our serving officers, and therefore our Standing Committee membership, has been:

• PCC Chair: Rev Tim Garrett, Team Rector

• Lay Vice-Chair: Kathryn Lea

• Secretary: Zoe Homes

• Treasurer: Tim Powell

• Churchwardens: Ann Jessop and Andrew Young, with John Donovan acting as deputy Churchwarden for Southam.

After many years of service to PCC, our Lay Vice-Chair Ro Hunt stepped down at our last APCM. We are hugely grateful for all that Ro gave to our committee.

Our Finances

Our finances have continued to be our key challenge and therefore our key topic of discussion over the last year. However, it must be said that we are in a much better place this year, and have a full understanding of the figures.

The faith and effort of our PCC and wider congregation have once again been rewarded. We ran another successful Gift Day in October 2024, which raised £32,000 to help support general church funds as well as our new Vision fund (which includes our CFM work).

In February PCC voted to pay the full 8.7% increase in Parish Share in 2025.

We are well aware there is work still to be done, and we continue to pray about and discuss our financial situation, and welcome ideas from church members on this topic.

Please see the Finance Report for further details on our financial situation.

Vision 2030

The other significant topic of conversation at our PCC meetings this year has been our Vision 2030 project. This was also the topic for our Away Morning in November 2024.

Since our last Annual Vision Meeting, a lot of work has been done to turn all the research and idea generation into a set of actionable plans – and it has been wonderful to watch motivated people start new things and refresh existing activities in the name of spreading the Good News in our parish and benefice.

Vision 2030 is a long-term project that will continue to be our focus over the next year and beyond.

Other Highlights

In addition to the above, as a PCC, we have:

• Adopted a set of meeting guidelines to help us become a more efficient and wiser committee.

• Set up a team to oversee our Mission Partners and other charity fundraising activity. The team meet regularly, and report into PCC. Our relationship with our three Mission Partners, and our ability to raise money for other organisations we are linked with, is already improved. We are very much looking forward to our first Mission Partners Weekend in a long time in June 2025.

• Appointed a new Safeguarding Officer, approved an updated Safeguarding policy for our parish, and supported our new appointee in refreshing Safeguarding training requirements.

• Worked with our Churchwardens to ensure proper stewardship and use of our facilities. This has included discussions on security arrangements following the break-in last Easter, and approval to restore the oak chest.

• Worked with and supported our sister church at Southam on their campaign to raise money to help pay for the floor restoration works, and in their desire to increase their membership.

• Had an excellent update from Lucy Betts on her exciting and fruitful CFM work, and continued to do our part to support the work of the CFM team.

• Supported Gloucestershire Historical Churches Ride and Stride event in September, and a number of other local and village events, with weekend activities in church and street stands run by church members.

In everything we have done and through every topic we have discussed over the last 12-months, we have collectively done our best to always look to Heaven for guidance, use our gifts to serve God as both individuals and as a group, been graceful in our discussions, and prayerful in our decision making.

We expect the year ahead to continue to present its challenges, but we hope and pray we will look back and see continued and new developments in our mission to bring Jesus to those around us.

My formal thanks to all PCC Members, including those who also sit on Standing Committee, for all their support, work, and prayerful doing of church business.

PCC Calendar 2025/26

Standing Committee Tuesday 20 May, 7.45pm PCC Meeting Tuesday 3 June, 7.45pm Standing Committee Tuesday 22 July, 7.45pm There will be no summer PCC meeting to allow members to have a break. Should any votes be needed, we will converse by email. Standing Committee Tuesday 16 September, 7.45pm PCC Meeting Tuesday 7 October, 7.45pm Standing Committee Tuesday 4 November, 7.45pm PCC Meeting Tuesday 18 November, 7.45pm Standing Committee Tuesday 13 January, 7.45pm PCC Meeting Tuesday 3 February, 7.45pm

Agenda Items

Should you have items of business you wish to be discussed at our PCC meetings, please email these to PCC Secretary, Zoe Homes, via [e-mail]. Agendas are prepared at least one week before each Standing Committee meeting date listed above.

Minutes

Minutes of PCC meetings are posted on this notice board once approved. An archive of minutes can be found in the folder kept next to the kitchen.

Questions

If you have any questions about PCC, please speak to any PCC member, or email PCC Secretary, Zoe Homes, via [e-mail]

Churchwardens’ Report

Report from Churchwardens Andrew Young and Ann Jessop for St Michael’s and John Donovan Deputy Churchwarden for Southam. This report covers the year 2024, with some reference to the first part of 2025.

This report covers the year 2024, with some reference to the first part of 2025.

The Churchwardens

The churchwardens for St Michael’s in Bishop’s Cleeve are Andrew Young and Ann Jessop. John Donovan is Deputy Churchwarden for the Church of the Ascension at Southam. All three will stand again at the 2025 APCM. All three are willing to speak to you about any matters that concern you.

Churchwarden Andrew Young reports as follows:

2024 into 2025 has continued to be a time of change as we as a church have continued to develop and seek God’s direction. We have welcomed Ben, Emily and their boys to our numbers and I have focused on supporting the new full complement of clergy as they settled together.

I have also worked to help shape and move the Vison 2030 process. Having received over 230 ideas to date and spoken to around 25 different people specifically about this we gathered in all sorts of concepts, ideas and inputs. Through a number of sessions and meetings we have started to shape the areas of focus and it is encouraging to see so many new things or changed things being tried:

• Holiday club relaunch

• Youth Alpha/ Group

• Church Away Day

• Central Prayer

• School outreach increasing

• Praise & Play Gotherington

• Online Sermons

• New Life Groups

A new initiative I have been trying over the past 4 months has been recording the sermons and posting them online at our YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW-3aTl2JS3XIt8k2CBKoYA) with a note and link from our Facebook page. As 5 February, there are 38 Sermons posted online with 1,841 views noted. This is currently dependent upon me being at the services and being able to edit the files as well as adding headers and tail end to the files.

Rev Tim and I have been working to replace the contactless device in use to allow for greater flexibility of donations given, the new machine is now in use and at the back of church, the old machine will continue to be used for Praise & Play in Bishops Cleeve and Gotherington but will not be out in St. Michaels during services.

During the past four months I have been discussing our Safeguarding role with Lesley Sadler and supporting her moving into the role formally as approved by the PCC during Q4 2024.

Churchwarden Ann Jessop reports as follows:

The Churchwarden Team Ethos

A team of about six (this varies) is dedicated to assisting the clergy and churchwardens as needed in all their duties. As a Team with special responsibilities, we describe our ethos as follows. We maintain our faith, hope and love in all that we do for this church. God is in all that we do. To labour is to pray.

Our Losses

In 2024 two previous members of our churchwarden team died. We are sad for the loss of Michael Bayliss and Harry Dunsford. Both were highly valued and much loved. Our church is diminished without their quiet faith, good humour, and hard work. Rest in Peace.

Our Church Surveyor, Richard Basnett, retired at the end of March 2024. His partnership with us and his meticulous care of our buildings was outstanding and he will be hard to replace.

Our Gains

The Revd Ben Williams became our Team Vicar in 2024 and we have been delighted to be working with him to bring the benefice to grow in faith.

Luke Blackburn has taken over the role of Eco leader and is bringing new initiatives to our Eco work.

Lesley Sadler has taken on the role of Safeguarding Officer and is improving our practices.

Kevin Sadler and Mark Stevens have come forward bringing their skills and experience to the churchwardens’ team.

Our Needs

Our teams that clean the church give their time once a month to make this place hygienic and pleasant. We need more workers in this ministry.

Our churchwatchers come once a week to greet and look after our Monday to Friday visitors. Anyone could walk in the door, with surprisingly different experiences and expectations. If we had more churchwatchers, we could open the church for more hours.

Our stewards serve once a month to make our Sunday worship flow smoothly. We set up the building and the altar ready, we manage the microphones, we look after the needs of the clergy and the congregation, we tidy up and close down afterwards. We work best if there are two of us, giving us time to get to know everyone and introduce new people, but we do not have enough stewards and for some of the time there is a sole worker trying to do everything.

If you would like to be involved in any of the three above ministries, we would love to hear from you.

In addition, there are teams involved in children’s work, pastoral care, prayer, laundering, polishing, flower arranging, gardening, Audio Visual, First Aiding, catering, bellringing, music making and many others, all happy to receive new members. The churchwardens are grateful to all our volunteers. We are a busy and caring church, pulling together in His work.

The Law

The Representation Rules require that the churchwardens bring to the APCM a report upon the fabric, goods and ornaments of the church or churches of the parish, under section 51 of the Care of Churches and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1991. Therefore, some of this report is about the buildings and contents. The inventory is available to view at this meeting. The 2024 quinquennial report is also on view. The building and contents are an inheritance which we have a duty to care for and to hand down to future generations. The 1991 Measure says Any person or body carrying out functions of care and conservation under this Measure or under any other enactment or rule of law relating to churches shall have due regard to the role of a church as a local centre of worship and mission.

Fabric in 2024-2025, St Michael’s, compiled by Ann Jessop

• Our quinquennial inspection took place in March 2024. A full copy is available to view at the APCM, along with our progress report.

• We mitigate the expenses of maintaining the building by reclaiming the VAT, by applying for grants from outside sources for special projects, by regular and determined work by our volunteers wherever possible.

• The roofs are generally in good order but we do need to replace loose tiles from time to time. A significant operation to remove the moss was carried out in 2024.

• In 2024 St Michael’s was part of a major dendrochronology investigation in Bishop’s Cleeve and the full report by Dr Andy Moir is available to view in church.

• Thanks to a grant from the Gloucestershire Historic Churches Trust and the generosity of our church members we were able to repair and restore the 15[th] century oak chest. A full report of the restoration is available to view at the APCM.

• Routine checks, tests, small repairs and servicing on gutters, drains, electrics, boiler, mower, lightning conduction, fire provision, clock, bells, heating, organ etc are all up to date.

• The smoke alarms were updated in 2024 and should be good for 8-10 years.

• We are due for a quinquennial electrical inspection in 2025.

• Our contractor cleaner Andy Fallon is employed for six hours per week, and our volunteer teams do a dusting stint on Fridays. It is more important than ever to be clean, and so we strive to maintain high standards.

• The AV Team mostly work independently of our team and they have had to cope with some setbacks. They need more persons to operate the equipment.

• A new device for collecting donations electronically has been purchased.

• A new diocesan flag and a new union flag were purchased by two members of our team.

• Following a burglary in St Michael’s in the early hours of Easter Sunday 2024, we have improved the security of the priest’s door and we are at the time of writing looking in to providing more outside lighting and possibly some CCTV coverage on the south side.

Fabric in 2024-2025, Southam Church, as reported by John Donovan and Ann Jessop

• In 2024, a successful quinquennial inspection of our electrical supply and installations was carried out.

• The churchyard wall, where it runs alongside the public footpath, was in danger of falling and needed urgent repair, which was skilfully carried out by Ben Zakottie in 2024.

• Following the buildings quinquennial report of 2023, our surveyor recommended removing the carpet, which we did, exposing extensive damp damage. A programme of works is planned to clean and restore the floor, the altar, the pulpit, the font. It will be necessary to professionally remove asbestos from the redundant heating ducts, after which new stone covers will be fitted to replace the old plywood. After a long wait, the faculty for this work was granted in January 2025. The total cost is expected to be between £30,000 and £35,000. The fabric fund will cover a part of this. Significant amounts have been promised by donors. The remainder could be raised by making grant applications. We hope to complete this project in 2025.

Other St Michael’s Matters

Hygiene

We are past the days of Covid and lockdown but we continue to maintain high standards of cleanliness, to prevent the spread of infection. At the time of writing, we still offer Communion wafers dipped in the wine, as an alternative to sharing the common cup. Hand sanitiser is provided in several locations. Kitchen and catering are manged to a professional standard of hygiene, led by Annie Nixson.

Fuel Costs

Fuel costs have stabilised at around £10,000 a year. In winter, it is important to not leave the doors open for longer than necessary and use the warm air curtain whenever they are open. We are enrolled with the Parish Buying Scheme which obtains for us the best possible fuel deals. All our electricity is from renewable sources. The gas heating is provided by a double boiler system which has an A rating for Eco status. In the long term, (i.e., in the next ten years) all churches will be looking at alternative sources of energy and alternative methods of heating as new technology is developed.

Heritage

Whenever the church is open, you are free to explore the porch room, an ancient and fascinating part of our building, housing our collection of photos and documents and memorabilia.

On our walls in the main church we still have history factoids which we made in 2023 to link the history of our church with the history of the monarchy.

In the baptistery we have various information guides about the church.

Health and Safety

Emergency services ask for our What3words, rather than a postcode. See What3words.com for further details. For our two churches, the words are as follows.

• St M West door: union.achieving.tame

• St M South door: prep.rush.gladiators

• St M Main gate: play.cure.fuels

• Southam door: editor.dame.agents

We have received a grant of £400 from Bishop’s Cleeve Parish Council to spend on First Aid Training, which we intend to carry out in 2025.

The defibrillator needs new pads which we intend to buy in 2025.

Churchyard

Ours is a closed churchyard which means there can be no new burials. (The exception is that existing plots can be opened to receive the remains of another family member, if there is room.) The Closed Churchyard became the responsibility of Tewkesbury Council in 1990. Subsequently, the church wished to provide better maintenance than the Borough was delivering, so they took on themselves some routine work in return for an annual grant from the Borough. In September 2019 we entered into a formal contract with the Borough, defining the level of the annual payments to us (£6,000, index linked, now worth about £7,000) and the extent of our duties, which include care of lawns, gates, walls, trees, paths, graves. The Borough still has ultimate responsibility. We can only manage on this small budget because our volunteers put in so much work.

This is a space which is important to the whole community. Three rights of way cross it, and the public frequently meet us here. The grass is cut by Gotherington Garden Services (Vince Larcombe). The benches are cleaned regularly and treated by volunteers each year. The Garden of Remembrance continues to be lovingly cared for by Keith and Annie Hawkes, while Tony Dixon and Ro Hunt tend the garden by the priests' door. We still need volunteers from time to time to take waste to the tip, and to help in working parties. The Community Payback Scheme members are now well established in working for us. The work they are doing includes digging, hedging, clearing, weeding, strimming, composting, whatever is needed. We continually monitor the condition of the headstones and instigate professional repairs when needed.

Since the APCM last year, there have been some new activities:

• John Donovan supervised the Payback team in building a new compost compound. Later, a volunteer team carried out some finishing off work, including treating the wood. This area is now put to good use.

• In 2024, drystone waller Ben Zakotti inspected the boundaries and found no cause for concern.

• The North side continues to need regular work to keep it tidy, following weeding and re-seeding.

• Ro Hunt, with some help, planted the new hedge for the Garden of Remembrance.

• Our Eco provision now includes bird feeders, bug hotels, a log pile, a stone pile.

• Our tree contractor Chris Arnold has identified some trees that need attention and work will commence soon.

Safeguarding Report

Prepared by Lesley Sadler, Safeguarding Officer.

I have been in post as Parish Safeguarding Officer since October 2024.

Since then, the Parish Dashboard has been set up and we are working through the various categories to ensure that as a church we are completing the required areas as set out by the Diocese. I have looked with Tracy in the office at the spreadsheet for completion of safeguarding training and who has completed which areas for the roles they hold within church. Tracy will remind people when training is due for renewal if they are still attending the church or still in role.

I also now have a dedicated phone for safeguarding and an email address. The previous phone was too old for the updates needed to be of use for church.

Our Safeguarding Policy has been updated and voted in by the PCC, and people are asked to sign this when they have read it. A new Safeguarding notice is displayed on the church noticeboards (inside and outside) with Safeguarding contact name, email address and telephone number. The website has also been updated.

Duncan de Gruchy for the Diocese carried out some safeguarding training on 26 June and 7 November. Altogether, 18 people attended and completed the Basic Awareness Course on these two dates. There is another course planned for this Spring (date to be confirmed).

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility to ensure that we have a safe church for all.

I would like to thank Kate and Tracy in the office for their help over the last few months.

Tewkesbury and Winchcombe Deanery Synod Report

Prepared by Mal Shaw and Tim Powell, Deanery Synod Representatives.

The representatives to Deanery Synod remain Mal Shaw and Tim Powell, with Doreen Dyer standing down due to ill health. Tim has been appointed Deanery treasurer and Mal is on if the lay representatives on the Deanery standing committee.

Meetings were held in July, October and February. The key areas for development are the Deanery Strategic Plan (DSP) and a new model for Parish Share.

The DSP objectives are outward looking worshipping communities fully alive to the work of the spirit, using building as assets, looking outwards and working ecumenically. The Diocese has confirmed they will make funds available to support this strategy, and have facilitators able to provide specialist advice on areas such as Youth, Training, Buildings and Housing.

The three mission areas in the Deanery - Bishops Cleeve, Tewkesbury and Winchcombe - are developing their own strategies which will be used to update the DSP. For our benefice, this will be the Vision 2030 strategy. Meetings later in 2025 will align these benefice strategies and agree funding.

Treasurer’s Report for 2024 and Financial Outlook for 2025

Prepared by Tim Powell, Treasurer.

The purpose of this report is to present a snapshot of our current financial situation. This should help us to decide what we need to do, from a financial point of view, so as to maintain and strengthen our presence as one of the main sources for spreading the Christian message in Bishops Cleeve, Woodmancote and Southam. A more detailed description of our income and expenditure in 2024 is given in the full Financial Statements for that year – see the end of this report for a link.

Our current reserves

As Table 1 below shows at the start of this year the PCC had reserves, potentially available to spend of nearly £162,000. Of this total just over £41,000 was allocated for the church in Southam, largely as the result of a legacy left for the work of the church in Southam a considerable number of years ago. This left a balance of £121,000 for work throughout the rest of the parish.

Table 1: Our current reserves and allocation by Fund

Table 1: Our current reserves and allocation by Fund	Table 1: Our current reserves and allocation by Fund	Table 1: Our current reserves and allocation by Fund	Table 1: Our current reserves and allocation by Fund
Fund	As at 31 December 2024	As at 1 January 2024	Difference
Total all Funds /Assets	161,924	147,317	14,607
of which
General Fund	85279	41,641	43,638
			-25,576
CFM Funds	0	25,576
General and CFM Funds combined	85,279	67,217	18,062
Other Funds			0
Fabric Fund	5,922	13,554	-7,632
			2,357
Churchyard Fund	9,553	7,196
Organ Funds	16,500	14,500	2,000
			-200
Southam Funds	41,476	41,676
Other	3,194	3,174	20

It is the formal policy of the PCC that “the PCC will maintain three month’s costs in general reserves at all times.” In 2024 three months costs amounted to just over £69,000.

The PCC has also decided that some of our reserves should be allocated to designated funds, intended to build up specific reserves for the inevitable need for occasional major expenditure on maintaining the Fabric of St Michael’s and to maintain the organ at St Michael's. The PCC have agreed that £2500 should be added each year

to the designated Fabric Fund. They have also agreed that £2,000 each year should be added to the Organ Fund which now stands at £16,500.

Change during 2024

It can be seen that during the course of the year our reserves increased by £14,607. This is good news. It means that our income was £14,607 more than our expenditure. This was despite the fact that in total at St Michaels and Southam we spent just over £266,000. Running our parish is not a cheap operation. In 2024 our total income was just under £281,000.

If we look at how the balance in our various funds has changed over the year a few points stand out.

The balance in the General Fund has increased by £43,638. The General Fund includes all our reserves which have not been specifically allocated for a specific purpose. It is thus very good news that its balance has increased by this much

However, it is not all good news the next line in the table shows that the balance on the CFM Fund has fallen from £25,576 to zero. So what has happened. Basically we started the year with a considerable surplus in the CFM Fund. This was for two reasons. In previous years we had received considerable grants towards the work of our CFM team. We also in 2023 received a legacy of £10,000 with the request that it should be used for our CFM work.

Due to staff resignations we were also without any paid CFM staff during much of 2023. Much, but not all of our CFM work was continued with the help of volunteers. The PCC took the view that this could not continue indefinitely and agreed that we should allocate funds for the recruitment of a paid CFM worker. We were fortunately able to appoint Lucy Betts starting work at the beginning of 2024, and many of you will appreciate the effect her appointment has had in maintaining and noticeably expanding our work with children and families. However, whilst a small charge is made for many of our CFM activities they only cover a relatively small proportion of the costs of providing this ministry and all the outstanding balance at the start of the year was more than used up by the end of the year.

Next year most of our CFM work will have to be paid for from our General Fund Account. Nevertheless taking the two funds together it is very good news that our combined balance on the General Fund and the CFM Fund increased by just over £18,000. This means that our income last year was considerably more than needed to cover our regular costs. This was, however, entirely due to the generous donations we received through our Gift Day Appeal. This raised nearly £31,000. Without it the £18,000 surplus would have been a £13,000 deficit.

Unfortunately the balance on our Fabric Fund fell considerably, down from just over £13,500 at the start of the year to a little less than £6,000. This was because of necessary expenditure to remove moss from the church roof. Our expenditure on the fabric inevitably varies from year to year and our expenditure last year may have been a little more than normal. However, with a large, old, listed building we will occasionally find that there is something quite expensive that we have to do to maintain the fabric of our church. It may well be that we should consider adding rather more than the £2,500 that we currently allocate each year to the Fabric Fund so as to build up a bigger reserve.

There was a welcome increase in the balance on the Churchyard fund. The income for this fund comes from Tewkesbury Borough Council and we can only spend the money in the fund for the maintenance of the Churchyard. It cannot be used for any other purpose.

Review of Income and Expenditure in 2024

Table 2 on the next page summarises the main components of our income and expenditure in 2024. This may seem like an awful lot of detail. But I think it is important that those who provide the vast majority of the

£281,000 of our income each year have the opportunity to see how that income is spent. They should also have the opportunity to suggest how it might be spent differently.

Most of the headings in the table should be self-explanatory. I would just point out that by far our single largest source of income is the Parish Giving Scheme. This is a scheme started by Gloucester diocese but now run centrally for the Church of England. It is a very efficient scheme which enables people to commit to regular monthly giving. The Scheme then automatically claims any potentially Gift Aid from the Government, which we get much more quickly and with much less work than if we had to claim it ourselves. If anyone wants to know more about the scheme there are leaflets at the back of the church explaining the scheme, but also feel free to contact me.

The largest single source of our expenditure is our Parish Share payment. This is our contribution towards the total costs of the Diocese. The Diocese is responsible for overseeing all the work of the Church of England in the area of the diocese. It pays the salaries and costs of housing of all the parochial clergy including Tim and Ben.

Each year the diocese asks all the Parishes in the diocese to make a contribution towards their costs and suggests what would be an appropriate contribution. Our PCC have agreed that we should strive to meet this request. Even with all the suggested contributions from the parishes the diocese is not fully covering its costs. Instead it is having to rely on the sale of some of its inherited assets. This cannot go on forever.

Table 2: Income and Expenditure by activity

Table 2: Income and Expenditure by activity	Table 2: Income and Expenditure by activity	Table 2: Income and Expenditure by activity	Table 2: Income and Expenditure by activity
St Michaels General and CFM Funds
Income	2024
			2023
Parish Giving Scheme	187,049		179450
Collections and Donations (including Gift Aid Reclaimed)	35,449
			36,938
CFM Attendance Charges and Donations	2,693		2901
Contributiion from Southam towards Parish Share	7,000		10000
Fees for Weddings and Funerals	8,202
			8528
Bank interest	1,913		1111
Collections for Charities	608		1060
Grant from diocese for energy	4,912
Other income	3,119		267
Total	250,945
			240,255	0
Expenditure
Parish Share	103,104		94,596
Clergy Expenses	956		696

Table 2: Income and Expenditure by activity	Table 2: Income and Expenditure by activity
Administration (salaries, office rental and costs)	56,474	of which	47,897
Wages including NI and pensions		41,951
				37,135
Office Rental		3,840
				2,670
Digital Services		1,279
				1,680
Purchase and use of Phones		1,780
				1,560
Printing		1,566
				3,206
Purchase of New Printer		2,694
Sundry Expenses		3,364
				1,646
Accountancy	480
			2,435
Children and Families Ministry	35,288	of which
			17,529	of which
Wages including NI and pensions		26,534
				8,869
Hall Rental		5,458
				5,914
Materials and Refreshments		3,296
				2,746
Regular Costs of Insurance and necessary Safety Checks	8,812	of which
			8,151
Insurance		5,948		5,655
Gutter Cleaning		900		1,584
Fire Security Gas and Lightning Checks		1,964		912
Cost of keeping church open	16,254	of which	17,354
Gas and Electricity		11,964		12,674
Cleaning		4,290		4,680

Table 2: Income and Expenditure by activity	Table 2: Income and Expenditure by activity
Other Costs of Services and Outreach	6,988	of which	7,681	of which
Music including copyright license		1,822		1,169
Sanctuary (wafers and communion wine and candles)		272		944
Donations to Charities		612		1,835
Other various costs		4,282		3,733
Total expenditure	228,356	123,816	196,339
Surplus of Income over Expenditure	22,589
			43,916
FABRIC
Income
Donation	2,000
			500
Insurance Payment	1,749
			1,774
Other Income
			5,315
Total Income	3,749
			7,589
Expenditure
Quinquennial Review	1,561
Scaffolding	6,720
Moss Removal	5,600
Other
			4,465
Total expenditure	13,881
			4,465
Surplus of Income over Expenditure	-10,132
			3,124
CHURCHYARD
Income
Tewkesbury Borough	7,507
			7,036
Expenditure

Table 2: Income and Expenditure by activity	Table 2: Income and Expenditure by activity
Mowing and upkeep of Churchyard	4,532		4,095
Tree Surgery	240
			300
Repair of Memorials	618
Total expenditure	5,390
			4,395
Surplus of Income over Expenditure	2,117
			2,641
OAK CHEST
Donations	1,376
Grant	500
Total Income	1,876
Total expenditure	1,904
GOTHERINGTON VICARAGE
Donations	2,503
Expenditure	2,503
SOUTHAM
Income	14,313
			10,498
Expenditure
Contribution to Parish Share paid to St Michaels	7,000
			10,000
Other general exoenss	2,591
			2,599
Fabric including surveys	4,635
			2,950
Total	14,226
			15,549
Surplus of Income over Expenditure	87		-5,051	0

Outlook for 2025 and The Way Forward

Whilst we can congratulate ourselves that in total the parish more than covered its costs for 2024 we cannot afford to be complacent. Our costs of doing what we did last year of £266,000 are likely to increase by about 5% an increase of about £13,000. But in the last eighteen months we have spent a considerable amount of time thinking about our Vision for the Future and we have realised that we need to do more than we are currently doing, if we are to successfully spread the Gospel message more widely across our community. But doing more initially costs more, even if, eventually, by expanding our impact throughout the community we may gain more support and income.

To cover our current costs and start our progress towards our Vision for 2030 I think we need to plan for an increase of £20,000 in our costs during 2025. If we can achieve this through our own giving without using up any of our reserves that would be great and should be our objective.

It is our intention that throughout the year we will from time-to-time report as to how well we are doing in meeting that objective. To help us to meet the objective we expect to have another Gift Day during the second half of 2025.

If anyone has any questions or suggestions about our finances, please feel free to contact me via [e-mail].

Financial Statements

The Financial Statements for year ending December 2024 can be found on the church website.

Paper copies of the statements are also available to view on the PCC noticeboard in St Michael’s Church.

The accounts have been verified by our independent examiner and were approved by PCC on 23 April 2025.

Look at the bottom of the homepage of our website - https://www.stmichaelsbishopscleeve.co.uk/

Electoral Roll

This year, being the sixth year in our reporting cycle, we were asked to compile a new Electoral Roll for our parish. This means that all names were removed from the roll, and anyone who considers our parish to be their ‘home church’ has been asked to join the roll as for the first time.

Following this process, which we have been running for the last few weeks, our Electoral Roll stands at 236 . This is 25 lower than last year’s 261. The names of those on the roll have been published in church.

If you have not filled in an application yet but would like to be on the Electoral Roll as a member of our church family, forms are available online, and from the office. Please speak to Julia Dowle or any member of the PCC if you would like to be included in the roll.

Additional Reports on the Life of the Church

Our Ministry in Southam

Prepared by John Donovan.

Our church services in Southam have continued along the same successful pattern as last year. We have a Morning Prayer service on the first Sunday of the month, Holy Communion on the second, and our successful Breakfast Church on the fourth Sunday. We are pleased to say that Tim Garrett, Nat Garrett, Ben Williams and Lucy Barbour, among others, have been active in leading our services. Our church attendance is growing slowly, we now have two children coming along with mums!

Last year’s Quinquennial inspection has uncovered some significant restoration work required to the floor inside the Church of the Ascension in Southam. A fundraising campaign has been successful and the work to repair our church has started.

Children and Families Ministry

Prepared by Lucy Betts.

Praise and Play Monday and Thursday

From January to June we had our initial two weekly Praise and Play sessions which continue to be very busy especially the Monday one with around 30 children and their families at the Monday group and around 25 at the Thursday one.

In June we added another Praise and Play to our list at Gotherington Village Hall which has grown to having at least 12 families each week

We have had such positive feedback from parents and carers of how these groups help them and provide the community and support that they need in this wonderful but challenging time of life.

Sunday Morning Explorers

Our groups run on the second and third Sunday of the month

• Mini Maps: Ages 0-4

• Torches: Reception to Year 2

• Compasses: Year 3-6

• GPS: Years 7+ (Second Sunday Only)

We also have Explorers Extra on the fourth and fifth Sunday of the month where all the school age groups are together in St Michaels Centre, for a fun session which includes, stories, games and a crafts and discussions.

JAFFA (Jesus a Friend For All)

JAFFA has changed from a lunchtime group to an after-school group and continues to thrive with about 10 children attending

This is headed up by Judith Jenkins. The children love coming along, and this continues to build a really positive relationship with the school.

Bible Brick Club

The Bible Brick Club is now a flourishing club with about 15 children attending and often bringing their friends too. The club is open to those in school years 2-6. We have attendees from all three schools from Bishops Cleeve.

During the session the children will hear a story from the Bible, we will have a short discussion then they will be asked to build something from that story. They are then displayed in the church.

Oasis

Oasis continues to meet on a Thursday lunchtime with about 10 regular members, Lucy Barbour runs the group, and as they share together they study series’ relevant to parenting and other topics

Experience Easter

This Easter we had 90 children from Year 3 from Bishops Cleeve Primary Academy. They all had a great time learning and experiencing the story of Easter.

Summer Holiday Club

This Summer we had our WANTED Holiday Club with around 20 children aged 5 -11 over three days we had great fun learning about Bible Characters that Jesus met and that we are all Wanted by Jesus.

Alternative to Halloween

On 31 October we held a one-day Holiday Club for those aged 5-11, this was called Treasure Seekers and was great fun with around 25 children attending, it was a lively and joyful atmosphere. The goody bags at the end included a small book about the Good News, which sent everyone home with a smile. It was a great way to celebrate and reinforce the theme of being valued and loved by God.

Also, in the evening, we had the chance to chat with some parents and children as they walked past the church building, offering them refreshments and goody bags.

Experience Christmas

In December we had around 240 year 3 children coming into the church to do Experience Christmas and then we took the session into Gotherington Primary School to the Year 3s.

Christmas

Along with Experience Christmas, we also hosted three of our local schools in the church for their Christmas services. We also had our Christmas Craft and tree decorating session which was wonderful and well attended. We also had great fun at our Christingle and Nativity service.

With this being my first full year at St Michaels I would just like to say a big thank you to all those that have continued to support the Children’s and family work in person and in prayer, also lets praise God for all that he has done, and continues to do.

Life Groups

Prepared by Sue Blakey and Louise Titley.

We have had 11 Life Groups and a post-Alpha group running in 2024/25 in addition to an ecumenical group, with members from both the Methodist church and St Michael’s.

Our groups vary greatly in size, membership, location and emphasis, but all set out to draw their members closer to God and support each other in living out the Christian life.

Although our groups often study materials of their own choosing, this year most of our groups joined together to study the book of Daniel in the autumn to run alongside the sermon series on the same theme.

In November all the Life Group leaders were invited to join together for an away morning with the PCC, where we reflected on the steps we needed to take towards our Vision 2030. At the moment, during Lent, our groups are focusing on materials based on the book of Ephesians and reflecting the key Vision 2030.

We greatly appreciate all the hard work of the leaders and the pastoral care that goes on within the Life Groups.

Youth Work

Prepared by Lucy Barbour.

We are committed to nurturing the faith of our young people, recognising that the provision for our secondary age children has been less than primary provision for a number of years. To address this, we have begun to develop our current provision, including creating "GPS" for year 7+ on Sunday mornings and running a number of socials for our youth in 2024.

This year, discuss have focused on expanding our youth ministry across the Benefice. We have engaged our youth and their parents to help us shape what activities we chose to run and how. In response to these discussions, we decided to launch a Friday night youth club in Gotherington Chapel in January for young people aged between 1116.

Recognising the differences in Christian commitment amongst these young people we decided to start by running the Youth Alpha course every two weeks between January and May.

Through the year we have also actively developed links with Cleeve Secondary School. This has included the delivery of a week of classes for Year 7 students on the meaning of Christmas. We are also facilitated "GSUS Live," an interactive RE classroom experience for Year 7-9 students in the lead-up to Easter alongside Gloucestershire Youth for Christ.

Church on the Hill

Prepared by Lucy Barbour.

In June 2024 we celebrated 3 years of running our outdoor worship service called Church on the Hill.

This year brought several significant highlights. In July, we welcomed Church on the Hill into our main Church building for a special joint service, allowing those who are not normally able to experience it to have that opportunity. We also successfully conducted two more Contemplative Photography sessions and have looked to develop the sharing of contemplative photography on our WhatsApp group. Recognising the importance of family worship, we created and distributed resources designed to encourage families to explore outdoor worship during the summer holidays. After the popularity of last year, we gathered again on New Year's Eve to reflect and pray at the turning of the year.

We have sought to expand the reach of Church on the Hill, attempting to alternate its location across the Benefice. In September, a number of participants undertook the Ride and Stride event, walking between all our churches in one day, and raising over £1200 which was split between the Historic Churches Trust and our church funds. We also celebrated Palm Sunday in Gotherington, joining in with the congregation their at the end of their service.

As we approach our fourth anniversary, we remain committed to the core values of Church on the Hill: engaging with outdoor worship, developing our community, and contemplative reflection. We will continue to seek ways to develop this ministry and welcome any ideas from the wider Church.

Mission Partners

Prepared by Lucy Barbour.

This report details the progress made in strengthening our church's commitment to our Mission Partners.

Following the PCC's mandate to review our partnerships, a dedicated mission team has been established. This team will oversee the relationships, promote engagement, and ensure effective support for our mission partners. Additionally, we are actively seeking new members to join the mission team, hoping that they will bring skills and passion to this area of ministry.

This year we have held a number of productive meetings, including one with our mission partners. This enabled us to gain a valuable insight into their ongoing work and the impact of their ministries.

To encourage awareness and support, we are planning a Mission weekend for June 2025, including a Mission Sunday service. We are also improving communication through regular updates in the weekly news, the church website, and are hoping to develop the mission board.

A key concern raised by the mission partners and other members of the congregation, was the significant decrease in financial contributions to our mission partners since Covid. While the planned Mission Weekend is a positive step, we also recognise the need for a more sustainable financial commitment. This will be discussed further at PCC in the coming months.

Men’s Group (Blokes, Bibles and Beer)

Prepared by Kevin Sadler.

So, we have now established a regular monthly meeting on the first Saturday of each month. 8.30 in the church for testimonies and discussion. Followed by a manly breakfast at the Royal Oak at 9.30. This we see as the core of the men’s work.

We have had some really good visits.

• The jet age museum at Staverton. This involved a personalised tour led by Laurie with his wealth of experience and knowledge. Organised by Tony.

• Toddington railway workshops organised by Bill.

• A visit to the energy from waste facility near the M5 junction 12 organised by Tony.

• A visit to the National Star centre Ullenwood, organised by Tony.

• Two burger/grill nights at The Farmers Arms, Apperley.

• Pub evenings at the Appletree Woodmancote, organised by Jeffrey.

• Fitness, Faith and fellowship organised by Emile. Twice weekly gym sessions with a coach. (The coach is to train us not to get us there). This is an opportunity to remain fit and active under expert supervision for a very nominal cost. I can really recommend it.

Thank you for all of you who have organised events and all those who turn up.

Music at St Michaels

Prepared by Zoe Homes.

We continue to be blessed by both our choir and our contemporary music group.

The choir has had a very enjoyable year and have welcomed two new members. We sing each month on the second and fourth Sundays at the 9.30am service. We have two organists, Margaret and William, and are very grateful for their playing on Sunday mornings and also accompanying choir practice. We continue to rehearse at 7pm on Friday evenings in Church and new members are warmly welcomed.

We are always looking for new members. If you are interested in singing and would like to join, please contact Ro Hunt [e-mail] for more details.

As well as our choir, our Music Group provides musical leadership and accompaniment at our contemporary worship services. Led by Kathryn Lea and with a handful of regular members, the group plays at the 11.15am service on the second, third and fourth Sundays of each month.

Bells

Prepared by Ann Jessop.

We have two sets of bells to look after: a heavy eight in Bishop’s Cleeve and a light six in Woolstone. We look after routine maintenance ourselves but every two years we have a professional check by Whites of Appleton. The bells are rung manually, using a system of ropes and wheels. It can be quite a challenge to provide safe, capable and well-trained ringers for Sundays and other important occasions. Our members are very dedicated and focused people, committed to duties every week and often more, also committed to learning and practising. Woolstone ringers are Pat, Pauline and Charles. They need St Michael’s ringers to make up the numbers. At St Michael’s we have Pam, Angela, David, Brian, Mark, Ann, Sarah, Richard. Quite often we are supported by ringers from Cheltenham and Tewkesbury. Sometimes we join in sessions in other towers. In November 2025, the Cheltenham Branch of Ringers will be coming to St Michael’s for the AGM, to enjoy ringing together, fellowship, worship, hospitality, and even some business. We belong to a national network of ringers and can find friends wherever we go. We are regular supporters of the annual quiz night at St Michael’s Centre and in 2024 our two teams came first and joint second.

The St Michael’s clock quarterly chimes which you hear all day long do work off the bells but these sounds are not made by the bellringers. The chiming notes are produced by hammers striking the bells automatically. This clock is skilfully regulated by Simon Waller week by week, while annual maintenance is carried out by Smiths of Derby. Woolstone clock does not chime but is nonetheless loved in the village.

Churches Together

Prepared by Ann Jessop.

We are a group of Free Church, Methodist and Anglican Christians. We used to have some involvement with our Catholic friends, but they are now occupied with Churches Together in Winchcombe and Tewkesbury. We are a committee in which all the local churches are represented. Our aim is to maintain Christian fellowship between us and to reach out to the community with a united voice. We meet for forward planning three times a year.

Our clergy are an essential part. In 2024, we were sorry to say Good Bye to Andrew Hiscock of Woodmancote Church, but pleased to wish him a happy retirement. Our lay members are as follows. Andrew Maxwell is chairman. Kate Bestwick is secretary. Yvonne Penn is our link person for the secular Parish Council and for Christian Aid. Polly Jones and Ruth Whiting are the reps for the Methodists. Graham O’ Brien is the rep for Woodmancote Church. Bob Wickens is the rep for WGO. Linda Jones is the rep for Southam. Wendy Treble and Ann Jessop are reps for St Michael’s.

In the last year the Bishop’s Cleeve group worked together as follows.

• We supported the Anna Chaplaincy which works in care homes, by providing knitted gifts at Christmas and Easter.

• We held a united Songs of Praise service. In 2024 we focused on the composers of our favourite hymns, learning about their background and their inspirations.

• We organised the World Day of Prayer. The recent event was all about the Cook islands. We relate our own Christian lives with those of Christians of other countries and cultures.

• We shared the Covenant Service at the Methodist Church. This is an important New Year event in the Methodist calendar, where we all dedicate our lives anew.

• We share ecumenical Communion each Wednesday in the Methodist Church.

• We fundraise for Christian Aid. £2,000 was raised by the local campaign in 2024. We are reviewing the strategy for 2025.

• We share details of events for Christmas and Lent in our churches. A highlight in 2024 was the Angel display in the Methodist Church.

• We publish and circulate information about all our churches, aimed at new houses and new people.

• We play an active part in secular events such as the Street Fair, the Christmas Lights, Fun days. Where possible, we share a stall. Christmas Lights in 2024 became quite an intensive event for St Michael’s as the bad weather resulted in our hosting several extra events, which would have been outdoors. The highlight was the live crib, organised by Judith Jenkins.

If you would like to be part of this group and represent the Anglican churches, please contact Ann Jessop.

What’s On and Updates

The above represents just a snapshot of life in our parish.

The best way to keep up to date on what’s happening in our parish is to visit our website

https://www.stmichaelsbishopscleeve.co.uk/ - where you can read our weekly newsletter and find out more about weekly and special services and activities.

We also have a Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/stmichaelsbishopscleeve where we publish regular updates and invitations.

1

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve

For the year ended 31 December 2024

2

CONTENTS

• 3 Independent Examiners Report

• 4 Statement of Financial Activities

• 7 Balance Sheet

• 8 Notes to the Financial Statements

• 11 St. Michael’s Church General Fund

• 13 St. Michael’s Restricted Children and Families Fund

• 13 St Michael’s Designated Children and Families Fund

• 14 St. Michael’s Designated Fabric and Development Fund

• 15 St. Michael’s Restricted Rope Close Fund

• 16 St. Michael’s Restricted Churchyard Fund

• 16 St Michael’s Restricted Organ Fund

• 17 St Michael’s Designated Organ Fund

• 17 St Michael’s Restricted Oak Chest Fund

• 18 Restricted Gotherington Vicarage Fund

• 18 Southam Church - Designated General Fund

• 19 Southam Church - Designated Fabric Fund

• 20 Southam Church - Restricted Floor Fund

• 20 Emergency Fund

CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND ANO WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trustees THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF BISHOPS CLEEVE On accounts for th8 year ended December 2024 Charlty no (if any) 1135929 Set out on pages 1 to20 I report lo the truslees on my examination of the accounts of the above charty {￿he Trust.) for the year ended 31 December 2024 Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for Ihe preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 {'the Act.). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5){b) of the Act. Independent As gross income exceeded £250,000, l am qualified to undertake the examlnerfs statement examination by being a qualified member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection wilh the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or the accounls did not accord wrth the accounting records., or Ihe accounts did not compty with the applicable requirements concerning the fomi and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair, view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to en le proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed: Dats: Ib Name: Peter J Muir LLB CA MBIM Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any): Inslitute of Chartered Accounlants of Scolland IER Oct 2018

4

Statement of Financial Activities

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

NOTES		UNRESTRICTE	UNRESTRICTE	RESTRICTED	2024	2023
		D £		£	TOTAL £	TOTAL £
Incoming
resources
Parish Giving Scheme	1	204,546		6,218	210,764	171,590
(including Gift Aid Reclaimed)
Collections and donations		39,283		1,045	40,328	29,026
Gift Aid Reclaimed			6,032		6,032	6,375
Legacies						10,000
Incoming resources from operating
activities
Investment income			3,044		3,044	1,801
Other incoming resources					0
Fees received by PCC for	Fees received by PCC for		8,202		8,202	8,806
Weddings and Funerals
Other Receipts from		17,450			17,450	20,401
Weddings and Funerals
including payments passed
on to others

5

5	5
Grants 4,912		500	5,412 3,750
Services provided for others 2 34		7,507	7,541 7,172
Insurance payment and VAT reclaimed 2,708			2,708 3,340
Other (various) 7,058		3,879	10,937 1,016
Total incoming resources 293,269		19,149	312,418 263,277
	NOTES UNRESTRICTE D £	RESTRICTED £	2024 TOTAL £ 2024 TOTAL £
Resources expended
Other expenditure
Parish Share 103,104			103,10 4 94,596
Clergy Expenses and Visiting Clergy 956			956 656
CFM Ministry 29,070		6,218	35,288 17,529
Fees paid to Diocese and other payments for services provided at Weddings and Funerals 17,361			17,361 20,134
Administration 56,474			56,474 49,582
Accountancy 480			480 2,434
Insurance and Safety Checks (St Michaels) 8,812			8,812 8,151
Utilities (St Michaels) 11,964			11,964 12,674
Other costs of keeping church open (St Michaels) 4,494			4,494 5,492
Costs of services and outreach 6,144			6,144 5,033
Fabric (St Michaels) 13,881			13,881 4,715
Other expenditure (St Michaels) 7,611		4,416	12,027 1,531

6

	6
	NOTES UNRESTRICTE D £ RESTRICTED £ 2024 TOTAL £ 2024 TOTAL £
Churchyard	(St Michaels) 5,150 5,150 4,395
Fabric (Southam) 4,591 4,591 2,950
Other expenditure (Southam) 2,952 45 2,997 2,600
Total Other Expenditure 267,894 15,829 283,72 4 232,472
Net surplus (defcit) for the year 25,375 3,320 28,693 30,805

Note 1: At the recommendation of the Independent Examiner the amount received from the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) includes the payments made into the PGS in December 2024 which were not received from the PGS until January. It also includes the payment received in January 2024 for the PGS payments made in December 2023 of £14089 which were not included in the Financial Statements for 2023. For this year only the total received from the PGS therefore includes the monthly payments for December for two years

Note 2: The payment for services to others refers mainly to the receipt from Tewkesbury Borough Council for the upkeep of the closed churchyard.

7

Balance Sheet

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

	As at 31 Dec 2024 £	As at 31 Dec 2023 £
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible Fixed Assets (see 2 below)	0	0
Total Fixed Assets	0	0
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors and prepayments (see 3 below)	16,151	0
Cash at bank and in hand (see 4 below)	152,396	138,634
Total Current Assets	168,547 ~~	~~
	~~	~~
LIABILITIES: Amount falling due within one year
Other creditors and accruals (see 5 below) ~~po~~	6,583 ~~po~~	5,406
NET CURRENT ASSETS ~~po~~	161,964 ~~po~~	133,228
TOTAL ASSETS ~~po~~	161,964 ~~po~~	133,228
~~po~~	~~po~~
FUNDS
Restricted Funds (see 6 below)	13,616	10,268
Unrestricted Funds (see 7 below)	148,305 ~~	~~
TOTAL FUNDS	161,921 ~~	~~

The accounts were approved by the board of Trustees and signed on its behalf by:

Rev Tim Garrett: Charity No. 1135929

8

Notes to the Balance Sheet and Financial Statements The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

1. Accounting Policies

Basis of preparing the financial statements

The financial statements are prepared under the historical cost convention adopting the following principle accounting policies all of which are in accordance with Accounting by Charities - Statement of Recommended Practice and applicable Accounting Standards

Incoming resources - Donations and gifts are reflected in the financial accounts when they are received.

Resources expended - Expenditure is included in the financial accounts as incurred

Reserves - The PCC will maintain three month's costs in general reserves at all times.

Investments - Investments are included in the financial accounts at the lower of cost or estimated value

2. Tangible Fixed Assets

All tangible fixed assets were fully depreciated.

3. Debtors

The December income paid in to the Parish Giving Scheme is recorded as a debtor as the income is not transferred from the Parish Giving Scheme until January of the following year.

4. Cash at Bank and in Hand

4. Cash at Bank and in Hand
Cash at Bank and in Hand	As at 31 Dec 2024	As at 31 Dec 2023
Petty Cash	34	34
PCC Current Account	72,755	58,632
Cash awaiting banking		638
PCC Business Reserve Account	38,606	38,054
Southam Current Account	41,001	41,276
Total Cash at Bank and in Hand	152,396	138,634

9

5. Creditors

. Creditors
Creditors	As at 31 Dec 2024	As at 31 Dec 2023
Accounts payable, accruals and deferred income	6,583	5,406

6. Restricted Funds

Fund	Not e	Opening Balance	Fund Income	Fund Expenditur	Transfers	Closing Balance
		£	£	~~e~~ £	£	£
Rope	1	2,573	0	10		2,563
Churchyard	2	7,195	7,507	5,149		9,553
Organ	3	500				500
Childrens and Families	4	0	6,218	6,218		0
Gotherington Rectory	5	0	2,503	2,503		0
Oak Chest	6	0	1,876	1,904	28	0
Southam Floor	7	0	1,045	45		1,000
Totals		10,268	19,149	15,829	28	13,616

1. This fund is used for the maintenance of the St Michael’s church bells and ropes

2. This fund is for the maintenance of the St Michael’s churchyard and graveyard.

3. This fund is for the organ

4. This fund is for the work of the Children and Families Minister. The

5. income is from donations specifically for the work of the Children and Families Minister

6. This fund was set up for the redecoration of Gotherington Rectory. The work has been completed and the fund has now been closed

7. This fund was set up for the restoration work on the old oak chest in St Michaels. The work has now been completed and the fund has now been closed.

8. 7 This fund has been set out for the replacement of the floor at the Church of the Ascension in Southam

10

7. Designated and Unrestricted Funds

These funds have been designated by the Trustees from unrestricted general funds for specific purposes

Fund	Note	Opening Balance	Fund Income	Fund Expenditure	Transfers	Closing Balance
Designated		£	£	£	£	£
Southam Church - Fabric	1	41,167	2,312	4,591		38,888
Childrens and Families	2	25,576	2,693	29,070	801	0
Emergency	3	600				600
St Michael’s Fabric	4	13,554	3,749	13,881	2,500	5,922
St Michael's Organ	5	14,000			2,000	16,000
Total Designated		94,897	8,754	47,542	5,301	61,410
Unrestricted
St Michael’s General		27,952	273,084	210,400	(5329)	85,307
Southam Church - General	6	109	11,431	9,952		1,588
Total Designated and Unrestricted		122,958	293,269	267,894	(28)	148,305

1. The fund is designated, but not restricted, to be used for the maintenance and improvement of the fabric of the Church of the Ascension Southam

2. The fund is designated, but not restricted, to be used to fund the work of the Children and Families Minister

3. The fund is designated, but not restricted, to be used for emergency support to those in need at the discretion of the Rector and in accordance with the rules laid out in the financial handbook

4. The fund is designated, but not restricted, to be used for the

5. maintenance and improvement of the fabric of St Michael’s Bishops Cleeve

6. The fund is designated, but not restricted, to be used for the repair and maintenance of the organ at St Michael’s Bishops Cleeve

7. The fund is designated, but not restricted, to be used for the provision of the work of the church in Southam.

11

St Michael’s Church General Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

	2024 £		2023 £
General Fund Account	£		£
Opening Balance	27,952		(1,892)
Income
Parish Giving Scheme including Gift Aid reclaimed (See Note 1 below)	200,071		165,761
Collections and donations	25,769		21,185
Gift Aid Reclaimed from collections and donations	4,129		5,133
Southam contribution to Parish Share	7,000		10,000
PCC Fees for Weddings and Funerals	8,202		8,528
Other receipts for Weddings and Funerals	17,450		20,401
Bank Interest	1,913		1,111
Collections for Charities	608		1,060
Grant for energy	4,912
Other Income	3,030		1,152
Total Income	273,084		234,331
Expenditure
Provision of Clergy	104,060	of which	95,292
Parish Share		103104
Clergy Expenss		956
Administration	56,474	of which	49,582
Wages (including Pension contributions)		41,951
Ofce Rental		3,840
Digital Services		1,279
Purchase and use of Phones		1,780

12

	2024 £		2023 £
Printing		1,566
Purchase of New Printer		2,694
Sundry Expenses		3,364
Accountancy	480		2,435
Regular Costs of Insurance and Safety Checks	8,812	of which	8,151
Insurance		5,948
Gutter Cleaning		900
Fire Security , Gas and Lightning Conductor Checks		1,964
Costs of Keeping the Church Open	16,457	of which	18,166
Energy (Heating and Lighting)		11,964
Cleaning		4,290
Other expenses		204
Costs of Services and Outreach	6,144	of which	5,033
Music, including Copyright Licence, Organ Tuning, Visiting Organists		1,822
Sanctuary (Wafers, Candles etc)		272
Other Expenses		4,050
Donations to Charities	612		1,835
Payment of Statutory Diocesan Fee and for services provided at Weddings and Funerals	17,361		20,134
Less Unclaimed Creditors written of			-641
Total Expenditure	210,400		199,987
Transfer of Funds
to Fabric Fund	(2,500)		(2,500)
to Organ Fund	(2,000)		(2,000)
to CFM Designated Fund	(801)
to Oak Chest Fund	(28)
Total Transfer Out	(5,329)		(4,500)
Closing Balance	85,307		27,952

13

Note 1: At the recommendation of the Independent Examiner the amount received from the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) includes the payments made into the PGS in December 2024 which were not received from the PGS until January. It also includes the payment received in January 2024 for the PGS payments made in December 2023 of £13,689 which were not included in the Financial Statements for 2023. For this year only the total received from the PGS therefore includes the monthly payments for December for two years.

Restricted Children and Families Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Restricted Children and Families Fund	2024 £	2023 £
Opening Balance	0	0
Income
Legacy		10,000
Donations	6,218	620
Total Income	6,218	10,620
Expenditure
Transfer from Designated Childrens and Families Fund	6,218	10,620
Total expenditure	6,218	10,620
Closing Balance	0	0

Designated Children and Families Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Designated Childrens and Families Fund	2024 £	2023 £
Opening Balance	25,576	29,584
Income
Collections and Charges for Attendance	2,693	2,901
Total Income	2,693	2,901

14

14
Designated Childrens and Families Fund	2024 £	2023 £
Expenditure
Wages	26,534	8,869
Hall Rental	5,418	5,914
Training Materials and Refrehsments	3,336	2,746
Total	35,288	17,529
less Expenditure Transferred to Restricted Childrens and Families Fund	(6,218)	5280
Total Expenditure	29,070
Transfer from General Fund	801	2000
Closing Balance	0	25,576

Designated Fabric and Development Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Designated Fabric and Development Fund	2024 £	2023 £
Opening Balance	13,554	7,500
Income
Donation	2,000
Insurance Payment	1,749
Other Income		7,589
Total Income	3,749	7,589
Expenditure
Quinquennial Review	1561
Scafolding	6,720
Moss Removal	5,600
Other Expenditure		4,465
Total Expenditure	13,881	4,465

15

15
Designated Fabric and Development Fund	2024 £	2023 £
Transfer of Funds
from General Fund	2,500	2,500
from Rope Close Fund (for Clock)		250
Closing Balance	5,922	13,554

Restricted Rope Close Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Restricted Rope Close Fund	2024 £	2023 £
Opening Balance	2,573	2,821
Income
Donations in lieu of Fees		300
Total Income	0	300
Expenditure
Glos Bell Ringers	10	10
Bells Maintenance		288
Clock repairs		250
Total Expenditure		548
Closing Balance	2,563	2,573

16

Restricted Churchyard Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Restricted Churchyard Fund	2024 £	2023 £
Opening Balance	7,195	4,554
Income
Tewkesbury Borough	7,507	7,036
Total income	7,507	7,036
Expenditure
Tree Surgery	240	300
Mowing and upkeep of churchyard	4,532	3,350
Repair of Memorials	618
Other Expenditure		745
Total Expenditure	5,150	4,395
Closing Balance	9,553	7,195

Restricted Organ Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Restricted Organ Fund	2024 £	2023 £
Opening Balance	500	500
Income
Expenditure
Closing Balance	500	500

17

Designated Organ Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Designated Organ Fund	2024 £	2023 £
Opening Balance	14,000	12,000
Transfers from Other Funds
Transfer from General Fund	2,000	2000
Closing Balance	16,000	14000

Restricted Oak Chest Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Restricted Organ Fund	2024 £
Opening Balance	0
Income
Donations	1,376
Grant	500
Total Income	1,876
Expenditure
Restoration of Chest	1,904
Total Expenditure	1,904
Transfers from Other Funds
Transfer from General Fund	28
Closing Balance	0

18

Restricted Gotherington Vicarage Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Restricted Gotherington Vicarage Fund	2024 £
Opening Balance	0
Income
Donations	2,503
Total Income	2,503
Expenditure
Painting	2,253
Carpets	250
Total Expenditure	2,503
Closing Balance	0

Southam Church General Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Southam Church General Fund	2024 £	2023 £
	£	£
Opening Balance	109	2,937
Income
Collections and donations	3,471	2,988
Investment income	70	33
Gift aided income (see note 1)	5,287	5,229
Tax Refunds (see note 2)	1,996	1,242
Other income	607	278
Total Income	11,431	9,771

19

Southam Church General Fund	2024 £	2023 £
Expenditure
Contribution to Parish Share	7,000	10,000
Administration expenses	784	788
Repairs and maintenance	682	497
Utilities	592	788
Insurance	893	875
Total Expenditure	9,951	12,599
Closing Balance	1,589	109

Note 1: At the recommendation of the Independent Examiner the amount received from the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) includes the payments made into the PGS in December 2024 which were not received from the PGS until January. This amounted to £475. It also includes the payment received in January 2024 for the PGS payments made in December 2023 which were not included in the Financial Statements for 2023.

Southam Church Fabric Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Southam Church Fabric Fund	2024 £	2023 £
Opening Balance	41,167	43,390
Income
Donations	566	70
Investment income	1,061	657
VAT reclaimed	685
Total Income	2,312	727
Expenditure
Repairs and maintenance	2,172	1,080
Surveys	2,418	1,870
Total Expenditure	4,590	2,950
Closing Balance	38,889	41,167

20

Southam Church Floor Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Southam Church Floor Fund	2024 £
Opening Balance	0
Income
Donations	1,045
Total Income	1,045
Expenditure
Refreshments at publicity meeting	45
Total Expenditure	45
Closing Balance	1,000

St Michael’s Church General Fund - Emergency Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

	2024 £	2023 £
Opening Balance	600	600
Income		0
Expenditure		0
Closing Balance		600

1

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve

For the year ended 31 December 2024

2

CONTENTS

• 3 Independent Examiners Report

• 4 Statement of Financial Activities

• 7 Balance Sheet

• 8 Notes to the Financial Statements

• 11 St. Michael’s Church General Fund

• 13 St. Michael’s Restricted Children and Families Fund

• 13 St Michael’s Designated Children and Families Fund

• 14 St. Michael’s Designated Fabric and Development Fund

• 15 St. Michael’s Restricted Rope Close Fund

• 16 St. Michael’s Restricted Churchyard Fund

• 16 St Michael’s Restricted Organ Fund

• 17 St Michael’s Designated Organ Fund

• 17 St Michael’s Restricted Oak Chest Fund

• 18 Restricted Gotherington Vicarage Fund

• 18 Southam Church - Designated General Fund

• 19 Southam Church - Designated Fabric Fund

• 20 Southam Church - Restricted Floor Fund

• 20 Emergency Fund

CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND ANO WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trustees THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF BISHOPS CLEEVE On accounts for th8 year ended December 2024 Charlty no (if any) 1135929 Set out on pages 1 to20 I report lo the truslees on my examination of the accounts of the above charty {￿he Trust.) for the year ended 31 December 2024 Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for Ihe preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 {'the Act.). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5){b) of the Act. Independent As gross income exceeded £250,000, l am qualified to undertake the examlnerfs statement examination by being a qualified member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection wilh the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or the accounls did not accord wrth the accounting records., or Ihe accounts did not compty with the applicable requirements concerning the fomi and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair, view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to en le proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed: Dats: Ib Name: Peter J Muir LLB CA MBIM Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any): Inslitute of Chartered Accounlants of Scolland IER Oct 2018

4

Statement of Financial Activities

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

NOTES		UNRESTRICTE	UNRESTRICTE	RESTRICTED	2024	2023
		D £		£	TOTAL £	TOTAL £
Incoming
resources
Parish Giving Scheme	1	204,546		6,218	210,764	171,590
(including Gift Aid Reclaimed)
Collections and donations		39,283		1,045	40,328	29,026
Gift Aid Reclaimed			6,032		6,032	6,375
Legacies						10,000
Incoming resources from operating
activities
Investment income			3,044		3,044	1,801
Other incoming resources					0
Fees received by PCC for	Fees received by PCC for		8,202		8,202	8,806
Weddings and Funerals
Other Receipts from		17,450			17,450	20,401
Weddings and Funerals
including payments passed
on to others

5

5	5
Grants 4,912		500	5,412 3,750
Services provided for others 2 34		7,507	7,541 7,172
Insurance payment and VAT reclaimed 2,708			2,708 3,340
Other (various) 7,058		3,879	10,937 1,016
Total incoming resources 293,269		19,149	312,418 263,277
	NOTES UNRESTRICTE D £	RESTRICTED £	2024 TOTAL £ 2024 TOTAL £
Resources expended
Other expenditure
Parish Share 103,104			103,10 4 94,596
Clergy Expenses and Visiting Clergy 956			956 656
CFM Ministry 29,070		6,218	35,288 17,529
Fees paid to Diocese and other payments for services provided at Weddings and Funerals 17,361			17,361 20,134
Administration 56,474			56,474 49,582
Accountancy 480			480 2,434
Insurance and Safety Checks (St Michaels) 8,812			8,812 8,151
Utilities (St Michaels) 11,964			11,964 12,674
Other costs of keeping church open (St Michaels) 4,494			4,494 5,492
Costs of services and outreach 6,144			6,144 5,033
Fabric (St Michaels) 13,881			13,881 4,715
Other expenditure (St Michaels) 7,611		4,416	12,027 1,531

6

	6
	NOTES UNRESTRICTE D £ RESTRICTED £ 2024 TOTAL £ 2024 TOTAL £
Churchyard	(St Michaels) 5,150 5,150 4,395
Fabric (Southam) 4,591 4,591 2,950
Other expenditure (Southam) 2,952 45 2,997 2,600
Total Other Expenditure 267,894 15,829 283,72 4 232,472
Net surplus (defcit) for the year 25,375 3,320 28,693 30,805

Note 1: At the recommendation of the Independent Examiner the amount received from the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) includes the payments made into the PGS in December 2024 which were not received from the PGS until January. It also includes the payment received in January 2024 for the PGS payments made in December 2023 of £14089 which were not included in the Financial Statements for 2023. For this year only the total received from the PGS therefore includes the monthly payments for December for two years

Note 2: The payment for services to others refers mainly to the receipt from Tewkesbury Borough Council for the upkeep of the closed churchyard.

7

Balance Sheet

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

	As at 31 Dec 2024 £	As at 31 Dec 2023 £
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible Fixed Assets (see 2 below)	0	0
Total Fixed Assets	0	0
CURRENT ASSETS
Debtors and prepayments (see 3 below)	16,151	0
Cash at bank and in hand (see 4 below)	152,396	138,634
Total Current Assets	168,547 ~~	~~
	~~	~~
LIABILITIES: Amount falling due within one year
Other creditors and accruals (see 5 below) ~~po~~	6,583 ~~po~~	5,406
NET CURRENT ASSETS ~~po~~	161,964 ~~po~~	133,228
TOTAL ASSETS ~~po~~	161,964 ~~po~~	133,228
~~po~~	~~po~~
FUNDS
Restricted Funds (see 6 below)	13,616	10,268
Unrestricted Funds (see 7 below)	148,305 ~~	~~
TOTAL FUNDS	161,921 ~~	~~

The accounts were approved by the board of Trustees and signed on its behalf by:

Rev Tim Garrett: Charity No. 1135929

8

Notes to the Balance Sheet and Financial Statements The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

1. Accounting Policies

Basis of preparing the financial statements

The financial statements are prepared under the historical cost convention adopting the following principle accounting policies all of which are in accordance with Accounting by Charities - Statement of Recommended Practice and applicable Accounting Standards

Incoming resources - Donations and gifts are reflected in the financial accounts when they are received.

Resources expended - Expenditure is included in the financial accounts as incurred

Reserves - The PCC will maintain three month's costs in general reserves at all times.

Investments - Investments are included in the financial accounts at the lower of cost or estimated value

2. Tangible Fixed Assets

All tangible fixed assets were fully depreciated.

3. Debtors

The December income paid in to the Parish Giving Scheme is recorded as a debtor as the income is not transferred from the Parish Giving Scheme until January of the following year.

4. Cash at Bank and in Hand

4. Cash at Bank and in Hand
Cash at Bank and in Hand	As at 31 Dec 2024	As at 31 Dec 2023
Petty Cash	34	34
PCC Current Account	72,755	58,632
Cash awaiting banking		638
PCC Business Reserve Account	38,606	38,054
Southam Current Account	41,001	41,276
Total Cash at Bank and in Hand	152,396	138,634

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5. Creditors

. Creditors
Creditors	As at 31 Dec 2024	As at 31 Dec 2023
Accounts payable, accruals and deferred income	6,583	5,406

6. Restricted Funds

Fund	Not e	Opening Balance	Fund Income	Fund Expenditur	Transfers	Closing Balance
		£	£	~~e~~ £	£	£
Rope	1	2,573	0	10		2,563
Churchyard	2	7,195	7,507	5,149		9,553
Organ	3	500				500
Childrens and Families	4	0	6,218	6,218		0
Gotherington Rectory	5	0	2,503	2,503		0
Oak Chest	6	0	1,876	1,904	28	0
Southam Floor	7	0	1,045	45		1,000
Totals		10,268	19,149	15,829	28	13,616

1. This fund is used for the maintenance of the St Michael’s church bells and ropes

2. This fund is for the maintenance of the St Michael’s churchyard and graveyard.

3. This fund is for the organ

4. This fund is for the work of the Children and Families Minister. The

5. income is from donations specifically for the work of the Children and Families Minister

6. This fund was set up for the redecoration of Gotherington Rectory. The work has been completed and the fund has now been closed

7. This fund was set up for the restoration work on the old oak chest in St Michaels. The work has now been completed and the fund has now been closed.

8. 7 This fund has been set out for the replacement of the floor at the Church of the Ascension in Southam

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7. Designated and Unrestricted Funds

These funds have been designated by the Trustees from unrestricted general funds for specific purposes

Fund	Note	Opening Balance	Fund Income	Fund Expenditure	Transfers	Closing Balance
Designated		£	£	£	£	£
Southam Church - Fabric	1	41,167	2,312	4,591		38,888
Childrens and Families	2	25,576	2,693	29,070	801	0
Emergency	3	600				600
St Michael’s Fabric	4	13,554	3,749	13,881	2,500	5,922
St Michael's Organ	5	14,000			2,000	16,000
Total Designated		94,897	8,754	47,542	5,301	61,410
Unrestricted
St Michael’s General		27,952	273,084	210,400	(5329)	85,307
Southam Church - General	6	109	11,431	9,952		1,588
Total Designated and Unrestricted		122,958	293,269	267,894	(28)	148,305

1. The fund is designated, but not restricted, to be used for the maintenance and improvement of the fabric of the Church of the Ascension Southam

2. The fund is designated, but not restricted, to be used to fund the work of the Children and Families Minister

3. The fund is designated, but not restricted, to be used for emergency support to those in need at the discretion of the Rector and in accordance with the rules laid out in the financial handbook

4. The fund is designated, but not restricted, to be used for the

5. maintenance and improvement of the fabric of St Michael’s Bishops Cleeve

6. The fund is designated, but not restricted, to be used for the repair and maintenance of the organ at St Michael’s Bishops Cleeve

7. The fund is designated, but not restricted, to be used for the provision of the work of the church in Southam.

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St Michael’s Church General Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

	2024 £		2023 £
General Fund Account	£		£
Opening Balance	27,952		(1,892)
Income
Parish Giving Scheme including Gift Aid reclaimed (See Note 1 below)	200,071		165,761
Collections and donations	25,769		21,185
Gift Aid Reclaimed from collections and donations	4,129		5,133
Southam contribution to Parish Share	7,000		10,000
PCC Fees for Weddings and Funerals	8,202		8,528
Other receipts for Weddings and Funerals	17,450		20,401
Bank Interest	1,913		1,111
Collections for Charities	608		1,060
Grant for energy	4,912
Other Income	3,030		1,152
Total Income	273,084		234,331
Expenditure
Provision of Clergy	104,060	of which	95,292
Parish Share		103104
Clergy Expenss		956
Administration	56,474	of which	49,582
Wages (including Pension contributions)		41,951
Ofce Rental		3,840
Digital Services		1,279
Purchase and use of Phones		1,780

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	2024 £		2023 £
Printing		1,566
Purchase of New Printer		2,694
Sundry Expenses		3,364
Accountancy	480		2,435
Regular Costs of Insurance and Safety Checks	8,812	of which	8,151
Insurance		5,948
Gutter Cleaning		900
Fire Security , Gas and Lightning Conductor Checks		1,964
Costs of Keeping the Church Open	16,457	of which	18,166
Energy (Heating and Lighting)		11,964
Cleaning		4,290
Other expenses		204
Costs of Services and Outreach	6,144	of which	5,033
Music, including Copyright Licence, Organ Tuning, Visiting Organists		1,822
Sanctuary (Wafers, Candles etc)		272
Other Expenses		4,050
Donations to Charities	612		1,835
Payment of Statutory Diocesan Fee and for services provided at Weddings and Funerals	17,361		20,134
Less Unclaimed Creditors written of			-641
Total Expenditure	210,400		199,987
Transfer of Funds
to Fabric Fund	(2,500)		(2,500)
to Organ Fund	(2,000)		(2,000)
to CFM Designated Fund	(801)
to Oak Chest Fund	(28)
Total Transfer Out	(5,329)		(4,500)
Closing Balance	85,307		27,952

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Note 1: At the recommendation of the Independent Examiner the amount received from the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) includes the payments made into the PGS in December 2024 which were not received from the PGS until January. It also includes the payment received in January 2024 for the PGS payments made in December 2023 of £13,689 which were not included in the Financial Statements for 2023. For this year only the total received from the PGS therefore includes the monthly payments for December for two years.

Restricted Children and Families Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Restricted Children and Families Fund	2024 £	2023 £
Opening Balance	0	0
Income
Legacy		10,000
Donations	6,218	620
Total Income	6,218	10,620
Expenditure
Transfer from Designated Childrens and Families Fund	6,218	10,620
Total expenditure	6,218	10,620
Closing Balance	0	0

Designated Children and Families Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Designated Childrens and Families Fund	2024 £	2023 £
Opening Balance	25,576	29,584
Income
Collections and Charges for Attendance	2,693	2,901
Total Income	2,693	2,901

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14
Designated Childrens and Families Fund	2024 £	2023 £
Expenditure
Wages	26,534	8,869
Hall Rental	5,418	5,914
Training Materials and Refrehsments	3,336	2,746
Total	35,288	17,529
less Expenditure Transferred to Restricted Childrens and Families Fund	(6,218)	5280
Total Expenditure	29,070
Transfer from General Fund	801	2000
Closing Balance	0	25,576

Designated Fabric and Development Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Designated Fabric and Development Fund	2024 £	2023 £
Opening Balance	13,554	7,500
Income
Donation	2,000
Insurance Payment	1,749
Other Income		7,589
Total Income	3,749	7,589
Expenditure
Quinquennial Review	1561
Scafolding	6,720
Moss Removal	5,600
Other Expenditure		4,465
Total Expenditure	13,881	4,465

15

15
Designated Fabric and Development Fund	2024 £	2023 £
Transfer of Funds
from General Fund	2,500	2,500
from Rope Close Fund (for Clock)		250
Closing Balance	5,922	13,554

Restricted Rope Close Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Restricted Rope Close Fund	2024 £	2023 £
Opening Balance	2,573	2,821
Income
Donations in lieu of Fees		300
Total Income	0	300
Expenditure
Glos Bell Ringers	10	10
Bells Maintenance		288
Clock repairs		250
Total Expenditure		548
Closing Balance	2,563	2,573

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Restricted Churchyard Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Restricted Churchyard Fund	2024 £	2023 £
Opening Balance	7,195	4,554
Income
Tewkesbury Borough	7,507	7,036
Total income	7,507	7,036
Expenditure
Tree Surgery	240	300
Mowing and upkeep of churchyard	4,532	3,350
Repair of Memorials	618
Other Expenditure		745
Total Expenditure	5,150	4,395
Closing Balance	9,553	7,195

Restricted Organ Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Restricted Organ Fund	2024 £	2023 £
Opening Balance	500	500
Income
Expenditure
Closing Balance	500	500

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Designated Organ Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Designated Organ Fund	2024 £	2023 £
Opening Balance	14,000	12,000
Transfers from Other Funds
Transfer from General Fund	2,000	2000
Closing Balance	16,000	14000

Restricted Oak Chest Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Restricted Organ Fund	2024 £
Opening Balance	0
Income
Donations	1,376
Grant	500
Total Income	1,876
Expenditure
Restoration of Chest	1,904
Total Expenditure	1,904
Transfers from Other Funds
Transfer from General Fund	28
Closing Balance	0

18

Restricted Gotherington Vicarage Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Restricted Gotherington Vicarage Fund	2024 £
Opening Balance	0
Income
Donations	2,503
Total Income	2,503
Expenditure
Painting	2,253
Carpets	250
Total Expenditure	2,503
Closing Balance	0

Southam Church General Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Southam Church General Fund	2024 £	2023 £
	£	£
Opening Balance	109	2,937
Income
Collections and donations	3,471	2,988
Investment income	70	33
Gift aided income (see note 1)	5,287	5,229
Tax Refunds (see note 2)	1,996	1,242
Other income	607	278
Total Income	11,431	9,771

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Southam Church General Fund	2024 £	2023 £
Expenditure
Contribution to Parish Share	7,000	10,000
Administration expenses	784	788
Repairs and maintenance	682	497
Utilities	592	788
Insurance	893	875
Total Expenditure	9,951	12,599
Closing Balance	1,589	109

Note 1: At the recommendation of the Independent Examiner the amount received from the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) includes the payments made into the PGS in December 2024 which were not received from the PGS until January. This amounted to £475. It also includes the payment received in January 2024 for the PGS payments made in December 2023 which were not included in the Financial Statements for 2023.

Southam Church Fabric Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Southam Church Fabric Fund	2024 £	2023 £
Opening Balance	41,167	43,390
Income
Donations	566	70
Investment income	1,061	657
VAT reclaimed	685
Total Income	2,312	727
Expenditure
Repairs and maintenance	2,172	1,080
Surveys	2,418	1,870
Total Expenditure	4,590	2,950
Closing Balance	38,889	41,167

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Southam Church Floor Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

Southam Church Floor Fund	2024 £
Opening Balance	0
Income
Donations	1,045
Total Income	1,045
Expenditure
Refreshments at publicity meeting	45
Total Expenditure	45
Closing Balance	1,000

St Michael’s Church General Fund - Emergency Fund

The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Bishops Cleeve For the year ended 31 December 2024

	2024 £	2023 £
Opening Balance	600	600
Income		0
Expenditure		0
Closing Balance		600