2023-12-31-accounts

St Peter & St Paul, Shiplake, All Saints, Dunsden and St Margaret of Antioch, Harpsden Annual Parochial Church Report and Meeting 5[th] May 2024

==> picture [262 x 191] intentionally omitted <==

==> picture [262 x 172] intentionally omitted <==

2

The PCCs of Shiplake and Dunsden with Harpsden cum Bolney have the responsibility of co-operating with the Rector, the Revd. Robert Thewsey, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parishes the whole mission of the parish: pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. They also have maintenance responsibilities for the church buildings and other facilities in the benefice.

This booklet contains the statutory information required by canon law for us to hold our Annual Parochial Church Meetings (APCM), which will be held on Sunday 5th May 2024: Harpsden - 9:30 Sung Eucharist followed by APCM; Shiplake and Dunsden-11am APCM and Morning Praise.

The agenda for both the vestry meetings (to elect churchwardens) and the APCM can be found on the inside back page of this document.

In this document you will find the minutes of our 2023 APCMs, together with the various reports and accounts.

Please read these reports ahead of the APCM. All parishioners are welcome to attend, but only those on the Electoral Roll are permitted to vote and participate within the meeting. The majority of the activity reports will be taken as read at the meetings, with time for questions if required.

3

Minutes of the Annual Parochial Church Meeting of the Parish of Shiplake with Dunsden on Sunday 30[th] April 2023 at 09:30

Vestry Meeting – for the election of Churchwardens

Prayers

The Revd. Robert Thewsey opened the meeting with a prayer

Present

There were 25 people present at the meeting.

Apologies

Cyril Crouch, Val and John Rees, Philip Bowcock, Paul Robinson, Rosemary Appleby

Minutes of the last meeting – 3[rd] April

The Minutes of the 2022 Vestry Meeting were adopted as an accurate record of the meeting.

Churchwarden Elections

John Bodman and Rosemary Jones were nominated, proposed and seconded and were duly as Dunsden wardens elected by unanimous agreement for the year 2023-2024.

There were no nominations for a Warden Shiplake. As it is a legal requirement RST has asked everyone to suggest who might fill this role. There was a presentation and huge thanks given to Wendy Robinson for all her hard work as Shiplake churchwarden.

Archdeacon Visitation

Archdeacon’s Visitation – will be on 8[th] June 7.30pm at Dorchester Abbey, when our churchwardens are sworn in. Parishioners are encouraged to attend to support them.

APCM

4

Present

As for the Vestry Meeting

Apologies

As for the Vestry Meeting

Minutes of the 2022 APCM

The Minutes of the 2022 APCM Meeting were adopted as an accurate record of the meeting.

Election of PCC members

The members of the PCC all agreed to serve for another term and were duly nominated and unanimously elected by the meeting. Gill Robbins has also been nominated and elected to the PCC.

Secretary

LL will continue to act as secretary.

Safeguarding

LL to continue as Safeguarding officer. All agreed. Diocesan Safeguarding policy should be adopted. All agreed.

Data Protection

LL to continue as Data Protection officer. All agreed. Diocesan Data Protection policy to be adopted. All agreed.

Health and Safety

Ian Bartlett to continue as Health and Safety officer. All agreed. Health and safety policy to be adopted. All agreed.

Electoral Roll Officer

Rosemary Jones will continue in this role. All agreed.

Thanks were given to Yvonne Watson and Linda Glithro who had previously acted as Electoral Roll officers.

Presentation of Accounts and Treasurer’s Report

A new Treasurer remains a priority. RST continues to fulfil the role but feels it is not really appropriate to do this.

Appointment of Auditors

All agreed that Barbara Marsden should continue.

Inventory

5

The Terrier and Inventory has been checked and all items are present and correct.

All agreed to accept.

Reports

All other reports were taken as read. All agreed.

Vision Day Saturday 17[th] June 10:00-16:00 – Shiplake

To create a benefice vision. RST asked everybody to attend to feed into the vision. If you can’t attend, please send in any thoughts and ideas.

Prayers

RST closed the meeting with a prayer and The Grace.

Minutes of the Annual Parochial Church Meeting of the Parish of Harpsden cum Bolney on Sunday 30[th] April 2023 at 09:30

Vestry Meeting – for the election of Churchwardens

Prayers

The Revd. Robert Thewsey opened the meeting with a prayer

Present

There were 42 people present at the meeting.

Apologies

Clare Ward and Caroline Fulton

Minutes of the last meeting – 3[rd] April

The Minutes of the 2022 Vestry Meeting were adopted as an accurate record of the meeting.

Churchwarden Elections

David Ward and Valerie Nicholson were nominated, proposed and seconded and were duly elected by unanimous agreement for the year 2023-2024.

Archdeacon Visitation

6

Archdeacon’s Visitation – will be on 8[th] June 7.30pm at Dorchester Abbey, when our churchwardens are sworn in. Parishioners are encouraged to attend to support them.

APCM

Present

As for the Vestry Meeting

Apologies

As for the Vestry Meeting

Minutes of the 2022 APCM

It was proposed that ‘by a large majority’ should be deleted from item seven – Presentation of the Accounts. All agreed.

The rest of the Minutes of the 2022 APCM Meeting were adopted as an accurate record of the meeting.

Election of PCC members

Jo Taylor, Josie Peddie, Paul Barrett, David Ward, Tilden McKean, Sue Wright, Shelagh Stanbridge Bennet, Kester George, Jane Burtt and Valerie Nicholson were all nominated and accepted unanimously by the meeting.

Secretary

LL will continue to act as secretary

Safeguarding

LL to continue as Safeguarding officer. All agreed. Diocesan Safeguarding policy should be adopted. All agreed.

Data Protection

LL to continue as Data Protection officer. All agreed. Diocesan Data Protection policy to be adopted. All agreed.

Health and Safety

Ian Bartlett to continue as Health and Safety officer. All agreed. Health and safety policy to be adopted. All agreed.

Electoral Roll Officer

James Frost has agreed to continue in this role. All agreed.

Presentation of Accounts and Treasurer’s Report

7

The accounts had been available for a month for inspection before the APCM. RT thanked Nigel Smith for his hard work in preparing the accounts and asked the meeting for questions. They have already been adopted by HPCC.

There was a question about legacy money. NS explained that a generous legacy had been left by Mr. Watson, not to the church, but to the incumbent who could decide how best to spend it.

RST explained that a document was available in church all about legacies. It would be best to leave money for general maintenance of the church and grounds.

All agreed the accounts should be accepted.

Appointment of Auditors

All agreed that Richard Parker should continue.

Inventory

The Terrier and Inventory has been checked and all items are present and correct.

All agreed to accept.

Reports

All other reports were taken as read. All agreed.

Vision Day Saturday 17[th] June 10:00-16:00 – Shiplake

To create a benefice vision. RST asked everybody to attend to feed into the vision. If you can’t attend, please send in any thoughts and ideas.

Prayers

RST closed th meeting with a prayer and The Grace.

REPORTS FOR YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 2023

CLERGY REPORTS

The Rev Robert Thewsey

Dear friends

What a year 2023 has been, with more things happening as we come further out of the pandemic and much thought has gone into how we reintroduce the Common Cup, how we ensure no cross contamination with Wholeness and Healing, as well as considerable time spent looking at finances and possible building projects.

8

Shiplake Church

Sadly, the Church Rooms at Shiplake saw a huge water leak which became a major insurance claim to put right. The PCC have looked at all the possibilities of what to do with the Room and finally made the decision that we would not restore the hall but instead demolish. Grateful thanks go to Rosemary and Alen Appleby for all that they have done in managing the hall, on their own, for many, many years. Without their help and support the hall would have closed years ago. We are continuing to look at redeveloping the site for affordable local housing – which would mean a substantial increase in income for the church if the building does go ahead.

The development of the Rectory site is entirely in the hands of the Diocese and has progressed very little with this; as soon as more information is available, I will let you all know.

Dunsden Church

November saw the unveiling of an amazing new window to celebrate the link of Dunsden Church with the World War One poet, Wilfred Owen. The unveiling service saw both the Bishop of Oxford and the Bishop of Dorchester in attendance and since then many people have come along to view the new window – if you have not already done so then I would recommend going over to Dunsden to have a look.

One of our lovely parishioners at Dunsden has volunteered to fund an extension to provide a much needed, fully accessible toilet and a kitchen. Plans have been drawn up and we are in consultation with the church architect and the Diocese to try and get this new build constructed as soon as possible. Grateful thanks go to the parishioner who is funding this work.

Harpsden Church

Another lovely parishioner has offered to fund the rebuilding and extension of St Peters Vestry – constructed in 1975 – this vestry has never really been big enough for church activities and the new build will see two toilets (one fully accessible), full disabled access, a much larger kitchen, and a larger hall. This will enable the church to accommodate the choir, Sunday School, meetings, after church refreshments etc. Again, we are working with the church architect and the Diocese and trying to get this build underway as quickly as possible. Grateful thanks to our parishioner who is funding this work.

Sunday School restarted at the latter half of 2023, and we are delighted that we now have between 7 and 15 children in attendance each week.

Benefice

We are very blessed with our congregation in their generosity, but you will see in the financial reports that both churches rely very heavily on

9

investment and investment income to balance the books each year. This cannot continue and we need to try and redress this over the coming years.

Very sadly at the end of 2023 we found that Revd. Sarah had been appointed as Team Rector of Wallingford. Sarah will be leaving us in February 2024 and will be greatly missed. Sarah has had a huge impact on the life of the church in this Benefice and we thank her for all that she has done. I particularly thank her for her support of myself over the last 5 ½ years.

Half Term activities have been very well received and continue to grow with about 50 children in attendance over the 3 days of activities. Grateful thanks to all who help with this initiative.

Home Communions have grown over the last year as some parishioners have moved into care homes, or now find it too difficult to attend church on a regular basis. Revd. Heather is assisting in this ministry and is investigating becoming an ‘Anna Chaplain.’

Leigh, my PA, has been working tirelessly behind the scenes keeping my admin down, photocopying, answering queries from around the world, helping people find graves in all three church yards, keeping the inventories up to date, assisting the Wardens, updating the graveyard plans and starting to digitalise these for ease of access. All supported by Anita who comes along to help on a weekly basis. Thank you, Leigh and Anita.

The year also saw many occasional offices: Weddings 6(11in 2022)(9 in 2021) Funerals in church 15 (21 in 2022) (14 in 2021) Burials 9(5 in 2022) (6 in 2021) Funeral at the Crematorium 5 (9 in 2022) (13 in 2021) Internment of ashes 9 (18 in 2022) (4 in 2021)

Thank you to everybody who helps in any way to ensure that our three beautiful church buildings remain open and our lovely congregations are cared for and loved. Special thanks go to the clergy team without whom much of what we do would not happen, so thank you Sarah, Pam, Heather, and Nick.

With all God’s Blessings

Robert

10

Revd. Pam Gordon

My ministry year has continued with serving in all 3 churches for my regular commitment of Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays, other times by arrangement. Those ‘other times’ shifted from weekday daytimes to evenings and weekends as we adjusted our lives to Roy’s changing health. This was no problem for the couples who were preparing for their weddings. Each was a unique day of joy and I value the support of our team – church key holders, verger Leigh, our organists Adrian, Helen and Roger, the Dunsden flower team and those who created choir for these special services.

I have enjoyed and been encouraged by aspects of outreach that have broadened people’s experience of church and worship and extended our contacts with the community – e.g. Half term activities, Tea with God, Snowdrop Sunday, a Prayer Space at Binfield Show, the Pet service, a table at Shiplake primary Christmas fair, the Nativity journey with Shiplake College ….

My Diocesan responsibilities continued. I completed the necessary Safeguarding Course. I had my annual retreat. Rota duties for articles etc. were met. I became more involved nationally in the distribution of the Bethlehem peace light. The routine and the unexpected, traditional and creative – this is the pattern of my ministry. And for that I give thanks and trust to give God glory in it all.

Revd. Heather

Thank you all for your love and enabling of my ministry during 2023. I am particularly indebted to Revd. Robert for affording me the role as an associate priest in this Benefice, which has given me the opportunity to serve you in a variety of ways: conducting worship and taking holy communion to those unable to get to church is an affirming privilege … and something I value highly. Coupled with the opportunity to take the sacrament into Tower House and Lashbrook became the divine seed bed of possible future ministry. I explored and subsequently undertook, through the auspices of Bible Reading Fellowship, their training to become an Anna Chaplain. Commissioned by Revd. Robert at the Advent service, it enables me to work amongst ‘older people,’( as the logo suggests! ) I much prefer ‘ the mature members of the congregation’ which includes myself, though I do help with our children’s activities to balance my experience. Anna chaplaincy enables me to encompass a wider brief of that “ Peace,” that our Lord advocates for the wellbeing of body, mind and spirit. Having worked previously for twenty eight years as a nurse, in years when ‘TLC:

11

tender loving care’ was written on the prescription sheets, I hopefully have the correct skills to do that in serving God in your midst.

The word priest in Latin means ‘ bridge builder ‘, as part of the royal priesthood of ALL believers. … that is my fervent prayer for us that we all continue to be Christ’s envoys in this Benefice during 2024.

Finance report – Shiplake and Dunsden – Revd. Robert Thewsey

2022 has been a difficult year again with regard to our finances. Our investments have fallen yet again and closing on 31[st] December meant a negative return on our investments which was rectified a few days later due to interest rates.

We are very grateful that Barbara Marston has once again created our annual accounts and audited them for us. Barbara and I are still working out the best way to record the accounts so that congregation members can read them easily, we hope that this year’s accounts are an improvement on the previous years. If you would like particular information recorded then please let us know.

The accounts were uploaded to the Charity Commission website in plenty of time to comply with their regulations and were shared electronically and in paper form to all congregation members.

The PCC still needs to appoint a Treasurer as it is not appropriate for the rector to also be in charge of the finances of the church, and so if you know somebody who would be interested………please do let me know.

Treasurer’s report – Harpsden – Nigel Smith Please see additional booklet

Overview

The year produced a satisfactory surplus of income over expenditure of £5,742. The Balance Sheet showing the financial position at 31[st] December remains very strong with nearly £525,000 in cash and deposits.

Income and Expenditure

Please refer to the sheet attached to this report. The main driver of our surplus has been the increase in interest rates. As a result of the increase in rates interest received increased by £14,730 to £20,336. Currently it seems that interest rates are unlikely to reduce in the near future so this may be a continuing benefit.

Loose plate collections increased by £3,351 but are still far short of what they were before the pandemic. Gift aid is now being claimed on these and other small gifts which accounts for the increase in tax recovered of nearly £1,000.

12

Expenditure on gas and electricity reduced by just over £6,000 as a result of going back into contract which will keep our cost down for the next 2 years. By which time I hope that fuel costs might have reduced to something like normal. However, this will depend on factors outside our control.

The Parish Share was paid in full. Parish Share for the current year is 5% higher adding an extra £1,878 to this year’s cost.

Balance sheet

As mentioned above our Church continues to have significant cash assets. As it is unlikely that we will need all the money in the near future, I have put £115,000 on a 3 year fixed interest deposit at 3.85% with the Charity Bank which replaces Shawbrook Bank. Further investments of £150,000 have been authorised by the PCC. The process has been started but takes a very long time before the funds are committed. If these investments proceed our Church will still have over £250,000 in immediately available money. The majority of this is held on deposit with CCLA. Future

Oh, for a crystal ball!! Our financial surplus is very dependent on two factors, interest rates and very generous donor who have continued to support us during the year. For which support we thank them wholeheartedly.

Our costs are mainly fixed with over 50% tied up in the Parish Share. Benefice clergy expenses will reduce as a result of Revd. Sarah moving on. (We miss her already!) Church maintenance is always the great unknown. It was just under budget this year but it only needs a minor disaster to throw this figure a long way out.

I read an Old Testament lesson recently from Exodus which mentioned tithing. Probably for the first time in the Bible. What an appropriate lesson for a Treasurer! Inflation continues so I hope that you will consider inflating your giving by even a small amount. As you know, ”Every little helps!!”

Church Wardens’ Report - Dunsden– Rosemary Jones and John Bodman

Our congregation attendance still varies from 25 t0 34 worshipers and this year over 300 for the Snowdrop Sunday event. We are developing a following for our events and indeed these are attracting some new worshipers on an occasional basis. Our Lay Led service each month continues to be led by our three Worship Leaders and have been well attended by most of our usual congregation.

The 2020 Quinquennial identified issues with the cement flashings associated with the entrance porch and this has led to ingress of moisture affecting the plasterwork and the multiway lighting switch box inside the Church. Also the loo building has had a similar issue which has caused

13

some of the roof timbers to rot off at the base supports causing the tiles to pull away from the brick copings. A contract was placed with a local builder and both roofs are now secure and waterproof with new metal flashings and timberwork renewed as necessary.

At present the Church Loo, situated in the old grave digger’s brick building, had for some while had a very unpleasant smell inside. The issue was investigated by the same builder and it was found that the waste pipe from the loo to the septic tank had pulled apart and that the waste had been accumulating behind the false rear wall for quite some time. This was dug out, the soil pipe re- routed and re-connected and the associated water pipe updated with a new stop cock. The floor has yet to be re-painted which is planned to be carried out during the summer 2024. All five of the external notice boards have been replaced by Leigh’s husband who only charged for the materials. Repairs were carried out to the five bar gates into the car park and also the pedestrian gate into the new Churchyard. This work was funded by a member of the congregation. During the summer members of the congregation got together and erected a new notice board at the car park entrance to the churchyard. This is regularly updated every month and contains all the information of things going on at All Saints and Shiplake Churches.

One of our double iron gates facing Church Lane is hung on a flint-faced short wall that had been undermined by a tree root in the past and has been in danger of collapse. The tree root was dug out, a new foundation installed and the recovered brick and flints used to form the much improved wall. However the ground levels are such that both gates will need removing for repair and then re-hung to give correct ground clearance. After the completion the path will need to be re-laid with tarmac. This work is currently delayed due to the building work associated with the intended Church kitchen extension.

Many tiles in the choir and sanctuary have become loose and in danger of breaking up. These were identified at the last Quinquennial but will be an expensive project for which we do not yet have funding. The reredos behind the altar was badly damaged by a “duck invasion” and Robert, our Rector, had to make an insurance claim to have it repaired. This has now been carried out but may be in need of some refinement.

The Dunsden Owen Association in conjunction with Robert, the DAC, the local community and the Glaziers Livery Company were all involved in the recently dedicated window commemorating Wilfred Owen’s time in Dunsden. The project was crowd funded, Natasha Redina the stained glass artist awarded the commission to design, construct and install this exceptionally beautiful window which was blessed by the Bishops of Oxford and Dorchester at a special service on 4 November 2023 before the church filled to capacity. This magnificent window is drawing many visitors to the Church and a new pamphlet has been designed and gifted to the Church by the DOA and a rota of Church opening times will be published soon.

14

We consider fellowship an important aspect of our Church and each Wednesday there is tea, cake and chat inside or outside of the Church weather permitting and after all our services. More recently we have had lunch together at our local pub inviting members from the other two churches in the Benefice, this has proved very popular. Once again, our Snowdrop Sunday afternoon entertainment was highly successful with some 300 visitors being entertained during the afternoon by musicians, guest speakers, actors, poetry and narrative all supported by homemade food, drinks etc. and a raffle of donated prizes. Overall we raised £820.00 for Church maintenance works.

Church Wardens’ Report - Dunsden– Valerie Nicholson and David Ward

Following on from works carried out required by the last Quinquennial our buildings are in good order. There are some issues with a few of the windows, which will require attention, and quotes will be obtained for the necessary work. The roof of the Oratory has had a minor remedial repair but it seems that it will need further substantial work, possibly replacement, and a quote has been requested for this.

Internally, all is in good order. The boilers have been serviced and the fire extinguishers are well within the service contract.

The annual inventory has been carried out and that, and the Terrier and Log Book are available for inspection.

A willing and capable gentleman has been hired to look after the cemetery and this is looking very well cared for.

We are truly blessed to have a clergy team who ensure we have services every week at Harpsden and our new Lay Led services are proving to be a success. And, oh joy, we have a blossoming Sunday School. We have a wonderful congregation with many willing volunteers to ensure our services are carried out smoothly and our thanks go to all those special people.

St. Margaret’s is in a good place.

APCM Report– Paul Barrett

Intercessions Rota

We currently have five prayer leaders and would welcome more volunteers for this important part of our Sunday worship. Our thanks to those who

15

lead our congregations in prayer, each bringing their own distinctive style and communion with our God.

Deanery Synod

The Henley Deanery in 2023 was handicapped by the lack of a Lay Chair and a secretary. Nevertheless, it met four times during the year. The highlights were a very pleasant barbeque on a sunny summer evening in June at the Rector`s garden in Goring; and a memorable talk by Revd. Sarah on the fate of young vulnerable youngsters caught up in the drug trade by being forced to carry the products across county lines: and on an important initiative the Church of England was taking to combat this Chalice Rota

With the drop in covid cases it was possible in the final quarter of the year to reintroduce the option for communicants to take the common cup as well as the intincted wafers. At present this option has only been taken up by a small minority and has only required a single chalice server. This may change in 2024 if communion in both kinds is deemed safe to be introduced; in which case more chalice assistants will be required. Boy`s Brunch

The Brunch has met each month during the year, normally on the first Monday of the month from 10.30-12noon at The Ark at Shiplake. Attendance has never dropped below the four brunchers who are most committed and has reached six or seven on occasion. This meeting allows men to put the world to rights whilst partaking of the excellent pastries purveyed by Gails of Henley.

Shiplake Music Report – Shiplake -Helen Lam

Despite being a small church without a choir, we were blessed to have choir members coming from Harpsden regularly at Benefice services. I occasionally sang with the choir in the Benefice services when I could get away from organ.

The hand chimes team rang on Palm Sunday, an Eucharist Service on 9 July and the Carol Service on 10 December. The team has shrunk from 11 to 8 children and finally to 5 children as some of them were struggling to come with long distance. Our last performance in the Carol Service was done gracefully with a smaller team, five children and three mothers. Sadly, rehearsal has been suspended recently until more ringers to join. Recruitment has been posted on church newsletter.

I go to Shiplake primary school for teaching KS2 singing on Wednesdays. Year 3 & 6 did a mini concert last summer and Year 4 & 5 did a carol singing in December. Hopefully promoting singing at school will bring more young singers to church in a long run.

16

It is my prayer that the Lord will continue to be honoured in the music at church prepare us that day where we will join the eternal hallelujah in the glory land.

Ringing Master’s Report – Shiplake -Bob Partridge

The bells were rung for all the main services, plus weddings and funerals as required and generally the standard of ringing has been pleasing. We probably rang all 8 bells less times on Sundays after September since our youngest ringer Daisy went up to university.

Practice numbers were variable in 2023 with some of our previous regular visitors now having home commitments, but others from Sonning and Waltham St Lawrence have continued to support us and enabled us to ring a good variety of methods nearly every Tuesday. We are extremely grateful for their ongoing support at practices, for Quarter Peals and for special service ringing. The monthly Quarter Peals on Thursday afternoons involving some of our practice night band plus visitors from Wallingford, Goring and Caversham have proved very successful.

During the half term children’s events we have had the tower open to demonstrate ringing a bell and giving those who wished a few backstrokes. We have given most of the youngsters a flyer explaining how they can try out ringing to see if it is something they would like to pursue, but sadly we have had no takers as yet.

There has been very little to do in the way of maintenance apart from periodic checks of all the nuts and bolts, sliders and clappers. Two new ropes from Ellis’s have been fitted on 4 and 6. These two ropes are slightly disappointing compared to Ellis’s usual standard as they are a little springy. When ropes are next ordered, we may try sourcing them from Avon Ropes instead. We have plenty of tail end rope in hand as long offcuts from the new chiming ropes at Dunsden were kindly donated to us by the Rector. The main wear point is the sallies and tails, so we may opt to have existing worn ropes fitted with new tails and sallies rather than buy all new ones.

The simulator and dumbbell had occasional use for half and full day training courses during the year. The new Bagley simulator system works very well with both Virtual Belfry and Abel software.

I would like to thank everyone for their continued enthusiasm and support over the year, and to Steve and Cyril for looking after things when I have been away.

Readers –Harpsden - Jo Taylor

17

We are very blessed to have a thriving number of volunteers on the Reader’s Rota at St. M’s and our thanks to everyone on the team Under a new Benefice Reader’s system, we have also welcomed Reader’s from our sister churches when the Benefice Service is at St. M’s and, similarly, our Reader’s then take one of the lessons when the Benefice service is at Shiplake or Dunsden.

Readers, should they wish, are also encouraged (with permission of the content by the presiding clergy member) to give ‘an introduction’ to the passage they will be reading as this can be most illuminating and provides a good opportunity to give the background context to the passage or ‘bring alive’ some of the rather more obscure references.

New Readers are always very welcome and please contact [e-mail] if you would like to be added to the rota………. All love and blessings, Jo xx

==> picture [39 x 41] intentionally omitted <==

Sunday School –Harpsden - Jo

Taylor

As we were not able to find a regular Sunday School leader in this reporting year the provision for children has been very limited and perhaps with this being a 'chicken/egg scenario' we haven't had new children attend regularly. That said, children from the last cohort returned with their families for Christingle and they were thrilled to 're-sing' an old favourite 'And the Angels sang to Him' to a delighted congregation. It is touching to know that our church is 'home' to the young people that have passed through Sunday School and to see the long-term friendships they have made through meeting at St. M's.

We are currently seeking both a Sunday school leader and helpers to 'revive and reinstate' a regular provision for children and families who attend St. M's - if you would like to know more, please see Robert or Sarah.......... With love and blessings, Jo xx

After service refreshments - Sarah Bevan

We have continued to enjoy our after service refreshments with many people staying for the fellowship and connection which is wonderful. My thanks to the team who support our refreshments including bringing the tea, coffee and biscuits out into the Church - this brings a great warmth and connection. Our continued thanks to Josie who has provided lovely home-made cakes which people cannot resist.

We are a small team of about 10 people so if anyone is keen to get involved and join us please let me know – it’s a great way of supporting the Church community.

18

THANK you everyone who takes part in any way, a vital part of keeping our community connected.

Electoral roll – Shiplake and Dunsden - John Bodman

This year the electoral roll is ongoing and will not be completed in time for this report.

Once the revision is completed the details will be displayed in the porches as per the statutory requirement.

Harpsden cum Bolney – James Frost

I am pleased to report that the number recorded on the Electoral Roll for St Margaret’s on 8 March 2024 is 53.

With Covid the past few years have been difficult. Sadly we have lost members and others have moved away. This is not peculiar to St Margaret’s; it is replicated throughout the land. We are fortunate here in St Margaret’s, we have a strong bond of being together. A wonderful platform on which to build.

An up to-date list of members can be found in the folder in the church porch.

If there are any members of the congregation who are not members on the Electoral Roll but would like to be, there are no obligations just a feeling of belonging, then please contact me and I will let you have the appropriate form.

[e-mail]

Church of St Margaret of Antioch, Harpsden – Roger Derbyshire 2023 Annual Report for the APCM: Music and the Choir

The function of music at St Margaret’s is to support and enhance our worship at the regular services throughout the year, both by leading the congregation’s singing, and by performing beautiful and more challenging music to praise God.

To deliver this during 2023 we were very fortunate to be able to rely upon the resources of a dedicated choir numbering up to twenty individuals, singing a varied selection of hymns, anthems, psalms, Taizé́ chants, songs and carols. Accompaniment was provided using both the antique pipe organ and our modern electric piano, helping to add variety to the musical styles that could be performed.

19

In addition to singing at our regular services at St Margaret’s, throughout 2023 the choir helped support the monthly Benefice Services at Shiplake and Dunsden, and also sang at a number of weddings, funeral and memorial services, and at the summer Variety Concert.

For 2024 we look forward to continuing to support the worship at St Margaret’s and throughout the Benefice, and to both increasing and diversifying our musical repertoire!

Choir

Throughout 2023 the choir at St Margaret’s was made up of around fourteen regular members, and we were very grateful for the assistance of about six additional members who helped to balance the mix of voices (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) for services which included anthems or carols. Weekly choir practices were held on Fridays from 12h30 to 13h30, although we will continue to review this in 2024 as not all members are able to attend at this time of the day.

The choir sang at over 50 services throughout the year, singing around 200 different hymns and 18 anthems, in addition to several Taizé́ chants, occasional psalms and of course many carols over the Christmas period. We tried to include a variety of musical styles, from traditional 4–part harmony hymns to more contemporary worship songs (for example ‘Like A Candle Flame’ by Graham Kendrick), and anthems ranging from the 16[th ] century (e.g. ‘Lord, For Thy Tender Mercy’s Sake’ by Farrant) to more modern compositions (e.g. ‘For The Beauty Of The Earth’ by John Rutter and ‘Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep’ by Geoffrey Stephens). Where appropriate we were very happy to stray outside the usual boundaries for parish choirs, singing songs such as ‘Love Me Tender’ (Elvis Presley), ‘You Raise Me Up’ (Rolf LØvland, Brendan Graham) at the summer variety Concert. We will continue this approach to musical variety in 2024, adding some more psalms as requested by members of the congregation.

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to two choir members in particular for their help and support throughout the year: first to Josie Peddie for looking after all the background details - choir music, robes, bookings, attendance – that means we can make the most of our time together on singing!; secondly to Nigel Smith, both for his wise words of advice to me, and for multitasking skills - conducting the choir where needed while also singing tenor!

Organ and Piano

St Margaret’s Church is very fortunate to have a beautiful well-maintained antique pipe organ. The existing organ was built in 1875 and restored in

20

1984, but some of its pipes probably date from the original organ built in 1854 by G M Holdich (for more information please see the National Pipe Organ Register at https://npor.org.uk/survey/D05061). Its annual tuning was carried out in December 2023 in preparation for the Christmas services. Although the organ is used for the majority of musical accompaniment in our church, some of the more contemporary hymns, anthems and songs rely on our Yamaha electric piano, which is also used extensively for our choir practices.

Music Highlights for 2023

One of the most memorable musical highlights for 2023 was the singing of ‘If I Had Words’ – a song from 1977 by Scott Fitzgerald and Yvonne Keeley based on a reggae version of the theme from the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony. It was a request from Samantha Coultas and Richard Berends to be sung at their wedding, and we had a lot of fun getting it ready for the occasion. I managed to contract COVID just before the wedding but Helen Lam from Shiplake very kindly stepped in at the last minute to play! Luckily I was able to hear it when we sang it again at the Variety Concert!

Also worthy of note was our performance of ‘Good News, Great Joy!’ - a gospel song by Ruth Morris Gray, sung at the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols. This took a lot of rehearsal but was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

Finally, it was lovely to have Jonty’s help playing the carols at the Christingle Service on Christmas Eve, and I look forward to his continued contribution to the music at St Margaret’s in 2024.

Conclusion

2023 was a busy year for the choir, with services and functions finally returning to normal after the disruption caused by COVID. For 2024 we look forward to continuing to support the worship at St Margaret’s and throughout the Benefice; we hope to attract additional members to the choir; and we will work on both increasing and diversifying our musical repertoire!

Sacristan - Harpsden – Jo Pavey

The Sacristan duties at Harpsden are shared between Jo Pavey, Valerie Nicholson and for weekday services Pat Needham. We thank Ruth Bone for attending to the Altar laundry, and these arrangements work well on a rota basis. We would like to request a Lectionary in the vestry for reference when Altar colours change.

21

Jo Pavey.

Churchyard report – J. Buckley

Work on the renovation/repair of the churchyard wall progressed steadily and the result looks good; further work is needed elsewhere. The large Hayter mower was sent away to cure the problem of difficult starting, while all other machinery was serviced in-house. After due consideration, a new “turn-on-itself” mower was purchased, the cost of which was significantly offset by the sale on eBay of the other, rarely used, Hayter. The new machine had to be returned for a gearbox replacement (under warranty) and now seems fine.

Grounds maintenance – mowing, re-seeding, spraying paths, trimming lilac, lavender and lots of overhanging branches - continued throughout the year. The box bushes have suffered from caterpillars and will be sprayed again.

It has been necessary to have extensive tree work undertaken following a number of fallen branches. In particular, one multi stemmed Thuja had an unstable stem leaning over the College stable yard roof, which required a controlled lowering operation. A

similar tree close to the bell tower, with a stem already failed, and an adjacent Cupressus, ivy covered and crown dead, have also had to be removed. The good news is that the chippings from the subsequent stump grinding have been spread over the lavender beds for weed control. We are currently seeking another volunteer to assist in our work, and have placed a notice on the Shiplake Villages website.

Safeguarding Report – Leigh Leadbetter

I would like to remind everyone that anyone who works for the churchwhether paid or as a volunteer- has to have at least the Basic Awareness training and PCC members need to complete the Foundation stage as well. All training should be renewed every three years. If you still need to take the online courses, may I please ask you to do them as soon as possible and let me know when they are done.

Our church safeguarding policy may be viewed by everyone. It is kept in the book hanging in the porch of each church.

There are also posters on each church notice board giving details of who to contact should a safeguarding problem arise.

Both PCCs include safeguarding as an agenda item at every meeting. We have updated different policies, copies of which can be found on each church noticeboards in the Information book, (alongside general safeguarding information posters) and on the church website. In accordance with national church requirements, our church website now

22

contains a dedicated safeguarding section, which will be enhanced with further policies over the coming year.

GDPR – Leigh Leadbetter

Our aim is to remail compliant with the GDPR (general Data Protection Regulation) so we continue to carry out the following measures:

1. We update our privacy notices to ensure they are clear, concise and provide the necessary information

2. We implement a consent system that we renew every three years to ensure we have explicit and informed consent from everyone concerned

DBS – Leigh Leadbetter

We are committed to safeguarding individuals and, as such, we require all people employed by the church to undergo DBS checks before commencing work.

We regularly monitor our compliance with DBS requirements to ensure they remain up to date with regulatory changes.

Secretary Report – Benefice- Leigh Leadbetter

During the year there have been nine PCC meetings: three SwDPCC, three HPCC and three Joint PCC.

During the year the PCC discussions included:

• Revd Sarah’s move to Wallingford and how to Support Revd Robert and the clergy team

• Charity donations

• Building plans for all three churches

• Eco audits and ways to become more environmentally friendly

• Paris Share

• Fund raising

If you would be interested in joining the PCC please let one of the clergy team know. We would be delighted to welcome you.

We are in desperate need of a Warden for Shiplake Church; if anyone feels they could take on this role we would be very grateful.

23

The Vestry Meeting & Annual Parochial Church Meeting of the Benefice of Shiplake with Dunsden and Harpsden cum Bolney Sunday 5[th] May 2024

Vestry Meeting Agenda

1. Prayers

2. Apologies for absence

3. Minutes of last meeting

4. Elections

5. Church Wardens

6. Archdeacons Visitation

7. Vestry Meeting Ends

APCM Agenda

1. Apologies for absence

2. Minutes of last meeting 30[th] April 2023

3. Elections of PCC Members

Safeguarding Officer – Leigh Leadbetter

• Need to adopt Diocesan policy

• Data protection Officer – Leigh Leadbetter

• Need to adopt Diocesan policy

• Health and Safety Officer - SD/H – Ian Bartlett - Need to adopt Diocesan policy

• Electoral Roll Officer - SD – John Bodman

• H -James Frost

• Accounts to be adopted

• Appointment of Auditor for 2024

• Presentation of Terrier and Inventory

• All other reports to be taken as read– and questions asked if needed

• Prayers to close

The Grace

24

The first meeting of the PCC will elect a Secretary and Treasurer and agree the dates of the PCC meetings for 2024/25

Charity number:

1138065

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

CONTENTS

Page

Reference and Administratve Details of the Charity, its Trustees
and Advisers	3
Trustees' Report	4 to 5
Independent Examiner's Report	6
Investments Schedule	7
Investment Schedule (Part 2)	7a
Statement of Financial Actvites	8
Balance Sheet	9
Reserves	10
Investments/Endowments/Legacies	11
Notes to the Financial Statements	12 to 15
Additonal Notes	16

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS OF THE CHARITY, ITS TRUSTEES AND ADVISERS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Trustees Mrs R Appleby Mr J Bodman Mr C Crouch Mr J Flinn Mrs L Glithro Mrs R Jones Mrs G Robins Mrs W Robinson Revd R S Thewsey

Charity registered number 1138065 Principal office Church Office Church Lane Shiplake Henley-on-Thames Oxfordshire RG9 4BS Independent examiner Barbara Marston Bankers HSBC 26 Broad Street Reading RG1 2BU

3

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 TRUSTEES' REPORT

What a year 2023 has been, with more things happening as we come further out of the pan and much thought has gone into how we reintroduce the Common Cup, how we ensure no c contamination with Wholeness and Healing, as well as considerable time spent looking at fi and possible building projects.

Shiplake Church

Sadly, the Church Rooms at Shiplake saw a huge water leak which became a major insuran housing to put right. The PCC have looked at all the possibilities of what to do with the Roo finally made the decision that we would not restore the hall but instead demolish. Grateful to Rosemary and Alen Appelby for all that they have done in managing the hall, on their ow many, many years. Without their help and support the hall would have closed years ago. We are continuing to look at redeveloping the site for affordable local – which would mean a substantial increase in income for the church, if the building does go ahead.

The development of the Rectory site is entirely in the hands of the Diocese and very little h progressed with this, as soon as more information is available, I will let you all know.

Dunsden Church

November saw the unveiling of an amazing new window to celebrate the link of Dunsden C with the World War One poet, Wilfred Owen. The unveiling service saw both the Bishop of Oxford and the Bishop of Dorchester in attendance and since then many people have come along to view the

new window – if you have not already done so then I would recommend going over to Dunsden to have a look.

One of our lovely parishioners at Dunsden has volunteered to fund an extension to provide needed, fully accessible toilet and a kitchen. Plans have been drawn up and we are in consultation with the church architect and the Diocese to try and get this new build constructed as soon as possible. Grateful thanks go to the parishioner who is funding this work.

Harpsden Church

Another lovely parishioner has offered to fund the rebuilding and extension of St Peters Ve constructed in 1975 – this vestry has never really been big enough for church activities and the new build will see two toilets (one fully accessible), full disabled access, a much larger kitchen, and a larger hall. This will enable the church to accommodate the choir, Sunday School, meetings, after church refreshments etc. Again, we are working with the church architect and the Diocese and trying to get this build underway as quickly as possible. Grateful thanks to our parishioner who is funding this work.

Sunday School restarted at the latter half of 2023, and we are delighted that we now have 7 and 15 children in attendance each week.

Benefice

We are very blessed with our congregation in their generosity, but you will see in the finan reports that both churches rely very heavily on investment and investment income to balance the books each year. This cannot continue and we need to try and redress this over the coming years.

Very sadly at the end of 2023 we found that Revd Sarah had been appointed as Team Recto Wallingford. Sarah will be leaving us in February 2024 and will be greatly missed. Sarah has had a huge impact on the life of the church in this Benefice and we thank her for all that she has done. I particularly thank her for her support of myself over the last 5 ½ years.

4

Half Term activities have been very well received and continue to grow with about 50 child in attendance over the 3 days of activities. Grateful thanks to all who help with this initiative.

Home Communions have grown over the last year as some parishioners have moved into ca or now find it too difficult to attend church on a regular basis. Revd Heather is assisting in this ministry and is investigating becoming an ‘Anna Chaplain.’

Leigh, my PA, has been working tirelessly behind the scenes keeping my admin down, phot answering queries from around the world, helping people find graves in all three church yards, keeping the inventories up to date, assisting the Wardens, updating the graveyard plans and starting to digitalise these for ease of access. All supported by Anita who comes along to help on a weekly basis. Thank you, Leigh and Anita.

The year also saw many	occasional ofices:
Weddings	6 (11in 2022)(9 in 2021)
Funerals in church	15 (21 in 2022(14 in 2021)
Burials	9 (5 in 2022) (6 in 2021)
Funeral at the Cremator	5 (9 in 2022) (13 in 2021)
Internment of ashes	9 (18 in 2022(4 in 2021)

Thank you to everybody who helps in any way to ensure that our three beautiful church bui remain open, and our lovely congregations are cared for and loved. Special thanks go to the clergy team without whom much of what we do would not happen, so thank you Sarah, Pam, Heather, and Nick.

With all Gods Blessings

Robert

5

ndemic cross finances

nce claim om and thanks go wn, for

as

Church

a much

stry –

between

cial

or of

Iren ire homes, ocopying, ildings

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

Year ended 31 December 2023

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT

To the Managing Trustees

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Shiplake with Dunsden for the year ended 31 December 2023, which are set out on pages 7 to 15.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ("the Act").

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner's statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination 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 accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or ….... the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form 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 enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Barbara Marston

Date: 8th June 2024

ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

	**INVESTMENT PROVIDER **	A/C NUMBER	VALUATION AT 31 12 22 £	VALUATION AT 31 12 23 £	INCOME DURING 2023 £
1	CCLA(Shiplake Fabric)	…......1044	£ 4,552	£ 4,552	£ 174.11
2	BLACKROCK (formerly Charinco)	….......680	£ 12,753	£ 12,964	£ 524.36
3	M&G INVESTMENTS (formerlyCharifund)	….......438	£ 48,248	£ 47,115	£ 2,807.18
4	INVESTEC - Medium Risk Balanced	….......005	£ 109,405	£ 114,453	£ 2,123.46
5	INVESTEC (Margery White legacy) - Medium Risk Balanced	….......007	£ 297,689	£ 322,751	£ -
6	CCLA (Rampton Trust) - 682 shares	…......1045		£ 15,417	£ 421.41
7	CCLA (Palmer Charity) - 770 shares - Original deposit was £651.64	….....11603	£ 15,969	£ 17,406	£ 475.79

£ 534,658 £ 6,526.31

7a

PAYMENT DATES

Jan/April/July/October

Jan/April/July/October

Feb/May/August/December

Jan/April/July/October

Gains re-invested

Feb/May/Aug/Nov Feb/May/Aug/Nov

ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

INVESTMENTS - FIXED ASSETS

					PAYMENT IN
	INVESTMENT PROVIDER	A/C NUMBER	TO BE USED FOR	DATES OF PAYMENTS INTO HSBC CURRENT A/C	RESPECT OF
1	CCLA	…......1044	Shiplake Church BldgMain/ce	Interestpaid Jan/April/July/Oct	Interest
	BLACKROCK (formerly
2	Charinco)	….......680	Shiplake Church Lands	Interestpaid 20 Jan 20 April 20 July20 Oct	Interest
	M&G INVESTMENTS
3	(formerlyCharifund)	….......438	Shiplake Church Lands	Dividendspaid late Feb/May/Aug/Nov	Dividends
	INVESTEC - Medium Risk
4	Balanced	….......005	Shiplake Church - unrestricted	Dividends/Interestpaid earlyJan/Apl/July/Oct	Interest/Divis
	INVESTEC (Margery White		Shiplake Church - unrestricted
	legacy) - Medium Risk		(PCC has ring-fenced £90K for
5	Balanced	….......007	Choir)	Gains are re-invested in this fund.	Interest/Divis
	CCLA (Rampton Trust) - 682		Maintenance/repair of Dunsden
6	shares	…......1045	Church	Dividends arepaid late Feb/May/Aug/Nov	Dividends
	CCLA (Palmer Charity) - 770
	shares - Original deposit was		Maintenance/repair of Dunsden
7	£651.64	….....11603	Church	Dividends arepaid late Feb/May/Aug/Nov	Dividends	Oxf Diocesan Board of Finance
	Charity Commission's Scheme	dates back to 14th March 1958. Income to be used towards the costs of maintaining in good and efcient repair the parish
	church of Dunsden. PCC may accumulate income towards substantal repairs. Envelope 637. The investment is held in trust for the PCC by the Diocesan
	Board of Finance with interest being paid to Shiplake with Dunsden.
			As there is no longer a Parish
			Nurse, RT to establish what to do
8	Parish Nurse Fund(Donaton)	Donatons	with fund.	Cash Deposited in HSBC current	N/A
	During 2013, funding was obtained from various donors to enable the PCC to establish a part-tme Parish Nurse to provide any nursing support to
	parishioners. At 31 12 21,there was no Parish		Nurse.

7

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS Gif Aid and S.O.'s & loose plate in 2023 Gif Aid - Parish Giving Scheme Tax Recoverable on Gif Aid Loose Plate Collectons Donatons, Appeals, etc Good Box Donatons Dunsden Window Project Appeal Fund -Raising Events Church Hall income, included in rental income Fees for Weddings and Funerals Harpsden Share Benefce Admin Costs Transfer from old Barclays account Investment income Electricity refund Shiplake College Donaton & other rental income RESOURCES EXPENDED Giving to Agreed Charites Parish Share Parish Share Weddings & Funerals Henley Deanery Synod Working Expenses of Clergy Team Self-Employment costs Visitng Clergy Costs Gas/Electricity/Water Cleaning Insurance Security and Fire Safety Accountng Services Shiplake Buildings Maintenance Shiplake Grounds Maintenance Dunsden Buildings Maintenance Dunsden Churchyard Maintenance Dunsden Window Project Organists/Choirs/Music Director Upkeep of services Church Hall Development work Flowers Printng/Postage/Statonery Phone and Internet Bank Charges Independent Examiner's Fee Diferences	Notes	2023	2022
	7-9 10-11	12,817 1,585 36,737 43,570 10,116 2,414 2,328 27,407 1,252 30,543 45 380 3,145 285 24,526 27,681 10,042 5,090 710 6,564 1,584 14,082 11,064
		149,352	124,614
		142 3,110 15,000 48,313 15,389 10,697 407 - 21,222 22,236 3,879 8,483 0 14 11,981 18,110 2,880 3,220 7,761 8,532 181 1,262 1,479 16,927 5,025 4,080 3,489 13,386 1,036 2,858 2,569 30,069 5,250 7,020 7,489 1,523 2,605 9,971 9,706 112 1,935 2,881 686 473 126 - -
		168,502	165,010

Realised gains on investments

NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS

6,256 7,858 - 12,895 - 32,538

8

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 BALANCE SHEET FIXED ASSETS Fixed assets Heritage assets (Church Hall) Investments Balance at 31 December Current assets Other debtors/prepayments Cash & bank Total Current liabilites Creditors falling due in one year Net current assets Total net assets
				2023 £		2022 £
		Notes	£		£
	8 9 10 - 9,475 9,475 11 -			250,000 534,658		250,000 502,586

These accounts were approved by the Board of Trustees on the

Revd R Thewsey

9

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

RESERVES

OPENING BALANCE 1ST JANUARY 2023 INCOME EXPENDITURE REALISED GAINS ON INVESTMENTS CREDITORS DEBTORS LOSS/GAIN ON INVESTMENTS VALUATIONS COMPARED TO PREVIOUS YEAR ADJUSTMENTS END BALANCE 31ST DECEMBER 2023	803,351 149,352 (168,502) 6,526 0 0 32,072
	822,799 (28,666)
	794,133

10

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER RECEIPTS ON INVESTMENTS CCLA (Shiplake Fabric) Blackrock: M&G: Investec: Investec: (Returns are re-invested) CCLA (Rampton): CCLA (Palmer): ~~CCLA~~ ~~CCLA~~ BANK DEPOSIT HSBC Deposit HSBC Deposit (Dunsden Window)	2023 ….......1044 Interest ….......680 Interest ….......438 Dividends ….......005 Int/Divis ….......007 Int/Divis ….......1045 Dividends …......11603 Dividends ~~….......004D~~ ~~..........201S~~ Interest Interest
			Notes	2023	2022
				174 30 524 524 2,807 4,448 2,123 1,911 - - 421 419 476 473 5 3,740
				6,526	11,520
				228.46 48

HSBC Deposit HSBC Deposit (Dunsden Window) Additional Notes - page 16 refer

6,755 11,568

RECENT ENDOWMENTS & LEGACIES

DONOR	HSBC CURRENT	BAL AT 31 12 23

(Donations & Appeals Ledger - 0203B00)

With efect from March 2021: Shiplake Church Wall Repairs - £3,000 p.a. from
Shiplake Parish Council	Parish Council	3000	3000
March 2021 (Paid by Mercers): Jane Gordon Legacy	Jane Gordon	10000	10000
December 2022: £17,000 PA support for Rector	Anonymous	4638	8638
Legacy from Jay Blundell (2021)specifcally for Dunsden Church	Jay Blundell	10000	10000

INVESTMENT VALUATION AT END Dec-23

4,552 12,964 47,115 114,453 322,751 15,417 17,406

==> picture [70 x 31] intentionally omitted <==

534,658

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

NOTES ON THE ACCOUNTS 1 OF 4

1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Summary of significant accounting policies and key accounting estimates

The principal accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statement are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all the years presented, unless otherwise stated.

Statement of compliance

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), and the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

The Parochial Church Council of The Ecclesiastical Parish of Shiplake With Dunsden meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes.

Going concern

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern nor any significant areas of uncertainty that affect the carrying value of assets held by the charity.

Heritage asset

The heritage asset is the freehold land and buildings comprising the Church Hall which was conveyed to the Parochial Church Council from the Diocese in 1977. Accordingly, on the advice of the Diocesan Board of Finance it is considered appropriate to use an estimated market value of £250,000 as indicated by the Diocesan Board of Finance at that time.

Tangible fixed assets

All assets costing more than £1,000 are capitalised.

Individual fixed assets are initially recorded at cost, less any subsequent accumulated depreciation and subsequent accumulated impairment losses.

Depreciation and amortisation

Depreciation is provided on tangible fixed asset so as to write off the cost or valuation, less any estimated residual value, over their expected useful economic life as follows: Computer equipment (if applicable) - 33.3% straight line

12

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

NOTES ON THE ACCOUNTS

2 OF 4

Debtors

Debtors are recognised at the transaction price less provision for impairment. A provision for the impairment of debtors is established when there is objective evidence that the charity will not be able to collect all amounts due according to the original terms of the receivables.

Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash on hand and other short-term highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to a known amount of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of change in value.

Creditors

Trade creditors are recognised initially at the transaction price.

Financial instruments

Classification

Financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised when the charity becomes a party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Recognition and measurement

All financial assets and liabilities are initially measured at transaction price (including transaction costs).

Fair value measurement

The best evidence of fair value is a quoted price for an idential asset in an active market. When quoted prices are unavailable, the price of a recent transaction for an identical asset provides evidence of fair value as long as there has not been a significant change in economic circumstances or a significant lapse of time since the transaction took place.

2 STAFF NUMBERS

The average number of persons employed by the charity during the year is 0 (2022 - 0).

3 STAFF BANDING

No employees received employee benefits of more than £60,000.

4 TRUSTEE REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

None of the trustees has been paid any remuneration or received any other benefits from an employment with the charity.

5 TRUSTEE EXPENSES

The Rector, who is also a Trustee, received reimbursement of expenses of £7,320 (2022: £6,194). There were no reimbursements to other Trustees (2021: £0).

6 RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

There were no related party transactions in the reporting period.

13

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

NOTES ON THE ACCOUNTS 3 OF 4

7 FIXED ASSETS There are none to report 8 HERITAGE ASSETS (Shiplake Church Hall) Estmated Market value at 1 January 2023 Additons in the year Revaluaton in the year Market value at 31 December 2023 9 INVESTMENTS Market value at 1 January 2023 Additons in the year Revaluaton in the year Market value at 31 December 2023 10 DEBTORS/PREPAYMENTS 11 CREDITORS Accruals and deferred income
	£	~~Total~~ £
	Heritage Asset £	Total £
	250,000 250,000 0 0 0 0
	250,000 250,000
	Listed Securites £	Total £
	502,586 502,586 32,072 32,072
	534,658 534,658
	2023	2022
	0 0
	2023	2022
	0 0

14

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

NOTES ON THE ACCOUNTS 4 OF 4

Endowment funds

The Shiplake Lands Charity requires income to be spent equally between maintenance of the bulding and other.

(In Details of Funds also for clarity)

Shiplake churchyard

Shiplake churchyard maintenance is carried out by a separate trust fund not governed by the PCC.

Fabric fund

The fabric fund is restricted to use for the maintenance of or improvements to Shiplake Church buildings.

Dunsden

The Dunsden restricted funds are restricted to spending only for the benefit of All Saints Church, Dunsden and in accordance with any wishes expressed by donors of the funds, or their families.

Designated funds

Designated funds represent amounts set aside by trustees for particular future purposes. Trustees continue to keep designated funds under review and the designated use of some funds may change if circumstances change.

In 2018 the trustees decided to establish two new Designated Funds totalling £490,000 to ensure that the Marjorie White legacy is spent only on major projects appropriate to the future development of Shiplake church.

Investments Schedule - Pages and 7a - lists the investments with their designations.

12 ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

Tangible fxed assets Fixed asset investments Heritage assets Current assets Creditors due within one year Investments Adjustments	2023 Total £ - 534,658 250,000 9,475 - - 794,133	2022
		Total £
		- 502,586 250,000 50,765 - -
		803,351

15

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

ADDITIONAL NOTES

The repairs to the wall at Shiplake are being funded by the Parish Council: they are giving £3,000 a year to this project. The funds at the year end were £3,000.

There is a legacy of £10,000 from the estate of Jane Gordon still to be spent. How it is spent has not yet been decided upon. It is specifically for Shiplake Church, not the Diocese or Dunsden.

During 2022, a donation of £17,000 was given to pay for the Rector's PA s and is not to be used for any other purpose. A balance of £4,638 is left at the end of 2023

The value of the funds held for the Dunsden Window in HSBC Deposit A/c at 31st December 2023 is: Nil - window installed and dedicated during 2023

There is a legacy of £10,000 for Dunsden Church from the estate of Jay Blundell

There is a donation of £5,000 for Dunsden Church for the proposed new extension

16

Charity number:

1138065

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

CONTENTS

Page

Reference and Administratve Details of the Charity, its Trustees
and Advisers	3
Trustees' Report	4 to 5
Independent Examiner's Report	6
Investments Schedule	7
Investment Schedule (Part 2)	7a
Statement of Financial Actvites	8
Balance Sheet	9
Reserves	10
Investments/Endowments/Legacies	11
Notes to the Financial Statements	12 to 15
Additonal Notes	16

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS OF THE CHARITY, ITS TRUSTEES AND ADVISERS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

Trustees Mrs R Appleby Mr J Bodman Mr C Crouch Mr J Flinn Mrs L Glithro Mrs R Jones Mrs G Robins Mrs W Robinson Revd R S Thewsey

Charity registered number 1138065 Principal office Church Office Church Lane Shiplake Henley-on-Thames Oxfordshire RG9 4BS Independent examiner Barbara Marston Bankers HSBC 26 Broad Street Reading RG1 2BU

3

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 TRUSTEES' REPORT

What a year 2023 has been, with more things happening as we come further out of the pan and much thought has gone into how we reintroduce the Common Cup, how we ensure no c contamination with Wholeness and Healing, as well as considerable time spent looking at fi and possible building projects.

Shiplake Church

Sadly, the Church Rooms at Shiplake saw a huge water leak which became a major insuran housing to put right. The PCC have looked at all the possibilities of what to do with the Roo finally made the decision that we would not restore the hall but instead demolish. Grateful to Rosemary and Alen Appelby for all that they have done in managing the hall, on their ow many, many years. Without their help and support the hall would have closed years ago. We are continuing to look at redeveloping the site for affordable local – which would mean a substantial increase in income for the church, if the building does go ahead.

The development of the Rectory site is entirely in the hands of the Diocese and very little h progressed with this, as soon as more information is available, I will let you all know.

Dunsden Church

November saw the unveiling of an amazing new window to celebrate the link of Dunsden C with the World War One poet, Wilfred Owen. The unveiling service saw both the Bishop of Oxford and the Bishop of Dorchester in attendance and since then many people have come along to view the

new window – if you have not already done so then I would recommend going over to Dunsden to have a look.

One of our lovely parishioners at Dunsden has volunteered to fund an extension to provide needed, fully accessible toilet and a kitchen. Plans have been drawn up and we are in consultation with the church architect and the Diocese to try and get this new build constructed as soon as possible. Grateful thanks go to the parishioner who is funding this work.

Harpsden Church

Another lovely parishioner has offered to fund the rebuilding and extension of St Peters Ve constructed in 1975 – this vestry has never really been big enough for church activities and the new build will see two toilets (one fully accessible), full disabled access, a much larger kitchen, and a larger hall. This will enable the church to accommodate the choir, Sunday School, meetings, after church refreshments etc. Again, we are working with the church architect and the Diocese and trying to get this build underway as quickly as possible. Grateful thanks to our parishioner who is funding this work.

Sunday School restarted at the latter half of 2023, and we are delighted that we now have 7 and 15 children in attendance each week.

Benefice

We are very blessed with our congregation in their generosity, but you will see in the finan reports that both churches rely very heavily on investment and investment income to balance the books each year. This cannot continue and we need to try and redress this over the coming years.

Very sadly at the end of 2023 we found that Revd Sarah had been appointed as Team Recto Wallingford. Sarah will be leaving us in February 2024 and will be greatly missed. Sarah has had a huge impact on the life of the church in this Benefice and we thank her for all that she has done. I particularly thank her for her support of myself over the last 5 ½ years.

4

Half Term activities have been very well received and continue to grow with about 50 child in attendance over the 3 days of activities. Grateful thanks to all who help with this initiative.

Home Communions have grown over the last year as some parishioners have moved into ca or now find it too difficult to attend church on a regular basis. Revd Heather is assisting in this ministry and is investigating becoming an ‘Anna Chaplain.’

Leigh, my PA, has been working tirelessly behind the scenes keeping my admin down, phot answering queries from around the world, helping people find graves in all three church yards, keeping the inventories up to date, assisting the Wardens, updating the graveyard plans and starting to digitalise these for ease of access. All supported by Anita who comes along to help on a weekly basis. Thank you, Leigh and Anita.

The year also saw many	occasional ofices:
Weddings	6 (11in 2022)(9 in 2021)
Funerals in church	15 (21 in 2022(14 in 2021)
Burials	9 (5 in 2022) (6 in 2021)
Funeral at the Cremator	5 (9 in 2022) (13 in 2021)
Internment of ashes	9 (18 in 2022(4 in 2021)

Thank you to everybody who helps in any way to ensure that our three beautiful church bui remain open, and our lovely congregations are cared for and loved. Special thanks go to the clergy team without whom much of what we do would not happen, so thank you Sarah, Pam, Heather, and Nick.

With all Gods Blessings

Robert

5

ndemic cross finances

nce claim om and thanks go wn, for

as

Church

a much

stry –

between

cial

or of

Iren ire homes, ocopying, ildings

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

Year ended 31 December 2023

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT

To the Managing Trustees

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Shiplake with Dunsden for the year ended 31 December 2023, which are set out on pages 7 to 15.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ("the Act").

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner's statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination 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 accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or ….... the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form 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 enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Barbara Marston

Date: 8th June 2024

ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

	**INVESTMENT PROVIDER **	A/C NUMBER	VALUATION AT 31 12 22 £	VALUATION AT 31 12 23 £	INCOME DURING 2023 £
1	CCLA(Shiplake Fabric)	…......1044	£ 4,552	£ 4,552	£ 174.11
2	BLACKROCK (formerly Charinco)	….......680	£ 12,753	£ 12,964	£ 524.36
3	M&G INVESTMENTS (formerlyCharifund)	….......438	£ 48,248	£ 47,115	£ 2,807.18
4	INVESTEC - Medium Risk Balanced	….......005	£ 109,405	£ 114,453	£ 2,123.46
5	INVESTEC (Margery White legacy) - Medium Risk Balanced	….......007	£ 297,689	£ 322,751	£ -
6	CCLA (Rampton Trust) - 682 shares	…......1045		£ 15,417	£ 421.41
7	CCLA (Palmer Charity) - 770 shares - Original deposit was £651.64	….....11603	£ 15,969	£ 17,406	£ 475.79

£ 534,658 £ 6,526.31

7a

PAYMENT DATES

Jan/April/July/October

Jan/April/July/October

Feb/May/August/December

Jan/April/July/October

Gains re-invested

Feb/May/Aug/Nov Feb/May/Aug/Nov

ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

INVESTMENTS - FIXED ASSETS

					PAYMENT IN
	INVESTMENT PROVIDER	A/C NUMBER	TO BE USED FOR	DATES OF PAYMENTS INTO HSBC CURRENT A/C	RESPECT OF
1	CCLA	…......1044	Shiplake Church BldgMain/ce	Interestpaid Jan/April/July/Oct	Interest
	BLACKROCK (formerly
2	Charinco)	….......680	Shiplake Church Lands	Interestpaid 20 Jan 20 April 20 July20 Oct	Interest
	M&G INVESTMENTS
3	(formerlyCharifund)	….......438	Shiplake Church Lands	Dividendspaid late Feb/May/Aug/Nov	Dividends
	INVESTEC - Medium Risk
4	Balanced	….......005	Shiplake Church - unrestricted	Dividends/Interestpaid earlyJan/Apl/July/Oct	Interest/Divis
	INVESTEC (Margery White		Shiplake Church - unrestricted
	legacy) - Medium Risk		(PCC has ring-fenced £90K for
5	Balanced	….......007	Choir)	Gains are re-invested in this fund.	Interest/Divis
	CCLA (Rampton Trust) - 682		Maintenance/repair of Dunsden
6	shares	…......1045	Church	Dividends arepaid late Feb/May/Aug/Nov	Dividends
	CCLA (Palmer Charity) - 770
	shares - Original deposit was		Maintenance/repair of Dunsden
7	£651.64	….....11603	Church	Dividends arepaid late Feb/May/Aug/Nov	Dividends	Oxf Diocesan Board of Finance
	Charity Commission's Scheme	dates back to 14th March 1958. Income to be used towards the costs of maintaining in good and efcient repair the parish
	church of Dunsden. PCC may accumulate income towards substantal repairs. Envelope 637. The investment is held in trust for the PCC by the Diocesan
	Board of Finance with interest being paid to Shiplake with Dunsden.
			As there is no longer a Parish
			Nurse, RT to establish what to do
8	Parish Nurse Fund(Donaton)	Donatons	with fund.	Cash Deposited in HSBC current	N/A
	During 2013, funding was obtained from various donors to enable the PCC to establish a part-tme Parish Nurse to provide any nursing support to
	parishioners. At 31 12 21,there was no Parish		Nurse.

7

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS Gif Aid and S.O.'s & loose plate in 2023 Gif Aid - Parish Giving Scheme Tax Recoverable on Gif Aid Loose Plate Collectons Donatons, Appeals, etc Good Box Donatons Dunsden Window Project Appeal Fund -Raising Events Church Hall income, included in rental income Fees for Weddings and Funerals Harpsden Share Benefce Admin Costs Transfer from old Barclays account Investment income Electricity refund Shiplake College Donaton & other rental income RESOURCES EXPENDED Giving to Agreed Charites Parish Share Parish Share Weddings & Funerals Henley Deanery Synod Working Expenses of Clergy Team Self-Employment costs Visitng Clergy Costs Gas/Electricity/Water Cleaning Insurance Security and Fire Safety Accountng Services Shiplake Buildings Maintenance Shiplake Grounds Maintenance Dunsden Buildings Maintenance Dunsden Churchyard Maintenance Dunsden Window Project Organists/Choirs/Music Director Upkeep of services Church Hall Development work Flowers Printng/Postage/Statonery Phone and Internet Bank Charges Independent Examiner's Fee Diferences	Notes	2023	2022
	7-9 10-11	12,817 1,585 36,737 43,570 10,116 2,414 2,328 27,407 1,252 30,543 45 380 3,145 285 24,526 27,681 10,042 5,090 710 6,564 1,584 14,082 11,064
		149,352	124,614
		142 3,110 15,000 48,313 15,389 10,697 407 - 21,222 22,236 3,879 8,483 0 14 11,981 18,110 2,880 3,220 7,761 8,532 181 1,262 1,479 16,927 5,025 4,080 3,489 13,386 1,036 2,858 2,569 30,069 5,250 7,020 7,489 1,523 2,605 9,971 9,706 112 1,935 2,881 686 473 126 - -
		168,502	165,010

Realised gains on investments

NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS

6,256 7,858 - 12,895 - 32,538

8

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 BALANCE SHEET FIXED ASSETS Fixed assets Heritage assets (Church Hall) Investments Balance at 31 December Current assets Other debtors/prepayments Cash & bank Total Current liabilites Creditors falling due in one year Net current assets Total net assets
				2023 £		2022 £
		Notes	£		£
	8 9 10 - 9,475 9,475 11 -			250,000 534,658		250,000 502,586

These accounts were approved by the Board of Trustees on the

Revd R Thewsey

9

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

RESERVES

OPENING BALANCE 1ST JANUARY 2023 INCOME EXPENDITURE REALISED GAINS ON INVESTMENTS CREDITORS DEBTORS LOSS/GAIN ON INVESTMENTS VALUATIONS COMPARED TO PREVIOUS YEAR ADJUSTMENTS END BALANCE 31ST DECEMBER 2023	803,351 149,352 (168,502) 6,526 0 0 32,072
	822,799 (28,666)
	794,133

10

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER RECEIPTS ON INVESTMENTS CCLA (Shiplake Fabric) Blackrock: M&G: Investec: Investec: (Returns are re-invested) CCLA (Rampton): CCLA (Palmer): ~~CCLA~~ ~~CCLA~~ BANK DEPOSIT HSBC Deposit HSBC Deposit (Dunsden Window)	2023 ….......1044 Interest ….......680 Interest ….......438 Dividends ….......005 Int/Divis ….......007 Int/Divis ….......1045 Dividends …......11603 Dividends ~~….......004D~~ ~~..........201S~~ Interest Interest
			Notes	2023	2022
				174 30 524 524 2,807 4,448 2,123 1,911 - - 421 419 476 473 5 3,740
				6,526	11,520
				228.46 48

HSBC Deposit HSBC Deposit (Dunsden Window) Additional Notes - page 16 refer

6,755 11,568

RECENT ENDOWMENTS & LEGACIES

DONOR	HSBC CURRENT	BAL AT 31 12 23

(Donations & Appeals Ledger - 0203B00)

With efect from March 2021: Shiplake Church Wall Repairs - £3,000 p.a. from
Shiplake Parish Council	Parish Council	3000	3000
March 2021 (Paid by Mercers): Jane Gordon Legacy	Jane Gordon	10000	10000
December 2022: £17,000 PA support for Rector	Anonymous	4638	8638
Legacy from Jay Blundell (2021)specifcally for Dunsden Church	Jay Blundell	10000	10000

INVESTMENT VALUATION AT END Dec-23

4,552 12,964 47,115 114,453 322,751 15,417 17,406

==> picture [70 x 31] intentionally omitted <==

534,658

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

NOTES ON THE ACCOUNTS 1 OF 4

1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Summary of significant accounting policies and key accounting estimates

The principal accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statement are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all the years presented, unless otherwise stated.

Statement of compliance

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015) - (Charities SORP (FRS 102)), and the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

The Parochial Church Council of The Ecclesiastical Parish of Shiplake With Dunsden meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes.

Going concern

The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the charity's ability to continue as a going concern nor any significant areas of uncertainty that affect the carrying value of assets held by the charity.

Heritage asset

The heritage asset is the freehold land and buildings comprising the Church Hall which was conveyed to the Parochial Church Council from the Diocese in 1977. Accordingly, on the advice of the Diocesan Board of Finance it is considered appropriate to use an estimated market value of £250,000 as indicated by the Diocesan Board of Finance at that time.

Tangible fixed assets

All assets costing more than £1,000 are capitalised.

Individual fixed assets are initially recorded at cost, less any subsequent accumulated depreciation and subsequent accumulated impairment losses.

Depreciation and amortisation

Depreciation is provided on tangible fixed asset so as to write off the cost or valuation, less any estimated residual value, over their expected useful economic life as follows: Computer equipment (if applicable) - 33.3% straight line

12

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

NOTES ON THE ACCOUNTS

2 OF 4

Debtors

Debtors are recognised at the transaction price less provision for impairment. A provision for the impairment of debtors is established when there is objective evidence that the charity will not be able to collect all amounts due according to the original terms of the receivables.

Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents comprise cash on hand and other short-term highly liquid investments that are readily convertible to a known amount of cash and are subject to an insignificant risk of change in value.

Creditors

Trade creditors are recognised initially at the transaction price.

Financial instruments

Classification

Financial assets and financial liabilities are recognised when the charity becomes a party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Recognition and measurement

All financial assets and liabilities are initially measured at transaction price (including transaction costs).

Fair value measurement

The best evidence of fair value is a quoted price for an idential asset in an active market. When quoted prices are unavailable, the price of a recent transaction for an identical asset provides evidence of fair value as long as there has not been a significant change in economic circumstances or a significant lapse of time since the transaction took place.

2 STAFF NUMBERS

The average number of persons employed by the charity during the year is 0 (2022 - 0).

3 STAFF BANDING

No employees received employee benefits of more than £60,000.

4 TRUSTEE REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

None of the trustees has been paid any remuneration or received any other benefits from an employment with the charity.

5 TRUSTEE EXPENSES

The Rector, who is also a Trustee, received reimbursement of expenses of £7,320 (2022: £6,194). There were no reimbursements to other Trustees (2021: £0).

6 RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

There were no related party transactions in the reporting period.

13

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

NOTES ON THE ACCOUNTS 3 OF 4

7 FIXED ASSETS There are none to report 8 HERITAGE ASSETS (Shiplake Church Hall) Estmated Market value at 1 January 2023 Additons in the year Revaluaton in the year Market value at 31 December 2023 9 INVESTMENTS Market value at 1 January 2023 Additons in the year Revaluaton in the year Market value at 31 December 2023 10 DEBTORS/PREPAYMENTS 11 CREDITORS Accruals and deferred income
	£	~~Total~~ £
	Heritage Asset £	Total £
	250,000 250,000 0 0 0 0
	250,000 250,000
	Listed Securites £	Total £
	502,586 502,586 32,072 32,072
	534,658 534,658
	2023	2022
	0 0
	2023	2022
	0 0

14

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

NOTES ON THE ACCOUNTS 4 OF 4

Endowment funds

The Shiplake Lands Charity requires income to be spent equally between maintenance of the bulding and other.

(In Details of Funds also for clarity)

Shiplake churchyard

Shiplake churchyard maintenance is carried out by a separate trust fund not governed by the PCC.

Fabric fund

The fabric fund is restricted to use for the maintenance of or improvements to Shiplake Church buildings.

Dunsden

The Dunsden restricted funds are restricted to spending only for the benefit of All Saints Church, Dunsden and in accordance with any wishes expressed by donors of the funds, or their families.

Designated funds

Designated funds represent amounts set aside by trustees for particular future purposes. Trustees continue to keep designated funds under review and the designated use of some funds may change if circumstances change.

In 2018 the trustees decided to establish two new Designated Funds totalling £490,000 to ensure that the Marjorie White legacy is spent only on major projects appropriate to the future development of Shiplake church.

Investments Schedule - Pages and 7a - lists the investments with their designations.

12 ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BETWEEN FUNDS

Tangible fxed assets Fixed asset investments Heritage assets Current assets Creditors due within one year Investments Adjustments	2023 Total £ - 534,658 250,000 9,475 - - 794,133	2022
		Total £
		- 502,586 250,000 50,765 - -
		803,351

15

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHIPLAKE WITH DUNSDEN

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

ADDITIONAL NOTES

The repairs to the wall at Shiplake are being funded by the Parish Council: they are giving £3,000 a year to this project. The funds at the year end were £3,000.

There is a legacy of £10,000 from the estate of Jane Gordon still to be spent. How it is spent has not yet been decided upon. It is specifically for Shiplake Church, not the Diocese or Dunsden.

During 2022, a donation of £17,000 was given to pay for the Rector's PA s and is not to be used for any other purpose. A balance of £4,638 is left at the end of 2023

The value of the funds held for the Dunsden Window in HSBC Deposit A/c at 31st December 2023 is: Nil - window installed and dedicated during 2023

There is a legacy of £10,000 for Dunsden Church from the estate of Jay Blundell

There is a donation of £5,000 for Dunsden Church for the proposed new extension

16