2021-12-31-accounts - The Parochial Church Council Of The Ecclesiastical Parish Of Winchcombe With Gretton, Sudeley Manor And Stanley Pontlarge

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF WINCHCOMBE

WITH GRETTON, SUDELEY MANOR AND STANLEY PONTLARGE

ANNUAL REPORT

for the year January – December 2021

presented at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting

Sunday 29 May 2022

WINCHCOMBE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL

ANNUAL REPORT January - December 2021

1. LEGAL & ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL

Meets to share with the Priest-in-charge in deciding, and in implementing, parish policy. It is legally responsible for the church buildings & furnishings and for parish property. The PCC is a charity, and registered with the Charity Commission during 2009.

THE LOCAL MINISTRY TEAM

Put into abeyance in October 2013.

ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE

St Peter’s Centre, Gloucester Street,

The members of the PCC (with dates when terms of office expire) are:

Ex-Officio Members

Winchcombe, GL54 5LU Telephone: 01242 602067 spc@winchcombeparish.org.uk www.winchcombeparish.org.uk

Clergy

Vacancy (Priest-in-charge) Rachel Forrest (until 22 June 2022)

CHARITY NUMBER : 1138071

Churchwardens:

Simon Andrews (Lay Chair) 2022 Robert Stone 2022

Deputy Wardens (co-opted): Christ Church, Gretton Sue Fleck 2022 St Michael’s, Stanley Pontlarge Rosemary Hancock 2022 St Mary’s, Sudeley Manor

Deanery Synod Members Geof Adlington 2023 Tom Hancock 2023 Robert Stone 2023

FINANCIAL ADDRESSES

PCC’s Bankers

Lloyds, Bishops Cleeve, Cheltenham

Independent Examiner

Mrs Jennifer Soltau A.I.A. Cotswold House, Grosvenor Street, Winchcombe, GL54 5LX

Elected Members

Abbie Andrews 2022 Rob Davies 2023 Anne Dean 2022 Felicity King 2023 Sue Milton 2022 Judith Skinner 2023 Cathy Wilcock 2023

Co-opted Members

Geof Adlington (Treasurer) 2022 Lizzy Watson (Secretary ) 2022

WINCHCOMBE PARISH With Gretton, Stanley Pontlarge and Sudeley Manor

Sunday 29 May 2022 at 11.30 – St Peter’s Church, Winchcombe

AGENDA

1. WELCOME AND PRAYERS

2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

3. ANNUAL MEETING OF PARISHIONERS

a) Minutes of the AMP held on Sunday 16th May 2021
b) Election of churchwardens

4. ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING

a) Minutes of the APCM held on Sunday 16th May 2021
b) Matters arising from the Minutes
c) Review of progress and achievements
d) Annual Report of the PCC as tabled:
- i) Treasurers Financial Report on the Accounts and matters arising, including Independent Examiner of Finances Report
- ii) Churchwardens’ Report
- iii) Notes from the Deputy Churchwardens
- iv) Report from the Deanery Synod
- v) Notes on Safeguarding
- vi) Pastoral Care report
- vii) Music report
- viii) St Peter’s Flower Arrangers’ report
- ix) Report from the Bellringers
- x) Stewards report for 2021/2
e) Questions and discussion on reports
f) General questions and discussion

5. ELECTIONS

a) PCC Members

6. ELECTORAL ROLL

7. FORTHCOMING EVENTS

8. CLOSING PRAYER

Parish of Winchcombe

Minutes of The Annual Meeting of Parishioners held on

Sunday 16[th] of May 2021, at St Peter’s Church, Winchcombe

Present: (PCC Members and officers) JP Hoskins, Rob Stone & Simon Andrews (Churchwardens), Geof Adlington (Treasurer), Sara Collins (Secretary), Rob Davies, Sue Fleck, Felicity King, Rosemary Hancock, Judith Skinner together with approximately 50 others on the electoral roll – either in person or on zoom.

1 Welcome and Prayers: JP welcomed those present and said how wonderful it was to be gathered here. He opened the meeting with a prayer.
2 Apologies for Absence were received from Tony and Christine Mason, Pauline Shaw, Tom Hancock, Kate Stebbings, Elizabeth Strong.
3 ANNUAL MEETING OF PARISHIONERS: for those on the Electoral Role and those resident in the Parish – ie the whole community.

a) Minutes of the AMP held on 18[th] October 2020

The minutes were distributed prior to the meeting – by email.

The minutes were approved and signed.

There were no matters arising.

b) Election of two Churchwardens

The meeting was asked to elect the churchwardens for the coming year. There were two nominations received, that of Simon Andrews and Judith Skinner. There were no other nominations from the floor and a vote was carried unanimously. The Churchwardens are officially still Simon and Rob Stone until the Bishop’s visitation; until then, whilst Judith will support them, she and Simon should be contacted in preference to Rob regarding new matters.

There being no other business the annual meeting of parishioners closed and was followed by the Annual Parochial Church meeting.

Sara Collins

PCC Secretary

May 2021

Approved: Date:

4 ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING

a) Minutes of the APCM held on 18[th] October 2020

The minutes were distributed prior to the meeting.

The minutes were adopted as accurate and signed.

b) There were no matters arising.
c) Review of progress & achievements: JP explained that the Church is now fully open – except for the Lady Chapel which is used for the choir and other select groups. JP thanked the Stewards for welcoming visitors. From tomorrow up to 30 people will be allowed to meet outdoors and to attend weddings – so weddings and blessings will resume. The Parish Office is reopening between 9.30 and 12.00 on a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday; 1 or 2 volunteers are being sought for welcoming, typing, printing etc to free up Mark for more technical work. The bellringers and Toddler Time are resuming. There will be a choir at Evensong this evening. The next date on the roadmap is 21[st] June (subject to the data) – if this goes ahead coffee/refreshments will resume. Messy Church will start in September and the fete is on 11[th] September. There is uncertainty around when congregational singing will resume – but it will start as soon as it is safe, following the guidance given by the Church of England, the Government, scientists etc.

Services have resumed at Stanley Pontlarge and the first services will be held at Christ Church and St Mary’s next Sunday. Services have continued to be streamed with a significant number joining online instead of in person. JP expressed his thanks to all those who have helped with IT - especially Rob Davies. The camera is currently fixed, so the Clergy are “stuck” in one place. The PCC are looking at other options and the Friends have agreed, in principle, to support this. As we open up we need opportunities to be together (socially and fund raising) under the “Together Again” umbrella. A choir concert, Son et Lumiere event and curry evening are being planned. Teacher’s House: This was bought to accommodate a youth minister but has not been used for this purpose for 6 years. An expensive modernisation is needed, and the PCC should not be “landlords”. They have therefore taken the decision to sell the property which will be marketed by Adams. 25% came from donations so this amount (as a minimum) will be ring fenced as restricted funds for the ongoing Ministry of children and young people. Children and Young People: Rob Stone is taking the lead in exploring the possibility of a joint placement for a trainee from the South West Youth Ministry (University of Gloucestershire) between WAM and the Parish. St Mary’s, Sudeley: The PCC has given their approval for a conversation to take place between the Parish, the Castle and the Church Commissioners to transfer the formal ownership from us to the Castle. Simon Andrews will represent the PCC supported by JP and Alan Thomas. If agreement is reached a formal consultation will take place – the agreement would allow for blessings and summer services to continue. Wider Context: The Church of England is looking at the future - this will be “Mission and Ministry driven, but financially aware”. This Diocese and Parish are in a better position than many others, but the Diocese will need to lose some Stipendiary posts – on average 1 per Parish. They are being asked to come up with ways forward for the future. The Winchcombe group of Churches may need to lose members of the team – the group may need to be rebooted as before or split in to 2 Benefices. Winchcombe has over half the population of the team so would still have a Stipendiary Priest – but this could affect their role. JP will keep us in the loop as to the plans. Questions: Chris Haslam noted that we are very lucky to have 4 Readers, and that we are the envy of other Parishes; he appreciates the support of those who attend the services. JP thanked Chris, Fliss, Steve, Cliff and Nigel for all their work at the Evening services and behind the scenes.

a) Annual Report of the PCC as tabled – Hard copies were available in the back of Church for three weeks before the meeting, and the report was available electronically via the twice weekly Parish information sheet.
i. Treasurer’s Report on the Accounts: Much of 2020 was included in the previous meeting in October – the year started well, but then Covid hit, and the financial position worsened. During covid there were savings through furloughed staff and reduced operational expenses. In the 3[rd] and 4[th] quarters the operational expenses increased (hand sanitiser, cleaning etc) and drainage repairs and other unexpected work had to be undertaken. Parochial fees (weddings/funerals) were very low and Christmas collections much reduced. An appeal was put out for extra money. Planned giving tailed off. Overall it was a bad year for the Parish with a £20,000 deficit, around £9,000 worse than budgeted. There were some major legacies including £10,000 for work on the St Peter’s organ – the electronics need working on and Andrew has other plans. Quarter 1 of 2021 has seen another lockdown and there have been other unforeseen and unbudgeted expenses – such as asbestos issues and tree

works at Christ Church. So 2021 will be no better than 2020 unless there is an improvement in income and good attendance at fund raising events.

Unlike many churches in our Diocese and nationally, including St Paul’s Cathedral, this PCC has good financial reserves relative to expenditure. These stood at £100,388 at the end of the year for unrestricted funds, a drop of £14,271 from the previous year (see the statement of assets and liabilities in the annual report). It means that the Parish can have another poor year without any real cause for concern. The crisis at St Paul’s Cathedral has opened the debate of how the cultural heritage of our cathedrals and historic churches should be funded; the weakness of the current model of parish giving supplemented by tourism has been laid bare by the restrictions resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. The annual cost for our parish is approximately £155,000 of which about £60,000 comes from outside sources such as parochial fees, property rental, solar power credits, and fund-raising events. At present the balance, £95,000, has to come from giving by church members – the equivalent of £35.50/month for everyone on the electoral roll. Not everyone gives this amount; in fact planned giving is down 10% on the first quarter of last year, a major problem. On a better note, an appeal to Gretton residents and churchgoers has successfully raised £3,722.80 to cover the £4471 cost of surveying and removing asbestos at Christ Church, and replacing the organ blower – the remainder comes from reclaiming the VAT. Similarly, at Stanley Pontlarge, there has been considerable success in raising funds and obtaining grants for the extensive repairs to drains, pew platforms, and roof tiles.

Geof noted that he has been Treasurer for 5 years now and is willing to do 1 or 2 more before stepping down.

Questions: Alan Thomas noted that salaries and wages are up despite the furlough scheme. Geof explained that Mark’s hours have been increased, and in the past around £1,000 of this amount was included elsewhere in the accounts. Mark has now asked for fewer hours so the figures will be lower next year. Also, Mark was not furloughed.

Sue Crownshaw noted that the Parish Share is very high. Geof explained that the Diocese would not be able to continue with the current number of Stipendiary Clergy unless Parishes who can afford it (and have the reserves) pay their share. We have good reserves so can afford to pay our contribution.

ii. Churchwardens’ Report:

Rob Stone started by thanking Simon Andrews for all his organisation, especially at St Michael’s. He welcomed Judith and offered to be Deputy Warden for St Peter’s. He thanked Sue Fleck, and also all those who support Stanley Pontlarge. JP noted that Rosemary Hancock is standing down as Deputy Church Warden for Stanley Pontlarge; Tom Hancock is continuing as Deputy at St Mary’s with Rosemary’s support.

There were no questions.

iii. Safeguarding : JP is very grateful for the work done by Lynne Banks and Gill Worthington to ensure that we are doing what we should with regards to safeguarding.

e) Questions and discussion on other reports as tabled : There were no questions.

5 Elections:

b. Deanery Synod Representatives: are ex-officio members of the PCC; these are currently Tom Hancock, Rob Stone and Geof Adlington. There were no other nominations, but there is a vacancy if anyone is interested.

a. Election of PCC Representatives: JP thanked Sue Milton who has stepped down as a member of the PCC. 3 vacancies were advertised, but there were no nominations. If anyone wishes to be a member of the Church Council JP would be pleased to hear from them. They make key decisions about strategy, and he is grateful to all those on the PCC. JP also thanked Simon as Lay Chair, Geof as Treasurer and Sara as Secretary.

6. Electoral Roll: Jennifer Soltau explained that there are now 226 people on the roll; JP thanked her for all the work she does on this issue.

7. Appointment of Independent Examiner: Jennifer Soltau offered to continue in this role. The meeting agreed .

8. Forthcoming Events:

PCC meeting: tomorrow on Zoom.

Climate Service : Sunday 18[th] July 2021.

Parish Fete : Saturday 11[th] September 2021

9. Closing Prayer

The meeting closed at 12.35 pm with the Grace.

Sara Collins, PCC Secretary May 2021

Approved: Dat

PCC Financial Report for 2021

2021 was another difficult year for our churches due to Covid -19 related restrictions imposed by the government through the first half of the year and then by the “guidelines” later in the year when the delta and omicron variants of Covid became a problem.

Church attendance was the biggest victim of the epidemic and that initially had severe consequences for the churches’ income at services. The restrictions on attendees at funerals and weddings initially moved funerals to crematoria and weddings to registry offices with a consequent negative on income from parochial fees for our churches. But there was good news too. We saved money on utility bills. Our fund raising events did really well. The parish benefited from several generous legacies. It was a year in which we started building up our “war chests” for the major projects we will undertake in 2022 at Stanley Pontlarge and in our parish church. Whilst it is good to have achieved this, it obscures the true financial picture of the year.

To reveal the true financial picture of the year, you need to note that the excess of receipts over payments on restricted funds stated as £15,314 on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities page of the accounts includes the legacies and non-recurring grants totalling £40,701 which were given in the past year specifically for capital projects for which expenditure will not occur until this current financial year. Also included in expenses in 2021 was a down payment of £6131 in respect of organ repairs which will start in St Peter’s in 2022. Therefore the true excess of receipts over payments on restricted funds in 2021 was a net outflow of £19256.

This net outflow of funds arose despite stellar performances in fundraising, up £8,000 from 2020, the exceptionally low utility bills, £3000 less, due to the church being closed for worship services in the 1[st] Q of 2021, and the substantial improvement (roughly £6700) in casual giving at church services, donation receipts from visitors, and parochial receipts from weddings and funerals.

These benefits were unfortunately more than offset by two negatives in 2021. The first of these, and the most worrying for the PCC, is the big drop (£6500; 9%) in planned giving by our parishioners and the fact that maintenance costs were very high and unavoidable. The maintenance costs included organ repairs, woodworm treatment, tree surgery, stained glass window repairs, drain pipes and gullies, and electrical works at St Peters Centre. Not a good year, but be warned, even worse is to come next year! There was a silver lining to this cloud of despair. You can see it in the statement of Assets and Liabilities page of the financial accounts. You may remember that I moved a lot of our investments away from interest bearing accounts to dividend accounts. The benefit of this can be seen in the increase of our investments accounts of £10,273 in 2021. The war in Ukraine has in 2022 taken some of the shine off this bonus but that is tomorrow’s problem.

In 2022 we are facing serious funding issues for maintenance projects to which the PCC has committed. But we have a “war chest”. If you look at Notes 1 & 2 to the annual accounts, you can see the PCC has nearly £10,000 in Restricted funds from last year and a further £13,796 in Designated funds received this year for the organ repairs at St Peter’s and then £27,714 in Designated funds towards the repairs at Stanley Pontlarge which will augment the funds held by the Friends of St Michael’s for this work.

So 2022 is going to a tough year for our parish finances. We need to redress the issues we are having with planned giving receipts falling. We also need to maximise the financial support we get from the community within our parish by continuing to excel in fundraising. All our costs in 2022 will rise significantly but most noticeable will be the cost of utilities. A challenging year ahead but from 2023 I believe we can expect fewer financial problems.

Geof Adlington Treasurer

lttdep¢ndeDt ExAmiDer's Repfrrt to tbe.Memben of the Eccle5iAstital Pri%h of Witich¢ombe ith Gretton, Sudeley P¥laDor, atsd Stnky PoThtlAr¥e PArothlAI Churrh Couu¢il I retrtxt ¢)n the xcouats fv th¢ ycar ¢Th&d 31° Ikitmber ?021 whichart sd uw pag¢$ 2 6. Rupetiil'r R#poxibililiES ofthe Trwteu Inde¢ Exthimer % tyws'l¢uS of the ¢haTiiy. th¢ m¥mbrts of thr PCC arc 1$1b f(Yrk" priYrti()n ()f th¢ counts. Iky ¢t)rtsid¢r thai an audit is noi regutroj thi5 >r4r un&r 144(?) of thc C]witics ACQOI I ("th¢ 7011 Aci.) and thatan in&pLthi ¢xamin¥t1 i5 thEcdryL It is my rqK>nslI1t[Y to F.xatttinc thcac¢(x]nts unthr 145 of th¢ ?01 l Act" Follnwthc pnKLdurr$ laid dowryl ID thc CJcncYal DItLyti( Biven by the Llwity Lommi$5iODm. 5Wtion 145I£Xhl ofth¥' 701 l Ail: dnd Stsw. .hCthLr PdTiiLular Con io my aucthtiLML BASiS ofindept•dtDI ExmlmeWs Sltemt•l Mv ¥xaminauon canxul oul in ¢d9C¢ With . {iTal Ilirccti( stven ty th¢ Chwity LommissioJL An Fxamirta(ion InclwlY a of th¢ accountins rtciirds k¥pi by th¢ chan'fv athd a compari$on of th¢ counTY psEnd with r¢£(¥ds. It 81s() itKlud¢i ¢£fVSbdrT41i()n of any unu.q¥l iw'uJ% or disclosur¢s in th¢ 8¢counL aryj rkIn cxplanalions frtim thc nMnagcmcntcomrnillL Eonc¢rnitLg aEY SLKh 'lhL' pnK¢dwrs uodcrkcll do not tfft)vi&' all ib¢ ividcnEL would ttquirLryI in 4 full diudti 4Dd CEtlY I d(h an gudtl i)piniw on thr xcounts. l•depeode•¢ Lxwluer'J Statement to ¢onn¢¢ii(btt wlth my t¥) mautts comc th rny aiiwtioD: l. IlThr ith 8iVL Jnc rc4s(XblC cawe to lI¢ve thai ID atty r¢sp1 the requirem•1. To krLp t[)Itti% r¢¢ords' in arc'vrda. with x¢i?oJ 130 irfthr 2011 A¢ (r, To prep¢ 1 whith a¢¢ord with thuL'¥¢%(WDrin8 COrdS havc not kcn mc( or. 2. Wbith iu my upiniofy UUrnULYÈ IK thawn in (th lu ombka uDdcrth8 of the ¥¢WUDL¥ to . Idatrd)...21.1.3 /zz J Sohau (Ntrs) Pagelof6 io

Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021 Statement of Assets and Liabilities at 31 December 2021

	Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for theyear ended 31 December 2021	Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for theyear ended 31 December 2021	Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for theyear ended 31 December 2021	Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for theyear ended 31 December 2021	Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for theyear ended 31 December 2021	Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for theyear ended 31 December 2021
	Statement of Assets and Liabilities at 31 December 2021

31 December 2020		Total	Unrestrict ed Funds	Designated Funds (note 2)	Restricted Funds (note 1)	Properties
£		£	£	£	£	£
	Fixed Assets
271,440	Teacher's House(at cost)	271,440	-	-	-	271,440
57,000	St Peter's Centre(at cost)	57,000	-	-	-	57,000
328,440	Subtotal	328,440	-	-	-	328,440

99,911	Investment Assets	115,854	115,854	-	-	-

	Current Assets
41,381	Bank balances	55,842	(22,648)	59,059	19,430	-
269	Cash balance	445	445	-	-	-
41,650	Subtotal	56,287	(22,202)	59,059	19,430	-
	Current liabilities

41,650	Net current assets	56,287	(22,202)	59,059	19,430	-

£470,001	Net Assets	£500,581	£93,652	£59,059	£19,430	£328,440

	Represented by:
479,597	Reserves brought forward at 1 January2020	475,583	100,338	26,785	20,020	328,440
(19,639)	Net excess of receipts over payments on unrestricted funds	15,314	15,314		-	-
11,043	Receipts and allocations to restricted and designated funds made duringtheyear	1,000	(45,137)	45,137	1,000	-
-	Adjustment for change in investment values over theyear	10,273	10,273	-	-	-
(1,000)	Adjustment for restricted and designated funds used during the year	(1,590)	12,863	(12,863)	(1,590)	-
£470,001		£500,581	£93,652	£59,059	£19,430	£328,440

Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2021	Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2021	Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2021	Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2021	Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2021

Summary Receipts and Payments Account
		Unrestricted Funds		Restricted Funds
		2021	2020	2021
		£	£	£
Receipts

VoluntaryReceipts:
	Plannedgiving	64,734	71,184	-
	Collections at services	4,157	2,915	-
	All othergiving/voluntaryreceipts	7,562	4,047	-
	Legacies received	12,701	1,800	-
	Gift Aid recovered	18,353	18,224	-
	Special Appeals and Grants	31,068	3,268	1,000

Activities forgeneratingfunds		8,179	4,369	-

Investment Income		3,033	3,262	-

Church Activities		6,873	4,599	-

Other income		19,636	13,758	-

Total receipts		176,297	*127,425*	1,000


Expenses
Church Activities:
	Parish share	(78,900)	(78,900)	-
	Clergyand Staffingcosts	(10,526)	(14,149)	-
	Church runningexpenses	(54,478)	(41,300)	(1,590)
	Missiongivingand donations	(2,830)	(4,160)	-
	Costs of trading	(4,734)	(2,960)	-
	Third party costs relating to baptisms, weddings and funerals	-	(170)	-

Administration Costs		(4,478)	(3,346)	-

Cost ofgeneratingfunds		(509)	(184)	-

Other costs		(4,548)	(1,894)	-

Totalpayments		(£161,003)	*(£147,063)*	(£1,590)

Movement in thisyear's balances after allocati		12 £15,314	*(£19,639)*	(£590)

----- Start of picture text -----
Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for the year to 31 December 2021
Note 1 - Analysis of Restricted Funds
Opening Receipts Payments Closing
balance during year during year balance
£ £ £ £
Chime Machine 5,696 - - 5,696
Bells 6 - - 6
St Peter's Organ 10,000 - (120) 9,880
Fresh Expressions 723 - - 723
Christ Church, Gretton - 1,000 (1,000) -
St Peter's, Winchcombe - - - -
Vicar and Churchwardens 3,126 - - 3,126
Video Project for St Peter's 469 - (470) (1)
£20,020 £1,000 (£1,590) £19,430
Note 2 - Analysis of Designated Funds
Allocations
Opening Receipts Closing
used during
balance during year balance
year
£ £ £ £
Christ Church, Gretton - general 1,908 2,390 (3,495) 803
St Peter's Church - general 10,793 13,796 (6,131) 18,458
St Peter's Church -bell fund 1,084 - - 1,084
Stanley Pontlarge - general 2,000 28,951 (3,237) 27,714
Pioneer Minister Reserve 11,000 - - 11,000
£26,785 £45,137 (£12,863) £59,059
----- End of picture text -----

Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2021

Note 3 - Detailed Analysis of Receipts

Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2021	Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2021	Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2021	Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2021

Note 3 - Detailed Analysis of Receipts
	Unrestricted Funds		Restricted Fund for 2021
Description	2021	*2020*
	£	£	£
Totalplannedgiving	64,734	71,184	-
Other collections at services	4,157	2,915	-
Other Giving& Donations - Recurring	-	-	-
		-
Other Giving& Donations - Non-Recurring	7,562	4,047	-
Legacies received	12,701	1,800	-
All tax recovered through Gift Aid	18,353	18,224	-
Special Appeals	3,068	1,190	-
			-
Non-RecurringGrants	28,000	1,958	1,000
Fund RaisingEvents	8,179	120	-
Bookstall,Magazine etc	6,384	4,369	-
Dividends & Interest	3,033	3,262	-
Total Parochial Fees Income	6,873	4,599	-
Income from Properties	8,310	8,250	-
Hall Lettings	135	-	-
Income from other Church Activities	20	106	-
Insurance Claims	-	-	-
Reimbursement of costs byother Parishes	-	681	-
Sale of Fixed Assets	-	-	-
Service Fee Reimbursement byDBF	-	-	-
Income from solarpanels	4,788	4,721	-
Other income
	£176,297	*£127,425*	£1,000


Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2021

Note 4 - Detailed Analysis of Payments

	Unrestricted Funds		Restricted Fund for 2021
Description	2021	*2020*
	£	£	£
Parish Share	(78,900)	(78,900)	-
Salaries & Wages	(8,016)	(10,197)	-
Local Mission and Evangelism Projects	(809)	(528)	-
Children/Youth Work costs	(552)	(249)	-
Clergyand Other Expenses	(2,510)	(3,176)	-
Insurance costs	(11,473)	(12,029)	-
Cleaningcosts	(991)	(822)	-
Minor Repairs/Routine Maintenance	(6,241)	(3,529)	-
Other Church Expenses/Provision of Services	(1,611)	(4,007)	(470)
Churchyard Maintenance	(1,418)	(4,046)	-
Flowers	(243)	154	-
Music costs	(8,175)	(7,938)	(120)
Major Repairs/Redecoration to Church Building	(12,856)	(1,146)	-
Major Repairs/Redecoration to otherproperties	(1,043)	-	-
Utilities(incl Heat,Light and Water)	(3,831)	(6,780)	-
Donations/Grants to Charities & Mission Giving	(2,830)	(4,160)	-
Costs of Trading	(4,734)	(2,960)	-
Parochial Fees Remittance to DBF	-	-	-
Parochial Fees Remitted to visitingMinisters	-	-	-
Parochial Fees Remitted to other 3rdparty	-	-	-
Parochial Fees Remitted to other PCC	-	-	-
Service Fee Remittance to visitingMinister	-	(170)	-
Payment of costs to other Parishes	-	-	-
Administration costs	(4,478)	(3,346)	-
Governance Costs	-	-	-
Fund RaisingCosts	(509)	(184)	-
DeaneryCosts	-	-	-
SundryExpenses	(4,548)	(1,894)	-
Alterations/Extensions to Church Building	(5,236)	(1,157)	(1,000)
Total Expenses	(£161,003)	14 *(£147,063)*	(£1,590)

PRIEST-IN-CHARGE’S REPORT 2022

With the current Vacancy, there is no incumbent’s report and any points to be made have been included within the Churchwardens’ report.

CHURCHWARDENS’ REPORT 2022

As noted earlier in this report, with the Parish now in Vacancy, this Churchwardens’ report includes some themes perhaps that a priest-in-charge might have mentioned. We were and are still dealing with the effects of Covid. The Parish remained engaged with the wider community through the mouthful of a named group called the Winchcombe Community Covid Action Group (WCCAG). This included bi-weekly coordination and action meetings between Winchcombe’s Help Force, Medical Centre, Town Council and churches. Our thanks to Margaret Batterbury and Pookie Shaw who were the foci for a time with this, in particular regarding helping JP with pastoral support to the more vulnerable within our congregation. Of course, the need to look out for each other always remains and Judith Skinner has very proactively taken on the pastoral care coordination mantle from Margaret and Pookie; thank you both for all you have done in the past.

The weekly Parish bulletins - now named “Signpost” (thank you Margaret Holloway) - as well as access to the PCC’s meeting Minutes available on the Parish website have, we trust, continued to keep Parishioners up to date with wider goings on. We understand that effective information flow plays an important part in maintaining the cohesion of our community.

The number and geographical spread of services within the Parish was a key objective of JP as the constraints of Covid restrictions were eased and it is with enormous thanks to our retired clergy and Readers that service provision has been able to expand. We are very lucky to be so relatively well endowed with such a pro-active team. We were able to put on a full Easter, Advent and Christmas service schedule at St Peter’s, with Christmas specific celebrations at St Michael’s and Christ Church. This was achieved with the strong support of a number of welcomers and supervisors who made themselves available to manage the anticipated numbers of attendees at the major services. Work is ongoing in seeking a Families and Children worker to support efforts to grow our representation in these age groups. Indirectly related to this is the ongoing work to sell Teacher’s House owing to it failing to be as useful as originally hoped in supporting finding the Families and Children worker. Funds attained will, in part be allocated to funding the worker.

Whilst our entertainments were limited as a Parish, we did achieve three significant money earners: the fête, book fair and choir concert. All got terrific support from the wider town with the fête attracting a really positive family and children response. Finally, it just makes sense timewise to recognise the departure of JP to Worcester Cathedral in January 2022 and to thank him for his contributions to the Parish over the

last 6 years. We wish him, Liz and Suzanna well in their respective new appointment and lives.

Other major achievements or events include:

The A Rocha Bronze award as a result of the direct action and overall coordination by the EcoChurch group and wider in the Parish. We continue to enjoy the fruits of their work whether it be Christ Church’s and St Peter’s insect hotels and wildflower areas, swallow nests in Christ Church or the general willingness to maintain our churches by the groups who support our churches’ maintenance days.
Toddlers has been restarted and, with the departure of Liz Hoskins, Gill Worthington heads up the team. Messy Church, which although Covid ‘killed’ in 2021, was being investigated as to how to re-instate in 2022. Our thanks to Mike Holloway and Judith Skinner for pushing this although illness means that a start date is yet to be confirmed.
We were sorry (for us) but delighted (for her) to lose Rachel (Murray (now Forrest ☺ )) in October on secondment to ‘lead’ Longlevens Parish. It is to her great credit that she was asked by Bishop Rachel to take on this rôle which went so well that she has subsequently been confirmed as the Interim Priest-in-Charge for three years starting June 2022. Our congratulations both on the appointment and marriage to George.
Teacher’s House was put on the market for sale. After a number of false starts, the sale activity is ongoing.
We celebrated and thanked Rosemary and Tom Hancock as they stood down after so many years of service as Deputy Churchwardens for St Michael’s and St Mary’s. Our thoughts are with Rosemary regarding Tom’s recent passing as they are for all those bereaved.

Regardless of the day to day demands of the virus much practical work has been achieved and below is a summary of some of the projects that have been taken forward. Our thanks to the work of Geof Adlington, Rob Davies and Deputy Churchwardens for their involvement in work in addressing many of these issues, and Friends of St Peter’s and St Michael’s for their respective financial support.

1) Parish Wide;
a) Asbestos survey, management plan and mitigating repairs.
b) Inventory of Parish belongings completed (thanks to Dep Churchwardens, Margaret & Nigel Bearne, Penny Kain, Gill Badger).
2) St Peter’s, Winchcombe:
a) West door repair.
b) Loo door refitted.
c) Eastern Gloucester Street facing wall repaired (Town Council).
d) Kitchen dishwasher and cupboards.
e) Decluttering of Parvis Room (Michael Hand).
f) Bin in NW of churchyard (Mark Sorenson).
g) Repair of clock motor.
h) Ringing Chamber window repair.
i) Stonework repairs to porch gate and base of North tower.
j) West door repair.
k) Cockerel lighting repair.
l) Bell Chamber lighting repair.
m) Audio-visual upgrade
3) Christ Church, Gretton:
a) Repair to a partial ceiling collapse.
b) Putting in place of protection against owl nesting in the porch and steeple staircase.
c) Management of overgrown trees.
d) Repair and removal of asbestos from the organ. This was achieved at no cost to the PCC after fundraising led by Sue Fleck.
e) Repair of steeple louvre barriers, removal of nesting debris within the steeple and the inclusion of a steeple bird scarer.
f) Roof repairs as identified in the Quinquennial Review.
g) Woodworm eradication in the steeple.
h) Ground level gulley stonework repaired.
i) St Michael’s, Stanley Pontlarge:
j) Restoration work progressed in completing the sub-surface drainage work in Spring 2021. Grant fund searching having culminated, whilst there are sufficient funds to complete the re-roofing in Autumn 2022, the pew platform work is currently unfunded.

k) St Mary’s, Sudeley Castle:

l) Stonework and downpiping repairs were programmed to finish the tasks identified in the Quinquennial Review (now completed).

4) St Peter’s Centre:

a) Office Stable door ( in memorium of Joan Holgate).
b) Workplace standard electrical testing and upgrade.

Finally, whilst we inevitably will not have thanked everyone who deserves it, the continued voluntary contributions by the PCC, choir, bellringers, stewards, welcomers, sacristans, vergers, holy dusters, coffee makers, etc, etc are not taken for granted. Thank you to all our volunteers but we remain ready to accept new names to fill more gaps.

Simon Andrews Judith Skinner

Churchwardens, Winchcombe Parish

NOTES FROM THE DEPUTY CHURCHWARDENS

St Peter’s

Covid clearly put a bit of a dampener on activities, particularly entertainment, during the year, but services got into a more ‘normal’ routine by the end of the year culminating in a full Christmas service programme.

Our Deputy Churchwarden has also started the undertaking of a review of the heating in St Peter’s with a view to heating the people using the building rather than the building. Readers of the Parish magazine will be aware that the experience of other churches is being sought via open questions in a questionnaire which is available from the parish office. Tim Hall, a previous churchwarden, has also been considering what we can do to make the building warmer during the colder months of the year. These issues have become more pressing following the increases in energy prices. Hopefully our combined efforts will result in one or more recommendations going to the PCC in Autumn 2022 after parishioners have had an opportunity to have their say.

Christ Church

Since services were restarted following the pandemic closure, they are being held on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month, alternating between Holy Communion and Morning Worship, following which we enjoy a social time with coffee and biscuits. Revd Mike Holloway has also instituted a short, informal service of Morning Prayer on Thursday mornings at 9:30am.

The Christ Church Mini Team has restarted meeting every two months; thanks to Revd Mike Holloway and Judith Skinner for attending.

About 18 of us, including some non-church-going villagers, turned out in July for a major clean-up of the churchyard.

Because of the continuing Covid risks we were uncertain as to whether we should hold a Crib Service and a Carol Service on Christmas Eve; it was decided to hold an al fresco Carol sing in the churchyard at 4pm instead, led by Revd Mike. Despite a very wet afternoon, a large number turned out under umbrellas!

St Michael’s

Following the lifting of the lockdown closures, Holy Communion has been held on the 3rd Sunday of the month.

In September, we had our annual maintenance day, clearing gutters, weeding the wildflower area and a general tidying of churchyard, as well as clearing cobwebs and cleaning the windows inside the church.

We also held our Harvest Festival in September, when we decorated the church with flowers and produce from our gardens, and held a collection for the Winchcombe Food Bank. Following the evening service, we had drinks and nibbles in the churchyard. We held our Christmas Carol Service by Candlelight in December. People booked their places in their family bubbles so social distancing could take place and we were able to accommodate everyone who wished to attend. JP invited us to choose a poem or piece we would like to read, as well as the traditional readings, and it was a very special service. Afterwards we had refreshments outside in the churchyard around a brazier.

St Mary’s

Only one of the planned six Evening Prayers was able to be held, which was in September 2021; guess why …… yes, Covid. Work is ongoing between Sudeley Castle, the Church Commissioners and our PCC regarding the potential transfer of ownership of St Mary’s to the Castle. Our current Summer church services programme would continue as currently done.

REPORT FROM THE DEANERY SYNOD

There were effectively no Deanery meetings in 2021 other than the Deanery finance meeting to discuss and agree the level of Parish Share donations from each of the benefices. However a youth work facilitator was appointed to our Deanery and initial discussions held with WAM in Winchcombe.

Deanery meetings recommenced in April 2022 so there will be more to report at next year’s APCM

Geof Adlington May 3 2022

NOTES ON SAFEGUARDING DURING 2021

The PCC has complied with the duty to have “due regard” to the House of Bishops’ Safeguarding Policy and Practice Guidance. The PCC also has a Parish Safeguarding Policy, which is reviewed annually.

Our Commitments:

b) Promoting a safer environment and culture
c) Safely recruiting and supporting all those with any responsibility related to children and vulnerable adults
d) Responding promptly to every safeguarding concern or allegation
e) Caring pastorally for victims/survivors of abuse or other affected persons
f) Caring pastorally for those who are the subject of concerns/allegations of abuse and other affected persons
g) Responding to those who may pose a present risk

The care and protection of children, young people and adults involved in Church activities is the responsibility of everyone who participates in the life of the Church.

1 DBS

Gill Worthington continues to do an excellent job ensuring that those who work with children or adults at risk and any others in roles eligible for DBS clearances apply for and have their DBS clearances approved and renewed as required. This includes all members of the PCC as Trustees of a charity that provides services for children or adults at risk. Clearances were sought for the members of the newly re-formed Pastoral Team.

2 Safer Recruitment

All those working for the church in activities involving children or vulnerable adults, whether the role is paid or voluntary, should now be recruited using the Safer Recruitment process. The Parish Safeguarding Officer and the Churchwardens have completed Safer Recruitment Training.

The members of the newly re-formed Pastoral Team have been recruited using the Safer Recruitment Process. This process is also being used for the Toddler Time helpers.

3 Parish Dashboard

We have begun to use the Parish Dashboard, which is an online Safeguarding Tool provided by the Church of England. The Dashboard acts as an audit of safeguarding for the Parish and produces an action plan.

4 Safeguarding Training

The Church of England has produced a new list of Safeguarding Training courses available and of those who should take the different courses. Most of the courses can be taken online at any convenient time via the C of E training portal. The courses available at present are: Basic, Foundation, Leadership, Safer Recruitment and Domestic Abuse. The Parish Safeguarding Officer, in conjunction with the PCC, will contact those whose roles require training to explain what is needed. Training should be renewed every three years.

Lynne Banks Safeguarding Officer

PASTORAL CARE REPORT

As mentioned earlier in the Churchwardens' Report pastoral care within the parish has been challenging during Covid especially when lockdowns were in place but both the clergy and Margaret Batterbury's team of Pastoral Visitors did their best to maintain contact with as many as possible in the parish.

Both Margaret and Pookie Shaw stepped back and retired in the Summer and we owe a huge debt of gratitude to them for their years of dedicated pastoral service to the whole parish.

John Paul was anxious that this area of ministry should not fall by the wayside and so in September, 2021, I agreed to take on the role of co-ordinator of the Pastoral Team. In order to revitalise the team a training day was arranged and this took place on 27th November with ten participants. It was led by the Revd Canon Pauline Godfrey, Head of Discipleship and Vocation and Deputy of the Department of Mission and Ministry for the Diocese of Gloucester. She helped us understand the role of a Pastoral Visitor and guided us in working out their place within our own parish.

On Sunday, 12th December at the 10.30 Parish Communion John Paul commissioned, Lynne Banks, Lesley Davies, Shelley Everall Hoban, Jill Hargreaves, Roger Hargreaves, Gaye Kimber, Margaret Lloyd and Judith Skinner as Pastoral Visitors. Since then the team have been in contact with and visited many members of the parish who have been housebound or felt isolated during Covid restrictions, (I refrain from saying all but that would be my hope). We are grateful for the 'referrals' both formal and via the grapevine that come to our notice and are allocated at our monthly meetings.

Of course we are aware that much pastoral work goes on by many members of the congregation, quietly, unpretentiously and unnoticed, and we thank you for this.

Judith Skinner Co-ordinator of Pastoral Care

MUSIC REPORT

We entered our third lockdown on 6[th] January 2021 and the following year was again a period of changing regulations and guidance. For the first three months, Shelley and I provided the musical input to services which were streamed from a very cold church. Such was our offering on Good Friday but the rules were relaxed a little for Easter and we had a “family bubble” choir in the Lady chapel.

Subsequently, although the rules were supposed to have been relaxed, we found that we were restricted to a maximum of six singers, and, as much music is written in four parts, this rather limited what we were able to offer. At last, in September, the regulations allowed a more meaningful group of singers, and gradually a small choir, often masked and socially distanced, was able to reform.

On 16[th] October were able to put on a Choir Concert; this was a little shorter than in previous years but was followed by “Bring and Share” refreshments, and a bar managed by the Friends of St Peter’s. The format was very successful and 120 tickets were sold, contributing handsomely to the PCC and Organ funds. The 2022 Concert will follow a similar pattern.

New variants of the coronavirus resulted in changing guidance and practice, but we were able to field a full choir for the Remembrance Service on Abbey Terrace and for the Advent Service on 28[th] November. However, we restricted the choir to 20 for the Carol Service and Christmas Day.

Over the last two years some of our younger voices have broken or moved schools, so it is not surprising that Covid has added to the problems of recruiting young choristers. However, we are delighted that some of the past choir members continue to support us as and when their family and work commitments allow. And we have welcomed several singers who have recently moved into Winchcombe. The Covid situation has prevented much outreach to local schools but hopefully this will improve, and Shelley plans to develop opportunities with young people. We are not despondent and will play to our strengths in the meantime. The cold and damp weather early in the year caused damage to many organs; fortunately, ours escaped with a few sticky notes which gradually resolved themselves as we enjoyed warmer days, and more frequent playing, with the onset of summer. A while ago we identified some repairs to the blower and the mechanism of the organ which are necessary to maintain the instrument in good order and to mitigate the risk of sudden failure. I am delighted that with the benefit of two legacies and the support of the Friends we were able to sign a contract with Nicholsons Organs to undertake the work, and hopefully this will be done in the next few months.

Andrew Horton – Joint Director of Music

ST PETER’S FLOWER ARRANGERS’ REPORT

The group have continued to provide an arrangement next to the altar each week, except in Advent and Lent. Extended decorations for Christmas, Easter and Harvest have been appreciated by the congregation and the Group is grateful for all the compliments received. We plan to continue this pattern for the coming year.

In line with the work currently being done by the Eco-Group on lowering the church’s carbon footprint, we have decided to phase out the use of Oasis floral foam in our arrangements as it is very damaging to the environment. We are investigating alternative foams currently available, but none seem to work as well, and many are almost as ecounfriendly as Oasis, so more radical changes are needed. As a result, there may be changes to the style of the altar arrangements in the coming months as we seek alternative ways of presenting flowers in large arrangements. Further to this, we will also be looking into the possibility of sourcing our flowers locally or at least from this country.

At present we cannot provide additional flowers for weddings. Couples are welcome to put additional arrangements in church or bring in a florist, but we do ask that they do not move or remove the altar arrangement. In line with our policy on the use of floral foam, we have asked that it is not used in any additional arrangements.

There are only 7 of us in the Flower Group. More members would be most welcome – you do not have to be an expert (some of us are certainly not) just enthusiastic and willing to have a go. Advice and encouragement are always on hand and the commitment is not onerous. Talk to either of us if you are interested.

Margaret Bearne and Margaret Holloway

REPORT FROM THE BELLRINGERS

We are still suffering the effects of Covid, in that we really do not have enough ringers, but we are also suffering from absences due to other illnesses/ injuries. On the whole this year we are managing to maintain “normal” ringing, which is ringing for Sunday Services and practicing on a Wednesday. We are also managing to ring for special services and weddings, but only a couple of those so far this year. We are hoping to boost our numbers by holding a couple of Open Days, which will have happened by the time you read this! Edward Kain, as usual, is seeing to it that the bells are in good repair. We had a new set of ropes in February 2010, but all of these are now showing wear in the tail ends (the rope below the sally), as these were made of hemp, whereas the majority of the new ropes were made of terylene. One of these is currently out for repair, and it may be necessary to repair the remainder of the ropes for safety’s sake.

Clare Pritchard

STEWARDS REPORT FOR 2021/2

Covid has meant that visitors were down on previous years and we saw many long serving Stewards resigning. John Paul Hoskins wrote thanking them for their help.

With fewer Stewards we have been unable to keep accurate records. Once the Church was re-opened, we saw a trickle of visitors returning. 2022 indicated an increase in visitors but the numbers registered are far from accurate.

Tom Hancock, the creator of the Stewards team died this year and one of the founder Stewards Alan Cogbill died in April. A Stewards’ appreciation has been given to the PCC.

A big thank you to all our wonderful Stewards who have turned out inspite of health concerns.

Lynn Gorman