## **THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF WINCHCOMBE** **WITH GRETTON, SUDELEY MANOR AND STANLEY PONTLARGE** ## **ANNUAL REPORT** **for the year January – December 2023** **presented at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting** **Sunday 17 March 2024** ## **WINCHCOMBE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL** ## **ANNUAL REPORT January - December 2023** ## **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. ## **DIOCESAN SYNOD** Geof Adlington ## **CO-OPTED TO STANDING COMMITTEE (F&GP)** Treasurer ## **PCC CO-OPTED TO FOSP** Simon Andrews (2023) The members of the PCC are (as of 17 March 2024): ## **METHODIST OBSERVERS (NON-VOTING)** Trevor Upton ## **CLERGY (EX OFFICIO)** ## **THE LOCAL MINISTRY TEAM 2023** Rev’d Capt. David Penny CA – Chair (2023) ## **CHURCHWARDENS (EX OFFICIO)** Simon Andrews (2018) (Lay Chair 2019, Churchwarden 2020) Judith Skinner (2020) (Churchwarden 2021) ## **ELECTED PARISH REPRESENTATIVES** ## **ST PETER’S, WINCHCOMBE** Abbie Andrews (2019) Felicity King (2020) Cathy Wilcock (2020) Elizabeth Atkinson (2021) (Secretary 2023) Sue Crownshaw (2022) Charles Bagnall (2022) (Treasurer2023) Geof Adlington (2018) Jane Wain (2023) 5 x vacancies ## **CHRIST CHURCH, GRETTON** Revd Mike Holloway Revd Michael Hand Revd Rob Pestell Revd Wendy Ruffle Steve Carter Cliff Cocks Felicity Hall Chris Haslam ## **ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE** St Peter’s Centre, Gloucester Street, Winchcombe, GL54 5LU Telephone: 01242 602067 spc@winchcombeparish.org.uk www.winchcombeparish.org.uk ## **CHARITY NUMBER: 1138071** ## **FINANCIAL ADDRESSES PCC’S BANKERS** Susan Fleck (2017) (Deputy Churchwarden 2019) ## **ST MICHAEL’S, STANLEY PONTLARGE** Maxine Clare (2023) ## **ST MARY’S, SUDELEY** Simon Andrews (2018) (Deputy Churchwarden 2022) from 2023, The Cooperative Bank ## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER** Mrs Jennifer Soltau, F.C.C.A. Cotswold House, Gloucester Street, Winchcombe, GL54 5LX ## **DEANERY SYNOD (EX OFFICIO – ELECTED EVERY 3 YEARS)** Geof Adlington _(Deanery Treasurer 2022)_ Sue Crownshaw (2023) Charlie Bagnall (2023) 1 x vacancy **WINCHCOMBE PARISH With Gretton, Stanley Pontlarge and Sudeley Manor Sunday 17 March 2024 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 21st May 2023 b) Election of churchwardens ## **4. ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING** - a) Minutes of the APCM held on Sunday 21st May 2023 - 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. Priest-in-Charge’s Report 2023 - iii. Churchwardens’ Report including notes from the Deputy Churchwardens - iv. Report from the Deanery Synod - v. Readers - vi. Notes on Safeguarding - vii. Pastoral Care report - viii. Music report - ix. St Peter’s Flower Arrangers’ report - x. Report from the Bellringers - xi. Report from Eco Church Group - xii. Stewards’ report - xiii. Toddler Time - e) Questions and discussion on reports - f) General questions and discussion ## **5. ELECTIONS** - a) Deanery Synod Members - b) PCC Members ## **6. ELECTORAL ROLL** ## **7. FORTHCOMING EVENTS** ## **8. CLOSING PRAYER** 3 ## **3 ANNUAL MEETING OF PARISHIONERS** ## **a) Minutes of The Annual Meeting of Parishioners held on Sunday 21st of May 2023, at St Peter’s Church, Winchcombe** _Present: (PCC Members and officers, Simon Andrews and Judith Skinner (Churchwardens), Charlie Bagnall (Treasurer), , Elizabeth Atkinson, Sue Crownshaw, Sue Fleck, Felicity King, Rosemary Hancock together with approximately 50 others on the electoral roll – either in person or via on-line._ _**1. Welcome and Prayers:** Revd David Penny welcomed those present and said how wonderful it was to be gathered here and opened the meeting with a prayer._ _2._ _**Apologies for Absence** were received from Lizzy Watson (Secretary), Kate & William Stebbings, Sheila Broderick, Cathryn Wilcox, Rob Stone, Abbie Shurmer, Jennifer Soltau, Andrew & Lynne Horton, Lynn and Martin Gorman, Geof & Morag Adlington, Pookie Shaw._ _3._ _**ANNUAL MEETING OF PARISHIONERS:** for those on the Electoral Roll and those resident in the Parish – i.e. the whole community._ ## **a) Minutes of the AMP held on 29[th] May 2022** The minutes were made available prior to the meeting – in hard copy or by email. The minutes were approved. There were no matters arising. ## **b) Election of two Churchwardens** The meeting was asked to elect the Churchwardens for the coming year. The current Churchwardens agreed to stand for re-election and a vote was carried unanimously. Therefore, Simon Andrews and Judith Skinner will continue to stand as Churchwardens and the meeting expressed their support and thanks for their work. There being no other business the annual meeting of parishioners closed and was followed by the Annual Parochial Church meeting. Simon Andrews Acting PCC Secretary May 2023 ## _Approved_ _Date:_ ## **b) Election of two Churchwardens** 4 ## **4) ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING** ## **a) Minutes of the APCM held on Sunday 21st May 2023** _The minutes are reported as follows:_ _**1.** The minutes of the meeting held on 29 May 2022 were distributed prior to the meeting._ - _The minutes were adopted as accurate._ _**2.** Matters Arising: nil_ _**3.** Review of progress & achievements: Revd David, at his first APCM, thanked all for their welcome to his family. He emphasised that we work as a Parish and that he will accordingly be putting out his strategy in the next few weeks to the PCC and hence the Parish in the next weeks._ _**4.** 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._ - _i)_ **Treasurer’s Report on the Accounts:** _The Treasurer summarised his circulated report, stating that after Revd David had settled, long term investments would be re-examined. He additionally stated that a small deficit was possible in 2023 and maybe even a small surplus owing to the receipt of an unexpected legacy. Overall, 2023 was going to plan._ - _Alan Thomas raised three points over expenditure: for Salaries and Wages, he noted an increase of £6k. Treasurer responded that this was owing to an agreed pay rise by the PCC and are inclusive of just under £6,000 to visiting minister fees, but as these were paid during the Vacancy, the money was recovered from the Diocese and the income is reflected under Other Income; second, he asked how much was spent on St Michael’s roof to which the Treasurer stated just over £60k but with an approximate £13.5k underspend. Simon Andrews pointed out that the availability of this underspend allowed the initiation of grant applications for the North Nave roof of St Michael’s; thirdly, he asked why sundry expenses had increased from £4.5k to £12k. Treasurer explained this included VAT payments relating to the major building works that we were able to reclaim under the Listed Places of Worship VAT scheme. The matching income amounts for these reclaims also appear under other income and total about £6,000._ _Gill Worthington asked regarding income as to whether the use of a collection plate was being considered. Treasurer assured her the PCC was doing so._ ## ii) **Churchwardens’ Report:** _The Churchwardens’ Report had also been circulated and Simon Andrews summarised. Additionally he stated thanks and welcomes to Geof Adlington and Charlie Bagnall (PCC Treasurer), Lizzy Watson (PCC Secretary) and Mark Thompson (organist at St Michael’s). There were no observations._ _There were no questions._ _**5.** Questions and discussion on other reports as tabled: The other reports were noted and there were no questions._ ## _**6. Elections:**_ - _(i)_ _**Election of Deanery Synod Representatives:** Both Rob Stone and Geof Adlington agreed to be considered for re-election and Sue Crownshaw and Charlie Bagnall for election. The meeting agreed to these._ - _**(ii) Election of PCC Representatives:** All current PCC members agreed to stay on to provide continuity during the early months of Revd David’s residence, and were re-appointed for the coming year. The exception was Lizzy Watson who has decided to stand down as she moves to Dorset. Simon Andrews thanked Lizzy for her work on the PCC including as Secretary. One new PCC Representative was elected: Jane Wain_ _**.**_ _**7. Electoral Roll:** in the absence of Jennifer Soltau, Simon Andrews explained that with four new names and other adjustments, there are now 219 people on the roll. In response to Margaret Bearne’s observation about some people who should not be on the roll (the next full review is due in 2025), he asked that if anyone knows of people who have moved or deceased to inform Mark Mulley in the office. Revd David thanked Jennifer Soltau for all the work she does on this issue._ _**8. Appointment of Independent Examiner:** Jennifer Soltau offered to continue in this role. The meeting gratefully agreed._ ## _**9. Forthcoming Events:**_ - _9 Jun 7pm: Choir/Brownies Concert (St Peter’s; Shelley Everall Hoban)._ - _11 Jun: FoSP/PCC Open Gardens cancelled: lack of garden volunteers due to winter damage._ 5 - _22-25 Jun: Midsummer Music & Art (MMA) (artists & organ etc recital on Fri (wedding prep Fri and wed Sat)) (St Peter’s; Judith Skinner)._ - _10 Jun-1 Jul: Book Fair (St Peter’s; Jo Rees)_ - _1 Jul: Parish Fête (St Peter’s; Simon Andrews). Note: Clash with MMA Youth Event._ - _Sun 1 Oct: Post Harvest Festival Service event (tbc)(St Peter’s)_ - _Sat 14 Oct 7pm: FoSP Octavo Concert (St Peter’s; FoSP/Martin Gorman)._ - _9 Dec: Octavo concert (Christ Church; Sue Fleck)._ - _8-10 Dec: Christmas Tree Festival: (St Peter’s; Abbie Shurmer)._ ## _**10. AOB:**_ - _Gill Worthington asked for help with Welcomers for Evening Services at St Peter’s._ - _Simon Andrews emphasised need for volunteers to support a wide variety of Parish activities._ ## _**11. Closing Prayer**_ Simon Andrews Acting PCC Secretary May 2023 _Approved: Date:_ ## **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 ## **PCC Finance report for 2023** Please see the 2023 accounts laid out on the four pages following the auditor's report. - Page 1 – Statement of Assets and Liabilities - Page 2 – Summary Receipts and Payments - Page 3 – Note 1: Analysis of Restricted Funds and Note 2: Analysis of Designated Funds - Page 4 – Note 3: Detailed Analysis of Receipts and Note 4: Detailed Analysis of Expenditure ## **Summary** Good news to start with: as can be seen on **Page 1** , overall, we are about £53,000 better off than at the end of 2022. £18,000 of this was the excess of income over expenditure and the remaining £34,000 thanks to the recovery in the value of our investments following a poor year in the markets in 2022. After the good news comes the ‘but’. BUT … it should be noted that almost all the £18,000 surplus relates to provisions for expenditure on the roof of St Michael’s to come in 2024. On our unrestricted activities we pretty much broke even at plus £94, but even that was mainly thanks to the generous unrestricted bequest of £15,000 from Frances Holgate. The summary receipts and payments account can be seen on **Page 2.** 6 ## **Restricted Funds- Page 3** After a re-examination of our restricted and designated funds, it was agreed that most of the designated funds should in fact be changed to restricted. The only designated fund remains the money set aside for a Youth Worker amounting to some £43k. Details of this re-analysis can be seen at Notes 1 and 2. ## **Review of Comparative Performance - Page 4** **Committed Giving** is slightly down just when it needs to be up, but ad hoc giving and associated gift aid are both up so much so that overall donated income is up on last year. However, we cannot rely on ad hoc gifts, and committed giving must increase if we are to meet our commitments over the next few years. Note that **Parochial Fees** income which was previously quoted as a single net figure is now quoted gross and the costs included in expenditure to give a fuller picture of our activity. The net position is about 10% down on 2022. In terms of costs, most items are broadly in line with 2022 after allowing for inflation. Exceptions are major repairs – in 2022 there was the major expenditure on St Michael’s roof – and sundry expenses which are down because we have been able to allocate nearly all costs to a specific code. **Heating and lighting** _looks_ encouraging, but that was down to excellent fixed deals secured by Geof Adlington – so do not be comforted: the last bill for gas in St Peters was **£1,500** , just for December. Having said that, you will see that owing to an administrative issue, we are very behind with our solar panel repayments, so we are still owed the income from May 2023 onwards which, while not matching the summer of 2022, means another £4,000 to come. ## **Accounting Software** This will be the last year we use the Diocesan Spreadsheet. After discussions with our auditor Jennifer Soltau and the churchwardens, it was agreed that we should move to a new accounting system that has a proper audit trail and is accessible online to multiple users. If anyone would like to be trained up to be able to act as my deputy in the event of my not being available, I should be delighted to hear from you! ## **Looking Ahead** This year has been un-eventful, and the figures reflect that with a surplus on restricted funds and a breakeven on general funds. However, the 2024 budget agreed with the PCC does not look so positive. In fact, it shows a very considerable deficit. It has been prepared on a conservative basis that assumes no legacies and no increase in planned giving. Our total income is projected to be around £144,000. By contrast with costs rising inexorably including Parish Share going up to £87,000, the St Michaels roof repair, and our Youth Worker starting, we are budgeting total expenditure of £244,000. That means the projected deficit is almost £80,000 or about 17% of our assets. Clearly, we cannot sustain such losses for long. However, our new Incumbent has led us in the creation of an exciting strategic plan and the PCC believes that investing in Youth Work and in re-ordering the church to suit more activities will help us to grow as a parish and not decline. For that to happen however, we all need to get behind the strategy and support it financially. There are encouraging signs in our giving – our ad-hoc giving is up almost 100% from 2022 to 2023 so there is love being shown for what we do and stand for. All gifts are welcome, but what we really need, if we are to look into the future with confidence, is to increase our planned giving. That currently stands at £60,000, less than half our high-water mark, so please consider your own giving so we can aspire to that again and ensure the future is bright for the parish of Winchcombe. _Charlie Bagnall, Treasurer February 2024_ 7 Inthpendent Examln** R•pDrtto th• M•mb•rts of th• Etchila6tlc•l Parf6h of Wlnehcomb• wlth Gr•tton, Sud&l¢y A•4nor •rKI 8tsnl•y Pont11￿ P&ro¢hlal Chureh Councll I report onthe attounts forlheyear ended 31￿ December 2023 whth are 681 out onp8ges 2108. Rosp￿d¥? R•spon•lblll¥g•of th¢ Tru•tw• anl Indo￿ndent Exwnlfiqr As IriJ8loos of the chgrity, Ihe rnembers of Ihe PCC are re¥pDnsible forlhe preparetton of ihe acaiunl8. T ry)nsiderlhBt an audit is nDt required forlhis year￿d6r 144121 of th8 CharitiesAct 2011 (Yhe 2011 AGV) and thatan indeptrndeni èx8min8iKJn i& naeded. 1118 my rfr8ponslblltyto.' Examln8 Ihe 8ccouMs undars8clon 145 oflho 2011 Art FOllowt￿ proc8dure8 laSd d￿n In the G8ner81 Directh?ns glven bylhe Charty CommI8￿(￿er seclo 14515llbl of the 2011 Ad. and Sl818 ￿rt￿lar matterg h8¥e coma to my 8tt8nll Ba•ls of Indfrppndgnt E¥•mln•f• St•¢Bm•n¢ My 8X&mInati￿ w8s carried out in acwrdanc8 wth the General Dkethn a￿0￿ by Ihe Chafity Commk88kfi. An 8X8mlnallon Includes a re¥￿W of the a¢￿￿ntIng record5 kept bythe chadly and a wmparfson of Ihe accounts presenied wllh those re¢ord6. It also indud88 wn8ideralKin of any unusual Items or disdosures in Ihe accounts, 8nd 886klny eXplan￿lon8 from the managemenl ￿MmIttee conc*ming any such matters. The prc(edure undert4keTr lo not provide all the evidence that would be requlred in a ￿11 audit. 8nd r*Jngequenlty I do not express an audit opinion Dn thè a¢o¥JunlS. Indepphd•rbt Ex•MIhtr￿ts 8tat•mart In c4nneclknn my a%￿Inal￿n. no rTratt8r8 have0￿•t0 my attention". 1. gkvÉ ma re8￿nable rAu&tr to balwè thai in8ny mat8ri81 rn8P8Ctthe re0L￿r￿￿en16". To ke8paccountlng record8 In accordance w41h 88ction 130 of Ihe 2011 Act.or To prepare aco)unlg whlch actord wllh the89 accounllnu rec•rd$ have not b••n m•¢, w, 2. ￿1¢h, in my OpIn￿￿. att•nlbn shoukl be drnwn 10 In orthrto ¢n8bkn a proper uThJBt8tanding of tho p(xx)unts to be reothgd J•nnlf•r Solt•y FCCA Cotswdd Hou••Wnthomb8 ||**Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for theyear ended 31 December 2023**|**Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for theyear ended 31 December 2023**|**Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for theyear ended 31 December 2023**|**Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for theyear ended 31 December 2023**|**Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for theyear ended 31 December 2023**|**Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for theyear ended 31 December 2023**|| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||**Statement of Assets and Liabilities at 31 December 2023**||||||| ||||||||| |**31**
**December**
**2022**||**Total**|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**|**Designated**
**Funds**
**(note 2)**|**Restricted**
**Funds**
**(note 1)**|**Properties**|**Notes**| |£||£|£|£|£|£|| ||**Fixed Assets**||||||| |-|Teacher's House(at cost)|-|-|-|-|-|| |57,000|St Peter's Centre(at cost)|57,000|-|-|-|57,000|| |57,000||57,000|-|-|-|57,000|| ||||||||| |330,024|**Investment Assets (stated at 31**
**Dec 2022 value)**|363,647|320,348|43,299|-|-|| ||||||||| ||**Current Assets**||||||| |45,276|Bank balances|63,305|11,833|-|51,472|-|| |205|Cash balance|1,603|1,603|-|-|-|| |45,481||64,908|13,436|-|51,472|-|| ||**Current liabilities**||||||| ||||||||| |45,481|**Net current assets**|64,908|13,436|-|51,472|-|| ||||||||| |**£432,505**|**Net Assets**|**£485,555**|**£333,784**|**£43,299**|**£51,472**|**£57,000**|| ||||||||| ||**Represented by:**||||||| |500,581|Reserves brought forward at 1
January2022|432,505|£298,642|£67,312|£9,551|£57,000|| ||Adjustment between Restricted,
unrestricted and Designated
funds|-|£123|(24,014)|23,891||**Note 2**| |(64,665)|Net excess of receipts over
payments on unrestricted funds|94|94||-|-|**Notes 3**
**and 4**| |-|Receipts and allocations to
designated funds made during
theyear|-|-|-|-|-|| |(271,440)|Adjustment for Sale of Property|-|||||| |-|Adjustment for unreconciled
items inprioryear|1,303|1,303||||| |277,909|Adjustment for change in
investment values over the year|33,623|33,623|-|-||| |(9,880)|Adjustment for restricted funds
(used)/received during the year|18,030|-||18,030|-|**Note 1**| |**£432,505**||**£485,555**|**£333,785**|**£43,298**|**£51,472**|**£57,000**|| **Page 1** 9 |**Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2023**|**Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2023**|**Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2023**|**Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2023**|**Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2023**|**Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2023**|**Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2023**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||||||| |**Summary Receipts and Payments Account**||||||| |||Unrestricted Funds||||Restricted
Funds| |||2023||_2022_||2023| |||£||_£_||£| |**Receipts**||||||| |||||||| |VoluntaryReceipts:||||||| ||Plannedgiving|58,827||61,818||-| ||Collections at services|7,763||6,267||-| ||All othergiving/voluntaryreceipts|12,898||7,661||1,215| ||Legacies received|15,750||700||500| ||Gift Aid recovered|17,158||14,565||-| ||Special Appeals and Grants|5,570||19,843||11,500| |||||||| |Activities forgeneratingfunds||8,220||7,467||-| |||||||| |Investment Income||11,978||7,486||-| |||||||| |Church Activities||26,640||11,906||-| |||||||| |Other income||4,411||21,964||9,891| |||||||| |Total receipts||**169,215**||**_159,678_**||**23,106**| |||||||| |||||||| |**Expenses**||||||| |Church Activities:||||||| ||Parish share|(80,520)||(83,640)||-| ||Clergyand Staffingcosts|(17,011)||(21,369)||-| ||Church runningexpenses|(43,785)||(93,776)||(5,076)| ||Missiongivingand donations|(2,551)||(2,450)||-| ||Costs of trading|(4,320)||(4,775)||-| ||Third party costs relating to baptisms,
weddings and funerals|(12,080)||||-| |||||||| |Administration Costs||(6,318)||(5,881)||-| |||||||| |Cost ofgeneratingfunds||(548)||(476)||-| |||||||| |Other costs||(1,988)||(11,976)||-| |||||||| |Totalpayments||**(£169,121)**||**_(£224,342)_**||**(£5,076)**| |||||||| |Movement in thisyear's balances after allocations||**£94**||**_(£64,665)_**||**£18,030**| **Page 2** 10 |**Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for theyear to 31 December 2023**|**Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for theyear to 31 December 2023**|**Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for theyear to 31 December 2023**|**Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for theyear to 31 December 2023**|**Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for theyear to 31 December 2023**||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||||||| |**Note 1 - Analysis of Restricted Funds**||||||| |||||||| ||**Opening**
**balance**|**Change of**
**Fund Type -**
**opening**
**balance**|**Receipts**
**during year**|**Payments**
**during year**|**Closing**
**balance**|**Overall**
**movement on**
**Restricted**
**Funds**| ||£||£|£|£|£| |Chime Machine|5,696||-|-|5696|| |Bells|6|815|163|-|984|| |St Peter's Organ|-|13,156|3,126|(1,565)|14718|| |Fresh Expressions|723||-|-|723|| |Christ Church,Gretton|-|1,306|1,002|(236)|2073|| |St Peter's,Winchcombe|-||-|-|0|| |Vicar and Churchwardens|3,126||-|-|3126|| |StanleyPontlarge -general||7,682|18,814|(3,275)|23221|| |IT&Video Project for St Peter's||932|||932|| ||£9,551|£23,891|£23,106|(£5,076)|£51,472|**£18,030**| |||||||| |||||||| |**Note 2 - Analysis of Designated Funds**||||||| ||**Opening**
**balance**|**Added to**
**Restricted**|**Added to**
**Unrestricted**||**Closing**
**balance**|| ||£||£||£|| |Christ Church,Gretton -general|1,306|(1,306)|||**-**|| |St Peter's Church - flower fund|123||(123)||-|| |St Peter's Church - organ fund|13,156|(13,156)|||-|| |St Peter's Church -bell fund|815|(815)|||-|| |StanleyPontlarge -general|7,682|(7,682)|||-|| |**Pioneer Minister Reserve**|43,299||-||**43,299**|| |Eco Church Fund|-||||-|| |IT&Video Project for St Peter's|932|(932)|-||-|| ||£67,312|(£23,891)|(£123)|-|**£43,299**|| **Page 3** 11 ||**Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for**|**the Year Ended 31 December 2023**|**the Year Ended 31 December 2023**|**the Year Ended 31 December 2023**|**the Year Ended 31 December 2023**| |---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||| ||**Note 3 - Detailed Analysis of Receipts**||||| |||**Unrestricted Funds**||_Restricted_
_2022_|**Restricted**
**Fund for**
**2023**| |**Code**|**Description**|**2023**|**_2022_**||| |||**£**|**_£_**|**£**|**£**| |1|Totalplannedgiving|58827|_61,818_||-| |3|Other collections at services|7763|_6,267_||-| |4|Other Giving& Donations - Recurring|150|_100_||| |5|Other Giving& Donations - Non-Recurring|12,748|_7,661_||1,215| |8|Legacies received|£15,750|_700_||500| |7|All tax recovered through Gift Aid|17158|_14,565_||-| |6|Special Appeals|534|_1,080_||-| |9|RecurringGrants|0|_-_||-| |10|Non-RecurringGrants|5,036|_18,663_||11,500| |11|Fund RaisingEvents|8220|_7,467_||-| |15|Bookstall,Magazine etc|5174|_5,596_||-| |12|Dividends & Interest|£11,978|_7,486_||-| |14|Total Parochial Fees Income|21346|_11,906_||-| |13|Income from Properties|120|_600_||-| |16|Hall Lettings||_255_||-| |17|Income from other Church Activities||_151_||-| |18|Insurance Claims||_-_||-| |19|Reimbursement of costs byother Parishes||_-_||-| |20|Sale of Fixed Assets||_-_||-| |21|Service Fee Reimbursement byDBF|1920|_5,400_||-| |22|Income from solarpanels|1056|_9,961_||-| |22|Other income|1,435|||9,891| |||**£169,215**|**_£159,678_**||**£23,106**| ||||||| ||||||| ||**Winchcombe Parish Financial Statements for**|**the Year Ended 31 December 2023**|||| ||||||| ||**Note 4 - Detailed Analysis of Payments**||||| ||||||| |||**Unrestricted Funds**||_Restricted_
_2022_|**Restricted**
**2023**| |**Code**|**Description**|**2023**|**_2022_**||| |||**£**|**_£_**|**£**|**£**| |32|Parish Share|(80,520)|_(83,640)_||-| |33|Salaries & Wages|(15,509)|_(14,171)_||-| |37|Local Mission and Evangelism Projects|(815)|_(1,521)_||-| |38|Children/Youth Work costs|(317)|_(354)_||-| |34,35 & 36|Clergyand Other Expenses|(1,185)|_(1,498)_||-| |39|Insurance costs|(13,203)|_(12,748)_||-| |40|Cleaningcosts|(400)|_(552)_||-| |41|Minor Repairs/Routine Maintenance|(6,611)|_(6,407)_||(2,261)| |43|Other Church Expenses/Provision of Services|(3,620)|_(1,777)_||-| |44|Churchyard Maintenance|(2,879)|_(1,333)_||(236)| |45|Flowers|(320)|_(6)_||-| |46|Music costs|(2,595)|_(2,383)_||(1,565)| |59|Major Repairs/Redecoration to Church Building|(6,398)|_(51,995)_|_(9,880)_|(1,014)| |60|Major Repairs/Redecoration to otherproperties|-|_(1,696)_||-| |47 & 48|Utilities(incl Heat,Light and Water)|(7,759)|_(9,374)_||-| |31|Donations/Grants to Charities & Mission Giving|(1,736)|_(2,450)_||-| |49|Costs of Trading|(4,320)|_(4,775)_||-| |51|Parochial Fees Remittance to DBF|(2,743)|_-_||-| |52|Parochial Fees Remitted to visitingMinisters|-|_-_||-| |53|Parochial Fees Remitted to other 3rdparty|(9,337)|_-_||-| |54|Parochial Fees Remitted to other PCC|-|_-_||-| |55|Service Fee Remittance to visitingMinister|(1,920)|_(5,700)_||-| |56|Payment of costs to other Parishes||_-_||-| |42|Administration costs|(6,318)|_(5,881)_||-| |50|Governance Costs||_-_||-| |30|Fund RaisingCosts|(548)|_(476)_||-| |57|DeaneryCosts|(16)|_(85)_||-| |58|SundryExpenses|(52)|_(11,890)_||-| |61|Alterations/Extensions to Church Building||_(3,630)_||-| ||Total Expenses|**(£169,121)**|**_(£224,342)_**|_(£9,880)_|**(£5,076)**| ||Net Movement for Unrestricted and Restricted fun|
**£94**|_-£64,665_|_-£9,880_|**£18,030**| **Page 4** 12 ## **ii) APCM COVERING 2023: PRIEST-IN-CHARGE’S REPORT** Report of 2023 by Revd Capt. David Penny After waiting for many months it was a real joy to finally be licensed in the parish of Winchcombe on February 27th 2023. Deborah, Ash and I were made to feel welcome from the outset, and the warmth of welcome helped us settle into the parish. Thank you. During those first few months I focused on getting to know as much about the life of the parish as possible, alongside getting to know who everyone is. For a relatively small parish (numerically) I soon discovered that there was plenty going on in the church and wider community. Having seen and experienced the key aspects of the church’s life I spent the summer reflecting and praying so that I could, with the help of the ministry team, parish leaders and PCC, draw together the seeds of a strategy for Growth, Mission and Ministry in the parish. I’ll come back to this at the end of this report as I look forward to 2024. As much as there is a lot going on in the parish we are very fortunate to have such a good team of Readers and active retired Clergy. Like you, I feel very blessed to have such faithful and gifted ministers in the Gospel supporting the life of the church. As well as leading worship in the parish (and wider team) they each have their specific ministries, often lived in unseen ways behind the scenes, and are invaluable to us. I would therefore like to take this opportunity, on behalf of us all, to say a huge thank you to all of them, who, in their unique ways, bless us in so many ways; and from a personal perspective to also thank them for their support and encouragement this past year. Getting embedded into the life of 4 churches has not always been straight forward. After the first round of rotas I realised that I needed to be careful to ensure that I spent as much time in each church as I could, and that getting to know Gretton and Stanley Pontlarge would require a more intentional approach. St. Mary’s too is a completely different kettle of fish. Saying the Daily Office at least once per week in all churches (except St. Mary’s), has been a good discipline; not only because it is right to pray in each church every week, but it has also given a better focus to my thoughts and prayers as I discern what God is inviting us to join in with in each community. We reintroduced a communion service at St. Michaels so that we were back to the pre-pandemic practices of BCP Communion on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month. We haven’t reintroduced or started anything at Christ Church yet, but I hope in 2024 we can step out in faith with additional appropriate ministry. Work with young people was noted as a priority for the parish in the parish profile, and so I have spent some time on this in my first year. The parish has already got good connections with Winchcombe Abbey CofE Primary School and Gretton Primary School, and with Steve, Mike, Michael and Wendy we continue to strengthen those links. I have been working with Winchcombe Abbey to enhance the services held in church, and 2024 will see further developments as the children are supported in designing and leading worship. Both nursery provisions in the parish have been open to links being formed too. Mini VIPs have had visits from us into their setting at key moments of the year, and they have visited church too. The Winchcombe PATA Preschool held their Nativity in church this year, which was appreciated by staff and parents alike. Alongside of the external work with children, our own Toddler Time continues to do fantastic work every Thursday. Our thanks to the team who work hard week by week providing a much valued space for children and their parents (and/or grandparents). The soon to be appointed (God willing), Children and Families Lead will have a good base to work from thanks to this invaluable ministry. In terms of worship there have been a few minor changes this year: re-introduction of a 2nd service each month at St. Michael’s, updated service books at St. Peter’s and Christ Church, and some minor experimentation at occasional services. We are of course well served by the musicians of the parish: 13 joint Directors of Music Andrew Horton and Shelley Everall-Hoban; Organists Mark Watson, Duncan Westerman and Stewart Aylward, our talented choir, and music group under the direction of Rob Davies. Our thanks to them for all they do week by week to support and lead the worship of our churches. Mark’s departure to Dorset left a musical gap at St. Michael’s and Christ Church, but thanks to Duncan for stepping back into his historic role, and digital music at Christ Church, we have been able to plug the gap. 2024 will focus on the continued implementation of the strategic plan, particularly the Pioneer and Children and families strands. I am sure that under God, and with your prayers and support, we can continue the good work of this parish, making the love of God known as we grow the family of God. ## David. ## **iii) APCM COVERING 2023: CHURCHWARDENS REPORT** As at the time of our 2024 APCM Revd David will have been in post for his first year, so 2023 has been dominated by his arrival and settling in, and the exploration and initial development of the strands of Parish work as envisaged in our Parish Profile and now articulated in the Parish strategy. We heartily welcome David, Deborah and Ash into our community. The number and geographical spread of services with associated musical support within the Parish has been expanded with the active support of our retired clergy, Readers and Directors of Music; our thanks to them all. We also welcome new members to the Ministry team whilst allowing others to step back after so busy a time during the Vacancy; we remain very lucky to be so relatively well endowed with such pro-active people. We achieved full and well attended Easter, Advent and Christmas service schedules in the Parish as well as a performance of the Duruflé Requiem for All Souls, 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. Our bells are still ringing but it is clear that new recruits are still needed. Consistent attendance at services does appear to be generally moving in a positive direction in St Peter’s, healthy and stable in St Michael’s but needing some attention in Christ Church. St Mary’s continues to have a loyal cohort for its Summer afternoon services with the added benefit of reinforcement from the transitory visitors to Sudeley Castle. The Parish remained engaged with the wider community through the Winchcombe Community Network though this has lost some of its earlier vigour. However, through the medium of St Peter’s Centre, we continue to be able to offer a “Warm Space” for the town’s youngsters in conjunction with WAM whilst also being the venue for the WAM organised Youth Council. The Parish was actively involved in the provision of volunteers to support other groups (toy and clothes banks) and in the ramping up of food bank support. These pastoral areas have also been supported through continued proactive pastoral care. As was intended, the work to recruit a Families' and Children's Lead has progressed and we trust to see some fruition possibly in the second half of 2024. Socially, we have been as active as ever with a number of fundraising activities; some tried and tested, but some new ideas. In particular, we would highlight the tremendous choral concert in June, the everpopular book fair – and our thanks to Jo Rees for all her work over the years on this and wider book sales as she hands over to Kate Robinson – and the enormously successful first Christmas Tree Festival organised by Abbie Shurmer. 14 The weekly Parish “Signpost” bulletins 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. Regarding this, our thanks to Deborah Penny for taking the social media bull by the horns to upgrade our profile in the town. Other major achievements or events include: - The attainment of the A Rocha silver 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, swift nests in Christ Church and St Peter’s or the general willingness to maintain our churches by the groups who support our churches’ maintenance days. EcoChurch are focussing on attaining the Gold level award whilst maintaining their achievements so far. - Toddler Time, which continues to be well supported and our thanks to Gill Worthington and Anne Hand who head up the team. - Our thanks to the Pastoral Team who continue their work keeping in touch with those who are unable to attend church both by telephone and by regular visits. - The decision to create an integrated project team for St Peter’s to expand on earlier work to review and make recommendations on heating, lighting, seating and and audio-visual support, together with the creation of an independent multi-functional area within the church space. 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 the Friends of St Peter’s and St Michael’s for their respective financial support. - Parish Wide; - All woodwork on external doors and gates stripped and revarnished. - Initiation of Parish textiles review and subsequent repair. - St Peter’s, Winchcombe: - Major organ refurbishment completed. - Five yearly electrical deep inspection and fixes. - Swift nest boxes sited on tower. - Bells inspection and resetting. - Font cover refurbishment. - Repointing of Nave and aisle lead roofs interface with stonework. - Gloucester St front churchyard wall (West end) refurbished. - Christ Church, Gretton: - Removal of dead and replanting of Rowan trees. - Repainting of wall crack repairs in Nave and Chancel. - St Michael’s, Stanley Pontlarge: - Seeking of grant funding for the refurbishment/replacement of the North facing Nave roof. 15 ## `o` Refurbishment of churchyard gate. ##  St Peter’s Centre: `o` Double glazing of office space for heat retention. Penultimately, 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. Finally, and deliberately left until last, we recognise the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The Parish’s Book of Remembrance was suitably filled with moving sentiments to our beloved late Sovereign. May She rest in peace and God Save the King. _Simon Andrews_ _Judith Skinner_ ## Churchwardens, Winchcombe Parish ## St Peter’s St Peter’s continues to be a favoured venue for wider community events, in particular with the Arts and Music festival over the Summer and with the Children’s Society. Our visitor numbers continue to grow post-Covid and are estimated to be some 8-9,000 per year though without full Steward coverage, this can only be an estimate. In addition to those areas identified above, St Peter’s has required a number of minor works to fix handles, repair plumbing and the like. However, the building and churchyard are fundamentally in good order though ‘chilly’ in the colder months. ## Simon Andrews ## St Mary’s All of the planned six Evening Prayers were held with attendance ranging from 3 to 20. Work continued between Sudeley Castle, the Church Commissioners and our PCC regarding the potential transfer of ownership of St Mary’s to the Castle. The process has reached the stage where Diocesan and Church Commissioners overseen stakeholder consultation has been completed in late 2023 and an expectation of handover in early 2024. Whilst we received some £940 via the Alms Box, this in no way covers insurance, let alone annual maintenance costs. ## Simon Andrews ## Christ Church Services at Christ Church continue to be held on 2[nd] and 4[th] Sundays, alternating between Holy Communion and Morning Worship. Following the service on the second Sunday, instead of having refreshments in the church, we go down to the Village Hall, where the Gretton Hub is held, to join in for refreshments and social time with other residents of the village. Refreshments and social time are held in the church following the fourth Sunday service. Morning Prayer is held as a short informal service on Thursday mornings at 9:00 am. Our Mini Team continues to meet every two months; thanks go to Judith Skinner and Charlie Bagnall who attend when they are able. We now have a new member of the team, Fiona Williams, who moved into the village fairly recently. On March 12 the new incumbent in the Parish, Rev. Capt. David Penny, held his first service in Christ Church. Following this refreshments were enjoyed at the Hub. On Coronation weekend, on May 7, the churchyard was decorated with bunting, and a Service of Celebration of the Coronation of our new King was held, with David Penny and Mike Holloway officiating. In May our sound system was updated by Rob Davies to take MP3, to allow recorded organ accompaniment to be played through a speaker in the absence of an organist. Many thanks to Rob for 16 doing this, and also to Stewart Aylward, who plays for us on second Sundays. We are still in the process of seeking an organist – or pianist – to play for us on fourth Sundays. In June we set up a stall at St Peter’s Fête, with a departure from our usual Ladies’ Accessories – this time we sold jigsaw puzzles and games. On November 26 we held our Patronal Festival with a Choral Evensong. December was quite busy – on the 9[th] Octavo held a Christmas Concert for us, singing to a packed church, which raised funds of £550. On 21[st] December Gretton School held their Carol Service; and on the 23[rd] the Crib Service was held in the afternoon. On Christmas Eve we were to hold Carols in the Churchyard, as we have done for the past couple of years. Because of the inclement weather the service was moved into the church; it was lovely to see a full church with standing room only – plus a couple of dogs! Susan Fleck Deputy Churchwarden ## **St Michael’s, Stanley Pontlarge** At the start of the year, we continued to hold Holy Communion on the third Sunday of the month. We welcomed the Reverend David to our church for our March service and again for our Easter Day service in April. As well as the traditional hot cross buns after our Easter service, Evie Williams made cakes and held a cake sale to raise money for families in Turkey affected by the earthquakes there. She raised an amazing £80. In June we said goodbye to Lizzy Watson, who had been our PCC representative, and Mark Thompson, our organist, and thanked them for all they had done for the church. We wished them well in their new venture. From July, we returned to two services a month, first and third Sundays, initially as a three month trial. This has been continued. We held our traditional Evensong in the middle of July, with the choir from St Peters singing for us. Afterwards we had afternoon tea and Pimms in the churchyard. Our Harvest Festival took place in October. We decorated the church with flowers and produce from our gardens and vegetable patches, and held a collection for food and other items for the local foodbank. We had drinks and nibbles in the churchyard following the service. In December we held our Carols around the Crib service by candlelight. We decorated the church with foraged greenery and candles. As well as the traditional biblical readings, people chose poems and Christmas themed readings to read. The music to accompany the singing of carols was provided by Duncan Westerman, who now plays the organ for us once a month, Annie Williams sang a solo and we also had a solo played on the French horn by Evie Williams. The church was full and it was a wonderful evening. After the service we had mulled wine and refreshments in the churchyard, keeping warm around the brazier. During the year, fundraising continued by Simon Andrews to raise money to re-roof the North Nave roof. Gill Badger Deputy Churchwarden 17 ## **iv) DIOCESAN AND DEANERY REPORTS FOR APCM** Diocesan Synod had quite an active year but little can be seen to be happening locally at our parish level. It is encouraging to see that mission fields like Spotify and Fresh Expressions are seeing results in other deaneries. This year has seen major developments in the areas of the provision of blessings for same sex/gay couples relationships, the appointment of additional youth work leaders, the appointment of cross diocese advisors to give expert help in building planned giving in parishes, facilitating eco church developments, and improving energy conservation in church housing and schools. Considerable work has been done on the new Parish Share calculation model. Now that our Deanery is beginning to function more effectively, we can expect to see some of these initiatives being rolled out in our Deanery. Information about the new Parish Share scheme will be rolled out to our Deanery and thence to our Parish in 2024. In Deanery Synod the first order of business for the year was the settling in of our 3 new vicars, namely David Penny (Winchcombe), Tom Powell (Bishops Cleeve), and Nick Davis (Tewkesbury). Their first priority was of necessity the adoption and implementation of the Deanery Strategical Plan (DSP) that had been developed by Stephen Walker (then Area Dean for T&W Deanery) ably assist by Julia Hook (acting Area Dean after Stephen stood down) and Rob Stone (Deanery Lay Chair). The T&W DSP was approved by our Deanery Synod on 12[th] Sept 2023. It will be taken forward by David penny as Area Dean with Nick Davis, Tim Powell, and Julia Hook assisting as mission area coordinators. In November the Deanery came together to discuss Parish Share proposals/needs as advised by The Diocese Finance Committee. In 2023 the shortfall of Parish Share to cover the cost of clergy rose to £2.6 million. Consequently the Diocese asked Deaneries to seek increases to Parish Share giving by a modest 2% above inflation (~7%) Generally our Deanery responded well to this request and Winchcombe Parish agreed to this. However overall the decision by Tewkesbury Abbey and one other smaller Parish to temporarily halve their Parish Contributions meant that as a Deanery we could not support the Diocese as they would have liked. Geof Adlington ## **v) LICENSED LAY MINISTERS/READERS REPORT TO THE APCM** The emergence from Covid restrictions and the installation of David as Rector have produced a new vigour and joy in the activities of the four Licensed Lay Readers in the Parish. Our fortnightly meetings with the ministry team involve the inevitable mundane activity (keeping up with the rotas) but are greatly enhanced by interesting discussions and spiritual development. The Readers have been more visible in St Peter’s on Sunday mornings than has been the case in the last few years; both deaconing and preaching, and we are very grateful to David for giving us this opportunity. We hope that the congregation finds what we say interesting, moving, thought provoking and inspiring to seek to find out and do God’s will. We always welcome any feedback to help us improve, so please do let us have your comments and suggestions! In addition to morning services, you’ll often find us leading evening worship in a variety of styles on Sundays at St Peter’s. We are active in the other churches of the parish, conducting Sunday services at Christ Church, Gretton, St Michael’s, Stanley Pontlarge and St Mary's, Sudeley. We also support Julia and John in the parishes North of Winchcombe and have conducted services in Great Washbourne, Snowshill and Wormington – especially at Easter, Christmas and Remembrance Sunday. In other areas of ministry, Steve Carter is working with a small team to set up ‘Awesome,’ an exciting new outreach initiative due to launch on Saturday 30th March; Cliff Cocks and Fliss Hall are leading Lent 18 groups; Chris Haslam engages the Winchcombe Poets and is a stalwart of the Magazine Committee. We all, in various informal ways, try to be involved in pastoral care whenever and wherever we're needed. ## **vi) NOTES FOR APCM RE SAFEGUARDING** 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: - Promoting a safer environment and culture - Safely recruiting and supporting all those with any responsibility related to children and vulnerable adults - Responding promptly to every safeguarding concern or allegation - Caring pastorally for victims/survivors of abuse or other affected persons - Caring pastorally for those who are the subject of concerns/allegations of abuse and other affected persons - 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, in her role as DBS Administrator, 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. DBS clearances must now be renewed or updated every three years. ## **2. Safer Recruitment** All those working for the church in activities involving children or vulnerable adults, whether the role is paid or voluntary, must be recruited using the Safer Recruitment process. If you are recruiting in these areas, please contact the Parish Safeguarding Officer for further information. ## **3. Parish Dashboard** We continue 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 which can be presented to the PCC. ## **4. Safeguarding Training** Safeguarding Training is a requirement for all paid employees and any officers of the church. Safeguarding training courses are available online via the C of E training portal. The Parish Safeguarding Officer, in conjunction with the Priest in Charge and the PCC, will contact those whose roles require training to explain what is needed. Training should be renewed every three years. Some ‘in person’ training sessions were held during 2023 for those who prefer not to use the online portal. Further ‘in person’ sessions will be held in 2024. 19 ## **vii) PASTORAL TEAM REPORT APCM 2024** Thanks must go to our Pastoral Team, Lesley Davies, Jill and Roger Hargreaves, Shelley Hoban, Gaye Kimber and Margaret Lloyd, who have continued to contact and visit those in the parish who are at a particular point of need or who may feel lonely and isolated. I am happy to report that more than thirty parishioners were either telephoned or visited on a regular basis during the year. The offer of Home Communion and or a Pastoral visit has worked well and been accepted by several home bound parishioners meaning that on average they see someone from the church twice a month. Early in the Spring of 2023 Revd David took over as chair of the monthly meetings of the Pastoral Team and the Home Communion Team. ## _Judith Skinner_ _Co-ordinator Pastoral Team_ ## **viii) MUSIC REPORT TO THE APCM** After the disruption caused by covid in recent years it was good to return to some normality in 2023, although the virus still infected some members of the choir and both directors of music at different times. In February we welcomed David Penny as our priest in charge together with his wife, Deborah. David chose some interesting music for his licensing service including an organ piece composed for his ordination by a friend. In May, as the country celebrated the coronation of King Charles III, we marked the occasion with music composed for the Royal Family, and of course the National Anthem, this time as arranged by Gordon Jacob. The choir concert in June was very successful and included a variety of church music and lighter fayre from The Sound of Music and West Side Story. By contrast, in November, the choir sang Durufle‘s Requiem as a major contribution to the All Souls’ service. During the year we continued to support the regular services at St Peter’s, and also two of the summer Evensongs at St Mary’s, Sudeley, the summer Choral Evensong at St Michael’s, Stanley Pontlarge, and the patronal festival at Christ Church, Gretton. Advent and Christmas services followed soon after All Souls’. Unluckily Shelley contracted covid just before the Carol Service and was unable to take part, but the choir was well prepared and we were able to continue with only minor changes to the planned music scheme for that and the Midnight and Christmas morning services. I am most grateful to all the members of the choir for their hard work during the year, to those friends who joined us for special services, to Shelley, my co-director of music, and to John Ursell from Cheltenham who has played the organ for me when I have been away. We look forward to working with David in 2024 as he develops his plans for worship in St Peter’s. Andrew Horton and Shelley Everall Joint Directors of Music 20 ## **ix) ST PETERS FLOWER ARRANGERS – REPORT TO THE ANNUAL MEETING 2024** 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. We have continued to work without using floral foam (Oasis). Large pedestal arrangements remain problematic, but we are getting to grips with new methods of arranging using chicken wire and other props. We have also begun searching for deeper containers and vases which are more suitable for this type of arrangement. We are looking for plain pottery and stoneware as these seem to be in keeping with the church interior. Oasis is very damaging to the environment as it breaks down into microplastic particles. Its use is banned by many churches and cathedrals, including Gloucester, and the RHS. We continue to investigate alternative foams, but none seem to work as well, and many are almost as eco-unfriendly as Oasis. We continue to investigate the possibility of sourcing our flowers locally or from this country and using potted plants and more informal arrangements of local foliage, berries, and fruits. We remain unable to provide additional flowers for weddings. Couples are welcome to put additional arrangements in church or bring in a florist, but we ask that they do not move or remove the altar arrangement. We do request that outside florists do not use floral foam, but this is rarely adhered to. We are a small group, and 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 ## **x) REPORT TO THE APCM FROM THE BELLRINGERS** In spite of the fact that we are still very short of ringers, we are managing to maintain a presence on Sunday mornings, and to practice on Wednesday evenings. We lost one of our ringers last year, but we have a new recruit who is now up to ringing on a Sunday. We are also training up two other people in the hope that they will join us eventually. We rang for 5 weddings last year and, so far, there are 4 in the pipe line for 2024. We also rang for the Coronation of King Charles III in May, along with the majority of other Churches in the land. Following on from advice, we have applied for grants to help us with various maintenance issues that need addressing. Some of these issues stem from the augmentation to 8 bells in 1997, so we have contacted the original bell hangers to rectify them. Unfortunately, it would appear that having special recruitment sessions does not produce the volume of learners that we require. While it seems that it is a good PR exercise, the best way to recruit seems to be by word of mouth. Please publicise this, as we still need more ringers! Edward Kain, as usual, is seeing to it that the bells are in good repair, and will oversee the work that is to be done in 2024. Clare Pritchard Captain of Bellringers 21 ## **xi) ECO CHURCH GROUP** In 2023 we were very pleased to receive the A Rocha silver award which was celebrated at a service on July 9th and we continue our work aiming for gold. Since installing the new curtain near the altar and the old curtain to stop draughts from the door from the porch room, we have been working on plans for improvements in the NE corner of the churchyard (Kenelm’s Corner) and more tree planting. To this end a grant, which has now been granted, and Faculty were applied for. The intention is to improve this corner and put in a gabion seat, using some of the broken stone from the churchyard. Elsewhere more bluebells were planted and the snowdrops encouraged to spread. We had some plants for sale in the church porch and a stall at the Fete to both raise funds and the profile of the group. We have continued to encourage eco changes within the flower arranging team by no longer using oasis and the cleaning group to use eco-friendly products as well as the community as a whole with regularly changing displays on our notice board. Natalie Stone ## **xii) STEWARD’S REPORT** My grateful thanks to Lynn Gorman for all that she did over the past many years to lead the Stewards’ Team, and from whom I took over the role towards the end of 2023. We have a loyal team of stewards on the weekly rota, albeit not everyone can commit to a regular stint. Since the easing of Covid restrictions, people have returned from across the world, with most coming from the UK. The majority of overseas visitors are from Europe, with a substantial number also visiting from the USA and Australia and New Zealand, and also an occasional visitor from more remote places – Honolulu for example. New volunteers to join the team would be very welcome. Stewarding is an important part of St Peter’s ministry and outreach, and many comments in the Visitors’ Book reflect how grateful people are to find an open church with a warm and friendly welcome. Katy Bagnall Steward Co-ordinator ## **xiii) TODDLER TIME AT ST PETER’S** At 10 a.m. each Thursday, to the cheerful sound of tiny voices, 10-12 children under school age arrive with mothers, fathers, grandparents and carers. Toddler Time at St. Peter’s continues throughout the year, including the school holidays. Grateful Grandparents have told us that the sessions are a lifeline during the long summer holidays. On offer for the children, are play, crafts, Bible Stories and music, together with personal interaction for both adults and children, leading to friendships outside Toddler Time. Healthy snacks, including fruit, are served to the children, whilst adults enjoy cafetiere coffee, tea and “mummy” biscuits. We are indeed grateful to the loyal band of 9 helpers who serve on a rota, with 3 helpers on duty each week. If you have very young children, are grandparents who regularly care for children on Thursdays, do join our friendly and supportive group, in the calm and peaceful space that is St. Peter’s, and which we all enjoy. We are also grateful for the support we receive from Clergy and Readers. We look forward to welcoming you. Gill Worthington and the Toddler Time Team. 22