St. Peter’s Church, Wellesbourne
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SUMMARY REPORT OF THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31°" DECEMBER, 2025
Vicar:
Revd Greg Bartlem
Churchwardens:
Jann Wallace David Close
Secretary:
Ros Jarrett
Treasurer:
Jann Wallace
Independent Examiner:
Warren Ridgway
Bank
Barclays Bank Ltd. Market Cross, Stratford-upon-Avon
Central Board of Finance
Church of England Funds
Aim and Purposes
St. Peter’s Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility of co-operating with the incumbent, the Reverend Greg Bartlem, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical.
The PCC is also specifically responsible for the maintenance of the Church, Church Centre and grounds of St. Peter’s Church, Church Street, Wellesbourne.
Objectives and Activities
St. Peter’s Church aims to be a broad church for everyone in Wellesbourne. Our objectives are to worship God, make new disciples, and transform communities. The PCC maintains an overview of these objectives, seeking to ensure that the activities we offer appeal to a wide variety of Wellesbourne people of all ages, temperaments and backgrounds.
It is important that we maintain the fabric of the Church, Church Centre and grounds to facilitate this work.
Electoral Roll and Attendance
The Church’s Electoral Roll is the register of its voting members. As of January 2026 the number on the roll is 124. Church attendance figures were encouraging with new people joining us. Additionally, special services throughout the year, such as Remembrance, Christmas and Easter were well attended.
Achievements and Performance
Worship and Prayer
The pattern of worship and prayer at St Peter’s seeks to cater for a wide range of people. Our regular pattern of services, throughout 2025 took the following form:
Sundays 10am Family Communion in Church. 10am Connections: informal, contemporary worship in the Church Centre. (both services moving to 10.30am from September)
Once a month we aimed to hold a ‘Together Service’ combining the above congregations.
Tuesdays Morning Prayer at 9.10am (Until September) Mondays Prayers on Toast at 9am in the Vicarage (from September)
St Peter’s Church continues to grow with new people joining us during 2025. This has been very encouraging! | am especially thrilled at the large numbers of children attending our midweek groups. Liz our Children’s and Families Worker is doing a great job!
The Connections Services (café style services held in our Church Centre) have explored a range of themes this year, combining reflection and discussion with contemporary worship songs, ably led by Richard Bacon and a dedicated team alongside him.
Highpoints of the year included 480 of us, packing out the church for our Crib and Christingle service on Christmas Eve (we will need to split it for 2026!) and the joy of the many School services. | also enjoyed seeing so many of you at our Vicarage Garden Party. The Christmas Fare was also wonderful!
We were also thrilled to begin offering Prayer Ministry regularly, this has been a wonderful opportunity for people to encounter God’s love and healing.
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Breathe 24 in June, helped us to invest time in prayer whilst we continued to try new ways of connecting with God. The church WhatsApp group continues to be a blessing, enabling us to connect better with each other and God aside from Sundays.
In September, we waved goodbye to Helen Smith, who has served us so well as Curate here. Helen has been a real blessing to us, across virtually every aspect of church life. We do miss her.
This year’s Remembrance service, held in the churchyard again attracted a huge attendance, whilst the Poppy Cascade once again brought many visitors into the church building. This is a wonderful community project with the church playing its part.
The church services themselves were supported by Stewart Wallace our Director of Sung Worship, Stewart continues to be a real blessing to us as do Sue Bacon at Connections and the many members of the sung worship teams.
Sadly, the St Peter’s Singers came to an end during 2024, we thank everyone who has played their part in this wonderful worshipful ministry. The Dene Singers, blessed us also on a number of occasions, especially at Christmas.
Once again, we thank Jann Wallace who puts together the PowerPoint presentations for each week’s service.
Sides Person Report: Over the last 12 months we have had a very good rota of sides people. We gained some new volunteers who can also administer communion and one person stepped down. Many thanks to all the volunteers during 2025. Cyril Loman - Sides person co-ordinator.
Prayer and Pizza: a weekly group for ‘Tweenagers’ (school years 7-10) continues to help these young people find their own Christian faith. This year we enjoyed using ‘The Thrive bus’ a specially kitted out dedicated moveable Youth facility.
Prayer and Popcorn, meets on Thursday evenings and is aimed at older Primary school children, numbers were often in the high teens for this.
JAM (Jesus and Me) is a Christian club run by the church and based at the school, again we meet on Thursdays (straight after school) and numbers are in the mid 20s. Thanks so much to Liz and our many wonderful volunteers for taking part in this wonderful outreach.
Prayer Chain: The Prayer Chain consists of a group of people who pray in confidence for those in need. We take calls for the sick, dying and those in various kinds of trouble, both for themselves and on behalf of others. We explain to them that we pray for a week and encourage them to ring again to request more prayer if needed.
The Poppy Cascade: A highpoint of 2025 was the return of the Poppy Cascade, now in its 3rd year. This time around the church was beautifully decorated by the Wellesbourne Crafternoons team, the church was open daily and drew many people once again into the building, where at the weekends they were served hot drinks and cake. Over £1300 was donated to the church through this endeavour. Once again we are most grateful to the team of volunteers who made it happen.
Pastoral Offices: We conducted 6 baptisms, 2 weddings, 24 funerals (9 at the Crematorium and 15 in the church - 12 were burials) during 2025.
Wellesbourne C of E Primary School: St Peter’s enjoys a very warm and positive relationship with the school. We supported our school by providing two Foundation Governors (Pam Norton and Greg Bartlem) whilst Greg is also Chair of the Christian Foundation Team, which is a subgroup of the Governors, along with serving as Vice Chair of the Governors.
The school children attended 11 church services at St Peter’s during 2025 alongside many Christian assemblies at the school from both the ‘Open the Book’ team (led by William Howard) and members of the church. With thanks to Liz Host for her work with this.
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Discipleship & Pastoral Care
Home Groups: Our Home Groups continue to be an integral part of our church family here at St Peter's and continue to flourish due to the special relationships and trust existing between group members. These groups are a safe space to meet, share fellowship, pray, study, discuss and have fun too. Each group is autonomous, unique, special and the groups themselves decide on their own study material as best suits them. Group members are caring and supportive of each other and confidences, beliefs, doubts and opinions shared remain in the group. "What's shared in group stays in group”.
We have 9 home groups, meeting mornings, afternoons and evenings, one of which meets in the one of the local sheltered housing schemes. Our groups are interdenominational, friendly and welcoming.
We are always ready to welcome new group members, so in the first instance please speak to Rev Greg or Linda Mitchell who will find a group for you, or maybe even start another new group. We are mindful to keep the healthy balance of not overloading groups and excited to start growing more new groups as need demands.
Children & Young People
The main church-led provision in school is JAM club (Jesus and Me) which has around 15 members. Liz and Catherine Simms lead the weekly, after-school club comprised of children aged between 7-11 years old. The sessions are interactive and lively; each one includes a song, snack, craft, story, game and finishes with a prayer. It is encouraging to see the children get involved in discussions based around a Bible story and growin their knowledge of Christianity. In addition, though, the club provides a safe space for the children to bring their questions and prayer requests. Several times a year, the members of JAM club are involved within church services and really enjoy leading prayers or presenting a Bible based drama.
Prayer and Popcorn is a group that meets on Thursday evenings during term-time. There are around 14 young people (Years 5, 6 and 7) currently involved on a weekly basis. The sessions are led by Liz and volunteers from the church community. Each session includes a faith-based story and discussion, with a focus on themes relevant to this age group. Games and snacks are also important elements of the session and we finish each evening with prayers; these are often led by the children. Members of the group were involved in the Crib service and enjoyed performing an interactive version of 12 Days of Christmas to the congregation.
Prayer and Pizza is a group that meets on Wednesday evenings during term-time. There are around 12 members who attend on a regular basis aged between 11-14 years old. The sessions are very active and revolve around games played inside the church centre and outside on the paddock (during warmer weather). We have also enjoyed the Thrive Youth Bus and fire pits as part of our winter time activities (Oct — Feb). Food is always enjoyed and we try and say a prayer at the end where the young people can pray or be led in prayer by a leader.
Stay and Play/Praise offers weekly provision for families with pre-school aged children to enjoy community. Margaret Howard and the team of volunteers are integral to this ministry, providing a warm welcome to local families. Liz has started an additional monthly service (Stay and Praise) in church to encourage families into the building. Meeting at 1pm (on the 1* Sunday of the month), the families meet to hear a story, play a game, sing and pray together. After which, they go over to the church centre for Stay and Play. Sessions involve snacks, songs, play-based activities and hot drinks for adults. New families are always joining, having heard about the group through word-of-mouth or Facebook.
Our Open the Book (OTB) team brings engaging and interactive Bible stories into the primary school. The dramas are enjoyed by children and teachers who always look forward to seeing the keen actors dressing up in imaginative costumes and wielding a variety of props. Feedback from staff and pupils is especially positive and OTB performances never fail to bring memorable moments during Collective Worship. In addition to the OTB assemblies, Greg and Liz visit the primary schools regularly to lead collective worship for the children and staff.
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Lego Church has been running for a year now and is a provision for the Lego building community! We meet on the 4'" Sunday of every month and at our last session we had 25 children and 15 adults attend. Sessions run in the Carr Room but may need to move to the Quinn Room if numbers continue to increase. At present, Liz runs the session alone but is looking for volunteers to join the sessions. The children enjoy building Lego creations around a theme, working alone, with an adult, in pairs or groups. Snacks and drinks are available for everyone. To end the session, children bring their Lego creations into the Connections service where they do a show-andtell. The congregation are always very encouraging and enjoy seeing what’s been built. We join together ina prayer to end the session.
Mothers Union: Our 2025 meetings commenced in January with our AGM and we have met each month in the year since then. We have been busy with other projects including Mothering Sunday when we provided and supplied a selection of plants and chocolates to be given to Coffee Tots mums by their children. We also provided funds, raised by our Church stall, for the purchase of pizzas and craft items for members of our church Prayer and Pizza group.
For the ninth year running The Heart of England Cycle Club asked us to provide for sale, cakes and savoury snack plus hot and cold drinks which raised monies for MU funds. We received a letter from the cycle club expressing their thanks with a further donation of £40 for MU funds.
Our Deanery lunch in August, which has now become an annual event, included members from Wellesbourne, Barford, Shottery, Kineton and Newbold on Stour. Karen Morris our Diocesan President was also in attendance at the lunch, a good time seemed to be had by all attendees.
MU had its usual stall at the Christmas Fair full of craft items, cakes, marmalade, chutneys, and much more. Everyone enjoyed the occasion with plenty of opportunity for members to do some Christmas shopping.
This year we again supported the Community Fund by providing Christmas goodies which were distributed to vulnerable people and people who are on their own in the Wellesbourne area. Our congregation of St Peter’s supported us and was very generous in giving many Christmas items and food goodies.
We provided two large Christmas hampers for Coffee Tots to give to mums with children who have very little.
We also provided crackers and table decorations, as last year, for them to have a traditional Christmas lunch which was held prior to Christmas Day. Presents and much more were also given for families in need. A hamper was made up of Christmas food and goodies and was given to a St Peter’s family in need.
All the Christmas food and hampers were blessed by the Rev Greg at the Mothers ’Union service on Advent Sunday in December. Our Wellesbourne branch Christmas carol service was held at The Vicarage by the kind invitation of Rev Greg and Catherine. It was well attended and everyone enjoyed themselves.
Our sales table at the back of the church still very popular our takings increased significantly particularly at the time of the poppy cascade catering, so during the year we have been able to support the prayer and pizza by £300, we paid for the crackers for the Coffee Tots Christmas meal, £50 was spent on plants and chocolates for Mothering Sunday for children to give to their mums at Coffee Tots.
We also supported St Peter’s by the giving of £200 and the Mothers ’Union work by £200.
| would like to thank members for serving tea, coffee and biscuits at each meeting, finally | would like to thank everyone who has supported during the last year and giving their time to the Mothers ’Union. Veronica Quinn.
Home Communion: Home Communion visits are made to members of our congregation who are unable physically to attend communion services at St Peter’s Church and are served by a team of nine people which includes the clergy. We also continue to offer communion services at both Lawrence Mackie House and Ettington Lodge sheltered housing scheme during the second week of every month.
Community Support
Wendy Biddington led on this valuable work in 2025 and we are most grateful for her compassion towards some of the most vulnerable people in our village. Wendy’s update is below:
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Community support is incredibly important for the vulnerable in our village. It is such a privilege to share the love of Jesus through listening, kindness, compassion and generosity and my thanks to all the volunteers who help in any of the initiatives below.
Community fund: With confidentiality in mind you don’t hear much about this work which can involve delivering furniture, buying a winter coat or white goods, a bike or other essentials. Our designated phone for referrals is 07351 946442. Anne Penfold has now taken over this work and will be building a team and working in partnership with other agencies.
Foodbank: We collected 4260.64kg in Wellesbourne. This provided food and other items to 330 adults and 194 children which was an increase of approximately 25% in activity. This included a number of homeless people — some living rough. At Christmas we gave out 62 hampers but had to buy in quite a lot of food for these. Our thanks to all those who made donations into foodbank over the year — it really is appreciated. We are now only open ona Friday but offer a delivery service on a Monday for those who cannot collect their food box. This is working well. Our designated phone number for referrals is 07581 297197
Ettington Lodge: Sadly the dementia café on a Monday has now closed so we can no longer link in with them for festival times. Instead this Christmas we offered a carol service to all the residents with coffee and mincepies which was appreciated by those who came. There is a small group who come to the Holy Communion service and the home group Bible study. This year the collections were given to foodbank
Wellesbourne and Walton Community Cares (WW-CC): The holiday at home scheme held in the Bowls Club imagined we were in Italy. Eurostar tickets were issued at the door, a short walk down the corridor and folk arrived in Italy! Food, activities, quizzes and games all reflected the theme. OSCARS continued at Easter, summer and Christmas and the format of quiz, ‘Ritzy’ tea followed by entertainment worked well. Transport will be a future challenge with Backnforth no longer in operation. All these events are free so we do have to look at fund raising through grants, raffles at our events and the Santa sleigh collection at Sainsburys as well as the sleigh round the village. Do look on our website - https://www.ww-cc.co.uk as this is now updated regularly with photos and news.
Meet&Eat: This year we met every Wednesday 12-1.30pm in the Methodist Hall except Christmas Eve. Special meals were provided for Valentine’s Day, Easter, harvest and Christmas and these were free of charge. During Lent we supported an organisation providing homes in Africa. Christmas Day lunch did go ahead this year with a new person organising it not associated with Meet&Eat and 22 people enjoyed a wonderful lunch plus three others had a meal delivered to their home.
Plans for 2026: It would be lovely to continue all these initiatives but it does rely on teams of volunteers. No one is expected to turn up every week so volunteering is manageable with people’s buy lives. If you would like to more about any of these please contact Wendy on 01789 840953 or w.nbiddington701@outlook.com
Mission Partners: St Peters Church continued to support 3 charities in 2025. These were Flourish, a Leamington based teenage girl’s project, the Wellesbourne Dementia Café and Coffee Tots which is based in Coventry.
Friends of St. Peter’s: In 2024 we continued to provide the brunch breakfasts on a monthly basis which have proved to be very popular and are growing in size. The Friends also provided refreshments at the Community Fayre in September and at St Peter’s Christmas Fair. We are always looking for new members to increase our team.
Facilities/Premises
The Fabric Committee: The Fabric Committee met four times during the year where they discussed issues relating to the Church building and the Churchyard.
Premises: The pressure unit was replaced in 2025 which has solved the heating issues but has not solved the underlying problem of loss of water from the system where no one has come up yet with a suggestion as to where the loss is taking place. It might even be possibly outside the church building.
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An energy audit was carried out by colleagues from the Diocese that recommended replacing the current heating system with under pew heating and infrared heating. The building manager and David Close are arranging visits to other churches to see how these systems function.
The building manager carried out a test of cold spots in the church using equipment loaned from the Parish Council. It would appear that the images show that the cold spots are evident on every window and on every door space making it very difficult to assess what could be done to significantly reduce draughts throughout the church, despite a small grant being available to prevent the draughts. As part of energy saving, a small group from the PCC has been set up to look at ways in which costs can be managed.
A rationalisation of the church equipment as part of the asset register is virtually complete and a stock check will be carried out during 2026.
The site manager and David Close have been discussing placing plaques on backs of chairs to be offered to the church and the village community as a fundraising opportunity for a minimum donation.
Drainage from the roof of the church has found to be prevented in some areas by severe blockages in the hoppers and downpipes. The issue is ongoing.
Churchyard: The snowdrops have flowered profusely in the old churchyard giving a magnificent display along with some early primroses and crocuses.
The Churchyard continues to be well maintained and much appreciated by many families. We are grateful to the Parish Council for arranging and paying for some of the grass cutting. Burials and interments of ashes continued in the new churchyard extension.
Terry Hobbs and Michael Dane thoroughly pruned the copper beech hedge which divides the old and new churchyard. The tree branches along the public footpath and a dead tree by the northern boundary were removed.
At the end of the year, the grass cutting budget was being reviewed with a view to the number of cuts being reduced in 2026. Michael Dane completed a survey of the number of grave spaces available in the new churchyard, with present use the churchyard may be full in 5 years. Discussions have been started with the Diocese on how to proceed once the new churchyard is full.
Aylworth Tomb: Work is being done to find grants to fund the complete restoration and repair of the tomb. Quotes for a repair have been received from two companies.
Once again the poppy cascade proved to be very successful, raising money for local charities and church funds.
No issues were reported in 2025 regarding anti-social behaviour during the school holidays.
The Church Centre: The Church Centre Committee met three times during 2025.
The Church Centre lettings have been quite steady during the year, however we do have some spare capacity. The centre is now in a better situation at the end of the year after closing for the pandemic, but the tremendous rise in utilities and costs generally has been a key factor regarding our full recovery.
The committee decided not to increase the hire charges during 2025, these rates however will be monitored and reviewed at our committee meetings, particularly in the face of competition from other venues in the village which includes the new Parish Council community hub. We consider that the Church Centre hire rates give good value for all hirers.
The centre is generally well serviced and maintained and a good venue for all. Our cleaner is now in her eighth year and cleans the centre for about 8 to 9 hours per week.
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Bell Ringing: Our weekly Practice on Thursday evenings continued to be a success, we have a good regular band turn up to ring. We also have our very faithful local regular Sunday morning ringers who ring from 10.00 until 10.25am
Our practice night is on Thursdays 7.30pm until 9.00pm
We do need new recruits or people who have learnt to ring and would like to have another go, St Peter’s bells are a fairly light ring and are easy going, they suit anyone from the age of 12 years if you want to know more come and have a chat, please do get in touch with Peter Quinn peterquinn22@gmail.com or telephone 07785793500
We ring for all special occasions such as weddings, Royal occasions and special church services.
Our band is closely associated with the Coventry Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers and the Four Shires Guild of Bell Ringers, these guilds hold regular practice meetings at Wellesbourne they also hold more or less a practice every week of the year, they also have a series of social events during the year.
Communications
Church Website: The Church website www.stpeterswellesbourne.org.uk had a new home page this year and further changes are planned to make it more friendly. It is updated each week with the Weekly Newsletter and events are updated as they are planned. The website continues to get about five visits a day; the main pages visited are the Church Centre, Contact Details and Diary, Events and Socials.
The Wellesbourne and Walton News: The Parish Council have now taken over the running of the W&WN. The church continues to contribute £2000 a year and have a guaranteed two pages in the magazine. Linda Dane also continues to prepare these two pages. The content of the magazine continued to flourish with contributions coming from all sectors of the community. We are most grateful to everyone who volunteers towards the WWN but in particular Michael and Linda Dane.
Volunteers
We are very grateful to a myriad of volunteers who undertook tasks which kept the church going throughout 2025 The church is also most grateful to our vergers Michael Dane, Cyril Loman and Pam Garnett along with all the other members of the PCC for their valuable contribution to our ministry and for keeping the church running.
Churchwardens:. Jann Wallace and David Close served us faithfully as Churchwardens during what proved to bea stable and encouraging year.
The Inventory, Logbook and Terrier have been kept up to date, and the various works undertaken have been recorded and reported in the Fabric Report to the PCC.
Structure, Governance and Management
The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. At St. Peter’s, the membership of the PCC consists of the incumbent (the vicar), churchwardens, and members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church. All those who attend our services/members of different congregations are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC.
The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish including deciding on how the funds of the PCC are to be spent.
St. Peter’s is registered as a Charity with the Charity Commission (Charity Number 1143822). This report is submitted to the Charity Commission each year.
The PCC met five times during the year. In addition, the APCM was held on the 6" April. Given its wide responsibilities the PCC has a number of Committees each dealing with a particular aspect of our parish life. These Committees which include Church Centre and Fabric are responsible to the PCC and report back to it,
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with minutes of their deliberations and recommendations being received by the full PCC and discussed and approved as appropriate.
Deanery Synod provides a link between the parish and the rest of the deanery and beyond to the wider diocese.
Safeguarding: Under the leadership of Pat Clarke, Safeguarding continues to be taken seriously at St Peter's. Staff and volunteers undertake training (where appropriate to the role) which is available online. Our Safeguarding Officer reported to PCC meetings via the Safeguarding dashboard which gives us an update of what areas of our work need further action such as adopting new policies, training or changing what we do. We have continued with a voluntary contact list for congregation members who might wish us to contact their families in case of an emergency.
The Church Office: Our Administrator Ros Jarrett provided administrative support to St Peter’s for 16 hours a week.
The Ministry Support Team: co-ordinates the ministry of St Peter’s under the leadership of the Vicar. Core members in 2025 were the Revd Helen Smith (until September) Lynn Darby, Jann Wallace, David Close and lan Host.
This team met regularly to worship, to ensure the smooth running of church services and events, and ensure pastoral care is in place where most needed.
“St. Peter’s Wellesbourne, inspired by Jesus to forgive, encourage and serve”
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Administrative Information
St. Peter’s Church is situated in Church Street, Wellesbourne, Warwick, CV35 9LS. It is part of the Diocese of Coventry and the Fosse Deanery, within the Church of England. The correspondence address is The Vicarage, Church Street, Wellesbourne, Warwick, CV35 9LS.
The PCC is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2017) and a registered charity with the Charity Commission (Charity Number 1143822).
PCC members who have served from 1 January 2025 until the date this report was approved are:
Ex Officio members
| Incumbent | Reverend Greg Bartlem | Chairman |
|---|---|---|
| Curate | Reverend Helen Smith (until September 2025) | |
| Wardens | MrsJann Wallace | |
| Mr David Close - Vice Chairman | ||
| Deanery Synod | Mrs Margaret Howard | |
| Mr lan Host | ||
| Mrs Jann Wallace | ||
| Elected members: | Mrs Veronica Quinn | |
| Mr Cyril Loman | ||
| Mrs Christine Murphy | ||
| Mrs Fiona Unsworth (until April 2025) | ||
| Mr Graham Day | ||
| MrJackson Towers | ||
| Mrs Linda Mitchell (until April) | ||
| Mrs Jan Willows | ||
| Mrs Lynn Darby | ||
| MrsAlison Lusty (from April) | ||
| MrsAnne Penfold (from April 2025) | ||
| Mrs Sue Henderson (from April 2025) | ||
| Mr Michael Crocker (from April 2025) | ||
| Minutes Secretary: | Mrs Linda Dane (non-voting) | |
| Secretary: | MrsRosJarrett(non-voting) |
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Financial Review
The net result for the year on all funds was an excess of payments over receipts of £18,966 (2024: £37,394). On restricted funds there was a surplus of receipts over payments of £6,594; the deficit on unrestricted funds was, therefore, £25,560.
Planned giving reduced slightly from £65,181 in 2024 to £64,591 in 2025, whilst other/ad hoc giving increased from £14,904 in 2024 to £22,313 in 2025, mostly due to a gift day in February which raised almost £2,000, and grants received: £3,328 from the Deanery, £2,000 from the John James trust towards to cost of the children and families’ worker, £750 towards the cost of the Thrive Youth Bus, £1,750 towards the repair of the Aylworth Tomb and £437 from Wellesbourne Parish Council for the servicing of the church clock. Two bequests totalling £2,100 were received in the year. Gift Aid recovered is lower in the year due to the timing of claims submitted. A claim for Gift Aid for 2025 was submitted in February 2026 and £4,410 received in March 2026.
Adding together the bank and deposit balances, the total carried forward in unrestricted funds at 31 December reduced to £104,007 (2024: £129,567). Of this, £26,249 (2024: £22,901) is designated for the Church Centre, repair of the Aylworth Tomb and St Peter’s Friends.
Fundraising was again successful in 2025. Once again, one of the highlights of the year was the busy and successful Christmas Fair held in December which raised another record total of £3,028. The Friends of St Peter’s continued to hold Saturday morning brunches in August, October, November and December which raised a total of £685. Other fundraising for the year included a concert in the church which raised £130, a concert recital which raised £301, and a quiz night in the Church Centre, raising £145. A stand at the Community Fayre raised £300. The Mother’s Union have a table at the back of church where they raise funds by selling produce such as cakes, marmalade and jam, and handmade cards/craft items. From these funds, they donated £200 to St Peter’s in 2025 for which we are very grateful. We also received a very generous donation of £1,300 from the funds raised by the Poppy Cascade.
£106,853 was spent from the unrestricted funds to provide the Christian Ministry from St Peter’s Church, including our contribution of £65,000 to the diocesan share which largely provides the stipendiary costs and housing for clergy. The costs of the Families’ Worker are included in the Christian Ministry figure. This post was funded by a very generous legacy received in 2022. There was no restriction on the use of this legacy and the PCC were in favour of funding children and family work at St Peter’s, in Wellesbourne Primary School and in the wider community.
No expenses were claimed by any PCC member for attending meetings during the year (2024: £0).
The PCC does not act as custodian trustee for any other charity.
Reserves Policy
Restricted Reserves
The Carr Fund Restricted Reserve is held to cover the cost of maintaining the Carr graves in perpetuity (£10,000) with the remainder held to be used as the PCC determines. To date it has been held for fabric issues for the church and churchyard.
Other restricted reserves are set up as a result of specific criteria by the giver such that they can only be spent in a very restricted manner.
Unrestricted Reserves
Unrestricted reserves are held to cover costs that may arise that cannot be met out of annual income flows. This amount represents a minimum of the running costs for six months for the church and the church centre as
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currently operated (excluding the parish share which it is assumed is covered by giving). This cash buffer represents funds in the respective current and deposit accounts at a point in time.
Designated Reserves
Designated reserves are funds set up by the PCC out of unrestricted funds and can be added back into the unrestricted funds at any time. As they are wholly within the control of the PCC they are regarded as a special type of unrestricted fund.
Going Concern
The PCC has considered the issue of the charity continuing as a going concern and concluded that the charity can continue for the foreseeable future.
Approved by the PCC on 26 April 2026 and signed on their behalf
by Reverend Greg Bartlem (PCC Chair)
Signed ........ vin SUTTUTEDST Tt covsceseecssassnesencnacsasesacsssssaecescnaeosssoeseuscusovsossnssanssessessesseasoasseses
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[¢ger3| CHARITY COMMISSION) _ Independent examiner's |
. FOR ENGLAND AND WALES report on the accounts
es "Section A | Independent Examiner's Report Se a ee y :
Report to the trustees/ |THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THEECCLESIASTICAL
raembers of |PARISH OF ST. PETER'S CHURCH, WELLESBOURNE
On accounts for the year | 31°
ended December 2025ee| Charity_ (ifany) no | 1743822 |
Set out on pages | 14-18 -
{ report to the trusiees on my examination of the accounts of the above
charity (the Trust} for the year ended .
Responsibilities and As the charity trusi¢es of the Trusi, you are responsible for the preparation
basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act
2011 ("the Act’).
| report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out
under section 745 of the 2011 Act and in carrying oui my examination, |
have failowed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission
under section 145(5}(b) of the Act,
Independent | have completed my exarnination. | confirm that no material matiers have
examiner's statement core io my attention in connection with the examination which gives me
cause to believe that in, any material respect:
® accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of
ihe Act or
e ithe accounts do not accord with the accounting recards
! have no concerns and have come across no other matiers in connection
with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a
proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed: | fu 2 oy a 7 Date: | Te, Aten Jere |
Name: Michael Warren Ridgway — - a |
Relevant professional PAC. [MA.] as
qualification(s) or body
{if any):
Address: |63, Warwick Road, Wellesbourne, Warwick CV35 9UB
- oo |
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13
St Peter’s Church, Wellesbourne Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2025
Receipts and Payments Account
----- Start of picture text -----
|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Unrestricted|Restricted|"eval|Total|
|Note|Funds|Funds|Funds2025|Funds2024|
|RECEIPTS|:|£|£|£|£|
|Voluntary|Receipts:|
|Planned|giving|64,591|-|64,591|65,181|
|Collections|at Services|4,084|-|4,084|1,504|
|Bequests/one-off donation|2,100|-|2,100|2,057|
|All|Other|Giving/Voluntary|Receipts|Sa|15,106|7,207|22,313|14,904|
|Gift Aid|Recovered|13,904|-|13,904|16,391|
|99,785|7,207|106,922|100,037|
|Activities for Generating|Funds|5b|28,320|-|28,320|32,743|
|Investment|Income|5c|4,974|1,538|6,512|9,266|
|Church|Activities|5d|9,876|1,472|11,348|8,350|
|Listed|Places|of Worship VAT recovered|5e|308|-|308|4,401|
|Total|Receipts|143,263|10,217|153,480|154,797|
|PAYMENTS|
|Church|Activities:|
|Parish|share|65,000|-|65,000|60,912|
|Clergy|and|Staffing|expenses|13,325|-|13,325|12,944|
|Church|Running|Expenses|of|59,470|570|60,040|84,623|
|Church|Centre|Running|Costs|5g|21,040|-|21,040|18,183|
|Mission|giving|and|Donations|Sh|6,810|3,053|9,863|11,116|
|Costs|of Generating|Funds|Si|3,178|-|3,178|4,413|
|Total|payments|168,823|3,623|172,446|192,191|
|(Excess)|of Payments/receipts|(25,560)|6,594|(18,966)|(37,394)|
|Cash|at|Bank and|in|Hand|1st January|129,567|52,930|182,497|219,891|
|Cash|at Bank and|in|Hand|31st December|104,007|59,525|163,532|182,497|
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14
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
| Unrestricted Funds |
Restricted Funds |
Total Panes 2025 |
total Furias 2024 |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | Funds | £ | £ | £ | £ |
| Bank CurrentAccount General | 2,661 | 23,654 | 26,315 | 29,689 | |
| BankCurrentAccount Church Centre | 5,610 | - | 5,610 | 7,953 | |
| CBF Deposit: Carr Fund | - | 35,871 | 35,871 | 34,003 | |
| CBF Deposit: Church | 77,517 | - | 77,517 | 93,411 | |
| CBF Deposit: Church Centre | 17,969 | - | 17,969 | 17,191 | |
| Petty cash | 200 | - | 200 | 200 | |
| Maintenance Float | 50 | - | 50 | 50 | |
| 104,007 | 59,525 | 163,532 | 182,497 | ||
| Other MonetaryAssets | |||||
| Gift Aid Recoverable | 3,883 | 527 | 4,410 | 2,307 | |
| Assets Retained forChurch Use: Church Centre at | |||||
| cost | 258,881 | 258,881 | 258,881 | ||
| Liabilities | |||||
| Fees owed to Coventry Diocesan Board of | |||||
| Finance | 217 | - | 217 | 888 | |
| Clergy Expenses | - | - | - | 320 | |
| - | - | - | 1,208 |
15
Notes
-
The Financial Statements of the PCC have been prepared in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 using the receipts and payments basis.
-
Asset retained for Church use is the Church Centre at cost basis. The Church Centre and contents are valued at £3,660,000 for insurance purposes.
-
St Peter's church and contents are valued at £14,630,000 for insurance purposes.
-
The movements in the designated and restricted funds during the year
| were: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F DesignatedFunds |
Balb/fwd | . Receipts |
Payments | Bal effaid |
| Organ and Music Fund | 3,443 | - | 3,443 | 0 |
| St Peter’s Friends Fund | 4,458 | 884 | 93 | 5,249 |
| AylworthTomb | - | 6,000 | - | 6,000 |
| Church Centre Reserve | 15,000 | - | - | 15,000 |
| 22,901 | 6,884 | 3,536 | 26,249 |
Fund Descriptions:
The Organ and Music Fund was used in the year to help towards payment of the organist’s salary.
St Peter’s Friends is a group which raises funds for the church through various activities such as serving Saturday morning brunches to the community.
The Aylworth Tomb Fund consists of an amount set aside for the repair of the structure as agreed by the PCC.
The Church Centre Reserve is set aside for major repairs and maintenance to the centre.
| . RestrictedFunds |
Balb/fwd | . Receipts |
Payments | Bal e/fwd |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community Benevolent Fund | 9,837 | 1,764 | 570 | 11,031 | |
| Fabric Fund (Carr Bequest) | 34,333 | 1,538 | - | 35,871 | |
| Memorial Wall | Sa | 5,105 | 1,472 | 270 | 6,307 |
| Meet& Eat | 1,954 | 1.976 | 2,183 | 1,747 | |
| Foodbank | 701 | 809 | 300 | 1,210 | |
| Youth & Childrens’ Ministry | - | 750 | 300 | 450 | |
| Collection for other charities | - | 159 | - | - | |
| AylworthTomb | 1,000 | 1,750 | - | 2,750 | |
| 52,930 | 10,218 | 3,623 | 59,366 |
Fund Descriptions:
The Community Benevolent Fund exists to help individuals and families in crisis through the provision of such items as white goods, furniture, clothing and petrol vouchers as a short term measure.
The Fabric Fund from the Carr Bequest is partly to cover the cost of maintaining the Carr graves in perpetuity (£10,000), with the remainder held for use as the PCC determines. To date it has been held for fabric issues for the church and churchyard.
The Memorial Wall Fund holds monies paid in advance for inscriptions on the Memorial Wall for ashes interred in St Peter’s churchyard.
16
The Foodbank Fund exists to help individuals and families in crisis through the provision of carefully selected emergency food supplies as a short term measure.
The Youth & Childrens’ Ministry Fund was created due to a grant from the Boyse Trust to fund the use of Coventry Diocese’s Thrive Youth Bus. The grant was for £750, of which £300 was spent in the year.
The Aylworth Tomb fund is the result of a grant received during the year towards the repair of the Aylworth Tomb situated in St Peter’s churchyard.
| 5. | FurtherAnalysis of Receipts and Payments | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted | Restricted | Total | Total | ||||
| Funds | Funds | Funds | Funds | ||||
| 2025 | 2024 | ||||||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | ||||
| Receipts | |||||||
| a) | All othergiving/voluntary receipts | ||||||
| Donations | 9,341 | 4,548 | 13,889 | 13,904 | |||
| Collections for Other Charities | - | 159 | 159 | - | |||
| Grants | 5,765 | 2,500 | 8,265 | 1,000 | |||
| 15,106 | 7,207 | 22,313 | 14,904 | ||||
| b) | Activities forgenerating funds | ||||||
| Church Rental Income | 1,740 | - | 1,740 | 1,179 | |||
| Church Centre Income | 19,858 | - | 19,858 | 23,161 | |||
| Fundraising | 5,949 | - | 5,949 | 4,932 | |||
| Other Income | 773 | - | 773 | 3,472 | |||
| 28,320 | - | 28,320 | 32,744 | ||||
| c) | Investment Income | ||||||
| Dividends | 89 | - | 89 | 152 | |||
| Interest | 4,885 | 1,538 | 6,423 | 9,114 | |||
| 4,974 | 1,538 | 6,512 | 9,266 | ||||
| Interest is earned on monies invested in the CBF Church ofEngland Deposit | Fund. Dividends | are paidfrom | |||||
| shares held in the CBF Church of England Investment | Fund— Income | Shares | accounts. | Investment income | on | ||
| the Carr Bequest fund has been taken intothe retricted funds analysis—see | note 4. | ||||||
| d) | Church Activities | ||||||
| Fees paid to PCCforWedding, Funerals etc | 9,876 | - | 9,876 | 8,055 | |||
| Memorial Wall | - | 1,472 | 1,472 | 295 | |||
| 9,876 | 1,472 | 11,348 | 8,350 | ||||
| e) | VATrecoveredviaLPWinitiative | 308 | - | 308 | 4,401 |
b)
c)
d)
e)
17
| Unrestricted | Restricted | Total | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Funds | Funds | Funds | Funds | |||
| Payments | 2025 | 2024 | ||||
| f) | Church runningexpenses | £ | £ | £ | £ | |
| Office expenses, telephone etc | 2,579 | - | 2,579 | 2,452 | ||
| Worship materials, music and organists | 7,374 | - | 7,374 | 8,289 | ||
| Special services and events | 1,381 | - | 1,381 | 1,908 | ||
| Church Maintenance and Repairs | 10,606 | - | 10,606 | 7,232 | ||
| Churchyard Maintenance | 7,457 | - | 7,457 | 6,798 | ||
| Churchyard Survey | - | - | - | 1,530 | ||
| Utilities and Insurance | 12,880 | - | 12,880 | 16,183 | ||
| Refurbishment oforgan | - | - | - | 21,126 | ||
| Memorial Wall | - | 270 | 270 | - | ||
| Children&Youth Ministry | 17,193 | 300 | 17,493 | 19,105 | ||
| 59,470 | 570 | 60,040 | 84,623 | |||
| Unrestricted | Restricted | Total | Total | |||
| Funds | Funds | Funds | Funds | |||
| 2025 | 2024 | |||||
| £ | £ | £ | £ | |||
| g) | Church Centre Running Costs | |||||
| Maintenance and Administration | 4,223 | - | 4,223 | 823 | ||
| Utilities and insurance | 10,373 | - | 10,373 | 10,364 | ||
| Cleaning | 6,444 | - | 6,444 | 6,996 | ||
| 21,040 | - | 21,040 | 18,183 | |||
| h) | Mission Givingand Donations | |||||
| Payments to Mission Partners | 6,510 | - | 6,510 | 6,288 | ||
| Payments to Other Charities and Mission | 300 | 3,053 | 3,353 | 4,828 | ||
| 6,810 | 3,053 | 9,863 | 11,116 | |||
| i) | Costs ofGenerating Funds | |||||
| Church Rental Costs | 360 | 360 | 295 | |||
| Fundraising Costs | 818 | 818 | 319 | |||
| Cost ofpages in Wellesbourne& Walton News | 2,000 | - | 2,000 | - | ||
| Printing Costs -Wellesbourne and Walton News | - | - | - | 3,799 | ||
| 3,178 | - | 3,178 | 4,413 | |||
| Approved | by | PCCon 26 April 2026 and signed by: | ||||
| 4 | aan | JAWallace, Treasurer& | &Churchwarden | |||
| 18 |