_**“Discovering and Sharing the Love of God”**_
**Parochial Church Council Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2023**
**Registered Charity No. 1146416**
|**Contents**||**Page**|
|---|---|---|
|Administrative Information||3|
|Aims and Purposes||4|
|Vicar’s Report||4|
|Structure, Governance and Management||5|
|Finance Report||7|
|Financial Statements||9|
|Notes to the Financial Statements||12|
|Independent Examiner’s Report||13|
|**Vicar:**|Revd Dr Earl Collins||
|**Independent Examiner:**Michelle Westbury FCCA, West & Berry Ltd|||
||Mocatta House, Trafalgar Place, Brighton BN1 4DU||
|**Bankers:**|Barclays Bank plc, 139-142 North Street, Brighton, BN1||
||1RU||
||The Central Board of Finance, Church of England Funds,||
||80 Cheapside, London, EC2V 6DZ||
2
## **Administrative Information**
- The Parish Church of Hove: St John the Baptist is situated at the corner of Palmeira Square in Hove. The parish is part of the Deanery of Hove, the Archdeaconry of Brighton and Lewes and the Church of England Diocese of Chichester.
- The Parochial Church Council (PCC) of St John the Baptist is registered with the Charity Commission as a charity (No 1146416). The correspondence address for the charity is The Church of St John the Baptist, The Vicarage, 119 Holland Road, Hove, BN3 1JS.
## **PCC Members**
The following members have served as members of the Parochial Church Council from 1st January 2023 until the date of this report unless otherwise indicated. All PCC members serve as trustees of the registered charity.
Vicar: Revd Dr Earl Collins Church wardens: Dr Janet Parrott Ms Erica Cheung Ms Sue Davidson
## _Representatives on the Deanery Synod_
Tom Savage Until APCM 2024 Trevor Beattie Until APCM 2024 Ms Mary Thomas Stood down December 2023
## _Elected Members_
Mr Trevor Beattie Until APCM 2024 Miss Lisa Godfrey Until APCM 2025 Mr Chi Ho (Treasurer) Until APCM 2025 Mr Tom Savage Until APCM 2025 Ms Isla McFarlane Until APCM 2024 Ms Sue Davidson Until APCM 2026 Mr Andrew Maynard Until APCM 2026 Ms Erica Cheung Until APCM 2024 Mr Mark Gower-Smith Until APCM 2025 Ms Barbara Bush Stood down April 2023 Ms Mary Thomas Stood down December 2023
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## **Aims and Purpose**
St John the Baptist Hove is a Church of England Parish Church that seeks to enable people to live out their Christian faith as part of our parish community through: Worship, prayer and discipleship, provision of pastoral care for people in the parish and missionary and outreach work.
## **Vicar’s Report**
Life at St. John’s continued to be vibrant and full of activity. We welcomed as Church Wardens, respectively elected and appointed, Erica Cheung and Sue Davidson, and thanked Barbara Bush as she ended her period of service.
## **Worship**
Throughout the year we maintained our pattern of a 10.30am Sung Eucharist on Sundays, with Tuesday Compline at 7.30pm and Wednesday Morning Prayer at 10.00am. Our team of organists and Judy Puttick, along with the welcomers and coffee makers, ensured that Sunday worship remains vibrant and full of fellowship as well as prayer.
Revd. Adele Rowlands and Revd. James McMahon continued to preside and preach on occasion at Sunday worship, which is greatly appreciated by the congregation. On occasion one of the Church Wardens also led and gave a reflection at Morning and Evening Prayer.
The annual Lent and Holy Week services were held and were well attended.
The regulars visit by the Swedish community were in March and September. Some of us also took part in the Swedish community’s St Cecilia celebrations in Brighton on 2 December.
The annual Christmas tree-lighting in Palmeira Square was on Friday 24 November, with children of local schools participating, in the presence of the Mayor of Brighton and the annual Carol Service (with the Brighton City Singers), on 17 December, was well attended and raised significant funds for the church.
In Advent, we also initiated a Carol Service in Hop50+ (7 December) which was well attended and well received. We hope to repeat that event annually. 2023’s Crib Service was much reduced in number from the year before, though the proximity of Christmas Day to Saturday may have been the reason.
## **Pastoral Care**
A child was baptized on 12 February 2023. On 15 February a memorial service was held, RIP. Ken Nightingale, a much-loved parishioner had his funeral at the Woodvale North Crematorium on 28 March, RIP. Another baptism of a child took place on 10 September. We also said goodbye to Ken’s beloved partner Jean Hunisett, with Revd. Adele Rowlands officiating at Woodvale Crematorium 20 November, RIP.
On 22 November a funeral was held at Hove Cemetery Chapel, RIP. December, we held in church and at the crematorium the funeral of John Browne, a former member of
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the PCC and another much-loved parishioner, RIP. December also saw our visits to housebound parishioners to deliver Christmas gifts. In 2023 over a hundred visits were held by the parish team and also many phone calls were made.
The pastoral care team expanded with the addition of Rosemary Shirley, who was commissioned as a minister of the Eucharist.
## **Outreach to Community**
The church continued to be open not only for services but after Morning Prayer on Wednesdays as well. We continued to enjoy excellent relations with Cornerstone Community Centre and Hop50+ (including experiencing together the quinquennial inspection) and to host the foodbank on Friday afternoons, meaning that the church was also open to visitors on those days. 2023 also saw the provision of a cleaner from Cornerstone on Monday mornings which has been a great help to the parish volunteers. An excellent musical event which we hosted for Hope 50+ in support of dementia charity work was well attended.
We opened as usual for the annual ‘Ride and Stride’ on 8 September though participation in that event has been declining on a national scale.
## **Fundraising**
Isla and Stu continued to hold popular and well-attended history talks, both in church and via Zoom – a regular and much appreciated source of funding for the parish. We also hosted an event in the Brighton Festival.
## **Structure, Governance and Management**
The PCC is a corporate body established by the Church of England and operates under the Parochial Church Powers Measure. The PCC is a charity registered with the Charity Commission under the full title of “The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of St John the Baptist, Hove” (No 1146416).
The role of the PCC is to promote in the parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. Membership of the PCC is determined under the Church Representation Rules. It consists of ex-officio members: namely the churchwardens, and representatives on the Deanery Synod. In addition, as the Electoral Roll is over 50 but not more than 100 there can be 9 elected members of the laity who each serve for a period of 3 years. St John’s has adopted a policy where one third of the elected members come up for re-election each year at the annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM).
PCC members are trustees of the charity. Each trustee has certain legal responsibilities. These include; to ensure compliance with charity law and church (ecclesiastical) law, a duty of prudence to ensure the PCC remains solvent, and a duty of care to ensure the PCC is well-run and efficient. The trustees have paid due regard to the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit in deciding which activities to undertake during the year.
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## _Standing Committee_
This is the only committee required by law. It has the power to transact the business of the PCC between meetings, subject to any directions given by the PCC. The Standing Committee consists of the Vicar, Churchwardens and other Church Officers (Secretary and Treasurer).
## _Building and Finance Committee_
This is a sub-committee of the PCC which considers issues relevant to the maintenance of the building and the management of parish finances. It makes recommendations to the PCC for its consideration and comprises the Vicar, PCC Secretary and Treasurer and other parishioners as required.
## _Risk Management_
The PCC regularly reviews its risks (financial and operational) and strategies to deal with them. The PCC and its various sub-committees work together to manage and mitigate these risks.
## _Safeguarding Report_
The safeguarding of children and adults continues to have a high profile in this parish as well as the church.
There have been no safeguarding issues noted over the past year.
All policies are up to date and all members of the PCC are fully compliant with their individual training.
The Church has adopted the Church of England self-declaration form for DBS checks, in line with guidance.
## _Electoral Roll Report_
The Electoral Roll stood at 67 on 31 December 2023. During the year there were 4 deaths and 9 people left.
## _Fabric and Maintenance Report_
The annual maintenance programme for the church and organ was completed to plan in 2023. In addition to these routine tasks the boiler controls were replaced and several areas of broken tiling repaired.
Works recommended by the Quinquennial Inspection are not extensive and are being currently worked through. The Inspection’s overall conclusion was that the church is generally in good condition.
Externally our garden is well maintained. We have significantly improved the area in and around the North Porch through the provision of new noticeboards and replaced the old planters with two more substantial planters that will better retain water and lend themselves to a changing Spring and Summer display.
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## **Finance Report**
## **Receipts**
- The total receipts on general unrestricted funds received were **£64,633** and are detailed in the Financial Statements. This represents a 3% increase from the previous year (£62,523).
- Total receipts on designated funds for Church maintenance (stonework repairs) were **£650** .
- Planned Giving through standing orders and the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) increased by 2% to **£19,196** (2022: £18,896).
- Collections at services decreased by 10% to **£6,612** (2022: £7,321) of which Gift Aid donations represented 38% (£2,512).
- We have continued to encourage parishioners to regularise their giving via the PGS or standing orders. We have also been encouraging online giving via the Church website and contactless giving as alternative ways to give for those who regularly donate by cash.
- St John’s relies on the generosity of the congregation and the community to support its mission and ministry. The PCC was again very grateful to all who contributed to St John’s.
## **Payments**
- Total payments from general unrestricted funds were **£58,720** and are detailed in the Financial Statements. This represents a 13% increase from the previous year (£51,748).
- Total payments from designated funds for garden improvements, organ repairs and quinquennial repairs were £1,561.
- Net movement in funds on unrestricted (including designated) funds resulted in excess of receipts over payments of **£5,002** (2022: £11,343).
- The largest expenditure of the PCC was the Parish Contribution to the Diocese to cover ministry costs at St John’s. This amounted to **£30,000** but falls below the £51,186 that the Diocese has allocated to St John’s. The balance of the costs of ministry is borne by the Diocese as a grant to the parish.
- We need to explore and develop existing and new technologies to extend our outreach and to broaden the way we deliver our faith and service to our community through our Mission Action Plan.
- The closing balances in both unrestricted and restricted funds available to the PCC as at 31 December 2023 were **£91,933** and **£2,559** respectively.
## **Reserves Policy**
It is PCC policy to try to maintain a balance of general unrestricted funds which equates to approximately four months’ worth of unrestricted payments to ensure continued financial security and to provide for contingencies. The cash balance of £18,860 held on unrestricted (general) funds at the year end, together with the amounts payable to and by the PCC, was below this target.
Designated funds are sums of unrestricted money earmarked by the PCC for specific purposes. Designated funds in respect of Stonework Repairs, Garden Improvements,
7
Organ Repairs, Contingency and Quinquennial Repairs stand at £8,455, £250, £784, £50,000 and £13,585 respectively.
The Contingency Fund is held in The CBF Church of England Deposit Fund which benefits from competitive rates of interest (5.3% as at 31 December 2023) therefore providing further income for St John’s. The fund is for unexpected expenditure e.g. increase in cost of utilities (which may not be recovered from Hop50+ or Cornerstone), emergency repairs and maintenance as a result of damage from natural disaster.
Restricted funds are sums of money that are held on trust for particular purposes. Restricted Funds in respect of the Sound System and the Garden stand at £1,131 and £1,428 respectively relating to two legacies.
Signed on behalf of the PCC on 21 April 2024
_______________________________ **Revd Dr Earl Collins - Vicar Chair**
8
## **PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST HOVE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
## **Receipts and Payments Accounts**
|**Receipts**
**Notes**
_Voluntary Receipts_
Planned Giving - Direct Debits
Planned Giving - Standing Orders
Collections at Services - Cash
Collections at Services - Gift Aid Envelopes
Sundry Donations and Appeals
3
Gift Aid recovered
4
Grants
_Receipts from activities for generating funds_
Trading Activities
5
_Receipts from Church Activities_
Rent from Church Lettings
Fees from Weddings & Funerals
6
Rent from Hop50+
Rent from The Flower Stand
Hop50+ Gas Bill
Cornerstone Community Centre Gas Bill
The Flower Stand Electricity Bill
Contribution to Repairs from Tenants
7
_Income from Investments_
Bank interest
8
_Other incoming resources_
Insurance claim
**Total Receipts**|**Unrestricted**
**General**
**Designated**
**Fund**
**Fund**
**£**
**£**
15,942
-
3,254
-
4,100
-
2,512
-
2,592
650
6,705
-
-
-
35,105
650
2,163
-
2,163
-
850
-
1,901
-
2,188
-
8,450
-
6,894
-
1,311
-
145
-
3,320
-
25,059
-
2,306
-
-
-
64,633
650|**Restricted**
**Fund**
**£**
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-|**Total**
**All Funds**
**2023**
**£**
**15,942**
**3,254**
**4,100**
**2,512**
**3,242**
**6,705**
**-**
**35,755**
**2,163**
**2,163**
**850**
**1,901**
**2,188**
**8,450**
**6,894**
**1,311**
**145**
**3,320**
**25,059**
**2,306**
**-**
**65,283**|**Total**
**All Funds**
**2022**
**£**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||15,942
3,254
4,100
2,512
2,592
6,705
-
35,105
2,163
2,163
850
1,901
2,188
8,450
6,894
1,311
145
3,320
25,059
2,306
-
64,633|||15,642
3,254
4,802
2,519
5,490
7,125
3,000|
|||||41,832
3,166|
|||||3,166
642
314
1,313
7,800
2,992
419
73
2,975|
|||||16,527
74
4,524|
|||||66,123|
9
|**Payments**
_Costs of generating Voluntary Income_
Stewardship Costs
Expenses for fundraising
_Church Activities_
Missionary and Charitable Giving
Diocesan Parish Contribution
Clergy Expenses
Clergy Housing Costs (Utilities, Council Tax)
Deanery Synod Payment
Fees to Diocese
Church Insurance
Church Running Expenses (Utilities)
Church Maintenance
9
Upkeep of Services
Gardening
10
Mission & Hospitality
_Governance Costs_
Independent Examination fee
**Total Payments**
**Excess of Receipts over Payments**
Transfers between funds
Net movement in funds
Funds as at 1 January 2023
Funds as at 31 December 2023|**Unrestricted**
**General**
**Designated**
**Fund**
**Fund**
**£**
**£**
(123)
-
(224)
-
(347)
-
(222)
-
(30,000)
-
(45)
-
(4,417)
-
-
-
(727)
-
(3,616)
-
(9,482)
-
(6,396)
(1,222)
(1,632)
-
(664)
(339)
(782)
-
(390)
-
(58,373)
(1,561)
(58,720)
(1,561)
5,913
(911)
-
-
5,913
(911)
12,947
73,984
18,860
73,073|**Restricted**
**Fund**
**£**
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
2,559
2,559|**Total**
**All Funds**
**2023**
**£**
**(123)**
**(224)**
**(347)**
**(222)**
**(30,000)**
**(45)**
**(4,417)**
**-**
**(727)**
**(3,616)**
**(9,482)**
**(7,618)**
**(1,632)**
**(1,003)**
**(782)**
**(390)**
**(59,934)**
**(60,281)**
**5,002**
**-**
**5,002**
**89,490**
**94,492**|**Total**
**All Funds**
**2022**
**£**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||(123)
(224)
(347)
(222)
(30,000)
(45)
(4,417)
-
(727)
(3,616)
(9,482)
(6,396)
(1,632)
(664)
(782)
(390)
(58,373)
(58,720)
5,913
-
5,913
12,947
18,860|||(82)
(175)|
|||||(257)
(838)
(25,000)
-
(4,080)
(15)
(142)
(3,206)
(3,973)
(14,047)
(1,454)
(606)
(814)
(350)|
|||||(54,523)|
|||||(54,780)|
|||||11,343
-|
|||||11,343
78,147|
|||||89,490|
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## **PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST HOVE STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
|**Monetary Assets**
Current Account
CBF CoE Deposit Fund
**Other Assets**
Debtors
Total Assets
**Liabilities**
Unpaid Diocesan fees
Other bills
TOTAL ASSETS|**2023**
**£**
**33,328**
**61,164**
**94,492**
**345**
**345**
**94,837**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**94,837**|**2022**
**£**
28,326
61,164|
|---|---|---|
|||89,490
1,861|
|||1,861|
|||91,351
-
-|
|||-|
|||91,351|
## **MOVEMENT IN FUNDS**
|**Restricted Funds**
Sound System Fund
a
Garden Fund
b
**Unrestricted Funds**
General
Designated - Stonework
c
Designated - Garden
d
Designated - Organ
e
Contingency Fund
f
Designated - Quinquennial
g
**Total Funds**|**Balance**
**01/01/2023**
**£**
1,131
1,428
2,559
12,947
7,805
589
1,000
50,000
14,591
86,931
89,490|**Receipts**
**£**
-
-
-
64,633
650
-
-
-
-
65,283
65,283|**Payments**
**£**
-
-
-
(58,720)
-
(339)
(216)
-
(1,006)
(60,281)
(60,281)|**Transfer**
**£**
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-|**Balance**
**31/12/2023**
**£**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||||||**1,131**
**1,428**|
||||||**2,559**
**18,860**
**8,455**
**250**
**784**
**50,000**
**13,585**|
||||||**91,933**|
||||||**94,492**|
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- a - Restricted Fund - sums given by F. Mann and held on trust for church sound system / worship area
- b - Restricted Fund - sums held on trust for church garden
- c - Designated Fund - sums set aside for stonework repairs
- d - Designated Fund - sums set aside for garden improvements
- e - Designated Fund - sums set aside for organ repairs
- f - Contingency Fund - sums set aside for unexpected expenditure e.g. utilities price increases (which may not be
- recovered from Hop50+ and Cornerstone), emergency repairs as a result of damage from natural disaster
- g - Designated Fund - sums set aside for Quinquennial inspections programme: this includes a report of the fabric of the
- building which have defects requiring repair. Funds are also set aside for the electrical inspection and associated remedial works
## **Notes**
1. The financial statements of the PCC have been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 and the Church Accounting Regulations 2006, using the Receipts and Payments basis. It should be noted that the figures for 2022 have been restated where appropriate for comparison purposes.
2. The following assets are recognised but not valued in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities: moveable church furnishings held by the Churchwardens on special trust by the PCC which require a faculty for disposal.
3. Sundry donations and appeals representing one-off contributions have decreased by 41%.
4. During the year a total of £6,705 was received through Gift Aid claims in respect of the tax year 2022/23. This includes £3,925 via the Parish Giving Scheme and £1,173 via the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme.
5. Income from trading activities has decreased by 32% and is in relation to various fundraising activities e.g. History Talks and Christmas Carol Service.
6. Fees from weddings and funerals comprise of £156 and £1,745 respectively. This represents a 505% increase from the previous year.
7. There were unpaid invoices at the end of the year totalling £345 due from Brighton & Hove City Council.
8. Bank interest totalling £2,306 was received in respect of funds held in The CBF Church of England Deposit Fund.
9. Sums of £1,006 and £216 were paid from the designated Quinquennial Fund (inspection) and Organ Fund (repairs) respectively.
10. A sum of £339 was paid from the designated Garden Fund in respect of tree pruning.
This Financial Report for the year ended 31 December 2023, including the notes, was approved by the PCC and signed on its behalf by
________________________________ **Revd Dr Earl Collins Vicar**
**21 April 2024**
12
## **Independent examiner’s report to the Trustees of The Parochial Church Council of The Ecclesiastical Parish of St John the Baptist, Hove (Registered charity number 1146416)**
I report on the accounts of The Parochial Church Council of The Ecclesiastical Parish of St John the Baptist, Hove for the year ended 31 December 2023 which are set out on pages 9 to 12 of the Receipts and Payments accounts.
## **Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner**
The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 act) and that an independent examination is needed.
It is my responsibility to:
- examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act;
- to follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act; and
- to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
## **Basis of independent examiner’s report**
My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and the seeking of explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and, consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view’ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
## **Independent examiner’s statement**
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respect, the requirement:
- To keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; and
- To prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and to comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act have not been met; or
2. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Michelle Westbury FCCA
West & Berry Limited Mocatta House, Trafalgar Place Brighton BN1 4DU
23/04/2024 Date:
13
West & Berry Limited Registered Office; Mocatta House, Trafalgar Place, Brighton BN1 4DU Company Registered Number 12018378 A list of directors is available at the registered office Registered as auditors in the United Kingdom by the www.westandberry.co.uk Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
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