2022-12-31-accounts

Annual Report 2022

St Bride’s Church

Annual Report 2022

St Bride’s Church, Old Trafford Annual Parochial Church Meeting

Contents

Sunday 23rd April 2023 at 12.30pm

Our Annual Church Meeting is an opportunity to deal with the business of the church, to discuss issues that are concerned with our community life, and to think creatively about our future as we follow God’s leading.

Inside this booklet are reports on the activities of the church, which I ask you to read, and so be able to come to the meeting with well prepared questions and ideas for discussion.

Thank you for all that you have done and contributed during this past year, but, most of all, thank you for being part of the family here at St Bride’s.

“So then, have your minds ready for action. Keep alert and set your hope completely on the blessing which will be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” – 1 Peter 1:13 (GNB)

ST BRIDE’S CHURCH

St Bride’s Way, Manchester, M16 9NW Parish Office: 0161-226 3047 | Email: [e-mail]

RECTOR: REV’D PETER MATTHEWS

St Bride’s Rectory, 33 Shrewsbury Street, Manchester, M16 9BB Tel: [phone] | Email: [e-mail]

ORDAINED LOCAL MINISTER: REV. VIV ECCLES

c/o St Bride’s Parish Office, St. Bride’s Way, Manchester, M16 9NW Tel: [phone] | Email: [e-mail]

CHURCHWARDENS 2022/2023:

(vacant)

PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL SECRETARY 2022/2023

Rector’s Introduction	2
Agenda For Annual Meetings	4
Annual Meeting of Parishioners Minutes	5
Annual Parochial Church Meeting Minutes	6
Electoral Roll Offcer Report	8
Secretary to the PCC Report	9
Fabric and Health & Safety Report	10
Safeguarding Report	11
Parish Policy On Safeguarding Children	12
Parish Policy On Safeguarding Adults	13
Treasurer Report	14
Create ‘n’ Connect	20
Bizzy B’s	22
Cross Yoga	24
Church Administrator Report	25
The Project	28

Graham Cooper, 119, Northumberland Road, Manchester, M16 9PY. Tel: [phone] | Email: [e-mail]

BANKERS:

Royal Bank of Scotland, Drummond House Branch, 1 Redhaughs Avenue, EDINBURGH, EH12 9JN.

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER:

Mr. John Holdsworth B.A., F.C.C.A., C.Ed.

The Parochial Church Council is registered charity no. 1146679

St Bride’s Church

Annual Report 2022

Rector’s Introduction

With all the changes happening around, both in the nation and in the world, it felt timely to look at Apostle Peter’s and Apostle John’s letters to the church. So at most of the Sunday services, we got to learn about being a Christian as an individual as well as how we should be growing up as a church through difficult times. As the year went by the layout of the church for Sundays evolved from still quite formal to being with the sofas and chairs arranged around tables and some tables for the, mostly, children to work on creative things so we could be all together worshipping, listening and praying. We had some special services with a baptism and a couple of reaffirmations of baptism with full immersion, a wedding and a special commemoration service for the late Queen Elizabeth II for which we had an open book of condolences for people to write in.

Welcome to our St Bride’s Report for the year 2022. Inside you will find descriptions of some of the things we have been doing and you will also find our financial statements and important policy documents. Don’t let this put you off! Please read and enjoy as this document is kept as a record of who and what we are and what we are about.

I thank everyone for all your faithfulness in prayer, service and worship through the year as we all worked out our priorities and needs as things opened up from the pandemic and then had the effects upon us from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

It was fantastic to see a couple of members become Authorised Lay Ministers this year after some training and so as a church, we were led into having Welcome Space which has brought us to connect with new people and to reconnect with others from the community and further afield. As we have tried new things we have seen opportunities to pray with people and to share the message of hope we have in Jesus - and there has been a lot of listening,

My hopes for 2023? That we will become closer to Jesus and that this will impact us not just as individuals but also as a church and how we relate to the community God has placed us in. I hope we see people transformed as they become Christians and grow in their relationship with God.

chatting, tea and coffee drinking and eating. Who can resist Linda P’s cakes and biscuits?! Because of this time, we have been able to stretch ourselves and run a Warm Space for Tuesdays and Wednesdays to serve the community by offering a free place to be when energy prices have skyrocketed. Some things haven’t worked out the way we’d like but it’s important to try them. A breakfast available most mornings didn’t have much of a take-up but it did mean the kitchen and systems to use it were prepared and tweaked ready for the things we are now doing.

Thank you for what you have been able to do and for being you and being part of this church family. God bless you.

Peter Matthews (Rector)

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St Bride’s Church

Annual Report 2022

Agenda For Annual Meetings 23rd April 2023

Annual Meeting of Parishoners Minutes

24th April 2022

Meeting of Parishioners

(Open to everyone on the Electoral Roll plus all Local Government Electors in the Parish)

• 1 Prayer

• 2 Apologies for absence

• 3 Minutes of the 2022 meeting

These minutes were approved by the PCC on 5th May, 2022

• 4 Election of Churchwardens for 2023/2024 Churchwardens are PCC members ex officio.

Annual Parochial Church Meeting

(Open to everyone on the Electoral Roll of the Church. Non-voting observers are welcome)

• 1 Apologies for absence

• 2 Minutes of the 2022 meeting

These minutes were approved by the PCC on 5th May, 2022

• 3 Identification of issues for discussion at the APCM or future PCC meetings Anyone on the Electoral Roll may suggest an item for discussion, but PLEASE be sure to let Peter Matthews or Nathan Gonzalez have notice of the item by Wednesday, 19th April, 2022.

• 4.1 Rector’s Introduction

• Report of Electoral Roll Officer

• 4.2

In Attendance:

Kwami Ankrah, Angela Cooper, Graham Cooper (minutes) , Rachel Dean, Nathan Gonzalez, Susanna Hewitt, Jeanette McLaughlin, Douglas Matthews, Penny Matthews, Rev. Peter Matthews (chair) , Clare Myring, John Myring, Linda Penrose, Ann-Marie Williams, Jenni Williams.

Apologies were received from:

Robert Eccles, Rev. Vivien Eccles, Scott Hewitt, Chara Hosie.

Rev. Peter Matthews opened the meeting in prayer.

• 1

• 2 The minutes of the meeting held on 18th April, 2021, which had been approved by the Parochial Church Council on 10th May, 2020, were approved.

• 3 There were no nominations for candidates for election as churchwardens for the year 2022/2023.

• 4.3 Report from PCC

• 4.4 Report on Fabric

• 4.5 Report of Parish Safeguarding Officer

• 4.6 Parish Policy on Safeguarding Children

• 4.7 Parish Policy on Safeguarding Adults

• 5.1 Report of Treasurer and Presentation of Accounts for 2022 and

• 5.2 Independent Examiner for 2023/2024

• 6.1 Report of Small Groups

• 6.2 Report of Bizzy B’s

• 6.3 Report of Cross Yoga

• 6.4 Report of Church Administration

• 7 Election of 2 Deanery Synod Representatives (for 3 years)

• 8 Election of 4 Members of the Parochial Church Council

• 9 Selection of Sidespeople

• 10 Issues for discussion at the APCM (as identified above)

• 11 Praying for the work of the church

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St Bride’s Church

Annual Report 2022

Annual Parochial Church Meeting Minutes 24th April 2022

In Attendance:

Kwami Ankrah, Angela Cooper, Graham Cooper (minutes) , Rachel Dean, Robert Eccles (by Zoom) , Rev. Vivien Eccles (by Zoom) , Nathan Gonzalez, Susanna Hewitt, Jeanette McLaughlin, Douglas Matthews, Penny Matthews, Rev. Peter Matthews (chair) , Clare Myring, John Myring, Linda Penrose, Ann-Marie Williams, Jenni Williams.

• 1 Apologies were received from:

Scott Hewitt, Chara Hosie.

• 2 The minutes of the Annual Parochial Church Meeting held on 18th April, 2021, which had been approved by the Parochial Church Council on 10th May, 2021, were approved.

• 3 No items for discussion had been notified in advance to the chair or to the secretary.

Officers’ Reports

• 4.1 Rev. Peter Matthews read the Policy Statement on Children, Young People and the Church of St. Bride’s, Old Trafford, which with the appointment of Angela Cooper as safeguarding officer, was approved by the P.C.C. on 10th May, 2021.

• 4.2 Rev. Peter Matthews read the Church’s Policy on Safeguarding of Adults in the Church, which was approved by the P.C.C. on 10th May, 2021. He expressed his thanks to Angela Cooper for her work behind the scenes.

• 4.3 The reports of the Rector including Fabric, and of the Electoral Roll Officer, the Secretary to the P.C.C., and the Safeguarding Officer were received.

not continue as church treasurer, as he had previously indicated over 2 years, but he would try to train his successor.

• 5.2 He proposed the reception of the report and the appointment of John Holdsworth as Independent Examiner for the forthcoming year. Proposed by John Myring, seconded by Graham Cooper, carried unanimously.

Reports of Activities

• 6.1 The reports on Prayer Ministry, Small Groups, and Bizzy B’s, were received.

• 6.2 Peter Matthews drew attention to the re-naming of the Destitution Project as the Project, and a report on the Project was received.

• 6.3 Peter Matthews reported that the Big Breakfast was being constituted as a separate charitable organisation. John Myring reported that the Big Breakfast was raising significant contributions to the funding of the Project.

Elections

• 7.1 There were no lay candidates nominated for the 2 vacancies to represent the church with the clergy on the new larger deanery of Manchester South and Stretford.

• 7.2 The following 3 lay people were elected to sit on the Parochial Church Council for 3 years leaving 1 vacancy for 2 years caused by the resignation of Rowena Ablett:

• Nathan Gonzalez, Clare Myring, Ann-Marie Williams

• 7.3 There were no items requested for discussion.

• 7.4

• Church members joined in prayer.

Finance

• 5.1 John Myring presented the annual financial report adding that during the Covid-19 pandemic the financial position of St. Bride’s Church, the Diocese of Manchester, and the Church of England had deteriorated seriously, and with reduced income and rapidly rising costs St. Bride’s Church did not have sufficient money in the general account to pay the regular instalments of the parish share to the Diocese. He said that only about 40% of church members were giving regularly from their personal income. He confirmed that he was not standing for re-election to the P.C.C., and he would

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St Bride’s Church

Annual Report 2022

Electoral Roll Officer Report

The Electoral Roll for St Bride’s Church on 31st December 2022 numbered 66 people.

There have been some changes since the last APCM, which will be reflected in the roll by the time the next meeting happens in April 2023.

At the time of writing 15 people appear to no longer be members of St Bride’s, due to changing churches or moving away from the district, and one of our family is now with God.

So we have a working electoral roll of 50 people.

Clare Myring (Electoral Roll Officer)

Secretary to the PCC Report

1. At the beginning of 2021 the elected members of the PCC were Susanna Hewitt, Linda Penrose, Douglas Matthews, Kwami Ankrah, and Chara Hosie.

2. Appointed to PCC in the APCM of April 2022, Nathan Gonzalez, Clare Myring and Viv Eccles.

3. Still no Appointed Church Warden and Deanery Synod Representatives.

4. The PCC appointed Nathan Gonzalez to office as PCC secretary. Linda Penrose as Vice Chair. Linda Penrose and Clare Myring as Co Treasurers. Clare Myring as Electoral Roll Officer.

5. The PCC met on 6 Occasions. All in person for PCC members other than Viv Ecces Who could not be present with us, but attended over Zoom.

6. The PCC Standing Committee met on 6 occasions between PCC meetings to deal with urgent business and to agree to the PCC Agenda.

7. Each Meeting included prayer, worship and or a Bible reading, routine reports on finance, safeguarding, Small group projects, Mission, Health and Safety, and contributions from the Church Administrator managing day to day operations. Each meeting concluded with a review and prayer.

8. Also in attendance at PCC meetings this year was Ordinand in Training Sweetline Burnell and Ann Marie Williams.

9. Other business considered by PCC included Various Policies such as ‘Lone Working Policy’, business regarding building use and space hire with our new neighbours ‘In Health’ and also Mission discussions around ‘MSC Food Bank’, Children and Youth, how we are to move forward with Church services on youtube and a church Strategic Business Plan.

Nathan Gonzalez (Secretary to the PCC)

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St Bride’s Church

Annual Report 2022

Fabric and Health & Safety Report

Thank you to everyone who has helped out and supported the upkeep and maintenance of the building. Thanks to collective hard work the building has been cleaned on multiple church cleaning days and other occasions by amazing people who have got a lot done in relatively short periods of time.

Over this year with seeing more use of the building we have seen an increase in wear and tear, more noticeably the original thin paint has begun to come off some of the walls. There has been a little bit of decorating done to tidy up the decor by the emergency stairs which is where we had the unwanted excitement of one of the glass panels of the balustrade spontaneously exploding which was fixed at our own expense in October on 6/10/2022. The Gutters were cleaned and cleared on 14/03/2022. We still haven’t been able to get to the bottom of what is wrong with the roof that is causing irregular leaking into the building.

The safety systems of the building and the lift have been inspected and we have checked the fire alarm 31 out of 52 weeks and the emergency lighting 4 out of 12 months, so there is room for improvement. The emergency lighting requires sorting out due to failure of some of the mercy lights.

Thankfully the only injuries reported through the year are two minor cuts on fingers.

A security issue took place in September 2022, where a man entered the building and was checking for things in the rooms. In our response we have been reminded to keep doors locked when there is no-one in a room, or working alone in the building. Furthermore, measures were implemented to ensure individuals took care about manning the outside doors. In this respect it has been quite helpful that the front doors are no longer automatic after the transformer at White City burnt out causing an electrical spike!

Going forward we are putting together a maintenance schedule and working strategically to be able to respond practically to any potential health and safety issues that may arise in the next year. Without churchwardens we have had to fill in as much as possible with a lot of the big issues we’ve faced falling upon the rector, treasurers and our administrator.

Peter Matthews (Rector)

Safeguarding Report

• Responsibilities

The Church of England is committed to the protection of all children and adults, especially those who may be vulnerable, for example due to illness or disability. St Bride’s has adopted safeguarding policies which should be reviewed at the A.P.C.M each year. The policies help us to create a safe environment for both children and vulnerable people. They are designed to ensure that volunteers are better prepared to respond to suspicion or allegation of abuse whether the alleged abuse is outside or within the church; also, that the risk be reduced of someone using a position in the church to exploit a person. Safe recruitment and training procedures are in place to enable high standards of care.

• No-one should drift into helping

Any vacancies in should be advertised with a job description. Volunteers need to make a ‘Confidential Declaration’ regarding their suitability to be involved in the area of work. The volunteer is required to make a paper application and references will be taken up. There needs to be an interview and if the person appears to be suitable for the role an application can be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service. The Safeguarding Officer is informed of anything that would make the person unsuitable for the role. The volunteer is then required to take complete online training prior to taking on their new role. The Diocese provides training throughout the Diocese which the volunteer is required to attend. A record of agreement is signed, and they receive a copy of our ‘Good Practice’ guidelines.

• Support

Working as teams and offering encouragement and constructive criticism is the best safeguard against poor morale and slipping standards.

• Risks

If the church does not strive to adhere to the policy, the church’s insurance company may refuse to deal with a claim by a child that he or she has been harmed by the negligence of someone acting on behalf of the church. By their hiring agreement the Arabic Church undertakes to follow our child protection policy.

• Practicalities

The safeguarding board has the Children’s and Vulnerable Adult’s Safeguarding Policies on display as required by the Diocese. The Safeguarding Officer’s photograph and contact telephone number are also on display (also required by the Diocese).

A copy of the Diocesan Safeguarding Policy is available in the church foyer where anyone can access it if they so wish. The church website includes Safeguarding information.

Angela Cooper (Parish Safeguarding Administrator)

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Annual Report 2022

Parish Policy On Safeguarding Children

This statement was agreed at the Parochial Church Council meeting held on 8th May 2017. It will be read at the Annual General Meeting held in the month of April each year where progress in carrying it out will be monitored. Children and young people are part of our church. They have much to give as well as to receive. We will listen to them. As we nurture them in worship, learning, and community life, we will take into account the wishes and feelings of children and young people.

• As members of this church, we commit ourselves to the nurturing, protection, and safekeeping of all, especially children and young people.

• It is the responsibility of each one of us to prevent, or to prevent the continuation of, any physical, sexual, and emotional abuse of children and young people of which we become aware, and to report any abuse discovered or suspected.

• We recognize that our work with children and young people is the responsibility of the whole church.

• Our church is committed to following the policy and procedures published by the Diocese.

• The parish will adopt good practice guidelines.

• Each worker with children and young people must undertake Diocesan Safeguarding Training, know the guidelines and undertake to observe them. Each shall be given a copy of the Parish’s agreed procedures and good practice guidelines.

As part of our commitment to children and young people, the P.C.C. has appointed Angela Cooper to be the Parish Safeguarding Officer from April 2018.

Parish Policy On Safeguarding Adults

This statement was adopted by St Bride’s Church at a Parochial Church Council meeting held on 8th May 2017. This policy will be reviewed each year to monitor the progress which has been achieved.

• 1 We recognize that everyone has different levels of vulnerability and that each of us may be regarded as vulnerable at some time in our lives.

• 2 As members of this parish we commit ourselves to respectful pastoral care for all adults to whom we minister.

• 3 We commit ourselves to the safeguarding of people who may be vulnerable, ensuring their well-being in the life of this church.

• 4 We commit ourselves to promoting safe practice by those in positions of trust.

• 5 The parish commits itself to promoting the inclusion and empowerment of people who may be vulnerable.

• 6 It is the responsibility of each of us to prevent the physical, emotional, sexual, financial and spiritual abuse of vulnerable people and to report any such abuse that we discover or suspect.

• 7 We undertake to exercise proper care in the appointment and selection of those who will work with people who may be vulnerable.

• 8 The parish is committed to supporting, resourcing, training and regularly reviewing those who undertake work amongst people who may be vulnerable.

• 9 The parish adopts the guidelines of the Church of England and the Diocese.

• 10 Each person who works with vulnerable people will agree to abide by these recommendations and the guidelines established by this church.

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Annual Report 2022

Treasurer Report

This does not make happy reading. The major issue is that known costs are escalating and there are increasing maintenance costs in a building that is now 7 years old and has to be kept compliant and safe for use both by the Church fellowship and the General Public, and at present we don’t have the income to meet these costs.

Income

As has been previously highlighted Regular Giving from our Congregation and the associated Gift Aid Claims continues to fall. My understanding of the situation and information about regular givers means that it will be close on 20% lower than 2022, a really worrying situation.

Income from use of Buildings. The income from the Arabic Church Big Breakfast and Bizzy B’s is steady. With the Food Bank receiving funding, they are paying £220 per month, which is good news. When you read this the good folk from In Health will have finished their time with us; this contributed an income of £5,600, which whilst useful , still does not get us close to the levels required.

Collections and Donations are thankfully rising , and we may get a further Energy Grant for the Warm Space costs.

Overall, these assumptions give an Increase of Income of £3,000 (7.5%) against 2022.

Expenditure

This Budget reflects a massive 43% increase in expenditure because of the following increase in most of our running costs.

Energy Costs. Gas & Electric costs, as we all know, continue to soar. The Treasurers have just finalized new deals to reduce our costs, and exercise which has proved to be both time consuming and frustrating. At present I have assumed a 72% (£8,000) increase year on year, and hopefully we have placed some sort of better controls on these costs.

Maintenance Costs. These continue to escalate as items crop up in the building (eg the temperature in the Worship Hall or leaks in the back stairs and/or kitchen) Again this is an area that is mainly unknown. We have a duty of care as the building is used by more and more people, but this comes with price tags that are often larger than we would like, and can probably afford.

Other Costs – probably more easily identified, but still the assumptions give an overall 10% increase in running costs

Summary

The assumptions above lead to a projected deficit of just almost £16,000. With the available funds at the start of the year of £15,000, this leaves NOTHING in the funds for future years, or contingency for any unexpected items.

John Myring

Parish Share. The Diocese has mandated an across the board increase of 10% in Parish Share for all parishes. This is partially to meet their rising costs but also to address the shortfall in Parishes not paying their full shares in recent years giving them a large deficit that they are struggling to cover. In real terms for us this is an extra £2,000 versus 2022. The reality at present is we as a Parish don’t have this, and it will be up to the PCC to decide how much we can afford to contribute.

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Annual Report 2022

		St Brides Church Old	Trafford
Income & Expenditure 12 months to 31st December				2022
Fund Name	Balance at	Income Expenditure		Balance at
	1/1/2022			12/31/2022
General fund	£15,889	£41,149	£41,900	£15,138
St Brides Project (Red Cross)	-£325	£39,092	£35,314	£3,453
Youth & Childrens Work	£13,735	£2,756	£646	£15,845
Other Designated Funds	£2,561	£1,322	£1,820	£2,063
Totals	£31,860	£84,319	£79,680	£36,499
Funds Represented by	1/1/2022			12/31/2022
Current Account	£500			£500
Cheque presented in previous Year	£1,545			£0
Deposit Account	£25,926			£30,478
Total	£27,971			£30,978
Accounts Receivable - British Red Cross	£2,315			£2,138
Accounts Receivable - HMRC Gift Aid	£1,574			£3,383
Total Funds	£31,860			£36,499

		2022	2022		2021	2021
		**Income **	Expenditure		**Income **	Expenditure
General Fund	Regular Giving & Collections	£25,765			£25,857
	Gift Aid Claimed	£6,471			£6,042
	Collections & Donations	£2,235			£649
	Income from Use of Building	£4,715			£2,260
	Fundraising & Other Income	£1,963			£697
	General Fund Income	£41,149			£35,505
	Parish Share		£18,420	£18,420		£18,140	£18,140
	Church Maintenance		£3,153			£4,322
	Cleaning		£136			£0
	Church Running - Gas		£5,240			£1,950
	Church Running - Electric		£5,226			£2,612
	Church Running - Insurance		£1,581			£1,567
	Church Running - Water		£293	£15,629		£190	£10,641
	Working expenses of Incumbant		£375			£174
	Rectory Council Tax		£2,173			£2,093
	Rectory Water rates		£411	£2,959		£534	£2,801
	Parish Training & Mission		£651			£865
	Giving to Other Organisations		£0			£1,000
	Upkeep of Services		£533	£1,184		£479	£2,344
	Church Office Phones & Internet		£1,011			£3,604
	Sundries		£2,472	£3,483		£1,756	£5,360
	Governance Costs		£225	£225		£225	£225
	General Fund Expenditure		£41,900	£41,900		£39,511	£39,511
Designated Funds
Youth & Children's Work Donations, Gift Aid & Other Income		£2,756			£2,775
Destitution Project	Donations, Gift Aid & Other Income	£17,193			£8,085
	Grants from Organisations	£5,000			£5,000
	Re-imbursement of Running Costs	£16,899			£31,058
Other Funds	Donations, Gift Aid & Other Income	£1,322			£411
Youth & Children's Work Youth & Children's Work Expenses			£646			£200
Destitution Project	Project Running Costs		£35,314			£47,889
Other Funds	Equipment & Relocation Expenses		£187			£299
	Other Running Costs		£1,633			£760
	Total Designated Funds	£43,170	£37,780		£47,329	£49,148
	Total For Year	£84,319	£79,680		£82,834	£88,659

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Annual Report 2022

St Brides Church Old Trafford General Fund - Budget 2023 12 Months to 31st December

	2022	2022	2023
	Budget	Actuals	Budget
		Full Year	Proposed
INCOME
Regular Giving - Church	£20,100	£25,765	£21,050
Collections Donations & Fund Raising	£500	£2,235	£2,240
Income from Use of Building	£4,240	£4,715	£7,025
Gift Aid Reclaimed	£4,800	£6,471	£5,450
Energy Grant from Diocese	£0	£1,250	£500
Energy Rebates (Solar)	£700	£713	£750
Total Income for Year	£30,340	£41,149	£37,015
EXPENDITURE
Parish Share	£18,500	£18,420	£20,335
Gas	£2,500	£5,240	£5,160
Electric	£3,000	£5,226	£9,000
Water	£240	£293	£300
Insurance	£1,600	£1,581	£1,722
Maintenance & Cleaning
Maintenance & Decorating	£5,000	£3,153	£3,920
Cleaning Contract & Supplies	£1,000	£136	£240
Incumbents and Curates Expenses
Vicars expenses	£300	£375	£510
Rectory Costs
Council Tax	£2,200	£2,173	£2,280
Water Rates	£555	£411	£425
Office & Administration
Church Office Phones & Internet	£960	£861	£810
Church Office Copier	£550	£150	£0
Audit Fee	£250	£225	£250
Bank Charges	£540	£389	£420
Services & Mission
Giving	£750	£0	£750
Alpha/Mission	£500	£651	£750
Church Breakfast	£450	£0	£500
CCLI & Other Licences	£500	£533	£500
Sundries	£1,200	£2,083	£2,400
Total Expenditure for Year	£40,595	£41,900	£50,272
Surplus/(Deficit) for Period	-£10,255	-£751	-£13,257
Regular Giving - Youth & Children's Work	£2,400	£2,756	£2,400
Youth & Children's Work Expenditure	£1,200	£646	£1,000

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Create ‘n’ Connect

At times we’ve struggled to consistently host the evenings fortnightly due to other commitments and having a small team available. This has also made setting dates in advance and therefore being able to reach out to and invite other people to come, a bit more challenging.

Hopes

Create ‘n’ Connect has now run for its first full year after starting in November 2021.

Throughout the year there’s been a range of creative forms displayed and shared at the gatherings, including: Scrapbooking, Knitting, Cross-Stitch, Art, Drawing, Painting, Poetry, Writing, Songwriting.

We have tried to meet fortnightly on Tuesday evenings for our open Create ‘n’ Connect times from 7pm-9pm as well as having some Songwriting evenings in the latter part of the year set aside to write for our local community at St Bride’s. There was a Songwriting Day at the start of April and our first ‘Time To Share’ evening in October.

Throughout the year we had 12 unique participants attend, which includes a couple of volunteers who set up, pack down and host the time. Most regularly there have been 3-4 people at a gathering, with a max of 7 on a couple of occasions, and a total of 27 gatherings.

As part of our gatherings there’s opportunity to fellowship and connect over drinks and sometimes food; time to worship, pray and share what we’ve been working on, talk about creative successes or challenges and to work individually or be creative together.

We’ve had prompts from our church Bible readings and themes this year, as well as other creative prompts and exercise ideas alongside other simple resources available for people to use should they wish.

One of the most valuable things we’ve found for those coming to Create ‘n’ Connect has been intentionally prioritising and putting time aside to be creative and to share with other creatives, where it can be hard to do that on our own at home or in the busyness of everything else coming together has been really helpful.

• To continue with regular Create ‘n’ Connect gatherings twice each month as well as a songwriting evening for St Bs set aside too.

• To engage with more people in the local community who could make use of the time and space set aside to be creative and connect with other creatives.

• To have more opportunities to share our creative skills, ways of working and ideas and encourage each other, including having a ‘Time to Share’ gathering once a term.

• Hoping to enable and encourage creatives to share and bless others in the wider community with their craft and creativity in a variety of ways too.

• Where possible to make more connections and encourage some more collaboration among creatives within the church and local community.

Susanna Hewitt (Worship Lead)

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St Bride’s Church

Annual Report 2022

Bizzy B’s

Throughout the Bizzy B’s year, it’s great to mark the Christian calendar and the positive seasonal celebrations to offer a change to what can become the repetitive rhythm of parenting little ones, to bring encouragement and opportunities to share Jesus’ love.

Bizzy B’s is a stay and play, pre-school group for any parents, carers, and their children in the Old Trafford area (M15 and M16 postcodes) held on Friday mornings at St Bride’s Church. The aim of the group is to provide a safe and welcoming place where families can come to spend time together, meet and connect with other people in the neighbourhood who are at a similar life stage. Bizzy B’s reflects of the diverse community of Old Trafford, and those who come not knowing anyone, are introduced to others in the group. The volunteers kindly serve this community of Old Trafford and the leaders aim to show Jesus’ love to everyone who comes to Bizzy B’s.

We marked Easter with a craft explaining the significance of Easter for Christians. We’ve given flowers, gifts and cards of encouragement for Mother’s and Father’s Day, and at Christmas we had a special Bizzy B’s gathering with treats, Christmas art (thanks to Lynda Sterling), Christmas carols and time to share the real meaning of Christmas through the nativity story. We also gifted all the children a Christmas book to take home.

The play equipment and toys are kept clean and in good working order. The garden space and outside equipment is always popular when it’s dry. We have a rolling snack time across the morning and offer (much needed!) tea and coffee and some treats to grown-ups!

Our group of volunteers are faithful, fun and amazing people. Charlotte Bushell leads Bizzy B’s with Linda Penrose and Clare Myring. John Myring kindly sets up and clears away for us. Barbara and Nat run the kitchen and Emma helps out with everything! We also have a few volunteers from the Bizzy B’s community, but more volunteers are always welcome, if you know anyone who would like to get involved, do get in touch!

Bizzy B’s is a popular place to be on a Friday morning! (About 50 children and their grown-ups.) We’ve been really encouraged by how appreciative people are of Bizzy B’s; people seem to enjoy the space at St Bride’s church as it’s big, light, and bright and there is space to be outside.

families reflecting the community of Old Trafford. And for it to be a safe place where people are comfortable at church because of the peace of the Holy Spirit and the love of Jesus the volunteers share.

We now share the building on a Friday morning with an NHS screening clinic. We have made a few changes to how we use the building and have to be mindful of security and being vigilant to keep everyone as safe as possible.

Charlotte Bushell (Bizzy B’s Lead)

We want Bizzy B’s to always be outward focussed, so new people are welcomed in. We want it to be a diverse group of

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St Bride’s Church

Annual Report 2022

Cross Yoga

I have been teaching christian yoga in St Brides for around 3 months now. It has been a real joy to see a little community form, and journey with the attendees week-to-week.

Thank you to St Brides PCC for allowing us to use the space to move, breathe, pray, and meditate on God’s word together. Libby Adderley (Cross Yoga)

‘I’ve found that it has improved my mental and physical health but also has been a great time to pray and focus on God. It’s been fab to explore new ways to move my body in a safe and welcoming space.’

Church Administrator Report

It felt important for a report to be written from the administrator to be part of the contribution to the APCM.

1. Church Administration is in a much better position as it was when I first began exploring this work and its workload back in March 2022. We have seen a growth in revenue to the church through building use and space Hire. Coordinated and organised by myself and Peter Matthews to have with us ‘In Health’ and ‘MSC Food Bank’ and other one off Space hire Events. Looking at the budget for 2023 although still seeing a shortfall we are potentially better off.

2. More importantly than revenue increases we are seeing that more and more people are coming in and out of the building and making connections with us as a church. New people attending church services, completing connect forms, and even asking about volunteering at warm spaces. People feel more at home.

3. Policies, Procedures and processes are slowly being formed on a situational basis based on discussions or responding to situations where we have gaps in our policies. It is my belief thee are still some policies, and processes to be written, reviewed, considered and implemented, but this process is not to be rushed and something everyone who serves the church or even attends must be on board with.

4. As our overall administration is improving there is an increase in the workload needed and required from me as administrator. Not only just checking the mailbox, but writing Policies, attending meetings, administrating for warm space and other projects whilst Peter is away, drafting Invoices, templates, forms and communicating with businesses to attend to our needs for maintenance support.

5. Although not officially accepted by PCC, we have seen a fulfilment of the business plan and it would be my intention to explore making edits to this plan to fit our current situation and look at planning ahead. Nathan Gonzalez ( Church Administrator)

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Annual Report 2022

The Project

The Project has continued to run for the whole of 2022 under similar covid restrictions as in 2021.

We have met fortnightly and provided the asylum seekers with money instead of food parcels. The British Red Cross have continued to offer face to face case work despite considerable staff changes –congratulations to Julia on the birth of her daughter.

We were very excited to be able to begin to serve hot food, cooked each week by volunteer asylum seekers and served to people in their seats by more volunteer service users. It has been wonderful to partner in this way. We now also have a prayer time at 11.30am before opening at 12 –sometimes with prayers in up to 5 languages.

At Christmas we were treated to Ethiopian Christmas fare and each service user received a Christmas gift. Many thanks to all the people who worked together to make that happen.

As usual there are many people to thank for helping to keep things going, so if you are one of them please consider yourselves thoroughly thanked.

Also thanks to Big Breakfast who have continued to fundraise for us.

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