2023-12-31-accounts

St. Matthew’s Church, Reading

Annual Report

Year Ended 31[st] December 2023

Registered Charity Number: 1148083

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Welcome to the Annual Report of the mission and ministry of St. Matthew’s Church, Southcote Lane, Reading for the year 2023.

Under the Parochial Church Council (Powers) Measure 1956, the PCC is required to cooperate with the vicar in promoting in the parish the whole mission of the Church - pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. This report describes how this has been achieved during 2023. Further details of the activities of the PCC and of the various ministry areas of the church can be obtained by contacting those named in each report.

Sections

1.	Trustees Report	p.3
2.	Report from the Vicar	p.6
3.	Electoral Roll	p.9
4.	Deanery Synod Report	p.9
5.	Churchwardens Report	p.10
6.	Family & Children’s Report	p.11
7.	RE Inspired Report	p.12
8.	SouthTots Report	p.12
9.	Creche Report	p.13
10.	Winter Warmers Report	p.13
11.	Youth Report	p.13
12.	Safeguarding Report	p.14
13.	Statement of Financial Activities	p.15
14.	Independent Examiners Report	p.23

Our Vison:

"...a thriving, growing church at the heart of the parish, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and serving the community.”

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Trustees’ Report for the 2023 APCM

Membership

Members of the PCC are either ex-officio, elected by the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) in accordance with the Church Representation Rules, or co-opted onto the PCC. During the year, the following served as members of the PCC:-

Vicar: The Revd. Pads Dolphin Associate Minister: The Revd. Kirstie Dolphin Churchwardens: Jan Ball (also PCC Secretary) David Horne

Deanery Synod Representatives:

Brian Day Mary Day Elected Members: Nick Burn (also Treasurer) Gwyneth Rudman Steve Rudman Emma Noonan Erick Nwanshi Abigail Fryer-Saxby Simon Beasley Co-opted Members: None Non-Voting Members: None

The PCC held meetings in January, February, March, April, May, July, September and November.

Standing Committee and Finance Committee

The Standing Committee is the only committee required by law and transacts the business of the PCC between its meetings, subject to any direction given by the council. If there is an urgent need to approve expenditure which cannot wait for a scheduled meeting, a Standing Committee can be convened to approve up to £500. The Standing Committee consisted of:

• the Vicar (Pads Dolphin)

• the Churchwardens (Jan Ball and David Horne)

• Erick Nwanshi, Emma Noonan, Mary Day

Any approvals made by a Standing Committee must be reported to the next PCC meeting and will be minuted.

The Finance Committee had the following membership: Pads Dolphin, Nick Burn, Brian Day, Alan Chandler. Most of its business was conducted via email and finance was a standing item on every PCC agenda.

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Review of the year

The PCC met 7 times since the last APCM.

The following items were included in the business of the PCC during 2023

• Amy Cadle was appointed as our new Safeguarding Officer.

• A new professional cooker was installed in the Hall kitchen to meet the demands of feeding so many families at the After-School Hub.

• RE Inspired providing RE lessons to Southcote Primary School were restarted for the first time since pre-Covid.

• Nick Burn announced his intention to resign from the Treasurer’s role at the end of 2023 and Chisom Umeh, who is a qualified accountant, offered to be our new Treasurer, which the PCC approved.

• With the growth in the After School Hub ministry, and a new vision to provide training for some of the mums in various life skills, the PCC approved Lynn’s proposal to increase her working hours from 3 to 5 days, on a temporary basis, funded by one day per week for fundraising, and one day per week for training including the conversion of the old ‘Committee Room’ into a new training room. The duration of the extra two days was to last as long as funding is raised to support them.

• The PCC approved hiring Liberty Umeh as our new Youth Worker, who started on January 1[st] 2023. Liberty subsequently resigned toward the end of the year to start a new career job. We all wish her well in her future career.

• The loft above the Parish Office was insulated with great help from Kevin Alderson.

• The PCC approved spending to have the hedges and trees alongside Farringdon Walk cut down to a 6ft level; subsequently Simon Beasley did the job voluntarily.

• Following the February General Synod decision to approve new trial liturgy known as Prayers of Love and Faith (PLF), the PCC made the strongest possible protest to the Bishop of Oxford for proposing to overturn 2000 years of the church’s teaching and doctrine on marriage. The debates within the Church of England are still continuing around this subject and further decisions are to be made at the July 2024 General Synod.

• The purchase of a new sound mixing desk for the church was approved and the desk was installed.

• New energy contracts were expertly negotiated by Karen Alderson, our Parish Administrator, which are saving us a significant amount of money.

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Financial Review

The PCC is responsible for the financial affairs of St. Matthew's Church. Over the last few years voluntary income has reduced (see page 15) whilst costs have increased significantly which has been a challenge for us as a church to meet all our major financial commitments of parish share, salaries and necessary services and utilities. We are very thankful to the generous hearts of the congregation of St Matthew’s who continue to give sacrificially towards the mission and ministry of St Matthew’s. Below are the figures for the year 2023 compared with the previous two years.

	2021	2022	2023	2023
	Actual	Actual	Budget	Actual
VoluntaryIncome	£101,581	£97,724	£102,833	£103,401
Total Income	£113,342	£114,171	£120,897	£158,345
Total Resource Used	£120,389	£125,518	£140,650	£156,983
Net Income	(£7,047)	(£11,347)	(£19,753)	£1,362
Unrestricted General Reserve	£69,129	£66,500	£61,000	£41,202

As the table above shows, our total income for the year was around £38,000 higher than budgeted. This was due almost entirely to a new fundraising initiative to resource the kitchen conversion and training room development to support the After-School hub and proposed training initiative.

Our total expenditure was approximately £16,000 more than budgeted due to spending on fundraising items as well as increased salary costs as we increased Lynn’s hours to full time – financed by the fundraising. The overall result of increased income and spending resulted in a net income which was positive for the first time in several years. However, the worrying trend for the future is that the unrestricted general reserve reduced from £66,500 in 2022 to £41,202 at the end of 2023. (see reserve policy below)

Reserve Policy

The PCC has a policy of keeping three months running costs in reserve to cover unforeseen circumstances. We will be hard pressed to meet this goal at the end of 2024 unless we can increase voluntary giving and/or fundraise to support general expenditure items such as energy costs and staff salaries. This is something the PCC will need to address over the coming months.

Basis of Preparation

The accounts have been prepared using the accrual accounting method consistent with last years’ accounts.

Health and Safety

A report on health and safety is considered at each PCC meeting. Accident books and First Aid kits are located in both Church and Hall and the First Aid kits are inspected regularly and refilled if necessary.

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Safeguarding

A report on safeguarding is considered at each PCC meeting. This takes account of all vulnerable or potentially vulnerable users of our facilities and participants in our activities. A safeguarding agreement is included in the documentation issued to all hall users.

The PCC would like to thank everyone who has worked so hard during the year to help support the mission and ministry of St. Matthews.

Signed on Behalf of the PCC

Pads Dolphin, Vicar

Vicar’s Report to the Annual Church Meeting – April 2024

I am now writing my 13[th] Vicar’s report to the Annual Church Meeting and wondering how to make it fresh! A vicar’s life is one of the most varied on the planet. From the highs of beautiful times of worship to the lows of getting out the drain rods to try and unblock a sewer, there’s almost nothing that cannot fall under the remit of being a vicar.

But none of it would be worth doing if it wasn’t for you, the people of St Matthew’s, whose lives we have shared over the past year, as we journey together with God, doing our best to follow the one who gave his life for us – our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

One of the perspectives that only a handful of people, at most, see and experience on a week-to-week basis is the aspect of St Matthew’s that we are, effectively, two congregations in one church. So here’s a few thoughts on each in the hope that you will be enriched by reading about the part that you don’t usually attend. And if you are one of the handful who attend both, then you have a double blessing!

The Traditional Congregation

Meets about six times a month – every Wednesday and every other Sunday. The congregation numbers about 25 in total, and since two thirds of you are usually there on a Wednesday it is probably one of the largest midweek CofE services in the town. Everyone knows everyone and no-one goes missing without someone knowing why – or there’s a follow up phone call within the hour. You look out for each other in the most wonderful way. This is a pastor’s dream. The vicar is always told when he needs to make a visit! Having been dragged to traditional church against my will as a child, and then avoided church for the best part of thirty years, eventually finding faith in a contemporary informal

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environment, it took me a few years to really grow to love the traditional worship. But at St Matthew’s, I have, and that has deepened particularly since Covid when we moved the Wednesday service out of the chapel and into the church, since when the congregation has grown, and the services are fuller and richer. Two of the qualities I love most about the traditional services are the space and the pace.

Sometimes it takes a while for a person to make their way from their seat to the lectern to read, or sometimes I take the bread and wine to their seat. But there’s no hurry. We sit and listen to Taizé music or some instrumental worship tunes before the service and on a Sunday our organist, Andy Stancliffe, plays the organ beautifully as we sing hymns from a wide range of ‘eras’. And although the 11.45’ers don’t usually get to join in the tea and coffee on a Sunday, every Wednesday we sit down together after the service and enjoy home-made cake thanks to some great bakers in the group, and we deepen our fellowship together – if you haven’t been, you don’t know what you’re missing.

The Informal Congregation

Meets every Sunday at 10am. One key difference with the 10am compared to the traditional service is that you never know who’s going to be there! Some have Sunday working commitments, or family commitments which prevent them coming – on the other hand we see many more ‘new’ people or visitors so there’s always an opportunity to meet and greet people you’ve never seen before.

The 10am services begin with everyone of all ages together for the first part of the worship and a ‘Family Time’ which engages both children and adults in a short interchange of thoughts, questions and answers which link to an aspect of faith.

One of the things I love most about the informal services is that the leading and preaching is much more widely shared out to a team who all bring different perspectives to the worship and teaching life of the church. This has become more collaborative in recent years as we get together to discern where we feel that the Spirit is leading us to focus on.

After the ‘Family Time’, we have a combination of prayers, readings and a sermon (and communion twice a month) with more in-depth Bible teaching than we have time for at the traditional services. One of our key aims is to try to create spaces in which the congregation can respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit. In the prayers, this might be through inviting people to pray out loud spontaneously; after the sermon it might be to invite a response; in the sung worship toward the end of the service it might be an offer of prayer ministry to anyone who would like someone to pray with them, one-on-one.

In such a service, the music plays a crucial role in taking people into an encounter with God; the songs tend to be longer than traditional hymns, and yes, more repetitive, but for good reason – just as a Taizé chant allows people to dwell in the presence of God, so the chorus and bridge of many modern worship songs achieve the same thing. And at St Matthew’s we are blessed beyond measure with our lovely worship team – and we can even boast a worship leader who has released two albums of her own worship songs in the last couple of years! So if you’re a traditional worshipper and you’ve never been to a 10am service, come along one Sunday and see what we get up to in the informal services.

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Kidz Church, Youth and Creche

Although I began by saying that we are two congregations at St Matthew’s, in truth we are a few more than that. Whenever a new family comes along to St Matthew’s for the first time with primary age children, I can guarantee that if their children go out to join Kidz Church, they will love it, and probably try to drag their parents back to St Matthew’s the following week. It is such a joy to see children enjoying church life.

In 2023 we restarted the youth group, and although it’s not large, (about 6-10 in total), we regularly have a group meeting on a Sunday morning for which the leadership is shared out among a servant hearted group of leaders and helpers in the absence of a designated youth worker since Liberty had to step down when she started a new career job.

At the beginning of this year, we finally got the creche up and running for the first time since pre-Covid, and although it is an even smaller contingent, we have up to 4 or 5 little-ies who attend the creche from time to time, giving their parents a chance to spend some quality time in church.

In my report I have concentrated on the ‘worship life’ of St Matthew’s in the sense of services of worship. But as most of you know, so much more goes on midweek in our amazing outreach ministries - you can read about those in the other reports enclosed in this annual report, so do please take the time to do that. There is so much good going on at St Matthew’s.

Fred Pavitt

By now you will have noticed that I haven’t referred to any names in my report (there are too many to start naming!) – but I would like to close with just one. Fred Pavitt. Fred was someone who attended almost everything going on in St Matthew’s – both congregations, every prayer meeting he could, all the Holiday Clubs, the midweek groups, and was the most encouraging, faithful presence in the church family for as long as Kirstie and I have been at St Matthew’s. When the Lord took him home toward the end of last year, he left a large hole in the lives of ourselves and many others – but he will always remain an inspiration to us as a dear brother in Christ.

Thank you to all of you. I simply say that I love St Matthew’s, I am constantly in awe of the generosity of those who give financially to support the work of the church, of the dedication, inspiration and passion that I see in the church family as everyone serves together, and I hope and pray that St Matthew’s will go from strength to strength into the future.

With love in Christ,

Revd Pads Dolphin, Vicar of St Matthew’s

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Report on the Electoral Roll

The Electoral Roll of St Matthew’s in 2024 sees us with 87 adult members which one less than that reported at the Annual meeting in 2023. Five people came off the roll and four new members came onto the roll.

Applications for membership of the Electoral Roll can be made at any time during the year and applications forms are available in the Welcome Area. Forms should be completed and handed to a member of the Clergy, to the church office or to me.

Pads Dolphin (in lieu of an electoral roll officer)

Deanery Synod Report

Deanery Synod is a forum where parishes from across Reading can come together to discuss issues and opportunities that transcend our parish boundaries. It is a forum for sharing ideas, addressing common challenges and linking into the wider mission of the Diocese. St Matthew’s deanery synod representatives for 2023 were Brian and Mary Day.

Report for 2023

There were four meetings during 2023, meeting in different churches in the Deanery. In the March meeting the Area Dean, Revd. Mike Smith spoke about the priorities for 202326, those being Green Park, the increase of 6,000 units of accommodation in the town centre and Loddon Reach where 12,000 new residents are expected.

The June meeting saw the Parish Share discussed and the allocation for 2024. A 3% increase would meet the Deanery's current commitments. To afford new ministry in Green Park the increase would need to be 6%. The parishes felt this was unaffordable and in some cases 3% would be a struggle, but this was agreed. St. Matthew’s Parish Share for 2024 is £47,556. During the year members heard about various initiatives, successful or otherwise that were happening in the parishes.

There were brief discussions on the approval by the General Synod on the ‘Living in Love and Faith’ services and further discussions on the impact to parishes will be discussed during 2024.

Mary and Brian Day

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Churchwardens’ report

Churchwardens – what do we do?

It’s a very odd role really. We are ultimately responsible to the Diocese of Oxford, but also answer to the Vicar (Pads). Because the Church of England is tied to the State (sometimes referred to as the ‘established’ church), the laws of the Church of England are a subset of the Law of the Land. In practical terms, we are keepers of the many!! keys and bear ultimate responsibility for making sure Sunday services happen. Wardens are also accountable for the state of the church buildings and grounds and we are responsible to the Bishop to ensure the Vicar isn’t going rogue and preaching heresy – something we don’t have to worry about!

How quickly the year flew by, so here is a quick review from our perspective.

The grounds and buildings :-

We have finally managed to get the leaking gutters sorted and some collapsed drains repaired although there are still ongoing issues with a different drain.

A church work party cleared a lot of bushes but thanks must go to Simon Beasley for his continuing work in keeping the grounds looking so well kept and tidy and to Ian and Julie for the upkeep of the sensory garden (gravelled area) in front of the church.

Perhaps the highlight of the year was watching the new cooker entering the kitchen through a hole in the wall ! Many thanks to those involved and particularly Chris for his speedy work in restoring and decorating the kitchen and also the new training room with its eyecatching scripture on the wall.

The Human side :-

2023 was a year of continuing mission and outreach with SouthTots, Streetpastors, the Hub and Winter Warmers and Lynn was busy fundraising to see the conversion of the old committee room into a training room where children and adults could be mentored, especially those with mental health needs. We eagerly look forward to this coming to fruition in 2024.

Sunday services have remained steady in number with Christmas services really reaching out into the community. August saw a wonderful baptism service with so many people sharing their testimonies and we are so grateful to God for the new faces who have joined us this year - May God bless you abundantly.

Our thanks go to all the volunteers who keep things running on a Sunday and throughout the week. Please do consider if there is any way you can help as we are always in need of more hands – and no experience is necessary!

Jan Ball & David Horne

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Family & Children’s Report including “the HUB’

The hub started in January 2023 in response to the cost-of-living crisis and rising heating bills. We opened the doors every Friday after school to anyone in the community who wished to come along and enjoy good company and a free homemade meal and pudding. The children play football and ‘IT’ outside whilst others enjoy crafts and games inside with a cuppa. Friendships have been made, several families have attended church and support is being given weekly where it is needed to contacts we have made within the hub.

We collect food weekly from 3 organisations and distribute the food to the families as well as use what we can to keep the food bill down. As you can imagine this takes a great deal of time as does the regular shopping and cooking for 50/60 people on a regular basis every week. Very often I will be on my feet from 9am to 7pm. It’s a huge commitment that has seen God’s blessing. If you would like to be involved we would love your help. It doesn’t have to be every week – any time given would be greatly appreciated.

What would help look like? Coming along and chatting to the families who attend the hub, washing up like Steve Rudman does on a regular basis, collecting shopping for us, making a pudding, helping cook, helping set up or dedicating time to pray while the hub is running.

Over the year we have served up 1733 dinners, averaging around 46 meals a week. We have raised the money to provide us with a catering style kitchen and to turn a storage room into a training room.

Why a training room? This has come about through people at the hub asking how we cook. Once the ball started rolling several parents asked if we would teach youth how to cook and then we were asked if we could help in the early stages of mental health in children through cooking. All of which was confirmed on many occasions but one very special moment was finding a box in the PCC garage containing all we needed to get started. The box had been in the garage for 10 years and inside (among other items) were aprons for both adults and children. God has provided £20,000 through fundraising which has enabled us to convert the committee room into a training room and provide storage facilities elsewhere.

The funds will also pay a wage one day a week and provide enough money to buy all the food for the ministry to run for a year. I have been attending training courses relevant to this role and have much more to do. We are hoping to start cooking and helping children in the summer term. During the adult training sessions we will take an evangelistic approach where those cooking will share testimonies during each session. We are hoping to start training adults in May/June. Each session will be tailor-made to the group/individuals attending. The ministry is going to be very organic (no pun intended) and we trust the Holy Spirit will lead as he has done up to this point. Training sessions will be held when the hall is not being used.

We hope that the new arrangement will suit everyone and you will enjoy more space, better storage and some nice new equipment. The plan is to use the kitchen itself for cooking only while the training room will store all drinks equipment. Please be praying for this new and developing ministry over the coming weeks and months.

Lynn Everett

Children and family worker

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RE Inspired report

Started over 20 years ago by teachers and a local minister, it now reaches over 7,000 pupils in various parts of the country enabling Christians from local churches to share their faith with pupils in their neighbouring schools. At its heart it is about being inspired and making Christianity ‘come alive’ in RE.

The sessions are based on the local authority RE syllabus that each school uses. The sessions are devised by Project Director Julia Jones and her team.

Prior to Covid St. Matthew’s had worked with Southcote School for six years. The school were keen to reintroduce the sessions so last November we started again.

We meet each year group during the year and sessions include topics on Baptism, Easter, Christmas, Death and Prayer. These are delivered in various ways through crafts, Godly Play, Hot Seating to name a few.

Apart from Pads we are all volunteers and are always looking for more to join us.

Mary Day

Southtots report

What a fantastic year we’ve had at Southtots! We have grown as a group way beyond my dreams. Attendance is fantastic, with around 18 children each session, and of those, 14 are the same children every week. We often have a small waiting list for most sessions.

We welcomed Mamta and Sharon onto the team and they join myself, Jane, Julie and Kirstie. The Southtots team are absolutely fantastic and I thank them for their continued service and faithfulness to Gods calling of them, through their volunteering at Southtots. We are also incredibly blessed to have Jonathan Thatcher from Greyfriars Church on team, who faithfully comes along every week with his guitar and helps lead our singing, dancing and musical instrument time.

In July we ended the summer term with a Teddy Bears Picnic, and in September we kicked off the new term by celebrating our First Birthday and welcomed the Pop-Up Play Village for a special celebration. Through the conversations we have had with the carers and parents at Southtots we have seen a few families attending church services, and even some grandmas attended the christingle service - without their grandchildren… They loved it!

I give thanks and praise to our awesome God for all He has provided and for your continued prayers for Southtots. And in the words of the Cheeky Pandas…

‘Oh wow what a God..

There'll never be another Awesome God!’

Abbie

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Creche Report

I am delighted to be writing a creche report as we haven’t run a crèche since covid!

A huge thank you to our new creche team Debbie, Julie, Lydia, Mekdes, Cindy and Amy.

We started at the beginning of January, and it was slow to begin with but it’s now picking up. Some parents stay in with their children, so it has been quite a social time getting to know children and parents! We would love to grow the team so please consider joining us.

It is such a joy playing and reading to the little ones. You don’t need lots of experience you just need to love children.

Kirstie Dolphin - Associate Minister

Winter Warmers Report

I have thoroughly enjoyed being on the Winter Warmers soup lunch team which ran from the beginning of December to the end of March.

We have some wonderful soup makers at St Matthews and as the team eat with the guests each week you don’t know what you are missing!

It’s been a regular group of about 14 guests each week and I have grown very fond of them all!

A big thank you to Mary, David, Andrea, Sharon, Anne, Julie, Sarah, Barbara, Rose, Sandra, and Alan and of course Pads - our wonderful team of cooks and servers. It’s been a joy to work with you and to serve the community together and I know our guests were sad when it came to the end of another season.

Kirstie Dolphin - Associate Minister

Youth Report

Liberty sailed through her Master’s degree last summer and is now working full time in London. We knew the time would come when she stepped down from the role of Youth Worker in September.

She has continued to be amazingly supportive and on team once a month, but a time is coming when she will move away from Reading, so please keep praying for a new Youth Worker.

We would all like to thank Liberty so much for being so faithfully committed to our youth. They love her and so do we!

A big thank you too to our wonderful church family who have stepped up to help with the youth – David, Eleanor, Sharon, Sylvia, Jan, and Steve. Pads and I have enjoyed leading some sessions too.

The youth have been very consistent with a core group of 6 coming most weeks. They did a great job with the Easter Day drama and readings.

We would love to do more with them so let’s keep praying God provides us with a Youth Worker soon!

Kirstie Dolphin - Associate Minister

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Safeguarding Report

Lots to give thanks for!

Our new Parish Safeguarding Officer, Amy Cadle , is in post and has completed her safeguarding leadership training, which is time consuming, so a big welcome and well done Amy!

Karen, our DBS administrator, and verifier, with the support of Lynn and Jan, also a verifier, have continued updating our processes and bringing everyone’s DBS certificates up to date which we are very grateful for.

Both Karen and Kirstie have completed the initial training on the ‘Parish Dashboard’ for the Safeguarding Hub which has been created to support Parishes’ Safeguarding and Recruitment Process.

Everyone who works with children, young people or adults at risk should complete the Basic Awareness and Foundation Safeguarding training which is available online through the Oxford Diocese and has to be refreshed every 3 years.

We have been following the Diocese guidance for safer recruitment for staff and volunteers and are very thankful for our new creche and youth volunteers. We still need to complete this process with some of our volunteers and are very grateful for their time, care and commitment.

The PCC also have to complete the Awareness and Foundation Safeguarding training and most of them have now done that.

If you are reading this and thinking I haven’t done the training yet here is the link - - https://oxford.anglican.org/safeguarding training/

Please let Karen know when you have completed the training.

There have been no incidents or reports which have had to be investigated. We have taken advice from the Diocese Safeguarding team on several occasions and followed due process.

Kirstie is now stepping down as the ‘interim’ PSO (Parish Safeguarding Officer) and passing the baton to Amy. Please encourage and support Amy in this new role. We are all as the body of Christ responsible for ‘safeguarding one another’ so any concerns please contact - Amy in confidence on safeguarding@st matts.org.uk

Many thanks

Kirstie Dolphin and Amy Cadle

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Statement of Financial Activities – Year ending Dec 31st 2023

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PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF READING, ST.MAThHEW AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2023 2023 Restricted Fund8 2022 Unr88trfcted Fund* Totsl Fund• Totsl Fund8 Flxed Ass•ts 9.711 4.378 14,089 11940 CURRENT ASSETS Debt¢xs & Prepayments Bank & Cash Balarres 2,791 32.705 35.496 2,791 4.528 22,282 22.282 67,778 4,005 85.789 CREDITORS- amounts falllng due within 1 year 4.005 12,229 NET CURRENT ASSETS 31,491 22.282 53.773 63.$60 NET ASSETS 41,202 PARISH FUNDS G•nwal R088rv• 41,202 41.202 59.705 Restricted Fund8: Trainiry Room Fund Jub41ee Fund Youth Werker Fund Warm Hub Fund Totsl Pa￿h Fund8 6,830 1,084 6,830 1,084 1,296 6,000 600 66.500 18,746 26.660 Th8 attad)ed r￿te5 fomi part of the8efinandal staternents. Aprmed by the PGC on and signed bthaw by Re¥. Pads Dolphin IPCC Chalmianl Ms Chiscfn UrnehlPCC Treasurei Page | 16

PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF READING. ST.MA￿HE￿ NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 1. A¢¢ounting Poll¢ies 1.1 Basls of pr•parn￿on The Fihanryal Statements have been prepartd in acCllrdan￿ Vfith the ChurchAccountlng Regulatillns In accordan￿ Kith the the Staiement of Rfcommended PrèthTr A¢countin9 arml RÈporfiry by chari1￿9 prep3riT¥J the atruunls in arLordan￿￿ Finandhl Rep￿1￿￿ Slandard In UK 8nd R8PLIKof Ire￿nd IFRS 1021 and th9 Chalit￿S Act 2D11. The Finan¢Fal Ststements have bBen prepared under the historical ts)$1 ￿n¥@nI1￿ wth iterns recogni￿ atC461or trBwcbon valu2 un￿sS Olh6Jv4W Staled in the rdfyvanl noies to Ihe$fy ¥c￿U￿15 The all transi0[￿. aSBetB and118bilrfpsforvthich the PW i¥ responBibk In l£w. Thuydo not Ind￿￿e ccounts Df thurch group5 that 04%e their main affi￿at￿n lo anolherbody nor thoae that are informal gatherings of churth ￿￿rnberG. The accounw have been prepa￿￿ using ihe a(X¥ual method. There are no matetial Un￿rtaIntI&$ the PCC'S atsilitylD ¢￿tinUe. and SDlh¥ gong cOn￿M of at￿ntIng bwn adopied. The accouths ar9 presented In pound and rounded to the ￿areB1 pwnd. 1.2 Incomlns rgwurces JI IncrJmifU resources are Ind￿ed in the StAtement tyf FinanoBI ihe charfiyls eniitied to the inoime and the can be quanwled vith reasonab￿ accw8w. The follo￿Ing polity98 applled iothè P8lbtyJlar egor￿S of Inco￿. - Planned giviny. ¢olleLtions and sknibrdonations are re¢tynwd Kthen rel¥e¢. -Tax refunds are ￿L¥JgnI8ed Ihv daim to HMRC is subrniited. -Grants and Wa(¥eB a￿ account9d fortheThlhe PCC isenfyued tothÈ use oflh8 res0W￿¥, lF¢irutt￿￿hate reclpii& conSide￿d ￿￿30ndb￿ certaln and the amounis du28re rO￿a￿Yq￿8nIifi3ts￿. . Intere￿8% a[￿ awued bylkpayer. l inL¥Jmin9 reg¢urt¥ are accouMedforyros8. 1.3 RB8our¢u •xp•n(Ivd E¥pBnditure is at￿unIfO fL￿On an acuual ba516. ThB dlrJ288an PariBh share IiTr be pdid over k% o(J>)wted for vthn dup. Ml otherexpendilure Is generalty r￿9￿1￿0 when Ills ifwtrgd and 0￿Unted f4rgros5. 1.4 Funds ac£ouning Restricied fund$ compnse181 irwmo from Is to be exp9t¥Jed on the r6¥knthd purposes kntended bylhe dO￿r￿nd Ib) reven￿ donations orgrant$ fora speofic PCC a¢tiwtyinlended by the donor. Where these funds have urbwnt b¥lan￿5. Imerttt on I1￿1r PODkd inv8tm8nlis appo￿One￿ lo the indNhJual funds w an verage balarts b8518. Unrestdded tunds repr&gentfunds of the Pccthat notsUb￿￿t0 resltKt￿ns rega￿1n0 tr￿r use. such fvnd$ Indude Incorne fundsthith arè ￿ b& swnton ihe PCC'&9e￿ra1PU￿1 arml Ihatpartofthe Legaty Fwd nol resbidth bylhe lerrnsaftho Individual ￿119. De9nabd fund9 areoeneral fvnds set aaide by1￿ PCC f¢ru5e In the future. ProiBd (uThls are deonatsd for pHrticulArproje(tsfor admini¥lratson pu￿se5 on￿. DeBlgnated fvnds refflain unresiriL%ed and the Pec￿111 tnove any Ot￿rgen8ra1fUTrI 1.5 Flx•d Con94cr4ted Land 8ulldlng Ind Mov￿ble ChU￿h Fufflthhln90 Con(Dted and beTh&f￿ed property ig exuL￿ed from th9 accounts by $10 Charilie8Act2012 No value Is pl¥iEd on moveable churth lumishln9s hEld bylhe chur¢hwarfenB on sp9¢i31 truslfor the PCC thith requ￿ a facuNy for di&ws¥161nce the P¢¢ ￿n￿derS thi¥ lo be inallenabk property Ml B￿ndIture Incuir84 during the year¢n nsecrated benefi￿ buildings and moveswe church tumishing6. ￿ether Mainlenan￿ Qr Imp￿verne￿t i$)itten off 9ypeThliiure in the Staterneni of Finan(xal Acti¥ibF8 and Separats￿diS￿Os￿. I￿r Flxturvd FitbngE and Offl¢Tr EqulpmAlIt LITwvalue equiptnent I￿$9 than £l,WOI used iihin church wwni8q8 i&knthen tyff inlheyear0f¥wuisrf￿n. Capitli8ed ectrani¢equipment the thurth premkngis depre￿ated on 8 Str￿ght-￿na bA overa perknd Am¢vnts ovlng to the PCC Bttho pnd of eath y8•raT8 Bh(rA 95 debl0r9 9uty'erllo provL*lonfor8mLvJnts that nk9y grove IrreCovwab￿. Bank ba￿n￿ $r6 all Ehortta)m depo￿[9￿1th Ikw &Jildin9 So¢i9tyoralthebank Page | 17

PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF READING. ST.MArrHew NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDEO 31 DECEMBER 2023 I Incomlng Re8oureè• 2023 2022 Unrestricted R4strtcted Funds FurKIs Total Funds Tc4al Funds Voluntsry InGome Tax Re¢o¥erable on 14.457 14,457 14.424 Plqnned Giwng CdleGlions al S¢rvkn8 & Chufth Programrrrt>s t>cnalion$ Donations - Youth Worker Tr8inkng Rocyn thalKJn$ 73.733 3.418 3,981 3.981 5.ODO 8,430 Tilal Voluntary Incomè 97.724 Othr Ordlnary In¢tyn• Chapellchurch In( Church Hall In(x Fees ￿18¢1•￿ on behaff of Dioc8s8 Fees for PCC Ministry Pansh Share Rrtol8 or￿nISts Fees 570 570 14.210 1.09D 10.867 1,268 249 249 75 1.381 80 Matsrial InGome Warrn Htsb D(￿al￿5 Chadiablè Donationg- Jubi186 Fund 37.034 37.034 1,609 1109 Total In¢thnlThJ Resourc Page | 18

PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF READING. ST.MAThHEW NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 J Cost of charftsbl8 a¢Uvttl*ts 2023 2022 Unrestricted Restrf￿￿d C￿ts Costs Total c￿ts Total ¢￿ts Cbrgy EAperr T￿￿ Ministy b. T1￿ChUrch & Servl Church e￿an1 Chur¢h FILv￿[S Church Yard 75 75 228 302 la,￿7 302 13,857 10.220 Insurance Reguigr Maintenance Church Up￿p ol SeTvKe5 WatsrRates Church 2.145 2.145 87 Othor Parish ExF4r Children'5 Minlslry Music Ministy YoLth Mlni$try Lay Staft Salaries staff D&vdop￿t staff IT Facility Petsonal Expen8e8 of Lay Staff 2.￿1 2,￿1 1,447 1207) 29.863 157 451 304 30.775 14.941 32,1 157 451 14.941 45.716 Church Hall runnlng eos Mission wlthin tho Parish 11.278 2.191 12.058 2.191 Administration Affiliabon6 Goveman Il and afKount8ncyfees Bank Fé8$ CLI Lten¢o DePre￿atiOn Gift5 Olherordinary Parfsh Expèn Photcc¢pyiw & Printing Co$ts TelephiJn• & Bro￿baTh IV￿¢$r Payroii casts 1.035 1.035 741 40 24 821 3.654 3,228 618 156 1.619 793 15g 50 271 618 1.819 1.510 720 159 271 B656 58,029 72,021 ,Q76 Payrnonl8 the Parfgh ch8ritats￿ Donalicns Fees to Di02e80-Payrnenl PaFi5h Shors 392 1,895 733 45.940 814 45,940 Page | 19

PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ReADING. ST.MAThHEW NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 3 Cc6t of charltable aciivltl86 I￿ni.d> 2023 Unmtrfctsd Rgsbi¢i8d CrAt8 2022 T¢tal Total . Devolowentand malntonanco Hal¥Gard￿ MaSntsnart8 & Rede¢oraiKJn Set-up of a comrnunity g8rden Proiectorfor Church ￿￿1 Otherexpendilure 2.1e1 878 1.288 577 22 1.258 1.256 3.418 r<￿ Oovelopwentand fflalnt•Th•nco ¢C•ty i. othoroperatlnllexperffj Tr8inin9 rootn expense5 Warm Hub exp¢ns8$ Total otherrwatirg 8xpor*os 1,600 7,797 7.797 Totsl Ro¥ources Used 125 519 Page | 20

PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF READING. ST.MAThHEW NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 Slaff co•ts 2023 202Z Wage5 8lllar4es & Nl 44,804 32.135 44,804 32.135 Tho av•Rge numberofemployee$during tho yearwas 3 {2022..21. Tmste2s IPCC W￿nberg) r8¢el¥•Y no r8mUnerol￿n during the yo•rl2022. nontrl. Ouring the year3trustees IPCC mombetslwere reirnbjrgad eynsos ¥mounling to£264.10 relating to general runniNJ costs and meeting ekp8nge8. Pads and Dolphin woro r￿mpan88d £4.081.20. a disclosed in the Cleroy-The Ministry expense account (not• 31 2023 2022 Dobtorg & Pvopaym•nts Trade debtors Tax recDvernb19 on grft8wJs 01herd8bt￿S Prepayments 1.831 234 3.221 2.791 2023 2022 Crvdltor8 Tradè cr￿110 Olhercreditors Axruals e95 881 2A28 2.128 6.057 12.229 Pari•h Funds The movameThts in funds during tho Y•arwe￿. Balance Broughl Fon¥ar<l Tr•n$ts Out9olng ￿twee fund Balance CarT*od Forward Incoming Gpnerdl R•4oN• 7a De6ignatod= ChI￿re￿ a Music Mini&lry Fund Organ Rep$irltnedia deskfurKI WreAth.m8king event 55.705 lo8￿74 1127,0681 11.0411 40,170 2,040 1,630 455 <12S 112.699 1,041 346 1,032 41,202 14,1341 1131.2021 Unrnstrtcod Fund$ 59,705 7b R￿tric￿d.. Training Room Fund JUbl￿e Fund Youth Wotker Fund Watm Hub Fund 11,6001 13921 15.0001 118.789 {25,710 {156,9821 6.830 1.084 1.285 s.￿0 500 181 37.oy 18,746 26,660 67,662 6,795 66,500 4S.640 1S8.344 Page | 21

PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF READING. ST.MATTHEW NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 7a Dési d FundB Children & Mu¥c MinL81ry Fund wa5 Used in 2023 to supportfamily and ehildren'8 ministr5 in the church. The Organ ￿pair and rrojva deskfund wa5 to cO￿T the repair of the organ and re￿a¢a￿￿tal t￿ media equipment Tha wreath making was Sn outreath event. REstrf¢ The Trsining RODM Fund wa$ lo cover the ofutbishmentof the ¢ommitte8 roDm into a training room to help in eatty stages of manial health in children and adults through cookiro. This furbds Mll also cover sornme of thew8g88 of an employee and oth&r relatèd training expense$ The Jubi￿ Fund w8S IS 10 covtr expenses inGurre¢ on f&mIl￿ wrfh har¢ship The YoLthwotsrfund represents donations r8celTrAd specificAlly forth8 hiring of a youth wowkerfor ¢hildren mink8ryWithln part of the and IhKq w8¥ fulty ulilised In 2023. Tho Watm Hub Fund reprosents donations recèived ¥pe¢ific8ltyfDr provro￿n of wami hub8 lincludiry staff costs an capital improvement of facilititislf0rpe0￿8Wrttt￿ the parish who Li struggling keeping their own homB wami. Tho PCC hB5 8 poI￿Y of k*ping three months runnin9 costs in reservo 1¢ c¢wr unforeseen ￿rcums￿n¢?8. Dudng 2023 thi$ 8mDunted to £35,162 Page | 22

Independent examiner’s report to the Trustees of Parochial Church Council of Reading, St. Matthew

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