2024-12-31-accounts - The Parochial Church Council Of The Ecclesiastical Parish Of St Peter's Broadwater

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2024 Report

for the

Parochial Church Council

of

St Peter Broadwater, Stevenage

THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST. PETER, BROADWATER MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL VESTRY MEETING OF PARISHONERS AND THE ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING

Sunday 21[st] April 2024 in the church building

The Vestry Meeting and the Annual Parochial Church Meeting were held at the same time. Revd Kate Sharples welcomed all to the meeting and opened in prayer.

Those present:

Obi Eneli Stacey Yau Adjustn (AJ) Yau Mathew Haslet Lynn Lee-Diep Kieran Cooney Kay Collier Anna Becket Milanese Roberts John Bell Janet Bell Graham Hall Louise Sime Lynn Evenet Paul Evenet Barbara Cutler Rod Cutler Laura Taylor Claudius Allen Delores Taylor Hilda Francis Marion Burton Pauline Sharp Patricia Wood Jacqui Horbury	Stella Harry Cathy Smith Paul Dymond Debbie Auburn Simon Flatman Vicky Higgins Joan Ward Corinne Headington Brenda Richardson Keith Martn Carol Temple Judith Tof Adenita Kool Chris Russell John Greenway Mathew Wyat Catriona Brenton Richard J Brooks Sophie O'Donoghue Janet Shimmen Susan Dungey Jackie Mitchell Wendy Hills Dave Salomon Paul Carter

Apologies:

Helen Henry (in children's church) Annete Baillie (in children's church) Gordon Baillie (in children's church) Linda Jayson (in children's church) David Owen (in youth) Samuel Owen (in youth) Ken Aknai Rose Aknai Roger Busfeld	Rosie Busfeld Liz Carter Doris Cork Tracy Dymond John Headington Rosie Hollands Ruth Pollard Linda Smith Brian Temple

ANNUAL VESTRY MEETING OF PARISHIONERS 2024

APOLOGIES: See above
TO RECEIVE THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD IN 2023

It was proposed by Obi Eneli that, apart from correcting the date from 27[th] to 26[th] March, the minutes were a true and accurate record of the meeting held on Sunday 26[th] March 2023, seconded by Wendy Hills and agreed by all.

ELECTION OF CHURCHWARDENS FOR 2024-25

Rev Kate Sharples announced that the candidate standing for Churchwarden is:

John Hollands: proposed by Roger Busfield and seconded by Lynn lee-Diep There being no other candidate he was duly elected for the year 2024/25.

PROPOSAL TO EXTEND THE TERM OF OFFICE FOR CHURCHWARDENS

It was agreed to extend the term that churchwardens can stand beyond 6 years. Proposed by Janet Bell and seconded by Graham Hall.

This means that Section 3 of the Churchwardens Measures 2001 (Disqualification after 6 periods of office) no longer applies. This does not mean that a Churchwarden will stay in office beyond 6 years, but gives us the opportunity to enable this if we wish. All Churchwardens are appointed/reappointed on a yearly basis.

ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING

APOLOGIES: See above
TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE APCM HELD IN 2023

It was proposed by Carole Temple and seconded by Lynn Evenett that, apart from correcting the date from 27[th] to 26[th] March, the minutes of the meeting held on Sunday 26[th] March 2023 were a true record of the meeting and agreed by all.

3. MEMBERSHIP OF THE PCC

Rev Kate Sharples confirmed that Rose Aknai, Kieran Cooney, Wayne Sime and Louise Sime are standing down.

Mike Toft has sadly died.

Rose and Kieran are standing again. There are 4 candidates in total standing for the PCC:

Rose Aknai, proposed by Cathy Smith, seconded by Tracy Dymond

Kieran Cooney, proposed by Gordon Bailie, seconded by John Hollands

Richard Brooks, proposed by Ruth Pollard, seconded by Lynn Evenett

Samuel Owen, proposed by John Hollands, seconded by Helen Henry

There being no other candidates Rose Aknai, Kieran Cooney, Richard Brooks and Samuel Owen were formally elected.

As agreed by PCC members; AJ Yau and David Salomon will be co-opted onto the PCC at the next PCC meeting. They could not stand for election because they have been on the electoral roll for less than 6 months.

4. APPOINTMENT OF THE INDEPENDENT EXAMINER TO THE PCC:

Sue Viles of Gamlingay is willing to act as our independent examiner for the 2025 accounts. This was proposed by Barbara Cutler and seconded by Matthew Wyatt and accepted by the meeting.

5. FINANCE REPORT

Matthew Wyatt gave a short report on the finances in which he thanked all those who have given financially to St Peter’s over the last year.

6. REPORT ON THE BUILDINGS

John Hollands gave a report on the buildings and church fabric. As stated in the written report, the church buildings and fabric are generally in good repair.

Our main concern over the past year has been the high cost of the gas heating and so we have been working hard on getting a replacement. The PCC have agreed on a heat pump/air conditioning solution, insulating the roof spaces and replacing the high-level windows, the small windows in the chancel and the surrounding rooms. We are waiting planning permission from Stevenage Borough Council and a faculty from the Church of England.

The project will cost around £90,000 and we currently have around £20,000 . We have applied for a Net Zero Carbon grant from St Albans Diocese for £18,000. We have applied for a further grant from the National church of around £20,000. The rest we hope will come from grant funding bodies.

During repairs to bricks in the tower and the cills for the large window (March 2023) it was discovered that the lead skirt on the tower was in bad condition so this was replaced.

Minor works – replaced lights in the chancel, replaced loose coping stones on the boundary wall and put in emergency lighting in the church.

Quinquennial review of the buildings – this identified cracks in the wall towards the back of the church – this is not urgent and will be sorted in 2025.

Thanks were expressed for Roger Busfield’s hard work in keeping the garden tidy and for completing various minor repairs, and to Emma Stilling for keeping the buildings clean.

DEANERY SYNOD AND ELECTORAL ROLL

The Deanery synod met 3 times last year and included a talk from Beds and Herts Historic Churches trust on their work and a talk on the workings and business of the General Synod.

Electoral roll: 97, 9 added and 8 removed because they had moved away, now worship at a different church or passed away. Thanks were expressed to Lynne Lee-Diep for all her hard work behind the scenes.

8. QUESTIONS : No questions were received.

2024 ANNUAL REPORT

FOR THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST. PETER BROADWATER, STEVENAGE

Review of the year

We started the year with a new Alpha Course in January with 9 people attending at the start. Most of the group continued to stay together to do the Bible Course and the Prayer Course, forming another small group.
It was great to have a few new people joining the PCC this year. We took the opportunity to reflect on what was going well at St Peter’s and what new things we wanted to do. Four areas were highlighted, and all of these have been progressed by various PCC members:
Building community
Doing something for the older people
More resources for youth
Going away together as a church
A big highlight of the year was welcoming Peter and Saffron to St Peter’s. Peter was ordained on Sun 30[th] June and started work as our curate the next day. We have really appreciated his enthusiasm, willingness to get involved and his preaching.
In the summer it was a great joy to fill the paddling people and have a baptism service, with some of those from Alpha being baptised or renewing their vows, along with others.
Some of the church decided to go to “The Big Church Festival” in the summer of 2025, and booked their early bird tickets.
Noisy church started in the Autumn term. This is after school, for families who can’t make in on a Sunday morning. It includes all age worship, prayer, crafts and activities.
There have been several social events over the year, with 2 quiz nights (March and November), summer and autumn socials, a big breakfast before the service and a couple of picnics in the summer.
Tea and Co came to an end at Easter, followed by a time of prayer and research into what to do next. Renew Wellbeing Café is a national organisation providing places where it’s OK. After talking with the organisation and some training on zoom, the café was started in November.
The Warm Church project continued to be a lot of work this year, getting quotes, putting in grants and obtaining permission from the DAC and planning. We are hoping and praying we can install the new heating system in the summer of 2025
A huge thank you to everyone who is part of St Peter’s Church; for serving, praying, chatting, giving, caring and being present.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3: 20-21).

Aim and Purpose

St Peter’s Parochial Church Council (PCC), in cooperation with the incumbent, Revd Kate Sharples, is responsible for the whole ministry and mission of the church to the Parish of Broadwater. This includes pastoral, evangelistic, social action and ecumenical work and involvement in initiatives across Stevenage with “Churches Together in Stevenage”. The PCC is also specifically responsible for the maintenance of the Church and hall buildings

Vision

Our vision is to be a missional church – showing God’s love to the community – and to be a relevant and visible presence, providing pathways by which people can seek and know God.

We want to continue to be a welcoming community that loves people of all ages and cares for them. To enable all ages to become mature followers of Jesus and to rely on him through prayer and Bible reading and the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
We want to be “A Furnace” where people meet with Jesus, where lives are transformed by his presence, where miracles happen and where people are sent out by the Holy Spirit on fire for God.
We want to be church that serves the community, helping to meet the needs of the parish.

Mission Action Plan

1. Warm Church Project – new heatng system that is net zero carbon

The current heating system is an old gas boiler with radiators, and its poor efficiency coupled with the sharp rise in gas prices is making it very difficult to heat the church. We cannot continue to grow the churches’ activities unless we have a new and cheaper heating system. We also want to make changes to the buildings and how we use them so that we reach the Church of England’s target of being carbon neutral by 2030. The plan is to install air conditioning units which run of electricity. All the plans, quotes and permissions are in place, and we have half of the money required. We are waiting on grants for the other half

2. New Worshipping Community for Families - Noisy Church

The aim is to develop a worshipping community for those with young families who would not otherwise come to church. This was started in the Autumn term and has attracted new families who don’t come to church on a Sunday.

3. Renew-Wellbeing Café

The aim is provide a welcoming space, where people can connect with each other and find encouragement, confidence and a place to belong. This was started in the Autumn

4. Front Entrance Project

To make the front entrance accessible, visible and welcoming. The previous plans proved to be too expensive. This is a small project to put glass into the existing lobby and an accessible slope up to the entrance. A scooter park will also be made outside the side entrance. The plans have been approved by the DAC and planning, and we are waiting for quotes.

Activities and Highlights - Building the Church

Music Ministry - Ken Aknai

It’s been such a pleasure to see the Music Ministry Team continue to grow over the last year and to impact the musical worship at St Peters.

During 2024, we hosted 3 whole church worship nights, which have been amazing times of encounter with the Lord. We believe that the Lord is using these evenings to take us into deeper encounter with him and we hope to expand worship nights over 2025

We had a team worship night, where we could spend time together as a team worshipping Jesus, and seeking his guidance for the year ahead. We also had a social event for band members and families which again helps us unite as a team.

During 2024 we explored the use of In Ear Monitors (IEMs) to replace the large and loud stage floor monitors. These will have several advantages for the band and congregation. These will be phased in over the first half of 2025. A huge thank you to AJ for all his work with this.

As always, we would like to express a huge thank you to everyone in the band, and on sound desk/AV, for the time and effort (and early Sunday morning starts!) you all devote to serving the Lord in music and song.

Prayer Ministry - Rosie Busfield

During 2024 we continued to use our model of prayer ministry which places the emphasis on waiting for the Holy Spirit to do his work. Members of the prayer ministry team pray short prayers with the people who come forward and are continually open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We have encouraged people to stay in God’s presence for as long as they feel comfortable rather than returning to their seats immediately after being prayed for.

At our meeting in February, we were in agreement to continue with this model of prayer ministry but at the same time retaining the right to be flexible according to how we feel the Holy Spirit is leading us.

It was decided to remove the prayer envelope from the prayer board as very few prayer requests were received. The prayer request form on the website is now up and running. We have received a few requests via this method.

Youth Church - Peter Briggs (Curate)

Over the past year, the most significant development in our youth work at St Peter’s has been the introduction of a new model for our Sunday morning sessions. We moved away from using Youth for Christ materials and instead adopted a Four Ws structure: Welcome, Word, Witness, and Worship. This model encourages participation, with young people taking responsibility for different parts of the session each week. As a result, engagement has grown, and a greater sense of community has developed as they encourage one another in what they bring.

A particular highlight of the past year was our Christmas social. The evening included free time and games, a wonderful meal cooked by Rosie, and a lively all-in game of Mafia/Werewolf to finish—which no one wanted to leave! Looking ahead, we hope to host more social events like this while also incorporating moments of worship and encounters with Jesus.

One of the key challenges we’ve identified is how to better support our older youth. We recognise that they need space to ask deeper questions about faith that relate to their stage of life. We have begun considering new ways to engage them, but have no firm plans yet.

None of this would be possible without our amazing team of volunteers. A huge thank you to Tapiwa, Samuel, David, and Paul, who take turns faithfully serving each week, and to others who step in when needed. Your dedication and care make a real difference in the lives of our young people.

As we move forward, we are excited about the direction of our youth work but also recognise the need for prayer and support from the wider church—particularly in raising up volunteers to help us create more opportunities for our young people to grow in faith and discipleship.

Kids Church - Stacey Yau (Children & Families Worker)

Kids Church has been very consistent this year. Numbers are really steady, we have 9 kids that come every week and more that come when they can.

After splitting the groups into two we were doing well, but as September came we realised that we needed to reshuffle the ages to make it more appropriate for all learning abilities. All the older 5-yearolds and younger 6-year-olds that would have usually stayed in bubbles (the infant group) have been moved up to Xtreme (the junior group). There were some growing pains during this time, but it has settled down now and it has been noted that it was a positive decision by child and leader alike.

With the start up of Noisy Church, regretfully Stacey doesn’t have as much time to put together videos to show the wider congregation what the kids have been up to, but hopefully will start up again. It is still a belief that we need to integrate the young people into our congregation as much as possible as they are the future leaders of the Church and a valuable, willing, and somewhat untapped team.

Kid’s breakfast still happens the first Sunday of every month, we have been running for over a year now and the friendships that have been made are clear to see. We have a steady group of 4 families that attend with more coming when they can.

Kid’s Church (cont.)

Stacey has put together a creche for the children that are not yet old enough to attend Kids church. With painting help from Simon F and IT help from Dave S it looks great and there is a live stream of the service in there too. It will hopefully become a hub where little ones and their adults can escape the pressures of the main service, where they can still see the service and not feel they are being left out. This time after a little one learns to walk but is not ready for formal learning can be a hard time for parents. The hope is this will ease the transition, and they can still fill their own cup looking after their child.

Pastoral Care - Rosie Busfield

We have continued to offer pastoral care support as requested, either by phone or face to face contacts. Each person is offered support as appropriate to their needs and this is reviewed on a regular basis. Much pastoral support is provided by homegroups, and friendship groups and we aim to complement, or at times, add additional support to the care given by these groups. We work closely with Kate and are mindful that we represent Kate and St Peters church when offering this ministry. Our team is still small, but we are pleased to have added another member during the year.

I have now completed an information and resource file listing various agencies e.g. homelessness, addictions, debt counselling, to mention just a few. This is for anyone in the church to use either for signposting people to, or for their own personal use.

Home Groups

We currently have 7 Home Groups – some daytime groups, some evening groups and 1 on-line group. Here are reports from some of them to give a flavour of what they have been doing during 2024.

This Daytime Home Group continued to meet at 10.30 on Wednesdays in the church meeting room following the Holy Communion Service. We start with refreshments and some familiar worship from our own song book (many thanks to Lynne in the office) before a time of bible study. This is either a reflection on the recent sermon or a contribution based on scripture often producing some lively discussion and amusing anecdotes. We have also repeated the J.John Just 10 series which provided much laughter and discussion. There is always a time to include prayer for matters raised and for each other before a final song. – Maurice Gordon

Home Groups (Cont)

We continue to meet weekly using Zoom enabling all to participate even when away from home (internet permitting). We have an active WhatsApp group where all post throughout the week for prayer, encouragement and the ups and downs of life. This year we have loosely used the resources of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity together with topical reflections. - Paul Evenett

We continued to experience Gods faithfulness throughout last year as we saw prayers answered and shared various encouraging testimonies of His goodness and mercy. - Obi Eneli

Another year has passed, and our group has continued to meet regularly, and enjoyed social activities together at times. We’ve also welcomed a new member to the group. As we share together, our prayer support for each other continues to be an important part of the group. We have recently commenced a study of the Book of Hebrews, as we endeavour to learn more of how the OT is fulfilled in the NT and in the life of Jesus. We would like to thank each member for their continuing commitment to the group – we really appreciate each one of you. - Janet & John Bell

Fasting Group – Peter Briggs (Curate)

The fasting group began organically after my first sermon at St Peter’s, where I casually mentioned my interest in developing a fasting practice with others. To my surprise, about 10 people responded, and from that simple invitation, a WhatsApp group was formed.

Each week, we fast together on the same day, initially from one meal and later extending to both breakfast and lunch. Our reflections centre on four key focuses of fasting:

Offering ourselves to Jesus
Growing in holiness
Amplifying our prayers
Standing with the poor

Through WhatsApp, I provide reminders the night before, in the morning, and at lunchtime, along with a short teaching or reflection—many of which come from Practicing the Way, a charity dedicated to spiritual formation. Over time, the group has grown into a community of encouragement, where members share their experiences, pray for one another, and support each other’s fasting journeys.

After three months, we gathered in person for a feast, celebrating what God had been doing in our lives through this practice. That time of sharing testimonies and prayer sparked the idea to share some of those reflections in a Sunday service, which led to five more people joining the group.

Looking ahead, my hope is that others in the group will begin leading reflections or reminders so that the group can continue even beyond my time at St Peter’s. I also hope we will grow in depth, bond, and number. This group has been a simple but deeply transformative experiment, and I’m excited to see how God continues to use it in the life of our church.

Activities and Highlights - Engaging with the Community

Stepping Stones – Stacey Yau

Stepping stones has not seen many changes this year. There was a dip in numbers, some research was done there are two reasons this could be the case. The first being that there are less babies being born and so less children around to come to clubs. The second reason is that the government have put better childcare allowances in for little ones and so more are attending a preschool from an earlier age. We still see many familiar faces and the feedback is always positive.

We have a great team that all know exactly what to do and can mingle with the community very well. We are in a very strong position with volunteers this year, we have a couple of mums and a childminder from the group helping us. They and the other volunteers do an amazing job, and all gets done with ease.

Noisy Church – Stacey Yau

Noisy Church has started slowly but strong. We have 4-6 otherwise non church families that have been coming every week. We offer a rolling snack from 3:30pm after school, we have song worship which leads to a talk. We are following the same programme as we follow at kid’s church to minimise some of the workload. One of our priorities was to make it sustainable so keeping the workload as easy as possible at least for the first year was crucial. After the talk we break off and do theme-based crafts and activities and then finish with a conclusion and final song.

Overall, it has been successful, although we would like to increase the marketing to attract more families. Going forward we would like to offer some dinner options, starting once a term and becoming more and more frequent while still keeping it sustainable.

As far as friendship is concerned, we are really getting to know the regulars now and it is clear they feel much more comfortable with us and within the building.

Schools Work – Kate Sharples

Assemblies were taken throughout the year in Roebuck Academy and Shephalbury Park Primary School. It was also great to welcome the schools into church for Christmas and Easter services and the Christmas Journey. Years 1, 2 and 4 from Shephalbury visited the church to learn about Easter, and “what kind of a king was Jesus”.

Love Stevenage – Stacey Yau

We followed what we had done last year and had a carnival theme, bouncy castle, puppets and face painting. The weather was not kind and there were other events happening on that same day so we did not have high expectations for numbers but overall the day went well, and it looked as though the visitors all had a good time. We had more people attend than first thought.

Foodshed – Annette Baillie

When we first began our cooperation with Vineyard Foodshed our vision was to liaise with the primary schools in the parish to help families in food poverty. This year we have enlarged our client base to include anyone experiencing food poverty for whom our Broadwater distribution point is the most accessible. We also started using a shared Foodshed database.

Hygiene poverty has become more evident during the year and to alleviate this we have increased our provision of toiletries. Clients have also benefitted from Babyshed (baby goods) and Toyshed (Christmas gift bags for children).

Foodshed is dependent on donations and I would like to conclude by expressing gratitude for the generous responses to our church appeals at Harvest and Christmas.

Renew Wellbeing Café – Kate Sharples

Renew Wellbeing is an organisation that helps churches open spaces of welcome and inclusion to improve mental and emotional wellbeing. it's based on the 3 principles of being prayerful, being present and being in partnership. We started the café in November and have had 15 to 20 people each week. Refreshments are provided, and there are games and sometimes crafts. We also have a quiet space which people can use during the session, and meditative prayers are led, which anyone can join in with.

Making it Happen

Electoral Roll

We have 91 names on the electoral roll, 35% are male and 65% female.

47% are resident in the parish and 53% are outside the parish

Parochial Church Council (PCC)

The PCC and the Vicar, Revd Kate Sharples, continue to work well together, overseeing the work and activities of St Peter’s. The PCC met 6 times in 2024.

Administration

Lynne Lee-Diep has continued to work 12 hours a week as the church administrator and hall booking manager. She does a fantastic job in making sure everything runs smoothly.

Deanery Synod - Obi Eneli (Deanery Synod Rep)

There were 2 meetings of the Stevenage Deanery Synod last year. The main highlights were:

Looking at Disability and the Church. We were shown a 20-minute video in which Baroness Sal Brinton spoke about disability and the Church. We discussed how each local parish cared for their disabled parishioners and made them feel welcome and included in the life of the church.

Elections were held to appoint representatives to the Diocesan Synod for both clergy and laity. 2 appointments were made for the clergy and there is currently 1 vacant seat. 3 appointments were made for the laity, there is no vacant seat.

Finance Report for the year ending December 2024 – Matthew Wyatt (Treasurer )/ John Hollands This year has been a normal year in terms of our services and use of the hall for ourselves and the community.

Our regular giving has fallen a little to around £57,000 with a further £12,950 tax recovered from gift aid. We also received around £4,500 for the Warm Church Project. Grants were agreed of £18,000 from The St Albans Diocese Net Zero Carbon Fund and £7,500 from Beds and Herts Historical Churches Trust. The money will be received once the work commences. Grants of £12,500 were received towards our Children's and Families worker. Despite lower Interest rates, our income from investments grew to £4,277 from £2,785. Income from the hall was £14,647, down from 17,456, but we expect this trend to reverse this year. The largest expenditure is the parish share of £58,450. This money goes to the Diocese and pays for the housing and stipends of all clergy, and the Diocese overheads.

Our biggest issue was the continued high cost of energy, costing us over £14,000. We continued to support our three mission partners giving a total of £4,788. The Church savings accounts has £96,344. This can be accounted for as: New Entrance £25,500

Families/Youth £30,000 (money from grants and a specific donation 3 years ago) Reserve £25,000 (3 months costs for emergencies) Warm Church Project £16,800 (gifts from the congregation and a grant)

On behalf of the PCC, I would like to thank everyone who gives financially to St Peter’s to allow us to run the church and for our work to continue.

Hall Report – Lynne Lee-Diep

It is a blessing that our regular hirers throughout the week have maintained their hire. Every weekday evening sees an activity from support groups to sporting clubs. T-TKD is a taekwondo club that has been with us since 2017 and continues to hire the hall 2 evenings a week. DanceBeat have continued to hold classes on Fridays. Slimming World sessions are still held throughout the day on Thursdays. Monday has a support group which meet weekly throughout the year.

Weekend hire is still sporadic especially with party hire. But the early months of the year saw the local councillors hold their monthly surgeries in the hall. They don’t hire all through the year with us as they change their venue but it is good to see them as a presence for the community.

December was the sadly the end of our weekly Karate class, who stopped teaching classes for personal reasons.

In the autumn, we had a few enquiries from churches wanting to hire our space for their services as they had no building of their own. In mid-November, we welcomed Church of Pentecost who started a weekly hire of our hall for their services. This provides us with stable and regular income from the hall for which we are very grateful.

Buildings and Fabric – John Hollands (Church Warden)

The church buildings and fabric generally remain in good condition. The main ongoing concern is the high cost of heating the church and the age of the gas heating system. During 2024 we agreed to proceed with a heat pump/air conditioning system, to insulate the roof spaces and replace the windows (except the stained glass windows at the west and east end of the church). We have received planning permission and the faculty from the Church of England. We are now awaiting the rest of the grant funding and aim to carry out this work in the summer of 2025.

During 2024 we looked again at the front entrance with a view to having a smaller project that would be more financially viable. This means retaining the current porch but putting in a large window and doors with lots of glass so that we can still meet the objective of people being able to see in and the front entrance more obviously being the entrance. In addition, we will put in an accessible entrance to meet one of our other objectives of making the entrance accessible to all. We have planning permission for this project and should shortly receive the faculty from the Church of England.

In February 2024 we had our 5 yearly full electrical check. One minor issue was identified that was remedied within a month or so.

Thanks go to Roger again for his work on the building and grounds, including mowing the lawn regularly and keeping the shrubbery trim and tidy. And also, to Gordon for his work on various maintenance issues and keeping our Health and Safety programme up to date. In addition, we thank Emma Stilling for her hard work keeping all areas of the buildings clean and safe during the year.

Safeguarding – Paul Evenett

St Peter's Church and the diocese, are totally committed to enabling our congregation, and visitors to be as safe as possible. We ensure that all those working with children, youth and vulnerable adults have had DBS checks, have undertaken their training and any concerns are followed up. Thank you to everyone who gives up their time to volunteer in this way. In the rare cases when something goes wrong, we would like to assure you that they are dealt with promptly and robustly. We will continue to give the highest priority to supporting any survivors or victims of abuse to the very best of our ability.

Our safeguarding officer Louise Sime left St Peter's in June, and Paul Evenett was safely recruited as our new safeguarding officer and has completed all the necessary training. Lynne Lee-Diep continues to be responsible for processing DBS checks and keeping them up to date. This year we have moved over to using the parish dashboard and safeguarding hub, which enables us to keep our records up to date and alerts us when we need to do things. We have created a display with information with help and support for those experiencing domestic abuse; agreed an ex-offender policy and discussed at PCC how we can improve our safeguarding culture.

We can report that the PCC has been fully compliant with the duty under section 5 of the safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016. (duty to have due regard to House of Bishops guidance on Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable adults).

Administrative Information

St Peter’s Church is situated on Broadwater Crescent, Stevenage, part of the Marymead neighbourhood hub. It is part of the Diocese of St Albans within the Church of England. The correspondence address is The Willows, Stevenage Herts SG2 8AN. Registered charity number is 1152921. PCC members who have served at any time during 2024:

Ex Officio members:

Clergy:	Vicar: Reverend Kate Sharples (Chair) Peter Briggs (from 1stJuly)
Readers:	Gordon Baillie Obi Eneli (and Deanery synod rep) Paul Evenet
Wardens:	John Hollands, Wayne Sime (untl 21stApril)

Elected members:

Rose Aknai (and vice-chair from 21[st] April) Richard Brooks (from 21[st] April) Kieran Cooney (until Sept) Mike Toft (deceased 26 March) Wendy Hills Julie Owen Samuel Owen (from 21[st] April) Louise Sime (until 21[st] April) Matthew Wyatt (Treasurer)

Co-opted members:

David Salmon (from 20[th] May) AJ Yau (from 20[th] May)

Approved by the PCC on

and signed on their behalf by the Reverend Kate Sharples (PCC Chairperson)

Report from the Treasurer for the PCC of St Peter's Church Broadwater for the year ending December 2024

Report for the accounts

This year has been a normal year in terms our services and use of the hall for ourselves and the community.

Our regular giving has fallen a little to around £57,000 with a further £12,950 tax recovered from gift aid.

We also received around £4,500 for the Warm Church Project. Grants were agreed of £18,000 from The St Albans Diocese Net Zero Carbon Fund and £7,500 from Beds and Herts Historical Churches Trust. The money will be received once the work commences.

Grants of £12,500 were received towards our Children's and Families worker.

Despite lower Interest rates, our income from investments grew to £4,277 from £2,785.

Income from the hall was £14,647, down from 17,456, but we expect this trend to reverse this year.

The largest expenditure is the parish share of £58,450. This money goes to the Diocese and pays for the housing and stipends of all clergy, and the Diocese overheads.

Our biggest issue was the continued high cost of energy, costing us over £14,000. We continued to support our three mission partners giving a total of £4,788.

The Church savings accounts has £96,344. This can be accounted for as: New Entrance £25,500

Families/Youth £30,000 (money from grants and a specific donation 3 years ago) Reserve £25,000 (3 months costs for emergencies)

Warm Church Project £16,800 (gifts from the congregation and a grant)

On behalf of the PCC, I would like to thank everyone who gives financially to St Peter’s to allow us to run the church and for our work to continue.

Matthew Wyatt Treasurer to the PCC.

Page 1

Parochial Church Council of St Peter's, Broadwater Annual Accounts Year ending 31st December 2024

Section A Statement	of financial activities Section A	of financial activities Section A	of financial activities Section A	of financial activities Section A
Recommended categories by activity Incoming resources (Note 2) Income and endowments from: Donations and legacies (notes 2a-b) Charitable activities (note 2c) Other trading activities Investments (note 2d) Other (note 2e) Resources expended (Note 3) Expenditure on: Raising funds Charitable activities (notes 3a-c) Net gains/(losses) on investments Extraordinary items Other gains/(losses) *Reconciliation of funds:* *Total* *Total* Total funds brought forward *Total funds carried forward* Net income/(expenditure) before investment gains/(losses) Net income/(expenditure) Transfers between funds(note 9) Gains and losses on revaluation of fixed assets for the charity’s own use *Net movement in funds*	Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Total funds Prior year funds £ £ £ £
	73,352	4,512	77,864	94,744
	16,622	1,128	17,750	21,523
			0	0
	4,277	0	4,277	2,785
	38	12,500	12,538	7,337
	94,289	18,140	112,429	126,388

	0	0	0	0
	107,763	23,422	131,185	138,418
	107,763	23,422	131,185	138,418

	(13,473)	(5,282)	(18,755)	(12,030)
		0	0	0
	(13,473)	(5,282)	(18,755)	(12,030)
	0	0	0	0
			0	0

			0
		0	0	0
	(13,473)	(5,282)	(18,755)	(12,030)

	53,916	77,625	131,540	143,571
	40,442	72,344	112,784	131,540

Page 1, SOFA

Section B Balance sheet

Unrestricted funds Restricted income funds Designated funds Total this year Total last year £ £ £ £ £	Unrestricted funds Restricted income funds Designated funds Total this year Total last year £ £ £ £ £	Unrestricted funds Restricted income funds Designated funds Total this year Total last year £ £ £ £ £	Unrestricted funds Restricted income funds Designated funds Total this year Total last year £ £ £ £ £	Unrestricted funds Restricted income funds Designated funds Total this year Total last year £ £ £ £ £
20,085	-	-	20,085	21,644
20,085	-	-	20,085	21,644

-	-	-	-	1,117
241	-	-	241	241
24,001	72,344	-	96,344	107,738
24,241	72,344	-	96,585	109,096

3,885	-	-	3,885	-800

20,356	72,344	-	92,700	109,896

40,441	72,344	-	112,785	131,540

40,441	72,344	-	112,785	131,540


-		-	-
	72,344		72,344	77,625
40,442		-	40,442	53,915
40,442	72,344	-	112,785	131,540

Print Name		Signature		Date of approval dd/mm/yyyy

Page 2, Balance Sheet

Parochial Church Council of St Peter, Broadwater Notes to the Financial Statements

For the Year Ended 31 December 2024

1 ACCOUNTING POLICIES

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2015 together with the Charities Act 2011, and the Statement of

Recommended Practice for Accounting by Charities. The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

Funds

Unrestricted funds represent the funds of the PCC that are not subject to any restrictions regarding their use and are available for application on the general .

purposes of the PCC. Funds designated for the particular purpose by the PCC are also unrestricted.

Incoming resources

Voluntary income and capital sources

Giving is recognised when received by or on behalf of the PCC. Planned giving receivable under Gift Aid is recognised when received.

Income tax recoverable on Gift Aid donations is recognised when the associated income is recognised.

Other income

Rental income from the letting of the church hall is recognised when rent is due.

Income from investments

Interest is accounted for as earned. All interest earned is credited to the Unrestricted Fund unless monies are separately invested.

Resources used

Grants

Grants and donations are accounted for when paid over, or when awarded, if that award creates a binding obligation on the PCC.

Activities directly relating to the work of the Church

The diocesan parish share is accounted for when it falls due.

Fixed Assets

Consecrated property and movable church furnishings

Consecrated property of any kind is excluded from the accounts by Part 1, Chapter 2 (10) of the Charities Act 2011.Even though it is not technically consecrated property, the Church Hall is not recognised in the accounts.

Page 1, Notes

Movable church furnishings held by the Vicar and Churchwardens on special trust for the PCC, and which require a faculty for disposal, are accounted for as inalienable property unless consecrated. They are listed in the church’s Inventory, which can be inspected (at any reasonable time).

Expenditure incurred on consecrated buildings or individual items under £5,000 is written off as incurred.

Other fixtures, fittings and office equipment

Individual items of computer and office equipment are capitalised and written off over three years.

Current assets

Amounts owing in respect of fees, rents or other income are shown as debtors. Short-term deposits include cash held on deposit either with the DBF, Church of England Funds or at the bank.

Page 2, Notes

Unrestricted Funds	Restricted Funds	TOTAL	TOTAL
		2024	2023
£	£	£	£
50,761 12,950 5,136 1,504		50,761 12,950 5,136 1,504	48,471 15,326 13,015 1,258
70,351	-	70,351	78,071
3,000	4,512	7,512 -	10,673 -
3,000	4,512	7,512	10,673
14,647 318 1,657	- 1,128	14,647 1,446 1,657	17,436 2,225 1,862
16,622	1,128	17,750	21,523
4,277	-	4,277	2,785
4,277	-	4,277	2,785
38	12,500	38 12,500	117 13,220
38	12,500	12,538	13,337
94,289 18,140		112,429	126,389

Fees from restricted funds shown in note 2 ( c ) are fees due to the Diocese in respect of set fees for weddings, funerals, baptisms etc.

Page 3, Notes

3 RESOURCES EXPENDED

3 RESOURCES EXPENDED
3(a) Grants Charitable giving: International Charities & Causes Missionary giving: International Charities & Causes National Charities & Causes Local Charities & Causes Total Charitable and Missionary giving 3(b) Activities relating to the church Ministry : Diocesan parish Share (1910) Clergy expenses + house (2101,2102,2130,2145) Funeral and wedding fees (2208) New building work (2920) Sub-Total Church Hall (2530, 2540, 2560) National Charities & Causes (1830) Local Charities & Causes (1802) Evangelism (2201, 2203, 2206, 2213, 2214) Work with Children (2216, 2146) Work with Youth (2217) Church running expenses (2207,2218,2219,2331,2340,2401,2410,2420) Church maintenance (2330,2701,2710) Equipment (1730, 2332)	Unrestricted Funds	Restricted Funds	TOTAL
			2024	2023
	£	£	£	£
	4,788	- - -	- - 4,788	- - 4,522
	4,788	-	4,788	4,522
	- -	- - -	- - - -	266 - -
	-	-	-	266
	4,788	-	4,788	4,788
	58,452 233 404 88 279 14,956 2,130 5,108 4,396	- 871 18,219 - 2,160 -	58,452 233 871 404 18,307 279 14,956 2,130 2,160 5,108 4,396	57,147 153 942 1,215 15,496 381 10,178 19,122 - 390 7,566
	86,046	21,250	107,296	112,590

Page 4, Notes

3 RESOURCES EXPENDED

3(c)	Church Management & Administration
	Administrator/Cleaner (2050, 2591)
	Administration (2360)
	Other costs (2301, 2303, 2362)
	Printing & stationery (2361)
	Examination Fees (2601)
	Office telephone & internet (2310)
3(d)	Other
	Other (2212, 2221)
	Depreciation (2841)
	TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED

Unrestricted Funds	Restricted Funds	TOTAL	TOTAL
		2024	2023
£	£	£	£
11,743 203 2,525 46 250 603	- - - - - -	11,743 203 2,525 46 250 603	7,394 93 2,859 45 250 662
15,370	-	15,370	11,303
1,559	2,172 -	2,172 1,559 -	1,498 8,239 -
1,559	2,172	3,731	9,737
107,763	23,422	131,185	138,418

Page 5, Notes

Church Hall Account Income Expenditure Net Deficit/income Stepping Stones Account Income Expenditure Net Deficit/income

2024	2023
£ 14,647 4,396	£ 17,436 7,566
10,251	9,869
£ 1,220 0	£ 1,200 650
1,220	550

4 STAFF COSTS Family Leader Administrator/Vicar's secretary Cleaner	2024	2023
	£ 18,219 7,769 4,625	£ 14,642 7,089 4,815
	30,613	26,546

Page 6, Notes

5 FIXED ASSETS

Cost

Brought forward Additions Disposals Carried forward

Depreciation

Brought forward Charge for year Disposal Carried forward

Net Book Value 2023

Net Book Value 2024

6 ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS BY FUND

Fixed Assets Cash at bank and at hand* Short term deposits

7 DEBTORS

Income tax recoverable Hall Hire

Kitchen	Meeting Rooms	Building roof	Access for all	Chairs	AV System	Total 2024
£ 23,130 - -	£ 6,965 - -	£ 16,320 -	£ 42028	£ 12,502	£ 4982	£ 100,945 - -
23,130 23,130 -	6,965 6,965 -	16,320 11,654 414 -	42,028 27,075 149	12,502 12,470	4982 2988 996	100,945 84,282 1,559 -
23,130 -	6,965 -	12,068 4,666	27,224 14,953	12,470 32	3,984 998	85,841 16,663

-	-	4,252	14,803	32	998	20,085

Unrestricted Funds	Designated Funds	Restricted Funds	TOTAL
£ 20,085 24,001 241	£ 0	£ 0 72,344 0	£ 20,085 96,344 241
44,326	0	72,344	116,670

2024	2023
£	£ 1,118
-	1,118

Page 7, Notes

8 CREDITORS: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE WITHIN ONE YEAR Accruals Amount held for other parties	2024	2023
	£ 3,885	£ -800
	3,885	-800

2023	Income	Expenditure	Transfers	2024
£ 53,915	£ 94,289	£ 107,763	£	£ 40,442
53,915	94,289	107,763	-	40,442
27,663 34,422 15,797 (257)	13,820 3,192 1,128	2,160 18,219 2,172 871		25,503 30,023 16,817 -
77,625	18,140	23,422		72,344
131,540	112,429	131,185	-	112,785

Page 8, Notes

John Hollands

From: John Hollands johnhollands888@outlook.com Sent: 27 October 2025 13:43 To: John Hollands Subject: FW: Re: St Peter's Church accounts 31.12.24

From: Wendy Hills wendyhills2@virginmedia.com To: Matthew.wyatt1@ntlworld.com Date: 20/03/2025 07:36 GMT Subject: Re: St Peter's Church accounts 31.12.24

Dear Matthew,

I have gone through the Finance documents. The only thing I wondered was why I was sent details of individuals giving (church members)? I otherwise give my verification.

Kind regards

Wendy Hills

On 19/03/2025 22:44 GMT matthew.wyatt1@ntlworld.com wrote:

Dear Wendy.

I attach the above for verification. Copies of invoices and correspondence can be supplied.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Matthew Wyatt, Treassuer, St Peters Church Stevenage.

7 Bronte Paths

Stevenage

Herts SG2 0PQ

01438 722102 07759 867353