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2022-12-31-accounts

The Parish of Newport Pagnell

St Peter & St Paul, High Street, Newport Pagnell, MK16 8AR St Luke, Wolverton Road, Newport Pagnell, MK16 8JQ

ANNUAL REPORTS

for presentation to the

Annual Parochial Church Meeting on Monday 15[th] May 2023

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Contents

Page
Rector’s Report 4
Churchwardens Reports 5
Parochial Church Council
- Secretary’s Report
- PCC membership and PCC Sub-Committees 8
Statistics 9
Safeguarding 10
Mothers’ Union 12
Sunday Club 13
Fabric Committee 15
Re-ordering Committee 15
Bellringers 17
Stewardship 18
Communications & Publicity report 18
Parish Visiting 19
Mission Group 20
Treasurers Report 21
Appendix 1 Accounts

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Rector’s report Rev Nick Evans

The last year has been one of building upon the lessons learned from Covid times and getting ‘back to normal’ where that is appropriate. We have continued to effectively use social media to advertise who we are and successfully publicise our services and events. We have a large Facebook following so our outreach has expanded into areas which had previously been untapped.

We have had time to evaluate the new pattern of service times across the benefice. The congregation has adapted remarkably well to the changes and the use of social media has been partly responsible for this. Many new congregants report to me of how they explored services times etc on the parish FB and web pages. This was also very effective in attracting people to the Queen’s Jubilee and funeral commemoration and Remembrance services during the year.

We had four adults confirmed by Bishop Alan and have another group of new people showing interest as a result of becoming a part of the church family over recent months.

There has certainly been an influx of new worshippers in the parish church and St Luke’s. What has been a delight is to see how both congregations mix so well during the twice monthly 10.30am services. It was good to see so many new people helping out at various events throughout the year and this involvement during the week is a sign of more folk being grounded in the Faith.

The reordering is continuing to move along in definitely the right direction, and it has been helpful too to have use of a new meeting room in the choir vestry area. The PCC have had some meetings here during the daytime and we have moved ahead on the ‘flourishing in ministry day’ which was held earlier in the year.

Regarding worship, there continues to be a sizeable Wednesday morning congregation which attracts new people and a sense of fellowship after the service. It has been good to rotate the ministry team to preach at these midweek services so there is greater involvement across the team. People continue to stay on for healing prayer and we have had some remarkable answers to prayer in these sessions.

Our Discovery Groups have all started up again now and we have also been involved in the delivery of a separate Lent course.

It has been terrific to see such a growth in the Mother’s Union again this year as we see committed Christians continue to join this organisation. The youngsters’ Sunday Club also contributes to the life of the church on Sundays and at special festivals such as Christmas.

A significant event for us all was the deaconing of Kimonie Nicholls at Christchurch Cathedral last summer. It has been my diocesan role to be what is called her ‘training incumbent’ and this year is meant to be very much one of theological reflection with some training in practical tasks. The bishop decides whether deacons will be priested this year and where they may serve the rest of their curacy, so we continue to pray for discernment

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regarding the future. Our continuing thanks go to Kimonie for her contribution to our worship and parish life over the past 10 months or so.

We continue to seek for a director of music to help with the choir at St Luke’s and to accompany the congregational worship. We are all grateful to the choir at St Luke’s for cheerfully continuing to produce music on the computer and for the wide selection of songs and hymns they provide.

It is always difficult to single out anyone in particular out for thanks – because someone always accidentally gets missed. The truth is that there are so many congregation members who contribute to Christ’s mission here in addition to myself, the wardens and ministry team. The Diocese has commented on how well the parish has developed and that is down to you all – God is really working in Newport Pagnell.

Churchwarden’s Report Jennifer Mazzone

I have continued to enjoy my role in the parish as Church Warden over the past twelve months.

It has been so good to get back to some sort of normality in our worship. The rota of services seems to be working well and we are all getting used to it. I strongly feel that it is due to this that we are now a more united parish especially at combined services. Attendances at all services have been maintained and new people have joined us and become regular worshippers. The Wednesday morning service has had to move to the Nave as numbers were too big to stay in the Lady Chapel.

The work on the Vestry has been completed. A new carpet has been laid in the Priest’s Vestry and the parquet floor polished on the other side. Everything is packed away in cupboards so it should be easier to keep the place tidy. The colour of paint on the walls has made it a much lighter space. Several meetings have already taken place in it. It is a quiet place for any confidential discussions. Thanks go to Ralph and Malcolm for helping me to see this project through.

The PCC met one Saturday morning in St. Luke’s to take part in a session on “Flourishing Together.” It was led by Gill Lovell, the Diocesan Development Officer. It was a useful day and provided us with helpful ideas as to how to move forward as a parish. From this we are now investigating “Care of the Clergy.” This is a nationwide initiative to help congregations understand how to support our clergy effectively. In our church, a small group of people are working on this and the outcomes will be discussed with the congregation in due course.

I sit on the Events Committee, the Mission Group and the Reordering committee. I feel that it is important for me as Church Warden to be involved with all aspects of church life.

I would like to thank all those people who have the unenviable task of sorting out the many rotas required to allow our worship to run smoothly.

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I would especially like to thank Nick and Jenny for their continued support over the past twelve months. We are a good team and work well together.

Churchwarden’s Report Jenny Frost

As 2022 started we were still being careful due to the Coronavirus pandemic. This meant that although St Luke’s had been in use since October 2021, there had only been one service in the morning on Christmas Day 2021.

On 1[st] January 2022, the CTNP New Year’s Day walk started at St Luke’s with 30 people attending. This was a good sign that people were feeling more confident about going to Church in a smaller building.

The decision had been taken to start a new service rota for the Benefice. This means that on the first Sunday of the month a Holy Communion service is held at St Luke’s at 10.30am. The first of these services was held on 6[th] February 2022 with 56 people attending. As the new rota means that on the 2[nd] and 4[th] Sunday’s there is a service at St Peter and St Paul’s at 09.30, and St Luke’s at 11am ( Our pre-pandemic service times) it has been good to note that we regularly have about 30 congregants at our 11am services. This is around the same number as pre-pandemic. The Joint service on the first Sunday usually has a congregation of between 45-65. Evensong, on the 3[rd] Sunday, usually has a congregation of between 20-25.

On Maundy Thursday the Cross was erected in the garden as our witness to the passers-by. This cross is usually bare until Easter Sunday when we decorate it with flowers. As the service on Easter Sunday fell on a 3[rd] Sunday, when our service is a 6pm Evensong service, it was lovely to be able to decorate it at the Easter Saturday Service of Light and for Nick to bless it for us. My thanks to Bill and Chris Watson for erecting the cross and all the many other things they do in St Luke’s.

As the year rolled on we went from the Joy and excitement of the Platinum Jubilee to the sadness on the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 2[nd] in September. She had been the only monarch most of us had ever known. In June the Preschool children and Brownie’s had each decorated a window in St Luke’s for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. The morning service on Sunday 11[th] September was a more subdued Morning Prayer than Kimonie had originally intended. Thanks to Kimonie for leading us in worship on that day. My thanks also to those who sat with me in St Peter and St Paul’s from Friday 9[th] September until Saturday 17[th] when we watched the Proclamation of the King on someone’s i-pad. As we sat there we welcomed people, some of whom wanted to simply sit and pray, and some who wanted someone to chat to, we provided tea, coffee and biscuits as well as a listening ear.

In October we once again were able to enjoy St Luke’s traditional bring and share lunch at our Patronal Festival.

As the seasons drew closer to Christmas, we held an Advent Evening service at St Luke’s. there were 34 people there, a very good number for a Winter’s evening. Our last service of 2022 was on Christmas Day with 28 congregants.

All in all St Luke’s has bounced back well following the closure in March 2020.

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At Easter we had recommenced use of the Common Cup and singing! I have included a short report from Pat Hudson our Music Co-ordinator at St Luke’s.

CHOIR

When we returned after covid in February 2022 to worshipping regularly in St Luke’s, our organist Emma Heseltine who had been with us for 10 years handed in her resignation. It was with great sadness we heard of her resignation and with even greater sadness four weeks later when we heard that she had died suddenly the day after Mothering Sunday. Our choir were determined to carry on and after talking to Nick and to Jenny, I was appointed music co-ordinator. We have started to meet fortnightly to choose and to practice the hymns for several weeks. I then email the chosen hymns to the Wardens, Choir members and Olwen Smith, Clergy and to Bill Watson for the Pews News.

We have been very grateful for the help and encouragement we have received from, at first Nick Read who recorded some hymn music for us and now Jennifer Mazzone who plays the organ for us at the joint services. Olwen Smith comes to our practices and finds the music to our chosen hymns on her laptop. On the weeks we have no one to play the organ Olwen plays the music through the AV system for us to sing to. We are enjoying working this way and keeping the choir tradition alive in St Luke’s. We have been delighted by the words of encouragement we have received from the congregation and the Church Wardens.

As the Fabric Chairperson will be submitting a full report on the fabric at both churches, all that I can say is a huge ‘Thank you’ to Doug Hird for all the work he has carried out in the past year.

We continue to hire St. Luke’s to Community Groups. These are Guiding groups and a Preschool. The groups which hire St Luke’s are:

Northern Pastures Preschool: daytime term time only

1[st] Newport Rainbows: one evening: Term- time.

2[nd] Newport Rainbows: one evening: Term-time.

4[th] Newport Brownies: one evening: Term- time.

Newport Ranger Guides: one evening: Term -time.

All that remains is for me to say a huge ‘ Thank you’ to all those who volunteer on our rotas for refreshments, reading, intercessions, flowers and the co-ordinators.

I’d also like to thank Nick for his inspirational sermons and support, and Jennifer for her support and Malcolm in the office for all he does.

I’d like to thank all those who have supported me as Warden since 2019 and to wish my successor every blessing.

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PCC Report

The Parochial Church Council is a corporate body established by the Church of England. The PCC operates under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure. The PCC is a registered charity.

Registered No: 1153668

The PCC met 7 times and the Standing Committee 6 times in 2022

PCC membership

The appointment of PCC members is governed by and set out in the Church Representation Rules.

During the year, the following have served as members of the Parochial Church Council: Incumbent: Rev Nick Evans, Rector

Curate : Rev Kimonie Nicholls

Licensed Lay Ministers: Mervyn Evans and Karen Goff.

Churchwardens: Jennifer Mazzone (from May 2021) and Jenny Frost

PCC Secretary: Olwen Smith

Deanery Synod representatives: Kimonie Nicholls (until April 2022), Dick Smith (Treasurer), John Fowler, Mervyn Evans (from April 2022)

Elected: Lynda Evans (until April 2022), Doug Hird, Brian Hunt, Beth Mackay, Ralph Mazzone, Nick Read (until April 2022), Hazel Reynolds, Marlene Smith.

PCC Sub-Committees

The Parochial Church Council operates through several sub-committees which meet between full meetings of the PCC. They are:

Standing Committee: This committee comprises the Rector, Churchwardens, PCC Secretary and Treasurer. It has delegated powers to transact some of the business of the PCC between its meetings and deals mainly with housekeeping matters.

Fabric Committee: This committee attends to the maintenance of the Parish Church, St Luke’s Church and 3 Castle Meadow Close, and considers future projects.

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Events Committee: Established in October 2018 as an overarching committee to support organisers of events, providing support, advice and identifying possible helpers. Also, will identify new events and provide advanced planning.

Re-order Steering group: This group was established in January 2019 and will oversee and guide the re-ordering project.

Parish Visiting team: Established January 2020 to oversee and provide for the needs of those who request visits.

Mission Group: This group arose as a direct result of our Mission Open Day held in October 2021. The group had its inaugural meeting on Thursday 20[th] January 2022.

Statistics

Statistics
Baptisms Thanksgiving Weddings Blessings Church
Funerals		 Crem
Funerals
2014 28 4 23 0 14 21
2015 35 2 19 1 20 12
2016 34 0 14 1 25 5
2017 25 0 16 0 26 6
2018 13 0 12 1 24 5
2019 15 0 7 0 21 6
2020* 3 0 3 0 8 **201 **
2021* 7 0 7 0 16 161
2022 5 0 5 0 19 6

*Covid 19 restrictions 1 Includes Graveside services

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Safeguarding Hazel Reynolds

1. Introduction

Safeguarding is on the agenda at every meeting of the PCC although in 2022/23 the main focus has been on refresher training, it being 3 years since our last safeguarding training drive.

We work in line with Church of England Safeguarding Policy and Practice Guidance.

2. Formal Obligation

PCCs are formally obliged to report to the APCMs on whether or not the PCC ‘has complied 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).’

3. Safeguarding Roles

The Parish Safeguarding Officer is Hazel Reynolds. The DBS Recruiter and Verifier is Malcolm Godwin.

4. Safeguarding Policy, Guidance and Information

Our up to date Parish Safeguarding Policy is displayed in our entrance lobbies and appears on our website.

5. Safeguarding Learning and Development.

In July 2021 Oxford Diocese wrote ‘all Church Officers are required to complete Basic Awareness and participants completing any other safeguarding pathways will be asked to complete Basic Awareness and Foundation in preparation. Additional roles now required to complete Basic Awareness and Foundation include PCC members’. ‘Safeguarding learning needs to be renewed every three years. Church Officers need to repeat the core safeguarding learning pathway that is the highest required for their role. Even if a person completed C0 and C1 previously it is recommended they complete both new versions of Basic Awareness and Foundation through the Safeguarding Training Portal as the content has been significantly revised’. ‘The additional safeguarding learning pathways also need to be renewed every three years’.

Our parish had a training drive on C0 and C1 in 2019; a fresh drive was the focus of a presentation to the PCC on 23rd May 2022, when the production of a Safer Recruitment Pack was promised.

19 church officers completed Basic Awareness in the last 12 months; 5 people have recently been reminded to complete this pathway. There are 3 others for whom a revised version is being provided; they are not church goers but volunteer at the Memory Club.

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16 church officers completed Foundation in the past 12 months; 7 people have been reminded and most will complete it by end of May. The 3 Memory Club volunteers for whom a revised version is being prepared, will cover some of the Foundation learning as well.

[The revised content of both Basic Awareness and Foundation learning refers to a great many Christian roles and functions, very unfamiliar and strange to non-church goers. Their comments and reactions have been referred to the Oxford Diocese Head of Safeguarding.]

Access to the Safeguarding Training Portal is through the Diocesan website; we did offer face to face training to a few church officers in both Basic Awareness and Foundation, but most were completed online.

2 church officers completed the 2 part Leadership learning pathway, but 3 still have it to complete.

2 church officers have completed the Domestic Abuse training pathway, but 2 others still have to complete this.

Finally, there are 3 Church officers due to complete the Safer Recruitment and People Management pathway.

I expect the results of our training drive will look more encouraging by the end of May 2023.

PCC members received copies of the Church of England Safeguarding pocket guide; more will be made available at the APCM and could be offered more widely to members of our congregations during services in 2023.

DBS

Considerably fewer Church Officers now need to have DBS clearance, the guidelines for when it’s required being much more precise now. Again, excluding members of our Ministry team (The Bishops’ office deals with their safeguarding and DBS clearance), 10 Church Officers hold enhanced DBS clearance, but it needs to be refreshed for 4 during 2023. DBS clearance has now to be refreshed every 3 years too.

6. Safer Recruitment and People Management

In July 2022 the Parish Administrator and I produced the Safer Recruitment Pack to guide and direct those church officers responsible for recruitment in our Parish; primarily it is volunteers we’re recruiting either for Clubs like the Memory Club or for in-house groups like our Sunday Club, and Parish Visitors, a PCC sub-committee.

The pack includes Volunteer role description forms, person specifications, volunteer application form, sample interview questions, reference request form and letter template, volunteer appointment letter template, parish volunteer agreement template, and Confidential Declaration Form for use in those instances when an enhanced DBS would be sought.

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7. Concerns raised

Only one referral was made to the Diocesan Safeguarding Team in the past 12 months, some discussion ensued but the matter was not pursued further.

Mothers’ Union Jennifer Mazzone

2022 was definitely a more positive year than the previous two or three and it was busy for us as a branch.

Here in Newport Pagnell, we are going from strength to strength. Six new members were enrolled during the year: Brenda Brand, Penny Keens, Celia Oldham, Julie Parker, Pat Woods and Clare Dalton. It is always a pleasure to welcome people into the Mothers’ Union as many branches are decreasing in number or closing down so this is an achievement for us. The more members we have the more we are able to spread the word about the work of the Mothers’ Union, locally, nationally and internationally.

Last year’s programme was both interesting and varied. Maureen Weston spoke of her time as Diocesan President and Tom Jones spoke of his time in Papua New Guinea (one of our linked Diocese). Other speakers included Mervyn Evans (Church reordering), Kimonie Nicholls (Training for the Diaconate), Blood Bikers, Moira Evans (Prison Visiting) and we ran our own meeting based around the theme of Advent. All the speakers were most interesting and thought provoking. Karen Goff spoke on the theme “Transformation Now” at our Branch Festival. In January we took part in Love to Move which was great fun and caused much hilarity.

The Quiet Afternoon, led by Nick, was once again well supported and provided a welcome relief from the hustle and bustle of life.

Two social events were held to raise money for the Relief Fund and AFIA. The Afternoon Tea and the Cream Teas were both very successful and raised healthy profits. Apart from raising money, it was so good to meet socially and welcome visitors to these events.

We continue with all our other projects:

Christmas Cards and Donations for the prisoners at Woodhill. Thanks to Moira for organising this.

Baby Basics. Many members knit or donate goods for this worthy cause.

Pauline continues to send cards to people for all occasions such as special anniversaries and birthdays, for those bereaved or those who are ill. Thank you, Pauline. They are much appreciated.

Cards sent to wedding couples.

Members assist in Baptism Preparation by serving refreshments and running a crèche.

Daffodils are provided for Mothering Sunday.

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The Flower Festival I managed to do an arrangement for this.

The Christmas Tree Festival Thanks to Pam, Margaret and Sophie for decorating our tree.

Raffle at the Bazaar Thanks to June for organising this once again. It made over £400.

We need to spread the word about the work of the Mothers’ Union amongst people we meet so that they may learn about this wonderful organisation we are all proud to be a part of.

We continue to pray for each other in the country and around the world. It makes such a difference and praying is something we can all do in whatever situation we find ourselves. We are a strong force for good.

I would like to thank all branch members for their continued support of me and the branch. Special thanks must go to the committee: Sophie Cull (Treasurer), Margaret St. George (Secretary), Pam Miller, June Weston, Linda Ramsay and Carolyn Hawkes. They are all so enthusiastic and work very hard for the branch.

New members are always very welcome to join our thriving branch. You do not have to attend meetings to be a member. You are joining a wonderful, proactive organisation which has a voice on the many serious issues that we face in the modern world.

Please do not hesitate to contact me at any time on 019098613088 or 07517439790 or at jennifermazzone@hotmail.com

Sunday Club Glenda Winfield

It was with a huge sigh of relief that in February 2022, with the lifting of most Covid restrictions in the UK, that Sunday Club was able to meet together once more. We currently have a group of 7 children who regularly attend Sunday Club on the second and fourth Sundays of the month. In our most recent sessions we have been following the lectionary, where the majority of lessons have mirrored the readings of those in church.

We were all very sad to hear that Rita Millburn, who was Sunday Club Leader for many years, had passed away in May. Rita was much-loved by both the children and leaders and greatly missed when she made the decision to step down from the team.

The children created a lovely display for the Flower Festival in June celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. They used lots of flowers in lots of various sizes of jam jars, all tied together with ribbon in a beautiful bouquet.

Sunday Club families and members of the congregation were invited to a Picnic in the park at Riverside Meadow in early September. It was a great afternoon and so good for the children to be able to meet up and play together.

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The Christmas Fair in November was a great opportunity to do some Christmas Crafts with the children in our community. It was so popular that there was very little space around the table for most of the day, which means that next time Sunday Club will need a much larger area to work in! The Nativity Trail around the church was again a great success. This was also a good opportunity to create the Children’s Christmas Tree for the Christmas Tree Festival in December and this time the tree was created from tree branches, pine cones and decorations which the children had made. Many thanks to everyone who gave their time, talents and resources to make all of this occasion so enjoyable and successful.

The Christingle Service in early December was, as ever, an atmospheric service, well attended and enjoyed by all who came along. Thank you to everyone who assembled at home all the various elements that made up the Christingles. It was also a good opportunity to relaunch the Travelling Crib and invite families from the community to join in this tradition.

What a joy it was to be able to re-enact The Nativity in the traditional way on Christmas Eve. Thanks go to the children who played their parts so well, their parents, the Sunday Club Leaders, Karen Goff and Nick Read.

It was so exciting for Sunday Club children, their families and friends to be back at The Venue for the Pantomime Robin Hood in late December. As always, the pantomime was great fun and enjoyed by everyone.

Thank you for those involved with the refurbishing of the Vestry. It is now a very pleasant space in which the children meet for Sunday Club and the cupboard space to store all of our resources is invaluable.

The Sunday Club offertory has continued to support Hand in Hand in Ethiopia, a small children’s charity working in Addis Ababa. We receive regular newsletters from the charity, providing an update on Yonatan Darge, the young boy we sponsor. Yonatan is reported to be doing very well academically and enjoys playing football with his friends after school. With the sponsorship money, the charity is able to provide a daily meal, medical payment, school fees and materials, tutorials, clothes and shoes annually, entertainment and recreation activities.

On Mothering Sunday the children assisted the Mothers’ Union with the distribution of bunches of daffodils and of course there was the traditional Easter Egg Hunt after the Easter Sunday service.

Grateful thanks go to all the Sunday Club Leaders for their all of their innovative ideas and dedication.

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Fabric Committee Doug Hird

Members:

As usual, the focus of the committee has been on doing actual work rather than having meetings to talk about work. So the small number of meetings we have had concentrated on current concerns and activities.

To summarise what has been done during 2022:

At the Parish Church:

This year, the Quinquennial inspections at the parish church and St Luke’s will provide the focus for the next set of activities.

- Re ordering Committee Mervyn Evans

“A building that celebrates the past, lives in the present and embraces the future.” Progress During the Year

Steady progress has been made during the past year on the first phase of our reordering project. We have been in frequent consultation with the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC) addressing their concerns over the finer details of the proposals. Chroma Conservation were employed to carry out a survey of the south porch and the report has been submitted to the DAC. Boden and Ward have submitted a proposal for the repairs to the stonework in the porch and the new porch door has been modified to address some aesthetic reservations voiced by the DAC.

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David Agnew and Leon Hudston have constructed an excellent mock-up of the proposed new servery in the south-west corner of the nave which has allowed the congregation to get a better idea of what is intended.

Open days were held on the 5[th] May and again on the 31[st] March to keep the local community informed of the changes and an article on the project appeared in the March edition of the Phonebox magazine.

Funding

The PCC have agreed to underwrite the whole project with funding up to £150.000. An application for support was made to the Diocesan Development Fund which resulted in a grant of £30,000, a good start to our fundraising appeal. It is estimated that the entire project will cost in the order of £1m, so we still have a way to go. The sub-committee visited Castlethorpe church where a similar, though smaller, project has just been completed and much useful advice was obtained and several potential sources of funds identified. However, further applications are on hold pending the issue of a Notification of Approval (N0A) from the DAC. The NoA should be issued after a couple of issues arising from the conservation report have been addressed.

Fundraising will become a major factor this year and volunteers to assist in planning fundraising events and writing fund applications would be very welcome. If you would like to help in these vital roles, then please speak to Mervyn, Jennifer, Ralph, Malcolm, or Dick Smith.

Proposals

The proposals for reordering are:

Phase 1 (Estimated cost £176,000)

  1. Replacement of the existing toilet and servery in the west end with three toilets, one of which will be accessible.

  2. Relocation of the servery to a purpose-built enclosure under the west window.

  3. Refurbishment of the south porch.

Phase 2

  1. Removal of pews and pew platforms. Six pews to be retained and used for social seating in the aisles.

  2. Laying new, level, flooring in place of the pew platforms. The tiled area at the west end and the tiled aisles will be retained.

  3. Renewing the heating system.

  4. Renewing the lighting in the Nave.

  5. Redecoration of the Nave.

  6. Purchasing new seating.

Phase 3

  1. Reconfiguring the sanctuary and providing ramped access to a new dais.

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Bellringers Doug Hird

Our small band of ringers, supported by ringers from neighbouring towers, continues to practice on Wednesday evenings. Similarly, the small number of weddings that want bells are supported by combined North Bucks bands. On Sundays, the variable service timings have resulted in most of the ringers who do live in Newport going to other towers, such as Great Linford and Bletchley, where the service times are the same time every week. We did ring four bells at Christmas as we happened to have that many ringers in the church before the service.

Ringing was carried out in accordance with national guidance following the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the accession of King Charles III. The “Ring for the King” initiative is generating recruitment interest in nearby towers. While this is unlikely to produce many ringers in time for the coronation, it can only help.

The Inter-branch striking competition between the North Bucks Branch of the Oxford Diocesan Guild and the Towcester Branch of the Peterborough Diocesan Guild was held at Newport in the summer. This was a good social event and was welcome following Covid. The Towcester Branch were winners but the competition was closer than in previous years.

We had a recent visit by the Great Linford Explorer Scouts where 22 youngsters had a good look round the tower and bells, enjoyed the night time view and had a go on the bells.

A little work has been done on the bells during the year. Prior to the inter-branch striking competition the odd-struckness in the clappers was measured, using an odd-struckness meter, and corrected in bells 1-7. Two of the bell ropes were temporarily lent to Olney for the Dickens of a Christmas Peal. Two of their ropes failed just before the event and ours are the same specification. The Olney ropes having been repaired, our ropes are back in place and two of ours have since had the same treatment.

The annual visits of the clock maintenance man are usually educational. This year, I found out how to make the clock beat more evenly. That will be useful at Olney where it is quite uneven. He agreed that the electrical control arrangement for the hours, quarters and tune machine could be modified without having to make very significant changes. This sort of approach is usually looked upon favourably by the DAC so I will put together a plan for the PCC to consider this year. Even without a working control mechanism, the tune machine can still play the national anthem for the coronation. Some fine tuning of the pegs in the tune barrel will be needed to make it recognisable though.

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Stewardship Dick Smith

Planned Giving is a vital part of our income, and regular members of the congregation should commit to regular giving throughout the year. During the year, our Planned Giving continued to recover from the pandemic and our income rose by £1,750 against our 2021 income and is almost back to the 2019 level. However, Parish costs continue to rise and we need to see that growth continue going forward. As with last year, it was refreshing to see some new members of the congregation joining the scheme, but unfortunately during the period we also lost several long-term members.

Recovery of Gift Aid from HMRC consists of 2 parts. Firstly we receive Gift Aid on a large part of our Planned Giving (some members of the scheme are not tax payers and therefore cannot Gift Aid their contributions) Secondly we are able to claim Gift Aid on small donations in our collections at services. In 2022 we saw a continued recovery of both planned giving and collections and in 2023 our tax recovery income will increase by about £1,250 (we have to claim this in arrears).

We would welcome new members to the Stewardship scheme. We still need to hold a Stewardship Campaign to increase membership of our Stewardship scheme, but in the meanwhile, if you are regular attendees at any of our services please consider joining the scheme. Contact me for further information (nppcc.treasurer@gmail.com or 01908 730870)

Communications & Publicity report Moira Evans

The internet is now a well-established route for communications throughout the parish with several social media and electronic forms of communication.

FACEBOOK

The Parish Facebook page has continues to attract visitors and to date the figures are:

The ‘like’ counter is the number of people that have liked our Facebook page. When a new visitor likes our page, the default setting is that they also follow our page. When someone ‘follows’ our page, it means that our Facebook page posts will appear on their personal Facebook feed.

----- Start of picture text -----
Parish Facebook
600
400
200
0
Likes Followers
2021 2022 2023
----- End of picture text -----

Other town Facebook pages are used to advertise church events and services throughout the year.

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Website

Our website (npparish.org.uk) also provides a source of information with all the service and events detailed and other relevant parish information.

ZOOM

The Parish has a Zoom account and Zoom video conferencing has enabled us to continue our weekly Zoom Prayer meetings. Some Discovery Group meetings also take place on Zoom as do many parish and diocesan meetings.

Pews News and Parish Emails

These continue to be circulated to parishioners on the parish database and keep everyone up to date with service details and other relevant information.

Pews News continues to be made available as a hard copy for those who do not use the internet.

WhatsApp

The parish has an active WhatsApp group currently with 45 members (up from 36 in 2022). Other groups such as Events and Church Transport also use WhatsApp to communicate quickly with each other.

Benefice Planner

The diary of services and events is circulated electronically, available on the website and at the back of the churches as a hard copy. Currently the planner covers is distributed quarterly.

Parish Visiting Beth MacKay

Parish Visitors are currently making fortnightly or monthly home visits to six people and are making occasional visits to others as needed. Communion Services are held monthly at Lathbury Manor, Castlemead and Tickford Abbey. We don’t currently hold services at Westbury Grange as it has its own chaplain who arranges regular services there but we do visit three of the residents on a regular basis and bring home communion to one of them.

It's not just about visiting though. We also make phone calls to people who might need support and provide ad hoc help in cases of illness or bereavement, such as lifts to church/other places, or shopping/meals etc. Of course, we know that many other members of our church family are regularly reaching out to others and carrying out the same caring and support activities as those carried out by the team and we believe that pastoral care isn’t just the responsibility of one person or one designated team. To be successful it has to be a shared ministry by us all in response to Jesus’ command that we love one another as he loves us . And, as a team within the church, we rely on other people to alert us to situations where we may be able to help.

19

Members of the current team are: Mervyn Evans, Rev Nick Evans (Rector), Karen Goff, Carolyn Hawkes, Brian Hunt, Beth MacKay (Parish Visiting Coordinator), Pam Miller, Sue Maison, Rev Kimonie Nicholls, Hazel Reynolds and Marlene Smith. All members of the team are required to undergo regular DBS checks and safeguarding training. If anyone would like to find out more about the role of a Parish Visitor, I will be happy to talk to you. My phone number is 07989085318.

Mission Group Karen Goff

This group arose as a direct result of our Mission Open Day held in October 2021 with its inaugural meeting in January 2022. This group has met 6 times since the last APCM.

Our aim is to try to fulfil the Five marks of Mission (adopted by the General Synod of the Church of England in 1996):

To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom (Tell)

To teach, baptise and nurture new believers. (Teach)

To respond to human need by loving service. (Tend)

To seek to transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and to seek to pursue peace and reconciliation. (Transform)

To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth. (Treasure)

On Saturday 9[th] July 2022 this group helped organise a ‘Walk through the Bible event’ which was advertised throughout the town and all the churches. 31 people attended and found it a very worthwhile and enjoyable event. There were some concerns about timing and uncomfortable seating but we would like to run similar events maybe using St Luke’s.

We welcomed Neil and Hannah Ellis to a meeting in July 2022. They felt there was a need in the town for mothers and carers of young babies and toddlers to have somewhere to go after dropping older children at school. After further discussions we are pleased that a new group called CAMEO (Come And Meet Each Other) will start meeting on Friday mornings 9.30 – 11.30 from Friday 21[st] April with the support of the Mothers’ Union. Thank you to everyone who has been involved in getting this exciting new project started.

Prayer cards and an opportunity to talk to those attending the All Souls service were well received.

Baptism preparation sessions have been well attended and a number of baptisms have taken place. On the 5[th] Sunday of April (30[th] ) at the combined non eucharistic 10.30 service the focus will be Baptism and 2 families will be present to have their children baptised.

Karen, Mervyn and Kimonie shared the leading of 3 Lent groups in March 2023. Material was used written by John Birch from the Faith and Worship website. The material led to interesting and reflective discussion examining our journey through Lent to Easter. The

20

sessions were based on the lectionary readings through the Sundays of Lent. Feedback from these groups has been very positive and we would use material like this again. 2 people have joined a Discovery group because of attending the Lent course.

Priorities for future meetings include considering mission to rural parishes but with deanery reorganisation we may have to wait for those decisions to be made; updating displays to make them appealing to visitors and explaining Christianity in accessible language and exploring Discipleship courses or similar for those wishing to explore their faith.

Treasurer’s report Dick Smith

2022 has been a better year and has seen a reasonable recovery following the pandemic.

Overall, we saw a deficit in 2022 of less than £1,500. During the year we received part of a substantial legacy for the fabric of our churches. It enabled us, together with some other donations, to totally refurbish the vestry, fitting new cupboards, updating the toilet, and painting throughout. This now allows the space to be used as a meeting room. We also spent nearly £9,500 on our Re-ordering Project. This money came out of general funds, but we hope to start fundraising in 2023 and if successful this money can be returned to general funds. Looking at our general costs we still had a deficit of £8,500, but that was due to funding for the Re-ordering Project. Legacies over recent years have helped support us financially, but we need to improve our general income to ensure we can fund everything we want to do. The more we deplete the reserves we have, the less we will be able to afford.

Planned Giving has risen this year by £1,750 over the previous year, and collections have risen by over £2,000 as we have been able to hold more services during the year, but we are only getting back towards the position we were in before the pandemic and this year we will see a significant rise in costs (especially for energy) as inflation has risen sharply during 2022. Our Tax Recovery recovered slightly in 2022 and will rise again in 2023 due to the improved planned giving and collections. As mentioned earlier, we were fortunate to receive part of a legacy for work on our fabric, and we hope to receive the balance of that legacy in 2023 but we also saw some improvement in most other income. Rent was reduced because we supported the Pre-school at St Luke’s who were struggling financially and accepted a much lower figure for much of the year. That has now returned to normal. Fee income however was fairly static.

Our general expenditure remained relatively static, organ costs dropped following the purchase of the organ last year and fabric obviously increased due to the vestry refurbishment. Parish Share has been held at the same level by the Diocese following the pandemic and will be held again in 2023, but we anticipate an increase in 2024.

The value of our investments have dropped back to their 2020 levels but this is not unusual and does not affect the actual dividends we receive.

21

The PCC agreed to use an external accountant this year for the independent examination of the accounts. This is partially because with the anticipated re-ordering project our income is likely in 2023 to exceed £250K and we will then have to use a qualified accountant for the inspection. The PCC approved the accounts at the PCC meeting on 30 April.

22

Appendix I Accounts 23

Parochial Church Council of Newport Pagnell

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS TO 31 DECEMBER 2022

Receipts and Payments Accounts

Note
RECEIPTS
Voluntary Receipts
Planned giving
Collections at services
All other giving/voluntary receipts
5a
Tax recoverable
Activities for generating funds
5b
Investment Income
5c
Church activities
5d
Re-Ordering Project
Total Receipts
PAYMENTS
Church activities
Diocesan parish share
Clergy and staffing costs
5e
Church running costs
5f
Parish house costs
Mission giving and donations
5g
Re-ordering Project
Cost of generating funds
Other Payments
3
Total payments
Excess of receipts over payments
Transfers between funds
4
Cash at bank and in hand at 1 January
Cash at bank and in hand at 31 December		 Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Endowment
funds
TOTAL
funds
2022
TOTAL
funds
2021
£
£
£
£
£
38,576.86
0.00
0.00
38,576.86
36,799.98
6,437.12
0.00
0.00
6,437.12
4,126.79
7,172.26
39,000.00
0.00
46,172.26
2,167.90
10,217.36
0.00
0.00
10,217.36
9,113.61
62,403.60
39,000.00
0.00
101,403.60
52,208.28
13,840.10
1,313.15
0.00
15,153.25
16,554.00
27,186.67
5,899.32
0.00
33,085.99
31,680.57
5,103.80
0.00
0.00
5,103.80
6,002.00
1,718.80
0.00
0.00
1,718.80
0.00
110,252.97
46,212.47
0.00
156,465.44 106,444.85
54,294.57
0.00
0.00
54,294.57
58,621.86
13,196.12
0.00
0.00
13,196.12
12,398.50
34,319.88
39,319.62
0.00
73,639.50
86,024.66
532.11
0.00
0.00
532.11
1,175.36
6,240.61
0.00
0.00
6,240.61
5,852.84
9,430.38
0.00
0.00
9,430.38
7,325.16
118,013.67
39,319.62
0.00
157,333.29 171,398.38
587.28
0.00
0.00
587.28
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
118,600.95
39,319.62
0.00
157,920.57 171,398.38
(8,347.98)
6,892.85
0.00
(1,455.13) (64,953.53)
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
(8,347.98)
6,892.85
0.00
(1,455.13) (64,953.53)
57,542.75
3,993.64
0.00
61,536.39 126,489.92
49,194.77
10,886.49
0.00
60,081.26
61,536.39

Parochial Church Council of Newport Pagnell

Statement of Assets and Liabilities

Note
Cash funds
Cash in hand
Bank current account
Deposit funds
Retained Deposit on 3CMC
Other monetary assets
Gift Aid recoverable
Other income due
Investment assets
Investment fund shares
at market value
3
Assets retained for church use
2
Liabilities
Mission giving
Organist fees
Clergy and staffing costs
Employer contributions due to HMRC
Re-ordering Project
Church running costs		 Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Endowment
funds
TOTAL
2022
TOTAL
2021
£
£
£
£
£
0.00
0.00
0.00
1,839.97
8,705.22
10,545.19
2,580.70
48,969.80
2,181.27
51,151.07
60,570.69
-1,615.00
-1,615.00
-1,615.00
49,194.77
10,886.49
0.00
60,081.26
61,536.39
11,059.47
11,059.47
9,795.82
25.60
0.00
25.60
303.18
11,085.07
0.00
0.00
11,085.07
10,099.00
250,350.46
78,808.02
128,211.32
457,369.80 514,142.67
68,000.00
0.00
0.00
68,000.00
68,000.00
1,843.25
1,843.25
1,326.79
285.60
285.60
2,491.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
595.00
595.00
583.40
2,017.39
2,017.39
0.00
3,415.84
13,248.00
16,663.84
966.82
8,157.08
13,248.00
0.00
21,405.08
5,368.01

Notes

  1. The financial statements of the PCC have been prepared in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 using the Receipts and Payments basis

  2. Fixed assets retained for church use is the freehold house at 3 Castle Meadow Close, purchased in 1995 on behalf of the PCC for £80,000 less a 15% equity retention held by the Diocesan Trustees (Oxford) Ltd. On 4 December 2017 the 15% Equity Retention was gifted to the PCC by the Diocesan Trustees (Oxford) Ltd in recognition of the PCC having maintained the house in good order ever since. In 2018 £55,212.17 was spent renovating the property. The market value of the house is in the region of £375,000 to £400,000.

  3. There are 3 endowment funds held on behalf of the PCC by the Diocesan Trustees (Oxford) Ltd . The Ecclesiastical Trust was established in 1990 from 69.25% of the sale of Church House. The trust is held in CCLA Church of England Investment funds for the purpose of furthering the religious and other charitable work of the parish and the income is unrestricted. The Elizabeth Darcy Charity was set up from 4 small charities to benefit the poor of the Parish The fund is held in the M&G Charity Multi Asset fund and the income is restricted. The Chancel Repair fund was established in 1972 and is held in a CCLA Church of England Investment fund for the purpose of repair and upkeep of the Chancel and the income is restricted.

Parochial Church Council of Newport Pagnell

There is 1 restricted investment fund, the Hayllar Fund, which was established in 1980 and is held in 2 investment accounts with Black Rock Charities UK Bond Fund A Inc and M&G Charifund. The purpose of the fund is for the upkeep of the churches and both the capital and income is restricted for that purpose.

Finally, there are 2 unrestricted investments, set up from the funds left in the wills of Louise Moodie and Iris Robinson. £150,000 of Louise Moodie's bequest was invested in the CCLA Church of England Investment fund during 2017 and £50,000 of Iris Robinson's bequest was invested in the same fund in 2020, to provide a reasonable return on the funds although the capital can be spent as and when necessary.

4 Fund Values

Ecclesiastical Trust
CBF Investment Fund
CBF Fixed Interest Securities Fund
Elizabeth Darcy Fund
M&G NAACIF Fund
Chancel Repair Fund
CBF Investment Fund
Hayllar Fund
M&G Charifund
Black Rock Charinco
Louise Moodie Fund
CBF Investment Fund
Iris Robinson Fund
CBF Investment Fund		 TOTAL
to 31/12/22
TOTAL
2021
£
£
68,430.56
77,560.75
8,475.52
9,789.20
2,172.43
2,242.29
49,132.81
55,688.24
70,536.96
74,697.60
8,271.06
10,411.68
195,024.40
221,045.09
55,326.06
62,707.82
457,369.80
514,142.67
  1. The movement in designated and restricted funds during the year were:
Bal b/fwd Receipts Payments Transfers Bal c/fwd
Designated
Ecclesiastical Income Account 16,063.36 2,509.61 0.00 0.00 18,572.97
Louise Moodie Income Account 11,223.70 5,849.23 0.00 (15,000.00) 2,072.93
Iris Robinson Income Account 24,810.58 1,976.20 0.00 (10,000.00) 16,786.78
Sunday School (3.14) 208.81 150.00 0.00 55.67
Memory Club 2,594.35 4,659.38 1,527.47 12.50 5,738.76
Organ Fund 1,905.73 26.39 0.00 105.00 2,037.12
Re-ordering Fund (9,871.62) 1,718.80 9,430.38 500.00 (17,083.20)
Restricted
Rental Deposit on 3CMC 1,615.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 1,615.00
Fabric Current Account 1,926.32 45,948.52 39,319.62 150.00 8,705.22
Fabric Deposit Account 1,433.49 18.86 0.00 0.00 1,452.35
Hayllar Income Account 289.37 3.80 0.00 0.00 293.17
Darcy Fund Income Account 344.46 91.29 0.00 0.00 435.75

The flower arrangers have a separate bank account and produce separate accounts. Payments are made into their account from the general funds to cover the cost of flowers for the year. The residual balance held in their bank account is negligible.

All transactions related to weddings, funerals, etc. are processsed through a separate Benefice account and the fees due to the PCC are transferred monthly in arrears into the general fund.

There is now a line on the accounts for Re-ordering costs, and an additional page at the end of the accounts showing the Receipts and Payments for the overall project. The PCC decided to transfer the remainder of the legacy from David Lock into the Re-ordering Fund (£12,087.83) Money from the Louise Moodie Fund and the Iris Robinson Fund is being transferred to cover the deficit at present. Once the project progresses and fundraising begins then the money will be returned to the fund.

The Rental Deposit on 3 Castle Meadow Close is held in the Deposit account but cannot be used for General Funds.

Parochial Church Council of Newport Pagnell

During 2021 £2,100 was spent on a thorough clean of the SL organ and £48,975 was spent on a new electronic organ for SSPP. This was funded from the Organ Fund. During 2022, £846 was received in Organ Fees and £1.032 was spent on Routine Maintenance. £186 will be transferred from the Organ Fund in 2023 to cover the deficit.

5. Further Analysis of Receipts and Payments

Note
Receipts
a) All other giving/voluntary receipts
Donations
Legacies
Grants
Copier
Sunday School
Memory Club
Misc
Fabric Donations & grants
Rent
Events (including Fetes)
Special Collections
c) Investment Income
Dividends on Investment Fund
Income from Investments
Bank and Deposit Fund Interest
d) Church activities
Fees for Batism Certificates
4
Fees for Weddings
4
Fees for Funerals
4
Contributions for Heating
4
Organ Fees
4
b) Activities for generating funds		 Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Endowment
funds
TOTAL
funds
2022
TOTAL
funds
2021
£
£
£
£
£
100.00
0.00
0.00
100.00
330.00
0.00
39,000.00
0.00
39,000.00
500.00
1,680.00
0.00
0.00
1,680.00
0.00
302.00
0.00
0.00
302.00
431.50
208.81
0.00
0.00
208.81
0.00
4,659.38
0.00
0.00
4,659.38
510.50
222.07
0.00
0.00
222.07
395.90
7,172.26
39,000.00
0.00
46,172.26
2,167.90
0.00
1,313.15
0.00
1,313.15
492.50
8,523.95
0.00
0.00
8,523.95
11,675.98
4,088.35
0.00
0.00
4,088.35
2,275.89
1,227.80
0.00
0.00
1,227.80
2,109.63
13,840.10
1,313.15
0.00
15,153.25
16,554.00
9,724.57
5,871.47
0.00
15,596.04
14,830.94
16,800.00
0.00
0.00
16,800.00
16,800.00
662.10
27.85
0.00
689.95
49.63
27,186.67
5,899.32
0.00
33,085.99
31,680.57
48.00
0.00
0.00
48.00
11.00
2,063.80
0.00
0.00
2,063.80
2,111.00
1,342.00
0.00
0.00
1,342.00
1,669.00
804.00
0.00
0.00
804.00
1,266.00
846.00
0.00
0.00
846.00
945.00
5,103.80
0.00
0.00
5,103.80
6,002.00

Parochial Church Council of Newport Pagnell

Payments

Note
e) Clergy and staffing costs
Clergy expenses
Parish administrator
f) Church running costs
SSPP building running expenses
SL building running expenses
Insurance
Vestry Costs
Parish Office
Training
Social Events
Choir Pay and Organists
Church flowers
4
Misc.
Sunday School
4
Memory Club
4
Organ Maintenance
SSPP Maintenance (Fabric)
SL Maintenance (Fabric)
g) Mission giving and donations
CTNP
NP Christmas Lights
The Childrens Society
Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia
Buildbuilder Trust
Willen Hospice
The Welcome Directory
MK Night Shelter
Water Aid
Christian Aid
MK Foodbank
Barnabus Fund
Other		 Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Endowment
Funds
TOTAL
funds
2022
TOTAL
funds
2021
£
£
£
£
£
1,367.29
0.00
0.00
1,367.29
710.50
11,828.83
0.00
0.00
11,828.83
11,688.00
13,196.12
0.00
0.00
13,196.12
12,398.50
4,695.12
0.00
0.00
4,695.12
3,729.07
2,763.55
0.00
0.00
2,763.55
2,078.62
8,007.76
0.00
0.00
8,007.76
7,944.84
3,897.52
0.00
0.00
3,897.52
3,295.63
5,243.16
0.00
0.00
5,243.16
6,051.05
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
395.75
0.00
0.00
395.75
0.00
5,188.20
0.00
0.00
5,188.20
1,505.00
993.50
0.00
0.00
993.50
410.00
425.85
0.00
0.00
425.85
594.15
150.00
0.00
0.00
150.00
150.00
1,527.47
0.00
0.00
1,527.47
667.64
1,032.00
0.00
0.00
1,032.00
51,915.00
0.00
34,889.35
0.00
34,889.35
6,839.66
0.00
4,430.27
0.00
4,430.27
844.00
34,319.88
39,319.62
0.00
73,639.50
86,024.66
265.00
0.00
0.00
265.00
0.00
150.00
0.00
0.00
150.00
150.00
648.11
0.00
0.00
648.11
552.84
650.00
0.00
0.00
650.00
750.00
650.00
0.00
0.00
650.00
750.00
650.00
0.00
0.00
650.00
750.00
650.00
0.00
0.00
650.00
750.00
650.00
0.00
0.00
650.00
750.00
750.00
0.00
0.00
750.00
0.00
407.50
0.00
0.00
407.50
0.00
120.00
0.00
0.00
120.00
140.00
650.00
0.00
0.00
650.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1,260.00
6,240.61
0.00
0.00
6,240.61
5,852.84

Parochial Church Council of Newport Pagnell

Re-ordering Project Designated Fund

As at 31 December 2022

RECEIPTS

Donation from John & Daphne Fowler 525.00
Donation in Memory of Thomas (Gordon) French 200.00
Donation in Memory of Derek Senior 250.00
Donation in Memory of Rita Millburn 350.00
Donation in Memory of Mel Partridge 118.80
Donation from Flower Festival June 2022 500.00
Anonymous Donations 800.00
Transfer of Residue of David Lock's Legacy from General Funds 12,087.83
Temporary Transfer from Louise Moodie Fund 15,000.00
Temporary Transfer from Iris Robinson Fund 2,083.20
29,831.63
Grants
Oxford Diocesan New Projects 2,500.00
2,500.00
Total Receipts 34,414.83
PAYMENTS
Architect Fees (21,612.83)
Measured Building Survey (5,148.00)
DrainageSurvey (564.00)
Deposit for South Porch Lighting (474.00)
Statement of Significance (1,500.00)
Subscriptions to 'Church Grants' (98.00)
Project Management (5,010.00)
Miscellaneous (8.00)
Total Payments (34,414.83)
Closing Balance 0.00

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF NEWPORT PAGNELL This report on the financial statements of the PCC for the year ended 31st December 2022 which are set out on pages I to 4, is in reSI￿rt of an examination carried out in accordan with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 ("the Regulations") and s.IH (2) of the Charities Art 2011 ("the Art".) Respective responsibilities of the PCC and the examiner As the members of the PCC you a￿ ￿pOnSIble for the preparation of financial statements. You consider that the audit requirement of Regulations and section 144{2) of the Act do not apply. It is my reswnsibility to issue this rewrt on those financial ststements in accordan with the temis of the Regulations. Basis of this report My examlnatlon was carried out In accordan￿ with the General Dlrectlons given by the Charity Commission under Section 145{5){b} of the Act and to be found in the Church guidance, 2006 edition, issued by the Finance Dfvision of the Archbishops, Council. That examination includes a review of the accountin9 records kept by the PCC and a comparison of the accounts with those records. It also includes considering any unusual items or dlsclosures in the financial statements and seeking explanatlons from you as trustees Con￿rning any such matters. The prc(edure5 undertaken do not provide all the evlden that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts. Independent examlnerfs statement In connertion with my examination, no matter ha5 come to my attention: {1) whlch gives me reasonable cause to believe that In any material ￿spect the reqUI￿rnents to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Act; and to prepare finanaal statements, which accord with the accounting record5 and comply with the reqU1￿ments of tr* Act and Regulations have not been met. or (2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn In order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. J R COBLEY FCCA COBLEY DESBOROUGH Chartered Certified Accountants Chartered Tax Advisors Artlsans. House 7 Queensbridge Northampton NN4 7BF Tel No. 01604 823560 26 April 2023 •••••