St Matthew’s Church The Parish of Edgeley & Cheadle Heath APCM Sunday 16th May 2021
Minutes of Annual Parochial Council Meeting
Opening prayers
Following the Whole Parish Service the meeting started around 11:40 with a prayer by Rev David Brewster. He prayed that we remember that doing the business of the church is a part of loving you in all ways, so we pray for this meeting today that you will be in it all.
Attendees: Audrey Mannion, Ken Hazeldine, Rev Julie Johnson, Sylvia Parker, Mike Taylor, Lois Haslam, Grace Anderson, Clare Abercrombie, Shumzan Goodwin, Mark Goodwin, Mark W Rushton, Arthur Bullock, Karen Perry, Pam Robinson, Steph Haynes, Graham Mitchell, Jon Adams, Heather Adams, Jill Elston, Roy Williams, Rebecca Brewster, Rev David Brewster.
Apologies: Andy and Corinne Ogden, others had to leave early or could not attend
Appointment of Tellers:
Julie was appointed as Teller and given a form to use, but it wasn’t necessary – use next year?! Proposed: David Brewster. Seconded: Jon Adams All in favour
Election of Church Wardens
Graham stepped down this year after serving an extra year to his 6. Big thank you to him and to Mary for their hard work and all they do in the church – David said Graham is always willing and able and always with a smile. Graham and Mary have been fantastic in their work, and a HUGE vote of thanks was proposed by Rev David Brewster followed by a round of applause.
Graham will continue to help out with the practical things around church and opening up, etc.
A new Warden was needed so Mike Taylor put himself forward.
| Proposed churchwarden | Proposed by... | Seconded by..... |
|---|---|---|
| Mike Taylor | Di Bebb | Ken Hazeldine |
| MaryMitchell | AudreyMannion | Grace Anderson |
Vote: Mike Taylor - All in favour. Mary Mitchell – continues unopposed
David Brewster swore in Mike Taylor and Mary Mitchell after the APCM concluded – last year it was attempted online but wasn’t found suitable.
Election of Representatives for the PCC
There are 4 places available on the PCC this year. Thanks to all those who come off this year. David asked if anyone wanted to go on and Shum Goodwin and June Edgar said they would. Ken Hazeldine and Karen Perry both volunteered to go back on again.
| Proposed PCC representative | Proposed by... | Seconded by..... |
|---|---|---|
| Shum Goodwin | Karen Perry | Mark Rushton |
| June Edgar | Mark Goodwin | Shum Goodwin |
| Karen Perry | Mark Rushton | Mark Goodwin |
| Ken Hazeldine | Mark Goodwin | Shum Goodwin |
Vote: All in favour
Graham Mitchell was co-opted onto the PCC so he could share his valuable knowledge and wisdom. Election of Deanery Synod Representatives
Grace Anderson will continue to be our representative for St Matthew’s Church at Deanery Synod meetings. David said we are now allowed 3 representatives and emphasised how he felt it was an exciting and a great thing
to be involved in. Mark Rushton put himself forward.
| Proposed Deanery Synod representative |
Proposed by... | Seconded by..... |
|---|---|---|
| Mark Rushton | Graham Mitchell | Steph Haynes |
| Vote: All in favour |
Appointment of Welcomers/Sidespersons
David thanked the current Welcomers for their important role in church (and smiles!) saying, “when we get back to normal please continue that ministry which is so essential for visitors to be greeted with smiles and welcome – he said he could even see your smiles even through the masks!
Current Welcomers are: Claire Abercrombie, Lyndsey Blackburn, Arthur Bullock, Christine Dawson, Bom Ghalley, Indira Ghalley, Anne Littlewood, Sylvia Parker, Karen Perry, Mark Rushton, Mike Taylor, David Truman, Ruth Windsor.
Anyone else wanting to join this ministry is very welcome.
Report on changes in electoral roll since last APCM
Julie Johnson has gathered and updated the Electoral Roll, a copy of which will be kept in the safe. Julie read her electoral role report: there are now 95 members on the Parish Electoral Roll down from 97 last year. Vi Wilson has sadly died. Roy Williams has come on. John and Val Hodkinson have emigrated.
Safeguarding Policy: statement for Safeguarding Children, Young People, and Vulnerable Adults.
As required, the policy statement that we have signed up to from the diocese was read by David Brewster. The diocesan guidelines for safeguarding are on our website.
The policy will need to be signed off by the next PCC meeting, and a poster will be put on the notice board.
Karen Perry our Safeguarding Officer reports that there were no incidents in 2020.
The following have been sent information to apply for DBS Certification:
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Rebecca Brewster
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Heather Williams
Financial Review – year ending 31/12/2020
Sylvia Parker read out her report and said the financial statement has been posted at the back of church for people to read.
The total receipts and payments for 2020 are detailed on the financial statement. Donations were received towards the cost of a Community Development Manager and also support from HMRC job retention scheme. We also received grants from Asda for community support; from Chester Diocesan Board of Finance, for help during Covid and from Stockport Council, to mount the memorial boards. A grant was received from Forever Manchester through the Community Hub Account. During the year we have continued to support the Children’s Society, Barnabas, Wellspring and the Dagher family in the Holy Land. We have again paid our Parish Share in full.
At the end of the year there was £14,480 in our current accounts and £138,550 in savings accounts (Vernon Building Society and Central Board of Finance Deposit Fund). We have restricted £100,000 of this towards refurbishing the church building. There was £560 in the Community Hub Account. It is PCC policy to try and maintain a balance of unrestricted funds which equates to six months unrestricted payments. This is equivalent to £40,780 and we just have enough free reserves to meet this.
Our payments are also down, but not by much, we are still paying parish share, standing charge on fuel, insurance etc., at the same rate as usual.
I have needed to use the tax reclaim money which I usually keep towards the £12,000 parish share deficit we pay at the end of the year. This is in answer to the diocese request that we use any “rainy day” we have put aside. We have also received a substantial legacy of £73,000
This means that we have a healthy balance in all accounts of over £150,000. I think that by the end of the year some of this money should be restricted.
After Sylvia read her brief report she asked for any questions – none.
Finance Report Accepted Grace Anderson: proposed Mark Rushton: seconded
All in agreement
A vote of thanks to Sylvia, Mike and the finance team for their continued hard work and diligence. Special thanks to Sylvia who remained on as Treasurer even though she should have stepped down last year and now retires. She thanked Mike Taylor for doing lots of the work during the Pandemic while she was self-isolating. And a vote of thanks for Arthur Bullock who is taking over her role. – followed by a round of applause.
Appointment of Independent Examiner
Sylvia Parker proposed and David Brewster seconded : That John Freeman be appointed independent examiner again for the current financial year. Unanimously agreed .
Thanks to John Freeman (auditor and advisor) for his continued support of our treasury team and agreeing once again to do it (free) for another year.
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Any other matters of parochial or general church interest
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A well done to everyone from David for staying together and helping each other during this hard time.
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David brought up the subject of children in church – going forward, how should we re-engage and draw back in those families that haven’t been able to attend during Covid?
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David said we need to start the work of reflection on what we have been through and what comes next for us as a church and parish – can we re-imagine a new church life as we begin to open up again. How we should minister and what our mission should be. Questions he thought we should all be thinking about: Who/what do we want to be? Who/what do we think God is calling us to be? What have we found to be important or not important How do we see things now? What needs to change? What have we missed these last 14 months? What didn’t we appreciate properly?
He thought we will probably have very different answers to these questions than what we would have said 14 months ago.
We will do it as a PCC but we all need to it as it involves us all. Think about everything to do with Church life – nothing is out of bounds. It might sound and seem scary but because we love each other we will do it together, looking out for one another.
Shum Goodwin proposed (seconded by Mark Goodwin) a big thank you to Rev. David Brewster for all that has been done to keep us going through this very difficult year with Coronavirus and the problems it has given us all and that we all support and love him - All those present were unanimous in their thanks. Julie Johnson pointed out that it is a measure of how much we do love and support David that there were no complaints about him or his ministry to us. David was as usual self-deprecating to this praise (another reason he is so fondly thought of in this Parish).
The meeting closed around 12:15 with a wonderful prayer given by Grace Anderson
Financial Statement for Year Ending 31/12/2020
Edgeley Cheadle Heath
Receipt & Payment Accounts
| 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receipts | £ | £ | £ | £ | |||||
| Incoming Resources from Donors | |||||||||
| Gift Aid Giving | 39,384 | 37,058 | |||||||
| Planned Giving | 4,646 | 6,983 | |||||||
| Collections and other giving | 4,160 | 3,559 | |||||||
| Restricted Collections for charity | 1,680 | 2,214 | |||||||
| Income Tax recovered | 10,779 | 10,114 | |||||||
| 60,649 | 59,928 | ||||||||
| Voluntary Income from other sources | |||||||||
| Grants R* | Community Development Manager | 14,835 | 27,180 | ||||||
| Grant R* | HMRC job retention (2 salaries) | 9,401 | |||||||
| Asda (for community support) | 300 | ||||||||
| CDBF (for help during Covid) | 2,000 | ||||||||
| Fund Raising Events | 906 | 3,815 | |||||||
| 27,442 | 30,995 | ||||||||
| Income from Investments | |||||||||
| Interest | 498 | 1,007 | |||||||
| 498 | 1,007 | ||||||||
| Income from charitable and ancillary trading | |||||||||
| Fees | 1,826 | 2,030 | |||||||
| Church Booking Fees | 1,000 | 3,615 | |||||||
| Church House Booking | 2,157 | 542 | |||||||
| Printing | 19 | 71 | |||||||
| Cellnex | 7,875 | 7,875 | |||||||
| EIG | 130 | ||||||||
| 13,007 | 14,133 | ||||||||
| Other Income | |||||||||
| Legacy | 73,817 | 500 | |||||||
| Sundry Receipts | 115 | 117 | |||||||
| 73,932 | 617 | ||||||||
| Buildings | |||||||||
| Reclaimed VAT (roof) | 2,782 | ||||||||
| Grant R* | SMBC (to mount memorial boards) | 300 | |||||||
| 300 | 2,782 | ||||||||
| Total Receipts | 175,828 | 109,462 |
Financial Statement for Year Ending 31/12/2020
Edgeley Cheadle Heath
Payments
| Payments | ||
|---|---|---|
| £ Grants Charitable Giving 1,667 Activities directly related to the work of the church Parish Share 54,744 Ministry Expenses 3,883 Church Running Costs 9,588 Utilities 5,106 Church House Running Costs 1,539 Cost of Services 446 Grant R part Salaries incl. NI & Pension 27,143 Support costs & mission 1,052 D Children's church 195 Church Management & Administration Fund Raising Expenses Administration 1,538 Printing Costs 1,650 Other Flowers 25 Sundry Payments 135 Buildings Grant R Roofing Project D Church Refurbishment 11,300 R Church House Total Payments R= Restricted Funds D*= Designated Funds |
£ £ 2,292 1,667 53,408 4,720 8,250 5,174 1,391 990 29,359 566 103,696 197 1,193 1,760 3,188 140 81 160 648 600 75,011 11,300 120,011 |
£ 2,292 103,858 3,150 221 76,259 185,780 |
Independent Examiner’s Report to the members/trustees of the Parish of Edgeley & Cheadle Heath, Parochial Church Council
I report on the accounts for the year ended 31[st] December 2020 which are set out on the attached sheets.
Respective Responsibilities of the PCC and the Examiner
As trustees of the charity, the members of the PCC are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. They consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 act) and that an independent examination is needed.
Examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 act
Follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioner’s section 145{5)(b) of the 2011act; and
State whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of Independent Examiner’s Statement
My examination was carried out in accordance with the general directions given be the Charities Commission. That examination includes a review of the accounting methods kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with these records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts seeking explanations from the trustees concerning such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required for a full audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the accounts.
Independent Examiner’s Statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention
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Which give me reasonable cause to believe that in any material the requirements
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to keep accounting records in accordance with s130 of the 2011 Act. - or to prepare accounts which accord with these accounting methods have not been met; or
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To which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
J.J.C. Freeman
Stable Court
20a Leigh Way
Weaverham