2025-12-31-accounts - Parochial Church Council Of The Ecclesiastical Parish Of Allington, St Nicholas With Maidstone, St Peter, Maidstone

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2026 STATUTORY ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE CHARITY COMMISSION

Aims and purposes

St Nicholas Allington Parochial Church Council (the PCC) has the responsibility of co-operating with our joint priest-in-charge in promoting the whole mission of the church – pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The PCC is also responsible for maintaining the church building, halls and church grounds (but not the Rectory which is the responsibility of the Diocese).

Objectives and activities

The PCC is committed to enabling as many people as possible to worship at our church and to become part of our parish community at St. Nicholas. The PCC maintains an overview of worship throughout the parish and makes suggestions on how our services can involve the many groups that live within our parish. Our services and worship put faith into practice through prayer and scripture, music and sacrament. When planning our activities for the year, we have considered the Commission’s guidance on public benefit, and particularly the supplementary guidance on charities for the advancement of religion. We try to enable ordinary people to live out their faith as part of our parish community through:

Worship and prayer; learning about the Gospel; and developing their knowledge and trust in Jesus through a range of formal and informal worship, with and without communion. The church is committed to providing the Church of England 'occasional offices' of baptism, marriage and funerals.
Provision of pastoral care for people living in the parish.
Missionary and outreach work.

To facilitate this work, it is important that we maintain the fabric of the Church of St. Nicholas and the Church Halls.

The PCC has complied with Section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016 (duty to have due regard to the House of Bishops guidance on Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults).

Achievements and Performance

Rev Claudette Gayle was appointed to the post of priest-in-charge in March 2025 and has carried out the day-to-day management of the parish, supported by the churchwardens, the PCC and other lay members of the parish. Re-imagining the church’s ministry and continuing to do what the church does well has been key during the year. We are also beginning to look at future proofing our buildings as we embark on our journey to become net zero, in accordance with the church of England’s drive by 2030.

A new Church Electoral Roll was prepared in April 2025, as required by the Church Representation Rules, which included 104 parishioners. The annual review of the Electoral Roll was completed in April 2026. There are now 109 on the electoral roll. There were six persons added to the roll. One person left the parish and is no longer on the roll.

Worship and Prayer

The PCC is keen to offer a range of services that during the week and over the course of the year, our community find both beneficial and spiritually fulfilling. There is range of worship services for Morning Worship, Holy Communion and informal worship at Oasis Communion. Our online worship presence on Facebook was continued during the year.

All are welcome to attend our regular services. The average weekly attendance, counted during October 2025, was 115 and just under 535 people joined our services over the Easter and Christmas seasons. The usual Sunday attendance increased in 2025 to 66 (55 in 2024). This reflects a growing number of families attending services due to the positive impact of our outreach through children’s and families work. Guide and Scout organisations continue to hold Parade Services in the church two or three times a year. We

endeavour to make our services easy for visitors to follow using Power Point projection, enlarged texts, or printed out in short booklets. The church sound system helps all visitors, as well as the hearing-impaired.

As well as our regular services, we enable our community to celebrate and thank God at the milestones of the journey through life. Through baptism we thank God for the gift of life, and through funeral services friends and family express their grief and give thanks for the life which is now complete in this world and to commend the person into God's keeping. We have celebrated five baptisms in church. Six funerals were conducted during the year. No weddings were conducted, which is not unusual given the church is a modern building.

Another highlight was our confirmation service in January, where twelve candidates were confirmed by Bishop Rose, eight of whom were children and have now been admitted to Holy Communion.

Local pre-school, primary and secondary schools continue to be involved in using our church space for Harvest, Christmas and Easter celebrations. Following the retirement of Fiona Higgs from the chaplaincy role in the local primary schools, Faye Stone was appointed to a new role of Children and Youth leader, continuing Bible explorers in Allington and Palace Wood Primary Schools. In 2025, Rev Claude accepted an invitation to support a Christian fellowship initiative (Godfidence) at Maidstone Grammar School for Girls (MGGS). We welcome these opportunities to put into practice our genuine friendship and support to schools in the local vicinity.

St Nicholas has an active Mothers’ Union group with monthly Holy Communion services. We also run St Nicholas’ Fellowship, a social group for the elderly. Residential Homes are visited, and services conducted there.

Deanery Synod

Three members of the PCC sit on the deanery synod. This provides the PCC with an important link between the parish and the wider structures of the church. The focus of the deanery is to bring about growth through several initiatives known as the Maidstone Mission Mosaic but also to provide an opportunity for churches to network and be more outward looking and missional.

The Church and Church Halls

St Nicholas is open every day to our community for private prayer and is used on a regular basis.

In 2025 we celebrated the 50[th] Anniversary of the consecration of our present church. The church space is used for worship every Sunday and one Wednesday per month and at other times as required. It is also used for PCC Meetings, a weekly prayer group, a monthly meeting of mums and babes and other groups, and for appropriate community activities. To one side are the clergy vestry, the Parish Office, which is used three mornings a week, and three toilets, one with disabled access. The church has kitchen facilities in the main body of the church.

There are two church halls in a building adjacent to the church that provide facilities to many local groups and businesses. These halls have a kitchen and toilet facilities, including a baby change and disabled toilets. Both church and halls have disabled access.

A wide range of social and fund-raising events are held throughout the year that are open to the larger community. The Christmas Market draws many people into our buildings and is supported by several small local businesses. During the year we welcomed many people from our local community to our Christmas Tree Festival and the Church 50[th] Anniversary celebration events.

Each Tuesday a Community Café takes place in St Nicholas Church. This is run by a team of volunteers and is registered with Maidstone Borough Council. It is attended by an average of 66 people each week and is clearly valued by many who come as a place to meet and make friends. Some who come are recently bereaved, others are new to the area, and for many it is a place of warmth and welcome.

We continue to see generosity from the community donating the stock of items that help supply the local Food Donation Store and other causes.

Pastoral Care

Some members of our parish are unable to attend church due to sickness or age. Prayer and pastoral work has continued through a very supportive network within the congregation. The Prayer and Pastoral Care coordinator maintains ongoing contact with many members of the congregation, particularly the elderly. Care Home ministry is provided through the Anna Chaplaincy network that draws from all denominations across the town and visits most care homes once a month.

Mission and Evangelism

Helping those in need is a demonstration of our faith. St Nicholas gives monthly to a range of charities both local and abroad.

St Nicholas provides a weekly online service via Facebook and the church website which reaches many people do not regularly connect with St Nicholas in other ways.

Communication of the life and events at St Nicholas is maintained through the weekly newsletter, via the St Nicholas website, our Facebook group and page, and on the church noticeboard. These are a vital means of not just keeping people within the church informed but also a way of reaching out to the wider community. The newsletter is sent to 250 people who have requested a copy. Paper copies are also available in church and just under 20 copies are taken each week.

We maintain a significant presence in the Primary Schools, which are non-church, through the work of our Priest-in-Charge, together with the Children and Youth Leader.

Ecumenical Relationships

The church is a member of Churches Together in Maidstone which involves all Christian denominations from across the town.

Financial Review

Finances are healthy with good reserves. At the end of the year there was a deficit of income versus expenditure (£1,794), but the deficit was lower than last year (£14,151). Total income for the year was £139,858. This was improved compared to income in 2024 of £131,964. There was £8,330 related to restricted income during the year. At the year-end funds totalled £90,922 (2024 - £92,716) of which £45,394 is held in designated and restricted funds.

The condition of the fabric of the church and halls are thankfully sound, except for the flat roof over the church vestry, office and toilets which needs substantial repairs, estimated at just under £20,000, to address water ingress. Costs will be covered by reserves in the building fund, although reserves will be drawn down significantly.

Our halls remain popular with hirers and in 2025 provided a valuable source of income at £63,935.

Reserves Policy

The policy of the PCC is to maintain reserves at a level of three months of annual expenditure.

A building reserve of £30,000 is designated for major repairs and these will be used to cover the cost of repairs to the flat roof over the church vestry, office and toilets.

Volunteers

We would like to thank all the volunteers who work so hard to make our church the lively and vibrant community it is. There are many people actively involved in worship and prayer, pastoral work, leading or contributing on a working group or simply helping on a rota. A huge thank you to everyone contributing to the life within the parish at St Nicholas in this way.

Structure, governance and management

The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. At St. Nicholas the membership of the PCC consists of the incumbent (our priest-in-charge), churchwardens and members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church. All those who attend our services, the members of our congregation, are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC.

The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish including deciding on how the funds of the PCC are to be spent. New members receive initial training into the workings of the PCC.

The full PCC met six times during the year with an average level of attendance of 86%. Given its wide responsibilities the PCC has several committees each dealing with a particular aspect of parish life. These committees, which include worship, social, halls, fabric and finance, are all responsible to the PCC and report back to it regularly with minutes of their decisions being received by the full PCC and discussed as necessary.

Administrative information

St. Nicholas Church is situated on Poplar Grove, Allington, Maidstone. It is part of the Diocese of Canterbury within the Church of England. The parish is legally known as the Parish of St Nicholas, Allington with St Peter, Maidstone. Roughly it stretches at its western edge from the railway, either side of the London Road, toward the town centre down to the river and Lockmeadow. The river end of the parish is the area which formerly came under the previous St Peter’s Church, no longer in use. The running of the parish comes under two Churchwardens and the Parochial Church Council or PCC. Ministry and worship comes under a Priest-in-Charge and a Children's and Families Minister.

The correspondence address is The Parish Office, Poplar Grove, Maidstone, Kent ME16 0DE. The PCC is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2006) and a charity registered with the Charity Commission.

PCC members who have served at any time from 1st January 2025 until the date this report was approved are:

Incumbent: Priest-in-Charge Reverend Claudette Gayle from March 2025.

Churchwardens: Dr Nigel Smetham, Mrs Jenny Stone Children, Families & Schools Minister: Mrs Fiona Higgs (retired February 2026).

Elected members: Ms Helen Rogers - Treasurer Ms Emily Stone - Secretary Mrs Gill Waite

Ms June Bagshaw Mrs Gill Poole (resigned end of term May 2025) Mrs Martina Tidball (resigned end of term May 2025) Mrs Nicola Tulip Mr David Salvage Ms Jacqueline Wilkinson Ms Ruth Brind Mrs Angela Redford Mr Seb Lincoln (resigned December 2025) Mr Thomas Bourne (elected May 2025) Mr Matthew Farrington (elected May 2025)

Approved by the PCC and signed on their behalf by Reverend Claudette Gayle (PCC Chair)

ALLINGTON P C C FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025 RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT

	2025	2025	2025	2024
General fund	Designated funds	Restricted funds	Total funds	Total funds
£ 39,631 10,301 5,881	£	£ 902	£ 39,631 10,301 6,783	£ 42,090 11,221 6,247
55,813 4,297 4,608 64,887 1,922		902 7,428 -	56,715 11,725 4,608 64,887 1,922	59,558 3,480 4,053 63,356 1,517
131,528	-	8,330	139,858	131,964

£ 64,817 62,034	£ 6,000	£ 8,801	£ 64,817 76,835	£ 59,752 86,363
126,851	6,000	8,801	141,652	146,115

4,677	(6,000)	(471)	(1,794)	(14,151)
(5,000)	5,000
(323)	(1,000)	(471)	(1,794)	(14,151)
45,851	45,143	1,722	92,716	106,867
45,528	44,143	1,251	90,922	92,716

	2025			2024
General fund	Designated funds	Restricted funds	Total funds	Total funds
14,950 29,142 83 229 1,125	13,336 30,807	1,251	14,950 13,336 30,393 83 31,036 1,125	21,153 12,759 27,060 115 30,024 1,605
45,528	44,143	1,251	90,922	92,716
420 - 1,558			420 - 1,558	- 5,568 1,450
1,978			1,978	7,018
908		912	908 912	944 1,327
908	-	912	1,820	2,271

Approved by the PCC on and signed on their behalf by :

…………………………………………………signed………………………………………..signed

Dr Nigel Smetham (PCC Chairman) and Mrs Helen Rogers (PCC Treasurer during 2025)

NOTES

1. Fixed Assets retained for church use are written-off in the year of purchase. The two church halls previously shown in restricted fixed assets have an insured value of approximately £2,600,000.

2. The movement in designated and restricted funds during the year were:

Balance b/f Receipts Payments Transfers	Balance b/f Receipts Payments Transfers	Balance b/f Receipts Payments Transfers	Balance b/f Receipts Payments Transfers	Balance
25,000 5,000 20,143 6,000				30,000 14,143
45,143	-	6,000	5,000	44,143
395 56 1,327 8,330 8,745				339 912
1,722	8,330	8,801	-	1,251

2025	2025	2025	2025	2024
General fund	Designated funds	Restricted funds	Total funds	Total funds
4,297	-	7,428	11,725	3,480
4,297	-	7,428	11,725	3,480
4,608	-	-	- 4,608	- 4,053
4,608	-	-	4,608	4,053
952 63,935	-	-	63,935	63,356
64887	0	0	63935	63356

2025	2025	2025	2025	2024
General fund	Designated funds	Restricted funds	Total funds	Total funds
482 1,200 300		487 343 487	969 1,543 787	595 1,400 295
1,982 - 9,532 14,163 30,375 69 4,113 552 652 438 158	- 6,000	1,317 7,428 56	3,299 - 9,532 14,163 43,802 69 4,113 552 652 438 - 56 158	2,290 715 17,637 16,979 44,120 177 3,803 - 198 242 172 29 -
62,034	6,000	8,801	76,835	86,362

4. The expenses paid to clergy may include a small immaterial proportion, which relates to their function as PCC members. No other payments were made to PCC members.

Gemma Sturley CIMA Chartered Accountant Independent examinerfs report to Allington PCC have completed my examination of the accounts of Allington PCC for the year ended 31 December 2025. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: l. accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the 2. the accounts do not accord with those records. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Gemma Sturley Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) 33 Larking Drive, Allington ME16 OUT 30th April 2026