Annual Report of Mulbarton Parochial Church Council on 2023
Membership:
Rector (ex-officio), Adrian Miller
Churchwarden (ex officio) Tim Hayward (1 Vacancy) Lay Representatives (with start date of 3 year terms):
Olusegun Ajayi (2021) Trevor Hutley (2022) Sue Mellows (2022) Treasurer Heather Wells (2022) Mollie Herron (co-opted July 2023) David Melling (co-opted February 2024)
Hon. Minutes Secretary: Derrick Hill (retired January 2024)
The primary function of the PCC is to co-operate with the Rector in promoting in the parish the whole mission of the Church – pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical.
Despite having one churchwarden vacancy and a few lay representative vacancies, the PCC has endeavoured to fulfil this role through 9 meetings across the year and significant activity and communication between formal meetings. Our principal activities are summarised below under 6 headings:
Church Services
From April 2023, we started a new gathering on the evening of the fourth Sunday of each month called “Together” seeking to help worshippers seek relationship with each other and with God. This is the Sunday when there is Morning Worship at Hanover Gardens and rather than have three Mulbarton Services that day, we agreed that the 10.00am service at Mulbarton Church should be cancelled on fourth Sundays apart from on special occasions.
We sought to promote the monthly All Age services on the first Sunday of each month, with a view to offering more ongoing connection points with younger families in the village, especially baptism families. What we found was that often first Sunday services were dominated by baptism occasions, which were important welcoming points for those seeking to invite God into their family lives – yet could be in conflict with the aim of providing ongoing patterns of spiritual encouragement and worship. At the same time, Bev Theobald was exploring a calling to start “Wild Church”, and wondering how that would fit into the existing worship patterns.
We decided to encourage baptisms to happen as special occasions at the now vacant 10am 4[th] Sunday slot, in order to leave the All Age first Sunday slots freer for ongoing creative interactive engagement. We also felt right to work towards introducing Wild Church every other first Sunday in 2024 (the first one happened in May) – so that there was variety and new exciting things for families to join in with. This also keyed into Holiday Clubs that happened in summer and winter 2023, with more planned for 2024.
The 8am BCP communion service congregation has dwindled due to failing health, deaths, and other factors, and was down to just one couple coming regularly by the end of 2023. A similar trend was noticed in Flordon for their monthly 8:30am BCP spoken communion service. We decided as a benefice to pause those two services for a trial period in 2024, and launch a monthly mid-week 10:30am traditional BCP communion service, with hymns, at Flordon Church, starting from Maundy Thursday 2024.
Safeguarding
Safeguarding, especially of children and vulnerable adults, is a vital statutory responsibility. All PCC members have recently updated their training, with some more to do. We welcomed David Melling on board the safeguarding team, in role as Benefice Safeguarding Administrator; and we are grateful to Lynne Lambert for her continued work as Parish Safeguarding Officer.
See separate report from David and Lynne for more details of our safeguarding activities through 2023 and ongoing priorities into 2024.
Supportng Villagers
We continued to partner with Norfolk Community Foundation and other community groups, to help households in hardship. Grants from NCF were augmented from the Rector’s Fund and local donors enabling multiple grants to be given to local needy households.
We continued to offer human resource, coffee machines, and expertise from Church members for the “Warm Space” / “Community Hub” initiative run by Mulbarton Village Hall Charity in the Social Club. This has been well received and used by the village.
The Church has also continued as a collection point for the Norwich Foodbank, and the donations kept in the church porch are also accessible for local needy families. This continued to be well used and much appreciated.
We continued to have presence at the “Mind, Body and Spirit Fairs” in Mulbarton Village Hall which have attracted people seeking help for a variety of concerns. Church representatives were able to attend and speak with visitors and we worked towards having our first stall at the fair in March 2024.
We contacted all the volunteers who had helped out with the volunteer support scheme, established during covid lockdown times, in order to gauge the best way forward. Thanks to Jacqui Roper for undertaking that work. In the end, we decided to furlough the volunteer scheme for the time being.
We continued to enjoy good contact with the local school, with visits to and from the church, and in the provision of Bibles for school joiners and leavers.
Church Finances
Concerning finance, we worked closely with the Treasurer who kept on top of record keeping and facilitating PCC decisions, and kept PCC fully informed as things progressed through the year. This enabled us to do good financial planning, and to spend on our agreed priorities. One of our top priorities is to pay the clergy component of parish share, before attending to
other pressing expenditure items locally. The wider diocesan component is still very important to us to pay, but we have continued to prioritise certain other things over that – e.g. admin assistant, churchyard maintenance, insurance, health and safety related issues with buildings and churchyard, etc. We seek grants where appropriate.
Some happy financial news is that 2023 was the first time that Harvest House made a net profit, and it was quite substantial. The upstairs rooms being used has helped tremendously with that.
We produced a finance information leaflet, which was delivered to every home in Mulbarton, highlighting the way the church is now regularly unable to meet the full parish share request, by quite some margin. Ultimately, this will mean less clergy time devoted to the parish.
Property Stewardship
See the churchwarden’s report on fabric for full details of all that the PCC undertook through 2023 to keep the fabric of our ancient church building in good order, and to keep the churchyard well maintained and accessible. Highlights included work on the churchyard path and the Coronation “Big Help Out” day in Spring 2023, when so many volunteers from the local community came to help work in the churchyard, especially much needed repainting of our ancient white picket fence. We also actioned the major issues from the Electrical Report and actioned all the recommendations from the tree survey report, which has been a major improvement to the churchyard.
Eco Church, Fairtrade and Care of Clergy
New things for 2023 found the PCC adopting a fully Fairtrade policy, so that all supplies in Harvest House are Fairtrade, from cleaning to coffee to toilet rolls. We also began work towards an Eco Church award, aiming at Silver level, which has involved changes to churchyard management and the choices we make regarding how church and Harvest House are run. We have also actively promoted the values of EcoChurch and Fairtrade in church services, online and in printed materials.
In addition, the PCC has reviewed the Clergy Covenant recommendations and worked towards adopting a policy that reflects the genuine care for clergy and families which the PCC feels.
Mulbarton PCC
Financial Statement for the Year Ended 31 December 2023 Statement at 31 December 2023 Receipts and Payments Accounts
| Receipts Voluntary receipts: Collections at Services 5 Planned giving 5 All other giving/voluntary receipts 5 Grant Income 5 Legacies Received (Capital Value) Gift Aid recovered Activities for generating funds 5 Investment income Church activities 5 Other income 5 Total receipts Payments Church activities: Parish share Clergy and Staffing costs 6 Church running expenses 6 Mission giving and donations 6 Building work and repairs 6 Administration Costs Other expenditure 6 Hall Running costs Cost of generating funds 6 Total Payments Excess of receipts over payments Transfers between funds Cash at bank and in hand at 1 Jan Cash at bank and in hand at 31 Dec Note |
Total Total 2023 2022 £ £ £ £ £ £ 2,030.36 - 117.82 - 2,148.18 3,545.69 30,146.00 - - - 30,146.00 29,003.00 899.09 - 20,636.36 - 21,535.45 20,384.82 5,864.03 - 2,398.76 - 8,262.79 3,218.19 - - - - - - 7,890.27 - 3,352.63 - 11,242.90 10,922.78 46,829.75 - 26,505.57 - 73,335.32 67,074.48 8,602.28 - - - 8,602.28 2,702.77 0.30 156.17 1,802.35 - 1,958.82 1,281.81 6,198.00 - 185.00 - 6,383.00 6,314.43 1,221.34 - 6,165.70 - 7,387.04 4,099.12 62,851.67 156.17 34,658.63 - 97,666.46 81,472.61 28,435.00 - - - 28,435.00 36,715.00 6,366.30 - - - 6,366.30 7,331.27 6,753.49 - 802.13 - 7,555.62 8,807.67 275.72 - 25,043.86 - 25,319.58 16,581.83 6,031.43 - 280.57 - 6,312.00 2,100.00 - - - - - - 2,436.44 - 12,805.26 - 15,241.70 11,355.74 5,449.04 - 105.50 - 5,554.54 7,186.24 55,747.42 - 39,037.32 - 94,784.74 90,077.75 - - - - - 403.50 55,747.42 - 39,037.32 - 94,784.74 90,481.25 7,104.25 156.17- 4,378.69 - 2,881.72- 9,008.64 - - - - - - 7,104.25 156.17- 4,378.69 - 2,881.72- 9,008.64 5,119.51 4,868.75 42,081.61 - 52,069.87 61,078.51 12,223.76 5,024.92 37,702.92 - 54,951.59 52,069.87 Unrestricted Fund Designated Fund Endowment Fund Restricted Fund |
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Statement of Assets and Liabilities
| Cash Funds Bank Current Account 7 Petty Cash Bank Savings Account Deposit Account 8 Investment Assets at market value CBF Income Fund (CB3011306) 9 Mulbarton PCC Charifund ( M&G) 9 Total Investments Note Note |
Total Total 2023 2022 £ £ £ £ £ £ 12,203.04 - 5,213.08 - 17,416.12 14,766.04 20.72 - - - 20.72 66.04 - - - - - - - 0.00 5,024.92 32,489.83 - 37,514.75 37,237.79 12,223.76 5,024.92 37,702.92 - 54,951.59 52,069.87 Total Total 2023 2022 £ £ £ £ £ £ - - - 12,794.60 12,794.60 11,694.35 - - - 7,252.81 7,252.81 7,427.34 - - - 20,047.41 20,047.41 19,121.69 Unrestricted Fund Designated Fund Restricted Fund Endowment Fund Unrestricted Fund Designated Fund Endowment Fund Restricted Fund |
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Notes
1. The financial statements of the PCC have been prepared in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 using the Receipts & Payments basis.
2. £4,500 paid to 2023 share in Jan 2024: total share payment £33,462. Balance outstanding: £9,440
3. For 2023 the Parish Share allocation was £42,902.00. Of this, £28,435.00 was paid by the PCC directly to the DBF and £527.00 was credited by the DBF directly to the Parish Share account. This related to credits of £527.00 for crematorium claims.
4. The movement in designated and restricted funds during the year were:
| Restricted Bells res Bells res (CBF) Choir res Choir res (CBF) CMaint res CYard res Font res (CBF) HH Refurb res HH Refurb res (CBF) Home res Mardlers res Organ res Organ res (CBF) Overseas res PA res Proj res Proj res (CBF) Rectors Fund Designated Page Memorial des (CBF) PCC des (CBF) |
Bal b/fwd Receipts Payments Transfers Bal c/fwd 1,104.87 140.00 10.00- 1,193.3141.56 4,453.83 164.20 - 1,193.31 5,811.34 1,588.19 4,916.56 5,532.19 150.00 1,122.56 5,119.13 164.20 -- 150.00 5,133.33 1,764.89 926.56 2,348.90 - 342.55 778.00 2,000.00 2,052.00 - 726.00 3,260.78 104.59 - 95.80 3,461.17 52.78 - 105.50 52.72 - 51.08 1.64 -- 52.72 - 0.00 1,489.79 12,603.75 13,576.36- 100.00 417.18 770.67 1,540.25 1,788.87 - 522.05 114.20 65.00 156.00- 23.20- 80.89 2.59 - 23.20 106.68 34.35 8,896.96 8,577.50 - 353.81 395.40 - - - 395.40 - - 2,000.00 2,000.00 - 19,394.04 583.27 -- 2,000.0017,977.31 1,532.92 2,549.06 2,890.00 100.00 1,291.98 42,081.61 34,658.63 39,037.32 - 37,702.92 Bal b/fwd Receipts Payments Transfers Bal c/fwd 973.48 31.23 - - 1,004.71 3,895.27 124.94 - - 4,020.21 4,868.75 156.17 - - 5,024.92 |
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Bells res - Funds restricted for use for upkeep of bells held in Bank of Scotland Bells res (CBF) - Funds restricted for use for upkeep of bells held in CBF Church of England Deposit Fund account Choir res - Funds restricted for Choir use held in Bank of Scotland Choir res (CBF) - Funds restricted for Choir use held in CBF CMaint res - Funds restricted for use for church maintenance held in Bank of Scotland CYard res - Funds restricted for churchyard maintence held in Bank of Scotland
Font res (CBF) - Funds restricted for repair of font held in CBF Church of England Deposit Fund account HH Refurb res - Funds restricted for maintenance of Harvest House held in Bank of Scotland HH Refurb res (CBF) - Funds restricted for maintenance of Harvest House held in CBF Home res - Funds collected for people in need and home charities held in Bank of Scotland Mardlers res - Funds restricted for Mardlers use held in Bank of Scotland Organ res - Funds restricted for maintenance of organ held in Bank of Scotland Organ res (CBF) - Funds restricted for maintenance of organ held in CCLA: CBF Church of England Deposit fund Overseas res - Funds collected for overseas charities held in Bank of Scotland
PA res - Funds restricted for purchase and maintenance of pa held in Bank of Scotland Page Memorial des (CBF) - Funds designated for purchase of a memorial for Jack & Elsie Page held in CCLA: CBF Church of England PCC des (CBF) - Funds designated for church or churchyard major project held in CCLA: CBF Church of England Deposit fund Proj res - Funds restricted for church or churchyard major project held in Bank of Scotland
Proj res (CBF) - Funds restricted for church or churchyard major project held in CBF Church of England Deposit Fund account Rectors Fund - Proceeds from permanent endowment designated for the Rector's discretionary use held in Bank of Scotland
| 5. Receipts COLLECTIONS AT SERVICES Sunday Collections Weekday Collections Wedding and Funeral Collections PLANNED GIVING PCC Gift Aided PCC planned GIFT AID RECOVERED Gift Aid Reclaim ALL OTHER GIVING/VOLUNTARY RECEIPTS Wall Boxes Awake Mother Gift Aided Bells fees and donations Christian Aid Christian Aid cash Christian Aid Gift Aided Cmaint CMaint - Gift Aided Each cash East Anglian Air Ambulance cash Harpers Harpers Gift Aided HH gifts Home giving Home giving cash Home giving Gift Aided Overseas PCC PCC cash Royal British Legion Tearfund Tearfund cash Tearfund Gift Aided Bukavu Bukavu Gift Aided Nepal Nepal Gift Aided Overseas cash ACTIVITIES FOR GENERATING FUNDS HH Hire Events CHURCH ACTIVITIES Fees - Statutory Fees - Additional Youthclub INVESTMENT INCOME Dividends and Interest GRANT INCOME Recurring Grants Grants - one off OTHER INCOME Admin Choir Choir - Gift Aided Choir cash HH deposit |
Total Total 2023 2022 £ £ £ £ £ £ 1,808.29 - 117.82 - 1,926.11 2,255.89 - - - - - 235.98 222.07 - - - 222.07 1,053.82 2,030.36 - 117.82 - 2,148.18 3,545.69 26,466.00 - - - 26,466.00 24,873.00 3,680.00 - - - 3,680.00 4,130.00 30,146.00 - - - 30,146.00 29,003.00 7,890.27 - 3,352.63 - 11,242.90 10,922.78 7,890.27 - 3,352.63 - 11,242.90 10,922.78 118.44 - - - 118.44 - - - 320.00 - 320.00 300.00 - - 20.00 - 20.00 132.00 - - 437.86 - 437.86 120.00 - - - - - 519.00 - - - - - 5.00 - - 100.00 - 100.00 - - - - - - 5,000.00 - - 286.40 - 286.40 253.00 - - 312.93 - 312.93 - - - 240.00 - 240.00 240.00 - - 4,230.00 - 4,230.00 4,260.00 - - - - - 52.78 - - 11,024.70 - 11,024.70 4,770.00 - - 210.00 - 210.00 411.45 - - 1,490.00 - 1,490.00 1,620.00 - - 130.63 - 130.63 50.00 723.23 - - - 723.23 554.41 57.42 - - - 57.42 262.24 - - 27.45 - 27.45 44.94 - - 15.00 - 15.00 178.95 - - 524.30 - 524.30 352.53 - - - - - 418.52 - - 145.00 - 145.00 175.00 - - 445.00 - 445.00 270.00 - - 95.00 - 95.00 75.00 - - 445.00 - 445.00 300.00 - - 137.09 - 137.09 20.00 899.09 - 20,636.36 - 21,535.45 20,384.82 7,992.75 - - - 7,992.75 2,030.80 609.53 - - - 609.53 671.97 8,602.28 - - - 8,602.28 2,702.77 5,438.00 - - - 5,438.00 4,969.00 760.00 - 185.00 - 945.00 1,215.00 - - - - - 130.43 6,198.00 - 185.00 - 6,383.00 6,314.43 0.30 156.17 1,802.35 - 1,958.82 1,281.81 0.30 156.17 1,802.35 - 1,958.82 1,281.81 4,114.03 - 2,148.76 - 6,262.79 2,774.19 1,750.00 - 250.00 - 2,000.00 444.00 5,864.03 - 2,398.76 - 8,262.79 3,218.19 860.24 - 250.00 - 1,110.24 18.50 - - 2,877.76 - 2,877.76 1,911.26 - - 890.00 - 890.00 435.00 - - 756.59 - 756.59 618.84 300.00 - - - 300.00 196.75 Endowment Fund Unrestricted Fund Designated Fund Restricted Fund |
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| Mardlers Mardlers cash Printing 6. Payments CLERGY AND STAFFING COSTS Administrator Parish/Benefice Clergy Expenses CHURCH RUNNING EXPENSES Gas and Electricity Bill Insurance Service Costs Maintenance Admin MISSION GIVING AND DONATIONS Awake Mother Awake Mother Gift Aid Bukavu Bukavu Gift Aid Christian Aid Christian Aid Gift Aid Christian Aid GASDS Each East Anglian Air Ambulance Harpers Harpers Gift Aid Home Nepal Nepal Gift Aid Overseas Royal British Legion Tearfund Tearfund Gift Aid Tearfund GASDS Interserve (Hawkes) Interserve (Hawkes) Gift Aid Each GASDS East Anglian Air Ambulance GASDS Royal British Legion GASDS Home GASDS BUILDING WORK AND REPAIRS Church - Major repairs and Redecorations COSTS OF GENERATING FUNDS Events OTHER EXPENDITURE Churchyard Expenses Bellringers Choir HH deposit repaid Hospitality and Catering Mardlers Outreach Organist Verger Youthwork HALL RUNNING COSTS Gas and Electricity Bill - HH Insurance HH Maintenance HH Telephone and Broadband Water Bill HH Window Cleaning HH Cleaning - HH HH equipment |
- - 829.80 - 829.80 140.00 - - 561.55 - 561.55 658.37 61.10 - - - 61.10 120.40 1,221.34 - 6,165.70 - 7,387.04 4,099.12 Total Total 2023 2022 £ £ £ £ £ £ 5,157.90 - - - 5,157.90 4,684.78 1,208.40 - - - 1,208.40 2,646.49 6,366.30 - - - 6,366.30 7,331.27 315.49 - - - 315.49 3,526.35 1,904.48 - - - 1,904.48 1,861.05 968.98 - 10.00 - 978.98 1,283.17 2,423.72 - 792.13 - 3,215.85 1,418.08 1,140.82 - - - 1,140.82 719.02 6,753.49 - 802.13 - 7,555.62 8,807.67 0.37 - 620.00 - 620.37 - - - 155.00 - 155.00 - 133.75 - 590.00 - 723.75 773.06 - - 111.25 - 111.25 67.50 - - 437.86 - 437.86 644.00 - - - - - 1.25 - - 54.00 - 54.00 113.25 - - 286.46 - 286.46 253.00 - - 312.93 - 312.93 - - - 4,500.00 - 4,500.00 4,500.00 - - 1,065.00 - 1,065.00 1,065.00 - - 15,682.13 - 15,682.13 7,315.00 141.60 - 540.00 - 681.60 725.00 - - 111.25 - 111.25 75.00 - - 39.38 - 39.38 50.00 - - - - - 12.27 - - 161.00 - 161.00 950.00 - - 104.63 - 104.63 - - - 88.13 - 88.13 12.50 - - - - - 20.00 - - - - - 5.00 - - 63.25 - 63.25 - - - 47.86 - 47.86 - - - 11.23 - 11.23 - - - 62.50 - 62.50 - 275.72 - 25,043.86 - 25,319.58 16,581.83 6,031.43 - 280.57 - 6,312.00 2,100.00 6,031.43 - 280.57 - 6,312.00 2,100.00 - - - - - 403.50 - - - - - 403.50 1,291.01 - 5,484.20 - 6,775.21 6,723.35 120.00 - - - 120.00 720.00 - - 5,532.19 - 5,532.19 1,838.21 150.50 - - - 150.50 96.75 18.70 - - - 18.70 20.00 - - 1,788.87 - 1,788.87 752.30 538.03 - - - 538.03 785.13 60.00 - - - 60.00 240.00 200.00 - - - 200.00 180.00 58.20 - - - 58.20 - 2,436.44 - 12,805.26 - 15,241.70 11,355.74 2,302.93 - - - 2,302.93 1,572.55 476.06 - - - 476.06 465.20 926.49 - 105.50 - 1,031.99 3,284.50 469.21 - - - 469.21 397.68 277.89 - - - 277.89 404.38 150.00 - - - 150.00 125.00 738.47 - - - 738.47 936.93 107.99 - - - 107.99 - 5,449.04 - 105.50 - 5,554.54 7,186.24 Restricted Fund Endowment Fund Designated Fund Unrestricted Fund |
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| 7. Bank Current Account Mulbarton Church(BOS) 8. Deposit Account Mulbarton PCC(CCLA) |
Total Total 2023 2022 £ £ £ £ £ £ 12,203.04 - 5,213.08 - 17,416.12 14,766.04 12,203.04 - 5,213.08 - 17,416.12 14,766.04 Total Total 2023 2022 £ £ £ £ £ £ - 0.00 5,024.92 32,489.83 - 37,514.75 37,237.79 - 0.00 5,024.92 32,489.83 - 37,514.75 37,237.79 Restricted Fund Unrestricted Fund Designated Fund Endowment Fund Unrestricted Fund Designated Fund Restricted Fund Endowment Fund |
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9. Investments
Further Details
CBF Income Fund (CB3011306) (Permanent endowment 'Mulbarton Church Lands' for CMaint res interest paid into Bank of Scotland) - Permanent endowm Mulbarton PCC Charifund ( M&G) (Permanent endowment. Interest 24.08% for Rectors fund & 75.92% for CMaint res paid into Bank of Scotland.) - Perman
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND Diocese of Norwich Independent Examiners Certificate Report to the trusteesl members of: Mulbarton PCC On accounts for the year ended: Charity no Ilf any}: 1156897 I report lo the Iruslees on my examination of the accounts of the alove charity I'the Trust I for the yearended311illW.> Responslbllltle8 and ba818 of report As the charity's Iruslees. you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 I'lhe A,1. I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 1451511bl of the Act. Independent gxaminer's statemont IThe charity's come exceede alified member of I O and l am qualifi ndertake the exa 11. Delete [] if nor iGable. I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause lo believe that In, any material respect.. the accounting records were not kept in accordan with section 130 01 the Charities Act,. or the accounts did not accord with the accounting records,. or the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements conceming the form and Conlenl ol accounts sel out in the Chaiilies (Accounts and Reports) Regulation5 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'lrue and fair, view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concems and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination lo which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understsnding of the accounts to be reached. . Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply. Signed.. Date". Name.. IER Oct 2018
Relevant professional qualificatlDnlsl or body lif any) Address.. Mfs'its fQEg rS"gEX OLL Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to hiEhlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examinersl. Give he brief details of any items that the examiner W15hes to disclose IER Oct 2018