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2024-12-31-accounts

CHURCH OF ST MARY THE VIRGIN, WHEATLEY ANNUAL REPORT MAY 2025

The PCC of St Mary the Virgin Church, Wheatley, has the responsibility to promote, in the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the Church – pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. It also has the responsibility for maintaining the fabric of the Church.

The Benefice is in a period of interregnum.

Alexandra Hewitt is licensed to serve as LLM to preach and assist with pastoral work in this benefice.

Wheatley Area Churches : The WAC consists of St Mary’s Church, United Reformed Church, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, St Bartholomew’s Church and Wheatley Community Church. WAC has continued to work together in supporting each other and the wider village community in many ways. During the interregnum joint services have been held and a joint service was held in St Mary’s for the Week of Prayer for Christian unity, lent soup lunches were held to support Christian Aid in URC hall, Good Friday pilgrimage took place around the village again and Easter cards were delivered to the village and Holton. Support continues for refugees Remembrance Sunday Service was held in St Mary’s and a wreath laying ceremony at the war memorial. The village Carol Service was held in St Mary’s Church and Christmas cards were distributed throughout the village.

Administrative Information

St Mary the Virgin Wheatley is situated in Church Road, Wheatley. It is part of the Diocese of Oxford within the Church of England. The correspondence address is the Vicarage, London Road, Wheatley, Oxford, OX33 1YA. Registered Charity Number 1159100

The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish including how the funds of the PCC are to be spent.

The Full PCC has met 6 times during the year with an average attendance of 78%. The subgroups set up to support during the interregnum which consists of 5 teams, Spiritual, Pastoral, Governance, Building and Events & Social which have met intermittently as required during the year. The PCC remains the decision-making body and will continue to sign off any proposals from the working group. PCC members are:

* Ex Officio members .

*Incumbent

Incumbent* Vacancy LLM Mrs Alexandra Hewitt Electoral roll officer Mr David Parsons

*Churchwardens

Mrs Jane Fanning

St Mary the Virgin Wheatley Church Road, OX331LZ

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Mrs Zannifer Mason (PCC Chair)

*Deanery Synod Representatives

Margaret Jackson David Parsons

Alexandra Hewitt

Elected Members

Chris Clements (vice chair and secretary -resigned September 2024) Peter Fanning (Treasurer) Samantha Knight (Sacristan) Howard Stones Faith Axten (PSO Acting Secretary from September 2024) Tim Dixon Tony Wigley Malcolm Benson (elected member of the URC)

As we approach the APCM 2025 there are vacancies for a churchwarden and deanery synod representatives. Faith Axten Tim Dixon and Howard Stones need to stand down and seek, if they wish, re-election at the 2025 APCM. With an electoral roll between 50 and 100 we are allowed 9 elected members of the PCC who serve for a term of three years, but others may be co-opted.

PCC Chair

During the vacancy the Chair of the PCC was taken by Zannifer Mason from April 2024. During the restoration of the church PCC meetings were held at the URC but from Sept. 2024 when held in St Mary’s Church.

Electoral roll

The Electoral Roll for 2025 now has 82 members and is displayed on the church notice board in the porch. 23 members who were on last year’s list have been removed some of whom have relocated, some died, and the remainder chose not to be included or neglected to return their registration form, although they were informed of the need to reregister this year.

In addition, we have 7 new members who are regular or occasional attendees at our services.

This represents a reduction in numbers of 17 members – down from 99 in the previous year.

Elaine Parsons PP David Parsons Electoral Roll officer

A verbal update on the new electoral roll will be offered at the APCM.

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Worship

BCP Holy Communion: Sunday 8.00am

Parish Eucharist: Sundays at 10.00am with a Family Service on the first Sunday of each month.

Holy Communion : Wednesday at 12 noon in Church / Vicarage (until April ‘24) Morning prayer: Monday - Saturday @9am. This was on Zoom until Sept 2024 when it was held in St Mary’s as well as on Zoom.

Due to the Church renovation work, from late May 2023 until Sept. 2024 Sunday worship continued to be held at Our Lady of Lourdes, Crown Road, Wheatley. On occasions where OLoL was not available for worship, or no Priest was available services took place at other churches in the benefice and also at the United Reform Church. The URC also provided their facilities for other St Mary’s activities. We are extremely grateful to all the churches for hosting us during our time of need. St Mary's Church was reopened and rededicated on the 8th of September 2024 and a thanksgiving event for all who had helped in any way during the restoration was held on the 20th of Sept. 2024.

Special Services and Events . Special Services and Events. The following services and events were held during the year. The annual Benefice Epiphany Carol Service was held at Waterstock and there were Ash Wednesday services and a Mothering Sunday service, Compline was held every Friday during Lent and there were services on Palm Sunday and Good Friday. We had a 5.30am Vigil Service on Easter Day and other Easter services. Two members of our congregation were confirmed by Bishop Humphrey in a service at our Lady of Lourdes. From Harvest onwards special services were held in St Mary’s, they were the AllSouls Commemoration of the Faithful Departed, the Advent Carol Service the Village Carol Service, a Crib Services, Midnight Eucharist and Christmas Day services.

Prayer requests by email are sent out weekly or more frequently if required and now include all the Benefice Churches.

Services are also held at the Triangle Nursing Home and in conjunction with WAC at Wellford Gardens. Holy Communion was taken to the house bound at Christmas and Easter.

Every Thursday Wheatley Good Neighbours Scheme runs a Community Larder in Church which includes tea and chat. This was moved to the URC from May 2023 and returned to St Mary’s Sept 2024.

Attendance 2024

Not being satisfied with having come through the pandemic it was followed by the church refurbishment and then straight into an interregnum owing to the retirement of our vicar.

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The church has frequently collaborated with other churches within the benefice and the local United Reformed Church, especially during major festivals such as Easter and Christmas.

Christmas Eve & Christmas Day combined we had an adult attendance of 120 with 45 young people attending the Crib Service.

This year's midnight service had an impressive attendance of 70, an improvement from the declining numbers over the past two years.

During Advent there were a further 256 attended the Advent Carol Service and the ever-popular Village Carol Service.

Baptism, Marriage and Funerals during 2024

Three infants, one young person and one adult were baptized. Thanksgiving for two young people took place. There were no weddings in Church. There were two funerals held at the crematorium and six at St Mary’s (or other Churches when St Mary’s was off limits) Ashes were buried on three occasions. Tony Wigley

Reports

Sacristan and servers,

In my job as sacristan, I have prepared the elements for the services, I have also ordered and brought these items, this includes host, & people wafers, communion wine, oil and candles. I change the altar colours, set-up the readings & hymn numbers each week.

Christmas & Easter services is a little more involved, needing to order the special elements needed for these services to run smoothly, changing the alter colours several times in these seasons, like stripping the alter & colours for Good Friday & replacing them on Easter Saturday at Easter, for example.

Two to three times a year, depending on how messy it gets, I have to clean the votive stand. This is a time-consuming job, involving hairdryers to melt the wax and paper towels, as scrapping would take the black paint off. I have had help from other parishioners at times to do this, which is helpful.

In our job as servers, it is our responsibility to ensure the priest taking the service has everything they need for the service and to try to make sure that everything is on hand to help them with the Communion. Making sure all the elements are prepared and ready for the Eucharist. To be ready for the Gospel reading procession, handing the elements to the priest to prepare for the Eucharist, since covid the priest has dipped the communion wafer, as server it is our job to hold the communion wine for tis and to help them clean up after communion. The crucifix is carried in front of all the processions, normally by Melvyn who also stands at the votive stand to assist the

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lighting of the prayer candles. When a new person comes along who is interested in serving, we help in their training.

With the recent Interregnum, we have had a number of different priests and needed to work with them on how they wanted the service to proceed. Samantha Knight

Sides-persons

John Almond has co-ordinated the Sides-persons, who support the Churchwardens in welcoming those who come to worship. We are very grateful for him continuing in the role.

Music and Choir Group

Membership

The choir seems to have been particularly hard hit by the disruption to the building and numbers have still not returned to pre-covid levels, even allowing for the loss of Julia Hawkes and Ed Hewitt from our number. Average attendance over the year has remained at 3 to 4 singers, but this has meant some Sundays with only 1 or 2 and, for the first time in 20 years, a Sunday where there were no singers at all. The departure of Nigel means that we no longer have any basses at all, even occasionally, becoming entirely reliant on guest singers with little or no connection to the church for festivals. Praise!

On a more positive note, we have recruited 2 very enthusiastic 10-year-olds to our new Junior Choir on Sunday afternoons. Both completed their white Voice for Life targets within 3 months and were awarded their medals, together with smart green hoodies, at the Advent Carol Service.

Music

During the year we have sung anthems at only 49 principal services, owing to the number of shared services that have taken place. The absence of basses makes choosing music particularly difficult. The many arrangements which have a single part for the men assume that it is tenors that are missing so that they don’t work so well for our forces. We continue to rely on the two books of Flexible Anthems, but I have also had to spend time arranging music for upper voices only.

Our Epiphany Carol Service gave Nigel an opportunity for one final solo, and after missing out on Holy Week and Easter services, we were delighted to take up Lucy Gardner’s suggestion of a Choral Eucharist for Ascension Day, where we sang the setting by Charles Wood ‘in the Phrygian mode’, an unaccompanied setting well-suited to the OLL acoustic. The Advent Carol Service was a particular highlight this year, with a strong choir including our two Praise! choristers, a new carol and a substantial

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congregation. It was pleasing also to have three juniors at the Village Carol Service, with a new arrangement of ‘The Angel Gabriel’ by our own Izzy Godwin.

The use of Common Worship liturgy for the Praise! services has necessitated writing our own sets of seasonal responses, and an experiment with a similar format for Matins required a quick-to-learn choral setting of the Venite, so we have both been busy with composition. We hope to self-publish a complete set of Common Worship responses next year.

Special Events

At the beginning of 2024 we visited Waterstock for our annual Benefice Epiphany Carol Service. In November members of the choir were again able to support the Lay Ministers at their Annual Service: illness hit already low numbers (some were being licensed and others away) and without the Wheatley contingent there would have been no choir.

Practical Issues

We are still frustrated by the ad hoc arrangement of the organ console and speakers and hope that this will be resolved once the more urgent snagging from the building project has been dealt with. We were given a large amount of music last year, and although we have been selective and only kept what we believe we will use, there is a need for some additional storage space. A full catalogue of choir music has been created, with help from Elina as well as Izzy, and all the box files have been replaced. Acknowledgements

A special thank you to Julia Stutfield and Elina Screen for their very regular support with the new junior choir. As always, we are grateful to John Buckley for deputising and occasional singing in the choir, and to all the choir for their support and excellent singing throughout the year. Finally, a huge thank you to Izzy Godwin for her unstinting support of all things musical, not least her enthusiasm for the Praise! project; for her continual encouragement and the fun and laughter that has kept me sane during this challenging year.

Alexandra Hewitt, Organist and Director of Music March 2025

Wardens Report

It has been a momentous year for St Mary’s. Indeed, it is nine years since Nigel instigated our refurbishment project to make St Mary’s both a place of worship and a centre for the community. Our aim remains the same: to provide a secure future for St Mary’s.

With running costs steadily increasing and a congregation that is unlikely to be able to meet these soaring costs on its own, Nigel had the foresight to plan for a building with a dual purpose for the coming years.

The Project has involved years of surveys, gathering advice, visiting other churches, planning (with thanks to our architect, Mathew Maier), contesting the Victorian Society, filling out grant forms, raising £654,000 and, finally, the build. Having been

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housed in Our Lady of Lourdes since April 2023 by kind permission of Father Merwyn and John and Maggie Guy, we moved back into our church at the end of August 2024. Nigel and Julia moved on in April 2024. We have since had a year’s interregnum, overseen the building work, moved back, rededicated the church, put together a Profile, appointed Reverend Clare Joyce, and held many community and fundraising events. This could not have been achieved without the help of many members of the congregation and the Wheatley community who have given hugely of their time, energy, and money.

Farewell to Nigel and Julia on 14[th] April

The service was held in the Primary School by kind permission of the Community Church and was presided over by Nigel and David Bendor Samuel. More than 230 people came to the service to say their farewells, many staying for a very successful Bring and Share lunch.

Moving back

Early in August, Whites completed the painting of the interior. We had decided to spend the retained deposit on redecoration and had six weeks to prepare the new space for our Rededication Service on the 8[th] September.

The pews and much else were carried back from the tent which had been pitched in the vicarage garden for the past year. It took several van journeys to collect the rest of our furniture from Jennings in Chalgrove, and various items were returned by those who had offered to store them.

Many rallied round to help clean and hoover the extremely dusty building, and to sand, oil, remove nails and stick slippers on all the pews and furniture. We are extremely grateful to Ian Roberts for his help in refurbishing the pews, fixing casters on the various units, and refitting the bookshelves behind the welcome counter. We managed to borrow a scaffolding tower and Peter spent days removing the cobwebs from the roof.

The larder fridge/freezer was returned, the kitchen area cleaned, and the toilets painted. However, like all house moves, we spent a great deal of time looking for items and new places to put them. Finally, we added some large plants which have helped make the nave look fresh and welcoming. The church now looks very much as it does in the architect's plans, although we still have the Edward King Room, Vestry, lighting and, importantly, the sound system to complete.

The return has not been without its problems. The drains were blocked for the first six weeks, making cleaning difficult. A faulty fire alarm was a constant anxiety, the underfloor heating did not work as it should have and there were also several electrical problems. Savvy’s, our contractor, took more than six months to rectify the issues, but finally most were dealt with in late March. We will now need to pay the deposit we retained.

Rededication and other Interregnum services

We were very gratified by the turn out (183) to the Rededication Service on 8[th] September, presided by Bishop Gavin and Associate Archdeacon, Jane Haslam. Many

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WAC and Parish Council members and many from the Wheatley community joined the congregation.

Since then, Bishop Humphrey, Jane Haslam, Lucy Gardner, Hugh Lee, David BendorSamuel, Caroline King, and several others have taken many of our communion and burial services. Alexandra has presided at our Parish Praise and Evensong services. We have also attended several Benefice services in Holton, Waterstock, Waterperry and Albury and very much enjoyed their hospitality and meeting our Benefice community. Alexandra has started her Praise Choir for children between 9 and 16, which she runs between 4.00 and 6.30 pm on Sundays, concluding with Evensong. By all accounts, the children are making great progress, and several people have joined evensong. Al Nichol and David BS presided at our Remembrance Service with many in attendance, including the Firemen, the Guides and Scouts. The names of the fallen were read out in the Memorial Garden, followed by the poignant ‘Last Post’. The Christmas Eve services, taken by Izzie Godwin and the Christmas Day services were very well attended, especially the former with more than 45 children and 50 adults taking part. We have also had several Christenings, presided by Anthea Baresford, Tom Moore and Lucy Gardener.

Inspections

On Friday 8[th] Nov Derek Witchell and Maureen Underdown undertook the Diocesan inspection. All was in order. Minor issues included taking new inventory photos, displaying lone worker cards, and placing more gravel around the perimeter of the building to improve drainage.

The Quinquennial, which had been postponed for almost a year, was undertaken by Robert Montgomery on 25[th] February. Very many thanks to Richard Cosier for overseeing it. As expected, there is a long list of issues to be dealt with, but none are very urgent.

Since then, we received a grant from the SODC to put in automatic door closing and opening mechanisms, CCTV cameras and other technical items, which has reduced the onerous task for someone to lock and open the church each day. Very many thanks to David Benny and Adam Churchley for the many, many hours they have put in to make this possible.

The churchyard

During our Diocesan inspection in November, we were praised for how well our churchyard was maintained. Very many thanks to the dedication of Michael Lancashire and our churchyard team for all the work they have put in over the years. As we had a couple of accidents last year, we have decided to keep just the perimeter unmown for ‘No Mow May’.

Other community events

There was a Reception of Thanksgiving on Friday 20[th] September, to which all the donors and people involved in the refurbishment were invited. It included a concert by Karen Benny and involved the Community Choir and friends. Both this event and the

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Angelorum Concert on 29[th] September were again very well attended, the latter donating very generously to the church.

The Soup and Cheese Harvest Lunch in the church was well attended and much enjoyed, despite the fire alarms going off several times.

The stage was set for Hamlet the following weekend with a cast from Wheatley and the surrounding villages. All three nights were more than full, and half the ticket money donated to the church funds.

On Saturday 2[nd] Nov a Birthday Ceilidh was held with Mouse and Trousers providing the music

On Thursday, Friday, Saturday 16[th] Nov the Opera Happy Birthday Gregory Bellings, directed by Rachel Cave, was held in the round, with a lighting gantry and speakers fixed between the pillars. It was a wonderful community occasion with people of all ages involved, particularly young people, and was again sold out. It was followed by a christening the following day.

On Saturday 23[rd] November, the Wheatley Singers gave a very successful ‘Coming Home’ Concert with Alexandra accompanying. With a huge Orchestra and choir, many more chairs, borrowed from Holton village hall, where required

Brenda Gratwicke, who delivers vehicles and supplies to Ukraine, gave a talk on 19[th] Nov. organised by the WUSG. Together with many slides and stories she gave us some understanding of the awful conditions in Ukraine, often with no utilities, that people are living in while constantly keeping vigilant in case of drones and bombs. There were events each weekend between September and Christmas with footfall greater than we ever imagined. Our task now is to try and continue this process. In March, Alexandra and Chris Saunders and Angela Knapp’s St Bartholomew Consort both presented excellent concerts.

The Guides, Brownies and Rainbows use the church every Wednesday from 4.00 pm during term time. It has also been used for several very successful children’s birthday parties.

The Larder is held every Thursday afternoon between 2.30 and 3.30pm. People help themselves to food and give a donation to various youth groups in the village. The main attraction is to meet people while queuing up for a mug of tea and chat in the café area. Meg runs a very successful café, Raffle and Pound table, to help pay our heating bills, which have been much greater than we ever expected.

The Wheatley Good Neighbours, chaired by Zannifer, holds regular meetings and helps those who are housebound and others to become more independent and get out and about.

Many members of our elderly community have moved into Wellford Gardens, a new retirement home, and The Triangle, where WAC members take it in turns to take a services each month. Very many thanks to Tony, Meg and Zannifer for overseeing these services.

The Profile and appointment

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We had many meetings in the church café to put together the Profile, which was published in The Church Times on 17[th] November, and had an excellent response. The wardens from Waterperry, Waterstock and Wheatley, together with Bishop Gavin, Nigel Edward-Few, our patron, Jane Haslam and Maureen Underdown, interviewed four strong candidates on 12[th] December. Rev Clare Joyce, a curate from near Haddenham, who has studied at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, was appointed, and will start after her Licensing Service at 7.30 pm on 8[th] May.

Vicarage

We finally cleared the Vicarage office on 11[th] November for the refurbishment process to begin. All the office files are stored in the attic above the Edward King room. Many will need to be taken to St Luke's shortly.

The vicarage now has solar panels, a heat pump, new triple-glazed windows and better insulation. The internal refurbishment was completed on 12[th] March when Clare moved in. The externals are still to be painted, and the garden cut back. We understand that the orchard/field down from the house will be our responsibility and for St Mary’s use. During the next year we will explore ideas for using the space.

The Finances

Many, many thanks to Peter who spends hours each week dealing with the church finances, notably the Project, the WUSG and the Larder accounts, and who has kept the show on the road, and to Tony who deals with Gift Aid. Our finances are a constant worry. We need to raise £64,000 for our Parish Share and in the region of £12000 for heating over the winter, before we need to pay for general maintenance and cleaning.

The way ahead

We set out to make the church a spiritual and community space; somewhere to find solace and peace in a spiritual setting, but also a neighbourly place, to have a cuppa, to meet people, to undertake activities or just to be in a welcoming community space. Three-quarters of the grant money we raised was to help make St Mary’s be a centre for the community. The events have become a large part of St Mary’s remit and will possibly require a separate committee to keep the church in use and well-funded. We very much look forward to Clare guiding us through this dual role in the years ahead. Thank you

It has been a monumental effort, with no vicar, no church, moving back and to reorganise St Mary’s for its dual use. It has required a huge amount of goodwill and input from very many people, particularly the PCC team. It is a huge testament to our congregation that numbers have pretty much held up during the year. Special thanks to David Benny, Richard, Alexandra, Peter, Faith, Meg, Elaine, Angela, Tony, Chris, Michael Worthington, Adam Churchley and Ian Roberts, and many, many others who helped to raise the money and support the project.

Zannifer and I are very grateful for your help and patience during these very challenging times. It is with great sadness that Zannifer will no longer be my cowarden. She has been wonderfully efficient and has kept a careful eye on the smooth running of the church as a warden and as acting chair of the PCC. If there is anyone

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who will take on her mantle, we would all be very grateful. It is not normally as demanding as it has been for the last three years. Jane Fanning

Deanery Synod 2024/25

The three meetings of 2024 were March 19[th] at St. Helen's Church, Benson. July 3[rd] at St. Leonard's Church, Watlington and October 24[th] at Dorchester Abbey. In 2024, the focus was on work with children, young people and families. This was the subject of both the March and October meetings. As this important ministry had ceased during Covid, the aim was to find out what was happening and to build on it. Guest Speakers, Charles Chadwick and Yvonne Morris, were both involved with youth ministry. Already happening were, Toddler's groups, 'Messy Church' and 'Craft Church' and there were good connections with primary schools. Alexandra has continued with a weekly assembly at the primary school here. For older children, there were Youth groups and Holiday clubs. Yvonne Morris added, 'any activity which allowed young people to remain part of the Christian community.'

Following this meeting, parishes were asked to complete a questionnaire.

The October meeting was a follow-on discussion, using responses to the questionnaire. Also mentioned were Family services, some on Sunday afternoons and an interesting project with a choir i.e. the new Praise! Service here. Points discussed included - finding ways to include people moving into new housing estates and ways to interest young people in secondary schools e.g. by joining a choir. Parishes could work together in setting up holiday clubs etc. and to plan ahead. The Diocese aims to support parishes in developing youth and young adult ministries.

In July, Guest Speaker, Helen King gave a talk on 'The Workings of the General Synod.' The General Synod deals mainly with legislation, but also with all aspects of Church governance. It is made up of three Houses - Bishops, Clergy and Laity and meets, residentially, two or three times a year, in London or York. The main business is debate. Everything is discussed in detail, with some motions returning two or three times, after being revised, before being passed, or not. For a motion to be passed, a 2/3 majority is needed in all three Houses. Meetings can be long, so having sufficient time to offer is a factor, but working people do attend. Christians of all denominations can apply to serve on the House of Laity. Elections are held every six years. Members of Deanery Synods are the electorate. A broad scope of opinion should make for good debate and a balanced outcome, but not always. The Big Issue today, is Gender and Sexuality. It is very divisive. Sadly, discussions can become acrimonious between traditionalists and those with more enlightened views, who regard the Church as a stumbling block and out of touch. The

Synod representative for the Deanery, Jane Ozanne, who is gay, resigned in protest at the Church's position on gay marriage.

Parish Share continues to be a huge problem for some parishes. The Deanery Mutual Support Scheme, whereby struggling parishes are helped out with loans from better-

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off parishes, has worked well for several years, but Parish Share is due to increase in 2025, because of an increase in clergy stipend.

There has been no report of any progress with the Deanery Motion. This was a motion to Diocesan Synod, emphasising the financial problems of parishes and requesting a change in the way parishes are funded. Other deaneries have similar problems and there Is support from the 'Save the Parish' movement, so a review of PS is likely. During the year, three people with longstanding connections to the Deanery, retired, or stood down. Nigel retired in April, after 12 years as vicar of St. Mary's. He was also Assistant Area Dean and had been involved with the Deanery for 19 years. At the same time, Simon Richards, stood down as Lay Chair. He is now serving on Diocesan Synod. Revd. Derek Witchell retired in October. He will continue as Priest Architect and still be available to give advice. Margaret Jackson.

Finance report

See separate report and audited accounts.

Fabric Report May 2025

At the end of the contract works, an interregnum Building Working Group was convened on 20th June 2024 but never established lines of communication and has never met since. The building is still in a state of transition between contractor and PCC; whilst the contract was signed off last June, we are in a period of defects rectification. Most day-to-day problems arising or ongoing work seem to be dealt with on an ad-hoc basis, many without wider knowledge or being entered into the repair log as a diocese requirement.

Following decoration in church, the sewage pump failed having been clogged by painters’ wipes. A fault was also detected on the electrical supply that was buried in the ground without protection. Both were replaced

The lock to the south door was left inoperable after the building works and the emergency release left inoperable. This was rectified by Executive Security paid by the PCC.

The lock to the aumbrey door was replaced.

Wheatley Parish Council undertook a tree survey and arranged minor works to be carried out. Unfortunately, the large amount trimmings were deposited on the compost pile.

The lightning conductors and surge protection annual test is scheduled for April. The area behind the tower was cleared of rubbish tipping to the vicarage garden by the Larder group, slabs laid, and a small container installed for empty crates The clock was serviced was in October.

The bells were inspected in October. The previous report mentioned wear to the

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pulley sheaves on bells 3&4 plus wear to the clapper bushes on 4th, 5th and tenor bells that allows lateral play, but Whites decided these minor repairs could be put on hold for another 2-3 years. Proof of the inspection is needed for the Quinquennial. The Church Road notice board having suffered for several years remains collapsed. One lychgate was repaired, but the bottom hinge to both lych gates have now broken leaving the gates swinging on just the top hinges. The bottom hinges were welded to metal plates which have rusted through. The bottom of the posts are rotten.

A Fire Risk Assessment was carried out by West One following the reordering. Extinguishers were tested, supplemented and hazards dealt with. The fire alarm system has undergone the mandatory 6-month inspection and test. This highlighted a number of issues:

There was concern the alarm system is too sophisticated, but with the church deciding to expand the building’s use beyond religious services and the occasional concert into wider unsupervised public use, so the regulation by local authorities of the building increases accordingly.

An Archdeacon’s inspection in November suggested any gravel areas around the church need to be weeded to aid drainage. Some of these areas will be surrounded by bricks as protection of free air to the air bricks to the suspended floor void.

The gutters were cleaned in July and two minor splits in the north valley gutter sealed following report of a roof leak. Making the most of the need to provide roof access for the Quinquennial inspection, the gutters were again cleaned in February as part of annual maintenance to satisfy insurance requirements. A probable leak between the south valley and tower was also investigated and a previous repair of the haunching found loose. Fresh repairs to the same section were carried out and some slipped roof tiles replaced.

A visit by the DAC head architect, in response to a complaint from a member of the community about the removal of the chancel altar rail and sanctuary lamps confirmed these items of religious significance should not have been removed because the reordering faculty excluded work in the chancel. A written report is yet to be received, but the opinion on site was that a faculty would be need to be applied for as retrospective consent for both removals, more so because the altar rail is attributed to G E Street and is thus of high significance as part of his design concept. The porch light operates without control or reason.

A number of extension leads are in use; the one to the vestry has worn through the outer casing exposing the conductors

Following a grant from SODC existing locks are being replaced with digital remote access locks and CCTV installed. These installations of digital locks, CCTV were

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installed without written List B consultation and archdeacon consent. The use of CCTV should be regulated by Church Buildings Council guidelines and ICO registration. Recording or streaming of any religious service, prayers or devotions is explicitly prohibited.

Due to the reordering, only essential repairs were undertaken and much of the Quinquennial 2019 list remains incomplete, but was carefully monitored for deterioration.

The Quinquennial inspection due August 2024 took place on 25th February 2025. Nothing unexpected arose, but the architect suggested that the copings above and the wall below the top of the vestry east wall be repointed as being the probable cause of damp inside. There is a major issue with the amount of exfoliating stonework to the east and west ends of the building, especially around the tower below roof level. The underlying stonework can probably be salvaged and made safe by dressing backthe loose material before it falls and causes harm. Most of the work specified will need List B approval. Excluding hugely expensive repairs to windows, repairs to walls, stonework and roofs could cost well in excess of £50,000.

On going issues with the building works are listed in the project report. The comments/ snags / defects book provided after the Q&A discussion 12th January remains blank, although a number of valid queries were raised.

The contract savings to meet the available funds meant that apart from those items omitted by the Vision working group, the vestry and belfry have nothing more than the provision of wiring for future supplies for power, heat and light. The basic completion eg sockets and proper light in these areas is a priority rather than the ad hoc use of extension leads and plug adaptors and considered urgent. Any work must comply with the high specification demanded by insurers and local authority. Richard Cosier

Health and Safety

Accidents / incidents: one incident was recorded earlier in February when a Brownie fell over. Fortunately, no injury was sustained. However, there is a First Aid box available which is kept in reception and is checked regularly and replenished as necessary. A grit bin is stored inside the main door and is available for use The church is aired regularly, and cleaning takes place once weekly and when used by other groups.

All fire extinguishers were checked during the annual Fire Inspection service on February 18[th] with no recommendations advised. The fire alarm system can be a tad temperamental at times therefore this is a work in progress. In reception there are two LED torches which are checked regularly. A Fire Audit was recorded by John Almond and Zannifer Mason on September 2024 – non-fire-retardant curtains were removed, and some uneven floor areas were highlighted with hazard tapes. The Edward King room will need to be monitored regularly for hazards as the nearby West door remains a fire exit.

St Mary the Virgin Wheatley Church Road, OX331LZ

Registered Charity Number 1159100

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Fire Drill: Training sessions for the bell ringers and the PCC were last done in 2018 and 2019 respectively and an evacuation drill session for the congregation was carried out in June 2018. However the advent of Covid – 19 and the building works were a further distraction, but plans are now in hand to deal with these concerns.

Pat Testing: a two-yearly inspection of all electrical items was carried last September, and all items were deemed safe for use. The Quinquennial Inspection was done on February 25[th] and a report is available as required.

An updated Health and Safety Policy is displayed on the church noticeboard in the porch.

With the introduction of digital technology and the relocation of the choir, it is the responsibility of all individuals to be mindful of the extra leads and equipment which are in use and extreme care must be taken when mobilising within the church building and the choir stall. Similarly, care must be taken when visiting graves even though the churchyard is well maintained by our team of diligent gardeners.

Our grateful thanks to Richard Cosier in all matters concerning the building and surrounding churchyard; to John Allmond for all matters relating to Health and Safety and lastly to our team of gardeners who, despite all weathers do a grand job of maintaining our surroundings so well.

Zannifer Mason / Churchwarden

Social and Fund raising

There has sadly been very little fund raising over the past year whilst St Mary’s has been closed, but we did manage a very successful Plant Sale and Raffle on the Merry Bells forecourt in May raising more £700. Parishioners took part in the Oxfordshire Historic Trust Ride and Stride.

In October we held our Harvest Lunch in church, which was attended by a number of members of our congregation and was much enjoyed by everyone. We have also worked with Wheatley Area Churches, taking our turn providing Soup Lunches during Lent, to raise funds for Christian Aid. “

Since the Church reopened, we have provided the catering for the Grand Reopening of St Mary’s, for the Clubs and Societies Fair , and for various Plays and Concerts. Angela.

Flower arrangers .

The small team of flower arrangers continue to provide flowers for the memory window on a weekly basis and for special occasions. Angela Morrison

Mission and Outreach

During 2023 members of the congregation raised £1325.14 for Charities and Church funds contributed an additional £632.13, making a total of £1957.27 in Charitable donations. We have a new list of Charities for the coming year which has been

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approved by the PCC and which covers a wide range of local, national and international causes.

Pastoral Care

We have recovered from the Covid outbreak, and our pastoral care is currently running effectively.

Home Visits: Members of the Pastoral Group visited several villagers, both within and outside the congregation, which was generally welcomed. There is of course a lot of visiting that takes place just purely by friendship and not involving the Group. Housebound: Communion is offered to the housebound particularly at Christmas and Easter time or other times if requested.

We have provided monthly Communion at the Triangle Care Home for many years. However, this became difficult just prior to the interregnum as numbers dropped considerably mainly through lack of residents. The home is now under new management. Although we haven't reintroduced communion, we've had a wellattended and meaningful service with residents and church members. Wellford Gardens: This establishment is just celebrating its first birthday in the Village and since July 2024 under the auspices of Wheatley Area Churches (WAC) we have commenced a monthly service at the home. The organization of this is shared between St Mary’s, URC and Wheatley Community Church (WCC). It is fair to say this has become quite a success. Tony Wigley

Safeguarding Report

It has been a difficult safeguarding year for the national church and the PCC has been kept up to date with the debates and resolutions at the Deanery and General Synod. At a parish level safeguarding is an item on every PCC agenda. As more people do safeguarding training there is a greater awareness of safeguarding in its widest sense as caring for people in all our interactions both with each other and visitors to the parish. Thanks to Tony Wigley anyone who has significant involvement with children or vulnerable adults has been DBS checked. Twenty people have completed the Basic Awareness course either online or ‘in house’ and eight have also done the Foundation course. As many in the parish seem to prefer the ‘in house’ training, it is hoped that with further training I will be able to deliver the Foundation course myself in the future.

Mine is a benefice appointment but apart from being a point of contact and information this has proved difficult. However, thanks to the good offices of David Bendor Samual all parishes have now adopted the Church of England Safeguarding Policy, and I hope to have greater contact with the other benefice parishes in the future. As the ‘parish safeguarding dashboard’ continually reminds me there is still much to do but this has been a good year. Faith Axten

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Registered Charity Number 1159100

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Communications

A weekly Newsletter has been produced by the administrator, Churchwardens and LLM throughout the year. News is also posted on the Church Facebook page and in the Wheatley Parish Council Newsletter.

The PCC uses a free version of Google Workspace and a domain name was purchased in 2023 ‘stmaryswheatley.org’ This allows the PCC access to e-mail, calendar, chat, secure storage and google documents. This has been installed and being used in a modest way. It is hoped that a full roll out will occur when we have appointed an administrator training can take place as necessary.

St Mary’s Guild

St Mary’s Guild was started some 40 years ago and is still well attended today. We meet monthly in the URC Hall at 2pm and have various speakers followed by tea and biscuits.

Our subjects vary – from flower arranging, music, local interests to supporting charities whose representatives come to talk to us. Added to this, we have in May a Communion service in church, an afternoon tea party in July – a lunch before our AGM in September and a Christmas tea party in December.

Our friendly group is open to everyone and all would be most welcome. Mrs Mary John

Secretary – St Mary’s Guild

Schools and Youth work

Xplore

During the year we completed our study of (almost) the whole of Matthew’s gospel. From September we began to work through the Youth Emmaus course. It is a small, close-knit group, providing mutual support across the age-range and pupil-teacher divide. There are usually 3 or 4 students in attendance, and 2 adults. From January the students are taking over full responsibility for running the group, although Graham West (Head of Sixth Form) and I will still attend.

Praise!

This is also covered in the Music Report, but it is worth noting here that two 10-yearolds and their families attend almost every week. We ensure that the girls understand the words that they are singing and make time to explain elements of the faith as we go along, as well as in the short all-age talks in the service. In particular, the first half term was spent focusing on different elements of Evensong.

Wheatley C E Primary Academy School

Wheatley Primary School

Gill Standing the head teacher of the school is supported by her deputy and chair of governors. The school had an Ofsted inspection in December 2024, which noted that ‘Pupils are happy, safe and value the school’s nurturing and caring ethos’, as well as strengths in early years and the prioritisation of reading. Three of the five areas were judged to be ‘Good’, and the two areas ‘Requiring improvement’ were both very

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specific and already identified for strengthening: the ODST is confident that these areas are already on an upward trajectory.

The children were very sad to see Nigel leave: his assemblies were clearly a high point in the week. Alexandra has continued the weekly assemblies since Easter, and we welcomed the whole school into St Mary’s for a Harvest service in October and a Christingle service in December.

Bell Ringers:

Bell ringing at St Mary’s was severely disrupted during the first semester of 2024 while much of the building work was taking place. We were kindly offered the use of the bells in three other towers - Horspath, Cuddington and Shabbington - and agreed to use the interesting tower in Shabbington. The first ringing at Shabbington was on 8[th] March 2024, and the last practice there was on 21[st] June 2024. Ringing at Wheatley was suspended on 14[th] January 2024, to accommodate the builders safely, and restarted with practice on Friday 29[th ] June 2024. We now have 9 regular ringers:

Adrian Coates, Wendy Keely David Benny Zillah de Paiva Phil Glanville Celia Pagel Peter Bayliss Jenny Stonard Juliet Vale We also receive less frequent, but invaluable support from:Kevin Harris Katie Lane Steve and Marika Everett From 7[th] July 2024 to February 2025 the bells were rung for virtually all services, including funerals, Remembrance Day services, and Christmas services.

We are fortunate to have an enthusiastic group of ringers. We are also grateful for the help and support we receive from the church. Peter Bayliss Tower Captain

St Mary’s Wheatley Vision 2020 ACPM Project Report April 2025

Three architectural practices were invited to tender against the church statement of needs, feedback from the DAC on the original proposed layouts having been taken into account. Brocklehurst committed to a fixed fee plus disbursements as opposed to the percentage scale suggested by the others, this being just too high a risk with an unknown contract value.

Brocklehurst, M&E and structural consultants were appointed in April 2019 and preliminary drawings prepared and accepted by the Vision Group. A cost plan based on the drawings was prepared by a quantity surveyor in October 2019 and a

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summary presented to the wider congregation.

The first tender was invited at the end of 2019 against a specification and drawings that reflected the full design brief and congregation consultation formulated since 2017. The cost estimate prior to tender suggested that with a maximum budget of £500,000, the project might have to be done over several stages. The tenders varied between £600,000 and £700,000 mainly due to assumptions and qualifications about access and electrical works, which when agreed across all tenders produced a lowest tender of £640,000. Due to cost and opposition to some elements by SODC Planning and the amenity societies the vestry floor, screen to chancel, porch door, servery fittings, storage and greeting area furniture were pencilled in for a later stage. Feedback from funders suggested that with congregation donations to date of some £250,000 a maximum budget of £500,000 would be optimistic.

Just as an intense fundraising programme launched, Covid struck and during Faculty consultations, major objections came in from the Victorian Society about the pews, floor, furniture, vestry / chancel / Neville screen and infilling the west arch under the tower. Strangely Historic England removed their initial objections. Agreement to retain 20 shorter pews to fill the centre aisle removed one objection. Reference to documented arguments in 1999 removed objections to retaining the Neville screen and infill to the tower arch and a cost cutting exercise by the Vision Group removed the porch door and vestry screening from the argument. The remaining objection was to the proposed floor finish and by lodging a formal objection, the Victorian Society ensured the project went to written arguments at consistory court. The existing aisle tile layout was mapped, including those areas replaced by concrete, together with scheduling the state of the individual tiles. This proved the taking up, cleaning and relaying the extremely poor-quality tiles whilst supplementing with new handmade tiles would have proved financially impossible. Eventually on appeal in April 2023, the chancellor rejected relaying the existing tiles but accepted the compromise of retaining Street’s layout and pattern, but in a modern material. Fortunately, the final flooring cost was actually cheaper than the layout in different shades and shapes of limestone proposed by the DAC as a possible compromise.

Because the fixed tender prices had expired during covid, the contract went back out to tender at the end of 2022, based on the original tender’s reduced scope of work but ahead of the chancellor’s judgement.

When Edgar Taylor Ltd, the previous lowest tenderer withdrew, Savvy with a new tender in Feb 2023 of £829,262.54 were lowest. The 33% increase in cost since 2020 was due to material and labour shortages caused by the worldwide covid lockdown. Many meetings took place to rationalise the design and to make savings through omissions to meet a budget maximum of around £640,000 based on probable funding application outcomes.

A legally required asbestos survey was carried out in June 2023 and confirmed no presence of asbestos in the building.

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Unfortunately, PB Consulting the M&E consultant had failed to respond to calls, messages and emails after covid and because the M&E works had been priced as provisional sums (not fixed) Savvy were paid £15.000 out of their tender value to redesign the mechanical and electrical works, partly because of the decision not to use gas for heating.

The original design based on discussions with the DAC advisors, had been to use gas for heating, being four times as economic as electricity, but having narrowly lost out on a previous round of an SODC Community Grant, agreement to go all electric would not only save £6000 in bringing gas into the building, but also satisfy SODC Climate Emergency criteria so the second round of Community Grant applications resulted in a grant of £75,000 which with other grants gave a viable maximum contract budget of about £640,000 There followed a drastic cutting of intended works to meet this budget: Tender 2023 £829,000.00 Savings: Font / pulpit remain in situ £21,000.00 Floor to west end remains £5,500.00 Retain existing kitchen £6,000.00 Omit removal of mezzanine £10,000.00 Omit steelwork to new mezzanine £7,000.00 Omit new mezzanine £12,000.00 Omit screen to arch and guardrail £35,000.00 Omit stairs and door £6,500.00 Omit new screen £29,000.00 Omit floor finish to west end £5,500.00 Omit decorations nave and aisles £30,000.00 Omit decorations west end £10,500.00 Omit drainage to servery £2,500.00 IR heaters instead of trench heaters £5,000.00 Retain existing sewage pump £7,500.00 Savings on scope of electrical work £8,000.00 Additional costs related to redesign around savings and electrics £20,000.00 Savings £201,000.00 Contract sum including £10,000 contingency £648,000.00 The main savings on electrical work were achieved by providing no more than future supplies to the vestry and bell tower, although eventually the old supply to the latter was reinstated as a temporary measure.

The contract in the sum of £648,331.87 net of recoverable VAT, was signed on 6th September 2023 with work starting on 23rd October 2023 Contract completion was certified on 28th June 2024 with a final contract sum certified as £654,910.80 due to variations exceeding the contingency. The largest

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Page 20

unforeseen extra cost was to provide stability to the font and pulpit which were found to have no foundations.

The defects liability period thus ends 27th June 2025 at which stage the retention of £16,373.77 becomes due for repayment. An additional £15,000 was spent immediately post completion with decorators to paint the walls in the nave and chancel. The west end decorations were done by the congregation.

A report from the DAC head architect about the unauthorised removal of the chancel altar rail and sanctuary lamps without a faculty or consent has yet to be received. There have been several issues with the building works, some of which are ongoing:  The contractor proved tardy in responding to issues arising, and a great deal of effort had to be made to prove our concerns were valid and not whims.  The floor finish to the patterned quarry tiles was proved to be the wrong material. This has been removed and a new sealer put down.

 The defective smoke detector in the bell ringing room was proven to be causing faults and eventually replaced, hopefully to end the saga of false alarms, although 2 alarms 9th March suggest this may be false hope. The contractor has suggested a heat detector in place of the smoke detector.

 Remedial electrical work was carried out at the end of March, including lowering the infra-red heaters switch panel.

 In testing the circuit breakers as part of the three-month cycle, the power to the tower tripped resulting in the clock being stopped for a few hours. The RCD breaker was proven faulty and was replaced under warranty

 Several meetings with the contractor and specialist subcontractor arrived at a possible solution regarding the long-term control of the underfloor heating. The heating zone actuators had been found to be in reverse order to the thermostats and that issue corrected. However, the floor thermostats were then found to be defective and unable to be replaced so converted to air thermostats, although these were not ideally located. However, from meter readings when the underfloor heating was turned on in October and again in March, the cost of electricity including overhead heaters, lighting and plug in devices was calculated to be over £10,500 in 5 months.

 The heating installers have now fitted three wireless room thermostats controlling the nave, north and south aisles, but effectiveness at controlling the temperature remains to be proven.

 The manufacturers have indicated that the infra-red heaters can in fact be angled downwards more than at present.

 The porch light operates without control or reason but liability under the contract denied.

It may be the PCC needs to form a “Vision Completion Group” to schedule any defects before June and to determine timetables, possible grants and priorities to complete the vestry and bell tower lights and power. The basic completion eg sockets and

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proper light in the vestry and bell tower by a competent electrician is a priority rather than the ad hoc use of extension leads and plug adaptors. Any wiring must comply with the high specification demanded by insurers. The vestry is a designated fire exit, but at present has no illumination or emergency light. The building remains in a state of transition between contractor and PCC during the period of defects rectification, and any building work, alterations or repairs must not invalidate our contract expectations and meet faculty guidelines. The financial cost of uncontrolled heating has been raised with the architect and contractor suggesting compensation. Richard Cosier

St Mary the Virgin Wheatley Church Road, OX331LZ

Registered Charity Number 1159100

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Parochial Church Council of St Mary the Virgin, Wheatley

Registered Charity: Number 1159100

Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2024

72 Church Road Wheatley Oxford OX33 1LZ

Parochial Council of St Mary the Virgin, Wheatley

Charity No. 1159100

Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 December 2024

Income
Congregation income
Monthly standing orders
Other planned giving
Gift Aid receipts
Grants
Legacy
Other income
Vat recovery
Bank interest
Wheatley Support
Total income
Expenditure on
Buildings
Charity donations
Fees ODBF
IT costs
Ministry
Office
Parish share
Utilities
Grants
Sundry expenses
Project 20-20 Architect fees
Consultants fees
Other costs
Depreciation - Fixtures and fittings
- Revival at St. Marys
Net surplus/(deficit) for the year
Transfer
Net movement in funds
Funds brought forward
Funds carried forward		 Parish
Restricted
Designated
Total
2023
Ministry
Funds
Funds
£
£
£
£
£
1,932
-
-
1,932
848
52,563
2,350
-
54,913
51,999
11,630
29,908
-
41,538
47,033
13,869
4,459
-
18,328
22,320
2,134
104,988
-
107,122
98,274
-
2,000
-
2,000
-
7,486
-
-
7,486
13,036
-
45
-
45
859
-
3,640
-
3,640
9,395
-
3,337
-
3,337
89,614
150,727
-
240,341
243,764
8,962
21,385
-
30,347
13,694
493
-
-
493
530
992
-
-
992
2,612
432
-
-
432
582
7,054
-
-
7,054
5,436
1,983
-
-
1,983
2,329
60,876
-
-
60,876
61,425
5,702
-
-
5,702
2,284
-
2,532
-
2,532
5,890
135
-
-
135
17
-
2,787
-
2,787
6,954
-
-
-
-
2,957
-
2,266
-
2,266
3,978
-
1,500
-
1,500
-
-
26,196
-
26,196
-
86,629
56,666
-
143,295
108,688
2,985
94,061
-
97,046
135,076
-
161,912
(161,912)
-
-
2,985
255,973
(161,912)
97,046
135,076
17,062
413,150
161,912
592,124
457,048
20,047
669,123
-
689,170
592,124
Note 5
Note 6

1

Parochial Council of St Mary the Virgin, Wheatley

Charity No. 1159100

Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2024

Note
Fixed Assets
2
Current Assets
Bank account - Current account
Friends of St Mary's
Project 20-20
Wheatley Support
Coventry Building Society
Skipton Building Society
Bath Building Society
Debtors
3
Less: Current Liabilities
Sundry creditors
4
Net Current Assets
Net Assets
Represented by
Unrestricted fund - Parish Ministry
Restricted funds
5
Designated funds
6		 £
631,715
28,515
35,586
4,723
3,559
6,048
-
-
458
78,889
(21,434)
57,455
689,170
20,047
669,123
-
689,170		 2023
£
82,352
21,299
36,290
86,210
3,050
193,481
80,000
82,617
7,825
510,772
(1,000)
509,772
592,124
17,062
413,150
161,912
592,124

The financial statements set out on pages 1 to 5 were approved by the Parochial Church Council on

Mr Peter Fanning Zannifer Mason (Hon. Treasurer, Wheatley PCC) (Chairman, Wheatley PCC)

2

Parochial Council of St Mary the Virgin, Wheatley

Charity No. 1159100

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year ended 31 December 2024

1. Accounting Policies

a) Basis of accounting

The financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost convention and in accordace with accounting standards, the Charities SORP and comply with the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations issued under the Charities Act 2011

b) Recognition of Income

Income is recognised in the Statement of Financial Activities when: the charity becomes entitled to the resources;

the trustees are virtually certain that they will receive the resources; and

the monetary value can be measured with sufficient reliability.

c) Investment Income

Investment income is included in the accounts when receivable.

d) Liability Recognition

Liabilities are recognised as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to pay out resources.

e) Depreciation

Depreciation aims to write off fixed assets over their estimated useful life as follows Furniture and fittings 20% straight line Revival at St. Mary's (Project 20-20) Depreciated straight line over 25 years.

2. Fixed Assets

Cost brought forward
Additions
Accumulated depreciation brought forward
Depreciation for year
Net book value at 31 December 2024
Net book value at 31 December 2023		 Revival
Fixtures
at St. Mary's and Fittings
Total
£
£
£
77,852
7,500
85,352
577,059
-
577,059
654,911
7,500
662,411
-
3,000
3,000
26,196
1,500
27,696
26,196
4,500
30,696
628,715
3,000
631,715
77,852
4,500
82,352

Revival at St. Mary's (Project 20-20) represents improvement work to the fabric of the church including replacement of the flooring, with underfloor heating, new radiant heating, rewiring, new lighting, new toilets with a finish to the King Edward room (west end).

3. Debtors
Gift Aid
Other debtors
4. Sundry Creditors
Retention - building contract Revival at St. Marys
Other creditors		 2024
£
458
-
458
16,373
5,061
21,434		 2023
£
7,825
-
7,825
-
1,000
1,000

3

Parochial Council of St Mary the Virgin, Wheatley

Charity No. 1159100

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year ended 31 December 2024

5. Restricted funds

5. Restricted funds
Balances brought forward
Monthly standing orders
Other planned giving
Gift aid receipts
Grants
Donations
Other income
Vat recovery
Bank interest
Expenditure on
Buildings
Architects fees
Consultants fees
Other costs
Grants
Depreciation
Transfers
Transfer from Designated Fund		 Capital
Friends of
Project
Wheatley
Total
2023
Reserve
St. Marys
20-20
Support
£
£
£
£
£
£
77,852
36,762
295,648
2,888
413,150
270,386
-
1,833
517
-
2,350
2,550
-
-
29,908
-
29,908
40,944
-
458
4,001
-
4,459
10,475
-
-
106,988
-
106,988
97,854
-
-
-
3,337
3,337
4,549
-
-
-
-
-
2,796
-
-
45
-
45
859
-
-
3,640
-
3,640
9,395
77,852
39,053
440,747
6,225
563,877
439,808
-
(3,009)
(18,376)
-
(21,385)
(6,879)
-
-
(2,787)
-
(2,787)
(6,954)
-
-
-
-
-
(2,957)
-
-
(2,266)
-
(2,266)
(2,478)
-
-
-
(2,532)
(2,532)
(5,890)
(26,196)
-
(1,500)
-
(1,500)
(1,500)
51,656
36,044
415,818
3,693
507,211
413,150
412,818
-
(412,818)
-
-
-
161,912
-
-
-
161,912
-
626,386
36,044
3,000
3,693
669,123
413,150

Capital reserve - the cost of the buiding work (Revival at St. Mary's) less depreciation.

Friends of St Mary's - these are funds administered by the Friends of St. Marys and are used towards the cost of maintaining the fabric of the church.

Project 20-20 - grants and donations towards the planned refurbishment of the church (Revival at St. Mary's) less transfers to the Capital reserve.

Wheatley Support comprises a fund to provide a financial support resource for residents of Wheatley in need (balance at 31 December 2024 £2,704) and also a fund to support Ukranian refugees currently residing in Wheatley (balance at 31 Dcember 2024 £989)

6. Designated Funds

6. Designated Funds
Balances brought forward
Transfer to Restricted Fund		 Building
Legacy
Total
2023
Fund
Fund
£
£
£
£
35,404
126,508
161,912
161,912
(35,404)
(126,508)
(161,912)
-
-
-
-
161,912

Building Fund - The Parochial Church Council agreed in 2013 that these funds should be designated; not to be used for day to day running expenses, but held towards future capital expenditure. The Building Fund has now been transfered to the Capital Reserve.

Legacy Fund - created from legacies, the fund has been used at the discretion of the Parochial Church Council and applied in part funding Project 20-20 (Revival at St. Mary's).

7. Analysis of Assets
Fixed assets
Bank account - Current account
Friends of St Mary's
Project 20-20
Wheatley Good Neighbours Scheme
Coventry Building Society
Skipton Building Society
Bath Building Society
Debtors
Creditors		 Parish
Restricted
Designated
Total
Total
Ministry
Funds
Funds
2024
2023
£
£
£
£
£
-
631,715
-
631,715
82,352
25,108
3,407
-
28,515
21,299
-
35,586
-
35,586
36,290
-
4,723
-
4,723
86,210
-
3,559
3,559
3,050
-
6,048
-
6,048
193,481
-
-
-
-
80,000
-
-
-
82,617
-
458
-
458
7,825
(5,061)
(16,373)
-
(21,434)
(1,000)
20,047
669,123
-
689,170
592,124

4

Parochial Council of St Mary the Virgin, Wheatley

Charity No. 1159100

Notes to the Financial Statements for the Year ended 31 December 2024

8. Statement of Finacial Activities - Analysis of 2023 Comparative

Income
Congregation income
Monthly standing orders
Other planned giving
Gift Aid receipts
Grants
Other income
Vat recovery
Bank interest
Total income
Expenditure on
Buildings
Charity donations
Fees ODBF
IT costs
Magazine
Ministry
Office
Parish share
Utilities
Grants
Sundry expenses
Project 2020 Architects fees
Consultants fees
Other costs
Total expenditure
Net income for the year		 Parish
Restricted
Designated
Total
Ministry
Funds
Funds
£
£
£
848
-
-
848
49,449
2,550
-
51,999
6,089
40,944
-
47,033
11,845
10,475
-
22,320
420
97,854
-
98,274
5,691
7,345
-
13,036
-
859
-
859
-
9,395
-
9,395
74,342
169,422
-
243,764
6,815
6,879
-
13,694
530
-
-
530
2,612
-
-
2,612
582
-
-
582
-
-
-
5,436
-
-
5,436
2,329
-
-
2,329
61,425
-
-
61,425
2,284
-
-
2,284
-
5,890
-
5,890
17
-
-
17
-
6,954
-
6,954
-
2,957
-
2,957
-
3,978
-
3,978
82,030
26,658
-
108,688
(7,688)
142,764
-
135,076

5

Parochial Council of St Mary the Virgin, Wheatley

Charity No. 1159100

Financial Statements for the period ended 31 December 2024

I report on the financial statements of the Parochial Council of St Mary the Virgin, Wheatley for the period ended 31 December 2023 which are set out on pages 1 to 5.

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The Charity's Trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 ("the Act').

The Charity's Trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Act and that an independent examination is needed.

It is my responsibility to:

Basis of independent examiners report

My examination was carried out in accordance with General Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosure in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present "a true and fair" view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent examiner's statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention which give me cause to believe that in any material respect:

the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which

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