Parochial Church Council of St Swithin's Church Lincoln Report and Accounts Year ended 31 December 2023 **ST SWITHIN’S CHURCH LINCOLN TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31 DECEMBER 2023** ## **CONTENTS** 1. Legal and Administrative Information 2. Charitable Objects 3. Resources and Financial Activities 4. Vicar/ Chair of Trustees Report 5. Ministry Reports 6. Church Wardens Report 7. Safeguarding 8. Diocesan and Deanery Synod Reports 9. St Swithin’s PCC 10. Letter from the Independent Examiner 11. Accounts 12. Notes to the Accounts ## **1. LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION** The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of St. Swithin Lincoln, Diocese of Lincoln. Correspondence Address: St. Swithin’s Church, the Salthouse, Free School Lane, Lincoln, LN2 1EY. The St. Swithin’s PCC is a charity registered with the Charity Commission, registered number 1162338. St. Swithin’s banks with Natwest Bank, High Street, Lincoln. The St. Swithin’s PCC Independent Examiner is Mr Zachary Ramsden FCA, 63 Deakin Leas, Tonbridge, Kent, TN9 2JT. ## **2. CHARITABLE OBJECTS** The primary aims of the Trust are to promote the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. For us specifically this means we aim to be an Anglican church which plays our part in seeking to help people encounter the LOVE>of God, LIVE>in the way of Jesus and GO>in the power of the Spirit to see lives changed and communities transformed. We exist to be a city centre resourcing church. We are seeking to build a community of people who are exploring and going deeper in their understanding, knowledge and experience of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are a community of people influenced by Jesus. A community for whom Acts Ch 2 v 42- 47 and John Ch 10 v 10 has been influential in our desire to be marked by Home, Real and Courage. Our hope is that: - a. amongst us people will find a welcome and safe place to explore faith and their own identity while receiving love, acceptance, support and encouragement in life, ## and that; - b. we will be good news to the parish, city and region by partnering with others to see social transformation, 1 and that; c. we will be able to resource other churches and plant other churches. In particular, though not exclusively, we have a focus on reaching the younger generations - children and families, young people, students and young adults. To do this effectively, we recognise we need a church of all ages joining, praying, serving and giving. ## **Activities in 2023** We focussed our activities and resources in 2023 into defined ministry areas as follows: - Alpha - evangelistic outreach running in a variety of contexts in Lincoln and partnering with other churches. - Worship for Everyone and Rising Generations - covering our work with all under 18’s and families with children and extending our pastoral support into Lincoln College. - 18-25’s - ministry work aimed at those in the 18-25s age bracket, including local students from the two universities in the city, providing mentoring and pastoral support and regular ‘Gatherings’ to build social networks and offering opportunities to attend residentials or other camps/conferences. - ● Love Your Neighbour - outreach ministry providing support, food, signposting and a friendly welcoming space to those in need across our city. Continuous provision of mental health crisis support through the Night Light Cafe and running a variety of courses to help support people practically, emotionally and spiritually, e.g. CAP money course, Kintsugi Hope and Alpha. - Leadership Development - investment in leadership training for those willing to take a year out to go deeper into their faith and receive training in theology and leadership skills. - ● We also run a programme for young adults in developing their discipleship and leadership. ● We reformed Midweek Groups through gathering centrally for one term in ‘Simply Us’ before relaunching Midweek Groups in order to connect people for regular support, discipleship and fellowship outside of our regular Sunday services. - Services - three Sunday services providing diverse opportunities for Christians to meet and worship. We also continued to stream our main morning service online. We also work in partnership with and help resource the congregations at St. Faith’s Church to run the 10:15 Communion Service, the monthly 4:15 Worship for Everyone service and the midweek Wednesday Communion Service. - ● Worship - continued investment in developing musicians and technicians to lead our worship. ● Resourcing other churches through supporting them in the development of specific ministry areas, in particular Alpha, Love Your Neighbour and Love Christmas. ## **3. RESOURCES AND FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES** The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 along with the FRS 102 SORP 2019. ## **STAFFING** In 2023, the staffing profile was as follows: - The Office Manager role continued to be partly subsidised by SDF money to compensate for the additional workload created by the church planting activity. - The Caretaker role continued to be ⅓ subsidised by a recharge made to Croft Street Community Centre for his time spent there. 2 - The Leadership Development Manager role continued to be 50% subsidised by the SDF and 50% subsidised by funding from the Henry Smith Charitable Trust for running Alpha and in particular with a focus on reaching young adults. - The Love Your Neighbour Manager role was partly funded by restricted raised income and through restricted income from the ACTS Trust linked to the running of the Night Light Cafe. - The 18-25s role was part funded by the SDF to support the building of a student community across St. Faith’s Church & St. Swithin’s Church. - The Parish Administrator role to help facilitate the work at St. Faith's Church is part funded by the SDF until September 2026 and part funded by St. Swithin’s. During 2023 the PCC made the following appointments: - The Diocese appointed Rev. Victoria Lawrence as a training curate in June 2023. - With SDF funding, we appointed Victoria Prestwood as Worship for Everyone Pastor (PT), and Kathryn Marsden as Youth Outreach Pastor (PT). - St. Swithin’s also appointed and funded Kath Marsden as Digital Media Assistant (PT), Rose Williams as Finance Assistant (PT) and Susannah Williamson as Office Assistant (PT). - We said goodbye to the 2022/23 cohort of Leadership Development Year students: Cameron Ross, Dan Lee, Harry Tyrrell, Katie Foy and Alice Teuten as they completed their year with us and moved on to employment and further education. - We welcomed a new 2022/23 cohort of Leadership Development Year students: Harry Tyrrell returned for a second year (Children and LYN), Michael Clarke (Rising Gens Youth) and Emily Rosemeyer (Events). We also opened up the LDY Monday afternoon training to Jack Fielder and Lisa-Marie Rosemeyer from St. Swithin’s and Matt Gooseman and Shane Yull from St. Mark’s Grimsby. ## **THE SALTHOUSE** In 2023 we raised grant funding towards the refurbishment of the Salthouse as follows: - £4,547 from the Hobson Charity Trust to be used for the purchase of an oven for the Salthouse. - £50,000 from the Church Revitalisation Trust restricted to Phase 2 work on the Upstairs Ballroom at the Salthouse. - £1,125 from Tesco Community Grant restricted to Phase 2 work on the Upstairs Ballroom at the Salthouse. ## **FINANCIAL REVIEW** Total income during 2023 was £488,451 (2022: £476,168). Total expenditure during 2023 was £483,865 (2022: £408,127). At the end of 2023 total funds (represented by cash and other assets) was £207,540 (2022: £207,540). Within these funds we had general total unrestricted funds of £101,862 (2022: £101,863) and restricted funds of £105,678 (2022: £105,677). We received the following grants: - £4,371 from Evans Cornish Grass Roots funding for Love Your Neighbour (Kintsugi Hope, CAP Money Course, LYN Cafe). - £800 from the Church Revitalisation Trust towards Transform - an annual senior leadership conference run out of HTB London. - £750 from Lincolnshire County Council for Youth work at St. Swithin's and St. Faith's. 3 - £17,900 from The Henry Smith Charity Grant for Alpha (Year 2 of 3 year grant). - £2,215 from the Church Revitalisation Trust towards Love Christmas. With a further £1,000 to be forwarded to St Mark's as onward grantee. ## **RESERVES POLICY** The PCC recognises the importance of holding in reserve the equivalent of three months operating costs (being salaries and building utilities) along with enough to meet our policy of each year giving away a 10% tithe of our unrestricted giving to support the work of other mission agencies with aims in-keeping with our own. This is deemed sufficient to cover the core activities of the charity should there be a shortfall in anticipated income. The figure for this is usually £60,000, but following our being victim to bank fraud at the end of December, this level has dropped out of necessity and the PCC will be reviewing the reserves policy and amount held in reserves following the APCM. The PCC also acknowledges in their reserves policy that they have a duty to expend any surplus income on activities that further the objectives of St. Swithin’s within the year and not to build up reserves beyond the operating needs of the charity. ## **4. VICAR/CHAIR OF TRUSTEES REPORT - Rev. Jim Prestwood** There is far too much to cover in the life of St. Swithin’s over the 12 months of 2023 and so I will just draw to attention some of the most significant and some of the highlights that have defined the year. ## **Ministry and Mission** After all the uncertainty and then the regathering after the pandemic of 2020-22, 2023 was a year where we were able to recast vision and look towards growing into the things we sensed God had been pointing us towards. Some of this was regathering everyone around the overall vision and mission we believe we have as a church and some of this was beginning to reshape mission and ministry ready for the years to come. You can read a lot about this in the ministry reports shown below from the different ministry leads but a couple of things to highlight are: ‘Simply Us’ - For our Summer term we stopped Alpha (!), we stopped Midweek Groups and over 100 of us gathered weekly together in the Salthouse to regather, refresh and re-envision ourselves. It was a really positive few weeks and it was wonderful to see old connections remade and new connections between people take place - all of which looked towards relaunching Alpha and the reforming of Midweek Groups. ‘Alpha’ - Off the back of ‘Simply Us’, we relaunched Alpha and had our biggest number of guests on any one course which was fantastic and a massive thanks is due to Beth and her Alpha team, the catering team and the staff team - all of whom gave up their time freely and generously. It was also so exciting to see so many of our congregation inviting people - friends and family, colleagues and neighbours to try Alpha! 2023 also saw investment in our work with rising generations and their families with the PCC appointing two roles with SDF funding - a Youth Outreach Pastor (PT) and a Worship For Everyone Lead Pastor (PT). These two roles have helped us build on our ethos and culture of being an intergenerational church as well as facilitating growth in age specific ministries. Love Your Neighbour continued to develop, and the LYN Cafe is full of life every week hosting people from all backgrounds and whether offering them a listening ear, some company or a jacket potato (!), the team do a great job of making people feel at home. Alongside the Night Light Cafe and CAP Money Course, running Kintsugi Hope and welcoming other partners into the Cafe space have also been a real joy this year. 4 ## **Finances** We started the year in a reasonable place financially but with little wriggle room and without any spare to do anything other than keep things at the level they were at. With SDF funding tailing off towards the end of the 5-year grant period, with our covenant giving increasing in response to the Diocesan initiative, ‘Time To Change Together’, this seemed a large but just about realistic challenge. However, this was before we took into account the desire to try and add some additional support in the back office (having never replaced the Ops Manager role) and of course complete the kitchen and lift in the Salthouse (never mind get into the Upper Room at the Salthouse.) However, as we drew to the end of the year, it was incredible to see again God’s provision and the congregation’s generosity. By the end of the year, as a result of a significant grant donation of £50K as well as incredible generosity over two giving days from the congregation (and a Monopoly fundraiser in the summer), we had completed the kitchen and the lift, taken on a Finance Assistant and an Admin Assistant in the office and were looking very close to being able to begin works on the renovation of the Upper Room. Shockingly and upsettingly at the end of December, we fell victim to bank fraud with a fraudulent payment of £42,000 being taken out of our account. We are currently making representation to NatWest Bank and the financial ombudsman to seek to recover the funds. As a PCC/ Trustees, we have undertaken and are continuing to review all our financial policies and procedures, banking security and staff and trustee training on fraud. This fraud does not affect the expenditure of money we have received through grants or restricted giving, but it does affect the amount we are able to carry in reserves and this is currently being reviewed. ## **Staffing** It was a privilege to welcome Rev. Victoria Lawrence as a training curate to St. Swithin’s and St. Faith’s in June and also to support Rev. John Birkett as he was ordained priest the same month. We also welcomed Kath Marsden onto the staff team as our Youth Outreach Pastor (PT) and Vicky Prestwood took up a paid role on the team as Worship for Everyone Lead Pastor (PT). In the Summer we also appointed Kath as Digital Media Assistant (PT) and Susie Williamson as Office Assistant (PT). Rose Williams also joined the team in Sept as Finance Assistant (PT). ## **Focus** The HTB network family holiday held at Newark Showground was attended by over 100 of our church family with many more joining us for the day on the Saturday. The sun shone (mostly!) and it was fantastic to spend time hanging out, eating and worshipping together. ## **The Salthouse** The completion of the kitchen at the Salthouse happened in 2023 and has facilitated us offering some great food and hospitality for Simply Us, Alpha, Family breakfasts and a brilliant Christmas Dinner with all the trimmings for our Love Your Neighbour guests. The completion of the lift and finalising of plans for the Upper Room set us up ready to begin to use that space in the first half of 2024. ## **Thanks** There are so many people who give so generously with their time, gifts and finances and who make St. Swithin’s the community of faith it is and Vicky and I are so grateful for all you do, seen and unseen. I had the amazing privilege of being able to take a 3 month sabbatical in the Summer, time to retreat, rest, reflect and refresh and Vicky and I especially want to thank Ben and Bekah, the staff team and the Church Wardens who all took on additional responsibilities and workload during this time. The fact that things not just 5 continued but developed and grew and that we are ending the year in such a healthy place is a testament to them, to you all and of course to the faithfulness of God. ## **2024** Believe it or not, 2024 is the 10th year since planting into St. Swithin’s and we can’t wait for the first weekend in October where we will both be celebrating God’s faithfulness and officially opening the Upper Room with a big community party. It’s also going to be a year of change as we look at joining with St. Faith’s into one parish, as we continue to consider the part we play in resourcing in our Deanery and wider Diocese, as we look to lease the church building to another denomination and as we look to how each one of us play our unique part in seeing more people encounter the Love of God, learn to Live more like Jesus and Go in the power of the Spirit to see lives and communities transformed. ## **5. MINISTRY REPORTS** Through 2023 we have been continuing to adapt and change as a church as we continue to try and meet the ever changing shape of the needs in our city (GO), the ways we help resource and nurture people in their discipleship (LIVE) and the way we gather and engage together as a worshipping community (LOVE). Key parts of this have involved Alpha and Love Your Neighbour as well as other ministries in support of our regular worshipping community that has grown to 400 over the past nine years. ## **ALPHA - Beth Harris** Alpha in 2023 has been a really interesting year. We’ve experimented with our usual rhythm of running an evening Alpha three times a year, allowing us to begin a new strategy which we are planning to continue going forward. We started the year running Alpha simultaneously at the Salthouse & St. Faith’s, splitting the team and livestreaming from one church to the other. The numbers were a lot lower than usual for the time of year even though we were offering two locations and we struggled with the livestreaming consistency. After prayerful reflection around Alpha as a whole piece we decided to pause evening Alpha for the summer time, instead using the space to invite the whole congregation to ‘Simple Us’, a 5 week course aimed at reconnecting, re-envisioning and rediscovering with the aim of gearing up for one big Alpha a year starting in October, followed by smaller lower key Alphas in the subsequent terms. We saw record numbers sign up for the autumn Alpha, and the average number of guests each week was much higher than usual. Many people commented on the buzz in the room and how encouraging it was to see the main room in the Salthouse full for an Alpha course. “Very nice people, great team leaders and some great conversations, non-judgemental atmosphere, receiving prayer was a special moment.” “Alpha was really good. People, community, food, the philosophy, the teachings of the church - good.” “I started Alpha as someone who hadn’t even stepped foot in church, for me I wanted somewhere where I could explore faith and ask questions that perhaps I didn't have the opportunity to ask anyone, for me that was really important. Alpha helped me explore those questions in a safe space… I’m still exploring faith and 6 where I fit in that, and when those big topics have come up whether in the news or in my personal life it's just given me a different perspective.” “Within the video there are moments when the realisation sets in and you can truly understand the power and love of God. Every moment like that is worth cherishing for when you are having a low day so I appreciate being about to experience those!” We’ve been encouraged to see multiple Alpha guests from this year coming along to church for the first time, inviting others, joining midweek groups and joining teams, continuing the journey of faith that they are on. We kicked off both the January and October Alpha with a new launch event ‘Bingo & Baltis’ which proved very popular (105 sign ups and 79 check in’s in Jan & 139 sign ups and 113 check in’s in Oct). It was great to hear stories of 18-25’s who have come along to an 18-25 event, then to Bingo & Baltis, then signed up for Alpha because “why not, everything I’ve come to has been really good so far”. In the summer term we ran a daytime Alpha in conjunction with the LYN Cafe inviting guests from the Cafe to come along. We had 12 sign ups, with an average of 7 guests. Running a smaller course in the day allowed space for those with small children to come along and it felt like a great model of church family as the team helped out with the kids, allowing the parents to engage with the material as well as leading small groups. With each course we ran an Alpha day in partnership with St. Mark’s, Grimsby sharing the hosting. On these days we focused on the Holy Spirit, with talks and videos and small group discussion followed by the opportunity to be prayed for to receive the Holy Spirit. Many of the guests were open to being prayed for, some being filled with the Holy Spirit for the first time as well as responding to words and pictures which they felt were specifically for them. “I had experienced the Holy Spirit before and had a relationship with God before Alpha but everything has gotten better, not easier but reaffirmed things and strengthened faith. I learned how to use the Holy Spirit in day to day life and wasn't something I was consciously aware of. The Holy Spirit feels like a missing piece that I have been longing for. The Holy Spirit was a scary concept and had previously caused anxiety but that all went away.” We had the opportunity to work with Alpha UK gathering Alpha leaders in June from across Lincoln & Lincolnshire to share stories and pray together to encourage one another as we each run Alpha in our own 7 churches. From that we ran ‘GROW ALPHA’ a training evening to equip churches to grow their Alpha courses. It was encouraging to meet and learn from each other over the course of the evening. ## **COLLEGE - Rev. Victoria Lawrence** We are continuing to provide chaplaincy at Lincoln College every Tuesday lunchtime. We meet and chat with students in the common room (known as the Well-Being Hub) and over the past few months have made some really great connections and have enjoyed hearing the student’s reflections on faith and Christianity. One college student now regularly attends older youth on a Wednesday, our Kingdom Come evenings and attended the youth weekend away. We are hoping to run another ‘Youth Alpha’ in the summer term as a means of offering a space for students to share their thoughts and ask questions that are important to them. As a team, we continue to build links with the college staff and seek to work together to support students in their wellbeing and ongoing questions of faith. ## **CHURCH PLANTING AND RESOURCING THE URBAN CHURCH - Rev. Jim Prestwood** 2023 has been a year of supporting and embedding the two churches we planted into in 2021. St. Mark’s Grimsby continues to grow and develop under the leadership of Rev. Matt Rodgers and his team, and we work closely with them informally in a variety of ways ranging from joint staff days, training and prayer to organising joint youth residentials. St. Faith’s is a different model and is also our neighbouring parish and so St. Swithin’s work much more hands on with St. Faith’s, with many of the team and some of the congregations working and worshipping across both churches. We have used the term ‘one family, two churches’ to try and express this. In particular the partnership around the4:15 service has been really fruitful with over an average of 100 school children, parents and others from the West End attending the monthly interactive service each month. We continue to explore with the SDF project board and with Rev. Juliette Willis and Rev. Ben Willis the next potential plant from St. Swithin’s as part of the resourcing Urban Church project. ## **MIDWEEK GROUPS - Rev. Juliette Willis** For much of 2023 Midweek Groups took a pause as we chose to gather centrally for various courses. The Lent course was well attended by many who were already in Midweek Groups at the beginning of 2023. This course provided space for in-depth in-person teaching led by Rev. Ben Brady and was well received by those who attended. During the Easter to summer term we ran ‘Simply Us’ centrally at the Salthouse. This was invaluable for gathering, envisioning and encouraging the congregation. With a regular attendance in-person of over 100 people each week and the addition of an online group following the same content. It created space for us to come together to deepen our relationship with Jesus, help us build friendships with one another and envisaged us for the future. Then from September to Christmas we intentionally paused all Midweek Groups to encourage the whole Church to invite friends and colleagues to Alpha and to come along with them. With nearly 100 people attending the Alpha course that term it’s the most well attended course we’ve run at St Swithins so far. At the end of 2023 it’s fair to say that we recognised there was a real appetite for Midweek Groups to be re-established and as we head into 2024 there are 17 Midweek Group options available running alongside various courses. Each group looks a little different in their style, location, timings and group-makeup - from monthly family groups to weekly groups discussing the sermon-series content. Each intentional pause from 8 Midweek Groups that was made in 2023 have helped to build an excitement and desire for groups this coming year. As we look ahead our hope is that these groups will continue to strengthen and multiply. ## **LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT - Beth Harris** Our Leadership Development Year has continued this year offering training in leadership and theology alongside ministry experience serving alongside the staff team, where our LDY students could put their learning into practise. Our 22/23 cohort served in various ministries: Love Your Neighbour, Youth, Events and Storytelling (AV). Throughout the year, they got involved in Love Christmas, the LYN Cafe, video editing, the youth weekend away, co-leading services and Alpha to name a few. They had the opportunity to go along to the HTB Leadership Conference and they finished their year with serving at Focus. We had a new cohort of two begin in September and another joined in November. They serve in kids, youth and events. This year we opened up the training sessions on a Monday afternoon to allow those who couldn’t commit to the whole LDY programme because of other responsibilities, but still giving them the opportunity to participate in the training. We’ve had two commit to coming along to the training and are encouraging them to serve in the church alongside this training. We have also joined with St Mark’s, Grimsby, and are joined by two of their LDY students at the training sessions. We ran other Leaderships Stream and had a cohort of seven from the 18-25’s. We began with the Lent Course, thinking about our own discipleship as a leader, focusing on spiritual disciples and incorporating a rule of life. We then offered 4 leadership training sessions to equip them with a clearer understanding of who they are and their strengths and tools to equip them for leading others as they serve in a church and in work. ## **LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR - Paul Epton** The impact of Love Your Neighbour has continued to grow throughout 2023, with many people being added to the fringes of church as a result of its various ministries. A major change has taken place in the food depot, with deliveries around the city halting and with a different approach being taken - that of encouraging collections from the Love Your Neighbour Cafe at the same time as being able to grab a coffee and cake and meeting our team in person in a relaxed atmosphere. By doing this, we have been able to get to know the recipients that bit better than a swift doorstep delivery would allow, and we can signpost to other support more easily. In addition, due to the lack of suitable food being offered, the decision was made to cancel the contract with Fareshare to supply us with food, and more donations have been sought through other channels, such as the church congregations, donation stations at various places in the city, and surplus food collections from Aldi and Sainsburys. The Love Your Neighbour Cafe continues to be well attended on Thursday mornings, often seeing between 40-50 visitors, and relationships with guests are getting stronger. As a result, we have been able to experiment with more courses running alongside the Cafe, including Kintsugi Hope and a daytime Alpha Course. In addition, the Cafe has become more of a hub with other service providers, and regularly hosts the team from Voluntary Centre Services who use it as a meeting place for social prescribers and their clients. With the cost of living crisis worsening, in January 2023 we launched a Warm Space on Tuesday mornings at the Salthouse. A guest who first came to the warm space in February said: “I was invited to the Salthouse by a friend who regularly attended the LYN Cafe. Straight away I felt welcomed; the team took the time to chat to me and after 9 attending a couple of times invited me to come to church, something I had never considered and never thought I would do. Now my phone is filled with the numbers of friends I have made from the Cafe and church and it is a crucial part of my week, both for me and my young daughter. The daytime Alpha course I attended through LYN was an important part of my journey into faith and I will be eternally grateful for that opportunity.” We continue to run the Night Light Cafe every Saturday night from the Salthouse, and have been encouraged by the way relationships have developed and been built, with between 4-9 people regularly in attendance. However, we have seen team numbers falling, meaning that it has been a challenge to cover shifts. Active recruitment is taking place and our hope is to be able to have three people on team per shift to ensure a better experience for our guests. One guest arrived in a very bad state, and it turned out he was homeless suffering from very poor mental health. He visited the cafe for 6 months and loved it. When he managed to find accommodation out of the area, he left the following message: “I just wanted to say thank you, if it wasn’t for you and the team, I would have given up a long time ago. Night Light has helped me more than I can even begin to explain, so thank you so much, truly, it's been great.” We have continued to run the CAP Money Course and sought to run it in local schools in St. Faith’s, however, we have had difficulty recruiting participants. An online course was run at the beginning of the year with 4 participants, and then the decision was made to pause the running of the course while the materials were refreshed and the course rebranded as Money Coaching by CAP. In 2024 we will reach out again to schools and other charities to run the courses there, as well as at the Salthouse. We have run two Kintsugi Hope Wellbeing Groups in 2023, the first partnering with Threshold Church (10 participants) and the second in house after the LYN Cafe (8 participants), both were very well received, with participants commenting how “helpful, positive, affirming and informative” they have been. As in previous years we participated in Love Christmas and produced 443 bags and hampers of kindness which were distributed to people in need across the city. We partnered with a number of clubs, churches, schools and businesses to create donation stations and had a hugely successful fundraising quiz at the end of November which helped ensure we were able to create some excellent bags and hampers. In addition, with the kitchen having recently been installed at the Salthouse, we did our first ever Love Your Neighbour Christmas Meal, where we catered for 50 guests with a full Christmas dinner, with entertainment from a local junior school choir. It was very well received and a lot of fun. For Love Easter we rallied around the congregation and partners and were generously donated over 700 chocolate Easter eggs which were given out at the cafe and to local charities and churches. It has been a good year, and we wouldn’t be where we are without the faithful service of our dedicated team members, to whom we are very grateful. In addition, we are thankful for our LDYers, Harry Tyrrell and Alice Teuten, who have served brilliantly in all areas of LYN. 10 ## **2023 - LYN Activity Stats (as at 31 Dec 2023)** |**2023 - LYN Activity Stats (as at 31 Dec 2023)**|| |---|---| |Food parcels delivered/collected|1270| |Night Light Cafe Guests|286| |CAP Money Participants|11| |Kintsugi Hope Participants|14| |LYN Cafe Guests/Visits|1034| |Love Christmas bags of kindness|443| |Regular volunteers (not inc. Love Christmas)|51| ## **18-25S - Mads Baker** ## _**A call to mission**_ Recent research released in 2023 states that 74% of unchurched students would go to church if a friend invited them. In a city of 16,000 students where the equivalent of 1% are engaged in the local church, I hope this statistic stirs both hope and heartbreak for the lives of University students nationally and also here in Lincoln. Towards the end of 2023, God has been stirring greater hunger and courage for mission and evangelism amongst this generation. Hearing all that God was doing on the Asbury University Campus at the start of 2023 has raised faith in all God can do and is a reminder of His love for this generation. There’s a stirring call to equip our 18-25s to reach their colleagues, housemates, coursemates and friends on campus. A call to catalyse courage in bold missional initiatives and everyday conversations about faith for the sake of God’s Kingdom. In 2023 we began to consider how we could start to reach students in the West End of Lincoln through our freshers events and services. The West End area is saturated with student housing for those in their 2nd and 3rd year and provides a key opportunity for invitation to Church. We formed a St. Faith’s student team which despite having varying degrees of success still helped 4 new students to settle at St. Faith’s and call it home (4 more than we had last year!) ## _**Coffee Trailer**_ Between September to December 2023, we also pioneered a coffee trailer outside of St. Faith’s Church run entirely by 18-25s and with a vision to serve the community and to create greater interaction with the students living in this area. During the first week, we had conversations with a second-year student who came for a coffee. As we got chatting to her, we discovered that she and her housemates all lived on the same road as St Faith’s Church. We invited her to attend our firepits and paella freshers event that evening outside St Faith’s where we also made use of the coffee van to serve drinks. That evening she came along to the firepit event and brought all 4 of her housemates with her. They stayed for most of the evening and sat around the fire having conversations with other 18-25s and the core team. As the weeks went on, we got to know her other housemates well. From other conversations with her at the coffee van, we learnt that she had some background in faith but had never found a Church at University. She has since attended other events at St Faith’s and attended the6:15 service. 11 ## _**Growing & Releasing**_ Our current 18-25s are a core part of our community often attracting upwards of 50 new students each year. This year we saw a dip in this number, with us dropping from an average of 80 18-25s to just under 50. (20+ of our 3rd years moving on this year) We normally see 30+ new freshers settle at St. Swithin’s each year. This year that dropped to 15. There may be several reasons for this but as we have reviewed this and gathered feedback, one key reason appears to be some difference in theological views held by some of the CU exec and St. Swithin’s which then played into Freshers not being encouraged as much as in previous years to consider St. Swithin’s an option. We have since sought to build relationships with the CU and worked with them to co-lead events during their missions week and we are working on more plans for the future. Another possible reasons for lower numbers this year is that more churches in the city are doing more to reach students! This is a good thing when only 1% of students on campus know Jesus! The number of Christian students on campus maybe hasn't dropped but perhaps they are spread over more churches. It really is a good thing that more churches are an option for students! With this in mind, it just highlights further the other 99% and how we might reach them! Although numbers of students have dropped, the 18-25’s ministry has continued to develop and grow as we care for, support and disciple our 18-25s. We have had the utter privilege of seeing them change and grow in their faith over the three years they are here and then we get to see them released to go out into the world and see lives and communities transformed in their new context. When speaking to our student leavers in the summer I was encouraged to hear all God had done in them during their time in Lincoln. Some had found faith for the first time at St. Swithin’s, others had gone from telling no one about faith to inviting housemates to Church and another still remarked that she had seen a change in her parent's openness to faith since she had told them about Church and been coming along to St Swithin’s. Some of our 18-25 leavers have gone off to further pursue mission by heading off to Youth With A Mission (YWAM), others have chosen to stay in Lincoln after graduating and are lights in the every day in the vocation in which God has called them. 18-25s form an integral part of our Church, pollinating across ministry areas and seeking to use their gifts to serve and connect with others. They serve on our youth teams, as part of our Love Your Neighbour ministry, they serve on Alpha and are a key part of supporting everything that happens on a Sunday. We continue to use our mentoring programme to support our 18-25s and we also saw our biggest weekend away attendance yet with 70 people coming along to yet another new location! We have seen our evening service continue to attract new students and it has been amazing to see how courageous our 18-25s are in inviting their friends to try Church and explore faith. My prayer is: 1. that we continue to reach students in the West End and on campus; and 2. that our 18-25s keep growing in their deep desire to see their friends come to know Jesus. ## **RISING GENERATIONS** ## **BABYCCINOS - Vicky Prestwood** Babyccinos in the Salthouse continued to grow in numbers; with between 30 and 40 babies and toddlers, along with parents or carers, regularly attending. As well as numerically, this group has also grown in the sense of community over the past year, with members of the group getting to know the team and taking 12 ownership of the space. This can be seen in the way that members contribute towards resources and also invite others along. The Babyccinos team has grown in its identity, with 5 people helping each week and being committed to the ministry of Babyccinos. Relationships with those coming along have really built up with this consistent and committed team. One of the most encouraging things about Babyccinos this year has been the cross-over to other ministries within St. Swithin’s and St. Faith’s. Over the course of the year we have seen around 10 families from Babyccinos come to a St. Faith’s 4:15pm service and some have come along to Stay Toasty and the Love Your Neighbour Cafe. Again, over the coming year we would like to build on these links more and see more invitations to our church services. ## **SCHOOLS - Victoria Lawrence** We are continuing to provide collective worship on a fortnightly basis in both St. Faith’s Infants and St. Faith’s and St. Martin’s Schools’. These collective worship sessions cover a range of topics around fruits of the spirit, times and seasons of the church calendar, biblical themes and stories. We are also working with schools’ to support them with elements of the RE curriculum, these include welcoming year groups to St. Faith’s Church for baptism, parables and wedding workshops. Alongside this, we have visited schools’ to be interviewed by the children on areas such as science and faith, the incarnation and the role of a vicar. These have been great opportunities to explore and reflect on kingdom values and what it means to live our lives through the transforming love of Jesus. ## **CHILDREN’S MINISTRY - Vicky Prestwood** This year we have continued to build on our Children’s and Family work within the wider context of our Worship for Everyone Services. Our 9:15 service remains popular with young families, and this year we have seen a growing depth within this service, with a particular push into worship and the ministry of the Holy Spirit - all done with very young families in mind. The10:15 service continues to grow in its identity as we explore and grapple with how best to deliver Worship for Everyone within quite a broad context. Whilst we are aware that this has not been everyone’s preferred style of service, research shows the positive impact of the Worship for Everyone model on the whole worshipping community, with children learning alongside their families meaning that families take responsibility for their own children’s discipleship; children are more likely to stick in church in the long term and the whole community share their faith journey together. In our society where many are isolated and lonely, an intergenerational model of worship can be beneficial to all ages. As we develop this model of children’s work within Worship for Everyone services, we continue to provide connection points for specific ages to have fun and learn together. Each Sunday there is a kids connect time between the9:15 and the10:15 which has been steadily growing and is a space for kids to come and connect together, have fun together and pray together. Once a term the children have an opportunity to come to a social just for their age group, to which they are encouraged to invite friends. This year we have also worked on our strategy for discipleship within families; introducing twice-termly family breakfasts, Midweek Groups and take-home resources from services. 13 ## **YOUTH MINISTRY - Kath Marsden** There are two words that constantly run around my head when I think about our youth ministry - thrive and flourish. As a youth team we are constantly seeking space for the young people of our church and those who they invite to thrive and flourish, not just in their faith, but in who they are, and in the giftings God has given them. One way in which we have seen this at work over the last year is through our growing youth band. Not only do they help to lead worship every Wednesday as part of our midweek gathering, but we have termly band rehearsals to pray together, listen to what songs God has placed on their hearts for the term and a way of including other youth too who have a particular gifting to music. This has flowed well into our 4:15pm band at St. Faiths as well as the worship bands for Sundays at St. Swithins. Over this past year it has been amazing to see so many new faces join our youth group, not just for the socials but regularly at our midweek gatherings where we give space for young people to thrive and flourish through the gospel. Since February 2023, when we took over 20 young people from St Swithin’s away on a weekend residential with the young people from St mark’s, Grimsby, we have seen 27 new youth join our groups week in week out, including those who moved up to youth from kids in Y5, at both midweek youth at the Salthouse and West End youth club at St. Faiths. Numbers are an important measure of growth, but more important is the development of the young people’s relationships with Jesus. Momentum has been building over at St. Faiths through our West End youth club. This is predominantly aimed at the younger youth and is a space on a Friday night for games, sweets, hot chocolate etc where we can have an open and easy invite for youth to bring friends. Since February last year this group has really taken off with 6 of them coming to our weekend away and experiencing what it is like to be filled with the Spirit and learning more about Jesus. One story that stands out over this past year involves the work we do at Lincoln College as part of the chaplaincy team. Every Tuesday lunch time we go into the college and hang out, play cards, have informal chats, connect and be a presence to the young people in the college common room. The college themselves have had a shift in their structures within their wellbeing hub but what we have continued to be is a support for the students and offer to pray, listen and eat with them weekly. Off the back of our work here, we invited one of the students to midweek youth and have seen them consistently come along to our youth programs. As a team we love how much they have become involved and how they don’t shy away from telling their college friends either! The youth are not just our next generation of leaders, many are leading now and I thank God that we, as a Church, have such a wonderful group of youth who are thriving and flourishing in their own special way, and we get to journey alongside them. I can’t wait to see what 2024 has in store, but if it’s anything like these past 12 months, we will see more lives transformed and more young people going in the power of the Holy Spirit. ## **WORSHIP - Rev. Ben Brady** God has blessed us with such good musicianship for our worship team and skilled people for the technology side. As a team we continue to learn and improve our skills and processes as we lead the church in worship. With no Worship Pastor, our worship leaders truly go above and beyond. I am so grateful for all they do and their passion for leading us in worship. The attitude has been positive in pursuing Worship for Everyone in our services and all of them have suggested new worship songs to add to our repertoire. We want to reflect what is going on in our country, city and church in our sung worship. This has led to broadening what we listen to and to continue prayerful selection of song choices. The model is four bands for each Sunday of the month. There’s a slight variation for the evening service, but we have found a consistent pattern of people playing can help avoid one person doing too much. We have had interest from new members of the church to join the worship team, predominantly from the6:15. 14 We have implemented a ‘three audition’ process to allow new members to play with different musicians, for other worship leaders to share their views and to confirm their commitment to arriving early, being rehearsed and prepared for practice. The development of team for the Audio and Visuals is continuing. Although it can look overwhelming, we have committed a lot of time to try and streamline/simplify the process. The reality is that it is an ongoing process, as new people join and others leave with their expertise, training will take place. Although it is heavily technical, I believe this is also a great ground to build up potential leaders and gain skills in working and leading groups. We are seeing more Rising Generations joining us in both the bands and AV. It is so wonderful to have their knowledge and intuition (especially around technology - which seems like second nature!) on the team. The growth of the4:15 service at St. Faith’s has led to new and younger members joining the band, reflecting the age of the people attending this service. Due to the organist playing at the Prison service once a month, we have some of the worship team playing at St. Faith’s for the10:15 service once a month which has been well received. We hope to establish more of a worship team at St Faith’s this coming year, with a hybrid of band and organ music in the10:15 service. As we continue seeing growth across the services, we will carry on setting a culture at St. Swithin’s with our values of Home, Real and Courage at the heart of all we do. ## **SUNDAY SERVICES - Rev. Jim Prestwood** My thanks go to so many people who are involved in such a variety of ways to make our services what they are. From the welcome team to the worship team, the tech team to the teaching team and everyone else who understands that we all have our unique part to play in the church family. Our regular pattern of services throughout 2023 has sought to consolidate and build on the experimentation that took place in 2022 as we came out of the pandemic. Our regular pattern of services has been: **the9:15** aimed primarily at families with preschool children has grown in both its identity and its number over the 2023 and we are starting to see invitations given through Babyccinos to attend the service being taken up which is really exciting. **the10:15** remains the largest congregation and the most diverse with an intergenerational focus. We have overall in 2023 seen numbers creep up at this service. There was a slight slump around the middle of the year as a small team went to help ‘plant’ at St. Faith’s 10:15, a cohort of students moved on, we hit the summer months, Jim and Vicky took a sabbatical and we continued to learn and grow in our understanding of a theology, model and practice of intergenerational worship. However, as we have prayed, worked hard as a preaching, leading and worship team, had a regular pattern of church lunches and welcome lunches (and I’m sure many other factors), towards the end of the year we’re seeing signs of growth amongst the number of children, young people and young adults attending this service. (The number of children and young people attending has also been reflected in the numbers attending ‘connect time’ which takes place between the two morning services.) A particular joy this year has been to see our children and young people grow in their engagement and expression of sung worship and we are so grateful to those that lead us in worship every week. The prospect of moving into the upper room in 2024 is particularly exciting for this congregation as we are over 80% capacity most weeks and so at a growth ceiling in that regard. This service continues to be streamed online and there is a regular number who tune in weekly (as well as those who catch up on the talks afterwards). 15 **the6:15** has by and large seen a consistent attendance in 2023 with a mix of ages from older youth upwards but attracting a significant number of students and young adults. There is more time and space in this service which follows a worship, teaching, ministry model. Again this service saw a dip in the middle of the year in terms of attendance for a variety of reasons, some alluded to above. In October we reviewed and refreshed ever so slightly the flow and content of this service and alongside the introduction of midweek groups and intentionally focusing on the social time after the service, we saw some old faces return as well as new faces joining us. Towards the end of the year, our USA was back up to previous levels. In addition, as a result of our partnership with St. Faith’s, people also have the option of: - a Sunday morning Eucharist service at 10:15 at St. Faith’s. - a monthly 4:15pm service aimed at primary school aged children and their families, usually on the first Sunday of the month. - a midweek Eucharist service at St. Faith’s on a Wednesday morning at 9:30am. ## **SUNDAY SERVICES STATS - Rev. Jim Prestwood** |**Service**|**Usual Sunday Attendance - Oct 2023**
**(incl. Adults, Youth & Children)**| |---|---| |the9:15|53| |the10:15 in person|116| |the6:15|73| |the10:15 online|17| * The team continue to work and support St. Faith's, details of which will be reported in their end of year report. ## **6. CHURCH WARDENS REPORT - Rachel Tyrrell and Richard Lambert** The Church Wardens have a duty to represent the laity and co-operate with the incumbent. They are responsible for two main areas – maintain the Inventory, Terrier and Log-book, and support the incumbent in the orderly running of the church. **Inventory** - Maintain the inventory of the church treasure and other paraphernalia - we can confirm that all articles cited in the 2023 inventory have been accounted for in 2024. In addition, a silver thurible and some ecclesiastical vestments, previously on loan to All Saints, Nettleham were returned in June, and silver plate valuation was received from Peter Rowlett, Rowletts of Lincoln in September. A silver chalice, used in communion was also sent away for repairs. **Terrier** - Maintain a full register of all land owned by the church - we can confirm that no land or property has been sold. The Church building remains closed to all but staff, due to unresolved structural problems. As such, all Church life was conducted in and through the Salthouse; a building owned by the Diocese. **Quinquennial** - The Quinquennial Inspection of St. Swithin’s Church Building was carried out in June by Diocesan Architects GMS. Their report confirmed that major work is required to halt further deterioration and 16 restore a watertight and structurally sound shell. Although not currently used for weekly worship, the church is regularly checked by staff and the vestry areas is still in use with some of the main nave also used for storage. Building insurance continues in place and routine lightning protection assessments are maintained. Following the fall of one of the many stone finials, which adorn the church tower, some damage to the nave roof tiles was evident. Given the potentially high impact to the building and the general public from such events, Heras fencing was used to cordon off relevant areas on the perimeter of the Church but due to insufficient funds, no further inspection or repair has been possible. **Log-book** - Towards the end of 2023, another denomination, the Traditional Anglican Church approached the diocese concerning potential interest in long term use of the St. Swithin’s Church building as their place of worship. The Diocese subsequently approached the PCC who have been exploring with the support of the Archdeacon and the Registrar, a potential 2-3 year lease with a view to the TAC looking to take the building on longer term. **Supporting Jim & Vicky, Ben & Bekah** – 2023 saw a first for us at St. Swithin’s and St. Faith’s, with a Sabbatical taken by Jim from July to October. During this time we had the continuing privilege of supporting both families and also the staff team as people absorbed different levels of responsibility for a relatively short period. It served as a good reminder to prioritise and protect our own sabbath rest. The next year promises much change (as usual!) and the simple call in 1 Thessalonians 5 to, ‘always be joyful, never stop praying’ has never been so important. See you at the next Kingdom Come! ## **7. SAFEGUARDING - Rosemary Brooks (PSO)** We comply with all regulations and duties and have due regard to House of Bishops’ guidance on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. Safeguarding is very important to us and is at the heart of all our activities. Safeguarding is a standing item on the PCC agenda and is reviewed at every PCC meeting. ## _**Current Team**_ Rosemary Brooks is the Parish Safeguarding Officer. The other members of the Safeguarding team are Rev. Jim Prestwood (Safeguarding Lead) and Rev. Ben Brady with Susan Watt being responsible for DBS checks and safeguarding training. We continue to work closely with the Diocesan team during 2023, seeking their advice and guidance where appropriate. The Diocese Safeguarding Advisor is Jack Redeyoff and the Case Worker that has supported us with regard to any concerns is Jonny Fluck. ## _**Dashboard**_ The Parish Safeguarding Dashboard helps us to monitor our practice and compliance with national Church of England guidance and generates an Action Plan which enables us to identify areas for improvement. Our current status is green in all areas. ## _**DBS checks**_ At St. Swithin’s we have 117 people with DBS checks serving in a variety of teams and roles. There were 28 new DBS checks in 2023. ## _**Training**_ The cycle for training is three years and trainees are only required to refresh training at the highest level previously completed. In 2023 65 training courses were completed. 17 All members of the PCC are required to complete safeguarding training, and this now includes the module on Domestic Abuse. This module is particularly pertinent to our commitment to safeguarding vulnerable adults. If you have any questions about DBS checks or Safeguarding training please contact Susan Watt sue.watt@stswithins.org.uk ## _**Safeguarding Processes & Practice**_ Since the introduction of the new guidelines, we have continued to review the safeguarding process to ensure that not only are we compliant with the new guidance but that also our practice promotes and supports a safe environment for all. We have reviewed how we record and log any cases. The Parish Safeguarding Officer maintains a central log of concerns which is only accessible to the safeguarding team. The log enables any team member to quickly identify if there are any previous concerns relating to any individual and also if there are any trends that might indicate an area of concern that needs addressing. All concerns, including those where no further action was deemed appropriate, are logged. All safeguarding records are maintained in accordance with the guidance and in a secure storage area that only the safeguarding team can access. ## _**Safeguarding Team Review Meetings**_ The core safeguarding team meet quarterly to review the central log and actions taken. This ensures that all team members are aware of current cases and any learning from those cases can be shared. ## _**Volunteer Reviews**_ The new guidance requires that all volunteers in activities that require a DBS check have an annual review. Currently, this impacts primarily on Rising Generations ministry teams. The PCC view this as not only an opportunity to reflect on best practice with regard to safeguarding, but also one where we can celebrate and acknowledge the very valuable contribution that so many volunteers make. It also enables ministry leads to foster and develop leadership qualities within their teams and ensure that ministry teams remain resourced with committed volunteers who feel appreciated. Rev. Juliette Willis led the first set of reviews with the Youth Team and has given feedback on the process. The form was adapted slightly to allow volunteers to scale their level of satisfaction with their role as this is more informative than a simple yes/no response. It also allows for comparison at subsequent reviews. Juliette reported that the review process was time efficient and helpful to both herself and the volunteers. It was easily built into their normal team meeting cycle. Paul Epton has also looked to conduct reviews with his team of volunteers. Whilst the reviews are linked primarily to the safeguarding process, it was agreed that the process could be beneficial to all volunteer teams in terms of acknowledging the value of their contribution. ## _**Reported Concerns 2023-2024**_ In total there have been 29 concerns logged since the last APCM. The majority of concerns reported have been for adults and 18-25s, with only 4 concerning minors. The reported concerns for under 18s have related to inappropriate communication between peers and mental wellbeing. None of the concerns with regard to minors resulted in further action being necessary and were resolved with parental involvement and support. The adult concerns have been more varied, but the majority have been concerns about mental wellbeing and personal safety. In all cases we work closely with Diocesan advice and signpost to other agencies where appropriate. We continue to hold safeguarding at the heart of all our activities. If anyone has any concerns with regards to safeguarding, they should alert Rosemary Brooks, Jim Prestwood or Ben Brady in person or by emailing safeguarding@stswithins.org.uk 18 ## **8. REPORTS ON DIOCESAN AND DEANERY SYNOD - Sue Watt** The Church of England is governed synodically - by Deanery synods, Diocesan synods and the General Synod. Matters affecting the church are discussed and decisions made at the relevant synod. Christianity Deanery includes the Church of England churches within the city of Lincoln. Alongside the clergy, lay representatives from local churches are elected at their APCM’s to serve on their Deanery synod, for a three-year term. Our lay reps on Deanery Synod in 2023 were Dan Chard, Susan Watt (the Deanery secretary) and Phil Williams (the Deanery Lay Chair). The Deanery synod met in January, June and October 2023. Time to Change Together - the change programme which forms the basis of the vision for the future of the Church of England parishes in the Diocese – has continued to dominate discussions during 2023. In January, following a number of meetings and lots of discussions within the Local Mission Partnership (an area under TTCT which is roughly the same as our Deanery), synod formally took note of the Deanery Plan. This outlined where we envisaged stipendiary priests being deployed in the future in Lincoln, whilst also recognising the necessity of collaborative working, with churches working together in partnerships with one or two other churches, like our partnership with St. Faith’ s church. We are also pleased to have appointed people to two new voluntary roles within the deanery – a Deanery Mission Enabler (Rev. Ben Brady) and Environment Champion (Geoff Stratford). Their roles will be to encourage and assist parishes across the deanery in developing their responses to these needs. The Diocese of Lincoln covers the historic county of Lincolnshire (the county of Lincolnshire, and the unitary authorities of North and North-East Lincolnshire) and the Diocesan synod comprises lay and clergy representatives from across the Diocese, elected by the Deanery synods for a three-year term. Susan Watt is currently a lay Diocesan synod representative and Rev. Jim Prestwood is a clergy Diocesan synod representative. A new Diocesan Bishop – the Right Rev. Stephen Conway - was appointed in Autumn 2023. The Diocesan synod met three times in 2023. Business included the following: - Time to Change Together - updates - Finance – approval of Diocesan accounts and budget for 2024 - Environment – approval of the Environmental Action plan - Education – Diocesan Board of Education Annual Report - Strategic Development Fund project – updates The final tier in the structure is the General Synod which deals with matters of significance for the national church. Representatives on the General Synod are elected by Deanery Synod members and serve for a period of five years. Jonny Palmer from St. Swithin’s is a member representing the RAF. Other people elected from Lincoln are Gavin Kirk (the Archdeacon of Lincoln) and Muriel Robinson (the Deanery Treasurer). Topics that are discussed are often reported in the national press. Updates on all tiers of synodical governance are routinely reported and discussed at the PCC. If you would like to know more, please contact one of the reps named above. ## **9. ST SWITHIN’S PCC** ## _**St. Swithin’s Electoral Roll**_ The number of members on the Electoral Roll at the APCM held in April 2023 was 207. The Electoral Roll Officer will present the number on the revised 2024 Electoral Roll to the APCM during the meeting. 19 ## _**St. Swithin’s PCC meetings**_ The PCC met nine times during the year. After a heavy focus last year on mission and ministry it was almost inevitable that in 2023 our focus would turn elsewhere. It was envisaged that in 2023 we would review and audit our finance, governance, policies and procedures, but although this work has begun our attention has become diverted as circumstances have unfolded. Finances continue to be monitored closely as we continue to juggle income and expenditure against a background of rising costs generally, with the need from a missional perspective - to start work on Phase 2 of the refurbishment of the Salthouse and in light of being a victim of bank fraud that we were subject to in December. The bank have initially refused to uphold our appeal to recover the money but we are now submitting a case to the ombudsman. During the year, it became further apparent that the fabric of the old church building needed considerable investment to prevent further decay. As a result, the PCC made the difficult decision to begin the process for its closure or for handing it over to another denomination. Alongside this and as part of the Diocesan strategy, ‘Time to Change Together’ and recognising our growing partnership with St. Faith’s, Lincoln, the PCC have voted to have begun the process of formalising the partnership with St. Faith’s Church and joining with them to become one parish. In terms of the refurbishment of the Salthouse, the kitchen and lift were installed and we developed and finalised plans for the worship space upstairs ready for work to commence in early 2024. ## _**Risk Statement**_ In common with other churches and charities the PCC considers the major areas of risk to which it is exposed, be they operational, financial or reputational, and establishes systems to mitigate those risks. As we continue over 2024 to audit and review our policies, procedures and wider governance. ## _**PCC Statement of Responsibilities**_ The PCC has prepared the Annual Report and financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice, which gives a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the church and of its financial activities for that year and adequately distinguishes any material special trust or other restricted fund of the church. In preparing those financial statements the PCC has: - Selected suitable accounting policies and then applied them consistently; complied with applicable accounting standards, including FRS 102, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; - Stated whether a Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) applies and has been followed, subject to any material departures which are explained in the financial statements; - Made judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; - Prepared the financial statements on a going concern basis; - The PCC has kept proper accounting records, which disclose, with reasonable accuracy at any time, the financial position of the church. Financial statements comply with applicable Accounting Standards and Statements of Recommended Practice and the regulations made under s154 of the Charities Act 2011; and - The PCC has taken reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. All the current members of the PCC have taken all the steps, which they ought to make themselves aware of any information needed by the independent examiner for the purposes of their independent examination and to establish that the independent examiner is aware of that information. The current 20 members of the PCC are not aware of any relevant information of which the independent examiner is unaware. ## _**Public Benefit**_ The PCC is aware of the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit in ‘The advancement of religion for the Public Benefit’; and have had regard to it in its administration of the church. The PCC believes that by promoting the Christian faith it provides a benefit to the public by: Providing facilities for public worship, pastoral care and spiritual development, both for existing church members and for anyone who wishes to benefit from what the church offers; and Promoting Christian values, and service by members of the church in and to their communities, to the benefit of individuals and society as a whole. ## **Trustees in 2023** Rev. Jim Prestwood (Vicar and Chair of PCC) Rev. Ben Brady (Associate Vicar) Rev. John Birkett (from 24.06.23) Rev. Victoria Lawrence (from 25.06.23) Rev. Ben Willis Rev. Juliette Willis Mr Richard Lambert (Churchwarden, Vice Chair and Buildings Lead) Mrs Rachel Tyrrell (Churchwarden) Mrs Susan Watt (PCC Secretary, Deanery Synod representative) Dr Phil Williams (Deanery Synod representative) Mr Dan Chard (Treasurer, Deanery Synod representative) Mrs Rosemary Brooks (Safeguarding Officer) Mrs Becky Bull Mr John Crowder Mrs Linzi Crowder Mr Paul Finch (until APCM 2023) Mrs Jo Epton (until APCM 2023) Miss Kath Marsden (until APCM 2023) Mrs Jen Moat (elected APCM 2023) Mrs Hayley Palmer Mr Mark Perry Miss Jane Pickersgill Mr Callum Roper Mr Andrew Shepherd (elected APCM 2023) Mr David Stapleton Mr Peter Sutton (until APCM 2023) Mrs Moji Wadsworth (until APCM 2023) Mr Andrew Warnes (co-opted 24.04.23) 21 Independent Examinerfs Report to the Trustees of the Parochial Church Council of St Swithins Lincoln I report to Ihe trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity for the year ended 31 sl December 2023. Responslbllltles and basls of report As the charity's trustees. you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 {-the Act"). I report in respect of my examination of the charity's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. Independent examlner's statement The charity's gross income exceeded £250,000 and l am qualified to undertake the examination by being a qualified member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. 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 to believe that in, any material respect.. the accounting records were not kept in accordance wrth secb'on 130 of the Charities Act; or the accounts did not accord wilh the accounting records: or the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the fomi and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair. view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. 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. Signed. z4th￿y Name: Zachary Ramsden FCA Chartered Accountant 63 Deakin Leas. Tonbridge. Kent TN9 2JT Date.. 18th April 2024 22 ST SWIThIN'S UNCOLN srATEMEP4T OF FIP4ANaAL AcfMTIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 Total Fund5 2023 Totol Fund5 2022 Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds INCOMEAND ENDOWMENTS FROM: Donation5 and legacie5 Charitable activitie5 Other tradin8 actiwties 209.662 24.362 224.035 38.407 433.697 62.769 413.431 62,737 Total kncome and endrAvmwts 234,024 262,442 496,466 476,168 EXPENDITURE ON: Charitable activities: 273A87 210.378 483.86S 408,127 Total expendlture 273.487 210,378 483.86S 408,127 Net incomellempenditurel 139,4631 52,064 12,601 68,041 TransFers between f￿d5 13 39,504 139.Sts11 Net movement kn fund5 41 12.5 12.601 68,041 Reconaliation of funds: 13 Total funds brought forward 101362 105.678 207.S40 207,540 Total funds carried fon¥ard 101.903 118.238 220.141 275.581 The statement of financial activrf(*s includes all 8ains and losses reco8nised in the year. l income and expendrf(ure derNe frc#)) continuin8 operations. The notes on page 24 to 34 form part of these accounts. 23 ST swrrHINS UNCOLN BALANCE SHE ASAT 31 DECEMBER 1023 Total Funds 2023 Totol Funds 2022 UnrestrKted Funds Restricted Funds FiXED ASSETS Tangible assets 2.236 2.236 5,295 CURRENT ASSETS Stock Debtors Cash at bank and ￿ hand 3CKJ 32,8 239.881 20.531 97.406 16.662 232,1 io 142.475 154839 118.237 273,076 249,352 CREDITORS.. A1￿Unts falllnt due within one year li 43.171 43.171 23.1 Netturrtnt assets I Iliabililiesl 118 237 226 244 Totsl assets less current liabilrtie5 113.91 118.237 232,141 231.539 CREDITORS.. Ar￿Unts falling due after rnore than one year iioo) 24.0 Provlslons for Ilabllllles TOTAL NET ASSEts 118237 220 141 207539 FUNO BALANCES Unrestricted Funds GÈneral fuNIs De￿gnated funds .975 40.929 101.9f 60.975 40.929 lo1.￿4 3,182 98,681 101,863 R*strirted Funds 118.237 118.237 105,677 118237 220 141 207540 The financial Statements were apprDved bythe mErnbers of the Parochial thurch C(xJnal and werE Signed on it5 behalf by.. Jim Pre5twood Vitar of St Swithin's Date The notes on page 18 to 30 forni part of these account& 24 STSWITHINS UNCOLN P40TES TOTHE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 Statutory Informatian TIE Parochial Church Council Irfst sw￿<￿￿￿,5 PCC LiThcoln 15 a charity registered in England & Wale5. The charity'5 registered numbw and principal address can be found on Charity Inftrmation page. Accounilng Pollcles These financial statements are prepared on a goingconcern basis. underthe historical cost convention. The financial statements include all attfvities for which the PCC is legally responsible., aCti￿tieS of informal gatherings of church membersand groupsthat owetheir main affiliation to anoiher body and are exCl￿ed. T￿se financial Sfdtements have teen prepared in accordance The Churth Accounting Regulath)ns 20L￿. the'statement of Recommended Prattice.. Accounting and ReFOrtirsg byCharr(ies preparing th*f accounts in ac£ordance wth the Fin3ncial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland IFRS 1021, r'the Charities SORtY'I, wth the Financial Reporting Standard applicable In the United Kingdom and Reput4ic of Irdand fFRS 102.1 and wth Charities Act 2011. The charity meets the definition of a public benefit eTrtrtyasset out in FRS 102. Charities (Accounts and Reports) RegulatKsns (the.2￿8 Regulations'l requires charities to prepare their accounts in accordance with 'AccoLnting and Reporting by Charities.. StatemeThr of Recommended Prattice effective from l April 20(6, but this accounting standard has since been withjrawn and has been replaced by the Charities SORP mentioned in the preceding paragraph. The charity has prepared these financial statements in accordance wth the new Charities SORP," this departure from the 2￿8 Regulations 15 believed to be necessaryforthese financ￿1 statements to give a'true fair view. The prin£iples adopted in thÈ preparation of thÈfinancial ststements areset oth bdow. HI Going cmcern TIE PCC have a55e55ed whether the use of the E(xng coniern bays 15 appropriate and have considered p055ible event5 or conditions that rnight cast 5ignrficant d(KJbt on the ability of the charity to continue as a going concem. The PCC have made thi5 a55essrnentfor a period of at least one year from the date of approval of the financial statements. In particularthe PCC have C￿sidered the charitvs forecasts and projertion5 and the posyble implicatK)n55hould projected i￿Orne 4nd l or Èxpenditure vary unexpertedfy. The PCC have concluded that there is a reasonable expectation that thÈ charity has adÈguatÈ rÈsourte5 to continue to operate for thÈforeseeable future. The tharity therefofe tontinues to adopt the goin8 C(xitÈm basis in prepJrin8 its finantial ￿atÈMÈnts. bl Incorne Incorne (which irKlude5 k4anned Eivin& collecbors and other d￿at￿)nSI is recognised in the Feriod in which the charty becornes entitled to receipt. the amount re(e￿at4eCan be measured with reasonable certainty. and receipt 15 probable. For the most part incorne i5general￿ recogni5ed when it 15 received by. or on behalf of. the PCC. Incorne 15 onty deferred when the charity ha5 to fumil conditions before tecoming ent￿ed to it orwhere the donor ha5 specified that the incorne is to be expended in a future period. Income from donarions and legacies irtludes.. Recoverable aid. Thi5 is recogri5ed %then the related donobon is rerei%td. Grft aid that has Th)t been recovered by the balance sheet date is incluled as a dekktor. ill Donated facilities, seNcesand goods. Goods donaied for distribu￿0￿ to beThefIciar￿S are recognised as Income when receivable atfairvalue Ibeing an estimate of the amount rt w0￿d co# to purchase those items). Facilities, serwces and goods donated forthe char￿'S own use are recognised as incorne %then rec•vable at their value to the charty. The charity rdies on volunteers to (arry many of its a(ti*Aties. Howe*r. in accordance with the SORP. the value of these sernces has noi been induded in these finanoal statementsas tannoi be reliabfy measured. 25 Accounting Polic￿5 Irontinuedl Iknen donated goods, senfiie5 and faiilities are distributed or consumed. an expense in respert of those itern5 15 included in the Statefflent of FinarKial Act￿ltIes. At the year end any goodstlKIt ha¥e not ￿￿en distributed or consumed are recognised a5 stock. donated fixed assets are capitali5ed. Income from charitableactmties represents income receNable from goods, seNces and facilitiessupplied in furtherance of thecharity's charitsble objects. It indude5 i￿ome from chwch retreats and cther events and courses. Income from other tra(Ing actNities represent5 income recevatde from actiwtiesundertsken to generate fund5for the charity. It include5 income from reirnbur5ernent of staff time on secon(knent. enditure Expenditure. induding irrecoverable VAT. 15 recognised when it 15 incuThed cff, if eartRr. ￿en a legal or constructive obliEaticn for a payment ar￿5 provided that r( is probable that sethemeTht will te required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliablv. Contributions in respect of the diocesan parish share are i￿l￿ded in the Statementof Financial Activf(ie5 for all amoLmts aEreed to being payablefor the financial year_ Any contributicffls that have not been paid over by the year end are included as a creditor. charity makes grants to other iThstitutions and indwiduals to further r(5 charttatde objective& Grants payable are recognised as constructive obliEation5 arise, which is Eenerallywhen the charity eXp￿sSes3 cornmitmentto the ￿CIpIentthat can be measured reliabty and then ontyto extent that anycondition5 associated with the Erant are outside of the control of the charty. ThÈ tost of raisiryg fijnds is not sign￿ltant aNI has not bÈÈn SÈphra￿fy distlosÈd. GovernarKe costs, wh'ch are irKluded in expenditure on charitable activities but are identified Separately in the notes to the accvunts, includes cost5 associated wrth the independent exafflination of the financial 5tatement5, compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements and any £rther expeThdiiure incwred on the Strategic management of the charity. dl Fund accounting General funds are unrestrKtsd fvnds which are available for use att￿ discre￿0￿ of the PCC in furtherance of the general obiertives of the charity. Designated tsjnds comprise unrestritted hjnds that ha¥e been ser aside by rhe PCC for parbcular purposes. Restrirted funds are donations which are to be ￿ed in accordance specrfic restrictions impyjsed by donors- they include thnations recewed from appeals lor specific a(tivTt*s or projects. el Tangible fixed assets Consecrated and beneficed property is not included in these financial statements by wrtue of s.lOt21 of the ChaririesAct 2011. All expenditure on conseuated or beneficed buildings is written off irs the year in which rt is incurred. Movable church furnishings held bythe Ir￿UMbe￿I and Churchwardens on special trust for the PCC and which require faculty for disposal are caritalised in accordance with the policy set out below. These items are regarded as Inalienable property and are listed in the thurch's inventory which can be inspected at any reasonable time. Inalienable property acquired wior to 2014 has not been caprtalised as there is inyjfficient cost information available. Itern5 purchased or thnated for the IharrtTrls use aTe iapifalised whpn the cost of puriha5ed item5, or fair value of donated items, is more than El,(￿10 and the rtem 15 ex￿(ted to be￿rrt the Iharttyover more than one aciountirB period. Depreciation is£har8ed on a srraight line ba￿S so as to write d¢)wn the value of Èach assetto its estimated residual value Ilf any) over its expetted uselul ecrmomi£ life. To athithfethisobj￿t￿e the folk)wing rates of depreciation are£har8ed.. Equipment 3 years 26 Accounting Polic*s l(ontinuedl Stocks.. Stocksof donated iterns held for distribution to beneficiaries are measured at fairvalue. Bl Leased a55ets Leases which do nottransfer substantialty all the ri%k% and rthvards of ownership tot￿ charty are clawfied as operati leases. Operatire lease payments are recognised as an expense on a straight-lir* ba￿S0verthe lease term (unless another 5V5ternatic basis is rnore ￿Presentat￿e of use . hl p￿S1On scheme arrangements charity operates defirEd contributiim pension schernesfor its employee5. Obl¥ations lor Contrit￿lons to these schemes are recognised as an expense when liability arise5. The a55ets of these schemes are held separately from those of the charity in Independently administered fI￿ds. Taxation charity has taken advarrtage of thevarious rdiefs from taxation available to Char￿eS and no trx is payable on the charitvs income. Flnancial instruments charity's financial assets finaThDal liabiliDes all qualify as basic financial irsrruments. asdefined by FR5102. Except for Icons. creditors and debtors are rneasured at their expected setdement value Inormally the amount of cash thatthe charity expect5 to payor receNel. The chartiy recogni5e5 llatx.1ft￿￿ for the priniipal of those loaTh5 that remain5 outstanding at the vear end li.e. the liabilr(ies exclude any interest chargÈaL4eon the loans in ILrture years). kl Exern tion from re arin a cashflow statement charity has tsken advarrtage of an exemwK)n confÈr￿d by the CharitiÈs SORP and not wÈpared a cash flow statement. 11 Critical accwnting eslirnates and areas Ofjudge￿￿nl In preparing finanoal statementscertain judgements. estimate5 and 359JrnPtK)ns have to be rnadetTr￿t affert the arnount5 reco8nised in the finanaal statement& The members of the PCccon￿d2r the follo￿n8 ￿ be ￿￿)ifiCant.. il The annual depreciation charge for property, pknt aThJ equipmert s sensitNeto changes in the estimates for useful economic life and residual *71ue. These e5timate5 are rea55e5sed anThually and. when necessary, adjusted to reflect current circumstances. ill The constructNeobligatKsn for grantspayable is based L*) arb assessment of the likelyduration of the supported actiwty. Again thi5 estimate ￿ re45sessed annualty and obligat￿n isadjusted to refiect current expectstion& Donatlons and ￿8aCleS Ur*eStr￿tsd Fund5 Restritted Totsl Totol Fund5 2023 2022 Donations of cash and similar 175.072 43,993 9,610 167.894 2.538 224 035 219,065 9,610 167,894 37,128 433 697 201.216 Donations in knnd Other grants receiwable Income tax reC￿rable 176,517 27.425 413 431 34,59) Donations in kind comprise lollowing.. UwestrKted Funds Restricted Funds Totsl 2023 rotol 2022 Go￿$ donated for.. Food for LYN r￿￿ed for distribut￿Tr to beneficiarie5 9.610 9,610 Income fmm charitabk attivit*s u￿eStrI￿@d Stricted Total Tottsl Fund5 Fund5 2023 2022 Church events 24.362 38.407 62,769 62.737 27 Charitableexp￿dII￿re Urrestr￿d Funds Rewirted Funds Totsl 2023 Totol 2022 Costs in¢urred directty onswifvadi¥t*s Ministry expense5'. Parish share Mission and ewdn8elism other ministryexpenses Salarie5, wa8e5 & pen￿L￿(05t$ ￿￿￿81ed@o0dS Imte 5cl Total Ministry expen5e5 3179) 17,744 14.310 ILKJ,8]9 32.7 25,720 18.OX) 183,943 9.610 270IJ73 27.5(Xl 27,687 13.263 233,589 8,273 310,312 7,976 3.740 83.124 9.610 104.450 165,623 Pro￿rtyex￿5es.' Church running expenses util￿e5 and insurance 42.652 23,752 7.458 3,222 77.084 79.651 23,752 7.458 94 2116L7 10,411 4,376 57.977 Routine maintenance Major repair5 &strutiuralwork Total Property expwses 57,672 Y.671 171.755 Grants payable Inote 5dl 7.826 250,533 io.ioo 209,121 17B26 459,654 22.373 390,662 Costs incurrEd on 5UPVt& administratbjn Governance costs C05t of indwdentexamination other Tirtal Governan￿[￿sl5 2.725 Ins 2.725 2,725 2,696 1696 Othefsurportcosts Pro￿rty arid equipmen* dEpretiatr)n 1.257 17.a48 4,138 24211 6.646 8,123 17.465 4,138 22.954 1.257 Totsl expenditure 273487 110 378 483 65 IB7 Charitableexpendhure Icortinued) Donations in kind expensed in ￿3T UrreStr￿d Restricted Totsl Totol Funds Fut)ds 2023 2022 Food for LYN distr5buted 1obefiefth￿S 9.610 9.610 8,273 Grants payablE In5titution5 Indr4idua 2023 Missionary SUPPOrt Church Planti Relief of pr>Verty 7.826 io,r 7.826 io,oco comparatNesfLY theprwiousyearareas fo*)ws'. 2022 Missi(￿0rys￿pWrt Church Plonting Relief ofpcNerty 7,373 15.tiKI 7,373 15,OCt7 373 28 The d)arity'S winopal gwtsto institutk)ns ¢(thwised.. 2023 2022 GrèntTransferofFui(k to 5t Marvs Grimsby Charis Foundao CP Africa io,Ixx> 1.500 1,500 Fusicm UK Hope for Justice Lintoln AcbvÈ Fath Nthork 1.500 Tearfund 1,614 1,189 Baby'5 Basket Linwln street Pasts)rs Unal￿ated 500 6,212 Grantsfu less than £l(X) e￿h 17,826 22,373 Ama￿￿$•t$￿ff the¢05¢ of key minaeem•rtpersonnel atyl remw*raiion ofmembers ofthe PCC 2023 2022 Gr055 wa8es, $313ries txherdirect ernplryment costs Social security pe￿0￿ aThl Lrfe Inwra￿e costs 159,229 10.481 5,742 175.452 2418,633 16.305 8,651 233,589 The ￿ract monthfy nurftherof etry1ttffesthri￿ the ￿rW¥S7(20l2.. 91. Mo#afthecharity$atth￿ties are iÈd bv volunteer Nostaff ￿teNed sal¥iesata rate WMJrethan £60,(th per ThÈ tharity's management tcmprisethe memtr￿ts d the Kc.inclL*lings￿fficllfy the der8¥ membÈrs. Totsl employmenr benefits payable ¢0 key r(4na£emerrtfty viere asfolws.. Jim Prestwood. Ben Juliette Willis. Ben Willisa￿j VKtoria LawTerKe (who are Ilergy membEr5 ￿the PCCI recewe stipend from the Diocese aTh4 are notemplo¥ee5 Ixjt Offi￿ hok*rs,' 5(xne of the Parish Share p3id tothe Dhxese 15 Used to hÈlp mÈet the tost of these stipends. Jim Presrwood. Ben Braty. Jdiette Willis. BÈn WillisafKI Vitttsna Law￿￿￿ 3rÈ providÈd wrfch atcDmmc￿aTh￿) Iwhth is tUSt0ft￿ryf0r tkrgyl and the¢0# of this ¥c(M))nM)dation tothe PCC is disdosed In r￿te 5 'Charitsble ExFEnditure' and wa5 rv)t materkil duri￿ 2023 or2022. Tr tharity 150 reimbursed eKpen5e5 to lim Pre5tWODd, Ben BrwJ¥, juliette Willi5, BEnWI1115 andVicto¥ia LawrerKe,' the5ec05ts aredi5d05ed in note S'CharitablE Expenditure. and ¥vas not material durir% 2023 or 2022. Sue Watt Pdrish Administrator retr1vedeMp￿￿￿l i￿tfits in 2023. p3rtfuTrJed tIw0￿h SDF wfth the femanderpaid by St. S%wthin's. T•￿￿1e￿xed a$5ets F￿tUres, fitbngs and equiwent Totsl 2023 Cost At l JaThJary2023 Additions 89,168 1,079 89,168 1,079 Disposals At 31 De￿rnber2o23 ,247 ,247 cufflulated deweciation At l ja￿ary2023 Chargefor the year At 31 De￿Mber2O2a 83,873 4.138 88,011 83,873 4,138 88,011 Net LK>ok¥alue At 31 De￿mber2O23 2,236 2,236 At31 De¢embtr2022 5295 5295 29 The Salthouse was completed foroccupation during 2020 and taken on by 5t Swr(hins PCC as a Funttional FiKed Asser, but r( is not included as an asset for the wrpose of these accounts. Ownership of the Salthouse remains %*th the Diocese of Lincoln and is included on th￿r balance S￿et asa GlÈbÈ Property. Ho￿*¥er. for infom)ation the buildng is for the @xclu￿ve usage of St Swithins PCC. who are respon￿ble for maintÈnancÈ. upkeÈp arnl insurance. ThÈ buil(h"nK is tU￿￿ndY valuÈd by the Dio£ÈsÈ of ￿n(01n for insurance purrKJses atE2M. stock 2023 2022 Donated gcNJds Food don￿ed for distributK)n to iEnefKiarie51or LYN 3rK> 31M) Debtors Falling due within one year.. Tax reioverable- St Swthin's Tax recoverable- St Mark's Other debtor5 PrÈpaymÈnts and actrued int(m Total debtors 2023 2022 11.441 3,128 245 19.994 1,460 32 95 7.892 5,397 10 Cash at 8ankand in Hand 2023 2022 Cash at bank wth immediate access 239A81 232.1 Notice deposits Iwith a tem of three monthsor le5sI 239 81 2321 11 Credtéor5= liobilitie5fallinudue within oneye 2023 2022 Trade creditcrs Accruals 31.171 11,107 Methodist 5 year loan for 5akhuse Grant obligations 12.0(Kl 12 Cred￿t0￿$. amounts fallng dueafter mt*e than year 2023 2022 Methodist 5 year loan for sa￿￿use Grant obl￿￿10Th$ 12.CXXI 24,OCQ 30 13 Funds Durin8 the year the movements in the charty's tvnds were as follows: Opening bala￿e Incoming resources Outgoing resources Trdnsfers in the year ClO￿r balance 2023 2023 2023 2023 2023 De5j nuted Fund5 Hardship Fund Ernergency Furnd Church Planting Buildings R&M Fund Working Reserves 810 810 1.2C 30.0 6.671 60,0fy) 1,200 iis(KJ 7.642 18,777 li0.￿)0} 17.$0)1 971 141,2231 98.681 iio.TrJoi 147,7521 40.929 Generol UnrEsttrycted Funds 3,182 234.024 1263,487) 87,256 60,975 Total Unrestricted Funds 101%63 234.024 1273,487) 39.504 IOL904 Restrirted FuThls Salthouse Land5 Trust Grants Diocese.. SDF Salary gjpport Love Your Neishbour/lLYNI Leadership Development 7 Minute Fund GI￿94 5.272 80.367 9.597 82.751 34.951 181 159.1481 110.9271 182,7SiI 117.187) 12,3411 14871 17641 18.2881 13621 114,0161 111,5031 I2.￿4} 13.629 13.9421 95.942 51X) 17.9361 10.328 12,1041 56 487 CRT Transform 1361 11,4691 Slu&nt Ministry Fund Rising Gens Church PlantinE- St Mark's Church Planting- St Faith's Henry Smith Charity Heating Grant Charity Hobson 7.007 &750 7SO 6.￿0 11?95 16911 17.378 2.579 1.148 20.7C¥J 17.9(K) 18731 7.024 L532 11.4821 131.1421 12.5791 4.547 14.5471 105.677 262.442 1210,3781 139.5041 118,237 Aggregate of fmds 207540 496.466 1483.8651 220,141 31 13 Fund5 Icontinuedl In previousyear the movements in the chaiitvs funds were as follows= Opening bala￿e Incoming resources Outgoing resources Tran5fer5 in the year aosir balance 2022 2022 2022 2022 2022 Designoted Funds Hardship FLJnd Emergency Fund Church Planting Building R&M Fund Working Reserves 810 810 1.20) 30.OCQ 1,200 30,00) 6,671 60.OIX) 13291 60.CrtY) 99.010 13291 98.681 Generol Unrestricted Fund5 134.1881 224,881 1178.5671 18.9441 3,182 Total Unrestricted Funds 64,822 224.881 1178.8961 18.9441 101.863 Restricted Funds Salthouse Lands Trust Grant 47.0 3.165 17,181 1107 82.9( 32,395 3.(86 13,1671 61,094 5,272 tl'ocese.. SDF Salary &Jpport Love Your Nei8hbour/lLYNI Leadership Development Social Transform3tionl7 Minute Fund Student Ministry Fund Church Planting- St Mark's Church Plantin8- St Faith's Henry Srnith Charity Heating Grant Charity I82.￿)6) 146.5811 13.1871 I1.(￿6) 16.5501 182.7531 12.7791 12221 li,(X)4 5(K) 56 147 1.$73 3.752 17,210 11.9321 487 9,￿5 77.S38 4.020 17.6CKI IS79 i{￿0 7,IK)7 11,995 16911 17,378 2,S79 12.OfA)I 74.6n 251.287 1229.2311 8.944 105.677 Aggregate of funds 139.499 476,168 1408.1271 207,540 32 13 Fund5 Icontinuedl Restricted Fund5 Diocese rni55ional building grant fun(5nBfrorn 2015 15 primarity to help ￿e￿0p buikliry5 appropriatefor rni55ion in the camrnunityfor the next decade5. Diocese salary payrnents fund 15 funding from the Diocese of Lincoln towards key church worker salaries in the initial 5tage5 of the developrnent of the M>rk of the chwch in the ciynmurdty. The Love Your NeiEhbour ILYNI fvnd wa5 income pr￿ided fcff thee5tabli5hrnent and running of food banL cri515 cafe. debt advice and other social rninislrie5. Social Transfomation and 7 Minute Fund was re(w￿d in 2020 but due to t￿ pandemic not spent until 2021. Funds were given to enable a better welcome into the building. student Ministry is money receNed for and spenton thework of youth and strJdeTrts miTristrie¥ Includi￿ wee￿V events and one off trips. All fund5 were utilised in 2019. Designoted FI￿dS Hardship fund is money set a￿de by ihe irusteesfor the dergy to sr*Thd on rdief of po¥*rty Ito meet specific needs. at th*r discretion. Emergery Fund is money set aside bythe trustees to co¥v any future unexFectsd one-off expenditure or to meet on going costs In the face of a fall in iKome. thurth planting fund is moneyset a￿de by trustees to cover any futwe costs incurred in planting of new Analysls of netassds byfund The a5setsand liabilities of thevariou5fund5 atthe year end date were as folbws.. UnrÈstrirted Funds General funds Deygnated fund5 Restrirted fvnd5 2023 Fixed assets Stockand debtors 2.236 12,364 101.546 143.1711 112.orKJI 2,236 33.195 239.881 143,1711 Iiiomi 20,831 97,4C Cash at bank and in hand Current liabilities Noniurrent liabiltbe5 40.929 60,975 40.929 118,237 220.141 a&setsand liabilr(ies of the various lunds atthe premousyear &)d date13V121221 *re as frjllows: Unre5trirtedFunds Genernl L￿SIg￿ted Aund5 fvnds Restricred lund5 2022 FIxed￿setS 3,505 10.375 36,4 123.107J I24,(1￿) I.7￿? 6,787 97.11x7 5,295 17,162 232,1 123,1071 124,OLVI Stock onddebto Cosh ot bonk ondin hond Currentliubilitie5 Non-currenr liobilir￿s 98.681 3.182 98,681 105,677 207,540 33 14 Pen￿On commltments During the year ernployels pension contributions totallirg £4.46812022.. £59761 were payable to defir*d contribution personal pension schemes. No pension contribution5 were owing at the balance sheet date12022.. £nill. 15 Twan53clion5 With rdated parti25 During the yearthe chartty.. al received donation5 totalling £62,7￿l2022.. £64,023) frorn Telated parties IwhKh i￿ludeS member5 of the PCC. anyone closely connected to them and any other mernber ol key managemenll. bl No expense$12022.. £nill were paid to, or for, non-clerRY members of the PCC Ireimbursements for expenses inCUr￿d when acting as agent for the chariiyor incurred ¥then undertakn.ng employment duties not connected with serving as a PCC member are rx)t included in this disclosure). cl received funds from the St Swthin's Community Centre (Croft Street). charity number $21948. of £5.13412022.. £3.1201. During the yearthe charity also made the following Pa￿eThts to. or for. related parbes.. al Employed Ruth Cook as Head of Ops and De¥elopmenl, sister of ￿TrI1 Crowderwho is a PCC member. Ruth received remuneration of £27,01812022.. £25.9191 bl paid grants of EO12022.. EI.5001 to Christian Partnws in AfrKa in furtherance of the charilies objects. Raymond Evans and Richard Lambe¢ who are members of PCC is are also direttors of C.P.A. Except as disclosed in note 6'Analy5is of staff costs,. there have been no other transactions wtih related parties during the vear. 16 Material Fraud As stated in the Trustees. Report the charity was virtim to a material bank fraud of £41,223. Representations are being made to the bank and financial ombthlsman to remver the funds. 34 ST SWITHIN'S LINCOLN DETAILED STATEMENT OF FINANOAL ACnVITIES WITH COMPARATIVES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 Unrestricted Funds General 2023 Unrestricted Funds Designated 2023 Totsl Fund5 2023 Total Fund5 2022 Restricted Funds 2023 2022 2022 2022 Note INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM: Donations and lega¢les Charitable activities Othertrading èctivitles 209,662 24.362 181,334 43.547 224,035 38.407 232,097 19,190 433,697 62,769 413,431 62.737 TOTAL INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS 234,024 224,881 262,442 251,287 496,466 476,168 EXPENOITURE ON.. Charitsble adivilies.. 263,487 178,567 10.000 329 210,378 229,231 483,865 408,127 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 263,487 178,567 10,000 329 210,378 229,231 483,86S 408,127 Net Incomellexpendtturel 129,4631 46,314 110.0001 13291 52,064 22,056 12,601 68.041 Transfers between funth 13 87,256 18,9441 147,7521 139,5041 movèment In funds 57,793 37,370 157,7521 13291 12,560 31,000 12,601 68,041 ReconcS1Satlon of fund5: 13 Total funds brought forward 3,182 134,1881 98.681 99.010 IOS.677 74,677 207,540 135.499 Total fund5 carrfed lorward 118 237 105 677 220 141 35