## **St Mary the Virgin, Embsay with Eastby** **Annual Trustees’ Report, Financial Statement and Parish Reports** **of** **The Parochial Church Council For the year ended 31[st] December 2020** **The Church of St Mary the Virgin, Embsay with Eastby,** **Kirk Lane, BD23 6SF** ## **Vicar** Vacancy until 30[th] March, 2020 Revd Canon Marion Russell Vicar from 30[th] March, 2020 ## **Associate Priest** Revd Tim Calow Banks: Independent Examiner: HSBC 63 High Street Skipton Mr David Charlton 6 St Mary’s Green Carleton Santander Bridle Road, Bootle Reg. Charity Number 1166269 2 **The Annual General Meeting for the Parish of St Mary the Virgin,** # **Embsay with Eastby** ## **Sunday 18[th] April, 2021 at 3.00 pm** ## **AGENDA** ## **The Meeting of Parishioners** - 1) The appointment of the clerk - 2) Chair’s welcome and opening prayer - 3) Apologies - 4) Minutes of the previous meeting - 5) The election of churchwardens ## **The Annual Parochial Church Meeting.** - 1) The appointment of the Clerk - 2) Apologies - 3) Minutes of the last Annual Parochial Church Meeting - 4) Electoral Roll report - 5) The Elections: - i) The election of the Parochial Church Council - 6) The Annual Report - 7) The Financial Statements: - i) Presentation of the Examined Accounts - ii) Independent Examiner’s Report - iii) Appointment of Independent Examiner for 2021 - iv) Gift Aid Officer’s Report - 8) Churchwardens’ Report – Fabric, goods and ornaments - 9) Skipton Deanery Synod Report - 10) The Parish Reports - 11) Date of the next Annual Parochial Church Meeting - 12) Any other business 3 ## **Church of St Mary the Virgin Embsay with Eastby** ## **Annual Meetings Sunday 27[th] September 2020 3pm, in church and via Zoom due to Covid-19 pandemic** ## **Minutes of Meeting of Parishioners** 24 Parishioners attended in church and 7 via Zoom (remote online conferencing) 1. Revd Canon Marion Russell our new vicar chaired the Meeting of Parishioners. She welcomed everyone and opened the meeting with prayers. 2. Peter Edward proposed and Simon Smith seconded Sue Stearn as Clerk, which was agreed unanimously by those in church and on Zoom. 3. No apologies received 4. Simon Smith proposed and Sue Davies seconded the acceptance of the Minutes of the 2019 meeting and all those who had attended that meeting agreed with their acceptance. 5. Marion thanked the church wardens Liz Roodhouse and Peter Edwards. They have both agreed to stand again as wardens. Liz Roodhouse was proposed by Jennifer Stearn and seconded by Sue Davies. Peter Edwards was proposed by Tony Stearn and seconded by Marcia Wilkinson. Each was elected unanimously by those in church and on Zoom. The meeting closed at 3.12pm (Sue Stearn AMP Clerk) ## **Minutes of the Annual Parochial Church Meeting** Revd Canon Marion Russell our new vicar chaired the APCM 24 Parishioners attended in church and 7 via Zoom (remote online conferencing) 1. **Appointment of the clerk** ; Peter Edwards proposed and Simon Smith seconded Sue Stearn as Clerk, which was agreed unanimously by those in church and on Zoom. 4 ## 2. **Apologies** none received. 3. **Minutes of the 2019 meeting held on 28[th] April, 2019** Liz Roodhouse proposed, and Lesley Higson seconded their acceptance, they were agreed unanimously by all who had been at that meeting. 4. **Electoral Roll report** : Sue Davies reported that there were 74 on the roll at the time of the meeting with the following additions and deletions: Additions: Vera Price, Chris Terry, Andrea Swearman, Louise Smith Deletions: Mary Jones (deceased), Thomas Stewart, Victoria Madeley Marion thanked Sue Davies for her work as Electoral Roll Officer ## 5. **The elections:** i) **Election of the Parochial Church Council.** There were five vacancies following the end of the term of office, of Simon Smith, Christine-Stewart Jones, and David Jones, along with Jenny Johnson who was co-opted for the year 2019-20. There were four nominations for the vacancies: **Simon Smith** had been proposed by Sue Stearn and seconded by Peter Edwards, unanimously elected by those in church and on Zoom. **Christine-Stewart Jones** had been proposed by Jennifer Stearn and seconded by Bridget Edwards, unanimously elected by those in church and on Zoom. **David Jones** had been proposed by Tony Stearn and seconded by Bridget Edwards, unanimously elected by those in church and on Zoom. **Jenny Johnson** had been proposed by Sue Stearn and seconded by Jill Mitchell, unanimously elected by those in church and on Zoom. Helen Ralph, who was temporarily co-opted on to PCC during 2020 to help with setting up and using of Zoom for meetings and church services, sees the need for her co-option is fulfilled although she is very willing to be called upon for her advice again at any time when needed. Marion thanked her for all her technical input and other contributions to the church council during this time. ii) **Election of Deanery Synod representatives.** There were three vacancies following the end of the term of office of Bridget Edwards and Sue Stearn. Two nominations for the vacancies: 5 **Bridget Edwards** had been proposed by Janet Smith and seconded by Daphne Jepps, unanimously elected by those in church and on Zoom. **Sue Stearn** had been proposed by Susan Davies and seconded by Helen Ralph, unanimously elected by those in church and on Zoom. **Election of the Sidespersons:** Due to the change in the Church Representation Rules 2020 this is now done by the PCC and was completed on 24[th] July, 2020 _All the reports were in a printed booklet, due to Covid 19, copies were posted, hand delivered and sent electronically to the congregation from August, 2020. Copies of all reports are attached to these minutes. Minuted items under individual reports are those recorded at this APCM._ ## 6. **The Annual Trustees report** No questions or comments on the report. Marion thanked everyone for the welcome she had received. She was delighted to be here and very much appreciated the team spirit of St Mary’s and warmth of its welcome. She thanked Revd Tim Calow, Liz Roodhouse and Peter Edwards for their report of 2019. She also thanked Sue Stearn the PCC secretary for her work over the year. ## 7. **The Financial Statements;** i) **Presentation of the examined reports and** ii) **Independent examiner’s report** Jenny Johnson said thank you to everyone for their help over the last year. No questions or comments on the report. Simon Smith asked that the congregation’s thanks be minuted for all the work Jenny does as treasurer and preparing the accounts. Proposal for acceptance of the 2019 accounts made by David Jones and seconded by Lesley Higson, agreed unanimously by those in church and on Zoom. ## iii) **Appointment of an Independent Examiner for 2020 accounts** 6 Jenny Johnson proposed David Charlton and Tony Stearn seconded his appointment as the independent examiner. This was agreed unanimously by those in church and on Zoom. ## iv) **Gift Aid Officer’s report** No questions or comments on the report. Marion reported Justin Gartland was happy to continue as Gift aid officer and that he felt the Parish Giving Scheme was very good. ## 8 **. Churchwardens’ Report** – fabric, goods and ornaments Peter Edwards explained that there was no separate report for 2019, as it had been a very busy year with the vacancy and window project. Instead this report has been included in the Annual Trustees Report. Shelagh Marshall asked if the maintenance of the church was able to continue with Covid-19 Pandemic, Peter said the report related to 2019, but yes the church was being maintained within Covid guidelines and regulations. ## 9. **Skipton Deanery Synod report:** No questions or comments on the report. ## 10. **Parish reports** a. **Safeguarding Report:** No questions or comments on the report. Marion thanked Christine Stewart – Jones (CSJ) for all her work as Safeguarding officer. CSJ reiterated that if anyone had any concerns to ring or contact her, including if just needed to talk regarding the difficulty of living under the current conditions. b. **School Governors Report:** Marion thanked Helen Ralph for her report. Current Foundation Governors are, Marion (ex-officio as vicar), Helen Ralph and Jennifer Stearn, Revd Tim Calow’s role as substitute for the vicar during the vacancy ceased once Marion was in post and he is willing to continue giving his input as co-opted governor, still to be ratified at the next governors’ meeting. No questions or comments on the report. 7 ## c. **Tuesday Teas:** No questions or comments on the report. ## d. **Band:** No questions or comments on the report. - e. **Choir:** No questions or comments on the report. ## f. **Skipton Churches Mothers’ Union:** No questions or comments on the report. g **. The environment group/Eco – Church:** No questions or comments on the report. ## h. **Disability Report( Jane Eastwood):** No questions or comments on the report. ## i. **Village Institute report:** No questions or comments on the report. ## j. **Smiley faces:** No questions or comments on the report. k. **Fair Trade report:** No questions or comments on the report. ## 11. **Date of the next APCM:** Sunday 18[th] April 2021 ## 12. **Any other business:** a. Bursary Fund: Marion asked if anyone would like to take on the role of administering this fund. Simon Smith said he would undertake the role. b. Chris Terry said as a newcomer to the village she was pleased to read St Mary’s annual report, which gave her a good feel about the church. Marion said that the Parish reports showed a church very rich in activity and also work in the community. c. Shirley Moorhouse said thank you to Marion, Peter Edwards and Liz Roodhouse for everything they do. 8 Marion said a very big thank you to everyone for their support and help in the last six months, as we have lived with and continue to live with the effects of the Covid 19 Pandemic. The meeting closed at 3.45pm (Sue Stearn APCM Clerk) ## **Trustees’ Report for 2020** ## **PCC approved by correspondence by 19[th] March, 2021** ## **Aims and Purposes** St Mary the Virgin, Embsay with Eastby, Parochial Church Council (PCC) has in the past year fulfilled its responsibility of promoting the ecclesiastical parish in the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. At the beginning of the year from January to March in the remainder of the vacancy, this was in cooperation with The Revd Ruth Harris, the Area Dean of Skipton Deanery; this then continued with the new incumbent, The Revd Canon Marion Russell, who on 30[th] March was collated as Vicar of Embsay with Eastby and licensed as Area Clergy Development Officer, by the Bishop of Ripon, The Rt Revd Dr Helen-Ann Hartley. Because of the pandemic prohibition on worshipping in church buildings, this service was conducted on the digital platform Zoom, with a small online congregation. We are also supported in our responsibilities by St Mary’s Associate Priest, The Revd Tim Calow, and by The Revd Bob Mitchell, retired priest with Bishop’s Permission to Officiate. Our commitment and responsibilities are expressed in our parish statement of intent: We, the community of St Mary’s, aim to create a welcoming and inspiring place where people of every age can meet God, who we know as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and can recognise his presence in our lives and in one another. We believe that we are loved and blessed by God, and that we have a responsibility to share our blessings with one another and with the wider community, of all faiths and none. 9 ## **Objectives and activities** The PCC is committed to nurturing faith, by enabling as many people as possible to worship at St Mary’s and to become part of our church community, and to enable people to live out their faith in day to day life. In order to achieve this we have our Plan for Growth to give us an overview of how we improve and maintain the church building and churchyard, which are the visible symbols of our presence in the community, how we develop worship for children and families, how we increase community involvement and ecumenical links, and how we develop our own spirituality as we try to enable ordinary people to live faithful, loving, and God-focussed lives. Since the end of March 2020, however, the shape of our activities to address the objectives has changed because of the varying legal and advisory restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic measures in place through the remainder of 2020, and continuing into 2021. ## **A Worshipping Presence: Outline Dates of St Mary’s Open and Closed, 2020** St Mary’s has fully complied with the legal requirements and additional guidance for worship during the pandemic. |for worship during the pandemic.|| |---|---| |**Public Worship**|**Private Prayer**| |**Closed**from 18thMarch
Sunday and Tuesday public worship
provided on the Zoom digital platform
from 7thApril|**Closed**from 24 March| ||**Open**from 22 June to 23rdAug,
Sunday and Wednesday afternoons
only;supervised.| |**Open**6thJuly for Tuesday Midweek Holy
Communion services only|| ||**Open**24thAugust for private prayer
daily without supervision, additional
measures inplace.| |**Open**6thSept for all HolyCommunion|Remaining **Open**| 10 |Services Sundays (additionally
transmitted byZoom)and Tuesdays.|| |---|---| |**Open**All Age Worship transmitted by
Zoom with the band and a spaced
congregation additionally in church: 4
October,1 November,6 December.|| |**Closed**5thNovember - 2ndDecember**,**
only essential leaders in church for
streaming|**Open**for private prayer as above,
permission remained during the
November lockdown| |**Open**6thDecember to 4thJanuary for all
Holy Communion Services Sundays
(additionally transmitted by Zoom) and
Tuesdays.|Remaining**Open**| |Christmas Week was a seasonal break from daily Zoom offices, mid-week
communion and church opening.|| All Sunday 9.30am services of Holy Communion throughout this period April to December have been recorded and made available for one week, thereafter for those who prefer to access them this way. Following safeguarding advice, All Age Worship has not been recorded. As a church in the community we have made every effort to be supportive and accessible to the congregation and the local community. All this has been deeply appreciated. We are grateful to those who offered their knowledge and digital skills initially to enable us to use Zoom as a digital platform; they and many other members of the congregation have continued generously contributing their energy, skills and time to develop its use, through which we have gathered for congregational worship, daily prayer and social activities. We are also thankful for all amongst us who have given their time, skills and pastoral care to maintain communication with those who don’t access Zoom. ## **Church governance, structure and management in the Pandemic Restrictions** Our first planned church council meeting of 31[st] March welcoming Canon Marion was deferred to 4[th] April and transferred to Zoom, and the remaining church council meetings this year have been conducted on Zoom, with all resolutions 11 ratified by email correspondence. The full PCC has met on eleven occasions in 2020 and the average attendance was 88%. The Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) was deferred for all churches under permissions granted by The Rt Revd Nick Baines, Bishop of Leeds, our diocesan bishop. We were able to hold our APCM on 27[th] September, in church for the majority of those attending socially distanced under Tier 2 regulations, and with a small Zoom attendance participating. Despite the pandemic the structure, governance and management of the PCC has remained unaltered, though zoom meetings and organising the APCM has had its challenges. The method of appointment of PCC members is as set out in the Church Representation Rules. The membership of the PCC at St Mary’s consists of the Vicar, Associate Priest, Retired Priest, Churchwardens, Treasurer, Deanery Synod representatives and members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the parish. All those within our congregation are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC. PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish, including deciding how the funds of the PCC are to be spent. ## **The church building and churchyard** Maintenance is undertaken and checked on a regular basis, using the St Mary’s Management and Maintenance Plan. The PCC is updated regularly through a “Fabric” item on the agenda. Following the Quinquennial Inspection in 2019/20 there were a number of actions initiated. Covid-19 disruption caused a delay in the completion of some of these but the majority have now been satisfactorily concluded. 1. The cracking to plaster panels on the interior of the roof: completed in 2020. 2. Repairs to the rotted timberwork on the lych gate: this was begun in 2020 and the replacement timber installed. In the course of the work it was decided to 12 address some decay in the vertical corner pillars and work on that continues into 2021 in discussion with the architect and DAC. Both the above items were referred through the Diocesan faculty system and authorised as List B repairs. 3. Some repointing was indicated by the inspection, as being required as part of the church maintenance to keep it in good order. Some of that was completed in 2020 and the work will continue over the quinquennium. 4. A full electrical survey was also carried out by Baines Electrical as part of the QI. The list of items requiring attention (none flagged as “critical”) was completed during 2020. 5. A check of the lightning conductor system was undertaken during 2020 and the system found to be in a good state. 6. The QI identified the security of the upper ladders in the tower as a matter for review. This has still to be addressed. ## **Routine items** The churchyard continues to be kept in excellent condition. It remains to be seen whether the Parish Council will continue to make a grant of £60 towards the maintenance of the churchyard. The new cellar pump system which was installed in 2019 has continued to prove effective although concern remains that it operates at capacity during periods of exceptional and sustained rainfall. This needs to be regularly monitored. Roof slates on the parts of the roof which were not included in the “A Roof for our Future” project continue to need re-fixing and the time is not very far off when the south face of the nave roof will need more systematic attention. The Terrier and Log Book are up to date and the plate is in good order. The Inventory was not checked during 2020; the vacancy, the welcome arrival of Canon Marion and the restrictions of Covid-19 resulted in this being postponed until 2021. The public notice-board was updated to include Canon Marion’s details. 13 ## **The church audio system and online sharing of services** The audio system has been upgraded as the existing amplifier became faulty. A recycled and higher quality amplifier was installed together with additional headset microphones. This has restored the hearing loop system to functionality as well as significantly enhancing the sound volume and quality for all users. In response to the restrictions imposed by Covid-19, a system of sharing services live from the church was developed using Zoom Meeting sharing software and an interface with the church audio system. Eventually, a system of two static cameras, and the church sound system, both linked to a laptop, provided connection to home-based worshippers. Wi-Fi connection to the internet is currently provided through a 4G phone link. The result has been that it is possible to hold services live which involve participation from people at home together with those in church. ## **Churchyard Research Group** The pandemic has prevented members of the Churchyard research group/ Embsay with Eastby research group from continuing their work at Coniston near Kettlewell, to help our friends at Holy Trinity Skipton and support a new project at Fewston Churchyard. The Discovering England’s Burial Space project run by the University of York (DEBS) website has now been completed. St Mary’s original churchyard project team of 2015 has been acknowledged, especially for the work regarding RTI (Reflectance Transformation Imaging). There are photographs of some of the team on the website. Look at http://www.debs.ac.uk/communitygroups.html http://www.debs.ac.uk/rti.html RTI Reflectance Transformation Imaging http://www.debs.ac.uk/files/RTI_Guide_v3.pdf RTI guide written by team members Sue and Jennifer Stearn are in process of checking the digital record of every surveyed grave plot in the churchyard, ready to be stored at the Archaeological Data Service at the University. This is a national data base for projects. 14 ## **Developing worship and engaging with children and families** During the year in the church we conducted one baptism, and four funerals, one of which included a burial in the churchyard, another with the burial in a local woodland cemetery, and two being followed by cremation. One funeral was conducted at Waltonwrays Chapel. The last Smiley Faces Toddler Praise was on 13[th] March prior to the first lockdown. St Mary’s has a core base of over 70 people in the worshipping community, with the suspended Smiley Faces not counted. Ability to join in public worship has varied through the pandemic conditions. During the Zoom-only period AprilSeptember, Sunday attendance ranged from 21 in holiday periods to 35 adults, with an average of 27.5. Children at monthly All Age Worship numbered 1-12, averaging 5.6. When the autumn in-church and zoom figures are combined, the average Sept-Oct was 36.2. During 2020, 3 new members were added to the Electoral Roll, and 2 members died, resulting in a total of 73 at the end of the year. Consultation and thinking about how to involve adults and children more fully into the life of St Mary’s is ongoing. 2020 has added to the challenges, in particular keeping in touch with the young families whom we would normally have been seeing regularly at Smiley Faces. A member of our All Age Worship team, Julia Lovell, organised Christmas craft kits and advertised them on the Embsay Update Facebook page and there was enough interest for a second order. The Advent display of nativity/crib sets in church also attracted many families who were able to take away a free copy of the Bible Society’s Christmas story, “It begins in Bethlehem.” Several families also appreciated being able to sing carols in the churchyard on Christmas Eve and enjoyed the Christmas Memories display in church. ## **Community Involvement and Ecumenical links** Two large colourful banners have proclaimed our message of hope from the outer East wall of the church building. In the first lockdown _**Buildings closed - Hearts open** ;_ since July _**We’re open, loving living learning together** ;_ both with additional information. A striking new pavement sign is put out when the church is open with the reverse advertising a service that day, an indicator valued by villagers. 15 The Tuesday Teas drop-in cafe in St Mary’s quickly transferred to virtual teas on Zoom when the first lockdown began and this provides an opportunity for members of the congregation to socialise. Sadly the outreach element has gone for the time being. The community café, ‘Making Waves’, hosted in the Methodist Chapel Hall, was a casualty of the pandemic. One of the last Monday morning sessions was the one at the beginning of March in Fairtrade Fortnight, when our Fairtrade stall made an appearance. The Embsay with Eastby Village News, which was delivered to two thirds of the households in the villages, and had information about services and events every month, with a comment piece written by clergy from St Mary’s and the Methodist minister, ceased publication after the March issue. However, one of our churchwardens, Liz Roodhouse, worked alongside the editor to produce a special Covid-19 edition of the News in July. A free copy of this was delivered to every household in the villages. During 2020 the Embsay with Eastby Good Neighbours scheme; which is intended to provide assistance in a variety of ways for village residents, has gone from strength to strength, albeit in a more limited and different way. Four of the seven trustees are members of the congregation of St Mary’s, and many of the volunteers are also linked to the church. Plans for 19[th] September to celebrate the 900[th] anniversary of the founding of Embsay Priory (1120-21) had to be postponed because of another change in pandemic regulations, and are provisionally rearranged for 22[nd] May 2021. Fundraising events with the community included Pig Racing in February, and outdoor stalls with precautions in the church car park for plants, books and toys. The Summer Fair in the Vicarage garden had to be cancelled. Meals and quizzes over Zoom links were held to maintain social contact between congregation, villagers and other friends, without fundraising. St Mary’s is part of Churches Together in Skipton and District; we share worship with Embsay Methodist Chapel on fifth Sundays of the month, and regular seasonal observances. The quarterly ecumenical lunch between churchwardens, 16 ministers and church and chapel representatives continues. Zoom has been used for these during restrictions. Our ecumenical Remembrance Sunday service was transmitted from St Mary’s to a Zoom congregation, followed by a sombre Act of Remembrance at the War Memorial, with key local representatives and a small well-spaced presence of villagers. Sadly we were not able to do the two-parish pilgrimage with Bolton Priory this year. St Mary’s is a Fair-trade Church and our activities continue with the village. See separate report. Our close links with Embsay C of E. Primary School have continued. See separate report. Jennifer Stearn represents St Mary’s Church on the Village Institute Committee. See separate report. This year St Mary’s gained the A Rocha UK Eco Church Silver Award and many other activities have been undertaken. See separate Eco Group Report. ## **Developing spirituality** From January to March, the routines and worship patterns continued well for the remainder of the vacancy under the able leadership of churchwardens Liz and Peter, and of Tim and Bob, associated clergy, who contributed effectively with spiritual leadership and guidance. Canon Marion moved to the Vicarage and took up post at the end of March at the start of the first national Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, a rapidly changing and bewildering situation which required immediate responses in several ways. This was done with clear and collaborative leadership from the clergy-churchwardens team in its new format. Many nuances were discussed in shaping practicalities of worship, growing in understanding new technology, and finding new ways to continue pastoral and spiritual care. Twice-weekly email updates from Liz have kept people well informed, and along with the text of the sermon and other 17 encouraging input. Printed versions have been warmly received by those without internet access. More of these pandemic changes and developments are given in at the end of this booklet. Although some of the events seem social, for many people different aspects of these assumed a rich spiritual dimension, as we quietly grappled with facing different realities for which we had no prior experience. We have learned much this year, been blessed and protected in many ways, and are still learning to sustain each other in the continuing uncertainty of these times, at times experiencing the weariness that uncertainty and unfamiliarity can bring. We have had good caring support from Bishop Nick and all the diocesan senior staff. We continue to aim to live in ways that proclaim our church and homes as places of light, attentively praying for all who live and work in this parish, and engaging with The Archbishops’ call to _Prayer for the Nation._ _“I will bless you...and you will be a blessing.” (_ Genesis 12:2) _The Revd Canon Marion Russell, Vicar_ _Peter Edwards and Liz Roodhouse, Churchwardens Sue Stearn, PCC Secretary_ _On behalf of the Trustees of St Mary’ the Virgin, Embsay with Eastby_ ## **FINANCIAL REVIEW** _(For full details of the 2020 accounts and_ Operating Reserve Policy _see separate document)_ ## **Treasurer’s report for the year 2020** 2020 has been an extremely difficult and challenging year for everyone, including St Mary’s Church. At the end of an excellent first financial quarter, where we raised 126% of the income we needed to cover our costs for that quarter, we were suddenly faced with financial uncertainty in having to cancel essential fundraising events in the short term and with having the ambiguity of future fundraising 18 events happening, due to the pandemic. Yet, with the generous regular donations from our kind-hearted parishioners and local community and new regular giving being set up throughout the year, even during the lockdowns (over the telephone, or by filling out a simple form and sending it off), we managed to raise the necessary funds for the continued running and ministry of the church. This generous giving, coupled with some out of the box thinking in relation to fundraising by some very dedicated people, has helped St Mary’s get through this very difficult period from a financial point of view. Everyone’s help in achieving this is very greatly appreciated. We have been able to cover all of our running costs (including significantly increased service costs due to the need to purchase the required equipment in order to run online services and meetings), and have been able to meet, and exceed (by £4,034), our revised target share payment of £35,000 for 2020 without the need to resort to reserves to cover any deficit; a tremendous achievement by everyone, especially with what was happening, so thank you. The revised share target for 2021 has been agreed upon at £35,000 (the same as for 2020) and we should, hopefully, achieve this with everyone’s continued efforts. The Diocesan share for each parish is calculated by the application of a formula which, in our case, generates an anomalous, very high figure. This has been recognised by the Diocese, resulting in the revised figure agreed upon for 2020 and 2021, mentioned above. The formula was to be reviewed, but due to the pandemic this has been delayed. The PCC has made a submission to the process and will continue to offer to contribute in future. We have been grateful for the engagement with us of Diocesan finance staff through this process. I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped to support St Mary’s, whether financially, or in any other way, and continues to do so. Without you we would not be able to continue the vital support, service and ministry we offer our local and wider community. St Mary’s continues to be closely involved in the roll out of the Parish Giving scheme with the Diocese of Leeds and is currently (at the time of writing this 19 report) piloting the new online sign-up process for this. The scheme has proved extremely beneficial to the fundraising for St Mary’s, in a year where we have been unable to hold physical services where a significant amount of our donations are generated. This scheme has been very well received by our parishioners and supporters who have found it to be extremely easy and straight forward to set up and use. We continue to be delighted to be ambassadors for the scheme within the Diocese. St Mary’s has a history of giving generously to charity and in total, since 2008, we have paid over £31,000 to various charities chosen by the congregation (an average of around £2,400 per year). With the pandemic, and because of it, we felt it even more important that we be able to uphold our commitment to support local, national and international charities this year, and again, due to our very generous parishioners and community, we were able to support 8 charities during 2020 paying to them over £2,100. No Bursary Grants were paid in 2020. My grateful thanks to everyone at St Mary’s for helping us have a good year financially in 2020 despite the extreme challenges we all faced, and still face today, and for your support in helping me in my role as Treasurer. And thanks again to David Charlton for being the Independent Examiner of our accounts. _Jenny Johnson, Treasurer_ ## **Gift aid officer’s report** This report covers the financial (and calendar) year of 2020. The pandemic has had an effect on giving as we have not been able to receive income from irregular church goers, or from events such as baptisms, weddings and funerals. The resulting amounts from which to seek a Gift Aid claim have also therefore reduced. For example, small donations under the GASDs scheme, which 20 sits alongside our claims on other giving was down from a total of £6,000 to £3,000 over the year compared to 2019. I have yet to submit a claim for most of 2020, but have done so up to April, which included most of the non-pandemic part of the year. The post-April amounts in the report are therefore estimates of pending receipts. I’m normally pretty accurate in these estimates. A significant number of our regular givers now utilise the Parish Giving Scheme run by the Gloucester Diocese. This has the benefit of regular monthly income from Gift Aid to our accounts. I do not have sight of this, but Jenny has advised that for 2020, this netted us £4,890 in Gift Aid refunds. Fantastic. 2020’s received and estimated Gift Aid from the envelope scheme, regular giving and standing orders to St Mary’s is £1,315, which will add to the £997 collected to April. Small donations (GASDs) will add £750 to the already collected £1,537, once I submit the claim for post April 2020 in 2021. Overall therefore, this will net us £4,599. Add this to the £4,890 Gift Aid refund under the Parish Giving Scheme and the contribution to our funds of this vital source of income - £9,489 is apparent, even in a tragic year such as the one just passed. _Justin Gartland – Gift Aid Officer_ ## **Safeguarding Report - January to December 2020** February was the beginning of a very difficult year for churches everywhere. The Covid-19 virus gradually spread throughout the world, affecting every aspect of our lives, including the closure of churches. Safeguarding advice to stay safe was issued by the Government. During this time, I received no direct concerns from our church community, but we are all aware throughout this pandemic, that domestic abuse, child neglect and mental health issues increased. I have been able to provide a list of emergency telephone numbers for people affected, and these have been added to our web site. 21 I also emailed the PCC and the wider community with posts sent to me by NYCC, which alerted us to, often unpleasant, scams or other incidents to be aware of locally. DBS Checks were minimal. The Annual Self Declaration Forms were completed in March, as directed by the House of Bishops. Embsay with Eastby continues to be a resourceful, energetic and caring community, even more so during the pandemic. I am pleased to have taken on the role of Safeguarding Officer for the last 8 years. Thank you all for your support during this time, it has been invaluable. I have now decided to step down, however I will remain a member of the PCC. _Christine Stewart-Jones, Parish Safeguarding Officer_ ## **Administrative information** The Church of St Mary the Virgin provides for the villages of Embsay and Eastby in the Skipton Deanery of Ripon Area within the Diocese of Leeds. The PCC is a body corporate and a registered charity (No. 1166269) The correspondence address is: The Vicarage, 21 Shires Lane, Embsay, Skipton BD23 6SB ## **Members of the Parochial Church Council in 2020** Vicar (Chair) Revd Canon Marion Russell from 30th March, 2020 Associate Priest Revd Tim Calow Retired Priest Revd Bob Mitchell Churchwardens: Peter Edwards Liz Roodhouse (Lay Vice Chair) Deanery Synod Reps Sue Stearn 2020-2023 Bridget Edwards 2020-2023 Treasurer Jenny Johnson 2020-2023 Elected members David Jones 2020-2023 Simon Smith 2020-2023 22 |Christine Stewart-Jones|2020-2023| |---|---| |Sylvia Hodgkinson|2019-2022| |Sue Davies|2018-2021| |Lesley Higson (2yr term)|2019-2021| |Carol Smith|2019-2022| The PCC is clerked by Sue Stearn ## **Skipton Deanery Synod Report for 2020** Due to the Covid -19 pandemic there were no Deanery Synod meetings in 2020 _Sue Stearn and Bridget Edwards, Deanery Synod Representatives_ ## **Embsay C of E (VC) Primary School; School Governor’s report for 2020** The school year runs from September to July so 2020 covers part of two school years. On the governing body at the beginning of 2020 there were three foundation governors; Helen Ralph and Jennifer Stearn as the regular governors and The Revd Tim Calow as the interim ex-officio governor during the period of vacancy. Once The Reverend Canon Marion Russell took her post as the Vicar on 30[th] March 2020, she became the ex-officio governor during the period when meetings were suspended. Her ex-officio role was ratified from September 2020 when the new round of Governing Body meetings recommenced and Tim was offered, and accepted, a role as a co-opted governor. Rachael Higgins and Matt SmalesCresswell are now co-chairs and Chris Atherton has joined the governing body as the new parent governor. The school had an OFSTED inspection in February of 2020 with an overall rating of GOOD. The report stated “The distinctly Christian ethos is welcoming”. The school was last inspected as part of SIAMS in May 2017 (Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools) when it was given an ‘Outstanding’ rating. 23 Helen Ralph visited the school early in 2020 to review the SIAMS objectives ‘ensuring that the Christian distinctiveness is emphasised and diversity promoted’. There was good feedback on the Collective Worship for the early part of the year. The children were appreciating having the lay members (Peter Edwards and Liz Roodhouse) of the church taking the Collective Worship. There was positive feedback from the OFSTED report. Initial work had been started to have links with an inner city predominantly Muslim school. The HT had planned to join the church trip to Malawi in June of this year as part of the SIAMS objective. A SIAMS workshop for the governors was also planned in the first term of 2020. However, all of these were put on hold due to the Pandemic. In March 2020 the school closed to the majority of pupils in line with government requirements. The school remained open for children of keyworker parents and vulnerable children. During this first lockdown there were approximately 19 children in school. Distance learning was introduced for all other children using various on-line resources. Teachers prepared work for the children and also marked the submissions back from the children. The teachers also kept in close contact with all children. The school partially re-opened in June with strict precautions in place and pupils and staff forming ‘bubbles’. The school fully reopened after the Summer Holidays but with restrictions. Outside visitors were kept to a minimum and therefore traditional Collective Worship with visiting church members was not possible. However, Peter Edwards, Liz Roodhouse, Tim Calow, Marion Russell and Tracey Darling (Methodist minister) have all contributed to the worship with Zoom sessions and recordings. Helen Ralph was able to visit the school on November 11[th] to play the Last Post (from a distance) in the school playground. As expected, due to the pandemic, there were no opportunities for Christmas services or nativity plays in the Church this year. This has been an incredibly hard year for all members of school staff, especially those teaching both in school and online, as well as the various demands of social distancing guidelines and new cleaning regimes, but everyone has coped very well. _The Reverend Canon Marion Russell, Helen Ralph, Jennifer Stearn and Reverend Tim Calow_ 24 ## **Tuesday Teas Report for 2020** Due to the Covid-19 pandemic Tuesday Teas has continued to be Zoomed since April 2020 and my thanks to the people who have joined us either physically in the first couple of months and virtually thereafter. ## _Sylvia Hodgkinson_ ## **St Mary’s Band report 2020/21** This has been a very strange year for us all not just the Band. Lockdown has seen us learn new skills and move out of our comfort zone. The Band has continued, all be it in a slightly different way. The last full live band was March 20, when we had fun when all the birthdays were suddenly admitted to! Just before lockdown in March, we very sadly lost Mary Jones who was a stalwart for the band from its very first inception as Jubilate to its current form. We will always remember her ‘’no no no no’s`` when we got it badly and persistently wrong! Mary’s friendship, patience and enjoyment in coaching our younger members, her gifts of produce from her garden and hens were enjoyed by all. I very much miss Mary and her friendship. I often wonder what she would have made of lockdown. Then we had lockdown. Helen very kindly made drapes for our music stands in the first lockdown which look fabulous and give a feeling of unity. Helen’s comments were The material is one of my old sheets The supports are bamboo cut from the vicarage garden The braid was from Marion's sewing box and the rest is on one of her chasubles. The logo was designed and adapted from the church original logo by Sophie and Max, Diana and Alan's daughter and boyfriend. Our thanks to them. 25 We have zoom practices which are very strange as you play to a backing track rather than live. The feedback and lag on the internet make playing together in different rooms/houses impossible It is not possible to hear what everyone is playing; however, I have every confidence we are note perfect! We could not have done this without the huge efforts of Peter, Diana and Helen. This has enabled the band to stay in touch with each other. Helen and David have provided live music for services which has been very much appreciated. Band members have made recordings of themselves playing to the backing track provide by David or arranged via Finale. These individual recordings have been mastered to put together a combined track and played in AAW. The Stearn family have kindly provided vocals. This is a time-consuming process and we cannot do this for every piece of music, so we have evolved to a mix of band in a box, band engineered and vocal songs. It has been interesting, not always successful, but fun. Thank you to Sue and Jennifer who have kept us on the straight and narrow with copyright and streaming issues. As a consequence, we have not been able to play all our favourites. We continue to meet on zoom although not all members are able to do this. Those absent friends have been very much missed. We briefly got together in a very limited way October November December and January. We were delighted to have John Midgley join us to play for the carol service in December which we all thoroughly enjoyed, just in the nick of time then sadly back to lockdown. Here is to vaccines, release from lockdown and playing together once more as a full band _Yvonne and the Band._ 26 ## **Choir report for 2020** The pandemic has silenced our voices, except when restrictions have allowed a single cantor to sing at a service in church, thanks to David Jones, Revd Tim Calow and Helen Garbutt. At times Sue, Tony and Jennifer Stearn have also sung together in church, being from the same household. Many thanks to Helen Ralph for singing on zoom. The congregation however has not been allowed to sing in church. We all look forward to the time when we can sing together. _Sue, Tony and Jennifer Stearn_ ## **Skipton Churches Mothers’ Union** For the Skipton Churches branch of the Mothers' Union (which covers the Anglican churches in Skipton and the villages of Carleton and Embsay with Eastby), 2020 started well with a Wave of Prayer meeting in January in which we prayed for the Mothers' Union throughout the world but with particular reference to the areas which are linked with our Leeds diocese. We managed to hold our regular monthly meetings at St Mary's in February (the AGM) and in March (a Lenten Meditation led by Catherine Gibson from Ilkley) but then came Lockdown 1 and our meetings had to alter, like so many other things last year! We have managed to hold some of our meetings on Zoom but only about half our members are able to use this facility effectively so we have kept up contact by regular emails and by 'phoning some of the members during our Zoom sessions so that they can at least hear and be heard by the Zooming members. Initially our meetings were short - basically prayers then a social, catch-up session - as we were using the free (40 minute) version but then, towards the end of 2020, Canon Marion kindly offered us the use of St Mary's Zoom facility which Sylvia could host for us. This enabled us to have proper meetings at our usual time of 7.30 pm on the first Tuesday of the month. I gave a talk about Hildegard of Bingen, which wasn't very exciting visually but left us knowing a little more about that remarkable woman than we had before. 27 We had bought some more packs of books to give out to the remaining local primary schools for teachers to use with pupils who are experiencing problems such as a death in the family or family breakdown (having already distributed them to some of the local schools in a previous year). Unfortunately, since they didn't arrive until late March, we have not yet been able to distribute these in person because of Covid-19 security measures in schools and the fact that most of our members are in the older, more vulnerable group. However, we did manage to distribute `Little Bags of Love' (see photograph on back page) to parents / carers bringing children for their first day at the primary schools in Embsay and Carleton, where we were piloting this MU initiative. Each small paper bag contained a Fair Trade tea bag, a chocolate from Whitakers' fairly traded range (the donation of which was kindly organised for us by Liz Roodhouse), a pack of sustainably produced tissues - to mop up tears of sorrow or delight, depending on each recipient's feelings about the child starting full-time school! - and some little prayers on paper. Unfortunately, we weren't able to assemble these as a group, as we'd originally hoped, and so two of us sat at opposite ends of a table in my garden - on a dry but somewhat windy day! - putting all 50-odd of them together with sanitised hands and wearing masks. (We got a bit of our recommended exercise in chasing the prayers around the lawn.) After a few days' of sealed isolation, these were then delivered to the schools before the start of the autumn term. They seem to have been well received. We always welcome non-members to our meetings and new members from the local churches would be especially welcome. Just contact me via the clergy if you are interested in knowing more. Like so many organisations, we look forward to more meetings `in the real world' as 2021 progresses. _Lesley Higson (Leader of Skipton Churches Mothers' Union branch)_ ## **2020 Disability report** 28 There will be a “disability” letter circulated from the Diocese which will give me more information about the past year in due course. I will take note from that for future reference for you all. New much improved equipment has been put in place which has made a tremendous difference to me particularly and I know to others who sometimes struggle with hearing in the church. We are only as good as our "devices" - if our devices fail then we are in trouble! This did happen to me for a time, fortunately the faulty equipmenthas now been sorted out by post and I have a new one. I do know of another member of the congregation who has this problem and all your input has helped there too. Asking members to make sure the microphone is in the right place before they read has also made a big difference. The zoom services have been such a help to keep us in touch with everyone during lockdown, which has helped all of us I am sure not to feel so isolated during these strange times. I think this has been vital. Once again many thanks to everyone for setting that up and ensuring we have services. The quality of sound does vary on these links and I have to say is sometimes very difficult but that is not a complaint. We are very fortunate to have fantastic church wardens Liz and Peter and now Canon Marion with us who take account and notice and do all in their power to again help the deaf. I apologise that this report is predominantly about the deaf and hard of hearing but due to the circumstances since March 2020 I have little else to report to the committee at this time. ## _Jane Eastwood Disability Representative_ ## **Village Institute Report** In the initial lockdown, whilst the hall was closed it was deep cleaned, sanitised and redecorated and maintenance was carried out. Later in the year, when the hall was allowed to open with strict restrictions in place; maximum 15 people, 2 29 metre distancing, sanitiser, ventilation and restricted room use. During this time, the institute was well attended by regular groups, as well as some new, the playgroup also used the hall for morning and after school club so that distancing could be maintained. A number of events had to be cancelled, especially around Christmas time, including the church Christmas fair. The restrictions and guidelines continue to be reviewed by the committee. ## _Jennifer Stearn St Mary’s Village Institute Committee Representative_ ## **Food bank report** In 2020 we became an official collection point for the Skipton Food Bank, as well as regular donors. During the year, we have been taking donations to the food bank at least once a week. For the Christmas appeal, donations amounted to 16 bags on our final run, but there is still a great need for this service, as the regular notices in the updates show, so thank you to everyone for their continued support. ## _Jennifer Stearn_ ## **Smiley Faces** On 10[th] January, our first session of 2020, we were pleased to have 15 children and their parents and carers with us. There was as always a lot of fun and laughter which was tinged with concern and sadness because we all knew that Mary Jones was very poorly. For more than ten years she had delighted children and parents with her wonderfully creative birthday cakes and knitted cardigans for new babies. We all loved her. Mary died just a few weeks later and the Smiley Faces team were very privileged to be asked by Mary’s family to take responsibility for the catering after her funeral. 30 On 13[th] March only a few families came along – the shadow of the coronavirus was making us all apprehensive. That was our last session and sadly we have not been able to meet since. Sue Davies, Glennis Hobbs, Ann Rawson and myself all miss it very much as do the families. We have tried to keep in touch with the families, providing goody bags of resources and little gifts for Easter and Christmas, and sending birthday cards. Some of us were able to have a socially distanced get together in the Recreation Ground in August. The children enjoyed a treasure hunt and a game or two before rushing off to play on the equipment. We pray that this vital work with our young families will be possible in 2021. ## _Liz Roodhouse_ ## **Fairtrade at St Mary’s** In normal times there would be a Fairtrade stall after the Sunday service every 4 to 5 weeks, and the church stall would be taken to village events and further afield, but 2020 was far from normal. It was possible to celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight in All Age Worship in March and to take the stall to the community café and the Lent Lunch. As restrictions began we were able to have stalls in the church car park and church porch. Sales from these totalled £1,073.80. In addition I have been able to continue to supply regular customers with their coffee, tea, rice, chocolate, biscuits, cereal bars to name the most popular. It’s not quite click and collect, more text and doorstep delivery – my doorstep or theirs. These sales raised a further £465. Of course being a Fairtrade church is not just about selling Fairtrade products but also about raising awareness of the issues, using Fairtrade products wherever possible in church and connecting with our wider community - Embsay Primary School and the Embsay with Eastby Fairtrade village group. 31 We have done this in a number of ways: - A member of the village Fairtrade group helped with several stalls and the Fairtrade trail – Walk the Fairtrade Way – for two weeks at the end of the summer holidays, was a joint venture between St Mary’s and the village Fairtrade group. - The virtual Fairtrade dinner and quiz in November organised by St Mary’s attracted 40 people, mostly from the local community but also from Scotland and Shropshire. - Our Fairtrade partnership with Embsay School continued in 2020 when once again the school staff/PTA asked me to supply fairly traded Christmas gifts for all 236 children in school. Thank you everyone for choosing Fairtrade in 2020. By doing so we are providing the producers that grow and make the things we love greater security, helping them to access training and invest in techniques and methods that combat climate change. We’re also helping to build stronger communities and giving hope for the future, enabling them to make choices for themselves. ## _Liz Roodhouse_ ## **Eco-group report** At the start of 2020, the group – consisting of Mary Dibb, Lesley Higson, Daphne Jepps and Diana Linford – was collating all the responses to the paper version of the questions in the Eco-Church award scheme. Realising their ignorance of many specific details in areas of the church's life, the members had sought that information from the people who really knew what we were – and weren't – doing in the areas of social justice and environmental action. We were then awaiting Canon Marion's arrival for her input too. Once the first lock-down started, there was a bit of a lull – possibly as a result of our all being out in our gardens, allotments and greenhouses planting things and/or enjoying walks in the sunshine. All of which sought to remind us of the beauty and wonder, but also the man-made fragility, of God's creation. Once we had lots more information, Diana undertook to do all the online work on inputting our information, at which point things started to pick up pace. The 32 results indicated that we were well on the way to the Silver award and provided areas to work on which were addressed in the summer and autumn. People who receive the weekly updates will have been aware of the weekly eco-tips which is one of the resulting initiatives. Another was to plan monthly themes to implement during 2021. The Silver Award was made in November 2020 and the group – with regular input from Canon Marion and Liz Roodhouse – is now working towards the Gold award. We feel that this process has both raised ongoing awareness of the issues in the congregation and contributed to a sense of us all still actively working together, despite the physical limitations on mixing that covered most of 2020. It has also raised the profile of the parish, as one with a real heart for addressing social justice and environmental concerns and action, within the diocese. Diana was appointed as the parish's Environmental Officer (a new role which the diocese was keen to implement) in September 2020 and Lesley remains as the group's representative on the PCC. One of the big parallel activities was when Jemima Parker, the Diocese of Leeds Environmental Officer, made us aware of a `webinar' (an online seminar) to be held in September to provide information about funding for a feasibility study of energy-generating schemes in rural communities. Diana, Lesley and Peter Edwards attended and afterwards looked at each other and thought "We've got to go for it". To say that, like Topsy, the project has `just growed' could be one of the understatements of 2020! None of us envisaged how `big' a parallel activity it would become over the next few months, nor how steep the learning curve we had embarked upon. After considering various possibilities for combining St Mary's with other entities locally, it was decided to form a group of 5 churches into the Towards CarbonNeutral Churches in Craven project with Holy Trinity in Skipton, St Augustine's in Draughton, St Mary's in Carleton and All Saints' in Burton in Lonsdale. One intentional characteristic of this grouping of churches is the range of settings (town centre and villages both close to a town and very rural; within and outside the Yorkshire Dales National Park etc), sizes and architectural types of the church buildings and the range of possible technologies to be explored if funding is granted. This is important as one of the stated aims of the group is to provide a template and a knowledge-base for other churches to draw upon in planning their 33 journeys towards carbon neutrality, which the Church of England aims to achieve by 2030. St Mary's, Embsay with Eastby, is leading the project, with Diana as Project Leader, and a strong and cohesive group of people representing all the churches has brought a wealth of varied expertise and skills together – former lives involving engineering, law, funding bids, project management and listed building conservation proving very helpful. (Post-script: the funding bid was submitted in February 2021.) All in all, despite its restrictions, 2020 was a very active year for St Mary's in the field of issues concerned with the environment and how society and the Church face up to the challenges this creates. Our faith does challenge us to be good stewards of Creation: to repair, as far as possible, the damage caused in the past and to create a better world – as God intended – for our own and future generations. ## _Lesley Higson, PCC Eco-champion and Diana Linford, Parish Environment Officer_ **A glimpse of how we have developed our Spirituality during the Pandemic** It seems right to add a little more detail than the formal Trustees report. So much has happened, there have been so many changes to our lives and we’ve responded in so many ways. Each of the items below is additional to the formal report and too long for this annual document, so they are simply listed. Each has stories to tell and so perhaps another more detailed booklet of these stories and reflections will emerge. Please do let me know if you want to contribute! _Marion_ - Our homes being places of Sunday worship shared with others online bring different insights to our lives - Palm crosses for villagers and congregation to collect from the vicarage gate. - Holy Week meditations with Compline by Zoom, Compline then remaining an ongoing part for our regular Monday-Friday worship - Easter Eve vigil with readings by Zoom and a vigil fire in the vicarage garden which was tended visibly during the vigil. - Home-made Crosses in our windows and gardens at Easter, on Facebook. 34 - Vicarage Cross built in stages from Maundy Thursday to Easter Day, with daily changes becoming a sign of hope for the whole village, remaining with regular changes in the flowers through Pentecost till the church opened again for private prayers - CofE booklets _Prayers for use in the coronavirus outbreak_ available free for villagers and congregation to collect from the vicarage gate (100 offered and taken) - Posters advertising local, ecumenical and national worship arrangement placed in parish and church notice boards and outside the vicarage - Zoom chats as a whole congregation and in breakout rooms after services to continue fellowship and social interaction - Open meeting on Zoom reflecting on “We’ve found new ways to be church, in fellowship, worship and service” from Bishop Nick’s letter to the churches - Pandemicords created by school pupils, villagers and church members (total length 18m comprising about 100 individually named cords ) - Creationtide celebrated this year for the first time, with structured discussions after services which engaged congregation members about our responsibilities and ways to support each other in practical responses for looking after our world and local environment - Bible Sunday celebrated, with congregation members contributing to the service and to a display board of verses of the Bible that have proved sustaining in times of difficulty - Churchwardens commissioned and ’sworn in’ with the congregation in a Sunday service instead of a special service with the archdeacon. - Twice weekly update newsletters by email and printed copies, with that week’s sermon, news, a prayer and other thoughts or reflections - Sermons posted on the website, and eco page created. - Prayer group moved to Zoom - New embroidered ‘Ordinary Time’ banner dedicated - Advent groups following the diocesan course _Follow Don’t Wallow_ based on Bishop Nick’s recent book _Freedom is Coming_ 35 - Crib displays loaned by congregation and villagers - in church, Daily posting of photos of these on our church Facebook page and Embsay Update, the village Facebook page became a simple Advent calendar with gentle comments - Simplified Carols and Readings in church and on zoom - Carols in the churchyard, short hourly gatherings on Christmas Eve to sing! - Learning to express our care for each other in new ways as required by the varying pandemic conditions. - Integrating congregation in church and on Zoom to be one gathered people for worship together. - We held _Daily Prayers for the Nation_ through the November lockdown as requested by our Archbishops – prayer links and booklet available, and gathering on Zoom with prayers led by clergy, congregation members and ecumenical friends. 36 **Mothers Union ‘Little Bags of Love’** **Distributed to parents and carers bringing children for their first day at the primary schools in Embsay and Carleton** 37 WEAREA FAIRTRADE W, CHURCH 38 **St Mary’s Financial Statement for year ending 31[st] December 2020 and Operating Reserve Policy** ## **St Mary the Virgin Parochial Church Council Operating Reserve Policy** _This policy was approved by the PCC on 20[th] March, 2019 and signed on their behalf by Liz Roodhouse vice chair and Sue Stearn PCC secretary._ The purpose of the Operating Policy for St Mary the Virgin Parochial Church Council (PCC) is to make sure that the mission, programmes, employment and ongoing operations of the Church remain stable. The Operating Reserve is intended to provide an internal source of funds for situations such as a sudden increase in expenses, a significant drop in a source of income, one-time unbudgeted expenses and unexpected large repair-bills. Operating Reserves are not intended to replace a permanent loss of funds or eliminate an ongoing budget gap. As and when the Operating Reserves are used, it is the aim of St Mary the Virgin’s PCC for the reserves to be replenished on a schedule agreed by themselves. ## **Definitions and Goals:** The Operating Reserve Fund is a designated fund set aside by action of the PCC. It is a dynamic fund and will be reviewed and adjusted in response to any internal and external changes as required. The PCC aims to keep approximately three months of average Church operating costs in reserves as a minimum. The calculation of average monthly operating costs includes all recurring, predictable expenses such as salaries, utilities, charity payments, etc. Depreciation, in-kind, and other non-cash expenses are not included in the calculation. The amount of the Operating Reserve Fund will be calculated each year after the approval of the annual budget, reported to the PCC and included in the regular financial reports. ## **Accounting for Reserves:** The Operating Reserve Fund will be recorded in the financial records as PCCDesignated Operating Reserve. It will be funded and available in cash. Operating Reserves will be kept in the Operating Reserves Fund account (Parish deposit account) of St Mary the Virgin’s PCC. 1 ## **Funding of Reserves:** The PCC will aim to fund the Operating Reserve with surplus unrestricted operating funds where possible. The PCC may from time to time direct that a specific source of revenue be set aside for Operating Reserves. Examples may include one-time gifts or bequests, special grants or special appeals. ## **Use of Reserves** Use of Operating Reserves requires three steps: ## **1. Identification of appropriate use of reserve funds** ## **2. Authority to use operating reserves** ## **3. Reporting and monitoring** ## **1. Identification of appropriate use of reserve funds** The PCC will identify the need for access to reserve funds and confirm that the use is consistent with the purpose as described in this policy. This step will require analysis of the reason for the shortfall, the availability of any other sources of funds before using reserves and evaluation of the time period that the funds will be required and replenished. ## **2. Authority to use operating reserves** Authority for use of Operating Reserves lies with the PCC. The use of Operating Reserves will be reported to the PCC at a scheduled meeting, accompanied by the analysis and determination of the use of funds and a schedule for repayment. ## **3. Reporting and monitoring** The PCC is responsible for ensuring that the Operating Reserve Fund is maintained and used as described in this policy. Upon approval for the use of Operating Reserve funds, the Treasurer will maintain records for the use of funds and schedule for repayment with support from the PCC. The Treasurer will provide regular reports to the PCC of progress with regards to the repayment schedule. ## **Review of Policy** This policy will be reviewed every 3 years, at a minimum, by the PCC, or sooner if required by internal or external events or changes. Changes to the policy are to be agreed by the PCC. 2 8t Marv• Church, Embwwlth eutby. 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J•nnYJOhM￿ IPCCTTh*wMrl ||**St Mary's Church, Embsay with Eastby- Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2020**|**St Mary's Church, Embsay with Eastby- Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2020**|**St Mary's Church, Embsay with Eastby- Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2020**|**St Mary's Church, Embsay with Eastby- Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2020**|**St Mary's Church, Embsay with Eastby- Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2020**|**St Mary's Church, Embsay with Eastby- Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2020**|**St Mary's Church, Embsay with Eastby- Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2020**|**St Mary's Church, Embsay with Eastby- Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2020**|| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||||| ||**Notes**||||||||| ||||||||||| |**1**|TheFinancialStatements ofthePCChave beenpreparedinaccordancewiththe Church AuditingRegulations using||||||||| ||theReceipts andPayments basis.||||||||| ||||||||||| |**2**|The onlyfixed assetretainedforuseis the churchcarpark.Otherassets arelistedinthe church inventory.||||||||| ||||||||||| |**3**|The movements in other funds during the year were:||||||||| ||||||||||| |||||**Bal B/fwd**|**Receipts**|**Payments**|**Bal C/fwd**||| ||||||||||| ||||||||||| |||||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**||| ||||||||||| ||||Restoration Fund|23,422.23|7188.14|6978.41|23,631.96||| ||||Bursary Fund|1,079.29|3.94|0.00|1,083.23||| ||||Operating Reserves|5,795.22|24.61|0.00|5,819.83||| ||||Nominated Project (currently'Windows')|2,957.60|7,202.13|10,078.00|81.73||| ||**The Restoration Account (restricted)**
represents accumulated donations, appeals, bequests and legacies for fabric maintenance, which can only be
spent for that purpose.||||||||| ||**The Bursary Account**
**(restricted)**was set up as part of the 150th anniversary celebrations to grant bursaries to young people living in the parish for
educational travel according to the Declaration of Trust for St Mary’s Embsay with Eastby Fund for Young People.||||||||| ||**The PCC Nominated Project Account**
holds the balance of income for current PCC nominated projects.||||||||| ||

**The Operating Reserves Account (restricted)**
holds operating reserves money for the church.||||||||| ||||
||||||| |**4**|**Receipts Analysis**|||**Unrestricted**|**Restoration**|**PCC Nominated**|**Bursary**|**Total**|**Total**| |||||**Funds**|**Fund**|**Project Fund**|**Fund**|**2020**|**2019**| |||||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**| ||a.|Other voluntary receipts:|||||||| ||||Collections for missions & charities|132.50|0.00|0.00|0.00|132.50|985.14| ||||Gift Day|148.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|148.00|2,051.90| ||||Coffee Money|174.28|0.00|0.00|0.00|174.28|884.78| ||||Smiley Faces/Mothers Union|140.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|140.00|380.00| ||||Churchyard Activities|10.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|10.00|154.00| ||||Sundries|41.01|0.00|0.00|0.00|41.01|0.00| ||||Vicarage Utilities Refunds|674.81|0.00|0.00|0.00|674.81|0.00| |||||1,320.60|0.00|0.00|0.00|604.78|4,455.82| ||||||||||| ||b|Activities for generating funds:|||||||| ||||Christmas Crafts|75.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|75.00|0.00| ||||Pig Race|1,140.50|0.00|0.00|0.00|1,140.50|0.00| ||||Windows Booklet|115.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|115.00|0.00| ||||Silent Auction|225.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|225.00|0.00| ||||Cake donations|27.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|27.00|0.00| ||||Jan Jam|502.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|502.00|0.00| ||||Lavendar Bag Sale|46.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|46.00|0.00| ||||Sponsored Steps|260.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|260.00|0.00| ||||Christmas Card Sales|133.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|133.00|712.00| ||||Car Park|15.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|15.00|0.00| ||||Community Café|3.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|3.00|30.00| ||||Cushions|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|296.00| ||||Book Stall|291.50|0.00|0.00|0.00|291.50|0.00| ||||Plant Sales|293.01|0.00|0.00|0.00|293.01|0.00| ||||TuesdayTeas|200.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|200.00|700.00| ||||Other FundRaising|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|5,338.11| |||||3,326.01|0.00|0.00|0.00|3,326.01|7,076.11| ||||||||||| ||||||||||| ||||||||||| ||||||||||| ||||||||||| |**5**|PaymentsAnalysis|||**Unrestricted**|**Restoration**|**PCC Nominated**|**Bursary**|**Total**|**Total**| |||||**Funds**|**Fund**|**Project Fund**|**Fund**|**2020**|**2019**| |||||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**| ||||Missionary & charitable giving|2367.50|0.00|0.00|0.00|2367.50|2,262.14| ||||BursaryFund payments|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00| ||||Subscriptions|86.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|86.00|86.00| ||||Organist/Cleaner/Admin|1820.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|1820.00|2,868.00| ||||Clergy expenses|1682.57|0.00|0.00|0.00|1682.57|394.64| ||||Phone/Printing/Stationery/Books|946.47|0.00|0.00|0.00|946.47|583.24| ||||Cost ofservices|2933.76|0.00|0.00|0.00|2933.76|398.36| ||||Church running expenses|4246.98|0.00|0.00|0.00|4246.98|4,742.34| ||||Upkeep ofchurchyard|73.03|0.00|0.00|0.00|73.03|425.60| ||||Buildingsmaintenance|6819.93|0.00|0.00|0.00|6819.93|4,427.94| ||||Fees|85.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|85.00|532.00| ||||Cost ofcoffee|51.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|51.00|151.00| ||||Sundries|249.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|249.00|254.00| |||||21361.24|0.00|0.00|0.00|21361.24|17,125.26| ||||||||||| ||||||||||| |**6**|The expenses paid to clergymayinclude a small immaterialproportion,which relates to their functionasPCCmembers. No otherpayments||||||||| ||weremade toPCCmembers.||||||||| ||||||||||| ||**St Mary's Church, Embsay with Eastby- Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2020**|**St Mary's Church, Embsay with Eastby- Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2020**|**St Mary's Church, Embsay with Eastby- Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2020**|**St Mary's Church, Embsay with Eastby- Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2020**|**St Mary's Church, Embsay with Eastby- Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2020**|**St Mary's Church, Embsay with Eastby- Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2020**|**St Mary's Church, Embsay with Eastby- Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2020**|**St Mary's Church, Embsay with Eastby- Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2020**|| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||||||| ||**Notes**||||||||| ||||||||||| |**1**|TheFinancialStatements ofthePCChave beenpreparedinaccordancewiththe Church AuditingRegulations using||||||||| ||theReceipts andPayments basis.||||||||| ||||||||||| |**2**|The onlyfixed assetretainedforuseis the churchcarpark.Otherassets arelistedinthe church inventory.||||||||| ||||||||||| |**3**|The movements in other funds during the year were:||||||||| ||||||||||| |||||**Bal B/fwd**|**Receipts**|**Payments**|**Bal C/fwd**||| ||||||||||| ||||||||||| |||||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**||| ||||||||||| ||||Restoration Fund|23,422.23|7188.14|6978.41|23,631.96||| ||||Bursary Fund|1,079.29|3.94|0.00|1,083.23||| ||||Operating Reserves|5,795.22|24.61|0.00|5,819.83||| ||||Nominated Project (currently'Windows')|2,957.60|7,202.13|10,078.00|81.73||| ||**The Restoration Account (restricted)**
represents accumulated donations, appeals, bequests and legacies for fabric maintenance, which can only be
spent for that purpose.||||||||| ||**The Bursary Account**
**(restricted)**was set up as part of the 150th anniversary celebrations to grant bursaries to young people living in the parish for
educational travel according to the Declaration of Trust for St Mary’s Embsay with Eastby Fund for Young People.||||||||| ||**The PCC Nominated Project Account**
holds the balance of income for current PCC nominated projects.||||||||| ||

**The Operating Reserves Account (restricted)**
holds operating reserves money for the church.||||||||| ||||
||||||| |**4**|**Receipts Analysis**|||**Unrestricted**|**Restoration**|**PCC Nominated**|**Bursary**|**Total**|**Total**| |||||**Funds**|**Fund**|**Project Fund**|**Fund**|**2020**|**2019**| |||||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**| ||a.|Other voluntary receipts:|||||||| ||||Collections for missions & charities|132.50|0.00|0.00|0.00|132.50|985.14| ||||Gift Day|148.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|148.00|2,051.90| ||||Coffee Money|174.28|0.00|0.00|0.00|174.28|884.78| ||||Smiley Faces/Mothers Union|140.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|140.00|380.00| ||||Churchyard Activities|10.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|10.00|154.00| ||||Sundries|41.01|0.00|0.00|0.00|41.01|0.00| ||||Vicarage Utilities Refunds|674.81|0.00|0.00|0.00|674.81|0.00| |||||1,320.60|0.00|0.00|0.00|604.78|4,455.82| ||||||||||| ||b|Activities for generating funds:|||||||| ||||Christmas Crafts|75.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|75.00|0.00| ||||Pig Race|1,140.50|0.00|0.00|0.00|1,140.50|0.00| ||||Windows Booklet|115.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|115.00|0.00| ||||Silent Auction|225.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|225.00|0.00| ||||Cake donations|27.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|27.00|0.00| ||||Jan Jam|502.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|502.00|0.00| ||||Lavendar Bag Sale|46.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|46.00|0.00| ||||Sponsored Steps|260.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|260.00|0.00| ||||Christmas Card Sales|133.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|133.00|712.00| ||||Car Park|15.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|15.00|0.00| ||||Community Café|3.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|3.00|30.00| ||||Cushions|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|296.00| ||||Book Stall|291.50|0.00|0.00|0.00|291.50|0.00| ||||Plant Sales|293.01|0.00|0.00|0.00|293.01|0.00| ||||TuesdayTeas|200.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|200.00|700.00| ||||Other FundRaising|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|5,338.11| |||||3,326.01|0.00|0.00|0.00|3,326.01|7,076.11| ||||||||||| ||||||||||| ||||||||||| ||||||||||| ||||||||||| |**5**|PaymentsAnalysis|||**Unrestricted**|**Restoration**|**PCC Nominated**|**Bursary**|**Total**|**Total**| |||||**Funds**|**Fund**|**Project Fund**|**Fund**|**2020**|**2019**| |||||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**| ||||Missionary & charitable giving|2367.50|0.00|0.00|0.00|2367.50|2,262.14| ||||BursaryFund payments|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|0.00| ||||Subscriptions|86.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|86.00|86.00| ||||Organist/Cleaner/Admin|1820.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|1820.00|2,868.00| ||||Clergy expenses|1682.57|0.00|0.00|0.00|1682.57|394.64| ||||Phone/Printing/Stationery/Books|946.47|0.00|0.00|0.00|946.47|583.24| ||||Cost ofservices|2933.76|0.00|0.00|0.00|2933.76|398.36| ||||Church running expenses|4246.98|0.00|0.00|0.00|4246.98|4,742.34| ||||Upkeep ofchurchyard|73.03|0.00|0.00|0.00|73.03|425.60| ||||Buildingsmaintenance|6819.93|0.00|0.00|0.00|6819.93|4,427.94| ||||Fees|85.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|85.00|532.00| ||||Cost ofcoffee|51.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|51.00|151.00| ||||Sundries|249.00|0.00|0.00|0.00|249.00|254.00| |||||21361.24|0.00|0.00|0.00|21361.24|17,125.26| ||||||||||| ||||||||||| |**6**|The expenses paid to clergymayinclude a small immaterialproportion,which relates to their functionasPCCmembers. No otherpayments||||||||| ||weremade toPCCmembers.||||||||| ||||||||||| 4 David Charlton, 6 St Mary's Green, Cydrleton, Skipton BD23 3DG 07860 383668 tthmAiI: d*veeb*rltoD2002(4bolmAiL¢o 28 January 2021 2020 Annual Financial Accounts for The Church of St. Mary The Virgin Embsay with Eastby I confirm that the above accounts have been examined and confirmed correct according to the records provided and explanations given. David Ch ton Indepe dent Examiner Jau!LUEX3 luap adapui uoi Llg P!Aea "uaA16 suo!IPUEidxa PUE pap!AoJd spJoJaJ 016u!pJo?SE l?aJJoa paLUJJI Uoa PUE pau!WExa uaaq aAPU siuno??e aAoqE aLII IELII WJIJUO? I AqisE3 UIIM AESqW3 ui6J!A aui Ajp "Is 10 u?Jnu? Joi 4uno??V IEiJueu!a IEnuuv ozo kzoz AJpnuEf 8 'i!ru￿0￿@ZOOZllo111r4)>AfP :i!#Kawa 899£8£ 098LO a£ £zall u01d￿S 'uoi•iJB3 'ua•JJ s,AJrN Is 9 'UOIIJEII) P!AEa