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2024-12-31-accounts

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 2024

The Church of St Mary the Virgin, Embsay with Eastby,

Kirk Lane, BD23 6SF

Vicar

Revd Canon Marion Russell

Associate Priest

Revd Tim Calow

Banks: - Co op 1 Balloon Street Manchester

Independent Examiner: Mr Richard Watson Manby Castle House East Embsay

Santander

Bridle Road, Bootle Reg. Charity Number: 1166269

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The Annual General Meeting for the Parish of St Mary the Virgin,

Embsay with Eastby

Sunday 27th April, 2025 at 11.15am

AGENDA:

The Annual Meeting of Parishioners

The Annual Parochial Church Meeting.

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ii) Administration, Members of Parochial Church Council 2024/2025

The Annual General Meeting for the Parish of St Mary the Virgin,

Embsay with Eastby

Sunday 21[st] April, 2024 at 11am

Minutes of the Annual Meeting of Parishioners: Sunday 21[st] April, 2024 at 11am

33 Parishioners attended in church and 2 via Zoom (remote online conferencing).

Revd Canon Marion Russell (MR) chaired the Meeting of Parishioners. She welcomed everyone.

  1. Mary Dibb proposed and Christine Stewart Jones seconded Sue Stearn as Clerk, which was agreed unanimously by those in church and on Zoom.

  2. MR led prayers.

  3. 3 . Apologies : received from Lesley Higson, Revd Bob and Jill Mitchell, Pam Shackleton and David Strictland.

  4. Simon Smith proposed and Christine Terry seconded the acceptance of the Minutes of the Sunday 14[th] May, 2023 meeting and agreed unanimously by all who had been at that meeting.

5) The election of churchwardens:

One nomination was received.

Elizabeth Mary Roodhouse proposed by Laura Sebola to be Churchwarden, seconded by Lizzy Midgley and unanimously elected by those in church and on Zoom.

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The meeting closed at 11.12 am (Sue Stearn AMP Clerk)

Minutes of the Annual Parochial Church Meeting held on Sunday 21[st] April, 2024 at 11am

Revd Canon Marion Russell chaired the APCM

33 Parishioners attended in church and 2 via Zoom (remote online conferencing)

  1. Appointment of the clerk : Mary Dibb proposed and Christine Stewart Jones seconded Sue Stearn as Clerk, which was agreed unanimously by those in church and on Zoom.

  2. Apologies: received from Lesley Higson, Revd Bob and Jill Mitchell, Pam Shackleton and David Strictland.

3. Minutes of the APCM meeting held on Sunday 14[th] May, 2023

Helen Hargreaves proposed, Ann Rawson seconded their acceptance and agreed unanimously by all who had been at that meeting.

  1. Electoral Roll report : Sue Davies reported that there were 81 on the Electoral Roll at the time of the meeting with the following additions and deletions: Additions: Sarah Steeples, Brian Harris, Elaine Clipson, Geraldine Kerslake and Rex Kerslake.

Deletions: Walter Slingsby, Jean Broughton, Kay Abell, who had all passed away, David Smith who had moved out of the area.

Marion thanked Sue Davies for her work as Electoral Roll Officer.

5. The elections:

i) Election of the Parochial Church Council: There were three vacancies all of

three years following the end of the term of office for Samantha Patterson and Ann Rawson.

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There was one nomination for the vacancies: Ann Rawson proposed by Jennifer Stearn and seconded by Helen Hargreaves, unanimously elected by those in church and on Zoom.

All the reports were in a printed booklet, copies of which were sent electronically to the congregation. Those without internet connection or upon request received printed copies. 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 for year ending 31[st] December, 2023

The Annual Trustees report for year ending December 2023 acceptance (page 8 – 19 of Annual Report booklet)

Liz Roodhouse proposed and Sue Davies seconded the acceptance of this report and agreed unanimously by those in church and on Zoom.

7. The Financial Statements;

Jenny Johnson said we had achieved our financial goals and paid our Share in full. She thanked everyone their support and asked if there were any questions or comments, none forth coming.

Peter Edwards thanked Jenny on behalf of everyone for the huge contribution as treasurer she makes to St Mary’s.

i) Presentation of the examined financial reports and ii) Independent examiner’s report

Proposal for acceptance of the 2023 accounts made by David Jones seconded by Andrea Swearman and agreed unanimously by those in church and on Zoom.

iii) Appointment of an Independent Examiner for 2024 accounts

Jenny Johnson proposed Richard Watson, Simon Smith seconded his appointment as the Independent Examiner. This was agreed unanimously by those in church and on Zoom.

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Gift Aid Officer’s report: No questions or comments.

8. The church building and churchyard: St Mary’s Buildings and Fabric report:

Simon Smith Chair of Fabric Committee thanked everyone for their help over the year in life of St Mary’s. No comments/questions on the report.

MR said that we need more people on the fabric committee; people can speak to her or Simon.

9) Safeguarding report January to December 2023: Andrea Swearman thanked

MR and the PCC for all their support over the last year. No questions or comments on the report.

10) Skipton Deanery Synod report for 2023: no questions or comments.

Thanks to Peter Edwards, Helen Hargreaves and Lesley Higson for representing us over this last year on Deanery Synod.

11) Parish Reports for year 1[st] Jan to 31[st] Dec, 2023 (page 19 - 32):

MR said that there were wonderful things going on in the church and thanked everyone for their contribution to church and Community life.

No questions or comments on the following reports.

• Embsay C of E (VC) Primary School; School Governor’s report

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• Zoom Tuesday teas report

12. Date of the next Annual Parochial Church Meeting: 27th April, 2025

13. Any other business:

a. Peter Edwards thanked Marion for her leadership and Daphne Jepps said MR also gives much support to the village community. MR said it was a pleasure being here and appreciated the support and understanding she is given by St Mary’s community for her dual role of Parish Priest and Clergy Development Officer.

The meeting closed at 11.30 am (Sue Stearn APCM Clerk).

Trustees’ Annual Report for the year 1[st] Jan to 31[st] Dec, 2024 Approved by PCC on 19[th] March, 2025

Aims and Purposes

St Mary the Virgin, Embsay with Eastby, Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility of working with our incumbent Reverend Canon Marion Russell in promoting the ecclesiastical parish in the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. We are also supported in our

responsibilities by the Revd Tim Calow, St Mary’s Associate Priest, by the Revd Bob Mitchell, retired Priest with Bishop’s Permission to Officiate and by Lesley Higson, retired Licensed Lay Minister 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

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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.

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 our worshipping community and other local people to live out their faith in day to day life. Using the gifts we are blessed with, we understand our calling to live out our faith, particularly in contributing to care for creation, the environment and social justice. In this we see a responsibility for sharing our gifts and knowledge within the diocese and beyond through our ecumenical links, in our local community and internationally.

The Vicar’s report includes; developing worship, engaging with children and families. Community Involvement, Ecumenical links and developing spirituality.

In 2024 our regular worship on Sundays and mid-week continued with weekly Sunday and Tuesday services of Holy Communion, and All Age Worship first Sunday of the month, continuing with the valued 2023 addition of Evening Praise, a lay-led short informal monthly service on second Sundays. At Easter 2024 we resumed the full offering of the common cup for all communicants at Holy Communion. Smiley Faces Toddler Praise and Hot Chocolate Club on Fridays continue their contributions to introducing children to simple forms of worship and Bible stories.

Through an Archdeacon's Temporary Minor Reordering Licence, we have reintroduced the St Cuthbert’s altar in the nave, with agreement to move the Christ the King altar from the chancel to the north aisle. This allows us to experiment over the next year (2025). We have settled into an experimental regular use of the high altar on second Sundays of the month.

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We continued a second offering of the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) Course so that all members of PCC had participated, along with other members of the congregation. From this has emerged a monthly discussion group, in each other’s homes, where we have explored other issues arising from LLF, and grown into exploring the diverse lives of individuals in our Biblical narratives. This included an open session in St Mary’s in Advent, where the narratives of the named women in the genealogy of Jesus caused surprise and deep reflection, supported in thought-provoking consideration of 8 paintings of these women by local artist Shelagh Powell. For our Lent studies, we created time to listen to how God has worked in our own lives, in structured listening sessions with the themes of what has brought changes in our lives - a person/people; a place; an event or incident; the Bible, music, art or literature. A second monthly home group is emerging – God at Lunch, where we gather for lunch and then to explore a topic of our mutual choosing.

In July we held a farewell service (with permission from Bishop Nick for this to be Methodist Holy Communion) with the Revd Tracey Darling, Methodist Minister, who then moved to a new station as Circuit Superintendent and Minister in Devon. We welcomed The Revd Susan McIvor as Skipton Circuit Minister in September. As her remit is larger than Tracey’s, Susan is unable to commit to sharing in leading worship with us; however that does not deter our local links and we continue with the Methodists in Embsay with our quarterly joint services. We also have quarterly fellowship-and-planning lunches, with clergy and lay members. This continues to sustain our shared work for Christian Aid, Lent Lunch events, Carols Round the Elm Tree and Remembrance Sunday. Revd Tim and I both participate in the bimonthly Skipton Ministers’ lunch meetings for fellowship and shared developments.

Involvement with Children and Families continues with Smiley Faces Toddler Praise, Hot Chocolate Club and children in the All Age worship band. Four members of St Mary’s are on the Embsay CE (VC) School Board of Governors, and clergy and lay visits to the school continue for collective worship and classroom involvement. School classes made visits to the church and

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churchyard as part of the curriculum and to participate in the Churches Count on Nature (June), classes and whole school attended for various services – Ash Wednesday, Ascension Day, Pentecost, School Leavers, and Nativity. The planned Harvest Festival in church had to be transferred to the School Hall for practical reasons. The Children’s Centre held their annual Nativity service in the Church as usual. St Mary’s donated a personal copy of ‘It’s Your Move’ to all Year 6 pupils, with the vicar exploring the booklet on a special class visit.

Wider involvement with the community was maintained through members’ participation in village environmental Fairtrade and Good Neighbours social action. We openly offered the Church of England Lent booklets (Watch and Pray: Wisdom and hope for Lent and life) to the congregation and community, and the Pray your Part booklet of 21 days of prayers for the General Election in July, also with dedicated prayer times in church.

We completed our planned Carbon Net Zero target with the implementation of our eco heating in October - a work rightly detailed in a separate report. This has already made diocesan and national CofE impact.

Much more detail of our activities is celebrated in the many reports further on in this booklet.

I offer – and record here – my deep gratitude and thanks to everyone for participating in the seen and unseen work of St Mary’s:

sustaining the action and relationships of the church community; weekly worship in all its aspects;

the fabric and buildings;

fundraising;

the rich range of activity for the environment and justice;

in reaching out to the community in active involvement;

To everyone who contributes to the love and welcome of our church, to all

members of the Church Council and officer holders; and to Tim, Bob and Lesley, my clerical and lay colleagues who hold the Bishop’s licence to officiate in public

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office in the Church of England – my heartfelt thanks to you all for your work and fellowship.

Revd Canon Marion Russell

Skipton Deanery report for 2024

The Synod met on three occasions: at Christ Church, Skipton, in March; at Burnsall in July and at Carleton in November. St Mary’s lay representatives have been Lesley Higson, Helen Hargreaves and Peter Edwards. Sue Stearn completed her term as a member of Diocesan Synod and is no longer a Deanery Synod member. Revd Marion has held the role of Assistant Area Dean.

The business of Synod continued to focus on parish ministry and the investigation of a new framework for the role of Area Dean. The proposal would use funding from the Barnabas Project to enable a joint appointment of a half time area dean (without a particular parish responsibility) paired with a half time chaplaincy with Scargill Community. After consideration in depth, it became clear that the proposal would not be appropriate for Scargill at this time when there will be a period of significant staffing change. This was accepted with marked disappointment among synod members who had found the proposal exciting.

Synod will not lose sight of the aims of this work and the small working group which has been investigating these possibilities was charged to come up with alternatives for parish support in 2025.

Synod welcomed Bishop Anna to the November meeting where she outlined her vision for rural churches and presented as someone who had a thorough understanding of parish ministry, members found this most encouraging.

Lesley Higson, who is Deanery Treasurer, has investigated the historic deanery bank account and work to set up a new account, accessible to the current synod, is under way.

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It was with mixed feelings that we heard that Area Dean James Theodosius would be taking on the role of Archdeacon of Richmond and Craven in April 2025. While his inspirational presence will be missed at deanery level, we welcome the appointment of an archdeacon who has a deep understanding of rural parish issues.

Lesley Higson, Helen Hargreaves and Peter Edwards on behalf of St Mary’s Deanery Synod representatives

St Mary's Buildings, Fabric and Churchwardens Report for 2024

The main focus of attention at St Mary's this year, of course, has been the successful completion of the new electric heating system and all the associated works. Raising the money for the project and the subsequent management of the installation was a huge challenge spearheaded by Peter Edwards.

In the church yard and car park, we had to say goodbye to two young Ash trees suffering from Ash dieback and a very mature Sycamore on the churchyard boundary. The sycamore was probably 170 years old and contemporary with the church itself, but had become dangerous and was a concern to both ourselves and to John, June & Charlotte in the adjacent properties. The tree was subject to a tree preservation order and will be replaced with a suitable maple, hornbeam or whitebeam this winter.

The memorial garden space has been established by Tony, Sue & Jenny Stearn. The Faculty for lifting, turning and re-setting of leaning, fallen and half-covered gravestones was finally obtained from the Chancellor in September 2024. This work remains outstanding.

In addition to items of minor repair and routine maintenance, the eastern gable of the Chancel and associated coping stones were raked out and repointed under the supervision of our architect, to prevent rainwater ingress that had developed into the Chancel. This appears to have been successful, with the

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Chancel walls and arch between the Chancel and Nave slowly drying out. We will continue to monitor the situation.

The Log Book, Terrier and Inventory are all up to date and the church plate is well maintained and in good condition.

We are very fortunate at St Mary’s to have so many people who generously give of their time and skills to conserve and enhance the church building and churchyard. Their expertise and support is hugely appreciated as is the support of many within our local community who contributed to the Give to Go Green campaign.

A great big THANK YOU to you all.

Simon Smith Chair of building and Fabric Committee and Liz Roodhouse Churchwarden

Safeguarding report for the year 2024

At St. Mary’s we continue to review and embed good Safeguarding practices.

This year, we have been reviewing, adapting and updating our Safeguarding policies and procedures to make sure all areas of safeguarding within the church are fully up-to-date, documented and understood by all PCC members and those who volunteer with any activity with children and vulnerable adults.

Safeguarding Training is very important at St. Mary’s and all PCC members and Children (including Vulnerable adults) Group Leaders and Volunteers undertake and this is regularly reviewed by the Parish Safeguarding Officer. I myself completed the Diocese of Leeds Safeguarding Leadership 2 training pathway in September.

In October we again allocated a Sunday service as Safeguarding Sunday, where supported by Marion, I gave a talk to help the congregation further understand how we can identify when individuals may be vulnerable and how we all have a

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part to play in keeping everyone safe. Embedding good safeguarding procedures helps to keep everyone safe.

Safeguarding continues to play a vital role in protecting all who are involved in the range of church activities arranged by St. Mary's for children and adults. Andrea Swearman, Parish Safeguarding Officer

Financial Review

(For full details of the 2024 accounts and Operating Reserve Policy see enclosed separate document)

Treasurer’s report for the year 2024

During 2024, we once again managed to raise the necessary funds for the continued running and ministry of the church: a tremendous achievement, and all thanks to the generous regular donations from our kind-hearted and supportive parishioners and local community, new regular giving being set up throughout the year and through various fundraising activities (supported by our faithful and hard-working congregation and community). The fundraising events raised over £6,830 during the year: a fantastic feat, and a further

increase on last year’s amazing effort. Well done everyone. A huge thank you to everyone who was involved in helping St Mary’s raise these essential funds. Everyone’s help in accomplishing this is enormously appreciated.

For 2024, we were, again, able to pay the full amount of share requested for the year (and by the end of November - a whole month early) of £43,540, exceeding our revised share commitment of £39,000 by a huge £4,540 (and again without the need to resort to reserves to cover any deficit); a great achievement by everyone. Thank you. The revised share commitment for 2025 has been agreed upon at £40,000 and we should, hopefully, achieve this with everyone’s continued efforts. We have also been able to cover all of our running costs for

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the year despite the continued high costs in energy and overall increase in costs generally.

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 figures agreed upon for 2024 and 2025, mentioned above. The formula is still yet to be reviewed. The PCC made a submission to change the process and will continue to offer to work with the Diocese going forward. We have been grateful for the engagement with us of Diocesan finance staff through this process.

I would like to say an enormous 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 Parish Giving scheme with the Diocese of Leeds. The scheme continues to prove extremely beneficial to the fundraising for St Mary’s, with new members continuing to join. This scheme continues to be very well received by our parishioners and supporters who have found it to be extremely easy and straight forward to set up and use.

St Mary’s has a history of giving generously to charity and in total, since 2008, we have paid over £43,450 to various mission organisations and charities chosen by the congregation and the PCC (an average of over £2,550 per year). We were able to uphold our commitment to support local, national and international mission charities again this year, due to our very generous parishioners and community. We supported 11 mission charities during 2024, paying to them over £3,690 in total.

No Bursary Grants were made in 2024.

My thanks go to everyone at St Mary’s for helping us achieve our financial goals in 2024 despite the continuing and changing challenges we all faced, and still

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face today, and for your support in helping me in my role as Treasurer. And many thanks to Richard Watson for helping to check our accounts.

Jenny Johnson, Treasurer

Energy Foot printing Tool:

The Energy Foot printing Tool for the Church Buildings return for 2024, has been completed.

Jenny Johnson, Treasurer

Gift Aid Officer’s Report

For 2024, we received a total of £9,936.35 through tax relief on gift aided donations to the Parish.

This amount comprises £7,238.37 from the Parish Giving Scheme, £2,697.98 from our regular gift aided donations (£1,695.15) and the small donations scheme (£1,002.15). The small donations scheme runs from April to April, so only about a third of that amount is attributable to donations received in 2024, although the refund is all received in that year.

Many thanks to all of who donate and gift aid those donations – you can see what a boost it gives to Parish funds when we can claim the tax back off that money.

My usual two requests are: first, if you give to the Church and pay tax, please consider gift-aiding that giving. Speak to me if you want to know how. Secondly, if you are gift-aiding your donations, please remind me if you no longer pay tax, so that I can remove you from the relevant schedules that I keep along with Jenny.

If anyone fancies having a go at claiming this money back and taking on this role, please let me know – it has become a lot easier than it used to be!

Justin Gartland Gift Aid officer

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Church Governance, Structure and Management

PCC meetings were conducted in person during 2024/2025. Meetings were held either in the Methodist Chapel, St Mary’s Church or The Vicarage. The full PCC has met on six occasions since the 2024 APCM and the average attendance was 79%.

The method of appointment of PCC members is as set out in the Church Representation Rules 2022 including recent updates by the General Synod. The membership of the PCC at St Mary’s consists of the Vicar, Associate Priest, Retired Priest, Churchwardens, Treasurer, Deanery Synod representatives and Lay 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.

Standing Committee

The Standing Committee consisting of PCC members, was formed with PCC approval on 29[th] April, 2024 following the APCM. The committee included Revd Canon Marion Russell, Revd Tim Calow, Liz Roodhouse (Churchwarden), Jenny Johnson (Treasurer), Helen Hargreaves, Christine Terry and Sue Stearn (to Clerk meetings as a non-Standing Committee member). Their main remit was to oversee finances and budget for the PCC and undertake tasks as delegated by the PCC.

The Committee has met twice since the APCM. The average attendance at the meetings was 91.5%.

Sue Stearn (PCC and Standing Committee Secretary)

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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 2024/2025

Vicar (Chair) Revd Canon Marion Russell Associate Priest Revd Tim Calow

Retired Priest Revd Bob Mitchell (Co-opted PCC member on 21.04.2024) Churchwarden(s): Liz Roodhouse (Joint Lay Vice Chair) 2024 -2025 Deanery Synod Reps Lesley Higson 2023 - 2026 Peter Edwards 2023 - 2026 Helen Hargreaves 2023 - 2026 Treasurer (Elected member of PCC) Jenny Johnson 2023 - 2026 Elected members David Jones 2023 - 2026 Simon Smith (Joint Lay Vice Chair) 2023 - 2026 Christine Stewart-Jones 2023 - 2026 Ann Rawson 2024 - 2027 Christine Terry 2022 - 2025 Andrea Swearman (Parish Safeguarding Officer) 2022 - 2025 Co-opted member to PCC on 29.04.2024: Sarah Steeples 2024 – 2025

The PCC is clerked by Sue Stearn (Non PCC Member)

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Parish Reports for year 1[st] Jan to 31[st] Dec, 2024;

School Governor’s 2024 Report

There have been changes to staff this year and we thank those who have left, as we welcomed those have started and who are settling in well. Mrs Prest retired in July and Mr Tim Whitehead continued as Interim Associate Headteacher until the end of the year. The governing body has continued its regular visits and monitoring programme throughout the school year. The Curriculum has been the main focus around the school, as part of this, the school has been trialling a new phonics package, called ‘Little Wandel’ and also ‘Twinkl’. We have also started discussions about new IT providers to the school and have settled on a local company who will be able to help us update and upgrade our systems and carry out CPD for all staff. Over the Summer holidays there was a series of maintenance and upgrades carried out on several areas around the school. We have been discussing marketing and promotion to market the school to new parents and potential pupils in the area, and the school has held two open days for prospective parents and children, which were positive and well attended, the school website is in the process of being updated and improved. The school had a SIAMS (Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools) inspection in November 2024, the result was very positive; “Embsay Church of England VC Primary School is living up to its foundation as a Church school and is enabling pupils and adults to flourish.” An OFSTED inspection is expected early in 2025.

Rev. Canon Marion Russell, Helen Ralph, Jennifer Stearn Foundation Governor’s

Hot Chocolate Club report for 2024

Hot Chocolate Club is a youth group for Primary School children in years 4, 5 and 6. The group meets each Friday night in term time and has been in existence for several years,

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originally through the Methodist Church, it is now facilitated by St Mary’s Church.

Joanne Lloyd holds the position of leader, organising weekly activities, ably assisted by Peter Hargreaves and Roxanne Davies.

At the end of this year, there were 10 children on the register, after a good proportion of the children left for Secondary School in September.

Each week children take part in a different activity, as well as games and refreshments. We have made Christmas wreaths and bord feeders, been ten pin bowling, celebrated Easter & Mothering Sunday, had a beetle drive, baked buns, decorated biscuits and made pancakes. We try to get outside to Embsay Park, the woods and other outdoor spaces when the weather and light nights allow.

As we move into 2025, we have many more exciting activities planned, which the children are all very excited about!

Joanne Lloyd, Hot Chocolate Club leader

Report for Smiley Faces 2024

Smiley Faces is our group for babies, toddlers and pre-school children, their parents, grandparents and carers. We meet during term time on Friday afternoons in church from 1.30pm to 3.15pm. There are plenty of toys for the children to play with and always a craft table where the older children can be creative. The adults seem to enjoy this as much as the children in their care. Before and after the Bible story and a prayer towards the end of our time together there’s dancing and a chance to run around.

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As in previous years numbers varied from week to week but on average in 2024, we welcomed eleven children each week from nine families.

Being an Eco and Fairtrade Church craft activities have frequently been related to taking care of every aspect of God’s creation. We created a banner to celebrate the Great Big Green Week in June with pictures of wildlife, real flowers and grasses, and the footprints of every child. At other times we made food for the birds, planted bulbs, made maps of the world with plants and animals found in the different continents, created grass caterpillars using old tights, birds from recycled cardboard, collages of the Fairtrade mark, which was celebrating its thirtieth anniversary in 2024, and much more.

We loved celebrating birthdays (there’s always a cake with candles), Mothering Sunday, Easter, and Christmas and for the first time three of our older children took part in the Christingle service on Christmas Eve. Children who were once part of the Smiley Faces family read prayers and took an active role in that service. What thrills us is that children don’t forget us when they move on and neither do their parents and carers.

It's wonderful to see adults enjoying the opportunity to chat and relax knowing that the three of us are happy to entertain the children and provide extra eyes to watch them as necessary. They showed their appreciation by helping clear away toys and on occasions washing up when Lesley was taking time out in the autumn term and Sue was visiting her son and daughter-in-law in New Zealand.

Jesus, made it clear that all children matter to God and even recommended to his disciples that to understand God’s kingdom they needed to observe, learn from and imitate young children. Children are our future leaders and Sue, Lesley and I feel privileged to spend our Friday afternoons with them and their parents and carers. They make us smile and lift our spirits. To them the church is Smiley Faces, a place where they are happy and cared for.

Liz Roodhouse, Smiley Faces leader, Sue Davies and Lesley Higson.

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Disability report for 2024

We continue to be a church with hearing loops and amplified equipment to help the deaf and hard of hearing.

We also continue to be connected to TORCH TRUST for blind and partially sighted people. I attend their events on line and they offer a great deal of social and practical welfare. Anyone interested in what they do and how they help churches can be found on their website at:

Their podcasts which I attend when possible aims to answer questions about faith and church life in relation to sight loss.

We continue to provide access of course for people who require wheelchairs. I feel that we cover needs for most all disabilities which are to be commended.

Jane Eastwood Disability Secretary

Eco Group report for 2024

Having achieved the Gold Eco Church Award in May 2023, we continued to work on environmental projects in the church as well as encouraging others, churches, other organisations and individuals, to consider ecological issues.

The Eco Group in 2024 group comprised Mary Dibb, Lesley Higson, Daphne Jepps, Diana Linford, Liz Roodhouse and Sue Stearn. The vicar, Revd Canon Marion Russell, often attended or contributed to meetings.

We held 7 meetings in 2024, with the Group meeting’s minutes always going to the PCC. We are always keen to welcome new members and suggestions!

Eco activities during 2024 included:

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Continuing Eco work at St Mary’s

‘Cut the Carbon’ project

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the PCC, to get to net carbon zero by 2025. Details elsewhere in the APCM booklet

Dissemination, support and outreach

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We believe that St Mary’s continues to be seen as a congregation with a real passion for addressing social justice and environmental concerns and action, within the parish, the diocese and more widely.

Diana Linford, Parish Environment Officer

St Mary’s Carbon Zero Report for 2024

January 1[st] 2024 saw us with the necessary permissions, a technical specification and around half of the required funding secured. We were then successful with a major funding bid to North Yorkshire UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which brought our funding to the £55,000 projected total required. During February we finalised the specification and commissioned architects Knox McConnell to prepare the tender documents, which were issued with a closing date of March 22[nd] . Meanwhile we began negotiations with National PowerGrid for the upgrade to the electricity supply. In April we selected Baines Electrical of Skipton as the contractor for the heating works from a competitive field of three. We also agreed contracts with Northern PowerGrid, Baines Electrical and John Blades for the installation of the new supply, involving excavation in the churchyard. The exterior work was completed in the second week of October by which time the heating installation inside the church had been completed. October 10[th] was the first trial of the new heating which was well received by the congregation. We had achieved our aim of being net carbon zero for energy by 2025.

During the final months of 2024 we have been learning how to optimise the use of the new heating and investigating ways of controlling the pew heating which at times can be excessive. It is anticipated that early 2025 would see the trialling of some minor modifications which would address this.

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It is too soon to be able to establish running costs for the new heating with any confidence. The capital cost of the project at £49,700 was securely within budget and leaves room for some small refinements as experience with the heating indicates would be worthwhile.

As part of our continuing commitment to disseminate valuable lessons which we have learned through the process of decarbonising our heating, our 'Cut the Carbon Case Study' is available to download from the church website.

We have established that the electric heating provides a noticeably improved heating experience, is generally more controllable which facilitates energy saving, and by purchasing green electricity through Green Journey we have reduced our carbon footprint for energy use to near zero.

Diana Linford, Lesley Higson, Peter Edwards, January 2025

Fairtrade at St Mary’s 2024

2024 was a landmark year for Fair Trade as it marked 30 years since the Fairtrade mark was introduced. Working with Embsay School and the village Fairtrade group a celebration was planned with a special anniversary cake and event for parents and friends of the school in July. Artwork was on

display, some of which was taken to the Yorkshire Fairtrade Conference in Ilkley.

The Fairtrade Foundation’s theme for 2024 which is continuing in 2025 was ‘Be the Change’. As a Fairtrade Church we use Fairtrade products wherever possible and integrate Fair Trade into the life of St Mary’s in a variety of ways. The opportunities to purchase Fairtrade food and drink, and fairly traded gifts on a monthly basis after the Sunday morning service continued in 2024. Fair Trade was integrated into sermons and intercessions throughout the year and during Fairtrade Fortnight, which in 2024 was moved to September coinciding with Creationtide.

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Fair Trade provided an opportunity for community engagement at church events. For example, the Lent Lunch and St Mary’s Christmas Fair which together resulted in £500 of sales. Profits from sales throughout the year were passed on to the Fairtrade Foundation and Transform Trade, organisations supporting the work of Fair Trade nationally and internationally. A Fairtrade lucky dip run by St Mary’s was popular at the Village Fete.

Two members of St Mary’s are part of the village Fairtrade group helping to raise awareness within the community of the impact our choices have on people and the planet, and how Fair Trade is helping farmers who grow the food we love to eat and drink become more resilient to the climate crisis they are facing.

Supporting other churches, local businesses and Embsay School was a pleasure. St John’s Methodist Church in Settle and Bolton Priory Church sourced Fairtrade chocolate, biscuits, and other items for their embryonic Fairtrade stalls. The two shelves in the village shop displaying a range Whitakers’ Fairtrade chocolate and the espresso ground coffee beans used in the Cavendish Arms continued to be supplied via the church contact. The school sourced, with our help, all the children’s presents from Father Christmas from Namaste, Skipton’s Fairtrade business.

Thank you to Mary Dibb and Ann Lowe who helped with stalls in 2024 and all of you who have kept choosing and buying Fair Trade. Please don’t stop. More sales means more benefits for producers who are themselves fighting for change and leading the campaign for climate justice. Remember environmental protection is ingrained in Fairtrade standards, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions, safeguarding forests and biodiversity.

Liz Roodhouse

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Fundraising Committee report for 2024

We have continued to meet regularly throughout the year and aim to have a debrief meeting about a week after each event to discuss what did and did not work whilst it is still fresh in our minds.

2024 was a very successful year and we raised, after all expenses had been paid, £5,273.16

We held the following events:

19[th] January Family Beetle Drive and pie and pea supper

6[th] March Coffee morning held at Andrea Swearman’s home

6[th] May Afternoon tea and cake

15[th] June Vicarage Garden Party- see note below

15[th] July Stall at the Village Fete

7[th] August Coffee morning at Ann Rawson’s home

24[th] August Stall at Burnstall Fete

30[th] August Snake Davis Solo concert (proceeds for new electrical heating system)

14[th] September Ceilidh (half the profit from this was given to EEGN towards the purchase of the Methodist School room)

25[th] October Quiz and pie and pea supper

13[th] November Coffee morning at Eileen and Timothy Whitley’s home

30[th] November Christmas Fair

We also assisted at the following:

16[th] March Lent Lunch in aid of Christian Aid (joint event with Methodists)

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We have a schedule of events for 2025 and we are liaising with other organizations in the village to ensure our dates do not clash

Thank you everyone for your help and support at all these events. If anyone has any suggestions for future fundraising events please speak to one of the committee, we are always looking for new ideas.

With reference to the Vicarage Garden Party as you will remember the weather was really horrendous and we had to abandon the event and continue on the Sunday afternoon in the Church. At our debrief meeting we all agreed this is an important fundraising and outreach event and we wish to continue with this. However, for 2025 we have a backup plan, just in case of bad weather. This information will be made very clear on the posters and social media.

Ann, Chris, Helen, Liz and Pat

St Marys Band report for 2024

Once again St Marys band has had a good year, we were pleased to welcome Martin on Bass who has been with us a few months now and our young sax player who joined us in December. The band have had a quieter year events wise, but thoroughly enjoyed playing at the Winterburn Carol service once again. As always, access to music and inclusion is our aim, accommodating the availability and experience of all band members at practice and Sunday service. Thank you to Helen for taking the baton when I have been away. Several members of the band play in other ensembles, including the Community Orchestra, Milholme Rise Dixxie Landers, Skipton Brass, Redhot Drop, Swing City and Park Avenue Jazz. Its great fun and fellowship to support these concerts whether indoors or outdoors! Our congregation are exceedingly supportive, very much so after service when we play through some of our repertoire. Music is good for the soul and the friendship and fun we have making music together is to be treasured.

Yvonne Cleminson Band Director

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St Mary’s Singing Group report for 2024

Nine of us now regularly sing in the Group at the 2[nd] , 3[rd] , 4[th] and 5[th] Sunday morning Service of each month, in the choir stalls by the organ, round the piano or sat in the congregation, leading the singing. John very helpfully still sends out Youtube recordings, where possible, of the unfamiliar hymns a week or so before a Sunday service to help us learn the tunes. We continue to have a 30 minute rehearsal before a service. Thanks to John we have grown in confidence and at the Carol service in December we sang the Sussex carol by ourselves, standing as a group in front of the audience. It sounded lovely and we received many well deserved compliments. Many thanks, to John Midgley our regular organist, also to Yvonne Cleminson, Olav Rees and David Ralph (key board) who stand in when John is away.

Sue Stearn on behalf of the Singing Group

Annual Report 2024 for the Skipton Churches branch of the Mothers’ Union

The first meeting of the year, following the international `Wave of Prayer’ session in January, was the branch AGM in February at which Jane Eastwood was re-appointed as Secretary, Shirley Moorhouse as Treasurer and I as branch leader.

In March we had a Lenten meditation using a few of the stories from Paula Gooder’s book `Women of Holy Week: A Journey in Nine Stories’ which has beautiful illustrations by Ally Barrett. The members had access to the stories, with the illustrations, while they were read aloud and could also do some mindful colouring in while listening.

In April, a couple of us, plus a non-member friend, went to Blackburn Cathedral to see the wonderful `Threads Through Creation’ appliqued panels made by Jacqui Parkinson which had been the focus of a previous MU trip when they were displayed in our own Episcopal Area cathedral at Ripon. They were equally, if not even more, fabulous on a second viewing for me personally. In

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May, Ann Busfield (from Holy Trinity) and I gave a talk about our visit to the Oberammergau Passion Play in 2010, outlining how the play originated, was scripted (which has changed over the years) and staged, all amply illustrated by a book Ann bought on the visit.

A speaker from `Tools with a Mission’ spoke to us in June about the work of this national organisation providing equipment and know-how to people in the developing world, to enable them to run small businesses. We collected £25 individually to support the organisation’s work. July saw several of us finally able to make the postponed trip to Bradford Cathedral to study the textiles there and hear the fascinating stories behind some of them. Many thanks were due (and given) to the Cathedral staff, especially Maggie, for their involvement.

September’s traditional `start of the year’ service was held at Holy Trinity as we are trying to involve all the five churches covered by the branch and their clergy. Revd James (Theodosius) led a very special service with a thought-provoking talk addressing the issue of the part women played in the life and work of Jesus.

October’s planned speaker – Brigida from St Stephen’s Church in Skipton - was postponed at the last minute as so few members were able to attend because of illness but she came in November and told us about the work done by the Emmaus group from St Stephen’s and St Margaret Clitheroe Church at Threshfield in supporting bereaved people locally.

For December’s meeting, we all brought a reading about Christmas which was significant to us, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, and enjoyed seasonal refreshments.

The Mothers’ Union is involved with the `Rise Up’ campaign against domestic violence and posters, with tear-off slips giving a helpline number, have been made available to all the five churches to display in their toilets.

It has been lovely to welcome Jill as a member following her move from Wales, especially as illness and frailty have limited some members’ ability to attend as many meetings as they would like. We normally meet in a member’s home,

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usually in Embsay, in the afternoon of the first Tuesday of most months and welcome visitors.

Lesley Higson, Branch Leader

Village Institute report 2024

The Village Institute has had a good year, with regular maintenance ongoing, as well as looking to upgrade the facilities and develop the institute. This year we became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). The Institute continues to be busy with regular bookings, as well as events and one-off bookings. We have acquired new fire safety regulation door catches and the Embsay Players have installed a new lighting system that can be used in the hall.

Jennifer Stearn, elected member of Village Institute committee and representative of St. Mary’s church

Zoom Tuesday Teas report 2024

We usually meet every Tuesday afternoon at 2.15 for an hour on Zoom but excluding the 1st Tuesday of the month (MU Meeting) Marcia, Daphne and Jane usually attend and occasionally Bridget. All are welcome.

Sylvia (Zoom Host)

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We are a Fairtrade Church

Printed on recycled paper

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St Mary'8 Church. Embsay wlth Easthx_- Financial Statements for the Y8ar End•d 31 1)•c•mber 2024 Note$ The Finoncial Slal6m¢nts of th• PCC have been prepared Ki accord￿ wlth the ChLwth Awlrtfiry.Reqtlati'ons usin the Receipts and Payment8 ba$i¥. 2 |The onty.fftxod ass•t r•tain•d lor u8• 1$ th• car pk. Other are ksted in the ttiuth invenw... - R•c•lpts Tranlforn In & 811 CIfvAI 20,140.891 892.46, 5.300.39 1.056.20 5.C69.52 4.728.74 0.001 4.201.31 -980.00 0.00 5,536 731 14.181.98 901.84 3,819,40 19123 6.338.60 1,87100 Bursary Account Savings Account IRestricl•di Savlng8 Account (Unrestricted) Op•rots'ng Re￿￿$ NonMn4ted PrL1 luJrrently'Heatir¥J? . 9.38 1,720.32 118.03 0.00 0.00 0.00 58.836.39 50.785.64 reprnsonl• •¢¢umul•tod don•lboni, aFvds, bwsts and lew>e8 for lat¥k maintenartt (Indudirg ¢hurthy•fdl, only bo sp￿¢ for .tW purwe. |IbLPUrU￿ w98 let up • pwt of Ih 1 Soth anrivèrsary t•ièbfations lo grwl twrnwies lo youw Peo￿ living m Ihe p•rl$h for o¢ucation81 Ir8v?l according to the Declwation of TfU8t for St Mary'8 Embgay ith Easlby FWKJ for Your¥J Pwle. &LIllg￿ was ￿ up to relaln fwd8 ih8t need to be separnle from the cwrent acc￿￿ to b•lng ￿¢Ified for restricted or designated purp¢>ses. Th• PCC Nomln* holds the balance of wbcome fry cufr¢nt PCC n(xThn8knJ (wrrenlly the Heatiry pmjectl.

Receipts Analysis Unr•strlcted Account Restoratkni PCC Nomlnatad ' Burn•ry Ac￿￿nt .-￿A¢cOUnt , Account Unr•strfct•d Funds Savlngs Account R•8trlct•d Funds SavSng8 Account Rgqular Givlnj.. Tax efficient oiving_. ' Non.tax efficient TOTAL 35.097.65 245.00 36.342.66 0.00 0.00 0.00 FUr￿ra18ln9 Activities.. Icar Park l Beetle Drlve Fundraislng Iswing City Fundfai&ng IBook81alVJig8aw Fundraising Colfee Morning Fundraislng Churchyard Plan1$ Fundraislng Vic•rag• Tè8 Paty Fundrai$lng Cèlidh FundraI￿n0 Emb8ay Village Fete I Snako Davi88 Fundrai￿n9 'StaiMd Glass Win¢SM Fvn(kniwnq Quiz Night Fundraising '. Bumsall F•1• F￿draising Eggs Fundraislng Christma8 Fair Fundrai'n9 .Healln PTO •Ct Fundraisi TOTAL 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 432.00 335 00 W10 553.00 31.00 1,571.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 o.oo 0.00 0.00 704.00 250.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 o.oo 549863 5 408.63 0.00 "Other volurrtary receiplg.. icoffee Mone¥ 'Smiley FacesNother8 Union Collections foT Inissiori8 & ch8rties Children's Semces Ichurc￿h a￿ Donations 0.00 O.DO 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 i.000.00 0.00 1,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Sunclries Vicar's Extraof{thlla￿EXO.en8eS Contr8Ctor Refunds TOTAL 0.00 800.00 600.00 2.617.70

Payments Analysis Unr•strfctsd | R•8toratMJn Account PCC Nomlnatod Prg•ct Accounl Burnary Account Unrestrfcted Funds S•vlng5 AGcount Restrlctèd Fund• Savlnjs Account C06t8 of FundraisInAActiv￿QS'. IBeelle Dfl ChurcJh ard Plants Vicarage Tea Paty... Quvz N1￿h1 Ichrislmos Fair .Snake Davies Ceilidh TOTAL 55.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 85.1KJ 1,092. 13000 0.00 0.00 0.00 Salarleg, Waoes & H¢)noraria: Admin A￿l￿an1 w￿lIn9 1 funer￿ lees Honoraria ITOTAL 1,870.32 0,00 o.oo', 0.00 000 o.oo', 0.00 0.00 0.00 3.871.32 0.00 Miaslon Evangelism Costs. Chlldr•n'8 S•rvic Communlty Enga9emerrt congrega￿onal Ewagement En¥5ronment4 Acti Teachlng C¢)ur8e8 Buisa TOTAL 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 o.ooj 0.00 845 10 31747 318 70 0.00 0.00 0.00 o.oo o.oo' 0.00, 0.00 Church Running Expenses.. Insurance Upkeep of seMc8s Upkeep of Ctrurc Coffee Cojts Organist Cleaner inor Repair5 & maintenance Ststionery__ Subscri i¢xs TOTAL 1.909.06 1,925.53 2.946.22 335.95 .00 O.OOi 0.00, 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.001 0.00 0.00 0.00 125.00 2,803.67 o.oo', o.oo', O.OOi 0.00, 50.00 10.723.96 0.00 o.oo 90.00

Other Pa ments.. 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 o.oo 0.00 0.00 Hir&Renl Cha_ws Paid D&on•ry.-S￿0d_ExE￿88 Iothgr Sundries ,.Consutiation Fees Filmi_ryCost5 •ctE .IProL. ￿rnent & FittlnA.E￿..a ',Aichit•ct Exp•_rvdO8 Event expenses 10.00 0.00 0.00 539.74 0.00 0.00 0.00 IELlll I I LHoatsn9.Material Costs ,,PubllcrtLCosts Contractor Costs ect Inw)Iv•menl Fees TOTAL 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 52.7S7.44 0.00 68,746.39 0.00 Th• •Xp•n￿l paid to dersy 1 •fft•ll imrn•t•ri•l.EvoJth'on. vhwch rd•ie8 to tr￿1r PCC m•mb•rn. No other p•xmonlo Iwere m to PCC m8rthrs.

Manby Castle House East Embsav Skipton BD23 6PH i* March 2025 ZOZ4 Annual Flnanclal Ststements forthe thuvch of SL Mary The Vlr8ln Embsay ¥thh Eastby I conflrm that the above accounts have been examined and found to be correct and in accordance with the accounting records provided and infonnation and explanatlons recerved. Richord Watson FCA Independent Examiner