## **Friends of St Peter’s** 

## **Annual accounts at 31.12.22** 

## **Report of the Trustees** 

This was a very satisfactory year for _Friends_ which culminated in us increasing  our  reserves  by  over  £12,000  to  a  total  of  over  £56,000. Although this appears to be a significant amount of money, we are always conscious of the fact that,if we had to finance some major work on our ancient church, a sum like this would very quickly disappear. 

This year the church’s requests were modest. The two largest, concerning  the  building,  were  £1,920  for  “Repair  storm  damage  to church roof”  and £1,200 for “Repairs to office roof” (These would have both been after any insurance claims). As far as the churchyard was concerned, we continued to pay for its maintenance. In addition, we paid £1,008 for “Repairs to fence in churchyard” and £1,740 for“Repairs to church wall”. The latter was completed very sympathetically, retaining the  traditional  flint  profile.  We  also  provided  a  new,  period-looking, wooden lamp post, which covers the footpath, at a cost of £960. 

You might have noticed a lot of comment in the press about the Cof E not giving  sufficient  help  to  local  parishes.Meanwhile,  we continue to be certain that it is the whole community that should be helping to maintain the church and its surroundings for the benefit of everyone,whether or not they are churchgoers. This will always be our sole aim. 

Yet again, the planned Musical Evening in May had to be abandoned. Not Covid  this  time,  but  the  unavailability  of  one  of  the  Barbershop participants due to injury. 

The Posh Bottle Stall at the Village Pageant was a great success and raised  just  under  £600.This  was  entirely  thanks  to  George  Curry andHarry Latham conducting the whole affair with a huge amount of style. There is no doubt that a few decent bottles is much more appealing than vast quantities of bottles that people only want to get rid of and where there is every chance of them being out of date! 

The wine tasting in November was particularly successful and raised over £1,100, some of which was due to my fellow trustees’ generosity in paying some of the expenses. This was their long-awaited “welcome back after Covid” gesture! 

In 2023, we have, once again, booked the award winning “Royal Male’s Barbershop Quartet”on Friday, May 12[th] at 7:30pm at St. Peters which will  be  preceded  by  a  brief  AGM.  As  a  Trust,  there  is  no  statutory obligation to hold an AGM, but we like giving you an opportunity to hear 



about what we're trying to achieve and for you to have the opportunity to ask any questions you may have. 

We have also booked Vine King for another wine tasting on Friday, 17th November.Do, please, put these dates in your diaries. 

Andrew  Brown  retired  at  the  end  of  the  year  as  a  Trustee  and  our Treasurer.  His   contribution  to  the  success  of _Friends_ cannot  be underestimated. He created this new Trust in the most professional way and has run the accounts and so many other things since we started six years ago. He has very generously agreed to continue looking after the accounts. We are hugely grateful for this and the major contribution he has made since the formation of _Friends_ in 2016. 

We are very lucky to have George Curry joining us as a replacement for Andrew Brown. 

Thank you for your continued support of _Friends_ . It is hugely appreciated. 

## PHILIP TRUETT