St. Anne’s Church Bagshot For the community, in the community, inspired by Christ
January - December 2020 Report and Accounts for the THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST ANNE, BAGSHOT, SURREY.
Registered Charity Number 1171379.
| Contents | Contents | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Aim and Purposes........................................................................................................................ 3 | |
| 2. | Objectives and Activities............................................................................................................. 3 | |
| 3. | Achievements and Performance (including reports by various groups)................................ 3 | |
| 3.1. | Safeguarding............................................................................................................................ 3 | |
| 3.2. | Changes to Parish Staff ........................................................................................................... 4 | |
| 3.3. | Electoral Roll Report ............................................................................................................... 5 | |
| 3.4. | Worship, Prayer and Fellowship ............................................................................................. 5 | |
| 3.5. | Children and Family Ministry ................................................................................................. 6 | |
| 3.6. | Pastoral Care ........................................................................................................................... 7 | |
| 3.7. | Ecumenical Relationships ....................................................................................................... 8 | |
| 3.8. | Charitable Giving .................................................................................................................... 8 | |
| 3.9. | Choir Report ............................................................................................................................ 8 | |
| 3.10. | Bells and Bell Tower Report ............................................................................................... 8 | |
| 3.11. | Transport to Church ............................................................................................................. 8 | |
| 3.12. | St. Anne's Ladies Group ...................................................................................................... 8 | |
| 3.13. | The Church and Centre Complex ........................................................................................ 9 | |
| 3.14. | Parish Hall ........................................................................................................................... 9 | |
| 3.15. | St Anne's Church Visiting Team ......................................................................................... 9 | |
| 3.16. | Marriage Preparation ......................................................................................................... 10 | |
| 3.17. | Small Groups ..................................................................................................................... 10 | |
| 3.18. | Surrey Heath Deanery Synod ............................................................................................ 10 | |
| 3.19. | Eco Church ........................................................................................................................ 11 | |
| 3.20. | Volunteers .......................................................................................................................... 11 | |
| 3.21. | Bagshot Together - Bagshot’s community response to the pandemic. .............................. 11 | |
| 3.22. | Scrubs Project .................................................................................................................... 12 | |
| 4. | Financial Review........................................................................................................................ 13 | |
| 5. | Structure, governance and management................................................................................. 27 | |
| 6. | Administrative information...................................................................................................... 28 | |
| 7. | Appendix A – Vicar’s Report.................................................................................................... 29 |
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1. Aim and Purposes
St Anne's Parochial Church Council (PCC) is responsible for co-operating with the incumbent, the Revd Andreas Sistig, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The PCC is also specifically responsible for the maintenance of the Church and Church Centre complex of St Anne, as well as St Anne’s Parish Hall, all situated in Church Road, Bagshot.
2. Objectives and Activities
The PCC is committed to enabling as many people as possible to worship at our church and to become part of our parish community at St Anne’s. The PCC maintains an overview of worship throughout the parish and makes suggestions on how our services can involve the many groups that live within our parish. Our services and worship put faith into practice through prayer and scripture, music and sacrament.
When planning our activities for the year, we have considered the Commission's guidance on public benefit and, in particular, the supplementary guidance on charities for the advancement of religion. In particular, we try to enable ordinary people to live out their faith as part of our parish community through:
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Worship and prayer, learning about the gospel and developing their knowledge and trust in Jesus.
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Provision of pastoral care for people living in the parish.
To facilitate this work, it is important that we maintain the fabric of the Church of St Anne and the Church Centre Complex.
3. Achievements and Performance (including reports by various groups)
3.1.Safeguarding
As in previous years, the PCC has complied with the duty to have “due regard” to the House of Bishops’ Safeguarding Policy and Practice Guidance.
All PCC members, along with the incumbent, have a duty of care to ensure the protection of children and vulnerable adults in the church community. As charity trustees, PCC members are legally accountable for ensuring good safeguarding practice in the parish and that safeguarding is a governance priority. To ensure that this has been achieved to date, the PCC reviewed and adopted the House of Bishops Policy Statement which outlines the Church of England commitment to safeguarding and underpins all policy and practice guidance. We also have a rolling ‘safeguarding’ agenda item in our PCC meetings during which the designated safeguarding leads to the PCC (Neil Lyddiatt and Andreas Sistig) regularly update the PCC on all safeguarding relevant issues and whether any reports have been filed with the DSA in the last few weeks.
Our annual Parish Safeguarding Self Audit was completed in the first half of 2020 and the Safeguarding Team submitted this to the PCC and the diocese. The below action was prepared by the Safeguarding Team and adopted by the PCC. In particular, the 2020 audit has highlighted the following actions to be undertaken:
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| Area for action Action Plan |
Area for action Action Plan |
Revised target date |
By whom |
Date com plete d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uncompleted actions from previous review | ||||
| Safeguarding training: Identify individuals who still need to undergo appropriate level of training or need to refresh their training. |
To organise online and/or face to face training for all levels. This had been scheduled for May/June 2020 and will be done as soon as Covid-19 measures allow. |
As soon as courses resume. |
AS, HP, NL |
|
| Role descriptions: Do all recruited volunteers have written role descriptions |
Ensure all volunteer applications are received, stored and dates set for review |
Aug 2020 | AS, NL, HP |
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| New actions for this review | year | |||
| Annual risk assessment review: Annual review of risk assessments and role descriptions |
PCC and safeguarding team. | Aug 2020 | AS, HP, NL, YF, DF, DN |
Due to the pandemic, most regular safeguarding training as well as DBS checking did not take place. However, in-house supervision for those activities that were able to continue even during the pandemic (e.g. pastoral telephone calling) has continued to take place according to the Safeguarding Handbook.
As in previous years all safeguarding reports were speedily and rigorously dealt with at St Anne's in accordance with diocesan requirements and, where appropriate we have continued to update safeguarding/training and supervision information on file (electronic as well as paper based) – our ChurchDesk management system has continued to be a great help in keeping all records up to date.
(Helen Perry, Neil Lyddiatt, Andreas Sistig)
3.2.Changes to Parish Staff
2020 has seen only one major change in our parish staff. Kester Oliveira, our Licensed Lay Minister (Reader) in training, completed his training and was licensed by Bishop Andrew in September. He has expressed an interest in ordained ministry and is scheduled to attend a Diocesan Discernment Conference in January 2021. The Revd Ellen Turtle’s curacy continues into 2021, when it will formally come to an end. (Andreas Sistig)
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3.3.Electoral Roll Report
Currently there are 102 names on the Electoral Roll, one fewer than last year. There were 75 Bagshot addresses and 27 from outside the parish, which constitutes the GU19 postcode area.
The new Church Representation Rules (which came into effect in 2020) instructs us to only publish the names of those on the Roll and not their addresses, though full details are kept securely by the ERO for parish administrative purposes, in accordance with GDPR.
(Lynne Cowley, Electoral Roll Officer)
3.4.Worship, Prayer and Fellowship
Worship and prayer during this last year have seen nothing short of a revolutionary change in the way they have taken place. The initial weeks of the year saw the usual types of regular services (Sundays and weekdays) as well as the occasional services (baptisms and funerals). Of course, all of that changed with the announcement of the first lockdown on the 23rd of March 2020. Suddenly we were told that we could no longer meet in person or make use of our church buildings. After a very brief moment of shock and consternation we had to decide how we were going to continue to gather for worship and prayer virtually. We basically saw three possibilities:
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We could move to a pre-recorded service style which would be put online for people to engage with whenever they wanted;
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Or we could broadcast our services live using online service providers such as YouTube or Facebook live,
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Or we could gather simultaneously from our homes using a conference call software called Zoom which enables people to actively participate in a gathering, to be heard by others, and to collectively and simultaneously engage with prayers such as the Lord’s Prayer or the prayers of intercession.
Following a short consultation, we decided to go with the third option, which we continued to use and refine throughout the entire pandemic.
After overcoming some initial technical difficulties, both with regards to helping people manage the technology on their own personal devices as well as learning how to do upgrade our IT equipment and how to do a liturgical service over Zoom well, we found that Zoom, perhaps more than the two other initial options, has enabled us to maintain a sense of togetherness and relationship, while being physically separated from each other for many months.
In summary the following services, prayer and fellowship activities have taken place in 2020 via zoom:
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Sunday morning services
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Daily morning and evening prayer services
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Teatime and Pixie's services
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Special services such as the Easter Vigil, Remembrance Day, Christmas services
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Groups such as Bible studies, confirmation classes, fellowship groups such as Coffee and Chat, and Saturday evening Quiz gatherings.
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Furthermore, we were able to broadcast weddings and funeral services to family members and friends who were unable to attend in person.
During the summer months we were fortunate to be able to allow people to come into the building for private prayer on Wednesdays between 12 noon and 3pm. However, this also was suspended with the 3rd lockdown just before Christmas.
Once more, our Church Desk software has proved to be invaluable with regards to the management of booking people into services as well as publicising Zoom codes and login details of all the services and events that took place during the year.
In summary, 2020 saw 6 baptisms, 3 weddings, 5 funerals in church and 8 funerals in local crematoria or cemeteries.
(Andreas Sistig)
3.5.Children and Family Ministry
2020 began with our usual range of children’s and family events, with our Tea-time service meeting twice monthly on Sunday afternoons, Junior Church meeting during the 10am service most Sundays, and the Pixies service and playgroup on Fridays beginning to grow with a number of new families joining us regularly.
Of course, all these services and activities were brought to an abrupt halt with lockdown in March. In order to keep in touch with people for what we at first thought would be only a few weeks, we set up some WhatsApp messaging groups so that we could easily check in with one another and also share ideas for things to do with our children. We also moved some of our services and events online, using Zoom as we did for other services. This online format worked best for our Tea-time service, where we could play some games together (whether on-screen or e.g. scavenger hunts at home) and share a story and prayers, and for a few months we continued to hold our Tea-time services fortnightly via Zoom. However, over time, and as lockdown eased slightly, we found that Zoom services became increasingly difficult to engage with and so in July we decided to suspend the Tea-time service until we could meet again in person. After many changes to government guidelines, that became possible in October and we managed to hold two family services in October and early November. Meeting in the church centre, we were able to include some games, a bible story, craft, prayers – all in socially distanced bubbles - and action songs rather than singing. However, the return to lockdown in November paused these once again.
The online format was more challenging for our little ones at Pixies. Although we continued meeting weekly for a few months, via Zoom, for a short story, ‘show and tell’, and a song or two, we soon realised that although it was great for parents to catch-up, the children dipped in and out. As restrictions eased and children could go out more, we stopped meeting but kept in touch via social media. With the ongoing social distancing rules we have not yet been able to resume in-person gatherings, as the main aim of Pixies was to encourage socialisation between little ones, and between their adults, and we have not felt able to safely resume this as yet within the regulations.
In addition to the regular activities, we had also hoped to hold some larger family services for festivals. Although some were cancelled, we were able to gather in church for a socially-distanced Christingle which saw many families return to church for the first time for nearly a year, whilst a few also joined via Zoom; it was wonderful to fill the church once again, making, praying and ‘singing’ (with actions only!) together. Sadly, the Crib
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service (which we had planned to run twice to enable everyone to attend) also moved online at short notice but remained a joyful celebration, albeit very different to the original service plan. We also ran an ‘Advent Windows’ trail to try to engage more with the community and be more visible through Christmas.
One area which didn’t move ‘online’ was our junior church, although many of these children have been involved online through Pixies, Tea-time, or our family services. We will need to think about how and when we can resume Junior Church, after in-person services resume in 2021, as the covid guidelines around such activities are quite complex. Throughout the year many families expressed a strong desire to return to in-person worship, especially as older children were already on Zoom for extended periods for school, and we look forward to being able to resume these in 2021. I’d also like to thank all those who have helped out with our children’s and family services and activities through the year – whether leading sessions or helping clean chairs and tables! I’m especially grateful to the parents who have continued to encourage their children in their faith through this past year, and who have been so adaptable as we have tried new ways of worshipping together. Their support, encouragement, and honesty, has been an enormous boost.
(Ellen Turtle)
Friday Night Youth Club continued to take place in the first weeks of 2020 until the first lockdown made meetings impossible. The activities and fellowship during these initial weeks were thoroughly positive and enjoyable for both, our teenagers as well as adult helpers. We are very much hoping to restart the club as soon as possible. (Carolyn Nahajski)
3.6.Pastoral Care
Pastoral care in 2020 has been a real challenge. For most of the year the only pastoral contact we were able to have with people was over the phone or via Zoom. During the summer months of 2020, when infection numbers were relatively low and some limited outdoor and indoor mixing was permitted, we began to visit people again in person. However, as soon as infection numbers began to rise in the autumn all face to face pastoral care came to an end again. Despite these obvious challenges, we have been fortunate that many people in our church community participated in our telephone buddy scheme which ensured that all members of our church community would be regularly contacted for a chat and to ensure that their physical and emotional health was still okay. In addition to this Andreas continued to visit people in hospital as part of his ministry with the Frimley Park hospital chaplaincy. Jennifer who is the lead Chaplain at the hospital has also been able to visit members of the church and wider community regularly when they were in-patients during the pandemic. This has been especially helpful during the periods when general visiting was suspended. Likewise Ann Bonella who has continued to visit both Sunrise and the Neuro-rehab centre when covid restrictions permitted.
(Andreas Sistig)
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3.7.Ecumenical Relationships
Our ecumenical relationships remain strong despite the fact that no organised activities with other churches or faith groups were able to take place in 2020. (Andreas Sistig)
3.8.Charitable Giving
In 2020, St Anne’s supported Connect Counselling Service based in Camberley in addition to The Besom food bank. Instead of the Samaritan’s Purse Christmas Appeal, we supported Connect Counselling as well as The Besom food bank in the following way:
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Connect - £1,036 in total, made up of £600 in regular donations and £436 from the Christmas “One-card” appeal
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Besom (hampers and raffle) – £720
In addition to making financial contributions, St Anne’s is one of 18 local churches who are linked with The Besom in Camberley to provide food and other items to local families and individuals who are going through a time of difficulty and lack of money. Our Harvest donations (of non-perishable food) and those from Connaught and Bagshot Schools were passed to Besom and several bags of ‘festive food’ were sent including wonderful Christmas hampers. (David Perry)
3.9.Choir Report
Due to the global pandemic most choir activities were unable to take place in 2020. We have been able though to remotely record some music, especially the Ogden Mass setting which we have used during our services in church and on Zoom. (Alexandra Moore)
3.10. Bells and Bell Tower Report
For most of the year our bell ringers were unable to gather to ring our church bells or to practise regularly. However, whenever government and church guidelines allowed, we made use of the bells (within those guidelines) frequently resulting in just one bell being rung.
(David Perry)
3.11. Transport to Church
Due to the global pandemic the transport activities have not been able to take place. Furthermore, and in the light of our ongoing recruitment problems of recent years, we have now come to the decision to officially disband the transport to Church as a church activity. All transport given to church from 2021 onwards will be done solely in a private capacity and not organized and regulated by St Anne’s.
(Colin Stevenson)
3.12. St. Anne's Ladies Group
Due to the global pandemic no activities took place in 2020. Present Committee – Chairperson – Brenda Shepherd, Treasurer - Val Stevenson. (Janet Wainscott, Ladies’ Group Secretary)
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3.13. The Church and Centre Complex
The work of upkeep and maintenance of the church fabric has continued throughout the year despite the challenges of covid 19.
Routine testing of the lightning conductor has been carried out as has servicing of the �ire and intruder alarms. Portable electrical appliances have been PAT tested. The organ has been regularly tuned and maintained. Fire extinguishers have been serviced and replaced where necessary. The boilers have been regularly serviced. Weekly tests of the �ire alarms and inspections of the �ire extinguishers have been carried out as frequently as practical within the restrictions as has routine testing of the carbon monoxide censors in the kitchen and boiler house.
The Health and Safety team has continued its work under our Health and Safety Of�icer, Gordon Hunt. It has been carrying out routine risk assessments and reviewed our Health and Safety Policy.
Some further emergency lights in the parish centre failed their six-monthly test and have been replaced.
The Inventory, Terrier and Log have been maintained throughout the year.
This has been a year like no other. For the �irst two months of the year things functioned very much as normal. Thereafter we were in new territory. The wardens would like to express their gratitude to the many volunteers who helped in so many ways with the maintenance and running of the Church. Those who assisted during the services as sidesmen, readers, servers, crucifers , organists, helpers in the junior church and bell ringers, those who helped at the afternoon and evening services on a Sunday, the �lower arrangers and the coffee makers, the sacristans and the church cleaners, those who worked in the of�ice and those who arranged transport for members of the congregation, all still performed their tasks where possible albeit some had to adapt to different modes of working . We thank those who kept the grounds so well-tended, those who cleaned the church and the brass and those who supervised work in the kitchen. Those who quietly got on and did jobs behind the scenes. Not everyone was able to do as much as they would have liked because of the restriction imposed by the emergency regulations but all stood ready when they were needed. In fact thank you to you all for making this such a happy church community as we mastered new ways to make the life of the church continue to thrive.
(Sue Hunt & Derrick Fenn)
3.14. Parish Hall
During the initial weeks of 2020 all regular Parish Hall activities took place. As with all other activities this came to an end with the first lockdown. Subsequently we were able to redecorate the interior of the Parish Hall (when government guidelines allowed for this work to take place) in preparation for the resumption of the usual activities. (David Perry)
3.15. St Anne's Church Visiting Team
The Parish Visiting Team were unable to visit vulnerable parishioners in their homes for much of 2020 because of Covid restrictions. However, the team continued to speak regularly by phone to the people they would normally visit in person. They also added other parishioners to their list of phone contacts. Sadly, Visitors were unable to visit
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Care Homes for much of the year, and unable to visit the sick in hospital. Fortunately, Andreas was able to do all the hospital visiting for which we are very grateful. Face to face Visitor meetings were suspended but reports were periodically given by phone to Helen, written up and filed securely in the office. (Helen Perry)
3.16. Marriage Preparation
Marriage preparation at St Anne’s took place in January 2020. Our usual programme worked very well and we had a small but very interactive group of participants who were able to get the most out of the course and engage well with the other couples and with us.
A variety of topics covering aspects of couple relationships was introduced by our small group of leaders. The individual couples worked privately on exercises covering topics such as Communication; the Resolution of Conflict; Financial matters and Parenting. Towards the end of the day Ellen spoke to the couples concerning the words “To Have and to Hold” and Andreas did further work with the couples on the marriage service itself.
The buffet lunch provided by church members was much appreciated by all. At lunchtime the couples could speak to the organist and Church flower ladies who were able to demonstrate what they could offer for their wedding. Feedback showed how much the couples valued and enjoyed their experience of the day.
Covid restrictions later in the year meant that only three of the couples who attended Marriage Preparation chose to get married in 2020. Other couples postponed their weddings until 2021.
(Helen Perry)
3.17. Small Groups
The year started with us meeting in our usual pattern for the first two months, one group meeting at Eve’s house and one at Derrick and Glynis’ in Mytchett. After the first lockdown was in place we moved to two joint Zoom sessions per month.
In the early part of the year we followed some of the material from “The Bible Project”; in particular a course they had put together leading us through the early weeks of lockdown and Easter.
Later in the year Revd. Canon David Holt joined us and lead us through Deuteronomy and St. Mathew’s gospel.
The combined group has been well attended and provided lively participation. Anyone wishing to join the groups will be very welcome and should contact Derrick Fenn or June Pugh.
(Derrick Fenn)
3.18. Surrey Heath Deanery Synod
Deanery Synod. The last meeting was on 4th February 2020 when the topic was “Transforming Deaneries – New Ways of Being”. Presentation from the Steering Group and the Ven Paul Davies, Archdeacon of Surrey about the way ahead in working together as parishes, assisting each other.
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(Bagshot Representatives: Lynne Cowley, Richard Roots (until 18 October 2020), Diane Wild (since 18 October 2020))
3.19. Eco Church
The year 2020 has been the first year in which we have engaged with the concept of becoming an Eco church. Although the pandemic greatly stifled our plans for the year, especially with regards to engaging the wider congregation and community/youth organisation in our vegetable patch etc. we were able to make a start. We had a small wildflower area as well as a small patch in which we have grown potatoes, peas and a few other vegetables. We also bought a small green house. Our plans for 2021 are to enlarge both vegetable patch as well as the wildflower meadow and to purchase some wood framed, raised herb boxes and mixed veg beds. We continue to be in consultation with various community and church youth organisations as well as the Lightwater Garden club about their participation in the project. We are particularly grateful for the financial support we have received from Waitrose and the Coop for our project. (Kate Dyerson)
3.20. Volunteers
As in previous years, the vicar and churchwardens would like to express their gratitude to the many volunteers who help in so many ways with the social and liturgical life of the church as well as with the maintenance and general running of St Anne’s. 2020 has seen many of us having to change the way we work and support the work of St Anne's. Many people have been forced to embrace remote and online engagement instead of hands on and face to face. This has been incredibly challenging for many, especially some of our elderly members. But it is a testimony to the commitment and faith of many members of the congregation that this did not stop them from continuing to support and actively engage with the work of the church during the pandemic. A highlight, particularly during the early days of the pandemic was the engagement of the wider community in the Bagshot Together (organized as part of a wider Surrey Heath Borough campaign) activity which helped people who were self-isolating with their shopping and collection of essential medicine.
Thank you to you all for making St Anne’s such a happy and thriving church community, even during the time of the global pandemic. Without you all our Church would not be the place and the community it is.
(Andreas Sistig, Derrick Fenn, Sue Hunt)
3.21. Bagshot Together - Bagshot’s community response to the pandemic.
Our journey started with the churches, Bagshot Care, members of our Scout Group, Cllr Valerie White along with Waitrose and Co-op coming together to do… well whatever was needed. We were soon joined by a team of volunteers from right across the community, all eager to help.
We were happy to be able to collaborate with the Surrey Heath Partnership as the partners for Bagshot Ward and to make use of a central phone number, website and foodbank for all of Surrey Heath and we are grateful to those who made these things happen. Technology, of course, played a vital role and there were many remarkable moments:
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The older resident who learned to do her shopping online for the first time.
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The volunteers, the majority of whom I have never met, who without hesitation went shopping for a neighbour, trusting that the expense would be sorted at some point…all in response to a simple text message from me, ostensibly a stranger.
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Our volunteer driver who did her deliveries dressed as a superhero – in fact a range of different superheroes…
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The person with Alzheimer’s for whom we installed a smart device so that her family could keep in touch, and when we first called her family to test it, was immediately lost in conversation with her grandson.
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The people who, having been asked to help someone once, adopted that person or household and have helped them on an on-going basis.
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The people who have done that for their whole street, without being asked.
Windlesham Parish Council along with private individuals were generous with funding so that all central costs were covered. For that we are grateful.
I’d particularly like to commend St Anne’s willingness to provide the administrative and financial processes to make this possible. I’d also like to acknowledge the enormous support provided by Bruce Vander. Literally hundreds of other people also have my thanks.
Bagshot came together as a community and quietly looked after its more vulnerable members – and, for me, that is something to celebrate.
(Stefan Nahajski – Bagshot Ward Co-ordinator)
3.22. Scrubs Project
Early in the pandemic we received a call for help with the supply of scrubs for Frimley Park Hospital. After coordination with FPH to understand what they needed in detail we set up a team of volunteers from across Surrey Heath to make a set number of sets of scrubs in standard colours, using materials that could be put through high temperature washes. The local community was enormously generous and in a matter of days, all the money needed to buy materials was raised.
In an incredibly short period, the team made, quality checked and delivered 150 sets of scrubs.
Credit for the project should go to Gina Wilson who provided all the logistics, coordination, distribution of materials and good humour, and to Emma from Frimley Green who provided the technical expertise and guidance. Of course, it couldn’t have happened without the fantastic team of stitchers who, I’m sure, never want to see another set of scrubs!
Again, thanks to St Anne’s for having the courage to provide the financial underwriting of the project, giving the mechanisms for fundraising and dealing with expenses. (Stefan Nahajski)
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4. Financial Review
2020 Financial Review
It is gratifying to report that the effect of the Covid 19 pandemic on Parish Finances was much less than we forecast when the first lockdown was announced in March 2020. This is in spite of the restrictions on church activities lasting much longer than any of us initially anticipated. The pandemic has led to greater Involvement with the wider Bagshot community, resulting in the establishment of new restricted funds to fund the support of the vulnerable and medical staff in the NHS, as described below.
Unrestricted (General) Fund
This fund, which supports the day-to-day operation of St Anne’s, ended 2020 with a deficit of £5,438. Income at £88,770 (2019: £99,318) was reduced mainly due to the loss of collections, occasional in-service Gift Aid contributions, Church Centre hire income and wedding fees. However, this was partially offset by a significant increase in donations from members of our congregation. Expenditure at £94,209 was also lower than the previous year (2019: £102,945) due to an overall decrease in operating costs. Parish Share was slightly lower than the previous year but was over £6,000 less than originally expected at the start of the year, due to grants (reductions) made by the Diocese in response to the pandemic.
Restricted Funds
A number of new Restricted Funds have been established during the year. These are described in the Financial Statement and in Section 3.8. Two of these are the results of engagement with the wider community in response to the pandemic: “The Bagshot Together Covid-19 Community Support Fund” and “Bagshot - Frimley Park Scrubs Appeal”. - see Sections 3.21 and 3.22 above.
The Lighting Project was completed early in 2020, fully funded by donations and a grant from the Hobson Charity.
The Friends of St Anne’s continue to generate a regular annual income of over £2,300 (after Gift Aid) and had a year-end balance of £13,509. In line with the fund’s objectives, this will be used in 2021 to fund essential repairs to the church fabric.
During the year we also benefitted from a bequest of £20,000 by the late Derek Shearing which he stipulated is to be used for maintenance of the fabric of St Anne’s.
St Anne’s Parish Hall
Although the Trustees of St Anne’s Parish Hall are the Diocesan Board of Finance, the entire responsibility for the management and maintenance of the Hall is that of St Anne’s PCC, who assume all liabilities. The Trust Deed indicates that the Hall is for the benefit of the people of Bagshot, not just the church, so the accounts of the Parish Hall are reported as one of the Restricted Funds of the PCC, with Note 9 to the PCC accounts providing the detail.
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The Parish Hall had started the year with significant reserves of over £25,000. This has provided a financial security during 2020 since the Hall was only fully used for the first two months, with limited use by two regular users in the autumn, complying with applicable Covid 19 regulations.
Hire income in 2020 was reduced by over £6,000 from the 2019 figure of £9,866. We are grateful to Bagshot Scouts who have paid their subscriptions for the whole year despite using the hall for only a few weeks.
The PCC was able to take advantage of the hall closure period by bringing forward a planned redecoration. A number of other overdue maintenance tasks were also carried out.
The financial outcome was a deficit of nearly £4,000 during the year, as opposed to the surplus of £4,616 generated in 2019 (reported on a Receipts and Payments basis). Note that the Parish Hall accounts this year have been reported formally within the aggregate PCC accounts on an Accruals basis, so that they are consistent with the remainder of the PCC accounts. The differences are not considered to be material.
Reserves Policy
It is PCC policy to try to maintain a balance on free reserves (unrestricted cash plus readily liquidated investment assets) which equates to at least six months unrestricted payments. This is equivalent to ~£50,000. It is held to smooth out fluctuations in cash flow and to meet emergencies. The balance of the unrestricted free reserves at the end of 2020 was ~£65,000, (excluding the outstanding unpaid Parish Share). Note that although the Vicar & Wardens fund is technically a restricted fund, the limited restrictions on its use mean that we have included its balance of £21,415 in the available reserve.
It is our policy to invest the short-term investment fund balances with the COIF Charities Deposit Fund and longer term in the CBF Church of England Investment Fund, both managed by CCLA Investment Management Ltd. The latter fund generates a significant income.
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Parochlal Church Councll of St Anne's. Bagshot Sl•temenl of flnanclal acllvlll For th• y••r •ndlnq 31 D•c•mb•r 2020 TOTL FUMDS 2•19 INC RCE 124.821 2.957 2fcl S571 27.1 TOTALIMC¢XtrIO AE8OiIAC Cost ol gerwallon ol IrK 57 1>) 109.017 I09.IX2 Id) 11.2 3234 TOTAL RESOURCES EXPEIIDEO NET 4COMIMG RE90URCE8 BEFORE 1.857 4241 IioveiiEIiT W4 FUWO8 20 17. 11.401 521 62S2 e87.eth)
Parochlal Church Coundl of St Anno'$, Bagshol Balanc• sh••t al 31 D•c•mb•r 2020 TOTAL FUtrIDS ASSETS 5(al 647.W2 fj47.fm 847.847 S(bl & 1¢> 28.748 21.415 .163 18249 &521 3.715 19.effj8 82.013 67.*21 TOTAL IIET A88ETS PAft FUND8 83.184 83.184 62.7 R•¥d Stbbg IPCC Chthw) 16 |
Not•8 to th• flnan¢ll •lt•m•nts 1. ACCOUNT#IG P<XICIES the frfst y&¥ that hv4e FRSI(r2120161 as the slarthdj •nd IhD *116
COWNG RESOURCES TOTAL TOTAL 2019 21•1 ¥nryInm 57.673 16.561 15.655 17.013 19307 42.429 124.421 F• 2.951 2.951 120 783 and Fwer Fees .774 4131 9.427 Y*yAh C 5.571 4231 .182 717 1JW7 J. AEaOURCES EXPEM)EO TOTAL TOTAL 1816 Saubj FuTrJ 813 10 io 61 810 7255
TOTAL 2020 Bio 7.255 70.431 70.431 371 2.587 3.170 2.567 3.170 4.692 1.478 4.49S 107 2.430 210 107 1430 210 105 3240 242 LayJlaff ¢Xl¢tr Equi[1 275 379 379 182 YrAth C 2.1Q8 245 1.425 1.1&1 718 718 1.458 3.156 7.628 14273 1rA.313 109.017 194 57 120 8p•cW PmJ•cts 11.202 407 3234 407 TOTAL RESOLA4ces ExpeNoeD 4 PAYMEP4TS TO pcc ¥eM8ERS 19 |
qal T•lbl• land nd Toial 647.e4)2 .542 647 602 ).542 0EPREcTmJm 2.195 245 245 In 2015. li l Januwy 2020 Z6.a&i 28.T48 11¢> Tld) of the LegKy Ftnj Ir21.415Jl 311)0C2D?0) bi ts COIF Clth (W FLVbJ, OEBTOA8 TOT*L TOT 1.185 2.117 3Y2 1.719 1.719 TOT 2019 63.728 1.617 8B.1 1,617 1279 1976 2265 67.921 69.776 201
&WarOm<fvLcav• kn tr9coJ c4 & r•l•'S To AteA11mlth•fwth ojnstthlo a D•bJ. th• Mal #b k¢ ofth• F•orlo In111 th• ffNYC} FNYC TwT ri•J• th 1119 201? atsy 1rt4n Tt Ch•My1•d tylhtr dtthwts1£3.571). W•wv lortruArii w*J• 21 |
21.JS1 24,718 2.JJ1 Gfw4•) FMYC )12 Fw T11 T& 8.)18 1• IPthy P•rt Fund 1911 9•2 221
13 4r2 233 1279 31 i) 7.7Jl 1200 21.1 10.281 2&Jn 20.75 3.746 7.738 5.2 119921 21.J12 2$.)7J 21.1 24J7J 231
435 3.311 3.198 4n 6Jl 7.7 15.3n 2sJn n6 21.*2 21J 241
ol Flnan¢W Ltl¥llh• for th• y•v •ndkYJ 31 D•c•Ml 2019 F¥n 10.rn 4.$1Y 4.517 16.1•k TOTAL WCOME 1017•7 1x1 57 1ty1.017 120 57 109,1•1 3.234 NET NC0kll RESIRCEs BEF OTHER REclIf£E0 NAD LOSSÉS 251
Independent Examiner’s Report to the members of St Anne’s Parochial Church Council (PCC) on the accounts for the year ended:31st December 2020
Respective responsibilities of PCC and Examiner
The members of the PCC are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The PCC consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to:
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examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act,
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to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act, and
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to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent examiner’s statement
My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the members of the PCC concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair’ view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
Independent examiner's statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the requirements:
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to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; and
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to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act have not been met; or
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to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
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5. Structure, governance and management
The Parochial Church Council is a corporate body established by the Church of England. The PCC operates under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure. The PCC is officially registered with the Charity Commission as THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST ANNE, BAGSHOT, SURREY, Registered Charity Number 1171379.
The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. At St Anne’s the membership of the PCC consists of the incumbent, the curate, churchwardens, the LLM (Reader), members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church as well as two elected Deanery Synod Representatives and any elected Diocesan or General Synod representatives.
All those who attend our services/members of the congregation are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC.
The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish including deciding on how the funds of the PCC are to be spent. New members receive initial training into the workings of the PCC.
The full PCC met three times in person and nine times via Zoom during the year of 2020 with a very good average level of attendance.
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6. Administrative information
St Anne’s Church is situated in Church Road, Bagshot. It is part of the Diocese of Guildford within the Church of England. The correspondence address is St Anne’s Church Office, 45 Church Road, Bagshot, Surrey GU19 5EQ. PCC members who have served at any time from 1 January 2020 until the date this report was approved are:
Ex Officio members:
Vicar: The Revd Andreas Sistig (Chairman) Curate: The Revd Ellen Turtle Wardens: Mr Derrick Fenn Mrs Sue Hunt
Diocesan Synod Representative: The Revd Jennifer Sistig (Self Supporting Minister)
Deanery Synod Representatives
Mr Richard Roots (until 18 October 2020) Mrs Diane Wild (from 18 October 2020) Mrs Lynne Cowley
Elected members:
Mrs Anne Bonella Dr Kate Dyerson Mrs Carolyn Nahajski Dr David Norminton Mr Kester Oliveira Dr David Perry (Treasurer) Mrs Brenda Shepherd (since 18 October 2020) Mrs Pat Stone (Secretary)
Our bankers are National Westminster Bank Plc and our Independent Examiner is Roy Wolstenholme, retired accountant and previously a Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. Approved by the PCC on 13[th] October 2020 and signed on their behalf by:
Revd Andreas Sistig (PCC Chairman)
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7. Appendix A – Vicar’s Report
I’m sure you all remember the Sunday School song – the wise man built his house upon the rock. Before the pandemic we often sang it with our pixies children – and we all really enjoyed singing it, especially the part where the foolish man’s house, built on sand fell flat!
When I began writing this year’s vicar’s report my thoughts were drawn back to that song, time and time again. And so, I’ve chosen Matthew 7:24-27 for this morning’s reading because, on deeper reflection, I find it to be a fitting analogy of how I have experienced these last 14 months of the pandemic.
They say, and I think it is true, that the church is not a building but that you and I, the people who belong to St. Anne’s we are the church! And yet I cannot deny the fact that these walls, made out of brick and mortar, are still somewhat important to us. They focus our attention on God, they provide us with a sense of awe and even a feeling of protection when we are tossed about in the storms of life.
As I was thinking about the storm we have all been through this last year, I felt that the analogy of the church as a building was a helpful one for this year’s vicar’s report - let me explain.
In the same way in which this physical church building is constructed of bricks, one on top of the other, eventually completing the physical church of St. Anne’s, so you and I are metaphorical bricks in the spiritual building called St Anne’s. And in the same way in which the physical mortar holds together the physical bricks of this building, so you and I, as the spiritual church building, are held together by the mortar of worship and fellowship, by praying together, laughing and crying together and occasionally even arguing with one another. In that way we form the church of God in Bagshot, a church which is built on the solid rock of faith, tradition and reason:
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Our faith in Jesus Christ and his continued presence,
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Our tradition which helps us to preserve a genuine connection to the beginning of our story
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Our ability to reason which, exercised in the context of faith and tradition, enables us to discern, with the help of the Holy Spirit, what is going on around us.
And even though our foundation has and continues to be strong, there is no denying the fact that the limitations the pandemic has placed on both our worship and fellowship has had a profound impact on us individually as well as collectively as a church family. Despite our great effort to maintain a sense of connection with one another throughout the pandemic there have been many things we have simply not been able to do, things which in normal times have functioned like the glue that holds us together – physically worshipping together, chatting after the service, laughing with one another, singing together, crying together when saying our final goodbye’s to members of our church family, and the list goes on…
Time and time I have been drawn back to the image of the wise man whose house is being battered and shaken by the rain – and at times that rain felt a bit more like a Tsunami wave washing around and over St.Anne’s. But now, some 14 months after the first wave crashed into us, I am very proud to see that we are still standing strong – a bit battered and bruised perhaps, but definitely still standing. And that is a great testimony to so many
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people who have gone out of their way this last year to ensure that our worship, fellowship, pastoral care, administration and not least our finances continued to be well managed.
You will, of course, be able to read about all of this in our annual report, but I would just like to take this opportunity to highlight a few aspects of the last year, which I consider to be absolutely instrumental in ensuring our survival of this Tsunami wave.
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I am particularly grateful to our worship tech team, first and foremost Stef and Carolyn Nahajski for setting us up with Zoom and patiently and with lots of energy and wisdom teaching us to embrace this strange new way of worshipping together. Your dedication, commitment and sense of humour has been absolutely wonderful!
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As I said in the annual report – we deliberately decided to go with Zoom, rather than pre-recording or simply streaming the services via Facebook live or Youtube. We did this in order to maintain that sense of togetherness which, albeit sometimes a bit messy, is the essence of our joint worship – standing before God as one family – virtually and physically.
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Over the past 14 months Zoom has also enabled us to do a number of other things, such as our daily morning and evening prayer services, Teatime and Pixie's services (at least during the first half of the pandemic), special services such as the Easter Vigil, Remembrance Day, Christmas services etc., groups such as Bible studies, confirmation classes, fellowship groups such as Coffee and Chat, and Saturday evening quiz gatherings. Furthermore, we were able to broadcast weddings and funeral services to family members and friends who were unable to attend in person.
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The pandemic also encouraged us to reach out far beyond our usual volunteer horizon, when we became a very active part in the ‘Surrey Heath Prepared’ movement, helping those self-isolating with essential shopping and medicine pickups. Stefan Nahajski was especially instrumental in this and my special thanks goes to him for all the work he has done with that project as well as the scrubs project for Frimley Park.
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Our visiting team is another group I am particularly indebted to, especially Helen Perry who continues to lead it with such insight and wisdom. This last year has obviously not seen a lot of in-person visiting. Instead, the visiting team, supplemented by many additional volunteers became telephone buddies, ringing friends and neighbours regularly to make sure they felt supported and not isolated.
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I am particularly grateful to both, the Ministry Team as well as the Steering Group. Both teams have worked extremely hard and often under very difficult circumstances, especially when we needed to discern a way forward in uncharted territory – balancing the desire to allow worship and fellowship to continue with the need to keep each other as safe as possible - and all of that in the context of at times confusing or even contradictory guidelines. I am extremely grateful to both these teams for the very many late nights deciphering church and government
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guidelines, designing and proof-reading dozens of risk assessments, helping me to think through completely new service and fellowship ideas and above all for being completely and utterly reliable when it came to trying new things, going the extra mile, helping with this or that and being a critical friend in the most helpful and constructive way possible. I do not want to think where that Tsunami wave had washed us off to, had it not been for these faithful and extraordinarily hardworking people: Derrick, Sue, David, Ellen, Jen, Kester, Helen and Annie – thank you! You all deserve a medal!
As we now begin to look forward to life and ministry post-pandemic, I am excited about the possibilities that will present themselves. I want to encourage us all to seize this moment to pause for a little while and to take stock of where we are and in what kind of shape and condition our spiritual church building, our church family is in, now that ‘the waters of chaos’ are receding. First of all, we will need to give ourselves some time to recover, to re-kindle the joys of fellowship and worship – we intend to do that over the summer months. But then, perhaps in the autumn, I believe that we have a unique opportunity to explore some of the lessons we have learned during the pandemic and to see how we can put those experiences to good use.
I am thinking especially about the way we were able to connect with the community or the way in which we embraced different ways of worship and fellowship. Who would have thought before the pandemic that every day, some 15 people gather to pray morning or evening prayer together via Zoom? Or that some 200 volunteers, many of which would never dream to come to a worship service, would readily pledge their time and money to get behind a community project such as Bagshot Prepared, which was essentially run through St.Anne’s as an organising body? Or our telephone buddie scheme, the scrubs project, our online Quiz evenings, house and Bible study groups meeting online – the more I look, the more I am amazed at the creativity we have shown during the last year. Those lessons and experiences are things we must take into the future, especially when we explore the exciting opportunities our Eco Church project offers us in the context of the Church of England’s pledge to be carbon neutral by 2030.
We have already begun to make plans with the various children and adult groups who will come back to our Church Centre this year. We have planted a lot of different things, we are planning to ask church families to adopt a flower tub outside, we are hoping to regularly run a Fairtrade stall and we are very privileged to have the support of other local partners such as the Lightwater gardening club, Waitrose and the Coop – but of course, we need all of you to get involved in Eco church. Not just here at 45 Church Rd, but at home as well, because we are the church of God where we worship and live! I am particularly excited about the prospect of being able to continue working with both Kester as well as Ellen. Both their ministries have grown beautifully over the last year and both have achieved a very significant milestone in their ministries – Kester has been licensed as a Licensed Lay Minister and subsequently been accepted as an ordinand – this means that he will now begin his studies via Sarum College to become an ordained ‘Nonstipendiary’ minister in 2023.
And Ellen has now also officially finished her training as a curate and after some consultations with the archdeacon and the bishop it has been decided that she can stay
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with us here at St Anne’s for the foreseeable future. So, some time in the autumn archdeacon Paul will come and officially license her as Associate Minister at St. Anne’s. I am so grateful for all that Kester and Ellen have been able to bring to our church family over the past years and I am very much looking forward to working alongside you in the coming years as we continue to embrace that which has stood the test of time while simultaneously exploring new ways…
As is customary want to finish by saying some very special thank-you:
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Kester, our PCC secretary for accurate and punctual minutes.
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Our PCC, and especially to Lynne, Kester and Diane who are also our Deanery Synod members.
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The Ministry Team – Jennifer, Ellen, Kester, Helen and Annie for their help, encouragement and patience.
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Ellen, for the hard work, competence and joy she brings to everything she does at St.Anne’s.
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Kester, who has become a much valued and important member of our Ministry Team.
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Our Churchwardens Derrick and Sue who have been more important and hardworking this last year than ever!
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David our treasurer for his competent, diligent and tireless work keeping this parish functioning and flourishing in many crucial areas.
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Our sound and Zoom tech team: Stef and Carolyn, Jose, Nicki and Derrick.
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Our office volunteers Carolyn, Annie, Lynne, Neil and June – I can’t wait to have you back in the office again!
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Our Baptism coordinator Brenda who now has a backlog of some 20 baptisms to work through with me – but I am looking forward to that!
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Jose for his competent and very creative work on the parish magazine and Carolyn Bartlett for her continued help in organising the distribution
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Nick Dorrington for keeping a close eye on the Parish Hall during these months and for helping to coordinate the renovation activities.
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Our Electoral Roll Officer Lynne
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Our parish visiting team lead by Helen who also serves as our Parish Safeguarding Officer and validator.
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Neil Lyddiatt our safe recruiting officer and besom volunteer.
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Kate for her fabulously creative and passionate work on our eco church project.
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Our marriage preparation team lead by Helen and Campbell.
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Our bell ringers, especially Nigel Nelson the tower captain and John Bauld.
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Alex for filling our services with beautiful music and for leading our choir.
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Our stand in organists (especially Jonathan Holl) and our choir members.
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Our guest preachers, readers, servers, sacristans, cleaners, flower arrangers, welcomers, sidespeople, gardening team, grass cutters, coffee providers and obviously all other volunteers which I inadvertently might have missed out.
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To my family – who supports, encourages and loves me even on the days when that is difficult
In closing I would just like to reiterate that without all your energy, wisdom, dedication and commitment this last year we would not be where we are now – ready to look confidently into the future. A future that will see St Anne’s continue to be a strong a beacon of hope, light and love to the people in our community. Amen.
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