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← The Parochial Church Council Of The Ecclesiastical Parish Of St Peter Ash

2024-12-31-accounts

Annual Reports for the Annual Parochial Church Meeting for the year ending 2024

To be held at St. Peter’s Church, Ash On Sunday 16th March 2025

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Contents

The aim, purpose and objectives of St Peter’s, Ash Page 4
Administrative Information Page 5
Structure, governance and management Page 6
Rector’s, Secretary’s and Treasurer’s report Page 7
Churchwardens and Health & Safety report Page 13
Safeguarding report Page 15
Church activity reports Page 16

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The aims, purposes and objectives of St Peter’s, Ash

St Peter’s Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility of cooperating with the incumbent, the Reverend Keith Bristow, 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 the Church centre of St Peter’s, Ash.

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 Peter’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 Church of England’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:

To facilitate this work it is important that we maintain the fabric of the Church of St Peter and the Church centre.

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Administrative information

St Peter’s Church is situated in Ash Church Road, Ash. It is part of the Diocese of Guildford within the Church of England. The correspondence address is The Parish Office, Ash Church Road, Ash, telephone number 01252 331161, email - - . office@saint peters ash.org.uk The PCC is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representative Rules 2006) and we are a charity with the number 1171836.

Ex Officio members:

Elected members:

Those invited to PCC meetings but not entitled to vote:

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Structure, Governance and Management

The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. At St Peter’s the membership of the PCC consists of the Incumbent (our Rector), Associate Priest, Church Wardens, Deanery Synod Representatives and members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the Church. All those who attend our services and are 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.

The full PCC meets six times during the year. Given its wide responsibilities the PCC has a number of committees each dealing with a particular aspect of parish life. These committees, which include worship, mission and outreach and fabric and finance, report back to the PCC regularly and discussed as necessary.

The PCC has a Standing Committee. This committee has the power to transact the business of the PCC between its meetings, subject to any directions given by the PCC. It is composed of:

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Rector’s Report for St Peter’s APCM

Looking back on 2024, I’m sure we will all have lots of good memories to cherish of our life here at St Peter’s. I believe that one of our great strengths as a community is how we look out for one another prayerfully and in other practical ways. That is how it should be, and I pray that that will always continue. We have faced up to the many challenges that most churches face these days – financial, maintenance, and the indifference of the majority in our society, but we have done so with determination and a sense of humour. Those who have come to us for Sunday Services, baptisms, weddings and funerals have, I hope, gone away with a strong sense of our welcome and friendship. We pray that God has been able to use us in His service to reflect His love for them all. Who knows what seeds of faith we may have planted or helped nurture for the future? Sometimes we forget that the Holy Spirit is already at work in the lives of the people we meet – our job is to make Him known to them, through the love and care we show. Looking forward, it would be easy for us to lose confidence – especially if we start believing the medias’ narrative of a church in terminal decline. We know that that is not the case, and that God will never desert us or let us down. Relying on His strength, we believe that the missional task He has set us, is deliverable, and we mustn’t let ourselves be discouraged by what others say. : We need to take to heart what the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews says ‘since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith’ (Hebrews 12 v 1 – 20 ) At this difficult time for our national church that word ‘perseverance’ is what stands out for me, as does, keeping Jesus firmly at the heart of all that we do. We must stay focused! At the beginning of 2024 we launched our Twinning Process with St Paul’s. During the course of the year, we have shared in various events together – including Café Church, Prayer Mornings, Third Sunday worship at St Peter’s, afternoon teas and social occasions, to name but a few. There have been meetings between the clergy, the Archdeacon, and Churchwardens, and also Revd. Claire has been attending our PCC meetings. We pray that when I retire the transition to Revd. Claire becoming Rector here, will be a smooth one. Drawing together the talents and gifts of both parishes for the good of all, is an exciting prospect for the future. The traditions of both parishes will continue, but there will be much to share and celebrate together. As always, everything we do should be for the glory of God, and the increase of His Kingdom, under

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the guidance of His Holy Spirit. Change is always a challenge, but we do not go forward alone, as He promised, Jesus is with us to the end of the age. We must make sure we grasp the opportunities that working together will bring. As the various reports show, a lot has been happening in the past year. There has been lots to enjoy together and we are richly blessed by those who have given so generously of their time and energy to organise and deliver the various events. I would like to thank them all for what they do from week to week. Also, thanks to those who volunteer when we have our gardening and maintenance mornings, our Fete and Christmas Fayre, and help out at the community events organised by Ash Parish Council. It was also good that Miranda and Mike Younger were able to organise our Christmas Lunch this year - a good time was had by all.

A big thank you to everyone who supports us financially with regular giving, and through our social events. With costs constantly rising, your contributions are very much appreciated and vital. Also, thanks for bringing along family, friends and neighbours to social events – it is a powerful witness that we Christians do have fun! Alongside that, the gift of people’s time is also greatly valued. We know that there are many demands on everyone’s time these days, and so, what you give so freely to St Peter’s is a very precious gift indeed. Whether it is arranging flowers, helping with maintenance issues, being on the coffee rota, welcoming people on a Sunday morning, helping with refreshments at social events, or the many other jobs that people do, it is all very much appreciated and keeps our church not just functioning, but makes it an enjoyable place to be.

Each year I mention my gratitude for all that Revd. Carol does in the parish, not just supporting me in my ministry, but also the many others who seek her advice and support. Her other roles as an army chaplain and as a member of the hospital chaplaincy team, mean that a great many people benefit from her wealth of experience too, for which I am sure they are very grateful.

Thanks to our churchwardens, Linda and Maria, for giving their time and talents – especially keeping me on the straight and narrow! Linda is now quite an expert in dealing with the diocese in getting the permissions for the various works that need to be done. Maria has done an excellent job in promoting EcoChurch, and now, having helped us secure our Bronze award, is helping us move on to the Silver standard. In doing this she has been liaising with the eco team at St Paul’s, a good example of how cooperation between the two parishes is already bearing fruit.

I would like to thank Peter Hurst for taking on the role of Treasurer and working tirelessly to seek out new ways of saving us money. Jo, in the office,

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also deserves our continued thanks for keeping the admin running smoothly and encouraging more people to hire our Centre for their events. The number of bookings has increased despite the constraints on people’s finances in the past year. We are so fortunate to have our Centre and, as we look forward to celebrating its’ 25[th] anniversary this May, we are working to ensure that it remains fit for purpose for the next 25 years. It puts us at the heart of the local community and allows us to play a part in the education of many local children through our pre-school, encourage family celebrations and facilitate the regular meetings of various uniformed groups and other clubs. In this context, thanks also go to those who volunteer to open and close the Centre and welcome our users.

At each APCM, there are people to remember who have sadly died during the past year. In 2024 we have mourned for Rosemary Daniels, Derek Marchant, Joy Savage, Beryl Reynolds and our 104 year old stalwart of the 8 o’clock service – Irene Woolhouse. She was still a regular attendee until just a few months before she died. We value the contribution that each one of them made to the life of the church. We miss them all and now pray that they may rest in the peace of Christ and rise with Him in glory.

I am aware that I could have mentioned many more people by name here, but I hope you all know how much your contributions to the life of this church are valued. God has called us all by name and we are His. We are all, every single one of us, loved and precious in His sight. In the year ahead our challenge remains the same – to tell others by word and action that they too can have a place in God’s Kingdom and that eternal life is theirs to accept as God’s free gift, through faith in Jesus. I pray that God will continue to use us all to break through the indifference we encounter, and help us show what knowing God, in Jesus Christ, means in experiencing true fulfilment in our lives. May we go forward together with confidence, letting ourselves be guided solely by Him who knows us better than we know ourselves.

Father Keith Rector

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Secretary’s Report

We have maintained 13 members from different groups in church, with a good level of attendance at meetings. We had one new member to the PCC at the AGM Our 2024 Electoral roll stands at 102.

The three working groups: Communications, Social Events and Ministry, have been regularly meeting this year.

We also were able to enjoy our Christingle service once again this year and was very well attended and lots of children dressed up and participated. We have continued to have the Wednesday Holy Communion service in the Church Centre to save money on heating, and it has proved very popular with people from other church congregations joining for coffee after the service. We have also continued with having the 2[nd] Sunday services in the Centre which is working well.

We have worked hard to ensure our Safeguarding policies and procedures are in place and are up to date. Our thanks go to Anne Wilson, our safeguarding officer, for moving this forward with the PCC.

Our two schools, Walsh Memorial Church of England Infant School and Walsh Church of England Junior School have continued to enjoy visits for collective worship and pastoral care from Father Keith and he is also continuing to help with the RE curriculum.

A lot of work this year has been achieved on our Twinning Project which is where we will be sharing a priest with St Paul’s in Tongham. Because of this work our Parish Development Plan for 2025 will be on hold until we have officially Twinned.

The launch of the Twinning Project was in January 2024 with small groups from both churches encouraged to meet to discuss working together on various aspects of church life, including outreach and communications. Twinning has also been a regular item on the PCC agenda, allowing for concerns and celebrations to be shared.

Under Maria Luff’s guidance we continued with work to get St Peter’s Eco Church Bronze Award which we have achieved. We are now working towards our Silver Award.

The results from our Quinquennial Inspection have continually been reviewed and fixed/monitored through Maintenance Mornings. One of our big concerns was an external stone work issue which was fixed in 2024 following good weather.

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This year we lose 2 serving PCC members, Abbie Hurcombe and Sue Towler. Our thanks go to all serving, retiring and new members of the PCC for their contributions and support.

Jo Hurst

Secretary

Treasurer’s Report

This has been my first full year of being Treasurer, it’s still a learning curve. It’s an ongoing process reviewing how we handle finance against the latest guidance from the Charity Commission and the Church of England. Looking at all our regular payments: fuel, printers, phones, security systems etc; I’m checking that we are getting value for money aligned to current and future requirements.

We do seem to have a downturn in the amount of Giving received and we are always very grateful for that which we do receive. We are in the process of joining the Parish Giving scheme which will make the process easier for givers, and also make the admin at our end simpler.

One notable change (totally behind the scenes) is how we receive our phone services; I’ve reduced our monthly costs from over £100 to about £20. This has been made possible due to better use of technology.

You’ll have probably noticed small electronic thermometers dotted around the church. These have enabled us to better understand how the church warms up and cools down. It also highlighted a fault with the thermostats on the heating system, which have been fixed. This information coupled with smart heating controllers should enable us to better control our use of oil. It will also enable us to control the temperature better which will help preserve the plasterwork (which we know is expensive to fix).

We have plans to install LED lighting in both the church and the centre; this will reduce electricity consumption. It is also hoped we can easily (and cheaply) fit smart heating controllers in the centre to better control and reduce our heating costs. I’m sure that these will also feature on the eco report. I’m very conscious that we have a number of maintenance and renewal tasks that are required around the Church and Centre. I am trying to get a handle on what the impact on our finances is going to be over the next few years. We will apply for funding where we can, however where funding can’t be found we need to include the costs within our budgets.

You will notice that at the year end we had not fully paid our Parish Share for 2024. The reality is that the payment had been made, but our bank temporarily

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blocked it as a suspicious payment!!! It was released on the first banking day of 2025. Lesson learnt – don’t leave it until the final day before making payments!!

The hiring of the Centre to groups and individuals within our community continues to be a valuable source of income for us. Thank you to all the various people who enable this to happen by opening up and locking up the Centre, plus all the coordination of bookings by the office.

I would like to thank the Parish Close and Heathcote Trusts for their generous donations, without them we would not have been able to meet our liabilities and balance the books.

Peter Hurst

Treasurer

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Churchwardens’ Report on the Fabric maintenance of the St. Peter’s Church and Associate Buildings

In 2024 we continued to work our way slowly through the requirements of our Quinquennial Inspection, with the stone work on the East end of the church being repaired in the Spring. This was the second of the two major repairs which were identified by the architect in his Inspection report. (The first was repairs to the plaster work on the south wall, completed in November 2023). Regular Maintenance Mornings have also enabled us to keep the grounds

looking tidy and begin to make improvements to the interior of the church. We are very grateful to the small army of volunteers who give their time and expertise to maintaining the fabric of the building and its surroundings, including the brass cleaning team and those who maintain the Garden of Memory.

In March 2024 the new porch gates, which have been donated in memory of Bert Howard, were ‘opened’ with members of Bert’s family in attendance. The gates are beautifully designed and enhance the entrance to the church. We are very grateful to the Howard family for their very generous gift.

The yearly inventory of the church was completed in the Easter holidays and everything was found to be in good order.

In August 2024 we had an ‘Eco Audit’ of the church, which then was followed by a report on how well we are doing and offering us the chance to apply for a grant of £3,000 to make improvements to our eco credentials. We are currently looking into using this to replace the lights / fittings in church to make them more eco friendly and hopefully save us some money in running costs. We have also looked at how the boiler runs and its impact on the temperature in church. A new ‘Smart Controller’ enables us to have better regulation of the timings and temperature.

In October we had a maintenance day focused on St Peter’s Centre and were able to spruce up the centre foyer and clean up light fittings, among many other jobs. This was followed by one of our regular Maintenance Mornings, when the dilapidated shed in the centre grounds was dismantled. Many thanks to Richard Moore and Peter Hurst and their helpers for their work on this and the assembling of the new shed to replace it.

We have continued to focus on the ‘Twinning’ with St Paul’s church in Tongham and members of both congregations met to discuss their hopes and concerns in the Spring of 2024. As churchwardens we have been involved in

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the Steering Group follow-up meetings with Jens Mankel from Guildford Diocese to consider ways forward as the two churches are more closely linked. In November 2024 we attended the Annual Churchwardens Training Day, again held in St John’s church, Egham. As always, this was a great opportunity to meet with others in the same role and compare our concerns and causes for celebration. We attended workshops on ‘Resolving Difficult Issues’ and ‘Parish Share and Stewardship’, both of which were informative and useful. There are still many practical and maintenance jobs to be done on our Quinquennial List and it would be good to have more assistance in maintaining our beautiful church and its’ surroundings. If you could offer even a small amount of your time or expertise we would be very grateful. Please speak to Maria or Linda or see Jo in the office for details. Thank you. Maria Luff and Linda Tallon

Health and Safety Report

A number of measures have been taken this year to improve Health and Safety in the church and in St Peter’s Centre.

All first aid boxes have been reviewed and their contents updated. There are first aid boxes in the church at the back of the Lady Chapel, in each of the halls and in the kitchen in St Peter’s Centre.

Some of the paving slabs outside the centre have been re-laid to maintain a flat surface.

The lighting in the car park has been upgraded and the area is now much more welcoming on darker evenings.

An Accessibility Statement for the church is now available, copies can be found in the Lady Chapel.

Many thanks to all who have helped with these measures.

Linda Tallon

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Safeguarding Report 2024

Safeguarding has continued to be on every PCC meeting agenda, and I meet regularly with Father Keith to discuss safeguarding matters.

This year we held our first safeguarding Sunday (which unfortunately I couldn’t attend) and I hope that this is going to become a regular event. Also the Mothers’ Union had a talk from a representative from the Mothers’ Union safeguarding team.

Father Keith and I also met with the Guildford Diocese Safeguarding officer Jackie Broadfoot which was very interesting and helpful and we discussed some of our safeguarding processes.

During this year we have been working towards meeting all Guildford Diocese Safeguarding requirements as shown on the Safeguarding Dashboard. Last year we ended the year with 100% complete but during the last few months there have been additional activities added to the requirements so although we have covered everything the same as last year there are some areas outstanding. With these and the PCC timetable being slightly different this year we have covered and completed 86% of the dashboard tasks. These areas will be added to our safeguarding agenda timetable to be covered next year.

The areas covered on the Parish Dashboard which are completed are Policies and Action Plan

Safeguarding Roles Learning and Development Non church activities Prevention

The areas which still need some work on them are

Safeguarding Procedures Reviews and reports Church activities Display information

I’d like to thank Maria Luff for all her help and support with implementing the safeguarding policies and practices and for Jo Hurst who makes sure the posters around our buildings are up to date. I am also grateful to Ceri Hurcombe for her offer to help with safeguarding as the work is increasing every year to keep up to date with present safeguarding issues.

It is important that we implement all the safeguarding measures which the Diocese requires of us but it is more important to remember that safeguarding is about people and this should be at the heart of our work. Anne Wilson Safeguarding Officer

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Twinning for St Peter’s and St Paul’s

It has been a good year to get to know one another better. We have shared prayer, services and events.

Rev Claire has tried to attend as many services and events as possible and it has been a great way to get to know the congregations at St Peter’s and the range of services and activities they value.

We now have members of both churches at our monthly prayer events – including prayer walks in the better weather and in church events over the winter: some at St Peter’s and some at St Paul’s. It has been great to pray together.

We have had members of both churches at Taizé services and Evensong through the year. And it has demonstrated that we can have more diversity with no extra effort, when we work together.

We have advertised each other’s events for fellowship and for fundraising. We now have a regular group of St Peter’s at St Paul’s Fellowship Lunches, and a new member at Mother’s Union from St Paul’s. Families have been able to benefit from more options as well, including Exploring Christmas and Easter at St Paul’s and Pancake Party at St Peter’s.

We have also begun to look at some of the practical aspects of planning across 2 churches, especially as we book weddings in for 2025/6. Rev Claire is now attending the monthly booking in session at St Peter’s. We have had a first meeting with the 2 administrators and begun to think about how we might work together across the 2 sites – sharing bookings and helping each other wherever we can.

We have had our first joint PCC meeting (January 2025, so maybe it should be in next year’s report?!) where we shared thoughts leading to a set of values and a shared Church Development Plan – which we will continue to work on in future joint PCC meetings.

We have also had some joint Eco meetings, where we have been able to share experience and ideas. We set up a joint communications team which has made a big difference in keeping both churches up to date with any decisions and actions, as well as answering questions people have.

And it was lovely to share preparing for first communion for 6 of our children – 3 from St Peter’s and 3 from St Paul’s (as it happens all boys!) who in January were able to share in a special service in each church as they received Holy Communion for the first time.

There are things which haven’t made much progress too! Housing for Rev Claire is still being worked out. The Vicarage site at Tongham will be

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redeveloped and it is hoped that Rev Claire will have a house provided for her roughly halfway between to 2 churches – so that it is easy to minister to both churches and communities. But so far there has been nothing suitable. Please be praying about this. Also, service times haven’t been decided, although it is clear that we will need to adjust these so that Rev Claire can attend all services. We will not be making any changes to times before Father Keith retires.

It has been a really useful time of building relationships and starting to plan for the future. We are so blessed to have such faithful and caring congregations and to see some of the benefits of working together already. We continue to pray for God’s guidance, vision and provision as we move forward through 2025.

Father Keith, Revd Carol and Revd Claire Holt

Eco Church Report

Eco Church is an Arocha UK award scheme for churches in England and Wales who want to demonstrate that the gospel is good news for God’s earth. Since our last APCM we are proud to have achieved the Bronze award! We are now working hard to collect points towards the Silver award, completing the Eco Church survey on five different categories of our life at St Peter’s: *Worship and Teaching.

*Buildings and Energy.

*Land and Nature.

*Community and Global Engagement.

*Lifestyle.

Our main focus this past year has been around the Energy and Net Zero Carbon Audit which the Church of England has commissioned for churches such as ours that have a large carbon footprint. The audit has highlighted several ways in which we can become more eco-friendly and reduce our carbon footprint such as changing our halogen light bulbs for LED ones. We are fortunate enough to receive a grant from the diocese to pay for part of the work that needs to be done. Our eco team has been working hard on an action plan to work towards meeting the diocese’s target of net zero by 2030 as best we can! We now have SMART controls for our church heating so that we can remotely control the heating and save Father Keith from coming over to church in the middle of the night to put the heating on for Sunday morning! We have also installed digital thermometers around the church building which are helping us to monitor the temperature in different parts and adjust our heating accordingly.

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We are working towards becoming a Fair Trade Place of Worship by buying supplies from Rainforest Alliance companies and promoting the Fair Trade ethos as much as we can. Our weekly pew sheet has eco-friendly tips for each month that members of the congregation might like to try out.

As part of the twinning process, we have had regular joint eco team meetings with St Paul’s Tongham. Both churches are considering exploring alternative sources of heat such as heated pew cushions. This is part of the green philosophy of “heating the people” rather than the enormous church space! I would like to thank my fellow eco team members for all their hard work and commitment over the past year: Jo, Richard and Barbara. Thanks must also go to Pete for coming along to meetings when needed and supporting us by managing the finances!

If you would like to join our team or have any ideas to share on becoming “greener”, please contact me. Maria Luff.

Greener St. Peter’s

As part of our effort to care more for our planet we have the area behind the hall as our wildlife friendly space.

The grass is cut infrequently which means we have lots of crickets in the summer. Our log pile and compost bin provide homes for small creatures and we hope the hedgehog house will one day have a tenant!

We are trying to increase plant diversity and have a few yellow rattle plants which we hope will spread and help more wild flowers take hold as well as rosemary and buddleia to encourage pollinators.

If you have any spare pollinator friendly plants we would be glad to find them a home.

Barbara Rose

Aldershot Deanery Synod

The Aldershot Deanery Synod comprises of the Area Dean and Chair (Interim the Revd George Newton), members of local churches and representing St Peter’s are the Revd Keith Bristow, the Revd Carol Monk, Mrs Catherine Hirst and Mrs Sheila Taylor.

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There are normally three meetings per calendar year – February, June and September.

21 February 2024 – held at The Church of the Good Shepherd, Farnborough

George Newton welcomed everyone to Synod and thanked the Church of the Good Shepherd for their welcome and refreshments.

Thea Edwards, Vicar of the Church of the Good Shepherd, welcomed everyone and led opening worship by reading John 10:1-8 and praying the Celtic Canticle. She then gave a brief update on the ministry at the church. There are many activities trying to engage with the local housing estates: Toddler music, Messy Church, Food Larder, Olive Branch (a clothing exchange). A PCC away day in January helped build the team listening to God and evaluating what He is calling them to in the next year. Children and Youth numbers are good. There has been a growth in numbers attending church and there will be 4 adult baptisms on Easter Day. She asked for prayer for the Lectio Divina Lent course, for the staff team which is small and busy particularly leading up to Easter, and for worship leaders and ministry during Lent.

Following the Deanery meeting in October 2023 when Revd Alwyn advised details and statistics relating to welfare and activities in the Aldershot area, Revd Alwyn was unable to attend this current meeting but he submitted statistics relating to strategy based on the 2021 census. These statistics can be accessed through the Dec 2023 Parish Brief. Aldershot Deanery is the biggest, youngest and most ethnically diverse Deanery in the Diocese.

Dean Pusey from Holy Trinity Aldershot explained the change in demographic in the Deanery over the past 15 years. In October there were 15 nationalities at the Harvest Service at Holy Trinity. There were many asylum seekers and refugees who should remain in the churches’ focus. On 11 February, Racial Justice Sunday, Beverley Hunt spoke at the Cathedral about the need to address racism and spoke about 2 documents which should be discussed in Synod,

PCCs and the pews. All were encouraged to read the documents which will be sent to clergy. The Deanery should lead the way in seeking racial justice. This will be on the agenda for the next Deanery Synod when we will discuss the following:

The recommendation that 4 principles of the racial justice covenant be adopted biennially by parishes/Deanery

  1. Disciples: We commit to Jesus Christ as individuals, as churches and as part of society.

  2. Diversity: We commit to encourage, build up and celebrate the racial diversity of the Body of Christ across Guildford Diocese.

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  1. Representation: We commit to improve the inclusion, participation, and representation of UKME/GMH people in our congregations, our lay and ordained leadership and in our diocesan staff.

  2. Accountability: We commit to accountability and transparency in parish and diocesan systems, structures, and processes, with clear goals for racial diversity and inclusion that Aldershot deanery commit to be a leading advocate of racial justice in the Diocese.

Matt Grove who works in the Training Department at the Diocese, explained about the Foundations is Ministry course which trains and equips lay leaders in local churches. Matt seeks to help people hear their vocation to do and lead in church. There is more information on the Diocesan website and Matt can be contacted on . matthew.grove@cofeguildford.org.uk The course has people with a diversity of age and it is important that Synod members ensure their churches know about the course.

13 June 2024 - Holy Trinity Church, Aldershot

Rev George Newton welcomed everyone to Synod at Holy Trinity and particularly mentioned those who were there for the first time: He opened the meeting by reading Psalm 65. Synod members then sang Oh Breath of Life Come Sweeping Through Us, followed by prayer.

He then gave a brief update on the ministry at Holy Trinity referring back to the changes and challenges at the church in the 25 years he had ministered there. Originally, the population of Aldershot was primarily white but was now 46% non white British. There had been growth at the church with outreach into the community and a vibrant children and family ministry. The current encouragements were that: the church was now much more multi-cultural; they have recently done the SHAPE course; Jill, the church’s OLM, will shortly be priested; people who are in difficult situations seek help and soon the church will run the Do What Jesus Did course.

The Foundations in Ministry Course as outlined by Matt Grove during the February meeting, was now up and running in the Diocese

Racial Justice Covenant. The proposal was that the Deanery should adopt the covenant as explained and minuted previously. Following discussions it was decided that the covenant should be accepted but checked every two years to ensure it remains current and consistent.

It was announced that Gemma Foster is the new Area Dean.

The Parish Needs Process (PNP) strategy and information day was held on Saturday 6 July in Fleet. Deanery Synod reps, clergy and PCC members were encouraged to attend. As St Peter’s and St Paul’s were in a “twinning” process, they were exempt from attending.

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Jane Jones who was Deanery Synod Lay Chair, is to be ordained Deacon. Deanery Synod Elections - George encouraged the Deanery to be fully represented in the Diocese and to be vocal.

18 September – St Paul’s Tongham

Rev. Claire Holt welcomed everyone to St Paul’s and opened with prayer. Allison Moulden, Diocesan Environmental Officer, advised ways to reduce heating and lighting costs and be energy efficient.

The Parish Needs Process (PNP) was discussed highlighting areas of concern raised at the July gathering. St Paul’s and St Peter’s being exempt from the process as they are in “twinning” discussions. Sheila Taylor

Communications Group

The Communications Group has continued to maintain a steady profile this year with our main focus on the parish magazine, pew cards and ‘What’s On’ leaflets.

The parish magazine is now established with many regular contributors. We have again been offered material for inclusion in the magazine and this has enabled us to keep the content interesting and varied. As well as the parish distribution list we send copies of the magazine to Little Fishes families. Many thanks to those who contribute to, print, collate and deliver the magazine around the parish.

Easter and Christmas leaflets were available in 2024, alongside a joint St Peter’s and St Paul’s card to advertise Christmas services and events.

In July the group met and took the difficult decision not to produce a St Peter’s calendar for 2025. We hope to be able to look at a similar project in the future, depending on costs and interest. We are grateful both to those who contributed photos for the calendars, and those who bought them over the last four years. As an alternative for budding photographers we have asked people to contribute photos to be used on the cover of the magazine this year.

We held a joint meeting with St Paul’s Communications group in September and it was good to share ideas and get to know each other. We hope there will be opportunities for further liaison in the future.

Our thanks again to those who have been kind enough to volunteer for distributing leaflets and printing and delivering magazines. If anyone would like to join us or has any suggestions for us, please get in touch with any of the group: Linda Tallon, Richard Moore, Liz Stokes, Eddie Cheung and Anne Wilson, or via the Parish Office 01252 331161. Linda Tallon

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Ministry Group

Throughout 2024 and into 2025, the Ministry Group continued to meet regularly and look at ways of enhancing what we have to offer people, both from a pastoral and worship perspective.

Once again, we ran Lenten and Advent courses, as well ‘Summer Sessions’, which comprised of a variety of themes over four weeks. These included a look at the books ‘The Shack’ and ‘Bad Girls of the Bible’, a Big Questions session, and a Taizé service. All were well attended - the variety meant there was plenty of discussion and interest.

We had the usual St Peter’s Day celebrations followed by picnic, as well as the annual Bereavement Service, a Carol Service and Christingle Service and the wonderful Christmas Tree exhibition, which attracted people from the wider community to contribute and to come along.

The prayers for healing at the 3rd Sunday, Communion Service continues to be well received and is a deeply enriching time for those who seek prayer, both for themselves and on behalf of others.

We have held Prayer mornings on a regular basis, taking place at both St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s alternately. Each prayer morning has been welcomed by those who attend. The prayer time helps us to focus on particular themes and is helpful for personal reflection and to pray for the wider community. The prayer mornings are open to anyone who wishes to come along. Hopefully, this is something we can continue to take forward.

The 2nd Sunday service held in St. Peter’s Centre continues to be well attended and has become the norm. The same is said for the 8am Sunday Communion and Wednesday morning services. It should be said the social time following Wednesday morning in particular is well attended, with some friends from Holy Angels and others joining us.

Fr. Keith, Rev. Carol and Rev. Claire (St Paul’s) took three boys from each church through a first communion course and our three, Isaac, Samuel and Adam were welcomed during a service in February, when they participated in their first communion here at St. Peter’s.

There were no confirmation candidates throughout the last 12 months, but there has been interest shown for this year. We shall look at running a Discover Course for both candidates and anyone else who may want to explore their own faith journey more. This will probably take place after the summer. Revd. Carol and the Ministry Team

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Social Events Team

We have had another busy year starting in January with a new event, Skittles. Thanks go to St Paul’s who lent us the skittles and to Peter Hurst who ensured the large hall floor and wall were not damaged while we played! The event was well supported and everyone had a good time – the age range of the event was 3-93 years young!

We also took part in the Village Halls week in March. The theme was ‘Green’ so we thought we would combine our showcase with a ‘Reuse, Reduce, Recycle’ sale of second-hand items we had, including bric-a-brac, books, children’s toys etc. We offered free green activities for children and refreshments were available too. We also invited our hall uses to advertise their classes.

Our other fundraising events included: Beetle Drives, Harvest Supper (for the Care and Share shelf), Quiz night, Summer Fayre, Dance the Decades, MacMillan coffee morning, Children’s Society coffee morning, and Christmas Fayre.

We again had a stall at the Ash Parish council’s summer and Christmas fayres and although we didn’t bring in lots of money we did have a presence in the village supporting the local council.

We also helped with catering at social activities, including: pancakes, St Peter’s Day, Maintenance Mornings, Rectory Tea, Churches Together teas. All - - of the events are advertised on our website - http://www.saint peters ash.org.uk/dates and posters are put up in the Centre before the event. Please come and support us and encourage non-church members to come and spend their money with us!

Thank you to all my team who work tirelessly to put on these events and try to come up with new ideas. If you have an event that you think we could do, please let us know! Any suggestions or help is always gratefully received. Many thanks

Jo Hurst and the Events Team

St Peter’s Mothers’ Union branch annual report 2024

Our St Peter’s MU branch supports 2 groups on a Wednesday afternoon and a Monday evening monthly. We had 16 enrolled members in 2024.

We enjoyed a variety of speakers. Afternoon speakers included Roddy Porter from Military Ministries International, Ralph Wellington telling us about Art and Religion, in connection with Images and Idols, Jenny Banks on

23

safeguarding issues, Father Keith, a talk about St Peter, and Rev. Carol Monk on transformation. Evening meetings included talks on beekeeping, modern day slavery, Mission Aviation fellowship, a talk from our local pharmacist, and slides and talk by Claire Boud on her trip to the Canadian Rockies.

This year we visited St Mary the Virgin Church in Shackleford for our annual summer visit to a local church, where we were given a warm welcome. Social evenings, cream teas, and quizzes have been enjoyed throughout the year.

Extra activities included Lady Day service in Guildford Cathedral, Aldershot deanery Pilgrimage of Prayer in the Cathedral Lady Chapel, and two members meetings, with items collected and taken to support local refuges, fun day at Normandy village hall, serving the refreshments.

We also decorated a MU Christmas tree with a Nativity theme, to display at our Christmas tree exhibition in Church.

As usual we provided the refreshments at our summer fete, and Christmas Fayre, as well as the village fete and Fantasia.

Catherine Hirst continues to send Baptism cards up to 4th anniversary of baptism.

Thank you to our Church leaders and friends for your continued support. Barbara Ridley

Prayer Chain

The Prayer chain continued to be called upon and is a valuable outreach to those who perhaps have no connection with church otherwise. We are in no doubt that our prayers are answered though not necessarily in ways we have foreseen. We hope that people understand that no request would be considered too insignificant.

Prayer Chain Team. 01252 322292 or 01252 323037

St. Peter’s Flower Guild 2023

This year again started on a positive note. Easter flowers were busy as usual with lots of lilies to use and this year we had no supply problems. Thank you to everyone who bought a lily for a lost loved one.

Harvest festival was again a busy time and a delight; I do love the autumn colours!

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We took part in the Christmas Tree festival with an added bonus for us – another lady came forward with a request to join the Guild! I wasn’t going to say no and Julie has proved her worth!

Our stall at the Summer Fayre was a success and better than the previous year with lots more plants to sell. Only some house plants were left unsold and thank you to all who donated plants. The Christmas Fayre was again for us, having moved location proved to be a better option. I didn’t have much left by the end with only a few things left to put away, everything else was sold. Thanks to all who helped on both occasions.

Thank you to everyone on the Guild for their work and time this year; and also to those behind the scenes helping to recruit new members. Thanks also go to Fr Keith and Revd Carol for their continued support. Heather Hillman

Report From Ash Belfry 2023-24

We are still experiencing a shortage of ringers, but we almost always manage to ring for a Sunday Service. We did not manage to ring for the Christmas Services due to ringers being out of the area. Our apologies for those we do not ring for. We have the same problem on practice nights when there are not enough of us to ring.

We rang for a number of weddings/blessings during the year, sometimes having to import ringers from other towers to help. This is the normal way of doing things when towers are short of ringers.

We started hosting a District Practice evening on a Tuesday night every three months for more experienced ringers to come to Ash to ring. This is most enjoyable and we are able to improve our own ringing as well. This is going to continue this year.

During the year we organised a visit from our local Brownie pack to visit the Tower to see how the bells are rung. The children all seemed to enjoy the visit and maybe in a few years' time one or two might wish to learn to ring. We also had a number of ringers visiting to ring Peals and Quarter peals. All are appreciative of our lovely ring of bells.

Two members of the band decided to step down from ringing this year so we have been further depleted in numbers. We are sorry to lose them.

We have had a number of visits from various Bell Foundries to check over our bells as it is many years since this has been done. All have said how well the bells are kept by our Steeple Keeper. There is some work that needs doing but it is not urgent and we are still awaiting the reports and figures from these

25

companies. Hopefully we will get some news shortly about this. Of course, it might mean that the bells will be out of action for a little while the work is in progress. Judith Parker

Christian Solidarity Worldwide Card

Our lunch club has been patiently sending encouragement to our fellow Christians suffering harassment or being imprisoned or displaced for their faith. Chrisitan Solidarity Worldwide works to ensure freedom of belief and religion and provides us with the addresses.

Please sign the cards when they appear in church. The recipients really appreciate knowing they are not alone and there are people praying for them Barbara Rose

Sunday coffee

We have had a complete year of refreshments and fellowship after the Sunday services. We are looking for new members for the coffee rota. If, you have an hour to spare, why not join the team? We would love to hear from you. Gentlemen welcome too!

Angela

Craft Group

Our group has been meeting for years now and continues to be a lovely relaxed place to craft and have a good chat. We welcome many regulars from within the church community and beyond. Anyone is welcome to come along, enjoy a cuppa and relax! People have made hats for good causes, cards, jewel art, baby blankets, crochet, lavender bags and much much more! Ceri

The Children’s Society

I would like to thank everyone who has helped support The Children's Society over the last year; either from donations, supporting events or giving up your

26

time. We ran all the usual events; box collection, Coffee Morning, Christmas cards and Christingle Service.

A grand total of £1544.15 was raised consisting of;

I know that lots of people also support The Children's Society with other donations throughout the year and I would like to thank everyone on behalf of The Children's Society for your continuing support.

If you would like a house box or know someone who might then please let me know.

The 2025 Coffee Morning will be on Saturday 11[th] October. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Richard Moore

Little Fishes @ St. Peter’s, Ash

This year we had some additional funds and as many of our children were struggling post covid with their personal and social wellbeing we decided to use this to fund an extra staff member and Milly began with us in March 24. Anne Wilson and Father Keith continue to support us in their roles as Chair and Vice-Chair of the committee. We are in the process of changing our committee members as our long standing members no longer have children at Little Fishes. Our committee members are very supportive of all the things we do for the children and staff at Little Fishes.

We held our church service for leavers in July and our Christmas Service in December. Father Keith told our children part of the nativity story with the help from one of his famous puppets – Camilla the Camel. We also performed a nativity in the Little Fishes hall for our parents.

Little Fishes hosted a stall at both the summer fayre and the Christmas Fayre and both were very popular with lots of our families stopping by.

We said goodbye to 27 children who left us for school in July 2024 and

welcomed 23 new families to Little Fishes in September 2024. September 2025 will mark 25 years of Little Fishes @ St Peter’s and I am sure we will find a way to mark this special anniversary.

Jackie Brewer Manager – Little Fishes

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Funday Club APCM Report

We are a small and friendly group who plan and run the monthly Funday Club sessions in St. Peter’s Centre before joining the end of the church service. The children love to share what they have learnt and created with the congregation which develops their confidence in church and when speaking in front of a large audience.

A special mention and big thank you to Hannah, Claire and Lynsey for all their ideas and enthusiasm in preparing themed sessions for the children who have really enjoyed them.

Our numbers have been growing this year as new additions to our church families have reached an age where they can join in the fun which is lovely to see. With a wide age range to engage, this year we've found that mixing up the order and style of sessions has worked well to keep the children interested as well as involving the older children in activities such as reading stories to the whole group.

Our aim is to provide fun methods of engagement through hands-on activities either themed to match the weekly lesson in church or based around a popular story from the bible. Each themed session features a story, prayers and sometimes songs along with a craft.

Some of the activity highlights from 2024 that the children have enjoyed include:

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We always welcome new faces so do feel free to join us on the 4[th] Sunday of the month in St. Peter's Centre or speak to Lisa Cheung to find out more. Lisa Cheung, Funday Club Leader ee em cccene= hd

Care and Share Shelf

Our Care and Share shelf, situated just outside the church by the path, continues to help our local community and reduce food waste. Begun during the Covid epidemic, it is still used daily by local people. No questions asked and no judgements made means that anyone can use the shelf without embarrassment, perhaps just once at a difficult time or waiting for benefits to arrive or regularly to help when the budget is tight.

We are grateful for any donations and have been blessed by our local Co-op and Zumba gold group, Ash Grange school at Harvest time, Jack and Jill nursery, Ash Walsh and the Ash Vale community Food bank as well as our congregation and our mystery donations put on the shelves. The mountain of Runner Beans disappeared very quickly!

Please help us continue with this outreach to the community. As we try to put out about 14 items each day the stores are easily depleted. Tins and packets, long life milk and tea, coffee and biscuits, pasta sauces and toiletries are all ideal donations.

Thank you to anyone that has helped us this year. Barbara Rose

Collecting for refugees

This Christmas we joined with Aldershot Churches Together, St. Paul’s and St. Mary’s to give local refugees a Christmas gift bag. Aldershot Churches filled bags for children and St. Peter’s, St. Mary’s and St. Paul’s filled bags for adults. The simple gifts for adults of a pair of socks, hat, gloves or scarf, pack of cards or other game, some fruit and nuts, lip balm, soap and nail clippers, notebook, pen and pencil, biscuits, a little chocolate, packet of tissues and Christmas card were received with thanks. The gifts were given and refreshments provided with some Christmas activities for children to bring

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some Christmas joy to people in difficult circumstances, many of whom have fled from violence and hunger.

Thanks to all who generously donated to this project and enabled us to make 96 bags Barbara Rose

Christmas Tree Exhibition

What a splendid number of trees at our exhibition, 22, not counting the lovely knitted trees made by Anne Wilson to give to our visitors. Two beautiful live donated trees made the church look extra lovely. Each tree unique and decorations produced by children and adults of all ages.

Thank you to everyone who helped make it a success from sending letters and emails, producing posters, setting up boards, decorating a tree, church sitting or clearing away, it was a great team effort.

It was lovely to have some new entrants this time as well as groups that have joined us before. Well done Rainbows for winning the visitors’ favourite vote. Barbara Rose

Strictly St Peter’s Tea Dance

Every 1[st] Thursday in the month at 2:30 in the afternoon, the St Peter Centre turns into a dance hall. What type of dancing? It depends on who’s there that week and we welcome everyone, not just church people or people who can dance like Fred and Ginger. We usually have a waltz and a quickstep, but we always do some (fairly) easy line dances and some sequence dances – all just for fun, especially the Hokey-Cokey. Not only that, there are refreshments as well. We ask for a donation of £4 to cover costs, but the main point is to come and enjoy some company and maybe a bit of exercise whilst having a good time.

Barbara and Philip Rose

Parish Office News

Have you ever wondered how much the church and centre are used over the year?

2024 saw 7 weddings, 20 Baptisms and 28 funerals and interments!

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We often open the church for schools to have a private service or we put on special services such as our Christingle service: over Easter and Christmas in 2024 saw over 2100 children coming into the church!

Our lovely centre is also very busy; we have regular hirers, one-off hirers and of course church users.

Our regular hirers include: Little Fishes Pre-School Rainbows 2 Brownie Units Home Education Perf Arts Baby Yoga Pregnancy Yoga Pilates Chair Pilates Suhari Dance Club U3A NCT Our one-off hirers include: Birthday parties Visiting U3A Bell ringers Guildford Borough Council Baby Showers Baptisms Visiting churches PCC away days UCAN meetings Anniversary parties Wakes Our church users include: Craft Group Mothers’ Union PCC meetings Wednesday service and coffee Lent groups Advent groups Shrove Tuesday Twinning Meetings 2[nd] Sunday Service Church coffee Tea dance Coffee mornings Church working group meetings Booking evenings

As you can see a great many people who are in our community and beyond, use our church and centre.

Jo

Parish Administrator

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Parochial Church Council of St Peter’s Church, Ash

Financial Statements for the Year 2024

|Receipts and Payments Accounts
Note
Receipts
Voluntary recipts:
Planned Giving
1
Collections at services
1
All other giving/voluntary receipts
2
Grants
3
HMRC recovery (Gift Aid)
4
Activities for generating funds
Events
5
Hall Hire
6
Investment Income
7
Church Activities
8
Total receipts
Payments
Church activities
Parish Share (this year)
10
Parish Share (last year)
9
Salary & wages
Working expenses
Church running expenses
11
Church repairs and maintenance
12
Church Development
13
Shared expenses
Centre running expenses
Mission Giving and Donations
Cost of generating funds
Governance
Total payments
Excess of receipts over payments
Transfers between funds
Cash at bank and in hand at 1st January
Cash at bank and in hand 31st December|Unrestricted
funds
21,393
3,641
1,605
15,247
415
42,301
4,583
34,385
38,967
14,775
10,551
106,594
66,000
20,000
10,292
1,030
4,308
4,574
18
16,858
10,607
997
134,683
275.14
0
134,959
-28,365
-
-28,365|Restricted
funds
x
53
53
4,825
4,825
-
-
4,878
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
0
2,296
-
2,296
2,582
-
2,582|Total
2024
21,393
3,641
1,657
15,247
415
42,353
9,408
34,385
43,792
<br>14,775<br>10,551<br>111,472<br>66,000<br>20,000<br>10,292<br>1,030<br>4,308<br>4,574<br>18<br>16,858<br>10,607<br>997<br>134,683<br>2,571<br>0<br>137,255<br>-25,783<br>-<br>-25,783<br>52,058<br>26,275|Total<br>2023<br>23,165<br>4,511<br>5,970<br>36,289<br>6,849<br>76,782<br>8,346<br>26,164<br>34,510<br>
12,836
8,075
132,265
55,117
39,007
7,680
912
6,715
2,914
1,316
16,865
6,743
784
138,056
2,056
1,560
141,672
-9,406
-
9,406
61,464
52,058| |---|---|---|---|---|

Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the year

Note
Cash funds
Natwest PCC
Natwest Fabric Fund
Barclays
Cash Office
Cash - in the safe / to bank
Cash Other (flower & bell)
Total cash funds
Other monetary assets
Debts due (GDBF)
Liabilities
Unpresented cheques
Parish Share
9
Total net assets		 Unrestricted
funds
13,740
982
847
36
1,551
3,403
20,558
0
27
11,934
11,961
8,597		 Restricted
funds
5,717.00
-
5,717
-
0
0
0
5,717		 Total
2024
19,457
982
847
36
1,551
3,403
26,275
0
27
11,934
11,961
14,314		 Total
2023
24,617
5,201
17,541
32
512
4,157
52,058
1,786
1,786
380
20,000
20,380
33,464

Notes:

10 Our total Parish Share for 2024 was £78k, we did pay in full, however NatWest initially blocked our final payment at the end end of 2024. This cleared our bank on 2nd Jan 25, and so will show in next years accounts.

Independent examiner's report to the trustees of St Peter's Church Ash I reportto the trustees on my examination of the 8ccount8 ofthe St Petef's Church, Ash (the Trust) forthe year ended 31•t December 2024. Responslbllltle8 and ba818 of report As the charlty trustees of the Trust YOU ere responsible for the Pfepar8tion ofthe accounts in accordance wilh the requirements ol the Charitles Act 20111.the Act'l. I report in respect ol my examination of theTrusl's accounts C8rried out under section 145 ofthe 2011 Act and In c8rrying out my ex8minalion I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Ch81ity Commission under section 14515llbl of the Act. Independent examln8r's statement I h8ve completed my examination. I confirm that no material m8tters h8ve cometo my attention In conne¢iion with the examination giving me cause to believethat in any materi81 respect: 1. accounting recordswere not kept in iespect ofthe Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or 2. the accounts do not accord with those records. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed". Name: rfiicktAl< OAKJ 14) Relevant professional qualif ication or membership of professional bodies lif any): fr- C I I Address: UWNYViL￿} 0(J q UINOit¥WJ D8te: