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← The Parochial Church Council Of The Ecclesiastical Parish Of Newton Abbot

2023-12-31-accounts

The Parishes of Newton Abbot & Ogwell

Address for correspondence: The Parish O3ice, St Paul’s Church, Devon Square, Newton Abbot, TQ12 2HN

Annual Report

and Financial Statements

of the Parochial Church Council

for the year ended 31[st] December 2023

Team Rector: Rev Dave Brown Team Vicar: Rev Gareth Regan Curate: Rev Ben Maynard

Bankers:

Lloyds Bank, Courtenay Street, Newton Abbot

Independent Examiner: Mr Ian Barrett Barretts 22 Union Street Newton Abbot TQ12 2JS

Our web site:

www.newtonabbotparishes.co.uk

The Parochial Church Council is a Registered Charity no: 1172055

The Parochial Church Council of the Newton Abbot Parishes

Annual Report

for the year ended 31[st] December 2023

Aim and Purpose –

Newton Abbot and Ogwell Parochial Church Council (the PCC) together with the Incumbent, the Reverend Dave Brown and Team Vicar, Reverend Gareth Regan, and the wider congregation, share the task of building God’s Kingdom in the ecclesiastical parish of Newton Abbot and Ogwell and beyond. Working through congregations in the five churches within the parish: St Paul’s Devon Square, St Mary’s Wolborough, St Bartholomew’s Ogwell, All Saints’ Highweek and St Mary’s Abbotsbury, we seek to be a faithful, loving, and welcoming community of churches which are active in serving one another and the wider community, providing a wide variety of worship styles, so that all people might come to hear the Gospel and grow as disciples of Jesus.

Objectives and Activities:

The PCC is committed to enabling as many people as possible to worship in our Churches, and to become part of our parish family. When planning our activities, the PCC has considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit, and in particular the specific guidance on charities for the advancement of religion. Our services and worship seek to put faith into practice through prayer and scripture, music and sacrament. We

seek to enable ordinary people to live out their faith as part of our parish family, and to connect and build that family, through:

The Wider Parish.

Although Sunday worship in diSerent churches means we are really 5 worshipping communities linked as one ecclesiastical parish, there are times when we more obviously work together and worship together. This is particularly true on 5[th] Sundays when we rotate our services around the 6 churches of the benefice and worship in the style of that particular church. In 2023, that meant services at St Paul’s, St Mary’s Wolborough, Abbotsbury and St Bartholomew’s Ogwell.

Wedding and baptism preparation classes are held centrally, and ‘exploring faith classes’ are available to all. Across the Parish there are 5 home groups running, where members of diSerent church communities are invited to gather for fellowship and Bible study. Both St Paul’s and St Bartholomew’s host monthly coSee mornings to which everyone is invited. These raise a substantial amount of money for charity. Last year we also took part in shoe box appeal with Operation Christmas Child and 205 shoe boxes were collected.

Over the year we agreed our 5 Key Values and began work on identifying ways in which each mission community could implement them in their own way. Changes to our styles of service were implemented and reviewed, and we held a Church Weekend at Home with Bishop Nick McKinnel as our guest speaker.

In terms of our outreach and evangelism, we held an Easter Fun Day at St Paul’s, completed a Prayer Walk around all 6 churches and extended our work in residential homes and schools across the parish. We also took part in various CTiNA events including the Walk of Witness and the setting up of a Prayer Gazebo in the town centre. We also ran a number of enquirers courses (Hope Explored and the Identity Course) and The Bible Course, aimed at growing disciples. We held an excellent evening with Professor John Bryant on Science and Christianity, and following votes in General Synod, the Parish held a short series of meetings concerning issues around human sexuality and the Living in Love and Faith process.

reaSirmation of baptism vows at Abbotsbury, and John Bealey began his training for the ordained ministry.

The PCC is grateful to all volunteers who contribute so much to the life of the parish, and to the church oSice staS for their work.

Electoral Roll

The number on the roll is 155. During the year three members have died, three transferred to St Luke’s electoral roll, and three have requested their names to be removed.

Abbotsbury church report for the period June 2023-April 2024

The church is growing in numbers and in faith. We have completed our discussions on the parish’s Five Key Values. We have celebrated our first wedding and our first adult baptisms by total immersion.

The church premises are used by several external organisations including Brownies, Guides, a playschool, local choirs, Newton Crisis Aid and has hosted events such as the diocesan Mission Shed, our own Christmas Journey which was well received by local schools, discussions on the Living in Love and Faith document and an evening lecture on science and Christianity.

Some of the church windows are in poor repair and will need extensive work in the near future. We have several leaks which will be addressed by clearing the gulleys in the first place. Our heating system is now functioning well.

We would like to thank Andy Faulkner for his work as churchwarden during this past year.

All Saints’ report for the period June 2023-April 2024

This year has been tinged with sadness with the illness and then passing of Jeremy. The church has continued to run with the help of various volunteers stepping in to help where they can.

Congregation numbers have remained stable with boosts at special services such as Christmas and christening. As always it is always nice to see a boost in attendance for these services. As always, Christmas was one of the high points with the church hosting its annual carols by candlelight.

We have also conducted consultations around moving the kitchen and toilet and look forward to the project moving forward.

St Bartholomew’s churchwarden’s report for the period June 2023-April 2024

The last year has been a busy year for St Bartholomew’s church. We have continued to hold coSee mornings each month. The church hosted bellringers from the Devon Guild of bellringers and was used for a local apple day.

Throughout the year regular attendance was 20-25. The highlight of the year was of course Christmas when we hosted carol concerts for the local school and another for the local community, as well as arranging a Christmas meal for the village, in the village hall. All these events would not have been possible without the help of volunteers such as Gwyn, Stella or Sam.

Just before Christmas new under-pew heaters were installed which was a relief to the congregation in the cold winter. In the coming year, we will look at ways to heat the choir too. Various administrative tasks have also been done such as a review of our risk assessments and inventory to make sure the church is secure. This year we are also looking to finally get the roof on the tower fixed to make it watertight.

St Mary’s warden’s report for the period June 2023-April 2024

Life at St Mary’s is ticking along quite nicely, with an average congregation of 26 and a small child! This year we have only had two baptisms and two weddings but eleven funerals.

After the sad loss of Denis last May we have a lovely gentleman, Michael Roberts, playing for the matins service on the first Sunday of the month. The other services have been covered by Janet, Clive and Judy.

Last year we had several historical societies coming for informative guided tours by Michael Martyn, a member of the congregation and a local historian. The carol service was a joyous aSair and well attended by the parish; and the 8.30am service on Christmas morning was a thoughtful, gentle start to the day. We are looking forward to an Easter Sunday service which we didn’t have last year – thank you Dave for listening to our dissatisfaction and re-instating it.

Thank you to all the clergy team and my lovely friends at St Mary’s for all their help and support – and for picking up my mistakes before they are noticed!

St Paul’s: Churchwarden’s report for the period June 2023-April 2024

various ways to help the church function. Whilst the congregation is majority retired, there are a growing number of those of working age and a few families who now attend on a regular basis. In 2023, Sunday congregations were…with the Wednesday Communion Service numbering……

During 2023 we held services of Holy Communion every other Sunday morning at 11am and The Service of The Word on the alternate Sunday. We also held a service of Holy Communion each Wednesday morning at 10am.

In July 2023 the Temporary Reordering of St Paul’s began with the removal of the modern(1970’s) chipboard raised dais platform at the centre Crossing. This enabled pews from the West nave to be brought forward to the Crossing and for an area along the south wall of the West nave to be used for refreshments after Wednesday Communion and for the Craft club to meet. Communion now takes place in the Chancel at the brass altar rails.

‘Poppin’s’ Nursery, which runs Monday through to Friday in the Church Hall and Middleton Room, is now well established. They are keen to build links with the church and provide a good source of income.

Hiring of the hall at weekends continues. The church carpark to the west of the St Paul’s is fully booked during the week and we have increased the fees to reflect the costs of maintaining and running the business.

Safeguarding Report

A new safeguarding team was appointed in the Parish in early summer 2023, with individual responsibilities for DBS administration (Jonathan Hooker), safeguarding training (Bernice Hitchcock) and overall safeguarding responsibility (Rob Palmer). As a team throughout the course of this year we’ve been working hard either updating or setting up all the Parish Safeguarding Dashboard and Hub systems so that all the procedures, policies and training checks are in line and so that as a team we can be automatically notified when checks and training are due for renewal.

This has not always been as smooth as we would like and there is still much to do to even be able to sign oS the initial basic safeguarding system (level 1 – the minimum requirement) before moving up to level 2. We appreciate your patience in this but would like your concerted help moving forward to prioritise safeguarding and help us to embed a culture which ensures everyone feels safe, secure and confident, both in their role, and able to come forward with any disclosure.

If anyone would like to discuss any safeguarding issues further, please come speak with any of the team.

Rob Palmer

Deanery Synod

Three members of the PCC sit on the Newton Abbot Deanery Synod – but for 2023 we had one vacancy. Deanery Synod provides the PCC with a link with the churches around us, and also with the Diocese as a whole. It also receives reports from the General Synod and Diocesan Synod. The Rural Dean, is the Rev’d Andrew Down, and we met twice in 2023.

Topics discussed included a talk from Anna JeSries about the Anna Chaplaincies. A very enlightening and informative evening. There was also a talk by Hillarie Griggs detailing her journey of faith t becoming an LLM. She hoped her talk had been a challenge to us as to what our calling might be personally and for our church.

Treasurer’s Report

Total receipts on the unrestricted General Fund were £220,603, and payments from this fund totalled £226,161 giving a deficit of £5,558. The income was boosted by the sale of shares, £10,000, by St Lukes repaying a loan for their organ and by the transfer of the St Barts magazine account which Newton abbot took over for 2023. Without these extra one-oS money there would have been a much larger deficit. Times are tight especially with the fuel going up. The income from the Parish Giving Scheme, standing orders, contactless and weekly giving has increased, but not enough to prevent a deficit. However it has been good to see that people are now using contactless giving more. Our contribution to the Diocesan Parish share went up again in 2023 to £87,555. However due to cash flow problems we were unable to pay the last two months amounting to £14,387. Our grateful thanks go to all who contribute financially to the life of the church.

Budget for 2024: The PCC have set a budget for 2024 which shows a minimum income required of £206,500, just to pay the ordinary expenses. This does not include any major maintenance or repairs that may occur. The PCC monitors the budget monthly during the year.

Reserves Policy: It is PCC policy to try and maintain a balance on unrestricted funds of at least three months expenditure. This is equivalent to approximately £56,000. As of the year end this is being met.

PCC Secretary’s report

During the year there has been a consistently high attendance of PCC members at meetings. As a new PCC, we were reminded of the expectations the clergy had of us.

The following is a summary of the matters discussed and agreed by the PCC over the last year.

Mission: We agreed to support Barnabas Aid as a mission partner this year, budgeting 2% of our giving for this. Other mission partners will be adopted next year, suggestions welcome. We are monitoring progress on discussions on the Five Key Values which underpin our developing Mission Action Plan.

Worship and Ministry: We have agreed to support Jonathan Bealey with an annual book grant for £150 during his ordination training. We wish Gareth well for his sabbatical leave later in the year and have agreed a gift of £250 towards his expenses. After reviewing the changes to the pattern of worship introduced in January 2023, the PCC took the decision to drop Services of the Word at Ogwell and Highweek and revert to weekly services of Holy Communion.

Fabric : The PCC has agreed to several large schemes of work to improve our churches: remedial works to lath and plaster at All Saints’ and use of a trust fund to pay for architect’s drawings and a drainage survey for the new kitchen; new under-pew heating at St Bartholomew’s; work to weatherproof the tower at St Bartholomew’s; safety work on the trees around St Paul’s and the temporary reordering of that church; work on the heating system at Abbotsbury also quotes for work to the windows there.

Churchyards: We have agreed to be part of the National Burial Grounds Survey, a national scheme which will digitise memorials and records at no cost to us. As space in our churchyards becomes limited, we are drawing up a protocol of granting of faculties, in consultation with the diocese.

Finances : At all our meetings we receive reports from our treasurer and seek to have a balanced budget. The recent letter regarding Parish Giving was a result of our PCC discussions. We thank Clare, and her finance assistant Sue for all their hard work. We support our treasurer in her investigations of historic trusts that could be used for the benefit of the churches. We note that trust funds such as the Wolborough Ecclesiastical Trust will support us in building and maintenance work but cannot be used for day-to-day expenses. We commend the use of the Parish Giving Scheme to parishioners. For financial reasons, we sadly made the decision to make our church cleaners redundant, and thank them for their many years of work on behalf of the churches.

Safeguarding: We welcome the appointment of Rob Palmer as safeguarding lead, and Jonathan Hooker and Bernice Hitchcock in their supporting roles. All PCC members are undertaking the necessary training and DBS applications.

Youth work : Gareth has taken up an oSer to take part in a training programme called Launchpad run by South West Youth Ministry and Youthscape. No cost to the parish, and the team will look the parish as a whole. Gareth will attend five input sessions so that the best options for the parish can be decided.

Wolborough Primary School has become part of an academy. After a zoom meeting with the diocesan registrar, a new arrangement for the building known as The Soup Kitchen have been drawn up with the Exeter Diocesan Trust. This will enable the school to continue its work, the Diocesan Trust to monitor that it is used for educational purposes and frees the benefice from future maintenance and repair costs.

PCC members who have served from 1[st] January 2023 until the date this report was approved

Ex O%icio
The Incumbent The Rev’d Dave Brown Chair
Team Vicar The Rev’d Gareth Regan
Curate The Rev’d Ben Maynard
Reader Mr Keith Butler
Churchwardens Mrs Lorna Tresidder (appointed April 2023)
Mr Jeremy Howell (resigned due to ill health September 2023)
Ms Sharon Lawrence
Mr Andrew Faulkner (appointed April 2023, resigned January 2024)
Mr Michael Gillibrand (appointed April 2023)
Deanery Synod Reps Dr Ian Tresidder (appointed April 2023)
Mr Jonathan Bealey (appointed April 2023)
Elected Members Ms Barbara Garrick
Mr Brian Harding
Mr Reg Cross
Mrs Samantha Simmons
Mrs Morice Kennedy (appointed April 2023)
Mr Luke Wilson (appointed April 2023)
Mrs Victoria Faulkner (nee Squires) (appointed April 2023)
Mr Jonathan Bealey (appointed April 2023)
Treasurer: Mrs Clare Lillington

The following PCC members retired at the APCM in April 2023: Mr David Dunn, Mr Peter Dunster, Mrs Stella Llewellyn, Mrs Gwyn Hughes, Mrs Hilary Howell, Mrs Sandra Dunster, Mrs Rachel Hawkins, Mr Paul Hewson, Mr Ken Purchase, Mrs Diana Fitch, Mrs Margaret Batten.

Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Thè Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parishes of Newton Abbot and Ogwell I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parishes of Newton Abbot and Ogwell for the year ended 31st December 2023. Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 nhe Act"). I report in respect of my examination of the Chari￿8 accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charty Conimisston under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. Independent examlnerfs statement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have corne to my attention in connedion with the exarnination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: {] ) Accounting records were nol kept in respect of the Charity as required by section 130 of the Act. or (2) The accounts do not accord with those records. I have no concems 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. lan Barrett FCA FCIE Barretls Chartered Accountants and Chartered Tax Advisers 22 Union Street NewLon Abbot TQ12 2JS Dated: 181h April 2024

Newton Abbot Parishes

Registered Charity number: 1172055

Receipts and Payments accounts for the year ended 31st December 2023

Voluntary receipts
Regular giving- via bank & Parish Giving
Loose plate collections inc contactless
Capital funding
Tax recoverable on Gift Aid
Legacies
VAT refund
Grant - Parent & Toddler Group
Other funds generated
Income from charitable activities
Fees for weddings & funerals
Charity coffee mornings
Solar panels & telephone mast
Church hall lettings
Investments
Dividends
Rent from car park
St Lukes loan repaid
Funds from St Barts magazine account
Sale of shares
TOTAL receipts
Payments
Charitable activities
Missionary socs & Secular charities
Ministry parish share etc
Salary - administrator, cleaner & organist
Working expenses of incumbent
Church & oragn maintenance & refuse costs
Upkeep of services (inc new Bibles in 2022)
Upkeep of churchyard
Administration
Light, heat & water
Insurance
St Paul's hall maint & gas
Magaine expenses St Barts
Abbotsbury sound system
Accountancy fees incl payroll
Total payments
Period surplus / (deficit)
Add bank balance at 1st January 2023
Closing bank balance at 31st December 2023		 Unrestricted
Restricted
Endowment
Total
2022
£
£
£
£
£
40008
0
0
40008
29394

16551
0
0
16551
9846
40000
0
0
40000
40000
8084
0
0
8084
5528
0
0
0
0
10150
0
0
0
0
0
0
500
0
500
7990
9472
0
0
9472
6445
13265
0
0
13265
16304
29
3858
0
3887
2992
6871
0
0
6871
9438
15459
0
0
15459
16516
16919
0
0
16919
16494
35591
0
0
35591
26705
3776
0
0
3776
0
4578
4578
10000
0
0
10000
32084
220603
4358
0
224961
229886

561
3582
0
4143
3725
71668
0
0
71668
82200
36890
0
0
36890
41062
6587
0
0
6587
2365

22353
0
0
22353
8995

2928
0
0
2928
12328
21906
0
0
21906
8723
7866
189
0
8055
15913
27469
0
0
27469
20986
20587
0
0
20587
19202
3698
0
0
3698
1453
2615
0
0
2615
0
0
0
0
0
12397
1033
0
0
1033
972
226161
3771
0
229932
230321
-5558
587
0
-4971
-435
19864
20
0
19884
20319
14306
607
0
14913
19884
14306
607
0
14913
19884
Statement of Assets & liabilities for the year ended 31st December 2023 31st December 2023
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Total 2022
£ £ £ £ £
Cash Funds
Bank current account 13796 607 0 14403 19604
Cash in hand 510 0 0 510 280
14306 607 0 14913 19884
Other monetry Assets
St Lukes loan 0 0 0 0 3676
Investments Assets
Held by Exeter Diocesan Board of Finance on our beh 24091 134507 198002 356600 359976
Assets retained for church use
Fixtures & fittings at cost 47098 0 47098 47098
Liabilities 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL FUNDS 85495 135114 198002 418611 430634

Approved by the PCC on 18[th] March 2024 and signed on its behalf by:

Mrs Clare Lillington (Treasurer)

Rev’d Dave Brown (Chair)

Registered Charity number: 1172055

Newton Abbot Parishes

Statement of Assets & liabilities for the year ended 31st December 2022

Cash Funds
Bank current account
Cash in hand
Other monetry Assets
St Lukes loan
Investments Assets
Held by Exeter Diocesan Board of Finance on our behalf
Assets retained for church use
Fixtures & fittings at cost
Liabilities
TOTAL FUNDS		 Unrestricted
Restricted
Endowment
Total
2021
£
£
£
£
£
19584
20
0
19604
20319
280
0
0
280
19864
20
0
19884
20319
0
3676
0
3676
3676
24117
142662
193197
359976
430569
47098
0
47098
47098
0
0
0
0
900
91079
146358
193197
430634
500762