2024-12-31-accounts

Newton Abbot Parishes

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 2024

Team Rector: Rev Dave Brown Team Vicar: Rev Gareth Regan Curate: Rev Ben Maynard (resigned August 2024)

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

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:

• Regular Sunday and weekday worship services across the Parish in a variety of styles;

• Clear, relevant Bible teaching that is applied to everyday life;

• Home groups, discipleship courses and baptism preparation courses to teach the Christian faith;

• living in the parish;

• Holding services in nursing and care homes, and taking collective worship in local schools;

• Taking weddings and funerals;

• Involvement in the civic life of the town;

• Mission and outreach activities, building bridges for faith within the wider community;

• The care and maintenance of our historic buildings; and

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.

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.

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.

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.

Financial Review

The total receipts on the unrestricted General fund were £232,305 and payments from this fund totalled £239,235 giving a deficit of £6,930. The deficit arose from certain income categories being less that the previous year and making a full payment of the Diocesan Parish Share of £85,394 in the year. Our grateful thanks go to all who contribute financially to the life of the church.

Reserves Policy

It is PCC policy to try and maintain a balance on unrestricted funds of at least three months expenditure. This is challenging in the current climate but we are looking to address this in 2025.

Safeguarding Team report

The PCC has complied with the duty under section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016 (duty to have regard to House of Bishops’ guidance on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults).

The safeguarding team continue to use the Parish Safeguarding Dashboard and Hub, an online platform to manage safeguarding requirements.

I can point to progress, getting our Church of England Level 1 safeguarding signoS (no easy feat!), implementing new safer recruitment policies and putting systems in place to try to ensure everyone who works or volunteers with us is appropriately checked and trained within 3 months.

All PCC members are up to date with their safeguarding training and DBS checks . Safeguarding policies have been reviewed and approved by the PCC.

Secretary’s Report on the work of the Parochial Church Council in 2024/25

Welcoming

We o%er a warm welcome and rich hospitality to people of all ages and backgrounds, wherever they are on their journey of faith.

• Introduced a safe recruitment policy for volunteers

• Refurbished the church noticeboards with up-to-date information

• Agreed to the installation of a new heating system at St Bartholomew’s as well as work to the tower.

• Allocated funds to ensure Abbotsbury is watertight and warm, and make repairs to avoid the danger of falling masonry

• Agreed guidelines for rental of the Parish Hall

• Agreed to a safeguarding review for bellringers

Loving

We are dedicated to loving, serving and encouraging each other, following the pattern of Jesus, bearing with one another with grace and kindness

• Agreed eligibility criteria for allocating the limited space in Wolborough and Highweek churchyards

• Ensured our Parish Share was paid in full

• PCC members have prioritised completing their safeguarding training

• Agreed a new data privacy policy for the website

• Consistently high level of attendance at PCC meetings

Faithful

We believe God’s Word is revealed through the Bible and we value preaching and teaching that encourage us to grow as disciples of Christ

• We have supported Keith Butler’s relicensing as a lay minister

• Ben Maynard’s contribution to the life of the parish was acknowledged

• PCC meetings begin and end with prayer and we have continued our study of the 39 Articles of Faith

Varied

We seek to be a prayerful community o%ering a rich variety of worship styles across our churches to ensure that there is a home for everyone

• Eco church and Living Churchyard projects have been piloted by Abbotsbury

• Agreed to loan a set of vestments to the Parish of Clevedon

• Received a report on joint youth work at Abbotsbury in collaboration with other local churches

Active

We are committed to being active in word and deed making a positive di%erence in our communities and proclaiming the gospel to each generation

• Heard advice on building security from a serving police oSicer

• Agreed to adopt Christians Against Poverty (CAP) as a mission partner

• Monitored the ongoing plans for a major refurbishment of St Paul’s and agreed to apply for release of capital and for planning permission

• Repairs to All Saints’ and plans to improve the kitchen area are ongoing

• Agreed to the gullies and gutters being inspected and cleared in all churches as preventative maintenance

Youth Work report

One good news story from this year is our collaboration with The Avenue Church to enable monthly youth work for the young people of our Parish. From February we have started hosting youth nights on the last Friday of each month, alternating between hosting at Abbotsbury and The Avenue. We’ve had a good group of youngsters from across Newton Abbot and hung out, played games, messed about with spray paints and eaten a lot of pizza. Hopefully this will continue to develop over the next year and we will be able to create an environment where the young people can safely explore their faith and spirituality whilst having a whole load of fun. A big thanks to those helping us get this started and please look out on the WhatsApp groups, Facebook and the website for more details of upcoming events.

Electoral Roll oOicer’s report

The number on the Roll for 2024 was 151. Every six years the Electoral Roll is completely revised. This happened in April 2025 when the number on the new roll was 146.

Please note that names may be added to the roll from now on throughout the year.

Deanery Synod reps report 2024/2025

The deanery synod meets three times a year, acts as a channel of communication between the parishes and the Diocesan synod, and elects representatives to the Diocesan and General synods.

In the past year we have received reports from General Synod reps on Living in Love and Faith; discussed the implications of the financial state of the national church; received a presentation from the diocese on Giving and Generosity (remember that survey in the weekly newsletter?)

The parish has three representatives.

Volunteers

The members of the PCC would like to thank all the volunteers who work so tirelessly to make our church a lively vibrant community. Out thanks go particularly to the Churchwardens in each church.

Structure, Governance and Management

The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. The Council comprises the Incumbent, the Churchwardens, those elected to the Deanery Synod, and other members who are elected at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting, by those on the Electoral Roll. Members of the congregation are always encouraged to join the Electoral Roll, and to consider standing for election to the PCC.

The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance in the parish, and for all financial matters. The full PCC met six times during the year.

Administrative information

The PCC is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956, and the Church Representation Rules 2022) and is registered with the Charity Commission, no: 1172055.

PCC members who have served from 1st January 2024 until the date this report was approved

The Incumbent	The Rev’d Dave Brown	Chair
Team Vicar	The Rev’d Gareth Regan
Curate	The Rev’d Ben Maynard (resigned August 2024)
Reader	Mr Keith Butler
Churchwardens	Mrs Lorna Tresidder
	Ms Sharon Lawrence
	Mr Andrew Faulkner (resigned January 2024)
	Mr Michael Gillibrand
Deanery Synod Reps	Dr Ian Tresidder
	Mr Jonathan Bealey
Elected Members	Ms Barbara Garrick
	Mr Brian Harding
	Mr Reg Cross
	Mrs Samantha Simmons
	Mrs Morice Kennedy
	Mr Luke Wilson
	Mrs Victoria Faulkner (nee Squires)
	Mr Jonathan Bealey
Treasurer:	Mrs Clare Lillington

Approved by the PCC on 7[th] April 2025 and signed on its behalf by:

Rev Dave Brown (Chair)

Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Tha Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastlcal Parlshes 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 De￿mber 2024. 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 ("the Act"). I report in respect of my examination of the Charity's 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 Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. As the charity's gross income is greater than £250,000 your independent examiner has to be a member of the listed bodies. l am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and the AssoGiation of Charity Independent Examiners, both of which are listed bodies. Independent examinews statement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: (l) Accounting records were not 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 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. lan Barrett FCA FCIE Barretts Chartered Accountants and Chartered Tax Advisers 22 Union Street Newton Abbot TQ12 2JS Dated: 27th May 2025

Registered Charity number: 1172055

Newton Abbot Parishes

Financial Statements for the year ended 31st December 2024 Receipts and Payments account

Receipts Voluntary receipts Regular gift aid giving Loose plate collections Capital funding Tax recoverable on Gift Aid Legacies VAT refund Grants Other funds generated Income from charitable activities Fees for weddings and funerals Charity coffee mornings Solar panels & telephone mast Church hall lettings Investments Dividends & interest Rent from car park St Lukes loan repaid Funds from St Barts magazine account Sale of shares TOTAL receipts Expenditure on: Expenditure on charitable activities Missionary socs & Secular charities PCC missionary giving Outreach Ministry parish share etc Salary - administrator & organist Working expenses of incumbent Church maintenance & refuse Upkeep of services Upkeep of churchyard Administration Light, heat & water Insurance St Paul's hall maint & gas Magaine expenses St Barts Church major repairs - structure Accountancy incl payroll Total expenditure Period surplus / (deficit) Add bank balance at 1st January 2024 Closing bank balance at 31st December 2024	Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Total 2023 £ £ £ £ £ 47778 0 0 47778 40008 17110 0 0 17110 16551 45000 0 0 45000 40000 9602 0 0 9602 8084 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6000 8256 0 14256 500 8271 0 0 8271 9472 10846 0 10846 13265 2403 0 2403 3887 23509 0 23509 6871 20373 0 20373 15459 15835 0 15835 16919 21981 0 21981 35591 0 0 3776 0 4578 6000 45973 0 51973 10000
	232305 56632 0 288937 224961
	10 2163 0 2173 4143 1250 1250 0 2532 2532 0 85394 0 85394 71668 30103 0 30103 36890 5551 0 5551 6587 29899 0 29899 22353 1989 0 1989 2928 13723 0 13723 21906 8449 212 0 8661 8055 30659 0 30659 27469 21064 0 21064 20587 7553 0 7553 3698 0 0 2615 14995 0 14995 0 1059 0 1059 1033
	239235 17370 0 256605 229932
	-6930 39262 0 32332 (4,971) 14306 607 0 14913 19884
	7376 39869 0 47245 14913
	7376 39869 0 47245 14913

Statement of Assets & liabilities for the year ended 31st December 2024

Cash Funds Bank current account Bank deposit account Cash in hand 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 2023 £ £ £ £ £ 6456 8493 0 14949 14403 31376 31376 0 920 0 920 510
	7376 39869 0 47245 14913
	23030 112041 171922 306993 356600
	47098 0 47098 47098
	0 0 0 0 0
	77504 151910 171922 401336 418611