## **ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021** ## **THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH OF ST MARY'S SHAW CUM DONNINGTON** ## **CHARITY NUMBER 1172611** Page 1 |**Contents**|**Page**| |---|---| |Trustees Annual Report|3| |Financial Report|9| |Receipts and Payment Account|11| |Statement of Assets and Liabilities|14| |Independent Examiners’ Report|15| Page 2 ## **Annual Report for the Year Ending 31[st] December 2021** The members present their annual report together with the financial statements of the PCC of St Mary’s Church for the year ended 31[st] December 2021. ## **AIMS AND PURPOSES** St Mary’s Church is situated on the northern edge of Newbury and serves the areas of Shaw, Donnington and Turnpike as well as the more rural areas, including Long Lane, to the north of the parish. The Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility to co-operate with the incumbent in ministering to the parish and achieving our aims as stated below. It also has the responsibility for the maintenance of the church building on Church Road, Shaw, including the adjoining Church Centre. The activities of the PCC are regulated by the Church of England, Diocese of Oxford. ## **OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES** St Mary’s Church aims to bring the Good News of God's love to everyone in the Parish and to promote Christian fellowship, service and teaching throughout, including all the schools and residential homes. We strive to fulfil these objectives through: - A varied and inclusive pattern of Worship, Prayer and Bible Study, in church, the church centre, in people's homes and in residential care homes and schools. - Provision of pastoral care through a committed pastoral team. - A strong musical tradition and enjoyment of worshipping through music. - Youth and Family work. - Close working relationship with local schools, especially our church school (Shaw cum Donnington Primary School), the Parish Council, the Village Hall Committee and local organisations. - A welcoming and interesting programme of social activities. - Working co-operatively as members of Christians Together in the Newbury Area (CTNA) and the Newbury Deanery. - To facilitate much of our work, we are committed to looking after the fabric of St Mary's Church Shaw cum Donnington and its Church Centre Complex, which provides a wellregarded space for many community activities. ## **ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE** ## **Worship and Prayer** The PCC strives to meet the spiritual, emotional and practical needs of our community by offering a varied, accessible and inclusive pattern of worship, prayer and bible study throughout the week, which takes place in church, the church centre, schools and people's homes. Examples in 2021 included traditional Book of Common Prayer Communion, Choral Evensong services, Common Worship Family Communion and Morning Prayer Services, Pastoral Team Services aimed at those with mobility issues. We enjoy worshipping through music and are proud of our strong musical tradition and our adult choir led by our musical director Steve Bowey. All our services are easy to follow as they use a projector and screen for liturgy and lyrics, or accessible printed service orders, which are also available in large print. Page 3 We also welcome Shaw cum Donnington Primary School for services on special occasions, as well as Trinity School, Winchcombe School and Speenhamland School for annual Christmas Services, and many more schools to the twice-yearly events organised by the charity COINS (Christian Opportunities in Newbury Schools). All are welcome to attend our services, and in order to fulfil our objective 'to bring the Good News of God's love to everyone in the Parish', the Minister and members of the congregation strive to visit every house in the parish before Christmas with a Christmas Card inviting everyone to our Christmas Services. There are currently 73 people on the electoral roll, 44 are residents and 29 non-residents. There is a strong uptake of our outreach services. Sadly, we continue to struggle with our average Sunday attendance. In 2021 we baptised 12 children. We conducted 2 weddings and 21 funerals. These services are essential to our commitment to spiritually supporting everyone in our parish as they enable our community to journey with God through life and to give thanks to Him at the milestones along their earthly pathway. ## **Particular Activities throughout the year** 2021 was a very different year for St Mary’s due to the impact of the COVID pandemic. Sunday Worship continued in church each week supported by visiting Ministers but other activities remained as virtual events. Lockdown continued post-Christmas 2021 so we shared a Zoom Burns’ Night Quiz, and continued Zooming during Lent as we studied “Learning To Thrive” through Mark’s gospel. With no large gathering planned locally, St Mary’s held a Service for Women’s World Day of Prayer in March to celebrate with the Women in Vanuatu. From Palm Sunday through to Easter Day we displayed a Holy Week Tableau from the Lych Gate to the South Doors and encouraged visitors to take and read the accompanying leaflet. With refurbishments to our house in Walton Way successfully completed a new tenancy began in July. During September we hosted Ride and Stride, a Heritage Day and celebrated Harvest Festival. In October we were once again able to access the Church South Door entrance. In November we began meeting to pray on Wednesday Mornings at the church. We held concerts and other events for social and fundraising purposes as soon as it was possible to do so. The church website was refreshed and a new SharePoint site set up for sharing information between church members. The new ‘Reministory’ project continued in 2021. This began in lockdown as a way of keeping in touch with the housebound members of our congregation and developed in 2021 into face-to-face meetings to share memories on particular themes. We were supported in this and other pastoral activities by a funding grant from Greenham Trust as part of their ‘Surviving to Thriving’ initiative. Reverends Janice McDonald, Pat Willis and Raymond Obin continued to support us during the interregnum, leading Sunday worship, as Mark and Mary (Churchwardens) liaised with the Archdeacon and Area Dean and created a new Parish Profile. We finally celebrated with great joy Page 4 and grateful thanks in October, as Raymond was installed as our new Minister at a service lead by Bishop Olivia. A blessed answer to many prayers. Health and Safety procedures were followed to ensure a COVID safe environment i.e., attendees were encouraged to use the ‘Track and Trace’ app to log their attendance or record their details in the visitors’ book, pews were regularly sanitised and sharing of communion wine was suspended. The after-church café continued as a Zoom Café each Sunday morning and then again in Church from August. All committee meetings took place on Zoom instead of face to face. Home Group, Flower Club, Meeting Point and Prayer Breakfast took place on Zoom. Christmas Services (Midnight Mass and Christmas Day) took place in church and we were able to hold our normal Christingle Service once again. The Prayer Chain continued and particular prayer requests were circulated. The Harvest Festival took place in church and a large collection of tinned and packaged goods were donated to the local Foodbank. ## Summary of PCC Reports ## Fabric All the regular maintenance to the Church has been carried out during 2021 and the boilers have also been serviced. ## Finance and General Purposes We continued to face financial challenges in 2021 with our reserves being depleted so much so that we failed to pay our full Parish share (a shortfall of £20,000). Raymond’s arrival and the consequent reduction in our Parish share for 2022 leads us to hope that the improving situation will allow us in the future to use some reserves to support other churches if necessary. No major church building repairs were necessary during 2021. Main items were the repair and repainting of church downpipes, boiler repairs and the long-awaited fitting of a smart new south door (cost covered by insurance). The Lych gate benches were damaged (carving of initials and burning), and replacements were kindly supplied by Councillor Bill Graham. A new church-mounted CCTV camera is planned to monitor the area. To make the steps to the west doors of the church safer, we are adding handrails both sides. These were approved and commissioned in 2021. A new three-year electricity contract was taken out with Total Power and Gas through Parish Buying, and they fitted a new smart meter in September. Our existing tenant left the church-owned property 125 Walton Way in May and we were unable to recover the outstanding rent of £5,800. While the property was empty it was fully refurbished with the help of volunteers. It has been completely redecorated, a new shower installed, and new carpets and kitchen flooring fitted. The porch was repaired, and the garden tidied up, fences painted, and the shed repaired and cleared. Total expenditure was approximately £5,500. With the change in how the Jones bequest is being administered (the legal interest has been transferred to us), Rachel Haslam has taken on the role of Trustee, for which the committee is very grateful. ## Church and Community Life The group focused on organising individual events such as the Easter Tableau. Members of the committee represented St Mary’s as part of the Community Parish Steering Group who are liaising Page 5 with the Parish Council on all issues connected to the new housing development. In collaboration with the Council, 3 cherry trees were planted in the Churchyard to commemorate VE Day, the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, and a Covid memorial. ## Stewardship and Fundraising The committee continued to review the stewardship income in order to understand the ongoing financial needs and to maximise the opportunities for thoughtful giving. The ‘Supporting St Mary’s’ leaflet was updated to inform the congregation and wider community of our financial position and needs. Fundraising plans were adjusted in the light of changing restrictions, but some planned activities continued, and new fundraising opportunities were developed. The St Mary’s 200 Club had 26 subscriptions in 2021 generating income of £2,149 to church funds. Four well attended and successful concerts took place in the church. In July, Steve Bowey gave an organ recital supported by the Newbury Organist’s Association. The Tedesca Quartet gave 2 concerts in August and November and the Barfield Handbell Ringers performed in December. Together they raised approximately £4,000. We held a coffee morning at St Nicolas, Newbury in December which raised £209. 50% of this was donated to our World Partner charity ATE. We are very grateful for the matched funding we received from the Vodafone Foundation which significantly enhanced our fundraising income from events in 2021. Grants of £3,880 were received from Greenham Trust and Sovereign Housing to support St Mary’s activities under the ‘Surviving to Thriving’ initiative. Including some smaller donations, Easy Fundraising receipts and match funding the total fundraising and grant income for 2021 was £13,985. This represents 16% of total St Mary’s income for the year (excluding legacies). Full details can be seen in the accounts as presented by the Treasurer. ## World Partners Our main chosen charities for 2021 were Christian Aid, Action Through Enterprise (in Ghana) and The Bible Society. We have also supported Pat Willis’s work as a Waterways Chaplain and Newbury CAP (Christians Against Poverty) debt assistance project. Volunteers have assisted local homeless charities and we collected bottle tops for Air Ambulance, stamps for RNIB and postcards for the Leprosy Mission as well as patronising their catalogue. We support the West Berks Food Bank. We were able to support the Link to Hope Shoe Box Appeal in the autumn in the regular manner. 39 shoeboxes plus a large quantity of loose items were collected. Some people also did online boxes. Environmental Update - We took part in Churches Count on Nature 5 to 13 June (counting wildlife in the churchyard as a part of national scheme) leading up to Environment Sunday which we held on 13 June. We had a mini-Count on Nature on 19 September as part of the national Great Big Green Week. We started looking at how we could raise our Bronze Eco Church Award to Silver. On 19 September at morning service, World Partners made a public declaration on behalf of the PCC as follows on the Climate Emergency. This was part of our participation in Eco Church, the Climate Sunday movement and the Climate Emergency Toolkit. This declaration was published in NWN and attracted some attention from local churches and the Deanery. Page 6 ## Safeguarding There have not been any safeguarding concerns shared with Parish Safeguarding Officer. The Parish Safeguarding Dashboard has been implemented as a tool to help us focus on policies and procedures. Safeguarding Training for all Trustees was promoted and will be completed in 2022. ## Pastoral Care The team delivered 35 Easter Cream Tea boxes, celebrated Harvest Tea in the church centre and organised a Christmas service and tea for our Home Members. ## **Deanery Synod** Two members of the PCC sit on deanery synod. This provides the PCC with an important link between the parish and the wider structures of the church. ## **Mission and Evangelism** Local evangelism is led by the Church and Community Life Development Committee (CCLD), Every home in the parish (5000 approximately) received a Christmas Card with information about regular services and activities. 3 local residents became regular members of the congregation in 2021 as a result of receiving the card. ## **Ecumenical Relationships** St Mary's is a member of Christians Together in Newbury (CTNA) and has a strong history of working together with Christians of all denominations. In 2021 the usual CTNA activities were suspended. ## **Staff and Volunteers** We would like to thank the many volunteers who continuously work so hard to make our church a welcoming and lively community and further our mission and outreach work. A special 'Thank you!' must go to our Church Wardens, Mrs Mary Dawkins and Mr Mark Hutson, our Treasurer Mrs Rachel Haslam, our Assistant Treasurer Mr Tony Bradford, our Financial Team member Mr Steve Joplin, our Independent Examiner David Cobbett, our Community Outreach Officer Mr David Willetts, our Verger Mr Derek Harwood, our Administrator Sally Breach and our PCC and Committee members. We are also very grateful to Roger Snelling, Tony Dawkins, Nick Breach and to Councillor Paul Bryant for all the many jobs they do to maintain the church and the church yard. The volunteers have given hundreds of hours of their time to make St. Mary’s Church a loving, attractive and welcoming church that actively serves its community. ## **Structure, Governance and Management** The PCC is a corporate body established by the Church of England. The PCC operates under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure. Members of the PCC are ex officio, elected by the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) or coopted by decisions of the PCC. The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. At St Mary’s the membership of the PCC consists of the incumbent, the churchwardens and members elected by those on the electoral roll of the church. All regular members of the congregation are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC. Page 7 The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish including decisions on how the funds of the PCC are to be spent. The full PCC met 5 times during the year on Zoom. Given its wide responsibilities, the PCC has a number of committees each dealing with a particular aspect of parish life. These committees are Stewardship and Fundraising, World Partners, Finance and General Purposes, Pastoral, Church and Community Life Development and Safeguarding. All committees report back to the PCC regularly with minutes of their decisions being received by the full PCC and discussed and voted as necessary. Sub Committees are formed for specific events, for example the ‘Easter in Shaw’ event in March 2021. ## **Administrative Information** The ecclesiastical parish of St Mary's comprises the civic parish of Shaw-cum-Donnington as well as the Newbury Electoral Ward Clay Hill and other small areas of Newbury Town. It is part of the Newbury Deanery within the Diocese of Oxford of the Church of England. The correspondence address is: The Church Office, Church Road, Newbury, RG14 2DR. The PCC is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2011) and a charity registered with the Charity Commission. Our Registered Charity Number is 1172611. ## **PCC members who have served at any time from 1st January 2021 until 31 December 2021 are:** ## **Ex Officio members:** - Incumbent: The Reverend Raymond Obin - Warden, Vice Chair and PCC Secretary: Mr Mark Hutson, - Warden: Mrs Mary Dawkins - Verger: Mr Derek Harwood - Representatives to Deanery Synod: Mrs Libby Goldsack and Mr David Willetts - Covenant Secretary: Mr Charles Garner - Administrator: Sally Breach ## **Elected members:** - Mrs Rachel Haslam, Treasurer - Mrs Mary Hutson - Mrs Barbara Bradford - Mrs Chris Willetts - Mr David Willetts - Mr Mike Stuart - Mrs Ros Stuart - Mr Steve Joplin - Mrs Gill Moore ## **Sidespeople:** - Mrs Rachel Haslam - Mr Mark Hutson - Mrs Mary Hutson - Mrs Sally Breach - Mrs Mary Dawkins Page 8 ## St Mary’s, Shaw-cum-Donnington Financial Review 2021 The financial accounts for 2021 are set out in their required form on the following pages, and comprise the following documents: - Receipts and Payments Account Summary - Receipts and Payments Details - Statement of Assets and Liabilities as of 31[st] December 2021. - Independent Examiners Report which has been signed by David Cobbett following his review - and comparison of the PCC’s accounting records with the financial statements. These reports were reviewed by the PCC on 8[th] March 2022. ## Receipts and Payments Accounts ## Receipts ## Voluntary Income Total receipts on unrestricted funds were £81,235 of which £80,578 was unrestricted voluntary donations. Restricted donations (money collected for Cancer Care Calendars, Link to Hope Shoeboxes, the Bishop of Oxfords Outreach Fund and ATE) of £657 were also received. A unrestricted legacy of £50,000 was received in November 2021. Voluntary donations have continued to decline this year mainly due to lower congregation numbers and a few people moving away from the area. ## Activities for generating funds A successful application to The Good Exchange enabled St Mary’s to raise £3,937.50 to fund our 2 year ‘Surviving to Thriving’ Project of which £699 was spent in 2021 on minibus hire, hall hire and administration costs. The application to The Good Exchange submitted in 2020 to fund new handrails raised a further £1,883.50, of which £441 was spent on Architects fees in 2021. The 200 Club raised £2,149 for general funds. Other fundraising events included 4 concerts and a coffee morning. ## Income from investments The income from the Jones Will Trust was £12,000. This has increased compared to 2020 due to the change of Trustees. Gardener Leader are no longer managing the Trust on behalf of St Mary’s and so released the £7,500 that was in their client account. It is anticipated that the Trust will generate an annual income of approximately £12,000 per year for St Mary’s, minus any building repairs that are required. The freehold house in Walton Way continues to be let and provided an income of £4,308 after management fees were taken into account. This is an increase from 2020 and is due to a new tenant arriving in July 2021. ## Income from church activities Service fee income has increased due to more weddings and funerals taking place in 2021. ## Other Income Other income was £11,673. The main items were income from HMRC (furlough payments received in 2021) of £3,893 and an insurance payment of £6,694 to repair the South Door. ## Total Income Income for the year was £139,042. This is an increase since 2020 and is due to the legacy received and other reasons stated above. Page 9 ## Payments. The Cost of Generating Funds in 2021 was £1,909 and included prizes for the 200 club and concert expenditure. Charitable Donations in 2021 were £1,219 and included money collected for Cancer Care Calendars, Link to Hope Shoeboxes, the Bishop of Oxfords Outreach Fund and ATE, plus donations to COINS and CTNA. £62,430 was spent from unrestricted funds, and a further £7,598 from restricted funds, on church running costs in 2021. 37% of this amount (£26,000) is St Mary’s contribution to the diocesan parish share that supports the work of the Church of England and provides the stipends and housing for the clergy. £4,966 was spent on the refurbishment of 125 Walton Way, including decorating, fitting a new shower and carpets and rebuilding the porch. This investment resulted in the property agents advising that the rent charged could be increased by £70 per month and this was subsequently agreed with the new tenant. ## Net Result Total payments for 2021 were £78,122 compared to receipts of £139,042 giving a surplus of £60,920. The legacy of £50,000 and the lower Parish Share were the main reasons for the surplus. Discussions on expenditure to make best use of the legacy are ongoing and it is anticipated that the majority will be spent in 2022, or put into a designated fund for specific projects. The outstanding Parish Share of £20,037 has been recorded as ‘Provision for Future Ministry’ on the Balance Sheet. St Mary’s expressed an aspiration to pay this at a future date but the Oxford Diocese have advised us to focus on growing our Ministry and rebuilding our reserve funds that will enable us to support a full-time Incumbent in the future. The PCC committees will continue to explore how additional funds can be raised and where savings can be made in order to ensure that St Mary’s remains financially viable and is able to continue its commitments to the congregations and the community. Cash funds at the end of 2021 were £105,791 split between a business current account and three savings accounts. This includes the sum of £6,196 held in the restricted reserve account (for church centre capital purchases and maintenance only). £8,177 remains in the Building Maintenance Restricted Reserve Fund, £557 in the Sanctuary Restricted Reserve Fund, £3,154 in the Youth Work Restricted Reserve Fund and £1,655 in the Handrail Restricted Reserve Fund. The total amount in the restricted reserve funds at the end of the year was £19,740. This represents money that was given for a specific purpose and can only be spent on those items. Reserves Policy – It is PCC policy to try to maintain a balance on unrestricted funds which equates to at least three months unrestricted payments. This is equivalent to £30,000. It is held to smooth out fluctuations in cash flow and to meet emergencies. The total amount in the unrestricted reserve fund at the end of 2021 was £86,051. ## Conclusion I would like to thank everyone who continues to support St Mary’s financially by their regular giving and support of special projects. Thank you to the hard-working Stewardship and Fundraising Team and to the Finance and General Purposes Committee for their close monitoring of the finances and church property. I anticipate that the church reserves will start to increase in 2022 due to the reduced Parish Share. The Stewardship and Fundraising Committee will continue to encourage giving from the congregation and supporters and to investigate sources of external funding. I would like to thank Tony Bradford for maintaining the day-to-day financial records. Thank you to Sally Breach and Steve Joplin for all their work that ensures the smooth running of the church finances. Thank you to David Cobbett for kindly acting as our Independent Examiner again this year. 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