## **ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS** **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024** ## **THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH OF ST MARY'S SHAW CUM DONNINGTON** ## **CHARITY NUMBER 1172611** Page 1 |**Contents**|**Page**| |---|---| |Trustees Annual Report|3| |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 2024** 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 2024. ## **AIMS AND PURPOSES** St Mary’s Church is situated on the northern edge of Newbury and serves the areas of Shaw, Donnington and Clay Hill as well as the more rural areas to the north. The Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility to co-operate with the priest-in-charge, Revd. Raymond Obin, 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 respond to God’s love in Knowing Jesus, Sharing God’s Love and Caring for People. We are a welcoming community who aim to reach out to all the people in the Parish as we worship together, tell people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and care in spiritual and practical terms wherever we can in the community. We strive to fulfil these objectives through: - A secure and varied pattern of Worship, Prayer and Bible Study, in church, the church centre, care homes and schools. - Provision of pastoral care through a committed pastoral team. - A strong musical tradition and enjoyment of worshipping through music. - 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, which provides a well-regarded 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 pattern of worship, prayer and bible study throughout the week, using the church, the church centre, as well as in care homes and schools. In 2024 we had a service of Holy Communion or Morning Prayer every Sunday at 10am. Baptisms were held during the morning service or separately, depending on the circumstances. We held a weekly Meeting for Prayer in the Church using some of the liturgy from the Morning Prayer and a mid-week Communion service on the 2[nd] and 4[th] Wednesdays of the month. We held a week-day afternoon service for our Home Members before Easter, Harvest and Christmas. Our services are easy to follow, using a projector and screen for liturgy and lyrics, and we make available a printed order of service in large print for those who need it. We have a monthly prayer breakfast on the first Saturday of the month. We held a Lent Page 3 course. We have an email ‘Prayer Chain’ and share requests for prayer with members of the congregation who have chosen to receive them. Shaw cum Donnington Primary School come to the church four times a year for special services and Trinity School (secondary) use the church for their Christmas assemblies. COINS (Christian Opportunities in Newbury Schools) used the church for their Christmas and Easter events which are attended by other local schools. We have a particular focus on making sure all are made welcome at our services, and we deliver a Christmas Card to everyone in the parish with details of our Christmas Worship. There are currently 80 people on the electoral roll, 51 are residents and 29 non-residents. Our Sunday attendance increased in 2024. In 2024 we baptised 15 children. We conducted 3 weddings and the clergy conducted 18 funerals at St Mary’s or the Crematorium and 3 internments of ashes. These services are essential to our commitment to spiritually support 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. We have monthly Holy Communion services in the 5 care homes in the parish. ## Deanery Synod Two members of the PCC sit on the deanery synod. This provides the PCC with an important link between the parish and the wider structures of the church. ## The Church and Church Centre The church centre was maintained in order to make it a welcoming space for meetings. This includes the various church groups who meet in the church centre, a drama group and Bridge Church (a Newbury Free Church) who used our facilities to run a weekly parent and toddlers’ group. A quinquennial inspection in October 2023 highlighted a number of issues with the church and church centre. The issues were prioritised in order of urgency and repairs to the church roof were completed. The installation of a replacement CCTV system was completed. The lighting in the church centre was upgraded. 3 of the windows in the Church Centre were replaced. The church office was decorated and reorganised in preparation for a new Church Administrator. The Youth Lounge was cleared and tidied and storage cupboards were reorganised. A team of volunteers continued to work on the churchyard to tidy areas that had become overgrown and to plant bulbs. Overgrown trees were trimmed and the grass is now cut at regular intervals by the Council contractors. ## Pastoral Care The Barnabas Group, supporting those in the community who have been bereaved, continued to meet weekly in the church centre. The Myrtle Café project continues to provide a Monday meeting point and support for those who are isolated and lonely in the community. The monthly Lunch Club for older members of the community continued to be popular and minibus transport is provided as required. Page 4 Home Members (those older members of the community who can no longer attend Sunday worship) were invited to St Mary’s for special events at Easter, Summer, Harvest and Christmas and joined together in a Communion Service followed by afternoon tea. The ‘Reminiscence’ project continued in 2024 and the group meets in person to share memories on particular themes. Members of the church keep in regular touch with older members of the community who are no longer able to attend services. A church outing by coach to Waterperry Gardens was arranged. ## Mission and Evangelism Helping those in need is a demonstration of our faith. At St Mary’s we demonstrate this by our Pastoral Care activities and support for charities at home and abroad. We sell calendars at Christmas to raise funds for Newbury Cancer Care Trust and pack shoeboxes of gifts as part of the ‘Link To Hope’ scheme. We are a collection point for the West Berkshire Foodbank and support Action Through Enterprise in Ghana with fundraising. We organise special collections for appeals run by Christian Aid. We hope to restart our Youth Work in the future but, until this happens, we are pleased to support the Next Gen Youth Café who meet at a local community centre, as one of our Christmas charities. We organised an ‘Easter Kids’ event for local children. We support the Bible Society and Bible Sunday was marked on 27th October. The local Boys’ Brigade group moved to St Mary’s in 2024 and ran weekly activities in the church centre. The children and parents were welcomed at a special commissioning service in October followed by lunch. The group is supported by Revd. Ed Yates as Brigade Chaplain and by a team of volunteers. The group have struggled to recruit new members following the change of venue and meeting day but it is hoped that this will improve in 2025. The Boys’ Brigade now has a Girls’ Association and welcomes both boys and girls to join. The Parish Council organised a community fete and St Mary’s took part by providing craft activities for children. Every home in the parish (now almost 7,000 approximately) received a Christmas Card with information about regular services and activities. ## 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. ## Other Activities We would like to rebuild our work with families and children and look forward to seeing more children at our Sunday morning services in the future. Our weekly ‘Meeting Point’ group for parents and pre-school children has been running for many years with the support of dedicated volunteers and continued in 2024 with a small number of families attending. Our fundraising activities included a concert by a professional string quartet, Tedesca, sponsored by a local resident. We held a Burns Night Supper, an organ recital and a slide show. Our 200 Club continued in 2024. We organised a group meal at a local restaurant. Page 5 We held our APCM in March. In May we hosted a concert as part of the Newbury Spring Festival programme. In September we held our Harvest services, including Harvest Evensong followed by tea. In October we held our Annual Bereavement service and tea. We take environmental issues very seriously and actively encourage and promote ways in which the congregation can get involved in protecting our environment at a local and national level. We include ‘Green Tips’ in our pew sheet and ‘Remote Action’ suggestions in our weekly email communications. We held an ‘Environment’ service and joined in the national Count on Nature. We are a Fairtrade Church and purchase fairtrade coffee and tea for use in our after-church café. We have achieved the Silver eco-Church award. Page 6 ## St Mary’s, Shaw-cum-Donnington Financial Review 2024 The financial accounts for 2024 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 2024. 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 25th February 2025. ## Receipts and Payments Accounts ## Receipts ## Voluntary Income Total receipts on unrestricted funds were £37,933. Restricted donations (money collected for Cancer Care Calendars and Link to Hope Shoeboxes) of £412 were also received. Voluntary donations have increased by almost £5,000 this year. ## Activities for generating funds The 200 Club raised £1,925 for general funds. Other fundraising events included a Burns Night Supper, Easter, Harvest and Christmas Teas organised by the Pastoral Team, a slide show, a classical concert and an organ recital. £2,068 was donated via The Good Exchange and a further £2,500 was received from Greenham Trust in 2024 towards the refit of the church kitchen. Total fundraising income was £10,928. ## Income from investments The income from the Jones Will Trust was £12,500. The freehold house in Walton Way continues to be let and provided an income of £8,357 after management fees and repairs were taken into account. ## Income from church activities Service fee income has increased slightly due to more funerals taking place in 2024 compared to the previous year. ## Other Income Other income was £5,462. The main items were VAT refunds of £2,084 (church lighting, CCTV and kitchen refit), Lunch Club donations, Myrtle Café donations and tickets to Waterperry Gardens for a church outing. ## Total Income Income for the year was £93,838. This has increased since 2023 due to the increases in voluntary income, fundraising, investment income and income from church activities. ## Payments The Costs of Events in 2024 was £5,787 and included prizes for the 200 Club, Lunch Club and Burns Night expenses and the coach trip to Waterperry Gardens. It also includes the fee of £2,000 paid to the classical concert performers. This fee was funded by an individual sponsor. Charitable Donations in 2024 were £804 and included money collected for Cancer Care Calendars, Link to Hope Shoeboxes (£412) plus donations to CAP (£100), ECO Church (£125), Bible Society (£73.34), West Berkshire Foodbank (£77) and Next Gen Youth Café (£17). Funds were also raised for special collections and events and these were paid to the charities directly so do not appear in the accounts. These are Tearfund Big Quiz (£176), Christmas Collections for ATE and Jesus Disciple Page 7 Centre (£462), Christingle Collection for Jesus Disciple Centre (£82). Total Charitable donations were £1,614. Of the Christmas money donated to ATE, £152 was added to the ‘Big Give’ fund in order to receive matched funding. A further £90 was added to the ‘Big Give’ for ATE by individuals. £68,107 was spent from unrestricted funds, and a further £384 from restricted funds, on church running costs in 2024. The major item of expenditure was St Mary’s Parish Share contribution to the Oxford Diocese of £23,789. This amount is approximately 56% of the Parish Share paid by similar parishes as Raymond is a self-supporting minister. £3,300 was spent from the £50,000 legacy fund on enhancements to the church and church centre. The items approved by PCC and then purchased were the CCTV and church centre lighting upgrades. Other items of capital expenditure were the deposit for the lychgate handrails, repairs to the church roof and new windows for the church centre. As a result, the ‘Building Maintenance’ and ‘Church Centre’ restricted funds have now been totally spent. ## Net Result Total payments for 2024 were £97,131 compared to receipts of £93,838 giving a deficit of £3,293. The planned expenditure on capital projects was the main reasons for the deficit. The numbers of people attending services in 2024 continued to increase and it is hoped that this will result in an increase in voluntary income in 2025. In addition, the PCC will continue to explore 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. St Mary’s has an aspiration to return to paying the full Parish Share within the next few years in order to support a full-time member of the clergy in the future. It is planned to spend some of the remaining legacy funds on replacing the Internal South Doors. Other proposals for use of the legacy funds are still under discussion. Cash funds at the end of 2024 were £86,171 split between a business current account and three savings accounts. This includes the sum of £2,666 held in the Youth Work Restricted Reserve Fund, £181 in the Lunch Club Fund and £1,231 in the Pastoral Team fund. The total amount in the restricted reserve funds at the end of the year was £4,078. This represents money that was raised 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 2024 was £66,230. ## 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 Finance and General Purposes Committee for their close monitoring of the finances and church property. I anticipate that the church reserves will further decrease in 2025 due to planned investment in the church fabric and repairs arising from the quinquennial inspection. I would like to thank Tony Bradford for maintaining the day-to-day financial records. Thank you to Steve Joplin for all his work in recording cash and envelope donations. Thank you to Charles and Lesley Garner for acting as our Gift Aid Administrators for many years and to Heather White who has recently taken over this role. Thank you to David Cobbett for kindly acting as our Independent Examiner again this year. Page 8 ## 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 Churchwarden, Mrs Ros Stuart, our Treasurer Mrs Rachel Haslam, our Assistant Treasurer Mr Tony Bradford, our Financial Team member Mr Steve Joplin, our Independent Examiner David Cobbett, our Verger Mr Derek Harwood, our Administrators Sally Breach and Maggie Wiseman, 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. We said goodbye to Sally in 2024 who retired from her job as Church Administrator after over 30 years’ service to St Mary’s. Sally continued to support St Mary’s as PCC [RH1]Secretary for the rest of the year. ## 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. 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 curate, the churchwardens, the church’s elected deanery synod representatives and those elected as members of the PCC at the APCM, and the Verger, who is co-opted to the PCC. All regular 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 decisions on how the funds of the PCC are to be spent. Deanery Synod representatives and Churchwardens are ex-officio. Other PCC members are elected at the APCM, or in the case of the Verger, co-opted. The full PCC met 5 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 are Ministry, Finance and General Purposes, World Partners and Pastoral. Fundraising activities are led by individual members of the congregation. 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. ## 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. Page 9 ## **PCC members who have served at any time from 1st January 2024 until 31 December 2024 are:** - Priest in Charge: Revd. Raymond Obin - Assistant Curate: Revd. Ed Yates ## **Ex Officio members:** - Warden: Mrs Ros Stuart - Representatives to Deanery Synod: Mrs Libby Goldsack and Mr David Willetts ## **Co-opted members:** - Verger: Mr Derek Harwood **Elected members:** Mrs Mary Dawkins Mr Mark Hutson Mrs Rachel Haslam Mr Mike Stuart Mr Steve Joplin Mrs Gill Moore Mrs Barbara Bradford Mrs Sally Breach Mrs Lesley Almond ## **Electoral Roll Officer** Mr Derek Harwood ## **Other Officers in addition to PCC Members** **Gift Aid Secretary** Mr Charles Garner **Service Stewards:** Lesley Almond Barbara Bradford Sally Breach George Cummins Mary Dawkins Karen Fenwick Charles Garner Libby Goldsack Rachel Haslam Mark Hutson Mary Hutson Wendy Seamons Ros Stuart Mike Stuart Janet Sturgess Jane Yates Page 10 Receipts aThl Payment5 Account St Mary'5 Sh•w4um Donnington Paro(hial Chwch Council A(CO￿t5 the period from OII0112024 to 3111212024 Unrestricred funds Restricted Endowment funds funds Total fund5 Previou5 Year Receipts Voluniary ITKome Fundraising Income from investments Income trom Church activiDes Other incorning resources A55et5 & inve5vnent 5ale5 Totsl receipts £37.932.89 £10224.51 £22.103.31 £16.951.11 £4.452.82 £412.(Y) £703.IJ) £49.11 £38.344.89 £33.353.40 £10.92751 £5.662_93 £22.152.42 £21.975.43 £16.951.11 £13,628.44 £5.461.82 £9.547.05 £i.(KyJ. £91.664.64 £2.173.11 £93.837.75 £84.167.25 Payments Costs of oeneratinc funds Donations io charities Church runr¥ing costs Governance costs Major capital expendrture Assets & investment purchases Total payments £4.427.35 £391.84 £68.107.10 £1.359.39 £412.LK) £384. £5.786.74 £￿3.84 £68,491.10 £2.220.39 £788.70 £78.168.14 £8.60L56 3.448.25 £22.049.81 £12,048.Ixi £81.527.85 £15.603.64 £97.131.49 É93,22&23 Exce55 of receipts over payments -£3.293.74 9.057.98 Cash fvnds prev￿5 year £71￿56. 7508.33 £89.465.13 Cash fund5 this year £82.093.59 £4.077. £86.171.39 Notes.. The financial statements of the PCC have been prepared in accordance wrth the Church Accountinc Regulat￿nS 2￿6 using the receipts and ￿YMeftts basis Page 11 Re(tyt5aNJ PawrtFrts Det&ils. Dttembtv 2024 51 Mor*s Sh6w4um-th)nnlnoo Yearto Oecember2024 Unre5trKted Re5rritted YeaTTotal Previou5 Year Voluntary income Donat￿5. Standing Orders OoDaTKir>s- Envelope Schemes Donatms- Parish GNing kherne One off 8fft5 (Grt ￿ded1 One off gffts INOT Gfft Aided) Cash collectron5at5er¥ice5 Cash colleciionsatwedslBaps Collect￿n5for chant￿5 Tax Refund on Grtt￿o 5.T29.Lfl 2.025.IXI 13.316_84 3.654.83 5.729_IX) 2,025 C 13.316_84 3.654.83 544.73 4018_85 127.20 412_ 7,716.44 5.569.LM> 3,030. 12546.fA> 2.553.50 213.42 3.368.21 .01 522.70 5.459.96 4A1&85 127.20 412_IK> 7,71&44 Le.LX> ILI32451 705 10?27Jl Ir￿Orne ftom wwegments F B lones WAI Trust income Renttrom 125 Wakon Way 8an* iniere5r .5(M).t B.357_01 1246. 12,5(M). B.357_01 1.295 41 12,5W. 8.516.40 959.03 49.11 49 22J5142 21975.43 Incorne ftom rlmrch aciviiii25 Service fees 10.493.9) 6.199.$0 257_n 10.493.90 6.199.50 257_71 9.IOILK> 4.367.40 159.04 After5e￿￿ta￿ 95LU 1495Lll 13.62&44 Other Inwmh)g TestyJf 322.IKI 32Z_I 2.56357 . 6.814_44 4.349_70 . 2.891.(K) 791.52 2.115.12 127.59 439.37 245_30 2.563_57 6.814_44 4.349.70 2.891_LX) 791.52 2.115.12 127_59 439.37 245_30 459.n 251.76 95.28 4.7(o.ri) 157.34 3&CIJ 537_02 459_72 251_76 95.28 4,7CQ. 219.34 537_02 68.107.10 68.49LIO 7416814 lThkpendent examiner fee ma1￿ Bank Attoth)t Total 15.863A2 4.077.80 FixÈd asseis 125 W6lton Way Shaw I bedfreehold 25% 5haTe in Mr5 FBJone5Tru5t Provision for Fuwie Ministry 20.037 iiolJilitie5 Ocr to Dei 2024 Porothial Feesand Semce Fees paKJ in January 2025 l.it* DthoF5 Desigrsaied Funds Organ MèiTrtenaTrce Le8ary 662.04 15201.78 Restrirted Funds Chancel Roofl8uildng Mainienance Church C*)tre Charrtjes YoLrth Work Lunch Club 1665.63 180.83 Pa5tQTal Team Totsi$ L231.34 4￿77￿9 15.86332 No values haye been Sho￿ foithe Fixed A55ets because curreni values are not known. To aKerrain ihese TequiTe wofe55h)nal valuaDon5 Ihe c¢>sr of whKh 15 UThNJ5rthed wl*n tt* PCC ho5 no current nteniion to realt5eihem. The purthose of 125 Waircm Way in September 2CI)6 wa5 £133.5 These financial stoiements were re¥iewed by the Paroc￿.01 Chwch C￿n0"ton the 25ih February 2025 sgd PCC Chabfman Tru￿ee Page 14 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Report to the trusteesl members of THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF SHAW CUM DONNINGTON On a¢eounts for the year ended 3111212024 Charity no {if any) 1172611 Set out on pages I report to Ihe trustees on my examinatson of the accounts of Ihe aiK)ve charity ('the Tn￿￿) for the year ended 3111212024. Responsibililies arKI basis of report As the charrtls Irustee5, you are reswnsible for the prepara*"on of the accounts in acC(Kdan￿ with the requirerrEnts of the Charities Act 2011 rthe P£V) I report in respect of my examinats'on of the Trust's accounts camed out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examinats"on: I have followed all the applicable Direclions given by the Charty Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Ad. Independent I ha￿ completed my examination. I confirni that no mateTial matters have examinerfs statement come to my attention in connection with the examinatiC￿ which gives me cause to believe that in, any maletial respect" the accounb'ng records were kept in accordan￿ with section 130 of the Charrties Act.. or the accounts dKI not accord wrth the accountirMJ records,. or the accounts not compty wlh the applicable requirements con￿MIng the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Rewxts) Regulabons 2(K18 other than any requirernent that Ihe accounts grve a 'true and fairf Mew which is tM)t a matter cOn￿dered as part of an IndeFendent examinats'on. I have no concems arHJ have come across no other matters in connection wjlh the examination to vthich attention should be drawn in this report in order to enalk a proper underslanding of Ihe accounts to be reached. Signed: 01103Q025 Name: Dav￿ Cobtett Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any): Address: 5 Mountbatten Close, Shaw, Nevknury, West Berkshire: RG14 2HT IER Oct 2018 Page 15 Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlighl malenal matters of concem (see CC32, IrKJependenl examinabon of charty accwnts" direclNJis and guidan￿ for exaffuners). Give here brief details of any items that the examiner 4%ishes to disclose. IER Oct 2018 Page 16