2020-12-31-accounts

St James & St Anne, Bermondsey ANNUAL REPORT 2020

St James & St Anne, Bermondsey

Annual reports for 2020

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This format had two specific advantages: it was easier to include singing for people at home to share in, and it enabled a broad selection of congregation members to participate in readings, prayers and others items.

Accordingly we moved over to pre-recorded services, posted on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and the BermondseyVicar blog, from then on. These online services have continued in and out of lockdown ever since. At the time of writing there have been 55 of them.

Vicar’s Report for 2020

The first Covid-related death in London occurred on 4th March 2020. Within a year there would be a total of 17,965 deaths, 71,000 hospital admissions and 698,000 cases of Coronavirus in our city.

On 17[th] March the Archbishops of Canterbury and York wrote to all clergy to say that public worship must be put on hold until further notice. Subsequently the prohibition on public worship became a legal obligation on all places of worship under Coronavirus legislation which was announced by the Prime Minister on 23[rd] March. On the following day, in a move that was to prove controversial, the archbishops called for church buildings to be closed ‘not only for public worship, but for private prayer as well.’

The Ministry Team, like similar groups in churches all over the country, now had to move quickly to make decisions to safeguard the spiritual life of the congregation in the unprecedented circumstances and challenges we were facing.

Those who do not have internet access or a smartphone have received the service on a DVD delivered to their door.

2 Pastoral care

We made a list of elderly and vulnerable members of the congregation and arranged for members of the Ministry Team to phone them regularly. Subsequently, we wrote to all members of the congregation to ask whether they would like to receive a phone call, and all those who responded positively were phoned.

In these and other informal ways we have sought to keep in touch even at times when person-toperson contact has been difficult. Regular emails to 215 people on our database with details of church events, and links to online services and Bermondsey Daily Messages have been a further means of keeping in touch, as have some afterchurch Zoom socials.

3 Bermondsey Daily Message

The prime duty of a pastor-teacher is to feed the flock with the word of God.

The following provisions were made:

With the whole nation on lockdown and the

1 Sunday Services

To begin with, we decided to livestream the Sunday service from St James (and, after church buildings were closed even for this purpose, from St James Vicarage). Our first livestreamed service was for Mothering Sunday on 22[nd] March. Two further livestreamed services followed, then on Easter Day we experimented with a pre-recorded service for the first time.

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scope for live person to person contact so reduced we decided to produce a daily video message, brief and to the point, bringing an aspect of God’s word to bear on our daily lives, giving us encouragement and hope in the difficult circumstances we were now all in. They were to be beautiful words from the beautiful book .

The messages (which reduced to three per week when the churches re-opened for public worship in September) have proved popular and to date there have been 227 of them.

Online outreach

During the course of the lockdowns it has been good to see members of the wider community interacting with our online services, Bermondsey Daily Messages and our posting on Facebook and Twitter.

We have produced three ‘Community Specials’, services aimed at the wider community, filmed on location in the area, for Harvest, Remembrance and Christmas. These have proved very popular and are being followed up in 2021 by services for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Easter.

Our first community video (harvest) received 514 views, the Remembrance video received 569 views, and the Christmas service received 1,300 views. Our own research has indicated that on average 1.4 people watch each video, so those YouTube views may equate to 719, 797, 1820 viewers, respectively.

Some of those who have appeared in these community videos are shown on the front cover of this report.

The Community Videos have been promoted via Facebook ads and through interacting with various Facebook groups that have a Bermondsey focus. In addition, we began our own ‘God Loves Bermondsey’ Facebook group in November which has grown from 30 members to 140 members, most of whom are not members of our churches.

Re-opening arrangements & Lockdown 2

The churches re-opened for private prayer from 20[th] June; for Midday services including Holy Communion from 22[nd] July, and for Sunday worship from September 6[th] . Each step involved careful attention to risk assessments and putting into place the various measures necessary to ensure that our buildings and activities conformed to all the relevant Covid regulations. I am very grateful to those who carried out these preparations and to those who have manned our buildings for private prayer and midday services.

When we returned to church, worship was certainly different. Congregational singing was not allowed, services had to be shorter than usual, and communion had to be offered only in one kind. Neither refreshments nor Sunday school groups could take place. In addition, we had to sit socially distanced from another. We had to sanitize our hands, wear face masks, and supply our details for track and trace. It felt strange but it was good to back together for communal worship.

On Sunday 1[st] November our churches were once again closed by the Government in view of the growing numbers of infection and so we had to move exclusively to online worship for the month of November.

Fortunately we were able to re-open for worship at the beginning of December, in time for the Christmas services which were able to take place, albeit in as different format than usual.

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The live services in church were supplemented by an online Christingle, an online carol service and an outdoor carol service in St James’s Churchyard (pictured below).

O a personal note, during the year I have been engaged in a lengthy research project for the Diocese, and I have continued to teach the curates at IME, to meet those exploring a vocation to ordination in my role as an Examining Chaplain for the Bishop of Southwark and to serve as Area Dean of Bermondsey.

Beyond the parish I have continued to serve on the General Synod and as chair of the five Patronage Trusts of the Church Pastoral Aid Society which are involved in the placing of incumbents in parishes up and down the country.

This year has been hard year for so many. Many families are bereaved. Others have suffered from isolation, mental health issues, financial worries and the loss of jobs. Many have struggled with working from home and looking after their children at the same time. Others have found the sheer uncertainty created by Covid have significantly raised their levels of anxiety.

The restrictions on public worship have been unprecedented in recent history, yet we recognise that the Government’s decisions have been made for public health reasons and that it is right that we Christian, as part of our duty to love our neighbour, we should do everything we

can to work for the common good and to cooperate with the civil authorities at a time of crisis.

We are thankful that the word of God is not chained, that we are still able to hear God’s word and worship, albeit in very different ways. We are grateful for all that technology has provided to keep us in touch with each other and to bring us into contact with many new people. We are thankful for all that we have learnt this year, including perhaps how to be more thankful (for the things that we have otherwise taken for granted), how to do old things in a new way, and how to do some new things and acquire some skills we would otherwise not have. We are particularly thankful for new hearers of God’s message and new participants in worship.

In everything we need to need hear what ‘the Spirit is saying is to the churches’ (Revelation 3.22). We need to ponder God’s message to us through this pandemic which has humbled the world and stopped us in our tracks.

And we need to go on trusting our good and glorious God who works out all things according to his plan and purpose, confident that he who began a good work in us will bring it to ‘completion on the day of Christ’ (Philippians 1.6).

Gary Jenkins (vicar)

Urban Missioner Report

To say that 2020 was an extraordinary year would be an understatement. When the year began we were all thinking that Covid would not affect us very much here in the UK. How wrong could we be?

We started the year engaging in reaching out in many different ways. Men’s breakfasts, Wednesday Night Church, Bible Zone, RSG, St James toddler group, Bermondsey Brew all making contact and developing relationships

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with people outside of the church. As you know by the end of March everything had to be put on hold. Funeral ministry carried on all be it in a very restricted way that could not be as relational as it would normally have been.

However, on the positive side we transitioned to recording our services and broadcasting on line. We began Bermondsey Daily Message that was on line 5 days a week initially and then reducing to 3 days by the Autumn when live church was able to re-open.

Alongside of the week on week offering online we produced some Video specials. Bermondsey Community Harvest Festival. Bermondsey Community Remembrance Day Bermondsey Community Carol Service and an online Christingle. All of these attracted a large number of hits on the various platforms they were uploaded onto.

Following the Carol Service several people signed up to a Christian Basics Course on Zoom. A big thank you to anyone that contributed to this online work as well as to those that enable the other activities to go ahead in the first two and a half months of the year prior to our being in lockdown.

On a very personal level, it wasn’t an easy year in the Warren household due to Mandy’s operation. I would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support during a challenging time for us. Paul Warren

Curate’s Report 2020

It is a sad fact that for much of 2020 we were unable to meet together on Sundays. One member of the congregation said to me, “So you’re out of a job, then.” Hopefully this report sheds some light on what goes on ‘behind the scenes’ in the life of your curate.

2020 began positively with a great series preaching through the book of Acts. I especially urged us all to support and join in with the work of taking the gospel message out into Bermondsey, just as the apostles and early Christians took the good news about Jesus to the world. And I am pleased to say that that work continued unabated throughout the year.

Before Covid-19 reached the UK I was part of BibleZone at St James’ School; I developed friendships with a number of Bermondsey Brew’s patrons who began to come along to Wednesday Night Church; I also travelled up to Leeds to work with the Christian Unions in putting on a week of excellent evangelistic events. My primary input was to give 5 talks to students at Leeds University. It was an great way to grow in my own ability as an evangelist and a privilege to serve with so many people who were so eager for people to hear about Jesus.

Back in Bermondsey I met with families and individuals for Baptism preparation or to offer support.

Then came Coronavirus. Some things did not change: I continued teaching New Testament Greek to students at the local Cornhill Training Course – now via Zoom; I continued to preach; in place of Wednesday Night Church some of us in our 20s and 30s met on Zoom for a Bible Study going through 1 Corinthians; school governors meetings also continued online; monthly curate’s training at Trinity House continued online and I also completed three assignments as part of IME over the course of the year.

Some things stayed the same, but I also had to adapt. The biggest change came when churches

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were closed. At first I suggested streaming a service to Facebook using my mobile phone. Our first streamed service was on Mother’s Day. This did not work very well and had various limitations – not least it prevented us from singing. Come Easter we made the decision to try a pre-recorded service including songs purchased from iSingWorship (thanks to God that they waived their copyright restrictions to enable us to use them).

Providing these services was not easy. We had to learn how to film, get good audio, edit videos, run a YouTube channel, etc. I spent a lot of time watching filming and editing tutorials to help me understand how to do all of this. I had never filmed or edited a video before. To date (Feb 2021) I have filmed and/or edited about 240 videos (Paul Warren has edited the others).

Wonderfully, not only did we manage to provide a church service online but we discovered the evangelistic potential of online content and I am very pleased to have been involved in the creation of the ‘Bermondsey Community’ special services: Harvest Festival, Remembrance Sunday, Carol Service and Christingle. These have been watched by hundreds of people outside of our two congregations.

They take a lot of time and thought and effort to produce (just think how many credits there usually are at the end of a 30 minute TV show) but have proved successful. For the first time since I arrived in Bermondsey, Christmas guests signed up to the evangelistic course we advertised. Thanks to all who have featured in these!

In addition to Sunday services and specials, I also set up the Bermondsey Daily Message YouTube channel which is where our Bermondsey Daily Message videos and St James’ School Assembly videos are located. Initially I was speaking in 2 and editing 5 videos a week (on top of Sunday’s service), but was a lot of work so after a while Paul started to edit some Bermondsey Daily Messages and then some Sunday Services too. Gary also suggested I take an extra day off 3 times a month as I was becoming exhausted. Apart from providing online ministry I also began (along with the ministry team) regularly telephoning certain members of the congregation who might be particularly affected by lockdown to see how they were and offer support.

On a personal note, we had the joy this summer of welcoming Rose into the world on 20[th] June. However, due to Rebecca’s pregnancy and then during the early month’s of Rose’s life we were classed as vulnerable. This meant that I was unable to conduct funerals for most of the year but I conducted one funeral on 22[nd] December. Christmas is a sad time to lose a family member, but a good time to hear the good news of the one who was born to raise us from the earth, born to give us second birth.

2020 was an exhausting year but everything I do here is an attempt to serve our Lord and I am glad to continue that work in 2021. Jacob Mercer

Pearly King & Queen interviewed for Remembrance

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Reader’s Report - Adrian

Well, what a year 2020 was! The pandemic reminded us of the fragility of life – ‘our life is like grass’ (Psalm 103 v l5) – in the face of huge forces of nature – wind is not so different from an invisible virus that transmits through breath (Psalm 103 v 16). Lockdown emphasised that the Church is not a building, but the people of Christ, and opened up a whole new way of meeting to pray for the Kingdom, to learn from Scripture and to encourage one another in faith, hope and love. ‘The UK Blessing’, among many versions of that song on YouTube, remains a highlight for me.

In terms of my formal ministry, I preached twice and led services 5 times between January and March 2020 and then preached twice and led once in the period between September and December. In the autumn I also led services of Morning Prayer on Wednesdays at St James (as part of Open Church) and spoke on 17 Bermondsey Daily Messages from different locations in Bermondsey, including several from the Salmon Youth Centre. Thanks are due especially to my son Tom for his help with filming. I was invited to preach and lead services at two other churches, first in February at St. Philips Avondale Square and then in September at St. Barnabas, Eltham. I enjoy visiting other congregations and the thing that stood out for me is that they both read a portion from the Psalms each week; and at both I was able to draw on readings from the Old Testament, the Epistles and the Gospels.

Nationally, I was able to influence the final versions of two important documents about the role of lay people. One called ‘ Kingdom Calling’ which looks at calling, service and discipleship for lay people; and the ‘ Vision for Lay Ministries’ which calls for a flourishing of a wide range of lay ministries, both among the fellowship of believers and in service of and outreach to the local community or place of work etc. Both reports sit well with the changing nature of Reader Ministry as it moves to a much stronger focus on ‘Monday to Saturday’ discipleship, evangelism and mission.

All of this has all been galvanised by the Report ‘ Setting God’s People Free’ which was approved by General Synod in February 2017. Focussing on the million anglican Christians (98%) who are not ordained or licensed, it aims for a twofold culture change within the Church within 10 years – our very own ‘moon-landing’ project (a reference to President Kennedy in 1962). First, to re-focus and re-energise the discipleship of every Christian onto the whole of their life and not just what happens on Sunday and/or within the four walls of church building. Second, to ensure that those who are lay and those who are ordained feel equally valued - so that, all together, we can become a community of missionary disciples .

Away from the United Benefice, I continued to serve as Chair of the Trustees of Salmon Youth Centre (the 4[th] member of the Group Ministry), on Bermondsey Deanery Synod and as Lay Chair of Southwark Diocesan Synod. I continued as a member of General Synod and on Archbishops Council and to administer the regular prayer meeting for ‘Christians for Transformation in Bermondsey & Rotherhithe’.

Adrian Greenwood

Reader’s Report – Penny

There is no doubt that 2020 was a very unusual year. It started off well, sharing in Barbara and Lawrence’s celebration of their Golden Wedding, and then preaching for Epiphany at St James on Sunday and the next day celebrating the actual festival with the whole of St James’ School in Church to mark the beginning of the new term.

In January we had the pleasure of getting to know a young German girl at St Anne’s and at Wednesday night church. She was working as an ‘au pair’ for a local family, but it didn’t work out too well, and after a while she decided to go home. She came and stayed with us for a few days whilst getting travel arrangements sorted, and we found her a delightful guest. She was so

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grateful for the welcome and support she had received at St Anne’s.

My next highlight was being asked to take a morning service at St Philip’s, Avondale Square, while they were without a Vicar. It took me down memory lane, as I had lived in the square in the late 70s when doing some community work in the area for a charity. In fact it was our first home when we got married, and during that time I had helped in the parish during another vacancy, including duplicating the Parish Newssheet on an ancient printing machine.

The middle of February saw us taking a week’s holiday to go to the Holy Land. How lucky we were with the timing. It was a memorable trip, full of biblical images - really bringing the stories of Jesus to life. But towards the end of the week, our tour guide started sharing the anxiety some of his colleagues were feeling about a cruise ship from Korea, and the large groups of mask-wearing tourists visiting the sites. Covid was getting closer.

We returned home having to be careful about not touching each other’s hands in church services or over coffee afterwards, learning to cough into our elbows, thinking twice before travelling on a crowded bus or tube. Life was becoming strange. Then the crunch came. The PCC Saturday morning was called off; Mothering Sunday services cancelled, and finally, LOCKDOWN! The word “unprecedented” had never before been heard so much.

All credit to our clergy team for swiftly working out how to get on-line, and gradually, over the months, to devise ways of reaching out to those without the electronic means to view the recorded services.

My day-job continued throughout, from home for a couple of months, but keeping me busy anyway. As the weather improved, we enjoyed the quiet, traffic-free days, the bird song in the gardens and streets (thank you Ada Salter for all those trees!), the spring flowers brightening our days, daily exercise walks by the river and in the park. And the joy of occasionally bumping into

(not literally of course!) friends or neighbours for a socially distanced catch-up. Then home to make a few phone calls to catch up with others.

So gradually we settled into a temporary “normal”: Bermondsey Daily Messages; Sunday Services on YouTube; PCC meetings, Wednesday Church and Sunday Prayer on Zoom (which most of us had never heard of till March 2020!). Schools were mostly closed, and how I miss going into St James’ every week to hear children read. A weekly “church” assembly is now recorded so the children can watch it

whether they are at home or in school. We did manage to have a Leavers’ Service in church in July for the Year 6 children moving on to secondary school. Three services actually, one class at a time, with the Gospels being presented to the children by their own teacher, all kept within the safety of their “bubble”.

You may have seen me on screen occasionally, though I must say it is not a form of communication I relish. Still, I’m grateful to Gary for inviting me to take part now and then. And I’m really looking forward to being able to meet you all again in face to face situations whenever that may be.

Till then, stay safe, take care, and God bless you all.

Penny Molyneux

St Anne’s Fabric Report

St James Fabric Report

The beginning and end of 2020 were marked by essential works to make the building water-tight – in between, because of national Government requirements to reduce the spread of the COVID19 virus during the pandemic, we had to close the building to public worship for 3 months from late March to mid - July. The Buildings Committee met regularly throughout 2020, mostly via zoom

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The work which took place in January 2020 was to repair the surface of the portico and the steps in order to reduce seepage of rainwater into the Crypt, as it had become very damp in places. The work was carried out by the firm which had restored the drinking fountain in late 2019, under the supervision of the Church Inspecting Architect, Nicholas Weedon.

In September, large parts of the Crypt were cleared of debris, and New Ash Electrical was commissioned to replace the lighting, including installing emergency lighting. The work was carried out under a Faculty obtained in 2017. We received some grants and special donations towards the cost of the works and expect that the balance will covered by rental income over the next few years. It’s been difficult to attract any new lettings during 2020 because of the pandemic. The Buildings Committee are discussing how to improve access to the crypt so that better use can be made of this wonderful space.

In November, Bob Gleaves and Adrian Greenwood carried out a number of smaller tasks identified by the last Quinquennial Inspection and some other minor jobs. These included – re-pointing the plinth at the east end, to reduce water ingress, safety repairs in the clock mechanism area, and repairs in the kitchen including new shelves. Michael Stokes and Adrian dealt with the buddleia on the roof of the porch at the east end. And Bob gave the sound equipment a thorough overhaul in preparation for the Carol Concert. We are certainly going to miss Bob’s knowledge of the building, specialist expertise and practical skills as he and Lesley move to Cheshire.

In December, we carried out emergency repairs to the portico roof which was leaking due to splits in the lead-work. The problem had been spotted by Nick Weedon in August and Bob’s quick thinking to use scaffolding as it was taken

down from the flats opposite the church helped to get this work done at a reasonable cost.

In 2021, the Buildings Committee have commissioned the re-painting of the three sets of doors and railings at the west end. The computer panel which controls the clock chime also needs to be replaced. Cleaner Greener Safer (CGS) have agreed funding to replace the light fittings on the flood-light poles in the churchyard, so this work will now proceed.

The draft Master Plan for longer term reordering of the interior, to make it more flexible for worship, welcome and community use includes an outline scheme for a new external ramp onto the portico and we hope to make progress with planning and fundraising for this during 2021.

Marian Greenwood, Patricia O’Connor, Churchwardens.

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Bermondsey Brew

Bermondsey Brew ran as normal during January and February 2020 but at the beginning March, it became clear to the team of helpers that it would not be safe to continue as it would be difficult to keep families social distancing from the older visitors. In any case, many of the helpers were in the more vulnerable age group themselves. So we held our last session on 9[th] March 2020 and within a couple of weeks, churches were closed down nationwide, confirming that the decision to close had been a wise one. However several of the regular members still met together for a chat in the churchyard and when I was out for my daily exercise I often met people who had been regular attenders who would say how much they were missing Bermondsey Brew.

On one Monday afternoon during the summer when it was permitted to meet in small groups outside, we gave out cakes to the older members in the churchyard, keeping it to a short period before any families might be passing by. People spread out around the grass area keeping social distancing and it was good to hear how people had been keeping safe and optimistic, despite all the restrictions.

Once church re-opened for public worship in September, and groups of six people were allowed to meet in the open air, we restarted in a very small way on the portico, spreading out tables and facilitating hand sanitising, social distancing and record keeping, in case track and trace needed information on attendance. We just opened for the adults from 2-3pm, closing before any families might arrive, as there seemed no way we could ensure children remained in their school bubbles or kept separate from the vulnerable adults. We continued this until the end of October, when Lockdown 2 meant we were unable to meet, then restarted for two weeks in December. It was getting quite cold by the last time we met and everyone agreed that it would be wise to close, due to the local increase of cases of infection.

I feel very sad that we have not been able to offer anything to local families, many of whom

live in small flats with little access to play space for the children. The closure of toddler groups has meant that many babies and small children have been missing out on social contact outside of their family at such an important stage of their development. So I look forward to the time when we can reopen, probably in a different format to start with, so that we are able to offer opportunities for people of different age groups to meet, and experience the love of Christ as we serve them in our beautiful building.

Marian Greenwood

Friends of St James Churchyard

The Friends of St. James Churchyard Group was established in January 2015. Its purpose is to work together to promote the good management, maintenance and development of the churchyard in relation to its primary uses as (a) the setting for a Church building of architectural and historic interest, with an active congregation (b) a park for use by the local community and (c) a pedestrian thoroughfare. There is also interest in developing the ecological and educational aspects of the churchyard. There is a Core group of people comprising the local ward councillor (Anood al Samerai), officers from the Council Parks Department and its contractors and representatives of the PCC and the local community who meet regularly to take forward the purposes.

The Group met once in person in February 2020 before lockdowns curtailed any further meetings. Grant approvals from the Veolia Foundation, St. Olaves and Bermondsey United and LBS Cleaner Greener Safer (CGS) meant that we reached our fundraising target for the new Bermondsey joy – slide. As a result, the Council was able to commission the construction, which started on site in November 2020, was practically complete in January 2021 and the new slide will be formally opened later in the year (exactly 100 years after the opening of the original slide.) Thanks are due to many people for making this happen. We hope that the new

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slide, although a lot smaller in size, will bring as much joy and as many memories as the original slide.

In addition, during 2020,

• The Council cut down a couple of diseased trees and heavily pruned the shrubbery in the SW corner by the Vicarage;

• The Council also repaired the boarding around the pond;

• Members of the congregation planted tulip bulbs in some of the flower beds;

• I submitted a funding application to CGS for ‘green’ light fittings to our two floodlight stands – Ward Councillors awarded a grant of £6,750 on 17 Feb 2021, so the works should proceed before too long;

• I discussed with Parks Dept. the route of a possible new external ramp across the end of the Memorial Garden to the raised plinth beneath the Portico.

Concerns have been raised about the state of the flower bed in the Memorial Garden, where the ashes are strewn. The area is not intended for families to place their own mini-memorials. Instead, memorial plaques can be fitted to the Board in the narthex. The Group will be taking up this matter with Parks Dept. Fortunately, the incidence of anti-social skate-boarding declined during 2020. Hopefully, good progress will be made in 2021 towards fundraising for the new wheelchair ramp. Adrian Greenwood

Ladies Bible Study

The Ladies Bible Study Group started off very well, with well attended weekly meetings being held, as usual, at St. James Church in the south lounge from 10am to as near as 12pm as possible.

Starting with tea/coffee and a quick catch up we would then launch into our study and end the meeting by praying together. Just prior to lockdown we had been watching a series of talks on what it means to be a Christian and the Christian Life. Unfortunately we were unable to complete the series due to the first lockdown being announced in March.

During the various lockdowns we have managed to continue to support each other, and this has been mainly via our Bible Study WhatsApp group, and what a support and encouragement it has been. A couple of times we met on zoom, but not all group members had access. Also, on a few occasions, during the earlier lockdowns, it was possible to meet outside as a group of six, when adhering to social distancing rules. Individual members have also been able to give practical support and help to each other.

I think I speak for all the ladies when I say that we miss the intimacy of meeting in person, talking about God and studying His word together. It’s exciting and challenging. It is something that we would all like to get back to as soon as possible. But we also thank God for His goodness, lovingkindness and faithfulness that he has shown towards us during what has been a very challenging time for all of us, in different ways. We are finding, as Psalm 46 says, that…God is our refuge and strength, an everpresent help in trouble.

Mandy Warren

St Anne’s Safeguarding

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St James’s CE Primary School

For large parts of the year most of the children have been engaged in online learning at home with only a small number of vulnerable children and children of key workers being on site at Old Jamaica Road.

At other times school has been open on both sites and lessons have continued as usual but all kinds of modifications to the school routine have been necessary in order for children to be able to stay in their ‘bubbles’ and not mix with children in other bubbles.

with children from every class linked together via Microsoft Teams, and the church YouTube channel was able to host the various nativity plays and mini-concerts produced by each year group for Christmas.

We are thankful for all the hard work of teachers, staff, governors and children during this challenging time and we look forward to a gradual return to normality in due course.

Gary Jenkins

Chair of Governors.

One big change has been that whole school assemblies have not been able to take place nor have we been able to have our usual whole school gatherings in church at the beginning and end of every term. Instead, the children have been having class assemblies and Jacob, Paul, Penny and I have been delivering our weekly church assembly via YouTube.

We were pleased that each class of leavers were able to come to church for their own leavers’ service as a bubble and each child was presented with their Bible as usual. In addition, we were able to have an end of term service for Christmas

St James Safeguarding

Due to COVID there was nothing to report in 2020

We at St James’ will follow the policies provided by the Diocese and the new revised ‘Safe Church’ has been downloaded and is now in the Vestry.

Safeguarding is now a regular item on every agenda.

Everybody that works with, or is involved with

From the Christmas online service

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children or vulnerable adults should make sure that,

1. They have a DBS (for Church)

2. Should attend Safeguard training. This should include Sides people, Sunday group leaders, and anyone involved with activities in church. Please see either myself or Adrianna for a check. All Sunday group leaders and helpers have all got up to date DBS’s.

We welcome Odel Rugema who will be on a placement with St James and we have received his DBS.

During this last year 2020/2021 due to lockdown I haven’t been able to update the records but hopefully by April I will be able to meet the couple of people Whose DBS will need to be updated.

In March 2019 the PCC agreed that the new arrangement for serious safeguarding incidents will be reported to the Charity commission.

All information regarding Safeguarding can be found on Notice Board in the south aisle. Will also update where necessary.

Safeguarding Officers Patricia O’Connor & Adrianna Villamil

Deanery Synod

In a normal year, Deanery Synod usually meets in person on 3 occasions. Meetings are open to all members of congregations to attend.

The first meeting of 2020 took place in January . The guest speaker was Ish Lennox, Lay Leadership Development Adviser for the Diocese. Ish spoke about the importance of and the resources available for ‘ Everyday Faith’ – faith from Monday to Saturday, at home and in the workplace (wherever that is). The whole of

God’s Church (that’s you and me) involved in the whole of God’s Mission for the whole of life and in the whole of God’s world. Very important and very inspiring.

The meeting planned for June 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID 19 pandemic. The 3[rd] meeting went ahead in October with two main speakers. Ivan Ibuno, a Reader at Holy Trinity Rotherhithe, who had attended St James for his placement, spoke about his take on the killing of George Floyd in America and the response across of the world of ‘ Black Lives Matter’ . How should Christians and the Christian Church respond? Ivan felt that this was an issue where Christians need to speak out and not collude with a conspiracy of silence, ignorance or prejudice. Everyday, casual racism is an issue that touches everyday life, including for his children.

The 2[nd] speaker was our own Gary Jenkins. In the 400[th] anniversary of the sailing of The Mayflower from London and then Plymouth carrying those escaping religious persecution and intolerance to a new life in what is now America, Gary reminded everyone that the Christian and biblical principles that the Pilgrims stood for formed the foundation of the modern system of universal rights of the freedom of speech & conscience and the freedom to express and live by one’s religion in openness and safety, rights which are under much strain in today’s society. Of course, the story of the Mayflower has a special resonance locally because the ship was based in Rotherhithe and the Captain, Christopher Jones, lived in Rotherhithe and is buried in the churchyard of St Mary’s Rotherhithe.

2020 was supposed to be the year for 3 yearly elections of lay representatives by parishes to Synod. Because of Covid19, the start of the new Synod’s period of office was deferred to 1 December 2020. And permission was given to defer the 2020 APCM. So as things stand, those elected in 2017 remain in office until the 2020 APCM is finally held. When that does eventually take place, St Anne’s will be asked to elect two people and St James, three. These people will then be part of the electorate who will elect representatives first to Diocesan Synod in June 2021 and then to General Synod in September 2021 – so very important.

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The need to establish the Deanery Leadership Team (DLT) for Bermondsey Deanery continues and now needs to be refreshed for the new triennium. The Team will work together to agree some priorities for co-ordinated mission activities across the Deanery .

Adrian Greenwood

Diocesan Synod

There are usually three meetings of Diocesan Synod in a normal year. But, of course, 2020 was hugely disrupted by the COVID19 pandemic, an early casualty of which was the March meeting , which was summarily cancelled at a few day’s notice shortly before the Government announced the national lockdown on 23[rd] March 2020.

By the time of the July meeting , most people had found out how to use ‘zoom’ technology so a full, albeit shortened, meeting was held on-line. This meeting received the annual audited accounts to 31/12/2019 plus the Trustees Annual Report (TAR). Financially and missionally the Diocese was in a good place at 31/12/2019. There were two other main pieces of business, namely to receive reports of the actual and projected impacts of the COVID19 pandemic on Diocesan finances and the life of worship and mission in the parishes. The Diocesan Secretary had moved quickly to reduce costs at Trinity House by making a number of posts redundant, but the good news was that parish giving was holding up better than expected and that parishes had adapted well to worship, fellowship and outreach on-line – many congregations were attracting new viewers to their on-line services, although not necessarily from within their own parish. The other item was to approve new Model Rules for Deaneries & Deanery Synods, although the start of the new period of office of the new Synods was deferred by a few months to 1/12/2020.

3 year financial forecast. This projected a budget deficit for 2021 of £3m, with the Diocesan finances eventually projected to return to balance by the end of 2023 – so a sobering position to be in. Having said that, the final outturn in 2020 looks like a break-even position, maybe even a book surplus, much better then envisaged back in July. This position was achieved by most parishes keeping to their pledges, the sale of a surplus vicarage and a grant from Archbishops Council of £600k.

The Synod also received reports on the draft Annual Objectives for 2021, set within the Strategic Objectives for growth contained in the Southwark Vision which runs to 2025; on ‘ Growing Faith’ – programmes aimed at strengthening the links between home, school and church; and the work of the Board of Education . Synod also approved the number of lay and clergy places that each Deanery will be able to fill by elections due to take place in June 2021 – in Bermondsey Deanery it’s 2 lay and 2 clergy places across the Deanery.

At both meetings, a member spoke about ‘ This Time Tomorrow’ and there was an opportunity for Members to submit formal Question s on aspects of Diocesan life and witness.

I continued as Diocesan Lay Chair throughout the year and so, also, continued to serve as a Trustee/Director of the Diocesan Council of Trustees , which brings together in one meeting 4 bodies – Bishop’s Council, the Board of Finance, the Mission & Pastoral Committee and the Parsonages Board.

Finally, I once again organised the annual Conference for the Diocesan Lay Chairs in February 2020, just before the start of lockdown. This continued its focus on Setting God’s People Free – which seeks to ‘ equip the whole of God’s Church for the whole of God’s mission in the whole of life and the whole of God’s world ’.

Adrian Greenwood

A fuller meeting took place on 5 December when the budget for 2021 was approved, plus a

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St Anne & St Augustine, Bermondsey

PCC Annual Report 2020

Aims and Purposes

St Anne’s Parochial Church Council has the responsibility of co-operating with the incumbent in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical.

St Anne’s PCC is specifically responsible for the maintenance of the church hall and parish church of St Anne’s.

Objectives and Activities

The PCC is committed to enabling as many people as possible to worship at our churches and to become part of

the parish community of St Anne’s. 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 Commission’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 worship and prayer; learning about the Gospel; and developing their knowledge and trust in Jesus; provision of pastoral care for people living in the parish; and missionary and outreach work.

To facilitate this work it is important that we maintain the fabric of the church and the church hall of St Anne’s.

Achievements and Performance

Please see pages 2 to 8 in this report for further details.

Report of PCC meetings

St. Anne’s PCC held one joint meeting with St James PCC pre the Covid-19 pandemic and two joint PCC forums via Zoom. In addition to this St Anne’s PCC held a separate meeting via Zoom in October 2020.

The following matters were discussed by the PCC: becoming a member of the Evangelical Alliance; safeguarding training for PCC members and members; faculty application for church sharing with Tower Christian Centre which was granted; Mission Action Planning; Woolwich Area Mission Grants for the St Anne’s fun day, this was granted; sharing God-given gifts in the church; repair works to St Anne’s crèche which did not need a faculty; arrangements for the re-opening of the church buildings for public worship

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from 4[th] July including new guidelines; Act of worship mid-day from 22[nd] of July; the change of service times from 10am to 9.30am at St Anne’s from September 5[th] ; the PCC’s financial position for 2020; parish pledge share for 2021.

The PCC agreed to become a member of the Evangelical Alliance and to reduce our parish pledge 2021 to £7,500 due to a significant loss of hall income in 2020.

Worship and Prayer

Services of worship took place on Sunday mornings when the church was not closed because of Coronavirus. At other times worship took place online. There were no weddings or baptisms during the year, but funerals took place as usual, although the numbers attending was reduced by the Coronavirus regulations.

Deanery Synod

Lay representatives of the Deanery Synod are also members of the PCC. This provides the PCC with an important link between the parish and the wider structures of the church. A report on the activities of the Deanery Synod will be submitted to the Annual Parochial Church Meeting.

The Church Buildings

A report on the state of the fabric of the church buildings will be submitted to the Annual Parochial Church Meeting

Mission and Evangelism

We are committed to sharing the Gospel of God’s grace with our community in word and deed.

Ecumenical Relationships

St James and St Anne’s church are members of Christians for Transformation in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe, an informal network of churches of various denominations that work together in the area in the work of mission.

Structure, governance and management The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. The membership each PCC consists the licensed clergy, churchwardens, members of the deanery synod and members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church.

The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on matters of general concern and importance to the parish including deciding on how the funds of the PCC are to be spent. New members receive initial training into the workings of the PCC.

Administrative information

St Anne’s Church is situated in Thornburn Square, Bermondsey . It is part of the Diocese of Southwark within the Church of England. The correspondence address is 4 Thurland Rd, London, SE16 4AA. The PCC is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2006) and a charity currently excepted from registration with the Charity Commission.

PCC membership

Clergy : Gary Jenkins; Jacob Mercer

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Urban Missioner : Paul Warren

Churchwardens: Mavis Shute; Graham Russell Deanery Synod: Deborah Beyioku; Ruth Reid Reader: Penny Molyneux

Lay representatives: Ken Bedford; Deborah Irish; Mandy Warren; James Gilliland; Jacky Weise

S t James with Christ Church & St Crispin, Bermondsey PCC Annual Report 2020

Aims and Purposes

St James Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility of ‘co-operating with the incumbent in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical (PCC Powers) Measure 1956).

The PCC of St James is responsible for the maintenance of the parish church of St James.

Objectives and Activities

The PCC is committed to enabling as many people as possible to worship at our churches and to become part of the worshipping community of St James. 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 Commission’s guidance on public benefit and, in

particular, the supplementary guidance on charities for the advancement of religion. In particular, we try to enable people to live out their faith as part of our church community through: worship and prayer; learning about the Gospel; and developing their knowledge and trust in Jesus; provision of pastoral care for people living in the parish; missionary and outreach work in the parish of St James, Bermondsey, and through our mission giving, elsewhere in the UK and overseas

To facilitate this work it is important that we maintain the fabric of the building.

Achievements and Performance

For details of achievements and performance during the year please see pages 2 to 11 in this booklet

Report of PCC meetings

The PCC of St. James met formally on two occasions during 2020, once in person and once via Zoom, and twice informally, also via Zoom. The first occasion was in person on 3 February, several weeks before the first lockdown commenced. The meeting was combined with that of the PCC of St. Anne. The

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PCC approved the grant of a new Licence under Faculty for the North Aisle and agreed to become a member of the Evangelical Alliance, along with St. Anne’s. It discussed Safeguarding issues, Portable Appliance Testing and the need to tackle an outbreak of mice in the kitchen and crèche. The PCC also discussed a number of issues which were then ‘put on hold’ because of the pandemic and lockdown; these included Mission Action Planning, new Pew Bibles, contactless giving, election of Deanery Synod reps and the date of the 2020 APCM. To end the meeting, David Chavannes led a helpful discussion on sharing the gifts of the congregation.

The PCC held a forum on Zoom on 1[st] April to discuss arrangements for church life during the Coronavirus epidemic. There was further informal discussion via zoom on 7 July about plans to re-open the building for public worship at the beginning of September. Open Church, including Mid-day Prayer on Wednesdays had already commenced.

The second formal meeting took place on 2 November. The main item of business was to consider the draft unaudited Financial Statements and draft Trustees Annual Report (TAR) to 31/12/2019. The accounts showed good improvement after the exceptional expenditure on the masonry repairs contract in 2018. Giving was up which was encouraging, which enabled the PCC to feel confident to pledge the sum of £35,000 to the ministry costs of the Diocese for 2021. This was in addition to the PCC’s financial contribution to the stipend of the Urban Missioner and the housing costs of the Curate. The Financial Statements were sent forward for independent examination. A number of comments were made about the TAR. The Treasurer also spoke about the likely financial out-turn for 2020 (in surplus) and the prospects for 2021 – very much unknown.

The PCC agreed to share the Mission Giving for 2019 based on the 2018 income between 3 Christian charities – Salmon Youth Centre; Church Mission Society and the Barnabas Fund - £2,500 each.

The PCC also discussed the Church of England’s response to the lockdown, especially the compulsory closing of church buildings for public worship and the banning of communion in both kinds and expressed the view that the deferred 2020 APCM should be held as soon as possible after the Financial Statements had been audited. The Vicar explained that with another lockdown likely to be announced, the annual Service of Remembrance would probably not be able to take place in person. Fortunately a Bermondsey Community on-line service had been prepared.

Formal decisions taken at the zoom meeting, and other decisions, were confirmed through the new procedure under Rule M29 of the Church Representations Rules 2020, which permitted decisions to be taken by correspondence (either by email or by physical post) .

Meanwhile, the Buildings Committee, a sub-Committee of the PCC, continued to meet regularly throughout the year, after March via zoom. Works were commissioned to the east and west ends of the Crypt and new lighting installed in the Crypt, under Faculty. The Committee continued to monitor progress with the Inspection Report and to discuss the Master Plan for internal re-ordering – it agreed to explore a new external ramp as the next step. The Committee monitored progress with the Joy Slide Project and at the year - end commissioned urgent repairs to the lead covering over the Portico roof which was letting in water which was damaging the plaster work.

Worship and Prayer

Services of worship took place on Sunday mornings when the church was not closed because of Coronavirus. At other times worship took place online. There were no weddings or baptisms during the

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year, but funerals took place as usual, although the numbers attending was reduced by the Coronavirus regulations.

Deanery Synod

Lay representatives of the Deanery Synod are also members of the PCC. This provides the PCC with an important link between St James and the wider structures of the church. A report on the activities of the Deanery Synod will be submitted to the Annual Parochial Church Meeting.

Mission and Evangelism

We are committed to sharing the Gospel of God’s grace with our community in word and deed, including through Bermondsey Brew, our community café and our Church of England primary school.

Ecumenical Relationships

St James is a member of Christians for Transformation in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe, an informal network of churches of various denominations that work together in the area in the work of mission.

Structure, governance and management The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. The membership of the PCC consists the licensed clergy, the licensed lay minister, churchwardens, members of the deanery synod, a Reader representative, an ex-officio member and members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church.

PCC Membership

Clergy : Gary Jenkins (vicar); Jacob Mercer (curate) Reader Penny Molyneux Urban Missioner : Paul Warren Churchwarden : Pat O’Connor; Marian Greenwood

Deanery Synod : Simon Hughes; Nick Herbert; Jean McCorry; Parisa Herbert Diocesan Synod: Adrian Greenwood (vice-chair)

Lay representatives: Abiola Adesanya-Shine, David Chavannes; Abieyuwa Onwudegu; Marjorie Hill; Tim Mcnally (Honorary Treasurer); Emmanuel Kode; Lesley Gleaves; Michael Stokes (co-opted); Ruth Reid (secretary, non-voting).

St James PCC has a buildings committee which oversees matters concerning the fabric of the building and reports to the PCC. A report on the state of the church fabric may be found on page 8

The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on matters of general concern and importance to the church including deciding on how the funds of the PCC are to be spent and overseeing the maintenance of the church building. New members receive initial training into the workings of the PCC.

Administrative information

The parish of St James, Bermondsey is part of a United Benefice with the parish of St Anne’s, Bermondsey. Both parishes are part of a Group Ministry which also includes the parish of St Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey and the Salmon Youth Centre.

St James Church is situated in Thurland Rd, Bermondsey. It is part of the Diocese of Southwark within the Church of England. The correspondence address is 4 Thurland Rd, London, SE16 4AA. The PCC is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2020) and a charity registered with the Charity Commission (charity number 1176709).

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May God bless the people of Bermondsey 20

Parochial Church Council of St. James with Christchurch and St Crispin Bermondsey

Statement for the year ended 31 December 2020

Incoming Resources Voluntary Income: - Tax Efficient Planned giving 1a - Other Planned Giving - Collections at Services - Other Giving, including special appeals 1a - Gift Aid recoverable not yet received - Grants 1b Total Voluntary Income: Activities for Generating Funds Income from Investments Dividends, interest, income from property etc. 1c Church Activities - Statutory fees retained by PCC (weddings etc) - Gross Income from trading 1d Other incoming resources Any other income / receipts not already listed 1e Total Incoming Resources Notes	Restricted £ 3,500 - 3,000 6,500 - - - - 6,500 - -	Unrestricted £ 26,214 2,729 4,786 4,250 - - 37,979 44,816 1,030 5,615 - 89,440 2020	Total £ 29,714 2,729 4,786 4,250 - 3,000 - 44,479 44,816 1,030 5,615 - 95,940	2019 £ 26,024 394 15,970 878 9,361 55,783 - 108,410 37,732 2,136 11,879 5,890 166,047

Parochial Church Council of St. James with Christchurch and St Crispin Bermondsey

Statement for the year ended 31 December 2020 Continued

Resources Expended

Costs of generating income Church Activities - Mission giving and donations 2a - Diocesan parish share contribution - Salaries, wages and honoraria 2b - Clergy and staff expenses Church Expenses - Mission and evangelism costs - Church running expenses 2c - Church utility bills Governance Costs (examination or audit fee) Other outgoing resources 2d Total Day to Day Expenditure: Major capital Expenditure - Major repairs to the church building Total Resources Expended Net of income and expenditure	Restricted £ - - - - - - - - - - 30,871 30,871 30,871 (24,371)	Unrestricted £ - 31,000 21,166 3,725 162 15,890 3,413 - 22,007 97,363 - - 97,363 (7,923) 2020	Total £ - 31,000 21,166 3,725 162 15,890 3,413 - 22,007 97,363 30,871 30,871 128,234 (32,294)	2019 £ 7,631 30,000 21,612 2,498 3,636 16,087 4,120 - 3,892 89,476 20,183 20,183 109,659 56,388

Parochial Church Council of St. James with Christchurch and St Crispin Bermondsey Statement for the year ended 31 December 2020 Continued

Current Assets

Deposits held by Diocese Cash at Bank Receivables Liabilities Net Assets Represented By Unrestricted Fund Designated / Restricted Funds 3	2020 £ - 83,908 12,545 (543) 95,910 80,569 15,341 95,910	2019 £ - 115,078 20,626 (7,500) 128,204 - 80,792 47,412 128,204

Parochial Church Council of St. James with Christchurch and St Crispin Bermondsey Notes to the accounts as at 31 December 2020

Note 1 - Receipts:

1a) £10,750 of grants and donations was received by the Joy slide appeal, which is held in the Friends of St James' Churchyard restricted account.

1b) The following grants were received towards the tower repairs and related works:

Woolwich Area Mission Fund: Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme (VAT Reclaim) 1c) Income from Investments North Aisle (Artist Studios) German Kindergarten Design Boutique Interest 1d) Gross Income from Trading Rhema Services Other Church Hire Other Trading	2020 2019 £ £ 3,000 4,462 - 23,270 - 28,051
	3,000 55,783 2020 2019 £ £ 14,689 13,721 27,067 23,333 3,000 600 60 78
	44,816 37,732 2020 2019 £ £ 4,400 4,800 510 6,055 705 1,024
	5,615 11,879

1e) Any other income / receipts not already listed

St Anne's Expenses Occurred in 2020 Receivable	2020 2019 £ £ - 5,890
	- 5,890

Notes to the accounts as at 31 December 2020 Continued

Note 2 - Payments:

2a) Mission Giving and Donations

The Church fund did not make any payments during the year in relation to 2020.

Salmon Youth Centre Barnabus Fund Church Mission Society St Augustine 2b) Salaries, wages and honoraria Church staff salary & payroll costs, including cleaner Urban Missioner Stipend Contribution	2020 2019 £ £ - 2,500 - 2,500 - 2,500 - 131
	- 7,631 2020 2019 £ £ 11,162 11,758 10,004 9,854
	21,166 21,612

The Diocese of Southwark pay 75% of the Urban Missioner’s stipend, national insurance and pension costs, leaving 25% (£10,004) for the United Benefice. This is shared on a 75% / 25% basis respectively between St James and St Anne's

2c) Church Running Expenses

2c) Church Running Expenses
Support Costs Bank Fees Insurance Service costs Printing and Stationery Repairs & Maint. 2d) Other outgoing resources Payment to Deanery Synod Friends of St James' Churchyard Curate's Housing Contribution	2020 2019 £ £ 8,212 5,500 40 80 8,038 7,302 (400) 450 - 953 - 1,802
	15,890 16,087 2020 2019 £ £ - (20) 18,450 - 3,557 3,912
	22,007 3,892

Note 3 - Current Assets:

3) Fund reconciliation

3) Fund reconciliation
Organ Fund Mission Fund Friends of St James' Churchyard Church Fabric Repair / HLF Project Fund General funds Total funds	01-Jan-20 Receipts Payments Transfers between funds 31-Dec- 20 £ £ £ £ £ 7,852 7,852 11,843 11,843 7,717 10,750 (18,450) 17 20,000 6,500 (30,871) (4,371) - - - - - - - -
	47,412 17,250 (49,321) 15,341 80,792 78,690 (78,913) 80,569 - -
	128,204 95,940 (128,234) - 95,910

The PCC has agreed to hold and administer funds on behalf of the Friends of St James' Churchyard.

The Church Fabric Repair Fund represents funds designated by the PCC for repair and maintenance of the Church building, and grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund for Church Building work.

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE

TRUSTEES OF THE OF ST JAMES CHURCH OF ENGLAND, BERMONDSEY

I report on the accounts of the charitable for the year ended 31st December 2020 which are set out on pages in this financial report .

Responsibilities and basis of report.

As the church trustees (who are also the directors of the company for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the church are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your church’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiner's statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or 2. the accounts do not accord with those records; or

2. the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view’ which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or

3. the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).

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.

FOLAKE OGUNDELE, AGMA, CGMA May & Moy Chartered Accountants 1 Cookson Grove Northumberland Heath Erith DA8 1YE

.......................16 September 2021