2024-12-31-accounts - The Parochial Church Council Of The Ecclesiastical Parish Of Christ The King Battyeford

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Christ the King Church Annual Report 2024

presented at the Annual Parochial Council Meetng on 6th April 2025

Lay chair of the PCC

2024 was another memorable year in the life of Christ the King.

Our ministry to families and children continued to be very successful. Family@10 continues to bring new families to Church, as does Family@4. The Caterpillars toddler group attracts good numbers of parents and toddlers on a Friday afternoon. CtK Youth have held various social events during the year. CtK Kids still form part of the 10.00am Sunday services and would welcome new volunteers to help with this very important part of our Church Ministry.

We continue our strong relationship with Battyeford CE (VC) Primary. The school choir performed at the Christmas Market and entertained with singing Christmas Carols at the Tuesday Cafe. Each year group came to church for Harvest and Christmas Services as well as other services.

There was a varied offering of Social Events during 2024 and a massive "thank you" must go to members of the Social Committee for their hard work and commitment; they are ably led by John Hornby, whose positive at ude enthuses in abundance.

2024 once again saw pressure on our church finances. The PCC are very diligent in their stewardship of Church expenditure, and I wish to express to our very capable treasurer, John Castledine, grateful thanks for the way he carries out his duties.

The PCC held an "Away Day" on the 11th of January 2025, planning for the forthcoming year and beyond.

In the light of happenings in the Church of England that have emerged in 2024, I would like to assure both long-standing members of Christ the King and those newer people to church that the PCC take very seriously their responsibility in the area of Safeguarding. Our Safeguarding lead, Meriel Pearmain, carries out her duties in a very responsible manner, and whilst we must never become complacent, I am confident the measures we have in place are robust and fit for purpose.

There are many, many people who work tirelessly to make sure CtK runs smoothly and efficiently. In this period of "vacancy" it is wonderful how people of differing talents all pull together to make things happen. However, our church would not run as efficiently as it does without a Parish Administrator - and I feel I must mention and give a huge "thank you" to Barbara Hornby.

I commend to you the reports that follow. They provide a wonderful overview of the people and groups that make up the life of our community here at Christ the King. This new year brings with it anxiety and uncertainty following Erik's move to Wakefield Cathedral. Yet we look forward to all that God has in store for us here at CtK in 2025 and beyond.

Derek. M. Garner

LAY CHAIR OF THE PCC

Churchwardens’ Report

We would like to thank everyone who has supported the churchwardens over the past 12 months. Many people work under the radar. It is these church members, who along with more visible members, help to keep our church functioning as it does.

As churchwardens we are required to report annually on the condition of the church and the grounds.

Work completed in 2024:

The lighting in church was maintained. With the number of lights in the building this is quite a big job.
A new downspout was fitted to the exterior wall behind the altar. This was to help with damp and over-flow problems.
The wooden facia boards on the garage were rotten so have been replaced with white plastic ones.
The problems of the sound in the hall have been addressed. Some sound panels have been installed on the wall to help deaden the echo and this is still currently under review.
A new hot water boiler was fitted in the kitchen.
The trees at the front of church were finally felled. Eight trees were removed due to overcrowding. The large Beech tree at the front of church was also felled due to it having the disease, Mesipilus.
In September a portrait of His Majesty King Charles the Third was hung in the hall.
The metal gates at the entrance to the graveyard have been painted.
ChurchSuite, a new data storage system, has been purchased and is currently being built by Inspiration Computing.
The church boiler ‘limped’ towards the end of the year, having had lots of repairs. A Faculty has been applied for in the hope that we can replace this boiler with a more energy efficient gas boiler.

With the closure of St Paul’s Church, we have acquired various items deemed suitable for CtK. Kneelers for around the altar, a lectern and a microphone stand.

Priorites for 2025

Replace the church heating boiler.

Install more sound panels in the hall.

Motion-sensor lighting for the toilets.

Stain the cross and bell tower outside church.

Richard Bland and John Hornby

Dewsbury and Batley Deanery Synod Report

The synod is made up of parish clergy (who serve ex-officio), other clergy working in the deanery, and lay representatives from each benefice. CtK currently has only 2 reps: Ian Grange and Richard Bland. (There are also 2 other deanery synod lay rep vacancies.) The Revd Dr Erik Peeters, incumbent, served throughout 2024. During the year there were 3 meetings of the synod.

Tues 6 February at The Community of the Resurrection, Mirfield

Opening worship took place in Lower Church and synod then met in the New Refectory of the College of the Resurrection.

A joint presentation by Bishop Mark Sowerby (Principal, College of the Resurrection) and the Revd Dr Janet Williams (Vice-Principal, St Hild College, Mirfield) addressed issues around vocations and ordination and other training in the two colleges.

This was followed by questions.

A Report from General Synod was given by Deanery Lay Chair, David Ashton MBE. In this, he highlighted what he had perceived as a very heated and forthright debate on Prayers in Love and Faith.

At the close of the meeting David was congratulated on his having served over 50 years as a lay member of General Synod. As its longest serving member he is now ‘Father of the House’ of Laity. The Area Dean, The Revd Canon Hugh Baker, gave a gift from the deanery in recognition of David’s long and distinguished service.

Thursday 27 June - St Michael and All Angels, Thornhill

Opening Worship was led by Elaine Wilkes, Licensed Lay Minster, and Mr Brian Pearson spoke about the history of St Michael and All Angels.

The Area Dean then referred to the forthcoming General Election. He said that it is very timely that tonight's speaker was Keith White, from Leeds, speaking about "Christians in Politics". Keith’s background was in Management and Technology Consultancy. He also served for 20 years as a Labour councillor on Saint Albans Borough Council; for a time, the Labour Group leader.

Thursday, 10 October - St John, Carlinghow

The Revd Father Jay Hewitt led the opening worship; a Low Mass for the Feast S. Paulinus. The meeting then saw synod divide into its 2 house – clergy and laity – to elect representatives to serve on:

a. Diocesan Synod: Elaine Wilkes, Thornhill was elected as lay member.

b. Huddersfield Area Mission and Pastoral Committee: Father Joanathan Bish – clergy, Ian Grange – lay.

After other general deanery business, Area Dean, Hugh Baker gave an illustrated talk on the recent pilgrimage to Taizé led by Bishop Smitha Prasadam, our Area Bishop.

Ian Grange

Pastoral Care Team Report

Pastoral care happens every day through the small acts of kindness we do for one another, such as the telephone call we make, the trip to the shops or pharmacy we carry out for someone who is unable to get out. Maybe it’s just a conversation that’s needed. Thank you. CtK pastoral care team are here to try to make sure we all get the pastoral care we need. and no one is forgotten. The pastoral team are in regular contact with each other to achieve that aim. Home communions are continuing to be provided to those who wish to receive it including the monthly communion service at Fieldhead Care Home.

The latest Follow the Star booklets were available to those on our home communion list and also, to those who attended our Christmas services.

Our aim is that pastoral care is available to everyone and if you know of anyone who may be in need, please get in touch with the pastoral group. My telephone number is on the weekly sheet.

My special thanks to the team of Val, Dorothy, Meriel, Erik, Ian, Mildred and Stephen. We thank Erik for his pastoral support these past four years.

Richard Bland, Lay Pastoral Minister

Tuesday Café

Tuesday Café a welcoming space where people of all ages can come and socialise in a friendly and relaxed setting. It is open from 11 am until 1:00 pm. It’s open to all and there’s no booking necessary. Our customers tell us they enjoy the company and really appreciate the very good food we serve. Over the last year an average of 34 people attended for coffee or a light lunch – most cases both. During the winter months, we were among the ‘warm spaces’ offered by various churches in Mirfield.

There’s no charge as Tuesday Café is part of CtK’s mission and outreach to our community. Customers make generous voluntary contributions. This means Tuesday Café more than pays its way; figures in the church annual accounts reflect this.

Once again, just before the Christmas holidays, pupils and staff from Battyeford CE (VC) Primary School came to sing carols and Christmas songs as festive lunchtime entertainment.

Each week a group of 5 people (led by a facilitator) work together to set up, prepare food, serve, and socialise. These volunteers are currently drawn from a pool of 18 people – but we’d like a few more. If you could offer to come for 2 or 3 hours, say once a month, your assistance would be most welcome.

The continuing commitment and enthusiasm of all our facilitators and helpers ensure Tuesday Café goes from strength to strength.

Thank you to everyone who works so hard to make Tuesday Café possible. It’s a privilege to be involved with this important part of CtK’s on-going community life.

Helen Grange

Choir and Music Report

In 2024/2025 the choir has continued its endeavour to enhance our Sunday worship with a wide variety of anthems and songs. Whatever its members have sung, they have brought to it a musicality, skill and dedication which has, I hope, beautified the liturgy.

Thank you to those members of the congregation who across the year have offered words of encouragement and appreciation for their efforts: they are always gratefully received!

A regular highlight for our choir is the Carols by Candlelight service in December. This year, the music they attempted, was once again, challenging and beautiful; those pieces, interspersed with some thought-provoking prayers – read by Erik and his family in their last Carols by Candlelight at CtK - plus congregational carols, made for a lovely act of seasonal worship and a fitting culmination to all the weeks of hard practice. I hope those who attended enjoyed the service with its blend of the familiar and the fresh.

Our choir members are a loyal and dedicated bunch, and I thank them for everything they have done over the year. The two or three minutes they occupy of each Sunday service is the tiny tip of an enormous iceberg of hard work, and the good humour with which they fall to it every Thursday evening makes the task of choosing music and “leading” them a constant pleasure.

Their numbers, however, remain small, and I would invite anyone who enjoys a good sing to consider joining them; you would be most welcome!

Once again, though, I have to pay special tribute to our Director of Music, Nic Bell. All our attempts to bring music to CtK would come to nothing were it not for her enthusiasm and loving work. Her accompanying of our worship and the choir is only a tiny fraction of what she contributes, and she does it all with good humour, a willingness to oblige and superb musical knowledge. She is a treasure to CtK – one who must be cherished – and we must remember that she does all her work for us while holding down a phenomenally demanding and time-consuming job with Kirklees Musica. She thoroughly deserves her regular Sunday off which has allowed David Horsman to treat us to hearing our organ every fourth Sunday in the month. I thank David for his efforts all his help, too!

But my biggest debt of gratitude is, of course, owed to Nic, without whom my job would be impossible. Once again, as always, thanks, lovey!

Nigel Day

Environmental Report

Church Heating

The current programme to investigate the viability of air or ground source heat pumps and solar panels has been paused. There are several reasons for this action as follows:

An investigation by two potential suppliers indicated that the cost of installing a heat pump capable of heating the large volume of ‘air space’ in the church, common room and narthex was would not be viable/affordable.

A second investigation to examine the viability of solar panels + batteries did yield positive results on paper and showed that a scheme could be put forward that would significantly reduce the annual cost of energy for CTK. It would however require an initial outlay in excess of £50K and this was again would require support from the Diocese, which it was clear would not be a short-term issue.

The most important factor, however, was the condition of our old and increasingly unreliable boiler, which our service company had advised was near to the end of its’ useful life and needed to be replaced.

Some repairs have taken place which it is understood have improved the situation, but it remains an old boiler at risk. CTK must have a reliable heating system, so we had had no option but to apply to the Diocese for a Faculty and funding for a new boiler. We are now awaiting a response which is expected to be protracted.

A Rocha Award Scheme

CTK has been following the ‘best practice’ programme during the last year, much of which is already incorporated in CTK’s action plan and is managed by the PCC. The recent felling of the elderly tree adjacent to the vicarage driveway, is part of CTK’s ongoing tree management programme to maintain healthy stock and ensure the health and safety of church users.

In terms of the A Rocha Award Programme, we believe that we meet the requirements of two further Gold Award applications which are Land and Lifestyle but we are unable to proceed at present because our submission requires to be agreed with and signed off by a vicar and we are currently in an interregnum, so until a new appointment is made it is unlikely that further progress can be made.

For information, there are 5 elements in the Award Program and our current status is as follows:

Worship and Teaching	Gold	(achieved)
Lifestyle:		Gold (not ratfed or submited)
Land:		Gold (not ratfed or submited)
Building management		Silver (not ratfed or submited)
Community & Global Engagement		Bronze (not ratfed or submited)

I recently attended a meeting St. Pauls Church Armitage Bridge where an A Rocha Awards Assessor Rose Gosling gave a talk about how best to go about meeting the requirement of

the various elements. CTK’s previous experience of A Rocha representative was rather unsuccessful and armed with this information my expectations were not high. However I was wrong, Rose Gosling is a member of Summerbridge Methodist Church, and she was intimately familiar with the difficult situation that many churches find themselves in today. She was able to give examples of how best to proceed in difficult circumstances and how churches could proceed and for example by joining forces, work together and achieve a standard that individually would not have been possible.

The PCC has agreed in principal although details need to be agreed, to meet with Rose Gosling so she that she can make a presentation to show how best CTK could proceed and what benefits this would offer.

During the last year a number of initiatives that were drawn for the Land element of the Eco Award Scheme were successfully completed by CTK. Working with the Sunday School children, a programme of installing bird boxes, hedgehog and insect homes were installed and have shown signs of successful habitation.

Alan Stephens

Disability and Inclusion Report

The disability and inclusion committee have registered an interest in the church becoming a pilot parish for the Disability Friendly Church Award. The Diocesan Disability Strategy is currently under review as they have recently appointed a new Disability lead. Once the new criteria are published, we will begin to work towards this award. Please share ideas and feedback, we are always happy to hear from members of the congregation.

Work to date:

We subscribe to: Through the Roof, a Christian disability charity, and Torch who provide access training, advice, and resources for people with sight loss in every aspect of church life as well as the Diocese Disability training programme.
A Facebook Group called “Diocese of Leeds Disability Network”, which is open to Parish Representatives and the wider congregations. This notifies people of events, as well as shares relevant articles and news stories.
The resource pack, ‘A Welcoming Church’, is used for our disability audit.
A new resource pack to help churches better support people with disabilities has recently been produced by the Diocese and churches across the British Isles.
PCC members have completed disability awareness training and courses run by the Diocese and other agencies.
Improvements in the layout of the slides and to the projection of the service which includes a new laptop with a dedicated graphics output and new camera.
More sound-absorbing panels for the community hall. It is hoped that these will mitigate background noise and reduce the reverberation and echo in the space.
Continued defined spaces in the worship area for those who have access needs.

Future work:

To fit motion sensor lighting in the toilets and outside near the path leading to the main door.

To complete the installation of sound panels and monitor the effect.

To continue to look at ways in how we can continue to be a welcoming and inclusive church.

To work towards becoming a pilot parish for the Disability Friendly Church Award.

Any further comments/ideas as we how we can make our church more inclusive can be directed to Barbara Hornby or Meg Willard (PCC representatives).

Barbara Hornby

Social Commitee Report

Another year of successful social events organised by this hard-working group of Social Committee members.

A fashion show was held in the Spring. Whilst not our best attended event, it did raise money which included a very generous donation from the fashion house. her events throughout the year included a ‘sold out’ Afternoon Tea, a Safari Supper and an Italian Harvest Supper including pig racing!

Our annual Christmas Market was a huge success. Thank you to Battyeford Primary School Choir and Musica Mirfield who entertained us throughout the afternoon.

Although these events were organised by the social committee, we are incredibly grateful to members of the congregation who volunteered to run these events which raised in the region of £6,000.

Our “Fifty for the Future” total was approximately £4,000. Many thanks to Ruth James for organising this.

Thank you very much to everyone who has organised, helped or supported the events in 2024. We were very grateful for the support we received from, not only our own members, but also from other churches and people from within the community.

A lot of the profit from these functions comes from people’s generosity, it is much appreciated.

Finally, there are lots of ideas already in the pipeline for 2025.

Please do your part by supporting the events and making them known to your family and friends.

The Social Committee, Tricia Ashton, Doreen Courtney, Derek Garner, John Hornby, Anne Lockwood, Meriel Pearmain and Meg Willard

Safeguarding Report

Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.

The care and protection of children, young people and vulnerable adults involved in church activities is the responsibility of everyone who participates in the life of the church. (Church of England Safeguarding Policy Statement)

The PCC of Christ the King Church has complied with the duty to have ‘due regard’ to the House of Bishops guidance on safeguarding.

Safeguarding roles

Parish Safeguarding Officer – Meriel Pearmain Deputy Parish Safeguarding Officer – Anne Lockwood

Policies and Procedures

All required policies and procedures regarding safeguarding have been adopted and will be re-adopted / reviewed when required.

Activities

Church Activities and Non-Church Activities held on church premises have been authorised by the PCC.

Safeguarding Policy Promotion

Christ the King Church continues to meet the requirements regarding Safeguarding Policy promotion. The House of Bishops ‘Promoting a Safer Church’ policy and other required information is clearly displayed on noticeboards in the entrance area of the church and also in the church hall. Information is easily accessible on the church website.

PCC Meetings

Safeguarding is a standing item on the agenda of all PCC meetings and an update is given at each meeting. In addition, meetings of the Safeguarding contact group comprising Revd Dr Erik Peeters (Incumbent) Meriel Pearmain (Parish Safeguarding Officer) and Anne Lockwood (Deputy Safeguarding Officer) have taken place during the year as have meetings between Meriel Pearmain and Anne Lockwood to review / update information e.g. risk assessments. Parish Safeguarding Dashboards

We continue to use the online Dashboard to help with the administration and to keep us informed of local and national changes in safeguarding requirements. Additional requirements have recently been added to the dashboard regarding:

The Code of Working Practice
Providing information for victims and survivors of church-based abuse.

These points will be addressed in due course.

DBS Checks

Checks are in place for all roles which require them. All our checks are up to date.

Meriel Pearmain, Parish Safeguarding Officer.

CTK Kids and Youth

This year we have continued to welcome a small group of children into CTK Kids during Sunday morning services, three times a month. The children have followed seasonal themes and have mirrored teachings from the main service throughout the lectionary year. Children visiting family in Battyeford from around the country, and the world, have joined us as well as new Baptism families which has been a great addition. The children have explored the outdoors, been creative and have enjoyed singing and praying together, with lots of enthusiasm to share with the congregation at the end of services. The highlights of the year have been the much-anticipated Nativity and Christmas party, and the prizegiving to mark the end of the academic year in July. Many thanks to the volunteer leaders and helpers who make CTK Kids happen.

CTK Youth for high school aged young people have met a few times during the year for fun and socialising together. We welcomed some new Year 7s in September and have enjoyed summer games outdoors, a fun film night and a BBQ, with more events planned for the coming months. Our spring bowling trip to the new Ten Pin venue involved a super group of 13 young people.

Ruth James

Family@4

Family @4 continues to provide a welcoming and interactive worship environment for families with younger children. We meet on the second Sunday of each month at 4pm and start by exploring a biblical theme via crafts and activities in the hall. Worship takes place in church, with a bible story and talk, songs and prayers. We then return to the hall to eat a meal together.

We have a wonderful team of dedicated volunteers established, and we are seeing regular families return, with numbers rising. What is really important are the conversations that go on around the tables; deep conversations about faith issues with both children and adults are commonplace. Parents are telling us it is worship that they feel is accessible and valuable to them and their children.

We have been fortunate to welcome Revd Graeme Blackwell to the team, who is curate at Mirfield Team Parish, and he is going to help with school links to get the word out into the local primary schools as we seek to reach more families.

Alison Grant

Caterpillars toddler group

Caterpillars is a group for children 0-5, their parents and carers and meets in the Community room Friday afternoon in term times, 1.30-2.45pm.

There is a theme for each week and a craft activity linked to this. Each session follows a similar pattern with lots of play activities, a snack time and concludes with songs and rhymes.

There is a great atmosphere, and we have welcomed many families during the year. Our attendance varies in number and has increased to 10 children on average each week. One of our volunteers set up a what’s app group which helps with the advertising of each session and also information is advertised on face book.

There is a group of 10 who run caterpillars on a rota basis and the various tasks such as preparing rotas, printing, buying snacks, preparing craft activities, social media etc are shared out by these enthusiastic, committed and friendly ladies.

We are always looking for volunteers and if you are interested in helping, please ask a church warden who will put you in touch.

Anne Lockwood

7TH Mirfeld Guides

Since the last report in 2024, we have done so many activities either in the Church Hall or outside elsewhere.

What have the guides been up to?

For Easter, the girls had a challenge of decorating a Cadbury Easter Egg and they really enjoyed doing this.

During the April to July months, we were working on the theme called Have Adventures, we did lots of Unit Meeting Activities including making Citrus Feeders (bird seeds were everywhere!). We had a penny hike on the greenway and stopped at the fish and chip shop in Lower Hopton. The weather was great, so we were able to eat these in the park.

June/July saw us doing more activities towards the Have Adventures Badge.

We held our usual cookout at Bradley Wood Scout Campsite, once again where the girls cooked their beefburgers or sausages and of course the famous “smores”.

On the last evening of the term in July the Guides and leaders went Ten Pin Bowling in Huddersfield followed by supper.

In September, we started another theme award called “Express Myself.” If you are wondering why we do all these theme awards, the Girlguiding program is designed for girls to: Learn about themselves. find their voice, discover how to use it and feel empowered to do so, gain skills and confidence so that they know they can do anything.

If the girls complete a Skill Builder, an Interest Badge and partake in 240 minutes of Unit Meeting Activities that they receive an award. The Guides need to complete two theme awards to get Bronze, then another two different ones for Silver and finally another two to get the Gold.

For, Express Myself, and as part of the confectionery badge we made non-baked sweets, and the guides had to present them and make up a slogan.

In November the guides and leaders, along with guides from 10th Mirfield Guides, went to the cinema and saw Inside Out 2, a great evening enjoyed by all. We also attended a very dry (for a change) Remembrance Parade in Mirfield.

Unfortunately, Christ the King Church was not having a Christmas Tree Festival, so we joined 10th Mirfield Guides and entered one at Trinity Church. All guides and leaders made two different pom-pom characters –the choice was reindeers, penguins, or snowmen. We were delighted to hear that we had been awarded the first prize in the youth section.

After Christmas we went to see Cinderella at Dewsbury Town Hall which was excellent and enjoyed by all.

At the time of writing this report the guides will have talked about Thinking Day around the world, and they will have researched guiding in Japan, Cyprus, Bahamas and United States of America.

Thinking day is celebrated on 22nd February the birthdays of our founders Lord BadenPowell who founded the Boy Scouts Movement and Olave Baden-Powell (his wife) who was the first World Chief Guide, and this is when we all think of our sisters and brothers around the world.

We have plans for Easter and taking the Guides roller blading at the YMCA once again.

Guides have worked so hard this year and have gained so many badges. We would like to congratulate Jessica on gaining her Gold Award and welcome her as our Young Leader. Hopefully this will encourage her to become a leader in the future.

Val Dickinson (Dixie) Carole Wilson Helen Winsor Chelsie Riley Clare Townend Rachel Fishwick

7TH Mirfeld Brownies

We’ve had a busy year at 7th Mirfield Brownies, we continue to have a large full unit due to a thriving rainbow unit and lots of girls in Mirfield eager to join brownies here.

On the 22nd of February we celebrated Thinking Day. All the schools in Mirfield were kind enough to let the girls attend in uniform: the excitement at going to school in your Brownie Uniform was unbelievable. It was so lovely to be able to promote what a special movement we are part of and a sense of belonging in the community.

Last year Diane Creaser, one of our leaders, gained her adult leadership qualification so it was lovely to see her presented with her badge in the unit.

The highlight of our year is always a pack holiday when we take 28 girls away for the weekend. This year we went to Fan Wood in the Autumn and enjoyed a Roald Dahl themed pack holiday, with crafts galore, from baking to painting and a spot of slime making.

We love a party, so enjoyed a Arttastic Art Themed Party with Gio from Art Gio for Christmas.

In our weekly meetings we like to cram lots in to give the girls as much adventure, fun, skills and friendship on the way. We held a bubble night on national bubble day, making bubble snakes, our own bubble wands and the ever-popular bubble tea. We enjoyed a chip shop walk to Nab Lane fisheries complete with glo sticks so we could be seen. West Yorkshire Print Workshop visited to teach us lino printing, Phillippa Hartley kindly helped us put on our own Talent Show and complete our performed badge which was a huge hit.

We’ve completed a mass of badges, from Parliament Week getting our voice heard and voting on topics that affect us, we had a lady visit from mini medics to show us first aid and learn about defibrillators, we held a Guiding Traditions night with each leader bringing in items from their Guiding time. The girls loved trying Tracey and Helens old brownie uniforms on. We’ve also completed many skill builders and challenge badges such as, in the dark night, archaeology, baking and many more and had the honour of lots of girls gaining Brownie Gold

Our annual fundraiser Craft Fair was sadly cancelled due to the heavy snow we had last year; the girls were troupers and the baking they had done was donated to neighbours and the elderly and then 2 weeks later they were superstars and baked again.

We had a crazy night with a visit from an Animal Petting Farm, baby bunnies, chicks, a rooster, guinea pigs, you name it, were set lose in the hall, the girls loved cuddling the baby animals.

We continue to enjoy the love of food and crafts celebrating national pizza day with pizza bookmarks, pizza muffins and crafts to mark the special occasions in the year from Father’s Day to Easter. We challenged ourselves at Christmas when we had a visit from Alex to create our own fused glass tree decorations that girls can keep for years to come.

We celebrate being part of the community, joining in with Mirfield in Bloom, Random Acts of Kindness and the Christmas Fun Session after the Toy Service.

In June we went Pink with an ink night to raise money for Candlelighters. Girls dressed in pink, we made ink crafts, ate pink food and decorated ink jars along with a pink raffle. Between rainbows and brownies, we donated almost £400 to candlelighters.

We loved our visit to the Forest School in May when we tried our hand at fire building, outside cooking and just being a kid, enjoying nature on the most beautiful evening. We rounded the summer off with a visit to the Zone on a boiling night but enjoyed by all.

1st Mirfeld Rainbows

It’s been another fantastic year at 1st Mirfield Rainbows, we’ve a booming rainbow unit with lots of girls enquiring to join. It is fantastic that the movement continues to grow.

We enjoyed a teddy bears picnic for our summer party and for Christmas we visited Royds Mill for a bouncy castle and disco party with a visit from Santa. The girls have also enjoyed a visit to Mirfield Parish Pantomime alongside all the Girlguiding units in Mirfield.

We love our visitors, such as Louise who came to do Mixed Media and create a colour wheel with us as part of our painting badge. The Eco Hub visited to get us in the mood for recycling when we created our own pencil pot from a recycled tin can. Yorkshire Air Ambulance came and talked to us as well as Candlelighters. Mini Professors visited to help us create zip lines and experiments when we were working towards, I’m a Physicist Badge .

Unfortunately, a visitor from a hedgehog sanctuary cancelled but a lovely lady from the Badger Protection Group kindly offered to come instead. It did seem a tad ironic that we swapped to the hedgehogs only predator. The lady was fantastic and had some amazing photos of badgers in her garden. She also had a real stuffed baby badger that had sadly been in a road accident but had been preserved so looked perfect. This is used as part of a teaching aid so children could see what they look like. The girls loved looking at it, with one rainbow declaring she too wanted a badger, followed by a text from a concerned mum asking if we had really had a dead badger at rainbows which caused some amusement.

In the spring we had a petting farm visit with a whole host of fluffy animals, the girls loved the giant rooster best, although one little girl ended up with 5 baby bunnies sat on her lap which was very cute. Vanessa from Heartfelt Ways visited to show us some mindfulness and we learnt about being thankful and tried chocolate yoga which was a huge hit. We also learnt about water safety.

The summer was enjoyed with an ice cream night making our own creations and ice cream pots. Rainbows love creating and we’ve made all sorts from kites to marble mazes, pancakes to wands, you name it, with new games and songs thrown in and amongst.

We’ve worked a lot on recycling and Helen showed the girls how to recycle an old T-shirt into a shopping bag which we had great fun decorating. Helen’s a big fan of Theme Nights so we couldn’t let meeting on leap year go a miss. It’s 2052 before we meet again on a leap year at rainbows, so we made frog masks, jumping frogs, flying frogs and received a special badge to remember it.

We visited a forest school and was a tad worrying when the littlest rainbows were shown how to create a fire and strike a flame, but sometimes we’ve to challenge ourselves and the girls loved it , even more so toasting marshmallows after. Girls have completed a range of badges from leap year, I’m a physicist , science badge, recycling, glo in the dark, nature, skill builders, painting, canal and river trust water safety and mindfulness to name but a few. They also take enormous pride in making their promise as a rainbow with one little girl so excited to be a proper rainbow she couldn’t stand still. We can’t wait for the next lot of adventures.

Tracey and the leaders

Statstcs from the Mission Dashboard

Attendance Summary (2015 - 2024)

2024 Christmas – 285 Easter - 169 Average week Oct - 126 Usual Sunday - 77

Worshipping Community (2015- 2024) 2024 Total - 164 Aged 0 - 17: 28 people Aged 18 - 69: 64 people Aged 70+: 72 people. Joiners – 13 Leavers - 1

Usual Sunday Attendance (2015-2024) 2024 Adults - 70 Children - 7

Average Weekly Attendance (2015 - 2024) 2024 Adults – 115 Children – 11 Adults school - 7 Children school - 83

Percentage children (2015 – 2024) 2024 Usual Sunday – 9% Average week October Excluding school – 9% Worshipping Community – 17% Baptisms – 5 Marriages – 9 Funerals – 6 Electoral Roll 2024 – 140

Christ the King Battyeford Parochial Church Council Annual Report and Accounts For the year ended 31st December 2024

Parothlal Church Council of Christ the Klng. Battyèford Independent Examlner's Report to the PCC of Chrlst the KSngi Battyeford Thi5 report on the financial statements of the PCC for the year ended 31st December 2024 whlch are set out o page5 2 to 7, is in respect of an examinatioll carried out in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulatlons 20061" the Regulations") and s.43 of the Charities Act 19931" the Act") Respectlve responsibilities ol the PCC and the Examiner As members of the PCC you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements. You consider that the audit requirement of the Regulatlons and s.42121 of the act doe5 not apply. It is my resonsibility to issue this report on those financial statelnents accordance with" the terms of the regulations. Basls of this report My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission under s.4317llbl of the Act and to be found in the Church Guidance 2006 edition. That examination includes a revlew of the accounting records kept by the PCC and a comparison of the accounts wlth those records. It also includes considering any unusual items or dlsclosures in the financial statement5 and seeking explanations from you as trustees considering any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required In an audit,and consequently I do not expre55 an audlt opinion on the view given by the as trustees considering any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evldence that would be required in an audit,and consequently I do not express an audlt opinion on the view given by the accounts. Independent examlners's statement. In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention: I which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requlrements to keep accountinB records in accordananee with section 41 of the act and to prepare financial statements, whlch accord with the accounting record5 and comply with the requirement of the Act and the Re8ulatlons. have noi been met, or 2 to which, in my opinion,attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Slgned Dated Iq.02.Ls K A Steeples 6 Dunbottle C105e Mirfield West Yorkshire WF14 9JD

Parochial Church Council of Christ the King, Battyeford Statement of financlal activities For the year ending 3tst December 2024 unstrICted Funds Restricted Funds Total 2024 Total 2023 Note INCOMING RESOURCES Voluntary income Activities for generating funds Income from investment5 Church activitie5 other Incoming resource5 2a 2b 2c 2d 53,216 15,006 4,587 23,471 4,511 57,727 15,006 4,587 23,471 61,868 13,683 2,726 22,122 48 TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES 96,280 4.511 100,791 100,447 RESOURCES EXPENDED Church activities Con5tructlon of and equipment for Community Centre Fund raisin8 Costs 3a 90,784 95,295 108.783 3b 3c 3,297 3,297 4,973 TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED 94,081 4,511 98,592 113,756 NET MOVEMENTOF FUNDS BALANCES BIFWD 1st IANUARY 2,199 95,210 2,199 95,210 13,309 108,519 BALANCES CIFWD 31st DECEMBER 97,409 97,409 95,210 The note5 on pages 4 to 7 form part of the accounts Page 2

Parochial Church Council of Christ the King, Battyeford Balance Sheet at 31st Decèmber 2024 Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Total 2024 Total 2023 Note CURRENT ASSETS Debtors Short-term deposits- CBF Cash at Bank and in hand 12,088 71,270 16,032 1,476 13,564 71,270 29,569 10,578 71,270 26,415 13.537 99.390 15,013 114,403 108,263 LIABILITIES Credltors '. amounts falling due in one year 1,981 15,013 16,994 13,053 Net current assets 97,409 15,013 97,409 95,210 Credltors .' amounts falllng due after one year TOTAL NET ASSETS 97,409 97,409 95,210 PARISH FUNDS Unrestricted Restricted 97,409 97,409 95,210 97,409 97,409 95,210 Approved by the Parochial Church Countil on 19. <cfy JoJs and SiBned on its behalf by Derek Garnèr IPCC Lay Chalrman The notes on pages 4 to 7 form part of the accounts Page 3

Parochlal Church Council of Chrlst the Kingi Battyeford Notes to the lin#nclal statements For the year endlng 31st December 2024 I ACCOUNTING POLICIES The financial 5tatement5 have been prepared In accordanee with the Church Accountlng Regulatlons 2006 together with applicable accounting standards and the SORP 2005. The financial st5tement5 have been prepared under htstorical cost convention. The financial tatement5 include all transactions,asset5 and liabilities for which ihe PCC is responsible in law. They do not include the accounts of church groups that owe their main affiliation to another body, nor those that are informa5 gathering5 of church members. Funds Restricted funds represent lal income from grant making bodies intludln8The Big Lottery Fund, Kirklees MetropDlltan Council and Mirfield Town Council whlch may only be expended only on those restricted objects provlded in the terms of the grant, and Ibl donations received for a specSfic object or invited by the PCC for a specific object. The fund5 may only be expended on the specific oblert for which they were given. Any balance remainln8 unspent atthe end of the year must be carried forward as a balance on that fund. The PCC has invested separately ftsr each major fund. Unrestrlcted fund5 are Benerated funds which can be used for PCC ordlnary.purpose5. Incomlng resources Planned giving,collertion and donatlons are recognised when received. Tax refunds are recognlsed when the incoming resource to whSch they relate is recewed. Grants and legacies are accounted for when the PCC is legally entitled to the amounts due. Interest is accounted for when receSvable, as Is all other income. All incoming receipt5 are accounted for gros5. Resources expended The diocesan parish share is atcounted forwhen payable. All other expendSture 15 generally recogni5ed when it Is Incurred and Is accounted for gross. Flxed Assets Consecrated and benelice property 15 not Included in the accounts in accordance with s.9612llal of the Charitie5 Act 1993. Movable church fvrnishinKs held bythe vicar and churchwardens on special trust for the PCC and which require a faculty for disposal are Inalienable property. Ilsted In the church's Inventory, which can be inspected lat a reasonable timel. All such expenditure has been written off when incurred. Page 4

Parochial Church Council of Christ the King. Battyeford Notes to the flnanclal statements Icontlnuedl For the year endlng 31st December 2024 INCOMING RESOURCES Unrestrlcted Funds Restrlcted Funds Total 2024 Total 2023 2a Voluntary income Planned giving Direct Gift Aid and Envelopes Tax recoverable Collections lopen platel Grants Donations, appeals etc Legacies and historic funds 36,889 11,242 3,017 905 226 864 2.516 37,785 11,468 3,881 2,516 2,077 37,865 10,579 6,069 5,258 189 1,908 2,077 53,216 4,511 57,727 61,868 2b Actlvltles for generatlng funds Social events and other and fund raising Sundry sales 15,006 15,006 13,683 15,006 15,006 13,683 2c Income from investments Interest 4,587 4,587 2,726 2d Income from church artlvltles Lettings Fees Refreshments 16,358 5,889 1,224 16,358 5.889 1.224 18,012 2,913 1,197 23,471 23,471 22,122 Other incomlng resources 48 Totsl IncomlnB resour$ %,280 4,511 100.791 100,447 Page 5

Parochlal Church Council of Christ the Klngi Battyeford Notes to the financial statements Icontlnuedl For the year endlng 31st December 2024 RESOURCES EXPENDED Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Total 2024 Total 2023 3a Church activltles Missionary and charltable givings Leeds Diocese Kirkwood Hospice Children's Society hristian Aid 1,312 477 186 20 1,312 477 186 20 1,324 300 273 1,136 Ministry .' Diocesan Parish Share Other ministry Costs ChLsrch running and maintenance Churchyard upkeep 52,290 4,410 30,167 3,917 52,290 6,926 30,167 3,917 50,710 17,110 37.755 175 2,516 90,784 4,511 95,295 108,783 3b Constructlon of and equipment for the Community Centre Building Costs Other costs and equipment 3c Fond-raising costs 3,297 3,297 4,973 Total resources expended 94,081 4,511 98,592 113,756 Page 6

Parothlal Church Councll of Chrlst the Klng, Battyeford Notes to the flnanclal statements Icontlnuedl For the year endlng 31st December 2024 Unrestricted Funds Restricted Funds Total 2024 Total 2023 DEBTORS Gift Aid Recoverable Other debtors 11,242 846 12,088 1,476 12,718 846 13,564 10,578 1,476 10.578 LIABILITIES Amounts falling due In one year Accruel for utility'costs Other creditors Bishop's Fund Rev B Wilson Fund Enviromental Fund Pathway. maintenan Fund 1,981 1,981 1,396 230 2,516 3,911 5.000 17 8.246 6,250 500 15,013 8,246 6,250 500 16,994 1,981 13,053 FUNDS Unrestricted Fund Movement Balance 1st January 2024 95,210 Surplus for the year ending 315t December 2024 2,199 Balance 31st December 2024 97.409 STAFF COSTS 2024 2023 Wages and salaries 2,880 10,507 Durlng the year the cost of various wages and salaries were not large enou8h to attract Social Security Costs. Page 7

Christ the King Battyeford Parochial Church Council Annual Report and Accounts For the year ended 31st December 2024