2024-08-31-accounts - West Preston Methodist Church

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West Preston Methodist Church

Reports for Annual Church Meeting – 10.30am 18[th] May 2025

Ministers Report

This last year has continued to be challenging but there are many more signs of hope and highlights to reflect on. I very much appreciate the number of dedicated people who volunteer and support in various through the wide range of activities across West Preston Methodist Church, which makes all our wonderful work and fellowship possible. Our thanks also to the Secretaries team overseeing our mission and providing reports in advance for us to read before our Annual Church Meeting.

Just before Easter last year Simon Skidmore gave in his notice as our Youth, Children’s and Families Worker. This was sad news and having started my appointment as part of a team of 2 lay workers, to have none for the summer was quite a challenge. We had already faced challenges with our recruitment over the previous year however with Simon leaving we have been able to reorganise our Lay Worker into a new role which incorporates Community, Pastoral and Children & Families work. The circuit worked hard to enable this post to be advertised in the early summer and we were delighted to appoint Jennie Lockett into the role to start in September. She has brought much enthusiasm and has worked hard to settle into the post and West Preston church life. We also worked on an Admin post to support the ministry team across West Preston Methodist Church, which is linked with the Circuit Administrator post to make a part-time post. We have been thankful for Wendy Ferneyhough joining the team and for her dedicated work.

Some of the highlights from the last year.

I have noticed over the last year that our congregations are growing, it may be small but is evident. This would not happen without the welcome and hospitality shown by all of you. New families at Ingol are making the Sunday School there more viable, although Zoe and Becca could do with more support. This also includes the operating the audio visual at both Ashton and Ingol where we rely on a few volunteers and when they are away, we are too stretched. Any support welcome, please talk to one of the team if you can help.

Last summer’s holiday club went very well and was loved by the 20 or so children who came and wanted more. We look forward to this year’s Mega Makers, with Jennie already working hard in preparation. Our young people also enjoyed 3Generate and the Circuit Unleashed weekend – please see the Children, Youth and Families Report.

The Advent and Christmas theme of ‘Hush the noise’ was much appreciated, a reminder of how the business of Christmas can crowd out the real meaning of Christmas. Then the recent ‘Soul Food’ Lent materials brought some great spiritual nourishment. Another successful Maundy Thursday Messy Church, Communion and meal, reflecting on how many scenes in Holy Week took place in or near gardens. Our Good Friday Service focusing on Luke’s gospel, which many had been reading in Lent, was very moving and lead in well into our Easter Celebrations. In the last year we have welcomed five new members who have brought enthusiasm and willingness to serve into our Church family which has been much appreciated.

Our community projects have continued with the @home café, Cottam Coffee Morning and Thrift shop supporting people in our communities and enabling many fruitful conversations. The Cottam Coffee Morning now regularly attracts 20 people each Thursday. With Jennie now in place, she is supporting the volunteer teams and running the @home café in particular. Recent training has included Mental Health Awareness training and Food hygiene training which was expertly run by Wendy Ferneyhough My thanks to all those who supported special events and / or weekly activities. The new, much needed, kitchen at Ingol is now in place and up and running, which will help facilitate our hospitality there. Thanks to all who helped make it happen.

One of our new initiatives this year has been the start of the Pub Quiz (non-alcoholic of course) by Jennie supported by a team of volunteers. This has really developed quickly, read her report and we will hear more in our service.

It is lovely to see different groups coming together providing opportunities to socialise when many feel lonely. Even across volunteer teams the conversations shared are much appreciated. I think of the work of the Handy Fellowship who spend as much time having a cuppa as well getting on with useful maintenance work. Anyone interested see Steve Gregory.

No church can survive without the generosity of its members. I notice in the Finance report that we have donated nearly £7000 over the last year to various charities and needs, which does not include the money raised for Share it! from the Thrift Shop.

We have also built up a wonderful mission link with the Heavenly Education school in Pakistan. I cannot put in words the appreciation they have for our support – we will show some pictures and a video in our ACM. Please also pray for them, Christians in Pakistan face persecution and often have limited opportunities for education and employment. That the children have had new books and the teachers’ pay has been improved through our donations is thanks to you.

As part of our meeting we will be launching our Mission Review for 2025, this is an opportunity for you all to be involved in the review of the mission of ‘your’ church. This review will continue over the next 3 weeks at the different activities of our church. The feedback will be brought to our Church Away day on 7th June - 10am at Hesketh Bank Methodist Church, including worship, refreshments and lunch, anyone is welcome to join us, we will be arranging lifts for those that need it.

The coming year will bring new opportunities – as we develop and build up our ministry team, including Deacon Rebekah-Joy, Jennie Lockett, supported by Wendy Ferneyhough. Most of all thanks to all of you who make it all possible. I look forward to continuing to serve here in West Preston, I’m excited as to what the coming year will bring.

Love and blessings to you all,

Rev Mike Grimsley

Lay worker report

I have been working for West Preston Methodist Church for the past 9 months. I have settled into Preston, into the role, and into the Church.

Children Youth and Family

Part of my work involves the children, youth, and families work. I am pleased to see a good group of keen young people, and volunteers, at West Preston. We have a messy church which runs once a month, and I have been involved in the planning and delivering of this content. With the CYF team I have also begun to start planning the holiday bible club.

I am also involved in share-it and whilst this largely falls into the social action category, part of the work I do with them is CYF focused. At the end of every term bags of hope go out to the local school to children who are in families who are struggling, my involvement is that in every bag is an activity pack of colouring and puzzles, which tell the story of the related Christian festival. Also included in this is a list of activities on offer at the local churches involved in share-it. These bags go to over 300 children.

A large focus of my time and energy between Christmas and Easter was on Unleashed. This was a circuit youth weekend, we had 20 young people attend this weekend, with 6 of them coming from West Preston. This was an amazing weekend, and it was wonderful to see the young people grow in their relationships with each other, but also with God. The teaching was on Joseph and understanding our potential. During the weekend the young people were involved in planning the circuit service, facilitated by the leaders, in which they spoke about what they had learned over the weekend. It was wonderful to see the young people speaking about God in front of so many people and I hope we can encourage and grow the young people from West Preston in this in the future.

Social action

The other main part of my role is facilitating the social action work of the church. In Cottam we have the Cottam coffee morning, we have a consistent number of people who come every week with some growth. Over advent and lent we have introduced a short five minutes at the end for a bible passage, short reflection, and a prayer. This has been well received, and we are hoping to make it a permanent addition to the mornings. Ingol has the thrift shop and Friday friends, both of these projects are a joy to be a part of. The thrift shop is part of share-it, it has both a café and a thrift shop. Friday friends has steadily grown, it reaches people in the local area and offers a safe and warm space for people to spend time together and share a meal. There have been a number of faith conversations amongst this group also. Ashton has the @home café which I am directly involved with the running of every week. We have 2 main groups which meet in these spaces and both groups have steady numbers with the craft group growing. The two groups that meet are a craft group, and a men’s mental health support group. I have trialled the pub quiz on Thursday evenings, this has been going well. We have a large number of the men from men’s mental health support group from the Wednesday. who also come on the Thursday, we have a few people coming from the local area who we had not previously had any relationship with. Plus, a good group of people from across the circuit. We have established a good routine with the quiz’s and are working to add in some faith conversations. I also spend some time supporting volunteers at the various projects and working on the ecumenical links in both Ashton and Ingol. In particular I attend the monthly share-it volunteers lunch.

Circuit and Mission Group 1

Part of my work has been doing some circuit wide work. I am involved in the NHS special interest group, and I have represented the circuit at the Preston Health Mela and other volunteer fairs. I have also been involved in some circuit youth work as well. As part of Mission Group 1 team I have done some work in some of the other churches across the mission group as well.

Future

I am positive about the future and development of the projects within West Preston, and the circuit. I would like to start something for the older children/teenagers at West Preston as I feel that Messy Church is no longer the right context to develop their faith.

Jennie Lockett

Layworker for West Preston Methodist Church

PTO

Social Action Report

This year has been a mixed year with regard to social action as some things have been set aside and new things have started.

Ashton site

Tots Group are learning to be more independent as it is becoming more difficult to help set up and run the club. Attenders at the group are stepping up and helping to run it themselves with minimal input from church members. This is a well attended event and hopefully this format will help it to run in the continuing future.

@Home café has seen some changes over the years. It continues to support the craft group and the mens health group that meet regularly. Going forward we hope to use the café to offer special coffee mornings supporting charity events every so often.

A new development has been the Thursday night Quiz with a regular group of people supporting the event. This is currently on a trial basis but with a view to developing it into an opportunity to share faith with church members and outside people. The quiz has attracted outside people to join in from the mens health group and from the local community. Your continued support of this is much appreciated.

Ingol

After being closed for 3 weeks, Thrift Shop is now benefiting from a brand-new kitchen at the Ingol site. Staff at all 3 sites underwent food hygiene training earlier this year and it is nice to see it all coming together. Thrift shop has suffered with a lack of volunteers sometimes and needs regular volunteers like all our endeavours.

Bags of Hope through Share-It continue to be a vital help to the needy and we thank Jenni for her input to the team organising this.

Cottam

Coffee morning continues regularly at the Community Centre with a regular group of people attending and some new people every so often. Word is spreading in the community and the local PCSO’s often call in to address any issues and other support teams have also visited.

For Christmas and Easter we had a short reflection towards the end of the morning. This was appreciated by all and is something we hope to develop at other times of the year.

We still hope to continue to offer the Remembrance Day service this year. This is always a well attended event by members of the local community.

Going forward as the Social Action Group

We are exploring how we can support the finance group with the work being done with the school in Pakistan.

We will continue to support Jenni in her endeavours for the church as her work develops and she explores her faith.

Gill Mason

Secretary of Social Action Group

Children, Youth & Families work

Throughout the year at WPMC we have held a number of youth activities. Here is an update on each Activity

Sunday School - we have seen a growth of the number of young people attending Ingol on Sundays, with an increase in volunteer support with the PA desk meaning we can do Sunday school in another room. The advantage of this is the quality of activity is better, and able to have discussion too. There have been some discussions about starting Sunday childrens work in the near future at both Ingol and Ashton. If you are able to support you would be welcome, even as a second adult for safeguarding reasons. Speak to Becca or Zoe.

Bags of Hope - a partnership project with Share it! To provide children’s activities to go into every food package distributed by share it, at the end of each school term, including a paper-based activity pack and a few small craft items. The activity pack will also advertise Messy Church at ingol, and other ecumenical youth activities including holiday bible club sign up details. The next time will be at summer, money towards this outreach project would be gratefully appreciated. Over 300 bags shared at the end of each term, with an activity pack in each bag.

Messy Church - every second Thursday of the month at Ingol. 5pm-6.30pm including a delicious meal. enjoyed by those that attend. More volunteers are always welcome!

3generate - 6 kids from WPMC and 40 kids from the circuit attended last year. We plan to attend again this year encouraging those that came to bring friends too. Also open to adults volunteeringspeak to Jennie or Becca if you are interested for 2025

Baby and Toddler group - 10-12 noon Wednesdays at Ashton. Popular and well attended would benefit from more helpers to help the team with setting up and putting activities away.

Holiday bible club 5-7[th] August 2025 theme Mega Makers. Volunteers needed, including admin support, food preparation setting up and decorating and helping to prepare craft activities. Please speak to Becca, Mike or Jennie if you can help, including before and after the holiday club

The CYF team is also keen to develop links with other youth teams around the circuit, or mission area, and encourages circuit youth activities/ district youth activities, and a youth weekend in march that the leaders are involved in.

Rebecca Ainsworth Youth Secretary

Property and Finance Report

Firstly, my apologies for not being at the start of the meeting. I am planned to lead worship at Bamber Bridge, but will be at Ashton as soon as possible. If there are any questions, I’m sure other members of the committee will be in a position to answer them or they can be sent directly to me.

The underlying finances of the church remain consistent, with small increases in overall income year on year. We continue to meet the assessment requested by the circuit whilst maintaining a deficit of less than £10000 as agreed by the church council. The deficit largely enables us to maintain our buildings at a standard that makes them attractive to our congregations and external users. The cost of lay workers is additional to the budget deficit.

For the 2024/25 church year the circuit assessment has been halved for all churches. This will enable churches to rebuild their reserves, rebalancing what is held at church and circuit level. In addition, churches have agreed to review their mission policies. More of that in other reports.

At the start of the current church year Jennie and Wendy were appointed as lay workers in the circuit. We continue to fund the additional hours beyond the level agreed with the circuit.

As a church we have seen as significant increase in utility prices (gas & electric) over the last twelve months. Previous investment in led lighting and heating controls has reduced the energy demand. However, we do need to be careful in our use of energy.

In the current financial year, a number of major activities have been completed including repairing the roof at Ashton and replacing the Ingol kitchen. We continue to invest in our buildings to ensure that they remain welcoming to the church and external users.

As per last year I’ve included a statement on the donations we have made as a church either from specific collections or from church funds. The following table summarises our donations made in 2023/24

2023/24
JMA	500
All we Can	750
Royal British Legion	100
Action for Children	700
Pakistan	545
Easter Offering	600
District world	650
Transform Trade	150
Methodist Fund for Property	500
Support of Presbyters and Deacons	400
Methodist Homes for the Aged	400
Mission in Britain	840
World Church	650

Most of the work at Ashton and Ingol is completed by a small number of volunteers on a Thursday morning. If you are interested in joining the handy fellowship on a Thursday morning, we would love to see you.

Steve Gregory Finance and Property Secretary

Discipleship Report

As we moved into 2025 our circuit began its year of Faith development for us all to join in with. This will bring lots of opportunities to engage in different ways that will help us develop further the faith that we have in Jesus Christ. There has already been a launch event. an evening with Rev David wood talking about King David and a singing afternoon with John bell from the Iona community talking about music and spirituality. These have been a great opportunity to delve deeper into our faith

There are more events planned for across the year including an away day with Rev Phil Gough on 5[th] July at Hesketh bank Methodist Church and opportunities to engage with some courses coming up in the Autumn . Please can I encourage you to join in with these events and see what God has to share with you, developing our faith and journey with him. If you need a lift to get there speak to Zoe don’t miss out

Bible study and shared prayer opportunities continue across the Ashton and Ingol sites see the notices for details. Over the year both sites have looked at a variety of bible study resources We are just starting a series exploring the Holy Spirit. That should take us up to and beyond Pentecost All are welcome at either bible study group, see notices for times and venues. Speak to Zoe about Tuesday evenings at Ingol and To Rev Mike about Thursday afternoons at Ashton There are also opportunities during the week to join in prayer face to face and online, speak to Steve Gregory about the online prayer

At spring bank holiday weekend (23-26[th] of May) there is the Cliff Festival event at Cliff college Derbyshire. Becca and I will be going for the whole weekend with our tent, we would love to see you there for a day or the weekend engaging in an opportunity to go deeper in your faith, experiencing some great bible teaching and enjoying worship. There are also great opportunities for Kids to join their own fun filled sessions and to learn more about Jesus Let us know if you are going to be there and we will look out for you

Cliff Festival - Cliff College ( link to more details)

Looking forward we have Thy Kingdom come from the 29[th] of May to the 8[th] of June, we will be distributing resources to help you pray for others and seek the coming of the spirit as we approach Pentecost this year. Thy Kingdom Come | Thy Kingdom Come ( link to more details)

Coming up in June we will have Bible month. This year we are looking at the Gospel of John. We will be able to explore in depth this beautiful gospel over four Sundays. Why not take that month to re-read the gospel of John for yourself and see what you can find in it

If there are things that you would like to see happening in our church to help your discipleship and faith development , please speak to me and I will see what we can do to enable each person to grow and develop in their faith

Zoe Ainsworth discipleship secretary

Pastoral & Safeguarding Report

We've had another quiet year on the pastoral side, with three baptisms at Ingol and one at Ashton. We have had one funeral at Ingol, with another one coming up shortly for the late Margaret Farrow at Ashton on 21[st] May at 1.15pm . Many thanks to Wendy Ferneyhough for her help in doing our GDPR records update. Many thanks for your assistance with this, there are only a few people who have not completed one of these, while a couple have moved on to other fellowships. My thanks to the pastoral visiting team and all those who show pastoral care in various ways, particularly in this last year where I've been covering in other areas for there is reasons.

We had a wonderful celebration for Zarish’s Confirmation just after Easter and we welcomed 5 new members into our West Preston Church Family in October.

We have done a lot of work in the last year updating our records of volunteers and undertaking DBS checks, as well as renewing the DBS’ that are expiring. There have been a good number of people who have undertaken the Safeguarding training. If anyone needs training in safeguarding to let Sandra or John Atkins know the names and they will arrange training. Jennie and Rev Mike will review records and let people know in due course.

CHURCH RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS THE METHODIST CHURCH STANDARD FORM OF ACCOUNTS Wesl Preston Church FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 August 2024 Proston Rlbble Circuit Circuit no. 21 Reglstsred Charlty - Charlty Registration numbor If not a registered charity HIS Majesty's Revenue and Customs Gift Aid number (The HMRC number is equivalent to a registered charity number in terms of evid8ncè of chantabl8 status and may be used lo give to donors or grant funders wishirvJ to see 8vidance of the organisation's charitable status. Methodist charities in England army Wales that are not r8gist8red charities are excepted from registration under Statutory Instrument 2014 No.242) 1178663 Minister.. Rev Mike Grimsle Church Stewards. Peter Taylor, Gillian Mason, Rebecca Ainsworth. Zoe Ainsbvorth, Karen Martin, Pam Eaton, Chris Treasurer. Stcvc (Jreb¥Ury Wesl Preston SFA 23-24 uyjated 3-12-24 1of5

ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2024 West Preston Church UnreBtrlcted Re#triet¢d Totsis this FLd9 Funda Èor Totsls last SECTION A a1 RECEIPTS Note a2 Offerin s and Tax recovered Bank and CFB interest and Investment Income 73.475 73,475 41.771 22,895 22,895 21,671 30,752 148,793 15.004 22.544 32,104 111,423 Lettin 21.671 21.727 139,768 a5 a6 Other receipts TOTAL RECEIPTS 9,025 9,02S la71 SECTION 8 b1 PAYMENTS Circuit Assessment or Shar8 b2 59.487 59,500 6.712 b3 Donations 4.581 Re airs and Maintenance Ulililies Iln5urances, water char es healin 16.358 10.417 b5 17,927 17,927 18,823 Rent b7 Other payments TOTAL PAYMENTS 31,745 131.402 11.284 11.284 43,029 142,746 56,119 163,094 b8 {b9} SECTION C NET RECEIPTSIPAYMENrs c1 a6.b8 Total funds brought forward from last year 386,205 11,373 397 $78 439,249 c3 Sub total (¢1+c2 394,511 9,114 403,625 397.678 c4 Transfers and ad'uslments 600 600 ¢7 e5 TOTAL FUNDS AT END OF YEAR Ic3+c4 395,111 8,514 403.625 Ic8} 397.578 (¢61 SECTION D FOR INFORMATION ONLY.. MONEY RECEIVED AND PASSED ON TO EXTERNAL ORGANISATIONS the amounts are not to be Induded in total rgcoi m•ftts 11 ures above d1 BalarKe brou hl forward from last ear 401 574 d2 Offerin $IGifts - received for extemal o anisath)ns 3,233 d3 Offering51Gifts - passed to extemal organisatw)ns 3,634 2,781 d4 BALANCE STILL TO BE PAID <d1+d2-d3) 2of5 'est Pr¢sknn SFA ?3.24 updatyj 1-12-?d

Wesl Preston Church CH $ECnON E Summary oflhè ChureD a¢comi8 IDTtne ywended 31 Augu5t2024 w irtgtn•i to thEchUr C(wchur MeetYJ NDle +h¥t the fu1&01 n Ir.temal organisatiL WOU noimaity oe Re¥trtred rt02uhY teclewty51wn meInk Th mu$l be compw toarrwe et thegross Irume eXjj[2I0tdtr ChwttL ff wirr(YDEeXcdStIALUth[FthJ YACUUèh% meih&J ofarLounii ANDA DIFFERENT FORU must $0 reryJrttr¢arounts16ee Mttin£>WIl. P89e gwd•rtt Mte¥ repthngtraD5ferJ betYpD DK8trir and connected Dthct orls#ln$ INTERNAL ORGAM1814TIONS opg b•anrs Clog balatWS A•hton FvllrMhl 177 177 nwn nisaiioqg lunds t8 177 177 ChurEh COUnL# (tot brought lorwiffj fwm z. tot•l• ¢Olumn} 148.713 142.746 ¢Q47 {cT 397 578 BY CHURCH 148,793 142.741 047 397.7S8 403.802 Contsnueon • ¥¢p•rat¢3hwt Il necewry and bring th• I0191081 TOTAL RECEIPT$ TOTAL PAYPIENTS SE¢TIOM P CLOfjINO BALANCES URCN- eA8H FUN0$ HELD It 31 Au t2024 88nK CuireniAc£ouni .$04 Bank D QlIlAecourrt Cwntrn,, Financ• Tru•lO9& f(¥ hlWnO¢I•i Chuic 369.?82 388 032 OIW lunos 401 SU8 TOTAL. ClIrth •¢ewnts TDlal lunds hold by ioi•inai OroanlsabonsiTh balance totRI abo¥o1 Ip., 397 878 4Q3,626 177 177 TOTAL CASH PUNDS HELD BY CHURC 397.7 403,802 SECnON G Al At 31 Augwt 2024 oTheRA88eT8 •nd UAWLITES InvvJlmenL i&ude Erth¥wnt8 110616 see rties re In$uwte vai 6512650 OlhtrA66818 LO8n . gnow8rnwnt d. QlhRr LI111e$ f4 InduUB unty Funas hd 81 lh• Cemrd Fngrre Board fs Indude only Fullds ai Trus¥s lor MerhrJst Cnurth purp1 g1 IncleanY Dtherinvestrnen (not Trne(¥sh eememofTFACPtrL•>>xmtsN 6 IK*xl•J in WthPr¥aRm5FAIJ-144thtdWII.A ac45

Name of Church Declarations and Scrutiny I confirm that Ihese Receipt and Payment based accounts for the year to 31 Augusl 2024 have been prepared from the records of the Church and that they include all funds under the control of th8 Church trustees. Signature of tasurel Name and addr8S8 oftreasurer . Post Code.. Pre8•ntatlon to th• Church trustsos I confirm that tho annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 August 2024 vreIll b8. 1¢ presented to the meetinq of the ChLsrch trustees held on ..i.é/ ../.z. Signature of the Chair of the maeting Name of the Chair of the meeti Date... . ZJ".JML.Zo& Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of the . Wesl Preskni Mètwisl Charity Numb•r . 1178863 Responsibiliti and basis of rnport I report to the trustee5 on my examination of the accounts of the West Preston Methodist Church for the year ended 31 August 2024 set out on pages 2 to 3 As the Church's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charrties Act 2011 {'the Act,). I report in respect of my examination of the Church's accounts carried oui under section 145 of the Act and, in carrying out my examinalion. I have followed all the applicable Direth"ons given by the Charity Commission under sethon 145{5){b) of the Act. delet8 or circle as appropriate West Pro*oi SFA2>24 urthttd &12-24 4of5

Nameofchurch............ Independont Examin•r's Slatsmont I have cornpleted my examination. I confimi that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that disdosed belrn¢) whith glve me cause lo believe Ihat in, any material respect.. the accounting records were not kept in acwrdance with section 130 of the Act., or the accounts do not accord wrth accounting records. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection wth the examinalion to which attention should be dravm in Ihis report in order to enable a pioper understsnding of the accounts to be reached. I obtained independent verification of all investments wlth the Trustees for Melhodi81 Church Purposes or held in other trusts, bank balances and furKls al the Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church which Are IndivMluaJly in exces8 of £10.000 {ten thousand pound8) at the balance sheet date. Signature of independent examiner Name of independent examiner 3AV..¢>...Ic.i e..( Relevant professlonal quallficatlon of independt éxarniner Name of fimi (where appropriate) Address ..... MAoJ¢H£sT.GR........ Post Code . M. l.(tr. SHF Date delete or circle as appropriate West Preston SFA 2>24 5of5