## **St Mellitus Hanwell** **2023 Annual Report & Accounts Annual Meeting Sunday 12[th] May 2024** Registered Charity No: 1180084 ## **Contents:** Page(s) 4 Vestry, APCM & PCC Meeting 2024 Agendas 5 St Mellitus in 2023: Vicar’s Report 6 -7 Children’s, Families & Schools Work 8 Youth-Work 9 Life Groups 9 Meet & Make 10 Mother’s Union 10 Ealing Churches Winter Night Shelter 11 Mission Giving 11Eco Church 12 Ealing Foodbank 13 Crosslight 14-16 Vestry, APCM & PCC Meeting minutes – 30 April 2023 17-21 Annual Report: • Church Membership / Electoral Roll • PCC Annual Report • Safeguarding • Fabric & Goods Report 22-26 Financial Report & Statements 2023 27 Deanery Synod report 2023 3 ## **Agenda for the Meeting of Parishioners (Vestry meeting)** Sunday 12 May 2024 1. Opening Prayer 2. Minutes of the previous Vestry Meeting held on Sunday 30 April 2023 3. Matters arising 4. Election of two Church Wardens ## **Agenda for the Annual Parochial Church Meeting** Sunday 12 May 2024 1. Apologies for absence 2. Minutes from the previous APCM held on Sunday 30 April 2023 3. Matters arising from the minutes 4. Receive report on electoral roll 5. Receive annual report on the proceedings of the PCC 6. Receive financial statements for the year ending 31 December 2023 & appointment of independent examiner for 2024 7. Receive annual fabric report 8. Receive report on the deanery synod 9. Elections to the PCC 10. Vicar’s Report 11. Any other business 12. Closing prayer ## **Agenda for PCC meeting** Sunday 12 May 2024 after the APCM 1. Appointment of the following: - Lay vice-chair - PCC Secretary - Treasurer - Electoral Roll officer - Standing committee - Safeguarding Officer - Children’s Champion 2. Formal Adoption of Safeguarding Policy 4 ## **St Mellitus in 2023 – Vicar’s Report** ## Dear friends, Welcome to our 2023 APCM and annual report. Contained within this booklet are our formal governance and financial reports, accounts for the year, reports on the church building, and a summary of the work of the PCC. Of course, underlying all of that is a far greater story of what God has been doing in our church over the course of the year. It’s a story of His kindness and mercy, His faithfulness and His provision. It’s a story of lives being changed and transformed, and of people finding healing and restoration in Jesus. It’s a story of our church family growing, relationships deepening, and faith being put into action as we serve our community. It’s a story of God at work in us and through us in the most remarkable ways. As we reflect back on 2023, this booklet highlights just some of the things that have been going on in our church family through our various ministries and the organisations we partner with. At the heart of it all is our desire to love God and our neighbour. So much by nature won’t be in this booklet or goes unseen. Alongside the ministries you’ll read about there’s also been events such as ‘The International Food Evening & Quiz’, ‘Summer BBQ’ & ‘Summer Picnics’. There’s been the faithful prayer, hospitality, and daily service that so epitomises our church. We had a gift day which raised all the money we needed for our new welcome area – symptomatic of your generosity and desire to serve our community. As you read through this booklet, it’s my hope that you will feel inspired and encouraged! It’s no exaggeration to say that many thousands of people have been impacted by what we have done together! So finally, as the leader of this church family, I want to say a huge thank you to you all for all that you contribute to the life of St Mellitus. Whether seen or unseen, known or unknown, it is so appreciated and valued. You give so generously of your time, gifts and money to serve the church and wider community. As ever, it’s my privilege to serve you and I look forward to seeing all the Lord does as we continue to journey together over the next year With my love and grateful thanks, ## **Rev’d Stu Plumb | Vicar** 5 ## **Children’s Work** One of our key values and priorities as a church is to be a place where children and families feel welcome and can encounter Jesus. ## **Sundays:** We currently have over 30 children on our registers in children's groups. There are three groups for different ages which meet weekly: **Little Stars (age 2-4yr olds)** – this takes place in the Vestry, **Sparks (5-7 yr olds)** and **Explode (8-11yr olds)** which take place in the halls behind the Methodist Church which we hire each Sunday. Once a month the children stay in church for longer at the beginning of the service once a month so that we can share in Communion together as a church family. Topics we've covered to name a few have been how we can choose to Follow, Trust, Be forgiven, give our all and grow with Jesus! Outside our Sunday groups we also look to do regular activities. This year they have included a summer picnic in the vicarage garden and a Pancake party in February half term. We are continually creating opportunities for children to serve in church. This has include things such as litter picking, serving in the worship /AV,sound team and helping with puppets. We partner with St Paul’s and St Johns Ealing in planning our weekly teaching content as well as last term joining a ‘Games of the dark’ joint social with St Johns and some of our children attending St Pauls Easter holiday club. It takes a huge team to make all this happen -thank you to everyone who volunteers and helps with these groups – it really couldn’t happen without you! ## **Families Work:** ## **Tinies & Tots** Tinies and Tots is our weekly toddler group and continues to be very popular with tickets selling out online sometimes in less than a minute the night before!! We cap the numbers to 30 families to enable us to run effectively and be able to engage in conversation and get to know all who attend. It continues to have a big community presence, and it is a joy to hear that people find it a welcoming and loving environment. The drip feed every week of sharing the gospel to the little ones through singing and puppets and watching them respond to ‘from my head to my toes God loves me!’ is such a joy to witness. We have seen many carers attend other church events and some parents join our church on a Sunday. St Paul's Ealing have also blessed us with allowing their “New Wine Discipleship Year’ student to help weekly with Tinies and Tots and our children's social events throughout the year. 6 ## **Baby & Me** This group started in the Covid pandemic lockdowns as a support group for new parents. Since then, however, it has developed and grown into a valuable resource for all new parents. Being a smaller group, closer relationships are formed and those not returning to work feed into Tinies & Tots when their baby starts walking. It acts as a source of support and advice for parents. ## **Light Party & Messy Christingle** We have held regular seasonal events such as our Light Party – an alternative to Halloween, and ‘Messy Christingle’ which have been attended by hundreds of children and their parents. This has given us some amazing opportunities to share the good news of Jesus with these families. This year our church children were invited to join in with Easter holiday clubs at St Johns and St Pauls over the Easter break. It was lovely to see so many families come along to our ‘Good Friday for everyone’ service on Good Friday and a joy to celebrate with 3 of our regular children in getting baptised on Easter Day. ## **Schools Work:** We continue to have a relationship with teachers at St Mark’s school in Hanwell. They have had various year groups visit the church to learn about Christmas and Easter. Stu has also been into the school to talk to the older year groups about Christianity and to answer their ‘Grill a Vicar’ questions! ## **Lucy Plumb is the St Mellitus Children’s & Families Pastor** 7 ## **Youth-Work: Ignite** We at St. Mellitus have a wonderful group of young people who come to Ignite, our Sunday morning youth group for 11-18s; school years 7 and up. Every fortnight in term time Ignite meet to explore together what it means to be a follower of Jesus, and think on the invitation and the challenge that goes with that. When we meet we examine a different topic or theme through chats, looking at the bible, quizzes, games, prayer and reflection times. It wouldn’t be Ignite if we didn’t do this while eating a range of delicious snacks! Topics we have looked at in 2023, often suggested by our young people, have included. - Heaven - God listens to us - Choose your adventure - Priorities During 2023 we welcomed some young people moving up from our children’s work which has been great, and they have brought some great things to the group already.. The group has been consistently supported by the parents of the young people and they have enabled us to continue to run the group regularly. In June we took a Sunday afternoon and with the guidance of our brilliant designer, Ellie, along with Anna and Estelle, we repainted the room where Ignite is held. This has transformed the space and how it feels to meet there, taking us from surroundings that were drab to being bright and full of life. Thanks to all the adults and young people who worked so hard on this. We also continue to partner with St. John’s and St. Paul’s churches in joint events. One example of this was taking part in a joint weekend away during the spring which was a significant and fun time. There is also a growing opportunity to work with a wider network of youth leaders and young people across Ealing which is exciting, and many of our young people attended a fireworks event in November which was a lot of fun. Our vision for the coming year is that we are able to widen and deepen the opportunities for our young people to encounter Jesus as part of our church family. Please do pray for our young people and for us as leaders. ## **Martin Williams leads the Ignite Group at St Mellitus** 8 ## **Life Groups** At St Mellitus we want to be a community that not only worship together on Sundays, but shares life with all its ups and downs together through the week, seeking to grow in faith together. To that end we look to meet in smaller groups called ‘Life Groups’ where this can happen. There are currently three groups which meet during the evening to look at the bible and pray together. There are also worship and prayer evenings which the groups come together for once every half term and to which anyone is welcome. ## **Meet and Make** Meet and Make is a creative social group for adults from the church and community, providing a welcoming opportunity for people to get to know and support one another over an art or craft activity. We meet weekly on Fridays from 2-4pm and we also held a Christmas Meet and Make in December, which was an evening event. Our Whatsapp group is also an important means of keeping in touch and supporting each other between meetings. The afternoon sessions attract between 12 and 20 people most weeks, and there is now a pool of about 30 people who are active, with new people coming all the time, as others move on. Most are from the local community rather than church members. The Christmas session was attended by approx. 40 people; a mixture of church members, their friends and members of our community. In 2023 we began to make patchwork blankets made from knitted and crochet squares, and one patchwork quilt, for Project Linus, a charity which provides handmade blankets and quilts as comforters to babies and children in hospitals, hospices and the Care system. This has proved a popular ongoing initiative with our group, and according to the Linus Thank You certificate, we managed between us to produce 33 blankets/quilts for them in 2023. ## **Fran Percival is the Meet & Make Co-Ordinator** 9 ## **Mother’s Union** Mothers’ Union is a Christian organisation that has been supporting families worldwide for over 140 years. Started by our founder Mary Sumner in 1876 in her local parish, we have grown into an international charity with over 4 million members in 84 countries. New members are always welcome! This year the St Mellitus branch have been meeting on an irregular basis, but members continue to be kept in touch by the whatsapp group set up by Margaret Hyde which has been very useful. Members attended the Annual London Diocesan Mother’s Union service at St Paul’s Cathedral in June. It is always a very uplifting service. We also attended the Willesden Area Summer Fayre in July which was held at Christ the Saviour church in Ealing Broadway and we ran a tombola sale. In February we had a ‘New Year’ social gathering which we held at 1pm for the first time to facilitate more members being able to attend. We also held a cake sale to raise money for the Mother’s Union ‘Summer of Hope’ Project and raised over £200. During the year at St Mellitus there have been three baptisms and we have welcomed them to the church family by giving flowers and cards. ## **Hazel Prentice is the St Mellitus Mother’s Union Branch Co-Ordinator** ## **Ealing Churches Winter Night Shelter (ECWNS)** Ealing Churches Winter Night Shelter (ECWNS) The night shelter is a collaboration between churches of all denominations across Ealing to provide a welcome, overnight accommodation, an evening meal and breakfast to a group of people who would otherwise be sleeping rough, referred to the shelter by other homelessness agencies. Accommodation rotates each night to a different church, with most churches participating for a series of weekly nights. After the disruption caused by the Covid pandemic in 2020-2022, in winter 22/23 the night shelter returned to its customary way of working, in church buildings. St Mellitus offered an evening meal, overnight accommodation and breakfast on four Monday-Tuesdays in Jan 2023. For the first time this took place in the main church building (not the church hall as before). This had the advantage of ample space to ensure the guest beds were not crowded together, and made grateful use of the new kitchen and shower facilities. Guest numbers were limited to 10 per night, based on space available at other churches, and all the guests were men. Several went on to permanent accommodation with the help of the shelter staff team. Many expressed their appreciation for the warmth, welcome and good food they received. ## **Fran Percival was the ECWNS leader for St Mellitus in 2023** 10 ## **Eco Church:** During the past year we have been awarded the Silver Eco church award, a great achievement. However, the concept of Eco church is not just that we are being mindful of God’s creation within the confines of St Mellitus, but that this is extended into our individual lives. Hopefully you can take inspiration from some of the things hat we have done together this year: - We have continued to update the Eco church section on the church website (under the “Love your neighbour” heading). This has ways to reduce personal energy, how to “Audit your life style”, where to buy ecofriendly or fairly traded goods, how to dispose of small electronic goods as well as other useful tips. - In the building we have been encouraging all who use it, not to bring in non- recyclable products such as disposable paper plates & plastic cutlery. Within church activities we have encouraged things to become more ecologically sound. At the children’s “Light Party” the attendees went home with sweets which were not wrapped in plastic. - We held an Eco Sunday with a speaker from Tear Fund. As Fairtrade fortnight fell in Lent 2023, there was a Big Fairtrade Get Together, an online event, at which we heard from Fairtrade farmers & other experts. Life groups - were encouraged to use study material with an eco-theme & we made material available for both adults &children if they wanted to “fast from carbon”. - We’ve been encouraging the church family to join in national events including the Tear Fund Rubbish campaign, WWF’s annual Earth Hour event, the RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch. We have organised two community clothes swaps, with speakers & invited “Ealing Repair Shop” along - To encourage us out into God’s creation, there was an organised local walk after church & an organised bike ride. We followed these up with a survey after church to see what walks/rides people would like in the future. - We try to alert the church to other environmental opportunities e.g. from Arocha in Southall or with the Ealing Wildlife Group. Do ask Margaret Hyde to be informed if you’d like to know about these activities. - We have continued to look to revamp the rear garden, which was badly disrupted during the kitchen & toilet installation. The PCC agreed a design (to be accessible to wheelchair users) by a Christian landscaper, quotes were obtained from a range of companies. Grant funding has been sought from a wide range of charities with £22.400 being raised by the end of 2023. - It was decided that we will try to rewild the raised beds at the side of the church by sowing with wild flowers seeds/winter plants for pollinators &; spring bulbs. - We have held several sessions of garden clearing & litter picks to progress these plans. We’re always looking for new members of the Eco team! ## **Margaret Hyde is the Eco Group Team Leader** 11 ## **Mission Giving:** ## **Mission Committee Report 2023** As you may be aware, 10% of our giving at St Mellitus goes to Mission. A small sub-committee makes recommendations to the PCC who then decide how the money is to be allocated. In 2023, Verna Brackett, Jonathan Scannell, Peter Onap, Taryn Schutz and Jeremy Hyde were members. Currently we support Tear Fund, Open Doors, Kigeme Diocese in Rwanda and Red Tribe with their work amongst the Maasai. Nationally, we support Homes for Good. More locally, we support Gather2gether, Grove Community (for Food pantry), Ealing Churches Winter Night Shelter, Ealing Soup Kitchen and Ealing Foodbank. We also contributed to Ben Andrews’ (DY student) trip to Kenya. As well as supporting Tear Fund’s general work. We also contributed to their specific Middle East appeal. Last year we allocated over £16,000 to these organisations. There are many other organisations we could support as a church and the Mission sub-committee is always open to receiving new suggestions and we would be happy to have one or two more members. We tend to meet briefly after church every few months. ## **Jeremy Hyde is the Mission Committee Leader** ## **Ealing Foodbank:** Although Ealing Foodbank is a separate charity, St Mellitus Church’s partnership with it, is key to the Foodbank being able to help so many people in the Borough. We rent the hall as our warehouse and two of our 8 sessions a week are held in the church at no cost to the Foodbank. Nearly half our clients still come to St Mellitus each week. In 2023 Ealing Foodbank processed 18,811 vouchers which provided food for 48,097 people. This represented a 26% increase in the number of vouchers issued compared with the previous year. The Foodbank gave out around 22 tonnes of food each month. 39% of this was given out during our sessions at St Mellitus. We continue our mission not only to give food, but also to make sure people get the help they need to resolve their crises. In order to do so we fund Crosslight Advice to give debt and benefit advice and West London Equality Centre to help people with form filling. On Wednesdays during the foodbank sessions they are present to help foodbank users. ## **Maria van Ommen Ealing Foodbank Manager** 12 ## **Crosslight Debt Advice** Crosslight is a Christian Debt Advice charity we work to lift people out of poverty and help them build a better future. We provide debt and benefit advice focusing on each person’s unique circumstances, we advocate for our clients ensuring their voices are heard, intermediating on their behalf whenever necessary. In Ealing we work in conjunction with Ealing Foodbank, and support clients at 6 foodbank locations. In 2023 we supported 360 people, 268 which were new debt or benefit cases. We held over 1296 appointments 427 of which we held at St Mellitus. We also held three money courses in Ealing in 2023 two of which we hosted at St Mellitus. Measuring the impact of the support we provided is not easy but overall 86% of clients reported that their financial situation had improved and 80% said that their wellbeing/mental health had improved, nearly half of the people we helped no longer rely on Ealing foodbank. Looking at purely financial impact in 2023 our clients overall annualised income gain or at least £459,362, and an amount of £131,807 of debt has been written off for 23 clients. Demand for our services continues to be high and we are seeing an increase in complex cases, more people are presenting with a negative budget which is reflective of the national picture which shows there has been a 54% increase of people with a negative budget since the start of the pandemic (source CAB red Index). We are grateful to St Mellitus and appreciate being able to support or clients at the church, we look forward to meeting more clients at St Mellitus in 2024. ## **Lisa Gliddon Crosslight Ealing Team Leader** 13 ## **Minutes of Vestry & APCM Meetings** Held on Sunday 30 April 2023 at 11:30 am, at St Mellitus Church ## **Vestry Meeting** ## _**1. Opening prayer**_ Stu Plumb opened the meeting in prayer. ## **1.** _**Minutes of the previous Vestry Meeting (“meeting of Parishioners”) held on Sunday 1 May 2022**_ The minutes of the previous Vestry Meeting held on Sunday 1 May 2022 were adopted as a true and accurate record of the meeting. This was proposed by Stu Plumb and seconded by Steve Weaver and voted unanimously. ## _**2. Election of two Church Wardens**_ Gifty Coleman stepped down as church warden after four years of service. On behalf of the church Stu thanked her for her service and gave her a gift from the church family. Steve Weaver and Janet Fletcher were appointed to serve as Church Wardens. Steve Weaver was proposed by Maria Van Ommen and seconded by Martin Percival Janet Fletcher was proposed by Sharon Prendergast and seconded by Helen Wilson ## **Annual Parochial Church Meeting** ## _**1. Apologies for absence**_ Apologies for absence were received and recorded from Ruth Williams ## _**2. Minutes from the previous APCM held on Sunday 1 May 2022**_ The minutes of the previous APCM on Sunday 23 May 2021 were accepted. This was proposed by Verna Brackett; seconded by Yvette Flower and voted unanimously. ## _**3. Matters arising from the minutes of the previous APCM**_ These were discussed later in the meeting during the vicar’s report. ## _**4. Receiving the report on new electoral roll**_ This year the electoral roll stands at 84 which & saw 6 new additions (17 in parish, 67 outside) ## _**5. Receiving the annual report on the proceedings of the PCC**_ The Annual Report on the proceedings of the PCC were received with no amendments. ## _**6. Receive financial statements for the year ending 31 December 2022 & appointment of independent examiner**_ Dawn Daniel (St Mellitus treasurer) gave an overview of the Annual Finance report as written in the 2022 APCM booklet: The Annual Financial Report was formally accepted by the meeting. This was proposed by Dawn Daniel nd seconded by Sharon Prendergast and voted unanimously. David Conacher was reappointed as the independent examiner of our accounts; proposed by Dawn Daniel, seconded by Steve Weaver and voted unanimously. Stu expressed thanks on behalf of the whole church to Dawn for her work as treasurer. ## _**7. Receive annual fabric report**_ The meeting received the annual fabric report. 14 ## _**8. Receive report on the Deanery Synod**_ Ian Wilson represents St Mellitus on the Ealing Deanery Synod. The meeting received the report on the proceedings of Deanery Synod in 2023. ## _**9. Elections to the PCC**_ There were 6 members required to relinquish their roles on the PCC this year: - Leonard Williams (Elected 12 Oct 2020 – April 2023) - Janet Fletcher (Elected 12 Oct 2020 – April 2023) - Mena Hatchman (Elected 12 Oct 2020 – April 2023) - Werner Schütz ((Elected 12 Oct 2020 – April 2023) - Alison Hood (Elected 12 Oct 2020 – April 2023) - Martin Percival (Elected 12 Oct 2020 – April 2023) Stu expressed his gratitude to all of them for their service to the church. The following people were newly elected to the PCC: - Sharon Prendergast P: Helen Wilson - Maria Van Ommen P: Sharon Prendergast - David Fletcher - P: Martin Percival - Ian Wilson (Deanery Synod) P Fran Percival S: Ian Wilson S: Anna Weaver S: Fran Percival S :Margaret Hyde ## **10.** _**Vicar’s Report**_ Stu gave the vicar’s report as written in the 2022 APCM Report. In addition, he spoke of the need to keep looking forward as a church to keep stepping into being the Jesus centred community the church is called to be – loving God and serving the community around us He reminded the church of the focus that has been developed by us a church over the past 18 months of our 3 priorities: 1) looking upwards to God, 2) inwards to one another and 3) looking to serve and reach out to the world around us. He also spoke of the 5 areas of focus that we have for the next 5 years: 1) The church building and garden, 2) Children & Youth, 3) Building Community, 4) Loving our neighbour & 5) Leading others & Following Jesus Finally, he expressed his thanks to everyone for all that they contribute to the life of St Mellitus and of the privilege he has to serve as the leader of the church. ## _**11. Questions and Any Other Business**_ There were no questions. ## _**12. The meeting closed in prayer**_ 15 **PCC Roles & Adoption of Safeguarding Policy** As part of PCC meeting held on 30 April 2023 ## _**1. Appointment of the following:**_ - Lay vice-chair: Steve Weaver - PCC Secretary: Helen Wilson - Treasurer: Dawn Daniel - Electoral Roll officer: Simon Richardson - Standing committee: Stu Plumb, Janet Fletcher, Steve Weaver, Helen Wilson, Dawn Daniel - Safeguarding Officer: Anna Weaver - Children’s Champion: Sharon Prendergast ## _**2. Adoption of Safeguarding Policy**_ The St Mellitus / Church of England safeguarding policy and statement were acknowledged and accepted by the PCC 16 **Annual Report and Financial Statements of the St Mellitus with St Mark Parochial Church Council** ## **For the year ended 31 December 2023** **Incumbent** **Rev Stu Plumb** St Mellitus Church Hanwell London W7 3BA **Bankers:** Charities Aid Foundation CAF Bank Limited 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill West Malling Kent ME19 4JQ **Independent Examiner:** Mr David Conacher London W13 17 ## **Electoral Roll Report 2023-2024** ## **Church attendance:** This year the electoral roll stands at 89 (17 in parish, 72 outside) which saw 5 new additions ## **Annual Report 2023** ## **Background:** St Mellitus PCC has the responsibility of co-operating with the Incumbent, Rev Stu Plumb, in promoting in the ecclesiastical Parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. It has the maintenance responsibilities for the parish church of St Mellitus, which is a grade II listed building, and the church hall. It is sited on the corner of the Uxbridge Road and Church Road, Hanwell, London W7 3BA. ## **PCC Membership:** PCC members are either ex officio or elected by the Annual Parochial Church meeting in accordance with the church representation rules, currently a three-year term. The following have served during the year: Chair: Rev Stu Plumb (Incumbent) Lay Vice-chair: Steve Weaver Church wardens: Janet Fletcher & Steve Weaver Treasurer: Dawn Daniel Secretary: Helen Wilson Rev Stu Plumb (Incumbent from Sept 2022 onwards– Ex Officio) Steve Weaver (Church Warden – First Elected 2021) Janet Fletcher (Church Warden – First Elected 2023) Conrad Franklin (Elected 2021, retires APCM 2024) Helen Wilson (Elected 2021, retires APCM 2024) Verna Brackett (Elected 2022, retires APCM 2025) Tim Bowdler (Elected 2022, retires APCM 2025) Yvette Flower (Elected 2022, retires APCM 2025) David Fletcher (Elected 2023, retires APCM 2026) Maria Van Ommen (Elected 2023, retires APCM 2026) Sharon Prendergast (Elected 2023, retires APCM 2026) Dawn Daniel (Elected 2021 – Ex-Officio – Treasurer) **Deanery Synod:** Ian Wilson (APCM 2023 onwards) ## **Officers of PCC, elected at the first meeting after the APCM in May 2023:** Lay Vice-chair – Steve Weaver PCC Secretary – Helen Wilson PCC Treasurer – Dawn Daniel Electoral roll officer – Simon Richardson Safeguarding Officer – Anna Weaver ## **The following will have served three years on PCC and retire at the 2024 APCM:** Conrad Franklin (Elected 2021, retires APCM 2024) Helen Wilson (Elected 2021, retires APCM 2024) 18 **PCC Attendance: 1 January to 31 December 2023** The PCC met 6 times with an attendance level of 80%. ## **Governance & Finance:** The financial state of the church accounts is reviewed at each PCC meeting, with a budget set in November for the following year and carefully monitored throughout the year. All costs and budgets are carefully managed and monitored through the year. Our total income for 2023 is £215.5k. An increase of £52.5k compared to last year. Overall expenditure has increased from £141k last year to £154k in 2023, this reflects increased costs due to inflation. 2023 resulted in a net income of £62k; with funds of £70k brought forward from 2022 this gives a total fund balance of £132k. However, this net movement of funds should be viewed with consideration to a £29k loan repayment (in 2023 we finished repaying a £60k London Diocesan Fund loan taken in May 2020 to fund the building project.), not included in expenditure but rather shown as a reduction in liabilities, £20.1k restricted gift day donations and £12k rear garden project grants. As a church, we make a ‘Common Fund’ contribution to the Diocese of London for the salary and housing costs of a vicar, for training and supporting curates in the Diocese, and to the national church. Our common fund contribution for 2023 was £50k, an increase of over 5% on last year. We give away 10% of our income to support mission partners each year. In 2023, we gave away £16.7k. Our mission giving benefitting the work of Ealing Churches Winter Night Shelter, Ealing Foodbank, Ealing Soup Kitchen, Gather2Gether a women's community interest group, Grove Community grocery campaign, Hennie and Becca Marais and RedTribe in Kenya, Home for Good, Kigeme Diocese in Rwanda, Open Doors and Tearfund. Our 2023 Christmas collection raised funds for Tearfund's Middle East appeal. ## **Achievements and Performance:** The Reverend Stu Plumb is the incumbent for the parish. The Reverend Jeremy Hyde now has Permission to Officiate within the Willesden Area, Margaret Hyde serves as a Licensed Lay Minister. Lucy Plumb is employed as a part-time children’s and family pastor. We also employ a part-time cleaner and bookkeeper. The PCC also have paid for a full time ‘New Wine Discipleship Year’ student to join us for a year. We continue to benefit enormously from our partnership with St Paul’s, Ealing, and other local churches. This year, the PCC oversaw a variety of ministries to help the church carry out his mission and ministry. This included Meet and Make-a weekly craft group for adults, and Mother’s Union meetings. The PCC continues to manage use of the building by external groups such as Ealing Foodbank, CAP, Crosslight, and Ealing Street Pastors, working with them to serve those in need in our community. We have continued to invest in our children’s & families work through the employment of a children’s and family pastor. Alongside our Sunday groups, this also involved ‘Tinies & Tots’, our toddler group, and ‘Baby & Me’ – a group for new parents and their babies. With so much work amongst children and young people, safeguarding is a key consideration and responsibility for the PCC and is reviewed at each meeting. Subgroups of the PCC include the buildings & fabric group which continued to oversee the maintenance of the building and develop a building maintenance plan, and the missions group which oversee our mission giving. Plans were developed for work on a new welcome area to the church including new glass doors, and new designs for the front and back garden were agreed. The PCC also oversaw major work on the roof of the church and various other repairs to the church building. The PCC also agreed plans to increase our capacity as a church by looking to employ communications and admin support. 19 The PCC continues to manage and seek to maximise our resources to release finance for mission and ministry, setting an annual budget, and monitoring it at each meeting. The St Mellitus church hall continues to be leased to Ealing Foodbank acting as their central storage facility. The church building has continued to act as an extension storage area for the Foodbank, with the church continuing to be used two mornings a week for an Ealing Foodbank café. ## **Safeguarding:** The PCC considers the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults to be of utmost importance and safeguarding features on the agenda of every PCC meeting, with one meeting focused upon reviewing the safeguarding policy. The Council has complied with the duty to have due regard to House of Bishops' guidance on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults under section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016 ## **Fabric and Goods Report 2023** ## **Front Garden:** Plans have continued to be developed on a project to open up the front garden of the church. A third version of the design was agreed with Ealing Council (who are funding the project) and faculty and planning application were put in for this new design. The project will involve removing sections of the railings and renovating the garden in order to open it up for the local community. This is an Ealing Council funded project, and we have had to be patient, but progress has been made. ## **Back garden:** Plans have been developed by the EcoChurch team for a community garden on the area of land on the South side of the Church. The PCC agreed a design (to be accessible to wheelchair users) and quotes were obtained from a range of companies. Grant funding has been sought from a wide range of charities with £22.400 being raised by the end of 2023. ## **Roof** A major piece of work was undertaken to replace slipped tiles on the high rood on the Church Road side of the Church, this also involved installing a new snowguard to prevent tiles falling onto the road below. ## **Welcome Area & Glass Doors** Plans were developed, a gift day was held, faculty submitted , and contractor agreed for the creation of a new welcome area to church. This includes removing the cupboard by the main entrance and the installation of new glass entrance doors. This work will commence in 2024. ## **External work:** Gutters have been cleaned, and some repair work to the roof has been carried out to stop leaks. ## **External Windows:** Unfortunately, over the course of the year we again have had a number of windows smashed on the Church Road side of the church. These have been reglazed. ## **Lighting:** Repair work was undertaken to the high-level floodlights and other lights in church to restore them to working order. We experimented with coloured lighting in the church with great success. 20 ## **Flooring** The wooden floor is showing signs of aging. Repairs have been undertaken to repair loose tiles. ## **External Paving** Repairs were undertaken to paving by the bus stop on Church Road which is Church land. ## **Small repairs/ongoing inspections:** Regular inspections were made on our fire extinguishers, boilers, lightning conductor and pest control measures. We continue to have problems with drainage from the toilets which block on a regular basis. ## **Insurance:** Buildings and contents insurance has been taken out for the church. ## **Future Work:** As part of its work on a 5-year strategy and vision, the PCC have identified a number of potential projects it plans to do over the next 5 years in addition to those already in progress. - The upgrading of lighting within the church to better enhance the building, and better light it during evenings and the Winter months. - Work on the chapel to create it as a separate chapel space, with new doors and walls. - Work to re-sand and refresh the wooden flooring in church. 21 **Annual Financial Report:** ## **St Mellitus Church** ## **End of Year Financial Statements** **Year ending 31 December 2023** 22 ## **Financial review** The income and expenditure for the year is presented on the following pages and is shown for the calendar year 2023. The accounts are prepared on a receipts and payments basis. The continued generosity of church members enabled the PCC to meet its normal commitments for running and maintaining the Church and its activities. Our total income for 2023 is £215.5k. An increase of £52.5k compared to last year. The majority of income comes from planned giving, a total of 100k. And we were able to claim a further £21.9k of gift aid on donations received in the financial year. It is encouraging to see the overall increasing trend in planned giving. Almost a 7% increase on last year, £6k of additional gifts. Income from collections and other giving of £23.7k includes £20.1k of donations from our gift day in July to raise funds for such projects as installation of glass doors and refurbishment of the welcome area at the entrance to church. Other voluntary receipts income of £32.7k includes: £2.6k DCMS listed place of worship grant (VAT rebate related to church maintenance), £12k rear garden project grants, £4k from St Paul's Church Ealing, £0.6k legacy gift, £3.4k card donations through the giving station in church and £10k of individual donations. Activities for generating funds of £32.5k includes: £15.7k church hire and £16.9k hall hire. Receipts from church activities of £4.5k includes income from children's groups, meet & make and fees. Overall expenditure has increased from £141k last year to £154k in 2023, this reflects increased costs due to inflation but also additional expenditure on church maintenance, £15.5k of repairs to the church roof. In 2023 we finished repaying a £60k London Diocesan Fund loan taken in May 2020 to fund the building project. The outstanding loan amount reducing from £29k to zero, as shown on the balance sheet. As a church, we make a contribution to the Diocese of London for the salary and housing costs of a vicar, for training and supporting curates in the Diocese, and to the national church. Our common fund contribution for 2023 was £50k, an increase of over 5% on last year. We tithe the income that we receive and so we give away 10% of our income to support mission partners each year. In 2023, we gave away £16.7k. Our mission giving benefitting the work of Ealing Churches Winter Night Shelter, Ealing Foodbank, Ealing Soup Kitchen, Gather2Gether a women's community interest group, Grove Community grocery campaign, Hennie and Becca Marais and RedTribe in Kenya, Home for Good, Kigeme Diocese in Rwanda, Open Doors and Tearfund. Our 2023 Christmas collection raised funds for Tearfund's Middle East appeal. All costs and budgets are carefully managed and monitored through the year. 2023 resulted in a net income of £62k; with funds of £70k brought forward from 2022 this gives a total fund balance of £132k. However, this net movement of funds should be viewed with consideration to the £29k loan repayment, not included in expenditure but rather shown as a reduction in liabilities, £20.1k restricted gift day donations and £12k rear garden project grants. ## **Reserves Policy** It is the policy of this Church to hold three months essential running costs in reserve (£30k). This policy to be reviewed annually. 23 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trustee81 mambors of St Mellitus with St Mark. Hanwell Parochial Church Councll On account• for tho year onded 315t December 2023 Charity no {if any) 1180084 Set out on pago8 Balance Sheet IDelail8dl page l & Staternenl of Financial Activrties page 1 I report to the tfustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity ("Ihe TnJsf} for the year ended 3111212023. Rosponsibilti•B and basis of report As the chanty's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the account5 in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 {￿he Act"). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out undef seclton 145 of Ihe 2011 Act and in carryino out my examination, I have followed all the applicable DIrect￿nS given by the Charity Commission under Sectson 14515)Ibl of the Act. Independent I have completed my examination. I confimi that no material matters have examinerfs statement come lo my attention in wnnection with the examination which gives me cause lo believe that in, any material respect.. the accounting records were not kept in accordance wrth se￿19n 130 of the Charilw Act., or the accounts did not accoid with the accounting records.. or the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements COn￿rnIng the lorm and content of accounts sel out in the Charities {A¢￿UnIS and Reports) Regulation5 2008 other than any requ1￿ment that the accounts give a 'true and fair, view which is not a matter consid8r8d as part of an independent examination. I have no concems and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order lo enable a proper understsnding of the accounts lo be reached. Slgned: Date: March 2024 Nam&: David Conacher Rglovant professional qualificationlsl or body (If any)". Addr9￿. 77 Loveday Road. London W13 9JU IER Oct 2018 24 St Mellltus with St Mark Hanw811 Balanc$ Sheet detalled Asat 3111212023 Asat 31M212022 Current a$$ets 6SC$1" CAF cWrentA¢￿nt 132.162 61 100.055 88 6502. &fdays cu￿entACcOunI 6503 LLoyds Curreni AcC￿j 6505 Bank dEposit 8¢¢¢uni 6506 CBF fj590 Ca3h in han 6591 Cash fioAts 120.00 120 00 Totsl Cuwrent djsets l31.Z82.61 100.17U8 Llabllltle8 6SOI Loan5 ieceived 28.659 74 6698 Away Gmng 6699 A9ency to1￿CtionS 820.00 1,483 00 Total Llabllhl¢8 820.00 30,142.74 N•tAs#•tsurplu5 {doficrt) 131.66Z.61 70,033.14 Reserves Ex¢ess I (der￿l}I0 d&e 201. Starting baLIDceB 61,629.47 70.033.14 22.271 49 47.78165 Tot*1 R￿¢ 131,$62.É1 70,033.14 Represented by Funds Unts¥iri¢ttd 99.748 49 69.S68 22 6662 298 30 DeS￿nated Rexthcte 31.847 50 E￿Ow11*nI Total 131.662ts1 7Q,tyJ3.f4 07 March 2024 Page i 25 St hlellitus with St Mark Hanwell Ststement of Flnanclal Actlvttles For the period ffom 01 January 2023 to 31 December 2023 Unmstrlcted fuD05 RoStrtct•d funds Endowmotit funds Tatal ftrnds Prfor year totsl fuTrd5 Planned giwng collec￿On5 and Olher givi OlhÈf Yoluntsry ￿telp1S Gift Aid ￿CoVered Oiher receiplE Act￿VitieS for 9eneraling fund5 Investment Income 99,957 50 3.619 88 20 $62 3S 21.889 90 11206 99.957 50 23.694 94 32.662 38 21.88990 112 06 93 679 79 1 58764 1379923 1987625 20.075 06 12.000.00 32.523 66 219 98 32.523 66 219 98 28 823 19 91 25 Receipts from church actwlties 4.450 25 445025 472568 Totsl in¢om* f8J.43S.59 32,07S.06 215,510.65 163,054.17 Payments Cost of generabng funds Missionary and chantab￿ GNiny 228 02 16.67S 90 so.000 00 228 02 1S.675 90 $0.000 oo 26 451 18 3B 393 87 325 34 354 73 22 632 66 47 25D 00 22.652 04 39.106 25 223 56 Clergy and Staffin9 C051s Church Running Expenses Hèll Runnin9 Costs Church Repairs & Maintenance Hall Repsirs & Ktsintenance Npw Buildin9 WDTk GovFfflan¢8 ¢0$ 37,868 01 325 34 525 66 21 3SI 12 240 00 84134t4 240 00 205.7$ 205.75 150 00 To￿1 9xp8￿111ure Giins I10558son Investment assets 153.3￿.52 515.86 153.881.90 140,782.66 JO.080.27 31.$49 20 61,t29.47 22.271.49 TranBfors IranslerE beMeEn funds- In Gro55 transfers beWn lund5- out ¢therr8cogms8dgainB IIOSB Gains on reualuaiion fixed assets charity'$ u3e pt mov•menl ID funds 30.080.17 31,549.2 61.629.47 22.271.48 Total funds brought foThYard 69.734.84 298.30 70.033.14 47.761.85 Total funds Garrled torw4rd 31,Y7.50 131.662.61 70.033.14 07 March Z024 Pag8 1 26 ## **Deanery Synod Report** Ealing Deanery comprises all the Church of England parishes and organisations in the London Borough of Ealing. This includes 33 churches, five Church of England schools and five chaplaincies seeking to demonstrate that Jesus Christ is relevant and impacting people’s lives in the Borough of Ealing. Ealing Deanery Synod brings together representatives from all the churches in the deanery four times a year. The word ‘synod’ means ‘walking together’, and all meetings are open to any church member. Synod meetings include talks by inspiring speakers, case studies of good practice from the deanery, and formal processes such as voting on issues related to the wider Church of England. The synod also distributes the Mission Fund in the summer each year and is responsible for electing school governors to a number of schools in the Deanery area. Four meetings of the Ealing Deanery Synod took place in 2023 with the Rev’d David Neno acting as Area Dean: ## **Ian Wilson is the St Mellitus Deanery Synod Rep** 27