**The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of St Matthew, Ealing Common North Common Rd, London, W5 2QA Registered Charity Number 1180166** **Trustees Report for the year ended 31 December 2024** **Trustees (as at 31 December 2024): Michael Barter, Lucie Kirkpatrick (treasurer), James Blake (warden), Ian Pearce (buildings), Claire Onono (safeguarding), Claire Oberman (vice-chair)** ## **Overview of St Matthews** St Matthews, Ealing Common is a late Gothic Victorian Church. It is an active parish community with a committed, diverse and growing congregation. Worship takes places in the church Friday-Sunday every week. A local Christian fellowship also uses the building for worship over the course of the typical weekend. In addition to worship, St Matthews church is also used as a venue for social outreach, hosting a night shelter in its hall and vestry that provides food, accommodation and support during the winter months for Ealing’s vulnerable street homeless community. St Matthews is also used regularly throughout the year as a meeting space for faith gatherings, community action groups, musical concerts and public meetings. The adjacent church hall is home to a Montessori Nursery School on weekdays, and is hired out at other times to a number of different groups. We recruit trustees from the congregation of St Matthews often where their skills are aligned to the role they take on our PCC. ## **Review of the year** ## **The Parish** With the support of Richard Thomas and the ever-committed St Matthew’s Choir, St Matthews has continued to be a place of lively worship over the past year, particular highlights being the key festivals of Christmas & Easter. We have held funerals and memorials for four long-standing members of St Matthews’ over the past year (Tiggy Gibson, Brenda Sargent, Molly Thomas & Freda Graves.). May they rest in peace. We have also celebrated a baptism, welcoming Matilda Graves into the Lords’ family at Christmas 2024. Throughout the calendar year, the church doors have been regularly opened for tours and visits, staffed by volunteers from the St Matthew’s Heritage Committee. The parish has also organised and hosted memorable social and community events which have enriched our common life together. Some of the highlights are discussed below. In January, we hosted a well supported Quiz Night with the parishioners of All Saints Ealing Common, in support of the Ealing Winter Night Shelter. In June we welcomed into church the family and friends of Revd Peter Watkins to unveil a memorial plaque celebrating his decades long ministry at St Matthew’s. In July, we celebrated the End of the School Year with our Sunday School families, with our now traditional picnic in the sunshine on Ealing Common. A very big thank you to our children’s champion Neil Cartmell for his excellent work in putting this together. Unfortunately, we were unable to hold our October Animal Blessing Day due to unforeseen circumstances, but we are hopeful it will return in October 2025. In December, as part of our Christmas services we held our annual Nativity Service, which was low on numbers but nevertheless highly entertaining. Again, thank you to Mr Neil Cartmell & family for pulling the service together. ## **Mission And Outreach** Our commitment to local mission and outreach initiatives was once again demonstrated this year by our ongoing involvement in the programme of the Ealing Churches Winter Night Shelter. We began planning for this at the beginning of 2024, under the leadership of our outreach officer and venue coordinator Ian Pearce. Thanks to the tireless energy and effort of Ian and so many of St Matthew’s parishioners, we were able to successfully run this project throughout February & March of this year, providing food, accommodation & fellowship to some of Ealing’s vulnerable street homeless community. ## **Safeguarding** St Matthew’s is committed to ensuring the care, safety and effective safeguarding of all its parishioners, especially children, families & young adults. Our current Safeguarding officer is Claire Dutfield Onono. Our safeguarding policy is adapted from the Diocesan Safeguarding Model policy and is available through a link on the front page of our website. In addition to this, the parish priest of St Matthew’s has also completed the mandatory Diocesan Safeguarding Leadership Training Courses and has a fully up to date enhanced DBS check. ## **2030 Vision** As per last year, please find attached the Willesden Deanery 20230 Action Plan, which outlines the goals and visions for the future ministry & mission of churches and chaplaincies across the deanery area. Again, I would encourage all parishioners to give serious reflection to (a) what we are already doing to participate in this, and (b) what else St Matthews might be able to achieve as part of this wider vision, as we continue to go forward together. The 2030 Vision: every church and chaplaincy across the deanery is encouraged to develop and grow their church in the following ways **-** ## **Confident Disciples** Every Church and Chaplaincy is encouraged to; - Develop a clear and intentional pathway that enables seekers/newcomers to put their faith in Jesus Christ. - Develop its own distinct shared ‘Way of Life’ to nurture and develop its people in their faith. Compassionate Communities Every Church and Chaplaincy is encouraged to; - Sign up as an ‘Eco Church’, moving to achieving a ‘bronze’ award and beyond. - Start, refresh, or develop at least one community facing ministry appropriate to its context; - and be able to articulate its Christian distinctiveness. Creative Growth Every Church and Chaplaincy is encouraged to; - Attend the Grow Course (or something similar) in order to be supported in growing in health, numbers, and impact. - Identify who they are currently not reaching, and then develop a New Worshipping Community for them. Growing Younger Every Church and Chaplaincy is encouraged to: - Develop a plan for creating a culture that will reach, welcome and integrate families, children and young people into the life of their church community. • Collaborate with other churches in their Deanery and/or networks, in ways that ensure that every church can access effective youth work provision. Safer Churches Every Church and Chaplaincy is to ensure: • An embedded culture of good safeguarding practices and arrangements that is safe for all, supported by the Diocesan Safeguarding Team, and which includes an up-to-date parish safeguarding dashboard. - That they always respond well to all safeguarding concerns in the best way possible. ## **Racially Just** Every Church and Chaplaincy is encouraged to: - Adopt the Diocese’s Racial Justice ten-point Plan. • Use the Diocesan developed ‘Tool-kit’ to audit their response to racial justice, and to develop their own Action Plan as a result. People Every Church and Chaplaincy is encouraged to: • Create and nurture an environment in which all people can belong and participate as disciples of Christ, particularly people who experience physical, sensory and intellectual impairments and disabilities. - Develop an Action Plan by using the Diocesan ‘360 Accessibility Audit’. ## **Conclusion** Despite our limited resources and some significant financial challenges over the course of 2024, St Matthew’s has continued to share the love of God through our worship, outreach and community activities across the local Ealing Common community. ## **Financial Review** ## **Summary** Overall we made a profit of £8,000, before restricted fund movements, largely due to higher than expected receipts for lettings. With restricted fund movements added in we made a profit of £10,000. The common fund was raised from £35,000 in 2023 to £36,750 in this year, 2024. With the loss of the nursery we had to reduce our parish share for 2025 to £30,000. In 2024 we had total incoming resources of £120,000 mainly through a combination of voluntary giving of £41,000 and receipts from church activities of £75,000. We also had £4,000 of investment income. Overall we had £8,000 less income than in 2023 but it was £5,000 higher when excluding the restricted funds. In 2023 £12,000 more was donated to restricted funds mainly for the organ. Lettings were £5000 higher and a £1000 increase in interest offset a £1000 drop in voluntary giving. We had total resources expended of £111,000 resulting in a net positive movement in funds i.e. profit of £10,000. In 2023 we had higher resources expended of £123,000 which was due mainly to church maintenance costs which didn’t recur this year. There are a number of other factors which will be discussed in note 4. Excluding the organ fund movements the church made a profit of £8,000. ## **Balance sheet** This is a record of our assets and liabilities at the end of the year, we had fixed assets of £220,000 which is the church hall. Our current assets were cash of £99,000 and debtors of £11,000. Cash was £16,000 higher than 2023. Our current liabilities were accruals of £506 and deferred income of £9,000 which are rental payments received in advance of the spring term. Overall net assets were £320,000 which is an increase of £10,000 from the end of 2023 predominantly representing profit made in the year. ## **Further detail** A number of the notes are self-explanatory and will not be described in more detail. From Note 2 it is possible to see the breakdown in restricted funds – these are funds held that can only be used for specific purposes. £1,500 is held for improvement works for the church and there is £3,000 in a fund for works to the organ. Other small funds have been created for church flowers and the night shelter - thank you for all the donations for these specific areas. Note 3 is a breakdown of Incoming Resources. The first major category is voluntary Income of £41,000 and was made up of: - Planned giving through both the Parish Giving Scheme of £22,000 and regular giving by bank transfer of £4,000 both roughly in line with 2023. - Collections were £4,000 roughly in line with 2023. - Gift Aid of £7,000 was £3000 lower than 2023 due to lower donations to the organ fund. - The last category of ‘all other giving & voluntary income’ of £4000 is lower than the £14,000 in 2023 as there was a significant donation to the organ fund in 2023. Receipts from activities for generating funds was £0 in line with 2023. Receipts from church activities of £75,000 were largely from letting of the church hall of £53,000, £5,000 higher than 2023, and use of the church of £22,000 in line with 2023. We have had some successful new rentals in the hall. In Note 4 resources expended are summarised into three major categories (Cost of Generating Funds is £0) - The first is ‘Church Activities’ of £59,000 which is £2,000 more than 2023 mainly due to increased Parish Share of £36,750 and a slight increase in salaries. - The next major category is ‘Church expenses’ of £52,000 down by £16,000 on 2023 with the absence of the major church maintenance works that took place in 2023. In particular with that: - Church running expenses of £21,000 were £26,000 less than in 2023. Slight increases in general running and gardening costs were more than offset by a reduction in maintenance and organ costs. - Church utility costs were £15,000, £5,000 higher with both gas and electricity costs up. o Hall running expenses of £14,000 were £11,000 more than 2023 with significant costs spent on lawyers and surveyors for the new contract with the new nursery and works to refresh the hall. o Hall utility costs were £2,000 which is £6,000 less than 2023 which is likely misrepresentative due to timing of the bills but gas costs have come down. - There was no ‘Major capital expenditure’ in the year as for 2023 Note 7 is the breakdown of where our cash is held in various accounts with the total of £99,000, £16,000 higher than in 2023 mainly due to profit made in the year but also with deferred income held for spring rentals. Note 8 sets out the debtors of £11,000 and includes typical debtors of insurance prepayment of £5,000, £6,000 of rental debtors and around £700 of gift aid. Note the vast majority of the debtors have paid since the year end. Note 11 sets out the accruals of £506 which are running expenses. We see our unrestricted reserves at £94,000 which is higher than 2023. £25,000 is designated towards the cost of fixing the church gutters. The remaining £69,000 is retained in anticipation of other potential repairs to our church building – as an historic building we anticipate significant future expenditure could be needed to maintain the integrity of the building. As I have mentioned over the last few years there are two major significant risks the church faces which are the potential to lose our large hirers and the potential replacement of the church heating system. ## **Fabric, goods & ornaments report** The building is in good condition but Ian has covered what work we need to focus on following the QI. See below for a summary of works to the buildings this year. In relation to the goods of the Church, the main addition has been the Projector and Screen for the Film Nights. In respect of the Ornaments, they have been maintained and include the Chalices and plate. ## **Building works** This year we have been steadily working through the QI report we received early last year. We have focused on some of the urgent work one of which has been the demolition of the old organ blower shed which was in a dangerous state. The church roof has been holding up much better thanks to the efforts of the previous year’s maintenance. Although during some of the recent big downpours have exposed some new leaks which have been investigated and hopefully fixed. A Leaking gutter and downpipe above vestry door was fixed. The Hall was given a freshen up with new flooring in the kitchen and hand dryers in the toilets. It was also redecorated ready for the start of the new nursery. The new nursery management team have cleaned up the outside space and turned it into a sensory garden for the children. The rear gate has been cleaned of rust and repainted and now looks like new. We have had new 5year electrical survey undertaken and the remedial works have recently taken place. The church and hall has also undergone an insurance review recently which didn’t uncover any surprises. Going forward we need to address the longer-term items in the Qi report which are much bigger. These include a review of the stained-glass windows, some brick work and stone issues and also, the ongoing gutter refurbishment. ## **Music** The choir is growing and always looking for new members. We were very lucky that Izzie joined us this year as she also plays the organ. Peter Edwards and Izzy are a great support when Richard is not here. The choir is joyous and skilful now with nineteen members. Christmas carol service to continue as a one-off morning event followed by lunch in the church hall. It is very successful giving everyone the chance to catch up and chat before the business of the season is upon us! ## **St Matthew’s Church, Ealing Common** Financial Statements of the Parochial Church Council **Period Ended 31st Dec 2024** ## **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES** |**INCOMING RESOURCES**
Voluntary income
Activities for generating funds
Receipts from Church activities
Investment income
Other incoming resources
**Total Incoming Resources**
**RESOURCES EXPENDED**
Cost of generating funds (fundraising activites costs)
Church Activities
Church expenses
Major capital expenditure
**Total Resources Expended**
**Net incoming resources before transfers**
**Net Movement in Funds**
Balance brought forward 1st January
Balance carried forward 31st Dec|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**31st De**
**£**
**£**
38,449
2,769
0
0
75,399
0
3,809
0
0
0
**117,658**
**2,769**
9
0
58,805
0
51,168
875
0
0
**109,981**
**875**
**7,677**
**1,894**
**7,677**
**1,894**
87,452
3,309
**95,129**
**5,202**|**c 2024**
**Budget 2024**
**31st Dec 2023**
**£**
**£**
41,218
38,572
54,262
0
50
0
75,399
66,571
70,595
3,809
1,200
3,032
0
0
0
**120,427**
**106,393**
**127,890**
9
6
58,805
57,250
55,515
52,043
53,050
67,939
0
0
**110,856**
**110,300**
**123,460**
**9,570**
**-3,907**
**4,430**
**9,570**
**-3,907**
**4,430**
90,761
86,331
**100,331**
**90,761**|**c 2024**
**Budget 2024**
**31st Dec 2023**
**£**
**£**
41,218
38,572
54,262
0
50
0
75,399
66,571
70,595
3,809
1,200
3,032
0
0
0
**120,427**
**106,393**
**127,890**
9
6
58,805
57,250
55,515
52,043
53,050
67,939
0
0
**110,856**
**110,300**
**123,460**
**9,570**
**-3,907**
**4,430**
**9,570**
**-3,907**
**4,430**
90,761
86,331
**100,331**
**90,761**| |---|---|---|---| ||||**90,761**| **Balance Sheet at 31st Dec 2024** **----- Start of picture text -----**
Unrestricted Restricted
31st Dec 2024 31st Dec 2023
funds funds
Fixed Assets
Investments 1 220,000 220,001 220,001
Current Assets
Cash at bank 93,876 5,202 99,078 83,520
Debtor 11,198 0 11,198 7,621
Debtor Provision 0 0 0
Liabilities
Deferred Income 0 0 9,440 0
Accruals 506 0 506 381
Total Net Assets 104,568 225,202 320,331 310,761
Profit & Loss 95,129 5,202 100,331 90,761
Revaluation / Endowment Reserve 220,000 220,000 220,000
95,129 225,202 320,331 310,761
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of St Matthew’s Parochial Church Council** I report on the accounts of the church for the year ended 31 December 2024. ## **Respective responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner** The church’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The church’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to: - Examine the accounts (under section 145 of the 2011 Act); - To follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners (under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act); and - To state whether particular matters have come to my attention. ## **Basis of Independent Examiner’s report** My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair view’ and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. ## **Independent examiner’s statement** In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention: 1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements - to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; and - to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act have not 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. Catherine Bedwin 5[th] March 2025 21 Lyncroft Gardens, London W13 9PU