2023-12-31-accounts

St Peters’ and St Illtyds’

Annual Report 2023

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Contents

Vicar’s Report	3
PCC Report	8
Church Wardens’ and St Peter’s Sib-
	10
Wardens’ Report
St Illtyd’s Sub-Wardens’ Report	12
Webmaster Report	13
Churchyard Report	13
Choir report	14
St Peter’s Community Centre
Magazine Report	14
Thursday Club Report	15
Mothers’ Union Report	16
St Illtyd’s Ladies Guild	16
Keys’ Club Report	17
Children’s Ministry	19
Befrienders’ Café and Art Group	20
Parish 100 Club	21
Self-Denial Box	22
Operation Christmas Child	22
Benefice Accounts Report	24
St Peter’s Accounts Report	26
St Illtyd’s Accounts Report	27

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Vicar’s Report

Introduction

Welcome to the 2023 Annual Report. A big thank you to the contributors for their input as we provide an overview of a year in the life of our churches. I would also like to put on record my thanks to the many people who are so generous with their time. Without such generosity of spirit, we simply could not do the ministry and mission that 2023 has witnessed.

A lot has gone in 2023, but four headlines are important for context. First, in May, Sarah Picton began work 18.5 hours a week as our Children, Youth and Family Worker. I’m grateful to the Austin Bailey Foundation and the Diocesan Mission Fund for their commitment to 3 years’ of financial support. Sarah’s arrival has led to a huge increase in capacity for children and youth work.

Secondly, the Diocese unilaterally announced that benefices and parishes would be dissolved by bishop’s decree and reformed as Ministry Areas. This happened for Penderi in May 2023. The initial changes have been modest but there will be a fundamental change in local church life over the next few years. I cannot pretend that this will be for the better. At St Peter’s and St Illtyd’s, we are going to have to make the best of it as there is no going back.

Thirdly, he Parish Vision has provided an important impetus to activity in a number of areas, not least providing pencil cases to every child leaving year 6 in Cadle Primary School, Gendros Primary School and Gors Community School. We reviewed the Vision in April 2023 and it will next be reviewed at the AGM in March 2024. It is your vision, so please amend it as you see fit!

Finally, in 2023, we benefited greatly from the assistance of Gabriel and Rachel Lanza, our Time for God volunteers. They returned to Honduras at the end of July 2023 and their presence was sorely missed. This first year with them highlighted just how much we needed some additional energy to help move forward.

I have continued to be a representative for the Diocese of Swansea & Brecon on the Governing Body of the Church in Wales. This meets twice a year and oversees the life of the Church in Wales. Whilst this is a time

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commitment, it is important that we contribute to both the local life of the Church, and the national life if we want to see the Church moving in the right direction. I am also an Episcopal Elector for the diocese, and an Anglican representative to the Swansea Standing Advisory Committee on Religious Education (SACRE). As Vicar, I am a trustee of the Fforestfach Welfare Trust. This year I have also been the High Sheriff’s chaplain.

Worship

Our worship in the parish is centred around the Sunday morning Eucharist, where we meet together to hear God’s Word, then gather around God’s table to be fed with the bread of heaven. It should be a foretaste of heaven.

During 2023 we got grant funding purchase an 85” TV for St Peter’s. Now both churches use a screen to display the liturgy. This has greatly assisted those whose vision makes it difficult to read small words in hymn books or on paper booklets. One deaf worshipper commented that it greatly assisted them following the service. Both churches use an apple home hub to share the liturgy from the parish iPad. It is easy for anyone to control. At present, the St Peter’s Screen is on a trolly, on a staging block. During 2024 it will need to be mounted on the wall.

Parade services with Fforestfach Scouts have continued. Due to changes in leadership, these have not happened every month but we hope that these can become regular again during 2024. I am grateful to the leaders and children for their continued support.

Evensong has continued on the 3[rd] Sunday or the month at St Peter’s. From January to July we finished off our series on “What we believe” with the Rev’ds Sam Aldred, Geraint Wathan, Sean Stillman, Canon Hugh Lervy, the Veneralble Moes Farch and Gabriel and Rachel all preaching. In September 2023 we began a new series called “Why Paul’s Letters Matter Today”. Archdeacon Dorrien Davies (in October elected bishop of St Davids), the Rev’d Layfetta Masib and the Rev’d Marja Flipse opened the series.

Our weekday Eucharists have seen good, steady numbers at St Peter’s, approaching 20 quite often. Numbers at St Illtyd’s have been lower as regulars have become housebound or died. This year we have had some

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themed sermon series including the whole armour of God (Ephesians 6) and a journey through the book of Esther.

Morning Prayer continues to be said as often as possible in Church. It is always a delight to share this with others. This is usually on a Tuesday and a Wednesday.

Once again we held a full Holy Week which began with a joint Palm Sunday service, followed by AGM. We were blessed to have Gabriel and Rachel preach for much of the week. There were special services including Tenebrae (Monday in St Peter’s), Maundy Thursday service with striping of the altars and vigil, the ecumenical Good Friday walk of witness, devotions led by Gabriel and Rachel, and the liturgy, an Easter Vigil in St Illtyd’s, and a joint Easter morning service in St Peter’s. We marked Ascension Day and Pentecost with special services.

We kept a wide Advent program as well with our Community Carol Service at St Illtyd’s, 9 Lessons and Carols at St Peter’s, and a Christingle with Nativity Play at St Peter’s. This included 19 children. Midnight Mass and a joint service on Christmas Day began the Christmas celebrations. Overall, numbers were back to pre-pandemic levels, marking a significant increase in attendance. We also hosted services for Dylan Thomas School and the Covid Bereavement Support Group.

This year I was delighted that we started two new types of service. In January we held Songs of Praise to lift spirits during the dark winter months. Some 50 people attended and it was great to have 7 worshippers describe their journey of faith and why a particular hymn was significant to them. In July we held our second service, this time in aid of the Roots Foundation Wales, in the presence of the Lord Lieutenant of West Glamorgan and the High Sheriff.

In September, we held our first monthly Welsh language Offeren Sanctaidd. It has found a place on the third Saturday of the month. I have been very grateful to those Welsh-speaking clergy who have accepted the invitation to preach, and to the congregation who have readily accepted being readers and leading prayers.

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A weakness in our current service pattern is that there is no lay-led worship during the week. At present, there appears no appetite to lead it. I hope that this will change during 2024.

Occasional Offices

Holy Baptism

During 2022 there was one adult and four children baptised within the parish. All are regular worshippers in our churches.

Confirmation

A Ministry Area Confirmation Service was held in St Illtyd’s Church on 5 July 2023. 9 adults from the parish were presented, along with 2 from the other side of the Ministry Area.

Holy Matrimony

Four weddings were celebrated in the parish, all at St Peter’s.

Funerals

The parish was invited to celebrate 17 funerals, 10 in St Peter’s, 1 in St Illtyd’s, and the rest straight to the Crematorium.

Mission

During October, I was able to go on the course Leading your church into growth . I learned a lot from the course and set about trying to share some of the findings. Perhaps the most significant piece of advice for us is that mission should be intentional, and rooted in prayer. We have

implemented the weekly use of a prayer that focuses on mission to that end. Further, at PCC we consciously look at mission opportunities.

This year we have undertaken some particular mission event. In July, as part of our vision, we gave every child leaving year 6 in three schools, with an invitation to come along to summer camp. The summer camp itself was designed to share appropriately the faith we have.

We have started a campaign to deliver an invitation leaflet to every house in the parish, outlining service times and events. This has not led to a discernible increase in numbers.

In December, the Pop-Up Nativity evolved yet again in its third year. This year, the morning had 3 sessions for English-medium schools: 2 for

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Cadle and one for Gors. We decided to have much bigger groups (up to 60 children) and target older children, rather than infants as before. Thanks to the support of the Rev’d Dr Adrain Morgan, we were able to translate the scripts and run a Welsh version in the afternoon for groups from Pont-y-Brenin and Y Login Fach. Over 270 children came through the event, with its two casts of actors. On the Saturday, a community event was help as well.

Ministry

I have continues to provide assemblies to Cadle (weekly) and Gors (periodically) Schools, alongside Gabriel and Rachel. Sarah Picton began weekly assemblies at Gendros School in the autumn. This year we focused on the parables of Jesus in the Spring term, then heroes of the faith in the summer term. In the autumn, we began a series working from the Judges through to king David. The opportunities for access are largely the result of the work I do as a governor at Gors and Cadle. I am also on the Management Committee of Maes Derw, the Swansea Pupil Referral Unit.

Children’s ministry more generally is covered separately in Sarah Picton’s article. It is worth noting the scale of children and youth work now undertaken: 2 baby groups, crafty church, Sunday School, and summer camp, with the Youth Group ready to start in January 2024. I’m hugely grateful to all those who volunteer to enable these events to happen, and give so freely of their time.

We have run several courses for new believers and discipleship over the year. In January we started an Alpha Course, the first to run here for several years. There were 8 guests, mostly attending other churches in the city. After Easter, I ran “6 steps to loving your Church” for the Confirmation course, which then continued to look at particular issues. In the autumn I ran Discipleship Explored. These courses are vital for the opportunity to deepen faith.

Home visiting is becoming an increasingly important ministry. Attempts to resurrect the Home Communion Team have not been successful. Demand far outstrips my capacity.

Governance

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I’m hugely grateful for those who have contributed so much to the PCC. There is a separate report covering the PCC. I feel this year has been more focused on mission than any previous year in my time here. I hope that this more focused approach will help us shape the life of our churches to be more missional as well.

I would also like to make particular note of the work of the Social and Fundraising Group, who have planned and implemented a varied programme. It is sad to note that post-pandemic our social events are not as well attended. The Quiz Night, in particular, was great fun but had less than 20 come along. We will need to work on how we can encourage people out!

The Ministry Area Council came into being in September. As of yet, it is in its early stages. All faculties and fundraising bids now need to be approved by this body, which leads to a duplication in work. I hope that we can find a way to ensure it is not just another level of bureaucracy.

The Rev’d Dr Jonathon Wright

Vicar

PCC Report

The same as last year we have tried to carry out our PCC meetings alternating between St Peter’s and St Illtyd’s on a monthly basis. The year has yet again flown by for the PCC.

Current activities being dealt with include:-

Getting permission to install new information boards at both churches. A memorial board has been installed externally at St Peter’s Where we can affix memorial plaques.

Time for God provided the parish with a married couple from Honduras named Rachel and Gabriel who bonded well with the congregations at both churches and assisted Jonathon at various school assemblies to help educate all ages in the Word of the Lord. Their assistance was greatfully received at various church services and activities.

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It is very important we as a parish thank Chris Bennett for providing warm and friendly accommodation to Rachel and Gabriel to assist in them joining the parish family. They proved themselves to be very hardworking and fitted in so very well.

After Rachel and Gabriel moved on to their next mission abroad, it was agreed to contact Time for God to arrange a replacement. I am glad that we as a parish could welcome Juan to provide assistance as did Rachel and Gabriel. Very best wishes to Juan for his time with us.

Summer Camp .

Monday 14/08/2023 saw the Kids’ Summer Camp at St Peter’s. Which saw 40 children over the 4 days, with an average attendance over 20. It was a good opportunity to share the Christian faith by teaching, and the example of our team of 28 helpers. A massive well done to Sarah Picton who planned the camp and prepared so much to make it happen. A big thank you also to Sian Parkhouse (Diocesan Children, Youth and Family Officer) and Kylie Davies from St Paul’s, Sketty, who freely gave of their time and advice, and helped the administration to run smoothly.

Sunday school

It has been good to see families with young children attend Sunday morning services and see the results of their craft sessions within the Sunday school in the vestry. Thank you to Charlie and her assistants for making this happen, Well Done All.

Community Centre

Currently the community centre cannot be used to its fullest capabilities due to ongoing drainage issues. The parish has been delayed in getting the official go ahead to have the proposed car park at the community centre authorised which would allow the drainage issue to be corrected at the same time. Hopefully this will be sorted soon.

Again a huge thankyou to all that have been involved in sorting out the new bank accounts at both churches which clearly was not an easy issue by any means, so thankyou to Elliot, Alan and Diane.

– Tuesday 23/05/2023 There was a Ministry Area inauguration service at St Michael's, Manselton. The bishop relicenced Jonathon and the other clergy. The long term intension is that we will no longer be formerly a benefice, but the PCC remains in place until the diocese takes the formal actions to disband the benefice charity.

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Technology

July this year Jonathon took delivery of our Large TV and stand and acquired the necessary equipment to deliver the services and hymns on screen. We are awaiting Faculty permission to get the Large TV mounted on a bracket and fixed to its adjacent pillar and raised higher than it is so everyone gets a better view of the screen.

. Operation Christmas Child

As a PCC could we thank Colin & Anne Hammacott who again got, the Parish of Cockett to participated as a collection centre for Operation Christmas Child. As in previous years, they provided a shoebox packing service for church members and this proved to be remarkably successful as they purchased toys and packed 75 boxes. They successfully sent off 141 boxes from the Parish together with a further 118 boxes from the community making a total of 259 boxes.

A huge thank you must go to those volunteers who staffed the church over the three days and a massive thank you to those members of our congregations who so generously supported Operation Christmas Child in various ways.

As a PCC we thank you all for your support in the Past, Present and Future.

Steve Davies

Church Wardens’ Report

Where did 2023 go?

January had a sad start with the passing of Janet Vickery on the 1[st] January. On a positive note an Alpha course was started. The Bishop officially announced that we would formally be commissioned as a ministry area.

February Keys Club 60[th] Anniversary service took place at St Peter’s with the opportunity to give thanks for the last 60 years and give every blessing for the future.

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March

Children’s Sunday . On Sunday 5 March, the children took the lead with readings and prayers at St Peter’s. As some of our children are in Welsh medium education, there was some Welsh, along with an English translation.

April

Holy Week . The most important week of the Christian year started on Palm Sunday, retracing our Lord’s Passion, death and resurrection.

May

Ministry Area inauguration took place on Tuesday 23rd May at St Michael and All Angels, Manselton. The bishop relicensed Fr Ian and Jonathon who received the formal legal documents to become a Ministry Area.

June Ben Jones was ordained priest at Brecon Cathedral on Saturday 24[th] June.

July

Bishop John confirmed 11 candidates at St Illtyd’s.

Dylan Thomas Community Week took place.

A big thank you to the year 10s who repainted the St Peter’s choir vestry and disabled toilet, to those who relayed a section of path in the graveyard, and a team who were mapping

parts of the graveyard. This is part of our vision to build ties with the school.

August

Kids Summer Camp took place at St Peter’s Church, Monday 14 to Thursday 17 August. The camp was aimed at 5-11 year old children.

The popular Disney film Encanto was the main theme this year, twinned with the story of Joseph, from Genesis.

September

Diocesan Centenary Celebration took place at the Royal Welsh Showground on Saturday 9th.

Diocesan Centenary . Service took place on Sunday 17th September, we celebrated with the 1662 Eucharist to make us feel as if we were in the year 1923.

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October

Light Party . Crafty Church held its alternative Halloween event, the

“Light Party”, on Friday 27th October. It’s was a great way to reach out to those not part of our church community.

November

Joint Service & parish meal . There was a joint service on Sunday 5th

November as we celebrated St Illtyd’s Day, followed by a parish meal at the Cockett Inn.

December

Pop-up Nativity . The pop-up nativity successfully took place at Swansea Community Farm.

Kids Christmas Craft Afternoon took place on Saturday 16th. Families were invited to drop in 1-3pm. Crafts included wreath-making, spoon art angels, woolly sheep tree decorations and more!

Steve and Sally (Wardens) Pat Hathaway and Mary Howard.(Sub Wardens)

St Illtyd’s Sub-Warden Report

The beginning of 2023 saw an Alpha Course in St Illtyd’s, as well as a Lent course. A well-attended Bible Course ran in May.

We held a fete early in the year, which didn’t do as well as expected. We have new signage that surely will help.

April saw our orchard come to fruition, as in we planted the trees, and in 2024 ,we hope that they will grow big and strong with Gods help and bear lots of fruit. April also saw Reflections of the Cross and a Good Friday service held here.

We had a bingo night in May, and everyone had a lovely time, and raised funds. June saw a visit by Compassion UK to St Illtyd’s. In July, we had our first ever Confirmation service at St Illtyds, which went very well.

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All this year Alan has been maintaining St Illtyd’s, grass, fencing, painting, troughings etc, and it looks better for it too.

Alan, Gabriel and Rachel, with others, cleared the flooded basement/old boiler room, which was a horrid task and we had skip in to get rid of all the debris which has been collecting down there over the years.

We have two or three children who come with their parents and enjoy Sunday school. We also continue to host the scouts, cubs, beavers etc; once a month.

In November, we held another fete which did much better.

The 100 club fish and chip supper was held at St Illtyd’s in early December because of plumbing problems with the Community Centre. The Community Carol Service was well attended, with Cadle School Choir singing beautifully.

Families in Christ Ministries, a Pakistani-origin church, started to use our hall and church for their Christian meetings. They have joined us for worship. We also had a joint service with them in October, which was interesting.

Christine Bennett, Prim Sangar and Mair Tovey.

Webmaster Report

The parish website hasn’t changed much in the last year, apart from updating groups and activities when required the majority of online interaction goes through social media sights rather than the website. That said the website still gets an average of 1,150 visits a month. With our contact pages being the most viewed followed by the details of how to hire our halls.

Sarah Picton.

Churchyard Report

Work in maintaining the Churchyard, again went very well, given the limited human resource's available to us on any given day, with particular

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thanks to two stalwart volunteers, who are not even member's of the Church, but between them, and the three or four regulars, continue to do us all proud.

We must again thank those visitors to the Churchyard, who so generously contributed via the collection box, and considerably helped towards the high costs incurred in maintaining the seven-acre site, highlighted this year, with the very necessary purchase of a new "ride on mower" at a cost of £6,670:00.

Roy Wydenbach

Choir Report

2023 has been a relatively quiet year. Regular choir rehearsals have continued and the choir has sung at every service, including Evensong.

Our numbers remained the same until the autumn when Robert Edwards appeared in church, and fortunately he accepted our invitation to join the choir. He is a very welcome addition to the men’s section, and the choir in general.

We have plenty of spaces in the Chancel for anyone wishing to join. Please come along on a Wednesday evening at 6.30 pm – no voice trial is expected – you can be assured of a very warm welcome.

Eileen Jones

St Peter’s Community Centre Report

Due to illness, no report has been submitted by the time this report had to be distributed.

Parish Magazine Report

The parish magazine is produced quarterly. The committee meet to discuss content for each edition and also meet to edit the content, once received.

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The Committee is made up of Mary Howard, Pat Hathaway, Mary Millington, Margaret Lewis, the Vicar and myself. Sarah Picton was also part of the committee but her commitments with the young people of the parish has kept her too busy to continue. We thank her for her input. We met 10 times during the year.

We always welcome ideas for features for the magazine from parish members. If anyone has any content ideas, they can approach anyone from the committee.

We have a number of advertisers but there is still room for more! If you know of any business that would like to advertise, please let us know.

Maureen Cassagrande

Thursday Club Report

Thursday Club continues in popularity, providing interesting speakers on the second, third and fourth weeks of the month. On November 9 Menna Wyn Jones spoke to us on hurricanes, her talk was excellent and most informative.

This was followed on 16 November by Helen May, who spoke on the making of dolls house accessories, bringing with her examples of her work, which was most fascinating.

On the 23[rd] November we went off on our annual trip, arriving firstly at Vincent Davies, the departmental Store, where we enjoyed coffee, and also purchased items from their vast display of Christmas Decorations. Following this, we left for Narberth, where we browsed in the delightful small shops, and then enjoyed lunch, an excellent day was had by all.

December 7 was a week for Christmas Celebrations, and we had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon, complete with a Christmas buffet.

On January 7 we held our New Year social afternoon, and on 13[th] Rev Mark Williams gave us an excellent talk, and on January 25[th] we will be holding our annual Dinner at the Kingsbridge.

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Mary Howard

Mothers’ Union Report

The first meeting at our new time of 2.00pm was held in January as a general get together for fellowship and to discuss our branch hosting the St Mary’s Eucharist the following day. Our February meeting was cancelled as it was the day of Janet Vickery’s funeral who had been a faithful member until a few years ago. The Wave of Prayer meeting was held once again this year when 17 members attended a very moving service of prayers for worldwide members.

A very enjoyable St David’s celebration with memorabilia, poems, the reading of Eli Jenkins prayer, a quiz then singing Calon Lan and the Welsh National Anthem followed by Welsh cakes and bara brith. Our annual meal in July was held at the Kingsbridge restaurant where we enjoyed fellowship to end our summer session. Our first meeting in September was our Eucharist service led by our Vicar Jonathon followed by refreshment and a general catch up.

Our speaker this year have enlightened us with talk on the Empire Theatre: ‘Jammy Pam’ with her chutneys, jams and handmade cards: a visit to St Petersburg and Moscow; being involved in the young farmers movement in Pembroke and latterly the Ladies Circle.

The last meeting of the year was once again our AGM when existing committee members were reappointed.

Doreen Boor

St Illtyd’s Ladies Guild

We continue to meet on the first Wednesday of the month. Mair Tovey was elected President when we began the session in September. Prim Sanger and Ann Howells are the join treasurers.

So far we have had a talk on beekeeping. Dr Ian Millington told us about being a GP in Fforestfach, also how the Cockett Amateur Operatic Society was started by the Rev’d Fred Secombe. Apparently, it began with the Gilbert and Sullivan Operas, then progressed to other musicals.

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We were also entertained by Billy, who sang for us, and Brenda Gully, who told us about working in the Sancta Maria Convent. We all enjoyed very much our Christmas Dinner at the Kingsbrige Inn.

At the moment we only have an average of 12 ladies attending our meetings. We would love to welcome new members to our group.

Margaret Wellington

Keys’ Club Report

As we welcomed in 2023, we were already in the midst of what would prove to be, one the most successful years in the history of the Keys Club when we enjoyed a diverse programme of speakers and enjoyable social events and we looked forward to our planned special church service and our anniversary dinner to mark the 60[th] Diamond Anniversary of the Keys Club.

Throughout the year we have kept in touch with and updated members through a much appreciated monthly newsletter and the secretary has kept contact with members who have suffered ill health or bereavement through telephone calls, emails and the sending of get well and sympathy cards.

However, the year was tinged with sadness as we saw the passing in October of Tony Adams, one of our long standing and stalwart members and we all mourn his passing.

In January local historian Gerald Gabb took us through milestones in the history of the City of Swansea and who presented us with volumes of his historical books which we auctioned raising £150 for club funds.

February was a special month, when not only did we hold a wonderful 60[th] anniversary service at St. Peter’s conducted by our president Rev’d Dr Jonathon Wright which was attended by both members and their families but also our Anniversary Dinner and the publication of our commemorative 60[th] Anniversary brochure and we would wish to place on record our sincere thanks to John Burgum for both organising the dinner and for the considerable amount of effort, time and research that he put into producing an anniversary brochure of which we can all be proud.

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John Powell was our March speaker who told us of the part that the antiaircraft gun on Mumbles Hill played in the defence of our city during World War II.

In April, our club secretary Colin Hammacott regaled us with his personal recollections of the music hall acts who graced the stage of the iconic Swansea Empire.

Our Annual General Meeting in May saw held at the Sketty Club where we continued to support charitable causes and following nominations by members at our AGM, we forwarded £200 cheques to Forget Me Not Dementia Club, Ty Olwen, Multiple Sclerosis Trust, SSAFA, Roots Foundation Wales, Mind Cymru, Smile Train and Madame Curie. Following the meeting we enjoyed a Fish and Chip Supper.

In June, we visited the Welsh Folk Museum at St. Fagan’s before adjourning for a very enjoyable meal and social evening at the Grove Golf Club, Porthcawl.

Following our summer break, we commenced our 2023/24 programme in September with a Holy Eucharist at St. Nicholas on the Hill conducted by our Chairman, Rev. Mark Williams. followed by a Fish and Chip Supper at the Sketty Club.

In October, our Vice Chairman Gareth May displayed his encyclopaedic knowledge of rugby with a talk on Two World Cups in one year.

We were treated in November to an intriguing and fascinating talk by Richard Williams on 9/11- The untold truth. Whether we accepted or not his views, it certainly gave us a lot of food for thought.

In December, we held our Christmas Dinner at the Sketty Club where in house chef Sam again served up an excellent meal and we were thankful to Richard Nedin for making this and all other social arrangements run so efficiently in his usual exemplary way.

Finally, I wish to extend to the officers and members of the Keys Club, my sincere thanks and appreciation for the unstinting support they give me in . my role as secretary for which I am exceedingly grateful

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Colin Hammacott

Club Secretary

Children’s Ministry

It has been a busy year for children’s activities within St Peter’s and St Illtyd’s, with ups and downs.

Crafty church has continued monthly which is always well attended and children enjoy learning a Bible story through dramas, songs games and crafts.

Sunday School continues strong during the Sunday service where the children hear a Bible story and complete an activity or craft to take home to remind them of the story.

Summer Club saw 40 different children attend over the 4 days with an average of around 20 children a day. We looked at the story of Joesph along with the film Encanto through worksheets, action worship songs, drama, crafts and games all linked to Joesph’s story. The children enjoyed dancing along to ‘Jesus is my Superhero’, watching a drama preformed by the volunteers, and challenging the Vicar with some messy forfeits for the Vicar who doesn’t complete the challenge. Also, after 4 days of repeating the same memory verse of the Bible, many children were able to remember Proverbs 19:21.

Assemblies are always challenging and enjoyable, trying to get the same message across to 5–11-year-olds can sometimes be challenging but its always good to hear how much of the story the children remember from the previous week and how we are never short of volunteers from the pupils to read the scripts of the stories.

Our St Illtyd’s playgroup remains popular with some regulars in attendance. The Playgroup from St Peter’s has had its challenging with number declining so we moved the group into the community rooms at Gors Community School. After 2 terms and number not really increasing, we then made the decision to move back into the church changing the day of the group in hope to increase numbers again. Again this year we

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have had a number of very kind donations to renew or expand our toy collection which we are always thankful for.

The end of the year saw a number of children participate in our nativity play within the Christingle service, it was well attended with around 15 children attending a number of rehearsals and playing a part in the nativity.

Lastly towards the end of the school term we held our taster session for Big Questions with Christians, a lunch time club in Dylan Thomas School where we plan to look through the bible course, and plans are underway to start a youth group in the new year for those in secondary school.

A Huge thankyou to all the volunteers for their help in all the activities, without everyone’s help it would not be possible to achieve all the amazing things we do.

Sarah Picton

Befrienders’ Café and Art Group

When I started the original Carers cafe in 2019, I did not expect to see the many changes that have since occurred.

We had a name change; went online and survived a pandemic; trebled our initial membership; became recognised by the Glynn Vivian art Gallery; exhibited work in that gallery in the summer and here we are about to celebrate our fifth year of existence!

It has proved to be a great success with a regular attendance of 10 -12 people each week.

The Glynn Vivian have sent new people, given us materials, sent expert teachers in both printing and arts/ crafts as well as helped support me in running the group.

I am happy to report that we are thriving and I’m thrilled at the success of our group, and about to celebrate our 5th birthday in May! We have decorated the church for Remembrance Day, both inside and out, but sadly due to costs we are no longer able to continue doing wreaths for the Christmas period.

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Many thanks are due to Jonathan our vicar for giving us the support and belief that we could make this group work.

Also, to Sally, Sue Bergum, and Eiffion who initially came as helpers but enjoyed it so much, they joined in and stayed on in the group. Their help and encouragement over the past 5 years has been invaluable. We are moving into the coming year with both support and enthusiasm.

Christina Grant

Parish 100 Club

The 100 Club is without doubt, the biggest stream of income in our fundraising programme and despite the passing of some loyal and long standing members, our total membership in 2023 held steady at 243, as thankfully, we managed to attract a significant number of new members.

We are exceedingly grateful to all our members for their support especially those families who continue to be involved following the passing of a family church member.

Once again our annual Fish & Chip Supper and Grand Christmas Draw, which has become a firm favourite, was held this year at St Illtyd’s Church Hall, where we were entertained by our old friend Jonathon Lycett with the occasion adding £242 to 100 club funds.

It is pleasing to report, our efforts over the year were once again financially successful, resulting in a profit of £2,042.00 to bolster the funds of St. Peter’s and St. Illtyd’s.

We wish to record our thanks to those church members who pitched in and helped make our Christmas event such a success. Special thanks to those members of both churches together with their families and friends for their unstinting and loyal support for the 100 Club, we are most grateful to you all.

Colin & Anne Hammacott & Pam Brain

Benefice of Swansea St Peter (Cockett)

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Self-Denial Box

The Self Denial box supports a different charity every month. This year £1,398.24 was raised and given to the following charities:

Mercy Ships Earthquake Disaster Roots Prostate Cancer Mind Sense Maggies Roots Ripples Christian Aid	£ 43.00 227.00 301.00 98.00 67.20 74.00 50.00 181.67 53.00 303.37
	1398.24

We also sent to Ty Hafan 99.23 Barnabas Fund 61.00

These ae ongoing charities which we send to every year. Jars for contributions to these charities are at the back of the church. Thank you to everyone who supports our charities.

Pat Hathaway

Operation Christmas Child

On the run up to Christmas 2023, the Parish of Cockett once again participated in Operation Christmas Child by agreeing to St. Peter’s acting as a Collection Centre for the west of Swansea and opened for three days to allow the public to drop off their shoe boxes.

As we are getting older, we looked to hand over responsibility for coordinating the event to younger more able church members but sadly, no one was willing to take over the mantle and so we have continued in the role, however, this does not bode well for the future should we be unable to fulfil the role and there is a great need for succession planning.

Benefice of Swansea St Peter (Cockett)

22/29

As in previous years, in order to maximise the contribution of our parish to the total of shoeboxes we dispatched, we continued to provide a shoebox packing service for those church members, who, for various reasons, were unable to go shopping as often as they would wish. Again this proved to be remarkably successful as for £20.00p we purchased toys and other products and packed 75 boxes on behalf of church members, an increase of 15 on 2022 which reflects how essential this service is, as without it, the number of members participating would fall sharply.

However, the cost of living crisis has resulted in prices escalating and although we snap up bargains throughout the year, the cost of each box will need to increase, so this may have an impact on the numbers in 2024 both from the parish and the general public.

We managed to send off 141 boxes (2022 – 165 boxes) from the Parish together with a further 118 boxes (2021 – 130 boxes) from other places of worship and the general public making a total of 259 boxes (2022 – 261 boxes). Therefore, we were able to put a smile on the faces of 259 children from Ukraine and Central Asia.

Our sincere thanks to those volunteers who staffed the church over the three days we were open for the public to drop off their shoe boxes and a massive thank you to those members of the congregations of St. Peter’s and St. Illtyd’s who so generously supported Operation Christmas Child once again.

Thank you also to those who purchased bobble hats and mittens for their boxes kindly knitted by Anne Hammacott, Joan Harris and the late Dorothy Macken which enabled us to send a donation of £120 towards the work of Operation Christmas Child and a donate a further £300.00p towards church funds which with gift aid increased to £384.00p.

Colin & Anne Hammacott.

Benefice of Swansea St Peter (Cockett)

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Benefice Accounts

Financial Activities

January- December 2023
	Total
INCOME
Church contributions	38,250.00
Donations and legacies	2,164.32
Grants	19,457.00
Rent	7,604.86
Tax Refunds	5,387.82
Total Income	72,864.00
EXPENDITURES
Bank charges	63.64
Clergy Expenses	5,695.68
Dues and Subscriptions	539.14
Emergency Fund	2,400.00
Insurances	2,114.35
Mission	11,930.54
Office/General Administrative Expenses	2,027.69
Parish Share	32,502.00
Parsonage	131.01
Phone Costs	384.00
Printing, Postage and Stationery	428.18
Tax refunds reimbursement	8,908.86
Time for God	6,372.88
Total Expenditures	73,497.97
NET INCOME/(EXPENDITURE)	£ -633.97

Benefice of Swansea St Peter (Cockett)

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Balance Sheet Comparison

As of December 31, 2023

As of December 31,2023
	Total
FIXED ASSET
Total Fixed Asset
CASH AT BANK AND IN HAND
HSBC Business Current Account	70,192.50
Total Cash at bank and in hand	70,192.50
NET CURRENT ASSETS	70,192.50
NET CURRENT ASSETS (LIABILITIES)	70,192.50
TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES	70,192.50
TOTAL NET ASSETS (LIABILITIES)	£70,192.50
CHARITY FUNDS
Opening Balance Equity at Jan 1 2023	70,826.47
Surplus/(Deficit)	-633.97
Total Charity funds at Dec 31 2023	£70,192.50

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St Peters Accounts

RECEIPTS

£ Planned Giving 32,724.00 Loose Collection 1,311.00 Donations 500.00 For Mission 1,379.00 Tax Refund 8,999.00 Grants 1,000.00

Voluntary Income

Generated Income

Money Raising 885.00 Fees 2,251.00

Total Income

49,049.00

PAYMENTS

Parish Share Maintenance of Service General Parish Expenses Maintenance of Churches Mission

36,000.00 2,541.00 2,674.00 4,962.00 1,379.00

47,556.00 Brought Forward 1[st] Jan. 2023 3,149.00 Carried Forward 31[st] Dec. 2023 4,642.00

Total Expenditure

Balance of Funds

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St Illtyd’s Accounts

					£3,086.75										£2,816.68	£2,816.68																				£20,010.16		£16,187.68	£6,001.28	______	£48,102.55	£48,102.55	______
		£522.65	£2,276.88	£287.22	______				£228.30	£317.16	£17.88	£127.15	£1,910.19	£216.00	______							£126.00		£264.00	£1,595.00	£120.53	£276.15	£7,010.64	£45.00	£20.00	£42.95	£43.49	£457.60	£10,000.00	£8.80	______					TOTAL
PAYMENTS	Services	Gas	Electricity	Water				Maintenance	Alarm Service	Ground Maint	Electrical Work	Fire Check	Build Repair	Skip Hire					Miscellaneious			Bank Charges		Expenses	Organist	Donation Carol Service Collect	Self Denial Payments	P.Group Wages	Wine	Gambiling License	Stationary	Washroom Paper Towels	HMRC	T/F HSBC	Mince Pies		Balance at Bank 31/12/23	CAF Bank	HSBC Bank
4033.53	£14,932.36								£9,450.39					£153.00					£901.59												£18,631.68									______	£48,102.55		______
HSBC	CAF			£8,389.86	£663.04	£10.00	£113.12	£274.37	______				£153.00	______			£100.76	£800.83		_______				£5,588.00	£2,117.50	£28.01	£10,000.00	£300.00	£118.17	£480.00	______										TOTAL
RECEIPTS	Balance at Bank 1/1/2023		Collections	Envelopes	Loose	Gifted	Candle Fund	Self Denial		Fees		Weddings	Funerals		Donations/Fundraising		Donations	Fundraising				Miscellaneous		Tarmac Pay Back	Hall A/c	Bank interest	Transfer HSBC	Cockett Grave Yard Fund	Collection Carol Service	100 Club Share

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