**Saint John’s Church, Shildon Annual Report April 2020 – April 2021** ## **Administrative Information** St John’s Church is situated on Church St, Shildon. It is part of the Diocese of Durham within the Church of England. The correspondence address is St John’s Vicarage, 1A Burnie Gardens, Shildon, County Durham, DL4 1ND. 1 ## **Contents** |Parish Organisation|3| |---|---| |Report on the electoral roll|3| |PCC Secretary’s report|4| |Treasurer’s report|4| |Financial review|5| |Churchwardens’ fabric report|6| |Deanery Synod report|7| |Youth and Children’s activities|7| |St John’s Church of England School|8| |Bell ringers|10| |Church flowers|11| |Housegroups|11| |Disability Representative|11| |Social and fundraising|12| |Curate’s report|12| |Minister’s report|12| |Shildon Alive|17| 2 ## **Parish Organisation** Priest in Charge: Revd. Carol Harris St John’s Vicarage, 1A Burnie Gardens, Shildon, DL4 1ND 01388 778998 carol@shildonparish.org.uk Curate: Revd. Frances Cooper frances.cooper@durham.anglican.org The PCC of St. John’s Church, Shildon, has the responsibility for co-operating with the incumbent in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The PCC is a charity registered with the Charity Commission. Members of the PCC are either ex officio or elected by the annual parochial church meeting in accordance with the Church Representation Rules. During the year the following served as members of the PCC: Church Wardens: Mr. N. Cleasby (elected 2013) Mrs A. Todd (elected 2020) Lay Chair: Mr N. Cleasby Treasurer: Mr. P. Arnold Secretary: Mrs D. Truby Deputy churchwarden: Mr C. Bennett Mrs A. Sanderson Members of the PCC: Mrs L. Arnold Mrs. O. Bainbridge Mrs. D. Bennett Mrs A. Cleasby (Safeguarding Officer) Ms. J. Copland Mr. M. Fitzgerald Mr A. Harris Mr. T. Hillary Deanery Synod Reps: Mr P. Arnold and Mr. C Bennett The PCC has complied with the duty under section 5 of the Clergy Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016 (duty to have regard to House of Bishops’ Guidance on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.) ## **Report on the electoral roll** The number on the revised electoral roll for 2021 has gone down by 8 people to a total of 96. The electoral roll officer is Mrs Mary Harrison. 3 ## **PCC Secretary’s Report** During the national lockdown, due to the Covid 19 pandemic, we did not hold our annual AGM until October 2020. Early in 2020 we interviewed and appointed Revd. Carol Harris as Priest in charge of our church, and also of St. Marks, Eldon. She was licenced on 24[th] June. On the same occasion Andy Harris was licenced as Reader to St. John’s and St Mark’s. Through the year church services were closed from March and when we reopened they were severely restricted. Masks, one-way system and hand sanitiser became the norm. During this time firstly the Revd. Mark Hudghton and then Revd. Carol conducted services via Facebook, which kept us virtually connected. During October we welcomed Revd. Frances Cooper as our curate. Our PCC meetings were conducted via Zoom. We held 4 meetings with a high attendance. We have also been in contact via Zoom for fun quiz nights. Thanks to Paul, Lynne, Adele and Andy for the questions and “dingbats” Members of the congregation kept in telephone contact with vulnerable and lonely members of the church. Members of the PCC were invited to respond to a questionnaire in January. Revd. Carol collated the responses and all members of the PCC were sent an electronic copy and this was discussed at our meeting in March. Sadly, last year we lost Joyce to illness, and we give thanks for her long service to our PCC. Paul stepped up as our new treasurer. This year we welcomed to our PCC Revd. Frances Cooper, Andy Harris, Lynne Arnold and Jane Copland. We said farewell to Eileen and Andrew Bowman, Elaine Dixon and we thank them for their years of service to our church. We give grateful thanks to the Revd. Mark Hudghton and Revd. Peter Robson who cared for our spiritual lives during the Interregnum. Mrs Dorothy Truby ## **Treasurers Report** As you are all aware, it has been a difficult time for us all lately with all the lockdowns and the church being shut. This is reflected in our 2020 accounts. There are significant differences between the 2019 and the 2020 figures These are due to the lockdowns and Shildon Alive being totally separated at the end of 2019. Since being appointed treasurer on 21[st] October 2020 I have completed the following:- 4 - Brought all the accounts up to date at the end of 2020, as due to the sad loss of Joyce after her illness, they were five months behind. - Submitted the accounts for audit. - For 2021 I have replaced the old spreadsheet accounting system which was ten years old with a new one supplied by the diocese. - I have changed all the addresses for the utility bills and bank statements which were still going to Joyce’s address. - I put together a budget in consultation with Carol for the year 2021. This was difficult due to the same reasons as above. - We now have a reliable broadband connection in church which is £14 per month cheaper than it was, although we had to purchase a new router for this. - We now have the correct signatories on the bank accounts except for the Maintenance and Upkeep account. This account is not linked to any of our other accounts and there was only one of the current signatories available so Carol and the churchwardens and I decided to close this account and put the balance in the main PCC account. The balance will be kept separate as is, for example, the Bellringers account. It will continue as before except for the monies being held within the main account. - We have now access to Internet banking, with Carol, the churchwardens and I having access to the accounts. We are now able to set up payments online and pay people direct to their bank accounts instead of using cheques or cash. There are security procedures in place which means that it will take two of the signatories to confirm a transaction before it is made. This has the benefit of removing any payments in cash, saving us postage, envelopes and reducing trips to the bank which also helps reduce our carbon footprint. In addition, there is a hard audit trail for accounting purposes which is more secure and easier to manage. - I have now obtained online access for the utilities. This enables me to see old bills and submit readings. Due to the situation over the last year, readings had not been sent since February 2020. As the utility companies have been sending us estimated bills, we had overpaid by £2,258. I have chased this and secured a total refund of £2,658 including the standing charges for the vicarage when it was empty, which were refunded by the diocese. - We are actively looking at changing our suppliers. Once that is achieved, we can investigate getting smart meters installed which will eliminate the problem. Meanwhile, we have put in place a system for the meters to be read and submitted online monthly. - Lynne Arnold (as gift aid co-ordinator) and I have undertaken Gift Aid and Treasurer training sessions with the Association of Church Accountants and Treasurers. We were confident we were doing most things correctly. The training confirmed this and was useful for picking up further ideas and for consolidating our knowledge. ## **Financial Review.** It is difficult to make a comparison between 2020 and 2019 due to the removal of Shildon Alive from our accounts, the effects of the pandemic and lockdowns and the interregnum until Carol arrived. A comparison has been made by discounting as far as possible the Shildon Alive transactions from our accounts for 2019. 5 Total receipts on the unrestricted General Fund were £81,843 and payments from this account totalled £84,184 giving a deficit of £2,340 which has been taken from our reserves. The following is a snapshot of the year. There were reductions in receipts as follows: - Planned Giving 17%, Collections 68%, Fundraising 90%, Mission Hall Rent 27% Weddings and Funerals 5%. There was an increase in the amount of gift aid recovered of 104%. There were reductions in expenses as follows: - Parish Share 27%, Clergy and staffing costs 27%, Church running expenses 64% Mission Hall running costs 15%, Mission giving and donations 69%. This gives an overall reduction of 8%. It should be noted that the reduction in Parish share almost matched the reduction in the giving income we received. From January 2021 we increased the Parish share back to the amount before it was reduced in 2020. It has been a large undertaking in time to bring everything up to date, but now it should be quite straightforward and less time-consuming to keep on top of things. As soon as it is safe to do so, the finance committee will meet and we will discuss how we can ensure that if we are without a treasurer for any reason in the future, things can be continued easily. Paul Arnold PCC Treasurer St. Johns Church. ## **Church Wardens’ Fabric Report** March Gas cooker purchased and replaced in upstairs kitchen. Because of the lockdown the pandemic restrictions and the closure of the Church the annual Maintenance and servicing of the systems had to be delayed until June. July When we were able to open the Church again , all annual checks and servicing has been completed and up to date. All guttering cleaned and loose tiles replaced. August Woodworm in garage treated. ## November Faulty smoke detector in porch replaced. ## December 2 faulty emergency lights replaced. 6 An ongoing problem with the Hot water boiler in downstairs kitchen is still an ongoing problem. February Hopper and down drain pipes replaced to east side March problem with several lights in upstairs hall is in the process of being addressed. Main boilers burner seals replaced. Sound system in Church updated. Mission Hall November Leak in roof repaired Guttering cleaned December New light replaced in office outside security lights repaired. Property Register The following have been added : 14 Tables 75 Chairs Of the remaining pews that have been replaced by the chairs 4 have been sold, with 1 remaining pew to be used to make into a servery in the foyer. it was agreed by the PCC that a kind donation from The Every Other Tuesday Group of which our friend Joyce Petty was a member, that the donation would be used for the servery in memory of Joyce. We thank you for all the support you have given us this past year Neil Cleasby, Adele Todd, Carl Bennett. ## **Deanery Synod Report** We have had two deanery synod meetings on Zoom since last year's AGM. The first was on the 9th of December 2020 where we had a guest speaker Helen Whiteley from the Children's Society. Helen is the relationship manager for the Children's Society and local liaison for the diocese. The second meeting took place on the 10th of March 2021. Our topic was about mental health and how we can support people as a church. Carl Bennett ## **Youth and Children’s Activities** When Lockdown started all children’s and youth activities were put on hold. Our youth workers, Kirstei Rae, and sessional youth worker, Megan McTearnen, were put on furlough but as both had fixed term contracts they were let go in the year. 7 ## **St. John’s CofE (Aided) School** Following the Easter holidays staff and pupils are back at school. This report was written before the Easter holidays. ## **Spring Term 2021 (Summary of current position when report written)** - School closed to ‘all pupils’ from Tuesday 5[th] January 2021 following the latest Government imposed lockdown - However, school has remained open for vulnerable children, those with Education Health Care Plans and those of key workers. As a result, 33% of school pupils are currently attending, and 50% of Nursery pupils. - Remote Learning has been provided for all pupils not attending and in the majority of cases engagement has been good. - Work has been provided to support the individual needs of pupils. - We have received a total of 51 laptops from the Department for Education to support home learning. - All Staff are combining working in school and working from home. - All children/families have received a weekly welfare call from their Teacher or Teaching Assistant. - We have been affected by families suffering bereavement due to COVID 19. - We are looking forward to all pupils returning to school on 8[th] March. ## **– ’ Church Links and Services (Autumn Term Taken directly from Head Teacher s Report to Governing Body)** ## **Christmas 2020** ## **Christingle Service** At the end of the Autumn Term, Thursday 17[th] December, we held a virtual Christingle Service for the whole school. Due to COVID-19 restrictions we were unable to meet together for our Christmas service in St. John’s Church. The whole service was planned by Mr Kay (RE subject lead) and was joined by twelve children from Years 5 and 6. For three weeks, the children practised and learned the songs with the support of Mrs Pallister and Mr Kay. From the Hall, the children led the readings and prayers, as well as the worship through carols and Christmas songs. Revd Carol began and ended the service. Each class ‘joined’ the online service via Microsoft Teams. It ended with all children lighting their own Christingles 8 in the classrooms, sharing together the symbols of light and hope, particularly in these dark days in which we are living. The successful service was recorded and uploaded to our school YouTube channel where it received almost 900 views! We felt it was very important for us to share this special event with our parents, friends and local community ## **Angels in Shildon** To strengthen our links with St. John’s Church, we joined with their 2020 theme of ‘Angels - Bringing Hope to a Dark World.’ Despite the current restrictions, we have continued to meet with Revd. Carol and develop shared ideas for the community: bringing hope of the Angels’ message from the Nativity story and into our lives today. As part of this initiative, two staff members undertook the tremendous task of creating a 12foot ‘scarecrow angel’ which was placed just inside the school gates. This caused much happiness and joy amongst children and parents. Each child also made two angels including a positive message of hope. One of these angels went home with each of the children and the other was donated to various local groups: Shildon Alive, Redworth House Care Home and Holly Lodge. Our desire was to share our hope and joy in our community, hoping to bring love and happiness to those who saw them. ## **Messages of Hope** As part of St. John’s Church’s outreach, Revd. Carol asked each class in school to prepare a colourful A3 poster to be displayed on the church noticeboard. Our positive Christmas messages shared the joyful news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: Hope, Joy, Peace, Love and Family. ## **Christmas Poetry** One of our Year 5 girls independently created her own beautiful seasonal poem entitled ‘The Greatest Gift’. It speaks of the wonderful love and saving power of Jesus Christ to all those who believe in Him – God's gift of love to the World. Again, we shared her poetry reading on our school YouTube channel. ## **Class Worship at Christmas** Throughout the whole Christmas period, we continued to celebrate the story of Christmas by sharing each section with the children in daily Class Worship sessions for the last two weeks of term. In these times of worship, we were able to discuss and deepen our children’s understanding of the significance of the different events which occurred in the Nativity story. The Gospel and the teachings of Jesus are at the heart of all we seek to do at St. John’s on a daily basis. We desire that all our children, staff, parents and friends experience the truth of John 10:10, where Jesus said, “My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” Andrew Kay 16.1.21 9 ## **Collective Worship** This continues to be class based built around a weekly theme and key idea. Each week Revd. Carol sends in a short filmclip to support this. Following another lockdown, we are planning for this to continue, with children working at home also accessing the video link. ## **Shildon Alive** Our links with Shildon Alive have developed well this year. We promoted their work through our website and newsletters, and were able to connect some families for further support. We were successful in setting up the link for contributing surplus food **.** It is great news that these contributions are collected by the volunteers and quickly put to use by the chefs. We donated a number of Free School meals ‘food parcels’ that were ordered but not collected by parents. Throughout the lockdown we continued to promote the support work of Shildon Alive and direct families through our regular welfare calls and other means of communication. ## **Easter 2021** We are currently planning an on-line Easter Service. ( _This was shared on the School You Tube channel with pupils and families in the last week of the Easter term.)_ ## **School Developments** Participation in Mental Health Trailblazer: Support Worker in school on a weekly basis. ## **- Special Events and Activities including Visits and Visitors (Autumn 2020)** We continue to work with external partners in school where possible although there were no curriculum visits or other off site activities. The activities completed are listed below: - Yoga - Hula Hoop and Skipping Days. - Class based ‘Cooking Activities’. - Specialist Music Teaching. - Whole School attending on-line ‘interactive’ Pantomime. Andrew Farnell March 2021 ## **Bell Ringers** The bell ringers finally managed to ring on the refurbished bells before Covid hit which was great. All the insulation is in the bell chamber but still needs fitting which again has been hampered by Covid but hopefully before too long this will get sorted. 10 We did manage to ring for a short while in the summer of 2020, but we were restricted to a maximum of 15 minutes ringing time including ringing up and down and also restricted to four ringers because of social distancing. Ringing with a mask on also brought its challenges and unfortunately it meant that those who had been learning to ring were not able to join us because of the regulations. Here’s hoping from Summer 2021 we can get back to ringing for weddings once again and back to teaching new ringers. Looking to the future it would be great if we could finally have our rededication of the bells service and to invite all those who helped in any way whatsoever with the work we undertook, whether it was financially or physically, to say a huge thank you to them all along with the congregation of St John’s. Trevor Thompson and Davina Tomlinson ## **Church Flowers** We have been able to continue to arrange flowers when the Church has been open on occasions and for services. We would like to thank you for your support and donations to enable to us to continue to do this. Adele Todd ## **Housegroups** Due to the pandemic no groups have been able to meet physically since March 2020. ## Dean Street house group report As a housegroup we only managed to meet twice in 2020 due to the Covid epidemic. However, we have continued to support each other on an almost daily basis through the messaging group that we have. With people sharing daily prayers of reflections, funny thoughts, or prayer requests. During Lent we have been going through Sister Wendy Beckett’s book entitled the Art of Lent with a different painting each day and her thoughts on this which has at time generated some good discussions. WE are looking forward to when we can once again meet in person at Trevor’s and for fuller bible studies to recommence. ## Davina Tomlinson ## **Disability Representative** Mrs Lesley Pocklington continues to be the St John’s disability rep. Again as the church has been closed or had limited services there has been nothing for her to report this year. She had hoped to start a support group for disabled people in the church building in 2020 and hopes that this may be possible in 2021. 11 ## **Social and Fundraising** Due to the pandemic there have been no social and fundraising activities this year. ## **Curate’s Report** I was very fortunate in 2016/2017 to serve a six months placement in the parish of St John’s Shildon whilst Reverend David Tomlinson was priest in charge. I very much enjoyed the placement and had a brief insight into the life of the community of Shildon and the church family. It had been my hope to serve my curacy in this parish but it was not to be and I was placed elsewhere after ordination. After serving three and a half years in the parishes of Gainford and Winston and Bishop Auckland the opportunity arose for me to be placed in the parish of Shildon and Eldon. I was absolutely delighted. My time spent in this parish have been very different from my last placement as I came this time as an ordained priest. It has been wonderful to work with Carol and Andy, they are great to work with and have such a heart for this community. It has also been my delight to work again with the faithful people of this church and to engage with families outside of church through funeral ministry. It is my hope that the Diocese will allow me to stay as an Associate Priest. God is at work in this place and is calling us to so many great things, I look forward to the journey with you all. Revd. Frances Cooper ## **Minister’s Report April 2020 – April 2021** ## **Arrival** Andy and I moved in June to join you in Shildon. On the 24[th] June I was licensed as priest in charge of St John’s and assistant priest in charge of St Mark’s Eldon. Andy took up a licence at the same time as lay reader to both parishes. ## **Revd. Mark Hudghton and the Revd. Peter Robson** Before we arrived the Revd. Peter Robson and the Revd. Mark Hudghton had been ministering here as priests, Mark finishing his curacy and Peter having been seconded for 2.5 days a week to support the transition after the Revd. David Tomlinson moved into new ministry. From 22nd March St John’s Church was closed for services and Mark alongside his wife, the Revd. Emily Hudghton, created lively inspiring worship which was streamed every Sunday during the service time on Facebook. Many people engaged with this. Through this time Peter kept in touch through phone calls and postcards with all those shielding on the electoral roll. My time here overlapped with Mark for just a few weeks until 12[th] July and Peter until 27th September. It was a joy to minister alongside them and they helped me immensely in settling into the parish, particularly as so much was in lockdown at the time. I know how much they were loved and appreciated here at St John’s for who they were and everything they had given to the church and the community. Everyone was sad to see them move onto 12 their new parishes, including myself, but both have moved onto new ministries. As I look back over 2020, I’m sure you, with me, want to say an enormous ‘thank you’ to them and will continue to hold them in your prayers in their new parishes. ## **Farewells** Other sad farewells this year have included the number of beloved church members and family members who have died over the year. These have included Jack Coley, Sylvia Barraclough, Debra Plews, Sylvia Little, John Harrison, Joyce Petty, Jean Foster, Robert Stophair, Val Owens, Eileen Richardson, Alan Todd and Bill Harding. We continue to pray for God’s love to surround and comfort their families and we know that through Jesus’ death and resurrection we have the eternal hope of life that goes on beyond the grave. ## **Revd. Frances Cooper** On 4[th] October 2020 Revd. Frances Cooper joined us here at St John’s to complete her curacy. Frances and myself were ordained at the same time and trained together and it has been and is wonderful to have the opportunity to minister together. I hope that she will be able to stay in the parish as an Associate Priest. ## **Services in the year** In July 2020 the PCC took the decision to reopen St John’s first for private prayer and then for Sunday and Thursday morning services. The first Sunday service back at church was 19[th] July. Full risk assessments were completed and strict Covid guidelines were put in place. Through the year the services have continued apart from between 8[th] November and the middle of December and between 10[th] January and 14[th] March 2021, when the church was closed again and services were solely livestreamed. Livestreaming is continuing for those who are shielding so they are able to join with us in worshipping together, even though physically apart. In September we also started a phone-in Evening Prayer which changed to Zoom in November. This has provided another opportunity to gather to worship together which is appreciated particularly by those who cannot come to church at present due to shielding. ## **The new PCC** The Annual Meeting was put back until October because of restrictions and since then the new PCC have had to meet virtually on Zoom. I would like to thank everyone on the PCC for their hard work and support in a very unusual year. At the Annual Meeting Adele Todd took up a new role as Churchwarden alongside Neil Cleasby with Carl Bennett and Ann Sanderson completing the warden team as Assistant Wardens. Paul Arnold took over the role as Church Treasurer. New members of the PCC were Jane Copland, Lynne Arnold and Andy Harris. Thanks go to all again for their commitment and hard work for the church this year. 13 ## **Highlights** As I look back over a year when so much was not possible, many highlights stand out for me. These include my licensing; opening up for services and being able to physically worship together; working with everyone at Shildon Alive and seeing the amazing work they do; the All Souls open church evening; being able to attend in person the Christingle at St John’s School and meeting some of the children and working with staff through the terms; all the angel events at Christmas alongside the installation outside; the Zoom socials; the beautiful flowers in church through the year and how amazing the church looked at Christmas ; being able to start baptisms in church again; the Zoom lent course and both Easter services, the sunrise service and the morning service culminating in actually singing together outside! It has been such a joy to get to know so many of you, it seems such a long time since we arrived and yet we have not been here a year! Thank you for your welcome to Andy and myself when we arrived, and we look forward to working together with you to follow where God is leading us as a church as we move forward in 2021 and beyond. 14 ## **Moving forward** I am really looking forward to the time when we can mix freely again and return to ‘normality’ but this time of stopping has given an opportunity to reflect and pray on where we are as a church. Everything should not return automatically to how it has always been done just because it has always been done a particular way. Recently members of the PCC spent time individually reflecting and praying about some open questions asking what they value and hold dear in St John’s, as well as which areas give hope and anxiety as they look to the future. A clear consensus emerged from the responses. These included the value placed on relationships within church, how being a church family together is important as well as 15 being a welcoming church with an outward focus to the community. People are proud of Shildon Alive as a church project and how it shines Jesus’ love in the community, and love being involved and supporting as and when able. They also love seeing the community enjoying social events, coffee mornings and the fayres in the church building. The church’s relationship with St John’s School is held highly, as is the strong emphasis the church has had on children and young people in the past. The church building is very precious to people; many described the sense of God’s presence they feel upon entering it and many described how important worship is to them and the various aspects of worship they hold dear, as well as where they particularly encounter God with a lot talking about the Eucharist and experiences of the Holy Spirit. Responding to a question about hopes for the future there was much optimism and expectation around God leading us and showing the way forward, of how the church must continue to look outwards and remember the good things going on before lockdown and looking to how these can be developed in the future. Many anxieties for the future were also shared by most of the group. These included the lack of children, young people, young families and generally people under 50 in the congregation, alongside the age of the present congregation as a whole and the loss of income due to the pandemic. It is good to stop and reflect, to recognise where we are at this moment as a church. There is much to celebrate and much to ponder, but also the need to listen and look to see where God is leading us. God is with us, and the anxieties listed are not problems we are trying to solve on a human level. I hope, with me, you will continue to pray for our church and listen to God as we go forward through this year and into the future. May each of us, both as individuals and as a church community, continue to shine the light and love of Jesus in our town. This year may we see many coming to know that love and light for themselves, and may we grow in our own discipleship and in our own love of God in 2021. When I arrived, I spoke about John 15 on my first Sunday. In the passage Jesus talks about himself as the vine. We are attached to him as branches through which his life flows and through which we are bound together in love. He commands us to love one another as he has loved us. As Jesus asserts in that passage – ‘without me you can do nothing, remain in me and I will remain in you’ – may we as a church continue to remain in Jesus and may we produce much fruit in his name. Revd. Carol Harris, April 2021 16 ## **Shildon Alive, A St John’s Church Project AGM Report 2020** Our team of staff and volunteers have had a challenging second year, we had to close the premises at the end of March 2020 as we were not Covid safe and like many other projects and businesses we were unsure and scared about COVID 19. We spent a week getting the foodbank area of our project back open and Covid ready and we turned the community centre into a larger foodbank and distribution point. With the support of our local MP we collected several tonnes of food from pubs and restaurants which had to close and distributed it to foodbanks and volunteer teams in the towns and villages surrounding us. Some staff worked from home answering our helpline and other staff came in as drivers to support our team of volunteer drivers. Our volunteer driver team came from our Shildon Town Council team and furloughed staff from the retail sector as well as volunteers from same family groups. We needed to keep the team small and from same households to ensure we could adhere to covid rules. We had a team based at the community centre making the parcels and sanitising them and a team of volunteer drivers who distributed them to families in crisis and vulnerable residents who were shielding. The first few weeks were extremely challenging because we could not purchase some items due to issues with some individuals panic buying and restrictions being placed on various items. The Auckland project supported us and many other projects across the area by producing nutritious frozen meals to add to the crisis parcels. Referrals came in from County Durham hubs, our local MP and a number of distressed family members of our older residents who couldn’t be near them as they lived in other parts of the country. ## **Community shop and takeaway:** We closed the shop and takeaway for 3 months while we concentrated on running the crisis food support and thanks to a lottery uplift grant we had the funds to make the shop and takeaway counter covid safe. Whilst the takeaway was closed one of our new volunteers produced hot meals twice a week for some of our shielding residents. We also worked closely with The Auckland Project who prepared, frozen meals for us to distribute with our food crisis support parcels. We received grant funding from Bishop Auckland and Shildon AAP, County Durham Community Foundation, Scotto charitable trust and DEFRA to support our food collection and distribution costs. We were able to employ a food coordinator in July thanks to an uplift from the Big Lottery Fund. 17 She had previously ran her own catering business as well as managing a large school kitchen team. She brings so much to the team and is an excellent baker and chef. She is always coming up with new and exciting ideas for young people and the community and she ran Fruity Fun sessions with school children all through the holidays (we even dressed up as fruit and handed out recipe cards and muffins to young people around the town). We now offer a free nutritious meal for all children or donation for adults, 6 days per week. We now have 6 volunteer drivers and 1 self-employed driver who collect food surplus from supermarkets, wholesalers and local businesses, we are also members of ‘Fareshare Go’ and get weekly deliveries of food surplus from this project. The food we get is displayed in the community fridge and shelves as you first walk into the shop on the left, we encourage people to take a basket, fill it and leave a donation at the checkout. This is for everyone in the community and helps to prevent food waste as well as make the hub an easier, inclusive space. Over the last year of collecting, we have redistributed 29 tonnes of food which was destined for landfill whilst helping families and individuals reduce their shopping bills and access fresh fruit and vegetables. They also offer a hot meal delivery service to members of the community 4 days per week. The team are also researching how we can work with the probation service to mentor and train an individual back into employment. We also employ a young worker on a Saturday which they both mentor. The takeaway offers food on a pay as you feel basis as well as free hot meals for school age children during school holidays and a free breakfast during term time. We welcomed a new member of the team, in June, she has done an amazing job of keeping us clean and safe during the past few months. Not sure how we ever managed without her! She is thorough and vigilant and came with excellent references from our local council. She fits in brilliantly with the team and it is like she has been there forever! She has also started offering free breakfasts to school children as pass the building on a morning and this has been a great success. We tried it for 3 months and distributed 321 breakfast snacks. Items include bacon and tomato muffins and homemade cereal bars. We have secured funding to continue running the breakfast club during term time. **Advocacy support:** Our Advocate offers support with benefit claims and enquiries, housing issues, debts/arrears, food crisis (we offer a 3-4 day crisis food parcel) and small grants for household goods, rent arrears or utilities. The advocate usually 18 works on an appointment basis as well as drop in and has supported individuals over the year. Face to face advocacy was placed on hold from March- July whilst the whole project was closed. Telephone advocacy did take place in this period for simple issues such as reporting a fit note on Universal Credit journals and writing letters on behalf of others to numerous agencies. ACTS 435 was still accessible and grants were submitted for those experiencing a crisis during the difficult times we were facing. The main face to face advocacy sessions that have taken place over the year are completing Personal Independence Payment Forms and housing issues, both social housing and private lettings. This has mainly been due to lengthy waiting times for repairs and issues with Durham Key Options (social housing) and disrepair of properties (private lettings). We also received funding from Faith in our Community to help families with underwear, socks and pe kits for school age children. The families were so grateful for the support. Many of these individuals have benefited from small grants up to the value of £150 ACTS 435. This year’s grant total £5070 is helping 45 individuals. ## **Success Stories:** A has lived in England for 16 years, after moving from a different country and has 2 children. Her children were born in England. Despite two applications to the Home Office, she does still not have permanent right to reside and is currently on a 5 year parent and child route (commenced in 2019) which will then give her permanent residency. She has always been identified as a British Overseas Citizen which means she is not entitled to state benefits. When her first child was born in 2008, she applied for Child Benefit as she thought due him being born in England, she would be entitled to this benefit. All documents needed to support the application were sent such as her passport and his birth certificate (her passport states ‘no recourse to public funds’. She was granted Child Benefit and this continued when her second child was born and added to the claim. In August 2020, she received a letter stating she was no longer entitled to Child Benefit nor had she ever been entitled, and she had an over payment of £12,563.60. This caused high levels of stress and anxiety for her. Upon reading all of the documentation from both Child Benefit and Home Office, it was evident there was a clear point of argument on her behalf. She was supported to contact Child Benefit who suggested a Mandatory Reconsideration Letter to be submitted. The relevant information relating to the claim was gathered and a Mandatory Reconsideration Letter was written on her behalf explaining each stage of the claim from the beginning. In December 2020, she received a letter stating the overpayment had been disregarded, she was not entitled to Child Benefit any longer however she would not receive any further correspondence from them. B has been deaf from being born and he has a local part time job. He has always been in receipt of Disability Living Allowance however due to the recent change in benefits, he had to apply for Personal Independence Payment which would replace DLA. Recently he has also been prescribed medication for arthritis in his hands and feet. He was supported to complete his PIP form and this health condition was added. He was declined PIP and a Mandatory Reconsideration Letter was written on 19 his behalf which argued against their decision and asked a decision maker to look at the claim again. He did not have any response from PIP for nearly 6 months (due to the current pandemic) therefore he was not in receipt of any disability benefit for this time, reducing his income. In November 2020. He received a letter stating the decision had been changed and he was entitled to enhanced rate of care and mobility. He received his back dated payment into his bank at the end of November and his payments are now in place for each month. In both stories above, without support they would have found it difficult to fight against the decisions made and would have both resulted in reduction of income. Food crisis support for 2020 has increased from previous years. This is due to the Covid 19 pandemic. In total over the year, we have provided: Food parcels provided: 1082 Number of people supported: 1914 Number of meals provided: 17226. Food parcels are still accessed by self-referral (which is monitored by staff to ensure the service is not abused) or by service referral for example: GP, Probation, Social Services. During the first lockdown (March – July) we were contacted regularly by the Local Authority Covid Hubs for food support as they explained they were finding it difficult to find food banks that were open and offering a delivery service therefore we covered Shildon and other areas to support as many individuals as we could. ## **Lifting Loneliness Telephone Befriending Service:** The initial process of commencing this service began with finding volunteers who felt they could make a difference to those living with the feelings of loneliness and isolation within our community. As Shildon Alive is predominantly volunteer ran, The co-ordinator was able to recruit active volunteers therefore I did not have to access the community to do this. Initially 4 volunteers were interested, and we began the process of completing a Disclosure and Barring Service check. This was a long process due to the current Covid situation and arranging appointments safely with the volunteers and the Vicar to complete the forms and verify identification documents. 6 mobile phones and pay as you go SIM cards were purchased and set up ready for the service to begin. In the meantime, the co-ordinator completed telephone befriending coordinators training with Twos Company whom we paid £100 donation to support with the safe running of the service. She gathered a lot of information from this and they continue to support where needed. They also shared many documents of importance which are used to monitor the telephone service. They were of great value and are all placed in the volunteer folders. All the volunteers were also enrolled onto an effective listening training course which was ran via Zoom. The co-ordinator was present whilst this took place and felt the information received and knowledge they gained was valuable. Once all DBS checks were back, the service was promoted on social 20 media and circulated round other health care organisations such as mental health services and social care. We were unable to promote this via our town community newspaper due to the current situation. Referrals began coming in (both self-referral and health care referrals) and once they were reviewed by the co-ordinator, she assigned each client with a volunteer and sent the client an introduction letter clearly explaining who their volunteer would be and they would be in touch within a week. Once the initial telephone contact is made between the volunteer and the client, they arrange a day and time of contact that suits them both. We currently have 6 clients and 3 volunteers. We regularly promote the service upon social media and word of mouth and have recently appealed for more volunteers as we feel due to the recent national lockdown, more people will be referred to the service. ## **Credit Union:** We closed the credit union collection point at the end of March and reopened in June after putting Covid secure measures in place. We have currently have 3 volunteers and 1 staff running our credit union counter and we currently have between 20 and 30 savers per week. This does not include online savers. Many people started saving by BACS due to Covid 19 restrictions. ## **Community hub and Youth:** The Community hub and Youth Group unfortunately was put on hold at the end of March due to Covid 19. The hub is closed to the general public and was set up as an overflow food bank and food parcel collection point for volunteers to make and distribute crisis parcels to vulnerable residents. We have offered activity packs throughout the year for young people in our community along with free hot meals. Also as a member of Shildon Children and Young People’s Action Network, we have detached youth workers in the town, one evening per week. This is funded by the Ron Hogg fund and operated by Auckland Youth and Community. During the summer holidays, our community champion Tracy, ran weekly Fruity Fun smoothie and Ice lolly making sessions. This was a lovely activity which put a smile on lots of faces. The Fruity Fun sessions were fully booked for the school holidays. Children worked in family bubbles and made fruity ice lollies and smoothies to take home and also learned new skills such as apple coring and cherry putting. Our new Chair and Priest in charge organised an angel hunt in the Christmas school holidays, she talked about hope and how angels were messengers of hope. All of the local schools got involved in making Angels to go in windows in the town and young people had to find the angels. All young people taking part received a prize. 21 ## **Guerrilla Gardening / Gardening:** This year we unfortunately had to cancel our children’s gardening sessions and ran one plot to plate, gardening and cooking session with a group of 16 young people. We picked the produce from our community garden, which our adult gardeners had kindly planted for us and Tracy, our food coordinator cooked with it at the community kitchen. Our adult gardening volunteers kept both community gardens clean and tidy and planted produce for our Shelves for all scheme and the community and young people to enjoy. One of our gardeners commented, ’It gave me a reason to keep going, knowing that the food I was planting was going to good use,’ We took part in a campaign ran by the WWF ‘Stand up to British Standards’, It was a campaign to support our local farmers to maintain standards following fears that standards would be lowered during Brexit deals. We were given ‘Ashley’ the scarecrow and people took selfies with her whilst scanning a QR code to show their commitment to our farmers and our standards. ## **Recognition:** Winners of the Northern Echo, County Durham Together Awards. Community Voluntary Group of the Year. We were thanked by Her Majesty’s Lord -Lieutenant Sue Snowdon for our work during the pandemic. ## **Volunteer opportunities:** Volunteer roles were limited in 2020 and we had a small team of volunteer drivers and a small group working in the foodbank. Sadly, many of our usual volunteers had to shield due to ill health. One of our volunteers who ran her own hot food business, produced nutritious hot meals for our shielding residents which she delivered twice weekly. We have currently have several volunteer opportunities available, credit union collection point worker, food preparation, community shop counter assistant, laptop support, driver, advocacy and gardening volunteers. We currently have 22 regular volunteers and 5 casual volunteers. We have recently started recruiting again. 22 ## **Opening times:** Shildon Alive 91-95 Church Street DL4 1DT Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri 9:00-3:00 Wed and Sat 9:3012:30 Tel:01388417600 http://shildonalive.org.uk/ ## **Community food donation for foodbank:** 15125 items ## **Fundraising and donations:** Our donations during covid have been overwhelming, individuals have done sponsored walks, covid safe fundraising events as well as individuals and groups giving cash and cheque donations. PPG industries, Asda and TJ Manners all gave us extremely generous monetary donations to support us to support others. Please see the spread sheet for amounts. ## **Hub footfall:** Staff: 721 Visitors: 243 ## **Community gardens footfall:** Waverly terrace garden 228 Furnace community garden 287 ## **Staff training:** PIP 1 Managing volunteer 1 Telephone befriending coordinator with Twos company 1 Diocese of Durham Safeguarding C2 1 23 ## **Volunteer training:** Diocese of Durham Safeguarding C1 4 Dementia awareness 2 Young people’s mental health 1 Understanding Autism 1 Effective teamwork 1 Effective listening skills 4 We would like to say a huge thanks to everyone at St John’s Church, Faith in our Community, Shildon Town Council, LIVIN, Garfield Weston Foundation, Bishop Auckland and Shildon AAP, ACTS 435, County Durham Community Foundation, The Auckland project, ‘closed doors open hearts’, Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys, Greggs, Morrison’s, CO-OP, Aldi, Lidl, Greenfield Community College, St Johns C of E Primary School, Timothy Hackworth Primary School, Thornhill Primary school, Byerley Road Pre-school, Scotto charitable trust, Shildon AFC supporters club, Busy Bees, Bookers wholesale and The National Lottery Community Fund for giving us the chance to make a difference in our town and surrounding villages. The volunteers are inspiring and with your support they feel empowered allowing their aspirations for their families and community to be nurtured. Paula and team 24 Reverend C Harris, St John's Vicarage, IA Burnie Gardens. Shildon Co Durham DL4 IND 2 March 2021 Dear Reverend Harri4 St. John's Church l am enclosin8 two copies of the financial acwunts for the year ended 31 Decemkr 2020, as a8re&l. The accounts have also been attached to an email sent today. If you would let me have a copy of the annual re￿}rtS that accompany the accoun￿ kn available, that would be appreciated. There are some historic differences in some of the balances on the Fund Accounts due to adjusttnents made in previous years and I have adjusted the Youth Workers Wa8es Fund balance as discussed. Perhaps it would be wise lo have the ba]ances brought into line kfore we prepa￿ next year's accounts, something we n discuss when some sort of norn)ality returns. The payments for the chairs and other furniture were as set oui below. All the payments were to Alpha Furnishin8S and were paid from the Upkeep and Maintenance account therefore any invoices will probably be fjla with th08¢ working papers. 2910512018 2510712018 1810212020 1910512020 £3683.91 £11051.73 £1165.67 £3496.99 Obviously if there are any questiom pl¢&q¢ get in touch aNI I will attempt to answer them. Your5 sincerely, INDEPEIYDENT EXAMINERPS REPORT TO THE PCC OF ST JOHN'S CHURCH SHILDON I report on the accounts for year ended 31 December 2020. which are set out on pAges A2 to A6. ReJptttlv* ruponsibilities of T￿￿tee¥ and ImdepeDdeDt Examiner As the MeMi￿ of the PCC you are resp)nsible for the preparation of the ￿counts. you consider that an audit is not required for this year under section J44(2) of the ChaTities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an inde￿ndent examination is needed. It is my resFK)nsibility to examine the accounts un(kr section 145 of the 2011 ACL. follow the pr￿edureS laid down in the General Direclions given by the Charity Conunissioners section 145{5Xb) of the 2011 ACL. aThl B4sis of independent el￿nIDer'S report My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Clwity Commission. That examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the PCC and comparison of the accounts presented with IIM)se tecord& It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in th¢ accounts and se¢kin8 explanations from you ￿ tn￿ concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audiL and cotLsequently no opinion is given as to whether th¢ accounts Pr￿nt a 't￿ and fair view, and the reFK)rt is limitcd to those matters set out in the statement below. Independent examiner's jtatemenl In connection with my eXarni￿o￿ no matter h&8 c(Hne to my attention: (l) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any rnaterial respe£t the requIrem￿ts. to keep accounting records in ￿cOrdanCe with section 130 of the 2011 ACL" and lo prepa￿ a¢wunts which ￿rd with th¢ wfvunting rwords and to comply with the requirements of the 2011 A¢t have not been met: or (2) to whiclL in my Opinio￿ attention should ￿ th8wn in oth to enable a prow under￿dIng of MrA 14 Willow Road Middl¢stone Moor Spennymoor DL16 7AR 2 March 2021 Pag• A1 % 14 8 ¢D ST. CHURCH, SHILC& NOTES RELATI￿ TO FlpwK￿ sTATE￿NTs FOR TrE YE•R ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2W Tot•[ Fund• 2019 Fth Fw Funds 2020 Fw Donats"on3. orwlb otc. Bfj Lothlry Fund 1720 Ic￿70 517es 113729 10870 168S14 Summer Fayro ChrBtina8 Fayre M8cMILgn Coffee Morn￿¥ B88U8 Dri¥e Film Afternoons & ￿88 SuFvr 18ir¥Jo 88llrirwJer8 Fundrawl Other Even Tea & CoffogKCots IAomiTh Bu$ & 8oat TAp w1ndem￿re B￿t & Trakn fr Barfoequo 1927 133 133 1,10J 521 1779 765 138 25 Rent ffom Mh8K)n Hall Bank Intsrnst 10.778 17 10,77 14,805 Hall Renil Adv*ti5iNJ in MawMI 349 Receipts for VV•Jdings & Fun8ralJ Sundry Income Job Retsntion Sc*8Th Grarts Sak8 or Fwd knets Ip￿￿) 17.435 17.435 170 9.057 18424 140 70 17 140 ST. K*WS CHURCH. SHILCQN NOTES REL4nNG TO FIWKIPL STATEMENTS F¢X¢ THE YENR ENtED 31 DECEMBER 2020 Tot*1 Fun 2019 FuThl c4rage Expensgs WorkiThJ Expan￿ ofcbrgy VL5thrrfJ CK8rgy F888 organ￿ts, F888 Verg8rs' F888 istant Staff Costs Youth Work Exper086 217 217 849 618 1325 780 750 870 19.141 19.141 25022 31176 Lbht & Heat In$uranc• Repalrs & M•int•nthic• W8¢gr Rate• CK88nirg Upkeep of S•rvi Post statiLWOry & Costs Parish Trainir¥d & MMBion 5.2n 5.273 4476 27440 789 2511 1712 1284 2.167 331 1.749 3.9t6 331 135 LwJht & Heat Insurar Repairs & Maintsn8n W•t•r Rat•# IS32 2,532 1.035 577 2993 1015 971 555 577 Other Donation$ to Charlt Community Gor4e Shiklon ￿1¥• Other MMBh?n ExFWWeB 0th8rGrfls 8 OwBtiL 514 2,655 127 11S.747 15.813 157 2.280 410 134 10 193 193 193 603 11 As&wJn8d F••s lorW•dduy 8 Fum¥l• Cost of Fayres. Kit¢hefi •tc 310 22 12 Independent Ey4min*ib)n C¢>•i• 110 108 ST. X*IPIS CHLIICH. SHILCQN NOTES RELATI￿ TO NNANCL4L STATEMEpifs FOR TrE YEPR ENCÉD 31 LE¢EM8ER ￿20 13 Ch•rity DoMt¥)nJ Knit & Kn4tter Upkeep and M¥lrblWO ellnn9ers Youth Workors Wag6• Youlh Group Communty Prop Youth As8L*nt 418 714 6.571 17.( 1.755 413 3.915 5.120 15.697 1,567 413 10.158 18.{￿1 140 152S 721 Reslri D8ivJnat ST. JOHN'S CHURCH. SHILDON STATEMENT OF AND LIABIUTIES AT 31 DECEMBER %)20 Funds Furyjs 8ank Current A￿int 18,443 23,lJ)O 42.997 45,598 14 Day Notic* Deposit Acwnt 17,gX11 17.9)1 17,885 Upkeep & Maintenance knount 1,167 1.167 5,118 Cash in Hand 53 100 36,3 24.167 1,$54 62.118 68,699 Ch8lrs & Book Boxe• Upkw & Maintenance Pag• A6 ## ## ## ##