2021-12-31-accounts

ANNUAL REPORT 2021-22

St John the Evangelist Grove Lane, Kingston Upon Thames

Email: [e-mail] website: www.stjohnskingston.co.uk www.inclusive-church.org.uk

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

VICAR’S REPORT_____ 3
CHURCH OFFICER’S REPORT
CHURCHWARDENS’REPORT __ 5
TREASURER’S REPORT___ 8
ADMINISTRATOR’SREPORT______ 9
PCC REPORT_________ 9
SIDESPEOPLE______ _10
ELECTORAL ROLL_____10
SAFEGUARDING_____ _11
CHURCH LIFE
SERVERS____ _ 12
SOCIAL MEDIA________12
SACRED SPACE_____ _12
FLOWERS IN CHURCH_______13
MUSIC________13
CHARITIES, CAUSES & CAMPAIGNS_______ 14
FIRST MONDAY CLUB________15
CHRISTMAS AUCTION___ 15
DIDDY DISCIPLES___ ____ 16
GARDENING_______ _ . 17
ECO GROUP__ ____17
PARISH HALL
HALL ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT___ 18
HALL TREASURER’S REPORT_____ 18
TEAM
ALL SAINTS_____ 19
ST JOHN THE BAPTIST__ ___ 20
CONTACTS_____ 21

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VICAR’S REPORT

VICAR’S REPORT

The annual report provides an opportunity to show our gratitude and thanks to God, and everyone for your presence, service, participation, for all that you do at St John the Evangelist. It is also a good time to review, listen, reflect, learn, and seek vision for the future and implementation. The last couple of years have been challenging for us all and we have learned so much about the church and community, and our world. Our Annual Meeting falls in Eastertide and it reminds us that we are children of the risen Lord and “Alleluia” is our song. So, the pages of this report indicate how we have best lived out our faith and our firm belief in Christ our Saviour and that death will never have the final word and how we have demonstrated our strength of Christian character, resilience, and recovery in the face of the challenges we have had.

“Everyone is welcome to explore, develop and share their faith together. I look forward to the future of St John the Evangelist.”

It has been a wonderful few months, being part of the St John’s church family. Thank you, to everyone who has warmly welcomed me. I have had the pleasure of leading and participating in fellowship and worship since Epiphany and now in Eastertide. We had an exciting Pancake Day in collaboration with a St John’s school fundraising event. The church was buzzing with parents and children eating pancakes and playing games. We had a poignant Ash Wednesday service in collaboration with Sacred Space, and a joyful Mothering Sunday service. Thank you to all the fathers from Diddy who made the posies. We had a joint Palm Sunday service with Kingston Methodist Church. We look forward to continuing this uplifting collaboration of worship. It was an amazing expression of what we can achieve as Christians working together. We had the opportunity to practice the Jerusalema dance that we will do on 21 May 2022 in Kingston town centre, fundraising for Christian Aid. In Holy week we had a solemn but beautiful Maundy Thursday meal and concluded the service in the garden of Gethsemane, put together for this service. On Good Friday we had a Diddy Disciples service that was followed by a quiet and reflective grown-up event. Easter day was glorious as we had families coming back and new people attending. Our All-Age services are also seeing families slowly coming back.

Our Sunday service attendance is currently stable in numbers and hopefully we will begin to see some growth in the coming months. Let’s continue to pray, engage and focus on growth through the various services and events. We continue our morning communion service on Sundays at 10:30am and Diddy Disciples at 9:15am. Diddy is continuing to grow from strength to strength. I would like to commend Emma Lloyd- Williams and Mimi Fagan for their dedication and service.

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VICAR’S REPORT

Morning prayer at 9am continues three days a week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) both in person and online. I’d encourage you to join us if you’ve not tried it. You will be blessed.

I’m grateful to Wendy, our organist, for her commitment over the last two years, and to all who have supported our worship, for their contribution week in, week out, and I look forward to working together developing our music, especially for major services. I look forward to seeing how our fellowship and discipleship for the whole church family will develop in the next seasons. A big thank you too, to Emma Peries and Colin Bowes who are helping us with the website, social media, and audio-visual equipment. They are constantly updating our communications. We are always looking for people with passion to join the AV team; if you want to join let us know.

Assemblies have been held in St John's school whenever Covid has permitted, and a weekly Bible Club had just been launched. Our relationship with Bedelsford school has continued, and we are looking to deepen our links with King Athelstan school and Surbiton High Juniors, as well as Kingston University students and other organisations in our parish.

Refugee Action Kingston continue to run their day centre in the church on a weekly basis on Wednesdays, and our links with Kingston Community Refugee Sponsorship have developed since the arrival of a family from Syria. Our advocacy for Acts 435 has been maintained, and we have continued to partner in mission with various other charities.

I want to commend the Churchwardens, Frances Hazelgrove and Wendy Malseed and the PCC, the Readers, Sides people, Servers, Emma L-W and everyone in the various teams who has served tirelessly, often unseen in keeping things running smoothly in the church.

I appreciate their wisdom, integrity, patience and sense of humour. Thank you too, to everyone doing their bit in reaching out, fundraising, and community engagement.

We are all contributing to the flourishing of our church and community. We are grateful to God for all those who gave and continue to give towards the work of this parish.

Rev’d Mark Stafford left at the end of January 2022. We are grateful for all the hard work he and Lucy put at St John's and we wish them all the best in their new ministry in Ewell. Going forward, the PCC is hard at work putting together the church profile and will keep us updated with the next steps.

Thank you for being a vibrant, inclusive, welcoming community that shares the love of Jesus, which worships in a beautiful space, practices generous hospitality. Everyone is welcome to explore, develop and share their faith together. I look forward to the future of St John the Evangelist.

Interim Minister

Reverend Lindiwe Maseko

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CHURCH OFFICERS REPORT

CHURCHWARDENS ’ REPORT

Over the course of 2021, we have gradually been able to resume our normal pattern of worship following the restrictions that were put in place, due to the pandemic. In addition, we have seen the return of our Community Café, Little Groovers and the First Monday Club, and the church has been the venue for a whole range of popular concerts.

The beginning of 2021 saw us in Lockdown, for the second time. Over the previous year, Mark, our vicar, had developed our on-line presence, using Facebook to stream services and this continued into lockdown. We were grateful for the musical contributions that Eleanor Howard- Williams made to our services, thus enriching our worship.

During this period, also, Mark continued to deliver an evening service on Sundays, as well as a daily morning service. This was the only link that most members of the congregation had with the church during this period, and many expressed their gratitude for the support that it gave them.

In early February we were pleased to welcome Emma Lloyd-Williams as our Church Administrator. Emma has been an invaluable support to everyone during the year. Our usual Mothering Sunday service could not be held but baskets with posies of daffodils were left outside the church with a message inviting people to take them home.

During the period of Lent, the York Lent course was followed, which had an ecological theme and was delivered over Zoom. This enabled wide participation, whilst also allowing parishioners to maintain contact with one another, albeit remotely.

The church re-opened for public worship on Palm Sunday, although with Covid restrictions in place. Communicants were not permitted to drink from the chalice and social distancing had to be maintained. Unfortunately, singing was not permitted and there were restrictions on weddings, baptisms, and funerals. In Holy Week, we were able to deliver services as normal, including Maundy Thursday and a reflection on Good Friday, which comprised bible readings and prayers, interspersed with music. This attracted a small congregation, with there being some nervousness about the resumption of church services.

Following the return to church, Diddy Disciples was also able to resume. Owing to problems with confined space however, the Sunday morning service had to be re-scheduled to start later, at 10.30am, whilst Diddys was moved to 09.15am.

When refreshments were reinstated, later in July, they were served in between the two services, thus enabling members of each group to meet and socialise. At this time, also, there was a relaunch of Little Groovers, run by Emma Lloyd-Williams. Initially, strict Covid restrictions meant that there were restrictions on the number of adults who could attend.We were very pleased to hear that Julie Bishop had been accepted for training in Lay Ministry and wished her well.

In November, Mark announced that he had been appointed as vicar at St Mary’s Church in Ewell and that he would be leaving us at the end of January 2022. We were pleased to hear his good news but were sorry for his departure from St. John’s. Over the two and half years that he has been with us, he has demonstrated great commitment both to our church and the local community. He worked

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CHURCH OFFICERS REPORT

closely with our church school and held the position of Chaplain at Kingston Hospital. We know that his contributions in these areas will be greatly missed.

On 30[th ] November we were delighted that Andrea Campanale was Licensed as a Lay Pioneer Minister for our church by Bishop Christopher. We welcomed guests from Sacred Space and the very special service was followed by refreshments.

In early December we had a very busy Christmas Market with the café open and Christmas tree sale. Our Silent Auction was again held online and added to the success of the day.

Once again, this has been a challenging year for us, but we feel that through our collective efforts, we have successively adapted to our circumstances.

Our role as churchwardens brings many responsibilities and we thank everyone for the support we have received during the year. Our church has continued to run smoothly because of a dedicated group of people who generously give their time in so many ways.

Our thanks again to Isobel for your interesting sermons and all you do and to Andrea for your support and sermons which have inspired us.

“Once again, this has been a challenging year for us, but we feel that through our collective efforts, we have successively adapted to our circumstances.”

We ended the year by celebrating Christmas. Over the course of the year, we had developed a small choir, who were able to sing for the congregation during the period in which congregational singing was banned. They sang at our carol service, as well as the Midnight Mass and Christmas Day services. There were 5 Baptisms and two weddings during the year.

Mimi Fagan, who for a number of years had looked after the church flower rota and inspired the beautiful church decorating for church Festivals, decided to “retire”. We are grateful to her for sharing her talent and for the many beautiful flower arrangements which we so admired and enjoyed. Thank you Caroline Overholt for taking over from Mimi and to everyone who continued to arrange the flowers and help to decorate the church for special occasions.

Mimi had also conscientiously held the position of our Parish Safeguarding Officer but wanted to pass this on. Thank you to Pat Askey and Grant Vanstone for taking over this important role. We were sad to lose Wing as our church and hall Caretaker but were delighted that Ray Symons accepted the position in October.

Thank you to the members of our Standing Committee and PCC for your wise decisions made during another difficult year; for the support of our Assistant Wardens, David for our sidespeople, Emma for the families and children, Jan for the community and Julie for pastoral care; to our Servers Kath, Jim and Neville and to our Sidespeople for the important part you all play to ensure our services run smoothly; to those who read the lessons and led our prayers.

Thanks to Emma P and our camera operators; to Emma, Mimi and Jen ( who moved away during the summer and whom we miss) for giving our young children a happy experience of worship; to Mark Brooks for being our Verger and Sacristan; to Colin Bowes and Dave Meeghan for your continuing advice and work to improve the live streaming of our services.

Thank you to our Charities Team for keeping our thoughts on others’ needs. Thank you Tony for your continued hard work and good stewardship of our resources and Jo and Alec for your involvement with church giving.

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CHURCH OFFICERS REPORT

Thank you Alec for being our Governance Officer which included ensuring our compliance to GDPR obligations is accurate; Jen Powell for making sure our Electoral Roll is up to date; Emma, our Church Administrator, for your cheerful support and hard work during the year and Sarah, our PCC Secretary, for your unwavering support over many years – expertly taking our minutes and looking after official detail.

to Karoline, Emma, Caroline, Trisha, Chris and Alice for your work maintaining our church garden, keeping the outside looking tidy and attractive. Thank you Tony and Emma for booking the Banquet Record concerts and to the bar staff which has increased our church income significantly. There will have been other unknown activities happening behind the scenes which have helped our church remain a spiritual and welcoming place for all.

Thank you Jan for looking after the refreshment rota when needed and to those who supplied and served the Sunday refreshments; to the helpers at the Community Café; to Ray for your willing and conscientious help as Caretaker;

Thank you everyone.

Frances Hazlegrove and Wendy Malseed

FABRIC REPORT

The church has been kept in good order and has been continued to be professionally cleaned. The grass has been regularly cut and the garden team have kept the church grounds looking attractive. A box shed was bought for their garden tools. The roof needs some repair and this is under review. Thank you to Tony Hardy and Michael Wraight for your involvement with organising the work needed as a result of the Quinquennial Report.

Frances Hazelgrove & Wendy Malseed

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CHURCH OFFICERS REPORT

TREASURER ’ S REPORT Finance Report for the year ended 31 December 2021

Despite another challenging year, a small surplus of £327 was recorded and church funds stood at £83,208 at the end of 2021.

While losses were incurred during some months, we actually closed the year with an increased balance of £20,227 in our Unrestricted funds - those which reflect our ordinary income and expenditure. This was largely due to higher income than expected in the final quarter from concerts and other hirers.

Our Regeneration Building Fund now stands at £39,538 following final Phase 2 payments and installation of the AV system and associated electrics.

We are greatly indebted to Colin Bowes for his expertise and generous donations of cameras and kit, along with the skills of local electrician Dave Meegan.

Total expenses were £86,575 including £5,413 from the Regeneration fund. We again pledged and delivered £47k as our Parish Support contribution to the Diocese which supports the ministry here and at churches throughout Southwark, some of whom are much poorer than ourselves. Remaining costs were capped in most areas.

In summary, we closed 2021 with reserves of £83,208 made up £20,227 in unrestricted funds, £39,538 held in the restricted Regeneration Fund towards future building works, £20,596 representing the balance of legacies received plus £2,847 Refugee Action grant.

” “In summary, we closed 2021 with reserves of £83,208

Total income for the year was £86,902, all of which was from Unrestricted (ordinary) sources. Giving, which totalled over £33k, was 6% up on 2020; the vast majority from monthly standing orders or envelopes. We received a further £10k in income tax recovered on Gift Aid payments. Along with this tax recovery, the £16k annual University rent continues to be very critical to our finances. While church hire income was lower than last year, the bars run at the Banquet Records shows helped to increase fundraising year on year. We are extremely grateful to Alec MacMillan for all the hard work he puts into running the bars along with his team of volunteers. The online Silent Auction raised a net £2,060 for church funds plus £583 for St John’s School PSA

It is the policy of the PCC to keep a minimum £30k in liquid reserves to cover unforeseen emergencies or loss of regular income. In practice, we only achieve this level of reserve by factoring in some of the Restricted legacy money in with our Unrestricted fund.

I would like to thank Mark and Lucy, our outgoing minister and his wife, churchwardens Frances and Wendy, Isobel, Mimi and Sarah Price plus all the PCC members for their much- appreciated support over the year. Special thanks go to Jo Need, our Gift Aid Secretary, to Emma LloydWilliams and Alec MacMillan, Ray Symons and Emma Peries for all their invaluable help.

Tony Hardy Church Treasurer

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CHURCH OFFICERS REPORT

PARISH ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT

For the first part of the year we were still under government restrictions so the use of the church was limited. However as Spring arrived along with it came better news from the government and with the lifting of restrictions we were able once again to hire out the church, starting with our choirs mostly using the outside garden space, entertaining our neighbours with their beautiful singing. Half way through the year it was much better news and we were finally able to throw open the doors and tentatively welcomed our first band ‘Duo’ in for a concert. This was followed by several more in conjunction with Jon Tolley and Banquet records.

With the world getting back to normal and with word about the church’s new improved facilities getting about, we have had a number of bookings from new hirers including the NCT, Linden Wind Orchestra, Daisy first aid as well as our old regulars The Morris Dancers, Theatre group 8218 and Orpheus Choir. It’s so wonderful to see the church being used as a community space once again.

The church has also organised a number of its own events such as The First Monday Club, Community Café and a much smaller Christmas sale which was enjoyed by all. We have once again started welcoming local schools back into the Church for worship these include our own church school St John’s, Bedelsford and Surbiton High.

We look forward to welcoming even more people in 2022 to ensure that the church remains a viable community space for both worship and events. Emma Lloyd-Williams

PCC

REPORT

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is the ‘governing body’ of the church and is chaired by the Vicar. It is responsible for the overall practical and spiritual wellbeing of the church, its building and its people.

St John’s PCC meets on alternate months throughout the year. There is also a smaller, Standing Committee of the PCC, which meets as and when required between PCC meetings. Since February 2022, PCC meetings have returned to being held in person rather than online as they were during the pandemic.

In addition to the Vicar, the PCC is attended by other members of the clergy team, the Churchwardens, treasurer, secretary and up to nine members of the congregation who are elected at the APCM to serve for three years.

The PCC represents the congregation and welcomes all thoughts, questions and observations about the church.

The 2021 Vestry Meeting and APCM were held during the service on Sunday May 16th following publication of the Annual Report, thanks to the efforts of Emma Lloyd-Williams and Alec MacMillan.

At the meetings we voted in Wendy Malseed as Churchwarden and two new elected PCC members, Suzanna Travers and Kate Lyon.

There are several vacancies on the committee: anyone who is on the electoral roll is encouraged to apply to the Vicar or Churchwardens if interested in joining us.

Sarah Price, PCC Secretary

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CHURCH OFFICERS REPORT

SIDESPEOPLE & SERVICES

duties which a specific celebration may demand, for instance during the busy Christmas services, where as many as 5 sidespersons may be on duty at once. The qualifications needed are fairly easy to meet: a welcoming smile on a Sunday morning! If you can find a smile to share with us, and would like to be part of the sidespersons team, please let me or Lindiwe know .

In 2021 we welcomed one new sidesperson on to the rota, Carolynne Cotton, bringing our total numbers to 9. Our principal duties are to welcome the congregation on arrival to the service, to guide them at communion and take Lindiwe know . collection during the final hymn. We also remain generally on hand during the service to David Hamilton undertake any additional

ELECTORAL ROLL

The electoral roll for 2021/22: There are 113 people currently on the roll in 2022.

• 7 people have left the roll

• 6 people have joined in the 2021/22 year up until 30th April 2022

If you are baptised and would like to be added to the Elec toral Roll please fill out an application form which can be

found at the back of the church or you are welcome to contact the Electoral Roll Officer, Jen Powell,

Joining the Church Electoral Roll means that you can vote on Church matters, attend the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) and stand for election to the PCC. Any person entitled to attend may raise any question of parochial or general church interest.

Jen Powell

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CHURCH OFFICERS REPORT

SAFEGUARDING

Safeguarding is at the heart of all activities that the church and PCC are involved in. Safeguarding is now an agenda item at every PCC meeting.

It is the responsibility of the Parish Safeguarding Officers (‘PSO’s’) and the PCC to provide an Annual report on Safeguarding and to report that it is in compliance with the duty to ‘have due regard’ to the House of Bishops’ (‘HOB’) Safeguarding Policy and Practice Guidance.

Last year Pat Askey and Grant Vanstone were appointed to take up the joint role of PSOs. In October 2001 Grant Vanstone undertook the Parish Safeguarding Induction training and Pat Askey is due to undergo her full induction training shortly. Further training sessions for the PSOs are contemplated by the Diocese.

An Audit of Parish Safeguarding was carried out in November 2021 with due regard to the House of Bishops’ guidance. This review is still not complete, and specific checks still need to be made to ensure that all PCC members are up to date with their three yearly updates in Safeguarding training.

Insurance cover and rental agreements have been audited and are in compliance with the HOB guidance.

Formal notices are displayed as advised by the HOB guidance with the contact details of the various officers. Photographs still need to be provided for the notices of the PSOs. These are in hand.

We have procedures in place to deal promptly with any safeguarding allegation or suspicion of abuse however this will need to be kept constantly under review and a further audit undertaken prior to Oct of 2022, in line with the new changes and audit process introduced by the Diocese after the 2019 review and the restrictions and difficulties caused by COVID 19.

We have systems in place to ensure that any known offender or others who pose risks to children are identified. Strong and robust procedures tend to ensure the likelihood of any issues become less likely and if arises they are dealt with appropriately and without as much pain and difficulty than if there are less stringent checks in place

There are some other details that need to be reviewed regarding training and certificates although the policies and procedures are in place but as is always the case they need to be more robust and kept under review.

Risk assessments are carried out in relation to all activities that take place within the church and the areas under its responsibility and guidance is provided to all who hire premises under the churches responsibility.

New confidential declaration forms have been issued by the diocese this week regarding persons involved in children and young persons activities together with others who work with vulnerable persons.

Thankfully there have been no issues reported again this year.

Pat Askey & Grant Vanstone

A three yearly review and update with regard to Safeguarding policies and training will be required of all PCCs in the future.

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CHURCH LIFE

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SERVERS
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Would you like to be a server in church? As a server we set up the altar for communion before the service begins. This can be a very peaceful and rewarding time. Maybe a moment to collect your thoughts and to connect with God.

We then assist the Vicar during the service. Please come and talk to myself, Kath or Jim, if you would like to be part of the serving team.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook live continued to be a valuable connection to the Church that so many were missing in 2021 as COVID continued to have its hold over our lives. Mark would lead morning prayer every day and Sunday services from the vicarage during lockdowns. Our Facebook online services continued throughout the year even when the Church was able to be open with socially distanced, mask wearing services for those who didn’t feel able to come to Church.

Neville Hall.

SACRED SPACE

It’s been another difficult year as we have had to continue to meet on Zoom for the most part. However, Sacred Space were awarded a Bishop’s Mission Order and we were able to meet in person for Andrea Campanale’s Licensing service at St John’s on 30th November last year. We have also been to a couple of concerts at St John’s and one of our community, Rachel Michael, was able to lead the congregation in a specially written Ash Wednesday service that was not shame inducing.

As Mark left early 2022, the PCC decided to keep these services online, as despite there not being a big call for it live, there is an audience that like to catch up who are not able to make the service for various reasons. The only service that is no longer filmed is All Age Service on the first Sunday of the month.

EMMA PERIES

“Sacred Space were awarded a Bishop’s Mission Order”

We plan to start meeting in person again for regular community meals, at first eating outside to avoid any risk of Covid infections, and I have a couple of dates so we can choose one for a day of reflection on art that a friend will host for us in her garden during the summer. In addition, I have put a proposal to the Diocese for working alongside pioneers in other locations to see if it would be possible to create more Sacred Space communities across Southwark Diocese. I await their response.

ANDREA CAMPANALE

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CHURCH LIFE

FLOWERS IN CHURCH

Anyone is welcome to arrange a vase of flowers in the church, there is no special skill required! For the bigger occasions, we tend to get a few of us volunteer arrangers together to create something on a slightly larger scale. We work against a monthly rota when each of us sort out the flowers in time for Sunday service. It’s great fun and always a happy and sociable team effort and also a great way of getting to know people in the church! We’re always looking for volunteers, so if you’re tempted, have a chat with me! Thank you

Caroline Overholt

MUSIC

This has, again, been a challenging year for us all and one in which we have been unable to meet as a community during the period of lockdown. We have, nevertheless, strived to maintain our links via other means, namely the internet. Between the New Year and Easter, our church was closed but we were able to deliver services over Zoom. We were grateful for the contributions of Eleanor Howard-Williams, of All Saints’ Kingston, who sang for us regularly, whilst I played the organ at the Sunday morning and evening services.

We were able to welcome our congregation back to church on Palm Sunday but, unfortunately, communal singing was not permitted.

Choral singing was, however, allowed and we developed a small group of choristers who sang at our Sunday service. Their contributions enriched our worship and were much appreciated by members of the congregation.

Christmas is usually a highlight of the year and this year our small choir sang at our Carol Service and Christmas Day services.

Following the relaxation of Covid restrictions, we were able to hold weddings and baptisms in church and we have been pleased to have provided music to celebrate these occasions.

I know that musical contributions to our church are much appreciated by members of the congregation and hope that, in the future, we can attract a broader range of musicians of all ages to join us in our worship.

Wendy Malseed Director of Music

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CHURCH LIFE

CHARITIES, CAUSES & CAMPAIGNS

During 2021, the Team met five times on Zoom, and we are glad to be able to report that St John's maintained its support for a range of charities, despite all the problems of on/off lock-downs and restrictions. As the Community Café had to remain closed for most of the year, we continued to have a nominated 'Charity of the Month' as a way of focussing attention and raising funds; and we were able to welcome visiting speakers from The Leprosy Mission (TLM), Kingston Samaritans and Princess Alice Hospice to help us do this. Our Lent Appeal for TLM was particularly successful, raising £760, which will have been doubled by match-funding. A total of nearly £3,500 was paid to charities through the church account, and since each of our charities was able to provide a link for online donations, there may well have been additional contributions by that route.

Christian Aid Week was another highlight of the year, with Mark and other local clergy carrying buckets of water from church to church in order to raise funds via the local Just Giving page. Kingston CA Committee as a whole raised a grand total of over £22,000, and of this, £2,050 was banked from St John's, in addition to whatever our members may have given online, so a big thank you to all who helped achieve this magnificent result.

Refugee Action Kingston was able to return to St John's on Wednesdays in the later months of the year, and in November we responded to a request for gift cards to enable some of their more recent arrivals (including from Afghanistan) to go shopping for personal essentials. St John's link with Kingston Community Refugee Sponsorship has also continued, with Grant Vanstone and Isobel Robinson serving as trustees.

“Our church community to continue its commitment to reach out to those who need our help, whether locally or in the wider world. ”

A number of individual church members hold Children's Society collecting boxes at home, and this has raised over £250 this year (with a few still to be opened and counted); and a further £120 was donated at the Christingle service at the beginning of December.

We were finally able to welcome our first family – mother and father and two young children – who arrived at the beginning of November and are now living in an apartment in Surbiton, supported by a group of KCRS volunteers including Mimi.

The Autumn shoebox appeal for Link to Hope was well-supported once more, with the 50 or so boxes we were able to hand over to the local rep in early November much appreciated at a time when fewer groups than usual had felt able to take part. Gifts in kind were also collected for the Foodbank, both at our Harvest Festival and throughout the year via the collecting box outside the vicarage.

In conclusion, we are truly grateful to all those who have helped us in any way,and enabled our church community to continue its commitment to reach out to those who need our help, whether locally or in the wider world.

Isobel Robinson

Charities Team - Mark Stafford, Kay Baker, Emma Peries, Tony Williams and Jenny Holden

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CHURCH LIFE

FIRST MONDAY CLUB

The First Monday Club was only able to meet for the second half of 2021, the highlight of which was Rosalind Hardy's talk on ' My Life with Asperger's Syndrome' which had been postponed from the previous year - a fascinating insight into the challenges and joys that she had faced growing up. This exceptional young woman has since been presented with a British Citizen's Award which she received in March at the Palace of Westminster.

CHRISTMAS AUCTION

The Legendary Silent Auction has been a feature of our annual Christmas event for many years and a key fund raiser for us. In 2020, lockdown prevented us from holding a social event in church so it was decided to run the Auction element online.

This proved both popular and very successful so we repeated it in December 2021, even though we could host a limited event in church. Using the Jumblebee web platform, 68 lots were posted, all kindly donated by church and community members plus local businesses. For those lots sourced by St John’s School PSA, proceeds were shared 75/25 between the PSA and the church.

We have been back to Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park and ended the year domestically making pumpkin pies in November and sweets for Christmas in December.

We are hoping to manage a complete year in 2022.

Jo Need

The Auction went live on 20 November and closed on 4 December. Bids were received for every lot and totalled £2,768. After deduction of the small Jumblebee fee, the Auction raised £2,060 for church funds and £583 for the PSA.

Once we can host the full Christmas event in church again, the plan is to continue to hold the Auction online. Special thanks again go to Jo Campbell for her kind help and support in running the Auction and to Emma Lloyd-Williams and Agnieszka van Eijnsbergen from the School PSA for all their hard work. And naturally a big thank you to all who contributed by bidding.

Tony Hardy

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CHURCH LIFE

DIDDY DISCIPLES, FAMILIES AND PEOPLE

We have once again seen big changes to the way we run Diddy Disciples this year.

Having emerged from lockdown we needed to look at how we could run sessions safely but still make them fun and engaging for the children. A decision was made that due to space issues we would run the session before the main service to allow us use of the whole church space. This has worked really well and we regularly have 14-16 families attending most weeks.

It’s great to have space to run the session and then move to another area for the creative response.

However, we would now like to work towards merging the two services together again so that we can once again be one church family.

Emma Lloyd-Williams

Despite the restrictions we were able to offer a number of activities for children and young people this year. We started with our Good Friday Diddy Disciples workshop which was well received, and the children enjoyed making their own Easter Gardens. We had a number of All Age services which all had an interactive element and were enjoyed by all young and old.

We also started to look at our offering for older children and ran a couple of sessions using new material from ‘A Joyful Path’; this was welcomed by the children who attended and we hope to continue building on the success of last year.

In June we were finally able to re-open the much loved Little Groovers much to the relief of mums, dads and childminders.

We ended the year with a Nativity Trail and service, sadly with covid numbers being what they were, only a small number attended although those that did had a fantastic time, we are very grateful to those who dressed up and acted the part and provided some much needed Christmas cheer.

Emma Lloyd-Williams

17

CHURCH LIFE

GARDENING GROUP

The gardening group has worked very hard to keep the church grounds looking neat and tidy. The group meets as and when they can to prune, weed and to make the grounds a lovely space for the community to enjoy. A rose called “The Lady Gardener” was purchased and planted in memory of Helene Keates. Helene was a resident of Bloomfield Road and a longstanding member of the congregation at St John’s.

She was an RHS member and exhibitor who gave so much advice on many aspects of gardening including looking after the beautiful roses in the grounds.

If anyone would like to join the team, extra pairs of hands are always welcome. Also, if anyone has any spare gardening tools, planters, pots or bulbs, in good condition, donations would be gratefully received.

Alice Fowles

ECO GROUP

The Eco group was suspended while completion of the building works took place and then we were unable to meet due to the pandemic. Since restrictions were lifted the group has met again. A virtual advent calendar was suggested and Laura Whelan worked to make this a reality. It was available on the website, giving a tip or suggestion on sustainability each day. Ideas for home as well as church use, made it a fun, informative way to mark advent. Moving forward the aim is to work towards the Bronze Eco Church Award which was started before the building works.

To this end we invited Andy Atkins, the CEO of A Rocha to come and talk to us about how as a community we can be greener and more sustainable in church and in the wider community. Encouraging us all to make small achievable changes in our lives to help sustainability and to become more eco- friendly was the main message.

Alice Fowles

18

PARISH HALL

HALL ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT

For the first three months of the year our hall was silent because we were in a lockdown. Hall life gradually returned to normal in April with Kingston Kindergarten, Badminton group, Jiu jitsu, Rugbytots, British Theatre Academy, the Rose Youth Theatre and the Spring Grove Fringe returning to use the hall. Sadly Perform had to close due to lack of customers, but in May a new Pilates class joined us. The first private hire took place in September and these continued for the rest of the year. The Spring Grove Fringe were able to put on a production in June and November.

The hall continued to be professionally cleaned each week. In August the Hall Committee spent a Saturday morning sorting and cleaning the kitchen cupboards, dusting in high places, carrying out small repairs and checking the hall’s general condition. All the members play an important part in keeping the hall in good repair and safe condition for everyone to use.

Their wisdom and support are really appreciated.

Wing, who had been our hall (and later church) Caretaker for nearly eight years, sadly decided that for family reasons she could no longer fulfil the role. We were really sorry to lose her and thank her for her conscientious help and support for so many years. We send her and her family very best wishes. We were very pleased that Ray Symons accepted the Caretaker role from the beginning of October and immediately took on the tasks in a positive and helpful way and we thank him for this.

Frances Hazelgrove

HALL TREASURER ’ S REPORT

Finance & Building Report for the year ended 31 December 2021

Although Covid continued to impact on hire income in the first half of the year, the Parish Hall had a successful year as a surplus of £12,877 was recorded. Total funds rose to reach £73,604 by the close of 2021. Income increased by 26% at £21,119 (£16,729 in 2020). Of this, 90% came from regular hirers with highest usage by Kingston Kindergarten followed by Jiu Jitsu and Spring Grove Fringe. Income from occasional hire mostly for children’s parties recovered strongly in the second half of the year.

Expenses at £8,242 were 29% below last year, reflecting lower occupation in the first half of 2021 alongside reduced energy and maintenance costs. Weekly cleaning was maintained to a high standard by Paragon Green Cleaning and we also benefitted greatly from having our new caretaker, Ray Symons, on board.

The Hall Committee is looking ahead to 2023 when we should be able to apply for a grant to improve access and toilet facilities. In addition, we would like to replace the windows and doors plus redecorate the Hall in time. The cost implications are significant and will require external finance from grants or trusts along with our own reserves, while maintaining a minimum £20k as a buffer at all times.

Special thanks go to Frances Hazelgrove who manages the Hall bookings so well for us and to Ray Symons for his fine work, plus the staff of Paragon Green Cleaning for their professional and reliable service. Our thanks also go to Michael Wraight for looking after Hall maintenance, to Jan Hartley for leading the Hall management committee and to all our hirers for their valuable support.

Church & Hall Treasurer Tony Hardy

19

TEAM

ALL SAINTS CHURCH

This has surely been another year like other! At the time of the last Annual Parish Meeting in May 2021, we were cautiously feeling our way back to a kind of ‘new’ normality, with in-person services resuming, albeit with face- coverings requested and a substantial proportion of the congregation continuing to ‘attend’ services via our YouTube channel. Something approaching normal service has been resumed this year, but it has been a rather stop- start process. In addition to the usual three Sunday Services, first one and then a second mid-week service was added to the weekly roster of services, and

Wednesday afternoon’s Choral Evensong began to get confidently back into its stride. The Bishop of Kingston conducted a Confirmation Service on the afternoon of Sunday 13th June, and the Kingston Episcopal Ara Ordination Service took place on Saturday 3rd July. In addition, the annual Mayoral Service was held on the afternoon of Sunday 27th June, with the Crown Court Service on Monday 4th October and the Civic Remembrance Service in Memorial Square on Sunday 14th November.

But above everything else, Jonathan’s announcement on Sunday 13th June that he would be leaving All Saints after a fifteenyear ministry amongst us, was surely the defining moment of the year. His last service, Choral Evensong on Sunday 17th October was followed by a joyous celebration in the East End, wonderfully catered for by Sarah and her team and with a stylish musical entertainment provided by the Choir. Jonathan’s final inunction to us at the end of the service, drawing on the New Testament reading, was ‘Only be strong, and very courageous’, something that we’ve all tried to keep at the forefront of our minds ever since. Since then, the Kingston Team Ministry has been without a Team Rector and we at All Saints have been without a Vicar. But we have been enormously well-served by a whole host of clergy, led by Sandy and William, and we are extremely grateful especially to William for putting together a weekly service rota which currently extends deep into the summer. Week by week, the Opus Dei at All Saints continues to thrive.

The run of Christmas services, from Advent through Christmas to Epiphany, went very well. The congregations at each of the services were rather smaller than usual, mainly because of lingering anxieties about the Covid-19 situation, but they were watched by considerable numbers of people via our YouTube livestream. We are immensely grateful to our excellent musicians: the organists, the choir and the bellringers, for everything they did to make these special services, and also our routine weekly services, so successful. A particular highlight was the commemoration of the Accession of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday 6th February.

All Saints has been kept going during the potentially challenging months of the Vacancy, which are set to continue into September, by the sterling efforts of a huge number of people, both our immensely hardworking staff (Jenny, Pippa and Richard), and our many volunteers and especially those who coordinate their activities from behind the scenes. Special mention must be made of the invaluable contributions of Isabel Isaacson, PCC Secretary and Alastair Deller, Honorary Treasurer. Paul Thompson, deputy churchwarden with delegated responsibility for premises and insurance, has worked extremely hard to tackle a number of complex issues during the last few months. The separate reports of the many and varied group activities that take place week by week (below) are an eloquent testimony to the rich tapestry of life at All Saints.

The church continues to be open to visitors throughout the week from 10.00am until 4.00pm, and the Café, now superbly managed by Sarah and her team of highly professional assistants, continues to attract a loyal and steady following of both regular customers and occasional visitors. The Vergers and the Listeners combine to ensure that there is a warm welcome for visitors, whatever their reason for coming into the church. On Saturday mornings, members of the Gardening Group often chat to passersby as they work in the north and south churchyards, providing another form of mission outreach activity to the local community. The building has continued to work very hard for its living, being regularly hired for weekly rehearsals, frequent concerts both at lunchtimes and in the evening, receptions of various kinds, popular exhibitions and most recently the new once a month ‘PopUp Shop’ held on a Saturday, selling ‘vintage pre-loved fashion clothing’, which in addition to providing much needed income has attracted a whole new demographic into our beautiful and infinitely adaptable space. We often say we need to attract more young people!

The Kingston Team Ministry Profile, an impressively professional-looking document, was produced as a result of an excellent team effort by many contributors, and can be found on the website. It was made available to potential applicants through the Church Times adverts that appeared throughout March. By the time this report appears the shortlisting meeting will have taken place (26th April) and the preferred candidates will have visited the three parishes that make up the Kingston Team Ministry (Saturday 7th May). Interviews are scheduled for Wednesday 11th May and we hope very much that the successful candidate will be in post by the beginning of September. The appointment panel consists of the Archdeacon of Wandsworth (representing the Bishop of Southwark), the Dean of King’s College Cambridge (representing the College, which is our Patron), Revd Mandy Beck (Team Vicar, St John the Baptist) and representatives from our three PCCs.

The Churchwardens would like to extend their heartfelt thanks the Clergy, the Deputy Wardens, the PCC and the whole congregation for their support over the last year. It has been very much appreciated.

John Dewhurst & Roshan Jathanna

20

TEAM

ST JOHN THE BAPTIST CHURCH

2021 a year of blessings and challenges. The world and St John’s continued to be buffeted by the effects of the COVID pandemic. We began the year with services seated at social distances wearing masks. In the summer we could all rejoice and sing together again in church. At Christmas due to the Omicron variant caught by many including myself, we had services of The Word in the church and outside at which Andrew Bignold, the churchwarden, stepped in to lead.

At every opportunity this year our other churchwarden, Beverly Morley-Brown, found ways to make any event into a celebration, so gardening now includes delicious pastries. The opportunity of celebrating the work Tony Wilkinson has done over the years in the garden was complete with champagne. Sue Richardson and the whole outreach team began organising events again, including storytelling and pop-up suppers. Members of the church have really stepped forward to care for neighbours and to enable the rota and services to run. The organising and encouraging of those teams have been ably led by Penny Jivani. Our children’s work this year has been a great success with the Summer Holiday Club and Halloween Orchard Church at dusk being over-subscribed. Vicky Clark, our children’s worker, encouraging a whole team of leaders Sunday by Sunday.

Andrew Taylor stepped in as treasurer after Cheong Wong’s many years in the role. Our finances in 2021 were not good however, with us once more making a loss. With the opening of the new nursery and the encouragement of members to join the Parish Giving Scheme, we are looking to turn this around in 2022. In 2021 we asked people what they hoped for in the community and from the church, and peoples’ love of our church was clear. What also came across was an acknowledgement of the isolation and hardship many were facing. It is in the light of the resurrecting hope of Christ, we acknowledge these struggles and look to God’s leading with new initiatives to meet these needs. So we have developed Orchard Church and Be Well Church. We are now much better placed to share what is happening at church with the wonderful new website created by Lorna Ailes and hosted with Andrew Cadman’s help. We have been blessed by God and by one another in 2021 and look to God’s leading into the future.

Rev Mandy Beck

21

CONTACTS

CONTACTS FOR ST JOHN ’ S

www.stjohnskingston.co.uk

www.inclusive-church.org.uk

Vicar: Rev Lindiwe Maseko: email: [e-mail] Tel: [phone]

Church Warden & Hall bookings: Frances Hazelgrove email: [e-mail]

Church Warden: Wendy Malseed email: [e-mail]

Parish Administrator: Emma Lloyd-Williams Email:[e-mail]

Reader & Charities Team leader: Isobel Robinson

Parish Safeguarding Officer: Pat Askey & Grant Vanstone Email: [e-mail]

Treasurer: Tony Hardy

PCC Secretary: Sarah Price

Additional PCC Members : Mimi Fagan, Michael Wraight, Alec MacMillan, Grant Vanstone, Colin Bowes, Julie Bishop, Suzannah Travers, Kate Lyon

https://www.facebook.com/StJohnsKingstonUponThames https://www.instagram.com/stjohnskingston/

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ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST, KINGSTON UPON THAMES

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL AFFAIRS : YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2021

INCOME	Unrestricted	Restricted	2021	2020
Gift Aid	30483		30483	29197
Income Tax Recovered	10315		10315	12228
Loose Collections/Card Reader	2916		2916	2189
Donations/Grants & VAT Reclaim	3378		3378	40547
Little Groovers	2025		2025	365
Fund Raising - General	8488		8488	7454
Church Fees (net)	1079		1079	657
Church Hire	7739		7739	9693
University Rent	16675		16675	16675
Interest	138		138	242
Missions	3417		3417	1918
Misc. Receipts	248		248	59
TOTAL	£86,902	£0	£86,902	£121,223
EXPENDITURE	Unrestricted	Restricted	2021	2020
Missions & Affiliation Fees	3497		3497	1964
Education	300		300	300
Little Groovers	1620		1620	0
Parish Support Fund	47000		47000	47000
Clergy Expenses	251		251	0
Church Administrator/expenses	2692		2692	2602
Organist Salary, Organ/Music	2020		2020	1602
Heating & Lighting	4883		4883	5071
Water Rates	120		120	243
Insurance	5412		5412	5686
Fundraising Expenses	3557		3557	2047
Church Repairs/Maintenance	5171	1989	7160	8993
Regeneration Project	0	3424	3424	81033
Printing, Postage & Stationery	3377		3377	3354
Sundry Expenses	1261	0	1261	1463
TOTAL	£81,162	£5,413	£86,575	£161,358
SURPLUS/(DEFICIT)			£327	-£40,135
Transfer to reserves
SURPLUS/(DEFICIT) FOR THE YEAR			£327	-£40,135
ADD ASSETS FROM 2020 BALANCE SHEET			£82,881	£123,016
ASSETS FROM 2021 BALANCE SHEET			£83,208	£82,881

JOHN THE EVANGEusf. KINGSTONJIPON THAMES BAiAt4CE SHEET AT 31 DECEMBER 2021 2021 2020 CURRENf ASSErs Debtors Bank Current Account Deposit Fund5 io 15298 2431 24% 94435 £85294 LESS: CURRENT UABILMES Sundry Creditors -16481 A5SErs £81881 REPRESENTED BY: Unrestrirted Fund Restrirted Fund (AI- Re£eneration Restricted Fund IBI- LeRacv Restricted Fund la- Kin%ston RefuRee 20227 39538 20596 2847 141 44951 20596 3234 Restrfrted Restricted NEf ASSEtS . 31 DECEMBER 2021 Balan￿5 at l January 2020 Income Expenditure Sun)lus (Deficit) Transfers between funds Totals 82881 86902 86575 327 1411x1 86902 81162 5740 387 44951 20596 3234 54 .54 -387 Balance5 at 31 De￿mber 2021 £39538 £20596 £2,847 £83.208 Churth Treawrer Signed . Team WKar Independent Examlnets Rep¢wt I report on the accounts of 5tJohn the EvanRelF5t. KinFSton upon Thames forthe vear ended 31112/21. My examination was carried out in accordance wtth the Eeneral d1￿ctionS %Nen by the Chartty Comtssion. This includes a review of the accountin% records kept by the churth and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. I have examined the SOFA and Balance Sheet and confirm thatthese are in accofdance with the accountinK records. re￿ipts. Invol￿5. Statements and documents submitted to me. StRned . Imlependent Examlner