St George's PRESHUTE Annual Report 2022 Registered Charity Number 1184256 St George's Church is situated on the western edge of Marlborough on the south bank of the River Kennet. The Parish ot Preshute serves the villages of Manton and Clatford, the Barton Park estate. part of the western end of Marlborough and a rural area stretching both north and south. The church is in the Diocese ot SalisbLlly (Deanery of Marlborough) and is parl of the Marlborough Anglican Team. with an office in Silverless Street, Marlborough. St George's and the associated churchyard is open every day and anyone is welcoine to visit the church lor prayer, quiet conleinplation or simply to enjoy the wonderful location next to the river. Aims and Obj¢¢tives- Making Jesus Known The Church is the family of Christians meeting together to worship God and to find fellowship together through prayer and leaming. Our work is to spread the Good News of our faith by 'Making Jesus Known". St George's is well placed to serve the town of Marlborough and most of our mission has a two-fold strategy: to deepen and enrich our own worshipping life and also to find creative ways of making connections with the local community to both introduce the Christian story and deepen engagement with all in the local area. St Georgc'5 Parochial Church Council {PCC) The PCC has the responsibility of co-operating with the Team Vicar in promoting, in the ecclesiastical Parish of Preshute. the whole mission of the Church- pastoral, evangTelistic, social and ecumenical. The life of St George's is within the Marlborough Anglican Team, Marlborough Churches Together and the Diocese of Salisbury in the Church of England. Membershi Members of the Parochial Church Council are either elected at the Annual Parochial Church MeetingT or co-opted b> the PCC due to the functions they perform in the Church (provided the person is willing to be co-opted). The PCC is a charity, and the PCC inenibers are its Trustees and are responsible for ensuring the Church is serving its community. This report shows how St George's engFages with the local community. Jncurnbent (Team Vicar).. Churchwardens.. Revd Pete Sainsbury Neil Croucher Nicky Huckle Simon Bonhani Sarah Musgsrave Jeremy York (retired October 2022) Alastair Barr (Treasurer) David Beacorn (Fabric and Churchyard) Anianda Brown (Secretary) Sally Cripps Marcia Johnson Paul Lefever Linda Morgan Stephen Robins Canon Sarah Musgrave LLM Revd Chris Smith Deanery Synod: Members.. The other members are.. Ex-offi¢io m¢mber: The PCC has met six times during the year. The most recent approved PCC minutes and past minutes are on file and available to view in the church or they can be obtained from the Secretary on request. The main iteins of business at each meeting are a consideration of our core task of 'Making Jesus Known,. Against this background. we have reviewed our worship, considered matters of finance and fabric, explored how we inight best 'grow St George s, the ivay we welcome people, and discussed the social events that are offered. At the Annual Meeting in 2022, there were 119 names on the Electoral Roll of church membership. The average number of worshippers each week has been approximately 42. Team Rector's Report Last )'¢ar was a y¢ar with three characteristics. First, recovery. The year began with the omicron surge: which tumed out to the be the last gasp of the lockdowns. St George's social activities began to return helping people to recover from the trauma of the pandemic. The Queen's Jubilee celebrations seemed to be a turning point on the pathway back to regular life. Second, the churches offered comfort. The invasion of Ukraine in February, three Prime Ministers and the Queen's death in the AulLllnn left many teelin&J unseltlLd. Traditionally we are a very stable counlt),, howewer, w¢ did not seem it sometimes in 2022. St George's led prayers and offered faith and continuity through challenging times. Third, we did press on wid] our mission to proclaim the good news of Jesus in word and deed. A Team Alpha course was run in St Peter s and various 'good works, groups have activ¢ly h¢lp¢d the poor and n¢¢dy. One mor¢ piec¢ of good n¢ws from last year; I was delighted that St G¢or&Je's PCC vofrd unanimously in October to support Revd Pete Sainsbury and extend his contract so he can stay full time in the parish. It's been a pleasure for tne working in a team with Pete and Sarah and I always enjoy m), visils to St George's. Thank you lor welcoine, support and prayers. Revd Chris Smith, Team Rector ofmarlborough Team Vicar's Report A local church is the most extraordinary gaihcrin&J of pcople. We may not bc as div¢rse as urban parishes often are. but we are nevertheless a diverse g7roup of people brougFht togJether by our searching after God (which I believe is actually our rcspondingJ to his searching oul ot us). We are the family of God in this place. And that warms my heart in all sorts of wavs. In reflection of that gratitude, I start with an expansive ihunk-you to you all. S( George's is marked by a wide breadth of activity that 'makes church happen, in its different ways and I arn deeply grateful for d]is and for the quality of relationships that underpins this. Sally Cripps finished her tern] as churchwarden in 2022 after a significant period of busy service and we are very grateful to her. Nicky Huckle took on that role in 2022. joining Neil Croueher, and l am so glad for committed, loyal, hardworking and cheerful co-workers alongside me. As honorary treasurer: Alastair Barr continued to oversee the many and varied aspects of our finances with care and l am grateful indeed to Alastair for his quietly-good-humoured approach to things, including his clear and helpful presentation of data. We welcomed Amanda Brown as honorary secretary. and we are all impressed by Amanda's e￿iciencY and ivillingness as she coordinates, pushes and pulls to help me, the wardens and the PCC get things done. 2022 was a time of movingT Out from under lockdow], and going about things in as full a way as previously. Worshipping numbers increased through 2022 and I was impressed that Christmas attendance as it was described to me in 2020 was ac least back to pre-pandemie levels in 2022. 2022's Lent Course was built around Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, exploring the themes of grace and restoration. These themes are evidently powerful and there was a sense of blessing through those weeks. My role as foundation governor {and vicar and assembly taker) at Preshute School expanded through 2022. Meetings in 2022 reverted to in-person meetings. and Brian Crowe and I were pleased to continue to support the headteacher, staff and kids. Brian's role is focused on finance as well as foundation and the governors appreciated Brian's calm, clear and can-do approach to finances. The pattern of assemblies reverted to a iveekly one, more or less, and Open the Book restartcd in the autumn term to thc evidcnt dcli&Jht of the kids. M¢8sy Church (a worship and activity gathering for primary age childrcn and their parents and carers) went from strength to strength in 2022. Amanda Brown and I, supported by a great tearn deliv¢r about three or lour of these two hour Saturday gatherings a year, and we continue to b¢ blessed with some very committed people who have a heart for our children. We are very grateful to Amanda tor her key rol¢ in l¢ading and delivering M¢ssy Church, alonby with th¢ support ol. children's work veterans like Sue Elks. The church's 'Occasional Offices,, baptisms, weddings and funerals resumed and were steady in 2022, with weddings lower than expected. All of these things could happen with unrestiicted numbers and this was a greai blessing after the strains and stresses of 2020 and 2021. Although I am mostly at St George's for these, as a team, the clergy and lay minister operate across all three churches including on Sundays. Chris, Sarah and I remain grateful to those retired clergy who assist. But we suffered losses in 2022, and our Prayers and thoughts are with the families of all those who grieve. Chris Smith and I led an Alpha Course for the team (and indeed the town) in the Spring of 2022. We based this at St Peter's, and this felt like such a positi￿e use of that building along with the arts and cornmunity events which happen there. Alpha is an opportunity to explore the Christian faith more deeply.. we had about 25 guests and a team of helpers (thank you to them!) and it was a significant time of reflection and decision about faith for Many. We are currently considering when it would be most fruitful to run Alpha again. An occasional but great part of life at St George's is the churchyard clear-up days. A few times a year. a team assembles on a Saturday morning, does a few hours of gJood work on the churchyard and Ihcn enjo)'s lunch. Thank you to David Bcacom for his enLrg>' in bringin&J thes¢ enjoyabl¢ sessions together, and also for his work behind the scenes on 'fabric'. 2022 was another year of financial pressure. acute at times. not just for us but across the Church of England and the DioLese: and the economy generally. I wish to thank you for your financial giving and ask you to consider what you can give in 2023. (There will be a stewardship initiative later in 2023.) Our worship is blessed by a very good qllalit! of music, and on an occasional basis, this is augmented either by the Georgians or the Junior Georgians. our occasional choirs. Andrew Brown and I continued the programme of Choral Evensongs in 2022 which are greatly appreciated by We were pleased to move to a service booklet in 2022, which has replaced weekly service sheets and therefore significantly reduced our paper use. The booklet contains the liturgy for services of Morning Worship and Parish Communion in both a shorter and longer fom]at. Our social evenings of quiz-nights. harvest suppers and the ar￿Ual 'Night at the Raj, were very well received in 2022 as always- and they are an effective fund-raising strategy! (Sadly, the Six Nations Rugby get-togethers had to be cancelled due to Covid concerns.) As the year drew to a close, Christmas was joyfully and unrestrictedly celebrated, complets with a packed church for Carols by Candlelight, the Sing-along Nativity, the Crib Service, the First Communion of Christmas and our celebrations on Clllistmas Day. In temis of networking and support. St George" s is part of a team ininistry. We are not a 'stand- alone, parish (and haven't been for over forty years). We are viable. in Purpose, gathering and finance, but we are part of the Anglican Team. This has been an important facet of our lit.e together as the Anglican church in Marlborough in 2022. 1 attend the deanery chapter along with the four other clergy, and I am also part of the fraternal, which is a cross-denominational group of church leaders in Marlborough. We were delighted to have Jessy Pomfret licensed as a Lay Pastoral Assistant in July. With my support, Jessy is working out how best to express this ministry at St George's. Finally .. I arn grateful to you, my church famil). for }'our support, encouragement and loi'e, not least to the PCC and to the members of the standing7 team in particular. and to Chris Smith and Sarah Musgrave who help to make team ministry a joy. Remembering 2022 and anticipating all that God has for us in 2023 and beyond.. ever), blessing, everyone. RevdPele Sainsbury, Team Vicar Ele¢toral Roll Report Those whose names were on the Electoral Roll at the time of the 2022 APCM are listed on the notice board in the porch. Any regular worshippers at St George's who are not on the roll are encouraged to contact me, Linda Sims, (I have taken over from Charles Graham as Electoral Roll OffLcer) or one of the churchwardens for an application forni. There were 114 names on the Electoral Roll at 31 December 2022. This represents a drop of tive from 2021. We have been pleased to welcome Angela Southern, Elizabeth Keighley, Alison and Robert Pick and Grace Hoskin, but sadly 2022 was a bad year for goodbyes. We mourn the loss of David Harding. Rosemary Hawes, Michael and Maureen Ponting. Peter Da￿lson. David Whiting d Tom Ma)'c. In addition, the followingy have mow¢d awa),: Mark Sandra finn and Malcolm Hall. Linda,SEIIIS Church Attendance Church attendance throughout 2022 remained encouraging, with an average of l O attending the 8am s¢rvice ol. Hol), Coinmunion, and 42 allending the l 0.30am serN'ic¢. It was a great blcssin&J to haN'¢ services without the restrictions of the pandemic and 80 (adults and children} gathered for the s¢Ni¢e on East¢r Day, and ther¢ was a notable increase in th¢ numbers attendinbJ the Christrnas services- I I l at the Carols by Candlelight service. 76 adults and 62 children at the Crib Service and over l 00 of all ages attended the Sinby_along Nativity.The Family Communion service on Christmas Day was attended by 88 adults and 12 children. The All Age service on d]e tirst Sunday of the month is currently attended by an average of I I children with their families. The Junior Georgians Choir sing at three of the All Age services during the year and also at the Crib service. St George's is looking to expand its ministry to ehildren. Plans were inade for there to be activities for children on the third Sunday of the rnonth as well, stsrting in January 2023. This is in addition to services organised by the Teddy Prayers group and ihree Messy Church services per year, which are increasingly well attended. There continues to be an online service of Evening Prayer each Wednesday afternoon, which remains popular. Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals In 2022 there were four wedding services held at St George's together with one wedding blessing. St George's was also delighted to hold two services of baptism. It was with sadness that we rnourned the loss of several mernbers of the local community over the course of the year at eight funeral services, seven thanksgivinglmemorial sernices and an intemient of ashes. St George's in the Community Over the course of 2022 it was good to restore St Georgse's links with the community and to revitalise pre-pandemic activities. Revd Pete was able to resume visiting Preshute Primary School on a reg7ular basis to lead assemblies and our Open the Book team begJan visitingT aLJain on a monthly basis froin September to act out Bible stories. St George's hosted a leavers, service and a Harvest Festival service for Preshute Primary School children and their families. The St George's newsletter continues to be circulated to approximately 700 houses in the parish (mostly in paper forniat. but electronically in some cases) in an edition that Covers two months. The six editions in 2022 covered the themes 'God's Love for us,, 'Lent & Easter- thoughts from our European friends Servings God Prayer,, 'Eco-edition and 'Angels in art, music and experience,. Each edition contains a letter from the Vicar, an artiLle on the theme, a children's page related to the topic as well as publLCLSLng events in the local community and, of course, the service tim¢s. Shortly befor¢ Christmas, Andrew Brown led Carol singing in Barton Park and th¢ Oddf¢llows Inn raising tunds for Crisis at Christmas. Despite being tucked away in its riverside location on the edge of the to￿1. St George's receives quite a number of visitors during the course of the week from those seeking the peace and quiet of the church to others who come to visit a family grave or admire the snowdrops in the churchyard. For those unfamiliar with the church, there is a history of the church available to purchase as well as a free walk-round guide, together with a quiz for visiting children. Antanda Brovvn Safeguarding St George's policy and practice for safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults is based upon the Guidelines from the Church of England House of Bishops and is updated annually. A summary of our policy is posted on our website and on the noticeboard in the porch. A full hard copy is kept in the church. and vicarage. Th¢ saleguarding and prot¢ction ol. childr¢n and adults at risk is ¢v¢ryon¢'s responsibility, not just parents, guardians and carers. St George's is committed to.. The safegTuarding and protection of all children and young I￿ople Safeguarding adults who may be at risk of abuse or neglect The care, nurture of, and respectful pastoral ministry with all adults and children The establishing of safe, caring cornmunities which provide a lovingF environment where there is a culture of 'infomied vigilance, as to ihe dangers of abuse The Parish Safeguarding Officer is Judith Denning and she is the first line of contact if there are any concerns. The Parish DBS verifier is Marcia Johnson. There are no safeguarding issues to report. Over the course of this year following Church and Charity Commission guidelines all PCC members have been DBS checked as well as all those who work with children and the vulnerable in the church. Nearly all safeguarding training is still being carried out remotely - the Basic Awareness course (CO} and Foundation course (C l) can be aecessed via the Diocese of Salisbury website. Ideally, all church meinbers who come into contact with children, young people and adults who may be at risk need to undertake the basic awareness course. Judiih Denning Lay Pastoral Assistants The role of the Lay Pastoral Assistant (LPA) is to provide assistance with pastoral ministry for the local church. This can involve work with children and young people, the sick. the recently bereaved and the elderly and housebound. They may take communion to those unable to come to church. The Marlborollgh Team, as a whole, has a number of LPAS. St George" s has t￿.0, Judith Denning and Jessy Pomfret. St George's is also very fortunate in that it has a congregation who are supportive and neighbourly to one another. Judith Denp7ing 2022 ACTIVITY REPORT Open the Book We have been doing Open the Book {acting out Bible stories) at Preshute School for several years now. The two teams that we began with have now merged into one, following the retirement of several distinguished east members, but these assemblies eonlinue to provide instruclion and enjoyment to the schoolchildren (not to mention the very amateur thespians). Covid caused suspension of activity tor much of 2020-2021, and a prolonged period of getting compliance with tighter safeguarding regulations delayed the start of proceedings in 2022. But we were finally able to kick ott in September with.Je.s.￿1 und ihe C'hildren, tollowed in October by .Je.s'zL% und ihe Taxnian, featuring Howard Cripps up a tree as Zacchaeus. and then The Kind Siranger (the Good Samaritan) in November. The cast has been ably assisled by members of Year 6. We are hoping for an unintemipted run of monthly perfonnances in 2023, and we would be happy to hear fvom anyone interested in joiningJ the team. Charles Graham Hom¢ Group Home Group has nine members (seven from St GeorgFe's and two from St Mary's) and meets on Monday eveningJs, tortnigJhtly". Over the course of the vear our Home Group sessions have been led by Charles Graham and Keith Fryer (St Mary's). We have studied Angels: Standing Guard by Doug%las Conn¢ll)', a scrics of. eigJht studi¢s exploring diftcrLnt angrcli¢ Lnvountcrs ihroughout the Bible and recently we explored the Bible Society's course.. Explore the Bible. This ivas an interesting eight session course which combined video teaching, group discussion, personal reflection and daily readings. We have also spent time thinking about social issues and linking them into passages from scripture. Our tinal session of the year was a 'bring and share, evening with quizzes, poetry and a lot of laughter. Julie Conle Teddy Prayers and Picnic Teddy Prayers has eVOl￿'ed and gro￿1 with our children. All our original cohort are now in primary school. We plan to encourage our children to undertake practical Christianity and to help all those around them with kindness and useful actLVlties. The four star events in the year will be continued with others joining us. These are as follows.. The Easter Sunday easter-egg hunt with snack picnic takes place in the churchyard The late suminer Pet Service and snacks takes place in the ehurehyard: or inside if wet. HarN'est is the next popular gathering where we aim to help otheTS.' the ¢hur¢h and school collections of non-perishable food stuffs in 2022 filled two cars and subsequently. the Open Doors stor¢ cupboard- a marvLllous effort. Fr¢sh items are also ivelcomcd by the Open Doors kitchen and. thanks to a bumper crop, many apple pies were made and frozen for winter meals. The Sing-along Nativity, the week before Christmas Day with seasonal refreshments, is always a highlight for us all. Over 100 people of all ages attended this year. We have linked up with Amanda and Messy Church. These gatherings have all been very successful and enjoyed by a growing number of children. ETreryone joins in to worship and create various iteins which give much enjoyment and Iiappiness. The tea which follows is now legendary. Thank vou, Amanda. Tedd}, Prayers farnilies haTr'e now been joined by ReTr'd Pete to continue to support Open Doors in a special way. A small group of families from our church and St Nicholas in Fyfield and Preshute School supply the ingredients for a good. wholesome cooked breakt.ast every week. Eggs, bacon, sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, bread: spread, rnarmalade and fresh fruit - enough for 30 vulnerable people - are collected t.rom the families and taken every Monday to the Sollthbroom Centre in Devizes ready to be cooked for the Wednesday breakfast. The welcome we receive is truly heart-warn]ing from the inspiring group of N'olunteers there. Vulnerable and need), people from the Marlborough and Pewsey area and surrounding villages are welcome there to receive all Inanner ot"praclical help. Please have a look at their M'ebsite.. devizeso endoors.or We also collect new or good used kitchen items and towels suitable for young people starting out in the world on their own in accommodation in Salisbury supported by Alabare. Good quality, clean ladies, and men's clothing is always needed. All items need to be of a quality and condition that we would be happy to give to members of our own families. The Teddy Prayers families are constantly busy with small acts of kindness and the children are learning invaluable lessons and positive attitudes. Bless them. Slle Elks and Lydia Bauer Messy Church We were delighted to welcome 18 children and 18 adults to our first Messy Church service of the year when our theme was Lent and the Temptations of Jesus. After hearing the Bible story of Jesus's time in the wilderness, we joined together to sing a rousing chorus of Be bold, be .flron£. Activities on the theme followed Nvith the children making collages of the story from scripture, preparing crosses with Bible verses to hang on our Lenten prayer tree. decorating hearc shaped biscuits as a reminder that by keeping God's word in our hearts it will help us to resist temptation and finally, making a bread plait to take home to bake with a candle to add as the centrepiece- lasting reminder that 'man shall not live by bread alone, and that we need the light of Christ in our lives. We concluded with prayers, offering, them up to God in the song Father God in he(wen, hear ollrproyer to the tune of Kuinbaya. As usual, we rounded off our time together with tea. Our summer Messy Church was just as well attended with 18 adults and 19 children coming to enjoy a seTrice on the theme of the Parable of the Sower. Revd Pete begTan the service with a worship songs and we listened to the Bible story and Revd Pete's teaching on the theme before the children explored this in their activities. The children illustrated the story beautifully through their creations of clay coasters with seeds, rice crispy 'rocks' with edible seeds: their planting of mustard seeds and by preparingT a large sunflower picture with pravers on all the petals which were read at pra)'er tirne. We finished the service with further worship songs and prayers and the happy atiernoon concluded with the sharing of refreshments. Our third and final Messy Church service for 2022 took place on 19 November, when we were 'Preparing for Advent with Angels,. This was our busiest Messy Church service of the year with 16 adults and 30 children in attendance. Revd Pete once again led the service with worship songs and teachings on the theme before the children g7ot to work creatingT an arnazing array of crafts.. many of the families started making a crib set Adi'ent calendar which the! took home with them to complete and use durinLJ the season of Advent. The children also looked at paintingFS of the Annunciation before creating their own wonderful artistic interpretations of the Angel Gabriel visiting Mary. Continuing on the theme of angels and their role as messengers of God. the children made 'stained glass. an&Jels, decorated angJel biscuits and wrote prayers on angel templates for our Prayer tree. It was uplifting to see the church so full and to see the children entering into all the a¢tivities and worship with such enthusiasm. It has been very encoura&Jing to see familiar faces returning to Messy Church as well as families for whom it is the first tentative step in exploring ¢hur¢h. We hope very much that they will all come back to join us again in 20231 In the meantime, huge thanks to Revd Pete, Sarah and the wonderful team who have helped with Messy Church over the course of 2022. Amanda Brown The Flower Group St George's is, and always has been, a rnuch-loi'ed place and in a small way this is reflected in the flower arrangeinents in ihe Church. Each fortnight a volunleer is in charge of the flowers. This J'ear, although we have new people joining the team, sadly we have lost some. It is a rewarding actLVity, and we are always looking for new volunteers to help make the church beaucilul and welcoming, io something which is constantly remarked on by the many casual visitors who, whatever their reason, come to spend (ime at St George's. Prtte Groffman Music The year saw congregational and choral singing return without restrictions. and the musical life of St George's was fully maintained throughout the year for the first time since 2019. The Junior Georgians sang at four services, on Mothering Sunday, Music Sunday, HaTrest and the Crib Service. Each of thc first thrLe started with an exubLrant "introit", Alii'uy.%' remepp2her on Mothering Sunday and the African chant Sizohamba naye at HaTr'est, with ReN,d I'ete adding the rhythm section on the African drum. On Music Sunday the Junior Georgians added extra Hallelujahs as the eongregation sang the verse ot I'm gc)nna.sing. The antheins at these services were. respectively. The Lord blessyou and keepyou (John Rutter), I will sing a song oflove (John Bell) and Loc)k ui ihe world (John Rutter). At the Crib Service, the I I strong choir sang John Rutter's lilting Christmas lullaby and the rousing Gaude¢e. Meanwhile. The GeoTgians have enjoyed a full year's singing. The first service was the Easter Day Communion. followed by Choral Evensong on Trinity Sunday, Advent Sunday and Carols by Candleligyhi, where we marked 15 years since the fonnation of. the ¢hoir. On Easter Day, the introit Alleluia. (Willi￿n B)'rd) opened the service. and the anthem was Maranatha, Alleluia I by David O&Jden. The Evensong ￿thcrn was Holy, holy, hulj by Alan Smith. while on Advent Sunday the introit was th¢ Mutin Re.spc)P7.sc)ry (Pal¢strina) and the anthem Th¥ truihfr(Im uhove {VaubJhan Williarns). At Carols by Candlelight the soloist for Once in royal David's cily was Ellen Arkwright, and th¢ choir carols w¢r¢ Adum luyybouF7den, In dul¢i.jubilo and ,gu3Jex Carol. In addition, a gallery choir sang Whence is ihat goodlyfragranceflowing? in the First Communion of Christmas on Christmas Ev¢. The congregational sung) Evensong on I I Septemb¢r was pr¢ced¢d by organ rnusic in memory of Her Majesty the Queen. following her death three days before. For the third year running we extended a musical outreach in the local community in the week before Christmas. 18 hardy volunteers assembled to sing carols in streets in Barton Park before repairing to the Oddfellows where we sang with the customers. The evening raised £149 for Crisis - my thanks to all involved, and to Holly at the Oddfellows once again for her hospitality. Three events this year have highlighted the variety of church music locall!. The first was at the Parish Communion on 3 April. when a gallery choir sang the anthem God be in my head by local church composer Adam Meehan-staines. We were delighted that Adam was able to attend the service. The second was the Open Worship Evening in St Mary's on 5 July. led by Revd Pete, which brought together 12 musicians trom across the Team (and two Notiwegian tourists1} to play and sing a worship band service with improvisations.. instruments included keyboard, guitar and flute. The third event was a well-attended organ recital in St George's on 3 September. at which Michael Butterfleld (Marlborough College Organist) and Ian Crabbe (Marlborough College Organist Emeritus) joined me to mark the 125th anniversary of the installation of the organ. A programme was produced with the history of the organ, the social team kindly provided delicious refreshments, and the convivial evening raised £700 for the ongoing work of the church. We were saddened by the death in June of Michael Ponting, a founding member of The Georgians, as ￿'ell as of his wife Maureen, and of Peter Davison. both in August. All three were strong supporters of music at St G¢orbJ¢'s.' Iheir tun¢ral S¢t￿l¢¢$ ¢onthin¢d hymns and orgJan musi¢ that they had particularly loved. The organ and piano continue to give good service. In February we took possession of the new Roland keyboard, which was first used on Mothering Sunday. Since then it has featured regularly at services including Messy Church, the Pet Service and Harvest, when Revd Pete led everyone in the Harvest Samba. Special thanks to the PCC for the purchase of the new keyboard. My thanks as always to Revd Pete, the PCC and all who have supported the music at St George's over the year. Andrew Browp? Social Committcc We started the year with our annual visit to the Raj restaurant ivhere we were spoilt with delicious food by Mr Bablu and his wonderful staff. The night was finished otl.as usual with Irish Bingo. St George's Day supper saw the N'illage hall packed with eager diners who were treated to cottage pie. A vast anay of desserts tollowed and the nibyht was finished off with a raffle. We had two well attended Choral and Congregational ENensongs in June and September respectively. Both were wonderful evenings and special thanks to The Georgians and Andrew for all the preparation and organisation. Both evenings were finished off with the congregTation enjoying refreshments afterwards. The Safari supper started off with bubbles and canapes for nearly 50 people in the Church in mid- Jul),. Eni'elopes were then handed out to all diners to diseoTrer where they would be going for their rnain course. After main course was enjoyed b). all, the diners made their way to their next host for dessert. The real bonus was the lovely warn] evening and a lot of loN'ely stories have been told about this evening. Everyone really enjoyed it. The Organ Recital in September was a musical masterpiece, with thanks to Andrew for all the hard work in makingF this eN'ening a real success. Apart from enjo)'ingT the wonderful music, the ¢ongTegJation enjoyed refreshments and Canapes at the end of the ewening. September saw a gJreat turnout tor Ride and Stride and thanks to Charles, Jeremy and Howard with all th¢ir fundraising for Wiltshir¢ Historic Churches Trust. In October, sadly due to a spike in the Covid Pandemic, we had to cancel Harvest Supper in the Village Hall. The Carol Sin&Jing just befoTe Christmas started off in College Fields and Barton Park and then we made our way to the Oddf¢llows Arn]s in Manton wh¢r¢ we ¢ntertain¢d th¢ pubgoers with carols. Both the cash collection and the funds raised through the Just Giving site were all in aid of Crisis at Chtistmas. The success of these events is due to everyone who helps, whether it is by cooking, putting out chairs, servingT, clearingF up, or just turningT UP to support and enjoy them. Our thanks go to all involved and you ￿,111 see in the financial section of this report that, apart from us all enjoying ourselves, we earned £2,112 after costs were taken out. David Beacom andJudi¢h Denning 12 Bellringing It's been quit¢ an eventful y¢ar. Routin¢ maint¢nan¢¢ was ¢atYi¢d out and th¢ six new ropes kindly purchased by the PCC were fitted. New recruits have joined the team and another recruit is making Jood progress. On 8 September at 6.30pm w¢ heard th¢ announcement of the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth. The period between the announcement and the funeral saw a massive amount of rin&Jing by thc bellringingy team at Si CJeorbJe's. I can honcsily say thai ihey rose to the challcng¢ fanlaslically and it is my greatest privilege to date to haiie led the tower through such an incredible period of history. I've never been so proud to be associated with St George's. Looking forward, we eontinlle to improve our standard of ringing and (o increase our membership. Richard Mctters MARLBOROUGH, the DEANERY and the DIOCESE Do you want to know what's happening in the wider ¢hur¢h? Are you interested in how Salisbury Diocese and our parishes interact? These two synods are irnportant information-gatherin¥ and information-sharing forums. So, if'you want to contribute to the conversation, do consider being elected to one or both synods. Diocesan Synod In February 2022, we met on zooin. led by +Karen, the Acting Bishop of Salisbury; but the mood was more upbeat than in 2021, and the focus was 'Mission and Ministry- a mixed ecology,. We reviewed the impact of Covid, and discussions included new and creative approaches in some churches, while others continued to struggle without water supplies, loos or broadband. Revd Canon Jonathan Herbert, spoke of his Chaplaincy to the Travelling Community, meeting with ypsies and travell¢rs, wh¢rev¢r they are {700/0 now I1￿.e in houses and 200/0 on prI￿.ate or council run sites. and interestinglj, just 2 % are on the road). He offers advocac>' and education - partly encouraging travellerslgypsies back into education. but mainly educating the wider community, who know little about traN'eller culture. The coinmunity do need more safe spaces, as once they have a settled place: they are more likely to access education and health care. A motion was passed committing each of the parishes within the diocese to otter active support to this community. Are M?e? With fewer Covid cases, we met in-person in June 2022. and it was an opportunity to look back, and to look forNvards. We celebrated the leadership of Bishop Karen as Acting Diocesan Bishop through an ongoing tirne of challeng7e and transition in our communities and churches. Our new bishop, Bishop sfrphen. the 79th Bishop ol. Salisbury, gave a presidential address that was dynami¢ and uplifting and he shared some of the inspirational stories that had come out of the £1 O 'gitls' he Jave away at his inauguration. He rcmindcd people that the £1 O talent was to be taken home and grown as a sign ol ihe Kingdom ol God. Huv¥ we dc?p7¥ ihi.s? He suggested that the Diocese of Salisbury can be and should be one of the jewels in the crown of th¢ Church for England. W¢ ought to b¢ leading the way in gJen¢rosity and evangelism, in social engagement and cornrnunity resilience. He suggested that the task is clear - pastoral care and evangclism need to &Jo hand in hand; and he idLnlified varioiis areas that require foeus.. l. Accounlable leadership, 2. Etlective governance, 3. Moving into our Calling in Mission and Ministy. and 4. Establishing sustainable finance. The financial situation was less encouraging, and consideration was given to the sale of surplus clergy houses, and the sale of Glebe lands. More positively, there was a plan to eliminate the deficit by 2025. 13 In September 2022, Bishop Stephen offered the Beatitudes as a guiding text, in his Presidential Address. He called on evervone to ivork towards a new Vision and Plan for the Diocese, to be in place by June 2023. holding one another accountable. in trust, to deliver what is needed. Bishops Stephen, Andrew and Karen discussed the opportunities created by the emerging vision of "Thy Kingdom Come: here, and now" together with reflections on the past few months and hopes for the future. This led into group discussions on the new Vision and Strategy for the diocese. The financial report had changJed direction and the following were proposed- No redu¢lion in clergy numbers while this remains a holding budget: 40/0 increase in clergy stipend which is in line with National ChuT¢h recommendations - the Diocese ot Salisbury Currently pays £821 above the stipend benchmark tor incumbents, while th¢ total packag¢ including housing, p¢nsion and other b¢n¢fits, totals around £60,000- use of £250,000 Total Return to subsidise stipends. and an'"across the board" increase 01. 3 % in Shar¢ request for parishes. The 2023 budg¢t also assumed £250,000 of glebe sales to support the Fund that pays clergy stipends. It was also noted that the Church Comrnissioners were offering £3.6 billion over the next 9 years. This is l 00/0 of the Commissioners fund. The tundin&J would start in 2023 and to make a su¢cessful bid, Salisbury would need to demonstrate a costed diocesan strategy, aligned to the national vision and strategy. Deanery Synod Meanwhile, our three Deanery Synod meetings offered the opportunity to hear and discuss the diocesan aims and plans- and to feedback thou&Jhts and suggestions from our parishes. In February 2022 we met on Zoom, and Yvonne Penn, the Christian Aid Church Engagement and Fundraising Officer gave a short presentation on the charity's aims for 2022. She talked about 'climate justice, with a campaign in schools, while Climate justice would also be discussed at the Lambeth conference. Our Deanery Ascension Day Service was held on 26 May 2022 at St Michael's, Aldbourne, with The Venerable Michael Johnson, Acting Archdeacon of Bristol preaching. Jn July 2022, our meetingT was in person and attended by David Pain, Diocesan Secretary; Liz Ashmead, Diocesan Financial Director; and Anna Hardy the Diocesan Gi￿Ing Advisor. It was a fwitful meeting, with clear inforniation and good discussion. David described how Bishop Nick prided himself that the diocese didn't need a fom]al strategy, but only a clear vision. Now, a strategy was needed. and a proactive plan had to be produced. The Diocese was in a difficult position. suffering a post Covid reduction in church nunibers and we needed to concentrate on four issues- people, buildingTS. finance and gTovernance. OD a positive note, MarlborougJh Deanery was in the top three net givers in the Diocese. Liz Ashmead, Diocesan Financial Director. gave an oi'erview of the 2021 results which showed that. after some proactive action by the diocese in selling clergy houses, glebe plots, investrnents and the increased investrnent values, the year had ended with £2,773k in increased funds. She added that the sale of Church House, in 2023, would result in a cash injection, although the requirement to find alternative 0￿]ce accommodation. would have an impact on the amount gained. Meanwhile, Glebelands and Tricarages were being reviewed to identify any that could be sold; and tenancies and 14 rent charged on church properties was being reviewed. Arma Hardy, our new Diocesan Giving Advisor, was upbeat and talked about her own journey of faith. She suggested we should keep fund raising simple, explain why donations are needed and what for. and involve people in the project. We need trust. to be transparent, to thank people involved in the project, update them on progress and let them know if things change. We should be able to talk about what we are giving and lead from the tront- Christians do expect to giNe. Anna is available to talk to PCCS, offer advice and help set up contactless payment Systems in churches or other online options. Her contact details are: anna.hard salisbur -an lican.or or 07500 831566. One of the highlights of the }'ear was Bishop Data's visit to our deanery, in AugTUSt 2022. He had attended the Larnbeth conference and then came to stay. bringing his wife Agnes and bab}, daughter Esther. He met many people, I'isited churches, farms, Avebury, a golf course etc and expressed a wish to fomi a partnership bettveen his Diocese of Morobo, in the province ot" Central Equatoria, South Sudan and Marlborough Deanery. In September 2022, Re￿erend Canon lan Woodward, Chair of the Salisbury- Sudan Link, helped us to consider settingT up a Morobo - MarlborougTh Deanery partnership. We als() watched a presentation about Bishop Data. and the rebuilding of Morobo, following the civil war. There are few material gFoods in South Sudan, food is scarce, and water is drawm from the river. as local wells have been destroyed by rebel t"orces. Despite the hardships. Christianit! is flourishing in South Sudan, peace in the area seems to be returnings and Bishop Data's optimism and faith in God was inspiring- His prayer was for fresh water, bibles, good health care and education, sufficient food, hoes, seed to raise money to support the priests: and our prayers. Deanery meinbers voted to form a partnership based on prayer and Christian fellowship. endingy the s)wnodi¢ year on a very positive notc. If you would like to l(now more or to join the group who are forn]ing this partnership, please do contact me.. sarahmusgraN'e99@hotmail.¢om. Please note.. the Archbishop of Canterbury will be joining us in the Salisbury Diocese from 9 tol I June 2023, to help us implement Our Vision. Cup70P7,garuh Mu.sgruve LLM up7d Deanery Luy Chair. THE FABRIC, GOODS & ORNAMENTS Fabri¢ R¢port The War Memorial received a professional clean up - many thanks to Brian Crowe and his company for Carrying this out free of chargJe. Church and Churchyard tidy up.. this happens in April and October and man}, thanks to all the helpers thai Come to help keep our ChL]rch and ChurL'hyard looking pristine. We are very lucky to have Wiltshire Council cutting the grass for us during the summer and the additional help we get from volunteers is essencial. Thank you also to Ken Martin and his toolbox for canying out various maintenance jobs. New handrail to main path with wi fi duct and new glass South Porch Doors: the faculty application was submitted in June 2021. Salisbury DAC then requested additional intorn]ation, which was submitted in early December 2021. 15 The Quinquennial report was completed in 2021 and all urgent works suggested by the Architect have now been completed David Beacom and Brian Crowe Eeo Chureh Canying on from last year's report please see below our progress towards achieving our Gold Eco Church award from A Rocha: Sandra Rogers has been keeping bees in the Maurice family burial plot at St George's since May 2022. This all started with a nuo box (like a tiny half hive) which was transterred carefully inlo a hive decorated with sunflowers. She has now added a second hive covered with daisies. Bees can see pattems and some colours, so it is hoped this will help them find their way home. The Maurice family have also been wonderfully supportive and kind about using this space for beehives. With their permission, Sandra and her friend Trndi GrangTer (also a bee keeper} have been planting datyodils, crocus, anemone, grape hyacinths and bluebells in that area to give the bees son]e spring flowers. Wild roses in the hedge around the plot will also provide early spring forage for the bees. Bees will also feed on the chestnut blossom from the existing chestnut trees in the churchyard in the spring. Flowering trees and hedges are also a valuable source ot t.ood for them, and we are looking at how we can add more food for the bees, while at the same time making OUT churchyard more beaulitul, with as little mainlenanee as possible. We are attanging a site meeting soon to disellss planting cheLry trees and a pollinator garden that can be planted with seeds and plug plants. We have lost an ash tree in the churchyard to 'ash dieback. disease and the PCC have agJreed to Cut this down. The intention is to make the stump of the tree and sorne logs into a 'stumpery' This is where the existing trunk is ¢ut ofl'to tomi a table and other logs are cut to size to mak¢ seats- a great place to ha￿e a picnic. There will be suitable planting around it. We are also looking for an area in the Churchyard to plant a memorial garden which would be lovely for visitors and the bees. Eco Church is selt-lundin&J thanks to Chris Mccoll and Bridget Smith selling plants at th¢ Fet¢, at Churchvard clear up and frorn their base in Manton High Street. Further funding for our future plans will come from 'planting a cherr! tree (£800) or buying a bench (£1,000) in m¢mory of a loved one Prices include a memorial plaque. Last year, Action for the River Kennet (ARK) helped us stein the erosion of the river banks and this has all now matured beautifully. ARK installed two brash wood 'mattresses' or 'bern￿, and some logs to deflect the section of the river that runs through the Churchyard. This helps reduce bank erosion, irnproves the flow of the river and creates habitat. When the flow of the Tiver is increased. this then scours the TI￿.erbea flushing out settled sediment. Also, some of d]e alder trees on the bank were coppiced to create lighter conditions for the marginal plants to establish. Hopefully, in the Spring we will be able to get pupils from Preshute Primary School to visit the Churchyard. There is so much wildlit"e 10 monitor including what is happening in the Bug Hotel. We are also looking into the right location for an owl box as they have been heard 'hooting' nearby. All the above is only part of creating an Eco Church. Thanking God for giving us the earth we live 16 on extends to the ministry and rluming of the Church. Sermons, prayers and readings that relate to God's greatest creation are used on a regular basis. We also have to ensure, where possible, that purchases are sustainable, and also recyclable. These thoughts and practices should also be mirrored in our own lives and homes to care for God's greatest creation. Please help us achieve our goal of a Gold Award from the Chtistian environmental charity A Rocha. At present we haNe the Bronze award with some silver marks and are due a further assessment in 2023. In the meantime, please ensure that any intorniation that will help us with our assessment is placed in the brown box underneath the photographs board in the Church. Linda Morgan and Dovid Beacom Churchyard Reeords The electronic version of the records has been updated to include burials in 2022. Copies are held by the Churchwardens, the Team Office, the Team Vicar and me. This is updated as necessary and re-published annually. There continue to be a few burials each year, usually the intemient of ashes. In 2022 there were four burials of ashes of two couples. There was also one full burial in an existing plot. Th¢r¢ is a file hard copy of th¢ r¢cords kept in the church. Lourien Carter Cleaners Brass cleaning continues to be undertaken every two weeks by a small group of diligent parishioners. Thank you to those involved- the ¢hur¢h brass always looks good. If anyone is interested in becoming a brass cleaner they are welcome to join the team- please let us know. Lourien Carter Ar¢hives During 2022 ther¢ w¢r¢ no r¢qu¢sts for int"omTrtion from the church ar¢hiv¢s which are held securely in the Vicarage. A selection of photographs continues to be added to the archives, as and when the display board at the west end of the church is updated. Jeremy lork FINANCE Finaneial Review The following provides an overview of the accounts for 2022 whiLh are being examinLd by Mr Wheeler and are prepared in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 using the Receipts and Payments basis. 2022 saw improvements for St George's firLancial position with an increase in church services and a return ot"a number ot social events and weddings in the church. The mainstay of our income reinains the regular gLVLng from our parishioners and we remain fortunate that this continued even when 17 **FINANCE** ## **Financial Review** The following provides an overview of the accounts for 2022 which have been examined by Mr R J Wheeler and are prepared in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 using the Receipts and Payments basis. 2022 continued to see improvements for St George’s financial position with an increase in church services and a return of a number of social events and weddings in the church. The mainstay of our income remains the regular giving from our parishioners and we remain fortunate that this continued even when services were suspended. The unrestricted fund returned a surplus of £2,588 in 2022. In person services were uninterrupted in 2022. A total of £2,284 was raised through special collections and there was return to annual charity donation by the parish, suspended during the pandemic, which led to £3,330 being donation to a range of local, national and international charities. £4,797 was spent from the legacy fund, of which £2,797 was spent on capital project work and £2,000 on maintenance. One of the main financial challenges was the increase in utility costs, which went from £1,367 in 2021 to £4,156 in 2022. We continue to pay our contribution to our vicar’s Worship Director role in conjunction with the Marlborough team, with the money raised in 2019 along with the regular contributions covering this cost. This continues to be detailed separately in the accounts as a restricted fund. The full accounts are presented in the Appendix. ## **Notes on Income:** The table below summarises the main sources of general income over the past three years, excluding restricted income such as Worship Director donations and special collections. Planned giving has remained consistent over that period, but the sources have changed, with a shift away from Standing Orders to regular giving via the Parish Giving Scheme. ||2020 (£)|2021 (£)|2022 (£)| |---|---|---|---| |Planned Giving (Total)|31, 862|30,796|30,853| |of which: Planned Giving Scheme (PGS)|12,290|16,494|18,016| |Standing Orders|17,128|12,597|10,988| |Blue Envelopes|2,444|1,705|1,849| |Collections (excluding special collections)|1,258|1,858|3,418| |Yellow Envelopes|840|972|1,191| |Wall Box|157|293|220| |Donations|4,186|10,307|7,434| |Card Reader|N/A|N/A|281| |Generous Giving Campaign|N/A|7,981|N/A| |Gift Aid tax refund (2 years claimed in
2022)|11,374|11,425|22,447| |Social Events (Net)|1,249|1,515|2,112| |Fees from Weddings and Funerals|2,506|4,157|5,874| ## **Notes on Expenditure:** General expenditure has been controlled closely through the year and in most areas were below the budgeted amount for 2022. The main increases in 2022 were related to utility costs, printing costs and secretarial costs. 9 ## **Independent Examiner’s Report** The independent examiners report and full accounts are in the Appendix. ## **Reserves policy** It is PCC policy to try to maintain a balance on unrestricted funds that equates to at least three months' unrestricted payments (including ¼ or the value of the share payment but excluding charitable giving). This is equivalent to £15,000 and this was met as of 31 December 2022 when the unrestricted fund stood at £25,311. We currently maintain a Gift and Legacy fund. This fund is to be used on major projects some of which are currently entering final consultation and faculty stage whilst others are at early discussion stages but all of which will significantly reduce this designated fund. _Alastair Barr, Hon Treasurer_ 10 ## **Appendix 1** ## **Independent Examiner’s Report** 11 ## THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST GEORGE'S PRESHUTE, MARLBOROUGH - **Financial Statements for the Year Ending 31[st] December 2022** Accounting policies are detailed at Note 1 **Receipts and Payments Accounts** |**Receipts and Payments Accounts**|||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||Note|Unrestricted
Funds|Unrestricted
Designated
Fund|Restricted
Fund|Endowment
Fund|Total 2022|Total 2021| |**Receipts**||£|£|£|£|£|£| |**Voluntary Receipts**|||||||| |Planned Giving||30853||1620||32473|32741| |Collections at Services||3418||2284||5702|2791| |All othergiving /voluntaryreceipts|4a|10126||0||10126|24544| |Gift Aid Recovered||22447||4090||26538|11494| |**Sub Total**||**66844**|**0**|**7995**|**0**|**74839**|**71570**| |Activities forgeneratingfunds|4b|2658||0||2658|2953| |Investment Income|4c|358|1936|125||2420|1070| |Church Activities|4d|5874||||5874|4157| |**Total Receipts**||**75735**|**1936**|**8120**|**0**|**85791**|**79750**| ||||||||| |**Payments**|||||||| |**Church Activities**|||||||| |Parish Share||42173||||42173|40164| |Clergyand StaffingCosts|4e|||9600||9600|9600| |Church RunningCosts & Improvements|4f,7|27099|4797|||31895|23621| |Mission Givingand Donations|5|3330||2284||5614|6812| |||72602|4797|11884||89282|80197| |Cost of GeneratingFunds|4g|545||||545|672| |**Total Payments**||**73147**|**4797**|**11884**||**89827**|**80869**| ||||||||| |Excess of Receipts overpayments||**2588**|**-2861**|**-3764**|**0**|**-4037**|**-1119**| |Transfer Between Funds|8|**-1535**|**1535**||||| |||**1053**|**-1326**|**-3764**|**0**|**-4037**|**-1119**| ||||||||| ||||||||| ||||||||| |**Gains/ Losses on Investments**|||||||| |Realised|||||||| |Unrealised|||-2525||-2170|-4696|4992| ||||||||| |**Net Movement in funds**|||||||| |Balance brought forward at 1 Jan 2022||24258|107154|16388|18438|166237|162364| |Balance carried forward at 31 Dec 2022||25311|103303|12624|16268|157505|166237| |Net change in funds inyear||||||-8732|3873| |Comprising|||||||| |Total Receipts||85791|||||| |Total Payments||89827|||||| |Investment Gains/Losses||-4696|||||| |Net change in funds inyear||-8732|||||| 12 ## **Statement of Assets and Liabilities at 31[st] December2022** **----- Start of picture text -----**
Unrestricted
Unrestricted Designated Restricted
Note Funds Fund Fund Total 2022 Total 2021
£ £ £ £ £
Cash Funds
Bank Current Account 24537 0 0 24537 14947
CCLA Deposit Fund 774 84377 12624 97775 111402
Total 25311 84377 12624 122311 126348
Note 31-Dec-22 31-Dec-21
£ £
Investment Assets
Investment Shares CCLA General 18926 21451
Investment Shares - Aspent Copse Trust 12049 13657
Investment shares - Angela and William Whitrow 4218 4781
Current Assets
Cash on hand at bank 24537 14947
CCLA Deposit Fund 97775 111402
Total Assets 157505 166237
**----- End of picture text -----**
13 ## **Notes to the 2022 Accounts and Further Analysis** ## 1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of St George’s Preshute, Marlborough, is a charity registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, Charity Registration Number 1184256. ## a) Basis of preparation The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 together with applicable accounting standards and the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standards applicable in the UK & Republic of Ireland (FRS102) issued on 16th July 2014. The accounts are prepared on the Receipts and Payments basis. The accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention except for the valuation of investment assets, which are shown at market value. The accounts include all transactions, assets and liabilities for which the PCC is responsible in law. The accounts do not include the accounts relating to any informal gatherings of Church members or small cash balances held by individuals such as the flower arrangers. Rounding – the Accounts are prepared to the exact penny but for presentation purposes, and for ease of reading and understanding, are shown in rounded pounds. This can mean that some of the totals and/or sub totals do not appear as if they add correctly and appear to be £1 out. c) Incoming resources - Voluntary income - Collections are recognised when received by or on behalf of the PCC. Planned giving receivable under Gift Aid is recognised only when received. - Tax recoverable on Gift Aid donations is recognised when the Gift Aid is received. - Grants and legacies to the PCC are logged as soon as the PCC is notified of its legal entitlement, the amount due is quantifiable and its ultimate receipt by the PCC is reasonably certain. It is recorded in the accounts when received. - Funds raised by any social events are accounted for gross, where practicable and costs for events included in expenditure, this is broken out later in the notes. - Income from investments Dividends and interest are accounted for when received. - Gains and losses on investments Realised gains or losses are recognised when investments are sold. Unrealised gains or losses are recognised on their valuation in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. d) Resources used - Church ministry and services - The diocesan share/quota is accounted for when paid. Any diocesan share unpaid at 31 December would be provided for in these accounts as an operational (though not a legal) liability and is shown as a creditor in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. - Grants made Grants and donations are accounted for when paid over, or when awarded, if that award creates a binding obligation on the PCC, then they are recorded in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. - e) Fixed assets - Consecrated land and buildings and moveable church furnishings - Consecrated and beneficed property is excluded from the accounts by S10(2) of the Charities Act 2011. Movable church furnishings held by the rectors and churchwardens on special trust for the PCC and which require a faculty for disposal are accounted for as inalienable property and not valued in the accounts. - All expenditure incurred during the year on consecrated or benefice buildings and movable church furnishings, whether maintenance or improvement, is treated as an expense and written off. - The fabric fund is maintained to cover the costs of major maintenance whereas minor works are funded through the general fund. - f) Investments: Investments are valued at mid market value at 31 December. g) Current Assets. Cash held in a savings account with a bank is classified as cash at bank. Cash held on deposit with the CBF Church of England Deposit Fund or held in a term deposit account with a bank is also classified as cash. 14 h) Funds - Funds have been classified as Unrestricted, Unrestricted Designated, Restricted or Endowment. - Unrestricted funds represent the funds of the PCC that are not subject to any restrictions regarding their use and are available for application on the general purposes of the PCC. - Funds designated by the PCC for a particular purpose are classified as unrestricted designated as the PCC has allocated them for a specific purpose although the PCC can re-designate these funds. This helps budget for the future. - Restricted funds are funds received, collected by or given to the PCC for a particular purpose which was specified at or before the time of receipt. These funds have been restricted by the donor for a particular purpose and they cannot be used by the PCC for any other purpose except by agreement with the donor or as determined by the courts or the Charity Commission. - Endowment funds are funds or assets given to the PCC with the specific instruction that only the income gained from the funds can be spent. The original endowment funds cannot normally be spent and must remain in the form of equivalent assets or investments. - St George’s is the beneficiary of two funds: - The Aspent Copse endowment fund. The dividend income from the fund each year is added to our general fund and is not restricted in use. The fund itself is managed by the Salisbury Diocesan Board of Finance and the capital is not available to be spent (it is understood that in extremis the board could be approached to allow the funds to be transferred to our general funds but this would be a matter for them to consider not a right). The Angela and William Whitrow fund where the dividend income gained is restricted to use on upkeep of the churchyard. ## **2. Explanation of Funds** St George's has a number of funds where the PCC has allocated money for specific purposes to aid saving for projects and to manage our finances more effectively, e.g. to budget for organ maintenance. The funds and purposes are as follows: - Fabric fund: To build up reserves for maintenance work in the church and churchyard. - Legacy and Gift Fund: Used to ring fence money for capital projects. - Boiler Fund: Maintenance and where required replacement of the church boiler and related heating system - Ministry: To provide specific funds for ministry - Church Hall: Specific fund with the long term aim to provide a church hall or annex to the church - Organ Fund: Fund for maintenance and repair of the organ. The last major service cost some £20,000 and is required every 20-30 years. - Worship Director Restricted Fund: a restricted fund to manage donations and payments in support of the Worship Director. 15 ## **Note to the Accounts – Further Analysis Continued** The following pages further break down specific sections of income and expenditure. ## **3. Movement in Funds** We maintain a number of designated funds to help budget for future finance. At the end of the year these funds contained: |funds contained:||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||Balance B/F|Receipts|Payments|Investment
Gains /
Losses|Bal/C/f| |**Unrestricted**||24258|75735|74681||25311| |||||||| |**Restricted**|6|||||| |Fabric Fund||2356|125|||2482| |Legacyand Gift Fund||6000||||6000| |WorshipDirector Fund||8031|5710|9600||4142| |Special Collections|5|0|2284|2284||0| |||16388|8120|11884||12624| |**Designated**||||||| |Fabric||8555||||8555| |Legacy& Gift Fund|7|87438|1936|4797|-2525|82052| |Boiler|8|-1535|1535|||0| |Ministry||5264||||5264| |Church Hall||1141||||1141| |Organ||6290||||6290| |||107154|3471|4797|-2525|103303| |Total(excl of Aspent Copse & Whitrow Fund)||147799|87325|91362|-2525|141237| |**Endowments**||||||| |Value of Aspent Copse Trust & Whitrow Funds||18438|0||-2170|16268| |**Total**||166237|87325|91362|-4696|157505| |||£||||| |Value at 31/12/21||166237||||| |Value at 31/12/22||157505||||| |Value change in year||-8732||||| |||||||| |Total Receipts||85791||||| |Total Payments||89827||||| |Investmentgains/loss||-4696||||| |Net change in funds inyear||-8732||||| 16 ## **4. Breakdown of Income and Expenditure** |||Unrestricted
Fund|Unrestricted
Designated
Fund|Restricted
Fund|Total 2022|Total 2021| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |**Receipts**||£|£|£|£|£| |**a) All othergiving / voluntary receipts**||||||| |Donations(including yellow envelopes)||9906|||9906|11279| |Legacies|||||0|1000| |Wall Box||220|||220|293| |Generous GivingCampaign||||||11972| |WorshipDirector Capital Donations||||0|0|0| ||4a|10126||0|10126|24544| |**b) Social Activities Generating funds**||||||| |Plant Sales||220|||220|394| |RajNight||270|||270|0| |RugbyDinners||0|||0|0| |Village Fete||139|||139|234| |Harvest Supper||||0|0|766| |Quiz Night||0|||0|540| |Concert||700|||700|1020| |St George's Supper||669|||669|0| |Safari Supper||660|||660|0| ||4b|2658||0|2658|2953| |**c) Investment Income**||||||| |Interest on CBF Deposit Fund|||1373||1373|0| |Dividends of CBF shares|||563||563|544| |Dividends of Trust Shares||358||125|484|468| ||4c|358|1936|125|2420|1012| |**d) Church Activities:**||||||| |Fees for Weddings and funerals||5874|||5874|4157| |Fees refunded bydiocese for service cover||0|||0|0| ||4d|5874|||5874|4157| |**Payments**||||||| |**e) Clergy and Staffing Costs**||||||| |WorshipDirector Pay, NI, Pension etc||||9600|9600|9600| |||||9600|9600|9600| |**f) Church Running Expenses**||||||| |Workingand Office Expenses||2567|||2567|1926| |Honoraria and Secretarial||8107|||8107|2030| |Organ Maintenance & tuning||698|||698|481| |Insurance||2169|||2169|2085| |Printingand stationary||3760|||3760|2428| |Heating,Lightingand Water||4156|||4156|1367| |Repairs,Maintenance & Improvements||4537|4797||9334|12585| |Bank Charges||307|||307|287| |Education/Youth Work||632|||632|0| |Alpha Course||165|||165|0| |Accounts examiners fees||0|||0|432| |||27099|4797||31895|23621| |||||||| |**g) Costs of Generating Funds**||||||| |St George's Supper||452|||452|0| |Harvest Supper||0|||0|484| |Quiz Night||0|||0|113| |Concert||93|||93|75| |||545|||545|672| 17 ## **5. Giving to Missions and Charities** |||Unrestricted
Fund|Unrestricted
Designated
Fund|Restricted
Fund|Total 2022|Total 2021| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||£|£|£|£|£| |**Special Collection Distribution**||||||| |DEC Ukraine||||805|805|0| |Jerusalem and Middle East Church||||307|307|213| |Christian Aid||||0|0|173| |Royal Naval Benevolent Trust||||53|53|0| |Mission to Seafarers||||0|0|194| |RAFBF||||0|0|109| |RABI||||173|173|766| |SSAFA||||125|125|0| |Combat Stress||||125|125|245| |Crisis||||342|342|0| |Save the Children||||88|88|0| |Children's Society||||88|88|0| |Christian Aid||||88|88|0| |Age UK Wiltshire||||88|88|0| |**Total**||||2284|2284|1699| |||||||| |||||||| |||Unrestricted
Fund|~~Unrestricted~~
Designated
Fund|Restricted
Fund|Total 2022|Total 2021| |||||||| |**Charitable Giving**||||||| |**International**||||||| |SOMA||500|||500|0| |Sudan Church(via SalisburyDBF)||500|||500|0| |**National**||||||| |A Rocha||0|||0|43| |Bible Society||500|||500|0| |Tearfund||500|||500|0| |**Local Charities**||||||| |ARK||0|||0|250| |Devizes and Marlborough Foodbank||500|||500|0| |Home Start Kennet||125|||125|0| |Jubilee Centre||125|||125|0| |MAPAG||125|||125|0| |Prospect Hospice||125|||125|0| |Friends of SalisburyCathedral||30|||30|30| |**Emergency Fund**||||||| |Tearfund - Yemen||300|||300|500| |Christian Aid - Haiti||0|||0|300| |||||||| |**Total**||3330|||3330|1123| |Annual donations suspended in 2021 and reinstated in 2022||||||| 19 |**6. Note on Restricted Funds**||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |We currentlyhave £2,482 of restricted funds in the fabric fund,£2000 restricted to church maintenance and £482 on the churchyard||||||||| |We have £6000 in the legacyfund restricted to use on capitalprojects||||||||| |We have £4142 in the WorshipDirector Fund||||||||| |||||||||| |**7. Breakdown of Legacy Fund Income and Expenditure**||||||||| |||Income|Expenditure|||||| |Dividends Received from Investments||563||||||| |CBF Deposit Acct retained interest||1373||||||| |New Electric Organ|||1704|||||| |Church HeatingControls Upgrade|||414|||||| |Church External Painting|||2000|||||| |Benjamin & BeauchampSurveyand Pre FacultyWork|||679|||||| |||1936|4797|||||| |||||||||| |**8. Transfer between funds**||||||||| |A transfer of £1534.76 was made from the Unrestructed Fund into the Unrestricted Designated Fund to clear a deficit in the Boiler Fund||||||||| 20 INDEPENDENTEXAMINER'SREPORT TOTHE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL'THE PCC" (TRUSTEES) St GEORGE'S CHURCH PRESHLrrE Registered Charity Number 1184256 Year Ended 31 December 2022 I report on the Re￿Ipts arKI Payments Accounts. pages 12 to 20, which are attached to the Trustees, Annual Report for the year en￿ 31 December 2022. Respective responslbllltleg of t￿￿tee9 and examlner The charity's trustees are responsitAe for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charibes Act 2011 {Ihe 2011 Acf). The chartty's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Act and that an independent examination is needed. It is my reskX)nsibilty to: examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act. to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions gwen by the Charity Commlssion (under section 145(5){b) of the 2011 ACL and to stste whether particular matters have come to my attention. Basis of independent oxamlnefs statement My examination was carried out in ac£ordan(t wtth general Diredions given by the Charity Commission. An examination indudes a revEw of the accnunting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented wÈth those record5. It also indudes consideration of any unusual btems or disclosures in the accounts, and seekn'ng explanations from Ihe trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the eviden￿ that would be required in an audit. and consequenty no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fairf view and the report ts limited to those matters set out in the statement below. Independent examlne¢s statement In connection with my examination, no material matters have cx>me to my attention which gives me cause to believe that in any malerial respect. accounts.ng records were not kept in accordan￿ with section 130 of the Charities Act or the accounts do not accord wilh the accounting records I have no concems and have come acros5 no other matters in connection wth the examination lo which attention shoukl be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed.. Date: 2(11.1>3 Roger Im￿le Accountant Roger John & Co 1 Farrar Drive Marlborough SN8 ITP Bsc Econ