**Chair’s Annual Report 2023**
**Church** – We began 2023 still in Interregnum but with Rev John licensed to All Saints Stranton and St. Lukes. We also have the great support of three retired priests namely Andrew Craig, Kevin Tones and Tony Roache for whom we are forever grateful. Between them all almost every service was covered in the year.
Open the Book is held in St Aidans Primary School every Monday morning. We now have a team of 4 people, Linda Dott, Janice Tarn, Patricia Watson and Hayley Liversidge, who run this on a rota basis.
Home Communion was taken on the first Monday of every month to 4 people in their homes, Queens Meadow Care Home and Elwick Grange Care Home by Linda Dott and Hazel Burton. My thanks go to them for their time and commitment.
Our total worshipping community during 2023 was 62, and our usual Sunday attendance was 34.
There are 52 on the Electoral Roll
Throughout 2023 we had a total of 18 Baptisms, 1 Marriage and 21 Funerals. In January it was agreed that we would go back to shaking hands at the Peace. This proved to be popular decision as everyone wanted to get back to some sort of normality.
Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday (with Archdeacon Rick) and all our Easter services were all well attended, although down from last year. On All Souls Day we again had a service at which all names of those who had died during the year, and our loved ones we wished to remember, were projected onto a screen and read out three times over a one and half hour period. People could then drop in at any time over this period to reflect and see and hear their loved one’s names.
Our Crib and Christingle service was held on Christmas Eve led by Linda Dott and Aneta Bradley, this was a success with 45 adults and 20 children in attendance, although numbers were down on last year. Our Midnight Mass service was held at 11.30pm at which there were 40 attendees, our numbers were increased again for a second year running.
Our full-time organist Steve Darkin announced that he would be retiring in September 2023 although he would continue to play for us on a Sunday and not take a fee.
The Parochial Fees for 2023 were received with slight increases across the board and were agreed at the PCC meeting in January. However, in March the
Fees were revised by the Church of England who reduced the increase and we therefore agreed the new lower increase.
In April we had our Annual Parish Meeting at which all reports were read and the new PCC was elected. I would like to thank all PCC members, our Treasurer Tony Batty and PCC Secretary and Prish Administrator Kathrine Batty for the time they devote to all meetings, and for the decisions they make which affect us all.
In August the PCC agreed that intinction could be practised provided it was carried out correctly. It was agreed at St Aidans that we would continue to have two chalices administered and a third placed on a table next to the priest who would dip the host into the wine and give it directly to the communicant. At St Columbas it would be the same procedure but simpler as there is only one chalice. This was relayed to the congregation and is occasionally announced when we have visitors.
At the beginning of the year, it was agreed that the new heating system in St Aidans was working well but the restoration of the floor still needed addressing and a request would be made to extend the faculty. The block flooring has now been re-laid and the walkways sanded and varnished this has made a great improvement to the building. A door mat has been inlaid in the floor at the vestry door and the toilet and foyer flooring has been replaced with new safety flooring. This now completes the restoration of the floors after the completion of the new heating system.
The DAC (Diocesan Advisory Committee) visited St Aidans in September to have a look at and discuss our church and new heating system. They were very impressed with how well our church was maintained and how aesthetically pleasing and warm the new heating system was.
Both churches had their Quinquennial Inspections, St Columba’s was completed in October 2023 and St Aidan’s in November 2023, these of course always show up jobs which need addressing, some in the short term and some over the next five years.
As Parish Office is not attended on a regular basis it was decided that we would go to a booking system whereby anyone needing to book anything at the churches would make an appointment with Kathrine and this could be during the day or night. This is working well.
St Columbas continues with its regular Thursday morning service with a priest in attendance. The Hall is also hired on a regular basis by Sewing Bees on a Tuesday morning and a Meditation Group on Tuesday and Wednesday night. COH rent their office space there and parties are occasionally booked too. St Columba’s porch was painted by a gentleman from the community at no charge.
St Aidans was given the responsibility of Forest Church at the beginning of the year and this is run by Aneta Bradley. It is held on the last Sunday of every month, usually in St Aidans Primary School Garden, or in St Aidans Church in inclement weather. Forest Church averages 15-20 people and they enjoy such things as praying, discussions, singing, making things and cooking food on the campfire. It is a vital activity to our outreach in the community. Deanery Synod is attended by Brian Hayes and Linda Dott and the PCC get regular updates on matters discussed, thank you for your attendance. In September we were advised that Stranton Crematorium was to be closed for the next nine months Monday to Wednesday as it was being refurbished, therefore funerals which were to be followed by a cremation would only be able to take place on a Thursday and Friday.
The guided pledge was received from the Diocese and it was decided that we could not afford to pay the figure suggested. After a long discussion, and looking into ways of how we could cut back on our daily outgoings, we decided to increase our pledge on last years by double inflation. Our churches continue to run at a loss and it may be time for us all to look at our own monthly or weekly giving.
We continue to be registered as an inclusive church and advertise this as often as possible.
To aid Rev John’s diary we set dates for each monthly PCC for 2024 in advance and we did the same for The Group Council meetings which were set bimonthly.
**The Kitchen** – In January it was reported that the kitchen was going very well
and it was agreed that the people who visited the Kitchen could come into church to eat their food and chat if required, thus easing our Covid rules. It was agreed that more volunteers would be sought.
We were given a table in the foyer of Morrisons for the week commencing July 17[th] . This proved a great success as we had many donations of food and money, our thanks go to Morrisons. However, we now need to obtain more donations and look at potential grants as the funding we presently have will run out at the end of our rental agreement, so if you have any ideas please let us know.
**Warehouse** – The unit’s rent agreement was up for renewal and a new three year deal was agreed with the landlord with a one-year break clause. The warehouse is a valuable space to store all our donated food items both dry goods and frozen and we get regular donations from FareShare and our local community. Our manager Claire Barker keeps the store clean and tidy and runs it effectively.
**Hartlepool Central Group** – The Group Council includes 6 members of our PCC who attend the meetings. We had 6 meetings in 2023 at which we discussed services, clergy arrangements, COH and the advertising for a new priest. We also had several joint services throughout the year. A post-Christmas meal was arranged for January 2023 at the Golden Lion where approx. 50 people attended from across the group and was a great success.
**Interregnum** – Archdeacon Rick had advised that our parish was top of the list for a new priest and requested our profile be sent along with summaries of Stranton St Lukes and COH. He then advised that what had been sent was not what was needed and we therefore requested a meeting with himself and the other parishes to iron exactly what was need so that we could push forward with advertising for the vacancy. At the meeting in July each parish understood what was required and they would all draw up their own profiles and St Aidans would send everything to the Archdeacon, this was done by the end of the month. All this meant longer delays than hoped for and the post was eventually advertised in September unfortunately the one potential candidate had to drop out meaning the post had to be re-advertised. This was done in February 2024 and we are waiting to interview a candidate in April 2024.
**Communites of Hope** – In January Aneta Bradley was Project Lead, with Emma Cain helping out, and a Little Bit of God Time was at Stranton. Hayley was running a Toddler Group at St Matthews with Emma’s help and she was also going into two schools, one being St Aidans Primary for Open the Book. They were also working very closely with the marginalised of our town. Unfortunately, in February All Saints Stranton, who are the legal employers of COH, took the unilateral decision to dismiss Aneta Bradley, leaving them without a Project Lead. This led to St Aidans PCC making the decision to have no further involvement with the management of COH. There being no Steering Group Rev John took on the responsibility for COH.
A Little Bit of God Time moved St Aidans Church during 2023.
A Vision Day was arranged for June 10[th ] for the Groups PCC’s when
representatives from the Diocese would attend to try to progress the future of COH. Our PCC agreed they wished to support COH and as many as possible would attend the day. After the meeting a Steering Group was formed to progress the future of COH, Kathrine Batty and Jane Spears from our parish
being our representatives. To date, although the Steering Group have met on several occasions, no Project Lead or Evangelist has been employed. COH offices remain in St Columbas. A Little Bit of God Time is on a Tuesday afternoon and the Drop in Café is open on a Friday morning in St Aidans.
Helen Rochester Chair of PCC, St Aidan and St Columba 07/04/2024
## **ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF HARTLEPOOL ST AIDAN AND ST COLUMBA CHARITY NUMBER 1185257 STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
|Note
**INCOMING RESOURCES**
Voluntary Income
2a
Activities for generating funds
2b
Income from investments
2c
Church Activities
2d
Other incoming resources
2e
**TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES**
**RESOURCES EXPENDED**
Cost of generation voluntary income
3b
Fund raising trading costs
3c
Church activities
3a
Governance Costs
4
Other Expenses
5
**TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED**
**NET INCOMING RESOURCES BEFORE**
**OTHER RECOGNIZED GAINS AND**
**LOSSES**
Gains on investment assets:
on disposal
on revaluation
**NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS**
BALANCES B/FWD 1 JANUARY
Movement between funds
BALANCES C/FWD 31 DECEMBER|Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Trust
funds
2023
2022
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
40197
2219
0
42416
52244
740
0
0
740
1032
283
244
3295
3822
1143
15929
0
0
15929
7750
769
11801
0
12570
23468|
|---|---|
||57918
14264
3295
75477
85637|
||0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
53991
1186
0
55177
126178
7903
4971
0
12874
13473
2806
11729
0
14535
4712|
||64700
17886
0
82586
144363|
||-6782
-3622
3295
-7109
-58726
0
0
0
0
0|
||0
0
0
0
0
-6782
-3622
3295
-7109
-58726
54685
65486
71776
191947|
||47903
61864
75071
184838|
## **ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF HARTLEPOOL ST AIDAN AND ST COLUMBA CHARITY NUMBER 1185257 BALANCE SHEET FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
|Note
**FIXED ASSETS**
Tangible
6a
Investment
6b
**CURRENT ASSETS**
Stock
Debtors
7
Prepayments
Cash at bank and in hand
**LIABILITIES**
Creditors
8
**NET CURRENT ASSETS/LIABILITIES**
Total assets less current liabilities
**TOTAL NET ASSETS**
**PARISH FUNDS**
Unrestricted
10
Restricted
10
Trust funds
10|Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Trust
funds
2023
2022
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
12270
0
0
12270
15337
0
0
75071
75071
71776|
|---|---|
||12270
0
75071
87341
87113|
||0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1905
0
0
1905
3672
34817
60865
0
95682
101162|
||36722
60865
0
97587
104834|
||90
0
0
90
0|
|||
|||
|||
||48902
60865
75071
184838
191947|
||48902
60865
75071
184838
191947
48902
48902
54685
60865
60865
65486
75071
75071
71776|
||48902
60865
75071
184838
191947|
## **ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF HARTLEPOOL ST AIDAN AND ST COLUMBA CHARITY NUMBER 1185257 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
|2 (a)**Voluntary income**
Planned Giving
Gift Aid Donations
Tax recovered
Other
Collections
Grants
Donations
Bequests
2 (b)**Activities for generating funds**
Annual Fair
harvest
Christmas appeal
2 ( c)**Income from investments**
Interest
2 (d)**Income from church activities**
Fees
Rent
2 (e)**Other incoming resources**
Thursday kitchen
Sundry Income
Charity Income
Insurance Claim
2 (f) sequestration
**Total incoming resources**|Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Trust
funds
2023
2022
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
16429
16429
16851
5603
898
6501
7388
4873
4873
5462
3186
921
4107
3430
0
400
400
17823
2106
2106
790
8000
8000
500|
|---|---|
||40197
2219
0
42416
52244|
||0
0
0
0
0
117
740
740
915|
||740
0
740
1032|
||283
244
3295
3822
1143|
||7277
7277
2883
8652
8652
4867|
||15929
0
0
15929
7750|
||10213
10213
22071
769
1323
2092
1255
265
265
142
0
0|
||769
11801
0
12570
23468|
||0
0|
||57918
14264
3295
75477
85637|
## **ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF HARTLEPOOL ST AIDAN AND ST COLUMBA CHARITY NUMBER 1185257 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
|**3. RESOURCES EXPENDED**
**3 (a) Church Activities**
**Charitable giving**
Christian Aid
Hospice
Children's Society
Other
Ministry: Diocesan parish share
Other ministry costs
New heating system
Church running and maintenance
Depreciation
Printing and stationery
3(b)**Generation of voluntary income**
Cost of lottery licence
Trading expenditure
3 ( c)**Fund raising costs**
concert/coffee morning
annual fair
4 (a)**STAFF COSTS**
Wages and salaries|Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Trust
funds
2023
2022
144
144
142
0
0
121
121
0
0
921
921
0|
|---|---|
||0
1186
0
1186
142
13437
13437
27295
3963
3963
515
0
0
73494
32484
32484
20561
3067
3067
3067
1040
1040
841|
||53991
1186
0
55177
125773|
||0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0|
||0
0
0
0
0|
||0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0|
||0
0
0
0
0
7903
4971
0
12874
13473|
During the year the PCC employed a parish administrator (part time). No payments were large enough to attract social security costs.
As the Parish Administrator, Mrs Kathrine Batty, who is a member of the PCC, was paid £5528 (2022 £5590) during the year. As the warehouse manager Ms Clare Barker who is a member of the PCC was paid £4971 (2022:£5218) during the year. No other payments or expenses were paid to other PCC members or persons closely connected to them or related parties The parish contribute to expenses of Revd John Bell as part of group arrangements
## 5. **OTHER COSTS**
|Professional fees
Sundry Expenses
Thursday kitchen|2100
2100
0
706
500
1206
601
11229
11229
4111|
|---|---|
||2806
11729
0
14535
4712|
## **ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF HARTLEPOOL ST AIDAN AND ST COLUMBA CHARITY NUMBER 1185257 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023**
|6.**FIXED ASSETS**
(a) Tangible
(b) Investments
7.**DEBTORS**
Invoices issued
**8. LIABILITIES**
Sundry creditors|Unrestricted
funds
Restricted
funds
Trust
funds
2023
2022
12270
0
0
12270
15337|
|---|---|
||0
0
75071
75071
71776|
||12270
0
75071
87341
87113|
|||
||0
0
0
0
0|
|||
||90
0
0
0
0|
## **9. FUNDS**
The restricted funds comprise the organ fund and parish hall fund. The endowment funds are the Bolton Trust (to be used for general purposes) the Bulmer Trust (to be used at the absolute discretion of the vicar and Church Wardens) the PCC trust (to be used for ecclesiastical purposes within the parish) and the Wilkinson Trust (to be used for general purposes).
||**Parish Hall**
**Fund**|**Organ**
**Fund**|**Bolton**
**Trust**|**Bulmer**
**Trust**|**PCC**
**Trust**|**Wilkinson**
**Trust**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Fund Movements|||||||
|Balance at 1 January2023|0|31751|7512|34356|26878|3030|
|resources expended|||||||
|Interest received||245|345|1577|1234|139|
|Balance at 31 December 2023|0|31996|7857|35933|28112|3169|
||**Unrestricted**
**Restricted**
**Trust**
**TOTAL**
**funds**
**funds**
**funds**
**2023**
12270
12270
75071
75071
36722
60865
97587
90
0
90
48902
60865
75071
184838||||||
|**10. ANALYSIS OF NET ASSETS**
byfund|**Unrestricted**
**funds**|**Restricted**
**funds**|**Trust**
**funds**|**TOTAL**
**2023**|||
|Tangible Fixed Assets|12270|||12270|||
|Investment Fixed Assets|||75071|75071|||
|Current Assets|36722|60865||97587|||
|Current Liabilities|90|0||90|||
|TOTAL|48902|60865|75071|184838|||
||||||||
## **Independent Examiners Certfcate for Ecclesiastcal Parish of Hartlepool St Aidan and St. Columba, Charity Number 1185257**
## **I report to the Trustees of Ecclesiastical Parish of Hartlepool St Aidan and St. Columba, for the year end 31 December 2023**
## **Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner**
The charity trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 and that an independent examination is needed.
It is my responsibility to:
Examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011,
To follow the procedures laid down in the general direction given by the Charity Commission (under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act 2011 and
To state whether particular matters have come to my attention
## **Basis of independent examiners statement**
My examination was carried out in accordance with the general directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a “true and fair” view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
1. Which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the following requirements have not been met
- a) To keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act 2011 b) To prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act and to account for Statutory Fees correctly
2. To which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed
Date
Name: David S. Burns ACA
30 Snowdrop Road, Hartlepool