## **TRUSTEES REPORT The Parochial Church Council of The Ecclesiastical Parish of St. Matthew, High Brooms** **(Also known as St. Matthew’s Church, High Brooms) For the period January to December 2023** The mission statement of St. Matthew’s Church is ‘Igniting Passion for Jesus’. Here at St. Matthew’s Church, we welcome everyone who comes to worship at our church and who attends and makes use of the groups and community projects we run. There are many points of contact that people have with our church, as you will see from this report, and we are committed to welcoming and including everyone who wants to be part of the ministries we run. The Parochial Church Council (PCC) and Leadership Team maintain an overview of worship, ministry and outreach throughout the parish and consider how our worship services and activities can involve the variety of people who live within our parish. We are committed to furthering our mission of igniting passion for Jesus in the following ways: - Worship and prayer - we hope to bring people to faith through our services; - Reaching out to our community – through the community larder and hub, children’s and youth groups and through maintaining and developing links with key community members; - Supporting the work of mission agencies around the world. To facilitate this work, it is important that we maintain the fabric of St. Matthew’s Church and St. Matthew’s Church Hall and that we continue to stay up to date with policies and procedures which keep everyone safe. ## **WHAT WE DO** 2023 felt like a fairly stable year in the life of St. Matthew’s Church, following several years of Covid and other challenges. We started the year down to just two staff members, and as you will see from this report, our volunteers have been amazing at facilitating and growing all the ministries St. Matthew’s Church runs. As we started 2023, numbers at our services and activities were still recovering, and as the year went on, we saw these grow as new people have been joining us for worship and other groups. None of the activities and services which St. Matthew’s Church runs would be able to happen without the many volunteers who give their time and energy. We are immensely grateful to all our volunteers and church members and everything they give as we seek to be Jesus in our community of High Brooms. Every donation of time, ideas, money, food, and more is hugely appreciated. ## **Mission & Vision** The overall mission of St. Matthew’s Church is to “Ignite Passion for Jesus”, both within the church as we grow in our love for Jesus, and in our community as we want to help other people discover Jesus for themselves. St. Matthew’s Church is led and guided by the PCC, and also by the Leadership Team, both of which meet regularly to plan and develop the ministry of the church and to make sure we are meeting all our responsibilities as a charity. We also have various forms of Ministry Groups that meet regularly to pray and plan for mission and ministry in the church, including youth ministry, children’s ministry, women’s ministry, fabric, finance, community larder, pastoral care and worship. In 2022, the PCC and the Leadership Team developed three priorities for the year ahead, focusing on building relationships within the church and exploring the development of the Bethel Hall. In 2023, these priorities continued to feed into our planning and ministry, and we could see the outworking of having focused on these. Friendships and relationships within the church have strengthened, both among adults and also among the children and young people. The process of exploring the best way to use the Bethel Hall is progressing slowly and remains a focus for the PCC and Bethel Trustees. 1 ## **1. Worship and prayer** ## **Sunday services** Our main Sunday service in 2023 was our weekly 10am service. We also held 3 other monthly services on different weeks (8am communion, 5pm service, 7pm service). This has worked well, as most Sundays in a month have two different services for people to choose from. The 10am service is a family-oriented service, with groups for our children and young people during the service. Communion is celebrated once a month in this service. This is still a hybrid service every week, with the decision being made to intentionally keep live-streaming this service indefinitely, as well as other key services like Christmas and Easter. We have a family service on the first Sunday of each month at 10am, as well as on all the Sundays through the summer holidays, where everyone stays in church together for a more relaxed, informal and fun service. The monthly 8am communion service is a small traditional service from the Book of Common Prayer. It is a said service with a short sermon. The monthly 5pm service is also traditional, and enjoys hymns played on the organ, as well as more liturgy than our 10am service. Communion is celebrated alternate months in this service. The monthly 7pm service is a relaxed, café-style service, with more space for worship and a short talk. This service also celebrates communion on alternate months. The average weekly attendance for our different services in 2023 was as follows: 8am communion – 7 adults (+1 from 2022) 10am service – 62 adults and 21 children (+2 adults and +1 child from 2022) 5pm service – 12 adults (-2 from 2022) 7pm service – 14 adults (-3 from 2022) We estimate that we had an average of about 25 people watching our 10am service live online each week (although it is difficult to be accurate in this), so we therefore had a combined weekly average of about 100 adults and 21 children across all our services, both in person and online. ## **Electoral Roll** At the end of December 2023, the number of names on the Electoral Roll of St. Matthew’s Church was 115, which includes 5 additions and 4 deletions during the year. The Electoral Roll was revised before the APCM in May 2023 and there were no changes for the rest of the year. The number of people on the Electoral Roll is used to calculate the number of representatives we have on Deanery Synod. Electoral Roll additions, deletions and rolling totals are reported at each PCC meeting. ## **Special services** Christmas and Easter are special times in the church calendar. In 2023, we were able to run a full programme of services and we were encouraged to see visitors to all these services. At Easter 2023, we had a Palm Sunday family service with a baptism, a Tenebrae service on Maundy Thursday, and then family services on both Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We had about 200 people in church on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, with more watching online, which was a real encouragement. All our Christmas services were also in church and streamed online, with over 600 people coming through the doors across the Christmas week, and more than 200 views of our Christmas services online at the time. It was lovely to welcome visitors to the carol service, Christingle service and Midnight Communion especially. We also tried a new service in 2023, called a Reflective Christmas, which was a quieter service for those who wanted something on Christmas Eve which wasn’t aimed at children or late at night. This service was well attended and is something we would like to repeat in the future. 2 The other special day in the church calendar is Remembrance Sunday. St. Matthew’s Church held a Remembrance Day service in the morning and a memorial service in the afternoon for those who have been bereaved. These services were well attended and appreciated. ## **Life Events** We love sharing in people’s life events here at St. Matthew’s Church – baptisms, weddings and funerals. In 2023, eight baptisms were carried out. These were for children of varying ages, and two of these were baptism by immersion. 4 funerals were conducted by our clergy during 2023 – 2 were in church and 2 were at the cemetery / crematorium. There were two weddings at St. Matthew’s Church during 2023, both for long-standing members of the church. We also read banns for 3 couples who live in our parish but were getting married elsewhere. ## **Prayer meetings** In 2023 we restarted monthly prayer meetings for anyone in church who would like to join together to pray. We also have a monthly mission prayer meeting, to hear updates and pray for our mission partners around the world. ## **Home Groups and Pods** There were 5 Home Groups at St. Matthew’s Church for most of 2023, which meet weekly or fortnightly during the day or in the evening. These groups enable people to worship and pray together, explore their faith, ask questions to gain a greater understanding of both the Bible and Christianity and form a closer relationship with God and each other. Unfortunately one of these groups had to stop meeting towards the end of 2023, but some of the group members have joined other groups. There are also numerous Pods, which are smaller prayer groups. These form out of existing friendships and connections and help people to further grow in their faith and deepen relationships with God and each other. ## **Revive Women’s Ministry** The women’s ministry at St. Matthew’s Church has historically been a thriving ministry but has reduced recently for a few reasons. Most of the team who organised Revive events stepped down, we had been trying to organise events for everyone to join in with to build relationships, and regular hubs took the place of some of the events we had been running. Therefore, in 2023, Revive just held one women’s breakfast in June. This was a valuable time for women to gather together to worship and be refreshed. Revive has also run Christmas Events in the past at the end of November, but in 2023 there were not enough people to help organise and run this event. We hope to bring something back in 2024 near Christmas. One of our church members organised a film night in church instead of the Christmas Event. They watched a Christmas film with Christmas snacks and drinks. ## **Pastoral Care** The pastoral care team at St. Matthew’s Church has continued to work very hard through 2023 to ensure the holistic care of individuals in need. This includes hospital visits, home visits where people are ill, suffering or unable to leave their homes, provision of cooked meals, and generally being available to listen. One of the members of the pastoral care team does odd jobs for those who are unable to do them. The team meets regularly to update each other about those they visit and to make sure no-one in the church is being missed when they are in need of support. ## **Hubs** Hubs are small groups based around a shared hobby or interest. These mostly involve church members but are also great places for people to invite friends to. Our hubs grew during 2023, with knitting hub, sewing bee hub and table tennis continuing, gardening hub meeting in person again, and a new walking hub starting up. The walking hub ran once a month from March to September and was very popular. Each walk included a stop at a café for a drink. 3 The gardening hub had kept sharing ideas and questions with a WhatsApp group since Covid but met again for the first time in person in 2023 to share seeds and give each other ideas. ## **Social Events** Giving opportunities for church members to meet socially and have time to get to know each other better is important to the growth and health of the church. In 2023 we held a few social events – a BBQ in the vicarage garden, a bring and share Harvest lunch, and a quiz night. All of these events gave opportunities for friendships to grow. ## **Link Mission Partners** During 2023, St Matthew’s Church said farewell to two of our mission links. In October we closed our formal link with the diocese of Geita through the AICC. They were very grateful for our support over the years, particularly at some significant times in their journey. Some individuals in the church continue their personal contact and support for Geita. In December 2023 Ruth Radley finished her work as a Mission Partner with CMS. We supported her over many years, firstly in South Sudan and latterly as part of the Chaplaincy Team in Birmingham City Children’s Hospital. Ruth is now working as the Spiritual Lead in a Hospice in Stourbridge. Therefore, our main mission links going into 2024 are Sam and Abby Baguma with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) in Uganda, Tearfund, Church Mission Society (CMS), The Sozo Foundation (Cape Town, South Africa) and Life & Soul locally in Tunbridge Wells. At Harvest we had Becky Ingamells from Tear Fund speak to us – money offerings were given to Tearfund and food offerings went to St Matt’s Community Larder. A quiz evening held in October donated proceeds to St Matt’s Community Larder. Our Christmas Offerings were given to the work done in local schools with young people through Life & Soul, and over £3,000 was raised for this work including gift aid. ## **Retired Clergy** We have one retired clergy member at St. Matthew’s Church. Richard Arding is actively involved here and also spends time helping other churches in the area as requested. We thank him for all his involvement and support. ## **2. Youth and children** Reaching out to children and young people and helping them to feel like they belong to our church family is very important to us as a church. All our youth and children’s groups at St. Matthew’s were run by our volunteers in 2023, with the exception of Berti from Tunbridge Wells Youth For Christ who we pay on a sessional basis to run our midweek youth group. All our children and youth groups were thriving in 2023, with numbers staying steady or growing throughout the year at the different groups. We have been offering Sunday morning groups for primary school aged children and for youth every Sunday (except family services), and midweek groups for children in school years 3-6 and young people in secondary school, as well as a toddler group for preschool children and their carers. On Sunday mornings, families start off in church altogether, and then the children and young people go out to their groups after the first song. Primary school aged children are all in a group together and meet in the church hall. Young people in secondary school meet in the youth room each Sunday. We also have a dedicated space on a Sunday morning for parents to be with their preschool children during the service, where there are toys and where the service is live on a TV for them to watch. These groups have been focusing on helping the children and young people to build friendships and bringing them closer to God in a fun, relaxed environment, and we have seen both of these things happening. 4 Our midweek clubs for children in church and in the community ran throughout 2023 in the church building and have grown steadily throughout the year. Deeper (for school years 3-6) meets on Mondays after school and has lots of fun activities for the children to do, as well as giving them a snack of toast and squash. They also hear a thought for the week while they have toast, which is based on God. In the first half of the year, an average of 12 children came to Deeper each week, but as they invited friends, this increased to an average of 19 each week by the end of the year. These are a mixture of children from church families and children from the community, with most of the newer children being the latter. Ignite is our group for secondary school age young people. They meet on Tuesday evenings, and one of the successes of this session is that they share a hot meal together and have time to chat and build relationships. Ignite is run in conjunction with Berti from Tunbridge Wells Youth For Christ, and we are so grateful for everything he has put into the group. Ignite had an average of 19 young people attending each week in 2023, with numbers growing in the middle of the year and then dropping back a bit towards the end of the year. Ignite is growing as the young people bring friends along. Again, these are a mixture of church young people and those from the community. Ignite ran some special events in 2023 for the young people, including bowling, a BBQ, boating at Dunorlan Park, a campfire, fireworks and ice-skating. We also run a baby and toddler group on Thursday mornings, for preschool children and their parents or carers. The group is very relaxed, with lots of time and space for the children to play and the adults to connect with each other over refreshments. We then have a story and song time at the end, with biscuits and fruit for the children. The toddler group saw an average of 19 children a week with their carers in 2023. All these groups are great at nurturing and encouraging the children and young people who attend, but they are also great opportunities for us to then invite families to key services at church throughout the year, or other events we are running. Thank-you so much to all our volunteers who put so much time and energy into all the groups week in and week out, and who go above and beyond to make sure we can welcome children and young people into our church. ## **3. Reaching out to the community** St. Matthew’s Church is a key part of the community of High Brooms. Everything we do as a church is open to everyone in our community, but certain activities and groups are more aimed at reaching the wider community and meeting the needs of those in our area. ## **St. Matt’s Community Larder** ## **(written by the community larder team)** The community larder is now in its 4th year, having remained open every week since we opened in November 2020. We continue to see regular numbers of visitors - between 80 and 100 every week. There are some very regular clients, but also a moving population of visitors attending for a season and moving on, when circumstances improve or change. We have seen an increase in refugees from Ukraine, Hong Kong and other countries, and generally have a cosmopolitan clientele. The coffee and cake area is very popular and sometimes struggles to keep up with demand! Lots of our regular visitors now seem to see us as friends and for this we are most grateful. We always wanted to build a community space, separate from the food provision. We are hugely blessed with volunteers and generous members of the community and church, who give their time and money to support us. Supermarket food donations have been less generous overall in 2023 so we have increased spending on Fareshare deliveries and supermarket food purchases. 5 Crosslight (the debt and budget charity) continue to visit monthly and say they have helped quite a few individuals whose first point of contact has been the larder. We had a very happy Christmas event in December and welcomed many community members and generated around £1800. Thank you for your prayers and practical support. ## **St. Matt’s Community Hub** St. Matthew’s Church opened a warm space in November 2022 in response the cost of energy crisis, to offer somewhere warm to those who couldn’t afford to heat their homes. As this developed in the early months of 2023, we found that it met other needs more than just being somewhere warm, like giving people a place to meet others, and supporting people with their mental health. We therefore rebadged the warm space as St. Matt’s Community Hub in the spring of 2023, to attract more people from the community and to better describe the aim of the space. The Community Hub is a welcoming, friendly and free space, which offers drinks and a light lunch. There are board games and newspapers available, and people to chat to. We have also been able to partner with Jill who runs art activities in the hub each week to help people with their mental health. Jill started off running these through her charity, Embark21, but kindly carried on even when the charity was no longer involved. We now get about 20 regulars coming to the hub each week and have a team of dedicated volunteers who serve drinks and lunch. ## **Community Events** We have a small team of volunteers who run events during the year for older members of the community. Rosemary and her team held 6 events during 2023 – coffee mornings, lunches and afternoon teas. At each event they raised money for a charity. They also had the St. Matthew’s school choir singing to them at their Christmas afternoon tea. The local churches table tennis league used the church building for practices and matches during 2023. The church was also used as a polling station for local elections and local councillors held a meeting here about developing a neighbourhood plan for Southborough and High Brooms. ## **School links** St. Matthew’s Church continues to maintain good relations with St Matthew’s High Brooms CE Primary School. We were able to welcome the school into church for their key services in 2023, which we did at Easter, harvest, Christmas, and for a year 6 leavers’ service in the summer. Chris Wicks (our vicar) was also taking regular assemblies in the school throughout 2023. 3 members of the church served as Governors at the school during 2023 – two as foundation Governors (Chris Wicks and David Johnson) and one as an associate Governor (Lynn MacKay). ## **Support for charities** At Harvest, food gifts were collected for our Community Larder and an offering was taken for Tearfund. Our Christmas offerings in 2023 were sent to Life & Soul, who help children and young people in Tunbridge Wells schools through mentoring and resilience workshops. Support continues for a number of local, national and international charities and organisations through the tithe that St. Matthew’s Church gives each year. 6 ## **STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT** St. Matthew’s Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility of working alongside the Incumbent, the Reverend Christopher Wicks, in promoting within the ecclesiastical parish the whole mission of the Church, including pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical activities. The PCC also has the responsibility for the maintenance of St. Matthew’s Church and St. Matthew’s Church Hall in High Brooms. St. Matthew’s Church is situated on High Brooms Road in High Brooms (correspondence address: St. Matthew’s Church, High Brooms Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN4 9BW). It is part of the Diocese of Rochester within the Church of England. The PCC is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2006) and a charity currently registered with the Charity Commission (registered charity number 1185772). Members of the PCC are either ex officio or elected by the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) in accordance with the Church Representation Rules. PCC members as at the APCM of May 2023 are: ## **Ex Officio Members:** The Reverend Christopher Wicks Incumbent David Johnson Church Warden Brian Hobden Church Warden Hannah Mwesigwa Secretary (also employed as Operations Manager) Kate Whitehead Treasurer **Elected Members:** Mary Wilson Deanery Synod and Diocesan Synod representative Michael Southwick Suzanne Owen Ian Wilson Re-elected at the APCM on 15[th] May 2023 Julia Church Graham Church Matthew Taylor Phillip Grainger Elected to the PCC at the APCM on 15[th] May 2023 **Other key office holders in the church, but not on the PCC are:** Clergy – PTO: Rev Richard Arding Operations Manager (employed): Hannah Mwesigwa Pastoral Assistant Carole Wicks **The following roles are appointed by the PCC:** Parish Treasurer: Kate Whitehead PCC Secretary: Hannah Mwesigwa Safeguarding Officer: Julia Church Recruitment Officer: Hannah Mwesigwa Health and Safety Officer: Michael Southwick Banks: Lloyds TSB Bank Plc, Nat West Bank Plc Independent Examiner: Perrys Chartered Accountants (appointed in November 2023) Patronage Board includes: Church Pastoral Aid Society ## **Induction and Training of Trustees** The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish including deciding on how the funds of the PCC are to be spent. All new Trustees (PCC members) are provided with a link to the Charity Commission’s publication: “The Essential Trustee: What you need to know” which provides guidance to all Trustees on what is involved in being a Charity Trustee. All new Trustees are provided with Guidance Notes covering the various meetings throughout the year and other responsibilities of PCC members plus a copy of the booklet jointly produced by the Charity Commission and The Church of England entitled “Trusteeship – An Introduction for PCC Members”. 7 ## **PCC Meetings** The full PCC of St. Matthew’s Church met six times during 2023 with an average level of attendance of 92%. All of these meetings were held in person. Given its wide responsibilities the PCC has a number of committees each dealing with a particular aspect of parish life. These committees, which include worship, children’s ministry, youth ministry, mission, pastoral care, community larder, fabric and finance, are all responsible to the PCC and report back to it regularly with minutes of their decisions being received by the full PCC and discussed as necessary. **A Standing Committee** is required under Church Representation Rules and has the power to transact the business of the PCC between its meetings, subject to any directions given by the PCC. |The Standing Committee which was agreed at the APCM of May 2022 consists|The Standing Committee which was agreed at the APCM of May 2022 consists|The Standing Committee which was agreed at the APCM of May 2022 consists|of:| |---|---|---|---| |Incumbent|Chris Wicks|Secretary|Hannah Mwesigwa| |Church Warden|David Johnson|Elected member|Ian Wilson| |Church Warden|Brian Hobden|Elected member|Graham Church| |Treasurer|Kate Whitehead||| The standing committee carried out five electronic votes during the period 2023 which were reported back to the following full PCC meetings. ## **Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM)** The APCM was held on 15[th] May 2023 at St. Matthew’s Church. At this meeting, Church Wardens were elected and sworn in, Lay Representatives to the PCC were elected and sidespeople were appointed for the coming year. ## **Reporting Public Benefit** The trustees of St. Matthew’s Church, High Brooms, are aware of the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit in The Advancement of Religion for the Public Benefit and have had regard to it in their administration of the charity. The trustees believe that, by promoting the work of the Church of England in the Ecclesiastical Parish of St. Matthew, High Brooms, it helps to promote the whole mission of the Church (pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical) more effectively, within the Ecclesiastical Parish, and that in doing so it provides a benefit to the public by: 1. Providing facilities for public worship, pastoral care and spiritual, moral and intellectual development, both for its members and for anyone who wishes to benefit from what the church offers; and 2. Promoting Christian values and service by members of the Church in and to their communities, to the benefit of individuals and society as a whole. ## **Major Risks** The Trustees consider that major risks have been identified. Those which are not covered by insurance through EIG plc are namely Health & Safety and Safeguarding. These topics are reviewed regularly by the PCC. The PCC has complied with the duty to have due regard to the House of Bishops’ guidance on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults and the PCC complies with GDPR guidance. ## **Responsibilities of the PCC** In preparing the accounts of the PCC, the Trustees must make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent, follow suitable and consistent accounting policies, follow applicable accounting standards, subject to any material departure disclosed and explained in the accounts and must apply the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate. The PCC is also responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to enable it to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011. It is also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. ## **OUR STAFF** The PCC of St. Matthew’s Church employed Hannah Mwesigwa as the Operations Manager and Sue Green as the cleaner during 2023. The Vicar of St. Matthew’s Church is the Rev. Christopher Wicks, who is employed by the Diocese of Rochester. 8 ## **WARDEN’S REPORT - OUR BUILDINGS** ## **Report by the Church Wardens – David Johnson and Brian Hobden** ## **Church fabric, fittings and ornaments** The fabric of the church building is generally in good condition. Some roof tiles over the toilet area were disturbed and have been replaced and made watertight. At the same time some sections of the lightning conductor were disturbed, and arrangements are in hand to repair the damage. The lightning conductor has been tested and the electrical circuits in the Church have also been tested (both tests are required every five years). A glass panel has been replaced between the church and the day centre. This was replaced with safetytoughened glass. We were fortunate to have a second high-performance camera donated to enhance our live streaming capability. The installation took place before Christmas with work carried out by volunteers. We are now working to improve our telecoms system and have commissioned a VOIP system to be installed over the coming months – this is ahead of the PSTN system switch-off across the country currently scheduled for 2025. The Warm Space, which was started in December 2022 has been re-named the Community Hub and now opens from 11:00am till 3:00pm each Wednesday. Toasted sandwiches or soup are served at lunchtime and lots of board games are available. It is good to see that the number of people attending is growing. ## **Church hall fabric** A rainwater pipe outside the toilet block was disturbed and had become disconnected to the guttering. We are grateful to Mike Southwick for replacing the brackets holding the pipe. It is clear, however, that further repairs will soon be needed to the roof over the toilet block. ## **Health and Safety report** Following an incident when someone tripped over the brick planter leading to the Church Centre entrance, a strip of solar powered lights has been installed along the brick planter and work is being commissioned to enhance the lighting in the area, by placing the spotlights on a timer to enable them to be used without causing light disturbance to neighbouring properties. ## **Thanks** We would like to thank all those that have volunteered within church over the last year, including welcome team members and those providing hospitality before and after church services. 9 ## **SAFEGUARDING** ## **Report by Julia Church – Parish Safeguarding Officer** I have been Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO) for St. Matthew’s Church since November 2021. I oversee all safeguarding issues in the parish with the Vicar, Operations Manager and Church Wardens’ support. My role includes being the contact person for anyone needing to report safeguarding issues or wanting advice, dealing with any safeguarding incidents within the church, keeping up to date with guidelines from the Diocese and Church of England, and making sure the children and young people in our groups know who they can talk to if they feel unsafe in any way. The Operations Manager oversees DBS checks and training updates for all church employees and volunteers. A Deputy Recruiter has now been appointed to help with DBS checks. Everyone who works with children, young people or vulnerable adults in the parish must have a current enhanced DBS check before they are allowed to work or volunteer with any children, youth or vulnerable adults, and they must complete training to the appropriate level within a couple of months of starting their role. ## **Safeguarding Issues** There was one safeguarding concern during 2023 that continues to be dealt with by the PSO, Vicar, Operations Manager and one of the Church Wardens, with advice and support from the Diocesan Safeguarding Lead, Greg Barry, where necessary. We really value the support we get from Greg in dealing with these issues. All safeguarding concerns which are reported are filed, even if no further action is necessary. ## **Volunteer Recruitment** Safeguarding is always considered in the planning of all groups and activities that involve children, young people and vulnerable adults. We are continuing to recruit much-needed volunteers to help with all our groups and in turn, each of these volunteers needs to be DBS checked before starting to help. Our children’s work has expanded in all the groups over the past year. There has been a concentrated effort by the Leadership Team in the services and repeated notices to encourage and recruit suitable volunteers. As a church we are committed to ensuring all standards are met in safer recruiting, including making sure our adult to child ratios are in line with the legal requirements. At our PCC meetings, all the names of the people who have applied to be volunteers with children, young people and vulnerable adults and have had DBS checks are put before the PCC for their approval. Safeguarding is included on the agenda at every PCC meeting so that updates can be made regularly. In 2023, 29 DBS checks were carried out. We had 23 renewals and 6 new checks. Part of the reason for this many checks has been that the time before renewal has been moved from 5 years to 3 years, so we had to make sure everyone had been renewed within 3 years by the end of 2023. Thank you to all our new and old volunteers – we couldn’t do without you! ## **Safeguarding Training** All those who become volunteers in a role requiring some safeguarding training are advised of which modules to do and how to do this. The Church of England safeguarding training needs to be refreshed every three years, and most of our volunteers have now completed their refresher courses. Safeguarding training completed in 2023: Basic module – 12 people Foundation module – 10 people Leadership module – 2 people Domestic Abuse Awareness module – 1 people I have also signed up to the Diocesan ‘Safeguarding Dashboard’. This enables us to keep a check on all safeguarding practice and policy, including volunteer training, adequate adult to child ratio numbers in all our groups, safer recruitment, and media and information across the safeguarding role. 10 ## **Conclusions** Safeguarding for all children, young people and vulnerable adults continues to be a major part of our church family life and it is all our responsibilities to ensure that we are all kept safe. The congregation are encouraged to contact myself or Chris immediately if they feel uncomfortable or see or hear of an incident that they feel unhappy with or concerned about. We have excellent support at the Diocese to discuss any issues or concerns if we feel we need to. Safeguarding is never straight forward but always much better if shared with the correct professionals so that resolutions can be found. ## **DEANERY SYNOD REPORT** **Report by Mary Wilson - Deanery Synod representative on the PCC** In 2023 the Tunbridge Wells Deanery Synod met 3 times under the joint chairmanship of Rev. Nick Cornell (Area Dean) and Andrew Smith (Lay Chair). **The first meeting of the year was held on 26[th] April** and was hosted by St John’s Church, Tunbridge Wells. A presentation was given by Jennifer Ross (Communications Manager & Bishop’s Media Adviser at Rochester diocese) called “Communicating your Church in a Changed Landscape”. She outlined recent changes in the social landscape, digital landscape & spiritual landscape. She then looked at what this means for church communication. She acknowledged that it can be overwhelming for churches who don’t feel they have the expertise and/or time and reassured that we don’t have to do everything. Her main tip was to be focused and intentional. Sometimes analogue can be more effective, keeping things simple is also sometimes best. She then looked at the different elements of church communication – our buildings, welcome and outreach. What we communicate should match the church / people we are. Buildings and signage are important for first impressions of people walking in. For effective communication the following aspects need to be thought about: our message, audience, medium, and experience. Planning of both regular and one-off campaigns is also important. She then highlighted some useful tools available to help - Canva design software, A Church Near You, iKnow Church, Mailchimp & Digital Labs Learning. **The second meeting of the year was held on 12[th] July** and was hosted by King Charles the Martyr, Tunbridge Wells. New members were welcomed, and a meal was shared. Following the meal Bishop Jonathan spoke & answered pre-submitted questions. He gave an outline of his background including his conversion as a student at Oxford. He has ministered in Paris, East Manchester, Basle, Switzerland, the Wirral and as Bishop of Huddersfield. He is enjoying settling into the Rochester Diocese – he is enjoying meeting people and the diversity & variety of communities & ministry. His vision for the diocese is “Change, Serve, Grow”. It is important as a Deanery to get together to talk & share ministry & resources and to work together on strategic vision for reaching people across the Tunbridge Wells Deanery. Response to Questions submitted: ‘Living in Love & Faith’ – nothing has yet been decided. At General Synod there was apology given for the bad treatment of the LGBT community by the church. The prayers of blessing are still in the process of being refined and are not indicative of a change in the church’s doctrine of marriage. The 3 key areas that have been identified for further work are the content of the prayers, pastoral guidance that accompanies the prayers and pastoral reassurance for using or not using prayers. His hope is that a way may be found through to remain the body of Christ. There will be reporting back to General Synod in November. What has he noticed in going about the diocese so far? He has been surprised by the diversity and struck by the good morale, commitment, and energy he has seen. What support would he value for his role – for prayer for him to perform his role of bishop in serving the diocese. For strength and energy and for the Gospel to be central. 11 **The third meeting of the year was held on 18[th] October** and hosted by Christ Church, Southborough. The theme of the meeting was the exploration of how local churches are approaching the current challenges of mission and ministry in Tunbridge Wells with input from a variety of churches and time for discussion at the end. Following reading & comment by Nick Cornell on 1 Corinthians chapter 12:12-26, four areas were explored: **Working with Older Adults -** Susan Schibli [St James & Millward House] shared her thoughts on ministering to older people and intergenerational ministry including the contributions of older people, their risk of loneliness and the various ways in which they can be helped & can also contribute to the church family where intergenerational interactions are facilitated and encouraged. **Engagement with Youth and Children -** Jan Humphrey from Christ Church in Tunbridge Wells outlined some of the challenges of ministry and mission to children and young people. These include volunteer availability and the continuity of team, erratic attendance of the young, transition from kids to youth work, parental support and involvement, reaching out into the community, and children with additional needs. **Work with Schools -** John Caster [St Barnabas] pointed out that there are 89 church schools that are in the Rochester diocese and that some 24,000 4 -19-year-olds attend them. He outlined some of the ways in which church communities can get involved with schools, including taking of an assembly from time to time, their acts of worship and being involved in religious education. If there is a church school in the parish the incumbent has a legal responsibility to serve as an ex officio governor **.** Schools are always looking to appoint foundation governors and people were encouraged to consider standing for those roles **.** Offering to go into schools to read with children is a way in which people can get involved. It is important to be living the gospel as well as preaching it. **Working with limited resources / volunteering -** Nick Cornell spoke of the challenges of encouraging people to volunteer, safer recruitment processes and of the need to decide what is or isn’t essential when planning activities and roles. It isn’t always possible to do everything, and some things won’t work in a particular parish or at a particular time. 12 ## **Parochial Church Council of The Ecclesiastical Parish of St Matthew, High Brooms Charity No: 1185772** ## **Notes to the Financial Statements for the twelve months ended 31 December 2023** ## **1. BASIS OF PREPARATION** These accounts have been prepared under the historical cost convention with items recognised at cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant notes to these accounts. The PCC is a public benefit entity within the meaning of FRS102. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 governing the individual accounts of PCCs together with applicable accounting standards and the Statement of Recommended Practice 2016 as the applicable standard to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (SORP(FRS102)). ## **2. ACCOUNTING POLICIES** ## **ASSETS** Consecrated and benefice property: In so far as consecrated and benefice property of any kind (i.e. the church and vicarage) is excluded from the statutory definition of 'charity' by Section 10(2) (a) and (c) of the Charities Act 2011 such assets are not classified in the financial statements. Moveable church furnishings: These are capitalised at cost and depreciated over their useful economic life other than where insufficient cost information is available. In this case the item is not capitalised, but all items are included within the Church inventory. Tangible fixed assets for use by the charity (functional fixed assets): Larger items are capitalised and written off over their useful lives. Smaller items are written off as incurred. Short term deposits: These are the cash held on deposit either with the Diocese or at another bank. ## **FUNDS** Unrestricted Funds: These represent the income funds of the PCC that are available for spending on the general purposes of the PCC. These include amounts designated by the PCC for fixed assets for its own use or for spending on a future project and which are not included as 'free reserves' as disclosed in the trustees' report. If part of an unrestricted fund is earmarked for a particular project it may be designated as a separate fund, but the designation has an administrative purpose only, and does not legally restrict the trustees' discretion to apply the fund. Restricted Funds: These are income funds restricted by the donor that must be spent on restricted purposes and details of the funds held and restrictions provided are shown in the notes to the accounts. Endowment Funds: These are restricted funds that must be retained as trust capital either permanently or subject to a discretionary power to spend capital as income, and where the use of income or other benefit derived from the capital may be restricted or unrestricted. Full details of all their restrictions are shown in the notes of the accounts. ## **INCOMING RESOURCES** The financial statements include all transactions, assets and liabilities for which the PCC is responsible in law. They do not include the accounts of church groups that owe their main affiliation to another body nor those that are informal gatherings of church members. 13 ## Voluntary income and capital sources: Collections are recognised when received by, or on behalf, of the PCC. Planned giving under covenants or gift aid donations is recognised when received. Income tax recoverable on gift aid donations is recognised when the related income is recognised. Grants and legacies to the PCC are accounted for as soon as the PCC is notified of its entitlement and the likely amount due. Funds raised by church events and activities are accounted for gross, i.e. before any associated expenses. Other ordinary income: Rental from the letting of church premises is recognised when the rental is paid. Parochial fees due to the PCC for weddings, funerals etc. are accounted for when received. ## **RESOURCES USED** Grants: Grants and donations are accounted for when paid, or when awarded, if that award creates a binding obligation on the PCC. Activities directly related to the work of the Church: The Diocesan Parish Offer, in respect of clergy and diocesan costs, is accounted for when paid. Any additional amounts agreed by the PCC but not paid across as at 31st December are shown as creditors in the balance sheet. ## **DEBTORS** Amounts owing to the PCC at 31st December in respect of income tax fees, rents or other income are shown as debtors less provision for amounts that may prove uncollectable. ## **Diocesan Church Repair Fund – Quinquennial Funds** The Diocesan Church Repair Fund consists of funds designated by the PCC for future repairs. ## **2023 Accounts Commentary** The accounts are presented for the PCC’s approval. During the year ending 2023 the PCC recorded a surplus of £32,212 (2022: surplus of £9,269) on day to day activities. Not taking into account the 2022 legacy, unrestricted _voluntary_ income, was broadly similar to last year (2023: £145k, 2022: £144k). Restricted giving/income increased 54% in 2023 to £37,764 (2022: £24,485). Like last year, this is due to the continually growing Community Larder and the successful fundraising. It is also, in part, down to the increase in fees charged for a bag of food which was implemented to offset rising costs. Interest rates were significantly higher in 2023, increasing investment income by £6,232 to return £7,105 (2022: £873). Total costs decreased by just £840 year on year to £173,142 (2022: expenses decreased by £3,504). However, unrestricted expenses in 2023 were £15,580 lower than in 2022, whereas restricted expenditure increased by £14,739. The reduction in unrestricted expenditure is driven predominately by reduced salary costs. Increased restricted expenditure (2023: £31,753, 2022: £17,014) is driven by the rising cost of food purchase for the Community Larder to compensate for reducing donations along with increasing demand. Unrestricted income/expenditure resulted in a surplus of £26.2k. Restricted income/expenditure resulted in a £6k surplus. £19,307 is now held for restricted expenditure. The PCC has retained reserves, in cash, of £313,042, as at 31 December 2023. This is a sound financial position and meets the reserving requirements set by the PCC. ## **Kate Whitehead - PCC Treasurer** 14 Parochial Church Council of St Matthew Hr8h Brooms. Charity No- 1185772 BALANCE SHEET at 31 December 1023 Fixed Assets None 2023 2021 curre￿ A55ets Note Debtors & Prepayments Shortterm deposits £39.628 Ell,913 £201,731 E195.453 Repair tund5 £31,812 £25,266 Cash ai bank and In hand 166,500 £70.820 Totsl curient assèts E359.670 £303.453 CredbtorslLknblld•s: Falling due wrthin one ytar £26,62B £22.623 NET CURRENT ASSETS £313,04Z £280.830 FUNDS QF THE CfriARITY Un￿StA￿ed Aesthtte Endowment £293,735 £19.307 £0 E267.534 E13.296 EO £313,042 £280.830 Approved by the Plrochial Church Counril on 15 Ma￿h 2014 and si8ned on its behalf by.. Signalu.. Prinl name Oatc Rev Chris Wick5 2%1S JS131292H Kate Whitehead 15 Parochial Church c￿n¢•I of St Matthew High Brooms- Charity No: 1185772 STATEMENTOF FINANCIAL AcfiviTIES For tht t**l¥e months •hd•d 31 o*c•m￿r 2023 2023 2022 Unrestvlcted Funds Restrlcted Furt Erthwmeni Fun Unrestrkted Restrl(ted Funds Endowmtni Funds roTAL It*0￿￿6 AESOURCES Voluntary Income Att￿lE*S for wier•tlw Income from Investments IncoN* from church xthllbl 145,337 253 7,105 14.895 17,478 3,102 162.814 3.356 7.105 32.079 22a647 163 73 J3.655 14,433 161 B73 23.707 17.184 10.052 RESOURCES EXPENOEO Par15h share Salar*s, wage5 and honorarfa Clergy & stall exper￿¢$ Chufch runniD8 expen5QS Church act￿11¥ expense5 60.5￿7 22,442 4.015 62,tlXI 46,537 22,142 4,015 23.637 44537 1,266 30.488 21, 2,810 a710 10,463 21,8Q2 19.824 &710 144 J4.876 13.781 12,62S 17.014 13,781 12,625 Hall expenses Malof repalrs iochyf(h Mèl¢y repalrs io hall Malof repalrs io parsona8e 14ew bulkllr* work Other Trt•l 3L753 173,142 154968 173,982 NET Incomlnc ￿$0yr(e5 befortOlP*f ￿((￿n￿ed galn5 and ltsssts Galns on Invesimffit assets on éIsp05al on re¥aluatknn NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS TRA14SFERS 8ETWEEN FUNDS 8ALANCES 8ROLIGHT FOf(WARD AT I JANUARY 2023 8ALANCES CARRIEO FORWARD AT 31 DECEMBER 2023 26,201 6.011 32.212 843ni 7,471 94841 16,201 6,011 32.211 8&370 7,471 841 267,534 13.296 2KI.8YJ 181.164 5,825 18&989 193.ns 19.a07 313.041 267.534 13,296.23 280.8 16 Parochial Church Council of St Matthew High Brooms- Charity No: 118577Z INCOME 1023 Endowfflent Funds IQ22 Uh￿Str￿ted Restrkted ￿ndown￿￿t Funds Funds Furtés ilnrestrkted Funds Restrkted Funds TOTAL TOTAL Glft 31ded donatlons Othtr donatk*ns Tax reco¥erabbe Col*¢bnsat 5ervkes Grants Legxbes TOTAi 108.011 10.184 25.247 1.89S S,730 643 1,453 113.741 10,127 26.71X) L19$ 9.6S2 111.035 4,212 26,$05 2.324 5.248 3.132 i.oij 11¢281 7.341 27,515 l324 9,652 5.042 84,571 84.S71 145 337 161814 Fundfath￿t Other Incomo TOTAL 253 3,102 163 163 2S3 3,102 3.3S6 163 J63 Ilcl Income from In¥•sfm•nts DlvldeThds and Intefesl TOTAi 7,105 7.105 873 873 873 873 Ildl IMom• frorn (hwih •£lMtiI 1.187 9.$64 3.055 Ll87 477 8.930 2.827 477 4930 1827 Hall leitln8S Chlldrtn & Youth Church even Pasioral events ComMu￿ty evènts CoMmu￿ty Larder TOTAL 169 921 169 L341 16.764 31.079 1.171 250 420 16.764 17,184 250 IQ.OS2 10.052 14,895 13,655 23,707 roTAi 167 589 267 813 Parochlal Church C(wncll of St Matthew Hlgh Brooms- Charlty No: 11857n (PENSES 2023 Iimr•strki•d Fun R•strl£t*d Ftsnds TOTAL Urtr¢xthrt￿ A¢strlrt¢d Endowm¢nt Funds Funds n)TAL Funds 2111 Paiish share 21bl Salarfes, and honorarf• 21¢1 clor￿ & staff expenses Parsonaqe Tralnl Mobll¢s 01￿1V￿4r exptrtws Olhef emp*yneni ¢o#s 22W2 I1￿1 3.365 427 170 34 19 4.015 3,365 427 170 1327 Js 192 192 114 979 4616 19 4MIS 979 4.616 21dl Chuth r￿n[￿l¢%P•75es Oper•tl 1.918 5.815 2.335 950 575 1.918 6.178 3.238 950 575 Z712 &778 1559 744 523 6.778 J.$59 Woryhlplservkes C•ttrlni Gtyrffrt•￿¢ Olher Churth utlllty bkls 9)3.03 11.966 11.966 9.119 9,lJ9 M1$51on •nd oviry•Nvn 78 367 367 21el Church •ttfvity ty•eAses ChlbJren & yO￿h P•stor•l evenis Churth e¥efits Comiunlty e¥efits Conwnunlty L•rd*r 3.614 774 175 1904 785 194 774 ns L922 1.922 J21 4.388 34176 1810 17.014 J9A24 21fj Mlsslcn •nd don•tk)r 2W Hall eMPtnse5 21hl Malor repair5 to churth 2111 MaloT repaits to hèll 21Jl MaloT repalrs to 21kl tr4ew lyJlldlngwtyk 2111 Other 13.ni U.781 &710 8.710 .62S 25 10.463 iOM63 TOTAL 141,388 31.753 In,142 156,968 17,014 173,982 18 PaiochSal Church c{￿nCIl of St Matthew Hlih Blooms- Charlty No: 1185772 Notes to the STATEMENT OF FINANCIALACTivrriES Fort￿ twelve months ended 31 Oecernber 2023 I RESTRICTED INCOME Donation5 (including Glft Aldl tOtsllin8 El.250 have betn nude towards imPro￿n$ ihe provision of onllnt St￿¢*$. Donatlons Ilndudln8 Glft Adl and 8rants Isee Ilbl bebwl totallln8 £15.036 have been glven to support the on8oln8 costs of the Cornmunlty Larder. In addltlon, further £16,764 has been received as a contribullon towards lood. or at the café. and £3,102 from fund ralsin8 acthfltles. Donaiions1Sndudln8 Glft Adl and 8rants totalling to the value of £974 have been gl*n towards Church fvel costs and ihe runnfj￿ of a Warm Spa￿. Donatlons Ilndudln8 Glft Adl totsllln8 £27sha￿ been towards speclflc Chlldren & Youth Intlatlves. Donaiions Ilndudln8 Glft totsllln8 £364 have been gl*n towards speclflc ple￿$ ol equipment Ifrldge freezerltoasterl. UNA£SThICTED INCOMÉ Excluding the 2022 legary. unrestdcted voluntary donat1￿5 In 2023 were slmllir to 20221£145k In 2023 ¥s £144k In 20221. Il•) GRANTS Communlty Lardef rttaved £9,4S2 in grants. £2￿ was fecelved In grants towards the'warm SpacelHvb". 21•1 PARISH SHARE The parlsh share was set at E60,SCQ for 2023. 21bl STAFF COSTS ANO PEP4SION Durin6 ihe year the PCC employed in operatkjns mana8er aThl a c￿one1. None of these employees earned more than £60,IXQ p.o. No trustees recevled femuneratlon for ihelr ser￿ceS as trustees. Total Staff Costs were.. Gnjss Salarles Employer Nl Pen%on Costs 22,027 415 22.442 All employee5 a￿ entitled to Joln a delined contrlbuJon pen4on scheme admlnln5tered by The Natlonal Ernployment Sa￿nIs Trust INESTI. The PCC meets Its auto enrolment obligations for all ellgible staff. The retluction in salary costs1£46.5k in 20221 of £24k Is dve to no longer enwloyin8 a children and famille5 worker, and the assooated costs. 21dl CHURCH RUNNING EXPENSES Governance.. Includes Independent Examlner's fee of £540 (Inclu4￿ of VAn. 19 21•1 CHURCH ACTIVITY EXPENSES. RESTrICTED A further camera and necessary leads have been purchased to Improve the Pro￿s4o￿ of onllne se￿CeS. With the £1.250 don3￿0ft. this le￿5 a balance of £872 for development of online service funrtionality. With total income of £34.903. and expenses of £28.291. relatln8 to the Communlty Larder, a surplus of £6.612 Is added to the prLrylous balance of £9.7(Kl results'ni In a new bJlance of E16,312. The Communlty Hub I'warm Space") made use of part of the funds prevIous￿ glven for thls purpose1£3,0711 wlth expenses durfn8 the year of £1.922. Vllth the £974 donated towards this initiati¥e. the resultin8 balance of £2,123 is available for 2024. £274.50 was donated towards sprfifi¢ Children & Youth ¢osts. This has been used wlth EO Carrled forward. £363.50 was donaied towjrds spe¢lfic pleces of equlpmeni for church whlch ¥&tre purchased durfn8 the year le4￿n8 a £0 balance carrled forwjrd. &4LANCES Online AV provision Communlty Larder Communlly Hub/Warm Space 872 16,312 2,123 2{fl MISSIONAAY AND CHARITABLE GIVING Grants of Élmo or more m•d• Sn the pedod CMS Life & Soul MAF Tear Fund 1.255 Grnnts of < £l.OLK> mad• In the perlod, for mlsslo Other organisationslcharities Other Indlvlduals 6,826 3 PCC MembeTS It is a common practlce. for reasons of expe(Iltion and value fof money. for members lor other church membersl to be requested to make purchases on behalf of the PCC for whlch they are later reimbursed on produttion of dctumentaiion. All such transactions are recorded In the accounts and ac¢ounied for under the relevant heads of expendlture. 20 ## **DECLARATION** **The Trustees declare that they have approved the Trustees’ Report above.** **Signed on behalf of the PCC:** **Rev. Christopher Blair Wicks (Chair) Date (of the APCM): 25[th] March 2024** 21 9nffjTr9pd5s￿1OrJés￿$ Parochlal Church Councll ol Sl Matlhew Hlgh Brooms INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF FAMILY MATfER5 I feFx* 10 Ihe tw%tees on my exarninat￿ of finoncid statèrrw15 01 Pl7￿￿#￿ ChLreh c￿￿11 ol St ollhew Hgh *ooms li￿ ctsyilyl Y•￿ 31 Decenrt)w If3. As .'he IFuslees o'i the charily you are te5Ehyth ILY the kyerorotbn ty tts finoncid stolamenls accorda￿e wlh Fhe reqvYen￿lS ol Ihe Clyi1*5 Act 2011 Ilhe X¢l l ACtI. I repcytr in T•SWCt ol rny exarM¢t*>n ol ch*>lty's fin¢rtid slotmnls cffire(l lxrt vndw sècl1￿ 145 01 ItKg X)I l Act, In cijryng my eX￿ni￿l￿n I hove Idlo*ed al Its ¢*icot4e C¥ectttTh wen by the Chriiy Com*5%c)n 145ISIIDI ol tl)e Xji i Act. Ind•p•fidert •xomln•rfs tha•m•rtl ￿"￿e Ihe chartty'5 ￿055 excèodod £2X).Cthl yw exoryrn nNJsl t>e o n￿nts1 of o t￿¥ kted Sect￿ 145 ol the 3)1 l Aet. I c(￿f￿ t￿t I wthfJ•d to Und￿lake ex(yfundiM t*cw l om a of Assoc10￿)n ol CtrKylèréd Cethled Acco￿*￿15. vh¥ch ¢ w ol IINry t¥x*s. Your allention 13 dromn to the f¢xt thtst the ¢narity ha5 kYepye¢l sla1étY￿ts n ¢xcc*dcyKe Accounling ond Reo¢yling ty ch(ritv￿ i¥eparing t￿￿ accaJnt5 in occtxd￿e the Fin(￿¢01 ReFrfxling Slond¢Yd opofjcuble in tho UK ¢xd Rewl>k ¢4 treIts￿ IFRS 102i n ryef￿ence to the ccounling ond ReDtytlro by ch￿tIes.. slolerrent of Peclyrn￿￿ PriKke is¥xl ty) l Apl X05 which is referred lo ffj the exlonl re￿alIC￿$ bjl rth ￿arn l undw5tand th(s1 this baen ch)M ifi uder fc¢ rnar￿1th statenwts to F¥ovk* o Iwe ond foy vth in cordonce with Gènerdty Accepled Accovnting fvactre effeclr¥e IL¥ for•>1W￿ pèdod5 on l knLKYY 3)15. I hove coyylelèd ry exorn¢*¢X. I confwm thol rKJ rrxtrlws con* to ry t)ttenliM in ecth•ct with the exarMatKJn givir¥J rne cou5e lo t￿eVe thot in ()ny respect: counfing ￿Cc(d5 were not kepl in re50ecl ol t￿ ch￿ty a5 reqvw¢d by s•eitft TJ) of the Xsl I thè fnonctal slo18nN•nti do not tXC¢yd wAh r*rytr. th• finoncl¢Y statém8nts ao nol corroy tho reV•n￿5 ¢(￿￿oI￿a Ihp l(Nm an(1 cL￿lent of txc(wnl5 Set in tts Ch￿lIeS IAcc(yJn15 a￿$ Rew151 ReWrt21ths X(8 olhw ItKm ¢my rwement Ihal Iha accounls gve o twe ord not o n￿tter cOr￿￿￿er￿d os txjl ol I h￿@ ¢x*d hOV• ce*Th• no 01￿ r¢￿1•3 *1 C¢J¥￿1c￿ whh Iho ex¢¥rynokn ki t*li¢h all￿1￿n s￿d be &cr*n h INS rewl ui c*dw to erK*49 o und*rstth* of Ik)ontid 5tcJlern￿1s lo be rea¢Ao¢. Pe￿ Acc(yMtonls LSnilad BcYiJyke lontrtlge Kenl IW¢ 22