2024-12-31-accounts

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 2024

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

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, worship and mission.

Most of our ministries are run by volunteers and would not be able to happen without the time and energy that these many volunteers bring. 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.

The following values are also of particular importance to us – the Word, the Holy Spirit, worship, the cross, love, presence, welcome and teams.

In 2024 the PCC and Leadership Team had a lot of discussions on inclusion in St. Matthew’s Church, and what it means for us to be an inclusive church. We have always had a heart for welcome, but these discussions about inclusion came out of the Church of England publishing their Prayers of Love and Faith.

The outcome of this thought and discussion was for us to add ‘Welcome’ as one of our values as a church, and also for us to join The Inclusive Church Network. We also updated some of the wording on our website to reflect this journey, including:

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“We are an inclusive church – a church which celebrates and affirms every person and does not discriminate against people on grounds of disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexuality, learning disability, mental health, or neurodiversity.

We believe in a church which welcomes and serves all people in the name of Jesus Christ; which is scripturally faithful; which seeks to proclaim the Gospel afresh for each generation; and which, in the power of the Holy Spirit, allows all people to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Jesus Christ.”

Towards the end of 2024 we did a sermon series in our main services about our vision and values, so that the congregation is aware of the journey the leadership has been on and know who we are as a church.

1. Worship and prayer

Sunday services

Our main Sunday service in 2024 was our weekly 10am service. We also held 3 other monthly services on different weeks (8am communion, 5pm service, 7pm service). This worked well, as most Sundays in a month had two different services for people to choose from.

Our 10am service is family-oriented, 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.

Due to falling numbers through the year and the people needed to run this service not being so readily available, the decision was taken to stop the 7pm service at the end of 2024. All those who came to that service are now attending our other services or watching online.

The average weekly attendance for our different services in 2024 was as follows: 8am communion – 6 adults (-1 from 2023) 10am service – 63 adults and 21 children (+1 adults and same children as 2023) 5pm service – 11 adults (-1 from 2023) 7pm service – 12 adults (-2 from 2023)

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 2024, the number of names on the Electoral Roll of St. Matthew’s Church was 112, which includes 6 additions and 9 deletions during the year. The Electoral Roll was revised before the APCM in May 2024 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.

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Special services

Christmas and Easter are special times in the church calendar.

In 2024 we were encouraged to see many visitors from our community to our services over these periods.

At Easter 2024, we had a Tenebrae service on Maundy Thursday, and then family services on both Good Friday and Easter Sunday, with baptisms by immersion on Easter Sunday. The Archdeacon at the time, Sharon Copestake, came to all our Easter services and spoke on Easter Sunday, as well as being part of the baptisms.

We had about 270 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 about 600 people coming through the doors across the Christmas week and more watching online at the time and afterwards. It was lovely to welcome visitors to the carol service, Christingle service and Midnight Communion especially. We also repeated our Reflective Christmas service this year, which was a quieter service for those who wanted something which wasn’t aimed at children or late at night.

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 2024, seven people were baptised at St. Matthew’s Church. Two were infant baptisms, and the other five were baptisms by immersion for adults and teenagers.

4 funerals were conducted by our clergy during 2024, all at the cemetery / crematorium.

There was one wedding at St. Matthew’s Church during 2024 and we also read banns for 4 couples who live in our parish but were getting married elsewhere. We also held a renewal of vows service in the church in 2024, which was a very special service for the family involved.

Prayer meetings

Our monthly prayer meetings stopped towards the end of 2024, due to staff illness and low numbers. We would like to rethink gathering to pray as we move into 2025.

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 are 5 Home Groups at St. Matthew’s Church, 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.

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

Following a scaling back of our women’s ministry in previous years, in 2024 we just ran one event solely for women. This was our Christmas Event, and it was a very successful and fun evening, bringing in women from the church and the community. For the first year since Covid, we went back to having different craft tables, and those who attended could make various crafts, with mulled wine and snacks on offer through the evening. There was a lot of positive feedback and a lovely atmosphere in the church on the night.

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Pastoral Care

The pastoral care team at St. Matthew’s Church has continued to work very hard through 2024 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 current hubs continued throughout 2024 - knitting hub, sewing bee hub, table tennis, gardening hub and walking hub. 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. The gardening hub was mostly on WhatsApp but met at least once in person during the year to share seeds and ideas.

Courses

In early 2024 we ran an Alpha Course at St. Matthew’s Church. Alpha is a course for those who are curious about the Christian faith and gives the opportunity for questions and discussion. There is a video each week and time for talking about it, as well as food. Rev. Chris Wicks ran this course in his home with 4 participants.

We also had members of the congregation attending two Diocesan courses in 2024. Three people completed the Leading Worship course, which was a 6-week course designed for those who lead services. Then later in the year, five members of the church attended the Hearing God’s Word course, which ran over 6 weeks and is a pre-requisite for the Speaking God’s Word course for those who preach in church. We are very grateful to all those who have taken part in these courses to develop their skills and to gain recognition for what they do from the Diocese of Rochester.

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 2024 we held a few social events – a couple of BBQs in the vicarage garden (one with one of our mission partner families), a bring and share Harvest lunch, and a quiz night. All of these events gave opportunities for friendships to grow.

Team Thank You Meetings

With most of our ministries at St. Matthew’s Church being run by volunteers, it is important to us to find ways of saying thank you to them but also providing time for teams to get together and to review and plan for their groups.

In 2024 we held team meetings for the children’s team, the youth team, the welcome team and the worship team. These meetings started with some food and time to chat, and then there was a time of planning and reviewing how the groups were going. These meetings were appreciated by the volunteers and were well attended.

Link Mission Partners

Our main mission links for 2024 were 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.

The Baguma family visited in July and spoke in our morning service about MAF and their lives in Uganda. At Harvest money offerings were given to Tearfund and food offerings went to St Matt’s Community Larder. Our quiz evening held in October also donated proceeds to St Matt’s Community Larder. Our Christmas Offerings were given to the work of MAF (flying children from South Sudan to a children’s hospital in Kampala for life-saving brain surgery) and almost £4,000 was raised for this work including gift aid.

The charity Unlock was also supported in 2024 with a gift of money from our tithe and also with members of the congregation completing the Unlock walk and raising money through sponsorship.

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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 2024, 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 2024, with numbers staying steady or growing throughout the year at the different groups.

We have 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. The number in this group varies from 8 children a week up to 21 children a week, which reflects the less consistent nature of families coming to church. The average across the year was 14. We are very grateful to have grown the volunteer team for this group over the year, so that there are enough adults to cope with the weeks when there are more children. One of the volunteers plans the sessions for each week.

Young people in secondary school meet in the youth room each Sunday. There are between 2 and 9 young people there each week, with an average of 5 across the year. There are two volunteers with this group each week, and they look at something from the Bible with time for questions and discussion. They also eat toast together!

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 really gelled more across the year, with the children and young people deepening friendships with each other and enjoying being in church together.

Our midweek clubs for children in church and in the community ran throughout 2024 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 God based. An average of 21 children came to Deeper each week in 2024, with our limit being 24 due to leader numbers. It is a struggle to find volunteers for this group due to the timing of it, so we have had to put children on a waiting list due to being at capacity. The children who come to Deeper are mostly non-church families, but there is an increasing pattern of some of these families accessing many of our groups, like Ignite, the community larder and toddler group.

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 21 young people attending each week in 2024, with numbers increasing towards the end of the year as the young people brought friends along. Again, these are a mixture of church young people and those from the community. Ignite ran some special events in 2024 for the young people, including a BBQ, boating at Dunorlan Park, fireworks and ice-skating.

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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 2024, again with numbers growing towards the end of the year.

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)

Another year has raced by, and the larder has been busier than ever in recent months. We have seen visitor numbers go over 100 on several occasions and this is quite a challenge in terms of providing adequate food. With the economic climate, and supermarkets looking to cut their costs, we have seen a drop in food donations which has necessitated increased direct food purchasing, to supplement the weekly Fareshare delivery. We remain hugely grateful for the generosity of donors and various grants which have enabled us to stay afloat financially. We are blessed with a wonderful and committed group of volunteers who work tirelessly to keep the larder open. More recently we have had the added bonus of help from the residents of the Kenward Trust hostel, who come on Thursdays to help us set up. It’s great to have a group of younger strong men who can lift the heavy trays of food. New volunteers and donors have popped up from the community and proved invaluable as well. Our visitors remain a moving population - some of our originals still come regularly after more than 4 years, whilst others have moved on to new locations or jobs or better finances, to be replaced by new people. We have built relationships with lots of our visitors and feel very privileged to have many significant conversations week by week. The cafe area remains buzzing and gives us much joy. The Christmas event was another happy and financially helpful event. Crosslight continues to visit once a month and their input is invaluable, helping individuals with budgeting and benefits and debt management. Thank you for your prayers and support. We are excited to see links with the community and church growing, with visitors attending the community hub and toddler group, as well as the larder and sometimes church on Sundays. We feel so privileged to have this opportunity to practically help and befriend those around us.

St. Matt’s Community Hub

The community hub has continued to develop as it meets the needs of those who attend for friendship and activities. 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, as well as art activities each week to help people with their mental health. We now get about 20 regulars coming to the hub each week and have a team of dedicated volunteers who serve drinks and lunch.

A new venture over the summer of 2024 was a Christian mindfulness group that met for an hour each week. The idea for this came out of the community hub.

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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 5 events during 2024 – coffee mornings 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 2024.

The church was also used as a polling station for local elections and for the general election.

School links

St. Matthew’s Church continues to maintain good relations with St Matthew’s High Brooms CE Primary School, who welcomed a new headteacher during 2024.

We were able to welcome the school into church for their key services in 2024, which we did at Easter, Harvest, Christmas, and for a year 6 leavers’ service in the summer.

Rev. Chris Wicks was also able to take some assemblies during the year, although the regularity of these reduced in the autumn due to health issues.

3 members of the church served as Governors at the school during 2024 – two as foundation Governors (Rev. 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 2024 were given to MAF Uganda, specifically to a link they have with a children’s hospital in Kampala. The money we raised will help to fly children from South Sudan to the hospital in Kampala for life-saving brain surgery.

Support continues for a number of local, national and international charities and organisations through the tithe that St. Matthew’s Church gives each year.

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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 2024 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 Julia Church Re-elected at the APCM on 13[th] May 2024 Graham Church Re-elected at the APCM on 13[th] May 2024 Matthew Taylor Phillip Grainger Kevin Barnes Deanery Synod rep - Elected at the APCM on 13[[th]] Kim Shilling Elected at the APCM on 13[[th]] May 2024 Fiona Wilson Elected at the APCM on 13[[th]]

Deanery Synod rep - Elected at the APCM on 13[[th]] May 2024 Elected at the APCM on 13[[th]] May 2024 Elected at the APCM on 13[[th]] May 2024

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 Lead Recruiter (DBS checks): Hannah Mwesigwa Deputy Recruiter (DBS checks): Mary Wilson Electoral Roll 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

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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”.

PCC Meetings

The full PCC of St. Matthew’s Church met six times during 2024 with an average level of attendance of 87%. 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.

The PCC also had a joint half day meeting in April 2024 with the Leadership Team to discuss inclusion and the Prayers of Love and Faith brought out by the Church of England.

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 2024 consists	The Standing Committee which was agreed at the APCM of May 2024 consists	The Standing Committee which was agreed at the APCM of May 2024 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 fourteen electronic votes during the period 2024 which were reported back to the following full PCC meetings.

Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM)

The APCM was held on 13[th] May 2024 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.

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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 2024.

The Vicar of St. Matthew’s Church is the Rev. Christopher Wicks, who is employed by the Diocese of Rochester.

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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.

There is a minor leak in the roof over the Church Centre which is currently undergoing further investigation. The lightning conductor has been refixed after a part of it had been disturbed.

The electrical circuits testing has prompted the renewal of three distribution boxes, and this now brings the installation up to the requirements of the most recent regulations.

The tea-point water boiler in the kitchen has been replaced with a new unit after the old boiler became unserviceable.

A working party was arranged to remove dust and spiders’ webs from the church ceiling, filters to the convector radiators were cleaned and, externally the rainwater gulleys were cleared of fallen leaves and other debris. We are grateful to Norman Andrews and Paul Shilling for their help with this work.

Church Hall fabric

A rainwater pipe outside the toilet block was disturbed and had become disconnected from the guttering. We are grateful to Mike Southwick for replacing the brackets holding the pipe. The sliding doors to the metal shed behind the Hall had come off their channels and were repositioned to hang correctly.

Health and Safety report

A new electrical timer has been fitted to the circuit of the floodlight outside the Church Centre entrance. It will automatically switch the light off after 10:30pm so as not to cause a problem to neighbours across the road.

We would also like to offer our thanks to the Community First responders of Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells for providing a defibrillator to be fitted to the outside of our building, for public use.

SAFEGUARDING

Report by Julia Church – Parish Safeguarding Officer

Julia Church has been the Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO) for St. Matthew’s Church since November 2021. Her role is to oversee all safeguarding issues in the parish with the Vicar, Operations Manager and Church Wardens’ support.

This 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, young people and vulnerable adults in our groups know who they can talk to if they feel unsafe in any way.

Everyone that 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 safeguarding training to the appropriate level within a couple of months of starting their role. The Operations Manager oversees DBS checks and training updates for all church employees and volunteers.

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Safeguarding Issues

There have been several safeguarding concerns throughout the year that continue 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. These have all been reported and filed. In some of these cases, action was required and has been carried out, and again this has all been reported and filed. These can always be added too if any further information is reported.

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. It is important to maintain a level of leadership in each group to maintain the child/adult ratio within the legal limits. There has been a concentrated effort by the Leadership Team in the services and repeated notices to encourage and recruit suitable volunteers. At present, all our groups have sufficient volunteers to keep the adult to child ratios 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.

Safeguarding Training

All those who become volunteers in children and youth groups are required to do some safeguarding training, with refresher modules needed every 3 years. Each volunteer is advised which modules to do and how to do this.

Safeguarding training completed in 2024: Basic module – 5 people Foundation module – 7 people Leadership module – 1 person Domestic Abuse Awareness module – 4 people In 2024, 10 DBS checks were carried out. We had 5 renewals and 5 new checks.

Thank you to all our new and old volunteers – we couldn’t do without you and really appreciate the time you put into making sure your training is up to date!

We 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.

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. Anyone who feels uncomfortable or sees or hears of an incident that they feel unhappy with should contact Julia Church or Brian Hobden (Church Warden) immediately.

We have excellent support from 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.

12

DEANERY SYNOD REPORT

Report by Mary Wilson - Deanery Synod representative on the PCC

In 2024 the Tunbridge Wells Deanery Synod met 3 times under the joint chairmanship of Rev. Nick Cornell, Area Dean (for the March & July meetings) & Rev. Richard Thomas, new Area Dean (from November) and Andrew Smith, Lay Chair.

The Deanery Synod representatives from St. Matthew’s Church are Mary Wilson and Kevin Barnes.

Meeting of 6[th] March 2024 at St Barnabas Church, Tunbridge Wells.

John Constanti – Diocesan Director of Education talked about his role.

He has been in the post for a long time, seeing different governments come and go but is committed to supporting the vital contribution Church schools make within our education system, as well as the importance of the involvement / links between churches and schools.

He gave a historical background, as well as an overview of our diocesan Church schools. Some interesting statistics: within the Diocese there are a total of 90 Church of England schools – 5 Secondary & 85 Primary. Within these, there are a variety of types of schools – Academies, Community schools, some Voluntary Aided & some Voluntary Controlled.

He then explained the role of Foundation School Governors (found in VA & VC schools). They are expected to bring to the Governing body an informed regard for the Church nature of the foundation of the school, to ensure that its Christian ethos is preserved and developed, and the religious worship reflects the tradition of the Church of England.

He then outlined the ways in which links between Church Schools and parishes can be made and emphasised the huge value of these links. Our Church Schools & Academies educate pupils totaling 28,766 & when families are added to this figure it represents a key missional opportunity for Churches. Church schools can be beacons within the community they serve. It is currently difficult to find enough volunteers to serve as Foundation governors and he identified that local clergy are burdened with an increased workload. He also identified current trends within Education such as the expansion of MultiAcademy Trusts, need for Inclusion & respect for other faiths which all need responding to carefully. The Rochester Diocesan Board of Education is committed to maintaining a cohesive Diocesan family of schools and working in partnership with stakeholders to promote distinctive and inclusive high-quality education to transform the lives of all children and young people who attend our Diocesan Church schools.

Meeting of 17[th] July 2024 at King Charles the Martyr, Tunbridge Wells. New members were welcomed, and a meal was shared.

Following the meal, the Dean of Rochester, Dr Philip Hesketh, talked about his role.

He has been at Rochester Cathedral since 2005 and Dean since 2016 (the Cathedral is the 2nd oldest in the country).

The challenge for the Cathedral in a Post-Christian Generation is how can we help people encounter God? The cathedral welcomes over 150,000 visitors a year. The cathedral’s aim is that people come as visitors and leave as pilgrims. The cathedral tries to engage visitors with a story & encourage encounter. They have increasing congregations as they engage with people in different ways.

“Adventure Golf” went viral! – it was a sponsored, educational programme. It was a huge success on many levels. It got people to come in who wouldn’t usually - “We didn’t know we were allowed in” was one comment - and it involved many different groups of people in the set up and organisation. As usual, the Cathedral stopped every hour for prayer. The cathedral brings people in for many different activities e.g. Graduations.

There is a Day chaplain for every day, with 3 main services a day and 4-5 on Sundays. It doesn’t receive money from the diocese. The church commissioners pay for the Dean and two cannons. The cathedral is there to serve the community, diocese, and national church. The cathedral was built to enable people to go on a spiritual journey & the aim is to facilitate this. They have a famous book – Book of Rochester 11201124 - an important historical document relating to English Law.

They don’t charge entrance, only donations. They access grants and aim to be strategic in raising funds. They also try to be strategic and responsive in their use of the cathedral and grounds. There is a lot of green space by the cathedral which they are developing to encourage well-being. Slowly opening up space. Music is also important and again, new ideas are being tried in response to needs. They are working with Dementia & Parkinson’s local organisations to develop musical opportunities to support well-being.

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Meeting of 20[th] November 2024 at Christ Church, Tunbridge Wells

‘ An Evening Exploring Science and Faith’ had been advertised locally and was well attended. Guest speakers Prof. Stephen Keevil & Prof. Richard Buggs (experts in their fields & members of local churches) spoke on AI (Artificial Intelligence) and evolution. Both talks were informative, thought-provoking and challenging.

Prof Stephen Keevil, Head of Medical Physics & Clinical Engineering at Kings College London, explained what AI is, discussed exciting possibilities for its future use, such as machine learning in medical imaging, but also, from the Christian perspective, looked at ethical concerns and risks, including use of drones in war zones, deepfake videos to distort and manipulate political processes, robot companions, etc. Implications and Challenges for Christians: AI can replicate prejudice in the data it learns from. A computer is only as good as the data that is fed in, so it is biased. Science & Technology are gifts from God. But should we learn from The Tower of Babel? Is this the church’s Esther moment? Professor Richard Buggs, Queen Mary University, spoke powerfully on: Evolution and faith Psalm 139 ‘I am fearfully & wonderfully made.’ Jesus assumes when we look at a beautiful flower that we know it points to a loving Creator.

Socrates argued for God’s existence: a statue was made by sculptor. Dawkins says that evolution needs a massive dose of luck.

Even Brian Cox questions how the world’s complexity came to be naturally. Atheism is a faith position much more than a belief in God. Are our minds just brains? Are we spirit and soul? Are we more than just a computer? If so, AI cannot become a person. Professor Buggs hopes that AI will fail in becoming human which will point to God and our divine image.

In summary: there is a very strong argument that there must have been divine intervention to create consciousness in humans. It is much more plausible than it coming about by luck.

14

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 2024

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 2019 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.

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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.

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.

2024 Accounts commentary

The accounts are presented for the PCC’s approval. During the year ending 2024, the PCC recorded a surplus of £15,987 (2023: surplus of £32,212) on day-to-day activities.

Unrestricted voluntary income was slightly down on last year (2024: £140,455, 2023: £145,337). Restricted overall giving/income was broadly similar to 2023 at £39,005 (2023: £37,764).

Total costs increased by just over 9% year on year to £188,951 (2023: £173,142 which was just £840 lower than the previous year). Whereas restricted expenditure remained at similar levels than last year (2024: £29,580, 2023: £31,753), unrestricted expenses increased by £17,982 (2024: £159,370, 2023: £141,388). This, in part, is due to a higher parish share (2024: £70,600, 2023: £60,500).

Unrestricted income/expenditure resulted in a surplus of £6,562 (2023: £26,201). Restricted income/expenditure resulted in a £9,425 (2023: £6,011) surplus. £28,732 is now held for restricted expenditure.

The PCC has retained reserves, in cash, of £329,029, as at 31 December 2024. This is a sound financial position and meets the reserving requirements set by the PCC.

Kate Whitehead - PCC Treasurer

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tgndtin9pa55￿n foTJeSu5 P¥ochlal Church Councll of St Matthew Hl8h Brooms-charlty P40: 1185772 BALANCE SHEET It31 2024 2024 Nctt Oetrttys & P￿PayMents E12558 £39.628 E209 £2OLrJi Ppairfund5 Ca5hattrAr and #i hand £3W2 E94J £355.421 £339.fni Faffi1￿ ltlth ￿year EZ6.3YZ NET CURRENT ASSETS FUNC60FThE CHARITY £3&)297 £293.735 £28.732 £19J07 Er￿￿￿)ent ApprobJ bythe P¥othL¥ Churth Countn on 7 ￿n7 2025 on fts br. Swature Print ft De Oavll Holxlen (Churth Warden& p￿ O￿lrI IIL11202 Kate Wlitshead trreasure

Parochial Church Council ofst MatthewHiqh Brooms-Ch¥ityNo: 1185772 STATEMENT OF FINANCIALACTIVITIES For the tWe￿e ended 31 December 2024 2024 2023 UnMs1￿f•d Fund5 Restdct•d Funds Endowmertt Funds Unrestrlrtéd Rtstrkted Funds Funds EndowmÉnt Funds TOTAL 4COM4G RESOLIRCES Voluffity ifitomè Actlvitie5 foigweratlno Sncomè Intome from Investmen Intome ftom thurch &ilvitlte5 140.455 186 9.293 15.998 11.S75 2,022 152,029 2,208 9293 41A06 145.337 253 7.los 14,895 17,478 3,102 162/14 3356 7J05 31￿?9 25.408 17,184 Totsi 165.932 39,005 204.937 167,589 37,764 205J54 RESOURCES EXPENDED Parish sh¥e 5alatsÈs, w4es a)d honor¥ia Clergy & stsff expwse5 Church rnnning eXp￿Se5 Church actwrty expwses Mission &vinE and donatlons Hall ÈxpÈnsÉs Major repairs to church Major r￿airS to hall Major r￿aIrS to parsonage New buildingwyjrk Ixher 70.600 25.615 7.336 29.49S 5.493 9.162 11.670 70.600 25,615 7,3J6 19A95 35,073 9.162 11,670 60.500 22.442 4.015 23.637 4.388 13.781 12.625 60JOO 22A42 4A115 24303 3476 13,781 12*25 1,266 30,488 29,580 Total 159 370 188 951 141 388 J73 42 NET lThcomlng re50Urte5 beforeother r￿0￿15•1 &ns and losses Galns on hiyestmeni assots on dispos on rwaluation NET MOVEMENT IN FtINDS TrANSFERS BETWEEN FUNDS BALANCES BROUGHT FORWARD AT I JANUAR Y 2024 ALMCES CARRIED FORWARD AT 31 DECEMBER 2024 6.562 9,425 15.987 26.201 6,011 322J2 6.562 9,425 15,987 26.201 6,QJl 32AJI 293.735 19,307 313.042 267.534 13,296 280A30 300 297 329 019 293 735 19 07 313 42

Parochlal Churchcouncll otst MatthewHl8h Brooms-CharltyNo: 1185772 INCOME 2024 2Q23 Unrestrtted Restrtrted Enéowment Funds Funds Funds Unresirfrted Funds Resirfrtd Funds Endownnt Funds TOT TOTAL Ila) Volunw Incom• Gift aidwj donat￿n5 Other donatbcsns Tax recoverablt tolkct¢ons at services Grwts Legacies TOT 104,075 10.844 23,858 1,677 2.751 69S 395 lo6￿27 11.539 24253 1,677 7,733 108.011 10,184 25.247 1.895 5.730 643 1.453 IlJ.741 10.827 26,700 1,89S 9.652 7,733 9.652 140 55 152 019 145 337 162 814 Ilbl PLihfftl•s foryn•raiinB Incom• Fundraislng OlhÈr inton 186 2,022 2,208 253 3.102 3,356 TOTP 186 2.022 2,208 253 3,102 3,356 Ilcl kncorne from knb*strnents Dividends and intL¥est 9.293 93 9,293 7.105 7.los TOTAL Ildl kntomÈ trom churth Xtrltiies 1,242 9,760 3,435 1,242 9,760 JA35 1,187 9.564 3,055 I,IB7 9.564 3,055 Hall lettin thiklren &Yotsth Churth ÈvÈnts Pastoral events Cornmunily Community Larder TOTPI 841 720 841 1,680 169 921 169 J.341 960 24.449 420 TOTAL 165932 204 937 167589 205 354 19

Parochialchurchcouncil olst MatthewHi8h Brooms-CharityNo: 1185772 EXPENSES 2024 Endowrrnt Funds 2023 Unrnsiikted Funds strfttÈd Ftsnds TOTAL UnT￿t￿ttsd Funds Rtstrktéd Funds Endowrnént Funds TOTAL Chutth actMW•i 21al Parish sh¥e 21bl Saes, wes honor¥ia 21cl CIWEY & stsff exp￿Se5 Parson¥e Tining Mobiles Othor Vbta expenses Oth ernployf￿nt tosts ?0￿00 25IS 10￿00 25hlS 60.500 22W2 60,500 22A42 6,909 124 IS4 150 6,909 124 IS4 150 3,36S 427 170 34 19 4.015 3.365 427 170 34 19 4.015 7,336 7.336 21dl Church rnnning expthses 4,632 9,639 2BII 1,034 602 4￿32 9th39 1,918 5.8J5 2,335 950 575 1.918 6.178 J238 950 575 Fabnc Worshiplser¥ice5 Catering Go¥ernance Other 363 903 I￿34 602 10,347 10,347 11,966 11.966 Cost of fundralsing Misslon ind evangdlsm 431 95 431 95 78 78 29 29 21el Churth attwrty expenses ChJldrÈn & Youth Pastoral Church wts Communty ￿nts ComrMJnty L¥d 4340 964 4J40 964 3,614 774 275 774 188 334 522 29 46 3S 73 9,162 11th70 1.922 1.922 93 9,162 1170 2111 Mission Èfvlng donatlons 21zl Hall xpense5 21hl Malor repairs to thurth 211> Major repair5 to h411 211> Major repair5 to p¥son• 21kl New buildinE I￿Ek 2111 Othtr J3.781 12.625 13,781 12.625 TOTIL 159 370 188 951 141 388 173142

Parochlal Church Councll ofst Matthew Hlgh 8rooms- Charlly No: 1185772 Nrtes trjthe STATEMENT OF FINANCIALACTIVITIES the I￿1ve mwth5 ended 31 De￿rnber 2024 RESTRICTEOINCOME l {al Donations lirKluding GiftAKII andgrants (see Ilbl below) iotslling £11,575 ha¥e been 8iven to surport the on8oin8 costs of the Community Larder. In addition, a further£24.449 has been ￿efved as a contrtbution towards fc)d, orat café, and £2P22 from fund ralslng activities. Inccffie totall1￿ to thevalue of £960 ha5 been 8iven towar& Church fuel costs and the wnnin8 of a Warm Space. UNRE5TRicfEDINCOME un￿$1[￿{1 voluntsry dOnat￿S in 2024 were £4.882 k)werthan in 20231É140ASS in 2024 vs £145.337 h 2023). Ilbl GRANTS Community Larder receiwed£7,733 in 8rants. 21al PARISH SHARE The parish Sha￿ was set at£70,6OJ for2024. 21bl STAFF COSTS AND PENSION During the yearthe PCC employed an operaiwjns managerand a deaner. N(￿e of these empWees eamed more than £60.OC(S p.a. N0tnJ￿ees retevled ￿mUnentIon for their services as trustees. Total Stsff Costswere.. Gross Salarie5 2S,139 Emph)yer Nl Per6ion Costs 476 25,615 All employee5 are enti￿ed tojoin 3 defined C0ntnbut￿ penS￿)n scheme admininstered ty The National Empbyment Savin8s Tn￿1 INESTI. The PCC meets its auto enrolment Obl￿a￿on5 fora1lel1gi￿e stsff. 2{dl OIUROI RUNNING EXPENSES Govemznce.. include5 Independent Examine15 fee of £567 Indu5Ne of VATI. 21

21el OIURCHACTIVITY EXPENSES- RESTRICTED No furtherwork has been undertaken on AVIPA equiwient during 2024, but a new in-earfoldback system is p¢anned forearfy 2025. £872 ￿Masn$ forthls activlty. With totsl income of £38,046, and expenses of £29246, ￿latin6 to the Communty Larder, a surplus of£8OCM) is added to the p￿¥￿5 balance of £9,7CXI ￿$vItIng in a new balance of £25,112. The Communty Hub I'warm spa￿"1 made use of part of the balance of funds ￿￿vilYUS￿ gwen forthi5 purp05e1£2.1231 with expense5 durin8 the yeartsf £334. With the £960 donated durir4 2024toward5 this inibative, the reSuh5"r￿ balance of £2.748 s availaL4e for2024. BALANCES Online AV provision CommunW Larder Communty Hublwam) Space 872 25.112 2.748 28.732 21n MISSIONARY ANDCHARITABLE GIVING Grants of£l.000(Y mare rnède kn the perkKI CMS L￿fe & Styjl MAF Tear Fund 1,650 1.800 1.800 I,￿0 Grants ol< El.IM made in the per￿ for mlsskn Otherorgani5atsonslcharitse5 Otherindividua15 1.712 1.200 9.162 a pcc Members It is a common prath￿, for ￿asOnS of eypeditioi aThJ value for mcffiey, for rneMbe￿ other churth members) to be ￿queSted to make purthases on behalf of the PCC for which they are later reimbursed on productw of (4xurnentstK)n. All svth transath'orhs are recLvded in the accounts and accwnted for underthe relevant heads Ofe¥renditU￿. 22

DECLARATION

The Trustees declare that they have approved the Trustees’ Report above.

Signed on behalf of the PCC:

David Hobden (PCC Chair) Date (of the APCM): 4[th] May 2025

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Parochial Church Council of St Matthew High Brooms

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF FAMILY MATTERS

24