**www.stmaryswithholyapostles.com** **Charity Number 1186990** ## **Annual Report** ## **2025/2026** **of** **St Mary’s with Holy Apostles, Scarborough** **for the APCM** **10[th] May 202** ## **Vicar’s Report** **Welcome to our Annual Report for 2026** . It gives a snapshot of the life of the church community here - if you are new to St Mary’s with Holy Apostles then do find out more. As you read the reports here, please do give thanks to God for the many blessings we have received, the answers to prayer and the guidance that has guided us. It is all for the glory of God through Jesus. This past year has been my first year here at St Mary’s with Holy Apostles and it has been a busy and exciting year. Lots of people to meet, names to learn and a parish to learn my way around. Thank you to everyone who volunteers including the leading and preaching team, PCC with church wardens in particular, musicians, tech team, verger team of verger team of and those I have of God. Thank you who is making huge running of the who has welcomed all. Tommy and Trish, all on hospitality haven’t mentioned. All is to the glory Amanda our Church Administrator difference to the life and smooth church life. Thank you to everyone me. I really couldn’t do it without you Over the last year we send goodbye to Hannah, Jake and family who went off to pastures new in Hull as well as several of our saints who went to be with Jesus including Charles Popple and Douglas – we miss them very much. St Mary’s with Holy Apostles is part of the Scarborough Deanery in the Diocese of York and is also part of the Churches Together group across the Scarborough area and it was a joy to join other Christians from Scarborough in the Walk of witness on Good Friday, the Spring Tide Conference and to host the annual service for the week of prayer for Christian Unity where we enjoyed a right good sing. ## **PCC Secretary’s Report** Since our last APCM the PCC has met on 17 June, 18 September, 24 November, 20 January and 18 March. The meeting due to be held on 13 July had to be cancelled due us not being quorate. The Leadership Team has also continued to meet regularly. Business covered since the last APCM includes the following:- • The PCC keeps a careful eye on our financial situation. • The sale of the Parish House (likely to the Rainbow Centre) continues to take up much time, with careful and sensitive consideration required. - The Buildings and Grounds Sub-Committee has been formed to assist in the detail of the - management of the church real estate. Nevertheless, repairs to buildings continue to take up PCC time and we are grateful to the Friends of St Mary’s for their continued support. - Safeguarding issues are regularly discussed. The safeguarding audit was completed and the - dashboard brought up to date. - Electrical work in the Church has been completed with the exception of assessment of the - high level lighting. Arranging this is proving problematic and needs to be a priority for the coming year. - Health and Safety was discussed as a regular item and Stephen Witty continues as Health and - Safety Advisor for St Mary’s. Angela Witty ## **PCC members** Incumbent – Revd Samantha Tredwell Churchwardens – Angela Witty, Ken Ascott Clergy members – Revd Dr Arleen Ingham, Revd Jordan Allen Elected members – Keith Revell, Fran Doble, Neil Corrie, Richard Dickens, Rachel Fearnehough, Trish Kinsella, Michael Raw, Deborah Simms, Joan Ward, Jan Watts, Beverley Waldie, Petra Ingham, Sarah Cox (Secretary up to the APCM 2025) Deanery Synod – Steph Brown Co-opted members – Jane Hornshaw, Karl Bibby ## **Churchwarden’s Report** This past year has been busy, with several items moving forward at the same time as maintaining the steady weekly and annual rhythm of church life. My colleague Ken Ascott stepped back from being Church Warden in November, and Richard Dickens resigned as Deputy Church Warden earlier this year, both due to ill health. We wish them both well. The year has also been marked by the PCC making some difficult but necessary decisions about the future of the Parish House. The required maintenance costs were out of our reach and its sale to allow the Rainbow Centre to continue to expand was the only realistic way forward, but its passing and the loss of the Holy Apostles Chapel will weigh heavy with many. I too have very fond memories of the place from my earlier years. The task of maintaining our beautiful grade 1 listed building seems never-ending. The creation of the Buildings and Grounds Sub-Committee has eased some of the workload, but much is still reactionary and for that we are immensely grateful to the handful who turn out at short notice. This year we have dealt with water pipe leaks both in the vestry and deep under the path up from the car park. There has been loose stonework in the ruins, in areas of the church and around the baptistry window, to name but a few of the short-notice issues needing prompt attention. There is much work from the Quinquennial Inspection to be followed up – we have also had a drone survey of the upper stonework conducted. The priority work that the Buildings and Grounds SubCommittee is looking at is the survey and replacement of the high level lighting in church, stonework around the east windows and the pinnacles on the south transept roof. Seeing our church used for so much outreach – from Big Ideas and concerts, to hospitality and school holiday clubs – is testament to its value to our community and its dramatic and inspiring presence here on the headland, which draws hundreds of people into church who would not otherwise consider it. I have been steadily working through an inventory of church property, in particular for Holy Apostles – a process more time-consuming than may first appear due to the need to refer back to sporadic earlier records. I am also pleased that we have been able to move the Parish Notices on to a modern electronic format. The initial use of Mail Chimp was interrupted because of electronic issues, but the “replacement” PDF attachment version appears to be preferred by the majority of the recipients and so we have stuck with that format. In summary, this year has been tiring but rewarding. It is wonderful to see how everything comes together when everyone leans in to help. I am immensely grateful to the small army of volunteers who put in so much effort in the background and maintain this wonderful historic church as a Christian centre for the local community and visitors. ## Angela Witty Churchwarden ## **Safeguarding Report** The PCC has complied with the requirements imposed by the code under Section 5A of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016. As in previous years, being Churchwarden means there is not the capacity to deliver the Church of England’s safeguarding programme beyond the essentials of managing DBS certificates, providing the training opportunities and responding to concerns raised by parishioners. This notwithstanding, the necessary information regarding safeguarding is displayed on the notice boards at church and on the website, and the bellringers have now all completed their Basic Awareness training. I have additionally been able to find the time to regularly attend the Diocesan Safeguarding Forums. The Safeguarding Audit has been completed through the Safeguarding Dashboard, but there is much more outstanding work to be done on this Dashboard. Safer Recruitment guidance is being followed, and DBS checks are an ongoing process as is training. We need to see Safeguarding as the responsibility of us all. A number of Safeguarding concerns were raised over the year and have been managed accordingly. Angela Witty Parish Safeguarding Officer ## **Electorol Roll** There was a total revision of the electoral roll in 2025. There were 111 names on the electoral roll on 11 May 2025 ## **Services in church in 2025** Weddings -5 Baptisms - 28 Funerals – 11 ## **Worshipping Community at end of 2025** 132 comprising, 6 children, 126 adults **Services 9.00 am** Morning Prayer 2nd and 4th Sundays Holy Communion – 1st, 3rd and 5th Sundays **Services 10.30 am** Morning Praise 1st, 3rd and 5th Holy Communion – 4th 12.00 pm – Holy Communion 4.00 pm – Evening Prayer 2nd Sunday 6.30 pm Evening Praise – 3rd Sunday 10.30 am Wednesday Holy Communion 9.30 am – Thursday Weekly Prayers ## **Lent and Easter** Lent is a time of reflection and prayer as we prepare to celebrate easter. We started lent with two Ash Wednesday service and then in Holy week we met each night as we reflected together on the last week of Jesus’ life. Lent ended with our Easter Day celebrations together. ## **and Christmas** ## **Advent** Christmas are important times in the Mary’s and as it was my first here, I wasn’t sure what it would be happy to report that it was a joy and people over the period. Advent and life of St Christmas like, I am delight and amazing to meet so many Advent started with all the homegroups collecting items for The Rainbow centre following an advent course and with the revise Advent calendar. We hosted the Annual Lifeboat and Hospice Services followed by and Scarborough College Carol service all at the beginning of December. Great fun was had with the outside after which we warmed wine. Our Carol service was very well and range of music was eve started with the nativity and midnight Holy Communion Christmas Day is always quieter thank you to all the team making carols round the tree ourselves with hot mulled attended, and the singers appreciated. Christmas lots of fun and then the which was well attended. but no less special. A big it happen. ## **Worship and Prayer** Worship Team St Mary’s with Holy Apostles 2025/26 We thank God for the creative gifts He has given us and that we have been able to see these gifts flourish and develop. A core part of the team has been meeting regularly on a fortnightly basis to share the word, pray and worship together and learn new songs. Whilst Jordan and Emily have been taking an extended break due to other commitments and whilst Kelvin has moved to Liverpool, Petra and Karl have joined the team and both are great contributors to all aspects of the worship team including bringing great encouragement. Elspeth has grown more into taking the lead in several songs and equally on the percussion side. Her and Liberty are more confident in singing out and singing a “new song” as inspired during the sessions. Karl has been contributed creatively in several ways to the team with several suggestions as well as Petra. Steven is always happy to use his amazing gift on the clarinet in any way possible. Elke has been leading most sessions in the 10.30 service as Sarah and Jordan had limited availability but would help when needed and Sarah also used her prophetic playing on the violin whenever the opportunity arose. As well as helping with leading some of the worship, Jackie also has got input in sharing scripture and preparing prayer pointers at times for the team. We thank God for Donald who has been a great spiritual support to the whole team and has been attending most practices. Especially on our practice nights there has been an openness and vulnerability of the team with each other being able to uphold one another. Until the summer we had monthly evening services with extended worship times which were attended by a number of people from other churches. We also had the privilege to lead one of the evening sessions at last year’s Springtide conference. The candle lit carol service has been a great opportunity to work together across the services and Graham and Elke have enjoyed bringing the teams together. Whilst the team regularly received several members of the congregation advised that changes where needed worship was to led. Going forward, regarding this to draw in anybody who please God in doing so. encouragement from as well as visitors, Rev Sam as to how the sung Sunday we are seeking God is willing to worship and to Last but not least we are blessed to all to do far too many things at the support for him since Kelvin has have Hilary who is giving his same time and we pray for moved. ## **The St. Mary’s Choir** The choir at St. Mary’s consists of one bass, one tenor and one, sometimes two, sopranos. These regular members at the 9am services help to maintain the longstanding tradition of sung liturgy both for Holy Communion and Morning Prayer on a Sunday. Numbers have reduced over the years due to old age, deteriorating health and the difficulty of finding and retaining singers ready to make a regular commitment. This trend is common in neighbouring C of E churches as indeed in many parishes throughout the country. The Choirmaster and Organist would like to thank not only his regular singers but also those church members who occasionally help to augment the choir at Christmas, Easter and for special occasions. This gratitude extends also to members of the A Cappella choir some of whom do not attend St.Mary’s or any other church but who nevertheless enjoy singing in these lovely surroundings. Graham is pleased to continue his voluntary duties as organist despite having moved house this March! When it is not possible for him to attend on a Sunday provision is made in the form of recorded sound for the accompaniment of hymns. The organ has survived the chill of Covid times, the breakdown of the boiler and the vestry flood (making it more challenging to reach the organ loft) It remains of critical importance that the tuner and engineer attend at least once a year. ## **EVENING PRAISE AT ST. MARY’S WITH HOLY APOSTLES** April 2025/2026 Following discussions with Rev. Sam Tredwell and the Evening Praise Team a decision was made to have a break from Evening Praise for the foreseeable future to allow time to decide and pray on a way forward with a fresh vision. Preliminary discussions are underway for a new pattern and style of evening praise. The final service was held in July 2025. Many thanks to all involved in previous services. Jan Wells Authorised Lay Minister ## **Annual Memorial Service** November saw a new annual memorial service started. All the families of the funerals we had taken over the year were invited to the service. We had Bible readings and poems, a time of reflection and then we remembered people by name. We lit candles to remember our loved ones. ## **The Prayer Chain** The quiet back bone to the life of St Mary’s with Holy Apostles is the prayer chain. Frequent emails request pray and share answers to prayer and quietly lead and sustained by Jan Watts – thank you for this ministry. ## **The Wider Life of the Church** ## **Shine Club** Shine Club is run as an after-school club that runs every Wednesday during term time at Friarage School. It aims to introduce the Christian Faith to children using crafts, games and a Bible story. We thank God that this has been running for four years now with Faith In Scarborough Schools and volunteers from St. Mary’s Church. The school are very welcoming each week. We have had over 40 children attend the club in the last year and have seen lots of fun and an openness to talking about Jesus and praying. A highlight each week is eating fruit, reading the Storybook Bibles and giving thanks by passing around our mascot Sandra ‘The Sheep’ ! It was lovely to see some of the Shine Club attend the Church holiday stay and play events. If you would like to join the team do speak to me. ## **Little Lights Toddler Group** Each Monday morning in term time starts with Little Lights baby and Toddler group. The group has some loyal families who come every week, and we enjoy play, bible stories, singing and snacks. We enjoy getting to know each other. The group has experienced change over the year with Jake and Hannah leaving at Easter and they have been greatly missed. Janet was a loyal helper and she finished at Christmas – thank you Janet for all your help. Revd Sam started in March and is there every Monday organising the craft. Anne Morley is our amazing host in the kitchen – snacks are very important! Debbie Sims has joined us to help and play which is amazing. ## **FLOWER LADIES REPORT April 2025 – March** ## **2026** Another 12 months has flown by. It is Lent while I am writing this and Flower Ladies are having a bit of a rest. It is the tradition to remove flowers from church during Lent to signify this period of reflection and our Lord’s sacrifice, Mothering Sunday being the exception. we We were honoured to arrange flowers some beautiful weddings last year and look forward to arranging flowers for the for lovely couples that Beverley met at the Wedding Event at the end of January. A further honour was arranging flowers for some very moving funerals, in particular our own Douglas Patterson, whom we all loved, and Liz Blades an inspiring member of the Scarborough community. The pictures are of the flowers we did for these funerals. The Friends Strawberry Tea took place in August and our contribution of a mini mini flower festival depicting “All Things Strawberry” was very much admired. The event raised over £500 for Church fabrication. At Christmas four of our members entered Christmas Trees into the Festival and two arranged the beautiful flowers for the Carol Service. The General Synod meeting of the 12th of February passed the long anticipated controversial Sustainable Church Flowers motion regarding the not so “green” elements of flower arranging. We have this in mind and will consider feasible adjustments to our practice, starting with British daffodils from my local Proudfoot store for Mothering Sunday. Fortunately, we have good links with Jill Smith of Flowers from the Farm, Binnington, (near Staxton) for seasonal locally grown flowers. We have had some very generous donations towards Church Flowers in addition to raising £250 on our stalls, one at the Strawberry Tea and the other during the Christmas Tree Festival viewing sessions. Thank you to all who help fund our endeavours. Sue Sewell and team. ## **Play Mornings** As part of York Diocese, we are being challenged to grow younger as a do that. In congregation and find new ways to out what August Revd Sam started finding new ways we could do that and ran a series of Play mornings in St Mary’s Church. The children church was filled with toys and and their adults. We made new friends, told Bible stories, made craft and ran about in the grounds. Great fun was had by the many (up to 80 adults and children) each Monday. We finished the morning every time with making our own sandwiches. In pray and seeking God we are now planning more sessions and ways to grow younger – play, food and craft look like ways that this will happen. Please keep praying about this. ## **Not Home Alone** Not Home Alone continues its relaxed and happy Tuesday lunches. Post lunch we have had a wide range of speakers, all much appreciated- from church members sharing their lives, experiences or hobbies to visitors from the Maritime Heritage centre, the fire station Age UK and many more. We celebrate EVERYTHING (see the pictures of our early Easter party) and have had trips to Cober Hill, Betton Farm for a delicious Christmas lunch and recently to Dean’s Garden Centre for a lovely afternoon tea. As always, we sadly lose members over a year as people become frailer etc. so currently, we have spaces to fill. The only qualification is that you live mainly on your own. Men are equally as welcome as women. Contact Rev Sam for more information. ## **Church@Rainbow** April 2025/April 2026 Church@Rainbow experienced a small growth of people during 2025. We continued to get alongside clients in the Rainbow Centre and always invited them into the Chapel (without pressure) to join us for worship. Unfortunately, due to the expanding needs of the Rainbow Centre and the church’s occasional use of the chapel, Church@Rainbow were asked to vacate the Chapel as this space was required for use by the Centre especially over the Christmas period. The final meeting of Church@Rainbow was end of September 2025. We then relocated to the Market for a few weeks which was not satisfactory. Rev. Geoff Bowell, Scarborough Christian Fellowship agreed to host us and we have been there since November 2025 renaming the group to New Life Gathering. We continue to see a steady growth and retain the core group from Church@Rainbow. The format of the meeting remains as it was before. Worship, bible study (talk given by one of the team), lots of tea, coffee, biscuits, fun and chats! We are hoping to arrange a few social events in the near future. Team members are all up to date with DBS and Safeguarding. It is and always has been a privilege to serve this group of people. Jan Wells Authorised Lay Minister ## **The St Mary’s with Holy Apostles Global Mission Support GroupChurch Mission Funding for year ending 2025** Following on from church mission fund giving details for previous years, (as supplied by Fran Doble - Church Finance Secretary), the known needs of a number of past and current projects and organisations have been prayerfully considered by Global Mission Support team representatives – Andrew Brooke and Carol Brooke. The church funds provided for £6673. This represents an increase of allocation of £5760. Information pertaining to the reallocation of funds have been the Mission giving for the year 2025 is £913 more than 2024 Mission giving possible recipients of the funds, or the considered as follows: 1. Chris and Suzy Wilson, CMS missionaries working in Ethiopia. Funding of the Wilson family will continue, providing a sum of £2000. This represents an increase of £500 more above the £1500 previously given last year. Chris is currently involved in some outstanding outreach work in the training of young ministers in the refugee camps. As a family, they are now considering legal adoption of a little Ethiopian boy whom they have been fostering. For more details concerning - Chris and Suzy’s work in Ethiopia, please follow the link Chris and Suzy Wilson, Ethiopia Church Mission Society (CMS). 2. Bujumbura Christian University, sponsored by Donald Werner. The church has a very strong connection with the University, who are also supported by Love Burundi, a small UK based charity. Please see Appendix 1 for further details. 3. Friarage School – This inner town school is in the catchment area of St Marys. Trish Kinsella is now Chair of the Board of Governors, Jake and Hannah Madin and others regularly run school clubs and assemblies. Continued support for this school will help establish and strengthen ties between the school and the church. Please see Appendix 1 for further details 4. St Stephens School, Kenya, sponsored by Steph Brown. The church has a very strong connection with the school. Other sources of funding for this school are limited and the school is trying to increase the number of classrooms from 4 to 10. Please see Appendix 1 for further details. 5. The King’s House Kenya, sponsored by Elke Fraser, cares for orphaned girls who live out in the local community. Pastor Paul Kingori, who runs the project, spoke to St Marys’ during a church service during 2024. Other sources of funding for this project are limited. Please see Appendix 1 for further details. 6. Haiti – Hope Health Action (HHA), House of Hope (HOH) and Bethany Baptist Church School (BBCS), sponsored by Andrew and Carol Brooke. These 3 projects in Haiti added to the Church Mission portfolio over 4 years ago. Of the 3, HHA is a small UK based charity, HOH and BBCS are supported by private donations from interested individuals. It was agreed that only 1 of the 3 Haitian projects should be a recipient of church mission funds each year. Andrew and Carol Brooke, after careful consideration, have chosen House of Hope, as it was felt this project has the greatest financial burden at the present time. Please see Appendix 1 for further details. 7. St Martin’s School. The church has in previous years provided a small amount of funding to this school. In the past, the church did have strong connections with St Martins (Steph Brown was school Head at one time). However these personal links are no longer in place. The school is classed as a deanery school and hence receives funding from the diocese. Either the Chair of the PCC OR the PCC members themselves can decide whether or not to continue providing funds (or a reduced amount of funds) to this school. ## **Bellringer’s Annual Report** Over the last year the final part of the overhaul was completed – this was the preservation and repainting of the bell frame itself, following the completion of the restoration of the bells themselves in the previous year. We are all very grateful to the Friends of St Mary’s for their support in funding all these works. Following this we purchased a complete set of new bell ropes – these all paid for by individual donations from ringers, friends and supporters. We have a team of 14 ringing for both Sunday for other special services, Witness and special from the tower secured 3[rd] Striking Competition. ringers and are pleased to be services every week, as well as weddings, New Year, the Walk of events. Additionally, a team place in this year’s Branch We are delighted to have opened the tower up for Open Evenings for church members and their friends and families. Separately, we have shown local residents and other interested parties up the tower as well – a particular highlight was the visit by the three Burundian clergymen with Revd Canon Donald in June. Our ringers are all members of the Yorkshire Association of Change Ringers and as a result we take part in ringing at other towers in the county and also host regional events. We are also visited by ringers from far afield – noteworthy is the ringing of a Full Peal by the ringers of Derby Cathedral in November – 3 hours and 15 minutes of continuous, high quality, ringing. Practice night is every Wednesday, where we continue to develop and bring the ringers on, as well as aiming to continually improve the standard of ringing for Sunday services, which is the priority. ## **Home Groups** ## **North Scarborough** We meet each Tuesday evening to gather to discuss the Bible and pray. We currently have 14 members which makes for a very cosy gathering. We support each other by sharing prayer requests. This year we have used materials from Homegroups.org.uk on Psalms and Deuteronomy, The Pilgrims Course :The Lord's Prayer, The Bible. We have done The Advent Course and during Lent this year have done some group studies on How To Pray by Pete Gregg. A highlight for us this year was hosting Philibean, Noah and Jean Claude from Burundi who sang to us a blessing in their language and shared about their work with the church. We have enjoyed many social events too: seeing The Soul In The Machine - play about the YMCA, meals out and many of us went to the Quiet Day for a retreat at High Dalby House.We were very sad that our dear brother Charles died and we miss him very much. ## **Dulverton Hall Home Group** This group said thank you to Keith and Catherine Ranger this year who have now retired from leading. It is now led each Thursday evening by different members of the group and coordinated by Bill Fearnehough. We are so thankful that all are keen to maintain the group and to help with the studies. The group has a mix of members from the church and Dulverton Hall residents. There is a wonderful wealth of Bible knowledge and commitment to prayer here. The group have studied resources from HomeGroups.org.uk and are now exploring The Gospel of Matthew with studies from NT Wright. They also hosted students from Burundi who visited us in the Summer. We were very sad to say goodbye to our dear brother Douglas this year. **Monday afternoon Home Group** meets in the Auborough Room starting at 2.15 for a cuppa then finishing around 3.45pm. It's quite a short time but we always cover a lot of ground and always have very lively discussions. We have been using Bible study books (Cover to Cover, The Good Book Company) and have so far studied The Beatitudes, Zechariah and now Revelation. We all come with different perspectives but a respectful attitude is maintained and we listen well together. Everyone has a voice and shares their thoughts and insights with confidence. The group consists of 12 people plus 3 dogs (Rosie even has her own chair!) and it is consistently very well attended. Close relationships have developed and people look out and pray for each other, as well as meeting up socially. People feel supported by prayer and friendship when difficult times arise and the group has bonded well. Two new people recently joined and have settled in very well. Our WhatsApp group works well for reminders and information but is also used very effectively for prayer requests. The daytime slot suits us all for many different reasons, particularly for those who don't live in Scarborough and those who don't want to drive at night. Gordon & Sue Barley ## **South Clif Home Group** This small and friendly home group meets at Hilary and Jan Watt's house every Wednesday night from 7 - 9. We always begin with a drink and home made cake and a general catch up. We've covered a wide range of topics over the year - studying the Lord's Prayer, the Beatitudes, the Lent book on prayer and several other topics. Sometimes these involved a video to get us all thinking but our biblically based study always has discussion questions for us to wrestle with. We cannot offer transport but anyone who can get to us on Filey Road is more than welcome. We have room for a few more. ## **Women's and Men's Breakfasts** Generally these meet monthly from 9.30 to 10.30, the ladies sharing a simple continental breakfast with a chance to meet socially and get to know one another better. It is a joy that we have ladies and gentlemen from both congregations meeting together at both breakfasts and new friendships developing. Some of our amazing bellringers have been to the Men's breakfast and anyone at either breakfast is very welcome to bring a non-church friend along. The men meet at Scalby Manor for an eat all you can breakfast which most of the men apparently make the most of. They also don't have to do any washing up!! The ladies are also soon to try another venue so watch this space!. Do come along and try us - you may arrive as a stranger but will definitely leave as a friend. Three times a year, as an offshoot of the ladies breakfast the ladies meet in church over lunch or in the afternoon for a buffet and a natter. We have lovely eats, good music and we have been known to dance a bit. All in all a good time is had by all. Watch out for the lists at the back of church to sign up for the breakfasts. We do need to know rough numbers. ## **HOSPITALITY** Some thoughts on last year’s Hospitality Season from Jan Watts. Each year we aim to open our beautiful church from 10am to 4pm, though it is to be 11am to 3pm for 2026, as many days as possible each week, from May until the end of September. We try to give people a warm welcome, answer their questions and serve them a whole range of warm and chilled drinks and snacks. So, who visits and why? Last year our many visitors included: Regulars who were locals and came on the same day every week. We had visits from those whose parents or grandparents had been married/buried/worshipped at St Mary's. We had others interested in Anne Bronte and others in the history of the church. We had many who had walked past on numerous occasions but never ventured in before and were very moved by the beauty and sense of peace. We had visitors too from all over the world – from Argentina to Japan, America to Australia and all the European countries in between. One group needed educating about the humble scone. Is it bread, is it cake, how do you eat it? With a demonstration of cutting and buttering, Many from abroad were astounded to see a tea shop in the middle of a church and all thought it a brilliant idea! In the school holidays in particular there were lots of lovely activities for children and families to do. We also had many who wanted to light a candle in memory of a dear one, or simply sit quietly listening to the music or taking in the silence. Many wrote prayers which we followed up by praying through several times and then placing on the altar of the side chapel. And there were many deep and challenging conversations about faith and about deeply troubling problems individuals were facing. All of us involved were blessed by the work we did. All the above is the real reason we open for hospitality, but it does bring in some very valuable income, about £7,500 last year plus over £1,200 in merchandise sales for the Friends. ## **FRIENDS** The Friends of St Mary’s are a small group of dedicated folks who endeavour to raise funds to help with the up keep of the fabric of our lovely church. It turned out to be a very expensive year for the Friends with extensive repairs to the bell tower, refurbishment costs for the bells themselves and essential safety works to the Lady Chapel entrance screen. Several concerts were staged ranging from Simply Brass, The Yorkshire Woodwind Orchestra and Nicola Mills brought us Opera for the Masses, all raising funds for the Friends. During the summer the Friends held an ‘Everything Strawberry’ event with every conceivable way of using strawberries in cakes and pastries. This was an amazingly well supported day with people streaming into the church from the minute we opened the door until we basically ran out of everything. There’s no doubting the power of the strawberry! The Friends will continue to support the fabric of the church as long as we have the funds and volunteers to do so, and yes another ‘Everything Strawberry’ is hoped for again this summer if we can recruit enough bakers and volunteers to make it happen. ## **Sea Cadets, RNLI and British Legion** The role of vicar of St Mary’s Church comes with amazing opportunities in the community. This year has seen me take up the role of chaplain to the RNLI, leading acts of commemoration with the Royal British Legion and start as Sea Cadet chaplain after Revd Pam retired in January. This roles are ones I will treasure in developing in the years to come. Revd Pam retired from Sea cadets in January 2026 after serving for more than 30 years as chaplain. **Big Ideas by the Sea.** Once again, we played host to the Big Ideas by the Sea Arts and Environmental Festival, now celebrating its fifth year. As well as talks by eminent speakers on subjects as diverse as the futuristic technological designs created by the world renowned Seymour Powell partnership (ranging from the first cordless kettle and pocket sized mobile phone to the cabin of the Virgin Galactic spacecraft) and ‘Nazism and the Environment’, we had a lively panel discussion on the sustainability of modern industrial fishing techniques and a wide variety of musical events. As part of the 5[th] birthday celebrations, we were able to exhibit some of the striking artwork from previous years as well as artefacts unearthed by the archaeological dig in Paradise, which was again a feature of the festival. The ‘Big Dig’ was in fact nominated for the Community Archaeology Project of the Year in 2025 for giving to both adults and large parties of schoolchildren the opportunity to have a ‘hands on’ experience of an archaeological excavation. Thanks must go to all the volunteers who enabled the festival to take place by opening up the church, acting as stewards, serving refreshments and doing countless unseen tasks to welcome to the church the performers, speakers and musicians who took part in the festival events as well as the several hundred audience members and first-time archaeologists who came through our doors. At the time of writing this report we are looking forward to the 2026 Big Ideas by the Sea festival, which is less than a month away and which will once again feature a wide variety of events centred on St Mary’s church including the Big Sing finale, featuring 6 local choirs with a total of around 150 voices, which has been such a success in previous years. Do come along and bring your friends! ## **Scarborough Fair and Scarborough Lights** As well as being able to host events in the summer “Scarborough Fringe” we were delighted once again to be chosen by the Scarborough Fair team to be one of the flagship venues for the Winter Lights festival. In June we had concerts by Nicola Mills, who entertained us with the story of her career as an opera singer illustrated by favourite songs and arias picked by the audience from her “Song Menu” and Bill Scott and friends with a delightful selection of arrangements for vocal quartet with the welcome return of Kathy Seabrook from the Spa Orchestra as guest soloist. In December we welcomed over 500 visitors to see three installations, comprising an investigation and display of photos of the Victorian camera obscura, an Edwardian-style mechanical peepshow machine in which a mythical sea monster appeared, and a stunning set of video projections on the walls of the church itself by the Animated Objects team. Thank you to our hardy team of volunteers who turned out both in the summer and on the cold and damp evenings in November and December to open up the church and give a warm welcome to our visitors. The PCC of St Mary's with Holy Apostles Scarborough Financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 Approved by the PCC at a meeting on 10 May 2026 prior to heAPCM Sig Re ma redwell Date: 10 May 2026 Parochial Churth Councll of St Ma wlth Hol Char Number 1186990 ndent Examiners ar Ended 31 December 2025 Stles SCart￿r Inde I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity for the year ended 31 December 2025. A5 the Charity trustees. you are responsible for the preparatlon of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011. I report in respect of the examination of the Charity's accounts carried out undersertion 145 otthe 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 14515llbl of the Act. I have completed my examinatlon. I confirm th* no material matters have come to my attentlon In conraettion with the examination which gives me cause to believe that. in any material respert,. The acccMJnting ￿CordS were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Art. or The accounts did not accord with the accounting records. or The accounts did not compty with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities {Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the account5 give a 'true and fair, view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection wtth the examlnation to whith attention should be drawn in this report in order to obtain a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Approved by: Oate 2410412026 Chrtstopher Mattlnson FCCA A5qUith Accountsnts Ltd Rowan House 7 West Bank Scarborough Nt)rth Yorkshlre Y012 4DX P¥o¢hkl c+wrchc￿nÉII otstlA4rywllh HolyApostl•s ¢rffin*nclala¢1l￿IIIs Fortho y•ar•rwJihg 31st DocgmbDr2D25 Umostrici•d R•8trl¢lvd T•W Funds fLmth Funds 2025 Tol81 Fund% Vduntsry inrjyne Acti¥￿eS ￿ger￿￿￿ng lunds Inci¥me from investments IncomE from Churéh Ac11v￿88 100,684 47.996 1.750 30.009 2.647 &665 103.330 56.562 1.750 20.009 1W.543 188232 1.666 24.493 2b Homeknne Engllsh speakers of oth8r18nww TOTAL INcoMR￿ RESOURCES IBQ.438 11.212 191.650 361.15B Church Adivthes Fund RalsRw costs &557 191.gQO 4.981 11589 342.629 3.934 10.975 4.981 12.589 Cmhercosts TOTALRESOVRCES EXPENDED 20&913 3.55T 209.4n 357,538 N￿INcoMING RESOURCES BEFORE -25.475 -17020 0 1620 NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS Q5.475 7.655 -17.920 3.820 ALAWGES BROUGF￿F0R￿AftD I JAPIUARY2025 46.518 140.0$7 136.448 BALANCES CARRfED FORWARD 31 DtrEMB&12025 12 247 INCOMING RESOURCES Totsl Flhb 2Q24 Unrestrl¢led R¢5tr1¢ted Tt4aS Funds funds Fund$ 2025 2a VolLbntsrylncorne p￿nn￿d ylvlng." Donations Tax Recoverdb Olh&r Colkcuons lo*n plalel InsuBnc8 53,125 3,B66 20.770 10.021 717 $1841 1866 20.770 11.951 47.313 11.924 12.953 36,152 950 10,000 1.4Q1 L8ga¢le¥ Grants 2b A¢￿￿t￿¥ foi 9on8ratlng Hospitastya saks Siand Car Pamng Other 11.284 38.665 47 11.284 3Q665 8.613 S6.562 12￿61 31.700 143.672 188,233 8.565 2¢ In¢¢Jmefrorrt Intrnsiments tiTrAdends & Interest 2d In¢r)mo from Church Acl1¥ Prop8rty Income Fee5 25.Wk3 4.386 2S.623 20,749 2e Other Inrx)mlr*J Re5rnW TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES 191 650 361 158 Un¥e8tsl¢tsd R*slriGtod funds Fynts 2￿24 RfSOiIRCES EXPENDED 3a Church Aetlvlfl8$ Mlsslon gwthg Fre8 win GNkng Other MSnistyc05ts urch Running & MaSntenan¢e Patsh ¢unnlng c(Ets Costs of Woodhall Avt Office Costs Telephon9. broadband, IT Surmlry expenses Bgnkand FInan(X￿ ChBrg&s 3.881 69,500 14.965 51.675 31.144 1,¥83 2,513 1.947 8.516 2.369 3.881 e9,500 18.522 51.675 31.144 1,833 2,513 1.947 6,516 7.810 69,5 9,307 204,254 44,408 1.924 978 1,800 1,527 3.557 191,900 342.629 3b Fund Ratslng ¢08ts Refreshments Car Patking Other fund expen 1,965 3,016 1.965 3,016 695 293B 301 4 Staff Cost5 Wages &Sglarfe¥ 12.589 12.589 10.975 5 Oth•rcosts TOTAL RESOURCES EXPEIiIED 57 209 471 The PCC has4 lall partthn21 paKJ ern￿ an¢vgJrw5L veryr.I deanerand 8Th 8dMlnlstrator. PC¢￿￿ conthtxrtostoth8 c(*ts01lt*(l*n8rat Par*h HtyJs8- Induded in P*h Hou80 runnlng S Flxgd A¥sots Ths fveehdd 8nd bulkYSngstompr*e th? trjrata's housèat 13 W[￿)daIl A¥8nu8. Scarborough. Itis bdwed to t* woth ¢M*der8b￿ m￿￿than Ihe Bar*￿ sheet valualtth of£55.000 and is nol b￿n9 dBprec&lo0 ITr tho a¢ctyJnts. tt is ir)sured for£254,043 Th8 PCC 8180 owns St M8Ws P*tsh House which 1$ not $howr> iftthp ocewnis, 88th8 PCC h8s n8v8r Paid an￿￿n9 fortt. 11 is i1*u￿d lorE2,019,408 6 D•btoY8 102S 12￿74 2025 11S74 2024 14.229 G1ft5 and p8yTheatstooth8rcharfts8 Prepaymentsarxl accn￿O inrAime 7 Uablltios Amountsf811kn9 th1? in y¢w CrwJitor¥ Grfis and paymentstDolhgr(*aths Accruals and deferred income PAYE a Nl Conlrfbutt￿& 5.895 15.951 37 SA95 15.951 16.085 455 21.8B3 16.540 8Fuh Maln accou Blf Balan 31112rd4 5,398 S,831 1,423 2,379 7.030 125 2,250 Incoming Exp8nd•d R050urces Resources Balance 31112125 4.679 9,973 1,523 2,420 12,88S 125 Chlldr8Tr's &youlhWo￿8r 20s1040$ mintsty Churcb@Ralnbow Not Hcffle Abno oibr Camera Grants and ¢hwth MIn￿a ESOL Fr*nds ofst Ma￿8 Bu￿￿￿0$ fu Mlsslon Id88KJn8t8d fund) TFan$f8rs Bank 1ml8￿M a¢￿JnI> Totsl 240 327 150 1,930 5,855 959 1.889 2.710 475 1235 22,795 978 -5,919 -270 54.173 22.795 978 -5,919 -270 46.519 11312 8b T￿fol￿r￿j fvnd Is managed by St Marfs on behaWolChuK*asTogeth8rkn SGqrt)orough_CTB. HDwév8r. e8rtyin 2025. th8 hrttrf(xJndthi8 to b8 untsustslnab￿ 88 th8rew8s notenc￿h irt•5L Ho resIg￿d. 8818nc8 31112124 499 Inwming EKpwthd Balanco 31112125 499 499 ESOL fund Totsl Funds 2024 55.000 101.607 -16,540 140,067 Ur¥e¥tr¥Aed RestriGled fund5 Funds 55,000 3¢.957 -21,853 68,074 Tgtsl Funds 2025 55.000 89.130 -21,883 122247 9 AnatyBls ofN•tA650ts Byfund Tan￿b￿9 Fl¥ed Assets CurrFntA888t8 8tr11ithps 54.173 54,173 Parothlal Chur¢h Coundl of Sl Marywlth HolyNpostles Balan¢e SI￿1 as at 31st December2025 Pagg 4 Not85 2025 2024 FIXED ASSETS 13 Woodal Ave 5a CURRENT ASSETS 12,573 76,557 15.033 Cash at bank & in hand 101 607 LIABIUTIES Cr8ditors- amounts falling due in 1 year NET CURREKtASSEts Total assels le6s ojrrent Ilabllll8S 140 067 TOTAL NET ASSErs 247 PARISH FUNDS Unreslricted 68,074 93.549 46.518 140 067 247 P rochial Church Counal otst M wlth Hol Char Number 1186990 ndent Examiner5 Re ort Year Ended 31 December2025 Inde I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the at#)ve charity for the year ended 31 December 2025. A5 the Charity tru5tee5. you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Chartiies Art 2011. I report in tEspecr of the examinatiors of the Charity's accoL¢nts carried out undersection 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my exèmination. I have followed all applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under sertion 14515llbl of the Act. I have o)mpleted rny examTnation. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examinatron which gives me cause to belI￿e that. in any mateTial respÈct- The accounting records were not kept In accordan￿ with sertiDrh 130 of the Charities Att, or The a£counts did not accord wrth the accounting records. or The accounts did not comply wtth the applicable requlrements concerning the form arld conterrt of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulation5 2008 other than any quirementthatthe accounts give a'true and fair. view which is nota matterconsidered as part of an independent examination. I have no Con￿rN$ aThl have come across no other matters Sn connection with the examlnatlon to wh attention should be drawn in this report In orderto obtain a Proper undeT5tanding of the accountsto be reached. Approved by: Date 2410412026 Christopher Mattinson FCCA Asquith Accountsnts Ltd Rowan House 7 West Bank Scarborou8h North Yorkshire Y012 4DX