## **THE UNITED PARISH OF EAST HARPTREE WITH WEST HARPTREE AND HINTON BLEWETT-ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL FOR 2025** ## **Aims and Purpose** The PCC and the Vicar have the responsibility of promoting the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical, in the United Ecclesiastical Parish of East Harptree, with West Harptree and Hinton Blewett and the promotion of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the doctrines and practices of the Church of England. The PCC is a charity and was registered with the Charity Commission in 2019. The main activities undertaken by the PCC are those reflected in this report which the PCC consider furthered the PCC's aims for the public benefit. The PCC has had regard to the Charity Commission public benefit guidance, where relevant. The United Parish is now, with the neighboring parishes of Compton Martin and All Saints North Mendip (Blagdon and Ubley), working together as the benefice of Chew Valley South. The formal creation of the Chew Valley South Benefice has not happened as yet. ## **Structure, Governance and Management** The PCC operates under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure and the Church Representation Rules. It is a corporate body established by the Church of England. The PCC membership consists of the Vicar, the Churchwardens of the three churches (if appointed) and other members (who are on the Parish Electoral Roll) elected by the PCC and proposed by the Friends of East Harptree, and the VCCs of West Harptree and Hinton Blewett. The number of people on the Parish Electoral Roll remains unchanged at 53 people. Specific responsibilities of members of the PCC during 2025 are set out in the section below entitled “ Administrative Information”. That section also sets out the responsibilities of others, not on the PCC, for particular areas. All business of the PCC is conducted at its meetings referred to below. There is no separate standing committee. The PCC is committed to enabling as many people as possible to worship at our churches and to become part of our Parish community and to be completely inclusive in who is involved and attends. The PCC maintains an overview of worship throughout the Parish and considers how our services can involve the different people and groups that live within our Parish. Our services and worship put faith into practice through prayer and scripture, music and sacrament. We try to enable ordinary people to live out their faith as part of our Parish community through Worship and prayer; learning about the gospel; and developing their knowledge and trust in Jesus and by the provision of pastoral care for people living in the parish. To facilitate this work it is also important that the PCC maintain the fabric of the three churches in our Parish. The PCC has the legal responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of the three churches in the Parish although for all practical purposes the activities involved have been delegated to the Friends of St Laurence and to the VCCs of West Harptree and Hinton Blewett. They report to the PCC, who deal with Faculty and Grant applications and all formal matters, and the PCC generally oversee and ensure 1 that the PCC ’ s obligations are satisfactorily discharged by the Friends and VCCs. The PCC meets 5 times a year with an extraordinary meeting after the APCM to elect officers. There is an agreed and set list of issues which are dealt with at particular PCCs throughout the year to ensure that the key issues for the PCC are not overlooked and this is managed by the PCC secretary. In addition, there are reports at each PCC meeting from the Friends and VCCs. ## **Administrative Information** The correspondence address for the Parish is Church Farm, Church Lane, East Harptree, Bristol BS40 6BD. ## _Membership of the UP PCC in 2025_ |**Chair**|Rev Katrina Dykes| |---|---| |**Vicar**|Rev Katrina Dykes| |**Secretary**|Elaine Avery (Elected representative| ||from West Harptree)| |**Deanery Synod Representatives**|Mary Cookson| |**Electoral Roll Officer**|Elaine Avery| |**Treasurer**|Guy Stobart (Churchwarden East| ||Harptree)| |**Other Members**|Hazel Rider and Gill Stobart (Elected| ||Representatives from East Harptree),| ||Christopher Burt (Elected| ||Representative from West Harptree).| ||Graham Sage (Point of contact at| ||Hinton Blewett) is copied into PCC| ||papers and consulted where| ||appropriate. Frances O’Donohoe, a lay| ||reader in our benefice who lives in| ||East Harptree, also attends| ## _Others Supporting the UP PCC_ |**Safeguarding Officer**|Gill Stobart| |---|---| |**Parish News Editor**|Gill Stobart| |**House Group**|Richard Martin| |**Open the Book**|MaryCookson| |**Messy Church**|Mary Cookson, Tilly Joskey, Hazel
Rider, Guy and GillStobart, Jenny| 2 Cruse, Diana Martin. ## **Benefice APCM report from Rev’d Katrina Dykes** In January our new worship pattern began to take effect. A monthly joint benefice service at Compton Martin on third Sundays has been greatly appreciated and we have enjoyed getting to know one another better. We have also joined together to worship on other occasions including during Holy Week and Advent with a combined choir for a special Advent Carol Service at East Harptree. People from across the benefice met to journey together through Lent and Advent (in addition to the 2024 Advent groups which continued into the New Year to complete the book Women of the Nativity). Gene Joyner and I participated in the Diocesan training Launchpad, for starting youth clubs in rural contexts with no or very small numbers of young people. The input was excellent and very inspiring. As a result, we have joined the team of volunteers to run Ubley Youth Club (weekly in term time). We see potential and would love to do more for youth in our villages, but at this time we do not have additional volunteers to make such a venture sustainable. In April Archdeacon Charlie visited for a weekday and toured the benefice visiting schools, churches and meeting a number of different people. He returned for Sunday worship and meetings with PCC members and Lay-readers. People appreciated the opportunity to share the opportunities and challenges we face. This visit was part of a new process of Ministry Development Reviews for the Clergy. In the spring we started a new service at Compton Martin called Familes@4. The format has been a hit with those who have come along, but attendance has been inconsistent. We are considering what we can learn from this experience and how to take the project forward. In another part of the benefice, we have been looking to enliven the engagement of villagers in Hinton Blewett with their church. Family friendly events and services, including Easter family activities, Rogation walk and Christmas Eve have been particularly successful, and an Iona Communion was also appreciated. We are committed to work with the community going forward to develop a sustainable and imaginative pattern for worship. Separate church reports will record the many wonderful events specific to each church and village. One to mention here was the Blagdon Church Open Day in August. This event was simply about engaging the local community in the church building and associated activities and there was no fundraising aspect. We provided opportunity for people to go up the tower, have a go at bellringing, playing the organ and flower arranging. There was a display linked to the 80[th] anniversary of the end of WW2 by the History Society and a quiz using photos of the widows and other details of the church building. All washed down with tea and homemade cakes. All activities were inclusive of all ages and accessible to young and old (although there was a lower age limit on the tower tours). The event provides a model for other churches to consider running on an occasional basis. We again offered a benefice pilgrimage in September, taking in all the churches, much enjoyed by those who took part. Also in September Frances O’Donohoe was received as a 3 Lay Reader into the Diocese and welcomed to serve in our benefice alongside Lucy, Nikki and Gene. The ministry of all four Lay Readers is appreciated by all our congregations. At Harvest time we partnered with Yeo Valley to offer a service in the yurt at Holt Farm. This was very successful at drawing in local families who don’t normally come to church. This is another event it would be good to replicate around the benefice. Our ancient church buildings host many wonderful services and events, but the responsibility of their upkeep can be great. Regretfully, West Harptree had to be closed for a number of months due to a failure of the old heating system. However, due to sterling efforts to raise funds locally as well as successful applications for grants, a new system has now been installed (as of April 2026). During the autumn we began to run two programmes. 1. Training for Lay Worship Assistants – five began the course, led by Phil Dykes and Frances O’Donohoe supported as an assistant leader. 2. Growing Rural - Phil Dykes and Helen Fenn are leading this programme which is designed to support and encourage rural multi-parish benefices in developing mission and ministry in their churches, covering areas of journey, discipleship, leadership and mission. I trust that these programmes will inspire us to move forward together as we continue to develop a benefice culture and the ability to try and sustain new ministries. Behind the scenes a communications working group has been developing ideas to improve how we communicate between our churches and beyond to our communities. A new website and logo are on the way to completion, which will improve our online presence. We are also looking at ways to develop our printed materials. The Children and Families working group has been developing ways to engage and involve children in our regular services and providing materials and resources in children’s areas. They have also worked together with the leaders and preachers to inform and plan the intergenerational services and events at festival times. As a result, East Harptree are developing an area at the front of the church for children to enjoy during services or when families call in to visit the church. Carefully chosen activities help families with young children explore the Christian story in each church season. We have continued to build on the strong links with our local Church of England schools. One exciting project has been the development of a Collective Worship group at East Harptree. In addition to helping plan the weekly worship with me, they have written a school prayer and attended the Community Christmas Lunch in West Harptree. We plan to continue this group in East Harptree and start one in Ubley next year. Advent and Christmas were exceedingly busy with services and events, many seeing record attendance. We encouraged people to support Blagdon schools Shoe Box Appeal. The Christmas card with details of services for the benefice was delivered to almost every home in each of the villages and was greatly appreciated by many. 4 ## **Looking ahead:** We will feel the loss of Rachel Branston keenly. Her dedication to supporting the worship of our churches has resulted in many memorable services and events. Her reach has been wide across all ages, and she has brought musicians together for ensembles, and choirs for special services and concerts. Rachel has given generously and freely of her time, skills, friendship and creativity. We have been so blessed and will greatly miss her. There is no immediate replacement for Rachel and we need to be exploring new ways to bring music into our worship, whether that be local musicians in the villages, paying for occasional organists or using recorded resources. Saying that we are blessed in the benefice to enjoy the benefit of Tricia Rees-Jones, Musical Director for the United Parish and the choir she leads. Whilst there are no plans to extend Tricia’s role more broadly, I hope there will be opportunities for her and the United Parish choir to bless services in other churches with their presence, during the coming year. I look forward to hearing about the fruit of the Growing Rural conversations and how that aligns with my own learning and fresh thinking from time away on Sabbatical. We plan to meet on 3[rd] October, to discern priorities for the way forward together and what the next steps will be. Please come! The autumn will also see new Lay Worship Assistants and a Lay Funeral Minister, commended at a special service. It will be great to see how they will enrich our benefice life. We have a growing appetite for what we would like to see and do across our churches, but our resources are not up to meeting our ambitions. We have gaps in the roles and responsibilities we already need people to do, and the financial situation across the benefice is critical. I will therefore be working with others to lead Stewardship Programmes in the autumn for Blagdon and Compton Martin. This only goes to highlight the need to develop and deepen the prayer life of the benefice this year with a special focus on the Lord’s Prayer, allowing it to fill our hearts and shape our lives. Rev’d Katrina Dykes April 2026 ## **Activities** ## _Outreach_ Our monthly lunch club for seniors in West Harptree hall is still much appreciated by those who attend, albeit in fewer numbers than in the past. We started a new initiative in March 2025. _Thank Cake It’s Friday_ takes place every first Friday of the month in St. Laurence Church, East Harptree. Tea and cake is served and there are craft activities for children as well as our now permanent children’s corner which is well-stocked with toys, games and books. Numbers vary, but it is proving popular with a good cross section of the community baking cakes, helping and coming along, including a decent number of families. Our musical tradition continues with a fine range of concerts in our churches which are well supported by the wider community, and which often serve to showcase and encourage younger musicians. 5 Hinton Blewett church, whilst hosting a smaller number of services, plays its part by hosting several village activities through the year. Our fund raising across all three of the parish’s churches continues – including fêtes, coffee mornings, lunches, suppers and pavement sales. Not only do they raise money to keep our church buildings open, they are an important part of our engagement with our communities. ## _House Group_ The House Group continues to meet fortnightly and has benefitted from Gervaise and Frances O’Donohoe joining us and leading our discussions, together with Diana Martin. Since I last wrote we have studied John’s Gospel and by the time you read this we will be into the Acts of the Apostles. We meet at Sakura, Church Lane, East Harptree , we have plenty of chairs, so if you feel like joining us we can always find space. We have fun! Richard Martin ## _Reflective Prayer_ A short period of Reflective Prayer takes place in St Laurence every Thursday. It is much appreciated by the loyal few who attend. We would be delighted if others could join us at 3.20pm for a short bible reflection after which we share some thoughts and prayers. ## _Open the Book and Messy Church_ Open the Book and Messy Church continue to foster our outreach work with children alongside weekly Collective Worship sessions in church. Our loyal OTB team continue to share a bible story with all the school children each term, encouraging them to join in. We believe that sharing bible teaching in this way is really important and the children enjoy responding to the stories, which we try to link to the school’s termly value. Messy Church , which follows on from OTB as an afterschool session at the school, continues to be very popular, with as many as half the school population participating on occasions. We have a loyal team who have developed good relationships with the children. We were immensely saddened by the death of Tilly Joskey, who had been a valued member of the team for many years. Mary Cookson. ## _St Laurence, East Harptree_ The church is in generally good repair following the Project Newton capital works in 2023 and 2024 but being an old building there is never room for complacency. The church is frequently visited and is being used for a number of community events. Services are consistently well attended, and we have been encouraged by the number of people who have come to special services, like Advent and Christmas carols, Christmas 6 Communion and Christmas Morning Celebration as well as Mothering Sunday and Easter services. The involvement of some children from the school singing at our Christmas Carol service was particularly joyful and we are glad to enjoy live music in all our services. We have improved provision for our children and families in a ‘children’s area’ and we hope to improve this further once Project Newton is completed. Significant historic stones discovered during the Project Newton works are now displayed in the north west corner of the church and the steps to the footpath on the northern border of the churchyard are also in place. Work on the interpretation aspects of Project Newton continue, notably on the touchscreens and website as well as noticeboards in the churchyard and some information boards in the church. We are hoping that the project can finally come to an end during 2026. The churchyard continues to be expertly managed by EHEG. It is encouraging to see the Spring bulbs which have been planted developing strongly and spreading. The boiler is still working but we will need to consider a different heating system soon. The School House Trust continues to support Christian Education in East Harptree and it is hoped that funds may also be able to support outreach work with children and families. Certainly more funds should be available once Project Newton is complete and the support from the Trust is no longer needed. Mary Cookson and Guy Stobart ## _St Mary_ ’ _s West Harptree_ In a major move towards net zero, a Faculty was granted to decommission the old heating apparatus and install a new infra-red heating system. Final costs are expected to be c. £55k which it is hoped can be met from donations and fund raising, coupled with a West of England Combined Authority Green Business Grant and a Diocesan Quick Wins Grant. At the same time, low energy LED lamps will be fitted to all existing lights. In liaison with B&NES Council, steps are being taken to make the churchyard more wildlife friendly. It is planned to install an internet connection this Spring. The QI was carried out in October. All Health & Safety policies were reviewed during the year and all required safety testing was carried out. Elaine Avery on behalf of St Mary’s VCC ## _St Margaret’s Hinton Blewett_ The building remains in good order and well cared for, whilst the volunteers on the flower rota ensure that the church looks welcoming even though there are less regular services held. As reported last year, the organ is due to be removed, once this can be arranged. The churchyard has continued to be sensitively cared for by nearly 20 volunteers and to assist a new mower and strimmer were purchased during the year, as it is important to make the job of maintaining the churchyard as easy as possible. The church has had the relevant inspections carried out during the year and has recently appointed a new architect to succeed Alan Thomas. The church has enjoyed playing host to a number of one-off services, some more successful than others, and was once again the beneficiary of a successful fete. A full programme of 7 services and events for 2026 is already well advanced in terms of planning and it is hoped that members of the benefice can be persuaded to come and find St Margaret's. ## Graham Sage ## _Music_ The choir has continued to support the regular pattern of weekly services. Building on the plans expressed in last year’s report, we have established a much closer connection with the school with the Director of Music working with the KS2 classes to produce an outstanding school carol concert with 20 of the pupils then repeating their favourite song at the parish Carol Service after the end of term. It is hoped to build on this relationship further embedding the link between school and parish music. The successful partnership with the choir of North Mendip continued with a combined choir for the Advent Carol service and it is hoped that this fruitful relationship will continue in the future. In July we held our first Come and Sing evensong event which was very successful, drawing 100 singers from the benefice and beyond. With many of those singers requesting a repeat, we hope to do just that in 2026, demonstrating that liturgical choral music is very much alive and well locally. ## Tricia Rees-Jones ## _Safeguarding_ We will all be aware, more than ever before, how important it is that, not only do all of those in our church family feel safe but are safe. This means creating a culture where all understand what safeguarding is, how abuse might present itself and what to do if there are concerns. This means that safeguarding is the responsibility of all within the Church family, not just those who work with children, young people or vulnerable adults. It’s important to note that safeguarding is not only about children and young people. The majority of referrals to the diocesan safeguarding team are to do with adults and are around domestic abuse, mental health and dementia. We do this by making sure that all those working with children and young people and, if appropriate, certain work with vulnerable adults, are safely recruited and have the necessary DBS checks. Training is paramount and all those who have any role within the church family are asked to undertake the appropriate level of training for their role every three years. Our Safeguarding Policy is reviewed on an annual basis, the appropriate safeguarding notices are displayed in all our three churches and the appropriate information is on websites where we have a presence. The United Parish is working with the other two parishes in our benefice to ensure that there is a consistent approach to safeguarding, including the adoption of benefice safeguarding policies. ## _Parish News_ It’s important that our local Church serves the whole community, not only those who regularly worship in our church buildings. Part of our service is to produce Parish News 8 once a month (as a printed magazine), giving all subscribers (approx. 300 households across the United Parish) information about church and community activities as well as articles of church and local interest. Numbers of subscribers do fall each year and we will get to a point where we need to consider a different approach and start to shift, at least in part, to a digital offer. Gill Stobart ## **Financial Review** This is covered in the separate financial statements 9 # **THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF EAST HARPTREE WITH WEST HARPTREE AND HINTON BLEWETT REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER 1187091** ## **FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2025** Page 1 Independent Examiner’s Report 2 Receipts and Payments Account 3 Statement of Assets and Liabilities 4 Analysis of Receipts 5 Analysis of Payments 6 Notes to the Accounts 8 Financial Review 10 Independent Examinerfs Report To the Trustees of the Parochial Church Council of the Eccleslastlcal Parlsh of East Harptree wlth West Harptree and Hlnton Blewett On the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2025 set out on pages 2 to 8 The tharitvs tn￿eeS are respw4ble for the preparation of the accrAmts. The Chari￿5 trvrtees consider ihat an èudit is not re4vired for this year vndor sec*w 144 of the c￿ritieS Act 2011 lthe Chaiitie5 Actl ènd that an Indepe[￿en1 examinaiion 15 r￿eded. It is rny ￿sponsI￿"t￿ty to.. Examine ihe auounts under5ection 145 of ihe ChariiiesAct.' follow the Pr￿edUleS lahl th)wn in the Bemral ￿TertiOnS gl¥en by the Charity Cornmbslon lunder sertion 1451511bl of CharIt￿S Act. and Stale whether particular matters tthve come to my attentiDn. examinalion was rarrted a(cordaNe wtth general OTrreaions given by the Charity Commission. examination indudes a revsew of the accounti￿ recorfs kept ￿ the chartty anLI a comparison of the acCou￿t$ presented with thts5e fecord5. It alsoindudes consKleration of arry iiemsor disd05vres the èccounts and seekiftgexplanation5 from the iruswci)rtemiry any such mallers. The proceduTe5 vndertaken do prowde all the evH1@￿e that would be required in an •utht. and consequently no wnion is 8Trven a5 to whether the attount5 present a 'true and fairf view. and the 15 limited to those matters seioLrt tn the statement belo¥¥. In connectionwtih my emamination. no mattef Iwscometo myattention*thKh8ives me reasonablecause to belI￿e Ihat, in any material ￿spect, accounti￿ reco￿5 were Trjt kept tn accorrfan￿ with section 130 of the Chanties Att. or Ihe accounts do not accord wfjth the accOuntir￿ records. I have comeacr055 [￿O*herMane￿ inconnectionwith theexamln•tiontowhich èttention should bedrawn inorder io enable a proper understhnding of the accour¢ts to be Teathed. Narne.. M1WU*￿j @ I(((kni1￿9 It