2024 Report and Accounts
for the Parochial Church Council of St Helen’s Church, Escrick
Aims and Objectives
St. Helen’s Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility of cooperating with the Priest-in- Charge, Reverend Jackie Doyle-Brett, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the Church; pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The PCC is also specifically responsible for the maintenance of St. Helen’s Church, Escrick and its finances.
Objectives and Activities
The PCC is committed to providing a welcoming environment for all, whether they are regular worshippers or not. We strive to be open and accessible in every respect, and to make St. Helen’s the heart of our village community. In order to achieve this, the PCC recognises the need to be financially sustainable and encourages generous giving. We are also committed to strengthening and further developing our relationship with the village Church of England Primary School.
When planning our activities for the year, we considered our main objectives and tried to put in place services, opportunities for worship and community engagement that would enable us to achieve these. In particular, we tried to enable people to live out their faith as part of our parish community through:
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Worship and prayer; learning about the Gospel; and developing their knowledge and trust in Jesus.
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Provision of services that specifically meet the needs of members of the community who would not ordinarily attend church, particularly families.
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A varied programme of ‘Heritage Activities’ which engage a wide demographic.
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Regular opportunities to engage with music within the church from bell ringing to singing in our choir.
To facilitate this work it is important that we maintain the fabric of the Church of St. Helen’s.
Achievements and Performance
We now have a regular pattern of services across the Rivers Partnership. This includes a monthly U3 Holy Communion (United 3: Escrick, Naburn and Stillingfleet) and a U8 (United Eight: all the churches in the Rivers Partnership) on fifth Sundays.
Throughout the year we hold special services, including Easter, Harvest Festival, Remembrance and Christmas. Family Fun @4 is currently under review but hopefully will start again in September.
A strong relationship is maintained with Escrick Primary School and the Church/School Liaison group meet each half term to seek ways of helping to teach Christian values and enhance relations to our mutual benefit. Once a month a group of volunteers present Open the Book and members of the clergy visit the school and take collective worship. In December a Christingle service was held in school and Christingle oranges were distributed to the children, kindly prepared by a group of volunteers. In July St Helen’s will again host the Leavers’ service when a small gift (previously hand crosses) are presented to the leavers. Children are also encouraged to participate in our special services and throughout the year they provide examples of work for our display board. We thank our Foundation Governor, Christine Mason, who currently represents the Church on the School’s Board of Governors.
It is much appreciated that we are able to keep our church doors open every day. Our grateful thanks and appreciation go to Nancy Mackenzie for undertaking the task of opening and closing church each day. St Helen’s is home to a range of activities, such as the monthly Heritage Evenings, Prayer Lunches, Heritage Hub, Poetry Evenings, Little Hoots Toddler Group and Hoot’s Cafe among others and we give a huge thank you to Caroline Wandless our Heritage Lead and her team of volunteers. There are also special events throughout the year, including concerts. St Helen’s is also used by several local organisations for their regular meetings.
Through our charity of the quarter, we continue to support various local charities and organisations. Over the past twelve months we have supported Age UK, Derwent Lions for used spectacles, Selby Food Bank and currently Mothers’ Union caravan. Thank you to everyone who has generously contributed to these important organisations.
Here at St Helen’s we are fortunate enough to count on a small army of volunteers who in one way or another contribute to keeping the wheels turning, be it preparing for special services and events or regular activities such as cleaning, flower arranging, churchyard maintenance, distributing magazines and many other tasks. We desperately need more volunteers to spread the load and would welcome anyone who could spare just a few hours every month to help with any way possible.
Fundraising is always high on the PCC’s agenda, as we are gently reminded by our Treasurer! Over the last twelve months we have held several successful fundraising events, including a Christmas Tree Festival, bacon butty mornings and wreath-making, amongst others. Many thanks to Carolyn Skilbeck for administering The 100 Club which continues to raise valuable funds.
Looking forward, PCC has a busy year ahead developing some of the initiatives already in progress such as the Memorial Garden and the feasibility of installing solar panels. Efforts will also be directed towards fundraising, recruiting new volunteers, building Team Escrick to serve our community as best we can, maintain our church and endeavour to ensure it is welcoming, and a place for peace and worship.
Financial Review
St Helen’s Church: Overview of the 2024 Accounts
Total income in 2024 was £52,213 whilst total expenditure was £53,415 meaning there was a deficit in 2024 of £1,202. Relative to 2023, when St Helens enjoyed a surplus of over £8,000, this looks like a disappointing result but, that said, it was very much in line with the 2024 budget and expectations. In 2023 total income had been £64,874 so that means 2024 income was some £12,661 lower, but it is noted that three specific areas (Weddings £4,505, Containers £2,900, and Grants £5,922) alone accounted for a reduction of over £13,000 in income. It was particularly pleasing to see fundraising income increase by nearly £1,000 with the Christmas Tree Festival a significant contributor.
As previously noted, a significant strength of St Helens is its wide range of activities meaning that, when combined, the likes of fundraisers, such as the Big Breakfast and Christmas Tree Fair, plus refreshments, book sales, the church donation box, heritage, votive and Hoots make a huge difference to the church’s financial performance.
2024 expenditure reduced by over £3,000 compared with 2023 despite increasing Freewill by £1,000, the £2,500 cost of some drainage related repairs and paying £1,000 for the Quinquennial Inspection.
St Helens had £26,097 in its Barclays current account at December 2024 which is a reduction of £1,202.
It was pleasing to see St Helen’s investment account with CCLA perform reasonably meaning the value of St Helen’s investments were £30,054 at December 2024 which is an increase of £1,459 compared with £28,595 at December 2023.
With £26,907 in the current account and the investments worth £30,054 that means St Helen’s had a total of £56,151 in funds at the end of December 2024. The comparable December 2023 figure was £55,894. This slight increase of £257 is because the 2024 gains on St Helen’s investments slightly outweighed the ‘day-to-day’ deficit of running the church.
St Helens remains in a solid but appropriate financial position, but we must always be mindful that a large 160-year-old building requires significant attention, care and money and, for example, the Quinquennial Inspection report identified about £7,000 of works that are required so that will impact the 2025 budget.
St Helen’s Church: Commentary on 2025 Budget
The 2025 budget is predicated on income of £46,000 and expenditure of £55,500 which delivers an anticipated deficit of £9,500.
At the end of 2025 it is anticipated St Helen’s will have £48,907 in funds of which £17,097 will be in the current account whilst the CCLA investment account will be valued at £31,000.
The key assumptions behind this budget are detailed below:
Income:
With the exception of weddings and collections most income will be similar to previous years.
There will be substantially less weddings, for example, there are just five weddings booked for 2024 and, as a comparator, both 2022 and 2023 each had twelve weddings.
Collections are reduced primarily because both 2023 and 2024 had some particularly large funeral related collections. It is possible that there may be similar large collections in 2025 but, that said, these large collections usually result in payments to a nominated charity.
All income from housing containers in the car park has ceased.
Expenditure:
Excluding Freewill, Repairs and Maintenance, and Churchyard most expenditure will be the same as or lower than in previous years. Repairs and Maintenance is the big increase, and the increase reflects the about £7,000 of works identified in the Quinquennial Inspection. As agreed by PCC, Freewill increases by £1,000.
Churchyard is essentially the trees and about £1,000 of cost will have already been incurred by about end January, so it is likely total 2025 expenditure will exceed previous years.
Payments to charities are reduced and this reflects the lower anticipated collections described above.
The miscellaneous expenditure was distorted by a couple of ‘one-offs’ so it is expected to return to a more normal level.
Structure, Governance and Management:
The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. At St. Helen’s the membership of the PCC consists of the incumbent (our vicar), churchwardens and members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church.
All those who attend our services / members of the congregation are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC.
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. The full PCC met six times during the year.
Church Council Members on 21 April 2024
Ex-Officio 3 years to serve Rev Jackie Doyle-Brett Fiona Walters
John Wilson (Treasurer) Christine Mason (Secretary)
Heather Conolly (Churchwarden) Caroline Wandless (Deanery Synod Representative)
2 years to serve Carolyn Skilbeck Hilary Castle Mary Okeudo-Cogan
1 year to serve Margaret Gowthorpe Judith Luscombe Nigel Wood
Co-opted for 1 year Andrea Watson
St Helen’s Church Escrick 2024 Accounts
St Helen’s Church, Escrick
Accounts to 31 December 2024
Index:
| Section: | **Page(s): ** |
|---|---|
| Overview of the 2024 accounts | 2 |
| Income | 3 |
| Expenditure | 4 |
| Summaryof income and expenditure | 5 |
| Current account | 6 |
| Investment account | 7 |
| Summaryof funds | 8 |
| Treasurer statement and audit certificate | 9 |
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St Helen’s Church Escrick 2024 Accounts
St Helen’s Church: Overview of the 2024 Accounts
Total income in 2024 was £52,213 whilst total expenditure was £53,415 meaning there was a deficit in 2024 of £1,202. Relative to 2023, when St Helens enjoyed a surplus of over £8,000, this looks like a disappointing result but, that said, it was very much in line with the 2024 budget and expectations.
In 2023 total income had been £64,874 so that means 2024 income was some £12,661 lower, but it is noted that three specific areas (Weddings £4,505, Containers £2,900, and Grants £5,922) alone accounted for a reduction of over £13,000 in income. It was particularly pleasing to see fundraising income increase by nearly £1,000 with the Christmas Tree Festival a significant contributor.
As previously noted, a significant strength of St Helens is its wide range of activities meaning that, when combined, the likes of fundraisers, such as the Big Breakfast and Christmas Tree Fair, plus refreshments, book sales, the church donation box, heritage, votive and Hoots make a huge difference to the church’s financial performance.
2024 expenditure reduced by over £3,000 compared with 2023 despite increasing Freewill by £1,000, the £2,500 cost of some drainage related repairs and paying £1,000 for the Quinquennial Inspection.
St Helens had £26,097 in its Barclays current account at December 2024 which is a reduction of £1,202 (i.e. the deficit referred to in the opening paragraph) compared with £27,299 at December 2023.
It was pleasing to see St Helen’s investment account with CCLA perform reasonably meaning the value of St Helen’s investments were £30,054 at December 2024 which is an increase of £1,459 compared with £28,595 at December 2023.
With £26,907 in the current account and the investments worth £30,054 that means St Helen’s had a total of £56,151 in funds at the end of December 2024. The comparable December 2023 figure was £55,894. This slight increase of £257 is because the 2024 gains on St Helen’s investments slightly outweighed the ‘day-to-day’ deficit of running the church.
St Helens remains in a solid but appropriate financial position, but we must always be mindful that a large 160-year-old building requires significant attention, care and money and, for example, the Quinquennial Inspection report identified about £7,000 of works that are required so that will impact the 2025 budget.
2
St Helen’s Church Escrick 2024 Accounts
St Helen’s Church: Income
| INCOME | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | £ | £ | |
| Planned regulargiving | 8,177 | 8,544 | 8,457 |
| Collections | 14,484 | 16,092 | 8,653 |
| HMRCgift aid | 4,318 | 3,722 | 3,293 |
| TOTAL GIVING | 26,979 | 28.358 | 20,403 |
| Weddings | 7,907 | 12,412 | 10,981 |
| Funerals | 7,540 | 7,164 | 4,939 |
| TOTAL STATUTORY FEES | 15,447 | 19,576 | 15,920 |
| Monies from the Benefice | 0 | 0 | 570 |
| Legacies and Donation | 0 | 0 | 618 |
| Listed Places of WorshipVAT claim | 429 | 260 | 0 |
| Fundraisingand Events | 6,795 | 5,252 | 6,681 |
| 100 Club Income | 1,081 | 1,174 | 1,058 |
| Allotments and Garages | 365 | 365 | 460 |
| Housingcontainers in the carpark | 1,000 | 3,700 | 0 |
| Other Grants | 0 | 5,922 | 5,953 |
| Miscellaneous Income | 117 | 267 | 680 |
| TOTAL OTHER INCOME | 9,797 | 16,940 | 16,020 |
| TOTAL INCOME | 52,213 | 64,874 | 52,343 |
Notes:
The main reductions in income were:
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Wedding income reflected the fall in numbers compared to 2022 and 2023 which both benefited from some ‘Covid catch-up’.
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Other grants were zero whereas in 2023 St Helens received £5,922 from FOSH (work to the gates) and in 2022 a total of £5,953 was received from FOSH (£3,453) and Diocese £2,500.
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In 2023 a total of £3,700 was paid to locate the containers in the car park but, as the containers were removed early in the year, just £1,000 was received in 2024.
2024 fundraising income included, but were certainly not restricted to, the following amounts:
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Xmas Tree Fair £1,251
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Votive £174
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Books £379
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Hoots £622
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Church Box £567
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Heritage £1,091
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Big Breakfast £547
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Refreshments £396
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St Helen’s Church Escrick 2024 Accounts
St Helen’s Church: Expenditure
| EXPENDITURE | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | £ | |
| Freewill to Diocese | 14,000 | 13,000 | 12,000 |
| StatutoryFees | 2,438 | 2,642 | 2,274 |
| TOTAL TO DIOCESE | 16,438 | 15,642 | 14,274 |
| PAYMENTS TO CHARITIES* | 4,862 | 3,493 | 1,783 |
| Organists | 3,204 | 2,878 | 3,128 |
| Vergers | 1,365 | 1,583 | 1,121 |
| Bellringers | 1,545 | 2,410 | 1,885 |
| Visitingclergy | 1,142 | 1,540 | 1,805 |
| Payment to Benefice Account | 137 | 0 | 206 |
| TOTAL FEES | 7,393 | 8,411 | 8,145 |
| Insurance | 5,428 | 5,614 | 5,188 |
| Oil | 2,351 | 3,285 | 4,043 |
| Electricity | 3,405 | 3,460 | 1,712 |
| Water | 459 | 162 | 149 |
| Internet | 462 | 447 | 333 |
| TOTAL UTILITIES | 12,105 | 12,968 | 11,425 |
| Repair and maintenance | 5,351 | 8,968 | 5,525 |
| Roof Alarm costs | 646 | 1,431 | 794 |
| Churchyard | 1,177 | 1,200 | 1,087 |
| 100 Club Prizes | 650 | 600 | 630 |
| Miscellaneous(inc fundraisingexpenses) | 3,366 | 1,723 | 2,675 |
| Heritage related | 427 | 518 | 575 |
| Riverside PartnershipFunding | 1,000 | 1,625 | 0 |
| TOTAL OTHER EXPENDITURE | 12,617 | 16,065 | 11,286 |
| TOTAL EXPENDITURE | 53,415 | 56,579 | 46,913 |
Notes:
*These payments to charities are essentially collections at funerals with subsequent payment to a charity, for example Cancer Research, and services where the collection is for a specific charity, for example Remembrance Sunday and the Royal British Legion.
Repair and maintenance expenditure included £2,574 related to drainage works and the £1,000 fee for the Quinquennial Inspection.
The miscellaneous expenditure included monies collected and paid to the Diocese in respect of the Bishopthorpe Palace visit and also the collection, across the Rivers Partnership, for Maxine Waller.
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St Helen’s Church Escrick 2024 Accounts
St Helen’s Church: Summary of Income and Expenditure
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | £ | |
| Total Income | 52,213 | 64,874 | 52,343 |
| Total Expenditure | 53,415 | 56,579 | 46,913 |
| Surplus or(deficit) of income over expenditure | (1,202) | 8,295 | 5,430 |
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St Helen’s Church Escrick 2024 Accounts
St Helen’s Church: Current Account
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | £ | |
| Opening bank balance on 01 January | 27,299 | 19,004 | 12,316 |
| Income | 52,213 | 64,874 | 52,343 |
| Sub-total of openingbalance and income | 79,512 | 83,878 | 64,659 |
| Expenditure includingtransfers to CCLA | 53,415 | 56,579 | 46,913 |
| Bank balance on 31 December | 26,097 | 27,299 | 19,004 |
| Unpresented cheques | 1,465 | 1,590 | 1,258 |
| Net closing bank balance on 31 December | 24,632 | 25,709 | 17,746 |
Notes:
The two unpresented cheques at 31.12.24 were:
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Cheque number 103267: £565
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Cheque number 103276: £900
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St Helen’s Church Escrick 2024 Accounts
St Helen’s Church: Investment Account
| Investment Accounts | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | £ | |
| TOTAL | 30,054 | 28,595 | 25,137 |
St Helen’s investment funds are made up of 478.87 units of accumulation shares held in the Church of England Investment Fund which is managed by CCLA. During the year the value of these investment funds increased from £28,595 at December 2023 to £30,054 at December 2024.
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St Helen’s Church Escrick 2024 Accounts
St Helen’s Church: Summary of Funds
| St Helen’s Church: Summary of | Funds | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
| Funds on 31st December | £ | £ | £ |
| Current account | 26,097 | 27,299 | 19,004 |
| Investment account | 30,054 | 28,595 | 25,137 |
| Total funds | 56,151 | 55,894 | 44,141 |
The PCC needs to be clear about which funds are restricted, and which are unrestricted and or designated.
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‘Restricted funds’ are sums of money that are held on trust for particular purposes and can only be spent on those purposes.
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‘Unrestricted funds’ can be spent on any of the PCC’s general purposes.
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‘Designated funds’ are sums of unrestricted money earmarked by the PCC for specific purposes.
All the Restricted Funds and Designated Funds were spent on the Heritage project, which ran from 2016 to 2019 so all current PCC funds are Unrestricted.
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St Helen’s Church Escrick 2024 Accounts
St Helen’s Church Accounts: treasurer statement and audit certificate
Treasurer statement:
These accounts are an accurate, fair and full representation of the finances of St Helen’s Church at 31 December 2024.
John Wilson St Helen’s Church PCC Treasurer
Audit certificate:
The income and expenditure accounts and the summary of funds are in agreement with properly maintained accounts and records maintained by the St Helen’s PCC Treasurer, John Wilson.
Leisa Myers St Helen’s Church Auditor
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St Helen's Church Escrick 2024 Accounts St Helen's Church Accounts: treasurer statement and audit certificate Treasurer siatement: These accounts are an accurate. fair and full representation of the finances of St Helen's Church at 31 Decernber 2024. John Wilson st Helen's Church PCC Treèwrer Audlt ortlilcate: The income and expenditure accounts and the summary of funds are in agreement with properly maintained accounts and records maintained by the St Helen's PCC TreaSUTer. John Wilson. Iq k ftrtQ 2éJi Leisa Myers St HeSen'5 Church Auditor