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2020-12-31-accounts

St Andrew’s Church, Girton

Annual Report for the year ending

31st December 2020

Presented at the

Annual Parochial Church Meeting Sunday 16th May 2021

Registered Charity no. 1189339

Table of Contents

Agendas for the Meeting of Parishioners and Annual Parochial Church Meeting 3
Meeting of Parishioners Agenda 3
Annual Parochial Church Meeting Agenda 3
Introduction 4
Rector 4
Churchwardens 5
Objectives and Activities 6
Ministry 7
The Ministry Team 7
Rector 7
Associate Priest 7
Readers / LLMs 8
Services 9
Sunday Worship 9
Occasional Offices 10
Taize 10
Quiet Prayer Mornings 11
Messy Church 11
Pastoral Care 12
Care Homes 12
Music and choir 13
St Andrew’s 4 Kids 14
Safeguarding 14
Building and Fabric 15
Fabric 15
Churchyard 15
Flower Arrangers 16
Church Cleaning 17
Administration 18
Electoral roll 18
PCC Membership and Activity 18
Secretarial / Pews News 19
Finance 20
The Wider Church 20
Deanery Synod 20
Friends of St Andrew’s 21
Action Abroad 21

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Appendix 22
Minutes of Previous APCM 22
Meeting of Parishioners 22
Annual Parochial Church Meeting 22
Financial details 24
General fund 24
Churchyard fund 26
Legacy fund 27
Reordering fund 27
E Hertz memorial fund 28
Fabric fund 28
Statement of assets and liabilities at 2020-12-31 29
Copy of the Independent examiner’s report to the PCC 31

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Agendas for the Meeting of Parishioners and Annual Parochial Church Meeting

To be held in the church following the 10 a.m. service on Sunday, 16th May, 2021

Meeting of Parishioners Agenda

  1. Apologies for absence

  2. Minutes of the meeting of 6th September, 2020. See page 25.

  3. Election of Churchwardens

  4. Any other business

Annual Parochial Church Meeting Agenda

  1. Apologies for absence

  2. Minutes of the meeting of 6th September, 2020. See page 25.

  3. Matters arising from the minutes

  4. Number on the electoral roll

  5. Questions about Annual Report (the report itself will be taken as read)

Please note - it would be helpful to have written questions in advance if you have questions of detail to ask.

  1. Safeguarding

  2. Financial report and accounts

  3. Appointment of External Examiner of the accounts

  4. Membership of the Parochial Church Council

10. Plans for 2021

  1. Any other business - items should be given to the Rector at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting, please.

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Introduction

Rector

It was a great delight and honour to be instituted and inducted as the new Rector on 13th September 2020. This annual report, covering a fantastically difficult year, is testament to the many people involved in enabling a church to flourish. Lots has to happen to maintain a historic building and its churchyard, much of which happens behind the scenes and is rarely noted. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those people who faithfully and quietly keep the special building we enjoy in good order.

There is also much to be done in leading the people of God in worship. Sadly, for much of 2020, we were unable to gather in person. However, God continued to be good, and will continue to be good. Many thanks go also to those who have sustained worship at this difficult time with both a vacancy and a pandemic to contend with.

I commend this annual report to you with praise and gratitude for all that God has done. As we look forward to a new year we can be confident that Christ will continue to build his church in Girton. Thanks to all of you who have played a part in making that happen.

Revd. Michael Bigg

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Churchwardens

We have faced challenges but it has been a rewarding time on the whole .

Alastair Lorimer took over as PCC Chairman during the interregnum, and has been well-organised and knowledgeable, and has kept us on-task. One of the most time-consuming matters for PCC discussion continued to be the whole makeover project.

We had nine applications initially in response to our advertisement in the Church Times. We shortlisted six but two of these got other jobs before we eventually interviewed on March 20th 2020. It was the last weekday before lock-down was announced on the following Monday. It was all extremely tense, but the Lord was with us as we all, in the North room, agreed unanimously that Michael Bigg, who wanted only the church work, not the College work, was the man for the job. Fortunately, Girton College chose the only applicant who wanted to work only at the College. Michael accepted the post and said how delighted he would be to join us.

Then the lock-down started. The church was closed straight away and remained that way until late June when we re-opened for individual prayer and then for short Wednesday 10a.m. services without sermons or hymns. They have been well attended with about 24 people socially distanced around the church. A willing team has ensured that all government and Diocese requirements have been covered. It is wonderful to be back in the church.

Michael‘s Institution on 13th September took a great deal of careful planning. Thank you to Christina and Dugald for all their hard work liaising with Ely to ensure that all went smoothly. We managed to get 52 people in safely, as we could plan the seating in advance, and so gave Michael and his family an enthusiastic welcome. He was introduced and commended to us as “indefatigable” and he has certainly proved that to be true in the few months that he has been here. He couldn’t have had a more difficult time to start a new job, but everyone is very pleased with all that he is doing.

Services were held in church whenever possible before the lockdown in December when they had to be entirely online. The Friends of St Andrews funded a high quality camera and

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the necessary equipment and the team of technicians got to work- well done Nigel, Martyn and Oliver who have learned so quickly and with such good results. Funerals and Memorial Services have also been seen all around the world.

Michael has achieved a perfect balance between the traditional old ways and the newer digital ways. We have kept in touch with each other throughout these months of restrictions - phone trees, podcasts (thank you Dugald) girton.church website and newsletters (thank you Nigel), Zoom meetings and chat rooms, virtual choir get togethers online, provision of sermons etc to those with no computer access (thank you Christine) and other good ideas.

Girton people have appreciated the church being open daily for individual prayer and that is only possible because a willing team have kept it safely clean and well sanitised during the pandemic, thank you all.

Despite all the problems, we feel that the Church Family has moved forward together. The many phone calls and e-mails have kept us all in touch and we hope that you all feel included and actively involved in the Church Community.

Bruce and Wendy Hunter, Robin Bradford

Objectives and Activities

Girton PCC promotes the mission of the Church of England in the village of Girton by providing public worship and other related activities. Our mission was hampered by Covid-19 for much of 2020, but we have continued to offer public worship as best we can and to provide pastoral care to the congregation and beyond.

In 2020 our “worshipping community” numbered about 110 people, with a usual Sunday attendance of 67. However, of course, numbers have been limited with the social distancing restrictions currently in place.

During the “lockdown” of November 2020 the PCC (generously supported by Friends of St Andrew’s) invested in the equipment required to broadcast services online. We estimate that 70 people each week join in with us online when it’s not possible to gather in church, with many more participating afterwards through the recordings.

We hope to engage more fully with the wider community in 2021 as the current restrictions lift.

Revd. Michael Bigg

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Ministry

The Ministry Team

Rector

I feel extremely grateful to have such a good ministry team to work with. Between us we are fortunate to have a range of preaching and leadership styles, good pastoral skills and lots of Godly wisdom and example. My thanks to Christine, Christina, Dugald and Susan, as well as the many other people who minister in less public ways. A number of creative ways to worship and care for people have appeared during the year, but we do look forward to sharing bread and wine together again.

As a ministry team we look forward to returning to some semblance of normality as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to decline. The ministry and worship of St Andrew’s has been very “on-off” during 2020 and we hope to rebuild as the confident people of God in Girton during 2021. My personal hope and prayer is that we will develop the gifts of all God’s people in the years to come, with a continued emphasis on prayer, worship, welcome and pastoral care. We will continue to enable online worship for those unable to attend in person (and for those wanting to find out who we are without having to walk through the door!) I think that the Diocesan vision is a helpful one: “We pray to be the generous and visible people of Jesus Christ”. May that be true of us!

I look forward to writing a report for 2021 when I will have significantly more to say! Please continue to pray for me as I find my way in this new role.

Revd. Michael Bigg

Associate Priest

It was a huge relief to welcome Michael to the parishes for the final quarter of the year, so that the interregnum now feels like an (almost) distant dark dream. Given the challenges of the pandemic, parish life and duties changed constantly throughout the year as we got to grips with how to provide support spiritually and mentally to members of the congregation. One of the things I found myself doing was to provide the text for printed weekly service sheets which people could use at home as a form of worship. Certainly the chance of my suffering from boredom was not an option!

Until the Covid outbreak prevented such things from happening, I had been involved with Gretton Court, officiating at their monthly Communion service, and leading discussion groups in Advent and Lent. I was also taking the monthly Communion service at Abbeyfield, and wrote short articles to encourage the residents' life of faith which the receptionist distributed. I look forward to the opportunity to play my part with the rest of the ministry team

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as these and all other church activities open up again when the restrictions we have been tolerating for the past year are lifted.

Revd. Chris Barrow

Readers / LLMs

This year has been quite a challenge, what with the interregnum and the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic meant that there were no church services since the week before Mothering Sunday. However, there have been several funerals which Christina managed single handedly.

We are very grateful for the support of the church and the PCC in whatever we have done in providing services week by week.

Revd. Mandy Maxwell set us up well for the start of the interregnum in arranging a few months cover for the services. Thereafter, we managed it ourselves. We are especially grateful to Revd. Janet Glover who presided at Communion once a month for most months during our interregnum. Further, she has provided podcast sermons when services have been suspended. The Revd. Tom Ambrose has also helped regularly at the 8am BCP Holy Communion services. Our thanks go to him as well.

Dugald produced a “Thought for the Week” podcast for about 6 months of lock-down. This was accessible from the church website and by telephone. There was a small group who met online to discuss the thoughts.

During this time, Dugald also set up and ran, via Zoom, another run of the ‘Big Questions’ discussion series. He felt the online format was actually better than the live version! It is still available for anyone interested in self learning.

Christina was involved, with Wendy Hunter’s help, in keeping the pastoral side of church things going, so that our congregation, especially those not online, still felt connected.

When access to the church was regained, Christina and Dugald felt that returning to a full provision of services was not so easy, especially with the imminent arrival of Michael. Instead, we decided to hold midweek said Morning Prayer services.

With Michael’s arrival we have been taking a less prominent role in church worship, helping wherever needed, although Christina has had to spend more time as Reader Sub-warden.

Christina Deacon and Dugald Wilson

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Services

Sunday Worship

Much of our Sunday worship has, of course, been online in 2020. It was a strange experience for me to introduce myself to my new parishes on Palm Sunday at exactly the same time as I announced my departure to my old parish! We have learned a lot about sharing fellowship in a new way throughout 2020 and, while it doesn’t replace meeting in person, it is my hope that continued provision of online worship will enable us to engage in new ways and make the church more available to the housebound and those tentatively exploring faith.

When we have been able to meet in person the “usual Sunday attendance” has been 75 people (across all services), with a “worshipping community” of well over 100. We’re very glad to be able to offer a range of services each Sunday and will be continuing to develop our work with the children in particular over the course of 2021, as well as building our strong adult congregation. I’m sure we’re all looking forward to singing, coffee and receiving bread and wine.

I have certainly had an increased appreciation for the way in which regular worship with others gives me a strong grounding and rhythm of life, but the experience of 2020 gives us an opportunity to review the way we do things. If you have bright ideas for ways in which our worship might grow further please let me know - and please let me know if you would feel a calling into public ministry yourself!

Revd. Michael Bigg

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Occasional Offices

2020, particularly while in vacancy, has meant that opportunities for occasional offices in the parish have been limited. There were 7 funerals in the parish during the year, but no weddings or baptisms.

Revd. Michael Bigg

Taize

At the start of 2020 we were still meeting for Taizé worship in Girton College. Due to New Year holidays we first met in the college chapel on the first Sunday of February, and again in March. As the seriousness of the Covid pandemic became clear, Kay began making plans to hold future Taizé services online. She collected the Taizé books and equipment from the College on 18 March, just before it closed to visitors.

The first Zoom Taizé worship took place on the evening of April 5th and have continued monthly since, apart from a break in September. Numbers attending have been good, ranging from 12 to 30, including some new members, and also old friends and visitors from further afield, including Germany, the US, and Crete. A reminder and Zoom link are sent out to the Taizé email group a few days ahead of the service. After Malcolm Guite’s retirement Kay added the new Chaplain of Girton College, Revd. Dr Tim Boniface, to the mailing list.

The format of the service remains the same, but people can join up to half an hour before the service starts, i.e. from 7.30 pm. During this time people are welcomed, readings are allocated, and there is an opportunity to explore how things work on Zoom. During the 10 minute silent prayer people are invited (safety considerations permitting) to light a candle, and, if possible, place it so it can be seen on their screen. Participants are invited to sing and pray aloud, but are muted when not giving a reading or prayer. The chants are normally led by Kay and Dave. In some cases recordings are also used.

People have been grateful for this opportunity to continue to worship together, and have been moved by the simplicity of the prayer and the sense of opening to God together.

Kay Barrett

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Quiet Prayer Mornings

Pre-lockdown the ‘Quiet Prayer’ group met on a Wednesday morning in the North room. There were around 4 or 5 of us each week. We use a short form of prayer involving words, but there is also a lot of silence within it.

Those of us who attend, greatly appreciate this time.

Christina Deacon

Messy Church

The COVID restrictions forced great changes to how we were able to work this year. We managed a few ‘ordinary ‘ sessions in the Baptist Church until the first Lockdown which included a Messy Science session Sheila organised on Taste and Smell.

We were only able to have one session face-to-face with the families and we were able to hold this in the St John’s Field next to the main Recreation Ground in September. Everyone kept their social distance! Sheila and I organised a Nature Treasure Hunt, complete with magnifying glasses. This went down very well and Michael and his family joined us for the first time as they had only just moved in. It allowed them the opportunity to make some of the connections that always take time when starting off in a new parish. The Mills family from the Baptist Church provided the most delicious hot homemade pizzas and cold drinks for everyone which rounded the day off beautifully.

All other sessions have been over Zoom meetings once a month, on the 1st Thursday at 4.00pm. Sheila and I have prepared the activities – crafts and fun worksheets which Jeni

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Mills and Nick Lowe then delivered to the 23 families on our list. These are always on a theme chosen by Nick, which have varied from Samuel to Jonah.

By having these Zoom meetings it has allowed us the opportunity to keep in contact with the families so that, when the restrictions are eventually able to be lifted, we will be able to pick up where we left off.

We have always been able to recruit helpers, especially Beverley Suttle who says she thoroughly enjoys participating and Dugald has frequently come along to help too. If you would like to help we would love to hear from you. All activities will have been prepared and you can choose which one you would like to help with. There is always a shared meal (prepared by Jeni Mills and her team) at the end of the session which you would be most welcome to join us with. There is no charge to the families for any of the Messy Church costs but there is always a donation tin available!

Jenny Knights and Sheila Hiley

Pastoral Care

Care Homes

During the past year, with the restrictions in place re COVID, this has been a challenging area.

The two main issues have been

  1. Not being able to be in church for most of that time, or when it was possible, people being fearful of coming, and ...

  2. Being unable to visit with anyone

Those in places like Abbeyfield and Arlington felt it most, as they felt quite ‘cut-off’ from the world. Of course there were others still in their own homes, who felt this way.

From the first lockdown, Wendy, with her second lieutenant, Christina, set up a phone call system. Fortunately there were lovely volunteers who helped and we were able to divide up the congregation into groups. Each person in the group would receive phone calls from one of six people. This does seem to have helped; and many of those having the calls, say that it has been a great help. Several of us wrote cards and notes as well.

In the more recent restrictions, Chris Barrow has prepared a short service with a sermon and these have been delivered to those who simply cannot get out at all, or who do not have internet access. Again, this has been appreciated greatly.

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Sadly, during this time, several of the congregation and villagers have died. This is where the ability to give proper pastoral care has been most difficult. The fact that arrangements have had to be made by phone and email, has not been a good experience for any of those involved.

Although not so planned, an unintended consequence of a kind act of Alice Few has also proved to be a pastoral asset. She prepared a bag with some home grown apples, a personal letter and an Action Abroad envelope and gave one to every household in the congregation. The delight of many at receiving this, has been very touching. Another way, many felt, of being connected.

Christina Deacon

Music and choir

It has been a challenging year for music at St Andrew’s. We have continued rehearsing and having social events online, although during the period out of lockdown in the summer we managed to grab a few weeks of choir practice out in the sunshine, and in the autumn we were delighted to be able to rehearse together indoors, albeit in the church with social distancing and masks, and after completely the obligatory risk assessments…

We sang after the service outside as a congregation for the services of Midnight Mass and Christmas Morning, and hope to sing some choral items before the service this year at Easter, weather permitting, and of course are immensely looking forward to resuming rehearsals in person and singing at our morning services and monthly Choral Evensong.

The band has been continuing rehearsing and recording videos online with Edwin now joining Richard on the guitar and backing vocals.

We’re looking forward to starting a new project over the next year with Glebe Primary School, based around the Choir Church model, which encourages children to sing and have Christian teaching in an after-school club. For more information see choirchurch.com

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We always welcome new singers and instrumentalists to support the All Age worship – please speak to Richard after the service if you would like to offer your musical gifts. Choir practices continue weekly online Tuesdays at 6:30pm on Zoom. We always welcome new members.

Richard Hinitt

St Andrew’s 4 Kids

Themed activities take place in the North Room during the third Sunday service, but due to Covid we were only able to meet four times, January-March and October. There were nine children aged 3-11 at the last session. Thank you to the four people who have volunteered to be an extra pair of hands at St. Andrew’s for Kids.

Sixteen children and young people took part in the Nativity Play, which was produced by editing together film clips, and presented on You-Tube.

It will be great to have the youngest generation of the St. Andrew’s family active in church again!

Jenny Prince

Safeguarding

There have been two areas of activity.

  1. The routine renewal of DBS checks for those such as PCC members, ministry team people and those working with children. It is lovely to be able to say that three

people offered to help Jenny Prince with StA4K and so they too have received their DBS certificates.

  1. Dashboard—The Cof E, acknowledging how many changes there have been to safeguarding expectations and requirements by law which parishes now have to manage, have produced a computer programme to help us track what we need to do. We are delighted to report we have reached Level 3, the stage just under completion.

Whilst this shows we are doing the right things, we still need to be vigilant and watch out for any signs of things not being quite as they should be. We are all responsible for safeguarding our church family.

Sheila Hiley

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Building and Fabric

Fabric

Most of our attention this year’s been given to re- ordering. Ely gave permission to install 3 phase electricity supply, which is required for the proposed overhead lighting and heating chandeliers.We have appointed Peter Slinger as the architect to advise work required for the West End including removal of pews, clock cases changes to the floor, relocation of the font, new storage cupboards, new servery area and all the provision of a modern AV system. He will also advise on the damp problem on some of the pillars.

The main gutters and downpipes were cleared in November and some attention was given to some of the tiles which were loose.A contractor has been appointed to renew the Smart Water protection on the roof and also the removal of poles as mentioned last quinquennial report.There is a drainage problem outside the north porch that will need some attention.

Smiths of Derby have been consulted about problems with the clock which have occurred since the clock was altered from manual to electric power.

Bruce Hunter

Churchyard

The monthly work party was not regular during lockdown restrictions but many people continued working to keep the whole area looking well maintained and attractive.

The lime trees were professionally trimmed, paid for by a church member, and the two yews at the front of the church were shaped, paid for from church funds. It was agreed by PCC that funding for regular maintenance should be available, and a list of such needs is being made.

The large lonicera hedge outside the North Room was serving no real purpose and was outgrowing the space so was cut down and the roots removed. The grass has grown well in its place.

Three smaller yews in the new area were trimmed as usual by two trusty workers.

Many graves are regularly well tended by relatives and all the others are kept tidy and ivy free wherever possible.

Alice planted two beds of sunflowers and bee friendly plants and also made sure that the compost areas were organised and productive.

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The East boundary wall has collapsed in places and is too complicated to repair as trees have grown into it. Children enjoy playing in and out from the recreation ground.

The back gate was padlocked in December after heavy rain, and many walkers were making the paths extremely muddy. The Parish Council asked if the church yard could be included in their footpath project but PCC declined the offer.

Wendy Hunter

Flower Arrangers

Apart from maintaining flowers in church on Sundays as often as seemed necessary or possible, we were able to arrange floral decorations for Easter, Harvest Festival and Christmas. We also dressed the church for 2 funerals.

Wendy Hunter made a suggestion that proved pretty fruitful, namely inviting contributions from church members, particularly for the main festivals, to the flowers by an announcement to that effect on the Sunday before the relevant festival. This would be worth continuing as people were very generous!

Anne Lorimer

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Church Cleaning

Thank you to Debbie for organising the cleaning rota until her move away from Girton. The team has managed to keep the church clean and sanitized throughout the year of lockdowns. We now hope to resume a more regular rota. I would be delighted if someone else would be willing to take over the “cleaner in charge” role!

Wendy Hunter

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Administration

Electoral roll

As of 26th April 2021 we have 102 people on the electoral roll.

Alice Few

PCC Membership and Activity

The Parochial Church Council operates under the Church Representation Rules (2020). It is made up of ex officio and elected members as detailed below:

The PCC has also appointed John Hall to be PCC Secretary.

In 2020 the PCC met on 10th February, 12th August, 5th October and 15th December. There was also, between 18 April and 2 May, a period in which the PCC exchanged reports by email in lieu of a meeting.

Revd. Michael Bigg / John Hall

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Secretarial / Pews News

Pre lock-down, we were fortunate to have Sheila Bowler and Rachel Duncombe-Anderson to help us in collating, printing and distributing the Pews News. We are grateful for their contributions in time and effort. Currently we have Susie Cumming helping to produce the Pews News and other service documents.

Other church secretarial work was spread around the PCC vice -chair, secretary, the Readers, and now Michael, as Rector. There are others who prepare other rotas by which the engine of the church runs smoothly. This shows that the parish needs a more full time secretary to coordinate the various lists. This will become more necessary when the constraints of Covid-19 are eased and normal service is resumed.

Although we have had a particularly unusual year in terms of church worship, we do have a shrinking list of people who are willing to read lessons, be sidesmen or to lead the prayers in morning worship. If you feel a call and are willing to contribute to this valuable ministry, please let me know. In fact, the more people we have on the list, the less of a load it would be for all.

Dugald Wilson

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Finance

For obvious reasons, 2020 was an anomalous year financially. It is perhaps surprising that the effects of loss of income and the reduction of expenses roughly cancelled each other out, leading to a similar deficit in 2020 as we had in 2019. In other words, we are still spending more than our income, and Covid-19 cannot take the blame.

In the accounts, the closing balance of the unrestricted general fund is now negative. This does not mean that we owe money or have an overdraft at the bank, owing to our capital reserves in other funds. As indicated in last year's report, this imbalance could easily be made up by taking money from (for example) the legacy fund. But this is not sustainable; legacies are unpredictable and can only be spent once, and we had hoped to be able to spend the legacy funds we have now on the reordering project. Routine spending is well under control, which means that we must increase income if we are to operate sustainably.

The majority of our income comes from voluntary donations, and it is inevitable that we will have to appeal for an increase in giving.

Full accounts are given in the appendix to this Annual Report.

Martyn Johnson

The Wider Church

Deanery Synod

The last face to face meeting of the Deanery Synod was in February last year and reported on for the 2020 annual meeting.

The July’s meeting was cancelled but we were able to attend a Zoom meeting on the 26[th] November. (The meeting scheduled for February 2021 has also been cancelled).

Deanery Synod Meeting 26-11-20 A fuller paper copy report on this meeting can be seen in the church porch.

  1. Elections were held for the posts of lay chair, treasures and secretaries

2. Treasurer’s report

It was stated that further advised that there would not be an increase in the total ministry share for 2021 nor an increase in ministry stipends for next near.

  1. Planning in view of the financial situation many reorganising decisions will have to be made about how ministry is delivered and funded, eg there will be more joining together of parishes.

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The Standing and Pastoral Committee will look at these issues and report to the Archdeacon.

4. Living in Love and Faith— a 450 page document setting out ideas and proposals about responses to sexuality in the church. There is to be a Bishops Study Day in March and with careful consideration as it is too important a subject to rush.

5 A Clergy Covenant —issues to do with clergy well – being.

Sheila Hiley / Malini Jesudason

Friends of St Andrew’s

The FOSA Committee last met on the 6th February 2020 to discuss events for the year which were to have included a Soup and Roll lunch, a Coffee Morning, a Concert by the Cambridge Brass Band and a concert by the Cambridge Jazz Company. In fact we were able to put on the Soup and Roll lunch on the 14th March but then Coronavirus struck with all that the pandemic brought, and still brings, to disrupt almost completely any semblance of ordinary life. So there is very little to report save that we were able and happy to contribute funds, £1,703.00, for the purchase of the camera by which services on-line are possible, and the sum of £1,000.00 towards the servicing of the church tower clock.

Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible!

Alastair Lorimer

Action Abroad

Steering Committee Members as in Jan 2020: Clare Conboy (Chairman), Jillinda Tiley (Secretary), Alice Few (Treasurer) Dorothy Heenemann, Malini Jesudason.

We continue to support Domboshawa House Theological College, Zimbabwe via the UK based Domboshawa Trust through which trainees are offered Theology and Religious Studies courses supported by ministry experience. Their work has continued in spite of both COVID-19 and the dire political and social situations in Zimbabwe with all programmes running successfully through online teaching. Their most recent Domboshawa Trust newsletter is currently posted on the church website.

During 2020 we raised the very creditable sum of £1280.89, almost entirely through individual donations especially during Lent and Advent. My thanks to Alice for distributing envelopes along with apples for encouragement! Fundraising in 2020, was, like so many things, curtailed by the COVID-19 situation. Prior to this, preparations for an Art Exhibition were promising with good uptake by artists and many offers of help from within the Parish. It is to be hoped that we will be able to hold an exhibition, if not in 2021, in 2022.

Claire Conboy

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Appendix

Minutes of Previous APCM

(held on 6th September 2020 following the 10 a.m. service)

Present (at both meetings): Alastair Lorimer (in the chair, as PCC Vice-Chair) and 31 parishioners.

Apologies for absence (for both meetings) were received from: Claire Conboy, Robin Bradford, Martyn Johnson, Geoff Burt.

Meeting of Parishioners

  1. Apologies for absence. See above.

  2. The minutes of the meeting of 14 April 2019 were approved.

  3. Election of Churchwardens. The following were re-elected.

  4. a. Wendy Hunter, proposed by Anne Lorimer, seconded by Alastair Lorimer.

  5. b. Bruce Hunter, proposed by Nigel Deacon, seconded by Christina Deacon.

  6. c. Robin Bradford, proposed by Dugald Wilson, seconded by Helen Wilson.

  7. Any other business. None.

Annual Parochial Church Meeting

  1. Apologies for absence. See above.

  2. The minutes of the meeting of 14 April 2019 were approved.

  3. Matters arising from the minutes. None.

  4. The Electoral Roll now numbers 104 persons. See p. 15 of the Annual Reports.

  5. Annual Reports. The Chairman drew attention to the Annual Reports available on the church website. No comments on them were made.

  6. Health and Safety Policy and Safeguarding Policy. The church’s policies are available on the church website. Sheila Hiley (Safeguarding Officer) reported that the church is fully compliant with safeguarding regulations.

  7. The Financial Report and Accounts are available on pp. 15 and 21-24 of the Annual Reports. Martyn Johnson (Treasurer), unavoidably absent, had informed the Chairman that there was nothing he would have wished to add at the meeting.

  8. External Examiner of the Accounts. The meeting agreed to re-appoint Jacquie Fisher.

  9. Deanery Synod Representatives. Sheila Hiley (proposed by Merilyn Burt, seconded by Gillian Watkins) and Malini Jesudason (proposed by Beverley Suttle, seconded by John Hall) were re-elected.

  10. Membership of the Parochial Church Council. No election was held: none of the elected members are at the end of their three-year terms. On the proposal of Alastair Lorimer, seconded by Gillian Watkins, it was agreed that Chris Barrow should continue to attend PCC meetings.

  11. Any other business

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The meeting concluded with a recital of the Grace.

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Financial details

Financial details
Unrestricted Restricted 2020 Total 2019 Total
General fund
Receipts
Voluntary income
Collections £3,725.46 £97.00 £3,822.46 £8,590.89
Standing orders £29,343.00 £29,343.00 £25,971.00
Gift Aid tax £9,549.47 £235.75 £9,785.22 £9,207.90
Donations £1,963.47 £3,481.88 £5,445.35 £6,289.65
Other income
Fees £2,320.00 £1,195.70 £3,515.70 £2,824.00
Dividends/Interest £3,153.57 £3,153.57 £3,300.93
Parish share £711.00 £711.00 £899.00
rebate
Expenses £320.00 £320.00 £235.00
recovered
Room rental £260.00 £260.00 £395.00
Land rental £1.00 £1.00 £179.00
Action Abroad £139.00 £139.00 £1,036.89
Art Exhibition £106.00 £106.00 £768.70
Sales £60.00 £60.00 £90.25
RECEIPTS TOTAL £51,406.97 £5,255.33 £56,662.30 £59,868.21
Unrestricted Restricted 2020 2019
Payments
Ministry
Parish share £42,950.05 £42,950.05 £45,798.07
Fees remitted to £602.00 £602.00 £778.00
EDBF
Fees paid to £482.00 £482.00 £345.70
SSMs, LLMs etc
Clergy expenses £64.29 £64.29 £421.40

24

Church
Organists, choir
etc
£2,201.00
Electricity
£355.28
Gas
£1,059.14
Water
£211.78
Insurance
£2,919.78
Repairs,
Maintenance
£1,233.95
Services &
supplies
£669.78
Refreshments
£35.50
Cotton Hall Rent
Flowers
£547.30
Outreach activity
Parish Office
£1,934.48
Bank charges
£60.00
Donations
Church
£997.00
Action Abroad
£1,558.00
Art exhibition
Art Exhibition
payments
-£50.50
Art Exhibition
expenses
Extraordinary expenditure
Purchase of video
camera
£1,703.88
Sundries
£739.18
PAYMENTS TOTAL
£54,981.51
£5,292.38		 £2,201.00
£4,316.50
£355.28
£348.21
£1,059.14
£966.43
£211.78
£228.40
£2,919.78
£2,861.58
£1,233.95
£3,753.98
£669.78
£750.35
£35.50
£190.05
£547.30
£726.60
£82.85
£1,934.48
£1,758.18
£60.00
£60.00
£997.00
£211.71
£1,558.00
-£50.50
£377.60
£314.01
£1,703.88
£739.18
£352.69
£60,273.89
£64,642.31

25

Excess of receipts over -£3,574.54 -£37.05 -£3,611.59 -£4,774.10
payments
Funds at 2020-01-01 £2,928.17 £1,347.94 £4,276.11 £9,050.21
Funds at 2020-12-31 -£646.37 £1,310.89 £664.52 £4,276.11
2020 Total 2019 Total
Churchyard fund
Receipts
Churchyard income
Interest, trusts etc £797.22 £813.33
RECEIPTS TOTAL £797.22 £813.33
Payments
Churchyard maintenance £100.00 £48.00
PAYMENTS TOTAL £100.00 £48.00
Excess of receipts over payments £697.22 £765.33
Funds at 2020-01-01 £2,491.18 £1,725.85
Funds at 2020-12-31 £3,188.40 £2,491.18

26

2020 Total 2019 Total
Legacy fund
Receipts
Legacies received £0 £1,720.81
RECEIPTS TOTAL £0 £1,720.81
Payments
Bank charges £0 £6.00
PAYMENTS TOTAL £0 £6.00
Excess of receipts over payments £0 £1,714.81
Funds at 2020-01-01 £45,908.38 £44,193.57
Funds at 2020-12-31 £45,908.38 £45,908.38
2020 Total 2019 Total
Reordering fund
Receipts
Donations for reordering £243.96 £11,667.78
Gift Aid Tax £12,039.74
LPoW grant (VAT recovery) £1,724.40
RECEIPTS TOTAL £243.96 £25,431.92
Payments
Reordering project fees £21,649.00 £24,326.40
Sundry costs £348.00
PAYMENTS TOTAL £21,997.00 £24,326.40
Excess of receipts over payments -£21,753.04 £1,105.52
Funds at 2020-01-01 £240,555.66 £239,450.14
Funds at 2020-12-31 £218,802.62 £240,555.66

27

2020 Total 2019 Total
E Hertz memorial fund
Interest £4.93 £8.67
RECEIPTS TOTAL £4.93 £8.67
PAYMENTS TOTAL £0 £0
Excess of receipts over payments £4.93 £8.67
Funds at 2020-01-01 £1,161.50 £1,152.83
Funds at 2020-12-31 £1,166.43 £1,161.50
2020 Total 2019 Total
Fabric fund
Receipts £0 £0
RECEIPTS TOTAL £0 £0
Payments £0 £0
PAYMENTS TOTAL £0 £0
Excess of receipts over payments £0 £0
Funds at 2020-01-01 £12,028.46 £12,028.46
Funds at 2020-12-31 £12,028.46 £12,028.46

28

Statement of assets and liabilities at 2020-12-31

Unbanked cheques & cash £256.16
CAFcash current account £4,690.71
CBF deposit account £53,929.57
CBF churchyard account £428.23
CBF E Hertz account £1,166.43
Flagstone deposit platform £221,287.71
TOTAL £281,758.81
Breakdown of monetary assets by fund
General fund £664.52
Churchyard fund £3,188.40
Legacy fund £45,908.38
Reordering fund £218,802.62
E Hertz memorial fund £1,166.43
Fabric fund £12,028.46
TOTAL £281,758.81

29

Non monetary assets
Keyboard Anonymous gift
Ricoh MP171SPF photocopier
Ride-on mower
Masport rotary mower
Small mower purchased 2014 £231.00
Yamaha piano purchased 2016 £250.00
Office printer purchased 2017 £123.00
Video camera purchased 2020 £1,703.88
Church insured for £11.2 million (full valuation)

Liabilities

Invoices for churchyard mowing not received from Parish Council

30

Copy of the Independent examiner’s report to the PCC

This report on the financial statements of the Girton PCC for the year ended 31 December 2020, which are set out on pages 1 and 2,[1] is in respect of an examination carried out in accordance with the Church Accounting Regulations 2006 (“the Regulations”) and section 43 of the Charities Act 1993 (“the Act”).

Respective responsibilities of the PCC and the examiner

As members of the Girton PCC you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements. You consider that the audit requirement of the Regulations and section 43(2) of the Act do not apply. It is my responsibility to issue this report on those financial statements in accordance with the terms of the Regulations.

Basis of this report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 43(7)(b) of the Act and to be found in the Church Guidance , 2006 edition, issued by the Finance Division of the Archbishops’ Council. That examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the PCC and a comparison of the accounts with those records. It also includes considering any unusual items or disclosures in the financial statements and seeking explanations from you as trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.

Independent examiner’s statement

In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:

(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements

– to keep accounting records in accordance with section 41 of the Act; and

– to prepare financial statements, which accord with the accounting records and comply with the requirements of the Act and the Regulations

have not been met; or

(2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Jac���e F�s���

Ms Jacquie Fisher FCCA Oleander, 155 Wellbrook Way, Girton 25th March 2021

1 Note - this refers to the accounts shown in this report on pages 25-31

31

Registered charity no: 1189339

www.girton.church | rector@girton.church | 01223 202 145 42 Church Lane, Girton, Cambridge, CB3 0JP