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2024-12-31-accounts

Trustees Annual and Financial Report of the Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of St Peter’s Church, Westhampnett, for the Year ended 31[st] December 2024

St Peter’s Church, Stane Street, Westhampnett, Chichester, PO18 0NT

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL REPORT 2024

Westhampnett St Peter

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WÈsthampnÈtt St Peter TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPOR T AND FINANCIAL REPOR T 2024 Page12

CONTENTS

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Trustees Annual Report 5
Financial Report 18
Report of the Independent Examiner 26
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St Peter’s is part of the United Benefice of St Paul, Chichester with St Peter, Westhampnett

Website: www.stpeterswesthampnett.uk

Rector of the United The Revd. Canon, Paul Doick, St Paul’s Church, Churchside, Chichester, Benefice: PO19 6FT (from 23 April 2024 – before which the Benefice was in vacancy.) Associate Rector of The Revd. Rachel Hawes, Downcote Cottage, Summersdale Road, Chichester, the United Benefice: PO19 6PN

Independent Rachel Bryan, 22 Maplehurst Road, Summersdale, Chichester PO19 6QL. Examiner:

Bankers : HSBC, 94 East Street, Chichester, PO19 1HD

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St Peter’s Westhampnett: Trustees Annual Report for 2024

Our aims and purposes as a charity

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility of co-operating with the Rector and the Associate Rector, in

Registration

Until 2020 we were an Excepted Charity as our annual income did not exceed £100,000. In 2020 however, we successfully applied for voluntary registration. We did this in preparation for the fundraising we are undertaking for our Re-Ordering Project.

What we planned to do to achieve our charitable objectives

When planning our activities for the year, the Rector, the Associate Rector and the PCC have had regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and, in particular, the specific guidance on ‘charities for the advancement of religion’.

For 2024 we discussed and planned the following objectives and activities to fulfil our aims:

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Our vision for the future in our Mission Action Plan

Our work throughout the year, both within our church community and within the wider community that we serve, continues to be underpinned and inspired by the vision of our 5-year Mission Action Plan, agreed in 2017 and reviewed and readopted in 2021. This Plan draws upon both theological and practical ideas, as well as on existing St Peter’s statements and documents and is inspired by the siting of our church on Stane Street – the ancient Roman road from Chichester to London. As a church community we identify ourselves as being on a journey and part of God’s pilgrim people and we identify pilgrimage with three elements: companionship with God; companionship with each other; and companionship with those we meet along the way.

What we achieved and how we affected beneficiaries’ lives

Benefice in vacancy

In April 2023, the Revd Canon Simon Holland, the Rector of the United Benefice, left St Paul’s to take up the post of Interim Dean of Chichester Cathedral. Since then, and until 23 April 2024, the Benefice was in vacancy. During this period the Associate Rector liaised closely with the Churchwardens of St Paul’s and has been available to them if required. On 23 April 2024 the Revd Canon Paul Doick was installed as Rector of the United Benefice at a service in St Paul’s. We are very glad to welcome Fr Paul and have enjoyed working with him as he settles into his new role.

Attendance at worship and our services

The church family welcomes visitors from within as well as outside the parish boundary. Visitors attend by personal choice and it is our great pleasure to welcome everyone to take part in the life of the church. We contend that voluntary attendance at Christian worship is a major demonstration of the public benefit of our activities.

We keep St Peter’s open daily. We feel strongly that the role of the Church (in both meanings of the word - as a sacred building and as a worshipping community) is to be open, visible and functioning. We are aware that, whether they attend regularly or not, it matters to many people, especially in times of trouble, to feel that the Church is still there for them. Those who visit the church are able to leave prayer requests and light candles and we have found that many do this and obviously find it helpful.

The Church Electoral Roll was revised in March/April 2024. On revision, there were 88 names on the Roll (9 additions and no removals). By the end of the year, the number remained at 88. Of these, 58 were not resident within the parish.

The average regular weekly attendance, counted during October, was 46 (broadly the same as in 2023, when it was 47). We are noticing a significant increase in numbers in the last 2 years, attributable to

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large numbers of young families attending our regular Family Service on the first Sunday of the month. The completion of the Madgwick Park estate in Westhampnett is the major factor in this increase as it has brought a large number of new families into the village. We are delighted to welcome them and they are enriching our worship.

Our children’s ministry is especially important to us. Throughout 2024 we have continued with the Family Eucharist, on the first Sunday of every month. We design this service to ensure participation by children of all ages. Children read the lessons, give presentations based on the Lectionary theme for the Sunday and write and lead the prayers. We believe that participating and ‘performing’ in church helps to grow children’s confidence in a way which feeds

“Thank you so much for giving her the opportunity to take part – she is really excited about it.”

A parent by email

“ I think he has got over his shyness and would like to read this time (!) I am so pleased.”

A parent by email

into all other parts of their lives, including school. At a time when the mental health and well-being of children has given cause for concern, this was never more important. It was lovely to see children, who had been initially reluctant to take part, suddenly engaging and blossoming as a result. We were also very pleased to be able to offer Sunday School for the increasing number of very young children who are now attending St Peter’s. This has been ably led by one of our Churchwardens, Jane Stone, who is a former teacher.

Our children’s Serving Team continued to support the liturgy in 2024. Theirs in an important role in our worship and it is a delight to see how enthusiastic they are about it.

Our Church Year began as usual, with a well-attended Family Service for Epiphany, in which the children read the lessons, delivered the prayers and gave a presentation on the meaning of Epiphany and the gifts of The Magi. Our beautifully decorated Kings (from our Nativity set) were then processed to the Crib for Epiphany season.

As always, in the weeks before Easter, we sought to make the village aware of the events and services in Holy Week and to encourage them to attend. We produced a leaflet and posters which we distributed to local businesses and to key points in the village such as the Community Hall, giving details of the services and a simple explanation of their meaning. We began Holy Week with a Palm Sunday procession, which started on the village green at Westhampnett and processed to the church, singing Easter hymns. The dramatised Passion Gospel during the Eucharist service was movingly performed by members of our congregation.

Holy Week at St Peter’s included a full observance of the Triduum with the traditional services of Maundy Thursday; Good Friday; and (the high point of the sequence) the Easter Vigil, in which the Easter fire is lit outside the church and the paschal candle (a symbol of the light of Christ) processed into the darkened church for the first Eucharist of Easter. Holy Week concluded with the Parish Eucharist on Easter Sunday and an Easter Egg hunt for the children. In total 88 adults and children attended St Peter’s on Easter Eve and Easter Day (an increase of 19 from 2023). This is the most

We are approaching the holiest point of the Christian year, when the services are varied and beautiful and speak to us of the depth and richness of our Christian faith. The period from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday (‘Holy Week’) is an important spiritual journey and I warmly encourage you to make time to experience that journey for yourselves.

The Associate Rector - Easter Services Leaflet

profoundly joyful point of the Christian year and a time for celebration, and we did indeed celebrate on Easter Sunday with prosecco (and delicious cakes!).

We continue to celebrate a Eucharist on the first Wednesday of each month. The service is followed by coffee and, although numbers remain small, there are some regular worshippers who clearly find the simple weekday service helpful. We have been very glad to see residents from the two Nursing

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Homes in Westhampnett attending this service.

During the year we held three joint services with our sister church, St Paul’s. On 9 May their congregation came to us for an evening Eucharist for Ascension Day. On our patronal festival - St Peter and St Paul, on 30 June - we went to them. We went again on 24 November for the Feast of Christ the King and our Associate Rector preached. It was lovely for our two congregations to be able to worship together and especially pleasing to be able worship with Fr Paul, the new Rector of the Benefice.

The Advent and Christmas seasons saw some very special services for children and adults alike. Our Advent Evening Service of Light was well attended, and we were delighted to welcome back to sing for us, Natasha Page, the soprano whose beautiful voice gave us such joy during the years of Covid, when congregational singing was prohibited. At this service we also welcomed Francis Gush, a countertenor and colleague of Natasha’s, and Charlotte Barton, the student trumpeter from the University of Chichester who has played for us several times before in Remembrance Sunday Services. Again, this year, s everal of our children read lessons at this service - a mark of how much their active involvement in church services has improved their confidence. We were delighted to welcome many people from the village of Westhampnett and surrounding villages, who were not regular worshippers.

Our Crib Figures continue to be a source of delight to the younger children. We set the Nativity at the focal point of the church within the open altar – treating it as the ‘stable’. We use these figures to ‘tell the story’ of Advent and Christmas for the children in Services in a way which fully engages their imaginations. The leader of our Open the Book team led a charming Crib Service play entitled Amazing Days, in which our children acted the story of the Nativity. This year the child who was prevented from playing Mary the year before (because of chickenpox) finally got to play the part. She was very happy and excited to do so (!) The main characters in the story were ably supported by a host of very convincing shepherds, angels and sheep - and one donkey!

Our Advent Travelling Crib (a beautiful miniature crib with all the Nativity figures, carved in olive wood by Christians in Palestine) made its journey round the Parish again this Advent. This is a wonderful way for young and old within the church community to meet each other (especially, to meet those

“Here’s a picture of her with the Crib! She just loves it. Thank you so much!”

A parent by text

they may not know well) and to share fellowship. The Crib is accompanied by a simple Order of Service, suitable for all ages. Many young families, who had just moved into the village, hosted the Crib for the first time and loved it. They sent photos of their children around the Crib. Amazingly, all the Nativity figures came back and none were lost!

We held the traditional Service of Nine Lessons and Carols again, just before Christmas. This year we were delighted to welcome some of the choir from our sister church, St Paul’s, led by one of our organists, Charles Gauntlett. They delighted us with a beautiful selection of music. This is a wonderful service, and a time when our ancient church, lit entirely by candlelight, really comes into its own.

We again noticed some changes in patterns of attendance at Christmas. Many more young families with children came to the Crib Service on Christmas Eve, rather than attending on Christmas Day and more people came to Midnight Mass. Anecdotally, this seemed to be because people were travelling on Christmas Day to be with family. Those children who did attend on Christmas Day were treated to a ‘Christmas Star Hunt’. The little children took a delight in discovering the painted stars that had ‘fallen from the sky’ on Christmas Night and which turned out to have helpful loops on them, to enable them to be hung, afterwards, on the Christmas trees at home! Everyone went home with a pocket full of stars!

In total 185 adults and children attended our special services during the Advent and Christmas period and 44 attended on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We were delighted to welcome the children of The March Church of England Primary School, for their Christmas Service and also to welcome, for

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the first time, the Rotary Club, for their Christmas Carol Service. Between these two services, an additional 275 adults and children attended St Peter’s at Christmas.

At the end of 2024 we were sorry to say a ‘partial’ goodbye to the Reverend Anthony Freeman (our Honorary Assistant Priest with PTO). He has decided to step down from regular involvement at St Peter’s. Over the past 5 years he has assisted the Associate Rector in conducting services each month. He has also helped with pastoral work, including Nursing Home Communions; in the training of the team of lay intercessors; and in our Mission Giving and Stewardship programmes. We are very glad that Fr Anthony decided to retain his links with the Nursing Homes in Westhampnett where his ministry is much appreciated. We have greatly valued everything that he has done for the Parish and are glad that he is still worshipping with us and assisting, on an occasional basis.

Teaching, baptising and nurturing new and existing believers

We continued to welcome new members of the Christian community in Baptism. This year we baptised 12 children. The increase in the number of new families now settled in Westhampnett (as a result of the recent housing development in Madgwick Park) is reflected in the significant rise in infant Baptisms over the last few years. It has been a real pleasure to see so many more young families coming to St Peter’s.

It is the policy of the United Benefice to admit baptised children to Holy Communion (after preparation) and this year we prepared 14 children for their First Communion – 6 were admitted in March, on Mothering Sunday, and a further 8 in December 2024. In each case it was a most joyful occasion and we broke our Lenten and Advent fasts respectively, to celebrate with the children and their families.

We seek to encourage the participation in worship of all members of the church community, through readings and intercessional prayers and in the administration of the chalice.

We continue to encourage the study of, and reflection on, our faith through our Teaching and Nurture programme. In Lent this year we followed the Diocesan Lent Course, Jesus the Lord. As part of the Diocesan Year of the New Testament 2024, the Course invited us to consider the vital question of who Jesus is and helped us to answer in faith: Jesus is the Christ, the Lord’s anointed Saviour, the light and hope of all the world (Matthew 16.13-20). The Course was delivered for the whole benefice, with sessions both face to face and on Zoom and was well attended.

Socialising, sharing food and company and celebrating together

We believe very strongly that social events play an important role in the life of the parish, providing a way of meeting others, avoiding loneliness and learning to live together. In 2024 we were able to hold a number of social events. On Mothering Sunday (10[th] March) we celebrated the First Communion of some of our children and everyone in the congregation received beautiful posies of daffodils. In preparation for Easter, our children were invited to decorate the window sills of the church and they did so beautifully, with flowers and with a delicate Easter Garden in the north aisle. We celebrated the joy of Easter, with drinks (and cakes for the children!) on Easter Sunday. We also celebrated after the Ascension Day Service in May. During the summer, we had several informal ‘bring and share’ picnics on our paddock behind the church. It was lovely to sit on the grass and watch the children playing cricket.

Again this year we linked up with events at The March School; in particular we had a stall selling homemade jams, marmalades and plants at their Summer fete. By popular request our produce was also shared with the congregation of our sister church St Paul's.

It is always a real pleasure when a congregation member brings an individual contribution to our annual list of events and, this year, one of our members, Stephen Bennett, a former naval officer, gave a fascinating talk entitled Arabian Days , covering his time both in the navy and also working in Saudi Arabia. This was a delightful evening, with supper provided, and was hosted by one of our Churchwardens.

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In June we hosted a classical guitar recital by Mark Jennings. This was an interesting programme and well-attended. We hope very much to be able to host similar concerts in the future, especially when our Re-Ordering Project is complete, and we have more flexibility on how we can use our building.

Some of the events we held contributed to our fundraising for the mission of St Peter’s and to our Re-Ordering Project. This year we were delighted to see a major expansion of our Events Team. This enabled us, for the first time, to tackle holding several more major events. The first of these was a Summer Fête on 10 August in our paddock to the north of the church. The weather stayed fine and the event was a huge success, with numerous individual stalls, a barbeque and a bouncy castle. One of the star attractions of the day was Cuddle a Duckling for 50p (!) The ducklings (who were yellow, fluffy and very cuddly) belonged to one of the church families who live in the village. One of the aspects of the Fête which most pleased us was the fact that many people who attended were new to the village and had never visited the church or its grounds before. The event proved an ideal context in which to connect with people and it was good to see, subsequently, some of the young families, who had come to the Fête, attending services at St Peter’s.

In September members of the congregation again took part in Ride and Stride - a one-day event in which participants visit local churches either on foot or by bicycle. This is a lovely way to get to know some of the beautiful churches in our area. Half the proceeds go to support the Historic Churches Trust and the other half go to the individual churches.

In October, inspired by the success of our Summer Fête, we held a Bingo evening in the Westhampnett Community Hall, with refreshments and prizes! It was organised by some of the new members of our Events Team and impressively compered by one of their number. People of all ages came and the children, in particular, proved both competitive and successful!

We celebrated Harvest Festival on 6 October with a Family Service and a church beautifully decorated by adults and children. We collected food and other essentials for the local Food Bank at the service and were glad to be able to make a significant donation.

Another new event, enabled by our hugely committed Events Team, was a Christmas Market held in the Westhampnett Community Centre on 30 November. Stalls selling wonderfully enticing “What a great evening. Thanks for the wine and cake! potential Christmas presents made the day a real success, as did the sequel to Cuddle a I really enjoyed the last book. Looking forward to the next one!” Duckling for 50p viz Cuddle a Rabbit for £1. The rabbits, who were amazingly relaxed about all A Book Club member the attention, proved very popular with young and old alike (and especially with the Associate Rector!).

We would like the people of the village, whether they worship regularly at St Peter’s or not, to feel that the church is ‘theirs’ and that they can use it. For this reason, we have been particularly pleased, to be able to host the Madgwick Park Book Club, which continues to meet regularly in the church on Friday evenings. The Associate Vicar attends this Club and is delighted at the opportunity it gives her to get to know people through it.

In addition, this year, one of our Churchwardens has started a monthly early Coffee Drop-In on Wednesdays. This is open to everyone, but particularly aimed at families dropping off children at school. The numbers are small but are growing and we are very glad to be able to offer this to the community.

Evangelism and outreach

The Pastoral Offices (Baptism, Marriage and Funerals) are particularly the place where the church community reaches out to the parish it serves. Wedding numbers still remain lower than before the pandemic, with only 4 weddings in 2024. Baptism numbers, however, remain high 12 Baptisms in 2024, all of which were infants or young children. 7 funerals were conducted in church and 4 interments of ashes, as well as a further 2 services at the local crematorium.

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We continue to nurture our ties with The March Church of England Primary School. The Associate Rector (who is also a School Governor) takes Assemblies there every other week, alternating with our Open the Book team who present dramatised versions of Bible stories. Through this we ensure we have a weekly presence in the school. In addition, the Associate Rector also conducts a monthly Eucharist there and the School comes to St Peter’s for the key festivals such as Harvest and Christmas.

We also continue to visit both Nursing Homes in Westhampnett and to take Holy Communion regularly to those who are housebound.

This year our Associate Rector was invited to visit Terry’s Place (an adult day-care centre in Westhampnett). She provided music ( Sing your Favourite Hymns ) and conversation, ably accompanied on the piano by one of our organists. Many of the guests, sadly, suffer from dementia but music crosses all boundaries and this proved to be a most successful project.

Provision of the church building for people to enjoy

It is important to us that our historic church is available, not just to the Church family, but also to the wider community. We wish it to be appreciated as sacred space (a place for prayer and contemplation);

community space (a place where the events of life are celebrated); and historic space (a place “What a beautiful, peaceful place!” that connects people to their past as well as “Wonderful to find the church open. Thank you.” giving them hope for the future). To this end, the church building has always been kept open Entries in our Visitors’ Book from 9am to 4pm and the entries in the Visitors’ Book have testified to how much people appreciate this.

Safeguarding

The PCC takes its Safeguarding responsibilities seriously and seeks to ensure that children and vulnerable adults within the church community are protected at all times. The PCC has complied with the duty under section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016 to have ‘due regard’ to guidance issued by the House of Bishops on matters relating to the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults and has adopted the House of Bishop’s Promoting a Safer Church; Safeguarding Policy Statement.

We have completed the Diocesan online programme Simple Quality Protects , which is a tool designed to help PCCs achieve the best standards of Safeguarding in a focussed way. This tool has enabled us to review and revise our Safeguarding Policies and process documents in the light of the most recent guidance.

All PCC members and volunteers working with children or vulnerable adults have undergone the following Safeguarding Training:

Safeguarding - Basic Awareness

Safeguarding - Foundations

Clergy have, in addition, undergone:

Safeguarding - Leadership

Safeguarding is a standard item on all PCC Agendas and our Parish Safeguarding Officer reports regularly. We had two Safeguarding incidents in the period covered by this Report. Both were reported to the Diocesan Safeguarding Team who advised us appropriately. Neither incident required further action.

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Current and future projects, including spatial reordering of the church building

Graveyard maintenance

Our church has a highly successful relationship with the Kent and Sussex Probationary Service and, in particular, the Community Payback Team. A team of unpaid workers under the supervision of the Community Payback Team work on the maintenance and upkeep of the graveyard. This relationship is a very special one - there are benefits on both sides. The church graveyard is beautifully kept and the unpaid workers have commented on their sense of being valued and of worth for a job well done.

This year members of the Team also helped with the cleaning of the church, which has eased the burden on the small group of volunteers who normally clean it.

Re-Ordering the church

The church is currently without any basic facilities (such as toilet or kitchen). This limits the use of the church for the type of community activity which the PCC sees as an important part of its mission in the growing community of Westhampnett.

In accordance with the vision outlined in our Mission Action Plan, the PCC agreed a scheme for the complete re-ordering of the church. This Re-Ordering Project involves the installation of a small teapoint and an accessible toilet in the south-west aisle corner of the church; the removal of the existing fixed pews to provide flexible floor space (replacing them with moveable pew benches); the refurbishment of radiators and the installation of radiant heating; the provision of a glassed-in meeting room in the north-west aisle corner; the re-location of the font to the aisle crossing; the creation of a sacrament chapel; the replacement of the existing wooden south door with a glass door; the installation of decorative wrought iron grilles on the exterior entrance of the porch; the re-decoration of the interior of the church and the installation of a new lighting scheme.

Detailed final plans for all these works were originally prepared and submitted to the DAC in May 2019. The DAC indicated that it was in sympathy with our proposals, although it deferred our application for answers on a number of minor technical points. It also advised us that we should wait before re-applying until we have been able to raise at least 60% of the overall costs of the project. We had intended to begin work on fund-raising and grant applications in 2020 but the Covid pandemic unfortunately forced us to delay this.

We began our fundraising again at the end of 2022, having, as a preliminary, conducted a Community

“This seems to us a great idea to bring this beautiful old church into the 21[st] century. Westhampnett is growing quickly. Let’s hope the people of Westhampnett get behind you.”

“Thank you. We really appreciate this and value our community and would love to have opportunities to get involved/meet people,”

“A great idea to make the church more available – I agree with all your objectives.” Responses to the Community Questionnaire

Survey to find out what the growing community at Westhampnett wanted from their church. We distributed 600 questionnaires and had just over a 10% response rate. The response was overwhelmingly positive, with 55% of contributors adding additional suggestions and comments.

We used this data from our Questionnaire to support the grant applications we made for our Re-Ordering Project.

By mid-2024 we had raised sufficient funds to re-apply to the DAC for its September Meeting. We decided to divide the Project into 3 phases and so the application was for Phase

1 only – the re-ordering of the west end of the church. Again, we were referred on minor details but have responded and expect to be able to proceed to faculty in early 2025 with the prospect of beginning building work in the summer of that year.

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Provision of tangible support to the poor and needy

In September 2023 it became public that the Government had leased the Chichester Park Hotel, situated in the Parish and very close to the church, to house asylum seekers. We were glad to be able to assist these people in practical ways by donations of clothing and children’s toys and we have continued this assistance into 2024. The Associate Rector has visited the hotel regularly and linked up with The Sanctuary in Chichester, a registered charity which supports refugees and asylum seekers. Through the expertise of The Sanctuary staff we were able to ensure that those who needed, e.g. legal advice, had access to it. We have also been very glad to welcome the residents of the hotel to worship with us at St Peter’s.

Again this year, we supported also our local Food Bank by regular monthly food collections and an additional special collection at Harvest Festival.

Other charitable giving

“Thank you so much for your continued support for the Food Bank.”

Food Bank Co-ordinator

This year we have supported The Bell Tower Drop-in Centre (£300); The Bible Society - Bible

a Month (£120); Swanfield Chapel Hot Cross Buns Project (£25); and Sussex Historic Churches Trust (£90). We have also continued to deposit Funds with Boom, the West Sussex Credit Union and we have paid our Parish Share in full.

Financial Review

In 2024 total receipts amounted to £132,760 (compare £33,328 in 2023). The increase was largely due to the receipt of £87,000 in grants for the Reordering Project and income derived from placing the grants on deposit pending disbursement. Total payments amounted to £39,189 (£34,846 in 2023). As a consequence overall assets increased by £93,572 the majority of which relates to the Restricted Reordering Fund.

Perhaps a better comparison of the results for 2023 and 2024 is achieved by distinguishing between general funds, designated funds and restricted funds. The PCC are free to spend general funds as they think fit in order to promote their charitable aims and objectives. Broadly speaking the General Fund covers the day to day running of the church and promotion of its mission. The designated funds, the Designated Reordering and Hardship Funds, have been earmarked for specific purposes but may be returned to the General Fund at some future date if the PCC so decide. Restricted funds, including the Restricted Reordering Fund, may only be used to fulfil the purpose for which they were donated.

The General Fund produced receipts of £37,295 and payments of £35,536 resulting in net income of £1,758 (compare net expenditure of £2,577 in 2023). General Fund receipts increased by almost 17% while expenditure increased by just under 3%. The increase in receipts is admittedly partially due to delayed payment of the proceeds of the 2023 £1,000 Parish Council grant and £240 for the 2023 Ride and Stride sponsored event. However, voluntary giving, including a substantial donation from the Goodwood Estate and a legacy of £500, was higher than in 2023. The events committee put on a number of events which raised, net of costs, £2,004 for the General Fund (see note 11 to the Accounts). While administrative costs increased substantially it was primarily due to the acquisition of two card readers and a podium, the cost of which was covered by a donation specifically for that purpose. The cost of utilities fell from £2,243 to £1,896 primarily due to the lower price of oil (see note 20 to the Accounts).

Designated funds produced receipts of £666 and payments of £300 resulting in net income of £366 (net expenditure of £305 in 2023). A designated Hardship Fund was created based on an initial donation and a transfer of £500 from the General Fund. This will be used to support those in need in the parish. An additional £800 was transferred to the designated Reordering Fund following a Deanery Synod Grant.

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Restricted funds produced receipts of £94,800 and expenditure of £3,353 resulting in net income of £91,447 (net income of £1,364 in 2023). The major change to our finances relates to £87,000 in grants awarded for the Reordering Project (see note 10 to the Accounts), which should enable us to commence work in the next few months. In addition, the events committee raised £2,901 net of costs for the Reordering Fund (see note 11 to the Accounts.)

The PCC is grateful for the continuing generosity of the congregation and other donors who fund the maintenance of the church and our mission. The PCC also wishes to extend its thanks to those involved in fundraising activities on its behalf and to the organisation that supplies gardeners who maintain the churchyard so beautifully. The latter organisation kindly waived its fee again this year. Finally, the PCC wishes to thank the organisations that are supporting our Reordering Project (see note 10 to the Accounts), which will ultimately assure the long term viability of St Peter’s.

At the year-end total funds, excluding debtors and liabilities, amounted to £142,420 of which £13,016 is held in the General Fund, £10,666 in designated funds and £118,737 in Restricted Funds (see note 4 to the Accounts).

Why we hold some money in reserve

It is PCC policy to maintain a balance on the general unrestricted funds (excluding property) which equates to approximately three months’ worth of unrestricted payments as contingency against unforeseen situations. An additional £5,000 is reserved to cover expenditure involved in carrying out the works required by the last quinquennial inspection.

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Structure, governance and management of the Charity

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) is a Registered Charity, Number 1191476. Its governing document is the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956. During the year the following served as members of the PCC:

Ex Officio members:
Rector The Reverend Canon Paul
Doick (from April 2024)
Associate Rector The Reverend Rachel Hawes (Chair)
Churchwardens: Mrs Jane Stone (from April 2018 – Re-appointed by
Resolution - April 2024)
Mrs Hazel Bate (from April 2024)
Elected members: Mrs Laura Bradley (from April 2021) Safeguarding
Officer
Mrs Val Edwards (from April 2021)
Mr Gerald Bate (from March 2022)
Mrs Rosemarie Scott (from April 2023)
Mrs Hazel Bate (until April 2024)
Mrs Rebecca Coombes (until April 2024)
Mrs Tara Atkins (from April 2024)
Mrs Ann Kent (from April 2024) formerly
Churchwarden
Mr Mark Leyland (from April 2024)
Mrs Rachel Tout (from April 2024) PCC Secretary
& Electoral Roll Officer
Co-opted Members: The Reverend Anthony (until April 2024)
Freeman
Deanery Synod Mr Gerald Bate (from April 2023)
Reps:

The PCC was assisted by the following, not a member:

Appointed under Mrs Carol Wadsworth-Jones (from April 2019) Treasurer CRR 2022 Rule M20 (3)(b)

Membership of the PCC is determined under the Church Representation Rules and consists of certain ex-officio members (the incumbent/priest-in-charge, curate, lay readers licensed to officiate in the church), the Churchwardens and members of the Deanery, Diocesan or General Synods and members of the church who are elected at the APCM. Members are warmly encouraged to stand for election to the PCC and we try to ensure a balance of skills and experience where possible.

This Trustees’ Annual Report was approved by the Parochial Church Council and signed on its behalf by the Revd Rachel Hawes (PCC Chair).

Signed:

Date: 18 March 2025

Westhampnett St Peter TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL REPORT 2024

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WÈsthampnÈtt St Peter TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPOR T AND FINANCIAL REPOR T 2024

Financial Report of the Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of St Peter’s Church, Westhampnett, for the Year ended 31[st] December 2024

CONTENTS

Page
Summary of Financial Receipts and Payments 18
Statement of Assets and Liabilities 19
Notes to the Financial Report 20
Report of the Independent Examiner 26

Westhampnett St Peter TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL REPORT 2024

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St Peter’s Church, Westhampnett

Summary of Financial Receipts and Payments

The financial effect of our activities during the year can be summarised as follows:

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL REPORT 2024

Westhampnett St Peter

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St Peter’s Church, Westhampnett Statement of Assets and Liabilities

Our financial position at the year-end was:

Westhampnett St Peter TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL REPORT 2024

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St Peter’s Church, Westhampnett Notes to the Financial Report

  1. The financial statements of the PCC have been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 and current Church Accounting Regulations, using the Receipts and Payments basis.

  2. Analysis of total received:

Westhampnett St Peter TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL REPORT 2024

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  1. Analysis of total paid T¢¥taJ Totd Al Fundj AU 14 ￿nts and OC￿￿tIons 535 Joo 50 1.270 16.802 715 JS 17.435 17JJS 665 Owtr othEr peDp￿.1 OLPth 610 7gJ 3.490 j.ioi 1.020 lJ2• 1.054 lJ54 1.21] Z.24J 1.096 20 thurth funn￿# costs rth IM￿t•nant & r•d•corntio 1154 1.404 21 1.030 I,Jzi 21 rthprd 1.417 l.B72 180 1.504 1.72 23 F•¢fUW & 24 )00 J•• JsJs J•0 43J 3S.71• 34.729 Weddinwknneral eKtraJ 357 12 33 33 35 12 477 25 1.834 lJ34 lJ34 OthEt P*ymeiitS 3SJ34 3 JSJ Westhampnett St Peter TKUSTEES ANNUAL REPOKT AND FINANCIAL REPOKT 2024

4. Statement of funds

Endowed Funds are required by donors to be invested and the income spent on specific objectives. There are no endowed funds.

Restricted Funds are not invested permanently but are to be spent within reasonable timescales for specific purposes. The restricted funds existing at the start of the year comprise the Fabric Fund (to maintain the fabric of the church), the Reordering Fund (raised to finance the Reordering Project), the Gilbert Trust (for the maintenance of certain graves), the Chancel Trust (to receive grants for the maintenance of the chancel) the Soloist Fund (to pay for soloists to perform at the Parish Eucharist and other key services) and the Refugee Fund which was formed in 2023 in response to a small donation received for the support of refugees in the diocese.

Unrestricted funds are not subject to any donor restrictions and can be spent as the PCC decides. The unrestricted funds comprise the General Fund, a designated fund to finance the Reordering Project and a newly created Hardship Fund to be distributed at the discretion of the churchwardens to those in need.

Transfers between funds were as follows:

General
Fund		 Designated
Funds		 Restricted
Funds		 Purpose
£ £ £
(500) 500 - To provisiontheDesignated HardshipFund
(800) 800 - Toprovision the Designated ReorderingFund
(1,300) 1,300 - Total

Fund receipts, payments and final balances are as follows:

This table excludes debtors and liabilities.

  1. The Gilbert Trust Investments were revalued as at 31 Dec 2024.

Westhampnett St Peter TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL REPORT 2024

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  1. Planned Giving refers to payments received by standing order and bank transfer into the Treasurer’s Current Account, including Parish Giving Scheme but excluding the Gift Aid element.

  2. Collections includes weekly cash collections, gift aid envelopes and other irregular collections.

  3. Gift Aid recovered includes the Parish Giving Scheme element of £2,856 plus claims for direct donations in the year ended 31/12/23 and GASDS for the year ended 5/4/24.

  4. Other donations relates to voluntary giving outside the context of services or fundraising events. It includes a large donation by the Goodwood Estate, donations from individuals and donations received from retailers via Easyfundraising. A large individual donation was made to fund the purchase of new card readers and a podium in order to improve our fundraising capabilities.

  5. The grant income is as follows

Provider General
Fund		 Chancel Trust Reordering
Fund
(Restricted
WesthampnettParishCouncil for 2023 £1,000
WesthampnettParishCouncil for 2024 £1,000
Chichester Deanery Synod £800
Chichester Boardof Finance £177
BenefactTrust £47,000
National Lottery CommunityFund £20,000
GarfieldWeston Foundation £20,000
**Total ** £2,800 £177 £87,000

The Chancel Trust grant from Chichester DBF is a restricted charitable grant to reimburse the cost of insuring the Chancel.

In addition to grants already received The Beatrice Laing Trust and The Hobson Charity have agreed in principle to make grants of £5,000 and £10,000 respectively towards the Reordering Project.

  1. Fundraising Activities

Fundraising activities either result in voluntary donations or are classified as trading activities because they involve the exchange of goods or services for money. Sponsorship of the Ride and Stride event, which takes place every September, and collections taken at events are voluntary payments. The proceeds of Ride and Stride are shared with the Sussex Historic Churches Trust.

The Events Committee organised 3 further activities for the benefit of the General Fund and 3 for the benefit of the Restricted Reordering Fund which are classified as trading activities:

General Fund Concert Raffle Sales of
jam et.		 Other Total
Receipts £568 £917 £909 - £2394
Payments (£317) (£33) - (£40) (£390)
Net proceeds **£251 ** **£884 ** £909 (£40) **£2,004 **
Reordering Fund Summer
Fete		 Bingo
Evening		 Xmas
Market		 Total
Receipts £2,555 £498 £937 £3,990
Payments (£884) (£73) (£132) (£1,089)
Net proceeds **£1,671 ** £425 £805 **£2,901 **

Westhampnett St Peter TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL REPORT 2024

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  1. Weddings & funerals (other) relates to receipts over and above statutory fees (flowers, orders of service, bells, verger etc.).

  2. Other Receipts – relates to the sale of 7 pews removed in preparation for the Reordering Project.

  3. Cost of raising funds where no consideration is provided – ie the cost of promoting voluntary giving. No such costs were incurred in 2024.

  4. Charitable grants and donations include The Bell Tower Drop In Centre, the Bible a Month Scheme, the Sussex historic Churches Trust and a grant paid out of the newly established Hardship Fund.

  5. Honoraria relate to ex gratia payments made to the person acting as verger or bell ringer for weddings/funerals/baptisms.

  6. Clergy expenses amounted to £610 relating primarily to postage, stationery, printing and a subscription to Zoom.

  7. Cost of services includes sacristy supplies, service hospitality, flowers, children’s participation, service music and subscriptions, and banners promoting special services.

  8. Administrative costs include web presence, financial costs (bank charges and card reader), office supplies, printing (pewsheets, Orders of Service, newsletters), and sundries. It also includes the cost of two card readers and a podium amounting to £1,221. The latter cost was covered by a donation for that purpose (see note 9 above).

  9. Church Utilities

Utilities 2023 2024
Electricity £1,366 £1,212
Water £ 39 £ 77
Oil £ 837 £ 608
Total £2,243 £1,896

  1. Other church running costs include security, cleaning, pest control, organ tuning and repair, and fire extinguisher maintenance.

  2. Church maintenance includes minor repairs usually paid out of the General Fund. The electrical repairs amounting to £380, required by the Electrical Installation Condition Report, were paid out of the Fabric Fund.

  3. Churchyard includes gardening fees, the cost of purchasing and repairing gardening equipment, the hire of the container which houses it, the cost of planting and of maintaining the graves. The organisation which provides the gardeners has once again kindly waived its £500 fee.

  4. Fixtures & Fittings – the purchase of tables, chairs and items for the vestry.

  5. Trading costs represent the cost of raising funds where there is an exchange of goods or services for money. This includes printing and flowers for weddings and funerals, the costs of running events and the purchase of raffle tickets and the gambling licence.

  6. Other Payments comprises architects fees in relation to the Reordering Project.

Approved by the Parochial Church Council and signed on its behalf the Revd Rachel Hawes (PCC Chair)

Signed:

Date: 18 March 2025

Westhampnett St Peter TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL REPORT 2024

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Westhampnett St Peter TKUSTEES ANNUAL REPOKT AND FINANCIAL REPOKT 2024 Page | 25

Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Section AIndependentExaminer’sReport Section AIndependentExaminer’sReport Section AIndependentExaminer’sReport Section AIndependentExaminer’sReport Section AIndependentExaminer’sReport
Report to the trustees
On accounts for the
year ended
Set out on pages		 PCC of St Peter’s Church Westhampnett
31 December 2024 Charity no. 1191476
18-24

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/12/2024 .

As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the Responsibilities and accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 basis of report (“the Act”).

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner's [ ~~The charity’s gross income exceeded £250,000 and I am qualified to~~ statement ~~undertake the examination by being a qualified member of [insert name of applicable listed body]].~~ ~~Delete [ ]~~ ~~if not applicable.~~

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that disclosed below *) which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Date: 4 April 2025 Signed: Name: MRS RACHEL BRYAN

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Westhampnett St Peter TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL REPORT 2024

Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any):

Address:[22 Maplehurst Road, Chichester, PO19 6QL ]

Section B Disclosure

Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).

Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .

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TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL REPORT 2024

Westhampnett St Peter