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2024-12-31-accounts

St Saviour’s Coalpit Heath, PCC

Annual report and Financial Statements

Year ending 31 December 2024

Charity Number 1194075

St Saviour’s PCC Financial Statements Year ended 31 December 2024

CONTENTS
Trustees’ report pages 3 - 11
Report of the Independent Examiner page 12
Statement of Financial Activities pages 13 - 14
Notes forming part of the financial statements pages 15 - 17.

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St Saviour’s PCC Financial Statements Year ended 31 December 2024

The Trustees have pleasure in presenting their report together with the financial statements of the Charity for the year ended 31 December 2024.

Aim and Purposes

Since February 2023, Coalpit Heath has been a member of the Fromeside Benefice of Churches. This widens our purposes beyond the one parish.

St Saviour’s PCC has the responsibility of co-operating with the incumbent in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish, and the wider Fromeside Benefice, the whole mission of the Church: pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical.

The PCC is also specifically responsible for the maintenance of the Church, Church Hall and the grounds of St Saviour’s Church, Beesmoor Road, Coalpit Heath.

Objectives and Activities

The PCC is committed to enabling as many people as possible to worship at our church and to become part of the parish community. The PCC works with several groups charged with key mission and ministry priorities.

We seek to ensure that the activities we offer appeal to a wide variety of people of all ages and backgrounds. Our maintenance of the fabric of the Church, the Church Hall and the grounds helps to facilitate our work.

Achievements and Performance

Minister’s report

2024 saw a change in worship pattern with the introduction of a Wednesday evening eucharist and a change to Sunday worship on the second Sunday. There is work to do to promote the midweek offerings, but these have proved valuable to those who attend. The attendance figures show that the numbers attending our acts of worship have grown, despite yet another winter without heating. We continue to visit and take communion to those who are unable to attend church due to health or mobility and we are always delighted to welcome newcomers to our congregations.

A new Monday night group meets twice a month in the bell tower at St. Saviour’s. We have studied Isaiah and Ephesian’s and will soon be looking at ‘Women in the Bible’. The group has representation from across the Benefice and is flourishing in depth of study and growth of fellowship.

Lent and Advent courses were offered at various places and times with a mixed attendance. Generally, those who took part enjoyed the experience and developed because of their attendance.

Ten people from across the mission area were confirmed and one person welcomed into the Anglican communion during the year, following confirmation preparations.

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St Saviour’s PCC Financial Statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Our community events seem to have enjoyed mixed results, and we plan to review these in the coming year, as the efforts of the volunteers were not reflected in either numbers through the doors or revenue generated.

Links with the two Church of England primary schools have continued to strengthen. The Manor School held Easter, Harvest and Christmas services in the church and the number of parents attending is growing each time. This is now to the point where we may need to consider ticketing to not be overcrowded. We hold a weekly act of worship in the school, and I am an active member of the governing body.

Watermore year one has visited St Saviour’s as part of the curriculum and Fr. Malcolm and I have been in to the school to support the Religious Studies syllabus. We have also led an act of collective worship in the school.

The number of congregants from St. Saviour’s at events and acts of worship around the Benefice has stayed fairly stable with the same handful of people attending the Benefice offerings. I would very much like to see this improve over the coming year.

Our relationship with our ecumenical partners continues to be strong. We enjoyed hosting a stall and worshipping together at the Frampton Festival and the various minister swap Sundays. It was a good evening joining with Zion to sing carols on the new estate, with some of the residents joining us at Christmas worship. The work that the Mutual Aid Trust does continues to grow the reputation of the church in our local schools and the wider community. We are now also offering worship in Woodlands Manor care home together.

It has been a joy in 2024 to welcome a Benefice-specific children, youth and families worker, who has supported the work of the Butterflies playgroup and is growing relationships with young parents in the Parish.

As the minister with responsibility in St. Saviour’s I must admit to not having enough time to meet all the need that exists in the Parish. I often feel that working across the 5 Benefice churches, 4 CofE schools and 2 secular primaries as a half post is more than a challenge. This is compounded by the retirement of the Rector at Yate, causing a greater workload in the Yate part of the Mission Area. Far too much time goes into managing, organising and meetings to truly be a traditional Parish Priest. The number of parishioners per clergy person continues to increase rapidly and I am very grateful to the dedicated volunteers and colleagues, who carry some of the burden and are a joy to work with.

Worship

St Saviour’s has continued to build good relationships with the other four churches in the Fromeside Benefice and is well-represented on all the Benefice groups and sub-committees. The rector, Father Malcolm Strange took a sabbatical in April 2024, so an amended worship pattern was implemented, to make the best use of clergy available, with no church having more than two services on a Sunday and the number of Eucharist services slightly reduced. At St Saviour’s this meant one Morning Prayer instead of Eucharist at 10.30am and two Evensongs rather than three each month. The pattern worked well and continued throughout the year. The modern, screened format of Parish Praise, introduced in Autumn 2023, has been more popular with the younger members of the congregation than the older ones, but has been generally accepted as a good way to provide relaxed, accessible worship for all ages.

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St Saviour’s PCC Financial Statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Joint bible study has been well-attended by people from across the Benefice, continuing to build good relationships between the churches.

Highlights of the year included a Palm Sunday Agape meal, in St Saviour’s Hall, attended by about 80 people, with representatives from the Benefice churches and the free churches in the local Together for Fromeside Ecumenical Partnership.

There were also two special Dementia Friendly services in May, one in Winterbourne and one in St Saviour’s Hall, aiming to demonstrate how to make worship more accessible and welcoming to those living with dementia.

One new member of St Saviour’s was confirmed at a service for the Fromeside and Yate Benefices in October and a new format Remembrance Day service was held in November, which was aimed at making the theme more relevant to the many uniformed youth organisations who attended. St Saviour’s Christingle and Crib services were held in the warmth of the church hall, with a good attendance, including families of the Butterflies Toddler group.

St Saviour’s continues to offer a range of services, with a mix of traditional and modern formats and music. Attendance numbers are showing signs of slight growth and there are grounds for optimism for the future.

Spirituality and Prayer

The Benefice lead for Spirituality and Prayer is Reverend Julia Chard who reports as follows:

Prayer is central, and our pivotal motivation within our team. To promote and help build upon the faith journeys, of individuals in our congregations across the Fromeside Benefice of churches - through the grace of God. Based upon the words from Jesus in Matthew’s gospel C18 v20 ‘where two or more are gathered in my name, I am present.’ I am pleased to report that each church community recognises this guidance with a representative at every meeting. The beauty of our diversity - through these ambassadors, offers encouragement and hope for the future within their congregational involvement.

During 2024, the various events centered upon developing the habit of prayer, and attracted many different people across the benefice, to offer us insight to how we take these initiatives into 2025.

The Benefice prayer chain continues to help those who seek prayer support and a caring aspect of our outreach. Also, those who attend every other month healing service at St Michael’s express the calmness and benefit that this gives to their lives. The speakers vary, sharing a short homily to support the theme on aspects of the healing practice affecting individuals- centered on prayer and anointing as the Church instructs.

The home prayer day and the walk led by our Rector around all the churches in the Benefice, drew church members across the area in 2024. Note; people do not need to walk the whole distance, just to be present at their church base to say a short prayer. In 2025, both these initiatives will take place again, the date for the walk will be Saturday June 7[th ] – with a stop for lunch as a bonus. The date of the home prayer has not been decided yet.

The prayer stations are a real blessing for the team to organise offering ‘A Quiet Space’ with coffee and cake!” The next one in 2025 will take place at St Peter’s Saturday 1[st] November

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St Saviour’s PCC Financial Statements Year ended 31 December 2024

10-2pm, offering “Ways to Pray’ on different themes and prayer spaces, and hourly pause to pray. Again, with a room to chat as well as finding peace and quiet in church. Refreshments available as well!

Each church is now promoting prayer in their prayer corners with a station or candle stand that regularly display lit candles to remember a loved one or within one’s private devotion as an expression of love and care. These are wonderful heartfelt resources for church members and visitors.

All these initiatives support the other expressions that support our wellbeing and help build our communities into ‘Christ Centres’- complementary to listening and pastoral care. And it is important to remember that everyone is welcome to join in. Prayer is just a breath away, and an outward as well as an inner expression to help someone as we discover the love of God.

Pastoral Care and Communication

The Benefice lead for Pastoral Care is Father Malcolm who reports as follows:

We have five distinct strands to our Pastoral Care as a Benefice and here at St Saviour’s

  1. Our Listening Team supports people referred to us by our local Health Care Practice and by our schools. Many bereaved families and individuals across the Benefice and at St Saviour’s have been supported over the past year by this team.

  2. Our Dementia Friendly Church Team have held events to help our Churches become more Dementia Aware. Two of these were held at St Saviour’s. We are about to undertake a review of each church and reflect on how we can provide drop-in support for those who live with Dementia and their Cares

  3. We provide a Marriage Preparation Day for all those getting married across the Benefice. In 2024, 7 couples attended.

  4. Our pastoral support in schools is provided by members of our team led by our Fromeside Youth and Families Missioner with both the local Secondary School and Manor C of E primary school benefiting as well as all the schools in the Benefice area. Struggling students are mentored and supported by a trained team.

5. Our Care in the Community Team organises pastoral events including pastoral awareness days and training.

Interchurch Relationships

Churches Together

Here at St Saviour’s, we have good working relationship with our ecumenical brothers and sisters, across the Benefice and wider community. We have had several joint services over the last year and “Pulpit Swaps” where the ministers swap Churches usually on a Sunday morning. This gives members of the congregation a different view of the Gospel reading. “The Big Sing” back in December, was an event enjoyed by all who attended, and raised much needed funds for Christian Aid. We support The T4F Mutual Aid Trust which raises funds for and awareness of people in our community who are living below the poverty line.

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St Saviour’s PCC Financial Statements Year ended 31 December 2024

School Assembly Team

The team have been busy with assemblies over the last 12 months. Open the Book have updated their materials that we use in schools, so we have had new stories to tell, and a slightly challenging way of telling them. So far this has been well received by the children and staff.

School visits - our local Church of England school, The Manor Primary School, visited our Church for Easter, Christmas, and Harvest in 2024. We have also visited them, taking “Christmas in a box” which tells the Christmas Story with props and activities for the children to complete.

Benefice - We held several joint services throughout the Benefice in 2024, joining together in friendship and fellowship. These services are usually well attended, and it’s nice to visit the other churches. St Saviour’s entered teams in the Benefice fundraiser quiz in October, at St Micheals Community Centre. It was a splendid evening with the handbell ringers to entertain us at half time and lots of yummy puddings to eat.

Deanery Synod - The Deanery reps have attended 4 meetings in the last year. Visiting and meeting with members across our Deanery, discussing many different subjects, including Transforming Churches Together, Eco Friendly Churches, Growing Faith, The Energy audit, and Uganda update.

Church, Church Hall and Churchyard

2024 was a mixed year of some progress and lots of planning.

Alongside all the usual, annual jobs, we completed some of the work required or recommended by the Quinquennial review. On the larger Quinquennial recommendations, there has been progress with drawing up specifications and getting quotes with a view to having the work done in 2025. This includes the re-pointing of the exterior masonry and the repairs to the boiler room ceiling/ringing room floor.

There has also been progress with the new heating system. Electric pew heaters will need more electricity than our system currently provides so we have contracted National Grid to increase our supply to 3-phase. There have been many consultations with electricians and heating suppliers and there is hope that 2024 was the last cold year in church.

We have new lights in the ringing room, to increase visibility and an additional lock on the Vestry door to increase security. We have also had an updated asbestos survey conducted.

For the churchyard, we engaged this year with the local Community Payback team. After a shaky start, everything settled down and the team did a good job of keeping the graveyard neat and tidy. We are also very grateful to Shaun for his continuing efforts and enthusiasm, including cutting the two fields and taking care of the war memorial.

The Church clock fell silent in 2024. Our care of the main clock mechanism has been very thorough. In 2024 however the upper mechanism that moves the clock hands, which sits above the bells and is open to all kinds of weather, finally ground to a halt and needs some attention. We plan for this to start in May 2025. Some specific donations have been received towards the cost of this and more would be very welcome.

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St Saviour’s PCC Financial Statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Social and Outreach

The Social Committee arranged the usual calendar of events in 2024. We had the Easter Fayre in March, a Fathers’ Day breakfast before the 10.30 Sunday service on 16 June, the Summer Fayre and Ballet Show in July and the Christmas Fayre in November.

Despite plentiful advertising, these events were not as well attended as we hoped they would be, so we are reviewing our activities for 2025.

The Christian Aid coffee morning and plant sale was well attended and raised over £600 for Christian Aid. The Coalpit Heath Horticultural Society held their annual show in St Saviour’s Hall in September and our Social Committee provided the refreshments.

We continue to publish our monthly magazine and distribute it both online and on paper.

In 2024 we started to open the Church on Wednesday afternoons and some Saturday mornings for local people to come and spend time in the building. Tea, coffee and biscuits are available, and people have used the time just to sit quietly or have a chat. Our other social outreach activity is the Friday soup lunch event where anyone can come along to the Hall and join us for lunch and friendship.

Financial Review

Under our Finance Policy, the PCC has a duty to ensure that accounts are prepared and independently examined, to approve the accounts and present them to the APCM within 5 months of the year end. The accounts are prepared on a receipts and payments basis.

The net position for 2024 was another deficit, making 5 years in a row. On the plus side, this year’s deficit is a lot smaller than the other 4 years and we do still hold substantial reserves. A close look at the figures shows that the planned Gift Aid and Freewill donations are the same as last year, but the service collections have reduced. The big boon in 2024 was the amount of interest returned by our investments. With interest rates set to fall again, we will need to focus on fundraising.

A huge amount of effort goes into the fundraising events, but this is not always repaid by attendance or revenue raised. We are planning to review how we organize our large, seasonal events with a view to reaching more of the community.

The Church Hall revenue reduced slightly in 2024 as we lost one of the regular hirers. A new class has started in 2025 which should bring the figures back up. As we still have no heating in the Church, the much warmer Hall is used for a lot of non-paying events meaning that the utility bills are substantially higher than last year. This has reduced the profit from the Hall that is available to fund other charitable activities.

We paid our Parish Share and Benefice levy in full and we make contributions to the funding of the Children, Youth and Families worker. With a view to maintaining our ability to pay these expenses, our funds were slightly reorganised in 2024 to set up a designated fund. This has reduced our available unrestricted funds.

Various pieces of maintenance work required following the Quinquennial review are now underway and it is sincerely hoped that 2024 will be the last cold winter in the Church, with a

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St Saviour’s PCC Financial Statements Year ended 31 December 2024

new heating system having been decided on. All this costs money but with careful management, all the expenses will be covered.

The Trustees are confident that the charity remains a going concern as the reserves still exceed 3 months’ expenditure.

Safeguarding

Statement of commitment:

The Parish of Coalpit Heath is committed to following the safeguarding policies of the Church of England, safeguarding policy and guidance as issued by the Diocese of Bristol and commits to working within legislation and statutory guidance as related to the Safeguarding of Children, Young People and Adults.

Policies

The Safeguarding policy has been reviewed by the Benefice Safeguarding team in May 2024, and will be reviewed again once all the AGMs in Benefice have been conducted over the coming weeks. Other policies & practices that have been reviewed since the last AGM are ‘Policy Statement Safeguarding Children, Young People & Adults’, ‘Lone Children’, ‘Good Practice Working with Children and Young People’, ‘Good Practice Working with Adults’, ‘Responding to Domestic Abuse’, and ‘Recruitment of Ex-Offenders’. All these

policies have been brought together in one policy document for ease of updating. The document can be viewed in the yellow folders at the back of the church, and on the Benefice website.

Activities

The PCC have been actively involved in the following activities for Children / Young People or for Vulnerable Adults, i.e. Messy Church, Butterflies, and soup lunches. We have also held a service for raising awareness of living with Dementia at St Saviours. We will continue to work towards becoming a more Dementia Friendly church this year.

Safer Recruitment & DBS

The PCC is responsible for the safe recruitment of people wanting to work with vulnerable groups through the activities mentioned above. As part of the safer recruitment process, where eligible, volunteers working with vulnerable groups have been DBS checked at the level appropriate to the role. Because the parish provides activities for vulnerable groups, the PCC members are also eligible for an enhanced DBS Check.

There are 13 volunteers / PCC members who require a DBS check for their role and all of them have a current check (i.e. the check has been completed within the last 3 years).

Reporting to the PCC

The PCC was updated about Safeguarding matters in the Parish at its meetings on 13[th] March, 31[st] July, 11[th] September, and 13[th] November 2024. During the year there was 1 safeguarding matter which were reported and/or involved the Diocesan Safeguarding Team.

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St Saviour’s PCC Financial Statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Structure, Governance and Management

St Saviour’s Church is situated on Beesmoor Road, Coalpit Heath. It is part of the Diocese of Bristol and the Kingswood & South Gloucestershire Deanery within the Church of England.

The PCC is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2017) and a registered charity with the Charity Commission (Charity Number: 1194075).

The Charity trustees are the PCC members. PCC members who served from 1 January until the date this report was approved are:

Chair Rev. David Jones (Assoc. Minister for St Saviour’s) Church Wardens: Mrs Lucy Rogers Mr. Robert Boyd Secretary: Mrs Jill Boyd Treasurer: Mrs Alison Holliday Deanery Synod: Mrs Sarah Blake Elected Members: Mrs Jessica Lock (Minute Secretary) Mrs Lisa Stephens (Safeguarding Officer) Mr. Mike Swain (Lay minister) Mrs Mary Head

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St Saviour’s PCC Financial Statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Statement of trustees’ responsibilities

The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards including Financial Reporting Standard 102: The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

The law applicable to charities in England & Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the income and expenditure of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:

The trustees are responsible for keeping sufficient accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the trust deed/constitution. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

This report dated:

Signed by:

Lucy Rogers Church Warden

Rob Boyd Church Warden

Alison Holliday PCC Treasurer

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St Saviour’s PCC Financial Statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Independent examiner’s report to the trustees of St Saviour's Church PCC

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of St Saviour's Church PCC (the Charity) for the year ended 31[st] December 2022 which have been prepared on receipts and payments basis.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity trustees of the Charity, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the Act’).

I report in respect of my examination of the Charity’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 statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or

2. the accounts do not accord with those records.

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.

Dylan Montell 2 Dowding Close, Chipping Sodbury BS37 6BX

Date: …………………………

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St Saviour’s PCC Financial Statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Statement of Receipts and Payments

Unrestricted
Funds
Restricted
Funds
Total Funds Prior Year
Total Funds
Income
Donations and legacies 30,317 30,317 30,740
Income from charitable activities 4,411 4,411 10,377
Other trading activities 16,512 16,512 17,419
Investments 8,387 257 8,644 3,620
Other income 5,876 5,876 1,390
Total income 65,503 257 65,760 63,546
Expenditure
Expenditure on charitable activities 53,973 53,973 54,536
Support costs 8,434 8,434 8,588
Other expenditure 6,449 6,449 6,300
Total expenditure 68,856 68,856 69,424
Net income/(expenditure) (3,096) (5,878)
Total funds brought forward 271,239 231,353
Investment Growth/(Losses) 1,725 4,399
Net Gain on sale of fixed asset 0 41,365
Total funds carried forward 269,868 271,239
Represented by:
Unrestricted
General Fund 119,853 218,094
Designated
Designated Funds 139,133 43,225
Restricted
Manor CofE RE Fund 10,882 9,920

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St Saviour’s PCC Financial Statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Statement of assets and liabilities

General Designated Restricted This year Last year
Fixed assets- Investments
Church repairs fund 3,422 3,422 3,346
Religious Education fund 2,497 2,497 2,441
Phillips & Newman’s Graves fund 9,989 9,989 9,765
Church roof repairs fund 3,145 3,145 3,074
Churchyard upkeep fund 6,705 6,706 6,556
Investment fund 0 0 17,306
PFLM Fund 94,517 94,517 0
Manor CofE RE fund 9,464 9,464 8,758
Totals 120,276 9,464 129,739 51,246
Current assets– cash at bank
CAF Current Account 5,715 6,101
CAF Gold Account 73,342 140,784
Cash in hand 855 472
Charitable Needs fund 166 15,798
Fabric fund 6,275 5,958
Garden of Remembrance fund 2,716 2,579
PCC fund 49,641 47,139
Nat West Current Account 1,419 1,162
Totals 140,129 219,993
Grand total 269,868 271,239

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St Saviour’s PCC Financial Statements Year ended 31 December 2024

Notes to the accounts

1. Analysis of income and expenditure

INCOME Unrestricted Designated Restricted Total this
year
Total last
year
Donations & Legacies
GiftAidDonations 15,821 15,821 15,826
Free Will Offering 1,103 1,103 1,199
Churchyard Donations 99 99 44
Services and other donations 5,538 5,538 6,055
Legacies 1,659 1,659 0
Church Roof Fund 68 68 21
Organ & Choir Fund 450 450 917
Garden of Remembrance 877 877 993
Flood Light Sponsorship 115 115 280
Clock Fund 100 100 0
GiftAidTax Refund 4,667 **4,667 ** 5,405
Totals 28,822 1,495 30,317 30,740
Income from Charitable activities
Bristol Diocese Fees 0 0 2,072
PCCFees 1,983 1,983 2,834
Funerals 2,428 2,428 4,468
Weddings 0 0 1,003
Totals 4,411 4,411 10,377
Other trading activities
Hall Rental 11,046 11,046 11,873
Coffee Club 220 220 68
Mums and Toddlers Group 735 735 821
Fundraising 4,511 4,511 4,657
Totals 15,777 735 16,512 17,419
Investments
Interest 6,428 749 257 7,434 3,554
P&N Graves 136 136 66
PFLM Fund 1,074 1,074
Totals 6,428 1,959 257 8,644 3,620
Other Income
Magazine Account 784 784 816
Lent Lunches 208 208 356
Miscellaneous 4,884 4,884 218
Totals 5,876 5,876 1,390
INCOME TOTAL 61,314 4,189 257 65,760 63,546

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St Saviour’s PCC Financial Statements Year ended 31 December 2024

EXPENDITURE Unrestricted Designated Restricted Total this
year
Total last
year
Exp on Charitable activities
DBF Parish Share 35,040 35,040 35,016
Weddings 0 0 425
Funerals 200 200 600
Garden of Remembrance 480 480 1,065
Bristol Diocese Fees 485 485 2,419
Church Expenses & Maintenance 6,487 6,487 3,355
ChurchUtilityBills &Insurance 3,354 **3,354 ** 3,828
Churchyard expenses 1,444 2,700 4,144 4,523
Charitable donations 513 513 1,708
PFLM account 3,270 3,270
Totals 47,523 6,450 53,973 53,467
Support costs
Lockie Ltd Envelope Scheme 0 0 81
Royal School of Church Music 133 133 127
Benefice Fees 6,960 6,960 7,144
Organ and Choir 780 780 927
Magazine 541 541 289
G&B Affiliation 20 20 20
Totals 7,654 780 8,434 8,588
Other expenditure
Hall Expenses & Maintenance 2,042 2,042 1,041
Hall Utility Bills & Insurance 3,987 3,987 2,893
Bank Charges 80 80 84
Miscellaneous 340 340 3,351
Totals 6,449 6,449 7,369
EXPENDITURE TOTAL 68,856 69,424
GRAND TOTAL (3,096) (5,878)

2. Fees for occasional Offices

In 2024 the management of fees for occasional offices passed to the Benefice Office. This was not without its issues, but it is now levelling out and fees are received more regularly. The fees to the Bristol Diocese are paid by the Benefice before distribution of funds, which is why our Diocese fees figure is much reduced.

3. The Manor Church of England Religious Education Fund

The incumbent and Church Wardens are the managing trustees of this fund which was established by the Secretary of State for Education in 1999.

The 1999 DofE order sets out the restrictions for the Religious Education Fund which is to be used “for educational purposes related to the Parish of Coalpit Heath in connection with the

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St Saviour’s PCC Financial Statements Year ended 31 December 2024

provision of religious education in accordance with the tenets of the Church of England by means of a Sunday School or otherwise”.

The dividends from the fund are paid into the Nat West Bank account and are maintained separately from general church funds. There was no expenditure of restricted funds in 2024.

4. Charitable Donations

Charitable donations are made from specially collected funds . The Christmas services’ collections are made for Sight Savers and The Children’s Society whilst the Lent Lunches collections are split between chosen national and local charities.

In 2024, we gave 25% of the proceeds from the Christmas Fayre to the Fromeside Mutual Aid Trust Comfort & Joy appeal.

The church also manages a collection box scheme for The Children’s Society. In 2024 we collected over £1,000.

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