## **Christ Church South Nutfield** ## **Minutes of the Annual Parochial Church Meeting held on Sunday 6 April 2025 at 11.30 am** ||**Minutes of the Annual Parochial Church Meeting held on**
**Sunday 6 April 2025 at 11.30 am**| |---|---| |**ITEM**|**BUSINESS**| |**The Annual Vestry Meeting for the Election of Churchwardens**|| |Welcome and
Prayers|Revd Len opened the meeting with welcome and prayer.| |Election of
Churchwardens|The meeting began with the ancient process of the Easter Vestry.
Nick Dobson had reached the end of his 4-year term of office and was
standing down. Debbie Clarke had agreed to take on the role; her
nomination had been proposed by Kara Doye and seconded by Sue
Fairclough. The proposal was carried unanimously, with no abstentions or
votes against. Kara Doye was happy to continue in her role, and was duly
proposed by Julie Higgs and seconded by Liz Jenkins. Again, the proposal
was carried unanimously, with no abstentions or votes against.
Debbie Clarke and Kara Doye were therefore elected as our
Churchwardens for the coming year.
The meeting welcomed new churchwarden Debbie, and thanked Nick for all
his work over the past four years, and Kara for her continued service.| |t
**Christ Church South Nutfield Annual Parochial Church Meeting**|| |1. Apologies for
absence|Apologies had been received from Kate Evans, Roger Fairclough, Jackie
Fenn, Jonathan Holland, Kath Johnson, Sarah Mullineux, Sam Nicholls and
Margaret Young.| |2. Minutes of
APCM held on
21 April 2024|The minutes of last year's meeting had been made available on the church
website. They were agreed to be a true record and were duly signed by
Revd. Len.| |3. Matters
arising from the
minutes|There were no matters arising from the minutes not covered under other
agenda items.| |4. Vicar's
Review and
Annual Reports,
to include
presentation of
the Terrier &
Inventory by the
Churchwardens|Revd. Len and the Churchwardens had commented in detail in their reports
in the Parish Review. Their remarks at the meeting were a summary of the
main points.
Revd. Len commented that the Parish Review was an amazing document -
it demonstrated how much went on in our small village church, most of it
done by volunteers, who showed huge commitment and leadership. Many
thanks to Sue Fairclough for putting together the Review.
He explained that the Bishop had extended his ministry beyond his 70th
birthday last November, initially for 3 years, with the option to serve for a
further 2. He commented that he would not want to be anywhere else. He| Date of meeting: 06/04/2025 Page 1 |**ITEM**||**BUSINESS**| |---|---|---| |||believed that God was blessing us in all the work we do, though personally,
he felt inadequate to the task. It was important for us to shine the light in an
increasingly secular world.
An area we need to take seriously is Pastoral Reorganisation. Various ideas
had been mooted, but as it stands, the proposal to form a Benefice with St
Peter and St Paul, Nutfield and St. Mary’s, Bletchingley, leaves CC as the
junior party. We need to ensure that CC does not lose its identity in terms of
churchmanship for the sake of community.
It is important that we are in fellowship, not competition, with the other
churches - to this end, Revd. Len meets regularly with Fr. Paul.
In addition to the people he had thanked in his report, Revd Len thanked
‘the two Sues’ - Fairclough and Wayland – for all their work behind the
scenes.
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Terrier and Inventory
It was explained that the Terrier is a record of the church grounds and that
the Inventory records all works to the fabric undertaken in the Church and
Centre; this log is kept up-to-date and is held electronically.
Fabric
There had been a significant amount of maintenance during the year.
Special thanks to:
Sue Fairclough, for organising most of it (and fixing some of it);
Richard Guise, for his practical skills, guidance and encyclopaedic
knowledge of the Church Centre; and
Philip Digby, for maintaining the grounds and for his practical skills
Defibrillator
This had been installed on the outside wall of the Parish Office and should
be available for use soon. Various individuals had received training.
Fundraising
In 2024 the emphasis had been to increase planned giving; this had
produced encouraging results. Our share of the proceeds of the Fireworks
event was £830 which goes directly to the Children’s Fund.
Parish Administrator
Yvonne Dyer had resigned before Christmas. She was thanked for her
enthusiasm and support for the Church and Centre during her 3 years in
post.
Liz Braines had been appointed her successor.
The highlight!
For both Nick and Kara, this was reading the Banns of Marriage while Revd
Len was away. They had recognised the responsibility, as if done
incorrectly, there can be no wedding!| Date of meeting: 06/04/2025 Page 2 |**ITEM**|**BUSINESS**| |---|---| |5. Treasurer’s
report|Liz Jenkins, in her first year as Treasurer, briefed the meeting on her report,
the full text of which was in the Parish Review.
The End-of Year Accounts for 2024 had been independently examined by
Graham Skeats, who had vouched for their accuracy; and they were
subsequently approved by the PCC. Graham had agreed to continue in the
role of Independent Examiner, and Liz thanked him for his meticulous
scrutiny of the accounts.
Total income for the year had increased by just over £8,000, due mainly to
Gift Aid tax recoveries and a generous donation, but so had expenditure,
with particularly high bills for maintenance. The result was a deficit of
£290.80 at year end.
The reserves in the General Fund are now reduced to 2.6 x monthly
expenditure, outside the range of 3 to 6 x monthly expenditure
recommended by the Diocese.
Liz stressed the huge importance of planned giving and Gift Aid, and
thanked everyone who had signed up to the schemes.
Thanks to:
Ken Rolaston for banking the cash and cheques; and
Rosemary Early for administering the Gift Aid scheme. (Rosemary had now
relinquished the role and was in the process of handing over to Liz herself.)
In return, the meeting thanked Liz for her work as Treasurer.| |6. Presentation
of Electoral Roll|Ian Phillips reported that, as Church Rules require, an entirely new Roll had
recently been compiled. For the first time this year people were able to
submit application forms online. In the six years since the Roll had last been
refreshed, membership had increased by approx. 20% to 164.
At the last APCM, Sue Fairclough noted that very few younger church
members/families put their names on the Roll, and suggested that they be
encouraged to do so. The statistics indicate that there has been a shift in
that direction. In 2019 58% of members were in the 60+ age bracket, with
only 4% under 40, whereas on the latest Roll, 15% are aged under 40 and
50% over 60. About 40% of the names on the new Roll were not on the
previous one. There had been no change in the gender make-up of the Roll
with 65% female and 35% male.
Ian recorded his thanks to everyone who had helped with the renewal
exercise. Special thanks to Paul Smith for his help throughout the process,
including chasing up responses and compiling statistics on the figures.
The meeting thanked Ian for satisfactorily completing the renewal of the
Roll.| |7. Election of
Deanery Synod
Represent-
atives|The Deanery Synod representatives for the past year had been Sue
Fairclough and Liz Jenkins and both were willing to continue.
They were proposed by Ann Nicholls and seconded by Nick Dobson. There
were no abstentions or votes against so Sue and Liz were duly elected.
It was noted that there are currently vacancies for two additional CC
representatives.| Date of meeting: 06/04/2025 Page 3 |**ITEM**|**BUSINESS**| |---|---| |8. Election of
Members of the
Parochial
Church Council|It was explained that under the Church Rules, one-third of the locally elected
PCC members needed to be re-elected each year. Of those elected in 2022,
Kate Evans and Shona Grace had decided to stand down and Richard
Guise had indicated his willingness to serve again.
Sarah Mullineux was co-opted on to the PCC in July 2024 and was now
seeking full membership; Nick Dobson, having relinquished the
churchwarden role, was willing to continue serving on the PCC; and Adam
McGrath was seeking election for the first time.
All four candidates had been nominated by Sue Wayland and seconded by
Sue Fairclough.
These were no abstentions or votes against, so all were duly elected as
PCC members.
The meeting thanked Kate and Shona for their service, and welcomed
Adam.| |9. Safeguarding
Statement|Revd Len drew attention to our Safeguarding policy. The Safeguarding
Statement was read, and was subsequently agreed by the meeting. It is
signed annually by the Vicar/Priest-in-Charge and a churchwarden as a
formal way of recognising and accepting our responsibilities.
Prompted by a question from Pip Smith, it was agreed that the Statement
should be amended to reflect the fact that the policy will be reviewed
regularly and updated as necessary. This would bring it into line with the
wording of the Health and Safety Statement. Revd Len said that in the light
of the recently conducted Safeguarding audit, we would need to look at our
policy to check that it continues to be relevant.
The meeting thanked Karen Probetts, Safeguarding Officer.| |10. Health &
Safety
Statement|The Health & Safety Statement was read to the meeting and was agreed.
The Vicar/Priest-in-Charge and a churchwarden sign the statement on an
annual basis to remind us of our responsibilities.| |11. Any Other
Business:
11.1 Notice
Board
11.2 Votes of
thanks not
recorded
elsewhere|Ken Rolaston noted that we had been without the noticeboard in the
grounds for some time and asked when we could expect a replacement.
Philip Digby said that he had been working on the old board, which was now
fully sanded and ready for varnishing. He will be using the existing timber
legs, but had repairs to do on the broken sections. He was making good
progress and will complete it as soon as he can.
Thanks to:
Marian Forbes and her team of flower arrangers for decorating the church
so beautifully for special services.
Chris Pratt for his many years as Music Director (MD) of the Carol Service,
leaving a wonderful legacy on which to build. Although he had stepped
down from this role, he will continue to be our organist on 5thSundays.
Angela Anderson for stepping in to take over from Chris as Carol Service
MD with great success.
On behalf of everyone at CC, Sue Fairclough thanked Revd. Len for his
ministry with us.| Date of meeting: 06/04/2025 Page 4 |**ITEM**|**BUSINESS**| |---|---| |12. Prayers of
thankfulness|Revd. Len closed the meeting in prayer.| Signed as a true record of the meeting Chairman .............................................................. Date .................................... Those present at the APCM on 6 April 2025 |Revd Len Abrams|Veronica Hamilton| |---|---| |Lucy Austin|Julie Higgs| |Mary Beale|Sylvia Jarvis| |Pat Belcher|Liz Jenkins| |Clare Campbell|Adam McGrath| |Philip Digby|Ann Nicholls| |Fran Dobson|Elaine Phillips| |Nick Dobson|Ian Phillips| |Kara Doye|Karen Probetts| |Peter Early|Ken Rolaston| |Rosemary Early|Paul Smith| |Sue Fairclough|Pip Smith| |Marian Forbes|Frederic Thominet| |Chris Fry|Coral Townsend| |Richard Guise|Diane Varley| ||Sue Wayland| Date of meeting: 06/04/2025 Page 5 ## **Christ Church South Nutfield** Year ending 31[st] December 2024 General Account Receipts & Payments |**Receipts**|**2023**|**2024**||**Payments**|**2023**|**2024**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||||||| |Planned Giving|39262.00|40584.50||Vicar’s Expenses|4.50|0| |Envelopegiving|4745.00|3969.00||Church Feespaid|886.00|254.00| |Tax recovered via Gift Aid|11250.52|14156.44||Church -Heating& Lighting|2392.08|2152.17| |Donations|5189.53|9384.68||Church -Cleaning|1171.49|1117.50| |Collections|2778.31|2009.62||Church -Insurance|1548.41|1578.06| |Fees received|1239.00|896.00||Church -Repairs and maint’nce|1544.30|1872.34| |Bank Interest|391.35|523.25||Church -Sundries for Services|541.05|1025.80| |Hall Income|16383.91|15356.68||Church -Water|35.90|55.60| |SundryIncome|0|140.83||Hall -insurance|1548.40|1578.06| |Fundraising|1304.49|0||Hall -cleaning|1261.17|1015.50| |Contactless collection|0|1175.61||Hall -heatingand lighting|4718.31|4557.09| |Grants|0|1300.00||Hall -repairs and maintenance|4452.65|4563.16| |Charities Trust|0|600.00||Hall -sundries|330.31|744.42| |Wedding/funeral revenue|0|284.00||Hall - water|323.10|492.40| |||||Photocopying, stationary,
postage,telephone|
2752.21|3032.45| |||||Administration – Wages|11552.38|11760.62| |**Total**|**82544.11**|**90380.61**||Bookkeeping|150.00|1040.00| |||||Minor Capital Items|420.00|1725.74| |||||I.T. and A.V. expenses|429.16|1099.99| |||||Organists and music|2174.28|1937.57| |||||Diocesan Payment|46700.00|48600.00| |||||Overseas Missions|240.00|240.00| |||||Security|0|228.94| |||||Refreshments|193.58|0| |||||Secular Charities|93.72|0| |||||Fundraisingexpenses|525.80|0| |||||Books,Bible Notes etc|8.99|0| |||||Sundries- General|282.67|0| |||||||| |||||||| |||||**Total**|**86280.47**|**90671.41**| |||||||| |**General Fund**
Brought forward from 2023
£19,314.45
Less deficit for 2024
£290.80
Carried forward to 2025
£19,023.65||||**Surplus**||| |||||**Deficit**|**3736.36**|**290.80**| |||||||| |||||||| |||||||| |||||||| |||||||| |||||||| |||||||| https://ccnutfield.sharepoint.com/sites/Treasurer/Shared Documents/2025 monthly cashbook/year ending 31st December 2024 final accounts v5 (003).doc Page **1** of **4** ## **Christ Church South Nutfield** Year ending 31[st] December 2024 Restricted Funds Accounts ## **Fabric Maintenance Fund** |**Fabric Maintenance Fund**||| |---|---|---| ||**2023**|**2024**| |Start balance|2747.27|3670.27| |Planned Giving/Gift Aid|1040.00|975.00| |Southwark London Church Fund Grant||1920.00| |Brickwork Repairs||-3840.00| |Lightingrepairs||-1480.10| |Expenses|-117.00|-105.24| |**End balance**|**3670.27**|**1139.93**| ## **St Patricks Mission Fund** |**St Patricks Mission Fund**||| |---|---|---| ||**2023**|**2024**| |Start balance|9156.45|2888.33| |Planned Giving/income|780.00|780.00| |Quiz night/fundraising|1606.88|1321.00| |Donations|532.00|224.82| |Gift Aid|195.00|195.00| |Sale of cathedral books|618.00|274.90| |Moneysent to St Patrick’s|-10,000.00|00| |**End balance**|**2888.33**|**5684.05**| ## **Children and Young People’s Fund** ||**2023**|**2024**| |---|---|---| |Start balance|5592.48|4792.75| |Donations includingfireworks|1300.00|722.00| |Roots sharingsubscription C&YP||-306.80| |Payments/runningcosts|-579.75|-402.69| |Donations to school/Sparkfish|-1350.00|0| |Year 6 Bibles|-169.98|-180.95| |**End balance**|**4792.75**|**4624.31**| ## **Discretionary Fund** |**Discretionary Fund**||| |---|---|---| ||**2023**|**2024**| |Start balance|850.00|850.00| |Donation toparishioner|0|0| |**End balance**|**850.00**|**850.00**| ## **Ukraine Orthodox Church Grant** ||**2023**|**2024**| |---|---|---| |Start balance|3460.59|1524.13| https://ccnutfield.sharepoint.com/sites/Treasurer/Shared Documents/2025 monthly cashbook/year ending 31st December 2024 final accounts v5 (003).doc Page **2** of **4** Donations 0 Payments -1936.46 -672.00 **End balance 1524.13 852.13** ## **Christ Church South Nutfield** Year ending 31[st] December 2024 ## Restricted Funds Accounts continued ## **Ukraine families** ||**2023**|**2024**| |---|---|---| |Start balance|269.50|281.65| |Donations|938.40|| |Payments|-926.25|| |**End balance**|**281.65**|**281.65**| ## **Environment** |**Environment**||| |---|---|---| ||**2023**|**2024**| |Start balance|2000.00|2000.00| |Donations|0|950.00| |Gift Aid|0|200.00| |**End balance**|**2000.00**|**3150.00**| **Fundraising for others** (fund separated from general fund in 2023) |**Fundraising for others**(fund separ|ated from general f|und in 2023)| |---|---|---| ||**2023**|**2024**| |Start balance|0|37.72| |Donations/income|1100.29|1351.10| |Payments|-1062.57|-1149.42| |**End balance**|**37.72**|**239.40**| ## **ASSETS & LIABILITIES** At 31[st] December 2024 |**ASSETS**|**2023**|**2024**|**LIABILITIES**|**2023**|**2024**| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |Barclays Current a/c|1642.01|2000.0|General Fund|19314.45|19023.65| |Barclays Deposit a/c|33717.29|33845.12|Fabric Maintenance Fund|3670.27|1139.93| ||||St Patrick’s Mission|2888.33|5684.05| ||||Children and YoungPeople’s Fund|4792.75|4624.31| ||||DiscretionaryFund|850.00|850.00| ||||Ukraine Orthodox Church Grant|1524.13|852.13| ||||Ukraine|281.65|281.65| ||||Environment|2000.00|3150.00| ||||Fundraisingfor others|37.72|239.40| |**TOTALS**|**35359.30**|**35845.12**|**TOTALS**|**35359.30**|**35845.12**| https://ccnutfield.sharepoint.com/sites/Treasurer/Shared Documents/2025 monthly cashbook/year ending 31st December 2024 final accounts v5 (003).doc Page **3** of **4** ## **Notes to the accounts 2024** 1. Our Parish Support Fund Pledge to the Diocese of £48,600 for 2024 was paid in full. We have increased our pledge to £50,400.00 for 2025. 2. Fundraising for others - During 2024 Christ Church made donations from cake sales to the following bodies: £112.65 to **Stripy Stork** ; £79 to **Macmillan** ; £89.80 to **NSPCC;** £103.10 to **Marie Curie** ; £137.75 for **Mercy Ships** ; £82.00 for **Us in a Bus** ; £128.50 for **Unique** ; £141.90 for **The UK Sepsis Trust;** £116.00 for **the Cure CJD Campaign** ; £121.00 for **Reverse Rett;** £123.90 for the **Royal British Legion;** £115.50 for **the Red Cross in Ukraine** 3. The PCC made donations to: Rainbow Romania £120; Shonda Project £120. **4.** Gift Aid submissions were made in April, August and December. ## **Treasurer’s Report 2024** Total income increased by just over £8000. This was mainly due to increased tax recovered by Gift Aid ( my thanks to Rosemary) and a generous donation. We had no fundraising last year for the Church. Total expenses in our general fund did not increase as much as our income, by just over £4390, leaving us with a small deficit for the year of £290.80. We have had some large bills for repairs and maintenance to the Church and Hall, utilising the Fabric Maintenance account so there is now less money available in the fund to cover any future significant items of expenditure (£1139.93). Overall, if one excludes the large legacy and late energy bill from Octopus of £850 and bring in the December collections of £950 not banked until January 2025, our deficit would have been around £3,500, which is the same position as we were in at the end of 2023. The PCC is aware of this and is planning fundraising events in 2025. The reserves in the General Fund, are now just under 2.6 x monthly expenditure. (The Diocese of Southwark’s recommended range is 3 to 6 x monthly expenditure.) As usual, we have had some movement in the numbers of people using planned giving with some moving away or reducing giving and some starting or increasing regular giving. We are very thankful to those people who donate to keep this church and centre available to all. May God bless you. My thanks go to the rest of the finance team: Ken Rolaston, Sue Wayland, Viktoriia Bityk and Rosemary Early. Thanks to Graham Skeats for carrying out the independent examination of the accounts. ## **Liz Jenkins Treasurer 2 March 2025** https://ccnutfield.sharepoint.com/sites/Treasurer/Shared Documents/2025 monthly cashbook/year ending 31st December 2024 final accounts v5 (003).doc Page **4** of **4** ## **Independent Examiner’s Report to the PCC of Christ Church, South Nutield** This report on the financial statements of the PCC for the year ended 31 December 2024, which are set out on pages 1 to 3, is in respect of an examination carried out in accordance with Church Accounting Regulations 2006 (“the Regulations”) and section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”). ## **Respective responsibilities of the PCC and the examiner** As members of the PCC you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements. You consider that the audit requirement of the Regulations and section 144(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 145(5)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 130 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 financial statements to be reached. Graham Skeats South Nutfield - 3 March 2025