OpenCharities

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

2023-12-31-accounts

Parish of Wigan West

Trustees Annual Report of the Parochial Church Council

For the year ended 31[st] December 2023

Index Page
Aims and Objectives 3
Focus of the Parish 4-6
Achievements and Performance 7-21
Financial Review 22
Fixed Assets and Reserves Policy 23
Risk Management and Safeguarding 24
Plans for the Future 24-26
Structure, Governance and Management 26-27
Reference and Administration Information 28-30
Declaration 31
Balance Sheet 32
Statement of Financial Activities 33
Notes to Financial Statement 34-40
Accounting Policies 41-42
Independent Examiners Report 43

Page 2 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Aims and Objectives of The Parish of Wigan West

The Parish of Wigan West was formed in January 2020. Bringing together three former parishes: St Matthew’s Highfield, St James with St Thomas Poolstock and St Paul’s Goose Green, to be known as the Parish of Wigan West. The parish includes new worship communities, Lighthouse, Wellspring and Shine linked to our primary schools, which continue to grow.

We are one of the seven parishes in Church Wigan led by Team Rector Neil Cook.

The vision and hope of Church Wigan is ‘Through Jesus, transformed people, transformed places’, based on Isaiah 35:1 ‘The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.’ We want to see the Kingdom of God ‘in Wigan as in Heaven’, so our mission is to work with God in growing disciples of Jesus in Wigan West.

Our aims and objectives as a Parish are:

of Wigan, following the leading of the Holy Spirit.

“A bigger Church making a bigger difference, more people knowing

Jesus and more Justice in the World”.

The general functions of the PCC are stated within section 2 of the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956.

West Wigan Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility of cooperating with the incumbent, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the church, pastoral, evangelistic, social, and ecumenical.

The PCC is responsible for the maintenance of St James with St Thomas, St Paul’s and St Matthew’s Churches and St Paul’s Church Hall.

Page 3 Parish of Wigan West 2023

St Matthew’s Parish Hall is leased to the Highfield CIC, who have responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of the building, with reasonable access granted to the PCC for parish activities.

The Focus of the Parish

As we reflect on 2023, there is much to celebrate about the mission and ministry that has taken place in Wigan West. This has been possible through the commitment, and generosity, time and talents of our many teams and volunteers. We thank God for all of you.

On 26[th] February 2023, Revd Fran Humphry was licensed as Team Vicar and Hub leader. Revd Mark Wade has continued to work alongside her as a Team Vicar in the parish, alongside his role with the Next Gen Team, working across Wigan amongst families and young people aged 11-30. Our schools ministry has flourished in our church primary schools, St James’ Worsley Mesnes, St Matthew’s Highfield and St Paul’s Goose Green, in our local community primary schools, and Hawkley Hall High School and The Deanery. We have seen continued growth in our new family worship communities, Wellspring, linked to St Paul’s school and Lighthouse, linked to St James’ school, and working amongst families in Worsley Mesnes. Shine, our third new family worship community, linked to St Matthew’s school, was launched in February 2023 and has now become established, meeting fortnightly in term time. We have been encouraged to see new families connecting to all our worship communities. Our TLG mentors have also continued to support children in all three of our church primary schools.

In June 2023 we were delighted to welcome Revd Sam Swan as Curate, working across West and North West Wigan parishes. Revd Sam will be priested in June 2024. Alison Brown, Local Missional Leader at St James with St Thomas Poolstock, began training as an Ordinand. She will be ordained as a Distinctive Deacon in June 2024, and we look forward to her continued ministry in the parish.

During the year we continued to invest in five key areas, discipleship, planting and refreshing, encouraging generous discipleship, working towards the reordering of St Paul’s Church building and strengthening our collaborative working both across Wigan West and more widely across Church Wigan. The reports that follow show how the many ministries and missional activities that take place across the parish throughout the week have grown and developed as we have sought to respond to the needs that we have seen and to join in where God is working in Wigan West.

Page 4 Parish of Wigan West 2023

small grants to families in need through Acts 435. We have continued to hold bar-be-ques and invite local families to enjoy free meals in the school holidays.

Average weekly attendances at our worship gatherings have grown overall. In December 2023:

In December 2023:
St Paul’s 45
St Matthew’s 9:00 am 25
St Matthew’s 10:30 am 47
St James’ 10:30 am 60
Midweek Holy Communions as only service attended 13

Page 5 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Wellspring 55
Lighthouse 35
Faith Café 60
A weekly connection of 340 people
Shine (fortnightly) 30
In addition, monthly:
Home and Nursing Home communions 50
Open Table (who do not attend other worshipping communities) 10
With many more connecting though our other activities throughout the
week.

Page 6 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Achievements and Performance

This gives us a snapshot of some of the things we have seen over the last year around the Parish.

St James With St Thomas

Our Sunday morning congregation have now settled well into our pattern of worship, and we are blessed in that we have such a wide range of services over the four-week period. There still seems to be some reluctancy for some long-standing members to attend the baptism services but there are enough people attending to make sure new families are welcomed.

Last year Alison Brown stepped into the role of Local Missional leader as Gordon James stepped aside to concentrate on his role as a reader. However, around May he left St James as he and his wife moved to Carlisle. As you can imagine this had an impact on our congregation, looking for help with the jobs that Gordon used to do. After a settling in period, we are now covering all his jobs. Shortly after Gordon left, the congregation learned that Alison Brown had been recommended to train as a Distinctive Deacon. As you can imagine, this caused some excitement and people are eagerly awaiting her Ordination in June.

Unfortunately, due to lots of things happening and all the changes we are coping with, we have not yet introduced regular testimonies and prayer opportunities during the service. This of course is still vital to what we want to do as a parish and will look to introduce it as soon as possible. Alison introduced the bring & share lunch again to celebrate St James Day and we were blessed with the artistic talents of Joan Baines as she built a grotto to help make the day memorable. We have been blessed by four new members into our choir which will enhance our worship. As well as the choir robing for sung Eucharist on the last Sunday of the month, they gather around the piano to sing at the Baptism service which is working out well.

David Goulden is working hard to get into the rhythm of teaching the children to sing something for the child friendly communion service. This is of course work in progress but will be worth investing in as the congregation engage with what the children are doing in church. Alison Brown LML

St Matthews

The pattern of worship has continued in the same format as the previous year, as outlined below.

First Sunday: 10.30am Holy Communion (CW) Second Sunday: 9am Holy Communion (BCP), 10.30am Family Parade Service Third Sunday: 9am Holy Communion (BCP), 10.30 am Holy Communion (CW), 12.30pm Baptisms Fourth Sunday: 9am Holy Communion (BCP), 10.30am Morning Praise Fifth Sunday: Hub service Each Thursday: 10.30am Holy Communion (CW) in the Parish Hall. Attendance at these services has been

Page 7 Parish of Wigan West 2023

fairly stable. Sadly, some stalwart members of our congregations have died but we have also seen some new faces being attending more regularly at both the 9am and 10.30am Holy Communion services. There are concerns about the decrease in attendance of some children and their families from the monthly Parade service. We continue to provide refreshments after the 10.30 am services which is valued by a number of congregation members as an opportunity to meet socially.

The importance of building up the involvement of lay people within all the services has remained a priority. We have a rota of people who welcome people at the start of each service, a rota of people who read the lessons and the baptism team is now well established. Key to the smooth running and building up the missional activities with St Matthew’s is the work of the St Matthews Ministry Team. Under the auspices of this team the following has taken place this year:

Page 8 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Following the feedback from the Right Buildings review in September the SMMT has found that much of its work has been looking at how we respond to the initial red rating St Matthew’s church received. In the final quarter of the year the emphasis was looking at the vision and mission plan for the future of St Matthew’s and its place within the community. As part of this response, we began to look at ways of opening and using the church more during the week. Two community meetings were held in October to engage a conversation with people in the community and to enlist volunteers from the community who are willing to help in future community and missional events. A Fund-raising team was set up in December 2023 and the church was opened for three periods in the run up to Christmas so people could come in for quiet reflection and prayer. Looking to 2024, the importance of the work from the SMMT is paramount in order to move the church forward in its vision and mission within the community.

Colin Hesketh Lay reader

St Pauls

St Paul’s Goose Green is one of the three churches in the newly formed parish of Wigan West.

Regular Sunday services are held weekly at 10.30am and monthly at 9.00am

The Sunday services are varied, week one Baptism are held, week 2 Holy Communion and weeks 3 and 4 Service of the Word. Weeks two to four there is an average congregation of approximately 45.

On baptism days the congregation numbers vary depending on the number of children being baptised.

There is a regular service of Holy Communion on Wednesday mornings 3 weeks out of 4 at which the attendance has on average 10 people who do not attend any other service. In July 2023 St Paul's church building was closed for worship, for repairs to be carried out and subsequently the planned improvements could be made. The building remained closed for the remainder of 2023 all regular services took place in the church hall. All baptisms and funerals were carried out in the other two churches in our parish.

Worship in the hall has gone well and the numbers attending have stayed approximately the same as in the first half of the year with possibly a slight increase.

Mid-week activities included :-

Small groups meeting for bible study and prayer

Mother’s Union

Page 9 Parish of Wigan West 2023

A friendship group ‘Friends Together’ meeting monthly in the church Hall for a meal and fellowship

A craft group meeting monthly in the church hall.

A mother and toddler group twice weekly in the church hall.

Members of the St Paul’s congregation are very involved in activities which take place in the rest of the parish such as the food pantry and Faith Café both held in St James

Ann Birch, Churchwarden

St Matthew’s churchyard ministry

During the pandemic it was noted that people of the parish and local community visited our churchyard in great numbers, whether just to walk their dog, visit graves or use the space to reflect. Following the reopening of the building we searched for a way to build on this, and the result was to be a presence outside alongside them.

The team has grown to a group of eight and as often as we can we meet at the back of church to offer a drink, information about services or just a chat as people visit graves. We get a mixed response but even if they cannot stay, people always appreciate that we are there. On key days like Mothering Sunday or Christmas it is busier, we offer flowers and prayer cards. The church building is open too, so people can go inside to light a candle or simply sit in the quiet space.

We have in the summer months, a growing team of volunteers in the churchyard who attend regularly to tidy and garden. On those Saturdays we offer refreshment to them too, and it is a joy to see the fellowship and the presence of being church outside, meeting people where they are.

Lighthouse

Lighthouse had approx. 35 families that we have engaged with and supported last year many of these 35 families are now regular members and continue to engage on a very regular basis., in the last 10 months our families have engaged more and are attending more than one weekly gathering.

We also have around 10-15 families that now engage with other areas of west hub/church wigan.

Lighthouse has members that live alone/are carers and need lots of practical support, we also have a large cohort of new parents with young families and a growing group of young people approx. 10 high school age.

Over the past 10 months we have seen lighthouse grow in numbers, including 13 new families who now attend weekly. Along with new families on the fringes who we serve and have conversations with and hope to grow these relationships.

Page 10 Parish of Wigan West 2023

There has been growth in our presence on the estate of Worsley Mesnes where we are based, we are known to the community and have a good reputation as Godly people who are present, reliable and willing to help, we are known to a lot of the children on the estate through our active presence in school and people will knock at our doors if they need support.

Over the past 10 months Lighthouse has begun to meet in St James school again whilst still gathering in the community ensuring there is something for everyone.

Lighthouse regularly gathers 4 times a week:

We also serve the community in various ways:

After a break from formal gathering, we are now back in the local primary school meeting twice weekly, this is strengthening our impact on the estate and building relationships in the community and with school and staff.

Going forward as a worship community we feel we are best placed to serve on the estate on the ground in practical ways to support the community in Worsley Mesnes. We are growing deeper relationships with our members and we look forward to focusing on growing our Sunday church service in the coming year.

Louise Ashcroft Lighthouse Leader

Page 11 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Shine

Shine has now been running since January 2023. A new worship community planted by St Matthew’s Church and St Matthew’s School. Led by Sarah Murphy and Rev Mark Wade, supported by a fantastic leadership team.

They meet at St Matthew’s School every other Tuesday in term time 3.305pm.

On average we have 15 adults and 20 children with about 70% of them this being there only contact with Church.

We sit around tables, and we have decided that children stay in the room and sit with adults and they really wanted to engage with the conversation and families doing the craft activity together.

We then eat together, and we have the kitchen in the same room cooking food with air fryers.

Those who come say it is a place they can ask questions, build friendships, and feel safe and listened too.

We have seen members start to serve through helping to serve drinks and wash up.

We are starting to connect our leadership team with Church Wigan Greenhouse and connect with learning communities with Lighthouse and Wellspring across the parish. This will help grow them as leaders and learning how we develop the ministry.

Our leadership team is mix of school and church leaders and with some this being their main connection to Church.

In the next year we look forward to growing the worship community, growing new leaders and a culture of Financial Giving to the parish of Wigan West.

Wellspring

The wellspring leadership team is the same group of Alison Jackson, Adam Rigby, Rev Mark Wade, Darren Speakman, Lucy Haigh, Kim Robinson, Pam Wilkinson, Jimena Hill, and Janet Lavin. We meet monthly for a review and once a year for a vision day. We have joined the greenhouse workshops led by Church Wigan for fresh expression worship communities. This year Lucy, Jimena and Jan renewed first aid certificates. Kim, Mavis, and Lucy obtained level 2 food hygiene certificates and we have received a 5 star rating from environmental services. Jan & Jimena became Acts 435 advocates. We have 24 active volunteers at present helping speak, manage the welcome desk and kitchen, and provide activities for the children.

Weekly attendees average 60 which is approx. 30 adults and 30 children. There is a core of approx. 20 families who come each week including babies, toddlers, primary school, high school, college students, parents, carers, and grandparents. We have continued to submit referrals to charities. The Storehouse, Daffodils dreams and Toms Pantry and have made new connections to charities CAP, Acts 435 and BrickByBrick

Page 12 Parish of Wigan West 2023

meaning we can support our families in many practical ways. We have had successful grant applications from Liverpool Diocese Feast of Fun for an Easter Trail, 2 Summer BBQs, a Parish fun day at Bispham Scout Camp and a Pumpkin and Christmas Party, Wigan Council Brighter Boroughs for a Coach Trip to the beach and 10ofThose for Easter and Christmas books. In November we were awarded £2210 which should make us financially viable for 2024 in terms of food, heating and sports coach costs. A bench was purchased from a £200 donated by Chloe’s Mahon’s family. At Christmas we collected and delivered 13 food and toy hampers to our families and also collected and delivered a car full of treat and gift hampers to Coops Foyer.

During the sessions over 2023 we explored the trinity, the Easter story, we have been on a Christian themed Wellbeing Journey and ended looking at the Christmas Story.

We did have a few incidents with children and families falling out and some stopped coming for a while but returned however overall feedback includes results from Liverpool Diocese Fruitfulness Framework Questionnaire which showed wellspring is a place of safety and trust and which also shows spiritual and personal growth in terms of increased feeling of spirituality and frequency of praying and increased feeling of purpose and worthiness. Feedback also included that people feel they belong, supported, calmer, more tolerant, content, happy, are a better person, they have found God again, loved, wanted, are part of a family, more confident, treasured, safe, more peaceful, and more open minded about Christianity after coming to wellspring.

Lucy Haigh LML

Tom’s Pantry

We now have approximately 170 members who attend the pantry regularly, with 6 new members joining in October, 3 in November and 2 in December.

In the period from October to December, we gave out 539 food hampers. We are now averaging 44 shoppers per week.

The estimated saving on a shop at Tom's is £26.

As always God provides for His pantry and as we struggle to keep up with demand the food does come in, so we are always thankful for God's abundant blessing on the work. Tom's Pantry also supplements the pantry with free meals for families during the holidays and at the end of the year we could bless people who treat hampers and a Christmas Feast, enjoyed by about 60 people. It is a direct command of Jesus that we feed people and Tom's Pantry delivers this. It is also a place where people can encounter Jesus in a new and imaginative way. We look forward to next

Page 13 Parish of Wigan West 2023

year so we can feed the people of our community spiritually as well as physically.

Lifelines Dementia Friendly Café & Choir

Alison Brown and David Goulden run this as he is the musical director for the choir. It has been an incredibly special year especially for the choir. David invited the choir to take part in Buxton Opera’s Gilbert & Sullivan Festival. They were invited to sing in the chorus in “Trial by Jury” and “The Zoo.” It was a one night only performance and some choir members were excited to accept the offer. After weeks of rehearsal, a few tears, and tantrums we were all set to go. Despite feeling unsure the group which braved the invitation thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Not only was it a wonderful opportunity to sing on stage to a live audience it provided chances for mission. We have asked to take part again in two years’ time when we perform “The Sorcerer.”

The choir has also taken part in a concert to raise funds for Alzheimer’s research and been invited to “The Well” to sing David’s own composition of “Come Holy Spirit” which has become a firm favourite now in Church Wigan.

Whilst the choir has grown since returning after covid to around twentyfive members, the café has maintained its number of around 15. Despite this we have had an enjoyable time with activities and enjoyed afternoon tea to celebrate the King’s Coronation. You can visit the café or choir independently or you can come to both.

It is hoped that the choir and café will continue to provide a valuable service for those living with dementia and look after those who care for them in a safe environment where pastoral care is offered. Alison Brown

Friends together

Established more than a decade ago by the late Marjorie Norton, who sadly passed away in 2014, Friends Together has gone from strength to strength and over the last few years attendance has grown significantly. We are now attracting between 40 and 60 guests each month, many of whom are elderly and live alone, and is an opportunity for people to get together for a chat with old friends and new.

Led by Linda Berry, with the support of a small team of loyal volunteers, we meet on the first Wednesday of each month and provide a hearty meal and a dessert. Our meals are always high quality and usually supplied by Greenhalgh’s or Marks & Spencer’s. We have free bingo and a free raffle with prizes being donated by our guests and volunteers.

At Easter, as well as our usual entertainment, we had our annual Easter Bonnet Parade with many imaginative entries. The winner received a large Easter egg, and at Christmas we provided a substantial Christmas dinner with all the trimmings.

Allan Conroy

Page 14 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Faith Café

Faith Café has continued to grow both in congregation and followers of faith.

We have a full faith cafe every Saturday with approximately 40 to 60 people on an average Saturday every week. When we incorporate free events funded by the Council or Liverpool Diocese this increases to 70-80 people. There is an increase in families and new members.

Weekly we share Lectio 365 which has seen new followers of Jesus from this interaction of sharing faith with prayer.

Chaplains are supportive of more and more people needing a listening ear with prayer being offered and always accepted.

We have people just walking in to just rest and be then return week after week. We also have gained members as Tom's pantry is open on Saturdays and this encourages people to come in as the need is so great. We then have people staying for food, chat and friendship.

For the children we offer faith-based activities using books themed to the Christian calendar and give out working books to children for them to use at home.

Future events we have discussed are pop up Faith Cafe in the town centre or local schools to be discussed further and more volunteers required to move this forward.

Blessings

Emma Suzi and all the Faith cafe family

Little Stars

Little Stars has been on quite a journey this year! As predicted, we lost a few key volunteers to new commitments, which resulted in the closure of Monday group at October half term, followed by the closure of Thursday group at Christmas. Thankfully, however, God called an entire new team of volunteers in January and we were able to reopen our doors on a Monday morning once again....

Currently we have about 26 adults and 26 children attending.

Toni Wade

Page 15 Parish of Wigan West 2023

TLG

We have had a great second year as TLG Wigan (West Hub); providing ten trained coaches to our three Church schools. Whilst this has not been without its challenges, the programme has continued to be well received and rolled out with great success. Feedback from our first annual review concludes:

Early Intervention (Ei) coaching at Church Wigan continues to be an effective and consistent Centre for providing coaching for several vulnerable children in three Primary schools: St James, St Matthew’s and St Paul’s. The church and schools are situated in a deprived area of Wigan and thus make a significant positive impact for struggling families. The ongoing effectiveness of this Centre is evidenced in the following ways:

Martin Gaskell

St James Bell Tower

During the past twelve months Alex has been busy writing for estimates and permission for the faculty of the re-order of the bells, also for a chiming rope that is to be fixed to the treble bell and lowered into the tower room.

The money has already been donated for the tower room chiming rope and fixtures.

As soon as we get the faculty permission letters through, we will be writing to various establishments and organizations who support the refurbishment of church bells. We are looking to raise approximately £140k of which we can say that £37k is as good as promised from the various bell funds available in the area.

We did start to use the handbells on Wednesday evening, and this was enjoyed by all who came along. We managed to perform a Christmas Carol one Sunday morning in December.

Page 16 Parish of Wigan West 2023

At the moment we are ringing the "big bells " for the Open Table service on the last Sunday of the month. Everyone welcome.

We sadly lost the new recruits who joined us for the "Ring for the King " event but are still actively looking for new members.

Fundraising has been put on hold as we have been short of bodies on the ground but do hope to start again soon by holding small events which includes cake sales, bingo and a brass band concert.

We are also intending to join in with the English Heritage Open Day this September where we will be showcasing our beautiful church and we will be including a tour of the bell tower with an invitation to "have a go" if wanted.

We will have various activities on the day and the Faith Cafe will be open.

Carole Simm Tower Captain

Friendship Group

We are now in the ninth year since our foundation in 2016. Formed originally to cater for what we considered to be the perceived needs of recently bereaved individuals, we have now enhanced our aims to include those who put quite simply, are lonely. Also, for the first time we have welcomed a married couple into our ranks.

These new objectives were set out to our members who unanimously agreed with our committees thinking.

This has not altered in any way our modus operandi. This put quite simply, is to provide a warm friendly and welcoming atmosphere to all who care to attend our weekly meetings.

Our membership hovers around the 20 mark and because of the average age of our members, which is about 80 years of age, tends to fluctuate slightly dependent upon circumstances. For example, in the past six months or so one of our founder members has sadly died, though the lady was in her 90’s.

Three others have moved into care homes and can no longer visit us and one other finds herself physically unable to attend on a large percentage of occasions, due to infirmity. This latter is sad, but due to our own infirmities we sometimes find it physically difficult to offer sufficient care in these circumstances. So whilst we do not expect membership numbers to dramatically increase, a few more would be very much welcomed. We have plenty of space in our premises and are certain we have much to offer.

However, as we have no target numbers to achieve, our membership numbers are to a degree irrelevant.

Page 17 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Over the past year we have made a number of trips to places of interest. Specifically a trip, courtesy of our local councillors Clive, Marie and Paul, to Skipton Market. They arranged yet another grant from The Brighter Borough Fund to pay the £500 cost of coach hire. Fortuitously it was a warm and sunny day when we set off. A self arranged lunch was followed by a leisurely stroll in the sunshine around the market stalls and welcome ice creams. Our return trip was uneventful and we arrived back at about 5.30pm. A further trip was arranged for later in the year, when again blessed by sunshine we enjoyed a pleasant drive to Llandudno. Lunch in a four-star hotel on the promenade for most was followed by a pleasant stroll along the pier and exploration of the town until it was time to depart. I am seriously thinking of selling my services to arrange trips out, as I always seem to be lucky with the weather.

We also enjoyed visiting local restaurants for lunch on a number of occasions. We took recommendations from our members as to where to visit and they included this year The Albert in Standish, La Mamas, again in Standish, Ashton Golf Club and Houghwood Golf Club, The Wheel in Wigan, and our local The Venture.

In addition we prepared a number of buffets, produced by Pauline and several hotpots provided by members enjoying their birthdays.

Which means that we are probably not an organisation for weight watchers.

We hope that our Group will continue to serve Highfield/Winstanley and surrounding areas for many years to come and would thank all of you for your support

Dave Whitter. Secretary.

St Pauls Mothers Union

Mothers Union is alive and well, we have had a good year overall.

Marjorie Ellis was enrolled to our number this year; this was lovely as we don’t get many new members, I suppose it's a sign of the times.

We. have fifteen regular members and four indoor members, Alice Broadbelt was 102 this year.

We were saddened to lose Jean Longhurst, she will be sadly missed.

We knit prayer shawls for those who are ill, and small faith bags for year six at St Paul's as they move on to high school. We also support the Women's Refuge and contacts with Hindley Prison.

It is a joy each year to welcome our speakers who come from all over, their subjects are varied and very welcome. We thank them very much for giving their time to us.

Anne Hubbard

Page 18 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Bereavement Group

I believe the last 12 months has been a year of development and growth. Over the past year we have had something in the region of 10 or 12 new people coming to see us. Everyone doesn't stay of course but 3 or 4 have, and never miss a session.

Our target originally was, and still is, to help people pick up pieces of their own life again, but we are still here if at any time they need extra support, our door is always open.

We also offer, for people living alone, somewhere to go, someone to talk to and share their highs and lows of life, as one of our recently acquired members tells us, we give him somewhere to go, someone to share my moments when I am down, and this is exactly why we are here. This particular person had lost their spouse some 12 months ago and has only recently moved to Wigan so therefore doesn't know anyone locally and looks upon us as a Godsend.

I feel now we have got past, hopefully, the pandemic, more people want to share their time with us. I believe the events of the pandemic has brought back memories that have been buried in our minds, maybe for years. It is because of that I believe the past year has been a success.

I won't go into numbers, because in my view we are not about numbers, its about helping people, human beings, through a very difficult period of their lives, but I absolutely insist if we can help one person per year, and we are well above that, then to me it’s a roaring success.

As you have no doubt gathered from the above report, all our meetings are held in strict confidence, i.e. whatever is said at our meetings remains there otherwise it doesn't work At the last meeting I provided tea light candles and offered an opportunity to light candle in memory of a loved one and to my amazement they were queuing up and they thanked me immensely, just simple things have, sometimes, a wonderful effect

God bless you all

David Berry

OPEN THE BOOK 2023

Our progress along the OPEN THE BOOK road in 2023 has been in two phases - GOOD and NOT SO GOOD.

First the GOOD -

The year started with two teams furthering our usual monthly missions into the three primary schools in the West Hub - St. James, St. Paul’s and St. Matthews.

We reached out, across theses three schools, to around 300 pupils aged from around 4 to 11 years of age.

Page 19 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Our aims are to develop and deepen their Christian faith, leading them towards a deeper and closer personal relationship with Jesus. Also, however, we strive to achieve this through participation, enthusiasm and fun, so that they not only receive the message, but are immersed in it and receive it through an experience that will remain with them, as they grow and mature.

We believe that we have achieved these aims, because we are always met with enthusiasm by both the pupils and the staff; and the pupils in particular, remember the previous events. We build the story stage by stage, month by month, so we believe that we are slowly developing their faith, through a solid foundation on which others can build.

Now the NOT SO GOOD -

We entered 2023 with the expectation that we could recruit more volunteers and extend Open the Book into several non faith schools.

Despite our efforts, through speaking and presenting to individuals, small groups and the three churches, we have not succeeded in getting any further volunteers.

Worse still, due to other conflicting activities, we have had to reduce to one team, resulting in having to limit our inputs to once every two months, with only one team.

This was worsened because of acute illness and is about to become more difficult, because another team member is unfortunately having to withdraw.

The reality is that all of the remaining team members are either in full time employment, suffering ill health, involved in other Christian activities and / or simply getting old.

The reality, therefore, is that, despite the fact that we are all keen to nurture this initiative, if we don’t recruit more volunteers, we will either have to eventually cease and / or change the format to one which requires fewer regular volunteers.

We need thought, prayer and action if we are not just to rescue the current initiative: but especially if we are to move forward and grow.

Brian Marsh

St Pauls Hall:

St Paul’s hall continues to be very well attended and is used most days of the week by at least one of 17 regular groups, these groups vary from small babies to pensioners. The hall remains a valuable asset to the Church and the community and provides a valuable lifeline and social contact to many people, particularly those living alone. Approximately

Page 20 Parish of Wigan West 2023

7600 adults and 7500 children taking part in the various groups and functions in 2023

2023 has seen a 10% decrease in income however there is still a small surplus to deal with the burden of ever-increasing maintenance costs and a 121% increase in energy costs.

Allan Conroy

Page 21 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Financial Review

The integration of the various Parish bank accounts is almost complete with 95% of all transaction being carried out within the Wigan West bank account.

Our total income in 2023 was £274,268 this was up from £243,806 in 2022. An increase of £30,462 this however was due to an increase in grants of almost £18,000 and additional bank interest on our investment account. It’s disappointing to note that Planned Gift Aid Giving remained at around £68,500 whilst our Other Planned and Loose Plate collections fell slightly by £1,600.

Our expenses were up from £260,733 last year to £427,516. Whilst this increase was almost entirely due to the reordering of St Paul’s Church

there was an increase in energy bills of £14,200. Energy contracts are being renegotiated and it is hoped this will reduce in 2024. We were able to pay £102,000 Deanery Share although this fell short of the £154,000 required of us. The excess expenditure over income for the reordering was covered by utilizing money held in the Field Fund.

The PCC are fully aware of the financial situation and continued efforts are to be made in 2024 to encouraging our congregations to give freely to support the work of the Diocese and Church Wigan. We will be asking all our regular givers to review their giving and to transfer to the Parish Giving Scheme. We would hope that, if possible, they gift aid and index link their donations and also to support our fundraising activities.

The major source of income still comes from our congregations and is supplemented by tax reclaims from amounts gift aided, our next major source being Parish fees for weddings and funerals.

We received grants totalling £30,756 which included a heating grant from the LDBF of £4,285 marvellous effort by those finding and applying for them. We received grants from The Grocers Charity, Wigan MBC, Together Liverpool, LDBF, Transforming Lives TLG, Unite Union, Sainsbury’s and Lottery.

Fixed Assets:

The freehold land and buildings referenced within the financial statements refer to St Paul’s Church Hall. The two other buildings St Matthew’s Parish Hall (which has now been established as a CIC and is being run independently) and St Matthew’s Parish Rooms, now demolished, were valued a number of years ago at £346,000, this to be reviewed.

Reserves Policy

The PCC’s long-term aim is to retain within its unrestricted funds, as free reserves, a sum not greater than an amount equivalent to four months of the year’s annual expenditure.

Page 22 Parish of Wigan West 2023

As at 31 December 2023 our unrestricted funds comprised of fixed assets of £391,728, unrestricted funds (free and designated) of £15,056 and restricted funds of £505,564 comprising mainly of the Field Fund £415,407.

Agent Transactions:

The PCC has acted as financial agent for the following organisations:

The charities that we gave our donations and giving to in 2023 were:

Risk Management

Risk Assessments:

Financial Risk:

An annual budget is prepared to help the PCC identify areas of significant financial risk. During each financial year the PCC also receive and able to examine periodic financial reports showing actual against budget comparison reports.

Investments and reserves are only held in low risk Church of England, Central Board of Finance funds. Bank accounts are maintained at those amounts required for operational purposes only. All assets are insured and insurance levels are reviewed periodically in conjunction with the insurance provider’s staff. The PCC’s insurance provider is Congregational Church Insurance. The PCC has agreed internal controls for the handling of cash and cheques, both as receipts and as payments.

Page 23 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Health and Safety Risk:

The P.C.C. recognizes that it is responsible to carry out a Risk Assessment relating to its buildings. It has a practical Health and Safety Policy covering activities both for the churches and other buildings it is responsible for which is reviewed on a regular basis'. Accident Books are maintained.

Data Protection:

The contents and obligations of the Equality Act 2010 and the 2018 General Data Protection Regulation are known and complied with to the best of the P.C.C.'s liability. The P.C.C. is aware of its responsibilities in respect of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order of 2005. The P.C.C. has appointed Andrew Bond to be the responsible person in respect of these requirements.

Safeguarding:

Our Safeguarding officer is Emma Dickinson working alongside Revd Fran Humphry. All Safeguarding incidents and training are reported centrally. We hold all people DBS and safer recruitment information as asked by the Church of England. We continue to review and develop working alongside other Safeguarding officers in Church Wigan and supported by the diocese. We also reviewed the national historical Safeguarding review.

.

All our Trustees and volunteers are trained to recognise signs which could indicate that a child or adult at risk may be being abused or neglected. This training also includes wider Charity Commission requirements to recognise and report incidents involving our staff and volunteers. We actively encourage our staff, volunteers and those who use or come into contact with our services, to speak up about things which they think could cause harm to people and we act promptly when concerns have been raised. We will not tolerate any behaviours or practices which could lead to anyone being abused and/or exploited by our people.

Plans for The Future

During 2024 we will continue to consolidate the growth that has taken place in 2023, by continuing to support the many teams and volunteers who are active in mission and ministry here in Wigan West. We will continue to build our resilience by encouraging more volunteers to become involved in our activities across the parish.

Our vision is to see the Kingdom of God built in Wigan West as in Heaven. We believe that this will happen through God’s work of transforming the lives of people in our community, so we want to join in with what God is doing. Fundamentally, this is our mission: to join with God in growing disciples, wherever he is at work. It is exciting that this is happening in so many ways.

Page 24 Parish of Wigan West 2023

We will continue to invest in the five key areas to help us to grow and flourish as a parish.

Growing as Disciples

We will continue to offer opportunities for people of all ages to explore faith and get to know Jesus better. One of the key elements of this will be Alpha courses that will run in different locations throughout the parish in the summer term. We are also keen to grow our ministry to baptism families, through Starting Rite. We already have a number of small groups that meet for study, fellowship and deeper discipleship and we will seek to offer more, continuing to use resources such as The Prayer Course, The Lectio Course and The Bible Course. Our Lent 2024 challenge was to read the New Testament in 40 days, and we will continue to encourage people to read the Bible and to draw upon the Church Wigan resources for 2024 which focus upon Exploring the Psalms.

Planting and Refreshing

Wellspring and Lighthouse and our most recently established worship community, Shine, are continuing to grow and to engage with many new families. Tom’s Pantry and Faith café continue to serve and support more of our wider community. St James’ Centre continues to be a collection and distribution point for aid for Ukraine. Many of our leaders and team members from across the whole breadth of ministries in our parish have engaged with Greenhouse and we will continue our Missional Journey of loving and listening to our communities. St Matthew’s Church is open regularly on Saturdays and Wednesdays in Highfield as we seek to discern how we can welcome our community and see where God is doing something new that he wants us to join in with.

Sustainable Ministry

The PCC has undertaken a review as part of the Church Wigan Right Buildings process, to ensure that we have the buildings that we need and the resources of people and money to flourish in sustainable ministry across our parish. We recognise the importance of continuing this review process in the years to come as part of our stewardship of the resources that God has given us. We will continue to encourage generous discipleship and sacrificial giving as our financial situation continues to be challenging. We look forward to the reopening of St Paul’s Church at the end of the Summer. The refurbished building will provide greater flexibility and opportunities for mission and service to our community in the Goose Green area of our parish.

Many people work together collaboratively in Wigan West, including stipendiary, self-supporting and retired clergy, Local Missional Leaders and teams, Readers, Ministry Teams, Leadership Teams, our PCC and Hub Leadership Team and the many teams of volunteers who make all our services and ministries happen. For all of us to flourish in sustainable,

Page 25 Parish of Wigan West 2023

joyful ministry, we need more people to join us, so we pray that God will raise up many more from among us in the year to come.

Working across Church Wigan

As we reflect on all our worship communities, all the missional activities that are going on across the parish and the growth that we have seen in the last year, we are so thankful for the many people who work together across our parish to make all this possible. Many also contribute to the wider ministry in Church Wigan and beyond. We continue to benefit greatly from Church Wigan’s Support Services, provided by Wigan Deanery Trust, who give administrative, financial and governance support, funeral administration, and help with looking after our buildings. These services continue to be a tremendous support to our Church Wardens, Assistant Wardens, Treasurer and Assistant Treasurers, as well as our clergy.

We thank God for all that he is doing in amongst us, we pray that he will draw many more people to know Him. We ask his blessing on all in our community.

And we pray, Lord, may your kingdom come, here in Wigan West as in Heaven. Amen.

Structure, Governance and Management

Description of the charity’s trusts:

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) operates under the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956 and the Church Representation Rules.

The PCC is a corporate body established by the Church of England. The PCC operates under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure and is a charity registered with the Charity Commission.

PCC members are appointed in accordance with the Church of England the Church Representation Rules 2022 and are elected at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting. All those who attend are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC. Individual members of the PCC receive external training as and when deemed appropriate by the PCC

Day to Day management of the church was exercised by the standing committee, the only committee required by law. It has the power to transact PCC Business between PCC meetings and considers strategic issues which may affect the church.

The Standing Committee consists of:

Page 26 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Church Wigan relationship to the PCC:

Policies adopted:

All polices were created by Church Wigan and adopted by the PCC:

All PCC members are required to have DBS checks and to complete basic and foundation Safeguarding training.

Other Related Trusts:

The managing Trustees for this charity are the PCC of Wigan West. Although St Paul’s Church Field, Goose Green is a separate charity to the PCC the Charity Commission has provided written consent that it may be included within the PCC’s financial statement as a ‘Special Trust’ under the provision contained within s287 of the Charities Act 2011

Page 27 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Reference and Administration Information

Name: Parish of Wigan West;

This Parish is part of the Diocese of Liverpool within the Church of England

Charity Number: 1201671

Church correspondence address:

Church Wigan Office. Wigan Investment Centre, Waterside Drive Wigan. WN3 5BA Telephone 01942 410910

For the period 1[st] January 2023 until the approval of this report, the following people served as members of Wigan West and were the charity’s Trustees.

Name Role Revd Neil Cook Incumbent Ex-Officio member Revd Fran Humphry Hub Leader (Team Vicar Ex-Officio member and PCC chair) Revd Mark Wade Team Vicar Ex-Officio member Martin Gaskell Churchwarden Ex-Officio member Ann Birch Churchwarden Ex-Officio member Carole Simm Deanery Synod Rep Ex-Officio member Jeff McCann Deanery Synod Rep & Ex-Officio member Treasurer

Emma Dickinson Deanery Synod Rep & Ex-Officio member Parish Safeguarding Officer

Kath Smith Deanery Synod Rep Vacant Deanery Synod Rep Vacant Deanery Synod Rep Vacant Deanery Synod Rep Angela Matthewson Diocesan Synod Rep Iain Matthewson Diocesan Synod Rep Kathleen Moran PCC Secretary Pam Wilkinson Electoral Roll Officer Cliff Unsworth Louise Ashcroft Roger Clarke Andrew Bond

Ex-Officio member Ex-Officio member

Ex-Officio member Ex-Officio member PCC Elected Member PCC Elected Member PCC Elected Member PCC Elected Member PCC Elected Member PCC Elected Member

Page 28 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Jes Rusling PCC Elected Member PCC Elected Member
Carole Simm PCC Elected Member
Sheila Albers PCC Elected Member
Marie Bond PCC Elected Member
Vacant PCC Elected Member
Rev Elliot Ireton Team Vicar Ex-Officio member
Revd Steve Beck Team Vicar Ex-Officio member
Revd Sue Fulford Team Vicar Ex-Officio member
Revd Dot Gosling Team Vicar Ex-Officio member
Revd Stan Team Vicar Ex-Officio member
Higginson
Revd Canon Team Vicar Ex-Officio member
Sam Nicholson
Revd Peter Whittington Team Vicar Ex-Offico member
Revd Roland Harvey Team Vicar Ex-Officio member
Revd Sandra Jones Team Vicar Ex-Officio member
Revd Clive Doran Team Vicar Ex-Officio member

The Trustees are aware of the Charity Commission's guidance on Public Benefit in their publication 'The Advancement of Religion for Public Benefit' and have given regard to it in their administration of the parish.

It is considered that all P.C.C. members and any others who could be understood to be 'managers' in the activities and affairs of the Parish - as defined in Schedule 6 of the Finance Act 2010 - have completed declarations confirming they are 'fit and proper' persons under the terms of the Finance Act 2010.

Trustee training is available to new and established Trustees as and when required.

Page 29 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Names and addresses of advisers:

Architects

Robin Wooley, 17 Well Street, Ruthin, LL15 1AE

St Paul’s Quinquennial Architect Now retired

Maggie Mullen Architects 6, Percy Street, Liverpool L8 7LU

St Paul’s Reordering Now replaced by Rebecca Grimshaw of Anthony Grimshaw Associates as Employers Agent

Anthony Grimshaw Associates 6 Bridgeman Terrace Wigan WN1 1SX

St Paul’s Reordering

St James with St Thomas Quinquennial Architect

Schafer Associates St Matthew’s Quinquennial 56, Belvedere Road, Architect Ashton in Makerfield, Wigan WN4 8RU

Independent Examiner

Rev Alan A Clements MA ACIB FCIE 15 Carleton Road, Great Knowley, Chorley, PR6 8TQ

Name and address of Bankers

Lloyds Bank, Lewisham Branch, 120 High Street, Lewisham, London, SE13 6JG

The PCC also holds accounts with:

Central Board of Finance of the Church of England Santander UK plc The Royal Bank of Scotland plc

Page 30 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Page 31 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Page 32 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Page 33 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Page 34 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Page 35 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Page 36 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Page 37 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Page 38 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Page 39 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Page 40 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Page 41 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Page 42 Parish of Wigan West 2023

Page 43 Parish of Wigan West 2023