## **ASK Friends AGM Report May 2024** I’d like to start by reiterating the stated aims of ASK Friends according to our Constitution: “The preservation and conservation of the Grade 1 Listed All Saints Church, Kenton for the public benefit by providing support to maintaining, preserving and improving the historic church building, it’s churchyard and its contents.” We are delighted with the progress at All Saints Church since last May. With Rev Julia Hocking now in post, a positive relationship has been established between the PCC and ASK Friends. In May 2023, ASK Friends was registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organization (CIO) and was subsequently recognized by HMRC for gift aid on personal donations. We now have SumUp and Give a Little to enable digital donations and donations can also be made via our website. Since last May, we have held 6 fund-raising Art History talks in the church and we are hugely grateful to Dr Chris Davies who so generously gives his time freely for this. We have only held one Quiz this year, in October, and would like to thank Matthew Williams for acting as our quizmaster. In February and March, we supported _Give to Go Green_ , a pilot scheme from the CofE as part of their target to reach net zero by 2030. Along with donations from the people in the village, the PCC and ASK Friends held events which raised £5000, match-funded by the CofE to £10,000 to repair the broken and decaying stained glass windows. We are delighted that work on the windows has already begun. Repair to the Rood Screen roof and to the electrical wiring of the Vicar’s Vestry are now complete. Decisions are still awaited about the ceiling and roof repairs. Other repair needs, including the tower drainpipe, tower roof leak, are at various stages of getting opinions and estimates. ASK Friends can help with getting opinions and estimates. We can also help make grant applications but we need the PCC to tell what projects they would like us to help with. The authority and responsibility rests with the PCC. The Swift project has gone quiet but is not forgotten. Swifts nest in the boxes in the church tower every summer. We still aim to be able to project pictures from the nests onto the church TV for people in the village to observe. However, the current equipment and church TV are not up to the job. A HiFi/WiFi expert has been to visit and identified exactly what is needed. He is keen to help and we await his availability and costings. ## The Churchyard John Perkins and Cliff Tubb continue to manage the planned grass cutting with TDC, along with general maintenance. A growing number of volunteers, some of them new to the village and young(!) can be called upon for work parties and we are grateful to them all. The churchyard is a work in progress. This year, a new lavender plot was planted by Mandy Hendley to the right of the porch and is thriving. Yellow Rattle seeds planted in test areas in 2022 came into flower in 2023 in every single plot. Yellow Rattle is known to suppress grass growth to enable other species of wildflowers to grow. The planting of Snowdrops and blue bells in the North of the churchyard was unsuccessful. The churchyard team understands that this was because of the excessively wet winter. A second attempt is planned for later this year. The monthly flower count has now been taken on by Daisy and Andrew, a young couple new to Kenton. Andrew is a horticulturalist and keen to be involved on the churchyard team. Until now, John and I have only counted the species in flower, but at the end of April, the churchyard was visited by Julie Gibbs’s sister, Sarah Lambert, who is a botanist. Sarah identified 72 different plants and documented her findings. Plans for the future include looking after the walls and dismantling the compost area to the north which was erected back in 2020. A number of grave crosses need lifting and laying flat and one flat grave needs levelling. The area of gravel surrounding the Studd grave in the NE corner will be planted with Sedum to restrain the many weeds which dominate. The bird nest boxes and the bug hotels will be reviewed and refurbished. The team is also looking at planting a couple of trees, possibly Rowan and a Hawthorn to replace the poplar which was taken down last year for safety reasons. The Churchyard Team endeavours to make the area a welcoming place for both humans and wildlife, and to increase biodiversity. The aim is to manage the space and keep it tidy, without looking manicured. They are achieving this aim – the churchyard looks natural (or even wild) but the close-cut paths demonstrate that the area is cared for. I would like to thank John, Cliff and every member of the team for their dedication to the constant upkeep of this lovely space. I wish to thank Rob for the huge amount he does for ASK Friends. He is the backbone of ASK Friends, liaising with builders and other workmen, maintaining our website and currently also acting as Secretary. Anne has decided to stand down from the committee and the role of Treasurer. We are so sorry to be losing Anne and I wish to thank her for the wonderful job she has done over the past year. In September, we were delighted to welcome Mandy to our team and are very grateful for her considered and thoughtful input. With Anne’s departure, we are a small team of 3 and need new members in order to continue. Please consider joining our committee! ## – Finally some thoughts about old churches … I am not a church-goer but I love this church building. This has not been a good year for Kenton. Although there has been minor flooding in previous years, the flood last September was unprecedented, causing lasting damage to the village. Many people have still not been able to return to their homes. Without a shop, pub or (currently), a school in the village, Kenton is going through a difficult time. SO – how much more important it is that we still have this church standing firm at the heart of our village. A few days ago, I came in and found a lone visitor who, after spontaneously offering ‘What a beautiful church!’ , expressed surprise that he had expected to smell damp but all he could smell were the lovely flowers! I’d like to finish by reading a few lines from the introduction an excellent book called Steeple Chasing which was Waterstone’s book of the month earlier this year. The author Peter Ross visits different churches during the Covid Lockdown, and each chapter focusses on one subject, exemplified by a particular church. _People once loved and feared churches as they loved and feared God. Now often, they fear_ _**for** them. Fear that they will fall down. Fear that they will be converted into offices and flats._ _Do they still love them? They should._ _Even if you only attend church for marriages, baptisms and funerals, these are among the most important times of our lives; moments when we speak most deeply of ourselves, our love, our hope, our sadness._ _Churches hold within them Britain’s history; national and personal. That smell they have is not just damp and dust, but_ _**faith and time.**_ This made me reflect on the generations of families who will have passed through the doors of this building, literally over centuries. Who were they? What clothes did they wear? We play a small part in this ongoing story, and we need to preserve this building for future generations, to be the next part of the story. Thank you Jane Perkins (Chair ASK Friends) ## **Notices** Refreshments for sale June 12 2.30 Illustrated talk by Mark Bailey of CWGC Commonwealth War Graves Commission. June 26 2.30 Art History talk Black Artists Matter July 13 – 7.30 Ashburton Singers The Lark in the Clear Air ## **ASK FRIENDS** |**All Saints' Kenton Friends (ASK Friends)**|**All Saints' Kenton Friends (ASK Friends)**|**All Saints' Kenton Friends (ASK Friends)**|**No (if any)**| |---|---|---|---| |**Receipts andpayments accounts**|||| |**For the period from**|Period start date
31-May-23|**To**|Period end date
31-Mar-24| ## **Section A Receipts and payments** |**Section A Receipts and payments**|**Section A Receipts and payments**|||| |---|---|---|---|---| |**Unrestricted funds**
**to the nearest £**
**A1 Receipts**
Membership
**195**
Sales
Donation - Jo Wilis funeral
**324**
Donation
**150**
Quizzes
**169**
Presentation & Talks
**460**
Give to Go Green
**1,480**
**2,778**
**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for AR)_||**Restricted funds**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Endowment funds**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**Total**
**funds**
**to the**
**nearest £**| |Membership|**195**|**-**|**-**|**195**| |Sales||**-**|**-**|**-**| |Donation - Jo Wilis funeral|**324**|||**324**| |Donation|**150**|**-**|**-**|**150**| |Quizzes|**169**|**-**|**-**|**169**| |Presentation & Talks|**460**|**-**|**-**|**460**| |Give to Go Green|**1,480**|**-**|**-**|**1,480**| |||**-**|**-**|**-**| |||**-**|**-**|**-**| |**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for AR)_|**2,778**
|**-**|**-**|**2,778**| |**A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table).**||||||||||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||**-**||||**-**|||||**-**||||**-**|| |||**-**||||**-**|||||**-**||||**-**|| |||**-**||||**-**|||||**-**||||**-**|| |**_Sub total_**||||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||**2,778**|| |**_Total receipts_ **||**2,778**||||**-**|||||**-**|||||| |**A3 Payments**||||||||||||||||| |Quiz Expenses||**21**||||**-**||||**-**|||||**21**|| |Cost of Presentations and Talks||||||**-**||||**-**||||||| |Cost of Concerts||||||**-**||||**-**||||||| |Publicity and Printing||**21**||||**-**||||**-**|||||**21**|| |Contribution towards Church Expenses||||||**-**||||**-**||||||| |Funds raised for Give to Go Green||**1,480**||||**-**||||**-**|||||**1,480**|| |Churchyard Fund||**-**||||**66**||||**-**|||||**66**|| |**_Sub total_**||||||||||||||||| |||**1,522**||||**66**||||**-**|||||**1,588**|| |**A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see**||||||||||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |**table)**||||||||||||||||| |||**-**||||**-**|||||**-**||||**-**|| |||**-**||||**-**|||||**-**||||**-**|| |**_Sub total_**||||||||||||||||| |||**-**||||**-**|||||**-**||||**-**|| |||||||||||||||||| |**_Total payments_ **||**1,522**||||**66**|||||**-**||||**1,588**|| |||||||||||||||||| |**_Net of receipts/(payments)_ **||**1,256**||||**- 66**||||**-**|||||**1,190**|| |**A5 Transfers between funds**||**-**||||**-**||||**-**|||||**-**|| |**A6 Cash funds last year end**||**-**||||**-**||||**-**|||||**-**|| |**_Cash funds this year end_ **||**1,256**||||**- 66**||||**-**|||||**1,190**|| ## **Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period** **B1 Cash funds** **Categories** ## **Unrestricted funds** **Restricted funds** **Details** |**and liabilities at the end of the period**
**Details**|**Unrestricted funds**|**Restricted**
**funds**| |---|---|---| |Bank
**_Total cash funds_**|**to nearest £**
**7,164**
**-**
**-**
**7,164**|**to nearest £**| ||**7,164**|**350**| ||**-**|**-**| ||**-**|**-**| ||**7,164**|**350**| ## **B2 Other monetary assets** ## **B3 Investment assets** **B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use** Agreement Agreement Error Error **Unrestricted funds Restricted funds** (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |**Details**
n/a|**to nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**|**to nearest £**| |---|---|---| ||**-**|**-**| |n/a|**-**|**-**| ||**-**|**-**| ||**-**|**-**| ||**-**|**-**| ||**-**|**-**| |**Fund to which asset**
**belongs**|**Cost**
**(optional)**| |---|---| ||**-**| ||**-**| ||**-**| ||**-**| ||**-**| ## **Details** n/a |**Fund to which asset**
**belongs**|**Cost**
**(optional)**| |---|---| ||**-**| ||**-**| ||**-**| ||**-**| ||**-**| ||**-**| ||**-**| ||**-**| ||**-**| ## **Details** n/a ## **B5 Liabilities** |**Details**
n/a|**Fund to which liability**
**relates**|**Amount due**
**(optional)**| |---|---|---| |n/a||**-**| |||**-**| |||**-**| |||**-**| |||**-**| Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees Signature Print Name Anne Hatcher Jane Perkins ## **Last year** **to the nearest £** **-** **-** **-** **-** **-** **-** **-** **Endowment funds** ## **to nearest £** **-** OK ## **Endowment funds** ## **to nearest £** ## **Current value (optional)** **-** ## **Current value (optional)** **-** ## **When due (optional)** Date of approval 17-Jun-24 17-Jun-24 |.
**ASK**
OPENING BALANCE
**2021**
11/12/2021
Greeting Card Sales
11/15/2021
Greeting Card Sales
11/18/2021
Donation Ann Roberts KPP
12/22/2021
DonationMandy Hendley Lavender
12/22/2021
Donation Churchyard Funds
12/22/2021
Greeting Card Sales AH
12/22/2021
Donation Rosemary Hatcher
12/22/2021
Donation Kenneth Hall
12/22/2021
Card Sales 2021
12/29/2021
Jane Perkins Christmas Cards
**2022**
5/13/2022
Donation Jane Frewing
5/13/2022
April Quiz Night
5/23/2022
Open Day
5/23/2022
Open Day
6/6/2022
Membership (Wasd)
6/6/2022
Open Day Expenses
6/10/2022
Membership
6/10/2022
Jane Perkins Card Sales
6/10/2022
Jane Perkins Quirky Bird (Churchyard)
6/10/2022
Jane Perkins Quirky Bird (Churchyard)
6/27/2022
Quiz Bar Expenses Ann Hatcher
6/27/2022
Black Swan Printers - Concert
6/27/2022
Quiz Takings
6/28/2022
Membership Watson
7/1/2022
Quiz Night|**CODE**| |---|---| |.
**ASK**
OPENING BALANCE
**2021**
11/12/2021
11/15/2021
11/18/2021
12/22/2021
12/22/2021
12/22/2021
12/22/2021
12/22/2021
12/22/2021
12/29/2021
**2022**
5/13/2022
5/13/2022
5/23/2022
5/23/2022
6/6/2022
6/6/2022
6/10/2022
6/10/2022
6/10/2022
6/10/2022
6/27/2022
6/27/2022
6/27/2022
6/28/2022
7/1/2022|**CODE**| |---|---|