## **Annual Parochial Church Meeting** ## **St Francis Ashton Gate** ## **26[th] April 2026** ## Contents |nts|| |---|---| |Minutes from Previous APCM|1| |Clergy Report|2| |Lay Ministers|4| |Worship Together|4| |Churchwardens|5| |Finance|6| |Scramblers|7| |Safeguarding|9| |Flowers|9| |Church & Centre Bookings|9| ## Minutes of Previous APCM **Sunday 18th April 2025 Held at St. Francis, Ashton at 10:30 Present:** 28 **Apologies:** None Minutes of Meeting held on 21st April 2024 were read and accepted. No matters arising. Proposed & Seconded. 13 people voted. Non abstained. Passed unanimously. ## **Electoral Roll report.** The roll stands at 27 for the parish. ## **Financial report** See Treasurer’s report ‘Report – Treasurer 2024’. Also, ‘St F Financial Statement 2024’. ## **Fabric, Goods and Ornaments** See Churchwardens Report ‘Report – Churchwardens Report 2024’. **Scramblers** See Scramblers Report ‘Report – Scramblers 2024’. ## **Worship** See Clergy Report ‘Report – Clergy 2024’ and ‘Report – Worship Together 2024’. ## **Flowers** See Church Flowers Report ‘Report – Flowers 2024’. **Deanery Synod Representative** ## Mary Frost ## **Parochial Church Council (Lay)** |1|Anita Manning (Treas)| |---|---| |2|Shelia Lilliman| |3|Dianne Allen| |4|Stephen Smith| |5|| |6|| ## **Independent Examiner** Matthew Hedges re-elected as independent examiner. ## **Any other APCM business** Meeting finished at 11:15 with prayer. ## Clergy report It is a privilege to present this report and to pause and celebrate the many ways we have lived out our calling as a church in the twelve months of 2025. Last year at our APCM, we looked at the DNA of a disciple and that the call to be a disciple is not about being a ‘superpower’ superhero but an ordinary person who knows that they are loved by Jesus and chooses to follow him so that we can, together, become a community that love God, love each other and seek to serve the network and communities God has placed us in. As I have reflected on this for 2025, it is exciting to think about all the ways in which we have connected with Ashton, Bedminster, Windmill Hill and beyond. Our Scramblers team continue to do an amazing job at creating a space for young children and their families to have a safe space to play and connect with other families. We have continued to support local primary schools through the Christmas Experience and other assemblies and classroom-based activities. In 2025, we have continued to develop worship spaces for those people who don’t currently connect with the 10:30 service. Jen Richards and the team have been developing the 9am service and we have seen a number of families coming along to join in – some for a season and others staying around. In September, we developed the evening worship space into a weekly event as a place for extended sung worship alongside teaching and discipleship. At Easter, and Christmas, we tried some new ways of connecting with the community around us with some outdoor trails based around the festive themes. In 2025, we hosted baptism services for six children and held adult baptisms at St Francis on Easter day for two people to affirm their faith in Jesus and one person who re-affirmed their baptismal vows. We have also read the banns for eleven couples as they prepared for their wedding days in 2025 and hosted one wedding in August. We continue to pray for all these couples as they continue in their married lives. The team have also supported six families as they grieve the loss of loved ones and prepared for the funerals. Our teaching themes in 2025 have covered a variety of topics. In Spring, we taught through a series entitled ‘Hope when it is Hard’ and looked at themes like self-acceptance, forgiveness, illness, disappointment, shame and loss and thinking about how we keep on trusting God in the face of these challenges and experiences. In the Summer term, we looked at the Nicene Creed and took some time to think about what it is the church believes when we say these words together and in the Autumn term, we returned to the lectionary alongside our usual themes of vision (what is God calling us to do and be) and giving (how do we support the mission and ministry of God through the local church. In the Autumn term, we also gathered as two churches to celebrate the 30 years of ministry for our licensed lay minsters, Sally and Andrew, and it was such a joy to give thanks for their services to the two churches. Sadly, this service was also Sally (and John’s) final service with us as they completed their move to Weston-S-Mare. We are so thankful for both their service to the churches and we continue to pray for them as they get established in their new church and community. In September, we also celebrated the ordination of Sophie Brown as a deacon and as she started her new role as curate at The Well in Swindon. I am always so thankful for the many people who enable the church to function and fulfil it’s mission in Ashton, Bedminster and Windmill Hill, those we see up front, those who serve on PCC, those who serve behind the scenes whether it is cleaning the church, preparing services, organising rotas, arranging flowers, creating websites and the list goes on. Every one of you is so important to the life of the church and we each play our part as the body of Christ. During this Lent season, we have been exploring the theme of Spirituality. These are the rhythms and routines we undertake to sustain our lives, to satisfy our hunger and to quench our thirst. As we look to the next year in the life of the church, I want to encourage us all to think about our own rhythms and routines, inviting God to show us how we can grow and develop in these areas as individuals and as a church. As we return to the theme of the last APCM, we are all just ordinary people who love God and in the book of Acts (Acts 4) we are told that the Sanhedrin (religious leaders), when they saw the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary people, they were astonished and they took note that these people had been with Jesus. My prayer is that when people see us in our everyday lives, that they will think that they have meet people ‘who have been with Jesus.’ ## Licensed Lay Ministers Well, it has been a very special year for Sally and I as we reached the 30 years of Ministry milestone. I still cannot get over the level of support and love that we felt on that occasion. The special service and party that was laid on for us by both churches was amazing; it It truly was a day to remember. Thank you to both churches for your ongoing support and encouragement. Of course, sadly, Sally left us following that special day and is now doing great things in Weston-super-Mare, I think she is busier than ever but loving every minute. With Sally going it has meant a bit of a change in the preaching/leading rota and has meant that I do more Sunday services at St Michaels and less time at St Francis. I love both churches and hope that we can find a good balance going forward. It remains a great privilege and honour to serve both St Michaels and St Francis as LLM, through my preaching and leading services. Hopefully my talks are useful to you in your journeys of faith. As ever I welcome feedback, both good and bad, to help me improve. It is great to work with the staff team for the churches, I have really appreciated the friendship and inspiration from everyone on the team. Certainly, since Neil joined us, I have been amazed by his energy, enthusiasm and faith, and that has pushed me to be better at all I do. The whole of the leadership team is dedicated to the churches; we are coming up with new ideas and new ways to support you, I believe we are in a good position now to take the churches into the future with passion and confidence. It has been amazing to work and connect with everyone else in the churches too. I continue to be astounded by the amount of work carried out by everyone, from making tea to cleaning and serving in many ways. Above this I see friendships and people taking time to talk and listen to each other. I feel going forward this is what will make a difference for all of us, allowing each other to talk about our joys, hopes and fears and to tell our stories. If I can help in any way with this I will, so don’t be surprised if your friendly local LLM suddenly sits by you and says, ‘tell me what has been going on in your life lately’. I continue to keep all of you in my prayers. If there are special prayers you would like me to make, or if you know someone in need of prayer, please get in touch. May we all continue to see Jesus in each other, and may God bless all of you. Andrew. ## Worship Together Having moved to it’s now regular 9am slot just before last years APCM, Worship Together has now been running at that time for just over 12 months. In this time we have continued to minister to our young people and their families, holding space for community to grow in this time slot as well as for worship and learning. I feel very much that God has used this time to minister to the adults alongside their children and has built a sense of ‘life long learning’ that has allowed the young people to witness adults growing in faith and worship. We regularly share breakfast and are very grateful to Dianne who prepares this weekly. This culture of multigenerational worship and faith building is central to the Worship for Everyone model that we have been investing in, having attended training days in Birmingham in May of last year. I intend to continue this learning by registering for their 2 day seminar this October. We have welcomed a few new faces along the way, who have expressed that they particularly like the early slot because they are already up with their children. I am particularly glad of my own growth through this journey, from ‘cheeky panda 2nd Sundays’ running once a month since May 22. I feel that God is calling me to explore my own faith through leading these sessions and whilst it has been daunting at times, it has certainly also challenged me in lots of positive ways. It is very enjoyable being witness to the growing faith of our families and I am excited to see how God will lead us forward. Thanks Jenny ## Churchwardens We continue to be grateful to Neil, Anthony, Helena and Andrew on a weekly basis. We were very sad to see Sally stand down as a Lay Minister with us after celebrating with Andrew; we are very grateful for her ministry and gifts, particularly pastorally and wish her well in WestonSuper-Mare. We have changed to having weekly all age services with the cheeky pandas at 9am and have seen regular faces attending, which is really exciting. We are grateful for the work put in by Jennifer, with support from Grace. The evening worship service also changed to weekly during term time and continues to attract people that we don’t see in a morning service. Jennifer, Grace, Dianne and I again attended a day in Birmingham about Worship Together in May. It continues to support us with our all age worship, and we are all famous in one of their video’s. Neil continues to get on with things and we thank him for his organisational skills and heart for mission and pastoral care and for the fun and enthusiasm he continues to bring to the Parochial Church Council meetings. We continue to see small signs of growth with new people attending, some on a regular basis. We have always ensured they receive a warm welcome and they are given a welcome card to complete to enable us to keep in touch with them. We continued our role as a collection Centre for Operation Christmas Child and are very grateful to all who packed shoeboxes and got involved and engaged with this Missional Opportunity. We thank the Scramblers team Annie and Louise who were on hand every morning during collection week to receive the shoeboxes from Scramblers as well as the local community and oversee the collection of the shoeboxes on the next part of their journey. The conversations we had with people were amazing and the packing party proved a great success as we encouraged people, particularly the young ones, to personalise their boxes by writing a short note and placing a picture in their boxes. The feedback I have also received from the drivers is that they love collecting from St Francis as all our boxes are organized in the corridor making their job easier. Christmas through the Keyhole happened again in early December, and we are extremely grateful to Mary who took the lead on this with her organizational skills. The year 2 children and their teachers from Ashton Gate School were really engaging. We continue to be led by Chris (acting Sacristan) in the organisation of services including a serving team. We are thankful for all the things which have happened and are happening and look forward to working together in 2026 to act out Gods plan for us at St Francis in the future. Joanne Smith & Christopher Allen ## Finance As per last year church finances are again healthy. Although we have seen another drop in bank account values this is not as much as in previous years and with some of the work to the building it’s understandable. In 2025 the amount in the church and centre bank accounts fell by just over £5,000, but we managed not to touch the savings accounts which have increased by around 1%. Total (church and hall) income stayed fairly static for the year which is good, but while the actual amount increased this was solely due to 2 kindly donated legacies. Likewise general expenditure has remained largely the same, which again is great, although the actual total increased by just the cost of the roof and sound system. Income year highlights: - 2 x Legacies received totalling nearly £30,000. One was kindly donated by an - anonymous person to cover the full cost of the TV and Sound system. - Scramblers income has increase slightly. - Rents for the Centre and Church hire have again increased by over 10%. - Parish Share remained the same as 2024. ## Expenditure year highlights: - Salaries have increased but by 1.5%, which is less than inflation. - Office administration costs have stayed the same as 2024. Overall, the total financial situation of the church has remained as per 2024, excluding the work on the buildings. Considering the overall financial climate where we are all seeing prices rising this is great and shows actions taken have had an effect. Having said this we can’t rest on our laurels and need to be proactive in increasing income and reducing expenditure. ## _From Anita Manning, Treasurer_ ## **[also see audited accounts as an additional document]** ## Scramblers ## **Scramblers Report for APCM for Jan-Dec 2025** I would like to start by thanking Louise, my wonderful colleague, Malcolm, Grace, Helena and all our amazing volunteers for ensuring another outstanding year of providing Scramblers, a vital supportive group supporting the community here at St.Francis. Our volunteers this year have remained the same with Jude, Mary, Elaine, Martha and Zoe. Martha returned home as usual to Ecuador in the spring and Elaine replaced her until her return. Grace has continued to support us regularly and Helena has initiated hypnobirthing courses and retreats as well as the weekly online drop-in prayer support group. We continue to offer a safe, warm and welcoming space for all parents, carers and their little ones. The number of families attending has increased this year and with all the new building happening around us likely to continue increasing. Some of the extra events organised in 2025 included visits from Noah’s Ark Zoo farm who bring a selection of creatures for interactive “meet & greet” sessions. At Easter, Chris Brown (the Puppet Man) performed his pirate show which was a sell-out. We also had visits from Elsa (Frozen) and Ariel (The Little Mermaid) from a character company. Johnny G the magician also entertained. In 2024 we trialled toddler lunches and continues those this year as they as very popular. We did a pizza & pasta lunch and a sausage and jelly one. These give families an opportunity to eat together communally & socialise as well as encouraging the children. We also had a pancake party in February which was also very well received. Some new events we had this year were making a bird feeder out in the garden with one of our mums, Grace, organising. Also one of our grandparents, Jane, offered to teach basic BSL sign language which was very helpful especially for parents of special needs little ones. We had another mum who was a child sleep consultant came to offer free advice to families. Other changes this year included a price increase in June to £4.50 which is an increase of £1 per family. We have also introduced toast as our inclusive snack in the winter months instead of fruit which has reduced costs and our families prefer. We have also initiated an afternoon scramblers session on a Monday which is steadily increasing in numbers. These changes have increased the revenue that Scramblers brings to the Church. Scramblers parents as usual contributed generously to the shoebox appeal and similarly the harvest festival trolley for the foodbank was filled. This year we organised Summer Parties for each day in the last week of term with entertainment, food & outdoor play. We continued our yellow collection bin for the charity “Babybank” which collects donations of toiletries, clothes and equipment for those in need. We have continued to build on our relationship with Mothers for Mothers, the charity group that meet in Church on Thursdays to support women with perinatal mental health. We continue to offer members of this group free entry to scramblers. Our famous Christmas parties were sold out as usual this year. We held a Christmas party every day for 50+ families in the last week of term. All our advance tickets were sold out. We were overwhelmed with the generosity and help and support from all our St. Francis family. The “cuppa & a chat” ladies wrapped over 300 book gifts for the children, and we are ever thankful to Chris Allen, Walter & Malcolm for dressing up as Father Christmas and delighting our families. Anita, Dianne & Helena also gave their time. Myself & Louise told the Christmas story using our knitted Nativity characters at each party, Jonathan Etheridge played festive tunes, and the Baby choir serenaded us. Chris Brown also came to play his guitar voluntarily at one party. We continue to encourage Scramblers families to join our Church family. We have had a couple of Scramblers families coming for baptism. We closed 2025 with a celebration Christmas lunch for staff and volunteers from Scramblers and our sister group Scramblers on the Hill. We are grateful that our heavenly Father continues to pour his blessings on us, our volunteers and the families we serve in the Community. Please continue to pray for us. Annie Tyas (Scramblers) ## Safeguarding The Parish of St Francis is committed to safeguarding children, young people and adults at risk. The PSO for St Francis is: Dianne Allen ## **Policies** The noticeboard situated just inside the main church door contains photos and contact details of the PSO and current policies. ## **Reporting to the PCC** The PCC was updated about Safeguarding matters in all the PCC meetings this year. During the year there were no safeguarding matters arising within the Church, and no issues which needed to be reported on to the Diocesan Safeguarding team. ## **Action Plan** All safeguarding policies are in date and to be reviewed. All DBS Checks and Safeguarding Training is in date. ## Flowers Thank you to everyone who has given donations during 2025. |Opening Balance (Jan 2025)|£101.82| |---|---| ||| |**Income**|| |Anita (Treasurer)|£375.00| ||| |**Expenditure**|£435.00| ||| |Closing Balance|£41.82| ## Church & Centre Bookings The Church has 6 regular bookings on a weekly basis, - Riff Raff Choir - Mothers for Mothers - Afterschool Choir - Handfuls of Harmony - Music Makers as well as the Afternoon Social. The Church has also been used by the Lantern Parade and on several occasions for music concerts / workshops, all new except for 1 - Bristol Jazz Workshop - Music for Miniatures (x8 occasions) an increase of 5 occasions - Orchestra Rehearsal (x3 occasions) - Residents Meetings (x2 occasions) - Singing Workshop & Concert - The Factory Singers - Book Signing The Centre has 14 regular bookings on a weekly basis, - Over 50’s Keep Fit - Adult Ballet (x3 a week) - Creative Dance - 48[th] Bristol Brownies - 48[th] Bristol Guides - Adventure Babies - Bring Your Own Baby Choir - 104[th] St. Francis Brownies - Flow Pilates (x3 a week) - Wet Clinic - Dog Training - Pilates - Les Petits Zouzous - Jive Fusion As well as regular bookings joining part way through the year, an increase of 2 new weekly bookings - Lindy Hop (May onwards) - Claire’s Pilates (July onwards) The Centre has also seen several ‘one-off’ bookings, some from the same organisation and birthday parties, - Swing Dance Festival (x3 occasions) - Explorer Dome (x7 occasions) an increase of 1 - Birthday Parties (x45 occasions) a decrease of 2 - Polling Day - Bristol School of Acting (x1 occasion) - Adults Acting Lab (x1 occasion) - One-off bookings (x5 occasions) an increase of 1 The Church continues to support Community Initiatives with local advertising as well as reminding the community we are here. ## **Achievements** 1. Registered the Centre with an address 2. Reviewed birthday party bookings – maximised booking slots 3. Internet installed in the Centre to support the doors operation 4. Installed card payment for bookings – easier & faster payment ## **Action Plan** 5. Sorting out rubbish & recycling bins for the Church & Centre 6. Review our Bookings Terms & Conditions for the Church & Centre 7. Improve internet connection in the Church 8. Improve car parking at the Centre ## **PARISH OF BEDMINSTER** ## **ST FRANCIS DCC** ## **FINANCIAL STATEMENT 2025** ## **St Francis Receipts and Payments Accounts** |**Receipts:**
Voluntary Receipts
Planned Giving
Collections and other giving
Income Tax recovered
Other voluntary incoming resources
Sundry Donations & Legacy
Fund Raising events
Income from investments
Bank interest (Deposit Account)
Income from charitable and ancillary trading
Rents
Hall Rents
Fees
Scramblers
Lunchtime Live
Non-Recuring income
Misc
Insurance Claim
Heating Grant
** SMAA Salary Cross Charge(Previous yr loan payment)
Sound System
**Total Receipts**
**Payments**
Grants
Home & Overseas mission and relief agencies
Activities directly relating to the work of the church
Diocesan Quota
Church running expenses
Cost of services
Building upkeep
Building Maintenance - Large Items
Fees
Sunday School/Scramblers
Sound System
Church management and administration
Administration
Salaries ** SMAA Contribution above
Other
**Total Payments**
Excess/Defecit of receipts over payments
Transfer to (from) Hall Account
Deposit Account Transfer to (from) Hall Account
Bank current and deposit accounts at 1st January 2025
Prior year adjustment
Bank current and deposit accounts at 31st December 2025|£
£
£
£
Unrestricted
Fund
Unrestricted
Designated
Fund
Restricted
Fund
Endownment
Fund
£13,859.70
£1,888.26
£3,269.03
£19,016.99
£0.00
£5,285.63
£342.35
£5,627.98
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£522.73
£522.73
£0.00
£8,099.00
£3,106.00
£1,385.00
£30,387.98
£0.00
£42,977.98
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£24.00
£0.00
£0.00
£10,398.62
£24,978.60
£10,422.62
£24,978.60
£0.00
£0.00
£78,568.30
£24,978.60
£0.00
£0.00
£203.99
£203.99
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£21,587.00
£19,970.81
£1,316.53
£1,601.58
£10,126.00
£460.00
£1,299.13
£21,450.00
£56,361.05
£21,450.00
£0.00
£0.00
£4,519.23
£53,101.94
£201.46
£57,822.63
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£114,387.67
£21,450.00
£0.00
£0.00
-£35,819.37
£3,528.60
£0.00
£0.00
2025|£
£
Total 2025
2024
£13,859.70
£15,256.10
£1,888.26
£1,941.78
£3,269.03
£3,119.69
£19,016.99
£20,317.57
£5,285.63
£6,498.94
£342.35
£50.00

£5,627.98
£6,548.94
£522.73
£786.58
£522.73
£786.58
£8,099.00
£6,740.00
£3,106.00
£0.00
£1,385.00
£655.00
£30,387.98
£29,625.98
£0.00
£0.00

£42,977.98
£37,020.98
£24.00
£346.00
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£0.00
£10,398.62
£9,147.60
£24,978.60
£0.00

£35,401.22
£9,493.60

£103,546.90
£74,167.67
£203.99
£211.49

£203.99
£211.49
£21,587.00
£21,600.00
£19,970.81
£23,593.36
£1,316.53
£2,056.51
£1,601.58
£2,711.99
£10,126.00
£0.00
£460.00
£392.00
£1,299.13
£677.46
£21,450.00

£77,811.05
£51,031.32
£4,519.23
£4,496.60
£53,101.94
£50,047.35
£201.46
£54.56

£57,822.63
£54,598.51

£135,837.67
£105,841.32

-£32,290.77
-£31,673.65
£49,917.05
£10,000.00
£0.00
£0.00
£52,688.75
£74,362.40
£70,315.03
£52,688.75| |---|---|---| ## **PARISH OF BEDMINSTER ST FRANCIS DCC** ## **FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st Decmber 2025** |**Parish Hall Account**
Income
Expenditure
Surplus
Transfer to (from) church general accounts
Bank current account at 1st January
Bank current account at 31st December|2025
£
£40,488.98
£13,265.75
£27,223.23
-£49,917.05
£22,693.82
£0.00|2024
£
£39,455.63
£14,634.53
£24,821.10
-£10,000.00
£7,872.72
£22,693.82| |---|---|---| ## **STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES AT 31st December 2025** |**Assets**
Bank current account
Bank deposit account
National Savings Investment account
Hall Fund|**General**
**Hall**
**Total**
**Fund**
**Fund**
**2025**
£20,437.00
£20,437.00
£24,601.62
£24,601.62
£25,276.41
£25,276.41
£0.00
£0.00
£70,315.03
£0.00
£70,315.03
£0.00
£0.00
£70,315.03
£0.00
£70,315.03|**Total**
_Movement in_
_Funds held_
**2024**
£3,333.45
**_£17,103.55_**
£24,329.15
**_£272.47_**
£25,026.15
**_£250.26_**
£22,693.82
**_-£22,693.82_**
£75,382.57
**_-£5,067.54_**
£0.00
£0.00
£75,382.57
**_-£5,067.54_**| |---|---|---| the Pa at Bristol I report to trustees on my eXamInath￿ of the accounts ofthe PCC for theyèar ermled 31 Drfember 2025. Responslbllltles and basls of re As ihe chailty trustees of the Trust you are ￿pOnsIble for thè prepara￿n of the accounts In accordance w￿h the requirements ofthe chjr1t￿ Acl 20111'the ACVI I report respect ofmyexaminaiitin of theTn￿¥S accounts carried0￿ under sertion I450ft￿ 2011 Act and In carrylftgout my examlnatkjn I have followed all the applkabbe dlrectlonsgl¥e by the Charlty Commlsslon under sectlon 14515llbl of Ath. I have completed my examlnatlon. I conflwm that no matedal matters ha¥¢ ¢ome to my attentlon In Connectlon ￿th the examI￿110n 8Mng me cause to belie%* that In any materlal respect: l. A(C￿ntIn¢ retordswere Tr)t kept In respectof iheTrust asrequlred ty5ectlon 130of the Act.. or 2. The accounts do Th)t a¢ctyd wlth tk*se recwds.. or 3. The a¢¢ounts do comply wrth applitable requlrements con¢eming the form and content5 of accounis set In Chartlles IAccounts and Reports) Régulatlons 20)8 oiher than any requlrement that accounts qfve a 'true and fair vie¥K whlth Is not a matter ¢onsthr¢d as ofan IrKletWKlent egmin*lon. I have concerns and have come Kross no other m•tters In connertKJn wlth the examlnatknTh to whith attentlon should ￿ drawn in INS rewt In order to enable a pmper understandln8 of the accounts to be reathed. Sl8ned I i- Ap-"J 2£)2 Matthew He*5 29 Irby Road Ashton flstol