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The Parish Church of ST. MARY, LENHAM

ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING Sunday 12[th] April 2026 at 12.00pm

GROUP REPORTS 2025-2026

Churchwardens’ Report 2025 – 2026

2025 was a sad year for St. Mary’s, we had to say farewell to Revd. John who retired after looking after our spiritual welfare for the last 8 years, as well as being instrumental in the formation of The Lenham Village Hub project. Unfortunately, his last few months with us were complicated by health issues, thankfully resolved before his departure, enabling, hopefully a long and stress-free retirement. However, with the help of our wonderful, retired clergy, we were able to continue the pattern of worship across the Benefice during his treatment and convalescence. A memorable farewell service was hosted in Lenham on September 14[th] , followed by a lunch and presentation in the Community Centre provided and organised by the whole Benefice and attended not only by the church congregations but people across the whole community who John had met and befriended during his time with us.

The Benefice has received permission to advertise for a new Priest in Charge. The Parish profile has been written and now we pray that someone will feel inspired to take on this position in the not-too-distant future. St. Mary’s, of course, is not on its’ own, we are part of a four church Benefice and all the churchwardens work together to ensure the continuation of worship in our churches during this period of interregnum. We are blessed, as I mentioned before, with the support of our retired clergy, Readers and the Breakfast Service team. Thanks are given to Millie, Richard, David, Pamela, Karen and Jon. Special thanks are also due to Sarah, our Benefice administrator, without whom I, for one, would be completely lost!! And of course, Brian Parfett whose knowledge and expertise in the faculty application process has proved invaluable.

Sadly, after many years’ service with the PCC Malcolm Simmonds decided to retire, although he still organises the Reader and Intercessor Rota, if anyone feels able to offer their services in these areas, and also as sides people and welcomers, I would love to hear from you! Maggie also felt

unable to continue as Churchwarden, wishing, instead, to concentrate on Eco Church.

In 2025, the starting date for the re-ordering project was confirmed and the first quarter of this year has seen major work taking place at the rear of the church. At the same time, urgent repair work to the tower roof, identified in last year’s Quinquennial report has been carried out. This was funded by The Friends of St. Mary’s with grants from the Hatch Charity, Benefact and Friends of Kent Churches, the Hub Committee has been responsible for obtaining this money many thanks to them. Due to the ongoing work, Wednesday Lunch and Coffee Mornings have been temporarily suspended but during 2025 they continued to be popular, even though the provision of lunch was reduced by kitchen limitations. Normal service was resumed as soon as possible!!

The Annual Service of Remembrance was well attended, standing room only, in spite of a much-reduced REME presence. Many thanks to Frank Bradshaw for organising this, and guiding the Parish Council who will be taking over the organisation in future, and Revd. David Bates for leading. The Christingle at the Lights Switch on and the Carol Service were also very well attended. All these occasions serve as a reminder that,

although Sunday services may not be as full, St. Mary’s is still seen as an important part of our community. We have however welcomed several newcomers to our worshipping community and hope they find a spiritual home with us.

All Parishes in the Diocese were asked at the end of 2025 to identify 3 areas of Mission and we have undertaken to:

Grow the Christian life in the village, demonstrating our faith through action.
Reduce our carbon footprint as custodians of the church building, and enabling bio-diversity in our churchyard.

Identify ways to work with schools and the wider community using the facilities that will be available at the completion of the Hub Project.

I hope that all members of the church community are able to play a part in achieving all these aims.

At the end of a challenging year there are many more people to thank. Chris Allen, our patient Treasurer who keeps our finances under control, Louisa Jones, our Safeguarding Officer, Ciara our organist, Valerie, who leads worship at Chippendayle Care Home and, when available provides music for our monthly Worship Service, Sue and the flower arrangers David and Jean, who until recently did the church cleaning and Anna, caterer extraordinaire! We all have talents, gifted to us by The Holy Spirit and in the coming years I pray that we all work together to ensure that . St. Mary’s remains at the beating heart of the Community

Gill Simes

Lenham St Mary’s APCM Financial Report 2025 12[th] April 2026

We again find ourselves in the position where we are unable to pay the requested Parish Share.

Both Donations and Fundraising fell in 2025 while the request for Parish Share continued to rise.

Parish Finance Return Category	Total
1. Tax efficientplannedgiving	£10,559.00	£103,493.37	Total lncome
2. Otherplanned Giving	£1,829.33
3. Other collections at services	£7,243.99
4. All other RECURRINGgiving /donations	£0.00
9. Gross income from fund raisingactivities	£9,259.45
6. All tax recovered through Gift Aid	£4,746.46
5. All NON-RECURRINGgiving /donations(incl. special appeals)	£1,107.83
7. Legacies received(capital value)	£0.00
8. Recurring grants	£94.29
8a. Non-Recurringor one offgrants	£62,020.00
10. Income from investments(dividends,interest,income fromproperty)	£0.00
11. StatutoryFees retained bythe PCC(Weddings,Funerals etc.)	£2,283.16
12. Gross income from trading	£0.00
13. Other income resources	£4,349.86
17. Costs ofgeneratingfunds(cost of activities,events etc.)	£0.00	-£95,401.78	Total Expenditure
18. All missiongivingand charitablegrants and donations	-£448.75
19. Parish sharepaid to diocese	-£18,000.00
20. Salaries/honoraria(youth worker,organist,administrator etc)	-£8,740.38
21. Expenses(Clergy,Pastoral Staff,Youth Workers etc)	£0.00
22. Mission and evangelism	£0.00
23. Regular church runningexpenses	-£4,391.19
24. Church utilitybills	-£6,253.72
25. Costs of trading (Magazine,hall,bookstall costs etc.	£0.00
25. Costs of trading (Magazine,hall,bookstall costs etc.	£0.00
26. Governance Costs	£0.00
99. Other outgoingresources	-£52,200.74
27. Major repairs to the church buildingincludingdecoration	-£5,367.00
28. Major repairs to church hall or other PCCproperty	£0.00
29. New buildingwork	£0.00

Surplus

£8,091.59

At first glance one would be forgiven for thinking the PCC is in a very strong financial position with an income of £103,493.37 and a healthy surplus of £8,091.57. Unfortunately, this is not the case as these figures are affected by the very large sums of money that pass through the account by means of grants for the Hub project and tower roof repairs etc. £50,000 from the sale of Harrietsham Rectory being the largest.

The actual income and expenditure were Income £38,126.57 Expenditure £38,452.28 Loss on year £ 325.71

Expenditure includes £18,000 paid as Parish Share against a request of £43,024.20.

We are also holding more cash in the Bank account for the Bell Ringers and grants for repairs to the church etc.

Moneyheld at Bank 1 January	£25,211.98
RingFenced Money	£ 2,444.45
PCC Funds 1 January	£22,767.53

Moneyheld at Bank 31 December	£33,303.57
RingFenced Money	£10,861.75
PCC Funds 31 December	£22,441.82

Deficit 2025 £325.71

The account is kept in balance by adjusting the Parish Share paid to reflect the available cash.

Hub Project bank account

The Hub project continued to receive donations from individuals, gifts from village groups and made many applications to grant-making organisations. While some of the grants have been received, others are only paid once work has been completed. The PCC agreed to commence the first phase of the project and work got underway in January 2026.

Moneyat bank 1 Jan 25	£ 38,155.46
Moneyat bank 31 Dec 25	£121,390.29
Total income	£ 86,738.12
Total expenditure	£ 3,503.29
Increase in moneyheld at bank 2025	£ 83,234.83

Points of interest:

Fund Raising2024	£10,570.86
Fund Raising2025	£ 9,259.45
Reduction in Fund Raising	£ 1,311.41

Regular Donations 2024	£20,663.97
Regular Donations 2025	£19,632.32
Reduction in Regular Donations	£ 1,031.65

Parish Share request 2025	£43,024.20
Parish Sharepaid 2025	£18,000.00
Deficit 2025	£25,024.20

Historic Deficit	£69,741.86
Deficit 2025	£25,024.20
Total Deficit 31 December 2025	£94,766.06

The Parish Share request for 2026 is £43,562.00 an increase of 1.5%

The increase has been kept to a minimum in recognition of the difficulty experienced by the parishes in paying. The Diocese are also exploring other ways to fund the service.

Based on previous experience, the suggested forecast is to keep the target share payment the same at £18,000.

Chris Allen, Treasurer

Friends of St. Mary’s, Lenham

In January 2026, we have 136 paid up members.

Our subscription rates remain the same at £15 /year single, and £25 /year family.

Gift Aid is claimed.

In 2025, we held two events:

A quiz night which raised £1500.

The Annual Barn Dance which raised £1275.

We attended the Apple Pressing Day, where we sold Christmas cards and magnets , raising £250.

We are contributing £15,000 to the Tower roof repair , which begins on Feb 26th, with the erection of scaffolding.

We have two events planned for 2026, namely:

1. A Jazz concert in St. Mary’s , on July 11th at 6.0 pm.

Annual Barn Dance, September 19th at 7.0pm.

Andrew Barr, Chairman

Building work at St Mary’s

After several years of planning, work to upgrade many of the amenities in St Mary’s got underway in early 2026. Sadly, the work has, temporarily, disrupted both our Saturday morning coffee and cake event and Wednesday lunches.

Both events have been missed by villagers and visitors alike. We hope that everyone will return once the work has been completed.

Lenham Village Hub

In 2025 the Hub team, which includes people from the PCC, community and the Friends of St Mary’s, decided that the project should be divided into two phases. The first phase would include the kitchen, new emergency exit, a cesspool for the kitchen’s waste water and a fire alarm.

The team spent the year fund-raising. By late Autumn we had raised over £200,000, either by being sent a donation or from promised grants that will be paid once the work has been completed which enabled the work to be commissioned. Funds have been received from individuals, village groups, family foundations, and grant-making organisations including the Hatch Charity, Marshalls and Congregational & General. We have also received a grant from Canterbury Diocese from the sale of Harrietsham Rectory.

We are very grateful to all the individuals and organisations who have given so generously.

The decision to phase the project was taken for several reasons, including to show people that the project would be undertaken, and to have a more achievable financial goal.

Our Architect, Lee Evans Partnership, appointed two contractors, H Goodsell & Son to install the fire exit, cesspool, fire alarm and prepare for the kitchen to be installed. The work started in mid-January and is scheduled to be completed by the end of April. H Goodsell & Son have carried out the work so far. Unfortunately, the company identified to install the kitchen went out of business prior to starting work, another contractor is being sought.

The PCC and Hub team reviewed the scope of Phase 2, particularly to find ways to reduce the costs and to ensure that the proposed heating systems will be affordable and provide sufficient warmth for users to be comfortable.

Fund-raising for this phase will commence once plans are in place and a revised Faculty has been approved. Phase 2 is to include a level area at the west end of the Nave which will link the north door, kitchen and toilets, the reuse of the Jacobean timber from pews that will be removed, the conservation of both the west door and the 14[th] Century wall painting and the restoration of the uneven floorboards along with the levelling of the pulpit. We will also be rewiring and installing an audiovisual system.

Once completed the amenities in St Mary’s will comply with current regulations and, therefore, will be available for use for worship and the local community. We have already had enquiries about using the church for concerts and work with children.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the project, particularly the project team and those who have made donations.

Tower Roof Replacement

Our 2024 Quinquennial Inspection identified that the tower roof, which had been repaired on several occasions, needed to be replaced along with work to the door to the roof and the replacement of lime mortar to the parapet. Funds for this work have been raised from the Friends of St Mary’s, Benefact Trust, Friends of Kent Churches, the Hatch charity and the Lenham Parish Council. We are very grateful to all the organisations who have helped fund this important work.

Rye Roofing started work in early March, they are due to finish by mid-April.

Village clock face

While the scaffold is in place, the clock face is being refurbished with funds from the Friends of St Mary’s and the Hatch charity. Being on the north side of the church tower and, because the backing plate is aluminium, the paintwork deteriorates rapidly. This will be the third refresh since 2013.

Gillett & Johnston have been engaged to undertake the work; they plan to use specialist paint to help the refresh last longer, hopefully more than 10 years. The work is due to be completed by the end of April.

Brian Parfett

Fund raising

Our team for fundraising for the PCC has reduced in numbers, and for that reason we did not have as many events during 2025/2026. Our main event was providing refreshments for the Switching on of the Lenham Lights and with two stalls and a raffle, we raised over £400. St Mary’s has not paid its dues to Canterbury for some years now, and the cumulative debt is now over £94,000. We must find a way to increase our fundraising team and we ask that each of us thinks about how we can offer time or money, with prayer.

Karen organised an effort to raise funds by people filling small jam jars with change. This has been reasonably successful, and will be started again when we fully open the kitchen.

In 2026, we have booked a Concert on the 14[th] November with a group called The Good Gnus. The trio are Dr David Flood, (retired organist and music director at Canterbury Cathedral) , Dr Chris Price and Dr Jon Williams who are Cathedral singers. They give light hearted concerts, singing Flanders and Swann, Noel Coward and more. More details of this will be distributed later in the year. Dr David Flood and also offered to give an organ recital at St Mary’s, and hopefully this will be in the Summer.

We hope to have a plant stall in May 2026, possibly on a Saturday morning with the Coffee morning.

All fundraising events need a good team of people who can help organise and run the fairs, concerts etc. There are only three of us now, so if you have ideas on how we can raise more funds to pay our way and attract more people to help run events, please speak to either Julia Thomsett or Maggie Baldwin.

Maggie Baldwin, Julia Thomsett and Karen Bates

Safeguarding Report – Len Valley Benefice

There are no active safeguarding concerns.

In keeping with the Diocese statement that Safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, it is an agenda item at all Parish Meetings. The Parish Safeguarding Officer attends jPCC meetings and shares current issues/ concerns with all Church Wardens. We are currently developing systems to ensure any new volunteers or events are shared with the Safeguarding officer to ensure all relevant DBS and training is completed.

In August 2025, the system the Diocese was using to process DBS checks was hacked . As a result, the Diocese moved to a different provider. There were delays in login details being shared for the new provider, but it is now all in place. As a result of the delays, some DBS checks are behind schedule. The diocese are aware of this and have supported with new applications being would find this a challenge.

The Safeguarding officer attends regular network meetings led by the Diocese and the Annual safeguarding conference. This has supported with setting up the new system.

Louisa Jones Parish Safeguarding Officer

Breakfast Church

We have had another fruitful year, sharing our faith and encouraging and supporting personal spiritual growth. Whilst we still aim to accommodate families and children the attendance during 2025 has been mainly adults from across the Benefice. Accordingly, we have been able to have more in depth Bible teaching within our established format of guided informal discussion. In this way, everyone attending can take as much or as little part in the services as they feel comfortable. The informal format of the services has also meant that we have been able to share how God has blessed us and helped us through difficulties week by week.

During the early part of 2025 we used the Evangelical Alliance 'What Kind of Church?' resource, considering and challenging who we should be and what we should be offering as a Church to our community and the world around us. We also made good use of the Bible Project resource which provides excellent video commentaries on books, themes and people in the Bible. For example, we spent six weeks learning more about some of God's attributes, and over a number of weeks we looked at the first half of the book of Daniel.

For 2026 we will be continuing our use of the Bible Project videos spending time learning more about who Jesus is, what He has done for us and what our salvation means for us. We are trusting God for growth both spiritually and in numbers through the coming year.

Jon Holland

Messy Church

Since John left in the summer of 2025, Messy Church within the benefice has been very successful. Our small team of 3 or 4 organisers has grown, with many volunteers returning to support the planning and running of events, and new members joining up.

Our Messy events aim to welcome families into our churches, provide a range of fun activities, share the gospel and share a meal, allowing time for conversations.

So far, we have made Christingles at the Christmas lights switch on event in Lenham (where we ran out of oranges), held a Messy Christmas in Lenham and a Messy Valentine’s in Harrietsham. Both events were very well attended. At our most recent event, we welcomed 30 families.

We are hoping to run a Messy event every 2 months with a break over the summer. We have decided to concentrate events in Lenham and Harrietsham this year as we build momentum, and hope to be able to utilise the other churches in the benefice in the future.

Caroline Wells

Lenham and Boughton Malherbe Mothers Union

We continued as a Branch to meet regularly throughout the year. Member numbers have increased from thirteen to fifteen. We welcomed The Reverend Millie Hart in January and The Reverend Marian Bond at the end of the year. The Annual Programme included several speakers. In May a representative from Mission Aviation Fellowship spoke and gave a presentation about the Missions work in Africa. Our second speaker in June our Diocesan President, Jackie Hurd, related her personal journey in her work and her faith. Other topics in our meetings included a talk about antiquarian books and Bibles and a session of craft led by Gill

Simes. For our summer outing we enjoyed our visit to the Blackthorn Trust. In November members generously donated food and outdoor clothing for the Maidstone churches winter shelter.

Being a part of St Mary's is fundamental to our Branch. Mid-week communion is held monthly in St Edmunds Chapel. In March the Mothers Union Wave of Prayer held in the chapel was for South Sudan, Nigeria and Canterbury. Members supported the gifting of daffodils placed in the church porch on Mothering Sunday to passersby and worshippers. On Easter Sunday, a flower garden was set up at the base of the cross at the altar, with the worshipping congregation invited to add their own flowers. In November/ December. The 16 days of Activism, which is a national campaign against violence suffered by all women and girls was recognised by the Branch. It raises awareness by placing a red chair in church, representing the void left by all victims of violence, including vastly growing digital abuse.

In total twenty-four birthday cards were sent to baptism children between the ages of one to five. Thanks are given to Jean Gibbons who diligently continues with this role. Archdeaconry meetings and Diocesan meetings have been attended by Julia Thomsett and The Reverend Millie Hart. It is heartening that we have welcomed new members, but the average age range is rising. We need to raise our profile to encourage new membership in our Branch to further our involvement in the life of St Mary's.

Julia Thomsett

Eco Church

When it was decided that St Mary’s should work for the A Rocha Eco Church Bronze Award, we realised that we have made a good start to encourage biodiversity in and around our church. We have an owl box, bee hives, a bluetit nest in the porch, a bug hotel built by Messy Church and bats who live inside the church building, but it is felt that we should continue to improve the churchyard to encourage more wildlife. Climate change is happening, and with the warmer November and December the bees were still out and about looking for nectar which illustrated this. As there were few sources of nectar in the churchyard, we were worried we might lose the bees. The good news is that despite the weather and the lack of flowers, they seem to have survived.

The A Rocha award scheme involves far more than just planting flowers for pollinators and encouraging wildlife. As a congregation we need to be committed to reducing our carbon footprint, both in St Mary’s and at home. The reordering of the back of the church for The Hub and the installation of an air source heat pump at St Mary’s contributes to an effort to be more carbon neutral. It is hoped that we could have more outdoor services, maybe celebrate Rogation Sunday, or perhaps have a Pet Blessing service to encourage children, and possibly eco -friendly themed activities. If you are at all interested in helping with this project, or have good ideas as to what we can do, please contact Maggie Baldwin.

Maggie Baldwin

Wednesday Lenham Feast

The lunch has had a mixed year so far.

We have had 2 very rewarding visits again to The Living Well, where we led the group further along their journey in meeting with Christ. Leading on from these days some of the ‘Lunchies’ have started attending St Mary’s services and events. Which is very encouraging and we continue to pray for The Holy Spirit’s work in this area.

The numbers coming along for lunch has dropped by about 50%. This is mainly due to not being able to prepare and cook a Full hot main meal, as we had to restrict the use of the kitchen.

Now that the kitchen is in the process of being brought up to legal requirements we look forward to being able to provide a ‘normal’ service in the future.

Anna Livesey

The End of The Rainbow Food Station

The Food Station has been running since December 2022. The Station is available to anyone who needs a helping hand; it is very well used and provides support to our community. The Lenham School has been very generous with food donations, along with the Harrietsham Co Op and M&S Lenham.

The Hatch Charity have donated substantial funding to allow us to keep running. We are blessed to have volunteers who collect the food daily and to St Mary’s Church, in the centre of Lenham, which opens each day, allowing folk to pop in and help themselves, without being judged.

Sharon Prior

Bellringers report

Over the last year we have been able to ring for most Sunday services, usually with the help of ringers from Charing and Egerton and East Sutton. Our recruits have continued to progress well and all have been elected as full members of the Kent County Association of Change Ringers. In the summer months we have occasionally moved our practice to nearby towers to gain experience on different bells. We have rung for a number of weddings and funerals. Increasingly weddings are arranged mid-week, which makes it more difficult to gather a full band, however we have been able to do this so far, with the help of ringers from nearby towers. If we are to continue to ring every Sunday that there are services, we need more recruits. If you are interested in learning to ring, come up the tower any time you hear the bells ringing and find out what is involved, we are very friendly and welcoming. We practice on Tuesday evenings from 7.30 to 9.00pm.

Richard Birch

Choir Report

The choir has continued to support Sunday worship each week throughout the year. Members meet once a month with the choirs from Ulcombe and Boughton Malherbe to rehearse and prepare music for Benefice services.

They have also joined with the other choirs in the Benefice to sing at weddings and funerals when requested. In December, the combined choirs led the carol services across the Benefice.

Ciara Crossley-Roberts

The Holigans Choir

A Year in Harmony – Holigans’ 2025 Highlights

It has been a landmark year for the choir, marked by a significant increase in membership and a calendar filled with community spirit. As our voices grew in number, so did our presence across the local area.

Community & Celebrations: Our 2025 journey took us to the heart of local festivities and poignant milestones.
Summer Sounds: We were delighted to perform at the Harrietsham Big Lunch, sharing music with neighbours under the summer sun.
Fond Farewells: The choir provided the soundtrack to Vicar John & Lorraine Huggins’ farewell lunch at the Lenham Community Centre—a bittersweet but beautiful occasion.
Local Traditions: We embraced the crisp air of autumn, performing at the Lenham Meadows Trust annual apple pressing day.
Bringing Joy: It was a privilege to be invited to sing for the residents of Chippendales Care Home in Harrietsham on two separate occasions.
Competition & Charity: This year, we set our sights on the big stage by recording "Hallelujah" as an entry for the Leeds Castle concert. While we were "pipped at the post" by another talented local group, the effort wasn't in vain—several of our members were thrilled to win free tickets to the spectacular event!
Christmas: We concluded the year on a high note with our annual Christmas Concert. For the first time, we introduced a raffle, and the response was overwhelming. The event was so well-attended that we reached capacity and had to limit numbers! Thanks to your incredible generosity, the concert raised significant funds, which were split between the Heart of Kent Hospice and The Lenham Hub project.
Looking ahead Holigans were certainly in demand in 2025! We are incredibly grateful for the support of our community and the dedication of our members. We enter 2026 with voices warmed up and hearts full, eagerly looking forward to another year of song.

Jaquilyn Hascombe-Brook

St Mary’s Lenham

The 2025 Accounts are included in the Annual Report.

INDEPENDENT EXAMINERS REPORTTO THE TRUSTEESIMEMBERS OF ST MARY'S CHURCH LENHAM PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL This report is on the Accounts forthe year ended the 31st December 2025 Respective Responslbilities of the Trustees and Examiner The charity's trustees considerthat an audit is not required forthis year {under section43121 of the Charities Act 1993 (the Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to: Examine the accounts (under section 43 of the Act) To follow the procedures laid down in the General Direction given bythe Charity Commission (under section 43{7llb) of the Act). and To state whether particular matters have come to my attention. Basis of Independent Examiners Report My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given bythe Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept bythe charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items r disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from you as Trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whetherthe accounts present a'true and fair" view, and the report is limited to those matters in the statement below. Independent Examiner's Statament In the course of my examination, no matters have come to my attention- 1. Which give me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements- To keep accounting records in accordance with section 41 of the Act and to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and to complywith requirements of the 1993 Act have not been met or 2. To which in myopinion. attention should be drawn in orderto enable a proper understandingof the accounts to be reached. Tracy Ford Sigrbed: 13 Hay Meadow Qualification: By Experience Lenham ME17 2FG Date:ab a. 2kn7,

2025-12-31-accounts