2024-12-31-accounts - The Parochial Church Council Of The Ecclesiastical Parish Of Scartho St Giles With St Matthew

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Benefice of Scartho, St Giles with St Matthew

Annual Report on the proceedings of the PCC and the activities of the Parish Benefice of Scartho, St Giles with St Matthew, May 2025

St. Giles with St. Matthew's Parochial Church Council (PCC) has responsibility, with the Rector, Reverend Sheena Cleaton, and the churchwardens, of joining in with God's mission and carrying out the work of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical, throughout the parish of Scartho, St Giles with St Matthew. The PCC maintains the church building, the small parish hall and large church hall. Revd Sheena is responsible for the churchyard. This report considers aspects of our community during 2024, focussing on the financial year (1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024). Prayer is at the heart of what we do and who we are, so let us begin with our parish prayer, written by Heather Morton and Angela Overton some years ago:

Eternal God, whose love is ever present to all people, sustain us as we endeavour to nurture, through prayer and action, the community in which we live. Grant us the vision to widen our horizons and reach out to all, through Jesus Christ, your Son our Lord who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

The following demonstrates how we endeavour to live out that prayer:

The PCC meets 6 times a year; during 2024 there was an average attendance of 90% over all meetings. Our address is St Giles Church Hall, Church Lane, Scartho, Grimsby, DN33 2EU. PCC members are elected according to Church Representative Rules. Our PCC consists of ex officio members: Revd Sheena Cleaton (Rector, and Chair), Corrina Coulson (churchwarden), Heather Morton (lay-reader who is also an elected PCC member) Mike Pickwell (lay-chair, also an elected PCC member), Christopher Slater (Treasurer, also elected PCC member). Elected members are Shirley Campbell, Cath Gregory, Jean Sinclair, Carolyn Davis. Karen Powell is the PCC secretary. Steve Coulson is responsible for Health and Safety and Estate Management. We were so sad when Judith Sanderson died last year. We remember her with fondness and continue to pray for her family. At the time of writing this report, following the preparation of a new electoral roll, there are 76 members. The previous roll was 104.[1]

Prayer, refecton and special services:

Prayer is the foundation of Christian life, and, as part of that, intercessions at the Sunday 10am Eucharist are led by 6 volunteers. Should anyone be interested in joining the team, support would be given. Morning Prayer is said on Friday mornings (all are welcome to come along). Evening Prayer was held during Lent.

Music is very much an important part of our worship, and, though few in number, the choir endeavours to support congregational singing, remaining committed to learning new anthems as well as music for worship during Holy Communion. Outreach sing-along’ events for charity are always well received and supported. We are grateful to Shirley

132 left the roll during 2024/25 was 32. 5 joined during 2024/25.

Benefice of Scartho, St Giles with St Matthew

Dunford for all her hard work, as well as Ruth Adamson. Ruth plays on a regular monthly basis and is a valued addition to the team. As always, the choir would welcome new members.

Reading and studying the Bible is encouraged. Several members of our congregation attended Lent courses held in the Methodist house-groups during 2024 (as in 2023) and continue to meet with them. This reminds us that across denominations, we are one in Christ. As last year, a joint course was held this Lent in the large hall meeting-room with good attendance from both congregations including some members of our congregation who have not previously attended groups. A number of St. Giles congregation who attended last year’s Lent study have continued to be part of the house groups during the year. We are particularly excited this year as a Confirmation preparation class commenced. Held once a month, this has proved to be a time of encounter as we engage with key aspects of our faith.

All-age services are the best attended. We received good feedback on the Christingle, relocating back to the church building. Several people missed the workshop element so we will re-think how we might include this aspect in 2025. The ‘Crib and Carol’ service (in the hall) was well received, with people enjoying shared fellowship. Events in our large hall seem to be effective partly due to the offering of a more informal and accessible space and service. We inform schools and local Brownie and Scout groups and publicise on social media.

Mindful of those who cannot get to church, we visit and take Holy Communion to a number of people in their home. Revd Sheena, with Heather Morton, continues to seek ways to build a pastoral team (possibly to include ‘phonecall visits’): this needs to be developed in conjunction with safeguarding and relevant training.

Services of worship, prayer and spirituality, and key life events

Revd Sheena, with the PCC is committed to enabling as many people as possible to worship, encouraging flourishing of faith through prayer, Bible teaching, music and sacrament. Our pattern of worship focuses round the 10am Sunday Parish Eucharist, Thursday 10am Holy Communion, Sunday 8am Holy Communion (1[st] Sunday of month), All-age Praise 10am (1[st] Sunday of month). The Church of England nationally gathers statistics annually, using October as representative. Thus, during October 2023, our average weekly attendance (Sundays and midweek) was 42 compared to 57 last year. While that looks like a significant drop, it ought to be noted that there were 5 Sundays in October 2023, with 4 in October 2024. Thus, if we were to include the nearest 5[th] Sunday to October 2024 (e.g last Sunday in September), this would ‘bump up’ the average to 53. Significantly more attend at key festivals.

The ‘occasionals’:

Wedding, baptisms and funerals, are a key part of mission and ministry. We offer God’s blessing with the exchanging of vows at weddings, give thanks to God for new life at baptisms, and walk alongside people in their grief. Revd Sheena keeps strong connections with families and wedding couples (many of whom come to services at key festivals). During 2024 we held 24 baptisms. Revd Sheena thanks the team of stewards who assist so ably. We hold regular preparation sessions to which families are invited in order to explore their faith journey, and what it means to follow Jesus (sessions often involve chocolate and bubbles!). We held 7 weddings during 2024, and 1 renewal of wedding vows. There are 7

Benefice of Scartho, St Giles with St Matthew

booked for 2025 (we have taken enquiries for a number during 2025). We are grateful to a wonderful team: Shirley Campbell, Barbara Limb, Corrina Coulson, Carol Blackbourn, Shirley Dunford, and Ruth Adamson. We are fortunate to have a team of bell-ringers, who cover most weddings and special events. We are also aware of and so appreciate all those who clean the church, and those who decorate the church (thanks to Carol Blackbourn for such beautiful flower arrangements).

Bereavement ministry is central to our calling; we have an excellent team, overseeing funerals, as well as interments of ashes, and offering pastoral support. We have strong working relationships with funeral directors. In particular, we are grateful to Heather Morton, lay-reader, for her commitment and sensitivity in this area, and also Corrina Coulson for so expertly managing all administrative aspects. During 2024 we held 13 funeral services in church, 8 crematorium services, and 9 interments of ashes. Revd Sheena manages memorial applications, and we thank Steve and Corrina Coulson, Les Brown, Andrew Waterson, Rev Trevor Reiss and Stuart and Carol Blackbourn, for maintaining the churchyard. Shirley Campbell manages the faculties. This takes time and energy, enabling us to offer such a special place of solace for those who visit.

Hospitality and outreach, stewardship and resources

Halls:

We are grateful to Corrina Coulson for managing the halls, venues which help facilitate our engagement with the wider community. For more details see appendix 1. Corrina also notes that we had the church open this year on occasion for people to be able to come in and light a candle, remember a loved one. These days were around certain times, especially Christmas and Mothers’ Day Weekend, which were well attended, so we will be doing the same this year.

We are excited by the progress of the Small Hall Redevelopment, and thank the Steering Group for their time, energy and ideas. Please see appendix 2.

Our Food Bank collection initially started during lockdown, 2020. A group of volunteers (including members of Scartho Methodist) make a weekly collection in the large hall car park, taking items to Clee & St. Francis Food Larder. Donations come from members of the congregation and wider community. We also collect food and clothing for, Harbour Place (homeless charity), through a basket in church. Let us pray for the day when such initiatives are no longer needed, while, for now, we commit to reaching out to those around.

Mid-week activities:

Activities during the week are an important part of our life, so we regret that this will most likely be the last year the ‘Ladies Group’ meets after over 60 years. With member numbers reducing, we have decided this year will be the last. We give thanks for all this group has provided in terms of fellowship; grateful to Sheila Smith and all who have faithfully organised events. Meetings this year have had many enjoyable guest speakers: much has been learnt about the Crown Jewels, Therapy Dogs, Stained Glass and The Born Free organisation to name just a few. The group has also enjoyed meals out at Cleethorpes Golf-Club.

Monday Makers continues into its third year. We focus on fellowship, cake and sharing skills and monthly meetings are very sociable. We have some new members with new skills to share, but still continue to support local people in need with blankets and other items. We also supported the Autumn Fair last year with a well-stocked craft stall. All help offered is much appreciated. New members are always welcome and no knitting and sewing skills are needed; just look out for notification on the pew sheet.

Benefice of Scartho, St Giles with St Matthew

During 2024 the Social Committee held 7 successful events spread throughout the year raising much needed funds. These comprised a Burns Lunch, Summer and Autumn Fairs, Christian Aid and Harvest Lunches, and, to end the year, a Turkey and Tinsel Lunch. We also invited the Friendship at Home Memory Choir (and their friends) to sing for us in the large hall. During the interval we served tea and cake and presented them with a cheque for £50. We are looking forward to yet again another successful year of fund raising, hopefully reaching out to the wider community. We are thankful for the committee for all their hard work.

Publicity:

The church magazine has been an effective form of outreach. In 2024 Gemma Winter took over production and we were able to publish and distribute throughout the year. We are grateful to all those who have contributed to its pages, including Revd Sheena, Revd Trevor Reiss, Heather Morton, Mike Pickwell, and Jane Wilson, our advertisers, and also Anne Howe for chasing advertisements, Shirley Campbell for organising distribution, those who deliver, and those who have supported it by reading! It was with much regret that we ceased publishing at the start of 2025, but it is hoped that other editors might come forward or/and we explore other avenues of publicity.

In 2022, we launched ‘Friends of St Giles’ newsletter, and continue to distribute. Cath Gregory reports that this is currently sent out by text or email every two months, to a small number of people who are interested in the church as a building or have connections to St Giles through family and personal history, but who do not currently attend services. It details the social events and services for the following two months. The number of recipients has remained static since we first started sending it, but there may now be opportunities to make contacts and expand the number, as our church is now open twice a month as a Quiet Space, and for special occasions such as Easter and Christmas, when a considerable number of people visit the churchyard to lay flowers and wreaths.

We also publicise through our website, the Church of England A Church Near You webpages and through social media.

Schools:

Our work with schools continues to develop, with schools regularly visiting our church for festivals (e.g. Harvest, Christmas, Easter). Revd Sheena also visits the schools regularly for collective worship, meeting with staff and pupils. One school in particular welcomes her to just ‘pop in’. Quite often, they make things to contribute to celebrations (e.g. poppies on Remembrance Sunday, and stars at Christmas). They also visit in order to learn more about the Christian faith (we held a mock wedding!). During the summer term 2024, some classes who helped to make ‘bug boxes’ in our churchyard in 2023, returned to re-visit their efforts and learn a bit more about the churchyard. Thank you to Steve and Corrina Coulson for making this happen. We hope to extend such projects especially with regards to ecoprojects.

Finance:

We are grateful for the hard work of our treasurer, Christopher Slater, who reports: Synopsis

A challenging year as cost increases hit us which, together with significant one off costs, resulted in the need to dip into our reserves. Income held up well with regular donations, supported by hall Lettings income, forming the major sources of funds. Despite this we recorded an operating deficit for the year, mitigated by the injection of reserves funds.

Benefice of Scartho, St Giles with St Matthew

1. Financial Defcit

We ended the year with a deficit of £15,833. This was a significant turnaround from the previous year when we achieved a surplus of £9,560. In order to bolster our bank balance it was necessary to transfer £30,000 from our reserves deposit account.

2. Expenditure

Total expenditure was £108,238, an increase of £24,884 (30%) on 2023.

We experienced some significant one-off costs in the year. Architects fees and survey costs for the Small Hall project were £12,880 and re-decoration of the Large Hall cost £8,850. These costs made up the majority of the increase but stripping them out reveals an increase in underlying regular costs of £3,154 (3.8%).

We again successfully fulfilled our increased Covenant Pledge and, at £45,000, this was our highest cost representing 41.6% of total expenditure. Of our other regular payments, the new energy contract substantially increased our gas and electricity costs. Total utilities costs for our 3 buildings was £13,163, an increase of almost 90% on last year.

Repairs and maintenance costs totalled £16,763, over half of which was the decorating of the large hall. This plus the costs associated with the Small Hall Project, was the principal reason for the annual deficit and the need to draw on our reserves.

Other notable annual costs included grass cutting of the churchyard and Small Hall lawns, £6,250, and our buildings insurance cover, £4,400.

3. Income

Our income achieved £92,405 this year which was only £478 lower than last year.

The main contribution was again from the hiring of our halls. Lettings fees achieved £40,640, a 2.2% rise over last year. We took the decision to increase some of our charges during the year whenever it was appropriate and did not adversely impact future use.

Operating costs for the halls at £24,586 were significantly higher than last year, mainly due to redecorating costs. The net contribution to our finances from the use of the halls was therefore lower than last year at £16,054.

Our facilities remain popular venues for a variety of social activities and church events. It is pleasing to note that some of these activities are for the young of our community. Once again, many thanks to all involved in the vital work of running the halls, especially Corrina and Steve.

Collections, gift aid and donations fell a little in 2024, achieving a total of £33,161, a 7.5% reduction from last year. Thank you to all our congregation for this continued financial support without which our task would be very much harder.

4. Other Income.

Our Social Committee were active once more, organising a number of events throughout the year, all very well attended. Such events contribute funds and provide opportunities to

Benefice of Scartho, St Giles with St Matthew

enjoy the fellowship of our church, not to mention the attractions of some remarkable food.They contributed £4,573 to our funds. We are very grateful for the efforts of the Committee and thanks go to all members and indeed all others who have helped throughout the year.

Wedding and Funeral fees remained broadly similar to last year at just over £13,000. Thanks to all who help make our church, its environs and internal decorations an attractive favourite for weddings.

5. Charitable Giving

We again made donations to a number of local charities including Grimsby Food Kitchen and St Francis Community Larder. The PCC also committed to donate half of Baptism collections to the St Andrew’s Children’s Hospice. Small donations were made to Embrace the Middle East, the Royal British Legion and DEC Middle East. Our total for charitable givings was £1,984

6. Policies

A new Donations Policy was written, aimed at aligning us with the Charity Commissions aims. This provides guidance on ensuring any donations we make are carefully considered and approved.

After review of the existing Reserves Policy the Finance Committee undertook an update, including a revision of the allocation of funds to updated categories.

Deposit reserves were valued at £93,700 at the year end. The Church Fabric Fund is £45,000 and we have placed £20,000 in reserve for the Small Hall Project.

7. Acknowledgements

Finally, I would like to record our appreciation of the hard work done throughout the year by the Small Hall Project Committee. They faced a number of significant hurdles but have worked hard to overcome these and will see the reward for this in the coming year.

Thank you also to Rev. Sheena and my colleagues on both the Finance Committee and the PCC for their support and encouragement throughout the year.

Safeguarding:

The PCC takes safeguarding seriously and complies with the duty under section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016 (duty being to have regard to the House of Bishops' guidance on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults). Safeguarding is discussed by the PCC and is an item on every Standing Committee and PCC meeting. We have a Safeguarding sub-committee who regularly review the PCC Parish Safeguarding Policy in agreement with the whole PCC. Relevant members of the PCC have recently updated safeguarding training, and DBS checks have been completed. We are also reviewing ‘safer recruitment’ processes to be compliant with national Bishops’ guidelines and Charity Commission law.

Wider church – Deanery and ecumenical links

Benefice of Scartho, St Giles with St Matthew

During 2024, joint Deanery meetings of the Haverstoe Deanery and Grimsby and Cleethorpes Deaneries continued to focus on A Time to Change Together. Considerable strides have been made in working together across and beyond parishes, and as part of this, Revd Sheena is now oversight minister for the parishes of St Peter and St Paul, Tetney and St Peter’s, Holton Le Clay. Revd Sheena, on occasion, has taken services in other parts of the Deanery, and Heather Morton also regularly leads service at other churches in the area. Revd Julie Donn is Partnership Dean of North East Lincolnshire with Ruth Brewin as lay lead. Julie is also Rural Dean of both deaneries with Revd Matt Rodgers as Assistant Rural Dean of Grimsby and Cleethorpes, and Revd Christine Goldsmith, Assistant Rural Dean of Haverstoe. Heather Morton, elected as our Deanery Rep in 2023, provides a fuller Deanery Synod Report.

We serve alongside other church groups within Churches Together in North-East Lincolnshire, and in Scartho. We have always been involved with other churches in Scartho, especially the Methodists. During 2024, we gathered together for the Ash Wednesday service, Good Friday Walk of Witness, Pentecost, and the First Sunday of Advent. We also helped with the water-station, which the Methodists provided for the Grimsby Run. As mentioned above, some members of our congregation also join with the Methodists for Bible Study.

The work of our church has continued growing through 2024, and, with that in mind, we express our thanks to our churchwarden, Corrina Coulson, for her dedicated commitment, and our church treasurer, Christopher Slater, for careful oversight of finances. We are grateful to the PCC secretary, Karen Powell, for her hard work. And, indeed, we so appreciate all who make mission, ministry and community happen. Let us never cease to thank each other, and love one another just as Christ loves us.

Mostly, we give heartfelt thanks to our ever-faithful, all-loving God, who has given us so much, enabling us to then give to the world around. As this report is being written, it is mid-Easter season. Thus, as we pray, seeking God’s guidance for our part in His mission, we stand firm on His resurrection power, anticipating all the opportunities in which we can share the fullness of life the risen Lord Jesus brings to all. Let the Easter proclamation inspire us to make a difference:

Alleluia, Christ is risen; He is risen indeed, Alleluia!

Appendix 1: Halls Report 2025

It has been another busy year in both halls, with regular users and parties/events, and most weekends booked up well into the rest of this year and next. And I have not had any complaints regarding the hourly increase that was made in January.

Unfortunately, our cleaner of three years decided to move on in December: a replacement was found, but sadly she was unable to continue due to family commitments. I have therefore taken on the role of Hall cleaner until further notice,

New legislation has come in to force regarding Bouncy Castles companies; that every inflatable must be Pipa tested. Some equipment is not considered to meet these requirements as they are classed as a toy (Bubble House). It is now necessary to check that all equipment has the required certificates and also to ensure that the companies have public liability insurance. Many thanks to John Botterill (Coast to Coast) for providing me with all the information.

Benefice of Scartho, St Giles with St Matthew

We have had quite a bit of damage (scratches mostly) to the hall floor. I have, however, identified what was causing this (adults using ‘didi’ cars at parties) so I have been in touch with all entertainers/bouncy castle companies and put notices in the hall prohibiting adults from using these. I will keep my eye on the floor and if necessary will look at banning didi cars from all parties. Steve does treat the hall floor every Monday morning so hopefully these scratches will disappear in time.

Car park: I think most people are now aware that it is a private car park for Church and hall users only, which is good news. Both garages are now under new ownership and I am monitoring the usage. Many thanks to all who help with opening and locking up of the halls when I am not available. [Corrina Coulson]

Appendix 2. Small Hall Redevelopment Project, Progress Report to the APCM, May 2025

In August the building project was put out to tender, and an experienced local firm chosen as our contractor. The cost, lowest of the five firms who tendered, was £161,995 (+ VAT = £194,394).

Since receiving that information, we have been preparing the content for funding applications and researching more grant-giving organisations to bid to. Fewer organisations than we expected are now giving grants for community capital investment projects like ours. Our current projected breakdown of funding is:

Grant givers £164,444 PCC £20,000 Community donations and events £9530 Value of in-kind contributions £420

To date this year, we have submitted four applications, one successful, the rest still to reply. We have six more to submit. Unfortunately, applying to one of the six is dependent on already having half the funds, and applying to another on already having all the funds except those in the application. This slows the process down.

Value of bids submitted to date: £79, 540 Value of bids to submit: £84,904 Value of funds secured so far: £36,218

We appreciated the very positive response from the local community when we asked via FaceBook why the small hall matters to them. We are also seeing a great response from the congregation to our monthly fundraising coffee mornings. Our next step is to launch our GoFundMe digital fundraiser, to allow the local community to contribute financially to the project.

Should we achieve our ambitious funding plan, we can start work on site in January 2026, completing the project in the middle of the year.

[Small Hall Redevelopment Project Steering Group]

THE CHURCH OF ST GILES WITH ST MArrHEWS FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st DECEMBER 2024 Prepared and Audited by D H Tuck & Co Accountants Grimsby, N.E. Lincs 2nd May 2025 D H TUCK & CC

TrIE CHURCH OF ST GILESWITH ST MAThHEWS FINANCIALSTATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2024 2024 2023 Voluntary Income Cash on Plate Envelopes Grftd 3 587 5 255 17 291 4 827 2 413 18 332 1 151 Tax Reeoverable 26 133 26 723 Other Couecllons Weddlngs Baptisms Funerals 164 1 030 417 59 1 085 1 611 1 786 P.C.C. Fees INetl Weddlngs Funerals 2 752 10 296 4 363 10 165 13 048 14 528 Totsl St Giles Income 40 792 43 037 Other Income Fund Ralsing Bank Interest Donations Church Halls Magazlnes Sundrysales Flower Fund 3 108 4 339 163 2 481 2 992 39 780 12061 2 309 40 640 4 397 90 Churchyard Income 175 51 613 49 651 Total Annual Income Ptioito Adlustments 92 405 92 688 Adjustments Grant Recelved 2017-19 Grant Received 2023 195 TotalAnnual Income 92 405 92 883

THE CHURCH OF STGILESWITH ST MATTHEWS FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THEYEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER2024 2024 2023 ClergyExpenses 3 000 Church SeNl¢es Altar Oryan &Choir 1 351 1 168 2473 3 824 1 814 Church Building Heat. Light arKI Water Insurance 4 523 1 671 4 407 4 270 1 351 Mainienance 13 373 7 292 Churchyard (Net) 4 582 5 104 General Prtntlngand Statlonery Sundrles Phone IT Soclal Commlttee Employment Costs Training Charitable GIng 1 404 1 708 1 128 2 950 1 253 1 491 105 3 210 22 2 948 12 718 713 Other Expenses Parish Sha Bank Charges Accountsncy Fees Church Halls 42 500 425 395 780 24 586 720 12 286 70 761 55 931 TotalAnnual Costs PriortoAdju5tments 108 238 81 854 Adjustment Grant Spent 1 500 108 238 83 354

THE CHURCH OF sTGILESwH ST MATtHEWS FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2024 2024 Small HaiE 2023 Large Hall Total Income Lettings 34 165 6 475 40 640 39780 Expenses Heat. Light and Water Repairs Cleaningl Hygiene Admln. Postsge and Stationery Grounds Waste Dlsposal Sundnes 6410 4 314 651 2 230 8 640 12 320 951 5278 1887 56 1400 1 275 1 400 2 875 21 Total EXpendu[e 12 850 11 936 24 $86 12 286 SURPLUS FOR THEYEAR 21 515 15 4611 16 054 27 494

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Signed By H£is SLA7E Date Signed 2025-05-04 15:00:49 Email chrisslater26@icloud.com Printed Name Chris Slater IP Address 86.19.199.152 Browser User Agent Mozilla15.0 (Macintosh," Intel Mac OS X 10_15_71 AppleWebKit1605.1.15 {KHTML. like Gecko) Version118.4 Safari1605.1.15 Name of signatory Chris Slater

THE CHURCH OF ST GILES WITH ST MArrHEWS FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st DECEMBER 2024 Prepared and Audited by D H Tuck & Co Accountants Grimsby, N.E. Lincs 2nd May 2025 D H TUCK & CC