St. Peter’s Church, Norbiton
Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Parochial Church Council
For the year ended 31 December 2024
St Peter’s Church London Road Norbiton Kingston upon Thames KT2 6QL
Bank: National Westminster Bank plc 5, Market Place Kingston upon Thames KT1 1JX
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The Annual Report for the Parish of St.Peter's, Norbiton, London Road, Kingston, KT2 6QL for the year 2024
The PCC, which is in the Diocese of Southwark, is part of the Church of England and was established by the Parochial Church Council’s (Powers) Measure 1956, as amended, and the Church Representation Rules (contained in Schedule 3 to the Synodical Government Measure 1969, as amended).
The charity was previously an excepted charity, but on 2[nd] February 2024 became registered with the Charity Commission.
Certain members are entitled by right of their position whilst the majority of trustees (nine) are elected annually on a three-year cycle of membership (normally three in a given year). The PCC have the powers to elect other members who would be helpful as ex-officio members.
Our Mission Statement
We believe that God is calling St Peter’s to be a warm and loving community with a mission to:
Embrace God’s Love
Connect Communities; and
Seek His Kingdom
Our Values
We value being grounded in God’s Word, aflame with His Spirit, and overflowing with His love.
We prioritise welcome, hospitality, and building up community.
We sense a particular call to the marginalised, the outsider, and the most vulnerable.
Governance:
The Parochial Church Council (P.C.C.) exists to "co-operate with the minister in promoting in the parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical" and to carry out all legal responsibilities required of it. The P.C.C. meets regularly (about once every two months).
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The P.C.C. members for 2024 have been:
Amir Rezaei Andrew Mills Louise Miller Natalie Jones Peter Haddock - Treasurer Geraldine Burgess - Secretary Yvonne Rodgers Philip Rodgers Joan Stone Clive Clarke Iris Maple Peter Jeens Rachel Wolff Stella Haddock Clare Onslow Joanna Bader Rev Hugo Foxwood - Chair
The PCC carried out its responsibilities for the governance of St Peter’s Norbiton.
The PCC has paid due regard to the public benefit guidance issued by the Charity Commission.
The PCC has identified and mitigated risks.
VICAR AND WARDENS’ REPORT FOR ST PETER’S APCM 2025
2024 was another encouraging year for St Peter’s as we built on our recent growth and continued to establish new ministries, both within the church and our local community. Here are some exciting numbers which illustrate all that has been happening...
13 Baptisms 4 young families begun to attend 8 Young people confirmed & 2 adults 50 people attended an Alpha 123 attended on Easter Sunday 3 Shared lunches 2 Fun Days 36 Care Home visits 2,304 sausages + 2,448 eggs eaten at Archway Cafe
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50 children at our Light and Bright Party joined us over Christmas
55 guests to our Norbiton Thank You Evening
65 people invited to team thank you event
30 people went to FOCUS
1 worship pastor said goodbye and another hello!
2 Prayer for Kingston Events (held at St Peter’s & All Saints Kingston) 101 Mother’s Union Prayer bears made and given out!
Sunday Services, Alpha, and Small Groups
St Peter’s has continued to be a diverse community, welcoming in those from many different nations and cultures, and celebrating what we share together in Christ. Our main expression of worship has been on a Sunday morning, where we are joined by those who watch the service live, or catch up, over YouTube. It was encouraging during the year to welcome in new faces and see our congregation grow.
During the year we were sad to say farewell to a wonderful worship pastor, Louise Campion, who did so much to engage us at a deeper level in worship and expand our worship team. And then in the autumn we welcomed in Emma Purkess, who has made a great start in helping lift our eyes to God through musical worship. Our preaching programme meanwhile covered Isaiah’s beautiful prophetic challenges, hard-hitting messages from the book of James, and hope-filled stories of liberation from Exodus.
An important aspect of our discipleship is also found in our mid-week small groups, where there is more opportunity to go deeper, and discuss how to apply the Scriptures to our lives. Our main small group activity is on a Wednesday evening, and we experimented during the year by dividing up what was a fairly large group into three or four smaller groups, introducing and training new leaders to help us do this. We also created space both for Farsi-English worship and for prayer ministry.
We baptised 13 people during the year, most of whom were adults who have come to this country seeking safety as refugees, and who testify to the love and peace they experience as they are welcomed into our community. As part of our baptism preparation, they also formed the majority of those attending our Alpha course, the 10week introductory course to Christianity developed by the Anglican church Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB).
Other small groups continued to meet during the year. Janet Featherstone hosted a bible study group that meets on alternative Friday mornings. The Theology Group, led by Hugo, held sessions on understanding the inspiration of Scripture and discussed a book Jesus and the Powers . Another group, Archway Connect, continued to meet for bible study and prayer at lunchtime in our Archway Parish Rooms, so as to be readily accessible to those attending our Archway Community Café (see Outreach section below).
Our monthly Mother's Union meetings continue to take place with guest speakers and an annual garden party held at the Vicarage. And we were honoured to host the Mother Union groups from across the deanery for both a Lady Day service and an Advent Service.
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Kids Church
Stella Grosshans has led Kids Church with skill and dedication this past year – always thinking of new ideas and initiatives to welcome children and their families.
Kid’s Church had a very fruitful year with the team continuing to run 45-minute sessions every 1st, 3rd and 4[th] Sunday of the months as well as some involvement in the planning of 2nd Sunday altogether worship services. A big highlight this year was that we had most roles in the Nativity played by children and young people which included Mary and Joseph! Also, it was very encouraging to see the children and parents joining an interactive palm cross prayer on Palm Sunday.
Further, as part of our outward looking mission, we designed a tea towel around the theme ‘Peace to this house’ to give as part of a gift to new residents on the Cambridge Road Estate. It was also very encouraging to see many new and more familiar guests at the bright and light Party in Archway as well as the Christmas fair and Easter Family Fun at St Peter’s Church, Norbiton.
Four out of five team members have attended the Diocese of Southwark’s annual Children’s and Young People training conference and some of us met with Imani McEwen, Mission Support Officer (Children & Young People with MAP) to discuss our provision for children and young people. As a direct response to her feedback the curate Natalie Jones has started a Family for Faith hybrid course which is well attended by parents and team members.
The area on the left-hand side of the church, namely Eden Lounge, was fitted with a permanent solution to gate off the area during the service for young families to enjoy the service whilst their children are playing. It is very encouraging to see this area being used by new and older families alike. And it was wonderful to see an increase in new families during the year.
Some tables and old storage have been removed and there are a few new toys including a toy kitchen and some baby toys. As a next step we are working on a good toy storage solution and new displays.
Recently, we have appointed Jenny Greenfield to write baptism cards. Also, we hope that we can continue to build strong relationships within our local community through future events in collaboration with the Mothers Union and others.
Furthermore, we are looking forward to the Diocese children and young people training day on the 27th of September 2025 at St Peter’s. To raise the profile of our children, families and young people at our church, we will invite as many members of the congregation and staff as possible to this training day.
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United Youth
United Youth sessions have taken place three times a week during the Sunday services. A team of six members, two at every session, have delivered the programme based on ‘Energize’: high-quality, age-appropriate, Bible-based resources for every stage of a young person's development. Activities have included: games, quizzes, pair work, bible study, plenary feedback and discussion, drama, craft, worship and prayer. United Youthees have been encouraged to participate in the monthly Altogether Service, reading Bible passages and writing and delivering intercessions. Monthly 2- hour social activities have taken place e.g. board games, an Easter sunrise service followed by breakfast, skating, bowling, pizza-making, and joining local evangelistic events tailored specifically for youth. Additionally, four confirmation preparation sessions took place for 8 members of the youth group with a meal provided. Eight members were confirmed by Bishop of Kingston at St Andrew’s in Surbiton.
We have been fortunate to engage with one young person this year who encountered Jesus and had been seeking a new church community. He came to church without his family – but when he was baptised in October all his family came to support him – it was an encouraging sign and confirmation that the hearts of many young people in this generation are seeking faith and life with God. The ministry continues to be led by Becky Mills and a dedicated team of volunteers – including a couple of new male volunteers which is helpful as we seek to work alongside males in the group.
Outreach
Our Archway Community Café, which we opened in December 2021 has continued to develop and be a place of community and support in 2024. In partnership with City Changer Projects, developed by Doxadeo church, we have been able to welcome in and connect with the local community, offering friendship, access to specialist advice on debt, benefits, and housing, and help with food and energy costs. 20-30 guests typically visit each week, and several have begun to attend services at St Peter’s, or our Alpha course, as a result. We are thankful for the dedicated volunteers who enable this ministry to happen each week.
Our Tiny Tots ministry has continued to also be a place that offers fun and support each week for young families. We see a real consistency in those that attend. We are sometimes hindered by the amount of Bank Holidays that happen, meaning we don’t meet for a few weeks. Since beginning in October 2023, with a team of six volunteers we have engaged with over 50 families. These have come from both the estate and the surrounding Kingston/Norbiton area. On an average week, we are welcoming 6-8 families and have really seen the need for this type of community for these parents/carers. It is clear that people are experiencing loneliness, isolation as well as going through bereavements and relationship breakdowns. We are able to be a place of fun and play, whilst also offering pastoral support and prayer. We are thankful for the arrival of the Mother’s Union “Prayer Bears” which we were able to gift every child with for Christmas. We continue to use the Prayer Bear in each session to pray. We are excited for God’s vision for this going forward.
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Our other main outreach to the community is Vintage Banquet, which has continued to flourish under Clive Clarke’s leadership. Engaging with 20-30 guests each week, it has continued to provide important companionship and some wonderful meals cooked by volunteers, serving those over 60 in our local community.
We were able to hold the 2[nd] Norbiton Community Thank You Evening in November and once again through the work of many volunteers, this was a well-attended and joyful event. Beforehand, we prayed for 55 guests and that is exactly the number that turned up! Over the past year, we have been fortunate to connect with more local charities and organisations – Crest, One Norbiton, RB Kares, Kingston Charitable Foundation, Spear and Moving On Together. Due to a fire at Queen Mary Hall on Cambridge Gardens, we were able to offer the main church, Archway and our garden to these charities for their Tuesday & Thursday Groups and well-being support groups.
The various ministries of the church have all been made possible by the generous service, donations, prayers, and devotion of its people. We held another celebratory evening for all those who had served on team in some way. The invitation went out to 82 people, many of whom serve on several teams. This is truly a church committed to bearing fruit.
Care Homes
Thirty-six Care Home visits took place during the year April 2024 to the end of March 2025 delivered by a team of four members. These visits offered dementia-friendly worship with communion by extension at three local care homes per month, including a talk on devotional art and sung worship accompanied by a musician. A programme of talks took place in 2024 based on the church calendar focusing on a work of art with each resident being given a good quality reproduction. During 2025 talks have focused on the miracles of Jesus. Several residents form Kingston Care Home where our services are live streamed every Sunday have occasionally attended Sunday worship at St Peter’s.
Focus
St Peter’s took a group of 30 – adults, young people and children to Focus festival in July 2024. It was a special time of building relationships as a church family and encountering God together. It was particularly special seeing the diverse group of people that attended from our community – many of which had never been to a Christian festival or worshipped in this way before. We were thankful to Focus for the bursary fund which made it possible to take so many people on low or no income. The logistics are certainly complex and we are thankful to Mandy for managing this all so well. We are looking forward to returning this year once again.
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Finances
In 2024 we experienced a significant increase in income from £145,823 to £199,349. This was largely due to two exceptional factors, the first being a legacy that we received of £20,225. The second factor was an increase (£13, 492) in our income from renting out the church and our Archway Parish Rooms. This increase in income followed an unfortunate fire in Queen Mary’s Hall, where various charitable activities had been taking place, particularly a foodbank and a community lunch. We agreed to temporarily host these and other activities. (At the time of writing, Queen Mary’s Hall is about to re-open, so we would expect this uplift in our rental income to be temporary.)
Other sources of income also increased in 2024, particularly thanks to the generosity of our church members, who increased their regular donations from £24,954 to £36,865. This enabled us to fund an increase in staff costs, as we increased the hours of our verger, and hired a full-time administrator and part-time worship pastor.
Our surplus for the year was £32,844, broadly reflecting the exceptional level of income from the legacy and the increased rent. Recognising that 2024 was an abundant year financially, the PCC decided to set aside some of that plenty as a designated fund, to support our ongoing operating expenditure over the next 2-3 years, particularly our increased staff costs. We have named this fund the Joseph Fund, after Joseph’s decision to set aside surplus food in Egypt’s years of plenty, to sustain it during the years ahead.
Fabric
Mandy Turner joined us in May 2024 as our Administrator, co-ordinating our operations and bookings with a wonderful efficiency. Since the summer of 2023 when we had our last quinquennial inspection (a detailed inspection by an authorised architect, which the Church of England requires every five years) Mandy has worked closely with Ki-Hyoung Kim, our Verger, to ensure that we are working through the list of required works that were highlighted in the report. To begin, we had the emergency roof work carried out as a priority to fix/replace slipping or missing roof tiles, vegetation removed to prevent further movement of the tiles, and some repointing work on the columns. There is, however, a fair amount of repairs outstanding on the roof for which we have engaged with the architect who carried out the initial inspection.
We have done quite a bit of restorative work in the Archway, with a past congregation member with the help of Ki-Hyoung fitted a new floor in the foyer and bathrooms, as well as those areas being painted.
One of the congregation members has painted the window frames of Peter Holmes House and there has been some soundproofing mats laid in the bedrooms upstairs.
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Safeguarding and GDPR
The PCC continue to be committed to safeguarding. Several incidents were reported to the diocese during the year, and the priority of safeguarding has been a feature of PCC discussions. We have completed a Parish Safeguarding Audit that was required by the Diocese. This was a helpful piece of work which has given us clear actions going forwards. Natalie Jones acted as interim safeguarding officer, and Geraldine Burgess will be taking over this role officially in May 2025.
Both the safeguarding and GDPR policies are publicly available at the bottom of each page of the church website.
The Environment
Becky Mills, our environmental champion, has pursued our care for the environment with her customary energy and passion, and reports on progress as below.
An Eco-Church bronze award was achieved in May 2024. The church is continuing to prepare the ground and apply for an Eco-Church silver award.
The church has raised awareness through prayer for the environment in the prayer guidelines for intercessors. A folder of themed worship songs was drawn up by the former worship leader. Environmentally friendly tips have been shared on the church news sheet.
The church repeated an updated version of the Lenten carbon fast for creation calendar, including promoting local environmental projects that have been recently initiated, with daily tasks related to the weekly themes of preparation, food, energy, waste, water and enjoyment of nature with weekly promotion on the church Instagram account. An all-age talk on the Beauty of Creation and a sermon on Environmental Justice have recently taken place.
Care for Creation Sunday took place on 15th May 2024 with an environmentally friendly themed worship service and a talk by an external speaker from the Environmental wing of Tear Fund entitled, ‘God, His Planet and His People.’ The Church continued to raise awareness of green issues through praying for the environment and singing themed worship songs and sharing weekly environmentally friendly tips on the church news sheet.
Becky Mills has joined Kingston Environment Forum (KEF) to connect up with local environmental organisations covering a wide range of green issues.
Becky also attended Open Eco Homes in partnership with Transition Towns during Great Big Green Week on 16th June to find out more about conserving energy and reducing your carbon footprint in the home.
Becky and Natalie joined with Sunflower Streets RA on 11th Jan 2025 to promote and attend a community litter pick at the Fairfield green space.
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RM applied for a grant from the Green Economy Lead at RBK to fund an energy audit for St Peter’s Church and we are currently on the waiting list.
The Church contracted a well-known green energy company to provide gas and electricity to Joel Community Services in May 2024.
The Church continued to implement identified and allocated actions we need to take on the practical path to net zero carbon.
On behalf of the P.C.C.
The Revd Hugo Foxwood Date: 7[th] May 2025
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Independent examiner's report on the accounts
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
Report to the trustees/ Charity Name members of St Peter’s Church, Norbiton On accounts for the year 31 December 2024 Charity no ended (if any) Set out on pages 1-2 (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31 December 2020.
- Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have examiner's statement come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
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the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Date: 8 May 2025 Signed: Name: Frances Wilde Relevant professional FCCA, DChA qualification(s) or body (if any): Address: 4 marigold Drive Bisley GU24 9SF
October 2018
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IER
| Charity Name | No (if any) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Peter's Church, Norbiton | 1206853 | ||||
| Receipts andpayments accounts | CC16a | ||||
| For the period from |
01/01/2024 Period start date |
To | 31/12/2024 Period end date |
Section A Receipts and payments
| A1 Receipts | Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ 78,159 4,196 31,732 46,057 39,205 - - - 199,349 - - - 199,349 9,703 33,536 105,245 - 6,093 7,894 - - 4,034 166,505 - - - 166,505 32,844 - 30,000 36,822 39,666 |
Restricted funds to the nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
Designated funds to the nearest £ |
Total funds to the nearest £ |
Last year to the nearest £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income Receipts from Donors(Giving) | 78,159 | - - - - - - - - - |
78,159 4,196 31,732 46,057 39,205 - - - 199,349 |
57,505 | |
| Income from Tax Recovered | 4,196 | 7,038 | |||
| Church and ArchwayHire | 31,732 | 18,240 | |||
| ParkingIncome | 46,057 | 37,080 | |||
| Other | 39,205 | 25,960 | |||
| - | - | ||||
| - | - | ||||
| - | - | ||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) | 199,349 | 145,823 | |||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). | |||||
| - | - - - |
- - - |
|||
| - | - | ||||
| Sub total | - | - | |||
| Total receipts A3 Payments |
199,349 | ||||
| - | 145,823 | ||||
| Missions | 9,703 | - - - - - - - - - - |
9,703 33,536 105,245 - 6,093 7,894 - - 4,034 166,505 |
8,901 | |
| Clergyand Diocese | 33,536 | 26,999 | |||
| Church | 105,245 | 90,786 | |||
| Parish Rooms | - | - | |||
| Other | 6,093 | 8,496 | |||
| ChurchOffice | 7,894 | 7,897 | |||
| Loan Repayments | - | - | |||
| Loan Interest | - | - | |||
| Designated Expenditure- Joel CommunityServices | 4,034 | 1,078 | |||
| **Sub total ** | 166,505 | 144,157 | |||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
|||||
| - | - - - |
- - - |
|||
| - | |||||
| **Sub total ** | - | - | |||
| Total payments Net of receipts/(payments) A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
166,505 | ||||
| - | 144,157 | ||||
| 32,844 | - |
32,844 | 1,666 | ||
| - 30,000 | 30,000 - |
- 36,822 |
- | ||
| 36,822 | 35,156 | ||||
| 39,666 | 30,000 | 69,666 | 36,822 |
CCXX R1 accounts (SS)
08/05/2025
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| Section B Statement of assets | and liabilities at the end | of the period | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Categories Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use B5 Liabilities B3 Investment assets |
Signature Details Natwest Current Account Natwest Business Reserve Account Epworth Cash Plus Fund Details Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) Details Details Details |
Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ 29,521 - 9,914 - 231 - 39,666 - OK OK Unrestricted funds Restricted funds to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - Fund to which asset belongs Cost (optional) - - - - - - - - - Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) - - - - - Print Name HugoFoxwood |
Designated funds to nearest £ |
| 30,000 | |||
| 30,000 | |||
| OK | |||
| Endowment funds to nearest £ |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| When due (optional) |
|||
| Date of approval |
|||
| HugoFoxwood | 7th May2025 | ||
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
08/05/2025
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