Parish of St Peters Kells - Annual Report of the Parochial Church Council forthe Year Ended 31st December 2025 Aim and purposes The Parish of St Peters Kell's charitable object is the promoting in the ecclesiastical parish the whole mission of the Churth. The St Peters Kells PCC has responsibilty for ccwperating with the incumbent, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. It has maintenance responsibilities for St Peters Church building and St. Peters Parish Communty Centre. Objectives and activities The PCC is committed to enabling as many people as possible to expérience the love of God for themselves through our words and actions and to enable them to worship at the church or as part of one of our fresh expressions. The PCC maintains an overview of worship throughout the parish. Achievements and performance SPEAK BOLDLY The Mission Community of which we are a part continues to meet together regularly and we have been involved in The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Summer Songs of Praise in St. Nicholas, gardens, Remembrance servi￿ at the URC church, sung carols at Christmas with the Salvation Army band on King Str￿t and shared together in a G(x)d Friday act of worship and an Emmaus Walk around the town on Easter Sunday aftemoon. As an ecumenical group we organised an away day to Silloth where our speaker was Revd. Dr. Kate Bru￿ who spoke on the theme of Struggling Pilgrims. The Dementia Friendly Tea Service continued to go well and regularly has a congregation of about 30. Experience Easter was held in the church and groups from both Kells Infants and Monkwray Junior schools were invited to attend. The children were engaged and enjoyed the experien￿. The Baby and Tcxddler group continues to be well attended and good relationships have been built with those families who attend. There were 15 children on tha register in 2025. The weekly WellBeing West Café continues to be well attended and is valued by those who come. Over the last year a representative from Citizen's Advice has been visiting once a month. Some weeks we will sing a hymn and every week the session 11Page concludes with a bible reading and praying together. A Christmas meal to the . Howgate was enjoyed by all. The generosity of the congregation continues to be shown in many ways induding offering Easter Eggs to the children in our communty at Easter and knitted angels, given away at Christmas. The Food Panty is still well stocked with donations from Morrison's, Amentum and members of the community and is still well used both in the church. at Ihe community centre and at Greenbank Community Centre. The annual garden party was well attended and the weather Ivas good. CARE DEEPLY Pastoral wsiting continu8S to happen throughout the parish both formally by the clergy and infomally by members of the congregation. 'Whose Missing, is a regular agenda item at the PCC meetings and cards are sent to let people know that we are thinking and praying for them. A Servi￿ of communion by extension is held monthly in Monkwray Court and home communion is taken to those who in the parish who request IL As a church we continue to hold closing collections when needed for those in particular need in the world. People collect regularly for the Leprosy Mission and a speakar from the charity came. to give us an update one Sunday morning and a coffee mrning was held to raise funds. Money raised at the Shrove Tuesday and Harrfest supper was split between the church and the Bishop's Harvest Appeal. We once again held a Christmas Tree Festival and Carols among the trees service the proceeds from which were grven to Hospice at Home West Cumbria. . FOLLOW DAILY The biweekly bible study group continues to meet. Attendance at our Sunday moming Holy Communion seNice is steady with an average of 45 worshipers on a Sunday moming. 5 of vthich ale under 18. The Sunday evening sep41￿ of evening prayer has been suspended indefinitely but to very low numbers. Those who did come on a Sunday evening have joined the Tuesday morning service and the plan is to use the Sunday evening slol in a different way wtth the possibility of healing services and Taizé s8rvices. 21Page The All Souls service was well attended and well received as was all the Christmas and Easter services. The proceeds from the Christingle service being given to the Children's Society. In 2025 there were 75 people on the electoral roll and we conducted 3 weddings, 19 baptisms, and 18 funerals in church and 7 services at the crematorium. Both Kells Infants School and Monkwray Junior Sch￿?1 have continued to come into church for Christmas and Easter services and Monkwray have held their Harvest S8rvice in church. As well as coming into church for part of their religious education lessons. Mandy is a governor at Monkwray and is invited into both schools to speak to the children from time to time. Safeguarding St. Peterfs continues to be commrtted to providing a safe space for everyone. Safeguarding is a standing stern on every PCC agenda and our Parish Safeguarding Officer does an invaluable job in making sure that our training arKI procedures are up to date. The PCC of St Peterfs church in the parish of Kells has complied with the duty under section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016 (duty to have due regard to House of Bishops, guidance on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults).. Children and Young People Rock Flock during our Sunday moming service continues to meet with 3 children in regular attendan￿. The children take part in the main service by feeding back to us what they have been leaming about that moming and they always lead us in a prayer. 3 young people are regular members of the choir and one is the crucrfer. Two of the young people again played the organ for us at our Christingle servi￿. We also enabled one of our young people to attend Moreland Chorister Camp for a week's residential. Church Attendance There are 75 parishioners on the Church Electoral Roll (Dec*mber 2025). The average weekly attendance at Sunday and mid-week services is 55. There are around 68 people in the worshiping community. 31Page TREAD GENTLY St Peterfs church building Along with additional sockets and wiring, a TV screen was installed above a pulpit, its use is for presentations to both congregations and to those wishing to use the church as a venue for training. for example. It has been used to show single pictures and slideshow pictures of loved ones during funerals. A feature cross was selected, and bought, for the Lady Chapel to replace the current hanging. It has been stained and is now displayed on the wall behind the altar. The roof remediation work continued throughout the year. There was a major milestone met when scaffold was èrected and many slates were replaced. Gaps where the sandstone slated had wom, due to weather interaction, and couldn't be replaced, have been filled. An inspection from the roof loft has identrfied other smaller gaps. It is hoped the contractor will continue to fill these gaps as the work continues. The boiler heating pump failed. A repla￿ment was sOUr￿d and the failed pump replaced. There was concern over some damaged tiles on the South gable end of the church above the balcony. Tests indicated that they were indeed made from asbestos. A company was contracted to conduct a survey of the church, regarding asbestos, and a report was received. Handralls were installed on the steps leading to the entran￿ to the main church doors. Minor repairs were carried out to book (ases. giving cabinet and the toilet flush system. Repairs were carried out to the organ after it started to make unusual sounds. An energy and decarbonisation review has taken place of both the church and hall, a report is waiting to be received with expected recommendations. Parish Communlty Hall A fencing company had been contacted and the fence, and gates. to the garden area have been replaced. Gardening tools had been purchased for the upkeep of the hall garden areas. A replacement disabled toilet and washroom have been installed. A piece of the heating system in the roof space had been leaking, leading to water dripping into the youth group Offi￿ space, Wofk to repair the leak had been completed. 41Pago Th,e boiler had broken down but had been quickly repaired. -2 Qing repair work has been carried out in the building as required." lamps ab'e replaced. a relief valve and toilet seats were replaced in the geTts Financial Review Total receipts for the year were £107.598 and are detailed in the f Inancial olatements. i60 271 was spent in providing the Christian ministry wilhin the Parish incl,.d: T- Contribution to the diocesan ministry offer £28.317 was spent on running the Pa.,: Hall and Community Centre and £12,334 was spent on maintaining and running tl¥ out reach project minibus. The net resull for the year, was a net increase in funds of £6,676_ The balan￿ carried forward on unrestricted funds was £146,764 and the balance on restricted funds was £42.490 Plans for the Future Further work is expected on the church roof lo make it as watertight as Is reasonably practicable. The asbestos tiles above the balcony. although deemed adequately safe, still present a hazard 11 is expected Ihat the PCC will make a decision on their removal in relation to risk reduction. Work on gathering quotes and facullies for the following work is ongoing. A disabled toilet facility is planned. as well as upgrades to Ihe existing facilities A local contractor have made an initial assessment and we are awaiting engagement with the local council authority regarding the requirements for soil drainage. Quotes have been received lo carpet the floor in Ihe lady chapel. This is to allow the room to become mullifunctional. We will continue to develop our work with youth and children through Sunday activities and building relationships with the families. Structure, governance and management The method of appointment of PCC members is set out '.r, -. Representation Rules. All church attendees are encoura- Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC. 'sler on the Si ￿)￿tarS l