**The Parish of The Rivers Retford** Living Water for Living Life **Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2025 from the Parochial Church Council of The Rivers, Retford** ## **Aim and purposes** The Parish of The Rivers, Retford has been without an incumbent since 2[nd] January 2022. Since then the PCC assumed responsibility for maintaining regular worship in the churches of the parish and, in particular promoting the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical within the ecclesiastical parish. It is to the great credit of all who provide their energy and time in the individual villages that the parish remains a cohesive body witnessing to Christ and encouraging others to join in. ## **Administrative information** The Parish of the Rivers Retford consists of the villages, hamlets and communities surrounding 9 Parish Churches and their churchyards all of which are open as listed below; together with the open churchyards of the 3 former parish churches which are no longer used for worship nor licensed for marriages and 1 church in the care the Churches Conservation Trust and its open churchyard. |_Village and Parish churches of:_
Askham, St Nicholas
East Drayton, St Peter
East Markham, St John the Baptist
Grove, St Helen
Headon, St Peter
Laneham, St Peter
Rampton, All Saints
Stokeham, St Peter
Treswell, St John the Baptist|_Village and closed churches with open churchyards_
Darlton, St Giles (for sale as private dwelling)
Dunham on Trent, St Oswald (Sold as private
dwelling)
Fledborough, St Gregory (Churches Conservation
Trust)
Ragnall, St Leonard (sold – currently unused)
_Hamlets_
Church Laneham, Cottam, Nether Headon, Rockley
Upton, Whimpton Moor, Woodbeck, Woodcoates| |---|---| In 2024 the PCC registered as an independent separate charity, No 1211374. The correspondence address is Wayside Cottage, High Street, East Markham, Newark, Nottinghamshire NG22 0RE. Telephone 01777 870109 (eastmarkhampcc@gmail.com). The contact point for pastoral issues and occasional offices (Baptisms, Weddings and funerals), is Mrs Gill Rann on 07518 543868 or riversretfordgill@gmail.com. 1 The membership of the PCC during the period from the last APCM held on 24 April 2025 is as follows: **----- Start of picture text -----**
Form of Name Role Served from/to Term of Office
membership
EX-OFFICIO
Gill Rann LLM, Member of 18/9/19 to date Period of
Deanery & licence
Diocesan Synod
Tom Fremantle Deanery Synod Rep 24/4/25 to date To APCM 2026
PCC Lay Vice-Chair 24/4/25 to date To APCM 2025
ELECTED representatives for
East Drayton Janet Goddard PCC Member 24/4/25 to date To ACPM 2025
East Drayton Gill Squire PCC member 24/4/25 to date To APCM 2025
East Markham Joan Davies PCC Member 24/4/25 to date To APCM 2025
East Markham Josie Batty PCC member 24/4/25 to date To APCM 2026
Grove David Spencer PCC Member 24/4/25 to date To APCM 2026
Headon Michael Browne PCC member 24/4/25 to date To APCM 2026
Laneham Linda Robinson PCC member 24/4/25 to date To APCM 2026
Laneham Chris White PCC Member 10/9/25 to date To APCM 2026
Rampton Helen Slattery PCC member 24/4/25 to date To APCM 2026
Rampton Alison Goodman PCC member 24/4/25 to date To APCM 2026
Stokeham Philippa Kay- PCC member 24/4/25 to date To APCM 2026
Butler-Hughes
Stokeham Caroline Briggs PCC member 24/4/25 to date To APCM 2026
CO-OPTED
Non-Voting Jonathan Peto PCC Treasurer 24/4/25 to date To APCM 2026
Co-opted and Brian Gabbitas PCC member 24/4/25 to date To APCM 2026
voting member PCC Secretary
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Objectives and Activities** The PCC is committed to enabling and encouraging as many people as possible to worship at its churches and to be an important part of the community in all the villages and hamlets in the ecclesiastical parish. The PCC maintains an overview of worship throughout the parish and makes suggestions on how services can involve the many groups that live within the parish. Services and worship put faith into practice through prayer and scripture, music and sacrament. During 2025 the established pattern of worship has been maintained, with major exceptions for feast days and patronals, so that parishioners find it easy to follow. The Parish is greatly indebted to the retired clergy, especially Rev Dick Lewis, and Rev Andrew Pearse, who have been a mainstay in providing a sacramental service in the benefice every Sunday. Having provided the Diocese with a Benefice Mission statement church members have done their best to implement it without the benefit of an incumbent for whom they continue to 2 wait. In the middle of the year the Diocese announced the creation of clusters of rural parishes, led by a Lead Missioner with individual incumbents titled as Mission Associates. The Lead Missioner for our cluster, Rev Alison Jones, leader of the Potting Shed Church, was installed in Tuxford and by the end of the year a Children and Youth lead and an Operations Lead had been appointed. Little specific impact has yet been experienced. At the time of writing no interest has been shown in the Rivers Retford Benefice. The PCC is ever mindful of the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and seeks to support the Diocesan vision of Growing Disciples Wider, Younger, Deeper, although there are many reasons why this has only achieved very limited success. The PCC endeavours to enable ordinary people to live out their faith as part of the parish community through: - Worship and prayer; learning about the Gospel; and developing their knowledge and trust in Jesus. - Provision of pastoral care for people living in the parish. - Missionary and outreach work. To facilitate this work it is important to maintain the fabric of the church buildings. The PCC aims to ensure that regular routine maintenance and cleaning takes place as far as possible given that most of this is done by committed volunteers. The PCC also ensures that the cycle of Quinquennial Inspections is carried out and advice on repairs and maintenance is noted and actioned as soon as possible, subject to available funds. Where possible, funds are designated as “Fabric fund” and grants are sought so that the fabric of the building does not deteriorate. No major works have been undertaken during 2025, although a rope handrail was installed in East Markham tower. Plans for the continuing refurbishment of Treswell have continued; the churchyard has been cleared of undergrowth and several potentially dangerous trees removed which is being followed up with plans to create a car park. Insurance, and costs relating to the health, safety and comfort of the congregation, remain a priority for the general fund. ## **Achievements and Performance** During the period covered by this report the individual churches have worked well together and co-operate in order to advance the parish’s mission. PCC meetings regularly review safeguarding training and ensure that attention has been appropriately focussed; Health and Safety feature high on the agenda; views are shared on the worship plan and progress of prospective and outstanding projects are discussed. Experience is shared so that administrative tasks become slightly less onerous. _The pastoral scheme_ brought together, as one parish, the communities of 13 former ecclesiastical parishes. Whilst some had been working together as a benefice under a single incumbent, some had been in interregnum for a few years, and the inevitable changes needed take a considerable time. 2025 has seen the whole parish operating effectively and cohesively; the benefits of being a single parish are now taken for granted. The priorities set in 2019 in response to the Pastoral Scheme and the Diocesan Vision, are still in place: 3 _1._ to bring people together in consistency of worship across the parish, whilst retaining those good traditions which enhance worship _._ 2. to make the opportunity to worship together, as a body, at least once every month, to build relationships and respond to the Diocesan vision; run regular Bible study and prayer groups and nurture courses for people new to faith; the distance from one end of the parish to the other significantly detracts from this and many regular worshippers are unwilling to travel elsewhere for worship. The lack of an incumbent has meant the courses mentioned have been impossible. 3. to adapt the current administrative functions of the 9 churches for consistency across the parish. This objective can be regarded as complete. 4. to ensure safeguarding provisions are in place and able to function, and health and safety matters are dealt with correctly. When the Parish Safeguarding Officer left the area, responsibility as the initial point of contact was passed to the Diocese; attempts have been made to appoint a new Parish Safeguarding Officer but no volunteer has been forthcoming. Administrative support has been requested but was not available until early in 2026. Progress will be made. The lead Recruiter has continued in post ensuring that PCC members’ training and certification remains up to date. Safeguarding features as a main item at every PCC meeting. 5. to share the gifts and expertise of individuals or a particular church with the whole community of the parish. _6._ ensure consistent practice with regard to legal matters (eg the operation of churchyards and memorial applications) and delegate roles where appropriate; encourage new practices where old ones are considered no longer fit for purpose. This will continue to be a challenge. Several churches have been able to open daily where appropriate mechanisms are in place. We have seen 14 baptisms, 6 weddings, 18 funerals, including crematorium and interment only, and 2 confirmations. ## **Worship and Prayer** During the whole of 2025, the PCC offered in principle one communion service in the benefice each Sunday and on some Sundays and additional service of Morning Prayer. With the exception of the additional monthly 8am said service of Holy Communion according to the Book of Common Prayer (Common Worship Order two) all other Eucharists used Common Worship Order one in the form left by our last incumbent. A range of Eucharistic Prayers was used and, as the seasons progressed, different prayers, creeds, versicles and responses, acclamations, invitation to confession and absolutions were used. The parish was enormously grateful for the assistance particularly of retired clergy , Rev Dick Lewis and Rev Andrew Pearse for their generous support in presiding and preaching at the Eucharist. Mrs Gill Rann, LLM, normally led and preached at services of the Word. Other members of the congregation have led occasional non-sacramental services with no sermon. As far as possible lay members of the congregation were invited to read the lectionary readings, including the Gospel, and some to prepare and lead intercessions. There were no regular evening services. At East Markham an informal type of family worship, involving modern 4 songs and words with some teaching, activities and refreshment, was particularly successful on Good Friday and Christmas Eve. Gill Rann LLM, Foundation Governor at Dunham Church of England Primary School, has made 17 visits to lead worship there and at Rampton County Primary, where she encouraged the whole school to attend the Christingle service at Rampton church. Gill has begun to link with the County Primary School at East Markham and the church has been visited by two of the classes. It will be particularly important for a new incumbent to strengthen further the links with the Dunham, Rampton and East Markham schools and reach out to the families. ## **Attendance, Electoral Roll and Occasional Offices** All are welcome to attend regular services. At the year end there were 136 parishioners on the new Church Electoral Roll, 8 of whom were not resident within the parish. The average weekly attendance, counted during October 2023, across the parish was less than 30, and the numbers at festivals gave some small reason for encouragement. The statistics show that numbers per church vary from less than 5 to rarely more than 25. As stated above occasional offices included 14 baptisms and 6 weddings, and 18 funerals (including burials and interment of ashes) in our churches or at a crematorium. ## **Deanery and Diocesan Synod** Given the size of our electoral roll we are entitled to elect 3 lay Deanery Synod representatives. During 2024 we had only one elected representative from the parish at the Deanery Synod. The LLM, Mrs Gill Rann, was ex officio member by virtue of her membership of the Diocesan Synod. ## **Buildings use and maintenance** During 2024 some of our churches were able to open daily to our communities and visitors, giving people the opportunity for private prayer, a quiet space or just to take in the heritage and history. General maintenance and cleaning of our church buildings has continued throughout the period thanks to many volunteers, but every year it becomes more difficult as volunteers age with the passage of time, and it is difficult to persuade younger people to volunteer in the same way. In individual churches - The most encouraging development has been the continuing development of the congregation and activities at St Helen’s church in Grove, thanks in large part to the efforts and generosity of David and Suzie Spencer. - At East Markham a rope handrail was fitted in the tower staircase improving ease of access to the Bell-ringing chamber. Replacement of the lead on the chancel roof has not been possible due to the DAC’s inability to support the use of a modern material which is guaranteed to last long enough until major timber repairs are required and for which we have the funds available. The intransigence of Historic England in this matter has prevented a medium term solution being adopted to replace the 5 temporary plastic sheeting, which has remained watertight. Receipt of a £100,000 legacy has made it possible to contemplate a major project to re-order the church for greater community accessibility; plans will be developed in 2026. - The first stage of reordering at St John the Baptist, Treswell were completed. A faculty remains outstanding to repair plasterwork and interior decoration; a new vestry needs to be created. Plans are being developed for a car park without which the church remains relatively remote and inaccessible. There is no Treswell representation on the PCC and very few on the electoral roll, which makes it very difficult to make any further progress. - Major work on the roof of St Peter, Headon has been postponed indefinitely after the chance of a major grant evaporated. Some urgent repairs have been carried out on the fabric of the church using existing funds. In the second half of the year the Headon community recognised the fact that a lack of positive engagement with the church would be likely to lead to the PCC deciding to close the church for regular use. A new group has now been formed which is beginning to plan events in the church and will, hopefully develop the demand for more Sunday services. - Significant work on the tower of St Peter, Laneham is needed. - All Saints, Rampton, ‘friends’ of the church, have taken part in various initiatives for fund raising and various pieces of work have been carried out to the church and the churchyard wall. A plan will be developed for restoring parts of the roof which have been shown to be unsafe. - The trend away from regular and committed giving has continued. Many of those who have given regularly have now grown too old or have died or moved away and there have been no new contributors coming forward. It is clearly very difficult to persuade people that regular giving is worthwhile when there is no visible presence of the church within the communities in the form of an incumbent. - Maintenance of each community’s burial ground has been less of an issue as most Parish Councils have recognised their responsibilities and volunteers have come forward. The PCC arranged for the occasional visit to Darlton and to Fledborough maintaining some pathways through the long grass. ## **Pastoral Care** During the year our LLM, Gill Rann has been able to continue monthly home visits with Holy Communion to four or five parishioners which have been very warmly welcomed by the recipients. She held 21 Home Communions (for 45 communicants) and led five worship events at Tuxford Manor Care home where several parishioners now reside. Some worshippers in the villages regularly offer lifts to the less able members of the community and have made home visits. ## **Safeguarding** The PCC takes seriously the need to keep up to date with safeguarding training and practice. The PCC has been unable to recruit a new Parish Safeguarding Officer. The Diocesan Safeguarding Officer has been the named primary contact but there have been no reported instances of safeguarding issues in the parish. The Lead Recruiter has completed all the necessary DBS checks for PCC members and others. Support has been requested on several 6 occasions from the Diocesan Safeguarding team in order to keep documentation up to date but it was not available until early in January 2026. PCC members have been continually reminded of the need to refresh their training. ## **Communication and activity** We do not have a single Parish Magazine but there are some village magazines; “The Gazette” (East Markham and Askham) and “HeadsUp” (Headon and Grove) and news sheets are circulated independently in some villages. The Chairman has written a piece for the East Markham Gazette each month which included a section about general activities in the church, a listing of all the services in the benefice, and a short piece relevant to the time of year, the Christian calendar, beliefs and practice. This material is circulated to all PCC members for their use locally. Monthly notices were also circulated by email to a full mailing list of over 100 in order to keep our parishioners and others informed of the important matters affecting their village Church, and to develop knowledge and love of Jesus. In East Markham, the regular Friday morning “Village Coffee Shop” has attracted many people who would otherwise never come near the church. A series of ‘Winter Warmer’ lunches has extended to occasional lunches throughout the year. In East Markham a summer concert by the Eakring Singers (Musical Director, Sarah Walster) and through the generosity of the choir and attendees over £2500 was raised. The Christmas Fair took place in the church in November and contributed useful funds whilst bringing together people from the whole community. East Drayton has continued their very successful series of lunches in the Village Hall with proceeds being shared between the church and the village hall. The church at All Saints, Rampton has been developing its position and role within the community and actively engaged with supporters, volunteers and contributors. St Helen’s Grove has continued to develop its activities which have contributed usefully to funds as well as bringing the community together. The interior of the church has been well cleaned and now sparkles whilst in the churchyard undergrowth has been removed and the whole environment greatly improved. The LCG is very active laying on events which have brought the community together. ## **Ecumenical Relationships** Following the introduction of the Pastoral scheme on 1 September 2019 the formal Anglican Methodist LEP at All Saints, Rampton was ended but a “Sharing Agreement” remains in place. The regular Methodist monthly service had to be replaced by a quarterly one due to the lack of staff and has still not been re-instated. The Methodist covenant of 2002 at East Markham has been immensely valuable and is demonstrated with a Covenant Service early in each year. Preparation for Baptism continues every month for the Retford area at Grove Street Methodist Chapel in conjunction with the Methodists, which is a very valuable service. 7 ## **Volunteers** We would like to thank all the volunteers who work so hard to keep our churches open and who contribute time, energy, and money to maintain both heritage and sacred space, in many different ways. Particular thanks are very much deserved again by our licensed Lay Minister, Gill Rann, PCC members, officers and Local Church Group (LCG) members who work so hard to ensure the everyday running and maintenance of our churches and services, oversee the governance and ensure compliance with health and safety, legal and financial matters. We are extremely fortunate to have the services of our Treasurer, Jonathan Peto, who has not only kept the books for all the churches but also ensured that we take every opportunity for grants and cost savings; he deserves a very large vote of thanks. ## **Structure, governance and management** The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules 2020 subject to the Bishop’s direction given as part of the Pastoral Scheme. This allows each of the present open Parish churches to appoint two representatives to be either Church wardens or elected members of the PCC. The membership of the PCC consists of the incumbent (vacant in 2024), the Licensed Lay Minister (LLM), members elected by those who are on the electoral roll of the parish, and those who are ex-officio members namely members of Deanery and/or Diocesan and/or General Synods, and co-opted members of whom there are currently two. Regular worshippers are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll of the Ecclesiastical Parish of The Rivers, Retford and stand for election as churchwarden or to the PCC. The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish including deciding how the funds of the PCC are to be spent. During the year the PCC established clear levels of spending authority for the LCG, and for the Standing Committee. New PCC members are encouraged and will receive initial briefing on the workings of the PCC. The PCC is served by the Secretary, Brian Gabbitas, the Treasurer Jonathan Peto (not a voting member), the Safeguarding Lead Recruiter, Evelyn Gabbitas (not a PCC member), the Wedding Administrator, Alison Goodman, the Electoral Roll officer, Gill Rann, and the Chairman, Tom Fremantle. ## **Secretary’s Report** The full PCC met six times in 2025, as follows: Those attending of 15 members: 21 January 12 voting members 13 March 11 voting members 24 April (after the APCM) 11 voting members, 08 July 14 voting members 10 September 11 voting members (Rev. Alison Jones and Chris White (Laneham) were in attendance) 29 October 14 voting members Meetings were held in different churches or village halls as arranged by PCC members. 8 ## **Reports from individual LCGs for 2025** ## **St Nicholas, Askham** Life in a very small village such as Askham depends on a mix of people some of whom are community-minded prepared to support activities. Over recent years several such individuals have either died or moved away. Sadly, two of our supporters, Brian Cane and Danny Langlands, died during this year. The result has made it difficult to maintain many of the traditions of the past, but we managed to fulfil all services as allocated by Gill, with willing readers and coffee afterwards. The link for service organisation is David Bird, who also plays the organ; Alice Bird handles the finances, does much of the cleaning, is responsible for supplying the after-service refreshments and ensures that flowers are refreshed. David Garner keeps the churchyard tidy, Martyn attends to the clock and anything with a plug and Guy is the first port of call for structural matters, including the raising of the flag at the appropriate moments. Attendance at the regular services is very satisfactory, with many from the other churches in the Benefice. Major services included the traditional Easter Vigil service with the First Communion of Easter which was taken by the Revd Dick Lewis, which this year included two adult baptisms. Harvest was celebrated with a Songs of Praise, followed by wine and light refreshments. Donations of £87.50 and some foodstuffs were made to the Food Bank. A Carol Service was held on the Sunday before Christmas, and David's policy of involving as many people as possible ensured a good attendance, although slightly down on last year. Despite the lower attendance £116.25 was collected for Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice. The major work undertaken in 2025 was the removal from the churchyard of three gigantic laurel bushes by a professional arboricultural company, and vastly overgrown ivy was removed by Daniel Barnes and his gardener at their own expense, for which we are most grateful. The condition of the church and churchyard is good, the grass being regularly cut (and paid for by the Parish Meeting). Our tradition of remaining unlocked 24/7 (for at least 16 years) was ruined by a vagrant who decided to use the church as an overnight hostel, having brought more and more pieces of domestic equipment into the building, neatly concealed in the pulpit, behind the organ, under the choir stalls etc. This gave us no option but reluctantly to lock the building 24/7 until such time as we consider it safe to return it to its open state. Sadly, no-one could be persuaded to represent Askham on the PCC. ## **St John the Baptist’s, East Markham** 1. The church has been opened every day. No-one knows how many people go into the church but every now and then someone comments about how good it was that they were able to go in and enjoy the peace and timelessness of this historic place. 2. The pattern of Sunday services in the parish has continued and normal congregations have varied between 12 and 25; once again refreshments are offered after most services. ‘Messy Good Friday’ was again a great success in which many whole families participated with around sixty people in total. The Crib Service on Christmas Eve, run in a similar style, was also very popular with a total attendance of 150 recorded. 9 3. The Church contributed monthly to the East Markham Gazette which is circulated widely in the community giving news of past and forthcoming events and of all services in the parish. Each month a reflection provided a brief Christian perspective of the passage of the seasons throughout the year, in an attempt to project the Christian message beyond churchgoers. - Events arranged by the LCG included a very successful concert by the Eakring Singers – musical Director Sarah Walster – which featured a number of local and young solists. The concert was well supported and raised about £2700. In September the Cantate choir – musical Director David Bird – brought us a re-enactment of a historical version of Evensong as it used to be sung in the 18th century by what has become known as the West Gallery minstrels. Harworth Brass gave a performance in October but ticket sales were disappointing, and little was contributed to church funds. The Christmas Fair at the end of November was well attended; a new organiser had come forward and brought a great deal of new energy and ideas. A small band of helpers worked very hard once again to have everything cleared up by the end of the afternoon for the MU Toy Service on the following day. 4. The East Markham riders in the sponsored Bike Ride in September 2025 raised a stunning new record of £2360, half of which will be paid into the church fabric fund when it is received. East Markham’s contribution in 2024 again earned a prize for the most money collected by a single church, awarded by the Notts Historic Churches Trust. There is every reason to believe such a prize will be won again for the 2025 performance. 5. Joan Davies branch leader of the Mothers’ Union writes: East Markham and Askham Mothers’ Union continues to meet monthly in the Village Hall in winter months and in the Church in summer. Although membership is dropping nationally, mainly due to age, we still have twelve members and one indoor member. Our members remain committed to the aims and objects of the Mothers’ Union and I am grateful to all of them for their support and prayers, especially to those who stepped up to help when I was unavoidably absent due to my other commitments. In March we visited Bassetlaw food bank where we had lunch in their cafe and toured the gardens, all run by volunteers. We have financially supported Mothers’ Union overseas fund, the “Count your Blessings” Lent appeal, ‘Away from it all’ Holidays, and a successful toy service on behalf of the Great Notts Christmas Toy Appeal. We are grateful to Jackie Johnson for promoting and leading the toy service. Members have also supported Newark Archdeaconry days, and the World Day of Prayer which was held in St Saviour’s, Retford in 2025. - June, our birthday month, was celebrated with a short service followed by afternoon tea where we were joined by MU Diocesan President and other members and friends from churches in our area. - For our December meeting we accepted an invitation to join St John’s MU in Worksop for a bring and share Christmas lunch followed by seasonal readings and prayers and a blessing given by their new incumbent. We hope to return their hospitality in June 2026 when the Mothers’ Union will be celebrating 150 years since the vision Mary Sumner had which became MU. 6. The Bell Captain, Ray Houghton, reports: 2025 was my first full year leading the East Markham ringers, which came about due to our long standing captain, Brian Hardy, being unable to continue for health reasons. Brian has been ringing at East 10 Markham since February 1982. He has been patient, tolerant and has always been able to provide a friendly atmosphere which has made ringing at East Markham a joy. During my time in the bell tower, Brian has trained many new ringers including myself and has always been able to maintain a team to ring for weddings and various Church occasions. We were grateful to see the installation of a rope handrail. This has facilitated much safer access to the ringing chamber, bells and the tower roof via the spiral staircase. We are currently ringing every other week at Tuxford, using these sessions to improve our technique, learning from Steve and Lorna who are long term experienced ringers. We hope to continue ringing for future church events and weddings and as always we are looking for new recruits to add to our team of ringers. 7. A rope hand rail down the centre of the spiral staircase to make the stairs easier and safer was finally given approval and installed at a cost of under £1000 thanks to the use of volunteer labour. It has proved of great value. 8. The flower rota continued to operate and provided fresh flowers for services throughout the year. Readers, intercessors and sidesmen are arranged for all the services. 9. The coffee shop has operated every Friday morning and now has a strong following often with new and occasional visitors; even on the coldest days there were about 30 customers. The dedicated core team continued to operate throughout the year with the support of a rota of additional helpers. The team added some lunch events. A book exchange scheme provided some additional donations for charitable causes and a Food Bank collection point has operated and been publicised in the wider community. A jigsaw library has also been initiated. An additional cupboard and worktop was fitted in the Tower Room early in 2025 with the help of a Diocesan grant. 10. The process of transferring East Markham banking to the Parish Account was not completed in order to receive donations from only two elderly regular contributors. Overall the level of regular giving continues to fall. 11. The Local Church Group continued to meet most months at very happy meetings which were always accompanied by prayer, laughter and goodwill. Topics covered Worship, Fund raising, events, repairs, churchyard maintenance and anything else which seemed to be relevant. ## **St Peter’s, East Drayton** Quinquennial inspec�on took place in February 2026. We have not received the report yet, But the Church building is in a reasonably good condi�on considering its age. Two lights in the Nave & two in the Chancel have recently failed to work; an Electrician has been contacted; scaffolding will Probably be needed as they are all very high up. The Church Yard Grass & Hedges are well kept by a team of volunteers on a rota. It is wonderful that 34 volunteers are involved & take pride in the appearance of the Church grass. This means there is no expense to the Church, as the petrol & servicing of the Lawnmowers comes 11 from a separate Church Yard charity fund. Unfortunately we very rarely see these people a�end Church for a service, except maybe a few at the Christmas Carol service. We have one Holy Communion service a month and it is good to see that as a group of Churches we support other villages, & they travel to take part in our Church ac�vi�es. A Christmas Carol Service was arranged by members from the village. East Drayton Hand Bell Ringers played a number of carols which were enjoyed by a large congrega�on. Mulled wine, mincepies & so� drinks were served a�erwards. Historic Churches Ride & Stride. The church was open to welcome visitors. One family from the village took part in the sponsored ride. The No�nghamshire Historic Churches Trust visited the Church in October & gave a talk to the visitors. A�ernoon Tea was served in the Village Hall a�erwards, a very enjoyable visit was had by all. Fund Raising in 2025 Two Summer A�ernoon Teas in the Village Hall in July & August. Meet & Eat Lunches take place every two weeks during the winter months & are very successful. The proceeds from these are shared between the church & the village hall. Harvest supper & quiz in October and the Christmas dinner & raffle at the end of December were very enjoyable & enabled the village people to meet together. ## **St Helen’s Grove** 2025 has seen the average number of worshippers at St Helen’s grow. There is a more than significant number of local people attending, as well as a healthy number of people within the wider parish who are also happy to visit St Helen’s for Holy Communion or various Worship services. The church hosted two weddings, one Christening, and one funeral in 2025. Services have been fairly consistent with Morning Worship and Holy Communion services taking place alternatively on various weeks throughout the year. People are happy with the comfort of the church, and enjoy the after-service niceties provided. A Harvest Supper was held in October, and after the success of the previous year, all 40 places were snapped up in 48hrs. The event was free and involved a menu of four courses. There is already a wish list for this year's event. Almost £600 was raised for church funds. The Harvest Festival Service saw many food items being donated to Bassetlaw Foodbank, and the collection of £80 was also donated to the Foodbank. A stable was made for the Advent period, and a wonderful vintage set of 24” Nativity figures were purchased for it. The church was open during Advent for people to visit and see the church so handsomely decorated. A tree was supplied and beautifully dressed by local villager Michele Wallwin. The Candlelit Carol Service was a lovely event, and virtually all who attended, stayed after for mulled wine, and homemade Jack Daniels Mince Pies and Scotch Eggs. The church has been maintained by local volunteers, and essentially is lucky to have a good number of local folk that are happy to offer their services if any problems manifest. 12 New light bulbs were fitted to the outdoor path and lychgate lamps, which involved the whole lampheads being removed as the screw fastenings had seized. The gutters were emptied of tree debris, and are due to be serviced again in March 2026. Suzanne Ford of Ford Garden Services continues to maintain the churchyard and roads and paths outside of the church. The church received several visitors who were unaware of there actually being a church at all. This is mainly thanks to the tree pruning and ivy removed from the roadside wall, allowing the church to be seen by pedestrians and drivers. The mould-covered wooden side panelling in the church has been given a mould treatment followed by a couple of coats of wood preserver and paint. And likewise with the wooden organ housing and doors. This has made a huge difference to the appearance of the interior of the church. The windows and fittings were de-cobwebbed in October, and we are having some ‘No Spiders Allowed’ signs made to prevent this happening in the future. The heating units need nine replacement elements to bring them up to 100% efficiency. This is currently being organized. The elements are difficult to obtain, but we have sourced them at £32 each, and an order will be placed for them imminently. Our electrician will install them for free. A carpet was supplied and fitted in the font area which will protect the ancient tomb covers. This was installed by Retford Carpets at a cost of £100, discounted from £500. ## **St. Peter’s, Headon** 2025 was not a good year at St Peter’s until the end of the year when a number of residents agreed to form a Local Church Group (LCG) and organise activities. An open evening was held in November and was well attended. This was followed by a Harvest Festival service in December and a Carol Concert with the Silkstone band a week later. Both were well attended. The LCG is now planning further events and services. Amanda Ogle and Sarah Dickson continue to keep the Church in reasonable order and John Mosley organises the Churchyard grass cutting. Thanks to a bequest from Will Jackson and, with the help of our Architect, essential maintenance was carried out during the course of 2025. The future is therefore looking brighter than in the last couple of years although the state of the roof is a concern with the likely cost well beyond our resources. ## **St Peter’s Laneham** We have been lucky this year to have local volunteers to cut the grass and help with keeping the churchyard tidy. We are extremely grateful to them for their work. General maintenance of the church has been carried out by volunteers where possible, but no major work has been done. We are still concerned about the heating and work that needs doing to the tower but have made no progress with these and will need to find financial support to top up our restoration fund to pay for these. Fire extinguishers have been serviced, PAT test done, 13 Harvest service saw donations of gifts for the food bank. Carol service was reasonably well attended but a number of regulars were away. Fundraising was mainly done by having a ‘Holy Hoedown’ arranged by Adrian Grey from the village and supported by many from ‘The Well’, Retford. Another villager ( Dan Griffin) organised ‘Tyres on the Trent’ event where the church was opened for viewing and refreshments. We have welcomed a new PCC member (Chris White) who is actively getting involved in doing more for the church which is much appreciated. ## **All Saints, Rampton** The building continues to show deterioration by way of stonework crumbling, roof leaking, wooden flooring becoming soft and plaster falling away. Helpers from within the congregation and those who belong to the Friends of Rampton Church keep the church clean and tidy given the limitations of what is possible to do without undertaking major repairs i.e. not requiring vast amounts of money and a faculty. The churchyard is cared for by a dedicated team of volunteers and paid contractors from Rampton Hospital. The Quinquennial Report was completed and work was identified to be done as above. An event held at the local pub was held in aid of church funds for ongoing repairs and a sum of £2,000 was raised. The church welcomed various groups including U3A, Art group and Bell ringers. A display in church was put together for VJ day as well as on Remembrance Sunday by Mr Terry Slattery. The Friends arranged, along with the Rampton Entertainment Group, a Craft Fayre inside the church and the Village Hall for fundraising. At Harvest, the dry goods were collected by Bassetlaw Food Bank and the collection went to All We Can, registered charity of the Methodist Church. We had Holy Communion and Morning Worship on alternate months, the 4th Sunday of the month. During this year there has been 5 funerals and or committals. The school used the church in the year, for their Christingle led by Mrs Gill Rann. We also held the Benefice Memorial Service in October. Our usual Lay led Christmas Eve Carol Service was very well attended with hand bell ringers followed by mince pies and mulled wine. ## **St Peter’s, Stokeham** 2025 saw two Holy Communion services – one of which included a Baptism. There were no weddings or funerals. There were two services of Morning Worship. We had successful PCC led services for Harvest and Carol Service. As usual the congregation chose which carols they would like during the actual service and wrote prayer cards on arrival to be read out during the service and placed on our Christmas tree. Caroline wrote a story and poem which as always brought a new thought/aspect to the Christmas story. The annual Historical Churches Bike ride raised £225 of which Stokeham received £112.50 as our share of the sponsorship. The option of an organ from Treswell was investigated but the decision has been made to get MP3 music and a decent speaker. We borrowed CD’s and a player for the carol service but believe MP3 to be the better option. We thank Tom and Sam Kay-Butler-Hughes for mowing and strimming the grass and Eric and Ian Briggs for hedge and other maintenance. Caroline and Pip were the church cleaners. Fundraising – The annual bike ride day was well supported with the usual sale of refreshments from full lunch to tea, co�ee and cake, stalls, tombola, jams etc and crafts. 14 A hot lunch was also served to 25 people after the carol service which was enjoyed by all. We had ra�les at both these events. ## **St John the Baptist’s, Treswell.** The first stage of the long awaited refurbishment was completed. This was a reduced version of the original proposal and focussed on providing the essential services of a toilet and small kitchen area, and improved heaters. The project included providing a trench-arch foul drain system across the churchyard. During the work the contractor established that the surface water drainage pipes on the north side had been severed, which explained the internal rising damp problem. A new drain was laid round the east end of the church and discharging into the brook. With a local congregation of one there were no regular services but festival services held were at Easter and before Christmas. At the end of 2025 Mary Hodge informed the PCC that she no longer felt able to continue an active role at Treswell. Felicity Ferriter also declared her decision to retire from active support in order to concentrate on her other duties within the Methodist community. David Spencer generously agreed to hold a Treswell key and keep an eye on the church. Meanwhile 2025 saw approval for some major clearance work in the churchyard which involved the removal of some trees which had become potentially dangerous as well as an enormous number of self-sown holly and sycamore trees. The appearance of the churchyard has been greatly improved, and the church is now easily visible from the roadside. Donations from the Treswell funds were made to assist with the parish shares of St Peter Stokeham, St Peter Laneham, St Nicholas Askham and All Saints Rampton. The church also continued its tradition of charitable giving to the community, specifically to Bassetlaw Hospice and to Bassetlaw Food Bank. Some progress has now been made towards replacing the damaged plasterwork in the church caused some years ago by over-enthusiastic volunteers applying the incorrect paint, and subject to the grant of a faculty the work will be completed in 2026. Various other minor issues have been identified and will be dealt with in the coming year. Initial proposals have been drawn up for providing a car park on the roadside, for which we are most grateful for the professional support of neighbour David Taylor. Once that has been done it will be possible for the church to be used more easily by people from outside the village. Approved by the PCC on 12[th] March 2026 and signed on their behalf by T D Fremantle (Chairman of the Rivers Retford PCC) 15 CHARITY COMMISSION Independent examinerfs report on the FOR ENGLAND ANO WAIES accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trust8081 members of The Parochial Church Council of the ecclesiastical parish of the rivers. Retford On accounts for the period ended 31 December 2025 Charity no 1211374 Set out on pages Pages 1 to 12 {One to Twelve) includirKJ this report I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charty (Ihe Trusf) for the period ended 3111212025. R98ponslbllhles and basls of report As the chartty's trustees. you are responslble for the preparation of the accounts in accordance wth the requirements of the Charitie$ Act 2011 Acr). I report in respe￿ of my examination of the Trusfs accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable DirectK)n3 given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b} of the Ad. Independent I have completed my examination. I confim that no material matters havè examlnerfs statement come to my attention in connectsm with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. th8 accounting records were not kept in accordan￿ wlth section 130 of the Charth'es Act: or the accounts did not accord wilh the accountlng records,. or the accounts did not Compty with the applicable requirements concemiry the fom and content of accounts set out in th8 Charitles (Accounts and Reports) Regulatr'ons 2008 other than any requiremènt that the accounts give a Irue and fairf vw which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examinth'on. I have no ￿ncernS and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper underslarKliNJ of the accounts to be reached. Slgned: Darren Warren Date: 2610312026 Name: Détren Wdllell- Paxton IrKlepenaent Examiners Relevant professional qualificatlon(sl or body {If any): FMAAT Address: 61 a High Street SoLrth Rushden Northants, NN10 ORA Section B Disclosure Only complete If the examiner needs to highlight Mat￿la1 matters of concem {see CC32. Independent examinab'on of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). Glve here brlef details of any items that the examlner wlshes to disclose. Notes to Rivers Retford Act(wnts forthe year endirva 31" December 2025 Regular committed giving by Stsnding Order ha$ slightly reduced by a further £1,￿0 mainly from people moving away from the parish or as a result of death of parishioners. There has been minimal benefit from renewal of gbving or new pledEe5- this is clearly difficult to address during an Interre8num. However church collections did increase by over £5.CIxi mainly due to several well attended funerals. Fundraising slightly increased by £l.O(M) ~ thSs was partly the resu￿ of a very successful event raising over£2.ocKI forthe Rampton Windowfvnd. Grove received a donation of nearty £2,(kX) from the Rotary Club to fund the provlslon of toilet facilities A legacy for just over £106,OCKI was ￿ceIved in memory of Henry Wlggett for the benefit of East Markham church. A separate designated account ha5 been set up whllst plans are discussed a5 to how this money mi8ht be spent to improve the church. A couple of 8rants totalling nearly £4,(KK) were ￿e1Ved from the dloce5e to enable work to be carried out at East Markham (new kitthen unttsl arKI East Drayton (electrical safety improvements). Utility costs Increased by nearly £l,(KXI- costs In 2024 were distorted by estimated readin8$ for Laneham in 2023 ￿$vItIng in a credSt In 2024. In addltlon to ￿gUlar Maintenan￿ costs, major repalrs Included repairs to Headon costlng nearly £17.CrfJO, expenditure at Treswell totallin8 £12,(KxI (final part of the Treswell project £6.(KKI, architecys fees for new plasterwork £3.5￿ & relocation of electricity meters £1,7th)l as well as the work at East Markham. East Drayton & Grove totallin8 £6.[￿ all covered by donations and grants. Churchyard work includes over £7.(KQ spent at Treswell to cary out extensive work which included removing self seeded trees and a mature Ash tree . Parish share payment increased to £55.080 which was pakl in fijll. It should be noted that Treswell has paid £14.5C(J of the total amount and the churchyards a further £4,C¥XJ. The overall result 15 a defictt of £37,075 from general fvnds- Treswell accounts for £33,0(Xl of this shortfall The church h35 a regular income of under £l,(KM) but costs include maintaining the church whith totallgd f7 srM).ch3ritabl• donations £2,¢X4), chvrchyard ne•rly £10,000 and coiiiribullvii Iv Parish Share of £14.5LM). This deficFt was covered by a transfer of £33,1XJO in 2025 from the structural fund. A full list of all the fvnds is included in the notes- overall reserves indude a gain of over £23.5￿) from the various investments held by the PCC. It should be noted the investment managed by Quilter on behalf ofTreswell gained over £28.5(K). By comparison the investments man?ged by CCLA recorded an overall loss. During the year a number of separate fund5 were consolidated- the PCC agreed to close all the endowment funds and other minor investments accounts. In totsl 10 funds were closed and transferred to existing investments- 5 funds had a balance le55 than £2.tM so this has simplified the administration as well as placing the investments directly under the control of the PCC. In addition this has released funds previously restricted for purposes no longer required. AFthough still restricted to a specific church these can to be used to support the work of the benefice. A full Ilst of the transfers appears in the funds summary. Jonathan Peto, PCC Treasurer. 2￿ February 2026 Paxton Charity no. 1211374 The I￿Ver5, Retford PCC Charity Commission SOFA Report as at 31n212025 Pagel of I Printed: 1310212026 Ullrestrltted Restrlcted IDeoD￿ fimds EDdDwll￿nt Total funds Prjor year fwids Dcome g4nd endowments fronL Donat]1￿$ and legacies Charitable actiwtes Other tradin8activities tnvestments Separate material item of incotnc Other 153.810 10.184 16,551 12233 4.521 35 6,170 1.887 158.331 10.219 22.721 14.180 54.370 10.981 29,226 13,501 60 1.189 193,967 1.189 206,639 1.430 109,508 Totsl 11612 60 .xpenditure on: Raising funds Charitablc activiti S￿ara{C ￿￿terial i*m of ¢xp¥ns¢ oth 1,048 152.443 1,816 186,193 129.532 22.911 130J80 22,911 153,491 18&009 et Incom¢l(expendl¢ure} efore Investment gain￿0(￿1￿eg} Net gainsl(lo&ses) on inve81ments et Incomel(expendlthre) 'xtraordinary items ransfers between fund$ et Movement in 63J -10299 53,148 -78JOI 25.089 -852 -652 23.585 30.162 8&476 -11,152 -592 7fi733 48a39 39,724 128.2110 5,666 45.389 45,981 71733 4&339 econc1l1a￿on olltWMIs otal filnds brought fonvard rot*l funds carried forw*Td 475,526 003,726 88.061 81￿75 45,981 609.568 Paxton Charity DO. 1211374 Tbe Rive￿ Rettord PCC Charity COMD￿ssIon Balance Sbeet as xt 3111212025 P¥dge l of I Prfnted: 0510512026 T(rtal fimd% Prior ytar funds xed asselj ntangible assets allgiblc assets eritaBe assets nv&4lments 504,301 5114JOI 520,112 520.112 Totslfued<&uÉts urreDt a&qets cbtors vesthients ash at bonk and in hand 5.011 8,144 180.472 185483 3,483 182.fflo 086JOi 83,229 91a72 l.916 89.456 609,568 reditOTt aM(m￿¢S f￿11￿8 due within th¢irar Nel cw7¥llt 4uetsfiiubiliiw) Tolalassets lessewTeRt liobililiLY rcditor& amounts fdlin8 due after DW)re than OVi8iODS for liabilities tal net Assets or Il*bliltl unds of tbe eh#rlty. 'i)d()wmeni funds trirted income fjjnds nrestTiCted fimds LvalualioD re8eerv¢ 6WOJ 6119,568 45,981 126,985 436,601 120.864 565,437 TrAal eharlty 686JOi 609,568 Signed by one or two trust on b¢half of all the trustccs Slgmtwe Prlttt l¥ame Date of gpprDval ddlmMl￿yY , .￿,F¢i￿￿￿,,￿I Paxton Charity no. 1211374 The Rivers, Retford PCC Income and Expenditure Report- December 2025 Pgge l of 2 Printed: 1310212026 Year to Dec£mb¢r 2025 All fi￿d c(Mlo8 consolidated vtt Voluntary Income Tax efficient planned giving Othcrplonnedgiving Plate Collections (not GASD) Donati¢)ns- not GASD Non recumn8 donation -GA Gtft Aid Small Donations Gift aid tax incotne Grants r¢c¢ivul Bequasts and legacics 14.872 (160) 1.428 4,663 3.170 11.780 7,793 8,652 106.133 14,750 1,190 1.473 2,142 4.937 6.715 6.650 6.012 10.500 158.331 54.369 I".undraisAng Incom¢ FuDdrai8ing income LettinpJhir¢ income 16.125 3.31Y) 15201 3.430 19.425 18.631 Investment Income Divid¢uds receiv￿1 IntcrLst r￿1V 8,465 5.715 8,304 5,197 14.180 13.501 Charitsble Activitiu Inc4)m¢ Fees received 10219 10,981 10219 10.981 Other Income VAT Grants Other income 3295 1.189 10,594 1.430 12.024 Fundraising Cc6ts Fwidraisin8 ¢(W8 1.816 (1,048) (1,816) Charitable Activiti￿ C¢xts iltslgrdnts given Salarie8 and wa Parish Share Incumlknt ￿penSeS 3.027 735 55.080 1.459 2,718 1.950 52,968 1,696 Paxton Income and EIpeDditi￿e Report- December 2025 Page 2 of 2 Charity no. 1211374 The Rivers, Rerford PCC Thinted: 1310212026 Year to DecemtKr 2025 All fimd c(ths Consolidated Turnovcr last to date Volunteer exp¢ns¢s Utilities InsuTancc8 Church Cleallin8 Repair5 & tnainieriattce Churd)y8rdMaintenan( Quinquettnial Cost$ PTinlinglphotOCOP>iDg Postsg¢ TelephoneA)roAdbAttd IT costs Church Rcwurce Cc6is 442 9275 20,336 856 40,431 14.567 8.301 19,270 625 85,443 6,818 510 163 19 87 288 1,065 360 ,937 (149.216) (182,265) CJov¢rnAn¢¢ C( Audit & accountaney C￿18 Truste&8 me¢tll)8 ¢XP¢A18¢S Bank charges Other professional fe 378 50 420 85 93 3,331 2.635 (3.229) (3,929) Gains and Loys¢s GainA(w on inve3tm¢nts {23.585) {30.162) 23.585 30.162 TOTAL SURPLusn)EFICIT 76.731 (48,342) The Rlvers Retford PCC Charity no. IZ11374 Year to December 2025 Funds Summary Balance Re￿Ipts Payments Transfers Galns & at 901125 Balance 3111212025 Unrestrfrted Funds Benefice Askham East Drayton East Markham Grove Headon Laneham Rampton Stokeham Treswell Churchyards Iso 11,653 -11325 -3,107 -5075 478 -39 3,455 6,196 1.783 5.656 1,865 -217 3.182 6,148 28.226 5,325 4.881 3.988 2,872 2.869 829 1,979 6,225 1,356 528 1,366 366 -5521 -5,450 -3,479 -3,617 -3,191 33.L 31.288 595 32,708 -5,135 2,075 Total General 71J19 .108394 53.524 Deslgnated East Markham Henry Wi88ett Grove Fabric Fund Tre5well Fabric Fund Treswell Church Structural Fund ILTr3,476 3,247 1,323 4,042 109,476 38,398 89,415 274,622 40.851 87,718 283,794 .3374 -5,761 4.982 -1,726 -2,301 28.768 8,436 -33,CK)O Total Oesllnated 411363 11&(I88 .18,717 -24.564 24,741 511.911 rt•Strfrt￿ Funds Askham Fabrlc Askham Chur¢hyard Fund Askham Tollet East Diayton Fabric Fund East Markham Beard Legacy East Markham Fabrit Fund Headon Fabric Fund Laneham Churehyard Laneham Clock Fund laneham Restoration Fund Aarnpton Be115 Rampton Restoration Rampton Windows Stokeham Fabric Fund 3.301 879 3,870 38,924 319 32,223 22,474 1,063 338 10,536 113 1,708 3.099 8.141 3,301 212 3,870 38,288 125 31,022 9,083 1,163 293 4558 39 3.097 3.423 Irx) 610 1,226 -L726 -233 52 -16A14 2,433 14,195 167 4,522 5,492 8,556 181 2.393 470 3,233 -55 Total R•strftted Funds 126.988 16M4 .15,924 -1578 120.596 Endowment Funds Laneham Chancel Fund Rampton Sale of Hall Capital Treswell Churchyards 2.353 3.233 8.671 3L724 33 -2,433 -3.233 -8,436 -31.288 47 27 -262 436 Total Endowment ￿ndS 45.981 45 -651 Toatl Fund Movements 609568 205,911 686.031 {X48 1&3AI E 85 y 54 U Q (SO > Pam¢h*l Ghurch Coun¢H of RI¥9￿ R•tloAI Fortto yv•r•ndlw 31 DI¢•￿2010 I ACCOUNnNG POUCIE8 Yhith ty Clwkns. Sla*Y*nl Lrf R￿￿n￿j a)￿table to chan1￿$ r*eparing tsr Mi xccrfdarKe *ith RwknJ StyTrY8rd a￿1(* the UK Rewic of Ird8nd ISs￿d in OL*rknr 2019. the FwrJrKial RW"w si•xlard aF**blè n) UK of Ireland IFRS102), Ihe PCC'S. Fund• Q•n•rg1 funds wfrsom the of tt* PCC that￿e Thx su0￿108￿ rests*th reDrdlngthdr use aTrJ are avaltaill•lor any appUt•￿¢Th5 on the gener•i pwpose5 01 the PCC. Fun05 a p8thuLgr wrposo ty tne PCC are atso unrestr￿1¢¢1. collectk)rts￿l￿￿1$￿d1thQnle¢e1￿otyor0n behaLfThfthe Ftc. Ptsnned I￿n8rece￿?bieundv[17fta￿ br￿0￿1￿￿ttendon0I*mar0￿eCel￿. IncoMetsxr¢cwerat￿e0nGWt1Jd 0¢￿¥￿)nS Isreo*ed*ttentrI￿¢fft1sltCQtrIsed. Grams•nd dcThtl)rtswe8cco￿￿*dts*￿n￿￿lO*. or*tsne•H•s•rtlTh* NIh*•￿rd IslNa $Fttthe actlvty. dlw•ety loth•¥n￿ thureh Flx•d ￿¥•1# ConJecF•tedanaoentsffcWWw&tyrf•ry￿￿dI8exC4thotIoM thewwts tys.W2MalolthECharftrd$*£¢I￿. Nov&ue lSthe¢J￿ mth*able¢hurEhfvmlthryhewi bytheCtsrthw•wtsns OnS￿￿lIf￿￿thep¢caThll*fiICh r¢oulre8 li¢uityiordtsposatssknceth•PCCc￿shje￿Ih￿IobPhthnè1￿•kryffj. Mo¥•atrAe ChU￿h fumKslury PCC. fc¢ AU expendtture IrKLwed during the ￿ar on cwiated N tonen¢¢ bJli¢Mry and ctsJ¢h ft¢mlthlw whether maln*nanceorlmpr(hwY*nL I5M6ttwdlase￿MWe1ntr￿*a￿0tFts￿rKL*I•th￿eSI￿)FA]. Oth•rfSxthr••, ond ¢ffi¢e Cuvr0rtA•t•ts Parochlal Church Councll Reiityd Notq8 to tho Fknifi¢lal Statsm•rtB 1¢OnUn￿￿j Forth•y••r•ndkng 31 D•U*￿)}26 aFwpri818 his WThll heeJUe8￿ fvltt*ynshll te Lwj c*oJrc* worertyw*J fc¢ th8 t￿fft 1É442,9421 hasbw *¢rlDuteoioihe Church astheStJohn$tk8apiistFund. The prqe¢rw3scfiffiaUyW)edasat*r¥jearpr4e¢i￿rtst￿et￿¢1wrchIo itsforffw810ry Insraiiingtoiwanda ￿Khen areaandLN)der￿heaurrf TNswtsr* ¢WlUStohv£70.1)X)8TrJ wascompleied Inewty2025. The PCC has weedtoton￿dO[I￿ryQ￿5*￿l1OIl￿o*Ip•I￿8sWQlth1WQhCEIOlrnprl urch lèclUI*s. The MenrylllA•tt Be41￿1￿￿W￿s¢s￿Jtsshe0 In2025Mby*kngtherece￿oIa *nW*ant ￿Ea¢Y totallSngjusto¥w £IOS,(KK)th rttpettdEastM•rkham. Adeslwlatedfund hès beenestsbll5hed￿th ¥artWs piarts beSngconlttred tocorryovthwty+tments th*moUy&exiem8Uy. Inaddkw opth$ffjotrtaknpntsare b￿nsexp￿. Trnn8l•rb•i**èn lund CHARITY COMMISSION Independent examinerfs report on the FOR ENGLAND ANO WAIES accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trust8081 members of The Parochial Church Council of the ecclesiastical parish of the rivers. Retford On accounts for the period ended 31 December 2025 Charity no 1211374 Set out on pages Pages 1 to 12 {One to Twelve) includirKJ this report I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charty (Ihe Trusf) for the period ended 3111212025. R98ponslbllhles and basls of report As the chartty's trustees. you are responslble for the preparation of the accounts in accordance wth the requirements of the Charitie$ Act 2011 Acr). I report in respe￿ of my examination of the Trusfs accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable DirectK)n3 given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b} of the Ad. Independent I have completed my examination. I confim that no material matters havè examlnerfs statement come to my attention in connectsm with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. th8 accounting records were not kept in accordan￿ wlth section 130 of the Charth'es Act: or the accounts did not accord wilh the accountlng records,. or the accounts did not Compty with the applicable requirements concemiry the fom and content of accounts set out in th8 Charitles (Accounts and Reports) Regulatr'ons 2008 other than any requiremènt that the accounts give a Irue and fairf vw which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examinth'on. I have no ￿ncernS and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper underslarKliNJ of the accounts to be reached. Slgned: Darren Warren Date: 2610312026 Name: Détren Wdllell- Paxton IrKlepenaent Examiners Relevant professional qualificatlon(sl or body {If any): FMAAT Address: 61 a High Street SoLrth Rushden Northants, NN10 ORA Section B Disclosure Only complete If the examiner needs to highlight Mat￿la1 matters of concem {see CC32. Independent examinab'on of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). Glve here brlef details of any items that the examlner wlshes to disclose. Notes to Rivers Retford Act(wnts forthe year endirva 31" December 2025 Regular committed giving by Stsnding Order ha$ slightly reduced by a further £1,￿0 mainly from people moving away from the parish or as a result of death of parishioners. There has been minimal benefit from renewal of gbving or new pledEe5- this is clearly difficult to address during an Interre8num. However church collections did increase by over £5.CIxi mainly due to several well attended funerals. Fundraising slightly increased by £l.O(M) ~ thSs was partly the resu￿ of a very successful event raising over£2.ocKI forthe Rampton Windowfvnd. Grove received a donation of nearty £2,(kX) from the Rotary Club to fund the provlslon of toilet facilities A legacy for just over £106,OCKI was ￿ceIved in memory of Henry Wlggett for the benefit of East Markham church. A separate designated account ha5 been set up whllst plans are discussed a5 to how this money mi8ht be spent to improve the church. A couple of 8rants totalling nearly £4,(KK) were ￿e1Ved from the dloce5e to enable work to be carried out at East Markham (new kitthen unttsl arKI East Drayton (electrical safety improvements). Utility costs Increased by nearly £l,(KXI- costs In 2024 were distorted by estimated readin8$ for Laneham in 2023 ￿$vItIng in a credSt In 2024. In addltlon to ￿gUlar Maintenan￿ costs, major repalrs Included repairs to Headon costlng nearly £17.CrfJO, expenditure at Treswell totallin8 £12,(KxI (final part of the Treswell project £6.(KKI, architecys fees for new plasterwork £3.5￿ & relocation of electricity meters £1,7th)l as well as the work at East Markham. East Drayton & Grove totallin8 £6.[￿ all covered by donations and grants. Churchyard work includes over £7.(KQ spent at Treswell to cary out extensive work which included removing self seeded trees and a mature Ash tree . Parish share payment increased to £55.080 which was pakl in fijll. It should be noted that Treswell has paid £14.5C(J of the total amount and the churchyards a further £4,C¥XJ. The overall result 15 a defictt of £37,075 from general fvnds- Treswell accounts for £33,0(Xl of this shortfall The church h35 a regular income of under £l,(KM) but costs include maintaining the church whith totallgd f7 srM).ch3ritabl• donations £2,¢X4), chvrchyard ne•rly £10,000 and coiiiribullvii Iv Parish Share of £14.5LM). This deficFt was covered by a transfer of £33,1XJO in 2025 from the structural fund. A full list of all the fvnds is included in the notes- overall reserves indude a gain of over £23.5￿) from the various investments held by the PCC. It should be noted the investment managed by Quilter on behalf ofTreswell gained over £28.5(K). By comparison the investments man?ged by CCLA recorded an overall loss. During the year a number of separate fund5 were consolidated- the PCC agreed to close all the endowment funds and other minor investments accounts. In totsl 10 funds were closed and transferred to existing investments- 5 funds had a balance le55 than £2.tM so this has simplified the administration as well as placing the investments directly under the control of the PCC. In addition this has released funds previously restricted for purposes no longer required. AFthough still restricted to a specific church these can to be used to support the work of the benefice. A full Ilst of the transfers appears in the funds summary. Jonathan Peto, PCC Treasurer. 2￿ February 2026 Paxton Charity no. 1211374 The I￿Ver5, Retford PCC Charity Commission SOFA Report as at 31n212025 Pagel of I Printed: 1310212026 Ullrestrltted Restrlcted IDeoD￿ fimds EDdDwll￿nt Total funds Prjor year fwids Dcome g4nd endowments fronL Donat]1￿$ and legacies Charitable actiwtes Other tradin8activities tnvestments Separate material item of incotnc Other 153.810 10.184 16,551 12233 4.521 35 6,170 1.887 158.331 10.219 22.721 14.180 54.370 10.981 29,226 13,501 60 1.189 193,967 1.189 206,639 1.430 109,508 Totsl 11612 60 .xpenditure on: Raising funds Charitablc activiti S￿ara{C ￿￿terial i*m of ¢xp¥ns¢ oth 1,048 152.443 1,816 186,193 129.532 22.911 130J80 22,911 153,491 18&009 et Incom¢l(expendl¢ure} efore Investment gain￿0(￿1￿eg} Net gainsl(lo&ses) on inve81ments et Incomel(expendlthre) 'xtraordinary items ransfers between fund$ et Movement in 63J -10299 53,148 -78JOI 25.089 -852 -652 23.585 30.162 8&476 -11,152 -592 7fi733 48a39 39,724 128.2110 5,666 45.389 45,981 71733 4&339 econc1l1a￿on olltWMIs otal filnds brought fonvard rot*l funds carried forw*Td 475,526 003,726 88.061 81￿75 45,981 609.568 Paxton Charity DO. 1211374 Tbe Rive￿ Rettord PCC Charity COMD￿ssIon Balance Sbeet as xt 3111212025 P¥dge l of I Prfnted: 0510512026 T(rtal fimd% Prior ytar funds xed asselj ntangible assets allgiblc assets eritaBe assets nv&4lments 504,301 5114JOI 520,112 520.112 Totslfued<&uÉts urreDt a&qets cbtors vesthients ash at bonk and in hand 5.011 8,144 180.472 185483 3,483 182.fflo 086JOi 83,229 91a72 l.916 89.456 609,568 reditOTt aM(m￿¢S f￿11￿8 due within th¢irar Nel cw7¥llt 4uetsfiiubiliiw) Tolalassets lessewTeRt liobililiLY rcditor& amounts fdlin8 due after DW)re than OVi8iODS for liabilities tal net Assets or Il*bliltl unds of tbe eh#rlty. 'i)d()wmeni funds trirted income fjjnds nrestTiCted fimds LvalualioD re8eerv¢ 6WOJ 6119,568 45,981 126,985 436,601 120.864 565,437 TrAal eharlty 686JOi 609,568 Signed by one or two trust on b¢half of all the trustccs Slgmtwe Prlttt l¥ame Date of gpprDval ddlmMl￿yY , .￿,F¢i￿￿￿,,￿I Paxton Charity no. 1211374 The Rivers, Retford PCC Income and Expenditure Report- December 2025 Pgge l of 2 Printed: 1310212026 Year to Dec£mb¢r 2025 All fi￿d c(Mlo8 consolidated vtt Voluntary Income Tax efficient planned giving Othcrplonnedgiving Plate Collections (not GASD) Donati¢)ns- not GASD Non recumn8 donation -GA Gtft Aid Small Donations Gift aid tax incotne Grants r¢c¢ivul Bequasts and legacics 14.872 (160) 1.428 4,663 3.170 11.780 7,793 8,652 106.133 14,750 1,190 1.473 2,142 4.937 6.715 6.650 6.012 10.500 158.331 54.369 I".undraisAng Incom¢ FuDdrai8ing income LettinpJhir¢ income 16.125 3.31Y) 15201 3.430 19.425 18.631 Investment Income Divid¢uds receiv￿1 IntcrLst r￿1V 8,465 5.715 8,304 5,197 14.180 13.501 Charitsble Activitiu Inc4)m¢ Fees received 10219 10,981 10219 10.981 Other Income VAT Grants Other income 3295 1.189 10,594 1.430 12.024 Fundraising Cc6ts Fwidraisin8 ¢(W8 1.816 (1,048) (1,816) Charitable Activiti￿ C¢xts iltslgrdnts given Salarie8 and wa Parish Share Incumlknt ￿penSeS 3.027 735 55.080 1.459 2,718 1.950 52,968 1,696 Paxton Income and EIpeDditi￿e Report- December 2025 Page 2 of 2 Charity no. 1211374 The Rivers, Rerford PCC Thinted: 1310212026 Year to DecemtKr 2025 All fimd c(ths Consolidated Turnovcr last to date Volunteer exp¢ns¢s Utilities InsuTancc8 Church Cleallin8 Repair5 & tnainieriattce Churd)y8rdMaintenan( Quinquettnial Cost$ PTinlinglphotOCOP>iDg Postsg¢ TelephoneA)roAdbAttd IT costs Church Rcwurce Cc6is 442 9275 20,336 856 40,431 14.567 8.301 19,270 625 85,443 6,818 510 163 19 87 288 1,065 360 ,937 (149.216) (182,265) CJov¢rnAn¢¢ C( Audit & accountaney C￿18 Truste&8 me¢tll)8 ¢XP¢A18¢S Bank charges Other professional fe 378 50 420 85 93 3,331 2.635 (3.229) (3,929) Gains and Loys¢s GainA(w on inve3tm¢nts {23.585) {30.162) 23.585 30.162 TOTAL SURPLusn)EFICIT 76.731 (48,342) The Rlvers Retford PCC Charity no. IZ11374 Year to December 2025 Funds Summary Balance Re￿Ipts Payments Transfers Galns & at 901125 Balance 3111212025 Unrestrfrted Funds Benefice Askham East Drayton East Markham Grove Headon Laneham Rampton Stokeham Treswell Churchyards Iso 11,653 -11325 -3,107 -5075 478 -39 3,455 6,196 1.783 5.656 1,865 -217 3.182 6,148 28.226 5,325 4.881 3.988 2,872 2.869 829 1,979 6,225 1,356 528 1,366 366 -5521 -5,450 -3,479 -3,617 -3,191 33.L 31.288 595 32,708 -5,135 2,075 Total General 71J19 .108394 53.524 Deslgnated East Markham Henry Wi88ett Grove Fabric Fund Tre5well Fabric Fund Treswell Church Structural Fund ILTr3,476 3,247 1,323 4,042 109,476 38,398 89,415 274,622 40.851 87,718 283,794 .3374 -5,761 4.982 -1,726 -2,301 28.768 8,436 -33,CK)O Total Oesllnated 411363 11&(I88 .18,717 -24.564 24,741 511.911 rt•Strfrt￿ Funds Askham Fabrlc Askham Chur¢hyard Fund Askham Tollet East Diayton Fabric Fund East Markham Beard Legacy East Markham Fabrit Fund Headon Fabric Fund Laneham Churehyard Laneham Clock Fund laneham Restoration Fund Aarnpton Be115 Rampton Restoration Rampton Windows Stokeham Fabric Fund 3.301 879 3,870 38,924 319 32,223 22,474 1,063 338 10,536 113 1,708 3.099 8.141 3,301 212 3,870 38,288 125 31,022 9,083 1,163 293 4558 39 3.097 3.423 Irx) 610 1,226 -L726 -233 52 -16A14 2,433 14,195 167 4,522 5,492 8,556 181 2.393 470 3,233 -55 Total R•strftted Funds 126.988 16M4 .15,924 -1578 120.596 Endowment Funds Laneham Chancel Fund Rampton Sale of Hall Capital Treswell Churchyards 2.353 3.233 8.671 3L724 33 -2,433 -3.233 -8,436 -31.288 47 27 -262 436 Total Endowment ￿ndS 45.981 45 -651 Toatl Fund Movements 609568 205,911 686.031 {X48 1&3AI E 85 y 54 U Q (SO > Pam¢h*l Ghurch Coun¢H of RI¥9￿ R•tloAI Fortto yv•r•ndlw 31 DI¢•￿2010 I ACCOUNnNG POUCIE8 Yhith ty Clwkns. Sla*Y*nl Lrf R￿￿n￿j a)￿table to chan1￿$ r*eparing tsr Mi xccrfdarKe *ith RwknJ StyTrY8rd a￿1(* the UK Rewic of Ird8nd ISs￿d in OL*rknr 2019. the FwrJrKial RW"w si•xlard aF**blè n) UK of Ireland IFRS102), Ihe PCC'S. Fund• Q•n•rg1 funds wfrsom the of tt* PCC that￿e Thx su0￿108￿ rests*th reDrdlngthdr use aTrJ are avaltaill•lor any appUt•￿¢Th5 on the gener•i pwpose5 01 the PCC. Fun05 a p8thuLgr wrposo ty tne PCC are atso unrestr￿1¢¢1. collectk)rts￿l￿￿1$￿d1thQnle¢e1￿otyor0n behaLfThfthe Ftc. Ptsnned I￿n8rece￿?bieundv[17fta￿ br￿0￿1￿￿ttendon0I*mar0￿eCel￿. IncoMetsxr¢cwerat￿e0nGWt1Jd 0¢￿¥￿)nS Isreo*ed*ttentrI￿¢fft1sltCQtrIsed. Grams•nd dcThtl)rtswe8cco￿￿*dts*￿n￿￿lO*. or*tsne•H•s•rtlTh* NIh*•￿rd IslNa $Fttthe actlvty. dlw•ety loth•¥n￿ thureh Flx•d ￿¥•1# ConJecF•tedanaoentsffcWWw&tyrf•ry￿￿dI8exC4thotIoM thewwts tys.W2MalolthECharftrd$*£¢I￿. Nov&ue lSthe¢J￿ mth*able¢hurEhfvmlthryhewi bytheCtsrthw•wtsns OnS￿￿lIf￿￿thep¢caThll*fiICh r¢oulre8 li¢uityiordtsposatssknceth•PCCc￿shje￿Ih￿IobPhthnè1￿•kryffj. Mo¥•atrAe ChU￿h fumKslury PCC. fc¢ AU expendtture IrKLwed during the ￿ar on cwiated N tonen¢¢ bJli¢Mry and ctsJ¢h ft¢mlthlw whether maln*nanceorlmpr(hwY*nL I5M6ttwdlase￿MWe1ntr￿*a￿0tFts￿rKL*I•th￿eSI￿)FA]. Oth•rfSxthr••, ond ¢ffi¢e Cuvr0rtA•t•ts Parochlal Church Councll Reiityd Notq8 to tho Fknifi¢lal Statsm•rtB 1¢OnUn￿￿j Forth•y••r•ndkng 31 D•U*￿)}26 aFwpri818 his WThll heeJUe8￿ fvltt*ynshll te Lwj c*oJrc* worertyw*J fc¢ th8 t￿fft 1É442,9421 hasbw *¢rlDuteoioihe Church astheStJohn$tk8apiistFund. The prqe¢rw3scfiffiaUyW)edasat*r¥jearpr4e¢i￿rtst￿et￿¢1wrchIo itsforffw810ry Insraiiingtoiwanda ￿Khen areaandLN)der￿heaurrf TNswtsr* ¢WlUStohv£70.1)X)8TrJ wascompleied Inewty2025. The PCC has weedtoton￿dO[I￿ryQ￿5*￿l1OIl￿o*Ip•I￿8sWQlth1WQhCEIOlrnprl urch lèclUI*s. The MenrylllA•tt Be41￿1￿￿W￿s¢s￿Jtsshe0 In2025Mby*kngtherece￿oIa *nW*ant ￿Ea¢Y totallSngjusto¥w £IOS,(KK)th rttpettdEastM•rkham. Adeslwlatedfund hès beenestsbll5hed￿th ¥artWs piarts beSngconlttred tocorryovthwty+tments th*moUy&exiem8Uy. Inaddkw opth$ffjotrtaknpntsare b￿nsexp￿. Trnn8l•rb•i**èn lund