St Andrew’s Church Althorne Essex CM3 6BZ
Date: 14 May 2026
Annual Report to the Charity Commission
St Andrew’s church is the parish church of Althorne in the county of Essex. It is a 14[th] century grade 2* listed building, it is currently closed due to major subsidence issues and services are currently being held in the church hall.
The nave and the chancel of the church will need to be underpinned using deep piling as soil sampling has proved that the clay base accepts water to a depth of two metres. Extensive repairs to the interior of the church will follow.
We are seeking grants to enable us to carry out the structural work and restoration needed. We have completed the development phase of a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant and we are now waiting to see if we can successfully move to the delivery phase. Notification is expected in the summer of 2026. The current value of this project currently stands at £1.7m. and the work is expected to take 3yrs to complete.
We have encountered various setbacks during the course of the development phase, the first of which was the government abolishing the listed places of worship scheme, which enabled churches to recover VAT on capital works. This is being replaced with a grant scheme to offset VAT costs but to date we do not know how this will work and whether we will qualify.
There has also been continued ground movement, which has worsened the structural defects resulting in a complete redesign of the piling process. We have also had to erect temporary buttressing to support the south wall of the nave.
In the meantime, we continue to raise money to reach our match funding requirement of £100,000 to date we have raised over £80,000. We have a shortfall of approximately £150,000 for the project and we have made representations to various providers to cover this amount. Unfortunately, most providers of large grants will not consider the application until the National Lottery funding has been secured.
Althorne is a small rural village with very few amenities and the ancient church of St. Andrew stands proud on a hilltop overlooking two rivers. It is very important to the local community. Not only as a place of worship but as the focal point of the village. To that end it is intended, when the restoration is complete to open the church on a daily basis, as a local heritage centre and a place of quiet reflection.
St. Andrew’s Church raises funds in different ways, through regular giving, fund raising events, and donations. The church has a hall, which is its main income stream and is used for church events as well as being hired to the public.
We run four bank accounts
Church , funded largely by regular giving by parishioners.
Hall , funded by events and hiring, provides income for the church and its own upkeep. Fabric Fund , which is a ring-fenced account for the upkeep of the church building. It is within this account that our match funding is held. Fundraising , this is a trading account with a relatively small balance. Funds can be directed to where they are most needed, generally the fabric fund. In the event that the account is closed, any final balance would be transferred to the Fabric Fund.
Each account with the exception of the Fundraising account has a CCLA investment account, which holds higher balances.
The church is a giving church, although it does not make direct financial contributions to any other organisation, it does hold events on behalf of some local charities (i.e. RNLI and British Legion)
Peter Ingram St Andrews PCC
ST.ANDREWS CHURCH ALTHORNE
Receipts and Payments Account for the Year ended 31st December 2025
| Receipts Church Collectons Donatons Planned Giving Income Tax Reclaimed Fundraising Events Fees Field Rent Electricity Grant & Refunds Interest Received VAT Grant Other Grants Friends Subscriptons Lotery Grant Total Receipts Payments Loter Expenditure Church Insurance Church Electricity Churchyard Maintenance Vicarage Electricity Google Cloud Ground Testng Church Maintenance Ionos Cloud Architects Fees Statonery, Altar, Books etc Diocesan Fees Funeral Expenses Parish Share Donatons Routne Expenses Fundraising Expenses Purchase of a Gazebo Transfer to Church Hall Transfer to Steeple PCC Transfer to Creeksea PCC Transfer to Fabric Fund Total Payments Net of receipts(-payments) Cash funds last year end Cash funds this year end |
Unrestricted Funds £ 1668 2090 1732 1047 |
Restricted Fabric Fund £ 14927 2037 |
Restricted Fundraising Account |
Total 2024 Funds £ £ 1668 1211 17017 12785 1732 1997 3084 3355 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6537 4135 228 150 96 |
16964 10124 779 545 43728 |
4165 | 23501 19348 18424 10723 228 1704 150 150 145 875 587 1477 400 545 390 43728 72880 |
|
| 11146 | 72140 | 4165 | 87451 107804 |
|
| 1525 1412 1260 317 130 154 94 3600 50 362 2730 |
125287 See note 1 168 1275 1800 515 935 1435 |
125287 7042 1525 1479 1412 792 1260 1800 317 2226 168 180 452 130 2490 154 338 94 769 289 3600 3600 50 362 257 5805 3047 876 3175 515 1173 935 1173 1435 |
||
| 11634 | 126730 4685 |
143049 31158 |
||
| -488 | -54590 -520 |
-55598 76646 |
||
| 17437 | 113168 2922 |
133527 56881 |
||
| 16949 | 58578 2402 |
77929 133527 |
ST. ANDREWS CHURCH, ALTHORNE
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
Balances as at 31st December 2025
| Cash Funds Barclays Current Account Barclays Fabric Fund Barclays Business Premium Account Barclays Fundraising Account Church of England CBF Deposit Account |
Unrestricted Funds 2215 14734 |
Restricted Fund FabricFund 29991 90 28497 |
Restricted Fund Fundraising Fund 2402 |
Restricted Fund Fundraising Fund 2402 |
Total Funds 2215 29991 90 2402 43231 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16949 | 58578 | 2402 | 77929 |
NOTE 1 LOTTERY EXPENDITURE
| LOTTERY EXPENDITURE | |
|---|---|
| £ | |
| Consultants | 72339 |
| Contractors | 45991 |
| Courses | 2409 |
| Promotng Project Events | 2506 |
| Equipment& Statonery | 1458 |
| Sufolk Water | 167 |
| Pay Back Scheme | 180 |
| Drone Survey | 200 |
| Google Cloud | 37 |
| Total | 125287 |
ST. ANDREWS CHURCH HALL ALTHORNE
Receipts and Payments Account for Year Ended 31st December 2025
| Receipts Letjgs Electric Meter/Refund Fund Raising Events Grant Interest Received Transfer from Church Fund Total Receipts Payments Internet Electricity Inspectons fees/Mtce Water Rates Insurance Consumables Donatons Total Payments Net Receipts (-payments) Cash Funds last year end Cash Funds this year end |
Unrestricted Fund 2025 4000 578 1637 83 |
2024 3502 680 2050 183 92 3175 |
|---|---|---|
| 6298 | 9682 | |
| 466 429 809 346 887 279 621 3837 |
228 2887 347 1006 147 963 5578 |
|
| 2461 | 4104 | |
| 13059 | 8955 | |
| 15520 13059 |
ST.ANDREWS CHURCH HALL ALTHORNE
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
Balances as at 31st December 2025
| Cash Funds Barclays Current Account Church of England CBF Deposit Account |
Unrestricted Total Funds Funds £ £ 13607 13607 1913 1913 |
|---|---|
| 15520 15520 |
Inde ndent Examingrfs Re rt to the PCC of St Andrews Church Althome. report on the accounts of the PCC of St. Andrews Church ATthome for the year ending 31st December 2025 which are set out on the 4 pages attached. Res ctive res onsibilities of the PCC and the examiner As members of the PCC you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts" you consider that an aL¥t is not required for this year under Section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an Independent Examination is needed. It is my responsibility to Examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 A¢ Follow procedures laKJ down in the general directions given by the Charwty Commissioners section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act" and State whether particular matters have come to my attention. Basis of Inde ndent Examinefs StatemenL My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the PCC and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from you as trustees conceming any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the eviden that would be required in an audit, and consequently I do not express an audil opinion on the accounts. Inde endent Examiner's statement In connection with my examination no matter has come to my attention: (1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requiremenls: to keep accounting records in accordan with S130 of the 2011Act" or to prepare accounts which accord with accounting records have not been met,. or (2) to which in my opinion attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed R J COUSINS FCCA Address: 12 POPLAR GROVE, BURNHAM ON CROUCH Date: - £a2ipZ