## **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**<br>Church Collectons<br>Donatons<br>Planned Giving<br>Income Tax Reclaimed<br>Fundraising Events<br>Fees<br>Field Rent<br>Electricity Grant & Refunds<br>Interest Received<br>VAT Grant<br>Other Grants<br>Friends Subscriptons<br>Lotery Grant<br>**Total Receipts**<br>**Payments**<br>Loter Expenditure<br>Church Insurance<br>Church Electricity<br>Churchyard Maintenance<br>Vicarage Electricity<br>Google Cloud<br>Ground Testng<br>Church Maintenance<br>Ionos Cloud<br>Architects Fees<br>Statonery, Altar, Books etc<br>Diocesan Fees<br>Funeral Expenses<br>Parish Share<br>Donatons<br>Routne Expenses<br>Fundraising Expenses<br>Purchase of a Gazebo<br>Transfer to Church Hall<br>Transfer to Steeple PCC<br>Transfer to Creeksea PCC<br>Transfer to Fabric Fund<br>**Total Payments**<br>**Net of receipts(-payments)**<br>**Cash funds last year end**<br>**Cash funds this year end**|Unrestricted<br>Funds<br>£<br>1668<br>2090<br>1732<br>1047|Restricted<br>Fabric Fund<br>£<br>14927<br>2037|Restricted<br>Fundraising<br>Account|Total<br>2024<br>Funds<br>£<br>£<br>1668<br>1211<br>17017<br>12785<br>1732<br>1997<br>3084<br>3355|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||6537<br>4135<br>228<br>150<br>96|16964<br>10124<br>779<br>545<br>43728|4165|23501<br>19348<br>18424<br>10723<br>228<br>1704<br>150<br>150<br>145<br>875<br>587<br>1477<br>400<br>545<br>390<br>43728<br>72880|
||11146|72140|4165|87451<br>107804|
||1525<br>1412<br>1260<br>317<br>130<br>154<br>94<br>3600<br>50<br>362<br>2730|125287 See note 1<br>168<br>1275<br>1800<br>515<br>935<br>1435||125287<br>7042<br>1525<br>1479<br>1412<br>792<br>1260<br>1800<br>317<br>2226<br>168<br>180<br>452<br>130<br>2490<br>154<br>338<br>94<br>769<br>289<br>3600<br>3600<br>50<br>362<br>257<br>5805<br>3047<br>876<br>3175<br>515<br>1173<br>935<br>1173<br>1435|
||11634|126730<br>4685||143049<br>31158|
||-488|-54590<br>-520||-55598<br>76646|
||17437|113168<br>2922||133527<br>56881|
||16949|58578<br>2402||77929<br>133527|





## ST. ANDREWS CHURCH, ALTHORNE 

## **Statement of Assets and Liabilities** 

## **Balances as at 31st December 2025** 

|**Cash Funds**<br>Barclays Current Account<br>Barclays Fabric Fund<br>Barclays Business Premium Account<br>Barclays Fundraising Account<br>Church of England CBF Deposit Account|Unrestricted<br>Funds<br>2215<br>14734|Restricted<br>Fund<br>FabricFund<br>29991<br>90<br>28497|Restricted<br>Fund<br>Fundraising Fund<br>2402|Restricted<br>Fund<br>Fundraising Fund<br>2402|Total<br>Funds<br>2215<br>29991<br>90<br>2402<br>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**<br>Letjgs<br>Electric Meter/Refund<br>Fund Raising Events<br>Grant<br>Interest Received<br>Transfer from Church Fund<br>**Total Receipts**<br>**Payments**<br>Internet<br>Electricity<br>Inspectons fees/Mtce<br>Water Rates<br>Insurance<br>Consumables<br>Donatons<br>**Total Payments**<br>**Net  Receipts (-payments)**<br>**Cash Funds last year end**<br>**Cash Funds this year end**|Unrestricted<br>Fund<br>2025<br>4000<br>578<br>1637<br>83|2024<br>3502<br>680<br>2050<br>183<br>92<br>3175|
|---|---|---|
||6298|9682|
||466<br>429<br>809<br>346<br>887<br>279<br>621<br>3837|228<br>2887<br>347<br>1006<br>147<br>963<br>5578|
||2461|4104|
||13059|8955|
||15520<br>13059||





## **ST.ANDREWS CHURCH HALL ALTHORNE** 

## **Statement of Assets and Liabilities** 

## **Balances as at 31st December 2025** 

|**Cash Funds**<br>Barclays Current Account<br>Church of England CBF Deposit Account|Unrestricted<br>Total<br>Funds<br>Funds<br>£<br>£<br>13607<br>13607<br>1913<br>1913|
|---|---|
||15520<br>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