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2025-12-31-accounts

Annual Report 2026

Hingham Parochial Church Council

Report for the APCM, 10 May 2026 For the year ending 31[st] December 2025

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The Parish of Hingham Meeting of Parishioners and Annual Parochial Church Meeting Sunday 10 May 2026 at 11am

AGENDA – Meeting of Parishioners

Please note; All residents of the Parish of Hingham, together with non-residents on the Church Electoral Roll, are welcome to vote on Item 2. Voting on all other items is restricted to those whose names are on the Church Electoral Roll.

1. Opening Prayer

  1. Appointment of clerk to the meeting

  2. Apologies.

  3. Election of Churchwardens. (Priest in Charge).

  4. Minutes of the Meeting of Parishioners for the Election of Churchwardens held on 13 April 2025

AGENDA – Annual Parochial Church Meeting

  1. Minutes of the Annual Parochial Church meeting held on 13 April 2025

  2. Matters Arising from the minutes

3. Reports

4. Elections

8. Closing prayer

Please send apologies to Caroline Money, PCC Secretary, by email to; admin@standrewshingham.org.uk

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Annual Report and Financial Statements for the Parochial Church Council for the year ending 31 December 2025

Index

Page
1. Background information 4
2. Priest in Charges’s Report 4
3. Churchwarden’s Report 5
4. Occasional Offices Report 6
5. Parochial Church Council Report 6
6. Electoral Roll Report 6
7. Deanery Synod Report 6
8. Safeguarding Report 7
9. Fabric Report 7
10.Ministry in Music Report 8
11. Charities report 8
11.1. Heritage Fund Charity
11.2. Thurrold and Payne & Common Allotment Ecclesiastical Charity
12.Church Groups 9 & 10
12.1 Flower Arrangers
12.2 Men’s Breakfast Group
12.3 Messy Church
12.4 Home Group
13.Treasurer’s Report 10
14.Financial Statement 11 - 15

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Annual Report and Financial Statements for Hingham Parochial Church Council for the year ending 31 December 2025

1. Background

Priest in charge; Revd Victoria Venmore-Rowland

St Andrew’s Church serves the town of Hingham, by promoting the Christian message through its services and links with the community. There are two regular weekly services, as below and a monthly Messy Church;

Sunday 10am

Wednesday 9.30am.

There is a Sunday 8am, BCP Holy Communion, on the first and third Sunday.

The Hingham Parish is part of the High Oak, Hingham, Scoulton with Woodrising Benefice. It is noted that the Diocese is planning an amalgamation with The Shellrock Group and we have already started working together e.g. one service rota for the new Benefice area, one Benefice newsletter, one combined Lent course.

St Andrew’s Hingham Charity (Charity Number 267241). Members of the PCC are Trustees of this charity. The annual returns were submitted on time.

Bankers; Barclays Bank

Independent Examiner; Sarah Drewery

2. Priest in Charge’s Report

Dear Friends,

A whole year has now passed, and I continue to give thanks for the life and energy of St. Andrew’s, Hingham. As the largest church in the benefice, St. Andrew’s plays a significant and visible role in the life of the town, and it has been a privilege to share in that ministry over the past year.

St. Andrew’s continues to excel as a place of welcome. This is evident in our regular worship, but also very clearly in the much-loved Paws for Coffee gatherings, where dogs (and their people) are warmly received. These moments of informal hospitality are an important part of our witness, helping people to see that the church is truly open and accessible to all.

Recently I came across a question asking why people come to church. We no longer live in an age where people are socially obliged to attend, nor do we seek to draw people in through fear (thank goodness!). Instead, the church is called to meet people where they are and to respond to real human need. What do people need, and what can we faithfully offer? This is a question I have been reflecting on throughout the year.

In Hingham, one clear need is for people to know that the church is there for them at life’s significant moments. St. Andrew’s continues to serve the community faithfully through the

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occasional offices. This year we have supported a good number of weddings and funerals, along with several baptisms. It is always a privilege to accompany families at these important times, and it is clear that St. Andrew’s holds a valued place in the spiritual and communal life of the town.

Alongside this, there is also a strong appetite for community gathering. The concerts hosted in church this year have been very successful, well attended, and warmly received. They have enriched the cultural life of Hingham and drawn many new people through our doors. The parish calendar likewise attracted interest from across the town and has brought in much-needed funds, and this has been a real achievement for all involved.

Worship continues faithfully and sustains a committed congregation. Our 8am BCP service continues to attract it’s own congregation, with a few new additions through the year, and Messy Church is flourishing. We are hoping to build on this and work towards integrating the congregation into other parts of church life.

Looking ahead to the coming year, we hope to build further momentum around the Ringers’ Floor project, enabling the welcome return of regular bellringing and adding once again to the life and soundscape of St. Andrew’s and the wider town.

In the wider benefice, I am pleased that our efforts to grow more closely together are bearing fruit. Although the formal legal merger has not yet been completed; the wheels of bureaucracy can sometimes turn slowly, I increasingly sense that we are beginning to work and feel like one benefice, working collaboratively for the good of all.

My sincere gratitude goes to our Churchwardens and to all who support the life of St. Andrew’s in so many ways behind the scenes, whether by cleaning, organising, preparing rotas, arranging flowers, and faithfully tending to the many practical details that enable us to flourish. Much of this work is unseen, but it is deeply valued and appreciated.

As we look ahead, my prayer is that St. Andrew’s will continue to grow as a place of prayer, welcome, and community at the heart of Hingham.

With every blessing,

Tori

3. Churchwarden’s Report

For my final report as Churchwarden, I’m delighted to say that 2025 was another good year for St Andrew’s. It was a year of consolidation in many areas and growth in others. The PCC met regularly both in person and, where needed, made decisions remotely. Many thanks to all those PCC members who have contributed their time to ensuring the smooth running of the church. At the end of 2025, Peter Trett was elected as the new lay chair as I stood down, and we know we will be in good hands!

Finances remain somewhat stable, with increased contributions to our parish share. We remain grateful for the work of the Tori and the ministry team over the past 12 months. Some services have seen increased attendance, which is excellent news for the future of the church.

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Funding raising events have helped to improve our financial position, including the Hingham Calendar competition. We are very grateful to Caroline for her organisation of the excellent Concert series held at St Andrew’s Church. The concerts were very well received and plans are already underway to do this again. Work on the ringing floor project continues at the pace these things take. As a reminder, this project will see the ringing floor return to its original level in the tower after a refurbishment of the floor which, along with other works, will allow the Tower Room to be refurbished and provide a warm and inviting space for church and community events. Donations so far are nearing the point at which we will be able to apply to external funders for ‘top up’ grants, and we hope that 2026 will see significant progress on this project.

My tenure as Churchwarden has seen Colin retire, a longer than hoped for interregnum, followed by the blessing of Tori’s arrival. It has been both a difficult period and one of some extremely positive changes in the Church, and as I hand over to a new Churchwarden I am excited to see what further changes are to come!

Dr Richard Till, Churchwarden

4. Occasional Offices Report

During 2025, St Andrew’s Church had 1 Baptism, 5 Weddings and 9 Funerals.

Caroline Money, PCC Secretary

5. Parochial Church Council (PCC) report

The PCC met on 5 occasions in 2025 with 76% attendance. The usual reports were given on Finance, Standing Committee, Facilities Project, fundraising, service planning and the Interregnum.

The PCC agreed the Church Fees for 2025, reviewed the Safeguarding Policy and Plan. The PCC agreed new policies for CCTV, Fire and developed a Liability Waiver Form. Caroline Money, PCC Secretary

6. Electoral Roll Report

The Electoral Roll was revised and there was one addition. There are 52 people on the Electoral Roll. 80% are female and 20% are male. 61% are residents and 39% are nonresidents.

New members can be added to the Electoral Roll throughout the year. Should you wish to be included please contact Caroline via email; admin@standrewshingham.org.uk. Elaine Skelly, Electoral Roll Officer

7. Deanery Synod Report

The Thetford and Rockland Deanery Synod meetings were held quarterly in 2025. We were pleased to host the most recent of these at St Andrew’s. During these meetings, were heard in quite a lot of detail about the formulation of a new Diocesan Strategy. This has proven to

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be quite a controversial topic stimulating a lot of conversation. The aim will be to provide churches in different types of parish with resources suitable for their ministry. Perhaps most relevant for us, was a talk from the Church’s Rural Ministry Team, but there were also talks on Children’s Ministry as well as a chance to ask questions of the Bishop. The Diocesan Strategy is expected to be published shortly.

Richard Till, Deanery Synod Representative

8. Safeguarding Report

James Hampton is the current Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO) of St Andrew’s Church, Hingham, and was appointed in January 2025. All Church Officers are up-to-date with their mandatory training and hold a valid certificate from the Disclosure & Baring Service (DBS). The PCC has ensured compliance with all Level 1 Safeguarding Requirements.

The PCC owns a Parish Safeguarding Plan which is available on our parish website, and in hardcopy on request.

During the reporting period, and pertaining to St Andrew’s Church Hingham, no significant safeguarding concerns were raised.

James Hampton, Safeguarding Officer

9. Fabric Report

The organ and fire extinguishers had their annual service. The guttering was inspected, cleared and repaired during the year. The electrics were PAT tested. The terrier was reviewed and updated during the year. The Quinquennial Inspection took place in July 2025.

Caroline Money, PCC Secretary

10. Ministry in Music Report

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, call on His Name. Make known His deeds among the peoples. Sing to Him, sing praises to Him, tell of all His wonderful works.” Ps104RSV

Musicians We are fortunate to have the contribution of some very talented musicians at St. Andrew’s. We are fortunate that Susan Goode and Dr Richard Till often play the piano at services and are grateful for the singers that lead congregational singing from the front at Dale’s services.

Informal Choir The group was formed in October 2008 to contribute music on an occasional basis to services and widen participation. This year the choir contributed two anthems on Easter Sunday and three carols at the Community Carol Service. We thank the members for their commitment and are always seeking to augment numbers.

Services We have a good balance of traditional hymns and contemporary worship songs in our main service.

Organ Voluntaries . I contribute devotional organ music before the main service suitable for the period in the Church’s liturgical year, and an organ voluntary afterwards drawn from a

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very wide repertory ranging from music from the 1600s to contemporary.

Organ The organ receives two tuning and maintenance from the organ builders Holmes and Swift yearly paid for from the organ fund. We are also grateful to Chris Turner for the wonderful work he does in providing the optimum sound amplification for the singers and readers.

Transport Rota I would like to thank all the generous drivers who assist getting me to church on Sunday mornings. Thank you.

Peter O’Connor, Organist

11. Charities report

10.1 Heritage Fund Charity No; 1071172

Heritage Fund was formed many years ago to raise funds solely for the repair and maintenance of the fabric of St. Andrew’s Church. In the last year we had a Coffee Morning and a Barbecue – both of which were well supported. However, with fewer Committee Members we are now considering how we move forward. Peter Trett Acting Chairman

10.2 Thurrold and Payne & Common Allotment Ecclesiastical Charity (Charity No.

244918)

The Thurrold and Payne Charity provides open space for use as allotment gardens and uses income generated from rents to help the poor of the parish of Hingham.

All the allotment plots were let during 2025.

Total income and expenditure (financial year end 31/09/2025); Income £2,055.00 Expenditure £1,561.28

One charitable grant of £642.94 was made during the financial year 2024-2025.

During 2025, the main costs from the maintenance fund were for the following; The purchase of fence posts (£57.00) Sundries for bagging of asbestos waste (£38.54) Removal of bagged asbestos waste (East Coast Insulations) (£354.00)

Summary of conservation work undertaken in 2025;

A quantity of asbestos roofing came to the surface of the northern boundary of the allotment site of plots North 15-16 when a large ash tree was blown down the previous year. We carefully double-bagged everything that we could find, as per instructions from East Coast Insulations, who then collected the bagged waste. Invading bramble was removed from the eastern boundary of the site adjacent to plot South 20. A new stock fence was erected, with a plan to re-instate a native hedge at some point.

Matthew Smoker, Secretary/Treasurer

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12. Church Groups

12.1 Flower Arrangers

Stephanie Hesse, Flower Arrangers

12.2 Men’s Breakfast Group

12.3 Messy Church

Attendance has been encouraging, reaching 32 children (and their accompanying adults). It is especially heartening to see children engaging in the activities, and their adults enjoying time for a cup of tea and a chat together. We always finish with a shared hot meal.

Our seasonal themes provide opportunities to tell the Christian story in ways that are interactive and meaningful for those who may not connect with more traditional forms of church. Messy Church continues to be an important and gentle starting point to church life, and we hope that this continues to flourish and bear fruit.

My sincere thanks go to the wonderful team of volunteers who plan, prepare, cook, welcome, craft, clear away, and pray. Messy Church is truly a whole-team effort, and it simply would not happen without your energy, generosity, and good humour.

As we look ahead, we hope to continue building on this momentum, deepening relationships with the families who come and exploring gentle ways to support them in their faith journey. Our next hope is to try and increase the connection between this congregation and other parts of the church, and we plan to have a Messy Baptism in the summer.

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With thanks to all involved,

Revd Tori, Messy Church

12.4 Home Group

The group has grown this year with some new members who have added something special to our discussions. We share ideas and study scriptures together in an atmosphere of trust and confidentiality. Grateful thanks to those who have led sessions and we are all aware of how much we have grown together, how much more we have learned about Jesus and how to live in the power of his spirit. We have a prayer time during the evening where we share our concerns about world issues and bring to Jesus those who are on our minds or in our hearts. Rod and Sue continue to offer us the use of their home for which we are grateful, knowing that they always supply the best biscuits. There is always room for more, (people not biscuits,) and we encourage any who want to deepen fellowship and pray together to come along. It could be a life changing experience.

Dale Southall, Home Group

13. Treasurer’s Report

In the Financial Statement for the year ending Dec 2025 we had a year of outgoings and expenses with a large increase in spend on maintenance which included the PAC testing and replacing all the lights bulbs with Led lights which gave us a overall figure at the end of the year a deficit of £433.91.

We had an exceptional year with fundraising for the ringers hall which included the new Calendars, the Concerts and the flower festivals, as always the dog training and paws for coffee brought a large amount of revenue in.

Attached are this years financial activities which we have hopefully simplified this for you all. The reporting monthly and online banking are working well , which gives us more flexibility and transparency.

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statement of Activity St ArHlrew3 Chur TOTAL £2$0. qtottw Rfj￿￿U £11052A6 Il•t Rfjv9ny 433.91 15