Holy Trinity Parish Church AghaIee Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022 The trustees present their report with the financiaI statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2022. The trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective l January 2019). ORJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES Objectives and Activities The charitable purpose of the Church of Ireland is the advancement of religion. The principal function of Holy Trinity Parish Church Aghalee is to support the advancement of the Christian religion. Being open to and engaging with society as a whole and offering pastoral care and support to those needing help are ndamental to the practical delivery of the benefits of Christianity. As a result of activity in the pursuit of the advancement of the Christian religion, Holy Trinity Parish Church Aghalee has custody of certain propety, records, materials and artefacts which are of significance to the cultural and religious heritage of the whole community. The maintenance of these is undertaken by the select vestry of Holy Trinity, Aghalee. Compliance Ivith Public benefit The Trustees have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland's guidance on public benefit to ensure that the activities entered into during the year have helped to achieve the parish's objectives and activities, &% well as providing public benefit. Page I
Holy Trinity Parish Church Aghalee Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022 ACHIEVEMENT AND PERFORLVIANCE Charitable aetivities The church cherishes its motto "Creating and sustaining Christians" and has spent the last year working towards its continuing commitment to deliver on this motto. Under the leadership and pastoral care of the Rector, and with the active participation of a good nurnber of volunteers, the parish continues to carry forward the Christian outreach and pastoral ministry required to sustain a rural parish. Due to the on-going coronavirus pandemic, church services and parish activities were badly disrupted during the course of the year. In-church services were completely suspended during th¢ early part of the year. until Easter. Services resumed in the church hall (to better enable social distancing) from Easter onwards. Services were held each Sunday moming at I lam, with an average attendance of 49. Covid-19 guidelines were adhered to during the first half of the year- with restrictions being relaxed from September. Occasional speclal services were held to mark the major Christian festivals et¢. Easter Sunday (95). Harvest Thanksgiving (177). Remembrance Sunday (92). Christmas Carol Service (96) and Christmas Day (30). Throughout the year. the parish maintained an online presence - developing better use of the parish Facebook page (@AghaleeParish) and Youtube chann¢l. Regular online Sunday services were held using Youtube (average 42 weekIy viewers). Throughout the pandemic. th¢ parish have aimed to promote spiritual and mental well-being to our onlin¢ followers by providing regular hymns, devotional readings and prayers on our Facebook page (average 81 visits per week / average reach 450). For the benefit of those who do not use social-media, a devotional phone-line was set up. Callers can listen to our Sunday servi¢¢ and midweek messages of hymns, readings & prayers. The parish maintains artefacts, materials and historlc buildings for the benefit of the public and in particular for those appreciative of longstanding Christian heritage. Access to Church buildings is restricted for public safety reasons however. visitors can CesS the church by arrangement, when they will be accompanied by a member of the parish. Access to historical church records can be provided to any rnember of the public requiring infomiation for research and genealogical purposes. Heritage Project.. Throughout the year, the parish progressed plans for a Heritage Development Project involving major restoration work to Holy Trinity Church and promotion of the heritage of the parish, along with its links t o the Lagan Navigation and nearby hamlet of Soldierstown. Aghalee Parish Heritage Project is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund with a grant of £185,400 to part-fund this project. The Trustees would like to acl(nowledge the funding received from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which will make pO[ble the completion of the delivery stage of this project. Page 2
Holy Trinity Parish Church Aghalee Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022 The project is on-going with a completion date of December 2023. The contractor is J.S. Dunlop Construction Ltd. and the archilectlproject supervisor is Leighton Johnston Associates. The parish also appointed the web-developer Concept Nt to begin development of a website for the Aghalee Parish Heritage Project. Most of the events that had been planned as part of this project had to be postponed due to the pandemic. However, events could begin from September. A photo4haring evening was held in September. about 200 photos were added to our Heritage photo-archive. In October, about 120 people attended a Heritage Evening Ivith the Lagan Navigation Trust. the speaker was Brenda Turnbull. The various organisations connected with the parish continued their activities in as much as was possible due to Covid-19 restrictions. Our parish organisations are open to all-comers. In particular, the Mums & Tots, GFS, CLB and Bowling Club usually have many members who are not parishioners. and we are delighted to welcome everyone. Parish organisations are: _ 'Jigsaw' Sunday Sehool -usually meets during service-time each Sunday and is led by a rota of enthusiastic volunteers. Membership: 15. reducing to 7 from September. Unfortunately, the Sunday School was unable to meet for most of the year due to the pandemi¢ Confirmation: 8 members of the Sunday School were confirnied by the Bishop in June. after attending a 6-session preparation course in the early part of the year. The Parish Choir contributes to the worship of the church and offers members a chance to build frtendship and enjoy singing together. prdctice evenings are held frequently on Thursday evenings. and as needed for special occasions. Choir members maintained contact with each other by active participation in a WhatsApp group chat. Choir practices resumed during the autumn in preparation for HarvesL Remembrance and Christm&8 services. Soldierstoivn Tots Group . usually meets on a Monday morning in the parish youth-hall. It welcomes children of pre-school age along with their mums (dads, grannies. grandads, carers- are all welcome!) Some members, who had no previous connection to the churclL have found this a very welcoming and engaging group. By nature of the group, attendance fluctuates - but it welcom¢s from 6-12 children each week. Having been suspended during the pandemic, the Tots group resumed in September. Girls, Friendly Society - usually meets on Monday evenings between September and April. The current enrolment is 25 drawn from both parishioners and non-members. There are 7 volunteer leaders who are enthusiastic and encouraging for the girls. The GFS girls also participate in various activities and compctitions at Diocesan level. GFS maintained a limited program during the first half of the year, returning to 'nomial' from September. Church Lads, Brigade - also meets on Monday evenings beiween September and April. CLB has a membership of 22 - both parishioners and non-members. The boys enjoy a eat variety of activities and outings. CLB maintained a limited program during the first half of the year, returning to 'nonnal' from September. The annual GFS/CLB Parents, Evening (April) and Enrolment S¢rvice (October) both had to be cancelled this year due to the pandemic. Page 3
Holy Trinity Parish Church Aghalee Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022 Mothers, Union - is a long-standing organisation within the parish and has -12 regular members. M.U. meets on the 2nd Tuesday evening of most months in the church hall. Members also enjoy regular outings, Diocesan events, and the chance to meet with other M.U. branches. Although most meetings were suspended, members maintained phone contact with each other through the pandernic and continued their active support of the Women's Refi]ge Centre by organising a collection of toiletries etc. In-person meetings were held in October and November. Aghalee Ladies Fellowship usually meets on the 3rd Tuesday evening of each month. The program of activities is progressive and imaginative and engages regularly with around 15-20 attendees. Ladies Fellowship is open to all, including those from beyond the church family. Most meetings were suspended during the pandemic, but members maintained contact via social media. In-person meetings were held in October and November. Soldierstown Bowling Club . competes in the Lisburn & District Indoor Bowling League. Home matches and friendly / practice evenings are held on Wednesday evenings in the church hall. Th¢ Club welcomes all bowlers. Having been suspended during the pandemic, the bowling club resumed from September onwards. Messy Church - unfortunately, it w&8 not possible to organise any events due to coronavirus. Midweek Felloivship l Bible Study Group Usually meets on Wednesday evenings in the Parochial Hall, Aghalee. It is for those who wish to explore and share the Christian faith with others, in a friendly, welcoming. relaxed atmosphere. Having been suspended during the pandemic, the Bible Study group resumed from September onwards. Also - Sunday Morning "Cup of Tea" resumed during the autumn - this usually allows service goers to meet up before the servic¢s to chat in an infornial setting. Oberammergau Tour '. In August, the rector led a group of 34 people on a week-long visit to Austria & the Oberammergau Passion Play. 23 members or friends booked through parish links, the remainder booked through the tour organiser& McCab¢ Pilgrimages. FINANCIAL REVIEW Financial review The income for the parish from various sources was £109.669 with payments of £148,036 giving a deficit of £38,367. The bank and Cash Balances as at 31 December 2022 were £133,014 (of this balance £81,873 were unrestricted funds. £51,141 restricted funds and £Nil ¢ndowment funds). It is the Trustees, policy to hold sufficient reserves to cover unexpected emergencies and have adequate funds for rnaintenance of church property and to rther the objectives and activities of the parish. Going concern The Trustees have reviewed the budgets for the year ahead and are satisfied that there are adequate funds in place to ensure the parish can continue its activities and the financial statetnents for the year end¢d 31 D¢cember 2022 can be signed off as a going concem. STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT Governing Document and Constitution of the Charity AgJ]alee Parish is governed and managed in accordance with the Constitution of the Church of Ireland and the Diocesan Regulations of the Diocese of Down & Dromore. Page 4
Holy Trinity Parish Church Aghalee Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 Deeember 2022 STRUCTURE, GOVERNAIYCE AND MANAGEMEiYr Organisational structure The Select Vestry has been responsible for the day to day management of the parish. The Select Vestry consisted of the Rector, the churchwardens, the glebe-wardens and twelve other members of the general vestry elected at the Annual General Vestry meeting. The Select Vestry is chaired by the Rector. The Select Vesty h&8 been responsible in the period for making decisions on matters of general concern and importance to the parish including deciding how the parish funds have been allocated. The Select Vestry met 9 times in the period (Jan, Feb, Mar & May meetings held online via Zoorn) and the average attendance was I l. STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES, RESPONSIBILITIES The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees, Report and the statement of receipts and payments and assets and liabilities in accordance with applicable law and regulations. The law applicable to charities in Northem Ireland with Income of le than £250,000 requires the trustees to prepare a statement of receipts and payments and a ststement of assets and liabtlities for each financial year. The trustees are responsible for keeping accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the parish's transactions and disclos¢ with reasonable accuracy at any time the assets and liabilities of the parish. They ar¢ also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the parish and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS Registered Charity number 101581 Principal address C/0 Mrs Jerlfer Martin 5b Old Church Lane Aghalee Craigavon Co. Amiagh BT67 OEY Page 5
Holy Trinity Parish Chureh Aghalee Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 December 2022 Trustees Mrs Irene Culbert Mr Lajry Donaghey Mrs Maureen Donaghey Mrs Sheila Duncan Mr Donald Frazer Mr Roy Hanna Ms Sharon Harbinson (resigned 26.4.22) Mrs Jennifer Martin Rev Paul McAdam Mrjim McLom Mrs Jacqueline Montgomery Mr Stephen Montgomery Mr Gavin Murray Mr Noel Murray Mr David Twigg Mr John Watson Mr Nornian McAlister Mrs Sylvia Thompson (appointed 26.4.22) Independent Examiner Mccleary & Company Ltd Chartered Accountants Garvey Studios 14 Longstone Street Lisbum Co. Antrim BT28 ITP Bankers Danske Bank 39 Market Street Lurgan Co. Armagh BT66 6AB oirice-Bearers Rector.. Rev Paul McAdam Churchwardens.. Mrs. Sylvia Thompson Mr. Roy Hanna Glebe-wardens: Mr Noel Murray Mr Donald Frazer Secretary: Mr Norman McAlister Treasurer: Mrs Jennifer Martin Page 6
Holy Trinity Parish Church Aghalee Report of the Trustee5 for the Year Ended 31 Deeember 2022 Approved by order of the board of trustees on 7 February 2023 and signed on its behalf by.. Rev Paul McAdam - Trustee Page 7