ALL SAINTS CHURCH THELWALL ANNUAL REPORT 2020-2021

ALL SAINTS CHURCH

THELWALL

ANNUAL REPORT

2020-2021

Important

Please bring this report with you to the Annual General Meeting

To be read before the meeting

Charity number 1135426

ALL SAINTS’ THELWALL ANNUAL TRUSTEES REPORT 2020/21

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ALL SAINTS CHURCH THELWALL

ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING AND MEETING

TO ELECT CHURCHWARDENS

28th APRIL 2021

MEETING TO ELECT CHURCHWARDENS

1. Minutes of the last Meeting

2. Vote of thanks to the Churchwardens

3. Election of Churchwardens

4. Notice of the Archdeacons Visitation

5. AOB

6. Close of Meeting

ANNUAL PAROCHIAL MEETING

Minutes of the last Meeting

A.

To receive a report on changes to the Electoral Roll since the last Annual Meeting

To receive a report on the proceedings of the PCC and the activities

of the parish generally

To receive a report on the financial affairs of the Parish

To receive the independently examined accounts of the PCC for the year ended 31st December, 2019

To receive a report on the Fabric, Goods and Ornaments of the Church

To receive a report on the proceedings of the Deanery Synod

B.

To elect Representatives to the Deanery Synod

To elect Representatives to the PCC

C.

To appoint an Independent Examiner

D.

Any matters of Parochial or general interest

Chairman’s Report

Other Reports

E. Close of Meeting


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MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING TO ELECT CHURCH WARDENS

21st OCTOBER 2020

Douglas welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked everyone for coming in these strange times. Due to guidance from the Church of England meetings and services have to be kept as brief as possible.

We should have been celebrating at the APCM for the completion of our restoration but unfortunately we have not been able to and in six months time we will be holding another APCM.

1 The Minutes were accepted as a true record. Proposed: Judy Woolvine, Seconded: Julie French 2. Vote of thanks to Church Wardens

Douglas thanked Judy and Julie for all their hard work. They have been great churchwardens. It is farewell this year to Judy who has done six great years. Douglas said thankyou you on behalf of everyone. Julie then said it had been a privileged to work with Judy. A gift from the Church and a gift from Julie was presented to Judy.

Judy thanked everyone for supporting her and for the gifts that she received. Judy said that she had learnt a lot whilst being Church Warden.

3. Election of Church Wardens

Julie French – Proposed: Jean Fisher: Seconded: Ray Fisher

Derek Leather – Proposed: Frank Whittaker: Seconded: Judy Woolvine

Everyone was happy with the Selections. Welcome Derek to the Little Manor and the Church

4. Election of Deputy Wardens

Under the new Church Representation Rules 2020, these are now appointed by the PCC at its first meeting

4. Notice of Archdeacons Visitation

This will be held on zoom

5. AOB

No AOB

The meeting then closed


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MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING

21st October 2020

Douglas advised us of the many changes that are happening and the constant revisions to the APCM.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 25th April 2019 were accepted as a true record.

Proposed: Trevor Mawson; Seconded: Frank Whittaker

A. To receive a report from changes to the Electoral Roll – Trevor Mawson – Electoral Roll Officer The process of revising the roll, has been severely curtailed by the closing of the church due to the Corona Virus. Only 4 new names have been added. The number now on our Electoral Roll is 246. The total last year was 244. Of these 246 names, 181 live in the parish of Thelwall and 65 outside. Numbers over the past few years are below

Total at AGM in 2007 = 155 full revision

Total at AGM in 2008 = 175





Total at AGM in 2013 = 204 full revision

Total at AGM in 2014= 221





Total at AGM in 2019= 244 full revision

Full Revision is every 6 years.

Edited Revision every other year.

B. Election of Representatives to the Deanery Synod

Deanery Synod: Bob Powell, Kath Mellor, Mike Horne & Alison London

C. Election Representatives to the PCC

PCC: Karen Tipping, Elaine Whittaker, John Alexander, Malcolm Hague

D. Election of Sidespersons Under the new Church Representation Rules 2020, these are now appointed by the PCC at its first meeting.

Unseen Unsung Hero

Frank spoke about Rachel Payne who has held the role of Bookings Secretary and Invoicing for the last five years. Rachel has kept all the paper-work up to date and it is with regret that due to work commitments Rachel has had to step down from this position.


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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

All Saints Church is situated in Thelwall. It is part of the Diocese of Chester within the Church of England. The correspondence address is the Vicarage, Bell Lane, Thelwall, Warrington, Cheshire.

The PCC is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2011) and registered as a charity on 9th April 2010 with the Charity Commission (Charity number 1135426).

PCC members during 2020 were as follows Rev Douglas Black

Derek Leather (Church Warden)

Julie French (Churchwarden)

Pip Horne (Lay Reader)

Colin Horrabin (Lay Reader)

Julia Young (Treasurer)

Kath Mellor (Secretary and Deanery Synod Representative)

Bob Powell (Deanery Synod Representative)

Mike Horne (Deanery Synod Representative)

Alison London (Deanery Synod Representative)

PCC Elected Members

(From April 2018)

Margaret Rodgers

Suzanne Williams

(From April 2019)

Julia Young

Jon Halliday

(From October 2020)

John Alexander

Malcolm Hague

Karen Tipping

Elaine Whittaker

Church Architect

Tony Barton, RIBA

Donald Insall Architects, 5 Bridge Place, Chester

Bank

NatWest, Warrington Branch, 23 Sankey Street, Warrington, Cheshire, WA1 1XH

Independent Examiner

Brian Robinson


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AIMS and PURPOSES

All Saints' Church, Thelwall Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility of co-operating with the incumbent, the Reverend Douglas Black, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The PCC is also responsible for the Parish Hall on Bell Lane Thelwall.

Our mission statement is:-

Growing Up, in our faith by engaging with the bible, prayer & worship.

Growing Together, through team work, encouragement, fellowship & fun!

Growing Out, to our local and global community with practical service and generosity.

Growing More, by sharing our faith & drawing people into the life of the church.

We aim to fulfil this in all aspects of church life.

OBJECTIVES and ACTIVITIES

The PCC is committed to enabling as many people as possible to worship at our church and to become part of our parish community at All Saints. The PCC maintains an overview of worship throughout the parish and makes suggestions on how our services can involve the many groups that live within our parish. Our services and worship put faith into practice through prayer and scripture, music and sacrament.

When planning our activities for the year, we have considered the Commission’s guidance on public benefit and, in particular, the specific guidance on charities for the advancement of religion. In particular, we try to enable ordinary people to live out their faith as part of our parish community through:

worship and prayer;

learning about the Gospel;

developing their knowledge and trust in Jesus;

providing pastoral care for people living in the parish;

missionary and outreach work.

To facilitate this work it is important that we maintain the fabric of the Church and the Parish Hall.

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE and MANAGEMENT

All Saints’ Annual Parochial Meeting is held on the last Wednesday of April and it is at this meeting that church wardens and PCC members are elected. The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules 2017. At All Saints the membership of the PCC consists of the incumbent (our vicar), churchwardens, lay readers and members elected by those members of the congregation who are on the electoral roll of the church. All those who attend our services/members of the congregation are encouraged to register on the Electoral Roll and stand for election to the PCC.

The PCC members are responsible for making decisions on all matters of general concern and importance to the parish including on how the funds of the PCC are to be spent. New members receive initial training into the workings of the PCC.

Given its wide responsibilities the PCC has appointed six permanent action groups, each dealing with a particular aspect of parish life:


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Worship (including Nurture and Prayer)

Parish Hall

Young People (ages birth to 18 years)

Social Events and Communications

Outreach

Stewardship

Each group submits a report, for discussion, to the PCC three times a year. These reports are circulated to PCC members before the meeting. Any questions arising may be dealt with at the meeting or referred back to the action group. Salient points are recorded in the minutes. The PCC also receives reports from the representatives of Deanery Synod and Lymm and District Churches Together. Updates on church finances, fabric and the parish hall are given at every meeting. Additional items are placed on the agenda.

Employment Matters

The PCC employs three part-time employees: a Director of Music, a hall caretaker and a hall cleaner. We also pay organists and a verger to assist at funerals & weddings - and a person to dig small graves for caskets - when required.

Covid and three lockdowns have made employment matters particularly challenging. We needed to place our staff on the government’s job retention (furlough) scheme for extended periods of time. This has enabled us to retain our employees and minimise our outgoings at the same time.

The parishes of Chester diocese are committed to following the guidance in: “Just Employment – Employing Staff in Faith Based Projects”. It contains policies, templates, and documentation for pay, dismissal, redundancy & risk assessment.

Regardless of our staffing numbers, we are still bound by all the stipulations of employment, charity, health & safety, safeguarding, data protection and church legislation. This includes the National Living Wage and all the documentation due to an employee.

In some instances – like paid church choir directors and musicians – employment is also governed by Canon (church) Law. The C of E, the Royal School of Church Music and the Incorporated Society of Musicians have combined to provide a contract that satisfies all the legal requirements of church and state.

Employers must advise the HMRC on each occasion a payment is made to an employee. This includes single payments to vergers, organists & plot diggers, as well as the earnings of our part time employees.

Pensions: none of our employees are currently eligible for auto-enrolment on a pension scheme because their earnings are below the required threshold.

Safeguarding is now a huge responsibility for churches. ‘Safer recruitment’ requires vetting of anyone who works with children, young people and vulnerable adults. This is particularly the case for paid workers in any parish. They must be screened, trained & appointed every 3 years.

We are thankful (and relieved!) that the Diocese employs an HR Advisor – Liz Geddes. Liz keeps us updated on employment law & practices and she checks all our documentation, to ensure we are compliant.


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The Village Green

The ‘Village Green’ on Thelwall New Road (opposite Gigg Lane) belongs to the church (diocese & PCC are joint trustees). The vicar and wardens are responsible for the oversight of the land, reporting to the PCC when issues arise.

We are grateful to the Grappenhall & Thelwall Parish Council for including the land in their local grounds maintenance programme, which means that they are paying for the grass to be cut. The G&TPC employ Countrywide Grounds NW to do this work.

Every five years, we are required by our insurers to employ an arborist to inspect the land and produce a report for our attention and action.

In 2020, we received an enquiry from an adjacent property owner who expressed interest in purchasing a small portion of the land. Under the Charities Act, the PCC was required to have the plot in question valued by a Chartered Surveyor. The valuation has now been completed. The potential buyer has decided not to progress with the purchase at present.

PARISH REPORTS – Achievements and Performance

Vicar’s Report This is my nineteenth year as vicar of All Saints. And what a strange year it has been! The challenge of trying to live out our mission statement during a pandemic has been ‘interesting’, to say the least. But – with God’s help - we have given it a good go.

1. Growing Up in our faith by engaging with the bible, prayer & worship. Over the year, we’ve had to move our worship online, with brief interludes of ‘in person’ services. The C of E is encouraging churches to continue with ‘physical’ and virtual services in the post-Covid world. We will definitely consider it. Another initiative that has worked well is the delivery of prayer & bible reflection resources to the whole electoral roll and to all church children & young people. The appreciative feedback has been plentiful. It would appear that delivering physical and virtual resources directly into people’s homes has encouraged many more members - new and old – to nurture their faith. I’m sure some of these initiatives will come with us into the new normal.

2. Growing Together through team work, encouragement, fellowship & fun! The government’s ‘stay home’ message could’ve made growing together very challenging. However, we were equal to the task, using social media, email and the telephone. And Zoom has enabled many of our groups & committees to function commendably. The bigger challenge has been - and will be – addressing the epidemic of loneliness in our society and community, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic. ‘Social distance’ has taken on an unwelcome inference for many. According to the ONS, the number of lonely people has doubled in twelve months. How can we include them in our ‘togetherness’? The friendship we offer our neighbours is vital. They need us.

3. Growing Out to our local and global community with practical service and generosity. Despite Covid, we have managed to maintain our generosity to our adopted charities. In some cases – like the Children’s Society – it increased significantly. At harvest and other occasions, appeals for the foodbank were well met. And as for the shoebox campaign and gifts for children: the response was extraordinary. I’m still wondering how we managed to do it - the shops were closed in November! Also, we assisted the Sanctuary Café in a number of its community initiatives. And we still continued with our commitment to FairTrade via doorstep deliveries. We even managed some heritage and church visits for the schools. Hence, the pandemic didn’t stop us - it just made us more creative.


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4. Growing More by sharing our faith & drawing people into the life of the church. Adversity has been the mother of invention: we’ve used the churchyard, the hall car park and Chaigeley field for some socially distanced, well attended activities & services. We also delivered a booklet - “Hope in Uncertain Times” - to all on the church electoral roll, encouraging them to read it and then give it away. Many people did so. The feedback has been encouraging and it’ll be good to share these stories sometime. But it confirms what the research is saying: one-to-one is the way ahead. Admittedly, sharing our faith and personal invitation doesn’t come easily to many of us. But I’m encouraged by this quote from one of our archbishops: “When church members play to their strengths the church functions; but when church members allow the Spirit to work through their weaknesses the church grows”. Thank God for that!

The above is just an overview of 2020. There’ll be lots more detail in the other reports.

One final comment: discipleship is vital to Christian & church life. The word means ‘a learner’. We’re either learning about following Jesus or we’re learning about how to help others follow Jesus. Thus, we never stop being learners! The goal is to help newer people reach their potential. Our role model is Jesus: “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these”. So, if your learner or successor does great things, don’t feel threatened, be encouraged: you’re being Christ-like! Who could you get alongside and disciple?

Many of you have done much good for our church & community over the last year. We’ve witnessed extraordinary acts of kindness. As for our church leadership, I would like to pay particular tribute to Judy, Julie & Derek (wardens), Julia (treasurer), Kath (secretary), Pip, Colin & Bob (Readers), Felicity (music) and all the action groups for adapting to such unprecedented circumstances with energy and focus. The last year has been full of learning experiences, for which we thank God. But I think we’re all ready for a bit of normality, even if it’s ‘new normality’! But to one and all: well done good and faithful servants. Keep growing up, growing together, growing out and growing more.

All Saints Church, Thelwall - Revised Electoral Roll 2020 Jon Halliday and Mike Horne Electoral Roll Officers

After the AGM in October our Electoral Roll Officer stepped down. As a Church we are so grateful for all the work that Trevor did over the years and wish Jon and Mike every good wish with this role.

Secretary’s Report – Kath Mellor

Since the AGM we have held two meetings on zoom. The first meeting in November we elected new Officers together with the sidespeople. Julia went through all the responsibilities with regard to Church Finance and showed how it will be a tough year as we haven’t been able to do any fund-raising activities. We discussed the land opposite Gig Lane as the people owning the house next to the land were interested in purchasing some of the land but at present this isn’t going ahead. We discussed the conservation project that is now completed.

At the January meeting we discussed in detail the finances and also it was agreed at the next meeting we would agree on four charities to support. We discussed policies and agreed that all policies to be kept in a file at Church these to be updated each year. Safeguarding was discussed as Elaine is stepping down from the AGM and Caroline Johnstone will be the Officer with Ingrid Halliday doing the admin.

Health and Safety was discussed and Bob gave an overview on this.

Deanery Synod Report

The Synod meets three times a year and starts each meeting with a short devotion.


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Finance is discussed and members have the opportunity of letting people know what is happening at their Church. During the last year these meetings have been held on zoom. At the November Synod, parish reps were asked to reflect on the ups and downs of the pandemic.

To receive a report on the Fabric, Goods and Ornaments of the Church (Churchwardens)

This has been a very different and challenging year for us all here at All Saint`s Church Thelwall due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Firstly, we had to close our doors and then find a way of being able to re-open them and welcome back our parishioners in a safe and responsible manner, and for this Derek and I would like to give a massive thanks to Bob Powell for all his hard work and advice on all things Health & Safety wise, with the help of Bob and other members of Church we managed not only to rise to the challenge and hold smaller Sunday services but also held events such as Remembering loved ones, Remembrance Day, Carols on the parish hall car park and even Christmas Day, a big thank you to all of those involved. We have learnt new skills along the way, how to attend zoom meetings, conduct online services, carry out virtual hugs and my favourite Guess who is behind the face mask, as well as continuing to be there for people when they have been at their lowest ebb. We have faced the pandemic, a flood in the boiler room, lack of heating in the church, but even after all this we should look forward to the new church year together and be confident that God`s presence is always with us and by his grace trust that tomorrow will be a sunnier day. Keep safe and hopefully it won`t be too long before we can all once again worship in our beautiful Church.

Worship Action Group (Action Group Chair, Douglas Black)

What a year! Covid and the lockdowns forced us to rethink everything, and quickly: Mothering Sunday, Palm Sunday and Easter were just around the corner. Devotional material, simnel cake and palm crosses were delivered or posted to church folk of all ages. From then on, deliveries (180+) continued throughout the year.

Thankfully, pre-Covid, we were already developing the use of devotional material for handing out and delivery e.g. prayer cards and devotional booklets. Hence, in 2020 we just increased the frequency and quantity, sending by post or Mellor mail!

We even managed to continue with the Archbishops’ Ascension & Pentecost initiative called ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ (TKC). This initiative encourages church members to pray for and befriend those who do not yet know Christ. Despite the inability to do the collective ‘in person’ activities, we were still able to deliver TKC resources to all adult and all children in the church family.

And with the suspension of public worship in church buildings, services had to go online. It has been a whole new learning experience: recruiting participants, filming, editing and publishing the finished product to the website. Jon Halliday revamped www.allsaints.org.uk and posted the services to YouTube. Thank you, Jon.

There were interludes back in church. Restrictions meant that numbers had to be limited, singing was prohibited, services needed to be short & minimalist, and face coverings had to be worn. But, for many, it was good to be back in our ‘sacred space’. Christmas was lovely, especially in the morning with children. Also, Felicity & the choir have been recording some suitable songs for playing in the service. An echo of normality!

There were occasions where socially distanced worship took place outdoors and in all weathers. A blessing celebration for and on the new parish hall car park, an All Souls service around the Yew Tree, Remembrance on Chaigeley field and in the churchyard, and Carol Singing on the hall car park. They were well organised and memorable occasions.

Social media has also been well utilised: for Bible study groups, fellowship, communication, and prayer. Email has enabled us to signpost discipleship resources on a regular basis.

It’s been a year of learning new ways of doing everything!

http://www.allsaints.org.uka/


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Choir & Music Group Report – (Music Director)

Well, a strange year when neither the Choir nor Music Group has been able to minister live in church services. For a short time in 2020 we were able to rehearse and record some hymns and songs to be played during Communion which was much appreciated. It was a shame we couldn't have our usual Christmas services but we were able to put on an outdoor Carol sing in the Parish Hall car park and we were able to rehearse and record a Carol Service which was put onto the Church's website and had a large number of views. I would like to say a very big thank you to all the choir and Trish and to Malcolm, Anne and Frank who joined us. Not only did they all do very great singing, playing and reading, they also showed very great patience as we recorded and rerecorded to get the best we could. I would also like to thank Richard for his weekly help doing all the recordings and the many hours editing and sorting.

My last big thank you goes to Trish who has recorded hymns each week when church was closed and has played in church when possible.

I pray that as the country emerges from such a strange time we will be able to return to worshipping with our voices raised in song together once again.

In the meantime, as I always say - and mean!!!!..... If you have any ideas about the music in All Saints' please do let me know.

Parish Hall Action Group (Action Group Chair, Helen Speed)

This past year has been the most unusual one since the hall came into existence. Due to the pandemic the hall has been closed for a great deal of the year, except when in use for the care of schoolchildren before and after school, in the school holidays and for a short period between lockdowns when two other groups met.

In March new arrangements were put in place to ensure that the hall was Covid 19 secure and these were achieved through one-way systems, a new cleaning policy and a large number of posters directing users. The Committee Room was also converted into a station for caring for anyone taken ill with Covid 19 on the premises and cleaning stations set up for use by hirers. The Hall Caretaker and Cleaner were furloughed or partly furloughed for most of the year.

A great deal of effort was made by the Parish Hall Action Group to organise fundraising for the new car park surface and planning permission was gained. During lockdown 2 a new car park surface with 62 parking spaces, defined walkways, disabled spaces and an entrance barrier was installed, led by Philip Young, Action Group member. An old sandstone post was discovered during the development and this was installed near to the entrance with a sign to commemorate the improvements.

In September a service was held to celebrate the new car park and to give thanks for the work of Frank Whittaker, who stood down as Chair of the Hall Action Group after 25 years. Thanks were also given for all the support that had been received from the local community and the Parish Council, which had enabled the works on the car park to take place.

Action Group members have visited the hall each day that it has been closed and have worked brilliantly together to overcome each and every difficulty that has been encountered.

Pastoral Care and Community Outreach

During 2020 there were 2 baptisms, 4 burials with a graveside service, 2 funerals followed by burial, 8 interments of ashes, 1 funeral at church followed by cremation, 8 funerals at the crematorium and 1 funeral at Fox Covert Cemetery


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Church opening on a Saturday between 10am and midday weekly until the lockdown restrictions came into force in March and the church was closed. Unfortunately when restrictions were relaxed in June the church had to remain closed for private prayer because of conservation project contractors being on site. Opening began again in the autumn with a booking system put in place to ensure only a limited number of people were present.

Baptism Preparation – A church member visits the family before the baptism to get to know the family and explain what’s involved. This person is at the service and the baptised child is given a children’s Bible as a baptism gift from the church.

Bereaved families are visited before and after the funeral by the vicar. We have a ‘Remembering Loves Ones’ service once a year, at all Saints-tide, to which all who have been bereaved during the last year are invited. This year it took place outside due to covid-19 restrictions

Our Counselling Referral service has been able to help a good number of people again this year. We are very grateful to the Diocesan Counselling Service for accepting our referrals. In addition, we are now providing one-to-one help for people struggling with 'officialdom' i.e. form filling, bureaucracy, HMRC, benefits etc.

“Dealing with Officialdom” Report (by Mike Brewer)

Help and advice is offered on the following topics:

Dealing with deceased persons’ estates e.g. completing probate forms and financial matters

Completing attendance allowance claims

Entitlements to pension credits, housing benefit, council tax support

Problems arising from unmarried couples when one is bereaved and the other is not named on the

house deeds.

Private and state pension entitlements, understanding complex paperwork and decisions needed. But

not investment advice.

Universal credits entitlements and explaining the complexities of how they are calculated and the

consequences of claw back when circumstances change.

Completing Power of attorney when one partner suffers serious illness and their affairs need to be

managed by family members. There have been several requests for help.

Personal Independence Payments dealing with appeals to official decisions on entitlement.

Income tax queries and entitlements.

Driving licence notification for ill health

All of the above were resolved.

This free service is regularly advertised in the parish news and conducted in the privacy of peoples’

homes. Contact Douglas Black or Mike Brewer, details can be found in the parish magazine.

Food Bank Donations are left at the church and then taken to the Warrington Distribution Point by a church member. When covid-19 restrictions were introduced a member of the congregation volunteered to be a point of contact for donations, goods being left at her house.

Harvest Gifts. Due to covid-19 restrictions our church service was limited to only 30 attendees however the usual collection of tinned and packet food took place and the church was open for an extended period in the morning to allow people to drop off items even though they were unable to attend the service.


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Outreach Action Group (Action Group Chair, Kath Mellor)

We have not been able to hold any meetings this year but we have made lots of phone calls to people on their own.

In May lots of people enjoyed a VE Cream Tea made at the Sanctuary Cafe, this was well advertised via Douglas and notices round the village. Lots of our Church family delivered these.

During the pandemic lots of people knitted poppies and this was displayed in the Parish Hall for Remembrance Sunday. Also we put crosses around the Yew Tree and lots of people from the village came to see them.

Remembering the Loved Ones this year was different and it was a very wet evening but lots of people socially distanced came along to put a prayer card on the tree and light an LED candle to remember them. As our church friends and visitors left they received a prayer booklet.

During 2020 Helen Speed asked me if I would consider giving gifts to people on their own at Christmas and on the Monday of Christmas week our delivers took out the gifts. These were so unexpected and appreciated. Sometimes people on their own are so grateful for seeing someone to say hello.

Churches Together Lymm and Thelwall decided to put displays either behind glass doors or outside so that people could visit. I wanted to do something and thanks to Peter and Lynda and their family, my family, Malcolm Hague, Tony Walsh, and Pip the most wonderful Crib scene was made.

Last week lots of people on their own or those self-shielding received an afternoon tea delivered by Church Members. We have had so many thankyous and a book will be made up of the cards messages of thanks and pictures of how this was done. Thank you to the URC Church in Lymm for allowing us to use the café. The week before the café had a telephone inspection and we were advised that we were doing everything correctly. As I write this report our next initiative will be a gift on Mothering Sunday. Our thanks for the Afternoon Teas and part of the Mothering Sunday gifts are to the Safer Communities via the Police.

Thanks to our Action Group (Richard, Margaret, Pat, Wendy, Peter and Lynda) who have helped and supported me during the last year in making cakes, providing names, providing gifts and delivering the gifts. Also to our Church members who have helped us do this. My thanks to my family also for without them I could not have done these projects.

The Children and Young People Action Group (Action Group Chair, Caroline Johnstone)

Unfortunately, in March 2020 all our planned activities came to an abrupt halt due the Coronavirus Pandemic. Members of our groups were in touch with individual families at various points, the Praise and Play team have been sending out birthday cards and e mailing. Janet put an article and craft ideas for Christmas in the parish magazine but sadly we have been unable to meet in person and maintain our planned programme.

In September we discussed what we were able to offer to our young people and we felt that we couldn’t return to Messy Church due to the risks involved for both the families attending and those that run the workshops. We did, however, decide to restart our story services via zoom and they have taken place once a month from November – a highlight was our Christingle themed one where the children were given a bag containing the things needed to make a Christingle and some Christmas activities and treats – it was great to see the children construct a Christingle as the stories were being read and then to see them lit in everyone’s homes. We even had a tour of various Christmas trees!

We had a wonderful video of the Nativity enacted by the Williams family in place of our Crib Service and children received a Bible Society book of the Nativity story. Douglas continues to send other resources to families marking different events in the church’s year.

We continue to hope and pray that before the summer holidays we will be able to get our families together again in person and be able to offer all that we did to our children and young people.


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The Social and Communications Action Group (Chair Malcom Hague, report by group member Trish Powell)

2020 began well with a number of regular events taking place in the first three months, including our annual Jumble Sale (January), Burns Night Supper and Dance (January) and Fairtrade Coffee Morning (March, during Fairtrade Fortnight). In addition, in March we ran a very successful Quiz Night for the first time in several years. These events attracted many people from the village and the wider area as well as regular church attendees.

Sadly, all the remaining events planned for the year, including our Easter Egg Hunt, Garden Party, Wine Tasting, Male Voice Choir concert, Bonfire Night and Christmas Fayre, had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. The SCAG continued to meet virtually throughout the year to review the situation but physical events remained impossible.

The Parish News is edited by a member of the SCAG; it is a monthly publication produced by the church and normally distributed free to every house in Thelwall. This ensures that the work and life of All Saints’, in relation to worship, fellowship, friendship and social activity, is advertised as widely as possible. Physical copies were produced as usual in the early part of the year but the production then went purely online once lockdowns began, to protect the health of our distributors and recipients. A physical copy was produced in December to include Christmas messages and was much appreciated in the village. The digital versions are distributed electronically as widely as possible and a copy is also uploaded onto the church’s website, which underwent a revamp early in lockdown. The SCAG entry was completely updated, along with those for all the other Action Groups. Huge thanks to Jon Halliday for his invaluable work in taking on the task of managing the website, one of the primary means of communication in these times.

To finish on a positive note: the new external church noticeboards were erected at the end of the building work and look excellent, the Book Club which normally meets in the Community area at the back of church continues monthly by Zoom and members of the SCAG led the online Midweek prayers twice whilst the church was closed. We very much hope that we will be back planning our popular and appreciated events before too long and suggestions for new events are always welcome!

Mission Support

During the year we gave grant support to the following charitable organisations direct from church funds. In-spite of reduced income due to the pandemic we retained our giving at the same level for the following four charities.

WYFC (Warrington Youth for Christ)

Church Urban Fund (CUF)

Christians Against Poverty (CAP)

Mayak (“Lighting the way out of human trafficking and exploitation” www.mayak.or.uk)

Due to restrictions the Christian Aid envelope collection, the Historic Churches Preservation Trust “Ride and Stride” and the MacMillan Nurses coffee morning were all cancelled.

Samaritan’s Purse was supported through the donation of filled shoes boxes for Operation Christmas Child delivered to our church building during the afternoon of the first Saturday in December.

SureStart, Halton was supported through the donation of wrapped toys for Christmas delivered to our church building during the afternoon of the first Saturday in December.

The Children’s Society. We were unable to have our usual Christingle service but money was raised through a sponsored run by our Vicar, Douglas, and raised £1675. Personal collection boxes, used by some members of the congregation, raised £468.21. These boxes were collected but not given out again.

http://www.mayak.or.uk/


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Fairtrade Foundation

All Saints’ is a fully registered Fairtrade church and we successfully renewed our Fairtrade status in July 2020. Prior to the pandemic, a Fairtrade stall was held in church every 1st and 3rd Sunday and in early March 2020 we hosted our annual Fairtrade Coffee Morning, attended by around 60 people and raising £335 for the Fairtrade Foundation. Since the lockdowns started a member of the congregation has continued to deliver Fairtrade goods locally by operating a telephone order and doorstep drop service, helping farmers in a small way to face the global humanitarian challenge brought about by the pandemic crisis. Two church members are stalwart volunteers at Warrington’s own Fairtrade shop, Fair 4 All, and have been very active in continuing deliveries during the times the shop has had to be closed. One of the August online Midweek Prayers focussed entirely on Fairtrade.

Conservation & Community Heritage Project

The repair and conservation works started in April 2019 and completed in November 2020. Although this took longer than expected, most of the delay was caused by problems in sourcing marble from local quarries, stone supplies and the impact of Covid-19. Nonetheless the quality of the work done was complimented by the church architect and the client. Concurrently, all the planned heritage activities were started but progress was also affected by Covid-19 which delayed our plans to showcase our achievements with a celebration event in October 2020.

Despite the challenges of the last 9 months, we have largely delivered on the approved purposes for

community heritage with the exception of a 2020 Heritage Celebration Open Day.

The development stage provided the opportunity to scope the project, although there was uncertainty about

estimating the number of volunteers and days needed to deliver the heritage activities. We had previously

obtained three competitive tenders from experienced contractors recommended by the church architect for

the works but these showed considerable differences in costs. Subsequent re-tendering confirmed a difference

of £42,000 between the lowest and highest tender. In order to manage the risk of unforeseen work and scope

changes, we included significant amounts for contingencies and inflation risks particular for work on old

buildings. Inevitably it’s a judgement but our objective was to ensure value for money to all funders. The

approved payments budget (excluding volunteer costs) was £215,810 and the final costs were £221,420 (2.6%

increase).

Throughout the delivery stage the project team met regularly to give advice and support until Covid-19

lockdown. We were fortunate to have four experienced professionals who managed the activities. One notable

success, thanks to our heritage advisors, was securing 74 volunteers to deliver the heritage activities and their

outcomes. We employed professionals for photography, website design and the burial ground management

system. Conservation Open Heritage Events in church during 2019 generated community interest and

engagement, attracting 150 visitors. Since the formation of a Thelwall History Group in May 2019 there has

been sustained community involvement and heritage outreach at local events that will maintain outcomes in

the activity plan in future.

We still await the conclusion of some community heritage projects and a celebration event in 2021. The National Lottery Heritage Fund has made the final grant payment in recognition of the quality of work and our achievements to date, allowing us to carry over the remainder of the heritage budget to 2021 to finalise projects and disseminate the outcomes.

The status of the following heritage projects in 2020 was as follows:


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Investigating Thelwall: March meeting cancelled. Indexing of Thelwall School Logbook 1872-1918 got underway with volunteer assistance and completed March 2021. ‘Investigating Remembrance’ with Thelwall Infants in the churchyard using Memorials Group war graves research and the poppy display from the Remembrance Day service. Education and Learning Officer, Warrington Museum now using materials developed across the project to develop a new learning pack for all Thelwall Schools i.e. Investigating Thelwall resource pack, Memorials Group Family History records, publications on Thelwall history and All Saints’ stained glass.

Memorials Group: The work of the Memorials group on burials in the original churchyard started in February 2020 and was completed by February 2021. The volunteers were all former residents or current residents of Thelwall and only one, a member of this congregation. Data not for public release yet. A publication on the process is planned and budgeted for. The pen drives/hard copy will be lodged with Cheshire Records Office and Warrington Local Archive when they re-open.

Atlantic Geomatics – Burial Ground Management System: A decision was taken with the approval of our Grant Manager to use funds to employ Atlantic Geomatics to survey, photograph and record all memorials and burial records relating to All Saints. The surveying and photography were carried out in September and October 2020 and thanks to the efforts of the Community Payback Team the burial ground was in prime condition for this work to be undertaken. Plans are in hand to make this information available on the web but we need to ensure we comply with Atlantic Geomatics’ terms for the currency and integrity of data uploaded onto the system. Mike Horne is Site Administrator and will require copies of burial register entries from the Vicar/Verger to make the necessary updates at regular intervals

These are the main heritage projects associated with All Saints but community heritage activities that were completed in 2020 include:

Thelwall History Group: while monthly meetings were cancelled, other projects led by members continued and were reported in the Parish News. These included the Thelwall Railway Project, the Memorials Project, the 2020s Thelwall Photo Project and Heritage Walking Trails round Thelwall. Artwork for the latter has been provided by Helen Weston

2020s Thelwall Photo Project: a morale booster in June/July and means of collecting residents’ memories of Thelwall now transcribed and photos uploaded onto www.thelwallcommunity.co.uk website. Local professional photographer, Mike Moss took the photographs and supplied images for the website

Thelwall Community Website: thanks to the offer of Unicorn Web Solutions to design and host a community website we now have a platform for sharing information. Designed around the title of the original project bid: ‘175 in 2018 Legacies in the Landscape – Past, Present and Future, the site went live on 23 October 2020. It is an opportunity for the Church and Parish Hall to use the offer of a free link to this site to give timely information and latest news

A project celebration will take place when it is safe to do so.

Thanks to all volunteers, participants and visitors and also to members of the Project Management Team for their advice and inputs. Plans are in hand for a team of All Saints’ Heritage Guides to support future public events as one of the legacies of this project.

Achievement of outcomes

The table below summarises the anticipated outcomes for all the activities in the Project Delivery Action Plan and assessment of their achievement based on the evaluation methods.

http://www.thelwallcommunity.co.uk/


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Outcomes (Heritage) Achieved Comments

Church building and key internal

features in a better condition

Yes Conservation work on fabric and decoration completed to

specified standards and approved by the church architect.

Management and maintenance plan implemented

Better interpreted and better

explained

Yes Church and community heritage better recorded, projects

identified and explained at Open Days, in trail guides,

project reports, archives and heritage website

People will have developed skills Yes Volunteers have developed skills in researching historical

records, planning and delivering guided tours and drafting

copy for trail leaflets and on-line, setting up and running a

local history group

People will have learnt about

heritage leading to a change in

attitude and behaviours

Yes Helped some volunteers to have a meaningful focus in

2020 and the photo/memories project was a morale

booster.

People changed

attitudes/behaviour

Yes Demonstrated by community commitment to get actively

involved in learning and sharing its history and history and

heritage

People had an enjoyable time Yes Demonstrated by feedback from the heritage events

Creation of a Thelwall History

Group

Yes Provides a long term sustainable community involvement

in heritage

More and a wider range of people

have ready access on family

histories

Yes Consultees confirmed willingness to share stories. The

graveyard survey data will be available to everyone

More and a wider range of people

in the community engaged

Yes Demonstrated by the heritage events and regular

communication via Parish News. We had 600 visitors to

local heritage events in Warrington, our church and the

village (The Legion). Thanks to the internet and social

media more people, including volunteers no longer

resident here, have engaged with Thelwall’s history and

heritage

Value for money (VFM)

demonstrated from procurement

process for specialists and

architect and volunteers

Partly 2.6% cost increase on payments compared to budget

rather than 5% saving. VFM achieved from increased

number of volunteers for heritage activities


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Ecumenical relationships

All Saints is a member of Lymm and District Churches Together (LDCT).

During the last year we have held meetings via zoom. In September we did hold our Annual Service at St Mary’s and the Rev Bev Jameson said that from November’s meeting Dave Eadon would be chairman as Rev Bev had done two years.

Dave with John Griffiths as Secretary held their first meeting in the URC. During November the Church was open for prayer and in the evening there was a zoom prayer meeting. During the week of prayer for Christian Unity we had a prayer meeting on zoom each evening led by different Churches. On the Saturday we had a prayer breakfast on zoom and sang a few hymns. On the Sunday we had a united service.

At Christmas all the Churches put a Christmas tableaux or display up. At Easter this year we are in preparation for each church taking a different station of the cross with a family quiz as they go round the churches,

The Sanctuary Café is a Community Interest Company that began as an idea developed by CTLD and is supported by them. Events held by the Café are advertised in All Saints’ magazine. As the Café doors were closed on the 21st March we were very sad. After three weeks Sue and I decided to do cream teas for VE day. We sent over £3k to Warrington Hospital. As soon as this was over we started to do Afternoon Teas and this has been so well appreciated. We had special days – Father’s Day and Valentine’s Day when we did over 160 teas. We are now planning our Mothering Sunday weekend as I write this. When we haven’t been in lockdown we have had the café open with self-distancing in operation and everyone signing in. When the café has been closed we have done take-away food. The Sanctuary Hub runs a Memory Café on a Thursday when not in lockdown and we held during the November lockdown a Bumps and Babes. As soon as we can these events will start again. Anyone interested in either of these events please contact [email protected].

The Stewardship Action Group (Action Group Chair Alison London)

We advise on matters referred to us by the PCC and seek to support the treasurer and church wardens. We also seek to encourage giving based on Biblical principles. We have about 5 formal meetings during the year but maintain continuing contact by email in order to deal with situations, as they arise, that require our attention.

Encouraging Stewardship: Our membership are of considerable importance as they provide the majority of our funding and give valuable volunteer help in many ways, particularly with fund raising events. We present an annual service where we emphasise the importance of giving, not just money but also time, effort and expertise. We send an annual “thank you” letter to all who are part of the planned giving scheme and a follow-up letter to everyone on the electoral roll after the special “Stewardship Service”. Information on gift aid and gift aid forms is available in church along with details to set up standing orders or make direct fund transfers to the church account. Our stewardship secretary is responsible for the weekly giving envelopes and is available to give more information on these. During the pandemic we have encouraged those who give by envelope to change to giving by standing order. Those who did not do this have been faithfully using their envelopes and then delivering them to one of three locations. Unable to arrange to have the envelopes opened and donations counted in church by two unrelated people the C of E said counting by a married couple was acceptable.

Church Budget: A budget for the coming year was prepared and presented to the PCC for approval. It was particularly difficult to prepare given the difficult circumstances and the uncertain future.

Maintenance: The group is responsible for the maintenance of the church yard and supports the church wardens in implementing the church maintenance plan.


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Conservation Project: The action group chair represented the group on the committee responsible for delivering this project.

Christmas Wreaths: The making of Christmas wreaths for sale was cancelled.

FINANCIAL REVIEW Julia Young Treasurer

I usually start my report by thanking a large number of individuals who help me complete our accounts. This was a strange year as it feels like just two minutes since we closed the books on 2019 accounts, and here we are discussing 2020. I must acknowledge Jean Topps, my predecessor, who will be sorely missed. In 2020, much of the support I had was, by necessity, at arm’s length, over email and Zoom, and we needed to stretch some of the rules, allowing counters to stay in their bubbles to bank incoming cash collections. I thank Alison London for her overall support, Trish Powell for coordinating the envelope scheme, Jean Fisher for managing the Friends of All Saints, Linda Hutchinson for managing the 200 club and Mike Brewer for his wisdom, support for large projects and Gift Aid claims. I would also like to acknowledge Rachel Payne, our Parish Hall Bookings Administrator, for her coordination of invoicing for the Parish Hall. In addition, I thank Brian Robinson as our independent examiner preparing our annual accounts. I also salute the counters, bankers, form fillers, and event organisers. It is your help that allows us to prepare accounts to the quality required by the Charities Commission.

2020 was financially a tricky year, we watched the income dwindle as bookings at the Parish Hall were cancelled, the church closed and social events were impossible to run. The Conservation Project in church slowed, we furloughed employees and applied for business grants reflecting Parish Hall loss of income. As the pandemic unfolded, we had huge financial uncertainty about how much of our reserves would be needed to support us. Using financial modelling of income and outgoings, the PCC agreed to decrease the payment of our greatest outgoing, namely the Parish Share until we had more financial clarity. Both planned giving and collection at services decreased, and we had no income from social events to support us. This all sounds very gloomy, but careful stewardship of buildings and other outgoings, plus working closely with Ferry Link Club who were our sole Parish Hall user for a while, kept our spending to a minimum. Our careful approach, healthy reserves, grants and generous donations allowed us to largely complete our two big capital projects, the Conservation Project, and the Parish Hall car park. We have come through the year with our expenditure exceeding our income. We also spent those reserves allocated to capital projects, or supporting the church but all of this was in a planned fashion and whilst not ideal, we’ve worked well under the circumstances.

We are very generous in our giving to other causes. The church gives to four charities on a regular basis. These are Mayak, Church Urban Fund, Christians against Poverty and Warrington Youth for Christ. Several other charities were also supported through the year by collections or donations.

Coming out of the pandemic and lockdown is just as important as how we handled ourselves during the worst times. We have outstanding liabilities which must be handled during 2021 and 2022 to get us back on track. Not least of those is to meet our commitments in finishing the Conservation project and repaying our Parish Share to the Diocesan Board of Finance. The latter is routinely discussed at PCC, with plans to clear all debts by mid-2022. We will also start to re-build our reserves so that we have these monies available to support us when needed.

I hope in a year’s time we will have exceeded these targets, be up to full occupancy at the Parish Hall, and our planned giving increased.

I would like to propose Brian Robinson as our independent accounts examiner for 2020.


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RESERVES POLICY

We now have four reserves policies agreed by PCC. These cover both the church and the Parish Hall. Firstly they set aside a sum of money to enable the church / Parish Hall to continue should income dwindle. Secondly, they reserve monies for larger projects

1) Allocated reserves policy for the Church

“The Treasurer maintains sufficient funds (agreed as £20,000) in an agreed Investment Fund that would allow the church to continue to function financially for a period of 12-18 months assuming unchanged receipts and expenditure.”

2) Allocated reserves policy for the Parish Hall

“The Treasurer maintains sufficient funds (£15,000), that would allow the PCC of All Saints Thelwall to continue to manage the Parish Hall for a period of 18 months assuming unchanged receipts and expenditure.”

3) Unallocated reserves policy for the Parish Hall

A sum of £10,000 should be made available by the PCC of All Saints Thelwall as unallocated reserves for project requirements of the Parish Hall, identified by the Parish Hall Management Committee and agreed by the PCC of All Saints Thelwall.

4) Unallocated reserves policy for the Church

A sum of £15,000 should be made available by the PCC of All Saints Thelwall as unallocated reserves for larger long-term projects identified as a result of the Quinquennial Inspection.

It was proposed and agreed that the allocated amounts and policies should be reviewed by PCC every 3 years with the next review taking place in May 2023.

The 200 Club acts as a working reserve for the Parish Hall.

INVESTMENT POLICY

We invest the allocated reserves in COIF funds, a low risk investment that, hopefully, will give a better return than a savings account. Since these funds are unlikely to be required at short notice, the risk is acceptable. The unallocated reserves are in savings or current accounts.

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT See other file.

Approved by the PCC on 23rd April 2021 by email and signed on their behalf by Revd Douglas Black:


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ALL SAINTS CHURCH THELWALL ANNUAL REPORT 2020-2021

Documents

Transcript of ALL SAINTS CHURCH THELWALL ANNUAL REPORT 2020-2021