THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST MARY’S WITH ST GABRIEL’S HANLEY SWAN

Annual Parochial Church Meeting Sunday 21st March 2021

Chair: The Revd Barry Unwin

Report for the Parochial Church Council, of St Mary’s Church, Hanley Castle with St Gabriel’s Hanley Swan Calendar Year 2020 Aims and Purposes Our Parochial Church Council (PCC) has the responsibility of cooperating with the incumbent, the Reverend Barry Unwin, in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish, the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. The PCC is also specifically responsible for the maintenance of the churches of St Mary, Hanley Castle and St Gabriel’s Hanley Swan. 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. The PCC maintains an overview of worship throughout the parish and makes suggestions on how our services can involve people living 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 Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and, in particular, the supplementary 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; and developing their knowledge and trust in Jesus. • Provision of 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 our church buildings. Achievements and Performance

None of us could have anticipated just how unusual 2020 would turn out to be. Due to the Covid-lockdown, for several months, the Church of ceased to exist, at least as defined in official statistics like the usual Sunday attendance! Praise God then that his church is so much more than buildings, and official statistics! For starters, lockdown forced us to innovate – moving online to offer a mix of regular pre-recorded Sunday and midweek services available on DVD and YouTube (streamed through our website, www.hopechurchfamily.org/virtual), and live services streamed on Zoom. Initially viewing figures were very high but have tailed off as “in-person” services restarted in some of our churches. However even during the “relaxed” period between lockdowns 1 and 2, when 4-5 services were taking place in person each week across the benefices, the online services were regularly being viewed by 50-60 people. I am grateful to everyone who made it possible to produce these services, most especially Sue Adeney, Jane Fraser and Alison Martin who innovated different styles of service at key pastoral moments. Alongside this, several pastoral measures came into being as they were needed in the first two lockdowns (lockdown 3 is not included in this report, as it happened in 2021!) These included: • Regular pastoral phone calls from the wardens, clergy, and service-leadership teams • A support mechanism for vulnerable people in the community, set up by Sue Adeney, to help with shopping and prescriptions. • The reopening of both St Gabriel’s and St Mary’s for private prayer. • Distribution of a prayer booklet for people without access to the internet. • Regular Zoom-based youth group activities for our Deep- End youth group. Considering some have dismissed the Church of England’s national response to the pandemic as pathetic, an awful lot of people locally seem to have expended an enormous amount of energy making a real difference in 2020. Whilst those who have regularly appeared on our computer and television screens are easier to identify, it is important also to pay tribute to the small legion of Covid-cleaners, who have worked so hard and carefully to allow us to open our buildings to the public on a limited basis. In addition, the work of our church wardens, who now carry the H&S responsibility of being “Covid Venue Managers” on behalf of the PCC, needs to be emphasised. Their can-do attitude has made what would otherwise have been a very tough year, something to celebrate. For further details of all that took place, do see the Church Wardens reports. Inevitably with the strictness of the lockdown during 2020-21, our involvement in our local schools has been diminished. “Whole-school” assemblies at Hanley Swan school stopped in March 2020 and did not resume during 2020. As a result, the school’s traditional visits to St Gabriel’s at Easter and Harvest and Christmas did not happen. However, we adapted our work with the school, providing fortnightly assemblies through YouTube, regular Open the Book videos (who would have thought 2020 would have seen us producing Peg-Men videos to tell bible stories!) and occasional live classroom visits through Microsoft Teams. Work with Hanley Castle School was similarly restricted, though we were still able to participate in the Christmas Carol Service, which was again an online-only service. We hope that the wonderful news about the vaccine that was developed around the end of 2020 will see 2021 become more normal by the end of the year! Church officers & Ministry Sue Adeney completed the second year of her curacy in mid- 2020. She is licensed to both benefices but the two churches in the Hanleys continue to be the main focus of her work. I’m grateful for all the work Sue has done this year, her enthusiasm and drive have been enormously helpful to our mission. Helen Owens and Carol Hutchings were re-elected as Church Warden in Hanley Castle and Hanley Swan respectively (though both are legally warden for both churches). I am enormously grateful to them for their hard work, advice and support throughout the year. I’m grateful to Sue Roberts for her work as treasurer, and to all of the other PCC members for their diligence and responsibility. I continue to be grateful to our clergy, Linda Bedford, Sue Adeney, Bill Rumball and David Martin for leading our services in the Hanleys. We reviewed who does what at the end of lockdown one, and a revised pattern of services was introduced across the whole of our benefices, designed to give each of our distinct congregations at least two services every month. Administrator In July 2020, our benefice administrator, Clare Bell moved on, and despite lockdown we were able to recruit a replacement, Alison Davis, who started work in October. The costs of employment are shared between the parishes in our benefices, except for Welland. Alison is based in the benefice office, in Upton Parish Church. She works 9am to 12:30pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and is available for a range of parish support duties including copying and document preparation as well as assisting with some Safeguarding, funeral, wedding, and baptism administration. Alison is now drawing to the end of her 6-month probationary period and we are very encouraged by her work and contribution. Worship and Prayer The PCC is keen to offer a range of services through the month and over the course of the year. Our pattern of regular services has changed in 2020 because of lockdown. St Mary’s, Hanley Castle First Sunday of the Month Evensong 6:30pm Second Sunday of the Month Holy Communion 9:30am Third Sunday of the month No service Fourth Sunday Family Service including Communion of the month 9:30am Fifth Sunday of Benefice Service – for location see the Month www.hopechurchfamily.org/calendar St Gabriel’s, Hanley Swan First Sunday of Holy Communion 9:30am joint with St the Month James, Welland Second Sunday No service (Morning Worship, at St of the Month James, Welland, 11am) Third Sunday of the month Holy Communion 9:30am Fourth Sunday of the month No service Fifth Sunday of Benefice Service – varying venues the Month

All are welcome to attend our regular services. Regular attendance varies throughout the year but, numbers do increase substantially at festivals and for carol services, however in 2020, due to Covid capacity restrictions in our buildings, attendances were significantly down. As well as our regular services, we enable our community to celebrate and thank God at the milestones of the journey through life. Through baptism we thank God for the gift of life, in marriage public vows are exchanged with God’s blessing and through funeral services friends and family express their grief and give thanks for the life which is now complete in this world and to commend the person into God's keeping. The lockdown prevented most baptisms and weddings from occurring in 2020 and placed very strict limits on funerals causing some families to choose the crematorium over a church funeral because of the facility to stream the service on the internet from there. The year in numbers:

St Mary’s, Hanley Castle 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 Sundays on 25 48 48 46 46 47 which services held Usual N/A 16 13 14 17 17 Sunday Attendance Baptism 0 2 5 1 3 2 Weddings 1 3 2 2 2 2 Funerals 2 2 2 2 2 3 Electoral 66 65 64 (joint 58 60 65 Roll (joint with with Hanley Hanley Swan) Swan)

St Gabriel’s, Hanley Swan 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 Sundays on 18 42 42 32 52 52 which services held Usual 27 21 21 21 Sunday Attendance Baptism 0 5 2 3 2 2 Weddings 1 2 2 2 4 2 Funerals 5 1 9 10 (2) 3 5 Electoral 66 65 64 (joint 58 60 65 Roll (joint (joint with with with Hanley Hanley Hanley Castle) Castle) Castle) Source; Annual Statistics for Mission CofE, submitted by our Church Wardens. Safeguarding The PCC is aware of its duty to have due regard to House of Bishops' guidance on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. In 2019 the PCC completed a “Safeguarding Toolkit” provided in the diocese as a way of self-assessment to seek to ensure it fulfils that duty. Our Safeguarding contact is Tina Carkeek, who oversees Safeguarding for both benefices. For further details, please see her safeguarding report. Structure, Governance and Management The method of appointment of PCC members is set out in the Church Representation Rules. The membership of the PCC consists of the incumbent (our vicar), churchwardens, 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 deciding on how the funds of the PCC are to be spent. New members would normally receive initial training into the workings of the PCC. Due to the lockdown, and social-distancing rules, the PCC met only four times in 2020/ 21, and the latter two took place entirely using Zoom. As most church activities were paused for the lockdown period, the PCC met only as often as was needed to transact its business (as per the Church Representation Rules). Attendance at meetings on Zoom was often greater than some physical meetings. Administrative Information The parish church of St Mary’s, Hanley Castle is situated is situated in the centre of Hanley Castle, WR8 0BL. The Church of St Gabriel’s, Hanley Swan, is situated on the B4209 west of Hanley Swan village. Together they are part of the Diocese of Worcester, within the Church of England. We are part of the benefice of Hanley Castle with Hanley Swan, and Welland. We share clergy with the benefice of Upton with the Hook, Ripple, with and Strensham. Together these two benefices use the title Hope Church Family. The correspondence address is The Church Office, St Peter and St Paul’s Church, Old Street, Upton upon Severn. The PCC is a body corporate (PCC Powers Measure 1956, Church Representation Rules 2006) and a charity currently excepted from registration with the Charity Commission. PCC members who served at any time from 1st January 2020 to 31 Dec 2020 were: Ex Officio Members • Incumbent: Rev’ d Barry Unwin (Chairman) • Wardens: Helen Owens, Carol Hutchings • John Boardman (Deanery Synod rep) • Curate: Rev’d Sue Adeney (meeting chair from June 2018) • Clergy: Rev’d Linda Bedford Elected Members - elected 2020, term ended APCM 2023. • Angela Godwin • Jane Garner • Pam Buckle (lay chair) Elected Members – elected 2019, term ends APCM 2022. • Sue Roberts • Nick Lechmere • John Quibel Smith Elected Members – elected 2018, term ends APCM 2021. • Stephen Gray • James Read Elected Members - elected 2017, term ends APCM 2020. • Sylvia Bailiss (PCC Secretary) • Pamela Buckle (Lay chair) • Samantha Watson Secretary: vacant as of APCM 2020.

Barry Unwin 9 Mar 2021

Ministry Report.

Linda Bedford SSM PTO

It has been a very strange year. More so than I can remember! My report is therefore brief.

As I am regarded as clinically extremely vulnerable, a good part of my time has been spent shielding- meaning that going anywhere is very limited.

However, I have kept quite busy on line! Taking part in Zoom services and prayer meetings etc. I have continued to participate in Open the Book ( Peg Productions) alongside my very talented colleagues. At present I am hosting a Lent Group. The participants keep me on my toes!

I have taken evensong services at St Mary’s Hanley Castle; including an All souls service. My input in St Gabriel has reduced but I keep in touch by telephone with many in Hanley Swan. I look forward to the time when I can walk to Hanley either to visit or come to services and hope that will not be too long.

Revd Linda Bedford

Ministry Report from the Curate 2020/21 This is my final year as curate and I hope to be “signed off” by the Bishop of Dudley in April. What that means I do not exactly know but I am assuming it will be more of the same! Or perhaps it should be less of the same. For this role can be all consuming even in a time of lockdown. I felt the ministry direction that should be taken in this strange time was pastoral. This is of course immensely challenging with Covid restrictions but in the beginning it was expressed in coordinating volunteers in the community to offer a helping hand to those shielding or on their own or just frightened. Tasks such as shopping and prescription runs and even telephone calls were provided. This built up a network of relationships in the community which I have developed over the year by delivering Harvest and Christmas packages. Along with others I have maintained contact with our regular congregation by telephone as far as possible. On line worship has been a significant feature of the year which has huge benefits. Personally, I have been particularly involved in midweek and Sunday provision of Spiritual Communion which had to be on Zoom rather than pre- recorded. Revd Jane Fraser and I have enjoyed working together on this as we gained confidence with the technology. A cross benefice fellowship has grown out of this. Alternate midweeks have been an Agape service. Returning to in-church worship was strange with new protocols but wonderful too. It was good to work with Churchwardens to ensure a Covid safe environment and to find ways of being creative in worship. This is one of the positives of this year, that in a sense we have been freed up to look and think out of the box. Christmas in particular allowed that at the carol service and in that season Throughout the pandemic I have been aware we were not reaching and supporting those who are not on the internet but now I have initiated ‘telephone church’ and this is picking up those few but critical people. I have taken a few funerals which have been particularly poignant at this time but only one as a result of Covid. One wedding took place in July with minimal guests but again creativity made it a very special occasion. I also produced a Service of Waiting for a couple who postponed their wedding. Sadly no baptisms and this is a point of concern as we may lose the contact we may have made. The children’s ministry through Messy Church has not taken place for well over a year and this is a great sadness as 18 months is a life time for children. I fear we will need to start again and afresh and build up once more. However the response to our Christingle packs across the benefice give encouragement – 150 delivered. My training has continued throughout with all day Zoom meetings and I have greatly enjoyed some other teaching days as a member of the diocesan clergy. In addition I am involved in HUET (Hanley & Upton Educational Trust) Chaplaincy for Rural Life, Committee for Social Responsibility, and the Climate Crisis Task Group of the Diocese which all keep me looking outwards to wider ministry. I have been grateful for the prayers and good wishes of so many people whilst I underwent 2 hip replacements this year for which I thank God

Revd Sue Adeney

St. Mary’s Church, Hanley Castle Churchwarden’s Annual Report 2021

Services. The church building was closed completely from March but opened again for Private Prayer as soon as this was possible. We completed a comprehensive risk assessment, I undertook regular Covid cleaning and all the necessary social distancing measures were instigated. The rota between the three churches in the Benefice enabled a 72-hour break between openings and the ability to go into church to pray was greatly appreciated by some members of the congregation and community. We restarted services from July with a revised pattern which included Evensong, 8.00am Holy Communion and a 9.30am Holy Communion and these were all very well attended. We managed to fit in a beautiful wedding which had a vastly reduced congregation but was possibly all the more meaningful for its intimacy. There have also been two small, graveside gatherings for the interment of ashes. Special services included Harvest Evensong in October and All Saints and All Souls in November both kindly taken by Linda and Alison. There was a full programme at Christmas including two ‘sittings’ of Carol Service with small choir, family choir and musicians; Holy Communion on Christmas Day with a reprise of the family choir and a baby in attendance as well; and an online Benefice Christingle, pre- recorded and available on Christmas Eve. The Ministry Team have been providing a wide and varied range of live streamed and pre recorded services online including Spiritual Communion, Agape and more recently Telephone Church, and for some this has been a lifeline. 2021 started with Rev. David Martin taking 8.00am Holy Communion before the January lockdown really kicked in. In consultation with the Ministry Team and the congregation, we decided to pause services in St. Mary’s since the new variant appeared to be much more transmissible, the rates were rising even in the local area, the advice was to ‘Stay at Home’ and it showed empathy and solidarity with the local businesses who were forced to close. Fabric of the Building. Even though the building was completely closed for part of the year, I made regular checks and we put the screen door in place so it was well aired. The gutters and drains were cleaned on a regular basis and once we opened again, regular Covid cleaning was completed. The Quinquennial Inspection conducted by Fred Hamer of Koda Architects, took place on 12th January and we await the report. I was able to walk round with Fred and take note of the points he raised, many of which were a continuation of the on-going problems which have been highlighted in previous reports. Events. The annual Beer & Ethics evenings started before the first lockdown but the programme could not be completed, though an online version of the ones we missed will run from March 2021 though it will have to be virtual beer even if the ethics are real! We were able to take part in Heritage Open Days in September with trails round the churchyard following the history of the church and village and the trees of the churchyard, their wildlife and folklore. We had about 120 visitors over both weekends plus the walkers who paused on their way through to read all the information which was left in situ during the week. I am grateful to Ann Tainton for helping at this event and for her ongoing support at St. Mary’s. The trails have now been uploaded to a Discover St. Mary’s website and, when circumstances permit, we aim to add to the content to cover the inside of the building as well.

Regular Groups. Crafty Castles, the craft and cookery club for children and young people, has not been able to meet in person but I have provided craft kits during the year and Advent Bags at Christmas. The Advent Bags had an activity for every day of advent with a mix of things to make, do and read and a chance to make something to give back to the community. The bags went to 16 children and young people helping to keep them connected to the church and to the real meaning of Christmas.

The adult craft group has not met either, but they have received a monthly craft kit, though they are all missing the chance to get together and enjoy the usual friendship, tea and cake. Eco Church. We achieved our Eco Church Bronze award and have continued to work on the many aspects involved in the hope of progressing towards Silver. We joined with Hanley Habitats in roping off an area of grassland in the churchyard which was left unmown through the summer. We noted the many species growing therein and accepted the offer of plug plants put in during the autumn to enhance the diversity We hope to identify further areas to treat in a similar way this year as well as to provide some specific planting around the fallen tree trunk. We accepted the offer of free bird boxes and having installed these we wait to see if anything takes up residence this spring. We have re-committed to being a Fair Trade Church, recalculated our carbon footprint and regularly promoted all aspects of Creation Care to the congregation. Community. The last year has been marked by numerous opportunities to reach out into the community and we have seized upon these wherever possible. We have joined in with the local initiatives to distribute food parcels and deliver shopping and prescriptions. Of course, in Hanley Castle there were already established networks of neighbours who helped each other out but we managed to join other people together so that more residents were connected to people who would shop for them while they were shielding or isolating. I started a regular weekly email to all members of the congregations at St. Mary’s and telephoned those not online; this now covers well over 30 people each week and, although it doesn’t seem possible, has been running for a year. We took part in the distribution of bags at Harvest and at Christmas as well as the Advent Bags to the children and young people. The scheduled Remembrance Service could not take place but we were pleased to be able to respond to a request by some local veterans and hold a simple Act of Remembrance around the War Memorial in Hanley Castle. It was particularly atmospheric with the reading of the names of the fallen, the laying of wreaths and particularly the Last Post played by a very well distanced bugler from the top of the tower – the notes seeming to echo round the quietness of the village. The usual Christmas Tree was placed outside the church and together with the nativity set was enjoyed by all who passed by. A few local villagers took the chance to enjoy carols round the tree on a rather chilly evening – cold but at least we were able to sing! Thanks. Thank you to all our Ministry Team for all their hard work in a difficult year and to everyone else who helps, in whatever capacity, to ensure that St. Mary’s remains a special place at the heart of the community. Helen E Owens. Churchwarden

St. Gabriel’s Church, Hanley Swan Churchwarden’s Annual Report 2021

Services : Sadly we had to close our buildings from March 2020 until June when we where able to open for private prayer. At this point I became the Venue Manager which involved being responsible for all Covid safety and cleaning issues. We started having services as soon as allowed and have continued to have them to date. We had one small wedding and two small funerals. We had our Crib service which was well supported but sadly our midnight Communion was not so well attended, that maybe because families could not get together.

Online Services : I would like to thank Barry, our Minister, for setting up and providing such excellent online services from the start of lockdown. The standard has been very high and has been appreciated. Thanks also go the Ministry Team for their services produced online.

Keeping in touch : I have kept in touch with our congregation through emails, zoom and phone.

Fabric : Gutters have been cleared, churchyard kept very tidy, including putting up many bird boxes donated from Severn Waste.

Food bank : we have continued to support the food bank.

Thanks : My personal thanks go to the many people that have worked hard during a difficult year, especially the small team that keeps the churchyard so welcoming. I would also like to thank the person who donated the shingle for the car park.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Pam Buckle, who has decided to stand down from all church duties. Pam has been a great support over the past 25 years to St. Gabriel’s and she will be sorely missed.

We have got through this difficult year by supporting one another and we go forward with Hope and with God’s Love that we may come back stronger.

Carol Hutchings Churchwarden.

Parochial Church Council Chair’s Report 2020/21 I wonder how many reports begin with “What a year 2020 has been!” And here is another. We managed to get out APCM in before lockdown 2020 and welcomed some new members to the table though only virtually as all the meetings have been held on Zoom this year. This has been strange in many ways but not impossible, and secured better attendance which was a positive. Meetings have taken place in May, November and February. The planned meeting schedule was not adhered to as there were fewer issues to deal with. Perhaps it’s a lesson learnt about what is really important in the grand scheme of things. Emails have been used for immediate response situations, and the meetings we have had have been constructive and supportive. Especial thanks must go to the churchwardens who have always been willing to take on the onerous responsibility of venue manager whose roles have included assessing risk and upholding Covid19 biosecurity when the churches have been opened for worship and private prayer. This they have done whilst keeping an eye on the maintenance of our buildings. The financial stability of the church which is always a concern has been even more this year with little income from our usual sources. We are grateful to those who give in the planned giving schemes and would like to encourage all others so to do. Thanks to Sue Roberts for her work in keeping us on track. We have missed having a permanent secretary and hope to remedy this in the future. Thanks go to all who have taken minutes. Revd Sue Adeney Parish Safeguarding Officer’s Report For the Parish of Hanley Castle St Mary’s with Hanley Swan St Gabriel’s As you may know, I am PSO (Parish Safeguarding Officer) for the parishes of Upton with the Hook, Hanley Castle with Hanley Swan, Ripple and also the Croomes, and this report will be much the same for all of the parishes, with a few changes where necessary. Most PCC and other meetings from March 2020 have been carried out “virtually” and much of the business of the church has been carried out online, via email and so on. This has been useful, but also somewhat challenging, as I think we probably all feel! I have attended two virtual PSO meetings with the Safeguarding department of the Diocese, one on October 11 2020 and one on March 1 2021. The importance of all parishes being compliant with Diocesan Safeguarding requirements has been much stressed during these meetings, and I have been working with the Parish Safeguarding Dashboard to monitor the progress each of our parishes are making. One of the requirements is for each parish to receive a Safeguarding Report from the PSO twice a year. Other important requirements are for plans, policies and procedures to be approved by the PCCs and some of these are currently in progress. There will be others in due course! As I think you are aware, it is now a requirement for all PCC members to complete a Basic Safeguarding training course (online at the moment, of course). It has been a bit of a challenge for me to encourage people to engage with this, but I am pleased to report that some people have now completed the course and I am confident that others will do so in the near future. Until recently, the Basic Safeguarding course has been sufficient for Churchwardens. However, at the meeting on March 1 we were informed that Churchwardens now need to complete a leadership training (code C2 at the moment, but this is due to change), as they are considered to have a pivotal role in safeguarding. I will therefore be contacting all the Churchwardens to ask them to complete this training. At the moment, there are no places on any of the courses being run by the Diocese (online at the moment) but they are planning to run more soon and dates will be advertised on the Diocese website. With regard to DBS checks, only one has been completed recently – for our new Benefice Administrator Alison Davis. At the meeting on March 1, we were warned that the situation with regard to how long DBS checks last is going to change soon. At present DBS checks only need to be renewed after 5 years, but this period is going to be reduced to 3 years in the future. It has not yet been made clear exactly how this will affect those of us with current DBS certificates.

Tina Carkeek PSO (Parish Safeguarding Officer) March 2021

Hanley Castle PCC Treasurer’s Annual Report 2021

I herewith present the Accounts for 2020, which have once again been independently examined by Ann Canham, and I should like to thank her for undertaking this task. Unsurprisingly, they do not make very good reading and show an excess of payments over receipts for the year to 31st December 2020, of £10,060. (This is compared to an excess of receipts over payments of £8,440 last year – a turn around of £18K). Since the start of the first lockdown in March we have ‘lost’, on average, about £1000 a month (and this has continued into the start of 2021). You will note from the accounts that collections at services are down by £8,428 and that fundraising was almost non-existent, apart from John’s quiz right at the start of the year. The amount received in fees was also reduced as there were fewer weddings and some funerals transferred entirely to the crematoria. Planned Giving dipped in the middle of the year but thanks to the PCC members who signed up to the Parish Giving Scheme this has now returned to, and indeed slightly exceeded, the level at the start of 2020. The Parish Giving Scheme is now available online allowing potential donors to simply search by parish or postcode and sign up to make a regular donation. Gift Aid is claimed by the scheme and paid to the PCC within a few days which helps with cash flow. The Scheme may also be accessed by telephone or indeed by post and if anyone would like any further information, I should be very pleased to speak to them. With online services taking place we set up the facility to give online as well through ‘Give A Little’ and made a QR code available. The payments side of the accounts emphasise the fact that many of the expenses remained at the same level throughout the year despite the churches being closed or not operating at normal capacity for most of the time. We managed to continue to pay full Parish Share of £17,676 and this has been held at the same amount for 2021. We decided to continue to pay our cleaners, even though they were not able to access the buildings at times, and the regular payments for the office, expenses of clergy, insurance etc. continued as usual. The utilities bills were slightly reduced but as the building closures were during the nicer, warmer weather it was not a significant saving. The balance on the current account at the end of December 2020 was £9,380 but it should be noted that just over £4K of the £9.3K is ring-fenced for Children’s Work following an anonymous donation for that purpose several years ago. We are in the fortunate position of having the investment of £10,500 in an unrestricted fund which we could, if necessary, transfer, in whole or part, to the current account. It is clear however that with the lockdown still in place at the moment and services either paused or not operating at their usual capacity things remain tight. However, with the possibility of getting back to ‘normal’ tantalisingly close, and the improving chance of fundraising opportunities such as the Open Gardens, it may be that we shall be able to manage without dipping into our savings.

Sue Roberts March 2021. . CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE'S MINISTRY Aspects of this appear within other reports.

OPEN THE BOOK March 2021

This year our local Primary Schools have not been able to have visitors due to Covid 19 restrictions. We have therefore had to find a different way to tell Bible stories to our schoolchildren.

We had the idea of filming little figures made from traditional wooden clothes pegs - like the ones many remember their grandparents using. We searched the internet and found some wooden pegs with a flat base. These turned out to be just right, when combined with pipe-cleaner arms! I painted the heads and faces and my wife dressed them using scraps of old material. Various ‘props’ such as tables, houses, whales etc, were fashioned from cardboard, twigs etc and several half-forgotten children’s toys were pressed into service as boats and animals.

The scenes are filmed using my wife’s smart phone on a small tripod, against a green cloth (designed for jigsaws), draped over a board, which enables our computing and editing genius, John Martin, to place background images behind the figures. Many of the backgrounds are pictures of the actual locations, e.g. Jerusalem, Nineveh or the Sea of Galilee. Our team meet up via Zoom so that John can record us reading/acting out the stories and then the images and sound can be edited together later. We have learnt a lot from Wallace and Gromit! Apparently, Nick Park’s team records the soundtrack first, then films the figures and action to match. After our first attempt proved a little tricky, this new way round really is the best way for us, too.

Special effects have been quite a challenge, e.g. Jesus ascending into the clouds or Jonah being eaten by a whale, but we have managed to come up with innovative solutions! So far, we have produced seven videos, with one more nearing completion. They have been much appreciated by both the staff and schoolchildren . It has all been a rather steep but very enjoyable learning curve for us all. Words like ‘screenplay’, ‘green screen’, ‘MP4 files’ and ‘that’s a wrap’ have now entered our vocabulary! Our OTB team has risen to the occasion in a way which we would never have anticipated at the beginning of last year. Huge thanks must go to everyone involved – Angela, Peter, James, John B, John M and Rev Linda, as well as all past team members.

We are very much looking forward to returning to our schools in person later in 2021. Meanwhile, the peg people will be helping us to bring the Bible stories to life for a little while to come.

Steve Gray

The Hanley’s and Welland’s Benefice House Group The House Group met every Wednesday evening through the year. Because of the constraints of lockdown, we have met by zoom, to which John Martin was able to introduce us and which he continues to manage. We are grateful to him for hosting us on zoom and recently for facilitating the use of break-out rooms, to allow for smaller groups to discuss and consider text. We have had a regular attendance of 14, drawn from the three churches, and recently have welcomed new member Jane MacKay to our number, which now stands at 15. We are glad to welcome new members, who can join at any time through the year. We spent the summer term with continued study of St Matthew’s gospel, and in the autumn term we started on Isaiah, beginning at chapter 40 and continuing to the end, usually a chapter per evening, but sometimes we cover two chapters together. After Isaiah, we plan to study St Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, which will be relevant for our planned pilgrimage. Group members have continued to take turns leading, and we have all benefited from the variety that that brings. The planned pilgrimage ‘In the Footsteps of St Paul’ was postponed for one year, due to Coronavirus, but we hope it can take place in September. We have not been able to enjoy our Quiet Day at Holland House this year, due to lockdown, but we hope we might resume it next year. For the same reason, we have not met for a festive meal or a summer party, although at Christmas, at the end of the autumn term, we met by zoom for mince pies and mulled wine. My warm thanks to our study leaders for the part they play in the life of House Group. Thanks be to God for his continued blessing on us.

Angela Godwin 1.3.2021

WOMEN’S FELLOWSHIP REPORT 2020

th 8 January 14 of us met for our post Christmas party. We entertained one another with anecdotes of what we did in our 20’s with some very interesting accounts. We ate a shared tea and exchanged gifts. Connie Perry wrote a poem, which we sang to a well known tune. Thank you to Dorothy Meredith for hosting.

th 29 January - Our first monthly meeting was held at Merrievale Court, Barnard’s Green, the home of Marion West, with 15 attending. Unfortunately, this was the last time Marion was able to host as she moved to a care home in Birkdale, near rd Southport on 3 March. We welcomed Michael and Sheila Andrews again to give us their talk about their recent stopover week in India on their way to Australia to spend Christmas 2018 with their daughter and family near Melbourne. Arriving in New Delhi, they stayed in a very pleasant establishment, were ferried around by an excellent guide and taxi and managed to see many of the usual tourist sights. These included old Delhi and Agra, with the famous Taj Mahal.

th 26 February - Ruth Forrest of the Malvern branch of Amnesty International came to tell us about her work for refugees and asylum seekers. Now dealing with 150 countries the movement was begun in 1972 to stop torture and abolish the death penalty. 28,300 people a day leave home adding to 23 million refugees. Half are children under 18. Malvern began to welcome people in 2014 (five out of a hundred in ). Some very sad personal stories were then related; of trafficking illegals, asylum seekers claiming citizenship and other refugees. Thank you to St James’ church, Welland for allowing us to use their upstairs space. Unfortunately, we had to cancel our ‘Lenten Reflection’ due to be given by Greville Cross on 25th March due to the Coronavirus. We were unable to meet for the rest of the year but have kept in touch by e-mail to share prayers, bible verses, poems, music and to support one another. In the future, we will need to rethink about where we might meet as it may not be possible to do this in members’ homes. Cynthia Chandler Leader

BELLRINGERS REPORT 2020

During January and February we followed our usual pattern for ringing at our churches. A group of ringers visited St Gabriel's on Saturday 29th February, and before their visit the bell ropes were checked for signs of wear.

In March, due to the Pandemic, all ringing was suspended and will not resume until it is safe to do so.

The repainting of the bell headstocks at St Mary's will be done when it is safe and convenient to do so.

When restrictions are lifted our towers will need a grand clean-up of both the bell chambers and the ringing rooms, before we can resume ringing. It will also be essential to inspect the bells and do any maintenance that is required.

Hopefully we will be able to return to normality later in June.

Sheila Andrews , correspondent for the Hanley’s.

Upton Deanery report Meetings this year were cancelled apart from the last ones online when the Deanery in effect closed its business. A gift was given to Revd. Chris and Eileen Moss as rural Dean and secretary, and to Marie Tomans as Lay Chair, in appreciation of many years of service. Thanks are due to Pam Buckle who has represented us under 4 rural Deans and John Boardman for 18 years as treasurer.

At a standing committee meeting of the Upton Deanery, it was decided, and later confirmed by telephone with Deanery members, that the funds held should be distributed prior to combining with Malvern in the new enlarged deanery. The funds in the fundraising account into which people made donations would be distributed to the three charities after Gift Aid was applied. Donors were requested to cancel their standing orders, or if they wished to continue their donations they could do so direct to the charity.

The Deanery expenses account, used mainly for the hire of village halls was closed by the issue of four cheques to the four benefices. The Youth Fund was closed in the same manner and the use of these funds should be used as intended for youth work and not for general use. The Upton Deanery now has no accounts and no money is held.

John Boardman Upton Deanery Treasurer March 2021 Friends of St. Mary’s Church, Hanley Castle Annual Report to the PCC Church Clock. The first major project funded by the Friends was completed when Bob Chester-Lamb finished work on the clock. All the workings had been removed to Bob’s workshop, restored, re-bushed, and returned to the tower. Bob also painted the frame, checked the weights and ropes, and made sure everything was in good working order. We couldn’t get a 200 year guarantee out of him but hopefully it will be good for many years to come. The final invoice was for £1500 which the Friends were able to pay in full. Events. Although there were no in-person events this year we were able to utilise the skills of some of our members to enable a couple of online events to take place. The usual Nativity Exhibition was replaced by a Nativity Advent Calendar with a different Nativity from Helen’s extensive collection opening each day accompanied by prayers and reflections by Revd. Sue Adeney and links to information and music from the country concerned. They site was viewed around the world and several people made it their routine to open it every day, over their morning tea or coffee. At the end of January, we were delighted to be able to have a Virtual Burns Nights hosted, in her own inimitable way, by Sue Adeney with technical expertise and quiz provided by Ross. Both events enabled online giving to the Friends, raised a small amount of money but, more importantly, allowed people to continue to connect with their friends at St. Mary’s. We hope that we will all be able to get together in person soon to resume fundraising and Friendship. Helen Owens March 2021 Friends of St Gabriel’s Report March 2021 Our Friends of St Gabriel’s activities have been seriously curtailed over the past year by the impact of Covid 19. However, despite the restrictions, we had a very successful Christmas Fair, the numbers of people attending far exceeded our expectations. We had a wide range of items for sale in a Covid safe environment. Our event gleaned many positive comments, it was lovely to see so many familiar faces, some of whom had not been outside their front doors for a very long time. We were pleasantly surprised at the end of the day to find that we had raised a similar amount to last year’s Fair. We look forward to events later in 2021 when current restrictions are eased.

Steve Gray March 2021

Hanley Castle Parochial Church Council Financial Statement for the year ended 31st December 2020

2020 2019 £ £ RECEIPTS Voluntary Income 01 Gift-Aided Planned Giving 10,892 10,862 02 Other Planned Giving 760 660 03 Collections at Services 4,692 13,120 04 Other Recurring Giving/Donations 1010 0 05 Non-Recurring Giving/Donations 1,660 1,448 06 Tax recovered through Gift Aid (see note 2) 7,490 9,143 07 Legacies Received 0 0 08 Grants 0 0

26,504 35,233

Activities for Generating Funds 09 Gross Income from Fund-Raising Activities 600 9,759 600 9,759

Income from Investments 10 Dividends, Interest and Income from Property 1,323 1,316 1,323 1,316

Church Activities 11 PCC Fees 3,665 5,409 3,665 5,409

Total Receipts 32,091 51,717

PAYMENTS Costs of Generating Funds 17 Costs of Generating Funds 0 2,546 0 2,546

Charitable Activities 18 Mission Giving/ Donations to Charities 2,359 4,037 2,359 4,037

Church Activities 19 Diocesan Parish Share 17,676 17,328 21 Expenses of clergy, staff etc. 3,727 3,500 23 Church Expenses 16,385 12,442 24 Utilities 2,004 2,744

39,792 36,014

Total Payments 42,151 42,597

Major Capital Expenditure 27 Major repairs & redecoration to the Church 0 680

Total Payments and Capital Expenditure 42,151 43,277

EXCESS OF RECEIPTS OVER PAYMENTS (10,060) 8,440

Page 1 of 4 Hanley Castle Parochial Church Council Statement of Assets and Liabilities 31st December 2020 2020 2019 ASSETS £ £ Current Assets Current Accounts HSBC Current Account 9,380 17,266 Petty Cash 113 70 Total Current Accounts 9,493 17,336

Deposit Accounts Deposit Account (CBF01) 10,500 10,500 Total Deposit Accounts 10,500 10,500

Restricted Funds St. Mary’s Fund (CBF03) 2,754 2,743 Facility Improvement Fund (CBF04) 9,542 9,501 St. Mary’s Special Account (CBF05) 25 25 Hanley Bells Restoration Fund (HBRF) 2,066 2,052 Friends of St. Mary’s Church (FOSM) 9,927 10,215

Total Restricted Funds 24,314 24,536

Accounts Receivable 1,728 7,441

Other Current Assets Accrued Revenue 703 2,483 Undeposited Funds 826 3,042 Total Other Current Assets 1,519 5,225

Total Current Assets 47,618 65,338

Other Assets Income Shares CBF Investment Fund H C Chyd Maint Fund – 140 Shares 2,868 2,684 2,868 2,684 COIF Charities Investment Fund Algernon Shewell Bequest – 603 Shares 10,861 10,208 Church Estate Charity – 1642 Shares 29,575 27,797 M Baugh – 7 Shares 126 119 40,562 38,124

Total Income Shares 43,430 40,808

Prepaid Charges 0 263

Total Other Assets 43,430 41,071

TOTAL ASSETS 91,048 106,409

LIABILITIES Current Liabilities Accounts Payable 200 Total Current Liabilities 200

TOTAL ASSETS LESS LIABILITIES 91,048 106,209

Page 2 of 4 Hanley Castle Parochial Church Council Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31st December 2020

1. Basis of Accounting. The financial statements of the Parochial Church Council are prepared using the receipts and payments basis.

2. Gift Aid 2020 2019 £ £ Planned Giving Gift Aid 3,239 3,233 Small Donations Gift Aid 2,860 5,837 6,099 9,070

For the financial years 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 Gift Aid tax rebate was 25%.

3. Movements on Restricted Funds 2020 2019 Receipts into Restricted Funds £ £ Voluntary Income 01 Gift Aided Planned Giving 760 840 02 Other Planned Giving 30 20 04 Other Recurring Giving/Donations 0 0 05 Non Recurring Giving/Donations 389 833 06 Tax recovered through Gift Aid Activities for Generating Funds 09 Gross Income from Fund Raising 67 2,622 Income from Investments 10 Dividends & Interest 52 93 Total 1,298 4,408

Payments from Restricted Funds Costs of Generating Funds 17 Costs of Generating Funds 20 20 Church Activities 23 Church Expenses (Clock) 1500 0 Total 1,520 20

Excess of Receipts over Payments (222) 4,388

Approved by the Parochial Church Council and signed on its behalf

Revd. S Adeney, Chair Miss S Roberts, Hon Treasurer 11th February 2021 11th February 2021

Page 3 of 4

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT

TO HANLEY CASTLE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL

This report on the accounts of the Parochial Church Council for the year ended 31st December 2020, which are set out on pages 1 to 3, is in respect of an examination carried out under Regulation 3 (3) of the Church Accounting Regulations 1997 and Section 43 of the Charities Act 1993.

Respective responsibilities of the Treasurer and Examiner

As the members of the Parochial Church Council you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. You consider that the audit requirement of Regulation 3 (3) of the Church Accounting Regulations 1997 and Section 43 (2) of the Charities Act 1993 (the Act) do not apply. It is my responsibility to issue this report on those accounts in accordance with the terms of Regulation 25 of the Church Accounting Regulations and Regulation 7 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 1995.

Basis of Independent Examiner’s Report

My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission under Section 43 (7) (b) of the Act and to be found in the guidance from CBF. That examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the Parochial Church Council and a comparison of the accounts with those records. It also includes considering any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from you the trustees considering any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and correspondingly I do not express an opinion on the view given by the accounts.

Independent 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 requirements

- to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 41 of the Act; and - to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and to comply with the requirements of the Act

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.

Ann L. Canham Independent Financial Examiner.

Page 4 of 4