Annual Parish Meeting held at 7.30PM on Thursday 18th May 2023 at Abbots Morton Village Hall
Minutes
Present: Martin Willingale (Parish Council Chair), Nick Humphries (Parish Councillor), Martyn Walton (Parish Councillor), Jacqueline Allum (Parish Councillor), Colin Pemberton (Village Hall Bookings Officer & PCC Secretary) and Ben Hurdman (District Councillor).
In attendance: Kerry Williamson (Clerk).
Parishioners: 2
- Chairman’s welcome and announcements
Martin Willingale opened the meeting and welcomed parishioners and Ben Hurdman, newly elected District Councillor.
- Apologies for absence
Karen Brighton (Parish Councillor), Lynne Pemberton (Village Hall Committee Chair)
- To approve the minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on the 26th May 2022
It was RESOLVED to adopt the minutes as a true record, and they were duly signed by the Chair.
- Matters arising from those minutes (if any)
There were no matters arising.
- To receive a report from the District Councillors
Ben Hurdman introduced himself as the newly elected District Councillor.
No report available due to both District Councillors being newly elected at the beginning of May.
- To receive a report from the County Councillor
No report provided.
- To receive a report from the Parochial Church Council
Incumbent: The Reverend Canon Richard Thorniley
Pioneer Deacon: The Revd Dr Chris Sheehan
Licensed Lay Minister: Pippa Heenan
Bank: Lloyds Bank
Independent Examiner: Mike Hoyes
Church Architect: John Middleton
Churchwarden Lynne Pemberton
Musical Leaders Lynne Pemberton (Organist)
Number on Electoral Roll: 9 (December 2022)
Average Weekly attendance: 8 Adults 0 Children
Parochial Church Council
The Parochial Church Council of St Peter’s, Abbots Morton is a charity exempted from registration with the Charity Commission.
It aims to cooperate with the incumbent in promoting in the parish the whole mission of the church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical (PCC (Powers) Measure 1956)
Members
Incumbent The Reverend Canon Richard Thorniley (Chair)
Churchwarden Lynne Pemberton (Lay Chair)
Deanery Synod rep Vacant
Elected members Roma Jones, Tim Jones, Lynda Payne, Colin Pemberton,
Honorary Treasurer: Tim Jones
Electoral Roll Officer: Lynne Pemberton
Honorary Secretary: Colin Pemberton
PCC members are appointed in accordance with the Church Representation Rules. The Incumbent, Church Wardens and Deanery Synod Representatives are ex-officio members of the PCC. Other members are elected at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) or co-opted during the year.
Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities
The trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
The law applicable to charities in England and Wales requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently.
- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP 2015 (FRS 102).
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.
- state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements.
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and the provisions of the trust deed. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud or other irregularities.
The trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the charity and financial information included on the charity’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
Review and thanks for the Year
We’ve been very fortunate to have had the services of Pippa Heenan our newly Licensed Lay Minister and Revd Chris Sheehan throughout the year. They have complemented our Rector Rev Canon Richard Thorniley whose time has been limited on occasions through his commitment to his increasingly frail mother who sadly died in early 2023.
The PCC decided in May 2022 to end 8.30 am services and that the first Sunday of the month would be a Service of the Word at 11.00 am and the service on the third Sunday of the month would be a Holy Communions service at 11.00 am. These took effect in June. Attendances have not been large, and the PCC will be considering whether the Mothering Sunday service should start at 10.00 am and/or become a “Twenty is Plenty” service lasting just 20 minutes.
We held a full range of “special services” throughout the year, including Christingle and Mothering Sunday, Remembrance Day, and the Harvest Service, after which fresh produce went to a care home in Kingdom and non-perishable produce went to Caring Hands. Two representatives of Action for Children addressed the Carol and Gift Service went away with a large number of gifts. The Christmas Eve Communion in the church was preceded by Carols on the Green which saw another large turnout around a Christmas Tree on the village green for the second successive year. A bucket collection raised £68 for the church Flower Fund. An innovation this year was a Forest Church service, outside in the churchyard alongside the Conservation Area and under a tree. It was a very enjoyable experience, sure to be repeated.
Harvest Supper took place after a three year postponement because of Covid 19 among the organisers, and it was an excellent occasion. Limited to 50 people it was a ‘full house” and raised £1,100 for the church. There was no Flower Festival last year but floral arrangements throughout the year were wonderful and with knowledge now of how to make them in a more sustainable way our flower arrangers are fired up with fresh enthusiasm. Our thanks to all who give of the time and money to make the church look so good and to Roma Jones, in charge of our flower arranging rota.
And if the church were not open every day, fewer people would be able to see and appreciate the beauty of the flowers. We strive hard to open the church daily a fact much appreciated by the entries in the visitor’s book and our thanks go to Lynda Payne who draws up the locking and unlocking rota, and indeed our thanks to all those on the rota from across the parish.
Our thanks, too, to our Treasurer, Tim Jones, for keeping our accounts in excellent order and to our musician Lynne Pemberton.
We are particularly grateful to a benefactor, Mr Christopher Price, who, in memory of his cousin Iris Davenport Price, has covered the considerable costs of the vestry repair and some roof repairs, now completed. To mark his generosity, a plaque has been placed on the wall inside the entrance porch to the church.
One of the most significant moments of the past year was the sad death of Kevin Clarke who died last August after a valiant fight against cancer. Kevin was churchwarden for 16 years and was much loved in the community. His memory will live on with a plaque on the new gates at the top of the steps. A special Vestry Meeting was held to elect Lynne Pemberton to succeed him as Churchwarden on 17th May.
Another significant moment was the departure from the village of Terry and Margaret Brewster, who have gone to live in Broadway. The Brewsters have been prominent figures in Abbots Morton for many, many years and their service to the church was incomparable. Although not physically in the parish, they still maintain their interest and contribute to the church finances. We miss them.
St Peter’s marked the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with a service organised by Revd Richard and it was agreed that we would place a plaque alongside a Strawberry Tree to mark the occasion of her Platinum Jubilee.
On the death of Her Majesty, we displayed an approved photo of her in a black frame on a black cloth covering the table just inside the door. Pages were set aside in the Visitors’ Book to form a Book of Condolence, which many people signed.
A number of people from the community volunteered to ring a single bell on the day of the funeral and they said they found it a very moving experience. On the accession to the throne of King Charles III, joyful bells were rung, and a request has gone out for volunteers to ring the bells on the morning of the King’s Coronation on May 6th 2023.
We are an environmentally conscious church and when one of our bulbs failed we decided to invest in LED lights throughout the nave, chancel and the porch and we also have an LED bulb overt the church gates at the top of the steps.
The Green altar cloth has now been cleaned along with the brassware. Our thanks to all concerned. Roma thanked Richard who had used Buckley Cleaners in Stratford upon Avon.
At our Easter Sunday service, our special Elizabethan Silver Communion Cup was used for Communion. Made in 1571 it is one of only 84 cups of this type in the Archdeaconry of Worcester and it is greatly treasured.
The PCC has had a busy year and with just five members it means a lot of work. But to maintain and enhance our lovely church and its significance in our community is well worth it. If anyone eligible wishes to join the PCC and share in the joy, we would be delighted to welcome you.
Colin Pemberton
Honorary Secretary
Churchwarden’s Report for 2022 activities
This has been a year of Repair, Renovation, Renewal, Refurbishment and the Reward of seeing the church keeping pace with things that need doing.
It’s also been a year of the Environment and Ecology as we do our best to maintain and enhance our tiny corner of the planet.
Restoration/Renewal/Repair
- Nativity Scene. Our thanks to Jacki and Stephen Allum for their amazing refurbishment of the Nativity stable, even putting in interior strip lighting. They also painstakingly restored all the figurines and the crib and everything that makes up the Nativity scene. While on Christmas things, our thanks too to Roma Jones for supplying new boxes to hold all the Christmas decorations.
- We engaged a cleaner, Helen Kesterton, to give the church a thorough clean on occasions throughout the year. It looks so much the better for it…and we thank those who occasionally bring a vacuum cleaner to keep the carpets in good order.
- Notice board. Barry Oddy put his practical skills to great use on our behalf , putting in some clear glass in the main noticeboard at the foot of the steps, replacing the old Perspex which was so worn you could hardly read the notices!. Barry also replaced the old title piece with the new one which had been made of oak some years ago. We are grateful to Barry and Viv who were happy to meet the cost as a gift to the church.
- New gates at the top of the steps. At the time of writing, a local carpenter is manufacturing new gates to replace the ageing gates which are no longer fit for purpose. The new oak gates will be very similar, if not identical, to the present ones and will have a small plaque on them in memory of the late Kevin Clarke who died in August 2022. The cost of the gates will be met from donations made at Kevin’s funeral for the church Fabric Fund and will be a permanent reminder of everything Kevin did during his 12 years as churchwarden.
- This was our biggest task of the year. The vestry was cracking and coming away from the church through subsidence. It has now been pinned back into place, replastered, repainted, cleaned and re-arranged and even has a new rug. Our thanks to all who have been working so hard on this project.
Replacement?
- Some things were beyond repair and a number of chairs have been disposed of because of the extensive woodworm in them. Other may have to go the same way and the question of what will replace them will be a matter of discussion on the PCC in the year ahead.
Environment/ Ecology
Enhancing our environment and being ecologically aware of our responsibilities has been a priority for the PCC and various improvements and enhancements have been made to the churchyard.
- Tree Surgeon Rupert Daffern was engaged to remove a fallen tree on the northern perimeter and cut away dead limbs on a tree overhanging the disabled access route across the churchyard. Judicious pruning of branches overhanging the steps was also carried out to bring more light and to reduce leaf fall on the steps to help reduce slip hazards.
- Conservation Areas. Two Conservation Areas have been created in the churchyard. The more visible one is either side of the path at the southwestern side of the church up towards the kissing gate. It’s marked out with signs showing that we are part of the Worcestershire Wildlife Church programme and will be allowed to mature into an uncut habitat for natural flora and fauna. A smaller area in the northeast corner of the churchyard will also remain in its natural state.
- Another working party is currently looking at our hedgerows to see where they can be improved and what can best be planted, perhaps including a Coronation Tree to make the Coronation next month of King Charles III.
- Bird boxes. A number of bird boxes donated via the village hall are now in place and an owl box may go on an ash tree near the northeast corner with an unrestricted flight path.
- Bushes available for flower arrangers. Two bushes at the western wall of the bell tower, planted 18 years ago, provide excellent foliage for use in floral arrangements and any flower arrangers are welcome to help themselves.
The Year Ahead.
We’ll be continuing our restoration and refurbishment programme, assessing the need for a replastering and repainting of the interior of the church. This will be a major project following on from the successful restoration of the vestry.
May I thank everyone in our community who contributes and helps to maintain and enhance our lovely Grade I-listed 14th century St Peter’s church.
Lynne Pemberton, Churchwarden
Deanery Synod Report 2022
The first meeting of the year was part in person and part via zoom. It was led by Reverend Canon Sarah Dangerfield with Reverend Dr Chris Sheehan leading the worship. Reverend Dick Johnson gave us a very interesting talk on workplace chaplaincy. Dick highlighted that we ought to consider that God is already in the workplace and comes alongside everyone in their daily role.
The second meeting took place in Saint Barnabas’ Church, Drakes Broughton. Jack Hegarty, previous CEO of Wychavon and a town planner, was the speaker and he gave us information about the number of houses planned to be built in South Worcestershire.
We talked about the need for church schools and centres for community use and worship.
The third meeting was held online via zoom. The speaker was Simon Hill the Diocesan Youth Officer. The church is reaching far fewer children and young people and we need to seek new and creative ways to reach out to them. Bengeworth has a renewal project, Harvington is pursuing a joint project with the Baptist Church, and Elmley Castle is trialling a midweek after school worship for the family. Elsewhere Cafe Church and Forest Church are being tried.
All the meetings ended with the Grace.
Anne Logan, Deanery Synod Representative for Church Lench
Safeguarding
There have been no safeguarding concerns reported in the last twelve months. Safeguarding Awareness should be refreshed every three years.
The PCC has complied with the duty under section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016 (duty to have due regard to House of Bishops guidance on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults).
Safeguarding Awareness should be refreshed every three years. Currently, this can be achieved online by visiting the Diocesan website www.cofe-worcester.org.uk and click on Safeguarding section, then choose Online Training.
Jill Francis, Benefice Safeguarding Officer
Rector’s Notes
I am hugely grateful to the hard working PCC who have overseen a number of projects involving the church fabric, church cleaning and in the churchyard. Being an Abbots Morton PCC member is not all meetings and pontificating it can be mucky and dusty too!
Lynne generously stepped into the role of Churchwarden in May and has been a great stalwart in what for her is a new role – but duck and water are words that come to mind when reflecting upon what she has achieved.
Pippa and Guy are wonderful additions to the community and the worship her at St Peter’s what a blessing they have been and long may they remain so.
We have also seen additions to our worshipping community in the shape of Jackie Allum and Sarah Dyson-Bingham who have regularly offered to take part in services – we will have to see how else we can engage them in the life of St Peter’s.
Jackie and her husband Steve as reported elsewhere redecorated the crib and brought the whole scene alive in an extraordinary way.
Financially it has been a surprisingly good year so a huge thanks to all those who have supported the church and given their time and energy to fund raising activities. Our special thanks to Christopher Price a generous beneficiary has been noted earlier in this report.
What impresses me is that the St Peter’s Abbots Morton community although not large in number are never complacent and are always looking outward. Inspired by the gospel which offers hope as well as good news look to see how neighbours can be helped – whether it’s through the gifts of flowers or other floral gifts to those who are poorly, to trying to get church steps safer on a public right of way or as will be considered the timing and length of services. One wonders what else is being planned?
The repainting of the church is one project but more will follow.
So I pray that St Peter’s Abbots Morton may continue to bring joy, delight, hope and above all the sharing of the good news through word and example for many years to come.
Richard Thorniley, Rector of St Peter’s Abbots Morton
- To receive a report from the Village Hall Committee
This is my second Annual Report as Chair of this magnificent village hall. It’s been a fascinating and challenging year and I would first of all like to thank the dedication, hard work and enthusiasm of our small but beautifully formed committee.
Our Secretary Pat Willingale has continued to be a most thorough and efficient secretary, keeping everything in good order.
Our Treasurer, Sarah Dykes, cannot be with us in person tonight because, as we all know, she is in Hong Kong sharing her life now with her husband over there and with her friends here in Abbots Morton. Sarah has keenly monitored expenditure and efficiently run the accounts, which have been meticulously examined by Tim Jones.
Martin Willingale, the Parish Council representative, has been great, using his expertise to lay out clearly to the committee the usage of electricity and costs of running the hall. This has assisted us in confidently raising our hire charges (which haven’t increased since 2015), to a fair and reasonable level. Since raising our rates, electricity costs have gone up even further but we are maintaining our new hire charges for as long as we can.
Martin is the principal operator of a mobile phone app which controls our heating system. Thank you Martin.
Our income at the moment is still below expenditure and getting the hall warm for our early morning yoga classes on Mondays and Friday has resulted in little or no profit during the cold snaps this winter, but we should now move into healthy profit as Spring arrives.
And finally, I would like to thank Colin for his hard work as Bookings Officer and PRO.
Despite raising our fees bookings have held up well. As well as our regular yoga classes, we had 22 bookings in 2022 which included: 8 Birthday parties, a Christening Party, retirement party, a funeral service and wake (Natural Undertaking), and a publicity photoshoot of Bouncy castles and various inflatables by the Little Party Animals company run by Heather Arnold from Astwood Bank.
The Royal British Legion (Rous Lench branch) hired us for their annual presentation evening and the Hereford Cattle Society held their AGM here, courtesy of the Whitlow family. The Church has used us quite often, with St Peter’s staging their Harvest Supper, while the ARCH Benefice held two Lent Courses here in March. The former vicar of Inkberrow, Rev Nick Wright, chose us for a Diocesan spiritual day. Our loyal customers, Vetimage and the TLI cycle race, booked us again and, of course, the Parish council meets here. On the occasion of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee we loaned out tables for the celebration around the village green and we also hired out tables to one villager for a private event.
We are confident of many bookings in 2023. We have already had a birthday party for Cat Wood’s 5 yr old and that has led to two more bookings for children’s parties in the coming months. We have a Christening in two weeks time and another inflatables photo-shoot. There are two wedding weekends in the pipeline for Easter and in June
St Peter’s church is holding an innovative event here next month… a demonstration of environmentally friendly flower arranging on March 3rd.
AND, potentially…but not yet confirmed, we are hopeful of a regular booking on Friday nights of two-hour meditation classes. Interestingly, the lady who came to view the hall declared us the prettiest village hall she’s seen.
During the year we sadly lost the Stratford Scribes but only because they found a venue nearer to Stratford.
As well as the 22 successful bookings over the year, we also had 19 enquiries which eventually didn’t come to fruition for various reasons and I would like to thank our Bookings Officer for all the time and effort he puts in looking after our hirers.
Although 2022 was not as busy in terms of developments, we have been delighted with the success of our coffee mornings on the first Tuesday of every month. The first was in March and started with just one a person and her dog. Attendance has gradually increased and at this month’s gathering there were 13 people… and that was with four regulars unable to be there! The Coffee Mornings are proving a great opportunity just to come and meet with others in the neighbourhood, to chat and swap stories and, to my mind that is what a village hall… a community centre… is all about.
A special coffee morning was held in March to help the plight of people suffering in the war in Ukraine, raising £1,000 and in October we took part in the MacMillan Cancer Support coffee mornings, raising £120.
In the Village Hall Newsletters we use the phrase “Communication is Everything” and during the year we’ve set up a sign at the entrance to the Car Park telling people that it is for users of the village hall, with exceptions only with the agreement of the Bookings Officer. The system is working well.
The A-board been renovated by the Willingales and is used effectively for Coffee Mornings. The main noticeboard facing the road has been refurbished with our thanks to Martyn Walton
Bird boxes – 10 boxes are now in place. The RSPB boxes were paid for by the Severn Waste landfill fund and were put up by the two Marti(y)ns, Willingale and Walton. The nesting boxes should come into their own this year.
FUTURE
It would be good to have events for the neighbourhood.
We would like them a) to use the hall to the full as a community space; b) to raise money for charities; c) to bring in more income.
In order to run events we need more than just the five members of the village hall committee. To that end, we’re forming a group to be known as the Friends of the Village Hall. We know that not everyone wants to come onto a committee (though that would be most welcome) but we hope as any people in the neighbourhood as possible will become a Friend and give their help in organising and running some events and become a vital part of this fabulous community space.
Thank you.
Lynne Pemberton, Chair.
- To receive a report from the Neighbourhood Watch
No report provided.
- To receive the Annual Report of the Parish Council by the Chairman
Martin Willingale thanked the Village Hall Committee and PCC for their continued efforts throughout a busy year.
Abbots Morton continued into the year as Covid restrictions were fully lifted. It was the second year that we welcomed a Christmas tree on the Village Green and it certainly brightened up the village throughout December. The lighting celebration as well as the Carols on the Green were both well attended. My thanks to Martyn Walton for all his efforts in arranging for the Christmas tree and decorations to happen. Also well done to Martyn for catching the delivery driver who stole his barbecue from the village green! The village celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in style with a street party. The road through the village was closed and many parishioners set up tables for the celebrations. A good time was had by all. We even had The Queen in attendance on the balcony of Church View (albeit a life size cardboard cutout!). Our thanks to Sarah Dykes and her band of helpers who did a great job in organising the event. We have approved a tree to be planted for the Queen’s Green Canopy and this is in hand. Only three months later it was a sad day when we learnt of Her Majesty’s passing in September 2022. The village marked the occasion of her funeral with a sombre ringing of the Church bell. There was joyful bell ringing on the accession of King Charles III. The Coronation of the new King was celebrated at a well-attended special coffee morning at the Village Hall, subsidised by a generous donation from Wychavon District Council. In November 2022 the planning application for the builders yard at The Chalet resulted in the biggest public attendance at a Council meeting for some time. The application caused quite a stir with many objections from parishioners. The application was subsequently refused by Wychavon. This has been a time of some change for the Parish Council. We were surprised when our clerk, David Hunter-Miller, submitted his resignation in September 2022. He had been our clerk since 2017 and had a wealth of knowledge and experience. However, we are delighted to have appointed Kerry Williamson to take over the role. She has proved to be a worthy successor to David as a very efficient and attentive clerk. We have even joined the 21st century as we are now signed up for internet banking! The vacant position for the footpaths officer was filled in 2022 by Tim Jones and we are very pleased to welcome him to this role. We appreciate that he generously volunteers his time to take on this task. We also had a change of Lengthsman during the year as Luke Farnsworth resigned and Carl Brassington took over his duties from 1st April 2023. Graham Hobbs continues to look after the planters around the Parish and keeps them in an abundance of colour, our thanks for all his work. It has been disappointing that our County Councillor, Laura Gretton, has been neither seen nor heard from during the year; accordingly, any information to and from Worcester County Council has been minimal. I’d like to thank the councillors for all their time and effort during the year. It’s great that we have a good age range of councillors representing the Parish. We are very pleased that Jackie Allum has recently joined the Parish Council, a welcome addition to our team. The finances of the Parish continue to be in good shape, and this has been another year that we have not had to make any increase in the precept included in your local council taxes.
Martin Willingale
Chairman
Abbots Morton Parish Council
- To receive a report on the Parish Council’s finances
The Parish Council’s 2022/23 accounts and audit paperwork would be published online shortly. A summary of the figures is as follows:
Opening balance 01/04/22: £ 11,571.27
Receipts for period 01/04/22 to 31/03/23: £ 6,539.81
Payments for period 01/04/22 to 31/03/23: £ 7,641.82
Closing balance 31/03/23: £ 10,469.26
VAT recoverable 01/04/22 to 31/03/23: £ 133.24
- To invite the public to raise any matters of interest
No matters were raised.
The meeting closed at 8:02PM.