The Parish Church of St Saviour with All Saints
Gladstone Road
Scarborough
Annual Report
2021
Parochial Church Council
Incumbent: The Rev’d David Dixon
Lesley Peacey Churchwarden
Martin Dodgson Churchwarden / Secretary / Electoral Roll Officer
Margaret Newlove
Ashlie Pearson Crafty Kids Co-ordinator / Deanery Synod Representative
Sam Pearson
John Pitwood Treasurer / Head Server
Anne Smith Safeguarding Officer
Status: The PCC is a charity exempted from registration with the Charity
Commission under the Charities (Exemption from Registration) Regulation 1996.
Independent Examiner Mr Andrew Green
Bankers: Yorkshire Bank plc / Virgin Money 24 Huntriss Row Scarborough YO11 2EF
Insurers: Trinitas Church Insurance Services Blenheim House 1-2 Bridge Street Guildford Surrey GU1 4RY
Aims of the Organisation:
The main purpose of the PCC is defined in the Parochial Church Council (Powers) Measure of 1956 as :
“to co-operate with the minister in promoting in the parish, the whole mission of the
Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical”.
In response to the love God has shown us in Jesus Christ, the parish has the
following missionary intentions :
· to worship almighty God
· to proclaim the gospel
· to present the challenge of God’s Kingdom
· to care for the people of the Parish
· to work with our brothers and sisters in Christ to promote Christian Unity
Pastoral Visitor : Mrs Clarice Lockwood
Sacristan: John Hilton
Safeguarding Statement
St Saviour’s PCC has complied with the duty under section 5 of the Safeguarding and Clergy Discipline Measure 2016 (duty to have regard to the House of Bishops’ guidance on safeguarding children and vulnerable adults).
Priest’s Report: 2021 the Pandemic and Beyond:
During 2020 we became familiar with the effect of ‘lockdowns’ which involved working from home, restrictions on movement and meeting with family members and friends. There was a relaxation on movement and travel, social contact and visiting for the
celebration of Christmas in 2020, after which social restrictions were once more enforced. It was soon found that the rate of infection had increased greatly.
Such was the level of concern that a third national lockdown came into force in January 2021. Restrictions were gradually reduced throughout the course of the year. The Covid Vaccine inoculation programme offered by ‘Jabs Army’ provided people with up to three doses of vaccine during the year.
Pattern of Church Services:
Fr Peter Ford ensured that the Sunday and Thursday masses continued to be celebrated when I was absent. Frs Richard Smith and Allan Campbell-Wilson preached the word of God to us. Thanks to all of them for their support and help.
Holy Communion continued to be administered in one kind.
The effect of the pandemic on the pastoral work of the church continued to be considerable. Visiting people at home or in nursing homes was sometimes severely limited because of lockdown restrictions.
Visiting members of the congregations in hospital continued to be very difficult, save in exceptional circumstances.
Work with children and schools:
Work with Gladstone Road School was severely restricted.
In December, over four days, classes from the school visited church to take part in nativity services.
The Congregation:
The parish is requested to compile statistics about the ministry it undertakes. During 2021 the congregation at St Saviour’s remained relatively stable in numbers. The ‘Worshiping Community’ was made up as follows:
Children aged 0-10: 5 Young people 11-17:
Adults aged 18-69: 21 Adults aged 70+ : 39 Total 66
As the year progressed, people received their inoculations and restrictions began to ease. The starting time of the Sunday mass was found to have an adverse effect on congregational numbers.
A recording of the Sunday mass from St Saviour’s or St Martin’s continued to be posted on the parish Facebook page and website for those unable to attend church.
The Occasional Offices:
Baptisms 0 Confirmations 0 Marriages 0
Funerals: Church 3 Crematorium 1 Burial of Ashes 0
Families connected with the church suffered bereavement during the year. Brenda Hutchinson, Stephen Jackson and Beryl Reed had funeral services at St Saviour’s.
Music :
Congregational singing was suspended during 2020 and this continued into 2021. Lucy provided organ music during the celebration of Sunday Mass.
In Autumn the congregation returned to singing during church services.
Recognised Parish Assistant :
During the year Ashlie Pearson completed the diocesan training for this ministry. Her interest is particularly concerned with children and supporting families. We look forward to seeing how Ashlie can build upon and develop this aspect of the church’s ministry in the parish and beyond.
The Church Building :
We had hoped to develop, by extension to the church building, a new parish hall but the PCC decided it could not reasonably do so because of the substantial increase in the cost of building materials. The cost exceeded the funds available. This meant, literally, a return to the drawing board.
The Charity Commissioners were asked to approve a scheme to re-order the church building so as to provide for a ‘community space’. They agreed. Our architect drew up new plans for our consideration. The proposals were discussed with diocesan representatives who provided advice and encouragement for the proposed scheme.
End notes
As well as the priestly ministry I undertake at St Saviour’s I am the local Diocesan Surrogate for Marriages; a member of the Diocesan Deliverance Ministry Team; sit as a member of the Archbishop’s Panel to hear disciplinary cases brought against members of the clergy; am a School Governor at St Martin’s Church of England Deanery Primary School; offer spiritual direction; and am the Vicar of the Parish of St Martin-on-the-Hill, Scarborough.
Finally, thanks to Churchwardens Lesley Peacey and to Martin Dodgson for all they have done during another difficult and demanding year. Thanks also to John Pitwood who has ensured our solvency and ordered the church finances; to members of the PCC for their commitment and contributions that ensure that St Saviour’s continues to flourish; to John Hilton our sacristan and to you all for the contribution you make to our common life together.
Together let us build on the good things we have completed and things begun during 2021 and go forward in faith together. The future is full of good promise and potential!
Fr David
Electoral Roll :
Further to a revision of the Electoral Roll the number of persons now recorded is 43.
Martin J Dodgson
Electoral Roll Officer
Sacristan’s Report :
2021 was my first full year as Sacristan, having succeeded Peter Williams in September 2020. I held the same office for twelve years at St. Luke’s, Southport, dealing with all the pomp and panoply of Solemn High Mass to the English Missal every Sunday morning, and Solemn Evensong and Benediction every Sunday night, plus even more pageantry on the great festivals; the task is much simpler at St. Saviour’s! I must, therefore, thank Father David and John Pitwood for keeping me on the straight and narrow with the unfamiliar modern westward way of celebrating Mass, Lesley Peacey and Martin Dodgson, the two churchwardens who were so supportive from the start of my tenure, and Mildred Copley, who continued her valuable work of laundering the communion linen and repairing vestments.
John Hilton
Sacristan
Servers’ Report :
During 2021 happily most services were able to take place, and were maintained with ‘social distancing’ and mostly with servers. Our usual five servers kept up the good work and I thank them for their continued loyalty in keeping things going. The adjustments to the way in which we serve continues to apply and seems most appropriate now.
John Pitwood
Head Server
Report from the Cell of Our Lady of Walsingham :
Due to continuing restrictions placed on everyone during 2021 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has again not been possible for any meetings to have taken place. Hopefully things may improve during 2022.
Churchwardens’ Report :
Plans are still in progress to build a new community facility here at St. Saviour’s.
Unfortunately due to the Quantity Surveyor’s report, the costing for the original plan has increased considerably and we do not have the funding to cover this amount! So, as the saying goes, ‘back to the drawing board’! We will be having further meeting with the Diocesan Advisory Board and the Architect in the near future to resolve this and we will, of course, keep you all up-dated on progress made on this matter in the future.
Repeat of “40 Days 40 Tin’s” collection through Lent, which was such a success last year, and again thank you to all who contributed to this scheme. It is such a great help for the Rainbow Centre to pass on to families who are in need.
Covid pandemic continues through this year too, and restrictions still apply in our Church with mask wearing and social distancing. We, as a Church family, kept in touch with each other through telephone conversations and e-mails. At this point also we must all recognise all the hard work that Fr. David has done throughout this last year in streaming Church services, and maintaining contact with all his Parishioners where possible.
At our APCM Martin and Lesley were appointed Churchwardens. We were sworn into office on Sunday May 23rd here in St. Saviour’s Church following the morning Mass. This act was more meaningful to us than being ‘sworn in’ among a crowd of strangers in another Parish.
We continued our Craft stall, through Advent again. This proved to be a really good fund- raising exercise. Thank you to all who contributed to this effort, Anne Smith, Margaret Newlove, Mildred Copley and Christine Brown, and myself.
In July we were informed of the death of Mrs Beryl Reed in Scarborough Hospital. Beryl had been a very long-standing member of our Church and was the leader of our Walsingham Cell for many years. I also have to report the death of Mr. Peter D. Williams, Reader Emeritus, in December. Peter was a dedicated member of our Church for many years and kept us all ‘on our toes’ regarding our how services should be conducted.
The good news for the end of 2021 regarding our plans for a Community base, toilets, and kitchen, here in Church are progressing well and we hope to have the approval of the Diocesan Advisory Board in the New Year for these plans to be accepted and approved.
We cannot end this report without a huge thank you to Fr. David for all his support and care for everyone of us, he has been our strength and rock to turn to throughout this very difficult year. Roll on 2022.
On a personal note, I want to thank you all for all your support over the nearly 25 years of my being Church Warden here. I am standing down due to health reasons; my last service in capacity of Warden will be on 9th January 2022. Thank you again. Lesley.
Lesley Peacey
Martin Dodgson
Churchwardens
Safeguarding Report :
Safeguarding is an item that is on every PCC agenda. All members of the PCC have current DBS clearance although in 2021 the length of a DBS clearance was reduced from 5 to 3 years, so most members will need to have their DBS renewed in 2022.
Also in 2021, safeguarding training was completely overhauled and there are now 6 safeguarding pathways. Three of these, Basic, Foundation and Domestic Abuse, have to be completed by all PCC members. These courses are to be found on the Church of England website and are interactive online courses. In addition to these courses, there are Lay Leadership and Safer Recruitment courses which are held on Zoom with homework before, between and after the Zoom meetings – these have to be completed by various members of the PCC. The final pathway is for Safeguarding Officers and is also on Zoom. All these courses have to be completed every 3 years so PCC members have been very busy!
Safeguarding is important and we must all play our part in ensuring that everyone who attends St. Saviour’s is safe here and that if anyone raises the issue of any form of abuse, we respond well and in an appropriate manner.
Anne Smith
Safeguarding Officer
Youth and Family Ministry :
Unfortunately, due to covid restrictions and lack of restroom facilities on site, we have been unable to run any of our Crafty Kids sessions. We aim to restart Crafty Kids once all pandemic restrictions are lifted and the redevelopment of the Church building has been completed.
This does not, however, mean that we have been inactive regarding Youth and Family Ministry. I have this year completed the training to become a Recognised Parish Assistant and am in the process of developing further activities when facilities and restrictions allow.
We have continued to build and strengthen links with Gladstone Road School and with The Playcentre and have an ongoing dialogue with the senior leadership team at each setting. Over the course of the last 12 months, we have extended invitations to them to participate in several joint collaborations, however their participation has been limited, in part due to the restrictions they have been operating under, and in part due to the amount of “catching up” work the children have needed to complete.
We were delighted to welcome the children in EYFS and Y1 to the church in December, so they could perform their nativity plays to their parents in a covid secure environment. There was positive feedback from both the school and from parents, who broadly enjoyed witnessing a nativity within a “proper church”.
With restrictions in place, we also elected to do a “Family Christmas Service” as opposed to the Christingle service and followed a similar format as last year. We invited Jack and Corey to deliver two of the readings to the congregation, and all present participated in the “colouring in break” to decorate the sanctuary with pictures of Angels, Shepherds, and Wise Men
Ashlie Pearson
Recognised Parish Assistant
PCC Secretary’s Report :
The long arm of the pandemic continued into 2021 and constrained some of the wider activities of St Saviour’s not least with regard to fundraising.
The PCC met on eight occasions with an average attendance of 67%. The Standing Committee met on several occasions and their deliberations were reported to the PCC. An apology was recorded at each meeting from our Reader Emeritus
Peter D Williams. Peter died in December, a life well lived in the service of his Lord.
At the Annual Vestry Meeting Mrs L J Peacey and Mr M J Dodgson were elected Churchwardens.
At the Annual Parochial Church Meeting Mrs A Pearson and Mrs M Newlove retired as members of the PCC; both being eligible for re-election Mrs Pearson and Mrs Newlove were elected for a further period of three years. At the meeting of the PCC following the APCM the following were elected :- Vice Chairman Mrs L J Peacey, Treasurer Mr J
Pitwood, Secretary Mr M J Dodgson, Safeguarding Officer Mrs A Smith, Deanery Synod Representative Mrs A Pearson, Standing Committee Fr David Dixon, Mrs L J Peacey, Mr M Dodgson Mr J Pitwood and Mr P D Williams.
The major factors which engaged the business of the PCC during the year were :-
PARISH HALL In the early part of the year the PCC approved plans for a new Parish Hall to be built adjacent to the South West wall of the Church. It became apparent that the
proceeds of the Parish Hall were not sufficient to meet the cost of the new building. Various options were considered and it was finally agreed to re-order the interior West End of Church to provide a Community Space, toilets and kitchen facilities. The Charity
Commission consented to the proceeds from the sale of the Hall being used in this way. We look forward with enthusiasm to the fulfilment of this exciting project.
LIVING CHRIST’S STORY The PCC took part in the Diocesan Consultation Survey and held a joint meeting with St Martin’s PCC in this regard. This is ongoing ‘work in progress’ and further meetings are scheduled with the Deanery Leadership team to help us ‘re-imagine mission and ministry’.
SAFEGUARDING The PCC received regular Reports concerning Safeguarding from the Safeguarding Officer Mrs A Smith.
SUNDAY SERVICE TIMES The Standing Committee met with the Standing Committee of St Martin’s to discuss a revision of the times for Sunday Services. The decision finally reached will form part of the 2022 Report but is it perhaps appropriate to record that from Easter 2022 the Sunday Mass at St Saviour’s will commence at 11-00 a.m.
RETIREMENTS. At the November meeting Mrs L J Peacey informed the meeting she had decided to retire as Churchwarden. Fr David expressed eloquent thanks to Lesley for the distinguished service and commitment she had given to the Parish over a period of twenty-five years.
BISHOP GLYN WEBSTER advised of his retirement to take place in January 2022. We record our thanks to Bishop Glynn for his support to the Priests and Parish of St Saviour’s over many years.
THE PCC held wide ranging discussions on other matters the majority including finance being covered elsewhere in this Report. Matters of a confidential nature are attached to the Minutes of the PCC meetings.
The Secretary records his thanks to Mr J Pitwood for his assistance during the year, not least in the production of this Annual Report.
Martin J Dodgson
PCC Secretary
Deanery Synod:
There have been several initiatives discussed in Synod over the last 12 months, aimed at encouraging and supporting Faith and worship in identified “low interaction” groups, as well as maintaining support for existing congregations, clergy and laity. The statistics given were that 80% of active Christian’s become so under the age of 18, whilst 40% became so under the age of 5! To this end, 2 projects have been running simultaneously
The Children of Light Festival aims to engage with Children and Young People within the Parish,
thorough discipleship and mission, providing age adapted activities such as Art competitions,
mini pilgrimages and youth groups
The Mustard Seed initiative works to support and develop Faith and provide a engagement with
Lay individuals aged 20-40 via the “Stepping Up” programme – a 12 month long course where
Lay members of the Parish are given an opportunity to develop their understanding of the
Christian faith and theology, under the support of a personal mentor.
We were also introduced to “Living Christ’s Story”, which looks at the current structure of all Churches in the Diocese, and examines how they are supporting their parishioners and community, and how resources might best be used to maximize our support to those in our local area. Surveys were put out to the various PCC’s within the diocese, with the responses to be discussed early in 2022 at an open Synod meeting.
Ashlie Pearson
Recognised Parish Assistant
A review of the Annual Accounts for 2021:
The financial Statement for the year ending 31st December 2021 has been compiled by me and thereafter examined by our independent examiner, Mr Andrew Green, to whom thanks are extended.
Thanks to a refund of £2,990.54 (for over payments of gas and electricity for the Hall) and a Gift Aid reclaim from HMRC of £5,719.34) and your continued level of giving, our Expenditure was only £1,426 more than our Income. We were also able to replay our ‘loan’ of £3,000 to the fabric fund. It does, of course, mean that we all need to look again at our giving to enable our Church to keep open and working for God’s glory. However we look at it the running costs of the Church are the same if 10 people turn up or if 30 people turn up.
We have carried forward a credit balance of £8,752.75.
Our Freewill Offering, that is the sum we allocate to the cost of running the Diocese, was £17,400.00. Our Offer in 2021 for the year 2022 has been increased by 5% to £18,270 as agreed by the PCC and promised to the Diocese. The figure will continue to be monitored.
As at 31st December 2021 the Restricted Fund, which consists of the Fabric Fund (51,237.40), which covers Church maintenance, and a new Building Fund (£259,979.60), which covers any alterations for new facilities, from the sale of the Hall, now stands at £314,217.00. Our investments, our Reserve Fund, have increased by £2,115.00 to £30,969.00.
Congregational giving has maintained the level throughout the year mostly, which has meant that our income has nearly covered our costs, until unfortunately (!) we had to have our 5 yearly (Quinquennial) Diocesan inspection, the fee for which was nearly £1,000. We still need new facilities, and these are definitely going to prove much more costly than anticipated.
John H Pitwood
Treasurer
Parochial Church Council of St. Saviour with All Saints Scarborough
Financial Statement for the year ended 31 December 2020
Prepared by J H Pitwood Treasurer 5 Trafalgar Crescent Bridlington YO15 3NR