Our Resources
Buildings
The Church was built in 1974 and seats 300 people, mostly in pews, with some additional individual seats in the carpeted area at the back. Also in this area is the small library, the prayer corner surrounding the font, and the collection of play bags for children. The organ console is at the front beside the choir pews.
The Church has a sound system, a loop facility for the hard of hearing, and a wall-mounted projector screen.
The Church building also houses an entrance lobby, two vestries and a toilet. It is linked to the adjacent Halls by a stepped and covered walkway. The Church is surrounded by attractive open plan gardens, with lawns, shrubs, flowerbeds and silver birch trees.
The Rectory is a detached four-bedroom house, next door to the church; it was also built in 1974.
It has a fully fitted kitchen, utility room, dining room, spacious study and lounge with French doors opening onto the garden. Two of the bedrooms have washbasins. There is also a bathroom, separate WC and a small shower room. The house has gas-fired central heating, and is fitted with an alarm system. The Rectory has a good-sized garden, a double garage and a secluded driveway with parking for several cars.
The Main Hall, next to the Church, was built in 1937 and can seat 140 people. It has a good range of facilities: a stage with lighting, a storage room, toilets, tables and chairs and a recently-renovated fully-equipped kitchen.
A corridor leads to a smaller Hall, which was built in 1993, and includes a small tea bar. Both halls are in good condition. They have a good-sized car park adjacent and are in regular use for a range of church and community groups and activities.
Finance
In 2007 our total income for the year was £119,648. Our total expenditure was £107,896, giving us a surplus for the year of £11,752. We paid our Parish Share in full, and made gifts to various charities.
Our current forecast for 2008 is that we will just break even, having paid our Parish Share in full. Our major sources of income again, have been the Freewill Offerings, halls fees, donations, bequests, Gift Aid tax recovery and various fund-raising events.
Quinquennial repairs and improvements to the church and halls amounting to £21,000 are almost complete and will be met from the Building Fund, Bequest Fund and from a special Gift Day held in May 2008, which raised £7000.
Each year the Finance Committee and the PCC review the financial position of the Church and consider ways to balance our income and expenditure. Our Parish Quota will increase by nearly £10,000 for 2009, which means our income must increase, or our expenditure decrease, if we are to meet that in full.
The aim for 2009 is to increase our congregation and to recruit more people into the committed giving scheme. New activities to generate income are being planned, in addition to looking again at Stewardship at our Annual Church Meeting in April.