St Neots Parish Church APCM Sunday 24th April 2016Annual Vestry AgendaOpening Prayers.Apologies for absence

1. Minutes of 2015 Vestry Meeting.2. Election of Churchwardens for the Parish.3. Charities Report.

Annual Parochial Church Meeting Agenda1. Minutes of last APCM and matters arising.2. Electoral Roll Report.3. Annual Report of Parochial Church Council (including subcommittee and

organisation reports)4. Annual report of the financial affairs of the parish.5. Examined accounts of the PCC.6. Examined statement of the funds and property in the hands of the PCC.7. Report on the fabric, goods and ornaments of the church.8. Report of the proceedings of the Deanery Synod.9. Election of 5 representatives of the laity to the PCC.10. Appointment of sidesmen.11. Appointment of Examiner to the PCC.12. Vicar’s report.13. Any other business a) kitchen14. Closing prayers.

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St Mary’s Church St Neots APCM 2015

Annual Vestry Meeting

Held on Sunday 26th April 2015 in church after the 9.30am service.

Chairman: Fr Paul Andrews

Prayers: Fr Paul opened the meeting with prayer.

Attendance: 66

Apologies for absence: Jacky Isaac, Lloyd Barnett, Carol Way, Roger and Ruth Simmonds.Minutes: The minutes of the 2014 Vestry meeting were approved and signed as a correct record.

1. Election of Churchwardens: Jacky Isaac is standing down after serving 6 years. Fr Paul thanked her in her absence for her hard work. David Read proposed, Jacky Isaac seconded that Philip Barrett be re-elected. Laurie Achurch proposed, Daphne Achurch seconded that Ann Williams be elected. There being no other nominations the meeting agreed unanimously to appoint them both as Church wardens.

2. Charities Report: John Walker submitted his 49th annual report of the Church Charity Accounts. The 17 ancient charities are invested in a Charities Ethical Investment Fund and rendered a higher amount of interest than ever before. The trustees of the fund are the vicar, David Read and Jacky Isaac.

Minutes of the Annual Parochial Church Meeting held on Sunday 26th April 2015 in the church.Chairman: Fr Paul Andrews.

Attendance: 66

Apologies for absence: Jacky Isaac, Lloyd Barnett, Carol Way, Roger and Ruth Simmonds.

1. Minutes: The minutes of the 2014 Annual Parochial Church Meeting were approved and signed as a correct record. There were no matters arising.

2. Report on the Electoral Roll: The Electoral Roll currently stands at 224. The Electoral Roll has been administered from the Parish Office in recent years but a reduction in office hours has made this difficult. Elizabeth Sibson has volunteered to be Electoral Roll Officer and will be elected at the next PCC meeting.

3. Annual Report of the Proceedings of the Council, Sub-committees and Church Organisations: The reports had been circulated prior to the meeting and all were unanimously accepted with grateful thanks to all who had contributed reports and all those who had contributed to meetings within the groups. The Foodbank report had been omitted and so Christine Green gave a verbal report, thanking all those who had supported it. The distribution figures will not be publicly available until after the General

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Election. Christine is standing down as St Mary’s Church Trustee this year. It is a project that has brought all the churches in the town together. Rosemary Darrington commented on the Buildings Committee report and asked if work on the windows could be postponed until after the Flower Festival in June.

4. Annual Report of the Financial Affairs of the Parish: A comprehensive financial report had been circulated prior to the meeting and in the absence of a treasurer, Peter Raggatt agreed to answer questions. David Jones had resigned last year but is still doing the accounts. Expenditure has exceeded income over the last 5 years and money has been drawn from reserves to pay the bills. There have been 2 large unexpected expenses recently – the heating system failure which will cost approximately £10,000 to replace, and the damp problem in the roof which could cost £28,000 although a government grant of £22,000 has been promised for this. Stewardship giving dropped from £74,000 in 2013 to £67,500 in 2014. The Ministry Share was £65,000. The only source of funding to the church is from voluntary giving. The responsibility of the building has transferred to the Friends but as a congregation we have a duty of care. Derek Wheel asked if there would be any variability on the Parish (Ministry) Share. This is worked out on a deanery basis, from electoral roll numbers and income. The total costs of having a parish priest are £47,000, so we are supporting smaller congregations. If we don’t pay, the outcome will be fewer clergy running more parishes. Derek commented that the share has gone up by 2% but pensions have had a much smaller increase. Roy Gill asked at what stage do we decide that we can’t pay the share and is it justified? Fr Paul replied that 90% of the money paid to the diocese comes back to the parishes in ministry support. Roy commented that we need to look at where we can reduce spending. Ministry Share is the only item we can cut. Phil Barrett said that he would be discussing our financial problems with the Rural Dean. Reg Flower remarked that the same conversation is happening in every parish and our failing is empty pews. We need to grow the numbers of people in church. Daphne Achurch commented that money could be saved on smaller items of expenditure such as turning down heating. Fr Paul replied that Parish Office hours have been reduced; £1,500 has been saved since the failure of the heating system in January and the new lights use less power. Peter Raggatt noted that many large expenditure items have been covered recently and so reserves may not be needed for these for a while. Fr Paul commended the Biblical system of tithing, originally 10% of income but now usually 5% of disposable income. Ann Williams proposed, David Read seconded that the accounts be adopted. This was agreed by all.

5. Report of the Fabric, Goods and Ornaments of the Church: The report presented by Jacky Isaac and Philip Barrett was accepted by the meeting.

6. Election of 5 Representatives of the Laity to the Parochial Church Council: Due to the 3 year rolling election process, there were 5 vacancies on the PCC. The following members were elected unopposed: Jane Gill, proposed by Ann Williams, seconded by Sophie Easey; Judy Ruff, proposed by Margaret Bail, seconded by Wendy Ibbett; Sophie Easey, proposed by Ann Williams, seconded by Elsie Gill; Jacky Isaac, proposed by John Walker, seconded by Christine Green. Fr Paul thanked all those members retiring from PCC for serving their term of office. There is still 1 vacancy, and the PCC

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can co-opt if necessary. Derek Wheel reminded the meeting that anyone can attend PCC meetings but only elected members may vote.

7. Sidesmen: The following members were accepted on a proposal by Roy Gill, seconded by David Read, to serve as sidesmen for the coming year: Margaret Bail, Jill Thwaites, Rosemary Darrington, Godfrey Darrington , Margaret Gates, Jane Plumb, Amanda King, John Knight, Sylvia Masters, Jenny McLeod, Penny Murfin, Helen Naylor, Marion Noble, Janet Walker, John Walker, Derek Wheel, Gertrude Wheel, Paul Plumb, Angela White, Lesley Smith, Alan Ashton, Nan Rye, Julie Playford, Lee Jacques, David Read, Philip Barrett, Jacky Isaac, Serena Gilbert, Judy Ruff and Christian Laughton.

8. Appointment of Examiner to the Council: The accounts are now with the Examiner in preparation for presentation to the Charities Commission. Peter Raggatt proposed, Ann Williams seconded, that Robert Manderson continues to examine the church accounts. This was accepted with thanks to Robert for his work over the past few years.

9. Ely Diocesan Strategy: The strategy has encouraged self-examination to look at what we do well and how we can improve. The sermon during the service prior to the meeting focussed on Christ, the Good Shepherd and our ministry of welcome, which we do well in St Neots. The church is not attracting new members in sufficient numbers and so we are failing in our response to Christ’s call to make new disciples. The Church of England projects an image of an organisation trying to hold on to the values of a way of being, when the rest of the world has moved on. The church has addressed attitudes to women and now the current issue is “same sex relationships”. The church needs to be a people of God who will welcome anyone without judgement, reserve or hesitation. Fr Paul proposed that at the next PCC meeting, St Mary’s Church would sign up to Inclusive Church, welcoming all regardless of mental health, disability or language. The Inclusive Church movement run courses on Radical welcome which looks into who we are, how we feel about ourselves and those different to us. How do we welcome them? Mary Draper supported Fr Paul and said that we need to go out into the community to meet people where they are. Fr Paul suggested links could be made with Alcoholics Anonymous who meet in the Church Rooms. Gertrude Wheel said that the Churches Together coffee mornings provide a forum for meeting all kinds of people, but often those helping are too busy to sit and talk. She suggested that members who are less mobile could be greeters and listeners. Fr Paul reminded the meeting that much of the children’s ministry takes place in St Mary’s School and there is scope for more members of the congregation to be involved. Jean Underwood asked if there was any way that members could be involved in work with baptism families. Mothers Union send each child an anniversary card and the families are added to the Young Families mailing list. It would be possible to start a Baptism visiting team but members would need DBS checks. Peter Raggatt suggested that we hold events to show our inclusiveness outside the church. Christine Green said that she heartily endorsed the Radical welcome particularly as Christ was the most radical person in history and excluded no-one.

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Any Other Business: Frank Owens commented that the Parish Church is not on the sign post in the town. This is a Town Council matter. The church is now open during the day time.Rev Roger Henthorne thanked Fr Paul for all his hard work during the year.The meeting closed with prayer at 12.30pm and members adjourned to the Church Room for a cooked lunch.

ST MARY’S PARISH CHURCH, ST NEOTS, CAMBSCHURCH CHARITY ACCOUNTS

ANNUAL REPORT TO VESTRY MEETING APRIL 2016 Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have much pleasure in presenting my 50th annual report on the proceedings of the Church Charity accounts in the twelve months’ period up to 31st January 2016. I am proud to have racked up my half century after being appointed to the post on a temporary basis by Reverend Stanley Griffiths in 1966!I can this evening report on the second full year of our revised local Investment arrangements that sees the £10,000 invested with the Charities Ethical Investment Fund via the Charity Commission bringing in regular interest to the overall fund. This £10,000 is made up of 17 individual investments from our various charities ranging from £5,800 from a Rowley Charity to just £20 from the Joan Cromwell Charity. Grouping these charities permits me to get the best possible return but under Charity Commissioners regulations the accounting has still to be kept on an individual basis. Our investment income this year increased to £1,432.44 as interest rates showed a very small improvement on the previous year. The upshot is that this year I have been able once again to contribute £540 towards the insurance of the Church Windows as well as our customary Christmas time distribution and that the overall value of the fund has increased by a further £557.44 to £12,814.97. The Trustees should now be considering future distribution in line with the instructions of the initial legatees.I trust the meeting will feel able to approve this report.

John WalkerJohn Walker6 March 2016 (Chrep16)

PCCThe PCC has met regularly to discuss affairs of the parish; to approve the budget and monitor finances and approve charitable giving; to discuss and approve necessary repairs to the fabric such as the heating system, window restoration and roof repairs and items arising from the Quinquennial Inspection. Time has been set aside during

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meetings to discuss the Diocesan Strategy which will be taken forward by small group meetings later this year

Standing CommitteeThe Standing Committee to the PCC consists of the churchwardens, the vicar, PCC Secretary, treasurer and Vice Chair. The Standing Committee meets regularly in advance of meetings of the PCC in order to:

Progress items previously agreed by the PCC Generate new policies for PCC consultation Monitor work in progress To set PCC agendas Exceptionally to take urgent decisions in between PCC meetings.

Fabric, Goods and Ornament

The annual checks of the Inventory has been made and noted for the additions and deletions since 2014. This has been another busy year with various projects within the Church. The 21 year old heater unit was removed and the heat exchange unit was found to have rusted through. The new replacement unit was installed and the ducting modified to enable it to fit to the existing grills. This took place in September and fine tuning of temperature control has been taking place over the winter. The south east window in the Chancel has been removed and refurbished in October, with new stainless outside grills fitted to this window and also to the East window behind the high Altar. Our next project will be the North Roof investigation and repair which should take place May 2016. We would again like to record grateful thanks to all who assist with the varied tasks in and around the church. Ann Williams / Philip Barrett. Churchwardens

Deanery Synod

The Synod has met four times during the year to discuss matters of interest for the parishes of the deanery. There have been concerns over the Ministry Share and how parishes are struggling to pay their portion of it. Canon Janet Perrett has kept the synod updated on matters arising from the General Synod. There has been much discussion about the Diocesan Strategy. There were 2 visiting speakers to synod during the year – Debbie Hill, the Diocesan Children’s Adviser who led a discussion of children’s activities in the deanery, and Rachel Heffer speaking about Youth Work which has encouraged The Rural Dean with Tara Spey and Revd Debbie Noonan to explore the possibility of funding for a Deanery Youth Worker.

Sub-committee ReportsChurch Rooms Committee

The Annual Parish Church meeting sees a sea-change in the Church Rooms. After many years as secretary, Rhona Matthews decided that enough is enough and has handed over the task to Sophie Easey. And with no one to do battle with about the

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meetings and minutes, I have also decided to pass on the responsibility of chairman and Jacky Isaac has volunteered to take on this role. Many heartfelt thanks to these two ladies for stepping forward. They will bring a breath of fresh air that is really needed.This past year has seen a period of frustration as even the most minor work now seems to need a wealth of compliance with regulation and restrictions. So the small upper room is still not in commission and it will possibly be some while before the big damp patch on the wall near the serving hatch is cured. I have been giving consideration to the level of charges for use of the room becoming inadequate for the long term viability of the finances; and I pass that thought on to the new committee for their assessment and appraisal.After many years in abeyance, the equipment for the Youth Groups that has been stored in the lean-to appears to be needed in the near future, I certainly hope that the organisers can make a go of it. Everything that the Church Rooms can do to help the young people of our congregation must be whole-heartedly encouraged.Over the past few years, the new kitchen, new floor, new curtains and a better availability of heating has kept the Church Rooms as a viable asset. Long may this continue and with the active support of Val Freeman and Roy Gill this must be the case. Geoff Matthews, Chairman (retired)Finance Sub-committee Report for the financial year 1 January – 31 December 2015

2015 was a tricky year financially in several ways. David Jones, our treasurer, indicated that he was giving up this role, but it proved almost impossible to find anyone to take it on. Eventually Steve Foster has accepted this role. We need to record our sincere thanks both to David and to Steve. Steve is a Chartered Accountant who is an expert on Charity Accounts and works in central London. But this means that he does not get home in time for week-day evening meetings - and he has a family! So changes have had to take place and these are slowly settling in. The Finance Sub-committee is no longer meeting but there is still an up-to-date finance report at every PCC meeting. Steve is introducing more modern financial systems which are essential for a 'business' such as SNPC with an annual turnover of around £120,000 a year (Church, Church Room and other regular activities). A number of other changes are in progress, particularly as a result of realising that some sub-groups of PCC, particularly the Church Room and the Restoration Fund, have been holding large sums in current or deposit accounts only tiny amounts of interest, but otherwise being run 100% properly. It has also emerged that we have quite a lot of sub-accounts holding church money but in bank accounts which the Bank does not have recorded as PCC accounts and is thus is treating as independent 'association accounts'. One result is that our consolidated annual accounts need to change to reflect all of the church money taken together. Equally all reserves and money not needed immediately needs to earn some interest. Of course, all money held for specific purposes, for example the Restoration Fund, remains legally 'restricted' for the purpose for which the funds were given or raised and can only be spent on those specific purposes. So we are in the middle of up-dating our accountancy practices,

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something which is legally essential as we are a Registered Charity. We also need to have improved systems for day-to-day management of non-routine payments and decision-making. Our payments toward Ministry Share, gas and electricity and similar regular payments are already automated and our bank accounts can be managed on-line. But the over-all situation is that we are spending on regular expenses, more than our regular income from Stewardship and other routine sources. So we are still drawing on reserves each year. Clearly this cannot go on for ever. Meanwhile the Church Room is operating at a surplus of income over expenditure on upkeep. But it too will need occasional larger sums spent on refurbishment.As for general income and expenditure, little has changed in the past year, but we had an amazing and financially very successful Flower festival again in 2015 (there won't be one in 2016). We have had one very large unplanned expense: the church heating plant failed suddenly. But this was not really unexpected because the old heating system was installed in 1994. PCC knew a couple of years ago that it was approaching the end of its life. But it failed very suddenly, almost causing a fire in the roof of the south porch (where the heating plant is). Its replacement has cost over £10,500 and this attracted some generous gifts towards its cost. As it was out of action, we used less gas than normally, and of course you will remember shivering as you worshipped and saved money. Peter RaggattRestoration Fund

With the end of 2015, some long-serving and faithful volunteers have retired from the Restoration Fund. Colin and Val Freeman and Ken and Jackie Minnie have been the stalwarts of the Restoration Fund for many, many years, regularly assisted by Audrey Pearson and others. They raised money steadily by organising events year after year and by opening the church and the Tower on Saturdays in the summer. They have organised restoration work particularly that on the stained glass windows and this has been a big responsibility. Colin has kept the Restoration Fund accounts for a very long time. The contribution they have made is enormous and we must all thank them.During 2015, part of the window in the south wall of the chancel was sent away for restoration and some repairs were made to the big East Window. These repairs were completed and cost about £12500 which came from the Restoration Fund.There is an area of the roof above the step from the North Aisle into the Jesus Chapel which is showing a serious problem. The roof beams have been damaged by damp getting in, with the result that the lead covering in this area shows signs of movement and indeed, the roof feels 'bouncy' when it should be firm and solid. The architect's advice was that it must be repaired as soon as possible. It is quite a small area of roof `which is affected, about 15 feet square, but it is impossible to judge how big a repair job it is until the lead is lifted. Just before Christmas 2014, the Government announced new grants for "Urgent Roof Repairs to Listed Places of Worship". The application form had to be submitted by the end of January (a rush!) and we won a grant of £22,400 (announced in March 2015). The architect drew up a detailed specification and an invitation to tender which was sent to selected specialist contractors recommended by the architect. Three tenders were received and the lowest was accepted. When the architect fees, other costs and the cost of protecting the organ from dust while the work is done, are included the total cost is estimated to be £38,500. A grant of £6000 has been approved by the Friends of St Neots Parish Church and £8000 is available in the Restoration Fund (total grants

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£36400). So we are in sight of funding this work. It was originally hoped that it would be done in December 2015 - we were hopelessly optimistic! Then the plan was for March 2016 and now May 2016. But it will be done in 2016. It is worth stating that although we have reserves, including for restoration, these reserves are being used and we will need to replenish them. We also need to acknowledge the many small housekeeping jobs carried out by various members of our congregation, from emptying bins to minor repairs. You know who you are. Thank you from us all!Stewardship Committee

The way we do stewardship is under review. Fr Paul, Jacky Isaac and Angie Robertson have been looking at schemes in other parishes and dioceses. It is hoped to send out a general letter soon. We acknowledge that this is something to which the parish as a whole needs to give more focused attention. The group would benefit from expanding its membership to include any church members who can offer time and a measure of expertise in this area, so that we can form an effective leadership team.

Christian Nurture and Discipleship Group

This group is made up of those involved in running groups for Bible Study, Christian enquirers, confirmation and so on. Updates are received from all the current groups and ideas for new groups are discussed. Materials for some courses have been reviewed and some implemented for use by new study groups.Occasional study courses such as in Lent or Advent are considered, together with suggestions for series of sermons spanning a number of weeks. Quiet days and themes for such are also suggested.There has recently been a focus on the Diocesan Strategy and groups are meeting to discuss aspects of this in depth, led by members of this committee. These groups will report back to the whole congregation four weeks after the APCM.

Wintringham Road Housegroup

We are an interestingly mixed group of ten members which leads to lively discussion and a varied selection of suggested themes. This year these have included ‘Journeys of Faith (pilgrimage and personal journeys), ‘The Problem of Suffering’. ‘The Second Coming’ and ‘The Sermon on the Mount, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Us’. We meet fortnightly on Monday evenings in term time, except in Lent so members are free to join ecumenical groups. Loves Farm Bible Study Group

This Ecumenical group meets on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday mornings at 10.30am to 12.30pm at the home of Rebekah Fullerton, 6 Bargrove Avenue, Loves Farm. During 2015, we studied a lot of the Psalms, and we are now looking at the Literature in the Bible i.e.: Narrative, The Law, the Psalms, Wisdom, Prophecy, Letters, and Apocalyptic. This is a very friendly group of between 4 and 8 people. if you are interested in joining us please ring Rosemary Darrington on 01480-476334.Wednesday Fellowship Bible Study Group

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This group has been running for several years and during 2015 we studied the first book of the Bible, GENESIS giving us all a good grounding of Biblical History. We have recently been looking at the Gospel of Mark and also seeing LENT through the Marks Gospel. We meet at the home of Wendy Ibbett, 5 Parkway, St Neots on a two week basis at 7.30pm on a Wednesday. If you are interested in joining this group please ring Rosemary Darrington on 01480-476334

Journey Together This is an informal group for young families to explore the Christian faith together. It was started by Catherine Grigg in 2009 and has been supported over the years by the Reverend Derek Draper. We meet twice a month; a coffee morning alternated with sessions where we have, this year, invited speakers to give us an insight into the work they do. We have been inspired by stories, some uplifting and inspiring, some really quite harrowing. Subjects have included Social work, Alzheimers, Autism, Genocide, Community projects both in Ruanda and here in Cambridge and in our own church community. This summer we look forward to hearing about work in the judicial system and the work of young people's ministry. We also hope to learn about a musical project in Bedford involving people with additional needs. We have recently welcomed three new babies to the group ready to join a number of toddlers who have been enjoying JT for some years now!Our vision moving forward is that the older children can now help compile prayers and songs for worship. Also we intend to increase our fund raising activities, so that we can feed back into community projects supporting young families, in what can be a challenging time in life's Journey Together. Emily Dean and Caroline Foster. Mission and Care

The Mission and Care Committee has met once during the year to discuss the allocation of charity monies and any business relating to mission, both worldwide and locally.. Thank you letters from the charities we support are displayed on the Mission Board in Church. Through Crosslinks we continue to support John Lobei, from Marsabit, Kenya who is studying at Kabare to eventually work with Turkana people. Our link with US (formerly USPG) is through a project in Lesotho, caring for isolated mums and babies. Rachel Ullmer, our CMS link visited the parish briefly in the summer and parishioners were able to chat with her and learn more about her work in Pakistan over cups of tea in the Vicarage garden.A team from St Mary’s visits Hinchingbrooke Hospital twice a year to assist at the chapel services by pushing patients in wheelchairs and occasionally beds to the chapel and provide a supporting congregation.The pastoral care team continue to visit some members of the congregation and take regular Home Communion to those who are housebound. Bereavement visitors although no longer meeting regularly, continue support those recently bereaved.Publicity

The committee did not meet in 2015Worship Committee

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The Worship Committee is made up of representatives from groups closely involved in services, such as the choir, the servers and the clergy together with others who have an interest in worship.The committee meets quarterly and reviews past services, especially Christmas and Easter services, as well as offering suggestions for the smooth running of forthcoming services. Any issues are discussed, such as the manpower required for special services – for example, the Mayor’s Carol Service, the Civic Service or the Remembrance Day Service - and extra resources are allocated if necessary.

Church OrganisationsChoir report ‘Psallam Spiritu et Mente’The choir continues to lead worship at most services apart from Taize but including weekday services such as Ash Wednesday and Ascension. A number of the choir also attend the sung Lenten Compline service. Unfortunately we now only have one evensong a month but do try to make this a cathedral style service.It is exciting to have four children in the choir. They are working hard on their white level of the RSCM training scheme, ‘Voice for Life.’The choir is singing evensong at Coventry Cathedral on Saturday 21st May and at Peterborough Cathedral on Saturday May 28th. Last year we sang at Peterborough and Guildford cathedrals. We will be joined by our friends from Christ Church, St. Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex, David Gower and Jo Richardson who is an ALM from Buckden. I would still like to take the choir to sing at Tewkesbury Abbey. We need more singers especially in the lower three parts so if you know anybody who would like to sing in the choir on a regular basis please point them in my direction. Lloyd Barnett, Director of MusicCraft Group

The Craft Group consists of a few mainly elderly ladies who knit and sew, making small garments for children, sewing items and toys. We have stalls outside the URC for about 9 months of the year on alternate Thursday mornings to sell our items and 2 market stalls. Last year we raised £2,298 from the sale of our work. Newcomers are always welcome to join the group, especially younger people. Anyone interested in knitting and sewing and would like to join, please see Jill Henthorne. Glennys Smith

St Mary’s Guild

Ann Williams began the year with a talk on recent visits to Zambia. The annual meal out in February was enjoyed by all. Catherina Griffiths spoke about her Camino to Santiago de Compostela in March. In April Rod Morrison came back to tell us about

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his life with rescue dogs from Afghanistan. Sue Jarrett gave a very interesting comparison of St Neots past and present in May. The summer months were spent out on trips to Wood Farm, Gamlingay and to Willington Garden Centre for afternoon tea. The AGM in September planned the meetings for 2016. Rosemary Darrington presented a Christmas flower arranging demonstration in October and Emma Gill gave an excellent talk on her year out travelling in the southern hemisphere. Members had a relaxing evening in December playing Christmas Games. Thank you to all who have helped arrange the meetings especially Bev Rawlings, our president.The Guild meets on the third Thursday of the month, at 7.30pm in the Church Room. There is no membership subscription, or election. Anyone is welcome to join for as many or as few meetings as they want. Come along to the AGM to decide next year’s programme. Suggestions of possible speakers are always welcome!Mothers Union

The year began once again with a short service and New Year lunch for all in The Chequers. Mothers’ Union work is rooted in prayer and someone somewhere throughout the world is praying for us. Our link dioceses have now changed after many years and we are making new links with MU dioceses in Lusaka, Zambia; Shyogwe, Rwanda; Skoto and Ikka in Nigeria; and Karimnagar in India. Once again in August Fr Paul led a Eucharist to celebrate Mary Sumner Day and we followed up with fellowship and coffee in Poppy’s Tea Rooms in Church Walk. Speakers during the year included Catherina Griffiths, who spoke about her Camino to Santiago de Compostela; Helen Banyard, speaking about MU Social policy; David Rudd who led an historical tour around the church building; Ann Williams spoke about her recent visits to Zambia and Rwanda; Rosemary Darrington and Sylvia Watson demonstrated Christmas wreath making; and Liz Elson who updated us on our new Diocesan Links. The Deanery party in December once again proved very popular, with MU members performing a play about the Fourth Wise Man. Paula Phipps organised the Travelling Crib which visited many homes in the parish during advent, returning to church at the Family Carol Service on Christmas Eve. MU is also involved with many local as well as international projects. Some of our members attend the service in the chapel at Littlehey Prison each month to support inmates and also help with a monthly Coffee and Chat morning for prisoners who do not get visitors. Other members help with Tots Praise, Coffee Craft and Chat and many other activities in the life of our church.Mothers Union is not an organisation just for mothers or women – it is open to all who share its vision – “to bring about a world where God’s love is shown through loving, respectful and flourishing relationships”. We meet together on the first Thursday of the month in the Church Rooms at 7.30pm and all are welcome. For more information contact Catherina Griffiths (393372) or Mary Draper (384031).Children’s Activities

2015 proved to be a very busy year for our Children’s Church.Tots Praise continues to meet twice a month, with very active sessions. They enjoyed a Christmas Meal (with their Parents!) at Pizza Express and finished the summer term with a picnic and games.

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Little Saints has flourished this year, and has added Little Saints singing to their Sunday repertoire. Little Saints singers also meet on a Tuesday afternoon in the Upper Room, some of our Little Saints have joined the Choir.Messy Church numbers steadily increase with over 70 meals served at the Messy Sower in January.We held our first Advent disco in Church in November, deemed a great success, we have booked another for November this year.The Children’s team supported the fund raising efforts of the Flower Festival by holding a Teddy zip wire from the Church tower; over 70 teddies bravely took part!Jane Gill stood down from the leader team, Jane has supported and worked with St Mary’s children for many years, huge thanks go to Jane. Jane Plumb passed the Tots Praise leader role to Ingrid Fawcett, Marcie Champion and Cathryn Neuhauser in September. Many thanks go them for their continued support.We have had the pleasure to welcome new children coordinators Glenn and Maggie Coiley, who both took over from Jane Plumb in January. Glenn and Maggie have lots of ideas for our St Mary’s Children, we wish them every success in their new role!MANY thanks go to ALL who lead and support our work with families and children at St Mary’s.

Holy Terrors Report 2016

The Holy Terrors is the Church social club for children in the last 2 years of primary school. This year we have 7 (from St Neots and Eynesbury Churches). We meet for one and a half hours on Mondays during term time. They are very regular in attendance. The format of the session is to start with a craft or cooking, and depending on how long that takes we do another activity, then finish with a game, either a board game if we are inside or a game in the garden. The rest of the report is in their own words. Eileen Raggatt

We cook more often. We play cluedo. We play wild cards. We play doctors.Halloween Party: We did lots of Halloween games but first we carved pumpkins, then we played dooking apples and find the smarties. At the end: Eileen sang us a spooky song which my cousin cried. Halloween was fun.Cooking = we cook often and we make sweets for Christmas. We also made muffins. (The Holy Terrors also make seasonal foods for Church events - harvest bread, mince pies, hot cross bun. ER)

We hosted a Christmas party for our parents. We baked and made drinks for them to enjoy.We had fun dressing up and doing plays.Scottish dancing - we did different moves and danced to music that was from Scotland and it was me, Charlotte and Isabelle that joined and we danced in 8s.

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For Shrove Tuesday we made pancakes. And done pancake racing in the garden and tossed them. Charlotte, Frank, Isaac, Isobel, Molly, Stacey, TrevelynSt Neots Handbell Ringers

We had a quiet year as far as performances go. We played at Primrose Hill Care Home in Huntingdon in November and entertained the residents at Waterside Court in December. We continue to meet on Sunday evenings at 8pm. Anyone wishing to learn should contact Catherina Griffiths (393372).Tower Bell Ringers

Attendance in the tower has been low again during the first part of the year due to illness and holidays but in the Autumn we were pleased to welcome James and Charlotte Gamble, ringers from Watford who have moved into the parish. Their presence has enabled us to ring at least 8 bells most Sundays and 10 bells for practice nights. David Griffiths has been teaching 2 ladies to ring as a result of an article in local publications. Since we stopped ringing regularly for Evensong it has been difficult to get a band together for extra services and occasionally have had to cancel ringing for evening services. The bells were rung as part of the town’s Passion Play on Easter Day to herald the resurrection scene taking place in the Riverside Park.Alan Winter continues to run a monthly 10 bell practice which is preceded by a quarter peal and Phillip George has co-ordinated the other Friday practice nights which have attracted ringers from the district. During the year 7 successful quarter peals and 1 peal were rung on the bells.Taylors, Bellfounders of Loughborough, visited in November 2014 to inspect the bells and reported that the clappers required rebushing which was done in May, with thanks to Andy Harvey for helping to taking them out and transport them to Loughborough. We received £500 grant from the Ely Diocesan Association Bell Fund towards this work which has been lodged in PCC funds but earmarked for bell work. There is a still a need for maintenance and decorating sessions in the Bell Chamber. Dick Newell installed more swift boxes in the louvres and these have been well used. A “Swift Evening” was held in July and attracted lots of visitors to view the installations and watch the swifts circling the tower at dusk. The tower was also used for a teddy bear zip wire during the Flower Festival in June as well as guided tours up to see the bells. Thank you to all who have rung for services and supported practice nights during the year.Church Flower Team

We are fortunate that we have been able to add a few more ladies to our team of arrangers during the last 12 months. We have a really good friendly team of ladies + one gentleman, whom work together well, normally arranging flowers for the major festivals of the church and also ensuring that it looks good to the visitors that come in throughout the year.We are so grateful to everyone on the team who certainly have excelled themselves this last year during the ‘Famous People’ Flower Festival 2015. This raised

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approximately £6500.00 for the church funds, with a portion of it set aside for the kitchen refurbishment at the North side of the church.If you are interested in joining our Team please contact Sylvia on 476907 or Rosemary on 476334

Coffee Craft and Chat

During the last year we have continued to meet at St Mary’s Academy in Wintringham Road, in the After School Club Building. It has been a launch pad for some of the young mum’s to come to church through ‘MESSY CHURCH’, and ‘MOTHERS UNION’. We continue to meet, sharing our skills with one another doing Cross Stitch, Knitting, and Crotchet. We have sent knitted blankets to Israel, knitted outfits for tiny babies who were so small when born to mothers with Aids, that the hospital wrapped the babies in newspaper and sent them home; thus they became fish and chip babies. We also help the school by doing refreshments at their Christmas Fayre in December, thus helping the school raise extra funds for St Mary’s Academy. There are several members of our congregation who help with this link and have a very good rapport with young mums who come along. If you would like to help or would simply like to learn a craft, please contact Rosemary Darrington on 01480-476334Mens Group

We have continued with the Churches Together in St Neots Mens Forum. This meets once a month usually at the Berkley Street Methodist Church. Members from the Methodist, URC, Catholic and St Mary attend. This included activities (Pub games, golf, and snooker evenings) also a visit to British School Museum in Hitchin which was very interesting and well attended. We also visited Priory Park Bedford for a walk. We also had evenings of talks by guest speakers on illustrated talk on Adventures in Cuba, a talk on Victorian Servants in a Country house, and Un Voyageur on France given by our Roger Henthorne. These were open meetings including wives and partners took place during the year. The year was brought to an end with a New Year’s Dinner.More men from St Mary are always welcome as it is good to meet members from other churches in the town and the subjects discussed are very interested.Planned evenings for 2016 including Talk on the Leprosy Mission, Tour of Queens College Cambridge, Family History and The DNA in Modern Healthcare These are all Open Meetings. Philip Barrett.Churches Together in St Neots

Churches Together is like a large umbrella under which several churches join together to support a project that unites us as Christians within the Community. Here are a few of the arms that reach out into the local area.1] Littlehey Prison: For many years we have been supporting the Chaplain/s at the prison, (Our own Richard Bunyan was a previous Chaplain at Littlehey) taking our part in leading worship there 5 times a year at their 9.30am service. In January, March, May, July, September and November. This happens on the 4th Sunday morning in each of these months. We have people on the Team at the moment from Berkley St Methodist Church, and St Mary’s Eaton Socon, and St Mary’s St Neots.

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With the help from local Ministers and lay preachers from the Baptist Church, Methodist and Anglican churches we are able to just have enough people to give the ‘WORD’ in a talk. We meet together approximately 4 weeks prior to the service to plan the service which is always different as we are an Ecumenical Group. The work over the past 12 months has given all the Team the most tremendous sense of witness, and we always come away feeling very blessed by what God is doing there. If you are interested in joining the Team, please contact Rosemary Darrington on 01480-476334. You are allowed to come in on two occasions to see if it’s for you, before completing the necessary digital forms.2] Tree of Hope – Fairly Traded Shop: Is situated in the United Reformed Church and is open on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings from 10am to 12 noon. The running of the Shop is led by a team of ladies from the local churches. Our Chairman being Margaret Chambers, Treasurer is Val Corrigan both from the URC, and Rosemary Darrington St Mary’s St Neots and Vivien Almond Berkley St Methodist supported by many Volunteers who come from a lot of the churches. Some of the money raised at the end of each financial year is distributed to local good causes including Christian Aid, and Traidcraft. We are always pleased to welcome people to help in the shop on any of these mornings. If you are interested and would like to give 2 hours of your time once a month we would be pleased to hear from you. Please contact Rosemary Darrington on 01480-4763343] Christian Performing Arts: This Team again has people from all denominations who come together to work as part of the Team. They provide the Choir which often sings at CTSN events, such as Women’s World Day of Prayer, the Good Friday Service on the Market Square. In 2015 (as in 2010) every Church joined together to put on the Passion Play on Easter Sunday, where thousands of people flock to the Town Centre and Riverside Park to witness the re-enactment of the last week of Jesus’ life, from Palm Sunday to the Resurrection. It is the most wonderful witness that we could have of all the churches working together in the local Community. If you are interested in being part of this team please check out their website at www.stneotscpa.org.uk4] Other CTSN Events: Women’s World Day of Prayer is organised by ladies from all the churches and held at a different church each year. CTSN also plan several other events within the CommunityLoves Farm

Breakfast Church opened its doors for the first time on October 25th 2015, the day after the Love’s Farm House community centre! Since then, a core of around 40 people has gathered each week. Most that come have either had some church involvement in the past but lost connection or have had no previous church affiliation.  It has been especially exciting to be making the journey with this group, who are coming to hear the stories of Jesus for the first time – At the beginning of the year we also began to meet mid-week ('Talking Point' or Thursday Church as one of our group likes to call it!), to look a bit more closely at the story we might have considered on Sunday, to chat and ask questions and drink coffee/eat cake.  I very much have the sense that the community that has gathered are the living stones that Peter refers to in his letter, growing and learning together.In other news, this year we have been able to gather a team to relaunch Love’s Farm’s Junior Youth Club. We kicked off on January 12th and quickly had 50 children registered, with 40 children between the ages of 8 and 12 years regularly

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turning up every Tuesday evening. The Youth Club provides the normal mix of fun, games, guests, crafts and tuck – as well as some team time when we spend a minute or two pondering our club code: K.A.R.T.S – kindness and character, attitude and aspiration, respect and responsibility, being a team player and trustworthy and speaking well of ourselves and well of others.I am extremely grateful to be involved at the Round House Primary Academy through weekly visits (reading with year 6), assemblies, being a school governor and work based chaplaincy. Relationships across the school are a real joy and have surely been a part in the youth club’s success. During each school holiday I have been part of a team hosting MakeLunch, providing a hot lunch after an hour of activities to children normally in receipt of a free school meal. Around 60 children, parents and team eat together on a MakeLunch day.After Easter will see the launch of Little Loves, an affordable parent and toddler group for the community run at Love’s Farm House.  The group will be led by 3 of the ladies who have started coming to Breakfast Church with support from 3 of us on the leadership team.  The demographic on Love's Farm is weighted toward young families with both pre-school and school aged children so we are confident there’ll be a good up take!  Our diocesan strategy aims to have 50:50 mixed economy Church by 2025 and what's happening within the parish through St Mary’s and the work on Love’s Farm is by God’s grace in line with that mixed economy church goal. I’m extremely grateful to be a part of what is God doing across our communities and look forward to what is yet to com

Helene Tame

Social Committee

The Social Committee has continued to organise a range of events throughout the year, and to support those running various activities with refreshments etc.The hot lunches and the Barbecue have proved to be the most popular and well-attended and of course Messy Church goes from strength to strength with the lunches much appreciated. The Flower Festival was marvellous again and many church members worked incredibly hard in the kitchen to keep everyone fed and watered and to swell the funds.Two of our planned events – the post-Christmas tea party and the Quiz have had to be cancelled because there was very little take-up. This was probably the result of poor timing on our part – just after Christmas and Easter are clearly not times people want to go out again. The quiz will be re-scheduled for the Autumn when holidays are over, and we will try to plan a pre-Christmas social occasion this year.The Social Committee’s purpose is to provide our community with opportunities for fellowship and fun - it is not a fund-raising group although we are able to subsidise refreshments for Messy Church etc. We always try to keep prices as low as possible to encourage as many people as possible to attend our events.

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We would welcome more members to join the committee and or to help with our activities and are very keen to have new ideas for the future. Carol WayFood bank report

I have become the new St. Mary’s representative trustee for the St. Neots Foodbank and took over from Christine Green in this role in January, so firstly I would like to express thanks to Christine for all her hard work in the start up and running of this service. Angie has also stepped down from her role in the main warehouse after doing a wonderful job setting up the processes for the Food Bank so a big thank you to her as well. The food bank is jointly supported by a number of churches in St. Neots and helps people who, for whatever reason, need its support. This amounts to nearly 500 times per year and so represents an important safety net for people in need. Apart from the warehouse there are 4 distribution centres which open for a couple of hours each week. Mondays Opendoor Church Centre Eaton Ford4pm to 6pm Tuesdays at St Neots United Reformed Church10am to 12 noonThursdays Berkley St Methodist Church4pm to 6pmFridays St Mary's Parish Church Eaton Socon10am to 12 noonThere are some 60 volunteers so there is quite a lot of support and the processes and set up is under the Trussell Trust. Have a look at (www.trusselltrust.org). Last Christmas, thanks to your generosity, we were able to distribute just over 120 special Christmas parcels to people who have recently received food from the foodbank. The parcels included a few Christmas treats. It continues to be very well supported by the public in and around the St. Neots area and is a very worthwhile Christian outreach project. Glenn Coiley

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