PARISH OF THE SACRED HEART – ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
THURSDAY 20 JUNE 2024 at 7.00pm
The Annual Parish Meeting was held in the Parish Hall of Sacred Heart church, North Walsham and was attended by approximately 40 parishioners.
Apology for absence: David Hoy
Fr Peter led those present in saying Grace and all enjoyed a delicious meal provided by parishioners from the Churches of the Sacred Heart; North Walsham and St Helen; Hoveton.
RICHARD McGREEVY, CHAIR OF THE PARISH COUNCIL
There has been a lot going on since the last AGM:
A session for basic first aid and defibrillator training has been held so if you have a heart attack in church you should be well looked after.
St John of the Cross had the joy of a woodworm infestation that resulted in the purchase of a complete new set of chairs.
St Helens had a flood in the car park caused by a burst Anglia water main ( a river so I am told) and a discovery that this had undermined the road to Tunstead causing much heated debate by the insurance companies about responsibility.
Sacred Heart had major water problems with the hall but as you can see we now have wonderful facility here.
Use of the car park by unauthorised persons continues to be a problem here but an easy solution evades us.
Safeguarding becomes a bigger issue for all three churches with both a growth in the elderly needing support and a spurt of new young parishioners.
The format for the parish census has been agreed and will be upon us very soon to enable us to update our records.
A whole host of certain and potential property issues are looming on the horizon in respect of three church buildings, this hall, the presbytery and the bungalow. Without stealing Francis’ thunder we can expect significant expenditure going forward.
We continue to operate the parish with help from so many people too numerous to mention. Thank you all. But it is the usual suspects who carry the weight so if you can offer your services in any aspect of parish work, please come forward.
Finally, the biggest and most joyous event of the year was without doubt the Celebration of Father Peter’s 25th anniversary of Ordination. What a wonderful occasion it was and enjoyed by so many. We are very lucky to have Father Peter as our pastor. Thank you.
I now hand over to Francis who will update us on all matters financial.
FRANCIS HARMER, ACTING CHAIR OF THE PARISH FINANCE COMMITTEE
Good evening, everyone and thank you for enabling me to say a few words this evening. For those who don’t know me I’m Francis Harmer, often to be found at St Helen’s. I’ve been acting chair of the Parish Finance Committee since last autumn.
It struck me that very little may be known about the Finance Committee. It is a Diocesan requirement that there is a Finance Committee to provide advice and support to the Parish Priest. Under Canon Law the Parish Priest has personal responsibility for the finances and resources and selects those (volunteers) he feels can help him discharge those duties. In all we do, we are guided by a multi-page Diocesan financial handbook with a small team at the Diocesan office available to consult when needed.
Well, who do we have on the Finance Committee? The Parish Treasurer is David Hoy (apologies from him for being unable to attend today). In passing, sincere thanks are due from us all to our past, now retired Treasurer, Ken Watkins for his sterling work over several years. David Hoy is assisted by Peter Brander and together they ensure that the accounting records are kept in good order, that all income is promptly banked and that payments are made as they fall due. David also prepares a budget which enables us to plan and monitor things on an on-going basis. David and Peter are joined by Jim Farrell (our Gift Aid officer) who regularly encourages us to gift aid our offerings and donations.
As well as finance, the Committee covers property issues and our lead on property and health and safety is Michael Downes who will be seen out and about and who is able to offer advice and assistance when needed. The Committee is then made up by representatives from the three worshipping communities. Ideally, we would like to have two representatives from each church – perhaps one focussing on finance and the other on property matters. Our Secretary is Richard McGreevy. The Committee meets with Fr Peter three or four times a year as there can be quite a heavy agenda.
You will have seen that I have brought with me a summarised receipts and payments financial statement with actual figures for the year 2023 and with this year’s 2024 projected budget. (See end of meeting report.) Just to tell you that legally the Parish is not an accounting entity. It is part of the Diocese, a charity which produces consolidated accounts for all Catholic church activities across Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. The figures I’m presenting here represent our part extracted from those consolidated accounts.
So, if you look at the left-hand set of figures you will see that the parish had a deficit of £7,612 in the year to 31 December last. We did quite well on offertory, first collection, monies which came in 5% above target for which thank you. The interest earned figure looks disappointing but in fact we received over £6,000 in total on the monies held with the Diocese last year, but we were only notified of the extra amount in March this year. Rental income which includes hall hire was obviously influenced by this building being out of action for a substantial time. On the payments side, I will highlight property maintenance and repairs; we do have a relatively large property and grounds portfolio which needs to be kept in good order. It looks as though energy costs have stabilised to some extent thank goodness. New chairs were provided in Aylsham, and we are grateful for the financial contributions received from the Aylsham community which significantly helped meet the balance of costs. I must also thank all those who have worked tirelessly to get this building up and running again.
Turning to the budget for 2024, challenging figures for both the offertory income and Gift Aid have been set. Aa a positive, I suspect we should achieve more income from both interest and rents than shown here. On the expenditure side, I must again highlight property costs. We have already expended significant sums upgrading the heating and plumbing in the hall (essential; not least to meet the requirements of the insurers after two claims) but there is also a backlog of maintenance demands particularly across the North Walsham site. The figure in the budget represents projects currently quantifiable. Diocesan levies go towards the education service, clergy pension contributions and general Diocesan expenses.
You will see that overall, a deficit of more than £13,000 is predicted for the current year which will bring our cash balances down to under £150,000 which is not a large sum relative to our annual budgeted spending. Indeed, some of these balances have restrictions on their use either by type or by location of expenditure. We are concerned that we have currently unbudgeted expenditure on fulfilling the needs of the quinquennial property reviews notably on the listed building the Sacred Heart church. At present the roof and rainwater drainage are being surveyed so we can get a handle on potential costs. There is also the embankment at Hoveton which may require some underpinning. Limited grants may be available to help with some of the costs particularly on the listed building. The Diocese are unlikely to be able to help so most of such costs will have to come from our own funds. To that end, Fr Peter and I are hoping to speak directly to each of our worshiping communities in the next few weeks explaining the situation and stressing the continued importance of the offertory contributions and Gift Aid.
In conclusion, I feel that the Parish finances are adequate for immediate needs, but it will not take much in the way of income reductions or increased expenditure demands to put those finances under severe pressure. Additionally, continued annual deficits are not sustainable over time and should be eliminated.
FATHER PETER RAJ, PARISH PRIEST
Fr Peter expressed his thanks to all present, members of the Finance Committee and the Parish Pastoral Council, and also to the members of the recently formed Parish Social Committee and the Hall Committee, in particular Chris and Ben White who had taken care of the hall bookings and to Arthur and Geraldine Williams who have succeeded them. He said that it was wonderful to see so many volunteers and hoped that the parish census, forms for which would be distributed on Sunday, would encourage parishioners to offer their services in other ways. We are seeing new families in the parish and the numbers at Mass are increasing. There has been an increase in devotion of patronal saints with processions taking place round the churches.
There followed Questions from the floor
A parishioner asked how much each parishioner should pay to keep the parish ticking over – Francis responded that a figure isn’t quoted as each gives according to his or her ability. Anyone who is a tax payer is encouraged to sign a Gift Aid declaration as the parish can claim 25% of any donation made by that person back from the government. Having a standing order also makes things easier. James Farrell was the person who oversees Gift Aid and is always happy to answer queries.
It was asked whether some form of parking control could be installed in the Sacred Heart car park. It was explained that any installation would cost more than the monies brought in. There was also the issue of hall users.
Kerry Barrett and Lauren Wilcox do a wonderful job running Faithful Flames, the children’s liturgy group. It was felt that as much as possible should be done to encourage the youngsters. St Edmunds Fund is a possible source of funding which could be approached by Fr Peter for help with particular youth projects.
Fr Peter closed the meeting with a prayer.
Please see over for statement of Parish Accounts
PARISH OF THE SACRED HEART, NORTH WALSHAM
STATEMENT OF GENERAL RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS
| Receipts | Actual Year to 31/12/2023 | Budget Year to 31/12/2024 | ||
| Offertory Collections | £63,417 | £70,000 | ||
| Tax Rebates (Gift Aid) | £ 9,890 | £12,000 | ||
| Donations & Legacies | £18,086 | £15,500 | ||
| Interest from Diocese | £ 3,085 | £ 3,500 | ||
| Rents | £16,211 | £18,000 | ||
| Other | £ 8,874 | £10,000 | ||
| £119,563 | £129,000 | |||
| Payments | ||||
| Clergy (including Supply, housekeeping & car expenses) | £20,650 | £16,000 | ||
| Property Maintenance & Repairs | £32,810 | £55,000 | ||
| St John of the Cross Aylsham Chairs | £14,133 | |||
| Gas/electricity/water | £16,410 | £18,500 | ||
| Council Tax/Rates | £ 1,734 | £ 2,250 | ||
| Insurance | £ 3,769 | £ 4,500 | ||
| Diocesan Levies | £20,912 | £25,000 | ||
| Parish Administration | £ 8,286 | £10,000 | ||
| Other (incl. liturgical, equipment & donations) | £ 8,471 | £11,000 | ||
| £127,175 | £142,250 | |||
| Excess of Payments over Receipts | -£ 7,612 | -£ 13,250 | ||
Statement of Funds Movement
| Year 2023 | Year 2024 | |||
| Bank & Diocesan held cash balances on 1 January | £170,177 | £162,565 | ||
| Excess of Payment over Receipts for Year | -£ 7,612 | -£ 13,250 | ||
| Bank & Diocesan Held Cash Balances on 31 December | £162,565 | £149,315 | ||
| In addition, the Parish holds 1150 units with the Diocesan Investment Trust valued at £24,063 on 31/12/2023. | ||||
