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ST. JAMES’ CHURCH

WEDDINGTON

God’s love has been poured out into our hearts,

through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

(Romans 5:5)

ANNUAL REPORTS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR

THE YEAR ENDING 31 DECEMBER 2016

to be presented at the

Annual Parochial Church Meeting

on Sunday 23rd April 2017 at 11am

in the Church.

Please bring this Report with you to the meeting

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St James’ Church, Weddington, Nuneaton. Incumbent and correspondence: Rev. Kelly Betteridge, 61 Ambleside Way, Nuneaton CV11 6AU Associate Lay Minister: No current Lay Minister Treasurer: Mrs Ann L Smith Independent Examiner: Mr J Banner PCC Secretary: Mr Barry Grant Bank: The Co-operative Bank, New Century Way, Nuneaton Parochial Church Council: For the year 2016-2017 the PCC consisted of the following – Incumbent: Rev. Kelly Betteridge Churchwardens Mr Paul Ingram (Resigned August 2016) Mr Terry Laight Assistant Churchwarden None at present Deanery Synod members Mrs Ann Smith PCC: Serving to 2017 – Lin Mulcock, Janet Flavel, Barry Grant

Serving to 2018 – M Chattaway (resigned Sept 2016), J Smallwood, Maxine Johnson Serving to 2019 – Cheryll Turner, Jean Harris, Andrew Harris

Ex Officio Members: Revd. Kelly Betteridge, Priest in Charge

Mr J Chamberlain (Churchwarden Emeritus) Rev Martin Butt.

Positions to be voted for this year: Two churchwardens, two assistant churchwardens and four

PCC members. Ministers: All members of the church family at Weddington

PARISH STATISTICS FROM THE REGISTERS

l January 2016 – 31 December 2016

2016 2015

Baptism 7 8

Thanksgiving 0 0

Confirmation 0 0

Marriage 3 4

Blessing/renewal of vows 1 0

Church Funeral 7 5

Crematorium Funeral 0 2

Interment of ashes 11 10

Burials 0 0

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MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETINGS HELD ON SUNDAY 24th APRIL 2016

AT 11.35am IN THE CHURCH

Reverend Kelly Betteridge welcomed everyone to the two Annual Meetings.

The proceedings began with Janet Flavel reading 1 John 4:7-21. Rev Kelly gave a prayer.

The Annual Report had been available for inspection.

Mr. B Grant was appointed Minutes Secretary for the meeting.

There were 30 people present and apologies from: Mrs. V Collet Mr. A & Mrs. J Harris Mrs. J Oldroyd and Ms. M Turner.

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE PARISHIONERS Chair: Rev Kelly Betteridge / Paul Ingram. Minutes of the meeting held on 19th April 2015: These had been available for inspection and were approved Proposed Mrs. S Hextall, seconded Mrs M Grant. Matters arising. There were no matters arising. Appointment of churchwardens. Mr. P Ingram agreed to serve for another year. Mr. T Laight agreed to become churchwarden again Proposed Mrs. P Ingram seconded Mr. B Grant. Rev Betteridge thanked Mr. Ingram for his work over the past year, and them both for becoming wardens for the coming year.

Meeting ended 11:50a.m.

ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING

This Meeting was chaired by Rev Betteridge/Paul Ingram.

Apologies for absence: As Above

Minutes of the meeting held on 19th April 2015: These had been available for inspection and were approved and signed by Rev Betteridge.

Matters arising: None

Electoral Roll: The numbers of parishioners in April stood at 75 (80 in 2015)

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Elections and appointments

PCC

Thanks were given to all those who have served on the PCC, the Deanery Synod, committees and groups associated with the PCC.

There were three members up for re-election in 2016 ( Ann Smith, and Andrew & Jean Harris), but by virtue of Mrs Ann Smith being The Deanery Synod member, and Terry Laight (member to 2018) becoming churchwarden their membership is open, so there were four vacancies available. three for a period of three years, and one for two years. These were filled by Mrs. Jean Harris, Mr. Andrew Harris, Mrs. Cheryll Turner, and Maxine Ward (now Mrs. Maxine Johnson). Mrs. Ann Smith is the new Deanery Synod member and has full voting rights, and, as stated above, Mr. Terry Laight has become Church Warden.

Deanery Synod: Mrs. Ann Smith is willing to continue to represent St James on the Deanery Synod for another year. Thanks to her for continuing in her role, and to Mr. John Keiser for his work in the past representing our church within the Deanery.

Ex Officio Members. Rev Martin Butt is not allowed on to the electoral roll as he is a licensed priest, but he is a co-opted member of the PCC.

Sidespersons: The list was changed and now comprises: -

Mrs Ann Smith Lin Mulcock Diane Box Mrs Ann Aston Barry & Maureen Grant Maxine Ward (now Johnson) David & Elizabeth Coulson Paul & Pam Ingram Janet Oldroyd Ron & Maureen Chattaway Janet Payne Rosemary Chamberlain John & Mary Parry Sue Harris John Smallwood Sue Hextall Lawrence Dawson Terry & Jackie Laight

The sidespersons were thanked for the work they do and for the welcome given by them to people at the door.

Reports For the following groups were given: -

Vicar’s Report. No issues raised.

Church Wardens’ Report: No issues raised

Fabric Report: The Church Tower is to be checked by a steeplejack within the next few weeks. No other issues raised.

Secretary Report: No issues raised.

Annual Church Hall Report: No issues raised. Thanks to Ron & Maureen Chattaway for their work.

Winter Night Shelter Report: No issues raised. Thanks to Lin Mulcock and her team. Lin reported that it will happen again this year..

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Nuneaton Deanery Synod report: No issues raised.

Ladies Fellowship: No issues raised.

Banner Group: No issues raised.

Parent & Toddler Group: An appeal for more helpers.

Baptism Team: No issues raised.

Coffee Pot: No issues raised.

Weddington Wives: No issues raised.

Pudding Club: Concern was raised about the number of people supporting the club. It was mentioned that we should look to support the July event as funds raised for this are donated to Raynaud's & Scleroderma Association in memory of Judith Cunningham. The other month’s funds are raised for the church.

Thanks were given for the support of all the above groups.

Financial Reports Independent Examiners Report; Mrs Ann Smith (Treasurer) thanked Mr. J Banner for his work as Independent Examiner. He is willing to continue in this role. Independent Examiner Election (Auditor): John Smallwood proposed and Paul Ingram seconded that Mr. J Banner remain in the post. Treasurer's Report: Mrs Ann Smith, treasurer, presented her report, which showed a pleasing increase in income giving a surplus of £2,772 which went into the Church General Fund. Mrs Smith commented that whilst the surplus was welcomed it was lower than the previous year, and warned that we could have a problem, if our income falls, when at the same time we face extra costs due to normal costs increasing, and the Caldecote situation. The accounts were approved as true and correct – proposed by Diane Box and seconded by Paul ingram Any Other Business: None Rev Betteridge’s closing remarks We have opportunities given the new developments around the church, and we need to grow together reading scripture and praying together. I am delighted with the groups in this church, and we should be encouraged to grow the gifts we have. The meeting closed with prayer at 12:20pm.

St James’ Weddington

Annual Report by Rev Kelly Betteridge, Priest-in-charge 2016

At the time of going to print, Kelly has been off sick for some time, so no report has been submitted. Some of the areas covered by Kelly’s report will be included within the Churchwarden’s report which follows. In the meantime we all pray for, and wish Kelly a speedy recovery.

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Churchwarden’s Report

As stated in the previous report, Kelly has been ill now for some time, and I know the church is praying for her speedy recovery, and I look forward to when we can welcome her back into the church family, which, hopefully, should be around the time you read this. The year of 2016 has been a year from which we can take a number of positives, though it has been tinged with sadness at the loss of four of our most beloved ladies in Pat Barber, Dora Hextall,Rosemary Chamberlain and Anne Blackeby, all of whom were wonderful servants in our church life for many years past, and were great supporters of many of the other groups attached to the church who are reporting below. In addition, Dick Chetwynd also passed away following on less than a year after Marjorie’s death in 2015. They will all be greatly missed.

Service is an area where we have until not so many years ago been seen as a little bit lacking. Now we can say that we have changed. We have continued to support the local Food Bank as they seem to be feeding an increasing number of families, which is a sad reflection of our times. The year end saw us again supporting the Night Shelter project for three months with Lin Mulcock at the helm, supported by a wonderful group of hard working volunteers from across many churches, bringing comfort to the homeless on our streets. See Lin’s report for further information. We also continue to support a variety of other charities such as Water Aid and Operation Christmas child in addition to those to whom we make annual donations as part of the church giving. We can now add SWANS (Singing with a new spirit), the music group set up for those with dementia and their carers, which has just been introduced to Weddington after its success at St.Nicolas. Sally-Ann Veasey has now added this to her already busy schedule. Furthermore, we have appointed a small group to consider how to improve our pastoral care led by Martin Butt, and more will be reported on this as it develops. Towards the end of last year a new house group started with 9 people attending, and will resume again in the Spring. In the main, it has been fellowship, prayer and studying the bible readings for the following Sunday. In addition, a small group are now meeting during the hour before our communion services for prayer and listening to God to discern the movement of the Holy Spirit within our church and community, and thoughts are shared with the congregation before the service. On Mondays, there is a service of prayer from 8.00am-9.00am. Anyone wishing to come along to any of these groups would be very welcome. So we feel blessed with the Spirit as a church, and we look forward to see how the Spirit moves us further in the future, both within the church and also within the community as a whole. We have seen an increase in families with children attending services and are at last seeing visitors from the new housing development, which is to be welcomed, and we pray that this will continue in 2017 as further developments spring up around the church. We did not hold an open air service this year, but instead we held a barbecue in August for the church family, but also aimed at couples who have been married, or had their children baptised at St. James', or has otherwise had a link with the church in the last few years. It was deemed a success and thanks to everyone who supported the occasion. We are therefore considering a similar event for this year.

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We have also increased our contact with Weddington School, and this looks to be improving further this year through the ‘open the book’resources led by John Hitchcock. If anyone feels they would like to get involved in this, then please let me know. All the normal church services have continued, although we did have a joint Easter dawn service of Holy Communion at 6.00am for people from our church, Caldecote and St Nicolas which was successful, although there were some bleary eyes at the later normal 10.00am service! You may recall that as a church we started to investigate the 8 essential qualities and following a survey we looked at ways and means of improving the ‘effective structures’within the church. We feel that this has been done so we are due to review this by undertaking a further survey in the near future, and to consider which other area of the church is in need of improvement. Whilst we have had the great support of Kelly and Martin Butt over the last year it has still meant a great strain on Kelly, so, after consultation with the Archdeacon, it was suggested that we have an Associate Minister at St James. This has financial implications to us as outlined in the Financial report, but nevertheless, the PCC felt that such a move has great merit, and, therefore, have agreed to advertise for a vacancy for a part time associate minister, who would be based in Weddington, and supporting the current ministry team. This is currently ongoing and further information will be provided as it happens. As ever, we have benefited from the input of the lay readers from St Nicolas, and thank them all for their knowledge and ministry, and also to the people from our own church who preach. Again, as you will see from the financial report, Caldecote has still not closed, but all services there have ceased so its closure should be imminent. Again, this could have financial implications to us as outlined in the financial report. There are so many people who are committed to the work of the church, I can honestly say, I feel genuinely honoured to be a warden with so much support from everyone. The list is huge and I would not wish to forget someone, so I will just say here, that you all know who you are, and I thank you all for your efforts. It is worth just mentioning, and thanking Ann Smith who continues to look after the church finances in an exemplary manner, but who also supports me in many other ways too. We also lost two members from the PCC last year. Maureen Chattaway resigned in the latter half of the year, but continues her sterling work together with Ron at the church hall. As everyone knows, Paul Ingram resigned his position as churchwarden midway through the year on a point of principal,and I would like to thank him for his work over the past few years as churchwarden, and it was sad to see him go but has remained within the church family, and has continued to support me since. I would like to thank them both for their service to the church. Finally, as you know I deal with Gift Aid donations to the church, and, as you can see from some of the comments above, and also in the Treasurer’s report the projected surplus may be no more than break-even this year, so I heartily endorse Ann’s comments that we should all review our giving, and, if you pay tax then whenever possible to gift aid your donations to the church. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but means that we can claim a further 25% back from our friendly taxman! However, due to the recent increase in personal tax allowances, some may have now dropped out of the tax bracket, and if so, you must tell me. If you are unsure then I can help so please do not hesitate to contact me.

Terry Laight Churchwarden

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Fabric Report

During the last year there have been the ongoing checks of the fabric of the church, e.g. electrics /boilers /roofing and guttering etc, with no major problems apart from those outlined below. As reported in last year’s Fabric report, we have a situation with the bell tower, in as much that we have to have an inspection requiring scaffolding, both externally and internally, before we can be sure of the extent of the work needed to repair our louvre windows with their protective metal grills and sills. In addition, the capstone is suspended by a metal chain from the apex of the spire in order to anchor the roof, and the state of the chain has been questioned as it must be around 100 years old at this point, and this can only be accessed, and checked with the scaffolding. By the time you read this we are hoping to have completed the inspection, which will then trigger a faculty application before the work can begin in earnest. It is important that we do this work along with other works before our next quinquennial inspection due later this year. Recent work has seen the church lounge door's double glazed glass panel has been repaired at last. You may have noticed that we have a leaking radiator in need of repair. After consulting with a plumber we will need to replace 2 radiators before we can dispose with the bucket in the porch. A dripping overflow onto the roof has caused concern and hopefully these works will have been completed by the time of the APCM. We are also shortly due to put flower troughs to the side of the Remembrance stones halfway up the path, and new ones will be going along the ashes plots.

Terry Laight Churchwarden

Secretary's report

The following served as members for 2016/2017: Rev K Betteridge, Rev M Butt (Ex-Officio), Mrs J Flavel, Mrs M Chattaway, Mr B Grant, Mr A Harris, Mrs J Harris, Mr P Ingram, Mr T Laight (Churchwarden), Mrs L Mulcock, Mr J Smallwood, Mrs A Smith (Treasurer Ex-Officio) Mr P Ingram (Church Warden). We welcomed Maxine Ward (now Johnson) and Cheryll Turner. Note: Mr Paul Ingram and Mrs Maureen Chattaway resigned part way through the year. Members to be voted for this year: Two churchwardens, two assistant churchwardens and four PCC members – one to 2018 (to replace Mrs Maureen Chattaway) and three to 2020. The PCC met on six occasions during 2016/17 for scheduled meetings. It also had a special meeting with the Archdeacon to discuss the possibility of getting an associate minister for our church. We are progressing the paper work for this and it is currently with the diocese. The parish church of Caldecote is due to close and their parish will amalgamate with us, although we are still awaiting a final decision from the diocese. The PCC has the responsibility of co-operating with the priest in charge, the Rev Kelly Betteridge promoting in the parish the whole mission of the church, pastoral, evangelical, social and ecumenical. It is also responsible for maintaining and repairing the church and church hall, the contents, the churchyard and surrounding walls, hedges and lawns. It is responsible for raising the money needed for these purposes, and for making sure that the work is done properly.

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The following are the officers and sub committees that meet as needs require during the year: Chairmen (P Ingram, A Smith & T Laight) PCC Secretary (B Grant) Treasurer (A Smith) Gift Aid Secretary (T Laight) Electoral Roll Officers ( Andrew & Jean Harris) Minutes Secretary (B Grant) Parish Information Officer (Paul Ingram) Vulnerable Persons Group. PCC Group responsible for implementing parish policy on children and young people in accordance with the Children’s Act (The Minister plus one male and one female member of the PCC – Rev K Betteridge, J Smallwood, J Flavel) Church Hall Committee (R Chattaway, M Chattaway, G Hinton, A Smith) Baptism Group (J Flavel, Laurence Dawson, Paul Ingram, Pam Ingram) Building & Fabric Group (T Laight, Paul Ingram, J Smallwood, A Smith) School Liaison (J Flavel, P Ingram) Health & Safety (J Smallwood) Standing Committee & Finance Committee (A Smith, K Betteridge, M Chattaway, B Grant, Paul Ingram)

Mr. B Grant PCC Secretary

Annual Church Hall Report The hall remains an attractive meeting place for the community and we are grateful to our regular users namely Mother and Toddlers, Brownies and Guides, Painting group, Amy's Dancing Academy and the NHS blood donor sessions. We continue to attract Church activities, such as weekly Coffee Mornings, Ladies Fellowship and monthly Weddington Wives. We must not forget to mention the Night Shelter for the Homeless starting in December, and split between Churches in the area. Once again headed by Lin Mulcock and supported by people from our combined Church group. The hall site is maintained by Maureen Chattaway tending the gardens Graham Hinton the front and rear lawns and hedge; these have been given a tidy up, keeping the hedge down to six feet and all fencing around the plot being replaced. As the Hall moves on another year, the maintenance increases, internal problems being resolved by Ron and Graham. People making up the Hall team are Emma Love, Graham Hinton, Maureen, Ron and David Chattaway, with Julia Penfold keeping the hall clean on a weekly basis, and with the Night Shelter starting in December; Emma has taken on the task of cleaning after the night shelter. Maureen has now taken over the Church Hall bookings. Thanks should go to our small management committee meeting. As and when necessary, meetings will be held.

Ron Chattaway Team Leader –Church Hall

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Winter Night Shelter Report

This year we have seen a high demand for beds at the shelter. At the start of the shelter in December, we were experiencing near full capacity for bed occupancy. As the demand for bed occupancy continued to grow, the decision was made to increase the bed capacity from ten to twelve. With guests having to be placed on to a waiting list until a bed became available for them. The number of guests remained high throughout the whole duration of the Shelter- whereas during previous years, the numbers of guests decreased towards the end of the shelter, with many guests accessing suitable living arrangements and housing. This year we were blessed to have many people wish to volunteer at the shelter. There was a good response from people outside of the church. Once again I would like to thank all of the volunteers from St James Church and St Nicholas Church for their continued help and support. Thank you to all of those who have supported the shelter from the beginning, and to those who continue to offer their help and support- which enables the shelter to keep running every year. Grateful thanks also go to all of those who cooked meals for the guests, and to those who helped with the laundry. Also, another thank you to those who donated money to the Shelter. As most of you know, this was my last year co-ordinating the Winter Night Shelter. The four years that the Shelter has been open, have been very busy, and at times challenging- especially at the beginning when we were stepping into the “unknown”. Despite the challenges, it has been an honour to help those people who, for various reasons, found themselves homeless. During my time at the Winter Night Shelter I have met some wonderful people, who led chaotic and difficult lifestyles, but were so grateful for all that the Winter Night Shelter had done for them. I am pleased to say that the Winter Night Shelter will be continuing with Janet Flavel, Cheryll Turner and Alison Handley from St Nicholas church jointly co-ordinating. The church will continue to offer their support and prayers to the Shelter.

Lin Mulcock. Winter Night Shelter co coordinator.

Music Report

I thought that this year it would be right to report on an aspect of our worship which is close to my heart – music. This is an important part of our ministry, and this year we have used a variety of sources for a variety of services. Our small music group have for many years provided the hymns and songs for the first and third weeks services. It is a pleasure for me to play with such talented musicians as Jim and Pat Kirkwood and to have known Dora Hextall, who we sadly lost in December. We are fortunate to have Cajsa Turesson, from The Kings Lodge, with us on the second Sunday communion service bringing out the best from our Yamaha piano. I mention the Yamaha because over the last year or so we have used it for the playing of “midi files”. Midi files are pre recorded music on floppy discs and the sound is better, than when played on the piano. We have recently added more choices to the list of midi files, such as ‘In Christ alone’, ‘Faithful One’, ‘How deep the fathers love for us’, ‘10,000 Reasons’ and more. We also have the opportunity to record our own music to discs. The midi is used at our communion service on the fourth Sunday.

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In addition, from time to time, Sally-Ann Veasey has stepped in to support services away from the regular rota. Our 5th Sunday Songs of Praise is organised and led by Martin Butt and is very well received. The theme and music is Martin’s alone, and has been an opportunity to introduce new songs, always bible based and meaningful. Martin's input has been invaluable and together with Marion has added much to our worship. A big thank you to all those who have taken part, and if you feel moved to join us either playing, or singing, then please let me know.

Terry Laight

Nuneaton Deanery Synod Report

Nuneaton Deanery Synod met on 3 occasions during 2016. At each meeting we learned what was happening at the host church and around the Deanery. There have been several clergy changes at Ansley and Arley, Attleborough, Bedworth, Bulkington and Wolvey. The February meeting was held at Holy Trinity Attleborough when we heard about the initiatives leading up to the Diocesan Centenary in 2018. These include remembering past achievements, focussing on renewal, building for the future, reconciliation and celebration. At Chilvers Coton in May we looked at how the deanery would cope with the prospect of fewer clergy. Ideas were put forward including sharing resources, compromises, joint or fewer services, more use of laity and readers. The October meeting at Stockingford concentrated on the 8 Essential Qualities and the varying results from different parishes and how we can share information on our strengths and work on our weaknesses. Deanery Synod continues to be a lively opportunity to meet people from other churches, to keep up to date with changes, to hear news from the Diocese and to explore ideas for growth.

Ann Smith Deanery Synod representative

Ladies fellowship

During the last year we continued to meet in the church hall every Thursday afternoon for fellowship together, and as usual we enjoyed a varied programme throughout.

We are so sad at the loss of Rosemary our founder, leader and inspiration for nearly 30 years, also for Dora a dear friend, they are both greatly missed.

Our fellowship will continue on Thursdays 2-4pm at 103 Church Lane. We enjoy our friendship & fellowship together and as our Lord promised where two or more gather in his name there he will be.

New friends welcome.

Betty Chalkley

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Banner Group

We have had another busy year meeting once a week to stitch together in love and fellowship.

We opened the church doors in April to welcome members of Warwick W.I. to view the banners, frontals etc. with a view to encourage the ladies to start their own banner group. Tea and cake was enjoyed by all, thank you all those who baked and served.

In September we once again opened the church, this time as part of the ‘Nuneaton Art Trail’. We managed to display most of our work from the past 27 years and this was enhanced by the beautiful flower arrangements, created by our talented ‘flower ladies’ who pulled out all the stops by colour matching their creations to ours. The church looked stunning, thank you so much and also to those who donated money for the flowers. Tea, coffee and cakes were served and £191.50 was raised for church funds. Thank you to all who took part it was great teamwork.

We are continuing work on the ‘Triptych’ banner to cover the television in the church lounge. This is a contemporary design on the subject of communication.

We were shocked and saddened by our dear friend Rosemary’s death in November. Rosemary was a founder member of the banner group (about 27 years) and such a wonderful inspiration, full of ideas creativity and enthusiasm. She had a strong belief that banners help focus, support, enhance and encourage worship within church. Both she and Jim opened their home to us every Monday and never complained that their dining room for many year became a ‘sewing room’, constantly full of fabrics, threads and much more. We aim to finish the ‘communication’ banner and dedicate it to Rosemary but the future of the banner group is a little uncertain at this point in time.

Elizabeth Coulson Maureen Grant Janet Payne.

Parent and Toddler Group The group continues to be well supported by parents and carers with their children/grandchildren and ably assisted by a handful of regular volunteers each week and others on the tea and coffee rota. It is a very friendly group and comments are made that it is one of the best in the area. We do messy play every last Wednesday in the month and craft every week, which includes painting, printing, colouring, chalking, making craft items including decorations and cards. We have also done cake decorating. There is outdoor play (seasonal) and of course the children have the chance to play with all the good quality toys that are available, including a variety of sit-ons and there is also a good choice of dressing up clothes available. There is a book corner and we have regular visits from the book club. We have recently replaced the square children’s tables with smaller folding tables which gives us more flexibility in how we set up for crafts. We therefore have the two old tables to pass on if you know any group that would like them.

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At the time of writing the report, we have just been informed we have been nominated for the Asda voting system (with the counters as you go out of the store) so it will be interesting to see how that goes! We need little publicity at the moment as the numbers seem fairly regular but do tell anyone you know we meet at 1 - 2.30 pm every Wednesday pm.

Janet Flavel

Baptism team

Kelly continues to deal with the preparation being put forward by the Church of England but our groups also continues to visit the families, both to make a contact and to get to know them and invite them to other regular services, or indeed to see if there is any other way in which we can be of help.

The team consists of Paul, Pam, Lawrence, Sue Harris and Janet. So we are a very small team. Do let any of us know if you would like to join us!

Janet Flavel

Church Safeguarding Issues You may, or may not be aware, that I am one of the Parish Safeguarding Officers, along with Sue Harris, who the PCC recently appointed. I had to attend a Parish Safeguarding Officer’s training course last September as the Church Authorities through the Diocese get to grips with the relatively new Safeguarding Policies, which have been adopted by the Diocese and indeed our PCC. A copy of the Policy is on the noticeboard in the lounge, along with details of the safeguarding officers and notification forms. Part of the role, involves keeping all the relevant DBS checks up to date but also ensuring that the Safer Recruitment policies are adhered to. As it seems very few, if any, parishes actually went through this process for volunteers, the Diocese is encouraging parishes to retrospectively Safely Recruit all its volunteers and at the time of writing this is all being done. Hopefully by the time we get to the APCM, all will have been completed and noted on the Parish Audit, which has to be updated regularly on the Diocesan website. There is some basic training on the Diocesan website, dioceseofcoventry.org/safeguarding, if you wish to view it. The unit C0, which is the first basic unit, should be available shortly, and is an online course and therefore open to anyone, and you are all encouraged to have a look at it. If you have any questions regarding this subject, please let me know.

Janet Flavel

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Coffee Pot

The weekly coffee morning held on Tuesday mornings in the church hall continue to attract a good number of regulars, both ladies and gentlemen, and pleased to say some new members. We were very sorry to lose Rosemary this year, who, along with Jim, was responsible for starting up the coffee mornings some 20+ years ago. She will not be forgotten.

During the year £2,430 was raised and donated to various charities with our special mornings going to: -

Easter: £700 shared between RNIB and Nuneaton, Bedworth and District Mencap Society.

Autumn: £618 to McMillan Nurses.

Christmas: £700 to St James Church.

Thanks to all the volunteer responsible for the smooth running each week, and Brian’s help with setting out the furniture.

Elizabeth & David Coulson

Weddington Wives

We have had another very good year with lots of good speakers.

January - Pantomime “Cinderella" another wonderful show at the Concordia in Hinckley.

February - The AGM had a good turnout, and it was followed by jacket potatoes, cheese and coleslaw. Audrey Brogan and Freda Jordan came off the committee.

March - Margaret Henley dressed up as a 17th century lady and talked about the civil war.

April Colin King was an entertainer and story teller.

May - Janet Wroe brought along some antiques for us to value, and split us into 4 teams.

June - The Mystery Trip was to Cadbury's at Bourneville where we had a tour round the village and Heritage centre. After that we went into the restaurant and had afternoon tea.

July - We celebrated the Queen's 90th birthday at our Summer Supper, decorated the hall and the tables with flags and red, white and blue.

September _ Simon Topman from Acme Whistle Company came and gave us a talk about it's history, and their whistles were used on the Titanic.

October - Ashley Brown, the son of one of our members, came and gave us a light and sound show which was brilliant!

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November - The Flower Girls from Nuneaton Flower Guild gave us a lovely demonstration, and the arrangements were the raffle prizes.

December - The Christmas party went well, and the singer, Steve Michael, entertained us. Some of the members formed a group and sang as a backing group, and some others danced.

We had our Carol Service at church, which was well attended and followed by mince pies and hot punch.

Judith Moore Chairperson.

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