ANNUAL REPORT

and

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

of the

PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL of the ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH of

ST MARK HIGHCLIFFE DIOCESE OF WINCHESTER

For the year ended 31st December 2017

Priest-in-charge:

The Reverend Gill Nobes

Independent Examiner:

Sue Wintle MFAAT

Solicitors:

Aldridge Brownlee Solicitors LLP, Highcliffe

Bankers:

HSBC Bank plc, Christchurch

Charity Number 1150249

St. Mark's Church - Annual Report for 2017

St. Mark's PCC has the responsibility of co-operating with the priest-in-charge in promoting in the ecclesiastical parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical. It also has maintenance responsibilities for the Church, Church Hall and the two churchyards which are all situated in Hinton Wood Avenue, Highcliffe. A Parish Office is situated within the complex and correspondence of a general nature should be posted to:

The Parish Administrator, St. Mark's Church, Hinton Wood Avenue, Highcliffe, Christchurch, BH23 5AA.

Or by email to: parishoffice@stmarkshighcliffe.org.uk

The Parochial Church Council is a corporate body established by the Church of England. The PCC operates under the Parochial Church Council Powers Measure.

Registration as a Charity. The PCC is registered with the Charity Commission.

Membership of the PCC: Members of the PCC are either ex-officio or elected by the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) in accordance with the Church Representation Rules.

During the year the following served as members of the PCC:

Priest In Charge The Reverend Gill Nobes Chairman

Licensed Lay Ministers Mr John Heighes

Mr Colin Chatten

Wardens

(elected annually)

Mr Anthony Parkinson

Mrs Ann Nash Vice-Chairman

Representatives of the Deanery Synod

(elected every 3 years for a 3 year period)

Mr Mike Goodman

Mrs Susan Lyonette

Mr Anthony Parkinson

Elected Members Mrs Elizabeth Bennett (Until April 2017)

(elected every 3 years Mr Francis Bray (from April 2017) Treasurer

with 4 selected every Mr John Crimes (until July 2017)

year) Mr David Cannings (from April 2017)

Mrs Annette Cheeseman (from April 2017)

Dr Bob Gilbertson (from April 2017)

Mrs Susie Goodman

Mrs Janet Heighes

Mrs Julia Hughes

Mrs Susan Lyonette Secretary

Mrs Mary Matthews

Mr Paul Oastler

Mrs Jaqueline Peterson

Dr Nigel Perry (until April 2017)

Mrs Audrey Sharples

Mrs Diana Faunce (co-opted May 2017)

Miss Maureen Stringer (co-opted May 2017)

Committees. The PCC operates through the Standing Committee: This is the only committee required by law. It has power to transact the business of the PCC between its meetings, subject to any directions given by the Council. It consists of the Priest-in-charge, the Churchwardens, Secretary and Treasurer.

A Parish Administrator, Lorna Prout, who is usually in the office on Fridays, but monitors emails and telephone messages from home at other times. Much of her work is linked to arrangements for baptisms, weddings and funerals.

Report of Electoral Roll Officer. The number on the Roll at December 2016 was 186. 22 people joined the Roll during the year. 5 were removed after their death and 5 people moved out of the parish or asked to be removed from the Roll. The number on the Roll at 31st December 2017 is 198. 18 of this number live out of the Parish.

Church Attendance. The average Sunday attendance was approximately 110, although, as is usually the case, higher figures are attained at Easter and at Christmas and at other special services. Holy Communion with the Ministry of Healing was held on the second Sunday of the month at 6.30pm (changing to the first Sunday in 2018) and special Services are held on appropriate occasions during the year. During 2017 Taize services were held on fifth Sunday evenings and have been particularly well supported and now take place on the third Sunday evening of each month.

Church Music. The choir can look back on the year with a great sense of achievement. They have managed to field a fully robed choir for all of the main services and festivals, despite having to cope with some long term illnesses and absences of key members. They have performed a varied programme of both modern and traditional music, which has only been possible by the excellent effort put in by all members. A particular highlight of the year was the 3 hour Good Friday Service. This was a new service for them and one which for all of those who attended was a true and memorable act of worship.  We thank Quentin and Alison for their contribution as well as Susan Ivemy and Jan Leonard for playing the organ on occasions.

Flowers Most take it for granted that there will be flowers in church, especially on important Church Festivals. That there are is the work of a dedicated team of ladies who work very hard to make it all happen. There is no official funding and many pay for the flowers themselves, but sometimes donations are received from very kind people who support this work quietly. We thank them and appreciate all of them. Flowers for weddings, funerals and special occasions can be arranged so please ask if you would like something for you or a family member.

Parochial Church Council The full PCC met five times during the year with an average attendance of 75%.

Five assistants to the Churchwardens were appointed: Janet Heighes, Paul Oastler, Mike Goodman, Sue Lyonette and Audrey Sharples. John Crimes was Health and Safety officer and in that capacity carried out a review and ensured up to date First Aid Kits were suitable located. John has had to give up this role and a replacement is sought. Alison Hedger had to give up acting as a Governor at St Mark’s Primary School and Lorna Prout took her place, but early in 2018 Lorna stood down and Alison was re-appointed.

Sue Lyonette took the lead role in relation to the security of the church, safeguarding and data protection; Michael Williams is to take on responsibility for Data Protection in 2018

This year a new structure of Groups has been created

Report of the Finance Group. Following a stewardship campaign (which included a presentation on Giving for Life by Reverend Gordon Randall, the Diocesan Stewardship Coordinator) our planned giving and income tax recoverable has gone up by 12%. While the concept of an annual re-assessment of our pledges for the future year is new to St Mark’s, we are intending to repeat this every autumn, and are grateful for the response it has generated so far.We are also grateful to receive a legacy of £300 from Mr Gibbs, and £10,000 from Mrs Haden. Some of the Haden legacy will be used to buy a Tablet to work with our screens in the church and Library.

We continue to be grateful also for grants from the Friends of St Marks. In 2017 they have contributed £3,000 towards work on the trees in the churchyard, and £1,300 towards microphones for the updated sound system. The sound system and re-location of the projector screen will require a further promised donation of £8,700 in 2018.Donations were also double the previous year, particularly because the church is now actively supporting the Deanery project to help the Mothers’ Union and schools in Kinkiisi in South West Uganda.Within charitable trading is included £800 generated by the St Marks Festival and included the related donations, £300, to participating concert groups under expenditure for grants and charities– see page 6 of the Accounts. The profit from letting the parish hall has dipped back to the 2015 level.On the expenditure side, we have once again managed to pay our Common Mission Fund allocation, £88,600. The diocese has created a Youtube video showing the thanks of several parishes who receive funds from this, in this case inner city parishes in Basingstoke and Southampton. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyK2pKmwteQThe book £3,000 gain on our endowment investments has again reduced the apparent reduction in funds. While at a slower rate than in 2016, we have continued to reduce our reserves. This year more detailed analysis of Debtors and Creditors has been provided in notes 5 and 8.We are contemplating various necessary capital expenditures in 2018. In particular we are investigating the complete replacement of the church heating system which is currently both expensive and inadequate. We anticipate having to find some £100,000 from fund raising and grant giving bodies to enable this to be undertaken.Charles Leonard led the Stewardship campaign and also acts as the Gift Aid Officer.

Report on the Fabric. Whilst the physical premises are in reasonable condition we are aware that we still have to work through all the recommendations of the last Architect’s Report. One of the issues that had to be addressed this year was the condition of the flat roof areas of the church which have now been re-felted.Inside the church a glass door had to be replaced following accidental damage. Although the work will not have been completed until January 2018, all the arrangements were made for the screen to be re-positioned and for a new sound system to be installed.In the Hall new Fire Exit doors were installed.The condition of and maintenance of the churchyards and Church Avenue continue to be a challenge. Tony Renyard (main churchyard) and the Hampshire Community Group (new churchyard) try to keep on top of the routine mowing and strimming but additional issues are more difficult to resolve. Disposal of old floral tributes creates problems because they are a mix of compostable, recyclable and non-recyclable materials. Overhanging trees in an adjoining garden were cut back; a safety survey was undertaken of all the trees in Church Avenue and the main churchyard and a substantial amount of remedial work was carried out as a result. Chris King topped up the holes in Church Avenue as they arose, but no long term solution has been forthcoming.Planning Permission has been received to enable the exchange of land in the new churchyard to proceed but other issues are to be resolved before further progress can be made.

Report of the Charitable Support Group. Set up in Sept 2017 the Group was tasked to 1. Ensure that a broad level of contact is maintained across the church with the mission

partners adopted by the parish and with relevant mission agencies in line with the agreed aims and objectives of the Parish Mission Action Plan.

2. Update the congregation regularly, through the magazine and other means, about the work of the mission partners, and build a network of support in prayer and other ways.

3. Recommend to the PCC fund raising as may from time to time be required and advise about the allocation of special collections e.g., at Harvest and Christmas.

Prior to this work was done by volunteers. This included the annual Christian Aid collection, collections for the Children’s Society, Mission to Seafarers, US, Samaritan’s Purse, Church Mission Society, The Women’s Refuge, Christchurch Foodbank, Support for Kinkiisi, and collections by the Mother’s Union. In the absence of anyone to continue to oversee collection for the Leprosy Mission this unfortunately had to be discontinued. While the Group has no intention to discourage other charitable collections it cannot undertake to organise those suggested by members of the congregation unless it is accompanied by an offer to undertake the necessary organisation. In which case the Group would consider offering advice and support providing it was in line with the aims and objectives of the Parish Mission Plan.There has been a much appreciated collection of “Baking equipment” for Kinkiisi and support for “Eve Project” Hygiene Kits with the aim to produce 40 kits. A sponsorship leaflet is to be distributedThe Group has collated this existing work. Special service collections were also reviewed and the Group will make recommendations for the publicity and use of such future collections. The 2017 Christmas special service collections were shared by The Children’s Society and Christian Aid.The 2018 Lent collection will be a “40p for 40 days” collection for Kinkiisi.Sadly from time to time there are sudden major emergencies or disasters which cannot be planned for. It was decided to recommend that collections by St Mark’s Church for such events should be sent either through (a) DEC Disaster Emergency Committee or (b) Christian Aid with an announced retiring collection run for two weeks.In its first meetings the Group has sought to rationalise and by increased publicity encourage support of both local and overseas charitable support. It has recommended that, in line with the Christchurch Deanery, its main and ongoing overseas effort would be in support of Kinkiisi, Uganda, The Group would welcome further members interested in taking an active part in this important St Mark’s Church outreach. The Charitable Support Group currently meets quarterly.As part of our Charitable Mission and involvement in the Deanery Link with Kinkiizi, and after a request from Revd Gill Nobes, ladies in the parish have begun a new project. This was originally advertised as Personal Hygiene Kits for Girls in Kinkiizi but at our first gathering of interested people we decided on the name, The Eve Project. Young girls in many places in Africa do not have access to any fancy supplies during their time of menstruation and they do not attend school during this time. Statistics show that there is a huge drop in the number of teenage girls staying in education, they are likely to marry early and begin bearing children long before maturity. Lack of education restricts their opportunities in life as well as leaving them vulnerable to exploitation. Gill Tybjerg, the Link Co-ordinator of the Kinkiizi Action Group welcomed being able to take these kits to Kinkiizi and after a demonstration by a local “team leader” who already makes these kits, we have set up a timetable of meetings and workshops to begin in January 2018. All materials are newly purchased and a sponsorship scheme is being set up.Kinkiisi was also the beneficiary of successful Craft Fair held in November.

Report of the Local Outreach and Social Activities Group When Rev Gill was appointed she was impressed by the many church organisations and groups at St Marks that sought to serve our church family itself but also the local community and the people of Highcliffe. These included activities for families and children like Little Fishes and Smarkies and School Club as well as more traditional groups like Mothers Union, Ladies Group, Parish visitors, Choir and Bible study groups. The work involved in running these groups often falls to a small number of stalwart members of the church who soldier on quite often in splendid isolation from each other. Gill’s hope is that we can bring all this laudable effort together and see one another as part of a team under the umbrella of “local outreach and social action.” With that in mind we have been trying to build a better sense of social cohesion to our church family. This means that we meet socially and informally to get to know one another better. Usually food is involved in this process! For many of our members who live alone this can be a valuable bonus in itself. So from barbequed beef burgers, salad and quiche and a glass of fizz to mince pies and mulled wine we have spanned the year in gastronomic enticements. On Maundy Thursday we celebrated a Seder meal in the church library, led by Colin. Mike and Susie hosted the Christian Aid coffee and cake morning in May. Rev Gill opened the Vicarage to a newcomers’ lunch at the end of that week and this showed the value of welcoming new folk into

our church family. In June we had a very successful St Mark’s Festival of arts and crafts at the church. This was followed by a useful and thought provoking Vision Day. Fish and Chips with a quiz has always been popular especially if it raises funds for a seafarers’ charity. A mid-summer Vicarage BBQ was blessed by good weather and a good time was had by all. The annual Highcliffe summer fete provided us with an opportunity to promote the church and our autumn outreach project – running an Alpha Course for 10 weeks. Led by Colin with a team of trusty assistants, again food proved fairly central to the task of examining our faith and building ourselves up spiritually. Meanwhile the Open the Book team had started a new venture of reading Bible stories in the weekly assembly at the Primary School. We are hoping that this contact with the school, together with Church Club and After School Club, will promote ever closer links with families and children in our community. The newly commenced breakfast@9 service every Sunday is designed to be a welcoming, informal style of worship both for people coming through Alpha but also families with children attending the primary school. The Harvest Festival bring and share lunch and all the wonderful services leading up to Christmas which were well supported by local people brings this review of the year’s activities to a close . We must be encouraged that the church in Highcliffe is alive and active but we don’t rest on our laurels. The past year has taught us much if we are going to be effective as a church family – both for one another in loving support when illness or hardship strikes but also in local outreach to those outside the church. We need to be mindful that there are other Christian churches in Highcliffe, that it is always better to work together whenever possible. Effective communication is vital for our church and all our activities. Prayer support remains the foundation of all we do. The newly revamped Website is how people will find us so it must remain up to date and appealing. Publicity in our locality and local press must be timely, attractive and cost effective.This Group has met twice to discuss opportunities and challenges. We will use local publications where possible to publicise our activities. We will update our Website and keep it properly maintained with fresh news and photos. Lorna will manage the Facebook entries and the church diary. Welcome packs advertising our worship services and social activities will be made available both for visitors to the church and for distribution to areas of new housing development. Newcomers’ lunches will continue. We hope to continue with another Alpha course in September-November 2018, building on the success of last year’s course. A number of exciting and varied social activities are planned for 2018 – whether musical, craft based or combined with local fetes and fayres we should use these to promote our presence in and commitment to the well-being of our community.

The Mothers' Union This year has seen a drop in membership to 26 members mostly due to ill health or mobility problems. Members attended all of the Deanery Services and some of the Bring and Share Prayer lunches held at branches throughout the Deanery and were represented at the Diocesan Festival Service at Romsey Abbey and at Mary Sumner Day.Our programme has included a talk on the Water Lily project, our theme for the year ‘Faith in Action’ by MU speaker Helen Pain and recently a talk about the work done for the local community by the Christchurch Community Partnership. Other meetings were our Lent Lunch followed by a Quiet Hour led by Rev. Angela Gosden and our Summer Lunch. This was our main fund raiser for the Mothers’ Union Family Holiday. As most of the food was donated we were able to send £170.

Members help in all capacities to help the life of St. Mark’s Church, at last year’s Festival, Parish Visiting, home Communion etc. We have supported the Vicar at 14 Baptisms and a member sends a card on the anniversary of the event for the first five years and members have sponsored prayer books or bibles given to the children. Another member sends cards to those who are ill or if there is a special birthday or anniversary. We are still run by Committee and thanks go to all of them for the hard work and commitment shown.

The Ladies’ group has had a slight reduction of membership over the past year. There are now 31 paid-up members, with on average 26 people attending. It is run by a strong, reliable committee.The varied, interesting programme contains a mixture of talks and outside activities. The Group was pleased to support the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance – 3 of their fund-raising members came to talk about the work of the Charity. Other meetings consisted of talks about

“Stourhead to Stanpit”, the catering department of Brockenhurst College, “The Secrets of Cunard”, the history of gin, and reminiscences of a documentary cameraman. Three ‘outside’ meetings were a cruise on the River Stour followed by a BBQ supper in June, the Annual Lunch in April and watching the Milton Music Society’s production of Masquerade in November.

Report of the Pastoral Group This was set up in November to support those who have a pastoral role within the parish. To encourage the existing groups of parish visitors, home communion ministers and the prayer ministry group, and to advise the PCC of gaps in the existing provision and to recommend new areas of work in line with the agreed aims and objectives of the Parish Mission Action Plan.

Home Communions team: consists of 4 pairs of members visiting 5 individuals in their own homes and between 7 and 10 individuals at Silverways. The team all have DBS Clearance.

Parish Visitors Team: consists of a small group of people from St Mark’s regular congregation. For safety, each person has DBS Clearance.

We visit people who live alone or have a long-term illness or disability. They can request a visit themselves or we can hear of them through their family, friends or neighbours. Visits are always made at a time acceptable to both and are set accordingly. The main reason for our visit is to offer emotional support so the visits may vary slightly in length.We do meet as a group every two months to check our progress and deal with any new situations.

Prayer Ministry team: a Prayer Board with suggestions for Prayer has been put in the foyer. Topics have included: friends and neighbours; food bank and those who use it; families in Highcliffe especially those who have just moved into the parish

Prayer focus emails are circulated every 2 – 3 weeks. An Informal Prayer Group meets every Tuesday evening prays for various needs and concerns including for those who are unwell, Prayer requests left on the board in the foyer and all the Church activities.

Church Directory: an idea to produce a Directory for the use of Church members has been investigated. This would be a pamphlet containing addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of church members who were happy to be included. However, due to current data protection issues, this may be unrealistic.

Welcome in Church: a team of “hosts” is being set up to sit next to newcomers, invite them to coffee after church etc.

Cards are being designed to give more information about the Church services etc and to invite newcomers to share their addresses or emails for further information.

Welcome Packs: are being designed to be delivered to new or empty homes in the parish.

Report of the Teaching and Worship Ministry Group This comprises Revd Gill, Colin Chatten, John Heighes, Mike Goodman, Susie Goodman, Diana Faunce, Sue Lyonette, Maureen Stringer (Chair) has met twice to discuss various activities in the Church. The Alpha course: ran on a Monday evening from 18 September to 27 November. Each evening started with a meal in the hall (prepared by Susie) before Colin introduced a 25 – 30 minute film from the Alpha Film series. Participants then divided into 5 groups to discuss what they had just seen and any other related issues. (Group Leaders: Mike Goodman, Nelva Coss, Darrol Reagon/John Heighes, Fran and Phil Crossley, Maureen Stringer). Participants enjoyed the opportunity to share ideas in a relaxed, informal environment, hear from others and consider issues rarely discussed such as: ‘Who is Jesus?’ ‘How can I resist evil?’ ‘Who is the Holy Spirit?’ Numbers remained fairly stable with 40+ initially signed up and over 30 people completing the course – mostly St Mark’s people although there were a few from the village.Future Alpha courses: could be held in the Library or a home and planning and advertising should be started early. Note: a meeting re the next course has already been scheduled.

Advent and Christmas Services: feedback from those attending the services was very positive particularly regarding the Carol Services, Christmas Day service and Nine Lessons and Carols; Midnight Mass in particular attracted a lot of visitors.Feedback has suggested: remove ‘Carol’ from title of the Advent Service in favour of something like From Darkness to Light or Advent Candlelight Service and review the use of candles at the Crib service.Breakfast @ 9: A sub group began meeting in July to discuss various options and plan for the new contemporary service, Breakfast @ 9. As planned this started on 7 January 2018 with the session inputs shared between Mike Goodman and Diana Faunce with Susie Goodman organising the breakfast. A small group of adults currently enjoy this alternative service, mostly people from the 10am service plus two who otherwise only come to the IPG on a Tuesday evening. Prayer: Gill was keen for prayer to have a higher profile in the Church. Two initiatives kick started this - the NOVENA (9-days of prayer) between Ascension and Pentecost and the introduction of Quiet Mornings 4 times a year. Now there is a Prayer Board in the foyer giving ideas for prayer, a regular Prayer Email to over 30 people with topics to pray for and a Prayer Focus on the newssheet each week. The Informal Prayer Group continues to meet each Tuesday evening with a number of new leaders taking turns leading some sessions. Currently nineteen people attend, not everyone every week but usually there are between 10 – 15 people. Prayer is the focus of the first half with prayers being offered for those who have requested prayer, national and international issues as well as praying for the work and ministry of St Mark’s. The subjects discussed in the second half of the meeting are introduced by the leader for the week and range over a wide variety of subjects.Lent courses: After the successful course in 2017 it was agreed to offer two Lent courses this year. Colin will lead the group on Tuesday evenings and will use the Winchester Diocesan course: Sharing God’s Life and The York course On the Third Day will be the one John uses on Wednesday mornings. Easter services: were discussed and agreed and are now being advertised.Leading Your Church into Growth ‘LYCiG’ Local: Gill and Sue attended a LYSiG course in Swanwick and briefed the group. On 24 January Gill, Sue, Mike, Susie, & Maureen attended a Diocesan presentation on LYCiG Local. The evening was led by Revd Phil Dykes and he said that research has shown that those churches whose leadership attended a LYCiG conference and subsequently ran LYCiG Local, are churches which are growing (both in discipleship and numerically). St Mark’s will be running LYCiG Local after Easter for the church leadership (PCC and Ministry Groups) and hope that the wider congregation will also engage with it.Bible Reading Fellowship has continued to meet on the first Monday of each month and is very grateful to all those who have led their discussions.

Report of the Youth & Children Group. Little Fishes – Monday morning in term time. Now in our tenth year of our Little Fishes mother and toddler group, we welcome 0 - 4 year old children and adults up to 90! Mothers/dads/ grandparents/ carers are responsible for the children who are therefore not directly in our charge. We just enjoy the activities, fun and friendship together with some of the younger section of our community. Attendance fluctuates and our maximum number this term was 34 children plus their carers. This is a lively and valuable outreach into the surrounding community of St.Mark's. Little Fishes only works because of the willing team of helpers - setters up, coffee and craft makers, and regular key members of that team. Unpaid and all over 29 they are really great! They are much appreciated in many ways, not least because our funds support church and charities locally. Come and have coffee any Monday in term time at 10.30 and join in the fun.Church Club –at Highcliffe St. Marks Primary School. A team of seven continues to take Church Club every Wednesday lunchtime during Winter, Spring and the first half of the Summer term. The number of children attending remains between 12 and 25. Permission is carefully sought from parents or carers through a letter sent home with the children. The activities which last half an hour include prayers, a bible story, colouring, singing or craft depending on the time available. We expect a new helper to join us in the near future.

Dib Gilbertson’s team continues to provide 40 minutes of Bible stories and activities for years 1 and 2. Generally between 15 and 20 children attendAwesome After School Church Club – Monday after school in term time. Diana Faunce’s team have continued to provide an hour of refreshments, Bible stories and activities for year 3 and 4. They have worked through the “Awesome” Scripture Union materials, based on Jesus’ miracles as chronicled in St John’s Gospel and have begun on “High Five”, another programme of sessions from Scripture Union, based on Jesus’ life in St Marks Gospel. They are enjoyed by the children. They have a slight change as one child has left, but another joined.Songs and Stories – Second (or thereabouts) Tuesday afternoon of each month in term time.Diana Faunce‘s team continue to provide 45 minutes of Bible stories and songs in the church finishing with refreshments in the library. This is for children under 5 and their carers but in reality Songs and Stories is arranged around Chewton Glen Playgroup. The leaders of the playgroup walk the children to the Church and parents pick their children up afterwards. It is always well received.Rainbow Playgroup –Diana Faunce visits Rainbow Playgroup approximately twice a month in term time at their Story time. She uses props to read and tell stories and through the story telling and reading, help the children to learn about Jesus.

Deanery Synod met on three occasions all of these meetings were open meetings not just for synod members. Following the review of the stipendiary clergy in the Deanery, it was agreed to free a post from the north of the Deanery to allow for an additional appointment in the south. The relevant appointments and Licensing have taken place in the north and work is ongoing for the appointment in the south which will provide a resourced post in Milton Parish. Due to the inductions and Licensing in the north of the Deanery the Saturday Synod was unable to take place. The Excite celebration in May was led by Revd Tim Matthews from St Swithun’s in BournemouthThe visit to Kinkiizii involved visiting the partnership schools with gifts from the schools here, looking at progress of the new Staff House construction at the Health Centre and helping the Mothers’ Union ladies with the bakery at the Cathedral. The choir took part in the Deanery Hymnathon earlier in the year to raise funds for this project, we also collected donations towards the bakery project.Work is underway reviewing the current dMAP and preparing and producing the new dMAP which will be launched later this year.

Workbox Group and Lent Knitting. This is a Mother’s Union led initiative and we meet monthly to produce handmade articles of clothing for various projects through the year. During Lent we meet weekly and concentrate our efforts on producing items for the Neonatal Unit at Poole hospital. Some new items were included this year, Crocheted Octopus. A study has shown that when these are put into the incubators with the tiny new babies, feeling the twisted “tentacles” reminds them of the umbilical chord and so prevents them from pulling out vital tubes. It also calms their heart rate and breathing. Poole Hospital took this project from a study in Denmark and now collect in contributions for other hospitals in the South of England. Babies take the Octopus home with them so they are in need of a constant supply. We had a little difficulty in making contact with The Women’s Refuge in Bournemouth this spring. We had retained all of our contributions to put on show for the Festival in June and wishing to distribute everything we sent our knitted items to The Salvation Army who were delighted. The 3 large bags of baby items delivered to Poole hospital were received with grateful tears. When the church Harvest gifts were collected we re-established our contact with The Refuge and will pick up work for them again in 2018. During the autumn we turned our efforts to “Mary’s Men”, and provided warm items of clothing – hats, scarves, gloves and sweaters –which were donated to The Salvation Army at the Mothers’ Union Advent service held at Ringwood in December. Some of the members are involved in The Eve Project and we also make themselves responsible for the upkeep of the Quiet Bags provided for the babies and young children attending services.

Parish News. The editorial team continue to produce a monthly magazine, which is largely dependent on a number of individuals who contribute regularly to whom the editor gives his

grateful thanks. Michael Clode is thanked for his sterling work in persuading the advertisers to continue subscribing to the magazine. This has been even harder this year as businesses are still experiencing financial difficulties and therefore cutting down on advertising. However he has succeeded in keeping up the level in our magazine that helps in our running costs with any surplus monies going to church funds.It is hoped that they continue to produce an interesting publication but their concern is that the circulation has been slowly reducing in number. All those who help in the distribution of the magazine are thanked for their work. Anyone who would like to volunteer in any aspect of the magazine e.g. its production, collating, distribution or articles please contact Anthony Nash or Michael Clode

Parish Hall. Bookings are dealt with by the Parish Administrator. There are very few free slots in the Diary. The treasurer deals with the financial aspects within the church’s accounts. It is a substantial contributor to the finances of the church. It is anticipated that money will need to be spent to bring certain aspects up to date.

Highcliffe St Mark's Primary is a Dorset County Council Local Authority school with strong links to the Winchester Diocese. The PCC appoint Foundation Governors, whose positions are approved by the Diocese. Vicar Gill is an ex officio Foundation Governor. The current Foundation Governors from St Mark's church form part of the governing body: the Headteacher (ex officio), 4 elected parents, 3 co-opted, 3 associate, 1 local authority and 1 staff. There are nine meetings per year with additional informative learning walks around the school. Working parties for specific tasks are set up as required. The main tasks of the school governors are to monitor the school's academic progress, encourage excellence in behaviour, budget the school finances, maintain the fabric of the school buildings, support the Headteacher and to represent the Church in all decision making.The last OFSTED report was in November 2013 and another inspection is expected. The last SIAMS inspection (Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodists Schools) was in January 2016. Should any regular worshipper at St Mark's wish to find out more about becoming a Foundation Governor, and would like to explore the possibility of taking up the rewarding and challenging position of governorship, please speak to Vicar Gill.

The Friends of St. Mark's is a separate registered charity with the aim of raising funds for the maintenance and improvement of the church buildings, and has continued to raise funds by holding various functions during the year. The parish could not undertake much essential work without the generous support of the Friends. It is disappointing that more members of the congregation or indeed the wider community in Highcliffe do not become members and so help with the valuable work that they do.

Serving God, each other and the Community-Gill’s Message

As we look ahead to the coming year, I would like to pause and highlight a few specific events, which are not covered elsewhere, that took place in 2017.

In February 2017 we welcomed Revd Sally Dakin, the Diocesan Spirituality Adviser to St. Mark’s to deliver a Rule of Life workshop aimed at helping participants to develop their own rule of life. This year’s Tuesday evening Lent group is the Diocese of Winchester’s ‘Sharing God’s Life’ course which is designed to open up the Diocesan Rule of Life for adults at any stage on their Christian journey, so each person can create a simple Rule of Life during Lent.

The month of June was particularly busy. We began the month with the Festival which featured art and craft exhibitions and demonstrations, flower arranging workshops, spoken word presentations, music and much more. The concerts were especially appreciated. The organisers are warmly thanked for their efforts.

On the final Sunday of the Festival (Trinity Sunday), we were pleased to welcome Bishop Jonathan, Bishop of Southampton, to preside at a Confirmation Service. Four adults and five under 16s from St. Mark’s were confirmed (including two baptisms) in this wonderful celebration.

Our final key ‘event’ in June was our Parish Vision Day on the 17 th June which was facilitated by Phil Dykes. This was a helpful time spent together dreaming dreams, being guided by the Holy Spirit and reimagining the ministry of St. Mark’s. The output has helped us to both develop a shared vision – ‘Serving God, each other and the Community’ and to shape our planning for our current and future ministry and mission.

A new daytime Home Group, led by Nelva Coss, launched in 2017 has been well supported and complements the evening group led by Mike Goodman. Home Groups are a gift – they provide a place where we can nurture our faith and get to know one another a little better.

During 2017 four members of St. Mark’s attended Bishops Commission for Mission programmes. Mike and Susie Goodman were Licensed as BCM Worship Leaders by the Bishop of Winchester at a service in Winchester Cathedral in October and I am looking forward to Diana Faunce being Licensed as BCM Worship Leader and Francis Bray as BCM Pastoral in October 2018. New BCM programmes are starting in April and I hope that St. Mark’s will have participants on those programmes. The BCM programmes aim to equip lay members of the church with new skills and gifts to help them fulfil the ministries to which they are being called by God.

This coming year much lies ahead. Having been sponsored by the Diocese to attend the Leading Your Church into Growth Conference in November with Sue Lyonette, we will be engaging with the ‘Leading Your Church into Growth Local’ programme during this year. This will particularly help us as we start the process of revising our Parish Mission Action Plan later this year.

I commend to you the following prayer.

God of mission,

who alone brings growth to your Church,

send your Holy Spirit to give

vision to our planning,

wisdom to our actions,

and power to our witness.

Help our church to grow in numbers,

in spiritual commitment to you,

and in service to our local community,

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Please pray it as often as you can.

Trustees’ Duties: The Trustees have complied with the duty imposed by section 4 of the Charities Act 2006 to have due regard to the guidance published by the Charity Commission in respect of public benefit.

Approved by the Parochial Church Council at their meeting on March 2018 and signed on its behalf by Anthony John Parkinson and Sue Lyonette

A J Parkinson

S Lyonette