Trustees' Annual ReportAll Saints Danehill

With Chelwood Gate

2017

FROM THE VICAR AND CHURCHWARDENS

Aims And Objectives

The aim of our diocese is to ‘know, love and follow Jesus.’ Our goal at All Saints Danehill with Chelwood Gate complements this well. It is 'to know and share the love of Christ'. We do this as we reach people for Christ, build them up as His disciples, and send them out to share Christ with others, in His strength.

Reaching Out - We have reached out to our parish in word and deed in many ways. These have included Noah's Ark parent and toddler group, Sunday Club, TNT and ICE Youth Clubs, and the Parish Magazine.

The new Ashdown Café has been a good opportunity to share Christ's love, as have the summer social events, the Harvest Supper, and our well-attended Christmas and Easter services.

Building Up - the home groups have enabled more people to know Christ and his love more deeply, as have teaching on the gospel of John and Romans. Average Sunday attendances have been, with last year’s figures in brackets: 8am: 8 (8). 9:30am: 30 (31). 11.00am: 41 adults + 13 children (48 adults + 12 children). Monthly Messy Church at 4pm: 18 (24). 6pm: 8 (9). The three prayer meetings (parish, contemplative and vicarage) have helped to express our dependence on God. A number have been helped in faith through the Men's Breakfasts, home groups and the Lent Course.

2

Sending Out- Our worship and teaching equips and encourages people to serve Christ in many different ways, some seen and many unseen. The Vicar especially wishes to express his thanks to Church Wardens and PCC members, both past and present, for their dedication to the work in our parish. We give thanks for the tireless work of Steve, Meg, Gabriela and Charles with the young people, as well as for those involved with the appointment of Lee Buck as Youth Outreach Worker, and for Sue Hicks and the Sunday Club team amongst many others.

On the practical front, we are thankful for improvements to the flooring and the toilet roof at the back of All Saints.

The Lord said, ‘Be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.’ We give thanks for all this year who have willingly and faithfully served Him through the past year.

All Saints Fellowship

The Fellowship Group for Chelwood Gate and Danehill Churches has been in existence for many years and has both male and female members of mixed ages.

We normally meet on the first Wednesday of each month in the lovely Chelwood Gate Church in the afternoon at 2.30pm. A speaker is invited to come and speak about their work, travels or experiences, with the opportunity for questions afterwards. After the talk we may have a question and answer session, followed by tea and biscuits.

If anyone has an interesting experience or subject which they think could be of interest to our Fellowship, please do get in touch. We would love to hear from you.

3

Megan Holt-ThomasAshdown Café

The Café continues to go from strength to strength. Most months there are more than 50 people who came along at some time during the morning.

Since the Café started 18 months ago we have been able to make donations to the school PTA.,the school directly, the Queen's 90th Birthday tea and to the Memorial Hall where our donation helped to buy a dishwasher. Shelagh Gilliam

Bellringers

Danehill Bellringers have had another busy year. We have nine regular ringers and so manage to ring for the 9.30 service on most Sundays as well as for special services such as weddings and Christmas services. This year we have also welcomed two new learners who are making good progress and will soon be able to join us for service ringing. Our practice evening on a Wednesday is very well attended and Andrew, our tower captain, does a great job in making sure everyone rings something to their capability so ensuring that we are all making progress. However long we have been ringing there is always something new to learn.

Our bells also continue to be popular for visiting ringers from 4

various parts of the country. We did not manage to have an outing this year as we could not find a date that suited everyone. However, we did have a very enjoyable meal at The Green Man.

We had our usual handbell ringing at Christmas when we visited all the local nursing homes as well as ringing at the Chelwood Gate tree lighting and for our own service of Nine Lessons and Carols. Bellringing is a great team activity which stretches both the mind and the body! However, our main purpose is to call people to worship and remind them that we have a very active church in our neighbourhood.

                                                                                                       Susan Hollyman

Chelwood Gate Church Helpers

Around 20 people, in a variety of ways, help with the care of Chelwood Gate Church. Flexible rotas for cleaning, polishing and flower arranging duties are established early in the year. This voluntary help ensures that the Church is prepared both for scheduled use and use at short notice, such as for funerals. In addition to these regular rosters, vital help is provided by those who do outside work, such as cleaning out the gutters, round the walls and where plants are growing into the fabric of the Church. The Council will, I am sure, want to thank all these volunteers.

Priscilla Brown 5

Chelwood Gate Project

A group has been formed with the approval of the PCC to add a disabled toilet and to improve the kitchen at Chelwood Gate Church. This will help with a number of existing activities and services, improving our capacity to serve both church and community with a variety of different events. These include Food For Thought (the monthly lunch club which has partly been ‘on hold’), Messy Church, coffee mornings and small groups.

If you are interested in helping towards fundraising for the project, please let Paddy know. Leaflets with details about the project are also available at the back of the churches.

Church Cleaning at All Saints

We have a very loyal band of cleaners who do a fantastic job in keeping our churches spick and span - some of us have been doing this for more than thirty years. We clean in pairs or groups (Coffee Plus), and even married couples, each cleaning seven or eight times a year for just an hour or so each session.

Jenny Virtue looks after the rota for the brass polishers, whose efforts are appreciated.

We are grateful to all who help to look after our lovely church.

6

Although this is not an arduous task, it would be even less so if we had more volunteers - especially as some of us are becoming less fit and able and will soon need to come off the rota! Anne Hoeglund Fabric

The roof of the toilet / washroom at All Saints had been damaged by water falling from the bell tower gargoyle. Works were undertaken in September to remove the existing Collyweston stone slabs, renew a few rotten timber joists and replace with welsh slates to match the main church roof. A few other minor works have been undertaken at All Saints including repairs to the brick track and car park area to the south west corner of the churchyard, removal of a number of trees along the western boundary, adjustment to the organ loft door to allow unobstructed use and refixing of the hand rope guide on the spiral staircase leading up to the organ loft.

A group has been formed with the aim of adding a disabled toilet and of improving the kitchen at Chelwood Gate Church. This will help with a number of existing activities and improve our capacity to serve both church and community with a variety of different events. Tony Blake

Financial

2016 review

7

Regular giving to our church has dropped over the year by £ 2,170 to £ 58,800. Sadly this is partly due to people leaving the area as well as the demise of several of our parishioners.

Partially as a result of this the general fund’s expenditure exceeded its income by £ 4,950 (last year it was by £ 1,640).

Other contributing factors are the purchase of new hymn books for £ 700, making safe the wooded area on the west boundary of the Danehill Church grounds £ 2,100, and £4,100 on a new toilet roof at Danehill, The completion of the refurbishment of the toilet area together with the new floor in the whole area behind the glass has been very well received.

In spite of the above, we are very lucky this year to able to report a small overall surplus of £ 2,410 on our general fund, but this is only as a result of receiving a revaluation gain of £ 4,300 on our investments, after purchasing an additional £ 30,000 M&G Charifund income units at the beginning of the year.

We are privileged in now having our own resident youth worker, and most grateful to our parish council and to the diocese for each agreeing to fund one third of his salary for a period of three years.

In line with our pledge 7 years ago to pay the full requested Parish Contribution, we have now for the third consecutive year managed to achieve this, having been increasing it in increments from 81% in 2009.

Additionally following the Charity Commission guidelines on ‘public benefit’ we have managed to maintain our charitable giving to worthy causes at our new level of approximately 10% of

8

our gifted income from our historic average of 5%. Ingvar Svenson

Reserves Policy It is PCC policy to maintain a balance on the "Unrestricted Fund" to help ease fluctuations in cash flow and to meet emergencies. Currently this equates to approximately 6 months recurring operating costs. Ingvar Svenson

Flower Team at All Saints

I have been arranging flowers in the church for the past 49 years. When I began we had a very large number of helpers and the year was divided into three with one person responsible for each team. These teams rotated each year so everyone had a chance to do the different seasons. Sadly nowadays we have many fewer arrangers and I have been solely in charge for the past twenty years or so.

I make up a rota each year to cover all the Sundays in the year where flowers are needed. As we now have so few they have to

9

cover many more weeks than we used to. I am trying desperately to get more arrangers so that we could go back to the days when we would do two Sundays in the year. Two people cover each Sunday doing two pedestals, one at the Communion table and one by the pulpit. Then at the various Festivals I put together a team and we fill the church with flowers. It is very rewarding and I think all my team enjoy doing it. Diana Freeland Leading and Preaching

We are grateful to all who have supported through leading and preaching at different services, especially Derek Heath, our Lay Reader and Andrew Hicks. They have built us up and encouraged us greatly through their sermons. We are also thankful for the service leading of Cedric Parrish, Gerald Alexander, Andrew Hicks, Meg Coppin at the 'First', and David Rae. Once again, we have been encouraged by a variety of youth-friendly speakers at the 'First' service, co-ordinated by Meg and Steve Coppin and at the morning services by visiting clergy including Peter Francis.

Home Groups

“Religion is a truth not a leisure activity.” So said the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, just prior to his consecration in 2013. How does this affect us in our fellowship and community?

In Danehill there are homegroups which meet at a small number of venues to explore this “truth” and look for its relevance for each

10

individual and for our community. The groups seek to express their love for Christ in these ways:

Pastorally - sharing joys and concerns for those known to us

Practically - helping with lifts, meals and support in times of stress

Prayerfully – studying a Bible passage and after praise and thanksgiving bringing the needs of the group, local community and wider world to the Lord.

Our Lent studies have provided an interesting overview of the Bible to enable readers to see the relevance of the whole Bible to an understanding of Christianity.

In order to meet individual needs there are afternoon and evening sessions. The informal gatherings always include light refreshments and a good chat. Our Youth Outreach Worker - Lee Buck - has also started a new group for teenagers called “Insight” which follows a similar format and which has similar aims.

If you would like more details, please let me know by ringing 01825 790696 or by contacting the Vicar, Paddy, on 01825 790269. Heather Heath (Homegroup Co-ordinator)

Coffee Plus

Coffee Plus is a longstanding women’s Bible study, prayer and fellowship group. We come from a wide age range and a variety of backgrounds and denominations, and quite a few of our members worship at other churches. We find that this brings breadth, depth and richness to our prayer and study.

11

Loving and supportive fellowship is an integral part of our group, and Coffee Plus has seen the development of many close friendships over the years.

We meet on Friday mornings in term time in members’ homes, from 10 o’clock until 12.30 (sometimes later if a particular topic really grips us!). For many of us it is the highlight of our week. Elizabeth Forty

Messy Church

Messy Church is an all-age afternoon service. We meet on the second Sunday of the month at 4pm at Chelwood Gate. We have had an average of 18 coming along (9 adults and 9 children), with up to 25 coming along.

We are grateful to all who have helped set up, provide food and especially to Gabriela MacBain who has worked hard to provide inspiring crafts. This service has been a good means of reaching out, especially to school families.

Missions and Charities

Our church has supported Off the Fence, the Brighton-based charity for homeless people, and the Diocesan Association for Family Support Work. We have also supported Help for Heroes and Camphill Trust, supporting adults with special needs. We have given to ChildAid, supporting children and young people in the poorest parts of Eastern Europe, and Sightsavers. We have also made donations to the Sussex Gospel Partnership.

12

Music

At the nine thirty service, we are grateful for the ability of Barbara Beedle, David Usher and Katren Bishop on the organ, and for Jenny Virtue who chooses the hymns and for the singers. We give thanks for the eleven o'clock singers and musicians, ably co-ordinated by Elizabeth Forty. Interest from additional organists, singers and musicians is welcomed in order to boost the teams. Noah's Ark

Noah's Ark is a parent and toddler group that meets at All Saints on Tuesdays in term-time from 9.30am to 11.30am. We have had another very successful year in reaching out. We have an average of 19 families each week. We are now in our 20th year with a celebration coming up! One of our original toddlers was confirmed a few months ago.

We have had a lot of fun with the children doing many different activities.  Some of the families do come to Messy Church.  We have made various cards for the different occasions in the Church's calendar, which went down well!  We tell the children stories where we introduce them to some of the wonderful stories in the Bible and God's message of love to us all. 

We sing songs sometimes accompanied on the piano by James Waters as well as activity songs to get us all moving. This helps to work off all the toast and tea and coffee that have been eaten!

13

It is encouraging that some of the parents now come to some of our special services and not just the Christmas nativity. 

The overall organiser is Sally Alexander. It has been another enjoyable year, so if you feel like joining us you would be very welcome. Barbara Rae

Parish Magazine

The magazine has seen some major changes this year. Michael Bentley has very kindly taken over the management of the advertising portfolio from Michael Virtue as well as editing several editions of the magazine. Michael Virtue managed the advertising for many years and with great success in increasing revenue. We owe a debt of gratitude for his efforts. Michael Bentley takes over a thriving enterprise and now administers the advertising mainly by email rather than telephone. The new system has been well received by the advertisers.

The other major change has been the decision to deliver the magazine to all household at no charge through 2017. This increases the circulation by 50 per cent and also reaches householders that have, historically, probably had less contact with the church and its activities.

Finally, we are trying to get more regular features from groups such as the school and the new parish council to cater for a wider audience. Chris Drewery

14

Pastoral Care

Christine Colbourne and Cedric Parrish have taken over responsibility for co-ordinating pastoral care from Shelagh Gilliam to ensure that the Vicar is well informed and briefed on individual cases. Much of the actual assistance (visiting the housebound, helping out with meals, etc) is provided by other members of the congregation to whom we are deeply grateful. Paddy continues to offer home communion and take a monthly service at St. Raphael’s. The monthly Ashdown Café in particular gives us an excellent opportunity to pick up on areas of concern, and take action accordingly.

Cedric and Christine help to find lifts to medical and other vital appointments for those unable to drive themselves. Cedric Parrish

Prayer Meetings

Parish Prayer

It is our privilege to speak to our Father in heaven, knowing that he hears us as we express our dependence on Him. The Parish Prayer Meeting takes place on the third Tuesday of

15

the month at 8pm at Chelwood Gate Church. All are welcome, whether you wish to pray silently or aloud.

Contemplative Prayer

The group meets each month on the third Wednesday at 10am in Chelwood Gate church. We are really grateful that we can enjoy the use of a worshipful and welcoming space, which lends itself so well to the purpose of our meetings. The hour is spent between consideration of words from the Bible, and times of silent prayer, listening to the words in our own way. We end with a time of intercession, in which the words we have been absorbing are used to hold others in prayer.

Usually about ten people meet together. Those participating over the year come from our own parish and from further afield – West Hoathly, Forest Row, Uckfield, Horsham and Hurstpierpoint. We have held two Quiet days in the parish which have been an opportunity to spend time in fellowship and prayer without too many distractions.

As we observe the Year of the Bible within the Diocese, it seems especially valuable to develop this way of praying with the Word as our focus.

Catherine Older

Safeguarding

All those actively involved in work with children have current DBS or are in the process of obtaining one.

Training schedules, including on-line ones, have been drawn to

16

the attention of youth leaders and other members of the congregation. All those who hold positions requiring a DBS check should attend a Diocesan training course every three years – these are held frequently and details of dates and location are on the Diocesan website.

The Diocese is in the process of introducing a new Safeguarding regime (beginning March 2017) which will involve all parishes in a review and revision of their safeguarding procedures.

The Parish Child Protection policy will be presented to the PCC for ratification at its next meeting. A copy will be displayed on the noticeboards in both churches, together with a note of the Childline number. All children’s groups should make sure that they have up to date attendance registers and registration forms, completed annually, and that there is a named individual who has overall responsibility for the organisation and management of the group.

The church should be an environment where everyone is welcomed and where it is known that everyone, especially children and vulnerable people, will be cared for. It is the responsibility of all of us to ensure that this is the case and that our church is widely known in the villages to be a loving and safe environment.

Catherine Older

School

17

Danehill C of E School had a positive year in terms of teaching staff, with a strong and stable team across the different age groups. We provide an engaging, balanced and varied curriculum, and in a small village school we are able to give extra attention to the pupils in our care.

We have continued to strengthen our links with the local community, especially All Saints Church. We lead regular services in school and church for our children and parents. 

The motto of Danehill C of E School is ‘learning together, learning for life.’ We continue to develop the school so that our children are prepared to be effective learners and members of society. 'Danehill Discovery Days' are a great example of this.

Each term the children have a day with some choice in their learning where they are offered opportunities to try something new or learn skills beyond the curriculum.   

If you are in our local community and have something to share with the children that can further develop their learning experience, please do contact the school for a chat. Alternatively, if you would like to volunteer to listen to children read or support with their everyday learning please also let us know. Brad Falconer

Social Events

Social events this year have included the pruning of the lime trees in September, the Vicarage BBQ, the Men's Shed Crawl and Breakfasts, the Harvest Supper, the Ladies' Breakfast, and walks in Ashdown Forest.

Sunday Club18

We have a wide range of ages in our Sunday Club from 3 to 8 years at the moment. Numbers vary each week but we have fun sharing news and learning about Jesus - also, creating something to take home to remind us what we have learnt that day. There is also a creche for younger children. We are grateful to the helpers who work so hard to help the children to know and love the Lord. Please continue to pray for us all.

Sue Hicks

Support Ministries

We are grateful to the many people who undertake 'behind the scenes' roles to help church services function smoothly. These include our Vergers and Sacristans, Jennie Marten and Priscilla Brown; the sidesmen; Cedric Parrish for assisting with the news sheet; the Lay Ministers of Communion; those who pray after the service and the prayer chain, especially Ann Dale and Frances Parrish; and the sound and projector operators.

We are thankful to Paul Marten for his flag raising and clock-winding; those who open and close the church; the sidesmen and welcomers and those who serve hot drinks.

We are also grateful to Will Loveridge for his support with planned giving; to the Friends; to those who have helped with planning, especially towards the Chelwood Gate extension project; the parish magazine distributors; to Roy Emmerson and Tim Amy for their support at Chelwood Gate; and to many others.

19

.

Youth Work at All Saints, Danehill

We are so blessed that Lee Buck, Youth Outreach Worker, joined us in September 2016. This is thanks to 3 year funding from the church, diocesan mission fund and Parish Council. Lee has gradually taken over leading the youth work from Steve and Meg Coppin and is doing an excellent job. His leadership of the youth work has enabled the Coppins to step back and just (!) support the youth work as volunteers and to launch the new Café Church.

We are also blessed that Gabriela MacBain and Charles Critchley have continued to give their time and energy for the youth, helping young people to know and share the love of Christ.

For long-term sustainability (post 2019), Lee is also spending a day per week in Hartfield running their youth groups (HYPE and PULSE) and 3 hours per week in Horsted Keynes running a new youth café (HKAFE). This all adds up to a BIG job and we thank God for Lee’s unfailing energy and enthusiasm!

REACHING YOUNG PEOPLE FOR CHRIST

Our youth groups (TNT for year groups 7/8 and ICE for year groups 9+) continue to reach out into the community.

We now regularly see 40-50 young people attending regularly on a Thursday evening! This is large by any church’s measure and we thank God for this blessing. In the Summer Term, our normal youth nights morph into ‘TNT/ICE Summer Specials’ EVERY THURSDAY – what a fantastic resource in this community! Last year the most popular events were water sliding, sumo wrestling

20

and the combined splash/garden party night! The penultimate summer special allows us to integrate the Year 6s into TNT (before they go off to their disparate secondary schools) and the rising Year 9s into ICE.

This year we also invested more time to get to know the parents of TNT and ICE. We ran three events involving parents. These relationships are very important to the continued success of the youth work and always very much appreciated by the parents (especially the wine ).

Lee also took time in the September 2016 to launch the new HKAFE (an off-the-school-bus youth café) in Horsted Keynes. He (and the HK volunteers) regularly see 6-12 young people on a Tuesday after school.

BUILDING YOUNG PEOPLE IN CHRIST

Twice per term, ‘Hot Potatoes’ offers a fantastic opportunity for the wider non-churched community to discuss and to understand social issues from a Christian perspective. We covered a lot of different topics in 2016 including Food Poverty and Being Cool (self-image).

Hot Potatoes reminds us of Matthew 18:20 (where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I with them) as when it comes to young people, church isn’t always in that building on the hill on a Sunday morning - church can be on a Thursday evening at Danehill Memorial Hall or at May Camp in Plumpton or any other time we meet with young people.21

For the third year we went to the Diocesan Christian May Camp in May 2016 and were one of the largest groups in Sussex (all praise to God). We took 51 young people overall including 9 from Hartfield, of which approx. 60% were non-churched. May Camp is the most amazing opportunity for young people to have fun, enjoy lively worship and learn more about what it is to be a Christian. 2017 is going to be amazing again!

SENDING YOUNG PEOPLE OUT FOR CHRIST

Lee has worked alongside Meg at Pathfinders so that he has been able to jointly lead with Gabriela MacBain from Jan 2017. The group enjoy camaraderie as they pursue both having fun in a church environment, learning more about their faith and what it means to be a young Christian in the 21st Century.

The 11am service also provides valuable opportunities for young people to serve in church e.g. greeting, collecting, reading from the Bible, praying and serving drinks.

TNT & ICE also work hard to raise circa £400 each year for the education of two teenagers at a school in Nigeria. Jibola and Obidoyin are very much on the minds of the young people and knowing them has helped them to appreciate all we take for granted in England.

22

We pray for God’s continued blessing on all the youth work within our community and for Lee as he leads the youth work in 2017 and beyond.

Steve & Meg Coppin (Youth Leaders in 2016)

Website

The website remains a key source of information about all aspects of our life together. Please see www.allsaintsdanehill.org.uk

Parochial Church Council

The PCC is responsible for co-operating with the Vicar in promoting to the parish at large the whole mission and vision of the church. It is responsible for maintaining both church buildings, in Danehill and Chelwood Gate. The PCC has shown regard to the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit, seeking to represent the churches in sharing Christ's love in word and action.

Members of the PCC are either ex-officio or elected by the APCM in accordance with the Church Representation Rules. There were no Standing Committee meetings in 2016.

We are especially grateful to Jenny Virtue who has served with such commitment as Church Warden, retiring in April 2016. Also to Richard Kay and Judith Kearney for their faithful service.

23

During the past year, the following served as members of the PCC: Vicar and Chair: Revd. Paddy MacBain*, Wardens: Jenny Virtue (to April 2016), Shelagh Gilliam (from April 2016), Terry McHattie, Treasurer: Ingvar Svenson*, Secretary: Sylvia Martin. Vice-Chair: Cedric Parrish* (Diocesan Synod), Fabric Officer: Tony Blake, Charles Critchley, Jenna Davies, Sue Hicks, Robert Hughson (from April 2016), Richard Kay (to April 2016), Judith Kearney (to Sept 2016), Lorraine Montagu (from April 2016), Catherine Older, Barbara Rae. * Indicates Deanery Synod member

24

25