To all Parishioners of St Ambrose, Kidderminster
and Sacred Heart & Our Lady, Tenbury Wells.
In accordance with the
agreement reached at previous year’s Parish Finance meeting the St Ambrose
Finance Committee are pleased to present the financial position as at 31st
December 2022.
The Financial position of the Parish over the last
twelve months continues to be a challenging one and we continue to make losses;
that is our expenses are greater than our income.
The attached appendix at the end of the report
details how we have fared since 2018 and figures discussed are cross referenced
to items notated alphabetically.
Summary for 2022
Our results for Ordinary activities were Receipts
of £98,957 (item B) and Payments of £116,711 (item C) resulting in an Operating
Loss of £17,754 (item D) compared to an Operating Loss in 2021 of £17,304.
Compared to 2021 our Ordinary Receipts have gone
up by £11,186 and the main contributor to this is the rise in Hall income of
£12,989. It is pleasing to see our Offertories are holding up (item A).
Our Ordinary Payments have risen by £11,634
mainly due to increased gas and electricity costs
INCOME. Total for the year £98,957.
We are extremely encouraged
that our Offertories for the year amounting to £45,335 are back to pre-COVID
levels; an incredible achievement in such a short space of time when measured
along with the cost-of-living issues families are facing. The balance of the
income in the main arises from tax refunds, 200 Club, fund raising, rental
income and dividends from our investment with the Diocese.
Due to the COVID
restrictions the ability of the Parish Centre to generate income has suffered
but this year we have achieved a total of £18,566 compared to 2021 of £5,577.
The Finance Committee are working on a plan to increase this income stream to
mitigate the losses we have been incurring.
EXPENDITURE. Total for the
year £116,711
As in previous years our
major expenditure arises from employee costs and Parish levies; £31,870 and £16,343
respectively. These items total £48,213 (41% of total expenditure a little less
than last year) which are just about covered by our offertories. When you add
in general maintenance, insurances, light and heat for two churches, a presbytery,
and the Parish Centre these are averaging over the last three years at about £40,000
per annum; exceptional improvements taken out.
Our total Parish funds at 31st
December 2022 were £231,151 (item I) compared to £283,380 in 2021; a decrease
of £52,229. The valuation decrease in our Diocesan investment has contributed
£34,428 to this overall decline in our funds. It is very likely that the
Diocesan funds value has fallen following the continued war in the Ukraine and continued
unstable economic issues.
Going forward the Committee continue
to feel that with our current income and expenditure patterns further losses
will arise. As stated last year we are due another quinquennial report for all
the Parish properties in the coming months and costs of rectification work
could be in the region of £80,000 which will have to come out of our dwindling reserves.
As at 30th April
2023 we have experienced an operating loss of circa £7,000 and in order to
avoid going into overdraft we have had to draw down £20,000 from our Unit
Scheme. If this loss is projected forward to 31st December 2023,
then the Parish will be making a Loss for the year of circa £20,000.
We look forward to the
Parish Finance meeting to be held on 27th June in the Hall with a
start time of 7.30pm at which all are warmly welcome to attend and discuss the
above.
The attached appendix is a
sheet of historical data for the years 2018 to 2022.
For and on behalf of St
Ambrose Finance Committee 6th June 2023.