THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST LADOCA IN THE PARISH OF LADOCK
The Annual Report and Financial Statement of the Parochial Church Council for
THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST LADOCA IN THE PARISH OF LADOCK 2023
‘Ladock Church is a place to welcome and embrace all who come to hear the word of God, to worship and pray, and for fellowship. This motivates and enables us to reach out to the wider community to share the love of God’
The Annual Report and Financial Statement of the Parochial Church Council for 2023 for presentation at the Annual Parish Church Council Meeting in Ladock Church on 11 April 2024.
The report has been prepared to comply with the requirements of The Charities Act 2011.
Incumbent: Vacant
Associate Priest: Reverend Linda Whetter
Curate: Reverend Paul Salaman
Banks: Lloyds Bank St Austell, CAF Bank
Treasurer: Dr David James
Independent Examiner: Mr Geoffrey Warring
The Parochial Church Council is a corporate body established by the Church of England. The PCC operates under the Parochial Church Council Measure. The Parochial Church Council is expected by order to register with the charity commissioners.
Members of the Parochial Church Council of Ladock Parish Church are either ex-officio or elected by the Annual Church Council meeting in accordance with the Church Representation Rules.
The Parochial Church Council met five times during 2023.
Mrs Shirley Soper is our designated Safeguarding Officer.
The Standing Committee, which consists of the incumbent, one church warden, treasurer and secretary, is the only committee required by law and has the power to transact the business of the PCC between its meetings, subject to any directions given by the council.
Members of the Parochial Church Council for 2023
Incumbent: The Reverend Joachim Foot, Rector of the Probus Benefice, until August, the post being vacant thereafter
Non Stipendary Associate Priest: Reverend Linda Whetter
Curate: Reverend Paul Salaman
Ex Officio
Church Warden: Mr Jeremy Sharp
Bell Tower Captain: Mr Jonathan Young
Head Teacher of Grampound Road School
Head Teacher Ladock School
Elected Members
Chair: Reverend Joachim Foot (until August)
Lay Vice Chair and Chair from August: Mrs Shirley Soper
Associate Priest: Reverend Linda Whetter
Curate: Reverend Paul Salaman
Secretary: Mrs Jennifer Thomas
Safeguarding Officer: Mrs Shirley Soper
Fabric Officer: Mr Simon Holborow
Administration and Electoral Roll Officer: Mrs Barbara Holt
Website and Rotas: Mrs Suzanne Smith
General: Mrs Vanessa Morcom
Deanery Synod Representatives: Mr Jeremy Sharp and Mrs Shirley Soper
At the end of 2023 the Electoral Roll number stood at 32 (2022, 31).
Ladock Church PCC Annual Report
Objectives and Activities
The objective of the Parochial Church Council of St Ladoca Parish Church is to exercise the responsibility of co-operating with the incumbent in promoting the Ecclesiastical Parish, the whole mission of the Church: pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical.
Associate Priest’s Report 
I would like to begin this report by saying that I have been heartened by the faithful way in which you are navigating the transition process.
I have also been heartened that we have been able to keep the regular services going alongside the occasional offices and community events and that the congregation is growing.
Ladock school regularly use the church and I have been able to maintain the established pattern of collective worship and end of term Eucharist. I am hoping to be able to build up a similar pattern in Grampound Rd. School.
I have endeavoured to keep up with pastoral visits within the challenges I face covering so many Parishes.
Various situations have occurred throughout the year that have needed to be dealt with and I am grateful that St Ladoca has such a good churchwarden, safeguarding officer and PCC.
Taking funerals is a vital part of my ministry and grants many insights into the importance of the churchyard in this community; I am so pleased that the churchyard extension is to be Consecrated by Bishop Hugh which will enable St Ladoca to continue to be a place of peace and rest for future generations.
I would like to end my report by thanking you all for working so hard to keep St. Ladoca Church going as you await your new Rector. It is a privilege to serve amongst you.
In Christ, Reverend Linda
Churchwarden’s Report
2023 began full of promise but it proved difficult to maintain the momentum achieved following the lifting of the Covid restrictions during 2022. Sadly the unnecessary, bureaucratic and top-down On the Way process continued to cast a long shadow over the entire Diocese, the project struggling to make progress in an increasingly divided and rancorous environment. We were able to view the developments with a degree of equanimity for the first half of the year, but following the departure of our Rector, Joachim Foot during the Summer we found ourselves in Transition. It soon became clear that the Deanery wished to use the vacancy as an opportunity to impose an Oversight Minister on an enlarged Benefice, in spite of national concern over the concept and a general wish locally to retain the existing Team structure that had served us well for many years. As the year ended, we had made some progress but the negotiations had been tortuous and time-consuming, the entire process being held up further by the unusually high number of vacancies and shortage of staff, including an Archdeacon and our Bishop.
At the time of writing it appears that we may not have a full-time stipendiary priest in post until the late summer or autumn. As our financial report indicates, we have taken a decision to withhold the clergy element of the MMF call during the Transition as we see no reason why the contribution is required during the vacancy. This reflects the cost-based approach that we understand is being used by the Deanery.
The sections that follow provide ample evidence that we have been able to take the challenges and uncertainty in our stride. At least, the difficult background has brought the parishes in the existing and wider Benefice together and this is to be welcomed. We remain in a good position as we go into 2024; we welcome the faint signs that the concerns and needs of rural parishes are being recognised at Church House and beyond; we fervently hope that it is not too late in some areas.
As always, I would like to thank our clergy, our PCC Treasurer, Secretary and members, as well as all the volunteers and unsung heroes who have helped keep the ship afloat, often battling against ill health themselves. Your contributions are not reflected in the financial reports but they are vital.
Jeremy Sharp
Clergy
We were sad to lose Reverend Joachim Foot in July, but the full church at his final service was a wonderful witness to the success of his ministry during the five years that he was with us. We are grateful to him and his wife Roxana, for all their hard work in building congregations, establishing contacts with young people and schools, against the turbulent background of Covid and On the Way. Fortunately our Associate Priest Linda Whetter, Curate Paul Salaman and retired clergy Canon Pat Robson, Brian McQuillan and Father Greg Standen have filled the gap: there were only two services at Ladock that were lay-led during the period of the transition ending on 31 December. We are in debt to all of them for their dedication and enthusiasm, not only for us, but all the parishes in the existing Benefice and the proposed Probus Mission Area.
Reverend Michael Molano remained with us until July before returning to the St Austell Deanery for the remainder of his Curacy. He made a lasting impression and has been missed.
Services
As indicated in the Clergy report above, we have been able to maintain the pre-Covid pattern of services comprising Holy Communion every Sunday morning, Morning Prayer on Tuesday mornings and Evensong on the fourth Sunday. There are Team services shared between the parishes of the benefice on the fifth Sunday.
The Choir sing on the first and third Sundays as well as on special occasions. The choir is growing in confidence and numbers, under the much-valued leadership of Margaret Edwards, who has battled against several bouts of ill-health to play the organ on Choir Sundays as well as to lead the singers. We have been fortunate in being able to call on Roger Freeman, who plays at all the other services, as well as when Margaret is unable to do so.
The children’s Sunday Club takes place during the morning service on the fourth Sunday. Numbers attending have remained stable following the departure of Roxana Foot, whose place has been taken by Jo Morcom and Christine Rimmer, helped by Suzanne Smith and Jenny Thomas. The children assist with the Eucharist, the intercessions, the collections and the offertory.
The School has continued to use the Church for assemblies twice a week during term. There is a School Eucharist at the end of each term, attended by the whole School and some parents.
There were several special services during the year. Bishop Hugh presided at our Feas
t Sunday service in January. In May we marked the Coronation on the following day with a special service; attendances were high for the Harvest, Remembrance and over the Christmas period. After a gap of some years, we reintroduced the children’s Crib Service on the morning of Christmas Eve in the absence of the usual Sunday service. Much to everyone’s surprise and delight, it was attended by a congregation of over fifty including twenty children, resulting in a wonderful and memorable occasion.
The average attendance on Sundays was 26. (2022 28, 2019, 25)
There were 1 wedding, 2 baptisms and 3 funerals during the year.
Fundraising and Community
2022 was an exceptional year for our fundraising activities, reflecting the lifting of the Covid restrictions. 2023 produced a return to more normal levels of activity as expected. We decided not to hold the Church Fete as in the past, but to retain the approach used the previous year that involved participating in LadockFest, a village community event marking the celebration of the 21st anniversary of the opening of the new Community Hall in early June, just after the Coronation. The emphasis was such that the funds raised for the Church were less than would have been the case otherwise, but the goodwill generated was obvious: a good longer-term investment. Once again were indebted to Jenny Thomas and her team for organising a happy and enjoyable day.
Further fundraising events included a concert in the Church given by the Duo Cana, a singing trio comprising two sopranos and a tenor, who treated us to a selection of opera arias and songs from the shows. We were also able to enjoy the garden of Jeremy and Irene Newton at New Mills Farm, whilst generating funds for the church.
At the end of the year we were treated to a wonderful Christmas Tree Festival, based on the theme of Pantomime. It was heartening to see so many trees, contributed by organisations within the parish and also by other churches in the Benefice. It was heartening to see so many people wanting be involved.
Pastoral and Mission
The monthly coffee mornings have regained their place as fixtures in the village calendar.
Our Associate Priest has continued with her programme of pastoral visits. She is in great demand but almost miraculously she manages to keep in contact with the needy throughout the Benefice. As we emphasised in our last report, it is becoming harder to maintain this service as clergy numbers continue to fall. Oversight ministry will make this type of ministry even harder to sustain: parishoners expect to be served by ‘proper’ priests during their times of need: lay ministry is a poor substitute at best. We feel it is essential for the Church to have effective and professional pastoral care in every parish.
The absence of an incumbent has rendered the plan to recruit a youth worker impractical.
We have become accustomed to use our parish magazine, The Ladock News, as an important medium through which to disseminate information on services and Church events. At one stage during the year it looked as if the magazine might cease publication following the retirement of the editors in December. Fortunately a new editor and production team have come forward and publication is now guaranteed until the end of 2024. We hope that the magazine will continue for years to come but we have taken the opportunity to update our website and to increase our use of social media, reviving the Church Facebook page and posting on the Ladock Community Page. We have also started sending copy to the sister publication in Grampound Road.
Deanery Synod
We have attended all the meetings of the Deanery Synod during the year. This body has no clear role, other than being a sounding board for decisions already made by the Deanery Implementation Team. There is no means of holding anyone to account. As currently constituted the entire structure is deeply unsatisfactory; it needs fundamental reform if it is to cope with the extra responsibilities being passed to it. We note that Deans of Area are to be appointed to deal with the problems, but all this does is create another layer of management, thereby adding to the muddle. It would have been far better simply if the Diocese resumed its historical responsibilities.
Ecumenical
Since the closure of the Methodist Chapel in Grampound Road, the Church of St Ladoca has been the only place of worship in the parish. Thus the forging of ecumenical links has not been possible. Our congregation includes former members of the Chapel and we make sure that we maintain as broad a welcome as possible.
Other Reports
Churchyard The PCC received consent for change of use for the new burial area during the year. The new area was fenced and work undertaken to cut back hedges and to lay paths in readiness for consecration by the Bishop, scheduled for March 2024. We ordered memorial benches to record our gratitude to Miss E A Hotten and Mrs J Mitchell for their legacies; we ordered a base for the sundial given to the Church by the family of Brad Dillon. The benches and the sundial will be placed in the new memorial garden. The area will be planted with shrubs and suitable flowers during the course of 2024.
Colin Haines has continued to keep the rest of the churchyard in good order; once again we should thank him for his diligence. He has instituted a programme of felling and / or pollarding trees on the periphery of the churchyard that are likely to cause problems in the future.
We held a Churchyard tidying day in September when the many volunteers cut back ivy and cleared weeds from headstones and from around the Church itself.
Jeremy Sharp
Fabric Report
The church remains in good condition and the requirements of the latest Quinquennial Inspection (February 2024) will be put in place with the identification of the major and minor works timelines.
In 2020 a programme for on-going and regular maintenance inspections and remedial work on the exterior was put in place with WestAccess http://www.westaccess.co.uk ), a specialist conservation company whose offering is repair and conservation of historic and ecclesiastical buildings using rope access, in order to address issues in a timely and cost effect long term strategy for roofing and pipe work integrity. This process is thorough and has made progress in identifying defects and making repairs quickly. We received a grant from Cornwall Historic Churches Trust in recognition of the effectiveness of this process.
Additionally small internal defects needing immediate attention (falling plaster) are being addressed quickly and efficiently by Eslick Brothers builders. Their experience includes conserving and preserving heritage buildings and they have agreed to included themselves on the roster of builders aligned to CHCT again potentially helping a grant fund claim. We will be reviewing the Quinquennial with Eslick Brothers to have a satisfactory longer term maintenance and repair work plan.
The delivered electrically heated seating system has proved popular, robust and has been put in place to a high standard and its infrastructure is unobtrusive.
Simon Holborow
Choir Report
Under the ongoing leadership of our Choir Mistress and Organist, Margaret Edwards, Ladock Church Choir continues to flourish. With a recent welcome addition to the decani side, we now have four basses and two tenors, and on the cantoris side there are four sopranos and three altos. We are sometimes joined by other voices for special services, most recently the New Year Team Service at St Crida.
The Nine Lessons and Carols Services at Ladock and at Probus as usual were a highlight of the singing year, and we learned some new works for that and for other anthems sung on Sundays.
One of our newer members has been industrious in sorting out choir surplices and generally tidying up the robing area, and as a result we will soon have named pegs, and fewer ‘extra’ surplices to search through. These robes are, however, carefully packed away for use when more singers come to join our ranks!
The PCC has paid for two more ‘full music’ A&M hymn books, for which we thank them.
There have been one or two occasions where our doughty Choir Mistress has been unable to play, and we are grateful to Roger Freeman who has stepped into the breach, and who has expressed a willingness to help the choir whenever needed.
We have not been asked to sing at any weddings or funerals in the past year, but remain available to do so at no cost.
We are all most grateful to our Choir Mistress, who gives so much thought as well as time to teaching us new pieces, extending our range, and encouraging us all to do just a little bit more than we think we can!
Jo Nicolle
Safeguarding
Safe guarding is always a feature on the PCC agenda at Ladock church. During the course of the year the PCC have been given leaflets and we have discussed the differing forms of abuse that we may come across and also discussed where safeguarding may have fallen below the standard in some National press issues.
Any safeguarding issues that have arisen in the Parish during the past year have been addressed. Ladock PCC are alert and committed to safeguarding and I am very grateful to them for their care to our church members, all who enter the doors of our church or visit the churchyard and also to the wider community.
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, if required for our Parish are now instigated by a neighbouring parish for which we are most grateful.
Some training this year is outstanding, mainly due to illness. We hope to rectify this with training shortly, either via in person training sessions or online.
Shirley Soper. safeguarding Officer
Ladock Ringers Report
2023 was another busy year for the Ladock Bellringers. The big event was of course the Coronation which was celebrated up and down the country through ringing of bells. We marked the occasion with 30 minutes of ringing and included Renfree Stephens who was one of three ringers in Cornwall, and about 60 nationwide, who had rung for the Coronation in 1953.
During the summer we were visited by five different ringing groups on various outings and holidays. One of the very best things about bellringing is the welcoming nature of the exercise. Visiting other towers on a practice night, Sunday morning or outings, it’s great to meet new people or catch up with old friends.
In the autumn we hosted four ‘Ringing Schools’ for ringers in the Truro area. This was to give rope time and for confidence building for ringers from St Stephen, St Ewe and Kenwyn as well as our own ringers. Ladock was chosen for both being central with the right facilities and the challenging nature of our bells. Plenty of tea, coffee and cake was consumed as well. Some more of these may be run in 2024.
With winter arriving the idiosyncrasies of our bells comes to the fore. The cold and wet weather has an adverse effect on the ropes, pulleys and even the wooden frame. It makes ringing them unpredictable and whilst we are experienced and trained, our band is beginning to find them a challenge. There is a national shortage of ringers, and our band is no different. We’re always on the lookout for new recruits but the difficulty of our bells means training is hard.
We’re hoping that in 2024 we can look at some significant improvements to the bells. Watch this space.
Jonathan Young, Tower Captain
Electoral Roll Report 2024
Last year there were 32 names on the Roll. This year there are 39 names on the Electoral Roll at St Ladoca. Two people have moved away from the area and have asked for their names to be removed. There are nine additions.
Barbara Holt, Electoral Roll Officer.
Financial Review, Ladock Church, 2023
I am pleased to report that the accounts show that this has been another encouraging year. The very healthy current cash account balance of £15,077.63 does require a little explanation. First, the sum of £10,253.11 was carried over from last year’s accounts. Second, on the departure of the Rector at the end of July, the decision was taken to withhold part of our MMF call to reflect this. We therefore paid the Benefice element of the MMF (£3625) in full and £9583 of the remainder leaving us withholding £4725. This will be paid to the Diocese if a new incumbent is in post within twelve months of Reverend Foot’s departure.
Detailed analysis of all the accounts will show that the overall balance has increased by £28,665.70. This figure was augmented as a result of a further legacy of £11,432.70 added to Mrs Mitchell’s bequest and considerable income from deposit and investment accounts. It is worth noting that this was achieved despite considerable expenditure associated with the churchyard extension and essential tree work.
Another encouraging highlight of the year was the £1630.81 we were able to donate to various charities, the most notable being to St Petroc’s Christmas appeal. The full list was as follows:
Bishop's Discretionary Fund: £124.81
The Prince's Trust: £137.00
Cornwall Historic Churches Trust: £300.00
Probus Food Bank: £100.00 (plus food)
St Erme Food Bank: £94.40 (plus food)
St Petroc's Winter Appeal: £712.60
We are grateful to many people, not only for their expertise in raising these funds, but also for organising fund-raising events for the Church throughout the year. Most notable of these were the organisers of LadockFest, the DC concert and Irene and Jeremy Newton’s garden open day.
Any financial review should, perhaps, look to possible future demands upon finance. It is my understanding that the following liabilities, not included in the accounts, may occur during 2024.
- Further work on the churchyard extension and condition of ash trees
- The condition of the church bells and their infrastructure is under discussion
- Any essential work highlighted by the quinquennial inspection may need to be addressed.
David James, Treasurer
