Secretary’s report to the APCM 2022
This year has marked a welcome return to some normality at St Andrew’s post-Covid.
We now have services without compulsory mask wearing, we are singing hymns, providing refreshments on occasion and looking forward to the return of communion wine which will mark the end of the last remaining restriction.
This meeting marks the end of the first year of our collective approach to church life in Cotterstock, with the PCC sharing the role of churchwardens. Whilst we might be honest and say it would be lovely to have two churchwardens we are all aware of the level of work undertaken by Cherrill over the previous years, for which we record our immense thanks and new found admiration. If we ever took for granted the work that she did in the past, we don’t now! We have all learnt a great deal about how to set up and facilitate the services in St Andrew’s and shared in these duties in support of Donald and Catharine. Over the past year this model which has worked well for us in this village and the PCC can be proud of this.
Efforts have been made this year to invite a range of people from the village to participate in different services which has been successful, particularly at the notable services across the year. This is something we could pursue further next year as we continue to build our congregation.
We have also made efforts to engage the support and participation of people outside the village in our services. We had an excellent young Oundle School trumpeter at the Remembrance service, Sandy Macdonald from Southwick played his guitar to mark Lent and we enjoyed some wonderful contributions at the Carol service, in particular from Katherine Fitton. John Miley played the organ for us at the Harvest Festival service and for the first time in a long while refreshments were served, and it was lovely to see the congregation enjoying themselves. Our hope this year is that we can bring back a colour party to the Remembrance service and an Oundle School piper to the St Andrew’s service. We record our thanks to everyone who has given so generously of their time and talents.
We have reinstated bell ringing through Alex Dyer, the Warmington tower Captain and this new arrangement is ongoing. We record our thanks to the group for their support. Bell ringing groups continue to use the tower and the PCC is committed to supporting bell ringing for local and visiting groups whenever possible.
Emily Ward has completed her DofE volunteering for St Andrew’s contributing over 22 hours of her time in myriad ways. We would like to record the thanks of the PCC here for her achievements, ideas and enthusiasm. In particular we would single out the superb ‘Bug Hotel’ in the churchyard!
Ride and Stride in September was very well supported by many people from Cotterstock and neighbouring villages. The cycle ride, ably led by Steve Ward, was a great success. The refreshments were, as always, in a class of their own and overall £56,195 was raised by the Northamptonshire Historic Churches Trust, their best year yet. The commitment of St Andrew’s to Ride and Stride is one to reiterate, bringing with it as it does the opportunity to raise funds for projects from NHCT.
The annual spring clean and the excellent vestry clear out brought in volunteers from the village and a special mention must go to Sue Fitton, Michele Mor and Jake Vowles for their tireless help on both occasions. The retrieval of the beautiful vestments will, we hope, lead to their renewed use over the next year. The use of the lectern from which lessons are read has also been reinstated.
The organ renovation has been a great success and special mention must go to Monica Crosby for her energy and enthusiasm in bringing this about. Everyone recognises the importance of organ playing to our services, and the renovation project is another example of successful engagement with both a specialist contractor and local people who kindly donated to support the work. We look forward to the organ being part of the Midsummer concert this year.
Mavis Rowlett deserves our thanks for her work facilitating the electrical work, and the support of Nick Elks both as our electrician and a bell ringer was highlighted at the last PCC meeting.
The fabric of the church as always takes time and attention and thanks is due to everyone involved, particularly Mavis Rowlett, Roger Fitton and Graham Sands. Particular thanks must also go to Roger for his fantastic work in the churchyard and his support for Emily Ward’s proposal and excellent application for the bronze award in the Northamptonshire Churchyard Conservation Award scheme. As discussed at the last PCC meeting one of our aims going forward is to encourage the whole village to view and use the churchyard as a special public place for everyone to enjoy. A final thank you to all the villagers who mow the churchyard lawn.
Looking ahead to this year it is hoped that the 150 years of Childhood exhibition, the Jubilee outdoor service and tree planting along with the Midsummer concert will bring many people into St Andrew’s and contribute much needed funds. Thanks are recorded to Georgie Bennett, Monica Crosby and Roger Fitton for their considerable contribution on behalf of the PCC to the Childhood exhibition, and to Dawn Davis for initiating and leading this event along with the wedding talks and the jumble sale both of which raised important sums for St Andrew’s.
It is also hoped these events will engage us more closely with the VHC. It was agreed this year that Robin Windsor would attend VHC meetings when possible and that RS-C would receive and view the minutes and agendas to ensure anything relevant was brought to the PCC meetings. Thanks must be recorded to everyone in the village who helped with the recent VHC organised jumble sale, with 25% of the funds coming to St Andrew’s, along with the widespread village support for the 100 Club. There is a great deal of support for St Andrew’s within the village, which takes many different forms.
In summary, this has been a busy and a successful year. Perhaps we should all take a moment to reflect on what has been achieved this year as we continue to ensure our small village church flourishes for the benefit of our village, but also for the many others who contribute to and benefit from St Andrew’s and our benefice as a whole. Our thanks are due to Donald, and to Catharine, for everything that they do for St Andrew’s and the benefice as a whole, we are lucky to have them. And finally, words probably cannot adequately express the significance of the contribution Graham and Cherrill Sands have made over the last year and across many years preceding the remit of this APCM. In their role as PCC members they have probably undertaken every possible task that comes up in the life of a small village church, and the health of St Andrew’s owes much to their care, attention, energy and positive approach. We thank them for everything they have done, and hope that their association and membership of the congregation will continue for many years to come.
Rowena Somerville-Cotton 10 April 2022