West Stafford: St Andrew

PCC MINUTES Dorchester & West Stafford PCC Meeting, St Peter’s Church Hall Monday 13 April 2026 at 7.30pm 1. Opening reading John 3: 1-8 & prayer - Rector, Rev Keith Magee (KM) 2. Present: Rev K Magee (KM)(Chair), Steve Burgess(SB), Janet Cooper(JC)(Secretary), David Elliott(DE), Jonathan Farmiloe(JF), John Heath(J), Rev Jimmy Holden(JH), Lauretta Kerridge(LK), Janet Ranger-Dennis(JD), Peter Vojak(PV)(Treasurer) & Rev Cora Yarrien(CY). Apologies for absence: Caroline McMeiken, Jill Minchin, Jane Pryce & Cheryl Taylor. 3. Minutes of last meeting held on 18 November 2025: Minutes signed as a true record. 4. Matters arising: In Safeguarding KM had reported that Ian Bishop, from St Peter’s, who had put himself forward as Benefice Safeguarding Officer had intended his offer was to only assist with Safeguarding at St Peter’s, not to take on the Benefice role. 5. Safeguarding: KM & CY reported that this had been discussed at the recent Deanery Synod. Many parishes are having difficulty finding volunteers for roles, such as safeguarding & churchwardens, which come with a lot of responsibility. In our Parish KM for Benefice and CY for St George’s & St Andrew’s are the named Safeguarding Officers in the absence of volunteers, but this is not appropriate to have clergy in these roles. On a Parish Team level there has been discussion about having a part-time paid person as Parish Safeguarding Officer and this would help to ensure that training is kept up to date. This could possibly be extended on a wider basis to churches in the Deanery who are experiencing the same difficulties filling the role. The Diocese is using a new platform for Safeguarding named 31:8 and churches will need someone to manage this. While transferring to 31:8 the present platform micro site is now read-only until it closes on 30 June when it will no longer be accessible. This important subject of safeguarding may be part of the agenda at the Deanery Chapter on 14 April. 6. Health & Safety Policy working group: St Peter’s now have a representative, Rowland Cornell, as do St Mary’s, Peter Hazelton, and CY has volunteered so will arrange a meeting for the group of three to draw up a policy, referring to generic policies available, such as Ecclesiastical. JC will give CY the contact details of the two representatives to form a working group with CY. 7. Resourcing – PV presented Accounts for 2025, circulated before meeting. PCC Central Account – There was a net surplus this year, a reverse of 2024. Production of the Messenger magazine ended in December 2025 so there will be no magazine expenditure in 2026. A question was asked if church contributions to PCC running costs were higher than they need to be and PV explained he would know better further into the year, say in September. Consolidated Parish Account – Funds carried forward at the end of 2025 were £971,015, about £100,000 less than the previous year mainly due to repair and maintenance work being carried out on the churches. Also, investment funds were down and a query was made about whether the fund managers CCLA are doing their job satisfactorily. Some discrepancies had been noticed by DE in St Peter’s figures in Section 8 Funds – (a) An error of £50 in St Peter’s General Fund on page 12 should read £13,738 and (b) Mis-statement of the fund balances in St Peter’s Development Fund. It was agreed that PV would get back to the auditors, Edwards & Keeping, to correct these errors which they have made. PCC members will be circulated with the amended Accounts for approval, which once signed by KM need to be published for at least seven days before the APCM, which is on 19 May. PV and church treasurers were thanked for all their work. 8. Update on two List B application approvals by email by PCC since last meeting: St Mary’s – List B application approval given on 1 December 2025 for repairs to the spire/fleche base. List B has been granted by the DAC. Repairs now completed and scaffolding to be partially removed this week to allow for finalising roof repairs. St Peter’s – List B application approval given on 11 March 2026 for cleaning the William Barnes statue on St Peter’s forecourt. DAC given their approval but there are some issues as to who owns the statue – Barnes Society, Town Council or St Peter’s Church Committee – and clarification is being sought. 9. Reports from churches: St Andrew’s – Report circulated from JR before meeting. St George’s – CY gave a verbal report with copy sent out by email before the meeting. In addition she spoke about the fire on 1 April in the Garden of Remembrance, which happened early in the morning, a small fire but sadly burning a whole wooden memorial bench. Police are not pursuing it but will increase a few foot patrols in the area. The church will replace the bench, for which they may need to do some fund raising. In conjunction with the Benefice clergy CY is hoping to form a confirmation class as she has candidates. Maddie Lyons has been employed as Heritage Events Organiser. St Mary’s – Report circulated from the churchwardens before meeting. JH added that links with Prince of Wales First School are growing and that he had been invited in to talk to the reception class about Easter and the cross symbol. St Peter’s – Report circulated from KM before meeting. Father Baboo at Holy Trinity Catholic Church had been very supportive with hospitality and care in December when he had allowed the church to be used for a concert when St Peter’s heating was not working. 10. Diocesan Synod: Report circulated from DE of Online meeting held on 25 February. The Diocese had recently commissioned an external review of the Diocesan Advisory Committee and the Church Buildings Team to assess their effectiveness, operational efficiency and alignment with Diocesan strategy. The results were outlined and forward recommendations. 11. Deanery Synod: Minutes of meeting held on 12 March circulated. There had been a presentation by Tom Clammer (slide show circulated to PCC members) on the issues relating to accessibility and inclusivity in churches, with useful suggestions relating to how churches can assist with information relating to accessibility for wheelchair users and other disabilities. 12. Rector’s report: KM had no further items to report. During a recent time of family illnesses he thanked all the church families for their support. 13. Items for next agenda: Safeguarding update. 14. Date of APCM: Tuesday 19 May 2026 at 7.30pm at St Mary’s. PCC – Tuesday 14 July at 7.30pm at St Peter’s PCC – Tuesday 15 September Holy Communion at 7pm, meeting at 7.30pm, at St Peter’s PCC - Tuesday 17 November at 7.30pm at St Peter’s Dates for your diary: Sunday 24 May at St Peters at 10.30am – Benefice Choral Eucharist Service with Dean Nick Papadopulos presiding & preaching. Connor Hansford becomes Deacon at Salisbury Cathedral on Sunday 28 June at 11am, after which he will join the Parish with Rev Cora as his training incumbent. Dorset County Show 5 & 6 September – volunteers needed in Churches Together tent 15. Closing Grace Meeting closed at 9pm