BELL RINGERS
This time last year we were still unable to ring the Parish Church bells because of the work on the tower pinnacles. This was eventually finished just in time for us to ring the bells for Easter last year. We followed this up with a 3 hour peal on Easter Monday to celebrate the completion of the work.

Soon after this we represented the Cirencester Branch of the Gloucester and Bristol Association in the Croome Trophy ringing competition. This was at Hewelsfield in the Forest where we rang well to come third; our best placing for some years, winning us The Ringing Master’s Clapper! Unfortunately we could not maintain this standard and only managed fourth in the branch competition later in the year.

We had two outings during the year. The first was  based near Woodstock where we walked from church to church ringing at Kirtlington, Tackley, Wootton and Woodstock. This was a very pleasant day ably organised by Matt Illman and Megan Hester.

In September we had a Coach outing. This was centred on Leighton Buzzard. Although our numbers were a little down we had a good day and were able to do justice to the fine 12 bells at Leighton. We also rang on the steel bells at Waddesdon, a reminder of why they never caught on!

We started teaching two new recruits recently but more are always welcome. We lost one of our band to University last September and another is leaving soon. We can take all ages from around 10 upwards. We practice on Tuesdays at 7:30 with a beginners’ session often starting at 6:30
Contacts are shown below.                    

Peter Holden

Contacts:
Tower Captain, Peter Holden.
Sectretary: Amanda Woodd

NEW TESTAMENT GREEK
A small group has been meeting once a month to read the New Testament in the original Greek.  Some members joined the group with no knowledge of Greek.  (Reading has included the signs in John's gospel and the Nativity accounts in Matthew and Luke). The combined efforts to translate the Greek often lead to fresh insights and a deeper understanding of familiar passages.
 

Mary Pym

PARISH CHURCH STEWARDS
The Parish Church stewards have continued to do their jobs during the year, willingly and faithfully, and I am very grateful for their magnificent and dedicated service.  The church has been kept open every day except Christmas Day.

I have continued to encourage volunteers to give priority to actively welcoming visitors, and not just because it’s the most natural thing to do, to want to say a friendly ‘Hallo’.  To visitors we are the public face of our worshipping parish:  in some cases we could be the only contact they may have with a Christian community, and we want to give a good impression.  Although we get questions about the church’s history, occasionally there is an opportunity to explain the reason why some feature of the building is the way it is, and the faith behind it.  There is a huge variation in visitors’ backgrounds, which makes our job so interesting.

We have had two late-summer parties: one tea party at our house for new stewards, where we managed to find enough bone china for about 40 people!, and one bring-and-share evening do for everyone in the Parish Centre, and both were great successes. 

A one-sheet newsletter with a quiz was produced, which seemed to be of interest as much to parishioners in general as to stewards, and was a fun way for me to emphasise certain guidelines to all our volunteers, which normally only new stewards receive when I take them round the church for the first time.

We now have 119 stewards on the list, of whom 104 do regular shifts, and 15 are available on call; compared with 99, 89 and 10 respectively a year ago.  Despite the increase, we still have vacancies, especially at weekends, when several people who have been doing solo shifts for years would like some company!  It is a very rewarding job.  Please call if you would like to join us.

Eric Roberts (657231)

PARISH CHURCH TOURS
This has been a very difficult year for tourism generally.
In January the Kings Head Hotel opposite the church closed and a regular number of visitors each week was denied to us.

In July/August the floods affecting Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury sent out the message that the Cotswolds were closed and this untrue statement affected tourism numbers, and although they increased in September and October the decline continued towards the end of the year. Derek Barnard and I carried out 48 advertised tours taking round 209 people (average 4.27 people per tour) compared with 2006 - 66 tours for 354 (average 5.36 people per tour).

There were 10 pre-booked tours for 260 people also undertaken (2006: 10 for 264 people). Heritage Day tours were less well attended due to having to close the Church at 3 pm although there was considerable interest in ascending the tower when 180 people went up.

Despite the overall drop in visitors, the tourist boxes, at around £45,000, only showed a drop of approximately £4000 on the previous year, a decrease of 8.2%. This is creditable in the circumstances and reflects well on the efforts of the Church Stewards who welcome and talk to visitors. It is interesting to note the Trio campaign budget relies on our visitors’ boxes providing £865 per week (£45,000 per annum) to balance the Church accounts indicating the importance of Tourism to the Parish.

Alas, 2008 has not started well. There are fewer tourists about and as we go to press there is talk of recession and with the onset of Church re-organisation after Easter fewer visitors will come top the church with a dramatic downturn in their contributions to Parish finances.
 
John Lawrence (657938) Parish Church

Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checking
During the year 2007, we had expected to recheck everyone in the Parish working with Children & Young People, and with Vulnerable Adults. However the Diocese advised that new guidelines from the House of Bishops suggested that people who had already been CRB checked need not be rechecked with the exception of:

• Anyone who had changed address

• Anyone who had been away from their residence for a length of time

• Anyone who had made a significant change their role or responsibilities including change of post.

It continues to be essential that all new members are checked. Generally this has been done as Group leaders have advised me of new members. However I am currently undertaking a “sweep up” of any outstanding members.
It is the responsibility of the PCC to review the list of groups checked. Currently these groups are:
            StJB Servers                           
            HTW Servers                          
            StJB FOG club                         
            StJB Little Angels        
            StJB Bellringers           
            HTW Bellringers          
            StJB Choir
            StJB Junior Choir helpers
            HTW Choir
            HTW Trinity Club & crèche
            Church Wardens

Clergy (including Retired Clergy), Readers, paid employees (Caretaker of StJB, HTW, Parish Centre), workers with vulnerable adults (including parish visitors to residential homes) are also checked.

The PCC decided that the church should continue to act as Counter signatory for “Open the Book” members, but that the administration should be passed over to their organisers. However members of both a church organisation and “Open the Book” continue to be checked by the church.     
                                                                       
Policy on the safeguarding of Vulnerable Adults in the Church
The Diocese has required that every parish should have its own policy statement. The following is an abbreviated statement of our PCC’s policy. The full statement can be seen in the Parish Office.

We believe that our Churches should be places where all people feel welcome, respected and safe. We also recognise that each one of us may be regarded as vulnerable at some point of our lives.
Whilst seeking to support those in our church who work specifically with vulnerable adults (in, for example, residential homes and hospitals) we acknowledge that it is the responsibility of each of us to care for one another, and to bring any concerns that we might have to those who have pastoral oversight in the Parish.

The Revd Rosemary Franklin agreed to coordinate this work and to be our Parish representative.                                                            
Pat Sutcliffe

MIX-M-UP ANNUAL REPORT
The Mix-M-Up Group has been very well attended this past year with Helena Heathcote, Cynthia Brett, Elizabeth Higgs, Margaret Clack, Graham Hibberd and John Lawrence being enrolled into the Mothers Union in October.  We meet every third Wednesday evening of the month at the Parish Centre or St Lawrence Church Centre.

Our meetings have included a talk by Andrew Cole about Chyp in January, Flower Arranging by Amanda Wheatley in February, Banner Making by two members of the Methodist Church in March, an excellent talk by Reverend Warwick Heathcote “Journey from Graham Town, South Africa to Watermoor in April, and an informative talk by Martin Evans from BBC Radio Gloucester in May.  In June we visited Gloucester Cathedral and John Lawrence was our wonderful guide.  In July we visited the Three Choirs Vineyard and this proved to be a most enjoyable evening.  In August we met at the Greyhound, Siddington to plan 2008 programme over a light supper and glasses of wine.  In September we attended the Eucharist service at the Parish Church and afterwards enjoyed a shared supper.  We held a Jewellery Party in October when most of  Mix-M-Up bought some attractive good value jewellery.  A really excellent talk with slides was enjoyed by all in November given by the well known sculptor, Rory Young and that brings us to December when we all enjoyed a Christmas meal at the Fleece Hotel.

We have a wonderful programme for the rest of this year and invite everyone from 16 to 100 to join us.  We really enjoy Christian fellowship, friendship and fun.

Leaders
                                                              
Jenny Hopegood and Pat Harris

CIRENCESTER HOSPITAL CHAPLAINCY
The hospital chaplaincy team has again been assisted by many dedicated volunteers during the past year. Their commitment has been vital to the running of the Sunday services, the Tuesday communions and the weekly visiting programme. Unfortunately, neither the much needed aumbry, which arrived in the hospital last July, nor the new microphone system, both generously funded by the League of Friends, has yet been installed in the chapel.

In  the  summer  we  said  farewell  to the Matron,  Barbara Ruthers,  with
whom we had worked closely. Her successor, Bobbie Lang meets the chaplains and the volunteers regularly to update them on the NHS changes that affect the hospital.
Everyone involved in the work of the chaplaincy counts it as a privilege to be part of the team and we would value prayer for God’s blessing as we endeavour to minister to the very varied needs of all those with whom we come into contact in the hospital.
If you feel God is calling you to help with any aspect of the work of the Chaplaincy please contact the Parish office (659317) or ring Jackie Holdsworth, the volunteer organiser at the hospital (884524)
                                                                                                 
Sylvia Harker