This is our 7th annual report. It recalls some noteworthy events in 2018 and comes just before our

Parish visitation by Archbishop Bernard in January 2019, hence the slightly longer edition. 2018

started with a parish team reduced by the loss of Fr Mario when he left in 2017 but ended with Fr

Srinu arriving and Bob Charles having been ordained a Deacon, alongside two lay appointments Alex

Parker and Dan Marsh. They are working in the area of evangelisation, Dan with young people and

Alex in Catechesis and liturgy. A lot can change in a year!

In one of the greatest of all Papal documents (‘God is Love’), Pope Benedict wrote this of the Church:

“The Church's deepest nature is expressed in her three-fold responsibility: proclaiming the word of

God, celebrating the sacraments, and exercising the ministry of charity.” This year we have broken

our report into three areas reflecting this.

Alpha was a key tool for evangelisation

which continued to develop in 2018,

reaching non-Catholics and Catholics

alike with many finding new inspiration

and clarity in their faith. We have

continued to reach out via social media,

invites & leaflets, welcoming strangers,

friends, work-colleagues and neighbours

to discover a relationship with Jesus.

Starting in Lent on February 19th, thirty-

two people embarked on a new Alpha

Journey with an Away Day held in Oscott

College on 14th April. Our Autumn Alpha began in September with forty people setting off on the

Journey in Faith. The Away Day was at Maryvale where we were looked after by the Bridgettine

Sisters. We also ran a mini Alpha course for busy parents whilst their children were receiving First

Holy Communion Catechesis. Since we began our Alpha initiative just over a year ago, 158 people

have joined us; 106 voluntary roles have been filled

(Leading groups, setting tables, serving, cooking,

leading prayer and worship or welcoming); and thirty-

two 2-course meals have been prepared! “It is the

best thing I have ever done” one person remarked. “It

has ignited my spirituality and my faith” (L.H.); and “I

have discovered the Holy Spirit” (S.B.).

To provide a follow–on from our Alpha, we have set

up two Home Groups which meet fortnightly. They

follow programmes involving discussion, Scripture

reflections and prayer, but most importantly they are

a place to develop friendship and faith together.

Our Alpha journey was over shadowed by Chris Booth’s sudden death on the evening he was due to

attend Alpha. A prospective convert, Chris had been actively involved volunteering in the Parish for a

number of years and attended Mass with his family each week. He is sadly missed. The courage and

determined faith shown by his family has been inspiring to us all.

RCIA - Our RCIA programme embraces Alpha as the start of people’s Journey in Faith. A team of

Catechists and Oscott Students helped the catechumens to prepare to be fully initiated into the

Catholic Faith at Easter. Four new adult members have become Catholics this year.

Sacramental Preparation: Over a dozen volunteers

have worked together in Sacramental preparation

in 2018, running courses for First Holy Communion

and Confirmation for those children not attending

our Catholic Schools and also Baptism and Marriage

Preparation Courses. 95 children made their First

Holy Communion in 2018, 24 of those were

prepared by Parish Catechists. 55 were confirmed,

7 of whom were prepared by parish Catechists.

Our two schools do so much and work so hard to

help our children grow in faith. Passionate staff, lively and prayerful liturgy, retreat days and creative

approaches to sharing the faith characterise St Gabriel’s and St Elizabeth’s. Their constant desire to

improve is an inspiration to the parish. Like us they are sometimes frustrated that some parents are

unresponsive when it comes to faith matters which is partly why we employed someone to develop

parish youth ministry.

Youth Ministry: Dan started with a bang in

September – he is a big character! His job is shared

with St Francis of Assisi School so he meets some of

our young people there. Fr Srinu joins him on

Wednesdays for Mass. He and Fr Srinu began parish

youth ministry by preparing some young people to

be Eucharistic ministers. This was followed by

school visits, assemblies, ½ term sleepover, bonfire

night, leader recruitment and establishing the new

youth group called ‘Phoenix’. Dan is also looking to

develop groups with older teenagers and young

men and women in their 20’s and 30’s. Once again, Dan is only one man so is delighted to have great

volunteers who have already joined him and offer vital support. We are all excited at what 2019 will

bring in this area of youth ministry.

Tamworth Christian Churches or ‘TCC’ – We have two lay representatives for Tamworth Christian

Churches in Angela Powers and Alex Parker who attend regular meetings during the year. There are

nearly 30 Christian Churches within our parish boundary – all doing great work in God’s name.

Working with them is an essential part of our Christian Mission. In 2018 this led us to work together

on the Good Friday Walk of Witness, a Bible Readathon, Pentecost in the park, Christian Unity week

(we hosted an evening) and a few carol singing events to bring solace to people in care homes and

the Good News onto the streets. Sharing this mission with other Churches increased the impact and

joy of doing it. Our clergy attend monthly meetings with other Christian ministers and support each

other spiritually, as well as in outreach work, especially to the poor in our joint projects (Starfish,

Foodbank and the Winter Night Shelter).

Parish Website: We are always being told that social media is the future for spreading the Good News

but having the people to run with it is the key. Wojtek has both stepped in and stepped up because

while he has been developing our website for a few years he decided, after attending training on

website design for evangelisation, that ours needed a new focus. Don’t just believe this though, go

to www.tamworthrc.church and see. We think it looks welcoming and inviting. Rob and Kathy have

also been busy updating our records. We have over 2,700 parishioners on our database and can now

send an occasional email notifying everyone when something big is coming up. We have never been

able to do this before and it is potentially a great tool. We are also blessed with some additional skills

that Dan shares with us, especially with Facebook, Instagram, video editing etc but we will see more

in the New Year.

Liturgy - The liturgy is the work and

worship (of the people) combined. It

unites heaven and earth in helping

bring about God’s saving love. It is

central to our life as Christians. We

made a concerted effort to consult

the whole of our Parish - Christ’s

Body - on our liturgies, opening

ourselves up for constructive

criticism. We asked for feedback on

how we could deepen our faith; how

we could ensure that our faith meets our Spiritual needs and the needs of the seekers; the welcome

we give; the homilies that are delivered and our work of Caritas. The feedback was shared and

changes made accordingly. For instance, people asked us to review the Saturday evening Mass to

appeal to the younger members of the church and introduce new music. The musicians and choir have

responded well and, with the extra support of singers Andrea and Carol have adopted that

contemporary style with new hymns regularly introduced across all Masses. The feedback has been

very positive. All of this has to be underpinned by prayer which is encouraged in our weekly adoration

and prayer group, days of reflection in Lent, the Rosary group and in the prayer life of our leadership

team.

Welcome – Our welcome was also appraised. A

team of welcomers and wardens greet those

attending our Saturday evening and Sunday

Masses including a Polish greeting given at the

12.00 Noon Mass for some of our large Polish

Community. We also have a fantastic husband

and wife team in Garry and Pat who welcome

the bereaved at Reception Services for funerals.

Prayer Cards with contact details are available

at funerals and forms are always available for

new parishioners to give their details so that we

can follow up and welcome them properly.

Preaching - The responses regarding homilies were generally very positive. Most find them helpful

and inspiring. Humour, relevance to real life, and sharing personal witness came across strongly in

people’s preferences. Keeping sermons short or in several shorter sections were also regarded as

helpful to aid concentration. Some said they like sermons that

challenge them. We have been blessed with the addition of Fr

Srinu who brings a touch of humour to his sermons and is

settling well into Parish life; and Deacon Bob who was ordained

on July 1st 2018. Bob is a natural at delivering punchy homilies

and has taken to his new role like a duck to water.

Eucharistic ministers – We are also blessed in having a good

number of Eucharistic ministers serving at all our Masses. We

have added to these with our new young Ministers who are

doing a fantastic service too.

Visiting the sick: A team of 38 dedicated and compassionate

Eucharistic Ministers visit the 100 sick and housebound at

home or in hospital. These are hugely appreciated by individuals and their families. Our Catholic

Community is truly seen at its best when meeting the lonely and isolated at their time of need. Fr

Michael and Fr Srinu visited all the Sick and Housebound between them in Lent and Advent, in

addition to regular visits to those who are critically ill.

Funerals. We had 50 funerals in 2018 across our two churches and at the Crematoriums. Many of

them were deeply committed parishioners missed by the parish as well as their families. Fr Srinu,

Deacon Brian, Deacon Bob and Fr Michael share this ministry. We try to reach out to the bereaved

giving details of our Bereavement Help Point Service and prayer and contact cards are left at all of our

Church services. A counselling service is also available.

This work is vital to any Church or Christian. It is said that the Bible

refers over 300 times to helping the poor. Nearly everyone is moved

with compassion when they see others who have lost something – their

home or job, their health, a loved one, their memory, self-esteem or

their freedom. As a parish we have committed and organised ourselves

to respond to poverty as best we can. Over 200 parishioners have

volunteered to help in some way. Many help with parishioners who are

housebound (over 100 housebound in 2018), bringing them the

Eucharist but also friendship and comfort every week. We have a large

team of 45 volunteers who now lead the two week summer scheme

each year. Over 90 young people enjoyed great activities again in 2018

(its 7th year) with a group for teens also being really well received.

We have also focussed a lot of effort on our charity Heart of Tamworth.

This went from strength to strength last year. Below is a snapshot of

what has been delivered, as well as a look to the future. Our major

problem is that we need someone to co-ordinate it and a facility that

allows us to meet with and welcome the 700+ who visit our centres each week. We hope that this

will be remedied in 2019. We have responsibilities to Swinfen Hall prison too, with Fr Michael visiting

on alternate Saturdays – a new area of ministry for him and the parish. We hope one or two might

join him to support that work in the future.

We have also seen a huge change in the use of our facilities at both churches. The chart below gives

a good idea of how these too are at the service of building God’s Kingdom.

Activities That HoT runs with volunteers:

Groups we accommodate but also connect with by

promoting their service:

1. Saturday morning Breakfast Club

2. Bereavement Group

3. Memory Cafe

4. Older People’s Club

5. Men’s Group

6. Summer Scheme

7. Youth Club

8. Home Visits to over 90 housebound people

9. Homeless Service – befriending and ‘move

on’

10. Winter Night Shelter

11. Christmas and Easter Meals for 60 plus and

hampers for 50 local people

12. Travellers’ support/advice service

These are all new services established by HOT

1. All of Community Together’s Activities:

i. Employment clubs

ii. Healthy Eating schemes

iii. Youth activities

iv. Community Café and more

2. Multiple Sclerosis

3. Pilates x 2 weekly

4. Breast Friends

5. Drama group for People with Learning Disabilities

6. Women’s Craft Group

7. Stroke Club

8. AA Groups on two nights

9. Guitar Club

10. Refugee Action

11. Dementia Action Alliance

12. Tai chi groups – twice weekly

13. Slimming world

Services established with support from HoT

Groups We Support and helped establish: New Groups to be established

1. Parent and toddler

2. Singing for the Mind

3. Gamblers’ Anonymous

4. Tamworth Polish Association

5. SPIN Special Needs Group – new café

project

6. Counselling Service – 3 Times Weekly

These are services new to Glascote Heath or Town

Centre and supported by HoT

1. The Disability Forum

2. 2nd Dementia Café

3. 2nd Daytime Bereavement Group

4. Film Club

5. Walking Group

6. Community Choir

7. Arts and crafts group

8. 2nd parent and toddler group

9. Teen Youth Group targeting young people who self-

harm

10. Holiday activity Group (½ terms, Christmas and Easter)

These are all new groups made possible by the new worker

and hub 4 more groups would be identified in yr 3 after further

consultation

The answer to that is God and his people.

All of the work described above requires

approximately 60,000 hours of work each

year. Some are working full time but most

of these hours are made up by over 200

volunteers who do cleaning, reading, visiting

the sick, fundraising, work with bereaved,

people with dementia, the homeless, young

people, choirs, office work, finance,

catechesis, flowers, building work, members

of our longstanding UCM involved in many

activities and much more. God constantly blesses us with amazing people who grace and enrich our

parish. However, without wishing to be greedy, the more people involved then the more we can do.

Also some volunteers have to cease because of other commitments or illness so we are always

recruiting.

Summer Fayre: A fantastic 64 volunteers were involved with this wonderful Parish event. Sixty

businesses were approached and donated prizes to our huge tombolas and raffle. A day of

Fundraising, having fun and building our Faith

Community as well as an opportunity to reach

out to the Community. The Amington Brass Band

added to the atmosphere and, despite a clash

with a world cup match, the turnout was good.

An Alpha stall for people to find out about our

courses meant that we did not miss out on an

opportunity to invite people to find out about the

Christian Faith at our Church. £6,000 was raised

in the process and the proceeds will be used to

support our ongoing building projects providing

office space for our charity and Parish work

Apple Festival: As a Live Simply Parish, we try to find exciting ways to avoid waste and use God’s

harvest productively. Our Annual Apple Festival has been a great way to use up 1000’s of apples that

would otherwise be wasted. This year over 50 people were involved in the Apple Juice Production-

from picking apples from the trees to preparing, crushing, pressing, bottling and pasteurising the juice.

We made 173 bottles of Apple Juice. In addition, many more parishioners were involved baking pies

and crumbles and making chutneys to sell to other parishioners who loved this homemade produce.

£546.67was raised and donated to CAFOD to support the Tsunami Earthquake victims.

Our Buildings are another great blessing. A few years ago these were a major headache, being under-

used and in need of major repairs. Last year we refurbished St John’s Church. The response has been

overwhelmingly positive. The chair of the Diocesan Art and Architecture committee said ‘It is

magnificent – I can’t wait to tell the

rest of the committee about it’. Other

people who have lived in Tamworth all

their lives have said it has never looked

as beautiful. We project managed this

and employed volunteers where

possible to make it affordable for us.

We also used professional craftsmen

to ensure a high quality finish and

many of these professionals gave in-

kind help too. We are grateful to them

for their generosity.

The meeting rooms at St John’s are getting greater use and offer a service not just to the parish but

also to the wider community. Sacred Heart rooms are in great demand with Nora making sure all

guests are welcomed and needs are met. Our former presbytery houses 6 girls and 6 babies most of

the time with Homestart guiding these young women as they become new mums. The boxing club is

also thriving with their main focus being on educating young people struggling to fit in at school. Our

buildings are serving over 1,000 of the neediest people in the town each week, helping to build God’s

kingdom and touching the lives of individuals and their families.

Our accounts can be read on the back page. It

should reflect our priorities which are worship

(including large outgoings on St John’s church)

and people, to whom we try to bring the Good

News. That good news is firstly about Jesus’s

love for all but often expressed in our care for

those most in need.

We continue to be careful with our outgoings

but have spent a lot on buildings last year. This

is an investment. We meet God in truth,

beauty and goodness and we want this

reflected in our Churches. Having beautiful

churches is a long Catholic tradition that we have tried to approach prudently. We also use those

buildings to offer other types of ‘service’. We are pleased to say that they are well used and are, for

many people, a real refuge from loneliness or suffering.

Employing People. There are essential costs associated with supporting the work of priests and

deacons. We are also investing more in people by developing two 18 hr posts. This reflects a

commitment to doing what the Lord asks of us. We are called to grow, to spread the Good News

rather than just survive or ‘to keep things going’. This investment in people is our biggest financial

commitment for some years since it is ongoing but it is aimed directly at what Jesus is asking of us.

That’s why quite a few people have committed additional money to fund the youth ministry post. We

thank you for this. We are delighted with the start made by Alex and Dan in 2018.

People continue to be generous with many giving regular donations on top of their weekly

contribution. Rentals, fundraising and grants also boost our income.

Fundraising. We had a great collection of ‘old gold’

with people donating broken gold jewellery, chains

and even wedding rings! These were converted into

cash to buy gold for the gilding at St John’s. Nearly

£4,000 was raised in this way through a combination

of people’s generosity and their love for their church.

Further work is needed on buildings at Sacred Heart

in 2019 so any money we have saved will be used in

this way.

Thank-you to all who worked so hard in fundraising

last year. We had some great fun too (with afternoon

teas, the apple fest, bonfire night and Fayre) but it

takes a lot of hard work.

Thank-you for your support in 2018 in the many various forms in which it came.

For more information on our parish please visit www.tamworthrc.church and see

www.heartoftamworth.org for information on our charity work

PARISH ACCOUNTS

INCOME 2016 2017 2018

Collection (Gift Aided) 48741 49320 47087

Collection (Non Gift Aid) 25553 26020 26009

Gift Aid Refund 16394 20261 14974

Building Fund 8578 8259 10448

Repository 1532 1861 1489

Votive Candles 3925 3128 3127

Newspapers 1141 1016 848

Donations 30397 23787 32083

Investment Income 2881 3393 3128.

Interest 19 20 202

Rents and room hire 22131 30551 29827

Fundraising events 10343 11174 9769

Legacies1 10000

Grant for shower block 9000

Insurance claims 3785

Special Collections 10980 7591 9677

Contribution for Youth Worker 5059

TOTAL INCOME

191613 199866 193727

EXPENDITURE 2016 2017 2018

Liturgy and pastoral work 8270 11582 23204

Church running costs 10381 13908 14162

Property Maintenance

Housekeeping / Food 3312 2716 1693

House Maintenance 4052 3123 1864

Presbytery running costs

Clerical and domestic salaries 18083 19728 24842

Clergy salaries 3047 2845 1320

Supply priests 400 1255 1220

Motor expenses 6847 6918 7165

Other clergy costs 575 440

Office expenses 3473 4168 5282

Interest and bank charges paid 387 431 462

Diocesan levies 22581 24685 26646

Piety, votive candles and newspapers 3969 6018 2217

Fundraising costs 1116 584 1666

Photo Copier / Projector 1570

New Building Works 18057 25386 98661

Donations 4291 2169 3218

Special Collections over to Diocese 10980 7591 9222

TOTAL EXPENDITURE 119821 136777 223284

SURPLUS / DEFICIT 71792 63089 - 29557

BALANCE AT BANK AT 31ST DECEMBER 2018 49578 121086

91584

In July 2018 our Unit Scheme Investments were valued at £110.464

Expenditure in Liturgy and Pastoral work has increased significantly due to expenditure on icons, restoration of chalices and purchase

of vestments. All of these were entirely paid for with donations and our thanks to those generous donors.

Presbytery running costs are included under Church running costs since the presbytery shares meters with Sacred Heart Church.

The increase in salaries shows that for the last third of the year we employed two lay members of staff.

The biggest increase is in ‘New Building Works’ which was, for the most part, restoration work at St John’s Church. It is a lot of money

but compared to similar projects around the Diocese or here in the past represents good value for money; that was because of

voluntary help and ‘in-kind’ help from contractors. Our thanks to all involved in this.

Registered as a Charity 234216