Parish of The Sacred Heart
Parish Pastoral Council Minutes of the meeting held on 3rd March 2026
At Sacred Heart Parish Hall, North Walsham
Opening Prayer
Present: Fr. Alan Hodgson, Fran Ludden (Chair), Christine Barraclough (Secretary). Peter McKenna, Antonia Martinez (Parish Secretary), Georgiana Rylands, Francis Harmer (Finance), Bob Gale, Bruce McKenna, Clare Glenn, Margaret Burrows, Ijeoma Duru, Nick Elphinstone
There were no apologies for absence: John Holden had been invited but was unable to attend due to illness
Fran (as Chair) welcomed Father Alan to his first meeting with the committee, and everyone introduced themselves to him.
It was agreed to end the meeting by 9pm
Matters Arising from the minutes of the previous meeting on Tuesday Dec 9th, 2025
It was suggested that the dates of terms of office as sent out may still not be accurate. Christine will go through the archive again and note the actual months and years that the terms of office of each committee member began, particularly Fran, Clare and Margaret.
John Holden has had further ideas for the Jubilee year working committee. Father Alan said that the Cathedral will be holding central celebrations.
Peter has started on the enquiry for First Aider Training.
Finance Report by Francis Harmer
There has been a recent Finance committee meeting where these matters had been discussed. The financial position is slightly worse than last year. The offertory is down again although there was some favourable response as a result of his appeal, so hope for improvement to come. Expenditure has been controlled but a similar deficit is expected. This is mainly due to repairs which are due. The tower will need work very soon and access needs to be created from the gallery. Then work will be carried out on the top of the tower and drainage. Nick Warnes, the Cathedral architect will advise on the practicality of the scheme. Government help may be limited, and the VAT rebate is ending soon. Aylsham repairs are ongoing, as well as all routine maintenance.
More Alive in Faith money has come in. Two further card machines have been purchased so each church will have one. These will be supervised by appointed guardians. Bob Gale wondered if there could be more fund-raising opportunities.
Fran pointed out that although Francis is not a member he should be contacted with notice of times and dates of meetings (Christine noted). Gratitude was expressed for his work.
Health and Safety
It was noted with concern that we do not have a centralised committee for this, although as Francis pointed out Father Alan, as Parish Priest, is the main Officer in charge. There is to be a meeting convened to ascertain the requirements. This is to be organised by Richard McGreevy (Hoveton). Risk assessments will be revised and updated. It will be necessary to have more Health and Safety representatives for each church.
John has been asked to organise defibrillator training for Aylsham. Fran is arranging additional fire marshal training for those who were unable to attend the session last year.
Safeguarding Update
Fran and Sue are Safeguarding representatives, and their training has been completed. All DBS checks are up to date, including those for the SVP Conference. Fr Alan also notified the meeting that his DBS check is also current.
This is to remain an agenda item.
Social Committee Report
The social committee has been meeting for two years now. Both the Christmas Fair and Father Peter’s leaving party were successful. More ideas are in the pipeline and will be announced after the next meeting. Fr Alan was invited to the next meeting of the committee on March 19th.’
PP Councillors reports
North Walsham There has been no forum since the last meeting, but Peter has spoken to parishioners asking for their concerns. Nothing specific came up. Kerry would like more awareness of Faithful Flames, and for it to be mentioned, perhaps by welcomers, to people who arrive with children. Donations of suitable items for the group would be welcomed. Car Parking is still a problem and Father suggested that monitoring with a camera, by a designated company, could be investigated. This would involve no expense for the Parish, and they would provide all signage etc. He reported that they have installed this at Bungay with success overnight.
Aylsham A forum was held on January 11th. Defibrillator training and Churches Together were discussed. The health and safety report has been followed up. CCTV is not yet up and running. The next Forum is planned for March 22nd.
Hoveton Again, no forum, but everyone seems happy with how things are going. A future forum will be organised.
Father Alan agreed to stay for the forums when he can.
The Parish Hall
A plan for new charges for occasional one-off booking has been drawn up and will come into effect in April. It was asked if the regular booking could be posted on the website to allow for meeting planning. Christine will arrange this.
Father Alan pointed out that Yoga Classes should not be held in the Hall as the practice of Yoga is not compatible with Christian beliefs. Christine will notify the Hall committee and deal with this in the best way. (Father’s advice has been sought.)
Parish/Diocesan twinning
Fran explained that we have been twinned with a parish in Cambodia for some time. She asked should we continue with this or reach out to another group. She also explained that there had been interest shown within the parish in a twinning linked to the Holy Land. Father suggested that the Middle East and The Holy Land is a good area to cover. He, as a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, has asked parishes to adopt a Seminary in the Holy Land. Money can be sent direct and need not go through Friends of the Holy Land.
Aid to the Church in Need could come to talk about the Holy Land and the Bishop has requested that the Lenten Offering should go to them.
Father will find out more about the seminary. This should stay as an agenda item and be reported to all three forums, where discussion can continue regarding the choice of twinning/link. Francis may also have information about it how to contribute.
AOB
There were no further items for discussion. The meeting was declared a successful one which laid useful foundations.
The AGM is planned for July 16th. The social committee will arrange the meal.
The next PPC meeting to be held at 7.15 for 7.30 on Tuesday June 2nd at St John of the Cross, Aylsham.
The meeting closed with a prayer and individual participation.
