5 March 2010—St Thomas with St Stephen PCC is now registered with the Charity Commission, no 1134649. We have always been a charity, but until now we have been “excepted” from registration.

Following the introduction of the Charities Act 2006, all churches with an annual income of £100,000 or more are required to register in their right, rather than rely on being part of a larger organisation, in our case the Church of England. So that is what we have done. Regisitration makes no practical difference to how the PCC operates and its legal responsibilities. But you will now be able to examine our entry on the Charity Commission website.

The official title of the charity is “The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of St Thomas with St Stephen, Telford Park”—phew, what a mouthful! The trustees are the Parochial Church Council (PCC), comprising the clergy, churchwardens, one of our lay readers and church members elected to the Deanery Synod and PCC.