Equality Statement

Winchelsea Parochial Church Council (PCC)

Winchelsea PCC is a body corporate and its functions are set out under the PCC (Powers Measure) 1956 section 2.

Its functions are:

To consult together on matters of general concern and importance to the parish.
To cooperate with the minister in promoting in the parish the whole mission of the Church, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical.
To put into local effect any decisions made by higher Church authorities.
To care for the Church buildings, their fabric, insurance, finances and inventories.
To act as the employer of Church staff.
To cater, as far as is possible, for the needs of all Church users.

It is also subject to the Equality Act 2010, which applied a general duty to public authorities to:

The PCC is composed of 19 individuals including the minister and lay reader and its members are elected annually for a period of one year.

It employs 3 people on a part time basis.

In meeting its responsibilities for equality, the church aims to be welcoming and accessible to all. For this reason:

The PCC will make its buildings available for the widest possible use by the community for any appropriate event and a record of use will be published annually in its Annual Report. St Thomas’s Church will be open daily, a comments book will be provided and it will act upon those comments where it can.
There will be no discrimination towards people on the grounds of race, gender, sexual orientation or age. The PCC will investigate thoroughly any matter of discrimination reported to it. The PCC has considered the Priests (ordination of Women) Measure 1993 and has voted in support of women as celebrant and incumbent.
The PCC will regularly review accessibility against the background of the Disability Discrimination Act. Within the constraints of the construction of its buildings, it will seek to improve accessibility and will make reasonable adjustments to its services to meet the needs of any person with any form of disability.