Stewardship

Each year St Mary’s has to fund its activities and maintain its buildings.  The insurance premium for the Church alone is some £5,200.  Routine maintenance costs for the Church and church hall is over £1,200 a year, and there are several items of repair which have to be addressed totalling around £5,700.  Add to this the heating and lighting bills and the Parish Share we pay to the Diocese and you can see we face a considerable outlay.  We need to find £1,900 a week to fund these normal expenses.

There is no funding from the local authority or central government.  Nowadays there is no historic church money paid as "glebe" rent or historic reserves of money accumulated from the generosity of legacies - there is only that money that can be raised through the generosity of the parishioners and visitors.  Special projects, such as stone and roof repairs, are extra.
 
You can help in the following ways.
 

Make regular standing order to St Mary’s.  By doing so you greatly aid St Mary’s budgeting as many of our fixed costs are paid out monthly.  Furthermore you have no need to remember to write a cheque or find the right amount of cash every Sunday.  We have special cards for standing order givers to place in the collection plate at each service.  Join the envelope scheme.  If you don’t wish to commit to a standing order you can give using our numbered envelopes.  You have one for every week of the year, and you can give a regular, or a variable amount, as you wish.  Click here for a standing order declaration form.

Make a gift aid declaration form.  If you are a taxpayer you can complete a gift aid declaration which enables us to reclaim from the Government the amount of tax you are deemed to have paid on the amount you agree to give us.  Whether you pay by standing order or by numbered envelope, please complete one of these forms if you haven’t already done so.  Click here for a gift aid declaration form.

Complete a gift aid envelope.  If you do none of the above, you can still help by putting your cash donation in a gift aid envelope, available in the Church, and completing the details on the front.  Again, this enables us to claim back the tax on your donation.
 

Volunteering

Many people give of their time and talents to help St Mary’s in many ways, and do invaluable work towards the day to day running of the Church.  If you feel you would like to assist in any of the following ways please speak to the churchwardens or vicar.
 

 Services.  -  If you would like to take an active part in services, there are roles for Sidespeople, Readers, Intercessors and others.  If you are interested, please have a word with the vicar.
 

Churchyard maintenance  -  It is still our responsibility to maintain the churchyard, which is not yet "closed"   We are very grateful to the "Community Payback Scheme" for all the heavy summer maintenance of strimming and mowing.  There is, however, untapped potential for planting and maintaining garden areas within the Churchyard, to include shrubs, spring bulbs and other flowers.  If you have the time and aptitude please contact the churchwardens.