Help Our Church
St. Margaret’s Church is here to serve
the people of our Parish. Many people
come to have their children Baptised, to get married, to hold the funeral
Service of a loved one or to lay their remains to rest in the surrounding
Churchyard. Many people pop in to the
building to pray, to seek help in time of trouble or to give thanks for some
special moment. Donations to St Margaret's Church There is now a way to donate to St Margaret's Church using "Donate Now" set up by the Diocese of Lichfield to help their churches. Their Finance Team, with help from a local software company, Date Developments, have put a Donate Now button on the Diocese website. If you would like to make a donation to St Margaret’s Church, then click on the link to the Donate
Now page, after you have clicked the button, you can enter your details and can choose St Margaret’s from the drop-down list of churches.
In addition, there is a Gift Aid option as well as an option for donors to cover the transaction cost if they want to. As is the case with Contactless and Giving Direct, funds go into the Diocesan bank account as the registered charity and are then passed on to St Margaret’s as soon as possible along with a report showing when the donations were made.
Many Thanks
2019
Appeal - Church Roof & Associated Works
Further down the page are the details
but briefly we have been carrying out necessary repairs to the roof and to the
entrance porch and foyer. Below is a
brief explanation of the works that were carried out: Works
to Roof – The first
phase of the works was the necessary repairs to the roof and
restoring damaged or lost tiles, flashing and rainwater goods — Away with all
the buckets …
Works
to Entrance Porch – This
second phase of the works was to
carry out major works as the wooden frames were rotten and the flooring needed
to be replaced. As part of these work, a
new disabled toilet/baby changing facility was installed.
With help from Lisa Comley-Burke, a JustGiving page was set up
through the Diocese (meaning all money donated on that page is passed
on to us by the Diocese). The address for
the JustGiving page is:
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/St-Margaret-s-Roof-Appeal
There are other ways of contributing
such as:
Sponsor
Ridge Tiles, Roof and Floor Tiles
– As part of our Roof Appeal, you can sponsor a roof or floor tile from £1.00 ea or a ridge
tile from £20 ea (the actual cost of a ridge tile is £20). In return, you will receive a certificate
with your name on and your contribution.
There will also be a book with these details entered in. If you are interested, please speak to Brenda
White or Charles Hatfield who can usually be found at church on Sunday &
Thursday. Placemats,
Chopping Boards & Coasters
– these are available through the church, they are etched with the St Margaret’s
logo and there is the opportunity to have placemats or chopping board
personalised at no extra cost. The
coasters are £4.00 ea and the other items are £15.00 ea. There are some available in church so if you
are interested then please contact the Parish Office on 0121 357 1390.
However, there is still a big challenge
before us. Can you help? As at the end of November, we had raised £265,900 including £100,000 in legacies, £76,000 in grants, and £78,000 from the sale of the church flat (was no longer required). Locally, money had been raised from the Summer Fete (£4,000), sale of tiles (£6,000), donations (£6,395) and other fundraising ideas. The Rainbows will be doing a Sponsored Danceathon and the Brownies did a Sponsored Walk around the Churchyard. If you have any other fundraising ideas, please let us know.
The
Details of Church Roof & Associated Works
Whilst carrying out the works to the
roof, it is a good opportunity to replace things that have disappeared over the
years such as the 2 stone crosses on the roof at the churchyard end. Plastic guttering has been replaced, the
skylight windows in church have been refurbished as the frames were rotten. The gulleys have been redone.
One pleasant surprise was that when the stonework was painstakingly checked,
the workmen discovered that what was originally seen as damage to the stonework was
actually some unnecessary work that had been carried out in the past. The 2 replacement stone crosses are now in place where the originals used to be.
Below are photographs taken while the works to the porch were taking place showing how it gradually took shape.
The entrance porch and foyer was totally refurbished, replacing rotten woodwork, uneven floor and replacing external door with a wider door. The opportunity was taken to add a new toilet for the disabled (including baby changing facilities), facilities urgently needed to help both old and young and help the work and use of the church. The cost was in the region of
£300,000 to do all this, including VAT (which we should be able to reclaim
later on). We had been blessed in
recent years by legacies and with other bequests. All these were put aside for this very
moment and without them we would not have been able to propose doing this work at this
time. We are profoundly thankful for
people’s generosity & forethought.
St Margaret’s Church building is here
because of the efforts of the past but it has to be maintained and kept
available for the future. Like most
churches, we do not get money from the government nor do we have wealthy
endowments. All the costs of the
building and providing the ministry of the church has to be met from current
fundraising, our weekly collections and special events. Nationally there are charges for Marriage and
Funeral services and we have to charge to cover the costs of the volunteers who
play the music, ring the bells or sing.
The Vicar is the only full time member of staff but is supported by a
team of willing volunteers.
So, to help support the work of the
Church and the upkeep of the building we are always glad of one-off donations
or regular giving. The one concession we
have from the government is that through Gift Aid we can reclaim the income tax
on gifts from those who pay tax. (This
amounts to 25p for every £1 given.) If
you would like to help in any way, regular giving, one-off gifts to support the
running of the church, or to help maintain the fabric, then please ask for
details. Would you also consider
remembering the Church in your Will?
Thank you
Martin Rutter
|