Friends of St Michael’s is a group dedicated to supporting and making the most of, the historic church building and churchyard of St Michael and All Angels, Awliscombe.
Who we are and what we do?
The cost of maintaining our ancient Grade 1 building has historically been covered by the donations of the congregation but as the numbers have declined so church receipts have fallen too.
The Church of England does not have the financial resources to maintain England’s huge stock of historic churches. That has always fallen to the local community, aided by others who love and use their church and churchyard.
Anyone can join the Friends. It has no religious purpose. Together we will provide regular financial support to maintain and enhance the building and its churchyard as an asset for the whole community, so future generations can continue to enjoy memorable family gatherings, school plays, community get-togethers and other events such as exhibitions and live music, as well as services.
Who are The Friends?
The Friends is constituted as a sub-committee of the Awliscombe Parochial Church Council (PCC), the elected body that has legal responsibility for managing St Michael and All Angels church. The PCC has charitable status and, as a sub-committee, so does the Friends.
How will my subscription be used?
The Friends’ has its own bank account and the constitution ensures that its money can only be spent on maintaining and enhancing St Michael’s church building and churchyard – not for religious purposes or to support the wider Church of England.
Urgent repairs
The PCC’s priorities have to be restoring and maintaining those parts of the church building which are in urgent need, and the Friends may, where agreed with the PCC, provide support for this work. As at September 2023, major repair tasks include:
Repair of leaking roof and re-ordering and supplementing rainwater goods on the south side of the Chancel and north side of the South Transept (PCC has obtained some grant funding and allocated some reserves to cover this, but Friends are providing help with sourcing and painting cast iron gutters etc)
Dealing with penetrating damp in the west wall of the North Aisle, probably caused by the old boiler chimney: a substantial project that will almost certainly require some grant funding
Improvements
We also want to make St Michael’s more usable and at our AGM we agreed that a priority should be the installation of a toilet. As there is no running water or sewerage at the church we are proposing (subject to planning consent) the installation of a composting toilet in a new building on the site of the existing mower shed.
In due course – and again subject to consent – we would love to help the PCC to fund the replacement of the existing pews with moveable/stackable chairs to create a much more versatile space for school and community events.
In time we hope to be able to tackle projects which make the most of the assets we have, such as:
Rehanging and retuning our ancient bells
A full internal redecoration to repair the damage done by damp
How do the Friends raise money?
Every member of the Friends pays a subscription (per household) of at least £2 per month or £24 per year – or more if and when you feel able to. Or become a Life Member for a single payment of £250 or more.
If you are a UK taxpayer, we can, under the Gift Aid scheme, reclaim the tax you have paid on your subscription, increasing its value by 25 per cent at no cost to you.
See joining the friends below to become a member and support St Michael’s.
We may organise fund-raising events for special projects, but we believe that, with a regular and predictable subscription income, the Friends will be able to fund the ongoing maintenance that the church building needs.
How is the Friends managed?
While the Friends Committee is a sub-committee of the PCC, we maintain a clear distinction between the two. The Friends Committee consists of a Chair, Secretary and Treasurer plus at least two other members, elected each year. The Chair’s appointment must be approved by the PCC, but neither the Chair nor the Secretary will be PCC members.
The Committee decides how the Friends’ money is allocated, agreeing with the PCC where the greatest need lies.
As a Friend you will receive an annual report of the Friends’ activities and help to elect – or even stand for – the Friends Committee at the annual meeting. We also aim to circulate a bi-monthly newsletter to keep members up to date with achievements and forthcoming events.
Joining the Friends
Membership of the Friends is on a ‘household’ basis, so there is no need for separate individuals within a household to join separately.
Leaflets, including an application form with payment details are available in St Michael’s, from the Awliscombe Primary School Administrator, or from the Secretary of the Friends, Kathryn Empson (01404 548840, stmichaelfriends@gmail.com).
You will need to complete section 1 (personal details and subscription amount) of the Application Form in the leaflet, and then set up your subscription payment following the instructions in section 2 and/or 3.
If you are a UK taxpayer, we hope you will GiftAid your subscription, effectively boosting the amount received by the Friends by 25%, at no cost to you. This can be done through the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS), which reclaims the tax on our behalf: either complete a paper PGS form (available from the Secretary) or set up your direct debit on-line as follows:
Click on Regular Giving or One-off Gift, depending on the type of subscription you would like to make (this should correspond to your entry in section 1 of the Friends Application Form).
Register (assuming you are not already registered with PGS) or Log in.
Set up your payment.
Tick section 2(a) of the Application Form or email the Secretary to confirm that you have set up your direct debit subscription.
Complete the Gift Aid Declaration in section 4 of the Application Form.
The Committee
At the inaugural AGM of the Friends in January 2023, the following officers and committee members were elected:
The PCC is grateful to Mark Beeken for initiating and implementing a programme to enhance the wildlife value of the churchyard. If you’re interested do look at this website, packed with information and ideas about making churchyards havens for biodiversity: https://www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk
Personal Data
Friends of St Michael’s (the “Friends”) keeps a record of certain personal data – name, address and email address – relating to each person who has signed up (including family members named on the application for membership) as a member of the Friends.
We keep this information safe by storing it on a password-protected computer. We will not share it with anyone else save with the consent of the person to whom it relates or for purposes which are directly related to the purposes below: for example, we may use a third party e-mail newsletter service, such as Mailchimp, to process newsletters and may share personal data with the provider of such a service to the extent necessary to enable them to provide that service.
We use such personal data purely for the purpose of communicating with members in relation to the activities of the Friends, for example to send out our newsletters or Annual Report or to invite members to the Annual General Meeting or other meetings or events.
We will promptly delete from our records the personal data relating to any person who ceases to be a member of the Friends.
