FINANCE
Everything we do has to be funded by us as a Church community. As well as paying for building maintenance and utilities, music, education and worship expenses and administration costs, we owe sums to the Diocese of Rochester for contributions to our priest's stipend, training and housing. These altogether cost around £90,000 each year, more in a year with high repair costs.
Some funds are raised by various fees including those for weddings and funerals, by letting the Parish Room, and profits made at events such as coffee mornings. The balance has to be paid for by the congregation and others who support the church.
The window in the Colebrooke chapel, with the walls around in need of repair and redecoration
GIVING
If you wish to contribute to the work of the church here at St Thomas Southborough, you can give
preferably by setting up a direct debit using the Parish Giving Scheme (www.parishgiving.org.uk). We do not have to pay any charges for regular donations via this scheme and they also claim the Gift Aid for us, thus reducing our administration
by Standing Order.
at the collection taken at services
by writing a cheque payable to ‘St Thomas Southborough PCC’ and sending to the Parish Office
By making a donation here via Stewardship
Please do think about giving regularly to the church.
You can Gift Aid your donation if you are a UK tax payer, which enables the Church to recover 25 pence for every pound given.
This is a most efficient way for us to make the most of what we receive, but requires information to be filled in on the donation envelope or on a Gift Aid form so that the tax can be traced.
Standing order forms and Gift Aid forms are available at the back of church. If you have any queries about giving to the church, please speak to our Churchwarden, Tina Clay on tina.clay@live.co.uk or 01892 533240.
All giving is treated confidentially and only the people who need to administer your gifts will be aware of the amounts. We do not usually acknowledge individual gifts, unless you ask us to do so.
HOW TO RAISE MONEY FOR ST. THOMAS CHURCH VIA EASYFUNDRAISING
If you shop online with Amazon, John Lewis, Ebay, Sainsbury, and many more retailers, you can support St Thomas at the same time. Each time you shop, a small percentage is donated by the retailer to the cause of your choice, at no cost to you and without affecting the purchase price.
To support St Thomas in this way, go to easyfundraising.org.uk and follow the instructions to join. You can find us by typing St Thomas Church Southborough in the ‘search for a cause’ box. You are then ready to activate a donation to St Thomas whenever you shop online with one of the participating retailers. There is also a mobile/tablet app or you can set up a reminder icon on your toolbar so that you don’t forget to activate a donation.
ACCOUNTS
We prepare accounts for each calendar year. You can see a copy of a summary of the last financial statements by clicking on the link below: