Financial resilience through stewardship

Stewardship means caring for today’s resources, so our parish remains strong for the future. We all have a part to play in helping the parish meet its commitments, withstand future pressures, and continue its mission. The finance committee supports this by helping us plan carefully, adapt where needed, and protect our resources.

In 2025, we launched our planned giving drive in response to rising running costs and stagnant offertory income. Thanks to the generous response from parishioners, offertory income in 2026 has increased by 27% compared with the same period in 2025 (January to May), and we anticipate that the value of our Gift Aid submission will also increase. This is a significant achievement and a clear sign that, together, we are moving in the right direction.

However, the fight is not yet won. The continued pressure on running costs means we must keep building financial resilience, encouraging regular giving, and identifying new ways to support the parish’s mission for the long term.

In addition, our recent application for National Lottery funding was successful, which will enable us to refurbish the disabled toilets. Further initiatives are being considered, including improving our contactless giving technology facilities with the support of the diocese, developing a workstream on legacy funding, and making it easier for parishioners to gift money in support of specific appeals. We are also looking ahead to the upcoming fundraising event of the Parish Summer Fayre on Saturday 11th July, an opportunity to come together and celebrate our Parish – we hope to see you there.

In this newsletter, we wish to thank you all, parishioners, for your effort and at the same time to encourage you to continue. Moreover, by moving in this direction, we are together striving to achieve the vision of our parish, by securing the faith of the future generation and investing in our buildings and our church. In addition, fundraising events, such as the Summer Fayre, foster a positive momentum in the parish and reinforce links between parishioners and a sense of belonging, thereby fulfilling another parish’s vision: to build our community and to consider our parish as a family.

For all this, we are grateful.