Friends of All Saints Staplehurst
Registered Charity No. 1037964
Friends of All Saints 2024 AGM
30th Anniversary Celebrations
The Afternoon of Sunday the 19th May
2024 marks our 30th Annual General Meeting and we are planning a special event to celebrate this anniversary with a talk and opportunity to socialize before AGM. This is a change from our normal mid week evening AGM to a Sunday afternoon to be more open for people in the community to find out about our work and hopefully be more involved.
A presentation of the work of the Friends, past, present and future will be available and we plan to have drinks and a general open church & churchyard before the AGM meeting proper.
Plans are in hand with the bell ringers to mark the occasion with a Quarter Peal and other open ringing. The first major project the Friends supported and in fact the driving force behind the formation of the Friends by the Rector at the time, the Rev. Brian Barnes and others, centered around the re hanging project when the bells were augmented from 8 to 10 with 2 new bells cast so very poignant.
More to follow as the details are finalized, but plans are for the afternoon of Sunday the 19th of May.
The Friends of All Saints’ Church Staplehurst is a registered charity with very simple objectives: to maintain, repair, restore, preserve, improve, beautify and reconstruct, for the benefit of the public, the fabric of the Church, its monuments, fixtures, fittings, furniture, stained glass, ornaments, and other chattels, and its churchyard.
Since 1994, The Friends has undertaken a number of activities to provide funding for several projects. These have included the gas-fired central heating, bells restoration, electrical winding of the clock, the provision of a vestry and draught excluding doors to the West Tower, the kitchen with accessible toilet, repairs to the south-facing roof, and a significant contribution to the project funding for the lighting scheme.
On top of project funding, we also contribute towards regular maintenance and this includes tuning the historical organ and day-to-day repairs. We recently paid for new bell tower louvres to the South and West faces and a significant contribution to repairing stained glass window damage.
Membership of The Friends is open to anyone interested in the objects of the society and who has paid an annual member’s subscription of at least £5. Membership details, including an online contact form, can be found below, or download our Membership Form here and send it to Membership Secretary, Andrew Brady.
Committee Trustees and Co-opted Members
Committee Member | Office | Telephone | |
---|---|---|---|
Val Wallis | Trustee - Chair | 01580 891390 | N/A |
Ray Mann | Trustee - Honorary Treasurer | N/A | N/A |
Dermot Budd | Trustee - Secretary | N/A | N/A |
Andrew Brady | Trustee - Membership Secretary | 01580 891840 | Andrew Brady |
Louise Brice | Trustee - Committee Member | N/A | N/A |
Janet Pink | Trustee - Committee Member | N/A | N/A |
John Perry | Trustee - Committee Member | N/A | N/A |
Tony Henley | Trustee - Committee Member | N/A | N/A |
Adam Houghton | PCC Representative to the Friends | N/A | N/A |
Recent Event
It was great to see so many at the Brain Game in March, a very good start to our fundraising events being able to take place. The evening raised £334.
On June 18th, commencing at 7:30 pm, there will be a musical evening at the Church led by Stevie Higgins. More details will be in the June Parish Magazine but put the date in your diaries now.
Val Wallis
Chair Friends of All Saints’ Staplehurst
Andrew Brady
Friends Membership Secretary (Committee Member)
Email: Andrew Brady
Making a Donation
Anyone can make a donation to The Friends for the maintenance of the church either directly to a member of the committee, via Give a Little or JustGiving.
Donate via Give a Little
You can give via our Give a Little Donation page.
Click the QR Code below or Scan it with your mobile and follow the instructions to donate via a credit or debit card.
Donate via JustGiving
You can donate via our JustGiving Donation page or use the Donate Button below.
Membership
The Friends, administered by an elected committee, continues to spearhead fundraising and social events.
Membership of The Friends is open to anyone interested in the objects of the society and who has paid an annual member’s subscription of at least £5. All Friends members – who pay Income Tax – should sign a declaration form to enable the tax to be reclaimed on their contribution, which increases the gift by some 28%.
Members receive informative Newsletters which give updates on the progress of projects and details of fundraising events to support and enjoy. A very wide variety of events are planned to ensure that all members find something of interest.
Becoming a member is very simple and your support will be much appreciated. Telephone Andrew Brady the Membership Secretary, on (01580) 891840 or email friends@allsaintsstaplehurst.co.uk for further information.
Friends of All Saints Church – A fundraising body that helps finance projects of maintenance and improvement to All Saints Parish Church Staplehurst. It aims to involve members of the community through the promotion of a varied program of events.
If you would like to join the Friends please download the Membership Form by clicking the image below and post or email it to the Membership Secretary (contact details are on the form):
Friends Merchandise
We have a small range of merchandise to help us raise funds. Please check out our Merchandise page here.
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