Did you know? The total cost of operating and the day to day maintenance of our church for a year is close to £50,000. That’s almost £1,000 a week but we currently only average a little over £350 a week in collections at our Sunday services and other regular covenanted giving to the church. That leaves us with £650 per week which has to be generated from special events, donations and other fund-raising activities. This means that we cannot plan for medium or long term expenditure because we have insufficient “regular” income: we are living very much hand to mouth.
However, the above figures do not include the costs of any major fabric repairs to the building but, should the need arise, we would also be required to raise the finance for any such work in addition to our regular outgoings if we are going to protect the future of our fine church building.
Gift Aiding
Gift Aid is the single biggest form of tax-free giving in the UK and a significant part of the income for all charities. In the year 1997-98, which is almost two decades and ago now, a total of £1,125 million was donated by companies and individuals using tax efficient methods with an associated tax recovery of £310 million.
If you are a UK tax payer, money donated to the church can be given in a tax efficient way under the Government’s Gift Aid scheme by which the church can reclaim from HM Revenue 25 pence on every £1 donated. If you are considering making a donation to the church – either as a one-off or on a regular basis – or if you are already a regular giver, please contact our Treasurer (treasurer@ashtonhayes.church) to make sure your donation is treated as tax efficiently as possible. Alternatively, if you are willing to enter into a new covenant (or update your old one) please contact our Planned Giving Officer (plannedgiving@ashtonhayes.church) or use the covenant form included below.
Every £1 donated is gratefully received and spent wisely to ensure the local community will continue to have access to the facilities that St John’s has to offer.