St Mary's Charities' Fund
St Mary's Church is working to raise money to support an agreed list of local, national and international charities, and occasional disaster emergency appeals.
Our target each year is a sum equivalent to at least 10 percent of our previous year's Church income from direct giving including tax recovered under Gift Aid, and from collections.
We are doing this as part of our mission as a church, and out of gratitude for all that we have ourselves received in our community.
The appeal sum raised each year is divided between our listed charities in pre-defined percentages.
The sums raised and distributed between the individual charities are:
2003: £5,485
2004: £10,380
2005: £12,146
2006: £10,873
2007: Our target is £10,626
Emergency appeal collections are sent on in full to the charity.
Local Charities:
(65% of the total not dedicated to specific causes)
- Brentwood Citizens Advice Bureau
Offering free confidential information and advice to Borough residents - Brentwood Crossroads Care Attendant Scheme
Providing respite care for disabled relatives living at home - Brentwood Schools Christian Worker Trust
Proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ in local schools - Chelmsford Diocesan Mothers' Union
Supporting local contact centres - Essex Clergy Charity Corporation
Supporting the needs of servingand retired clergy and their widows - Interact
Supporting those with mental health and learning disability problems - Little Havens Children's Hospice
Providing short term respite care for children and their families - St Francis Hospice
Caring for patients with cancer and life-limiting illnesses and their families - St Mary's School
For school funds to assist families - Shenfield High School
For the religious education (RE) department - SNAP (Special Needs And Parents)
Supporting local children with special needs and their families - Vitalise (formerly Winged Fellowship Trust)
Providing holidays for disabled people and their carers
National/International Charities:
(33% of the total not dedicated to specific causes)
- CARE (Christian Action Research and Education Trust)
Supporting vulnerable people, expressing a Christian view on issues, providing pregnancy and post-abortion support and schools' resources - Church Army
Supporting evangelism, training and resources in the parishes - CMS (Church Mission Society)
Working with churches overseas, evangelism, community development, inter-faith dialogue, and work with refugees - FEBA Radio
Supporting a Christian radio station broadcasting from the Seychelles - St Luke's Hospital for the Clergy
Providing free medical care for Anglican clergy and missionary families - The Mission to Seafarers
Caring for seafarers of all nationalities in 300 ports around the world - USPG (United Society for the Promotion of the Gospel)
Working with churches overseas in hospitals, schools, colleges, prisons and children's homes, and linking parishes with projects overseas
Additional Charities supported in other ways:
St Mary's church also supports five other charities, as follows:
- The Children's Society
Caring for children in need and promoting their development
(Through the Christingle Service in December and collecting boxes) - Crisis
Helping homeless people at Christmas and through the year
(Through retiring collections in church during December) - Haven in Romania
Supporting the people of Piatra Niamt in Transylvania
(Through collecting gifts of toiletries, stationery, toys, etc, during Lent) - Water Aid
Providing safe domestic water, sanitation and hygiene education to the world's poorest people
(Through retiring collections in church at Harvest Festival time) - The Leprosy Mission
Caring for people affected by leprosy in 28 countries
(Through collecting boxes) - Christian Aid
Responding to poverty and disaster worldwide
(Through house-to-house collections locally during Christian Aid Week in May each year. Money raised from the community as a whole for this charity is not counted towards our Charities' Fund annual total)
You can help us reach the target by supporting our fundraising events during the year (see the events page), and by making direct donations to the Fund via the fund treasurer. Please agree to Gift Aid your donation if you are eligible to do so.
All donations to the Charities' Fund should be sent to, and Gift Aid forms are available from, the Fund Treasurer:
Cheques should be made out to: Shenfield PCC Charities' Fund
Treasurer: Paul Newman
Tel: Brentwood 202868
paulnewman@HSBC.com
Chairman: Norman Randall
Tel: Brentwood 232193
mail@normanrandall.com