St Michael’s Parish, Huntingdon
Development Fund
Our plans to develop St Michael’s Church for our growing community have not yet been approved by the local authority or the Diocese and we are in the process of securing a loan to do the work. The budget estimate for the work to develop the church and build a new presbytery for the priest is about £545,000, we have £170,000 in savings, so we need to borrow up to £390,000 to complete the work. I know that many of you think the Diocese will give us the money to do this work, that is not true, the Diocese does not have the money to give us and has so many calls on its resources that it is not able to loan us the money. I am trying to secure a loan from a bank and discussions are ongoing.
We have not yet done any fundraising towards this project because if we do not go ahead with the work any money raised would have to be returned to the donors. We cannot start fundraising until contracts are signed and builders start work on the site. On the other hand, we need to know that we can afford to make the payments on a sizeable loan in the years ahead. In the last two years St Michael’s Parish has made a surplus of income over expenditure of about £25,000 per year, this is a very healthy situation and a good start towards paying off a loan. The more support we have, the more money we raise, the quicker we pay off the loan.
I am asking you to consider making a pledge to help our parish achieve its long-term aim of developing our church and facilities for the good of our community, that is you and your family. We need all our parishioners to join in this effort so that we all feel part of the project. Some can give more than others, but I hope all will feel that they can give something, and it will be of great value to our whole community.
I invite you to think about how much you could pledge to give to our development fund, above what you already give to support our parish, anything you pledge in this way will go directly towards paying off the loan. I will undertake to make the best use of parish money and use the surplus towards paying off the loan. You do not have to do anything yet, but if you could make a pledge to give a monthly amount and, if possible, Gift Aid the amount, it would give a good picture of how much we could pay back each year. We will also be able to raise some money through fundraising in the future.
Some could give a monthly amount, some might wish to give an annual amount, and some may wish to give a one-off donation in due course. I give some figures below to help you see how quickly it mounts up.
£5 per month = £60 per year, plus GA = £75. If 25 families give that = £1,875
£10 per month = £120 per year, plus GA = £150. If 50 families give that = £7,500
£30 per month = £360 per year, plus GA = £450. If 20 families give that = £9,000
£50 per month = £600 a year, plus GA = £750. If 20 families give that = £15,000
£100 per month = £1200 per year, plus GA = £1500. If 5 families give that = £7,500
If we do this as a community the amounts soon add up, the above is 120 families and raises £40,875 per year, with added parish surplus we can fund our debt very well.
Please do not give any money yet, but please think about how your family could support this project for our church and make it our community working together. If you can support St Michael’s Parish Development, please complete the pledge form below and return it to the parish, or fill it in online and submit by email to stmichaelshuntingdon@yahoo.com I am not sure when we will get the necessary permissions to do this work, but this will help show our long term commitment to the project and help to secure a loan to do the work.
Thank you for reading this leaflet and continuing to support our parish during this difficult time, but also for having the courage and vision to take this project forward.
May God bless you and your family.
Fr Philip
Pledge form.
Name ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Address ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Email ……………………………………………………………………….Phone ……………………………………
I pledge to give £……….. per month, I can/cannot Gift Aid this amount.
I pledge to give £………… as a one-off donation/annual donation; I can/cannot Gift Aid this amount.
