In February 2024, a group of us - Rev Julia Baldwin, Andrew Barnard, Sue Woodhead, Shaun Firth and Adrian Graves - formed the St Mary's Church Matching Restoration Appeal Fundraising Committere when it became apparent that the church was in need of funds to carry out urgent repairs to the structure of the building.
One of our first actions was to commission a video setting out the background and aims of the Appeal. This video is available to view on this website and on our Facebook page.
Since then there have been seven successful fundraising eventswhich have now raised a total of £76,000. The largest of these events was the Gala Dinner held at The Chequers inMatching Green which raised, after expenses, just over £25,000. Many thanks to Andrew Barnard and his team's organisational skills, and the amazing generosity of all those who attended.
We also need to thank The Friends of Matching Church and Ancient Marriage Feast Room and the members of Matching Green Cricket Club for their continuing support. We must also pay tribute to the support we have received from the local community over this year.
Another source of funds has been and continues to be a splendid scale model of the church. This was constructed by Chris Rice (ricevehiclelinings@hotmail.com) and the painting and stonework by Penny Graves (www.pennygravesart.co.uk). The model is on display in the church and we are taking it to local events such as the Matching Farmers Market and fundraising evenings. People are being encouraged to sponsor a tile for the model roof. All sponsorships received before 31/12/24 will be able to have their names displayed in a framed document to be displayed in the church.
STOP PRESS!
For many years, the cost of repairs and renovations for church buildings has been exempt from Value Added Tax. It is rumoured that this exemption might be removed by the Government in the near future. We have calculated that this would mean that we would have to raise an additional £50,000 or more for our renovations. We need your help! Please write to your MP about this issue.
Our local MP Chris Vince has recently replied to our letter to him about this issue. He recognises the importance of the church as part of the local community and understands the problem outlined above. He will contact the appropriate Ministers about this. (25/11/2024)