Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick

Stewardship

Each year St Mary’s has to fund its activities and maintain its buildings. Music, Administration and Shop staff, and the Vergers, all have to be paid. The insurance premium for the Church alone is some £20,000. Routine maintenance costs for the Church and other properties are over £30,000 a year, and there are several items of repair which have to be addressed totalling around £500,000. Add to this the heating and lighting bills and the Parish Share we pay to the Diocese and you can see we face a considerable outlay. We need to find £1000 a day to fund our normal expenses. Special projects, such as stone and roof repairs, are extra.

 

You can help in the following ways.

1. Make regular standing order to St Mary’s. By doing so you greatly aid St Mary’s budgeting as many of our fixed costs are paid out monthly. Furthermore you have no need to remember to write a cheque or find the right amount of cash every Sunday. We have special cards for standing order givers to place in the collection plate at each service. Click here for a standing order form.

2. Defective stonework

   Join the envelope scheme. If you don’t wish to commit to a standing order you can give using our numbered envelopes. You have one for every week of the year, and you can give a regular, or a variable amount, as you wish..
3. Make a gift aid declaration form. If you are a taxpayer you can complete a gift aid declaration which enables us to reclaim from the Government the amount of tax you are deemed to have paid on the amount you agree to give us. Whether you pay by standing order or by numbered envelope, please complete one of these forms if you haven’t already done so. Click here for a gift aid declaration form.
4. Complete a gift aid envelope. If you do none of the above, you can still help by putting your cash donation in a blue gift aid envelope, available in the Church, and completing the details on the front. Again, this enables us to claim back the tax on your donation.

Volunteering

Many people give of their time and talents to help St Mary’s in many ways, and do invaluable work towards the day to day running of the Church. If you feel you would like to assist in any of the following ways please email or visit the Parish Office.

Services

If you would like to take an active part in services, there are roles for Sidespeople, Readers, Intercessors and others. If you are interested, please have a word with Vaughan Roberts.

Guiding

One or more of our team of Guides is always on hand when the Church is open to help show visitors around the Church. As we get some 40,000 visitors every year there is usually plenty for them to do. No experience or special knowledge is required to do this important work, but Guides usually acquire considerable knowledge of the history and architecture of the Church over time. Each Guide does one or more shifts a week, depending on their preferences. If you are interested, Terry Babbage at the Parish Office would be delighted to speak to you 01926 403940, email).

Entrance to the churchyard

Churchyard maintenance

As we have a “closed” churchyard, its maintenance falls to the Town Council, whose responsibility is to mow, and to manage the trees. There is, however, untapped potential for planting and maintaining garden areas within the Churchyard, to include shrubs, spring bulbs and other flowers. If you have the time and aptitude please contact Terry Babbage at the Parish Office.

 

Marketing Plan

The Church now has a marketing plan which is designed to maximise income from various sources. Volunteer help is badly needed to help carry this through. If you think you can help please contact Terry Babbage in the Parish Office to discuss what can be done. There is scope for a range of volunteer work, according to inclination and ability, and the time you have available. You can download the document:

• Click here for the plan as a Word document
• Click here for the plan as an Adobe Acrobat (pdf) file.