Financial support
All financial help is extremely valuable and no matter how small is very gratefully received. St Cuthbert’s Church receives no funding from the Church of England, the Church Commissioners or Central Government. We are wholly responsible for meeting the running costs, paying for repairs and maintenance of the Church paying a monthly contribution to the Diocese of Liverpool to cover the costs of vicars salaries, parish housing and paying the statutory charges and fees arising from weddings and funerals.
Because we receive less income than it costs to run the Church we have over recent years had to spend reserves on running costs and this means that we lose around £10k a year. The bulk of our reserves have now been spent on the major works needed to secure the spire and grammar school roof so we do not have financial flexibility as we move forward to meet the shortfall in our annual running costs.
We currently have two major financial challenges:
- To raise sufficient funds recurringly to meet our annual running costs.
- To raise funds for the repairs and maintenance that are necessary to protect our medieval Grade 1 listed Church.
If you are able to help financially then donations may be made to the Church in the following ways:
Regular Giving:
If you are able to give regularly then the most cost effective and efficient way is to donate through our Parish Giving Scheme. The following link takes you straight to the scheme and it is very simple to do:
If you are a UK tax payer* then by donating through this scheme means that they can reclaim the tax you paid on your income within just a few days and get it back to us. Quite simply your gift is given on the 1st of the month and by the 10th of the month your gift complete with the gift aid is sent directly to the Church bank account. Gifts can be made monthly, quarterly or annually if preferred. You can leave the scheme at any point just by phoning the PGS team. If you choose your gift can be uplifted annually in line with inflation and you also have the option of giving your gift anonymously.
Be a “Friend of St Cuthbert’s”:
If you would like to dedicate your giving to the preservation of our beautiful and ancient building then the funds that we raise from our Friends scheme are directed towards the repair and maintenance costs. The scheme has recently enabled us to meet the costs of repairing a badly leaking stained glass window and falling memorial masonry. If you would like to be a subscriber to the Friends scheme a joining form can be downloaded here and then sent to the Membership Secretary c/o The Parish Office, St Thomas Vicarage, Church Lane, Lydiate. L31 4HL Tel 0151 526 2292 (office hours Mon-Wed 9am to 1pm)
Leaving a gift in your will:
Making a will gives us all an opportunity to look after those closest to us and to help them, at a difficult time, to understand what our individual wishes are when we die. After you have looked after those closest you may wish to leave a legacy to a Church and your solicitor will be able to advise on how this can be done.
*If you pay income tax the Church can claim some of this back through the gift aid scheme at no extra cost to yourself.