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News Summer LIVING
Price of a pint to save church
A WEALD vicar is urging vil- lagers to dig into their pockets and buy her churches a drink. The Rev Fiona Haskett believes
householderswho spare the price of a beer and a packet of crisps (or a coffee and amuffin) couldmake a serious dent in spiralling church running costs. The vicar of Sutton Valence,
Headcorn, East Sutton and Chart Sutton, says her pitch for £5 do- nations is still in its infancy, but there already seems to be a corre- lation between the campaign and money appearing in collection boxes. She said: “You hear people in
pubs and cafes offering to buy each other drinks, and it occurred tome that if they did the same for our churches, it would make a considerable difference to our fi- nances.” Rev Haskett’s inspired drive
comes as the clergy tries to bal- ance its traditional spiritual role with maintaining the nation’s an- cient and iconic buildings.
Just one of her four churches, St
Peter and St Paul’s in Headcorn, cost about £66,000 to run last year. She said: “When I was training
15 years ago, we were told we’d spend more time on administra- tion thanwe could possibly imag- ine… and back then I never envisaged having four churches. “The result is I don’t get to do as
many of the things I think I should be doing, like visiting people. I have an excellent teamaroundme who domuch of that, but I always feel I should be doingmore.” She recognises society’s rela-
tionshipwith religion is changing, and says she would rather have people come once a year atChrist- mas, than not at all. But she said the church is also part of the fabric and identity of Weald communi- ties and a social linchpin. “One parishioner said that al-
though I wouldn’t see him at a service, he appreciated the church was part of village life and hewas keen to support us,” she said. “I’m very grateful for his help.”
Costs broken down
HEADCORN’S St Peter and St Paul cost a conservative £66,000 to repair andmaintain last year. Rev Haskett says this figure
breaks down into £42,000 for the parish share (the money the church gives to the diocese), in- surance in excess of £4,200, utili- ties
£1,700, repairs and
maintenance nearly £13,000, ad- ministration just short of £2,000, charity support over £2,500 and miscellaneous spending in ex- cess of £500.
On top of that, the church faces
unexpected one-off bills. In par- ticular, its two 100-year-old stained glass windows will be lost in just two years if no repairs are carried out. This work is ex- pected to cost between £70,000 and £100,000. The church did try to secure
lottery support but, amid a na- tional clamour for charity fund- ing, St Peter and St Paul’s was not one of the fourwinning bids out of a total 21 applications.
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Maidstone Weald July 2019 11
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