Monthly E-newsletter from the Finance & Stewardship Teams | |
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Thinking About Generosity
Final Deadline for Give To Go Green
Listed Place of Worship Grant Scheme Update
Giving Campaigns - New Page on the Website
Getting APCM Ready
Open4Community Grants Portal
Giving During Lent Resources
Digital Giving at Easter Webinar
Barclays Bank Accounts Freeze Issue
Treasurer Forum WhatsApp Group Launched!
Parish Share News
Successful Budget Planning with Benefact Trust
Funding from Northern Powergrid to Support Energy Resilience Reopens
Meet the Funder - Garfield Weston
Postcode Neighbourhood Trust Funding Opens
An Unrestricted Source of Year Round Funding
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Thinking About Generosity | |
Sunday 9 March 2025. Lent 1. Deuteronomy 26.1-11.
We are called to give regularly, as we receive. Not as an afterthought.
Have you noticed the new trend of rounding up your card payment at the checkout with a gift to charity? Clearly it’s a great idea for the charities who use it - it makes giving easy and a few pennies here and there quickly mounts up. However, it might encourage us to fall into the trap of approaching our giving as an afterthought. Our giving is something we do with our spare change, what we have left over.
This reading reminds us that if we look at things from the right perspective we should recognise that everything we have comes from God, that everything is a gift and not to be taken for granted. We therefore first consider what God wants us to do with what we have been given. It’s about not offering God our left-overs, but in the language of Deuteronomy, offering God our first-fruits. And then considering who God would want us to share it with. The law specifies that the first fruits should be shared with those who have little (the immigrant and the Levite who have no land to grow a harvest on). So our thankfulness to God for all we have received is then expressed in intentional generosity. We are called, instead, to plan to give regularly, as we receive, not as an afterthought with what we have left over, and as we give we can consider carefully who are the people in our context with whom we are called to share our abundance.
Leah Vasey-Saunders is currently serving as Vicar of Lancaster in the Diocese of Blackburn. Previously she has served in a variety of different contexts both parishes and Cathedral from city to town and suburbs, predominantly in former mining communities. Leah is also Chair of On Fire Mission; a charity working to support and enable renewal in the catholic tradition of the Church of England.
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Final Deadline for Give To Go Green
The next round of Give To Go Green has started and we are encouraging all churches, those already on their Net-Zero Carbon journey as well as those just starting out, to get involved.
Give To Go Green is a match-funding grant programme from the National Church, matching locally raised donations for carbon-reducing building projects. You can apply for up to £10,000 of matched funding, meaning you could have up to £20,000 to help fund your project.
Get in touch with Stewardship Officer, Beth, at resourcingparishes@leeds.anglican.org if you want to discuss this project further.
Applications are open now, and will close on the 16th March 2025. Further information, including the Application Pack, is available at the link below.
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Update on the Listed Places of Worship (LPW) Grant Scheme
After a debate in the House of Commons, it has been confirmed that the Listed Places of Worship Scheme has been extended until 31st March 2026. A new cap has been put in place where churches can claim up to £25k per year, and the overall amount of funding available is capped at £23m (compared to £29m that was spent in 2024).
Do aim to submit any claims ahead of the end of March this year, especially if your VAT was over £25k, to ensure you can claim as much as possible before the cap is introduced in April.
We would encourage all parishes with listed buildings, who are intending to complete building works this year, to explore this grant scheme, and take advantage of it. It is important to demonstrate the need and demand for a scheme like this in the hope that it will continue to remain in place for future years.
To find out more about this scheme, and to read about eligible work, explore the link below.
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Giving Campaigns - New Page on Website
We have just launched a new page on our website dedicated to Giving Campaigns. This page has some key resources, as well as some guidance on how you can plan and run a Giving Campaign in your church.
As always, the Stewardship team are happy to help you in planning your campaign and can meet with your PCC to discuss ideas and give advice on how to make a campaign work for you. We can also attend a meeting to work through a Giving Review, a vital first step in running a whole campaign. Get in touch with the team at resourcingparishes@leeds.anglican.org to discuss how we can support you.
Use the link below to see our new Giving Campaign page.
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Getting APCM Ready
PCCs are obliged to hold their APCM (Annual Parochial Church Meeting) before the end of May, and this year parishes will need to prepare a new church electoral roll.
Parish Resources has prepared a selection of documents and guidance files to make this preparation as easy as possible for parishes. Do have a look at the guidance on the Parish Resources website at the link below.
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Open4Community Grants Portal
As a Diocese, we subscribe to an online grants portal called Open4Community. This portal is run by a company called Idox and we use the portal alongside the Dioceses of Manchester, Chester and Blackburn. This is free for anyone in the Diocese to use, all you need to do is register for an account and then you can start searching over 8000 grant opportunities.
Regular webinars demonstrating how to use the portal, but also how to write a successful grant bid are regularly hosted by the Diocese of Manchester that all registered portal users can attend. Once you have registered for the portal you can also book in a 1-2-1 Zoom call with Matt Godfrey, who runs the portal, so you can find out how to best use the platform You can find all of the information about this, and register with the portal, at the link below. To book a 1-2-1 session email us at resourcingparishes@leeds.anglican.org.
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Giving During Lent - Resources
Lent is a time where we live simply, study and explore more about who God is and focus on the ultimate gift of Jesus. This is a season to explore what generosity means to us and the church as a whole.
It could be a time to begin a new small group study, exploring examples of Biblical generosity. Take a look at the Living Generously films and study guides here, exploring how to live full generous lives.
The giving team at the Diocese of Liverpool have created a suite of resources to include themes of generosity in services during Lent, including sermon notes and liturgical resources. Take a look at these using the link below.
It's also a great opportunity to use digital giving mechanisms, and ensure that these are accessible and easy to use. Get in touch with the Stewardship team to book in a 1-2-1 session to help you set up an online giving page, or contactless giving machine.
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Digital Giving at Easter
Join the National Giving Team for a discussion about the role of digital giving in Easter services and events.
The team will also talk about how your contactless giving may change as we head into the spring months, and digital giving good practice and preparation as you approach your APCM.
The webinar is held on Zoom at 2pm on Wednesday 12th March. Book your space using the link below.
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Finance & Parish Share Updates | |
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Barclays Bank Accounts Freeze Issue
We have been made aware that some parishes, who have bank accounts with Barclays Bank, have recently had their accounts frozen due to outstanding requirements for account verification. If you are one of these parishes please contact the Resourcing Parishes team for support with this: resourcingparishes@leeds.anglican.org
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Treasurer Forum WhatsApp Group launched!
The third Treasurer Forum online meeting took place on Tuesday 28th January and was attended by over 65 of our PCC treasurers. The meeting focused on providing guidance towards the preparation for end of year accounts and the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM). To view the slides from all three of our Treasurer Forum meetings please click on the link below.
The January meeting saw the launch of the Treasurer Forum WhatsApp Group which we hope will help foster peer to peer support for treasurers across the Diocese. A link to join the group has been emailed directly to all treasurers and is also available in the latest presentation slides. If you haven't received your WhatsApp Group link please email resourcingparishes@leeds.anglican.org to request it.
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Parish Share News
If you missed January's Parish Share report update please see details below. February's Parish Share report will be available on the Diocesan website later in March, use the link below to see more.
Parish Share receipts for January totalled £590k which is £68k (10%) lower than January 2024.
The December 2024 parish share report is continually being updated for late receipts and the latest version can be found on the website, using the link below. Total receipts for 2024 are currently £11,735k (77%) which is £155k (1%) below 2023.
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Grants & Fundraising News | |
Successful Budget Planning
The Benefact Trust has launched their latest podcast in their Beyond Funding series, featuring their Senior Grants and Operations Officer, Paul Playford. In this episode, Paul shares the essentials of budgeting for funding applications and effective project planning.
Paul offers his top tips for crafting a great project budget, what Benefact Trust is looking for, and points out common pitfalls to avoid.This insightful conversation highlights the power of simplicity, provides step-by-step guidance, and shares useful resources for applicants. Watch the podcast by clicking the the link below.
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Funding from Northern Powergrid to Support Energy Resilience Reopens
The Northern Powergrid Foundation is reopening for applications on 17th March. The Community Grants Fund will award up to £20,000 to charities and organisations to support climate resilience. If your Church or Church Hall needs funding so you can run as a place of sanctuary during adverse weather conditions, this fund is for you. In the past, Northern Powergrid have funded green initiatives such as insulation, double glazing, and solar panels and batteries to allow halls to be crisis hubs. Full details and eligibility quiz are available at the link below.
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Meet the Funder - Garfield Weston
The Garfield Weston Foundation is a family-founded, charitable grant-making foundation, which supports a wide range of causes across the UK, donating £99 million last year. You can apply for funding at any time and will receive a decision within four months.
Community Support North Yorkshire held a webinar full of top tips and practical advice about applying to this significant funder. Full details, plus a copy of the slides, are available at the link below.
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Postcode Neighbourhood Trust Funding Opens
Applications are open later this month for the Postcode Neighbourhood Trust. This funder aims to support smaller charities and good causes in the north of England to make a difference to their community for the benefit of people and planet. Grants range from £500 to £25,000 and will cover improving biodiversity and responding to the climate emergency and improving green spaces and increasing access to the outdoors.
Applications will be open from 24th March 9am to 31st March 12 noon. Full details and a funding guide are available at the link below.
Please note: this funder will not fund projects that are wholly religious in nature, but if your building has wider community and outreach use and you focus on this in your application, you are encouraged to apply.
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An Unrestricted, Year-Round Source of Funding!
We were delighted to hear that our partner, easyfundraising, had paid out more than £80,000 to religious groups and churches during their last Donation Day in February! Every 3 months all the funds that have been raised that quarter are paid out, thanks to members of the community collecting cashback donations for their church when they shop online. Did your church get a share? A huge well done if you did!
If not, make sure your church is signed up ahead of their next Donation Day in May. Over 8,000 big name retailers will donate to your church when your congregation shops with them!
For more information about easyfundraising and to register your church click the link below.
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A reminder of our email addresses so you get the right support and advice: | |
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For stewardship, income generation, parish finance, Parish Share and grant enquiries:
resourcingparishes@leeds.anglican.org or you can email Janet, Beth or Jenni directly.
For general finance queries including invoices, clergy fees and payroll:
finance@leeds.anglican.org or you can email Jane, Hayley or Jenni directly.
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