The Friends of St James the Great, Thorley
Report by the Secretary to the Annual Parochial Church Meeting May 2021
The Friends’ Quiz Evening on 7th March 2020 turned out to be our only fund-raising event of 2020, with all the other activities we had planned, apart from our Annual General Meeting on13th March, being cancelled because of the pandemic.
At the start of 2020, in addition to our usual annual expenditure on servicing the equipment used to maintain the Churchyard, the Friends funded the purchase of a new mower. We also funded the construction of a new board for the Church to display the names of Rectors of the Benefice, as the Board listing the previous Rectors had no room for further entries.
Towards the end of the year, the Committee agreed to make a grant of approximately £7,200 to the Parochial Church Council (PCC) to cover the full cost of the restoration work on the fabric of the Church that is outstanding from the 2014 Quinquennial Inspection, together with the further work identified during the 2019 Inspection, as per the quotations received by the PCC in November 2020.
Income during 2020 was restricted by the pandemic to being principally that from membership subscriptions, donations, and the Quiz Evening held prior to the first lockdown. It led to the funds at the Friends’ disposal as we entered 2021, from which the above grant will be made, being some £25,800.
New members of the Friends are always welcome. The minimum family subscription is only £5.00. By joining you will be supporting the work of the PCC by helping to preserve our ancient and beautiful Church building and to maintain our Churchyard.
Philip Hargrave
Chairman & Secretary