Tag: membership

August 2022 News

FOSM Chairman Colin Dixon writes:

The Friends of St Mary’s Annual General meeting will be held on  Sunday 14th August at 5.30pm.

The Friends of St. Mary’s is a charity which has a single purpose – to keep St Mary’s Church available to the Hawkesbury community.

What it does is to raise money to provide the sort of things that the PCC would not be able to fund.

Things such as a new West gate to the Church, a new noticeboard, trimming the yew hedges and mowing the grass around the Churchyard.

FOSM has also been a conduit of donations from benefactors such as the new central heating burner financed by John Appleby.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

You can help with these tasks in a number of ways if you want St Mary’s to continue to be a cultural centre of the Hawkesbury Community:

  • Become a member of the Friends – join online now
  • Become a committee member of the Friends – talk to me or Lisa Overton
  • Support our fundraising ventures – the next one is the Pimms Tent at the Hawkesbury Show
  • Help occasionally with clearing up the Churchyard – two hours a month?
  • Become a donor to the Friends – the next big project is the Eco Loo in the Churchyard.

The AGM is where we report on what we have done over the past year and what we are hoping to do in the future.

WHAT IS NEXT?

  • Hawkesbury Show: join us in our Pimm’s tent at the Hawkesbury Show on Saturday 27th August
  • Scarecrow Trail: come and see the FOSM Scarecrow at the Church during October (23rd-30th)
  • FOSM 9 Lessons & Carols Service on 18th December

AUGUST SERVICES

Sunday 7th August Holy Communion (9.30am)
Sunday 14th August Evensong ((6pm)
Sunday 21st August Morning Prayer (9.30am)
Sunday 28th August Ecumenical Songs of Praise in the Show Tent at Hawkesbury Upton Recreation Ground (next to the Village Hall) (11am)

August 2021 News

Lisa Overton, Secretary of the Friends of St Mary’s, provides our latest news round-up:

AGM

A full report on the AGM, which took place on Sunday 25th July, will be included in our September news round-up.

COMING EVENTS

Once again, the Friends of St Mary’s will be hosting the Pimm’s Tent on Hawkesbury Show Day (Saturday 28th August). Come and see us in our new location with a ringside view.

We would welcome any volunteers to help serve the drinks and manage the tent. Please contact Colin Dixon (coldix365@gmail.com) if you can assist.

We hope that as restrictions ease, we can hold more events in the autumn, including a performance by the Bristol Male Voice Choir and a newly-commission composition by Andrew Heath to celebrate the Hawkesbury bells.

Our annual FOSM Service of Nine Lessons and Carols will take place on Sunday 19th December.

MEMBERSHIP

We are very keen to recruit new members of the Friends of St Mary’s as we emerge from the constraints of the last 18 months. You do not have to belong to the Church of England or be a parishioner, just be someone who would like to support our beautiful parish church and preserve it for future generations to enjoy.

Subscriptions are:

  • Annual membership – £10 singe, £15 joint
  • Life membership; – £200 single, £250 joint

Subscriptions are due 1st August each year. If you are a UK taxpayer and would like to GiftAid your subscription, we can supply the relevant form, which can be signed and returned along with a cheque or online donation to our Treasurer, Mr Michael Bendry, 14 Hunters Mead, Hawkesbury Upton GL9 1BL.

AUGUST SERVICES

We are delighted that we are now able to hold services in St Mary’s again. Please bring masks when you come to church and obey the social distancing rules. Our sidesmen will help to keep everything in order.

1st – 9.30am – Holy Communion
8th – 6pm – Evensong
15th – 9.30am – Morning Praise
22nd – 6pm – Evensong
29th – 9.30am – Holy Communion

Online video services will continue to be streamed at 10am at www.youtube.com/c/badmintonbenefice

August 2020

Lisa Overton, FOSM Secretary, writes:

From Historic Beginnings

On Tuesday 16th July 1980, the Friends of St Mary’s held its very fist Annual Meeting and stated its aim:

  1. to assist St Mary’s PCC to maintain the structure of the church in a consistent, good state of replair
  2. to assist the PCC to preserve and increase the beauty of the interior of the church and its furnishings

After opening a bank account on 5th June with no money at all, the Friends had already raised £758.98 from a Flower Festival, a concert by the Tyndale Choral Society and from other donations. It was noted that the exterior stonework of the tower was in need of conservation, and it would be an advantage to build a new toilet in the churchyard.

Work in Progress

The scaffolding goes up ready for repairs to the tower to commence (Photo credit: Lisa Overton)

Well, forty years on, and many tens of thousands of pounds later, the Friends have achieved so much for St Mary’s – nave roof, windows, gutter, doors, oil tank, tombs, carpet, funds for insurance and heating when no other sources were available, and much, much more. And now we begin, at long last, the conservation of the tower masonry and significant improvements to the vestry, while awaiting the fixing of the new bells. It will be very exciting to see the scaffolding going up and work begin, and it is hoped to have these projects complete by the end of the year. We will provide regular updates on the progress of the work.

As mentioned in 1980, a toilet is still needed, and we hope that when the tower work is complete, this can be our next project. Our architect and the Diocese of Gloucester will help to find the right solution, which we hope could be shared by visitors to both the church and the cemetery.

Friends of St Mary’s AGM 2020

Owing to Covid-19, we were unable to hold our AGM in the usual way in June, but the committee has set a date for Sunday 22nd November at 4.30pm in St Mary’s Church, to be followed by evensong at 6pm. If conditions are not favourable for a usual meeting, we will arrange a Zoom meeting and ensure that all Friends have access to the agenda.

Membership

As we celebrate the start of our latest major project, for which we have been raising funds for the last nine years, could we encourage everyone to continue to support St Mary’s through the Friends by renewing subscriptions or taking out new ones – a perfect gift for a member of your family. Visit the “Join Us” page for more details of how to renew your subscription or to join the Friends.