You can never outgive God
Each year, St Mary’s Church gives a minimum of 10% of all monies received to charity. We believe in being a generous church to those around us. We support a wide range of charities and causes, local, national and international. We do this through special events and activities as well as direct donations from our members and church funds.
ST MARY'S SUMMER FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN 2022
Every summer at St Mary’s we try as hard as we can to raise £1500 (and often significantly more) to be shared between a local charity of our choice and the church. The church’s share is used to fund improvements that benefit the our church and centre users and our community. This year, half the money raised will go to St Mary's Church towards the refurbishment of the front steps so that they are safer for all who use the church and centre. We are delighted that the remaining 50% of the proceeds will be donated 'Mary's Child' (www.maryschild.org.uk)
Here is some info about ‘Mary’s Child’
‘Mary’s Child’ offers God’s light, love and hope to those in need.
It is a charity created to love, care and support families and individuals in need by providing practical support, pastoral care and signposting to other charities and agencies as needed. They provide meals, toiletries, household items, legal advice and ongoing pastoral support. They are one of the few charities who does a lot for babies - they provide food, nappies, clothes and equipment. They support individuals but they particularly support families.
Food is a big issue and greatly needed. Last year, they provided over 10,000 meals. There could be a family of 6 people and they are given lunch (cereal, toast etc.), lunch (sandwiches or jacket potato and dinner (i.e. pie, fruit, veg). And they are given snacks and toiletries.
They have to support some of their families for about 12 weeks because the benefits system lets them down. Some people are having to live on just £2.57 a month.
As well as providing meals, they also provide pastoral support and legal advice. They can be dealing with complex issues so they need long-term help and support. If people do not have the legal advice and support, they struggle. They pay someone a small amount to do their legal work as it can be very complex and time-consuming.
They are working with the Council to support Ukrainian refugees – Mary’s Child is helping one Ukrainian refugee family at the moment (this will increase of course), and they are also supporting refugees from other countries, who live on £30 a week.
In Peterborough, through the C of E churches of Stanground and Farcet, the work of the charity began in March 2020 as they responded to the needs of the local community during the Covid-19 Pandemic, responding to referrals from Peterborough City Council and via their communities and churches. At the moment, they are focused on providing food and toiletries via their ‘Parish Pantries’ as well as ‘kindness bags’, a listening ear and liaison with other charities and organisations who can help in other ways. They are committed to working in partnerships with others to improve the lives of those who find themselves in difficulty.
Our money and support will help them to more fully help those in need in our parish and in the local communities across Peterborough.
For more info, please visit: www.maryschild.org.uk
Clearly Mary’s Child needs our help. Please think about how you can support us to reach our £1500 target and make a big difference to someone’s life. You might invite friends, family or colleagues around for some socially-distanced tea and cake in exchange for donations; offer them your services or tuition, whether it be gardening, cleaning, ironing, technology or language skills; sell something you’ve made or simply no longer need and donate the proceeds; or be sponsored to do (or not do) something. Best of all, please do support those who are raising money for the Fundraiser.
Abbi, Helen and Sue are, once again, our fundraising team and would love to hear your ideas. The fundraiser is now in full flow and we will hand over a cheque at our Harvest Festival on 9th October to Revd Carol Avery from Mary’s Child so, there’s plenty of time to get involved.
For more information please contact Abbi via the St Mary’s Church Office (office@peterborough-stmarys.org.uk) or ring (01733) 834736. Please remember to log the date of your event with Abbi so that no clashes take place.
To donate to our campaign, please visit our Just Giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/maryschildstmarys
Thank you for what you are able to contribute.
How to donate – You can give by text or online
Text Giving
You can donate any whole pound amount between £1 and £20 via Donr’s Text Giving service in one transaction. You can only donate up to £30 per mobile number per day.
Please include the amount you wish to give (up to £20)
i.e. Text STMARYS10 to 70450 to donate £10 or Text STMARYS5 to 70450 to donate £5
Texts cost the amount donated plus one standard rate message
Giving online
A safe and secure online donation portal is available if you wish to give online, via debit/credit card. The online giving does not require the keyword or short code but the money will go to our Summer Fundraising campaign. Please go to the St Mary’s church web site for a reminder of how to give and to give online: https://www.peterborough-stmarys.org.uk/charities/text-giving/
Giving by Cheque
Alternatively, if you wish to donate by cheque, this is also warmly weclome and thank you for your support
Please make cheques payable to St Mary's PCC and send the cheques to:
St Mary’s Church
New Road
Peterborough
PE1 1TT