THE FRIENDS OFALL SAINTS CHURCH, OLD HEATHFIELD
ANNUAL REPORT 2005

This is the report for the period from formation to 31 October 2005.

The Friends of All Saints Church, Old Heathfield was formed under its constitution on 16 September 2004, and registered as a charity by the Charity Commission on 24 February 2005.
The Friends’ main objective, in furtherance of the ecclesiastical charitable purposes of the Church of England or for the benefit of the inhabitants of the parish of Heathfield, is to raise funds in order to repair, restore and improve the structure and artefacts of All Saints Church, Old Heathfield and St. Georges Church, Broad Oak. The immediate and primary project is the reshingling of the Church spire at All Saints which is now in urgent need of repair.
Fund raising could not be started until the Charity Commission registered the Friends as a charity and this meant that activity was largely restricted to the last eight months of the period under review. Net income was £13,760, a most satisfactory start. We have received £8,457 in gifts and donations from individuals to whom we are very grateful, and in grants, of which £200 and £385 were received from The Allchurches Trust and le Marche respectively. Our fund raising efforts produced a total of £6,937. These figures are explained in greater detail in the accounts.

 

FUND RAISING ACTIVITY
We would particularly like to thank the organisers of the various activities that have taken place during the time covered by this report. The Parish Social Group held a Quiz night in the autumn which raised £292, while Mike Parker and Christine Monson organised a splendid sponsored walk in the spring which eventually produced a magnificent £3,597 for the funds. Nine home owners in the village agreed to open their gardens and after weeks of hard work by them we held an Open Gardens afternoon, organised by Sal Cholmeley which raised £1,078. Village Productions, a local Amateur Dramatic group, combined with our home-grown talent to put on a performance of “Murder in the Cathedral” in All Saints, raising £930, while Jo Williams managed to raise £505 from a rain affected cricket match through the players’ and supporters’ generosity. Finally we are grateful to the Heathfield silver band and the Half Moon Pub in Cade Street. Together they staged a Sunday lunchtime event “Paella in the Park”, gave their services and skills freely and passed the proceeds of £535 on to the fund.

CHURCH FABRIC
The last quinquennial inspection of the church building in 2000 raised concerns about the deterioration of the shingles on the church spire which were last replaced in the 1950s and are now beyond their life-span, warped, damaged, shrunken and, in some cases, missing. Repairs to the spire in 2000 suggested that the main structure is sound but that both shingles and battens need replacement at an estimated cost of £56,000. It is this problem that The Friends undertook as an initial project. Unfortunately our application for a Lottery grant from English Heritage was rejected, leaving us to raise the entire amount.
The need to replace the church heating boiler is very urgent so probably is outside our present capacity but there is also a long term need to install a toilet in the church for the well being of the hundreds of people who currently use the buildings. The church awaits the next quinquennial Inspection which may reveal further structural problems that will need to be addressed if we are to preserve our lovely old church for future generations It is envisaged therefore that the Friends will need to support the church buildings in Old Heathfield and Broad Oak, one way or another for some time.

Since the year end we have received further generous individual and corporate donations and the pledge of a grant from the Heathfield and Waldron Parish Council. At the date of writing this report, the net amount received and promised is in excess of £ 40,000. This gives us real hope that we shall achieve our target for the spire during the next few months.

THE COMMITTEE
My grateful thanks to all those who have worked so hard this year to get us off to such a splendid start and particularly to my colleagues on the committee named below:
Johnny Gibbs (Treasurer), Shineen Galloway (Secretary),
Sal Cholmeley, Chris Davis, Peter Gower, Ann Kenward, Richard Leeves, Jeremy Nelson, Geoff Pickering (ex-officio), Stephen Smith (replaced Adele Hadow), Joanna Williams

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The AGM of the Friends will be held on Thursday 2nd February 2006 at 7.30pm in the Parish Room, St Georges, Broad Oak
Roger Kenward
Chairman Registered Charity No. 1108281
The Coach House
Old Heathfield
East Sussex
TN21 9AEDate:7 January 2006