St Mary's Church, Kings Worthy, Hampshire

A fundraising campaign to finance the building of church rooms

www.worthychurches.org.uk

Small local churches do not often have such grand plans as St Mary’s! The Church had no domestic facilities at all. The Rector and PCC wanted to expand the congregation to include more of the young people of the parish and wanted a new space for events, social gatherings, Sunday School meetings etc. Our first task was to ensure that the project was well-defined and that all Church supporters, and as many local residents as possible were in agreement with these aims. It was necessary to overcome some opposition. A good solid base of local support was created, which made the task of advising the campaign leadership a great pleasure for our Consultancy. The original target was £265,000, but this was exceeded as the campaign raised more than £450,000 enabling superb new rooms to be built!

“Our plans were ambitious. We were starting with no funds and with a need to persuade the congregation and parish to support the project to provide sorely needed facilities at our Church. Stefan Lipa Fundraising Consultancy’s first contribution was to help us to win that support, against a lot of doubt and opposition, through a programme of meetings and communications. That was an essential starting-point. His second contribution was to show us how to raise the funds, bringing a professional touch to a tough assignment. He stayed with us on the management committee for the project, helping us through many difficulties, particularly an escalation in costs, not foreseeable, from £265,000 to over £450,000. In the end, we had facilities that have been much admired and a congregation strengthened by the experience." 

Hugh Podger, Chairman - Church Rooms Project

For more information, call us on 01264 860003 or send an email.