Help please. Can you help please with church finances- and a special call to all who

 usually give cash donations.

Please can you help us to follow government and bank guidance to encourage giving by

 direct debit or standing order, by contactless card machine (when we are back in

 church) or cheque rather than cash.

Avoiding using cash limits the risks linked to coronavirus involved in touching and

 counting money- for you, the Treasurer and anyone assisting her. (It will also help

greatly with time, paperwork and accounting procedures).

Many of us use direct debit for utility bills and other payments. If you can do this please it will be really helpful. Treasurer, Jean Bates (01638 583785) or stmmtreafin@yahoo.com can give you the details of

(a)the general fund or

if you are able to make a regular standing order payment, or set up a direct debit please.

However, we recommend using the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) for direct debit as

 amongst other advantages this also scheme also processes Gift Aid claims for tax

 payers and pays them monthly into our account.

The Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) is a multi-diocesan approach to serving parishes with

 a professional donation management service.

Sue can send you a pack to sign up for the PGS scheme- it takes just a few minutes to

 fill in, or

You can now join the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) by telephone. 

A new telephone service is designed to enable prospective donors to set up a regular

 Direct Debit gift over the phone, donors can call 9am-5pm

0333 002 1271, lines are open Monday to Friday.

You will need to know St.Mary’s Midlenhall PGS number: 330633272 ,

and we are in the Diocese of St.Edmundsbury and Ipswich.

Jean will be more than happy to help you in any way with questions or guidance-

 everything is kept confidential.

Thank you for all donations and for helping to keep up a regular income flow.

Jean is still looking for someone (or someones) to assist with input of figures and other

 financial duties. Please contact Jean to find out more.

Parish Giving Scheme ( PGS)

Thank you to everyone who has taken time to transfer to this scheme. It

is making paperwork more stream-lined and helping (for example Gift Aid is claimed and added for us within 9 days).

St.Mary’s were in the top 5 in the Diocese for take up – perhaps we can get to the top. (This aside it will be really advantageous to have as many people as possible on the PGS)

We have been able to set up a standing order for £1,000 monthly from

the money given by PGS to go towards the Centenary Share payment.

However, we still need to set aside some money from PGS donations

for insurance costs. Please can you see Jean about signing a mandate which will allow us to set aside insurance money from your PGS gift.

If anyone would like to find out more about the PGS – please ask Jean Bates or Brian Sulman. Packs are

available which explain some of the advantages, how it works and how to apply.

Donating through gift aid means charities can claim an extra 25p for every pound you give from the UK government. And it doesn't cost you any extra.

21% of people say they have never heard about gift aid, and a further 25% say they know next to little about it. Charities have claimed more than £12bn from the government since the scheme started, but more than £750bn of gift aid goes unclaimed every year

It doesn't cost you a penny all we need is for you fill in a form with your name and address. Please see Stephanie or Sue