Fundraising

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. 

Summer Fundraiser: 2020

Every year at St Mary’s we hold a Summer Fundraising campaign to raise money for a local charity. Half of the money raised goes to a chosen charity which, this year, is the Peterborough foodbank, and half to St Mary’s to help fund improvements to benefit the individuals, groups and communities that use our church and centre.

Peterborough foodbank is a project founded by local churches and community groups, working together towards stopping hunger in our local area.
The need for a foodbank within Peterborough was identified back in 2012 during a Tackling Poverty workshop. At that time 1 in 4 children in Peterborough were identified as living in poverty. As a result Peterborough foodbank opened in October 2012 to help address this issue.
They first opened with three foodbank centres – Dogsthorpe, Westgate and Stanground. They quickly grew to 9 centres as they wanted to make sure people were able to access their services near where they lived.

Their aim is to show God’s love in action for those that are struggling or in poverty. Not only do they provide food parcels, but offer signposting and a listening ear. They hope to be able to develop to offer more services that their clients need to help lift them out of their crisis.

Their project is inclusive and is open to clients and volunteers of all backgrounds, faith and nationality.

They don’t think anyone in our community should have to face going hungry. That is why they provide three days of nutritionally balanced emergency food and support to local people who are referred to them in crisis. They are part of a nationwide network of foodbanks, supported by The Trussell Trust, working to combat poverty and hunger across the UK.

One user said: “The foodbank was there when we really needed it, it was an absolute lifeline.”

For more info, please visit: https://peterborough.foodbank.org.uk/

St Marys’ folk are usually busy at this time holding lots of different events, activities and sponsorships in order to raise money. Obviously it will be different this year because of the Covid-19 restrictions so we are all thinking of different ideas. If you are able to do something to raise funds, however big or small, please do, and please let us know. We are sure you will come up with some creative ideas, as usual.

We are really going to miss not having our Garden Party this year to raise funds but Michael is going to cycle the equivalent of Peterborough to Land’s End on his exercise bike. He will begin his journey on 15th August. Who knows when he will end it?! He hopes to complete his journey by 22nd August. (Bring us back some Cornish Pasties Michael)! J

He will be anchored to the floor in the Vicarage as he pedals the 374 miles (601.895km).

Please sponsor him if you can as, in the coming months, there will be a huge need for Foodbanks here in Peterborough.

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 SUMMER10 to 70490 to donate £10 or Text SUMMER5 to 70490 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 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 welcome. Please make cheques payable to St Mary's PCC and send them to:

St Mary’s Church
1, New Road
Peterborough
PE1 1TT

As we envisage individuals and families will be doing different things - and we cannot have a separate code for each activity - all donations for the Summer Fundraiser will go through to the codes above. (If you would like a particular person to know you have donated specifically to them, please contact them to let them know).

Thank you, and Happy Fundraising! Keep an eye on our church web site https://www.peterborough-stmarys.org.uk/charities/ and facebook page https://www.facebook.com/StMarysChurchPeterborough/ to see how things are progressing.

Michael and Sue