Our dear friends and members of our Community,

        Following upon our success in acquiring our own Church last year as most of you will know, now we have more exciting news to announce. We have completed the purchase of the adjoining hall and land on the 31st August this year.  This complements the Church and its activities and provides us with a greater scope to expand on non-Church events which will also allow us to cater for the social needs of our members and, amongst other things, to join in the numerous Stony Stratford festivals that take place each year bringing us closer to the local community who, on the whole, have been very welcoming.

        It is felt that a substantial number of the townsfolk were not happy that this attractive Victorian building would be turned into a another dwelling and we anticipate that there will be considerable use made of it in addition to our own requirements once it is operational.  The target date is late October/early November.

        However, there is much to be done in renovating it for public use and we therefore look for volunteers to take on the many and varied tasks that can be performed without recourse to paid expert work.   Once we can open it for hire to the wider public, other volunteers, on a more regular basis, will be required to:-

· Take bookings and record them and receive payment;

· Open and close the hall when needed making a note of the condition of the hall before closing and record any damage that has occurred;

· Organise and manage our own events either in support of the Hall or the Church (in this respect we need ideas);

· Take on interior cleaning and maintenance jobs (including those required in the Church);

· Regularly maintain the grounds, plants and bushes;

· Fulfil other tasks as they arise.

Please make use of Gift Aid Scheme, it costs you nothing but it is a valuable source of income to the Community. If you are a tax payer in the UK and have not signed up to the scheme, please do so.  You will need to identify your donation each time, this can be done by handing it to the Committee member collecting donations for which you will receive a receipt OR place your donation in the brown envelope provided and write your name, amount and date then sign it, hand to the Committee member or place it in the collection tray.

Finally, to ensure our Community’s success continues, we need your enthusiastic support at all times.

The Trustees and Committee members express their sincere gratitude to all those people that have made this possible especially those of you that have supported and participated in the Community since its inception in 1989, including those that have come and gone over these years and are not forgotten, and those who stepped in at the last minute in order to secure our latest acquisition.