St Andrew's Church is part of a united benefice with three other local parishes under the leadership of the Revd. John Allan who is resident in the adjoining parish of Littlebourne.

The church councils of the benefice pay for the clergyman's stipend, upkeep of the rectory, a contribution to diocesan expenses (quota), organist's fees, insurance, heating, lighting, equipment for church, churchyard maintenance and all routine maintenance of the fabric.

For St Andrew's, this requires an annual expenditure of about £10,000, which is raised through regular giving, augmented by an active programme of local fund-raising.

Our church has not undergone major restoration for many years, and the Quinquennial Inspection in 2000 identified the need for major repairs, mainly to tower and roofs, which, including the organ restoration, amounts in total to about £200,000.

Our local church community is not able to raise this sum, and we need the support of the wider community. While there are many residents in the village who do not regularly use the church for worship, there are very few who would not recognise its importance and see it as a focus of village life.

Hitherto, the Parochial Church Council has made very little call upon charities and grants, with only one grant (for the organ) within the last 10 years.

A concerted effort is now essential for a variety of fund raising activities to enable our church to continue to play a vital role in the life of the village.

The Fundraising Plan

A Steering Committee has been appointed by the Parochial Church Council consisting of at least three members of the PCC, in addition to the Rector, who have the power to co-opt other members of the community. Currently four co-opted members have agreed to sit on this committee.

A prime function of the steering committee, apart from overseeing the restoration work, is to manage the fund raising appeal.

Initially appeals will be made to recognised charities and other grant making bodies. Some 30 organisations have been identified for approach but it is difficult to predict the outcome at this stage. Application will also be made to English Heritage and Landfill Tax Credits. The committee fully recognise that such organisations will be more inclined to support an appeal where there is clear evidence that the local community is doing its part. There will therefore be a strong emphasis on local fund raising, appealing to the community as a whole to recognise the importance of keeping the focal point of their village open. Novel as well as traditional methods of fund raising will be utilised and as an example it is hoped to create an area in the village where trees can be donated to commemorate the appeal in conjunction with the Millennium and furthermore adding to the environmental benefits of the area. The committee are confident of receiving a reasonable response from the locality (£1000 was pledged before the Steering Committee was appointed) but recognise that it is unlikely to meet a major proportion of the restoration needs.

The appeal will also be extended to wider areas of the globe where there might be an attachment to our locality.

A significant effort is being addressed to creating a professional PR approach to the appeal, examples of which can be seen below, which will also include a website at wickhambreauxchurch.com to provide information and progress of the appeal.