I wrote about the this new project last month and how we had received six applications to consider. I can now report that the grant of £20,000 is to be divided between a small, semi-rural parish in East Sussex and a larger town parish in Shipley, near Bradford.
St John the Evangelist in Hurst Green is a congregation slowly growing under a new priest and wishing to forge links with the families of the parish by establishing a junior choir. The mission grant will fund the cost of employing a part-time choir leader for the next two years during which time it is hoped that the choir will become self-supporting. We know from our own experience at St Giles how formative a well-run choir can be and felt that, though the grant was relatively small at £5,500 over two years, it could in time have a significant impact.
A grant of £14,000 will be used differently at St Peter’s, Shipley, for there it will enable the church to continue to employ a community co-ordinator to work with volunteers for another year in running a variety of socially supportive projects, such as a food bank and advice centre. We were attracted to the down-to-earth nature of these projects and how they reflected the parish’s wish to express their Christian faith through practical, non-judgemental means. Hopefully we can include news of the progress of these projects through the coming year.
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