The Friends of All Saints Wytham.

The Friends of All Saints Wytham was set up in June 2006.  The aim of the friends is to unite all those who love and value the church of All Saints Wytham, and its place within the community.  The Friends endeavour to:

▪ Support the work of the church in the community,
▪ Extend the involvement of individuals in the wider community,
▪ Assist in the care and adornment of the church as the focal point of the village, and
▪ Assist in preserving the building together with its goods and ornaments for posterity.

The Friends are constituted as a sub-committee of the Parochial Church Council (PCC), and the PCC Treasurer holds their funds in a sub-account of the PCC accounts.  This was decided upon as the easiest way to enable the Friends to achieve charitable status.  However, the Friends organising committee is independent of the PCC, and their accounts, while audited in conjunction with those of the PCC, are published separately.  The Friends have their own insurance, to cover all members when taking part in Friends events.

The Committee comprises a maximum of nine, of whom four must be members of the PCC.   The remainder, including the Chair and the Secretary, are elected by and from the subscribing members at the Annual General Meeting, held in June or July each year.  The initial committee was largely comprised of the members of the PCC, but after two years, the majority, including the Secretary, are no longer PCC members.  This is a trend that we are keen to maintain.

Over the last two years, the Friends have organised a number of social and other events.  We put on the play ‘Frideswide’, accompanied by a village fete, and visited Christchurch, Coventry and Wells Cathedrals, having a guided tour around each followed by sung evensong.  We ran a ‘Songs of Praise’ event on the Recreation Ground in Wytham, with the assistance of the Oxford Kennington Brass Band.  On the social side, we have held one formal and three informal evening meals together, sold cream teas on August Bank Holiday Monday, and our  AGMs have included a cream tea and a talk on a matter of interest, together with guided tours of Wytham.  We have held a Car Boot sale each year, to raise funds.  We are planning more outings, and informal meals.  Members’ ideas are always welcome when we are planning our programme.

Our fund raising efforts have been most successful.  The church recently fitted protective metal grills to the outside of our beautiful medieval stained glass windows, and the churchyard wall has been repointed – it was in a very poor state.  These were both paid for by the Friends.

New members are always welcome.  Why not pick up a leaflet now – the membership subscription is currently only £5.00 per annum.  If you are able to make use of the ‘Gift Aid’ system, £5.00 is worth £6.25 to the Friends, at no additional cost to you.