St Andrew's Church has been at the centre of West Hatch for the last 800 years, providing a peaceful haven and tranquillity for all: regular and occasional churchgoers, those who gather to celebrate Christmas, Easter or Harvest, those who attend family baptisms, weddings or funerals and family and friends who tend the grave of a loved one. But the future of our Church is in doubt. We have been without a Rector since Revd Joanna left in March 2025. In an ideal world our advert for a new Rector would have been out there, prompting a response from our prospective new Rector within a few months of Joanna leaving. But in recent years Church attendance at St Andrew's has dropped, as it has nationally, and our finances were no longer strong enough to be able to commit to a Rector's salary. This meant we were not able to advertise the vacancy until we had secured an increase in the Church's regular income. Our Church does not receive any funds from National Church or the Government - most of our income, 66%, comes from individual parishioners donations, most of which are given by monthly standing order. So in November/December 2025, we leafletted every house in the parish, explaining the above, and asking parishioners & supporters to consider giving to St Andrew's on a regular basis, the easiest way to do this is by setting up a standing order - and the village responded amazingly well - meaning our donations (including reclaimable gift aid tax) received via standing order at the time of writing (April 2026) should now cover St Andrew's share of the forecast annual cost of employing a Rector.Our first advert for a Rector went live in February 2026, but sadly there were no applicants, so a second advert has just been placed, with potential interview dates in June 2026. Please join with us in praying for the right person to apply.Given the demographic of the village, our donor profile is inevitably fairly elderly, and we will lose donors through some moving away and others passing away, so we cannot rest on our laurels, but must keep the campaign for regular financial support very much alive. The PCC wholeheartedly thank those of you who have already signed up to give, and would encourage any of you who dont already, to consider setting up a standing order to the church. This can be done by completing the downloadable form opposite. Alternatively, if you bank online, it is much easier and quicker to set up a standing order via your online banking screen or app using our bank details: West Hatch PCC, Sort code 40-52-40, Acc no 00015677. If you are a UK taxpayer please make your donation worth 25% more, by Gift Aiding it. You can do this by completing the Gift Aid section of the downloadable form, and return it to our Treasurer either by email or on paper (Treasurer contact details are on the form).St Andrew's is blessed with a hard working small group of volunteers who do their best to look after the Church, the Churchyard, the Church field, the administration required for Church life, ensuring compliance with laws relating to marriage, burials, buildings, etc, and who help villagers as much as they can. However, our volunteers have limited time to give, and without a Rector to oversee and minister to our parish the closure of our Church is a very real threat. Imagine a closed, locked building, the graveyard no longer maintained and no longer easily accessible. No local Rector to visit the grieving, the lonely, those who are unwell at home or in hospital. Please donate if you can. Any amount, big or small, will make a difference and will mean St Andrews Church will continue to be a haven of peace for all, now and for the future. Thank you.
