OUR VISION

St. Andrew’s Church lies at the heart of the rapidly growing market town of Biggleswade where it offers the community a historic and beautiful place of worship. Week by week many church and community groups use the adjoining Chapter House and Ivel Room, which are close to the town centre and offer easy access and pleasant surroundings. The vision at St. Andrew’s is that the church should continue to provide a real welcome to all, but increasingly we are finding that the meeting rooms are fully booked - we are running out of space! However, by extending the existing building we can add extra meeting room space, extend the kitchen, and provide improved toilet facilities that will offer easier access for everyone. The building will then continue to be a great asset for the church and the local community.

OUR APPEAL

The Church Council launched an appeal in September 2007 to raise £250,000 in two and a half years. We hope to raise a significant part of the funding from grants, but more than half will need to be raised through public subscription and a programme of fund raising activities and events. We are therefore inviting individuals, groups and businesses from the church and the local community to support the appeal as generously as they can. We believe that this really is a project that will continue to benefit groups and organisations in the local community.

HOW ARE WE DOING?

We have made great progress since we launched the Appeal in September 2007, and the new hall with refurbished toilets and a new fully accessible toilet is now in use!  Do have a look at the Building Blog to see how the build progressed. Of course we still need to fit out the extended kitchen so fund raising continues.  Please see details of the fund raising events on the CHDA Events page.

As of January 2011 the total funds raised and committed to the Appeal stands at:

Our grateful thanks to the various organisations that have awarded grants to the Appeal:

• AllChurches Trust
• Biggleswade Town Council
• Central Beds Council - StreetCred
• Mid Beds District Council
• Mrs B L Robinson Trust
• WREN, Waste Recycling Environmental Ltd **
• Major Simon Whitbread Charitable Trust
• The Steel Charitable Trust
• The Edith Winifred Hall Charitable Trust
• The Blakemore Foundation

** This project has been part funded using the landfill tax money of Waste Recycling Group (WRG), administered and distributed by Waste Recycling Environmental (WREN). The Landfill Tax Credit Scheme (LTCS) currently enables landfill site operators to divert a proportion of their annual landfill tax liability to Environmental Bodies. For more information about Wren and the availability of WRG’s LTCS money visit www.wren.org.uk or contact 01953 717165.”

So, we're making good progress, but there's still a long way to go, and we need your help.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

There are many ways in which you can help, and some of them won't even cost you a penny! So see what you can do, and get your friends and neighbours involved too.

Saturday Morning Coffee Shop - Our coffee shop was originally set up to support the building of the second meeting room, the Ivel Room, and all proceeds now go to the Appeal to support this next phase of development. Come along and enjoy a coffee or tea - open every Saturday from 10.00 until 12.00.

Monthly Cake Stall - On the first Saturday of every month there's the additional attraction of a cake stall at the coffee shop. Not only can you buy a cake to take home, but you will probably be able to enjoy a slice with your coffee as well. Of course if you would like to support the appeal by donating a cake that would be wonderful!

Newspaper Recycling - Please bring along your old newspapers to the church car park for recycling. Not only do you help the environment but we can sell them in bulk and raise money for the appeal. A 'no-cost' way of supporting the Appeal.

Online Shopping - If you are already an online shopper, then you can make donations to the Appeal without it costing you a penny! Simply register with the St Andrew's Church Appeal on easyfundraising, and then do your shopping via the easyfundraising site. You can still use most of the popular online retailers but when you make a purchase they will make a donation to the Appeal. Just remember to access the retailers site via easyfundraising, and they do the rest! It's another 'no-cost' way of supporting the Appeal.

Make a Gift or Regular Donation - An important part of our fundraising is through individuals making one-off or regular contributions to the Appeal. Regular donations are a particularly effective way of supporting the Appeal, as it spreads the cost for the individuals, but allows us to forecast our income over the coming months. Download the Prospectus for more details, or email us at the address given below.

Support our Fundraising Events - We are organising a series of events and activities for all ages and tastes. We've already had a few concerts, a BBQ and family games afternoon, and several Christmas Tree Festivals. Keep an eye on the CHDA Events page, or email us (address below) and we will keep you up to date with events as we plan them. You can be sure of having a good time while supporting the Appeal.

MORE INFORMATION

If you would like more information about the Appeal, please:

• Download a copy of the Prospectus (1.2 MB PDF file)
• email us at: .