It costs a lot of money to run three churches especially when one is a listed building. It is therefore important that we are able to pay our way as a parish and this means parishioners being generous in their support of the church.
Planned Giving One way to increase income is to make sure that we reclaim on your behalf as much as possible of the tax you have paid on the money you give to charity. The Government, to encourage giving to charities, will repay the tax paid to us so that for example a weekly contribution of £10 becomes £12.50. If you do not have envelopes for this purpose or you wish to make changes to your existing agreement please contact Fr Shaun or a member of the parish committee.Gift aid form
Alternatively, you may give your offerings via standing order or direct debit to avoid searching for the correct amount each week. If you are paying contributions by cheque please note this should be made out to St Oscar Romero.Standing order formStanding Order Form 18-Mar-23
2/300 clubs We have two clubs running in the parish. Both clubs have room for more members and if you can take up one or more numbers at £1.00 per week please do so. You will have the chance to win a prize. More details are available from Carmel Dixon for the Priory and Fr Shaun for St Peter’s and St John Vianney.
Mass Offerings On the weekly newsletter are listed the masses that have been requested for the week. It is usual to give a donation to the church when requesting the saying of a mass.
Buildings for letting. We have a Church hall which is available for rent on either a regular or a one off basis. The lettings policy is available from the parish office at the presbytery
Special Collections From time to time we will have special collections these might be for the parish for example for flowers for Easter and Christmas or for other causes such as the Family Fast collection for CAFOD. Please support these if you can.
Wills If you are considering making or updating your will, please consider leaving a legacy for the parish. making or updating your will is simple and it will protect your assets and the people you love.
Your will is a formal declaration of how your assets are to be disposed of after your death. It gives you the opportunity to state exactly how your estate should be divided, and who should benefit. it is estimated that one in five people in Britain die without making a will. These people forfeit any control over what happens to their hard-earned assets. many assume that everything they own will automatically go to their next of kin but this is not necessarily the case. Other relatives may have a claim on their estate and the courts may have to decide what this is. even if you have no family making a Will is still important because if you die without one your estate will automatically go to the exchequer, rather than being used in the way you might have chosen.
some questions and answers;
Q. do not own much -is it worth making a will? A. yes it is .to make sure your money goes where you choose you must make a will. If you own your own home or have a life insurance policy you may be wealthier than you think. you need to consider carefully what should happen to it after you die. making a will costs you little far less than your executors having to sort out the legal muddle you may leave if you do not make one.
Q.What could happen if I do not make a will? A. if you die intestate, ( that means you have no will)the law decides how your estate will be sorted out. This might mean your estate passes to remote relatives whom you would not wish to inherit. This can be a lengthy and expensive business. The legal costs will be paid from your estate so their will be less to divide between the beneficiaries. Some people think , quite mistakenly that everything goes to their wife or husband if no will is made. In fact, only a portion of the estate passes to the spouse. The rest must be shared amongst children or other relatives.
If you have no blood relatives and leave no will , all your belongings pass to the Crown. Your friends have no automatic claim by law and may well receive nothing.
Q. I am single – why should I make a will? A. If you are single and die without having made a will everything is likely to go to the state. Only by making a will can you choose how your money will be used.
Q. What are the main parts of a Will? A. Most Wills have five parts. The first part will be a formal introduction revoking all earlier Wills. The second will name whom you want to act as your executors to administer your estate. The third part deals with any legacies that may be of cash (pecuniary legacies) or of particular items ( specific legacies ) . The next stage is to say what legacies and any liabilities such as inheritance tax have been paid. This part is known as your (residuary ) estate. Finally there will usually be some administrative clauses giving your executors wider powers in the administration of the estate than they would have under general law.
Q. My children are minors. How can I look after them? A. Unless you make a will , any of your children who are minors will not have a legal guardian if both parents die. In this event your children would not only need to be provided for financially but a guardian would have to be appointed, perhaps by the court, who would be prepared to take on the responsibility of looking after them. Your Will helps make sure your children are looked after by someone appointed by you. Consult a solicitor about the best way to arrange this. they can advise you about setting up a trust for them. Can I leave someone a life interest? A. you can provide a lifetime security for someone you love by leaving them a life interest in your property. You can also ensure that, upon the death of that person it will pass to someone else for example your favourite charity.
Q. Can I leave a legacy to a charity provided that the money is used for a specific purpose? A. Certainly. However , many charities prefer it if a specific purpose is not specified in the Will itself. The problem is that however appropriate the purpose may be now it might be wholly inappropriate by the time that the legacy comes into effect. If the legacy is conditional, the charity might not get it all, or may have to incur considerable expense in obtaining the Charity Commission’s agreement to the legacy being used for a similar ( but not identical) purpose to that specified in the Will. If you really do want the legacy to be conditional on its use for a specific purpose then do discuss this with the charity at the time you make your will.
Q. If I decided to leave a legacy to a charity will it be taxed? A. no. The government takes neither inheritance tax nor capital gains tax from any legacy you leave to a charity. A further point is that a charitable legacy reduces the overall amount of tax that is levied against your estate . This is because the Inland Revenue does not take into account any money left to a charity when calculating the total amount of tax due on your estate.
Q I have a Will when should I change it? A. there are many reasons for changing your will;
if there has been a change in your circumstances;
if you marry or remarry – any existing will becomes invalid;
if you are separated or divorced;
if you wish to add someone to your Will or drop them out;
if you have yourself inherited some money or property;
if you want to reduce inheritance tax;
if you want to include a charity in your Will.
A fund raising committee has been established to raise money for the parish details of discussions will be in a separate fund raising newsletter. Please support the work of these volunteers.