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Case Study
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Trust and foundation funding for the church of
St Philip and St James in Leckhampton
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Trust and foundation funding for St Philip and St James in Leckhampton church renovation project
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The church of St Philip and St James in Leckhampton, Cheltenham is a modern, vibrant worshipping community, committed to serving their neighbours locally.
However, the layout of their Grade II* listed building restricts modern worship and the range of wider community events they can host. Disabled access is compromised (a steep ramp, different floor levels, poor toilet facilities) and spaces do not allow for different activities taking place at the same time.
Through a bold and imaginative reordering of the building, the congregation of St Philip and St James is planning the biggest change to their church since it was built.
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A £3M project will see the creation of a welcoming, versatile range of gathering spaces enabling hospitality towards the local community and a dynamic new venue for Cheltenham’s Bath Road area, reshaping this thriving church, restoring heritage features and enriching the local area.
Over the past 12 months, Orchard Fundraising has worked with the Parochial Church Council and Project Board to secure trust and foundation funding for this ambitious project, helping them achieve their target so that work can begin in January 2020.
After a year of Orchard Fundraising being involved and starting the process of trust and foundation fundraising with initial contacts, applications, follow-up visits and trustee questions, the church has bridged a significant gap towards their final goal.
Orchard Fundraising worked closely with church officers: identifying, researching and prioritising an extensive list of potential grant-giving funders.
Sam Watson our principal fundraising consultant led the projects initial research into identifying the priorities and qualifying criteria of each trust. Once this was complete, letter and telephone introductions to the project were made. This has been followed by tailored submissions being sent to the most appropriate funding sources.
Building relationships between the Project Board and potential funders were key in this campaign, resulting in ongoing project engagement, shared contacts and knowledge, as well as financial support.
Orchard Fundraising has played an active part in this phase of the funding process and fielded extensive follow-up enquiries, questions from interested trusts both on the phone and written, ensuring that each trust understood how any gift would be used and the impact the project will have on the local community.
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Our experienced consultants were at the forefront of the discussions with each of the trusts. Conversations focussed on each trust’s priority concerns and how the project would be addressing these. Several organisations chose to visit the church and assess the project personally. Orchard Fundraising supported these meetings and the follow-up.
To date over £160,000 has been raised, with substantial applications still pending and an anticipated target income is £300,000 by early 2020. Orchard Fundraising’s expertise in this area and ongoing relationships with trust managers and advisors have been key to the project successfully gaining funding.
By early 2021 the ‘new’ St Philip and St James will be open and busy seven days a week. As an exciting community hub, it will host exhibitions, large-scale gatherings, church services and community meetings as well as arts and political events.
Orchard Fundraising is coming to the end of this phase of its contribution to the project and is excited to see the project come to life as work commences in January.
Testimonial
“..Pip and Jims have been delighted to have Orchard Fundraising as its Trust fundraiser for a major reordering project. Sam Watson’s approach throughout has been professional; well-researched and documented; clearly written and assiduously followed up. We are very pleased with the results achieved to date and commend Sam’s work...”
- Peter Cottingham -St Philips and St James Church, Leckhampton
Our trusts and foundations funding has helped numerous organisations from schools, universities, churches and many other smaller charities. We have helped many organisations successfully in gaining large amounts to either bridge funding gaps or fully fund initiatives and are highly experienced within this area.
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