Church letter

August 2026

Click for the church letter from July 2026

Long, hot summer with a lot to celebrate

I’m so pleased that we were fortunate not to have this really hot weather for the fete or for the set-up days last month. Then we wouldn’t have had such a wonderful day; and we certainly wouldn’t have raised so much.

I promised to tell you in this edition how we did financially - and it was extraordinary! The Benenden village fete, in support of St George’s Church, made an amazing profit of £25,175. Well done, and a huge thank you to anyone who helped with the fete or came along and made it the event that it was.

St George’s has already given £4.5k of this to local organisations and charities: the Arnold Cole Trust, Benenden Pre-School and Primary School, Catching Lives, Nourish, and Bewl Bridge Rowing Club, who ran a new stall at the fete.

The other funds raised will be divided between other charities that St George’s supports throughout the year, the Restore, Renew, Rejoice project, and the (not inconsiderable) running costs for your parish church.

Work on the project is going well. The limecrete for the new floor is curing, electrical wiring and contactor boxes are being installed, and the air-source heat pump has been installed on the south parvis roof and the storage batteries into the old boiler room.

A crane lifted the 675kg ASHP and batteries into place. We are on schedule with the heating phase and the church will be open for first services on Advent Sunday, 29 November, and a community social event on Saturday 14 November.

We start on the extension for the new toilet in the autumn, hopefully for completion late-spring 2027. If we want the other phases of the project to go ahead, then we need: more grant applications being successful; support for local fundraising events; floor tile sponsorship; or simply donations to the project.

The next phases include: the new kitchen, the meeting room, the accessibility path, the lighting, and the AV system update. These will not go ahead until we have the money.

So, in September, I will be walking 147 miles of the Pilgrim’s Way and will be seeking sponsorship, please. More details soon.

Revd David Commander, Rector