The Voluntary Rate
The Voluntary Rate is an appeal to people living within the parish boundaries to help maintain the fabric of the church. The money isn’t used for mission or development, wine or candles, it’s purely for bricks and mortar (and new lighting). But more than that it says “Hello, this is us and we’re here for you” to everyone in the parish.
For the first time since we began in 1986 the voluntary rate appeal has gone out without the need for any input from the congregation. Just as much work for Maggie (if not more) but not for us.
Originally the basic information needed to set up the Rate came from the rating list at the Town Hall and involved visiting to copy it all down – Pat Gardner helped a lot with that. Later we were allowed a printout to take home and later still the information was made available online. Maggie keeps an eye on changes in property – demolition, infill, new builds, conversions to and from flats etc. to keep our records as up to date as possible.
The very first VR involved everyone filling in the addresses on the letters by hand – yes, 4,500 addresses BY HAND. We did them in church, we did them in PCC meetings, we took them home. . . . we got them done.
The system got better. There were address labels. Now we only had to peel the sheets of labels apart and stick them on – in exactly the right place or they wouldn’t show through the envelope windows – and fill in the amount we were asking for according to a list – so much for each council tax band.
Then, joy of joys, the addresses came ready printed on forms and all we had to do was fill in the amount.
Finally, none of that was necessary and we only had to put the forms in the envelopes. Oh, did I not mention that? All 4.500 letters, forms, leaflets, flyers, reply paid envelopes, had to be put in window envelopes. It was actually a lot more fun than it sounds. OK, not the actual envelope stuffing, but working with a group of like-minded people, all dedicated to the continuance of our church in Hampstead. Refreshments were provided – coffee and most excellent biscuits by Gaynor Bassey-Fish, an equally delicious lunch by Elizabeth Beesley and her helpers – even last year when the pandemic was beginning to make itself felt we managed to meet, eat and work, suitably socially distanced, and get the letters out.
Delivery was another matter. Originally, in fact up to only 4 years ago, all the letters were delivered by hand. Canny people knew which streets to get and which to avoid, the ones with endless steps, the ones with pretty gardens. But eventually increasingly secure properties made it impossible to get a large proportion of the letters delivered and so we invested in a Royal Mail licence, the extra cost involved being more than offset by knowing that the letters would actually reach all those hitherto unreachable properties.
But this year, unbelievably, it’s all happened, as if by magic!