Social Action

Fundraising – Financial year Oct 2018 – Sept 2019

Helping others in need is a demonstration of our commitment to look beyond ourselves. In the financial year 2018-2019 we held several fundraising events: our 3rd annual tea-party in the Chapel grounds, in memory of Jo Cox MP  which raised £410 for the Jo Cox Foundation. A folk concert drawing on the talents of several musicians from Surrey and Sussex raised £376 for Compassion in World Farming; and a Saturday coffee morning – raised £113 for Macmillan Cancer support.  Additionally, Chapel member Jacquie Verbeek organised a jazz concert raising money for two charities (Care For Nepal and Nick Morrice’s charitable work), and individuals from the congregation again supported ‘Susie’s Garden Party’ held in Anne Rasmussen’s beautiful garden, raising £210 for the Dogs Trust.

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Special services and activities

Our special Sunday collections raised £1,622 for charities (War Child, The Dogs Trust Hope Project, WaterAid, and The Red Cross Yemen Appeal.)  Quarterly coffee-time donations yielded £811.53 for local charities – Sparklers Foundation, Citizens Advice Waverly, Guildford YMCA and Open Door (Homeless Ministry).

At our Harvest service we collected donations of food for the Guildford Salvation Army food bank.  We again supported Amnesty International in its Write for Rights campaign, making greetings cards for prisoners of conscience, and actively promoted Fairtrade and One World Weeks, integrating these themes into worship services.  On a practical level, we made up Christmas gift boxes for 13 families housed in a safe refuge by Your Sanctuary, which supports survivors of domestic abuse in North-West Surrey.

The “Knit-Wits” monthly group focused on making knitted items for good causes (i.e. blankets, items for premature babies, dementia patients, orphans in Africa).

In August 2019, Godalming Unitarians were represented at the first Surrey Pride event with a stall and a contingent from our congregation joining the march.

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Our premises continued to be a well-used, low cost resource within the community for meetings of U3A groups, healers, yoga and tai chi enthusiasts, ukulele players and neighbourhood groups – as well as popular venue for children’s parties and music groups

Fairtrade

 We aFairtradere a Fairtrade church which we means have committed to:
  • Use Fairtrade tea and coffee for all meetings for which we have responsibility
  • Move forward on using other Fairtrade products
  • Promote Fairtrade during Fairtrade fortnight and through other activities where possible. Each year we hold a special Family service to mark Fairtrade Fortnight after which we enjoy sharing food made with Fairtrade & ethically sourced ingredients.
  • To find out more visitwww.fairtrade.org.uk

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Filling shoe-boxes