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Moseley Chimes
May 2008
In the wake of St. Mary’s Stewardship Campaign last month (to which, we hope, everyone has responded according to their ability) I’d like to highlight a couple of other means in which you could assist the Church financially without any cost to yourself. Indeed, you could even save money in the process.
In these days of financial stringency we are all seeking ways of reducing our domestic outgoings. One major item of household expenditure concerns our utility bills: Gas, Electricity, Telephone. One company that prides itself in consistently undercutting the major players in the market is the Utility Warehouse. The Utility Warehouse Discount Club is operated by Telecom plus PLC, a major British company whose shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange. They aim to provide their customers with massive savings on their home, office and mobile phone charges as well as on other services such as gas and electricity. As part of their ethical credentials they operate a Community Fundraiser scheme. Charities are able to register with this scheme and benefit financially from any of their membership who thereafter become customers of Utility Warehouse. Typically, the charity receives a percentage of the utility usage from every member who switches their supply to Utility Warehouse. So, every time you boil a kettle, the church receives a donation. Every time you phone a friend, we similarly benefit.
St Mary’s is actively looking at becoming a member of this scheme. Households from among our congregation which also switch their utility supply to Utility Warehouse will be actively benefiting the Church financially as well as themselves benefiting from among the lowest utility charges in the market. I have personally been a customer of the Warehouse for some six or seven years and have seen my neighbours’ charges rocket while my rises have been modest in comparison. Revd Jeremy has also seen the benefits since he became a customer last year. One can take a single service only (gas, electricity, telephone, mobile phone, broadband internet etc.) although one receives a further discount for taking up more services. If you are considering reducing your bills by this route, do please bear in mind that you could kill two birds with one stone by taking up on this scheme. Please speak to me personally before making any decisions.
A further way of benefiting the church is by channelling your internet shopping through a portal known as Easy Fundraising. The church is registered with this organisation via the Friends of St Mary’s Choirs and Music. This is what the site says about itself,
“We provide a FREE service where you can shop with your favourite online stores and at no extra cost raise funds for any charity, good cause or group you choose to support. You still shop directly with each retailer as you would normally, but simply by using the links from our site first, each purchase you make will generate a cash back donation to the cause you wish to support. For example, spend £25 with W H Smith and 3½% will be donated. You will have raised £0.88, at no extra cost to your purchase. Make any purchase from Amazon and 2½% will be donated. Insure your car with Direct Line and raise £30.00, or purchase a mobile phone from 02 and earn £17.50, and so on. You can shop with over 500 brand name retailers and to raise funds you just use the links from our site first, it’s that simple! If you ALREADY shop online, why not help good causes at no extra cost from purchases you would make anyway.”
To use the site, visit www.easyfundraising.org.uk/ and register, choosing Friends of St Mary’s Choirs and Music as the charity you wish to benefit. The explanations on the site are very clear. Your kids will sort you out if you get stuck.
We are always on the lookout for innovative ways of benefiting the Church, using the opportunities provided by modern technology. Please assist us by following up these suggestions. It could save you money AND help in our quest for financial security.