Newsletter February 2023

We would like to keep you up to date with how the Friends are developing from their launch in December last year. You may be aware that we were established in order ‘to raise funds for the fabric of the building and to foster a greater sense of responsibility in the community for its own iconic building’.  Following a successful and enjoyable launch at Champs Hill, we held a ‘Come and Sing Messiah’ workshop in St. Mary’s Church before Christmas. Thanks to the expertise and enthusiasm of Peter Allwood, we had a hard-working but enjoyable day followed by an evening performance which was assisted by the presence of Chantry Quire members; the result was a good performance, well attended and much enjoyed.

We are now working towards our next event which will be held on Friday March 17th, again in St. Mary’s Church. On this occasion we will be able to enjoy seeing the exceptional water colour paintings of Gordon Rushmer. We will also learn of his experiences as a war artist in Afghanistan, Bosnia and a number of other war zones. The evening is called ‘War and Peace’ in order to convey the exciting contrast between his work on the front line and his exquisite pictures of ancient Sussex churches. Gordon is a local artist with an international reputation.  You may like to visit his website where you will see some fine examples of his work.  He is an interesting raconteur who has witnessed some extraordinary situations – this is an evening not to be missed.  

Our hope is that we will be able to keep all our supporters up to date with information about events, donations, the recruitment of members and the current level of finance we have managed to achieve. Our first target is to raise £50,000 to facilitate the redecoration of the chancel of the church. Those of you who have seen it will know how pressing this is. People generally assume that this kind of funding is provided by the diocese. This is not the case. Parishes must raise the money locally for the maintenance of their buildings. This will only happen as a result of the effort and generosity of both the regular congregation and those who live in the parish who appreciate the importance of our 800 year old Grade 1 listed building.

Please make contact if you would like to help.  

Please keep Saturday 17 June free for our third event when Pulborough residents will be opening their gardens to us.