Extra 50p Challenge Reminder Dear fellow church member, Thank you for your generosity over the past four years through the Extra 50p Challenge which has contributed to the maintenance and further development of a vibrant and active community here at St Giles’ Church. This is the final year of the pledge that you made in November 2011 to increase your giving to St Giles’ by at least 50p each week. If you give by standing order and have not already done so it would be appreciated if you would update this as soon as possible, please. Likewise, if you give by a weekly envelope or onto the plate please remember that this amount should also be increased appropriately. Should you wish to change your method of giving from the plate or envelope to a standing order all you need to do is complete the Standing Order Mandate form that is available in the church. If you are a taxpayer also fill in the Gift Aid form, please, if you have not done so before. This will enable us to recover tax on your gift (at no extra cost to you) and so boost its value. Thank you once again for all you have given. The PCC appreciates how generous people are to the church and it is difficult asking for more but your participation in this scheme has made a significant beneficial difference to our income. The church is precious and belongs to all of us through worship, ministry and mission and if we are to keep it active and growing for years to come we need to ensure that the financial base is sound. Dorothy Pearson
Magazine Subscriptions Annual subscriptions for St Giles’ readers are due this month - please use the envelope inside this magazine to make your payment of £5, to run from April 2016 to March 2017. Thank you Congratulations to Doretta Richardson on winning The Bake Off on Tuesday 15 March! This was a PACT event – one involving the Police and the community organised by some of the students at the Sixth Form Centre. There were plenty of cakes on display: chocolate, coffee, vanilla, carrot, raspberry, etc. Two members of St Giles’ congregation were dutifully tucking in and tasting everything on offer (bet you can’t guess who they were!). There were gallons of tea, coffee and fruit juices to help the cakes to go down easily. It was fantastic to meet students, police officers, CPSOs, Age Concern reps, DYFC reps, and teaching staff. Everyone had a voting slip which had to be placed next to the cake they thought was the best. There was just an empty platter where Loretta’s cake had once stood – every crumb had been devoured – but the pile of voting slips was enormous. There was a really loud drum roll at 5 pm prompt. Doretta was then given a ‘secret’ hamper of goodies and photographed with all the various officials who were present. It was a lovely way to spend an hour. Many congratulations to Doretta – the Gilesgate Star Baker!!!
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