Each year the Winchester Diocesan Board of Finance sets aside a sum of money to help parishes that have real difficulty in paying their share allocation in full.  The Aided Benefice Panel awards grants to either a Parish or Benefice after careful consideration of the application form and supporting documentation.  The Panel consists of two Archdeacons, three Rural/Area Deans and the Diocesan Secretary.  

The application forms are available from the Parish Resources Adviser, Gordon Randall.  They should be completed and returned as early as possible after the start of the New Year.  The first meeting of the Review Group is in April or May and two further meetings may be arranged later in the year.

Objectives & Process

The Objectives are to:  

• receive early warning that a Parish and/or Benefice are having real difficulty in paying their full share allocation;
• enable a pro-active approach to occur in partnership between the Parish/Benefice and the Diocese, which seeks other solutions to the problem.  For example:
  • a Stewardship campaign;
  • Pastoral re-organisation;
  • accepting and defining some form of longer term financial support.
• recognise that no matter how good/fair the system for Parish Share Allocation is, there will always be special circumstances that will cause difficulty in the payment of Parish Share.  We need to be aware of these as early as possible.

The Process

The process can be divided into two stages, one centred on the Parish or Benefice and the other on the Parish Resources Adviser. 

The Parish or Benefice

• requests an Aided Benefice Grant application form;
• completes the form;
• collects the additional information to accompany the application (the ‘Return of Church Finance Form’, Parish Accounts and a budget);
• returns the application form and supporting documents to the Parish Resources Adviser.

On receipt of the form, the Parish Resources Adviser

• asks the Deanery Finance Committee Chairman to make any additional comments;
• discusses the application in detail with the Parish/Benefice (typically with the Treasurer and Incumbent) regarding the:
  • general level of budgeting;
  • tightness of the budget items and the degree to which they have been reviewed by the PCC;
  • potential for income growth and any stewardship/review activities that have been undertaken;
  • level of commitment of regular giving;
  • use of tax effective giving.
• produces a report for the Aided Benefice Panel, which is presented to members of the Panel prior to the meeting;
• attends the meeting of the Review Group. 

The Panel will agree an Aided Parish/Benefice Grant, defer making a decision on the application or decline the application.  If further discussion needs to take place with the Parish/Benefice, this will be with Parish Resources Adviser or, occasionally, the Archdeacon.  All decisions are reported back to the Parish/Benefice and the Finance Committee. 

To obtain an Aided Benefice Grant Application form please click here.