This article has been written to help keep everyone in the picture with our funding progress following the January 2006 Appeal. For the previous report (December 2005), click HERE.

1. BACKGROUND

In the January 2006 Appeal Letter, written to all members at Knutsford Methodist Church by Paul and I, we explained that:-
'The priority now is to see by how much we can reduce the shortfall of £190,000 between now and the end of March 2006 when the building work begins'.
'If we still have a shortfall at the end of March then we will need to take out a 4-Year Methodist Chapel Aid Loan to cover this. We would like to keep this loan as small as possible, so that interest is minimal'.

We asked:
'Please could you consider whether you are able to make any further contributions to the Redevelopment Project'.

2. PROGRESS TO DATE

Since the letter was sent out we have received a further £18,000 from the Church's members (including the Gift Aid Tax Relief that can be reclaimed on the donations). As Chairman of the Finance Committee I would like to thank very much indeed all those people in our congregation who have made these additional donations during the last 6-7 weeks.

This is a further good step forward with our fund raising, but still leaves us with a projected shortfall of £172,000.

3. FUTURE

All additional donations over the next few weeks will greatly assist Knutsford Methodist Church in reducing this shortfall. Furthermore, those donations received before the end of March will be included in the Gift-Aid Tax-Return that we will be submitting during April - so as to get the tax-rebate cheque into our bank account as quickly as possible.