Friends of Great Missenden Parish Church 

Friends of Great Missenden Parish Church (Registered Charity No: 1067435) is a charity which was founded in 1997 and is an important part of Parish life. It aims to raise funds to support the maintenance of the church's fabric, fittings, and old churchyard. 

Everyone is most welcome to join the Friends. For further details please email Avril Cobham, Hon Secretary, or download and complete the  joining form to post her. Alternatively set up a direct debit with your bank and email the completed Joining Form straight to Avril or contact Vivienne Davis, Hon Chairman: 01494 891312 / avd@davis.f9.co.uk

A warm welcome awaits you!

You can read Friends' Annual Report by clicking here.
And the list of Grants, as of December 2023, here.
 

Up and Coming Events

2024
Talks
All talks will be at 2:30pm in the Parish church and a delicious Afternoon Tea and Raffle will follow each talk.  Entry is £10 at the door or tickets purchased from Samways in Station Approach. We hope that you will be able to join us!

Saturday, 20th April - "John Hampden, the Patriot" by Dr Beth Rogers, Chair of Trustees of the John Hampden Society.

Saturday, 15th June - "Life in Her Hands" by Professor Averil Mansfield CBE, the first woman Professor of Surgery in the UK.

Saturday, 21st September - "Ukraine and East Europe" by Paula Kitching

Past Events

Bucks Historic Church Trust Ride + Stride event on 9thSeptember.
Warm thanks to everyone who kindly made donations: a total of £560 was raised, half of which will be returned to our Parish Church.
 The Trust kindly gave our PCC grants of £5,000 in October 2022 and £6,000 in August 2023 towards the final tranche of stonework repairs to church tower and buttresses. Friends of Great Missenden Parish Church charity met the remaining cost of this year’s work with a grant of £4,270 to the PCC.  


A Talk & Tea: The Village Church School's Bi-Centenary 
On 23rd, Paula Kitching gave an excellent and fascinating talk about Great Missenden Church School’s history in the Oldham Hall, the original village school, built in 1822 by James Oldham Oldham, owner of Missenden Abbey.

School c1900's -Paula Kitching



Pictures of the original School Registers were shown of Belgian evacuees in WW1, of many children leaving the school during the late1920’s Depression and of Polish children admitted in 1947 from the Misbourne estate. This is one of few schools in England still retaining registers required by the 1870 Education Act.

Paula Kitching's Talk 23Sep23 A delicious Afternoon Tea and raffle followed and funds of £800 were raised. In September, Friends of Great Missenden Parish Church gave grants of nearly £6,000 for the church boiler repair and of nearly £5,000 for final repairs to the church tower and buttresses. Warmest thanks to all our generous supporters!

 
   





IMG 8784The Silver Jubilee Celebration Tea Party for our members and supporters on Saturday 17th June was a memorable and very happy occasion! Delicious food was provided by the committee and three friends, there was gentle mandolin and accordion music and animated conversations and happy faces! The committee wish to thank everyone, past and present, who has supported the charity since its foundation in 1997, enabling grants of over £176,000 to the PCC for repairs to the church fabric.

We would welcome new members to help with future grants: to join, see the link below.  In return, members receive the gratitude of all those who use our much-loved 12th century Parish Church, details of all our events, the Annual Report and Accounts. Please join us today!

IMG 8780 (2)
The grants given have enabled restoration and repair projects at  the Church, including £30,000 for repairs to the clerestory   windows and more recently, over £46,000, to  convert our historic J.J.Binns organ to electro-pneumatic action.  The latest grant of £7,190 for the second tranche of tower stonework repairs was made in September 2022. Urgent repairs of well over £1/2 million are still required and kind support with donations or legacies to help maintain this historic building, founded in 1133AD, would be greatly appreciated. It is a vital and much loved community asset!