Elmley Castle, Bricklehampton and The Combertons PCC has successfully applied to the Kingdom People Fund for a grant to purchase a contactless giving machine. The machine will be fixed in place near the entrance to St Mary’s, Elmley Castle, enabling visitors to easily donate to the church using credit/debit card or phone.
PCC Treasurer, Hattie Sleight, applied to the Fund for the machine. She said: “We get a lot of visitors popping into the church as well attending weddings and funerals and they don’t always carry cash. People often ask how they can donate and are quite embarrassed when they’re not able to. It’s common sense to have some kind of contactless machine.”
The Church had previously tried a smaller contactless machine but it hadn’t worked very well. The new machine includes a portable ‘sum up’ machine which they can also use in the other churches of the benefice when required. WiFi has been extended from the rectory to cover the church using additional routers.
“Applying for a Kingdom People grant was suggested by Stewardship and Resources Officer, Chris Boden,” said Hattie. “The grant has enabled us to purchase a ‘Payaz’ machine with a decent sized screen which should be straightforward for people to use. We can also programme it to show specific fundraising appeals or projects. We hope to have it in place for Christmas and if the machine proves itself, the other churches in our benefice will almost certainly follow.”
Chris said: “Since 2019 we have seen donations through digital giving nearly double every year, with £175,439 being given to our churches in 2022. This is the perfect time to get a contactless device for your church, as Christmas visitors mean that churches in our diocese receive twice as many donations in December than in any other month.”
All churches are eligible to apply for a grant of up to £1000 from the Kingdom People Fund each year to help in their mission and ministry. Find out more: www.cofe-worcester.org.uk/kingdom-people-fund
