Sponsorship & Donations

Since the Society’s formation, we have sponsored activities, donated money or raised money for many worthwhile causes that we believe further the objectives in our Constitution. We have also acted to raise significant sums of money to assist in the acquisition of such important amenities as the Moors (a site of Special Scientific Interest), as well as Claylands and Dundridge Nature Reserves. The Society worked with the Woodland Trust to help it acquire the ancient woodland at Runnydown Copse on Dundridge Lane. More recently we have contributed to many worthy causes, see below. If you believe that all such causes are worthwhile, then do consider becoming a member – it’s really easy.

If you’d like to make a voluntary donation of any size please do so:

By Paypal (click Donate)

by cash or cheque, payable to the Bishop’s Waltham Society, and send to Chris Yates, Butts Cottage Free Street, Bishops Waltham, Southampton SO32 1EE; or

by direct payment from your bank to ours: account name Bishop’s Waltham Society, sort code 30:90:85, account number 00135279

RECENT SPONSORSHIPS OR DONATIONS THE SOCIETY HAS MADE:

2022: During the year we donated £75 to the Disaster Emergency Committee’s Ukraine Appeal; £200 to the Bishop’s Waltham Oral History Group; and £50 to St Peter’s Country Fayre Donation. As one of the Sponsors of the Henry VIII Celebrations, the Society shared the £100 prize for “Community Event of the Year” Award 2022 and all sponsors agreed to donate the prize money to Meon Valley Food Bank. As in previous years we have hypothecated our Gift Aid and so we propose to donate the £420 we received for 2022 to the same cause – the Food Bank (this will show up in our 2022 accounts).

2021: We gave Bishop’s Waltham in Bloom £150 and £50 to St Peter’s Church (Country Fayre). Our donations were limited because we also provided £1,000 to the ‘Start-up Fund’ for the Henry VIII Commemoration Event planned for July 2022 (to be refunded if profits were made at the event).

2020: We gave £225 to Bishop’s Waltham in Bloom and, as proposed at our AGM, we donated £150 to Citizen’s Advice and £200 to Meon Valley Home-Start Hampshire (a voluntary organisation in which volunteers offer regular support and practical help to local families under stress to help give their children the best possible start in life). We have also donated £600 to the Royal British Legion as part of the proceeds from the sale of our book “We will remember them”.

2019: At its 2019 AGM the Society took an important decision. All charities apply for Gift Aid from the government. Few realise that this means the Treasury hands back over £1.2bn a year - a sum that could build new schools or hospitals. Yet the money returned to thousands of charities is so relatively small for each that it often isn't allocated to anything in particular and becomes a contingency fund or, worse, a sort of "slush fund". As a result, the Society voted to "hypothecate" (specifically allocate) its own Gift Aid to important local causes each year to ensure the money made a difference.

So, in 2019 we split our Gift Aid in half so that we were able to directly support Bishop’s Waltham’s Gateway Club (a social club for the local community with learning disabilities) and Bishop's Waltham Minibus Group (which provides transport for charitable organisations and affiliated groups and to aged or disabled individuals) with £215 each.

Children’s Hanging Baskets in Red Lion Street 2018

In 2018 we sponsored the wildflower beds at both Hoe Road and Tangier Lane, as well as the Children’s Hanging Basket Competition (in Red Lion Street), all run by Bishop’s Waltham in Bloom (£350). We also sponsored a day’s training for Citizens Advice volunteers on how to help people who are being moved onto Universal Credit within the parish (£360). And in November, having discovered that 30 families a week were accessing it in the run-up to Christmas, we donated £150 to the Meon Valley Food Bank that operates from Bishop’s Waltham Youth Club hut.

Hoe Road roundabout 2017

In 2017 we sponsored the wildflower bed at the Hoe Road roundabout (as well as our annual sponsored bed on the Winchester Road).

In 2016, we donated £1,000 to the ‘permanent water’ project initiated by the North Pond Conservation Group.

In 2015, working with English Heritage we funded 1,000 copies of a new all-colour ‘Guide to the Palace’ at a cost of £2,000. See Our Publications.

Are you looking for sponsorship or a donation?

If you are looking for sponsorship or a donation to a specific project that you believe is in line with the Society’s objectives (see Our Constitution) then, in the first instance, please contact our Treasurer, Keith Fry, or our Chairman, Robin Shepherd, through info@bishopswalthamsociety.org.uk

The board reserve the right to decline opportunities without going into detailed reasoning. The board's decision is final.