Pompey the cat is the star of a book which is raising money for the Benefice of Braishfield and gaining a loyal following.
It all started for Revd Tom Benson when he was riding his motorbike through Eastern Europe one summer.
He said, “Over the trip, I wrote the first book ‘Pompey makes a friend’ on scraps of paper. The family liked it. We took some photos, printed it off in the office and put some out in the church. It just took off and people kept asking for more!”
More books have followed on from the success, including a story built around a rectory cream tea. Pompey now has a fan club particularly among children as well as his own Instagram page “pompey_sees_all” with just over 800 followers.
Revd Tom added, “It costs about 60-70p per copy to print off and we ask for donations of £3, but they seem to fly off the shelves. About 300 copies have been sold so far.”
Pompey is a black and white cat rescue cat described as “a very small cat with a big attitude” and is around 5 to 6 years old. He joined Revd Tom and his family while he was in ministry in Devon. Their son was in the navy in Portsmouth at the time, hence the name Pompey. But it’s caused a few raised eyebrows since moving to Hampshire, particularly among football fans!
Revd Tom says the Pompey books are available for other churches to buy at a discounted rate to help their own fundraising needs.
“It started as a bit of fun rather than a serious fundraiser, but it creates energy, raises a bit of money and brings joy and that’s got to be good.”
Meanwhile, All Saints Church in Winchester rang out to the sound of music recently when it hosted a 12-hour music marathon.
From 8am to 8pm there was non-stop music in the building from pianists, a rock choir, a classical guitarist and singers. They each took a slot during the day, with members of the congregation and community coming in to listen.
The event was organised by Pam Denison who is the church organist and choir director.
She said, “I’ve organised this a couple of times before and it was enormous fun, absolutely exhausting but everybody who came had a really great time. It’s good for the audience members to be able to enjoy lots of live music and for performers, it’s a chance to play in a relaxed atmosphere. Music is a big part of church life. We have a 9 o’clock service where we have an organist and we have traditional hymns and then we have a worship band playing in the 10:30 service which is a much more lively and informal service. Music’s always been important here.”
The event raised money for church funds and the local basics bank.
Pam added, “I know our gas bill has gone up quite a lot recently because we’ve lost our fixed rate and it cost us £800 last month so this will be really helpful for church funds. We’re also splitting it with the Basics Bank as we regularly support their work.”
Elsewhere, the dinner jackets and gowns were out at Christ Church in Winchester for a gala dinner to raise funds for its building programme.
The project is called ABCDE, reflecting its five aims. A for accessibility, B for beautiful, C for complete, D for declutter and E for Eco Church. The church currently holds a Silver Eco Award but is working towards Gold, which includes installing solar panels on the roof.
Phase one of the project is costing £500,000 and will start this summer, with phase 2 to begin next year.
The church hosted a dinner and dance for 170 people as well as an auction for the whole church which took place over four days. Auction items were donated by members of the church including a cream tea at the vicarage, a tour of Jude’s ice-cream business, Oasis tickets and artwork from members of the congregation.
The night raised over £25,000 and was part of a fundraising campaign which started last autumn.
The church has also benefitted from funding from a Give to Go Green grant and is applying for other funding, now it has received a faculty for the works.
Vicar Simon Cansdale said, “The fundraising has felt like a whole church effort. The work is to make the church fit and ready for another 25 years of mission and worship. Our building isn’t particularly beautiful but it works hard. Every day people are using it in different ways. We’re investing in the future mission of the church.”
