You may have noticed that over the weekend of Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th February 2011, there was a fresh campaign to promote the Diocesan Gift Aid Scheme within your parish. The promotion took the form of a leaflet entitled ‘MAKE YOUR £4 GO FURTHER’ which, hopefully, was displayed on your parish noticeboard.

In addition to that leaflet, a Questions and Answers sheet was prepared which explained how your donations could be increased, at no extra cost to yourself, by treating those payments as Gift Aid donations.

You may be aware that with effect from 6th April 2011, some of the relief that the Diocese of Middlesbrough can obtain on your donations via the Gift Aid Scheme is to be withdrawn by HM Treasury.

At the moment, the Diocese can obtain an extra 28.2p for every £1.00 that you donate via the Gift Aid Scheme. However, with effect from 6th April 2011, the amount of top-up will be reduced to only 25p for every £1.00 that you donate to your parish.

The Gift Aid Scheme is a unique and legitimate means of obtaining free money for your parish from HM Treasury. You simply have to pay sufficient tax to cover whatever repayment of tax is obtained on your donations by the Diocese from HM Treasury. No doubt you will have questions to ask ñ hopefully, these are covered in the Questions and Answers sheet listed.

SO, TAKE THE PLUNGE AND HELP YOUR PARISH BY COMPLETING A GIFT AID DECLARATION FORM. Don’t forget!