More information regarding Westbury here
St Augustine's Church
We held the Act of Remembrance on the 10th November with about 50 attending. In addition to the Parish Council and School, we also had representatives from the family of the bomber crash, the Brackley Royal British Legion and RAF Croughton.
Despite Storm Bert, the Christmas Bazaar was held on the 24th November and was very successful. Thanks to all who organised and supported.
Fabric Update
We are working on a number of projects at the moment as part of preserving our lovely12th century village church that is 850 years old next year.
We are very grateful for the support from our Friends organisation FOStA who raised funds to replace one of our windows that was in a poor condition and in danger of collapsing. That window is at the rear opposite the porch and the window now looks amazing - you can see the before and after below!
We are also very grateful to those who have donated to help us repair the church boundary walls - the work is not fully finished and more is still taking place. However these are now much improved including the removal of a lot of ivy that was undermining them.
We are also going to straighten the church notice board that has been taking on a distinct lean!
We are grateful to those who clean the church and prepare the flowers. The churchyard team have also been working hard to get the churchyard into great condition - new volunteers for all these activities are always gratefully received!
Wifi
Our 12th century village church has moved a bit closer to the 21st as we now have wifi installed! Simply select "St Augustines Visitor" and accept the terms to use.
Benefice & Westbury Website
We have our St Augustine website section on the Benefice website that includes information about the church opening, building and also the history.
In addition, a number of Paula's addresses are now available to listen to on the site.
All the services are listed along with lots of extra information that we hope you will find useful.
Brackley Food Bank and Baby Basics
We are supporting the Brackley Food Bank and you can leave donations in the red box in the church. Full story here including what types of food they are seeking.
We are also supporting Baby Basics and information on how you can support both these charities is on the web site.
Parish Giving
To be able to pay our running costs and to maintain the church through these fabric projects, we need ongoing regular giving from the community. If you can support us, you can do this via the Parish Giving Service and thank you – it would mean a lot.
You can also support our fabric for FREE while shopping online by clicking here or on the image at the bottom of this page. We currently have 21 supporters but more are gratefuly appreciated! The money raised so far has allowed us to fix some broken panes and fill a big hole in the tower!
FOStA
FOStA is a charity set up to help maintain the fabric of the church. if you would like to know more, or contribute in any way to this effort, please contact westburyfosta@gmail.com. We are delighted that the window on the south aisle, opposite the church door, has now been replaced, and thank you to everyone who has contributed to FOStA and enabled us to pay for this. The old window had become distorted and gaps had opened up – the church feels warmer now this window is weatherproofed. We are also contributing to repairing the stained-glass window on the north wall, which will be next to be cleaned and restored. After that, we will be raising funds to help out with the rest of the windows. We will soon be planning new events for next year, and we will keep you informed on progress.
It costs over £20,000 each year to keep the church open and maintain the churchyard. If you are able to help at all, please click here or on the Parish Giving Scheme logo below or support us through your online shopping for free here
