Parish Restoration Project
Parish Sponsored Walk, May 2021
A team of walkers from the Parish of Newtownards and Comber will be doing a sponsored walk on Monday 3rd Mary 2021. Father Martin O’Hagan, Deacon James McAllister, Gail Glover, her son Kailan and others, will be walking the coastal path between Bangor and Holywood and back. The money they raise will be divided between three worthy causes close to their hearts.
Our Parish Church in Newtownards, St. Patrick’s, is in the last stages of restoration and further funds are needed to pay the final bills, 50% of the sponsorship will go towards the restoration fund; The Foyle Hospice and The Marie Curie Hospice in Belfast have provided, and are providing, a loving palliative care service to many people in our Parish and our loved ones, the rest of the sponsorship will go to these wonderful charities.
Please support us with sponsorship dropped into the parochial house or through our Just Giving page.
With the generous support we have received to date we have over £300,000 towards the restoration. This is a fabulous sum but we are still somewhat short of the tendered figure of £385,000, to which must be added costs for painting and marble for the sanctuary floor. We expect some additional money from gift aid and other donations but we still have more work to do. To help with the deficit we will be offering some of the speciality items in the Church for sponsorship.
These items vary in cost but to offer more flexibility they can be sponsored as a single item or in part. The items, their overall cost and the number of lots they can be sponsored in are listed below. We hope to have people at weekend Masses to take sponsorship but this depends on COVID-19 restrictions.
However you can sponsor an item in full or in part by contacting Janine Martin on 07962 220 080 or by returning the flier in the collection basket or post through the letterbox of the Parochial House, with your name and number for Janine to contact you. When you sponsor an item you will receive a certificate of sponsorship and your name will be recorded against the item you sponsored in the ‘Golden Book’.
Update May 2021: The uptake in sponsorship has been fabulous but we have still a way to go before reaching our funding goal. It is still possible to sponsor the Marble for the sanctuary floor and the St. Mochai Icon. Please call Janine on 07962220080 if you would like to sponsor one of these items.
Parish Restoration Process
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Parish Restoration Video
These are exciting times, in the Parish of Newtownards and Comber, as we embark on the restoration of St. Patrick’s Church.
St. Patrick’s has served our congregation well since 1877 but there are some significant areas we need to address now to make sure it continues to provide us, and the generations to come, with a comfortable, safe and sacred space in which to worship and give glory to God.
Please download and read the brochure for an address from Father Martin O’Hagan, an overview of the restoration and the ways you can help us financially. All donations are very much appreciated!
Keep an eye on this space for online giving coming soon.