St Mary the Virgin and All Saints, Potters Bar - Charities

Christ Church and

the Archdeacon George Memorial Nursery and Secondary School

St Mary’s contact with Christ Church began in December 1998 when, during a family holiday in The Gambia, Janet and Esther Daniels attended the church on Christmas Day. During the service the priest announced that the church was in need of Psalters, and if any of the visitors were able to help, the church would be very grateful. Esther was at that time a member of St Mary’s Guides and working on her Baden Powell Trefoil, for which she had to undertake some fundraising for a charitable cause. She organised a Coffee Morning and Bring and Buy Sale after Church Parade one Sunday and raised £60. After this her studies took precedence and the money rested in a drawer, although she had researched and found that Psalters cost about £30 each. She was saddened that her efforts would yield such a small result and continued to look for sources from which to purchase these items.

In the autumn of 2000 the family again decided to go to The Gambia and a letter was written to the Priest at Christ Church to enquire whether the Psalters were still required. An email in response confirmed that they were still needed, but: “if this proves difficult, we also need a computer and printer and liturgical linen (red, white, green and violet)”. In response to this, within 4 weeks, a donated computer, a printer + inks (purchased with a donation from the Friday Lunch Group and the money raised by Esther, all the Alternative Service Books from St Mary’s (containing the Psalms marked for chanting), and several sets of altar fronts and chasubles (donated by 2 other churches), had been assembled to be transported to The Gambia. Monarch Airlines agreed to carry the consignment (115kgs in all) free of charge when the Daniels family travelled again to their holiday destination.

These items were received ecstatically by Fr Sam Anumihe, the new Priest at Christ Church, and were in use on Christmas Eve 2000 – the day after their arrival! It was noted that the church was desperately short of service books and books of Christmas Carols for the congregation of 200+. Janet undertook the task of reproducing the 54-page Service book and the Carol book, which were produced and laminated. The PCC of St Mary’s agreed to carry the cost of the photocopying and the cost of the paper and laminating pouches was raised by the sale of hand made greetings cards.

Attached to Christ Church are two schools: the Archdeacon George Memorial Nursery School which is in the same compound as the church and the Archdeacon George Memorial Secondary School which is in another part of the town. During the holiday,