Charities We Are Supporting During 2017 and 2018

Showing God’s Love through supporting Charities
See also details of the charity selected for the 2017 Lent Appeal here.
On this page you will find details of the charities that we are currently supporting regularly.
​This list was compiled after a consultation late 2016 and was approved by the PCC in January 2017. The next review is planned for the end of 2018.

Overview

The following charities are supported regularly:
International Charities (one third of the total, divided equally between the following)
  • Compassion
  • Tearfund
  • Retrak
National and International Charities (one third of the total, divided equally between the following)
  • Barnabas Fund
  • CMS (Church Mission Society)
Local Charities (one third of the total, divided according to need between the following)
  • Sandhurst Counselling Service
  • Dr Howard Stilliard Memorial Fund
  • ​St Michael's Hardship Fund

​For more details of these charities please scroll down this page.

Compassion

Website
​https://www.compassionuk.org/
Geographical Areas Of Work
Africa (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Togo,  Uganda)
Asia (Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Thailand)
Central America (Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Haiti)
South America (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru)
About the charity
Releasing Children From Poverty In Jesus' Name
Compassion is one of the world's leading child development and child advocacy organisations.
Our approach is a personal one. Working with the local church, we link a child living in poverty with a loving sponsor, like you. Each sponsor gives their child access to education, health checks and the care of a local church-based Compassion project. There's no quick fix to global poverty, but through our programmes, children's lives are being changed. We're impacting families, communities and whole nations.
We partner with churches in 26 of the world’s poorest countries. These churches are able to meet the specific needs of their communities.
Mission Links
​As the charity works through churches, there is an indirect link to supporting evangelistic and Christian mission activities.
Through the activities, it proclaims the good news of the Kingdom, teaches and nurtures new believers, responds to human need by loving service and seeks to transform unjust structures in society, to challenge violence of every kind and to pursue peace and reconciliation (four of the five Anglican marks of Mission)

Tearfund

Website
http://www.tearfund.org/
Geographical Areas Of Work
Africa (Egypt, Mali, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Niger, Ivory Coast, Chad, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Somalia, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Angola, Tanzania, Malawi)
Asia (Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Central Asian States, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Mekong Sub Region, Philippines, Nepal, India, Afghanistan)
Europe (Greece)
Latin America & Caribbean (Haiti, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua)
About the charity
​We're Christians Passionate About Ending Poverty
We're following Jesus where need is greatest, working through local churches to unlock people's potential and helping them to discover that the answer to poverty is within themselves. When disasters strike, we respond quickly.  
Mission Links
​As the charity works through churches, there is an indirect link to supporting evangelistic and Christian mission activities.
They also work to challenge unjust society and current campaigns include work on sustaining and renewing creation.
As such, they cover all five of the Anglican marks for mission.

Retrak

Website
https://www.retrak.org/
Geographical Areas Of Work
Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, D. R. of the Congo, Tanzania, Malawi, Zimbabwe)
South America (Brazil)
About the charity
​Retrak is a faith-based UK charity. Our vision is a world where no child is forced to live on street.
We believe that no child should be excluded, forgotten or ignored and we are motivated by our Christian faith to work towards our vision of no child being forced to live on the street. To achieve this we want to end poverty in all its forms, everywhere.
Retrak works to transform highly vulnerable children’s lives, preserve families, empower communities and give each of them a voice. We put children at the very heart of everything we do and will be fearless and tenacious in defending and promoting their rights.
Mission Links
​Retrak’s focus is on two of the Anglican marks for mission, responding to human need by loving service and seeking to transform unjust structures in society, to challenge violence of every kind and to pursue peace and reconciliation

Barnabas Fund

Website
​https://www.barnabasaid.org/
Geographical Areas Of Work
National and International
About the charity
​The main ministry of Barnabas Fund is to send financial support to projects which help Christians where they suffer discrimination, oppression and persecution as a consequence of their faith.
The projects aim to strengthen Christian individuals, churches and their communities by providing material and spiritual support in response to needs identified by local Christian leaders.
Mission Links
​Barnabas Fund’s focus is on two of the Anglican marks for mission, responding to human need by loving service and seeking to transform unjust structures in society, to challenge violence of every kind and to pursue peace and reconciliation, although as they also work with churches, they are indirect links to the other marks for mission.

CMS (Church Mission Society)

Website
​http://www.churchmissionsociety.org/
Geographical Areas Of Work
National & International
Africa (DR Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda)
Asia (Nepal, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand)
Europe (Britain, Cyprus, Egypt, Lebanon, Malta, Netherlands, Spain, Ukraine)
Latin America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuadaor, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, Peru)
About the charity
Our vision is to see all God’s people engaged in God’s mission, bringing challenge, change, hope and freedom to the world.
As we join in God’s mission, through Jesus, and in the power of the Spirit we see that:·
  • the love of Christ renews people and places·
  • pioneering leaders forge new paths of transformation·
  • people on the margins flourish·
  • the healing of creation begins
What are our values?
We are people who are:·
  • Pioneering: we try new things, ask questions, cross boundaries· 
  • Evangelistic: we share Jesus in word and action· 
  • Relational: we get alongside people, becoming a genuine part of the communities where we find ourselves·
  • Faithful: where others have left or given up, we remain committed for the long-haul
As a mission community God calls us to be such people. We commit ourselves to live by these values.
Mission Links
Church mission society focuses on two marks for mission, to proclaim the good news of the kingdom and to teach, baptise and nurture new believers

Sandhurst Counselling Service

Website
www.sandhurstcounselling.org.uk
Geographical Areas Of Work
Sandhurst and local area
About the charity
Sandhurst Counselling Service (SCS) was launched by the PCC five years ago as a separate charity having operated for many years as an outreach by St Michael’s church. It continues to operate from the Pastoral Centre with three trustees nominated by the PCC and is run with a Christian ethos.
​Mental health problems are one of the major, and growing, “unseen” challenges facing our community. Counselling enables people to lead richer, more fulfilling and resourceful lives by exploring the thoughts and feelings that are often behind mental distress and anguish. 
The service operates with 14 volunteer Counsellors, more than 50 Clients in counselling or waiting, and just two paid staff. It is 40% funded by Bracknell Forest Council, 30% by St Michael’s church, and 30% by donations.
Mission Links
​The Counselling Service responds to the Mission of the church ‘To respond to human need by loving service’, and is recognised and valued by the community as such.

Dr Howard Stilliard Memorial Fund

Geographical Areas Of Work
Sandhurst, College Town, and Owlsmoor
About the charity
The fund was set up in memory of the late Dr. Howard Stilliard who was a regular member of St. Michael’s church and a member of our community. The aims and objectives of the fund are to promote the welfare and enterprise of young people, under the age of 18, and resident in the geographical area, by making financial contributions towards the cost of projects, courses and equipment, especially where statutory funds are not available. In general small projects which will benefit not only the young person, but also the local community are given priority.

St Michael's Hardship Fund

Geographical Areas Of Work
​People who live in the parish of Sandhurst or who have a connection with St. Michael’s Church.
About the charity
In the Bible we have repeated exhortations to “love our neighbour” in practical ways. Several years ago the PCC set up a Hardship Fund within our overall framework of Charitable Giving so that we can assist those most in need in our own context.
The Fund is administered by the Rector and Churchwardens, and every request is treated in the strictest confidence. The Fund is for one-off grants for specific expenditure, rather than for on-going deprivation, and the beneficiaries would be people who either live within the parish of Sandhurst or have an active and current connection to St Michael's Church. They may well be referred by a friend or neighbour.
Mission Links
The fund covers one of the marks of mission – to respond to human need by loving service; however as it works through our church there is an indirect link to the other marks of mission.