Fundraising

For a calendar of forthcoming fundraising events please visit our News & Events page

Why we are asking for your support

Skinner Street United Reformed Church is proud of its heritage and the way the congregations have kept this building in good repair. A building of this age, constructed in 1777 and adapted over time to suit the needs of the congregation and community, is always in need of attention.

It is Poole's oldest remaining church building and as such we believe it is of historical importance to the whole borough.

With nonconformist churches, the responsibility for repair, maintenance and renewal falls to the local congregation. In the past, when the numbers were in the hundreds and the trustees were wealthy local merchants and tradesmen, raising funds for projects was never too much trouble. Today, things are somewhat different.

Our congregation is small and not too young. The United Reformed Church (which took over the trustee responsibility in 1972) is not a wealthy organisation, but does shoulder some of the financial burden. But only if the local church can help too and the project has a sustainable goal.

At Skinner Street, both the church itself, as a place of Christian worship and the other hall we have, are very important to the local community. We still need to raise funds to keep the building fit for our groups who meet here today and increasingly the day to day maintenance becomes more costly.

As a Grade II* listed building, repairs and renewals have to be completed to specific standards and materials which always seem to be very costly. Grants are available but we have to prove we have some reserves of our own to contribute, as well as showing that we do actively raise funds.

We hold regular fundraising events for this purpose. We also want to have the building open to any who would like to visit, for worship or to explore the history of Skinner Street that represents Poole's social and cultural richness.

For a calendar of forthcoming fundraising events please visit our News & Events page.

Friends of Skinner Street. Become one!

We are delighted to offer you the opportunity to become a Friend of Skinner Street Church. We do hold open days throughout the year. In particular we were part of Dorset Historic Architectural Week and welcomed visitors together with giving them a quiz about the building and guided tours! To become ‘a friend’ please send your name and email contact to Gail Nuttall (church treasurer) who will pass it to our newsletter editor Tricia Knapp if you would like our monthly news that gives information of open days. If you just would like to know about open events, please tell Gail this. Obviously should you wish to make a small, regular donation to help with upkeep costs, we can give the church bank details.