The Friends of Leatherhead Parish Church

drawing by the late Anthony Hill
copyright Helena Hill 1997

  • Quiz - 9 February there was overwhelming demand for tables for the Quiz; apologies to those of you who were disappointed. The evening was great fun and made a significant contribution to our funds.

  • Annual General Meeting took place at 8pm on Friday, May 16 in the Church and will be followed by coffee and there was an opportunity to hear a short demonstration of the newly restored 17c Thomas Parker organ and to visit the Bell Chamber - Chairman's Report to AGM

  • Coffee Morning and Plant Sale 10am on May 17 was our ever-popular coffee morning and plant sale and made a significant contribution to our funds..

  • Open Gardens On the afternoon of Sunday June 22, a selection of very different and very interesting gardens in and around Leatherhead were be on view. The event was very enjoyable and raised nearly £650.

  • Last year's popular event, the Bridge Tea, will be repeated on Thursday October 2 – tables are limited and Fran Fleming (375957) is taking bookings.
The Friends' Churchyard Working Parties - see photo report.

from the January 2008 Parish magazine
The Friends of Leatherhead Parish Church
The ancient Church of St Mary and St Nicholas, Leatherhead, dates from the 11th century. It is the oldest building in Leatherhead, with one of the largest churchyards in Surrey and consequential ongoing costs.

The Parish Church is appreciated in many ways, as a fine example of mediaeval architecture, as a quiet place for reflection and as a place of worship. It belongs to us all. The objective of the Friends is to raise funds for the maintenance of the fabric and grounds of the Church to ensure our beautiful building and its surroundings are preserved for future generations.

After last year's generous support for the restoration of the 18c Thomas Parker organ, we're looking for ways to raise funds for more exciting (and some not so exciting but nevertheless extremely important) projects. If you have any ideas for fundraising events, we'd love to hear from you. In the meantime, some dates for your 2008 diary are:
Saturday February 9: It's Quiz Time Again (Bookings - J Hampton on 01372 376640)
Saturday March 8: Game Shows for a Laugh - we can guarantee you an evening of great comedy entertainment (Details - J Hampton)
Friday May 16: Annual General Meeting in the Parish Church Hall (details later)
Saturday May 17: Coffee Morning and Plant Sale (more details later)
Thursday October 2: (yes, October) - Bridge with Afternoon Tea (more details later) J Robinson (01372 376650)

from the January 2008 Parish magazine
Friends of Leatherhead Parish Church - Membership Very many thanks to all of you for your continuing support. With your help the Friends have been able to contribute significantly to the maintenance of the fabric and surroundings of the Church and have been delighted to be associated with the restoration of the Thomas Parker organ.

Existing Friends should have received an invitation to renew their membership - if you know of anyone, family, friends or neighbours, who would like to receive details, please do give them one of the leaflets which are available in Church.
If you have a Collecting Box to be emptied, this may be given to the Hon Treasurer, F Haslam (01372 379341)
S Shaw, Membership Secretary (01372 360304)

At our 2007 AGM we welcomed Chris Evans as our new chairman.
We are grateful to retiring chairman Ron Presley OBE for all that he has done for us.

Apr 2007 in church - We had an exhibition on the progress on the restoration of our Thomas Parker Organ and at our 2007 AGM Dominic Gywnn, one of the restorers, gave an excellent talk about his work and the project.
In November 2007 this restoration project came to a glorious conclusion with an Inaugural Concert. Many Friends contributed to the project either individually or through their support of the Friends of Leatherhead Parish Church.

Through the Friends there is an on-line listing of those commemorated in the church and churchyard.