The “Friends of St Mary’s Kidlington” was set up in 2016 to provide a forum for everyone who wanted to support the development of St Mary’s for the benefit of the community. This was available to all, not just members of the congregation, as a way of raising funds to contribute to the fabric and facilities in the church, separate from regular funding for parish activities.
We held a variety of events, trips, talks, etc but then everything came to a halt with COVID. But we are delighted to say that FOSMK is now reborn and has some exciting plans for the future. The first step (though perhaps not the most exciting) was to hold a long-overdue Annual General Meeting on Thursday 30th May 2024. Refreshments and AGM were followed by a talk by Ven David Meara “A Serious House: Why Church buildings matter today”.
In July, the Friends were delighted to attend a reception in Exeter College, hosted by Sir Rick Trainor, Rector. He gave us many fascinating stories about the historical relationship between Kidlington and Exeter College and led an interesting tour of the Jackson Library. We are now looking forward to a series of talks this autumn; speakers will be Philip Pullman, Prue Leith and Debbie Dance.
You can find out more by going the the new FOSMK website at fosmk.org.uk