Friends

There are members of our community who may not be regular church attenders, but who are interested in helping to keep the Church viable as a building and community asset.

These people have formed a group called the "Friends" of Lower Tatham Church (St James the Less) who currently meet up on a roughly bi-monthly basis.

There was an initial meeting at The Bridge Inn, Lower Tatham  at 7:30 pm on Monday, 2nd June 2014. The room was filled to capacity and an enthusiastic discussion ensued. Various topics were discussed, including forming a recognised charity with a formal constitution.

We can now report that as of 14th April 2015, the "Friends of St. James the Less, Tatham " have been entered onto the Register of Charities. 

A "projects" group was formed with the remit of looking at the options for improving the facilities at the Church which initially looked at the feasibility of putting a heating system into the Church. To cut a long story short, a comprehensive biomass heating system was installed in the Church & the "Friends" played an important part in the design & installation of this and continue to keep an eye on the new boiler.

The "Friends" also played an important part in the installation of the toilet in the vestry.

They also played an important part in the installation of the "Brewpoint" in the North aisle of the Church.

There is an "Events" subgroup, which has separate regular meetings,  and which organises various events in the Church and in the local area. The first fund raising initiative was to form a "100 Club". This has been very successful and currently has 113 members. For further details of the 100 Club, please click here.

Events that have been organised include an Open Gardens Day, a Leyland Brass Band Concert, a Queen's 90th Birthday Party & a Lancaster & District Male Voice Choir Concert, which have all been very successful.

For further information, including photographs, of these and other events both arranged by the Friends & the PCC, please click here.

The Friends have, to date, raised a total of around £32,000 & over £18,000 has already been spent on helping the PCC with various improvements to the Church which include additional lighting, oak doors to the alcove in the North Aisle, an up-to-date sound system, new chairs and two document display racks.

Recently, some members of the group met with PCC representatives to look together at identifying the next tranche of improvement works and , in particular, examining ways of making the Church even more welcoming to visitors.

Since the initial meeting in June 2014, the following "Officers/ Trustees" have been elected:

Chair & Treasurer : Paul Whatmough ; Secretary: Margaret Whatmough ;Trustees: Mel Winstanley & Rita Murphy.

The Friends of St James the Less invite all those interested in this historical church and the community that support it to join the Friends of St James the Less, Tatham , Lancashire, registered charity no. 1161272. Membership is free and open to all those agreeing to support the aims and objectives of the Friends as set out in our Constitution; to preserve and protect St James the Less Church for the benefit of the public as a place of worship and for such other charitable purposes as the Trustees deem appropriate. Please download the Application Form by clicking on the link below. Please complete the form and return to the Secretary. Her contact details are on the form.All Friends will be updated regularly on projects and events taking part at the Church and in support of the community. 

A privacy statement for the Friends has recently been produced and this can be downloaded by clicking on the link below.

A Health & Safety Policy Statement has recently been created and is available by clicking on the link below:

As mentioned above, the Friends group usually meets on a bi-monthly basis.

The last meeting was held in the Churchon Monday, 13th july 2020, which started with the AGM followed by a regular meeting.

It has not yet been decided when the next meeting will take place.

Minutes of previous meetings can be downloaded by clicking on the links further down on this page.