The Friends make grants of money to cover, or contribute towards, the cost of specific activities, works and purchases which variously enhance the life, functioning and appeal of the parish, the Abbey, its environs, St Swithun’s and the Church Rooms. Each specific funding opportunity is called a project. These may be identified by the Vicar, Churchwardens, sub-committees and working groups of the PCC, as well as by FRA trustees and members. Projects and their budgets are agreed by the Committee of Trustees.
All advertising, purchases and activities concerned with encouraging tourists to visit the Abbey are generally funded by the Friends. For example, we pay for the thousands of Abbey self-guide leaflets handed out by Stewards each year (in French, Italian, Spanish and German, as well as English), for access via QR codes to smartphone self-guided tours. We also took the initiative to produce the self-guide for Ukrainian visitors.
The Friends are committed to supporting the provision of activities and services which encourage and enable children and young families to be part of the church family. To this end we make an annual grant to support the employment of Youth Workers; pay all incidental expenses incurred in running the annual “Light in the Abbey” Festival for children and provide financial support for joint projects with local schools and other extraordinary events for children. We bought new play equipment for the toddler group and, in support of Abbey Vine, contributed a third of the cost of their new, music-capable sound system.
We are always looking for ways to enhance the experience of visiting and using, not only the Abbey, but also its environs, St Swithun’s and the Church Rooms. Some years ago, we paid for re-fitting St Anne’s chapel to give it a light, modern appearance; and for new staging which is lighter and takes-up less storage space than the old. More recently, we have paid for equipment to facilitate live-streaming of services and the purchase, installation, user training and first-year subscription for a commercial church management IT system, all of which proved very useful for maintaining contact with parishioners during the covid pandemic.
Currently, we are funding all work to repair and stabilise the much-loved memorial to Alice Taylor and the replacement of all external signage and notice boards to project a modern, friendly and more-informative image for the Abbey. In 2024 we organised a detailed survey of the Romsey Rood using the best available non-invasive techniques to discover more about its structure, strength and how it is fixed to the wall. The information and insights gained will be invaluable in determining how best to conserve the Rood.
In 2023 we brought two cashless alms boxes for the Abbey and a cashless payment system for the shop for use when unattended. In their first full year of operation together they brought in over £29,000 of additional funds for the Abbey. Indeed, these are soon to be upgraded with new machines capable of accepting Gift Aid. We also paid for the Verger’s new top gown (with blue tassels); new and refurbished traditional alms boxes and repair of the clock mechanism.
Most recently, we have funded the redisplay of the medieval cope and purchased a mobile ceiling viewer to enable visitors to view the Abbey ceilings, most especially the Jacobean crossing ceiling (1624).
For many years we have sponsored the Ethelflaeda Festival.
We are currently reviewing the whole visitor experience to see if the Abbey’s history and curiosities can be presented in more coherent, innovative and informative ways. We are also planning to upgrade the existing Timeline display in the Abbey which has proved popular with visitors.
