Josiah, a curate in Hayes, west London first approached Clergy Support Trust as a good place to get financial support to cover the cost of his vestments. Since then, he has been comfortable and confident enough to apply to the Trust for other grants, including one grant towards the cost of a bicycle, one towards garden maintenance, and one towards the cost of a used Macbook to write his sermons.
"I serve here as a mission priest, so I normally visit other churches to cover. Sometimes I cover two churches on Sunday, and since I came here, I think I've covered four churches. We went into interregnum, so I was the only priest here and it was difficult for me to cover parishes. Fortunately, they've all got a vicar now."
"How can you be in the Church of England, and not have heard of Clergy Support Trust?"
"I asked my group whether they'd heard of Clergy Support Trust, and they said 'no', and I said 'really?'. They were surprised, so I gave them the website. Some of them were deacons and some were already priests, and they were so happy with it.
They asked about confidentiality and all those things, and I said 'The Trust are very secure, so you should go ahead and apply.'
If I talk to a priest about Clergy Support Trust, I'll say 'It was established to support us, so why should you suffer when you've got some lovely people out there willing to support you? We are not on this journey alone.'"
Last year, we supported over 2,700 Anglican clergy households, with 6,800 grants. The demand for our services has quadrupled in the past four years, and continues to grow. We're only able to walk alongside clergy and their families with your help.
If you feel able to make a donation through the link below, to help us continue to serve the people who spend their lives serving others, it would be very greatly appreciated.