You will be pleased to know that after a long and involved consultation with the Charity Commissioners, the existing trust has been changed and will now be known as The Clinton's Gift (3968336) a copy of which may be seen by contacting John Rees. As before the Ex. Officio Trustees appointed by the Charity Commissioners are the Vicar and Churchwardens of the Parish of Highworth by deed of the post they hold and now also include the Archdeacon of the Parish as well. That means that at present they are Mrs. L. Page and Mr. J. Rees, Churchwardens, and the Ven. A. Hawker, Archdeacon of Malmesbury. The Rev. G. Sowden following his induction on 10th September, 2002 will join them. The above Trustees can appoint up to three Co-opted Trustees at any one time as deemed necessary and Mr. M. Langford has been co-opted to serve for four years as financial advisor In the rules governing the trust known as the Scheme it clearly states the object of the charity.

1. The object of the charity is to further the religious and other charitable work of the Church of England in the parish by repairing and maintaining the church.

2. If and in so far as the income of the charity cannot be applied towards the object specified in (1) above, the trustees may apply it in otherwise furthering the religious and other charitable work of the Church of England in the parish.

The trust does not assume responsibility for the church building, this remains with the membership through their elected Parochial Church Council (PCC) who must make representation to the trust for monies to be spent on repairs and restoration to the fabric of the church. To this end the PCC have already requested that the church's architect draw up an audit of works required so that the church can be brought in to as good a condition as is possible in a building of its age. When this has been achieved, internal re-ordering and re-decoration may be considered. The PCC has also asked about the restoration of the Tower clock and converting it to automatic winding and on how it can be of help to the Town Council, with whom the responsibility lies, in the repair of the Churchyard footpaths and walls.

The Trustees have offered and been accepted, to fund a pilot scheme for the post of Parish Manager for six months, the post will include the duties of Clerk to the Trustees and involve administration, secretarial duties and project management as well as being a first contact for people making inquiries about weddings etc. If the post proves beneficial it will become a permanent post funded jointly by the PCC (through church funds which hopefully will have increased by this time) and the trust.

To start with it is planned to use the lower Church Room as an office/meeting room with review at the end of the pilot period whether re-siting would be advisable and/or affordable. The post will be advertised in the Bulletin in September with the aim of making and appointment in October.

We must again reiterate that the responsibility for the day to day running of the church, such as insurance, heating and lighting bills and meeting our quota payments remains solely with the congregation and that our giving should not decrease because the burden of the upkeep of our church building has been lifted but increased in gratitude and with the knowledge that it can now be used to further Christ's Kingdom here in Highworth and further, as. we are able to widen our missionary giving and use our income to assist the community.

It will take some time for the Trust to become fully operational and it must concentrate first on the church building but in time will bring benefits to both the church fellowship and the town.