29th December 2023
Council money to help with churchyard maintenance
MORVAL Parish Council has awarded a further £225 from its community grant fund towards the upkeep of the churchyard across the road from St Wenna’s Parish Church at Morval.
However, after some discussion at last month’s meeting, during which it was suggested that making annual payments towards churchyard maintenance was not in keeping with the ‘spirit’ of the grants scheme, councillors have agreed to look again at their policy.
In applying for the money, churchwarden and treasurer Mike Willmott recalled how earlier in the year, the council had only awarded them a part-payment of £298. He explained: “There is an extensive churchyard, which is the final resting place for all parishioners, and hence it is important that visiting family members (and others) should find a well-cared-for churchyard.
“The annual cost to the Parochial Church Council (PCC) and, hence church members, of this is typically in the region of £600.
“Although our financial year runs from January to December, I understand that yours (the parish council’s) runs from April to March, and you prefer that an application for a grant to cover one year should cover the same period.
“You, therefore, gave us £75 on March 17 this year as a contribution to our costs for the last three months of the 2022-23 financial year.
“In response to our application for a grant for £450 (which is for threequarters of the £600 that will be the cost of churchyard maintenance in the current financial year), you were able to give us an interim grant of £225 on June 20 this year, with a suggestion that we should apply for the other half later in the year.
“Hence, we are applying for £225 as a contribution towards the upkeep of the public open churchyard for the rest of this financial year.”
He added: “Everybody within the parish (and beyond) can benefit from the services provided by St Wenna’s Church, not only with the usual Sunday church services, but also where parishioners can visit for special family occasions such as weddings, baptisms, funerals and burials.
“It is worth reiterating that our churchyard is of particular significance to many parishioners, where they can visit to remember departed family members and friends who are buried there, and where they, in the fullness of time, would also wish to be interred.”
A copy of the Parish Council’s current policy on grants can be viewed on the council’s website:
https://www.morvalparishcouncil.org.uk/data/uploads/786_275497371.pdf
Morval Parish Council meets again at Widegates Village Hall on Wednesday (January 3) and the agenda can be viewed on the council’s website: https://www.morvalparishcouncil.org.uk/meetings.php