Our new treasurer pleads for Gift Aid and no cash

Subscriptions were due on January 1, so if you have not yet paid your annual dues to Glastonbury Conservation Society, please contact the treasurer. The minimum is just £5; you’re welcome to contribute more! [Since then, the minimum subscription rose modestly to £7.50. —Ed.]

More than half our members pay their subscriptions by standing order, and others by cash or cheque. The least safe way is to give me cash when you see me out shopping. I must then go home and record it (I am expert at losing bits of paper) and put the money in a safe place before banking it. Payment by cash and cheques is also time-consuming.

Standing order is the safest way to pay, as the bank statement shows the date, donor’s name and amount for every standing order received.

If you are a taxpayer and have not already done so, please fill in a Gift Aid declaration. We can then claim £1.40 for every £5 subscription paid. Gift Aid can be backdated for five years, provided the treasurer has proof of payment including the date. (This is known with standing orders but not always with cash payments in the past.) I have a pile of Gift Aid statements signed a few years ago and they remain in force until cancelled.

Please fill in the standing order and Gift Aid form if you have not done so. You can phone me on 83 5238 or email me (janet.morland@lineone.net) if you need a copy or have have any queries. The forms can also be downloaded from the Conservation Society website, glastonburyconservation.org.uk