St Mary the Virgin, Stone next Dartford - Church Room Fund

Stone’s historic and beautiful Grade I listed church has stood here for over 750 years. It is a unique and irreplaceable part of our community’s past, present and future. To serve in the modern day it badly needs updating. It has no toilet, no kitchen, and no heating. This is a constant problem for both regular worshipers and the many other visitors who come here. Visitors who attend special events and services, weddings, baptisms, funerals, bell ringing, school services, concerts, historical or photographic visits, or are simply tourists who come to admire this magnificent church. At the same time the existing church hall, with its minimal and somewhat antiquated facilities, is nowhere near the church and is falling down. St Mary’s desperately needs its new church room. The new church room is to be built in the churchyard, next to the church itself. We have had the plans drawn up, have the Planning consent, have the approval from the Diocese and all the other relevant bodies with an interest in the Grade 1 status of St Mary's, but to build the new room we need to raise in the region of£300,000 We will, in due course, sell the old church hall site to raise funds, but know that the proceeds from this will not cover the cost of the new build. We are actively seeking grants to help meet the shortfall between the cost of a new building and the proceeds of the old site. We are also actively fundraising from among our own regular congregation and other users and supporters of St Mary's. Fundraising events take place regularly and include concerts, fashion shows, a race night, a dinner dance, a quiz night, coffee mornings, a garden party, and our own version of 'open gardens', with many more functions being planned.