Brian Hunt, our treasurer, is fond of saying - in the doom-laden tones beloved of accountants everywhere - that it costs £3,000 a week to run the parish. You might wonder where on earth all that money goes. Does Fr Tom run a secret Porsche during the week? Has Fr Damian an executive box at Chelsea? Well, I've seen the accounts and not on the money we pay them, they don't.

This is where the Finance Committee comes in. Its responsibility is to oversee the finances of the parish and to ensure that everything is above board and the money parishioners contribute is used responsibly. The committee meets regularly, usually once a quarter, to inspect the accounts. Thanks to the hard work of Jane Landi and Brian Hunt the accounts are prepared quarterly, thus allowing us to keep track of parish income and expenditure. End-of-year accounts are also prepared and presented at the annual parish AGM, so any parishioner can see where the money goes. These accounts are also posted on the parish notice board and we hope to be able, in future, to provide them on the website.

Apart from its oversight role, the Finance Committee also plans ahead, setting priorities for future expenditure and working out ways to raise funds to meet those commitments. Thus it also functions as a fundraising committee.