Friends of the Brontes' Church

10/03/2025

10/02/2025

The Friends of the Brontes@ Church held their Annual General Meeting last week when it was revealed that during the lifetime of the organisation we have raised in the order of £110,000 in support of Haworth Parish Church.
Last year the Friends turned over £14,000 and in the last three months £22,000 we donated to Church to cover the expenses of repairing a stained glass window in the tower and the north vestry roof.
Chairman Peter Breed was re-elected as was secretary John Huxley and Treasurer Lynne Bird but Peter has indicated that he will be stepping down at the 2025 AGM.
He said: "I'd like to thank all the volunteers who help throughout the year. Their commitment enables us to provide support for the church as evidenced by the impressive amount of money we have generated over the last decade or so."
The Friends 'pop-up shop' which normally operates which operates from Easter until Christmas will be opening during the School Half Term next week.

16/12/2024

Volunteers from the Friends of the Brontes' Church were hard at work in the Friends' shop in Church during last weekend and were rewarded by their biggest turnover in one day on Saturday. It was in excess of £500 and will give Church funds a significant lift.
Chairman Peter Breed said: "It was a wonderful effort from our fantastic volunteers."

08/09/2024

Trailblazing vocal ensemble Kantos Chamber Choir head for the Haworth moors, with a unique programme of music and spoken word.
Kantos Chamber Choir are bringing their latest spine-tingling performance, ‘Brontë’, to St Michael and All Angels Church, Haworth on the afternoon of Sunday, September 22nd.
The choir will aim to wow new audiences by examining the lives and passions of the mysterious Brontë sisters through the eyes of their friend and supporter, Elizabeth Gaskell.
Featuring music by Gerald Finzi, John Ireland, Cecilia McDowell and John Tavener, the hour-long programme of choral music and spoken word will immerse listeners in the isolated hilltop hive of creativity from where the sisters wove their intricate stories of desire, devotion, depravity and despair.
The choir will be joined by Elizabeth Gaskell expert Sherry Ashworth, who will curate and present the programme for this unique performance. The performance will include BSL Interpretation by Paul Whittaker.
Kantos are committed to ensuring choral music is accessible to a wider, more diverse audience. The choir aims to shake up the tradition of choral music and perform at a professional level in the North of England, where there are currently no full-time professional chamber choirs.
Their events are for keen classical music fans and brand-new audience members alike; all are welcome!
Rev. Oli Preston, the Rector at Haworth’s St Michael & All Angels, said: “We’re really excited that Kantos Chamber Choir are coming to our church and looking forward to their concert.”
Tickets for Brontë can be booked here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/kantoschamberchoir/1325579

08/09/2024

Trailblazing vocal ensemble Kantos Chamber Choir head for the Haworth moors, with a unique programme of music and spoken word.
Kantos Chamber Choir are bringing their latest spine-tingling performance, ‘Brontë’, to St Michael and All Angels Church, Haworth on the afternoon of Sunday, September b22nd at 4.30pm.
The choir will aim to wow new audiences by examining the lives and passions of the mysterious Brontë sisters through the eyes of their friend and supporter, Elizabeth Gaskell.
Featuring music by Gerald Finzi, John Ireland, Cecilia McDowell and John Tavener, the hour-long programme of choral music and spoken word will immerse listeners in the isolated hilltop hive of creativity from where the sisters wove their intricate stories of desire, devotion, depravity and despair.
The choir will be joined by Elizabeth Gaskell expert Sherry Ashworth, who will curate and present the programme for this unique performance.
The performance will include BSL Interpretation by Paul Whittaker.
Kantos are committed to ensuring choral music is accessible to a wider, more diverse audience.
The choir aims to shake up the tradition of choral music and perform at a professional level in the North of England, where there are currently no full-time professional chamber choirs.
Their events are for keen classical music fans and brand-new audience members alike; all are welcome!
Rev. Oli Preston, the Rector at Haworth’s St Michael & All Angels, said: “We’re really excited that Kantos Chamber Choir are coming to our church and looking forward to their concert.”
Tickets for Brontë can be booked here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/ kantoschamberchoir/1325579

20/07/2024

Members of the Rotary Club and Worth Valley are holding their International Day in Church today (Saturday). There to welcome them was Rector Oli Preston. He’s pictured right with Club International Chairman Angie Pleasants (centre) and Club President Peter Oddy.

01/07/2024

The arrival of the 'Coat of Hopes' at Haworth Church on Saturday after the Rector, the Rev. Oli Preston, had walked it from its previous resting place at Bradford Cathedral. For full details go to: www.haworthchurch.co.uk

06/02/2024

The Friends of the Brontes' Church, Haworth Church's support organisation, showed a profit of £15,000 on their trading during 2023. This takes the total raised since they came into existence in 2012 of £97,000.

Peter Breed, the chairman of the Friends as well as being Churchwarden at Haworth Parish Church (pictured), was able to report the healthy figures at the recent Friends of the Brontes' Church Annual General Meeting in the Old School Room, Church Street Haworth.

He said: "We were able to return such good figures in spite of having to absorb some of increased costs. " At the same time he paid tribute to the volunteers who had given so much of their time that the Friends shop within church was open so many times during 2023.

The existing Committee of the Friends was- re-elected en bloc to serve again in 2024.

23/05/2023

Parishioners from Haworth, Stanbury and Cross Roads journeyed to Egton, North Yorkshire on Sunday to witness the licencing of our former curate Anthony Bennett as the Priest-in-Charge of the Middle Esk Moor churches. Pictured (left to right): Whitby Area Dean Rev. Michael Gobbett, Reader Rosanne Anderson(Cross Roads), The Bishop of Whitby Right Rev. Paul Ferguson, Rev. Anthony Bennett, The Venerable Dr. Amanda Bloor, Archdeacon of Cleveland and Reader Peter Handley (Cross Roads). Also present was the former Rector of the Haworth and Cross Roads benefice the retired Rev. Peter Mullins.

03/02/2023

The Church’s support organisation, the Friends of the Brontës’ Church, recently reported that it made a profit of £12,700 during 2022. The money was generated by sales from the Friends’ retail stand and from the church’s static religious book and souvenir stand.
Peter Breed, the chairman of the Friends, said: “We’re delighted that our efforts have yielded such a positive result and we shall now be consulting with the Parochial Church Council to see how we may best support any of the projects that will be undertaken during 2023.”
During the last ten years the Friends have raised £80,000 and have contributed to a number of improvements and projects within St Michael and All Angel’s including a contributing towards the purchase of a new central heating system; the church redecoration, provision of votive candles and a new lighting installation.

31/01/2023

The Friends of the Brontës’ Church are in a great position to support Haworth Parish Church after it was reported at last week’s Annual General Meeting that they had in excess of £15,000 with which to assist with any project funding.
The funds have been generated thanks to the volunteer-run sales stall which is manned in Church through much of the year.
At the meeting it was decided that the Friends would liaise directly with the Parochial Church Council to decide how the money may best be directed.
In previous years the Friends have assisted with the provision of a new set of steps with a handrail for readers of lessons at the Church lectern and other similar improvements.
At the AGM Peter Breed was re-elected as Chairman for a further year as was John Huxley (Secretary) and Lynne Bird (Treasurer).