In spring this year the Diocese secured a grant of £120,000 from the Church of England’s national ‘Giving Advisor Fund’ which provides financial support so that Dioceses can appoint specialist officers who will help parishes to promote greater generosity and increase fund raising.
The Diocese is pleased to announce that from Monday 4 October Philip Longworth takes up the new role of Giving and Income Generation Officer. Philip comes with a proven track record in this field and with excellent professional experience.
Commenting on his appointment Philip said, ‘I am delighted to be able to introduce myself as the newly appointed Giving and Income Generation Officer for the Diocese and I’m really looking forward to getting to know the people of the diocese and understanding how I may be of best support to the Island’s Anglican churches.
In my professional career so far I have worked as Chief Executive for both Age Concern Mid Mersey and latterly for Bradbury Fields Services for Blind and Partially Sighted people in Liverpool. In both roles, a key area of work has been around generating income to support the core works of these organisations.
I have a long standing connection with the Island through my work with the Royal National Institute of Blind people (RNIB) and Age Concern and over recent years have spent much time here with my partner and grandchildren who are all Manx residents.’
Andrew Swithinbank commenting on Philip’s appointment before his recent retirement as Diocesan Secretary said, ‘I am delighted both that we secured the grant and that we are able to use it to attract such a highly skilled person as Philip to this exciting role. Philip has decades of experience in managing voluntary organisations and raising funds for them through a variety of innovative means. I am sure that Philip will work effectively alongside diocesan and parish colleagues, volunteers and community partners in a wide range of both local and island-wide fund-raising activities.
The Diocese acknowledges and appreciates how crucial voluntary income is to supporting the ministry and mission of the church and how challenging it is for parishes to meet the need to constantly raise money in difficult circumstances. Having Philip as a dedicated officer, paid from an external source for 5 years, tasked to focus on helping parishes will greatly increase our capacity in this field. It will help us to deliver our strategic priorities of partnership in mission, learning and inhabiting the faith and sustaining ourselves, to serve our island community’
