About the Friends of St Leonard’s

For over 800 years St Leonard’s has been part of Deal and so stands as a reminder to us all of the history of our area. Over the years many generations have cared for the church, and now it is the turn of our generation to preserve what we have inherited and pass it on to the future. There is no "pot of money" set aside to meet the cost of maintaining the church and the Church of England is organised so that the cost and responsibility of raising the necessary funds falls squarely on the local church congregation

The aim of the "Friends of St Leonard’s" is to help in raising the necessary funds to preserve the church and its contents for future generations. While achieving this involves working closely with the church, the "Friends of St Leonard’s" is not a church organisation. Indeed it was specifically set up to give those who had no religious connection with the church a way of helping maintain what is after all, everybody’s heritage.

The idea for the "Friends" arose when a group of local residents who were not church goers became aware of St Leonards continued struggle to raise enough money to fund maintenance and felt the urge to do something concrete to help with preserving the history of the church and its contents. After a couple of informal meetings the Friends of St Leonard’s (FOSL's) was formally created at an inaugural meeting held in the church on the 8th September 2007.