An important part of Christian witness is giving to others. The Charities and Links Committee recommends to the P.C.C. the allocation of our giving to local, national and international charities. Our total giving each year is at least one tenth of our income, with half going to good causes in the U.K. and half overseas. The committee also considers any special needs, such as disaster appeals. See the page Charities supported by St. James's.

Special collections are also taken during the year for various charities or emergency appeals, either as part of a fund raising event or simply a plate collection during church services. Food items and basic toiletries are often collected at the Harvest Festival for a local charity. Many other non-monetary collections have been taken over the years, most recently children’s clothing for our link parish in Pemba, Mozambique.

Many parishioners join the nationwide fundraising efforts during Christian Aid Week in May, which means delivering and collecting envelopes across the parish. Some years a special event such as a concert or a Quiz Night is held to boost the total amount, which is typically about £4000.

Giving is not just about money. It is also about sharing our lives and growing in understanding and friendship, which is where 'Links' come in.

St. James has a long-standing link with St Luke’s Mission Hospital in Milo, South West Tanzania. We receive valuable information from letter correspondence with clinical officer Benaiah Kilwale, from the mission agency USPG and from Revd. Christopher Wagstaff who visits Milo every few years.

St. James also takes an active interest in ALMA, the partnership the Diocese of London has with Angola and Mozambique. As well as supporting the general aims of ALMA and its Lent Appeals, St. James is linked with the parish of Santa Maria Madelena in Pemba, right up on the north-east coast of Mozambique. We share this link with St. Peter and St. Paul in Teddington and benefit greatly from joint discussion and action.

Historical Background to Charities and Links
Before the advent of the Welfare State the giving of charity was one of the most important functions of the church. At that time St. James’s maintained several almshouses for the poor in the parish. It supported the Provident Club to encourage a habit of thrift in poorer parishioners, and the early vicars (indeed later ones too) gave generously out of their own pockets to support those in need. Following the Second World War, concern was felt by St. James’s for the needs of the parish’s older residents, and following the deliberations of a church commission on 'The Wider Church', the Hampton Hill Old Peoples’ Welfare Committee was formed in 1953.

Beyond the needs of the parish itself, St. James’s has always contributed generously to the wider work of the Church. In the early years this was represented by the Home and Foreign Missions and other charities, for example, the N.S.P.C.C. and the Waifs’ and Strays’ Society. St. James's formed a Missionary Working Party which was reorganised and renamed the Parochial Working Party in 1923, with the object of helping the work of the church overseas and raising money for different projects. In the 1920s, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (S.P.G.), the Church Missionary Society, and the Colonial and Continental Church Society were the main societies supported. Later on, through contacts with U.S.P.G. ('U' stands for 'United') made by Hannah Stanton, a prominent member of the congregation, St. James's became associated with Milo Mission Hospital in Tanzania, a link that is still maintained. Read the page St. Luke's Mission Hospital, Milo. By 2010 St. James's was supporting seventeen charities.

For a detailed account of the historical background to St. James's Charities and Links, read the page The History of Charities and Links at St. James's Church.