Church must raise £100,000

AN appeal to raise £100,000 to carry out essential repairs to a historic Chelvey church is to be launched next month.Supporters of St Bridget's Church are to kick off the year-long moneyspinning drive at the annual patronal festival on February 4.Churchgoers need to raise the large sum of money to pay for repairs to the 900-year-old church's tower.Over the years, water has seeped into the building, damaging the stonework and seeping down to the vestry area.Work now needs to be done to repoint the tower, make the building watertight and to redesign the tower roof to ensure water is channelled away properly and does not seep into the building.Repairs also need to be made to the bell chamber and roof timbers and the inside of the tower and the vestry area needs to be replastered and redecorated.Appeal co-ordinator Tony Stirratt said: "The work only really needs to be done to the tower."The rest of the church is in pretty good condition, bearing in mind it is 900 years old."We only have a small population in the villages of Chelvey and Brockley and a small church congregation."But we are sure the parishioners will get behind us and support the appeal and we are all terribly determined to get the money."Mr Stirratt said he hoped money for the repairs would come from personal donations but added grants were also being applied for.He said: "As a church we have raised a small amount of funds."There are a number of trusts and organisations which give money to preserve historic buildings."We are also appealing to local businesses to help us and we have a number of fund-raising events planned throughout the year to help hit the appeal target."The first fund-raising event is a Celtic supper evening at the WI hall, Backwell, at 7pm on February 9.For more information or tickets contact Mr Stirratt on 01275 853138.