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RAISE THE ROOF! - £215,000 raised so far!
The most prominent landmark In Great Chart village must surely be St Mary's Church; from its hilltop position it can be seen for miles around, and is a potent symbol of village community life. We are fortunate to have in our village this lovely Grade I - listed building, some of which dates from the fourteenth century.
But now it is suffering from the ravages of time, and as a result the church is leaking badly. A complete replacement of the church roof is urgently needed, at a total cost of some £237,700. We are delighted that over £215,700 has already been raised or committed to the project from various grants, private donations and a series of successful fundraising events in our "Raise the Roof” campaign. In particular we are very grateful to the following charitable trusts for their generous contributions:
English Heritage
Godinton House Trust
Wolfson Foundation
Friends of Kent Churches
Colyer-Fergusson Trust
Garfield-Weston Foundation
Idlewild Trust
Marshall’s Charity
Allchurches Trust
Nevertheless we still need to raise the remaining £22,000 in order to be able to start the main repair work in April 2012, for completion by the autumn. Delays to this schedule due to insufficient funds would make it very likely that serious damage to the historic interior of the church will result.
"St Mary's is the second-largest church building and one of the largest public indoor spaces, in the Borough of Ashford" says the Rector, the Rev Canon Tim Wilson. As The Chair of the Parish Council, Ian McClintock added "The church has the potential to be a first class venue for wider arts and social events, but this will require a re-ordering of the interior and improved facilities such as kitchens and toilets and we offer our encouragement and support in this endeavour". This is all part of the longer-term plan but the roof needs fixing first.
St Mary's long history is intertwined with that of the parish: the church contains many memorials and artefacts from the Toke family who resided at Godinton House for 450 years and have had so much influence in Great Chart over the centuries. But St Mary's is also looking forward to an exciting future as a valuable resource for the rapidly growing community which, with the Chilmington Green Development, will expand by over three-fold in the next 25 years.
So, if you value St Mary's Church and are excited by the potential for its wider use by the community, please help
For more information please email: restoration@stmarysgreatchart.org |
Raise the Roof Appeal is on Facebook. Click on the icon to connect:
Please join us in 2012 for more fundraising events, details will be published soon.
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