A Special Appeal to all the residents of Alrewas Village from Vicar John
Rising to the Challenge…
of Raising £100,000
Dear Friends,
As many of you will know, the very first church which was built in Alrewas (on the present site near the mill and stream, which is where the village was formed) was a small thatched roof structure around 830 AD – and we’ve been blessed to have a church building on this site ever since, with the stone-built Norman church erected in the 1100’s and modified over many hundreds of years. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to previous generations of villagers who have generously offered their time, talents and treasures along the way, enabling all of us to benefit from the well-equipped and maintained ‘Grade I’ listed building known as All Saints Parish Church, which belongs to us all and is here to serve this special village and its growing community.
We are delighted that it is open and welcoming daily to everyone, whether villagers or visitors!
Over the years, many of you will have enjoyed coming to All Saints for various forms of Christian worship. These will have included regular Sunday and Wednesday services; special festival occasions at Harvest-time, Remembrance Sunday, Christmas and Easter; as well as services personally meaningful to you and your loved ones, particularly christenings, weddings and funerals. In recent years, we’ve also offered new forms of services to meet the varied spiritual and practical needs of folks in our village, including All-Age Praise, ‘Reflections’ meditative service, Café Church, and Village Songs of Praise.
Of course, we’re also thrilled that our beautiful church is seen by the village community as a valued amenity for everyone’s use and benefit throughout the year – for example, providing not only a regular meeting place for the Alrewas Community Choir (with its special concerts) and the Alrewas Show Committee, but also creatively using the facilities for treasured village events such as Open Gardens and the Arts Festival, as well as providing hot soup, refreshments and a warm space on ‘Souper Wednesdays’ during the colder months of the year!
All of these events – and a great many others which haven’t been mentioned – depend upon our ancient Parish Church building remaining in sound shape! Over these past 22 years that I’ve had the privilege of serving as your Vicar, we’ve all worked hard together to ensure that regular maintenance was regularly performed, professional inspections carried out, dangerously worn stonework replaced, electrical systems renewed, and the church tower (which was becoming structurally unsound and unsafe) has had major restoration work carried out to ensure that our building could continue to be used safely and enjoyably by all.
Over the past year, our Architect has been inspecting and monitoring the church roof, and particularly the lead lining which protects the ancient wooden roof structure, since more frequent leaks are occurring due to the lining which has been exposed to the elements for more than 60 years, patched countless times over the decades, having now become dangerously thin. A full replacement of the protective lead lining over the nave (central) roof section is required as soon as achievable, in order to prevent the wooden roof from serious deterioration and becoming structurally unsound. The longer we delay replacing the lead, the greater the risk we run of serious structural damage to this special building, as well as significantly higher costs for replacement of water-damaged ancient wooden roof timbers!
The Architect has recently confirmed the actual present-day net costing of this project as £150,000. The good news is that All Saints Church has already succeeded in raising £50,000 towards this (including some very generous funeral collections in memory of beloved villagers!). Our aim is to be able to commence this vital restoration work in the summer of 2024 – but in order to start the project, we must successfully raise the remaining £100,000, including via donations and grants! We have established a Nave Roof Appeal Strategic Fundraising Team to explore all possible avenues for raising the revenue needed and are deeply grateful for the willingness of Anthony Coates (Coates the Butchers), Richard Kirkland (RJK Construction), and Peter Ralley (Alrewas Archives/Arts Festival) from the village community to contribute their expertise and energy in helping us to move forward as swiftly as possible.
Next year marks my 40th anniversary of full-time ordained Ministry, as well as 23 years of privileged service as your Vicar! Having recently announced my plans for retirement in September 2024, it would give me the greatest joy if – during my final year with you all – we could together successfully reach this goal and get the project underway…..
If you are willing and able to support this project for the benefit of this generation and those who will follow us, I have detailed below how contributions can be made.
With my deepest personal appreciation and gratitude for your valued friendship and support,
and every blessing,
Vicar John
Donations can be made in any of the following ways:-
1. Posting an envelope through the Vicarage letter box.
2. Posting an envelope in the donations box just inside the main church door.
If using either of the above methods, please mark envelopes ‘Roof Appeal’ and if you are a taxpayer, completion of a green gift aid envelope (these are available in Church by the donations box) will increase the value of your donation by 25%. Alternatively, please also annotate your own envelope ‘Gift Aid’ and include your name, house number / name, and post code.
3. Via our Just Giving Page - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/all-saints-church-alrewas
This has a facility which allows donors to remain anonymous should you prefer.
The page is in the process of being updated to reflect the launch of the roof appeal but as this is also a vehicle for other donations to the Church, please clearly state that your donation is for the roof appeal, and as with direct donations, please indicate where Gift Aid can be claimed.
4. Directly to the PCC’s Bank Account. If you would like to donate in this way, please contact our Treasurer, Nick Kilford on 07912 359237, or via email at [email protected].