Lots of stalls and fun for kids - Teddy Tombola, Pre-loved toysDuck RaceRaffle TombolaLunch, Hot-dog stall, bar
The Warner Bequest grant application was submitted hot on the heals of a competitive tender process managed by the Church Architect.The award of £3,000 puts the total so far committed to just over 20% of the total net cost.Hopefully we will have received sufficient grants and committed funds to decide (probably in July or August) to proceed this year.Due to at least 6 species the bats in the church, the work can only be done in late summer / early autumn.Our bat specialist will be dealing with a bat survey in the summer, and then getting the license so work can progress.
The chancel needs the re-tile of its roof, as the existing tiles are flaking and are near the end of their life.Oxfordshire Historic Churches Trust (OHCT) has awarded a grant of £6,000, which puts us already over 10% of the way towards the grand total of c £61,600.In December 2023 our church architect did his 5-year inspection of Holy Trinity Church. He identified some urgent work to the chancel roof at its east end. He also identified the need to re-tile the roof, as the existing tiles are flaking and are near the end of their life.In April 2024 the work at the east end of the chancel roof was completed. While the scaffolding was up, our architect was able to take a close look at the roof.Our church is the only Grade One Listed church in the area. This means it is “special in a national context”. It also means that repairs come under close scrutiny by the Diocese, which is responsible for approving such work. To get the Diocese’s approval, we needed our church architect to draw up a full specification, which he has done. The Diocese granted List B faculty approval in December 2024.A grant application to Oxfordshire Historic Church Trust (OHCT) was submitted for their mid-February meeting. OHCT are an “anchor funder”, so a successful grant application encourages other grant-making bodies to provide grants. The work requires an environmental licence, due to the 6 species of bats in the church. This is being dealt with by the bat specialist, who was involved in the North Aisle works. We would need to have a bat survey done in Summer 2025; this is already scheduled.The presence of bats is a constraint which means that the work can only be done in late summer / early autumn.Hopefully we will have received sufficient grants to decide (probably in July or August) to proceed this year, otherwise we would have to await the following late summer / autumn of 2026.
The weather was warm, dry with a gentle breeze, and an excellent cycling temperature reaching about 20C. A really big difference to last year’s 29C, with only a light wind!I opened Holy Trinity Church at about 9-15 AM, and then headed off to East Hendred. A total of at least 9 st/riders visited the church, with a large contingent from Grove in late morning.Hilary Cakebread-Hall, of West Hanney who is the Ride+Stride County Coordinator, said “In general we have been encouraged by the number of participants this year, although as has always been the case some churches inexplicably get more or less than previous years. We were very blessed with the weather which I think helped!”The money raised is divided equally between The Oxford Historic Churches Trust and Holy Trinity Church West Hendred. For Ride & Stride 2024, the total raised was £734.OHCT have always been very supportive of us. Most recently, in February 2024 OHCT awarded a grant of £3,000 towards the new heating system, which was installed in May. In February 2025 OHCT awarded a grant of £6,000 towards major work to re-tile the chancel roof.Thank you to all who have sponsored.Hugh Rees
