St James' Church Appeal

St James Church: A Fragile Building

The picture of St James' Church is often used as a symbol of Audlem. It is a place of worship, week by week, for people of all ages, for the happy occasions as well as the sad. It is open every day for visitors, either to explore its history or to be quiet and pray. It is at the heart of the village in every sense and is a tourist attraction. Today it is in a rather fragile condition.

Every 5 years the building is inspected, and the last 2 inspections have highlighted several areas in need of attention. We have already carried out expensive internal repairs to stabilise cracks and the column supports. Our church finances are entirely dependent on the generosity of our group of regular worshippers, but the building is also used by the wider community. We have managed to cover our running costs and repairs over the past few years but this is not easy.

The work that needs doing is not glamorous but essential. We need to do the work before it becomes a "health and safety" issue. The work is to the tower roof, the tower masonry and the wall above the west door. We cannot be certain how much this work will cost – but we expect in the region of £75,000. Once we have raised a certain amount of money then we can apply for "match funding" grants – so first we need to do what we can by fund raising here in our community.

One of the events we will be holding in Church is a jazz concert by Eric Newton & Friends on Sat 17th March.

If you would like to make a donation, or organise a fund raising event then do get in touch with Helen Chantry 01270811543 helenchantry@btopenworld.com or Church wardens...

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