As I write this, snow is thick on the ground in the churchyard but it takes more than that to stop the building work underway. Thanks to Tom and James for all their hardy work restoring and replacing the old, cracked, iron drainpipes and gutters of the church thanks to a grant of £11,510 which I can now disclose was from the government’s Culture Recovery Fund in partnership with Historic England. Together with the grant for £7,000
received from Burghley House Preservation Trust, for the re-laying of the paths once we have planning permission, plus the wonderful work by volun-teers to smarten up the churchyard last year, it will become an even more beautiful and peaceful spot for all villagers to enjoy.
The latest grant, together with donations, church reserves and a legacy bring our total campaign funds secured/pledged to £117,882, leaving a shortfall of about £20,000 to cover the costs of roof replacement. We are getting close but need a final push to reach our roof appeal target of £130,000. If you have any good fund-raising ideas, please share them, or even better, get involved! Keep up to date with all our news on the St. John’s Church Ryhall Facebook page. Thank you to all those who have supported fundraising activities or sent donations to save our church. If you would still like to, then please go to our GoFundMe page at https://www.gofundme.com/manage/church-restoration-campaign or send a dona-tion to Rev Jo Saunders revjosaunders@live.co.uk. We are very grateful for your support.
St. John’s has been kindly donated 10 beautiful Harrods collectible teddy bears to sell as a fundraiser for the roof appeal. 6 remain to be sold so if you’d like to buy one for yourself or a friend, please visit our Facebook page for details or contact Sandra at thesandrachapman@gmail.com.
Betty continues to attract donations as she walks in this cold weather. Sat-urday March 27th will be her last walk for the roof appeal so please come along to the churchyard at 11.30am to congratulate her on her great achievement, raising over £3,000 to help replace the church roof. Thanks to Betty and back-up team Jordane for your support.
Look out in the April newsletter for a consultation survey on what faith and non-faith activities villagers would like to see being held in St. John’s church once it is restored to a more comfortable and inviting venue. It would be incredibly helpful for us to have wider input on what you would like to see going on in the church that you would consider joining in with.
Many thanks.
