Stickford Church set to get its own water supply

As well as water, the project will also see the installation of a disabled toilet and a servery.

The project has been led by the local community who have raised £3,500 from events held in the village under their ‘Water in the Church’ campaign, which started in 2015.

A grant from the National Churches Trust gave them the final amount they needed to go ahead.

Cheryl Steele, PCC Secretary, said: “Local people were shocked when they found out we had to carry water to the church during our flower festival in 2015.

“This is what started the ball rolling to change that.

“While thinking about the benefits of running water, we also decided to look at what else could be made possible with extra funding.

“Now our plans include not just installing water, a disabled toilet and much needed storage space into the church tower, but relocating our book shop so the sunny position it occupies can be utilised as a space in which to serve drinks.

“A door will also be reopened which has always been shut due to a mising key!”

These simple resources will enable the church to hold even more community events.

Cheryl added: “We are all very excited about the building work starting as we want the church to be seen as a building for everyone in the community, and to reach out and engage with others who live in our community, not just those who go to church on Sundays.

“We already host craft fairs, concerts and the village Christmas party and we hope to host more things after the work has been completed, so that will be wonderful.

“Applying for grants is a lot of hard work, but we are extremely grateful to the generosity of all those organisations who could share in our vision of what our church could be with the addition of a few simple resources.”

Anyone who would like to help raise funds for the project can email [email protected]