Urgent work is required to the Tower of St. Catherine’s Church Wickford as a result of ground movement caused by the long dry summer. This resulted in subsidence of the foundations in the North West corner of the church which caused a number of large cracks to appear in the walls and some stonework to fall. As a result, urgent safety and weather protection work costing £23,000 is required followed by the investigations needed to design a long-term solution to the problem.
A fundraising campaign to raise an initial £23,000 has been
launched, but this is only the beginning of a much longer project to
effectively underpin the church in order to prevent the regular recurrence of
the issue. This first stage of the project will involve: removing or
temporarily fixing loose stonework; undertaking temporary roof repairs and
loose filling of walls for weather protection; removal of loose internal
plasterwork; temporary covering of affected windows; and the reinstatement of
the lightning conductor.
"Our churches are seeking to be at the heart of the
community in Wickford but also need the support of the wider community in the
town, particularly as we address the problems of subsidence at St Catherine's
Church and the expense of maintaining this much-loved community building given
the effects of significant climate change."
“Our recent consultation exercise in the Parish revealed
that the churches in Wickford and Runwell are seen as contributing to the sense
of community and are valued both for the support they bring to others and as centres
for peace and prayer which provide a sense of Christian presence. Many local
people have been baptised or married at St Catherine’s or have family members
commemorated in the churchyard. For all these reasons, we believe many locally
will want to support this campaign to ensure that this much-loved community
building is repaired and secured for the future.”
Our fundraising campaign begins with a series of fundraising
events involving Ladybirds Song Group, Rumatica Ukulele Group and a Quiz Night:
•
Ladybirds Song Group: Saturday 21 January,
7.30 pm, St Andrew’s Church (11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN). The
Ladybirds Song Group sing all over South Essex performing popular songs from
the 1950s to the present. No tickets required. A retiring collection will be
taken.
•
Quiz Night: Saturday 4 February, 7.00 pm, 1st
Runwell Scout Hall (Runwell Gardens SS11 7DW). £5.00 p/head. Tables of up
to eight. Bring your own snacks & drinks (Tea and Coffee available). To
book a table email StCatherinesQuiz@hotmail.com.
Street parking in Church End Lane.
•
Rumatica Ukulele Group: Saturday 11 March,
3.00 pm, St Catherine’s Church (120 Southend Road, Wickford SS11 8EB). A
local band playing and singing a wide range of popular songs including rock,
pop, country, swing, rock and roll. Enjoy a cream tea afterwards in the church
hall.
Those wishing to contribute to this campaign, can send
cheques made out to Wickford and Runwell Parochial Church Council to The
Rectory, 120 Southend Road, Wickford SS11 8EB or phone 07803 562329 / email jonathan.evens@btinternet.com for
the bank details to use for a bank transfer.
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Rumatica Ukelele Band - I Saw Her Standing There.
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