Raising the Roof by Just Giving
A church that lost the lead of its bell tower just after New Year has raised over £4,700 towards its repairs through a crowdfunding page.
Thieves took the lead from the pyramid and from the flat roof surrounding it on the bell tower at St George’s Church in Damerham in Hampshire, damaging roof tiles on the main roof in the process.
Shortly afterwards the incumbent, the Revd Lesley Player set up a JustGiving page entitled ‘We’re raising £10,000 to replace lead stolen from the roof of St. George's Church in Damerham’.
Explaining the crowd funding effort for the church which is in the Diocese, the page said:
“Tragically, we've just discovered that the lead has been stolen from the roof of our wonderful Church tower. As well as providing protection from the elements, the lead had historic inscriptions dating back to at least the 18th century. Now it's all gone!
“All we can do is begin the long and costly process of repair. Can you help us? We don't know what the costs will be yet, but it's likely to run into many thousands of pounds. Just making temporary arrangements to make the roof watertight is going to be challenging.
“St George's is a loved part of our village community - alongside our worship we host events all year round from Christmas and Easter to our popular Snowdrop Weekend each spring. Any amount, small or large, will make a real difference.”
Crowdfunding allows a project to raise money from a large number of people who each contribute a relatively small amount via the Internet. The JustGiving site offers this service free to charities.
The Church’s site has 85 supporters and their donations have now raised 47% of the £10,000 it will cost to replace the lead.
Despite having flu, Revd Player posted on the site this week:
“Thank you all for your support and encouragement, which has been much appreciated by the people of St George's and Damerham. We've received wonderful support from the media, for which we're very grateful. And with your help and the help of those who've donated directly, we're now almost halfway to our target.
“Thank You so much!”
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