Swinstead Summer Fete on August Bank Holiday Monday will raise funds for St Mary's Church roof
When thieves stripped lead from a church roof it not only caused a hole for rain to get through but also one in the church budget.
Repairs to St Mary’s Church in Swinstead will cost more than £50,000, and with ecclesiastical insurance covering only a fraction of this, the vicar and villagers have joined forces to plug the gap.
They are organising a Bank Holiday Monday summer fair (August 29) in the village, which will blend traditional games, such as ‘splat the rat’, tug-of-war, skittles, with children’s entertainment, a bouncy castle, plus produce stalls, teas and cakes, and a chance to win prizes.
Father Ed Martin, vicar of St Mary’s, has volunteered to go in the stocks and face wet sponges thrown at him and, having a passion for push-bikes of the past, he will be carrying out a sponsored, 60-mile cycle ride from Swinstead to Granchester, near Cambridge, on a 1950s Hercules bicycle.
“We have been the victim of lead thieves twice, in 2017 and again in 2019,” said Fr Ed, adding that this caused leaks in two areas - through to a burial chamber for the former Earls of Ancaster, and to where the congregation sits.
The theft from the main roof was discovered when people arrived for an Ash Wednesday service and found water dripping through the ceiling.
Having held coffee mornings and other fundraisers since, the people of Swinstead decided a larger-scale action was needed.
Church warden Lauretta Ridley, a former organiser of the annual Grimsthorpe Fun Day, has been arranging stalls, entertainments and raffle prizes with Louise Thorpe, a member of the parochial church council.
Raffle tickets are on sale now, for prizes that include a ‘view from the Shard’ in London, plus a three-course meal for two at Marco Pierre White’s London Steakhouse and cocktails, an Aston Martin driving experience, a family ticket to Burghley Horse Trials, and a hamper.
They can be reserved by calling Louise on 07484 715067.
The fun day in Swinstead is open to everyone on Bank Holiday Monday, from 2pm to 5pm.