WESTBURY’S All Saints’ Church is appealing for people to help raise money to repair the church roof after lead was stolen from the vestry roof in July of last year.
All Saints’ Church is a Grade I listed building and so organising any repairs is a lengthy and costly business. The church now has permission to go ahead with replacing the roof, but this time with steel, which is less attractive to thieves.
The repairs to the roof are estimated to cost around £25,000, plus the added costs of repairing the internal damage. The theft was reported to the police, but despite CCTV footage, the culprits have not been caught.
A spokesperson for the church said, “On the 20th July last year, thieves stole the lead from the vestry roof of All Saints’ Church. This was discovered the following Sunday when opening up for the 8am service. The floor was flooded, and everything was soaked after heavy rain the previous night. The vestry had to be cleared completely and the contents had to be dried out and cleaned. Many items were too far gone to be saved and had to be thrown away.
“Due to the increasing cost of lead thefts, insurers do not pay out the full cost to repair the damage and will only cover just over £7,000 of the costs to replace the roof, so the congregation is left with a shortfall.
“There is a small amount in the maintenance fund, but it is not enough to cover all the expenses. The church is applying for grants from external sources, but these are not guaranteed and take time to be processed. The congregation of All Saints’ Church is asking the people of Westbury to support them with donations towards the repairs.
“Once the funds are in place, the roof repairs should only take a few days to complete when the contractor is ready, and then the church can tackle the internal works. The amount that the thieves will have got for the lead is nothing compared to the cost of the damage caused as the floors, ceilings and doors have also been affected by the water that continues to penetrate the building.”
Revd Rebecca Harris, team rector said, “All Saints’ Church, its congregation and ministry team are available to everyone in Westbury whether or not they attend church. We hope that the community will lend us their support to repair the roof.”
Churchwarden Ruth Hann said, “The congregation of All Saints’ Church funds the cost of its ministry team, activities and maintenance of the church building donations and fundraising. It does not receive any funds from the Church of England or the government, so having to find the extra money to fund these repairs is a real headache for us.”
Since July, the church, which is normally open daily for anyone to visit, has only been open for services.
Revd Rebecca Harris added, “It is a great sadness to us that we have not been able to open the church every day since the theft. We know many people appreciate the ability to call into the church for a quiet moment, to say a prayer or just explore its beauty and discover the story of the people of Westbury through its monuments and windows. The last few months have been very difficult with the extra work and disruption that the theft has caused.”
You can find a link to donate online at https://whtministry.org.uk/all-saints-westbury/. If you are able to add Gift Aid the government will add 25p for every pound making your donation go further.
