St John’s tower restoration

The scaffolding is up and work is about to begin to restore the crumbling tower at St John’s. This is thanks to the generosity of individual donors and grant-awarding bodies, and the hard work of parishioners who applied for grants and put on fundraisers to find the cash for the repairs.

The work will cost at least £32,500 and we’ve been raising the money for several years through a mix of grants, fundraising events and donations. At the end of July, we launched a final push to find the last £5,500 so that the stonemason could start in September. Publicity, including in the Farnham Herald, brought forth a flood of donations meaning that Anstey & Stone, stonemasons, can begin work now.

Rev’d Lexi Russell, rector of the church, said: “Thank you so much for the incredibly generous donations which have been made. They mean that a Hale landmark which has stood there for generations past will be standing for generations to come.

“We do know that because the church is old – it is 181 now – it is very likely that there will be more work needed and we will need more funds, so please, if you feel able, do continue to donate. And thank you all again for what you have done.”

Restoration work is expected to take six weeks to complete and should be finished by the end of October. In the meantime, further fundraising events are in the calendar, including a concert of 60s music by popular Farnham band Out of the Shadows on the afternoon of September 27, starting at 2pm. Information is available here. There is also a fundraising page here.

If we raise more money than we actually need for the tower itself it will go into a fund specifically for work on St John’s and will not be spent on anything else.