Earls Colne church bell restoration fund nearly at £20k

St Andrew’s Church, in Earls Colne, is raising as much money as possible in order to get its bells restored and has now raised more than £10,000.

The bells were originally installed about 150 years ago and are in need of re-tuning and putting back with new fittings and working parts.

The church is trying to raise between £60,000 and £70,000 to get the bells completely refurbished.

Now, the fundraising stands at £18,574 in total.

Trevor Beadle, from Earls Colne, is the tower captain with the church bellringers.

Blackwell rep Val Hartley; Managing Director Niall Fraser; and bellringers Trevor Beadle (Tower Captain); Richard Gourlay and Lizzie Gutteridge (Image: N/A)

He said: “The fund last April stood at £7,472 and is now standing at £18,574.

"We have had a good year with several large personal donations and other grants from local community funds.

"These include £750 from Eastlight, £500 from Blackwell through the Corporate Social Responsibility Fund for Blackwell’s parent company Hargreaves Services plc and £500 from the Essex Community Foundation.

“We have also continued with events and the next fundraiser is the sale of plants, paintings and crafts event which is being held on Saturday, May 13 between 11am and 3pm.

“A huge thank you to everyone that has donated to the cause, and if anyone would like to contribute to the total refurbishment of our eight bells they can contact us via our Facebook page at  facebook.com/earlscolnebells or email earlscolnebells@gmail.com.”