Posted on: 5th June 2024

A well-planned fundraising weekend for the Parish of Bardsey with East Keswick has raised a whopping £25,000 to boost church funds.

Structural damage to church grounds and rising heating costs had significantly hit their bank balance, so worshippers realised at the end of last year that they would need to do some fundraising in 2024, said incumbent Revd Angela Hannafin.

“A carefully planned campaign was orchestrated over one weekend in order to optimise resources. A letter explaining how our churches are funded and what we would do with the money was circulated to 1,500 in the parish, and the events planned were advertised on posters and banners.” Revd Angela said.

The community-based events included an afternoon of tea and cakes organised by the local WI (including hand-decorated biscuits by local artist Klara) and a ‘Family Forage’, where families could pick out dragon-featured symbols (to tie in with St George’s Day) as they walked from one church to another. There was also a special Sunday joint parish service at All Hallows with Bishop Arun as guest speaker, and a sell-out evening concert at St Mary Magdalene, featuring local performers and a West End singer.

Revd Angela Hannafin: “We are delighted to have raised so much money which will help us keep our churches at the centre of community life."

“This was a true community event, where we’ve organised something for everyone. It has only been possible because so many people from both church and community pitched in. I’d like to thank everyone for their hard work and support which means so much to us.”