St Mary’s, dressed in her new grey granite tower and reddish Biscovey stone body!

Jill Hore, Churchwarden, writes “We haven’t done anything remarkable in fund raising this year, but once lockdown restrictions were lifted we did manage to hold 3 POP UP stalls outside the Good Shepherd Church in Par, selling home grown plants with an additional stall of homemade cakes, pies, and preserves.”

Being opposite the Post Office, we had enthusiastic  customers throughout the first  morning’s event, –  who were as eager as we were to get out, meet people and have a chat about being  under lockdown restrictions, that we decided to do it again! And again! Our “green fingered” member had so many bedding plants and perennials thriving in her polytunnel and garden, that it was an obvious event to arrange.

The Ladies in the congregation (St Mary’s Biscovey & Good Shepherd Par)  were also willing to bake, each time, and the customers certainly spent well on all that we had to offer. (Nearly £2300 raised)

We also have a policy in Par that 5% of our weekly giving will be for other worthwhile causes, and  so together we were able to support CHCT once more this year. (Long gone is the day in September when we would dust our bikes off and cycle from church to church around the Deanery, being sponsored to raise money for the cause!)

The project at St Mary’s Church was completed in the spring of 2020, but due to the lockdowns, very few people have visited, although the church is open daily once more.

It does look magnificent with the summer sun shining on the newly pointed stonework,  and during the major fundraising 2017-2019  we witnessed a remarkable effort between  church and community .

We did reach our set target of £100k  with further support from other charities and grant giving bodies. (The CHCT extra donation [£1,700] – when we discovered the more serious deterioration of the tower – was a most welcomed gift, boosting  the teams morale and determination to complete the task.)”

The CHCT think it is a remarkable effort and thank all involved for the most generous £400 donation.