The bells of St Laurence church in Alvechurch, Worcestershire date from 1711 and have been ringing across the village for over three hundred years. There are eight bells ranging in weight from 4 to 12 hundredweight (200 to 600 kg) and the ringers of St Laurence ring them in the traditional English pattern of Change Ringing.

Running Total January 12th 2012

The bells have survived three centuries but are showing signs of wear and we need to raise around £80,000 to fund repair and restoration work. We had to increase our original 2005 target of £60,000 as we learnt more about the details of the project. Six years' inflation and a rise in VAT have not helped either. These pages describe the problems we are facing, the work that we need to do, and the progress we're making towards raising the money.

We've paid for our new bells and for the building work so our bank balance is dropping and the running total above is rather misleading. The total cost of the restoration won't be known until the final bills are in but our best estimate is that we're only a few thousand pounds short and this year's fund raising should meet that shortfall. If not then the extra will come from the general church funds but even in this worst case we'll have done well to have contributed the vast bulk of the cost towards this essential maintenance work.

Latest News

After a week to allow the mortar to dry we could start intalling the new frames in the tower on May 28th. A good turnout of volunteers on the Monday meant that the work went smoothly. With one group moving the bells and wheels from the church to the tower, another running the hoist, and a third bolting everything together as it arrived in the bell chamber we managed to get all the bells into their bearings in a single day. Tuesday was spent fitting wheels and stays and brackets and we plan to be commissioning the bells on Friday June 1st.

Future Events

Now that we're close to our target we hope we'll be able to slow down and just run our regular fundraising events, the Sale and the Christmas Coffee Morning.

Donations

We are offering our supporters the chance to sponsor a bell. You can read details and make an immediate donation on our sponsorship page or download our brochure with an application form.

Visit our donations page and help us towards our target. You can use your credit card on-line or print out a GiftAid form.

The Bell Fund is raising money on behalf of St Laurence Church. We are working under the following Bell Fund Terms of Reference.

Email us and help the St Laurence Bell Fund reach our target.