February 2006
We raised a fuss over Christmas about the need to raise money to have the bells repaired and you may have thought we've been rather quiet since then. There's a display in the Parish Council's office window showing photographs of the St Laurence bells and a new display in the library but they have been the only visible sign of activity.
We have in fact been very busy but it's been back office work rather than anything public. The bells need £60,000 spent on them and that's a lot of money to be handled by a casual group of fundraisers. We have been having meetings with the Rector and representatives of the PCC and we now have an official organisation with formal Terms of Reference to run the campaign. The details of the St Laurence Bell Fund are published them on our web site (here) but the major points are:
- The aim of the Fund is to raise money to repair and maintain the bells of St Laurence.
- The money raised can only be used for the repair and maintenance of the bells.
- The Fund will be audited annually by the Church auditors.
- If we cannot reach our target - for example if we suddenly find that the tower itself needs a huge amount spent on masonry repairs - then the moneys raised will be held by the church for the upkeep of the bells and the promotion of bellringing so that the tradition will not die in the village.
The Fund does now have a web site at http://www.alvechurchdata.co.uk/bells . There are pictures of our bells, some pictures of past and present bellringers, and more information about what we are trying to achieve. We already have the ability to accept donations on this site and a local web design company, BlueBox software, have volunteered to give the pages a professional remake so that the pages are more attractive. When we have this new design in place we'll be offering local businesses the chance to show their support by sponsoring a page.
Our website is already on Google's list and we'd like to raise the site's ranking so that we can reward our sponsors with as many visitors as possible. If you have a web site registered with Google, please give us a link and improve our visibility. Email alvechurchbells@yahoo.co.uk if you'd like a copy of our icon.
Finally, we must thank the Cartwright family for their generosity in asking donations to the Bell Fund in memory of Joan Cartwright. We were all touched by this gesture.