I am raising funds for St Peter's Church, Sible Hedingham to upgrade the church's facilities supporting larger functions serving the community.

Sible Hedingham is the second largest village in Essex, population 4,000 growing rapidly due to new housing developments. St Peter's dates from about 1330. It has a relatively small but dedicated Anglican church community, but under the leadership of Liz Paxton (pastor) is increasing its role as the backbone of community support for the area.

At present the church is regularly used for worship (both by local Anglican and Catholic groups), hosts local community evens to attract people from the Hedinghams and surrounding area, including fetes, coffee morning, concerts and plays. The church is open every day during daylight hours. Increased local use is being developed in particular for younger members of the community such as local youth clubs. I personally am convinced this is critical in supporting local families in avoiding younger members of the community straying into criminal activities. I unfortunately know this is a local problem as my efforts to support this project and time available for so doing are due to being off work because of an aggravated burglary at our UK home opposite the church, in which I was very seriously injured by a shotgun fired at my left leg by one of the assailants. Those currently under prosecution by the police are all local youths.

The proposed works are to improve the interior of the church, reorder the food and refreshment preparation areas, and increase storage facilities for more varied use - some functions now attract over 100 people and existing facilities are completely inadequate. A feasibility study was carried out last year by an architectural firm which estimated a cost of about £55,000. We already have comitments of £10,000 in that my wife and I are contributing £5,000 and my employer Chubb as kindly offered to match this.