In January thieves stripped the lead from one side of the roof of our lovely little Church.  They didn't get it all - perhaps because they were disturbed or perhaps because of the noise that must have been made when one of the rolls of lead was thrown down and went through the ceiling of a crypt.   Something else to be sorted out!

We (I'm the PCC's treasurer) don't know exactly how much this is going to cost nor how long it is going to take to put right but our architect is talking about a frightening £60,000 or so. That'll take more than a couple of Church fêtes.

Before you ask, we do have insurance but, due to the prevalence of lead theft, the amount payable is limited to £7,500.   There is another £7,500 to cover subsequent damage such as the crypt repair but the best part of £1,000 of that has already spent for temporary protection to keep the inside of the Church more or less dry.

Apart from the indignation that criminals (several other descriptions come readily to mind) have had the audacity to steal the lead, it is heartbreaking for members of the PCC and their many helpers who work so hard each year to raise funds to keep the Church going. It takes about £14,000 a year to meet all the necessary expenses so to suddenly be faced with all this is quite a blow. And it is not just a financial problem; there is so much time being taken up on so many different aspects of the affair.  Still, we will get it sorted eventually but we could do with some assistance.   Please!

You will find on justgiving.com/campaign/tollerporcorum the PCC's own appeal and it doesn't matter whether you use that page or this one; the money will end up in the same account.  Actually, the other page is more interesting because it tells you a bit about the Church itself.  That  appeal got off to an encouraging start due to a front page splash in the Dorset Echo but things have slowed down a little so, as I said above, please help with a donation large or small.