Many of you will have noticed the scaffolding going up around the South Tower in the last month. After the ‘Quinquennial inspection’, 5 yearly building inspection. The church was instructed to have a structural engineers report, which revealed the problem with the South Tower. This report uncovered that some masonry had become loose and needed replacing and the bell rope was also removed. Critical work was required to make the tower safe. However, whilst seeking to repay the loan for the building redevelopment; the PCC felt it was not in a position to take on the repair work to the South Tower, at a cost of circa £60,000. Early this year it seemed the tower had further deteriorated and it was felt, in spite of the outstanding building debt that we would need to proceed with the work in full. Since then, the PCC has applied to a number of funds and secured £18000 in grants, we have redirected £15000 of reserve funds. This leaves us with a shortfall of about £27000. So, if you would like to hear the Church bell ring once again, would you consider helping in one of the following ways: –

• Pray for God to provide
• Recommend other grant making bodies to which we could apply for funding
• Volunteer to fill out grant forms
• Consider giving financially (either through a marked envelope in the plate or directly through the church account ‘PCC of Christ Church Downend’, sort code 30-98-06, Account number 00801027, ref – South Tower)