FOSB

A Christmas Concert

Saturday 20 December 2008
Lostwithiel Town Band
The Polperro Fishermen's Choir

On Saturday 20 December 2008 at 7.30 pm in St Bartholomew's Church, Lostwithiel, FOSB present A Christmas Concert featuring Lostwithiel Town Band, Directed by Denzil Stephens, and their guests, The Polperro Fishermen's Choir, Directed by Phil Carrigan. Mince pies and wine will be served during the interval. This being a Christmas celebration, there is no charge for admission. Please come ready to enjoy yourself thoroughly and bring plenty of cash so you can give with hearty and happy generosity to the retiring collection in aid of the band, the choir and FOSB. A draft of the poster is shown below.

FOSB
present
A Christmas Concert
featuring
Lostwithiel Town Band
guests
The Polperro Fishermen's Choir
at
St Bartholomew's Church Lostwithiel
on
Sat 20 December 7.30 pm
Mince pies and wine
Retiring collection
in aid of
the band, the choir and FOSB

The Friends make £8,000 Grant towards re-hanging the Bells

1 November 2008

Thanks to their supporters, The Friends have been able to make a grant of £8,000 to St Bartholomew's Church towards the work that is needed on the bells and their supporting frame.

In an email dated 1 November 2008 St Bartholomew's PCC Treasurer, Colin Willson, wrote, "Very many thanks for the cheque for £8000. The continued support from FOSB is much appreciated, and I do thank you all on behalf of the PCC. As we nearly finish the tower project successfully, and now move onto the bells, it seems there is no respite. However, I think we have had a fantastically successful few years with our fund raising, and I am sure no town's people could have shown greater support than we have had in Lostwithiel."

What FOSB does

The Friends of St Bartholomew's Church, Lostwithiel (FOSB) is a registered charity which makes grants towards projects that preserve the fabric of St Bartholomew's Church. It raises money by running fundraising events and by seeking direct donations (recovering tax via Gift Aid where possible). FOSB focuses on raising funds for long term maintenance rather than for any specific project.

The Friends make £32,000 Grant to Tower and Spire Project

Thanks to their supporters, The Friends have been able to make a grant of £32,000 towards the £138,000 needed to refurbish St Bart's tower and spire. This estimate excludes the work that is needed on the bells and their supporting frame.

Work starts on the Tower and Spire

Erection of the external scaffolding around the tower and spire started on 12 May 2008: this photo, taken at 12:57 pm on 8 June, shows it after completion. The golden weathercock is visible bisected by the topmost hand rail.

Photograph © 2008 Douglas Steven

More Photographs

The Bells Project

A separate but related project is to refurbish the bells. The clock (which belongs to the Lostwithiel Town Council), has to be removed and stored. The six bells have to be lowered and stored by the bell repairers. All supporting metal work which has been badly rusted due to the wet tower walls, has to be shot blasted and replaced as necessary. All the bell frame including every nut and bolt has to be hot dipped galvanised to bring everything back to an 'as new' condition. The bells have to be refurbished and everything replaced. This project will cost in the region of £30,000. With the help of our supporters, FOSB hopes to be in a position to make a significant grant towards this.

St Bartholomew's Church
One of the six bells
© 2008 Eleanor Knowles

Regular Maintenance Cheaper Than Emergency Repairs

Clearly the completion of the Tower project will leave all our piggy banks depleted. And on top of that is still be all the routine maintenance work to catch up on! Looking ahead, prevention is better, and invariably cheaper, than cure, so the help FOSB needs most is for many people in, or with links to, the town to become active Friends and to get more of their friends to sign a standing orders for monthly donations they can comfortably sustain be they £1, £3, £10 or £30. A good target for many of us might be the price of a pint of beer each month so we can mentally say "Cheers!" whenever we glimpse this lovely building. Please look out for FOSB Gift Forms at events, and sign up to say "Cheers!".

Signing up to say "Cheers!"

The FOSB Gift Form along with our Trifold Brochure and Contact Details will be on display at FOSB events. If you make a donation and are a tax payer, please make a point of signing the Gift Aid Declaration within the Gift Form so FOSB can increase the value of your gift by recovering tax. If in doubt please do ring me on 01208 871231. More information in various formats is to be found on the Resources page of this website.