MP sees work on church

Bury Free Press March 2003

West Suffolk MP Rickard Spring visited Wickhambrook church last week to see how the restoration of the roof is coming along.

The 1,000-year-old church already boasts a newly-restored tower and this second phase is replacing the leaded roofing.

The original lead was sold by the church council in the 1960s, when the metal was expensive, to prevent it being stolen. The council used asphalt to re-roof it and this, 40 years later, is rotting away.

Mr Spring is patron of the church and is offering tea on the terrace at the House of Commons for auction to help raise funds to complete the restoration. He donned the regulation hard hat and accompanied churchwarden Mike Chester around the church and showed "genuine interest" said Mr Chester.

He added that fund-raising was important because figures showed the average weekly contributions made by people in the St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Diocese were 60p below the national average of £6.68.

A fund-raising Spring Ball is also planned for May 17.