Rattlesden Village Website
bringing the community together
bringing the community together
bringing the community together
The earliest part of the church dates to the 13th century with many additions and alterations over the years
For more details on the history of the church, please buy a copy of the Church Guide from the folder on the table at the back of the Church. They cost £3.00 each and are produced by The Parochial Church Council and not FORC. All funds are used to maintain the church. If you cannot find a copy, please contact us (see below) and we will do what we can to get one to you.
As is common with many old churches, funding for maintenance and repairs is increasingly challenging.
In 2013, Friends of Rattlesden Church (FORC) was formed as a non religious organisation with the purpose to raise funds, through events, donations, sponsorship and grant aid, mainly for the maintenance of the fabric of the building and the churchyard.
Maintenance and repair works are commissioned by the Parochial Church Council (PCC) and funding raised by FORC is passed to the PCC as a grant donation towards the cost of these works.
Additionally, a list of people who are “willing and able” is maintained. These individuals assist with running events and provide hands on maintenance work, on both a voluntary and professional basis.
Things have been a bit quiet recently but FORC has not gone away!
In July, we took a table in the Table Top Sale in the pavilion, selling a variety of things and making a modest contribution to our funds.
Our latest project was the refurbishment of the south east and the north east gates to the churchyard. The work on both gates has been successfully done by local craftsman Lee Patterson and we are particularly grateful to Rattlesden Community Shop for their donation towards the cost of the work. A small plaque on one of the posts will record the work and the donation.
A big project will be to re-order the west end of the church, installing kitchen and toilet facilities etc. FORC has been asked to help with the process of raising money from grant-making charities and other bodies so we expect to be busy in the autumn and winter. We are in little doubt that there will be other repair and maintenance work we can help with at the same time.
If anyone would like to join the FORC team and help with the work of maintaining and improving Rattlesden Church, please contact Steve Collins on 01 449 737541.
Since the founding of FORC in 2013, assistance has been possible for important maintenance and repairs to the fabric of the building. To date, grants made to the PCC total over £14,000.
2013 / 2014 - Labour to help re-hang the 6 bells and other tower work. Under the direction of the Tower Captain (Dave Ward), the saving on labour costs was in the order of £21,000 on a project that cost in the order of £70,000.
2015 - £5,400 for the refurbishment of the rainwater goods and downpipes.
2016 - £2,500 for repairs to the Church roof, internal high level cleaning of windows and walls including some re- plastering.
2017 - £600 towards the cost of repairs to the churchyard wall.
2019 - £3,340 to refurbish the clock face. This was completed with re-installation on March 18th 2019.
2020 - Contribution of £2000 towards the cost of repairs to the choir vestry window.
2021 - £586 for the refurbishment of the churchyard gates.
THE FORC TEAM.
Tony Brain.Chairman.
Stephen Collins.Vice Chairman.
Stephen Drury.Treasurer.
Dave Ward.Event Manager.
Vacancy.Secretary.
By Email: rattlesdenchurch@btinternet.com
By telephone:- 01449 737541
or leave your contact details at the Village Shop and we will get back to you.
ALL HELP, SUPPORT AND DONATIONS, OF ALL SIZES, GRATEFULLY RECEIVED.
WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM ANYONE INTERESTED IN JOINING THE F.O.R.C. TEAM.
PLEASE CONTACT US.
The latest Report and Accounts is in the Associated Documents section on this page. For reasons of Covid security, we think it would be inappropriate to put a copy on the FORC noticeboard in the church.
The report is in .pdf format which most folks are able to open and read on their device, whether it is a smartphone, tablet or computer. Please don’t print it off unless you must. It will help save the environment if printing is kept to a minimum. If you have a problem opening the document, please let us know through the email address above.
If you must print it, please ensure that your printer is set up for an A4 page with any setting for .pdf documents set at “Scale to Fit” and / or “Print Entire Page”. If you still have a problem and must have a printed copy, I will get one to you if you Email me at the address in the “CONTACT US” section..
