AN HISTORIC Victorian clock at a Worcester church has been taken away for repair after campaigners raised £15,000 in just ten months.
A team from the renowned clock repairer Smith of Derby took the 24in, 1830 clock away from Barbourne’s St George’s Church on Thursday (May 19), for a complete overhaul including the numerals being re-gilded with gold leaf.
Last May, St George’s Parochial Church Council discovered the clock had stopped working and needed repairing, so The Friends of St George’s charity group started raising funds through their ‘Just a Minute’ scheme, whereby people could sponsor a minimum of £10 for a particular time on the clock.
Each donor then had to say in no more than 100 words why that minute meant so much to them.
The appeal was boosted by a number of grants and also won £2,000 when it was named one of six finalists in the ‘Ecclesiastical and Church Times Fund-raising Idea of the Year’ contest – which attracted a record 424 entries from churches throughout the UK.
The campaign was also supported by former members of the church who had moved away from the area, the St George’s Square Residents’ Association and house builder McCarthy and Stone, who have built a new retirement development nearby.
Michael Silvey, chairman of The Friends of St George’s said: “I can’t wait for it to be renovated. The clock face has been stuck at 1.03pm for more than a year and I think I was the last person to wind it up then.”
The church is now planning to hold a celebratory service and hope to produce a book about the project including each story from everyone who sponsored.
