St Sampson’s Church awaits the final Church of England faculty approval after receiving no objections to our plans for bringing mains water to the entrance of the church and installing lights along the path. The works should start soon. No more carrying of heavy water containers to provide drinks and no more stumbling in the dark. Hooray! This feels like a major step forward in our St Sampson’s Unlocked project: to make the church an easier place and to provide a twenty first century welcome in our medieval building, with a kitchen, a toilet, removal of draughts and installation of new heating.

Update on progress Four short pews at the back of church have been removed, (they will be offered for sale dreckly!), creating an immediate increased space for hospitality, which was very welcome at Carols by Candlelight, which attracted over 90 people. That was a very special evening and we were delighted that the new Bishop of Truro, Bishop Philip, could be with us. He said he had “never been to such an inventive and creative carol service” and he must have been to quite a few! To complete the work to make more space, the plans to re locate the Font from the back to the front of the church are progressing well.

We have recently secured a grant of £15,000 towards the total project cost (of approx. £450,000). We have also been awarded £350 towards a window conservation report in preparation for seeking funding for the major window repairs. The cost of these is likely to be about £63,000. It sounds a lot, but on an ancient building like St Sampson’s all the work has to be done by specialist stonemasons and glass conservators to meet heritage standards. Once completed, the cold draughts through the windows will be eliminated. Ongoing conversations are happening with the architect, specialist contractors and various funders.

Letters of support from you and the organisations you represent, stating how using St Sampson’s would benefit you, would be very welcome to include in our funding applications. Funders need to see evidence of community support. We might be a small community, but we are mighty in what we can achieve, as proven by the wonderful Parish Hall committee, the Parish Council, SHARE, WI and Hort. Show, JAMM and all the organisations which are so active in our parish. If you look at our parish boundaries on a map, we are diamond shaped. That’s because we are a treasured jewel of a community. We have much to be thankful for in South Hill Parish, blessings to you all. Keep in touch by following St Sampson’s Unlocked on Facebook. If you have any suggestions or would like to get involved in any aspect of this project, please do get in touch with Judith or Miranda

judithayers@yahoo.co.uk 01579 384617 mlawranceowen@icloud.com 01579 382863