Save our spire

For 150 years, the spire of Christ Church has dominated Swindon from its lofty position at the top of Old Town, but now the imposing edifice is in danger of crumbling away.

The repair bill is so big because the rot has set in from top to bottom of the church.

It has spread from crumbling, weather-beaten stonework on the church spire, via rotting nails holding its roof slates in place, to drainage problems that mean water is eating away at the building's foundations.

The Skyline Appeal aims to stop the rot by raising £1.5m through a combination of business and individual sponsorship, lottery money, and traditional fundraisers such as jumble sales, concerts and charity football matches.

Appeal chairman Mike Slipper admits the £1.5m target is "an enormous sum", but he and his fellow Skyline patrons say much more than a building would be lost if Christ Church were allowed to crumble away.

The Right Rev Michael Doe, the Bishop of Swindon and Skyline Appeal patron, said: "There are lots of questions about church buildings and whether we need all the buildings we have got. But if there is one building in Swindon that we do need it's this one. It stands here on the hill almost as a symbol of Swindon itself."

Another appeal patron, Swindon Mayor David Cox, thinks Christ Church stands as a symbol of Swindon to even the non-religious.

"When you see Christ Church, you know you are home," he says, adding that it is an older and more established town symbol than even the trees on the hills above Liddington, and the David Murray John Tower.

The church is still a thriving centre of worship, the home of an Old Town Youth Project, two local toddler groups, and a base for aid work in faraway places such as Afghanistan and Uganda.

But those behind the Skyline Appeal reckon those who have only infrequent contact with the church such as those who were married or had children Christened there also owe it their support in his time of need.

"They expect it to be here for them, but at other times, they are not here for the church," says appeal board member Lance Cole.

"Part of this appeal is to say to people: 'If you want that service, you have to be prepared to support it'."

The vicar of Christ Church, the Rev. Simon Stevenette, agrees, saying: "The building has helped many over the years and now it's time for the many to help the building."

"This isn't to create a museum, but to secure and expand the base of our support to the people of Swindon."

The church is already thinking of the future beyond the £1.5m appeal and hopes to make internal alterations to the church which will allow more community groups to set up home there.

But the churchwarden of Christ Church, Mary Trickett, says people would not only miss the practical work the church does.

She reckons that many people still look to the church for emotional support in times of crisis, and that it stands as an important reminder of a spiritual world many of us do not have much time to think about these days.

She wonders where the 700 people who packed the church on hearing of Princess Diana's death would have gone if it had not existed then or where the hundreds who went to Christ Church to mourn the September 11 attack would have gathered.

"Just looking at the building is a reminder to us that there are other things in life other than the nuts and bolts of living," she says.

"It's like a pointer to that, even if they don't believe in God."

The appeal's first fundraising event is an Eleventh Night Party at the Church hall in Devizes Road on January 5. For more details, telephone the Skyline Appeal on Swindon 522832 or email it on skyline appeal@hotmail.com