In the village of Barnoldby le Beck in Grimsby, stands St Helen’s Church – but in 2024, it almost didn’t. Under real threat of closure due to dwindling attendance, local residents, including Sarah, now chair person of the Friends of St Helen’s group, have united to raise funds to save the church and community hub. We sat down with Sarah to learn more about their cause, the church itself and their fundraising efforts to date.
Tell us all about your cause
The church itself is more than 900 years old and a beautiful, iconic part of our small community. I moved to the area in 2024 and was immediately made aware of the plight of the building. With less people in the community, there isn’t a consistent local group the building can rely upon for donations. It’s meant the church has fallen into a bit of bad place, the roof needs repairing, and the graveyard is completely overgrown. We don’t know the full extent of the repairs yet but our mantra is ‘Not on our watch!’ – as current residents of Barnoldby, we don’t want the building, which has such a rich history, fall – we are determined to bring it back to its former glory and be a source of pride, worship and community.
We currently host a number of community events and fundraisers at the church, including cake sales as shown below.
What do you need funding for?
Just to run the church costs about £4,000 each year including the insurance. The Friends of St Helens are currently fundraising for a new survey to do a deep dive on the total amount of repairs needed before we step up our fundraising efforts to make them happen.
Why did you join easyfundraising?
As explained, the size of our village is a little prohibitive when it comes to fundraising. We have a small community of potential donors and in the current climate it isn’t easy for people to give. We searched for fundraising ideas and found easyfundraising – an opportunity for people to support us without any out of pocket costs. It has become a big revenue stream for us, with Amazon, eBay, Tesco, and those kind of retailers, a little can go a long way. We’ve raised over £362 in free donations in a matter of months – all at no extra cost. Through using social media we have been able to connect with former residents from the area who can support wherever they are, whenever they shop!
What has the easyfundraising income made possible?
So far all the funds raised have gone towards our quinquennial survey, still a way to go but from a standing start, this income is a fantastic help! We will complete the survey and then continue raising towards roof repair and the update of the church grounds.
How do you recruit supporters?
Our Facebook page has been huge for us. Social media and easyfundraising have been a lifeline for us – it’s reconnected people to our small rural community through the internet. We’ve had people from around the country with some connection to our village reach out, whether they had grandparents here or simply passed through, it’s really taken off. We also promote it at our fundraising events, village newsletters and put posters and flyers up in popular areas around the village. Of course we all promote it to family and friends every chance we get too!
What advice would you give to other causes like yours?
The most important part of easyfundraising is finding supporters. Their team help you do this with ready made materials you can share that explain how easy it is, and that it’s free! Keep everyone updated with how well you are doing. I often share our supporter leaderboard to build up the competition side – makes it fun, too!
How you can support Friends of St Helen’s
This is a cause that epitomises community spirit. Sarah’s commitment to the church, despite her being a recent resident in the village is inspiring and we wish the group every success in the restoration and maintenance of the church. If you would like to get behind them, you can support them with every shop by joining as a supporter here.
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