FUNDRAISING to save a historic church is 'on track' following a significant grant from the Devon Historic Churches Trust — but more help is needed to ensure the church's future.

The trust has pledged £10,000 for St Andrew's Church in South Tawton, which is threatened with closure due to the increasing necessity for repairs on the church roof and internal brick work.

Fundraisers are in the process of setting up the Friends of St Andrew's, an organisation designed to meet the ongoing future needs of the medieval church.

The estimated funding needed for the church roof repairs is £246,000, but fundraisers believe the figure will rise even higher. Fundraising has already begun in earnest, and the Heritage Lottery Fund pledged £151,000 to support the work last year, but to receive the grant and numerous other grants linked to it, the community will need to raise to plug the shortfall in funding.

'We are on track, with fundraising going as well as we could have hoped,' said Jerry Stephens, who is co-ordinating the fundraising effort to save the church.

'There is still some way to go yet though. The goalposts on something like this seem to be moving all the time, and while we have figures from six months ago on how much is needed, those will have changed I am sure.

'At this point there are enough funds secured to allow a start on essential repairs to the roof in the late spring as planned. Fundraising will continue on all fronts to maximise the opportunity presented by scaffolding to accomplish further work on the roof and tower.

'Things are constantly changing, the specifications of what needs doing is changing, what English Heritage ask of us is changing, so with this, that and the other, we just need to keep ploughing on.

'Support at the initial meeting to set up the Friends of St Andrew's was good. It was well attended by parishioners and supporters from neighbouring parishes.'

St Andrew's has major leaks throughout the church, and following analysis it was discovered that the slates across the entire roof need replacing urgently. It was initially believed that only the aisle roof tiles needed replacing.

The leaks have caused internal damage and repair work is also required to renew the roof's lead covering, as well as internal timber repairs and removal of cement based render on the south parapet.

There is also a need for ground drainage, and archaeological studies have driven up the cost.

The situation is so severe that the building has been placed in the highest category of English Heritage's 'Heritage at Risk' register, which highlights historical buildings in need of repairs or at risk if no action is taken.

The next meeting of the Friends of St Andrew's is in the Church House in South Tawton on Thursday February 7 at 7.30pm. At this meeting, the group's constitution will be formally adopted and the Friends committee will be formed.