The Friends of St Mary’s Church is a charity which raises funds to assist in the preservation and renovation of Ross-on-Wye’s iconic landmark.

In January this year they were able to hand over a cheque for £35,000 to contribute toward the replacement of the wooden floors throughout the building and the construction of a refreshment area, a children’s room and toilet facilities, bringing the building up to the standards required of a modern church.

During this reordering the Victorian pews have been replaced with more comfortable chairs which also offers the church a more flexible floor space. The internal LED lighting has also been improved.

Fundraising continues though as there is more work to do. The external floodlighting needs replacing and the draughty main north entrance requires remodelling to conserve energy and to improve wheelchair access.

St Mary’ is always open by day, but on Saturday, May 4th there will be a special Open Day to show off all the changes. Visitors will also find out more about what the Friends do.

The next fundraising event is the biannual Open Garden Weekend, which takes place between June 22nd and 23rd, which is sponsored by Ross Garden Store. They hope to see lots of local people and visitors enjoying the gardens. More details about the Open Gardens are at fosmross.org.ukSee this week’s paper for more stories like this, available in shops and as a Digital Edition now.