St Mary’s Church Craswall
In addition to the music, Concerts for Craswall donates to maintain, enhance and promote the culture and heritage of the Craswall community, and most particularly our local Grade II* listed church, St Mary’s.
While our primary object is to provide high-quality music in a part of the country that would otherwise be something of an artistic desert, it is through doing this that we can fulfil what we see as an important secondary charitable object of preserving the Church in our community.
Since 1995 Concerts for Craswall has raised substantial sums of money to keep this beautiful church open. Alone since being granted charitable status in 2002, Concerts for Craswall has donated over £41,000 towards the maintenance and support of St Mary’s.
For many years Concerts for Craswall were the principal donor to Craswall PCC and St Mary’s, and most recently paid a substantial part of the costs of rewiring the Church (with the balance of funds coming from Hereford Historic Churches Trust and fund raising by local residents). Prior to that, funds were donated to repair the vestry’s stone floor. Trustees are looking at future support for specific projects, including a contribution towards replacement capping stones for those stolen in 2023.
St Mary’s is at the heart of much that happens in Craswall and the wider surrounding area. It attracts many visitors each year, including pilgrims who stay in the church overnight whilst walking the Golden Valley Pilgrim Way, and we still hold our popular Sunday afternoon summer concert in this much-treasured venue. Concerts for Craswall remain one of St Mary’s principal donors and it is very important to local volunteers and our audiences to know that funds raised are used for this specific, secondary purpose which is greatly valued.
Other Charitable Activites
In addition to supporting St Mary’s, Concerts for Craswall has donated a further £10,000 to community projects and activities in the parish since 2002. These include a bursary for talented young local classical guitarist, Hope Cramsie; funds towards the hire of music scores for Craswall Young Farmers annual pantomime; funds for a schools outreach programme; and support for the local village hall.
Each summer, we kindly request a retiring collection after our concert at Dore Abbey. This raises valuable funds for the preservation of that wonderful historic building. In the last 2 years alone, our audiences have generously donated just short of £1500 for the “Raising the Roof” project at the Abbey.