AN ambitious £250,000 fundraising campaign has been launched to breathe new life into an historic Pocklington church.

The All Saints' Church Heritage Appeal, Reveal and Restore, was officially kickstarted at a ceremony this week and aims to improve facilities and access for the community, while preserving its historic architecture for years to come.

The vicar of All Saints', the Rev Chris Simmons, said they were honoured to have Lord Halifax as the appeal's patron, continuing his long association with the church. Mr Simmons said the appeal had three main aims:

To restore all the significant architectural features at the west end of the church, including its unusual grotesque stone carvings

Improve disabled facilities throughout the church

Make better use of the space in the building to benefit community groups.

Mr Simmons, who has been at the church for two-and-a-half years, said there had been plans to carry out the work for the past 15 years, but other projects had to take priority.

"The work will certainly improve the building and make it more attractive to the many visitors we get through the doors every day," he said.

"It's a great honour to have Lord Halifax as patron: we are very grateful to him."

Mr Simmons, who hopes to have raised the money within three years, said they planned to appeal for grants ffrom English Heritage and other bodies and also had many ideas for local fundraising projects.

These will include, parties, quizzes and concerts in the church. "You name it, we'll be doing it," Mr Simmons said.

"We hope to get the support of the local community and get them involved in fundraising.

"It's about 100 years since anything was done on this scale - it will be a major development."

Improvement work will also include the restoration of an 11th century font in the church and a 15th century cross which will be moved to its original place outside in the churchyard.

Updated: 09:10 Saturday, October 02, 2004