Jazz musicians donate thousands of pounds to historic church restoration
A group of jazz musicians have donated thousands of pounds from their concerts towards a restoration project at a historic village church.
Burrough Jazz have hosted many sell-out performances over the last year and, as a not-for-profit organisation, it found itself in a position to give money back to the community.
So members agreed to donate £2,500 to the PCC at St Mary the Virgin, Burrough on the Hill, where their first gig was held.
The funds will help with the urgent restoration of the tower and steeple with the PCC seeking to raise a substantial sum in matched funding to support a National Heritage Lottery Grant.
A cheque was presented at the latest Inscape Jazz Quartet evening at the church by Gillian Geddes, artistic director of Burrough Jazz, to Sue Measey, PCC treasurer, and other members.
PCC secretary Mandy Fox, PCC told an audience in the church about their funding challenge fand warmly thanked the Burrough Jazz team and their supporters for their generosity.
Because Burrough’s church is grade two listed, the cost of repairs – in the tens of thousands of pounds – is pushed up beyond the reach of the congregation – as the village’s only community building it is widely supported by locals.
Burrough Jazz is a community project developed around a dinner table in Burrough on the Hill during lockdown – its initial funding came from a grant from Melton Borough Council and a loan from Friends of Burrough.
The same team are still working together to bring high quality music performances within an intimate jazz club-style setting to the local community and they enjoy giving back to the community.