Friends of All Saints

 The Friends of All Saints are a charity which was set up to raise funds for the maintenance of our lovely old church.   They have done sterling work over the years and contributed many thousands of pounds.

From 1997 until his retirement in 2009 the Chairman of the Trustees was Bernard Lewis, CBE, JP.   The Treasurer is Jean Oyler and the two other Trustees are The Reverend Canon Stephen Carter – Vicar of All Saints - and Allan Wiseman.  Secretary to the Trustees is Cynthia Chignell.

Bill Geller paid this tribute to Bernard Lewis when he vacated his position:

Nearly 20 years ago the spire of All Saints was in need of major structural and remedial repair work. The wooden structure on top of the unique triangular stone tower is a masterpiece of medieval building craftsmanship. Six sided; the lightweight wooden frame is covered with weight saving oak shingles and houses the Church bells.

The money for the work was raised in the town and the Chairman of the fund raisers was Bernard Lewis. The project was completed and should serve Maldon for another couple of centuries. The project was finished in the mid 90’s and Bernard was invited to form a group of Friends to raise funds for the maintenance of the building fabric of the Church for the long term. This group became the Friends of All Saints, Maldon and was registered as a Charity in 1997 under Bernard’s Chairmanship. The original Trustees included Dr William Petchy the historian as Secretary and Barry Beardall OBE FRICS, a surveyor in the town, as Treasurer. The Vicar, The Reverend Canon Peter Mason, and Bill Geller were also appointed.

The launch of the new Charity was successful as a result of a mailing letter and invitation to become a ‘Friend’ delivered to every household in the Parish, together with some generous donations from local businesses. Over the years a variety of fund raising initiatives have been used, but it became apparent that the most popular fund raiser was to be concerts in the Church. It is popular with performers because of the excellent acoustics and the performances across the musical spectrum have proved equally popular with audiences.

Bernard’s light touch as Chairman and his enthusiasm has allowed individual fund raising initiatives to prosper and the money raised has made a valuable contribution to the maintenance of this unique Grade I listed building, from a new oil tank to examples of the Stone-Masons craft. Maldon has a debt of gratitude for Bernard’s years of service to the people of the parish and the town, he has the satisfaction of helping to maintain All Saints as a place of worship and a place of peace for future generations of Maldonians.

Thank you Bernard for all that you have done for All Saints.