FUNDRAISERS behind an appeal to repair an historic church roof in Dalton have urged a community to continue to donate to the cause.

In February, St Mary's church in Dalton issued a rallying call to the people of the town to help them raise £20,000 to repair a leaking church roof which threatened the future of one of the oldest buildings in Dalton.

In just six months, more than £10,000 has been raised towards the grand total, with donations coming from as far away as Dallas, Texas.

This has enabled them to fix the leak with new roof tiles expected to be fitted in the next few weeks, but church warden, Barbara Irwin, who has lived in Dalton for 21 years, says thousands of pounds still need to be raised.

She said: "I hope that everyone who donated will continue to support us. We have raised an incredible amount so far and want to thank everybody for all their hard work, but we still need more money.

"We are very fortunate that we have a very tight-knit community here in Dalton who have got behind us when we thought we would struggle to raise the money.

"The church is there for everybody when they need it and I hope that everybody appreciates just how important a role it plays in the community."

READ MORE: Wardens get creative to save Dalton church's roof

Exhibition looks at design of South Cumbrian churches

As part of the fundraising, the 69-year-old shocked parishioners by dying her hair purple to bring in donations.

However, the most amount of money has come from a genius idea to allow people to write their name on one of the slates which will be fitted on the roof for £5.

Hundreds of pupils from St Mary's school and Chapel Street nursery in Dalton put their names on the slates to add towards a total of £6,000 which was raised by the public through this initiative.

Jennifer Tomlinson, 67, who is part of the fundraising committee which has been pushing for donations, said: "I think getting people to sign the slates really captured people's imaginations. One man donated £100 to sign one with his late wife's name on and the date they got married in the church which was just lovely to see.

"There is a danger that because people will soon start to see the roof being built they will think that we have raised all the money, but in fact we have only borrowed that money and do need to pay the builders back.

"I want to say a massive thank you to all our donors so far but we do need to encourage them to continue giving because we are only halfway there."

People can still "sign a slate" for a £5 donation by contacting Jennifer Tomlinson on 01229 468273.

FACTS ABOUT ST MARY'S CHURCH

The church building is more than 800 years old but the current layout was designed in 1885.

It is a designated Grade II listed building

In the churchyard is a slate grave slab standing on a limestone plinth to the memory of the artist George Romney, who was born in the town and died in 1802.

There is a ring of ten bells which were all cast in 1927.

A parish centre was built adjacent to the church in 1980.