By ADAM WAREING
TWO Blackburn churches will be part of The Churches Conservation Trust’s golden anniversary tour in aid of heritage crime prevention.
The charity’s chief executive Peter Aiers will attempt to visit 50 UK churches in 50 hours including Holy Trinity Church, Mount Pleasant and St Leonard’s Church, Langho on Friday, July 26.
He hopes The Great National Steeplechase will raise £50,000 to help tackle crimes against churches, including lead theft and vandalism.
He said: “From our 553 churches we carry a repair liability of £2m just for lead theft, for example.
“That’s an impact we wouldn’t have budgeted for and we have to raise that on top of everything else we’ve got to do every year just to keep buildings maintained and efficient.”
If everything goes to plan, he won’t see the light of day in Blackburn, with him scheduled to visit Holy Trinity between 2.52am and 3.04am and St Leonard’s from 3.20-3.37am.
The 45-year-old will be driven through the Blackburn leg, but he’ll enjoy a boat ride down the River Thames and travel to other sections in a helicopter, rickshaw and even on a unicycle.
The trust is attempting to find a new use for Holy Trinity, while St Leonard’s is used for ‘champing’, where members of the community can pay to sleep in the 139-year-old church.
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