A kind-hearted woman is taking on a gruelling walking challenge to raise money for the church clock restoration in Rishton.

Earlier this year, it was discovered that St Peter & St Paul’s Parish Church tower in Rishton was infested with dry rot and the three clock faces have now been removed and are about to be restored as a result of the ‘terrible’ damage.

The restoration is costing a total of £18,000 and Rishton resident, Margaret Harris is going above and beyond to support the fundraiser.

Margaret, 87, who has been described by Rev Edward Carr as a devoted member of the congregation will be celebrating her 88th birthday by walking 65 miles to raise as much money as possible.

Rev Edward Carr said: “We have spent the past few months working on a plan to make the tower watertight then we can replace the rotten timbers.

“Part of this planning revealed what a terrible state the clock faces were in - in fact, the brackets on one of them had totally rusted through.

"It was great that we caught the problem when we did or any further decay could've seen them drop out.

“The clock faces have now been removed and are about to be restored. They'll return later this year looking beautiful with new glass, paint and gold decoration.

“The magnificent Margaret Harris, a devoted member of the congregation, has stepped up to the mark to raise funds through her sponsored walk.

“She really is a star, taking it all in her stride and wowing people with her can-do attitude.

"For Margaret, even at 88, there is no time to put her feet up - she is determined to do everything she can to get the clock tower fixed. She is incredible! What an inspiration to us all.”

Rev Carr is amazed at how many people across the community have come together to help raise the money needed for the restoration..

He added: “The Rishton Arms put on a sell out raffle, local shops and businesses have been collecting, a Crowdfunder page has brought in generous donations and we're really looking forward to a Community Pub Crawl in September that will hopefully raise a big amount towards the £18000 total cost.

“All this has been really humbling and shows how the church is truly at the heart of the village community.”

To sponsor Margaret, click here.