JCB pledges £7,500 to Cheddleton church roof and damp-proofing appeal

JCB has pledged £7,500 towards a £30,000 restoration appeal at the Grade II* listed Church of St Edward the Confessor in Cheddleton, Staffordshire Moorlands, the manufacturer announced on 5 October.

The 13th-century church found that its porch roof needed extensive repairs and that both the porch and interior walls needed damp-proofing, JCB said. Parishioner and JCB employee Carole Ball approached the company for help with the cost.

The Revd Dr Henry Hope, Vicar, said: "It takes us three-quarters of the way to our target and we can now plan the work for early in the New Year."

The work

According to JCB, an Anglo-Saxon gravestone that is used as a slab on the porch roof will be preserved as part of the restoration.

The company said the work would also secure the future of stained glass windows designed by the Victorian artist William Morris. One of the windows shows the designer himself wearing red socks, and another depicts three trumpet-playing angels, a design that went on to become a classic Morris motif.

Dr Hope said the building served the village with regular services and more: "we hold regular services and host community groups including bellringers and a choir". The church also has a close relationship with the local school and hosts flower festivals, concerts and a wedding fair, he said.

JCB's church giving

The pledge is the latest in a series of JCB donations to churches close to its Staffordshire base. In August 2023 the company gave £10,000 to St Michael and All Angels Church at Stramshall, near Uttoxeter, a Grade II listed building, for restoration work that included a stained glass window and masonry repairs.

JCB also announced a donation in August this year to a church at Upper Tean.

JCB traces its origins to founder Joseph Cyril Bamford working alone in a garage in Uttoxeter 80 years ago. The company says it now operates 22 plants on four continents, has more than 750 dealers worldwide and employs a 19,000-strong global workforce.

What happens next

With the JCB pledge, the Cheddleton appeal stands three-quarters of the way to its £30,000 target, leaving about £7,500 still to raise. The church said it expected to plan the porch roof and damp-proofing work for early in the New Year.