The St Lawrence Friends Heritage Trust was founded on 30 June 1995 to help restore, maintain and repair St Lawrence Chobham with its attached hall and St Saviour Valley End.
Its purpose was, and is, to reach beyond the congregations of those two churches to raise funds to assist the Parochial Church Council (PCC) which is responsible for both churches to maintain them for the benefit of the community as a whole. Both churches are listed buildings and it is worth remembering that St Lawrence is the only Grade 1 listed building in Surrey Heath. Details of each church can be found on the parish website. Donations are given, or work funded directly, in response to formal requests for assistance from the PCC.
The Trust does this both though the regular donations of its members (and anyone who gives on a regular basis is deemed to be a member of the Trust) and by organising events. These have included illustrated talks, concerts, barn dances, dinners, quiz nights and auctions of promises.
Over its life (nearly three decades, at the time of writing), the Trust has used its incoming funds to make donations for the upkeep of these two churches totalling more than £230,000, an impressive figure for a small charity and a testament to the cost of keeping two listed buildings in good repair. These donations have included repairs to the porch at St Lawrence using specialist craftsmen in the use of old oak from Salisbury Cathedral, help with the total redecoration of St Lawrence, the provision of a new digital organ at St Lawrence, new paving surrounds at St Lawrence which improved disabled access, work on the tower at St Saviour, and repairs to the tower at St Lawrence along with a number of smaller projects.
The Trust has become an integral part of the community of Chobham and Valley End. Its continued success depends on your continuing support.