Community garden is to be built inside Newark Parish Church as part of fundraising effort

A community garden is to be built inside Newark Parish Church as part of a summer concert and flower festival.

The date for your diaries is Thursday, August 17, 4.30pm to 6.30pm, with the concert 5pm onwards.

The Flower Festival starts a day later, August 18 and also the 19th, 9.30am to 5pm.

It will be a new and different flower festival incorporating local businesses and organisations.

Bring your family and see if you can find all of the Church Mice in the arrangements.

Have tea and cake amongst the flowers, and see a community-style garden built within the church just for the festival!

The kick-off event is a Thursday evening concert (£20 per ticket) featuring poetry, opera and organ music.

Organisers are also looking for sponsors, volunteers and flower-arranging talent to ensure the events ara a great success.

The events will raise money for vital works to save the church structure, a major project costing approximately £4m.

Church authorities have applied for grants and have a shortfall of £200,000+.

The goal is to raise £10,000 through the August events.

Much of the existing support is based upon the church raising that final amount.

The grants will repair the worst of the damage to the roof, stonework and windows, upgrade facilities (heating/lighting/WC’s and disability access); build a new, warm and acoustically separate space within the church for community activities; reduce the church’s carbon emissions (solar panels and an air source heat pump).