Set in Stone - Cally kids carve their way into history!

From 27-28 July, eight young people from the Prospex Youth Group off Caledonian Road put on aprons and goggles and became stonemasons for two days. They chiselled their initials in stone at a special workshop in the grounds of St Andrew’s Church Thornhill Square. The workshops were provided by the outreach department of PAYE Stonework & Restoration, the company repairing the church spire.

Lisa Kember of PAYE said ‘The kids from Prospex were fabulous, so polite, so enthusiastic and balls of energy! They learnt so quickly. And their carving will be seen at the church for decades to come’.

Using skills that went back centuries, the young people from Prospex carved their own piece of stone to take home. Then they helped write the words ‘St Andrew’s Church’ on a plinth. This will be part of a sculpture from stone which has been taken down from the spire during the renovation.

Comments from the kids included: ‘I loved it!’ ‘It was fantastic’ ‘My carving skills are even better now!’

The Prospex leader, Richard Frankland, aka ‘Beef’, said ‘They were buzzing. It was a great two days.’

The Revd Caroline Titley, Rector of St Andrew’s, commented ‘It was wonderful to see the young people from Prospex reacting so enthusiastically to the church building. They also tried playing the church organ and ringing the bell and showed a real feel for heritage.’

They saw the start of the scaffolding going up around the church spire, built in 1854.  When completed, the scaffolding will be around a dramatic 44 metres feet high. The spire restoration works are supported by generous grants from Historic England, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Benefact and the Cloudesley local charity, as well an awesome number of donations from local people.