A fundraising page has been set up to help repair a storm-damaged County Durham church roof amid fears it may become too expensive to repair if left until after the coming winter.

Consett Methodist Church needs to raise £25,000 before winter to repair its flat roof after it was damaged in a storm on Christmas Eve last year.

The fundraising initiative on GoFundMe was kickstarted by local resident, Owen Temple, as a means to offset the repair costs.

So far, the page has managed to raise £1,600 of its £10,000 goal.

Built 54 years ago, the church has been more than just a place of worship, serving as a community hub, providing a foodbank and warm space in recent times.

(Image: GoFundMe)

In a post on GoFundMe, Mr Temple said: "I’m raising money for the church so that we can replace our flat roof which was badly damaged by a storm on Christmas Eve 2023.

"The sad truth is that unless we get a new roof on a large part of the building before the coming winter’s storms, it will be past repairing by next spring.

"If that happened we can’t see how the church can survive to go on serving local people as it has since it was built just over 50 years ago."

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As well as the GoFundMe page, one churchgoer, Wendy, will attempt a musical marathon, playing her flute for 6 continuous hours, with all proceeds going towards the "Raise the Roof Fund".

Community support continues with plans for a cake stall and other events designed to raise the much-needed funds.

"£25,000 raised to Raise the Roof, and we’ve got to raise it in the next month before winter sets in," Mr Temple said.

"I think there are hundreds of people, even thousands, have been with us on our journey and will want to chip in.

"They've been members of the Sunday School, Boys Brigade or the Girl Guides, the drama group, the football team or the Warm Space.

"They’ve been here for baptisms, weddings and funerals. They've been here playing board games. They've been fed by the Food Bank. Lets Raise the Roof together."