WITH the Good Friday deadline for their £150,000 halfway target only a week away, fundraisers on the St Mary s Church Preservation Appeal in Hitchin have good reason to attract more donors over the next few days. A local builder has promised appeal chai

WITH the Good Friday deadline for their £150,000 "halfway target" only a week away, fundraisers on the St Mary's Church Preservation Appeal in Hitchin have good reason to attract more donors over the next few days.

A local builder has promised appeal chairman Morag Norgan that if she and her team can reach their halfway point by Good Friday, he will donate a further £10,000 to get the second half of the appeal under way.

In all, £300,000 is needed for urgent restoration work over the next three years.

Morag said: "We are now so close to hitting the £150,000 target. We know there are some folk who have promised to support the appeal but haven't yet got round to making their donation.

"If they can make a special effort over the next few days there is a very good chance that we will qualify for this extremely generous gift of £10,000 at the end of next week. It's an opportunity that we must not miss."

l This Saturday (April 8) the fundraisers will be manning a stall in Hitchin Market Place throughout the day, selling a wide variety of unwanted Christmas gifts that parishioners have donated in aid of the appeal.