OUR campaign to save Heywood’s most iconic building is off to a good start.

Members of the community have rallied round to help raise money for urgent repairs to St Luke’s Church, which needs a new heating system and restoration on its floor and ceiling.

A coffee morning and quiz night at the town centre venue raised hundreds of pounds for the appeal and officials have been touched by the kindness of parishioners.

Margaret Shackleton, churchwarden, said: "Since the article about the campaign appeared in the Advertiser, we’ve had a great deal of support.

"One lady at the church said she wanted to help and gave me a cheque for £100 and I received a very generous donation of £500 through the post.

"It seems like a lot of people care about the future of the church."

With £164 from Saturday’s coffee morning and £155 from the quiz night, proceeds are adding up, but with an estimated £60,000 needed for the new heating system alone, there is a long way to go.

The church has applied for funding from the National Lottery and is also trying to get different groups to use the building.

Among the visitors have been amateur wedding photographers, who use the archaic church building, along with acting brides and grooms, to stage photos and train.

Margaret said: "It really helps our case when applying for funding if we can show that the building is well-used, so if anyone wants to hold their meetings here we’d be happy to hear from them."

Anyone who can help with donations for the building repairs is asked to make cheques out to St Luke’s Church Restoration Fund and send them to 32A Starkey Street, Heywood OL10 4JS.

Any groups interested in using the church can contact Colin Lambert on 0176 361132 or Cherry Vann on 0161 678 1454.

If you have any fundraising ideas contact the Advertiser on 01706 360626.

Our photographs show guests at the coffee morning and some of the areas in need of repair.