Ecchinswell Bell Restoration Trust

The Ecchinswell Bell Restoration Trust was founded in 2012 by Simon Lipscombe and John Simpson. Unfortunately in November 2015 Simon aged 26 lost his 21 month battle with Melanoma. Since then John and a committed team of volunteers have continued to raise money to ensure Simons dream will come true. They currently have 2 aims, which Simon discussed before he passed away. The first aim is to raise

£35,000 to replace the 3 existing church bells in St Lawrence's church, Ecchinswell, with 6 new lighter ones. The second aim is to turn the tower into an educational centre once the first phrase is completed, to teach people of all ages the art of change bell ringing. The trust has raised just over £14,000 and they have held many fundraising events which has contributed into this amount, including a ten bell ringing marathon, which Simon organised and rang in. At the time Simon was undergoing treatment, he ploughed through the day and rung 10 quarter peals in 10 different churches around the Newbury, Thatcham and Basingstoke areas. A family fun day was organised which raised just over £2,000 which included a Lip Sync Contest in the evening of the same day. The Ecchinswell Bell Trust also run a sleigh event at Christmas time for local children of Bishops Green and Ecchinswell, with support from the Newbury Lions, followed by a Magic of Christmas event at the Bishops Green community village hall.