CHURCHES come in all shapes, sizes and ages, but in Essex they all share the same friend.

The Friends of Essex Churches Trust raises money to fund repairs to churches across the county and into East London, whether they are Church of England, Roman Catholic or Methodist.

Last year, it gave £200,000 to pay for work at 24 churches, including electrical work costing from £200 to £10,000.

Claire Cottrell, who lives in Birch, is set to take over as chairman this week from Julia Abel Smith, keeping up a family connection that dates back to the trust’s foundation.

Mrs Cottrell said: “My grandmother, Mrs Charles Round, was the founder member of The Friends of Essex Churches Trust in 1951.

“You can imagine how much pleasure it gives me to be chairman by following in her footsteps.

“She died quite a long time ago and we never really talked about the trust, but it’s in the family and perhaps that sowed a seed for my involvement.”

Mrs Cottrell has been a member of the trust for 20 years, after being asked to help out on a fundraising project.

“It’s valuable work,” she said.

“Many parishes have problems raising enough money to keep running, and if we can help keep churches standing and watertight and take that worry off their hands, that’s great.”

Work recently funded in north Essex includes £20,000 for subsidence work at All Saints in Walton le Soken, £12,000 for external masonry and plaster repairs at All Saints in Little Totham, and £8,000 for a porch and plastering at St Margaret’s in Aldham. At the smaller end of the scale, a £500 grant was paid for a lightning conductor at St Lawrence’s in East Donyland.

Mrs Cottrell said: “We help to pay for repairs to keep churches going, rather than upgrading facilities for disability access, and expect a church to have raised money themselves as well.”

The trust’s main fundraising effort is the annual Ride and Stride, which this year takes place on September 12, where walkers or cyclists collect sponsorship for visiting as many churches as they can.

Mrs Cottrell added: “It’s always a very big event that raises a lot of money, but we also do study days where we visit a particular church to find out about their history.

“It is that history that I am particularly interested in.

“Churches are amazing buildings in the middle of every community, and many people simply don’t realise the history that there is on their doorstep.”

That history includes St Peter on the Wall at Bradwell on Sea, which has benefited from a £1,500 grant for general repairs, and could be described as the cradle of Christianity in Essex.

The church, on the windswept Dengie peninsula, can trace its history back to 654 when St Cedd landed there, having been sent from the Northumbrian island monastery of Lindisfarne, to bring Christianity to the Anglo-Saxon people of Essex.

Mrs Cottrell sees her chairmanship as a chance to do her bit to keep churches alive as historic buildings that provide a base for their communities.

“One of my missions is to get more younger members on board the trust,” she said.

“We have about 700 members and I want to get new and younger people on board to help with fundraising and keep the idea alive.”

l For more information visit www.foect.org.uk