A HARD-working congregation has almost reached a £210,000 target needed for the strengthening of a prominent church tower.Fund raising started in the summer of 2001 and since then All Saints' Church, Wickham Market, near Woodbridge, has secured an English Heritage/Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £137,000 for the appeal.

A HARD-working congregation has almost reached a £210,000 target needed for the strengthening of a prominent church tower.

Fund raising started in the summer of 2001 and since then All Saints' Church, Wickham Market, near Woodbridge, has secured an English Heritage/Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £137,000 for the appeal.

The church only has to raise £1,000 more following a successful round of fund raising and applications for grants, unless there are last minute building problems, and it is hoped the tower will be renovated by May.

The latest fund raising events included nearly £3,000 being raised when auctioneer David Neal conducted an Auction of Promises with 55 lots. More than 100 people attended a concert by the Phoenix Quartet, students from the London Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and nearly £500 was raised.

Bryan Hall, chairman of the tower appeal committee, said: ''Underpinning of the massive Wickham Market tower base foundations is now near to completion with reinforced concrete and many steel tie rods having been fixed to 'weld' the tower's foundation to the newly extended base.

''It is expected that this will prevent future problems, such as the south door area collapse, caused partly by water seeping into the old inadequate foundations.''

The work was designated a top priority by English Heritage when it was discovered the tower had twisted and sunk more rapidly than expected. This was possibly due to recent wet years.

The next event is on April 4 at 7.30pm in the village hall when Ray Hubbard will entertain with his stories of A Horseman's Tale.