A CHURCH in Poole needs to raise £8,000 for urgent roof repairs, after failing to secure a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant.

The Bournemouth Poole Orthodox Christian Foundation (BPOCF) owns the Grade-II* listed building, Saint Dunstan's Church, Bournemouth Road, Parkstone, Poole, which is also on the Heritage at Risk Register.

A BPOCF spokesman explained: "We need to raise this money before the end of this month. (November)

"Notwithstanding our utmost efforts, we have not managed to raise enough funds to persuade the National Lottery Heritage Fund to give us the go-ahead (and their grant) for the urgent repairs to our roofs.

"We have a shortfall of just below five per cent of the total costs, a shortfall of £8,000.

"Our Sunday liturgy attracts on average some 120 parishioners, with peaks at, for instance, Easter, of in excess of 600 coming from as far afield as Southampton.

"However, many of our parishioners are on low wages, work in care, nursing, catering, taxi driving etc, have many children and are unable to contribute substantial sums to our appeals."

Saint Dunstan’s has been forced to carry out extensive work, on a temporary basis, to make the roof watertight in order to avoid further damage to the structure and interior of the building.

The spokesman added: "We also appeal to all non-parishioners to help us keep this splendid building, Grade II* listed, and of national and international architectural and artistic importance, in good shape until structural work can be carried out, hopefully later this year. "The unique building is a landmark in Parkstone, Poole, and is the only arts and crafts free Byzantine style basilica in the United Kingdom."

For further information, including how to donate to the cause, visit Saint Dunstan's website at saint.dunstan.org