GIFFORD OLD CHURCHYARD

The village of Gifford is in the county of East Lothian, Scotland, and Yester Church
has been a landmark at the top of the main street for nearly 300 years and,
as can be seen above, the village would look very different without it.
 

The first service in the building took place on September 24th 1710 and,
during the three centuries since, the people of the parish have kept
the building in good condition to hand on to successive generations
for the worship of God and the benefit of the community.
 

Now it is our turn to do what we can to see that the church
will remain for the next three hundred years.
 

A survey in March 2006 has shown that, because there is no
damp course in such an old building, there is rising damp,
and water has also been getting into the walls at the top of the gables;
together these are damaging the fabric of the building.
To make the necessary repairs, and bring the electricity, heating system, and
disabled access up to modern standards we need to raise at least £700,000.
 

We now have Presbytery's permission to go ahead, and applications will be made
to many grant-giving organisations, but unless we can show that we have
substantial local and individual support we will not qualify for these grants.

There are many ways to help, and the first is by making a donation as soon
as possible so that we can prove that we do have the backing of the
local community and of friends from far and wide.
 

Please support our fund-raising events whenever you can.
If you have a fund-raising idea please share it with us,
or take action to raise funds for us.
It all helps.