THE Friends of St Mary and St Peter Tidenham recently held an art exhibition to select a picture of the church to be used as a print and a postcard to raise funds toward the church's extensive work.

After much deliberation the three judges awarded the first prize of £100 to Jane Williams from Chepstow, with prizes for two highly commended pictures by Peter Ancsan and James Anderson. The Friends of St Mary are really grateful to all the artists who participated in the competition, producing a wide variety of high quality pictures. A private viewing was attended by the artists and guests raising just under £500 for the Friends of St Mary's.

The art exhibition was the final part of what the Friends hoped to achieve in their first year. With Tidenham Church at risk of being put on the endangered list, a public meeting was held in the National Diving Centre about a year ago to discuss its future. The Friends were set up soon afterwards with the aim to help the PCC maintain, restore and enhance the structure and furnishings of the church and its environment.

At the public meeting the primary requests raised were to light the tower, repair the clock and create a car park. The tower is now lit, the clock is repaired and striking again, the organ is also repaired and final negotiations are currently in hand to buy some land for the car park, with a donor who is prepared to fund the purchase of it. An architect has been appointed to look at options for facilities as well as addressing the issues raised in the last Quinquennial report and there will be a public consultation starting at the AGM in June.