THE St Sampson’s Church community gathered together for the inaugural barrow push on July 30, raising over £2,000.

The two-and-a-half-mile long barrow push course replicated the route taken in medieval times by the parish members carrying coffins from St Mary’s church, Callington, to St Sampson’s in South Hill.

The teams pushing barrows were greeted at South Hill Church by an exuberant fete crowd. The fete included cakes, plants, bric-a-brac and children’s games as well as a well-stocked bar and fabulous cream teas.

Crowds from all over the parish came to join the fete and enjoy the performance of the Callington Town Band.

The team behind the fete and barrow push were fundraising group St Sampson’s Unlocked who have so far raised more than £250,000 to save the church in South Hill, a beacon for the community which is badly in need of costly repairs.

Alongside this team, the Callington Rotary Club were integral to organising the day and said: “It was a great afternoon. I hope you raised lots of money. The organisation was incredible.”

The teams taking part in the barrow push included a number of Tesco employees who were representing the store at the great event.

The Tesco team said: “It’s been fantastic to be able to support the barrow push. We donated a raffle prize to help with the fundraising, had a couple of ‘monks’ in our store to help promote the event, and the phenomenal Tesco Callington staff came together to form a barrow push team. This was such a fun event and we can’t thank the St Sampsons Unlocked project team enough for all their brilliant work.”

The day was hugely appreciated by all of the residents around Callington and South Hill and demonstrated the enormous amount of community spirit that exists within the parish. The South Hill parish church remains a key part of the community and events like this make it possible for the church to keep going.

If anyone is interested in more information about South Hill Church or would like to get involved in fundraising visit www.facebook.com/CRUX.cherished.restored.unlocked.church