"The adventure continues…thank you for making it possible"

We are delighted to share a message from Colin Shearer who after 16 years at the CCT, retired at the end of March.  Whether at one of our many events, through his work to boost volunteering and local community support for our churches, or on one of several fundraising cycle trips around the country, Colin has met so many of our supporters & volunteers. We are incredibly grateful for his commitment & dedication to the trust and we hope you will join us in wishing him a very happy retirement:

"In my first year at Peebles High School, I remember being transfixed by the topic of chapter one of our geography textbook concerning the remote island of Foula and its way of life. Many years later and on a six day cycle trip of the wonderful Shetland archipelago, my friend Ivor and I gazed westwards early one clear June morning from the small but more accessible island of Papa Stour and espied, to the South West, a distant form rising up out of the Atlantic, by which we were mesmerised and excited to realise was indeed Foula, some 20 miles distant. So far that’s the nearest to Foula I’ve got! 

This past sixteen years it has been an honour and a pleasure to get to know many of the people who volunteer their time supporting Trust churches across the land and in communities, often remote and in townships and cities. Listening to you and your advice has helped the Trust over time, I hope, to being more able to help you to be able to pour out your skills and experience with the help of those you know and people around you who care about and care for this valued and cherished collection of outstanding churches. This means that current and future generations can enjoy them, find solace in them and the church can remain an important part of the way of life for folk thereabouts. In so many cases, despite the vagaries of time these churches are in a better state of repair than has been possible for many years, which is the purpose and aim of this conservation trust. As a supporter myself, I know, as you do, that raising funds is vital and for some making an endowment is a way of expressing that support.

Along the way I’ve got to know England and so many places in some small but meaningful way and at best while on a bicycle. It has been an exciting journey of discovery, so often an inspiring adventure. It’s that Foula feeling…

I’m coming to realise early into retirement that a great joy to look forward to is actually the possibility and probability, that once we emerge from these challenging times, that I can once again meet you and experience the wonder of crossing the threshold of the church that you care so much about. Thank you so much for making that possible.

I will be keeping a weather eye on the fortunes of the Trust and hope most of all that we can all be good companions to each other in pursuing our common aim into the future.

Until we meet again, I wish you all well and good health with my thanks for making this world, this country and your community a better place to live in and experience."