Gran's charity walk after church hit by £10k bill

A 95-year-old grandmother has planned a charity walk in her fight to save her cash-strapped church - after it was hit by a crushing £10,000 energy bill.

Linacre Methodist Mission and Neighbourhood Centre in Litherland, Merseyside, has said it is struggling to keep the lights on due to rising costs.

It has inspired Esther Postill, who has been a parishioner there for more than 35 years, to take on a sponsored three-mile walk for what she described as a "community lifeline".

She said the church, which is a designated warm space where people can go to enjoy a hot drink and some company, was "very important to the community" and "means an awful lot to me".

The Grade II-listed building has been serving the community since 1904, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

It also operates as a foodbank and pantry and is open six days a week for anyone in need of a chat.

However, with rising costs and much-needed building repairs, the church said it has become increasingly difficult to keep the services running.

Church trustee Margaret Langton, said the church has been struggling through the cost of living crisis and recently received an energy bill for £10,000.

She said: "To heat a building like this is enormous because of the age of it, lots of things start going wrong with the structure."

Asked about Esther's fundraising, Ms Langton added: "It's a truly beautiful thing. There is so much good happening within these walls and that influences what happens outside and also helps support people in their lives."

Ms Postill said she was aiming to raise £20,000 in total with the charity walk between Crosby and Litherland on Thursday.

"We must find a way to keep it going," she told BBC Radio Merseyside, adding she had been "overwhelmed" and "very grateful" for the donations she had received so far.

The walk is the same route she used to walk with her seven grandchildren when taking them to church so the journey will be filled with fond memories she said.

"The church has been very important to me, because it gave me a chance to meet new people and make friends," she said.

Ms Postill said she used to go to the church with her husband before he died in 1999 and since then she has been "so well looked after by the ladies here".

The nonagenarian is no stranger to a challenge having climbed Mount Snowden at 76.

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