IT IS so often the need to fund-raise for a church that brings out inventiveness in people. Repairs are needed to the bell tower of St Peter's, in Abbots Morton, a small village near Inkberrow, in Worcester diocese. Peter Dyke, who runs the fish shop at Hillers Farm Shop, had the idea of a collection box modelled on the church.

It was taken up by Barry Oddy (right), who lives in Abbots Morton and was formerly a woodwork teacher at Alcester High School. He took the measurements of the Grade I listed Norman church, and then locked himself in his workshop for three days with the wood from an old wardrobe that had belonged to a family friend.

"It was quite a challenge," he says. "The church is fairly quirky when you examine it, but everyone seems to think it's a pretty good likeness." It has a slot in the top of the tower for coins and notes, and, when it made its first appearance at the village's harvest supper, it raised £97. Now it is on display at the Farm Shop, and Hillers's director, Sally Haines, says that Christmas will be the perfect time to collect donations for such a worthwhile cause.