Historic All Saints Church trashed in illegal New Year's Eve rave

An illegal rave which took place on New Year’s Eve has left the All Saints Church in Essex, England, with damages in excess of more than £1,000. Shocking images have emerged of the 500-year-old building submerged in rubbish and mess, as revellers used the building to host a secret party ahead of 2021. The All Saints Church in East Horndon unwelcomely permitted hundreds of people to party within its heritage walls. Inside, vandals had blacked out the windows, tampered with electrics to power music equipment, and broke a window to use as an air extraction system. According to news sources, Essex police have made arrests on suspicion of public disorder and seized equipment. A JustGiving page has been set up to help with the repair and clean up the church. The initial goal was set to raise £2,000, however, at the time of writing this article, the page has garnered donations topping £20,000+, all thanks to more than 1000 supporters.

Sadly, this is not the first time the building has been used for usual purposes. According to volunteer group Friends of All Saints, “in its redundancy years, the church has frequently been used for many musical events, due to its outstanding acoustics”. Unfortunately, given our current climate, events like this happen all too often. We must be patient in our endeavours to party with friends again and hope that things can swiftly return to normal. If you have some spare change to give, do not hesitate to head over to the JustGiving page and share your donations for a good cause.

Photo by Akira Hojo on Unsplash