Many people have been in touch to ask how they can donate, so I am raising funds to be distributed equally between Dunwich church & museum, National Trust Dunwich Heath, RSPB Minsmere, the Suffolk Fire & Rescue Service and Westleton Village Hall Committee.

Last week Dunwich was a hive of activity, summer holidays were in full swing, the Dunwich Dynamo cyclists were arriving after cycling through the night and visitors to Latitude were staying locally. Dunwich villagers were working hard behind the scenes in readiness to welcome many visitors to their annual Flower Festival and Art Exhibition when the catastrophic fire broke out on the heath. The events of the last few days have been devastating. This is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty for a reason, Dunwich, Minsmere and the stunning Heath have been loved and enjoyed by many over the years.

As a village, we are immensely grateful to the Firefighters and support services for their fantastic efforts, to our neighbours in Westleton for their incredible support and for all those who have reached out to our community.

Understandably, our annual Flower Festival and Art Exhibition have been cancelled. But as many of the arrangements were already underway the team decided to quietly and tearfully continue decorating our beautiful church. Our theme this year was Dunwich in Poetry, it was meant to be a celebration of this beautiful area. Naturally, we are all terribly sadden by the devastation of Dunwich Heath but we are also tremendously grateful for all the love this community has received.

Should you wish to make a contribution we would be very grateful.

All money raised will go directly to St James Church Dunwich to be equally shared to those mentioned at the top of this page.

"As devastating as this has been, we are safe in the knowledge that this place was here long before we were and will be here long after we are gone. Nature is a wonderful thing and whilst this is very painful, better days will come again"