THE vicar of an Eynsham church left his post with a bang by abseiling down its tower to raise money for a Christian charity.

Morey Andrews, 50, who has now moved on from St Leonard’s Church, took the plunge on Saturday afternoon.

He joined nearly 30 others who took on the challenge to raise funds for Adventure Plus, a charity that offers exciting outdoor experiences to young people and school groups.

The event is expected to raise more than £1,000.

Mr Andrews, who is works for Sedgemoor Deanery in the Bath and Wells Diocese, said abseiling down the tower was something he had dreamed about since he first started at St Leonard’s a decade ago.

He said: "It was absolutely brilliant. It’s something that I’ve wanted to do since I first went to the church.

"When you look over the top of the tower you think 'what am I doing?' and take a deep breath.

"I couldn’t believe how much trust you have to put into the safety ropes, but it was a great thing to do and I loved doing it.

"A small crowd had come from the village to wish me well, so it was really nice".

Chris Sugden, a former clergyman and member of the preaching team at St Leonard’s, spoke about the excitement – and fear – of the day.

He said: "I think it all went very well. We had a crowd of people who had come along to encourage those taking part.

"We had children as young as 12 and 13 doing it.

"There were no bones broken – but I did have one of the people doing the challenge come to me afterwards and say they would never do it again. Once was enough."

Adventure Plus is currently working on securing the final 15 per cent of funding it needs for a £1.3m property it is buying in Clanfield, near Bampton.

The abseiling event will help raise additional funds for the construction of the new headquarters, where they plan to create an adventure base.

The base will include a BMX track, a high ropes course, a lake and the first inland coasteering course in the country.

Coasteering is an activity that sees participants climb, jump and swim around a body of water.

Adventure Plus has worked with more than 60,000 young people and adults through outdoor adventures since 1990.

The charity offers holidays, breaks and activities to the most vulnerable members of society.