Christmas funding boost for 47 churches

Our Lady of Lourdes, Hednesford

Forty seven churches across the UK are being helped this Christmas, with grants from the National Churches Trust totalling £473,000.

£155,700 of the funding supporting 27 grants is provided by Wolfson Fabric Repair Grants, as part of their partnership with the Wolfson Foundation to support Listed churches in the UK.

The latest funding means that in 2021 the National Churches Trust has awarded or recommended 273 grants totalling £3.67 million to help keep church buildings open and in good repair. The total includes £2 million from the Heritage Stimulus Fund, part of the Government's Cultural Recovery Fund.

The grants are supporting a tremendous range of projects including:

- A £10,000 grant for roof repairs to Grade II Listed Our Lady of Lourdes, in Hednesford, West Midland, Designed by G B Cox, erected between the wars and finished in 1934. It is a replica of a French gothic church and within its grounds is a concrete-and-stone replica of the grotto at Lourdes.

The building makes a very strong and striking contribution to the local streetscape and is of wider significance as a diocesan pilgrimage site. The church was one of the very first all concrete Catholic churches in the UK and was unique when it was built.

- Urgent repair work to allow the bells to ring again at Grade I Listed St Andrew's church in Rockbourne, Hampshire.

- Tower and roof repairs and the installation of a kitchen at Grade I Listed St Peter and All Hallows in Huntspill, one of the best country churches in Somerset, which is often called The Cathedral of the Levels.

Installing modern facilities and urgent repairs to Grade B Listed Findhorn church in Moray, Scotland, built in 1843 by architect John Urquhart, and which features a largely unchanged Free Church interior.

Broadcaster and journalist Huw Edwards, Vice President of The National Churches Trust, said: "The latest funding from the National Churches Trust is a much-needed lifeline for churches and chapels, many of which are struggling to raise money to keep their buildings in good repair."

"The grants will safeguard unique local heritage and provide a real boost to the people who look after and use churches and chapels for worship and for many important community activities."

Paul Ramsbottom, Chief Executive at the Wolfson Foundation, said: "As well as being the spiritual heart of their communities, churches remain a vital part of the UK's heritage and history. We know that it can be challenging for churches to access funding to keep these remarkable buildings in good repair, particularly in the wake of the pandemic. We are therefore delighted to continue our work with the National Churches Trust in supporting the preservation of churches across the UK."

For more information see: www.nationalchurchestrust.org/news/christmas-funding-boost-47-churches