31 churches and chapels are being helped with grants totalling over £330,000 thanks to the National Churches Trust.
Broadcaster and journalist Huw Edwards, Vice President of The National Churches Trust, said: “The UK’s historic churches and chapels are a vital part of our national heritage. During the coronavirus pandemic churches are doing so much to help vulnerable local people and boost morale”.
“Many churches need to carry out urgent repairs and install modern facilities to ensure their buildings can continue to be used well into the future. But the cost of this work is often far beyond what most congregations can pay for themselves.”
“So I’m delighted that the Trust is providing grants of £330,000 to keep more churches and chapels in good repair so that they can remain open and benefit local people.”
National Churches Trust helps the UK’s churches
In 2019, the Trust distributed £1.2 million to help churches and chapels tackle urgent repairs, maintenance work and install modern facilities such as kitchens and toilets.
In 2020, the Trust plans to distribute £1.4 million in grants. Additionally, this year the Trust will administer the distribution of £200,000 of funding through the Wolfson Fabric Repair Grants. Full details can be found at
Churches being helped include:
• All Saints’, Hove, Sussex. A £40,000 National Churches Trust Cornerstone Grant will help restore All Saints’ two east towers and preserve its historic fabric for the future. All Saints’ was designed by John Pearson, best known for Truro Cathedral, and constructed between 1889 and 1901.
• Lancaster Priory. A £13,000 National Churches Trust Cornerstone Grant will help fund repairs to the tower at the Grade I listed Lancaster Priory, making the church watertight and preserving its historic fabric. Lancaster Priory is located on a position that has seen Christian worship since Saxon times. The present church dates from 1430.
• St Bartholomew the Great, London. A £10,000 National Churches Trust Cornerstone Grant will help fund repair of the Lady Chapel roof at the Grade I listed St Bartholomew the Great Church, Smithfield, making the church watertight and preserving its historic fabric. The Augustinian Priory was founded on the site in 1123 and the Lady Chapel was built in about 1336.The church is an attractive location for filming. Probably most famously, it is featured as the location of the fourth wedding in the 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral.
• St Boniface’ church, Quinton, Birmingham. A £7,000 National Churches Trust Cornerstone Grant will help fund roof repairs, the removal of dangerous asbestos and support other improvements at St Boniface’ church, making it watertight and preserving its fabric for the future. Built in 1958, the church is an important building for the local community. The church is unlisted. The National Churches Trust is one of the few charitable trusts which awards grants to unlisted churches, many of which are important community hubs.
Tel:020 7227 1936
eddie@nationalchurchestrust.org
