This time last year we were telling you about how we were in the process of applying to the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) for a grant to help us repair the church spire. There were a set of questions to answer in the Expression of Interest and it stretched our skills on being concise, memories of school days! There were tight word counts allowed for each answer; too many, and the last ones disappear! Well we did it, our Expression of Interest was submitted on 25th Feb 2023. The NLHF liked our proposal and we were given a whole year to submit a 1st round application. Thank you for helping us to get to the next level of the application. Plenty of time? well that 12 months has gone by so quickly, there have been changes to the project teams and we have lost a couple of valuable members. The last six months has been quite intense, a new survey of the church building was done in September which identified that the roof also needed repairing. This has put the cost up from our original estimate to well over a million and a half pounds and meant that we really have to justify the request for grant funding. The funds raised so far through your generosity has enabled us to commission the necessary surveys and we have engaged consultants to help and advise us on our application and supporting documents. We were told that we had a very interesting project and we hope to achieve success by following the advice from our engagement officer at the Heritage Lottery. We are planning heritage themed activities with other local groups and schools guided by the results of our public consultation held at our exhibition last June. The activities will be inter generational and we trust interesting, so as to meet the needs of all ages. The project is not only about saving the heritage of the church but also of the broader environment. Our application was submitted on 28th February and we shall not know the outcome until the end of June or even later, it will be a nail-biting wait. This is a long term project and should we get a positive response then there is another 2 year’s work in which to apply for the 2nd round of the application. In the meanwhile, there are a number of documents to prepare in readiness for the next stage as that 2 years could whizz by. There is no guarantee that we will be successful in our application as there may well be competition for funding from a more deserving cause. Thank you for your support and continued prayers, we will post an update when we know the outcome.
This Parish takes safeguarding very seriously.LOCAL SAFEGUARDING OFFICER: Ian Kelham (01643) 862849.For other safeguarding issues contact the Diocesan Safeguarding Officer - Ben Goodhind, 01749 588917
