£7m to help repair England’s historic places of worship

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and English Heritage (EH) today announced a package of grants worth £7 million for essential repairs to Grade II listed places of worship across England. The grants will help to repair 56 historic places of worship which are used by a broad range of faiths.

A Sikh temple in Nottingham, a Synagogue in London’s East End and a Greek Orthodox church in Salford are among the buildings receiving grants. The largest grant of £323,000 will be given to Alderley Edge Methodist Church in Cheshire for repairs to the tower and spire.

Since 2002 more than £156m in essential repair grants has been awarded to almost 1,700 projects in historic places of worship through the joint Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage Repair Grants for Places of Worship scheme, which is the largest single funding source for work of this kind. In total this year the scheme has given £22.9m of new grants to 206 listed Places of Worship.

Carole Souter, Chief Executive of HLF, said: “These special buildings are right at the centre of community life and urgently need investment. This money will not only protect them for the future but also help to create 175 jobs**.

"Looking after our heritage is an incredibly effective way of supporting community life generally. This is recognised in today’s Government strategy for improving quality of place. Serious investment like this goes well beyond looking after the bricks and mortar of a building, bringing with it substantial social and economic benefits too.”

Dr Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage, said, “English Heritage is delighted to be announcing these repair grants for historic places of worship – particularly on the day that the government launches ‘World Class Places’. Historic buildings connect us to our past and enhance our enjoyment of the places in which we live, work and worship. These beautiful listed buildings are at the heart of our communities and they must remain in active use. We are especially pleased that buildings used by such a broad range of religious groups are being awarded grants this year.”

Mr Gurcharn Singh Bhaker of the Guru Teg Bahadur Sikh Gurdwara in Nottingham said: "This fantastic old school building has been a crucial part of the local Sikh community for 32 years, providing somewhere for generations of people to come together for prayer, music and social events.

"We are delighted to receive this grant which will help us bring the building back to its former glory. The roof repair work is just the start of a wider refurbishment plan for the building which will improve facilities for people of all ages.”

An Urgent and Ongoing Task
The grants fund urgent work such as roof repairs and repairs to brick, stonework or roof timbers. The Church of England currently spends £120m a year on repairs but according to English Heritage research published as part of its Inspired! campaign the backlog repair bill for all listed places of worship in England is an estimated £185m a year. Inspired! identified the need for more investment from Government and faith groups to help congregations look after their buildings.

Find Funded Places of Worship to Visit Online
One of the conditions of the Repair Grants for Places of Worship scheme is that the public have a right to see those buildings which have benefited from this public money. Prospective visitors can now search on the English Heritage website for details of how to visit places of worship whose repairs have been grant-aided under the scheme. The list can be found at english-heritage.org.uk.