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Chancellor George Osborne
hails £1.8million for places of worship in the North West
IT has announced that 26 historic
places of worship in the North West will benefit from a share of £1,751,500 to
address urgent roof repairs through the 'Listed Places of Worship - Roof Repair
Fund.' Places of worship across the region, from a variety of faiths and
denominations, will now be made weather tight, safe and open for use. This money
is part of a wider funding package, of £22.9million, to 401 historic places of
worship across the UK, that has just been announced.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said:- “Churches and cathedrals
are a pillar of British life and we are committed to ensuring future generations
will be able to admire and use these historic buildings.
Thanks to the work we’ve done over the last 6 years to secure Britain’s long
term economic security, we are able to support the upkeep and repair of places
of worship across the UK.”
Heritage Minister Tracey Crouch said:- “Churches and cathedrals are the
jewel in the crown of our national heritage and it is vital they remain in good
repair and are accessible for all. These buildings are at the heart of
communities across the country and I am delighted so many will benefit from this
important fund.”
The historic places of worship will receive between £10,000 to £100,000 to meet
the costs of urgent repairs to roofs and rainwater disposal systems. Money is
also being provided for structural investigations; specialist reports and bat
surveys.
Sir Tony Baldry, Chair of the Church Buildings
Council:- “It is fantastic
that a further 400 church buildings will receive significant help with roof
repairs from government and we are hugely grateful to the Chancellor. We now
need to ensure a sustainable way of funding church buildings in the future and
this is a question for which I hope the Department for Culture Media and Sport
Taskforce on Church Buildings will find viable and deliverable answers.”
The grants have been awarded through the Government funded:- 'Listed Places of
Worship; Roof Repair Fund.' The fund was launched by the Chancellor in his Autumn
Statement in December 2014 and the funding package has now seen a total of 903
places of worship. Its worth mentioning that all those sites, across the UK,
will now receive a share of £55 million. We are told that the fund is administered by the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) on behalf
of the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS).
The Government has also launched an English Churches and Cathedrals
Sustainability Review to help put these buildings on a more sustainable
financial footing. Chaired by Bernard Taylor, a panel of church and independent
experts will develop tools and resources so the important heritage buildings can
be maintained and protected for future generations. The 1st panel meeting will
be held on Thursday, 7 July 2016, and is expected to report back in April 2017.
A full list of awards made in the North West can be found below. A full list of
awards across the UK can be found at:-
Gov.UK/DCMS or
LPOWRoof.Org.UK.
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