Vicar 'delighted' as landmark Doncaster church lands £450,000 grant
The landmark building has been earmarked for a huge cash boost
A landmark Doncaster church has been handed a £450,000 cash boost for roof repairs.
All Saints Church in Woodlands is one of only five churches in the whole of Yorkshire to be awarded a grant from the first round of the Places of Worship Renewal Fund.
The fund is specifically aimed at churches in the most deprived communities and All Saints serves a former mining parish in the South Yorkshire Coalfield.
The grant of over £450k will enable the complete replacement of the roof on the north side of the building.
A project in 2017-18 completed the replacement of the south side, which at the time was in very poor condition, but funds weren’t sufficient then to complete the job.
The grant, administered by Heritage England, will ensure that the roof at All Saints is restored to its original colour – a vibrant orange tile, matching the red bricks of the Church itself – which had darkened to almost black with the effects of soot and acid rain over 100 years.
The project will ensure that the building is watertight for at least the next hundred years as well as repairing the church’s parquet floor which has become loose over 100 years of worshippers, and guests.
The project, entitled “Above and Below – A Firm Foundation and Shelter from the Storm” will be overseen by the Church’s architects Mark and Lucy Pearce of Pearce Architecture who were the architects back in 2017 when the work was started.
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Rev Stephen Gardner, the current Vicar, said “I am absolutely delighted to be able to share this news.
“We found out in early September that we had been successful and it’s been very hard to wait for this announcement.
“This grant will ensure the future of All Saints and allow us to continue our work to bless one of the 4% most deprived communities in England.
“Our vision statement is “Doors that are open, Hearts that Love, Faith that Shines”. Now we can add, Rooves that will soon be mended!”
Doncaster North MP Ed Miliband said “I’m delighted to see that All Saints Church has been awarded £453,123 through the government’s Places of Worship Renewal Fund.
“A big congratulations to the team who secured the funding. The Places of Worship Renewal Fund is part of the government’s £1.5 billion Arts Everywhere Fund, which supports heritage sites, arts venues, museums and libraries in communities that have faced under-investment for too long.”