Congratulations to St George’s Church in Kidderminster who have been selected to be a finalist in the National Churches’ Trust’s Church Maintenance Awards. They are one of only four English finalists in their category and will find out if they have won at a ceremony in London on 24 October.
The Church Maintenance Awards are run in partnership with The Pilgrim Trust and aim to shine a light on those who look after our churches.
St George’s Church established a maintenance team in 2014 and put in place a structured maintenance plan. The church worked with the SPAB Maintenance Cooperative Project, which helps churches locally work together on maintenance projects and have developed a mobile phone app to help them record the repairs needed on their church. Around 15 people are currently involved in the maintenance team and when repairs and renewals are identified, these are shared out depending on each member’s skill set. The team regularly attend training courses to learn new skills, for example lime mortar pointing and they have also been helping other churches across the Diocese.
When asked about the best thing about being involved in church maintenance, the team said: “The sense of belonging, the camaraderie and fellowship, and the easy way that people relate to one another are very important. There is a sense of pride in working together to improve our beautiful building and its churchyard. Several very close friendships have developed through membership of the team. We also feel a great sense of achievement and pride when we are invited to help other churches with their baseline surveys. To date we have helped six churches and worked with two others to encourage their efforts.”
Find out more about the National Church Awards on the National Churches Trust website.
For advice on setting up a church maintenance team with a structured maintenance plan, please contact the diocesan church buildings team.
Good luck to St George’s Church!
