St John’s Church in Bromsgrove has been awarded a grant by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to repair the top of the spire and further engage visitors in the building’s heritage.
The Friends of St John’s team are celebrating the receipt of a Heritage Fund grant of £249,975. Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the project will replace the top section of Worcestershire’s tallest spire and engage more people in the history of Bromsgrove’s oldest building.
St John’s church was placed on Historic England’s At Risk Register owing to the problems on the church spire. The internal, metal stabilising rod, which was installed by the Victorian’s, began rusting, which in turn has caused the surrounding stonework to crack. Steel straps were placed around the top section of the spire and the Appeal launched to fundraise for the necessary repairs. With almost one thousand years of history captured within the walls of the building, and with St John’s the largest place for the community to gather in Bromsgrove, the restoration and repair of the building are important to the town.
Friends of St John’s chairman Jo Slade commented on the award, she said: “It’s definitely a happy new year for the team at St John’s! We are really thrilled to have received this support from the Heritage Fund and our thanks go to all National Lottery players. We are excited to be able to make a start on the project now that this significant amount of funding has been secured.
The next steps for the team will be reaching out to other local and national funders to secure the funding needed to reach our £360,000 target, in the hope that the repair works can take place later this year.
Running alongside the repair works will be a series of engagement projects. Residents and visitors will be encouraged to get involved, learn about the heritage at St John’s and have a go at some traditional craft skills.”
Anyone wanting to get involved or make a donation can contact the Friends on email or follow on Facebook to keep up to date with the project.
