Holy Trinity, the parish church of Old Hill, has receivedinitial support* from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for their Tower RoofProject it has been announced. Madepossible by National Lottery players, the project aims to secure the fabric of the tower roof andstonework. The tower structure will be made structurally secure and watertight. The pyramid shape lead roof will be replaced and the timber structurerepaired and made safe.
The 1970s kitchenin the church centre will also be re-designed to allow provision of a widervariety of food that will attract new groups to use the facilities.
Development funding of 13,400 has also been awarded tohelp Holy Trinity progress their plans to apply for a full grant at a laterdate.
Known locally asthe church with the Christmas star, the funding received will enable the starto continue to shine for years to come.TheChristmas star, mounted on the tower roof, is visible to thousands of homes inOld Hill and the surrounding areas of Netherton, Cradley, Rowley Regis andCradley Heath.
Holy Trinity church and church centre are used every weekdayby a number of church and community groups, who are looking forward to beingable to use the smart new kitchen which is planned.
In addition, a Heritage programme of events is planned,starting with a Heritage Weekend taking place on 23 25 March. On Saturday 24 there will be an Open Day to celebrate local history. Everyone is invited to join the celebrations.It expected that many from the local community, including families withconnections to the church through baptisms or weddings will find the dayparticularly interesting.On displaywill be archive registers and other historic documents along with wedding andbaptism outfits.
The Revd Nick Gowers, Vicar of Holy Trinity, said: We are grateful to God for thisgrant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Holy Trinity Church is a vibrantChristian community serving Old Hill and beyond with the good news of Jesus.The Heritage Lottery grant will help us continue using our historical churchbuilding for this great task into the 21st century.
VanessaHarbar, head of HLF West Midlands said We are delighted that, thanks toNational Lottery players, Holy Trinity Church can now progress their plans toensure that the fabric of this much-loved building is secure and enable morepeople to visit and enjoy it.
* HLF grants programme applications are assessed in tworounds.The Tower Roof Development Projecthas initially been granted round one development funding of 13,400 by theHeritage Lottery Fund, allowing it to progress with its plans.Detailed proposals are then considered by HLFat second round, where a final decision is made on the full funding award of 168,000.
