Trust gives grants to 12 Yorkshire churches

Twelve churches from across Yorkshire are celebrating this month after receiving just under £80,000 from the Yorkshire Historic Churches Trust, a charity that helps churches in Yorkshire to preserve and repair their buildings through offering grants for repairs and maintenance.

The funding was awarded to a range of church and chapels from all corners of the region, from Hornsea to Halifax and Leyburn to Bradford, and included Methodist chapels, United Reformed and Church of England churches.

One of the churches receiving funding is St Stephen’s in West Bowling, Bradford (pictured), the Grade II-listed Victorian church built in 1860’s at a cost of £2500. The YHCT were delighted to award £9000 towards the restoration of the West Window of the church, which has been boarded up since being badly damaged by a storm in 2020.

Sarah Hinton, from the church said: “The grant from YHCT has enabled us to finish the restoration of our wonderful West Window. The quality of the glasswork is very good but for decades was covered so not fully seen. There is now a 'wow' factor as it is viewed and we have been able to light it in the evenings to bring beauty into our neighbourhood. We could not have managed the restoration without the help of the National Lottery Heritage Fund and YHCT and we are very thankful to them."   

St Stephen’s is a much-loved church at the heart of West Bowling and  provides a lifeline for many in the community, including Billy, a street sleeper currently living in a purpose-built Pod the church grounds. The church is working with Hope Housing to provide emergency short-term accommodation for those who would otherwise be on the streets. St Stephen’s provides the Pod, food and shower facilities and Hope Housing provides the support to move the homeless into something more permanent. The church also hosts counselling sessions and runs the SHINE project, a busy one-stop hub that seeks to help people find a brighter future, offering individual support for as long as needed to anyone in the West Bowling community.

Tom Ramsden, Chairman of the YHCT said: “Yorkshire is home to many of the most important churches in the United Kingdom: They dominate the landscape, they are vital to the life of many communities, and they are full of the treasures of our heritage.  Trustees were delighted to award funding to such a wide range of churches from all across the region and are delighted to help these much loved places of worship secure their future for generations to come.”

 A list of the grants awarded can be found here: https://www.yhct.org.uk/funding-news-october-2024/