12 churches from across Yorkshire are celebrating this month after being awarded over £48,000 from the Yorkshire Historic Churches Trust.
The awards were made at the recent grants committee, and will fund vital repairs to the roofs, windows and ancient stonework of some of the region’s most vulnerable places of worship.
Among those churches receiving funds is Highfield Trinity Methodist Church in Sheffield , which has received £6000 for repairs to the external stonework.
Built in 1877, Trinity is a Grade II building, described in the Sheffield’s Who’s Who of 1905, as “one of the best examples of it’s class”. Along with Highfield library, St Barnabas church and the former Trinity Institute, the church was one of a group of distinct public buildings that add character to a district in constant transformation.
The church has a long history of adapting to the needs of the local community. Some years ago it merged with St. Barnabas Church and more recently has welcomed partner churches from the Apostolic and African traditions who worship in the church on Sundays and throughout the week. The buildings are also extensively used by local community groups
Rev’d Phillip Borkett said: “The award from the Yorkshire Historic Churches Trust is fantastic news. Highfield Trinity is an important church and centre at the heart of the community and we offer our building to a wide variety of organisations who use the premises throughout the week. The stonework repairs are vital to in order to protect the building for the future and to ensure we can continue to offer a warm, safe and welcoming place to worship.”
David Quick, Chairman of the YHCT, said: “We are delighted to be able to award Highfield Trinity Church this grant, it is a fantastic example of an important community church, with long history. So many of our best loved places of worship desperately need our help in order to fund essential repairs they need, not only for to continue to offer a place of worship, but also much needed space for all the community to use.
He added: “We rely on the generosity of Friends and members of the business community to ensure we can continue the never ending task of caring for our precious places of worship. We’d love to welcome more friends and members, please do visit our website and consider joining us.”