Record grants awarded in October

Seventeen grants, totalling £95,350, were awarded to Suffolk churches by the Suffolk Historic Churches Trust at their October Grants Committee Meeting. 

The successful churches are in Bedfield,  Bildeston, Blythburgh, Brampton, Butley, Copdock, Fornham St Martin, Herringfleet, Holbrook, Ipswich, Linstead Parva, North Cove, Rede, Saxtead, Spexhall, Tostock and Wenhaston.  

” At its quarterly meeting in October the Grants Committee considered a record- equalling number of grant applications from five churches in West Suffolk and twelve in East Suffolk. Seventeen awards totalling £95,350 were made – a record for one quarter. The entire cost of the work in respect of which the grants were sought is in the region of £800,000 demonstrating the struggle of often small communities to preserve these glorious parts of our heritage.” said John Devaux, Chairman of the Grants Committee. 

The work that will be undertaken in the churches include work on roofs, gutters, windows, WCs and kitchens, but the grants included a number of enabling grants for bigger projects.  One was for a payment for archaeological work before building; assessment of a nave wall for movement before embarking on a major project; funding to appoint a fundraiser for a lottery grant and the first phase of a project for restoring wall paintings where they needed a preliminary report to define what had to be done.

This will help churches to get the initial work underway, which they find difficult to fund, before applying for major grants for the actual work.

The grant money is raised by the annual Suffolk Churches Ride and Stride Day and the Suffolk Churches vintage and classic car rally, Pedal & Drive, held on the same day. Next year it will be held on Saturday 12^th September.

There are four Grants Meetings scheduled a year and any church, chapel or meeting house, of any denomination can apply. 

There are more details of how to make a grant application, Ride and Stride or to apply to take part in Pedal and Drive: www.shct.org.uk.

Grants awarded in Oct 2025 were to:

St Nicholas, Bedfield  

 St Mary, Bildeston  

 Holy Trinity, Blythburgh  

 St Peter, Brampton  

 St John, Butley  

 St Peter, Copdock  

 St Martin, Fornham St Martin  

 St Margaret, Herringfleet  

 All Saints, Holbrook  

 All Hallows, Ipswich  

 St Margaret of Antioch, Linstead Parva  

 St Botolph, North Cove  

 All Saints, Rede  

 All Saints, Saxtead  

 St Peter, Spexhall  

 St Andrew, Tostock 

 St Peter, Wenhaston,