Harehills architectural gem awarded much needed funding

Ten places of worship from across Yorkshire are celebrating this month after receiving a share of £74,000 to help towards the cost of repairs and maintenance work.

The grants have come from the Yorkshire Historic Churches Trust (YHCT), a charity set up to help churches, chapels and meeting houses with the increasing costs of repairs, restoration and maintenance needed to keep buildings functioning for their congregations and communities.

The much-needed funds will help a range of churches and chapels continue to offer warm and dry spaces for both worship and an increasing number of local community services.

One church receiving funds is St Augustine’s Catholic Church in Harehills, Leeds, an impressive brick-built church of the 1930s, bold and original in its art-deco design, which won the Royal Institute of British Architects bronze medal for 1936.

The church is in need of urgent roof repairs, with buckets needed to catch the rain. The total cost of the repairs is more than £50,000 and the church has undertaken fundraising among the congregation and received funding from the Benefact Trust and other charitable trusts. The YHCT were delighted to award the final £6,000 to ensure that the repairs can be undertaken.

St Augustine’s serves eight different communities from Zimbabwe to Ukraine, and host five different choirs from the Filipino, Nigerian, Indian, Guinea Bissau and other international communities.

Father Ghebreyesus Ghebrezghi, from St Augustine’s said: “St Augustine’s is a thriving parish of worship, which is supported greatly by parishioners from all four corners of the world. The roof is desperately in need of repair as is the brick work at the entrance to the Church. There are many other repairs and renovations that need doing as well, which is why we are deeply grateful to the Yorkshire Historic Churches Trust for considering and awarding a grant to us”.

Tom Ramsden, Chairman of the YHCT said: “Thanks to the generosity of our Friends and donors, we have been able to support a wide range of places of worship. Over the past couple of years we have witnessed the important role churches play in bringing their local communities together and helping them thrive. Now, more than ever, they need our help to ensure those churches continue to support their communities for many years to come”.

The full list of churches receiving grants can be found here: https://www.yhct.org.uk/funding-news-2/

Grants continue to be available for repairs, restoration and maintenance to churches of any Christian denomination, including investigation grants. Full details can be found on the website here: https://www.yhct.org.uk/grants/