DEVELOPMENT UPDATE-St Thomas-Junction Road Church

Posted Jan 30, 09:25

It is difficult to give any meaningful update at the moment to members of the congregation who are concerned to know how our ‘Roof Repairs’ applications are going.

First of all, we have to remember that we are not a congregation rich in financial resources, and therefore we are dependent on the support of outside agencies. These agencies have application timescales we have to fit into, and criteria we have to meet.

Our first application to Historic Scotland and the Heritage Lottery Fund (Spring 2004) had to be withdrawn because it did not have a ‘vision’, our second (2006) had to be withdrawn because the ‘vision’ was not one that Historic Scotland could approve, and now our third is half-way through the process involving these two agencies.

In December last year, Historic Scotland informed us that they could not support our application with any funds – we were not a sufficiently important building, and they have limited funds. However, because they had approved our plans, it means that the Heritage Lottery Fund can now consider our application – and we do meet all their criteria. We are currently in discussion with them, and the General Trustees of the Church, and hope to have a final decision by early March this year.

This is really the final hurdle for us. If they say yes, and award us all that we need, then we can begin work on the roof in summer 2008. If they say no, then we have gone as far as we can with external funders – and we will have some serious thinking to do about the problems we face, and how we meet them out of our own resources.

In the meantime, another funder, had offered us £25,000 – but it had to be committed by February 2008. As this is no longer a possibility, we are in discussion with them about how we can continue to keep their support.
So, having said many times before to ‘watch this space’, we can only say again, ‘watch this space’.

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