£25M church roof repair fund invites new applications

An extra £25million funding for the UK-wide Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund has been announced.

St Nicholas’ Church in Carrickfergus was successful in the first round, securing £81,000 for work at the historic building in the town centre.

Organisations, trusts and congregations of all faiths and denominations can apply for a grant from £10,000 to £100,000 to meet the costs of urgent repairs to roofs and rainwater disposal systems.

Limited funding can also be provided for structural investigations, specialist reports and bat surveys.

Welcoming the announcement, Environment Minister Mark H Durkan said: “This scheme continues to provide valuable funding for essential works to our listed places of worship. It is a real boost that there have been so many successful applications to date in Northern Ireland.

“The extension of the fund provides a further opportunity for new bidders and also those who have been unsuccessful in the initial round to apply for support. I urge those with these valuable buildings in their care to make an application for the scheme which is open now.”

In March, more than 500 places of worship were successful in securing a funding package totalling £30million for urgent roof repairs.