8 April 2015
Alok Sharma has welcomed the news that Holy Trinity Church in Theale will receive £85,200 in cash from a government scheme set up to help restore listed religious buildings in urgent need of repair.
Alok wrote to all the churches, mosques, temples, gurdwaras and synagogues in Reading West to inform them about the new £15 million fund after it was launched by the Chancellor at the Autumn Statement on 3 December 2014.
The funding will mean that Holy Trinity Church, which is a Grade 1 Listed building modelled on Salisbury Cathedral and was once sketched by the painter John Constable in 1832, can restore its roof and upgrade the integrity of its drain water pipes.
Over the last three years, Holy Trinity’s regular congregation has grown by 40% and the church has sought to play a larger role in the community. The church is used at least twice weekly by the local church primary school with has 280 pupils and in 2014 all 1,100 pupils of Theale Green school attended the church for Remembrance Day.
The church played a major role in the Jubilee Celebrations in 2012 and then in the visit of the Olympic Torch. In September 2014 the church featured prominently in the local commemorative events of World War 1, including the Rededication of its War Memorial by the Bishop of Reading in a church service attended by well over 200 people from all sections of the community and a commemorative concert with the Phoenix choir.
With funding for the roof repairs now secure, the church will be able to meet the needs, not only of its expanding congregation of all ages, but also hopes to expand its role in the community and open the church for even more community use.
Alok Sharma said: “I am absolutely delighted that Holy Trinity Church has been able to benefit from this government scheme, launched by the Chancellor at the last Autumn Statement, which will make a big difference for the village. Holy Trinity Church is a beautiful building built in the early nineteenth century and this funding will help ensure that it can stay open safely for many more years to come.”
Reverend Ann Templeman said: “I am delighted that Alok drew this generous grant to our attention. The much needed funding will enable us to meet not only the needs of our existing expanding congregation of all ages but open the way for our wider rejuvenation and access project to make our magnificent iconic building the centre of our growing community for generations to come.”
Alok wrote to all the churches, mosques, temples, gurdwaras and synagogues in Reading West to inform them about the new £15 million fund after it was launched by the Chancellor at the Autumn Statement on 3 December 2014.
The funding will mean that Holy Trinity Church, which is a Grade 1 Listed building modelled on Salisbury Cathedral and was once sketched by the painter John Constable in 1832, can restore its roof and upgrade the integrity of its drain water pipes.
Over the last three years, Holy Trinity’s regular congregation has grown by 40% and the church has sought to play a larger role in the community. The church is used at least twice weekly by the local church primary school with has 280 pupils and in 2014 all 1,100 pupils of Theale Green school attended the church for Remembrance Day.
The church played a major role in the Jubilee Celebrations in 2012 and then in the visit of the Olympic Torch. In September 2014 the church featured prominently in the local commemorative events of World War 1, including the Rededication of its War Memorial by the Bishop of Reading in a church service attended by well over 200 people from all sections of the community and a commemorative concert with the Phoenix choir.
With funding for the roof repairs now secure, the church will be able to meet the needs, not only of its expanding congregation of all ages, but also hopes to expand its role in the community and open the church for even more community use.
Alok Sharma said: “I am absolutely delighted that Holy Trinity Church has been able to benefit from this government scheme, launched by the Chancellor at the last Autumn Statement, which will make a big difference for the village. Holy Trinity Church is a beautiful building built in the early nineteenth century and this funding will help ensure that it can stay open safely for many more years to come.”
Reverend Ann Templeman said: “I am delighted that Alok drew this generous grant to our attention. The much needed funding will enable us to meet not only the needs of our existing expanding congregation of all ages but open the way for our wider rejuvenation and access project to make our magnificent iconic building the centre of our growing community for generations to come.”